Midline Stabilization

Jenga!

Midline Stabilization

"So what do you do for abs?"

A question common for CrossFit gyms, as if the only measure of fitness is a 6-pack.

Much of the public believes that the road to a strong midsection involves a multitude of crunches, curl-ups, sit-ups, and any and all other abdominal exercises.  The goal is almost always aesthetic.  “Core work,” it gets named.

In reality, stomach muscles can be seen with minimal body fat, no matter how strong a person is.  If six little abdominal bumps are the goal, much of what people are looking for can be achieved through nutrition. And sometimes, even unhealthy individuals have visual abs. Skinny isn't necessarily fit, remember. Everyone has a 6-pack, it's just a matter of what exists on top of it, between the muscles and the skin on the subcutaneous level.

If core strength is the goal, perhaps the best analogy would be the game of Jenga.  The strongest position is with all supporting pieces in place. The more the blocks are moved out of sorts, the less stable the tower becomes.

This is like our body, if we consider our spine like a midline of building blocks then the supporting pieces stabilize our overall structure.

If we look at the anatomy and physiology of the abdomen, our musculature is set up to stop unwanted movement of the spine.  Sure, the abs do in fact flex to bring the ribs and hips closer to each other, and our back muscles extend to open that distance, but resisting movement is one of the primary functions of the muscles in our midsection. Thus, resisting movement is one of the greatest core strengthening exercises an athlete can do. This is an additional reason why gymnastics positioning or squatting heavy or going overhead with weight are all such great moves.

UltimateWarrior025

If we resist movement, the midline strengthens.  Like a solidified tower in Jenga, complete with the middle blocks intact.

A common example is the following scenario: Imagine you are going to help a friend push their broken down car. For whatever reason they ran out of gas and you’re with them, close to the gas station—but instead of walking for gas you need to help push while they steer. Just go with it, alright?  As you prepare to push, you don’t stand straight up and place your hands on the car as if you were in a vertical push-up position. You want multiple muscle groups involved, right? Well, actually, this thought probably wouldn’t go through your mind... instead you'd say to yourself, “Why couldn't they watch the damn gauges?"  Nonetheless, you sigh and then realize you'll need to use your entire body.  You put one foot in front of the other, drop your body down low, and use legs as well as upper body to get the car rolling.

What most people rarely realize in this situation-- never think to do, but would come naturally-- is we'd all take a deep breath, hold it, and brace for the push by tightening our core and midsection.

Functional fitness at its finest.

The body is staying safe by resisting spinal movement, but it's also putting itself into the strongest position possible.  Like a Jenga game, before anyone starts picking the pieces apart. And like Jenga, we want all our pieces in place. This requires strategy, a steady hand, and maybe even a touch of luck.

The Jenga Lottery

Our abs are in plain vision any time we look in the mirror. Maybe we worry about our flaws, like the holes in a Jenga tower.  But while we constantly see our front, the posterior human anatomy is just as important when aiming for strength and athleticism. Plus, a solid back side of the body keeps us young for years past our prime; think of our weak elderly population who have lost the posterior strength to stand upright. Our great-grandparents can often be seen staring at the ground is an atrophied state of posterior musculature.

Bounded by the abdominal wall, the pelvis, the lower back, the diaphragm and their ability to stabilize the body during movement are key to any athletic endeavor or general fitness program. The main muscles involved are the rectus abdominis, the transversus abdominis, the internal and external obliques, the quadrates lumborum, the psoas, the diaphragm, the erector spinae, the multifidus, and the gluteus muscle group. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Core-muscles

When the abs, back extensors, glutes, and surrounding muscles are “on,” the body is as rigid as it can be. Couple that physical work with healthful nutritional choices, and muscle cells increase while body fat decreases.  A steady stack of Jenga blocks, the midline is strong and protected. No matter what the abs look like from the outside.

Washboards

Movements for a Strong Midline:

Handstand Work: in order to not fold on top of yourself while upside down, the abs and back need to be strong. This gymnastic move also flows best when a hollow position is understood and put into practice.

Hollow Handstand Positions

Hollow Rocks: this is a static global flexion that tightens from the legs through to the shoulders.  Hollowing out is a set position in much of gymnastics and related exercise-- in CrossFit, this is namely push-ups, handstands, ring dips, pull-ups, and muscle-ups.

Hollow Rocks

Overhead Work: shoulder press, push press, and jerk exposes midline stabilization issues.  Holding heavy weight overhead requires a strong and set midline.

Overhead Finish Position

Kettlebell Swings: hit a few of these and you can tell that the midline needs to be tight to keep from losing the bell between your legs.  Remember, it's not just the front of the body that stabilizes the spine; these will hit lower back stabilizers and immediately expose any lumbar weakness.

KB Swings

L-sits: this isometric hold can leave your upper abs sore for days.  Soreness is not congruous with fitness benefits, but just like handstands, L-sits can only be performed if the midline is strong.

L-sits

Sled Push/Pulls: remember our car example from before? Besides the sheer work capacity and leg drive development, setting the midsection in order to move heavy weight is a great midline exercise.

Sled Push

Squats: maybe it's not traditionally thought of as a midline developer, but squat with a load in the back, front, or overhead position and stability is extremely necessary. Do a "dog shit squat" and injury is leaning your way, like a faltering Jenga tower. Squat heavy and squat often, but squat correctly.

bad squatter

Deadlifts: once again, it's not all about the front of the body. The midline is stabilized with the posterior muscles as well.

Deadlift technique

Of course this all transfers to simple body posture as well... both sitting and standing body positions.  Once you see it, it cannot be unseen. And once you experience a solid midline, you can feel the change in trunk positioning any time it is compromised.  This is where spinal disc issues can arise, in the unprotected spine.  Muscles of the abdomen all exist to support core stabilization and protect the spine from unnecessary shifting and shearing in the structures of the vertebrae.

Bad-and-good-posture

So there it is.  Teetering like Jenga blocks, but delegated as a major player in overall fitness, midline stability deserves attention so the entire body structure remains sound.  Tighten the core muscles and stabilize the spine, because the work typically required in CrossFit, or any quality fitness program, has no mercy for a weak midline.

Your move, or lack thereof.

- Scott, 8.19.2014

Jenga

Variance

Variance

Variety is the spice of life. But is it the key to fitness?

CrossFit defines fitness as increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. And what does all that mean? It refers to the ability to do varied physical work at varied lengths of time. And the way to achieve fitness has been a trial-and-error, test and retest journey through the centuries.  Heavy lifting, bodyweight gymnastics, and metabolic conditioning through running, rowing, jumping... these aren't new concepts. More recent scientific involvement, however, has put mathematics and exercise physiology into the fitness equation. This strengthens the claims of what works and what doesn't.

If you're involved with CrossFit, then, much of what you are using is constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity. It's a generalized physical preparedness program for the public. One size fits all? Well, yes and no.

It's like the nearly defunct pop radio, playing a variety of songs and artists to appease the masses.

You can hear it in your head now, right? In your best radio voice: "CrossFit.  Tune in for the hits of today, with all the classics from yesterday."

Finished with whatever slogan or tagline fits for the now. The cutting edge of fitness. More movement variety. All the lifts, all the time.

Sound effects engaged. *Ka-Boom* Here on Amp-101.

