Watching the CrossFit NorthEast Regionals today was a grunt fest. The WODs this year are real grinders on the athletes as they are mostly strength movements with barbells.
It was hot and muggy and many of the athletes had as little clothing on as possible....ah, fitness. ;)
The one item that many were keeping on were weight belts.
A couple of fellow CrossFitters, Dave and Jeremy, and I were discussing the legitimacy of such equipment. The three of us held a massive poll, and ALL THREE of us determined that they should be disallowed for CrossFitters. We decided that if a human body cannot lift lots of weight on its own with proper form, perhaps that particular body was not meant to be picking up that much weight. The example given was the strict weight lifter who picks up 900 pounds....once. I'm pretty sure that the days of needing to drag or carry the baby Mammoth kill back to the cave all by one's lonesome are long gone.
I don't believe many, if any, used weight belts early on in the developing sport of CrossFit.
With the growth of the sport, new challenges are being sought all the time. One of the beauties of CrossFit, to me, is that it's all about what the human body can do/achieve as a singularly functioning machine. So why would you want that body to rely on a piece of equipment that would imply stability, when in fact it creates weakness. If you come to rely on support for the most important part of your body, your spine, you can easily get sloppy, then you become a lifter who has a damn good quality belt.
Would lifting shoes fall under the same category? No, because I don't know a CFer who can't lift almost the same without the shoes. While the shoes create real stability underfoot, they do not ask your body to do something it is not fit enough to do.
Interestingly enough, CrossFit HQ states that no athlete can use special grips or gloves for pullups that assist the performance of multiple pullups. So why are the belts allowed? They certainly assist the athlete in performing lifts and movements that the athlete might not be able to perform without one.
What do you think. Should CrossFit athletes be allowed to belt or not?
5.26.2012
5.25.2012
lots of life
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Lots of life going on.
Every summer's arrival brings a new adventure and this year is no different.
Hugely important is the next generation's arrival due in August. My daughter and son-in-law, Carly and Michael, are ready for their growing family and we are all very excited about that.
Being a working-out-of-the-house woman has been added to my life. This is a change only in that I *have to* be at CrossFit Beacon often, but I would want to be anyway. :] Coaching people coming through our doors who have the desire to become more fit and are excited about challenging themselves is energizing. We recently had our Grand Opening and to see so much support not only from our own members but from the CrossFit community at large meant much to all of us at Beacon. The wonderful thing about having different boxes in the Portland area and throughout Maine is that there is a CF box for everyone, and the most important thing we, at Beacon, see is that this allows for anyone to have the opportunity to experience CrossFit, which is the bottom line!
This weekend I am heading down to Canton, MA, to watch some terrific athletes from Maine compete in the CF Regionals. Aside from a select few Mainers who qualified as individuals, my 'other' box, CrossFit 321, has a team at Regionals. I can't wait to see them on *the field of dreams* at Reebok CrossFit One, where the Regionals are being held.
Adding to this year's big life events are the CF Games in July, for which I qualified and am focusing on re: my training. On this note, I say "Poor Laurence"! Iam not very successful *try* to keep the chatter about it to a minimum with him. He's always supportive, but it's not foremost on his mind. :) I owe it to me, but also to him and all who emotionally support me through this adventure to keep training smartly and hard so that I can offer up my best efforts at the Games.
Even though my life is pretty consumed by CrossFit at the moment, summer is always wonderful time to play more freely (no winter coats and boots weighing you down) and enjoy the remainder of what the year has to offer.
How is the better weather and summertime filling up your life?
Every summer's arrival brings a new adventure and this year is no different.
Hugely important is the next generation's arrival due in August. My daughter and son-in-law, Carly and Michael, are ready for their growing family and we are all very excited about that.
