IGX

Looking back at the 2011 season, what do you think about this year's qualification format (the Open and Regionals)? What's it like having such a longer competitive season

Three competitions in four months is a lot of stress on your body. For me personally, I was training all year for Regionals because if you don't make Regionals, you don't even get a shot at the Games. After Regionals, I had injuries that forced me to modify my training for the Games because I couldn't take time off to heal. I save that for after the Games.

Can you give more detail on your injury?

I had a pulled muscle in my lower back during the Open and took things very easy on my back leading up to the Regional. Regionals gave me bad tendonitis in my knee from all the squatting. I still have it right now and cannot squat or run. I hadn't done a squat since Regionals because I physically couldn't, so I altered my programming for the Games a lot because of that. It would randomly flare up really bad and for two or three days, I could hardly walk. I'm giving it plenty of time now to bounce back.

Today, Rawlings can’t even walk. She is forced to wheel herself around her affiliate, Coca CrossFit in North Ridgefield, Ohio, due to a ruptured Achilles. She suffered this injury in early December 2011 on rep 28 of box jumps during the “Filthy 50.”

Rawlings underwent surgery to re-attach her ruptured tendon, and now, with the help of her valuable coach, friend, and box owner, Brain Yoak of CrossFit Legacy, Rawlings is crawling back to health, one foot at a time.

Most athletes would have given up after such a heinous injury, and surgery with a six-month recovery time. Rawlings recently recovered from a broken back, as well. It’s what kept her from competing for a chance at the 2011 CrossFit Games. From years of competitive soccer, coupled with no mobility, she suffered a fracture in her L-5 vertebrae.

One-hundred-sixty-one reps, seven minutes, and one recording proving it all, the Russian cemented his place at the summit of the leader after one event. Can he stay there? That depends a lot of what comes out of the hopper as Shokhin is battling a shoulder injury. “I can’t do some movements, so if they come up, I won’t be able to participate, unfortunately.”

The injury requires surgical repair and kept Shokhin out of last year’s Open. Despite that, he entered the 2012 Open to “test himself” and put himself closer to his “dream of competing in the Regionals and the CrossFit Games.”

Briggs’ main focus since the 2011 CrossFit Games has been on her Olympic weightlifting technique. “I am probably known for my bad form … I will never be able to be a CrossFit demo girl,” jokes Briggs.

The European star’s Olympic weightlifting progress, however, has been interrupted with injuries in recent months. First, Briggs was hit with SI joint problems, and when she recovered from that, she found herself with a knee injury. “I’ve had issues with my right knee 'maltracking' for a long time, and finally the cartilage wore away,” explains Briggs, who has been left unable to run for the last twelve weeks.

Briggs has been working hard to fix her muscle imbalances and rehabilitate her knee, but she isn’t expecting to be 100 percent healthy during the Open competition this year. “I may have to take some of the Open WODs a little steadier depending on the movements and the load involved,” says Briggs. “Obviously I’ll be doing everything I can to qualify but I don’t want to compromise my recovery.”

But even a watered down Briggs will have no trouble qualifying for Regionals and probably even to the Games, but the humble Briggs isn’t taking anything for granted.

In the past year, Warren has been focusing on working his weaknesses. Partly out of frustration, he pushed his body to test its limits. He saw initial gains in strength, but reached his body's breaking point when a hip injury occurred during squats. The injury only added to his frustration, and he continued to push hard. Meanwhile, his hip was not getting any better and his strength remained stagnant. This compelled Joey to seek out coaching help from Michael Fitzgerald of Optimal Performance Training. Fitzgerald scaled Warren’s strength focus back a bit and reduced his overall volume of work. Warren said he almost instantly started to feel stronger and more energetic.

...and Chad McKay, who was forced out of the Regional by injury.

John’s big weakness heading into the Open this year is gymnastics movements. “I just have no body awareness,” she says. “Plus I had a shoulder injury earlier this year that I’m still recovering from. I’m trying to work it just hard enough to not reinjure myself.”

