tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48586814624408441892024-02-19T06:16:27.013-05:00River City Physical CultureKettlebells, strength training, crossfit, Olympic weightlifting and grappling in Richmond Virginia!Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.comBlogger322125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-31277060960445025772014-10-05T20:08:00.001-04:002014-10-05T20:10:01.653-04:00The Next Cycle of Strongman Off-Season Done Right<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you want to be the best, you have to pay the cost to be the boss</div>
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I thought I'd lay out everything you need to know about the next 12 weeks of our off season.</div>
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First off, it's 12 weeks long. There are three important components: The deadlift progression, and how to manage your squat/press training routine volume and intensity changes over time.</div>
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Deadlift: <a href="http://tsampa.org/training/scripts/coan_phillipi_deadlift/">the Coan-Phillippi deadlift cycle</a> is exactly 10 weeks long (sorta). </div>
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Week one, we do no deadlifting.</div>
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Week two we start.</div>
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Week 11 we finish.</div>
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Week 12 we retest our max.</div>
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I recommend you start the program with a 'current max' about 5-10% less than where you really are, and set the target to at least 5% over where you are, but no higher than 10% greater than your all time best. </div>
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Squats and Presses: Unless you know something I don't know, we're doing back squats and strict presses. There are two phases to this: A volume accumulation, and an intensity accumulation.</div>
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Our traditional protocol is the following:</div>
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Monday = Volume = 5x5 at 80% of 5RM</div>
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Wednesday = De-load = 2x5 at 80% of volume load (or 64% of 5RM)</div>
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Friday = Intensity = 5RM training (increasing over time hopefully)</div>
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The first 4-6 weeks of this off-season will be "Volume Accumulation" (VA). VA will look like this: </div>
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Monday = Volume = 5x5 at ~ 75% of 5RM</div>
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Wednesday = De-load = 3x5 at 75% of Volume</div>
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Friday = Intensive Volume = 3x5 at ~85% of 5RM</div>
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The reason the intensity says "~" is because I think it's better to assign your starting loads based on not on an exact percentage, but rather where you left off with your best 5RM performance in our first 12 weeks of offseason, and where you want to get to in your 3x5 fridays before you switch over to your 1x5 fridays. Basically, if you are going to have 5 weeks of VA, you want the last one to be 5-10# less than your best ever 1x5 (approximately; I was so bad at strict presses that I worked up to 5# more than my best 5RM ever for 3 sets before I even switched to 1x5s), which you would go for in the following week as you switch to Intensity Accumulation (IA). </div>
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Intensity Accumulation (IA):</div>
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Example: I pressed 75x5 and squatted 200x5 on my last run up, where do I start, what do I plan to do? </div>
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Well, if I have 5 weeks to go up to about 70 for 3x5, or maybe even 73/75, then I want to start about 4-5 steps back from there. If I am making 2-3lb jumps, or using kg weights, I would start with something like 63 for 3x5, and each week go up, so 65, 68, 70, 73 for 3x5 would be my fifth and final week. Week six, I would attempt 75x5, and the following weeks I would do 78, 80, 83, 85 etc. </div>
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The same ideas would apply to the back squat: I want to get to 190/195 for 3x5, so I set up my first week about 5 steps back, ie 175. Then I do 180, 185, 190, and 195 on week five. The following 5 weeks I would go up from 200, 205, 210, 215 and finally 220 for 1x5. </div>
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The template for the weeks looks like this:</div>
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Monday = Volume = 5x5 at 80% of friday target</div>
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Wednesday = de load = 80% of Monday for 2x5</div>
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Friday = Intensity = 1x5 at 5RM</div>
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A suggestion: each 1-2 weeks, drop a set from volume day, ie week 1 do 5 sets, 2-3 do only 4 sets, and weeks 4-6 only 3 sets on Monday. IA should be about getting the weights up, not the tonnage. It should feel like a peak on a pyramid, the base of which was all those sets you did in the first 6 weeks of VA. </div>
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A final note: choose no more than 2 assistance exercises per day. I think that 3-4 for the week is fine, and I think it's possible to choose only one or two that are really important to you and repeat them. Make sure they are relatively simple, single joint, bodybuilding type exercises mostly, with relatively light loads most of the time. They should not be taxing, simply helpful to bringing up your weakest points. If you are training longer than 75 minutes with any regularity, you are doing it wrong, and I want to help you fix it.</div>
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Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-76557116160061489992014-05-20T11:44:00.002-04:002014-05-20T11:44:46.389-04:00Overview of Program leading to Regionals<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Phases</b></div>
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Off-season</div>
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Pre-season</div>
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Taper/Competition</div>
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<b>Descriptions</b></div>
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Off-season: The main goals will be to increase 1RM on big lifts (C&J, Snatch, squats, presses, deadlift) as well as to increase cardiovascular fitness generally. Bring up weakpoints. </div>
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10 weeks of GPP (through July 7th)</div>
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10 weeks of Crossfit Specific GPP (through September 15th)</div>
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Pre-season: 16 weeks, transitioning towards increasing 1RM in O lifts only, increasing volume in Crossfit training, then intensity>density in Crossfit training</div>
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Competition: February 10th or so, 2015 Open</div>
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<b>Offseason Specifics</b></div>
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Weak points? </div>
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Longer duration, lower intensity cardio. Deadlifts at higher weights/frequencies.</div>
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Unpracticed skills:</div>
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Burpees, double unders, wall balls, T2B, chest to bar, handstand walk, kipping dips, rope climbs, bar muscle ups, pistols</div>
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Weeks 1-10 (til July 7th)</div>
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Do the gymnast at least 3 days per week, include as many under practiced skills above as possible</div>
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Do the endurance class every week</div>
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complete the two cardio workouts each week</div>
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Do barbell AS RX'd, including Saturday</div>
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Weeks 11-20 (July 14th through September 15th)</div>
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Do barbell 4 days per week, all am sessions</div>
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Augment barbell as follows: weeks 11-15, do 4 sets of squats, one extra set of primary lifts</div>
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weeks 16-20 do 3 sets on volume, do 2-3 extra sets on primary</div>
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Do endurance class on Tuesday night</div>
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Weeks 11-15 add Level 2 WODs on Wednesday night and Saturday mornings</div>
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Weeks 16-20 add Friday night Level 2 as well</div>
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During the strength portion of Level 2 classes you will practice a 'pet lift' or the gymnast. You will typically rotate two pet lifts. </div>
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Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-81362745303042903182014-04-28T13:40:00.000-04:002014-04-28T13:40:27.409-04:00Energy System Development<div style="text-align: center;">
Starting this week, we will begin to implement supplemental work to develop mostly aerobic performance. The assumption is that it's been a long time since most of you did this, so there is an initial period of building up volume before moving on to speed and density. </div>
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Along with the assumption that it's been a long time since you did any serious cardio training goes the assumption that you may have poor running technique/economy, and that you may be vulnerable to injury if you try to do what I believe will be required to accumulate the stress required to adapt to this training. Essentially, you can't start running ten miles if you don't know how to run. To this end, it's my earnest belief that you need to get in to Matt's endurance class immediately, and you need to make it a part of your weekly routine, until you feel that you run perfectly (ie you will never quit). </div>
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There will be one running based workout, utilizing your 3 mile run time, and one rowing based workout, from your 2000m test, that you will perform each week. Again, I want you to do Matt's endurance class, I want you to do one rowing workout, and I want you to one running workout per week. To condense this schedule, I strongly encourage you to do your rowing workout within the latter half of endurance class. He already knows you have additional ESD programming, and will allow you to do that instead of what he has planned for the rest of the group. That would make Tuesday night "cardio night" and you could complete your running workout on Friday after barbell or on Saturday or Sunday. </div>
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One final thought: I am not nearly as experienced in designing ESD work as I am at designing strength programs, and as such I am not 100% confident that this program is designed as effectively as it could be. Because of this, I want to observe AT LEAST your first session. Come to the gym to perform these workouts, and record splits based on watts or times according to the workout being performed so that you can tell me or show me exactly how you performed THROUGHOUT the session.</div>
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REVIEW or TL/DR:</div>
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Do Matt's endurance class every week</div>
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Do rowing on Tuesday night (during endurance class), or Wednesday (after barbell)</div>
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Do running workout Friday (after barbell) or Saturday</div>
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Do the first week or two at the gym, under mine or Matt's supervision</div>
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Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-77787515594572707552014-02-27T13:20:00.002-05:002014-02-27T13:20:28.292-05:00General Plan for Competitive Exercisers<div style="text-align: center;">
Team Members:</div>
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This is a new endeavor for Full Circle. Never before have we had clients/members who wished to dedicate their energy completely to competing in Crossfit.</div>
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That being said, this is now and shall remain (probably forever) an experimental process. Crossfit has evolved a lot in the last few years, and I am sure will continue to do so. Likewise, you will evolve and what you are capable of doing and what you require to be successful will also change.</div>
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So, I say this to let you know: I don't have all the answers. We'll figure some of it how together. I definitely lack certain skills (double unders), but that doesn't mean I don't understand the training process nor does it imply that I don't have a plan to offer. </div>
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When Drew and JT began the affiliate league, they were both coming straight out of barbell. Their 'cardio' was, relatively speaking, at an all time low. They hadn't done much in the way of wall balls or kipping pull ups in some time. And they placed modestly at best in the first few weeks. Yet, week after week they got better, and eventually they completed Jackie in 7+ and 6+ minutes respectively, giving them a title shot. That title shot entailed hitting a god awful number of reps at 70-90% of all the contestants 1RMs in a number of related lifts (deadlift, squat clean, lunge). I believe this contest clearly illustrated the difference between Drew and JT's well developed, disciplined approached to basic strength movements. Though all the contestants could hit the numbers once, only Drew and JT could keep doing it over and over again. That's what it takes: CONSISTENCY and EFFICIENCY. </div>
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Consistency, Power, Efficiency and Capacity. </div>
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The only environment that will ensure your consistency and power is Barbell. Only there will you complete a clean, jerk, squat and press all three days with heavy loads, week in and week out. Hence, the backbone of our school of competition is BARBELL. </div>
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Level II is where I want you to learn efficiency: get good at repeating reps with little wasted time or effort. Develop additional techniques, and begin to accumulate volume. This is where capacity is developed. </div>
