Training Like A Champion

Quick post tonight! Take a few minutes to read this article by Greg Everett, one of the best Olympic Lifting coaches in the nation.

Train Like A Champion: Technique, Habits, and Positivity

Like the wind...

7/23/13

Warm-up: #1

Strength: 5X2 1 Clean Pull + 1 Clean + 1 Push Jerk @ AHAP
Rest 60-90 secs

Workout: Fun Day!


Barbell Club

Warm-up: #1

Strength: 10 min EMOM
1 Snatch 1st Pull + 1 PS + 1 OHS @ AHAP

1) 4X2 Snatch Balance
2) 4x10 T2B
Rest 45 secs

Back Squat
Work up to 5RM

Open House Saturday, July 20th from 9-3 (Best post on the subject to date)

"I go to this really awesome gym with a bunch of super cool people and they are throwing a blowout bash with a free workout, Hawaiian food, bounce houses, corn hole, Organic Gluten/Sulfite Free alcohol, free massages, contests, supplement giveaways, and Lululemon is even going to be there selling clothes. It is going to be wicked awesome! I'm not going though."

Don't be that person. That person will end up like this...

Remember when you heard all about the awesome party over the weekend at school that you didn't go to? Remember how cool you felt? Yeah, it was about as cool as a fanny pack. It's simple, just come out, bring a small army of friends and family, and enjoy a day with fun events and people. Oh yeah, eat, drink, and win free stuff while you're at it.

Check out the itinerary below and  see what interests you. All of it? Yeah, I know.

See you all there!!!

Like the wind...

7/19/13

AoS

Warm Up: #2

Skill: Handstand Kick Ups

3X5 with 10 second hold

Strength: Deadlift

2X5 @ 70%
1X5 @ 80%
2X3 @ 90%
1X2 @ 95%

Workout: 12 Min EMOM

Even: 5 BB Thrusters
-Heavy with perfect form
Odd: (3R/3L) 1A GUSU
-Heavy

Barbell Club

Warm Up: #2

Skill: Handstand Kick Ups

3X5 with 10 second Hold

Strength: Deadlift

Work up to a heavy set of 3
Then...

Drop weight and complete:

1X5
1X8
1X10

How KB Swings Relate to Oly Lifting

Jesus was a great teacher because he taught in parables, gave examples, and was exceptionally talented at making his disciples see likenesses in things they may not have seen otherwise. He also taught principles that governed his followers lives.

I am no Jesus and never will be but it is my job to Coach everyone who walks through the door and help them connect the dots when it comes to movement and to teach you all principles.

One thing that we always say is that there are certain principles that never change and will always remain a constant no matter what exercise you are doing. For example, a flat back is a strong back. An athletic position allows for the most versatility. The more tension you have in your posterior chain the more power you can produce.

That last one is what I want to speak on. Today we did a ton of exercises with Kettlebells that required tension in the posterior chain for efficiency and power like KB snatches, high pulls, cleans, and swings. They all require the same amount of tension in the loading phase as you would need in the Hang position of a clean or snatch. In both positions a flat back is created by pushing the butt back allowing for the chest to protrude as far as possible over the bar or KB, to create tension in the hamstrings while maintaining a whole footed.

Here is the Hang Position in a Clean:

Here is the loading phase of a KB Swing:

 

You can see in both pictures the chest is as far over the toes as possible with tension in the hamstrings and the weight is balanced in the feet. That is always a position of power. This allows your posterior chain to fire efficiently and powerfully.

When you are doing any exercise remember that skills and principles transfer for one exercise to another so always recognize what principle is governing the exercise you are doing and practice is flawlessly so it transfer over to other movements.

Like the wind...

7/18/13

Warm Up: #3

Skill: Seated Box Jumps
3X6

Strength: Bulgarian Split Squats w/ Bar in Rack
3x6 (L/R) @ Heavy

Rest 60-90 seconds

Workout: Rough one...

Barbell Club

 Warm Up: #3

Skill: Seated Box Jumps
3X6

Strength:

Take 10 mins to work up to a heavy clean double

Front Squat:
1 FS every 15 secs for 1min (5 reps) @ 70% (don't rerack)
Rest 2 minutes
1 FS every 10 secs for 40 secs (5 reps) @ 80% (Don't rerack)
Rest 3 minutes
1 FS every 10 secs for 30 secs (4 reps) @ 90% (Don't rerack)

Versatility....and signing in online

Jimmy and I had a great reminder tonight about how important it is to be versatile as a coach and expect the unexpected. At the 5pm class tonight we had a few (11) extra people show up and due to logistics, we needed to change a portion of our workout to accommodate various levels of skill. It's always an adrenaline rush for us when we have to think on our feet and be creative within a workout and thankfully it worked it out well and went off without a hitch. Thank you guys for making it easy for us!

