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.

To Kip or not to Kip

Today was a shoulder day which kind of surprised me because of the snatch work we did yesterday, but when I did the workout I realized that we were working different parts of the shoulder today. Even so, my shoulders were feeling a little burny and a lot weak when I left. (To be honest, everything was sore and shaky when I left, lol).

As an older Crossfitter, I am very aware of how the movements, lifts and excercises we do affect my body. I am particularly aware of how my shoulders feel. I know several people who have either torn their rotator cuff or their labrum and I absolutely do not want it to happen to me. The whole reason I work out is to stay fit and healthy and shoulder surgery doesn't really align with that, lol. Having been at a box that didn't seem to care about preventing injury, I did a lot of reading up on the shoulder and how it relates to the exercises we do in CrossFit. Today, for the first time at my new box, we worked on kipping pull-ups. I have always been afraid to kip because I've read it is very hard on the shoulders. I have also read from many sources that you should not try a kipping pull-up until you can do at least one strict pull-up.

I am a tall thin person with very long skinny extremities, and I'm not even close to getting a strict pull-up--pull-ups are hard for women to master, but one of my goals is to be able to do at least one. I was happy that we practiced the kipping movement,but my coach and I both agreed that my goal should be to build the strength to get a strict pull-up and then we'll worry about kipping. It's nice to have a coach that is attuned to the older or inexperienced Crossfitter--he has been injured and is almost militant about preventing injury, and I really appreciate that.

How to stay injury-free in CrossFit

Today is a rest day. My box isn't closed today, but I'm choosing to rest after two days of workouts. I'm still trying to figure out a good workout schedule, but I'm beginning to realize that it depends completely on the workouts we do each day. So I've learned to listen to my body. This week started out with an intense workout on Monday and some heavy lifting yesterday; my body felt tired and I was feeling a little twinge of pain in my elbow so I chose to rest today. It's hard to stay home at times, but I have to remind myself that I am not looking to break any records, but just want to work up a good sweat, stay fit, strong, and be able to pick up my grandchildren (when I have some,lol)

Dispelling the CrossFit Myths

There are quite a few myths surrounding CrossFit, probably mostly disseminated by people who have never tried the sport. However, in order to be as accurate in my depiction as possible, I want to discuss my perception of the good, the bad and the ugly in CrossFit.

Myth #1
You have to be an athlete to do CrossFit
There are many ex athletes in CrossFit and I can understand why; many of them have competed most of their lives and are able to find the same kind of competition level in CrossFit. But one of the great things about the sport is that it can be scaled to meet any level. I never played competitive sports as a young person and I am not very athletic. CrossFit lets you start where you are and build on that. You aren't competing with the other athletes as much as you're trying to better your strength and skill. A good coach will work 
with you to master the movements before ever pushing you to lift heavier or move faster.