HOW TO BUILD A HEAVY BAG

It's been a while now, but we shared a video on how to build a sandbag for general purpose use. In that video, we briefly discussed the massive ROI building your own sandbag has when compared to spending big money on more traditional training equipment like barbells and bumper sets, which, of course, are great if you can swing the price tag and have space for it all.

For those of you that can't, or that train in the tight quarters of your garage, or who just want to include more odd object training into your program, we also discussed some of the sandbag exercises that are MUSTS. These lifts and exercises place a huge demand on you and provide a unique training stimulus that is difficult to replicate. 

Now, in an effort to provide y'all with more of the same (hopefully) valuable info, we wanted to show y'all our new heavy bags that we purchased from StrongFit, and how they can further diversify your training possibilities.

These bags are more durable and can handle much heavier weights - offering an alternative to atlas stones and/or kegs, both in shape and training stimulus, but won't destroy your floor when dropped. 

The video below is the "how-to" build your heavy bag. After you've made yours check back here for more vlogs on all the possibilities you have when it comes to training with the heavy bag! 

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A JUMP IS A JUMP, RIGHT?

You see it all the time: a viral video of some absurdly "springy" human that takes off from the floor and somehow floats to the tip top of a stack of bumper plates precariously placed on a tall box. Kinda like this ridiculousness...

There's no doubt that this is an incredible feat. This daring effort surely captures or attention and admiration, but there should also be respect given to lower jumping efforts that accomplish large displacement.

Let me explain...

With massive box jumps like the one above, the effort is comprised of two Important parts:
1. Power production and explosiveness.
2. Mobility

As you can see from the video, there's a tremendous amount of explosive power production as he jumps, but equally impressive is the "catch" position. Pause the video at the moment that he makes initial contact with the top plate. What do you see?. I see one helluva deep squat! This position would not be possible without some serious mobility.

So again, nothing should be taken away from these types of efforts. All I'm saying is that it shouldn't always be about max height. And here's why...

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dis·place·ment

disˈplāsmənt/
noun
1. the moving of something from its place or position.

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I know it's not nearly as impressive, but watch my video below. I want you to compare the first two box jumps to the second two. What do you notice? HINT: Keep in mind that this entire blog is concerning the concept of displacement. You may also want to establish a focal point, I suggest my hips....they don't lie.

I hope that my hint made this fairly obvious, but if you missed it, the first two jumps had far less overall displacement than the last two jumps. Again, if you were watching my hips you would've seen that the last two efforts showed a much great elevation than my first two attempts. Therefore, it's safe to say that I created more power during those final jumps.

The end result is the same - you end up on top of the box. But now it should be clear that there are two different ways to train the same movement that elicit different responses. I don't think that one is better than the other.  You can perform jumps in a manner that delivers a cardio response, or jump (for displacement) to improve power and explosiveness. Either way, I think that consciously training both styles is important and should implemented in to your training routine.

FUUUCK!

We've all had those workouts and/or movements that ended up being much harder than we anticipated. In fact, I just experienced a devastating workout that only involved a heavy bag of sand, some squats with said bag and some gut carries. OUCH!

After each set, I let out a long, painful, exaggerated F-bomb. This is what we call "immediate positive feedback". This type of reaction let's you know you're in that work zone and not just pretending - which is important to distinguish.

The reason I bring this up is that recently, my long-time mentor and friend Dennis Marshall(Owner and Head Coach of CF Garden City), beautifully described a very simple idea that I wanted to share.

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"It seems like there is a rapidly growing pool of "Accessory" movements in the CrossFit world that athletes are adding to their training program. While this is a great, and perhaps long overdue, development, the proliferation of these exercises through social media is potentially leading to as much, if not more, confusion as it is education. "Well, this guy/girl is doing it, so I guess I should as well?" There is only so much time and energy we can all dedicate to training and the majority of this must be directed towards our top priorities and biggest "bang for your buck" movements, workouts, etc. To pick and choose "this" and "that" movement "just because" can distract us from putting in the real work that will yield the greatest result. 

