Steve Whitmore

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Everybody Wants to Be a Lion...

When it comes to higher level fitness, you must understand why longer training is necessary.

I see a lot of programs online with tough-guy inspired themes. These plans promise to turn you into a lion, with names like tactical this or operator that. But as I said at the recent Strength Matters Summit in the UK – everybody wants to be a lion until it’s time to do lion shit.

SS Weekly Report November 9, 2015

The Starting Strength Weekly Report 2015-11-09: Topics from the Forums: “What is the correct way to prepare psychologically for a new PR?” and “Is the low bar squat sufficient for strength development in the receiving position for snatches?” This week Under the Bar: Making it happen. View report in browser View report archive var addthis_config = {"data_track_addressbar":true}; News AnnouncementsSubmit your images to enter this month’s Under the Bar prize drawing. Articles Is Physical Therapy Fraud? We pull up Rip’s article from 2013 discussing how major errors in approach make it completely ineffective for so many, so often. SS Coaches’ Updates & Blogs Listen to Jonathon Sullivan discuss health, strength training, and building strength in older populations on the CRO Podcast. Brent Carter on the Importance of Culture and Community in Training Under the Bar Lietennant Eric Ernst warming up for deadlifts at the Starting Strength Seminar that took place this weekend at the San Antonio Fire Department Training Academy. [photo courtesy of Tom Campitelli] Captain David Tundel at the top of a deadlift at the Starting Strength Seminar that took place this weekend at the San Antonio Fire Department Training Academy. [photo courtesy of Tom Campitelli] Blain Squats a PR of 385 at Feral Fitness in Saratoga Springs, NY. [photo courtesy of Feral Fitness] Emily Lori, a three time cancer survivor, returns to strength training 5 months post bone marrow transplant. Here she finishes her final set of power cleans. [photo courtesy of Fivex3 Training] Chris Kurisko hands off to Sidd Gotti for 5 second paused reps at 405. He’s preparing for the upcoming LA Expo where he will compete as a 275 lifter. [photo courtesy of Black Iron Training] Nick Sacco has been making great progress with the Starting Strength phone app and recently decided to improve his technique with the help of coach Cody Miller. [photo courtesy of Cody Miller] Gardiner Athletics Starting Strength intern Brendan training the overhead press. [photo courtesy of Kelli Nielson] Mom/daughter Lisa and Hannah deadlift together at Westminster Strength and Conditioning. [photo courtesy of Eric Shugars] Sarah squats 60kg. [photo courtesy of Carl Raghavan] Click images to view slideshow. Submit your images to report@startingstrength.com Submission guidelines to enter this month’s Under the Bar prize drawing. Best of the Week What is the correct way to prepare psychologically for a new PR? Supraspinatus I would like to hear your opinion regarding the right way to prepare myself psychologically for a new PR, getting “in rage” and removing any sings of hesitation and fear before approaching the new weight. Mark Rippetoe Depends on who is making the PR. Karwoski had his own method. A 75-year-old lady on her third week of the program just lifts a heavier weight because her coach loaded it on the bar. You will develop your own methods as you work through the program, as part of the learning process. Chris Kurisko You have to master the execution of the lift and do the requisite preparation work. As long as you have done that, you just have to not mess up. If you have followed the steps of linear progression, you should know what you are capable of doing. A big mistake I see novices making is forgetting about what the hell they are doing. Almost all tweaks and errors I see during heavier attempts come from not paying attention. Stay focused on every single rep. Mark Rippetoe One of the biggest mistakes I see conventional (non-technique-trained) lifters make is the focus on what they are lifting—i.e. what’s on the bar—instead of how they plan to lift it. The heavier the weight, the more focus there must be on the technique, specifically the part of the lift you know you must pay attention to. Psyche can be a huge distraction. Focus on the technique you must execute. Best of the Forum Is the low bar squat sufficient for strength development in the receiving position for snatches? Grinder I have a question regarding low bar squat (LBBS) preference versus high bar squat (HBBS) when training the olympic lifts. Do you believe it is unnecessary to train the full range of motion for the movement being performed in competition with the squat? In other words, do you feel that cleans, snatches, and front squats, alone, are adequate to train the body in the deepest positions? I would think that it would be beneficial to train the deepest portion of the squat, the receiving position, in order to develop maximal strength for the lifts, but then again, I don’t know as much as you—and I really don’t mean that sarcastically. I realize that LBBS allows more weight to be lifted, and thus, builds more strength, so I can see it being a reasonable trade-off. I’m just curious to hear your perspective. Mark Rippetoe I believe it is necessary to train the full ROM in the competition movements, and that it is necessary to train the front squat separately. I believe, with all my heart, that if a person can squat 350 with the bar in any position on the back, that a 200 snatch will not be a problem for SQUATTING in any position or ROM. It may be a holding-overhead problem, but that is a PRESSING strength problem.

