Analyzing the Thruster

image courtesy of CrossFit.com

The thruster has been called the king of metabolic exercises. The combination of a front squat to a push press can be absolutely brutal. But what makes it so killer, and how do you do it right?

First, let's look at the metabolic demand the thruster places on you. We measure intensity as power which = (FxD)/t or Force times Distance divided by time. The thruster allows us to move a significant amount of weight (Force) over one of the longest distances possible (Distance) with a very fast rate of both movement and cycle rate (time).

As you can see in this graph, the more the power output, the more demand on the various energy systems. Compare the thruster to other exercises and you will see why it is so demanding. The deadlift or squat allow us to move more weight, but it is over a shorter distance limiting the power output. The snatch covers a longer distance coming all the way from the floor to overhead, and it is faster than the thruster, but the cycle time prevents it from being as demanding once you go beyond a few reps.

So, how do we do it right and get the most out of the thruster? So, we start like the setup for the front squat with the bar resting on the shoulders, feet shoulder width apart, weight on the heals, back straight. The difference is that in the front squat you want to have your elbows up high so that your upper arms are parallel to the ground. In the thruster, they do need to be up enough that the bar can rest on your shoulders, but they don't need to be up so high that you have no pushing power.

As you descend into the squat, you really need to keep a tight core because if you are soft at the bottom, not only do you risk injury, but you will come out of the whole slowly and waste a lot of energy trying to finish the thruster. EXPLODE out of the bottom and drive up hard from the hips. It is essential that the bar is resting on the shoulders as you come back up. If you start pushing early, you are wasting the momentum that your legs are trying to contribute to the bar.

Once you reach full hip extension, that is when you start the push. It needs to be as straight up and down as possible. You will have to pull your head back as the bar passes in front of your face. As soon as the bar passes the head though, you need to get your head back under the bar. The cue I normally give is "look through the window". At the top, continue to press the bar to the ceiling to achieve active shoulders and pull back on the bar with scapular retraction.

Now you have completed 1 repetition, but your return is just as important as how you got the bar up. You can not just drop into the next rep. First, lower the bar to the shoulders keeping your elbows forward of the bar. Once the bar is resting on the shoulders again, you are ready to bend the hips and start your next repetition.

The smoother and straighter you make the movement of the bar, the more efficient your thrusters will be. Now you are ready to thrash yourself. Here are some final points about training the thruster. Remember that while we can do the thruster as a max strength exercise, is best suited for metabolic conditioning. So, you want to choose a weight that allows you to achieve the greatest metabolic demand. There was a great article in the CrossFit Journal titled "Fooling Around with Fran" where Greg Amundson tested his "Fran" with various weights and rep schemes. The time he was able to complete the workout changed. By analyzing this, he was able to find the best weight for him to train with in order to challenge his metabolic system. The weight that allows you the highest power output is where you want to train this exercise most often. This will change over time as you get stronger and as your endurance and stamina improve, but essentially you can take the 3 Bears approach. You don't want it to be too heavy, but you don't want it to be too light. Somewhere in between is going to be just right.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out and start practicing yourself on the fast track to "Pukie".

Earn Your Leisure

Yesterday, I had a conversation with Lorenzo who relayed his frustrations with getting his family to understand CrossFit. They call it "progressive suicide". They think it's too hard and thus dangerous, and like many people, they think "fit" is looking emaciated rather than being able to actually do things. Why do we bother squatting and deadlifting if all girls care about is six pack abs and bulging biceps? Why do we lay it all out in a WOD, when the rest of the fitness world tells us that we can achieve fitness with just 20 minutes of walking 3 days a week? There seems to be this idea that as humans continue to evolve, we don't need high intensity exercise and that we will adapt to modern activity demands, or lack thereof.

I argue that following this line of thinking is the real "progressive suicide". There was a great article by Paul M. Ribisl, Ph.D. in the ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal from March/ April 2004. In this article he points out some important things to consider. First, the vast majority of our current genome was established during the Paleolithic Era (50,000-10,000 B.C.) This was a time when man had to hunt and forage for food and lived an active lifestyle of "feast and famine". This lead to the survival of our ancestors with the "Thrifty Gene", which allowed for the caveman to efficiently use energy both when it was available and when it wasn't. This same gene has been passed on to us today except we are in a period of "feast and rest" which our "thrifty gene" seems to be punishing us for. We have not adapted well to the diet of the Neolithic Era. In the days of the hunter/ gatherer, man used 1,000Calories/ day in physical activity and ate an average of 3,000Calories/ day for a 3:1 intake to expenditure rate. Today we eat 2,100Calories/ day and only expend 300Calories/ day in physical activity. This gives a 7:1 ratio and explains why obesity is on the rise.

The advancements of the Neolithic Era were an amazing achievement in their time and allowed for a greater abundance of food in less competitive environment. This created the conditions for society to grow and develop and as our farming practices got better, the human population increased. But, the development of agriculture was still physically demanding, and the roles of society still demanded physical labor for the vast majority of people.

The downside of this increased abundance is that in these quantities, we weren't meant to be eating grains, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners. Our genetic code isn't evolutionarily programmed for that. Combine that with the wonders of modern medicine in cholesterol medication, insulin, blood pressure meds, triple bypass surgery, etc. and we have gone against Darwin's law of Survival of the Fittest and allowed weaker genes to get passed along. So, rather than evolving with our technological advances, we are sealing our fate and dependency on medicine.

