ROD 090610

September 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Monday, 06Sept10

 

Happy Labor Day !!!

                                           

NLP is closed today

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Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day.  It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.  ~Bill Dodds

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Below are some amazing workout demo’s… enjoy your Day

 

Read  ”How Fit Are You?” – [pdf]   This is some great information about how fit are you.

From the Vault: Sots Press – video [wmv] [mov]

225 pound Grace with Rob Orlando – video [wmv] [mov]

Dave Lipson 340lbs on today’s WOD – video [wmv] [mov]

From the vault: Brendan Gilliam WOD Demo – video [wmv] [mov]

Greg Amundson “Test 3″ video – [wmv] [mov]

WOD Demo at CrossFit Santa Cruz – video [wmv] [mov]

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ROD 090410

September 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Saturday, 04Sep10,

 

The Sport of Kettlebell    

 

                       

Sportnoun
1  a game, competition or activity needing physical effort and skill that is played or done according to rules, for enjoyment and/or as a job2  all types of physical activity which people do to keep healthy or for enjoyment

3 old fashioned  fun or enjoyment  
 
Girevoy (kettlebell) Sport (“GS”) as practised in Russia encompasses various tests of strength endurance. Depending upon age , sex and ability, competitors participate in various weight divisions to achieve the highest number of repetitions in a 10 minute time limit. Furthermore, the spirit of competition is enhanced by special feats such as “odd” lifts and kettlebell “relay races” after the main program is completed. History  During the 20th century, kettlebells were used by strength athletes e.g weightlifters and “strongmen” to compliment more traditional barbell lifts. In 1948 Russians commenced kettlebell sport, whereby a man performed as many legal repetitions as possible in his chosen event(s), the snatch (weight swung with one arm straight above head ), the clean & jerk ( 2 bells swung to chest once, and then put overhead as many times as possible) and the one armed push press. Such was the conditioning developed by competitive gireviks that eventaully a 10 minute time limit  was imposed to allow the meeting to be completed in a reasonable time frame! The competition press was deleted from the program for the same reason it was turfed from Olympic weightlifting: simply the event was too difficult to fairly judge. The sport evolved from military circles to the wider population and in 1985 the first official Russian national championship was held. Since then many other nations have entered international competitions. Finally it is becoming a world sport! The GS Novice Whilst the individual lifts may not seem that taxing, or indeed technically challenging for a few reps, once the lifter starts to build an element of endurance into the session he/she will find the degree of difficulty rapidly escalates. At this point the natural tendency is to think “this is impossibly hard – not for me!”. To succeed in competition requires the rhythm and efficiency of a rower , the tenacity of an high altitude mountaineer (with no supplemental oxygen!) and the technical skills of an Olympic weightlifter. Only with an iron will and dedication to mastering efficient technique will the aspiring lifter be able to achieve a competitive score. Having said that, the sport requires tremendous patience to gradually increase both strength and stamina over years, at the same time ensuring he/she is able to complete high volume and high intensity of training without overtraining and burnout. So new is this sport outside Russia and the Baltic states that it will probably be several years before Western athletes are able to significantly challenge the majority of the experienced (and in many cases professional) athletes. Ranking systems have been developed to track progress of skills, manifest in improved repetition totals over months and years (see “GS rankings” section). So it is clear that competitive Girevoy Sport attracts those with the discipline to endure often repetitive training and a grim determination to build ever increasing power endurance, tempered with the patience and commonsense to enable continued progress. 

Though many who sample GS are unable to stomach the type of training required, for those who persist the mental & physical rewards are high. The athlete will develop truly exceptional conditioning, flexibility, strength and power. Indeed, one’s overall work capacity may greatly exceed that of even highly trained athletes in other disciplines. Whilst the training is largely based on repetitive lifting, a variety of assistance exercises and modalities used to complement the competition lifts are help prevent staleness or boredom. The challenge is to maintain progress on several fronts.  Activities such as running, swimming, cycling, rowing, rollerblading, skiing and ball sports are encouraged to develop and maintain all round sports skills . The solid base of GS training will ensure that at any age the athlete will have qualities enabling him to excel at these activities. It is obvious to all that use them that kettlebells used to their full capability build tremendous injury resistance whilst maintaining joint flexibility and stability. What kind of person might be suited to Girevoy Sport? Given the wide range of body types exhibited at GS events, clearly no specific physical attribute is required. Clearly, tall athletes have to move the bell farther, whilst a stocky athlete with short arms and powerful lower body might be well suited to the jerk event. Fundamentally though,  all athletes have weak points which when addressed through mindful training , enable all to compete on a relatively even keel. 

