Training/rest day

If you feel like getting a WOD in, come by today and do this one:

"McGhee"

30 minutes AMRAP of
5 deadlifts @ 275# (or 70% of your 1RM)
13 push-ups
9 box jumps

Post rounds completed to comments.

A friend asked me about CrossFit once.  He said it sounded to him like low weight/high reps, in other words, like any common pre-contest bodybuilding program.  I explained a little about the "Constantly varied functional movements executed at a high intensity" and how it wasn't just doing biceps curls as quickly as possible.  Metcons and strength work are a necessity in any kind of true fitness program, and CrossFit cannot neglect either, or the net effect is minimized and no one gets stronger or fitter.  There's also base of strength you have to build in order to do the WODs as prescribed.  "Light weight/high reps" is an inherently flawed way to look at it, when you consider that a workout like Fran  makes you move 95# up to six feet 45 times in rapid succession, and your entire body's weight must be moved through space using mainly your arms for the same number of reps.

When my friend finally tried a WOD, we had to scale it back for him so he could finish it.  It was not a shameful thing, it just caught him off-guard.  He expressed his surprise at the level of difficulty he encountered and at how weak he was.  I suggested a squat, overhead press, and pull-up progression for him to get stronger, and told him to stay away from heavy WODs or ones lasting more than thirty minutes until then.  He progressed rapidly after two months of strength training and moderate conditioning, and now does prescribed WODs without undue difficulty.

My friend had to have the courage to get stomped by a prescribed WOD in order to see where his weak points were.  He was ignorant not just about CrossFit but about his own level of fitness to complete a certain amount of work.  Sometimes that still happens to me, and if it happens to you, it's important not to be ashamed.   Have the courage to get stomped, to push hard and fall short, and finish the workout anyway.  You get knocked down, so stand back up.  Every time.  These times expose your weaknesses, but once exposed, you can patch them up, and you have the maturity and resolve to do so.  It takes moxy to get worked over and keep coming back stronger, and that's what fitness is all about: stress, fatigue, supercompensation.  Without a struggle, nobody would get stronger.