All,
We will use the saturday 11am session for the final cry me a river WOD.
Signup, if you are unable to sign up please send me an email.
See you all there :))
More yoga
Hello all,
What a way to start the weekend concept2 rowers in the box and yoga classes.
After a great turn out for our first yoga class. I was asked by many to make this a regular event. Talking with Julie she is keen to run more classes. We believe Friday at 7pm would be an ideal time after a week's training. Please remember why you should do yoga, as we get stronger we must increase our stretching to stay supple, increasing your lifts and WOD times!!
As Julie is a external train we would ask for 5€ for CFAM members and 15€ for non CFAM members. The course will be open to all as before.
If you would like to join on the 10th of May please complete the form below.
Olympic lifting for kids (Kris Stanton)
Hi CFAM gang,
As you know, my boys do weightlifting competitions here in Bavaria. It is different from adult competitions in a few ways – they have 5 events (snatch, clean & jerk, 3 Hop, Sternlauf, Kugelschockwurf) and for the weightlifting part, their score is calculated with a formula of ((weight lifted * 50)/body weight) + (technical rating * 10). So you can score way more points lifting a lighter weight with better technique than a heavier weight with crappy technique.
For example, in the past competition, my son Rowan weighs 32.8kg, lifted 11kg and had a technical rating of 4.5:
((11 * 50)/32.8) + (4.5 * 10) = 61.77 points
So 45 of the 61 points are based on technique. If he did 12kg with 4.0, he would get 58.29 points. If he did 10kg with 5.0, he would get 65.24 points.
I think they should have this for adults as well! J I found the technical assessment online and thought it would be interesting exercise for you to rate yourself (unfortunately, only in German). What score would you get?
Crossfit am Main Frankfurt gets yoga classes!!!
Hello all Crossfitters,
Many of you understand the benefits of stretching in order to achieve results in Crossfit, especially considering the continuous workouts we put our bodies through.
We have added and extra element to our training by adding Yoga to our weekly program!
This Friday the 26th at 7pm, all CFAM members and non-members are invited to join the initial session with qualified Yoga expert, Julie Tran. For this session, a small donation will be requested which will go towards a charity.
If there is sufficient interest in this, we would love to hold regular weekly class for a small cost per session.
See you all there!!
How to tape hands
Hey all,
Been seeing some crazy methods of taping hands in the box, for those who like to tape try this method. It will help.
Step one. Using standard athletic tape, cut two strips of around 20cms and stick one on the back of another, making it essentially a double strip. It is easy to do this on a whiteboard or clean and flat surface to avoid the tape getting mucked up.
Step two. Rip the strip down the middle until around half way down. Then place the tape down the middle of the inside of your hand with the two splits going in-between your fingers and over to the back of your hand. Make sure both sides come down past your wrist so you can lock them in. To get the most hand protection, I would make two strips and wrap one around both sides of the ring finger, and the other around the middle finger.
Step three. Use more tape to lock the strips. This can be done by wrapping a few layers round your wrists.
Now I know instructions can be difficult to read. Which is why I added this easy to follow video for you to watch.
Touch Rugby TRC Frankfurt 09 e.V, any takers...
For anyone looking to test those Crossfit skills and/or try something new. The Frankfurt touch rugby team are having a open day for all to try the sport.
It will be held on the 28th of April 3pm at Ostpark, Frankfurt.
Directions below and while your at it, check out the website for more information
Take the U7 or Straßenbahn 12 to Eissporthalle/Festplatz. From there, it's a 7 minute walk to the park. When you get to Ostpark go to the southern end near the kiosk.
Touch Rugby is a non-contact, fun, simple and fast game similar to rugby but without the tackling. Therefore it attracts both men and women of all ages and skill levels while staying injury free. Touch is easy to learn with simple rules and is a great way to socialise. All nationalities welcome.
Please register with an email to touchfrankfurt@googlemail.de
Concept 2 cerficates are in the house!!
Get your official certifications for the concept 2 course.
Well done to all :))
The Fundamentals
Hey all,
The main points from kris's visit.
Stance:
· Starting/Pulling position - hip width
· Landing position – about shoulder width
· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE-aPvYTWuU
Grip:
· Hook grip on snatches and cleans, always always always!
