This first in our series of skater blogs is from veteran Cincinnati Rollergirls blocker Karma Krash. Read on to find out how CrossFit took her to the next level as an athlete.
The off-season is always an exciting time for me as an athlete. It allows me time to miss the sport I love playing and the people I love seeing every week. It gives me the space to miss all the aspects that keep me involved in roller derby. Also, it seems, I have a history of making some of the best progress fitness-wise in the off-season.
In 2009’s off-season I was able to refocus my eating habits and lose more than 40 pounds (that’s my “before” photo to the left). In 2010’s off-season I was able to start “Power Pump” classes at our sponsor gym, Fitworks. This class introduced me to the benefits of adding weight training in your cross training program. It was amazing how the addition of weight training improved my speed and power on the track. The changes that I made in the off-season were not lost once the season started back up, and I was able to maintain the progress gained over our breaks. It just seems the time of rest away from derby is the catalyst to start the next level of training as an athlete. Maybe the extra time and energy I have in the off-season allows me to start these new habits that I am then able to maintain over the season. Whatever the rationale, the off-season always is a very productive time.
In the 2012 off-season, I think the biggest evolution in my off season training occurred with CrossFit. During that season, a local CrossFit box (which is lingo for a CrossFit facility) became a sponsor of the Cincinnati Rollergirls. CrossFit Cincinnati is a CrossFit box located on Montgomery Road near our after party sponsor, Molly Mallones. I was instantly intrigued. The description on their website of what CrossFit is sounded like a perfect cross training marriage for me:
“Much of what we do is based on functional exercises, executed at high intensity that are varied to the point of near randomness. Why? Our goal is to create people who are capable in ALL aspects of fitness. When the SEAL Teams and Special Forces adopt Swiss balls as a major tool to keep them alive when it counts, I will buy them. Until that time, we will do CrossFit.”
The workouts focus on all levels of physical fitness. I have to be strong, powerful, fast, agile, flexible, coordinated and have the endurance to be a badass on the track. The programming provided at CrossFit Cincinnati prepares me for this more than any other cross training method I have tried.
During my short time doing CrossFit I have improved my dead lift weight from 185 pounds to 255 pounds. Before I started, I couldn’t even clean a 45-pound bar, now I manage over 100 pounds. I can’t remember a time in my life I had been able to put much over 50 pounds over my head, and now I can push up around 115.
The strength improvements are easy to see and record, but the biggest changes are harder to measure. How I face challenges and obstacles has completely changed as well. It is no longer IF I can do it, but HOW can I break this challenge down and get it done. Not to mention the endurance, speed, agility and other benefits of the high intensity varied workouts.
I truly look forward to putting my new cross-training to the test and finding out how much it impacts my performance on the track. With 2013 being my last season with the Cincinnati Rollergirls, I have every intention on going out with a bang. I am confident the addition of CrossFit as a cross training tool can get me there. And as a bonus, I think I found my after derby retirement hobby.
-Karma Krash