Our brains are highly sophisticated computers that are easily programmable. How many of you learned [the hard way] that touching a hot stove meant that you got burned? Some of you more stubborn folks had to do it two or more times to be convinced that it wasn’t a good idea, but eventually, you made the connection that hot stoves meant pain.

In the gym, your brain is working on multiple levels: controlling your motor skills and respiratory functions, amongst other things. It has the ability to evaluate your movement mid-lift, make an adjustment, and execute it all in a fraction of a second. How you program your brain in the gym with regards to successful lifts is critical. If 30% of your lifts end up as fails, your brain recognizes that as a habit. It will expect to fail at least 30% of the time. Don’t make your lifts a game of russian roulette.

This may apply somewhat differently for power lifts vs oly lifts, but idea is the same. When you burn out your back squat, deadlift, bench press, and press lifts, make sure you ‘leave one in the tank.’  This is critical in ensuring proper recovery as well as cementing the habit of making every lift you attempt.

When it come to Olympic lifts, selecting weights for your work sets is crucial.  Cleans and snatches are highly technical and neurological lifts.  If you had a tough day at work or rough training week, you may experience neural fatigue.  You may feel physically capable of moving the weight, but your brain is just not cooperating.  You feel uncoordinated and it’s hard to snatch even 50% of your usual work set.  If this is the case, go only as heavy as you can still keep good form and move the bar with appropriate speed.    On the days we program cleans or snatches and tell you to get a heavy double or triple (2-2-2 or 3-3-3), don’t look at it as an opportunity to chase a PR and go until you fail.  Get to a heavy set for that day and stop while you’re ahead.

Success builds confidence.  Who wants to come into the gym every day just to fail a lift?  You end up beating your head against the wall and dread getting under the bar.  This doesn’t mean you stay in a comfort zone and never push the envelope.  Instead, learn how to assess how well you are moving on a given training day.  Know when to push your limits and when to be more conservative.  Set yourself up for success and it will become a habit.

WOD 06.22.12

Bear Complex
5 sets of the following complex:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press

1. Perform 7 reps of the complex without resting on the floor per set. Touch and go only for the Power Clean.
2. You can thruster the push presses from both the squats, but the first movement has to be a power clean…(no squat clean to thruster).
3. Rest as needed between sets.
4. Penalty for a bar touching the ground is 5 burpees per violation post-WOD.

CrossFit, the sport of the generalist, has 10 fitness domains that all its athletes should strive for:

1. Cardiovascular and Respiratory endurance
2. Stamina
3. Strength
4. Flexibility
5. Power
6. Speed
7. Coordination
8. Agility
9. Balance
10. Accuracy

Most people walk though our doors with a tendency towards a few of the above qualities, and lacking in others.  Any specialist will usually find himself at one extreme end of the spectrum.  For example, a marathon runner may excel in the cardio and stamina end, while greatly lacking in strength, power, and flexibility.  An power lifter will have strength and power, but usually lack in cardio and stamina.

Many specialists will use the CrossFit methodology as their strength and conditioning to achieve that balance.  For those who don’t play a particular sport or train for certain races, however, CrossFit is their sport.  The pursuit of the ultimate balance in the above domains can take a lifetime!

Take the time today to evaluate yourself as an athlete.  Give yourself a number between 1-10 beside each domain.  Where is your weak link?  Sometimes identifying your weakness relative to your strengths can open your eyes to what you should be working on before and after class.

Do you hate runs longer than 400m?  Do you shy away from double lift days?  Have you avoided skill days because you abhor stretching and mobility?  Do you get the jitters when we pull out the agility ladder?   Be honest with yourself.

Another way to look at the above domains is to shorten the list and rate from 1-10 just on the below domains:

1. Strength (power lifts)
2. Speed (100m sprints)
3. Endurance (5k)
4. Power (think Oly lifts)

Recognize that any number above a 7 in one category will inevitably lower the number in another column.  Example:  if you are a 10 in endurance, chances are your strength and power will score low and vice versa.   This is just another way to assess where your weaknesses are.

Post your ratings to comments!