· Snatch - Bar should be right at the crease of your pelvis and overhead anywhere from 6” to 12”
· Clean – about 1 thumb + 1 knuckle from knurling line
Positions:
· High Hang
· Mid-thigh to pockets
· Take off
· Below knees
· Floor
Burgener Warm up
1. Down and up – speed through the middle
2. Elbows high and outside – bar close to body
3. Muscle snatch – strong turnover
4. Snatch lands 2”, 4”, 6” - Footwork and receiving positions
5. Snatch drop – Strength in the bottom position
Video of Coach Burgener showing the Stance, Grip and Burgener Warm up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0PITbWa0eU
Skill Transfer Exercises
1. Snatch push press – Overhead strength
2. Overhead squat – Core strength
3. Pressing snatch balance – Press the body under the bar
4. Heaving snatch balance – Arm speed
5. Snatch balance – Feet and arm speed
The follow up to Kris's posts.... The visit
Normally sunday is rest day for CFAM, but we open the doors to welcome Kris and a day of lifting. The few photos show what a great day it was, starting with 13.5, where everyone improved :)
Lets see those PR's come rolling in the next weeks....
In addition we raise more than 300€ which we will be donating to the charity Fablab or the kids program. Thanks to everyone that donate!!!
The final step to the Snatch by Kris Stanton
The Third Pull, Receiving and Recovery
Hi gang, back again with the last part of the snatch. The second and third pulls go hand in hand. The second pull is the violent explosion that propels the bar up (not OUT) and the third pull starts from when the shoulders shrug and your hips and knees immediately retract and you pull your body under the bar into your receiving position. It begins will a pull under the bar and ends with a push up against the bar. Keep in mind, you should only receive the bar in a proper position - meaning upright/straight back. If you do not have the mobility, receive the bar only as low as your body allows, which for some, may be a power snatch and that is ok.
· Right after full extension, then think of violently pulling yourself under, not “dropping under and catching” the bar. The effect of your arms pulling and your hips going down will be that the shoulders will naturally shrug. If you try to perform the shrug in isolation, it will only delay the movement under the bar.
· Elbows up! Keep the bar close to your body by having your elbows up and out (like a scarecrow)
· Feet need to lift up in order to get down quickly - not a kick, but a lift
· Your foot position when receiving the bar should be about shoulder width - it's a fast sideways movement, not like a slow jump
· Try to picture your turnover and feet hitting the ground at the same time. It should be as close as possible.
· No pushing out – receive the bar with straight arms. Either pull harder to get the bar higher, drop lower to receive the bar with straight arms, or reduce the weight. Watch for this especially with power snatches.
· Hold your breath! You need to hold your breath to stabilize your torso - I usually take a big one before lifting off the ground, release a little air during the pull, then hold it until recovery (going up with the bar). Do NOT release any breath while in the receiving position!!
· Release the hook grip during the turnover. It is a passive movement - you're not intentionally pulling your thumb out of the grip, but rather, your thumb moves out from the movement of the hand and wrist flipping over. Not everyone releases the hook grip, and there's some discussion on whether they should or not. I think that you SHOULD, but if it will cause you to have worse movement patterns, then keep it.
· After the 3rd pull is receiving and recovery. You are now in the bottom position of an overhead squat. It is critical to STABILIZE before attempting to stand up. Go slow and in control when recovering from the squat. This part is the easy part, you've already done the hard work! Shooting up too fast will most likely compromise the stability. Needless to say, the better and more precise your 2nd and 3rd pulls are, the less you will need to stabilize in the receiving position.
· VERY IMPORTANT: Don't try to "save" bad lifts - drop the bar and get out of the way. It's not worth the injury risk.
Common problems: Pushing out, donkey kicks, barbell too far from the body, bad receiving position
This is a video of Sage (Burgener) Mertz snatching 60kg at the oly lift seminar that I attended. Look at that speed and aggressive pull under. Wow.
So gang, this is the conclusion to my snatch series. As you can see, there are so many things to think about and improve, but this is exactly why I love weightlifting and the snatch in particular. It is a beautiful, beautiful movement and looks so simple when executed by someone who has perfected their technique. I am looking forward to meeting y'all in the seminar on Sunday and we'll go over all this stuff and improve our lifts! Please ask questions! I can’t promise I will know the answer but I’ll do my best! Practice, practice, practice and have fun!
