Follow the Programming...and SCALE!

Today was a busy day. Between work and additional duties, I was unable to make it to the afternoon group WOD--that always brings my mood down a couple of notches. Besides, that is one of the primary reasons why I love CrossFit so much--sharing the pain with my brothers and sisters! I looked at the WOD this morning and thought to myself, "I am going to have to do something completely different today." Why did I say that to myself? Well, initially, I was at a loss for how I was going to scale this workout. Because of my recovering shoulder, I thought that the WOD was a 'wash'...not doable for me. Oh how wrong was I!

My shoulder rehab has been going really well; however, the one thing that still scares me are the rings. Ring dips, muscle-ups...actually, anything on the rings really aggravated my shoulder pre-surgery. I am about 13 weeks past my surgery and I am feeling great! So, with that in mind, I decided to scale the WOD. Why? Because, despite the injury, I wholeheartedly believe that you still must follow the programming...and scale where necessary. Immediately after my surgery, it was obvious that I was unable to scale...I couldn't do much of anything. So, if you are dealing with an injury or recovering from one, please do not get it in your mind that you NEED to do the WOD as Rx'd, or even close to Rx'd. Just follow the programming to the best of your ability in relation to your current physical limitation. Whether it is a 'three on and one off' schedule, a 'five on and two off' schedule, or whatever...continue to follow your workout regimen as best you can.

Check out a short clip of me scaling the WOD. I promise...I ran the 50m in between; it was pretty difficult to record the video by myself.

How to Rest

For me, Saturday is a rest day. Like many CrossFitters, I find it difficult to 'rest' on my rest day. Why? Because I know my weaknesses and I want to get better...I want to improve upon my weaknesses. I feel an undying need to continuously get better. But sometimes I get caught up in what 'I need to do' and I completely disregard what I 'do not need to do'--in other words, I need to rest and recover. Resting and letting your body adapt to the stress that you have put upon it, is possibly one of the greatest challenges of an athlete. But it is also one of the greatest things that an athlete can do to improve their performance.

I am not making this stuff up; this comes from first-hand experience. This comes from my own experience in training for the 2009 CrossFit Games. So, how do you rest? Well, you find what works for you and your body. If you are doing 'everything right' in your training and still are finding that your WOD performance is suffering, then you need to take a deeper look at your training. Are you getting sufficient sleep--at least seven to eight hours per night? If not, make it a priority. Are you taking care of your body...physically and mentally? If not, you need to readjust your training philosophy.

On a more focused note, if you have qualified at your respective 2010 CrossFit Games Sectional Competition and are worried about what you need to be doing in preparation for your regional competition, here is my best advice: Do the CrossFit Main Site WOD and do it HARD! Hack away at the 'chinks in your armor' but take your REST! Listen to your body! Good luck CrossFitters!