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September 24, 2008
Performance, Standards, and Form
Lau at the correct bottom and top of a squat
Every so often it becomes necessary to step back and take a look around. Having done that in the last couple of weeks, I've noticed two extremely gratifying developments at CFO:
1. There are more and more people training at CFO every day.
2. The performance of CFOers is increasing at an impressive rate (across all levels of performance).
These two facts are important and the two of them are interdependent to a large degree (the larger the pool of athletes, the better the chance of seeing above-average performances--this is for several reasons, by the way, but that's the topic for another post).
But as performance increases (whether in a competitive sense or on an individual basis), the margin for improvement becomes smaller and smaller and improvement harder and harder to attain. This is known as the law of diminishing returns. And as such, if you're a competitive type, it gets harder and harder to beat Joe CFOer, even though you handily beat him a month ago. And if you're not the competitive type, you notice that it gets harder and harder to get a PR in the back squat, to shed that last pound, or do whatever it is you're trying to do in relation to your health and well-being.
So what does this have to do with the pictures of Lau above, or for that matter, standards? Well, quite simply, as it's gotten harder and harder to shave a second off of Fran or Michael, I've seen a diminution of movement standards. Understand first and foremost that this type of occurrence is my fault and not the fault of anyone who's cutting a squat short, or missing the touch of chest to bar on a pull-up. I haven't been as diligent of late in enforcing said standards and it's a disservice to all those who train (and especially those who fail to complete a movement through its full range of motion).
So it's come time to revisit movement standards, both here on the blog and on the training floor. Over the next few weeks, Nicole and I will be taking pictures of each of our trainers demonstrating our standard bevy of moves, illustrating a full range of motion, as well as a partial range of motion. We'll be discussing these photos in depth on the blog, and we'll be posting larger versions of these photos on the walls of CFO, so that everyone who walks in to train with us will have a clear picture of what a proper squat, pull-up, push-up, shoulder press, etc. looks like.
Why does this matter? It matters whether you care about competing or whether you don't.
If you care about competing, then you want to make sure that you're on a level playing field and that the competition is fair. If I were to challenge someone to a 400m run and then run 300m while my competitor runs 400m, then our performances aren't really comparable (to say nothing of the fact that I cheated). In the same vein, if I challenge someone to max number of push presses in one minute, and then proceed to do push jerks while my competitor does push presses, then once again, our performances are not comparable. It's apples and oranges. I wanna level the playing field.
If you don't care about competing, but you do care about making improvements in the movements we do, then you'll want to take note of our movement standards as well. If you have it as a goal to squat 250 lbs, you'll want to know what the correct bottom of a squat is so that you can get it. If you load 250 lbs on the bar and then go down into a half-squat and come back up, then you really haven't done a squat.
It's also easy to confuse standards with form, even though they are completely separate matters. One can have crappy form and still meet the standards for a given movement. Good form (not perfect) will often be the most efficient path toward meeting our standards, however (if you have to yank a deadlift off the floor 21 times using back and arms as your prime movers, you're gonna be a lot less efficient when it comes to finding the correct top position of a deadlift).
It's best to think of movement standards as being very similar to the strike zone in baseball. Assuming the batter doesn't swing and miss, the only way a pitcher can throw a strike is to get the ball within a specified area (over the plate, and somewhere roughly between the batter's knee and sternum). In the same way, there's a strike zone for every move we do in CF. For example, in order for a squat to be valid, we have to get down to a position just below parallel (where knee is just above the crease of the hip) and up to a position where leg, hip, and torso all form a straight line.
So over the next few weeks (it won't be every night on the blog--how boring is it to read about movement standards!), we'll be detailing a move or series of moves, discussing what constitutes a proper range of motion, talking about some tips on form that will lead you to some efficiencies in movement, and generally beating each of these moves to death.
In addition, look for the "Standards Police" or "Standards Refs" (we haven't yet decided on the proper attire) to be out in full force during this Saturday's FGB Fundraiser. Don't worry, it's just our attempt to inject a little humor into this otherwise dry topic.
The first move we'll be detailing (as previewed in the pictures of Lau above) is the squat. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, post to comments your top five list of moves you want to see explained, defined, and described.
