Cressey Blog Post

[Derek Simonds]

This is probably the best post I have read on a blog in a long time! Here is the link to Eric's blog http://ericcressey.blogspot.com/2007...-me-river.html

This morning on my Jerks I hit 165 LB's and it felt great so I put 175 LB's on and talked myself out of it about half way through the drive portion of the lift. Needless to say it fell to the ground. Now this is about 5:50 AM and I am in my garage. I unload the bar put it back on the racks and reload it with 170 LB's. As I am approaching the bar the next song on the ipod is JT. Oooof. What is this crap, I can't lift heavy stuff to JT.

I grab the ipod flip it over to Linkin Park and crank the volume. Now my garage door is open and my wife is done with her workout and walking the dog. I rack the 170 LB's and Jerk it. I add 5 more LB's and now I am walking around the garage slapping myself and generally trying to get pysched up to move the metal.

I hit the lift lock it out and slam it to the floor while yelling F' Yeah. My wife coming back from her walk comes running up to the garage yelling are you ok? Yes dear just perfect, 3 new PR's this morning.

So you can see why this post tickled me so much.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Cry Me a River

Each week, a small army of high school athletes come to train at Cressey Performance. When you see athletes from several different towns on a daily basis, you start to notice many patterns. Some kids put their bags in one place every time. Others foam roll on a certain part of the turf. Some get covered in chalk, and others just sprinkle it on. A few wear their hats sideways.

These are just personal habits, though. They don't necessarily comment on significant trends - something I've seen a lot of lately. And, they're getting pretty disturbing. I'm not just talking about childhood obesity, teenage pregnancy, spending too much time in front of the TV, or anything like that. This trend is much worse.

You see, at some point, mankind de-evolved - or just "wussified" - and started perceiving Justin Timberlake as acceptable training music. I'm not kidding, folks. I get all excited when I hear Godsmack, Disturbed, Jay-Z, and Linkin Park on a new CD one of our guys burned. Then, just as one of our young studs gets himself under the giant cambered bar to dominate a heavy triple on box squats, his testosterone level magically drops to "Cry me a rivvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeerrrrrr....."

Me: "Get the staple remover out of the office, Tony. He's stuck on the box and not coming up."

Tony: "I think we're going to need a spatula for this one..."

Honestly, people. Is it the soy in school lunches? The banning of dodgeball in gym classes? How did our young athletes come to think that the music you would play to seduce someone of the opposite sex (or, in my case, the music that would drive me to write a suicide note) could possibly be the same music that facilitates lifting heavy stuff?

Justin Timberlake is weak. Too weak to bench 135. Too weak to pick up his shoes to put them on in the morning. And, definitely too weak to motivate someone who is already actually relatively strong.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for bringing sexy back. If you want to listen to JT, be my guest. Please just do so in a soundproof room in your secluded home when nobody is around. And please, turn the volume down and don't attempt to lift anything heavy for the duration of the CD.

Eric Cressey

[Yael Grauer]

Here, here!!

That post was hysterical.

[Kevin Perry]

Ramstein is the answer to his problems. yay Ramstein, cure-all for lifting music. Boo JT and his ayo-technology crap featuring 50 cent.

[Scott Kustes]

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich
Du hast mich gefragt

[Joe Hart]

You would not believe all the sweet Rammstein songs out there. Rammstein and Motorhead are what I listen to for working out now days.

[Jesse Woody]

I second Rammstein and raise you a System of a Down. Perhaps we can put out a plea to all of these bands to take care of JT for good...the conspiracy begins

[Mike ODonnell]

Old old metallica....nothing like lifting to Master of Puppets.....No songs that came after the "And Justice for All" album count.....

[Joe Hart]

Jesse- What do you parkour (sp?) to or can music screw you up?

[Robert McBee]

Rage Against the Machine and Sex Pistols. Numbs the pain/focuses the brain(and vice versa)

[Scott Kustes]

Old Metallica = good
A few Rage songs = good
I've actually found lately that several of my favorite Method Man songs work well with the hard driving beat and upbeat tempo.