CrossFit South Brooklyn

Established 2007

Rest Day

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Hang
Deepak, Ryan and Josh push their discomfort level on a dead hang challenge

Happy Birthday, Paul S!

Most, if not all of our training emphasises the sympathetic nervous system.  We encourage speed, strength, aggression and becoming comfortable with high levels of discomfort and stress.  Do you have any experience training meditative, breathing or "soft" modalities?  What about training systems that emphasise slow movements and smaller muscle groups?  If we gave you 10 minutes alone, would you be able to quiet your thoughts?
What do you think the potential benefits of these modalities are?  Could improving your ability to relax improve your Fran time?

Comments

  1. Happy birthday to the big man!

    Folks I am guest bartending for charity tonight at Joshua Tree, 513 3rd Ave. between 34th and 35th. If any crossfitters swing by, first two rounds on me.

  3. another 7am class…these are hardPower Clean Triples155x3, 165×3, 175×3, 185×3, 195×3 (PR)Dips 8, 5, 5Annie16:116 minutes slower than my best time, my conditioning is nowhere where it used to be (and it wasn’t even that good back then)

  8. No one???

    I set a clock today for 12 minutes to see if I could quiet my thoughts. Big Fail! At one point I totally forgot what I was doing and was thinking about programming CrossFit for 75+ year olds. I got a bit frustrated with myself and wasn’t really able to relax all that much. I tried again while taking a hot shower but again kept drifting into the things I had to do later in the day.

    We praise the ability to move fluidly with strength and grace, Brian D’s C+J video comes to mind, or even Teresa’s Handstand, but we don’t often consider the ability to control our thoughts. As simple as it seems, I think an inability to do this is a major deficit in your well roundedness as an athlete, and maybe even person. I got re-geeked out with some of these ideas since I read Dune a few months back. The bene gesserit training they describe really had an impact on me. Lots of meditation, pain tolerance training, physical training as well as the ability to read other people’s body language. I think training the relaxation response and inner monologue can really have positive effects on your overall training and happiness. I think my December goal might include some daily meditation. Maybe even in the Russian Bath house cold plunge pool. 🙂

    On a related note, I have one client who is chronically stressed (he represents the Spiderman Broadway show, which as you may know is being crucified by the press) We do some guided meditation pretty regularly and he says it completely changes how he deals with stress throughout the day.

  9. Also- something I’ve been thinking about is the amount of time we spend on a daily basis having our thoughts led by something external. Music, the internet, conversations, TV, reading.. Someone once framed this as being aware of who is tending your mental garden. I know all too often Im externally focused, even little stuff like listening to music or the radio when im eating.

    hmmmm

  10. Funny that soft modalities are mentioned today– I did my first group class and instead of ripping cleans, I recovered– actively.

    I actually lived in a Buddhist temple for over 2 years and have spent a hell of a lot more of my adulthood “navel gazing” than working out.That said, sitting meditation for 12 hours is extremely physical, so if you want to talk pain management, talk to a serious meditation practitioner– it’s in you head. (and can hurt like nothing else)

    There are two Zen centers in our hood– I highly recommend sitting down.

    I practiced tai chi for a while too and wish I continued with that– definitely something I want to return to and really learn. Chi Kung is another soft art I have delved into a bit– do you believe in chi?

  11. @Rob Israel-I want to talk to you.

    Thank you so much Julie Edmonds! You made my day, week and year with that double under. So excited for and proud of you! You’ve been putting in the hard work and practicing your doubles every time you stepped into the gym. I was so stoked to witness you hit your first DU!

    @David-I love today’s blog question and will actually do a more in-depth response later tonight.

  12. I tune out when I’m rowing. I close my eyes and just think about keeping my form right and before I know it a couple hundred meters are gone and I have no idea what has been going on. Usually then someone is barking “Hands first, Pete!”

    WUDUs 6/6/9500m rowFoam rolling

    Back squats45x395x3135x20 a couple shaky ones in there, but overall OK.