WOD 06.12.12

Weighted Pull Ups 3-2-1-1-1

800m Run
9 Kettlebell Swings
9 Toes to Bar
Rest 1 Min
400m Run
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Toes to Bar
Rest 1 Min
240m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings
21 Toes to Bar

The OHS requires a tremendous amount of midline stability and often magnifies every weakness (however minute) in our squats (not to mention shoulder and wrist inflexibility). Dan John, a well-known Strength and Conditioning coach, wrote an article about the importance of this lift.

One discus thrower told Dan in 1988 that his coach required him to do 10 bodyweight OHS’s in order to throw because it “makes you one piece.” There is no cheating, twisting, bouncing, tossing, etc. You need a balance of upper and lower body strength, which is something that is lost when most people segment their gym days by legs, back, bi’s, tri’s, and chest. It also requires an athletic flexibility that you cannot get with all the yoga in the world. Being bendy and being strong in a position that requires flexibility are two different things.

Here are some tips that may help from Mighty Mix:

1. Press against the bar: Your arms are locked out, shoulder blades together and up and you are pressing up against the bar throughout the lift. Don’t relax or the bar will dump.

2. Keep your head and chest up: But don’t attempt to stay ramrod straight (like a chair back) in the hole. The bar is supported over your traps, so to maintain this, you need to keep your head and chest up, but with a slight forward lean (see photo above).

3. Stabilize in the hole: Don’t relax at the bottom. Stay active, tight, and controlled.

4. Use your wrists and hands: Because you are constantly fine tuning the position of the barbell to stay over the center of your feet, your hands and wrists are active throughout the lift. Don’t just think of them as a platform for the bar to sit on.

Dan John says that the OHS builds what he calls, “Dad Strength.” He talks about the old days where he and his buddies lift with cement filled weights and thought of themselves as top dogs of the neighborhood, but could not compare to the dads “had that scary kind of strength that allows one to pick an engine out of a Pontiac station wagon and carry it to the lawn.”

Embrace the OHS. It makes you dad strong. It makes you one piece.

WOD 05.29.12

Overhead Squat 2-2-2

Complete 75 Front Squats

On the minute, complete:

• 5 Pull Ups
• 5 Push Ups

Happy Birthday to Manuel Today!!!

Today we’ll be working on the snatch balance for the lift. If you aren’t familiar with it, check out Catalyst Athletics for a fantastic demo. This often overlooked lift is a fantastic assistance exercise and a great way to learn how to press under the bar and to gain confidence receiving the bar at the bottom of an overhead squat.   Most people who learn how to power snatch find it difficult to press under into a full snatch, even if mobility is not an issue. The snatch balance teaches you to explosively and actively press under the bar without having to worry about the deadlift and snatch portions of the lift.

Here are a few tips when performing the snatch balance:

• Brace before you dip and drive under.  Say tight throughout the lift until you stand back up.
• Keep your hands loose so you can press under faster.  A death grip will slow down the bar when you dip and drive.
• Focus on pressing under the bar as opposed to pressing the bar up.
• Try to receive the bar at the point at which the bar is weightless.  Don’t drop down and let the weight crash on you.
• Go only as low as you can maintain good shoulder position.

Tom signed up for the Spartan Race under Team CFI for December 1st, so register now before space runs out!

WOD 04.24.12

Snatch Balance 3-3-3

Tabata Burpees

Rest 2 Minutes, Then:

3 Rounds:

• 200m Run
• 20 Sit Ups

**Option to run with a sandbag and hold a weight for sit ups

Photo Courtesy of USAW

The weekend before last at the Arnold Sports Festival held every year in Columbus, Ohio, USA Weightlifting conducted its 2012 Olympic trials to determine which weightlifters would represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The number of spots was dictated by how U.S. lifters performed at the last World Championships where the women were fortunate enough to lock up 2 spots, but the men had a tough showing and came back empty handed (more on this later). So who are the two women pictured above who will be lifting for the U.S.? Sarah Robles (left) and Holley Mangold (right) are both considered super heavyweights (75+kg weight class) and according to the USAW article, both put up an impressive performance to lock their spots. Robles’ snatch and clean and jerk totaled an impressive 258 kilograms (multiply by 2.2 to determine poundage), while Mangold totaled 255kg. Learn more about both athletes here. Best of luck ladies in your preparation for the 2012 Olympics, we’re looking forward to cheering you on!

