PR Friday

As always, post your training updates and PR’s to the comments. I like reading about your accomplishments and the things that have helped you get better.

70′s Big-wide goal for next week:
DON’T SKIMP ON YOUR MOBILITY. Do something every day. If you are successful, then let us know in next week’s PR Friday.

Weekly Recap

Monday I gave you a tasty recipe, and readers dropped some of their favorite slow cooker recipes in the comments. Tuesday discussed how CrossFit favors the anterior chain and it’d behoove a CFer to do some extra posterior chain work. Wednesday we talked about the Slingshot again; I think it can be a nice tool even for a raw lifter. Thursday was a post on the possible short film “The Artist & The Olympian“.

Here are two stories that actually recap the week. Wednesday night I was training with my friend Mike (not big AF Mike, Asian Mike). He ended up leaving the gym around 8:00 PM, so I was hitting some dumbbell hammer curls by myself. There was no one else in the free weight section, yet there were some girls using a Roman chair about 30 feet away. I was doing the last set, really cranking them out, when I suddenly and audibly farted. When I was younger, I might have been more concerned. In fact, I remember accidentally letting out farts in class and being absolutely horrified. It was an immediate shot of adrenaline; all my senses would sharpen and I’d just wait for someone (i.e. girls) to acknowledge it. THEY NEVER DID. I’d play it cool. Hey, it wasn’t me that farted, must have been that skinny kid with the lisp. I had a reputation to maintain. The kind that don’t fart in class, son.

Anyway, I look up to see if anyone heard me fart. Either they didn’t, or they did and pretended not to hear. So I continue hammer curling the 50s. Then ANOTHER fart escapes, yet this one was louder. I only have a few more reps, so I try to continue, but I can’t because I’m LAUGHING TOO HARD. I’m by myself laughing at my own farts, and I couldn’t finish the set. I racked the dumbbells, called it a night.

Fast forward to Thursday evening. I’m walking out of a shopping center where I got my hair cut. I’m wearing gym shorts, a tight T, and flip flops. I’m walking by two black ladies in the middle of the street. One of them is around 40. She stops in the middle of the road with her hands on her hips, looks me up and down.

“DAMN. You is SO sex-AY!”

After thanking her and laughing, I realized that some guys might think that this encounter was a result of the hammer curls they did the night before. NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND. It’s because I’ve squatted twice a week for as long as I can remember. It’s the pressing, the cleans, the snatches; the lifting. It’s also the mobility work, the attention to nutrition, the sleeping, and the hydration. It’s the icing and rest days. It’s everything.

Moral of the story? Black women know what’s up. Or maybe this is the pinnacle of all of the work I’ve put into training. Regardless, if you want to be approached on the street, then get your shit together. It’ll help if you move to the south. And a low income town.

What else do you guys wanna talk about?

Adam Scheiner has a vision that will portray art in its most natural form. “The Artist & The Olympian” is a preliminary short for a full feature script. It will show the emotional and artistic connection between a painter and a weightlifter as they try and achieve the pinnacle of their potential. Weightlifting itself may seem bland to the untrained eye, but a weightlifter is always on the quest to the perfect form, the perfect lift. A weightlifter aims to brush off their blemishes, their failures in the pursuit of the perfect lift, that one moment in time that will represent their years of bleeding ache.

A painter’s life is spent releasing their emotions onto canvas. They only hope that the viewer can understand the image that resulted from opening their soul. This artist has a feeling in mind, a concept that they are struggling to emit into the visual realm. The artist paints and strokes. The lifter strains and toils. They are one in unison; they search for the truest form of art, one that brings peace to their heart.

This is the story that Adam wants to tell. And did I mention that Donny Shankle will be the weightlifter? Yeah…

However, a well done short film is not easy, and it isn’t cheap. In order for this project to be possible, his production team needs to raise $15,000 dollars (at this time, they have raised $2,210). The full line by line cost of the project is included on that information and donation page. I encourage anyone who is interested to donate a small amount to this fund. If 25% of 70’s Big readership donates $1 — a single doll hair — then Adam’s team will have more than enough to make the project a reality.

On a similar note, if you’ve ever heard anyone bitch about how nobody does anything to improve weightlifting in the U.S., then show them this page. This video can open the door to a full feature film that shows the purity in weightlifting — one that will resonate and garner the interest of non-weightlifters. Forward this link to all the USAW haters, all the people who think American weightlifting is failing, because donating to this video actually accomplishes something instead of just bitching on the internet. Remember, every doll hair counts, so don’t feel pressured to drop more than one.

