the performance menu issue 59 - dec. 2009

8/12/2019 The Performance Menu Issue 59 - Dec. 2009

1/15

PLANNING YOUR TRAINING

PERCENTAGE-BASED MEBB14-15 Y/O WEIGHTLIFTING

TECHNIQUE FOR THE GENERALIS

OURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLEN

PERFORMANCE MEN


2/15

4All Growth Begins with Pain: Planning Your Train-ing, Part 2Matt Foreman

The next in Matts series on planning training programs

7Percentage-Based MEBBMichael Rutherford

An update to the MEBB program that adds guidlines for loading

814-15 TrainingRyan Kyle

Sandusky Weightliftings 14-50 y/o training program

11The Importance of Technique for the GeneralistGreg Everett

Why technical prociency should be a goal for generalists

13Cooking with ScottyScotty Hagnas

Recipes for health, performance and longevity from certied

culinary stud Scotty Hagnas

Volume 5 .Issue 59 .December 2009


3/15

The Performance Menuis published monthly in digital

format by Catalyst Athletics, LLC.

On the CoverMichael Rutherford

Layout & DesignGreg Everett

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All content copyright Catalyst Athletics,LLC and its respective authors. Unau-thorized reproduction or distribution is

prohibited by law.

Info Contributors

Greg Everettis an NSCA Certied Strength & Conditioning Specialist, USA Weightlifting Club Coach

Level III CrossFit Training, RKC kettlebell instructor, owner of Catalyst Athleticsin North San Diego

County, CA, and co-publisher of The Performance Menu.

Matt Foremanis the football and track & eld coach at Mountain View High School in Phoenix, AZ

A competitive weightliter for twenty years, Foreman is a four-time National Championship bronze

medalist, two-time American Open silver medalist, three-time American Open bronze medalist

two-time National Collegiate Champion, 2004 US Olympic Trials competitor, 2000 World University

Championship Team USA competitor, and Arizona and Washington state record-holder. He was

also First Team All-Region high school football player, lettered in high school wrestling and track, a

high school national powerlifting champion, and a Scottish Highland Games competitor. Foreman

has coached multiple regional, state, and national champions in track & eld, powerlifting, and

weightlifting, and was an assistant coach on 5A Arizona state runner-up football and track teams

Scott Hagnasis owner of CrossFit Portland. He is certied as a CrossFit level 2 trainer and CirculaStrength Training (clubbell) instructor. He has been riding BMX atland for 26 years and counting

and has lmed/produced/edited several series of BMX videos, plus several training videos. He

formerly competed in bicycle trials, placing second in amateur in the World Championships in 1990

Cooking is one of his favorite pastimes.

Ryan Kyleis the coach ofSandusky Weightlifting, which has produced both school-age Pan Am

team and junior world team members.

Michael Rutherford(a.k.a. Coach Rut) is the owner of Boot Camp Fitness. He has over a quarter

century of tness coaching experience with athletes of all ages. He has also worked in hospita

wellness environments and rehabilitation clinics. Rut holds academic degrees in biology, physica

education, and exercise physiology and sports biomechanics. He is a USAW-certied Club Coach

and is a CrossFit level-3 trainer.
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4/15THE PERFORMANCE MENU ISSUE 59 DECEMBER 2009 4

Weightlifting | Matt Foreman

All Growth Begins with Pain: Planning Your Training Pt 2

Last months article took a broad look at competition

planning. We examined some of the importantissues a competitive weightlifter must address such

as how many meets to compete in within a given

year, anticipating distractions, and prioritizing whichcompetitions are most important. That was step one.This month, we will be taking baby steps forward to thenext step in the planning process.

Once a competition has been chosen and put on the

calendar as one of your priorities for the year, its timeto plan out a training cycle that will produce the best

possible results at the contest. For the sake of example,we will assume that the contest we are training for in

this article is a national championship, top priority-typeof situation. In other words, this is a meet where wewant to hit the biggest lifts in our capability. This is not

a training meet, and we will be specically devotinga large time period to get ready for it. The qualifying

total has already been made, the meet is a few monthsaway, the travel arrangements have been guredout, the boss gave us the time off work, a neighbor

has agreed to feed the dog while were gone, and itstime to get in the gym and rock and roll. Now, once

all of the general decisions have been made abouthow to approach this meet, the question that remains

is how can we make sure that we are physically andmentally ready for a peak performance when the day

of the contest arrives?

