By Coach Samantha Griffith

As CrossFitters we have a common thread that runs deep . . . innately competitive. We are intrigued day in and day out to step foot in the gym and compete with and against our peers, friends, and CrossFit family. Realistically speaking, that is what keeps us coming back. We can work out anywhere, but we can’t fathom working out elsewhere because we are inspired and driven daily buy those around us – our community.

Unfortunately, this competitiveness and desire to “win” can come at a risk. What does “winning” even mean? Who do you compete with? At times, we need to put our egos aside and compete within ourselves. My “win” may look very different than another athlete’s “win” in a particular workout. Fact is, we all have certain skills sets, abilities, goals, things we are good at, and things that could use a little improvement.

The whiteboard is a place to be encouraged, gauge workouts, and set goals. We have begun to create columns designated for differentiating modifications – this is in place to help gauge success and set realistic goals. It is true CrossFit fashion to design workouts that are difficult to complete as RX (prescribed). Completing a workout as RX means that perfect range of motion standard is evident through all the movements and every rep during the WOD. When designing workouts, the “elite” (competitive) athletes are in mind. Meaning, there are only a handful of people who we expect to complete workouts as RX normally. This does not mean you are not getting a hell of a workout – mods are there for a reason and you can only improve by gauging your success accurately. If our ROM is not perfect, let’s fix it instead of blazing through the workout as “RX” and never improving.

Don’t let your success be hindered by the whiteboard . . . make a goal, compete within yourself, set realistic goals, and get to the point where you are proud to claim you did a workout as RX – with absolute perfect movements and ROM (range of motion).

Ever since I was a kid, competing has been a part of my life. I grew up playing team sports at every level. After playing lacrosse at the college and pro level, I found myself missing the thrill of competing with my teammates every week. Thank God I found CrossFit. After about six months of doing nothing, I was in desperate for a new hobby.

I quickly found out that a workout, whether it is on my own or with others was what I needed to fix my craving for competition. About a year after starting CrossFit I decided it was time to test my skills outside of my little corner of my globo gym. So, I entered my first mini competition at a local box. The workout went well and I was hungry for more.

Not only has CrossFit competition offered me the chance to continue competing, but it’s also allowed me to find my athletic potential each time I compete. No matter what the event, competition has a way of making you push harder and further than you ever thought possible. Knowing that I have something more to give in a workout has benefited my everyday training. Every time I think about slowing down or stopping to breathe, I know in the back of my mind that I’ve experienced worse and whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger; and we all know that we’re not going to die working out, the only outcome to be determined is how much stronger we’ll become .

In March I sustained a significant back injury. I sprained my SI joint in my pelvis and most of lumbar and thoracic portions of my spine.

The injury was caused by a “scorpion” type injury; a forward fall with my legs (and 20 lbs of snowboard) falling up and over my head. I had overstretched those ligaments causing tearing and swelling. Kind of like this yoga pose without the intent and at about 10 mph.

I spent 1 week without exercise, using ice and anti-inflammatory medicaiton. At week two I slowly began light running, cycling, swimming and hot yoga. Three weeks later, I started light met-con activity. Four weeks later, I cautiously resumed weight lifting. Today has been 12 weeks since my injury. I am nowhere near my previous max lifts, and can’t tolerate much activity that hyper-extends my spine such as kipping pull ups, toes through rings or burpees. But I am back in the gym and exercising 5 days a week, I’ve worked hard to get this far and I’m pretty darned happy about it.

As an athlete, I fight the mental discouragement daily. The setback to my numbers and to my ego are tough to swallow. I push myself harder than I should and I am punished by re-injury or soreness to the point of being out of the gym for a few days. I see my fellow athletes reaching new PRs or getting their first muscle up and it’s hard not to be jealous. Lately, I dont’ feel like an athlete, I feel like I’m barely holding onto my fitness.

As a coach I know I should be working toward facilitating repair. I need to leave my ego out of it. My goal should be to work hard, but more importantly work smart, listen to my body, to know whiny pain from real pain, to know when to push and when to stop. This injury is something I will have to work around for along time, possibly for the rest of my life. I need to work to get it better, not work so hard that I make it worse.
So here’s my new manifesto, and if you see me all pouty after my workout because I’m feeling discouraged, please remind me of this:
Get a great workout in today, have fun and still be able to show up for tomorrow’s workout.