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Here's the plan: Get back in to barbell. If you are doing only barbell, I don't care if it's AM or PM. But eventually the plan is barbell + L2 WODs, so eventually it will have to be Barbell at 6:00am, then WODs in the evening. I want to you to attend nothing but barbell until you regain your old 5RMs, probably 3-5 weeks. After that point, we will begin to tweak the barbell template to make it less fatiguing and you will begin to add WODs to your week. Start with Saturdays, then Tuesday nights. Monday Nights, then Tuesday mornings. Possibly Thursday mornings, we'll try it out, but I think we should save Thursday for rest, and Sunday too. Saturday we'll go two a days eventually as well. I will work with all of you to develop competition specific practices that you can do instead of power cleans and push press and squats at the beginning of regular L2 classes. I will also work with you on additional capacity work with the prowler and the Concept 2 ergometer. </div>
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I know you have a lot of questions. We'll keep the conversation going in our Facebook group. </div>
Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-77751576565101578512014-01-06T21:50:00.000-05:002014-01-06T22:06:12.392-05:00I Been Playing This Tune For Some Time Now<div style="text-align: center;">
I like Ronda Rousey. </div>
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Secret's out. </div>
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<a href="http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/01/ronda-rousey-americas-hope-for-olympic.html">http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/01/ronda-rousey-americas-hope-for-olympic.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-ronda-post.html">http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-ronda-post.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/07/ronda-rousey-orgasmic-sneezer.html">http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/07/ronda-rousey-orgasmic-sneezer.html</a></div>
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These are from about 6 years ago when she was working her way up to the 2008 Olympics, in which she won bronze. She won Silver in the World's in 2007, and several medals of varying colors at Junior Worlds prior to that. </div>
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She had the distinction of being the youngest judoka in her first (of two) Olympic appearances, at the tender age of 17. </div>
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People who say she is a bad person know about 10 weeks of her life. People who think she didn't earn a shot at Strikeforce know less than 10 months of her life. </div>
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People who have actually studied Judo and BJJ for more than 5 years seem to mostly know her history and respect her abilities. Those with higher level athletic experience have a much more realistic interpretation of what others view as her 'personality'. </div>
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If you think that Rousey lacks 'class' and is 'too confident/cocky' I think you should make sure you just don't think women should be strong or assertive first before you make a specific claim about one whose shoes you have not (and sorry, but could not have) walked in.<br />
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The reality is that she competed at the highest level of women's fight sport: Olympic Judo. In 2004, there's wasn't anything with more women from more countries competing harder. Wrestling and boxing are close, but not as big as Judo (FOR WOMEN). There are countries like Russia, France and Japan that can field 6 women, any of whom could slam you on your head, crush you to death just long enough for you to beg them to armbar you, and Ronda beat most if not all of them pretty handily. Strikeforce in 2012 had like 10 women, many of whom took up MMA as a hobby in adulthood. Ronda's fiercest competitor to date has been Miesha Tate, who's greatest accomplishment seems to be to have prolonged her beating for about 11 minutes longer than anyone else has. Ronda will be on top for a while, because no other woman in MMA has gone through the crucible that she has to arrive here.<br />
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For those of you who think she's a bad role model, just think of this: Your daughter may one day grow up, and she may want to pick a career path, and you may likely NOT wish that it were MMA. However, she could have a viable career in MMA, making a comfortable living. She can thank Ronda for that. Before Ronda, all the nice girls of Strikeforce were going to wait nicely until they were blue in the face, or more realistically 35 years old and out to pasture, before they ever (IF) got a shot in the UFC. Less than a year before Dana gave Ronda a belt, he stated publicly that UFC/Zuffa wasn't interested nor was the viewing public.<br /><br />THEN THEY SAW RONDA ROUSEY.<br />
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Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-62506629724442454522013-11-20T14:30:00.000-05:002013-11-20T14:30:00.036-05:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Building Up My Stones</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwUS1J3FGbzVo_emSi3-t4d8QvpXm68yDqgnqt2BysgjaVVJMU_eM1DmtwOKkTOayAzRyWM0pMhTCXhT-bKzw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Though not technically weightlifting, I think I will be adding in some strongman movements to my template, in place of pure weightlifting movements. </div>
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Right now, I am thinking stones and axles because I have them. I am working on doing 'flights' of stones, and that seems to be going well. I have a lot of smaller stones at my gym (Crossfit gym) so it's a nice start now that we have a 56" platform (it feels SO high). I started with 114/142/157 to 56"/52"/46" respectively, and did five sets. I completed all the sets pretty easily. Needless to say, going up to 142/157/175 was a big jump. 30 extra pounds up there at 56" is tough. So I did 3 flights of that set up. Each week I will do another, when I complete 5 straight through with no trouble, I will go up again (157, 175 and something heavier). Right now we have a 175 and 307. Not ready for the 307 just yet (and it's not going to be real soon). Found a guy on craigslist that's not far away that sells stones pretty cheap, so probably just going to buy a few of his, and hope to snag something low 200's, and mid 200's.</div>
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I have been doing max effort work on 'special exercises', and doing volume work on the power clean and jerks (from all positions). So, I hit 68k on the tall snatch on my first day back, then I did 64x3, then 68x2, so was hoping for something 71k+. I got 70 pretty easy, even with a poor foot placement. So was sure that I could do 72/73. Felt ballsy, so went for 73. Missed it 3 times and quit. 70k it is. If I can tall 70, I am hoping that I can pull at least 77k from the floor, but I am really hoping for more like low 80's. </div>
Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-6857051143076454842013-11-20T12:30:00.000-05:002013-11-20T12:30:03.143-05:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Some cleans and Front Squats</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/79889032">https://vimeo.com/79889032</a></div>
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These lifts were a couple of weeks ago. I was attempting to use the jerk boxes for a 'tall' position with no counter movement in the clean. What I discovered was that all that additional front squatting was quite fatiguing.</div>
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Next are the power cleans. I established a conservative 3RM in the power clean several months ago (~75k) and have tried to add a kilo every 2-4 cleaning sessions (every other week). I was hoping to get to 100k x 3 before the end of the year, but so far I am only at 89k, and 90 is later this week I believe. So, I have time to get close (93-95k) but not quite make it. </div>
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The last part of the video is the front squat. I feel like my feet are too externally rotated, and I need to work on bringing the toes in and using my hips better. I have tweaked the set up (turned the feet in) on cleans, snatches and front squats, and I am working on doing all of them pretty much the same. At the Don McCauley workshop, one of the assistant coaches suggested that my starting stance for cleans and snatches was too narrow, but they didn't offer much guidance on what they thought should determine the starting stance width. </div>
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Shortly after this video I did 220 x 5 (was having a good day) and it went really easily. Last week I did 230 x 5 and it was definitely pretty tough, but no form breakdown except my thoracic and elbows. If I can front squat 100kg for five, I better be able to power clean it soon. </div>
Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-75681909679381282702013-10-20T21:28:00.000-04:002013-10-20T21:28:08.461-04:00A few more weeks along<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzunkx61vvIZGFVjGRIsmS5krVjSFCoH7L3umQ7jeylB1JLQgFD7-yY51E1nmJSfrz2Z6B0VNTKIBi7vK9f0w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I been working more on the o lifts, as I stated in my last post. Things feel like they are going along pretty nicely.<br />
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I have been working triples in the front squat and in the power clean twice a week, and doing light cleans on the minute the other days, as well as strict presses. It would make more sense to work more on push presses, but I have a terrible strict press and I want to raise it badly.<br />
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The video above is a work set of light cleans (135#), followed by my first sets of a power clean and split jerk. As you can see in the video my feet are turning out on both sides. Maybe that's some flexibility lost, maybe that's something I can cue myself out of. In the third set you can see that I am talking to someone off camera, and he's telling me my feet are out. The next set I willed my feet straight and the jerk was much more stable. I think that's 80kg. The next lift was high hang snatches, with 52kgs. I was doing doubles from the tall with considerably more weight the prior week. Next week I may try some lifts from blocks instead of from a hang and see how that feels. The final video is my 3RM front squat set, which is at 250#. This is up from the 225 starting point. I went 235, 240 (tough), 245 (only hit 2) to 250 this week (fuck it).<br />
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While I am pleased that I hit my target 3RM this week, I am little bummed to think that a 3RM is probably comparable to ~90% of 1RM, ie 250x3=275x1, a lift I have already accomplished. I will be doing full cleans and snatches next week or the week after, and I will be doing very heavy jerks from behind the neck soon too, which should give me a great opportunity to work on that stability.Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-81600880537770853622013-10-04T12:39:00.000-04:002013-10-04T12:39:28.608-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwBhScuZWXbPoz18nxEnO1fKilWWRXzgOYOzgGK6UI9R5F9X5o-YDre6gla9RdTuEUGWzmP2oVRE6lgRDr8zg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Well, I been doing a lot of squats. I was having some issues with my shoulder, so I decided to pursue something simple, like a 5x5 type program with just squatting.<br />
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There were months when I worked on strict press, push presses and bench, but never for long stretches of time. I did do a lot of work on pull ups, and made some solid progress on dips. Glute-Ham raises and hip thrusts were done extensively as well.<br />
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When I started, I was about 180lbs, I weighed in at 194 the other day. My previous best back squat had been 325, and I think I did 295-305 for seven once. I started last summer at about 235 as a peak set amongst lighter ones. A few weeks in to this training I discovered the Texas Method as promulgated by 70'sBig.com and began following it pretty closely. I made a few mistakes early on, and as such, I would advise you to buy the e-book before embarking on a similar journey, it's totally worth it.<br />
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Once I got in to the TM groove, I think I started with about 275x5 as my 5RM. The first cycle I walked that all the way up to about 315. So that was 5 pounds a week for about 8 weeks. Then I started to have trouble, so I took a month off. Big mistake. Don't do that.<br />
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Once I started back up, I had to regain some lost ground, and I think I began with 285x5, but jumped by tens for the first 2-3 weeks. I think I took it all the way up to 330x5, 335x5. Something like that. My 5RM went up about 60lbs in a year. I did 350x3, and 365x1 before deciding after about 15 months I needed to switch it up a little.<br />
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Last week was my first week back at weightlifting. I set a 3RM of 225 in the front squat, and I have been practicing 3RM power cleans for a few weeks already. I got stuck once or twice at 85-86kgs, but I feel like I did really well in the video above with 87. My old Tall Snatch PR was 66kgs, and I did 67kgs with about 5 minutes of warm. For clarity, I have been wide stance, chuck taylor wearing, going to parallel power-lifter back squatting, and NOTHING else for almost a year and half. And I hit a snatch related PR on my first day back. No one to blame but strength for that one. My jerks are way shaky, and I know it's going to be a bumpy road when I start doing more full cleans and snatches, but so far so good! I am looking forward to front squatting over 250x3 in less than a month.<br />
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Dan John and several other coaches have mentioned the idea that if you can front squat it for a triple, you should be able to clean it. So, if I can power clean 90 for a triple, and front squat 110+ for the same, I should be squat cleaning 100-110 very soon, and maybe I can snatch 80+ soon too. Yay!<br />
<br />Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-42517885205274413892012-05-03T18:26:00.001-04:002012-05-03T18:26:47.959-04:00Don't go against millions of years of evolution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently a friend on facebook shared a link to this article series: </div>
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<a href="http://whole9life.com/2012/04/the-whole9-five-movement-series-part-2/">Five Movements</a></div>
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It's hosted by my good friends Dallas and Melissa of Whole 9, but it features guest spots from some great coaches. There's a short bio for many of them, but suffice it to say that several (Dan John, Eric Cressey, Greg Everett, Michael Rutherford) have either decades of experience or several published works or both. There's some heavy hitters in there!</div>
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I shared this piece on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CrossfitFullCircle">Full Circle facebook page</a> and it received not a single comment. Not one. To be honest, this troubled me quite a bit. Not only are there several awesome contributors, but it's not every day that you can glean this much info (give me your top five, GO!) in this short a period of time (I said five, not six!), from such a collection of diverse but unquestionably highly qualified experts. </div>