After facing an injury – she tore her PCL during a farmer’s walk – she decided it was time to listen to her body and “avoided things like running and box jumps for a while.” Now that she’s healed, Meschishnick has managed to PR in her snatch at 100 pounds, and back squat with 210 pounds.

Despite suffering a back injury at the 2012 OC Throwdown, she fully intends to take part in this year's Open and, if all goes well, make a major push at the South West Regional.

An Achilles injury in December 2010 put a complete stop to Beers’ training and the subsequent three months of rest provided her with time to regroup, both physically and mentally. Physiotherapy, combined with staying off her foot, aided in the recovery effort.
[...]
As with her previous sports, Beers puts an all-out effort into CrossFit, to the point where she was almost “obsessed” with it. She cared so much about it that it’s what ultimately caused her to get injured, or in her words, “self-destruct.”
[...]
She’s still trying to overcome her fear of box jumps, the cause of her Achilles injury. “I hold my breath when I do them, and all I'm thinking is, 'don't tear, don't tear.”

“I’m recovering from Achilles surgery, and Andy (Andrew Swartz) is suffering from a couple of nagging injuries, as well,” I thought. I didn’t want to feel pressure, and I figured if we were in the top half we’d be doing pretty well.

The 19th Fittest Man on Earth—and Fittest Man in Europe—Tuomas Vainio, will not be making an appearance in the 2012 CrossFit Games Season. The former strongman is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Vainio’s shoulder had been bothering him throughout last season, and following the 2011 CrossFit Games, he underwent surgery.

“I try to be as versatile as I can in my training, but leading up to the Games last year I was suffering from shoulder problems,” Vainio says. “I think my shoulders were not used to the intensity of CrossFit workouts.”

Vainio has a background in strongman competitions and ice hockey, and made the switch to CrossFit competition after training alongside 2009 CrossFit Games champion, Mikko Salo, at CrossFit Pori in Finland.
[...]
Despite his shoulder injury, Vainio has continued to train and coach at CrossFit Pori with just one arm.

“Fortunately, you can train hard in CrossFit even when one limb is out of the game,” Vainio says. “You just have to forget what others do in the gym and train your own way. I learned to make a lot of movements with one hand like snatches and wall balls, for example.”
[...]
For now, his top priority is full recovery. Once he starts two-armed, as prescribed CrossFit training, Vainio intends to rigorously maintain good form so he may last longer than one season.

“My recovery from the surgery is still in progress,” Vainio says. “When I will be OK, I will really focus on good technique, it will allow me to compete for a longer time.”

In 2011, Knight dominated the thruster ladder, but her weaknesses showed with gymnastics and bodyweight movements. They have been the focus of her training leading up to 2012. Knight’s recent injuries have forced her to step back and really change her approach to training, putting emphasis on technique and flexibility.

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:Shoreline....never disappoints. I love those mouthbreathing, inbred, de-evolved fish fitness people.

Crust Bucket wrote:I kinda want to see the dude drive his elbows off his knees hitting himself in the jaw with the bar and then continue to bite his tongue off... That's just me tho.

Someone needs to make a Crossfit Innsmouth: Forging Elite F'tagn tee shirt. I would totally buy one.

What a duck says wrote:I went and searched "injury" on the Gaymes site. http://games.crossfit.com/search/site/injury . Please bear in mind that the following entries are only from the first 2 of 6 total pages of search results, and in no way could be indicative of the endemic injurious nature of @F, particularly because these Gaymes athletes are the "fittest" and therefore by extension, the "healthiest" people on Earth. I sure hope that @F gets into the schools soon so this gift can be shared with our children. [/sarcasm] Give me a fucking break.
http://games.crossfit.com/article/pheno ... -ben-smith

Looking back at the 2011 season, what do you think about this year's qualification format (the Open and Regionals)? What's it like having such a longer competitive season

Three competitions in four months is a lot of stress on your body. For me personally, I was training all year for Regionals because if you don't make Regionals, you don't even get a shot at the Games. After Regionals, I had injuries that forced me to modify my training for the Games because I couldn't take time off to heal. I save that for after the Games.

