Balance

Balance

Life is short. Live fast and die young, as the saying goes.

Or, if you want the most out of your numbered years, what about living a healthy, extended life with family and friends and dying fulfilled and grateful?

Live balanced and die happy. Now that's more like it.

What is a balanced life?
In the weekly grind of mundane haste, it's easy to get caught up in the flow of school or work and lose oneself in a rut of unhealthy behaviors. By unhealthy I don't solely mean the truly damaging habits of poor diet and lack of exercise; I'm not just focusing on eating, drinking, or sedentary slip-ups. I am referring to health in the whole sense, which includes social, mental, and emotional well-being.

Never spending quality time with family and friends can be socially damaging. Never having alone time can cause a negative mental dependence to develop. And never taking time to slow down and appreciate the positive pieces surrounding us can create a void in our emotions.

Introverts and extroverts alike, a balance is crucial. Our personalities may change but the primary parts of life remain the same.

Physical, mental, and social well-being are ever-present, and like an equilateral triangle, all are essential pieces to a happy and fulfilled existence. It is this balance that keeps us safe and thriving atop the gigantic skyscraper of life.

A balancing act

Why the glorification of busy?
So why do we neglect these inherent parts of being human? Are we afraid of something? Of not having money... or worth... or prestige? If life is a skyscraper, are we afraid of taking an epic fall to a meaningless concrete demise many stories below?

Working too much has been detailed and researched, particularly as of late, to prove that the stresses of life can cause mental and even physical duress. [Sources here, here, and here.]

Time spent traveling to and from work can sap energy, change body composition, and harm spinal posture; it is particularly stressful when being late for work is factored in. In addition, combine this with time crunches or the pressure to make quotas and stressors quickly build up to take their toll on the body.

A shortened lifespan? Not something worth singing about at all.

Walt Disney's 1937 film: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Lyrics: We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in our mine the whole day through To dig dig dig dig dig dig dig is what we really like to do It ain't no trick to get rich quick If you dig dig dig with a shovel or a pick In a mine!

How does balance affect fitness?
If we're looking for overall health and well-being, then we want a balance of work and the rest of life.

We also want a balance of work in the gym with the rest of our day. Meaning, we need nutrition, we need exercise, we need recovery, but we also need our friends and family. Our focus can't just be physical work. It's important to realize the full spectrum of life includes mental health and social well-being.

Word hard (work smart), rest (recover well), and repeat (build healthy habits).

And remember to include others in the journey.

The great part of CrossFit and any group fitness community is that oftentimes these other dimensions of life are acquired along with the physical benefits. Emotions are regulated. Stress relief is noted. Friendships can develop. A second family adopts us to nurture us through personal ups and downs.

So how do we maintain this balance of physical, mental, and social well-being?

Tips for Creating Balance in Life
1. Prioritize. Big rocks > pebbles > sand.

• Don't sweat the small stuff. If you only worry about the little things then all the important items in life will fall by the wayside.
• Apply your daily energy correctly. Drop activities that sap your time. Let go of unnecessary drama like a piece of scrapped metal from a rooftop construction worker.

2. Organize. Past → Present → Future.

• See the future. Use past knowledge to set schedules and make deadlines. Write things down to cement plans and lessen the stress of forgetfulness.
• Create downtime in your day. Leisure time matters! For instance, make space for fitness, and the rest of your life will benefit. For many, a daily workout is the ultimate stress-reducing activity.
• Declutter. Get rid of any mess. Purging can be freeing. A happier you transcends all efforts in work, hobbies, and family time.

3. Energize. Dream / Drive / Reflect.

• Dream big. Sure, stay grounded in reality, but keep ambition and desire alive. Use the huge crane known as goal setting to drag your aspirations skyward.
• Maintain a healthy drive. Tell others about your goals. Settle things into place with help from co-workers, friends, and family. They are your rock, your foundation.
• Reflect. Step back and see what you've built. Do you like it? If not, get the blueprints back out and get to work. If so, congratulations. Use that success to energize the next life project.

Balance your hobbies with your profession, balance your workouts with your social life, and balance your stress with decompressing activities to get the most out of life.

Keep your footing. Remember what is important to you and learn to walk that fine line between busy and dedicated.

Not only is this possible, but it is also essential to overall wellness in the balancing act of life.

