http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/ FitNotes before 2008 en-us Copyright 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:54:16 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification
For the current blog and training information, please visit FitNotes. ]]> http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/02/the-old-fitnotes-entries.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/02/the-old-fitnotes-entries.html Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:54:16 -0800 Starting Strength, I think of the author Mark Rippetoe's description of his late teacher, who had cancer: "You have not witnessed determination until you have seen a man wearing an oxygen bottle do deep squats for sets of five across." I love hearing about people who use their own desires and intentions to find out that something is possible that most people might not believe. Tom and I, both having done that workout, went to bed very tired. Today we went to Scott's Olympic weightlifting class. Luckily my program for today didn't call for any type of squat until the last thing on my list. My O-lifting workout today involved cleans, military press, snatch pulls from blocks, and overhead squats (to 33 kg). Afterward, Tom stopped at the library and the bike shop on the way home, and I sat in the car. I felt too tired to stand up. Now I've had two naps this afternoon and am ready to go do something. Also this morning I worked with a brand-new personal training client. She is young, flexible enough to squat well, has good movement patterns, and knows how to keep her back straight when exercising and lifting. But she was frustrated by being out of shape and seemed really down about it. I tried to convey to her how impressed I was with her completing the workout in spite of her frustration and with her potential for fast gains, given her innate advantages. From my perspective (at almost twice her age and having gone through an un-fit period myself) it would be a waste to stay unfit when getting strong would come so naturally. I hope she'll decide to use her frustration to propel herself past this sticking point.]]> http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/minute-after-minute-of-squats.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/minute-after-minute-of-squats.html CrossFit workouts Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:33:03 -0800 flyer for the kettlebell class.]]> http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/im-offering-a-beginners-kettlebell-class-in-seattle.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/im-offering-a-beginners-kettlebell-class-in-seattle.html Kettlebells Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:05:02 -0800 Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance (3rd Ed.). I used my reading and yesterday's talk to develop the article below. This is my understanding of Dr. McGill's neutral spine awareness exercises and how to apply them on yourself. You probably know someone who hurt their back while picking up a newspaper, getting up from a chair, carrying something, or doing other simple things. If this has happened to you, you can learn to protect your back and increase your chance of avoiding a recurrence. Give yourself permission to practice some posture skills. Posture may seem so basic that it should just happen, and should not require practice. But this is a misconception. Posture is so basic that if it's done wrong in movement it causes injury, and if it's done wrong at rest it aggravates old injuries or creates vulnerability for new ones. In any skill system, the basics are always worth practicing. Find the neutral spine while standing 1. Stand with your weight on both feet. Put your thumbs on your hips and reach behind you with your fingers. Press the fingertips into the vertical muscles alongside the spine in your lower back. These are the lumbar extensors. Are they soft or hard in your normal standing posture? 2. Tilt your hips slightly forward, feeling the lumbar extensor muscles all the while. The butt pokes back and the back slightly arches; this is lumbar extension. You should feel the lumbar extensors harden. 3. Tilt your hips slightly back (pelvis pokes forward). You should feel the lumbar extensors relax and then stretch slightly. This is lumbar flexion. 4. Now adjust, or level, your hips (still feeling the lumbar extensors with your fingers) until you feel the lumbar extensors soften. They are relaxed, and this is the neutral spine position. 5. Without losing the neutral spine, carefully lower your hands to your sides normally and lift your chest. This should be a comfortable standing posture. It spares the lumbar extensors for other tasks and it helps keep your intervertebral discs healthy. Learn to stand this way. How to practice: Whenever you find yourself standing, such as in line, feel the lumbar extensors and relax them, then carefully remove your hands (without changing hip position) and lift your chest. Learn eventually, through practice, to feel your way into this position without using your hands. Ideally it will become your natural stance. Abdominal bracing: maintain the neutral spine during movement 1. Feel your lumbar extensors with your fingers as described above, and find the neutral spine position. 2. Contract your abdominals as if bracing for a punch. Don't suck them in; clench them. Feel the abs harden and stick out a little. Feel the lumbar extensors harden when the abs harden. 3. Contract the abs hard and you have a girdle of support all the way around your spine from back to front. The abs have three layers; contracting them hard makes all the layers stiffen together, for an extra-stiff or solid effect similar to the layered stiffness of plywood. This is the "abdominal brace." You've locked your ribcage to your pelvis, or locked in the neutral spine. 