Strength: sumo deadlift 1RM

Assistance: overhead squats 3 x 8, lunges x 75

Metcon: 21-15-9 of front squat and pull ups

Strength: back squat 3 @ 70%, 3 @80%, 3 @ 90%

Metcon: 3 min AMRAP of 3 power cleans (70/45), 6 push ups, 9 ring dips. Rest 1 min, repeat 6 times.

I tried this metcon out on the weekend and it’s the dips that really punish you on this work out, especially straight after the push ups. Post times to comments.

Strength: Dips 5-5-5-5-5 or bodyweight dips or negative dips/ring dip combo

Skill: Power clean practice

Metcon: 15-12-9-6-3 of power cleans and bar facing burpees

FYI: Happy CrossFit birthday to me… first class was Nov 2nd last year, despite ageing horribly in the past twelve months from 5.20 alarms it’s been a tip top year. Big thanks to all my morning athletes

Thursday 18 August

Mobility: personalised

Strength: CrossFit Total – back squat 1RM, overhead press 1RM and deadlift 1RM

I’m sure I’ve said it before but I love doing Total – who doesn’t want to know how heavy they can lift? I set the guys off with their own mobility asking: what do you need to work on? Mostly the athletes went for perfect air squats preparing their inner depth-meters for the first lift.

Since we’ve embarked upon a more regimented strength programme in the name of greater progression – the back squat and overhead press were new to some of the group so we used the session to hammer out some practice on 5′s and 3′s.

So in the excitement of it all I didn’t manage to get some of the 7am totals so please post to comments. The rest were as follows:

Rita: BS 55kg, OHP 28kg, DL 80kg = 163kg/359lbs

Ruairi: BS 130kg, OHP tbc, DL tbc = tbc

Mel: all tbc

Lindsey: all tbc

Helen: total = 175kg/386lbs

Sally: total = 202.5kg/446lbs … get the ol’ girl’s musings on the session here

James: BS 80kg, OHP 45kg, DL 110kg = 235kg/518lbs

Alex: BS 110kg, OHP 57.5kg, DL 145kg = 312.5kg/689lbs

Jenny: BS 77.5kg, OHP 25kg, DL 90kg = 192.5kg/424lbs

Patricia: BS 85kg, OHP 35kg, DL 100kg = 220kg/485lbs

Trev: BS 160kg, OHP 55kg, DL170kg = 385kg/848lbs

Go TEAM indeed!

Tuesday’s photos (the workout was overhead squats followed by hero workout ‘Holbrook’ – 10 Rounds of 5 thrusters, 10 pull ups, 100m run, 1 min rest with 20 min cut off – most got 6 to 7 rounds)

Thursday’s session…

Mobility: Samson stretches and scorpions

Strength: deadlift 1×5 and weighted chins 2×6-8

Skill: turkish get-ups with dumbells, kettlebells, plates and barbells

Finisher: squat clinic – plate squats

Didn’t manage to post on Tuesday but catch Sally’s account of the session here. It was dynamic effort on the deadlift and a kettlebell snatch and ring dip metcon combo. Pictures below. Go TEAM!

From Tuesday…

How should your feet be placed for the squat?

Probably before you got to CrossFit you’d keep them fairly close and toes forward. Then we got you to place them shoulder width apart and turn the toes out.

However, this is now in question, thanks to a few videos posted to www.mobilitywod.com. CrossFit mobility man, Kelly Starrett, threw a spanner in the works and suggested that toes should, instead, be facing forwards to reduce the chance of valgus knee movement (knock knees or damage to the outside of the knee) and to build tension and maximise torque in the hip during squatting.

His opinion disagrees with so many notable names:

Mark Rippetoe would have your “toes point out 30 degrees. Feet at shoulder width”.

Gray Cook believes “the best and strongest foot position in a regular squat is with an out turn”.

Powerlifters like Louie Simmons would get you to turn your toes out, as would record breaker Andy Bolton who suggests the toes should be “turned out 10 to 40 degrees”.

With so much unsubstantiated hearsay in strength training, it’s worth highlighting exactly why so many prefer the toes-out position.

By widening your stance and turning your toes out you open up the hip allowing the femur to move more freely and thus allowing for greater depth. In addition we want to keep the knee safe, as coach Greg Everett states:

“We squat toes out to match the direction of the thighs to ensure the knee is hinging not twisting”

He also argues that the only real threat of valgus knee movement will come when the stance is too wide. Otherwise the knee remains “supported by the lower leg vertically”.

So what’s a confused CrossFitter to do? What’s the answer? Where the hell should my feet be?

Well as you might guess, it depends.

