A Few Reminders!

1. As of June 1st, only paying clients will have access to their personalized daily WOD.
2. If it's your first time at CrossFit Middle Tennesee, then the first week is FREE
3. Bring in a friend, they sign up, we will deduct $50 from your next month's membership fee

Service Charge Soon To Come

Attention Athletes:

This website was originally created to service the Muskingum College wrestling team so that they could see what the W.O.D.(Workout Of the Day) was going to be, pics and videos of their workouts and as an online resume of sorts for any potential employers I may encounter.

It has since then taken off into my main vehicle of communication between dozens of athletes and clients that I have had the pleasure of training with (both in person or by providing online programming). I have had such a large increase of requests for personalized strength and conditioning and/or CrossFit programs that this past-time of a hobby has almost become as time consuming as my full time coaching position at CrossFit Middle Tennessee.

This why starting next month (June 1st), I will be charging $30/mo. to create individual programs or team programs for athletes and coaches.

What You Receive As A Paying Client:

• Personalized programming to adhere to whatever type of training schedule you are on. Regardless of the equipment or space you have available, I will construct an effective, efficient and safe program to increase you fitness and physical capacity.
  

• 24/7 Access to myself. Via cell phone and email. You will always be a priority. Whether it's 2 a.m. or Sunday during the big game, I will always tend to your concerns, questions, etc. in a prompt and professional manner.
  

• The WOD page will be exclusive. Only paying clients will be able to access this site and each client will have their own section to view their workouts.
  

• Digital coaching - Send me a video/photos of your squat, deadlift, whatever it may be and I will make comments and coaching cues to help you execute that movement more efficiently.

• Nutrition programming - This is going to be a new aspect of this service. You are now a paying client and for that extra money, you will receive nutrition programming and a FitDay.com account to keep track of your meals and macronutrient (Pro, Carb, Fat) breakdown. Personalized meals and recipes will be made available.
  

• A copy of the monthly CrossFit Journal. This is a great monthly publication that is written by and for members of the CrossFit community. Topics include nutrition, strength and conditioning, discussion of proper technique on a variety of exercises, speed training , sport specific programs, injury and rehab issues and practical sports application via CrossFit.

I realize that the economy is on the downside and that money is tight right now. However, I started providing this service for free because I love what I do, I love to coach, I love to increase athlete's human performance levels. However, this job has become much larger and popular than I expected and in order to justify the amount of time I have to put into it, I'm forced to charge a small fee.

The online purchase feature (located on the right hand side) will be up and running by Monday, June 1st.

I have enjoyed working with all of you and hope to continue to provide you with quality training programs and sports nutrition regimens.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Thanks,

Coach Stu

CrossFit Football

I've had several request this past week for strength building programs designed with athlete's in mind who need to increase their anaerobic capacity (and as a result, drop excess levels of body fat) while still maintaining/increasing strength levels.



CrossFit Football is the perfect training prescription for football athletes. We use organic functional movements performed at high intensity to simulate the demands placed on an athlete during a football game. Football is a game of seconds and inches. CrossFit Football knows the demands placed on players during the game and the distances they will have to travel. With this in mind, we can replicate the stresses and situations a player will face on the field. By combining high intensity movements with a comprehensive strength and speed program, the result is a training program that is unparalleled in the industry.
How do we know CrossFit Football's programming works? Because it has been designed by NFL players and some of the top coaches in the world. Not only has it been created by top athletes, but it has been used to compete at the highest levels of professional sports. The utility of this program is not theoretical; it has not been designed by someone that thinks it might work, but by athletes and coaches that have dominated at the highest levels of competitive athletics.

CrossFit Middle Tennessee

Homemade Equipment

LJ, here are some links to demos and tutorials at making your own homemade equipment. CrossFitting without the use of barbells, rings, bumper plates, etc does make it difficult but completely do-able. Remember, mastering your own body weight through movements such as pushups, squats, situps, burpees, handstands, L-sits is one of the hardest types of training you can do.

Homemade Paraleets
Pull Up Bar 1
Pull Up Bar 2
Med Ball - it's a pdf. format file so I will just email this to you
Plyo Boxes - another pdf but you should be able to view it...if not, let me know
Dumbbell Work - I talked to Eby, he said just head down to the house and make him an offer on his DB and their yours

Personalized WOD Postings for PT Clients

I will be running this site as the primary source of CrossFit info, news, video, and daily WOD's for my personal training clients. I hate the term "personal training". It comes with that typical, lazy, Globo-Gym jackoff stereotype that all personal trainers are associated with. I am a coach. I instruct you how to move and how to move well. But personal training is just universally understood so I'm just gonna stick with it.

So for LJ and Dan, I will continue to post your workouts here in a 3 days on/1 day off manner. Let me know if your schedule changes so that I can adjust your training programming accordingly.