One of my favorite litmus tests for whether a movement is worth incorporating on a regular basis and dedicating significant time and energy towards is the response it elicits immediately upon completion. I'm generally looking for something along the lines of "Wow, that's harder than I thought" or simply any expletive (as demonstrated in the video). The more dramatic the response the more valuable the movement and the more frequently it should show up. Once the response is less dramatic it's time to move onto the next one." - Dennis Marshall

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I am no where near the wordsmith that Dmarsh is, so I tend to boil things down to their most simplistic elements. To me, all of this means:

Simple. Not easy.

And that, my friends, is something I will always believe in.

ATLAS STONES: SMOOTH IS FAST

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As strongman training methods become more and more popular (YAY!), newbs are being exposed to implements and movements that they've never done before - which is AWESOME! However, just like any new skill, you must understand the concepts and techniques, then apply quality practice - especially when first introduced.

In an effort to help some of you strongman newbs dial in your atlas stone technique, this video is all about performing the stone shoulder smoothly rather than rushing through it with reckless abandon.

In general, it is my opinion that performing any movement with fluidity will increase your overall speed. This is especially true with the atlas stone. Just remember: Smooth is Fast! 

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SIT-DOWN: CLINT HARBOUR

A couple words come to mind when I think of Clint:

-JEEP
-Bandana
-Hip-Hop

Now, if you don't know Clint, this probably doesn't make much sense, but what it provides is a glimpse into how eclectic this guy is. Clint rolls up to the gym in his sweet lil red JEEP about 15 minutes before class. As he strides through the gym, he's rocking a bandana or headband with his earbuds in listening to some type of podcast. He sets down his old-school gym bag and begins his mobility exercises. And you better believe that if there's some old-school hip-hop on, he's reciting every single word right along with the artist. He's got them all memorized, word for word!

Clint is a lawyer for the state of Texas, which tends to keep him busy with either case prep or travel, but when he's in town he always makes the time for the gym. The guy works extremely hard while he's there and does the right things outside of the gym as well. All told, Clint has lost 36lbs while with us and impresses/inspires others to get their nutrition on point through ACTION. 

There are a lot of people that talk. Clint walks the walk.

With an already jam-packed schedule, he finds time to coach TWO basketball teams; the 5th-6th grade boys at St. Andrews, and a High School select team with the Austin Dawgs club. What's really cool is that he's been able to use some of the things we do at TCS to help condition his teams and improve their fitness. What I respect most about Clint is that he does it first. Again, he walks the walk and provides his players with a great role model.

Just one more reason that TCS is the special place it is. With people like Clint, how could it not be something special? 

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A Trend You'll Want to Reverse ASAP!

As a Coach that's been doing this for a bit, I have picked up on to trends that take place on the gym floor. Some are good and others you'll want to stop ASAP. This topic falls under that later category.

General shoulder dysfunction as well as Bicep tendinitis are two issues that pop up more than we'd like. To start, our posture is typically pretty awful. Anteriorly rotated shoulders, a tight, immobile thoracic spine, and overdeveloped anterior muscles mixed with weak posterior muscle groups is a recipe for trouble in and of itself. Now throw in the workloads we place on our bodies....Uff!

Pushups, pullups, overhead pressing, dips or even overhead squats and snatches are all prime candidates for really aggravating the shoulder. To be clear, the movements aren't necessarily the problem, but rather the less than ideal positions or movement patterns displayed during said movements. This is especially the case when these exercises are done in large doses; what technique and solid position was once present, quickly disappears when the athlete goes in to "survival mode".

What makes this area less stable than others is the fact that the shoulder joint is designed for great range of motion and versatility, but tends to be less stable than your hip, for example. This all occurs because this joint is really a collection of muscles, tendons and ligaments that (should) secure the head of the humerus solidly within the Glenoid Fossa. A Fossa, by the way, is defined as a shallow depression on a bone into which another bone fits to form a joint.

Did you pick up on that? "A shallow depression..."

Sounds super solid to me. (sarcasm)

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Look. All I really want to do with this post is offer a quick and easy way to keep those shoulders happier and healthier. I don't want to get all scientific and go through a college level Anat/Phys class with you. I'm sure you don't want that either. So, in short:

1.If you have some grumpy shoulders, this will help.

2.If you'd like to keep your shoulders from getting grumpy, do this.

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