Are you a very strong lifter?  Are you a fairly new lifter?  Or are you a very strong and new lifter?  Then chances are you have been observed bending and pulling with your arms before you fully extend your hips and legs during the clean or the snatch.

So you say “What’s wrong with that? I can still clean a heavy weight.”  Remember that the muscles you want to evoke in pulling that bar as high as you can off the platform are your legs and back (with forward hip drive), your traps, “lats” and then to some extent, a finish with your calves (though at that point of the momentum of a great pull your entire body will be lifted off the platform with your calves only appearing to apply some force to the platform).

Pulling with your arms forces by employing that bend,  forces them to begin doing work intended for the larger muscles.  Pulling with your arms will bring the bar toward you (instead of your hips toward the bar), hence setting it away from its required vertical path.  This will result in your body moving forward – remember Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

“To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions.”

If you are an arm puller and want to increase those personal bests, then heed the following:

1. Allow the weight of the bar to passively extend your elbows until you are fully extended at the end of the second pull.  Like a plumb-line, let that bar keep your shoulders, elbows, and arms in a straight line. With this reduced motion you can focus on completing a full extension of your hips/legs.

2. Be cognizant of how tight your grip is on the bar.  If too excessive (perhaps because you may not be using the hook grip), far too much neuromuscular signals are sent to the forearms, when they should instead be sent to your back, legs and onward to hips and traps.

3. Check out your first pull.  Arm bending is often caused by trying to correct a bar that is too far forward.  Ensure you have a proper start position and first pull.  Refer to my previous article “Transition and Velocity” regarding how the bar is to be kept close to your body/Centre of Gravity.

4. Check out where the bar is at the start of second pull and how it got there.  Arm benders often pull up the bar with their arms bent, try to lift and position it on their upper thigh as they dip slightly. From that point, the lifter would then start their second pull as a quick, but noticeable, hang snatch.  Unfortunately, as poundage increases, arm strength provides little help and when it does, it causes loss in upward bar velocity.  So the arm-bender will have to be awfully quick in getting under the bar as it will not be as far off the platform as it otherwise could have been.  In competition, pulling from the hang is cause for a referee’s red light – arm bending is not.

As you gain more confidence in raising the bar as high as you can before dropping under it you will find less dependence on that arm bending.  And try not to rush under the bar while the bar is still, under your second pull momentum, traveling upward.

Soon your second pull will not resemble an upright row, a 45-degree Pendlay Row, or a reverse curl.  The momentum of the bar’s mass and velocity, your extension, your quick drop under the bar (with rotational assistance from the bar’s ball bearings), and a quick lifting of the elbows, will ensure a more successful and less strain full clean or Snatch.

Coach: Mark Gomes

Building Strength for Double Unders – The Single leg single under

Recently I have become very intrigued by the single leg single under. I will even go as far as saying it will drastically help you on your road to the illusive double under. For those who don’t know what a single leg single under is: you are simply doing single unders, but with only one leg. Note, that I am not talking about rotating single leg single unders where by you are almost jogging on the spot while skipping, but consecutive single leg single unders.

First off, know that the key to double unders and even triple unders is rope speed, not the height of your jump. For some people just simply working on single unders and learning how to move the rope fast will get them double unders. For most though, having the strength to stay on the balls of their feet and toes is a real challenge. When they attempt a double under, they jump really high and land hard, letting their heels touch the ground. The double under demands a very powerful ankle extension and more importantly that you land on the ball of your foot ready for another explosive ankle extension. When trying consecutive sinlge leg single unders for the first time you will instantly feel how much tougher this is than just a regular single under. It demands that you jump and land on the ball of your foot, not letting your heel touch the ground consequently making it a great as a transitional movement to the double under.

This image shows the knee tuck

Basic progression

Single Under – Single leg single under – Double Under – Single leg double under – Triple under

The single leg single under can also be used as a tool to correct bad double under form. Very athletic people they can get away with doing double unders using a ‘donky kick’ or a tuck. This is very hard on the body and uses a lot more energy. When doing single leg single unders it teaches you to just extend your ankle, not pulling your knees up or back. Try doing 30 consecutive single leg single unders with the same leg and you will feel how much stress is put on your calves. If you have double unders already, you can make them better by adding in single leg double unders to your warm up, they are much harder and require very strong ankles and calves.

