It’s also fascinating to watch your friends work through these challenges during a WOD. It gives insight into their character and witnessing those revelations are enthralling. I like cheering on my pals almost as much as I like competing. It’s a profound thing to perform and be judged for our efforts.

So, of the eight CrossFit competitions I’ve done in the past year, Wodapalooza 2011 was the apotheosis experience. Guido Trinidad and the fine folks of Peak360 did an exemplary job.

Enough with the philosophizing. Here’s my review.

The Pro’s

There are too many good things to list so I’ll hit the highlights. The setting at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami was terrific. It’s a cool locale, right on the water, with plenty of places to hang out in the grass and chill. The event took place on Friday and Saturday with 7 or 8 WODs depending on what category you were in. This was a good choice because it meant a) people could party on Saturday night and b) drive home on Sunday in time for the Super Bowl.

Also, it’s awesome to WOD outside and not be stuck in a gym!!

I thought the programming was near brilliant. It was creative and extremely challenging, even in the RX category. I had to break through some barriers just to finish and that’s what it’s all about. The 1RM Turkish get-up? Awesome! Fun! The chipper? Gnarly, incredibly painful, fun. Even the burpee broad jump / burpee wall climb couplet with L-sit buy-in was a blast (and hard). There was a lot of thought put into how the programming meshed together and also how to coordinate it all with three different stages and incorporate the environment. Kudos here, I give it a 8 out of 10. I had one problem with the programming and I’ll get into that below.

Another huge plus was the DJ, who spun awesome tunes from morning til night. The genre was mostly EDM (electronic dance music) with sprinklings of rap and pop and even a Pearl Jam track. In my humble opinion, EDM artists like Calvin Harris and Steve Aoki make excellent choices for a CrossFit soundtrack. More than once I found myself watching an event and shaking my booty. I even saw some nice septuagenarian ladies tapping their feet unwittingly as they surveilled the weirdness that is a CrossFit throwdown. If the grandmas are dancing, you know the DJ is doing a good job.

The Con’s

The event started a bit late on both days, which is a minor glitch, since I considered myself to be on Miami time anyway. They caught up almost immediately and actually finished early on both days. Guido and crew did a fantastic job juggling the millions of moving parts and getting things done.

My only real gripe, which is sort of a broader competitive question, is this: are the standards getting too over-the-top for local and regional competitions? Evidence A were the standards for RTG women, which included 275# deadlift, 175# clean, and 135# snatch. How many chicks in the state of Florida have that?? The answer is not many, as only two women registered in the RTG division. Both of those women had to compete in the RTG men’s heats. Even the RX women’s division seemed under represented, with only 11 participants (compared to 37 RX men).

So either gyms are doing a poor job of marketing to and developing competitive women, or the standards are getting so extraordinary that it’s cutting out athletes, or a combination of the two. On the flipside, you can argue that Wodapalooza is a “premier” event and thus it must maintain extraordinary standards. I mean, people are showing up to see athletes move big weight, right? Whatever is going on, the workouts were tough and the athlete pool was skewed.

One piece of programming I didn’t like were the weighted 53# pistols in the RTG category. Yes, I didn’t compete in RTG so I didn’t have the pleasure of experiencing this particular piece of gnarliness, but it seems like a high risk exercise just asking for a knee blowout. Why not just regular pistols?

My Experience

RX Men did seven WODs total, with three on Friday and four on Saturday. They were all unique and tested something different.

The easiest WOD was the first one, which involved a shuttle run and lateral jumps over a hurdle. It was a major quad burner and fun. I did pretty decent on this one.

The most painful WOD was the chipper. That thing ended with a 1000M run and a 100M bear crawl. Nasty. My CNS was so overloaded after doing thrusters I had to walk about 80 meters before I could break into a miserable jog. I did the bear crawls unbroken and that was a highlight moment as I passed two people.

The hardest WOD for me was the rope climb / deadlift 245# / row 25 cal event. My deadlift max is 315# so 245 is pretty damn heavy. In fact, I’ve only ever done 4-5 reps at 245# in a workout, so doing 30 reps almost killed me. I wore a weight belt to preserve a modicum of form, something I’ve only done once before in CrossFit. I was super stressed about this event because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the deadlifts. I was proud that I did and it ended up being a highlight.

