Crossfit 033

The GHD sit up can be a great way to strengthen your core when done correctly, but it’s important to set up and complete the movement properly to avoid back pain and improper ex*****on.

To set up, position your hips just behind the pad with your knees slightly bent.

From there, lower yourself about halfway down, and bring yourself back to a sitting position by flexing your quads and straightening your knees. As you gain confidence and strength, you can start to incorporate the full range of motion. The more explosively you straighten your legs, the easier and faster your sit ups will be!

Don’t skip the legs here, it’s a leg driven exercise.
When adding these into your programming, always start with lower volume and a smaller range of motion. This movement is easy to do in higher volume than your body is ready for, leaving you very sore, or even injured the next day. It’s always better to do less and know you could do more, than to be regretting it the other way.

Training update:

Lately I’ve been spending a lot more time following our gym’s bodybuilding track.

It’s definitely been a shift from how I’ve trained for most of my life, but right now it feels like exactly what I need.

Less chasing times and scores. More slowing down, building strength, enjoying training, and leaving feeling better than when I walked in.

That doesn’t mean I’m done with CrossFit — far from it. I still love CrossFit and it’ll always be part of my training. I’ll keep doing it and I know I’ll lean back into it more again.

But one thing I’m learning is that training doesn’t always have to look the same forever. Sometimes the best thing you can do is adjust the season and keep moving.

If you feel like you’re stuck in the bottom of a back squat, our first recommendation is that you stand back up…quickly. But just incase that can’t happen, let’s explore other options:

First, a spotter can be helpful assuming he or she knows what they are doing, is experienced in spotting a squat, feels confident maneuvering the weight, and you have communicated about the plan ahead of time. HOWEVER, for most people we recommend against utilizing a spotter, as it can go wrong quickly if any of these things are not in place.

Instead, once you realize you’re stuck, drive your hips forward violently, land on your knees while aggressively pushing your barbell the opposite direction (backwards). You can always practice this with no weight, in an air squat, or if you want to feel the act of pushing something off your back, try it with a PVC pipe.

NEVER, lose your balance and allow the barbell to roll forward over your head, stay safe by staying in control.

CrossFit can definitely cause injury…in fact, it happens all the time. But here’s the thing… we know why it happens and we know how to make it less likely. There’s risk of injury with ANY sport, but when it comes to our gym, we focus on these things:

1. Proper scaling
2. Proper, attentive coaching
3. Proper education

When these are introduced ahead of too much intensity, CrossFit is and can be safe and effective for any level of fitness at all. If you’re new to CrossFit, before we even suggest you joining group classes, we spend at least 5 sessions with you working on your movement, patterns, the scales that will work for you, proper terms and education, and making you confident and comfortable in workouts.

CrossFit gets a bad name, because people skip the basics. We don’t. Not here. Want to find out for yourself? Click the link in our bio, schedule 1:1 chat directly with me and we can talk about your experience, your goals, your fears, and anything else that may impact you getting started!

As a CrossFit coach for over a decade- I consistently see people struggle the most when it comes to the first rep of their deadlift set. This is usually because their setup needs some adjusting.

Set up with the middle of your foot under the bar, brace your core, reach down with slightly bent knees, and drop your hips until the bar just about grazes your shin and then press through the floor to stand. As you press make sure to keep the angle of your back the same, and resist the urge to shoot your hips up and pull with your low back.

Try this in your next set and let me know how it goes!