The only way to fight this is to choose better food, and increase our activity levels. As our lives become physically easier with service industry jobs rather than physical labor, driving rather than walking and biking, and online shopping rather than even walking through the mall; we need to supplement that physical activity just like we would supplement a malnourished diet. The easier and more leisurely our lives, the more intensity we need to bring into it to maintain a healthful high quality of life.

Adrenal Fatigue: The Naturopathic Boogey Man

I'm seeing this "diagnosis" more and more often. First it started sprouting up on message boards frequented by naturopathic doctors, and somehow it has made its way into the fitness community. Often times athletes complain of symptoms that would normally be dismissed as overtraining, yet, on message boards and forums, naturopaths and nutritionists are telling them they have adrenal fatigue. What's worse is their information is down right incorrect. On one forum, I read that adrenal fatigue makes you retain fat. If they had any understanding of adrenal deficiency they would know that impaired adrenal function causes weight loss. Before I get too far, let's address what adrenal fatigue is. Some of the common symptoms are being tired, having trouble getting up in the morning, caffeine addiction, feeling run down, feeling stressed, craving salty or sweet snacks, struggling to keep up with life's demands, illness, stress, and not having fun anymore. You may have just one symptom or all of them. Some common causes of adrenal fatigue are lack of sleep, eating flour or sugar, not eating enough raw vegetables, using caffeine, eating sweet or salty foods, staying up late, trying to be perfect, no win situations, driving yourself, or too few enjoyable activities. The condition of adrenal fatigue is reached when the amount of stress exceeds the body's ability to cope with with stress.

Considering these symptoms and causes, it's clear that absolutely everyone is at risk of developing adrenal fatigue. For those of you with experience in pathology, you know that this is not possible. Conditions with symptoms that overlap and apply to everyone smack of fear mongering. Adrenal fatigue reminds me of a book I read by Dr. Sarno, The Mindbody Prescription. In it, Dr. Sarno discusses the many psychosomatic "diseases" that have progressed over the years. It used to be that everyone had ulcers, then migraines, all children had ADD, back pain, tension myositis syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, and I feel that adrenal fatigue is simply the next ailment that everyone has. Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying here, if you have these symptoms, clearly something is not functioning optimally, but the diagnosis of adrenal fatigue is a blanket diagnosis with no actual medical basis. Further, just because something is psychosomatic doesn't mean you aren't actually experiencing the symptoms, but there must be an underlying condition. I believe in the power of the mind, but I believe that symptoms are the manifestation of underlying physiological disturbances.

Briefly, an opinion on why adrenal fatigue is an unlikely, if not impossible, condition. For thousands and thousands of years of human evolution, humans as a species existed like wild animals fleeing from predators, chasing prey, surviving extremes of cold and heat, fighting with other tribes, and fighting for survival on a daily basis. The idea that adrenal glands incapable of keeping up with daily high stress situations would have survived natural selection is absurd. Surely ancestors who did not have the capacity to produce adequate amounts of cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenaline would have been eliminated by the demands of survival long before civilization began to offer a slightly less dangerous life. Even still, let's imagine that some of those genes survived the paleolithic era, it would be hard to argue that the demands of daily life today are anywhere near the capacity of our adrenals. I would believe that our young men fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are under a daily level of stress that could exceed their bodies' ability to produce stress hormones, but I do not believe that even the most overtrained athletes are anywhere near that stress level.

So, if it's not adrenal fatigue, what is it? Well, if you are in fact suffering from "adrenal insufficiency," then you likely have something more quantifiable like Addison's disease, Schmidt's syndrome, polyendocrine deficiency syndrome, tuberculosis, or amyloidosis. Most common in 30-50 year olds, it can be a life threatening disease. Inadequate production of the adrenal hormones causes weight loss, fatigue, body aches, low blood pressure, and hair loss. It can be diagnosed through blood tests and treated by taking hormones that mimic the hormones normally produced by the adrenals. Because of this hormonal deficiency, it is necessary for persons suffering from any of these conditions to carry an injectable form of cortisol with them and an identification card to alert emergency personnel to inject cortisol if they are found injured.

If you are not suffering from a chemical deficiency, but you are suffering from the symptoms of "adrenal fatigue," you are likely suffering from what was previously accepted as overtraining. Realize that once you reach a level of overtraining, it is absolutely miserable and can take up to 3 months to recover from. We can only push our bodies so far before we surpass our ability to recover and progress. If we push this threshold for too long, it can take weeks and even months before we return to a level where our capacity for recovery matches our level of training again, but it is necessary that we take this time off if we are to improve and progress as athletes.

As always, if you suspect that you may have some form of adrenal dysfunction or other condition, you should see your health care professional, and don't be afraid to ask for your doctor to order tests. It is your health, a good doctor will respect your concerns.