Training too hard in the early stages of the cycle willlead to peaking too early, and the contest will be adisaster. Not training hard enough will leave you soft

and under-prepared on meet day, and the barbellwill feel like youre hauling a 500 pound anchor off the

bottom of the ocean when you pull it from the oor.Because youre a saucy little reball and youve seenall the Rocky movies, your rst inclination is simply to

go to the gym and train absolutely as hard as youcan every day. Push yourself to the maximum each

time you put on your shoes, go to failure every day, trynew personal records every week...I mean were reallygoing wild animal-style for this one, right?

You can train like that if you want to. Most likely, youbody will feel great for a few weeks and then, moslikely, you will run into a brick wall. Fatigue, injurymental burnout and emotional destruction will leave

you curled up in the fetal position and crying like ateenage girl whose mom just conscated her Twiligh

books because you decided to train like a packmule with no ideas about how to use patience and

intelligence. Hey, dont feel bad if I just described youtraining life. Ive been there and made every mistake

I just listed, and then I ran into a coach who knewhow to build champion weightlifters the way JacksonPollack knew how to paint and get drunk.

Program design, friends. Thats what were talking

about this month. Next month, we nish the trilogywith a look at how to structure a basic training weekAnd as always, we will provide information that will be

benecial to hardcore weightlifters and generalistsalike.

First, the preamble...

Since 1992, I have been a member of the Calpian

Weightlifting Club and coached by John Thrush

Because of this, much of the information I provide inthese articles is heavily inuenced by the Calpianmethod. However, it is always important to mention

that there are many weightlifting coaches out thereand several of them have found different ways to

effectively train athletes. I hate to use such a tiredcliche, but there are many ways to skin a cat. Thisarticle would be just as credible if it was based on the

methods of Gayle Hatch or Bob Takano. No coach has



a monopoly on successful training methodology. Butthe Calpians have been one of the most accomplished

weightlifting programs in America for twenty years andJohn Thrush is clearly one of the greatest coaches in thesport. Thats why this information starts where it does.

It is also crucial to state that the ideas in this articleare not only from the Calpian approach. Several ideas

from different coaches and programs will be used.

Now, down to business...

Im a big fan of putting training plans down on paper.Most athletes like it when a coach gives them a

typed program that tells them exactly how they willbe training during the weeks leading up to a contest.

Before the typing starts, lets get three importantquestions answered:

1) What weights does the athlete want to lift at thecontest?

2) How many days a week will the athlete be able totrain?

3) How many weeks are there until the contest?

Well use a hypothetical lifter named Terry for this

article, got it? The questions will be answered for Terrysparticular abilities and circumstances.

1) What weights does Terry want to hit? Currently, Terrysbest ofcial competition lifts are 105 in the snatch and

140 in the clean and jerk. At the contest were trainingfor, Terry expects to lift 110/145. His best back squat is

195 kilos and his best front squat is 170 kilos.

2) How many days a week will the athlete be able totrain? Terry will train ve days a week for this contest

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, andSaturday)

3) How many weeks are there until the contest? Thereare twelve weeks.

One way to approach Terrys training is to set down aweek-by-week loading schedule. This schedule tells us

how much weight Terry will be lifting in training in the SN,C&J, rack jerks, squats, and pulls during the progressive

weeks of the training cycle. For example, lets say wewanted to plan out the loading for his SN, C&J, and

Back Squat. A graph for his loading schedule mightlook like this (sets and reps- 3x1 means three singles,

2x2 means two sets of two reps, 3x5 means three setsof ve reps, etc.):

SN C&J BSQWeek 1 86 3x2 120 5x1 160 3x5

Week 2 88 3x2 122 5x1 165 2x5Week 3 90 2x2 1 24 3x1 170 3x3

Week 4 93x2 126 3x1 174 3x3Week 5 96x2 128 3x1 177 3x3Week 6 85 3x1 115 3x1 181x3

Week 7 98x2 131 3x1 184x3Week 8 100x2 134 2x1 188x2

Week 9 103x1 137x1 192x2Week 10 106x1 140x1 195x2

Week 11 108x1 143x1 185 2x1Week 12 Meet Week

NOTES:

- These lifts are not all supposed to be performed onthe same day, obviously. In next months article, we

will examine how to properly plan which exercises aretrained on Monday, Tuesday, etc. This chart is set up

to mean that sometime during week one, Terry has tosnatch 86 kilos for three sets of two reps, C&J 120 fove singles, and back squat 160 for three sets of ve.

