This area will provide you with advice from your coaches on difficult movements, challenging lifts and more.
Are You an Arm Bender? By: Coach Mark Gomes
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...
read moreBuilding Strength for Double Unders
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...
read moreTRANSITION AND VELOCITY By: M.Gomes
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...
read moreRecovering The Jerk: Leg Positioning
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...
read moreHard Work: an undervalued, missing piece of society’s puzzle
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...
read moreAccepting Failure
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...
read moreLeg Day? I thought we were past that?
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...
read moreCheck your Ego at the door??
This is a common CrossFit saying but always makes me think about Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theory of how our personal develops is where this idea of the “ego” came from. To be quite frank the saying should actually be “check your Id at the door” Let me explain: Freud’s theory about how our personality develops is composed of three elements: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. When you are born the Id is the only component of your personality present, which is entirely unconscious, and is driven by our pleasure...
read moreRebuilding the Kitchen
You have just finished your workout for the day and what’s the first thing everybody is doing? That’s right, going to grab that delicious Progenex shake. We have been preaching to you about the benefits of a post workout meal and how much it’s going to help with your recovery. So what’s the problem? Where are your carbs!? You need both protein AND carbs post workout in order to feed your body and muscles appropriately. Let’s start from the beginning. As we know, exercise whether it is strength or endurance...
read moreThe Kipping Pull Up
A kipping pullup, done correctly, is more than just kicking your feet wildly and flopping around on your way up to the pullup bar. A correctly done kipping pullup is fluid and powerful. While a kipping pullup is easier on your direct pulling muscles, it’s much harder on your grip and it’s much more cardiovascular. It’s a full body movement where you generate power at your hips – a similar use of the legs and hips to a kettlebell swing or a barbell snatch – just the opposite direction. A kipping pullup...
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