Being a working-out-of-the-house woman has been added to my life. This is a change only in that I *have to* be at CrossFit Beacon often, but I would want to be anyway. :] Coaching people coming through our doors who have the desire to become more fit and are excited about challenging themselves is energizing. We recently had our Grand Opening and to see so much support not only from our own members but from the CrossFit community at large meant much to all of us at Beacon. The wonderful thing about having different boxes in the Portland area and throughout Maine is that there is a CF box for everyone, and the most important thing we, at Beacon, see is that this allows for anyone to have the opportunity to experience CrossFit, which is the bottom line!
This weekend I am heading down to Canton, MA, to watch some terrific athletes from Maine compete in the CF Regionals. Aside from a select few Mainers who qualified as individuals, my 'other' box, CrossFit 321, has a team at Regionals. I can't wait to see them on *the field of dreams* at Reebok CrossFit One, where the Regionals are being held.
Adding to this year's big life events are the CF Games in July, for which I qualified and am focusing on re: my training. On this note, I say "Poor Laurence"! I
Even though my life is pretty consumed by CrossFit at the moment, summer is always wonderful time to play more freely (no winter coats and boots weighing you down) and enjoy the remainder of what the year has to offer.
How is the better weather and summertime filling up your life?
5.12.2012
mama's wodding
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Happy Day to all you hard working women out there.
My mother used to always say "every day is Mother's Day". Okay, really, even as a kid I knew she was full of bullshit. :)
When our girls were little, Laurence and I gave each other our 'special' days (Mother's and Father's Days) completely off. That meant no diaper changing, no meals, sleep in, just do whatever we wanted to do, a responsibility-free day. It was glorious...although it was also a little difficult to explain to the girls when they were very, very young that I HAD to get out of bed before their delightful and quintessential breakfast of a banana, hard toast, a hard fried egg, and coffee, because I had to go pee. They let me, but were still pretty disappointed in me.
We all know that parents do their best teaching by keeping their "teaching" words to a minimum and just living an honest life. Kids absorb soul-felt energy from parents so it's impossible to cover reactions with words. Kids are smart. Try as I did, I definitely had some fails in that area...not living honestly part, but reacting with words-before-thoughts moments.
While kids are growing up their parents grow smarter...at least we hope so. Even though our kids grow up, move out onto their own, take responsibility for their own lives proudly waving their flags of independence, parents beware, our children are still learning much from afar.
What is the reason for this post other than me thinking warmly of my little girls?
A very wonderful woman who enriches my world with her wit, warmth, and worldliness sent me a powerful, timely FB message today. My friend is a 60something CrossFitter of about two and a half years. She started before me and while she has had breaks here and there because of her travelling adventures, she always finds her way back to the box. This brave woman will also, on occasion, go to other boxes when she is away. (It can be intimidating to enter into a class of 'strangers' as not all boxes are created equal. Luckily, most are welcoming.) Of course, SHE tends to bemoan that she keeps losing her fitness level and gets tired of 'starting over' so often. While I understand, it's all relative. I personally know VERY few 60something women who could do what she does at her point of 'starting over'.
Inspiring.
Apparently her 40something daughter thinks so too. My friend's message was full of excitement (and hope) that her daughter is talking seriously about giving CrossFit a try. This. Is. CooL.
Admittedly, the particular box her daughter is thinking of happens to be a stellar box that my friend has gone to a few times and had great experiences. That is also CooL.
The CrossFitting moms and dads I know got into CrossFit because of their children or friends. I find it so incredible that this mom, my friend, is still inspiring her children just by living an honest life. Does she speak highly of how CrossFit keeps her body moving? Yes. Would this mean anything if she didn't also just GO to CrossFit? No. Her daughter is still seeing her mom as an example of what is possible. To have this 40something woman become a CrossFitter because of her 60something mother is just such a great Mother's Day story to me.
My mother used to always say "every day is Mother's Day". Okay, really, even as a kid I knew she was full of bullshit. :)
When our girls were little, Laurence and I gave each other our 'special' days (Mother's and Father's Days) completely off. That meant no diaper changing, no meals, sleep in, just do whatever we wanted to do, a responsibility-free day. It was glorious...although it was also a little difficult to explain to the girls when they were very, very young that I HAD to get out of bed before their delightful and quintessential breakfast of a banana, hard toast, a hard fried egg, and coffee, because I had to go pee. They let me, but were still pretty disappointed in me.
