Right now, CrossFit faces challenges that no playbook illustrates. Here’s how I’m making sense of it all.
I have nothing against the Olympic lifts. They’re fantastic movements that create explosive power. It’s just that there are safer alternatives that still force the lifter into triple extension.
Where part of the problem lies is in the assumption that a single should always or usually be heavy or maxed. The single, the heavy single, and the 1RM should really be seen as three different terms entirely.
I don’t know exactly where this concept came from—that they are essential to athletes’ being explosive and strong. I do know that this concept has grabbed on tight and locked into the heads of coaches for decades. I say let’s cut to the chase and trim the fat.
In layman’s terms, dynamic effort can be described as fast, explosive movement. This seems simple, but many people get lost between “fast and explosive” and “movement.”
In one of his most detailed podcast discussions yet, Dr. Bryan Mann shares a number of discoveries he’s made about athlete training and the use of velocity based training.
The optimal way to enhance an athlete’s power is by creating a force-velocity profile designed to address the athletes’ specific needs. When time does now allow for this, there are simple, safe alternative methods you can use.
The Olympic lifts will develop strength, speed, and power, but this is dependent on a few things you must do for your athletes.
This six-month training block for a young man (program included) explains everything you need for half a year of size and strength gains.
Do these beloved training movements contribute to soft tissues injuries more than they improve athletic performance? Before you make up your mind, hear me out.
Effective training programs to use on your team during the competitive season.
With attention to detail, effort, and intelligent progressions, Olympic lifts can be both enjoyable and highly effective in developing a range of physical qualities.
My view is no other exercise delivers as much for sports performance.
Three mobility drills specific to Olympic Weightlifting
Using static holds for Olympic lifts can improve technique and allow for more comprehensive coaching
Coach G returns to talk about the building blocks of strength and conditioning.
It is imperative that we don’t become narrow-minded and biased when choosing how we train our athletes.
Strength, power, and speed are all interesting concepts on their own, and each has its place in a strength and conditioning program.
Olympic lifts are one of the most polarizing topics in the sports performance world.
The following is a program that I’ve put together over the last few years by doing research and trial and error (otherwise known as ‘under the bar’ research).
I’ve heard people say it takes too long to teach the full Olympic lifts correctly and that an Olympic lift with poor technique isn’t safe or effective.
Lately, I’ve been reading many articles and different points of views pertaining to the Olympic lifts and their use in training athletes
I’ve found that I have the best alone time when walking my dogs on a nice morning. A few days ago, it was unseasonable warm here in Pennsylvania, and I was spending some quality time with two of my dogs. I started thinking about training.
This week’s EliteFTS Spotlight features University of Pennsylvania strength and conditioning coach Jim Steel. Coach Steel is a former college football player with an extensive powerlifting background.
You might disagree, but hear me out on this. As an ex-college football player and currently a strength coach, I’ve found the utilization and teaching of Olympic lifts to be tedious, inefficient, and downright boring. As a college athlete, I hardly found the patience to learn the correct lifting technique for the power clean. Although I held the St. John’s University power clean record in my freshman season, muscling 335 lbs (152 kg) off the platform, my technique was completely flawed. My attempt looked more like an axle clean and press in Strongman than the smooth pull of an Olympic weightlifter.
For as long as I have been involved in sports and training, I have seen more cookie cutter training programs than you can shake a stick at (and that’s a lot).
Question 1: I’d like to thank you for all of the helpful tips, but this is where we’re going to crash. As an athlete, I’ve been performing the Olympic lifts since middle school. I use them with the athletes I train from day one and haven’t had any problems.
