Amelia Fix Mistakes Boone with Your the First Lady of Clean Ocr

ISSUE 1 | JULY 2016

ELEVATING FITNESS THROUGH FUNCTIONAL TRAINING

CUES & PROGRESSION FOR THE SNATCH AMELIA FIX MISTAKES BOONE WITH YOUR THE FIRST LADY OF CLEAN OCR

HABITS 7 OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BENCH SQUATTERS PRESS TO ARCH OR NOT TO ARCH COMMON OBSTACLE RACING TRAINING MISTAKES

CONTENTS

28 34 37 Amelia Boone Common Joe Da Sena The First Lady of OCR Spartan Fit! By Amy Lawson Obstacle Course By Skye Pratt Epperson Racing Mistakes By Evan Perperis

Cover Photo Amelia Boone Spartan Race Inc.

July 2016 | METCON 1 CONTENTS TECHNIQUE 12 Clean it Up Fixing issues with your Clean By Wes Feighner 17 7 Habits of Highly Effective Squatters By Chad Wesley Smith 20 Cues and Progression for the Snatch By Misbah Haque 26 Bench Press To Arch or Not To Arch By Stefanie Cohen

COACHING & TRAINING 41 Goal Based Training By Jason Brown

Till Zimmermann Fisherman´s Friend Strongmanrun Nürburgring 2016 Photo by Sportograf.com

REEBOK CROSSFIT NANO 5.0

REEBOK CROSSFIT SPEED TR www.shopcross treebok.com Till Zimmermann Fisherman´s Friend Strongmanrun Nürburgring 2016 Photo by Sportograf.com

PUBLISHER Christina Elmore

EDITOR Chris Elmore [email protected]

ADVERTISING Geoffrey Smith [email protected]

CREATIVE DIRECTOR / DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION David Montano REEBOK CROSSFIT NANO 5.0 Corecom Enterprises, LLC [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHER Felix Cervantes

CONTRIBUTORS Amy Lawson, Chad Wesley Smith, Evan Perperis, Jason Brown, Mike Israetel, Misbah Haque, Nick Shaw, Sarah Pierce, Sasha Preziosa, Skye Pratt Epperson, Stefanie Cohen, Wes Feighner

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REEBOK CROSSFIT SPEED TR PUBLISHER Metcon Media Corporation 407 West Imperial Hwy., Suite H203 Brea, CA 92821 (714) 900-2804 [email protected] www.shopcross treebok.com July 2016 | METCON 5 CONTRIBUTORS

AMY LAWSON Chad Wesley Smith EVAN PERPERIS

Amy is a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, English teacher, Chad Wesley Smith is the owner/founder of Evan is a Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Team mem- wife of a strength coach and mom to 2 teen boys. Juggernaut Training Systems and one of the most ber, NSCA-CPT, owner of Strength & Speed She competes in CrossFit, elite Spartan Races, accomplished strength athletes of recent years. and Hammer Nutrition sponsored athlete. His Tough Mudders, and just about anything else With a background in track and field, Smith took 2015 highlights include being ranked 9th on the that presents a new and different challenge. Her two collegiate national championships and con- OCRWC points leader board, finishing 2nd at 24 newest endeavor—completing GORUCK Heavy tinued his success in powerlifting and strong- hrs of Shale Hell, eight other podium finishes and Challenge in December 2016. man. Smith also earned his professional status in 22nd at WTM. His book, Strength & Speed's Guide Strongman by a landslide victory at the 2012 North to Elite Obstacle Course Racing hits shelves in running4one.blogspot.com American Strongman Championships. Summer 2016.

www.jtsstrength.com www.teamstrengthspeed.com

JASON BROWN MIKE ISRAETEL, PHD MISBAH HAQUE

Jason is the owner and head coach of CrossFit 781. Mike is the head Science Consultant for Misbah Haque is the owner of AirborneMind. He is known for being very intense and passionate Renaissance Periodization. He is also a profes- com. The heart of his blog is centered around about both training and life. He has been an athlete sor of Exercise Science at Temple University in strengthening the bridge between Olympic for the entirety of his life and took an interest in pow- Philadelphia, PA and was previously a professor Weightlifting and CrossFit. He coaches at CF erlifting at a very young age. During middle school at the University of Central Missouri, where he Royalty and competes as a 62kg lifter. Misbah Jason started training with a strength and condi- taught Exercise Physiology, Personal Training, strongly believes that if you can understand the tioning coach and was able to further enhance his and Advanced Programming for sports and fit- variables of your training on a fundamental level, strength and conditioning allowing him to excel in ness. Mike’s PhD is in Sport Physiology, and he you can manipulate them so you’re not losing out Football and Track and Field in high school and in has been a consultant on sports nutrition to the on the potential training effects of your program. If college. Jason recently started an affiliate program- U.S. Olympic Training Site in Johnson City, TN. you are looking to structure your training, Misbah ming company called Box Programming Mike has coached numerous powerlifters, weight- has built TakeOff Barbell Training Templates with lifters, bodybuilders, and other individuals in both two hours of video along with PDF downloads, Jason is a Certified Strength and Conditioning diet and weight training. Originally from Moscow, walking you through the process step by step. He Specialist, (CSCS), CrossFit L2, Combat Veteran Russia, Mike is a competitive powerlifter, body- is a USAW-SPC, CF-L1 Trainer and is studying Operation Enduring Freedom, 2010-2011, and has builder, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler. Kinesiology. a B.A. in Psychology. www.renaissanceperiodization.com www.theairbornemind.com www.boxprogramming.com

6 METCON | July 2016 CONTRIBUTORS

NICK SHAW STEFANIE COHEN WES FEIGHNER

Nick is the founder and CEO of Renaissance Stefanie is the co-owner and co-founder of Wes started his career as a soccer player, where Periodization. He is also a competitive powerlift- Hybrid Performance Method. She has her B.S. in he played four years of Division I soccer at Cal er and bodybuilder. He has had the opportunity Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine from the Poly San Luis Obispo on his way to earning a to work with numerous national level physique University of Miami and will graduate as a Doctor B.S. in Kinesiology. At Cal Poly he earned All athletes as well as world-class strength athletes. in Physical Therapy in 2018. She played soccer for Conference and All Far West Region honors as Nick holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan the U-17 Venezuelan National team, and now con- the team’s first three-year captain in the school’s in Sport Management. Nick currently resides in tinues her athletic career as a 53kg Weightlifter history. After his last season at Poly, he was draft- Charlotte, NC with his wife and two kids. and a 123lb Elite level Powerlifter were she holds ed by the Seattle Sounders in the 2012 MLS Draft. multiple State and International records. After retiring from professional soccer, he re- www.renaissanceperiodization.com turned to Southern California and founded the www.hybridperformancemethod.com Brea Barbell Club. He now competes in weightlifting and coaches all levels, ranging from youth athletes to Master's National Champions.

www.instagram.com/breabarbellclub

SKYE PRATT EPPERSON SASHA PREZIOSA

Skye is a CrossFit coach at CrossFit Forest, a free- Sasha has been a photographer for as long as lance writer, a talented athlete and an awesome she can remember, but she developed a love all-around human being. CrossFit has taught her for CrossFit photography shortly after being in- to tackle challenges completely differently than troduced to her first WOD. As quickly as she she previously had. The way she categorizes was hooked to the intensity and community that goals and defines failure has evolved and trick- CrossFit offered, she was also taken back by how led into all aspects of her life. She loves watch- much she loved photographing the athletes. She ing other women discover their literal strength approaches shooting with athletes the same as and realize how that connects to their figurative her personal photography; lots of light and memo- strength. When she is not CrossFitting, she en- rable moments. She is fortunate because her box joys rock climbing, hiking, playing soccer, and has a lot of beautiful, natural light that she likes to dabbles in MMA. Skye has a B.A. in English and capture the athletes in to illustrate their hard work a M.F.A. in Writing from the University of New and highlight the intensity of their movements. Mexico and is a CrossFit Level 1 certified coach. www.instagram.com/squatsandpixels www.crossfitforest.com www.squatsandpixels.com

July 2016 | METCON 7 am excited to welcome you to the first issue of Metcon ELEVATING PERFORMANCE Magazine. The concept for this magazine has been roll- I ing around in my head for a couple of years now. I have THROUGH FUNCTIONAL been involved in sports most of my life, and I have been in the fitness publishing business for the last five years. Most TRAINING fitness magazines today fall into one of two categories. They are either very broad newsstand health and fitness magazines focused on selling you the dream of six-pack abs with the latest 20-minute workout, or on the other extreme, they are niche magazines focused on a single type of training or sport. Chris Elmore Editor Now all of those publications serve a market, but I never felt like any of them completely covered the active lifestyle I strive to live. I love all kinds of sport and fitness actives and have been looking for something that took functional training and bridged it with sports. I love trying new things and I am constantly looking for new challenges but don’t have the time to read enough magazines to cover running, triathlon, Olympic weightlifting, hiking, obstacle course racing, Cross- Fit, MMA, trail running, paddle boarding, diving, cycling... are you starting to get the picture?

