Saul Jimenez, the fearless leader of Peninsula Crossfit, in Yosemite.
It's summer time! Send me pics of you out and about in your One World shirt so I can post them! This summer is going to rock! I plan on lots of workouts being done outside when I am coaching, so get ready to sweat your ass off and work on your tan at the same time!
Need a One World shirt? Click on the online store in the right sidebar.
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Range Of Motion
Yesterday the topic was competition and how it is what drives Crossfit. Competition is what drives up the intensity. We aren’t talking about intensity as in the funny faces you make, how loud you scream, how much you sweat, or whether or not you meet pukie at the end or during your workout. We are talking about your power output. The amount of work you are capable of doing in the shortest time as possible.
A huge part of achieving maximum work (Force x Distance) is to move in the full range of motion (ROM) of the movement. We accept some flaws in your movements when you are “going for it.” The occasional chin not getting over the bar during a pull-up.... The bar not totally overhead on a press movement....The hip not below parallel on any squat movement.....Or the how about the push-up not chest to deck or with the arms not fully locked out. That shit drives me crazy when I see it! A few missed reps is gonna happen even to the most elite of Crossfitters. Also, sometimes the ROM in any given movement might be tinkered with for scaling purposes.
If you are throwing full ROM out the door right at the beginning of your workout so that you can get a better score, you are cheating yourself. This is even worse if you are posting a time on the board and ten times worst if you are bragging about your time. In those cases it is worse because you are cheating those who look at your score. I haven’t seen this happen too often at our gym, but it does happen. You can look at some of the athlete profiles that were posted on the Crossfit Games site as an example. The scores some people claimed for benchmark workouts were insane. I looked at some of the profiles and just figured, “This guy/gal has to be the next Crossfit Games Champion!” Some of those athletes didn’t even come close to placing at their own regional qualifiers. Now this may have happened for a number of reasons, but someone holding you accountable to full ROM can really change your end result.
So how do you focus more on your ROM during a workout? You may not even realize that you are missing full ROM. Your One World trainers are always barking at you guys and gals when you are missing your reps. The problem there is that you have your workout ears on. You are hearing us, but you aren’t hearing us. It’s hard to process what someone is saying to you when you are in the round of 15 of Fran and you just want to curl up in the fetal position and die. Want an eye opener? Ask someone to judge your reps during a workout. You have your judge count for you. Your judge will not count any weak ass reps! The judge will tell you when you are done with the required amount of reps. Also, try filming your workout. I have filmed almost every Fran workout (and many others) I have ever done. This benefits me twofold. First off, I arm chair quarterback myself and strategize for the next time. Second, if I see the reps were bad, I toss the workout out. It keeps me legit. Try it sometime.
There is a formula for a good strength and conditioning program. Technique first, then consistency, and then ratchet up the intensity. I challenge all of you in Crossfit One World Land to turn down the intensity just a tiny bit and concentrate a bit more on full range of motion. The payoff in the long run will be huge.
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WOD 6/17/2009
Complete three rounds for time of:
- 500m row
- 21 kettlebell swings (M:53#/W:35#)
- 21 box jumps
Programmed by Chong
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Today's lame ass video:
Kettlebell from Chuck M on Vimeo.
Ha! Stroud is one the main site!
Posted by: James | June 17, 2009 at 18:31
Awesome post on ROM, Freddy!
Can we get video on Eric's 315# high pull this evening?
Posted by: angela | June 17, 2009 at 17:49
Hey Freddy,
This is a very good post. I completely agree with it.
I just become a member of beyondthewhiteboard.com yesterday. I did it because it's a good way for me to keep track of my WODs that I perform while I'm in Afghanistan. After I got done posting my workouts from the past couple of days I started looking at the rankings for all the different WODs on the site.
While I am aware that there are some pretty incredible athletes in the Crossfit community, I found myself having a hard time believing some of the times I saw posted.
I remember you saying in a post a few months back that any claim to have a sub 3 minute Fran has to have video to back it up. I think that is totally necessary to have legit claim on a smokin WOD time. And that's why I have hard time trusting the times I see posted there. I am by no stretch of the imagination an elite crossfitter, so this is not to make myself feel better about my shitty "Fran" or the less than impressive number of rounds I rack up on "Cindy". I'm just saying that anybody can go on to beyondthewhiteboard.com and post whatever time they want to whatever WOD they want.
