Mobility – Taking My Own Advice

Last week I challenged you all to step up and implement some of the knowledge from a weightlifting clinic you’ve taken in the past and test it…

This week I received an email from THE SMR MAN – Jeff Alexander of Network Fitness reminding me I hold a Level 2 SMR Certification…

Upon reflection, this SMR certification was one of the best certifications I have done. However, after calling out everyone who has done a weightlifting certification and then not applied the knowledge… I realized, that I have only used a FRACTION of what I learned in my Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) certification.

Now don’t get me wrong… I have applied some great things from this SMR certification for weightlifting athletes. Partnering with my mobility mentor Aaron Jannetti (THE MOBILITY BEARD) we’ve identified the top mobility exercises for weightlifting athletes based on key positions… you can find some of this here:

• Start/Receiving Position 1 (Dorsiflexion)
• Start/Receiving Position 2 (Hip/Knee)
• Rack Position
• Overhead Position
• The Butt Wink and Hamstrings

BUT… honestly, I’ve utilized just a handful of key mobility exercise. A good start, but I know I’m just scratching the surface here. If we counted up the exercises in those videos we might get to 15… I believe there was close to 180 in my certification!

So here is what I’m going to do. I’m pulling out my mobility certification material, and I’m going to break it down in to manageable chunks. Each week I’m going to dig into a new chunk. I’m going to practice the movement, AND I’m going to coach the movement to athletes. I’ll document my progress once a week on here as a post.

You’ll have full access to my interpretation of the material focused on weightlifting athletes.

As I mentioned last week. We retain more information from being tested on a subject than just studying the material. Aaron Jannetti agreed to call me out on any mistakes/learning opportunities that come up… Each week will be like a “pop quiz” for me. And who knows… maybe I can get Jeff Alexander himself to give me some constructive feedback as we go through it! We’re all going to get to dig into this together. It’ll be fun!

I will not be putting the bare information from this certification on this blog. That is plagiarism and some BS… So if you think you’ll be able to follow along and get everything you would get from Jeff Alexander himself… you are wrong. I encourage you to check out his SMR methods. Top notch!

PS. My offer still stands… step your game up… take what you’ve learned from us at your USAW L1 or any of our courses… apply it to an athlete for the next couple months… And bring you and your athlete to Columbus Weightlifting to show us your results. Any takers?

Hylete brings Columbus Weightlifting to San Diego

Columbus Weightlifting and Hylete are bringing world class weightlifting technique to the West Coast! Our Olympic coach Mark Cannella will put coaches and athletes through a technique clinic on the first day of the course. On the second day we’ll actually get into a weightlifting meet from the view of an athlete and coach.

This course will help athletes and coaches identify the issues that will lead to heavier weights and better lifts. No matter if your goal is weightlifting competitions, training for other sports, or battling it out in wods this course will improve your results!



Olympic Coach Mark Cannella will be sharing his process for successful weightlifting competitions. This process has setup Olympian Holley Mangold for success as well as a number of other international and national team members.



Here is the break down. Athletes and coaches will get to work technique on Saturday in a Columbus Weightlifting – Technique for CrossFit. On Sunday the athletes and coaches will get a whole new view into a weightlifting competition. This course will provide athletes with the following:

Saturday:

• Introduction to World Class Weightlifting
• Technique Overview
• Strength Overview
• Mobility Overview
• Programming
• Warm-ups – Setting Up for Success
• The Snatch – 3 Steps to a Great Lift
• Lunch
• The Clean – 3 Steps to a Great Lift
• The Jerk
• Wrap-up and Questions

 

Sunday:

• Competitions – Athlete and Coach perspective
• Competitions – Process and How to Plan for Success
• Lunch
• Live Competition – Hylete Open

The second day has been requested from athletes and coaches for far too long. Columbus Weightlifting has now put an attack guide to a weightlifting meet together, and is encouraging all athletes and coaches to take advantage and invest! Athletes and coaches will be walked through a weightlifting meet and learn the successful process to warm up and prepare. After this the group will break for lunch, and then the Hylete Open Weightlifting Competition will be held which individuals can then apply the lessons!

