The Technique Tree

Thursday, May 15;


I had mentioned in an earlier entry something about the "technique tree." Sounds pretty lame, huh? Pat had mentioned this during a lecture at the Certification last weekend. It really struck a cord with me, and I think many other Crossfitters may have the same experience that I have had.

What is the "technique tree" you ask? Well take a look at the tree above. You see the good solid, sturdy trunk? Okay, consider that that is your technique. It's the base of everything that happens to you as a tree or as a weightlifter/crossfitter. How well you perform is based solely on how strong your trunk is. Like all trees.. the technique tree has plenty of branches. I forget what Pat called them, but I'm just going to describe them as your skills or your tricks (for example.. pullups, cleans, snatches, jerks, pushups.. yada yada). I think you may be able to see where I'm going with this. If you don't have a good solid technique foundation, that means you'll have weak "tricks".

For some people (myself totally included), we have decent technique, but it's not perfect. Another problem that compounds this issue is that we're pretty freaking strong. Put those two traits together, add a good solid competitive nature, and you've got the makings of a future injury on your hands.

I think this may have accounted for my shoulder issue. Imagine yourself in class. Coach puts a PVC pipe in front of you and says, "we're going to learn how to do a snatch." You go through the snatch learning progressions, and you feel sufficiently skilled at the skill. So you pick up a 45lb barbell. You snatch that one a few times and then you ramp it up even more. The next thing you know you're snatching 85lbs (I'm a woman, so I'm talking women's weights here) and everyone is checking out your skills and you think you're pretty hot shit (at least I would). Unfortunately, the few minutes you spent on the PVC pipe isn't quite enough to create perfect form. In my opinion, this could lead to some serious deficiencies down the line. You'll hit a point where you can't go any heavier or worse you'll hurt yourself.

My take away.. learn the tricks light, do 'em hundreds of times at a light weight, and then move up.

I should also mention that I am still very guilty of hanging out on the limbs. Today we worked on cleans and front squats, and I worked up to a 95lb clean. I certainly don't need to do that! I know I can clean, but my technique could be fixed. I don't need to do that at 95lbs!

Thursday, May 15;
AMRAP in 20 minutes
7 Front squats
7 ring dips (green band)
3 pullups
Total: 5 rounds, I stopped at 5. I don't need to kill myself.

5 rounds of 15 second hollow rock holds.

pullups felt totally fine.. the pain comes from dips. Actually the ring dips feel much better than the chair dips. I like using the band, and I get to work on my shoulder stability and strength. Big Fan!