Can you give more detail on your injury?

I had a pulled muscle in my lower back during the Open and took things very easy on my back leading up to the Regional. Regionals gave me bad tendonitis in my knee from all the squatting. I still have it right now and cannot squat or run. I hadn't done a squat since Regionals because I physically couldn't, so I altered my programming for the Games a lot because of that. It would randomly flare up really bad and for two or three days, I could hardly walk. I'm giving it plenty of time now to bounce back.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/killer-kate

Today, Rawlings can’t even walk. She is forced to wheel herself around her affiliate, Coca CrossFit in North Ridgefield, Ohio, due to a ruptured Achilles. She suffered this injury in early December 2011 on rep 28 of box jumps during the “Filthy 50.”

Rawlings underwent surgery to re-attach her ruptured tendon, and now, with the help of her valuable coach, friend, and box owner, Brain Yoak of CrossFit Legacy, Rawlings is crawling back to health, one foot at a time.

Most athletes would have given up after such a heinous injury, and surgery with a six-month recovery time. Rawlings recently recovered from a broken back, as well. It’s what kept her from competing for a chance at the 2011 CrossFit Games. From years of competitive soccer, coupled with no mobility, she suffered a fracture in her L-5 vertebrae.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/russi ... la-shokhin

One-hundred-sixty-one reps, seven minutes, and one recording proving it all, the Russian cemented his place at the summit of the leader after one event. Can he stay there? That depends a lot of what comes out of the hopper as Shokhin is battling a shoulder injury. “I can’t do some movements, so if they come up, I won’t be able to participate, unfortunately.”

The injury requires surgical repair and kept Shokhin out of last year’s Open. Despite that, he entered the 2012 Open to “test himself” and put himself closer to his “dream of competing in the Regionals and the CrossFit Games.”

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/cross ... sam-briggs

Briggs’ main focus since the 2011 CrossFit Games has been on her Olympic weightlifting technique. “I am probably known for my bad form … I will never be able to be a CrossFit demo girl,” jokes Briggs.

The European star’s Olympic weightlifting progress, however, has been interrupted with injuries in recent months. First, Briggs was hit with SI joint problems, and when she recovered from that, she found herself with a knee injury. “I’ve had issues with my right knee 'maltracking' for a long time, and finally the cartilage wore away,” explains Briggs, who has been left unable to run for the last twelve weeks.

Briggs has been working hard to fix her muscle imbalances and rehabilitate her knee, but she isn’t expecting to be 100 percent healthy during the Open competition this year. “I may have to take some of the Open WODs a little steadier depending on the movements and the load involved,” says Briggs. “Obviously I’ll be doing everything I can to qualify but I don’t want to compromise my recovery.”

But even a watered down Briggs will have no trouble qualifying for Regionals and probably even to the Games, but the humble Briggs isn’t taking anything for granted.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/joey-warrens-journey

In the past year, Warren has been focusing on working his weaknesses. Partly out of frustration, he pushed his body to test its limits. He saw initial gains in strength, but reached his body's breaking point when a hip injury occurred during squats. The injury only added to his frustration, and he continued to push hard. Meanwhile, his hip was not getting any better and his strength remained stagnant. This compelled Joey to seek out coaching help from Michael Fitzgerald of Optimal Performance Training. Fitzgerald scaled Warren’s strength focus back a bit and reduced his overall volume of work. Warren said he almost instantly started to feel stronger and more energetic.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/2012- ... -australia

...and Chad McKay, who was forced out of the Regional by injury.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/brick ... megan-john

John’s big weakness heading into the Open this year is gymnastics movements. “I just have no body awareness,” she says. “Plus I had a shoulder injury earlier this year that I’m still recovering from. I’m trying to work it just hard enough to not reinjure myself.”