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So here I am, thinking this article is totally profound, what if I had read this in 2000? It's helping me be self-reflective about our programming for group training, and how what I want for my clients aligns with or conflicts with the demands of a group setting or teaching to the Crossfit. I am doing some soul searching, but what about my clients? What about our 300+ followers on Facebook? In particular, what about those 30-45 year old, overweight and de-conditioned members who have recently (6 days to 6 months ago) decided to make a change for the better and to improve their lives. What are they thinking about this incredible nugget of gold.</div>
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NOTHING. WE BELIEVE IN NOTHZING LEBOWSKI. WE COME BACK AND CUT OFF YOUR JOHNSON. Yeah and squish it. (you get the picture)</div>
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They are not considering it at all, and if so they are not saying it. Perhaps this is why they pay me. I know for a fact in many ways it is. But I have to call all my members out and say this unequivocally: We aim to empower our members. As such, sitting on your ass and letting others do all the thinking for you, or worse yet, assuming no thinking at all is necessary is NOT ACCEPTABLE. If you aren't asking how to make things better, it is no mystery to me why things are not getting better. </div>
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As a coach, there is in fact very little I can actually do for you, especially if you are part of a group. You must take account for yourself, and you must start asking yourself some tough questions if you want to actualize all the potential that I SEE IN YOU EVERY DAY. The article above is a great start. Let's take a closer look, shall we?</div>
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THE STATS</div>
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There are 6 experts in each article, all are allowed 5 movements to suggest as indispensable. You can look at it two ways; how many times does a movement appear absolutely, or relative to how often it could come up. Either divide by 60 to see relative to the total, or divide by 12 to see how many experts couldn't exclude it. </div>
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Lets examine some of the top contenders:</div>
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The deadlift</div>
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Appears six times (if you count Dan John's swing/dl hinge category). Take away, hip hinging is fundamental to most powerful extension based movements, and the harder, faster and longer you can do it the better at life you are.</div>
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Any Squat</div>
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Appears seven times. There are some back, some front and some overheads (almost equally distributed). The experts are undecided as to which squat is the best if you can only choose one, but most agree you should choose one and do it.</div>
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Clean</div>
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Appears 5 times<br />
Take the deadlift and make it explosive. Accomplish a functional task. </div>
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Press (includes loaded overhead presses and horizontal presses of any kind)</div>
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4 times<br />
You have to push stuff. Simple.</div>
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Pull Ups</div>
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5 times<br />
Can't climb and you can push if you don't have the pulls. Always important for balance and health, in some sports equal to or greater than the push.</div>
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Rows/Horizontal Pulls</div>
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4 times</div>
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See above.<br />
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Sprinting or Sled drag, carry or push (farmer's walk, prowler etc)</div>
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Appearing six times (excluding walking, crawling).<br />
You gotta work son. And you gotta travel distance fast. This to me is the real eye opener for some. In a evolutionary sense, someone whose sprint capacity declines or doesn't exist is prey. EASY PREY.</div>
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Turkish Get Up</div>
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4 times<br />
Sometimes I think of the TGU as a novelty, but whatever it's true functionality really is, the skills and strengths learned in it's practice are real. </div>
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These seven movements comprise 41 out of a possible 60 selections. One interpretation of this data is that 12 eminent experts agree that 68.3% of your training time should be spend on these 7 domains. Special mention goes out to Airdyne, Lunges and jumping. If you expand your search to those, you rise to over 80%. </div>
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One extrapolation I will offer is that if you combine crawling, sprinting, drags/pushes/carries and the Airdyne, what you have is a high intensity, full body locomotion domain that is most likely presumed to be high intensity interval training oriented. This broader category encompasses by far the largest single group at approximately 12 results, ie NO COACH could live without something from this domain. It might appear like 20% of training time, but what it really is is 100% of respondents had to include it, and many included more than one, such as both sprinting and swimming.</div>
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I am getting at two things. The first is that a good student of physical culture should not be satisfied to leave any stone unturned. If you have the opportunity to compare your performance in these domains to normative data (and if you come to Full Circle you have that opportunity every day) and find it to be substantially below average, you make an earnest effort to address this as quickly as possible. If you can't squat, sprint, press overhead or do a pull up, YOU ARE BROKEN AND YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. These primal movement patterns listed above are what got us from family bands in Africa to mining asteroids, and if you can't perform them you are the part of the herd that is soon to be 'thinned'. Whether it be Zombie outbreak, alien invasion or <a href="http://3guys1movie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/red-dawn-2.jpg">Russians coming up through Mexico</a> you must have these basic skills to not only survive but thrive. </div>
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I am saying this because I love you. "I can't run", "My doctor told me not to go overhead", "Squats are bad for my knees", "Pull ups are hard" are all inexcusable answers. So you can't do a pull up now? NOT A BIG DEAL. We'll work on it. Not willing to work on it? GTFO. That goes for every domain on this list. Not running is not accepted. Running poorly, and being willing to work on it is.</div>
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First rule of Zombieland: Cardio.</div>
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<br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-15269592322503602172012-04-18T20:03:00.004-04:002012-04-18T21:33:23.483-04:00Beating a Dead Horse<div style="text-align: center;">I would like to preface this post by stating unequivocally that I think Steve Maxwell is one of the baddest mother fuckers in America. I am not sure if I have all my facts perfectly straight, but I think it's pretty spot on when I say he was the first American BJJ black belt. One of the first guys to adopt KB training over ten years ago. A collegiate wrestler. His son Zach just fought and beat Kron Gracie at the ADCC trials. Basically most of the things that I think are cool, Maxwell excelled at a decade ago, or more. Here's some pics:</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://8weeksout.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/SteveMaxwell-228x300.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 300px;" src="http://8weeksout.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/SteveMaxwell-228x300.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://compare-best-kettlebells-dvds.com/images/steve-maxwell-kettlebell-trainer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 137px; height: 185px;" src="http://compare-best-kettlebells-dvds.com/images/steve-maxwell-kettlebell-trainer.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">That being said... He just posted a statement against Crossfit on his blog. I run a Crossfit. So I read it. He is one of my heroes after all. The gist of my response is that he failed to state anything new, and made some broad generalizations that aren't necessarily wrong in many cases, but far from true across the board. I think it's helpful to understand that ALL Crossfit affiliates are different, and attempting to describe 'Crossfit' will always require either clarification or always risk being generalized and thus lacking specificity, accuracy or legitimacy. At the article's worst points, he makes statements without support that I think show an unclear explanation of his premise at best, and perhaps some incomplete or biased logic. I have copied and pasted the headlines he used, and I will address the issues discussed therein. For a primmer on this topic, consult Mike Boyle and Gray Cooke from like 4 years ago <a href="http://strengthcoachblog.com/2011/10/26/mike-boyle-and-gray-cook-on-crossfit/">HERE</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Notice below that most of the material is kinda SOS, DD.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the Steve Maxwell article: <a href="http://www.maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=90">Blog</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">The use of high-rep Olympic lifts for time</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >I agree with this one in principal at first. If you wish to be an olympic lifter, you need to train very low rep sets. The bulgarians are famous for the ME every day approach and the Russians have Prilepin's chart. No denying the evidence and the crowd are all suggesting mostly 3 or less reps with rests of 45-300 seconds between sets. If you're goal is to use the O lifts for power development more broadly as an athlete, then you can interpret 'the rules' a little more loosely. HOWEVER, one of Steve's principal arguments is that the O lifts are not best for developing power and do not transfer well for athletes. Furthermore that they are not safe in general (citation?) and that Olympic lifting specialists get injured all the time (citation?). If the O-lifts are such shit, what does it matter how many reps I do?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Where the logic really falls apart is when we then read that Maxwell suggests KB's instead, which are in one sentence 'designed' for high reps, and in another also highly technical and at risk for causing injury. Two thoughts: KB's where designed for marketplace weighing, and why is the movement not dangerous but the implement? How are KB's inherently safer than barbells? This coming from an RKC (me). By the end of this section, I have to admit I lose track of where he stands. But I will say this: MOVEMENT MATTERS. Not implements. Your body doesn't know or care what you are lifting. Just how heavy it is, how fast you move how many times etc. The O lifts are really hard. 90% of people who do them suck terribly, and should not be doing them for more than 3 reps, and this includes almost ALL Crossfitters. Sorry guys. Practice harder. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >If you are going to argue that explosive lifting for high reps is safe (girevoy sport) than you have to allow for Grace. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">Making exercise into a competitive event</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >This does suck some times too. It's a double-edged sword, with pros and cons. Crossfit WORKS because it's empirical and participants share results, and inherently this leads to competition, which pushes everyone to do better. If you compete every single day, if you NEVER have training days, only competition days, your career will last months. That's it. After that you will start to get worse or hurt. That's not Crossfit's fault. That's the culture of a gym. Coaches have to make it clear that there are differences. If you went in to a BJJ gym and every single person treated every roll like Mundials, that would suck too. But it's not BJJ's fault. Selling a martial art that incorporates non-cooperative sparring as more effective is a delicate balance between death matches every night and chi hugging at opposite extremes. But it can be done. In judo and in Crossfit.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">The use of kipping pull-ups and other joint-harmful gymnastic-type exercises</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >This argument is structured very similar to the Olympic lifting one. Again there's no citation of the claim that gymnasts get hurt a lot. This is then extrapolated to say that if competitive gymnasts get hurt, then regular trainees should not do kips. Furthermore, women and weak people do kips because of their inability to do real pull ups (harsh). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >This could all be true. I think that the kipping pull up is very similar to the push press, and isn't much more inherently dangerous except that the weight is fixed at an intensity (BW) that's usually too high for beginners. If you can't do deadhangs, it's inherently unwise to try and do kips. Why do a power movement when you can't handle the slow lift equivalent? This is just logical progression. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">WOD (Workout of the day)</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Steve argues that there's no rhyme or reason to the selection of training. I believe he intended to refer specifically to HQ, and to be honest I can't really argue for or against this point. At the affiliate level this changes a great deal from gym to gym. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >At our facility, we try to overcome some of the obstacles that Maxwell points out. We have multiple levels of classes, an entry program prior to them, and we are offering more and more specialty classes (barbell, yoga etc). These classes all have their own 5-10 week long periodized cycles. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">CrossFit encourages over training</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Yeah. If you aren't super fit, you can't train hard 3 days in a row. Lip service is paid to scaling and progression, but it's up to coaches in gyms to make it happen. We all work under different constraints to get this done. In a group setting, you do the best you can to make sure that a client is doing the right intensity, and training the right frequency and finally give them a sense of whether they need to go 50%, 70% or 100% on any given day or as a rule. And it's an art form that takes years to figure out, and every client will be different. It's a tough job. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">CrossFit is no way to prepare for specific sports</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Duh.