The Movement Program

The great thing about the sports of weightlifting and CrossFit is that they mean different things to different people.  For some, a workout is a battle full of rage and fury signifying everything; the barbell, pullup bar, and jump rope are weapons of destruction.  For others, training is a temple of peace and serenity, a place where people come to wash themselves clean in pain and suffering.

Therein lies the beauty of both sports:  despite what the mainstream culture of both sports are, you can make them into anything you want.  Get drunk on rageohol?!  Have at!  Become one with the universe?!   Sure.

Make this sport yours.

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Today’s Muscle of the Day is the rhomboids.

The rhomboids consist of two muscles, the rhomboid major and minor.  These puppies originate up from the seventh cervicle vertebrae and stretch all the way down to the fifth thoracic vertebrae.  They insert into the medial border of the scapula and when activated are responsible for retracting and rotating the scapula.

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As we do most Friday’s, today was our weekly max out session on the snatch and clean and jerk.   Ten minutes on each.  We then went after some heavy, submaximal 5 RM high bar back squats.  The day was finished off with some suitcase carries to wake up those frontal plane stabilizers, (quadratus lumborum, obliques, and glute minimus/medius).

Congratulations to Chris Schillig, Mike Snyder, and Ben Collins for some nice PRs.  Knick almost had 150 on the snatch.  You can see some of their lifts below.

Next week is a deload week.  That means tons of technique work and moving those barbells fast.

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Snatch:  Lift off transitions, muscle snatches, angel drops, punch and catch progressions.

Barbell Mechanics

1 RM Attempts

10 min Snatch

10 min Clean and Jerk

Strength

3 x 5 High Bar Back Squat

*Increase weight each set but do not work past 90% 5 RM.

Fortification

3 x 50 m Suitcase Carry each hand.  (24 kg/16kg)

Sensed some frustration amongst my athletes during today’s challenging session.  Here’s some perspective from famous Russian sports physiologist A. S. Medvedyev about the need for years of development in weightlifting:

Stay patient.  Put the work in.  Excellence is a habit.

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Speaking of excellence, Mike Snyder has developed a secret new squat technique and today he shares it with the world.

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Today’s muscle of the day is the trapezius.  This muscle stretches quite far as it starts from the base of the skull all the way down to the spinous process of the twelfth thoracic vertebrae.  It inserts in the posterior lateral portion of the clavicle, the acromion process, and the spine of the scapula.  What does it do?  The trapezius is responsible for the rotation, retraction, elevation, and depression of the scapula. So, when someone asks you what the trapezius does and you shrug, “I don’t know”, you just answered that person’s question with a visual aid!

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We hit a nasty complex during our barbell mechanics today.  Really looking to develop that finish on the second pull today, hence the preponderance of snatches from the hi-hang.

Lots of people (and when I say lots, I mean everyone) did not like today’s conditioning.  Today’s focus was working on muscular stamina and also cardiovascular endurance.  We hit eight rounds not for time of max effort pushups and a run.  With our new rower, “Knick” scaled up and rowed 250 meters after each round of pushups at paces starting at 1:55/500 all the way down to 1:40/500.  It looked painful.  Really painful.  Great job to everyone for getting after this today.  No quarter was given by any athlete. Well done!

Terpak

Warmup

1 Round Snatch Warmup:  Lift off Transitions, Muscle Snatches, Angel Drops, Punch and Catch Progressions.

Barbell Mechanics

Hi-Hang Snatch x 2 + Overhead Squat + Snatch

2 @ 75% 1 RM Snatch

3 @ 85%

2  @ 80%

Conditioning

8 Rounds Not for Time

Max Effort Pushups

200 Meter run.

*Score is total pushups.

Fortification

Speed Skaters

2 x 10 in each direction

Gee mister, those lats sure are a big muscle!

When it see poor squat form, I transform into quite the nag.  Imagine your 80 year old neighbor who crumbles his brow and shakes his fist as he shouts at you to get off his lawn (or for us city folk, stoop)!  Recently, the combined forces of daydreaming and research has got me thinking.