With that said, please understand that sometimes we have to completely change workouts when we have more people than expected, which changes the dynamics of the class. You all know we are passionate about quality and try to hold ourselves to a standard of excellence, so please help us help you. SIGN IN AT LEAST 24 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME. Doing this allows us to be completely prepared for each and everyone of you, making your class as epic as possible.

Reminder!!!! Open House this Saturday! Lululemon will be in the building along with an impressive list of local vendors all day so please bring your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and anyone else you can think of to what will most definitely be an awesome day!

Like the wind...

7/17/13

Warm-up: #1

Skill: BL Side Lunge 3x5 (L/R)

Strength:
1) 4x5 Push Press @ 80% of Strict Press
2) 2xme Negative Pullups (3 count down)

Workout: KB Complex
Using maximal weight for perfect form, complete the entire list from start to finish without putting the KB down. When finished, rest for 30 secs and repeat by starting on the opposite side.

3 Rounds
TGU
3KB Snatches
4 KB High Pulls
5 KB Cleans
6 KB 1A Rack Squats
7 KB 1A Swings
6 KB 1A Rack Squats
5 KB Cleans
4 KB High Pulls
3 KB Snatches
Reverse TGU

Rest 1 min between each round


Barbell Club

Active rest day!!

The Quest for a Flat Back (Bye Bye Hunchback)

 

Two weeks ago we had the current 69kg American Open Champion, Spencer Arnold, stroll into the gym for a two day Oly lifting seminar. Besides his talent for being able to brave through country music while lifting absurd amounts of weight, he also has as keen of an eye as any 25 year old on the planet when it comes to lifting, fitness, and the body.

He noticed a rounded back in one of the baseball players we train while trying to perform a Pendlay Row and we quickly chatted about ways to correct it. Before he offered a solution he asked me a question. He said, "You sound like you are frustrated that his back is rounded. You know why it is?" My response, in a "come on and school me" tone was, "No, is it because he doesn't listen to me?"

He replied, "Probably but also it's because kids today spend a half of their time hunched over. They are either leaning over a desk, a computer, or over their own laps playing video games."

Boom! He hit the nail on the head. How can a trainer correct Kyphosis in one hour a day 5 days a week when over half the other time spent away from the gym is stuck in a Quasimodo like position.

There are ways to focus on strengthening the muscles that have become weak from these structurally unsound activities like chatting with Malaysian teens while playing Modern Warfare 3.

One way is to correct the internal shoulder rotation and weakness in the thoracic spine is Static Holds in Extension. You can see this pictured below but what I like to add in to activate the muscles that support the scapula is holding that static position while holding a stick out in front of the person's head with arms locked out and shoulder blades squeezed together. This will work the entire posterior chain all the way up into the thoracic and cervical spine.

 

 



Another great exercise would be a standing Row with a Theraband focusing on strict form and squeezing the shoulder blades while pulling.

Whether you are a teen, parent of a teen, an accountant, or a world class gamer, these exercises can help you make you straight as an arrow instead of crooked as a question mark. Good luck!

Like the wind...

7/15/13

Warm-up: #5

Skill: 5-10-5 x 3

Strength: 10x1 Clean and Push Jerk @ AHAP
-Rest 60 seconds between sets

Workout:

2 Min AMRAP
BL Rows at Maximal Angle

Rest 2 minutes

800 M

Rest 2 Min

400 M

No Rest

2 Min AMRAP
BL Rows at Maximal Angle


Barbell Club

Warm-up: #5

Skill: 5-10-5 x 3

Strength:

8x1 Snatch Pull + 1 Power Snatch @ AHAP

1) 4x2 Snatch Balance
2) 4x10 Supermans
-3 Second Hold

Back Squat
6x2 Pause Squats (3sec pause at bottom) at AHAP - work your way up

Benefits of Unilateral Training

Our philosophy at Art of Strength Tampa Bay is simple. We will do whatever we have to do to make a person move the way God intended them to move. God loves it when we squat deep, press our head through the window on a press, keep a vertical shin when lunging, and a flat strong back when it is necessary...which is always.