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/45-49 ... schishnick

After facing an injury – she tore her PCL during a farmer’s walk – she decided it was time to listen to her body and “avoided things like running and box jumps for a while.” Now that she’s healed, Meschishnick has managed to PR in her snatch at 100 pounds, and back squat with 210 pounds.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/south ... ing-report

Despite suffering a back injury at the 2012 OC Throwdown, she fully intends to take part in this year's Open and, if all goes well, make a major push at the South West Regional.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/enjoy ... mily-beers

An Achilles injury in December 2010 put a complete stop to Beers’ training and the subsequent three months of rest provided her with time to regroup, both physically and mentally. Physiotherapy, combined with staying off her foot, aided in the recovery effort.
[...]
As with her previous sports, Beers puts an all-out effort into CrossFit, to the point where she was almost “obsessed” with it. She cared so much about it that it’s what ultimately caused her to get injured, or in her words, “self-destruct.”
[...]
She’s still trying to overcome her fear of box jumps, the cause of her Achilles injury. “I hold my breath when I do them, and all I'm thinking is, 'don't tear, don't tear.”

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/only-america

“I’m recovering from Achilles surgery, and Andy (Andrew Swartz) is suffering from a couple of nagging injuries, as well,” I thought. I didn’t want to feel pressure, and I figured if we were in the top half we’d be doing pretty well.

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/tuoma ... t-out-2012

The 19th Fittest Man on Earth—and Fittest Man in Europe—Tuomas Vainio, will not be making an appearance in the 2012 CrossFit Games Season. The former strongman is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Vainio’s shoulder had been bothering him throughout last season, and following the 2011 CrossFit Games, he underwent surgery.

“I try to be as versatile as I can in my training, but leading up to the Games last year I was suffering from shoulder problems,” Vainio says. “I think my shoulders were not used to the intensity of CrossFit workouts.”

Vainio has a background in strongman competitions and ice hockey, and made the switch to CrossFit competition after training alongside 2009 CrossFit Games champion, Mikko Salo, at CrossFit Pori in Finland.
[...]
Despite his shoulder injury, Vainio has continued to train and coach at CrossFit Pori with just one arm.

“Fortunately, you can train hard in CrossFit even when one limb is out of the game,” Vainio says. “You just have to forget what others do in the gym and train your own way. I learned to make a lot of movements with one hand like snatches and wall balls, for example.”
[...]
For now, his top priority is full recovery. Once he starts two-armed, as prescribed CrossFit training, Vainio intends to rigorously maintain good form so he may last longer than one season.

“My recovery from the surgery is still in progress,” Vainio says. “When I will be OK, I will really focus on good technique, it will allow me to compete for a longer time.”

--
http://games.crossfit.com/article/rugby-legend-crossfit

In 2011, Knight dominated the thruster ladder, but her weaknesses showed with gymnastics and bodyweight movements. They have been the focus of her training leading up to 2012. Knight’s recent injuries have forced her to step back and really change her approach to training, putting emphasis on technique and flexibility.

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:

Someone needs to make a Crossfit Innsmouth: Forging Elite F'tagn tee shirt. I would totally buy one.

This.

Stillwater wrote:I see two contributing factors.

1. They don't lift heavy often enought to strenghen their connective tissue.

2. Da juice.

Due to a torn labrum in his shoulder, Chase Ingraham, affectionately known as Captain America, is sitting out for the 2012 season. Ingraham competed in the 2010 CrossFit Games the 2011 South Central Regional.

In 2009, Adriana qualified for the Games by placing 4th at the South East Regional. After the competition, she was taken to the hospital due to searing pain.