Looking at the picture above, one can see that the latissimus dorsi is quite a meaty muscle.  Stretching all the way from the spinous processes of both the lumbar and thoracic spine, this darling works its way like a weed all the way up to the intertubercular groove of the humerous (the upper arm bone).  It’s responsible for shoulder adduction, internal rotation, and even extension.  Could it be considered a spinal stabilizer?  If we develop strength in our lats, can that transfer to a safer and stronger squat?  I think it might.

If the lats are taught how to become strong AND generate extreme superstiffness prior to a squat, to me it seems like the lats would act like a protective sheath of stability.  Working in concert with the spinal erectors (iliocostalis, longissimus, spinalis), lats that are activated can help in producing the superstiffness required to transfer force throughout the body during a heavy lift, like a squat.

Weighted pullups and pendlay rows would be a good start to develop absolute strength/strength endurance, while isometric holds at the top of a pullup/pendlay row would help cultivate superstiffness.

Again these are all simply ideas, confirmed neither by peer reviewed journal articles nor my own testing, but I am hoping to evaluate that idea soon.

What do you think?  Comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

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Today, we continued our march towards weightlifting glory!  We hit a nice little complex of clean deadlifts, cleans, front squats, and jerks.  I follow a lot of Glenn Pendlay and Muscle Driver and like how they frequently use complexes in their training.  Complexes build the requisite muscular stamina required to endure longer training sessions and also teach the athlete how to lift efficiently when tired.  Expect to see more of these complexes as our programming continues to evolve.

Once our complexes were finished, we continued our midline stability work with the much underused Turkish Getup.  I know it wasn’t conditioning in the strictest sense, but if those don’t get your heart rate up and the sweat flowing, you are not human.

Rest up, people.  Back in action on Wednesday.

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial release/Dynamic warmup

10 rotating med ball slams (20#/14) each side

1 round Clean and Jerk:  Lift off transitions, Rack Delivery, Jerk Step Throughs, Punch and Catch Progressions.

Barbell Mechanics

Clean Deadlift + Clean + Front Squat + Jerk

2 sets @ 75% 1 RM Clean

3 sets @ 85%

2 sets @ 80%

*2 minutes recovery between sets.

Strength

Turkish Getups

2-2-2-2-2-2

*Each arm.

*1 minute recovery between sets.

I’ve been absent from The Movement Program for a couple of days battling some bronchitis.  The Program, however, is a machine that does not die.  What does it mean to be a part of The Movement Program?  It means dedication.  It means you don’t make excuses.  It means you are willing to go the extra mile.  Athletes organized and ran class in my absence on Friday.  It is awesome to know that this here is a group of young adults who is committed to improving its collective state of being, while their peers return home and vegetate in front of a TV, eat Dorritos, and drink Mountain Dew.  Well done!

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Muscle of the Day returns on Monday!  The typical craziness apparently never left…

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The Labors of the Day focused on some heavier front squats for the strength portion and then some single arm overhead squats and double unders for the conditioning.  The next four weeks’ focus will be on developing stability in the bottom position of our weightlifting.  Hopefully, the heavier front squats and overhead squats in the conditioning drove this notion home today.

Terpak

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Warmup 

Myofascial Release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Clean and Jerk:  Lift off Transitions, Rack Delivery, Jerk Step Throughs, Punch and Catch Progressions

Strength

Front Squat

5 reps @ 65%, 4 reps @ 75%, 2 x 3 reps @ 80%, 2 reps @85%, 2 x 1 rep @ 90% of 1 RM

*2 mins recovery between sets.

Conditioning

3 x 3 x10 sec Pallof Presses in each direction

2 x 5-10 Stir the Pots in each direction

  

There are a couple of things that are pretty constant in the world.  The sun will rise, the sun will set, and I will be constantly analyzing training and thinking about how I can make it better.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the athletes who are a part of The Movement Program at Steelworks CrossFit are not very comfortable in the bottom position on the snatch and the clean.  As a result, the next four weeks of programming will be focusing on this deficiency.  A good weightlifter’s total will be limited by his or her ability to get into good positioning in the catch.  This of course involves lots of mobility, but also lots of core stability.  We will continue to address both important factors.

