Kelly Frankson DOT COM

Check out this article on Virtuosity from the August 2005 Crossfit Journal

In gymnastics, completing a routine without error will not get you a perfect score, the 10.0—only a 9.7. To get the last three tenths of a point, you must demonstrate “risk, originality, and virtuosity” as well as make no mistakes in execution of the routine.

Risk is simply executing a movement that is likely to be missed or botched; originality is a movement or combination of movements unique to the athlete—a move or sequence not seen before. Understandably, novice gymnasts love to demonstrate risk and originality, for both are dramatic, fun, and awe inspiring—especially among the athletes themselves, although audiences are less likely to be aware when either is demonstrated.

Virtuosity, though, is a different beast altogether. Virtuosity is defined in gymnastics as “performing the common uncommonly well.” Unlike risk and originality, virtuosity is elusive, supremely elusive. It is, however, readily recognized by audience as well as coach and athlete. But more importantly, more to my point, virtuosity is more than the requirement for that last tenth of a point; it is always the mark of true mastery (and of genius and beauty).

There is a compelling tendency among novices developing any skill or art, whether learning to play the violin, write poetry, or compete in gymnastics, to quickly move past the fundamentals and on to more elaborate, more sophisticated movements, skills, or techniques. This compulsion is the novice’s curse—the rush to originality and risk.

The novice’s curse is manifested as excessive adornment, silly creativity, weak fundamentals and, ultimately, a marked lack of virtuosity and delayed mastery. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to be taught by the very best in any field you’ve likely been surprised at how simple, how fundamental, how basic the instruction was. The novice’s curse afflicts learner and teacher alike. Physical training is no different.

What will inevitably doom a physical training program and dilute a coach’s efficacy is a lack of commitment to fundamentals. We see this increasingly in both programming and supervising execution. Rarely now do we see prescribed the short, intense couplets or triplets that epitomize CrossFit programming.

Rarely do trainers really nitpick the mechanics of fundamental movements. I understand how this occurs. It is natural to want to teach people advanced and fancy movements. The urge to quickly move away from the basics and toward advanced movements arises out of the natural desire to entertain your client and impress him with your skills and knowledge. But make no mistake: it is a sucker’s move. Teaching a snatch where there is not yet an overhead squat, teaching an overhead squat where there is not yet an air squat, is a colossal mistake. This rush to advancement increases the chance of injury, delays advancement and progress, and blunts the client’s rate of return on his efforts. In short, it retards his fitness.

If you insist on basics, really insist on them, your clients will immediately recognize that you are a master trainer. They will not be bored; they will be awed. I promise this. They will quickly come to recognize the potency of fundamentals. They will also advance in every measurable way past those not blessed to have a teacher so grounded and committed to basics. Training will improve, clients will advance faster, and you will appear more experienced and professional and garner more respect, if you simply recommit to the basics.

There is plenty of time within an hour session to warm up, practice a basic movement or skill or pursue a new PR or max lift, discuss and critique the athletes’ efforts, and then pound out a tight little couplet or triplet utilizing these skills or just play. Play is important. Tire flipping, basketball, relay races, tag, Hooverball, and the like are essential to good programming, but they are seasoning—like salt, pepper, and oregano. They are not main courses.

CrossFit trainers have the tools to be the best trainers on earth. I really believe that. But good enough never is, and we want that last tenth of a point, the whole 10.0. We want virtuosity!!

Check this blog out: Pose Running reduces running economy…the missing study

About 4 weeks ago, we ran a six-part series on running technique, evaluating the Pose and Chi methods for running. In that series, we looked at:

Whether there is a basis for teaching running as an activity, as opposed to letting “natural” technique evolve?
*The philosophy of how we run
*The biomechanics of Pose running
*The Scientific evidence for changing a running technique
*Some practical tips for improving your running without trying to make “wholesale” changes
*Whether running techniques like Pose are marketed as medical products?

For the conclusion from the series check out:http://scienceofsport.blogspot.com/2007/10/pose-running-reduces-running-economythe.html

Check out this email just sent out by the Crossfit Games Organizing Committee:

The official format for the Games will be announced and posted here to the CrossFit Games site, on Wednesday, July 2nd at 6pm PDT. All scoring, workouts, exercises, and standards will be explained in detail. You will be expected to be familiar with this when you arrive on Saturday for the competition.

