Should You Go To Crossfit?

“Hi Dave, I'm thinking of attending a crossfit class once per week, to compete against people again, what do you think”

This was a message sent by a client recently, which of course I answered.

But I thought it made for an interesting newsletter.

I have spoken out against crossfit many times over the years, most commonly to say “it's a great idea, poorly executed”

I have no issues with the idea of crossfit, my problem was always with the lack of quality control within the brand.

Now, I'm not here to bash anyone or anything.

What crossfit does very well, so well that and old friend of mine who is a former crossfit affiliate (deaffiliated due to the quality control issues I mentioned) uses the tagline “social fitness”

There's something special about training with company

Being in a group of people with a shared goal.

Having peer support

Chasing the people in front of you, encouraging those behind you

Of course, crossfit isn't the only place this happens, most sports clubs are built on this

Martial arts clubs rely on this

Any place where people take their training seriously is generally a very supportive place.

People there generally acknowledge effort over ability.

So to them it doesn't matter what you can and can't do, it only matters how willing you are to put the effort in

It's what I refer to as attitude

If you have attitude, others will recognise it and will help you.

So never be afraid to go into the “scary” gyms, they're the places where you'll find the best people, the most support and as a result you may actually find yourself having the most fun while making the most progress.

Ignore the name above the door, experience their attitude

And if it turns out the place isn't for you, walk.

And try the next place and the next thing.

Until you find a place that gives you the training experience you are looking for, no matter what that may be.

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net

Off Season, altitude and attitude

Over the last month I have had a theme going on.

Several people have reported annoying injuries and tightness over the last few weeks.

This coincides with a return to school, winter season sports and a general increase in activity following a summer off.

Taking time off in itself isn't really the problem.

It's the rapid change in activity levels that's the problem.

So rest and recuperation is vital.

People's lives and the demands on people's time and energy is always a problem.

So when we get an option to step back and unwind, it should be taken.

I've never been a fan of the “grind” mentality

However, there's another side to this and that is the detraining effect.

So attributes like endurance, speed, muscle mass and strength all decline when we don’t train.

The rates of decline vary across the various attributes, but it’s safe to say you will notice a drop across all factors in 4 weeks.

Some drop in 2, others closer to 6, but 4 weeks will show you the drop.

You’ll also notice some reaction time, and maybe some coordination and timing loss, although this tends to come back quickly.

Strength, power and endurance, they take a little longer and little more time.

The good news is, it all comes back.

It’s just a matter of how long and how much work you’ll need to do.

I grew up in, and cut my teeth training, martial arts and martial artists.

We do not have a season, competitions and events can happen anytime through the year.

So most fighters tend to stay close to their fight condition unless on holiday.

We like to advise fighters to live within 10% of their fighting weight (loose guideline, open to interpretation, it’s the concept more than the number that matters)

We’d like to never be more than a short peaking cycle away from performance ready as we may not have a large window in which to get ready.

Security and use of force professionals, they are a different story as they need to be ready now. Ready to go at the drop of a hat, no prep, just go.

So these guys need to be in a constant state of readiness, kind of where the martial artists live without the peaking programs.

Since I’ve been working with field sports athletes recently, these guys have seasons.

These seasons can go on and get intense as they do so. Lads do break down as the mileage accumulates.

In season training is there to mitigate the inevitable entropy and keep players competitive and away from the physio table.

And yes, once the season ends there is a well earned rest.

But only a few weeks, maybe a month.

And then the off season needs to begin.

Off season is where we build the baseline, develop the strength, mobility & endurance, the speed and the power, to a higher baseline.

It’s where injuries, any problem areas are all taken care of.

So that when the new season kicks off they have a greater reserve to draw upon as that entropy kicks in,

So that the decline in attributes as the body gets tired, gets banged up, goes into extra time, qualifies for an extra few weeks or months of tournaments, that decline starts from a better place.

It’s what an old mate of mine calls “Glide Ratio”

In that, an airplane can glide a number of meters forwards for every meter it drops in altitude if the engines all stop.

The better the glide ratio, the smoother that aircraft can be flown to safety.

But the higher that aircraft flies, the further it will travel before the inevitable meeting with the earth.

The off season is about gaining altitude.

Simple.

Not easy.