If you struggle with flexibility then a toes forward position may not allow for sufficient depth. Inflexible ankles, tight hamstrings or hips will all benefit more from a wider stance with toes out. At least to begin with.

Suffering from a groin injury? Then the toes forward narrow stance may allow you to continue squatting through your injury.

But with each of these scenarios as flexibility and squat strength improves, the athlete may benefit from experimenting with foot stance and position. It all becomes a matter of trial and error on what works best for you given your personal fitness and any limitations you have.

If you switch up your position from time to time you can switch up the muscle emphasis to some degree. In other words hitting different muscles around the hip and making your overall squat stronger. Toes out will involve the adductors (groin muscles) to a greater degree, toes in will recruit more of the lateral musculature – those of the outside of the leg.

Whatever position you choose or prefer bear in mind the following standards:

• Ensure the thigh and foot are aligned to ensure safe hinging of the knee
• Ensure that your foot position does not compromise safe posture such as forcing a rounded back or collapsed chest
• Always make sure you are squatting as deep as you can with good form. We aim for a full range of motion at the hip, like all movements

What’s right for you could be less than ideal or even unsafe for the athlete next to you. Different limb lengths or limitations mean that foot position is not a one-size-fits all matter.

Tuesday session:

Mobility: arm circles, scapular wall slides

Skill Warm Up: double under form, deadlift form, push/split jerk form

Strength: push/split jerk 5-5-5+

Metcon: 10 minute AMRAP of 10 deadlifts and 10 double unders

Finisher: static ring hold competition.

Well done to Jenny, Helen and Patricia who all conquered double under technique and then went fully as recommended for today’s metcon. Go TEAM!

Thursday morning:

Mobility: dislocations, pec mobilisation drill, overhead squats

Strength: overhead squat 5-5-5+

Skill: unilateral strength work - lunge variations

Finisher: hamstring strength test

I wanted to spend some time working on the unilateral strength of the athletes today.

The lunge allows us to address bilateral strength issues – it is often the case that we see people with one side stronger than the other. In addition it is also a great way to train balance and by throwing in different variations of the lunge we can alter the loading on the midline and other stabilisers to offer up some nice little challenges.

Finally, a finisher to test hamstring strength – some glute ham raises. Why?

Well certainly not for some isolation work but this movement is a great indicator of how weak you are back there (i.e. posterior) and whether this is an area that needs some work, especially if you have problems driving the hip back during the squat.

Our safe word: CRAMP! When they’re weak and tight they can cramp up during this one. All were warned in advance. Go TEAM!

Tuesday morning session looked like this:

Mobility/Warm Up: scapular push ups, deep box lunges

Form/Skill: box jump technique, push press technique

Strength: deadlifts 1×5, weighted/assisted chins: 2×6-8

Metcon: 3 rounds of 12 push press and 21 box jumps

Today’s deadlift component was used to work on some form. For those who were not already aware of the hook grip we went over how and why it’s used. Whilst the alternate grip is the sturdiest, it is not symmetrical and loads the shoulders and elbows differently sometimes leading to problems so should be reserved for only your heaviest sets with the hook grip being utilised the rest of the time. Yes those thumbs feel like they’re going to explode but you do get used to it. In addition we spoke about breathing during the lift and how to brace the abdomen ready for take-off.

I encouraged all to go heavy for the push presses on the metcon. It was only three rounds after all. Go TEAM!

After heading back from a wunderbar weekend in Berlin it has been a busy ol’ week so finally made it back to the blog.

Rather than recap Tuesday, I’ll send you to Sally’s blog to read about the team workout, which I also joined in on. Well done Eric… we rocked!

The Thursday session went like this…

Mobility: toe touches – side to side, deep lunges to elbows low, squat to stands, leg swings, prone scorpians

Strength: deadlift 1×5, weighted or assisted chins 2×6-8

Skill/Assistance: barbell roll-outs, ring roll-outs, weighted planks

With focus on the front squats at the moment I’ve been reading around ways to help improve this movement for our athletes since most of the fails seem to be less about strength and more about other limiting factors such as wrists or perhaps core strength.

So the Thursday focus was on the later – the core, or if you like, our mid-line stabilisation. The idea being that weak core (including abs, obliques and erector spinae group amongst others) will contribute to a lack of stabilisation or too much over-arch in the back during the front squat as we fight to keep ourselves upright.

Commence a trio of movements that look much easier than they are. Isn’t it usually the case? Hopefully as we continue to look for ways improve on our front squat we’ll start to see some improvements as we keep pushing the numbers up. AND maybe soon Ruairi and I will learn to love the front squat as much as we do the back! Go TEAM!