Using a resistance band as a physical cue for an athlete to remember “knees out”

How come we are always pestering you about “knees out”?  Usually [...]]]> If we did a word count on the most common coaching cues in our gym, “knees out” or some similar version, would probably top the list.

Using a resistance band as a physical cue for an athlete to remember “knees out”

How come we are always pestering you about “knees out”?  Usually “knees out” gets busted out during body weight squats or during the back squat.  However, if you’ve ever dead lifted with me I might also have asked you to activate your knees in the starting position so that your knees contacts the inside of your elbow.

One important reason for aggressively activating the “knees out” position is so that you are recruiting as much of your posterior chain as possible.  The posterior chain is primarily your lower back side (glutes and hamstrings).  However, your adductors are another important large muscle group that should contribute to your posterior chain strength.  If you are not activating your adductors you are missing out on some serious muscles.  ”Knees out” serves to fire up the adductors, thus making you stronger.  Always a good thing!

Another reason that “knees out” is a particularly repetitive cue for the women in the gym is that women have a structural geometry that makes it possible to give birth, but creates a little bit of a risky situation for our knees.  In a man, the pelvis and knees are lines up, or the pelvis is even slightly narrower than the knees.  If this is exaggerated then a man is bow-legged (a more common anatomical situation for men than for women).  Some studies on physical characteristics and sex appeal, have found that bow-legged men are more sexually attractive to women.  In a woman, the pelvis is wider than the knees creating a slight “knock-knee” effect.  Women have five times higher ACL injuries than men.  There are several reasons for this, including lower muscle strength, but this anatomical difference is one of the primary reasons.

As women, we have to be cognizant of this situation and double our efforts to create strong, safe legs and knees.  As is often so clever with lifting and CrossFitting, the cure is in the exact work that highlights the problem!  Squat more, but squat correctly.  Often times people prefer the high bar, narrow foot stance that is the Olympic Lifting or front squat set up.  This is fine and has excellent benefits.  The concern is that this position is a quad-dominant one and is not as effective in addressing this particular knee/adductor issue.  In our Blueprint Program and in Raw Strength we back squat with the bar just below the traps (=proper low bar placement) because this is the set up that creates the largest activation of our largest muscle groups (=how to get the most strong the most quickly!).  It is also the one where we have to make a concerted effort to use the squat to strengthen our posterior chain while increasing the life long safety of our knees.

I know some people find it frustrating to be asked to reduce the load on the barbell when they feel as though “I could do more”.  In fact, people have moved on to other training facilities over this exact issue.  In our gym, we do not encourage teenagers, women, men, college athletes, middle-aged anybody, or senior anybodies (I hope I just included everyone right there) to load a barbell beyond what they can do in a manner which contributes to their lifelong strength and safety.  The only exception to this might be people who are training for competition.  There is often a time and place for competitive athletes to take more risk than a lifelong-athlete-for-health.

My hope is that by sharing with you all the research and information that forms the basis behind our training approach, you will be less frustrated by correction and you will develop an understanding of why we use the training methods and programs that we use here at CrossFit Works and Barebones Barbell!  So, to my weight lifting Sisters…think “cowboy” next time you back squat!

Well, I know, no one is perfect, but there are moments when we achieve something with a movement that near perfection.  I have had the great pleasure to coach the intrepid 5:30am class this week and witnessed some true moments of greatness.  On Thursday during the Coach’s-Choice workout (a special feature [...]]]>

Well, I know, no one is perfect, but there are moments when we achieve something with a movement that near perfection.  I have had the great pleasure to coach the intrepid 5:30am class this week and witnessed some true moments of greatness.  On Thursday during the Coach’s-Choice workout (a special feature of the 5:30am program) we did tempo snatch grip deadlifts, dumb bell floor press and side planks.  It was really impressive to see the perfection in position and movement.  On Tuesday I badgered (I mean supported) Sarah in moving up to a heavier kettlebell which she handled with precision and control surprising herself, but not me.

