Musings from Coach Jared:
Alright guys, in 3, 2, 1…. Wait, wait, wait I still need to put on my lifting shoes, and my wrist wraps, and my left knee brace, and my right elbow support, special powder so my feet won’t smell, and my breath right nose strip. Oh, and this super duper special secret creme a friend of a mine that knows a guy that got me that goes on my eye lashes to make sure that I don’t blink to much and waste energy. REALLY?…. Really?….. really?
I am here today to enlighten everyone on an upcoming epidemic that may be taking over; I like to call them gear geeks. Do you really need all that crap on your body? No sir, you do not. If you think you do, you either need a whole team of surgeons to address your problems or at least a psychologist because that problem doesn’t start with your sprained big toe but somewhere in that cranium of yours. An injury is an injury and there is no denying that braces are good to a point. But looking around there seems to be an awful lot of injured athletes.
Brace yourselves. I am about to smack you in the face with some truth, and it all starts with a little person anecdote: I tore my ACL in 2005 and wore one of those big fancy braces that they give NFL players for nearly a year. During the beginning of the rehab it was needed, not unlike many people out there whose braces, straps, or specials cremes are sometimes necessary. At a certain point they stop being useful and start becoming a hinderance. That brace limited my range of motion, caused me to favor my other leg, and in general was my crutch, I didn’t want to do low squats; my knee was the problem. I didn’t want to run; my knee wouldn’t let me. Unfortunately there was no Forest Gump moment where I was running and my knee brace broke and I was fine. There wasn’t even a day where I was pissed and threw it across the gym or anything cool like that. I lost it, never figured out where or when. It just vanished. The Army may put you in one of those but it sure as hell won’t put you in two. So I sucked it up. Yeah it was awkward and uncomfortable and at times near painful but was by working through those feelings that the real improvement came. AND THEN CAME CROSSFIT.
We have the luxury of working out in a gym that has everything that could possibly ever be needed. It has tons of space, stellar equipment, amazing athletes, a crazy awesome atmosphere and it is just shy of a dream. However, this is just all fluff if the effort isn’t there. You can pull out your phone to figure out that you lifted 76% not 75% but what your phone isn’t telling you is that you wimped out and cheated yourself because max effort wasn’t there.
Another little story here, I started with pipes that had coffee can cemented on the ends for barbells and weights. My first kettle bell was a basketball filled with sand and a handle made out of duct tape. The pull up bar I had was shorter than I was tall. The best workout I have ever had was done with a partner and two towels. When effort isn’t there improvements won’t be made. Take advantage of the luxuries that are abound, become a better athlete by coming in, forgetting the outside world, and busting your ass.
Workout of the Day
5-3-1 Press (90% of 1RM)
5 x 75% – 3 x 85% – AMRAP x 95%
then
Row 2000 meters, then perform AMRAP burpees in the remaining 10 min
Well said Jared. I have to admit that I can be a gear geek occasionally. Especially when the weather is like this, I like to have my knee sleeves on along with wrist-wraps or anything else that can keep my bare skin warm. But, to your point on equipment being a crutch, I completely agree. I think its just a matter of common sense and moderation. I don’t think it makes any sense to put wrist-wraps on for a pull up or pushup workout. Or, even when it does make sense, like wearing a belt while squatting or wrist-wraps while doing jerks, a person should understand that the very piece of equipment they are using to get “stronger” is actually making them weaker in the ‘protected’ area. Knee sleeves, belts, and wrist-wraps all help because they provide your body extra support, hence “crutch”. I will frequently squat without my belt or wrist-wraps for that very reason even though I own a least a 6 weight belts and pairs of straps and have them in my gym bag every day.
Do yourself a favor and kick the belt, wraps, and sleeves for a bit. And, should I even go here….chalk? Seriously, what is the worst that will happen if you don’t coat your hamburgler hands down with an inch of chalk? You’ll probably just get your grip stronger by gripping a sweaty bar. It is functional fitness, right?
I’m not saying all this because I want you to be real cavemen and cave women and do fitness without equipment like our ancestors did. Nor am I being stingy with the chalk or any of these other piece of equipment that can actually be very helpful in your mission of getting stronger. All I ask for is for you to think about your path of becoming more fit over a lifetime. Explore, question, and test your strengths occasionally by getting rid of all your crutches. Go ahead and see if you fall down…if you do, learn from it and get back on the horse!
I have to agree, Jared. I have been a member here at MBS for over three and a half years. I have never used a belt or wrist wraps or knee wraps. I figure out there in real life, you won’t have that gear when you need to lift a heavy object or climb a ladder or tree or sprint, so why train that way? Plus, if you need a wrist wraps to lift, probably have weak wrists and that is not going to help. My only special gear is oly lifting shoes. And I didn’t buy those for over two years and I don’t always use them. Now, I’m not as fit as some of the others here, but my inability to deadlift heavy is not primarily because I don’t wear a belt.
Well said Coach J! One of the things I love most about MBS (that is, when I actually work out) is the ‘get down to business’ atmosphere — both from the surroundings and the other athletes. A while back after Baby #2 arrived I did a few workouts at a local rec center just to get moving again. Between the mirrors, 38 different types of weight benches, and EVERYone wearing their headphones, I just couldn’t take it. And Jared, we all want to hear about that “Towel WOD” now, of course.
I thought about gloves once when I first started and my hands were getting jacked and then I heard Coach Sean ask some dude putting gloves on if they matched his purse! that was my no gloves moment.
Best article that I have read to date about attitude. I relate to this. I had knee surgery over 24 years ago. The knee was braced as needed but became a total hinderance. It was causing range of motion problems, as soon as I left it behind the strength started to come back..through all the fear of letting go of it. Everything went well for 20 some years when i found out that the cartilage had worn down to nothing…this caused tons of pain followed by a swinging gate, loss of muscle and range of motion…I FELT DONE>>> Fast forward to me discovering Crossfit circa June 2012. The movements, sometimes modified, have added almost all the strength back and corrected my gate…CROSSFIT has kept me going and so much better than rehab…