***FGB Fundraiser***
Only two more days until our Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser Workout! If you haven't registered for Team CFO yet, get onto our page and do it now! And if you are registered, get out there and do your best to help us meet our $10,000 goal. Hit up friends, family, whoever and ask them to donate for this worthy cause! We've raised just a little over $8,000 thus far, and if we get 50 of you to jump on board, we only need each of you to raise $40 to get that additional $2,000. Totally doable!
Posted by Mike Minium at September 24, 2008 9:32 PM
Comments
This will be interesting...the standard police better bring riot gear.
Posted by: Tamara at September 25, 2008 12:00 AM
Mike,
Please don't ever post something that long ever again! However, I do think that the "Standard Police" are a great idea and I've got the attire covered.
http://www.costume-shop.com/images/products/cs1212.jpg
I really hope that Lau is a one of the Standard Police!!!
As for other moves that I want covered:
1) Dumbbell kickbacks
2) Tricep extensions
3) Preacher Curls
4) Calf raises
5) Situps. I'm actually serious about this one because there is a wide range of what people actually do. Like w/ a mat or w/o, can you swing your arms or not, can you anchor your feet or not, etc.
Posted by: daniel at September 25, 2008 7:38 AM
After watching the video of MJJ doing a "Mr. Bill" I now officially have a new Man Crush! Ever since I saw Casino Royale a few years back, I've been faithful to Daniel Craig. But between MJJ WOD's, the way he strolled into the CF Games and took the 1000m row title, and his extreme videos, I think the title of Man Crush is clearly appropriate. Also, after watching the video I'm ashamed of my videos of me diving off a house into 3 feet of water and doing a broad jump into a hot tub.
First item on the to-do list... get these shoes.
Posted by: Nabil at September 25, 2008 10:47 AM
Understand first and foremost that this type of occurrence is my fault and not the fault of anyone who's cutting a squat short, or missing the touch of chest to bar on a pull-up. I haven't been as diligent of late in enforcing said standards and it's a disservice to all those who train (and especially those who fail to complete a movement through its full range of motion).
I disagree. It's not Mike's fault that people are cutting movements short. Every athlete needs to learn the movements and be able to do them correctly. No hand holding should be required after the movement pattern is understood. It should not be the trainer's job to keep people honest. The trainer's job should be to correct real technique problems and misunderstandings, provide the necessary coaching cues if things get sloppy, and to dish out ridicule when you get tired. They should not be asked to simultaneously monitor 10 to 20 people for proper depth as they do air squats.
Nice squats, Lau.
If you haven't signed up for Fight Gone Bad, stop being fearful and join us for some suffering. Some incredibly generous anonymous cat is willing to pay $150 for you to workout. Do it.
Posted by: TomC at September 25, 2008 11:30 AM
People must be intimidated by the length of the original post. Nabil, I think you should get a pair of each color of those shoes.
Posted by: TomC at September 25, 2008 2:04 PM
Tom C. - I'm not scared of this lengthy post. I am scared, though, of overhead squats and so I worked on those this morning. I think that particular move is a great example of how poor form can really screw you. To all CFO coaches, please yell at us, embarrass us, whatever it takes, to encourage better form. I should atually speak for myself only. Yell at me and embarrass me. That's why I pay you the big bucks.
Posted by: sierra at September 25, 2008 2:52 PM
Tom,
I (as is usually the case) disagree with your post. While saying that it is "Mike's fault" sounds a little harsh, the reality of it, is that it is true. At work we have an expression about having people work safe that says "your maximum expectation cannot be any higher than your lowest standard". We have to keep this mindset at work because people will ALWAYS "cheat" with their safety equipment and risk falling to their death just to save a few seconds if you don’t continually remind them of the standards. At Crossfit people are continually trying to go faster and FASTER, and with this will inevitably be some break down of form. Without someone (Mike) continually telling us to keep the minimum standard this degradation of form will snowball until you have people doing pull-ups like they do at 24-Hour Fitness.
Posted by: daniel at September 25, 2008 3:08 PM
Tom,
I (as is usually the case) disagree with your post. While saying that it is "Mike's fault" sounds a little harsh, the reality of it, is that it is true. At work we have an expression about having people work safe that says "your maximum expectation cannot be any higher than your lowest standard". We have to keep this mindset at work because people will ALWAYS "cheat" with their safety equipment and risk falling to their death just to save a few seconds if you don’t continually remind them of the standards. At Crossfit people are continually trying to go faster and FASTER, and with this will inevitably be some break down of form. Without someone (Mike) continually telling us to keep the minimum standard this degradation of form will snowball until you have people doing pull-ups like they do at 24-Hour Fitness.
