Mon. Nov. 9th, 2009

We are going into week 2 of the new box. As everybody is probably noticing, we are having some pains associated with the transition. Merlin is fast at work on the new pull-up station, a little bit of water from the storms among other building quirks, and of course the new running routes. Fortunately, the larger space seems to outweigh all of these issues. Again, I appreciate the patience and the smiling faces everyday. If anybody has any questions or concerns, please let me know. I have included an article on the overhead squat by Greg Glassman. Let me know what you think.

The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts - the essence of sport movement. For this reason it is an indispensable tool for developing speed and power. The overhead squat also demands and develops functional flexibility, and similarly develops the squat by amplifying and cruelly punishing faults in squat posture, movement, and stability.
The overhead squat is to midline control, stability, and balance what the clean and snatch are to power - unsurpassed.
Ironically, the overhead squat is exceedingly simple yet universally nettlesome for beginners. There are three common obstacles to learning the overhead squat. The first is the scarcity of skilled instruction - outside of the Olympic lifting community most instruction on the overhead squat is laughably horribly, wrong - dead wrong.
The second is a weak squat - you need to have a rock-solid squat to learn the overhead squat. We strongly recommend you review the December 2002 issue of the CrossFit Journal on squatting before attempting the overhead squat; you could save yourself a lot of time in the long run. The third obstacle is starting with too much weight - you haven't a snowball's chance in hell of learning the overhead squat with a bar. You'll need to use a length of dowel or plastic PVC pipe; use anything over five pounds to learn this move and your overhead squat will be stillborn.
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/36_05_Overhead_Squat.pdf?e=1257783660&h=9a50e0f7061316ef041308d5d5c36a5f

Check out this video on the overhead squat:http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_OverheadSquattingSafely.wmv

Today's W.O.D.
"Nancy"
400 meter run
15 Overhead squat - 95 lbs
5 rounds for time

Today's hours:
6:30am - 7:20am - Mike has to leave by 7:20am
9am - 11am - I will be down there as soon as I get off shift (hopefully by 8:30am)
2pm - 3pm
6pm - 7pm