Just to give you idea of how mental this WOD was, I seriously thought about quitting after the first round. I had no idea how I was getting through the last 20 reps of deads. The answer was one at a time.

The funnest WOD was “Lift Big,” which involved 3 x 1′ of lifting at 185#. The lifts were clean, front squat, and jerk, with 60″ of rest in between. My clean and jerk max is 185#, so I set a nice 3RM on clean and 2RM on jerk. My score wasn’t competitive, but I broke through a barrier and I was damned happy about it.

“Lift Big” was amazing because it was at night, under lights, on stage, with people screaming. The music was loud. It was an badass experience.

Bottom Line

Doing 7-8 WODs over two days was an awesome challenge. Everyone was wrecked by Saturday night. There’s a big mental component to a multi-day event and it takes a fair amount of strategy. That was one of my favorite aspects of Wodapalooza and why I think it’s a must-attend for anyone in the region. If you really love to compete, and want to compete at a high level, consider adding this one to your calendar. Plus, it’s in Miami and you can’t go wrong with making a weekend in one of the coolest cities in the world. The experience was fun and super intense.

I want to recognize Peak360 again and the army of volunteers they brought to run the event. Everyone was extremely pleasant and the whole affair had a community vibe to it. Big props.

The bottom line: Wodapalooza is my favorite CrossFit competition of the eight I’ve done and one of my all-time favorite sporting experiences. I will definitely sign up again. I even rank it ahead of Summer Crush, which was similar and totally awesome in it’s own right.

Lastly, I want to recommend LeBouchon du Grove, a great French bistro in Coconut Grove. We ate there both nights and can’t stop raving about it. Chef Christian has the best mustache in Miami.

#tweety #rehab #evolution #bear #bakeman #wyoming

Rudy is a great interview and he’s not shy about diving deep into training philosophy and his thoughts on CrossFit in general. Run time is 30:48.

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. Most CrossFitters have shaky lifting technique, especially on the Olympic lifts. Improving technique can go a long ways towards increasing performance and decreasing the risk of injury. Since I am in that group, I started taking Olympic lifting classes to get better.

2. The top guys and gals have coaches and are showing up at competitions with their coaches. Another sign this has become a sport. Get a coach to take it to the next level.

3. Strength is not going away from competitions any time soon. The bottom line is people like seeing big people crush heavy weight and competition programmers know it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Mix in a second or third WOD on specific days to simulate competition conditions. Check how your output is affected by the extra volume.

5. Most folks don’t know how to warm up properly. All athletes in all sports need to warm up the aerobic energy systems in addition to prepping the muscles and joints. Besides being an injury reducer, being correctly warmed gives a performance boost.

6. Use video and a stopwatch to review technique and round splits.

7. Always use safety collars on barbells. Otherwise your weight can slide off. I made this mistake and it caused me to DNF a WOD.

8. Competition WODs are unique, creative, and fit into a larger program. If your goal is to compete, find a way to train to the level of competition programming. I don’t think regular CrossFit WODs will get you there. Your programming has to be just as creative and fit into a larger plan.

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.

Where I get my inspiration from

I’m inspired and pushed by the athletes at my CrossFit gym. I treat CrossFit as a sport and thus I’m always competing against (and with) my teammates in a positive way.

Future goals:

Increase my strength a lot and then have the capacity to compete in the RX division of some of the larger competitions in my region. Right now strength is my “weakness” so I’m spending a good part of 2012 changing that.

Thoughts on random vs. structured CrossFit training

I think Asger nailed this question in his inteview. I’ll give my two cents.

For regular folks who want to get fit and have no aspirations to compete, or compete only casually, regular CrossFit WODs are perfect. You can supplement that with playing sports or surfing or biking or whatever else you like to do and it works great.

I approach CrossFit as a sport unto itself and thus I’m interested in going to competitions and performing at a high level. I think there’s no question that in order to keep up, you have to add in other forms of structured training. This could be a system like the Limited Conjugated Method by Rudy Nielsen, or a simpler linear strength program you can find online. Put another way, if you just do the Rx WOD at your box, you will almost certainly not be prepared to compete and get good results.

What I’ve noticed, and maybe someone more experienced than I can chime in, is there’s an arms race among competitions to incorporate bigger and badder WODs. Heavier loads, crazier movements, more weird tasks, etc. So there’s a disconnect between run-of-the-mill box programming and competition programming, and athletes need to be proactive about finding resources to get themselves prepared.

