New Olympic Lifting Program

This past weekend I went to a CrossFit Powerlifting Certification with Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell.  What an awesome experience that was.  I was able to talk with the man himself about lifting and his methods.  He has produced some of the strongest men and women on the planet.  We are talking about multiple World Records.  If there is one thing Louie knows, it’s that he knows how to make you strong.  Louie probably has the strongest gym on the planet.  Anyone that trains there is only allowed by invite only.  And if they don’t put in work then they get booted out.

Fortunately for me I was able to go and spend the weekend at this Cert.  So many ideas and thoughts ran through my head as I listened and thought about how I could apply what I was learning to my training and more importantly my clients training.  After going to this cert I am going to experiment with the Westside Barbells methods and apply them to my olympic lifting.  I want to see what I can do while incorporating these methods.  If it works for Powerlifters, NFL players, Olympic track athletes, etc.  Why wouldn’t it work for an Olympic lifter?  You could argue about technique and that the lifts are different, but what if you practice the lifts while you’re doing all of this.  Why wouldn’t I experience the same results?

I talked to a Pro Football player who had a 44 inch vert, 4.5 second 40, and was squatting some super heavy weight.  On top of all that he was probably one of the most explosive people I have ever seen in person.  Unbelievable.  He might be a freak, but so are all the other people training there then.  They are all strong.  I looked at his chalkboard of records and realized that I am about as strong as his 123lb women.  That is embarrassing.  Not only because it’s a girl, but also I outweigh her by 60 lbs.  Holy moly!!! Everyone else up on that board is stronger than me.  There has to be something right with this program or method.

For the next month or so I am going to mix the Westside Barbell Methods with Coach Burgener’s Olympic lifting.  Talk about the best of both worlds! I would be shocked if I didn’t see any increase in my numbers.  As I do so, i will update this blog and let you guys know how its going.  So make sure you guys check back every so often.

Wish me luck!!!

Westide Barbell Women's Meet Records

Improve 40 yd Dash Time

I’m on a quest to develop a great program for improving your 40 yd Dash time.  After I get this program down, I will move on to others.  Lately I have done a lot of research and trying to structure a program that is easy to follow and will get you results.  With all the research I have done, there is no shortage of techniques, ideas, or programs.  How do you know which one really works?  I can’t try them all myself.  Especially with all the other training that I do.  That takes me to my next option.

Basically I am going to need some test subjects.   I am looking to train 5-10 people and see if I can produce some dramatic results.   I will have to find people who are willing to make every session and will work hard every session.  I don’t care if your slow or already fast.  I want to see what happens when I put this thing together.  If your interested let me know.  I am only opening this up to the first few people who are SERIOUS!!!

The cost will be $100.  This way I know you will show up and not waste my time or yours.

The fastest man on the planet as of right now. Usain Bolt

T.G.I.F.

That is right.  I am looking forward to the weekend.  Normally I look forward to getting into the gym and getting things going.  Something about the gym and training people keeps me fired up.

The real reasons I am looking forward to this weekend are a few.

1. This week has been good as far the workouts have been, so I could use a break.

2. I jammed my wrist up a bit yesterday doing some cleans.  I could use a little R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)

3. I am HEADING TO VEGAS TO HELP TEACH OLYMPIC LIFTING AT COACH BURGENER’S CROSSFIT OLYMPIC LIFTING CERT.

Not only do I get to teach a bunch of people Olympic Weightlifting, but every time I get to help out with the Crossfit Olympic Certifications I learn something new.  I just think it’s awesome when you take people who haven’t ever done the lifts and get them Snatching by the end of the first day.  Then on the next day you get them Cleaning & Jerking.  That is awesome!  I have been to a USAW Level one Club Coach Course as well, and I would have to say that the CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certifications are better for learning the lifts.  If you get a chance to attend of these I would highly recommend it.

Who knows, maybe I will see you there.

Weightlifting For Explosiveness

Explosiveness is one of the most important abilities an athlete can have.  Without explosiveness your missing your missing a key ingredient to being successful in your chosen sport.  I don’t care what sport you play.  Explosiveness can help you in one way or another.

One of the best ways to do this is Olympic weightlifting.  Training yourself to move heavy weights very fast will develop the explosiveness you need for speed or jumping.  Too many people think that going into the gym and putting pins in a rack or loading up a leg press machine is going to give you what your looking for.  It may help you go from slow to faster, but if you want to be one of the fastest or quickest athletes around then you need to mix in Olympic lifts. There is no comparison. PERIOD!

I use Olympic Lifting with Sprints, Agility Drills,  Box Jumps, and now the Prowler to help me develop that explosiveness that’s needed to be an athlete.

Here is the program I have been following courtesy of Coach Burgener.  I will just cover what I have done since my last update.

Week 1 day 4 THURSDAY:

Front Squat

Back Squat

SATURDAY:

Snatch: Max for the day.  90kg.

Clean & Jerk:  Max for the day. 115kg.

Front Squat: Max for the day. 140 kg.

Not bad for being sick and getting appendix taken out.

