Rest Day and Video

Kosuke Kitajima is the fastest breaststroker in the world and his excellent technique is a primary reason for his success.
Technique Points to notice:
-Head Position- He keeps his head in a neutral position. He doesn't bury it underwater or overextend to breathe.
-Hand Speed- His hands are quick through the middle of the stroke, there's no pause during his breath.
-Hips- His hips stay at the surface of the water and don't drop when he breathes.
-Kick- His kick is tight, quick, and relatively narrow. He doesn't let his legs go out wide, he uses his feet and flexible ankles to grab water.
Kitajima is one of the few athletes who swam near best times on the international level this summer and this was made possible by his neural excellence. He didn't just go to the dance, he chose his dance partner.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Rest Day!

Tuesday Workout

Sorry for the late post.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Clean and Jerk- heavy single

then

5 x 2:00 rounds
Down and back in Nelson
30 double-unders, sub tuck jumps
Amrap pullups
Rest 2:00 between rounds

Back From Break!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was nice to have some home-cooked food and tons of sleep, I'm feeling good and ready to get after it this week.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Back Squat- progression or Wendler week 3

then

3 rounds:
6 Power Snatch
12 Lunges with same bar
after 3 rounds perform 20 burpees to finish workout

Last Workout Before Break

Tomorrow morning is the last group workout for almost a week. If you need workouts for the week text or call me and we can put something together. If you can go to a gym near your house that would be a great idea. I will still be posting workouts throughout the week and the schedule will be as follows:
Tuesday- Squat and workout
Wednesday- Snatch heavy single and workout
Thursday- Thanksgiving! Rest Day
Friday- Bench and Workout
Saturday- Workout

Tomorrow's Workout:
Warmup:
-2:00 row
- Dynamic shoulder mobility
-Hip swings, forward and laterally
- Spidermans
- Stroke simulation in front of mirror (we'll go over this)
- A few box jumps

Squat: add 5 pounds or Wendler Week 2

then

5 rounds:
10 deadlifts
25 double-unders

Warmup

A comprehensive warmup is crucial to having a quality workout and it's something that's really easy to overlook or rush through in the gym. A proper warmup not only raises core body temperature, but also addresses mobility and primes the central nervous system. I am going to start including warmups in with the workout posts.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Warmup:
-2:00 Row, build in pace
-Hip swings, forward and laterally
-Shoulder circles
-Jumping Jack floor touches
-Caterpillar crawls/Spidermans/pushups
-A few tall box jumps

then

Bench- add 5 pounds or Wendler Week 1

then

6 rounds of 90 on/90 off:
40 yard shuttle (First platform-vertimax x2)
9 unbroken Overhead Squats
Max pushups

Running Technique

Tomorrow is a rest day so I thought i would include a video in today's post. We don't usually have a lot of time to work on running technique so here's a really good video discussing running form (Possible hint for Thursday workout??)

Schedule Change

Because of Spring Term Registration for Sophmores the workout is moved back to about 7:30. If you have to go before that you definitely can but I will not be there to coach until later.

Tomorrow's Workout:

Clean and Jerk- heavy single

then

10 pullups
10 swings
10 pullups
10 push press right arm
10 pullups
10 push press left arm
10 pullups
10 snatch right arm
10 pullups
10 snatch left arm
10 pullups

Use the same kettlebell or dumbbell throughout. For those of you inexperienced with kettlebells, stick with a dumbbell.

Squats!

As I've said before the squat is the king of all lifts. We've been squatting at least once a week and its certainly been paying off both in terms of strength and technique. Boomer talked a lot this weekend about the importance of having a stable midline and powerful glutes on turns, and nothing builds those better than deep, heavy squats.

Goran and Joe getting low and showing off some great squat form.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Back squat- add 5 pounds or New Week 1 of Wendler plan

then

21-15-9
Hang power snatch
Box jumps- will be subbed for bench-over's if need be
Situps

Late Post

Apologies on the late post, my schedule has been a little off with al the Boomer stuff going on. The way he both looks at and thinks about swimming is on a whole new level. Really listen to what he has to say and work on applying it to both your neural (in the water, technique) and physical training.

