Aspiration can be described as a strong desire to achieve something high or great.
These days the term “Coach” is tossed around fairly indiscriminately. It seems that somewhere along the line there was a subtle shift in the definition. There was a time when the term “Coach” meant a person, who spent extra time with you someone who strives to help you achieve your goals. What happened? The term “Coach” is used so frequently now it has almost lost it’s value. Even amongst professional sports, “Coaches” have their own goals and salaries they are looking out for. You see it in fitness, folks who have little or no concern about your goals but relish in the fact that they were there when you to a new PR, regardless of how you feel and their actual involvement. But they spend 3 days showing you what exercises they do well. Who benefits from this ?
A true Coach should be someone who gives 100% to every athlete they are training, someone who’s only goal is to help their athletes improve. Someone who is honestly looking out for those who are trusting their every word. Coaches should study their athletes as much if not more than athletes study movements and technique. A Coach is not a cheerleader. Sure they will and should offer encouragement, but a Coach should also be honest. And sometimes honesty is not pleasant.
Which brings it all back to “teamwork”, we will all make mistakes whether it be queuing or snatch technique. What is important is that we are working towards the same goal.
Workout: For Time
4 rounds of
15 - deadlifts (dl’s should be 20 to 25#’s below BW)
25 - squats
run 400m
It’s not Really Simple Script and there is more to it than the public ridicule and shame displayed below.
What the heck does that mean and how does it apply to me? RSS is Repetitive Stress Syndrome, there are many different symptoms to RSS. As an athlete the main thing is to be familiar with as many symptoms as possible so you can recognize them during your training. But even more importantly, trainers, who are designing WOD’s for their clients need to be aware of the dangers of repeating the same movements too often and getting caught up in the more is better mentality. Sure there are times when a high rep grinder are in order, but that should not be the norm. Constant variation does not mean that that exercises need to be random. As trainers we need to thoughtfully consider how each movement is affecting the next. We should be learning as much as possible about the human body (muscle groups, connective tissue, etc). Why the rant you ask? I was talking to Russ Greene(formerly masquerading as Russ Greenburg) today, he spends as much time on the interwebs as I do. And he brought up the point that many people get caught in the ” it’s got to last longer tham 20 minutes” trap. What his does is make you really good at workouts longer than 20 minutes, you become a specialist. You need to practice those things that make you uncomfortable in order to improve at them.
Back to fitness related RSS, there is a lot info out there on the subject so play a little Google Roulette and see what you get.
Admit it, we all do it. Type something into Google and hope for the best. Well today I decided to do a search for “CrossFit Triathlon” and take the search to the images section and this is the first thing that showed up.
Somebody get a hold of Craig or Jeremy and find out what is going on here.
Sunday Workout: For Time
“CFNSC Triathlon”
mini - row 2k,10 rounds of Cindy, run 800
ironman - row 5k, 20 rounds of Cindy , run 1 mile
I’m sure that was thought that went through the minds of a few people when they saw the WOD go up on the white board. But you would be hard pressed to find a better workout to start your Saturday.
Read it for yourself and post your thoughts to comments.
The aim of the present study was to examine physiological and neuromuscular responses during motocross riding at individual maximal speed together with the riding-induced changes in maximal isometric force production. Seven A-level (group A) and 5 hobby-class (group H) motocross-riders performed a 30-minute riding test on a motocross track and maximal muscle strength and oxygen uptake (VO2max) tests in a laboratory. During the riding the mean (+/-SD) VO2 reduced in group A from 86 +/- 10% to 69 +/- 6% of the maximum (P < 0.001), whereas in group H the corresponding reduction was from 94 +/- 25% to 82 +/- 20% (P < 0.05). This relative VO2 during the riding correlated with riding speed (r = 0.70, P < 0.01). Heart rate (HR) was maintained at the level of 97 +/- 7% of its maximum in group A and at 98 +/- 3% in group H. Mean muscle activation of the lower body during riding varied between 24% and 38% of its maximum in group A and between 40% and 45% in group H. In conclusion, motocross is a sport that causes great physical stress and demands on both skill and physical capacity of the rider. Physical stress occurs as the result of handling of the bike when receiving continuous impacts in the situation requiring both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Our data suggest that both maximal capacity and strain during the ride should be measured to analyze the true physiological and neuromuscular demands of motocross ride. For the practice, this study strongly suggests to train not only aerobic and anaerobic capacity but also to use strength and power training for successful motocross riding.
Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 22(1):202-209, January 2008. Konttinen, Tomi; Kyrolainen, Heikki; Hakkinen, Keijo
Sometimes the strangest ideas flow through your head at the oddest times. So, I’m sitting there watchng the US National Soccer Team upset heavily favored Spain who was riding a 35 game win streak. And while I’m watching the US team make play after play I started thinking about how teamwork affected the trainer/athlete (yes all of you who train can be considered athletes) relationship.