The Experience Is In the Coaching

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been paying great attention to how other Crossfits and other gyms operate. It will come as no surprise that the primary focus of “globo-gyms” is simple, make money and don’t get sued. Not even safety, but simply don’t let people get injured in a manner where they could blame the facility. This is why there are machines everywhere, joint dysfunctions, movement dysfunctions, and fat people. I’m not criticizing them because they are fat, I’m only pointing out that their fitness program is failing to provide them with results.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what about Crossfits? What is the primary focus of a Crossfit? First off, Crossfit is not a gym. The gym is simply a tool that Crossfit utilizes. You could build a gym in your garage just as easily, but a lifting platform, Olympic barbell set, and a pullup bar doesn’t make it a Crossfit. What is it that you, the athlete (or “client” as globo-gyms call you), are coming to Crossfit for? The answer is coaching. If you are looking for a gym, you can shop around for one with a spa, find one with a pool, look for something that Rocky Balboa would be proud of, or create your own in a basement or garage. If you’re looking for instruction and coaching, there is no equal to Crossfit.

This instruction is what makes Crossfit so special. It is an understanding of the movements both from experience and knowledge. The environment is conducive to developing great coaching. Anyone can study and get their CSCS, NASM, ACE, etc. Those certifications say nothing about the individual’s ability to coach or correct movement though. I’ve seen coaches with Master’s degrees and PhDs who can’t recognize or correct improper lumbar extension on a shoulder press or sacral flexion on a back squat. The certification, degree, or knowledge amounts to very little without the ability to apply it. The goal is to not only to perform the workout, but to perform it correctly. Simply completing the range of motion is not enough.

This reflects back on trainers above all. I believe Nicki Violetti posed the question first, if you are not providing coaching, then what are you providing? As a coach/trainer, whatever you chose to call yourself, it is your job to provide the best level of instruction and attention you are capable of. This means guiding your athletes through class from beginning to end providing feedback, both reinforcement and correction. Proper instruction requires 100% of your attention. Anything less than that is a failure to provide your athletes with appropriate coaching. Without it, small deviations in form such as an anteriorly rotated pelvis will manifest into conditions such as facet syndrome or SI joint dysfunction. It is not enough to just recognize the big things like a spine in flexion while deadlifting, the over extension is just as serious and actually more likely to cause injury. A failure to recognize these faults is as much a failure to coach as providing no instruction at all. Perfection is non-negotiable.

Simply because it’s still fresh in my mind, I refer back to my recent “Tour de Crossfit.” At some Crossfits, I saw coaches who prescribed the workout, gave instruction during the workout, and nothing more. At other Crossfits, I saw coaches who were more like cheerleaders than coaches, providing plenty of verbal motivation but relatively no useful instruction. But, at the best Crossfits, I saw coaches who from the time class started, their only focus was the athletes. They weren’t working out, they weren’t carrying on conversations, they weren’t cheerleading, they weren’t warming up for their workout, or distracted with anything. They were there to do one thing, coach. They led the athletes through the warm up, they instructed them on proper form and technique for the workout, and they provided both constructive criticism and positive reinforcement.

A great example of this professionalism is my friend, Sage Burgener. I attended as many of Sage’s weightlifting classes as I could get to. Each class, it was clear that she was there for her athletes. Class started with a warm up, where she not only instructed us on the progression, but also provided feedback on form and technique. Then she would begin the workout where she provided constant attention and instruction to the athletes. Her carefully trained eye quickly picked up every deviation in form, and she provided instant correction. While working with Sage, I learned to correct the second and third pull of my clean, and because of her instruction, I PR'd on my front squat while there, and I recently PR’d on my snatch upon my return home. The athletes who train with her regularly are very lucky to have such a focused and knowledgeable coach. Her positive attitude and genuine encouragement drove me to push hard, but her attention and instruction maintained my form and technique. Each time I worked with her, I improved as an athlete. I think that all coaches should follow an example like Sage and strive to conduct their classes in the same manner.

I also had the pleasure of training with Ben Oliver at Crossfit Coronado. Ben’s coaching is what I have based many of my recent changes on. Ben began class with movement prep which he led us through from movement to movement. He then explained the workout and took time to determine appropriate modifications for each athlete. I settled on a 1.5 pood kettlebell and a 30” box, however, a 2 pood kettlebell and a 36” box was available for those with the courage. During the workout, Ben moved among the athletes providing feedback and instruction. Because of Ben’s attention and knowledge, I was able to correct my form on my handstand pushups which allowed me to perform them pain free. His enthusiasm was contagious, and it was evident that everyone enjoyed training with him. Afterwards, Ben instructed everyone to cool down with some stretching and foam rolling. It was a great environment, one of the friendliest groups of people I’ve met, and an awesome coach to work with.

I relate these experiences because this is what makes Crossfit so unique. I could’ve bought a day pass to a YMCA and done some lame workout by myself, but at a Crossfit, the coaching you receive makes the workout. The same workout at any other place just woudn’t have been the same experience.

New Format, Rules, Etc.

During my recent trip to California, I visited as many gyms as I possibly could, and one of the things that set some gyms apart was how they ran their classes. I quickly saw that the gyms with the best athletes also had the best coaching and class format. This is to say that they ran their classes efficiently with structure and purpose. At Crossfit Invictus, I watched a young lady practicing O-lifts with the guys, then completely kill the WOD. Something tells me she is doing more than just showing up once a week, hitting just the WOD, and going home. Yes, at Crossfit we believe their is validity and progress to be gained from short 15 minute workouts, but that is because we put in the extra work before and after the WOD.