To help people learn to master movement patterns with balance and control, we mix in unilateral training in our skill segments, strength regiments, and workouts. We believe doing this will drastically increase strength and balance in bilateral lifts like the Squat, Deadlift, Clean, and other compound traditional lifts.

Put simply, unilateral training means developing one side of the body independently.

As an example, a barbell squat would be a bilateral exercise because you are using two (bi-) legs to lift the weight. A lunge would be an example of a unilateral strength training exercise, because one (uni-) leg is dominant in the movement.

Unilateral strength training provides several benefits, that traditional bilateral training often doesn’t, or can’t provide.

First, unilateral training helps activate deep core muscles, small stabilizer muscles, and creates more neurons to fire engaging and training your CNS (Central Nervous System). The benefits of this are endless and unilateral training will also illustrate in real time where inefficiencies may lie that you could not detect with bilateral movements.

Second, most activities on a day to day basis are unilateral. Thus, unilateral training is "functional". Think how often you use one side of your body when doing an activity. Picture yourself carrying groceries in one hand and talking on the telephone with the other. Think back to college when you held a beer in your left hand and punched an opposing teams fan with you other. See, unilateral training is very useful and practical.

Training like this will help improve your quality of life and your ability to perform at your best.

Speaking of daily activities, most of us have a dominant side.  Meaning we over-develop our stronger side and under-develop our weaker side.  As time goes on, muscular imbalances develop, putting us at risk of injury.  Most causes of back pain originate with weak abdominal stabilizer muscles.  This imbalance from front to back causes injury.

Rounded shoulders often mean weak upper back muscles, or overdeveloped upper body pushing muscles.

Golfers and Baseball players are at big risk for muscular imbalances and overuse injuries.  Performing the same movement, with the same side over and over again predisposes you to injury. Unilateral strength training will help offset the effects of these types of activities.

One thing to consider when doing unilateral training is to always train your weaker side first. This is important because if you train the stronger side first the weaker side will fire to aid it and by the time you do your weaker side it will not be strong enough to work at it's full capacity.

I hope this was useful guys. Make sure to incorporate this into your training to create a balanced body that is free from injury. 

Like the wind...

7/11/13

Warm-up: #3

Skill: KB Lateral Walkouts 3x20

Strength: Bulgarian Split Squats with KB/BB in rack position 3x6 (L/R)

Workout: 20 on 10 off for 8 Rounds

Box Dips

Rest 3 Minutes

8 Min EMOM (M: 20kg/W: 12kg)

6 DBL KB Swings to a Squat
10 DBL KB Reverse Lunges

Barbell Club

Warm-up: #3

Skill: KB Lateral Walkouts 3x20

Strength: 5x1 1 Clean Pull + 1 Hang Clean  + 1 FS  + 1 Jerk

Rest 2 min

Front Squats
5x3 AHAP

Last Samurai-Self Discipline

This whole scene is incredible but really pay attention around 1:45 in

"Excellence is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. It is also used as a standard of performance."

At Art of Strength Tampa Bay, as trite as it may sound, we believe in the Art of Excellence. Excellence in motion, strength, character, and determination.

We believe that when each of you shows excellence in your work (whether your work at that moment is in the gym, at home, or at your job), amazing outcomes happen and lives are changed through the diligent pursuit of excellence. 

There is nothing better for us as coaches than to see your dedication pay off and you realize the results you worked so hard for! That is why we are so strict on your form, why we ask you to fold the ropes up correctly, why we show you how to put the kettlebells in line and even for some of you, clean the gym. Pursuing this excellence in the little things daily will translate to the bigger things in your life.

Aristotle put it best when he said: "We are what we repeatedly do . . . excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." 

Actively choose excellence today. Then do it again tomorrow.

Like the wind...

7/10/13

Warm-up: #1

Skill: Shoulder Mobility - Band Work 1x15 of each

Strength: Superset
1) 3x5 Crossover Press - Thick grip DB
2) 3xME BL Pikes
Rest 45secs

Workout:
Part 1: 3 Min AMRAP - 70% GUSU Max

Part 2: 6 Rounds
5 Chin-ups
8 BL Reverse Fly's
30 secs Max Circles

*Advanced
5 Chin-ups
8 Bent Over TGDB Reverse Fly's
30 secs Max Circles


Barbell Club

Active Rest Day

Go swim in the ocean/pool. Nice easy pace for about 15mins - watch out for water spouts.