Today we continue the talk on how yoga can help us as CrossFitters.  We saw yesterday how yoga could improve our cardiovasular/respiratory Endurance while today we will look at Stamina, Strength and Flexibility.

Stamina – The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. 

    Simply put, can your muscles sustain large loads, over long distances quickly?  You may have the strength to deadlift 400#, but can you pick up 165# thirty-six times while also rowing 1500m and jumping on a 20” box 63 times (Christine)?  We get this practice in numerous Met Cons and in the multiple rep heavy lifting, yoga can help here as well.  Holding positions can be quite strenuous on your muscles and exhaust your stamina.  Doing bodyweight holds will force your muscles to work for extended periods of time just to prevent you from falling on your face. 

 

Strength – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.

Flexibility – The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.

    In other words, strength is the ability to throw around heavy weights while flexibility is the ability to go through the full range of motion.  How is it possible that yoga could help with lifting heavy things?  Ask Greg, who went to a yoga class last Sunday and got a 10# PR on his Deadlift later that day, which he has been at a plateau with for some time now.  I, myself, went to a yoga class on Sunday as well and then got a 10# PR on my Deadlift and a 5# PR on my Press on Monday.  We can see based on these examples yoga has strength benefits.  The reason for this is because it’s derived from a different physical skill, flexibility.  That is why I combined strength and flexibility instead of talking about them separately.

    We all know that yoga is renowned for its ability to improve your flexibility, but what can flexibility do to help our other physical skills.  I am probably not alone when I say that I don’t possess extreme flexibility of which yoga practitioners are stereotyped for.  However, many of us have a butt wink on our squats; our Olympic lifting landings are too wide, usually because our squat stance is too wide; our elbows don’t get up easily on front squats or thrusters; our elbows don’t go down on presses; we tape our wrists up when we putt weight overhead all because we are not flexible.  I say it often enough that we are missing flexibility for one move or another, but it now seems to have become an excuse instead of something we work on.  By increasing flexibility, we will improve full range of motion, which means an easier time lifting heavy weights.  Getting your stance narrower on the squats, our base of power is now directly beneath us instead of spread out with the wide stance and lost to ankles and knees folding in.  A narrower stance on Olympic lifts means our landings are faster, allowing use to drop under the bar quicker, which translates to heavier lifts.  Also, most failures on front squats are from our elbows falling down and our back curving.  Getting better shoulder flexibility means elbows staying up.

    An increase in our flexibility will have a direct impact on our strength, however, becoming over flexible will cause a decrease in your ability to lift heavy weights, just as an increase in muscle mass will decrease range of motion.  As with everything, there must be a balance. 

As with yesterday, please post question or general comments for discussion.  Tomorrow I will finish off with Power, Speed, Agility, Accuracy, Coordination and Balance.

Now onto today's WOD.

Heavy Lifting - Jerk 5x1 (Yes, that means split jerk)

WOD: 3 Rounds

500m Row

21 KB Swings

12 Pull Ups