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Hey Mates,

Share this bad boy around, get people stoked.

NUTTS is 1 week away baby!

Video Production by team Brontosaurus at Red+Ripley

As much I have learned as a Coach, I know I’ll never know enough. This career path has gotten me back in love with reading, creating, testing, failing, succeeding, and learning. Every coach has there style; we all build upon our style by borrowing, advancing, building, or just straight swiping from other coaches and mentors. As long as we give credit where it’s due, the community and growth of our knowledge thrives. We can’t all figure things out for ourselves, and I am proud to be apart of an industry that gives and gives. I get to use my own common sense to filter out the garbage; I also get to use my own strengths/skills to translate all this back to the community.

This past summer I have been on a little Bret Contreras kick. Anyone who comes to be known as ‘the glute guy’, earns a special place in my brain. As a strength and conditioning specialist, he has taken a scientific approach to battle everything from self proclaimed guru’s and general fitness practices that have been around for years. Writing countless articles, he gives honest feedback with concrete results to back his claims. He’ll call you out without being a prick about it. He has also done EMG (Electromyography) testing on every possible scenario out there; it’s nice to know where peak muscle activity is when explaining why we lift the way we lift. I give him the credit for changing my thoughts on butts. But, then again, there was this video around the time I was a wee boy…

This video series was before it’s time. Started with a dude, but then only women led the series.

If you hadn’t already guessed, my point today is your butt.
That’s right, your “Apple bottom, arse, ass, back, backside, badonkadonk, behind, biscuits, booty, bootylicious, bootyful, bon-bon, bottom, bum, bumper, buns, butt, buttocks, caboose, can, cheeks, culo, derriere, duff, fanny, fundament, ghetto booty, glutes, gluteals, groove thing, haunches, hiney, hind, hindquarters, hips, hump, jacksie, junk in the trunk, keister, money maker, moons, nalgas, onion, patootie, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, rump shaker, seat, shelf, tail, trunk, tush, wazoo.” Bret Contreras – Advanced Techniques in Glutei Maximi Strengthening.

I live just off Main Street. I have lived in Vancouver my entire life. This city has presented many fads, fashions, trends, and expressions of individualism. I have seen a lot of butts wrapped up in all sorts of pants (or no pants). I have seen enough Emo, Hipster, Punk, and other tight pant wearing MEN and women present there underdeveloped gluteals. It should not be socially unacceptable to train your butt, especially if you’re a man. Don’t just leave the thrusting at home, bring it to the gym. Target, isolate, and incorporate gluteal demands in your training, this will severely increase your overall strength and output. You may catch me hip thrusting with a barbell across my hip crease, it’s not just to make your stare (you have enough to oogle at).

The glutes are more than something nice to look at. They are responsible for a number of contractile demands, such as hip extension. You know hip extension; it’s alignment of your pelvis, the top of your deadlift, the power in your clean, and the key to those perfect fitting jeans. Progressively overloading the glutes, knowing when and how to engage them, cueing the squeeze, and driving those knees out, are all important to accelerating your gluteal development. If you aren’t feeling your butt when you squat, deadlift, or sprint, you are probably missing out.

But Chesty, how do I begin feeling the burn?

Start by introducing Supine/Glute bridges, Single Leg Glute bridges, Quadruped Hip Extensions and Hip Thrusts to your warm up and accessary work. 3 sets of 8-12 unloaded is a good place to begin; after a few weeks you may be ready to up it. They are great activation tools before lifting and also great exercises to consider loading in the future. Ladies and GENTLEMEN it’s time to strengthen that ass for more than a compliment. Abs are made in the kitchen, but an ass is made in the gym.

Have me saying “Gad daaaaaaamn!”,

Chesty

Friday Lesson Plan:

Warm-up: 400M forwards -> 400M backwards -> 400M forwards

Tech: warm-up workout movements and set up station

WOD: Fight Gone Bad

Saturday Lesson Plan:

Warm-up: coaches choice

Tech: 5 rounds (not for time: rest 1-3 min between sets)

10 heavy Russian kettlebell swings immediately followed by 5 strict pull-ups

WOD: 20 min Partner AMRAP

40 russian kb swings
30 box jumps
20 knee to elbows
250M run

Split the other work but both partners run each round.

Remember on your first day, when your coach wrote the 10 General Physical Skills on the board? Chances are you looked them over and thought to yourself that “yeah this makes sense, lets be good at everything and avoid specializing in one thing”. I agree, I want to increase my endurance and my balance, my power and my flexibility and every one of the other six general skills.