There will be multiple events, and you will have until Friday, July 4th at 8am PDT to request your preferred sequence for doing these events. An email address will be listed for you to send that preference. The preferences will be honored as much as possible, and on a first come first served basis. We make no guarantees, though, that you will get your preferred ordering.

The official time slots and ordering will be announced Friday, July 4th at 4pm PDT. There will also be detailed information on Saturday morning when you register telling you exactly where to be and when throughout the weekend.

And, in case you were wondering, the format is significantly different from last year. It will, though, reward athletes with tremendous work capacity in broad time and modal domains.

Be sure to check http://crossfitgames.com/ regularly for important updates from now until when the Games begin.

Thank you!

Deana

Check out this article that Matt found.

It admits that during exercise, muscles stop the biochemical reactions used to maintain themselves such as replacing and resynthesizing the proteins needed for day to day activities. It’s not that exercise is damaging your muscles; it’s that they halt the maintenance process until exercise is over and that to do this maintenance, muscles must make protein, and to do so they need to absorb amino acids, the constituent parts of proteins, from the blood. Just after exercise, perhaps for a period no longer than a couple of hours, the protein-building processes of muscle cells are especially receptive to amino acids. That means that if you consume protein, your muscles will use it to quickly replenish proteins that were not made during exercise.

But muscles don’t need much protein, researchers say. Twenty grams is as much as a 176-pound man’s muscles can take. Women, who are smaller and have smaller muscles even compared to their body sizes, need less.  10 to 15 grams of protein is probably adequate for any adult. And you don’t need a special drink or energy bar to get it. One egg has 6 grams of protein. Two ounces of chicken has more than 12 grams.

Muscles also need to replenish glycogen, their fuel supply, after a long exercise session — two hours of running, for example. For that they need carbohydrates. Muscle cells are especially efficient in absorbing carbohydrates from the blood just after exercise.  Once again, muscles don’t need much; about one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight is plenty, Dr. Tarnopolsky said. He weighs 70 kilograms, or 154 pounds, which means he would need 70 grams of carbohydrates, or say, 27 ounces of fruit juice, he said.

But the interest thing about the article is that it talks about how over rated suppliments are and the value of “real” food.  They also say that that athletes who take a day or two to rest or do less-intense workouts between vigorous sessions can pretty much ignore the carbohydrate-timing advice.  The only time it becomes improatant is for elite athletes doing 2 workouts a day.  But people who are running a few miles a few days a week don’t need to worry about replenishing their muscles

So… I officially withdrew from crossfit games.

I registered for the games months before I hurt my quad, and since the jumping squat incident I have been holding on to my spot figuring that I would see how the recovery progesses and make a last minute decision whether I would compete or not.

Recovery is progessing (been doing lots of low resistance rowing and high hang power work-which has actually been good for me as I frequently short the extension on my pulls and rely on my big squat to save lifts but now I’m up to doing working sets of 50kg power snatches.  I’m still planning on competiting at the o-lifting competition in White Rock end of June, and think my snatch will be ready, but my clean and jerk…Friday was the first o-lifting session where I felt any power comming from the leg-really odd thing, full range of motion and no pain, just no power running through it.  Friday was also the first session where we started doing back squats again (although I went from doing 3 sets of 3 at 105kg before the incident to 3 sets of 3 at 75kg on friday).  Dan (my coach) told me that if the quad felt good on saturday do some more strength work (3 sets of 3 back squats at 85kg and 3 sets 5 snatch deadlifts at 70kg) so I woke saturday morning and the quad felt good, but I could feel the glute, hamstring and thigh on the left side… but it all went good and today my body feels good.

But after having a much needed dinner with a good friend and making the comment about how if I go to the games and I still have my spot you never know what would happen-I was reminded (and already knew-just needed to hear it from my trusted advisor :) exactly what would happen, I would end up competing, going full out, probably doing pretty well, but end up tearing more muscles, possibly even more seriously and shooting the resting of the lifting season. 

So I went home, typed up the email and waited about 5 mintues before actually pressing send, but now that I have withrdawn, I’m happy with the decision and can purely concentrate on O-lifting and rebuilding the quad.

I’m still going to attend the games, actually going down a week early to workout at Mikes Gym and work on some olifting stuff with Brad and Josh, but will help coach the Crossfit Vancouver team instead of compete.

And thats that!