A few more weeks along

   I been working more on the o lifts, as I stated in my last post. Things feel like they are going along pretty nicely.

   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.

   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).

   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.

Front Squat Work Out

Front Squat Workout from Full Circle on Vimeo.

Clean WOD

8-7-2009 WOD from Full Circle on Vimeo.

Big Tex on the Clean

2-16-2009
WOD
Crossfit Full Circle


Big Tex on the Clean from Full Circle on Vimeo.

Thruster

What's all the fuss about Front Squats and Push Presses?

I remember the first time that I ever saw these two combined, in Mark Verstegen's brilliant Core Performance (2004). Obviously, the Crossfit guys had been waxing poetic about Fran already by that time, but I was blissfully ignorant up until this encounter from the renowned strength coach of Olympian Mia Hamm amongst others.
They performed the 'squat and push press' with a pair of dumbbells, and so did all of my clients, starting in 2005. Anyone that ever worked with me in a commercial gym setting, such as Gold's Gym (lovely experience that was), was always first introduced to the squat. Then the press. Then the push press. And then, off we went. A pair of dumbbells. 10+ feet of open space. How we must have appeared to almost anyone still satisfied with their combination of bodybuilding on machines and endless steady-state cardio, as we lunged around the room, performing single leg RDLs and 'pressing with our legs'. Cheating, as it were, until we almost puked.

It is with this in mind, that I must know, that you too know the 'Thruster'. The humble squat AND push press. Both worlds unto themselves, but when combined... otherworldly.

When people tell me they don't have time to work out, I tell them they're lying. If they somehow convince me that they indeed don't have much time, they are introduced to pukie*, by way of thruster.

So, here's some takes on a staple, not only of Crossfit, but of intuitive performance minded training the world over.
Crossfit;

Here's one from Crossfit Victoria; Featuring KBs.




I would have liked a better rack position with the KBs, but most Crossfitters tend to support the barbell, DBs or KBs in a 'press ready' position, rather than the more traditional Front Squat 'rack' which is also ideal for the jerk. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. With speed, making the transition over and over again from the rack to launch might be a little awkward. I guess it depends on what you learn first/what you are more comfortable with. I learned to jerk long before any of this other stuff came up, so for me it's 'the rack' all the way!

I hope you see, after examining their constituents in isolation, that when combining the two to create the 'thruster' you may experience an exercise greater than the sum of its parts.
With the sheer volume of work done, the metabolic and cardiovascular potential of the thruster should become obvious to anyone that attempts a moderate weight for anything more than 5 reps.
For further research, consult Catalyst Athletics' Physics Department.











*
(Pukie)

Front Squat

The Front Squat

The Front Squat fulfills several roles in a variety of training regimes. In and of itself, it is a variation of the more wide-spread 'back' squat, however the front squat requires more midline stabilization and more flexibility. It forces a more upright posture (by way of bar position) that more closely mimics many athletic skills. An easy example for me is judo; if you are interested you can review an article I wrote a few years ago here.

Shockingly, I can't find a single force diagram on the internet comparing squat styles, so I will urge you to refer to Greg Glassman's lecture here. In it he focuses on Overhead Squats, but you get the picture. In a continuum of load displacement, back then front then overhead describes the progression of sequentially longer or further displaced (from COG) moment arms, and hence greater potential loads on the core, while reducing the actual compression on the spine.

It is this greater training demand while at the same time lessened forces on the spine that make the front and overhead squat variations such powerful training tools. Hence, it is my opinion that with mastery of the most fundamental bodyweight squat, there's no reason why a trainee primarily interested in health or performance shouldn't dive right into the front squat.

That being said, the front squat is also a tool of choice for several communities. Mike Boyle time and again has made a wonderful argument for why he has replaced the back squat in his training programs with the front variation. If you don't know Mike, he's an amazing coach that has found great success training hockey and baseball players, as well as mentoring other coaches.

Pavel Tsatsouline places heavy emphasis on this exercise within the RKC system, perhaps out of necessity, perhaps to balance the posterior demands of the swing and snatch in KB lifting.

Olympic Style Weightlifters can't live without the front squat. It is commonly understood that you can't clean what you can't front squat, and Greg Glassman has suggested that most lifters' clean numbers will be a reflection of a combination of their front squat and deadlift. Not only is the bottom of the front squat the receiving position for a full or 'squat' clean, but the ability to then reascend with that load will dictate success or failure in the lift. For an example, here's a training hall video of former World and European champion Vencelas DABAYA:

He's front squatting 200kg, at a weight of about 70kg. Ie, just shy of 3 times bodyweight. So, don't try that at home folks.

I'd also like to introduce you to the Crossfit approach. Here's a few chicks working on a new PR. Observe the form notes.


My intent is for this to serve as a thorough introduction. As such, I hope this helps to reinvigorate your Front squat practice. If you've never fronted before, I strongly urge you to get a coach. Barring that, find a similarly inclined lifting partner, and start light. Really light. And get as good as you can as fast as you can, because heavy is the only way to lift!