But there is a few ‘givens’ that seem to appear every time, so let’s take a look at some mobility techniques that can make sure we move through these as quickly (and safely) as possible

Box jumps – Calves are the big ones here. Really make sure you have done good calf stretches before doing repeated explosive jumping movements. Get your foot up against a pole, heel into the ground and stretch them out, at least 2 mins per side!

Burpee’s – There’s not a lot to say about burpee’s…. maybe give your wrists a good stretch in all directions, they will take a lot of impact.

Double under’s – Same applies here as for box jumps, calves!

Power snatch’s – normal snatching warm up drills and mobility. Make sure those shoulders are nice and mobile. Also take some time to work on your upper back (thoracic spine) extension, to make sure you can catch them with a nice upright chest.

C2B pull ups – some tip’s for AFTER C2B’s on this one. Unless you have mastered those beautiful, flowing butterfly C2B’s, you are likely to be using a lot of arm’s to make each rep count. Make sure you roll out your bi’s and tri’s before and after.

Power clean’s/full clean’s – speed under the bar will be critical for high rep power clean’s, or even heavy full cleans. I see too many people get lazy and muscle clean even heavy reps (myself included) and injure their wrists. Mobilse your triceps and lat’s and upper back, to make sure you can easily get into your front rack position quickly, and don’t forget a quarter squat or half squat is still a power clean!

HSPU’s – They arrived for the first time last year, and everyone went into melt down. If you can do them, great! But expect some sore tricep’s afterwards. Roll them out over a barbell in a rack, it hurts, but it will help you recover faster.

Deadlift’s – probably served up at relatively low weight/high reps (unless there is another ladder), it’s important to really get the hamstrings stretched out. You will be moving fast, so remember to keep your core and torso strong for every rep. You may want to get a ball into your lower back once you are done, to aid the recovery process.

Wall balls – Try and get your squat position really mobile, enough to keep your chest nice and upright with the ball, without lifting shoe’s on. The weight is light, and it might be coupled with another movement that might not be good with lifters (DU’s, box jumps). Work on ankle mobility, hip’s and glutes.

MU’s – Shoulders shoulders shoulders. Such a dynamic movement, probably being done under considerable fatigue, is a recipe for injury if you haven’t got your shoulders moving. Stretch them forwards and backwards with a band. Also think about getting into your pec’s, to allow you to ‘open up’ when you swing into the next rep.

Thrusters – Left until last, just like Castro does every year, the thruster will almost certainly be involved again in 2016. Getting the tricep’s stretched out with a band to help keep the elbows up in the front rack is crucial here. Warm up your squat, and your overhead position too, this really is a full body movement.

These are just some tip’s on what to try out. If you need help finding effective ways to complete this stuff, talk to your coaches, they are here to help!

Coach Mason Dannatt

The post Staying mobile during the CrossFit Open appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Let me break it down for you.

The open all started in 2011 and it was originally designed as a tool to find the fittest person on earth. Crossfit wanted to find the fittest male and female on earth but how could they achieve that?

Introducing the OPEN:

5 weeks. 5 workouts.  Test your fitness and then submit your scores online against anyone else in the world!

THE TEST OF FITNESS:

For the world’s best Crossfit athletes, the open is the first step in becoming the fittest on earth. The top competitors advance to the regionals stage where they compete against the best from their region in a new set of workouts. And finally they take part in the Crossfit games which is the ultimate test of fitness!

OPEN – For everyone and anyone!

REGIONALS– Top 40 from each region

GAMES – Takes the top athletes from each region

IS THE OPEN JUST FOR ATHLETES?

Not at all! The open is for everyone in the world to have a go. For 99% of people who aren’t crazy athletes the open is about having fun and celebrating fitness in your community. It’s designed to be accessible for athletes of all ages whilst still being challenging enough for those at the top level! People from boxes, garage gyms and anywhere they have the equipment can do the workout. Since 2011, the open has rapidly expanded and last year 272,000 people signed up for the open! From there you can see the scores of everyone in Australia, Victoria or even just your own box.

OKAY, SO WHAT ARE THE WORKOUTS?

