CrossFit Games Open 2013

The Open of the CrossFit Games has taught you a lesson.

You are not anywhere close to being fit.  Oh you already knew that.  You also already know that you have a lot to work on and that it's going to take a lot of time to actually be one of the top 500 people in your region.  You now know that you need better mobility, to help you get better technique, to help you get stronger.

If you are strong, you learned that you need better technique.  You don't have the mobility to get into optimal, or efficient positions to be competitive.  If you are weak, you learned that you are really weak.  You weak people need to get stronger. There are no secret magic coaching cues that will make your snatch technique impeccable, or your press or squat to double in weight.  You immobile weak ones have a lot to work on.  Don't get discouraged.  Your journey is often more fun becuase you can get better at something different all the time.  PR this.  PR that.  PR train.  Yada yada.  Actually that is pretty cool, but a pull up PR from green band to blue band....ehh.  Or a 60% of body weight clean and jerk to 61%.  Hmm.  I guess those are PR's.  Definitely not FB status update worthy.

The CF Open exposes your weak links.  Make an assessment:  snatch technique, burpees, stamina, strength, overhead position, weak back, squat depth, double unders, muscle ups...During which movement or workout were you embarrassed most?  Where do you want to not suck next year? 

I see many different types as a coach.  
One or more of these are you (not the last one):


-Body weight ninja (that can rarely RX)
-Heavy weight only master (sucks wind on any gymnastic movement)
-No skills (works like a dog then hits a brick wall when a skill is required)
-Low intensity (just doesn't leave comfort zone, cruises through a workout, light weight, no sweat, always saying they should have gone harder, but never does)
-No range of motion (No repped like a M'er F'er, tight hips, shoulders, ankles, no rack position, no squat to depth, no overhead position)
-No technique (Plateaus in training, becuase they don't actually use the cues from the awesome coaches)
-Wet noodle (weak everywhere, no body awareness, no core strength, probably eats too many noodles)
-Fringe athlete (person you see around, but don't know their name becuase you rarely see them)
-Always injured (when they do this, that hurts... and when it doesn't hurt they go so hard they get hurt again)
-Junior Beast Moders (actively working on their weakness, demonstrates great technique, checks ego at the door, eats to perform better, desires to get better, is a community supporter, reads CF and applicable articles)

-Jessica (great attitude, turns off the pain on '3-2-1-Go!', technical perfection, supple leopard, hard body, eye of the tiger, beast mode)

Now to be fluffy.

You are so brave to compete in the Open.  It is scary and you overcame your fears of being judged, leaving your comfort zone and trying weights you never thought possible.  Good job surviving 17 minutes of burpees and snatches, and taking minimal rest during 13.2  and good job attempting to do 150 wallballs.  You were such a good supporter for all of the other athletes doing their workouts and they really appreciated it!  You shed tears of happiness and defeat which means you care about your successes and pitfalls.  You are getting a sense of community at the gym and you now understand that we want you to succeed.  Succeed not just physically, but mentally and socially as well.  You have learned that you have areas that need focus.  You have found your weak link and you are going to work on your weakness until they are not weaknesses any more.  You show up to the gym early or stay a little later to get one step closer to reaching your goal.  You know that you need to be more mobile in areas and more stable in other areas and you think about it randomly throughout the day.  You understand that going heavier with sloppy technique will not make you are better athlete but that you need to be mobile enough to be able to use good technique to get stronger.

If you don't care about being competitive, you don't care about results, about self improvement,  about getting stronger or healthy, that's all cool, but just know that I am more prone to help people that ask for it.

Are you content with where you are at?  or are you going to do something about it?

Stick Figure Back Therapy

A few years ago,  I drew up these simple take home exercises to rehab your back.  I have dealt with many people suffering from back problems and greatly reduced the symptoms they were experiencing.  In most instances, people had these problems due to lack of flexibility in their lower body, hyper mobility of their lumbar spine, lack of body awareness and general weakness in their core musculature.  These exercises are very basic and can be performed by most people. 

110kg power clean (PR) 105kg power clean + hang clean (PR) 90kg push press single

article on push ups.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/what-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about-the-push-up/

104kg power clean from the blocks just above knee.