My goal with launching Metcon is to create a technical journal with concrete educational information on functional training and nutrition to help the hybrid athletes out there perform better in all the challenges and adventures they want to take on. Each issue will highlight a different sport or activity, but with the core focus of the magazine always being on achieving optimum performance through strength and conditioning.

In this issue we highlight obstacle course racing by learning how the First Lady of OCR, Amelia Boone, approaches training and nutrition. We also interview the co-founder of Spartan Racing, Joe De Sena, to learn about why he created the race and how you can train for it, and elite OCR athlete Evan Perperis explains common OCR training mistakes.

But that is just the beginning. This issue and all issues will focus on improving lifting technique through in depth articles like this month's look at addressing Common Issues with the Clean, Proper Bench Press Form, Cues and Progres- sions for the Snatch, and Habits of Highly Effective Squatters.

With contributions from strength athletes and coaches like Chad Wesley Smith from Juggernaut Training Systems and Stefanie Cohen from Hybrid Performance Method, nutrition experts Nick Shaw and Dr. Mike Israetel from Renais- sance Periodization, and Olympic Weightlifting coaches like Wes Feighner, my goal is to provide the highest quality training education around.

I hope you enjoy our first issue and take away mean- ingful information that you can use to improve your performance. I would love to hear what you think and would also like to invite anyone who is interested in getting involved with contributing to contact me at [email protected].

Chris Elmore

8 METCON | July 2016 HIDE TREATS INSIDE

MENTAL STIMULATION & PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Sean Donellan doing bar muscle-ups during 16.3 at Maxability Sports and CrossFit in Teaneck, NJ / March 2016

Photographer: Sasha Preziosa www.squatsandpixels.com Jessica Sosa focusing on her toes-to-bar at Maxability Sports and CrossFit in Teaneck, NJ / March 2016.

Photographer: Sasha Preziosa Photos Felix Cervantes

12 METCON | July 2016 CLEAN IT UP"

Fix Mistakes with Your Clean

By Wes Feighner

f you are doing cleans, you should ing next to you. If so, you don’t need to strive to do them well. Whether read this. The coach can just help you. I you compete in CrossFit, strength train for another sport, or just like at- As a coach, I’ve given numerous tempting difficult things in your ga- seminars and worked with athletes rage, the clean is becoming ever more from all sports. I generally see 3 dif- prevalent in today’s training sessions. ferent types of lifting mistakes when The excuse “I’m not a weightlifter” for cleaning, and most people will fall into not improving doesn’t really make one of these three categories. We will any sense to me. I’m not a chef, but I discuss what they are and then how to like when my food tastes good. fix them. This is by no means an all- encompassing list, but rather a gener- The tips provided in this article are alized representation of mistakes. to help you troubleshoot your clean. This is also assuming you don’t have a credible weightlifting coach stand-

July 2016 | METCON 13 To fix it: first, we The Hips Rise Too Fast compensate the other direction to get I notice with many Disclaimer on this: as the weights the bar back into the optimal position. need to set our approach maximal percentages, a people they will degree of the hips rising becomes a To fix it: first, we need to set our back. When the little unavoidable to an extent. There back. When the back is locked and “brace for the back is locked and are also differing schools of thought tight from the start, we can then acti- contact,” meaning on how much the hips can rise, pro- vate our legs more. The key to keep- tight from the vided the bar is also moving up at a ing our position is initiating the lift by their arms will proportional speed. pushing through the legs. Think like start, we can then you are doing a leg press, or just push- tense up and bend activate our The hips shooting up off of the ing the floor away from you. When we right before the ground is one of the most common initiate the pull by pushing through our legs more. mistakes I see. The problem with this legs, we can keep our torso angle con- legs come through is that it means our torso is slowly (or stant. We can keep our shoulders over quickly) falling over the bar, and as the the bar, and this covering the bar will the bar. bar keeps traveling upward, we are in- help transfer up power into the bar lat- creasingly pulled forward leading into er. If we pull with the upper body from

Bad Bad

Hips rising too fast Hips rising too fast

Good Good

Hips rising correctly Hips rising correctly

the power position. This means that the ground, you will see the shoulders we will be more likely to jump forward start to rock back and then fall forward (we have all seen the clean broad as the bar continues moving. The other jump person), and this also puts us in a key to keeping a good torso angle is to position to loop the bar away from us. relax the arms, which takes us into the Also of note, we typically have to over- next cue.

14 METCON | July 2016 The other thing The Early Arm Bend the contact,” meaning their arms will When I first Disclaimer on this one: some tense up and bend right before the to remember is prominent lifters do display a bit of an legs come through the bar. This tends started coaching, arm bend. Typically this is performed to make the bar drift away from the that with a clean, as the bar passes the knee. The lifter lifter after the point of contact. The it seemed that an the contact is will bend the arms to bring the bar arms are already rigid as the bar ap- overwhelming into the hips using this bend and the proaches the hips, and that lever in lower than when lats as well. There is also an entire the arms is simply maintained at that amount of people technique known as “hip cleaning” point (t-rex arms?). snatching. that utilizes this. For the purposes of had trouble this article, I’m not going to address We fix this by maintaining loose with making any the hip clean, and will focus instead arms up until the point of contact. We on mistakes that occur from people want to allow the arms to be long and contact with bending their arms too much. relaxed throughout the first pull. This will keep the bar closer throughout the the bar. This mistake is very common in lift, as well as allow the legs to trans- athletes that are upper body domi- fer power into the bar. The arms must

Bad Bad

Premature arm bending. See correct arm position on Premature arm bending. See correct arm position on previous page previous page

nant. I see it more in male athletes, become active, but not until the legs but it is by no means exclusive to that are done pushing. The other thing to category. This becomes an issue for remember is that with a clean, the con- people in a couple of places. If the tact is lower than when snatching. I’ve bend occurs immediately off the floor, coached a handful of people that were the lifter often gets pulled forward literally rowing the bar upward into the over the bar. When this happens, it hips because they thought the contact causes all the problems associated should be in the same place as when with problem number one above. If snatching. The clean has a closer grip the bend is more prominent as the and when the arms are loose, the bar bar approaches the hips, it can create will naturally hit lower on the thigh. bar path issues for the lifter. I notice This is not an issue, and the priority is with many people they will “brace for always a straight bar path.

