Clean & jerk 1-1-1-1-1, then:
30-20-10 reps of:
Sit-ups
KBell Swings (53/36)
KTE
Power clean (40% of max C&J)
Hot Weather Training – Or how to survive a CrossFit workout in 90 degree temperatures without turning into a chalk monster
In case you haven’t noticed, it gets pretty hot in the box when the temperature is above 80 degrees. By now you’ve probably accepted the fact that we won’t be turning on the AC in the building because 1) Almost no CrossFit boxes use AC, even in places like DC, Georgia, etc; 2) Working out in air conditioned buildings is what’s done in places like Lifetime Fitness & LA Fitness, and we want to be as different as possible from those places; and 3) CrossFit training is training for real life, and being comfortable putting out max effort in hot & cold environments offers mental and physical benefits that prepare us for real life situations. Here’s a short guide to thriving during your workouts over the next 2 months:
- Bring a water bottle – We have an unlimited supply of chilled filtered water, and drinking plenty of water is a good idea in the heat (if you ever stop sweating, feel dizzy or nauseous, or suddenly feel extremely lethargic you should stop what you’re doing and cool off). Many people don’t bring a water bottle, however, and end up running the 50 meters from their training location to the water cooler to sip out of the dixie cups above them. This is inefficient – bring a water bottle and have it close to you so you can sip throughout the warm-up/strength portion, and use it as needed during the metcon.
- Bring a towel – A towel is used in most gyms to wipe the sweat from your brow so it doesn’t get into your eyes. You can use the towel for this purpose if you want, but the more useful utility of a towel in a CrossFit box is to dry your wrists and hands if you are a profuse sweater (which is almost everyone when it’s over 80). Drying your hands with a towel is the most effective way to maintain your grip on pullups & high rep barbell/kettlebell/dumbell exercises, which leads me to our next recommendation.
- Take it easy on the chalk – When used properly, chalk helps keep the hands dry and increase friction to improve the grip strength when conducting pulling exercises. When used improperly, chalk can become a greasy paste that does nothing good for anyone. If you’re sweating profusely, applying chalk to your hands won’t help you for more than 2 seconds, and excess chalk on the hands is the primary contributor to ripped callouses. Here’s the way to use chalk when you’re sweaty – dry your hands on your towel, apply a LITTLE chalk INSIDE THE BUCKET and pat the loose chalk away INSIDE THE BUCKET, then go to work.
- Plan ahead on your clothing – Some shirts become cumbersome when they are saturated with sweat; they get heavy and restrict overhead movement. Avoid wearing these shirts, and if you need to don’t be afraid to take them off. We’re not really into unleashing the guns the second you walk into the door, but if your shirt is slowing you down, heating you up, or otherwise getting in the way mid-workout, take it off.
- Wear gloves – That’s right, wear gloves. We (your coaches) will always say that wearing gloves increases the effective circumference of the bar giving you less pulling power, so you shouldn’t wear gloves during 1-5 rep max lifts, but they’re ok during metcons if you want to avoid mangled “man hands”. Just like all other training tools (belts, straps, tape), don’t use them all the time and let them be a crutch, just use them when you absolutely need them.
- Clean up after yourself – We keep the place pretty clean, but I promise you we don’t have the place cleaned between classes (I know because I’m head janitor). Do your fellow members a favor and wipe down all the gear that you touch with disinfectant wipes after each use.
- Take it outside – There are precious few months of warm weather in Minnesota, take advantage of the nice weather and do as much of your warm-up/workout as possible outside on the “patio”. If you think a portion of the WOD should be done outside, recommend it to your coach, who will happily oblige as long as there aren’t any safety issues or equipment damage issues with going outside. Speaking of outside, we have bootcamps going on every MWF @ 6:30am right around the corner from the box that are 100% outside. Change things up a little and try a boocamp WOD, just send steph@crossfitstpaul.com an email letting her know you’re coming.