- Only the SN, C&J, and BSQ were planned in thisexample chart. For an actual program, the coachwould want to plan out the loading progression for althe major exercises the lifter performs.

- Only the top weights of the workout are listed on the

chart. Warm-up sets are not included, but they arechosen at the athletes discretion.

- In the early weeks of the program, lighter weightsare used with a higher number of repetitions. In the

latter weeks, heavier weights are used with fewerepetitions.

- The lightest weights at the beginning of the program

are relatively light, but they are still above eightypercent of Terrys highest ofcial lifts. When Terry seesthis program, the rst thought in his head will probably

be that the 86 kilo snatches and 160 kilo squats in theearly weeks are not heavy enough. The coach must

instruct the athlete that this is a progressive overloadprogram. Using progressive overload, the early weeks

of the program deliberately include lighter weightsbecause the athlete is building a foundation of speedand perfect technique through the use of multiple

reps. As the weeks progress, the weights will graduallyget heavier. This system should put Terry in a position

to be stronger, fresher, and more technically soundthan he has ever been when he gets to week twelve

The early weeks should also be a time when Terrysuccessfully makes every attempt on his program

which is important in building the athletes condenceIn other words, tell Terry that hes going to get plenty ofshots at heavy weights in the coming weeks.

- These weights are all educated guesses at what



the athletes capabilities will be on a given day. Awise coach will have some exibility when it comes

to watching the athlete and determining how muchweight Terry should attempt in the workout. In other

words, lets say we get to week nine and Terry isscheduled to snatch 103 on Monday. Terry is warmingup and going through his workout, and he snatches

103 kilos like its an empty bar. Terry is red up, he feelsgood, and he wants to try 106 to break his personal

record of 105. In that situation, my advice would beto put 106 on the bar and let Terry nail it. Even thoughhe wasnt scheduled to snatch 106 until week ten,

you have to strike while the iron is hot. If Terry missesthe 106, the coach has to make a decision based on

what the miss looked like. If Terry put a slow, draggingpull on the 106 and barely got it overhead before it

came down and nearly decapitated him, I probablywouldnt advise more attempts at 106. I would tellTerry to go back down and snatch 96, then 101, and

then possibly another shot at 106 if he is still lookingsharp. The main point to remember is that you dont

want to get trapped in the land where your athlete is

missing snatch after snatch after snatch, and youresimply beating a dead horse. Sometimes, Terry mightget lucky and nail the 106 after missing it eight times.

More likely, he will continue missing and all the heavyattempts will leave him shot to hell for his next workouttomorrow.

- Although its important to be exible, be smart in the

early weeks of the program. If Terry is in week two andhas just nished his fth and last C&J single with 122,dont get carried away and say, Jeez, that 122 was

easy! Lets work up to 142! Hold on, Jethro. The 122was easy because it was supposed to be easy. Keep

the leash on Terry for a few more weeks and let himstrain against it like a dog who wants to run. When

you nally cut the leash, hell be primed and ready toexplode.

- For those of you who are not competitive weightlifters,this type of loading schedule is something you could

use in your own workouts simply to get stronger andmake progress. If you want to improve in any kind of

measurable task, the theories and fundamentals ofprogressive overload training can make you betterthan youve ever been. If youre not an Olympic

Lifter, but you like to bench press and you want to get

stronger in it, then take the twelve-week cycle we justanalyzed and use it for your bench training. You justmight break through a barrier thats been holding you

back.

Therefore...

All of this is designed to put Terry in a position where

he will compete successfully and make 110/145 in thecontest. If Terry makes all of the lifts on his program

through week eleven, the coach might want to selechis competition attempts as follows:

SN 1- 103 C&J 1- 137SN 2- 108 C&J 2- 142

SN 3- 110 C&J 3- 145

Several variables could come into play here, obviouslyIf Terry is at the meet, he has just completed hissecond C&J with 142 and he has a chance to win the

competition with 147, then its time to deviate from theplan and put 147 on the bar. Likewise, lets say Terrys

training hasnt gone well and he hasnt been able tosnatch anything heavier than 100 prior to the meet

Given this situation, starting him with 103 would be a bigroll of the dice. He might get lucky and hit the 103, butsmart money would probably start him with a lighter

weight that he has made consistently in training. Goodcoaches dont set up their athletes to bomb out.