July 2016 | METCON 15 We want to use the Bar Contact Issues: the bar tend to pull prematurely with the upper Specifically, this gets knocked away or you body and this pull bypasses the legs. upper body, but have trouble making contact We want to use the upper body, but not means that any When I first started coaching, it until after the legs finish driving through not until after the seemed that an overwhelming amount it. Using the arms too early usually force that makes legs finish driving of people had trouble with making any causes the lifter to lean back early and the bar travel contact with the bar. More recently miss the leg contact altogether. through it. though, it seems as though people actu- away from us is ally bang into the bar TOO hard, caus- Now on the opposite end of the spec- ing more problems than it helps. These trum, we have the case of banging the not good force. are both two sides to the same coin, so bar away from us. It seems that we often I’ve grouped them together. confuse “power” with “contact.” We must remember that it’s all about how high the Both problems are equally detrimen- bar can get, not about how much force tal, and knowing how to transfer power we put into it at all costs. Specifically, into the bar with your legs without caus- this means that any force that makes ing it to loop away can be tough when the bar travel away from us is not good learning the lift. First, let’s address the force. Force moving up is good. Force problem of not making any bar contact. moving away is bad. It’s that simple. So

Good Bad Bad

Correct bar position post contact Bar does not make contact Bar drifts too far away

Though not making any contact can as the bar begins to approach the point allow for an extremely straight bar path, of contact, we must remember that our we don’t properly utilize enough force primary goal is to drive the bar upward. transfer into the barbell, making it diffi- A way I like to think of it is driving the cult to put up heavier weights. The bar bar upward by violently straightening simply will not get as high if we don’t the legs, as opposed to swinging the touch it, and the name of the game is bar hips forward. In terms of practical ap- height. Not making contact usually occurs plication these don’t look all that much due to one or two factors. First, if your different, but I find that focusing on this arms are too tense as we begin the lift, helps prevent any excess hip swinging it will not end up close to the legs as you in the horizontal direction. pass the knees. In this case, you are literally holding the bar away from yourself. The other thing that will keep our If you relax the arms, the bar will natu- bar close as we meet the bar is relax- rally drift towards your body and end up ing the arms. I spoke about this as a fix against your leg once you’re upright. for many things, but in this case tens- ing the arms early resists our own leg The other factor that can cause us to power. We essentially handcuff our- bypass contact is initiating the second selves from being able to get all of our pull too soon. As we pass the knees, if leg power into the bar. Utilize the arms, we are not patient and do not allow the but not until the legs are done. bar to end up at the proper height, we

16 METCON | July 2016 un faster, jump higher, tackle likely to lead to injury and if you are harder, whatever your athletic injured you can’t squat. Consistently 7 HABITS R goal is, improving your squat stretching your hips, quads, ham- will help you reach it. The squat is strings will help you maintain better the ultimate developer of quad, ham- squatting positions and stay healthy OF HIGHLY string, glute and hip strength, and so you can train hard. these are the muscles that are responsible for sprinting speed and jumping 2. Squat To Depth All The Time ability. It is no coincidence that Olym- EFFECTIVE pic sprinters, the fastest athletes on If you are going to be a great com- the planet, possess tremendous lower petitive squatter you must squat to body development. Ben Johnson, the depth all the time. Do not fool yourself former World Record holder in the into thinking that you can squat high SQUATTERS 100m was said to have squatted 600 in training and then hit legal depth in pounds for 6 reps at a bodyweight of a meet. I have always made it a motto only 175 pounds. Whether your goal to “Leave No Doubt” in my squatting. By Chad is powerlifting dominance, legendary I don’t want to have to even look for 3 strongman performances or tremen- white lights when I finish a squat be- dous athletic feats, these squat train- cause I should already know that I hit Wesley Smith ing tips will get you there. proper depth. Film your squats from the side to check your depth or have 1. Improve Your Mobility your training partners assess your depth for you and remember, friends A lack of mobility will make it dif- don’t let friends squat high. ficult to for you to hit proper depth and if you are able to hit depth, it will be 3. Speed, Speed, Speed! difficult for you to maintain your stron- gest body position. This inability to The best way to squat big weight maintain proper body position is more is to squat fast. Generating great July 2016 | METCON 17 speed and force is the best way to drive through sticking points. Focus on imparting maximal speed to the bar all the time. From 135 to your max, you need to be trying to drive the bar through the roof. When you are looking to develop great bar speed you need to jump and do speed work. Jumps of all kinds (box jumps, squat jumps, distance jumps, depth jumps) will all help improve your Rate of Force Development so make sure you are jumping at least once per week. Jumps will also serve to activate your central nervous system prior to a heavy squat session. When you are doing speed work for the squat, I sug- gest you use straight weight (no bands or chains) in the 55-70% percent range for sets of 2-4 reps and focus on per- forming at least 1 rep per second. Get out a stopwatch and time your sets.

4. Dominate The Weight

Do you know how I put 905 pounds on my back and smashed it for the American Record (raw w/ wraps-308 class)? Confidence. One of the most common mistakes I see people making when attempting a max squat is to slow down their descent. This portion of the lift is what I believe is flex out of the hole, they will also build happens for 1 reason…fear. There most responsible for improving my static, supportive strength in the lower can be no fear when getting under squat from 800 to 905 pounds over a back, hips and abs, teach you to stay heavy weight. This supreme confi- 10 month period. The two best exer- tight and help your body find its stron- dence comes from proper prepara- cises to improve your strength out of gest position. Try this 3 week training tion, both physically and mentally. If the hole are dead squats and pause cycle of pause squats: you have trained to the best of your squats. Dead squats are performed abilities there is no reason to have a by placing the pins in a safety rack at • Week 1-3 sets of 5 reps with doubt in your mind when stepping on 1” above parallel, getting under the 50% using a 7 second pause the platform. Not only must your train- bar in that position and squatting up ing be great, you must also prepare from there. Try this 3-week training • Week 2-3 sets of 4 reps with your mind. 905 was a number that cycle of dead squats: 60% using a 5 second pause was constantly in my mind leading up to squatting it; mentally I owned • Week 1-10 sets of 1 at 60% with • Week 3-3 sets of 3 reps with 905. I had squatted it hundreds, if not 30 seconds between sets 70% using a 3 second pause thousands of times in my mind. Fill your mind with positive mental imag- • Week 2-7 sets of 1 at 67% with 6. Build Up Your Back ery and know that you own whatever 45 seconds between sets weight is going on your back. Unrack Bill Kazmaier, arguably the stron- it powerfully, descend with it confi- • Week 3-4 sets of 1 at 75% with gest man of all-time, said that “A dently and then explode with it out of 1 minute between sets strong back equals a strong man.” the hole; be on a mission to lockout. I don’t argue with Kaz and neither Pause squats are another great should you. Back strength is often the 5. Build Strength Out Of The Hole option to improve your strength and limiting factor in someone’s ability to power out of the hole in the squat. squat. If your back (upper and lower) The most common place for a raw Pause squats done with 1, 3, 5 or a 7 is weak, you won’t be able to sup- lifter to miss a max squat is right out second pause will not only help you port heavy weight. Your hamstrings, of the hole (ie. The bottom portion of build strength by diminishing or elim- quads, hips and glutes may be strong the lift). Putting extra attention to this inating the benefits of the stretch re- enough to squat 500 pounds, but if

18 METCON | July 2016 your back can’t support it, you aren’t squats are also a great way to build said, if you want to be a great squatter going to squat it. A great starting up your upper back in a very specific and have great technique, you must place to improve your lower back manner. I would definitely encourage practice that skill: you must squat. strength is to avoid wearing a lifting you to include these variations in your The Barbell Back Squat must be the belt as much as possible. Not wearing training. foundation of your training, and front a belt will make your midsection work squats, box squats, pause squats, much harder to support the weight 7. Hone Your Technique dead squats, etc. are there to supple- and in turn, make it that much stron- ment that work. I start every squat ger when a belt is worn. Another great If your technique in the squat is session with the back squat and work exercise to build the static supportive poor you are wasting your strength. on other things after. If you want to strength necessary in the lower back Great technique is what allows great be great at something you have to do for a huge squat are deadlift hypers. strength to be expressed effectively. that thing, not just something similar A deadlift hyper is a combination of Not everybody’s technique will be the to it. I can confidently say that my best a 45 degree back raise and a dead- same. Individual body dimensions, squat ever, 905 pounds, was also my lift. Set up the bar on the floor, take a leverages, strengths and weaknesses most technically proficient squat ever. snatch grip on it and do a back raise will dictate what technique is most while holding the bar. I have person- effective for you. From an empty bar These 7 tips are only a glimpse ally gone over 300 pounds on this ex- to your max, you must practice great into what is necessary to become a ercise for a set of 5. Adding in a 1-3 technique on every rep. Great tech- great squatter and strength athlete, second static hold at the top of each nique starts with a great setup so get but they will give you a great start on rep will also be effective. When look- TIGHT and create a good shelf for the road to success and building a ing to strengthen your upper back to the bar while driving your sternum up legendary squat. improve your squat, all types of row- and your head into your traps. Tech- ing and pulling variations will help. nique can only be perfected through My personal favorite is the chest- practice, so make sure you are turn- supported row and again adding in a ing the volume up on your squat train- static hold at the top of each rep for 1-3 ing. I have had squat sessions with seconds will be of tremendous ben- as many as 18 work sets of squats efit. Front squats or safety squat bar and squat variations. With that being July 2016 | METCON 19 Proin auctor vitae mauris id tempusm tempor leo vitae turpis sagittis dignissim. CUES & PROGRESSION FOR THE SNATCH