And, in a long-planned for moment of perfection and achievement, Betty F. did her first free standing back squats.  I think that Chris and Carl were singing and dancing, but Betty is a little more classy than that of course.  Betty, welcome to the world of squatting!!

The weather is changing.  It is beautiful outside.  The season of 5k, 10k, half-marathons and full marathons is approaching.  The season of competitive CrossFit is approaching.  What does this mean?  It means running.  CrossFit Works has a team registered for the upcoming Tough Mudder Race (January 14th, 2012).  If you are registered for [...]]]>

The weather is changing.  It is beautiful outside.  The season of 5k, 10k, half-marathons and full marathons is approaching.  The season of competitive CrossFit is approaching.  What does this mean?  It means running.  CrossFit Works has a team registered for the upcoming Tough Mudder Race (January 14th, 2012).  If you are registered for the Tough Mudder (it is not too late, you can still register for our team, email chris@crossfitworks.com for log in and password details) or planning on any type of running undertaking in the next few months, or you just really like running or you don’t like running, but want to get better and faster at it, we have the program for you.  Chris Gartrell, former collegiate track superstar, will get you all ready for your running events.  He has designed an 8 week program to prepare the Tough Mudder team or simply to help anyone who would like to improve their running pace.  The 8 week Running Series will meet outside the gym once per week and then will have homework to do during the week.  The 8 week running program will begin on November 7th.  Check back here for more details soon. Registration for this Series will open on October 21st.  If you have questions email carl@crossfitworks.com or chris@crossfitworks.com.

Save the date.  Wednesday.  October 26th. 6:30pm.  This will be the 1RM test date for those of you finishing up the Raw Strength program (last day is Friday Oct 21).  This is also the night that you should come in and find out where you are with some of the lifts if you are contemplating signing up for the next Raw Strength Series.  You are also invited to come and lift that night if you are simply curious about where you are with one or more of your lifts and would like to find out with some supervision and help.  If you have never done the CrossFit Total you can do that.  If you like to watch people find 1Rms then make it a party and come cheer them on.

Register soon for the Tough Mudder.  Registration cost increases astronomically in a couple weeks.  Look for our team and use “success1″ as the password.  We will prepare you…

The next Raw Strength Series begins on Wed July 20th.  It is weeks away, but filling quickly.  If you’d like a spot, don’t dally. [...]]]>

Register soon for the Tough Mudder.  Registration cost increases astronomically in a couple weeks.  Look for our team and use “success1″ as the password.  We will prepare you…

The next Raw Strength Series begins on Wed July 20th.  It is weeks away, but filling quickly.  If you’d like a spot, don’t dally.  Let Chris, Carl or myself know ASAP.  Check in with the folks who have been in this Raw Strength Series if you are interested in how things have changed for them.  If you are thinking of joining the next Series, this crew will finish on Saturday July 9th with their “testing”.  Of course, this is the fun kind of test.  They will work towards their new, sky-high one rep lifts.  If you would like to have a baseline for the next Raw Strength Series you may also come on July 9th to ascertain just exactly where you are at the start of the Series.  Again, strength testing for the out-going Raw Strength crew and for interested in-coming folks, July 9th from 9:30-11:30.

Master’s WOD will necessarily take place this Friday night at 5:30pm since we will be closed on Saturday.

This coming weekend is a holiday weekend.  A time to rest, play, enjoy your friends and family and contemplate your nation.  CrossFit Works will be closed on Saturday July 2nd as well as Monday July 4th.