By Jurney Poland

The next best thing to getting your WOD on is getting it on outside! If you haven’t stared out a window - or hangar door - lately, and marveled at the amazing weather and state we live in, you have been…..working too hard? Summer is here and the (other) place to be is outside!

Now is a great time to explore the trail systems that are linked into our back yard, and it takes very little effort to access them. Trails and parks can be for more than just hiking, running and camping. You can hit a trail or park and create your own WOD. Think of how fun it could be to do pull ups from, and/or toes to, a tree branch; run fast to the next rock you see, then clean and deadlift those big rocks (and replace them where you found them); or bust out sets of squats in a lush pine forest? Better yet, bear crawl until you sight a bear! Maybe simply chop more wood than you need and share it with other campers? How ’bout a set of handstand push ups at the top of a mountain? If you want a little interval work, you can do so in the midst of your next 14′er. The workouts are endless, the air is fresh, and the scenery is incredible. The next time you are crushing a WOD, contemplate how you might translate it outside - to your favorite, or a new outside venue.

Take some time to enjoy playing outside this summer. At the same time, remember to respect the trails, parks, and others by as the saying goes, “taking only photographs and leaving only footprints”. Have fun, be safe, and enjoy. The sun and fresh air will benefit your MBS!

Check out the following link: http://www.bouldercounty.org/dept/openspace/pages/default.aspx

This week we are starting a 6-week Olympic lifting program in your WOD classes. Why? Because we want to move better. There is no match to the snatch and the clean and jerk in terms of teaching coordination, speed, and strength. We think it will help you NOT ONLY in your Olympic lifts, but also in your performance of deadlifts, back squats, overhead squats, pullups, kb swings, and pretty much every other movement we do in the gym.

Here’s the rough schedule, which we plan on sticking to for a minimum of 6 weeks. Then, after evaluating and making adjustments, moving into another 6 week program. Please don’t look at this and think this is ALL we are going to do. Obviously, we DO intend on keeping it fun and varied - we will make sure to keep the conditioning lighter when the lifting gets heavier and just keep a good balance with everything (gymnastics, running, and rowing are still included). The lifts will generally be done at the beginning of the session when you are most fresh, but we will also change that occasionally.

Monday: Snatch + conditioning
Tuesday: Hips/legs lift + accessory lift + conditioning
Wednesday: Clean + conditioning
Thursday: Upper body lift + accessory lift + conditioning
Friday and Saturday: conditioning only

In addition, we are slightly modifying our warm up to meet the demands of increased barbell work. We want to make sure that you’re thoroughly warmed up and flexible prior to doing weightlifting (it greatly helps your Olympic lifting if you are able to get into the right position). You can expect to see some more barbell complexes for warm ups - you will get a lot of practice and you will benefit from reps.

As an athlete, I hope you are looking forward to this. I think you will get a ton out of the increased barbell work. A few pointers that will help you and your coaches out:

- Be prepared to scale the weight down to learn proper technique/better position. This kind of goes in line with “checking your ego at the door” and being a coach-able athlete. I’ve already said to scale the weight down, so I shouldn’t have to be repeating myself over and over again in class about it. Instead of going for big weights, focus on body position (squeezing into a tight position), the path of the barbell (staying close to body), and speed (through the movement and into receiving position). I promise you, if you re-direct your focus to those 3 things, your Olympic lifts will go through the roof.

- Footwork, grip, and body position. The basics are just that, but it is amazing how many times a lift can be corrected by changing one of those things. Play around with the basics - jumping stance and receive/squat stance, where is it? What feels best? Same with grip, play with it and find out what works best for you.Work to get better body position. If you have to come in early and give some extra attention to the shoulders and elbows, please do. Check out the mobilitywod.com and find out how to become more flexible.

- Take care of your body. Your hands will get abused if not taken care of properly. Chalk should be washed off immediately. Tape can be put around the thumbs to protect the skin. Wrist wraps are commonly worn to provide more support on the wrists. Here is a good vid on hand care and taping.

By Rich Trujillo

Competition can bring your talent and skill to life. Having fun and being challenged can make you a better athlete. Feeling confident, positive, and energetic are vital in optimizing your competition experience. We can control these emotions in two ways. The first is outside-in training; the second is inside-out training.