Crossfit Games open WOD 13.4
WOW what a result for the 13.4!!! Big hand to all and Dominic for smashing 90 reps
New coach in the house Jörg Wiegand!!
Hey all,
I am really happy to announce that Jörg has joined CFAM and will start coaching. It is great to have someone of Jörg's experience and knowledge on board, this means that in April we will increase our class's and keep growing our family.
As always thanks to everyone for the support
The second almight pull by Kris Stanton
The Second Pull
The almighty pull, the most important part of your lift. I had to think about writing this one because even though it's simple and fairly straight forward, there are several technical points. It will make or break your snatch. I see the 1st and 3rd pulls as supporting pulls - they are important, of course, but this is the "heart" of your lift, where all the power comes from. The more correct and efficient this pull is, the easier the 3rd pull will be.
We discussed the 1st pull already, which brings the bar above your knees. Now we start accelerating and then when the bar is about mid to upper thigh, really EXPLODE! We want to see a visible acceleration and VIOLENT extension of your knees and hips. Think of the power coming from your legs and lower body, driving the bar up, as opposed to pulling the bar up.
Here are my key tips to look out for. Each point can be a whole discussion, but for simplicity, I kept it short:
· Keep the bar close to your legs/hips/body. Activate those lats to keep the bar close to your legs.
· Optimally, you want the bar close to your legs with no contact except for a "brush" against your hips, not a bounce as the bounce contact will force the bar away from your body.
· The direction of the force is vertical - pushing your heels into the ground similar to a vertical jump, not horizontal hips like a kettlebell swing.
· Triple extension - ankles, knees and hips all fully extended (not locked, just extended). This extended position is not completely vertical. To offset the heavy weight hanging in front of you, your hips should be in a slightly hyperextended state (body leaning backward) to maintain balance over your feet.
· Arms relaxed, not pulling and not actively extended. You want it to feel like ropes attached to the bar, it holds the bar up and when your legs and hips get that bar up, your arms naturally bend with it.
Common mistakes - Body not in full extension, no contact with the hips, slow down in speed between first and second pulls, bouncing the bar off your hips
Julio Cesar Salamanca Pineda snatching 110 - look at that triple extension!
Check out Pyrros Dimas, 83kg Greek lifter. He has an amazing and explosive 2nd pull!
This is a lot of details for a move that takes a fraction of a second! But like I said before, determine what your main weakness is and focus on that. But focus on it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You will get tired of me saying that. Really tired. :) Because you can't think of the details DURING a lift, what I do is review the things I want to focus on while I step up to the bar, visually replay them in my head. I can usually think of the 1st pull details while I'm doing them because the move is slow. But then when the bar gets to my thighs, all I think of is "GO!".
Sign up for a Olympic lifting day..
Hello all,
Another month is rolling by so fast, new box, 13.2 is done, Anna Gasse was in the house, what's next…… We are lucky enough to have kris Stanton , some of you will know the name from the articles she has been writing on the Website.
Kris, who completed the Crossfit Olympic Lifting course with Sage Burgener and lifts for ESV München-Freimann, will be joining us on the 7th of April to share her knowledge.
We will offer a 3 hour hands-on session going over the olympic lifts (Snatch, Clean and Jerk) starting at 10am. Anyone that would like to join us for lunch after, you are more than welcome. Don’t forget your oly shoes!
For those you do not know Kris please read her articles for some background on the website.
We ask all that take part to make a donation that that will be given to a charity of Kris's choice.
Please use the formula below to register.
The First pull by Kris Stanton
The Snatch - Starting Position and 1st pull
After watching several people (online and offline) do workout 13.1, I thought it would be a good idea to give some tips on oly lifts. Let's start with the very beginning. The grip, starting position and 1st pull. I've trained with several different coaches and notice that they all have different approaches in the details, but they all basically want to get you to have the optimum bar trajectory.
For those of you who are new to oly lifting, there are 3 pulls. The 1st pull is lifting the bar from the floor to just above your knees. The 2nd pull is the explosion part of the lift, the 3rd pull is you getting under the bar and going from a pulling motion to a pushing motion overhead or a pulling motion into a front rack position in the clean.