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">CrossFit is primarily a social phenomenon</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Huh? I don't think most people acknowledge a desire to join a cult either. To argue that the social interaction that takes place at a Crossfit is a problem is strange to me. Team sports have social elements. BJJ is highly social. When you care about something, you make friends, you talk shop, and you form bonds. I don't get this one on the positive side, but I do get it on the Kool-aid warning negative side. There is a kool-aid problem. If you don't make your own decisions, and you don't want your coaches to think critically, you are beyond help. And you won't be reading Steve's blog anyways. So that's just a nod to his readers who already think that anyways. I have seen gyms that make poor decisions on behalf of their clients because that's what everyone else (HQ, the games competitors, whomever) is doing. That does suck. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><b>CrossFit's Greg Glassman is obese and unfit</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi">Bela Karolyi</a> never made it as a female gymnast, and was apparently a giant douchebag. That didn't stop him from coaching some of the most successful female gymnasts of all time (thank you Rhadi Ferguson, PhD and also black belt for that analogy).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Glassman is a highly divisive figure. He's not fit from anything I can tell. But he's good at communicating, and he's led a group of people that have mustered 2500 gyms, with 50-200 members each, doing KBs, o lifts and handstands, where before there were almost none. Think about that... a quarter of a million people exposed to snatches, and the idea that you can try do gymnastics after 16. Is it perfect? Is it pretty? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" >Neither was UFC 1, but it got Americans thinking about grappling again, and it led them away from TKD in droves. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; ">Aren't you just a little bit skeptical about why all these dudes who sell competing products are all trying to make broad, generalized and unsupported claims about why something someone else is doing is all wrong and dangerous and stupid? Especially when they only have their facts sorta straight? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; ">On the balance, Crossfit fucking rocks. But buyer beware. SHOP AROUND. Would you buy the first house or car a salesperson showed you, without asking for an inspection or appraisal? Do your homework. If you want to do Crossfit, just make sure the affiliate your going to is what you want. And if you're happy, healthy and making progress, then tell the haters to fuck off. </span></span></span></div><div><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-65019485354679682532012-03-03T20:07:00.005-05:002012-03-04T12:16:47.993-05:00Phone's Ringing Dude<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiuA30d9jBIN1cuX2pgZF53Zwl6E0Bga6TVv6LvlIDEuKClB2KCyTaUn0CWZOe4MBltpxski4ppxwhGecvbT2b78l6aBZrVf55VGp32hc9hnKEOjhojEUBEPY_Ro8kGvcO57wDBn4oA/s1600/steve-buscemi-thebiglebowski-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiuA30d9jBIN1cuX2pgZF53Zwl6E0Bga6TVv6LvlIDEuKClB2KCyTaUn0CWZOe4MBltpxski4ppxwhGecvbT2b78l6aBZrVf55VGp32hc9hnKEOjhojEUBEPY_Ro8kGvcO57wDBn4oA/s400/steve-buscemi-thebiglebowski-2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715842609301228770" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">You doin' the Open?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dear Level 1 Crossfit trainer with almost no other training or competing background other than when you quit the globo and started doing Crossfit like 18 months ago: <i>"You are like a CHILD that wanders in to the middle of a fucking movie and..."</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well. I suspect you get where I may be going with this. <i>You have no perspective. </i>Seeing as how this is only the second girl you've ever dated, don't make too many sweeping generalizations about women, or your love-making prowess just yet. <i>Were you listening to the Dude's story? </i>Since you have only a limited grasp of what has come before you, what training was like "pre-Crossfit", and since your familiarity with those not officially ordained by HQ is limited at best, save your comments until the end of the presentation. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes I am afraid that they will turn me in to Walter:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H0OaeMYTbs4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I definitely don't want to turn this in to a thing where I am the wise old smart one. I don't want to be that hipster kid that liked everything before it was cool, and I don't want to be the cranky old fart that hates everything new either. Let me start with the historical evidence...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/Virtuosity.pdf">Virtuosity</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So this is purportedly from the desk of 'Coach'. It would appear that the fear of HQ in 2005 was that newcomers to Crossfit would not have the patience or take the necessary steps to gain mastery over the fundamental movements that form the foundation of Crossfit training. Looking over the early journal articles from 2003-2005, I would take this to mean the Clean, Jerk and Snatch. I would also assume the slow lifts: Bench, Press, Deadlift, Squats. I also observe numerous references to the basics of gymnastics on the floor, ring and parallel bars. I remember the days when there were short runs, but HQ also posted WODs with swimming for example. On a personal note, I can't recall ANY jump rope work (I hate jumping rope).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, I feel it's safe to say that despite many intentions to the contrary, a lot of trainees new to Crossfit ended up skipping that mastering the basics phase, and jumped right to 'leet' competition phase. Using language and imagery such as 'elite fitness' and 'athlete' is a double-edged sword I am afraid. While I think there's great potential in helping every day folks to see a new passion for training through the lens of competition and the psychology of the athlete in training, there's also a terribly strong pull towards over-confidence, narcissism and foolish decisions that lead to the injury of earnest trainees, or at the very least a lack of progress towards other goals outside of the gym.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tssathletics.com/1/post/2012/03/slaying-the-dragon.html">Strength Shop Article</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This article elaborates on why it's important to consider what benefits outside of the gym the things you do inside the gym will have. WHY? Why are you training? If you don't have clear goals, then you are not training. You are exercising. Some people enjoy exercise. To be honest, despite my degree, my CSCS, my RKC, my affiliate and my years of doing this... I don't really like exercising. I find it fatiguing. What I like is empowerment. I like getting better at practicing my sport, and I am perfectly happy to tell you that my sport is not fitness. I don't compete at exercising. If I could do one set of 3 reps at 135lbs and get stronger and do better at my sport, than that would be ALL I do. However, that's not how it works. It takes exponentially more work to keep getting better, especially the more progress you make. So I do what is necessary to keep my lifts creeping up in so much as it doesn't take away from running my business, completing my school work or training on the mats. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This brings the issues of eliteness, expertise and progress right to the front. What is 'elite'? Well, I think it simply means you are in the top small percentage of the field right? Being an expert can be considered perhaps to have competency in all the known aspects of your field. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010028573900042">Chase and Simon</a> (1973) and <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1993-40718-001">Ericsson</a> et al (1993) both argued that exhausting the already known will typically take at least 10 years or 10,000 hours. If you consider that a hard working dude will spend 4 hours a week in the gym, that's 2500 weeks, or about 48 years to attain expertise. I bring this up, because it will probably help you to see that it takes more than some time in the gym to really be an expert in the field. If you're not reading books or articles, watching instructional videos, taking courses, seeking mentorship and practicing coaching every day, you should probably wait until you're asked to offer your thoughts on training. It's also important to consider that if ALL the information you have comes from only one source, that is a major weakness. It's nearly impossible to reach an expert level with practice and feedback only coming from a single domain. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Open is a really cool thing. It's probably the best way to get a lot of people involved in the games, and on balance, that's a good thing. The Crossfit Games are a great way to capture a lot of people's attention and imagination. It's a clear and concise image that, once broadcast in places like ESPN, will give much larger chunks of America a fucking clue what you're talking about when you say you're doing muscle ups and snatches, and on balance, that's a good thing. But it's not the right thing for everybody all the time. So far we've seen 7 minutes of burpees, followed by 10 minutes or less of 90 or more barbell snatches. Being an RKC, the first thing I thought was basically they really misread or misunderstood the Girevoy Sport rule book. While I suspect they were trying to help delineate some of the lesser athletes with a high skill, high intensity movement, having male Crossfitters wait to snatch 210lbs until after they've done 90 other snatches (30 each at 75, 135 and 165) sounds like a pretty ugly scenario for anything other than the absolute beasts. Basically, I have only trained a few people to ever snatch over 165lbs, and I'd imagine that the ratio of trainees reaching that level is similar at most affiliates. Ie, at most gyms there are only a couple of guys and girls that could even possibly complete this workout, IRRESPECTIVE of whether or not it was necessarily a good idea or if it were possible to reach 90 in under 10 minutes. However, I suspect what happened was you had 60,000 people already signed up who said, "Well, shit, this is what I gotta do. I will not quit, and I will do my best." </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">While that sentiment is admirable, what I suspect followed at most affiliates was a bunch of driven Type-A hard chargers FORCING their way through about 5-20 AWFUL, dangerous and nearly pointless 165lb snatches. In an effort to constantly raise the bar, the absurdity has also risen. I don't care what your background is, plain old ISABEL (30 reps at 135 as fast as possible) is a shit kicking, fucking bad ass workout for almost anyone that has some strength, decent technique in the power snatch, and the self awareness to maintain technique over speed as best they can. But somewhere along the way, this workout became insufficient. This is basically where I have to draw a line in the sand. Workouts don't need to be bigger, longer or heavier. They need to be more intense. 1RM's need to go up, times need to go down, skill needs to improve. But we don't need more volume for the sake of it, and we don't have to make up new bullshit moves for the sake of novelty. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Expertise rarely comes about via novelty. It takes years and thousands of hours of BORING, REPETITIVE work designed to make you perform better. You need information, support and feedback. If you're alone in your basement, training for 18 months, I guarantee you are not going to the games, brah. Let's face it, to go to the games, you need to have immense strength and power, and you have to have work capacity at an incredibly high level. Finally, you have to have some specialized skills: handstands and muscle ups, double unders, snatches etc. Look at the facts... Last years regionals and games included many events with C&Js in excess of 200lbs for reps. How many of those 30,000 guys signed up for the open do you think can legitimately C&J over 225lbs? Dude, if you can't do that simple low threshold task, why don't you skip the next open workout, and just go work on your O lifts?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, am I doing the Open? No. I can't snatch 210lbs. I hate burpees. I'm not much for double-unders. But that doesn't mean that I think the games or the Open are bad. There are going to be some out there, who have an amazing level of fitness, and they are going to want to make exercising their sport. If I had a client who had the requisite capacity to make it to regionals, I would encourage them to consider it and help them to train for it. Thankfully though, most of my clients love to watch the games but harbor no fantasies about their belonging there. Most of my clients are 30-45, and they just want to get in better shape with real fitness. You know... Cleans, Jerks, Snatches. Powerlifting. Pull Ups and handstands. Running, rowing etc. If they ask me why we don't do 50 box jumps in a row, I tell them. If they're curious about when we are going to do a hero workout that has 500+ reps or takes the average Crossfitter 45+ minutes to complete, I tell them (probably never, no more than once a year).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I am blessed to have friends in collegiate S&C, who train powerlifters and strongmen, and who train MMA fighters. I still have to face these guys, so I can't do too much stupid shit at my gym and get away with it. THANK GOD. It's a nice checks-n-balances. I know how it can get, when you don't leave the compound and all there is to drink is Kool-Aid. I don't want to be like that, and I kinda hope my clients and members get that. I am about to finish my master's degree. I have other certs beyond Crossfit, and other interests. In short, if Crossfit never happened, I would still be doing barbell snatches, KB swings and pull ups. The difference is, now, thanks to Crossfit, lots of people want to do them with me. I want to make it clear: I don't want to condemn the Games, but rather to make the most out of the positive aspects for a sustainable future for our brand of functional fitness. I just hope we can maximize the exposure they bring while minimizing the cost, both in injuries and misrepresentation they cause. I don't want to lose clients because they think people do shitty heavy snatches when they shouldn't be doing them at my gym. Let's face it; there's enough barriers to real exercise as it is.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">PRACTICE CROSSFIT! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Check your ego, and work on getting better.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Remember better is a lot more than just doing more work all the time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-45013302135411924302011-11-20T18:44:00.004-05:002011-11-20T20:10:04.907-05:00Keep my mind limber<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-37DFJeplTn1eKAZy__3fffFLJmWSN6-A1CxcL7i2sbc76x4zGRz0GPtAJiyq-CIQ9kg1SfpqiVhtuuriNHWrQtB461wHuqo8YNZ5AX-i-lkEw-gWn5_RCGgHVe-OvsJFtPHZ-gJ6ym7X/s1600/thedude-lebowski.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 473px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-37DFJeplTn1eKAZy__3fffFLJmWSN6-A1CxcL7i2sbc76x4zGRz0GPtAJiyq-CIQ9kg1SfpqiVhtuuriNHWrQtB461wHuqo8YNZ5AX-i-lkEw-gWn5_RCGgHVe-OvsJFtPHZ-gJ6ym7X/s1600/thedude-lebowski.