There are folks out there in the world who choose to specialize though, runners, rowers, hammer throwers, power-lifters and Olympic lifters to name a few. So what happens when these specialist give CrossFit a try?

I’m somewhat of a CrossFit junkie, I watch videos and read articles all the time, so when I saw that  Kendrick Farris, a professional Olympic weightlifter, gave Isabel (30 snatches for time) a go, I obviously checked it out.

Is it the fastest Isabel time every posted? No. Does he make it look easy, yes! 135lbs for Kenndrick is about 40% of his heaviest platform lift (160 kg or about 353lbs) so its far from a “heavy snatch” for him. Watching him lift with flawless technique is a pretty nice sight to see, the sounds that the bar makes are enough to make me shiver.

Check it out.

http://games.crossfit.com/video/kendrick-farris-does-isabel

Tom

Lesson Plan for Thursday, August 8th:

Warm-up:  Coaches guide the athletes through some hip and shoulder dynamic mobility doing lengths up and down the gym floor then go into the Girard warm up.

WoD: How heavy can you go?

3 hang power snatch
3 hang squat snatch
3 overhead squat

Men start at 75lbs., women at 45.  Start a new set every 4 minutes and add anywhere from 5-20 pounds to the bar each time through.  Aim to get in 6-8 sets.  If you shoulder mobility really limits you getting a good training effect go for some heavier sets with cleans and front squats.

Kirk McColl took some time off his military career in Victoria to join us in the fall of 2012. He became part of the morning team, working under Andy Sack for four months before earning his fast-track apprentice diploma.

Looking back at his experience in Vancouver, Kirk said this:

“The amount of pure, caring, and passionate people that surround CFV is
unbelievable. It was an absolute pleasure to show up bright and early
everyday. Your reputation mirrors your product. The wealth of knowledge and coaching techniques the coaches pass on to their apprentices is flawless and mastered. I feel confident now to jump the next hurdle.”

Rachael Clifford came to us from California in the fall of 2012 – on a three-month sabbatical from work – as part of her “quest to become healthy.”

“I was suffering from depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness. I was sick of taking medications for all of my symptoms,” she said. “I had had enough and wanted to try the natural approach to feeling better.”

Rachael had been CrossFitting for almost a year when she arrived in Vancouver, but she still felt like a beginner. “My strength, form, and confidence needed a lot of work. I committed to making it a priority and went into it with a positive attitude and a consistent schedule,” said Rachael, who also embraced stretching with Giselle and mobility training while in Vancouver.

After three months in with us, she said she improved dramatically in every area of exercise. “There’s something about the Paleo diet and CrossFit that has cured me,” she said. “These people in Vancouver know what they’re talking about.”

“I feel amazing and beautiful and I can finally live my life to my full potential,” she added.

Lucy came to CrossFit Vancouver in the winter of 2012. Originally from Ireland, Lucy was living in Melbourne, Australia when she discovered CrossFit. She loved it, but she wanted to learn more. After doing some research about CrossFit boxes around the world, she soon stumbled across our apprentice program in Vancouver.

Here’s what she said about her three-month experience in Vancouver:

“From the moment I set foot at CrossFit Vancouver, I knew I was in for a very different and special experience.  Even though I was still adjusting to the shock of seeing snow rather than blue skies and sand, I immediately felt at home.

I was greeted with big smiles, eager handshakes, and curious questions, not to mention a crew of impressive athletes, who could knock out handstand push ups like they were hiccups!

One thing that really stood out for me was the ease and efficiency in which things were done.  The relaxed yet focused atmosphere, and the embracing community at CrossFit Vancouver are priceless.

In short, Patty and his charismatic team offer a superior service, both in and outside of the school. I learned so much from them, on both a professional and personal level.”

- Lucy Kenefick

Mike Fandrey, along with Tom Smith, are the owners of CrossFit Rocky Point in Coquitlam, B.C.

Fandrey has been CrossFitting for a while now. He first opened up a tiny four hundred square foot garage gym in Maple Ridge. Before opening his doors of his 3,000 square foot facility in Coquitlam, Fandrey spent a good deal of time consulting with CrossFit Vancouver.

“This played an integral role in the early development of Rocky Point CrossFit,” said Fandrey. “We still use CrossFit Vancouver’s fundamentals program to train all of our new clients before they head into group classes,” said Fandrey, whose box has more than 150 members today.

He credits the business mentorship program at CrossFit Vancouver as having helped him grow as quickly and as smoothly as he has. “The program is advantageous to anyone wanting to open an affiliate of his own,” he said.