Wednesday’s Words of the day – Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity

When you first come to our box, we explain the CrossFit methodology to you and give you loads of information, maybe sometimes too much to digest at once, but I know you hear us say Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity. Let’s go over it.

Mechanics – Or in other words, technique. How does your body move functionally? We focus on this in the beginning of your training at our box, making sure you are moving safely.

Consistency – This means that after we make sure you’re moving good, we want to make sure that you continue to move good the next time you come in to work out, and the time after that, and the time after that. We don’t want to teach you the squat on your first day and then assume you’ve got it and never check you again. We are constantly keeping eyes-on to help you improve, so that you maintain good mechanics consistently. Then we add the intensity.

Intensity – This is where all the good stuff happens. In big words – Intensity is the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing the rate of return of favorable adaptation. Or in other words – Intensity is the shortcut to good results.

Intensity is equivalent to power, not your heart rate, not how loud you grunt when you workout. It is how much power you are generating and how fast. So when you start CrossFit in our box we address mechanics first, then your consistency with those good mechanics, and only then do we start to push your intensity, and this means doing more work in less time.

When you ramp up the intensity, it is inevitably going to mean that your technique is not going to be perfect on every rep. If you can complete a workout with perfect technique on every rep then you are not pushing yourself. Does that mean that I want you to get sloppy, floppy, or ugly with your technique? No!! Does that mean that I want you trying to go so fast that you are missing depth on your squats, or shortcutting your movements so that your reps really don’t count? No!! Strive for perfection, but push your intensity hard enough that you’re not going to achieve it on every single rep.

So consistently work on mechanics and push your intensity, and the good stuff will follow!

Wednesday’s Word of the Day – Hang – power – what?

In CrossFit we do Olympic lifts, the Clean and Jerk, and the Snatch and variances of the full lifts.

So for the variances, sometimes you will hear “hang snatch” or “power clean” or “hang power clean.” What does all this mean?

Actually, both the clean and the snatch, the true clean and snatch, begin with the weight on the floor, the weight received in a full squat, and end standing fully upright, hips open. So when you hear “squat clean,” or “squat snatch,” it is actually redundant terminology, probably used to emphasize doing the full movement!

“Hang” means that you start the movement from a standing position with the bar or weights “hanging” at mid thigh level. Don’t let the word “hang” be misinterpreted for “loose” – keep that good position, tight core!

“Power” means that you receive the weight with slightly bent legs, but not in a squat. You are still going to use that dip drive and get full extension before you pull!

So get to lifting!

Does that help?

Wednesday’s Word of the day – Firebreather

As defined by Greg Amundson – Firebreather: 1. One who faces the triumphs and tribulations of great physical opposition with an indomitable spirit. 2. An optimistic energy associated with the heart of an athlete.

In CrossFit we hear the term “firebreather” in reference to the CrossFit’s top athletes, whether it be the originals who inspired us, Greg Amundson, Annie Sakamoto, Nicole, or Eva T., or our current CrossFit Games winners, Annie Thorisdottir and Rich Froning.

Does this mean that you have to be doing all workouts as Rx’d and getting the best times and loads to be considered a firebreather? Not in our box. Here it’s all about attitude, heart, and drive. I believe you are a firebreather if you are ready to attack your workout with passion and integrity, you push through the burning in your lungs and the pain in your muscles, and give it your all. You are a firebgreather if you don’t shorten the range of motion and cheat the movement , you don’t count the reps that you know don’t count, and you work to the best of your ability, be the best you can be.

The firebreather is not the athlete with natural strength and ability who is lackadaisical about their training, or the one who cares nothing about technique or integrity, as long as they have the best time on the whiteboard.

The firebreather is the one who inspires everybody in the box with their spirit!

Fran – Who the heck is Fran?

Fran is 21-15-9 rep rounds of 95 pound thrusters and pull-ups.   Sounds so deceivingly simple, but can demolish you in 3 minutes.   Anyone who has been doing CrossFit for any length of time has probably been introduced to Fran.  You love her or you hate her, but you definitely know her, right?

“I think if I ever met a random crossfitter that would be our icebreaker…”Nice to meet you! What’s your Fran time?”

“Agreed. It’s the CrossFit equivalent of bodybuilders’ “Whaddaya bench?” For me, it’s just such a short, brutal expression of power.”

To many crossfitters, Fran is the benchmark of the benchmark WODs.   CrossFit’s original benchmark WODs, “The Girls,” included Angie, Barbara, Chelsea, Diane, Elizabeth, and Fran.  Later added were Grace, Helen, Isabel, Jackie, Karen, Linda, Mary, and Nancy.  And more have been added.

For more in-depth information on the design and function of these WODs, read the article “Benchmark Workouts” in The CrossFit Journal by Greg Glassman. http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/13_03_Benchmark_Workouts.pdf

Excerpt from the article…

Our intent is two-fold in examining these workouts. First, these workouts, being exemplars of the CrossFit ideal, give us opportunity to lay bare some of the possibly unseen considerations and details we weigh in our programming design. Second, these six workouts introduce a series of workouts that will serve to measure and benchmark your performance and improvements through repeated, irregular, appearances in the “Workout of the Day”. The workouts intended as benchmarks will be readily distinguished from other Workouts of the Day by their being given, in each instance, a female name.

Our first six benchmark workouts are split evenly between two distinct thematic groups. The first three workouts are comprised entirely of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and squats while the second group is distinguished by couplets of fundamental weightlifting and calisthenic or gymnastic elements. Each is scored by time.

So what do you mean by the “benchmark WODs” you ask?  – These benchmark workouts are a means for us to “test” our fitness.  CrossFit is about data… measurable, observable and repeatable data.   (That’s why it’s so important to keep your journal!!!)  From time to time you will see these named or benchmark WODs posted on the whiteboard.   When these WODs come up, we expect you to give it your all, like every other workout, record your score, and then move on.   With continued training of constantly varied functional movement at high intensity, your scores should improve the next time you do these benchmark workouts.  This gives you proof of measurable improvement, recorded right there in your journal. 

So what’s a good score you ask? What should my Fran time be?  – Well, there may be some place on the web, a ranking system, where you can log in your scores and compare yourself to others.  Or, you could also go to CrossFit.com and find where they’ve posted one of these workouts and read the comments and see what everyone else is posting.  But I don’t believe that it’s about everyone else, it’s about you.  Truly, a good Fran time for you would be a better time than your last Fran time.  If you’ve made any kind of improvement in your work output, then you have succeeded in improving your fitness.  And that’s what we are really all about.

And then what about Hero WODs you ask? – We’ll talk about those next week!

Keep training, keep journaling, and keep improving!

Today’s term is AMRAP – As Many Rounds as Possible

When you see AMRAP in your WOD (workout of the day) – it means it is a time priority workout. The time is set, 12 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever. You will only work for that amount of time, and get as much work done as possible, in that amount of time.  The amount of work you accomplish in that time is up to you.

So think about it. Whether it’s 12, 20, or 30 minutes, it’s not really that long in the scope of things. You can endure anything for 30 minutes. Wouldn’t you rather be getting those pull-ups, push-ups, and squats for 20 minutes (Cindy) than sitting through some boring lecture, or spending 30 minutes doing deadlifts, push-ups, and box jumps (McGhee), rather than standing in line at the DMV.

So when the clock starts, get your mind right. It’s just a few minutes out of your life to get better, stronger, faster.