Radio Radio Radio!

With the advent of internet music, having to listen to a radio station and wait for your favorite songs to come on is no longer an experience today's youth has to endure. The luck-and-chance of hitting the radio music lottery no longer exists. You can simply skip to your favorite songs on Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, or whatever online platform you choose.

But back in the day, you had to wait it out. Fingers crossed for your favorite teen anthem. For the older readers in the crowd, perhaps you even sat nearby, ready to record onto cassette for your newest mix tape. For those even older, you really paid your dues, didn't you? Maybe you did household chores or saved up your weekly allowance to buy the single on a 45. It was the only way.

On the radio, the music being played was varied but it definitely wasn't random. Stations played, and still play, certain artists, record labels, and song singles. Mostly according to what will sell, or more accurately, what has been sold to them. Frustrating, maybe, as we all realize it's yet another industry of money and marketing. Sometimes talent doesn't even win out. A century of progress, but only to the highest bidder.

Old School

But let's digress.

Just as in radio, in CrossFit the workouts aren't randomized. There is a difference between varied and random. In order to make gains in a meaningful, measurable way, increasing work capacity requires variance. Yet it also requires structure and consistency.

Consistent... variance?

Variety is a necessary perk in life. When used correctly it can keep us entertained, even in our weekly flow of monotony. But without some semblance of consistency, humans actually get uncomfortable. We lose our sense of direction, get confused and even unhappy without purpose in daily life. It's the same in the gym.  With physical fitness we need structure and direction along with the variance to achieve results.

So, consistent and varied, yes. Both have a place on the fitness radio dial.

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program which attempts to optimize fitness through strategic variety. Not just throwing exercise movements together at random, like a sales bin in the music store. (All the crap no one wanted in the first place, at a discount price!)

It's a common misconception of the variance in CrossFit-- we don't actually piece together workouts out of thin air, like a mix tape of movements to give to our latest crush. A true CrossFit program sees the big picture; has set goals in macro and micro cycles of strength and conditioning, like any developed fitness program. There is structure. There is routine. Just not the type of routine that leaves us stagnant on a perpetual fitness plateau.

Generalize in 10 physical skills but capitalize on consistently revisiting lifts, gymnastics movements, and many other exercise modalities.

10 General Physical Skills of CrossFit

In the pursuit of physical fitness, achieving central nervous system responses, muscle overload, and skill progression will not occur through randomization. In addition, goal setting and weakness training would never pan out if that were the case.

We see it in the now-gigantic health and fitness industry, where people get antsy and impatient with following a set workout regimen. Many bounce from program to program, always searching for that new thing, that new breakthrough. Like a music scout and a record label, squelching all they can from an artist, chewing them up and spitting them out in hit singles until the public overdoses and wants the new what next.

There's never any chance for growth. There's no room for improvement.

Fad fitness programs capitalize on this human characteristic (oftentimes called "boredom"), and sell get fit quick equipment and schematics as fast as record, cassette, and CD sales in the previous decades of music. And just as fast as they sold, they flicker out with all other obsolete technology.

CrossFit is sometimes viewed as that fad, that here-and-now type of fitness program. And we do in fact see people come through the gym and leave after just a short period of time... never giving it a chance to manifest, to work for them, to grow into more than a 3 minute pop song. They didn't get the results they were looking for in a few weeks so they abandoned ship. They jumped on the bandwagon but stepped off before the headlining act.

For those individuals, CrossFit is a one hit wonder.

For anyone willing to dedicate themselves, however, it looks to have promise for lifelong involvement in fitness. CrossFit groupies? Perhaps, yes.  Since the concept is to be good at anything and everything, a results-based general physical fitness program has an allure for many.

Which is where variance comes back into airplay. Especially because that variety keeps things fresh; enjoyment is high even though workouts with borderline masochistic physical suffering are still present.

So what movements do we benefit from being consistent in, and what should we vary?

Let's start with all the major lifts, both Power Lifting and Olympic Weightlifting.

• Squat - in some form or fashion 3-4 times a week. Include Back, Front, Overhead, and bodyweight air squats as well.
• Deadlift - pick something up and put it down at least 3 times a week. This may not always be a traditional deadlift, which is just fine.
• Clean - are you an Olympic Weightlifter?  Almost every time in the gym.  General public?  1-2 times a week, from different start and finish positions.
• Jerk - same as the Clean.
• Snatch - same as the Clean and Jerk.
• Other Presses - without a specificity, go overhead at least 2 times a week in some form or fashion. Bench/Floor Press as time and function allows.

Also, gymnastics elements like Pull-ups and Handstands need consistent attention as well. If you have a weakness in a bodyweight movement, then that exercise can be incorporated nearly every day in the gym, probably pre- or post-workout so as not to overtrain. Need to get better at running? Rowing? Swimming, biking, etc? Spend some time with it the same way as gymnastics.  Read more here.

Not very random at all, right? Extremely consistent, actually. So what does change, what does vary, is the set and rep scheme for progressive overload. Remember, this variety is the good variety. And the variance in all movements mentioned above fits the CrossFit athlete, where the specialty is not specializing.

The time frame for conditioning should also be varied, if you are looking to be generally physically fit. Everything from short bursts of anaerobic work (think sprints), to mid-level time domains (30 - 120 seconds), to longer, aerobic work (120 seconds+). These are our energy pathways, expressed in a synopsis in the CrossFit Journal here and with other references throughout the internet fitness database. [1] [2] [3]

It's this variance in metabolic conditioning that is particularly beneficial, but can also pose issues as people get comfortable working within their specific strengths... comfort can lead to a lack of variance, in some cases.

CrossFit's official definition is constantly varied, functional movement, performed at high intensity.

What we find in fitness and in life is that consistency can get us results, while variance can make those results optimal. There amidst the static of physical work you can find your favorite song, your personal anthem, loud and clear. Just make sure you're listening for the gains.

Meet you in the fitness airwaves.

-Scott, 8.12.2014

The Deadlift

Danse Macabre by Michael Wolgemut, 1493

The Deadlift

The lift of the dead.

An orchestrated revival of dead weight. Just sitting there, laying on the ground like a corpse. Begging in absolutely no words to be picked up and resuscitated.

But with all its allure and seduction, it can bury you too.  Like a Danse Macabre.

According to myth, the Deadlift got its name somewhere in ancient Rome, after military battles when young Roman soldiers would go out into the field to lift their fallen comrades onto wagons to later be buried. Literally, “lifting the dead.”  This was used not only to help young soldiers get familiar with battle and death, but to also increase overall strength. [1] [2]

A horrible notion, but again, just a myth. Perhaps.

Picture courtesy of Upstream Fitness

A more likely scenario is that strength training developed for various reasons of survival and/or sport, and the movement was similar enough to casualty care during combat to name it the Deadlift.  Plus, the weight on the ground is at a dead stop and is performed with “dead arms,” or no motion in the elbow.

Curiously, it has a history of also being known as the "Healthlift," and there are even professionals attempting to rename it the "Lifelift" in recent years because of its use in maintaining health and well-being. Quite the opposite of death.

Name origin aside, it's such a brute power movement, the Deadlift.  How much can you pick up off the ground? There's a sexy something there, in lifting terms. All that chalk and iron and sweat and grit.

