Inspirational Lift Of The Week 7/3

Ready to have your mind blown?

That's 638 pounds. This man is undoubtedly one of the strongest guys in the world. Check out more of his videos to see some incredible strength and power. I don't really think I need to say anything else; the video speaks for itself.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Visit to ATA Karate Crossfit Class

I took a visit to coach Vince's ATA Karate school to check out one of his Crossfit classes.
Before class started me and Vince did a bunch of power cleans with one of the nicest bars you will ever use, the Rogue Bar. I definitely recommend getting it if you are looking for a good durable bar that won't make your hands hate you. We also messed around doing TGU's and Snatches with a 70lb punching bag. Doing a TGU with that thing was quite the balancing act.

After our fun was over class began and it was a great time. Class started out with 100 burpees for time, which if you've ever done burpees before, is killer. These JKD athletes were undoubtedly pushed to their limits. The tuck jumps to silent landing at the end officially put everyone out of commission.

Here's a little video I put together of the night:

If it looks like a good time let us know and we can get you signed up for some classes!

PS: I HATE that Trapt's "Headstrong" works so well with workout videos! I seriously tried so many other songs and nothing seemed to fit the video quite as well. Looks like you win this one Trapt.

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Essential Exercises Part 1: The Squat

If you don't squat, you don't train...

The squat is an essential human capacity. The ability to squat deep and extend back to the standing position while maintaining healthy body positioning is necessary for many of the movements we do in everyday life. Picking things up, getting up from laying or sitting on the floor, sitting down or raising up out of a seat, climbing on top of objects such as a ledge, moving heavy furniture up and down stairs, jumping and landing from any sort of height, and the list goes on. The need for squatting in athletes is even more paramount. Athletes need to accelerate their bodies at high rates and manipulate various amounts of weight during competition and so the ability to produce great amounts of force during hip and knee extension is incredibly important.

The main biomechanical components of the squat are both knee and hip extension as well as the maintenance of a rigid lower and upper back. Both the hips and knees are in a flexed position at the bottom of the squat and they extend as one stands up.

This ability to extend the hips and knees while maintaining a rigid torso is essential to any activity in which one bends the legs and straightens them, such as climbing stairs or running. That is why the squat is so incredibly important for all human beings.

Now lets get to the specifics on how to properly do this exercise. The squat is more complex than it seems, simply due to the requirement to maintain proper body positioning during all phases of the movement. This complexity is exaggerated in deconditioned populations due to the difficulty of maintaining such positions. To tackle the squat let us begin with a body weight squat with no additional weight.

Here's what it looks like:

Lets break the movement down:

1. Start standing with feet a little bit further than shoulder width apart, toes pointing slightly out, and keep your chest up.
   
   
   
2. Begin to bend at the hips and knees and shove your butt back as if sitting into a chair.
   
   
   
   
   
3. As you descend keep your chest up and core tight to maintain the slight arch in your lower back (Lordosis). This is primarily achieved by contracting your abs and lower back muscles.
4. Make sure that your knees are tracking in line with your feet. This means that your knees point in the same direction as your feet.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Keep your feet flat on the floor and focus your body weight on your heels. Do not let your heels raise off the ground or shift your weight onto the balls of your feet.
6. Make sure that your knees don't glide excessively over your feet. This is achieved by “sitting back” into the squat. This is the part of the squat that the deconditioned person has the most trouble with. It takes a certain amount of glute and hamstring strength to maintain the “sit back” position.
7. Lower yourself until your hips are just below your knees and then immediately stand back up, essentially reversing the movement. Maintain all the positions previously stated. Upon standing up contract your glutes (butt muscles) hard to fully finish the hip extension.
   
   
   
   
   

Now you have mastered the body weight squat, also commonly referred to as the air squat. Make sure to practice this a lot if it is difficult for you. You want it to be practically effortless before adding weight.

**Please Note:

If you cannot properly complete a body weight squat, I suggest you first work on a leg press or box squats. The box squat is only useful if you are very close to being able to do a proper squat. If you are not quite there, as is much of the general population, I refer you to the following video where Mark Ripptoe, one of the most respected men in the strength and conditioning community, discusses the use of the leg press as a means of progressing toward squatting.

 Weighted Squat:
After mastering the body weight squat you are ready to add weight. This can be done in more than one way, but for our purposes here we will only be talking about the back squat in which a barbell is held on the back of one's shoulders. The proper positioning looks like this:

This is called the “low bar” position and it is what I do with most of my clients because it is easier on the lower back and allows people to push the most amount of weight. The bar is supported just above the shoulder blades by holding a retracted scapula and shoving the elbows back behind your body. By shoving the elbows back it creates a shelf for the bar to rest on. Place your thumbs over top the bar to keep your wrists straight and avoid having any unnecessary strain be placed on them.

The rest of the movement is exactly the same as the body weight squat with extra emphasis placed on a few things.

1. With weight on the back it becomes extra important to maintain a rigid torso. This means keeping the chest up and maintaining the slight arch in the lower back.
   
   

   
2. This is done by squeezing the abs hard and pushing them out while retracting your scapulae. This rigid position must be held throughout the entire range of motion.
   