WEEK 2 Day 1 MONDAY

1.  2 position Snatch: Floor and Mid Thigh- 80kg

2. Snatch Pulls: 2 x 3 reps 90kg

3. Snatch Deadlifts: 2 x 3 reps 100, 110kg

4. Snatch Shrugs: 2 x 5 reps 120, 120kg

5. Snatch Push Press: 5, 4, 3, 3, 3

6. Back and Abs.

TUESDAY

1. Back Squat: Medium Heavy x 3 x 6 sets.  I used 140kg for 3 sets and 150kg for 3 sets

2. Front Squat: Medium x 3 x 3 sets.  I went with 105 kg.

3. Back and Abs.

WEDNESDAY

1. 2 Position Clean &  Jerk. 2 Cleans + Jerk. Floor and Mid Thigh.  Went up to 90kg

2. Clean Pulls: 2 x 3 reps with 120 kg.

3. Clean Deadlifts: 2 x 3 reps with 130 kg.

4. Jerk Dips: 3 reps.  Worked up to 120 x 3.  (Good for staying tight during dip portion of Jerk)

5. Back and Abs:  GHD Sit ups and Hip Extensions.

That is basically what I have been doing for my workouts.  I add sprints and plyos throughout the week.   Mainly on Monday and Thursday.  Tomorrow I will do some sled pulls after my Front Squat and Back Squat Workout.

Feeling The New Olympic Lifting Cycle

Today was day 3 of Week 1.  My legs are feeling full and my body is sore.  It’s all good though.  I’m glad to be back at it.  Looking at my number starting this cycle and comparing it to last one is a little depressing.  I do know that in a few weeks I will be back where I started so that is okay.  At least that is what I tell myself when I get pissed off.

Here is a quick glimpse of what I did Tuesday and Today.

TUESDAY:

1. Back Squat 5 rep max:  150

2. Front Squat: 110 x 3 , 120 x 3

3. Box Jumps:  42 inches 20 total

4. Agility:   Ladder drills and pro shuttle.

After all that stretched out and messed around with some Kettlebells hanging from bands off the bar.  It was on one of the Crossfit videos during a Bench Press.  Casey Burgener thought it would be a good idea to try that with the Overhead Squat.  Lets just say its A LOT HARDER then you would think.  Hang two 16kg Kettlebells off a 20 kg bar with bands and try to overhead squat it.  Great stuff!!!  You really have to stay tight.  Awesome!

WEDNESDAY:

1. 3 Position Clean + Jerk: got up to 80 kg  I kept losing my hook grip.  :(

2. Clean Pull: 120 x 3, 130 x 3

3. Clean Deadlift: 140 x 3, 140 x 3

4. Clean Shrugs: 140 x 5, 140 x 5

5. Push Press: 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 70 x 5

6. Bench Press: 60 x 8, 70 x 6, 75 x 6

7. Core work.

Like I said I am feeling it this week.  From my past experiences the first week and a half is when I am the most sore.  So I should be feeling good early next week.  It’s good to feel like I am getting my explosiveness back.

Starting New Olympic Lifting Cycle today

Back on Coach Burgener’s Program.  Coach thought that this cycle that I am starting would be a good fit because of everything I have been through over the last few months.  It’s a great cycle that has a little bit of everything in it.  I can remember that this is probably one of the first ones I did with him and I had great success.

Today was the first day back on.  It covered the 3 Position Snatch and some other Snatch type exercises.  I maxed out at 75kg for the 3 position Snatch.  For those of you that may not know what the 3 position snatch looks like.  It’s just a snatch from the floor followed by a Snatch from Mid-thigh, followed by a high hang Snatch.  It can also be done by going from the floor to Snatching below the knee to the high hang.  Either way you’re hitting 3 positions.  Hence the name.

So todays workout looked like this:

1. 3 Position Snatch: 40, 60, 70, 75, 80, 75.

2. Snatch Pulls:  100 x 3, 110 x 3

3. Snatch deadlift:  110 x 5, 120 x 5

4. Snatch Push Press: 60 x 5, 80 x 5, 90 x 3, 80 x 5

5. Back & Abs: GHD Sit-ups, Reverse Hypers, and Knees to Elbows.

Then in the afternoon I did:

Four 50 meter sprints with weighted vest (light)

Four 50 meter sprints Slick. (Working on getting that speed and explosiveness back)

Tomorrow will be Back Squat and Front Squat with maybe a little bit of Prowler action.  We will see how the Squats leave me feeling.

Prowler Love.

Getting back into it.

Oh yeah!!!  Things are getting better.  Lately I have had some good energy throughout the day.  I haven’t been back to see any of the docs, but I know things are getting better.  I’m not yellow anymore and my eyes are clear.  Both good signs.  I was actually able to work out for the first time since my appendix surgery last Friday.  WOW did that leave me sore, but happy.  I was able to get after it again today.  The bad news is dealing with the loss of weight and strength.  I felt weak today.  It should come back fast though.   At least thats what I tell myself.

I have been busy between CrossFit San Diego and USD.  I’m not sure if I mentioned in any of my past posts but I have been helping out at USD as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach.  I had a chance to work with the baseball, football, and  the women’s soccer teams.  All of them are great teams.

