Why Paleo Isn't Always the Best for CrossFit Performance and What to Do About It

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A few weeks ago, Team Juggernaut, held a 2 day seminar at Crossfit Chicago. It was an awesome event with athlete’s hitting PRs everywhere under the watchful eye of our coaching staff, including Brandon Lilly, Paul Carter, Eric Lilliebridge, Ernie Lilliebridge Sr, Ernie Lilliebridge Jr, Caitlyn Trout, Pete Rubish, Chad Wesley Smith and the greatest powerlifter of all-time Ed Coan. Each of these coaches has unique things that they look for in each lift and a unique way of communicating those points to the lifter.

The squat was coached by Ernie Lilliebridge Sr, an 810 pound raw w/ wraps squatter who has coached many great lifter, most notably his son Eric who hold the 275s raw w/ wraps record at 882 pounds and Ernie Jr who has squatted 750 in the 242 class. Also coaching the squat was World Record holder Caitlyn Trout, who in only 1 year of powerlifting has squatted 352 pounds raw w/ wraps in the 123 class. Finally, Juggernaut owner and American Record holding squatter Chad Wesley Smith coached the final station; Chad has squatted 905 pounds raw w/ wraps in the 308s class. Here are some of the most common problems we saw with lifter’s techniques and some of the cues we gave to help them correct those problems…

Lack of upper back tightness-A lack of tightness in the upper back during the setup is dooming your squat to fail before it even begins. One of the most common ways a raw squat is missed if the athlete folding forward, this is a product of lack of tightness in the upper back and lack of strength. You must create an extremely tight shelf by squeezing the shoulder blades together and flexing the traps. A closer hand position will make it easier to achieve upper back tightness, so work on your shoulder mobility to be able to achieve this narrow hand position. Get uncomfortably tight in the setup of your squat.

Team JTS’s Eric Lilliebridge knows how to create a great shelf for the bar.

360 Degrees of Pressure-One of the most common cues that coaches give in the squat is ‘abs out into the belt’ or ‘big air in your belly’ but this cue is WRONG. Molly Galbraith and Jim Laird do a great job of explaining why in this video…

Only expanding the abs forward will put your back into extension, which isn’t the safest or strongest position for it to support heavy weight in. Think about breathing into your low back, this will undoubtedly also force you to brace your abs. Using this cue will allow you to create circumfrencial expansion through the midsection and create 360 degrees of pressure against your belt, giving you greater stability to lift more weight and do it more safely.

Speed ALWAYS-Speed work has been a hotly debated topic in recent months, thanks in large part to an article on this site. Regardless of whether you want to do work with bands and chains or submaximal work or whatever, the fact of the matter is that you need to move the bar as fast as possible, ALL THE TIME. As soon as you are sufficiently warmed up, focus on accelerating the bar though the completion of the lift. Constant focus on your bar speed and moving as forcefully as possible will improve the speed you move the bar with and moving the bar faster is a very simple way to get through sticking points.

Commit to the Descent-One of the most common ways that people miss heavy squats is by descending too slowly. Remember the axiom “treat 135 like your max and your max like 135″ meaning that you need to use the exact same technique during your light warmup sets as you do with your max sets, but in the same way you must also approach heavy weights with the same confidence you do light weights. If you descend quickly with submaximal weights, do the same thing with max sets. If you are slowly descending with weights you aren’t getting the most out of your stretch reflex and you are wasting energy during the eccentric phase.

Carrie Holberg squatting 315×2 at the Juggernaut Seminar at Crossfit Chicago…

Elbows Forward and In-The angle of your torso will mimic the angle of your arms. Focus on keeping your elbows pointed down at your butt, don’t let them point backwards. If your elbows point backwards, you are much more likely to fold forward. Push your elbow forward and squeeze them toward the center of your body, this will flex your lats and give you a much more stable support for the heavy weight on your back. Try to flare your lats like a bodybuilder.

Jason Harbin nailing a 625 squat during our seminar at Crossfit Chicago…

The next Juggernaut Seminar will be at Crossfit Tustin in Orange County, CA on October 12-13th. Look for more information soon!!

