RIFLES NEED OIL…
Kicking Monday off with a guest post from physio/coach Fred! (Editors note; I have no idea who he's talking about in his initial examples.... 😉
EVEN THE MOST BADASS ASSAULT RIFLES NEED OIL!
This one is for all the weapons out there. Thats right I'm talking to you. The guy who just came back from Carson. The girl who just came 3rd at NZ Oly lifting Nationals at her first attempt. The mums who are just back into it after having kids recently. The runners who are building strength and improving mobility to aid their running. The CrossFit couple with the beard and the funny accent. The injured warriors who turn up week in week out despite having a limited repetoire of exercises they are able to do. The str........well you get my drift. We are all weapons who do amazing things every day. Something that we can take for granted because we are doing it day in day out.
We all know the reason we can do this is because we train regularly, eat well, sleep well, lift heavy stuff and get out of breath a lot. Simple formula right? But I think there is one thing missing (there has to be really, otherwise the article would end here....). To my mind we don't look after ourselves enough. I'm talking about regular maintenance through mobility and soft tissue work.
The majority of people I see come to me with injuries. We get to a stage where training can starts then bid our farewells until I see you again when you get injured-and we have the same chat about how you find it difficult to get better because you are getting injured all the time.
Moving joints through full range of motion at high intensity with big weights puts the body under stress. Part of looking after it is recovery through mobility and maintenance work. REGULAR maintenance work-not just when injured. This has to be part of our weekly menu of health and requires a real change in mindset.
Now imagine Utopia. You don't have an injury but want to keep it that way. We find out where mobility/stability work ons are. You work on them. You get regular soft tissue work-not because you're injured but because you're an assault grade piece of weaponry and need to be oiled. Suddenly movement gets easier, you are getting stronger and hitting those big Oly lifts.
We have made a decision to be part of this community that is CrossFit because we want to look after ourselves-be it because we want to make it to Carson, we want to last 80 minutes on the rugby field or just want to be able to run around after our kids or grandchildren. We support our training with fuels, rest and community. Time to make maintenance part of that support system, not just something that lets us get back on the gym floor!