4. Put one hand on your tummy and one hand flat on your lower back, brace your abdominals again, push your butt back to hinge at the hips, and go down into a squat without letting your spine come unlocked. If your spine unlocks, you'll feel it in the hand that is flat on your lower back. Stand up and correct it and try again. Don't worry about hitting a really deep squat position. Go as low as you can without flexing (bending or rounding) your lower back. The goal is to immobilize the spine and pelvis in relation to each other, or "lock the rib cage onto the pelvis." Mobility comes from the hips and legs and not from the back. How to practice: Try holding the neutral spine with the abdominal brace in different positions, such as (1) kneeling, (2) leaning on a wall, (3) on all fours, (4) while leaning down to lift something off of a chair seat, and (5) while picking something up off of the floor. If you're in doubt whether you're in neutral spine position before you start, then put your hands flat on the tummy and back as described above and do a few knee bends with your back straight and your abs braced before you lift anything or move to a new practice position. Use the glutes 1. Contracting the large muscles in your butt contributes to the solidity of the abdominal brace and further protects your spine when you lift (or when you lift yourself up from a low position). 2. While kneeling, get into the neutral spine position and brace your abs. 3. Contract (stiffen) your glutes without moving your hips. Feel the added rigidity throughout your torso. Do this whenever you lift, especially if you lift something from below waist level. How to practice: While holding the neutral spine with the abdominal brace, fold at the hips and knees to squat down. (It's fine to hold onto something for balance.) Stiffen your glutes and then stand up straight. Do this several times to get the feeling for how to add stiffness to your torso while lifting something or lifting yourself.]]> http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/protect-your-back-by-maintaining-a-neutral-spine.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/protect-your-back-by-maintaining-a-neutral-spine.html Training Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:39:06 -0800 Dave lined up one of each size of kettlebell in order of increasing size: 8 kg, 12 kg, 16, 18, 20, 24. Workout: Do 10 two-hand swings with each kettlebell starting with the smallest, then go back to the start. Do 10 one-hand swings (5 per side) with each, go back to start. Do 10 cleans (5 per side) with each, go back to start. Do 10 clean/front squat (5 per side) with each, back to start. Do 10 clean and press (or push-press) with each, go back to start. Do 10 two-hand swings as a cooldown (and appreciate how easy it is compared to the harder drills). I got as far as doing all the cleans and front squats as prescribed but fell apart slightly on the clean and push-press. I did that with the 20 kg three times per side, and with the 24 kg, twice per side, with a short break in between where I set the bell down. I was really happy to be able to get the 24 overhead at all, especially with my weaker right shoulder, let alone twice. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/kettlebell-lineup.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2008/01/kettlebell-lineup.html Kettlebells Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:47:41 -0800 Using two dumbbells: 5 front squats 5 push-presses 5 thrusters Do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes. I did 7 rounds with two 30-lb dumbbells and 3 rounds with two 25-lb dumbbells. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/two-dumbbells.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/two-dumbbells.html CrossFit workouts Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:32:34 -0800 In Scott's class today I worked on the full snatch from the floor to a low catch position. I finally started making progress on getting all parts of the move down a bit better in the past couple of sessions after feeling way behind for a while. It's fun to start to feel the sensation of rotating myself into position under the bar instead of trying to throw the bar overhead. You elevate the bar during the pulls and then take advantage of its height to drop under it for the overhead catch. How high it gets depends on the power of the pull and the weight of the bar. The heavier it gets the, less high it flies. By the time you're dropping under it, you're no longer lifting/throwing/elevating it--your hands are rotating around the bar to get you under it in that instant. The heavier it is, the lower you have to catch it. The weight I've been working with is still light enough for me to not have to drop very far. Catching it in a relatively high position is a power snatch. Rather than continuing to power snatch the weight today, Scott told me to catch it low. This challenged my stability in the catch but happily I started to improve on that part of the skill enough to work up to 31 kilos. I did lots and lots of sets of three at each weight. When that started to fall apart a little, I worked on barbell presses, and worked up to two singles at 38 kilos. I think I could have done more but I didn't want to risk failing. There is something nasty-feeling about failing at a press. So I'm going slowly. My goal, hopefully in the next two weeks, is a 40-kg single. I never stop appreciating how good it feels to be able to do this stuff! To make progress on explosive overhead lifts, as someone who was never exposed to weight training or even rigorous workouts until my late 30s, feels fantastic. Working up very slowly is fine because so far I've avoided injuries. My cautiousness makes me not a competitor but a safe and healthy athletic person. My goal is to last a long, long time at this. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/olifting.