Training in the heat is uncomfortable. For many of us, the fact that it’s a hot day and the CrossFit gym doesn’t have air conditioning makes us feel lethargic. The heat seems to drain our energy. So much so that we don’t even feel like doing the “met-con” portion of the work out of the day!
CrossFit has turned working out into a sport. As a sport, It’s relatively new compared to other sports that have been around for a long time like basketball, baseball, and football. People that jump into most new sports without proper training can be injured at a higher rate than those that train properly. Since Crossfit training involves movements that are new to many people such as kipping pull-ups, toes-to-bars, olympic lifts, gymnastics ring work and much more, I’m not surprised that injuries occur, especially without proper training.
If you’re like many busy people, preparing to go to a gym after work or squeezing it in during lunch is tough, especially when you are already feeling overwhelmed. You can still be in good shape though. Going to the gym puts you in an environment where you feel compelled to do some type of exercise, but if you integrate exercises and a movement routine throughout your day, then going to the gym will be a bonus instead of a requirement for staying in shape. Here are a few exercise routines and ideas some if you can integrate into your life to keep you in shape.
Been doing Crossfit for a few years and realize regular WOD programming is not helping me improve leg strength so I’ve started a leg training program called Hatch. The goal is to increase leg strength which should translate to better performance in WOD’s. I will put this to the test.
Not too long ago, for one of our daily WOD + strength workouts at our CrossFit gym, we started off the strength portion of the workout with a 5×5 squat. After a brief warm up of 2-3 sets of 135 pounds, I felt that I was ready to begin increasing the weight. At around 205 lbs. at the bottom of the descent of the squat, I felt a sudden pain on the lower back. It was an acute pain and caused my legs to weaken and give out. Luckily, I was able to bail out and dropped the barbell behind me.
After about an hour, I was able to slowly get up with assistance and “walk it off”. The next couple of days would be very difficult in terms of just getting out of bed. After 7 days of the injury, I was still having issues sitting up without pain.
This acute injury was caused by my impatience to not warm up properly as well as increase weight too quickly. When faced with an injury like this, there’s a few things to keep in mind during your recovery.
This is the first of many video posts of my workout progress for specific movements. I am trying to improve not only the amount of weight, repetition or distance for these movements but most importantly for me, the correct technique and form.
I first came across the Easy Strength program by listening to an interview with its creator Pavel Tsatsouline on the Tim Ferris show. What drew me to the program was its simple approach to building strength which Dan John (a co-author of the Easy Strength book who has a great post on the easy strength program ) boils down to three core tenants:
Are you trying to get stronger for a specific competition? Are you trying to look better for beach season or are you simply trying to feel more energetic and be less winded when you play with your kids? Since everybody’s notion of fitness differ based on what they are trying to achieve, it’s important for you to decide what your goals are and develop a stance and direction on what you really want to accomplish.
Personally, I focus on a solid training routine that involves weights, HIIT, mobility, and recovery.