Strength in General Physical Preparedness

Question: What is the thinking behind the maintaining the speed of the ascent on the back squat vs putting on a lil more weight and struggling more at the bottom?

Great question. In a day where you are doing strength immediately followed by conditioning, I think it is best to keep the speed on the strength sets because slow, grinding sets will be too taxing and leave you drained for the conditioning. I believe this approach to be the most sustainable and productive in a general physical preparedness program. If you were only doing strength, you could take the sets to a deeper, darker place. 

Creatine and putting on mass

Question: I was wondering what your opinion of creatine was?  I've heard a bunch about it, and i'm on the fence about trying it.  I have wanted to put on weight, though I eat healthily, and ALL THE TIME (basically), but still struggle to put on any mass.  What do you reckon?

A few thoughts on putting on mass:

1. Let's pretend for the next two months you eat two more meals a day than usual and drink a gallon of milk. You manage to hulk out and you fucking love it. Until you get sick of eating so damn much and your body goes back to its norm- skinny ol'me. Lesson here: whatever "bulking technique" you decide to use, make sure it's sustainable. Or schedule a photo shoot for the day you are the Hulkiest and at least have photo evidence of all your hard work.

2. Getting body fat levels in check is cool, adding a little muscle is awesome- just make sure your aesthetic aspirations actually fit your body type. Want to add on forty pounds of pure muscle and grow 6 inches? You're out of luck. This is one reason focusing on performance  goals is more beneficial than aesthetic, then your whole body and soul is along for the ride. 

3. Hey small guys, CrossFit has you tricked. Manliness is not determined by a 225 pound snatch or a sub 1:20, 500 meter row. The "sport of fitness" has become skewed into the "sport of exercise tasks" with a lean towards heavy and long. It no longer tests true individual fitness which must take into account so much more for instance bodyweight, age and a broader range of modalities. This conversation is too much to have in our number three here, instead I will just encourage the mighty mouses among us to move weights that make sense for you, to get stronger one day at a time with a smile on your face. 

4.. I have never read up on creatine, but here is one piece from a source I trust. Good luck!

Oly Shoes

Question: I'm worried that my oly shoes will become a crutch. How can I make sure that doesn't happen?

I recommend most people get oly shoes as it helps to optimize ankle mobility. Once you've worn them awhile, find a balance between wearing them and your regular shoes.

Do in oly shoes- all strength oly work, most slow strength movements, most conditioining wods with oly lifts

Out of oly shoes- mobilize everything, bodyweight strength and conditioning, monostructural modes (running, rowing, etc,) most conditioning work without a barbell

Preparing for a race

Question for you: I'm hoping to run my first 5K (non-obstacle) race by the end of this summer/early fall. I wouldn't be TOO concerned with the time, more so with completing it and keeping walking to a bare minimum... Any tips on how I should structure my WODs to better prepare myself? Or any other training I should address as I get closer to to the run? I have absolutely NO background in running (besides the occasional sprint work I do with Coach Heidi in CFE a few times a month). I wanted to make 2013 a Year of Many Firsts, but this one's causing me more anxiety than any of the others. HALP!

First things first, calm down. Don't worry about where you should be, and be where you are. Then build from there. 

Secondly, now that we can breath, training to complete a 5k race should be pretty easy for a regular CrossFitter. Here is a really basic format that should supplement your regular training with ease:

4 weeks out from the race: CrossFit 3-5Xs/week, 10 minute run 2-3Xs/week

3 weeks out from the race: CrossFit 3-5Xs/week, 15 minute run 2-3Xs/week

2 weeks out from the race: CrossFit 2-4Xs/week, 20 minute run 1-3Xs/week

Week before the race: CrossFit 1-3Xs/week, 20 minute run 1-2Xs/week

This is super simplistic, and not perfect for everyone. If you want to change it up a little bit- do! Then have fun on race day. 

From personal experience, I used to run, started running again last month. It feels awesome to run as a stronger athlete. Runs tend to be, dare I say, fun. 

Low Back Pain with Jonathan Coffey

After yesterday's email regarding low back pain, Jonathan Coffey had some great thoughts to share on his personal experience with the area. Take it away, J:  

As a long time lower back sufferer...a few things

1) Rest. Rest. Rest.
2) Hamstring and hip mobility, you need to work on it.
3) Is this muscular or spinal? Chiropractic goes a long way if you have a good one. Andrew Veech is the guy I've seen in the city and he's phenomenal.
4) in the future: more squats at heavier weights means better core strength means better stability means fewer injuries. A lot of people with a history of issues are afraid of squats, but these are exactly the people who most need to progress upward in weight (gradually, of course)

5) One more thing--I skipped the Open in part for the same reason. Of you're not 100% high rep thrusters at a decently heavy weight might not be the best idea. Know thyself, respect your limits and don't do something stupid. 

6) ANOTHER another thing: if it's joint related...hydration. It's weird and the guy who originally told me that was a bit of a quack but it does make a difference. 

Deadlifts and injury recovery

I had a question for you.  I tweaked my lower back doing Fran on Monday (I assume during the clean as it pains me to bend over/forward or do a hula hoop movement with my hips). I haven't been working out since Monday's workout and am scheduled to do the open tomorrow and the combine on Saturday.  I'm contemplating skipping tomorrow and Friday as well to focus on my back being up and running by Saturday. In the meantime, do you have any recommendations on how to expedite the healing of this pain? Any exercises I should be doing?

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. I recently tweaked both my back and neck as a result of exercise. I found that coming into the gym then focusing on moving well but very carefully actually helped me to recover expediently. Now, this is an n=1 experiment, so I can't say it will necessarily work exactly the same way for you. Let your coach know what's bothering you so they can suggest scaling and don't be afraid to hold back. 

As to anything specific, I don't have much. I suggest taking it easy, partition a few specific times to focus on stretching and moving and otherwise let it be. 

One more thing, kudos for knowing what fucked you up. I say all the time while teaching deadlift and it's worth mentioning now:

1. When you're holding a barbell you are performing a lift which has an inherent risk of injury. Stay focused, don't get sloppy or distracted.

2. Keep the bar close (over your center of gravity), all the time. When a barbell gets away from you you introduce variables that will too often cause injury. 

Hang "squat" clean

Yesterday we did hang cleans, tomorrow we are doing power cleans. Let's discuss the terminology...

Everyone knows the basics: hang- start with the bar at the waist, power- catch the bar in a squat above parallel (we often say "in a partial squat.") This is new to many of us: when hang is prescribed and power is not mentioned, we are to assume it is the squat version of the lift. (hang squat clean = hang clean)

Here is where things get tricky... CrossFit invented the terminology "squat" clean/snatch. "Squat" (in this context) is only relevant in a competition where the range of motion must be standard. In training, the full lifts (snatch and clean) are most often performed; power versions of the lifts are often done to focus on a particular aspect or as a deload (as you cannot move as much weight.) 

When hang clean is prescribed, I often get the question, "Do I have to go all the way in my squat?" I usually say yes, as I understand that athlete to only be asking about the range of motion. But the more precise and nuanced answer is "you should go as low as you need to go to catch the weight." For instance, at 65% of 1RM you may be able to perform a power clean, at 95% you cannot (assuming technical proficiency.) 

(assuming technical proficiency) is a very important point. You should be able to clean more than you can power clean. Is this not the case? We have to figure out why- is the problem your stand, jump, catch or some combination of the three? 

If you need more one on one coaching in your Olympic lifts and want to sign up for a private session, let me know.