Riding the Pine

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Mobility/Warm Up:

Classic CrossFit Warm Up(hilarious)
2 rounds, 10 reps of:
-Overhead Squats w/PVC
-GHD sit ups
-Back extensions
-Push ups -or- Ring push ups
-Pull ups 

Gymnastics Warm-up:

Perform 5 rounds or 20 minutes for QUALITY of: 

-15 Hollow rocks + 15 Arch rocks
-7 Strict Ring dips + 10 second Support Hold
-45 second Handstand hold (chest facing wall)

*Rest 30 seconds between sets.

Notes:  This is for quality!  Work progressions that you can maintain perfect form and really focus on body position!

Conditioning:

AMRAP 12 minutes: 

-20 Steps KB OH Walking Lunges (Right), 24/16kg
-15 Pull-ups
-20 Steps KB OH Walking Lunges (Left), 24/16kg
-15 Toes to bar

Notes: Scale number of Pull-ups, weight of KB (may use Dumbbells) as needed.  Toes to bar may be substituted with Ab-mat sit ups.  Goal is to keep moving!

Cool Down:

-Couch stretch
-Cobra stretch
-Foam roll as needed

So tight, can’t wait to climb on a real rock like this bad ass

Well, injuries are part of the sport.

This is what I keep telling myself as I try to justify the reasons behind the recent trauma I experienced with my left shoulder this past weekend while climbing at Rockreation, a local indoor climbing gym.  I tell myself all the time, “If you’re not getting injured, you probably aren’t doing anything that’s that cool.”  I adamantly believe this.   

This injury could have been avoided if I chose to not do such a difficult climb so early in my climbing career.  I figured I was athletic and strong enough to conquer any path that was on the wall…too bad I wasn’t smart enough.  I jumped ahead of the other students in my class and chose not to apply the techniques the instructor was giving us.  The competitor in me was bored with the 5.5 and 5.6 climbs that were on the wall and went straight for the 5.11.  What was I thinking?  My father has a term for people in these situations; ‘meathead’.  Its funny; everyday I demand that our athletes are safe and make smart decisions with the amount of weight and movements we use everyday in class to avoid INJURY…I guess I don’t practice what I preach!!  Geez, Hynes.

I have made great strides this past month and I will not let this injury slow me down.  I know it is inevitable that I will take a step back with my barbell gymnastics and many other gymnastic movements but, as we always say in CrossFit, everything is scalable.  I have spent a lot of time focusing on my absolute strength with back squats and my olympic lifts.  My conditioning has been OK but there is a ton of room for improvement.  Having a bum shoulder for a couple weeks going forward will give me plenty of time to build up my conditioning through running, double unders, and box jumps.  I can still make gains with my squats and GHD sit ups.  My focus going forward is to go crazy with intensity, keep squating, and build my core strength.  

The point to this post is for you athletes to understand that injuries happen whether you try to avoid them or if you’re a meathead.  We can not allow an injury to hold us back, we need to figure out a way to get around it and continue to improve even if we are not at 100%.  This also applies to skill level and mobility.  We can always scale movements and workouts to fit into our fitness mold so do not get frustrated with the lemons we have been given…make a margarita!!(?)