Instead of “How much can you bench?” maybe the bro question at the gym should be “How big is your deadlift?”

Franco Columbo

It’s as much form as will power, which is perhaps a bit unfortunate because it can get a little ugly at times. Rounded, like a scared cat on Halloween. Drooping, like a wilting daisy without water.  Shaking, like a dog shitting razor blades.  Sorry to be crude, but at least you get the picture.

Sometimes ego gets in the way of technique, and people pull a barbell off the ground with little or no regard for their spinal future.

Picture courtesy of Star Factory Fitness

Yet besides just feeling cool, besides just the sheer power output, the Deadlift has outstanding transfer of technique to other lifts and other facets of fitness. It’s like having sprint speed or a strong Back Squat in this regard.

It's never a bad thing to be fast and strong.

As an example, completing a safe and efficient Clean or Snatch uses a stable back position, and thus the Deadlift transfers to the Clean, and both conventional as well as wide grip deadlifts aid in the Snatch pull. The hip position of the Deadlift is not exactly the same as in Olympic Weightlifting, but the strength transfer is present even though body positioning is not a direct correlate.

Much of what is taught with midline stabilization from the Deadlift is transferable when discussing and working on a set and stable midsection for other movements as well. It’s not just for safety while lifting weights, good posture and an emphasis on being strong and athletic is just as beneficial. For instance, performing good pull-ups utilizes similar body positioning as the Deadlift, as does running, jumping, rowing, and moving weight overhead. Spinal safety tapped and fully realized.

Crank it up!

There are quite a few starting positions possible in the Deadlift, as well as foot and hand placement. We can work from a deficit or from blocks to change the set-up.  A stiff-legged deadlift allows very little movement of the legs, as the name denotes. A sumo deadlift involves very wide feet, all the way out close to the weight plates during a barbell deadlift, with hands inside the legs during the pull. World record deadlifts are now pulled in this style, which allows for less hip movement necessary to perform the lift, and has a ton of merit for moving the most weight off the ground as possible.

Deadlift Grip Pics

In 1990, Olympic and world champion and world record holder Nicu Vlad, of Romania, along with his coach Dragomir Cioroslan, combined a stiff-leg deadlift and traditional deadlift, explaining they felt it would make Vlad’s back strong for the Clean in competition. Since they didn’t give it a name, U.S. Olympic Weightlifting team coach Jim Schmitz witnessed the lift and decided to call it the Romanian Deadlift, or RDL for short. The name stuck. [1]

But it’s the traditional deadlift that will get our focus here for transferrable technique.

A conventional Deadlift becomes less lower back and more legs and posterior chain from where the lifter can garnish power-- hamstrings, gluteus muscles, up into the spinae erectors of the back. The quadriceps and other supporting leg muscles get involved, and even the lats and the biceps are recruited to a certain degree. A nice combination for many overall benefits.

posterior chain

CrossFit.com published a short narrative on the lift, found here.  Other valuable sources can be viewed here, here, and here.

There are also scores of video demos you can find online from the above sources. Pick a starting point and see what you can learn.

Feet shoulder width apart, hands and arms just outside the legs, back set, chest up, hamstrings and glutes loaded. Knees pull back slightly to keep the shins virtually vertical as the bar moves up the leg, then hips press forward into the bar once past the knees.

It's better with visuals.  Here’s a pictorial breakdown of a few key points:

Set-up

Courtesy of David Skelly

Pull

Picture courtesy of A Gym Life

Return

Deadlift hips back return

And Repeat

Courtesy of CrossFit One World

Of course this is all well and good if the implement is a loaded barbell, placed at the same height at your shins each rep, 8.5 inches from the ground, with no other variables to factor. Picking up a random heavy object from the floor while working around the house or within your profession will not look like a barbell deadlift. The mid back, or the thoracic spine, will curve quite a bit if the object being lifted needs to be gripped or "hugged" to the body.

In fact, while on topic, the thoracic spine will actually go through curvature during a max effort barbell deadlift anyway.  It's the lower back, or the lumbar spine, that is set.  The mid back will almost always see some form malady occur in super heavy repetitions.  Not entirely unsafe, but that choice always needs to come from the athlete him/herself-- "Can I safely pick this up?  Is it worth a potential injury if I keep pushing this rep?"

Finally, our variance in body types will require slightly different starting points, specifically in regards to hip height.  Limb length plays a small factor, which is where a coach can help to best set up an athlete for success.

Differing Body Dynamics in the Deadlift

Considering all variables, it's relatively easy to benefit from the Deadlift-- find something heavy, pick it up, repeat.  The skeletal muscles, the central nervous system, and the endocrine system will combine to elicit growth in fitness.  Don't get too buried in the details, but do find eternal comfort knowing the ins and outs as it applies to your goals.  Stay safe, stay strong.

Away you go, into the dead zone.  Let us know what it's like in the beyond.

- Scott, 8.4.2014

Deadlift End

The Fitness Equation

The Fitness Equation

Things can look so simple on paper: fuel, work, rest, repeat.

In reality, we mess this up quite a bit.

If life were a math test, at best we’d earn a C. Maybe a C+. Deserving, since we zone out during most lectures, only hearing half of each life lesson. We probably fell asleep on our proverbial desk a handful of times, and we definitely asked to see a friend’s homework more than once. Plus, we never show our work.

And it's extremely likely we ordered ourselves a pizza at one point or another.

If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time?

Pay Attention
We live in shortcuts and half-truths, cutting corners when possible. It catches up quick, in terms of lifelong health and well-being.

But we also try to make up for our fitness shortcomings, often compensating by overdoing. It’s like cramming for a test the night before.

We're slackers, and we should just pay attention already. Class is always in session.

Way to go, Einstein

In months and years past, topics within the fitness equation have received article attention. We recently focused on nutrition and using food as fuel, we previously examined sleep and soreness, and we constantly look into the wide spectrum of exercise movements and related aspects of physical work. But just because we examined one piece of the puzzle doesn't mean we solved all of our problems.

There's a big picture present, and in fitness it involves plenty of real math. VO2Max, caloric intake, metabolic rate, power output, and so on.

To Err is Human
It’s not hard to make mistakes in our training equation, though. In fact, if we’re honest, we all do. Or at least anyone pursuing physical fitness has.

It wasn’t necessarily a huge error, but something has gone wrong at one point or another, right? Simply because we’re human. We’re not perfect. Maybe it was moving incorrectly, with sloppy form. Maybe it was overtraining, putting our body through too much for one day, one week, or one training cycle. We’re not talking about a life-threatening mistake, necessarily; these minor issues just prove our training is in a constant flux. It’s a learning process through each and every week as we work out and advance in this fitness journey.

It’s not hard to make mistakes in nutrition either. I mean, come on… some of these issues aren’t even accidental. Because, donuts… that’s why.

Purposeful cheat meals are actually a usable tool for some people, and a personal belief that, for many of us who won’t spiral out of control, it keeps us sane. Yet nutrition is very often a missing piece of our equation, like a little mathematic misstep that takes us further away from the correct answer as things get complicated.

And what about recovery? Well, if it was possible to mess up something as simple as doing nothing, leave it to us humans. But we get impatient sometimes, neglecting to take rest days. Or else we use too much time off, starting over almost from square one each time. In addition, we might not even know what to do with the recovery time that is taken, or how to use activity in the correct way on rest days to stay loose and maximize physical gains.