It is unlikely that complete athletic novices will be attracted to this type of training. Otherwise anyone who enjoys a physical challenge, the thrill of practise & learning as well as the will to persist under duress may be attracted to this sport. Obviously, weightlifters and those from power sports such as throwers (shotput, javelin, discus, ball sports) are at an advantage in that they will be possess the knowledge of applying controlled power in a tightly honed groove. Endurance athletes understand well the skill of energy efficiency. However, any sportsman with a strong will to succeed may find the sport irresistible. Over time, many older athletes find the rigours of  certain sports excessive (impact sports, throwers have a use-by date, competitive weightlifting requires ongoing coaching and often close to maximal loads…with attendant injury risk). GS offers the challenge of a constant load performed in a safe fashion with the ultimate result dependent upon mental fortitude (“guts”), efficient technique and cardiorespiratory conditioning. Though to the uninitiated the weights used seem rather heavy, and the movements rather “dangerous”, in fact the weight is primarily moved by the large muscles of the body whilst the smaller muscles merely  provide control. Safety, longevity issues. The injury rate even amongst elite gireviks is low compared to most sports.As long as the athlete is aware of  signs of overtraining (e.g. persistent tightness/soreness, lack of energy, poor sleep, performance plateau etc) he/she can recover quickly between training sessions. On competition day when maximal performance is called for, the volume of preceding training will ensure the tendons, ligaments and muscles are well accustomed to an heavy workload. It is well accepted that weight training is highly beneficial in maintaining muscle mass, promoting stability and control of joints and reducing the risk of osteoporosis in men and women. Furthermore, the nature of kettlebell exercises emphasize power endurance and flexibility of the back muscles as well as delivering superb conditioning of the often troublesome shoulder rotator cuff muscles. The cardiorespiratory  benefits are immense, and unlike heavy lifting sports the risk of a “lift gone wrong” is negligible.  

 

                     

Filed Under: Holiday, Kettlebell Tagged With: , ,

ROD 070510

July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Monday, 05Jul10

 

Independence Day Observance

Top 10 Secrets To Setting Sport Goals & Finding Success

  
by Thomas O’Connor, M.A.

Time and time again, people with clear, concise and well-formulated sports goals have been found to consistently out-perform those without goals. Proper goal setting then, can make a winner out of you. Be conscious of how you set your goals, the things you tell yourself about those goals, and watch yourself improve. We’ve compiled the top 10 secrets to setting successful sport goals. Take notes while you read this list and get started today!