The High Road to Accreditation

Nicole Carroll explains how ANSI accreditation reflects CrossFit Inc.’s dedication to the highest standards of excellence in the fitness industry.

Certification programs, such as the Certified CrossFit Trainer (CCFT/CF-L3) credential, are commonly used to evaluate and recognize the qualifications and competence of individuals. When a certification program is of high quality, it can be an effective way to distinguish those who are qualified from those who are not; however, not all certification programs are of high quality.

How does one determine the quality of a certification program? Accreditation of certification programs is one way. During accreditation, a certification program is evaluated to determine if it meets recognized industry standards in such areas as impartiality of program governance and the reliability and validity of assessment.

Currently, certification programs can seek accreditation through two primary organizations: the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Many certification bodies in the training industry have opted for accreditation by the NCCA; CrossFit Inc. has chosen ANSI. This article describes the two accreditation programs and highlights why CrossFit chose ANSI accreditation.

Sit Better to Move Better

Changing how you sit while resting can have huge benefits for health and mobility.

We can talk technique, sequencing, and programming, but the truth is, if you want to move better, you need to rest better. Exercise and rest are two sides of the same coin, but few trainers really address rest and leisure.

Just like any instrument, your body needs to be tuned from time to time. Luckily it has its own built-in tuner. Or it did, until we decided to spend our entire waking life in a chair.

Scientists link repeated hydration with sugar-sweetened beverages to kidney disease and early death in Central America.

It’s called La Isla de Viudas: Widows’ Island.

The name comes from the rural sugarcane-worker community of La Isla in Nicaragua, where thousands of men have died from the same epidemic over the last two decades. All perished of chronic kidney disease, referred to as “CKD,” and researchers estimate the overall death toll in Central America is at least 20,000. The condition targets working-age men, most of whom labor in the region’s ubiquitous sugarcane fields.

“It’s what we call ‘chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology’ ... so it’s been a big mystery,” Dr. Richard Johnson said during a Nov. 7 presentation at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week conference in San Diego, California. Johnson is a professor of renal diseases and hypertension at the University of Colorado Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Further exacerbating the workers’ condition is their hydration drink of choice: sugar-sweetened beverages, a class that includes soda, sports drinks, juices and other fluids to which sugar is added. More often than not, workers turn to soda in many Central American countries where clean drinking water is unavailable or soda is cheaper than bottled water.

Johnson—along with 13 other scientists—investigated the mystery, and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases published their findings on Oct. 5.

“If you drink a soda for hydration, you are killing your body,” Johnson said. “We know that soda drinking increases the risk of kidney disease.”

3 of the Best: This Week's Top Articles, Vol. 6

These pieces have caught your attention throughout the week. So here they are in one place for you to consume, digest, and enjoy.

Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven days. So here they are in one place for you to consume, digest, and enjoy.

The Mental Side of Injury: How to Adapt and Overcome

Injury can be like a mental bomb going off in your head. Here are some strategies to work through it, get better, and stay sane.

Often when I’m talking with people, I mention the activities and training I engage in. When I ask if they train or play sports, their standard answer is, “Well, no. I used to, but I got injured. If you had an injury like me you wouldn’t be doing all that stuff.”