Muscle Failure, Road Burn and a JackAss

So people keep talking about muscle failure. It is very sick, but I was jealous that I was not achieving muscle failure. I think maybe I thought I wasn't working hard enough. I like to work hard it makes me feel strong. So anyway, muscle failure is when your muscles say WTF I don't think so in the middle of some activity you are doing repeatedly. I hit muscle failure the other day. We were doing "dyanmic" push ups - seriously I think there is a better name, maybe you are effing crazy push ups - and I couldn't push myself up anymore. I mean like really, my head said come on Melinda - woman up and do it - and my body said I don't think so. It was pretty cool. I think this has happened lots of times during my cfit time, but I just didn't know it had a name. So is this a good thing or bad thing? Does it mean you are reaching the target you are supposed to reach? I don't know, but it did make me feel slightly bad ass.

So back to those freakin dynamic push ups - I still do pushups on my knees for the most part because I can get the full range of motion this way. I practice during my warm up doing big kid push ups, but never really do I do them in a WOD. Anywho - the dynamic ones you had to push yourself off the ground once you push up. I don't know where my head was this day. I couldn't do simple math calculations to figure out 80% of my deadlift, couldn't get my station set up - does this happen to you guys? Just sort of mentally check out a crossfit? Sometimes I feel like an idiot - like I checked my brain cells out at the garage door. Sorry - back to the push ups. So I decide I'm going to do the dynamic push ups on the black mat, on my knees. I practiced during the warm up - no probs. About half way through the first round, my knees were like hello, whats going on. Second round - knees were saying we don't think this was a good idea. By the last round, knees said you dumb ass you are going to pay.

Pay I did. 'Member road burn when you fell off your bike or fell down roller blading. You don't do that either? Damn - guess I'm clumsy. Well, I got road burn. Bad. On both knees. So I get home and check it out a little closer. There are pieces of black mat in there. And hair. EWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Out comes hydrogen peroxide into the wound. First pour - not so bad. I guess it took just a few seconds for the pain to reach my brain - I blacked out a little and saw stars and wavy lines. I mean, holy hannah - it was rough. Its still rough several days later. And painful doing nothing. And hard to explain to dirty minded party goers when you are wearing a skirt. But I digress... So the moral is, set up and forethought are important aspects of crossfit - don't you think? Example: lifting - a strong set up can make the difference between success vs. failed attempt. Same thing with what Dunsey says about thinking about how long it might take you - set it up in your head. Mentally prepare. Also, I must do real push ups now.

Finally, good people of bullcitycrossfitters, I leave you with a tale of the jackass. Now most people at crossfit durham are wonderful, kind, supportive badassess. They support you on your OWN journey to being a badass. But occasionally, you come across an ass who thinks his journey is more important or more badass. I do substitutions, I scale and I am totally OK with that. I want to ask the jackass who makes snide remarks and jokes about those that scale - did you walk before you crawled? Well if you did, then you are just a real badass and I will eat my words. But if not, get over yourself and support your fellow badasses wherever they may be on their journey. We'd really rather you be a BADass than a JACKass.