Genevieve

    I recently returned from a weightlifting training camp with members of the Russian National Team.  With all of the complex technique approaches, catapult vs. triple extension talk, and self proclaimed weightlifting coaches shamelessly blasting social media, I knew I was in for something good from this training camp.  When the lecture began, there was no extravagant technique approach with “must hit” positions. It was better. It was perfectly simple.

    The interesting approach they take to weightlifting is nothing new. Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Tommy Kono was absolutely dominant in the weightlifting world, setting World Records in four separate weight classes, winning two olympic golds, and six consecutive world championships. But, after his career, Kono also did some coaching.  When Yasha Kahn, Coach for Norwood Weightlifting, began lecturing at the training camp about the Russian Training System, someone from the back raised their hand and asked what the American System is.  He sort and laughed a little bit and went into the fact that in the 50’s and 60’s there were two systems to train Olympic weightlifters, the Russian and the American.

After Kono was finished competing he began coaching. First he coached the Mexico National Team, then the West German Team, and back to America.  By that time his style of training was out and the Russians, who were dominated by the Americans, adopted this system of training, which is now the Russian System.  So while we are off trying to find the next big thing by bringing in coaching from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland, we are getting beat by teams doing what we were doing 60 years ago!  This is a great lesson for any athlete, stop looking for the next best thing!  Find a good coach, and then work. When you start to plateau, work harder!

    I have dedicated much of my career to these movements.  Even before I began to compete, I was studying and analyzing them from a coach’s perspective.  When you get as deep into it as I am, it is refreshing to take a step back, learn from a world champion, and look at the movement as a whole instead of dissecting every inch of the pull.  I believe that we can do this with all movements that we coach and that you as an athlete learn, but it’s not all on the coach.  As an athlete you will have more success, more quickly if you just listen to the cues that the coach is giving verbally and nothing else.  I noticed this at the training camp on multiple occasions.  They would give you two or three things you must do, and the rest took care of itself.  This drove people crazy in the camp!  Many times I would hear “what about the double knee bend,” “where should my shoulders be on the finish,” and the classic “when do I drive my hips into the bar?”  They stuck to their guns, refusing to talk about all that nonsense, giving simple cues to do on your set-up, and then stand up!  The best part about it is it worked!

Here is the bottom line…  These movements, along with other movements including gymnastics, were conventionally taught to kids.  Then, CrossFit came along and we began teaching these skills to knowledgeable adults.  With that came all of the Pose Running and Catapult nonsense, simply because adults are always looking for something new, and more importantly they want to know why it works.  The truth is high quality coaches are not going to give you gimmicks. It’s going to sounds overly simple, but it is suppose to be.  There is no need to over complicate a complicating movement or skill.  Now as an athlete, you must try to clear your thoughts and focus on the the cues the coaches are giving you. It will make the learning curve much shorter so we can get you moving and feeling better.

-Coach Thomas

With Thanksgiving next week and CFA having a limited class schedule, it’s easy to take days off, and blame the innocent Thanksgiving Holiday for a week of not working out! This quick little article is my way of giving you no excuses.  The following circuits were created for Olympic Track and Field athletes that were traveling for competitions, but still needed to get in Fundamental/Mobility work.  They can be done anywhere and anytime.

Morning….

Bedroom….

Hotel Room…

Evening….

Front Yard…

Night…

Bathroom…

20 mins and No Warm up…

Everyday pick one of the following Circuits perform 2 Rounds, 10 each exercise. No excuses!