Lastly I believe single leg single unders are a great scale or substitution option in a workout. Ask anybody who has just recently got double unders and they will tell you how double or triple the amount of single unders are not comparable to an actual double under. Tuck jumps are great for building ankle and calf strength but teach you bad habits and don’t work on your rope speed. If awork out calls for 30 doubles a round, simply sub 30 single leg single unders: 15 per leg. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cam

When executed properly, the Transition (also called the Double Knee Bend) places the athlete in a position of the greatest leverage to begin the second and faster pull and utilize more leg strength.

As the hip moves toward the bar (parallel to the platform), the bar is now closer to the athlete’s centre of gravity, above the balls of the feet.  At that point the athlete can more efficiently extend the bar vertically, shrugging the shoulders in the Second Pull and gain the momentum needed to pull under the bar (Third Pull).

A mid-thigh touch or brush by the bar should be a clue that the hip is being correctly thrust forward. But the athlete must avoid  bringing the bar toward the thighs.  Although this movement will place the bar closer to your centre of gravity and the bar appears, for a moment, to be the proper position, the athlete would have pulled the bar  laterally in toward the thighs.  This results in solid contact between the bar and the thigh, a reduction in bar speed, and a bounce off the thighs that will send or return the bar away from the athlete’s centre of gravity and slightly upward as well as outward.  Even with this slight outward movement, the athlete  will either lose the lift forward, or have to compensate by jumping forward to meet the bar in the Reception Phase and difficulty in the Recovery Phase.

In brief, the athlete thrusts her/his hips toward the bar, and does not instead pull the bar in toward his/her thigh.  Imagine the hip thrust forward in the kettle bell swing or the superman position in the kip pull-up. Those movements simulate what the intent of the hip thrust is in the Transition.

The final velocity of the bar is the determining factor of momentum.  And it is this momentum, in an upward direction at the end of the First Pull, that makes it the all-important factor.  Recall from high school physics that the term velocity includes not only speed, but the direction of motion. Speed is just the rate of movement and is useless if it is directed incorrectly.

If the athlete starts the First Pull too quickly, the usual result is a premature straightening of the knee/legs.   The effort to gain speed or velocity of the bar at the start may be lost in the Transition Phase. Remember that elbows remain locked throughout the First Pull and Transition.  Premature bending of the arms reduces the speed of the bar upward and basically demolishes the entire lift, if not the athlete.  But that’s another article.

There is not necessarily any relationship between velocity at the start and velocity at the end of the pull.  A more successful strategy is to aim at a producing a smoother  and more constant force at the start and during the middle of the pull.  Such a strategy seeks to avoid losing velocity in the middle of the pull and thereby directly improving the bar’s final velocity.

If a Crossfitt athlete does not employ an effective transition, and with appropriate velocities at specific times, she/he will see little gain in their personal bests in the Snatch or the Clean. However, Transition and velocity are  not as crucial in repetitive movements with light weights where speed (not always velocity) is required throughout the entire lift in order to culminate in the fastest time possible.

By: Mark Gomes

There are some coaches who believe that the front leg should push back first, followed by the rear leg, and alternating smaller steps until the feet are parallel to the bar overhead.

However, some coaches believe the opposite; that the rear leg should push forward first then the front leg. If this is not done, they argue, the bar will remain hanging over mid air.

My opinion is to go with the front leg movement first. If this fails to work, then analyze your dip and push and if the bar is consistently slightly ahead, then the rear leg first may be best suited for you.

A random examination of some lifters at the St.Thomas Open noted that:

There were 13 successful Jerks among the six lifters.

Of the six lifters, 4 lifters always recovered with Front Leg first, 1 lifter always used the rear leg first, and one lifter used front leg for one jerk, but his rear leg for another jerk.

10/13 successful jerks were recovered with the front leg first.

Two of the three Masters Lifters recovered with their rear leg first (shoulder flexibility may be a concern.)