Further, I read CJ Martin's new format for his gym on the Crossfit Invictus blog, and I think that we could all gain alot from following a similar format at our affiliate as well. Granted, we must alter some of it to fit our situation, but as we work to help the gym grow, a structured class will help monumentally with our ability to train more athletes.

I have posted CJ's article here for you to read as well. Please consider it an example of what we are ultimately working towards.

Go With the Flow - New Gym Routines and Procedures
Written by C.J. Martin

All gyms have a natural flow to them - a pattern by which members arrive, situate themselves and prepare to have a great workout. For some, it’s sprinting in and joining the already-in-progress group warm-up (ahem, “A”-Game), but for others it entails some pre-WOD mingling and catching up with friends. I love this, and heartily encourage it as our community is what makes CrossFit Invictus so different from other places. Nonetheless, I am proposing some new rules that will improve both your socializing and athletic performance. So next time you are in, go with the following flow of the gym:

1. Check-In at the Front Desk - This is not optional. You all have really cool little key fabs or membership cards. Please scan them when you arrive.
2. Gather with Friends at the Back of the Building and Roll - Some of the best tools in the gym are the black foam rollers and lacrosse balls (individual and those taped together). In my opinion, they are not being used nearly enough. Rolling some of your tight muscle groups helps get needed blood flow to them, loosens them so they will contract and relax better, and generally improves their functionality for the athletic endeavor you are about to embark upon. And the great thing is, you can roll and socialize at the same time. Yes, your conversation might be interrupted occasionally by a yelp, but that’s just good fun and provides for some comedic relief. So gather there and roll while you catch up with friends.
3. Dynamic, Skill-Based Warm-Up with Group - Once group session begins, your coach will put you through a dynamic warm-up. Recognize that this is not only a warm-up, but also an opportunity to put your body in ideal positions. Use this time to reinforce proper mechanics. For instance, when you lunge, think about how you lunge in a split jerk or split clean. Are you grooving that ideal pattern, or are you forward on the toe and too narrow? Make the most of this time and perform each movement perfectly.
4. Strength/Skill Work - No ego. Nobody is impressed when you deadlift 400 lbs. and herniate two discs in the process. Strive for virtuosity here. Move well and your numbers will progressively skyrocket. Move poorly and you might get some big numbers for a while, but you also run the risk of missing valuable training sessions because you are nursing injuries. This is your chance to perfect movements without a clock pressuring you to move quickly. Take the opportunity to be perfect. Once you have been consistently perfect, then begin to be consistently perfect with big weights.
5. Timed Workout - Go hard . . . and be damn-near perfect. I can accept slight deviations of form when you’re hitting it at high intensity, but you should be striving for perfection. (And if your coach’s interpretation of “slight deviation of form” is different from yours, you are the one who is wrong. Listen to your coach and slow down.)
6. Clean Up - Once you have completed your workout, please give us a hand by wiping down the bars and placing everything back where you found it. There is, however, one caveat: Be respectful of those who are still working out. It’s better to cheer someone on or relax than walk right in front of them with your barbell and weights. Nobody likes to be last, particularly when everyone else is cleaning up around them. Wipe down your bar and do a little static stretching while you cheer for others, then you can put your gear away and give them a hand with theirs.
7. Log Your Performance - If you don’t have a Performance Log, your coach will be chatting with you this week. They are essential to tracking your athletic progress. You will never know if what you are doing is effective unless you can track what you have been doing. This is the best $15 investment you will make in your fitness.
8. Post-WOD Recovery Work - If your coach puts you through a post-WOD recovery drill (stretching or additional skill work) please view it with the same respect you view the first portions of the workout. Recovery is instrumental to getting more fit. If you slack here, it will show. If your coach ran out of time, you’re not excused from stretching. Most of you know our protocols for post-WOD stretching, and even if you don’t, any stretching after your WOD is better than none. Get it done - your body will thank you.
9. GHD Machines - Almost as neglected as the foam rollers are our beautiful GHD machines. End your workout the way you began it, by socializing near the back wall. Jump on the GHD and knock out 10 sit-ups and 10 hip extensions. Then let a friend on to do the same. Switch on and off until you have done somewhere between 30-50 sit-ups and extensions.
10. Grab Your MMMM Good Meal or Invictus Shots - Invictus Shots help you recover quicker by replacing depleted glycogen stores in your muscles. Shoot one immediately after your workout and your muscles will start recovering quicker - which means you might not be as sore the next day. Grab a meal for later while you’re at it. They’re delicious, nutritionally balanced and inexpensive - plus, you didn’t have to cook it.

Courtesy of CJ Martin of Crossfit Invictus


As I said, our gym is a slightly different situation, but that's not a reason why we can't follow a similar format. Obviously there's no need to check in currently. I know you're there, but if you've seen the new whiteboard, then you know that I'm keeping track of who is coming, so go add a tick mark next to your name when you come in, add any goals to the board as well, and congratulate your friends on their recent PRs.

It is necessary that everyone is on time. This is not just so that you are there for the entire class, but it is difficult to conduct class when everyone is at a different point in the workout. Similarly, everyone in the class will be doing the same workout. We can still modify and sub movements based on ability or injury, but those cases excluded, everyone needs to do the same workout. It is impossible to appropriately coach two separate workouts at the same time. One person doing a different workout than everyone else requires a different warm up as well as lessens the coach's ability to provide the best possible instruction for the other members. If you want to do a different workout than what is being coached in class, please schedule private training. We would be more than happy to meet you outside of class times and work with you one on one.

