WOMEN'S WEIGHTLIFTING CREW

Starting in February (2/3/17) TCS will host the Women's Weightlifting Crew on the first Friday of every month. This is open to any female in the area who loves to pick shit up and put it down. Strongman, powerlifting, olympic lifting, "gymnastical" shit....everything is up for discussion. Myself and Coach Mary D from the Strictly Strength side of the gym will be leading these workouts. 

If you are familiar with TCS, Travis hosts "Lumberjacked" for the dudes once a month. This is the same - but better for obvious reasons.

WWC is open to any fitness level. You could be starting out day 1 - or be competing in the Olympics. We don't care, and neither should you. This is about getting together with other strong women and doing what we love: Lifting heavy shit in any way possible. 

Sign ups are HERE. Look on the class calendar each month for the announced Friday night for the WWC. 

COW #6

It's that time again....

It's time to hand over this week's Complex Of the Week so that y'all can give it go!

This one is pretty straight forward. All of the movements involved are simple and don't require a ton of technic to get a powerful result. The limiting factor is going to be the strict press, but that's OK.....too many people neglect the strict press and this will act as a wake-up call for a lot of you. 

Be sure to spend some time prepping the positions that this COW demands - such as the overhead and front rack positions, as well as the bottom of the front squat. I would also encourage you to start with a light weight that you KNOW you can perform perfectly.....just gradually build from there.

Alright. Give it go!

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COW #6

5 Sets @ AHAP + UB:

• 1 Power Clean
• 3 Strict Press
• 5 Push Press
• 7 Front Squats

COW #5

It's been a while since I last posted a COW - or Complex Of the Week - so I figured it was time to get back at it! 

After the post "F*CK YOUR FANCY GYM" was published and people came back with so many positive reviews, I thought that it would be awesome to give y'all a simple (not easy) sandbag complex that illustrates the points that were covered in the post.

The sandbag is an incredibly simple peice of equipment that offers amazing versitility.......this COW is a great example of that.

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COW #5

3 Rounds:

• 10 Sandbag Deadlifts
• 8 Sandbag Shoulders(4|4)
• 6 Sandbag Squats(3|3)
• 4 Burpees Over Bag
• 300m Run

Note: If you want to make this extra spicy....take the SB on the 300m run!

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The Zercher

I'm willing to bet that most of you have no idea what the hell a Zercher carry(or squat) is. That's OK. It's not often that you see people, gyms or workout programs implement the Zercher carry, which is kind of sad really. The Zercher carry(or squat) has an incredibly potent ability to build a strong back and legs - and most importantly, a strong mind.

Dr. Love

There's a very simple and logical explanation for the Zercher carry's endangered status.....IT SUCKS! It's quite honestly one of the most uncomfortable ways to hold/carry anything. But as is the case with most things....If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. And there is a massive pay out for those willing to deal with the shittiness.

Brian 

I can hear it now. You're saying to yourself that, "That doesn't look so hard..."

Minto

The following are just some factors that you may not be taking into consideration:

• Your arms are not designed to be the barer of relatively large loads....That job is for your legs, hips and back.
• Notice the placement of the sandbag(above). If it looks like it's somewhere between your chest and stomach - it is. This lovely position drastically decreases your ability to take in a full, deep breath. To make things even spicier, with some smart programming, complete a "breath-heavy-type" activity just prior to placing the Zercher carry object in that magical pocket'o'death. And Enjoy!
• Due to the load being out in front of your body's mid-line, the posterior chain and abs are forced to double their efforts so that you don't fold up like a lawn chair. This has some obvious benefits.
• Lastly, when your arms are burning, you can't breath, and your posterior chain is screaming, you are forced to put all of that aside and just keep moving. This develops mental toughness. Arguably the most important beneficial characteristic of the Zercher carry/squat.

So there ya go! A quick introduction to a under-utilized, highly effective, simple way to build some serious strength and increase your ability to deal with shittiness. Because we all know the shit will hit the fan in one way or another......What are you doing to prepare yourself for when it does? Will you quit when it gets hard? Or will you fight to hold on?

G

Redefine

This theme of "redefining" has presented itself on numerous occasions this week, so I thought that I would take that as a sign that others of you out there could somehow use this post. So here we go.