  1. Goals should be difficult enough to be challenging but not so difficult that they are beyond reach. Difficult goals spur us to our best efforts and give us the most satisfaction. If you are going to make a mistake in setting a goal, it is better for you to err on the side of malign the goal too difficult rather than too easy. Difficult goals will pull you toward success, while easy goals will let you languish in your comfort zone. “I’m going to do 1 more push-up every xxx number of days.”
  2. Make your goals specific and concrete, rather than vague and general. State them in observable terms, that is, in terms you can actually see. Making your goal visible will help you measure your progress. Top athletes constantly rate their own performance and compete as much against themselves as against other athletes. Every training session, every round sparred, should be geared toward some specific objective or fine tuning of performance.”I will run 15 seconds out of every minute before I stop.”
  3. Goals that you set for yourself motivate you more than goals that are set for you. The value that you place on a goal and your belief that you can reach that goal will affect your commitment. “Other people may do xyz, but I know that doing abc is a challenge for me and that’s my own personla goal.
  4. Be sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into and have the necessary resources.Goals must be within an individual’s abilities and aspirations. Make sure you are realistic. Planning to compete in the Olympics when you haven’t been working out for years is silly. Liewise, planning to lose 50 pounds in 3 months is equally silly, and unhealthy. Get the necessary equipment, time, coaching and support you need, and above all, keep it real.
  5. Short term goals are better than long term goals, particularly if deadlines are set. Goals are less attractive the longer it takes us to reach them. Break long-term goals down in to smaller, more manageable segments, so you can track your progress along the way. This is how combat aviators are trained at Miramar, the U.S. Navy’s famous “Top Gun” school. It’s also like the Twelve Step approach to taking life “one day at a time.”This allows you to rate your efforts, take encouragement from your progress and make any necessary corrections.
  6. In fact, it may often be wiser to focus on the process rather than the outcome. Pay attention to the means, and the ends will likely follow. “I’m going to do twenty laps every other day, no matter how long it takes me to get where I want to go.”
  7. Get constructive feedback. Just setting goals is not enough. Your performance won’t improve unless you are told how you are doing. Goals without specific, concrete feedback are like a road trip without signs and landmarks along the way. You won’t be committed to a goal unless you see it leading to what you want.Feedback shows you the way to your goal. Tracking and evaluating your progress toward a goal gives you much needed feedback. The more difficult the goal, the more you need helpful feedback. Keep a journal to track your progress daily, if possible, and don’t be afraid to revise your game plan. (That’s what a game plan is for.) If you’re giving someone else feedback, always do it with the desire to help that person. Be as behaviorally descriptive as possible and stress positive aspects of performance. Discuss negative aspects in tactful, “on the bright side” terms. Don’t just say, “You can do better next time.” State specifically what that person did wrong and how he or she can do better next time.
  8. Practice having confidence. Believe in yourself and your ability to succeed. Successful people take credit for their successes and failures, while unsuccessful people tend to blame fate or circumstances. “The test was unfair.” “Life is a rigged game.” “I’ll fail no matter what I do.” For such people, life is something that happens to them, and it’s a sad, bumpy ride.Our beliefs about ourselves influence the tasks we undertake, the efforts we make, and the results we achieve. Sometimes, these beliefs are so quick and reflexive that they’re automatic, but they still shape our behavior. When you expect to fail, you will not do your best and may even cause your own defeat. You may even stop competing in order to avoid the shame of failure. Individuals who think this way are beaten before they begin.
  9. This is where positive self talk comes in handy. When you think negative thoughts, tell yourself, “STOP,” and use affirmative, action thoughts. Tell yourself “Yes, I can,” instead of “No, I can’t.” Make images in your mind’s eye. Use visual imagery to picture yourself succeeding, rather than failing. Be as vivid, positive and detailed as possible. A coach or boss who demands more than an individual can give will wind up with a beaten, depressed victim. The
    same is true of you if your are coaching yourself with self-talk. Be careful of the words you use when you talk to
    yourself. Change internal talk from, “Get up you loser” to, “Just be consistent. Do xyz every day and you’ll get there.” Success, like failure, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  10. As much as you can, try to have fun with it. Goals should improve your life and empower you to control your destiny, not test your worth as a human being. Remember: Successful people make mistakes, too, but they learn from them.

In the final analysis, it’s all a process, and goal setting can make your dreams come true.

 

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: ,

ROD 070410

July 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Sunday, 04Jul10

Happy Fourth of July  !!!!

What is plantar fasciitis?

 

Plantar fasciitis is that pain in the bottom of your foot usually felt around your heel. That pain hurts especially the first few steps in the morning as you are getting out of bed and standing on your feet, or after sitting and taking a rest for awhile.

The name Plantar fasciitis comes from: “Plantar” means something that belongs to the foot, “fascia” means a band or ligament or a connective tissue, and “itis” means inflammation.You can see in the picture the plantar fascia band as it runs along the foot. The plantar fascia band connects your heel bone to the toes. The pain is caused by wounding the tough plantar fascia band on the bottom of your foot.

The plantar fascia is a strong, relatively inflexible, fibrous band that runs through the bottom of the foot. The plantar fascia helps to keep the complex arch system of the foot, it helps to absorb shock, plays a role in body balance and in the various phases of gait. The plantar fascia transmits your weight across the bottom of the foot with each step you take. When the heel of the trailing leg starts to get off the ground, the plantar fascia band bears tension that is approximately twice the body weight. The tension on the band at this moment is even greater if the calf muscles are not flexible enough.

This picture shows the plantar fascia band and the most common inflammation places – colored in red. Plantar fasciitis will usually be close to the heel but it might happen anywhere along the Plantar fascia band. If the band gets bruised or stretched, the inflammation causes the pain. In more severe cases the band can also get a little detached from the heel bone or a bony growth can form a heel spur.