There are only a few products that I wholeheartedly endorse, and Mark Bell’s Slingshot is definitely one of them. I’ve written about it before, but it was before I met Mark Bell and Jesse Burdick at the 2012 Arnold Sport Festival. Mark and Jesse were both really nice guys and they took the time to let me demo the Slingshot as well as chat about it afterwards. Observe the demo:



The weight on the first set was 185 while the second set was 275. Note that they told me it was 225 on the bar for the second set, so I felt like a fucking loser when it felt hard (your demo secret is out, Mark, you bastard). I’m not an exceptionally strong bencher (I’ve done 350), yet I usually do sets of 135, 185, 225, and 255 before I move to 275 for my final warm-up on bench (I found that more sets on pressing movements helps warm me up better). As you can see, I do 185×10 and then 275×9 with about 20 seconds of rest in between. As you can see, the slingshot allows the lifter to impart an exceptional work load on their benching musculature.

With a Slingshot you can either perform more reps at a given weight, more weight in a give set/rep scheme, more total sets, improve your mechanics, or improve your raw bench lockout. That’s some impressive utility, and that’s just for a raw powerlifter. Learn more in the following video:



The mechanics are improved because the Slingshot helps keep the elbows in a good position that results in an externally rotated shoulder. If you’ve read this post, then you understand that the lats are stretched and isometrically acting during a bench press (they are internal rotators, so when the shoulder is in external rotation, they are stretched). This provides greater shoulder stability in the bench and is necessary for a strong bench. The Slingshot can reinforce shoulder external rotation, especially in lifters (male or female) who have issues with habitual internal rotation. Chronically stroking the bench with good mechanics via a Slingshot will develop the musculature to do it raw.

Since the Slingshot provides the most assistance out of the bottom and maintains good mechanics, the triceps are properly recruited to do their job in locking out the bench. This is amplified when the lifter is using greater loads or volume with the Slingshot.

All in all, I think it’s a great tool. Pick one up if you’ve run into shoulder or elbow problems when you bench. It’s not a substitute fix-all for shoulder health (e.g. you still need to do the overhead press properly), but it can allow quality bench training despite the normal bench-related injuries.

It’s funny how CrossFit has such a staunch anti-bodybuilding sentiment, yet it’s participants clearly share a narcissistic vibe. Early on the workouts were short, intense, and effective and the high enthusiasm laid the foundation for how well CF has expanded. True athletes like my friend Eva Twardokens and Greg Amundson excelled and were highlighted, and everyone wanted to be like them. There was that element of “showing some skin”, but an argument could be made that it was for the sake of utility. For example, in this video, Amundson starts fully clothed and sheds the shirt mid-workout.

I’ve done a lot of CrossFit and high-intensity training in climates that are much harsher than California, and I can assure you that life is easier without a shirt on. But nowadays, fashion—whether it concerns clothing or the body—is the norm in CrossFit. And even wear accessories like luxury brand watches. However, for those needing a watch repairs service, contact an expert to assist you.

Let’s be clear: there’s nothing wrong with this.

I’d rather it be that way. Let’s be honest, we like seeing attractive people. Lots of people also like clothing fashion as it relates to CF. I know nothing of fashion, but I know this because I see, “Can’t wait to see what everyone is wearing in the CF Regionals comp this weekend!” on Facebook.

I, of course, have a bias in that I appreciate well built folk who are exceptionally strong, powerful, and athletic. It’s why this website exists. So when I see people fawning over a 170 pound guy’s quads, I’m not really impressed. And it’s not just because he’s 170 pounds (though it doesn’t help). It’s because he severely lacks a posterior chain — hamstrings, adductors (groin), and gluteals. This isn’t relegated to males, because I see it equally in females.

Most of the CF training progressions are anterior chain dominant. There’s the air squat, front squat, and overhead squat. Press, push-press, and push-jerk. Deadlift, sumo deadlift high-pull, and med-ball clean. All of the squats are anterior chain dominant. The way that the push-press/jerk is taught is anterior dominant (bend knees). Other than the deadlift, the SDHP and med-ball clean typically turn into anterior chain movements. In reality, the deadlift is supposed to be a posterior chain movement, yet it hardly ever is (especially in almost all CF environments). Whether it’s fatigue, going to heavy too soon, or bad coaching, lumbar flexion is overly common in all of lifting, but especially CF, and this results in slack, non-working hamstrings. You can read more of my thoughts on this topic in this Q&A post.