What we can learn from all of this, and what welcontinue to learn next month in the third installment, isthat good planning is good coaching. Knowing when tochange the plan is also good coaching. And regardless

of the ne points of your program or your particulaarea of strength training, the one overwhelming idea

is that you simply have to be willing to work endishlyhard if you want to get better. In Greek mythology

a man named Sisyphus was forced to spend eternityrolling a huge boulder up a hill. If he got lazy andrelaxed, the boulder would roll down the hill and he

would have to start all over again from the bottomThe idea here is that Sisyphus had to apply constant

pressure and effort into pushing on the boulder. Anylapse in concentration or moment of weakness led to a

setback. This is what training often feels like. This is whatlife often feels like. Building your business or raising youchildren becomes a constant battle where it feels like

a gallon of effort only produces an inch of progress. Itsdifcult, challenging, and sometimes frustrating.

But if you want to look on the bright side, there is

always an alternative to all the stress. You can alwaysquit. Just grab that bag of Doritos and head for thecouch. Itll be much easier there, no doubt about it

The only problem is that youre going to turn eightysomeday, and youll look back on your life and realize

that your biggest accomplishment was owning theentire collection of The Rockford Files. If you dont wan

to end up that way, get behind that boulder and startpushing, baby.



CrossFit | Michael Rutherford

Percentage-Based MEBB

One poor assumption I have made with regards tolecturing on the Max Effort Black box deals with theathletes experience with nding the daily max effort.

Im up there babbling about nding that best effort

for 5, 3 or 1 on a particular move and then suddenlyit hits meThe majority of my audience is lost. I oftentimes get the same tilted head, glazed over look myAiredales give me when Im talking to them. Its bad

coaching on my part and I regret that. Failure breedsinnovation. So now we have another way.

After a month on the road, in front of friends, coaches,

and athletes I returned to base to tweak out a thing ortwo. I broke out some training logs, a calculator and

excel spreadsheet and found an alternative route toworking through the three weeks rep rotation. This isnothing new to those who follow, practice and study

the world of strength and conditioning. Its just amethod that I have avoided to keep things a bit less

cumbersome and a bit more intuitive.

As a refresher, a particular movement is selectedfrom an inventory of total lower and upper bodymovements. The rst week is an introductory week of

5s, followed by a week of 5 x 3 and nally a week of 5 x1. The objective each time is to reach a best effort work

set on the nal set of the day. Its at this point wheredifculty arises in determining how to progress andarrive at that nal work set. Percentage based MEBB

to the rescue. Now Fans and coaches can plug their

athletes into a max and have all their Sets calculatedout for the three weeks.

You will need one or all of the following. A chart, acalculator or an excel spreadsheet to do the work. I

would suggest nding any one of 1000 max charts orformulas available on the Internet.

If you dont have a max for an athlete then just dosome conservative projections and have them startHere you go.

MEBB PERCENTAGE BASED PROGRAMMING

WEEK 1 Week 2 Week 35@55% 3@63% 1@70%

5@63% 3@70% 1@77%5@70% 3@77% 1@85%

5@77% 3@85% 1@93%5@85% 3@93% 1@100-101%

I can already anticipate the outcry at the oddbal

percentages. Yes, you can round up to 65,80,and 95percentages to make your chart neat and tidy.

You can also make your own chart with MS Excel. Find

a business/accounting or math friend to help if you arelike me.

1RM 101% 93% 85% 77% 70% 63% 55% 50%50 51 47 43 39 35 32 28 25

Total body moves for the week of 5s and 3s May requirea reset after each set for many. No big deal. Dump itsafely and go again.

I hope that this helps with the difculty on nding a

best effort and keeps you on track.



Weightlifting | Ryan Kyle

14-15 Training Program

This month the training moves into the third programknown as the 14-15 training program. To begin letsrecap on the previous two programs to make sure the

goals were accomplished before moving onto even

more specialized training. In the beginner programthe goal was to teach the lifts in a manageable wayas well as to begin to build snatch and clean andjerk specic strength. The goal of 13&U training was

to incorporate more full lifts, the power versions, pullsand with the use of certain teaching aids (lifts above

knee and jerks from the rack) continue learning thesnatch and clean and jerk. With completion of these

two programs, taking approximately three years, themove to more specialized training is appropriate.

