bcpriess

I've been doing some variation of HIIT for the past year or so in addition to cycling aiming for about 7 hours of vigorous activity every week. Recently I began to do 80 full burpees (squat, kick, pushup, jump), and started having lower back pain. Combined with cycling, it was making my lower back ache all the time. I've determined the reason was poor form. I was being way too sloppy with my hips during the kick and jump. I've been building back up with proper form, which is way harder, but ultimately less painful. Also being mindful to control and stabilize my core posture while riding. It seems to be working. Kind of a heads up for anyone that might be doing something similar. Slow down and focus on good form. Seems obvious in retrospect.

BicycleThesis

It takes time to build up to being consistent at crossfit. Crossfit is very hard on your body if you are doing it multiple times a week. Keep working on your form and the aches and pains should start to go away. Keep after it though!

livedarklions

I've come around to the idea that because bodies come in all shapes and forms, some exercises are not going to be a fit for everyone. There are exercises that I cannot achieve good form on without feeling huge amounts of discomfort and pain. I've come to the conclusion that that's my body telling me to do something else. Not being a bodybuilder, I don't have to worry too much about things like symmetry for esthetic reasons.

woodcraft

Not often seen in Crossfit IMO.

I had a similar experience doing ashtanga yoga- those repeated up & down dogs irritated my lower back.

bcpriess

I have been doing a group of 4 or 5 20 minute HIIT workouts. The burpee one goes like this:

1) pullups for 30 seconds
2) 60 jumping jacks as fast as possible*
3) 20 burpees as fast as possible.
4) rest 60 seconds
5) repeat 3x for a total of 4 sets

* I always take this to have a corrolary, being "without causing or contributing to injury"

This looks easy on paper, but it's super exhausting, when you do it only with about 5-10 seconds between each activity, which you use to kind of reset your stance. I'd been doing this with squat-kick-jump burpees, and it was a couple months or so ago that I introduced the pushup in the middle of the burpee. Which makes it significantly harder. I can do the "easy" burpees pretty fast and without pain, but the pushup requires a real attention to form, which I think is probably worthwhile because it enforces a better posture.

I usually follow this up with a second and third group of HIIT targeting different muscles. I do the bodyweight HIIT stuff twice a week, and it always leaves me out of breath each set. I'll follow that up with about an hour of cardio - usually running/jogging 6-7mph. Then do longer bike rides (35-40 miles) a couple times a week. Maybe a session of sprinting if I want to layer on the unpleasantness.