While I'm sure the vast majority of people on the website are posting true, honest-to-goodness WOD times. I'm just saying that the honor system rarely, if ever, holds up. Especially in a situation like this.
Sorry for babbling. I'm on the night shift over here, and I've got all kinds of time to kill.
I'll see you guys in a few months.
--Ben
Posted by: Ben Brown | June 17, 2009 at 14:37
Jamie, the fact that you COULD play basketball after Fran shows that you are a monster!!! All I wanted to do after Fran was lie down for a few hours!
Posted by: James | June 17, 2009 at 14:02
Chong is evil..... I friggin fran kicked my ass again.
Posted by: Mary | June 17, 2009 at 13:55
That video was awesome. I love how it doesn't hold back on the stench of arrogance and conceit.
Posted by: Lancaster | June 17, 2009 at 12:28
Great article Freddie. As a CF gym owner, that stuff drives me straight up the wall. Especially the bragging. Time to crack the whip.
BTW - the KB video was priceless. I completely lost it on the facial exertion scene.
Posted by: Barberic | June 17, 2009 at 10:56
I forgot to post yesterday. Fran 3:42 new PR.
I want sub 3:30 then work on sub 3:00 - we all have to have goals!
Posted by: B. Guernsey | June 17, 2009 at 10:10
So, I realize this is a late post about FRAN, which was the WOD two days ago. After FRAN, I felt a mix of emotions. I was glad I completed yet pissed at how badly she kicked my ass. Chong, question?..Did you over hear a conversation I was having with Will on Sunday regarding FRAN and that I had never done it before. I don't know but it seemed too coincidental that FRAN would be the WOD on Monday. So FRAN is the biggest, b!+ch I know and I am still suffering from her wrath. Is anyone else still sore? I am and I guess it didn't help that I went to play basketball for a few hours after completing FRAN. Never again. I am still paying for it now!!! Thanks Chong for programming FRAN, I think. Have we offended you in some kind of way, I mean I take back all the things I ever said about you, which by the way were only nice things. Seriously, great programming!!!!
Posted by: Jamie P | June 17, 2009 at 09:48
That is true Freddie...I saw a video of my last Fran and I was really pissed. My pull-ups were not fully locked out at the bottom on some of them. It was a PR for me, but in reality I don't count it, cause of the lack of ROM.
Posted by: David B. MCAS Miramar | June 17, 2009 at 08:19
Saul is awesome! I'll try and get a pic to u from Maryland with my oneworld shirt. Just moved here from SF. Already got some strange looks when I wore it out here.
Posted by: NathanM | June 17, 2009 at 08:13
oh yes!
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5328/fitasf00k.jpg
Posted by: f00k | June 17, 2009 at 07:10
Hey guys - I wore my OneWorld shirt the other day at the BlackBox in NYC. Someone took a picture and the owners posted it on the blog. Glad to see you are getting some publicity here on the East Coast!
http://crossfitnyc.com/2009/06/tues-jun-16.html
Posted by: Tony T - NYC | June 17, 2009 at 05:42
BTW Freddy, AWSOME POST!!!! (not counting the KB vid) I agree 110%
Posted by: Eric | June 16, 2009 at 22:21
lol, the music in the KB vid reminds me of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgoWeNeItzY
Posted by: James | June 16, 2009 at 22:11
holy homoerotic kb vid
mike in L.A.
p.s. still straight, despite their best efforts...
Posted by: Mike in L.A. | June 16, 2009 at 21:50
Shout out to Saul!!! My fearless leader, coach extraordinaire, fantastic dance partner and BBQ master--love ya! :-)
Posted by: Heather @ Peninsula | June 16, 2009 at 19:35
haha that was a very lame video. kettlebells=sweet, that video=wack. thanks for the chuckle
williej
Posted by: williej | June 16, 2009 at 19:18
Wow, early posting today! :)
Posted by: James | June 16, 2009 at 18:26