Dan,
I’m a 30 year old former high school pole vaulter trying to make a comeback in the masters category. My problem is that years of inactivity have left me with no wind and no wheels. I know that you are a proponent of sprint speed for field events…do you have any favorite sprint programs for getting some stamina and speed back? Thanks.
Jer…
The best thing I ever saw…seriously…was something that was in an early edition of the Crossfit Journal. It was a 12 week program highlighting some 400’s, deadlifts, Pushpresses, and…um…something else. The idea was intelligently hooking the stuff together and slowly building up the volume…and the combinations (run and deadlift, for example)…
Hit them up for the edition and I think you will like it.
[quote]jzimm9mm wrote:
Dan,
I’m a 30 year old former high school pole vaulter trying to make a comeback in the masters category. My problem is that years of inactivity have left me with no wind and no wheels. I know that you are a proponent of sprint speed for field events…do you have any favorite sprint programs for getting some stamina and speed back? Thanks.
Jer…[/quote]
Great. I follow the crossfit site and get on their program every so often. I’ll see if I can track down that article.
Jer…
Just wonderin.
What accounts for the destructive phenomenon represented by the obsessive pursuit of training detail?
Is it like when one tries to teach PC skills and the student won’t listen to the concept, but rather insists on writing down the steps to the exclusion of all else?
Is it like when teaching someone to draw (my field), and the student ignores the subject to compulsively stare at their own empty paper?
I read once where these blocks are called “destroyers” and have an almost mystical power.
I’m missing something. could you give me a step by step explanation of your question?
Actually, I agree…far more than you may even believe this, I think this is what absolutely kills athletic success…
[quote]richieY2K wrote:
Just wonderin.
What accounts for the destructive phenomenon represented by the obsessive pursuit of training detail?
Is it like when one tries to teach PC skills and the student won’t listen to the concept, but rather insists on writing down the steps to the exclusion of all else?
Is it like when teaching someone to draw (my field), and the student ignores the subject to compulsively stare at their own empty paper?
I read once where these blocks are called “destroyers” and have an almost mystical power. [/quote]
Mr. John,
I am setting up for training for the Highland Games. I like to stick to basic hard-working programs like 5x5x5, or The Sprinter Workout, or a personal fave, OLaD. Problem is, I have zero throwing experience. I have just purchased the vp-productions highland throwing dvd. Are there any other recommendations, resources, or groups that I should look to?
thanks for your response, and your articles,
quan2m
Sorry, Coach, for the vague meandering, rather than a direct question. I read and try to learn from the threads. One consistent thing I observe is your mission to strip away the unnecessary, counterproductive elements in the training programs and questions. It’s helped me, thanks.
I just wanted to thank DJ for overhead squats. I was born with mild cerebral palsy and even though I’ve been pretty active all my life, the last few years(I’m 38) I’ve noticed my already bad flexibility getting even worse. I tried bodybuilding type training, but it seemed to only make things worse. Even a sneeze would hurt my lower back. The doc told me my hip flexors were too tight and gave me some stretches to do. It helped a little. Then I saw this site. What a revalation. I did OHS with an Olympic bar. 8 sets of 5 every day for two weeks and now for the first time in years, no back pain in the morning. Have you any experience with training anyone with my type of disability? I’ve been trying to soak in as much as possible, and am looking for all-around functional strength. Any help would be appreciated. Brian
Well, that was humbling. OHS w/ the bar, no problem, right? Well, the first set of five was tough, but not impossible…but rep 4 of the second set, I totally fell apart at the bottom, fell on my ass, and had to dump the bar forward.
Yet another benefit to working out in your own basement…now where’s that broomstick?
Jonathan
Oh, I forgot to ask…
If I fall down in the middle of a set like that, should I still eat .9 of a banana with my second post workout meal? Also, maybe I should do OHS on on a ball from now on to improve my balance so I won’t fall down again…
J
Of course you need to eat 0.9 of a banana. Who eats the skin?
[quote]sharetrader wrote:
Of course you need to eat 0.9 of a banana. Who eats the skin?[/quote]
Skin? What are you talking about? Bananas have a skin? Does that mean I can get rid of the really hard end before I eat it?
DB
[quote]Keith Wassung wrote:
BPC wrote:
Danny John wrote:
I noted “quantum” improvements in athletic success from every “real jump” in the overhead Squats…
135
165
185
205
225
and beyond!
So, I’m not surprised to hear how your other lifts picked up after…what seems, anyway…only minute (pronounced “minute” not “minute.”) improvements in the lift. It’s funny but 135 to 190 in the OvSqt is like adding two hundred in the squat or a couple more plates with the FS.
Good to hear this…
Keith Wassung wrote:
Dan,
I wanted to give you a progress report on my overhead squats. This past year I decided to really hit full squats and front squats hard again-I have been a bit slack in the last 18 months with the birth of our twins, etc, etc. I started in January and made steady progress, but the squat sessions were hard, a lot of “grinders”, and I was always drained afterwards.
