A Philosophy of Strength and Health

So the Fober family has received the email from CoSport telling us which Olympic tickets we have won in the allocation lottery. We were shut out in our desire to get tickets for track cycling (men's team sprint and M/W pursuit qualifying rounds), swimming (men 200 fly finals--Kevin's event), and a session of volleyball (women prelims). We have 72 hours to accept all, some or none. Do we go to Beijing for 12 days--Mr. Fober will have to leave a bit before I do in order to get back for the start of pre-season--or do we take a trip somewhere else, for a longer period in the summer, say 3 weeks or so and leave this Olympic experience to NBC??? The airfare will cost us nothing, either way. Here are the tickets we have access to if we wish. The total cost for all of these tickets, plus shipping and fulfillment fee, is only $328. The individual ticket prices range from $5 (water polo prelims) to $34 (A session, weightlifting, highest level ticket available). The M 200 Fly final...

A friend just reminded me that a ginormous, privately owned- fitness emporium is about to open a few miles away. It is the size of a mall and promoted as a resort and spa. There are indoor and outdoor pools, manicures, pedicures, granite and cherry appointed locker rooms, full gym basketball courts and luxury yoga/pilates studios and even a poolside bistro. They promote hundreds of square feet of the latest cardio machines and resistance training machines filled with big screen tvs. Heck, you even get a free equipment orientation upon signing up! But what about an orientation to how YOU work on an everyday basis? Do you know how to bend your hips and knees when you aren't on the elliptical or seated in some leg press contraption? Do you know why your hamstring inflexibility impacts your back health? How do YOU move and what adjustments you could make to yourself to develop better musculoskeletal health?

Some elite athletes are able to "catapult" themselves against/under the barbell with their shoulders way behind the bar, i.e. create vertical forces via a horizontal forces. Taner Sagir comes to mind. But when working with beginning athletes and sub-max weight, I think it is important to reinforce driving the hips vertically vs thrusting them forward. This is especially if the athlete has done lots of kettlebell swings with an exaggerated hip thrust or been instructed to squat with an exaggerated hip thrust at the top of the squat. Any comments from the peanut gallery?

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Dan Thacker and Brandon Jackson of Crossfit Des Peres for hosting and Laurie Miller of Crossfit St. Louis for promoting the Introduction to Olympic Weightlifting clinic yesterday. The goals of the clinic were to cover basic concepts behind the lifts (LEGS!) and terminology, describe the functional flexibility and stability prerequisites necessary to use the barbell from the floor and overhead, and give everyone the opportunity to work on his/her lifting technique with some feedback. We also discussed the importance of proper equipment and gave people the chance to experience the blocks vs the hang. Personally, I'm learning to appreciate using the hang, but I also think blocks can be a terrific learning tool to tease out arm pulling, keep the bar close to the torso, and help a beginner find the power position. You could see the light bulb come on in with everyone who got to experience the sweet sensation of the barbell flying overhead or up ont...

Okay, so one more day in the clinic for me and then the WL workshop on Saturday! Whew, I think I'll make it. Actually think I helped a few people move and feel better today. Kinda helps when you have time to listen, communicate, educate and give feedback to your patients. I am looking forward to meeting and working with Dan, Laurie, Catherine, Milton and the rest of the crew on Saturday. Just got a new 5 kg and 10 kg bar in this week, so we should have a variety of tools to help people learn. Bring your questions, ideas and enthusiasm!

Wanna see the power (Watts) the current #1 105+ kg weightlifter in this country puts out with his lifts? Info here . 9 pm Central/10 Eastern.