   

   
3. When handling heavy weight, it is useful to use the Valsava Maneuver to assist in maintaining a rigid torso. Please be aware that the Valsalva Maneuver can spike blood pressure and so it is not recommended for inviduals with heart issues or older populations. Healthy and younger populations, though, can use the manevuer safely. The Valsava Maneuver is when one takes in a deep breath, holds it in, and squeezes their abs and lower back muscles so as to create pressurized compartments around the spine which hold it in place. This puts the spine in an extremely secure position and so very heavy weights can be safely handled.
4. To apply the Valsava Maneuver, take a deep breath in while standing just before descending and squeeze your abs and lower back tight. Hold the breath and abs tight the whole way down. Air can begin to be released through pursed lips during ascension to maintain pressure while still letting air out. This can be seen here:

Note how he takes a breath in at the top, holds it on the way down, and begins to let it out slowly while maintaining pressure during the way up. This kind of weight could not be handled safely without the Valsalva Maneuver.

Programming:
For strength purposes you want to keep your squat sets around the 5 rep range. This will give you the greatest strength gains in the safest manner. A simple way to program your squats is doing a basic 5x5 structure. This means 5 sets of 5 reps each. Your first few sets will be your "warm-up" sets and your last few will be your "work sets."

Sample Workout:
(Warm-Up Sets)
5 reps with just the bar.
5 with 95.                    
5 with 135
(Work Sets)
5 with 185
5 with 195

You want your work sets to be very challenging to the point where you could probably not complete another rep. Do squats 2-3 times a week (separated by at least 48 hours) and try to increase weight every workout (if you are a beginner) and every week or two if you are more experienced. Strength gains will always be quickest in the novice.



Now you know how to squat and why it is important. Put it into your training program today and begin to build useful strength that will improve your quality of life.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Training,

Chris Moran. CSCS.

L-Sit And V-Sit

We all have our weaknesses...

Many strong athletes will find themselves discouraged when they try an L-Sit for the first time and they can't keep their legs up. The ability to perform this exercise eludes many people that don't train for it because it activates the abdominal muscles and hip flexors more than any other exercise and even requires significant triceps strength as one progresses closer to a V-Sit.

Here's a video of me doing a V-Sit, which is simply an L-Sit with the legs raised up even higher

Start out with a tucked L-Sit (just tuck your legs into your body instead of holding them out straight) and progress toward a normal L-Sit and then V-Sit. Eventually you could reach the most intense version of this skill, Manna:

Good luck with that one!

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Inspirational Lift Of The Week

Because we all need a little inspiration every now and then...

This kid right here (Yes I said kid, he's only 20) is Pat Mendes. He is one of the strongest guys in the world right now and is one of my biggest inspirations. He is going to be competing in Nationals this summer and many people are anticipating a blowout performance by Pat. It's safe to say I am extremely excited to see how he does.

Note his impressive depth and fantastic form while still handling 800 lbs. Usually when you see people squatting this kind of weight they are using a sumo stance, wearing a belt and power lifting suit, only reaching parallel, and are surrounded by at least 5 spotters. Pat isn't using any of those vices.


And that is why THIS - is an inspirational lift.

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Coach Franco Is A Beast!

Nothing challenges the core like the grossly underused Windmill...

Throw this gem into your next workout for an attack on muscles you probably never knew you had.

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Turkish Get Up!

Not all mechanical load was created equal...

One of the best exercises for working the whole body in a super functional matter from top to bottom is the Turkish Get Up (TGU). Nothing challenges one's stability and strength quite like the TGU. This exercise begins with the trainee lying flat on the floor while holding a weight with one hand above their head and ends with the trainee standing erect with the same weight held over their head with one arm. This exercise, which has the unique ability to stress different stabilizing muscles from numerous unusual angles, makes it a fantastically functional exercise. It is useful in preparing athletes for producing more force from the various and unpredictable bodily positions that their sport may place them into. It can also help the average joe the next time they are lugging that heavy piece of furniture up those tight winding stairs, which we all know can put the body into some funky positions. The TGU is an exercise that will help build strength that is truly useful. 

Here's a video of Coach Franco performing a TGU with a 90lb barbell. Performing the exercise with a barbell, as opposed to the more traditional method of using a kettlebell or dumbell, adds even greater stress to stability.

Happy Training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.

Essential Exercises: Introduction

There are some exercises that just no human should ignore...

From the most elite athletes to the most deconditioned elderly women, all humans possess basic capabilities ingrained in their anatomy. We do not have arms and legs so that we can sit at a computer all day and slide around a piece of plastic. Unfortunately, this is the way many people today choose to utilize their bodily functions. Slowly but surely people all over the world are trading in their natural born right to run, jump, lift, throw, and climb for the opportunity to lug around 100 excess pounds of body fat, weaken their bones and joints, clog their arteries, and end up in a wheelchair for the last 20 years of their life. Excluding unavoidable circumstances such as deformity, disease, and various medical conditions; these unfortunate outcomes of a sedentary lifestyle are 100% avoidable for the average person. The human body was designed to carry out the functions that were important for early man to survive, and for the most part, the body hasn't changed. An entire training method, Methode Naturelle, was conceived based on this principle that all humans possess natural abilities that haven't changed since early man. Check out this video displaying some of these movements performed by today's leader of the method, Erwan Le Corre:

Erwan shows us what the human body is meant to do. Erwan also shows us abilities that most people lose after childhood. And most importantly, Erwan shows us the abilities that we should all strive to maintain and get back if we have already lost them.

In a following series of articles titled Essential Exercises I am going to discuss exercises that reflect basic human function and that no human, athlete or average person, should train without.

Happy training,
Chris Moran. CSCS.