Hailey, since we will be starting on Sunday, I'll have your workout and skill progession work posted up here as well so that you can see what we will be working on.

As always, if you are not sure on how to do a workout, properly execute a movement or just wanna see some sweet videos of some badass CrossFitters, check out CrossFit.com

Why CrossFit is Better Than Whatever the Fuck You're Doing

CrossFit is the sport of fitness ---Check out this video

Great Rant From Jon Gilson at AgainFaster.com

After you've made that transition from either your long, slow distance running or your ineffective Globo Gym bodybuilding routine you acquire a voice inside of you that screams out every time they see someone busting their ass doing nonfunctional, low intensity, repetitive movements that you know is leading them nowhere. This article sums up that voice perfectly.

Quit Now
by Jon Gilson at AgainFaster.com
"Most days, I don’t ram the virtues of CrossFit down your throat. Today is not one of those days.

If you’re at a commercial gym, I want you to quit. Hell, YOU want you to quit. You just don’t know it yet.

Last time you were in Buff Joe’s Spandex-O-Rama, you were probably working out alone. You were listening to Kelly Clarkson belt out a tune somebody else wrote, and you kept losing the pull-up bar to some meathead who was using it to stretch.

It took you an hour to do a workout that takes 20 minutes because you had to wait to get the 30s from a pre-teen doing quarter-range tricep kickbacks. Screw that.

Quit now.

The transition isn’t easy–after my first CrossFit workout, I walked funny for a week.

Suck it up, Sunshine. Paying your dues is well worth the effort. Our methods will give you tremendous returns in motivation, work capacity, strength, and coordination.

Working out does not have to be a solitary slog through the machine minefield. There are future Crossfitters all over the country who are currently hooked to their iPod, standing on a treadmill, staring at a 5-inch TV, wondering why they’re not getting any better at anything.

The solution? Unplug all that sh*t. Come workout with people. All the computer programming in the world can’t replicate the motivation you’ll get from watching the guy next to you work harder and longer than you ever thought possible. In a few months, you’ll be competing at his level.

I tell my friends about our workouts: “Today, we did Angie. 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats. Took about 25 minutes.”

This usually results in the “Holy Sh*t” stare. This is where your friend/girlfriend/mom/boss looks at you like you just told them that you believe euthanasia is a viable method of population control.

I love the stare.

The reason you get it is the numbers you just spat out. We think nothing of doing 100 of anything, because we do it all the time. CrossFit builds amazing work capacity quickly. There’s no magic trick involved. The human body can produce a staggering volume of work. Getting it to do so requires repeated attempts at doing more work than you did the last time out.

Try to do 100 pushups. You’ll end up breaking them down into multiple sets of 5 or 10 or 15. Next time you try, you’ll do sets of 15 or 20. A few months down the road, 100 straight pushups will just be a momentary respite from those nasty pull-ups, and you’ll thank God for every rep.

Your superhuman work capacity will transfer to every physical activity you undertake. Suddenly, running a 5k feels like the saddest little workout you ever did. Baseball doesn’t even seem like a sport, and football games are over before you get a chance to break a decent sweat. Your resting heartbeat will hover in the low 60s, and you’ll be able to hold sustained aerobic activity for hours.

You’ll also be stronger than you’ve ever been in your life. We practice the most effective lifts in the world—the snatch and the clean and jerk. Each of these movements is a full-body lift that requires power and coordination to complete. The weight goes through an unparalleled range of motion extremely quickly. This results in huge power output and work volume, and a whole boatload of strength. Check out “A Physics Lesson” for further explanation.

Coordination comes from all aspects of the CrossFit experience. You’ll learn handstands, kipping, dips, muscleups, and a myriad of other gymnastics skills. Spatial awareness, balance, and agility will result. You’ll be a more effective athlete in every sport you try, because the learning curve for new skills will flatten significantly—you’ll already have all the building blocks you need.
CrossFit is not easy. You’ll pay for your gains in sweat and skin. Nonetheless, you’ll get better week after week and month after month, with no end in sight. You’ll do it with a great community of athletes who live for every moment of endorphin-induced bliss, and you’ll love every second.

Call your gym and cancel your membership. Come out to Again Faster on Sunday mornings, or stop by any of the Crossfit Affiliates. We’ll show you what you’re missing, and I guarantee you won’t ever want to go back.

Speed and Strength Clinic at The Fieldhouse

For those of you who are going to be enrolled in the Speed and Strength Clinic, feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. I hope to get this clinic up and running very soon.

The Fieldhouse

Learning the Basic Movements of CrossFit

I'll be posting some instructional videos for my new guys that are still learning to master the kipping pullup and other signature CrossFit exercises.

