This is why we do it

Mondays are dedicated to females and training. We have a lot to cover this week, including the GoRuck Challenge and IPF Raw Worlds, but the ladies look forward to this day’s dedication.

I first met Ben at the 105kg weigh-in at 2010 USAW Senior Nationals. We got along immediately, joked around, and his coach at the time, Paul Doherty, helped handle me at the meet. Ben and I stayed in touch, he let AC and I stay at his house when I did a local seminar, I encouraged him to start his awesome training log, and I still intend on helping him finish a really cool children’s story he wrote. Throughout all this, Ben has continued weightlifting and got into coaching. His stable of lifters has grown, and it’s been really cool to see the coach and lifters excel.

He recently handled 5 lifters at the Midtown Classic weightlifting meet at Midtown Strength and Conditioning and wrote a really good post on it. I know how it is to handle five people in a meet, and I know how it is to see them have success and failures. I also know how it is to be physically and emotionally drained at the end of the meet because of funneling all of my energy into those lifters. To have that moment when someone you train with, someone you care about, someone whose success means more than your own…to have them finally hit that lift, that mark, that goal that they’ve been working towards…it’s an indescribable feeling. I watched this video of CC, Ben’s friend, training partner, and lifter, hit this ballsy 98kg clean and jerk (below); it’s an amazing effort. But the part when she makes her way to Ben and gives him a hug…it honestly made me well with tears.



I know that feel, bro. Good work CC and Ben. Here’s to more of the same.

25 thoughts on “This is why we do it

  1. That was more awesome than a vicious MMA knockout. More awesome than a leaping one-handed TD reception. More awesome than a half-court buzzer beater.

    Awesome.

  2. WOW. Incredible mentality to not quit.

    Just a quick question. I’m in the car traveling this weekend, so I’ve done zero searching on this topic. I’ve been talking to my brother in law about how to best prep my nephew for his first year of junior high football. He’s 13 and pretty big for his age, but not terribly strong. Since he’s so big hes not very quick, but he can build some speed if given time. 

    Honestly Ive never played, so I know zilch about the skill related prep. But I really feel like I need to give him a decent strength and knowledge base as a buffer to injury and bad habits. I really feel like I’m capable of getting him to a good place and providing enough good guidance to keep him progressing. 

    I’d like to start him out for a while with just body weight movements, help him get some spatial awareness, an understanding of mechanics, and his ability. Then move into a slow LP. Then probably into something like CFFB over the longer term. Just have to get into it and find out what he’ll stick to.

    What advice do you guys have? 

    What resources should I look to for programming at his age / ability level?

    When / where should I look at starting the oly lifts with him? 

    Too long. Sorry. 

    I’ll address this in the Q&A. Short answer is that strength training will have the greatest effect for him, but how much of an effect will be dependent on his puberty advancement.

    –Justin

  3. Justin,

    A question:

    Why would a strength and conditioning coach not program deadlifts?

    The reason I ask:

    So I was working today and happened to walk into the strength facility for a Colorado high school( a big one) with an epic almost Olympic like feel. Turns out it was designed with the help of the good folks down at the Olympic training facility. So I struck up a conversation with the strength and conditioning coach who had built the facility to his specifications(fucking amazing place to his credit) and we were talking lifting and he just kinda casually dismissed deadlifts because in his opinion the slow motion of a deadlift didn’t compute to strong, quick, powerful athletes. I told him I disagreed but I didn’t delve to deep. I’m just confused how a guy with the obvious mindset of having strong athletes can dismiss the deadlift? Does that kind of mindset happen often? Extra questions I know but they go with the overall question.

    Thanks
    Gilbert

  4. @jcfendley – dont overthink it. Worse thing you can do at that young of an age if he hasnt been PLAYING on a team before junior high is try and specialize his “trianing”. Get him on the team in pads and practicing. And outside of that have him throwing, punting, snapping, catching, etc a football as much as possible.

    Strength work obviously has benefits. but to many people have their kids doing weird training shit and not enough time outside in the grass with a fucking football.

  5. Oh and worst case scenario is he blows. Teach him to be the best damn long snapper humanly possible. No one is practicing that at the high school level and he will MAKE varsity if he can long snap. Hell might even make most d2 college teams as well. hahaha.

  6. mfgilbert- which high school were you at? i went to cherry creek. my guess about the deadlifts would be that they are so taxing on the cns and recovery

  7. I hate to say in a public forum but you can email me at xxxxx and we can chat.

    He talked speed and explosiveness not recovery.

    I’ll forward the e-mail to you guys so the address isn’t public.

    –Justin

  8. @jc First things first, he’s gotta learn to hit a lot and like it. Shockingly enough, it takes some time to learn to enjoy running head first into people.

    After that, middle school is all about learning to have fun playing. My middle school had us lift for football at that age, but then again, they were a little psycho.

    @PatStroup – you don’t happen to teach with my brother khkhkh do you?

  9. Back to CC and her amazo lifting skills — let’s not forget she’s only been doing this a little over a year! Yeah, add that to the impressiveness list. Girl’s got it going ON.

  10. Love seeing this kind of stuff. Chockers full of awesome. Stronger, Faster, Harder. A woman i know competed in that comp, she hit a 58kg PR Snatch and a 70kg equal PR C&J.

    It is gold seeing men and womenfolk having a go in meets like this.

  11. CC rules. When my lady friend and I met her and Brown Thunder at CalStrength, we were more than a little impressed at her “hellnoidontquit”ness when she had a pretty epic C&J there, too. Now, a few months later, she’s doing it again with even heavier weight. I see big things in her future. And I’m not only talking about celebrating by jumping into Ben’s big brown grizzly arms.

  12. Pingback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ27XzR3HJc « Crossfit South Bend blog

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