I think that most of you would agree that we as humans often assume that once something has a definition, that definition can not be altered. Correct? 

In some cases I would agree with that. But in the case of how we process information, events, or situations I think that being able to redefine what these things mean is an incredibly valuable tool. Let me give you an example....

And, of course, like most of my examples - this one will be workout-centric:

I have recently been in a "rebuilding" and "relearning" phase with my workouts lately. Why? Over years and years of training and weightlifting, I have taught myself to move in ways that allow for large loads to be moved quickly....BUT....the way I've been moving has stressed specific areas in my back due to poor mechanics.

Now, these issues that are just now making themselves known have been due to countless repetitions while hyper-extending my back. And, just to be clear, this is not an issue of sloppy lifting, but rather the opposite. I was working so hard to maintain a tight lower back that I overshot it and ended up overusing it and pissing it off.

Now - and this is where we get back to today's lesson - I am having to step away from the loads that I used to attack with zero hesitation and refocus on moving lighter loads with more dialed-in mechanics and better positions.

As you can imagine, forcing yourself to lift less than you're accustomed to can be super frustrating. I kept finding myself pissed off and unmotivated to do anything just because I felt unable to lift like usual.

In order to move past this road-block, I had to sit down with myself and redefine what "heavy" was for me. I told myself that training heavy just to say that I can do a 415 back squat is really not what I'm in this shit for. I do this so that I am strong and healthy and able to take on any new challenges that pop up.

Needless to say, if my back is so f*cked up that I can't stand up, I am missing my target....BIG TIME!

By redefining "heavy", I was able to accept the situation and look at it as a positive challenge to take on. Getting to the point where I can move 415 again will be a major accomplishment - especially when I can do it without sacrificing solid positions and mechanics!

Now, with this new goal and challenge, I've found my groove again and am fired up to build an even stronger version of myself. It's going to be a fun project for me, and one that I think will offer many important lessons that I will undoubtedly share with y'all. (Get excited!)

Does all of that make sense? I hope so, because I feel like it's human nature to beat ourselves down based on what we "usedacould", rather than accepting the fact that life is not a linear progression. There will be ups and downs, but if our average outcome is in an upward, positive direction......we win!

This is all to say that if you're able to use the practice of redefinition in a positive manner, you will be setting yourself up for a lot less stress and much more success.

Give it shot the next time you're faced with a difficult situation. Ask yourself how you could redefine the meaning of (blank) to better deal with the obstacle and ultimately navigate it successfully.

I hope that you find this useful. 

Knees Out...An Observation(pt.2 - video)

If didn't get the chance to read yesterday's post, I would recommend doing that before watching today's video. You may find yourself confused as to what I'm referring to as I make my comments in the video.

In any case, this video will hopefully serve the purpose of clearing up any confusion that I may have cause with my ramblings yesterday.  Sometimes I lose my way as I write and end up babbling.......kinda like I'm doing right now. Ha!

Here's the video. A special thanks to TCS Coach Aaron Arehart for demoing perfectly.

Ice, Man

Chances are that if you squat frequently, you go through periods where your achy-ass knees hold you back a bit from going at your next workout with the same intensity.  It's just part of the game, I get it.  But there is something you can do about it.....

This is not revolutionary, but it does work IF you actually do it.  ICE!  

Achy knees are just one obvious example, but we all know that "the tightness" and "the crunchy stuff" travels throughout the body, mostly depending on what you did the day (or two) before.  Still I say ICE!

Sometimes, and I speak from experience here, the only reason you don't follow through on your icing responsibilities is the fact that it's somewhat inconvenient.  It's hard to do anything when you've got to hold a bag of frozen blueberries on your knees.  This may seem lazy, but let's be honest - icing is mandatory if you wish to continue working hard in the gym - so by all means, be "lazy".

I've got the very best "lazy man's" ice pack that makes routine icing easy while still allowing you to get shit done if needed.

Captain Multi-Purpose Jumbo Gel Pack with Pouch

Again, this is not a revolutionary idea.  It is, however, a durable, functional and high-quality wrap that will make it that much easier for you to stay on top of your aches and pains, and will keep you coming back to the gym feeling ready to take on any task that shows up on the whiteboard.