The ‘Achilles Heel’ of Crossfit

Did you think we weren’t going to address this after top Games’ athlete, Julie Foucher, tore her achilles while doing box jumps this past weekend? 😉 To avoid sounding cliché, I won’t jump on every anti-high rep box jump bandwagon.  What I will do is shed light on the anatomical side of things and why this tends to be a consistent topic of discussion. Time to get nerdy and anatomical with y’all! 😉

Let’s look at the movement itself. A box jump is a plyometric exercise where there’s a powerful eccentric contraction (lengthening) quickly followed by a concentric contraction (shortening). When we land, The Achilles tendon is in the eccentric phase. It’s being stretched at the same time the calf muscles are contracting. The lengthening phase (eccentric) of the Achilles stores energy for the start of the next jump.

The acceleration of lengthening/shortening of muscles under stress is what helps the effectiveness of plyometric exercises and developing strength. It’s also what makes them risky based on the degree at which the muscle and tendon are being tensed. The role of the Achilles tendon during a box jump can be compared to a rubber band. When stretched it stores energy that it uses to return back to its shortened state. Pull too hard and it snaps.

Most exercises create small tears inside tendons. Nothing to be scared of as this is how we build strength. However, in the case of the Achilles, high rep box jumps can cause injuries because the repetitiveness of eccentric loading causes enough micro tears that it no longer has the strength to absorb the forces; leading to a macro tear or complete rupture of the tendon.

I’m certainly not here to tell you to stop rebounding off the floor. We’re adults, you can make that decision. However, I can shed light on where you fall.

If you have:

  • Poor ankle mobility (stiff ankles or limited calf flexibility)—stick with the jump up, step down method. You’ll thank us.
  • Foot pronation (ankle collapses inward and you aren’t working in a straight line)—again, step down method until we find a way to develop better ankle stability.
  • Trained frequently w/ explosive movements and haven’t allowed enough time for rest (i.e. sore/tight calves, tenderness in ankle)—think carefully about rebounding. It may be a good idea to give more time to recover with the step down method.

If your goals include:

  • Day to day health and fitness—by all means, if they’re in a workout, STEP DOWN. You’ll gain more from it and will certainly decrease this risk.
  • Improving movement quality—go with the step up/down method. Better glute engagement and overall positioning
  • Competing—you can’t avoid these in your training but use progression here. Smaller boxes to train rebounding but use as strength sets. You should never use these in workouts if you haven’t built the strength to handle the force the rebounding places on the Achilles. If you’ve been competing for a while, use them as conditioning sets between exercises but never under fatigue/towards the end of a workout. I’d save rebounding for game day.

The Achilles is a tricky beast as no one is sure why it starts to degenerate. It gives no signs and even well trained athletes are at risk for rupture. But with proper training and understanding your own movement patterns, you can certainly minimize your risk for this. Yes, it’s a one in a million injury but it has become the ‘Achilles heel’ ☺ within the crossfit world. I’d like for all our members to have healthy ones!

Train smart, live smarter, CFA!
–Coach Leigh

June Athlete Of The Month: Kim Scott!

Each month we spotlight a different CFA athlete who stands out and shows just how awesome they are. What is it that makes up an Athlete of the Month? It may not be the person that finishes the fastest, Rx’s every WOD, or gets a PR every time they walk in the gym. Although we love and celebrate when those things happen, the Athlete of the Month is made up of much more than physical ability. This person shows up, gives their best every time, and then gives a little more. They are hungry to learn and always ready to do the work. They support their fellow classmates and encourage them to reach their goals. This athlete embodies what we believe the CrossFit Austin Community should be about.

Our June Athlete of the Month is Kim Scott! Kim came to us a little over a year ago (I think her hair was pink at the time!) Kim has always been a positive voice in the gym, even through the suck. She is part of the chicken o’clock crew, getting her work done with the 5:30 am class. She and her fiance’ Jeremy completed the Spartan race in May and she’ll be competing in June in the AFM Fittest. Come join Kim for and early WOD and then maybe snag some breakfast tacos after! Congratulations Kim! We are thrilled to have you as this month’s Athlete of the Month.

 

State your Name and/or Nickname please:kim
Kim Scott, doesn’t get any simpler than that!

Words to live by?
Work hard, train hard, sleep harder.

