A Philosophy of Strength and Health

The Olympic Trials are quickly approaching for US weightlifters. The top 30 men and women will compete in Atlanta, GA May 16 and 17; the women for 4 spots and the men for 2 spots. At this time, Mr. Kendrick Farris, American record holder in the 85 kg class, is the #1 ranked male in the US with 91.5036% of his respective qualifying total. It should be a battle royale among the men for those two precious spots. Go here to see all of the Olympic Trial competitors and their current rankings. In the meanwhile, please enjoy this blast from the past--Kendrick's record-breaking performance in the clean and jerk, during the 2006 American Open. His "spluat" style (half split half squat) jerk and crazy shoulder flexibility may be unorthodox; but it might just take him all the way to Beijing. Check out his LSU-Shreveport page for a really neat video of Kendrick. It is amazing to see how he has grown and progressed over 10 years.

Coaches, athletes and you weightlifting crazy CrossFitters ! Here is your chance to have library of competition lifts to study--from two views, frame by frame, forward and backward in the comfort of your home or gym. Don't let World and Olympic champion Tommy Kono down. Be a student of the sport. Learn by observing some of America's best men and women in a competition setting. Train your eyes to understand why a lift is successful or not.

Time to embark on some new projects and move in new directions. Please check out my revised website . Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on it. I'm sure it will continue to evolve. And a special thanks to Kelly and Daniel for all of their work.

Just a quick note to let fans of Vern Gambetta's Functional Path Training blog that he is working to remedy the technical difficulties with Blogger. He will be back ASAP!

If you ever need images of weightlifters for a presentation, publication or just for inspiration, check out Rob Macklem's site for great pics of current international-class athletes, or Bruce Klemens' site for pictures of superstars from the 70's on.

I have noticed the term "quad dominant" being used lately. Anyone know the origin of this term or care to take a stab at a definition? (Yukio jerks 189 kg @ 77kg bw at the 2007 Arnold.)

The AD is attending the MO state athletic directors' meetings this week. He called to say there has been a very interesting and troubling bill introduced in the that fine legislative body known as the Missouri House of Representatives. HB 1802 , sponsored by Rep. Kevin Wilson (R) of Neosho , is summarized as follows: HB 1802 -- Hearings on a Student's Right to Participate in Activities Sponsor: Wilson (130) This bill applies to schools that are members of an activity association that regulates extracurricular activities and specifies that the appeal of a ruling on student eligibility for extracurricular activities may bypass the administrative hearing process as long as due process has been observed. Due process includes the right to a new trial in circuit court. What does this mean? Well, let's suppose your little Johnny or Janie didn't make final cuts for the JV basketball team, was kicked off the swim team for breaking school established rules, or transferre...

Reaction Time Test C. Imes has it down to .060 sec. and rank of Rocketing Rabbit at 0700 on a Saturday.

The question is: Do they belong to the Big Boy or not? Wacky times at the City Museum after the Arch last Saturday. Take the kids and bring your tennies and knee pads. Hey all you Latin geeks, get the Semper Ubi, Sub Ubi?