Week 2021.05.24

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Reminder: In observance of Memorial Day (Monday, 05/31/21), we will be open for training during our usual morning hours (5:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.) that day, but we will be closed that afternoon and evening.

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 indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft 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 2021.03.22.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

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

Compare to 2021.03.01.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
50 ft yoke carry
50 ft yoke push
100 ft sandbag carry and S.O.B. (sandbag-over-bar)

Perform 1 round every 2-3 minutes.

Compare to 2021.02.01.

Option 4
Row/Tire 10 min ladder:
2 cal row
2 tire flips
4 cal row
4 tire flips
6 cal row
6 tire flips
…
Climb the ladder as high as possible in 10 minutes.

Compare to 2021.01.25.

The Snatch: Landing Positions

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There are three landing positions for the snatch, and each has its own advantages. Let’s briefly cover them here:

Joy performs a power snatch.

Joy performs a power snatch.

Power Snatch

  • Landing Position: Partial squat (i.e., partial-depth overhead squat)

  • Advantage: The power snatch is the simplest to learn as your feet do not travel far from their original pulling position. It also doesn’t require learning how to perform the overhead squat as in the . . .

Joy performs a snatch.

Joy performs a snatch.

Snatch (AKA full snatch or squat snatch)

  • Landing Position: Overhead squat (i.e., full-depth overhead squat)

  • Advantage: Of the three landing positions, the full snatch allows lifters to lift the heaviest weights as this lower receiving position means the bar doesn’t have to be lifted as high before catching it.

Joy performs a split snatch.

Joy performs a split snatch.

Split Snatch

  • Landing Position: Split stance - nearly identical to the split jerk stance, but the split is usually even longer and deeper.

  • Advantage: The split snatch allows the lifter to drop further under the bar than the power snatch without requiring the ability to drop into an overhead squat position as in the full snatch. For this reason, the split snatch - although potentially useful at all ages - is especially well-suited to older lifters.

You’ll notice that the word “hang” - as in hang snatch or hang power snatch or hang split snatch - is conspicuously absent in this discussion. This is because “hang” refers to a starting position, not a landing position. If “hang” is added as a prefix, then the lift simply starts with the bar hanging in the hands (usually at about mid-thigh height) as opposed to starting with the bar resting on the floor.

Week 2021.05.17

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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 2021.03.15.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 800m

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

Compare to 2021.02.22.

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

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)

Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2021.01.25.

Option 4
5-8 rounds:
50 ft sled push
50 ft sled pull (hand over hand)
Row 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

This can also be done in a group of three where the sledder determines how long the other two people row and rest.

Compare to 2021.01.18.

Barbell Sports

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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/20/18.)

“What’s the deal with all of these lifting sports? I can’t keep them straight!”

No worries - let’s take a quick look at the three major sports of the barbell world.

  • Powerlifting: This is the sport of the back squat, bench press, and the deadlift. Each lifter gets 3 attempts on the squat, 3 attempts on the bench press, and 3 attempts on the deadlift. Take your best attempt from each lift, add them together, and you have what is known as your total.

  • Strengthlifting: This is the sport of the back squat, the press, and the deadlift. It is similar to powerlifting, but there are several notable differences:

    • The press (i.e., overhead press) is contested, not the bench press.

    • The deadlift is conventional, which means your hands go outside of your legs. This is how we teach the deadlift anyway, so it’s not unusual to you, but at powerlifting meets, a beast known as the sumo deadlift often makes an appearance (wherein the stance is very wide and the grip is fairly narrow - inside the stance).

    • The judges simply tell you whether or not the lift counted, whereas in powerlifting, the judges are a bit more involved.

  • Weightlifting: This is the sport of the snatch and the clean-and-jerk. Like the other two sports, each lifter gets 3 attempts on each of the lifts, and once again, we add the best successful lifts together to get a total.

    • Weightlifting is also known as “olympic weightlifting” or simply “olympic lifting.”

    • If you’ve ever watched lifting during the Summer Olympics, this is the sport you witnessed.

Week 2021.05.10

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The annual Testify Barbell MAYhem was a great success this weekend, and we are hugely thankful to everyone who helped out! Loaders, referees, table officials, those who helped setup and tear down - we could not have hosted this meet without you all!

This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
“Prowler Base”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest until breathing and heart rate slow down. (45 sec – 2 min)
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

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

Compare to 2021.03.08.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

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

Compare to 2021.02.15.

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

Compare to 2021.01.18.

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 2021.01.11.

Squatting Deeper - Don't Make These 2 Mistakes!

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Julie hits depth on a correctly executed squat.

Julie hits depth on a correctly executed squat.

When people are endeavoring to squat deeper - whether because their coach told them too or because they’ve recorded themselves on video and seen the disheartening proof of a “too-high” squat - we often see two mistakes:

  1. The lifter descends significantly faster than before without actually squatting deeper.

  2. The lifter leans over too much.

With regard to mistake #1, remember that going deeper doesn’t mean descending faster. In fact, 50% of the time, going down faster doesn’t change anything except the speed of the descent (yes, duh) and the other 50% of the time, the lifter actually cuts off his squat even higher when he tries to descend more quickly.

Julie makes mistake #2 as she leans over too much in an effort to achieve the proper depth. Note that the crease of her hips have not passed below the level of the top of her kneecap and are, in fact, well above height of the kneecap.

Julie makes mistake #2 as she leans over too much in an effort to achieve the proper depth. Note that the crease of her hips have not passed below the level of the top of her kneecap and are, in fact, well above height of the kneecap.

Mistake #2 - leaning over too much - comes from a misunderstanding of how depth is achieved. Depth is achieved when the crease of the hip passes just below the height of the top of the patella. In other words, you squat deeper by taking the hips lower - not by taking the bar lower. If the hips go lower, everything else above the hips goes lower as well - including the bar - but the reverse is not necessarily true. When starting your descent, leaning over (as you shove your knees out and reach back with your hips) is important, but once you’ve set your back angle by doing so, keep it constant - don’t lean over more than you already have.

If you struggle with either of these two mistakes, try the cues “stretch deep” or “reach deep” the next time you squat. With the “stretch deep” cue, you are reminding yourself that you will experience a stretch in the hips as you descend lower into the squat, and with the “reach deep” cue, you are reminding yourself that you reach downward with your hips - not the bar.

“Stretch deep” and “reach deep” - give these cues a try, and we hope they help you out!