- Scott, 7.6.2015

Toes to Bar

Toes to Bar

An elusive movement for CrossFit newbies, and a frustrating one for fitness veterans.

For many, they just plain stink.

It should be so simple, right? Step 1: jump up and grab the bar. Step 2: raise your feet up to said bar.

Similar to Olympic lifting, however, gymnastics movements are hard to come by... at least for the general public who didn't grow up on a regimented gym program. In the pursuit of adult fitness, our strength, range of motion, and body awareness can still be developed, but we're possibly working against years of not doing certain activities.

Naturally, the major battle is with higher skilled movements. The ones that make you want to hit up a real bar and drown your sorrows in a drink.

To kip, or not to kip? Like kipping pull-ups, toes to bar, knees to elbows, or any movement performed with momentum will receive its fair share of criticism. Before moving on, let's default to a kipping toes to bar movement as our go-to T2B. The strict form of the movement exists and can/should be performed as a muscle strengthener of the abdominal and hip muscles (namely rectus abdomens, iliopsoas, and the hip flexor portion of the quadriceps), with additional help from pulling muscles in the back and arms (latissimus dorsi, the biceps, and to some extent the rhomboids and teres major.)

Abdominal Muscles

Proponents of kipping cite the athleticism it requires (and develops), namely the coordination for hip recruitment in order to use body momentum correctly. The kip fosters a body awareness akin to other muti-joint movements we see in Olympic weightlifting or sport specific actions like throwing or jumping. In this realm, besides needing core strength, one requires agility as well.

Negative aspects of kipping are also reported. These include infringing on shoulder socket health with rotator cuff issues like bursitis or shoulder impingement. This is usually discussed in relation to kipping pull-ups.

Both strict and kipping styles of pull-ups have their merit, in a fitness sense, so both can and should be used in a general strength and conditioning program. The same is true for toes to bar.

While on the topic of injuries, always keep this math equation in mind: chalked hands + a pull-up bar = ripping. Check out more about calluses and hand health in a previous article on the topic here.

OWIE!

All in all, point be clear: the strict toes to bar movement is different than kipping.

What you put in, you get out. I have previously expressed that in a coached athlete the movement of the gymnastic kip can be taught on the pull-up bar simultaneously as the strict movement to help embed the concept through routine. While upper body strength is acquired, so is the idea of generating momentum.  Kipping practice can be done before or after a workout, although afterwards would generally mean a person works while fatigued.  Not unsafe, per se, but it needs to be noted that higher rep kipping, whether it is pull-ups or knees to elbows/toes to bar, receives the magnifying glass from the online fitness community, where negative feedback is aplenty. Overtrain while already muscle fatigued and the consensus agrees that's a recipe for potential disaster.

Thus, kipping without a basis of strength is not productive.

Great news, though, no matter what experience level: gymnastics development is like everything else in the gym. You put some attention towards the exercise and gains are made.

The bad news?  That strength development takes time.

So, grab a drink and a stool and belly up with your bartender. (That's me.) Here's a mixture of movements to get the right concoction for toes to bar development, from simple core strengthening exercises to high rep efficiency tips.

Picture courtesy of CrossFit 84

Movements For Toes to Bar Development:
Hollow Rock Holds: A great start for the absolute newbie. This is a static global flexion that tightens from the legs through to the shoulders.  Hollowing out is a set position in much of gymnastics and related exercise– in CrossFit, this is namely push-ups, handstands, ring dips, pull-ups, and muscle-ups.

• Do keep the core tight, the lower back flat on the ground, the shoulders active by the ears, and the quads and glutes on and activated.
• Don't think these are for wussies. Hollow Rock Holds can be brutal, even for the experienced.

Hollow Rocks

V-ups: Used correctly, this can foster some of the greatest strength development for those without free-hanging knee tucks, but it limits learning of the kipping movement. Scaling: more pros than cons, for sure.

• Do know when to scale. Knees can bend until a straight leg movement develops.
• Don't forget your hollow position. This is meant to be a skill transfer; don't lose sight of the correct positioning needed.

V-ups

Kipping Swing Practice: A kip can be small or big in terms of the swing, and therefore can be used to eke out just a few additional reps on a set of toes to bar until failure. The swing itself can develop more than just a solid toes to bar technique. Plus, you don't have to attempt to fold the body or raise the knees in any way to benefit from your swing practice.