What is your fitness background?
I danced for 18ish years of my life, and was a cheerleader in junior high and freshman year in high school. I also attempted to play all sports in junior high, but realized the only thing I was mildly good at was dancing, so I stuck with that.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I started doing the movements about 2 years ago with my trainer turned friend, Ken Beck, but joined CFA in April 2014!

Take us back to your first day of CrossFit… How did you feel? How do you compare it to workouts today?
Ummmm Fran. April 7th, 2014, I met her. I scaled, in every sense of the word, and I was watching everyone else in the 6:30pm class just MURDER it. I thought I may not come back again because I was SO intimidated. I mean, everyone had their damn shirts off for goodness sake … I came again 2 days later.  Now, the workout s suck just as much, but everyone else is “embracing the suck” with me.

kim2What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
The friggin’ people!  I absolutely love the feeling of community we have at CFA, and I have made some really great friends too. You guys are so amazing, constantly pushing me to be better, stronger and faster.

Current Training Goals/PRs?
Right now I have been slacking little at CFA, but that’s because I am training for AFM Fittest, which is now on June 13th. Anyone who wants to come watch me die is welcome!  I need all the cheerleaders I can get. 🙂

As far as a crossfit goal, I am working on getting that 200# back squat, and not bailing!  And, eventually getting a muscle up, but one thing at a time!

What keeps you getting up for that 5:30 am class?
The people!  Coach Erica and Coach Ben, and the few who I can count on to be there half asleep with me – Mitch, Ivan and Jeremy too!

I mean, we are the only group of people crazy enough to not only get up and workout at that hour, but do grueling workouts at that hour, and then go to work. I personally like to get it done so I can get on with my day, and not have to worry about trying to squeeze it in later.

What is your cheat meal go to? (We already know about Jeremy’s pretzel bowl 😉 )
Wait, cheat “meal” as in there is only supposed to be one? Just kidding! I love pizza. Like, I’m obsessed with pizza, and breakfast tacos too.

For the record, I had nothing to do with that weird pretzel, peanut butter, cereal and milk thing!

Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
When I was complaining about not being able to do double unders, and literally as I was whining about it to Coach Erica and Cody, I just started doing them, and stringing them together. I thought I would never get them.

If you could create a WOD and name it for yourself, what would it be?
“Killer Pizza”

500M Row
30 Wall Balls 20/14
25 TTB
10 DUs
5 Burpees

Immediately followed by pizza, wine, and a day off!

What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit?kim3
I mostly just enjoy hanging out with my dog and Jeremy, drinking some beers or wine.
I LOVE binge watching murder mystery shows – IDTV is my jam.
I have a pretty rad sneaker collection.
I’m trying to pick up sewing as a hobby, but I have only taken the machine out of the box once since December, so I don’t think that’s working for me.

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I’m an over-sharer, to a fault!
Other than that, something a lot of people don’t know would be that I have been in and on the cover of multiple tattoo magazines.

Longhorns or Aggies?
Forty Niners. 🙂

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
I’m so very honored to have been chosen to be Athlete of the Month. Thank you!
Thank you again to the coaches who constantly encourage me, push me and congratulate wins (even small ones), and thank you to the entire CFA community, you’re all the reason I love this place!

Stress Eating || Coach Ben Wells

Hello fellow foodies,

As I write this post, I’m contemplating life and all it has to offer and in my hand I have a hard apple cider to help me hopefully sound intelligent when I’m typing this up. When I think deeper

into why I have this drink I look at two different scenarios in my head.

  1. A) This is freaking delicious and I DESERVE THIS DRINK!

OR

  1. B) I need to be eating 200 grams of carbohydrates every day and I am not even close and it is past my bedtime so liquid calories it is.

How many of us would have chosen A? Why did we choose A? Is life giving a whole bunch of lemons? Maybe we need to look at what we have going on in our lives and assess our stresses and plan accordingly especially when it comes to our meals and what we are using as our fuel.

Eating just to eat is not the way to achieve our goals. We need to eat to feed the machine.

A car of any sort, I was going to use the normal Ferrari/Lamborghini/fast sports car analogy but we’ve heard that too many times, has very specific needs to run correctly, get you the best gas mileage or not get a flat tire on the way to work. We might be able to get by without filling up the tires but when you need them most you are on the side of the road.

