Back to Basics

Do it like you mean it

…think about what you’re actually trying to do. You’re trying to lower your body, under load, into a safe and stable position and then stand back up again without injuring yourself and while doing it with a weight that makes you happy and proud and strong and fit and keeps osteoporosis at bay…

What are the sexiest CrossFit moves?

Muscleups, overhead squats, heavy Olympic lifts, handstand walking, double unders, pistol squats, deadlifting a million kg…. Undoubtedly very, very cool moves. ALL require many, many hours of dedication, hard work and listening to your coach. None of them can be mastered without good form and attention to detail. Note the use of the word ‘mastered’. I have seen many a disgusting heavy deadlift, gasped at by others in the room (and not because they are worried about the deadlifter’s lumbar discs but because they are wowed by the mass of rubber and the tremendous crash with which that bar is flung to the floor in triumph). Everyone sees the multiple plates and the gorilla chest bumps after. No one sees the gradual degradation of spinal discs or the even greater weight that actually could be shifted with better form and mechanics!

I have seen many a person (including myself) chicken wing their way to a muscleup, victorious at the top, pleased with their accomplishment, only to have to give them up for half a year, after repeated chicken wings have caused a shoulder injury that needs months of recovery (longer if you’re a dick about how you go about that recovery).

Mastery of these movements takes time, dedication, care and thought. Mastery (or near mastery or even just massive improvement) of any movement is a wondrous thing to behold.

Done badly, these movements may still appear sexy, but in the same way as a cheeky bartender in a dimly-lit nightclub may seem inviting when you’re off your face, they both lack substance and technique and ultimately satisfaction at the end of the day. Hours of honing your technique, focusing on positions that deliver, strengthening key muscles, keeping safety as a major concern all make for. a better one night stand, I mean heavy deadlift….

You get my drift….

Focus on the basics for a more intense, longer-lasting and satisfying CrossFit experience.

But what are the basics?

Let’s start with the number 42 of CrossFit - the answer to the ultimate question of Life the Universe and Everything - the squat.

Squat! Squat well!

Seriously.

The squat is key to EVERYTHING.

(Psst…good squats will get you a six pack - are you listening now?)

Start with your feet. Actually look at them. So many people attempt to squat heavy with one foot pointing out at an angle and the other one two inches behind or in some weird ballet position with their heels in and their toes right out. Get them pretty much parallel and if you can’t yet, make that a serious goal. That means trying harder every time you squat to position your feet well - around shoulder width apart. This will vary from person to person. Erring on the side of a little wider might be better for your hips than slightly narrower.

Squeeze your heels and push your feet out like you’re pushing the floor apart - like your corkscrewing your feet into the floor without them moving. You ultimately want your feet to be well-balanced on the floor - big toes pressed down, heels pressed down, no collapsing inwards of the ankles and while you’re learning what this feels like, it can be useful to press the weight into the outside of your feet. This will allow your knees to push out rather than forwards or worse, inwards as you descend. It makes your bum work harder, not just your thighs - why wouldn’t you want all your muscles working to help you squat super-hero-heavy?

Think about your hand position. if your wrists are all bent and flaccid, that bar is going to wobble around, which doesn’t inspire confidence in anyone. You want to lift that weight with attitude, so anchor it to you; make it part of you. Point your fist knuckles to the sky, make those wrists flat, pull that bar down hard onto your shoulders and squeeze your elbows together. The bar should be on that shelf of muscle along the top of your back, not on your neck and not on bone - wriggle around until it feels comfortable. if it isn’t, it’s in the wrong place. You don’t need a sponge pad, you need to reposition the bar. Now that bar feels solid! Now you can squat with confidence!

Next think about what you’re actually trying to do. You’re trying to lower your body, under load, into a safe and stable position and then stand back up again without injuring yourself and while doing it with a weight that makes you happy and proud and strong and fit and keeps osteoporosis at bay. So do it like you mean it! Take a massive deep breath in and hold it, then brace your abs like someone is about to punch you in the stomach, not just at the top but all the way down and back up again.

You need to push your hips back before anything happens at your knees. Do not bend your knees first. A squat pattern is not the same as a deadlift hinge but it does start with a hip hinge. Rather than thinking about pushing your hips back, which can lead to over arching your lower back and making you less stable at the bottom and more prone to injury, think about pushing your thighs back before your knees bend. it’s a small movement but makes a huge difference under load and after multiple reps. It’s hard to see much of a difference between a knee-initiated squat and a hip-initiated squat but the errors in the knee-first squat become amplified the heavier you go and more reps you do.

Stand that bar back up like a demon! Once that bar is really heavy for you, you obviously aren’t going to be actually moving that fast but you have to stand up as if you were trying to stand up really, really fast. Lock your knees and squeeze your glutes tight and snappy at the top to finish properly.

Don’t re-rack the bar like an idiot. Do it carefully and safely; treat your equipment and your body with respect and care. Walk forwards until both sides of the barbell contact the rig then lower it into the J hooks. Doing one side then the other risks the first side coming free again and the bar crashing off the rig in an embarrassing, undignified and potentially dangerous way.

Behave like this with an empty bar. You don’t have to take quite such and enormous breath and squeeze your abs quite as tight with a lighter load but get that movement and behaviour pattern fixed in your head. This is how you set up for success when you squat - every single time.

Which is the more attractive bartender, with more than a one-time potential? The one who moves beautifully, with confidence and purpose and who definitely knows what they are doing and who understands the importance of safety or the clueless one with no regards to how they move or perform and just wants it over with as quickly and clumsily as possible - all with flaccid wrists….your choice….

PS - You need to take just as much care with an air squat. If you drill good intentions and positions with no weight, your brain and body will default to good positions much more readily.

Master the Basics

…Let’s start with the number 42 of CrossFit - the answer to the ultimate question of Life the Universe and Everything - the squat…