Last weekend I had the opportunity to be a judge at the CrossFit Games PA-MD-DE Sectional. This is the first CrossFit competition I've attended. Typically, I only compete in one 'race' a year and it's usually some sort of outdoor triathlon or mini-adventure race. I'm never in the hunt, but it's usually fun and done with friends, but I'm always thinking in the back of my mind "this is great but what it needs is some deadlifts for time or a 20 minute AMRAP in the transition area."
Anyway, what did I learn?
0 - There are some beasts out there. The fittest people I know from my old CF box placed no higher than 5th and those were the women with a field of around 30. The firebreather guys from that box didn't make the 20-person cut to go to regionals and these guys are seriously bad-ass compared to just about anyone else in any other gym anywhere around. Dedicated, hard-training, hard-thinking, good-eating athletes and they're only top-third at a sectionals competition. Wow. The videos and pics from the last few years of CF games don't do those athletes justice, but go head-to-head and you would be amazed.
1 - I like to suffer. If people are voluntarily suffering, then that's where I want to be. In this case, since I couldn't suffer by competing, I managed to weasel my way out of a nice, warm, cushy, inside judge spot at the 3-minute 185lb-ground-to-overhead-anyway-possible-wod and into the torrential flooding rain and horse-winds of the apocolypse' outside at the kettlebell OHS wod. In shorts. Without a rain jacket. Good times. Bad weather always means good times when you're outside! Floods, blizzards, hurricanes, nor'easters, -20F temps... those are the fondest backpacking and climbing trips in my memories.
2 - There is some horrible form out there. It was hard not to simply keep my mouth shut and judge and not try to coach. Some judges had more success with this, some had less. Some didn't try. Some athletes appreciated the coaching, some didn't. I stuck with simply counting reps and indicating when the athlete missed a rep (or was getting close) because of incomplete ROM (for the k-bell OHS it was constantly "deeper squat" or "fully extend at the top" for the lower-performing athletes). But some folks could have really used some simple cues like "weight on your heels" or "push out with your knees". Bad form is one of the biggest criticisms people levy against CFers pushing hard in time-priority wods. There's probably nothing that can be done in competition, but I hope these folks are getting good instruction on a daily basis from there coaches/trainers/friends/family, and that these coaches/trainers/friends/family have the fortitude to insist on better form.
3 - Appearances are deceiving. There were some big dudes there that were middle-of-the-road in the heavy wods, and there some tiny folks that crushed it. I love that. I mean, I LOVE that. It's like a 100 horsepower Sportster. I love sleepers, whether it's my bike or a friends physical appearance.
4 - The best indicator that I could see on how well a particular athlete was going to do on a particular wod was a combination of: 1) the ease and 2) the form, with which that athlete did any practice reps. Just easily tossing 185 lbs overhead once or twice might make you think that an athlete is going to kill the Clean and Jerk wod, but if they weren't fully extending the hips or they were pulling with the arms early you would see that form only further degrade over the first 10 reps and all that wasted energy would lead to missed reps or long breaks over the next few minutes.
5 - I still hate fashion. CrossFit is developing it's own little fashion culture and it's as silly as any other. Lulu Lemon for the girls. CrossFit T's with crazy graphics and ridiculous tag lines for the guys. Those crazy socks to protect shins during Oly lifts. I could do without any of that. I'm partial to cheap k-mart shorts and A-shirts. But then again, maybe that's why my Fran time sucks.
6 - CF competitions probably need a little mountain biking or kayaking or rapelling to find my sweet spot. Looks like I'm gonna have to start my own competitions. Ones that are perfectly suited to my strengths and address none of my weaknesses!
CREDIT: Obviously that's not my video, it's from the CrossFit Mainsite on March 20th, 2010. It was done by CF Again Faster, who happen to be good people. The guy that started Again Faster (and whose name is escaping me now) was one my Level 1 instructors and a super-friendly and funny guy. Worth checking out if you're looking for CF gear.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Recognizing Excellence
It's been another rough February.
Just like last year I'm looking at a nagging rehab of a herniated disc that has already seriously limited all the good winter fun and is beginning to threaten the shoulder season that allows me to train hard enough for full enjoyment of Spring. The days are getting longer, and warmer, and although my thoughts should be on the condition of the North Face of Gothics, instead I'm thinking about the importance of recognizing competence -- excellence even -- in the people from whom you take advice.
Case in point: my back.
The doctor: Due to similarity of my pain to previous episodes known (by MRI) to be related to a herniated L5-S1 disc, she recommended the standard conservative treatment along with physical therapy (PT). She spent a few minutes with me, most of it typing in a computer. She gave me painkillers to get me through the day and muscle relaxers to reduce the spasms which -- I was told -- was the actual source of pain.