For the record, I love sick WODs and I’m all for bigger and badder. Let’s push the limits.

Thoughts on CrossFit boxes offering more personalized training

Ideally, boxes would have intermediate and advanced tracks, and perhaps even a “High Performance” track if you have enough athletes to sustain it. High Performance would be programming for elite and pre-elite competitors.

Beyond that, I’d love to see gyms incorporate starting strength and Olympic lifting classes. There are business issues with having diversified programming, so it’s tricky for box owners.

What I’ve seen in my community is that the serious CrossFitters are finding ways to get additional training in, either by taking a class at another gym, building a garage gym, working out on their own, or hiring another coach. So the need is clearly there.

I think what you’ll start to see in the future are CrossFit camps and clubs popping up around the country, where athletes go to train for a couple of weeks (or longer) under elite coaches. It’s common in other sports like running and rowing to move to a new city just to train. As more CrossFitters edge into professionalism, you’ll see athletes moving around also.

This is by no means a comprehensive list and these are in no particular order. If there’s a site you think is awesome, recommend it in my comments section. I’d love to discover other bloggers.

1. Mobilitywod

Everyone knows about K-Starr’s MWOD site, which is a very good thing. I think this is the gold standard for all blogs everywhere, not just CrossFit. You’ve got extremely high value content published every single day in an easy to digest and implement form. He injects humor and personality. MWOD makes your life better, period. Get on the bandwagon.

I’ve been having a nagging shoulder issue for almost a half year now and this one video helped me rehab tremendously:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Fitbomb

Featuring clean design and excellent photography, Fitbomb is written by a passionate CrossFit and Paleo evangelist out in Palo Alto, and besides those two aforementioned topics, he also injects a lot of personal experience and tidbits about family. He’s got a whole series about the CrossFit Games that drew me into the blog. See his Favorites section for those posts and other goodies.

3. Talktomejohnnie

Talktomejohnnie is written by John Welbourne, a former NFL lineman and the founder of CrossFit Football. I love everything about this blog. It’s aesthetically easy on the eyes, the writing voice is tough, direct, and appealing, and he gives real value with his advice on training and nutrition. For an example, see this terrific post about training goals. All good blogs have a distinct voice and this is one of the best in the niche.

4. Beastmodal Domains

There are two blogs that own the “humor” category in CrossFit, Beastmodal Domains and Drywall, and I consider myself a Beastmodal man, although I consume the humor nuggets of both sites. Beastmodal author “Epic” is a little less ranty and a bit more creative with his foul language than Drywall (Epic uses the term “cockpunch” expertly). Check both out if you need to blow off steam at the office.

Here are two good posts. The first is a thought provoker as well as being hilarious, and helped me figure out what was wrong with my left achilles (here’s a hint: 27″ box jumps): Come At Me, Coach Volume III: High Volume Box Jumps?

The recent Newbie’s Guide to CrossFit is also guffaw inducing.

5. Catalyst Athletics

The official blog of Catalyst Athletics features multiple authors, including Olympic lifting guru Greg Everett. It crosses over into CrossFit, training, and nutrition. I think this is one of the best training-centric blogs out there, bar none, because Greg and his stable of writers publish intelligent, detailed, and high value content. If you’re into serious training, especially Oly lifting, you’ll be overwhelmed by the awesomeness on this blog.

I started taking an Olympic lifting class to supplement my CrossFit and this article really hit home: Integrating the Olympic Lifts with CrossFit

6. Blair Morrison

Blair Morrison’s blog. Besides being a kickass athlete (5th place finisher at this year’s Games), Blair received a Master’s degree from Oxford and played wide receiver for Princeton. He’s big into outdoor adventures and runs a camp called Anywherefit that takes place at cool international locales like Wales and Iceland. Nice! Most of his posts are about his own training, but he’s enough of an outside-the-box thinker (pun intended) that I stop by his blog a couple of times a week just to see what weird new thing he’s doing. He also doesn’t overwrite his stuff so it’s easy to digest.

