A Philosophy of Strength and Health

Current 6' 9" Pepperdine starting MB Mitch Penning front squats 100 kg in high school.   I get asked this question all the time. There are two major things to consider: 1. Does the athlete have ankle mobility issues with basic squatting? 2. Are you going to train the full snatch and clean, or lift from the ground on a consistent basis? If you answer "yes" to either of these questions, you should encourage your athlete to use weightlifting shoes during training sessions, with all barbell movements. Weightlifters wear these funky, clunky high heeled shoes for two reasons. First, firm soles give the athlete a firm connection to the platform so there is no loss of force when driving the feet into the ground on lift off, recovery from the bottom or the dip and drive of the jerk. Second, heeled soles give the athlete additional ankle dorsiflexion, which allows for optimal vertical torso positioning on lift off and recovery. Melanie Roach (53 kg) prepares to ...

This is video I shot back in 2007 when I paid a visit to the wonderful state of Washington to spend a few days with Melanie Roach and her coach John Thrush. Mel was working very hard to come back from back surgery and make the 2008 Olympic team. I went out to take some video for John for a more in depth look at her technique and to document improvement. As you will see in the graphs at the end of this video, Mel had made some great strides in her snatch technique and was no longer losing velocity on the barbell like she was prior to surgery. I was able to show her this using video and velocity measures captured via Dartfish. Eventually, Melanie went on to make the 2008 US Olympic team and place 6th in Beijing, snatching a lifetime best of 83 kg and going 3/3 in the snatch. She also set a new American record in the total with a 193 kg total, which included a 110 kg Clean & Jerk. This record still stands, as does her American record of 113 kg in the Clean & Jerk which was set...

This is a post from back in 2011. Just a little overview of the people and places that have influenced my thinking and approach to performance and health. Since 2011, I've certainly grown even more. Hope to share that growth over the next year. http://ironmaven.blogspot.com/2011/04/philosophy-of-strength-and-health.html

This blog is back. New year, new job, new home. Lots of good topics to cover. I look forward to the discussion and sharing. And like the Nordic Combined guys, I'm all out of bubble gum. So it's time.