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>"Of course! My thinking about this case had become so uptight."</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Here's some light reading: <a href="http://www.caneprevost.com/2011/03/10/posture-pressure-possibilities-model/">the 3 P's</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">And here's some heavy shit: <a href="http://www.caneprevost.com/2011/05/10/the-fallacy-of-technique/">the Fallacy of Technique</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">I earnestly and respectfully suggest that if you teach one of the disciplines we are always talking about here (BJJ, Judo, MMA, Weightlifting, Crossfit) that you give the two articles above an open-minded read. </span></div></i><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you have followed my blog for 2-3 years, you probably know that I have been preaching a similar idea: <a href="http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/search?q=we+are+truth">Has to be real</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rhadi Ferguson: <a href="http://www.thejudocrusader.com/2009/03/the-“technical-myth”/">The technical Myth</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, Matt Thornton, Cane Prevost, Rhadi Ferguson and I are all saying closely aligned things, and I think the most important thing to take away from this is that it's probably about 90 to 180 degrees out of step with the way Judo and BJJ are taught. In a previous post I commented on how most 'drills' in martial arts classes are ill-suited to the ability they intend to improve. Well, I think Cane's posts above really put a great framework around 'ne waza' to help folks look at their training another way. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I think I am a pretty intelligent guy, but my go to 'conflict deference' technique at most of the BJJ schools I frequent is to show up late so I don't have to 'learn techniques', and if that's not possible or practical then I feign the mental incapacity to possibly learn new techniques because they are too hard or too technical or something. This might sound totally ass backwards, but the truth is, as a super duper 10 stripe white belt, I don't need to know how to set up a heel hook from deep half. In fact, with my Judo background, I received my first real introduction to plain old half guard posture/pressure just a few months ago. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, that's what's wrong. I don't really belong to one school; I have a standing invitation to train at a few whenever I want, which is a WONDERFUL BLESSING. This means that one night a week, I train at one place. Another 2-3 nights I train at another. And then once a week I take privates from a black belt. So, attending classes, about 3 times a week, what I observe is a constant stream of random, overly technical shit that is highly specific. Seriously. ALL THE TIME I see BJJ instructors do 20 minutes of exhausting warm ups (post for another time) and then the first thing they say is something like "So,OK. When you are doing de la Riva and the guy pops off your heel in the hip, this is what I want you to do."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Seriously? Who the fuck is this instructor talking to? Odds are, there's 1-2 blue belts that are working there way through that type of guard game, but even they are only going to get so much out of it... I mean if you read what Cane and Rhadi are saying it should be clear that you don't need ANOTHER technique. What you need to ask is 'why does my opponent always succeed in popping my heel off their hip?'. Everyone skips right to technique or 'possibilities' as Cane would put it without discussing what is going on at the posture or pressure levels. In all likelihood, some live drills that helped ALL the students to understand what the posture issues are for the top and bottom guy would probably clear up the problem well. The reason you are losing one aspect of your posture is probably because you aren't applying enough pressure. The reason you are having to counter your loss of de la Riva is because your de la Riva is weak, not because you need to know more techniques! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In all likelihood, less techniques and more purposeful practice will probably go a very long way. In Chinese martial arts there is a saying, "I don't fear the fighter who has practiced 1000 techniques, I fear the fighter that has practiced one technique 1000 times".</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One thing that I like about Judo is that some of the underlying culture of the art helps to reinforce my way of thinking <i>somewhat</i>. There are between 40 and 60 something techniques in judo officially, depending on who you ask. It's assumed that you can reproduce most of them by the time you get to black belt, and it's frequently argued that you need maybe 1000-1500 hours on the mat to make that happen (5 hours a week for 4 years should do it). Given this assumption, most new judoka will learn 20-30 of the techniques in their first 6 months of judo, and the remainder will show themselves eventually. However, in many Judo clubs, there's not much discussion outside of possibly a dozen throws that represent probably 90% of all scoring techniques in the IJF. Thusly, white belts and black belts BOTH assume that when they go to judo practice that night, they will practice seoi nage and harai goshi and o uchi gari for instance. And even though every white belt knows o uchi gari, rarely will a black belt complain about practicing o uchi gari again. </div><div style="text-align: center;">In spite of all this, I see Judo teachers say to a room full of yellow belts "This one is for you more advanced guys" every time I see them teach. Who is this guy talking to? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My case in a way is a 'Galapagos' case study. I began judo in 2005, and I trained my ass off as best I could for two years, barring a few injuries and what not. I'd say I wracked up about 70-80 weeks of 6-10 hours per week type training in 50/50 stand up and ne waza. Then I moved to Richmond Va, where my options for Judo training were severely limited. I would say at this point that my reception of outside instruction all but stopped entirely. Especially as pertains to stand up. On the ground, I have had no formal instruction for quite some time outside of occasional interludes of intense private instruction, which have been major breakthrough points for me, but have been tailored to my own game and my own way of learning (I force my instructors to teach me as little as possible in one session). I say 'galapagos' to refer to Darwin's discovery of isolated species of birds that had widely diverse characteristics. So, in a way, I learned Judo ground work up to about the Gokyu or Yonkyu level as far as techniques are concerned. Then I mostly stopped adding techniques to this except where some private BJJ instruction intervened. My understanding of posture and pressure in the basics that Judo and BJJ share have grown nicely over the last 5 years. I think I perform at a BJJ blue belt level when it comes to kesa gatame, side control and reverse kesa. However, I perform at a very low beginner level in butterfly guard, half guard etc. If someone starts butt scooting, I am pretty bad at dealing with it. No one has ever explained to me the strengths and weaknesses of this posture, or what objectives I should have in acting against it. It's only been in the last few months that an instructor has begun to spell some of this stuff out for me, and it's been in a private training instruction setting where I bring it up. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So that is what is wrong. If I were waiting, I can't tell you how long I might continue to wait to simply get lucky and have an instructor go over the vary basics of the positions that I am unfamiliar with. The irony however is I have observed instructors berate their students for not executing X or Y action that the instructor has never really taught. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I sense that grappling instructors feel as though they are under considerable pressure to teach fancy shit and teach new shit as frequently as possible. This could be for a number of reasons. I do say that I see most instructors pride themselves on how they 'teach technique', but I can't help but think that this simply perpetuates the 'encyclopedic technique collection' approach to grappling, which in my mind is just shit. I mean I am a rank amateur, but I have had plenty of experiences where I was doing the one or two things that I was good at (the positions that I have a firm grasp of posture, pressure) and submissions I have never done before simply revealed themselves to me because I was in total control. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The best things about these arts are that at the end of the day, most of what the best guys in the world are doing is the shit you learn before your first rank test. True in Judo, true in BJJ. Hell, it's true in Crossfit; you are going to learn to squat and do pull ups early on, and frankly, if you want to be a bad ass, just keep practicing those. Do them well, do them heavy, and you can do whatever you want. If you can escape from most pins, sweep to a dominant position, and put pressure on someone until they do retarded shit to escape, than submitting them will likely take care of itself mostly. I think it's more important to understand how a sliding collar choke actually works than it is to learn a bazillion variations of it. You can make up your own crazy variations on the fly if you get the principles. But if you are just mimicking or replaying techniques from the library then you are probably screwed when some little thing is different from the script. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We should talk some other time about how coaching (objectives, goal setting) and teaching (3 P's) interact to facilitate learning, retention and performance.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-31708832847965618272011-10-11T16:14:00.014-04:002011-10-16T17:27:27.330-04:00You don't go out looking for a job dressed like that? On a weekday?<a href="http://images.forbes.com/media/2011/04/06/0406_fictional15-jeffrey-lebowski_485x340.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 485px; height: 340px;" src="http://images.forbes.com/media/2011/04/06/0406_fictional15-jeffrey-lebowski_485x340.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Or... "What's so wrong with a <a href="http://www.crossfittroy.com/files/the_hard_routine.pdf">Hard Routine</a>?"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Let me preface this by saying, if you want the short version of this rant, it's "<b>Why are you here?</b>". As a coach, and a business owner, I've worked hard to figure out what I am presenting to you, the consumer, and why. I know why I am here. As a general approach to problem solving, I feel that if you don't identify objectives, then frankly your chances of 'success' are pretty dismal. I mean, what is success if you have no definition? Sometimes that <i>can</i> work. Sometimes, "I'll know it when I see it" can be an appropriate approach to long term life goals. But generally speaking it's a miserable way to go about training. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, what do I provide? I provide technical expertise. Sure. But more importantly, I provide an environment. A culture. An attitude. A mindset. I coach athletes. In Crossfit generally, the term 'athlete' is thrown about pretty liberally. I use 'athlete' to describe a type of person, and it only has a little bit to do with performance. Being an athlete is about '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_(dog)">Gameness</a>'. Athletes by my definition are committed to improvement, and willing to do what it takes to achieve progress and to bring a competitive best effort to as many events as possible. They want to win, whatever that may mean to them, and they try to hard to win. They act accordingly.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, why are you here? Presumably, it's to get the things you want. Presumably you know what that is. Not being an expert, I don't expect you to say: "I want to increase my Sinclair total and lower my LDL to under 120 mg/DL". However, I DO expect you to tell me that your doctor told you that your cholesterol was getting too high and you want to be stronger. Those are measurements of health and fitness, and that's my business. I can tell you right up front whether or not that is a service we provide and what's realistic to expect. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also understand that you are here for an experience; I acknowledge that my gym, and Crossfit generally, is engaged in the '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Experience_Economy">experience economy</a>'. Like those who spend their excess income on cooking classes, vacations, Yoga and psychotherapy, Crossfitters are buying life experiences just like other american consumers. If you're looking for a building with weights in it, there's a globo gym within 3 miles of your house. That's not what I am selling. I am selling coaching and an athletic environment. I am selling the experience of the hard routine, and I am not going to settle for selling a shitty one at that. The experience that we offer is that of empowering yourself by submitting to a hard routine. One that challenges you more days than not. One that requires commitment, one that will not give freely what is not earned. To be honest, in our daily lives in America, most of us take a lot for granted. We have a lot, and much of it we didn't have to work terribly hard for. Crossfit is a treasure because it is a meritocracy: you know exactly what you are or are not capable of and much of it has to do with how hard you work for how long. Outside the gym, everyone gets a participation award. No one is a loser. At Crossfit you are usually a loser most days. This is the way it should be. Until you can earnestly say that you are more fit than 99% of people out there, you don't need someone telling you you are.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is what I mean when I ask, "why are you here?". I offer coaching and access to the experience of the hard routine. This may not be what you want, but it's likely what you need. If you acknowledge that you are here to buy this experience, then you will likely do well. Eventually. If you are here to use my weights, you likely won't be renewing your membership, and frankly, that's OK with me. As a coach, I try to understand what you have and what you don't have. I try to help you gain what you need, not what you want (See Joshu below). In my mind, this is what a coach is, and what an athlete needs. It's true: I don't offer many pats on the back, many at-a-boys etc. "This is what you did right, this is what needs improvement. This is how we will do better next time." This is the process every day. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The first time I heard the expression "Hard Routine" it was from Pavel. I can't remember exactly what he was talking about, but generally it was the idea that the most radically transformative programs (whether mentally or physically) were the most grueling, demanding and austere. He seemed to embrace the necessity of this from time to time. I have seen since that it's a common expression amongst special forces to describe the discipline with which they conduct themselves professionally. This is of particular note, because it says almost explicitly that these guys see the professionalism and discipline that most soldiers<i> </i>display <i>and they scoff at their slack asses</i>. Given that Pavel was supposedly a trainer for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetsnaz">Spetsnaz</a> I guess it's a pretty universal premise. It seemed perfectly natural to me after having spent a half year on a mountain with the shaolin monks. There I observed the differences in progress and performance between the students that devoted themselves to 'the system' and those who just got by.