Not a whole lot to say about this one today, folks. This is footage from the most recent FireSWOD. During this session I threw a load of new exercises and variations at them. As you will see, they handle it will no major issues, but the SWOD definitely takes it to them for an outstanding result!
One point worth mentioning is CREATIVITY!
In the beginning of the clip, these guys and gals were asked by yours truly to be creative and come up with some new and challenging pushup and pullup variations. They did a great job mixing it up, and as a result, they were fully enrolled and actively participating in their own warmup. This is something that I recommend you allow from time to time.
Try it the next time you have a group of solid athletes.
This is footage from this week's FireSWOD. I'll tell you this right now....IF you want to kick the shit out of yourself...you should definitely do a mash-up of box squats and prowler sprints. If you do it right, you will undoubtedly be left on your ass wondering how you're ever going to drive your busted ass home. Just promise me that you will take as much time as you need to recover enough that you're not driving all over the road.
You know that I am a big fan of constantly changing your work load stimulus. This is a great video of one of Zach Even-Esh's badass athletes showing us all how it's done! The beauty in this training style is that it is obviously very challenging, but it is a BLAST! Athlete's can't wait to get back in the gym when they are given the freedom to play a role in the creation of their own SWOD. This results in consistency and high intensity output. Exactly what you want from your athletes! Check out this video and try some of this stuff at your gym...plus some! Mix it up and have fun with it!
REMEMBER:
Zach Even-Esh will be in Austin on March 24th and 25th for his last Underground Strength Certification out of the Dirty Jerzee. It's going to be an OUTSTANDING experience!
It only seems fitting that on this, the 150th day of blogging, that I post the next STRICTLY STRENGTH PROJECT information and registration. This is where it all began. This whole "365 Days Of Strength" blog project was built on the foundation that my STRICTLY STRENGTH PROJECT provided.
Now, you may be wondering, "What exactly goes on in the SS PROJECT?"
First off, let me tell y'all how this has come about. I LOVE MOVING HEAVY SH!T. Period.
I love the intense rush you get when you blow through an old Personal Record(PR) in any lift, but specifically the slow lifts
- Deadlift, all variations of Squat, and the static Presses. I'm sure
we can all admit that it is addicting, right? Every time you grab that
barbell, you want a new PR...you NEED a new PR!!! Unfortunately, it
doesn't always work like that. Strength training is not quite a linear
process, but I want to get you to uncharted territory with your slow
lifts! I love helping others blow through old PR's more than doing it
for myself! It's why I do what I do. To see the excitement on the face
of someone that just added 25# to their deadlift is truly awesome!
So...now for the details.
STRICTLY STRENGTH PROJECT
The PROJECT is a unique opportunity to develop strength and
weightlifting "know-how". Regardless of your experience level, weekly
sessions are specifically designed to challenge, educate, and empower
each individual - all while getting you STRONG!!!
PROGRAM INCLUDES:
*Baseline Strength Testing*
*Goal Setting*
*Nutrition Coaching*
*Mental Preparation Training*
*Periodization of Programming and Re-Testing* **and, of course, RESULTS**
Each 8 week session is capped at 9 people - 3 groups of 3
Open to anyone, including non-CrossFit Central members
$400 if paid in full, or $225 if paid in 2 payments
The PROJECT will run 8 weeks ON/4weeks OFF
PROJECT meets once each week for 8 weeks
PROJECT session times are:
Saturday 6-7am
Saturday 7-8am
Saturday 8-9am
If you have any questions before getting started, you need to contact me ASAP!!!
travisholley@crossfitcentral.com OR on Twitter @Strict_Strength
Otherwise, enroll quickly, as spots are limited and will fill up fast!
I am stoked to get STRICTLY STRENGTH rockin' and rollin'!!!
This morning, the 7am STRICTLY STRENGTH crew crushed some sumo deadlifts. We started with a badass and challenging partner warmup, focusing on primarily bodyweight movements with a buddy carry tossed in the mix to start loading the body in prepration for the day's work!