What I hope to achieve is a flow of events where we are able to complete everything we need to within our hour, so that we don't hold anyone up, and so that people who want to work on a skill have time as well. This starts with everyone arriving on time. We will start movement prep at five after. During those first 5-10 minutes you are there, this would be a good time to roll anything that is sore or nagging. Once we start movement prep, I'd like to see a moderate effort. The other day when I was training with Jason, I could see that he was hitting the movement prep with the same intensity and effort that he puts into the WOD. To be totally honest, this is more effort than is necessary for movement prep, but I like where his head is at. I don't want to see anyone exhaust themselves before the workout, but movement prep is your warm up, so go hard enough that you're starting to sweat.

After our movement prep, we will begin the scheduled WOD. If it is a strength WOD, we will pair up according to max lifts and rotate on the bars. As CJ noted, leave your ego out of this, do it right. If you can't perform the movements correctly, we will keep the weight light and focus on technique. For example, if you cannot squat below parallel, you have no business squatting with max weights. On squat days, you should spend the time developing a proper squat by practicing your form with light weights and stretching if that is hindering you from being able to squat. Check your ego, develop a perfect squat, and then when you start adding weight again, your gains will be tremendous. No one is impressed by your max lifts if you're miss a month because you're injured from it. Further, no one is impressed if your big squat is above or barely parallel. We are about virtuousity, strive for perfection.

If it is a metcon, we will go over the movements briefly, and then begin. If there is one thing I have learned, form is everything. I have never done a sub-4 Fran, but I promise you, you can't take even one rep away from me. I won't lie to you, really focusing on form will slow you down a little, but you'll gain much more from doing it correctly than you ever will from doing it fast and sloppy. Don't worry about your times, they are only a measure of YOUR progress. I could train everyday for the rest of my life and never beat Usain Bolt, but I can beat my own times for years as long as I stay focused and consistent.

After the workout, please enjoy the comfort of our floor. CJ makes a great point, nobody likes to be last, so take a seat, cheer your friends on, and clean up afterwards. A note about cleaning up, I know it's not our members, but often times when I come into the gym (especially on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays), the gym is a mess. There are dumbbells, medicine balls, plates, boxes, bars, sand, tape, candy, garbage, etc all over the place, strewn across the floor. I have been trying very hard to keep the gym as clean as I can considering we have such limited space. I really appreciate any help with putting anything back neatly. My hope is that if we consistently have a clean and neat gym, others who use it will recognize that we keep it in order and will begin to clean up after themselves as well.

You all have training logs from John, please remember to bring them with you, you can even store it in the gym so you never forget it. We will do a group cool down stretch to maintain flexibility and relax the muscles. This is also a good time to address any personally unique flexibility issues. When we finish, you can also use the trigger point balls to release some muscle tension in particularly overworked muscle groups. With any time remaining, I suggest working on a skill. It may be a set of GHD situps, some pullups, double unders, rowing, whatever you're struggling with.

I see big things for us all in the future. I have been working really hard to improve our classes. I hope that this new format is a step towards a more efficient class, and a better overall experience for everyone.

An Argument for Strength

by Erik Sarson

Each of the 10 general physical skills is important. An athlete with a healthy balance of proficiency between all 10 will be superior. However, there is not one physical skill more foundational than strength. Strength allows us to achieve power and speed. It also assists us in improving our balance, agility, coordination, and accuracy. Strength even provides the building blocks for stamina and cardio-respiratory endurance. Properly conducted strength exercises also increase flexibility. Thus, serious athletes include a good portion of strength training in their programs.

Strength is one’s ability to apply force. Power is the ability to apply a force over a distance in a certain amount of time. CrossFit’s typical measure of performance is an athlete’s power output. It is easy to understand how a strong athlete who can apply a large amount of force would have a high power output. He applies that large force over a long distance in a very short amount of time. The power clean is a good example of this.

Speed is the time it takes to repeat a movement. Consider the same athlete doing 30 power cleans for time. The force and power parts of the equation are still there, they are just multiplied by 30. The ability of his muscles to efficiently contract, expand, and repeat the exact movement will determine his speed. Without a significant amount of strength, our athlete would break down quickly.

Balance is the athlete’s ability to control his center of mass in relation to his base of support. Our athlete now does a set of low-bar back squats. Each time he does a repetition he is practicing balance. As his strength increases, the weight on the bar increases, magnifying the importance of balance. This is because his center of mass (athlete + load) is moving further and further away from his base of support (feet).

Agility is the ability to minimize transition time from one movement to another. Coordination is the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into one. The power clean requires a fast transition from a deadlift, to a vertical jump, to a landing under load. Being an essential strength exercise, the power clean allows the athlete to improve agility and coordination while developing strength.

Accuracy is the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. The power clean is also great practice for accuracy. Each time the athlete does a power clean, he is landing under a heavy load. If his bar path is not accurate, then he will be off balance when he lands, and possibly miss the lift. Accuracy also applies to the athlete doing efficient squats, deadlifts, presses, and bench presses.