Our bodies are the exact same. So treat it right.

Life happens. We all know that but don’t make up an excuse to eat a whole carton of ice cream or the whole large pizza.

Treat yourself, but in moderation. Longevity is the goal. We want to live as long as possible and to keep doing what we love. We need healthy habits to keep that going though.

So put down that spoon and grab yourself a fork instead and binge out on some salad with some color in it. I’ll take your spoon.

Keep killing it,

-Coach Ben

 

 

Help for Central Texas Flood Victims || Donation Drop off at CFA


As we all know, the recent floods have been devastating for central Texans. In an effort to do what we can to help our friends and neighbors, CrossFit Austin is setting up a drop off center in the front office for donations. If you would like to bring any of the following items to be donated, you may leave them in the front office and we’ll make sure they are taken to the appropriate locations. 

Items Needed:
Cleaning supplies – Solutions, towels, sponges, brooms, mops, etc… The flood waters left a lot of mud throughout homes.
Trash bags
Water – Many homes are currently without running water. Bottles and jugs are greatly needed.
Clothes & Shoes – All sizes (laundry detergent to wash those that are salvageable)
Blankets & Pillows
Toiletries

Gift cards 

Thank you in advance. We have such an amazing community of people and we hope that by coming together we can make a difference in the rebuilding of these people’s lives. If you have any questions feel free to contact us at info@crossfitaustin.com

-The CFA Team

 

Other ways to help:

http://www.gofundme.com/v2af5b6x

http://www.gofundme.com/adamaris

http://www.gofundme.com/vfe2jsg

http://barnabasconnects.org/

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/05/25/how-to-help-texas-flood-victims/27912539/

http://www.adrntx.org/index.php/memorial-wknd-flood-fund/

 

If you know of a specific family in need and would like to add their funding page please comment with the link.

Do you even lift? || Oly Lifting @ CrossFit Austin + Free Community Session

First off, we’d like to say a huge congrats to Coach Erica! She competed this past weekend in the Memorial Weekend Open in Rockport, TX. This badass babe had a 56kg Snatch and at 75kg Clean & Jerk. Congratulations on your AWESOME work and we are so proud of you.

We would also like to wish Coach Wes, and members Beverly Lopez, Leah Alter, and Nick Piacente the best of luck as they compete in the Weightlifting Wise Championships at the Naturally Fit Games the first weekend of June.

 aw logo
If Olympic Lifting piques your interest (or scares the crap out of you), we’d like to invite you to join us on Saturday, May 30th for a FREE Oly Open Gym session with Coach Erica. We’ll have the Oly center open from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Coach Erica will go over the basics in the first part of the session and then we’ll get down to lifting! This session is open to everyone: members, non-members, experienced lifters, brand newbies, excited participants and the hesitant friends. Come one, come all and let’s lift!

{Details & Registration}

 

What’s Your Mindset? || Stacey Magnesio

What’s Your (CrossFit) Mindset?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every person who starts CrossFit started the same. The movements were awkward, we lacked strength, and what the heck is a kipping pull up? But if we all started the same, how come only some CrossFit athletes excel in competition, get “the body”, and make strength gains? Some will chalk it up to pure talent. They were born with it. “She’s a natural!” they say.

Mindset plays a huge part in CrossFit! How you take on a challenge or handle a setback or interpret criticism is all about your mindset.

As I sat in on our first back to school staff development day this year (wishing I was still on the beach sippin’ on a drink with a little umbrella in it), we watched Stanford University psychologist Carol Dewek talk about The Power of Believing That You Can Improve. She explained that:

“Mindsets are beliefs- beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about you intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?”

“People with a fixed mindset believe that their traits are just givens. They have a certain amount of brains and talent and nothing can change that. If they have a lot, they’re all set, but if they don’t… So people in this mindset worry about their traits and how adequate they are. They have something to prove to themselves and others.”

“People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, see their qualities as things that can be developed through their dedication and effort. They understand that their qualities are just a starting point and that no one has ever accomplished great things without years of passionate practice and learning.”

sited: http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/

The next time you face a WOD that you know will be a challenge, or go for a deadlift PR, or fail at another muscle up attempt, remember that you have a choice. You can choose to interpret it with either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Which mindset will you choose?

-Stacey Magnesio

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