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Category: crossfit

I haven’t blogged about this, but my buddy Junior and I have been training for months to participate in Kokoro Camp. The date is finally here…we’re leaving for California tomorrow morning and will be at SealFit HQ by Friday at noon. If you haven’t heard of it, Kokoro Camp is a 50+ hour military-style camp modeled after the infamous BUD/S program that Navy Seals go through. I’m anticipating an extremely high reading on the Suck-o-meter with lots of me getting my ass kicked.

From the SealFit website:

As the world’s premier training camp for forging mental toughness, an Unbeatable Mind and a warrior’s spirit, the camp is an intense crucible experience modeled off of the famous Navy SEAL Hell Week. The difference is that Kokoro is built to teach through experience, rather than try to make you into a quitter.

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In its second year, Beast Mode Battle (BMB) is hosted by CrossFit Militia of Lauderhill, Florida. BMB boasted 334 competitors, making it one of the biggest regional events of the year. As usual, the men’s side of the house was well represented, with 199 male competitors between the Rx, Masters, and Scaled divisions.

The BMB claim-to-fame is a unique format where all events are back-to-back and completed in exactly 60’. I’ll explain below.

The setting

The setting was the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds. I’ve never competed in a rodeo stadium…scratch that, I’ve never been in a rodeo stadium, so this was a cool experience. There was ample space for spectating and the roof with huge fans made it reasonably cool. The competition floor was packed dirt. The dirt made the shuttle runs, walking lunges and burpees a little more challenging.

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I am rapidly approaching the three year anniversary of my relationship with CrossFit. Admittedly, CrossFit has been one of my best girlfriends, except for the part where I don’t get laid and it makes me pass out occasionally. Like with any girlfriend, it has its up and downs. Here are some insights and observations from three years.

* I approach CrossFit as a sport rather than a fitness tool. That’s another way of saying I want to dominate WODs.

* I don’t usually dominate WODs. That’s not an insight, just an observation.

* For the first two years I used CrossFit as a training tool to supplement rowing, my primary sport at the time. CrossFit is superior to all other cross training I’ve done in rowing, including some sophisticated programs at Division I colleges. If I was coaching a crew team right now, I’d replace our land training with CrossFit and a strength training plan wholesale.

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I recently had the pleasure of interviewing via email and phone Steve Anderson, the CrossFit Games champ in the masters men 55-59 division. Steve is a TOTALLY AWESOME dude, one of the nicest guys I’ve talked to in the CrossFit community, which is saying a lot because the community is filled with really cool people. So, it’s a shame that he won’t be able to defend his title at the 2012 Games due to injury. Read my complete article on the CrossFit Games site. Steve has surgery schedule in April for a torn labrum and will be in rehab for many months after that.

 

If you haven’t heard Anderson’s story, it’s a remarkable one. He worked out purely at LA Fitness and was convinced by a friend to try some CrossFit WODs. (more…)

The first time I tried it I got 97 reps. That was at seven in the morning when I felt like ass. My knees, quads, and hips were smoked.

Pissed, I gave it another go on Saturday morning. Here’s what I did in a bulleted list:

  • Ate two eggs and two pieces of bacon two hours prior.
  • Popped a Claritin-D.
  • Popped two Tylenol (extra strength)
  • Jogged a 400.
  • Did all of the mobility from the K-Starr video.
  • Extensive hip and hamstring stretching

My second article was published on the CrossFit Games site. Entitled Adriana Grassi Mosley Achieves a Dream, this one is about the serious injuries Adriana overcame to get back to the Games. Adriana competed as an individual in 2008, qualified in 2009 but dropped out due to an impending surgery, and finally made it back in 2011 with her CrossFit Hardcore affiliate team. The Hardcore crew, which also features Games veterans Lance Mosley (Adriana’s husband) and Omar Torres, are prepping for another run this year.

Adriana was having serious issues with her neck and both shoulders, to the point where her doctor suggested she quit competition altogether because of a paralysis risk. She tried a multitude of therapies and techniques to help manage her pain and keep her training, including ART and acupuncture. One therapy that was effective was Muscle Activation Technique, also called MAT.

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The Fit As F*ck blog has a great little interview series going that hits the topic of random vs. structured training in CrossFit. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I’ve begun to compete and my own training has diversified in the last few months. I thought I’d use their format and blog my perspective on the subject. Be sure to read the original posts with Samantha Briggs and Asger Frøsig Sørensen.

My training plan for 2012

I started on a new plan that has me doing regular CrossFit 2 times per week, but those sessions also have a Wendler strength component. I do Olympic Lifting at another gym 2x week, and then see a strength coach 2x week. I actually go to three different gyms each week! The Oly lifting and strength is highly structured while the CrossFit, obviously, is random.

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Quick post before I leave for GoRuck Tampa…btw, I can’t believe 1) I’m doing GoRuck Challenge again and 2) that’s it’s here already. That really snuck up on me. In other news, I did an email interview with Talayna Fortunato […]

Like all competitive sports, CrossFit has a significant risk of injury associated with it. If you train hard and compete over the course of a year, you’ll probably encounter at least a couple of minor issues. Hopefully you haven’t encountered a major injury or something that puts you out for a long period of time.

I see three reasons for the injury problem: heavy loads, poor technique, and unstructured training. I define “unstructured training” as training volume and intensity that isn’t periodized, or at best structured in a haphazard way.

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