You all have a new resource for training information and source for inspiration, community and personal connection with training crossfit.  You can find it at http://jschae.blogspot.com/.  In case you can’t infer from the name of the blogspot, JSchae has her blog up and going.  She is also the source of the Wednesday night, [...]]]>

You all have a new resource for training information and source for inspiration, community and personal connection with training crossfit.  You can find it at http://jschae.blogspot.com/.  In case you can’t infer from the name of the blogspot, JSchae has her blog up and going.  She is also the source of the Wednesday night, 6pm, CrossFit Works mobility project.  Just to remind you all, this class is open to all CrossFit Works members for free and non-gym members for a $5 drop-in fee..  You can attend even if you have done your crossfit workout that day.  It might make you feel better!   And just to encourage you all, and give JSchae some new mobilizing tools, there are many many new resistance bands for you.  You know.  To resist with!

Sometimes we carry things while we move in crossfit workouts like kettlebells, weight vests, med balls, or bumperplates.  We might do a gym-length shuttle run or a 400m run while carrying something heavy.  We’ve done team workouts where we carry each other or carry a bigger item like the heavy bag. [...]]]>

Sometimes we carry things while we move in crossfit workouts like kettlebells, weight vests, med balls, or bumperplates.  We might do a gym-length shuttle run or a 400m run while carrying something heavy.  We’ve done team workouts where we carry each other or carry a bigger item like the heavy bag.  Sometimes we add weight to our in-place movements like when we do a step-up with a barbell on our shoulders or a weighted pull ups.  Carrying extra weight while moving is the quintessential functional movement that all humans have done since we started moving around.  These weight-carrying movements have initiated several conversations in the gym over the years regarding the impact of losing or gaining body weight.  Most recently, one of our master’s games athletes, Maureen (of the 100lb power clean!!!), mentioned that she has lost about 15lb since beginning crossfit.  This was on the day when we were doing a 3 round, 400m med ball run.  She said she was just thinking of it as what it was like to run 400m before she lost weight.  Summer and Midori and I have talked about the fact that the elusive weighted pullups sometimes are a wash when it is pretty easy to go up and down 5 or 7lbs of body weight in the course of a few months.  One month it is possible to do a 5lb weighted pullup, the next month it isn’t, but if you gained 5lbs then maybe you are really doing the same movement!  Crossfitters are so thoughtful about the effort their bodies are putting out.  I love that we all consider the nature of the work our body is doing.  And a special congratulations to the people who now use plates on a chain, med balls and weight vests to supply extra load to replace the body fat that they used to carry all the time!!

When you live the burden of carrying 60lbs extra of body fat every day, adventures where you voluntarily carry 60lbs in a pack aren’t so appealing.  In that backpack you could have warm socks, delicious drinks, maps of beautiful destinations and tasty snacks .  A lot of times in 60lbs of body fat, comes tiredness and poor health.  For an incredible story of one man’s experience of living day-to-day with obesity and his family’s return to health, read A Life Unburdened by Richard Morris.  Just read it.  He is working on changing the world, one real meal at a time.

Don’t be alarmed.  It isn’t that I’ve already had too much champagne to drink and got my holidays confused.  I know that eggs usually go with Easter.  But in our crossfitting nutrition world we take eggs whenever we can get them, especially free range, weed-eating, bug-munching, sun-bathing, keeping-it-in-the-family, raised chickens.  Make one of [...]]]>

Don’t be alarmed.  It isn’t that I’ve already had too much champagne to drink and got my holidays confused.  I know that eggs usually go with Easter.  But in our crossfitting nutrition world we take eggs whenever we can get them, especially free range, weed-eating, bug-munching, sun-bathing, keeping-it-in-the-family, raised chickens.  Make one of your New Year’s Resolutions to show up at CrossFit Works with $4 in your pocket early in the week so you can take home a dozen of these eggs.  Mark Wells, also known as Carl’s brother, raises his own chickens and currently has an abundance of them!  As long as his chickens keep laying, we can have the best eggs I have eaten since moving to Tucson.  I’m not just saying that either.  My eggs this morning were dark orange with tight, firm, high, round yolks and whites that don’t spread out too much when they are cracked.  They tasted delicious too.