Stamina is the body’s ability to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. Stamina is, essentially, muscular endurance, and may be best measured in medium duration exercise in the glycolytic pathway. Cardio-respiratory endurance is the body’s ability to gather, process, and deliver oxygen. Cardio-respiratory endurance may be best measured in long duration exercise in the oxidative pathway. The athlete trains his body systems to deliver energy primarily in the phosphagen pathway while strength training. He is also exercising and improving the efficiency of his cardiovascular system. A stronger cardiovascular system leads to improved cardio-respiratory endurance. Efficiency in the phosphagen pathway also provides a foundation for efficiency in the glycolytic and oxidative pathways. This is not to say that strength training is sufficient for stamina and cardio-respiratory endurance. However, a judicious application of strength training will significantly assist the athlete in longer duration challenges such as WODs or a triathlon.

Flexibility is the ability to maximize range of motion at a given joint. In most cases, the average person off of the street will not perform the squat, deadlift, press, bench press, or power clean correctly. Even those who have strength training experience often don’t know the proper technique. The most common fault in the squat and press is short range-of-motion. When executed properly, the squat significantly stretches the hamstrings in the bottom position. This allows for the most potential energy from the posterior chain. When conducting a set of squats, our athlete starts with an empty bar and works his way up to a heavy set. This allows him to practice the movement, get warm, and stretch his hamstrings under a light load before placing them in a full stretch under heavy load. Again, this is not to say that strength training is sufficient for flexibility, but it definitely trains it. That is, unless your idea of strength training is a circuit of single joint, partial range-of-motion exercises.

It is important to make a distinction between strength and some of the other physical skills, especially cardio-respiratory endurance. We already know that we can improve our cardio-respiratory endurance with strength training. The opposite does not apply. In fact, overtraining in the oxidative pathway leads to significantly decreased strength, power, and speed. It also causes oxidative damage (aging effects) to the body, and limits testosterone production/utilization. A similar, but much less drastic, distinction can be made between strength and stamina.

In conclusion, the best athletes incorporate strength training into their programs. There are many ways to do this. A good general guideline is two to three strength focused workouts per week along with three to four metcons. If you are doing a strength workout and a metcon on the same day, then do the strength one first. If possible, get a few hours rest between the strength and metcon workouts. A beginning strength program should revolve around the squat, press, bench press, deadlift, and power clean. Sets should be of 5 or less, working up to weight as discussed earlier. Do two to three lifts each strength day. Go get strong!

Erik with Mark Rippetoe at the Basic Barbell Cert

Safety First

Safety First

by Chad Cilli

As Crossfit grows, we are met with a growing opposition which insists that Crossfit is inherently dangerous. First off, what isn’t dangerous? You could get hit by a car running down the side of the road or on your bike, you could drown swimming laps, people have suffered from rhabdomyolysis following marathons, Ironmans, and spinning classes, you could subluxate your radial head walking your dog. Should we do nothing? In my opinion, doing nothing has to be the most dangerous thing to do. As obesity continues to rise in this country, I expect to see more insulin induced disease and a further decline in our overall health as a nation.

What makes Crossfit dangerous? The most common attack is the high rep “technical” movements. This would be a good argument if you looked on youtube or facebook for a bit. Many “Crossfitters” butcher these lifts in pursuit of so-called “scores.” To those of us who actually understand the stimulus, these “Crossfitters” are idiots.

“What about rhabdo?!” What about it? The best defense against rhabdo is Crossfit. The next best defense against rhabdo is smart programming. There are alot of bad coaches and even more unknowing athletes who are willing to blindly follow any workout thrown at them. Often, we forget how easy it is to break people. It is better to err on the side of too light than too heavy. Great attention must be given to considering each individual’s ability and level of conditioning.

I could go on, but I think you’re getting the point. So, what do we do? As Crossfit certified trainers and coaches, and as Crossfit athletes, it is OUR responsibility to make the program safe and show others that we know what we are doing. Let’s start with the ego jerks. A clean, snatch, deadlift, etc, performed correctly is safe at post max weights. This means that if you’re max deadlift is 300 and you try to lift 500, nothing will happen. No injury, no tearing muscles, no broken bones, nada. Done improperly... that’s another story. How do we fix this? Two ways: either get a lighter weight or go slower. Let’s say for instance you’re doing Isabel. It starts well, but after a few you start having to press to lock out instead of landing locked out. It would be nice to say that you did it as prescribed, but... this is a perfect example of a situation where you need to drop the weight. Regardless of whether or not pressing to lockout is immediately dangerous to you, pressing to lock out is improper for the movement and thus unacceptable. Another example, I recently witnessed a workout where athletes’ form completely broke down. The workout had sets of heavy deadlifts. Each progressive set, backs were more rounded than before, and the once smooth deadlifts suddenly became jerky and labored. In this situation, a judgement has to be made. Either the weight should be dropped because it is too heavy to maintain good form, or the athlete should be instructed to slow down and perform each rep strictly. One of the things I have learned is that unless you’re doing a sub 2 Fran, nobody cares whether or not you’re doing it with 95 or 75 pounds, and no one is impressed by a sloppy performance no matter how fast you did it. I am much more impressed by someone doing Fran slowly, deliberately, and correctly than I am by someone doing Fran quickly, uncontrolled, and improperly. I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way, you would be amazed how many affiliates do not have a leader board and instead simply post that day’s scores. Something specific I would like to share; while at Crossfit Invictus in San Diego, I heard CJ Martin say, “Who is going to win this one?” before a workout. A few athletes said “I am.” CJ replied, “No one’s going to win. I want to see you do it right.” I instantly felt comfortable and happy to be there.

