Numero Uno

Well this is the very first post on this new blog. This is for all my friends at Energy Sports & Fitness who are enrolled in my ESC program titled PROJECT X. Catchy name isn't it?

I did not have any say so in the name, but I do have the responsibility of controlling what is practiced as far as coaching and programming goes. From this blog I hope for you to gain more insight into why I coach what I do as well as why I do.

Watching someone break past a plateau in their training is a great thing to witness and I try to have that happen somewhere everyday in my classes and in my one-on-one sessions. Whether that be someone picking up a heavier weight or just not taking that water break and pushing to start that next round to get a quicker time.

Every coach likes seeing their people have the "AHA" moment. All of a sudden the weight on our shoulders is lighter than before for just a brief second and then once that happens we have another challenge on our hands, how to make the next "AHA" moment happen. A secret you all should know is that that is why we like coaching, to see you improve your fitness so your life is easier to bear.

So on with the workouts:
For the last week I experimented with wendlers 5/3/1 and mixed in some metcon workouts as well to follow it. It seemed to work very well as I thought it would, many of the people seemed to enjoy the routine and some came away from this week with more confidence for moving some substantial weight many times. Like I said though it was just an experiment and will not last more than that one week. It was more of a headache for me with making people constantly have to get their numbers on a daily basis even though the percentages never changed only the lifts. Many did not get that it was their responsibility to calculate their own numbers, and that cost a lot of valuable time under the bars in many of the classes.
I do not want to punish all for that, but I do want to let everyone know that I am proud that after all the calculations were done that when it came time to get the weight moving that they did a great job. Super impressive numbers from all. The week prior to this past week we did 1 rep maxes in the squat, bench and dead. The deadlift was the only one we had a prior number to go for almost all the members.
I am happy to say that with the exception of one or two people everyone improved their deadlifts by 30 pounds in a months time. My jaw hit the ground when two of my ladies got over the 200# barrier and many more only a few pounds off. The men did very well too having most of them break past three plates(315#) with ease closing in on four plates(405#) soon enough.
This upcoming week I am changing up my programming to resemble what I wanted all along and that is to include many other lifts into the scheme of things. Not saying the 5/3/1 is bad but I believe for my people to get an understanding of other lifts it will take more than 10 minutes to teach and get correct weights for other major lifts with me only having an hour to get people in and out with a great workout in between.
I will start incorporating the Overhead Squat and Front Squats for heavy maxes as well as the Push Press and Jerk and let us not forget about the Olympic lifts: the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. Those lifts as well as some assistance lifts like rows and shrugs and also even handstand pushups and many other gymnastic movements will be thrown in as well.
The people in class will probably crap a truckload of brick when they walk in tomorrow and see what is about to be laid upon them to complete. With this new program I hope to make people gain a more broaden approach to fitness. Working on things they hate or suck at is the only way I know to improve every where. You cannot just stick to one method of training. You have to go outside the box and take things from many different programs and see what works for not just you but for all those you train.
With that last statement let me just say that YES there will be some form of curls thrown in to the mix as well as tricep pressdowns and a couple other bodybuilder type movements only if I see they can have a place in the training. Not saying everyone will have to do the dreaded BB stuff, but I think it will a disservice to all if I did not have a place for everyone that walks through into the darkside of the gym.

Onto the Workout:

BENCH: find your 3rep max

assistance lift:
Kroc Rows ( 1 set of 1 arm dumbbell rows done to failure with very heavy weight)

metcon:
for time:
7 rounds:
10 clapping pushups
10 deadlifts (m135#/ f 85#)