The post Squat Tips and Cues from the Chicago Seminar appeared first on Juggernaut Training Systems.

June 12, 1944,

Harriet Dearest -

Now 7 days after D-Day I can tell you about it. I do so in all humility knowing full well I was shocked and scared for the whole day.

Aboard ship on Monday morning we all had a fine time sprawled in our bunks, eating whenever we wanted, sleeping whenever we wanted - we had trained for the operation, prayed for it, planned for it - now 24 hours before action we were committed without fuss.

And so, after supper we prepared for battle…threw away all we did not absolutely need, bathed, shaved, and put on completely clean uniforms, then back to bed. Breakfast at 0115, first units to leave the transport for landing craft at [censored].

We got up and went on deck. Broadway, the sailors called the land prepared for our trip through the sea mines. On and on it stretched, a twisting line of red and white twinkles - death lay on either side, but between the glow of the lights which drop silently astern, we were safe.

Then the Germans on shore threw up a hot weaving curtain of flak at some of our bombers, knocking down 2 of them. Then a sight never to be forgotten. The moon came out, and flying low and fast came the chunk formation of C-47s, at least 200 of them, flying in the paratroopers. In a moment they were gone and we thanked the brave men who crouched in the bellies of the big ships.

We dropped anchor in a rough sea, then went down to breakfast - favorite breakfast of scrambled fresh eggs, sausages, toast, coffee, and tomato juice. “No goddamn doubt but this is some D-Day” someone said, eying the breakfast table.

I went below, put on all my gear, and then up to the Sr. Officer’s room, where I played solitaire, waiting for our boat number [censored]. Might as well break it to you now - H Hour was 630 and we were scheduled to hit the beach at 720. Major Scordas at 730 and the rest of the group on the evening of D-Day except Col and Capt Shaw who were coming in sooner (in the afternoon).

Right in the middle of the first game of solitaire my boat number [censored] was called, and we headed forward to our net stations. The transport rolled and pitched in the rough sea, clouds had blanketed the moon, and it was pitch dark. They threw a net over the side of the ship and I scrambled down into the landing craft LCD.

All sense of stability vanished, up and down the little boat rocked and pitched, banging into the side of the transport with a thump that threw the six of us then in the boat into a huddle of bruises. One poor chap was coming down when the small boat rocked into the transport, and with a scream he lost his hold and thudded into the bottom of our boat. Both knees were smashed. Another man was caught the same way and then 2 more, but the rest kept coming with a purpose and determination frightening to feel.

Then we pulled away and got lost – we never did find the other craft which was to come in on the 8^th wave with us. Then one by one (and I was the first) we got sick and lost our wonderful breakfasts. Even the navy landed with an empty stomach.

The barrage opened up 10 miles away, the noise was intense, the light a huge glow, the bombers bombed, the navy shelled and special crafts launched thousands of rockets on the beach. As the sun rose we ceased circling the rendezvous point 10 miles off shore, the motors sang a deep throated roar, and we headed toward the shore of France.

All was confusion. German shells hit the boat ahead of us, killing one man. The survivors of the first craft we had to take into our boat which was already crowded. The battle feeling started in our bellies and swiftly took possession of us. Our heads down, bodies tense, we hit shore. The trap came down with a bang and we poured out of the craft into water chin high, with an occasional shell bursting close by. Four more men, one of whom I knew, were killed close by, hit or drowned.

Tanks were squalling on the beach throwing shells into nearby clumps of resistance. The infantry was moving over a concrete sea wall and sand dunes toward the enemy.

Wham!

A German mortar shell hit the beach. Mother Earth and I became one quaking entity and the man next to me sat with dazed and glassy eyes nursing a stump of a shoulder where his arm had been a second before. I scrambled over the sea wall, dug a foxhole in a matter of minutes, and crouched in it.

My job was to check in the AA as it hit the beach and see that it got in and off to positions okay. Some of them were already setting up. Major Scordas came in, threw himself on top of me as a screaming Mimi went by and we grinned, spit sand out of teeth, and settled down.

