Week 11 of 16 Olympic Lifting and Russian Squats

COACHES COMMENT:

“Our obstacle is that we live in an attention-deficit culture.  We are bombarded with more and more information on television, radio, mobile phones, video games, the Internet.  The constant supply of stimulus has the potential to turn us into addicts, always hungering for something new and prefabricated to keep us entertained.  This lead to the most common error in learning: to take on too much at once.

Everyone races to learn more and more, but nothing is done deeply.  Things look pretty but they are superficial, without a sound mechanic or principle foundation.  Nothing is learned at a high level”  

This is and extract form a book I’ve just finished reading called “The Art of Learning, by Josh Waitzkin,”  and I think it applies to a lot of what we see in the gym.  Many of us are always in a rush to get the work done but fail to stop and take note of how movement feels and where improvements can be made. Every single repetition is a chance to learn, experiment, test and improve.  Making small changes to the setup of a movement and the position of the body can potential make a movement easier or harder?  Experimenting with different positions and taking note of what feels easier or harder is always a good idea.  Taking video selfies is a great way to get a better perspective of how you are moving, many of us feel that our form is good, but when you watch it back you might be surprised with the true picture.

Going through the motions isn’t helpful for most things, and it’s especially harmful when working toward improving control over your own body.

All movement requires strength, mobility and motor control. Many of us focus on the strength and flexibility elements of exercise, but fail to understand the importance of motor control and the ability to coordinate and control the mind and muscle connection.  What muscles are you training?  Where should you feel the exercise?  Why can you not activate certain muscles?  Some members make certain movements look easy, and yet when you try them its far from easy, why is that?…   Are you missing strength, mobility or motor control?  How can you improve this?

When many of us first start following a well structured training program we quickly start to see improvements.  The first 6-12months our strength improves and our technique gets a lot better.  Then we seem to hit a wall and the progress starts to slow down.  It becomes a lot hard to make small gains and this is where a higher level of focus needs to be put into action.  Simply performing the movement without taking the time to learn about the movement is going to limit your potential.  If you want to continue to make gains you need start paying more attention to every single repetitions and start experimenting with movement.  A good example of thinking about a movement was posted here:  My Deadlift Mantra.

RECOMMENDED WEEKLY READING:

Article of the week: GMB:  Body Control Fundamentals – What They Are and 3 Tactics To Improve – Motor Control is a technical term concerning exactly how our bodies move to perform a particular task or motor skill. It involves the interaction of the sensations within the body and outside of it, and our initiation and continuation of a movement based on the feedback we get from these sensations. There’s a world of research and science exploring the details and specifics of what’s happening when we learn and perform physical activities.

Awaken Adult Gymnastics: How to Have a Perfect Handstand – A perfect handstand is one of the most technically challenging skills to master. More than a single leg squat, or a muscle up or even a manna, which demand more strength and flexibility, the handstand is all about precision. And precision doesn’t happen overnight.

Awaken Adult Gymnastics: How Gymnastics Takes you Deeper in Body and Mind – The more you do in gymnastics, the more you become aware of the brain power it requires. This mind to muscle communication is happening in the Central Nervous System, the communication highway of the body, and when both mind and body are getting a workout this way, it’s doubly exhausting.

Four Hour Work Week: 5 Morning Rituals That Help Me Win The Day – What does your morning routine look like?  The little things in life matter.

Precision Nutrition: Nutrition for injury recovery – For most athletes and fitness professionals, the idea that nutrition can play a powerful role in injury recovery makes perfect sense. Yet when injury strikes, very few know exactly how to use nutrition to improve healing.

Strength Sensei: My Take on Carbohydrate Intake – Updated – You need to deserve your carbs. How many grams of carbs you can afford will be determined by levels of muscle mass, volume and intensity of training, percentage of body fat and insulin sensitivity

CrossFit Hackney Levels Spreadsheet

CrossFit Hackney Russian Squat Programme

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Week 10 of 16 Olympic Lifting and Russian Squats

COACHES COMMENT:

Making a good salad is never as easy as you think it’s going to be.  You’d think that a mixture of lettuce, veggies and dressing would be simple enough to master, but alas, the DIY version isn’t quite like the polished restaurant version.

When Alice Sims first walked into Momentum Training she was so keen to join the team that she offered “+/- 4 hours a week to assist you in whatever needs doing, I am an expert in wiping sweat from mats, toilet cleaning and salad making.” Who could have imagined that Alice would soon become such a valuable part of the coaching team?

