Squats!

Today's WOD was 4 rounds for time - 400 meter run and 50 squats. It's a simple workout and I was looking forward to the simplicity of it. Meditative in a way. I haven't had much time to meditate lately with all of our summer visitors. Not that I'm complaining. I've enjoyed every second of every visit. I just haven't had much downtime to recharge. Running used to be that for me. When I first started running I ran by myself. I had the "I'm not a real runner" complex and didn't feel worthy of company. But, that wore off pretty quickly. Misery loves company or so they say. CrossFit is not usually a meditative type of exercise although much of it is mental - you against yourself. But, when you are simply trying to finish a workout and not pass out, it's hard to reflect on life. That usually happens after the workout when I think to myself, "I just did that!"

Today, the 400M run seemed very very long. Try doing 50 squats and then running and you'll understand what I'm talking about. So, that gave me a little downtime.

I am still working on my overall mobility but squats are one area where I can see real improvement. And today, for some reason, something finally clicked and I was able to squat well. Even on the 200th one. I think what I was doing before was not thinking about standing from a squat. I was only thinking (and working) on the way down. Nicole, our fill in coach for today, had time, with only three of us there, to make me think more about the way up. I wasn't pushing my knees out on the way up, only the way down. Once I squatted, I relaxed before standing and wasn't holding my form or engaging my core throughout the movement.

Repeating the movement 200 times also helped I guess. ;-)

I didn't even have to use a target to get my full depth. Nicole also had us think about the movement in a slightly different way. She said to think about your toes being on a saucer and as you squat, try to rotate the saucer out. That helps to push your knees out and it also helped me stay in my heels. I have trouble keeping my weight in my heels. (I like to think it's because I'm more top heavy than others but...LOL.)

So, it was a very good day. And I'm looking forward to the weekend and some rest. Active rest like walking around the mall to stretch my legs. :-)

Here is a CrossFit video demo of proper squat technique with explanations about the various parts and some funny stuff at the end. And a link to a blog post about squatting properly. And here are some babies squatting.

My grand niece and granddaughter. :-)

Happy Friday y'all!