HEELS DOWN

For your edification, three front squat vids.  Matt (red shorts) is pretty legit, especially considering he is moving a metric ton.  His heels are pegged to the floor so we know that's where he's pushing.  CJP (cuffs rolled to give you a little ankle), has a serious case of the mid-foot.  Im not on my toes, exactly, but I'm not as far back on the heel as one should be.  You're stronger over your bones, in this case calcanei, than over gaps in bones, or arches.  At it's worst, the mid-foot problem becomes an inward drifting ankle or a toe-weighted front squat.  Un-uh.  Finally, D (tights) fights the dreaded knee drift and in subsequent lifts she was successful and claimed it was for squeezing abs.  I believe her b/c this just happened to be her worst effort.  The camera always adds 10 pounds or catches you knees in.

I should also say that all three of these are very near max load.  Problems are just going to be exposed at the limits.  At least one reason to train there.  Today was a classic CrossFit 7x1 heavy day.  Typically, I would use three or four of those sets (reps really) to get used to something heavy, but well within assumed capability.  Matt recent attended a Coaches Prep Course wherein they suggested that the idea is to do 7 maximal or as near as you can get to maximal, efforts.  Think about that for a minute.  It's hard and it's scary (in the exercise sense) and well, I'm just gonna say it, emotionally draining.

So that's what we did.  I knew from a recent Clean max that 155 was makable but only barely so front squat for me.  I started there.  Partners similarly started work sets very near pr's.  I ended up sticking at 165 for five reps b/c it was an open question if I could be successful for that rep.  Approaching the 7x1 this way was eye opening and a CNS boiler.  I urge you to give it a try.   D got 150 a bunch of times, only 10lbs off her pr.  Matt stood up with 320 in the rack.  It was something to see.

One last bit of editorial content before I let you get back to your rowing:  This paragraph was gonna be about how I used to front squat TWO-65 and, wow, how humbling and gosh isn't 165 kinda shitty and golly Copeland now deadlifts more than me, and it's hard to face how much I've lost bla bla blech.  If I'm getting tired of hearing this dreck, you must be too.  Enough.  It's true, I used to be able to do more.  But I guess that's true for most of us in different ways.  No one really cares.  What have I done for you lately?  What have you done for me? For yourself?  You're a workout away from making it better.  Go make it better.  Used to be stronger, but I was a much different person then.  Hell, I was O-positive, and pissed 40% of the time and only strong in very conventional ways.  Now I have wave in my hair and my wife cant keep her fingers out of it.  Well thats always been true.  But Im funnier and more patient, kind and generous of spirit, and really such a deep pleasure to be around on the computer.  And think of all the books Ive read now that I hadn't back then.  So now this paragraph is about being as strong and fast as we can be.  Today.  Not back whenever.  Time to burry the old exerciser, he's starting to stink up the place.  Keep it light and fresh.  Keep it playa' y'all.  Excelsior: Latin for onward, upward, ever more, ever greater.  Higher.  I only have one set of PR's from now on.  These ones here.  Some of them aren't, uh, none of them are impressive, but they are mine and honest and hard won.  Just like yours.

Carry on.


Honky tonk women give me (give me give me) the honky tonk blues.