Over the last couple of years Alice has made serious leaps and bounds in her coaching skills, personal training sessions, and her own level of strength and skill.  When Alice first started work at Momentum we were confident in her positive energy and enthusiasm, she was a healthy serving of greens. We were however a little concerned she may be missing the vital ingredients to become the whole salad – the successful coach.   But Alas, those brutal “Alice-cons,” those motivating screams during the tough WODS, the Yoga stretches, the killer P.T sessions, the mothers classes and the Alice day care center quickly created the right recipe.  Alice has certainly become a polished favourite at Momentum for so many of our members.

It takes a special type of person to be a successful coach and trainer, it’s not exactly the dream job that everyone imagines.  Alice has done the hard yards, the early starts, the long days, and the huge demand for constant positive energy, motivation and support to members and clients.  As owners of Momentum we have come to rely on Alice and placed a lot of trust in her from the early days.  She stood up to the pressure and has certainly made her mark at Momentum Training.

As most of you know Alice has decided to move back home to the Australia to try her luck on the sunny side of the globe.  She will be missed by so many of us at Momentum and we would like to take this moment to wish her all the best for the future.

If your in the gym this week please make the effort to say goodbye to Alice and share your words of appreciation for all the hard work and effort she has put in.

Thanks Alice xx

RECOMMENDED WEEKLY READING:
T-Nation: 5 Ways to Turn Food Into Muscle, Not Fat – Carb Restriction is Bad News – Insulin can make you fat or it can make you lean and muscular. It all depends on whether you’re insulin sensitive or insulin resistant. Without optimal insulin sensitivity, all that protein you eat never gets delivered to muscle. Instead, a lot of it goes to fat.

Carl Paoli’s top 5 tips to get you your first kipping muscle up:
Loose the false grip – The false grip is uncomfortable, limits shoulder flexibility/mobility and makes your kipping muscle-up look ugly. Use a pseudo-false grip, similar to a hook grip, but with your thumb outside your fingers.
Tight is light – Don’t kip the sh** out of it with your beat swings. You want to keep the rings as still as possible and tighten up your swing.
Eyes on your feet – As you kip your hips towards the rings in the pull up, you need to be able to see your feet. In other words, your shoulders should be high, and your feet should be lower to maximise the turn-over speed.
Pull your heels to the butt – Gravity should take care of your turnover if you use the gymnastics leavers correctly. Your job is to keep the legs straight as you rise in the pull-up and then bend your knees and pull your heels to you butt (tuck) to speed up the turnover and remain light in the movement.
Drop and pump-kick – Another big advantage of pulling your heels to your butt equals the right position to kip your dip.

* The Kipping muscle-up should come after the strict muscle-up and not before. Just like kipping pull-up must come after the strict pull-ups. Build the strength before adding the plyometric is a MUST.

T-Nation: The Best Chest Exercise – Most people think the bench press builds the best pecs. Well, most people are wrong. The dip is the best chest exercise.

Suppversity: Trying to Lose Fat & Get “Toned” W/Out Training or Diet? – So what? Well, melatonin is a hormone, not one with that builds muscle, but as the study at hand proves one with non-debatable

Mercola: 10 Things You Think Are Healthy, but Aren’t – If you have any of these “healthy” or at the very least innocuous-seeming items around your home, you may want to think twice…

CrossFit Hackney Levels Spreadsheet

CrossFit Hackney Russian Squat Programme

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Week 9 of 16 Olympic Lifting and Russian Squats

COACHES COMMENT:

Some people like to flaunt their lack of sleep like a badge of honor.  It’s like their personal gold star of productivity, their statement that their time is much more valuable to waste on sleep. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” Keep going on this path if limited sleep and this may be sooner than you think.

These “masters on the universe, these financial gurus, or big business employees, don’t appreciate that sleep is not just a valuable commodity; it’s literally the currency our body runs on.  Studies have show time and time again that to be our most productive, a good night sleep is essential.  It’s not a luxury – it’s a necessity.

Good sleeping habits are the structural foundation of our energy levels.  If the structure is weak, then eating well, exercising regularly, managing stress, and following all the best strategies on offer will never replace a great night sleep.  Did you know that cheating sleep make you more prone to diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety? Oh yeah, and lack of sleep makes you dull and fat.  Yes, studies have shown that people who sleep less than 7hr per night store more body fat than those who do.

By getting adequate sleep (8+hrs), you will perform better and feel better, and your energy levels will soar.

Looking for better ways to get a good night sleep?

