10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
front squat (205/135)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
ring dip

The workout progresses 10 front squats/1 ring dip, 9 front squats/2 ring dips, 8/3…

HEY! – Read This Post

As fall comes back into the mix, many of you are making a transition from vacation season back to more time in the shop.  First off, we LOVE it.  Welcome back.

We want to take a moment to remind and educate everyone of a few considerations to take when returning after any type of hiatus from working out – whether it be from a two week vacation, the flu, or an injury.

Please take a moment to read through the following.

After any period of time off from a sport or fitness training regiment, it’s important to remember to ease back into your workout routine.  Among various concerns, injury, unpleasant levels of soreness, and rhabdomyolysis are of note.  We highlight each below.

Unpleasant Levels of Soreness:

Your transition back to a consistent attendance at CrossFit doesn’t have to be so unpleasant that you cancel out of classes because you’re sore!  Oftentimes we hear from athletes, “I was going to come yesterday but I saw the workout and was so sore from Monday and getting back into it that I decided to cancel.”  This plan doesn’t get you over the hump of making your return.  Continue to come to class, let us know you’re sore, and we’ll modify the workout so you can work our and through soreness AND keep progressing back to where you were.

Injury:

Remember back when you started CrossFit?  You started with a Foundations Course and that course slowly ramped up the intensity of the workouts so your body could acclimate to the new style of working out.  One reason for doing this is to avoid injury.  Can you imagine if we started your first class with Murph?!

Your body needs the same allowance to ease back into the program after a period of time off.  Sure, to a lesser degree, but it still needs a healthy transition back to your norm.  This is true of CrossFit as well as any other athletic endeavor, be it running or biking.

Rhabdomyolysis:

Rhabdomyolysis is a third consideration.  Although rare, “rhabdo” as it is often called, is to be respected but not feared. Be in the know!

Rhabdomyolysis is a medical condition where an individual experiences rapid muscle cell breakdown where the contents of the cells spill into the body overwhelming the kidneys with potassium and myoglobin and causing a variety of symptoms in addition to possible kidney shutdown. 

Rhabdomyolysis affects various populations, such as:
– crush victims from earthquakes and other traumas
– athletes from marathon runners to CrossFitters to hikers (this is known as exercise induced rhabdomyolysis) 
– alcoholics or those who drank heavily the night before an athletic effort
– drug users, both prescription and nonprescription (such as cocaine)
– individuals recovering from the flu or other viral infection

In the athletic world, athletes most susceptible to rhabdomyolysis are those with a solid athletic capacity or athletic background that have become de-conditioned (or spent some time away) and then return to working out at a high level of intensity too quickly.  Factors such as dehydration and heat can also exacerbate the situation.  Rhabdomyolysis is often the result of a combination of factors.

Symptoms Include:
– Extreme soreness (not delayed onset muscle soreness)
– Swelling in or trouble moving arms or legs
– General feelings of illness
– Nausea or vomiting
– Confusion, dehydration, fever, or lack of consciousness
– Dark-colored urine; reduced or no urine output 

At Roots, we take many precautions to keep individuals safe, injury free, and far away from rhabdomyolysis.  Scaling workouts for each athlete, putting caps on weights and reps, attention to form, and constant drilling help to do this.

You can help this process even more by talking with your coach!  Check your ego at the door and let us know when you’ve been gone for two weeks or out with the flu.  Sure, we know you’d really LOVE to get after the Filthy Fifty Backwards with a fire in your belly but scaling back will still allow you to get a good work AND acclimate back to CrossFit keeping you injury free and less sore so you can come back the next day! 

We will always scale and modify the workouts to keep you progressing, healthy, and safe!  What do you need to do?  Just let us know how you’re feeling or if you’ve been out for a week or more.