I might be wrong, but I think you will be ok as long as you aren’t maxing out your effort on the pullups and dips… this is a warmup after all.
If your max pullups is at 10, don’t crank out 3 sets of 10. Cut the number down to something reasonable so you are warming up and still working on the motion we want to practice. For myself, I can do about 10-12 bar dips, so for the CFWU I do 3 sets of 5 dips and that seems to be challenging and yet not over taxing for me.
Another thing to consider is if the WOD is dip or pullup centered, you might want to leave them out of the warmup so you are prepared to go all out in the WOD.
I found Greg A’s warmup under CrossFit exercises on the CF website and have been using that, mainly because I found it before I found the “official” warm up.
I found Greg A’s warmup under CrossFit exercises on the CF website and have been using that, mainly because I found it before I found the “official” warm up.
Is that an effective warmup, too?
Yes.
But really honestly, warmups are not a big deal. There are LOTs to be said for the CFWU as a very effective full body warm up and Greg A’s is built along the same lines.
In the end it doesn’t matter. The warm-up gets you warm and ready to train. That’s it.
If you speed skate around the block a couple times that’s a good warm-up for some WODs.
If you swim a few 100meters that’s a good warm-up.
Your warm-up can be different each time, it can include things you want to work on, it can be same each time.
It’s a warm-up, not a religious observance.
To use the religious analogy, the CFWU is like the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a suggestion and an example of how to warm-up, not necessarily a prescription for how to warm-up every time. If you can’t think of any other way to do it, fall back on the CFWU. It’s always there and it’s always right.
And yes, this is coming from someone who used to be very anal about the “right” warm-up.
But if you find including the sacrifice of a chicken helps your numbers, let me know.
Hi all. Although it is easy to spot how new I am to the CF game, I’ll put my 2cents on the WU “discussion”. I fully agree that it makes sense modifying or adapting one’s WU to the upcoming WOD. However, if WODs are to be fully comparable, not for competence but for the sake of hard-evidence of one’s progression over time, I understand that they should not be modified. Same woud apply if we wanted to compare performances of several athletes…
E.G. Yesterday I followed the CFWU and after I tackled the WOD (Tabato Something Else). Consequences?
1.- I hanged from the PU bar after 10+6+3+1 reps
2.- I slammed the floor with my face after 10+4+3+2 push ups
3.- Could barely crunch
4.- Did OK on the squats
I’m sure I would have had much better numbers hadn’t I followed three rounds of CFWU. But I will not have a comparable WOD if the next time I do this very same WOD don’t follow exactly the same WU.
Hi all. Although it is easy to spot how new I am to the CF game, I’ll put my 2cents on the WU “discussion”. I fully agree that it makes sense modifying or adapting one’s WU to the upcoming WOD. However, if WODs are to be fully comparable, not for competence but for the sake of hard-evidence of one’s progression over time, I understand that they should not be modified. Same woud apply if we wanted to compare performances of several athletes…
E.G. Yesterday I followed the CFWU and after I tackled the WOD (Tabato Something Else). Consequences?
1.- I hanged from the PU bar after 10+6+3+1 reps
2.- I slammed the floor with my face after 10+4+3+2 push ups
3.- Could barely crunch
4.- Did OK on the squats
I’m sure I would have had much better numbers hadn’t I followed three rounds of CFWU. But I will not have a comparable WOD if the next time I do this very same WOD don’t follow exactly the same WU.
Any suggestions?
Hmm, let me repeat what I think I’m hearing . . .
If you vary the warmup, you won’t know if you’re getting fitter because it changes what happens during the wod?
True, but . . . the point of crossfit is not the warmup. And Coach Glassman specifically pointed out that if a WOD is pullup or dip centric, to do something else.
Don’t let the tail (the warmup) wag the dog (the WOD). And I would maintain that the FULL CFWU is more or less a “Big Dog” warmup for superfit folks do be done when it won’t cause a huge negative effect on the WOD.