    AMRAP 10 minutes35 DUs12 thrusters @ 65lbs. (cruel, after Sunday’s thrusters were still burning–but oddly fulfilling)3 Rounds even

    Happy Birthday Paul!

  13. I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. Often times, when we start a meditation practice, we go into it with the expectation of having “quiet time” and being all “zen’ed out.” The exact opposite often slaps us in the face… sometimes when we sit down to quiet the mind, it feels like MORE thoughts — good, bad, ugly — show up to taunt us. And we — ego-driven and also our own harshest critics — often respond by feeling anger, frustration, guilt, fear, depression, or any other number of emotions when we sit and can’t actually be still, mentally or physically.

    In one of the books from my yoga teacher training, the author writes about cultivating a nonjudgmental attitude in meditation by labeling your thoughts simply as “thinking.” It sounds simple, almost stupid, but it’s actually pretty huge. By just saying “thinking” rather than judging what arises in the mind, we develop an unconditional friendliness and compassion towards our own thoughts and our selves. That’s hard to come by.

    So… when I sit down to meditate, or get on my mat for a yoga class, I first try to breathe three times deeper than I have all day and then focus on the sound as I breathe. This gives my flighty mind something to come back to. And then as thoughts come up, I do my best to watch them pass by… rather than hang on to them or angrily shew them away. For me, controlling my mind, quieting my thoughts, transcending the sting of whatever’s around me… starts with breathing deeply, and continues with a non-judgmental attitude to all the shtuff that creeps in the space I create.

    I have more to share, but I think that’ll do it for now :-/

  14. I’ve struggled to maintain a regular meditation practice for the past 17 years, give or take. The best I’ve been, unfortunately, is when I’m away on a retreat or somewhere else sitting in a guided meditation. When I get stressed out though, I try to come back to my breath with the intention of realizing that most things are based on perspective. I can see then what really matters.

    I too, like David (and many, I imagine), am assaulted by my thoughts when I try to sit alone with them for an extended time. I often try to fight the urge to come home and turn most of the lights on along with either music or television in the backround. wah…

  15. after dealing with nearly 80 hrs a week of negotiating colossal egos, macho posturing, ugly careerism, and a merciless expectation of perfection; Helen set to Rage Against the Machine is the meditation I want.

    soft modalities sounds like a late night show on cinemax

  16. Strength Cycle B, Week 6Volume Day

    LBBS

    w/u 45×5, 65×6, 85×5, 105×5, 125x5work: 137.5x5x5

    We all struggled tonight – was it the humidity? The chill in the air? The rasp in Jeremy’s voice? Unclear.

    Bench

    w/u 45×5, 50×5, 65x5work: 70x3x5

    Chins

    Same old, same old. It’s like a skipping record at this point, three strength cycles in a row.

    blue band 8,6,6

    ———————————————–

    “Soft” modalities are marketed to women relentlessly and to our infinite detriment.

    Picking up something heavy, religiously, remains an act of rebellion and resistance. Even my educated female friends ask questions about strength training that can only be described as ignorant and embarrassing.

    All you strong guys who want to get in touch with your breathing and shit – go ‘head. It’s cute because it’s going against the grain.

    For us – not so much.

  17. @Whit… Sounds like you’ve been reading Pema Chodron! I also like her reminder that meditation is never a “vacation from irritation”. You have to sit with the bad stuff, too.

    The Shambhala Center in Manhattan offers open meditation and Dharma talks every Tuesday night that are open to the public for a $5 donation. They practice mindfulness meditation and are a great resource for anyone new to meditation, because they offer instruction and advice to all newcomers and are very welcoming!

  18. Um, wow. not sure if anyone is reading this day anymore but @Michele: YIKES. I hear ya about the women-can’t-lift bullshit, but please do try to read closely what David writes above and take it to heart. meditation is fookin’ HARD. Please don’t reject it out of hand b/c of marketing bullshit. That’s pretty much as bad as not lifting, in my book

    @David: for a while I was trying for five minutes. WIthout a timer. I definitely wasn’t able to stay quiet for that long, but it felt less scary and more useful. I definitely noticed a more productive day on the days I did this. Should get back to it.

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