The first Physical Therapist (PT): After a week or so of just being barely mobile, with debilitating pain that would occasionally cause near blackouts when getting out of the truck I got my first PT appointment. He had me stretch what I could (my calves!) and do what little bracing exercises I could do. I would spend an hour at PT. He would be in the room for about 1/3 of that, just long enough to put some ice under my back, or hook up the e-stim (which I LOVE, the best part of this hack was he gave me the controls to the e-stim and let me just crank it up as high as wanted... I'm a sucker for this shock therapy. I'd crank that up to just a little less than would cause a full back arch that would lift me off the table. I loved that!), or put on the ultrasound thing. I got progressively worse under his care. It got to the point that sometime 10-15 steps is all I could manage. He couldn't place his care in context except to say that actual spinal manipulation would be a very bad idea. After two sessions and a degrading condition, I dropped that facility (which I won't name here, I'm sure they're nice people and effective in other cases).
The second PT: During the first appointment at Penn States Sports Medicine, my PT spent over an hour with me. Watching me carefully. Talking with me. Making me move and describe the pain, it's intensity, it's quality, how it changes in different positions and how it had changed since we started the session. When she put me in what I recognized from my own reading to be a "Mckenzie" posture, she described what we were going to do, what the reasoning behind it was. When I asked about McGill's evidence that limited flexibility in the lumbar spine actually helped prevent lumbar injuries and my concern that the end range of motion required by Mckenzie's methods might not be helpful. She discussed it with me. She got down at my level (since I was facedown on the table) and we talked about it and was able to place different methods in context. When I left, she gave me her copy of Mckenzie's "Treat Your Own Back" for further study. A week later, when I had improved greatly but plateaued in my recovery, she admitted she could try only one other technique (lumbar flexion, after fastidiously avoiding any lumbar flexion for weeks priot) before reaching the limit of what she might have to offer me, but suggested others I might see if I wasn't improving when we next met. The lumbar flexion worked, despite being contraindicated by most of my symptons, and I'm on a generally positive slope of improvement again.
The important point is this: When you're dealing with anything important to you (health, life, family, even your job, maybe), you have to recognize what excellence is. What it looks like and sounds, how it behaves. How it fits into your broader understanding of life... And how it doesn't. Sorting the truth from the bullshit can make all the difference. Start by differentiating between students of truth and bullshitters.
Just like last year I'm looking at a nagging rehab of a herniated disc that has already seriously limited all the good winter fun and is beginning to threaten the shoulder season that allows me to train hard enough for full enjoyment of Spring. The days are getting longer, and warmer, and although my thoughts should be on the condition of the North Face of Gothics, instead I'm thinking about the importance of recognizing competence -- excellence even -- in the people from whom you take advice.
Case in point: my back.
The doctor: Due to similarity of my pain to previous episodes known (by MRI) to be related to a herniated L5-S1 disc, she recommended the standard conservative treatment along with physical therapy (PT). She spent a few minutes with me, most of it typing in a computer. She gave me painkillers to get me through the day and muscle relaxers to reduce the spasms which -- I was told -- was the actual source of pain.
The first Physical Therapist (PT): After a week or so of just being barely mobile, with debilitating pain that would occasionally cause near blackouts when getting out of the truck I got my first PT appointment. He had me stretch what I could (my calves!) and do what little bracing exercises I could do. I would spend an hour at PT. He would be in the room for about 1/3 of that, just long enough to put some ice under my back, or hook up the e-stim (which I LOVE, the best part of this hack was he gave me the controls to the e-stim and let me just crank it up as high as wanted... I'm a sucker for this shock therapy. I'd crank that up to just a little less than would cause a full back arch that would lift me off the table. I loved that!), or put on the ultrasound thing. I got progressively worse under his care. It got to the point that sometime 10-15 steps is all I could manage. He couldn't place his care in context except to say that actual spinal manipulation would be a very bad idea. After two sessions and a degrading condition, I dropped that facility (which I won't name here, I'm sure they're nice people and effective in other cases).
The second PT: During the first appointment at Penn States Sports Medicine, my PT spent over an hour with me. Watching me carefully. Talking with me. Making me move and describe the pain, it's intensity, it's quality, how it changes in different positions and how it had changed since we started the session. When she put me in what I recognized from my own reading to be a "Mckenzie" posture, she described what we were going to do, what the reasoning behind it was. When I asked about McGill's evidence that limited flexibility in the lumbar spine actually helped prevent lumbar injuries and my concern that the end range of motion required by Mckenzie's methods might not be helpful. She discussed it with me. She got down at my level (since I was facedown on the table) and we talked about it and was able to place different methods in context. When I left, she gave me her copy of Mckenzie's "Treat Your Own Back" for further study. A week later, when I had improved greatly but plateaued in my recovery, she admitted she could try only one other technique (lumbar flexion, after fastidiously avoiding any lumbar flexion for weeks priot) before reaching the limit of what she might have to offer me, but suggested others I might see if I wasn't improving when we next met. The lumbar flexion worked, despite being contraindicated by most of my symptons, and I'm on a generally positive slope of improvement again.
The important point is this: When you're dealing with anything important to you (health, life, family, even your job, maybe), you have to recognize what excellence is. What it looks like and sounds, how it behaves. How it fits into your broader understanding of life... And how it doesn't. Sorting the truth from the bullshit can make all the difference. Start by differentiating between students of truth and bullshitters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
