Are wallballs safe?

[Ryan Jones]

I haven't been on the boards in a while but this is something I've been thinking of and I wanted to hear others' input. It seems to me that wallballs are unsafe and should be removed from Crossfit. They require the spine to be in a non-neutral position for the duration and I see no way to reconcile this with Crossfit's constant teaching that the spine should always be in a neutral position. Speaking from experience I know that after a workout such as Karen (150 wallballs for time) the part of me that is most sore is my neck.

So, tell me why I'm wrong, I kinda like wallballs, but I don't think we should be doing them.

[Rene Forestier]

Are you referring to craning the neck to look up?

Here is an MWOD where Kstar talks about it. (wfs) http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com/2010...ball-prep.html

[Ryan Jones]

Wow that was perfect, thanks! I think it'll be a little awkward looking up with just the eyes without craning the neck and it will definitely be harder standing further from the wall, but I'll have to try this next time wallballs show up. My neck thanks you.

[Mike Mallory]

It defintiely contributes to poor posture, but unsafe is a stretch

[Daniel Schmieding]

Mike,
I'd argue more people will develop good rather than bad posture by including Wall-Ball in their fitness.

[Mike Mallory]

Originally Posted by Daniel Schmieding

Mike,
I'd argue more people will develop good rather than bad posture by including Wall-Ball in their fitness.

eh, not my experience anyway

[Daniel Schmieding]

Reminds me of the "posture" in your profile picture right now =)

[Danny Sidebottom]

Not a fan of his wall ball suggestion. The 20# ball is going to drop down, from 10 feet, directly overhead. If someone were to miss the catch, that ball will crash down on top of the skull. Seems like those injuries would be more severe than a sore neck from looking up.

[Matt Payne]

Originally Posted by Danny Sidebottom

Not a fan of his wall ball suggestion. The 20# ball is going to drop down, from 10 feet, directly overhead. If someone were to miss the catch, that ball will crash down on top of the skull. Seems like those injuries would be more severe than a sore neck from looking up.

The ball wouldn't crash down and drop 10 ft because you are catching it just as you start to descend. Also a 20lb Dynamax or similar ball is unlikely to cause real injury ( they are pretty soft)......you also are catching it not directly overhead but slightly in front of you. I think you have a better chance of hurting your back loading plates on a barbell. ......in my opinion.

[Katherine Derbyshire]

How many wallballs are you people doing, anyway?

Yes, I can see how some people might have a stiff neck after something like Karen -- I personally don't -- but lots of Crossfit workouts cause temporary soreness. And then the next day you do different movements.

I don't see wallballs as being problematic unless you're doing huge numbers of them daily. But if you're doing huge numbers of wallballs every single day, there's something wrong with your programming.

Katherine