Of course I average 4 hours a sleep a night due to the kids. I implemented the overhead squats in March, starting with a broomstick, I quickly progressed to 65x8, then in April I hit 135x8 and all of a sudden I noticed that my regular full squats and front squats became incredibly smooth and solid, almost effortless and I have hit new PR’s for weight and reps each week since May. My overhead squat is 190x8 and I continue to push that higher.
Thanks
keith
Dan/Keith-
That’s really awesome! It really just “makes sense” that overhead squats are one of (if not the best) things you can do for all around development.
Ever had any clicking/crunching sounds in either of your knees?
I have a clicking sound in my left knee only when I squat ass to grass but really no pain. Every once in a while I’ll feel a very slight mild pain in that same knee for a split second but squatting/sprinting/playing basketball doesn’t aggravate it. I only feel that slight mild quick pain when I’m sitting down in my chair at work and I twist my leg a certain way. Mike Robertson thinks it could be crepitus (spelling)if there’s no pain accompanied by the clicking.
I went to the chief of Physical medicine and she said I had great range of motion (toe touch easy, I showed her that I could do a rock bottom pistol, broomstick overhead squat,etc)and she felt my kneecap and said it was very well lubricated, etc. They did no xrays but asked me why did I squat to such a deep position. I explained to her that I lifted weights and after I thought about it, realized that actually everybody squats down really low in everyday life especially when dealing w/children and/or picking things up off the floor and don’t think about any “safety/injury” issues then.
I know that neither one of you are Physical Therapists or MD’s but I really want to continue to up my overhead squats but I don’t want any knee problems later on in life either.
Any experiences or commments that you could share w/be much appreciated.
BPC,
I do work in the health care field and have written close to one hundred health education and research papers, so I do have some background in this…but,tough to tell without seeing it in person. Rather than trying to pinpoint your condition, I will give you some general thoughts.
-I would consider locating a good sports physician type in your town-could be a sports PT, MD or other, but these types of folks tend to look at our bodies more from a function and performance standpoint rather than a simple presence and absence of symptoms approach. That would be my starting point. I have always preached to guys that they need to locate a team of support professionals in their community LONG before they ever get injured or actually have need of one.
-I think if you train long enough and heavy enough, then it is going to have some sort of negative effect on the joints of the body-dont get me wrong, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives, but none of us are invincible and physical stress and micro-trauma catches up.
-The overhead squats have been wonderful-they have made my lifting not just better but more “fluid” if that makes any sense at all. I was making progress before I started doing them, but they seem to take off the rough edges and extra discomfort of the compound movements. A couple of years ago, I was having a lot of little “twinges” in my knee, nothing real severe, but after a game of basketball with my teenage son and his friends, they would ache and be stiff the next day. I started doing a lot of free hand bodyweight squats for high reps and even some hindu squats and after about 6 weeks of doing that, I noticed major improvement and have not had any problem since then.
-look to the mineral/supplement chest, I think taking some type of joint formula with glucosmine is a great idea, I also take magnesium, zinc and some other minerals.
-consider some type of custom fitted orthotics for your shoes-what is the wear pattern of the soles of your shoes like?
Just a few thoughts-maybe Dan or others can add to this
keith
[/quote]
Keith,
Thanks for the excellent input!!!
I will try to do that soon-It’s hard because I’m really busy (I work at Kaiser Permanente 40 hours a week, Air National Guard duty one weekend per month, and go to night school for my General Ed right now but planning on majoring in Kinesiology/Physical Therapy).
Very true-eventually some trauma will occur-I injured myself badly (partially tearing a pec tendon on the bench press when I first started lifting many years ago and went through extensive Physical therapy-I know Dan’s not a fan of static stretching but I became a fanatic of stretching after that experience
I never have ANY pain: sprinting hills, playing b-ball, squatting (just the clicking sound in my one knee when squatting deep but no pain) just have a slight pain for a quick second or two when I’m sitting down and twist it a certain way-I’m going to try your idea of high rep bodyweight squats-what’s the benefit in your opinion? high reps=increased blood flow? I know I did a lot of high rep pushups to rehab my pec injury and I think it helped a lot
I’ll try the supplements too
I actually do most of my lifting especially my overhead squats barefoot because I’ve noticed it helps me w/ankle stability-I’ve had MANY ankle sprains playing basketball so one of my ankle’s range of motion is a little stiffer than the other
Thanks A BUNCH for your input Keith/Dan!!! I appreciate it.
I was just joking along the way. I like your posts…
[quote]richieY2K wrote:
Sorry, Coach, for the vague meandering, rather than a direct question. I read and try to learn from the threads. One consistent thing I observe is your mission to strip away the unnecessary, counterproductive elements in the training programs and questions. It’s helped me, thanks.[/quote]
BPC,
May I suggest you start trimming some of the replies to replies to replies on your posts? It’s a lot of scrolling to get past them.
DB
Yeah no problem.
My bad. Good point.