“I couldn't even take my shirt off, the pain and tingling in my arms was so bad,” Grassi-Mosley says

The diagnosis: hernias in her C4 and C5 and bulging discs in C5 and C6 that were pressing on her spinal cord. On top of that, the MRI found a labrum tear in her left shoulder and bone spurs, tendinitis, and bursitis in her right shoulder.

Her season was over. The neurologist also recommended she never compete again because it could lead to paralysis. It was the worst news for any athlete to hear, and Grassi-Mosley was crushed.

Fast forward to 2011. By taking a year off, undergoing therapy, and carefully monitoring her workouts, Grassi-Mosley was slowly able to get back into a routine. She hoped to participate on the CrossFit Hardcore affiliate team at the South East Regional. Going back to the Games was still a dream.

During the Open, she was experiencing pain and the real possibility that she would have to drop out hung over her. Team Hardcore’s chances were in jeopardy.

Enter Todd Collura, a certified specialist of Muscle Activation Technique (MAT). In Grassi-Mosley’s opinion, “he truly helped us with our recovery time and keeping us sharp during competition. We qualified 10th at the Games and I am honestly so happy about it. I went from the doctor telling me I will never CrossFit again to the world championships with the best teammates ever. I have been truly blessed.”

Steve Anderson, who won the men’s Masters 55-59 division in 2011, found out after an MRI during the first week of the Open, that he has a 360-degree tear of the labrum in his left shoulder.

CrossFit Teeside’s Lee Howe, would have been a serious contender this year had he not recently suffered a 12mm tear in his labrum. With surgery taking place at the end of March, he is out for this year’s Games season, despite that he managed to clock 138 burpees in 12.1 giving us a taste of what might have been.

Crust Bucket wrote:The only reason to comeback to this thread is to see if someone else was stupid enough to die doing this bullshit

BucketHead wrote:Or tits

Pukie: Brad,
If you don't understand how the perils of government intervention relate to the field of health and fitness, you must be historically illiterate.

For much of the 2011-12 offseason, Butler fought himself and fought too hard and too long in the gym. The result was an Achilles/calf injury and negative mindset that moved Butler to pull out of the Beast of the East competition last fall.

Last year, Beers was taken out of contention for an individual berth to the Games after rupturing her Achilles during the offseason. Remarkably, Beers was able to recover and join CrossFit Vancouver at the 2011 CrossFit Games Affiliate Cup. CrossFit Vancouver went on to finish midway through the pack, earning 19th place out of 43 of the world’s fittest teams.

Rawlings makes no predictions for the upcoming 2012 season, but, “If I can come back from a broken back, I can come back from a torn Achilles,” she says. “I will compete in the Open."

Fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in 2011, Beard is a rising contender in the South West men's bracket after placing second at both the Life as RX Chicago and Turkey Challenge in 2011, while benchmarking well at this year's Front Range CrossFit Winter 4-day Camp.

Her hard work and dedication paid off – even with an injured Achilles that dated back to before the Open even began. She suffered through box jumps in the Open and Regionals. In fact, after Open Workout 11.2, she was out of commission for almost five days. And after the Games, she experienced swelling and had difficulty walking. How did she get as far as she did? “You prepare your mind and it’s amazing what your mind can let your body do.”

Right now, her focus is on getting healthy and recovering fully. After trying many tactics, she finally found a chiropractor who was right for her – and she found him through fellow Games competitor Angie Pye who had a similar injury about eight years ago.

In 4th place is Robert Perovich, a 35-year-old athlete from CrossFit Fraser Valley who was in 22nd place with 85 snatches. In the 2011 Open, Perovich ruptured his Achilles during the second workout and had to pull out of the competition.

WildGorillaMan wrote:

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:Shoreline....never disappoints. I love those mouthbreathing, inbred, de-evolved fish fitness people.

Someone needs to make a Crossfit Innsmouth: Forging Elite F'tagn tee shirt. I would totally buy one.