Plantar fasciitis is sometimes called a heel spur although they are not the same. A heel spur is a calcium deposit that occurs where the plantar fascia is attached to the heel bone (calcaneus). In many cases a heel spur is found on a foot with no pain or other symptoms at all. And in many painful heels there is no sign for a heel spur. Heel spur and painful heal does not necessarily go together.

For many years plantar fasciitis was believed to be an inflammatory condition. It is thought now to be inaccurate because there were many cases of plantar fasciitis with no inflammatory cells observed within the fascia. The heel pain cause is now believed to be damage to the collagen fibers of the plantar fascia. This damage, caused by stress injury, sometimes may include inflammatory cells.

Plantar fasciitis is commonly misspelled as plantar faciitis, plantar fascitis, planter faciitis, planters faciitis, etc.

Plantar fasciitis often occurs in middle-age. It also occurs in people who spend long hours standing on their feet for work, like athletes or soldiers. It can happen in one foot or both feet. Plantar fasciitis is common in sports like long distance running, dancing etc. Athletes who overpronate (rolling in or flattening feet) are especially at risk as the biomechanics of their feet place more stress to the plantar fascia.

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: ,

ROD 070310

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Saturday, 03Jul10

We will be closed for the 4th of July Weekend and will resume our normal schedule on Tuesday, July 6th.  Thank you!

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Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles’ Foe, It’s Fuel

 GINA KOLATA
Published: May 16, 2006 – but still valid in theory
Everyone who has even thought about exercising has heard the warnings about lactic acid. It builds up in your muscles. It is what makes your muscles burn. Its buildup is what makes your muscles tire and give out. 

Coaches and personal trainers tell athletes and exercisers that they have to learn to work out at just below their “lactic threshold,” that point of diminishing returns when lactic acid starts to accumulate. Some athletes even have blood tests to find their personal lactic thresholds.

But that, it turns out, is all wrong. Lactic acid is actually a fuel, not a caustic waste product. Muscles make it deliberately, producing it from glucose, and they burn it to obtain energy. The reason trained athletes can perform so hard and so long is because their intense training causes their muscles to adapt so they more readily and efficiently absorb lactic acid.

The notion that lactic acid was bad took hold more than a century ago, said George A. Brooks, a professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. It stuck because it seemed to make so much sense.

“It’s one of the classic mistakes in the history of science,” Dr. Brooks said.

Its origins lie in a study by a Nobel laureate, Otto Meyerhof, who in the early years of the 20th century cut a frog in half and put its bottom half in a jar. The frog’s muscles had no circulation — no source of oxygen or energy.

Dr. Myerhoff gave the frog’s leg electric shocks to make the muscles contract, but after a few twitches, the muscles stopped moving. Then, when Dr. Myerhoff examined the muscles, he discovered that they were bathed in lactic acid.

A theory was born. Lack of oxygen to muscles leads to lactic acid, leads to fatigue.

Athletes were told that they should spend most of their effort exercising aerobically, using glucose as a fuel. If they tried to spend too much time exercising harder, in the anaerobic zone, they were told, they would pay a price, that lactic acid would accumulate in the muscles, forcing them to stop.

Few scientists questioned this view, Dr. Brooks said. But, he said, he became interested in it in the 1960′s, when he was running track at Queens College and his coach told him that his performance was limited by a buildup of lactic acid.

When he graduated and began working on a Ph.D. in exercise physiology, he decided to study the lactic acid hypothesis for his dissertation.

“I gave rats radioactive lactic acid, and I found that they burned it faster than anything else I could give them,” Dr. Brooks said.

It looked as if lactic acid was there for a reason. It was a source of energy.

Dr. Brooks said he published the finding in the late 70′s. Other researchers challenged him at meetings and in print.

“I had huge fights, I had terrible trouble getting my grants funded, I had my papers rejected,” Dr. Brooks recalled. But he soldiered on, conducting more elaborate studies with rats and, years later, moving on to humans. Every time, with every study, his results were consistent with his radical idea.

Eventually, other researchers confirmed the work. And gradually, the thinking among exercise physiologists began to change.

“The evidence has continued to mount,” said L. Bruce Gladden, a professor of health and human performance at Auburn University. “It became clear that it is not so simple as to say, Lactic acid is a bad thing and it causes fatigue.”