By Misbah Haque

cue is a relationship be- and visualization, a cue should trig- tween the athlete and the ger your understanding and feeling coach. It is used for that of the movement. It’s like painting a A specific moment in that spe- picture. If we’re thinking “Heels,” we cific situation. It’s important to under- need to paint the picture in our heads stand this because a cue that might of what exactly that looks like. If you work for me could mean something tell yourself “Heels” during the move- completely different to you. ment, you know the exact painting to

bring to life. The progressions are to develop understanding and feeling of the It’s also important to note that you movement. We do not want to be cannot focus on more than one issue It’s like painting a picture.“ If we’re thinking “Heels,” we need to paint the picture in our heads of what exactly“ that looks like. thinking about 10 different things at a time. Doing so, will cause you to while going through the movement or “think” too much instead of develop- else we’d go crazy. This is split up into ing feeling for the movement. When many segments for the sake of learn- we “think” too much, we end up freez- ing and drilling different positions. ing. This inhibits our body from fully At the end of the day, when it's time expressing the movement. Thinking is to perform the movement, we want to the enemy. We're striving for automa- connect the pieces together to make it ticity, and that comes from developing as fluid as possible. Once again, no the feel of the movement. need to think about all the moving parts at once. Go more by the feeling When picking cues for the follow- of where your position is in space. ing movements, choose one or two at the most until you feel proficient. You That’s why we have cues. Your can drill the Power or Full Snatch from cue is a trigger. Through repetition any of the positions below. July 2016 | METCON 21 Progressions: 1. Overhead Squat This position comes first because it will be our receiving position for the Snatch. Find your "sweet spot" for the bar when you are in the bottom of the squat. Remember this position. Pause 3-5 seconds in the bottom. Really get comfortable down there and feel it.

Cues: • “Reach towards the ceiling!” • “Stay tight!” • “Hips back first! • “Balance!” • “Chest up” • “Stay on the heels” 1A

2. Power Position We will be working from top-bottom once we’ve established a solid Overhead Squat. The Power Position is the most important position because it allows us to deliver maximal force to the bar. The first and second pulls serve to set us up for the perfect power position. You can drill the Pow- er or Full Snatch from this position.

Cues: • “Soft bend in the knees” • “Lats on!” • “Sweep back!” • “Keep it close” • “Stay flat footed!” • “Long arms!” 2A 2B • “Heels into the floor”

22 METCON | July 2016 3. Third Pull (“Pulling Under The Bar”) Once we have accelerated the bar upward, it’s time to pull under the bar. We aren’t free falling or just dropping under. We need an active connection with the bar throughout the whole lift. It needs to be aggressive and vicious. The turnover happens as your elbows go back and out, while you are transitioning into your squat. Arms are locked out overhead, reaching towards the ceiling. We have returned back to the “sweet spot.”

The feet move from pulling to receiving position during this transition. They shouldn’t leave the floor any higher than needed to make that lateral shift.

Once you have received the Snatch, whether it’s in Power or Squat, you must stabilize before coming up for the recovery. There’s no need to rush. You may miss lifts due to rushing when they could have been saved easily. Sit and be patient. Once you have stabilized yourself, pull the shins back, and drive your hips up.

Cues: • “Aim for the • “Land flat” chin!” • “Finish!” • “Elbows back” • “Big pull!” • “Punch!” • “Commit!” • “Reach!” • “Finish!” • “Patience!” • “Head • “Sit!” Straight” • “Stay tight!” • “Pull and • “Heels!” under!”

3A 3B 4. Mid-Hang Position (The Second Pull) Knees are bent just as they were in your power position, only the back angle changes. This allows you to pivot your hips without making it too complex. The Second Pull is where the explosion happens. The whole point of the first pull is to bring the bar from the floor the mid-thigh. The shoulder blades are back and down, but the lats are engaged forcefully. By turning the elbows out, this helps to en- 4A 4B 4C gage the lats and keep the bar close. This rotation of the arms shouldn’t affect the position of the shoulders or shoulder blades. If the shoulders roll forward when internally rotating the Cues: arms, this may be a lack of flexibility • “Sweep back” • “Wait on the bar” or awareness. • “Scoop” • “No rush” • “Patience!” • “Keep the bar close” Most people are impatient and ex- • “Long arms!” • “Jump from the heels” plode early. You might even feel like • “Chest up” • "Drive through the heels" you are waiting too long to explode, • “Heels into the floor” • “Straight arms” but be patient. Keeping your shoul- • “Knees out” • “Long arms” ders over the bar as you sweep the • “Delay the jump” • “Get into the hips” bar into your hips should do the trick. • “Patience!” • “Less arms, more legs!”

5. Low Hang Position (The First Pull) The knees are still only as bent as they were in the power position. The hip angle has closed further, but the back is still tight. By drilling this position from below the kneecap, it allows us to clear the knees. They are pulled back, but not straightened completely. Remember, our primary goal is to set ourselves up for the perfect Second Pull by bringing the bar to mid-thigh. 5A 5B 5C Cues: • “Knees back!” • “Chest up” • “Heels!” • “Sweep back!” • “Hips low!”

24 METCON | July 2016 6. Mid-Shin (The First Pull) The point of the first pull is to bring the bar to mid-thigh to set up for the second pull. Especially for begin- ners, the first pull can remain some- what “slow” without detriment to the lift. A more deliberate first pull generally improves the ability of the athlete to enter into a better second pull position, which leads to improved lifts. You are not actually slowing down the first pull; you are controlling it. It should be as fast as possible without 6A 6B 6C interfering with the positions or accel- eration of the second pull.

The knees are pushed back and Cues: out enough to clear the bar. The force- • “Drive through the floor!” • “Chest up” ful engagement of the lats is what is • “Hips low” • “Hips and bar move together” going to bring the bar close into mid- • “Back tight, knees back!” • “Drive heels into the floor” thigh. While you are sweeping the bar • “Patience!” • “Knees out” in, your shoulders stay in front of the bar. The arms are simply stretched out like cables. They do need to be relaxed to an extent or else you may disrupt the power generated in the explosion.

7. Start Position The start position does not need to feel comfortable or natural. It’s different, and through repetition over time, the proper position will become comfortable.

