Week 2019.11.25

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Some announcements . . .

  • With Thanksgiving and “The Move” coming up, here are the hours for this week:

    • Monday - Wednesday (11/25/19 - 11/27/19): Regular hours

    • Thursday (11/28/19): Closed for Thanksgiving

    • Friday - Saturday (11/29/19 - 11/30/19): Closed for moving

  • Please be sure to take all of your lifting gear (shoes, belt, training log, etc.) out of your cubby and home with you by the end of training on Wednesday (11/27/19). You can then bring it to the new location (14505 Grover St. #117, 68144) starting Monday, 12/02/19.

  • Many of you awesome people have told us that you’d love to help do some moving on either Friday and Saturday. If you are one of these people, could you please let us know which day(s) you would like to help by clicking here and filling out the spreadsheet? In this way, we can do our best to stay in communication with those who are helping on those days. Thank you very much!

This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
“Prowler Sprint Test”
1. Load up a heavier weight.
2. Time a 15 yards sprint at 100% intensity.
3. Rest 30 seconds.
4. Repeat sprint until times slows down 10%.
5. Goal is to increase # of sprints under the time standard.

Courtesy of “Prowler Sprint Test” (on JTS) as well as “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2019.10.14.

Option 2
Bike/row:
3 rounds of:
8 x 20 sec on/40 sec off
Rest 3 min between rounds
Score = lowest distance

Compare to 2019.09.30.

Option 3
5-10 rounds of:
30 sec ME tire flips
30 sec rest

Compare to 2019.09.16.

Option 4
1. 5 yoke carries @ 30 yd (15 yd downback) – work up to heaviest carry
2. 5 rounds of 5 reps on the axle “clean and press away” – work up to heavy set of 5

Compare to 2019.08.26.

Lifters' Corner: The Hook Grip - Some Clarifications

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We discussed the rationale for using the hook grip quite a while ago, and in light of a few recent conversations, I thought a few clarifications might be in order.

Hook+grip.jpg

When do I use the hook grip?
Use the hook grip when pulling a barbell from the floor. Specifically, use the hook grip for cleans, snatches, and heavy deadlifts. I suppose you could use the hook grip for rows as well, but I’d probably recommend that if your row requires a hook grip, simply use straps instead and save your thumbs for your other pulls from the floor.

Don’t hook your presses, i.e., don’t use the hook grip anytime you are pushing a barbell - this includes bench presses (regular, close grip, incline, etc.), presses, jerks, and push presses. This is just silly, and your friends will give you no end of grief for doing so. You only perform the hook grip when the wrist is in tension, and this means that you only hook pulling movements, movements where - if the weight is heavy enough - your grip might fail.

Does the hook grip always hurt?
Yes. And no.

Yes, because of course there is quite a bit of pressure on your thumb, and at first, you will find this to be quite . . . uncomfortable. If you feel like screaming like a 3-year-old at the end of your deadlift work set, congratulations, you’re among friends.

No, because eventually you won’t notice the discomfort nearly as much as you do at first, and more importantly, you will stop caring. You are a lifter, and you’ll have more important things to complain about, such as having to unload all the plates from your massively heavy deadlift that you just pulled . . . because you used the hook grip. Everyone who uses it adapts to it, and you are not a special snowflake. Yes, you.

Why does the hook grip work so well?
When taking a normal, double-overhand grip (i.e., without the hook) on the bar, you’ll notice that you have four fingers on one side of the bar and only one finger (your thumb) on the other side of the bar. It is the thumb that fails you when the load gets heavy - it leads a lonely existence on that side of the bar, and it doesn’t have any friends to help.

The hook grip remedies this situation by allowing the other fingers (primarily the middle finger) to help the thumb maintain its purchase on the bar. I suspect that the thumb also starts to fail in the non-hooked grip due to the angle of attack it has on the bar - note its somewhat “from-the-side” approach to gripping the bar compared to the other fingers’ perpendicular approach to the bar - but I haven’t given this enough thought just yet. Nonetheless, suspicions abound.

Now you know, and in time, I think you’ll be hooked on this grip.

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Week 2019.11.18

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled
10-20 x 25 yds EMOM at a weight of your choice

Every minute, push the sled 25 yards, i.e., if pushing the sled takes 20 seconds, then you have 40 seconds to rest. Perform 10-20 rounds.

Compare to 2019.10.07.

Option 2
Bike/row:
12 min TT
Score = distance

Compare to 2019.09.23.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 min

Compare to 2019.09.09.

Option 4
10 x 50 ft farmer carry
Each carry is 25 ft down and 25 ft back and is for time. Rest 1 minute between carries.

Women: 97# per handle (80# of plates)
Men: 137# per handle (120# of plates)
(Note: Each handle weighs 17#.)

Compare to 2019.08.19.

Week 2019.11.11

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Millie, Rob, Joy, Tommy, Glenn, and Becky are competing at USSF Nationals in Portland, OR, this Saturday! If you’d like to watch them compete, click here for the livestream link.

This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled
10 rounds of:
Push sled 100 ft
Pull sled 100 ft (hand over hand)

Compare to 2019.09.30.

Option 2
Bike/row:
8 x 30 sec on/2:00 off

Score = least distance covered in any 30 second interval

Compare to 2019.09.16.

Option 3
8 rounds:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2019.09.02.

Option 4
10 x 50 ft yoke carry
Each carry is 25 feet down and 25 feet back and is for time. Rest 1 minute between carries.

Compare to 2019.08.12.

Week 2019.11.04

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m (a down-back on the 40m course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2019.09.23.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 800m

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = slowest time.

Compare to 2019.09.09.

Option 3
10 rounds:
25 yd yoke carry
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2019.08.26.

Option 4
For time:
500m row
5 x 80m sled push
500m row

Rest 1 minute after the first row and after each sled push.

Compare to 2019.08.05.

Week 2019.10.28

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
”Prowler Base+1”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest 30 sec.
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2019.09.16.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = lowest distance.

Compare to 2019.09.02.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2019.08.19.

Option 4
Row 10 x 100m
Rest 1 min between sprints. Your score is your slowest time.

Compare to 2019.07.29.