Heels on the Box or Bust

Daily Archives | September 21, 2010 by | 102 Comments

joeisBUSTEDThe Box Jump standard: let’s talk about it. Or maybe I’ll just talk. Feel free to hum amongst yourselves.

Once upon a time, we rocketed off the box, toes barely touching, but making sure to open the hips somewhere above the box.

It was hard but not killer-ish, we felt like Superman, and we didn’t know any better.

Sometimes, we even had a sandwich in between reps.

(Not true. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Besides, it was really just some avocado and cashews.)

Then we decided to adopt the CrossFit Milford standard from the New England Sectionals: Heels totally on the box or get a “no rep” call.

Wow. That was a LOT harder. And we learned to swear a lot at CFM underneath our breath. (“We hate you, Jason Leydon. Redrum. REDRUM!”)

So, now we have the CrossFit Watertown standard: Heels totally on the box. And no, you cannot just step forward to make it count. Heels on the box when you land or it’s a do-over. It’s our standard for right now. That’s not to say that it won’t ever change in the future at some point (things in CrossFit tend to morph or evolve, along with human performance, as you may have noticed), but it’s our standard right now, right here, at this moment.

Why be so strict?

Why not?

Wouldn’t you prefer that you be held to a higher standard? That you be encouraged to do more, be more, accomplish more? That someone has the respect for you that they would encourage you — maybe even demand – that you perform to the uppermost of your capabilities? And then, when we give you a WOD where you can do the toe-touch boomerang bounce, guess what? You’re going to FLY through it like you’re Wonder Woman. (But please no costumes, not until Halloween. You know how that kind of weirds us out.) Or if you go to a competition and they use an easier standard, you’re going to eat up those box jumps (“Die motherf*****, DIE!”) because you’ve worked harder and done more all these months.

Higher standards are simply better. Aim low and you’ll achieve low. Set the mark to minimum so you can “do more” and you’ll always do less. Decide to “get by” and that’s exactly what you’ll do.

And getting by is just not good enough.

Character is forged here, right now, in these moments. In this gym. For workouts, for duty, for life. If you want the easy route and the low standards, go get ‘em. But you’ll have to leave here to do so.

There is one CrossFit Watertown standard: Excellence. Nothing less will do.

So get your heels totally on the box. I’m watching. You want me on that box, you need me on that box!

Oh wait, wrong movie. Never mind. Carry on.

(Words by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown.)

  • David

    Bam!

  • David

    I can’t believe that this post has been up for a couple of hrs and nothing from K.

  • David

    As for the post, now that I got the, hey look at me, I’m the first to post on the blog out of the way…I think holding oneself to a standard is the higher standard whether it’s toes on the box with open hip or heel all the way on. One way may be more difficult, but I don’t think it makes it a higher standard, just different. The heels on may make one a better toes on box jumper, just like lifting your hands off the ground on the bottom of a push up will ensure chest to deck. I know there are those who advocate, if you don’t get caught,then it’s not a foul. I try to hold myself to a higher standard. If I miss a rep, I do it over (most of the time), sure I’ll bitch and moan when you, or Melissa or one of the other Inquisitors says I didn’t get to the right depth or miss the rep, but I only count the work done. The movement standards are just the rules. Now if you wanted to get into a discussion about which standards are more functional…I do like the foot on the box, the whole foot and nothing but the foot.

  • David

    I could so easily get the most posts in a row.

  • David

    The heels on the box go round and round…

  • David

    Hello.
    Helllooo.
    I don’t think anyone is here.

  • David

    “once upon a time we rocketed” I wish! We should come up with some extra torturous standards, like the kettlebell, Russian- to parallel, Ameican- to vertical, CFW, bell to butt. We could add a hokey pokey to the box jump, that’s right, you turn yourself around.
    @Lis, maybe I should watch the Ted thing on sleep.

