100 Ways of EarthFit- Day 32: Good Form, I Say

Visiting a great CrossFit box for a trial membership has been great for me to work on fitness goals that I just don’t have the equipment or facility to practice at times.  But more than anything, I’m really proud of myself for not bending to the pressure of competition or feeling like I’m going too slow.  This week, I’ve said screw it to Rx weights, and didn’t pay the least bit of attention to my time (until I was finished with my workout).  I’ve been working solely on good form and taking time to do the exercises right.

Whenever I do squats, I almost always use a box or a bench.  And I try to go fast.  I usually prescribe a fairly high rep count with squats, as I rarely utilize weights.  We have weights, like dumbbells or our homemade kettlebells, but I rarely include them.  Because afterward, my knees are killing me.  This is undoubtedly due to my lack of focus on form.  Because I’m trying to go fast.

The WOD for CrossFit Code Red was 21-15-9 of Wall Balls (squats), push-ups (which I usually scale to doing on-knee push-ups), and Front Squats.  Front squats.  Yes, a weighted bar held in front of you while you do squats.  It’s a thing.  A thing I don’t do very often, but a thing.  I was pleased to see the coach for the class show a different scale for the push-ups.  Instead of doing them on my knees, he suggested that I use the rings and do ring push-ups.  Which was a great idea, because, guess who has a set of rings now?

I set my weights super low.  Ridiculously low.  I don’t care.  I used a 10 pound medicine ball and my bar was only 35 pounds.  And I finished my workout with only 20 seconds to spare from the time cap.  But you know what?  I fracking did it!  I didn’t use a box.  I kept good form, and really pushed myself to go down to a 90 degree angle , keeping my chest up, and bar racked at my shoulders.  I pushed myself to keep my elbows locked in with my wall balls and tossed the medicine ball up to the designated height.  And I practiced trying to keep my body straight while doing ring push-ups.  I felt really good after I completed the WOD.  Not because I broke any records, but because I pushed myself further than I normally do with squats.

I look forward to our new place, and setting up workouts we can do from our own home without disturbing the neighbors and without packing the car and lugging a ton of equipment from the car to the park.  The idea of the inconvenience often dissuades me from utilizing equipment that would definitely improve my overall strength and skills.  Because working on my form was one of the best feelings I’ve had in a while.

Another plus to visiting CrossFit Code Red was getting to the box early, we caught the showing of CrossFit Open Games 16.2  We watched two incredibly fit guys complete 5 rounds of 25 toes to bar, 50 double unders, and a ghastly amount of squat cleans at an ungodly weight.  Oh, and they did each round in under 4 minutes.  The best comment I read on the screen was “Dan Bailey is not human”.  He can’t be, I agree.  Considering I struggle squatting 35 pounds, I was thoroughly impressed with these guys lifting 135#-315# for squat cleans.  It was amazing.

I’m actually sad that I just discovered this box a couple weeks before we’re leaving Oregon.  We would have struggled with the funds, but I think we would have found a way to stay on Code Red’s membership roster.  The team over there is really top-notch.

I’m grateful for these opportunities to improve and see what I want to work on in the future.  It gives me so much motivation to keep rocking out, and achieve my goals!