When Things Break Down: Focus on What You Can Do
A couple weeks ago I strained my calf. Not badly, just a minor strain. And that’s the problem. Because it doesn’t hurt all the time, I keep forgetting about it and re-injure it again by jogging across the pedestrian crosswalk so as not to hold up traffic or giving enthusiastic fist bumps at the start of class in random order to throw off the six a.m. regulars. After the fourth time re-aggravating it, I came to the conclusion that the calf may need more rest time than I have given it. For a week or two I will lay off jumping, running or explosive lifts likely to strain it and impede recovery.
Problem is, CFHQ programmed the Filthy 50 which is filled with jumping movements. In fact, scanning the ten WOD movements I found there were only three movements I was certain would not aggravate my calf. What to do? Skip the WOD? No, I’m more resilient than that. Tough my way through it? No, I’m more adaptable than that. Instead, I decided to get creative.
Below I’m going to share my Filthy 50 modifications and the underlying rationale so you can get a glimpse inside a coaches’ mind and perhaps become more comfortable with the idea of adapting workout movements to meet your own individual and ever-changing needs instead of just skipping workouts or pushing through pain.
1) Box Jumps - Obviously box jumps were out of the question. Generally I do not like substituting step ups for box jumps because they are metabolically very different but as jumping was out of the question, they were an appropriate substitute. The 24” box height was, however, excessive so I opted for the lower 20” box.
2) Jumping Pull Ups - The worst possible movement for my calf. Instead I used ring row squats which work upper and lower body through a similar, albeit, less explosive range of motion.
3) KB Swings - These I could do as Rx’d but because I’ve been doing 100+ every afternoon for over a month and I was modifying the WOD anyway, I decided to mix things up by performing alternating KB snatches at the same weight instead.
4) Lunges - These were a maybe. Maybe I could do them, maybe they would be too taxing. Decided to play it save and do ring-supported reverse lunges.
5) K2E - Unfortunately, there was no need to modify this, the hardest movement in the Filthy 50:(
6) Push Press - The day before on Dumbbell DT I shoulder pressed the S2OH to avoid bouncing on my calf. To mix things up I decided instead to do Bradford presses at the Rx’d weight. This was very hard! Instead of going unbroken as I usually do on the push presses, I had to break it into 4 sets.
7) Hip Extensions - The pressure on the calf of hanging upside down appealed to me even less than the prospect of setting up a GHD for single use. Instead I substituted Jefferson curls with the 45lb barbell. This was not quite as difficult as back extensions, but it was close, requiring four sets rather than the five I usually require for the back extension. And it did really light up my hamstrings the following day.
8) Wall Balls - At only 20lbs, these were sadly safe to do so I completed them in one unbroken set.
9) Burpees - These have triggered calf strain more than once for me in the past year so instead I did Tyson push ups. Hard but different. In this case cardio was not the limiting factor, stamina was. I did 5 sets of 10 requiring some rest between each. A very total body exercise! My legs, arms and core felt it!
10) Double Unders - The easiest and shortest part of the Filthy 50 and I needed a suitable alternative. I opted for 50 unbroken slam balls with the 20lb slamball. No jumping involved but going unbroken had a similar effect on heart rate as 50 double unders leaving me gasping by the finish.
Clearly not the same workout. It was different but not easier. The movements were challenging in a different way. Less explosive, less heart rate but heavy on muscular endurance with a bias toward upper body stamina. It took me just over 50 minutes, a bit longer than I would usually need to get through the Filthy 50, mostly because it was more taxing on muscular endurance than the Filthy 50 and required more stops, whereas the original Filthy 50 movements allow you to keep moving with minimal breaks.
In the end, I was pleased with the result. On a day when I felt discouraged at not being able to safely perform the majority of movements, I found a fun and creative way to test my fitness while slipping some variety into my training. Training and life are more fun when you stop focusing on what you can't do and refocus on what you can!
Friday
Please arrive early and get through your pre-warm up before the class starts. We will take a few minutes to review the 10 workout movements, get you organized at your designated starting station and we will start the workout no later than 10 minutes past the hour.
The equipment will be set up to facilitate group class flow. Please resist the temptation to reposition equipment. Space will be tight so please perform the movements in the station provided.
We have included points of performance videos below for all 10 movements. Please acquaint yourselves with these. There will be a lot of space and athlete management going on for our coaches tomorrow. The Rx will only be awarded to athletes meeting the movement standards for all movements (for example: hip extensions will not be allowed in place of back extensions). The onus will be on you to know the standards and to maintain them throughout the workout.
Warm Up/Tech
5 Reps per station
WOD
Filthy 50
50 each of the following:
1) Box Jumps
2) Jumping Pull Ups
3) KBS
4) Lunges
5) K2E
6) Push Presses
7) Back Extensions
8) Wall Balls
9) Burpees
10) Double Unders