We then moved into a dynamic effort sumo dead session of 10 sets of 2 reps @ 70% of their 1RM conventional deadlift.
I wanted each of them(and their nervous system) primed and ready to pull BIG loads QUICKLY!
It proved to work perfectly!
Every single athlete pulled a new sumo PR!!!
You'll get to see them knockin' them out in the video below, but I need to mention that every athlete in the MW 530am class - who did the same SWOD on Wednesday morning - also set new PRs!!!
All I have to say is...
THIS SHIT WORKS!!!
New session of the STRICTLY STRENGTH PROJECT(prerequisite for the SSClass) is starting soon!
Hopefully y'all aren't sick and tired of me posting/bragging about my FireSWOD crew...
Because I'm about to do it again. Hahaha.
Today's session was intense!!!
We had the tunes CRANKED almost as high as the energy in the gym.
These guys and gals punch in at 10am and bust it for an hour straight, and today that was especially true.
The name of the game for today's SWOD was several short, sprint-effort SWODs. I allowed just enough time between for set up and explanation, then we were off to another spicy addition.
Check out some of today's session and then give it go yourself. I challenge you to bring the same energy and effort that these badasses do.
See what effect it has on the overall impact of your workout.
If you've been following me for a while, you probably have a snapshot of my type of programming. To put it simply; I train my athletes HARD, HEAVY, and FAST.
If we aren't moving max effort loads, we are moving sub-max loads as fast as possible - whether that means for 10x2 or in a sprint effort SWOD like you'll see below.
The idea behind this training is all about the hormonal response elicited. High-Intensity work has a huge hormonal response that essentially kick-starts your body to start building more lean mass, burn more fat, and build raw, brutal strength - Exactly what we are looking for, right?!!!
Not to mention, you get the work done and you get to go home.
You're not living in the gym, hating your life, wondering why you're still the smallest, skinny-fat guy on the floor.
When you get serious about strength, this is how you need to train!
This Injection of Inspiration is super INTENSE, so I will warn you to turn down the volume if you're at work or any other place that may frown upon an extremely large human screaming as loud as possible. It may not be work appropriate, but YOU MUST WATCH THIS!!!
Make time to sit down and take this message in.
One final note...
The video from the Feather-Weight Fury Throwdown will be posted tomorrow!!! I've seen the final cut and it is BADASS! You won't want to miss it, so be sure to check back here tomorrow!
How can you easily and effectively increase your overall strength?
If you read the title of today's post, I'm sure you've figured it out, but the answer is:
Add a weight vest in the mix!
Many of you out there probably don't correlate the implementation of gymnastics movements into your workouts and achieving ridiculous overall strength. But, I am here to tell you that performing body-weight movements - or gymnastics - has huge potential to build raw strength that will correlate to bigger pulls, massive squats, and powerful presses. Especially when you wear a weighted vest, which technically cancels out the gymnastics out of the movement, but you get the idea.
There are a couple reasons for this, but the one that really stands out is the idea of external loading. It's pretty simple, but often overlooked as a extremely effective way to increase strength and mass. The idea is that as you externally load your body - which can range from a 20# vest to a 600# standing back rack, to using the lightened method to move loads exceeding your 1RM - the body and the Central Nervous System are forced to adapt to new and extreme loads place on them.
Makes sense, right?
If you are building a massive house you would probably build an equally stable and strong foundation for that weight to rest upon. Your body, the amazing machine that it is, does this automatically when it is forced to. You just have to know how to trick the machine into making those changes happen.
This is where wearing a vest comes in. If you usually perform a gymnastics-style warmup, an easy way to stimulate your body to grow bigger and stronger is to add a weighted vest in the mix.
This will load the body effectively and, obviously, get you warm and ready to rock and roll!
Check out this warmup and test it out yourself next time you're in the gym!