Two words. DAVE CASTRO. If you have been around Crossfit long enough then you will have probably heard his name. He designs the open workout each year. And every year they change so we have no idea what he will come up with next! As a guide the open workouts will be fairly simple and require minimal equipment. Each workout will have both an Rx (as prescribed) and a scaled version to challenge people of all levels! Over the years the workouts have developed and new movements and standards have been introduced. Here are a few examples of previous open WODs:

7 min AMRAP:

Burpees

27-21-15-9:

Thrusters

Row (calories)

12 minute AMRAP:

150 Wall balls

90 Double unders

30 Muscle ups

All the previous open WODs can be found online and can include snatches, cleans, pullups, squats and anything else you can think of!

SO WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

games.crossfit.com

It’s $20 to sign up but it’s worth it for the experience alone! You can sign up to your gyms team and represent your Crossfit box during the workouts. Workouts will be released on the Friday and will explain everything you need to know including the standards and how you write up your score. At Crossfit Victoria we will be doing the workouts on Friday night and Saturday morning and the atmosphere will be like nothing else you’ve seen! When you’re ready we will give you a judge, turn the music up and throw down with everyone else around the world!

YOU’VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE!

The open is easily one of the most exciting times of the year as it brings the Crossfit community together from all over the world. So join the global fitness community and take on the open workouts! Learn a new skill, improve on the skills you already have, have fun and push yourself to a place you’ve never been before.

The open officially starts on February 25^th so sign up now and I’ll see you there!

About the Author:

Coach Adam is a CrossFit Coach and specialist Strength and Conditioning Coach.

He holds a degree in Exercise Science with a Masters in Strength & Conditioning.

The post THE OPEN: BREAKDOWN! appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

AMELIA’S ARTLICE

Goal setting is only the first step. The hard part comes after you have set your goals! This article is here to provide you with tips for staying on top of and achieving your goals:

BE CONSISTENT

Bad habits are easy to form but difficult to live with and good habits are difficult to form but easy to live with. Start 2016 off by building good habits through consistency, routine and patience. Want to do 3 sessions a week? Then do it. Find a way. Set alarms, organize your time and go for it! Be patient and let your body get used to it and soon 3 sessions will be a normal habit. Who knows it could even turn in to 4 or 5 sessions!

TALK TO YOUR COACH

Always talk to your coach! Tell us your goals. Explain everything to us. We are here to help your reach your goals no matter what. There is nothing more exciting as a coach than to see people coming in early and putting in the hard work before and after class. Ask your coach for any advice whether it’s a progression for a movement, a mobility exercise or any questions on nutrition or lifestyle! Having someone there to communicate with and keep you accountable is vital and will hopefully help you keep your goals on track.

BUILD THE FOUNDATIONS

With any movement in Crossfit, you need to build a solid foundation. Remember the first time you snatched? Spending weeks with a PVC pipe and a barbell learning technique? That was to build a solid base and to get your body ready before loading weight on the bar.

Want to get your first muscle up? Instead of just jumping up onto the rings and trying to do a muscle ups for 30 minutes…spend time increasing your pulling strength with strict pullups and improving your technique with muscle up transition drills. Building the foundations and working hard on the movements will help you get closer to your goals!

STAY HEALTHY AND INJURY FREE

This seems so simple but it can be one of the hardest parts. With more training and hard work comes a greater need for recovery. Nothing will put a stop to your goals quicker than an injury. Train smart, train hard, move well and look after your body when you’re not training.

As coaches we know that sometimes life can get a bit crazy but you should always find the time recover. Take time to work on your nutrition, make sure you get quality sleep and spend time stretching and mobilizing. Give your body everything it needs so you can stay healthy and be able to keep working towards your goals.

SACRIFICE

If you want something you’ve never had before then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before. This is the part not many people will tell you about. Want to reach your goals? Nothing beats hard work and commitment. If you want the best from yourself then there may have to be some early mornings, late nights and time spent doing the extra work. Want to get to those 3 sessions a week? Don’t ignore your alarm, get up and stick your goals. All the effort will be worth it when you reach your goals!

So…don’t be that person that makes a list of goals and then forgets about them! Use the new year as a starting point. Set your goals and go after them no matter what it takes!