RECOMMENDED WEEKLY READING:

TedTalk: One more reason to get a good night’s sleep – We spend 1/3 of out lives sleeping.  When you sleep it clears your mind and when you don’t sleep you leave you mind foggy.  Every cell in your body need resources to produce energy and also needs resources to take away the waste products.  The lymphatic system clears away the waster through the body, but there is no lymphatic system in our heads?  How does the most active organ (our brain) clear away the waste?

Ergo Log: Little Sleep, Fat Midriff – If you sleep less than 5 hours a night your body builds up more fat reserves than if you sleep 6 hours or longer each night. If you are under 40, at least – the effect of too little sleep is less the older you get.

Vitamin D Council: Vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of respiratory infections – With an average death toll of about 200,000 people a year from influenza alone, I wonder who will be the first to test our theory that pharmacological doses of vitamin D (2,000 IU/kg/day or 50,000 to 200,000 IU/day depending on body weight for seven days) reduces the signs and symptoms of RTI?

Real Farmacy: 15 Health Conditions Helped By Drinking Lemon Water in The Morning -A glass of warm lemon  water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is very beneficial in several ways. Lemon juice is loaded with antioxidants, protein, vitamins B and C, flavonoids, phosphorus, potassium, carbohydrates and volatile oils.  Lemon juice possesses antibacterial, antiviral and immune-building properties. It helps boost immune system and  fight infection due to high levels of bioflavonoids, pectin, limonene, citric acid, magnesium, calcium and vitamins. A glass of warm lemon water on an empty stomach flushes the system, aids digestion, fights hunger cravings, promotes weight loss and creates an alkaline-forming environment to balance the body’s pH.

Mercola: Coffee and Tea for Health – Increasing research suggests coffee may be quite good for your heart health. 

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Dear Momentum Team,

apologies for the long post but please do read it.

Some of you are aware that the refugee crisis has been on my agenda for some time with engagement in Berlin where hundreds of refugees are arriving on a daily basis. I don’t need to tell you about the humanitarian crisis less then 30 miles from the British shore – you’ve seen the images of Syrian, Eritreans, Afghans, Sudanese (…the list continues) who escaped war torn countries, crossed deserts and mountains, survived Mediterranean & pan European crossings and finally made it to the English Channel. Having been a refugee myself (although not even comparable to what is happening in those countries) the current crisis has kept me up many nights thinking about what is going on – particularly shocking is the lack of empathy & humanitarian support. The U.N. has described the situation in Calais (and as a whole) a “Civil Emergency” and called for a “comprehensive package and…. a sustainable response.” Sadly, despite this being the biggest refugee crisis the world has seen, this is not forthcoming. What’s shocking and a sad reality is the recent press coverage which is often filled with a barrage of inappropriate and racist language completely ignoring fact, figures and any humanity. But that’s an issue for itself and something that will take much more time to tackle.

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Are you new to Olympic lifting, or are you still trying to master the skills need to perform the snatch, the clean & jerk?   It’s your lucky day!  Here is your chance to gain both the knowledge and the skills, under the watchful eye of Calum McNamara , required to effectively perform the Olympic lifts.  Calum is a professional weightlifter who is aiming to qualify for the British Olympic team, is a qualified coach and not a bad bloke.

You may have seen Calum teaching the Olympic lifting class on Saturday mornings at Momentum, you would struggle to miss those quads!  The course will teach lifters the progressive steps required to master the full lifts. The best way to become a better lifter is to practice under the watchful eye of an experienced lifting coach.  Calum is your man!

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Week 8 of 16 Olympic Lifting and Russian Squats

COACHES COMMENT:

Eat like you give a F**K

What should I eat? I want to …<insert goal here> … What supplements can I take to help me? The answer to these questions is typically not the answer most people want to hear. If your not willing to make changes and listen to the experts, then don’t ask the questions. There is no such thing as a magic pill.

If you don’t have the quality and the quantity of your calories right, don’t even bother thinking about the macros, the timing of your food or what supplements you should be taking.

Order of importance:

1. High quality real whole foods (no processed crap)

2. Calories

3. Macros

4. Timing

Here is the order of importance and you cannot simply jump to step 3 and 4 without doing step 1 and 2. Not eating the correct food or having the calories right will have a much higher impact on your body composition and performance than not having the macros and timing right.

Step 1. Eating real whole food – this is what our bodies are designed to survive on. Fizzy drinks, processed carbs, alcohol, sweets, and all the artificial flavourings and preservatives will make you fat and impact your health and performance. You will never out train a shitty diet or your bulls**t excuses. If a personal training client comes to me for weight loss I will not train them unless they eliminate immunologically reactive foods (IgG food sensativity test) from their diet as the affect on body composition and quality of life for overweight people is huge. If your not willing to remove certain foods from you diet than your never going to be lean.