We all know that parents do their best teaching by keeping their "teaching" words to a minimum and just living an honest life. Kids absorb soul-felt energy from parents so it's impossible to cover reactions with words. Kids are smart. Try as I did, I definitely had some fails in that area...not living honestly part, but reacting with words-before-thoughts moments.
While kids are growing up their parents grow smarter...at least we hope so. Even though our kids grow up, move out onto their own, take responsibility for their own lives proudly waving their flags of independence, parents beware, our children are still learning much from afar.
What is the reason for this post other than me thinking warmly of my little girls?
A very wonderful woman who enriches my world with her wit, warmth, and worldliness sent me a powerful, timely FB message today. My friend is a 60something CrossFitter of about two and a half years. She started before me and while she has had breaks here and there because of her travelling adventures, she always finds her way back to the box. This brave woman will also, on occasion, go to other boxes when she is away. (It can be intimidating to enter into a class of 'strangers' as not all boxes are created equal. Luckily, most are welcoming.) Of course, SHE tends to bemoan that she keeps losing her fitness level and gets tired of 'starting over' so often. While I understand, it's all relative. I personally know VERY few 60something women who could do what she does at her point of 'starting over'.
Inspiring.
Apparently her 40something daughter thinks so too. My friend's message was full of excitement (and hope) that her daughter is talking seriously about giving CrossFit a try. This. Is. CooL.
Admittedly, the particular box her daughter is thinking of happens to be a stellar box that my friend has gone to a few times and had great experiences. That is also CooL.
The CrossFitting moms and dads I know got into CrossFit because of their children or friends. I find it so incredible that this mom, my friend, is still inspiring her children just by living an honest life. Does she speak highly of how CrossFit keeps her body moving? Yes. Would this mean anything if she didn't also just GO to CrossFit? No. Her daughter is still seeing her mom as an example of what is possible. To have this 40something woman become a CrossFitter because of her 60something mother is just such a great Mother's Day story to me.
5.10.2012
pendulums
Everything action/event/happening has a certain cycle to it. This is nothing new.
I've always likened the cycles to a pendulum swinging until it finds its natural balance. Things always do. A *breeze* may restart the sway, but once the balance has been established, it usually takes a shorter time to get back to balance on those subsequent sways. One hopes, simply put, this is learned from previous experiences.
I'll admit that I used to always visualize that pendulum swing like this:
Thankfully (no more nightmares ;-}) I have noticed over the last couple of years that I visualize that pendulum swing in a much softer and gentler way...like this:
I fully understand that I don't have to doubt that the pendulum will calm the eff down in due time. I used to want to force it toward its balance. Now I still don't hesitate to encourage it along, but I know forcing it will not get it there any faster than encouraging it.
So in this moment as I have the image of the pendulum swinging at my new job, with my training schedule, happenings with my kids/friends....you know, life.... I don't get as tweaked as much as I used to. I enjoy the fact that now I can fully appreciate the creativeness that can occur as the balance is nearing. It's like a doodle gone rogue and ultimately, the picture ends up just the way it's meant to be! :)
I've always likened the cycles to a pendulum swinging until it finds its natural balance. Things always do. A *breeze* may restart the sway, but once the balance has been established, it usually takes a shorter time to get back to balance on those subsequent sways. One hopes, simply put, this is learned from previous experiences.
I'll admit that I used to always visualize that pendulum swing like this:
5.08.2012
don't think, just do: part 2
Part 1 was posted on 3/21.
That was a general approach to life. Think too much and you'll get stuck in the minutia of the moment and nothing substantial will get accomplished. We need to have the ability to let go and be a messy and make mistakes and find joy in just *doing*. It's fun and freeing and good things crop up because of it.
