It’s Friday!! I don’t know about you guys, but this week draaaaaaaaggged on. Time change? All I know is that on Tuesday it felt like Thursday — and that’s just plain wrong.
Before I jump into my plans for the weekend, I need to give a shout out to Coach Cheryl for a real ass-kicker workout this morning. It was rough and I’m not going to lie, I have a little “Fran cough” going on as I write this post. Don’t know what that is? Do Fran and you’ll know.
Now, I’m already the type of person who takes forever to warm-up. When I was playing soccer, it wasn’t until a quarter of the way through a game or even conditioning that I found my legs. It sucks, but I embrace it. I especially have to be diligent about warming up in the cold weather (I know, I sound like a 90 year-old woman – but that’s what surgery on both knees will do to you…). Luckily for us, Cheryl ran us through a spicy little warm-up to get our old-people joints moving: 400m partner prowler push, stretches and a series of sets that mimic the WOD.
Without this warm-up, I would have crumbled in the first minute:
- Int
- 1min squat clean (125/85)
- 1min shuttle runs
- 1min Jerks (125/85)
- 1min Rest
- 3 Rounds
Note that this is the “intermediate” weight suggestion, the RX is (155/110) for both movements. Yeowzaahs! Now, I know I’ve discussed the balance between going heavy (RX or somewhere around there) and going light to speed through a workout. Katie Hogan (a true CF badass) recently wrote an exceptional post about finding your intensity balance. Honestly, I feel like I’ve become better at pushing my limits and going after heavier weight, but today I just zeroed in on the intermediate weight. Why? Because that’s what my body was telling me during the warm-up.
Really, people. Use your warm-up as a chance to “check-in” with your body. How are you feeling? Muscles sore/stiff? Take a extra minute to stretch out or going for an extra little run to loosen up.
I see it in every class – someone sand-bagging the warm-up, and I’m guilty of it too. It’s hard not to take it easy when you have a monster of a WOD on the whiteboard staring back at you, but don’t let up on that warm-up – you need to give your body a chance figure out what will work for that day and what won’t. As odd as it sounds, self-reflection during your WOD can be a very powerful thing.
Ironically, this little gem popped up on Pandora – what’s the connection? I used this song as an intro to a speech I gave at a high school retreat a few years back and I believe everyone can take away a positive message from it – even CrossFitters.
CrossFit, work, personal, life, love – what ever it might be today, listen to your gut and don’t let your fears cloud your dreams.
Okay, enough of the emo soapbox. What is everyone doing this weekend? My plans include a movie date, Saturday morning WOD, a bachelorette party in Santa Cruz, with a nice little yin yoga sesh on Sunday to wrap it all up. Yahoo! I can’t wait. 🙂