Your Attitude

I’ve been working for a year as a high school strength coach, and the one issue I have besides lifting technique is attitude. Not the “I’m a rock star and my uniqueness makes me special” attitude, but this idea that showing up makes you strong. I have a number of athletes who will train their hearts out, give it their all, and ask for more. These kids motivate others and make the training experience a positive one.

Then there’s another group who likes to arrive late. The team lifts at the start of the hour, but this group shows up five minutes late. They walk in, announce their tardiness, leave, return, leave, and then are promptly told to get out. My time is valuable. Suffice it to say, there are 10 – 30 other teammates who seem to manage their time effectively. When a few can’t, I don’t have the patience to catch them up. This group has become significantly smaller in the past three weeks.

I call the final group the gym sponge. They will perform the lifts completely half-assed, and they tend to sit and talk more so than anything else. Again, they don’t last long and they tend to either change their game or leave. This can either evolve immediately or over the course of a week. Either way, the attitude changes or they don’t last.

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Knee Jumps

Koji Front Squats
3x5

Pistols
2x2

3 Rounds
5 Handstand Push Ups
10 Tire Flips
15 Kettlebell Swings

The Iron...

"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds"- Henry Rollins


Getting full extension on the jumping squat

Snow Sleds

Turkish Get Ups

5 Rounds of :45 work followed by 15 seconds of rest
Kettlebell Holds
Planks
Ring Dips

Score is total Ring Dips completed


Alex sprinting, it's good to have him back in the garage. We're still on the lookout for the other MIA's.

Andrea Du Cane Teaches The TGU

36" Box Jumps

Hang Power Snatch
2x2
Shrugs
2x10

5 Rounds
5 Front Squats (Men use 155#/Women use 103#)
10 Clapping Push Ups

The Stetch Reflex

Many people refer to the stretch reflex as the key to explosive training. How it is applied, however, is frequently misunderstood. This article takes an in-depth look at this action and how you can better utilize it in any or all aspects of your training.

The need for variety in the training program has been well established. This includes not only the need to modify and change the exercises being used but also how the exercises are executed and how the training regimes are used. When you use different rates of speed in weight training exercises, you can develop greater strength and muscle mass than when using only one rate.

Because bodybuilders and athletes are using increasingly heavy weights with high training volume, the speed of the movement is becoming slower. This is effective in maintaining maximum tension on the muscle through the full range of motion. However, using less resistance and increasing the speed of execution is also effective for muscle mass and strength, especially for the faster contracting (fast twitch) muscle fibers.

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Developing the ring dip through the use of bands

Shoulder/Hip Mobility Drills

M/E Overhead Squat

Kenneth Jay's cMVO2 Test
Men use 16k/Women use 25#
1st Minute: 10 Snatches, 1 per 6 seconds
2nd Minute: 14 Snatches, 1 per 4.2 seconds
3rd Minute: 18 Snatches, 1 per 3.3 seconds
4th Minute: 22 Snatches, 1 per 2.7 seconds
5th Minute: All out, as many as possible

Score is your reps completed in the 5th minute

Recovering From Overtraining

If you read interviews with top athletes, especially powerlifters and bodybuilders, a favorite question seems to be whether or not they made any mistakes in their early training. Most will say that they spent too much time overtraining early in their careers. Many of these athletes feel that if they hadn’t overtrained, they could’ve reached their current levels more quickly or maybe they could’ve been even better than they already are.

Overtraining is a result of training stress in addition to the rest of life’s stresses exceeding an athlete’s ability to recover. This results in stagnation or even injury. At a minimum, it’s inefficient, meaning the athlete won’t improve at his optimal rate. If overtraining is so bad and it’s easy enough to fall into, what can you do about it? Well I’m glad you asked!

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Windmills

Weighted Ring Dips
3x8
Superset with Tricep Extensions

Barbell Curls
2x6

3 Rounds
30 Kettlebell Swings (Men use 32k/Women use24k)
50 Double Unders

"Alejandro"

Beginning and end of the squat

"Alejandro"
3 Rounds for time
400m Powerwalk (Men use 5# Ankle Weights/Women use 3# Ankle Weights)
30 Seconds of the Shake Weight
15 Kegels
10 Leg Abductors

How To Pass The 5 Minute Snatch Test

The RKC snatch test has gone through a few evolutions over the years. Originally RKC candidates were allowed one hand switch, depending upon the candidates' weight they had a specific number of reps to complete with NO time limit. http://www.dragondoor.com/certification_14.html

Then the Snatch test changed to one snatch for every Kg of body weight with a max of 100 reps, a 5min time limit was imposed but multiple hand switches was allowed. One could even set the bell down and have a smoke as long as they hit their required reps in 5 min.

The 3rd evolution and current Snatch test is all candidates must complete 100 reps in 5 min. Here are the rules http://www.dragondoor.com/certification_44.html

For myself and for most of the people I train grip seems to be the big factor in putting up solid snatch numbers. So lets start by taking grip out of the equation. I am a big fan of the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) in training. If you want to increase your grip strength for snatching the 24kg then snatch the 24Kg.

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Justin not being an "Alejandro".


Weighted Box Jumps

Rack Jerks
2x2

Litvi-Sprints
8 Front Squats (Men use 205#/Women use 138#)
SPRINT 400m



Strongman events aren't just clever names