Nate took me to the air bus shuttle from Monterey to SFO around 5 yesterday. Flight was at 10:30 PM. Got delayed a little. Got in to Atlanta at 6:30. Got home at 8:30 AM. Slept till 4:30 PM. I’d rather leave that. Also, the weather is 30 degrees warmer here and it’s overcast. I got sweaty using the john. I could leave this.

Here’s a quick video upload.


Here’s a pic of me trying to throw Brent off of a pier at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.


More tomorrow.

I’ve had a pretty solid week with Brent Fucking Kim, Jacob, Nate, and co. in Monterey, California. Thanks to Jacob Tsypkin for letting us infest his gym, CrossFit Monterey, over the last few days. Also, thanks to Jacob and Mariah for shuttling us around. I could take it rather than leave it.

I’m actually still in Monterey (taking the red-eye flight tonight), so it will take a day or so to filter through all of our video footage. I assure you, there is plenty of good stuff. They will pop out over the course of the next few days. Here is the first video that portrays a normal one minute and fifteen seconds.



As far as the lifting workshop itself, I had a great time with the attendees. Remember, if you were at the workshop feel free to e-mail me with questions or videos for form checks — just put “MONTEREY” in the subject line. There was a funny story from the weekend. One of the attendees, Joan, competes in Olympic weightlifting. She said that she had attended one of Mark Rippetoe’s seminars (when he was doing them with CrossFit) in Seattle. I said, “Wait, when was that?” Turns out, she attended the barbell seminar that I was coaching at. Joan was on my power clean platform back in the fall of 2009, and she was real springy. I kept telling her over and over how she would be good at Oly lifting (I think she was power cleaning 115 with ease?) and it turns out that she started Oly lifting more after that seminar. Now she’s a strong lifter and I aims to get to Master’s Nationals (I believe — correct me if I’m wrong, Joan). Anyway, it was a cool story because she and I had met a couple years ago and she says I’m the reason she got into weightlifting. Sweet.

At the end of the day, we all went to Central Texan Barbecue. Joan actually bought a bunch of beer for the group, and it was a jolly good time. Briskin and I broke bread together and everyone drank ale and consumed animal flesh. It was glorious.

As for training, Brent trained every single day we were here (in typical intuitive training fashion). Brent snatched and clean and jerked on three of those days. If you’re keeping score at home, here’s what we did.
Wednesday — Sn, CJ (I only snatched), weighted pull-ups
Thursday — Bench, High bar squat
Friday — Sn, CJ (I only CJ), bent rows, barbell curls (Briskin was here for this)
Saturday — Sn, CJ (I didn’t train, coached workshop)
Sunday — Press, Deadlift

Not a bad week of training. Lettuce be real tea: I could be more sore. I could be more tired. I could have mobbed more. I could have played more StarCraft with Brent. I could have eaten more Papa Chevos. I could have seen more sun fish. Antigen could have not quit in the middle of our 2v2 game last night to go to bed (does he really think 15 minutes of sleep made a huge difference?). I could have frolicked more in Big Sur. By the way, Brent hates nature (among other things).

This is a video I shot on a day when I shot videos wearing the same tank top (just for SMC). In this video, I explain what’s going on anatomically during pressing movements and elaborating on why it’s important to ensure a proper external rotation. I finish off (ear muffs) with an easy cue to use for women doing push-ups. Women may initially have a difficult time with push-up form because when they do them, they flare their elbows out (internal rotation) and don’t really utilize or work the pectoral musculature.



Brent and I trained yesterday. We benched, high bar squatted, and then did weighted pull-ups. Then we were uncomfortably catabolic. Then we did poorly in StarCraft. Benching was okay, the bar had a lot of motion and whip, so it left something to be desired for. I squatted the most I have since my hip injury, and it was high bar; it actually feels more stable. I will be regularly high and low bar squatting each week. Then I got real pissed off at this shitty dip belt that Jacob has and pretty much raged quit. Brent on the other hand seemed to be aiming to not do his planned five reps. Like, at all.

Someone on the 70’s Big Facebook Fan Page linked this vid. It’s so sweet.



Today Brent and I are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I aim to have him touch a manta ray in one of the tanks which will be doubly amusing because he’s terrified of them. I’ll get it on video.

I’m just letting you guys know that I’m with Brent in Monterey, and we’re creating some decent material for you. You’ll probably leave it rather than take it.

Brent and I mobbed the fuck out ourselves before training yesterday. Then we snatched and Brent clean and jerked after. It was my fourth time snatching this year, but I hit 265 lbs and missed a 275 on the account of being tired (and a pussy). My hip is feeling top notch. Brent was kind of a pussy about snatching and missed 225 behind. His cleans were smooth, but his jerk left something to be desired for. He said he felt fucking fantastic after our intense mob session but could have performed better with more food before hand. I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about because he had a badass burrito, then he had steak and a sweet potato prior to training (in comparison I just had the burrito). If anything, it was the travelling, but of course Brent will blame the food. Everything wrong with his training is the food instead of the “by the pants programming” or lack of fucking hydration. How can a man, specifically an Asian man, improve his mobility when he a) doesn’t eat any food up on waking up in the morning and b) is clearly not hydrating. I hate Brent Kim.

I’m not super into metal, but these are some things that you ought to see.

Austrian Death Machine
The other day I asked Antigen, “Who is from Austria and is a death machine? You have two choices.”

The singer of “As I Lay Dying” made this band and album as a tribute to you-know-who. It’s, at the very least, amusing. Songs like “Get Back To The Choppa” and “I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots and Your Motorcycle” revive some great memories, but “I Am A Cybernetic Organism, Living Tissue Over (Metal) Endoskeleton” is awesome:



However, if you watched some of those videos and noticed that the singer (vocalist, whatever) looks to much like a poon…then this next band is more your style.

Amon Amarth
My buddy Al introduced me to both of these bands, but Amon Amarth left a lasting impression. This band is full of giant Swedish vikings with crazy-long hair and out-of-control beards. They look like they just sacked a village, raped all the women, cooked half the livestock, and torched the rest. It’s called Viking Metal. Deal with it.

I think a lot of you guys will be able to use these bands in your training if you aren’t already. You’re welcome.