Hylete is also rewarding members of any gym “Powered by Hylete” by giving them a substantial reduction in the registration fee. All individuals who register will receive a free Hylete Backpack ($160 value)! Hylete is a big supporter of the Arnold Weightlifting Championships and wants to spread good weightlifting to its fans.

Take advantage of this course: Sign Up Now for the San Diego Weightlifting Technique for CrossFit

Thirty 303lbs Cleans Broken Down!

Coaches and gyms pushing athletes to take their time to learn correct technique need visual cues. You need to be able to get into the minds of the athlete. A coach must help them change their mindsets around how they’re moving and approaching the bar.

In response to this we would like to introduce the first poster in our learning series! We will be launching this poster in 3 days.

We wanted to really make this launch special so for the first 72 hours those who purchase will be entered to win!:

– 90 Days of Remote Training by Columbus Weightlifting

– a copy of the “90 Day Challenge” when it is first available

– Both together = A $450 Value!

This is the program that is leading Aaron Jannetti through his 90 day challenge. It will guide you through the keys of adding significant weight to your lifts over the course of 3 months.

I mentioned Zach Krych’s epic 303lbs grace in this post where he wanted to try his hand after Rob Orlando completed it.

Zach Krych 303lbs Grace poster – A bit more info

This celebrates how Zach approaches the bar to undertake a workout at a weight which is very difficult (303lbs), and how Zach is patient to hit his positions in the lifts before trying to get under the bar! The real secret is that Zach isn’t thinking about these positions, but that he has taken the time to learn and execute this lift so much that he can now fire through it. With time and training any athlete can improve their lifting, but you must take the time to learn!

We’re excited to share this with you, and hope you’ll proudly display this poster in your gym to kill negative thoughts, and encourage your athletes to put in the work to lift their best!

When Technique Breaks Down

Have you ever said, “It’s normal for technique to breakdown”?

It is a normal process for athletes to become exhausted, and in return their technique will start to fail. However, an athlete who truly understands Olympic weightlifting technique to the point of not having to think much about it will ALWAYS out last someone who hasn’t received or taken the time for the same training. I’m making this point thinking about heavy weight. I want to remind everyone about the two different videos… 303 lbs Grace – Zach Krych and Rob Orlando.

I encourage you to watch both.

(Click Here for Video of Zach Krych)

(Click Here for Video of Rob Orlando)

Because Zach was able to operate under much better technique he was able to cut his time SIGNIFICANTLY! Also, if you watch the full version there were no misses. I’m not picking on Rob Orlando by any means. Strong athlete and notable performance. I’m only highlighting the benefit of build a strong foundation of good weightlifting technique. I feel the point to make as coaches is to not let athlete scrum to lazy thinking.

Bad thought:
“I just can’t get this… Poor technique happens and its normal.”

Replace it with:
“This won’t happen over night, but if I put in the work I’ll move better, safer, and weights will feel better than ever!”

In this thought we’ve put together a learning resource to support gyms with this belief.

It is due to launch very soon!

Stay tuned… more updates to come!

Core Work for a Healthy Spine

Part Two: Core Exercises for the Weightlifting Athlete

If you haven’t read “5 Minute Mobility” or “Core Work for a Healthy Spine Part One,” please do so before reading this.

Review of Lower cross syndrome and dysfunction from Part One:

• Hip flexors tight
• Tight spinal erectors
• Weak glutes
• Weak Abdomen

Can lead to:

• Anteriorly tilted pelvis
• Sacroiliac dysfunction
• Rotated pelvis
• Spine dysfunction
• Compromised nerves
• Injury

Now, getting to the reason why the diaphragm is so important. When having lower cross syndrome, the abdomen becomes weak. Combined with an anterior tilted pelvis, this leads to the abs being lengthened and weakened. When you combine this with being chest breathers, the diaphragm becomes less efficient, and the ribs can become externally rotated (most commonly on the left side). So upon inhalation, the left ribs become more externally rotated, and never get back to normal, and the right ribs don’t externally rotate enough.