7. Fit As Fu*k

Based in Denmark, Fit As Fu*k is co-authored by Sarah and Ditte, two CrossFitters who train at CrossFit Butcher’s Garage. They talk training, give tips, and do good blogging stuff like publishing training app roundups and link dumps for gift giving ideas. The blog is easy to read, easy on the eyes, and their topics vary. Also, they give you a bit of an international perspective on the sport, which is cool.

They also have a series of brief interviews going that asks the question of random vs. structured training in CrossFit, which is a big-time question in the sport right now. Check it out here and here.

Honorable Mentions:

• Sage Burgener
• Elizabeth Ekinwale
• Katie Hogan
• Forging Elite Sarcasm
• The Iron Samurai
• Rudy Nielsen
• Mark’s Daily Apple
• Runblogger
• CrossFit Journal – I go to the Journal every day. Only reason I put it on the honorable mention list is it costs $25 to get access to the content, which I think is totally worth it, but it’s more of an online magazine than a blog.

Looks-wise, it has a restrained and minimalist handsomeness while still catching the eye because of it’s size, shape, texture, and color. Casual backpackers will likely ask about it as you roam around town and a closer inspection by the bag aficionado will reveal it’s killer craftsmanship and high dollar materials without screaming ostentation.

Cost on the GoRuck website: $395 (includes free shipping).

Pro’s

Constructed of grenade-proof 1000 denier Cordura, the GR2, like all GoRuck products, are tough as nails, rhino strong, and built to last. And when I say built to last, I mean last for decades. If the $400 price tag gives you pause, consider that you might very well have this bag for the next 30 years, at least, and perhaps for the rest of your life. I can envision scenarios where these things are handed down from father to son, mother to daughter, for future GoRuck Challenges in 2040, where the offspring of Jason McCarthy (or Jason himself) are leading GRC classes on Mars. Why not?

There only a handful of personal effects I don’t mind shelling out a premium for because I know the item will last forever — thus making it an investment. That list includes: jackets, wrist watches, jeans, and luggage (packs fall in this category). If you overspend on those items, you’ll 99% of the time be pretty happy with the purchase in short order, and after a couple of years you’ll consider it a great value because you realize you won’t have to replace it. At least that’s been my experience.

GoRuck bags are designed to be abused, and in fact many of it’s owners prefer to cultivate a worn-in and distressed look. If you’re only using the bag as a daily commuter or weekender, there’s no question it will last forever. This thing is designed to withstand getting dragged behind a truck.

If you’re a hardcore backpackologist and worried about wearing out your investment, check out this warranty, posted on the GoRuck website:

GORUCK gear gets better with time and use, and is not meant to be replaced. We will happily repair, free of charge, Scars earned under our standards of abuse, which are excessive. In addition to adventure, we also love fire, bullets, knives, and chainsaws, but they do not play well with others and will leave Scars beyond the realm of normal repair. We’re happy to stitch up any GORUCK gear that’s been burned, shot, slashed or sawed for a reasonable repair charge. Please identify on your Scars repair form if your request is beyond the normal realm of repair.

For repairs, it’s not necessary to provide a receipt. That’s pretty cool.

Other features:

• The pack has two main (large) compartments, a laptop / hydration compartment against the back, and a smaller exterior compartment. You can put a shitload of stuff in the GR2.
• Internally, it’s festooned with huge zippered mesh and non-mesh pockets. It’s organizational ability is on par with a field medical kit.
• A fair amount of molle webbing, both internally and externally, for adding mods.
• Two compression straps that can also be used to strap accessories and gear.
• You can get it filthy dirty and hose it off, although I prefer mine with a few mud smears around the edges.

Con’s

My major gripe with the GR2, and it’s not a trivial one, is the lack of a framing system or hip straps. It’s simply not designed for heavy ruck runs. I rocked a GR2 for the 083 GoRuck Challenge with nearly 50 pounds of load and after 13 hours it brutalized my shoulders, lats, upper and lower back. The problem, as I see it, is the temptation to overfill where it exceeds it’s reasonable portability and comfort range. Thus, all that space is a two-edged sword. Load those compartments carefully. I’d love to see a GR2+ version in 2012 that included hip straps.