• Feet directly under the hips • Toes slightly turned out • Knees flaring out • Arms straight • Elbows facing out • Hook grip • Bar is over the balls of the feet • Shoulder slightly in front or in line with the bar 7 • Hips slightly higher than the knees • Back flat • Eyes focused straight ahead • Knees are flared out to the sides (contact with the arms is permitted)

July 2016 | METCON 25 26 METCON | July 2016 BENCH PRESS

TO ARCH OR NOT TO ARCH – THAT IS THE QUESTION

By Stefanie Cohen

here seems to be a big Anatomy misunderstanding about the use of the arch when Ever heard of the term closed executing the bench press. back position? This refers to the po- I’ve seen an overwhelm- sition of most joint congruency and T ing amount of guys giving ligamentous stability. By arching unwanted and highly misinformed your UPPER back and retracting your advice to female lifters in particu- scapulae back together, you’re now lar about arching their back in the placing your glenohumeral joint in a bench press, claiming that this fully abducted and externally rotated technique will “snap their backs” or position. This position of the humerus “break their necks,” or even saying is a safer and more stable position to that this technique is “like cheating.” push from than if your upper back was In this article I’ll talk about basic bio- flat against the bench. mechanics, anatomy of the shoulder and the purpose of arching in the If you are a powerlifter and your bench press, based on FACTS and goal is to lift the most amount of weight, EVIDENCE found in the literature. arching your LOWER back might give you some advantage by shortening the Biomechanics range of motion of the lift. In terms of safety of the lower lumbar segments, I Ever wondered why you can would advise lifters to keep their whole move more weight doing an de- buttocks in contact with the bench to cline bench press? Because of the avoid putting the back in end ranges muscle fiber alignment of the pecs of flexion, which could potentially be (angle of pennation), arching your harmful. The rules of powerlifting indi- UPPER back in a bench press pro- cate that the butt must remain in contact motes better recruitment of the with the bench throughout the entire lift. lower fibers of the pectoralis major, similar to the decline bench, which No study has shown this position means that a larger portion of your to be harmful for the lumbar spine, EX- chest muscle fibers will be activat- CEPT when HYPEREXTENDING, which ed to produce force. has been shown to increase shear forc- es in the limbo-sacral area specifically.

July 2016 | METCON 27 Amelia Boone The First Lady of OCR

If you see her out on the race course, you might mistake her for a first timer who’s just out there to have a good time. At least that’s what I noticed about her 20 hours or so into the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder this past fall. I was busy paddling through a water obstacle, trying not to die, and she was chatting lightheartedly with the fellow beside her.

By Amy Lawson

28 METCON | July 2016 July 2016 | METCON 29 orporate lawyer by day, she’s achieved more success than any other female obstacle course racer. However, the fame hasn’t gone to her C head. As a matter of fact when I talked to her about her favorite win, she cited the 2015 World’s Tough- est Mudder as a favorite because she’s so pleased (and maybe a little surprised) with the fact that 4 years after her first win, with all the talented athletes coming in, she is still able to take the win.

“I felt like I was doing everything right. I was working with a running coach to prepare for the 100 miler.”

Amelia began her OCR career as so many of the rest of us do. She was a first year associate at a law firm when a co-worker invited her to join a team for a local Tough Mudder. She has always been a naturally gifted athlete, but at that point, she had only run a half-marathon. After running that first Tough Mudder in 2011, she decided to do the World’s Toughest Mudder later that year—she won second place female and placed eleventh overall.

Her race history gives a hint about her desire to challenge herself: she completed two Spartan Death Races before even entering a typical Spartan. She says she’s always looked for the “biggest thing possible.” And she’s not just

30 METCON | July 2016 completed but also won many of the biggest races in the working with a running coach to prepare for the 100 mil- OCR world—World’s Toughest Mudder (3 times), Spartan er.” And despite taking good care of herself, she still suf- Winter Death Race, Spartan Team World Championships. fered a significant stress fracture, which according to her latest blog post on (http://www.ameliabooneracing.com/ Her latest success has come in the world of ultra- blog/), she is only one of 13 people recorded to ever suffer running where she just earned a golden ticket into the from a femur fracture of this type. She’s handling this as Western States 100 miler by placing second in the Sean a learning experience, using this injury as an opportunity O’Brien 100k. Unfortunately, a stress fracture in her femur to learn more about how her body functions, how it’s been will prevent her from testing her stamina at Western States compensating for her naturally pigeon-toed stride. She’s

this year. As she explained the circumstances around her determined to come back stronger and qualify once again injury and the loss of both the honor of earning an entry to for Western States. the race and the rather expensive registration fee, I could hear the disappointment in her voice. But I didn’t hear What is it that Amelia thinks is the “secret” to her suc- any blame or anger. She sighed and explained that she cess? She tells me that she’s always had a good endur- wouldn’t be given a race deferral to next year, that she will ance engine from an early age. She recalls long days of have to re-qualify, but quickly added, “I’m not the first one soccer and softball practices and games and having to out due to injury.” move from one event to the next. Another strength? She’s always had the ability to ignore pain. Distracting herself And that, I believe, is the “secret” to Amelia’s greatness by having conversations with the people around her or in the long course—her positivity. In our conversation, she singing to herself keeps her head from going too deeply didn’t seem to be bitter or angry about the circumstance into the discomfort of the long miles. The pain isn’t entirely of her injury. “I felt like I was doing everything right. I was ignored; she also regularly self-assesses. “What can I do July 2016 | METCON 31 to fix this? What can I do to make it through the next five “What can I do to fix this? or ten minutes?” These are common questions she uses What can I do to make when pain begins to set in. Often she finds that minor ad- justments can relieve discomfort—adjusting her stride to it through the next five engage her glutes more, for example. or ten minutes?” Another factor in her success may be finding what works well for her body in training and in diet. Although widely known for her love of Pop-Tarts, Amelia doesn’t eat a lot of grains. She loosely follows the Paleo diet. About 80% of the time she’s eating meat and vegetables, with a

little fruit. She feels it’s important for each person to find out what works best for the individual, rather than following the crowd.

She’s taken the same approach to her training. She once did CrossFit five to six times a week. Since racing ultra distances, she has cut back on the amount of CrossFit and now goes two to four times a week and really focuses on improving her grip strength and body weight movements. She avoids WODs with heavy weight for time, but still enjoys strength training to make her more well-rounded.

32 METCON | July 2016 This year, Sports Illustrated named her one of the “Fittest 50 Women in Sports.”

Her approach has worked—she remains at the top in the sport of OCR and is now turning heads in the ultra marathon world. This year, Sports Illustrated named her one of the “Fittest 50 Women in Sports.” She’s also achieved the cover of Runner’s World magazine and is featured in the Rise of the Sufferfest, a new documentary that examines the world of OCR.

Why should a person do an OCR? Amelia says that there’s no better test of fitness. You have to be able to complete the distance, have the strength to complete the obstacles and the endurance to finish the race.

Amelia’s advice to the average racer, looking to ad- vance to the next level: Work on the ability to transition from obstacles to the run. Racers need to be able to use the run to recover from the exertion of completing obstacles. Train by doing 20 pull-ups or burpees and then running to get your body used to transitioning. July 2016 | METCON 33 1) Lack of progressive, enjoyable COMMON and specific training: There are many ways to improve your ability to complete obstacles. Some athletes OBSTACLE spend a lot of their time in the gym lifting weights. Others enjoy repeat- edly doing obstacles or using a lot of COURSE bodyweight training. While there is not only one solution, your strength training needs to have the following RACING characteristics: a. Enjoyable: You need to enjoy the TRAINING training otherwise you will subcon- sciously put in less effort. If you enjoy weights over bodyweight exercises or MISTAKES vice versa, then spend the majority of your strength training doing that. By Evan Perperis Most exercise programs can be modi- fied slightly to be more OCR specific including programs pulled directly from bodybuilding, CrossFit or other sport specific magazines. Photos Amy Perperis, Lucas Pfannenstiel, Matt Willis, Christina Armstrong and Randi Lackey b. Specific: Your strength training needs to mimic movements done in Christina Armstrong using sport f you are an athlete who enjoys a the race. The most specific exercises specific training to get better at mix of strength training and some are doing exactly what the race makes monkey bars. I cardiovascular training, you need you do including carrying sandbags, to get involved in Obstacle Course carrying buckets, carrying logs, com- Racing (OCR) now! The events are pleting monkey bars, climbing over both fun and challenging with options walls and crossing rigs. For those who ranging from a 5k Warrior Dash with enjoy weight training, this is definitely easy obstacles, a 4 mile Conquer The a pitfall to watch out for as they focus Gauntlet with hard obstacles, a 10 more on how much weight they used mile BattleFrog with hard obstacles, on their last isolation movement. How- a 26+ mile Spartan Ultra Beast all ever, many exercises mimic race move- the way up to the 24 hour long World’s ments and therefore should be priori- Toughest Mudder, along with a ton of tized in your routine such as pull-ups, steps in between. Furthermore, they muscle ups, one arm counterweighted have waves for those looking to just pull-ups, lat pull-downs, farmer car- have a good time and for those who ries, dips, lunges and squats. are trying to reach the highest levels with many races offering cash prizes. c. Progressive: Finally, your strength training needs to be progressive. Of- Over the course of training, rac- ten those who train primarily with ing and coaching, I have identified bodyweight or obstacles, fail on the several common mistakes I have seen progressive part. If you are always amongst athletes looking to progress. flipping the same tire, using the same These mistakes span from the elite sandbag or doing the same set of athletes looking to improve or main- monkey bars, the lack of new stress tain their position on the podium to will not cause additional adapta- the open wave competitors simply tion. To avoid this pitfall, you need to looking to complete the course with consciously write out a training plan greater ease. Whether you are new showing how you will continue to add to OCR or an experienced veteran, stress to your body. This can be done make sure you check out these com- through more or longer work inter- Cody Peyton flying over one mon pitfalls and try to avoid them in vals, less or shorter rest intervals or of five 8 ft. walls with ease at Conquer The Gauntlet Wichita. the future when preparing for your by adding a weight vest to your body. next OCR. A small increase of 10 lbs. can sud-