  • Rich

    @ Dave, decaf buddy!!!
    AHH Yes, standards (again) I like that the “standards” evolve. It’s a good measure of progress and challenges you every day.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    “The heels on the box go round and round”

    Ugh, I’m going to have that stuck in my head all day…

  • Lisbeth

    David, David, David . . .

  • jason leydon

    I have a crush on Lisbeth… just don’t tell Jocelyn (my wife).

  • Lisbeth

    Shhh. It’s our secret. Us and several hundred other people.

  • Rockstar

    Hey nice blof effort David, but I hold the record MUAHAHAHA! (evil laugh as rub my hand)

  • Rockstar

    just noticed Jason’s gravatar and it’s totally freaky…Is is a vampiric heart with smoking brain? A phantom with toothpicks and 3 hairs?

  • Rockstar

    Is Lis around?

  • Rockstar

    Cuz this could be fun

  • Rockstar

    She must be HQing

  • Rockstar

    Or maybe abducted by chinese trolls

  • Rockstar

    or bathing with her yellow rubber ducky

  • Rockstar

    or plotting on how to defeat her nemesis (me)

  • Rockstar

    or robbing a bank

  • Rockstar

    or painting her toe nails purple

  • Rockstar

    or practicing how to walk on stilletos

  • Rockstar

    that make me laugh just thinking about it

  • Rockstar

    David are you paying attention?

  • Rockstar

    Why do I enjoy hijacking blogs so much?

  • Rockstar

    Maybe I lacked nuturing when I was young

  • Rockstar

    I think my mom lactated me

  • Rockstar

    Or it might have been a jackall

  • Rockstar

    maybe that’s why I houl with full moons

  • Rockstar

    Love your picture tags Lis

  • Rockstar

    They are must reads like morning coffee.

  • Rockstar

    Must retreat now to have my slaves bathe me

  • Rockstar

    TATA you mortals

  • Rockstar

    Crap! I think I need 2 more to break my record

  • Rockstar

    And here it is…….

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    Jackie strikes again!

  • Lisbeth

    Chris, you’re doing the Lord’s work here.

  • melissa

    Heels on the box are WAY harder…but then again we are WAY more bad ass becuase we do it!…kinda like we are way stronger for running our 400meters up hill with a flight of stairs and a 100 meter hallway added to it!

  • Beery

    Lis, somehow I feel like I’m the inspiration behind this post. I think the heel on the box is not necessarily a harder standard, it just makes the movement more awkward to perform. In terms of Physics, you’re doing the same amount of work to propel however many inches up but when you have to put your whole foot on the box it makes getting back to the ground less precise and for myself, I find it harder to maintain a rhythm. I also find myself checking my heels to make sure I’m all the way on the box which only increases the awkwardness.

    @ Melissa – I believe there are 106 meters of hallway in addition to the 400 meter run but I’ll remeasure tonight because I’m not sure.

    Also, Nate totally rocked the Warrior Dash. 43rd out of 6200 on Saturday. Just to give some context to that: The list of results is 127 pages long and Nate is on page 1.

  • David

    24 in a row for rockstar.

  • David

    Very impressive

  • David

    Nice job N8

  • Lisbeth

    Actually, Barry, if power = force x distance, and your distance traveled is less because you land your feet on the edge of the box vs. the middle of the box, then you have used less power in the jump. Work performed and power output are two different things, of course. Maybe you’re content to just get the work accomplished but sacrifice power. I want work and I want power. I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now.

    Oh, sorry, I think I just channeled Freddie Mercury.

  • Lisbeth

    And a big Whoohooo! for Nate! Awesome showing at the WD!

  • Brian

    My turn David:

    This is a big topic for me because I have been working a lot of different techniques to try and improve my reps on box jumps and prepare for Fight Gone Bad.

    I like the full foot on the box thing because I am afraid I am going to miss the box and kill my shins when doing it any other way. The problems I have is that it makes it more difficult to get a rhythm going because of the dismount. The problem I see in our gym is that no one knows the standard of when you need to fully extend your hips. Can you extend you hips after you jump off or should we do it while we have our foot on the box? To me it makes a big difference when counting reps and getting a rhythm going.

