20% Off + Free Shipping on all Fitness Items Now

Friday, April 17, 2009

BizZaRro world..

"To crash, or not to crash, that is the question"





"Helena"
3 Rounds
400m
21 Overhead Squats 95/65lbs
12 Burpees

Post time to comments.

Above, you'll see CrossFit athletes attempting to catch their breath during an intense battle of moving weight through a full range of motion in an exercise(s) for a certain number of reps in the fastest time possible.  Below that, we have the end result.  How do you finish a WOD that just beat the hell out of you?  Are you a 'crasher?'  Do you need to just 'walk it off?'  Do you hide? Is it just another day at OTG, when's play time start?  

There's also been some talk of strategy.  Is there strategy in CrossFit?  If so, should there be? Or should it be - go balls to the wall until the wheels fall off and just deal with it when/if that ever happens?  Post thoughts to comments.

The Triple Threat Abmat Challenge
Day 33 = 99
Buy in = 1,683

11 comments:

Teen Wolf said...

Well I'm up early thanks to 5am practice so I'll take a stab at it. I don't think there's such a thing as "strategy" in crossfit, but I do think that there are ways to maximize effort rather than just going balls to the wall without a direction. I'm a crasher though, Wednesday I almost fell from the bar onto the ground after the 9th pull up. I usually crash in the fettle position in the corner for 5 minutes before I'm up and about again.

sert11 said...

I think it depends on what the workout is, if it's FGB or a tobata, there is a strategy. If it's something like Fran, then it's balls to the wall. I feel most workouts at OTG are balls out and try to catch your breath in between exercises.
I would say I walk it off but the picture above proves that I'm on my butt 95% after most workouts. I don't hide, I do try to walk to a clear area and then crash. It takes a couple of minutes and then I try to get up/walk and support my fellow Crossfitters.
No matter how you recover it's all another day at OTG...BRING IT!!!!!!

brett said...

Strategy is managing rest during a crossfit workout. Knowing when to go balls to the wall and when to pull back a bit can be tricky. Obviously you can't sustain a Fran-like pace on a 25min chipper, and you shouldn't pace yourself on Fran like you would on that chipper. But holding back too much will cheat your development. So how should you "pace" yourself? Learn to push yourself past your comfort level and your mental and physical capacity will increase. Have that "Aha!" moment.

Atlee said...

My initial strategy was to just finish! Now I'm trying to actually perform. Knowing when to catch a breath is hard, you can really kill your groove sometimes.

sert11 said...

I agree with Brett, you have to keep pushing yourself, your body will learn to keep up if your mind is already there. How's that for inner thought Nick?

Mark said...

Brett love's what OPT preaches! I totally agree...I feel people don't realize how far they can push themselves...how far past that first taste of pain in a WOD...but once you crossover, that's where the gains really start kicking in...next time you hear 3 2 1 go, turn the pain off in your noggin! You'll be surprised what you're capable of!

...I love Fran

Higher Order Living said...

I'm all about inner thought. Had to use some yesterday during Fran!
Not thinking about how tired you really are is key. Try to fool yourself into thinking that you're as fresh as a daisy regardless of how you 'feel.'
Let your body do what it was meant to do move properly without 'thinking' about it.

pcleary said...

I agree with tabata, FBG, and some other workouts where you may need to think a little before jumping in.

Other than that, I always go as hard as I can, resting when I need to. 95% of the time, rest is only needed when I cannot physically do the movement anymore, like a pullup or a thruster. Once the muscles have failed, you have to stop for some period of time.

Since every workout is different, and most are new, it is very hard to gauge how hard you can push it. If I am doing 150 push presses, what will I feel like at 120 if I have never done that many before? I think the only way to figure it out is go balls out and see where it gets you.

I find though that now that my wind isn't much of an issue, I reflect on my workout by pinpointing my weaknesses, specifically when I got to failure on each movement. For example, I know with Fran I could shave 2 minutes off the time by improving my pullup. So I have to figure out a way to add extra work to bring up my pullup, improving my pullup will improve my next Fran time, without a doubt.

Crossfit for me is all about getting better, more fit. The only strategy I use is to understand my weaknesses in order to get better. If I go 100%, it is easier to see those weaknesses.

D.T. said...

Uhhhh, ditto to all of the above. Yo, yo, yo, I got 99 problems but the Ab Mat Challenge aint one bee-och!!

D.T. said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCFZoqmKf5M&feature=player_embedded

Teen Wolf said...

haha dom needs to go into comedy man you're the man. 11:04 today, my hip flexors are shredded from this week