Random Thoughts from the NorCal Regionals
10 Jun
Last weekend I had the chance to spend 3 days watching the NorCal Regionals for the Crossfit Games. Crossfit has provided a short video on the spectator experience at the NorCal Regionals, but as always I came home with a bunch of random thoughts so I thought I would put them out into the universe. Hopefully some of these will be insightful, but some are certainly just silly!
Random thoughts (in no particular order):
- Crossfit as Sport: Attending these events reminds me that for some folks Crossfit is their sport. This is very different from how I believe the average person should view Crossfit. A competitive component to one’s training can be beneficial, but training for sport and training to improve your life are two very different things. Never lose sight of the purpose of your program.
- Olympics of Exercising: I am consistently surprised at how entertaining and engaging it can be to watch people compete in exercising despite the intuitive ridiculousness of the idea. It is not much different than watching any other sport for me: there is strategy, there is skill, there are some really good athletes, there is suffering and there is a human interest piece to each of those athletes. I will never buy into the idea that being an elite games competitor is healthy, but watching them is a damn fun way to spend a weekend.
- Event Quality was Great: The overall quality of these events keeps improving from a spectator’s perspective. Everything from the parking, seating, timing, food options and even the DJ were handled really well. It turns out that having a DJ at an event like this makes everything better (yes I’m being serious).
- My New Favorite T-shirt: I came across this t-shirt by Rogue and just to had have one (sadly they aren’t available online yet).
- Judging Was Much Improved: I believe the judging was much better overall compared to years past. Let me be clear that there is still significant room for improvement, but huge strides have been made. The majority of errors I saw were focused on nuances of movements (ring turn out on muscle-ups or the finish position on the kettlebell swing) and I don’t believe they significantly impacted the final standings in the NorCal region. As always there were a few hiccups as evidenced by Freddy C’s now famous “Am I Being A Whiny B*****?” post and “The Case of AJ Moore“. I do believe Freddy is whining a bit, but I appreciate the fact that he is willing to put his honest opinion out there. I think the rules need to be clarified, but for my money if someone in a future event finishes first in every event and wants to sit out the last one I’m cool with that (Full disclosure – I was at the Regionals to cheer on Jenny Labaw so my opinion is clearly as biased as Freddy’s). I don’t have an opinion on AJ’s situation because I wasn’t there and haven’t seen the video, but I sincerely feel for the guy. I don’t see an easy remedy to the situation and sadly realize that like many other sports judging will always have a bigger impact on the standings than we would like especially when there is such a high degree of technical competency being judged.
- Jack Daniels Burgers: Putting Jack Daniels in your burgers is amazing (as suggested by the culinary geniuses at Epic Meal Time)!
- Athlete Preparation Keeps Improving: The first time I attended one of these events I was honestly shocked at how poorly prepared some of the athletes were for the intensity, volume, and actual exercises there were being asked to perform. I still have nightmares about watching a young woman’s left knee collapse on all 50 box jumps she performed (both her landing on the box and the return to the ground). I kept waiting for her knee to explode. Clearly no one ever taught her or her coach what good landing mechanics looked like. Most athletes movement was pretty good and clearly the message is getting out that proper mechanics are not only faster and more efficient, but safer.
- Nike ACG Shoes: Attending a Reebok sponsored event seemed like the perfect opportunity to break out some Nike All-Condition Gear Shoes circa 2000. Classic!
- Exercises Done Poorly: In spite of my overall feeling about the general improvement of athlete preparation and movement quality I have a bone to pick with the performance of 2 particular movements: the american kettlebell swing and 2 DB to overhead anyhow. These exercises were often performed so poorly that it hurt my soul. I saw so many examples of poor biomechanics that many athletes appear to have forgotten everything they have learned about proper movement. I’m hopeful that these athletes will go back to the drawing board on these exercises.
- Always Be Mobilizing: What is funnier than capturing the Supple Leopard himself mobilizing while watching the action?
- Twitter friends become real people: It is always nice to meet folks in person that you interact with virtually. I had a chance to finally meet Badier from The Lazy Caveman. Badier is a good dude whose writing I enjoy so it was great to be able to chat live and in color.
- Jenny Labaw Rocks!: The primary reason I attended the event was to cheer on my friend, Jenny LaBaw, in her first official Crossfit competition. Jenny is a hell of a person, coach, and athlete. Jenny put on an amazing performance and I was honored to be there to cheer for her. Jenny finished second overall and earned a spot at the big show in July.
- Movement is Life: I really enjoy watching athletes and analzying how they move. This experience is always enhanced when I can watch athletes with folks who have very different backgrounds than mine. I watched several events with Carl Paoli, the infamous pocket gymnast, from GymnasticsWod. I really enjoyed his feedback on the events from a gymnast’s perspective. There is always so much to be learned when you see things through another’s eyes.
- I Like Rainbows: Deal with it!
That ‘bell above handle’ standard is really brutal for the swings. To do it right, you need to get about half an inch from flipping the thing backwards over your head. They should change it so you just have to break the eyeline so people have more margin and I suppose add more swings since the ROM is cut down.
Or if they are going to continue to keep it in the games folks should get better at it. Iceland Annie’s were amazing! I think this is one of those move that folks don’t spend enough time practicing.
Great post! Glad to see you are back posting again. Keep ‘em coming!
Thanks Morgan – more in the works!
