The Bottom of the Iceberg
I can’t wait for the CrossFit Games every year. Yes, there’s always drama about sponsorships, and corporate issues, and drug testing, and programming. Forget all that. Ultimately the CrossFit games is a beautiful spectacle of human performance.
But as I watch these shredded, magnificent human beings perform day after day of impossible physical feats, I constantly have to remind myself that what we are seeing on the broadcast is only the tip of the iceberg: the last-second sprints to victory, the epic lifts, the arms raised in the air in triumph. TV never shows you the bottom of the iceberg: all of the mundane, unsexy, daily-grindy things. You never see athletes doing grocery shopping, or weighing and measuring their food. You don’t see inspiring montages of them doing yoga, or cupping, or slogging through six rounds of accessory work. Or sleeping.
For most of us - especially those that have sedentary jobs - a CrossFit workout is the most physically demanding part of our day. It is our own, personal mini-CrossFit games. Sometimes we come in feeling great. Everything feels easy and smooth. The double-unders flow like the beat at an EDM concert. The weight on the barbell feels light! But often it’s not like that at all. Sometimes everything is creaky. Gravity is far too strong.
I talk to my son about this all the time. He has been playing basketball and soccer competitively, and although he’s only eight years old, he suffers from the same physical and mental highs and lows that we do as adults. He looks forward to performing at his games, but if left to his own devices, he’d gladly neglect the bottom of the iceberg. I remind him to stretch, to do the boring little cone drills, to watch his nutrition, to drink enough water. Even if he’s just passively watching TV on the couch, I encourage him to check out a YouTube compilation of soccer moves or basketball skills. There’s always some foundational, constructive thing he can be doing, no matter how small.
So, we expect the best performance from ourselves daily, but ask yourself, honestly: Are you really doing as much bottom of the iceberg stuff as you can be? I’ve been doing CrossFit for over 11 years. I’ve had my ups and downs, my injuries and frustrations and long layoffs, as well as some thrilling moments of peak performance and personal achievement. Let me share a few things I’ve learned on my journey, for the sake of your iceberg:
CrossFit Time. Parking and traffic are the rule, rather than the exception (especially now that we’re returning to pre-COVID tempo). Nothing undermines a workout like coming to class with just seconds to spare, or possibly even five minutes late. You’re stressed, you’re rushed, your mental state is in shambles, and, most critically, you don’t have time to properly warm up. If you can budget an hour out of your day for CrossFit, you can budget just a little more time to ensure you arrive early. Coming just 10 minutes early gives you mental calm and a few extra minutes to stretch before class begins. When I went to college, classes always started on “Berkeley time”, which meant that an 8AM class actually began at 8:10AM. I apply this philosophy to my CrossFit workouts, only in reverse. My “CrossFit time” begins 10 minutes before the hour. In that 10 minute space, I can organize my mind and my body to be primed for class.
Using Every Part of the Buffalo. This is a well-known phrase that refers to the Native Americans’ efficient use of the animals they hunted. I.e: waste as little as possible. I recommend you apply this philosophy to your CrossFit classes as well. Hopefully you’re already on CrossFit time, meaning you arrived 10 minutes early. Now the class begins, and you spend the next few minutes on introductions, and the coach reviews that day’s workout. Don’t waste those few extra minutes, either. Pick up a PVC pipe and do some passthroughs while the coach is talking. Stretch your achilles in downward dog or using a plate at a slant against the rig. Grab a purple band and stretch out your triceps to prepare your front rack position for those power cleans. Grab a couple of 2.5 lb change plates and do some shoulder presses to warm up for the push jerks. Hold a squat position for a minute to prime yourself for those heavy back squats.
Proper Footwear. I see a lot of beginner CrossFitters doing squat cleans or split jerks in soft-soled running shoes. Yikes. The right shoes are one of the best investments you can make in your CrossFit success. I’m not saying you have to become a crazy Nike or Reebok collector. But having a reliable pair of olympic lifting (“Oly”) shoes, and a pair of dedicated CrossFit shoes with a stable, neutral sole, will help you improve your performance and avoid injury. And if you take care of them, they will last you for a long time. I’ve had my oly shoes for nearly eight years. Know when to wear the appropriate shoes! If a workout calls for five rounds of 400M runs and 10 back squats, please, please don’t run in your oly shoes. Don’t box jump in your oly shoes either! (You laugh, but I have seen this on more than one occasion.)
Protect Your Hands. High volume pull-up or bar muscle-up workouts can destroy your hands. Or how about that infamous Open Workout 21.1 (yeah, those 55 wall walks)? So many people tore up their hands on that one. There are simple ways to protect your hands, including a wide variety of gymnastics grips, and shaving down your calluses. Ripped and bleeding hands are a huge bummer in a workout, and certainly an inconvenience in your regular life for days afterwards. Sometimes rips are unavoidable, even with hand protection, like when you’re giving maximum effort in a competition. Do some trial and error to figure out which hand protection works best for you. It will make a huge difference in your CrossFit experience.
Rest. We all go through ups and downs. I’ve gone through stretches where I just felt…really, really good. Strong. Minimal soreness. Tons of energy. And I’d be at the box day in and day out, hitting PR’s in every workout, getting my dopamine hits as I uncapped the marker to write my name and score on the board, and seeing those Beyond The Whiteboard training days string together. But inevitably, those highs are followed by a minor nagging injury, or sometimes exhaustion that forces me to take several days off. CrossFit recommends the three on / one off model, where three days of training are followed by a day of rest and active recovery (walking the dog, carrying groceries, riding a bike in Golden Gate Park). I’ve learned over the years that no amount of CrossFit FOMO is worth the risk of overtraining or injury. There will always be another one-rep max deadlift day. You can always come back and do Tuesday’s workout during open gym on Friday.
Check Your Ego at the Door. Ask any experienced CrossFitter, and they’ll likely tell you that their injury came as a result of bravado or overconfidence. 99% of us are not going to the CrossFit games, and that extra 10 pounds on the bar is almost never worth it. Over the years, I’ve learned to love seeing that Level 2 option on the board, which allows me to scale back the weight just enough to enjoy the workout, but not push myself past the limits of my 40-year old body with the Level 3 option. Listen to your body. Substitute movements wisely. Scale enthusiastically! CrossFit has been an integral part of my life for the last 11 years (I started to get in shape for my wedding, and now I’m a CrossFit dad). I want to keep doing it for as long as possible, in whatever form I can. I want to be able to work out safely and effectively, and return injury-free the following day. That means I have to check my ego at the door, when, obviously, I arrive 10 minutes early for class.