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I suppose my experience in routines 'hard' as such has shaped my coaching style somewhat. I have to admit, as a personal trainer in the average gym, my approach was different before leaving for China than what it is today (after a few years of trying to train 10-20 people a day and having seen various elite athletics teams train). It's something of a joke amongst friends, acquaintances and clients that I can be anywhere from:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">unsympathetic</div><div style="text-align: center;">not nurturing</div><div style="text-align: center;">tactless</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">to:</div><div style="text-align: center;">a dick</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That always makes me chuckle. For a couple of reasons. I guess it depends on your definition of nurturing. I tend to think of nurturing as 'facilitating growth', not making you feel better. I love my clients and I work my ass off to come up with the best system for them. For 10+ years, I have wanted very badly to be as strong as I can be for my size and to learn martial arts. The lengths to which I have gone to get stronger have included intense training programs that involved lifting twice a day or more, working through or until injuries, being treated like shit by coaches and athletes stronger than me so that I could stay under their guidance or environment long enough to learn from them and more. I have blown thousands of dollars on DVDs, workshops, certifications and classes and coaching sessions. I have traveled all over the country. I have spent hundreds of hours in college weight rooms and have gone 10's of thousands of dollar in debt to get a college degree. ALL OF IT FOR MIXED RESULTS. Sometimes experiences were worth it, sometimes they weren't. But I typically paid out the ass in some way or the other for both. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's what I did for strength. Multiply all that again for martial arts. I have changed my work schedule, quit jobs, saved up $1,000's to leave for China for half a year, gone to any number of tournements and schools, bought DVDs, went to camps and seminars and so on just like above, and just like above, I took the good with the bad, and just like above, there was at least as much bad as good, and I just HAD TO SWALLOW IT ALL. It was far from perfect, but I had to accept that and make the best of it. If you haven't had the pleasure of learning something complex, difficult and dangerous from an asian, you should really try it. Then come back and tell me <i>I'm</i> a dick.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">What I do as a coach and a business person is I try to distill this process down to convey the best things I learned, while helping my clients avoid a lot of the bullshit and unnecessary pitfalls that befell me. And there's a <i>lot</i> of bullshit out there. In light of all this, I have to admit that there are times that I envy my clients. I wish I were them. I wish I was the one in class, getting coaching, and training with others and being taught what's important and what's a waste of time directly, instead of having to learn the hard way. Sometimes I get feedback that I am not flexible enough or that our policies at the gym are hard to comply with. I have a hard time hearing that something we do is not accessible, because I have seen the alternative: Most gurus out there are more charlatan than expert, and what they offer is often more expensive and less valuable than what we are laying out. I know because I had to 'wander through the woods' stumbling past many of them. Let me be clear: every learning experience I have had has offered me less substance for more cost than what I offer today in my coaching/teaching. That is my mission statement; that is where I am coming from. I know that eventually our business will succeed because we offer a better value than anyone else out there. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The only compromises I ever make in our coaching and training system have everything to do with market realities. In essence, my gym would be better, but that would scare off too many potential clients. I have changed the way we structure beginners' classes, how we bring people in for trials, how we handle payments and other issues to make it easier and more convenient to start training with us. Honestly, much of it is irrelevant. Even if ALL my prices are listed on my webpage, the number one question I get on the phone is "How much does it cost?" I can't tell you the temptations that run through my head, the possible sarcastic responses that leap immediately to the frontal cortex. Is it unreasonable for me to doubt the prospects of a potential student who won't make the effort to navigate an additional page in to our website to try and answer some of his own questions?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">When I was 21 years old I began bartending under two GREAT mentors: Johnny Dollar and JD Doyle. These professionals had been working in hospitality for longer than I had been alive, and they were experienced enough to have a system. I was lucky. JD was known around Atlanta as being something of a 'populist' wine expert: a genius at making great wines accessible to consumers of moderate means instead of only the rich elite snobby types. As an Irish guy from south Boston with a mouth like a sailor and the look of a Popeye with no hair, he would never be mistaken for a snob. But he understood wine and he made a profound observation about it that I think can be generalized to other subjects. I paraphrase:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"All the best wines come from shitty soil; the vines have to struggle to bear fruit to make truly exceptional wine."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I was trolling through the Judoforum a few weeks back, and someone started a thread about little things that made big differences in people's practice. Ie, knowing what you know now, what would judoka tell beginners were the easiest ways to make the biggest improvements in their judo. I'd say the two most popular answers were:</div><div style="text-align: center;">1. Show up</div><div style="text-align: center;">2. Don't be late</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Last quote, then I am done;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A monk told Joshu, "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Joshu asked, "Have you eaten your rice porridge?</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The monk replied, "I have eaten."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Joshu said, "Then you had better wash your bowl."</span></span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-90443230166048542102011-06-09T17:32:00.011-04:002011-06-10T16:18:34.805-04:00New Shit Has Come to Light<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWGqkzRvPIa429_LyDm5vj58uYv5u6FHbH3N04KLbh8NpAj01ylQwLl6L0ujp-aVujQ92WnjNYv0xsKYaX6il5uDYSJXG4ULSWgbtUE-MvlqjbxRF1svbZ1phZMpDbDVdsRc9Ly0Y5gg/s320/hasntthatoccurredtoyouman.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWGqkzRvPIa429_LyDm5vj58uYv5u6FHbH3N04KLbh8NpAj01ylQwLl6L0ujp-aVujQ92WnjNYv0xsKYaX6il5uDYSJXG4ULSWgbtUE-MvlqjbxRF1svbZ1phZMpDbDVdsRc9Ly0Y5gg/s320/hasntthatoccurredtoyouman.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">In the discipline of motor behavior, learning or control (what have you), academics subdivide motor activities in to a number of categories. Some of the most fundamental are as follows:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Open vs Closed</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Within this paradigm, movements fall in along a continuum from open at one end to closed on the other. A movement that is 'closed' or occurs within a closed environment is one in which there are a limited number of external variables, and the movement is relatively predictable, as is the environment in which it occurs. Think bowling. The ball, the floor, the lane, they are always the same, and hence you can be fairly certain of what to expect when you attempt to perform. The only thing that really changes is internally within the performer, sometimes they have a good shot, sometimes a bad shot.</div><div style="text-align: center;">A movement that is open or more aptly a performance environment that is open is one in which there are many variables outside the control of the performer, and as such they must react correctly to changing stimuli, often on short notice to make adjustments to their regular techniques that fit the changing environment or movements made by their opposition. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Discrete, Serial or Continuous</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Researchers and academics also break movements down based upon their beginning and end points within the context. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Discrete movements are essentially singular and irreducible, and begin and end with one motion. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Serial movements are comprised of several connected movements that progress towards a final goal.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Continuous movements are cyclical and ongoing in nature, with no clear beginning or end point.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Example: Crossfit.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In Crossfit, the pull up happens in a closed environment. The rules are always the same, the environment relatively stable and you choose when the rep begins and ends. </div><div style="text-align: center;">How you do the movement determines what type of skill it is:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Deadhangs are like discrete movements; up, down, done.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Swinging Kip Pull Ups are serial, in that you arch, hollow, kip with the hips, pull to the bar, push off the bar, and swing back in to your next rep.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Butterfly Kips are continuous: you're elliptical path is smooth, and an outside observer can not distinguish the beginning from the end and the only real constraints are when you choose to start and stop. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Example: Grappling.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In Judo or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there are a lot of drills and training methods that are used 'just because'. Often, the purported reason for doing a drill is to get better at a particular type of technique in randori, rolling or competition. </div><div style="text-align: center;">For example, many BJJ and Judo schools teach the armbar, one from the guard and one from mount. They often teach a drill to help get better at the armbar, to make it more 'automatic'. While it's true that a great number of repetitions of a movement will enhance the automaticity with which it's performed, only within the context within which its practiced. Hence, in order to transfer, the domains and movement types MUST match. Therefore, if a skill is open and serial, but your drill is closed and discrete, the transference will be minimal at best. In fact, there's a strong chance that there will be some interference or negative consequences to your mismatch of training and application. So that we're all on the same page, here's a video to make it clear:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24935533?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="398" height="299" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As you can see in the video above, there are different ways to look at and drill the armbar in practice situations, but in the context of application, the armbar is OPEN and SERIAL. In order for Marissa to set up an armbar she has to either force her opponent to react or she must respond to the actions of her opponent. Keith may try to pass, may lose his balance, may commit his arms to certain grips. Marissa must sense these changes in the environment and adjust accordingly, and the matter of executing the arm lock itself never magically appears, it's also after a set up: securing the arm, controlling the upper body, aligning the legs then locking the elbow. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>So, what's my point?</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My point is this: We all want our practice to make us better at the tasks we want to do. In sport those tasks are almost always of a competitive and open variety. In one way, martial arts that include sparring are already a step ahead, as non-cooperative sparring accounts for much of this training need. Non-cooperative sparring is always open by nature. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But what about the other hour of class, the one you spend drilling? Are hundreds of uchikomis and 20 minutes of drills like the continuous armbar making you a better fighter?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The answer is a complex one. The short answer is yes, a little. The long answer is something more like: While repetitive closed drills of a discrete or continuous nature likely won't make you WORSE as a fighter, they are liking doing very little to make you better. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Most martial arts are taught in a format like this:</div><div style="text-align: center;">1. Let me show you this move</div><div style="text-align: center;">2. You try it out, slow and without resistance</div><div style="text-align: center;">3. You spar, and hope you think to do that move during sparring</div><div style="text-align: center;">4. Some weeks later you are expected to do it well in repetitive drilling</div><div style="text-align: center;">(5. One day you will do it naturally during sparring)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Depending on who your teacher is or where you train, each of these segments may take up varying proportions of your time. They all play necessary roles within the framework of going from not knowing them at all to correct placement of automatic movements. In the beginning, you absolutely have to have the movements shown to you. After this, you will go through a period where simply remember the order of the steps is the main focus of your practice. Once you no longer struggle to simply remember the movement, then you want to get better at it: do it faster, more precisely, with more force or better timing. Once you 'know' the movement, then you have to apply the movement within the environment of sparring. That's where things start getting tricky. That's also when the motor learning side of things goes from the purely mechanical to the cognitive: you have to sense changes, perceive what they mean, interpret the relevant information to you, choose a response and then execute that response. