WORKING THE WARM UP

By now we have all heard the phrase “there is a method to the madness.” The madness we often associate as the WOD, we enter the gym and having done so committed ourselves to the completion of the endeavor. The focus is on the gauntlet, which holds possible moments of self confrontation, where self delusion and poor form will break you down to your inner most core. But as much as we, the trainers, would like to just throw you into the deep end of the pool and say “swim”, we don’t. Posted alongside every WOD is a warm up which we have placed there to wake up not only the physical components that will be tested in the trials ahead but also the neurological and psychological components that will be utilized as well. These psychological imprints are to help you dial in the technical aspects of the lifts, be it powerlifting or olympic. The old combat shooting adage “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast” rings true in weightlifting as well, which is obviously an integral part of the programming here at CrossFitJAX. Being smooth is being efficient, being efficient is being fast, and being fast means more work output and greater levels of performance. An athlete who is more technically sound and has the mental endurance to maintain that technique under duress will consistently outperform an athlete who posseses raw power and strength that exceeds those of the previous athlete. This technically efficient athlete will also make more consistent and faster gains. It isn’t even a “black box” type of explanation; it’s simple common sense. The technically sound athlete will maximize their existing energy stores and therefore will be more likely to push into the boundaries of their capacity. To get to these boundaries of capacity take a step back from the WOD and look at the warm up. It might only be a PVC pipe, but it’s by far one of the most important tools that exists within the box. The use of this PVC pipe to practice the lifts during the warm-up should and must be given the amount of attention it deserves in order to maximize performance during the actual trial. That being said the use of this PVC pipe to practice the lifts should not be limited to only the warm up. If you’re into extra credit, instead of practicing squat cleans with 80% of your one rep max, put the weight up, the barbell away and grab one of the PVC’s filled with sand. Break the lift down, work your weaknesses. Behind the dumbell rack, on the door are diagrams listing how to break down every variation of the clean and snatch. Take a look at the Burgener Warm up [the uppermost diagram], try his breakdown of the snatch and I guarantee that the skills worked on will be transferable to your plateau’d clean lifts, as well as make a variety of other movements easier. This is because the majority of the lifts we engage in are interconnected, the Kettlebell Swing, the Sumo Deadlift High Pull, the Clean, the Jerk, Push Press, Thruster, etc. etc. They all use hip explosion to generate the momentum and power necessary to complete the lift. And we do these movements because life demands them, because these movements are in every fabric of our lives. Maximizing your effort here through technical proficiency and a fire in the gut will equal the good stuff in the real world, whatever your good stuff may be [missions accomplished, lives saved, bad guys caught, jobs completed, right on down to functionality at family events].
Instead of looking in wonderment at those around you when you can’t get that power clean up any more, or when your back is starting to kill you on deadlifts or sumo’s, take a look at how you’ve been training and a look in the mirror for where you have failed. Admit it, Fix it, and Move on. Just because you have been in the game a while or have been through the Basics and Fundamentals, doesn’t mean that now all you must focus on is the score you put up on the board. The training never ends, evolution never stops, and progression slows only when we forget to reinforce the fundamentals.
Pick up the PVC and take a taste of humble pie.
-whit.