I mentioned earlier that the U.S. men’s performance at Worlds wasn’t enough to earn the U.S. a spot, but all is not lost. According to Coach Bob Takano’s post, the U.S. is in contention with other Pan American countries for 7 available spots. The 2012 Pan American Championship is being held this May in Guatemala and the top 7 teams will each earn 1 spot to send a lifter to London. If the U.S. team places in the top 7, they will have the opportunity to send thier lifter most likely to medal to London. The exact lifter remains to be seen, and will depend how everyone performs at the Pan Am Championship. Best of luck gentlemen in your prep for Guatemala, and we’ll be checking back in on the team’s progress, to see if the men lock up an Olympic bid, and which lifter will be fortunate enough to go. Stay tuned…

WOD 3.10.12

“Helen”

3 rounds for time:

• 400m run
• 21 KBS
• 12 Pullups

(subject to change in case of rain)

Greg Everett, owner of Catalyst Athletics in Sunnyvale, CA and lead author/editor for the the Performance Menu, recently posted a free article on his website entitled “Six Truths of Weightlifting Technique”.  It sifted through all the differing opinions on weightlifting technique and focuses on the six areas that any coach worth their salt can agree on.  I felt the Intrepid Weightlifting aficionados out there would appreciate a post on Olympic Weightlifting as it’s been awhile since our last one.  Here’s a quick synopsis on Greg’s article:

1. The Lifter and the Barbell System Must Remain Balanced over the Feet.-The actual balance over the foot isn’t exactly the same throughout a given lift, but it must end up being essentially balanced on average. If it diverges too much at any given point, it will be more than the lifter can compensate for, and the result will be the entire system being pulled forward or backward out of balance. There is actually a bit of latitude here. It’s possible to perform a snatch or clean with a backward or even forward jump as long as you can re-establish the balance over the newly positioned base.
2. The Lifter and the Barbell Must Remain in Close Proximity to Each Other-When we’re talking about a more complex movement like the snatch or clean, the effect of distance between the bar and body is magnified; that is, extremely small distances can create big problems. I prefer to have the barbell as close to the lifter as possible without making contact until the appropriate point of contact during the final explosion effort (hips for the snatch, high upper thigh for the clean).
3. There Must Be No Time Wasted at the Top of the Pull-You can’t deny that any time spent in an extended position following the point of producing maximal acceleration is limiting the lifter’s ability to relocate under the bar. That is, whether you want to focus on lifting the bar or getting under it (or, a novel idea, both…), you have to transition between accelerating the bar upward and accelerating the body downward as quickly as possible.
4. The Relocation Under the Bar is an Active Movement-In effective lifting, there is no falling, dropping or catching. There is pulling, pushing, squatting and splitting—the relocation of the lifter under the bar is just as active as the rest of the lift, and a lack of aggression in this phase of the lift will ensure a lifter fails to maximize his or her potential.
5. The Receiving Position Must Be Stable and Strong-All that matters is that you establish the position that best allows you to support the weight and stand up with it. This position will vary somewhat among lifters based on anatomical peculiarities, flexibility, etc. The rack position of the clean similarly will look different among lifters, but in any case, the bar must be supported securely on the trunk, not in the hands and arms, and the position must allow optimal posture in the squat position.
6. Consistency is More Important than the Actual Technique Style-No two athletes lift exactly the same way. Some use the same basic style, but every lifter has his or her own technical idiosyncrasies for better or worse. In the long term, it’s more important that a lifter perform the lifts as consistently as possible relative to him- or herself than it is to perform the lifts with a certain technical style (assuming the style is within the range of acceptable). Each lifter should strive to optimize the technique that proves to be most effective, and then make that optimized technique second nature through high volumes of practice and training over time.

The above is my attempt at a Reader’s Digest version of Greg’s full article found here.  Each month Greg publishes articles relevant to improving your athletic performance in the Performance Menu.  If you haven’t already subscribed please consider it as it’ll be the best value $29.95 has gotten you in a long time.