And, I think the Big Dogs on this board agree that the warmup should vary just like the WODs. Will it affect your times? Sometimes it will. But that’s the nature of the beast.
Fair enough TP. Your argument makes kinda sense to me. And anyhow I guess thak 100% comparable WODs will not make much sense in the near future. At least not as much as they appeal to me at this point in time, when testing “REAL PROGRESS” is some kind of a “religion” to me. I suppose there will come a time when the CFWU won’t be too taxing and hence will not have a major impact on the WOD.
Yep, nice motto. It is a line from a Spanish song called El sitio de mi recreo, by Nacha Pop. Quite useful to describe a really fun/scary/taxing place to enjoy oneself…
I don’t know how this topic got left in the WOD forum. Fixed that.
The point I think you’re beginning to get El Cid is; It’s a warm-up.
If it taxes you so much that it impacts your workout it’s not a warm-up, it’s a workout. I know many people say of Crossfit “Our warm-up is your workout” and that is true, but the only people who can really make that statement are those for who the CFWU has no impact on their workouts, ie the elite Crossfitters.
Way too many plough blindly through the CFWU as though they’ll be excommunicated (sorry, drawing religious analogies again, but this does have elements of a religious debate), I mean banned from Crossfit, if they don’t do it as rx’ed. The CFWU is supposed to be scaled, it’s explicitly stated in the prescription.
Take a look at your max reps for the various components of the CFWU. I like GD’s (mis)quote here, “If your max pull-ups is 5, then doing 5 pull-ups is not a warm-up, it’s a maximal effort workout”. The people who are doing the 3 x 15 pull-ups as a warm-up probably have max. pull-ups somewhere in the 50-75 rep range.
A warm-up has the purpose of getting me ready to do my best at the WOD. Since I am in different states and my WODs are quite different, the WU that would be most effective in one situation won’t be in another. Not even the same WU with the same WOD every time, because *I* am different at different times.
You only have to think about the coach of a world-class athlete. You (instinctively) know they wouldn’t just pull a WU off a chart but would instinctively vary the WU for their athelete based on their knowledge of the athlete’s condition and state, the circumstances, the upcoming challenges, and, which way the wind is blowing maybe.
Point being, it would be very specialized and individualized - EACH TIME.
I’m learning to treat my body the same way. The point of the WU is not to do the WU but to get me in the best state/shape possible to do well on the WOD.
In the meantime, if there is an element that I especially need help with (like mastering a skill or recovering from an injury), the WU is the perfect time to work in a little extra attention there.
Okay, didn’t take long for me to share everything I’ve learned did it? lol
Thanks to Metric, who taught me at least some of these points.
what i know about a warm up is that you begin with some relax movements, so your joints getting loose (I hope i use the correct word), than you do some streching exercises, followed by some exercises of strength with very low weights. (so your joints getting warm). after that your repeat some strecthing exercises.
And yes, this is coming from someone who used to be very anal about the “right” warm-up.
But if you find including the sacrifice of a chicken helps your numbers, let me know.
That’s hilarious.
I think I understand. To sum: the actual way of warming up doesn’t really matter, the intensity does.
Not so much intensity, effectiveness more perhaps.
The warm-up doesn’t have to be hard as in intense, it just has to get you warm (just starting to sweat is good) and mobilise your joints.
The best warm-up is the one that does that with the least expenditure of effort.
Same as with the WODs, you want to get the maximum return for the least expenditure. The better you are at designing a training program, the less work your athletes will do. But that’s another rant.
The CFWU would be a very tough WOD for me. Given this, I do my own warm up…which is 5 minutes of rowing, followed by WOD specific stretching. If the WOD involves rowing, then I typically just do some walking on a treadmill.
If you have access to a rower, try it out. It gets the heart rate pumping, is low impact, and bends all the right joints. Since it is what I do all the time, it also is a standard that shouldn’t impact my WOD.