Outside-in is physical training. Inside-out is mental toughening. Both are equally important, but I am going to focus outside-in physical training.

Physical toughening is three things:

1. Improving physical fitness
2. Looking and acting tough
3. Getting enough rest and recovery before a comp.

CrossFit is core to extremity movement in training and in competition-expose yourself to abdominal stress. Your abs are the core of strength. Weak abdominals and poor fitness go hand in hand. Low back pain, poor posture, bad breathing, and problems with movement can be linked to weak abs. When the energy is gone the fight is over. The fitter you are, the more prepared you will be to handle the energy competition requires.

Competitors need to be mindful of how they act. Being physically tough also means acting tough. The connection between the way you feel and act is very powerful. The way you walk, carry your head and shoulders, and the expression across your face stimulate emotions. Acting a particular way stimulates emotional specific changes in the body. What begins as a faked emotion can lead to a real emotion.

Finally, it’s critical to be fully recovered before the fight. Peeps who don’t follow rules about sleep, diet, and mobility are most likely to give up under pressure. Before taking on another competition make sure you are physically, mentally, and emotionally recovered.

By Coach Jurney Poland

One dictionary definition of endurance is “The ability, or strength, to continue or last, especially despite physical fatigue, stress, or adverse conditions; stamina.” Sounds like every WOD. You endure and survive them. Wouldn’t it be fun to do more than “survive” and look forward to the long ones?

Brian McKenzie’s CrossFit Endurance (CFE) model provides a way to improve your stamina without having to log hours and hours on a bike, in a pool, on the rower, or on foot. The whole premise is to achieve the benefits of improved endurance and speed, while decreasing the time, the miles, and the risk of injury involved in traditional LSD training. CFE combines WOD’s, improved skills (form and technique), and intervals, and defies the concept of a need to spend hours upon hours in any 1 discipline. CFE will help improve efficiency which will translate to more enjoyable running, and metcons.

Our new endurance classes may be for you whether you love running, or hate it. If you’re a fan, it will be more fun to improve running form and technique in a group. And if you loath it, it will be more fun to learn to like it with others. We will learn and practice skills and drills, do a little (or a lot of) jump-roping, and of course – what’s a CrossFit class if there aren’t fun WODs? Oh yes, and let’s not kid ourselves, they will be run-related and interval WODs. And, we can probably all agree that suffering and complaining about suffering are both more fun with others.

By Sean Tallman

As fitness buffs, we need to have a clear understanding the difference between training for the Crossfit Games and training for GPP (General Physical Preparedness)/Optimal health. Know the Games are a VERY small part of what Crossfit does and promotes.

As some of you have seen, some of us coaches work out between classes, and depending on the time of year, working out multiple times throughout the day. We usually have a high volume of “wodding” throughout the week. (On a side note, that will be the only time you will here me use the acronym W.O.D as a verb!! W.O.D is not a verb, its an acronym!! That is all=).) A typical day might include multiple metcons and a strength session thrown in there. The reason behind multiple workouts a day is to increase our training volume and work capacity to meet or exceed the demands of Regionals, or if your name is Pat Burke, the Regionals and Games! Now, is this right for a long term life of optimal health and wellbeing? Nope!!! We all understand that one day we’ll have to really dial it down and workout just for pure health and not for competition. But until that day comes…….

So, what does one do to train for GPP/optimal health? First, start with your training schedule. Be consistently inconsistent. By that I mean don’t worry about doing 3 on 1 off 2 on 1 off, or 3 on 1 off. If you miss a day or so, don’t sweat it! Play around with things. One week try 4 on 3 off. The next week try 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off. You can see where I’m going with this. Second, don’t cherry pick when strength workouts come up!!!! In my opinion, you can’t have good metcons without a solid strength base. Move large loads often! Pat does a great job programming for GPP, so take advantage of it. Your life will be better for doing so. Also, Check out Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, and Movnat. These resources are great if you are looking for exactly what I’m talking about, Optimal Health! Before I finish, PLEASE don’t forget about nutrition. Without it, you have nothing. This will be another topic for another time. Happy wodding!…… Wait, forget I said that. Happy training!

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Register HERE. Join MBS’ team.

Ask Pat for exclusive discount code: patrick@mbscrossfit.com.