WOD 2.22.12

Deadlift 1×5/Wendler

In 4 Minutes: Run 800m and Perform Max Rep Ring Rows
Rest 1 Minute
In 3 Minutes: Run 400m and Perform Max Rep Double Unders
Rest 1 Minute
In 2 Minutes: Run 200m and Perform Max Rep Ball Slams
Rest 1 Minute
In 1 Minute: Run 100m and Perform Max Rep Squat Jumps

Add total reps for score.

Dont Forget to Bring in Some Goodies for Tom's Box!

Whether you specialize in Olympic weightlifting or find yourself wanting to improve in some of the difficult positions like the overhead squat, front squat rack position, and the deep squatting, Kelly Starrett and Diane Fu of San Francisco CrossFit provide some mobility drills to incorporate into a warmup session that help do just that. Observe how Diane has four “core” mobility drills that she feels make the most impact on her lifting. She hits those four mobility drills just about every day prior to her lifting session and it takes her 15 mins or less to see significant change in her range of motion (ROM). It also helps to get in the habit of testing your ROM before each drill to baseline your position, and retest afterwards to see if you were able to elict change. It’s scary how much ROM Diane regains just after a short time.

Start piecing together your “core” mobility drills, and make time each and every day to accomplish them. If you can’t make it into the gym early to do your mobility homework then try ways to do them at home or work. You’ll get the most out of it just prior to your training session as long as you don’t tire yourself out, so engage your coaches for mobility ideas, make time on Thursdays to come in and learn more mobility drills, or simply pick through the wealth of knowledge that is the Mobility WOD (MWOD) website also run by Kelly Starrett.

A very special happy birthday shoutout to Jason B. Jason has had a busy year highlighted by the birth of his daughter. “Coach” Jason is best known for his false starts in workouts, cutting through parking lots on his warmup laps (and trying to coax others to do the same), his incredible words of encouragement to others, and his ability to push others to dig deeper than they thought they could (i.e. Alice’s strict chin-up post workout). Happy Birthday Jason from all of us here at Intrepid!

WOD 12.17.11

“Standards Workout”

4 Rounds:
10 Wallball shots
10 Pushups
10 Box Jumps
10 Push Presses

Athlete: For every “no rep” you will do one Prowler push Post-WOD
Judge: For every “no rep” you don’t call on the athlete you will do one Prowler push Post-WOD

Many of us are planning on travelling this holiday season and working out can oftentimes take a back seat. Using myself as an example I use every excuse in the book while I’m on the road: “I didn’t sleep well”, “I slept on my back weird”, “I think I’m coming down with something”, but mostly “I don’t think the gym has the equipment I’ll need” or “They might not take kindly to the sight of weights being jumped around or the sound of plates clanging as they’re lowered”.  Whatever the excuse more often than not I’ll talk myself out of getting a workout in, even if I’m not feeling 100%.  You’ve likely read about our previous travels over the holidays to “Globo” gyms here and here, but this year I encourage all of you to see your travel as an opportunity to mix up your training a bit, especially if you’re limited on equipment. Every great athlete appreciates a change of pace or the opportunity to work some new movements/modalities into their training to keep things fresh among many other reasons. While on the road this year, or even while Intrepid is closed, use it as an opportunity to try something different in your workouts, but just make sure to get off your butt and do something active if you can’t make it to a gym.

One way that I’ve found works well for me while I’m on the road is Olympic Style Lifting with Dumbbells, introduced to me by my college Strength and Conditioning Coach Allen Hedrick. During college all the athletes thought he was coming from left field with many of our workouts, but as I’ve learned and tried more both as an athlete and coach, I’ve come to appreciate not only the value of Olympic lifting but also the benefits of using “odd objects” such as dumbbells in a strength and conditioning program.  Here’s Coach Hedrick’s take on the advantages of dumbbell training:

• Dumbbells require more balance than training with barbells or machines. This increased balance requirement is of value in terms of enhancing athletic performance, a significant consideration in fitness programs, and can lead to greater muscle fiber recruitment.
• Dumbbells require more muscular control than barbells, enhancing kinesthetic awareness.
• Dumbbells allow unilateral training (training one limb at a time), which can provide the opportunity for emphasizing greater movement specificity in the training programs of athletes and greater program variety for bodybuilders and those training for fitness.
• Dumbbells promote greater recruitment of the stabilizing muscles, enhancing joint stability and hypertrophy.
• Some exercises can be performed with a higher degree of safety with dumbbells than barbells. For example, when performing step-ups.
• Finally, dumbbells provide greater variety in the training program. Greater variety leads to less opportunity for physiological and psychological staleness in the training program, enhancing the opportunity for continued growth.