The grip
Use the hook grip for cleans and snatches. Every. Single. Time. It is necessary so that you can keep control of the bar during the explosive 2nd pull as well as the turnover for the snatch. "It hurts" is not an excuse. You get used to it, or use tape around your thumb if it's really starting to chalk. If you do tape your thumb, be sure to not tape the joint, or make a cut so the thumb joint can still freely move.
Your snatch grip should be wide enough that when lifted overhead the bar is about 6"/15cm from the top of your head. You can make your grip a little bit narrower if it hurts your wrists, or wider, if it hurts your shoulders. Everyone is individual, but you don't want to stray too far from about 6". Make a note of where you place your fingers from the marking on the bar - set your hands at this place every single time.
Starting position
Try to get into this position the same way, every time. It's not necessary, but you want your head to go through the same mental checklist so that it becomes a habit.
· Put your feet about hip width apart, maybe a little bit wider, depending on your comfort level. The power of your lift comes from your legs and your legs are the most powerful when they are at this width.
· Turn your toes out slightly, again, to your comfort. You don't want to be a ballerina though...
· The bar should draw a line about at the balls of your feet
· Knees flared out and not pointed forward, they are generally pointed the same direction as your toes
· Looking from the side, your arms should be vertical to the bar, with shoulders slightly forward over the bar
· Elbows turned out to the sides, you need to really rotate your arms inward so that your elbows are directly facing the walls to the side of you.
· Back tight!
· shoulder blades pulling together or think of "big chest"
· UPRIGHT posture (meaning butt is down)
· Head and eyes are looking straight forward, set a fixed point in the distance to look at
Common mistakes: Butt too high (no upright posture), knees pointed forward, curved or relaxed back
Excellent upright position, no wonder he is an Olympian:
Lots to think about, yes? Practice walking away, then getting into this position several times. Video or take pictures so you know what you look like. This takes time getting used to, whenever you walk up to the bar put this mental checklist in your head. There are certain things that come natural to you, and of course you probably won't remember everything, so make a note of 1 or 2 things that you don't do naturally and focus on those. When you are doing those correctly, then focus on the next two. Before you know it, you will walk up to the bar and not even think about these things anymore.
1st pull
The goal of the first pull is to sweep the bar back and get you into a good position for your 2nd pull. If you look at a "textbook" bar trajectory, you can see that the bar goes back from right off the ground.
· Keep back angle about the same as your starting position back angle, no lifting with the butt first
· Keep shoulders slightly over the bar
· Put tension on the bar then lift, slowly. Don't jerk bar from the ground at high speed.
· Flare the knees out to the sides to get them out of the way, and so the bar doesn't have to travel around your knees
· You want to keep the bar as close to your body as possible, preferably without contact
· Keep arms relaxed as possible - hard, I know, while lifting heavy weights, but you don't want to lock your elbows
· Keep eyes on your fixed point
Common mistakes: Lifting with the butt first, bringing the bar around your knees, starting too fast
Taller people especially have problems with lifting with the butt first and having a horizontal back at the end of the pull, because of their long legs. Find a position that is comfortable, your butt will be higher than normal, and flare your knees out more. Here is a video of Velichko Cholakov, who is 6'6" and he still keeps an excellent upright position while snatching 207.5kg.
Natalie Woolfolk Burgener, one of my favorite lifters, showing how it's done. She uses a dynamic start (meaning it's not from a "still" position"), but you'll notice she always has an upright back. And of course, she's just screaming fast.
Practice doing snatch deadlifts to your knee and keep a close eye on your back angle. When you get into heavier weights close to your 1RM, be sure to watch that butt! Because the weight is so heavy and legs so strong, you need to really keep that tension on your back and think "chest up".
Me, personally, I'm working on rotating my arms in to get better elbow positioning, as well as keeping my chest up. I tend to lift a little with my butt on max loads.
Hope this was helpful to you. But be sure to think about these things EVERY SINGLE TIME you lift to change existing behaviour. Again, concentrate on your biggest flaw first, don't worry about anything else. When that flaw is corrected, then move on to the next flaw. Lifting technique is a constant work in progress. No one ever is done working on it! Next time we'll talk about the 2nd pull.