Paleo plus raisins!

The time has come once again to experiment with weight gain. For many years I have been teaching people the Paleo way. Through my experience it is a great way of eating moving away from the typical American shit diet to improve health and stay or get lean. Paleo to me is not hunting squirrels at the park and roasting them or gathering dandilions, but just eating lots of meat, typically very high fat and a ton of vegetables. Healthy and lean? Yes. Ridiculously jacked and strong? No. I think it about time to work on that a bit. Last year I was pounding the milk down. Like three gallons of whole milk worth per week. Not doing that again. I was kinda chubby, pretty bloated all the time and had to pee a lot. So after I cut my milk, I lost quite a.few pounds and leaned out. This time, I am gaining weight still Paleo, no milk, leaner than with the milk. I am adding just more sweet potatoes and more raisins. Higher carbs. Fat will probably be.the.same until I start to get noticeably fat. http://jasonferruggia.com/how-many-carbs-should-you-eat-per-day-to-build-muscle/ I set a goal of gaining 1#/week at the start of this for 15 weeks. This should put me up to 180# by the time this squat deadlift cycle ends...somewhere around February 2013. I am still going to avoid garbage food. Must be said.

Update 3/19/2013:
I did not gain 1# per week.  That was freaking hard!  I actually had to take it easy on the raisins.  They gave me gas.  (what doesn't give me gas?! ) Haha.  Maybe just too much over the course of the day.  I probably just need a few in the middle of a heavy workout day, or just post workout.  So I did get up to 175#...That was amazing.  So I decided to take some of the weight down in preparation for the CF Games Open.  Pull ups were damn hard.  Get stronger in one area, get weaker in another.  Once the Open ends, it's back to get huge and strong. 

Barbell and Gymnastics

Today I hit 2 PR's!  Whoa, it has been a while.

106kg Clean and Jerk

12 consecutive muscle ups.

Shakeology

Recently a friend asked me about my views on this product called 'Shakeology', and if it works.

Everything works.  This is good vegetables blended up..and if you are replacing fast food or generally shit food with a bunch of vegetables it will definitely work.  Since you will be spending big money on this product, you will probably not want to spend as much eating out, and drinking a ton of bad calories because you wouldn't want to waste money and you want to see results.  This product will work great for people who don't have time to prepare meals and don't mind spending the money.

There is no substitute for eating fresh vegetables.  Fresh vegetables can be blended up the same way as Shakeology.  Of course they will not taste the same.  With many of these kinds of diets, shakes, slimfast, special K, all you do is replace a bad meal with one with vitamins and protein and fiber.  Here is my version of shakeology: 
   
Sometimes you just don't want to eat your veggies. Drinking them can be quicker and easier.
Dark leafy greens, chunk of banana, whey and water.

How did it taste?  like blended greens, chunk of banana, whey and water!  I am sure you already assume that the shakeology isn't going to taste like fuh-king Jamba Juice!  But you'd still drink it for the results.  Sometimes you just have to override bad taste, discomfort, and 'i don't want to' for the sake of nutrition, fitness/health, and exercise.  Trust me, there are many days that I don't want to train because I hurt.  Overridden!  I do something, just not nothing.

So my advice was :

Sure try the shake, but work on getting your priorities straight.  Practice preparing your own meals, so when you go broke from buying a bag of shakeology a week, you will not be overwhelmed when you quit the shakes.

Remember everything works.  Just follow the instructions.

First post of 2012. (5 months late!)

It has been a while since I have written anything, but I have had situations and questions that have come my way that I want to divulge.

As a coach, many of the questions that come my way are "how can I improve?"or "what did you do to get where you are now?"

I think my answer is to these questions is:  'do things right'.  I am a bit of a technician.  It's the way I teach, the way I learn, and the way I train myself.  There are many ways to do something wrong and only a few ways to do something right.  Study the right way to do something and (try to) never do it wrong.  Progress slowly.  I am not the one in the gym to push beyond my technique.  Remember, Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity. 

