Today Coach Wes and Coach Aaron dive into the topic of why we train. Piggy backing on an outstanding article from CrossFit legend Chris Spealler (Training CrossFit vs. CrossFit as a Sport) the guys discuss having a goal and purpose in your training and how that determines how you should approach CrossFit.
Today I’d like to take a moment and say thank you for the unbelievable outpouring of praise and support that I received after qualifying for the the American Open this morning. Back in July I talked about taking your fitness outside of the gym and challenged folks to go out there and compete. I challenged CFA and the community and did they ever respond, we’ve had a ton of athletes that stepped outside of their comfort zone, and put themselves out there. I’m going to attempt to recognize all the athletes and coaches that have competed since I put out the challenge. I’ve done my very best to include everyone, but if for some reason I accidently miss someone please add to the comments below and I’ll update the list. Here we go!
Coach Ade Rampaul: CrossFit Classics
Alex Gold: The Athlete Open (2nd)
Coach Alex Janns: CrossFit Classics
Andy Hollister: The Athlete Open
Ash Warren: Grass Iron Last Chance Qualifier Weightlifting Meet
Blaz Ruzic: Power Athlete Challenge (3rd), Africa Partner Challenge (2nd)
Coach Chad Vaughn: 2013 USA Weightlifting National Championship (1st)
Chris Geno: The Athlete Open, CrossFit Classics
Dayna Lowke: Fit Company Fittest Professional Female
Denise Valdez: TriPearl Triathlon
Doug Clements: Hell and Back Challenge, CrossFit Classics
Coach Erica Cuellar: Woodward Women’s Throwdown 3
Gabi Groom: The Athlete Open
George Hribar: Grass Iron Last Chance Qualifier Weightlifting Meet
George Valdez: TriPearl Triathlon
Greg Pepin: The Athlete Open, CrossFit Classic
Ikechi Urum-eke: Power Athlete Challenge (3rd)
Jeri Kreb: The Spartan Race
Julie “Crash” Shamblin: Barbells for Boobs
Jillian English: Hell and Back Challenge
Kara Denney: TriPearl Triathlon
Kat Bevel: CrossFit Classics
Kelly Jackson: CrossFit Classics, Bat City Grand Opening Competition (3rd)
Leah Alter: Bat City Grand Opening Competition (3rd)
Coach Leigh Legare: The Athlete Open (3rd)
Linzi Newth: The Athlete Open
Coach Lindsey Guelde: The Summer Crush Games, The Athlete Open, The Alamo City Throwdown, The Ironcat Open
Liz Yankiver: 2013 Copperhead Open
Lizzie Collura-Rosenburg: The Athlete Open
Maureen Nelligan: Doggy Dash 5K
Mike Sanchez: Barbells for Boobs
Miguel Garza: CrossFit Classics
Ryan McDaniel: Grass Iron Last Chance Qualifier Weightlifting Meet
Stacey Magnesio: The Athlete Open, Barbell for Boobs
Coach Sharon Blecker: CrossFit Classics
Coach Thomas Lower: 2013 USA Weightlifting National Championship, Grass Iron Last Chance Qualifier Weightlifting Meet (1st)
That’s an amazing list and a special kudos to everyone on this list that competed for the first time. Again if I missed anyone on this list please add into the comments and I will update the list. So proud of what everyone has done and lets finish 2013 strong!
-Coach Wes
Click to listen
Today, Aaron and Thomas hijack the CFA podcast and talk about Southside Athletic Programs and Southside Athlete performances from the weekend, as well as, debate exercise attire; Basketball shorts or Ranger panties.
As clients you hear us coaches harping on about the squat. “Knees out” “Squat Deeper” “Chest up”. By now ours words have turned into mantras while you squat. The problem I see now is clients bring the mechanics of the squat into the Deadlift or hip hinge movements. The two movements should not only feel but visually be different.
Why should you care about the hip hinge? Well, it’s the foundation for a healthy back, glutes and hamstrings as well as being essential in movements like kettlebells swings, RDL’s, Snatchs, and Cleans. Most importantly, it helps in correcting posture.
To test whether or not you have a good hip hinge all you need is a broom stick or PVC pipe and do the following:
Hold the PVC behind your back by placing your hands behind the small of your neck and the small of your back (which hand goes where doesn’t really matter). For you to PASS this test, the PVC must stay in contact with your head, upper back, and butt throughout the entire hip hinge. Give it a go! If you passed the test you have a solid hip hinge. If not, here are some quick ideas on what might be wrong:
If the dowel is coming off of your butt, you are rounding your back
Quick fix: Arch your back instead!
If the dowel is coming off of your back, you are squatting too much
Quick fix: Maintain vertical shins and push your butt back!
If the dowel is coming off of your head, you’ve got too much rounding by the shoulders
Quick fix: Try moving the shoulders back and down. Keep a neutral neck and good posture!
If you are still struggling come find me and we will get to work!
–Aaron Davis
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We are back with episode 9 of the Beyond the Bar Podcast. In today’s episode Wes and Aaron look back on the Athlete Open and give listeners advice on sprinting, and preparing yourself for game day!