These teaching progressions aren’t necessarily bad, especially when compared to the lack of compound movements in the conventional fitness world, yet they don’t inherently build a posterior chain. Being an athlete requires a balance of musculature around the hips to achieve optimal performance and prevent injury. CrossFit is an activity that, for better or worse, allows trainees to ignore their muscular weaknesses and still “get by” or excel; you can have good CF performance and still have weak hamstrings.

It’s easy to see when someone has a weak posterior chain because their quads will be quite noticeable while the backs of their legs are not (you can see this in some weightlifters too). When they are in action, you’ll see them shift their mechanics to put an emphasis on using the quads and alleviating the tension on their hamstrings; it’s because their hamstrings are unable to withstand the load and tension due to lack of development.

When I work with CrossFitters I like them to peform two posterior chain movements each week, not counting deadlifts. My favorites to program are RDLs, banded good mornings, and glute-ham raises. Of course, regular good mornings could be used, and reverse hypers are very effective (though they are more focused on the lumbar/gluteal area than the hamstrings). Each movement can be done for 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 15 reps (depending on which exercise and the goal). Strengthening and building the posterior chain is the single most important thing athletes can do to improve their performance, and that’s infinitely more so for a CrossFitter.

As an example, my friend Shana Alverson is someone who has performed at a high level in CrossFit, is someone that has a pretty good posterior chain. At this point, she doesn’t do any direct accessory work, but she has a good balance of musculature (read: balance across anterior/posterior chains) that has yielded a 66kg snatch, 77 clean and jerk, 102kg squat, and 148kg deadlift at a 60kg body weight. It’s all paid off because she’s qualified for the CF Games for the 4th year in a row.

Any shortage of posterior chain on Shana?

Train CrossFitters? Are one? Make sure the posterior chain gets proper attention.

Unless you’re a skinny teenager or a bulking Dave Tate, you don’t need to (and shouldn’t) eat like shit all of the time. Sure, it’s pretty cool to slam “dirty” food like a binging bulemic, but chronically doing so will have negative effects on your body composition, your health, and (ironically) more important, your training.

You’d think health would be most important, but clearly the majority of western society isn’t concerned with health when they put things into their mouth. Food quality is more important than the “lifting culture” admits. Choosing low-inflammatory foods that are dense with nutrients will curb systemic inflammation and therefore allow the body to devote all of its resources into training recovery and healing. Shitty food creates more work than the recovery work force can handle. Anyone who pretends to take their training seriously and doesn’t focus on food quality isn’t taking their life seriously.

Yes, there’s a place for lower quality meals for the sake of consuming calories (or enjoyment). No, it should not be the norm. It’s possible to hit appropriate caloric and macro-nutrient demands with higher quality food, and anyone who claims otherwise is a poon and probably cries about how uncreative they are. Don’t be a dumbass; start eating better food.



I made this recipe up after finding a “Spicy Bourbon Pork” seasoning packet at the store. The package called for ribs in the oven. Instead, I used a slow cooker. You’ll need:

– boneless rib meat (at least 2 pounds)
– several sweet potatoes (at least 2)
– 2 gala apples
– seasoning (I used “spicy bourbon pork” seasoning)
– .5 to 1 cup of orange juice
– water

Slice the rib meat up if you want, but it will end up being so tender it’ll fall apart. Cut up the apples and sweet potatoes; they can be large pieces because they too will fall apart. Throw all that stuff in the cooker. Mix the seasoning with a bit of orange juice and water and then pour it over the meat/potato/apple combo. Cover and cook. Typically a slow cooker on ‘HIGH’ will be done in 4 to 6 hours while ‘LOW’ is kinda like 6 to 8. If you’re going to work and training all day, you probably want it on low.

Voilà. A non shitty meal that is “paleo”, has plenty of protein with quality carbohydrate sources. If you’re worried about insulin sensitivity or fructose density in your diet, just use less orange juice (or none at all). If you need more fat (extra calories for recovery), then just consume it with or after the meal. It’s not hard to eat good quality food, and you need to pay attention to what goes in your mouth if you want to look “jacked” instead of just “like some fat guy who puffs his chest out when he walks”. It’ll also make you tan.