Warm up analysis and other fun stuff

“Annie”

50-40-30-20-10 reps of

Double unders

Sit ups

Chris Spealler 4:34,  Laurie Galassi 5:26,

In CrossFit and life there are people who give up at the first sign of trouble or who make excuses for why or how they can’t commit to training on a regular basis.  There are people who commit for a few months, maybe a year, and look for other things.  Then there are people who knuckle down and dig until there’s nothing left, day in and day out, month after month, year after year.  They keep coming back for more no matter how bleak or despairing the situation, no matter how bad their squat form is or how far away from a real pull up they are.  After watching hundreds of people come and go through Crossfit, you can never tell who will make it or who won’t.

  Julie is one of the stubborn, persistent group that keeps coming back for more.  Upon starting, her squat attempts were painful to watch (all of them) and she would gas at the first round of WODs where her peers would be finishing their third rounds.

But that was another lifetime ago wasn’t it Julie?

  These days, she can squat below parallel with aplomb, can move through WODs with composure and poise, and can look any challenge in the face with laughter and joy.

  Her persistence, and eventual triumph, in the face of what for most people would be insurmountable odds has won my respect and admiration.  Please join me in offering congratulations and salutations to her.  It has and continues to be our honor.

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Before we take a look at our classic warm up, let’s talk about what an ideal warm up should accomplish.  Any good warm up should elevate heart rate and body temperature, provide some stretching, lubricate and mobilize joints, and prepare the muscles and nervous system for explosive, violent action.  Another way to look at the warm up, the way Greg Amundson looks at it anyway, is that the body can basically do four things:  open at the hip, close at the hip, push, and pull.  The classic CrossFit warm up does all these things and more.  It is for this reason over the next 2 weeks we want you to get intimate with the classic warm up and make it your own.  Choose your own hip opening (OH squat, back extension, hip extension, kettlebell swing), hip closing (GHD sit up, knee to elbow), push (dips, push ups, handstand practice), and pull (pull up, rope climb, ring row.)  Mix it up, do a few reps of each, etc.  Performing warm ups so formulated will over time build considerable prerequisite strength.

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This Saturday night, our good friend Sean Milar is the Main Event at a boxing match fundraiser.  All proceeds go to the Youth Cadet Program of the San Fernando Valley, of which he and I were a part.  The gym has a few tickets left at 10 dollars, otherwise they are twelve dollars at the door.  Ask Zeb for details.

The new and improved Julie.