About the Author:

Coach Adam is a CrossFit Coach and specialist Strength and Conditioning Coach.

He holds a degree in Exercise Science with a Masters in Strength & Conditioning.

The post TIPS FOR ACHIEVING YOUR 2016 GOALS appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

About the Author

Coach Kate is a CrossFit Coach a Swimming Coach and comes to us with an incredible sporting background representing Australia as a 100m butterfly specialist!  Kate also brings a wealth of competitive CrossFit experience and knowledge to the team at CrossFit Victoria.

The post 6 FREE Beach & Pool Workouts from Coach Kate appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Well, as long as you take your favourite workout shoes with you (and maybe your jump rope), then you should be just fine.

Depending on where you visit, you are bound to find a CrossFit gym that you can drop in on. Make sure to call or email them first, and have fun trying out a WOD elsewhere.

But what if there are no CrossFit gyms around? Well, here is where the “triplets” come in. And some couplets, too!

Many classic CrossFit WODs are couplets or triplets, mixing 2 or 3 movements into AMRAPs, rounds for time or chippers (google “crossfit the new girls” for some ideas). These WODs can be a great starting point for workout ideas whilst on the go. Some do need equipment, but with a little improvising, together with a countdown timer on your smartphone, you’ll be good to 3-2-1 go!

Another way to put a workout together is to pick 2 to 3 exercises, like bodyweight movements, together with some exercises that need minimal equipment (eg. pullups or rows on monkey bars at a park, a kettlebell for swings or some dumbbells for pressing), and mix up the rep counts for each movement, aiming for 3 to 5 rounds for time or an AMRAP of 10 to 20 minutes.

Here are some movement ideas:

Push ups

Pull ups/rows

Burpees

Lunges

Situps

Air Squats

Double unders

KB swings

DB push presses/push jerks

Planks (instead of reps aim for time, eg 30 secs per round)

Running

And here are some workout examples:

5 rounds for time:

5 pushups

10 squats

15 KB swings

Or

AMRAP 15 min

9 burpees

15 sec plank

21 double unders

The combinations are endless!

Sometimes having so many combinations can be a stumbling block to getting going, so keep it simple. The important thing is to stay active and moving. Chose a handful of movements, pick a simple rep range and come up with 3 WODs that you can do consistently whilst you are away.

Being away from the gym doesn’t mean keeping active has to stop. And if you decide to do burpees, eventually, you may find that you actually like them after all!

Happy holidays : )

About the coach:

Coach George is an RKC Level 2 Kettlebell coach.

As well as loving all things Kettelbell, George is a Doctor by day,

a certified Strength & Conditioning coach and a CrossFit Coach.

The post Holidays, trips and triplets: Coach George Iacono appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Firstly lets define what SCALING is.

A scaled WOD does not mean we are making the workout easier. It actually means we are changing the workout so it can suit your individual needs whilst still getting the same benefit as the programmed workout.

Knowing when to scale up or down during a WOD is important for any athlete to continue to progress while staying healthy and injury free. Finding the perfect balance point is the key. If the weight is too light then you fly through the wod easily. But then if the scaling option is too hard then you end up standing around the whole WOD and lose all intensity, sound familiar?

Here are my four hot tips for knowing when to scale in a wod!

1. RESPECT THE PROCESS:

I still remember it took me almost 6 months to RX my first workout! Was It frustrating? YES! Because from the moment I started Crossfit all I wanted to do was Rx a workout. But I had to be patient.

Think back to when you first learnt to drive. You didn’t just jump in the car and go for it because that would be crazy! You took your time, learnt all the different steps and then slowly became more comfortable driving. Now you don’t even have to think about it.

It’s the same with Crossfit. Enjoy the process. Learn and progress at your own pace. Soon that 40Kg clean will become automatic and you won’t even have to think about it. Trust the process and enjoy the small victories! Trust me, trying that workout before your body is ready will not be fun. If you respect the process then you will be ready to Rx that workout before you know it!

2. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY:

Everyone has good and bad days.

Some days your body is feeling sore and every lift feels heavy! Remember that’s OKAY. Everybody recovers at different rates.

