Training at Catalyst Athletics

[Neill Smith]

I live in Boston and got sent to California to work for three weeks. At the end of week one I found out that I'm working less than a mile from Catalyst Athletics. I don't normally keep a public log, but thought this would be interesting for people who haven't had a chance to train with Greg and Company.

[Steven Low]

Sounds good

[Neill Smith]

Day one was Saturday, July 20. I went to the 10:00 AM CrossFit class and lucked out by being the only one. One of Greg's trainers (whose name I keep forgetting) ran the class.

Warm up:

• Light 500m row.
• Dynamic range of motion (DROM): butt kicks, walking Samson stretch, walking knee hugs, wrist, elbow and shoulder circles, trunk twists, etc.
• Agility ladder.

The agility ladder was awesome. I had never done it before, but it feels like a perfect component to a warm up. It gets the feet moving quickly, continues opening the hips, and has a nice kinesthetic awareness component as the patterns get more complex. I'm always looking for more KA in my training.

Skill:

• PVC snatch progression

Greg teaches a different progression than Coach Burgener. His progression, combined with the fact that I haven't done anything but power cleans for about two years, quickly exposed some glaring issues. Most notably, my landing position is totally broken. I'm looking forward to more technique work over the next couple of weeks.


Conditioning:

• Four rounds for time:
  • 15 double-unders
  • 10 95# thrusters (prescription was 50% of max push press)
  • 5 40# sandbag half-moons (over and back is one rep)

Completed and kicked my ass in 12:17. Sandbag half-moons are new to me. I'm not sure if they were the culprit, but I had a vicious quad soreness the next day, especially on the outside where it's usually not as bad.

Recovery:

• Foam rolling.
• Scapular wall slides.

Scapular wall slides are also new to me. I have terrible shoulder flexibility, and also have recurring neck spasms. This exercise is exactly what I and every other desk jockey need.

All in all, a great first workout.

[Mike ODonnell]

Originally Posted by Neill Occhiogrosso

Scapular wall slides are also new to me. I have terrible shoulder flexibility, and also have recurring neck spasms. This exercise is exactly what I and every other desk jockey need.

can you describe that a bit more.....sounds interesting.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Mike ODonnell

can you describe that a bit more.....sounds interesting.

Would it be these in drill number 7?

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a...obility_drills

[Neill Smith]

Originally Posted by Allen Yeh

Would it be these in drill number 7?

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a...obility_drills

It's more or less the same, but Caleb emphasized keeping the forearms vertical throughout. With sufficient flexibility (not mine) the arms get to overhead position. Most of the videos online never get there, but this one looks good.

[Blair Lowe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6V2E...e=channel_page

I focus on keeping the hand and elbow 90 degrees because sometimes the kids create an acute angle.

I still think I like cuban presses more.

[Steven Low]

Yeah, Coach Sommer has them too as Blair posted above.

Basically, if your shoulder mobility sucks.. do them.

[Neill Smith]

Originally Posted by Blair Lowe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6V2E...e=channel_page

Yeah, the form in this video is perfect.

[Neill Smith]

Sunday was off, no classes at Catalyst Athletics. So day two was Monday, July 21. I went to the 6:00 PM class, which had about twelve people. Aimee was ran it with Greg also coaching after the warm up.

Warm Up:

• Abbreviated snatch progression with PVC: five reps each of mid-hang muscle snatch, scarecrow snatch, mid-hang tall snatch, snatch. Finished with twenty overhead squats.

Power/Strength:

• Work up to a max effort clean.

I went to the first Catalyst Athletics Olympic weightlifting seminar. At the end Greg told me that because of my levers I would always have a stronger power clean. So, for the past two years I've only been doing power cleans. Today we had this exchange:

NEILL: At the seminar you told me that my power clean would always be stronger than my (squat) clean. Do you still want me to get under the bar?
GREG: Oh yeah, that wasn't a pass to get out of cleans.
NEILL: D'oh!

Anyway, I worked up to 175#, which I think is the most I've ever gotten under. My best power clean is 195#.

Conditioning:

• 20, 15, 10 reps of
  • 175# deadlift (40 - 50% of 1RM)
  • 35# DB thruster (total weight equal to 35 - 40% of 1RM push press)
  • Knees to elbows

Finished and seeing stars in 12:14. After attending the Games, I adopted a little kip on the K2E. They still suck, but with some practice this will help. Midway through the first round Greg looks and says "Neill, you're really getting screwed with the thrusters this week." FML

Recovery:

• Foam rolling and stretching

Two days in I'm feeling really out of shape. I can think of a few possible reasons:

1. I recently reintroduced caffeine, but I have it all before 10:00 AM. Am I crashing by 6:00 PM?
2. I recently reintroduced booze, but only the night before a day off, and not to excess. Still, maybe it could be affecting recovery?
3. I've been training alone for the last several years. Maybe I'm not going as hard as I thought? Maybe I slipped into programming conditioning workouts that play to my strengths?