Part 2 is a general approach to sports. Think too much and your golf swing, your tennis stroke, your flip turn, your power clean will become so strained under the minutia of each detail that you are laboriously thinking about and you end up not performing well at all.
It seems I have been running across this concept quite often lately. To over think during the action of a sport not only takes the fun out of it, it prevents an athlete from feeling a particular movement, which usually allows for a better understanding of what one's body is supposed to be doing during that movement.
This is not to say that it's not necessary to learn some technique or strategy or practice a lot. What I am getting at is that an athlete's heart allows for the feeling of the sport that is being played. And what is heart, but feeling. You can delve into the minutia of your sport but if you don't allow the heart in, technique contributes nothing to the joy.
A couple weeks ago, Bubba Watson won the biggie in golf tournaments, The Masters. What makes this so spectacular is that he is a golfer who has never taken a lesson and never watched a video of himself to analyze his swing. Rather, he is a man who plays and plays and plays to feel a better swing, to be a better golfer, and mostly to quench his love of the game. By doing so, he keeps his heart in the game and his head nearby, but not looming.
Ben Smith of CrossFit fame is another one of those athletes who keeps his love of his sport in the forefront. He is a unique CrossFitter in that he mostly workouts alone at his home gym. From interviews I have seen, he connects CrossFit to nature by default, putting a pullup bar between two trees and a wall ball target on one of the trees as well.
He just gets after his workouts. Does he practice technique? Sure, but mostly just WODs.
Unheard of by most CrossFit athletes entering a competition, Ben went into the CrossFit Mid Atlantic Regionals without having practiced any of the WODs beforehand, apparently deciding to trust his abilities and succeed at them in a "one and done" mindset. He won, thereby making it to the CrossFit Games in July...again.
Those are just two athletes, but they are two who I personally think embody the concept of success through feeling, keeping their heart in their games. To me, it's incredibly inspiring.
**On a semi-related personal note, today I needed to throw around some weights and make some noise at my box. I have less than 10 weeks to go before my participation in the Games, and I have been not feeling my CrossFit experience of late. I have been missing the grunt and grit of why I love it so much. So, result?...the WOD I came up with today. I love the clean & jerk. I hadn't done any in so long that I was almost a little nervous about doing them so the following fit the criteria of my needs today:
EMOM (every minute on the minute) 10 mins:
3 deadlifts
1 clean & jerk
increase the weight every two minutes.
I wanted this to simulate a competition WOD in that I didn't have a lot of rest time to get to a heavy (for me) 1 rep max of c & j and the DL was just an added bonus. ;]
My previous c & j was 120# so I was hoping to get to there at least...too much thinking pre-WOD! Once I got into it, I just went at it. My form on the last clean wasn't great (i pulled too early), but my jerk was strong. I went 95#,105#,115#,120#, 125#. New PR and I felt a shift in my attitude...I quenched my love of how free and fun CrossFit is for me.
Setting aside *thinking* and just digging in and *doing* was just what I needed. More of that to come.
That was a general approach to life. Think too much and you'll get stuck in the minutia of the moment and nothing substantial will get accomplished. We need to have the ability to let go and be a messy and make mistakes and find joy in just *doing*. It's fun and freeing and good things crop up because of it.
Part 2 is a general approach to sports. Think too much and your golf swing, your tennis stroke, your flip turn, your power clean will become so strained under the minutia of each detail that you are laboriously thinking about and you end up not performing well at all.
It seems I have been running across this concept quite often lately. To over think during the action of a sport not only takes the fun out of it, it prevents an athlete from feeling a particular movement, which usually allows for a better understanding of what one's body is supposed to be doing during that movement.
This is not to say that it's not necessary to learn some technique or strategy or practice a lot. What I am getting at is that an athlete's heart allows for the feeling of the sport that is being played. And what is heart, but feeling. You can delve into the minutia of your sport but if you don't allow the heart in, technique contributes nothing to the joy.