Back in the old days, it wasn’t uncommon for athletes to train and play through injuries. At times it was expected. Now with million dollar contracts and every team looking for the slightest competitive edge, it’s becoming a thing of the past.
At CFA it’s no different. Our goal for our clients is lifelong fitness. To achieve this goal you need to be healthy and injury free. Injuries are only roadblocks. Don’t let stubbornness get the better of you. If you feel an injury coming on, take care of it! The more you prolong treatment of an injury the longer it will take to get better.
Ripple Effect of Injuries
If the injury/dysfunction happens within days: Monitoring inflammation is priority number one.
(Tip: don’t kill it with anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) right away. Inflammation is a process for healing. Only use if you have high amounts of acute inflammation are present.)
Recovery Protocol:
Reduce exercise load, let pain be your guide to scaling movements down.
If Injury/dysfunction happened within weeks: Inflammation has lessened, but muscle firing patterns have been altered from scar tissue within the muscle.
Recovery Protocol:
Airrosti treatment and corrective exercises maybe be an appropriate addition to the exercise protocol.
Recovery Protocol:
Airrosti, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic techniques and corrective exercise may be needed.
Recovery Protocol: ????
Being proactive is of the utmost importance. Notice “Rest” is not listed as a recovery protocol. If adhesions are present and muscles are dysfunctional, rest will not heal the injury. Instead mobility will be compromised due to stiffness and inactivity causing even a longer road to recovery.
That is the price of being stubborn.
-Aaron Davis
Maria L. Urso and Michael N. Sawka
J Appl Physiol September 15, 2013 115:877-878; published ahead of print May 16, 2013, doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00512.2013
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to LV today. This week was her final week here as a coach at CFA and we truly appreciate all the hard work she has contributed over the last year. LV and her family are starting an exciting new business venture and we wish them the very best of luck. LV’s enthusiasm and love for coaching will always stand out here at CFA. We look forward to seeing her continue to grow and succeed in her new journey!
All Levels
Pull, Carry
15:00 AMRAP 100 M Sled Pull @ 100 lb
15:00 AMRAP 100 M Farmers Carry @ 55 lb, 35 lb
All Levels
Warm-ups:
For Quality
3 Rounds
5 Wall Squats
5 Goblet Squats
10 Air Squats
10 YD DB Bear Crawl
*:03 Pause at the bottom of each squat r
B.
20:00 Alt. EMOM
Even: 3 DB Get-ups/ Leg
Odd: 3 Partner Pull-ups
C.
10 Rounds
5 Russian KB Swings
200 M Run
| All Levels – AM | |
| Sean | 12:40 |
| Courtney | 16:00 |
| Maureen | 13:24 |
| Humberto | 11:52 |
| Tineke | 14:06 |
| Roland | 16:56 |
| Jose | 14:21 |
| Sarah | 13:57 |
| Shelby | 11:49 |
| Meridith | 14:48 |
| Mayela | 13:26 |
| Silas | 17:11 |
| Tow Matt | 13:03 |
| Jeff | 12:46 |
| Mercy | 19:37 |
| Suzi | 14:47 |
| Michele | 20:36 |
| Julia | 14:28 |
| Madison | 14:37 |
| Andy | 15:58 |
| Missy | 16:30 |
| Mer | 15:31 |
| Corn Dog | 16:17 |
| All Levels – Noon | |
| Gil | 11:40 |
| Kat | 12:45 |
| Tanner | 13:31 |
| Avtar | 12:53 |
| Jared | 12:55 |
| Ganesh | 13:06 |
| Bianca | 13:44 |
| Nancy | 13:50 |
If you haven’t noticed, the last 3 weeks of our Performance program has really focused on moving better. Specifically we’ve spent a lion share of our time trying to improve your squatting. Today I’m going to touch on the use of the goblet squat and also give you some ideas around implementing them in your warm up warm-up (amirite?) so you can continue to improve this fundamental movement as we move on to more complex squatting variations.
Goblet Squats
I’ve fallen in love with the goblet squat. In my opinion the goblet squat works incredibly well for improving the squat because it has a built in feedback quality that you can’t find in your typical air squat. The front loaded weight naturally encourages an upright torso due to the decreased load placed on the shoulders and grip. Having the elbows inside the knees forces the athlete to drive the knees out to allow for the required space. Lastly, with the weight placed snugly against the chest, athletes“sink” into a deeper squatting position. Quite simply, it feels more natural and comfortable to go lower, which allows for the full range of motion to be reached at the hip and ankle joints. So why is all this important? Because we essentially have an exercise that can be performed with very little guidance while improving those oh so important squat mechanics. It’s like the self-checkout line of squatting.
How do we continue to progress?
Now that we’re all in agreement that goblet squats are the squatting secret sauce, how do we implement them outside of our regularly scheduled program? Simply do them every day you walk into the gym, a set of 15-20, 3-5 times a week will suffice. Be creative. Try different weights, different tempos, adding pauses and even alternating between a dumbbell and a kettlebell. Just make sure you split up your reps in a fashion that doesn’t encourage a lot of fatigue.
The reality is, dedicating two minutes per training session to helping your squatting mechanics and fundamentals will pay big dividends in the long run. So, grab a kettlebell or a dumbbell and get to squatting! You’ll thank me later!
–Wes Kimball