Dumbbells challenge one’s midline stability in ways much differently than a barbell and I think the case can be made that they’re almost equally important for this very reason. And for this reason the amount of weight used will be much less than what would be used with a barbell and dumbbells should definitely not completely take the place of barbell lifts, simply supplement them.  Very seldom outside of the gym will one ever be lucky enough to lift something as balanced as the barbell so it pays to be able to support, move, and catch loads efficiently and in positions that aren’t balanced from one side of the body to the other. Since most gyms now-a-days have at least dumbbells available, I’ll introduce you to some new ways you can use dumbbells to not only to improve your explosivity and mid-line stability, but also help keep things fresh in your training.  And don’t worry if the dumbbells don’t progress very high in weight where ever you might end up for a workout, as you’ll see it doesn’t take much to really challenge yourself.

In his T-Nation articles Olympic Lifts and Dumbbells: A Winning Combination and Advanced Dumbbell Training, and also in this NSCA Journal article entitled Power Training with Dumbbells written by one of his former assistant coaches, Coach Hedrick breaks down a variety of dumbbell movements. I’ll only touch on the clean here in this post and try to cover the snatch and jerk in a future post if there’s interest, but please check out his T-Nation articles or other NSCA articles if you’d like to read more about the topic or others he’s written on.

DB Clean
This movement can be performed from the hang position or the mid-shin position if one wishes to simulate the height of the bar when performing Olympic lifts with a barbell.  Your feet should be more or less under your hips in a comfortable jumping stance.  Start tall with a dumbbell in either hand by your sides.  Dip to initiate the jumping action by pushing your butt back and flexing your hips.  Don’t lock your knees straight but make an effort not to bend the knees much.  Keep your chest up and keep the dumbbells along the sides of your legs ensuring your shoulders stay ahead of the dumbbells and the dumbbells don’t drift forward as you dip.  Once the dumbbells reach about knee height or slightly higher, explode upwards like you’re jumping making an effort not to pause at this bottom position.

Start Position (Hang version)

Once you reach triple extension (full extension of the hips, knees, and ankles) forcefully drive your elbows up to the ceiling keeping the dumbbells close to the side of your body. The elbows should be kept high above the wrists as you pull the dumbbells upward alongside your ribcage with the idea of pulling them to your armpits. As you pull keep the dumbbell oriented in the same position as it was in the start with your palms facing your sides. As you reach the peak of your pull, and as you fatigue and/or increase in weight, the upward pull with your arms not only generates more height in your pull but should also pull you down to meet the dumbbells at the height your were able to “jump” them.

Extension & Pull (1-arm version)

In my experience, the catch is the trickiest part of the DB Clean and can make or break the attempt. Our catch position is very similar to that of its barbell counterpart, however the ease of the transition is much different using dumbbells. The main reason is that when using a bar the spin of the bar and the ability to momentarily loosen one’s grip facilitates the transition to the rack position. However, we do not have the same luxury when using dumbbells. You have to maintain a firm grip on the dumbbell and rotate it as one unit with the arm as you rotate your elbows from the high and outside position of the pull, under the dumbbell, and finally in front of your body so that the tips of your elbows are pointing at the horizon and the dumbbells have settled on the meaty portion of your shoulders or your deltoids. When its all said and done the dumbbell has rotated roughly 270 degrees, and it’s this rotation that makes the DB clean more challenging especially if the dumbbells are large and bulky. However, if you master the transition with dumbbells you will probably never have much on an issue whipping your elbows around on a barbell clean. You might find it more comfortable to allow the plate of the dumbbells to rest on your delts rather than holding the dumbbells like Michael in the picture at the top of the post (in his defense he was performing thrusters and that position was more ideal for that particular movement than the one I’m describing here). The clean can be caught in the power position or a partial front squat, or in a full depth front squat which typically allows heavier weights to be used.