With that in mind, consider the niche the GR2 is filling and how you might use this particular piece of equipment. A gear bag for the CrossFit gym? Yes, but likely overkill. A daily commuter with your MacBook and bag lunch? Great. A medical kit or tactical go-bag? Yes! A weekender with a couple of outfits, shoes, and snacks? Awesome. A 3-day trip on the Blue Ridge with 40 pounds of gear and 20 mile hikes each day? I can’t recommend that. Other GoRuck geeks might disagree with me on this point, but I think you should use the right tool for the job. There are plenty of quality bags on the market at the same price point or less that have hip straps and framing systems.

The other con is cost, and I pretty much spent the entire Pro’s section arguing for the value of a $400 bag. You’re paying a premium for the badass materials, superior craftsmanship, and made in America cred. Plus, there is that great warranty and awesome service, both of which have value. Still, it’s a $400 bag and not everyone has four hundred bones to shell for a backpack.

Other minor gripes:

• It would be nice if there was some kind of hanger or clip in the top interior of the hydration compartment to hang your hydration bladder. Otherwise it shifts around.
• I’d like to see a couple of drain ports on the bottom exterior to allow water drainage if you ever get a bunch of water inside this thing (think doing flutter kicks in the ocean with a GR2 on your back).

Bottom Line

Bottom line is this is a high quality bag that is indestructible, has tons of space, and shows understated, handsome looks. It will last forever. You will probably fall in love with it. You will almost certainly take pictures of it in cool locales and post them on Facebook. It’s a niche item at it’s price point and functionality, but I think that’s what GoRuck intended.

What the GR2 reminds me of is a certain kind of car. I compare it to a Jeep CJ-7 in perfect condition (note: I love Jeeps). Rugged, fun, shitty on gas, not very comfortable, but a perfect weekend warrior. Would you haul your homeys around on a multi-state road trip? No, put you can pick up chicks at the beach and have a great time with one.

[Show as slideshow]

In this interview, Jason talked about the origins of GoRuck and why he does what what he does. He also reveals a few products they have in the pipeline for 2012.

What I like is how passionate Jason is about the team concept and what the GoRuck experience is all about. You can tell, clearly, that GoRuck is not just about profitability or selling bags, but rather about delivering a mindblowing experience and a great product first and foremost. Check it out.

Total time: 31: 46.

Video after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Logistics

The Tampa Challenge — Class 083 — met at 0100 hours at Ballast Point Park, just north of MacDill Air Force Base. We started off with 25 members and finished with all but one. Cadre leader was Brian Richardson, a former Green Beret medic and all around badass. The total journey was about 27 miles, with 21 miles of rucking and a 6 mile truck ride! Finish time was around 1430.

Our team weight was an ammo box filled with coins and a bottle of rum. Individual weight was either 4 or 6 bricks, depending on your body weight, which was a change from past challenges. My pack at the beginning of the event weighed about 45 lbs.

See this link for a Google map of the route, which doesn’t include short ruck sections on Gandy Blvd and within MacDill. Also not included is the truck ride from the Gandy boat ramp to MacDill. Thanks to one of our members, Chelsea, for putting this together.

The Down and Dirty

We set a record for earliest penalty in a GRC when we incurred bear crawls in the first fifteen seconds. I also fucked up and forgot that I had my watch on…which extended the penalty. That translated to 45′ of bear crawls in and around Ballast Point Park. Bear crawls might not sound too bad on paper, but it royally sucks when you have a heavyass pack riding down your shoulders and shoved against your neck. Knees and forearms also get smoked from crawling around on pavement. It sucked.

One format change was the addition of mission based challenges. After the opening smokefest, the rest of the night/day consisted of missions with a time limit. I’ll recap a couple of the missions to give you an idea.

Mission #1: Another team was pinned down about 5 miles north of our position and running low on .50 cal ammunition. Our mission was to hit an ASP (ammo supply point), gather a bunch of ammo, and then ruck it to the other team. Time limit was 1 hour.

The ASP was a rocky patch of beach at Ballast Point and the ammo was rocks. Big ones. Brian instructed that we carry 12 rocks at least the size of the ammo box the full distance. We had a couple of minutes to select our rocks and off we went. Some of the rocks were at least 50 pounds.

This was by far the worst mission for me. I struggled with carrying the extra weight of the rocks, and running indian sprints with the rock or the ammo box was brutal. My arms cramped and I had to stop inside the last mile and give up my rock. I was in danger of falling out. Consider that, with a 50 pound rock and the fully loaded pack, we were doing indian runs with nearly 100 pounds. What!?