34 METCON | July 2016 CTG Podium Pic: By avoiding some common traps and through some hard training you may find yourself on top of the podium. (from L to R: Evan Perperis, Nathan Palmer, Randi Lackey, Nikki Call, Bryce Robinson) denly make things like monkey bars 2) Low running volume: Most OCR much harder to cross (reference Mis- athletes get involved in OCR because take 3). For those who primarily use they find running boring. However, in weights for training, they typically order to get faster, increasing running do not have a problem here because volume is often the simplest solution. Evan Pegatron: Evan Perperis cross- making their training progressive just By adding higher stress through more ing Pegatron at a Conquer The requires adding another plate to the volume your body develops systems Gauntlet event. bar or picking up a heavier dumbbell. to run efficiently including increased While some 3) Unhealthy diet: Probably the most common mistake is the unhealthy athletes are born diet. I have many friends who try to abide by the concept of “if the fur- with a naturally nace is hot enough, it will burn any- high ability, most thing.” Meaning since they exercise they can eat whatever they want. of us have to work While a higher volume of exercise does mean you have some addi- for it. The easiest tional flexibility with your daily diet, way to ensure the better solution is to eat healthy to properly fuel your body. By provid- your volume is ing it with lots of small meals spread throughout the day, it provides a con- adequate is to stant stream of nutrients, protein to find a plan from a rebuild muscle and carbohydrates to fuel your next workout. magazine or book. 4) Only doing metabolic conditioning workouts. Instead of doing just mitochondria density, more capillar- metabolic conditioning type work- ies, larger left ventricle resulting in outs, there needs to be a mix of meta- a larger stroke volume and greater bolic conditioning, pure strength and ability to extract then use oxygen pure speed workouts: Metabolic con- from your blood. While some athletes ditioning type workouts are great and are born with a naturally high abil- should be included in your race prep- ity, most of us have to work for it. The aration because they help mimic race Evan Intervals: Evan Perperis using easiest way to ensure your volume conditions which require conquering intervals for speed focused training to prepare for his next OCR. is adequate is to find a plan from a obstacles with an elevated heart magazine or book. rate. However, for serious improve- July 2016 | METCON 35 As you develop ing to train at the lowest cost, simply purchasing rope, chains or PVC pip- your training plan ing from the hardware store are also or are coached by great options for making your own accessories. Further stress can be a trainer take a added by modifying exercises to em- phasize grip such as purposely grab- step back to make bing a bucket by the handle instead sure you are not of the base, holding sandbags via a strap, using plate pinches while con- falling into these ducting movements like front/lateral/ rear raises or purposely grabbing the common traps. end of the dumbbell instead of the bar to stress the forearms. ment there also needs to be some workouts that are just focused on one While that is not all the mistakes aspect. This allows you to overload OCR athletes are making in their your body, creating stress that leads training, it does cover many of the to improvement for that specific skill ones frequently seen with athletes. set. Just as a baseball player does As you develop your training plan or batting practice to condense the ex- are coached by a trainer take a step perience of hundreds of games into back to make sure you are not falling a single session, you need to do ob- into these common traps. If you would stacle specific practice and strength like to read more, be sure to check out specific practice for the same rea- my book “Strength & Speed’s Guide sons. Another example is triathletes. to Elite Obstacle Course Racing” for a Lucas Pfannenstiel turning even a Look at any triathlon training plan comprehensive look at OCR training should press into an exercise that stresses his forearms using Fat Gripz. and you will see that the majority of as well as interviews with some of the workouts are run, bike or swim only best in the sport. with brick workouts (workouts involv- ing two of the disciplines) are put together usually twice a week.

5) Lack of serious emphasis on grip strength: Besides having the ability to run fast, grip strength is probably the most important aspect of OCR. Hav- ing a strong grip buys you time and confidence as you attempt to cross a myriad of obstacles. Too often I hear of athletes buying those gripper tools from a sports store and counting that as their training or just adding in some static hangs to the end of their workouts, but that is not enough. To truly get better at grip strength training, you need to get serious and should incorporate it into every exercise. Almost any exercise can be mod- ified to place additional emphasis on your grip via purchasing special attachments. Products from Fat Gripz, Sinergy Sports and Ironmind offer a variety of attachments such as rubber sleeves to place over the bar making it harder to grasp and rig accessories Randi Lackey using sport specific that can be used in lieu of the stan- Matt Willis: Matt Willis using a exercises to prepare her for Conquer dard attachments in the gym or spe- weighted vest to add a progressive The Gauntlet's Pegatron obstacle. cial odd shaped attachments for use aspect to his training. on pulley machines. If you are look-

36 METCON | July 2016 JOE DE SENA - SPARTAN FIT! Skye Pratt Epperson

oe De Sena is publishing a new offers advice on achieving success The kinds of bad things Joe book this summer: Spartan Fit!: in most realms. He is living proof of makes happen to himself usually in- 30 Days. Transform Your Mind. what can happen when hardships volve pushing his body to its limits. J Transform Your Body. Commit are overcome, and the act of over- All in one week, for example, he raced to Grit. As the subtitle suggests, the coming them is valuable to him. He the Vermont 100, the Badwater Ultra book is a 30 day workout and nutri- likes to suffer. He wants you to suffer. (which was 135 miles and got to 137 tion plan preparing people to com- That’s how people build what he calls degrees), and the Lake Placid Iron- pete in a Spartan Race. If you’re un- “obstacle immunity.” man. He takes cold showers. He of- familiar, and I doubt you are, Spartan ten does hundreds of burpees a ses- Races are obstacle races ranging When I spoke with Joe, he told me sion. He always takes the stairs. He’s from 3 to 12 miles in which partici- that “you’ve got to make bad things known for saying, “if you bite off more pants climb ropes, lug buckets full happen to you to reset your frame of than you can chew, keep chewing.” of rocks, throw spears, and do any reference.” He doesn’t mean that you He also thinks about the Roman stoic number of other challenges that are should purposefully expose yourself philosopher Seneca a lot, and writes meant to be viewed as “metaphors for to radiation, or only adopt terminally about him in his book. One thing life.” In the book, Joe writes that “your ill pets. He means that you should Seneca and Joe have in common is main obstacle is you, you are also seek survivable discomfort, so that if that they’re doing ok financially, but your greatest opportunity.” The book your coffee order is messed up, or traf- don’t want to grow dependent on the follows his 2014 publication of Spar- fic is terrible, it won’t ruin your day. If comfort that might provide. Joe writes tan Up!: A Take-no-Prisoners Guide to you live under the assumption that life about Seneca in Spartan Fit!, and how Overcoming Obstacles and Achiev- will not, and cannot, be easy, life will Seneca suggests we should “practice ing Peak Performance, in which he be a lot easier. misfortune.” Seneca himself warns July 2016 | METCON 37 family there a year ago for a couple of reasons. He says his “thinking was twofold.” He wanted to promote Spar- tan Races in Asia, but he is also “interested in Asian culture, and wanted my kids to learn Mandarin.” His kids went to school in Singapore in a bi- lingual program. Joe, a passionate hater of wasted time and sloth, says “we are operating our household in such a way that our kids could watch TV as much as they want as long as it’s in Mandarin.” The De Sena family is back in Vermont for the summer, but will head out again in the fall, this time for a year in Japan.

