A Philosophy of Strength and Health

Thanks to my friend Patrick McHugh for sharing this recently in his blog. It is a beautiful story; the bookstore is going to go on my bucket list. More soon. I'm working up a head of steam to write more this coming school year. There's still so much to do in starting my clinic and the new business for the Hexlite Bar. But things are calming down a bit and my mind is anxious to get back to the blog and work on my own professional development through posting to A Philosophy of Strength & Health.

This is a very thoughtful approach to changing medicine. We need more thinkers who value humility, discipline and teamwork--and who understand how to implement these values into our broken "system" of health care. It's not about the "stuff" or technology; it's about communication, time, patience, education and mastery of the very basics.

Thought I'd share this little montage of Natalie and Cheryl with everyone to celebrate a happy Friday. Some classic lifts from 2006-2008.

After working up to a personal best in the snatch, Natalie prepared to do clean & jerks with Doreen. She stayed in the zone and finished with a strong 120 kg lift. This was a 2 kg improvement from her recent American record of 118 kg in August. It was a remarkable ending to the session and the training week. During my 4 days at the course, I saw Nat miss one lift in training: a 90 kg push press. She made the 85 kg push press look easy. Like butta. Every last lift. Maximal snatches and CJs. Second training session of the day after squatting in the AM session. Training session late in the week. No misses. Every lift just like the lift before. This is what an elite athlete looks like.

Went to the Arnold Championships this weekend in Columbus, OH to see some old friends and watch great athletes compete in the 2012 USA Weightlifting National Championships and Women's Olympic Trials. Had a great time seeing everyone. Even made some new friends and visited the Expo for the first time. I'm sure the new friends will last much longer than my trip to the Expo--6 minutes. Yuck. But that's for another blog. I was very excited to see my friend Natalie Burgener and her family this weekend. A 2008 Olympian in the 63 kg class, Nat was attempting to make her second Olympic team after taking most of 2009 off and then having knee and hip surgery. We knew it would be a tough comeback as her weight class is one of the most competitive at the international level. It was not to be. And now Nat has decided to retire from the sport. I am sad and excited for her at the same time. Weightlifting is losing a class act and a tremendous athlete. Natalie will be starting an ...

Here is a 6'6" high school senior building vertical stability, lower body power, upper body strength and bringing some balance to those shoulders. My job is to have her ready to step into the collegiate volleyball setting with a solid physical foundation and a respect and understanding of how to use the many implements in a weight room. The push press, in front of and behind the neck, is a staple in my programming. It is a total body movement and can be combined with squatting for some great complexes. We press, incline barbell press, dumbbell press and incline dumbbell press for foundational strength. Dumbbell bench press is also added in for variety at times. Traditional bench press is not normally included in my volleyball athlete programming. It may be included in my basketball athlete programming for general strength and mass. For all of my athletes, the push press is our bench press.