The search for the perfect movement

Martin Cross: Why did CrossFit become so important for you?
Erin Cafaro MacKenzie: For me, CrossFit helped me unlock my human capacity by teaching me better movement patterns.  When I joined the USRowing Team I was just a small skinny endurance based rower competing in the land of the giants.  I didn’t have any many gears, but I had a motor and would just motor through every workout and race at any cost. The cost usually came when I got injured at least once a season.  I thought that was just part of the natural progression of doing a specific sport and becoming a professional athlete. 

Even though I had some of the best rowing coaches in the world teach me how to row, I couldn’t seem to comprehend and apply their direction because I had a certain movement pattern engrained in the stroke over a million times and was so numbers hungry.   With CrossFit I started to understand those shapes and movements I used in the boat were not transferable or safe to replicate while picking up a bar or even throwing around my own bodyweight.  I had to relearn how to stabilise in order to move more weight in the gym and this in turn helped me realise how to stabilise and be in a better position in the boat and on the erg. 

MC: When and how did this happen?
ECM: In 2006 and 2007, I was in the women’s four – a non-Olympic boat. I was on the cusp of making an Olympic boat in the Olympic year. So in the fall of 2007 I had a ‘come-to-Jesus’ moment and realised: ‘I’m not going to make the US Olympic team if I continue to do what I’m doing.’  ‘Doing’ in that sense meant just continue to grind and add more volume and metres to the already heavy training plan.  I always felt like I had to row more and work harder than everyone else because I drew the genetic short straw in the height category.  I came to a point where I realised my extra efforts only gave me incremental gains not to mention a lot of pain. That was when I went looking for another solution.

MC: So what did you do?
ECM: My brother introduced me to Kelly Starrett. He really understands human movement. Whenever I was home for holiday I would spend every day working with him.

 MC: So what was it that he tried to correct?
ECM: What he saw was that I had no spinal integrity or ability to transfer power from my feet to the handle.  I was in an amazingly horrible ‘C’ position with my butt tucked under and my shoulder rolled forward. Not so ironic that I had multiple broken ribs and low back pain.  He showed me that the rowing movement is not an anomaly.  That the same positions and movement rules apply to every other training modality from running to lifting a weight to even just picking something up off the floor. 

MC: How quickly did things change for you?
ECM: With the consistent help I was getting from my brother and Kelly, it was a pretty quick turn-around.  My progress was especially apparent in our pair’s matrix-races.. It didn’t seem to matter who I was put with, I was able to get the most out of my pair partner and also finish in the top group consistently. But it’s not a straight Cinderella story. I do have a tendency to overdo things. In April 2008 I broke a rib – I think I was in a better position but still not in a great position especially when I got tired. It was super nerve-wracking because I wasn’t able to do the selection regatta for the Olympic team. My prior performance helped me get a seat race to earn a spot in the 2008 women’s eight.  But my injury taught me a really valuable lesson: even if you are doing well you have plenty more to learn and a lot more capacity to tap into. That is ultimately the reason I came back for 2012 Olympics.

 MC: What did you do while you were injured that helped you get back into the boat and make the 2008 Team?
ECM: I knew my best hope of making the team was in bow seat of the women’s eight. I think the bow seat is what makes a truly fast boat. The bow has to be super skilled and extremely dynamic in order to get a grip and add to the momentum of the boat.  When I was injured, I applied my knowledge of different CrossFit exercises to replicate that explosive endurance in circuits that would help me add to my value in the boat. 

 MC: And that set you up for that amazing double in the 2009 World Championships – what part did CrossFit play for you up to 2012?
ECM: I felt after 2008 I was just scratching the surface.  In 2009 I was paired up with Susan Francia and even though we looked like the odd couple we were able to match up and win the women’s pair for the first time in US History.  We also got to double up in the women’s eight.

But I was humbled again with injury in the summer of 2011 and wasn’t able to compete in the 2011 World Championships because of two broken ribs – one on each side. I think it was a well timed wake up call. I was doing more of everything again and moving sloppy again. Fortunately Kelly connected me with my future husband, Brian MacKenzie who’s also happens to be a movement coach and a nutritional guru. He helped me hone in my movement patterns again and an understanding of recovery and nutrition. I increased my dietary fat intake and worked on understanding the influence of true rest and recovery. I added in more coconut, avocado, olives, and nuts to my diet rather than sugars.  And for me that combination was the golden ticket for 2012.

 MC: What happened after that?
ECM: I got to row with Elle [Logan] most of 2012.  Hands down one of the most talented athletes I’ve ever rowed with. Tom (coach Tom Terhaar) made the decision for us to do the women’s eight to have the best chance to defend the gold medal (which they did).  

MC: What’s your advice for any rower thinking of taking up CrossFit?
ECM: Working with any good movement coach, whether it’s in CrossFit or a private gym or even a physical therapist would help any rower.  It is such an opportunity to help you understand your own body, its movement and its genetic potential. Most of the breakthroughs in my technique came in the gym. The coach would say ‘use your hips, use your hips’. And I would think back to how I would pick up a heavy bar to activate my hips. In the gym you get the chance to re-wire a new neural pathway that will help you move more effectively in the boat. Ultimately, we think CrossFit is a great diagnostic tool.

The true benefit I’ve found (from trial and error) comes from nailing down the best biomechanically efficient movement patterns and practicing them in different modalities to help you with your sport.  That doesn’t sound sexy but it is pretty damn sexy when you cross the finish line first.