Posted by: daniel at September 25, 2008 3:16 PM
Daniel,
As I skimmed your post (like I usually do) and read your work mantra, I thought you were describing my dating life.
Posted by: jp at September 25, 2008 3:36 PM
JP-
Priceless!
Posted by: Nabil at September 25, 2008 3:59 PM
Sierra,
I don't think the coaches want to yell at you or embarrass you. For some it is just a simple reminder as you get tired. The problem is there are a number of people who know better and can do better. They wait to get "caught" rather than follow the standard. This can either be from laziness, wanting to win or trying to compete with someone currently out of your league. This can be laughed at or trivialized but crossfit is unlike any other gym, people care tend to care more about integrity. As Mike stated the form is not solely the issue, how it looks it not always as important as getting the full range of motion or the correct number of reps. Doing kipping or dead hang pullups does not matter as long as your are going chest to bar. The trainers should not have to do more than provide a few reminders for those with able bodies. We should leave this up to the trainers because some people cannot take constructive criticism from their peers, and it can be annoying with a bunch of people trying to explain something. People will do what they want. If your goal is to be the cheating king and queen of the gym then have at it. Just know that you will be washed out during the real competition.
Posted by: Tamara at September 25, 2008 4:03 PM
Daniel,
I (as is usually the case) think you and I are not really disagreeing. I wasn't making an argument that athletes should perform all exercises with perfect form. I was suggesting that people should learn what the bottom of a squat feels like and they should hit it every time whether or not someone is watching them. I think this should be the case even if they are going fast.
If you workout by yourself in a park, do you need someone to make sure your reps are legitimate? There are going to be lots of cases when such oversight is not there.
Posted by: TomC at September 25, 2008 4:40 PM
There is a pretty simple solution to performance standards. We have to police ourselves.
I don’t have a problem with people correcting me. Mike or anyone for that matter. In fact, I encourage it. If anyone ever sees me not squatting far enough, extending my hips fully, or just generally not keeping the intensity high, please correct me.
If we police ourselves, standards, form, and Mike's ridiculously long posts wont be necessary.
Posted by: Brad S at September 25, 2008 5:14 PM
From this day forward, Rep Offenders will be punished with tricep pull-downs on the therabands.
Posted by: Moses at September 25, 2008 6:11 PM
JP wins the post of the week!
Posted by: daniel at September 25, 2008 6:44 PM
Standards set the expectations and take out the subjective. Enforcing the standards give them meaning. These standards do more than maintain integrity, equal the field and produce superlative results - they keep us safe and healthy.
Thanks to Mike and Nicole for putting responsibility before popularity...
Posted by: Robyn at September 25, 2008 7:33 PM
Lau -
Impressive upright squat. You make it look very easy.
Posted by: brad gilliatt at September 25, 2008 8:03 PM
Hi everyone, I was wasting time surfing the internet in the middle of my photo shoot for Victoria’s Secret and came across this site. I have to ask who is that magnificent man in the picture? Just looking at him I imagine him as a fitness God, whose standards and form are impeccable. I admire him for his courage to throw caution to the wind, with his plaid shorts and orange shoes. And the depth and range of his squat lead me to believe he is a man with pent up vigor and frustrations.
I must have him!
Posted by: Heidi Klum at September 25, 2008 8:04 PM
Heidi...step off b**ch, he's mine!!
Posted by: Naomi Campbell at September 25, 2008 8:24 PM
I LOVE goofy white guys and since my boy Tom Brady has hurt his knee and can't squat properly I want nothing more than to burry myself in Vest of Fur de La Frat!
Posted by: Gisele Bundchen at September 25, 2008 8:56 PM
Both of you need to check yourselves. I was with him last night and he told me what you two mean to him. You will never have what we share.
Posted by: Ali Larter at September 25, 2008 9:12 PM
Hard to........breath. Too tight........can’t hold......on...much longer. For-the-love-of-God.......must stop...............squatting..........gasp...
Posted by: Lau’s Shorts at September 25, 2008 9:21 PM
Gisele, Ali, Naomi and Heidi, you biatches need to step off, a man who squats and throws it back like that aint catching what ya'll pitchin'.
Posted by: Clay Aiken at September 25, 2008 10:43 PM