Passing This Test Called Life
Follow the fitness equation. It doesn't have to be as complicated as we sometimes make it.

1. Fuel up, primarily for function.

• Eat. Don't be afraid of food. It is our energy source, after all.
• From Food = Fuel: "Our brain runs on carbohydrates. Our muscles do the same, and replenish with protein.  Our body systems use fats in so many ways... it's unfortunate they get such a bad rap. [1]  These are our calorie providing macronutrients, and with help from vitamins, minerals, and the almighty water, our day to day tasks can be completed."
• Know your body and find out what works both before and after your workouts and competitions.

2. Correctly use the progressive overload principle.

• The body systems respond to work. But they especially adapt when overloaded. Use the overload principle by placing your muscles and cardio system under duress yet within an exhaustion level that doesn't cause degenerative tissue breakdown. This will be noticed with overuse injuries, longer recovery cycles, and/or immune system weakness. A bit tricky, yes, but that's why you don't go run a marathon every day or attempt to deadlift a car just for fun. [1] [2]
• From Scaling: "Keep the body adapting to new stimulus. Your muscles, connecting tissues, energy systems and central nervous system will thank you because you’ve improved. CrossFit doesn't really get any easier, you just become fitter. This allows more workload to occur."

3. Follow up overload with recovery.

• Healthy food can be put on the table. Strength and conditioning work can be done. Mobility issues can be addressed. Weaknesses can be attacked. But sore muscles should receive rest days as well as sleep and replenishment.
• From Sleep: "We may spend an hour in the gym each day, but it's the 23 hours spent recovering where you make actual gains in your fitness. We do work and our cells adapt. The body rebuilds. Muscle cells, connective tissue, and cardiovascular efficiency all improve to resist future stress. During recovery, there are a series of natural hormone responses to the work that has recently been completed; growth occurs with your central nervous and endocrine systems as well."
• Actively recover by using movement to stimulate repair. Our body can do its inherent job after a stressful workout or competition with mobility exercises and self-massage, aiding in recovery. But rest days are used for just that-- rest. So doing as little physical work as possible will help. It's tough, but try not to get roped into another hard workout, even if it sounds awesome. See the bigger picture.

4. Repeat.

• Cycle through these steps in an effort to be consistent, while still using variance. But remember, variety is not the same as being random; follow a program for maximal results.
• Fuel up, work hard, rest when needed, and reap the rewards.

Alright, nerds, don't even ask if this will be on the test. Of course it will. This is the test.

- Scott, 7.27.2014

Nerds!

Cherry Picking

Cherry Picking

You want to get better, don't you? Stronger, faster, healthier?

So why shy away from the very workouts you need? Why skip the movements that could use improvement because you're not good at them? Why stay home because you hate what you see planned at the gym?

You're a cherry picker. That's why.

You are mentally weak. But you're not the only one. It's the proverbial "you" we're talking about here anyway. You... me... all of us. We are all cherry pickers.

cherry pick (v.) 1. To select the most desirable item. Attempting, or picking, things that are easily obtained, or only what best suits your taste, as a cherry might. 2. To choose easy tasks over challenging ones. In sports, a "cherry picker" is someone who prefers to take only easy shots. 3. To drive your Amplify trainers crazy. In daily workouts, to "cherry pick" is to only participate in exercises which are deemed strengths. Movements that are difficult are avoided, almost at all costs.

The Path of Least Resistance
Humans are inherently built to find the path of least resistance.

The human body is fighting an internal battle to function at its highest level of energy efficiency, saving calories, effort, and exertion for the most needed output on a day-to-day basis. Evolutionarily speaking, this is in case we need to outrun a wild animal, or if we are forced to go a day without food, etc.

This is most easily identifiable if we look at heart rate and cardiorespiratory efficiency. Our heart beats only as fast it needs it to, slowing for the majority of the day to transport just enough oxygen through the cardio system in order to stay alive and keep the organs running. Up the physical work and the heart and related systems respond, only to slow again when the work is done or the energy system is depleted.

In science, much of this is known as homeostasis: the process that maintains the stability of the human body's internal environment in response to changes in external conditions. [1]

Our brain does it all the time too. We skip the unimportant items to save energy, to focus on the input that really matters. For instance, our peripheral vision only gives us the blur of movement. Our memory throws out old recall that no longer matters. Our hearing perks up when we need it to, ignoring sounds while falling asleep with the TV on or music playing.

It has actually been documented that if we focus on something, if we really, intently put our energy towards one important task, we become temporarily deaf and blind. We work with selective hearing and tunnel vision, completely missing things that happen around us. We have "fast thinking" and "slow thinking" processes for similar reason. [1] [2]

To our brain, if everything is important, nothing can be important.

Take Care of the Little Things
Let's link the above to fitness. If a person doesn't have a specific plan and has no program to follow, then results aren't fully optimized.

If too many things get the focus, nothing gets the focus.

You cannot reach the physical gains you are looking for if you aren't following a regimen that provides consistent stimulus for growth in muscular strength and cardiorespiratory endurance. Repeatability is important, for several reasons in physical fitness.

Interestingly enough, this is one of the biggest knocks on the CrossFit philosophy and its workout programming. The argument is if you are trying to be good at everything, then you can't excel at anything in particular. Not a bad point, unless we're looking for a generalized fitness program. If a person want to perform at their peak in a specific sport, then of course that sport needs to be the focus point and workouts can, and should, be geared towards maximum performance in said sport. But this is also assuming that a CrossFit program doesn't have consistent focus points in itself. It certainly can; we just work variance into the program, primarily into the conditioning aspect of fitness. Movements are always repeated. Yet outside of benchmarks, specific workouts may not be.

Be ready for anything, by consistently practicing everything.

So for the general public, if everything isn't important, nothing is important. Confused yet?

Let's clarify, then: it's useless to focus on one little aspect of health without seeing the big picture-- overall physical fitness. However, in contrast to that, if you don't take care of the little things, how do you expect to excel at the greater things? The grandiose cannot come without support.

Which brings us back to you, the cherry picker. You cannot fulfill your goals of becoming the fittest "you" by merely doing a few of your favorite movements. You aren't just skipping unpleasant exercises, you are ignoring overall strength and conditioning. If something is difficult, and you don't try to get better at it, then of course it will remain a weakness. It will always be your goat.

I cannot tell a lie; it's you chopping down your own cherry tree-- full of ripe fitness, never to come to fruition.

Everything Is Everything
Time to replant and reap the benefits. Work ethic bleeds across all spectrums, all aspects of life, especially in the gym.

Everything is everything, in the sense that your work within the small stuff will filter through to the bigger items in life. The vigor you take while hitting your favorite exercise movement should be the same when attacking your weakness. If you find a certain lift difficult, or you hate an exercise, then ask yourself why that is. Do you find the struggle difficult? That's normal. Do you have personal limitations for one reason or another? Accept them and do the best you can. Do you simply dislike not being good at something? Check your ego and get to work.

"But I'm horrible at pull-ups." You never put the strength work in when you should. This doesn't mean just once in a while. Every week, people... and multiple times a week at that.

"But I just can't overhead squat." Mobility doesn't improve without perseverance. Settling for bad form will allow you to always settle for bad form.