We blew the time by over 20′. We failed the mission.

Mission #2: Team 2 had withdrawn deeper into enemy territory and we had to deliver the ammo. This mission had a shorter time limit, only 35′, with a shorter distance. One added danger was that we absolutely could not break formation or we would incur casualties and have to buddy carry the wounded. This happened to us TWICE and added a tremendous load to the group. We were now humping heavy rocks, two bodies, and the four packs of the buddy carry squad. This slowed our pace to a crawl. A couple of our guys, in a fit of ingenuity, grabbed a shopping cart from Publix, which we used to haul most of the bigger rocks and both casualties the remaining distance.

We completed the mission right on the money and it was a massive relief.

Highlights

The whole night and day pretty much followed the mission format, with a few additional challenges thrown in. For the sake of brevity, I won’t recap every mission, but suffice it to say they were difficult and involved rucking around with weight. One mission included a 7 mile stretch where for most of the miles we couldn’t use the shoulder straps on our packs. That royally sucked, because it meant you were either hugging your pack to your chest, carrying it on your shoulder/neck, or balanced on top of your head. There was no way to get comfortable. Imagine how shitty it would be to walk for 2-3 hours with 40 pounds on top of your head…it was exactly that shitty.

One highlight was a sprint up an 11 story stairwell at a hotel with a time limit. We accomplished that mission and the reward was getting our shoulder straps back. That victory was immense, one of the high points of the day.

My favorite part of the whole deal was beach PT at Cypress Point Park. The water felt great and I thought crawling around on the beach was a blast. I was seriously rejuvenated by getting wet and sandy. There’s just something about being in the water and in the sand with the sun on you that feels awesome. I could have done beach PT for hours.

In one of the last missions, we did a challenge that involved pulling a fully loaded moving truck with a rope. Piece of cake. The real challenge, though, was sticking 25 dudes inside the back of the truck that was loaded from floor to ceiling with office furniture. I shit you not, we had guys contorting themselves on top of cabinets and chairs. Brian informed us that finding transport in weird places and riding on top of cargo was a common experience of Special Forces. So I thought it was cool we got to experience that, even though it was hot as balls inside the truck.

The truck took us approx. 6 miles to the entrance of MacDill AFB, where we talked our way onto the base to visit the SOCOMM/SOF Memorial with a police escort. That was a true highlight. That was also the end of the GoRuck Challenge for Class 083.

Lowlights

The major lowlight was the long slog from Cypress Point to the boat ramp on Gandy, a distance of close to six miles. This was the point in the day where we were all hurting physically, low on water, hungry, hadn’t slept all night, hot, and the terrain was boring. It was a long, painful grind. I was fighting my mental state tooth and nail and trying to keep thoughts of quitting and all negativity at bay. Physically, my feet, achilles, and ankles were in bad shape. I was hobbled and it affected me mentally. I would say this was an even darker and lower stretch than the one I had during 007.

We also got started so late that we didn’t get to do buddy carries or PT in the bar district while the drunkards watched, which was good fun during 007 and I understand a highlight of most of the Challenges. I missed that.

Training

Besides regular Crossfitting and going to my strength and conditioning coach twice a week, I didn’t do any training specific for GoRuck. I have it in me to get through 10-12 hours of rucking with no training, but I don’t recommend it. The suffering is pretty intense. I would have performed a lot better in those last few hours if I had trained up to it.

I recommend doing regular weighted runs with a slow run pace and building up your mileage. You should be able to comfortably ruck with 40 pounds on your back for 3-4 hours, with short breaks built in. Try rucking while also carrying a rock or ammo case. It sucks, but you need to be prepared.

Make sure to wear comfortable shoes with decent padding and a decent thickness footbed. I don’t recommend minimalist shoes or Inov-8s. Those are too thin and will lead to blistering and a lot of shock on feet and ankles.

The good news is I suffered no long term injuries. As you’ll recall, I stress fractured my foot at the last GRC and couldn’t run for a month. After 083 I was back at the gym for CrossFit Tuesday.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is GoRuck Challenge is still the toughest, most grueling military-style event on the block. While the mission format is a welcome change, they made it even harder with *double* the bricks, more log PT, more rock PT, more bear crawls, and total suckfests like rucking with no straps. The mileage is still formidable, as we did 21 miles rucking over 13 hours. I was smashed mentally with about 2 hours to go. Earning a GoRuck Tough patch is, in my humble opinion, even harder now than it was a year ago. The team will get you through the tough times, but you can’t approach this thing lightly.

