I often wonder if traditional endurance folks actually measured power/work in modalities other than a bike (nobody in cycling will contest work/watts is the best way to train for this sport) what they may be able to correlate that with? Or if they had the ability to actually do something new and understand that the 3 things involved in a wko like Cindy are arguably as functional as running, but give us the ability to actually SCREEN an athlete before something like this happens… SNAP! This is the same gentleman who wrote the above piece in the title line (click that link first).
I actually have no issues with this guy, more so this is exactly what drives me to keep doing what we are doing. I would wish this injury or any injury like it on nobody, including my worst critic, maybe it's Scott. There is a part of me however that does know things like this must occur with 99.9% of us. In fact, I know no coach or athlete who has not gone through an injury that had them questioning things. Thus we must learn from our experience.
The wko "Cindy" is arguably about as functional as running as you can get, except it has become better bc it is also a diagnostic SCREEN for poor movement that may not be showing up in other things. I'd imagine that based on this gentlemans squat mechanics we may have picked up on about 3-4 issues going on with him including catching the inevitable injuries that came out of running. A slightly valgus knee, a collapsed arch, or even incredibly tight hamstrings that had his hip flexors on overdrive affecting a landing position... you get the point? I'm not saying Cindy would have caught all of this, but I will say we could have caught this with something other than running, and that is how and why we use CrossFit. Who cares if you can't metabolically tax yourself hard enough to get over 63% VO2? If I see in the 10th minute your shoulders are starting to internally rotate and you're pulling yourself in a flexed position I KNOW it is only a matter of time before that shoulder is going to have a serious problem and we need to stop that wko at 10 min rest, reset and attempt to get back on the pony with the correct mechanics. This could also be called an interval, I guess. NObody said you had to do the wko as prescribed.
Let us not blame long slow distance. I know, you think I hate it and blame it. I don't, and I thrived in suffering for long periods of time and paid prices for the poor movement patterns I developed while doing it. That is the problem... If you run (swim, bike, paddle, etc) really well then you should do said things while doing the maintenance to continue this path. The rest of us may need help. News shocker, poor movement is to blame for any injury that doesn't involve stopping movement / blunt trauma. Long slow distance, mid distance, or CrossFit are not to blame, yet "Science" (the oh so humble servant its been) continues to distinguish "programs" are to blame. Responsibility is in the eye of the beholder or the one who actually can step up and take responsibility. Far to many athletes I've watched look for an out by blaming a coach or a program for their dog shit performance, when all along the signs were everywhere and technology has empowered us all. Huh?
If you don't understand resting heart rate, heart rate variability, your central nervous system, nutrition, hydration, pain (Mother Nature has this incredible way of telling you you are doing something wrong, its called PAIN!!!!), urine color, sleep cycles, performance indicators, you are full retard. Everything I just listed can be researched, fact checked, and implemented to understand via this incredible thing called the internet. AND regardless of your convictions (these are far more dangerous than lies) if you actually give 1 shit about your career in whatever you're doing you can actually test out some crazy new diet or training plan, or CNS test to see if it is having a positive effect on you.
Psychology is also a great way to understand that a simple defensive reactive position to something you have never actually done or applied to your "deal" (whatever that is) probably has more to it than you are giving it credit. You know, they also call this "talking shit"! Hence, the defensive position. You're threatened, and threatened animals behave in two ways. That's just scratching the surface though. The ability to not look at new, innovative, non-innovative, crazy ideas and sit on the sidelines and throw up about it is an excellent definition of ignorance. Take yourself out of this situation now, trust me. I've barked about plenty and made a fool of myself.
Let us not blame CrossFit! Or Powerlifting, or Olympic Weightlifting or Rowing. The only danger out there is when you decide to not use your own judgment any longer and push past the point of a 3-toed sloth being throttled by a Gaboon Viper and a Baboon. As long as you look to some dude sitting in a lab to make decisions for you, you are still to blame. The shoe industry has raped you and I by marketing and up selling the shit out of crap that will do nothing more for you than hide your shit movement patterns a bit longer, only to hard wire you for a cataclysmic potentially career ending sabotage to your Achilles Tendon (or whatever injury 80% of the 30MM runners experience per year). NO, the shoe industry isn't to blame either, although most companies should have the tar sued out of them for the crap they attempt to claim they can help with. You are too blame.
In this first 40 years on this planet I have successfully had a hip reconstructed, a tibial fracture, radial fracture, a fractured sternum, plantar fasciitis, ITB Syndrome, herniated discs, broken nose (twice), and a slew of stitches and other non notables. These all have happened in skateboarding, surfing, cycling, water polo, running and CrossFit (fractured sternum here haters). I still do every one of these things except play Water Polo, that shit will kill you.
The pinnacle of sport has somehow become a badge that says I've done this much or I've run or rowed this many miles or meters. More is better! I know, I've been there. More is not better and we all understand that. In 1984 I watched this woman finish 37th place in the Olympic Marathon (stole this from Starretts new book listed below). And although I cheered as everyone else did and still feel the goosebumps, at what cost does movement like this come? Any real professional will tell you it is not good. We have the ability to look at things differently, as what we knew then, is not what we know now. Even yesterday.
You can not objectively sit on the sidelines shitting on a program we made that has successfully shown better movement and longevity in our athletes all while you can turn on Ironman Live anytime and watch between hours 15-17 some of the most horrifying monostructural movement ever witnessed. Or just show up at the 4-6hr mark of a marathon. Any marathon. Ironman and the Marathon are not to blame.
I've now written two books, the first (co-authored) with Glen Cordoza, Power Speed Endurance, and the complementary (co-authored with TJ Murphy) UnBreakable Runner. These books are the most effective ways I saw change and longevity in myself and our athletes. It will not go without mention that TJ also co-authored a book with Kelly Starrett that drops Oct 21st called Ready to Run. Ready to Run is arguably the best book I have read on getting an athlete ready for sport (this book happens to be on running). My books are the how to and why of where we landed in this sport. Even if you disagree with what we are doing, you can not deny the stories and the success of the athletes we have touched. We did this because we saw an issue with something that was not being addressed.