As I was preparing to right tonight's post, I saw that Coach Big Mike made an awesome post on one of his clients that also happens to be one of my Strictly Strength athletes. Matt is one of those athletes that, as a coach, you can always count on "Bringin' It"! He is super dedicated to achieving success in his classes and helping those around him do the same!
I couldn't ask for a more badass athlete to be a part of my program, and Coach Big Mike feels the same. I recommend that you all check out his post on Matt as well! Just another perspective with the same outcome. Check it out HERE.
I think that we can all agree that when you find yourself in a rut - whether in a job, a bad habit, a workout routine, etc. - you will do whatever you can to get out if it. It's a horrible feeling when you begin to dread doing the thing that you once loved.
As a trainer, I pride myself on always coming up with new, challenging and interesting ways to push my athletes past mental and physical barriers, and keep them out of the rut and hungry for more big results! It's not always an easy job, but it's totally rewarding when a client says,
"How do you come up with this shit?!"
That's all the feedback I need to know that this is an effective tool to keep handy for when athletes drop in that rut.
Enough chit-chat... I'll let y'all see what I'm talking about.
Hey guys...I have to apologize for not getting a post up yesterday. I had a ton of trouble uploading the video below yesterday and ran out of time and resources to get it done before bedtime.
In any case, it's ready to share. This is from Friday's Super Squats session. Winchester and I have now thrown down the challenge to each other that whoever is the first to hit 315 for 20 reps owes the other a dinner at the restaurante of the winner's choice. Just something to make it a bit more exciting! I will keep you all posted on the progress we make, but this will probably be the last Super Squats video for a while. I want to get back to more informational and instructional stuff for a while. So, look forward to that.
Anyway, here's the video of us both hitting 285 for 20.
I have had a ton of positive feedback about my recent posts of The Ultimate Warrior's, Injection of Inspiration. I feel the same way...this shit will rock your face off, for sure!!! And...if you truly adopt the information he's offering to you, I have no doubt that your life will drastically change for the better!
Anyway, let's get to the good stuff!!!
Here another dose of inspiration!!!
One final note:
I will be posting a BADASS SWOD that my Austin Fire-Fighters knocked out today!
I'm just gonna say that you need to check it out tomorrow!
As promised, I knocked out the workout I posted yesterday.
For those of you that haven't had a chance to see it yet, the workout was a 10min. AMRAP of 3 Bench Press and 6 Heavy Barbell Walking Lunges. Now, Rob Orlando did this workout with 315lbs for both the bench and lunge!!! Pretty freakin' amazing! I, on the other hand, did this workout at 225lbs for both movements.
Now, I will warn you. The video is nearly 13 minutes long, and probably not that exciting. If you're short on time just watch the beginning and the end.
And for those of you that didn't know, Red Black Gym will be hosting Rob's CrossFit Strongman Certification in the coming weeks!!! I am super stoked to be taking part in this certification! I will be sure to get as much video footage as possible for y'all, as well as share all the skills, drills, and knowledge that I can with y'all!
Until then, I plan on hitting Rob's heavy bench/lunge SWOD tomorrow, albeit, at a lighter weight...
I'll video my version and share it tomorrow. If anyone else decides they want to try this one out, in any variation, do it and video it!
I would love to start posting other SWOD'ers killin' their workouts!!!
We warmed up with a quick body-weight AMRAP and some light box squats. Once we felt ready to rock, we loaded up the bar to our new challenge weight of 275.
For those of you just joining the conversation, we have begun a new squat program inspired by the book Super Squats. Here's the program details if you're interested...
Anyway, here is the footage...or at least some of it....
I had just enough space on my phone for you guys to see me fail miserably at my 20-rep attempt and then for Winchester to get started...BUT not enough space to see him finish.
PERFECT!!!
You guys will just have to take my word that Winchester smashed his 20 reps!!!
The dude is gettin' SILLYSTRONG!!!
As for me...I did not. It's not always a PR day.
But, I will get it the next time we hit this up...