Now to the programming. High reps of GHD situps, pullups, burpees, deadlifts, etc, are a loaded gun. There is no reason for a first time Crossfitter or even a regular novice to be performing these movements in high rep schemes. In fact, I don’t think I would even let a new athlete attempt a Hero WOD. This is just plain logic and common sense. Injured athletes make for poor referrals. Furthermore, it is unwise to “overprogram” WODs. Some coaches have developed a very sensitive and tuned sense for programming. If you are aware that you tend to overprogram, accept it, pick someone else’s programming to follow, and move on. My personal recommendation is Maximilian Mormont’s programming at www.maxfitusa.com. Some coaches tend to overprogram the bodyweight WODs and movements. This is unlikely to injure athletes, but leaves them deficient at strength movements and heavy WODs. Other coaches overprogram making WODs too heavy and for too long. These coaches injure athletes and add to the image of Crossfit being dangerous. The heavier it is, the shorter it should be. If you frequently see your athletes grabbing their backs, stretching their backs, or complaining of back pain, you are overprogramming, failing to scale appropriately, or you are not coaching the movements properly. Regardless, it’s your bust, fix it. Along with proper programming for the WOD, a warm up and cool down should be performed for before and after each workout. The warm up must raise the body temperature, stimulate the nervous system, and prepare our bodies for physical activity. The cool down should be just that. We should static stretch to tell our bodies to relax and release tension on our muscles. We can also use this time to increase flexibility and foam roll to stimulate recovery.

Finally, I will address safety in the gym. In my travels, as limited as they have been, I have been to about a dozen Crossfit affiliates. I have seen many good things and a few bad. First off, everywhere I’ve been has been adequately spacious. Large open floors allow for equipment and athletes to move safely and freely without fear of collision. Rubber floors are also a must. Not because they soften falls, but because you’re less likely to slip on them. All equipment should be sturdy and secure. The Ironmind racks appear to be the best I’ve seen so far. No fluff, no frills, just good solid steel racks. The GHD needs to be stable and positioned far enough away from activity that no one is in danger of colliding with the athlete using it. The Sorinex models are only slightly more expensive than other brands, but they are far superior in construction. The safest gym layouts have had almost “stations” for each athlete to train at. These stations ensure that athletes have ample room to complete the workout without fear of colliding with another athlete or equipment.

Another thing I noticed was that nearly every gym has taped their pullup bars to ensure a safe and secure grip. The few that did not have tape had a texture on the bar that was rough and held the chalk very well. As many of you know or witnessed, I had a recent experience slipping off a pullup bar. Thankfully I suffered no serious injuries, but another few inches over and I doubt I would be writing this. This carries over into all of the equipment. Everything should be as “non-slip” as we can make it whether it’s pullup bars, kettlebells, rings, or the floor. This is a no-brainer, but just like in the home, most accidents come from slips and falls.

As I stated earlier, it is OUR responsibility to make Crossfit safe. Any idiot can throw a bunch of weights around till they’re tired, our duty as coaches and athletes is do it properly every time. There is no substitute for proper form. Through these simple, and quite obvious, changes and steps we can ensure the safety of ourselves as athletes and of those we coach.

How to Measure Fitness

When starting CrossFit, we talk about quantifying and measuring fitness in order to assess your progress. The most obvious way that we do that is with the clock. But is that really the best way to measure your progress? When starting off, it probably isn't.



If your squats on your first Fundamentals WOD looked like the picture on top, and 3 weeks later, they looked like Stephanie from CrossFit Invictus below that, but you times were slower; would you be disappointed? You shouldn't be. Yet, I've seen CrossFitters hard on themselves for a slower time, or less reps, when they've moved up on the scaling ladder.

Remember, the clock is just a method we use to quantify fitness, but it isn't our only way. Fitness is 1. Competency in all 10 General Physical Skills, 2. Increased ability to perform tasks, and 3. Competency in all 3 energy pathways. So, for a novice, time is nothing more than a motivational tool. Range of Motion, weight, quality of movement, and exercise selection are the real measures you should be focusing on in your log books.

Our coaches at ThreeRivers CrossFit scale by intensity (which is really self scaling by the mental & physical limitations of the athlete), weight (to be kept within the limits of an athlete's ability to maintain safe form), volume (sets, reps, duration), ROM (pushing the limits of an athlete's flexibility and strength), and finally exercise selection (the athlete's ability to perform the Rx'd exercise).

So what does that mean? Let's take a look at a novice doing "Diane" (21-15-9 reps of 225lbs DeadLift and Hand Stand Push-ups). This athlete may be so deconditioned that the safest way to introduce him to "Diane" is 15-12-9 reps of PVC pipe deadlift and Pike Pushups to 3" above the ground. I've scaled the exercise selection, the ROM, the volume, the weight, and while I will encourage the athlete to push himself hard, I will put a much greater emphasis on proper movements rather than intensity.

So, when this athlete comes back to "Diane" and uses 135# DeadLift and Band Assisted Hand Stand Pushups with full ROM, do I care if his time is slower? Not at all. He has increased his work capacity and fitness so much just by being able to perform those movements that he could take an hour and a half and I'd be happy with his progress. Only when he is doing the WOD as Rx'd does the clock become anything more than a motivational tool.