Step 2. Get the calorie intake right – if you want to get leaner you need to be eating the correct amount of calories. “A calorie is not a calorie” and to some extent this is right, all calories may not be equal. You can not simply eat chocolate and drink bullet proof coffee and expect to get lean. The cake and donut diet may help you hit your calories, but you will be missing essential micronutrients that are needed for health and performance. You can not jump to point 2 without implementing point number 1.

If you want to burn more body fat you need to create a calorie deficit, if you cut calories too low your gains will be halted and you will become “skinny fat”, neither a good look or a healthy one. Our bodies need a minimum amount of calories to maintain lean muscle mass and burn body fat. Eating below this minimal amount will put your body into a state of starvation. A starving body holds onto its body fat and burns lean muscle mass to slow down its metabolism. This is the worst thing you could do if your goal is to get lean. You want to go on a diet? How much food should you be eating? Its not good enough to cut calories and eat less, you need to know what the minimum amounts are.

You need to get your calorie balance right!

Step 3. Protein, Carbs (CHO) and Fats are the 3 macronutrients that make up the food stuff that we eat. The amount of each macro required depends on you body composition, your goals and your daily activity levels. Understanding which food belongs to which macro group and how these macros affect your body is the next step to improving you body composition and performance.

Personal training clients typically go home with a protein goal as the highest priority. After establishing the correct protein intake the balance of CHO is the next step. This can be a tricky one as the number of CHO required each day depends on how active someone is going to be on that day. The more you train the more you need.

Fats are also important, but we typically leave them to last because the other two are more important.

Step 4. Nutrition timing can improve the rate at which gains can be achieved. Although this is an important factor most of us never reach this point. The timing of meals and the timing of macros can make a impact on the end result.

“How do I build more muscle” – simple, eat more of the right foods. Add 500-1000cal per day to your intake.

“How do I get leaner” – eat less, or do more exercise! Cut 500cals per day, or increase your exercise.

“How much weight can I gain or lose per week?” How much weight do you have to lose? Anywhere between 0.5-1kg per week is a good rate of progress.

If you think being lean, or getting lean is a simple task you need to think again. It’s not a diet, its not a 5-day a week job, and its not something you can put on hold every time there is a wedding, birthday party or chance to eat cake and get drunk. Its a lifestyle choice and something you need to place a high value on. What do you value the most? You health, body composition and your performance, or you popularity at the party?

RECOMMENDED WEEKLY READING:

Strength Sensei: The rotating meat and nuts breakfast for optimal body composition. – When people ask me for the best single dietary tip for optimal leanness, energy and sustained mental focus, I invariably tell them to try the rotating meat and nuts breakfast. Clients ranging from NHL & NFL stars to corporate executives rave about the increased mental acuity and focused energy they derive from adopting this food combination. When I work with clients, it is the first meal I get them to change. I get them to start on a Saturday, so that they come up with more excuses than a pregnant Catholic nun for why they could not do it.

Mercola: You Are What Your Microbes Eat – While it’s long been said that “you are what you eat,” a more accurate description might be “you are what your microbes eat.” There are more bacteria and other microorganisms in your body than there are human cells, and your unique microbial community is constantly changing in response to your environment.

T-Nation: The Smart Lifters Guide to Rest Periods – “How Long Do I Rest Between Sets?” Coaches get that question all the time. And no, we didn’t forget to include rest periods in our workout programs. This can also alpy to how long you should take a break during your WOD?

Dr Nibber: Magnesium Monumental for Athletic Performance! – Analyses of this group found that there was a direct relationship between magnesium intake and improved athletic markers such as jumping performance and strength tests (more magnesium leads to better outcomes). These findings were independent of total caloric intake or other dietary factors such as protein intake. As a note, the average intake of magnesium in these elite athletes was actually below the recommended daily allowance, a value set for the general population.

Fitness Mercola: 9 Body Hacks to Naturally Increase Testosterone – Beginning around age 30, a man’s testosterone levels begin to decline, and continue to do so as he ages, leading to symptoms such as decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, depressed mood, and difficulties with concentration and memory Dietary and exercise changes, particularly limiting sugar/fructose, eating healthy saturated fats and engaging in high-intensity exercises and strength training, can be very effective at boosting testosterone levels naturally
Other strategies to boost testosterone include optimizing your vitamin D levels and reducing stress

If we extrapolate these results, you can make the argument that all athletes should be supplementing with magnesium to improve their athletic performance.

CrossFit Hackney Levels Spreadsheet

CrossFit Hackney Russian Squat Programme

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