Adding explosiveness to your bodyweight excersizes

When doing bodyweight routines there is an endless amount of leverage we can put against our body when lifting/moving it.
To make something easier we limit the range of motion of the bodyweight exercise. (for example doing "girl" push ups in stead of having a full body extension.) This makes the lever or the force put against out arms significantly less.

To make it much more challenging we need to start by having a feeling of weightlessness during the movements and then actually become airborne during a movement. (for example during a clapping push up you are required to produce much more force to get that extra 6 inches of movement in the push up without any further pushing) the clapping is just a hand speed thing.

similar to the explosive lifts the way you create the force needs to be calculated, and thought about. Just like a deadlift, powerclean, or even muscleup. The force you create needs to be getting faster and harder as the movement goes into full extension. If you explode right from the ground although you may still lift from the ground you will have wasted most of your acceleration during the portion that you should have still been pushing, But on the other hand if you begin pushing slowly and get faster and faster throughout the movement until the fastest point of just leaving the ground you will have maximum height in which you can clap your self silly.

Similar to doing a sprint workout (which is a standing equivalent) you must make sure you are properly warmed up before doing explosive work, this typically means doing the same activity at a slower speed, and completing full range of motion movements (or form work) before hand.

To give example almost any exercise can be made explosive:
pullups---- clapping pullups
squats----- jumping squats
situps------ V-snaps
and the list goes on....

As a general guideline you should have the basic movement mastered before you add explosiveness to it. because the catch position can be dangerous for an athlete without the muscular power to contract and catch their full bodyweight.

Performance eating seminar

Coach D will be guiding all levels of athletes to maximize their potential through eating healthy. Using "Zone" principles to achieve goals. The zone diet is a life style diet, if you need to gain weight you will gain, if you need to loose you will loose, those with a health body composition will set new personal records in all aspects of fitness.
In 2.5hrs you will cover things such as reasons to choose the zone or any meal plan, GI, different levels of commitment to meal plans, weighing and measuring for your body, making a weekly meal plan, selection of foods, grocery shopping, fitness and nutrition and much more.... to finish with actually preparing a days worth of food for coach!

Cost $40

Limit 10 people (If you confirm and don't show up, you will be expected to pay the next time you come to train... zero tolerance) first come first serve!

RSVP with Coach D Directly by email/phone/facebook

Nicole Carroll's zone experience:

I never thought what I ate mattered. I was thin and muscular. My athletic performance was decent. I generally felt pretty healthy and happy. So I was skeptical about diet having any kind of real impact on anything. For my whole life I had been eating a lot of whatever the hell I wanted and seemed to be doing just fine. But I did have a sense that this wasn’t true for everyone and that as a trainer, people would be asking me questions about nutrition and diet. I knew CrossFit prescribed the Zone diet so I bought the books, read them, got my measly block prescription and tried the diet. The deal I made with myself was that for two weeks I would weigh and measure precisely. If after two weeks I wanted to go back to eating the way I was before I could. No guilt, just an experiment.

Four weeks into the Zone diet, I was stronger and faster than I had ever been. I had lost fat and gained muscle. My benchmark workout times decreased, and my pull-up numbers increased. I hit PRs in deadlift, back squat, and push jerk. I had more energy, recovered more quickly, and could push harder more often.

POST YOUR PERSONAL ZONE EXPERIENCES! or questions

heavy lift prescription

heavy lift prescription:

this is a prescription for a 5-5-5-5-5 strength workout
the first 5 sets are all warm up sets do weight almost as quickly as one can rack weight on the bar (except last set)
last warm up set and work set (5x5) take 2-3 mins between sets (as you become a stronger lifter reaching the intermediate advanced and elite level you will require more time for maximal lifts)

if the movements are new don't go for your 100% max on day one use some time to develop form.
use the warm-up to determine how much your going to lift if you don't already know.
take small jumps in weight in movements as to not reach a plateau small jumps will allow you to slowly gain more strength needed to add additional weight.

% of goal weight to lift
weight ---Reps-- Sets
45lbs -----5------ 2
40% ------5------ 1
60% ------3------ 1
85% ------2 ------1
100% ----5 ------5

Strength days a very important part of crossfit training!

Grip!

Video is great for a laugh, but he is one of 5 men in the world able to close a number 4
also a champion arm wrestler who broke another strongmans arm with a spiral fracture during an arm wrestle (an amazing feat)

definitions: chopped and pasted from gripboard!

Crushing Grip - Closing difficult grippers
Pinch Grip - Lifting heavy things pinched between the finger and thumb
Thick Handles - Lifting heavy things by holding a thick handle
Bending - Bending nails or metal rods

Crush Strength and Grippers

The standard measure of crushing strength discussed is usually the ability to close Ironmind's "Captains of Crush" grippers. Closing the "#3" is a goal that many strive for, and takes a lot of training for most people to accomplish. There are a number of different gripper manufacturers,

Pinch Grip

Pinch grip is the grip used when we squeeze things between the thumb and the other fingers.