The 14-15 program represents a turning point inour training system. First, it becomes increasingly

specialized as the total number of exercises has onceagain been reduced this time from ten to eight. The

lifts from above the knees have been eliminated alongwith the jerk from rack and the back squat has beenadded. Second, we have added a fth day of training

maxing out the number of training days we have totrain the school age lifters (weekends are for them

unless there is a contest).

Once again, before going into specics with regards to

the training weeks we should rst look at the summarytable 1.1 of the training program. Comparing this

summary table to the one for the 13&U it can be seen

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Total % of Total

Reps

Total Reps 224 162 206 162 754 100%

Classic LiftsReps

84 66 76 66 292 39%

Assistance

Reps

140 96 130 96 462 61%

Intensity 80% 90% 85% 100%

Table 1.1

that the intensity of training for each week is exactly thesame as it was for the 13&U. There is a logical reason fo

this; with the addition of a fth day of training volumeincreases no matter what, even with the reduction of

repetitions done per set as will be seen later. I feel itwould be too much of a shock to the system per se, toboth add the fth day (which is more full lifts) and at the

same time increase the overall intensity. In my opinionthis is where many people fail when trying a Bulgarian

type training system. They dive into it without allowingproper time to adapt to it and when they hit the wal

they blame the system instead of their own ignoranceBoth Christos Iakovou (GRE) and Ivan Abadjiev (BUL)have been quoted as saying that it takes many years

of specic preparation in order to train as heavy asthey do. The pre-school age and school age years are

part of that preparation and it needs to be handledwith patience. Therefore by increasing only one of the

training factors (intensity or volume), acclamation tothe new program should be much smoother.

Focusing now on the volume of training and its



distribution leads to some interesting ndings. Thepercentage of the total reps from the classic lifts has

increased by 8% from 31% to 39%. Once again this is aquick indicator as to the trend we are moving towards.

With the addition of the fth day of training the total

number of reps has also increased by 122 reps from632 to 754. This occurs even with the reduction of reps

in the 80% week from mostly triples to doubles and inthe 85% week from doubles to many singles. A nal

note about the volume of training in this program: Thisis the highest the volume will be during the school age

training. During the next program the volume will bereduced as the intensity is increased. You can imaginethese as being the last prepatory years of training.

After this it gets rough.

Looking at gure 1.1, a graphical representation ofthe training, it can be seen that it is the exact same

as the 13&U graph as nothing has changed in termsof the intensity or the operational denitions of the

volume markers; the only change is the addition ofthe fth day of training. (When discussing the following

programs this graph will provide a nice visualization ofthe changes that occur in the different programs.)Getting into the weekly trainings of the workout, a

couple general changes have been made that arecommon to each week. First, there are now three

days of squatting with the addition of the day of backsquats along with the two days of front squats. Also

the day of lifts above the knee and jerks from the rackhave been replaced by a second day of powers and

pullsthe pulls are now done twice per week rathethan rotating each week between the snatch andclean pulls. Clean pulls are done rst during the week

so if it is a contest week the heavier version of pullsare not done close to the meet. There is now also a

fth day of training consisting of still more full lifts andsquats. During the week of a contest the fth day is

skipped if the contest is on a Saturday, which morethan makes up for the missed day. The power dayserve as a break during the 90% and 100% weeks as

they still force you to put 100% effort into them but theweights are naturally lighter. This way the intensity is

maintained while easing up on the joints and musclesslightly.

The warm-up sets listed are a guideline and are usedas such; sometimes we use fewer warm-ups but rarely

do we use more. When lifting to max we try to get to

90% in less than six lifts usually with circa-90% being setnumber six. A typical example would be a 14 year old69kg lifter with best lifts: snatch 80kg; clean and jerk 100kg and front squat 125kg. His workout during max

week would look like this:

Snatch 40x2, 50x2, 60x1, 65x1, 70x1 (approx. 90%)75x1, 80x1

Clean and Jerk 50x1, 70x1, 80x1, 90x1 (90%), 95x1100x1Front Squat 60x1, 90x1, 110x1, 125x1

Little time and energy are wasted. I have seen training

programs written that look like math books rather thanworkouts with an excessive amount of sets being done

in the effort to increase the volume of training. Volumeis not very important. Intensity is the most importantcomponent of training. None of the sets matter in

training except the nal onesthe ones which requiremaximum effort. It is of our opinion that if you plan on

training at less than 80%, stay at home on the couchand watch lifting; it will do you about as much good.