Catch (2-Arm Version in Power position)

Catch (2-Arm version in Full Squat)

The DB Clean can also be performed using one arm at a time to further challenge your midline stability. The difference being as you reach your triple extension and begin the high pull, only one arm will pull while the other keeps the dumbbell by your side (as pictured in the pull section above). The catch will resemble the photo below with one arm in the front squat rack position while the other dumbbell remains by your side.

Catch (1-Arm Version)

I honestly wish I could find a video to show you how all the pieces mesh together but I couldn’t find one I felt was worthy of posting. In the T-Nation article they included a video that gives you the gist of the movement but please don’t mimic her movement as you see it. Stick to the points I laid out here, and sooner than later Intrepid will have dumbbells of its own and you’ll likely see more dumbbell movements like the clean in the future, so start practicing now.

WOD 12.14.11

Deadlift 1×5/Wendler

“DT”
5 Rounds
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Push Jerks

This week the 2011 Pan American Games are taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico.   This is one of the major tune-ups for athletes with aspirations of competing in the 2012 Olympic  games taking place in London.  We like to keep tabs on the U.S. Weightlifters and tomorrow marks the first day of lifting!  You can check here to see the schedule of lifting and which weight classes compete on which days.  3 weight classes will compete per day with Thursday being the final day with the super-heavyweights.  If you’re curious to know who will be lifting for the U.S. you can see the roster here.  Some names to watch for the men are:

Chad Vaughn (77kg)                               Kendrick Farris (85kg)                             Pat Mendes (105+)

and for the women:

Kelly Rexroad-Williams (48kg)                 Chioma Amaechi (75+)                        Sarah Robles (75+kg)

Television coverage is somewhat sparse, but I’ve seen tidbits of the Pan Am Games being televised on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.  USA Weightlifting  (USAW) posted this link to watch some of the Pan Am action, so hopefully it will stream the weightlifting events when they are in progress.  You may also be able to find a site streaming coverage online if you’re lucky.  Check out the USAW Facebook page found here, like the page, and keep tabs on our lifters’ progress and achievements.

Happy Birthday shoutout to Angel! Angel joined Intrepid a few months ago and has been kicking butt day in and day out at the 7:30am and 12:00 classes. Have a great birthday Angel, and keep up the impressive progress!

WOD 10.22.2011

Back Squat 3×5 or Wendler

AMRAP 5
30 Double Unders
10 Hang Power Snatches
Rest 2 minutes
AMRAP 5
10 Weighted Lunges
5 Handstand Pushups

The main reason most people don’t like front squatting is because it’s hard. The numbers they put up are nowhere near their back squats; it hurts their wrists; and did I mention it was hard? Kelly Starrett of Mobility WOD lists what is required for an athlete to excel at front squatting:

1) Rigid, rock hard mid-line stabilization. A fence post like spine.
2) Freaky huge quads to handle the load given up by the hamstings.
3) Terrific ankle flexibility to handle the forward driving shins during the vertical torso phase.

Usually the biggest hurdles in the front squat include the following:

1. You can’t keep your elbows up. This usually means you need to strengthen your rotator cuffs, which help you bring your elbows up and in to create that bed for the barbell to sit on. Try this drill from a previous post as well as these drills in this T-Nation article by Eric Cressey.

2. You can’t keep your torso upright. Marcus wrote a great article a while back about mobilizing your upper back to get a better rack position. Also you can try these drills on Mark’s Daily Apple.

3. You can’t keep your torso tight enough. This one is harder to spot and can attribute to the upper two problems. The key is to try to make your torso like a closed soda can. Take a huge breath, push out against your ribs, and tighten up. Activate your lower abs like you’re performing a strict crunch. And hold. Do more strict crunches, hollows, waiter’s walks, farmer carries, and pallof presses.

4. You don’t have the wrist flexibility. This one’s a bit tougher. However, barring a anthropomorphic problem (ie your forearm/humerus is too long/short) there are temporary solutions (using straps) as well as an abundance of stretches and warm ups to get you there.

Check out other tips for the front squat here and here.

We front squat because it’s hard. We front squat because it strengthens your entire body. We front squat because we want to be like Dimas.

WOD 10.18.11

Front Squat 3×3
Deadlift 1×5 or Wendler

Cash Out with 5 rope climbs, focusing on using your footwork coming back down.