This made my day....
For me this is what I gave up my day job for and makes running a Crossfit box the best thing in the world!!!
A post from a Crossfitter...
Hi Crossfit,
Felipe wrote: "Hey Guys ,
Today im going to do something I normaly dont do , share some experience i´ve made in the last couple months on Facebook, just because I was so excited about it.
In October 2012 a friend ( Dario Bäm Donathello ) and I started to integrate a little WOD ( Workout of the Day for the unknown out there :D ) in my weekly gym routine. It consisted of doing 21 15 9 reps of Powerclean and Jerk , Box Jumps and Push ups. We started with a weight of 30 kilos on the cleans. I remember our first time was about 11.xx minutes, during time we started getting better at it . Had times like 10. xx , 9.xx and in January my PR was 7.38.
Afterwards we decided it was about time to try some new WODS , we tried Fran , elizabeth, cindy and so on.
On top of that my girlfriend Jessica Fields and friends made me the present of an intro course in Cfam Crossfit for my Birthday. I´ve met guys like Steve Antcliff and Brooke Blower (really awsome coaches) who taught me the basic movements of crossfit, Torsten, Gosia Le , Dennis Meissner, Barbara........ (im bad with names ) these are just some of those awesome people who trained with me in that same course and I am very greatful for that.
Back to why im writing this ... Yesterday my friend and I decided to do that first WOD of ours again with even 10 more kilos on the powercleans, we expected a time around 9-10 minutes because of that + 10 kilo. He did it in around 9.30 min which is really good in my opinion and I did it in 7.20 !!!!!! So as you can see I broke my PR with 18 seconds difference even though I had 10 more kilos. We both where like "holy cow" , where did that come from :D. I was so pleased with my progress that i decided to share this with all of you.
Big thanks to Steve for convincing me to enter the Crossfit games 2013, thanks to my girlfriend who allways believes in me, thanks to my friends who made it possible for me to join the intro course, thanks to my training partner Dario , thanks to Dennis Boo for paying the contribution for the games, thanks to everybody from Crossfit am Main and thanks to everybody to anyone I may have forgotten to mention here.
Mixing CrossFit with Weightlifting by Kris Stanton
Most of the people I know who do CrossFit, do only CrossFit, that is their sport. Maybe recreationally they do other things, but mostly stick to CrossFit. But for both my husband and I, we use CrossFit to support our main sport. My husband is a climber (rock, mountain, ice, buildings, whatever can be climbed) and he has found that since doing CrossFit once or twice a week, it has enabled him to climb harder, better, faster. For me, the lines are a little bit more blurred, because Weightlifting is a component of CrossFit. Most weightlifters (at least the ones I know) don't do CrossFit, or do WODs on their own, outside of a box. Before I go any further, let me clarify my opinion on what Weightlifting is and what CrossFit Weightlifting is.
In the sport of Weightlifting, the goal is to reach your true 1RM in 3 attempts. You spend your training time perfecting technique to achieve this, mind and body fully focused. It varies from person to person, but usually every training day, you do low rep lifts (max of 5) or variations of lifts, depending on what you're working on, assistance lifts (squats, presses, etc), ab work, minimal cardio. I am currently on a block and pull cycle from Catalyst Athletics, and here is an example of what one of my lifting days looks like:
Block snatch pull + snatch (mid-thigh) - 75% x 1+1 x 2, 80% x 1+1 x 2
Block clean pull + clean (mid-thigh) - 75% x 1+1 x 2, 80% x 1+1 x 2
Clean pull - 90% x 3 x 4
Pause back squat - 65% x 3 x 2, 70% x 3 x 3
Doesn't look like much, right? But when you add in a warm up, the warm up weights for each lift, the concentration, the review, etc., it takes at least 1.5 - 2 hours! Also, when you start missing lifts, you reduce the weight or stop - the goal is to practice technique, and it is usually not productive to keep missing lifts - means you're tired or it's just not your day.
In CrossFit Weightlifting, you usually don't train the lifts every day, sometimes you don't do oly lifts at all. Your focus is on maximal work over time.