A couple weeks ago, Bubba Watson won the biggie in golf tournaments, The Masters. What makes this so spectacular is that he is a golfer who has never taken a lesson and never watched a video of himself to analyze his swing. Rather, he is a man who plays and plays and plays to feel a better swing, to be a better golfer, and mostly to quench his love of the game. By doing so, he keeps his heart in the game and his head nearby, but not looming.
Ben Smith of CrossFit fame is another one of those athletes who keeps his love of his sport in the forefront. He is a unique CrossFitter in that he mostly workouts alone at his home gym. From interviews I have seen, he connects CrossFit to nature by default, putting a pullup bar between two trees and a wall ball target on one of the trees as well.
He just gets after his workouts. Does he practice technique? Sure, but mostly just WODs.
Unheard of by most CrossFit athletes entering a competition, Ben went into the CrossFit Mid Atlantic Regionals without having practiced any of the WODs beforehand, apparently deciding to trust his abilities and succeed at them in a "one and done" mindset. He won, thereby making it to the CrossFit Games in July...again.
Those are just two athletes, but they are two who I personally think embody the concept of success through feeling, keeping their heart in their games. To me, it's incredibly inspiring.
**On a semi-related personal note, today I needed to throw around some weights and make some noise at my box. I have less than 10 weeks to go before my participation in the Games, and I have been not feeling my CrossFit experience of late. I have been missing the grunt and grit of why I love it so much. So, result?...the WOD I came up with today. I love the clean & jerk. I hadn't done any in so long that I was almost a little nervous about doing them so the following fit the criteria of my needs today:
EMOM (every minute on the minute) 10 mins:
3 deadlifts
1 clean & jerk
increase the weight every two minutes.
I wanted this to simulate a competition WOD in that I didn't have a lot of rest time to get to a heavy (for me) 1 rep max of c & j and the DL was just an added bonus. ;]
My previous c & j was 120# so I was hoping to get to there at least...too much thinking pre-WOD! Once I got into it, I just went at it. My form on the last clean wasn't great (i pulled too early), but my jerk was strong. I went 95#,105#,115#,120#, 125#. New PR and I felt a shift in my attitude...I quenched my love of how free and fun CrossFit is for me.
Setting aside *thinking* and just digging in and *doing* was just what I needed. More of that to come.
5.04.2012
aha
Since CrossFit Beacon opened a month ago, I have been happily coaching classes and taking new members (aka athletes) through the 1-on-1 Foundations sessions. Not only do I love meeting new people, but I get truly jazzed about seeing people walk through Beacon's doors excited about their own commitment toward better fitness.
As would be expected, I find that some of our athletes respond to movement and cues in ways that are natural to them but might be different than someone else. Because of this, I am learning so much by watching how people tend to position themselves in a particular movement. The nuance of these ways are usually small, but are ways to do something that I may not have thought of before. For instance, even something as simple as where a person prefers a box to step up on (back, left or right side) in order to reach the pullup bar can add to a better experience with the pullup.
What I get the most excited about is when I am working with an athlete and, as they begin to execute a movement, I see self-correction occur. I LOVE that! To see someone have the body awareness to adjust themselves in a movement they have just learned is probably one of the best things I could see. To me that translates to further down the road when they are using a heavier weight on the bar or putting more intensity in a METCON they will be able to self-monitor when something is too much for them on that particular day and will take some weight off the bar or change up their intensity so their form doesn't put their body at risk.
Therein lies my "aha" about CrossFit.
People are always asking what makes CrossFit different than other fitness experiences.
"Well, our workouts are constantly varied functional movements at high intensity."
Okay, but what does that mean?
"Well, we never do the same workout 2 days in a row and the more fit you get, the more intensity you can put into your WODs."
Okay, but functional?
"Sure. Deadlifts translate into picking up groceries. We all sit down and get up...that's the air squat." yada, yada, yada We've all heard those comparisons and we've all used them.