So as far as general training advice.  This is what you have to do in no particular order:

-Eat right.  Lots of meat and vegetables.  Eliminate grains and sugar and alcohol ideally.
-Sleep an adequate amount ~8 continuous hours a night.
-Drink lots of water.
-Lift heavy things (barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, stones, kegs, people, sandbags, anything.)
-Lift lighter things with a higher volume.
-Lift  medium sized things at a moderate volume.
-Push or pull against gravity at a variety of angles off various apparatuses, add weight sometimes.
-Balance your training between your left and right side and your front and your back side and your upper and lower body.
-Train bilaterally, unilaterally and with odd shaped/sized objects.
-Train your grip.
-Increase your neck strength.
-Emphasize the posterior chain (hamstrings, butt and back) in your training.
-Train clean and jerk and snatch.
-Improve your front squat, deadlift and push press before you try to clean and jerk heavy.
-Improve your snatch-grip deadlift and overhead squat before you try to snatch heavy.
-Mobilize everything: hips, shoulders, wrists, ankles, and spine.
-Get or stay flexible.
-Play on the rings a bunch for upper body strength.
-Run, jump, climb, crawl, roll, skip, bound...move your body from point A to point B in various ways.
-Take your shoes of more often.
-Do not stress.
-Do not get injured.
-Enjoy what you are doing.  The journey is the fun part.
-Breathe.
-Be Patient.

My second Oly Meet.

WCCF

Snatch
66-70(old PR)-75(PR)

Clean and Jerk
98(old PR)-100(New PR)-103(New PR)

Things I need to work on

Hip Stability

I have a tendency to rotate a bit when coming out of the bottom of the squat.  I have been experiencing some pain in my hip flexor of my right leg.

I need to incorporate more single leg movements and really load through my hip to activate my glute.

Lower Trap and Lat Activation

I need to just do more JC band pulls and pull ups while focusing on activation of those muscles.

Glute Strength
I am going to start experimenting with hip thrusts. A Bret Contreras specialty. Success story of hip thrusts. 

Foot and Ankle Strength
Just having had tons of different injuries to my ankles, I know and feel that there is just general weakness in my ankles, especially on my right side.  This also could be the cause of my right hip issue.

The single leg work should help improve stability.

Squat Thread With Dominik

Justin Ehrhardt
Completely opposite of the the Westside method of squatting back and not down. The forces around the knee joint in figure A are obviously greater than forces at the hip. While figure B the hip is the primary mover loading from core to extremity. Even with the front squat, it would make more sense for the hips and knees to be closer to the center of gravity than one or the other. I would say that the knees generate less power thus should be closer to the midline. But this is just my opinion. I am not an expert..yet.

Dominik Pieklo
very good understanding/reasoning J-Man. True you can hoist more in figure B style of lifting. due to the mechanical advantages you've explained, which I like the reasoning very much, but figure A is meant to transfer over into front and overhead squats. Olympic Lifting. You know your shit man !

Justin Ehrhardt
Proper mechanics of a back squat will lead to a heavier back squat. A heavy back squat with proper mechanics will allow you to front squat heavy. Where a figure A back squat, is at a mechanical disadvantage; you'd forced to use a lighter weight. The combination of heavy back squats, and front squats will only naturally lead to a stronger OHS as the bar is directly overhead. But forcing unnatural positions doesn't seem worth the risk. Each movement has proper(ideal) mechanics and should be trained separately to capacity in my opinion.

back

The keystone of the arch of a man's strength is the "small" of his back. A man may have wonderful arms and fair legs; but if he is weak in the loins and in the lower part of the back, he can never be classed as a real "Strong Man." By Alan Calvert

My CrossFit-defined

CrossFit is what you want it to be. It is amazing because so many various forms of training/fitness fall under the "Constantly varied, functional movements executed at high intensity." definition. In addition, strength, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, flexibility and accuracy can be trained in various ways or of varying degree. Some may feel that one general physical skill is of greater importance and should be trained over another. While another may believe the complete opposite. You can train each element individually, or using combined movements.

