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!

Why non CF folks think CF folks are jerks...

Why do most non-crossfitter look at us like we're jerks?

     The short answer...nobody likes a zealot.  

Zealot-a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

     
     Most folks believe what they believe and, unless they are seeking answers, its usually offensive to them to be given a recipe that they didn't ask for.  "You should really come to my CF gym...."

     It reminds me of my life before I came to my spiritual beliefs.  When folks would come knocking on the door to tell me about Jesus, it was at best a nuisance, at worst irritating.  ("Get these Jesus freaks out of here!!")

     I know a lot of folks that reject faith entirely because of their encounters with a zealot early in life.  You hear stories of folks that were "beaten over the head with religion" at a young age and grew to disdain it for a long long time, if not forever.

     So what is the answer in getting folks to share our love of Crossfit?

I think the answer is generally the same across the board when it comes to sharing our faith in anything.  

1. Work off of the principle of love and not fear.  (You're going to hell only works for so long and doesn't do much to create a love relationship with God.)  For example, mocking or condemning someone's exercise program is a poor choice vs. explaining that they might really enjoy coming to CF with you as your guest.

2. Be a beacon and an example without belaboring the point.  There's a reason people make the joke: How do you know someone does CF?  Because its all they ever talk about.  Strive for balance in your life and conversations or people are going to label you in the "fanatical zealot" camp.

3. Keep in mind that many people have issues with the thing you love that have nothing to do with you or what you love.  Folks that struggle with self acceptance and feeling good enough are often going to be reluctant to be vulnerable and try something new when it comes to exercise.  Just like folks with a skewed concept of God and faith will be very defensive and closed to stepping out of their insulated world view to look into different spiritual beliefs.  Tread lightly.

Working around and through injuries

        It seems like everywhere I look in my Crossfit gym (just like in a normal gym) there are people with injuries or sore spots.  The biggest difference is that in a normal gym environment you tend to pick your own exercises and its easy to stay away from the ones that hurt.  In Crossfit, you are being programmed exercises that will sooner or later expose your issues.

        Here is where smart training comes into play.  Smart training is finding things that you can do that don't make your problem worse (and doing them).  That's #1.  #2 is addressing your problem areas.

      Find what you can do.  Last Friday I pulled my Teres Major muscle during chest to bar pull ups.  I can still feel the area when I pull my shoe on each morning.  Guess what I can't do?  Pull ups.  And I found that there are other things I can't do either since then.  So I went in Saturday and squatted.  Then I played around with bench press and found that was fine too.  This week I've been exposed to pull ups, muscle ups, and toes to bar in the workouts.  I used a band on the pull ups.  I picked a different exercise to sub in for the muscle ups.  And I just lifted my knees to chest (any higher and it was uncomfortable).  I have been working hard since the injury last week and haven't made my shoulder any worse.

     Address your problem areas.  First and foremost my muscle needs some rest.  So I haven't been testing it.  But I've also been on the lacrosse ball each day, I've done rotator cuff exercises, stretched it out.  I am on the "get this thing better" plan.  I'm not ignoring it but I'm going after it.  The banded pull ups are designed to make the muscle lengthen and shorten in a pain free range.  I'm using the muscle to keep it healthy without stressing it.  I'm getting some blood flow into it.

     Too often I see folks do what I call checking the picture frame.  What I mean is imagine that a picture frame falls to the ground and breaks at the corner joint.  You glue it together.  Now instead of leaving it alone to bind, you anxiously keep checking the connection, pulling it apart to see if its ready to hang on the wall again.  Everytime, the glued area comes apart and you have to start over.  Well eventually you have a gunky build up of old glue and the frame no longer looks right and its hard to even use anymore.  The same thing happens to people with injuries.  They can't seem to leave it alone long enough or do the right things for it to let it heal.  Instead they keep testing it and setting themselves back.

     It's entirely possible to rest an area without resting your entire body.  I come home dripping with sweat after each workout but my shoulder is no worse for it.  You have to train smart with an injury.  And while you may not know the rehab stuff I know, I guarantee that you can get the info.  Heck, just ask me if you want!