As for the idea that lactic acid causes muscle soreness, Dr. Gladden said, that never made sense.

“Lactic acid will be gone from your muscles within an hour of exercise,” he said. “You get sore one to three days later. The time frame is not consistent, and the mechanisms have not been found.”

The understanding now is that muscle cells convert glucose or glycogen to lactic acid. The lactic acid is taken up and used as a fuel by mitochondria, the energy factories in muscle cells.

Mitochondria even have a special transporter protein to move the substance into them, Dr. Brooks found. Intense training makes a difference, he said, because it can make double the mitochondrial mass.

It is clear that the old lactic acid theory cannot explain what is happening to muscles, Dr. Brooks and others said.

Yet, Dr. Brooks said, even though coaches often believed in the myth of the lactic acid threshold, they ended up training athletes in the best way possible to increase their mitochondria. “Coaches have understood things the scientists didn’t,” he said.

Through trial and error, coaches learned that athletic performance improved when athletes worked on endurance, running longer and longer distances, for example.

That, it turns out, increased the mass of their muscle mitochondria, letting them burn more lactic acid and allowing the muscles to work harder and longer.

Just before a race, coaches often tell athletes to train very hard in brief spurts.

That extra stress increases the mitochondria mass even more, Dr. Brooks said, and is the reason for improved performance.

And the scientists?

They took much longer to figure it out.

“They said, ‘You’re anaerobic, you need more oxygen,’ ” Dr. Brooks said. “The scientists were stuck in 1920.”

Filed Under: Conditioning, Holiday Tagged With: , ,

ROD 053110

May 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Monday, 31May10

 

Memorial Day

“Reflections on Memorial Day” by Mackubin T. Owens.

“Fallen but Never Forgotten,” a CrossFit Journal article.

    Spec. Brendan Marrocco, 23, of Staten Island

A Staten Island veteran who lost both of his arms and legs in Iraq is coming back home – and he’ll move into a brand new house courtesy of his community. The Stephen Siller Children’s Foundation and Building Homes for Heroes are teaming up to build a state-of-the-art, wheelchair accessible home near Wolf’s Pond Lake for Spec. Brendan Marrocco. “I don’t think I could ever really thank them,” said the humble 23-year-old vet from Huguenot. “I’m excited, I’ve never had a home to myself,” Marrocco said.

Just last Easter, Marrocco was hit by an explosively formed projectile, a deadly and powerful new device that can pierce armor. A fellow soldier was killed in the attack. He’s believed to be the only quadruple amputee to survive the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marrocco has been recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and was fitted with prosthetics. “I’ve really taken some great strides,” he said. Marrocco is learning to walk again on special prosthetic legs and hopes to have arm transplants. He said moving back home is a real motivating factor in his recovery. “It gives me another goal to work toward,” he said. And the war hero won’t be living alone – his fiancee, Kate, will enjoy their new home together.

“I’m so happy to find somebody to really care about me,” he said. “You don’t think you’re ever going to find that.”

The Army vet is a big fan of car racing and hopes to one day have a race car of his own.

“Who are we to say you can’t do anything?” said his proud dad, Alex Marrocco. “It’s been a roller coaster, but you try and focus on the positive.”

“Brendan has given so much for his country and has sacrificed so much that it is our duty – whether civilians or veterans – to give back to him,” said Frank Siller, whose firefighter brother, Stephen, was killed on 9/11. “We can never give back what he has given to us.”

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DJ Wickham, 220lb snatch complex from the Canadian Regionals – video [wmv] [mov]

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: ,

ROD 053010

May 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Sunday, 30May10

R-e-s-T Day

This Memorial Day we should remember those who have sacrificed their lives and sound health so that we remain free and live safely.

New York City Police Detective Kevin Hawkins died of kidney cancer, which he contracted after inhaling toxic chemicals and materials while working hundreds of hours at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attack of 9/11. Detective Hawkins had served with the New York City Police Department for 20 years and was assigned to the Mayor’s Security Detail. Kevin did his job to the fullest. He gave his life for all of us to be safe. He was…and always will be…a true hero. He stood for family, feeedom, and patriotism. He did his part to the fullest. Kevin was a member of the South Shore YMCA and took his fitness seriously.

He is survived by his wife Marie and his two daughters, Natalie and Stephanie. Also survived by mother Dorothy and brother Dave.