How do I define CrossFit?
Simply, it cannot be defined. CrossFit is so progressive and cannot be summed up into a concise definition. It is about success and survival of the fittest. Being able to pick up something heavy and pressing it overhead, carrying heavy things, pushing or pulling heavy objects, climbing, crawling, sprinting, throwing, punching, kicking, wrestling, jumping, dodging, swimming, is CrossFit. I feel that CrossFit is a test to the ultimate animal on Earth; humans. I believe that cavemen were our ancestors-primal beings that passed along genes that were built on survival. We have the caveman inside of us. Yes, it is so. We have just become soft from our technology. Many people will die within days without it! CrossFit improves survival rate. If something catastrophic happened, CrossFitters will be more apt for survival.

Ay my age, I feel that strength, power and speed top my list, while agility and accuracy are lower on my hierarchy of the 10 General Physical Skills. Of course they are all extremely important. But as you age, strength, power and speed are the first to go. I want to train these elements to extend the duration of strength, power and speed in my life.

As far as Weightlifting, Gymnastics and Monostructural,at this point in my life, weightlifting has more of my attention. Getting stronger is like trying to climb the biggest mountain...you go PAST the heights of the beginner mountains. Training for strength/power/speed through weightlifting will improve your balance, agility, coordination, cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, flexibility and accuracy, but never visa versa.

It's about art and sport.

It's about fun.
You wouldn't be enjoying it if it wasn't fun somehow. If you don't like it, goodbye. Go get on the low survival rate list.

It's about you.
I do this for me. It does something to me. It makes me want to be better. Do you want to be better or worse, at anything? If you want to be worse at something go crawl in a hole and die. Stop wasting my air.

3-3-3-3-3-3 Back Squat @ 100kg

1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Deadlifts @ 140kg

Kicks Punches and Throws are plyometrics.

Sledgehammer is a great substitute.

If you care at all about your health and life.

Consider this:

If you stop breathing, most people will probably pass out in 1 to 2 minutes and suffer brain damage around 5 minutes.

"In hot conditions with no water, dehydration can set in within an hour. A baby locked in a hot car or someone who is physically overexerted in the heat without replacing fluids can actually die in a period of several hours."

Ghandi fasted without food for 21 days. Medically speaking, most doctors agree that healthy humans can go up to eight weeks without food as long as they have water.

Although these are extreme cases of strictly survival, this goes to show how important these simple components of life are often overlooked, or under appreciated. These extremes make a difference to me. I am probably not breathing enough, not drinking enough, and am overly concerned with food.

I am not going to stop breathing, drinking, or fast for any long period of time. Although these are often parts of life that just happen without any thought, you are in control of these simple life sustaining elements. The diaphragm is the primary muscle used for breathing, it can be trained through practice of diaphragmatic breathing.  Drink more water and eat healthy clean food.  Duh.



http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/death-dying/live-without-food-and-water.htm


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_can_you_live_without_air_food_and_water

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

power cleans

3 x 5 Power Cleans

(80kg, 90kg, 95kg)

Split Jerk PR

Split Jerk PR 100kg x2

Deadlift

345# barbell deadlift with mixed hook grip

160kg hex bar (high handle) deadlift 352#

l sit

L sit 35s

Happy Birthday to me.

oly lifting

PR clean and jerk (98kg)

power clean.
I suck at getting out of the hole from a clean.

OHS Test

My 15RM of OHS:
52kg

I could have gone heavier. I tried 60kg, but that was a bit too much for the amount of energy I had.

Did a 27 second L-sit on the p bar yesterday.

Dairy and Sprints

Sprint
Today I ran 10 x 100 yard sprints. After running drills, I ran the 100's followed by 100 yard walk recovery. If you do the math, it was only like less than 150 seconds of work. (~15s/100yard sprint) x 10 = ~150 seconds. I tell ya, a tough 150 seconds.

I have introduced dairy back into my diet. There have been some recent posts about GOMAD Diet to gain 25lbs in 25 days. GOMAD=Gallon of Milk a Day. I have not taken it to that extreme.