"But I hate running." That's because you're not good at it. Very rarely does a person hate what they excel in.

Recommendations to Eliminate the Internal Cherry Picker:
1. Just show up.

• Making it in to the gym can be therapeutic, in the way that the community can help you rally around tough workouts or dreaded exercises. Sometimes just setting foot inside can help get the process started. Work from point A to point B, versus point A to point Z. Just show up. But obviously don't "just show up." Be ready to go to work.

2. Learn to embrace the suck.

• This fitness stuff is hard. It's not like you're sitting on the couch eating a slice of cherry pie here. Sure, the movements you hate can turn into small favorites as you improve, but more likely, they will remain the movements you hate. No one is condemning you for disliking something in life. Particularly that which makes us sweat. The fault comes if you want to be stronger, faster, and healthier and you are purposefully avoiding the things that will help reach those goals. Find the right attitude and get after it.

3. Stop taking "I don't wanna" for an answer.

• Set your workout plan and stick to it. Make the time. Yes, listen to your body-- don't force workouts or activities during injury. Common sense still applies. But if you aren't injured, be honest with yourself and get to work. Stick to your weekly routine of set days, no matter what the programming calls for. Your coach has a larger scope in mind, and that's the best part about having someone else create workouts for you; you won't skip the stuff you really need.

It is the dedicated we see make great strides. And the devil is in the details.

Life isn't a bowl of cherries, after all. To be successful in life you have to take on every challenge, every obstacle that you meet. You can't just pick and choose the ones you like.

- Scott, 7.21.2014

The Jerk

The Jerk

The Jerk

It can make or break you, the Jerk.  It's that tiny difference between a successful lift and the feeling of utter failure.

There you are, having cleanly racked a barbell to your shoulders, spectators cheering your name, a few even shouting quick motivational cues. You can feel the positive vibes. All eyes on you. Your adrenaline soars for an attempted personal record. A deep breath in, you brace, you dip, you drive, you drop under, aaaand... you miss lock out.  Hopes fall to the floor like a barbell full of bumper plates.

What a jerk.

Just like our focus on the Snatch and the Clean from previous years, all pieces of Olympic Weightlifting deserve attention in our pursuit of fitness and athleticism. Specific goals include overall strength, power, and coordination, while maximizing ROM and focusing on results.

Which brings us to the Jerk. That aptly named element of Oly Lifting that exists as part of each summer Olympics.

Olympic Jerk

Usually in conjunction with the Clean, the Jerk is a completion of taking an implement (typically a loaded barbell), and moving it from shoulder height to overhead. But it also can stand alone as its own lift and the move deserves a focus in itself.

Particularly because the Jerk is a dream crusher.

It sucks the life out of lifters. To hit a Clean but miss the Jerk can be traumatizing. It cuts you down to size; it picks you apart like a bully. The Jerk senses your weakness, leaves you insecure, and talks shit behind your back.

Like any bully, it needs to be squashed. Yeah, sure, we all know bullies have their own insecurities-- the Jerk is always playing second fiddle to the Clean, nothing but a shadow in the highlight reel of the Snatch. But a jerk is a jerk and needs to be put in its place.

Hammer technique and positioning and you can defeat this brute of a bully.

A handful of start and finish positions can and should be utilized to stage a counterattack on the Jerk. The goal is to build power and muscle strength and also elicit a central nervous system response (memory of body position) for future development.

Pow, right in the kisser.

Split Jerk Silhouette, courtesy of CrossFit Peoria

Jerk Checklist: 1. Set-up 2. Dip 3. Drive 4. Drop 5. Finish (base change to catch position in power stance or split position)

Let's focusing on a couple of these steps in conquering the Jerk...

Set-up Feet flat under hips, bar sits on the shoulders with the grip slightly wider than shoulder width. (A Snatch grip Jerk is a great exercise, but if we're looking at finishing a ground-to-overhead movement, the Jerk will occur in the front rack.)  Elbows adjust to sit below and slightly in front of the bar. Stance is approximately shoulder width. With neutral neck position, head is tucked slightly back allowing bar to pass.

Drive Extend the hips after a short and purposeful dip before dropping under the bar.  An early drop leaks power.  Use the legs and hips to drive the barbell into the air and past the face.

Drop Also known as the "re-dip," dropping under the bar creates the movement as a Jerk versus just a press.  Actively drive your body under the bar by pushing with the arms to use the barbell as counter momentum.  This is an under-utilized portion of the Jerk, causing misses of the lift when in actuality the barbell was plenty high in the air above the forehead.  It takes confidence in getting under a barbell, and experience in being brave enough to drop without losing stability in the core and midline.  Keep the bar over the center of the body rather than pushing it forward and away from a solid shoulder position.

The Jerk

Again, we use Jerks and related movements at Amplify to foster athletic development, and we can safely perform the lift even while members are learning the movement. See a synopsis from CrossFit.com here.

There are also plenty of great technique and instructional videos out there. Use the following as a starting point:

California Strengthhttp://www.youtube.com/user/CaliforniaStrength

When discussing barbell jerk technique, like other Oly Lifts it's flat out essential to have visuals. So first up is a slow motion Clean & Jerk by Chad Vaughn. Next in line is Coach Mike Burgener, well-known CrossFit instructor and the resident guru of Olympic Lifting. Finally, you see a few videos of elite level C&J, both men and women.

Slo-Mo Clean & Jerk

Coach Mike Burgener (more start-up instruction here)

Hossein Rezazadeh World Record

2013 Women's World Championships

We will not be putting too much emphasis on the kettlebell, but KB Clean & Jerks are a great conditioning tool. They look a little like traditional barbell movements, with similar hip action needed, but are definitely their own exercise.

Kettlebell Clean & Jerk

If we look at the common errors in Jerk development, it would make sense to examine a few limiting factors. What we often find are flexibility/mobility issues, bar path errors, and poor footwork. Overhead strength and confidence might be lacking as well, which can keep an athlete from developing that experience and repetitions with the lift so necessary to make gains.

Mobility We've focused on this in the past, but it is always a recurring theme: maximize your flexibility and range of motion, and your missed lifts will become fewer and fewer (not to mention you'll remain safe through the lift).

• Work all movements overhead: strict shoulder press, push press, push jerk, and split jerk.
• Remember, dropping under in a jerk is a high-skill move requiring balance and coordination. Warm-up is needed, as well as drills to maintain active shoulders. PVC and light loads will help alert the joints, namely the shoulder sockets.

Split Jerk, courtesy of CrossFit Mildenhall

Bar Path In a front rack, if the bar is not moving up past the face correctly then the whole lift is compromised. (IE: the bar moves too far down and away from the body in the dip.) Drop the hook grip, drop the elbows slightly, but remain tight.

• Lose jerks forward a lot? You're probably lacking the upright upper body strength and positioning, and maybe even the confidence, to get a good drive on the barbell. Correct this while keeping your chest and shoulders up on the dip and keeping the bar over your midline.
• Actively push yourself under the barbell as you drop. Drive fast under the bar, finishing with your head through yet still neutral. Maintain active shoulders, even after the catch.
• Keep pushing the bar upwards and move your body accordingly to finish your lift, instead of chasing the bar around the gym.

