“It’s All About Timing”
There are only so many hours in the day and only one of them are spent at the Crossfit Progression gym. I know that you all come to the gym to get a good workout and then you must continue on with the outside chores of dinner, dishes and life. This I do understand, because believe it or not, I too live a life outside of the gym. 🙂 We are ALL busy and we ALL want a good workout and we ALL want to live injury free. All of these things are achievable it just takes a little timing.
Athletes frequently ask me what they can do to fix the tightness in their shoulder or tweak in their lower back. They question what they should do or how they should scale according to their sudden knee pain or relentless foot, hand, ankle, wrist soreness. I offer my advice and them I politely coach them through their workout making sure they are maintaining good form, but also watch them push the pain envelope after the 3,2,1…GO!
Now, I am not saying that pushing through a little pain is a bad thing, but if one continues this behavior day in and day out, there will be consequences to pay. The advice I offer to all athletes is the same: Mobility. The facial repsonse that I get in return is as if I had asked everyone of these individuals to do heroine. YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?! (Honestly, that is how you look at me). I guarantee that 10% or less of the athletes that have ongoing pain issues are being pro-active about actually fixing their issue.
I want to be sure that everyone realizes that what we do as athletes is very comparable to professional athletes. PROFESSIONAL…meaning they get paid for doing the same stuff we do. Also meaning that everyday post workout they are adjusted, massaged, and have a personal physical therapist mobilizing them. Sigh, wouldn’t that be wonderful??? Yes it would, but as you know we do not get paid millions of dollars to do burpees.
SO, we have to take upon ourselves to take care of our own bodies. We have to be our own massuses and therapists and I think that we are giving the right tools to accomplish these goals we simply must take the time to implement them. Get a stop watch, get a mobilizing tool and physically time yourself during one exercise. ONE mobility exercise before and/or after you workout. It doesn’t matter which one, just pick one and do it for 10 minutes. You can work on one area one day and a different area the next time you come.
I have probably lost you by now because I suggested you “stretch,” but honestly, if you want to continue your road to a healthier you and plan on Crossfitting for the rest of your life, like I do, MOBILITY is a MUST! I cannot stress it enough. If you want the key to bigger PR’s and a pain free, injury free existence mobility is that key. My goal is to spend 10 minutes in the couch stretch, not having the fastest time on the whiteboard. So grab a stopwatch, grab a lacrosse ball and mobilize, you have the time, those dishes are not going anywhere.
Coach Juli
Well I’m totally guilty!! Great article Juli! 🙂
Agreed. Hard to take time to stretch or mobilize, but it was recently put into perspective by a patient I saw. Housekeeper for YEARS. Imagine the stress on your body— continued repetitive above the head motions (cleaning windows, dusting, etc). She COULD NOT get her arms above 90 degrees and there was no traumatic cuff injury…just lifelong wear and tear, without regard to stretching and strengthening the surrounding musculature…. I am afraid our generation will turn into stiff immobile elderly. There is little emphasis on stretching, and so much competition out there. Nice blog… now just have to MAKE the time to do it.
Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett. Best $30 investment I have made in regards of what to do for mobility work. This book teaches you the proper technique to all the common Crossfit exercises along with mobility exercises to relieve any tacked down tissues.