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Most martial arts instructors do a good job of showing you techniques. They themselves are technical masters of these movements, and can demonstrate to you how to do them correctly in great detail. Many students are adept at mimicking these movements within the context of drilling. They can replicate the motions well after a short period of practice like this. The hard part comes when it's time to show you how, when and where to apply those techniques. How do you know when it's time to try and stick your foot in the hip, turn and go for it? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One answer is to incorporate drills that require decisions. For instance, perhaps you can still drill the armbar from the closed guard, but your partner can attempt two different passes. Each will require a different correct response to set up an armbar as an answer to their attempt to pass. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As simple as this drill is, it's still infinitely better (1 vs 0) than the continuous armbar drill showed at the end of the first section of the video, at least in terms of perception, decision making and reaction time. This is a good time to introduce the concept of degrees of freedom: the number of possible outcomes or choices. In reality, BJJ contains hundreds of degrees of freedom and as such is probably one of the most cognitively rich sports out there. In terms of drilling, simply going from only one possible answer (closed) to two or more (open) instantly enhances the experience of the trainee. Due to the open nature of the sport, an athlete with poor movements but sound cognitive skills will likely fair better in sparring and competition. Obviously combining both would make for a superior athlete. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-87261310360589095592011-05-23T09:13:00.008-04:002011-05-23T15:01:12.815-04:00Lies My Weightlifting Coach told me<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Or the less controversial subtitle:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5166465451_ded900eaf8.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 406px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Or the least controversial truth: Different generalizations can be made about different populations.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">SO. The traditional wisdom in weightlifting is that one's clean and snatch can be predicted via their back squat. IE, the higher the squat, the higher the total. Obviously, any coach would concede that their are technical elements that contribute to success or failure, particularly stability, depth and speed in the front and overhead squat as well as speed in the third pull. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What exercises are best to supplement the traditional lifts, on an individual or case by case basis is an appropriate argument to have specifically. But to suggest anything other than back squats as the king of exercises generally would be tantamount to heresy. Or so the traditional wisdom goes. It wasn't whether or not back squats were great, it was always whether or not you also needed front squats, or overhead squats, or pulls or power variations for instance</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Various systems of training have argued the relative contribution of the back squat rather than it's necessity. In the Sportivny press, Charniga argues that (due to the high competitive success of athletes who do a greater volume of the full lifts and lesser volumes of back squats) "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There does not appear to be any scientific support in the literature for the notion that a "squat routine" (a specific loading in squats for the purpose of achieving higher results in this exercise) would be integral part of the training of weightlifters (2001)". His stance that excessive squatting (12-21% of volume being typical, 15% common amongst successful lifters) will be detrimental to performance sticks out, particularly in america where the back squat is a favorite amongst not only weightlifters, but also powerlifters and other strength athletes. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ivanov has argued that 127% of your Clean and Jerk would be sufficient leg strength, where as Roman suggested that athletes would be able to Clean and Jerk about that ratio, and Snatch about 80% of their C&J. Basically, most experienced coaches are relating the competitive lifts as some percentage of the back squat. In a recent comment I observed from Glen Pendlay online, he argued that some athletes are C&J'ing weights as high as 100% of back squat, and this was due to (in my understanding of his comments) to the specificity of their training, as well as their technical superiority as compared to novices. I am not sure what to make of this assertion exactly, as many of the citations above were made by russians in laboratory like settings measuring world and olympic champions. This leads me to conclude that most likely where some discrepancies derive from is not content, but rather in labeling and/or measuring. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Furthermore, Pendlay's statements bring to light the role of EXPERIENCE, which is really what I wanted to talk about. The argument that the more experienced the lifter, the more individual strengths and weaknesses matter, and the more specialized training methods are required is to me as simple as stating that training must go from more general to more specific or from easier to harder. DUH.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I have observed in my own students, that over time they go through phases were different things matter, but to be honest NONE of them can be considered advanced, elite, or to have achieved technical mastery or their potential yet. These phases are as follows:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The bent over RDL-High Pull Reverse Curl Tall clean phase</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The football power reverse curl</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the mature pull to power clean</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the "shit, I needed to squat lower" phase</span></span></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It's not until they reach stage four (6-24 months after initiating training for most) that they begin to understand why I have been harping on the front squat and their elbows for the last two years. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://wrightstuffonline.com/uploaded_images/big-lebowski-774278.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 329px; height: 472px; " /></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">for fuck's sake</span></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It's at this stage, that more than the back squat, the ability to do the front squat (in the clean) or the overhead squat (in the snatch) in excess of what they were doing in their power variations determines their advancement as a lifter. Those athletes who can front squat more than the power clean keep pushing their PRs up, and it's the same with the OHS and snatch.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Thusly, for beginners, I have always felt that the most relevant lift to predict weightlifting performance was not the squat, but rather the deadlift. Until they get to the stage where they are squatting truly under the bar and under parallel to catch and are no longer power cleaning/snatching, the deadlift represents the raw capacity to elevate the bar from the floor. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Important caveat; I understand that a clean pull is not a deadlift. And I can verbalize all the reasons why. But without significant training time, this does not change the behaviors or outcomes of my beginning crossfitters. They bend down, and they pull the bar up, hard and fast. They catch it high. That's just the way it is, and it stays that way for a few weeks or a few months. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So, when we are talking about novice competitive lifters, who have their own weightlifting shoes, and they snatch over bodyweight and they back squat like they front and overhead, then yes, I agree, 80% and 60% of back squat is a good standard for them. Those numbers just so happen to correspond to the typical ratio novice weightlifters tend to experience between the squats too. Coincidence? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And finally, when it comes to Crossfitters, beginning weightlifters who are not specialists, who enjoy the lifts about as much as they enjoy skin the cats and 2000m rows, well, if you want those guys to clean and snatch more, BRING UP THEIR DEADLIFT. If you want them to continue to make progress past the 1-2 year mark, you better make sure that they are concurrently improving their skills in the front squat and overhead squat. But don't fool yourself: Until they get much better, the deadlift is the best way to get them to lift more in their muscle cleans and power snatches.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And here's the proof: Taken from my record board, I have run SPSS on about 25 of my clients who have 1RM data for at least most of the following lifts:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Clean</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jerk</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snatch</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Squat</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Deadlift</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Press</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Front Squat</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Overhead Squat</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In a regression analysis incorporating the deadlift, front squat and back squat it was determined that you could predict about 94% of the variation amongst clean performance with these three lifts.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the regression, deadlifts were significant at p=.038, whereas squats (front and back) where not at p=.39 and p=.37 respectively. The correlation between deadlift and clean amongst this group was r=.961. As you can see from this analysis, deadlifting was much more predictive of current outcomes than squatting was. This is not to say that it's time to turn the weightlifting world upside down, and that Chigishev needs to bring his DL up to 600kgs if he wants to take Rezazedah in the snatch. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What it does mean, is that if it's your first year of Crossfitting, and your DL is still not that great, you can do squat snatches from the high hang with an empty bar til yer blue in the face, but the guy that's hitting his 5x5s in the deadlift is going to crush you at most met cons. When I am not working from my laptop and I have more sophisticated screen shot takers and editing stuff, I will put up the outputs from SPSS so you can see the data directly, and I will also publish the same analysis of the snatch. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The gist of it is this: give or take a few (like 5) per cent, your deadlift predicts your clean and snatch like this:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Clean= 52% of DL</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Snatch=38% of DL</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So, wanna do Isabel as Rx'ed? Get your DL over at least 355lbs (opening up that 135lb power snatch). Wanna do Isabel </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">fast</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">? Make sure that Rx'ed is less than 70% of your max, or in DL terms, make sure you can DL 507lbs.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For the first year or two, it really is that simple. I highly recommend Power to the People by Pavel Tsatsouline to help you bring up your DL fast, if you can't train in person with me.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (I am an expert)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://www.marusin.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/logjammin.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 259px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:Times;font-size:medium;"></span><br /></div></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-89590779315324324052011-05-19T09:50:00.004-04:002011-05-19T10:58:57.570-04:00"How you gonna keep em down on the Farm once they've seen Carl Hungus?"<a href="http://pullquote.typepad.com/pullquote/images/2008/09/15/bunnylebowski.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 600px;" src="http://pullquote.typepad.com/pullquote/images/2008/09/15/bunnylebowski.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">So, thus begins my series of observations and lamentations on coaching, teaching and learning.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For the summer, I have a new student: a temporary client, on loan to me from another affiliate where this student normally lives most of the year (her college town). If I recall correctly, she has been Crossfitting for approximately one year. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">First off, she seems like a great client/trainee: she has a positive attitude, she shows up ready to work. At first glance, she is young (still college aged), cute and not out of shape. Please understand that this HELPS the atmosphere around the gym to have people of all shapes and sizes, but it's human nature that most people would rather be around people like her, than angry old fat men.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the rub; she's already been tainted by another system. Let me explain.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Today is Thursday, and Monday and Wednesday were her first nights. So I am writing this the following morning, and these are simply my first impressions, but to be fair, there is nothing unique about this particular client or this situation. Because she's new to our gym and we haven't had time to have her 'test out' I placed her in the lower of our two levels of classes (for now, as was explained when she enrolled). The workout on Monday was Power to the People deadlifts, then 2 sets of presses, and then some midline stabilization conditioning. Last night was 5x5 in the front squat. I was not her coach during Monday night, but I was for Wednesday night. It was a full class, and due to some recent classes the other five students who are ALL rank amateurs, had 1, 3 or 5 reps maxes for their front squat. I asked if our new girl did too (she's been training for a year). She said she didn't know exactly off the top of her head, so I asked for a ball park. Unwilling to estimate, she volunteered to go to her car and get her training log (SWEET!). When she returned, the most recent record she could locate for doing 'strength work' on the front squat was a workout from several months back where she performed 20, 15, and 10 repetitions with a 45lb barbell. That was it. That was what she had: a 10 rep max, performed presumably 2-5 minutes after a 20 reps max.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not to be discouraged, I offered, "You can lift with X, and just start really low weight and go up as fast as you feel comfortable/can maintain technique". Which is what she did. I believe she started somewhere around 42lbs (10kg bar+training wheels). It was ok, but could be better. Elbows were low, thoracic curve was very flexed, depth was basically parallel (we encourage a lot more on the front and overhead), knees tracked a little medially, but nothing as egregious as most first timers, and still essentially safe. Keep in mind however, this is a 20ish year old college girl with Crossfit experience; 125lbs BW. She worked her way up to about 67lbs I think, before really losing form and doing one final set a little lighter. