Rest, Rolling and Stretching

As "OPT" puts it best "KNOW PAIN, KNOW GAIN"


Today is the second day of rest for me from working out. I'm probably going to restart on Friday because that's when the first 3 and 1 starts again. There comes a time when you have to shut it down and just take some time off, my body picked Sunday as the perfect day. I was starting to get extremely stiff and could feel my overall body recovery suffering(With the H1N1 flue going around I don't want to bash my immune system too badly). Again I can't stress the importance of a good diet but you also need your rest. Shiftwork tends to be tough, I find it extremely difficult to nap before I start my nightshifts, this puts me behind on sleep many hours. It is important while working nights to keep things consistent such as eating and sleeping times. When I'm on nights I may eat a bit extra just to compensate for the lack of sleep and even though I may not feel hungry I still eat at my regular times. Everybody is different you MUST find what works best for you.

Rolling and stretching are very important parts of any exercise and should be part of your daily routines. At our gym we regularly roll and stretch to loosen tight muscles. I started rolling when I used to run marathons, my "IT" bands would get really tight. (IT band runs down the side of your leg from your hip to your knee) They got so tight that my right side started pulling on my knee and put me into physio which was the beginning of the end of my running. So rolling and stretching are very important. A foam roller like the one in the picture you can usually pick up from a physio office for about $20-$30, they last forever so it's pretty cheap. It should come with a list of exercises/rolls which you can do for different muscle groups.

Today I am just cleaning up halloween decorations and cooking food to get ready for the next few days at work. I'm doing some stretching and rolling as my lower body is pretty tight.
Until next time Sean'O out!

GROOMING AND CROSSFIT??

Again a few days go by without a post. Friday I had to put a halloween costume together for a party we went to and yesterday we had people over in the afternoon for a little halloween get together, my wife loves getting together with friends.

So Friday's workout was a birthday WOD. To add to the entertainment value we get at crossfit our "Head" Coach Chad lets people make-up their birthday WOD or names a WOD after someone for their birthday. Well it was our local "monster's" birthday and he picked power cleans, front squats and GHD sit-ups. So the required WOD was:

"Terrible Tens"
10 rounds for time with 115#:
10 Power Cleans
10 Front squats
10 GHD sit-ups

I finished 7 rounds and threw the towel in 19:41. I could have done 10 rounds but probably would have taken me a half hour.
For me 115# (70% of bwt) was pretty heavy, power cleans weren't so bad but going from the power cleans into the front squat was the crushing blow. If you've never done GHD sit-ups these things are awesome core strengthening exercises. I would advise people who have never done these before not to do a whole bunch the first time. The first time I did these we did a whole bunch and pretty much had to take a week off to recover. You have been officially WARNED!!

Yesterday we did some tech work on overhead squats before the WOD which was good because from my hips down was and is still really tight. I had trouble getting down into a full deep squat. So the WOD consisted of:
3 Rounds of:
30 Overhead squats (45# bar)
15 bridge pushups
15 kettle bell swings (70# or 2 pood kettle bell)

I finished the WOD in 11:59. If I was feeling 100% I could have shaved more than a minute off this time. I've decided that it is time to take a break for some rest and recovery time. I'll probably take 3 or 4 days off starting with today. Today I'm going to do some rolling and stretching. A bridge pushup is: from a standing position reach down and walk your hands out until you get to an extended position do a pushup and walk your hands back until you get back to a standing position fully erect.




So back to the title of this post. Believe it or not there is some grooming involved in crossfit that is vitally important especially for people who are just starting out. As you know or will find out kipping pull-ups are very hard on the hands, let's face it you are swinging your bodyweight + gravity around an iron bar supported by your hands. Gloves are "TABOO" so don't even think about it!!! This generates lots of heat through friction and can "rip" the skin open on your hands. So the pictures should have given my tip away. I actually shave my caluses down on the palms of my hands so they are flat. This way they do not get ripped open, they still get sore but you can continue doing WOD's for the next couple days. Ripped hands can lead to downtime due to open wounds, basically gripping anything after ripping is virtually impossible at the very least painful. If you do rip I found a pretty quick way to heal the hands up. Get some vitamin E softgels, rip them open and apply to the wounds. Cover with a band-aid and wear during the day. At night let the wound air out free of the vitamin E and preferably without a band-aid. A few days of this and the hands should be good to go.

Until next time, Sean'O out!!