As ever, hit reply and send me your stories and your questions for future emails.

And don’t forget, I am looking for reviews on TrustPilot.

I have had a few come in since I asked last week, a few more would be appreciated.

Leave your review here: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/davehedges.net

Chats soon

Warming Up, DO We Need it?

Warming up.

No one likes it.

I certainly don't enjoy warming up, which is probably why it takes up so

much space in my head.

The inspiration for this email comes from an online client who in her

comments on the training App just wrote that she spent much more time on

the warm up drills as she felt that was where the majority of the

benefits from training on this day would come.

And she is right.

When I write a training plan for a client, I try to make the warm up the

key that unlocks the door to performing well in the "main" exercises.

And I say "main" in inverted commas as they are the exercises that

target the attributes we aim to improve, but it all starts with the warm up.

Now, I am aware that as far as lifting weights goes, warm ups have been

shown in the research to have minimal effect on the training performance

However, in the real world, this doesn't really play out.

A warm up has several purposes, whether these are real or imagined,

measurable or psychosomatic is another story.

As far as lifting/strength work goes, the warm is weight acclimation.

It's gradually working up to the working load, so the last couple of

sets are properly challenging.

But even before that, we need to wake the mind and body up.

In psychology there is this thing called an "action trigger"

An action that when done triggers the next action.

We all have them, habits that we barely think about.

It might be putting the kettle on to make a morning coffee that just

happens without there being any obvious conscious thought.

In my mind, warming up is an action trigger.

Watching guys come into WG-Fit either early for the Bootcamp session or

rushing in for the Lunchtime sessions and going over grabbing a skipping

rope and starting to warm up, I could see the change in their mental state.

Within a minute or two with the skipping rope that set of their head

would change, the eyes would lose that glassiness and they would start

switching on.

Then almost automatically they go into the next movement and the next.

And by the time their setting up the weights for the main exercises,

they're a different person, they've changed gear and are ready for action.

You could go back in time with action triggers, the act of packing the

training bag the night before is an action trigger. Once packed, and

left by the door to lift in the morning means you know what you're

doing, so it gets done.

But what about warm up content, so I mentioned skipping.

I program a pulse raiser, something simple to start the body changing

gears, to pump the blood, raise the temperature.

If it also has a coordination factor then it engages the brain a bit.

Then it's into movements, and these are carefully chosen.

It's here I spend most of my time thinking.

You see, lifting is Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat. Simple.

But, a sore knee, a bad back, a dodgy shoulder may want something in

order to be able to push, pull, hinge and squat.

And if we can incorporate the rehab into the warm up then we don't have

to waste time in the training.

The 100 Rep Warm Ups are the generic version of this thought process,

see them here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAnq6v3d_Sg&list=PLksAltASjwfU398pnXYyq0sUAUxYJi71S&pp=gAQB

With Injury Management clients and indeed with the Athletes warm ups are

individually tailored to their needs, which is determined by the

assessments.

I guess long story short, when I see people half arseing warm ups, going

through the motions as box ticking exercise with little interest shown,

I know that the warm isn't engaging them at an intellectual level.

There's either no understanding of why they're doing the movements, or

the movements are so generic that they see no value in them.

And that's why people hate warming up.

Well that and impatience to get to the fun stuff!

But, if you find a warm up that gets you breathing and sweating, that

reduces pains and injury symptoms, leaves you feeling taller, lighter

and more ready, then you are golden.

If over time, you feel the injuries dissipating and mobility improving,

then you are improving and the following training will improve as result.

Take the time to warm up. Not too long now, the 100 rep warm ups go

anywhere from 8-15 minutes, and that should be plenty.

If you're still warming up after 20 minutes, I would be asking questions.

Either you're not planning on training and have a good reason, or maybe

you're doing the wrong warm up.

And if it's the latter and you feel it's wrong, then go back to that

youtube link and have a look, or even drop me a line and we can talk.

Right, before you go.

I got myself listed on TrustPilot recently to aid in my marketing, and

would appreciate your help in getting it started.

Would you be kind enough to use the link below and drop a quick review

there, I think you can just do a star rating and don't have to type out

an essay.

Anything at all that you feel like putting down will help get the ball

rolling.

Here's that link: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/davehedges.net

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you

--

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.DaveHedges.net