Then there are other days where you are well rested. You had a good sleep, you’ve fuelled your body and the bar just seems to fly up! These are the days when you can push.

If those 60Kg deadlifts feel really good in the warm up then try that weight for the 10 reps in the WOD! If you are feeling tired and tight then be smart and take some weight off the bar. Finding out when your body is feeling good or bad will come with experience and sometimes you have to be honest with yourself. Doing that WOD Rx after a few big days of training isn’t always the best idea and can potentially lead to injury. So remember listen to your body and when it needs to let it recover!

3. ASK THE COACH:

Remember that person that yells at your during a workout when all you want is to be left alone? That is your coach. And they are the best person to ask when you need any advice. A coach is the person who watches your movements, knows your strengths and weaknesses and knows when they can push you that little bit more. It’s so simple. Ask your coach!

A coach sometimes knows your body better than you do. If you have no idea of what scaling option to use then I guarantee your coach will already have a plan! If a coach tells you to take weight off the bar then it definitely isn’t to stop you doing the workout Rx. It may be to help you move safely and efficiently or to allow you to maintain the intensity in the workout. When you are ready to Rx that workout then your coach will know!

4. DON’T PRACTICE THINGS IN WORKOUTS:

Remember that time you hit that new movement for the first time? I still remember my first overhead squat like it was yesterday! Nailing a skill for the first time takes a lot of practice, effort and patience! Now think to when you did that new movement in a workout?

One of the biggest mistakes I see is people trying to practice new movements in a WOD. Doing your first handstand pushup and doing 50 in a workout are two totally different goals.

Use your free time to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Try a workout with lower reps where you can focus on the skill when you aren’t so fatigued. With a bit of patience and consistency, when that skill comes up in a WOD in the future you know you will be ready!

There we have it guys! REMEMBER take your time, stay safe, put in the hard work and the enjoy the results!

About the Author:

Coach Adam is a CrossFit Coach and specialist Strength and Conditioning Coach.

He holds a degree in Exercise Science with a Masters in Strength & Conditioning.

The post 4 TIPS FOR KNOWING WHEN TO SCALE. Coach Adam Earnshaw appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Everyone has a different body and therefore a different threshold, so I would strongly advise against looking to the person next to you and thinking if they can do it so can I! Thresholds can be dependent on several factors including strength, age, life experience and previous sport experience. The aim is to stay on the safe side of your threshold in order to get the most of your training. Now that doesn’t mean that you get to coast along not pushing yourself it means learning to be in touch with your body and learning to know when it is time to push and when it is time to rest.    Here are a few tips and tricks I have learnt along the way to monitor my body and to help me determine good versus that bad pain;

Use a scale of 1-10 – For me a 10 means you will need to drive me straight to an emergency room and therefore equals bad pain! Lactic acid threshold workouts that include max effort intervals with short rest or Crossfit Open workouts such as 14.5 and 15.5 equal about an 8 this type of pain will hurt will put you flat on your back, and may leave you struggling to walk for a day or two but also has me thinking maybe I’ll give that another go before the leader board closes. Pain scores that are rated at a 5 -7 are usually associated with workouts that have movements that I don’t like or that my body finds difficult to execute, and pain that is scaled between a 1-4 are usually things like papercuts, stubbed toes or cutting a cuticle too far. Workout what your 1-8 is, then if your scale ever reaches a 9 or 10 ensure you stop what you are doing immediately and seek professional advice.

Daily body and mind scan – First thing every morning I assess how my body and mind are feeling by listening to a mindfulness audio file.  Whilst I listen I automatically ask myself do I have any sore spots? If so how long have they been sore for? What exercises did I do yesterday or the day before? How is my mood?  If I wake up and I’m feeling happy, but sore the dull and achy kind all over my body, this equals good pain.  However, if I wake up and I am tired even though I have had enough sleep, my left ankle is sore it is a sharp pain and has been that way for a couple of days, my mood is a bit grumpy then this is a sign of bad pain which I need to do something about.  Generally speaking, if your whole body is sore, the pain your feeling is dull and achy but it subsides in a few days this is more likely to be good pain, if a specific area is continually getting sore or has a sharp than this is more likely to be bad pain.  Additionally, your unconscious mind is likely to be more in sync with your body than you are aware, so keep an eye on your positive versus negative thoughts.  If you notice yourself having negative thoughts or just a bit flat, combined with feeling more sore than usual then it may be time to have a rest day.

