Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THE
IN THIS ISSUE:
CrossFit Journal
Shoulder Press, Push Press, Push Jerk - page 1
A Postural Error - page 5
Interview: Coach Glassman - page 8
Now for Something Completely Different. - Odd Lifts - page1
Introduction
Learning the progression of lifts that moves from the
shoulder press, to the push press, to the push jerk has long
been a staple of the CrossFit regimen. This progression
offers the opportunity to acquire some essential motor
recruitment patterns found in sport
and life (functionality) while greatly
improving strength in the power zone
and upper body. In terms of power zone
and functional recruitment patterns, the
push press and push jerk have no peer
among the other presses like the king
of upper body lifts, the bench press.
There are competitions with the odd lifts and they have
an assosciation - the United
States
All-Round
Weightlifting
Association
(USAWA)
The
USAWAs web site covers the rules
of the competitions and lifts. http://
www.usawa.com/rules.html.
We review the Odd Lifts with a mix of
humor and awe. The humor is a juvenile
humor because it finds its roots in the
discomfort and injury of others like
kids cartoons. Imagine the damage you
could do with the Roman Chair Bench
Press alone. Or, how about the two man
clean and jerk?
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Additionally, the advanced elements of the progression, the push press and jerk, train for and develop power and speed.
Power and speed are king in sport performance. Coupling force with velocity is the very essence of power and speed.
Some of our favorite and most developmental lifts lack this quality. The push press and jerk are performed explosively
that is the hallmark of speed and power training.
Finally, mastering this progression gives ideal opportunity to detect and eliminate a postural/mechanical fault that plagues
more athletes than not the pelvis chasing the leg during hip flexion. (See article) This fault needs to be searched out
and destroyed. The push press performed under great stress is the perfect tool to conjure up this performance wrecker
so it can be eliminated.
Mechanics
1. The Shoulder Press
a. Set up: Take bar from supports or clean to racked position. The bar sits on the shoulders with the grip
slightly wider than shoulder width. The elbows are below and in front of bar. Stance is approximately
shoulder width. Head is tilted slightly back allowing bar to pass.
b. Press: Press the bar to a position directly overhead.
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Summary
From shoulder press to push jerk the movements become increasingly more athletic, functional, and suited to heavier
loads. The progression also increasingly relies on the power zone. In the shoulder press the power zone is used for
stabilization only. In the push press the power zone provides not only stability, but also the primary impetus in both the
dip and drive. In the push jerk the power zone is called on for the dip, drive, second dip, and squat. The role of the hip
is increased in each exercise.
With the push press you will be able to drive overhead as much as 30% more weight than with the shoulder press. The
push jerk will allow you to drive as much as 30% more overhead than you would with the push press.
In effect the hip is increasingly recruited through the progression of lifts to assist the arms and shoulders in raising loads
overhead. After mastering the push jerk you will find that it will unconsciously displace the push press as your method
of choice when going overhead.
The second dip on the push jerk will become lower and lower as you both master the technique and increase the load.
At some point in your development, the loads will become so substantial that the upper body cannot contribute but a
fraction to the movement at which point the catch becomes very low and an increasing amount of the lift is accomplished
by the overhead squat.
On both the push press and jerk the dip is critical to the entire movement. It may come as a surprise to some that the
dip is not a relaxed fall but an explosive dive. The stomach is held very tightly and the resultant turn around from dip to
drive is sudden, explosive, and violent.
Try This:
Start with 95 pounds and push
press or jerk 15 straight reps rest
thirty seconds and repeat for total
of five sets of 15 reps each. Go
up in weight only when you can
complete all five sets with only
thirty seconds rest between each
and do not pause in any set.
And This:
Aptos CA 95001
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rolls back pushing the belly forward. In fact the push press is the best way to conjure up this fault even in people who
otherwise may have a beautiful squat and seem immune to this curse. A load that can be push-pressed max twenty reps
will typically induce this fault for the final four or five reps. More athletes will do it than not including many good
ones.
Elements of MHF
The elements of MHF include but are not limited to structurally disadvantaged spinal posture, low/no glute recruitment,
low/no hamstring recruitment, pelvis abandons the spine and chases the legs, center of gravity shifts dramatically
backward, center of balance shifts toward toes, knee experiences unsound sheer force, leg extension only productive
effort, hip extension not possible with low hip angle, pelvis rotates wrong way, and most importantly stability, balance,
and power diminish with lowered center of mass.
The Damage
The degree of MHP varies from mild to severe. In severe cases everything the athlete attempts is rocked by instability
and low power. In mild cases power loss and instability occur only while under great physical stress. In combat and elite
performance even mild MHF can lose the day.