Week 1- 1 quart of heavy whipping cream (50 calories/tablespoon, 64 tbsp/quart = 3200 calories per quart)

Week 2- 1 quart of heavy whipping cream + 2 gallons of whole milk (150 calories/cup, 16 cups/gallon, 2400 calories/gallon) = 3200 + 2400 + 2400 = 8000 calories

So over the past 2 weeks I have increased my calorie consumption by 11,200 calories from drinking dairy.

Why am I doing this? I think this will give me a great understanding of knowing how to gain and lose weight. Of course you need to eat a lot of food in order to gain weight. I knew this, but never experienced it firsthand. I am currently less concerned about increasing my work capacity. I am more interested in gaining size to increase my strength. Although I am participating in the WCCF Olympic Weightlifting Meet on Nov. 6, I am not trying to make weight at 69kg. I will be competing against guys much larger than I, but it isn't like I am going to be doing anything at the National level anyways. I addition, I have always been the small guy. Like always. I think this milk era of my life will be fun..just seeing how big I can get. I will continue my training hitting all of the basics, deadlift, squat, shoulder press, Olympic Lifting, ring work, sprints, strongman and staying healthy. Maintaining an anabolic state is key.

Heavy things.

IHP

Back squat 115kg

max effort, current pr

Muscle ups

Put up some rings in the gym.

Muscle up PR- 11 reps with turn out.

Training these days..

This quest for fitness is such a funny one. I have these moments of why I do such things and what is all this training going to accomplish. I have learned that there really is no definite answer. I train for many different reasons which include: fun, a challenge, health, to succeed, to fail, for pride, for company, for work, to learn, to play, for mental strength, for physical strength, for longevity, and to inspire.

I always want to get better at everything at once, but know that this is impossible, as this is a journey to the end (hence the title of my blog.) Jessica and I have come up with various elements of fitness that we want to do everyday. Granted we are at the gym so often we can do these things often.

1 rope ascent
handstand walk
3 muscle ups/dips
heavy sled push and pull
pirouette
GHD sit ups/hip extension
L-sit on p bars

I have several other elements that I feel I need to add:
push ups
box squats
one arm rows
running
high rep leg swings
farmers walk

Wow. That is a complete workout, not even including the actual workout. Ridiculous.

I need some type of priority within this list. I need these: multi joint, weight bearing, hip dominant, full body, upper body, core, lower body dominant, and skill dominant, and something that wont create overuse/injury.

So what do I need? Variance. Remember it is not about training the muscles. It is about training movements. Muscles only contract when your nervous system tells the muscles to contract. Improve your nervous system through practice.

The CrossFit model is pretty simple. Blend an Olympic lifter, with a gymnast, and a track athlete to get a very well rounded (exceptional athlete).

Fight Gone Bad #3

Today was FGB6, number 3 for me.

I did better than I have even done finishing at 354 reps. I also finally did it in the order I was supposed to; starting with wallball. SumoDLHP is always still worse. I maxed on the box jumps. Wallball wasn't bad. stayed consistent around 25-30.
My row has improved over the last few months. Still hate it.

Strongman

115# stone carries
90-180# sled drags and pushes
135-225# hex bar thick handle farmers walk
90# sled pulls hand over hand

30min

Olympic Lifting 1.1

Power Snatch 2x3 [50, 55, 57kg]

Snatch 1 [57kg]

Split Jerk (right leg front) 2x3 [80, 84, 86]

Front Squat 3x3 [80, 85, 70]

Superset:
Shoulder Press 3x5 [50, 52, 54]
Lunge 3x5 [50, 52, 54]

I wasn't able to activate my glutes well with the heavier weight so I dropped it down.
I really felt the glutes working well with the bar racked in the back squat position for the lunges.

Training Compilation 2010

Natural Lifting

It doesn't matter the object.  I think I have a new found passion for picking up stones!  There are many different holds and ways to pick them up.  Stones also make you focus a ton...You do not want to drop the stone on your feet or head.  My stomach has been getting crazy strong just from picking up stones too. 

Sedentary Work and Obesity | Mark's Daily Apple

Sedentary Work and Obesity Mark's Daily Apple

Will a Gluten-Free Diet Improve Your Health?

Will a Gluten-Free Diet Improve Your Health?