Here is the deal: Mark will usually be able to drop eggs off in the early part of the week, maybe Sunday even.  They will cost $4 per dozen.  This is a bargain as I recently have been paying $3.99 at Trader Joes for omega-3 enriched, cage free super market eggs that were nothing special, (but hopefully nothing terrible either).  Mark keeps a varied flock.  Some eggs are small, some are large, some are brown, some are white, some are pale blue or green.  They are all excellent.  Each week a different CrossFit Class gets first go at the eggs.  If the eggs are dropped off Sunday night then maybe Monday, Jan 3rd the 7am class gets first chance.   But maybe Monday Jan 10th the 6pm class gets first crack.  There won’t be enough for every one so it will be exciting.  Be ready in case it is your chance.  WE WILL NOT TAKE IOUs.  We will also not make change.  You can try to make change yourself from the bottled water money (although we are always missing a lot more bottled water than there is money in the jar…).  Just be smart and put $4 somewhere you will always have it.  Mark needs empty egg cartons too and if you buy eggs please return the carton.  When my kids and I took a moment this morning to appreciate our meal, we talked about how these eggs seemed almost like medicine and how much different it feels to eat something when you know who raised it and where it came from.  That even reminded one of my sons to say “And we’re grateful we have such a good cook too!”  If he hadn’t already opened his Christmas presents last week I would’ve suspected an ulterior motive!  Get connected with your food if you can.

And, I have in my fridge enough of these pristine eggs to give a bunch of you one raw for your hangover cure tomorrow morning.  You provide the Tabasco sauce.

Watch this video carefully because I’m thinking this will make a really good warm up to get you in the 70s Big mood.

That’s right.  It is time for the August 70s Big Challenge.  Little change in the schedule for the Challenge.  It will now [...]]]> Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch this video carefully because I’m thinking this will make a really good warm up to get you in the 70s Big mood.

That’s right.  It is time for the August 70s Big Challenge.  Little change in the schedule for the Challenge.  It will now occur as our second workout this week.  OK-read carefully, here is how it will work.  This Challenge will take more than an hour, and although I don’t understand you, I know some of you prefer a lot of heavy breathing to lifting heavy weights.  Therefore, I am going to take the unusual step of providing you with a choice.  When you come to class on Tuesday or Wed you can either do the 70s Big Challenge or you can row a 5k.  I don’t program in 5k rows for our classes very often due to the extreme mind numbing boredom involved, and the fact that we have only 6 rowers, but I know there are some of you out there who would love to know your 5k row time.  Your prowess with the 5k row might also help you decide to participate in an upcoming rowing challenge…

Crossfit Northwest Tucson

Invites you to join us for a morning

Of fun and frivolity,

And

ROWING  42,195  meters!!!!!

September 18^th, 0900

CFNWT in conjunction with The Arizona Outlaws rowing team is hosting a marathon

There will be 3 categories: Solo,4 person and 10 person teams

There will be a $5.00 entry fee per rower, proceeds to benefit Arizona Asthma and The Pheonix Junior Rowing Team

Let’s send a flotilla of CrossFit Works rowers up there on the 18th!!  Carl will sing and I will dance so that you won’t get bored.  We will use one of the white boards in the gym to help you guys organize teams.

Now, if you choose to do the 70s Big Challenge as it is supposed to be done you will run over class time.  If you are normally in a morning class, but would like to give yourself additional time please feel free to come on Tuesday evening to do the Challenge.  NO ONE WILL BE DOING THE CHALLENGE ON WED evening.  Do not ask to do it ’cause the answer will be no.  If you are in Andres’ 5:30pm or Jen’s 6pm class please come early if you can on Tuesday night.  We will not run individual separate classes that night.  Just one big weightlifting, rowing bash.  Here are the details of the Challenge straight from the horse’s mouth:

“The August Challenge is simple. Work up to your heaviest single in the snatch, clean & jerk, squat, bench press, and deadlift. That’s your total. I say heaviest single because this won’t be a max. You can take as many attempts as you need. Make your jumps and attempts wisely (the smart ones will not take three attempts on every lift). Here are the rules (because someone will ask):
* This must all be done in one session.
* Lifts must be done in order.
* The snatch and clean and jerk must be caught in a locked-out position. If you press it out, it doesn’t count.
* Yes, it’s ok if you power snatch or power clean.
* Squat must be to depth-crease of hip below top of knee.
* Bench does not have to pause on chest. This doesn’t mean you should dribble the bar off your sternum, though.
* The deadlift must be raised without hitching. It must also be lowered to the ground, not dropped above the knee like some dumbass. Your mama raised you better than that.
* Sumo is fine. Straps are not.”

Ooooh boy this will be fun.  Please know your bodyweight when you get here.  I must report it with the results.

Check out these photos of Colby on his final day of a summer’s Starting Strength programming with me.  Colby came in unable to deadlift more than 85lb for 5 rep and yesterday he did 175lb for a single!  He benched 115 which is only [...]]]> Good luck back in your senior year Colby

Check out these photos of Colby on his final day of a summer’s Starting Strength programming with me.  Colby came in unable to deadlift more than 85lb for 5 rep and yesterday he did 175lb for a single!  He benched 115 which is only about 5lb under his bodyweight, and he back squatted 165.  Big improvements.  Nice work Colby.

A little bit later I’ll post a remarkable video of the hip bridge action…I’m not sure it can be considered work/family safe.

You all did a great job with this week’s third workout.  There are movements that I often do not include in the conditioning portion of the programming because it is too easy to “sand bag” them (to start to perform the movement incorrectly, slowly and thus more easily).  Hip bridges and hand stand pushup variations are two of these things.  It is really easy to slip into an inclined pushup instead of a snazzy L-position and really easy to not fully complete the hip bridge, but that is not what we saw yesterday.  It is really rewarding and impressive to watch all of you perform your movements conscientiously and correctly.

Aaron and his grip-strength/strong man posse will be in the gym tomorrow for Open Gym.  Come and check in with him so you are prepared to compete on Saturday Aug 14!!

Don’t forget to be thinking about what CrossFit benchmark “Girl” workout you will attack at the end of next week.  Talk to your trainers about it.

OK-there were some memorable sights tonight…I will get the excellent photos Shannon took into the gallery this weekend.

We had 22 women do the Challenge and 20 men. In 70s get up. Very fun. Followed by burgers and vanilla shakes as instructed.

Here are our top 5 women: Kate Wells BW [...]]]>

OK-there were some memorable sights tonight…I will get the excellent photos Shannon took into the gallery this weekend.

We had 22 women do the Challenge and 20 men. In 70s get up. Very fun. Followed by burgers and vanilla shakes as instructed.

Here are our top 5 women:
Kate Wells
BW 160
Squat 40
Bench 22
Deadlift 64
Total 126

Jenny LaCoss
BW 155
Squat 50
Bench 22
Deadlift 52
124

Mary Pekas
BW 165
Squat 20
Bench 10
Deadlift 68
98

Amanda Chavez
BW 158
Squat 26
Bench 13
Deadlift 51
Total 90

Jennifer Higgins
BW 125
Squat 30
Bench 5
Deadlift 53
Total 88

Top 5 Men
Jay Humphrey
BW 200
Squat 22
Bench 1
Deadlift 28
Total 51

Bryon Lichtenhan
BW 175
Squat 7
Bench 0
Deadlift 38
Total 45

Jason Westmoreland
BW 200
Squat 8
Bench 11
Deadlift 22
Total 41

Chauncey Homer
BW 200
Squat 11
Bench 6
Deadlift 21
Total 38

Stephen Crossland
BW 175
Squat 11
Bench 1
Deadlift 24
Total 36

Clearly we need to bench more…