WOD
Teams of 2
20 Minute Alternating EMOM:
Odd Minute Calories of Choice,
Even Minute 2 Rope Climbs.
Score is calories completed between the partners.
Tuesday Night Musings by Coach Stef.
“I RX’d the Warm-Up”.
It’s 3 minutes until class starts, you’re trying to find a parking space, and you’re still in your work clothes!!!! For a Wednesday you are doing everything you can to avoid your burpee penalty and stay sane for the week.
You sneak in just in time but still have to change. By the time you join the others in the warm-up you decide to pick and choose what to do to get you moving as quick as possible with the least amount of work. STOP RIGHT THERE!!!! How do you choose what is most important? It is all important and I will tell you why. Many times, you will see the first part of the warm-up is always something to get your heart rate up. There is a reason for that! Doing something such as rowing for two minutes not only gets you moving, it raises your core body temperature. When your temperature is raised we typically breathe a little faster than at a resting rate. In turn, more oxygen is being delivered to your muscles in preparation to put in some work. It will also prepare the nervous system and clear the way for the body to be able to read and receive nerve impulses (which will be needed for any given movement you are about to do). While raising our temperature our muscles are getting warm. Everyone knows a warm muscle is more elastic and reacts better to movement than a cold one. And it is only common sense to know that supple muscles are less prone to injury than tight ones. Have you ever tried to stretch a frozen elastic band? Doesn’t end very well. However, that same elastic band could be warmed up and the end result would be very different.
Which moves me to the next part of the warm-up. We have gotten ourselves warm, now it is time for some mobility. JUST AS CRUCIAL. We will usually follow with something that gets our shoulders, hips, etc. nice and limber. Each warm-up is carefully thought out by the coach to prepare your body for that particular wod. Not yesterday’s, not tomorrow’s, but today’s wod. How cool is that? The coaches at Helo care so much about each and everyone’s longevity in health and fitness, that each day we customize what is going to help you the most today, and keep you prepared for tomorrow.
Now let me touch a little on stretching. It’s an easy part to get “lost” in during the warm-up. You turn to your neighbor and start talking about who knows what. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good gabbing session…. But let us remember the purpose of the warm-up. This is a great time to do a little self-evaluation. Is your back a little fatigued or tight from the deadlifts two days ago? Are your shoulders smashed from all of the heavy thrusters? Right now is a great time to be honest with yourself about how you are feeling; both physically and mentally. If something needs to be changed during the wod to allow a little more recovery for a particular muscle or joint, the warm-up is a great place for you to figure those things out and address it with the coach to set up the best possible session for YOU, or if the coach is leading a group warm-up, for you to think of some questions or possible scaling options to then ask the coach about, once he or she has gone over the wod with the class.
Like I said we, as coaches, are looking for all of our athletes to be able to CrossFit for a long time. Avoiding injury is an important key to that. We want you to be successful inside and outside of the box. So the next time you are annoyed at a 3 minute bike warm-up, or that Crossover Symmetry, or 4 minutes, are so frequently on the board, remember there is a purpose for it. No surprise, but warming up properly will help you have a better wod and reduce the risk of injury. We want to get your lungs prepped for the sprint, or your hips prepared for a squat. If you get injured from “going in cheetah” or without a warm-up, you’re not just missing out on that day, it could extend out to multiple days, weeks or even months! Every day there is enough time to get in a proper warm-up. Take advantage. There is no good part to skip in the warm-up!!! So show up on time (or early) so you can start to RX the warm-up!
Thank you for reading!
Coach Stef
Attention: We will have a sign-up on the Board for Helo’s House of Horrors Competition – so grab your partner (male/male or female/female) as you have until the 15th to sign up and we are having an RX and a Scaled Division!