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: ,

ROD 052910

May 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Saturday, 29May10

 

R-e-S-t Day

This Memorial Day we should remember those who have sacrificed their lives and sound health so that we remain free and live safely.

New York City Fire Fighter Captain Michael Esposito, 42, Squad 1, was killed in the line of duty on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 during the tragic 911 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center. He was a dedicated firefighter as well as a dedicated husband and father. 

Squad 1 was like a second family to Mr. Esposito and, as such, whenever someone from his “fire family” needed a hand installing a kitchen or doing concrete work, he was there. The camaraderie that existed among the members of Mr. Esposito’s firehouse extended to their families as well. Every month or so, the firefighters and their wives would make a date to go out to a restaurant in Manhattan and see a play.

Mr. Esposito competed in triathlons, was a former member of the Fire Department’s boxing team, and worked out regularly in the South Shore YMCA. Family and fitness were integral parts of Michael A. Esposito’s life. The 42-year-old Eltingville father of two adolescent sons spent all his leisure time involved in their sports activities and instilling values they could carry into adulthood. He is survived by his wife, Denise, and his sons, Andrew and Michael, surviving are his parents, Sam and Rose; his four brothers, Frank, Sal (Big Sal), Joseph (Jo-Jo) and Simone (Sam), and a stepbrother, Salvatore (Sally Boy) Mingoia.

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: ,

ROD 040410

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Sunday, 040410

 

R-E-S-T Day

 

Happy Easter

Why Is Strength Training Important For Athletes?

 

 by Joe DeFranco, Owner, Performance Enhancement Specialist
DeFranco’s Training Systems

The improvement of performance in athletics over the past few years has been phenomenal. For example, twenty years ago the average football lineman weighed 250 pounds and ran a 5.2-second 40-yard dash. This was considered to be nearing the genetic limit for a player. Now running backs that weigh what the lineman used to weigh are running 4.4-second 40-yard dashes! Strength training has made the single, most positive contribution to this type of improvement. Today strength training influences every athletic program in the country, no matter what the sport – male or female. Athletes now find it necessary to lift weights and participate in conditioning programs to better prepare themselves for the competitive rigors of the athletic season.

Just a short time ago, most coaches thought that strength training would cause athletes to become muscle-bound and would be counterproductive to good technique. Now it has been proven that athletic performance depends either directly or indirectly on qualities of muscular strength. We must remember that strength builds the foundation for ALL other athletic qualities. For example, if you do not possess great relative body strength (strength in relation to your body weight), you will never be able to run fast. This is due to the fact that all aspects of proper running technique require high levels of muscular strength. In other words, if you can’t achieve the proper knee drive, arm swing, posture and push-off, you can’t be fast! And this is just one example. Many university studies have also found a high correlation between an athlete’s jumping ability and agility in relation to their relative body strength. What this means is that an athlete who is strong for his/her bodyweight will possess the ability to jump higher and move quicker, compared to their weaker counterparts.

The number one purpose of complete conditioning – including the physical, technical, tactical, and psychological aspects of training – is to improve the player’s ability to make the big play. Strength training is a vital part of complete conditioning. The primary function of the body’s 600+ muscles is to contract (shorten in length) to move body parts. And remember that only muscle can cause movement. The stronger the muscles and the more forceful the contractions, the faster the athlete will run, higher he will jump, further he will throw/kick, and harder he will hit. It’s that simple!

An added bonus of strength training is injury prevention. Athletes who strength train tend to have fewer injuries. This is because strength training strengthens the muscle attachments and increases density of bones at the sites of muscle origins and insertions. And if an injury does occur to an athlete who has been strength training properly, it will probably not be as serious and will tend to heal faster.

So next time someone tells you weight training is just for bodybuilders, think again. A proper strength-training program just may be the final piece of your training “puzzle” to success!

Filed Under: Holiday, Recovery Tagged With: ,

ROD 021510

February 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ROD

Monday, 15Feb10

 

Strongman Monday

45 second work / 15 second rest for 4 rounds

  • One arm dumbbell snatches 3 right / 3 left
  • Weighted box step-ups
  • Superband resistance push-ups
  • Kettlebell front squats
  • Walking lunge with 45lb plate held overhead
  • 135 pound push press
Filed Under: Heavy Day, Holiday, Power & Strength, Strongman ROD
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