Keep a record – Given how many things I try and fit into my day it is hard to figure out what I had for breakfast let alone what I rated my pain to be, how my body and mind are feeling and what workout I did yesterday, with what weights. To help me I use this funky little app called myWOD it allows me to log my WODs, record my weights and make comments on how I feel.  Which means that I can figure out things like if my back is sore a day or two after doing deadlifts every time, maybe I need to get my coach to check my technique or maybe I need to roll out my hamstrings a bit more.

At the end of the day determining good pain versus bad pain can be hard but if you learn to know your body, it will help and remember always talk it though with your coach so they can adjust the program to suit your needs.

About the Author

Coach Kate is a CrossFit Coach a Swimming Coach and comes to us with an incredible sporting background representing Australia as a 100m butterfly specialist!  Kate also brings a wealth of competitive CrossFit experience and knowledge to the team at CrossFit Victoria.

The post Good pain versus bad pain (not the obvious stuff) – Coach Kate Lynch appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Strongman is lifting large, heavy, and usually awkward objects, and quite often moving them over some distance.  Simple right?  Unlike the Olympic lifts, a high degree of mobility, agility and precise movement patterns aren’t required to participate.  To use a famous phrase, many of the techniques take a day to learn, but a life time to master.  The reasoning behind this is that most of the techniques mimic very instinctive, human movement patterns.  It’s how our body wants to lift the weight, rather than how we are taught.

Now let’s look at how strongman fits within the Crossfit model.

1. Constantly varied – absolutely.  Different weights, rep ranges, time domains, and then the obvious, the objects themselves will vary dramatically.  For example, we all know how to strict press or push press a barbell, but what happens if it’s a stone, a yoke, a log, an axle bar, an anvil, a PERSON?
2. Functional movement – we could argue strongman movements are the MOST functional movements you will use in the gym.  Not everything in life has a barbell to grab to pick it up, it’s likely to be far more awkward than that.  Picking up a heavy bag of concrete or wheat or rice and loading it into your car.  That’s strongman.  Carrying logs back to camp for a fire.  That’s strongman. Carrying your husband into the emergency ward because he fell down the stairs.  That’s strongman.
3. High intensity – most strongman events in competition have a time cap of 60-75 seconds.  Anyone who has competed will be able to tell you that those four 60 second events were some of the toughest of their life.  The heavy weight involved, and functional nature of the movements will demand everything from your body in those 60 seconds.

Many of the skills we have learnt in CrossFit are used in strongman; deadlift, squat, press, and clean for example.  But applying these to odd objects is where it can be most beneficial to your everyday training. If you can get a 100kg concrete ball to your shoulders, just think how easy a barbell will be?

So now you are excited to give it a shot, how do you get started?  Firstly, just like CrossFit, everything is scalable to your level, so don’t be put off by the fact you can’t carry 4 times your own bodyweight on a yoke straight away, try starting with just your own bodyweight, or less.  Talk to your coaches about learning the fundamental technique on the different implements, just like we do with CrossFit, then start light and build up to heavier weight.

Secondly, Strongman’s unfortunate title suggests you have to be strong and a man to participate.  This is absolutely NOT the case.  The sport is open to EVERYONE; all sizes, ages and genders.  Just this weekend, a lady dead lifted a 240kg axle and wagon wheels, then lifted an 80kg atlas stone over a bar 7 times in a minute.  It was awesome to watch!

For those more interested in general fitness and health, or improving their physique; short, regular bursts of high intensity activity has been proven to improve physical health and fitness in many ways and reduce the likely-hood of disease.  Increasing our lean muscle mass is the best way to increase our metabolism and in-turn, reduce our body fat.  You can achieve both of these things through ‘strongman’ training.

