Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body
WOD: 9/3/09
5 Rounds for time of:
7 Sumo Deadlift Highpulls (95 lbs/65lbs)
14 Burpees
21 Ab Mat Sit-ups
100 Foot Bear Crawl
LP performs "Fran on Crack"
Chris and Mike go head-2-head. Great work guys!
Chris Mullen isn't a firebreather for no reason...his Mom, Leah, showed up today and showed us that it runs in the family.
Liz and Mike hit the rowers.
I’d like to make some honorary mentions: Liz Mauro (pictured above on the rower) was a “closet CrossFitter” before starting at SCF. Since she started (2 1/2 weeks ago), her thruster for FRAN has gone up 10 pounds, she has moved to a thinner band in her pull-ups, and gone up 10 pounds in her kettlebell swing. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MOVING WEIGHTS THAT SHE COULDN’T EVEN PICK UP BEFORE! Awesome–SCF Affliliate team ’10!
Also, Eli Plumey, Allie Bailey, and Noelle McWalters ran the first mile of their workout today WITHOUT STOPPING TO WALK…a feat they could not accomplish 2 weeks ago. Then, they all proceeded to SQUASH the WOD. I am a proud mama.
Now, DP is going to take a stab at posting today:
“Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body”
If you’re a CrossFitter or a Marine, or know one, you’ve probably heard the expression “pain is weakness leaving the body.” I can remember the first time I read that slogan and feeling like I wanted to punch the guy wearing that ridiculous T-Shirt (I was in Albany, at the 1st East Coast Challenge). In hindsight, thank God I didn’t because he would’ve have destroyed me!
The truth of the matter was I was severely out of shape and was terrified of the WOD’s everyday. So is this true…? Pain is weakness and if so, does it ever get better. I didn’t get it. At the time I could bench and shrug a small house for multiple reps, but couldn’t do 10 rounds of Cindy RX. Why was it that so many “regular” people performed at a much higher rate, required less breaks, and were crushing their WODs. Not to mention, they looked DAMM good too. I had so many questions, but the bottom line was simple, in ten years or sooner I would’ve been a walking heart attack.
So let’s talk about pain. What is it? Pain is actually a term called Lactic Acid (LA) and during a workouts LA feels like your muscles are on fire. Yeah, you know that pain! Well, here’s a brief explanation of what’s going on in your body.
Muscles obtain energy from Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) from the glucose in the blood stream and the glycogen stored in one’s muscles. When muscles are rigorously worked, the circulatory system has trouble delivering oxygen to the muscles. The shortage of oxygen leads to break down of Glucose which converts into LA. Lactic Acid, which then pours into your blood stream. Hence, pain and muscle fatigue set in. Usually after a “rest period” the oxygen again returns to the blood stream and turns LA back into water, Carbon Dioxide, pyruvic acid and ATP. WHAT A VICIOUS CYCLE!!!
One generally reaches this state of fatigue at 85%-90% of one’s max heart rate (MHR). We call this one’s anaerobic threshold. If one reaches there LA threshold quickly, this usually means their muscles are NOT working very well and/or they need some development in their heart and lungs (cardiovascular system).
The more conditioned an individual is, the easier it is to transport the oxygen. Specifically, this is the result of the development of more small blood vessels to transport the oxygen and a superior cardiovascular conditioning level. So basically, oxygen travels in the blood stream and breaks down the LA.
Now there is another theory out there that suggests a similar reason for the production of lactic acid, but the conclusion is the same. Until one improves their condition, Lactic Acid will continue to make their lives painful. Don’t get me wrong…….it’s never easy, but it does get easier.
So how do we fix it…? Unfortunately, there’s no “magic wand” or shortcuts here! In order to improve, one must saturate the muscles in lactic acid which will educate the body’s buffering mechanism (alkaline) to deal with it more effectively. Eventually, it will get easier. As far as programming goes…. here are some tips on how to improve your muscle recovery and overall development.
Pre Workout:
-Warm UP
-Dynamic Stretches
-Eat some Carbohydrates and Good Fats
-Stay Hydrated
Post Workout:
-Warm Down
-Proper Stretching
-Eat Carbohydrates and Protein (30-60 minutes after workout)
-Ice bath/ Cold Therapy
-Warm Shower after ice bath 30-60 minutes
-Take your rest days
Workout and Nutrition Program
-Cross Training- will avoid over usage of particular muscles groups and will keep your muscles strong
-Short Endurance and Interval Training (Running)
-Examples (for improving your run times):
8 * 200 meters at 100% effort – recovery 4 minutes
4 * 75 seconds at 100% effort – recovery 5 minutes
5 * 60 seconds at 100% effort – recovery 2½ minutes
3 * 90 seconds at 800 meter pace – recovery 4 minutes
3 * 120 seconds at faster than 1500 meter pace – recovery 5 minutes
- Eat clean sources of Meat, good Carbohydrates, and healthy Fats
-Stretching and Flexibility Exercises-mixed into your programming
If it looks familiar that’s because is essentially the CrossFit program. So whether or not you belong to a local “box,” we hope this article has been helpful. Also, I would like to thank Kurt Morely for asking me a simple question on recovery, which led to this post. So thanks Kurt, hope this helps explain things a little more. As far as my research, it was all taken by non-CrossFit Affiliated sources….the British Athletic Federation, University of Oregon, and Tri-Athlete and wellness advisor Lori Bowden. I’ve posted some of my times statistics below as evidence that the CrossFit program is superior and by the way, I now am the guy in the tacky, but bad ass CrossFit T-Shirt!