–Aaron Davis

BIG HORN

Rocket Jumps www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-cSBTzd7I

Socrpions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Ss8uem27Q

Iron Crosses www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZO2u7FLohY

Wrestler Briidge www.youtube.com/watch?v=paI1j4HQvsQ

Pushups www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm1fJ1nj9yA

Side ups www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DAgG_QwDfs

Leg toss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNFhm5wICLE

V-sits www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIY_cQOCYrU

WATERLOO

Prisoner Squats www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojg8TiomrtM

V- Sits www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIY_cQOCYrU

Pushups www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm1fJ1nj9yA

Superman www.youtube.com/watch?v=47v5P5xjg9g

Rocket Jumps www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-cSBTzd7I

Leg Toss //www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNFhm5wICLE

Clapping Push ups https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GhVTPXZJnM

Wrestler’s Bridge www.youtube.com/watch?v=paI1j4HQvsQ

Iron Crosses www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZO2u7FLohY

Decline Pushups https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2tR2qa1zNU

Prone Flex single Leg Hip Extension https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8sZtFbLQwA

Today, lets talk about some simple ways to get more out of your training. And let me just point out the word “simple”, when most people see the word simple they think easy. However, just because something is simple there is no guarantee that it will be easy. So even though my suggestions are simple in theory, implementation will require some effort and work!

Show up

The number one way to succeed at CrossFit or any training endeavor is to show up, and show up consistently.  The great thing about coming to class every week is that we remove the guess work out of your training. All we need you to do is show up and be ready to work.  We’ve talked recently as coaches how showing up to the gym twice a week or eight times a month is the minimum buy in to see some results.  I’m a big believer that training a good 4 times a week is the sweet spot where a person thrives with they’re training.   So, making it a priority to train at least four times a week (inside or outside the gym) should be a goal for anyone that takes their health and fitness seriously.

Move everyday

Taking the showing up concept a step further, Olympic Gold Medalist Dan Gable famously said, “If it is important, do it every day, if it isn’t, don’t do it at all”.  When it comes to movement and activity, this means that we should be active in some fashion everyday. That doesn’t mean blow yourself up with workouts 24/7/365 but there is allot of value daily non stressful activity.  The best ways to do this is to simply be active for at least 10 minutes a day. You can walk, ride a bike, play with your children, the list goes on and on. This helps us relieve stress, sleep better, and recover from the harder bouts of exercise you do during the week.

So keep it simple silly! Regardless of the busy world around us, we always have the opportunity to improve our health and fitness if you’re willing to show up and do the work!

–Wes Kimball

It’s easy to get caught up in the competition that a CrossFit class can elicit.  It’s what pushes our fitness to a level we couldn’t attain by ourselves. From a coach’s perspective this is both positive and negative. Though competition can bring out the best in an athlete, it can be also be a roadblock in the training process.

The two questions I hear frequently are “How do I get better at _____ skill” and “How do I get stronger?”.  The simplest answer is, practice them often and do as many correct reps as possible; even if it’s one rep at a time.

Our bodies are an electrical highway, making new roads and highways all the time. These highways improve information pathways and feedback to the brain, especially when we are beginning the training process or learning a new skill (yes, even a Heavy Squat is a skill).  Once introduced to a new skill, our bodies are already starting the process of building a road to mastery.  As we practice “correctly” that road is turned into a freeway which allows more traffic and feedback to come back and forth, self-correcting the skill in real time.

Most people have an idea of this, but few apply it to strength. Often, skill is thought of in the realm of double unders, kipping pull-ups, or higher end gymnastics movements.  Just ask Coach Thomas why Olympic lifters are just as strong as Powerlifters (without the help of Suits) in the squat, even though Olympic lifters hardly ever squat at the same intensities as powerlifters. It’s because they squat often and focus on perfecting each rep. They build their electrical highways to a higher degree than their powerlifting counterparts.

So how can we apply this to our everyday CrossFit classes?

Train with intent!  Perfect every rep during this new cycle.  It will be especially hard under fatigue, but the more perfect reps you do the better roads you will build, which will lead to more improvement over time.

Trust me, we will let you know when to compete!  Test weeks are a perfect time.  Right now find your place of Zen, be mindful, put competition aside and focus on technique.

“Nerves that fire together wire together” – Donald Hebb

-Aaron Davis

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

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:

Hip Hinge Test

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:

1. If the dowel is coming off of your butt, you are rounding your back

Quick fix: Arch your back instead!

2. If the dowel is coming off of your back, you are squatting too much

Quick fix: Maintain vertical shins and push your butt back!

3. 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