Split Jerk, courtesy of Catalyst Athletics

Footwork Perhaps overlooked in importance is our footing while dropping under the bar in the Jerk.

• Push Jerk: Move the feet from your start to finish position, jumping to landing if that helps, with a slight move in feet. No need to land super wide; you may get lower in your drop but it doesn't necessarily help stability in the lower body.
• Split Jerk:  This is the go-to for most Olympic athletes to drop deeper for potentially heavier weight.  Keep the bar over your center mass and move your feet in a lunge as you re-dip.  Since we can't get as much elevation on a heavier barbell through the drive, this allows a lifter to get lower underneath in the catch. Feet go as wide as a Push Jerk, but obviously split-- keep forward shin mostly vertical and back knee slightly bent. Finish your lift by pushing the front foot back a shuffle, then the back foot moves to return feet under center. This keeps the bar from moving forward too much as the lifter stands up fully.
• Squat Jerk: Landing is similar to a Snatch Balance, but this is quite the difficult move requiring enough mobility for a narrow grip overhead squat. Drop is fully into a squat. Some flexible Olympic athletes can be seen using the Squat Jerk in competition.

Jerk Footwork, courtesy of CrossFit Invictus

Now get to work standing up to that Jerk. Stay strong, friends, and remember to seek help from a trusted adult if needed.  And if you happen to get knocked down, wipe the dirt off and get back up fighting. You'll be better for it.

-Scott, 7.7.2014

Jerk Store

Running, Part 3: Workout Programming

Running

In the last of this three-part series on "Running," we'll examine workout programming.

Part 1 looked at shoes & footwear, and Part 2 checked out mechanics with a quick checklist for form & efficiency.

This is meant to serve as a starting point in all three facets of running; obviously it doesn't encompass everything in the running world, but provides a little insight and aims to provoke thought for beginners and experienced runners alike.

Part 3: Workout Programming

Running can be fun. If you're good at it.

We looked at this a bit in Part 1 and Part 2-- running as a skill. Improved mechanics can increase speed and endurance. Just get good, right? Then you'll be on your way to the future... over the hills and far away from the land of bad habits where you once ran. Because excelling in something challenging like a sport or physical activity has its rewards. In the case of running, it's also the gain in fitness that people shoot for.

But even as a running and endurance coach, I will be the first to admit that in the 2oth and into the 21st century we have taken this concept a bit too far. The idea that if some is good, more is better. Well the cardio craze is a thing of the past-- the 8 Track tape to today's digital age. The old school mentality of fitness that never progressed. Marathon after marathon, endurance event after endurance event creates that type of high mileage, repetitive cardio that may negatively impact joint health and/or muscle development. Especially if other aspects of fitness are neglected.

That's why CrossFit makes so much sense. At least for the unspecialized athlete. And why cross training is of the essence as an avid runner or endurance athlete.

Oxidative training got a little focus in a previous Words of the Week article entitled MetCons. Quick review: While physical activity can be addictive, specifically metabolic conditioning, it's the type of conditioning you use and the frequency at which you use it that matter. High volume training is not the same as overtraining. If you train smart by providing enough stimulus for progress, but not so much that you overtrain, any oxidative stress from your training will not damage your health but instead will help your gains on the road to fitness.

For running programming, it's important to briefly cite a few schools of thought on speed and endurance development. Then we can examine the best way to incorporate running into a fitness program specific to CrossFit or for an athlete looking for overall fitness. Training an Olympian or collegiate runner is a different story in regards to programming. But in the general fitness pursuit, we can and should still borrow from the leading research and publications for elite level runners in order to keep up in this fast-paced world.

So let's hit the starting blocks...

Leading names and companies in the world of running this century include, but are not limited to:

Competitor Running Competitor Magazine has been a go-to for runners and triathletes everywhere, and has an excellent article on the 8 Basic Types of Runs. Simple and easy to understand, they list the following as a good explanation of styles of running workouts:

• Base Run - a moderate-length run taken at a runner’s natural pace.
• Recovery Run - a shorter run performed at an easy pace.
• Long Run - a base run that lasts long enough to leave a runner moderately to severely fatigued.
• Progression Run - a run that begins at a runner’s natural pace and ends with a faster segment.
• Tempo Run - a sustained effort at lactate threshold intensity, which is the fastest pace that can be sustained for one hour in highly fit runners and the fastest pace that can be sustained for 20 minutes in less fit runners.
• Fartlek - a Swedish word meaning "speed play," where the runner mixes a base run with faster intervals of varying duration or distance.
• Hill Repeats - repeated short segments of hard uphill running used to increase aerobic power, high-intensity fatigue resistance, pain tolerance, and run-specific strength.
• Intervals - repeated shorter segments of fast running separated by slow jogging or standing recoveries.

Runner's World Boasting a wide resume of great runners as writers on their staff, Runner's World has been a front runner (pun intended) in helping beginners with training regimens for quite a while. Like Competitor Magazine, Runner's World has even published articles regarding CrossFit, as seen below.

• How good of a workout is CrossFit?
• Is CrossFit hindering my marathon training?
• How to add CrossFit into running training.
• 12 Week CrossFit Endurance Program
• Super Running: The new way to train?

Jack Daniels Not the drink, but the exercise physiologist. (The drink is for after the workout.) Publishing his book, Jack Daniels' Running Formula in 1998 and refining it in 2004, Daniels has provided the quintessential look at Cross Country and Distance Running. He provides data driven explanations and leading training advice aimed at different running abilities.

Daniels is a perfect starting point for any pure distance runner and provides workouts that advance as you do.

Others There are also a slew of 5k/10k/Marathon programs set up by successful distance runners that emulate their personal training. The bad news is their workout programming (including weekly mileage, styles of runs, and strength work) was set up for their bodies, not the public. If there's a sure fire way to get hurt quickly it's by following mileage or intensity you can't handle.

Most of the running programs out there are all aimed at the running specialist, which most readers here are not. If you stumbled upon this write-up, chances are you are interested in running as a supplement to your CrossFit workouts, or vice versa.

Therefore, the best CrossFit/Running hybrid would take on its own look.

Just like any specialist athlete, a running specialist looking to supplement their sport with CrossFit will not dive in as deep into the variance. In turn, a CrossFitter will not put in as many straight running workouts each week.

So, taking a nod from CrossFit Endurance, we can use the mentality of keeping intensity and anaerobic training in the forefront while borrowing from the expertise of leading running gurus. Anerobic training has been documented in claims to have a positive effect on aerobic capacity, but the inverse does not. However, constant aerobic training can have a place, even in a CrossFitter's repertoire, and especially for athletes looking to gain running capacity or those toying with endurance races (5k's, Half Marathons, Mini-Triathlons, etc.).

A few sample weeks from yours truly are found below. This is a very simplified look and not one-size-fits-all; it leaves out progression in fitness or the possibility of races or other competitions. It also assumes the athlete can handle 6 days of exercise, many coming from intense CrossFit WODs. If this is not the case, then the sample weeks would not apply. A newbie would take an easier approach according to ability and fitness level.

