PR everyday. Seriously.

     

     Feb 8, 2015 I went to the Donny Shankle seminar.  One of his theories is to PR everyday.  He went so far as to say that he hadn't PR'd his snatch for a period of YEARS early in his career but he would always find something to PR in his training sessions.  He is an Olympic weightlifter so he would do squats, front squats, C&J, position work, pauses, doubles, triples, complexes, etc....

     As a crossfitter its WAY easier to "find something" to PR in at each session.

     So that's the "theory".  In practice, I've found something to PR in at almost EVERY workout for the last month plus.  This has done exactly what Shankle said it would do, kept me excited.

     The other thing it has done is applied overload to my limits.  Which is the only way you improve.

     As a CF athlete, I can log a million things on my little mywod app (and I do).  I can look at things like unbroken double unders, max wallballs in 60 seconds, in addition to the big lifts for various rep schemes and position work and benchmark wods, etc....

     I was speaking to my coach about this (Blair Morrison) and he said this is component that is part of the success of the Westside barbell ideology with their powerlifters conjugate training.  Using bands, chains, inclines, declines, dumbells, deficits, etc...allows them to constantly vary their attack and always work to PR "something" and the sum total is increases in the big 3 lifts they care about.

     As far as what I care about it's a lot more than the big 3 powerlifting lifts, its those, the Olympic lifts, engine work, gymnastics, and on and on.....

A couple big principles:

1. You must record your sessions.  I use mywod as I mentioned to log the big things/milestones.  But I also write on the little hand held whiteboard my session and take a picture of it each day.  This lets me look quickly if I've done something and if so at what weight/reps.

 2. You want to sneak up on your PR's but not repeat them.  If your PR hang snatch is 165, go for a little less and then a little more.  That's why I have a ton of 1 kilo or 2.5 lbs PR's.  It breaks down a mental barrier for one, and then it absolutely counts as overload since you've never done the weight before.  The longer you've been lifting the harder PR's are to come by.  1 kilo is 1 kilo!

3. If you have to sandbag from time to time, do it!  If I'm having a bad gym day, I may have to go stretch to find something, but I am not leaving the gym till I have a PR.  Then record it and come back to fight another day.

Crossfit injuries...

   
     The sport of fitness is no different than the sport of football, the sport of running, the sport of basketball.  If you decide to play those sports 5 days a week, you will likely get hurt overtime with injuries of over use or trauma.  It's not a surprise at all.  So when there is talk about Crossfit being dangerous, I agree.  It's as dangerous as any other sport you commit to.  And if you pick up those sports as a mature adult....then it should REALLY be no surprise if you have sports related injuries along the way.

     I missed a clean years ago (2012) and broke my wrist and tore the scapho lunate ligament.  Now it will dislocate if I'm not careful to really brace it up.  I can still HS walk, do MU's, clean heavy weights, etc...but I need to be careful.  If it dislocates (which it has done 3-4 times since 2012) I have to stop and pull and wiggle the hand until the bones "clunk" back into place.  Surgery would fix the problem but cause others in my "sport".  So I'm not ready for that.

     I felt a click in my knee on the back foot a few years ago (2013) on a light split jerk.  It immediately felt weak and unstable and painful.  I wasn't careful and didn't keep my back heel firmly turned out and it tweaked the meniscus.  I had to make a few changes, now I split jerk with my right foot forward.  It took a little time (4 months) but I can still squat full depth, do pistols, box jumps, etc...I just need to warm up well.  And if I sit still too long without walking around the knee stiffens up when I get up and walk the 1st 10+ steps.  It's just a little sore, but otherwise I can function in my "sport".

     I recently found out I have a probable SLAP lesion (torn labrum) in my left shoulder.  It's an irritant when doing push ups or muscle ups and things like that.  Hurts over my AC joint.  It clunks when I mobilize it pre-workout.  It's not operative at this point because its still stable.  (These issues are common with overhead athletes.)  I think it all started with a missed muscle up last year where I didn't let go of the rings fast enough and my shoulder got hyperextended,  Not terrible, just a little sore.  Then in a pressing cycle a few months ago it started to be much more sore and hasn't gotten much less sore.  Provided I focus on rotator cuff exercise and proper warm up, I can still play my "sport".

     So how do you avoid these injuries?  

     How do other dedicated athletes stay healthy?  The short answer is they don't.....Seriously, MOST athletes get injuries from their sports over time.  They rehab and get back to it.  There are very few Cal Ripken's in the world of sports.  Most athletes spend some time on the disabled list.  It's almost inevitable.  

     The long answer is:

Work on weak links-If you are prone to low back pain then you need to make supplemental core work and hip mobility part of your everydays.  If you get an injury, you need to prioritize it.

Warm up for you-On my drive to the box I stretch out my wrists and have a little yellow theraband I warm up my left shoulder rotator cuff with.  I hit the X-over symmetry a little bit, I have a shoulder and lower body mobility warm up I do.

Have good coaches-Good coaches will be able to take into account your problems and problem areas and modify WOD's for you and on top of that give you homework to address these areas.

Use good judgement- This may be one of the hardest parts for many because of the nature of our sport.  We are constantly competing against ourselves and others.  The internal pressure to do better must always be measured by the risks of failure to do it safely.  Take the outfielder who runs with reckless abandon into the centerfield wall while catching likely home run.  He might just hurt himself on that, but its a risk he is taking.  Should he give up the home run?  Only he can answer that. But he might end up sitting out the next 3 weeks if he hits the wall just right....

     So fellow athlete's, I hope your sport is still fun for and that you stay healthy!

Good luck, bad luck....what's the difference

One of my favorite lessons, stories, what have you, is the farmer and is it good luck or bad luck...

"There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?

Who knows?"

     This story means more and more to me as I get older.  I've tried to stop investing in my own outcome and realizing that "you just never know" how things are going to ultimately turn out.

     I think the most compelling proof of this is losing my job at 24 and getting separated from my wife at 40.  Both felt like the end of the world but created wonderful things in my life years later.

     Good luck, bad luck?  Who knows....