Which leaves me with one last point. I love the use of the clock in CrossFit. I love the competitive nature it encourages. I love the effectiveness it gives in measuring progress once you are doing the WODs as Rx'd. But, that effectiveness is only valid if you are maintaining a standard of quality. If you are shorting your reps, if you cut your ROM, if you don't give every movement your best effort towards perfection, that little number on your stop watch tells you nothing. To be honest, I don't really care if you are a clock whore. If I catch you, I'll laugh at your lame efforts and mark it under "modifications" on the white board. But really, I'll just be sad for you because you are missing the true intent and spirit of CrossFit.

So, keep pushing hard, and keep chasing PRs, but also do it with an awareness of what those numbers really mean, and keep the integrity to have it mean something.

Train Hard, Have Fun!
John

What's going on here?

By Chad Cilli

 

Quite possibly the most often asked question I hear is "What is Crossfit?"  This is a question that needs to be asked, and it deserves a book, but I will try to do it justice in just a few paragraphs.  The standard answer is "functional movements executed at high intensity with constant variation."  More simply, we do full body movements quickly and rapidly with as much variety as we can.

 

To understand Crossfit, we must go back to the standard definition for a closer examination.  First, we must ask, "What is a functional movement?"  For some people, images come to mind of BOSU balls or endo boards, but what should come to mind is picking something up off the ground, putting something on a shelf, or standing up from a chair.  Functional movements are the same everyday life movements that humans have been performing since the dawn of man.  They are natural.  If you saw someone picking something up on the street, you would think nothing of it, but if you saw someone squeezing something with their arms like a pec deck, their sanity would certainly come into question.  How does that transfer to Crossfit?  We utilize functional movements because everyone needs to do them.  Some of the movements we teach our athletes are how to properly deadlift (picking something up from the ground), shoulder press (putting something overhead), and squat (standing up or sitting down).  These movements are essential to living, safe, compound, and capable of quickly moving a large load over a long distance. 

 

We perform these movements with intensity.  For some people, you may have heard of measuring intensity as heart rate, VO2 Max, or percentage of one rep max.  We define intensity as power output.  A quick physics refresher, power is equal to force times distance divided by time.  This way we can mathematically measure and quantify our intensity.  If we do the same amount of work (force times distance) in less time, then our power increases.  Intensity is a relative concept.  What is intense for a 300 pound lineman may not be intense for a 155 pound sprinter and vice versa.  For the individual, what is intense for you today will not be intense for you in a month.  Our focus is on increasing our own capacity for intensity over time.  We place this emphasis on intensity because intensity maximizes adaptation and neuroendocrine (nervous system) response.  There is a great difference between doing 100 pullups in 3 minutes or doing 100 pullups over the course of an hour, and the more intensity the pullups are performed with, the more muscle growth and neurological adaptation will result.

 

Finally, we return to constant variation.  It has been said that "we fail at the margins of our experience."  At Crossfit, we strive to extend those margins.  Nature and evolution favor generalists over specialists.  Fitness is achieved as we become well rounded, and health is our side effect.  The goal of our program is to be 80% as strong as a powerlifter, 80% as flexible as a gymnast, and 80% as fast as a runner.  To emphasize one causes another aspect to suffer.  This is why we incorporate constant variation.  By varying our movements and the duration of workouts, we are able to train different muscle groups, metabolic pathways, and skills.  This also prevents the common plateaus inherent in other programs.  Einstein once said something along the lines of "insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results."  This could not be truer, and our program is driven by results.  Everything we do is measurable, and we can quickly and quantifiably measure our progress from one day to the next.

 

So, that’s what we do here.  I’m sure the next question on your mind is “Why do we do this?”  Our goal is to “increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains.”  Gee thanks Chad, what the heck does that mean?  This means we are trying to increase our ability to perform work (force times distance) under varying conditions of time, weight, reps, movements, etc.  For example, there are marathon runners who are so sport specific that, despite their endurance for running, they could not jump onto a 20” box.  We would say that they have limited work capacity.  The Crossfit athlete, who can run a marathon almost as fast, is also able to jump onto a 20” box, deadlift his or her bodyweight for reps, and perform kipping pull-ups.  The Crossfit athlete has greater work capacity because he or she is capable of performing different types of work.

At Three Rivers Crossfit, we educate and instruct everyone with the same attention and commitment as we do for elite athletes because fitness is a necessity for everyone.  Our grandparents have the same needs as we do and only vary in degree.  Athletes are taught to perform the basic movements and receive daily instruction and supervision.  We treat everyone as an athlete and strive to help all of our athletes to attain their highest level of fitness.  Our athletes are like family.  Your goals are our goals, whether it’s to lose weight, build muscle, run a marathon, prepare for military or law enforcement training, or to challenge yourself.  Most importantly, we have fun.  You will not see people with their headphones on, reading magazines, running on a treadmill, watching the clock, and waiting to get off.  If you do not enjoy your fitness program, then there is little incentive to continue following it.  The constant variation part of the definition comes in here.  Learning new movements keeps the program fresh and challenging, while the varied workouts eliminate the monotony of other programs.  The bottom line is we make a program used by Olympians, professional athletes, and elite military units accessible to everyday people in an environment where everyone can work to achieve their own goals.