Wine Country CrossFit

Hey you! Yes, YOU, the Wine Country CrossFit member who CRUSHED yesterday’s WOD! Congratulations on that amazing display of cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, agility, balance and speed!! I have news for you, though: you missed something. Yep, in those wild, sweaty, panting moments, I guarantee you that there was a slip in your accuracy and coordination. Did you hit every single rep (or even most reps) with solid, YouTube-worthy form? I didn’t think so. And I bet you money it was due to a hole in your joint flexibility and joint stability. These skills that I just mentioned are what I include in the 11 components of fitness (yes, I know, I added one – joint stability).

What are the 11 components? Well, here is a quick run-down:

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance – the ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen
2. Stamina – the ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units to apply force.
4. Flexibility/Mobility – the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
5.  Stability – the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position.
6. Power – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
7. Speed – the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
8. Coordination – the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movements.
9. Agility – the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
10. Balance – the ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base.
11. Accuracy – the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

Now, in CrossFit, we talk about how it is important to have a firm grasp of ALL the 11 components of fitness, and yet flexibility and stability time and time again are shoved aside in favor of stuff like speed and strength! The problem is that without flexibility and stability, all the other components suffer – especially accuracy and coordination. So why do we treat flexibility and stability like they are the least important of the 11 components of fitness, when in fact they should be the MOST important? Well, it’s because for the most part, stability and flexibility training is BORING, and often times it hurts (especially where working mobility is concerned). But when you minimize the importance of those two components, it can have disastrous short-term (and sometimes even life-long) negative effects.

To go into a little deeper explanation of flexibility and stability, here is a great breakdown of the ins-and-outs of the 11 components of fitness’s redheaded stepchildren. Read the descriptions and then be honest – do you have those two components DOWN?

• Joint Mobility is defined as: the degree to which an articulation (where two bones meet) is allowed to move before being restricted by surrounding tissues (ligaments/tendons/muscles etc.)… otherwise known as the range of uninhibited movement around a joint.
• Joint Stability is defined as: the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position. Stability is achieved by the coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system.

Here’s visual aid:

So yes, you get it, there are 11 components of fitness, and I should work all 11. “Sure thing, Em. I’ll get right on that.” That’s what you say, but when your coach calls out “3.2.1…GO!” all of a sudden you forget your promise to your body and all hell breaks loose. So what if I told you that if you work your flexibility and stability that you’d get BETTER at the rest of the 11 components? LIKE A LOT BETTER. Like OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST BETTER??? Would you do it, then? You should.

How about this – for the next week (1 WEEK IS ALL I ASK!!), when you arrive 5 minutes early to class, spend that time getting mobilized REALLY WELL and improve your flexibility pre-WOD. And then, in your movements during the skill portion and the WOD, PRACTICE HOLDING STABILITY. I swear to you that if you practice it for a week, you WILL notice a difference.

That’s all I’ve got, folks. I guess my last point to make is that your time at Wine Country CrossFit should be FUN and ENJOYABLE and SOMETHING YOU LOOK FORWARD TO! But above all, it should MAKE YOU BETTER!! And that, my dear friends, all depends on whether or not you WANT to get better. The decision is truly yours alone.

-Emilie

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Friday’s Workout

Snatch Work –

Beginner – Hang Power Snatch from Position 1- work skill at light-medium weight
Intermediate – Hang Power Snatch from Position 2 – work up to 3 reps at medium weight, perform 5 sets of 3
Advanced – Hang Snatch From Below the Knee + Snatch Balance – Find 1 RM

WOD – 12 Min EMOM
2 Hang Power Snatches (135/95)
10 double unders

Cash out:
-plate drags. Find a heavy plate, lay on your back, and with your heel on the plate drag it toward your butt and then push it away. 10 x each side, X 3.

Extracted Hamstring Stretch, 2 minutes each side