What if I, Coach A, began CrossFit all over again - what would I change?
This is the first in a series of posts by CSC. We will be asking this question of our coaches and members who would like to participate. It's often said that hindsight is 20/20.
Why I Started CrossFit
I began CrossFit in 2011 with the goal of competing in The Open a week later. I was pretty good for a beginner. More competent in our movements than most since I had been training in similar ways for about a year. In fact, I almost made regionals after jumping about 100 places on the last two Open WODs. I was athletic and somewhat competent, but I did not understand the importance of proper movement.
Lesson 1
Proper movement. I was once much like many newbies - grip and rip. There was a video of me doing a 405 lb deadlift in 2010. It looks something like a yoga-inspired torso roll with weight in my hands. I'll call this an arrogance in athletics. Like many whose arrogance bit them I inevitably paid for mine. While training for regionals the next year I further herniated the disk between my L5 and S1 vertebrae. Nothing is quite as frustrating as "breaking" when you're at the top of your game.
When I look back on it, the faults I accepted blow my mind. After a weak performance at Regionals I took some time off before progressing as before. I continued to get stronger until I began to get slower. Then I pushed harder and worked longer. Eventually my body gave in again. I had too many weak points. It was as much of a fight not to break down as it was to compete, and last year (2012) it was the same during The Open. I was cruising through several workouts prior to pulling up in pain.
Could I have pushed through the pain? Most likely. Would it have been worth the risk? No. Not for me, or for just about anyone. Over the last year and a half I have spent a significant amount of time on mobility, strengthening weak points and taking time to train correctly. Further learning instead of competing. What I have learned to be most important - we are only as strong as our weakest link.
Lesson 2
Bullet proof. Small inefficiencies or weak links will certainly cause major problems for competitive athletes. This applies to all CrossFitters as well. In my case it was weak glutes. I had legs strong enough to squat several hundred pounds and a core built to transfer force, but glutes that couldn't support upstream or down. With as much as we know now about movement, it was truly a tremendous oversight in training. I was too focused on achievements and not enough on the pieces of the puzzle.
One look at our current programming and most notice the "accessories." Bulletproofing our athletes is the goal of these accessories. They are movements or lifts that attack inefficiencies or weak points in common CrossFit movements or foundational lifts. The intention of their inclusion is to increase strength and bulletproof movements. There are many pieces to the puzzle, but a few core that cannot be ignored to achieve results.
Lesson 3
Diet. First, let me say that I despise the word "diet." Diets are changes in consumption that are made for a specific purpose. Psychologically they tend to have a time frame of one week to a couple months. They also tend to be extreme or aggressive in nature and are difficult to maintain after reaching the goal.
What I eat is "what I eat." It's clean, it fits my stomach's ability to digest food (I.B.S.), it fits my training goals, and it's realistic. I'm sure everyone understands the first three points (the second is Irritable Bowel Syndrome). But, realistic - what does that mean? It is two-fold:
Summary
In summary, if I had the opportunity to return to 2011 and step into a CrossFit gym again for the first time, I would:
This is the first in a series of posts by CSC. We will be asking this question of our coaches and members who would like to participate. It's often said that hindsight is 20/20.
Coach A
I began CrossFit in 2011 with the goal of competing in The Open a week later. I was pretty good for a beginner. More competent in our movements than most since I had been training in similar ways for about a year. In fact, I almost made regionals after jumping about 100 places on the last two Open WODs. I was athletic and somewhat competent, but I did not understand the importance of proper movement.
Lesson 1
Proper movement. I was once much like many newbies - grip and rip. There was a video of me doing a 405 lb deadlift in 2010. It looks something like a yoga-inspired torso roll with weight in my hands. I'll call this an arrogance in athletics. Like many whose arrogance bit them I inevitably paid for mine. While training for regionals the next year I further herniated the disk between my L5 and S1 vertebrae. Nothing is quite as frustrating as "breaking" when you're at the top of your game.
When I look back on it, the faults I accepted blow my mind. After a weak performance at Regionals I took some time off before progressing as before. I continued to get stronger until I began to get slower. Then I pushed harder and worked longer. Eventually my body gave in again. I had too many weak points. It was as much of a fight not to break down as it was to compete, and last year (2012) it was the same during The Open. I was cruising through several workouts prior to pulling up in pain.
Could I have pushed through the pain? Most likely. Would it have been worth the risk? No. Not for me, or for just about anyone. Over the last year and a half I have spent a significant amount of time on mobility, strengthening weak points and taking time to train correctly. Further learning instead of competing. What I have learned to be most important - we are only as strong as our weakest link.
Lesson 2
Bullet proof. Small inefficiencies or weak links will certainly cause major problems for competitive athletes. This applies to all CrossFitters as well. In my case it was weak glutes. I had legs strong enough to squat several hundred pounds and a core built to transfer force, but glutes that couldn't support upstream or down. With as much as we know now about movement, it was truly a tremendous oversight in training. I was too focused on achievements and not enough on the pieces of the puzzle.
One look at our current programming and most notice the "accessories." Bulletproofing our athletes is the goal of these accessories. They are movements or lifts that attack inefficiencies or weak points in common CrossFit movements or foundational lifts. The intention of their inclusion is to increase strength and bulletproof movements. There are many pieces to the puzzle, but a few core that cannot be ignored to achieve results.
Lesson 3
Diet. First, let me say that I despise the word "diet." Diets are changes in consumption that are made for a specific purpose. Psychologically they tend to have a time frame of one week to a couple months. They also tend to be extreme or aggressive in nature and are difficult to maintain after reaching the goal.
What I eat is "what I eat." It's clean, it fits my stomach's ability to digest food (I.B.S.), it fits my training goals, and it's realistic. I'm sure everyone understands the first three points (the second is Irritable Bowel Syndrome). But, realistic - what does that mean? It is two-fold:
- "The Physical" My goals are to train at the highest of my abilities and compete a couple times a year. as well as being a leader within the gym who can be an example for our athletes. To do this I eat A LOT. To the tune of 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day depending on intensity. In this case, realistic means I understand I cannot eat that much at 100% paleo. It would be too expensive and I would be consuming something every 10 minutes. I think it was last year that a reporter at The CrossFit Games asked all the athletes if they eat paleo and one person raised their hand.
- "The Mental" I'm human and I screw up. We all do it. We're not professional athletes who have hired chefs making meals for us. We actually have to go to the store and at the store there's a ton of chocolate starring us in the face when we checkout. There is nothing wrong with realism. Bad food is bad for our digestive systems. I don't eat it. If I do, I think about why I failed and try and improve the next time.
Summary
In summary, if I had the opportunity to return to 2011 and step into a CrossFit gym again for the first time, I would:
- Place more focus on perfecting every movement. Heart is huge in competition, but it will always be a daunting task to overcome perfect movement.
- Constantly pursue weaknesses on the micro scale. I always saw weakness as movements like burpees or lifts like snatches. What I should have seen were the weak points in my body that could easily be corrected with a little work.
- Accept that my food choices will not be perfect. But it will be what I need it to be for my level of performance.
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