Part of the urgency Joe feels in raising his kids to be active, productive people is that he knows the power of habit. He writes in his book that “habits become ingrained and ex- ert control.” Joe has made a habit of productivity and health. He says “I’m definitely addicted to productivity, “While Fortune is kind fortify against sprints for three hours straight, and completion of tasks. I’m addicted to her violence.” This frame of mind – they loved it. They were willing to ad- waking up super early, I’m addicted to understanding that life and luck are just their lifestyles. “It’s a lot more fun a workout every morning, I’m addicted fickle, building the best but preparing to get people when they’re young,” to building and creating and not quit- for the worst – comes naturally to Joe . Joe said. ting. Being committed, being active.” Of course he wants his children to ex- From an early age, Joe has owned His own four children are a cap- hibit the habits that contributed to his businesses and hired people. He’s fa- tive, and impressive, audience. They own success. They were ingrained in mous for looking for employees with currently range from 3 to 10 years in him young, after all. “Fire in the belly,” and I asked how he age, and Joe is serious about his role processes these sorts of personalities in supplying them with experiences, Joe was born to driven parents outside of recruiting. Joe said “I want opportunities, and a healthy sprin- in a tough place. Relentlessness is a to be around high functioning people. kling of hardship. In Chapter 3 of his family trait. Joe says his sister is also I recognized early on that life is ex- new book, Joe writes that he wants tenacious, “but not as crazy as me.” tremely short and you’re an average his kids to be “fierce little wild ani- He chuckles and says, “I once left my of your five best friends. I want to be mals, not sad little robots.” He told business to her and came back after a around people who are getting shit me “I’ve never been a dad before week and she’d fired everybody. She’s done.” If he happens to be around a so I don’t know if I’m screwing up. tough.” Some of this family toughness person who doesn’t share those ide- I have to try to get them to learn as is geographically influenced. Joe was als, he might try to pull them over to much and get as healthy and fit as I born in the heart of organized crime his highly productive, highly health can.” The responsibility of it weighs territory in Queens. His father was an conscious camp. He told me he “was in on him: “It’s one thing to consider the entrepreneur who worked hard and a taxi last night. The guy [driver] had length of your own life, it’s another to rubbed elbows with the mobsters that four empty bottles of Mountain Dew, think of the influence you have over densely populated the area. Growing and he was drinking one.” Joe start- your kids. It’s not a lot of days. Every up around an industry as risky as or- ed to tell me how he had explained single day I can I’ve got to get them ganized crime was formative for Joe. to the man how he was ruining his to think, to exercise.” The exercise He says it was easy to see that life is health. But then he sighed, let out a component seems to be going to not always roses “when you’re see- frustrated grunt, and switched gears. plan. Joe skis with his kids, they work ing people you know get killed, or go “Life’s too short for me to one by one out together in their barn in Vermont, to jail for 20 or 30 yrs.” Although he teach people. That’s why I think I love and some of the kids have even run avoided that lifestyle, in his neighbor- kids. You’re getting them so early they marathons with him. hood every little boy was a potential don’t have these bad habits yet.” He mob recruit. He thought a lot about the had just finished an event at a school. The first time I spoke with Joe, potential of winding up imprisoned He had 3000 kids doing burpees and he was in Singapore. He moved his and in violent situations, and how

38 METCON | July 2016 he could mentally prepare for that. “I don’t know it first hand, but it’s definitely a tape playing in your head.”

His mother was an endurance athlete and yogi, who took meditation classes , who visited India for lessons on spirituality. She was dedicated to her physical and spiritual health. Joe said his mother “would fast for long periods, meditate for long periods, and it was weird in Queens. We didn’t expect it.” There were some- times “monks chanting in the living room.” For his mother, a commitment to health warranted a seemingly extreme lifestyle. That was radical be- havior in 1970s Queens, and a poi- gnant example for Joe.

His parents offered a broad spec- trum of exposure. That only ampli- fied when they divorced in 1982. Joe’s mother moved to Ithaca and his father stayed in Queens. There are only about 250 miles between the places but, for Joe and his sister, they were a world apart. For the remainder of his adolescence Joe vacillated between a lifestyle of veganism and yoga to the distant extreme of eating meatballs at the tables of mob bosses. The contrast his parents showed him gave him a leg up. “Because of that exposure,” he said, “I’m much more open minded.”