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/olifting.html CrossFit workouts Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:39:08 -0800 I arrived at 5:00 and we did a few sets of five front squats to grease the groove for the clean. We practiced shrugs and cleans. The workout then was to pair up and take turns doing one clean, until both people had done 30, for time, naturally. I stuck around afterward and did some stretching and barbell presses, then when the 6:00 group started I did the workout again with them. I love cleans. Partnered with Andy, 35 kg, time: 6:10. Partnered with Allison and Erin, 35 kg, 10:27. Both of these groups were so much fun because they were so small. It was like old times, before the gym got big, with five or six people in each class. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/a-workout-so-nice-i-did-it-twice.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/a-workout-so-nice-i-did-it-twice.html CrossFit workouts Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:00:11 -0800 We did sets of five heavy front squats, to find approximately a five-rep max. I used 50 kg for two sets and probably could have gone at least 5 kg heavier, but we stopped in order to do the "real" workout, which was: 50 kettlebell swings (I used 18 kg) Run 400 m 40 swings Run 400 20 swings Time: 6:51 http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/squats-and-kettlebells.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/squats-and-kettlebells.html CrossFit workouts Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:07:59 -0800 I try to go to Scott's Olympic lifting class every Saturday but I don't always make it. Today, though, I started to make some progress on the snatch from the floor. I was using about 20 kg (the women's bar with the two 10-pound plates). When pulling from the floor I had a tendency to leave out the shrug. Finally I started to get it, after practicing the pull and shrug from the hang and then lower and lower. Then we worked on overhead squats. The heaviest I got up to was 30 kg for four reps. I need to keep track of the weights I use in these training sessions in order to have some sense of how and when to progress. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/olylifting-practice.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/12/olylifting-practice.html CrossFit workouts Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:47:10 -0800 Tonight in Scott's class, once through for time: 100 squats 80 kettlebell swings (24 kg) 60 V-ups 40 push-ups 40 pull-ups My time: 16:53 It is hard doing all those pull-ups after all the other stuff--it's hard because of the stabilization/torso muscles being tired, the shoulders being tired, even the legs being tired affects the kipping pull-up. All of these tired parts make the pull-ups also feel especially hard on the grip. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/a-lot-of-everything.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/a-lot-of-everything.html CrossFit workouts Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:00:43 -0800 How many kettlebell jerks or push-presses can you do in ten minutes? Change hands or rest as often as you want. I managed 215 push-presses with 12 kg last night and my shoulders are still tired. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/10-minutes.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/10-minutes.html Kettlebells Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:17:38 -0800 Well, they do both have "Living" in the cover copy. Click the picture if you enjoy magazine covers as much as I do. I like seeing their different strategies to lure you inside.]]> http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/reading-material.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/reading-material.html Training Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:01:24 -0800 Five ladders to 3 reps: Clean and 1 squat with 2 16-kg kettlebells Clean and 1 press per side with 1 16-kg kettlebell Clean and 2 squats Clean and 2 presses per side Clean and 3 squats Clean and 3 presses per side Five times though. Rounds 1 through 3 went as planned. Round 4: Failed on second press with right arm. Completed the rest of the presses in that ladder with 12 kg instead of 16. Round 5: went back to all 16 kg but push-pressed instead of pressing. My right shoulder/back/whatever does the pressing is still noticeably weaker than the left but it's a lot stronger than it was in the summer. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/squats-and-presses.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/11/squats-and-presses.html Kettlebells Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:24:37 -0800 As a warm-up, we ran around the neighborhood, stopping for push-ups and squats and to carry each other a short distance uphill on our backs, and then did just a few track drills (high-step skipping and broad jumping). The workout was single-kettlebell snatches and single-kettlebell front squats. Organize yourselves in pairs. Men use a 24-kg kettlebell for the squats and a 16-kg for the snatches. Women use a 16 for the squats and a 12 for the snatches--I think. It was either that or women use a 12 for both. I used a 16 for both. Partner 1 does 20 snatches while partner 2 does 20 front squats. Change hands on both whenever you want. When you're both finished, switch. Partner 1 does 20 front squats and partner 2 does 20 snatches. Go through this five times. There were a lot of pairs in the 5:00 class but Bruce and I finished well ahead of the rest in 10:42. We both pushed really hard and I felt fantastic--when we stopped! Even while doing 10 snatches per hand, I felt a sense of having the capacity to keep going even though I was gasping for breath and my legs were tired. Twice recently I've challenged myself specifically to not stop during a workout. Maybe the capable feeling I had tonight was an early result of that. Not that I didn't stop at all, but the stops were few and came near the end. I was glad to feel so strong during the workout and so exhilarated afterward. During the day today I felt sluggish and not very tough. http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/10/that-was-fast.html http://www.fitnotes.net/fitnotes_the_prequel/2007/10/that-was-fast.html CrossFit workouts Kettlebells Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:04:16 -0800