There will always be people who fear the chance of injury when lifting heavy (we’ve all come across those Crossfit critics), but as we know, with correct technique, strongman improves one’s functional strength and this will reduce the chance of injury during everyday life tasks.  This means it’s not limited to the ‘young and supple’, it’s beneficial for all ages!  Carrying heavy shopping bags, loading them into the car, and lifting them up onto the kitchen bench will seem an effort no longer.

It is a really exciting time in the sport at the moment, with new opportunities for anyone to compete locally, state wide, nationally and internationally, at both novice and advanced levels.  But even if competing doesn’t interest you, the best part about strongman is it’s FUN!  Get together with your friends and lift some heavy things.

The post Strongman: the not-so-graceful art of moving heavy things. appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

You either love them or you hate them.

In my eyes Pull-ups are the king of bodyweight movements and there is nothing more impressive than watching an athlete effortlessly complete a set of pull-ups.

Whether it’s strict or kipping, pull-ups are one of the most common gymnastics movements used in CrossFit and a skill everyone should learn to master.

Regardless of your training background and your goals, pull-ups can always be improved.

Whether you can rep out 20 strict pull-ups or are still searching for that elusive first pull-up, this article is for you.

1. Work on your strict pull-up!

Its time to increase your pulling strength! Strict pull ups are an essential training tool and one of the fundamental steps for developing the kipping pull-up.

The strict pull-up is a simple movement and can be scaled so anyone can do them. They are great for developing strength through the arms, shoulders and back and can increase stability in the shoulder girdle required for kipping.

In the long run increasing your pulling strength is going to directly transfer over to kipping pull-ups!

Here are a few ideas to improve your strict pull-ups:

Negative reps – Start at the top of your pull-up and slowly lower yourself to full lockout.

This movement will help you build eccentric strength throughout the whole range of the movement.

Try 3 x 5 and try to lower down slower each week!

Banded pull-ups – When used properly bands can be effective in developing the strength for pull-ups.

Use a lower resistance band than for a workout and focus on control throughout the whole range of motion. Add in 5 sets of 5 for some extra work!

2. Get some hang time!

Sounds simple? Just jump up and hang on the bar. At first you feel great but after a while those forearms start to burn! Grip strength is an underrated part of pull-ups and an area that everyone needs to train.

Imagine doing pull-ups in the workout and having to break up your sets because you cant hold onto the bar.

If you’ve built up the strength to do pull-ups then surely you want to show it off?

Try completing 5 x 20sec hangs on the pull-up bar and see how you go.

Build up the duration as you progress and hopefully it will give you that advantage in a WOD!

3. Do your accessory work!

We have talked about building strength in the strict pull-up but we can also spend time working the muscles required for the pull-up.

Even though the movements aren’t exactly the same they can still assist us in developing the strength and stability we are looking for.

Try these exercises out:

Scapular Pull-ups – Not only a great warm up exercise but also a fantastic way to build stability, grip strength and teach us to activate when initiating our pull-up.

Try 2 x 10 reps as a warm up for pull-ups.

Ring rows – These bad boys will help us strengthen our backs and are just as hard as pull-ups when you do them right!

You can change the resistance of the movement depending on your foot position but the focus should be on completing the full range of motion and keeping the body in one straight line.

Add in 3 x 8 to your training and add reps when you feel up to it!

Single Arm rows – Another great exercise to improve unilateral pulling strength and stability at the shoulder joint.

Grab a dumbbell and complete 3 x 10 each side focusing on control and squeezing between the shoulder blades.

4. Don’t forget the Kip!

Once you have built up the strength and mastered the strict movements you can start to work on your kipping pull-up.

The kip is an important part of gymnastics and isn’t just about swinging on a bar!

Gymnasts have amazing control over their bodies and I believe it’s one of the reasons why it transfers

over so well to CrossFit.

When it comes to mastering the kip, being able to maintain a tight ‘dish’ and ‘arch’ position will be vital to your success.

Having control your body will not only assist you with pull-ups but all kipping movements (eg. Toes to bar, muscle-ups) and increase your efficiency in a workout!

When we lose control of our body then we expend more energy, which could be needed to finish off those last few reps.

Dish and arch holds – Master these two positions to improve your kip.

Coach Amelia shows us these positions below!