But really, CrossFit is a program designed to train your body to move functionally as a whole...the sum of all your parts moving in harmony.
Will CrossFit help your body become more firm and esthetically attractive? Yes! Is it totally fun to learn how use all the special CrossFit *toys*, learn how to pick up heavy weights, slap chalk on our hands for pullups, and get totally sweaty because of a great workout? Absolutely. Afterall, CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program...but to what ultimate goal? Total body functionality. That is where it is so different and so effective. We don't "work on" the arms, then the upper legs, then the calves, then the pecks, etc. That is a fragmented way to address the needs of a wholly functional body. Any given CrossFit movement might *bias* a certain area of the body, but to focus on that part, the entire body plays a roll. I honestly can't think of any movement in CrossFit that isolates only one part of the body. If there is, let me know.
What validates the importance of this is what CrossFit coaches will often hear from prospective members:
I am a runner but need to gain upper body strength.
I am a weightlifter but have limited endurance.
I spend two hours at a gym on machines that 'work' various muscle groups but don't feel any stronger.
All of these statements address the instinctual desire to have a balanced body with which to go through life. This is what they find after just a few weeks into CrossFit.
What CrossFit does is teach its member/athletes about body awareness and in the process, they are getting stronger, more conditioned, and overall able to function in life with much more ease. Doesn't that make their futures sound awesome?!
As would be expected, I find that some of our athletes respond to movement and cues in ways that are natural to them but might be different than someone else. Because of this, I am learning so much by watching how people tend to position themselves in a particular movement. The nuance of these ways are usually small, but are ways to do something that I may not have thought of before. For instance, even something as simple as where a person prefers a box to step up on (back, left or right side) in order to reach the pullup bar can add to a better experience with the pullup.
What I get the most excited about is when I am working with an athlete and, as they begin to execute a movement, I see self-correction occur. I LOVE that! To see someone have the body awareness to adjust themselves in a movement they have just learned is probably one of the best things I could see. To me that translates to further down the road when they are using a heavier weight on the bar or putting more intensity in a METCON they will be able to self-monitor when something is too much for them on that particular day and will take some weight off the bar or change up their intensity so their form doesn't put their body at risk.
Therein lies my "aha" about CrossFit.
People are always asking what makes CrossFit different than other fitness experiences.
"Well, our workouts are constantly varied functional movements at high intensity."
Okay, but what does that mean?
"Well, we never do the same workout 2 days in a row and the more fit you get, the more intensity you can put into your WODs."
Okay, but functional?
"Sure. Deadlifts translate into picking up groceries. We all sit down and get up...that's the air squat." yada, yada, yada We've all heard those comparisons and we've all used them.
But really, CrossFit is a program designed to train your body to move functionally as a whole...the sum of all your parts moving in harmony.
Will CrossFit help your body become more firm and esthetically attractive? Yes! Is it totally fun to learn how use all the special CrossFit *toys*, learn how to pick up heavy weights, slap chalk on our hands for pullups, and get totally sweaty because of a great workout? Absolutely. Afterall, CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program...but to what ultimate goal? Total body functionality. That is where it is so different and so effective. We don't "work on" the arms, then the upper legs, then the calves, then the pecks, etc. That is a fragmented way to address the needs of a wholly functional body. Any given CrossFit movement might *bias* a certain area of the body, but to focus on that part, the entire body plays a roll. I honestly can't think of any movement in CrossFit that isolates only one part of the body. If there is, let me know.
What validates the importance of this is what CrossFit coaches will often hear from prospective members:
I am a runner but need to gain upper body strength.
I am a weightlifter but have limited endurance.
I spend two hours at a gym on machines that 'work' various muscle groups but don't feel any stronger.
All of these statements address the instinctual desire to have a balanced body with which to go through life. This is what they find after just a few weeks into CrossFit.
What CrossFit does is teach its member/athletes about body awareness and in the process, they are getting stronger, more conditioned, and overall able to function in life with much more ease. Doesn't that make their futures sound awesome?!
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