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I have high standards for both technical prowess and relative strength; I think both are key to great Crossfitting and great health and movement generally. Needless to say I was a little disappointed in the skill set and base level that was being brought in, but excited by the challenge of helping this client improve the basics, and return to her home affiliate a better athlete. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">She approached me after all the other students had left. She was concerned. Not about her lack of strength or technique (she was outlifted by every single one of my students, who again are all mostly beginners) but rather that she was (in my words here) bored. At her gym, they often do some strength work first (like 3 sets of 10-20 apparently) and THEN do a real WOD. She was worried that she would fall out of shape over the summer should she continue to train like this. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Do any of you (those reading this blog) teach anything? I know some of you do, whether it's elementary school, weightlifting or BJJ. So, I pose to you this question: How would you feel, and what would you do to help the student understand, if they came to you and told you that you're training was going to make them worse? Particularly if they were coming in with orthapaedic injuries and low performance (possibly related to their previous training regime)?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The truth is, she's wearing a knee brace due to a very old ACL surgery that has started to 'act up again'. She's kyphotic and hasn't kept to prescribed treatment plan to help her correct it. And she struggles to move 50%BW in the front squat for five reps (as a 'healthy' young woman). Meanwhile she doesn't want to negatively impact her fitness by spending 1-2 workouts a week working on quality of movement and strength.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">When I told her how important I felt relative strength was, and how I believed it would help any athlete do more work in less time in a met con type work out, she seemed skeptical, or maybe even disappointed. I felt as though she was trying to tell me that without ending up on the floor in a pile of sweat, <a href="http://whole9life.com/2009/12/beware-the-lure-of-the-sexy-met-con/">sexy metcon style</a>, she wasn't really training. And as I stated earlier, her sentiments are not unique. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes I feel like Crossfit is ruining Crossfit. I also think that americans are unique snow-flakes, and hence they cannot mold themselves to 'the program'. They cannot subvert their individuality in submission to a complete program that will change their lives, because they know better, have other ideas, or just don't want to do the work. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Especially the 'boring' work.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After ten years of experimenting, after 140 credit hours, a bachelors degree (and well on my way to a masters), many of the most prestigious certifications in my field, and hundreds of hours of mentorship under other great coaches... I HAVE A SYSTEM. Presumably that's why you showed up, and presumably that's why you're paying me. Follow the system, do the work. Get what you <i>NEED</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Maybe that's my problem; I deliver what people <i>need</i>, not what they <i>want</i>. </div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-56044526475179514092011-05-19T09:44:00.002-04:002011-05-19T09:48:06.308-04:00I is back<div style="text-align: center;">Now let's see if I remember how to use this thing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, in September, around the time of my last post, I began grad school. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In November we moved Crossfit Full Circle to a new location, and we have subsequently doubled our membership.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's been a busy time.</div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-66908809836242197872010-09-24T17:47:00.000-04:002010-09-24T17:57:32.727-04:00P Let Handstand Progress<div align="center"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15240539?portrait=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/15240539">P let Progress</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/fullcircle">Full Circle</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-92031802406690123502010-09-22T14:04:00.001-04:002010-09-22T14:06:18.731-04:00Paleo Diet as Type II Diabetes Intervention<div style="text-align: center;">For this post, I am going to share a link to<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/h7628r66r0552222/fulltext.pdf"> some European research</a> comparing the effects of two diets on Type II Diabetes treatment.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy readin'</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Comments welcome.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-26246309485707186892010-09-18T18:01:00.003-04:002010-09-18T18:14:24.933-04:00Windmill for Grapplers and Pre-Hab<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4j4bgZ0xwHM?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4j4bgZ0xwHM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some suggestions for Windmill training:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-Weight isn't important at first, and for many trainees, is never that important. The benefits come from functional active stretching for the TFL/IT band</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-Focus on lateral hip movement. Like back squatting or RDL'ing, you need to focus on pushing your hips horizontally first before worrying about anything going 'down'. And just like those other movements, if you're good about the hips going to the side, well then you'll likely find yourself headed down without trying</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-Once full ROM is achieved (palm on the floor) then start adding weight. Generally 1/3rd total weight up top, 2/3rds in the lower hand</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-Placement of the weight and type of weight greatly affects training effect. More weight up top places the emphasis on shoulder stability, whereas heavier weights in the bottom hand turn this in to more of a squat/dl type of training. The further the COM of the object from your grip or the longer the lever arms away from your grip the more challenge you'll get in balance and grip.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-You don't have to limit yourself to one type of implement: Some of my favorite objects to do the windmill with include dumbbells, barbells and plates (held like a waiter's tray)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">-There are a variety of protocols you could use to train this lift. Some of my favorite are PTTP, 3-5 rule and maximum effort style protocols. Pavel always recommend this be treated as a low rep, high weight type of movement, and I basically agree. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Give them all a try, but for the sake of simplicity, start with 10lb dumbbell or the like and get it right! You'll thank me later. Leave comments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Thanks!</div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-9924188877895919972010-09-17T18:16:00.001-04:002010-09-17T18:16:34.090-04:00Front Squat Work Out<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15064510?portrait=0" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/15064510">Front Squat Workout</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/fullcircle">Full Circle</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-589123659228345822010-09-17T16:21:00.003-04:002010-09-17T16:25:52.372-04:00I Wanna ROCK!<div style="text-align: center;"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZO0W55lZUJ4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZO0W55lZUJ4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Coconut Milk is seriously sweet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So the can in the video is "Mae Ploy" brand coconut milk, and its ok. I bought it for $1.75 at my local chinese grocery store, and it's 19oz total (big).</div><div style="text-align: center;">It has seven servings, each serving consisting of about 1/3 cup.</div><div style="text-align: center;">17g F (12g Saturated)</div><div style="text-align: center;">3g C</div><div style="text-align: center;">2gP</div><div style="text-align: center;">10% Iron</div><div style="text-align: center;">No real sodium or cholesterol</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For a hard core ass Paleo shake, my recommendation:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">6oz Coconut Milk</div><div style="text-align: center;">3-4 TBS frozen Pineapple</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 drop vanilla extract</div><div style="text-align: center;">2 Eggs</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-54469338916901685352010-09-11T13:44:00.003-04:002010-09-11T13:48:43.174-04:00Starting the Hand Stand Push Up... On Rings<div style="text-align: center;">HANDSTAND PUSH UPS!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There, so with your attention. I will now proceed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In Crossfit, we are usually talking about something like this:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/11137520?portrait=0" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/11137520">Diane</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2049053">Jesse Hickey</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br />I don't know Jesse, but I applaud him. Got a cool looking place, and some decent squats. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In Gymnastics, we are usually talking about something like this:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JvNVbJnARAY?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JvNVbJnARAY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This kid is just beast!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My favorite are these:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/srCVp7yFotU?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/srCVp7yFotU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">At least as far as a WOD goes, you need the wall or something in order to maintain balance and focus on speed. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Which I think is why/how the HSPU as done on RINGS actually works. It's just no one is strong enough to do them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, this guy is:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wy8Z23F92YU?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wy8Z23F92YU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyways, if you've been <a href="http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2009/07/work-shoulder-stand.html">following the blog for a while</a>, you know that I have been working for a while on my parallette handstand, and my handstand push up. Well, sucking as I do at pressing, I have still got a long way to go. I let it slide for a little while, bringing up my jerks and my bench press instead, which can't hurt. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Why I have not been working on is the rings. At first I wasn't sure how to get up. I started with the band assisted handstand, and stepped up to the rings:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14862293?portrait=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/14862293">Handstand Push Ups on Rings</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/fullcircle">Full Circle</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p>I eventually figured out how to do it right; Something I had learned a year or two ago from Jeff Tucker and from Jim Bathurst: The forward roll. This position is traditionally used by gymnasts to start what they call the 'press to handstand' which is frankly, the easiest way to get in to the handstand...<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14871374?portrait=0" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/14871374">Forward Roll Entry</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/fullcircle">Full Circle</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Just goes to show you; you can reinvent the wheel, or you can read the instruction manual. It's up to you!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now that I know what I am doing, I also know that you have to be seriously strong as shit to do a single press to handstand or a push up from the handstand. My bodyweight is around 160, my press is about 130lbs. Not great. My bench is likely about 210 and my jerk is 195-235 depending on starting position. I am no where near getting my first unassisted HSPU on the rings (or parallettes for that matter). The wall and short ROM ain't so bad. The P-lets... i can start but get stuck. The rings? I don't even move. I don't stir. Whatsoever. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I know what I need to work on!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4858681462440844189.post-24519674195327753342010-09-02T20:31:00.002-04:002010-09-02T20:38:57.980-04:00Sometimes I am surprised<div style="text-align: center;">Hey everybody!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, I was thinking about some of the ideas I had about covering my favorite pulling training, and it occurred to me...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Whenever I see something that is really popular all of the sudden, I am often surprised. Well not surprised. I think that I am like "That's nothing to freak out about: we've all been doing that for years."</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then I realize that maybe I don't know what a lot of people are doing. Or what their not doing. Hehe... There's a great article a few months back about Donald Rumsfeld's 'unknown unknowns', and not to get all philosophical on you, but maybe I don't know what you don't know. Maybe you don't know that you don't know it. Whatever the case, there's probably stuff you want to read more about.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So what is it?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE: Post your thoughts to comments. I like figuring out how to manage the long term training of athletes that have a WIDE VARIETY of physical demands placed on them. So, I like looking at how to handle the the training load and volume of a grappler who's got to go to BJJ 4 times a week, and Judo twice a week, and he lifts 2-4 times a week and there's no set 'season'. I want to know 'enough' about powerlifting, weightlifting, plyometrics and conditioning such that I can prepare someone like that widely and broadly. I like doing it with KBs, barbells, rings, parallettes, bags, dumbbells, bodies etc. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">What do you like? What should we cover more of on RCPC? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Leave your thoughts in comments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jason Struck, CSCS RKChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09442705819787850584noreply@blogger.com0