The focus should be on keeping everything tight and pushing the lower back into the ground in the dish

position. Try 3 x 15sec holds and feel your midline fire up!

Kipping on the bar – Once you feel comfortable with these positions you can jump on the bar and try them out.

Start with a small kip to keep the dish and arch as tight as possible!

With practice you can start to make your kip bigger while maintaining your efficiency.

REMEMBER build the foundations first, work your weaknesses and master the gymnastics kip to take your pull-ups to the next level!

Practice is key and implementing these tips and exercises a couple of times a week will assist you in reaching your goals.

About the Author

Coach Adam is a CrossFit Coach at CrossFit Victoria and CrossFit Reward.

He holds a degree in Exercise Science with a Masters in Strength and Conditioning.

The post 4 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PULL-UPS appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.

Since the introduction of CrossFit there has been a huge increase of interest in the sport due to the high demand required for being strong and moving weight for high repetitions.

With CrossFit growing at a rapid pace as a sport we are seeing more and more coaches out their teaching these movements, but do they actually know how to help someone get the best results with their lifts or are they just teaching them because it’s their job??

Over the years of being a competitive weightlifter and a coach myself, I try and take every opportunity to learn from someone else.  No one knows everything but everyone knows something and that something could help you as either a coach or an athlete.

I recently went on one of Adventurefit Travel trips to watch the Crossfit Games and see the big Apple and one of my favourite things that Bill includes on his trips is the opportunity to train and learn from an experienced weightlifting athlete or coach. For this trip, we originally had Russian Weightlifter Apti Aukhadov who is the silver medalist from the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 85kg category but due to a few issues he was unable to make it to the States, but Bill made a plan and he organized for us to go to Mikes Gym and be taught by Mike Burgener (Coach B) himself.  Coach B is a senior weightlifting coach for the United States and the head of CrossFit weightlifting.

Like I said. Take the opportunities that are given to you and take onboard new ideas that are going to make you a better athlete or coach. Which is exactly what I did when learning from Coach B.

 The 3 key points to being a good weightlifter.

“MOBILITY – SPEED – STRENGTH”

These were the 3 simple words that stood out to me while being coached by Coach B.

1. MOBILITY – Being flexible is one thing, but are you mobile?? Are you able to move into positions and perform movement patterns with no restrictions through your range of motion? Weightlifting puts your body in some crazy positions, which is what makes the sport so amazing! If you have any mobility weaknesses then they will be exposed once the loads start getting heavier. “Ankles, knees, hips, thoracic, shoulders and wrists “, they all matter so you need to take care of your body!

2. SPEED – So you have become mobile but the next question is…how is your speed? Can you move around that bar fast enough to make the movement efficient? What you need to remember is that the barbell is an object and it will only move when you move it! Keeping the bar close and going up in a straight line is what’s going make your lifts more efficient. You are a lot faster than the bar. You control the bar, the bar doesn’t control you.

“You control the bar, the bar doesn’t control you!”

3. STRENGTH – The one thing that every weightlifter and Crossfitter wants from the beginning is to be strong. Yes strength is important because it creates a great foundation to actually moving weight, but if you are not mobile or fast, it makes weightlifting that much harder. The world of strength and conditioning is evolving as the years go on and people are getting stronger and stronger with so many new methods and approaches to getting strong. There are a countless number of styles and strength cycles all over the world and they all work but it comes down to how consistent are you with your training and which strength cycle works best for you?

Lastly just to touch on technique…

No one has perfect technique nor is there perfect technique that can be taught. Yes, there is a guide and a way of performing the snatch and clean&jerk but each individual athlete moves differently. With regards to coaching that athlete, it will all come down to how well the coach can work with how he/she moves to make them perform to the best of their ability.

The sport of weightlifting and Crossfit is forever growing and there will always be room for improvement!!

Shane Zunckel

About the author.

Shane is a Level 2 CrossFit Coach at CrossFit Moorabbin and CrossFit Victoria.

He is passionate about all things Olympic Lifting and regularly competes in Olympic lifting and CrossFit competitions.

The post 3 key points to being a good weightlifter – Shane Zunckel appeared first on CrossFit Victoria, Melbourne, Fitzroy.