December 3 2018

 Class at 5PM and 6PM Today 

Conditioning:

 5 Rounds for Time of:

30 DB Snatches 50/35

30 Double Unders

Strength:

Back Squat

10-10-10-10 

Today and every time you squat or do any movement really you should be first and foremost focusing on correctly moving through the complete range of motion before adding load to your set. Yes we are looking to achieve a heavy set of 10 here but if half (or sometimes all) of your reps look more like a goodmorning or your hip crease is not finishing below the top of your knee should you really be adding weight? Take the weight down and drill the movement until it looks consistently perfect, then and only then add load. The reason we move through the full range of motion is to make sure we pass through the most difficult part of the lift and to keep our joints strong. When you see a person cutting a rep short by not fully locking out a weight overhead, not going below parallel on a squat or even not lifting their entire body by locking out their elbows in a pushup. They are completely avoiding the most difficult part of the lift and I would argue the entire purpose of the lift if they are looking to increase strength. People will give you all kinds of reasons as to why they “Can’t” do it that way but when it comes down to it the reason is because it’s more difficult. This kind of “Lifting” that is so often seen all over the place is robbing people of the “sticking point” or difficult part of the lift giving them poor or no results in strength gains and also never allowing their joints to pass through their intended full range of motion leaving them weak. They might see muscle growth, but muscle growth is not strength growth and muscle growth without healthy enough joints to move those muscles is a recipe for disaster. If you can’t move your joints through their naturally intended range of motion with a particular load (even if that load is your body) your goal should be to do so and not to cut the range short.  Usually the way to do that is by lessening the load first and only increasing when the complete range of motion can be met. Your ego won’t like it but your joints, as you age, will. We train to get stronger, better and healthier, continually shortening ranges of motion while doing so will result in immobile joints making us a less capable, less healthy and less strong person. Difficult things make us stronger, when you are in the gym, difficult things are the things you should be seeking out, not avoiding.