    As for competition, sorry Lis but I don’t believe that you will be a better competitor because we believe our standards are higher. Box jumps for me are about stamina and technique. This goes for a lot of body weight movements we all do. If this was true we should all do dead hang pull-ups because they are harder right! If we only did dead hang pull-ups we would all get killed at any competition because we wouldn’t know how to kip. This was the case for us in Albany when our teams got killed on box jumps. None of us had the technique down like the other gyms.

    This should be a question going back to Crossfit HQ and why they don’t have written standards or guidelines for competitions or do they? Maybe we should have some simple guidelines written up for our gym so we can all reference them prior to doing a movement.

    I wish I could be happy just doing my own thing at Crossfit but the bottom line is that I am a competitive mother f*&^er and this is what drives me to go harder during our WOD’s.

  • Lisbeth

    Okay, Brian, let me take this one at a time:

    1.) The standard HERE is that your hips must be fully open at some point above the box. If you choose to do so while standing on the box, fine. If you want to open your hips as you propel off the box, that’s fine too. The standard is known by many at CFW — and now you know it too. :)

    2.) As for competition, it is the responsibility of your coaches to prepare you. Should they prepare you for slop and crap by doing slop and crap? That’s an excellent question. If you look at one of the Albany videos on FB right now, you’ll see a gal in the foreground with an above-parallel squat while Lindsey is in the background, going below parallel again and again. It’s costing her more time and more effort — and, if the interest is solely in winning, then yup she should have abandoned her standards and shorted that rep. But see, I’m old school and I don’t find honor in lower standards. But like I said up top, if that’s the game anyone wants, then there are other gyms out there. No hard feelings.

    3.) As for CFHQ, there are standards at the CF Games, which are put on by CFHQ. All other competitions are delegated to the affiliates. As affiliates (and not franchises) we enjoy a freedom to designate our own standards, as I’ve done above. Will this change in the future? If I was a betting person, I might say yes. That would seem some kind of evolution, but I don’t really know. See, Coach Glassman is a huge believer in free markets and very few rules. Anything could happen.

    4.) There are simple guidelines to the movements. The coaches go over them in every class when they go step by step through the WOD and demo each movement. Each and every class. If you’re in a class where that is not happening, PLEASE let me know so that can be remedied.

    5.) CrossFit is an evolving sport, an evolving business, an evolving movement. Things change. I’ve watched standards evolve and morph and whatever. That will continue to happen. We are so very young in this CrossFit movement — all of us, even the gyms from the very start. CrossFit Watertown was the 250th affiliate. We now have over 2000. I’ve been doing this for a while and if it’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that just as we think we have something set in stone, it changes again. That’s life in the CrossFit world. Expect the unexpected. That’s why I specifically mentioned that this is our standard, RIGHT NOW. Does that mean there won’t be class next week where all of a sudden Melissa tells you toe touches are okay? No. We might do that just to surprise you. But, for right now, if your heel is not fully on the box, after the coach told you — in that WOD explanation time during class — that the standard for the movement is heels on the box, then your rep doesn’t count. Of course, there’s going to be slop during fatigue. Of course there’s going to be perfect movement and horrible movement. That’s life. And CrossFit. I can’t guarantee that our standards are the exact same as another gym’s — in theory or enforcement — anymore that I can guarantee that my eye will catch the same movement flaws as Jen’s. But I can set a standard in my gym and that’s what I’ve done here.

    And written way too many words. Holy heck, where’s Freddie Mercury now?

  • beery

    I was ignoring horizontal movement just because I tend to land all over the place when i come off the box whether I’m doing full foot or just toes. Sometimes I’ll land 2 inches behind the box and sometimes 2 feet.

  • beery

    I wouldn’t mind never doing another box jump.

  • Lisbeth

    LOL

    I’d gladly trade 100 front squats for 10 box jumps.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    @beery: Then you might be a bit disappointed come Saturday morning.