This is important to know because the diaphragm has distal insertions at the lumbar spine (see figure 1). So when the left diaphragm is pulled, because of weak abs and externally rotated ribs, this pulls the lumbar spine in that direction. When the spine is pulled, the sacrum and pelvis have to compensate (by shifting or rotating in the opposite direction), which makes the whole problem that much worse!

An important step in fixing the hip flexors and weak glutes is to strengthen the abs (not using crunches or sit-ups) and focus on diaphragmatic breathing (pursed lip breathing) while doing so.

All the core exercises in the video are done in a specific way. Tilt the pelvis, making sure to hold it in that position the entire time, and breathe in through the nose and out the mouth. When exhaling through the mouth, use pursed lip breathing. I tell my athletes to breathe out like they are breathing through a coffee stirring straw. The idea is to create pressure while squeezing the abs.  Make sure that you do not come out of flexion when you inhale. Breathe in the stomach and use the diaphragm while staying flexed forward. For all ab exercises, hold for breaths, not reps. This is a good way to just focus on your breathing and technique.

I implement these drills with my athletes in the warm-up, during training, and at the end of the session. We train hard here in the gym. We utilize Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts and single leg exercises extensively, and we normally lift HEAVY! In doing so, these athletes spend a lot of time in extension. My main goal with these exercises is to simply get them OUT of extension and into flexion at the end of the workout. It makes sense to me to do this because I can set these athletes somewhat back at neutral when they walk out the door. Over time this has seemed to decrease the incidence of acute and chronic injury, decrease time in the training room, and the athletes don’t complain about pain or soreness quite as often.

**Note that the dysfunction I’ve described may not happen exactly the same way in all individuals. I am not a certified specialist in this area. I’ve been pursuing certification in this area. I am not a medical doctor. So in no way am I trying to diagnose any problems. I am simply trying to explain what CAN happen, and some core work to help correct some of these issues. Regardless of exact issues, these simple core exercises seem to help those with these issues in the same way**

Enjoy the video, thanks for reading!

Click Here to View This Video

Ab exercises: (again – tilt, squeeze glutes, squeeze abs, breath in nose and out mouth)

1. Middle Plank – 3×3-6 breaths
2. Anti-Rotational Plank (keep pelvis square to ground when lifting hands) – 3(4×3) breaths per arm
3. Camel Core (keep pelvis square to ground when lifting hands) 3(4×3) breaths per arm
4. PB Camel Core – 3×3-6 breaths
5. Standing Band Reach – 3×3-6 breaths
6. Pallof Press – 3×3-6 breaths each side

TRAIN HARD – TRAIN SMART

3 Videos – Mobility Exercises for Weightlifting

Since my last post announcing our efforts into mobility for weightlifting I have received a lot of questions. They’re all around what do I do to be able to get into these positions better. What exercises do I use!?

Some things spoke specifically to you readers. When I mentioned joint mobility being seized up do to injuries. You told me about your sprained ankles, dislocated shoulders, and tight hips.

We’ve been privileged to work directly with Endeavor Defense and Fitness on all our mobility. In the past few weeks we’ve put together a few videos that highlight some of our favorite mobility exercises. Our athletes use these exercises before training, after training, and sometimes in between. We always highlight them with new athletes wanting to learn.

Again, if you can’t get into the positions of technique… then how do they help you?

For the Hip:

Hip Mobility is VITAL to sitting upright in the bottom position

We need to have mobile hips to allow our knees to externally rotate as we squat down. Think of it as allowing your knees to go wider than you and your butt to sit between your ankles. You can find the hip mobility VIDEOS HERE.

For Dorsiflexion

(Sorry… dorky word.. your knee moving over the toe as you squat – I know I know very simplified.. yes that is OK!):

The knees going over the toes (dorsiflexion) is another key in bottom position!