Figure 1.1



eek 1

onday

atch - 80%x2x3- 80%x2x3

- 80%x3x2

esday

r Snatch - 80%x2x3r Clean - 80%x2x3

ean Pull - 100%x3,0%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

ednesday

atch - 80%x2x3

- 80%x2x3

- 80%x3x2

ursday

r Snatch - 80%x2x3

r Clean - 80%x2x3atch Pull - 100%x3,

0%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

day

atch - 80%x2x3- 80%x2x3

- 80%x3x2

Week 2

Monday

Snatch - 90%x1x3CJ - 90%x1x3

FS - 90%x1x3

Tuesday

Pwr Snatch - 90%x1x5Pwr Clean - 90%x1x5

Clean Pull - 100%x3,100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

Wednesday

Snatch - 90%x1x3

CJ - 90%x1x3

BS - 90%x1x3

Thursday

Pwr Snatch - 90%x1x5

Pwr Clean - 90%x1x5Snatch Pull - 100%x3,

100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

Friday


FS - 90%x1x3

Week 3

Monday

Snatch - 85%x2x3

CJ - 85%x1x5FS - 85%x2x3

Tuesday

Pwr Snatch - 85%x2x3

Pwr Clean - 85%x2x3Clean Pull- 100%x3,

100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

Wednesday


BS - 85%x2x3

Thursday

Pwr Snatch - 85%x2x3Pwr Clean - 85%x2x3

Snatch Pull - 100%x3,100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3x3

Friday

Snatch - 85%x2x3CJ - 85%x1x5FS - 85%x2x3

Week 4

Monday

Snatch - Max

CJ - MaxFS - Max

Tuesday

Pwr Snatch - Max

Pwr Clean - MaxClean Pull- 100%x3,

100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3

Wednesday

Snatch - MaxCJ - Max

BS - Max

Thursday

Pwr Snatch - MaxPwr Clean - Max

Snatch Pull - 100%x3,100%+5kx3, 100%+10kx3

Friday

Snatch - MaxCJ - MaxFS - Max



CrossFit | Greg Everett

The Importance of Technique for the Generalist

It seems all too common to hear generalists use theirdecision to not specialize in any given sport or disciplineas a reason to not pursue any considerable degree

of technical prociency in elements of their training

such as the Olympic lifts. This strikes me as whollyirrational, and indicative of misunderstandings of therole technique plays in the generalists game.

I have no vested interest in the performances of anygeneralists other than my own clients, who understand

my reasoning for teaching and enforcing continuallyimproving levels of technical prociency. However,

I do have a personal and professional interest inhelping people improve their performances, whetherweightlifters, CrossFitters, or any other athletes who

pay attention to what I offer.

To that end, Im going to try to make as clear a case aspossible for all athletes to strive to continue improving

technical prociency in all movements employedin their training, although I will discuss the idea withrespect to the Olympic lifts specically. The argument

at its essence is no different for any other exercise.

Why

The rst answer to the question of why would we wantto improve technical prociency is another question:

Why not? I quite literally cannot imagine a single

reason why anyone wouldnt want to improve his orher lifting technique. Not one. I can think of reasonswhy one might nd it intimidating, time-consuming,

difcult but not without good purpose.

The second answer is simply: To make you better atwhatever you do. We use exercises for specic reasons(or at least we should). Proper execution of those

exercises ensures maximal benet. This is particularlytrue of the Olympic lifts.

The two basic reasons improved technical prociency

will improve the generalists abilities are 1) Increasedreliance on the legs and hips (and improved core

to extremity movement patterns) and 2) Increased

potential for work capacity. Both of these things arefoundational tenets of CrossFit.

How

Technique is the method through which force ischanneled into the given task; in the case of the

Olympic lifts, lifting as much weight from the groundto overhead as possible. A very strong, powerfuindividual with poor technique will be able to move

a considerable amount of weightwe saw this veryclearly at the CrossFit Games. But that same individua

with improved technique would be able to use thatsame level of strength and power to move even more

weight with even less effort.