  • K

    I hate box jumps.I do find landing with a full foot on box gives me less chance of “shorting” my jump and skinning my shins- that is what I have to say about that.

  • K

    also— HOLY SHIT NATE!! KICK ASS!!!

  • Rich

    All very good observations and Beery I have to agree with Lis, Full foot on the box as opposed to toes does increase the distance traveled buy the length of your foot. (In your case could be 10-15%?) assuming all other standards apply such as full opened hip at the top etc.
    Brian,I do agree that full foot on the box does make for a more difficult rhythm. Had we known the Albany standard in advance we could have “practiced” but then we would not have been at a Crossfit competition.
    I cant wait to see Lis’s response to “A List of Crossfit HQ Standards” I think I know how that will read!!! You are a competitive MF
    I couldn’t believe it when I saw N8 coming down the hill before the next wave went off. Amazing!!!

  • Lisbeth

    Rereading my comments, it occurs to me that I might come off a little strong (gee, what a surprise, Lis!) but that’s just me and life, I guess. It would be nice to have the absolute Book of Answers (which is already a prewritten blogpost and was already scheduled to pop up this week or next here) but we just don’t.

    I get what you’re saying, Brian. But I can’t control the others. I can only set the standard for my gym as I see it. And that will have to be enough.

    And I know Beery wants the box jump standard changed so he can rachet up his FGB score on Saturday. He’s been lobbying all week for it. But maybe that’s why God invented the asterisk?

  • Lisbeth

    Oh — and be prepared for more “fire in the hole.” There’s another blogpost I’ve been holding onto that will elicit gunfire. Might toss it on Thursday.

    Unless I learn to keep my mouth shut by then. But what fun would that be?

  • arell

    I think you are all nuts….

    And, Not that anyone cares, but I used the 20 inch box yesterday in the WOD for the first time… it made me go much slower, but I did it… go me.

  • David Kirk

    This second page of comments is devoid of Rockstar. It was devoid of me until now.
    @ Brian, The crossfit journal has an article that is the pre-read for the L1 cert. There is oodles of information on the various movement standards with pictures and diagrams.

    @ Lis, you come off strong? No way, refer back to your facebook thingy on judging oneself. Isn’t there some observer’s bias inherent in the judging. Just sayin’.

  • Rachael

    I love Barry’s constantly calculating brain.

    AND NATE IS SOSOSO AWESOME!

  • Lisbeth

    @ Arell: I’m proud of you!

    @David: Hmmm. I’m not sure but I think your merger of Facebook philosophical debate and CFW box jumps just caused a rip in time/space continuum. Nate may lose ALL his magical powers now. So long, 47th, hello 5,647th place.

    And the Atlanta Braves may never score another run.

  • Brian

    I am glad you defined the CFW standard. My suggestion is that we may want to put a small write up on the wall for all of the CFW standards. I wasn’t questioning that CFW should have the same standards as everyone else. In fact I am pretty old school myself and I never believe in lowering any standard to make things easier. I was pretty proud of our gym for doing the proper technique up in Albany. It really showed how well we are all coached. I’m not joking about this when I almost saw a few competitors kill themselves on ground to overhead.

    No hard feeling Lis. I am going to kick your butt on box jumps this weekend so go ahead and knock yourself out on the rowing machine. I also just met my goal of raising $1000.00 for the event and that is what is most important for this coming weekend.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    And somewhere… helium sits back and laughs.

  • ROCKSTAR

    @ Brian and Barry- pffft!
    @ David- Brotha I’m still here.

  • ROCKSTAR

    Oooh!
    Arell nice job sista!

  • ROCKSTAR

    My neighbor recently put up a mini version windmill that doesn’t require a permit

  • ROCKSTAR

    I hope it falls down and kills one of his obese dogs

  • ROCKSTAR

    Sorry..lost focus looking out the window

  • ROCKSTAR

    Lis if you need me to “soften” Brian just say the word

  • Brian

    @Rockstar

    I love windmills!!!

  • Brian

    I can’t wait for Thursday!