SAMPLE WEEK 1

MONDAY CrossFit Workout

TUESDAY CrossFit Workout

WEDNESDAY Easy Base Run

THURSDAY CrossFit Workout + Tempo Run

FRIDAY CrossFit Workout

SATURDAY Long Run

SUNDAY Recovery Run or Rest Day

SAMPLE WEEK 2

MONDAY CrossFit Workout

TUESDAY Fartlek Run or Hill Workout

WEDNESDAY Recovery Run

THURSDAY CrossFit Workout + Short Intervals

FRIDAY CrossFit Workout

SATURDAY Long Run

SUNDAY Recovery Run or Rest Day

Specifics of the workouts themselves have been left out for the sake of coaching preference and focus of the athlete.

Also realize the best plan must be set for you, and you alone. This is what one-on-one coaching would provide, from a trusted coach and programmer. The best training plan would be one that is individualized, or at the very least geared towards the wants and needs of the athlete.

If you have just taken the step towards minimalist footwear and better running mechanics, it would be smart to drop down the mileage (if you're currently running) so fatigue doesn't just cause you to revert to old habits. If you consider yourself prepared and an experienced runner, supplement the running work with CrossFit, or your CrossFit workouts with running, in terms of one or two double sessions a week. Yes, even if you're busy.

In general, CrossFit during the week and hit running intervals that are short and sweet with great form. If you are a distance competitor, run your long runs on Saturdays. Let the rest fall into place with the help of a coach and a steady plan for nutrition and recovery.

So away you go. Your running future awaits, with lots to consider for footwear, mechanics, and workouts.

Stay healthy and run fast, my friends.

- Scott, 8.11.2013

Running, Part 2: Form and Efficiency

Running

In this second of a three-part series on "Running," we'll examine form & efficiency.

Part 1 looked at shoes and footwear, and Part 3 will discuss workouts and programming. The goal is to skim the surface of running culture, and especially to provide a starting point for beginners or those who have been facing nagging injuries (or a lack of success).

Part 2: Form & Efficiency

While running, only one thing has contact with the ground at any given time. Your foot. Just one foot, otherwise we've got more to work on than form and efficiency. It's this bipedal movement that sets us apart from four legged animals, so it made sense to focus a bit on footwear in Part 1. The next natural topic to examine would then be the best and most efficient way to move quickly while running.

To correct bad running form, sometimes we put the proverbial cart before the horse.

We worry about little things instead of major items. It's backwards thinking. We can't worry about a leaky sink if the house is on fire.

If anything, people say things to each other like "use your arms" or "keep the knees up." Both coaching cues are generally useless, unfortunately. It's like an inexperienced coach telling people to look up while squatting. Maybe it works... most likely it doesn't. We want the chest and torso up during a squat, not just the cervical neck. To fix the form of movement itself, we need to address the root of the exercise. "Globally" and then "locally," as termed by exercise physiologists like Kelly Starrett.

The same applies for running.

Funny enough, our bodies can actually find the most efficient way to move fast on our feet with extended exposure to the movement. Especially as a developing child. The more a person runs, the more their gait fixes itself, in a way. The body needs to process oxygen and cellular energy in the form of ATP, and also limit the impact of landing with gravity by absorbing that force through the foot into the leg. The two concepts in play here are running economy (oxygen uptake) and running efficiency (movement of the body).

In basic terms, if the body is spending extra energy or feeling the negative impact of running, it usually adapts.

Economy is developed with metabolic conditioning. While running economy requires a specialized development that a person can acquire through running workouts, conditioning can also be achieved in many ways besides just running. This will be discussed in Part 3.

With all this said, let's dive in to the smoke-filled world of running efficiency. Hardhats on. We've got some fires to put out.

Included below is a quick checklist; coaching is never one-size-fits-all in its philosophy. Just like a person's Clean & Jerk might look different in set up and form from their training partner, the same can be said for running. So let's understand that this is a simplified start. PLUS, the flipside and confusing part of this checklist is that there are many elite endurance runners who in fact have tendencies contradictory to these recommendations that wouldn't otherwise be taught or work for most runners out there. This just proves the point that each person is slightly different and in-person coaching is necessary.

Top 5 checklist that will set any runner off right:

1. Posture

• Stay tall. Focus your gaze straight ahead as much as possible.
• Keep your head at a steady height. This will help lessen the impact of landing. If we look at a runner's head and draw a line following the top of the head over a certain distance, is shouldn't travel up and down much at all. The term for this is oscillation.
• Keep the arms high and tight, but relaxed. Unless you are all-out sprinting, close the angle of the bent arm to less than 90 degrees.
• Watch so that the arms don't cross your midline, causing unnecessary action in front of the body. You don't have to move your arms as much as most people think... especially during longer runs.

2. Fall

• Bend at the ankle, not the hips. Keep the midline as intact as a Deadlift... pubic bone to sternum distance really shouldn't close too much while running.
• Use gravity. Let the biggest force in effect here work for your benefit.

3. Pull

• Pull the knee in front by using the hamstring. But only pull the foot under the butt high enough to make the next landing under the hips. (See #4.)
• Relax feet at the ankle joint. They should not point, and definitely should not pull up toward shin.

4. Land

• Run light. Avoid pounding or loud feet.
• Instead of reaching out in front of you, which ends in a pretty gruesome heel strike that travels through the knee to the hip, keep a steady running cadence with feet under the hips.

5. Cadence

• Aim for a running cadence somewhere around 180. To find your cadence, count the number of one foot strikes in 20 seconds and multiply by 6.
• Avoid taking strides that are too big. This is a misconception for more speed.

Other resources for good running form include Chi Running, Pose Running, and CrossFit Endurance.

While we're at it, we might as well break down the door to a few common running injuries. Axe in hand, let's very quickly address the burning issues some runners experience.

Crash course on running injuries, as they relate to mistakes in form:

• Get shin splits? Might be because you flex your foot up at your knee for miles at a time. That can fry out your muscles/connective tissue at the front of your lower leg.

• Get knee pain? Might be because you heel plant or your IT bands are tight. Get a foam roller on your IT's as much as you can. Check here for ideas.

• Get achilles pain? Few things: Might be you're scared to heel plant and have now started tiptoe running or you forefoot land too much. Or else your tight calves have transferred pain to the tendon. Or you just started into minimal footwear and went too drastic, causing a stretching of the achilles your body wasn't quite prepared for.

And so we have it. Running. All in all a much more enjoyable experience once you gain speed and endurance and can run injury free. We called the fire department to put out those blazing problems and can now get to fixing the little things. Next steps: learn more about yourself and what works and doesn't work, find an experienced coach to help, or contact us for a running analysis if you'd like.

Be sure to check out the "Running" finale in Part 3, where we'll focus on workout basics and programming quality runs into your week.

Then you'll be off and running like your hair is on fire.

- Scott, 8.4.2013

Running, Part 1: Footwear

Running

Running is a skill.

Something inherent to our nature, it oftentimes gets neglected in terms of form and efficiency. Just run, right? Put one foot in front of the other and go. But like any physical movement, there is an efficient way to run.

Funny thing is, we have enabled ourselves to become bad runners.

With the development of flashy running shoes and fancy adjustable treadmills, ironically we're going no where fast. Sure, we have the toys, but they've made us soft. We've become virtual thumb-sucking, spoiled little kids, crying for more dessert. In the last 100 years especially, we have put more cushion to our running than anything we'd truly come across in nature. A nice silky blanket for our feet. Which means as 21st century adults we run slower than diaper-butt toddlers.