So the worst was over. Many a man was hit on the beach, many more nerve-wracking hours under shelling were yet to be spent here, but as the sun went down on D-Day I crouched in a hole with tears of gratitude in my eyes, grateful to still be your man – to still be alive.

The Group, as I knew it would, has done fine in combat. Our losses have been light despite the fact that each is someone’s personal tragedy. Our toll on the Luftwaffe is gratifying to everyone except Jerry, so the soldier me is happy.

Last night someone said something funny, and we all started to laugh. That was a shock – the first time we had all relaxed enough to chuckled freely since D-Day.

I sleep in a foxhole every night and have always managed to get in a few hours rest before dawn.

There’s been no mail come in yet; guess I’ll have to wait till I’m 22 to hear from you.

I know you may be worried about your man, and I’ll write as often as the situation permits. Keep up our work back there, and I’ll do our job over here. This is because we love each other and Life demands we do.

I love you.

Your man,

Mack

[please give credit if sharing this precious history. it was originally written on thin newsprint in grease pencil - he wrote this letter in a foxhole]

Prime numbers are all the rage these days. I can tell something’s up when random people start asking me about the randomness of primes—without even knowing that I’m a mathematician! In the past couple of weeks we’ve heard about a beautiful result on the gaps between primes and about cicadas’ prime-numbered life cycles. Our current love affair with primes notwithstanding, many people have wondered whether this is all just abstract theoretical stuff or whether prime numbers have real-world applications.

Isaac was testing his theories on gravity and its effects on a lazy bulldog. 

I hate that goddamn band. For about five years those words have popped to mind or spit out of my lips whenever someone mentions the National, the Brooklyn-based rock group whose sixth album, Trouble Will Find Me, came out last week.

It’s pretty hard to live in Chicago and not start to have a dire image of the educational system as a whole, and as much as I hate to say it, a dire picture of the direction of our young people. All day everyday in newspapers and on the news are stories of violence, failing schools, teacher strikes, school closings…the list could go on.

It’s against this back drop that I had an incredibly inspiring experience visiting Bulls College Prep a couple of weeks ago. Bulls College Prep is a charter school and is part of The Noble Network of Charter Schools. This is an organization that’s made huge strides in getting kids on the college track educationally, and is approaching nearly 100% acceptance rate to 4 year colleges and universities for it’s students. As we all know, nutrition and fitness also play a huge role in our personal development and go a long way towards a healthy community. Bulls College Prep goes beyond only academic preparation, and that is how I ended up visiting the school.

Bulls College Prep has implemented a CrossFit program into their curriculum. Long story short, I heard that CrossFit Kids Headquarters was sending a representative to the school and I asked if I could tag along. I’m so glad I did. These kids absolutely blew me away, as did their teachers and administration who have put this program together. First of all, I literally did not see one child with a bad attitude or giving less than there all. We’re talking about 9-12^th graders here people, the population most known for their attitudes. Not a single eye roll or lazy squat. These are the same black and brown “inner city” kids that are often expected to fail. I didn’t see any failures in that group. These kids were incredibly disciplined, enthusiastic, hard working and, in true CrossFit fashion, nconditionally supportive of one another. I’ll admit it, these kids made me tear up, I was so proud for them!

It seems that the Bulls College Prep staff is doing something unique here. Again, the enthusiasm and commitment was abundantly clear. The athletic director at the school trains at a local Chicago Area CrossFit, and multiple Bulls College Prep staff members are CF Kids Certified. CF Kids HQ is working with The Noble Network to continue to certify staff and spread the program throughout the network. Again, true to CrossFit form, Bulls College Prep tracks and measures student progress in fitness, and is gathering data that could lead to more support for such programs. Part of the reason I find this school’s work so exciting is the implications for similar programs in other locations in the future.

As it stands, Bulls College Prep is in need of financial and equipment resources. The classes I observed completed a great, but modified “Fran” (no pull up rig, limited barbells and plates), as well as some gymnastics work. They don’t have kettlebells, wallballs, mats, etc.

What they do have is a highly committed staff who have put together a fundraiser event:

“Barbells for Bulls”

When: Friday, May 24th 6:00-9:00pm

Where: Division Ale House, 1942 W. Division, Chicago, IL