• Do work shoulder mobility to allow the chest to come forward and through the window of the arms to gain swing momentum. Generate power from a tight hollow position into a globally extended position, and back again.
• Don't worry if you get the rhythm down for a while and then "lose" it for a day or more.  Kipping comes and goes sometimes. Stay at it.

pull up kip hollow

Knees to Elbows: A challenging move in itself, some even describe these as more difficult than making bar contact with the feet. Since it generates more crunching of the body to raise the knees to the elbows, these develop hip and abdominal strength and flexibility as well as one's pull strength with the lats in the upper back to down under the armpits. Kipping Knee Tucks are also a great scaled option as K2E develop.

• Do continue to work shoulder mobility and your gymnastics kip. To increase efficiency, make sure you are regenerating momentum through the window of your arms.Heels pull back immediately for your next kip.
• Don't count knees to elbows if in the middle of the workout you're only touching triceps. Keep yourself honest, if this is your skill level. How is your overall strength with V-ups and pull-ups?

CrossFit Efficiency Tips

Kipping Toes to Bar: Our default "Rx" movement and one generally used in CrossFit competitions because of the ease in judging.

• Do grip your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, kip to take your body from a hollow position to an arc, transition from backswing to upswing, drive your knees toward your elbows, and finally flick your feet toward the bar as they rise.
• Don't lose your momentum. Use your swing to pull back into an arc; squeeze your glutes to load your body up for the next rep. This will be essential to stringing higher reps together in unbroken sets.

Strict Toes to Bar: These show great body control, and can be worked in post-workout as accessory strength work, assuming you didn't just fatigue a similar movement.

• Do hang in a hollow body position to start, then pull thighs towards your chest, keeping legs straight. Keep squeezing up until the toes touch the bar, then slowly descend.
• Don't be embarrassed to hit small sets of 1 or 2, again as supplemental work in warm-ups or after a conditioning workout.

Strict T2B

There you have it. A beginner's look at toes to bar and related lead-up exercises.

Refill your drink and get to watching more videos if needed; there are plenty out yonder on that there internet machine. Decide on your goals and where you fit in the skill spectrum. Then wipe your mouth, strap up your boots, and get after it.

Don't forget to tip your bartender. I'll be here cheering you on, pardner.

- Scott, 6.29.2015

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Pull-ups

Pull-up Motivation

Pull-ups

A major fitness milestone for some, just another bodyweight movement for others.

Either way, a hotly debated topic in internetland for sure. Particularly in recent years, pull-ups have come to the forefront of CrossFit hate because of the gymnastics kip we often utilize. "Cheating," it's called.

Not in the know yet? Google kip or kipping, or worse, CrossFit and pull-ups, and familiarize yourself if you like. YouTube comments are a proverbial blackhole, so watch out.

What you find under the message board bridge is a pull-up troll fight of epic proportions... but also some quality insight. Depends where you land.

Proponents of kipping cite the athleticism it requires (and develops), namely coordination for hip recruitment in order to use body momentum correctly. The kip fosters a body awareness akin to other muti-joint movements we see in Olympic weightlifting or sport specific actions like throwing or jumping.

Negative aspects of kipping are reported as well.  These include infringing on shoulder socket health with rotator cuff issues like bursitis or shoulder impingement. Also listed (and debated) is the potential for the eccentric, or "negative" action of the muscle groups to cause extreme muscle breakdown in a condition known as rhabdomyolysis. CrossFit, Inc. chronicled this issue as far back as 2005 from a CrossFit Journal article by Greg Glassman himself. Do even more research and you'll find that rhabdo can come from a plethora of other exercises and fitness programs, and is not at all unique to the CrossFit community or any specific movement we utilize.

While on the topic of injuries, keep this math equation in mind: chalked hands + a pull-up bar = ripping.

I don't have data or percentages on how many beginning CrossFitters tear their hands while learning to kip, but my bet is it's somewhere in the 100th percentile. Check out more in a previous article on the topic here.

OWIE!

All in all, point be clear: the strict pull-up is a different movement than the kipping pull-up.

