Realigning 2014 Goals

Howdy everyone :)

These last couple days I have been sick so it has also given me more time to recover from some ailing injuries that I have sustained in my Crossfit journey. My poor wife has been not so verbal to me about the aches and stiffness I have been experiencing these last couple months as I have been working to up the difficulty in the workouts I do. Being sick provides time that I normally would not have to look back on things I am doing in my life. I have realized that my ego has been a large part of my Crossfit journey and that I have not solidified enough of a foundation to even consider reaching the goals I have for this year.

Something I have always told myself when I would be recovering from injuries is to keep a long term view. The problem is I did not implement this long term view in my training. I was so concerned with doing the work outs at the recommended weight I never considered if I should. As a result my focus for the remainder of the year will involve starting with the basics.

My history has been;
1. I had a failed handstand push up that kept me from training for about a month.
2. I have a tight right hamstring from a high school injury.
3. I have done some of the Olympic Lifts incorrectly which has caused minor pain.
4. Most reciently I found not keeping my head neutral during kipping pull ups has strained my right trap muscle.

Things that have been working against me (These are not my excuses just factors I am aware of);
1. Being self taught most of the time. Naturally without a certified crossfit trainer to guide me my risk for injury would be higher. Thankfully me experiencing these difficulties at least allows me to let others know about them as well.
2. I am not able watch myself during movements and course correct during a work out. I was wanting to lift the larger amounts of weight, but not make the sacrifice to get the conditioning and moment familiarity to earn that privilege.

Things working for me;
1. Crossfit is an open source community. Just about all the information I know has been from research and study from the community at large.
2. I have now a fully equipped Crossfit box with a rower. (that is for a later post with pictures).

Reviewing the information above I have come up with the following action plan;
1. Video every WoD/ strength training session I do for at least the next 3 months. I need to be able to see how i am doing movements and want to first make sure I am doing the movement correctly.
2. Focus on a solid warmup before each WoD. Muscle pulls and strains are usually a result of tight or not adequately warmed up muscles. Doing a through warm up before hitting the gas pedal.
3. Take time for mobility and flexibility everyday. I plan to spend at least a total of 15 minutes each day stretching and doing mobility to ensure that I am recovering as quickly as I can from each work out and that I have the range of motion to execute the movements.

Honestly all these things are pretty basic and fundamental for any work out routine. Maybe it was the years of weight training that made me think I did not have to worry as much about the execution of the exercises, or that I could just heal through whatever I do to my body. Either way I have learned both of those lines of thought are false and that I need to take a step back if I am going to have a chance at doing Crossfit long term. I will not make to next year let alone have a chance at competing in the 2019 Crossfit games as a Masters competitor.

With this new focus I will post a couple of my WoDs a week and give you my evaluation of myself. As always I know I am opening myself up to the internet and I do not mind receiving any thoughts on how my form is and any suggestions will be considered.

As always, thanks for reading and if there is anything you would like me to write about or comment on let me know.

This is where the fun begins,

-Chris