So, I haven't been able to walk much since Monday. Yeah, one of those kind of squat days. I hadn't done a heavy 5x5 day in a long time and it took a lot out of me.
Coach said to take it easy as we'll be doing this cycle for 4-5 weeks straight. Start light. What did I do? Not light. And I payed for it.
Next time, I need to put my ego behind me. I've been thinking that I'm training the same way that I used to. 5x5 was my bread and butter for so long, I think I can still do it. I can't. I'm old and decrepit now.
Your coaches are smarter than you. You should listen to them. This isn't much of a ramble. It's more of a "stop being an idiot" note to myself.
Showing posts with label insight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insight. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
Good Bail
An interesting thing happened tonight. No one hit any huge numbers, no one got seriously injured, nothing spectacular happened. But still, there was brilliance.
I finished my set in the rack, turned around and watched two people chatting behind another girl struggling through her set of squats. The girl was quite obviously stuck in that spot we all get stuck in sometimes on the squat, you've finished your bounce, you've made it up a good couple inches to the hip hinge, and then.. it all falls to shit.
Rather than freak out or look for help, she nonchalantly opened her hands, shrugged her shoulders and let the bar fall. She then turned to the two people chatting behind her who asked if she was okay and informed them that they were in more danger than she was because they weren't paying attention.
I walked over, cleaned her bar off the floor for her and back into the rack before giving her daps on a good bail. If you're going to lift, you better know how to fail correctly and she did just that.
Sometimes you have to pay the iron price when you're going heavy. You've got that weight on your back, but you can't let it keep you pinned down. Always know the fastest and safest way out. If you don't respect the weight enough to build a contingency plan, then you're not ready to get underneath it to begin with.
Always know your escape route.
I finished my set in the rack, turned around and watched two people chatting behind another girl struggling through her set of squats. The girl was quite obviously stuck in that spot we all get stuck in sometimes on the squat, you've finished your bounce, you've made it up a good couple inches to the hip hinge, and then.. it all falls to shit.
Rather than freak out or look for help, she nonchalantly opened her hands, shrugged her shoulders and let the bar fall. She then turned to the two people chatting behind her who asked if she was okay and informed them that they were in more danger than she was because they weren't paying attention.
I walked over, cleaned her bar off the floor for her and back into the rack before giving her daps on a good bail. If you're going to lift, you better know how to fail correctly and she did just that.
Sometimes you have to pay the iron price when you're going heavy. You've got that weight on your back, but you can't let it keep you pinned down. Always know the fastest and safest way out. If you don't respect the weight enough to build a contingency plan, then you're not ready to get underneath it to begin with.
Always know your escape route.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
High Rep Complex Movements
This topic comes up from time to time on CrossFit and weightlifting blogs. How the CF community takes a very complex movement, mainly the clean and jerk/snatch, and then have people do a lot of reps of these movements. People say it's an awful idea and I for the most part, agree. I say for the most part, because I do have some reservations about it.
I hate trying to do a workout RX when it's a rather large weight and a movement that I think is unsafe at high reps... like today's. If I had known that the workout was going to take such a downward spiral, I would have dropped the weight and approached it differently. This was a bit of hubris and a bit of it being far too early to think properly.
So, the main reservation I have about the approach of high reps of complex movements, is that I subscribe to the idea that you need to complete 10,000 reps of something to truly master it. It's a common enough idea, you do something 10,000 times and you're probably going to be pretty well versed in it. It changes from person to person, some say 10,000 hours.
There's an obvious flaw to this logic though(don't mind me if I tend to talk in circles and disprove myself when I ramble). If you're doing 10,000 reps incorrectly, you are mastering something incorrectly. But I'm thinking that if you do something over even a 1000 times, you're not doing it incorrectly. You're inherently going to fix your form. Sure, you could do Isabel with shitty form(Isabel is 30 snatches for time). You could definitely throw your back out doing such a workout. But, if you want to get good enough that your times are starting to be competitive, I'm positive that you can't do so with bad form.
Your body is going to figure out how to do that movement correctly. Is it "perfect" by someone else's standards? Doesn't have to be. I'm sure Coach Pendlay has some issues with Jason Khalipa's snatch form, I know I do. But you know what, he does it sub 2 minutes. Is it pretty? Nope. But, his body has figured out how to do that very complex movement safely and efficiently.
So, the take away. Go lower weights. That's what I should have done this morning. In a workout where there is something that is complex(read: C&J, Snatch, Deadlift, etc.) drop the weight and get your reps in. Figure out the movement; listen to your coaches and listen to your body. If you're ever going to master a movement, you need to get your reps in. Just be smart about it.
I hate trying to do a workout RX when it's a rather large weight and a movement that I think is unsafe at high reps... like today's. If I had known that the workout was going to take such a downward spiral, I would have dropped the weight and approached it differently. This was a bit of hubris and a bit of it being far too early to think properly.
So, the main reservation I have about the approach of high reps of complex movements, is that I subscribe to the idea that you need to complete 10,000 reps of something to truly master it. It's a common enough idea, you do something 10,000 times and you're probably going to be pretty well versed in it. It changes from person to person, some say 10,000 hours.
There's an obvious flaw to this logic though(don't mind me if I tend to talk in circles and disprove myself when I ramble). If you're doing 10,000 reps incorrectly, you are mastering something incorrectly. But I'm thinking that if you do something over even a 1000 times, you're not doing it incorrectly. You're inherently going to fix your form. Sure, you could do Isabel with shitty form(Isabel is 30 snatches for time). You could definitely throw your back out doing such a workout. But, if you want to get good enough that your times are starting to be competitive, I'm positive that you can't do so with bad form.
Your body is going to figure out how to do that movement correctly. Is it "perfect" by someone else's standards? Doesn't have to be. I'm sure Coach Pendlay has some issues with Jason Khalipa's snatch form, I know I do. But you know what, he does it sub 2 minutes. Is it pretty? Nope. But, his body has figured out how to do that very complex movement safely and efficiently.
So, the take away. Go lower weights. That's what I should have done this morning. In a workout where there is something that is complex(read: C&J, Snatch, Deadlift, etc.) drop the weight and get your reps in. Figure out the movement; listen to your coaches and listen to your body. If you're ever going to master a movement, you need to get your reps in. Just be smart about it.
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