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The Muscle of the Day is the subscapularis.

This muscle originates on the lateral border of the scapula and inserts into the lesser tubercule of the humerous.  This muscle is one of the rotator cuffs and is largely responsible for internal rotation of the shoulder.  Why should it matter?  Because a tight subscapularis would prevent you from doing this:

Notice the shoulder internally rotated as Lu Xiaojun pulls himself down during a snatch high pull pull-down.  Strong and mobile!

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Today was a long training session.  No sense of resting after this weekend’s awesome competition.  We got after it today, hitting a three position snatch for our barbell mechanics and developing that core stability with some overhead squats for our strength portion.  The thing I like about the three position snatch (or clean for that matter) is that it teaches positions and aggressive finishing on the second and third pulls.  Lots of lights went off on the snatch from the high hang.  When I say “drive through the heels” I mean push those feet through the floor!

Were we done after all of that?  Nope.  A  brief conditioning session and some fortification work helped wrap up a great day of training.  Three rounds of that, while short, did not look fun.  You’re welcome!  Shout out of the day goes to Ben McCool for getting after the RX weight on the conditioning workout!

Mike Snyder’s words of wisdom below:

Ice your nasty bits.  Mobilize any tight areas.

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial Release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Snatch Warmup:  Lift off transitions, drop snatches, punch and catch progressions

Barbell Mechanics

3 Position Snatch (Snatch + Hang Snatch + Hi-Hang Snatch)

2 sets @65%

2 sets @75%

2 sets @70%

*2 mins recovery between lifts.

Strength

Overhead Squats

5-5-5

Establish new five rep max.

*2 mins recovery between lifts.

*We will be testing this lift again in four weeks.

Conditioning 

3 Rounds for Time

12 Burpees to Weighted Plate Swing (45#/25#)

100 meter run with plate.

Fortification

Stir-the-Pot

2 x 5-8 in each direction

What a weekend!  On Saturday and today, athletes from Steelworks CrossFit’s youth team, The Movement Program, competed in the East Coast Gold Weightlifting competition held in the wonderfully smelling town of Lancaster, PA.  This was the first weightlifting competition for each of the athletes and for some, this was the first athletic competition of their lives!

Our goal was simple:  get on the platform, lift some weights, drop some fears, and then go home.  I was not very concerned with the loads lifted (though I was impressed by the weekend’s performances).  Rather, I just wanted to have the athletes experience the competitive arena.

On Saturday, Ben McCool, Mike Snyder, and Christian Schillig competed.  Christian and Ben finished off the weekend with fine starting totals of 107 and 110, respectively.  Once these guys get used to being more comfortable in the bottom of the snatch, expect much bigger weights to rise effortlessly from the floor!  Not to be outdone, Mike finished off with the best total of the day, hoisting a total of 127 kilos.  Ben and Mike both hit PRs on the Clean and Jerk, though Mike’s PR was not recognized due to a slight press out on his jerk.

Here are the boys’ Snatch attempts!

Clean and Jerk attempts

Xuan Troung, however, was the super star of the weekend!  She hit 28 kilos (61.6 pounds) on the Snatch and 38 kilos (83.6 pounds) giving her a 66 kilo total and highest Sinclair point total.  As a result, she received best Female Youth Lifter of the Meet!  Congratulations to Xuan!   She also earned the Best Celebration-Upon-Hearing-She-Had-Won Award for the weekend.  Liza Minnelli would have been proud!

Below you’ll find Xuan’s snatch and clean and jerk attempts

Great weekend all around!  Now back to work!

A light spirit helps hoist life’s heaviest weights.  