No workout tomorrow, just the turn clinic.

Here's today's workout for those of you who didn't make it:

5x3 power clean and push press

then

5 rounds:
5 touch-and-go deadlifts 205#
10 pistols, alt. legs
10 burpees

Thursday's Partner-ish Workout

Partner up and race each other on today's workout. We'll start in pairs on the rowers and go in heats.


Tomorrow's Workout:
Bench- progression or deload week
De-loaders do 3 sets of 8 weighted dips

then

For time:
Row 1000m
Run to the indoor track
30 burpees
Run 800m (4 laps around track)

Tuesday's Workout and Hour of Power

Hour of Power is tomorrow. Don't forget your $5 donation. Not only is it a great fundraiser for a great cause, but its also an opportunity for us to focus on fast, quality swimming.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Snatch- heavy single

then

4 rounds:
2 court shuttle run
12 heavy swings
15 pullups

Monday's Workout

Tomorrow's workout relates directly to swimming. The push press trains the connected hip extension and shoulder throw that drives butterfly, breaststroke, and sprint freestyle. At 4 fast intervals with rest in between, the time domain of the workout simulates a meet situation.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Back Squat- continue progression or Wendler de-load week

then

3 rounds:
10 push press, use a weight that you can go unbroken with
10 box jumps
rest 3-4 minutes
Repeat 4 times

Swagger

First meet of the year is coming up on Saturday. We've been working hard all fall and its time to show the other teams at the New England Invitational what we've got.
One of the biggest parts of racing is having confidence, stepping up on the blocks and knowing that you're going to swim fast. You gotta have swagger, whether its on the starting blocks, on the rower, or in the squat rack. You gotta be ready to throw down.
A great example of an athlete with swagger is Usain Bolt. He's the fastest man in the world and he doesn't ever doubt himself. He approaches every race knowing that he is about to run as fast as he can. So this weekend when you're getting ready for your race, know that you are going to swim fast and make it happen.




The workout tomorrow is not obligatory for everyone, but if you cant to come down and work on your Olympic lifting you are more than welcome.

Tomorrow's Workout:
Sled Drags down the coaches' hallway

then

5 rounds:
Power Snatch x 1
Overhead Squat x 2
Snatch Balance x 2
Hang Snatch x 1

Jump Ropes, Rowing, and Swings

A picture of today's hike.


Jump ropes are great conditioning tools that, because of resource issues, we can't fully utilize. It would be great if those of you that can and want to would order your own rope. They're inexpensive and it would be great if we could have a few to work with. Below is  a link that has a few different options, I think the ultra speed cable is the best option.

 http://www.againfaster.com/jump-ropes/


Tomorrow's Workout:
Bench: add 5 pounds from last week or do your Wendler plan

then

5 rounds for max reps:
1:00 row for calories- Sub for double-unders if you have them
:30 rest
1:00 kettlebell swings
:30

Rest Day

Tomorrow is a rest day. Per the usual, get your sleep, foam roll, stretch, do whatever you need to do to feel good Thursday morning.
A great resource for stretching and mobility work is mobilitywod.blogspot.com. It's run by Kelly Starrett, a Crossfit coach and PT. He's super knowledgeable and his drills are really effective.

We have our first meet coming up this weekend so here's an inspirational video.
Background Story: Matthias Steiner, an Austrian native, became a German citizen in order to be able to compete internationally because Austria's weightlifting program fell through. Then, a few months prior to the 2008 Olympics his wife died in a car accident. At the Games he found himself in the silver medal spot going into his final attempt. He decided to go for gold and called for a 10 kilo pr. 10 kilos!! That's 22 pounds! A massive jump. Watch the video to see what happens.

Tuesday's workout

And so the season begins. It feels great to be starting up again.

Those of you who couldn't make it this morning will be making up the workout tomorrow.



Tomorrow's Workout:
Clean and Jerk- heavy single

then

5 rounds:
5 squat clean thrusters 95#
10 pullups, chine over top bar if you have 'em

OR make up yesterday's workout.