  • ROCKSTAR

    REDRUM

  • ROCKSTAR

    I can cut u up into little pieces and serve you as an appetizer…and no one would know

  • ROCKSTAR

    Just saying

  • ROCKSTAR

    Btw windmill can cause seizures and kill our natural habitat….pfft

  • Lisbeth

    Halt

  • ROCKSTAR

    Awww…mannnnn

  • ROCKSTAR

    Are you coming to play at 5pm?

  • Larry

    Actually, work = force x distance. Power = work / time. The foot on box standard increases work output slightly, but probably decreases power output substantially (the extra work done is more than offset by the longer time it takes to accomplish the movement).

    I don’t really know if one is “better” than the other. Are chest-to-bar pull ups better than chin-over bar? They certainly are harder. Is harder always better? Usually, it seems.

  • ROCKSTAR

    And windmills decrease property value…sorry Lis…have to put it out there

  • Larry

    Oh, and Nate IS awesome.

  • ROCKSTAR

    He is

  • lisbeth

    Lol Larry, sometimes I make things up in the heat of the moment! All I know is coke x bourbon = a good drink.

    Oh, and Mikey x WOD = Mr. Scary Face.

  • Joe

    Note to self…. Perform proper box jumps per CFW policy
    As not start trouble…

  • Joe

    Anyone know why my avatar is an amoeba in a tree.

  • Brian

    I’m putting a windmill up at our plant in Watertown because the goverment is going to give us a ton of money to do so. Anyone else want to invest.

    I’ll stop now!

  • kirk

    For what it’s worth, I thought we were three of only a handful teams at the Albany competition to actually do box jumps correctly, meaning hip extention above the box. The judging wasn’t as strict as it is in a sectional or regional and they even said so, but I was proud that we didn’t slack and do the BJ’s with a closed hip. I think we all saw a ton of that, but we kept on doing them correctly. And, I think our standard of full feet on box helped me a lot. I was a jumping maniac with only having to touch the edge of the box….I hadn’t gone that fast in a long time.

  • Lisbeth

    LOL This may have been one of our finest days in Comments. Love you all!

    Mmmm. My son just brought me espresso. Life is good.

  • Lisbeth

    Oh — and Brian. ;)

  • K

    @ Chris- lol that silly gas lol
    @Arell- CONGRATS!!! :)

  • melissa

    I say we keep this up just so we can hit 100 legit comments in one day! whoot!!

  • melissa

    Oh and Arell…you go girl!!

  • Lisbeth

    I will not shamelessly post a comment in order to reach 100.

  • Lisbeth

    No, I definitely won’t.

    Would anyone else take this vow with me?

  • ROCKSTAR

    @ Brian… I hope your company is willing to pay a lot of money for a windmill because they are not cheap…

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    I don’t believe in commenting.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    FunFact: The world’s largest wind turbine is now the Enercon E-126. This turbine has a rotor diameter of 126 meters (413 feet). The E-126 is a more sophisticated version of the E-112, formerly the world’s largest wind turbine and rated at 6 megawatts. This new turbine is officially rated at 6 megawatts too, but will most likely produce 7+ megawatts (or 20 million kilowatt hours per year). That’s enough to power about 5,000 households of four in Europe. A quick US calculation would be 938 kwh per home per month, 12 months, that’s 11,256 kwh per year per house. That’s 1776 American homes on one wind turbine.

    Source: metaefficient.com

  • Lisbeth

    Omg, Chris. Jackie is so going to kick your behind on Saturday.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    What? I thought we all wanted to learn!

  • Bobby

    The thread was about BJ’s I saw minimal if at all conversation about this very important topic. If anyone would like a BJ lesson/ demonstration with me one on one find me in Lis box.

  • http://howtolandajob.net Chris

    Triple digits!

  • Lisbeth

    Chris again with the save! (How else could you follow up Bobby’s post? LOL)

  • K

    OMG— Bobby— we overthink this shit sometimes…CFW’s slogan of the day: “BJ’s, Bobby knows”