One is not better than the other, to me, they are separate sports. There are good lifters in CrossFit and there are bad lifters in Weightlifting. The difference is the goal/focus, like sprinting and long distance running - they are both running, but completely different beasts.
In some ways, you have to decide what your goal is. Do you want to find your true 1RM? Then Weightlifting is for you and you really need to spend your time perfecting technique and supporting that goal. Do you want to be able to kick ass in the CF oly lifting WODs? Then you need to be doing that. Technical perfection in CrossFit is not a necessity, but that doesn't mean you should be lifting with totally crappy technique. You still need to work on technique - one big reason is to avoid injury!!! - but you also can't be bogged down with every detail that you can't perform multiple reps in a certain amount of time.
Now, how do you work on technique from within CrossFit? The answer is...I don't know. Every person varies. I would, however, recommend that you not be afraid of reducing the weight load when you start to press out a lot or when your form starts falling apart (yes, you know when that is). Maybe that means you won't Rx a WOD that day. But if it's important to you to improve form, then so be it.
But for me, I want to have my cake and eat it too. :) Here is how I mix CrossFit with Weightlifting. I train 5 days a week, usually my rest days being Sunday and Thursday. I used to do 5 days of Weightlifting, but then decided that I wanted more endurance training and also do workouts with my husband. So it became 4 days with 1 day of CF. Now that it is off season (for me), I want to concentrate more on losing some of this belly, so I'm doing 3 days of Weightlifting and 2 days of CrossFit. I also need to control my diet, but that is another beast entirely.
When I'm at CrossFit, my goal is to keep up the intensity (ie. keep moving) the entire time of the WOD (of course, it all depends what the WOD is). I scale WODs, my focus is on form and intensity. I also try not to do oly lifts at all at CF. If there are oly lifts in the WOD, I use an empty bar or a light weight and take my time - I still practice my perfect form.
I would like to leave you with a quote from Greg Everett's article "Train like a champion":
I really like Tommy Kono’s point (paraphrased): Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent. The idea that practicing something is guaranteed to make it correct is nonsense. You’re simply training yourself to do what you’re doing exactly the way you’re doing it. If attention isn’t given to performing every single repetition as well as possible at that moment, you’re actually making things worse for yourself by further practicing what you’re doing wrong.
I highly recommend reading the whole article here: http://www.catalystathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=136
Concept 2 Rowing
Great night had by all as we rowed into the night...
Big thanks to Anna Gasse who somehow controlled us all and taught us something about rowing.
We can all put these new skills to use in the (hopefully) Open...
Inspiration by Kris Stanton
A Friend in Munich that inspires me, hopefully it will you as well.
Finding my passion
Steve asked me to write for the CFAM blog today, totally out of the blue. Wow, I am very, very honored and flattered! Before I get into the "opinionated" point of view posts, I thought I would start off with more of a background so you know where I'm coming from. And also, I am NOT a writer, but here goes...
I hate the saying "40 is the new 30". Hell no, it's not. 40 is the new 40. I'm not ashamed to admit that I am 41 years old. In fact, I'm proud of it! I don't let it define who I am, what I can do or what I am capable of. I embrace the good things that come with age - experience, knowledge (hopefully), being past the "career building" stage, and have more time to concentrate on things that bring you happiness.
Long story short about me - American software tester living in Germany for the past 7 years, mother of 8 year old twin boys, non-athlete, overweight for most of adult life (by about 80 lbs), 2008 heaviest I've ever been, 2009 had enough of being depressed, and ran a half (Munich) and full marathon (Loch Ness!), 2011 found CrossFit, 2012 found Weightlifting. Sports have been mostly humiliating experiences for me. One that stands out is the Munich Half-Marathon. I was followed by the "end van" because I was the last person and they wanted to clean up the course. But I freaking finished it.
And as you can guess, I have serious body image issues. I live in the land of super models and let's just say that being overweight and pregnant with twins definitely leaves it's mark, physically and mentally. I will not go swimming with people I know (besides my family) because I don't want them to see my bare legs and arms. For a long time, I did not wear tank tops because my arms are saggy and covered with stretch marks. And until last year, I did not wear shorts in public. Since high school. EVER.