What’s cool about the new format is there are many more opportunities for people to step up and lead, which is what sets this event apart from other extreme events. Each mission required a new team leader and navigator, and it was great to see my friends from various gyms step up and dominate.

The saying is that adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it. I believe the GRC reveals character and that’s a special thing.

If you’re reading this and still on the fence about the GRC, know that it is every bit as tough mentally and physically as you’re imagining. Rucking with 6 bricks, which is around 35 pounds, is absolutely brutal and makes the 3 bricks from a year ago look like chump change. Your shoulders, neck, and back will be destroyed and your hips, hamstrings, and every part of your feet will likely go nuclear. You’ll have to dig deep mentally to get through it and you’ll hit a low point where you want to quit. That will happen and you’ll still have a couple more hours to grind. It will suck. You will question yourself. Getting past that is the point.

If you can make it through the suck, you’ll be a mentally tougher athlete and all your other endeavors will seem a bit brighter, a little less taxing, a little less weighty. That’s good livin’.

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In other news, I did an email interview with Talayna Fortunato recently, an amazing CrossFit competitor who trains out of Real Fitness Naples. Talayna is a great gal and she delivers value in the interview…any CrossFitter can get something out of it. The article was published on games.crossfit.com.

Here it is: Meet the Woman Behind the 2:26 Fran.

If you like this article, hit me with comment.

In other news, I did three CrossFit competitions in four weeks. I’ve got a post in the works on things I learned from all that and I’ll fire that one out next week. In addition to the GoRuck debrief.

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.

If your gym manages all three well, then great, this post might not apply to you. Otherwise, here are some solutions to reduce injury for your members.

Don’t Always Lift Heavy

First, let’s address the load issue. Lifting heavy is a core value of CrossFit, and depending on what box you’re at it’s either overtly or tacitly encouraged. Which is totally fine (I love lifting heavy), but you have to be smart about how much you’re lifting heavy. Common sense tells you don’t go for a max every single time you lift. Also importantly, mix in lighter loads during WODs and don’t always approach your max when you have a high rep count coupled with high intensity. Don’t be afraid to go light.

Example: On Monday our WOD called for 15 reps per round of 1.5 pood KB. I scaled down to 40# KB because my shoulders and hips were still sore from competing on Saturday. I also brought down the intensity of the workout, ie how fast I was doing it, to about 70%. Thus, the workout acted as an active recovery and there was minimal chance of me getting injured.

Don’t be afraid to scale down your loads even if you’re a badass firebreather. A couple of light WODs here and there can totally eliminate the threat of an overuse injury.

When going for a max test, I think every 4-6 weeks is about right. Any more and you’re stressing the shit out of your athletes and increasing injury risk. I don’t recommend trying to set PR’s every single week.

Improve Technique

Over the weekend I had an epiphany about this. I was at the Iron Curtain competition and doing a 1RM squat clean test. There were 12 dudes sharing one bar and we’d take turns doing reps as we built up to a max attempt. One thing I noticed, along with the help of an excellent coach (Fortune Santos from CrossFit Hardbodies) who was standing next to me, was the HUGE range in technique quality amongst the 12 guys. Most guys had below average technique, with only 1 guy having “excellent” technique…that one guy was not me.

(Interestingly, the guy with the best technique had the lowest body weight at 145 lbs, and he tied for the heaviest lift in my group, at 235#. Having awesome technique has the enviable benefit of allowing you to lift heavier safely).

This made me realize that the majority of CrossFitters do not have good technique on the Olympic lifts. When you go heavy with poor technique at high intensity, your risk of injury shoots through the roof.

It’s the responsibility of all instructors to coach the lifts closely and get their members to a point where technique is reasonably good. If that’s impossible for whatever reasons, then load and intensity needs to be taken down to safe levels.

One solution here is for the instructor to tell an athlete what intensity he should be working out at for a particular WOD. Thus, he could say go at 80% speed and focus on good technique on whatever skill-driven lift there is.