"Short version: Kipping allows more work to be done in less time, thus increasing power output. It is also a full-body coordination movement when performed correctly, which applies more functionally to real-life application of pulling skills. Last, but not least, the hip motion of an effective kip mirrors the motion of the olympic lifts/kettlebell swings, adding to it's function as a posterior-chain developer."

Short Version Answer courtesy of Jesse Woody

QuickTime Version:
Kipping Pullup Concepts

How to Kip Part 1
How to Kip Part 2
How to Kip Part 3
How to Kip Part 4

Windows Media Player Version:
1
2
3
4


Any questions? Post em' to the comments section below.

Wrestling WOD 2/5/09

Today's WOD:
As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 min
95# Squat Clean x 15
Pullups x 10
35# OH Carry up the stair gauntlet

V-Day Games at CrossFit Huntsville

V-Day Games Site

The V-Day Games. That's what I'm training for right now. Currently have two of my better wrestlers (one who is red shirting and one who is out for the season due to "academic" issues) training with me to give me some good competition.

Vids/pics of the training sessions soon to come.

NFL Combine: Poor Judge of Physical Performance?

Here is an article a fellow S&C coach shared with me recently. It's from the NSCA, which normally just publishes "silly bullshit" (as Rip would say), however this article definitely struck home in regards to the standard lifting programs I've observed, not only here at Muskingum College, but most other high school and collegiate weightrooms and their belief that certain physical tests (such as the bench press, vertical jump, etc) are the end-all-be-all of human performance exercises.

Check it out.

The NFL Combine: Does It Predict Performance in the National Football League?

Original Research

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 22(6):1721-1727, November 2008.
Kuzmits, Frank E; Adams, Arthur J
Abstract:
Kuzmits, FE and Adams, AJ. The NFL combine: does it predict performance in the National Football League? J Strength Cond Res 22(6): 1721-1727, 2008-The authors investigate the correlation between National Football League (NFL) combine test results and NFL success for players drafted at three different offensive positions (quarterback, running back, and wide receiver) during a recent 6-year period, 1999-2004. The combine consists of series of drills, exercises, interviews, aptitude tests, and physical exams designed to assess the skills of promising college football players and to predict their performance in the NFL. Combine measures examined in this study include 10-, 20-, and 40-yard dashes, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20- and 60-yard shuttles, three-cone drill, and the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Performance criteria include 10 variables: draft order; 3 years each of salary received and games played; and position-specific data. Using correlation analysis, we find no consistent statistical relationship between combine tests and professional football performance, with the notable exception of sprint tests for running backs. We put forth possible explanations for the general lack of statistical relations detected, and, consequently, we question the overall usefulness of the combine. We also offer suggestions for improving the prediction of success in the NFL, primarily the use of more rigorous psychological tests and the examination of collegiate performance as a job sample test. Finally, from a practical standpoint, the results of the study should encourage NFL team personnel to reevaluate the usefulness of the combine's physical tests and exercises as predictors of player performance. This study should encourage team personnel to consider the weighting and importance of various combine measures and the potential benefits of overhauling the combine process, with the goal of creating a more valid system for predicting player success.

(C) 2008 National Strength and Conditioning Association

Muskingum College Wrestling Team vs Fran

Today's WOD consisted of Fran
21-15-9 Thruster and Pullups

Followed by a quick 5 min rest and then immediately followed by 50 Deadlift 95#/Pushup combo

Needless to say, they were done cooked by the end.

Definitely worth mentioning: Chip Halko busted out Fran in 4:50. Not too shabby considering his own body weight at a mere 131#.

Here's a link to more pics from this workout

CrossFit Middle Tennessee

This is the CrossFit affiliate I currently train/coach at. We are located in Franklin, TN inside of the A-Sports Complex. Check out the site and contact Steve Baker if you have any questions regarding our classes, rates, schedule, etc.

CrossFit Middle Tennessee

First Post

I created this blog so that I would be able to share with my clients, athletes, friends/family and potential clients who I am, what I do and why it matters. I wanted to make a multimedia portfolio of my work as a strength and conditioning coach as well as an active CrossFitter and CrossFit trainer. Also, I wanted a place where my current athletes can look up the prescribed WOD (Workout of the Day).

"So you're a personal trainer?" "What is CrossFit?" "Umm...what does a strength and conditioning coach actually do?"

I encounter these questions on a daily basis, so this was the basic motivation for creating this blog. CrossFit is hard to explain in simple conversation, but throw some videos and pictures at some of the workouts and instructional training that we implement and it makes the explanation much easier to digest. Hopefully I will be able to utilize this blog to share my coaching and CrossFit training methodologies in a much more clear and concise manner than verbal conversation would allow.

That video to the top right doesn't hurt either. Thanks to CrossFit Cleveland for making it.

As an active CrossFitter I will also be posting my own WODs as I prepare for the V-Day Games down at CrossFit Huntsville and the CrossFit Games Qualifiers at Rogue Fitness in Columbus, OH.