Saturday 2.4

The Whiteboard Mentality...Part 1.

     I recently read an article about pieces of the "The Whiteboard Mentality". 5 Whiteboard Misconceptions That Are Ruining Your CrossFit Experience.  It made me want write about multiple topics. Some topics are covered in the article, most are not. I agree with most/some of the article, and it is an easy quick read (that means you should read it).

     Its my opinion that the heart and soul of what have made the Crossfit model so successful are the clock and the whiteboard. 

     To me, the whiteboard is a metaphor to most things Crossfit. In the early days Glassman would hold court on this topic. About how the clock and competition were what made CF so unique and successful. My plan is to expound on the Whiteboard Mentality through a series of posts.   

     In this first installment,  I want to write about movements vs standards and training vs competition.  I will start with a movement that everyone is familiar with, the chest to bar pull up. I remember when I first saw/heard about C2B pull ups. Hells Half Acre 2009 Regional Qualifier in Fort Worth. WOD 2 was 50 C2B Pull Up/50 Burpee (GK and Boag both finished 3rd on the WOD). 

     Why do I even bring this up? Nothing new about C2B pull ups now, right?   

     The point I want you to get is this, this movement was invented as a standard. It was invented so that the judges would have no question when trying to decide if a pull up was good or not. Did the chest hit? Yes... then good rep.

     I also remember when the first whisperings about the butterfly pull up began. Brett Marshall one of the CF originals is credited with inventing this movement. Somewhere deep within the world wide interwebs is a video of him doing the fastest Fran time ever recorded (the fastest at that time).  At Hell's Half Acre, only about  3-5 men in the field were able to utilize a butterfly pull up for the WOD. Less than half of the competitors were even familiar with this movement. Crossfit way back then sounds so primitive., right?

     Breck Berry finished 2nd at the Regional Qualifier. He won two of the WODs but got 4th or 5th on the pull up WOD. For years (months) afterward, I tried to convince Breck Berry to learn the butterfly pull up. "It's not a functional movement" he would tell me... and he was right. Try climbing on top of a wall with this kip. Or climbing up onto a branch to escape from a Black Bear. Not possible, because its not a functional movement. I would come back with something like "I understand it's not functional, but its allowed at the CF Games and in competition". He finally learned it. 3 years later her ruptured his bicep tendon at the CF Games. 

     I am not trying to say that I think the butterfly pull up was the cause of his tendinitis that lead to the the rupture... but it certainly contributed. The butterfly kip, and the gymnastic kip for that matter, put an undue and continuous eccentric load on many of your tendons... but particularly the bicep. Eccentric loads lead to soreness. Repetitive and continuous eccentric loads lead to tendinitis. Unable to straighten your arms after Murph? Yup? Then you know what I mean. 

     So now you ask... "What in the Hell's Half Acre does this have to do with the Whiteboard?"

     These things (C2B and the Butterfly) are an expression of the Whiteboard Mentality. So I will ask you, "Why did you try to learn the butterfly?" and you answer "To do Fran faster." Then I ask "When did you start doing C2B pull ups?" and most of you will answer "While preparing for or doing my first Regional or Open WOD." The two movements were born out of necessity. They were invented because of the need for what Glassman would call "...an accurate measurement of... the prescription" One was invented so athletes could go faster. The other was invented in order to accurately measure that athlete.

     In late 2010 I was in a CF class... somewhere. A girl in the class asked a question and then answered her own question. It went like this. Push ups were in the WOD. She asks "Are they Games standard push ups?". (She means hand release push ups, HRPU) Then she answers herself "I mean, I know they are better for you so I bet they are Games standard push ups." I overheard her say all of that and my brain wanted me to say something or anything about it. I didn't.

     This girl didn't understand the history. She didn't understand the standard. She didn't understand the need or reason for that standard. Hand release push ups had been introduced as a Games standard. For some unknown reason (I assume ignorance) she assumed that just because the Games athletes had done HRPU in the Games that year they were "better for you"

     Nope

     HRPU was a way to prove to your judge that the chest had touched the ground. That's it. They aren't better for you, they aren't faster, they don't make you stronger, they don't create a more effective push up...They are just easier to judge. Like Burpees to a plate, or over a bar, or to a 6 inch target, or over a box.

     An already fit athlete does Fran in time 3x. He uses strict pull ups. He learns the gymnastics kip a week later and does it in time 3x-x or 2x. He is a super athlete and learns the butterfly kip a week after that and he Frans in 3x-2x or x. In just 2 short weeks he has reduced his Fran time to 2/3 of what it was initially. It has been 2 weeks, is he really that much better at fitness? I say no. Has he gotten stronger or had a dramatic increase in his GPP. I say no again. But his Fran time is faster. He is a god among Fran boys. Nope.  He is adapting though... to the whiteboard.

    When you train, remember these things. HRPU, C2B, Butterfly Kip they aren't terrible additions to this sport. Just remember that they are additions to the SPORT. They exist because the Whiteboard exists. They exist because athletes want to go fast and they want to accurately document it. They exist because at the end of the day you present yourself to be judged by the whiteboard. They exist because we all have a "Whiteboard Mentality"

     To Be Continued.

HOA 2012 "We are gonna be like the Black Horses..."

2.4 Saturday

GOAT WORK 

     (As Warm Up, No more than 15 Minutes)

OLY STRENGTH 

     (No more than 45 Minutes)

     1. Snatch

               2 @ 60%, 2 @ 70%, 2 @ 80%, heavy single 

     2. Clean & Jerk

               2+1 @ 60%, 2+1 @ 70%, 2+1 @ 80%, heavy single

SQUAT STRENGTH 

     (No more than 45 Minutes)

     1. Back Squat

               10 @ 60%, 8 @ 70%, 8 @ 75%, 8 @ 80%

     2. Front Squat

               5 @ 60%, 5 @ 65%, 2x5 @ 70%

     3. Romanian DL 

               3x5 Heavier than last week

Competitor WOD

Time 0:00     10 Min Time Cap
                         3 Rounds (Partner WOD, you go I go)
                            16 one arm alternating KB SN
                            50 m Run
Time 10:00     10 Min Time Cap
                         15 Rounds
                            1  Power SN
                            1  Power Clean and Jerk
Time 20:00     14 Min Time Cap
                            300 m Row
                            1 MU
                            250 m Row
                            2 MU
                            200 m Row
                            3 MU
                            150 m Row
                            4 MU
                            100 m Row
                            5 MU
Time 34:00     EotherMOM for 8 mins
                            Even: 200 m Run
                            Odd: 5-10 unbroken pull up
Time 42:00     Rest 4 Min
Time 46:00     10 Min Time Cap
                         3 Rounds (Partner WOD, you go I go)
                            16 alternating pistols
                            50 m Run