Another solution would be to cap loads on all inexperienced or newbie members, with exceptions made for folks who bring in good lifting experience or otherwise have awesome technique.

Athletes aren’t off the hook either. Wodkillas need to police themselves and reduce load and intensity if they know their technique is a work-in-progress. I’m guilty of pushing the boundaries like every other competitor…I have to force myself to reduce load every so often, because there is peer pressure to put up bigger numbers.

Here’s a great article on technique and training errors in lifting just published on CrossFit Journal.

Solutions for Athletes:

1. Get the best instructors at your gym to coach you through technique one-on-one.
2. Check out videos online of elite lifters.
3. Find a way to lift in front of a mirror and self-coach. This is an awesome way to improve technique and it kills me that very few CrossFit boxes take advantage of mirrors. I go to a regular gym that allows Olympic lifting and has mirrors just for this purpose.
4. Take video of yourself doing lifts and break it down.

Vary and Plan Your Intensity

This is a solution that will come across as anathema to most CrossFitters, but can save you a lot of grief. Don’t be afraid to bring down your intensity in a WOD to something less than 100%.

When I say reduce your intensity level, I mean literally slowing down how fast you’re doing a WOD. If your fastest Diane time is 8:00, slow it down to a 10:00 pace and make sure you have excellent technique on the deadlifts and HSPU.

You don’t always have to go 100 mph on every WOD, contrary to what Pukie and Uncle Rhabdo tell you.

I train six days per week, with Sunday either off or low-impact active recovery (like biking). On Monday – Saturday, I might roughly plan these intensity levels:

• Monday – 60-70%
• Tuesday – 70%
• Wednesday – 80 – 90%
• Thursday – 60-70%
• Friday – 100% (competition intensity)
• Saturday – 90 – 100%

What you can see here is that I have one day — Friday — where I absolutely go balls to the wall. The reason is on Friday mornings we have our top guys compete in a 7:00 am WOD for bragging rights. I bring my A game and the competitive atmosphere brings out the best in all of us. I will push the boundaries in terms of speed, intensity, and load.

For the rest of the week I’ll play it safe and vary my intensity below 100%. On Saturdays, if we have a kickass WOD planned than I may go all-out or dial it back slightly depending on how my body is feeling.

The variance and planning has three big benefits:

1. I can work on specific movements and not worry about winning. For example, if there’s 30 squat snatches planned in a WOD, I’ll focus on that one movement and slow everything else down to reduce fatigue and improve technique.

2. By lowering my intensity below race pace, I can train my other aerobic energy systems. The aerobic systems are undervalued in CrossFit…actually, they’re pretty much ignored altogether, but that’s a subject for another blog. I wrote about adding in heart rate training to CrossFit previously. The bottom line is, if I do a WOD around 75%, I’m training the low-end aerobic energy system and that has huge value for my performance.

3. I can increase my volume. By managing intensity and load, I can work out more, sometimes much more. It now becomes possible to do two or more workouts in a day and keep my injury risk at a minimum. By planning out my volume and intensity intelligently, I also reduce the risk of over training.

My Injuries This Year

I stress fractured by right foot in December from doing the GoRuck Challenge. I believe I’ve fixed that issue by switching footwear. Foot is now 100%

I hyper-extended my left elbow while getting bumped during an obstacle course race. That bothered me for about two months and it’s finally at 100%.

I’ve got gnarly tendonitis in both achilles that gets aggravated when I jump rope and do box jumps. I believe this is related to switching to minimal footwear but I haven’t quite pinned it down. I have to ice them after almost every workout.

I strained my right shoulder something fierce after doing Gator in the morning and then a shoulder heavy workout that night. That was too much and could have been avoided had I heeded my own advice. My shoulder is still jacked up. To solve this, I’m planning on taking November and December off from shoulder work and rehabbing it.

Bottom Line

Two things. First, I’ve had to manage the most injuries ever this year. Second, this year is the hardest I’ve worked and the most I’ve pushed my boundaries since college. I think the risk/reward is totally worth it. From my years of coaching rowing, I know being a competitor and pushing hard and dealing with injury go hand-in-hand. It’s inevitable. But you can manage and minimize by being smart and implementing some of the ideas above.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to do your mobility and take your fish oil. In the end, having awesome athletic experiences makes the risk worth it. Good luck!