Thick Bar

In general, "thick bar" means lifting weights on bars at or over 2" in diameter. There are a number of variations - one or two hands, revolving or non-revolving bars, and thickness from 2" to 3", and smooth or knurled bars.

Bending

Bending generally means bending metal nails or section of rod into a U shape. There are a variety of techniques

Why have strong hands?
To lift any object your hands are always going to be involved. hands becoming fatigued is the reason most people cant lift heavier objects. (its not the legs that are tired, its the hands)
climbing to new heights as a rock climber, grip is the limitation.
doing the common uncommonly well, being that uncle that has a bone crushing hand shake!
doing repeated pullups or heavy deadlifts, grip is the limitation.
Strong wrists will be a side benefit of bone crushing strength. (allowing to support more weight for many movements)

How to get strong hands (and pain free)
This is the million dollar question. There are many different training aspects from doing crushes, and pinches and extensor work, so you wont get tendinitis. All of which need to be built evenly. The hand by its nature is always making multi-joint movements, but these movements mainly overworking crush grip can expose you to some risk of tendinitis. feel free to mix up the grip training in a similar way we run the benchmark girls with no real rhyme or reason except that you haven't done something in a while (meant its time to do it)

Certified Captain of Crush

Rules for Closing a No. 3 or No. 4 Captains of Crush Gripper

1. The gripper must be an authentic IronMind Enterprises, Inc. Captains of Crush® Gripper.
   
2. The gripper cannot have been modified or tampered with in any way.
   
   
3. Chalk (magnesium oxide) may be used on the gripping hand, but rosin, tacky, etc. are specifically disallowed.
   
   
4. The free hand may be used to position the gripper in the gripping hand, but the starting position can be no narrower than the width of a credit/ATM card, and the gripster must show the official that he has an acceptable starting position by using his non-gripping hand to slide the end of a credit/ATM card in between the ends of the handles. Once this is done, the official will give the signal to remove the card and begin the attempt. Any contact between the non-gripping hand and the gripper as the card is being removed will invalidate the attempt, and the non-gripping hand must stay at least a foot from the gripping hand at all times during the squeeze. Similarly, nothing may be in contact with the gripping hand or the gripping arm from the elbow down (for example, the free hand is not allowed to steady the wrist of the gripping hand or hold the spring, etc.). The entire squeeze must be clearly visible to the official: the gripper cannot be closed while blocked from view and then turned and presented as already closed.
   
   
5. The gripper must be held with the spring facing up.
   
6. The handles must touch completely.

Trainer @ 100 lb
No. 1 @ 140 lb
No. 2 @ 195 lb
No. 3 @ 280 lb (173 people in the world verified)
No. 4 @ 365 lb (5 people in the world verified)

Tabata Strategy

Tabata Intervals consist of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest. This cycle is repeated 8 times (for a total of 4-minutes). Although Dr. Tabata used a mechanically braked cycle ergometer, you can apply this protocol to almost any exercise. A few popular examples include hitting a heavy bag, sprinting, jumping rope, or performing bodyweight calisthenics (ex. squats and pushups).

After just 6 weeks of testing, Dr. Tabata noted a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity along with a 14% increase in V02Max. These results were witnessed by physically fit athletes. Many tests are conducted on de-conditioned subjects, which leads to results that are difficult to evaluate. Dr. Tabata's test was much more effective, as it produced a positive response on individuals who were already in shape.

This form of training is also effective for fat loss. Tabata Intervals will raise your body’s metabolic rate long after the exercise session is completed. You will continue to burn fat throughout the day. Many recent studies have confirmed that the powerful "after-effect" of interval training is much more effective (for fat loss) than low-intensity, continuous exercise.

As mentioned, the Tabata protocol can be applied to almost any exercise. The most obvious choice is outdoor sprinting. For example, sprint 20 seconds, then rest (walk) 10 seconds, and continue until you have completed 8 x 20 second sprints. Always begin with a moderate warm-up and cool down session.

when doing squats and other measurable exercises many people will count reps and set a goal within the 20 seconds of how many reps you can accomplish. This can only really be done after you have done a max effort version of the Tabata.... this will also be an easier way to track your progress than testing V02 max or any other or the correlates of success... I always test work capacity.

Add to comments something you would like to Tabata!

Ten and Ten for Ten (max hips)

10rds (for time)
10 Glute Ham Situps
10 1.5 pood KB Snatches (5 per hand)

I haven't really felt like Ive maxed out my hips in a few days so here it goes!

notes: Hands felt great after 100 snatches , one more large snatching effort and I will do my 30/30 snatches to nearly finish off my level 2 CFN testing!