One of the new things going on is the fact that we are going to be running CrossFit Classes out of there.  It will be named CrossFit USD eventually, but for now its known as San Diego Sports Performance Center.  You can check out the site here.  I look forward to getting that up and rolling along with keeping Crossfit San Diego going strong.

So busy as usual.

San Diego Sports Performance Center / Crossfit USD

More Set backs/Hurdles To Conquer

Ok ok guys…… i know.  Its been a long time since my last update.  Well a lot has been going on just not so much on the healthy side of the house.  I will bring you guys up to speed really quick.

Since September I have been helping out in the Strength and Conditioning department at USD.  It  has been a great experience and a lot of fun.  I have had the privilege of working with the baseball and football team along with women’s soccer.  All three teams are full of great athletes and most of them like to work hard.  If they don’t then I kind of revert back into my Navy SEAL Instructor days.  That usually takes care of any issues.  As I spend more time there I will eventually get my own teams to coach.  In good time.

Also, since the end of my PR september month I have been battling fatigue and illness.  I had a great month where I set a bunch of PRs but then stepped into October only to find out that the reason for all my fatigue is because I have something going on with my liver.  Not only is causing me to feel low energy but it also keeps me up at night with this freaking insane amount of itching.  I am talking about drive you effing crazy itching.  No Rash!!  Just itching all over.  I guess when your liver isn’t flowing right the acids that your liver produce get backed up into the blood system and then into your skin.  NOT FUN!!  More side effects are yellow skin and eyes, a nauseous feeling, lack of appetite, and weight loss.  Since October I have lost 19lbs.  Not good.  Currently I have to get my blood taken periodically and monitored to make sure that things are getting better.  Some things that I have had to do to improve my condition, is NOT drink or take any supplements, that includes any over the counter medicine like Tylenol, ibuprofen. NOTHING!!  Just food and drink.  The good news is that the numbers on the blood tests are looking better and I am not as yellow.

The bad news is that on top of the liver issue I had to get my appendix taken out last week on Wednesday.  I thought that the pain in my stomach might have something to do with my liver, but then I quickly found out that it wasn’t and that I need to have surgery ASAP.  AWESOME!!! NOT!!!  So now I recovering from that and can’t lift a weight over 10lbs for 6 weeks.  Good luck with that!  These incisions in the stomach are no joke though.  Every time I laugh, cough, sneeze, or move funny my abs hurt like crazy.  It does get better each day so it won’t be long before all that pain is gone.  Then its just a matter of getting my liver back into good working condition.  Luckily for me the liver is one of the only organs in our bodies that regenerates itself.  As long as I eat right and the damage isn’t too severe then it should recover.  I will be happy when that day comes!!!

A couple good things though were that I was able to compete in an Olympic lifting meet and still managed to take 1st in my weight class.  Even though I was weighing really light for it.  I competed as an 85kg lifter and weighed only 79kgs.  I didn’t perform as well as I would have liked but it was good considering the circumstances.  I was also able to PR in the power clean the day before my appendix gave out.  Got up a solid 115kg Power Clean.  I was very happy about that.  Now its just time to get better and then I will be back at it.

Thanks for all the support you guys have shown me!!!

September Has Been PR Month!!!

I am going on my 6th week of this 12 week program and the results so far have been great for me. I can’t say that everyone will get the same results, but I believe a lot of it has to do with being consistent and committed to getting the workouts done. That in itself has been a challenge. We all know that life has a habit of getting in the way of your goals, but if your REALLY COMMITTED you find a way to make them happen. For me that meant scheduling my workouts for the week at the beginning of the week and not letting things interfere with that time. Also, if for whatever reason something came up that prevented me from working out, I would make it up or combine workouts so that I didn’t miss them. For instance last week I had a huge and unbearable headache. There was no way that I was going to be able to do the workout I was supposed to do for that day. I ended up having to take that day, Thursday, as a rest day and then make it up the following day, Friday, which was supposed to be a rest day.

Make working out or YOUR GOALS a priority and they will become reality. Schedule your workouts just like you schedule meetings or anything else you do in your day. And then don’t let things interfere with that time. Then its just, “GET ER DONE!!!”

SEPTEMBER PRS:

SNATCH: 97.5kg, 98kg, 101kg

CLEAN & JERK: 127.5kg

CLEAN: 130kg

3RM FRONT SQUAT: 150kg

1RM BACK SQUAT: 200kg

3RM BACK SQUAT: 190kg

5RM BACK SQUAT: 180kg

Scratch that last post of 182kg

This week I am starting week 5 of the 12 week program.  Yesterday I went from doing 5 rep maxes to 3 rep maxes.  I was able to put up a new PR of 190kg for 3.  Needless to say I am pretty happy.  I am really looking forward to when I hit week 10 or 11 to see what my lifts look like.  I was also able to hit a New PR in the Snatch this past weekend at 101kg.  That is the first time I have been over 100.  It felt AWESOME!!!!

I am super excited about how things are going.  I just have to keep it going!!!

Check out the video below.