Ah the ol’ knee over the toe. To dorsiflex or not to dorsiflex. This is such a hot issue at times with many telling us they’ve heard, “it’s bad for my knees”. Your knee must track over your toe to be successful in Olympic Weightlifting. Can it be bad for your knee? Yes, IF your weight is toward your toes… so stay back sitting between your heels! Find the Dorsiflexion Mobility VIDEO HERE.

For Rack Position:

The bar must stay on you to take the drive from the legs. Weight held by your arms only dampens it!

Remember that time you made a big clean and then played with the weight for what felt like forever trying to get comfortable? Yeah… so do we. These exercises in this video will help you open up so the bar sits on you and NOT in your arms. VIDEO HERE

Olympic Strategy – Counting Attempts

As an Olympic coach who has worked with lifters at the Olympics, World Championships, Junior World Championships and many local & national events, nothing is more important than selecting the right attempts to put your lifter in the best position to win or set a possible PR.

A really good coach once told me that you should count attempts at a local event as if you were  at the World Championships vying for a medal.  Counting attempts is science and art fused together and many factors go into how you count attempts depending on the athlete’s proclivities.  Good practice makes perfect and the more you count attempts, the more you learn about how to count correctly and to position your athlete to achieve their best total.

The Collegiates at ETSU last weekend was a perfect example of counting the right attempts with the athlete’s goal in mind that culminated in a first place and third place for both Olympian Holley Mangold and World University Member, Heather Smith.  Additionally, Holley qualified for this year’s Pan-Ams in Caracas, Venezuela.

We congratulate both with their performances but it wasn’t easy.  Holley is coming off a horrific injury and is still battling this injury and rehab.  Heather is working on her technique and continues working on her jerk.

For Holley, her attempts were to position her first to total and then to beat her nearest competition, Shelby Serpan.  Pan-Ams was icing on the cake considering where she is right now with her rehab. Heather’s goal also was to total and improve upon her recent successes at local meets and most recently, at the Arnold.  She accomplished this with her snatches and continues to improve on her clean & jerks.

Both Heather and Holley warmed up well on the snatch as we had to move a bit quicker due to the loaders moving quite fast on the competition platform.  The loaders quickness added an element that normally is not seen and while we usually have our lifters typically go 2 to 3 attempts between warm-up lifts, we had to be especially fast for a few warm-up attempts at the lower weights to ensure we were on schedule for the first attempt openers.

For the clean & jerk, we had one of those nail biting moments with Holley that you might see on TV that involves strategy and is a blow by blow back and forth account as each lift could determine the outcome and ultimate winner.

Holley ended up on top by one kilo based on the sound attempts we took to make up the small amount of ground on the snatch and left us one attempt on her third clean & jerk in case we needed to go after the win..    We chose attempts from a position of strength but we also had someone, Sean Waxman (thanks!) to verify our numbers as we chose these attempts to ensure we were in good position to win.

When counting attempts, one typically starts by writing down the lifter’s opening attempts at the top in each discipline and then lists the weights underneath they will warm-up with starting with the highest weight first before their openers all the way down to their warm-ups.  This list is then bumped up against the number of attempts out from their start based on the other lifters attempts and the amount of time before they lift.  (Sometimes it is just the time before the event if your lifter starts first or soon afterwards.)   Typically, 2 to 3 attempts are completed on the platform to determine when you take each warm-up on your way to your opener.  Factored into all of this are misses, following yourself for lifters that miss before your attempts, which puts extra time on the clock and how slow or fast your lifter needs in regards to time to take their warm-ups.  Snatches are typically done at a faster pace than clean & jerks and some will need 4 to 5 attempts for the king of all lifts between warm-ups if they are near the bigger weight classes.

Counting attempts is a learned process and takes time to master.  I study all the time from each event and take away lessons learned.   Next time you want to help your athletes as a coach or lifter, take the time to count attempts and learn the science and art of warming up your athletes correctly to hit their best numbers on the platform.

 

Yours in Sport,

 

Mark Cannella