DP
MY STATS:
26 Rounds of Cindy RX
Fran Time 3:09 RX
CrossFit Total 1,000
Dead Lift 460 lbs
Back Squat 355
Push Jerk 255
Power Clean 255
Shoulder Press 205
Dianne 3:23 RX
Fight Gone Bad 338 RX
Grace 2:59 RX
Helen 9:06 RX
Leave a reply
17 Responses for Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body
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Mike M:
September 03, 2009 06:28 amDP – good post. Lactic Acid has made walking today an extreme event. Looking forward to today's rest day after "Fran on Crack" so we can kick it again tomorrow!
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Jenn:
September 03, 2009 07:08 amI second that, thanks for the extra running info, my legs are definately suffering today. Can't wait for what tonight will bring!
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Kristen Miller:
September 03, 2009 07:39 amLooking for Jenn McCormick. LP said you have a bike that I might be able to borrow for the Madison and Branford tris. Please email me @ kristenlucillemiller@gmail.com.
Thanks so much!
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DP:
September 03, 2009 10:07 amJenn- got your sneakers coming. They look like the second pair down on the left. Last pair (white, Blue, and Green) in 8 1/2. Lauren will have them on Friday. Hope you like them.
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Jenn:
September 03, 2009 01:24 pm
Thank you so much I love them!!!
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Miller:
September 03, 2009 01:53 pmanyone have good blister treatment ideas? bear crawl KILLED my hands today….
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EP:
September 03, 2009 03:59 pmI just want to say that Shoreline crossfit is awesome. It really does feel like a family:)Trust me…I drive between 30 to 45 mins(depending on traffic) as much as I can. I've only been doing Crossfit for a few weeks 2 to 3 times a week, but I already feel a difference in my body!This week will be my first week at 5 days! That's a personal goal I had in mind, and I'm excited about Saturday being the fifth! DP, Kelly,LP…yall are so motivating! Thanks to you three for pushing me to my limits everytime!Even when I feel I can do no more…I realize that I have more to give. Also how can I forget my workout familia…thanks for pushing me as well. Today I saw some new faces…that's always cool too. Well…let's see…today's WOD was tough…I'm not going to lie, but I love it! As far as my diet…I'm working on it!lol!But, I've gotten better:)In time I will too be a Paleo Pro!Goodnight and see yall Saturday!
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Lauren Plumey:
September 03, 2009 05:29 pmThanks Eli! You make us proud daily! Keep it up. Kevin, blisters are part of being a CrossFitter…enjoy your battle wounds, Bro…
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KLM:
September 04, 2009 07:38 am
I hate to tell you all this but here it goes…
There is no such thing as LACTIC ACIDOSIS!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, it is still being taught in schools, printed in textbooks, written in research and believed by all (or almost all that is).
Advanced current research has proved that metabolic acidosis is caused by an accumulation of protons (H+) when the muscles can no longer regenerate ATP from mitochondrial respiration during intense exercise. The extra ATP is then supplied by non-mitochondrial sources (glycolysis and the phosphate system). These two reactions result in increased proton release which causes the acidosis of exercise.
Lactate is produced and lactate levels do increase but the lactate plays a much different role than previously believed. Lactate actually acts as a buffer to acidosis by both consuming and transplanting H+ to protect the cell against proton accumulation.
To make matters more complicated there is NO scientific evidence that lactate production directly releases protons that could cause "lactic acidosis".
I am attaching a .pdf written by my former graduate school advisor and leading researcher on this subject, Dr. Robert Robergs. /Users/kristenmiller/Desktop/Biochemistry of exercise-induced metabolic acidosis.pdf
Please let me know if you have questions and please feel free to post this to the main site. Discoveries like this take a long time for people for accept. I hope this convinces some of you. The truth is out there!!!!
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DP:
September 04, 2009 08:24 am
KLM- I appreciate your feedback. And I will definitely look into Dr. Robergs article.
This is exactly what blogs like these are intended for…..and that is intelligent debates and an open round-table. We appreciate your contribution and encourage everyone’s to get involved.
Thanks
DP
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DP:
September 04, 2009 08:48 am
I've attached a link to the aticle metioned above. This is what KLM is talking about. Scroll down to page 18 for a summary.
As you can tell, there is some controversy on this topic, but let's not forget the message of the article… a proper nutirion program and exercise routine will only improve one's qaulity of life.
http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0102/rar.pdf
Well done Kristen.
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michaelchasetx:
September 04, 2009 09:01 amLactic Acid is muscle fuel, not foe:
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/lactic-acid-NY… (wfs) -
KLM:
September 05, 2009 01:58 am
Thanks DP. I'm not one to start controversy but I love an intelligent academic debate. This is a subject I feel strongly about and I am firm on my position on metabolic acidosis. I'm not saying lactate is foe as it indeed helps to buffer metabolic acidosis, it just does not CAUSE it.
Thanks.
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10:08 RX'd