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banet, erika, max reps, not to call, pull-up, to call, what to call in Coach's Corner, Training
banet, erika, max reps, not to call, pull-up, to call, what to call in Coach's Corner, Training To Call or Not To Call
by, Chris Sinagoga | Monday, February 17, 2014 at 2:04PM
Chris Sinagoga | Monday, February 17, 2014 at 2:04PM A conversation that comes up among the coaches often is deciding what exactly qualifies as good form for the day. If we put into effect all of the knowledge we have gathered from Carl Paoli, Dr. Romanov, Kelly Starrett, Jarrod, and Brian on literally every single movement, nobody would get past the first round of any WOD. We can always find something wrong with your movement, even on the "good" reps.
With this is mind, the coaches usually use the warm-up and technique circle to decide what exactly they are going to be picky about. And most often, our emphasis can be broken down into two areas: position and timing. Last week when we did snatches in the workout, I wanted to actually work on the timing of the movement since we had not done them in awhile. So I kept the weight light so the injury risk was minimal and directed my attention on range of motion and technique. Today for Thrusters, you will see I am a little less strict on the timing of the movement and more emphatic on your position. The weight will be heavier, so it makes sense to make sure you aren't going to hurt yourself.
There are also workouts where we almost turn a blind eye to anything that doesn't blatantly scream "INJURY." This was the case with max rep pul-ups two weeks ago. We use these days as a test to see what you look in a faster, more-free environment. See the November post Benchmark CrossFit Workouts. This is a video of Erika Banet testing her pull-ups out. She just came from basketball practice and she saw the numbers her sisters put on the previous day. So in the spirit of competition, we let here go for it. Here's what it looked like. No warm-up. No mobility. Just chalk and the number 25 to go after.
Solid by the standards of the situation. Definitely things to fix though.
So anyway, hopefully that gives you an idea about what is going through our heads when we call you on form. It is usually different from day-to-day, and that is because we try to work on individual pieces at a time so we will be set up for success in the long run.
Reader Comments (5)
Erika is still tied with me in the pullups, but on the other hand I like how we focus on certain things everytime we do certain movements whether it be squats, pullups, or thrusters. I think by doing that we know what we need to focus on and we will remember that the next time we perform that movement and try to connect towards what could be a different focal point the next time we do it.
I really like this post. When I'm tired it can be difficult to keep perfect form, but making sure that a certain technique is more realistic. And sometimes we just have to battle it out like Erika did.
I think that the important concept from this post is that training is ... (drumroll please) training, while competing is competing. Whatever the sport or endeavor, the training has to take a backseat to the competition (but just because it is in the backseat doesn't mean that it won't have input on the direction you are heading). So, if that means dialing back the intensity to maintain a certain form, then gosh darn it, dial back the intensity. Their is no MVPP award (most valuable practice player)
Well put B-ri. Nice analogy with the backseat thing too
I just came up with that...I officially © that saying.