Sometimes we pursue this sport with such passion that we get wrapped up in the percentages, the angles, the makes, and the misses.  Consider this your friendly reminder:  we lift because we enjoy lifting.  Many years ago, I made the mistake to allow collegiate athletics to consume every aspect of my identity.  Bad race?  Failure as a person.  Subpar workout?  Worthless.  Screwed up, I know, but such was the path that I had to walk to bring me to this point.  I lost the joy for a sport (distance running) that was my passion.  I refuse to let that happen again.  I refuse to allow others to make the same mistake.

Celebrate the steel, whether hoisted high or languishing low.  Savor the struggle as much as the success.  Every snatch is a celebration.  Every clean and jerk, a triumph.  Rejoice evermore!

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Today’s Muscle of the Day is the Infraspinatus!

Originating on the medial posterior portion of the scapula, this muscle inserts on the greater tubercule of the humerous.  This is one of the muscles of the rotator cuff and is responsible for external rotation at the shoulder joint.

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We kept the heavy theme today and did heavy singles on the snatch.  After some Oly accessory work in the form of snatch pulls, we finished off the day with Fortification work.  Today we did the nasty but amazing stir-the-pot and also some birddogs.  Both of the Fortification movements are designed to build not only core stability and low back endurance (especially the birddogs), but they also spare the lumbar spine from any degradation resulting from excessive spinal flexion.

Make sure you ice any junk that seems to be bothering you and stay supple with some good mobility work.  Everyone should be paying special attention to increasing range of motion in their ankles, hips, and shoulders!

Stay tuned if there will be open gym tomorrow!

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Snatch:  Lift off transitions, drop snatch, punch and catch progressions

Barbell Mechanics

Snatch

10 x 1 @ 90% 1 RM

*Minimum 2 minutes rest between sets.

Snatch Pulls

2 sets of 3 @ 95%, 105%, 100%

*1 minute rest between sets

Fortification

Stir-the-Pot

2 x 8 each direction

BirdDogs

2 x 10 each side.

Weightlifting is all about making the ordinary extraordinary.  The great weightlifters are able to perform perfect lifts again and again and again and again.  When you see lifters like Olympic champions Illya Illyin or Adrian Zielinski move the weight, every lift appears the same.  Why is that?  The obvious answer is years of lifting!  Even these guys, however, had to start someplace much as you are today.  On top of the years of training, every elite level lifter has a set routine prior to lifting.

Go ahead.  Go to YouTube right now and search out videos of Illyin or Zielinski and you’ll notice that every time they approach the bar, there’s a similar routine.

What’s your routine?  Better yet, why should you have a routine?  The practice of weightlifting is like any other sport:  perform a movement with high levels of proficiency for months, heck, years and the movement pattern becomes engrained and almost automatic.  The importance of a routine prior to every lift allows your mind to access those pre-programmed movement patterns allowing your body to simply lift without the mind getting in the way.  Soooo…back to my original question:  what’s your routine?  Don’t have one, you say?!  You best start making one, if you want consistency (better yet, consistent success) in your lifting!

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When I mentioned to my athletes that this week would be heavy, I was surprised AND proud to hear not a single gripe!  These kids aren’t afraid to do some WORK!  We went after some heavy clean and jerks as well as some 1 RM Front Squats.  I think I counted four PRs (Ben Collins, Ben McCool, Xuan, and Gerald…sorry if I forgot anyone else!) with McCool adding a solid 30 pounds to his front squat!  Afraid you weren’t getting stronger, Ben?  You are a silly boy!  Congrats to everyone today for getting after it.  We finished off the day with some fortification work of palloff presses and single leg trunk holds.

Rest up for Wednesday.  Iz gonna be heavy and NAS-TEE!

Terpak

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Warmup

Myofascial release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Clean and Jerk:  Lift off transitions, rack delivery, jerk step throughs, punch and catch progressions.

Barbell Mechanics

Senior Members:  10 x Clean and Jerk @ 90% 1 RM clean

Junior Members:  5 x 3 Cleans + 1 Jerk @ a weight allowing practice of good form.