If the reception is solid, and the bar directly overhead, either recovery method may be ok. So one will have to judge themselves which recovery produced more stable results and successful lifts.

M Gomes

I was at the dollar store yesterday and held the door for an elderly lady, immediately she looked at me and said, “thank-you” with an abundance of sincerity and even some surprise, I said, “your welcome” and continued through the door. However, I wondered why she was SO sincere with her “thank-you”. I was about to understand why in about 10 minutes: As I was waiting in the line at the cash register, the same lady as before was walking out of the store, her hands full with bags (must have spent $40 on nick nacks). A couple of Teenagers were directly behind her and this is what the idiots do: they pass her right before the door and continue through allowing enough time for the door to close and the lady having to turn her back to the door, hands full, and open it herself. Now some people might think this is no big deal, they forgot to hold a door open, she can manage (especially if she’s a CrossFitter). However, this got me going, because back in my father’s day, I would have been able to go outside and grab those two kids, ask them were they live and hand them off to their father where they would have been taught a very painful lesson. If I tried that now, I would be arrested, all I could do in this day and age was stand there in amazement and think to myself ‘there goes the future of our society’.

Society, as of late, has been softening. Physically: with everything so easily accessible people are getting lazy, socially: with our overloading of social media, intellectually: with google and every piece of information available at the touch of a button, and most importantly there is no more fear of punishment because of lawsuits and pushy, “my kids an angel” parents; this equals disrespect. Everything is so fast and easy these days, it turns some people into potatoes… mashed potatoes.

Enter CrossFit. CrossFitter’s always ask eachother what’s your favorite part about CrossFit? My favorite part is that its a revolution against the aforementioned. No matter who you are or who you think you are: woman, man, child, black, asian, white, old, young, elite athlete, couch potato, god’s gift to society, a shy person with low self esteem…ect: your life will be positively altered by CrossFit. How and Why? well simply because CrossFit is Hard, CrossFit is painful, and most of all CrossFit TEACHES. It teaches you about YOU. It will transform you from a mashed potato into a Lion/Lioness hungry for life and all its beauty. This self acceptance doesn’t happen naturally, you have to let it happen, and I have seen it happening in our gym with my own eyes through many of our members, coaches, and Myself. It is a constant evolution that takes place in a person over a lifetime.

CrossFit is also the most honest thing a person can do, the whiteboard doesn’t lie and when it fibs the coach is there to keep you motivated or humble.

When you start CrossFit and it feels like you are scaling every single exercise it can become demoralizing, or it can become fuel to the fire to overcome scaling even when it feels like progression is impossible. This is how CrossFit teaches a person to deal with defeat and gain confidence. On the flip side, when you start to get “good” at CrossFit, it finds a way to beat you back down which can become demoralizing, or it can become fuel to the fire to overcome your lull even when it feels like progression is impossible- starting to see the cycle of the evolution? The point here is that, if you allow yourself to get there: CrossFit can take you on a path of success- not only in fitness but in life. YOU have to let it happen by accepting yourself first.

From Dave lipson on reasons for inaccurate testing of 1 rep max’s:

Have the Balls to Fail

1) Scared to fail, never reaching an actual max. 1RM means you physically cannot lift any more. Fear of injury, perceptions of fragility in the body often spook the athlete from going to that place.

2) EGO. An individual who is afraid to be evaluated on any absolute level. Hampered by who they once were or what they want people to think of them. Terrified that image they have of themselves might be shattered if they don’t live up to expectations.

3) Improper testing ie. cutting range of motion or movement standards.

It takes guts to really look at yourself and accept where you are at this time and place. Some people avoid it like the plague. It can be tough to drop the baggage of who you may have once been, or the way you or others may perceive you. But this is a sport where you will be constantly beat, constantly pushed down only to get back up again. That is why we love it. That is why we grow as people from it.

From this quote, three words stand out here: IT TAKES GUTS. Your life should always take guts, everyday, weather it be standing up to a co-worker, working hard to make a sports team, or giving everything you have in a wod. If you’ve never had even a moment in a situation that takes some guts, your in trouble when it comes to success and being happy. There is a saying “good things come to those who wait” and a Chrysler commercial came out and rebut-led that claim beautifully: “Good things come to those who WORK”.

