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How to Reduce Injury in CrossFit

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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Interview with David Hunter, Megatransect Race Director

When me and my crew did Mega, we had the good fortune of chatting up Dave Hunter on the Friday prior to the race. Dave is a great guy and made us feel really welcome, despite the fact that we were starry eyed n00bs from Florida :). Dave has been the race director for Megatransect for the last 3 years and he’s one of the original organizers of the event, which just completed it’s 9th year.

Originally a road racer, Dave eventually moved to marathon distance–his PR is 3:34. He ran eight marathons before finding new joy in training on trails.  To quote David:

I found that trail running is a totally different sport. Pace is impossible…. it is all about effort.

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Review: Megatransect 2011

Immediately after doing GoRuck Challenge in December, me and my crew plotted our next big event for 2011: Megatransect. Megatransect is a near marathon distance run/hike up, over, and through Bald Eagle Mountain and the Bald Eagle State Forest in Central Pennsylvania. The distance this year was a cool 25.5 miles. If you’re considering Mega after reading this post, know that the 850 slots filled up in 48 hours and organizers are expecting an even faster sell-out for 2012. Next year will be Mega’s 10th anniversary.

Before we get into the review, let me say this. You can bet your sweet ass I’ll be on my computer with credit card in hand on January 1 signing up again. Mega totally rocks.

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Competition and Inspiration

I found this article from the NY Times, A Little Deception Helps Push Athletes to the Limit, via the Fitbomb blog. The article talks about how cyclists, when deceived into thinking they are competing against cyclists of similar speed, will go beyond their perceived limits in order to win. What’s interesting is this extra push is quantified: a 2% increase in power translates to a 1% increase in speed.

A 1% increase can translate to a massive difference in power endurance sports. In rowing, where a typical time might be 6′ over 2000 meters, 1% translates to 3.6 seconds. That margin in the rowing world is an open water win–one boat length is about 2.7 seconds for an eight-man boat. A clear and decisive victory.

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How 9/11 Affected Me

I have no direct connection to 9/11, thankfully. The way that I chose to honor 9/11 the last two years was by participating in the special 9/11 WOD that CrossFit Firebase puts on. This included a long workout at Lake Eola with running and calisthenics, then moved to a downtown office building for part 2, which was running stairs. Part 1 takes almost an hour and running the stairs takes several times that, so it’s an epic morning of working out by any standards.

This year, part 2 was 14 times up and down inside the Wells Fargo building (16 floors). I hammered through all 14 ups and downs. It took me 2.5 hours. Let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve grinded through stairs inside a muggy, sweaty stairwell for 2.5 hours. It was brutal and I was crawling by the end. I was very very glad to have done it with good friends, otherwise I don’t think I would have gone the distance.

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How to Warm Up Properly for CrossFit

I’ve done five competitions this year and one thing I’ve noticed is the majority of competitors warm up like crap. Most CrossFitters warm up with dynamic stretching and lifting, with either the same or lighter weight from the WOD. This is useful for prepping the muscles and joints, but the areas that are neglected are the aerobic energy systems. I blogged about the role of the energy systems in CrossFit previously.

Here’s an example of how the right warmup can affect you. The Summer Crush Games WOD “Greyhound” started with a 400m sprint on a dirt track, followed by 4 movements that alternated with a 25M walking lunge with weight. The total WOD time took me about 9′, which was average time-wise.

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Summer Crush Games 2011: Under the Lights

When I think of my top 5 all-time athletic experiences, it goes something like this in no particular order:

  • Winning a bronze medal at the ’98 Dad Vails in the lightweight 8+. I sat two-seat. I remember it like it was yesterday.
  • Doing a sprint adventure race (trail run, mountain bike, canoe, obstacles) in Deerfield Beach. This was ridiculously fun because I was racing all-out with two of my buddies and it was like 100 degrees out. Extreme conditions make a race that much more epic.
  • Tough Mudder SoCal. Similar to #2 above, the physical demand was high and it was a blast to race with two good friends. We were wrecked afterwards. The terrain was picturesque and brutal at the same time.
  • GoRuck St. Augustine. I had to think long and hard whether GoRuck was a top 5 event because, while it was happening, I basically hated it and wanted to die a fiery death. The memory has since matured mutated towards unadulterated fondness. I think this is because GoRuck was the most epic athletic endeavor I’ve done to date, and I did it with a bunch of dear friends. It also completely changed my attitude about competition and mental toughness. Anyway, I’m slotting this badboy into the top 5 until further notice.
  • Summer Crush Games.

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7 Ways to Ball on a Budget (CrossFit)

I ain’t gonna lie, doing crossfit can be friggin’ expensive. Rocking an unlimited membership at the local box can easily run $150 or more per month. Add in the expense of making your diet paleo, shoes (those Inov8s aren’t cheap), WOD clothes, Oly shoes, a jump rope, home equipment, supplements, travel to competition, and we’re talking about a pricey hobby. If you’re having affordability issues, here are some suggestions for cutting down and still getting your elite on.

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Review: NUTRILITE Rhodiala Rosea

I’ve been messing around with NUTRILITE Rhodiala Rosea, a workout supplement, for the past couple weeks and it’s time for a review.

Rhodiala Rosea is an extract from a plant found in the Arctic and in many mountainous areas of the world. It’s been used for hundreds of years for dealing with stress and cold and is also prevalent in Chinese medicine. If you’re interested in more backstory and the chemical qualities of Rhodiala Rosea, please see the wiki page. I’ll focus instead on my personal experience and how it affected my training. The NUTRALITE supplement is all natural and doesn’t contain any ingredient on the WADA banned substances list, which is good if you’re concerned about drug testing during competition.

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2011 CrossFit Games Kicked Ass…Even The Softball Throw

I got sick with the flu early last year and was laid out for a couple of days. Up until that point I was doing crossfit only casually, just enough to supplement my other athletic endeavors. When I got sick, I had nothing else to do but surf the net, so I fired up the 2009 CrossFit Games vids and watched every event straight through, and even watched Sevan’s behind-the-scenes video. I loved how tough and interesting the events were and I especially liked the personality of the athletes.  There was also an uncommon amount of sportsmanship and camaderie on display and that really drew me in. Watching those vids was a turning point for me in the sport.

For the 2010 Games, I got even more invested in the athletes and I could tell you who won each event and reel off some highlight moments. Spealler winning Amanda under the lights. Graham winning the double Helen. Froning falling apart at the ropes. Annie and Kristen going head-to-head in the final WOD. I’ve watched some of those videos 5-6 times because they inspire and they’re high drama. I couldn’t get enough. It was a truly compelling event.

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