No wonder people hate to run.

It comes out at times with a whiny tone and a pouty face. When pushed to run fast or in finding out that running is part of the daily workout: "Ohh... I hate running."

I generally shoot back, sarcastically, "That's probably because you're not good at it."

Nine times out of ten, this is true. Yeah, sure... there are people who are naturally talented runners and still don't like it very much. But in general, if you hate a physical movement it's because you don't excel at it.

Despite all the hatred, somewhere around 36 million people run every year. 40-50% experience at least one injury. So what's to blame?

In this three part series on "Running," we'll examine footwear, form & efficiency, and programming.

Part 1: Footwear

If we first look at evolution, running was highly necessary to stay away from predators or in the hunt for food. Centuries after that it became a means of transmitting valuable information when animals weren't available. And now, centuries after that, it is merely part of sport and competition, or a means to stay fit.

Most recently in that evolution, we decided to pad our precious feet for protection.

Sticks and stones may hurt my feet, but shoes will always haunt me.

Because, with the push for fitness, jogging became a craze. At least in America. Interestingly, many civilizations of the world haven't actually experienced the issues with running like some of the developed countries. They've been endurance running as part of life for generations with very little injury or overtraining. Think about it... "Jogging" as a term even denotes slow, methodical running. More on this in Part 3.

For Americans, it wasn't just Track or Cross Country competitions like we saw for years in the Olympics or in high school and college sports. This was now for prolonged exercise. Aerobic training for the masses. And the footwear prompted by this movement allowed people to do things while running that no person could ever do barefoot.

Heel plant. Land heavily. Shock the joints with shitty form. This making sense?

Shoes allowed many things to remain less than ideal: muscle imbalance, poor landing, inefficient stride... all to never improve.

No pain, no gain, right? Wrong. Just as bad as work shoes, running shoes were now changing our natural mechanics too.

In essence, the absorption of force sounds scientific and useful, but has ruined our innate development as human runners. Well, that and the fact that after not running for years, many adults pick it up without that inherent development at a weekly mileage that causes overuse injuries. And then people either look for more padded footwear or stop running altogether.

Since realizing this, the running society has moved back towards a shoe structure that mimics barefoot running and natural physical movement. In fact, Google search barefoot running, minimal footwear, or even CrossFit, and you'll get a slew of brand names that will put you closer to the ground. "Zero Drop" is a hot term right now, which you may already know. But going barefoot or wearing a zero drop shoe probably isn't the best for a runner putting in even just a few miles each week if they haven't been truly running like that since childhood.

This is why footwear begs to be discussed, at least briefly, in looking at the topic of running-- because of its impact on efficiency.

The bad news: going into minimal footwear after years of cushioned running shoes can be equally problematic. It will be shocking to the system, so a gradual move is smarter. If you switch from a supportive shoe to a minimalist shoe and keep running like nothing has changed, you'll probably just get hurt. This is where Part 2 and Part 3 will come into play.

The good news: it really isn't that complicated to find a shoe that works. If one doesn't feel good, move to another. Read up, take advice from people who are runners (not just salesmen pitching the most expensive shoe on the market), and test them out.

While there is not one perfect shoe or brand name that I can suggest to everyone in internetland, here are a few places to start. From a more cushioned shoe to a very minimal one, at least at this point in time. These are just links for pictures and quick write-ups, not necessarily the cheapest deal out there. And who knows how long the links will be active.

Minimalist Running Shoe Options:

Nike: Believe it or not, the Nike Free is actually one of the more cushioned "minimalist" shoes out there. They're just great at marketing. Men's. Women's.

Newton: A more expensive product, Newton boasts less overuse injuries with their patented technology. However, these are still very cushioned. Men's. Women's.

Reebok: Typically more of CrossFit shoe, the Nanos offer a little more cushion than the shoes below but do have a small heel drop in comparison to their "normal" running shoes. Men's 2.0. Women's 2.0. Men's 3.0. Women's 3.0.

Inov8: Marketed as more of a cross trainer, these came out with critical support especially in the CrossFit community and are an option when running too. Unisex sizing. F-Lite 232. F-Lite 195. Bare-XF.

New Balance: A great go-to for minimalist shoes, they developed their Minimus and improved it over the years. Generally a place I send people who are looking for a natural shoe, there are quite a few choices in terms of style and heel drop. Road Men's. Road Women's. Trail Men's. Trail Women's. Zero Drop Men's. Zero Drop Women's.

Merrell: Similar to the New Balance, Merrell offers a minimalist series they call "Barefoot." Road Men's. Road Women's. Trail Men's. Trail Women's.

Vibram: Those ugly toe-shoes that make people stop and stare, Vibram hit it big and then went through lawsuits for unsubstantiated claims. These are extremely minimal; basically rubber socks, and prove the answer isn't to go completely "barefoot" because that can be injurious itself.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list. Check hundreds of reviews at the NaturalRunningCenter.com and BarefootRunningShoes.org for more extensive listings, including other brands not mentioned above. Plus, many experts and running organizations provide info that may be worthwhile in articles such as "Should I Run Barefoot?" and "How to Prepare for Barefooting."

So there you have it. An initial look into the footwear of the old yet ever-evolving sport of running.

Looking ahead to "Running, Parts 2 & 3," we'll examine common mistakes and technique fixes in form & efficiency and then implementing running workouts in programming.

In other words, we drop the pacifier, learn how to run, and have some fitness for dessert.

-Scott, 7.29.2013

Squats

Squats

Love them? Or hate them?

It seems like some people are naturally strong-legged... they can squat the world and have glorious quad definition and a posterior chain to boot, while others can only wish for tree trunks instead of the feeble little twigs we call thighs.

But whether you're naturally thin or you're built like Atlas, if you put a barbell on your back (or front rack, or overhead, etc), you will benefit. Period. In fact, we were all born to squat. But most people aren't really born "squat kings/queens." For us mortals, if we put some work in, get good cues from a coach or through a little research, our body adapts. The compound movement of the squat is responsible for so much muscle growth and athleticism, it is a staple in every strength and conditioning program.

Heels down, knees out, chest up.

Here are a few of the many great sources of info out there in the internets regarding squats (of all kinds).

Starting Strength (with Mark Rippetoe): Recommended Reading... http://startingstrength.com/articles/squat_rippetoe.pdf

Elite FTS (with Dave Tate, et al): Recommended Reading... http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/powerlifting-articles/so-you-think-you-can-squat-part-1-and-2/

California Strength (with Glenn Pendlay): Recommended Reading... http://www.californiastrength.com/search?searchword=Squats&ordering=&searchphrase=all

Catalyst Athletics (with Greg Everett): Recommended Reading... http://www.catalystathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=109

The tough parts are how to squat (type), how often to squat (timing), and how/when to go heavy (progression). Low Bar or High Bar? Box Squats? Tempo Squats? Do Oly Lifts count? And should we even bother with Air Squats?

If your answer is simply "YES" to all of the above, you're right.

I'll leave you with this simple go-to: if you're into being strong and are not squatting, in some form or fashion, at least 3 times a week, you're missing out on your full athletic potential. Yes, all types of squats, including Oly Lifting, do count.

Now go. Decide on a program (or *ahem* let someone else do that for you), and get your booty on.

-Scott, 7.2.2012