So when you wake up first thing in the morning, tell yourself to conquer the day whatever it may bring. At the end of the day before your head hits the pillow ask yourself: am I happy with today’s accomplishments? And that’s the moment right there, when you realize that hard work is a constant variable in life, it doesn’t change. There is nobody out there in the world who is 100% accomplished and can stop working hard. They might be very successful and very happy with their achievements so far in their lives but they will fall very quickly from that position if they stop working towards their goals. So no matter what, always have a goal and be ready to work for it. There is no magic recipe for success or happiness, just the willingness to work hard toward a passion.

Some of you reading this might be thinking ‘this guys nuts and obsessed with CrossFit…it’s just a fitness program’ well tell that to Joe Izzo who used CrossFit to recover from cancer or anyone else that has had their life changed in any way by CrossFit. And the next time you walk through a door in public, ask yourself:

“am I the type of person who holds doors for people?”

One of the best parts of CrossFit is that we accept failure. For me, there is no better feeling then watching somebody struggle with muscle ups, or double-unders, or a pullup. Why? Because I know how happy they’re going to be when they finally get one. I respect the person who comes into the gym and fails repeatedly, but also has the humility to keep trying. They have accepted the fact they can not doing something, and have taken action to change that.

This is one of many things that CrossFit teaches new members. They are generally afraid of failing, and insecure about the things they can’t do. The CrossFit community accepts failure, and we respect a new member who is working their butt off learning a new skill, not the arrogant *** dismissing a movement because they can’t do it, or are  not good at it yet. For some people this concept of accepting failure takes time to learn, I understand it’s not easy failing at something over and over again in front of your peers. We all like to ‘cherry pick’ movements and workouts and stick to the things we like and are good at.  But once you learn to accept failure, and face it head-on, the possibilities are endless, not only in CrossFit, but also in your everyday life.

What if you dedicated 15min a day to the things you weren’t good at? I’m not talking about fitness anymore, I’m talking about life. Maybe you are not a social person, take 15min to ‘practice’ being more social. What if you hate, cooking? Take 15min to read a cook book. Most people dismiss the idea of doing something they aren’t good by saying ‘I don’t like cooking.’ Well, you don’t like cooking because you aren’t good at it. If you practice it, and become better at it, you will like it. You usually hate the things you suck at, and like the things you’re good at. Nobody likes double-unders until they can do them. Then magically, they can’t wait for the next double under workout.

So whether it’s CrossFit, or life in general, don’t be afraid to fail.

Yes, after you do an abundance of squatting your legs are going to hurt, hence why people associate squats with “working the legs”. But a Back Squat is one of the best FULL BODY strengthening tools you can do, it taxes the body in every way, if you do more than 5 reps at a heavy load, they also tax you greatly metabolically. This is the basis on almost every movement we pick in CrossFit. Ya if you are deadlifting and you fail your 1RM attempt because the bar wont budge off the ground you probably have to strengthen your low back and if you can get it past your knees but can’t lock it out you probably have to strengthen your hamstrings, grip strength and/or upper back. There is merit to this and there are plenty of supplementary exercises you can do to benefit yourself in a deadlift. That being said, this method of training is VERY sport specific to the 1RM Deadlift. If all you are training for is a 1RM deadlift, go ahead and spend your time on these supplementary exercises. However, as a CrossFitter, the focus shouldn’t be trying to get better at the deadlift, you are using the deadlift as a tool to get stronger/fitter yourself. Yes, there’s a difference. Don’t get sucked in to sacrificing proper training for a “3RM”.

I’ll say it again, the CrossFit program doesn’t train body parts we train body systems. In crossfit we are less concerned with what part of your body is weakest and more concerned about what part of your fitness is weakest: Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Power, Speed, Flexibility (to name just the Biological ones) Your body will fall into place and become equally balanced just by doing CrossFit. We can dig deeper and deeper into this topic and talk about it forever but as a competitive CrossFitter, Elite Athlete or somebody who is trying to stay in decent shape the biggest adaptation happens in the WOD and the movement, not in what part of the body is being trained.