I Can Take Care of Myself. . .

I know you can - and I want to help you take even better care of yourself.  This isn't about nutrition, sleep, or hygiene.  This is about the stuff that will help you take care of yourself at the gym and possibly at life, no wait, definitely at life.


I am inflexible, immobile, and it hurts to perform some movements.  Yeah, I come to CrossFit 3 days on, 1 day off.  Yes! I do my best to stretch the way some people do . . but

Damn you Gumby . . .

Ever feel like stretching just doesn't seem to get you up to steam?  Like the spots are still tight and nothing is loosening up?  Have you looked to the right of this particular blog and noticed:

http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com.html

Possibly one of the coolest blogs I have come across regarding CrossFit.  I am not a Yoga Instructor, the stretches I have learned are through CrossFit and my particular Coaches, as well as the independent research that I perform on my own.  It is not enough to know the stretches, but what they are going to affect on your body and how they should effect you.

Some people may not have time to stretch after a class, so they go home and hopefully stretch.  Stretching is cumbersome and time consuming - it's also ridiculously helpful in increasing the weight of your movements and preventing injury.  You think that this particular post is merely about stretching, mobility, and flexibility? 

Think again. . .

At the end of every evening, be it class or at the end of every one of my workouts, before I leave that building I wash my hands fiercely.  I scrub the crap out of them.  I do it for two reasons.  I handle a bunch of different weights, bars, and PVC pipes.  More importantly I damage the precious mitts with which I teach the skills of CrossFit.  If I damage my hands, I won't be able to appropriately grip a bar, let alone show the difference between the Hook Grip and the Mixed Grip.

Last night was a testament to this.  A lot of athlete's ripped there hands raw, callouses getting torn off from worn down hands.  If you haven't been doing this, try purchasing a Ped Egg:

Or just file/sand down your hands or where the callouses are starting.  The earlier you take care of them.  The better it will be for you.  This is not the sight you want in your eyes after a workout:

Phew - that looks more than painful. . .

I didn't get a chance to tell everyone, you can purchase Nu-Skin if you want - but it hurts something awful and I find that it doesn't stay sealed unless you use superglue around the edges.  If I do happen to open up my hands, I prefer Blister-Aids:

These little bad-ass items are cheap and they act exactly like scabs, in 2-4 days time you are good as new and you can work out with them on during the healing process.  But that requires some good taping technique which I will cover in another post sometime.  If the rip is properly cleaned out and the area around it is clean, these stick very, very well.

Whether it's stretching, flexibility issues, mobility issues, taking care of your wounds, or figuring out how to tape your hands, come talk to one of us - the Coaches, we will do our best to help you take care of yourself.


"If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities."
          -Ann Richards

-Coach Tony