Everyday CrossFit Bumps and Bruises

While most people focus on the major injuries you can sustain from doing Crossfit (SLAP tear, ACL tear, back injuries, hamstring and quad pulls), it's the small injuries, bumps and bruises that are much more common. I was comparing elbow wounds with a young man I partnered with in a Wod where we had to crawl under each other. We both were bleeding on our elbows and knees when we were finished, and I had some ugly bruises pop up in the days following that workout. He was telling me that his wife gives him a hard time about always getting scraped up (poor guy). Before I started CrossFit I didn't realize just how scraped up I'd get on a regular basis.

Today we did a WOD with box jumps.

We did them so much at my old box that I really didn't think much about an AMRAP with 25-50 box jumps. We also practiced jumping higher than the 20 inch box so I felt pretty comfortable doing them. We don't do them as much at my new box and I've found myself doubting the jump. You're standing in front of a 20 inch box with tired legs and your mind is going 'nope-no way are you going to clear this". I have never fallen while doing one, but I've hit my toe a couple of times on the box which could have led to a spectacular fall if I hadn't caught myself. A box jump injury can be baaaad. Most people catch their shins on the edge of the box and scrape the heck out of them. Or they tumble head first over the box onto the floor. No bueno! Just google box jump injuries and you'll see what I'm talking about. So today, one of my box mates who is a woman about my age fell on a box jump. She hasn't done many jumps and was hesitant about trying. We had just done a lateral crouched shuffle and the legs were feeling very much like jell-o. There were several women using a 12 inch jump over, but it was an AMRAP and she didn't want to wait. She caught her shin and then slid down the edge so she had about a 5 inch gash on the front of her leg. She finished the WOD because she is fearless, but I know it really hurt. At the earlier class, another woman my age was trying to jump over the box--yes, she's a beast!--and her momentum took her over the box onto her face. Luckily she wasn't hurt, but it could have been bad.


Another common CrossFit war wound is the shin scrape from deadlifts.

As you can see, when you deadlift, you drag the bar up really close to your shins and the knurling (see pic), which is the rough part of the barbell, can cut up your shins. Who knew you could get cut up weightlifting, lol.

Rope burns are another nasty CrossFit injury. I haven't mastered the rope climb yet, but I'm hoping to soon. If you've ever seen a rope used for rope climbing, you know if is made out of what feels like very rough hay and is very prickly. I've seen some really bad rope burns that most people get when they slide down the rope. Even wearing socks and full length leggings don't offer much protection.

I've tossed around getting some shinguards for protection from both box jump falls, deadlift scrapes, and rope burns, but the ones I've found are expensive and I'm not sure if I want to have all of this gear that I have to take on and off while CrossFitting. 

Rocktape RockGuards V3 - Shin Protection for CrossFit and OCR Manifesto (Small)

So although I definitely don't like getting scratched up and bruised, I do wear my CrossFit wounds proudly--Through lots of blood, sweat and tears I did earn them!