Around the time his parents split up, Joe’s father ran into financial to handle the unexpected.” Being credits and applied again. He was hardships. He lost everything, and forced into a state of discomfort at a again rejected. This went on for four the comfortable life Joe was accus- young age was his trigger. It turned semesters: he took classes, did well, tomed to vanished. Joe responded by the theoretical hardship he’d imag- reapplied, was denied. Joe was about getting busy. He told himself, “hey, if I ined, being exposed to and a poten- to give up on Cornell when his mother want those things again I gotta work.” tial recruit of organized crime, into a mentioned a connection. A yoga stu- The head of the Bonanno crime family practical motivator. He had always in- dent of hers was head of admissions hired Joe to clean his pool, and soon stinctively known that life would throw at Human Ecology in Cornell and a bunch of other family members did surprises at him, but now he had an could get him accepted to the Textiles the same. Before he cleared puberty, actual obstacle. Just because it was a Department. He jumped at the oppor- Joe De Sena was a successful small different obstacle than he’d imagined tunity and got a degree in Textiles in business owner, cleaning the pools of didn’t really matter: “I was building 1990. The degree is not directly ap- world renowned criminals. obstacle immunity before my father plicable to swimming pools, but now lost everything. He was a hard driver. he’s a sort of expert on hemlines. Joe believes some people are pre- People went to jail and got killed. It disposed to entrepreneurship, and was oozing its way in back then.” An MBA, however, would definitely that circumstances play a part in trig- help his pool business, Joe reasoned. gering it. He thinks “there are a bunch In the mid 80s, Joe figured college To familiarize himself with Cornell’s of people who have the hunter gath- could teach him some tricks to run his MBA program, he took an Entrepre- erer gene that we no longer need, and pool business even more successfully. neurship class in which he won an those are people who are more likely He applied to Cornell, who rejected Entrepreneurship Award. One of the to be entrepreneurs. That said, I think him, which bolstered his determi- judges for the contest recognized we are all deep down inside equipped nation to get in. He took extramural Joe’s tenacity. He was impressed. He July 2016 | METCON 39 called Joe monthly, trying to convince tires up hills, or chop firewood. The SpartanFit! is, primarily, a guide him to sell his business and come to objective was to cull participants to completing Spartan Races, but Wall Street. But business was boom- down to 15%. For the first race, eight there’s a generous dose of general ing, and Joe wasn’t interested. Finally, participants showed up, and five life advice in there, too. The first after two years of phone-calls, the quit within hours. Joe knew he was half of the book is a patchwork of judge changed tactics. Joe should, onto something. The races lasted narrative, exercise-theory, history, he insisted, at least purchase some “however long it takes to cull down to and self-help. The second half of the stock since he was clearly unwilling 15%. Nobody knows when it’ll end, or book contains a clearly outlined “30 to make a full-blown career change. what will happen.” People went nuts Day Plan to Spartan Fit,” including Joe was persuaded. He bought some for the races. They would drop out, lots of workouts with lots of modifica- stock, it was a good buy, and he made and come back again the next year tions. There are options accounting $100,000 in a day. He promptly looked to try again. The races were chang- for different fitness levels, different for work on Wall Street. ing people’s lives. access to equipment (which is mini- mally used, anyway), and access to After acquiring an entry level But that wasn’t enough; Joe want- nature. You could work out for years job at an investment firm, learning a ed to change a lot more lives than he with this list. lot, and working his way up for a few years, Joe opened his own investment In the final chapter, “The Case bank firm in 1998. This kept him busy, for the Olympics,” Joe discusses his but not busy enough for his tastes. dedication to getting obstacle rac- While running his firm, he became ing into the Olympics. The chapter is an accomplished endurance athlete, exciting in that special way that any starting with stairs in his New York crazy idea that just might work is ap- apartment. He began organizing pealing. He reminds the reader of races and started a company called the Olympic history of competition in Peak Races in 2001. When he met his sports that simulate or train for war. wife Courtney in 2002 at a race, and a As he says, “war is not a fad,” which couple of years later decided to start I must unfortunately agree with. Ob- a family, he knew extraordinary mea- stacles are an age old way of training sures would be necessary. for military personnel. According to Joe, it stands to reason that there is a In order to focus on marriage and natural place for obstacle races in the parenthood, Joe knew he would have Olympics. Joe is determined to make to sequester himself. Joe is deeply this happen, and writes that it will, “I addicted to business. He needed to swear it in blood.” put some distance between himself and business opportunities. He sold Joe likes to have “skin in the his firm in 2005, retired to Vermont, game.” Everything he commits to, bought some land with a house and he does wholeheartedly. One of his a barn, and got to the task of raising methods for getting skin in the game tough little children. It wasn’t long be- is, he explained, “I tell everyone I’m fore he missed the gritty sort of peo- was reaching. He needed to widen gonna do it then I gotta. Post it public- ple he met in the business and racing his net. In 2012 he started Spartan ly.” This final chapter feels a little like worlds, the kinds of people who in- Race, a more accessible, less psy- an extreme version of public declara- spired and impressed him. He missed chologically tortuous version of the tion, a way to tell everybody about people with fire in the belly. Death Races. “Spartan Race,” Joe the goal of making a new Olympic says, “was an attempt to tone the sport. That helps it fit into the book as The Death Race began in 2007 as Death Race down a bit and make it a whole, which is a project in lighting a beacon to attract the toughest hu- for the masses. To maybe find that belly fires. Joe was frustrated by his man spirits around. And they came. fire in people’s belly, and get people Mountain Dew drinking taxi driver. Few of them finished, which was the off the couch and get them healthy.” The message he wanted to convey to point, but they came. Joe’s plans to be Now Spartan Race is in about 30 that guy is now in this book, prepack- a full-time family man were swiftly countries and has seen around 2.5 aged, accessible, clear. His goals, squashed. The Death Races were de- million participants. It has allowed and his legacy, are on paper. He said signed to favor the adaptable, keep people to understand what Joe al- “this is my mother’s message. This is racers guessing, and “drive people ready knew -- all people are ath- something that has to be told. I love crazy.” Nobody knew how long the letes. You just have to do the work. getting people fit, getting people race would last, what obstacles or Death Race was created to attract to push their limits, getting them to tasks would arise, whether they’d be relentless people; Spartan Race was wake up early. This is it. My whole expected to memorize quotes, carry created to build them. life’s purpose.”

40 METCON | July 2016 GOAL BASED TRAINING By Jason Brown

hen it comes to each train- Max Effort Training ing session there should The goal for Max Effort Training always be purpose behind (ME) is to move maximal loads, no W your training where you surprise there. When you were a kid have a goal/desired outcome in mind. If and your neighbor asked you to race we aren’t sure what the purpose behind did you go 85% or a 100%? Of course, each session we could miss the boat on you went 100%. As Louie says, “If getting the most out of our training. The you want 85% results, train at 85%.” “why” behind every training session we There is no better way to increase in- perform is arguably as important as tramuscular/intermuscular coordina- the actual session itself. Don’t get me tion than maximal lifting. You may be wrong; there are days when it’s nice wondering why we don’t max out all to just go with the flow and not worry the time? The reason is quite simple: about your time, score, weights, but it leads to breakdown and inevitably 90% of the time having a desired effect/ with increased loading bar speed result in mind will not only make your decreases leaving us to become ac- session more efficient but enhance the customed to moving slower. Also, con- results of your training. stant maximal lifting results in quite

July 2016 | METCON 41 a bit of breakdown where eventually endurance athletes) will likely need you’ll run the risk of overtraining/ to drop the bar weight to 40, 45, 50% overuse injuries. Unlike most linear + 25% of accommodating resistance training, ME training with the conju- whereas people with higher concen- gate system rotates variations on a tration of faster twitch muscle fiber weekly basis making accommoda- (type II, explosive athletes) will usu- tion almost impossible. ally have no issues with 50, 55, 60% + 25% of accommodating resistance Dynamic Effort Training of bar weight. The goal of Dynamic Effort training is to move sub-maximal weights Aerobic Conditioning at maximal velocity. By doing this, we Think of steady-state events like a utilize higher threshold motor units 5k run or power walking with a light

Think of steady-state events like a 5k run or power walking with a light sled for 400 meters. These events typically keep your heart rate around 60-70% of max.

(motor units that have the greatest sled for 400 meters. These events potential for growth/power output) typically keep your heart rate around which in turn teaches us to be faster 60-70% of max. Often we have condi- when it comes to a variety of explosive tioning pieces that simulate this re- sports. If you aren’t moving the bar sponse. These workouts are typically at maximal velocity then it would be steady-state type pieces that don’t advised to decrease your loading so involve particularly heavy loading or you’re able to do so. Typically, weights laying on the ground after feeling like are between 50, 55, 60% of 1RM with the world is about to end. The intent is 25% of accommodating resistance usually to maintain consistency with (bands or chains); however, for some, your splits (if round 1 takes you 3:00 to those loading recommendations do complete than round 3 should be with- not work because of their muscle fi- in 10-20s of that number). If there are ber. People with higher concentration rest intervals, they’re usually between of slower twitch muscle fiber (type I, 1:1-1:3 work/rest.

42 METCON | July 2016 Anaerobic Conditioning overtraining due to the fact most ac- Think of a workout like “Fran” or cessory work focuses on smaller mus- many couplets we perform in CrossFit cle-groups and is less taxing than the where you’re heart rate is through the typical bilateral movements (deadlift/ roof and your output maximal. Usu- squat). To give you an example, typi- ally these pieces are less than 7:00. cally reverse hyper volume on dynam- Often we perform pieces like this that ic squat day is 4x that of the actual have much higher intervals of built in squat volume. rest 1:12 to 1:20 work to rest depending on the piece, but usually we perform In short, going into a training ses- one piece as our primary workout and sion where you know what the intent is focus on getting it out 100% one time behind each portion of your training through. The shorter the duration/ allows you to set goals, stay on point In short, going into a training session where you know what the intent is behind each portion of your training allows you to set goals, stay on point with tasks at hand, and know what your long-term higher intensity the longer the rest in- with tasks at hand, and know what goals are. terval required. your long-term goals are. Making the correct choices with regards to load- Accessory Work ing for both strength purposes and Bringing up lagging muscle conditioning can drastically change groups which typically results in mus- the outcome of your training (imag- cular hypertrophy (bigger muscles ine doing “Fran” with close to your 1 and looking better naked) and de- rep max thruster. The workout would creases the rate of injury in areas that go from a highly anaerobic piece to a may have been previously vulnerable slower aerobic piece). (banded leg curls for hamstrings/reverse hypers for lower back health). The variance in accessory work consistently rotates and accessory can be pushed very hard with a low risk of July 2016 | METCON 43