An illustration of this can be seen by comparing the

two following videos. The rst is of Tamara Holmesperforming her winning 145 lb snatch at this years

CrossFit Games. The second is of a 143 lb snatch at alifting meet.

Before you get caught up in using the respective

circumstances of each lift to reject the argumentlet me remind you that the purpose of these videos is

nothing more than to demonstrate the relative effortof each lift. That is, in the Games snatch, you will seea serious struggle to move the weight; in the meet lift

you will see virtually no struggle at all. The difference?How effectively Tamara positioned and moved he

body and the bar.

For the skeptics who will argue that 6 workouts

preceding the Games snatch and some possiblestrength gains preceding the meet snatch are wha



makes the difference, I offer you two things. First, areminder that youre missing the point (see above);

Second, a video of Tamara snatching 165 lbs 20 lbsmore than she did at the Games, still with far less effortthan was necessary for the Games snatch. This should

cover any claimed disparities in strength and fatigue.If not, I apologizeI dont have any better videos.

Tamara CF Games 145 lbs(lift is about of the way

through)

Tamara BGO 143 lbs

Tamara BGO 165 lbs

The simple fact is that improved technique allows

the body to more effectively and efciently apply itsstrength and powerthe better the technique, theless effort is wasted and the faster the movement is.

Regardless of the athletes goal with respect to theliftswhether a maximal effort or maximal reps in a

given period of timeimproved technique will allow

more work to be completed via greater loads, fastercycle times, and reduced energy waste. An improvedmaximal single rep lift is an increase of work capacityin a specic time and modal domain; an increased

number of reps with an increased amount of weightin any given period of time is an increase of work

capacity across any time domain with this particularmode. Both of these things should very clearly be

desirable for a CrossFitter.

Objections

I cant think of any objections to what has been statedabove, so I wont address any. The only objections I

can imagine are concerns about the time and effortnecessary to develop technical prociency. Withregard to this, I have a few thoughts.

The only difference between the skill development of a

generalist compared to a specialist is that the processfor the generalist will be longer in duration, and as

a consequence, the level of prociency ultimatelyallowable. That is, the specialist will be capable ofachieving a great level of prociency simply because

more time can be committed to development,and there will be fewer competing skills. However,

the point for the generalist is not to reach the same

level of technical skill as the specialist, but to activelyand continuously strive for improvement rather than

accepting less than optimal technique as adequatethe generalist will benet from improved technicaprociency just as the specialist will.

Commitment to process requires a long-term

perspective on trainingneither expecting mastery inthe short term nor giving up when it is not achieved

quickly, or at all. Again, the point is not some speciclevel of prociency, but continuing to pursueimprovement.

Fitting in technique work can seem overwhelming, but

it can be done quite simply and systematically. Firstrecognize how much time needs to be committed to

technique development of skills other than the Olympiclifts. No exercise used commonly in CrossFit rivals thetechnical complexity of the snatch and clean & jerk

The gymnastics-related movements CrossFitters useare extremely rudimentary, the most complex of which

is the muscle-upnot even a real skill in gymnastics

The more difcult gymnastics movements CrossFitterscommonly work on such as levers and planches arenot technically difcultthey just require long periodsof progressive strength work.

This being the case, it shouldnt be too much to t in 1-3

days of 10-20 minutes of technical work on the snatchand clean & jerkat least for a period of time. See my

articles Plandomization and Integrating the OlympicLifts with CrossFitfor more ideas on this. Further technicaimprovement can be developed by removing the

barbell Olympic lifts from conditioning workouts until agreater level of prociency has been reached. This wil

reduce the amount of counterproductive movemenpractice you have to correct. Substitute dumbbell o

sandbag lifts for the time being. It will be a nice changeof pace anyway.