For physical performance what could be worse than low power and instability?
The Solution
Deliberate and focused training and practice of demanding hip extension movements is the only way to eliminate the
effects of MHF. Again, it will typically take three years or more to eliminate all tendencies toward MHF.
No exercise offers as much opportunity to correct MHF tendencies than perfect form, high rep push-press. MHF is
evident within the first .01 of a second of a bad push press.
(Odd Lifts - continued from page 1)
The Inman Mile: Traverse 1 mile with 150%BW on shoulders. Gait
optional! Refreshments allowed!! Not only is this a perfectly functional
movement but an exciting component to overall fitness.
Roman Chair Extensions: Weighted hip extensions with weight in
crook of elbows. Not necessarily functional but an education in hip
extension and extensors!
Roman Chair Bench Press: This is a bench press from face up parallel
to floor extended and hanging position on Roman Chair. The bench press
is just a distraction to keep your mind off of your gut.
Allen Lift: A sit-up from the ground with arms locked overhead holding
weight. If bar moves inside straight line from hip to shoulders or arms
bend the lift is disqualified. This has to be the all time mother of hip flexor
exercises.
Abdominal Raise: A sit-up with a barbell held behind the neck. Done
on ground and Roman Chair. Why dont we see more weighted sit-ups?
Give this a try.
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one-handed movements.
Zercher Lift
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tried them at a leisurely pace. Done right, they have a horrific impact; theyre designed that way. No one comes out
standing much less looking for another one later.
What the WOD does allow for is learning and practice of sports. Juggling sport and the WOD requires careful modulation
of the intensity of the WOD or overtraining is a certainty.
CFJ: What is your message for law enforcement and military special ops trainers?
Coach Glassman: Make sure that the missions requirements dont exceed the training stimulus. If youre working a
program where your men and women are running on M, W, F and working upper body weight training on T-Th, like
weve seen so often, your product is not optimally prepared.
Arrest and control is not aerobic like the Tour de France; its anaerobic like cage fighting.
CFJ: What is the best way to start CrossFit?
Coach Glassman: If not intimate with the elements (squat, deadlift, clean, pull-up, push-up, box jump, etc) of the
CrossFit routines then gaining familiarity has to be the first step.
If unfamiliar or less than very confident with the elements, then nearly any regimen with the singular focus of learning
the sound mechanics of basic movements is a perfect prescription for the first month or two.
For those new to the CrossFit method it will be necessary to establish consistency with the Workout of the Day before
increasing the intensity of the workouts. The workouts exceed the capacity of the fittest men on earth. Be careful.
CFJ: What about nutrition?
Coach Glassman: Meat and vegetables, nuts and seed, some fruit, little starch, no sugar. End of subject.
CFJ: What are your favorite exercises?
Coach Glassman: Cleans, push-ups (across 180 degrees from handstand push-up to dip), Squats, Jumps, Running,
Deadlifts, Rowing, Cycling, Pull-ups, Muscle-ups, Presses, Presses to handstand, wall ball, dumbbell and Kettlebell
swing, lunges, snatch, rope-climb (and other non-technical climbing), sit-ups (and gymnastic variations on sit-up
theme).
CFJ: Do you have a program for?
Coach Glassman: This is another question that I see daily. We are asked for workouts for baseball, karate, swimming,
dance, boxing, but they all get the same thing CrossFit.
The athletes, firefighters, soldiers, and cops that we work with have benefited most from increased practice within their
disciplines and better general fitness.
We design and deliver a broad based general fitness. The need for specificity in sport is nearly perfectly met within the
training and practice of the sport. Theres a strong and mistaken belief that every sport requires a separate and distinct
strength and conditioning prescription. The notion is nonsense.
CFJ: Why CrossFit Journal?
Coach Glassman: Why is there nothing in the popular media that both the professional athlete and dedicated fitness
enthusiast could find useful? Thats the niche were trying to fill.
The idea behind CrossFit Journal is simply to support and expand the CrossFit community by offering information that,
like our workouts, is potent and brief. The rest is a distraction.
CFJ: Why Gymnastics, weightlifting, and sprinting?
Coach Glassman: Gymnasts have no peer in trunk and hip flexion, upper body strength in multiple joint angles, agility,
accuracy, balance, coordination, their domain is body control.
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The weightlifters are masters of power, speed, and hip and leg strength. Powerful hip extension is the most critical
element of human performance and none have the capacity of the weightlifters.
Sprinters have enormous physical potential due to their metabolic competency across anaerobic and aerobic pathways
and the speed, power, and total conditioning that sprinting demands.
Blending workouts from each domain gives us a total greater than the sum of the parts a gorgeous hybrid.
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