CROSSFIT APEX

This Friday Sept 17th at 5PM is our first

Strength and Technique class.

Q&A Part One

What is this class all about? Each week we will spend the entire class working one movement in its entirety from setup to finish. The movements will rotate through squats, presses, deadlifts, power and olympic lifts. The WOD will not be performed in this class. Ourfocus will be on getting each person stronger in that lift.

Isn't a whole hour for 1 movement alot of time? We can't talk about getting stronger without good technique. The first part of class will be spent all on technique and mechanics of the movement. Without good technique and mechanics, you cannot expect to see improvements in your max lifts. CrossFit preaches "Technique, Consistency, Intensity". You must know the mechanics and be able to perform them with consistency before jacking up the intensity by moving faster or moving on to heavier loads. Many times people get comfortable with their "not too shabby mechanics" and feel confident to take on heavier loads, unfortunately this is when we see breakdowns or disaster. If a person has not put enough time into the mechanics and technique of the movement for a consistent length of time either with that load or with the movement it's self unloaded, then the body has not developed the appropriate strength needed in the proper muscles to perform the needed mechanics for a heavier load. (ie: front squat- if a person can't keeptheir elbows up while maintaining lumbar curve (low back locked neutral) consistently for the entire duration of the front squat with pvc, then in a workout when they use 30lbs we will see the elbows to the floor and rounding of the low back. The problem with this is #1 potential for injury, #2 the person is not improving their strength in the front squat. Sure they may be getting hip below the knee and the person may feel like they are doing the work of a front squat, unfortunately that work they were doing was dangerous and did nothing to improve the front squat because there was a loss of the mechanics.

Are you saying once I learn the mechanics of a movement that I should never lose that technique?

No, there will be times when there is a degradation of form, as when we are going fast in a wod, or trying to hit a new PR on a max effort. At these moments we will most likely see some mechanically flaw or falter, however this is when you will hear us yell things like "get in your heels, or elbows up" to help bring you backto your mechanics and clean up the movement. Once we see you are dialed back in with good form than we will again push you to go faster to keep your intensity high. Understand, however, that the movement should be correctable at any point in the workout, if it isn't than either the load is too heavy or you have not put enough time into consistent good mechanics.

Back to Fridays...are we going to max or what?

Here are our goals for you...

1. For you to identify chinks in your armor (ie: weaknesses), or missing components in each movement.

2. To turn your brains on and have an active mind during the movements and to know what you did and didn't do in each lift.

3. Work to have the same self talk during each lift from set up, to initiation, to finish, have the same things running through your head for each portion of the movement, most likely things that will help your weak points in the movements.

4. To give you the tools in the form of tips, cues, exercises and practice drills for you to be self-reliant on practicing these things to improve your movements. (Some of the stuff we will uncover will NOT be fixed in 1 day, 1 week or even 1 month...be patient. Knowing is half the battle! Now you have a place to move from.)

5. For you to know your max lifts and be knowledgable in workouts as to what weights you should be using depending on the volume, set up, and duration of the workout.

So there it was...we will max out and find your max load with GOOD TECHNIQUE. We will find where your "clean" maxes are so that we will have a good base for your other weight percentages. (light days, heavy days in a wod) (minor form flaws will be considered on a movement to movement basis and depending upon the person. Example: I will not accept Bob losing his back and rounding out on max back squat and let him fight to continue to stand, however I will allow Stacey to continuer her back squat even though she is driving through the ball of her right foot because her midline is still stabilized.) Please

understand all flaws and degradation of form are not created equal. WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY MOVEMENTS TO CONTINUE IF YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN MIDLINE STABILIZATION (locked midline of abdominals and low back)

Ok now I'm thinking is one day enough for this move? We want you to be the most efficient and effective in all of these moves as you can be. It takes time and you will need to practice the moves. Fortunately many of the moves we do build on each other, so much of your focus may have to go back to the basic movement for a while before seeing gains in the more advanced moves. ie: if you push off your toes in an air squat (have trouble staying in your heels) then when we get to front squat you will have trouble with a load in the front of your body pulling you even more to your toes. You will need to take time getting back in your heels first in the air squat and then with pvc in the front rack. Being in your heels will save you alot of knee pain as well as make you much more efficient in driving you and a load up out of the squat position.

What if I can't come to all Friday sessions? We encourage you to come to as many Friday classes in a row since we will be building the classes on each other. This will help as we move along and retest max lifts. Please bring with you a notebook to be left at the box so that you can record notes and successful lifts. This will be handy when figuring out what weight you should be using in a wod.