Good one, I agree with training for sport and training to improve your life style being two different things. I sometimes need to sit back and ask myself, “what am I training for?” Wedding! So I don’t need to deadlift 225lb for my workout! And your randomness in there is entertaining. Damn it, he likes rainbows! Miss you at the gym!
Yeah I don’t see much correlation between 225 DL and wedding training, but that is just me. I miss see you too!
Woohoo Andy is back! Like the pictures!
Thanks Nick – I thought they were fun!
Nice post man. I’ve got a bit of a love/hate thing going on with the games myself (link to a post I did on the sectionals below). But at the end of it I had a blast watching and cheering for the competitors at the games last year and plan to go again this year.
Now on to the important stuff: Jack Daniels Burger. Bring it on. Link to a recipe? Or at least a ballpark idea of the ratios?
http://www.functhat.com/2011/04/killing-the-sport-of-fitness-and-a-shout-out-to-the-anywherefit-blog/
I’ve heard very mixed things about the Open – I don’t think I would have wanted to deal with that for 6 weeks. Watching a weekend of Regionals or the Games is totally different and I think is great fun. Blair Morrison is amazing and I love his blog!
Re: the burger – no recipe sadly. We just pored in a bunch of Jack Daniels while we were mixing in the some onions and spices. I say just go for it!
If they are going to swing that way, at least call them something else, rather than drag our country’s name through the mud.
burgers look goooood…
Agreed – I hate exercises names after countries any way!
The burgers were amazing!
But if we didn’t name exercises after countries, how would we know that they were inherently superior??
Good to see you back, Deas.
Well played sir!
Andy good to see you posting again. We really miss your dry bearded humor in the podcast (you should offer to full in for greg if he wants a week off, that’d be a nice surprise). Hope to see more in the future.
I’m glad to be back posting! I miss doing the podcast as well, but I’m pretty sure Robb and Greg have it covered though you never know what the future may hold.
Good comments. As a “former” competitor, I have backed way off for the reasons you talked about. Doing healthy things should be a daily requirement, but the push to compete to the levels we watched are not healthy. I don’t want to put down women, but when I was lifting weights and doing most of the crossfit ways, I started to look like an East German Olympian and when I look back, I can see how awful that was. My identity changed and my focus was entirely physical to the point of “unhealthy.” I started to look more like a man than a woman and the competitions were sick events to encourage perpetuating more unhealthy “healthy” practices if that makes sense. Maybe that’s what you’re saying too. I just now bike for enjoyment, walk to see the flowers, and swim. It’s reasonable and I now have a life again.
Good luck to you Andy in pursuing your next agenda. I think it’s GREAT that you pick up and try new things in other areas. Chico is way too limiting and the community has regressed so much. Schools are bad, you know things are screwed up when restaurants that people like are Applebees, and there’s little enrichment nearby. Hey, some of the cities in your past are great places.
Thanks for the comment! Many Crossfit competitors I see get way to focused on the competitive aspect of things and start to miss out on all the other great things in life. I think there can be a balance, but it takes constant discipline to the find the right mix.
Once thing I’ve learned is that some of the my moving experiences have been the most challenging times in my life, but also created the most amount of personal growth. Thank you for your kind wishes!
Great post Andy. I really appreciated you for your knowledge and depth of observation at the games-and of course your humor! “… but training for sport and training to improve your life are two very different things.” Great point and I was surprised but pleased to see you and others address the imbalance training for sport can lead to.
ABSOLUTELY BROTHER:
“One thing I’ve learned is that some of the my moving experiences have been the most challenging times in my life, but also created the most amount of personal growth. Thank you for your kind wishes!”
It was great to see you!
Thanks Deanna! It was great seeing you again. It took a long time for me to realize that sport and life are very different animals. Most people really need to remember that training should improve the quality of their life – all else is secondary.
Andy did you see the crossfit games article/video about Melissa Scaglione? I guess she separated her shoulder but they still let her do dumbbell jerks and pull-ups. Listening to her scream makes me what to hop the fence and crack the judges over the skull with that big dumbbell.
How did that “performance” hamper her rehabilitation? what kind of dangerous president is being set here? This is what happens when worship the Idol god “broadtimesmodaldomains” (bizarre name right?)
I guess I came here to rant and affirm that the crossfit athlete and a healthy athlete are similar in that they are on the same spectrum (albeit on opposite ends)
Keep fighting the good fight
I didn’t see that story and am a bit saddened by it. Now if that was the last WOD in the Games and I had a chance for 250K I might (and I’d say there was only a 20% chance) suck it up and go for it. For 99.9% of the world I’d say that is a sign that you should pack it in and live to fight another day. Then again I see this type of behavior in all levels of athletics so its not surprising that it is showing up here, but I totally agree that dangerous precedents are being set.
Yeah, I saw it too and it made me furious to see the pain she was in. All that does is perpetuate the worst reputations for the organization.
Hey, thanks Andy for your words and good luck to you on your move and new life—wherever you’re going.
Thanks Lana – I appreciate it!
Andy I love your random thoughts, thanks for posting!
Any plans on doing virtual training again…..soon?
Not in the short term, but maybe eventually! Glad you liked my random thoughts.
Great to see Andy Deas is posting again! Miss ya buddy! Good seeing you the other 2 days!
Great seeing you and the lady as well! I hope you guys are doing great!