Then comes CrossFit. Damn, baggy t-shirts are no fun to WOD in. I thought about wearing a tank-top for weeks, even wore them under my shirt. But what will people say? They are all thin and my arms are so ugly! One day, the decision was made for me - it was so hot, I had to take off my t-shirt (had a tank top underneath) and you know what? No one cared. Same thing happened the first time I wore shorts. No one freaking cared.
What was my problem? I spent countless hours thinking about it. What I finally decided was this - Hey, this is *my* body, I have to be happy with what I have. I can't do anything about my skin, but I CAN get healthier and stronger and to me, that is more important than worrying about what someone thinks. And you know what? They probably have stretch marks too. I kind of hate that CrossFit pushes the image of beautiful, lean, super-fit people. Yes, I know, you can't sell your product with the ordinary Joe/Jill who doesn't have defined abs and shoulders. But at the same time, it makes the rest of us feel like we're lacking somehow if we don't look like THAT. One of the reasons I love CrossFit is because your goals are not based on what you look like - not how many pounds you lose, that is just a side benefit. But you can't really show that in a picture.
Anyways, enough about my not-so-positive body image. Now onto weightlifting. I took the CF Oly Lift Cert course last year with Sage (Burgener) Mertz, and it was life changing. She opened my eyes to the technicality of the lifts, there were so many things that I was doing wrong or wasn't taught. On one hand, I am really glad that CrossFit incorporates weightlifting. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even known about the sport. On the other, I don't think it's properly implemented (no hatin', it's just my opinion!). Being the perfectionist that I am, I went to the local weightlifting club to have dedicated help with my lifting.
First questions they ask - how old are you and how much do you weigh? Whaaaa? Why are you asking me such personal questions??? I later find out it's because of competitions and weight determines how many points you make. But I say "Oh no, I would never lift in a competition, I'm not all that great. I don't like the outfit too, it's ugly and jeezus, I jiggle!"
At first, I went once a week to improve technique for use in CrossFit, but soon I became obsessive about it and wanting perfection and couldn't do that while also doing CrossFit (I'll save that for another post). I probably watched all Mike Burgener's lifting videos on YouTube. I watched all of Catalyst Athletics videos and I want to lift like them. Can I? But I'm so old, and a mom and started too late. I'm in Germany, I barely speak the language, I don't know this whole world of weightlifting, I don't lift as much as other people and I get performance anxiety! Excuses. And fear. I somehow managed to push past all that and set a goal to do one competition before the end of 2012. You can't get anywhere by staying in your comfort zone! I sound like those cheezy motivational posters of "your comfort zone"/"where the magic happens" (cue rolling of eyes). I won't lie, it was nerve wracking, I was sweating in places I didn't know could sweat. But I got up on that stage and lifted the best that I have ever done. I was dead last and even a 69 year old lady scored higher than I did, but I didn't care, I was sooo happy that I made a PR on my clean and jerk!!!! That was in September of 2012. It is now February 2013 and in all 5 of my competitions that I have done so far, I have set a new PR on either one or both lifts.
I learned that if you really want to do something, you have to do it or at least try it, no matter what people say, no matter how much they put you down or say you're not "good enough", no matter how much (perceived) humiliation you have to suffer. I find that Germans (sorry for stereotyping here) are very critical and/or competitive and many of them don't see the point in doing something if you're not good at it, much more so than Americans. For lots of people, the plain old FEAR - of looking ridiculous, of not being any good, of failure - is what keeps them from trying something new. Yes, sometimes you will fail or you will feel alone, it is definitely the road less travelled. But I'd rather be happy and alone, than live surrounded with people and regrets.
Over the course of the last year, it has become clear that I have found my passion in the sport of weightlifting. I base how well I do on technical accuracy and execution, not on how much weight is on the bar or how I do compared to others, I couldn't care less. And the true test is that my body image issues have been pushed aside - it no longer phases me to get undressed in front of 3 men and step on a scale. Now that's freaking hardcore! But of course, it doesn't end there, I will also put on the most unflattering outfit that accentuates my big belly. And I jiggle in front of an audience.
Crossfit games open T-shirts
Hey all,
I would like to have T-shirts printed for the open WOD and need to know your sizes? If you have entered please email me your T-shirt size.
steve@crossfitammain.de
Thanks all
Steve
