Structuring a week

Questions: Quick question on rest in general -- what do you think the ideal amount of days one should be doing a cross fit workout?  3 days in a row, 1 day off? 4 days on and 1 off? And on the day off do you think doing something like running is fine or should I completely take the day off?

For the general crossfitter 3-5xs per week is plenty. I prefer a split that follows the structure of your work week, like 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off. IF you want to come 4 or 5 times per week but you find the volume of work a bit much ,you are responsible for scaling (or asking for help on scaling) on your own. As programmer, I am responsible for considering folks who do 1 x per week and 7 xs per week- you can see how that may be tricky. If CrossFit is your only workout, just doing crossfit should be fine. If you are doing crossfit to supplement other goals, i.e. running an adventure race, you may need to do specific activities like running once or twice a week. 

Taking a rest week

The Open is over, prior to that we went through weeks of testing. Are you feeling spent, perhaps much less energetic during workouts or at work. Maybe it's time to take a rest week. Here are some thoughts on coming into the gym and treating it as a deload (rest) week simultaneously:

1. Come less often. If you usually come in 5 times/week, come in 2-3 and do the regularly scheduled workouts.

2. Come in a regular amount of days but only perform the strength work. Or only perform the conditioning work. Let your coach know what you're up to and get their input as well.

3. Hit lower strength numbers. Take it easy on the conditioning. This allows you to move well but not strenuously which I have found to help speed recovery.

4. Get extra sleep. Do more mobility work. Play a new sport instead of coming to the gym. 

5. Approach conditioning workouts as practice sessions. Take a workout with lots of hang power snatches and go light so you can truly focus on proper technique. 

6. Replace the time you usually spend working out with things that make you happy (like reading or playing guitar) or catch up on some work you've been putting off. (Have you done your taxes yet?)

Many deload techniques are specific to individual athlete, so talk to your coach for more ideas.

At the end of a deload week, you should be hungry to return to the gym, and happy you took the time off to rest mentally, physically and emotionally.

Private Training Sessions

A couple of weeks ago I met with MacKenzie Landers of 5:45 AM fame for a private training session. She had some kind words to share with the group:

I have actually talked about our session in person with a few classmates as I don't think many think about it - the need to take some time to really focus on their movements and evaluate their weaknesses. By weakness I simply mean areas of opportunity for improvement   You don't have to hate an exercise because you cannot do it - you can do it maybe you just need to better understand how YOU can do it. You don't have to be bad at something you just have to be a person who is committed to your well being and constant improvement. Being in CrossFit already makes you a specific type of person, one who wants to push themselves beyond their limits physically and the mental comes with it - most not realizing that is part of it initially.  

Our session was generated because I know I can do better but I also know I have some past injuries that impact me as well as simple movements that are more challenging for me based on my body construction.  I want to improve my strength and my overall results. To me, improving comes from constant training - smart, educated training. I am the type of person who needs structure - I need to see and hear how to do a movement, many times over and over again, and then I need to practice over and over again. Training with you helped me slow down and evaluate each movement as it relates to the overall exercise and how little tweaks make it easier and more efficient. The mental process and specific words/phrases we worked on I now use every time I walk up to a bar. How you go down is how you come up. Be patient, go straight up. We all want to make it easier and more efficient so we can continue to get stronger as in the end we never really want it to be too easy otherwise we wouldn't be CrossFitters. 

Your suggestion on the shoes was helpful as I had been considering them and although only a few classes in, I feel more comfortable and confident (physical and mental pieces again). 

Additionally, that one productive hour left me feeling motivated to continue improving not only strength but doing the exercises RIGHT! You must do them right before you can go up with weight. 

Lastly, now that you know some of the specific trouble areas or key phrases that help me - our regular class sessions allow you to instantly notice and communicate quick fixes (that I understand what you are talking about due to our private) that improve each workout. 

I would recommend a private to EVERYONE and I do plan to do more with you as I seek constant challenge and growth. 

Thank you and please edit freely and use what you want and don't want. 

I had a great time with you and feel it was rewarding on many levels.

Thank you, Mac, for this and for being awesome. If you would like to be as awesome as Mac, shoot me an email and we will set up a session.

You're fitter than you think you are

You're fitter than you think you are. Make sure you are unleashing the true beast within by following these guidelines.

Strength- Put more weight on the bar.

I walked around all day today adding weight to athletes' bars because they were scared to go heavy. Failing occasionally because the weight is too heavy is okay, now you know what to aim for (or just under) next time. Not being able to move a heavy weight is often not an issue of strength, it's a result of not being able to push mentally to work through the struggle. 

Watch this video of lifters at CrossFit Dynamo going for max front squats. Pay attention to what breaks down or what is holding them back as they lift near their maximums. Did their form breakdown? Is it a balance issue? Can you tell their head got in the way and they gave up? Push yourself. Get stronger. 

Conditioning- Plan better, rest less.

This is an issue of mental fortitude again. We've talked a lot about "designated cheerleaders" recently, when you don't have that luxury, you have to push yourself. Also make sure you rest smartly. Don't bend over, heave and whine. Stay focused, breathe and get back to work.

Tips for 13.5

Do you remember when I put a 5 minute time cap on Fran the other day? You had a case of "fuckarounditis" until the last minute, then you shoved the gun in your mouth and got to work. Welcome to four minutes of that hell. 

Holy shit...

This one is a beast. Let me reiterate a few previous tips quickly- no one can scale the Open WODs, never miss a rep, don't let your grip fail, use a designated cheerleader, move efficiently and have a strategy for the toughest 4 minutes of your life. Two more tips...

Work. Then when you don't want to work any more. Work. 

And know yourself. If you can do a set unbroken, cool, do it. If you need to rest, do it. Breathe. Then get back to work. The math is simple folks- 15 thrusters or pull ups every 40 seconds will get you to infinity and beyond. Are you mentally tough enough to get there?

This is the only post where I'll pass on saying have fun. There should never be anything fun about Fran. 

Rich Froning's theme song post 13.5.

Weightlifting belts

Help! I keep hurting my lower back at crossfit. A friend, and non-crossfiter, but former lifter suggested I wear a weight lifting belt. He was surprised we didnt already wear them. Why dont we wear them? Should I try it?

There's probably no harm in trying a weightlifting belt. One way to do it- during strength work, don't wear your belt as you're warming up. Then put it on when your working at 75%+ your 1RM. During conditioning work, make sure the belt isn't interfering with good movement patterns, and don't wear it all the time. We want to strengthen our core sans belt as much as possible.

More important than all of that though, make sure you're moving correctly all the time. We have this idea that all conditioning workouts should eventually look like shit, that's how we know we're working hard enough- WRONG. Quality comes first, always. CrossFit has been preaching for a long time- movement quality, then consistency, THEN intensity. If you need to back off (on weight or speed) to move better while you're learning a movement- do. That's how you'll protect and strengthen your back.

Training vs. Testing

We have seen a lot of testing recently. Six weeks of testing at the gym (SUBMIT YOUR SCORES HERE.) We're headed into the last week of the open. These tests have been a great opportunity to push yourself as hard as possible to learn where your true boundaries lie. Should you do that on every conditioning workout? In every strength set? NO. Pushing yourself to this level constantly will leave you burnt out, over trained or injured. Marathoners only periodically train at race pace. Football players very rarely perform plays at a game-level intensity. Baseball players scrimmage at sunflower seed spittin' levels. CrossFitters, good news- it's okay for you to do the same thing. Make sure you're maintaining the intended training stimulus, then train sub maximally and compete like a bad ass.