In sports and in training there are some fundamental skills and procedures that can all be queued the same way, things like stand all the way up, chin over bar, chest to the ground these are basic phrases that everybody can understand. But as any parent or teacher can tell you, sometimes you need to study your subject (client,student,etc) and learn how they process things and find a way that they can better understand. This takes a great deal of patience from all. There are no cookie cutter queues that will magically make everyone that hears them hear the same thing. This is where the idea of teamwork comes in from the athlete/client, when your trainer says something in a way that really clicks and makes sense, let them know.
So the next time you’re in the gym training, remember you are our key to success as trainers. So just like on “train the trainer” day, don’t be afraid to let us know what is working and what is not.
There are no Thursday afternoon or evening classes as we are hosting the SV Chamber of Commerce Mixer.
Workout:
3 x 5 Deadlifts @ 85% of your 1RM (yes it’s a working weight, if you had to ask yourself, do 10 burpess)
then
6 rounds of
:30 hollow holds with :15 rest between intervals
A lot of time when CrossFit Trainers post on blogs they will ask you to “post your thoughts”. But in nearly all cases they have already biased your opinion on whatever subject it is they have written about. How so? Since most of the blog readers are being trained by the person(s) whose blog they are reading they will generally believe whatever it is that the poster has written. I found a very short brief on a subject near and dear to all of our hearts. I definitely have some thoughts on the subject but I am going to reserve my answer, if you want it you can ask me in the gym What I want is for all of you to become students of your bodies and the understand the of effects how your diet and training consistency are enhancing or hindering your training. So your first article is………
RSS News
Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 22(2):464-470, March 2008.
Andrew D Williams; Paul J Cribb; Matthew B Cooke; Alan Hayes
Abstract:
Caffeine and ephedrine-related alkaloids recently have been removed from International Olympic Committee banned substances lists, whereas ephedrine itself is now permissible at urinary concentrations less than 10 µg·mL-1. The changes to the list may contribute to an increased use of caffeine and ephedra as ergogenic aids by athletes. Consequently, we sought to investigate the effects of ingesting caffeine (C) or a combination of ephedra and caffeine (C + E) on muscular strength and anaerobic power using a double-blind, crossover design. Forty-five minutes after ingesting a glucose placebo (P: 300 mg), C (300 mg) or C + E (300 mg + 60 mg), 9 resistance-trained male participants were tested for maximal strength by bench press [BP; 1 repetition maximum (1RM)] and latissimus dorsi pull down (LP; 1RM). Subjects also performed repeated repetitions at 80% of 1RM on both BP and LP until exhaustion. After this test, subjects underwent a 30-second Wingate test to determine peak anaerobic cycling power, mean power, and fatigue index. Although subjects reported increased alertness and enhanced mood after supplementation with caffeine and ephedra, there were no significant differences between any of the treatments in muscle strength, muscle endurance, or peak anaerobic power.
I purposefully omitted the last sentence from the original.
Every summer we see the same ritual throughout America, gym goers from coast to coast will spend hours of time training the Anterior muscle chain. The main reason is that they are visible as you sit on the preacher curl bench looking in the mirror, the anterior chain is also known as “Beach Muscle”. BUt the Posterior chain is all to often overlooked by the casual gym rat. But in the realm of power output and application of force in Olympic/Power lifting, jumping and sprinting, the Posterior chain reigns supreme. There is also strong evidence that a strong posterior chain helps to improve posture and we all know the benefits of good posture. Here is an interesting article on the posterior chain with a very recognizable person in the photo.
Workout: twofer
1) 3 x 5 back squats at 75% of your 1RM
then
3 rounds
250m run
5 - C2B pull ups
7 - ring dips
9 - KBS ( heavy )
I don’t usually post stuff like this here. But i spent most of the day reading the story of Neda Soltani (the name Neda means “voice” in Farsi), a young Iranian girl who was gunned down by a sniper last week while watching the protests of the Iranian Presidential election with her dad. Video of the event hit the internet last week and is making the rounds. Now I have seen my fair share of gore, so I thought how bad could it be. I clicked play and began to watch, there is a moment after she is hit by the bullet where she is layed down and she looks right into the camera. I stopped the video, I knew what the end result would be. A few days later I actually started reading her story, she was not unlike the average 17 year old in the US.
Then I thought about the sniper who took the shot. He had actually targeted her out of a crowd of thousands and I had to ask “why her?”. What was it about her that made her stand out? It is said he boasted of taking the shot “just to see her die”. What events in his life took him to that moment where that seemed logical? Or is it just fate?
There is video of her with her dad before the shots were fired where she can be seen standing off to the side with her dad. She seemed like so many other teens you would see on Pacific in SC just cruising around and taking in life.
What’s my point? Good question, I don’t know. But it seems that as people become more obsessed with anything whether it be power, money or fitness it is very easy to lose sight of what really matters.
Most of us are not competing for the top spots at the CrossFit Games. We do CrossFit because it feels good to get strong, it improves our overall fitness, we have a sense of community with great friends and we are able to do more of the things we enjoy.
What I want is for all of you to become students of your bodies and the understand the of effects how your diet and training consistency are enhancing or hindering your training. So your first article is………