Pull-up Muscle Groups

Both styles of the exercise have their merit, in a fitness sense, so both can and should be used in a general strength and conditioning program.  As a blanket statement, strict pull-ups are a safer movement for a beginner.  A strict pull-up helps develop muscle strength in the latissimus dorsi, the biceps, and to some extent the rhomboids and teres major.

In a coached athlete, however, it is argued that the movement of the gymnastic kip can be taught on the pull-up bar simultaneously as the strict movement to help embed the concept through routine. While upper body strength is acquired, so is the idea of generating momentum.  Kipping practice can be done before or after a workout, although afterwards would generally mean a person works while fatigued.  Not unsafe, per se, but it needs to be noted that higher rep kipping pull-ups get the magnifying glass from the online fitness community, where negative feedback is aplenty. Overtrain while already muscle fatigued and the consensus agrees that's a recipe for potential disaster.

Does that mean shy away from kipping pull-ups?  No.  Well, maybe.

I do agree and maintain the personal opinion that it's possible to work kipping pull-ups at the same time as strict strength. Yet when we see newbies flailing on the pull-up bar, incorrectly swinging in order to barely clear their chin, as coaches we step in. We have to. It's tough to check your ego sometimes, but that's why a coach is so necessary-- we can do that for you.

Kipping without a basis of strength is not productive.

The same goes for you butterfly wannabes as well.

Pull-up Pro Bro

If a CrossFit athlete has a kipping pull-up, it seems like the butterfly technique witnessed in competitive CrossFit events becomes an immediate goal.  Yet keep in mind it's the shoulder socket that takes the brunt of the force being applied by the elliptical movement of the body in a butterfly pull-up, making it the most dangerous even though it can be the most efficient style of getting the chin over the bar. Strike that: potentially the most dangerous. In a strong and healthy shoulder, the butterfly technique seems to initiate a "normal" amount of extra stress on the shoulders, similar to Snatch work or throwing a baseball.

Facing the barrel of a loaded clock during a high repetition competitive event, and that decision needs to be yours as an athlete: am I skilled and strong enough to handle this? Am I moving efficiently and pain free?

To elaborate, pull-ups are elusive for beginners; it's a movement that takes practice, like anything. And since much of the general public hasn't performed bodyweight pull-ups since their grade school days, many newcomers have trouble at the start. Likewise, jumping into a butterfly pull-up too early doesn't make sense if your range of motion is short-changed or you are arching and breaking at the spinal midline in order to make the rep. Form and function first; strength follows.

Even if someone walks in off the street with basic pull-up experience, with a sound work capacity, and with above average athleticism, it still may not be smart to attempt butterflies right off the bat. Some recommendations exist as prerequisites, but it's always a bit of a grey area... like being able to perform 10 consecutive strict pull-ups or 20-25 gymnastics kipping pull-ups.

Whatever the benchmark, the butterfly pull-up is definitely not in the CrossFit starter kit.

Baby Pull-up

Great news, though, no matter what experience level: pull-up development is like everything else in the gym. You put some attention towards the exercise and gains are made. What you put in, you get out.

The bad news?  That strength development takes time.

To obtain a kipping pull-up or to sequence multiple strict pull-ups or to be ready for a butterfly pull-up we need time. Sometimes even six months or more to garnish necessary pull strength.  However, depending on a person's inherent genetic strength and days spent in the gym refining the movement, it's definitely a realistic three month goal. Even from scratch. Which makes pull-ups a perfect focus for the start of summer.

In fact, so many of our Amplify members list this as a huge personal goal... to be better at pull-ups.  Or in some cases, to get their first pull-up ever.

And for reference, a "pull-up" refers to an overhand grip (palms facing away, in supination), whereas a "chin-up" uses an underhand grip (palms facing inward, in pronation). Chin-ups have a place in functional training as well; they utilize more bicep action and are generally an easier exercise of the two to clear one's chin over the bar. Kipping is more difficult with the arms blocking the swing by basic shoulder anatomy, but strict chin-ups are a definite tool to use just like strict pull-ups.

chin-pull-up-grip

So, whether you're looking to develop your strict, your kip, an efficient butterfly, or simply your first pull-up ever, let's check out some ideas behind the movements and quick guidelines on the road upwards.

Ring Rows: A great start for the absolute newbie.  The more horizontal the body, the harder the ring row, but also be careful to try and emulate a more upright pull-up motion to work the lat muscles correctly.