Its Up to You

CrossFit espouses elite-level tness. It does not promote

mediocrity across a broad range of athletic elementsThere is no expectation of the generalist to competewith the specialisthe or she cannot. But there should

be an expectation and compulsion to continue strivingto be better than yesterday.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Games09_SnatchTrailer.movhttp://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Games09_SnatchTrailer.movhttp://www.justin.tv/clip/57a216b57d9c7e84http://www.justin.tv/clip/57a216b57d9c7e84http://www.justin.tv/clip/3276002280ab8b2ahttp://www.justin.tv/clip/3276002280ab8b2ahttp://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=53http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=34http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=34http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=34http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=34http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=34http://www.cathletics.com/articles/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=53http://www.justin.tv/clip/3276002280ab8b2ahttp://www.justin.tv/clip/57a216b57d9c7e84http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Games09_SnatchTrailer.mov



Cooking with Scotty | Scotty Hagnas

This month well look at a few Paleo appetizers that you

can try this Holiday season. Who says that Holiday foodhas to be sugary desserts? Get cookin!

Chipotle Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Total time: 50 minutesActive time: 20 minutes

12 eggs

3 oz smoked salmon 3 Tbsp olive oil mayonnaise

2 1/2 tsp Chipotle akes

1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard Sea salt & pepper to taste

Paprika sprinkled on top

Boil the eggs: Place the eggs in a pot of water, bring

to a boil. Let the eggs boil for 20 minutes, then run coldwater over them. Let the eggs sit until they are cold.

Carefully peel the eggs, then cut them in half

lengthwise with a sharp knife. Remove the yolks to abowl. Set aside the whites.

Add all of the remaining ingredients except the paprikato the bowl with the yolks. Mix well. Carefully spoon the

yolk mixture into each egg white. Alternatively, if youhave a cookie press, you can select a large tip and

use it to ll each egg white. This will produce a moreaesthetically pleasing look to your eggs so you can

impress everyone at the Holiday party! When all of theeggs are done, sprinkle lightly with paprika. Arrange

the eggs on a platter, then they are ready to chill orserve.

Zone info:24 servings at .5 protein block, 2.5 fat blocks(4g prot, 3.8g fat)

Stuffed Jalapenos

This dish takes a bit of work, but is so worth it. Try not to

eat them all before you get to your party...



Time: 45 minutes

10 large jalapenos

1/2 cup cashews 1/4 tsp mustard powder

sea salt to taste 2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds

water 10 thin slices bacon

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Halve the jalapenoslengthwise, then remove the seeds.

Place the cashews, salt, and mustard powder into a

blender or food processor. Blend into a ne powder.Remove to a small bowl. Add the pomegranate seeds,

then slowly add water while mixing until a thick pasteforms.

Fill the jalapeno halves with the cashew mixture. Put the

two halves back together; wrap with a slice of bacon.Use 1-2 toothpicks to hold the jalapeno together.Place the nished jalapenos onto a baking pan. Placethem in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the bacon is

cooked well. Remove, allow to cool before serving.

Zone info: 10 servings at 7.5 fat blocks (2g carb, 2gprot, 11g fat)

Baba GanoushBaba Ganoush is a dish of Arabic origin. It can take

many forms, varying from region to region. It is usually aside dish, or it can make a great topping. Traditionally,it will be used on some kind of pita bread. I nd it goes

well with celery sticks, tomatoes, or just eaten by itself.

Prep time: 10 minutesCooking time: 30 minutes

1 large eggplant 2 Tbsp tahini

juice of half a lemon 2 cloves garlic 1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup parsley, plus extra for garnish sea salt to taste

Poke the eggplant with several holes to release steam

Place on a baking sheet or dish, bake for 30 minutes at350 degrees. Remove from the oven; allow to cool.

Once the eggplant has cooled, peel it by simply pullingthe skin off. If it has baked sufciently, this should be

relatively easy. You can also scoop out the pulp. Placethe peeled eggplant into a food processor along with

all of the other ingredients. Puree until you reach thedesired consistency. Top with a few sprigs of parsleythen drizzle with olive oil. Chill before serving.

Zone info: 4 servings at .4 carb block, 4.5 fat blocks

(3.5g carb, 7g fat)

Chipotle Roasted Squash

Time: 40 minutes

1 delicata squash 1 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper akes

1/2 tsp chives

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Halve the squashlengthwise, then remove the seeds. Slice the squash

halves crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Add to a bakingpan with the oil and seasonings. Toss well to coat, thenroast for 30 minutes. Turn the squash once or twice

while roasting. Remove, serve warm or cold. These aregreat alone, or as a topping to a salad.

Zone info:2 servings at 1 carb block, 4.5 fat blocks (10g

carb, 7g fat)


15/15

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the performance menu issue 59 - dec. 2009

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