*2 minutes recovery between attempts

Strength

Senior Members:  7 x 1 Front Squat

Junior Members:   3 x 5 Front Squat

*Work up each set and establish a new PR

*2 minutes recovery between attempts

Fortification

Single Leg Trunk Side Plank Holds

2 x 2 x 10 seconds each side

Palloff Presses

2 x 3 x 10 second holds

Ludacris speaks words of wisdom for your weightlifting.  After today, you know why it is important to STAND UP!  Also, remember your mantra to your barbell is, “when I move, you move!”  Bring that bar back into your hips and dance!

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial Release / Dynamic Warmup

1 Round Clean and Jerk Warmup:  Lift off transitions, rack delivery, jerk step throughs, punch and catch progressions.

Barbell Mechanics

Clean with a 2 sec pause above the knee + jerk x 2.

8 total sets.  Rest one minute between attempts.  Work up to no more than 65% of 1 RM.  (Deload week)  Focus is on speed and technique.

Conditioning

3 Rounds for Time

5 Strict Pullups

15 Russian KB Swings (32/24 kg)

10 Lateral over the KB Burpees

20 Box Step Ups (24″/20″)

Fortification

Stir-the-Pot

2 sets of 8 reps in each direction.

After a review of a variety of strength training literature and reflecting on my own personal experience as an athlete, I feel that our programming is missing out on a key dimension of strength.  Traditional CrossFit and Weightlifting programming does not address some of the key stabilizers and even some larger yet underrated muscles.  How do we get around that?  I offer you our new Fortification Programming.

Now before you get your panties all up in a bunch, don’t worry!  Weightlifting will still be our bias and we will still be doing conditioning workouts, just expect them to be a bit shorter.  My charge as your coach is to make you strong.  I can’t do this if you are hurt.  If you want to put up big numbers, you must find a way to safely endure the daily grind.  How to do that?  Fortification.

The Fortification Programming cycle will stretch 12 weeks.  By the end of the cycle you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate increases in core strength by training throughout all planes of movement i.e. sagittal, frontal, and transverse.
2. Move with more efficiency via increases in the mobility of fascia, joint capsules, and muscle tissue.
3. Lift more weight in the both the front squat and high bar back squat and subsequently the classic lifts i.e. clean and jerk, snatch.

How will it work?  After the conditioning piece of each day’s training, you will have one accessory lift ranging from movements like stir-the-pot, side lunges, and/or landmines.  The Fortification movements are designed to target muscles often overlooked in our traditional training, such as the quadratus lumborum or the adductors.

It’s going to be an exciting 12 weeks.  If you haven’t been already, start keeping track of your workouts each day, noting your reps and loads.  Also include how you felt during training.

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Muscle of the Day is the Pectoralis Major!

That’s a meaty muscle!

The pec major originates from the anterior surface of the clavicle and sternum to the attachment of the cartilage of the sixth or seventh rib and inserts into the biceptal groove of the humerous (the bone of arm most proximal to the shoulder).  What does this muscle do?  Well, it’s the major movement of meatheads everywhere when they bench for hours upon hours!  More specifically this muscle flexes and extends the humerous, and also adducts and internally rotates the humerous.

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Classic CF benchmark workout today:   “Karen.”  It is BORING and it hurts, but it sure gives you some damn good practice to learn how to squat more efficiently with a nice vertical torso!

Fortification of the work targeted the muscles on the inside of the thigh collectively known as the adductors.  Add strength and mobility to these suckers and squat numbers will be going up, up, up!

Rest up and be ready for more on Wednesday!

Terpak

Warmup

Myofascial release / Dynamic Warmup

2 Rounds Clean and Jerk Warmup: Lift off transitions, rack delivery, jerk step throughs, punch and catch progressions.

Conditioning

“Karen”

150 Wall Balls for time

-Rest 5 mins then…

Fortification

2 x 10 Side Lunges

*2 sets in each direction.

*1 min rest between sets.