• Do keep the core tight and complete the full range of motion for best results.
• Don't think these are for wussies. Ring rows can be brutal, even for the experienced.

Assistance Bands: Used correctly, this can foster some of the greatest strength development for those without a free-hanging pull-up, but does limit the kipping movement a bit during the learning process. Scaling: more pros than cons, for sure.

• Do know when it's time to use the band (figure out your limit on total rep count) and when it's time to drop down in band size.
• Don't let this become a crutch or take the place of your pull-up attempts without the band.

Assisted Pull-ups

Hollow Body Position: Underrated, at least on the pull-up bar, and usable not just as an exercise in itself. A good counter balance (instead of feet pulled behind, breaking the midline), the hollow position builds core stability while keeping posture on the bar. This transfers to many other aspects in gymnastics and CrossFit.

• Do practice hollow rocks on flat ground and apply it to your starting position at the bottom of the pull-up. Particularly, strict pull-ups... although a tight midline aids the stretch reflex during the loading phase of a kip as well.
• Don't get frustrated. Hollow positioning is not easy.  (Unless you grew up a gymnast... lucky.)

Strict Pull-ups: These should never leave your repertoire.  Once obtained, hit strict pull-ups at least once a week to maintain the upper body strength that can spread to other movements in the gym. Make this the basis of pull strength, even as a CrossFit athlete whose default is to kip. Chin over bar counts, chest to bar is the gold standard.

• Do maintain good positioning and research strategies or set/rep schemes to foster pull-up growth. Early on, three times a week at 3 or 4 sets of 3-8 reps, even "negatives," is a great start. Be wary of too many slow negatives (downward action of the pull-up.)
• Don't be embarrassed to hit small sets of 1 or 2 when working on these as supplemental work in warm-ups or after a conditioning workout.

Strict Pull-up, courtesy of CrossFit Thames

Gymnastics Kip: A kip can be small or big in terms of the swing, and therefore can be used to eke out just a few additional reps on a set of strict pulls 'til failure or as a first pull-up attempt with a humongous "load-up." Hips are essential.  Check videos here, here, and here. Working on stringing more consecutive kips?  Remember to push away at the top, especially as you fatigue, and use a bigger "chest through" swing in the later rep numbers as you near your max.

• Do work shoulder mobility to allow the chest to come forward and through the window of the arms to gain swing momentum.  Also, generate power from the hips to get them up and turned over.
• Don't worry if you get a pull-up, or multiples, and then "lose" them for a day or more.  They come and go sometimes. Stay at it.

pull up kip hollow

Butterfly Kip: A challenging move since it generates more power from the body and thus more of a metabolic need, the butterfly pull-up is faster in its turn over but taxes the cardio system for sure. Butterflies make clearing the chin easier in short numbers and are almost always used for high rep workouts and/or CrossFit competitions. This is not really a pull-up, in the traditional sense of the term.  The butterfly is its own entity now, and more of a test of skill and work capacity than anything else.

• Do continue to work shoulder mobility, gymnastics kip, and strict pull-ups. Also, to increase efficiency, make sure you are coming through the bar as you pass under it while prepping for your next rep. Heels pull back immediately for your next kick and kip. Ride the imaginary bicycle backwards while midair, if that analogy helps.
• Don't count a butterfly as a pull-up if you're no where near clearing your chin. Even if you are close, how is your overall strength with strict pull-ups?

butterfly snapshot 1

Realize the hate that exists of this move, even if you can hit 100 in a row.  (This video of Chris Spealler shows an incredible feat but one that has the internet at each others' throats over the butterfly pull-up.)

I toyed with using kipping pull-ups as a strength and fitness developer for a year on video.  With a max test each month, I put together a kipping pull-up compilation of my progress.  Mostly butterflies. The outcome was somewhere around 10-11 added reps in a year's time, which wasn't too significant unless we consider the starting number. All the while my strict pull-up max remained the same at 16-18, for reference.

You decide: cheating or not?

And so you're off-- decide on your goals and where you fit in the pull-up spectrum, then keep at it.

The only thing left is to celebrate your success, kiddos.  Do a good job and you get a treat.

- Scott, 6.23.2014

I'm a big kid now!