My day with Rick Scarpulla of Ultimate Advantage (Westside 4 Athletes)

[Chris Mason]

Originally Posted by Paulo Santos

LOL. No. We were up there for 4.5 hours. Probably trained for 1-1.5 hours. Bull****ted for about 2, and played speedball and horsed around for the last hour.

Lol, ok. I was getting worried there .

[Tim Nakashima]

I had an awesome time! I got to train there for 3 days last week. I'll give a better write up of my experience when I get some more time. Rick is legit!

[Thomas Baker]

Originally Posted by Tim Nakashima

I had an awesome time! I got to train there for 3 days last week. I'll give a better write up of my experience when I get some more time. Rick is legit!

I have to second the above, I was there lifting with the Friday night squat crew and the energy was INSANE! Great atmosphere and everybody supporting eachother to the max. It really reinforced how important the mental part of the lift is, getting in the zone and finding your mental place.

Rick's program has been amazing for me, I've been able to gain strength, size and all my CrossFit numbers have been doing down even on bodyweight stuff, running, you name it.

The training makes sense, and it is all about the individual and their specific weaknesses. You work your strength, you hone that, but then you really get after your weaknesses as we are all different. After our squat session everyone went to go work on what they needed.

It translates great into CrossFit and is a great way to keep up with CF workouts where weight goes up every year while staying conditioned and working on skills.

Great night with everyone and look forward to a repeat!

[Evan Peikon]

any word on when rick will be realizing his West side for athlete program (or whatever name he will release it under). i remember a few months ago he had said it would be ready around the new years and its already almost 5 months since then...

[Paulo Santos]

Originally Posted by Evan Peikon

any word on when rick will be realizing his West side for athlete program (or whatever name he will release it under). i remember a few months ago he had said it would be ready around the new years and its already almost 5 months since then...

He's putting the final touches on the program. Should be soon.

[Tim Nakashima]

Last week my girlfriend planned a surprise visit to train with Rick at UA for my birthday. Talk about the best present ever!

First of all, the caliber of athletes Rick trains and has trained is incredible. They are all at the TOP of their sport at the Professional, Olympic, Collegiate and high school level.

I got to lift with him and his crew 3 days during the week. Monday, we did max upper, which ended up being bench press, bands up with a football bar. I worked up to 345 for a single. Then he had me put on a bench shirt and we added some weight, did some board pressing and went for a full bench at 375, then 405. The atmosphere was incredible. Constant coaching, form critiquing and motivation. After that we did RS Presses and I worked up to 275 for a few triples. That was followed with more accessory targeting my weaknesses. Afterwards, I did his warrior training with some of his athletes. It was very painful but incredibly efficient. This was followed with speed ball- a game of reaction, coordination, agility, balance, and fun. It was crazy how much I lacked in those areas, but improved throughout the week.

Thursday, I came back to train with them again and we worked speed bench. We focused on using my LATS to control the weight down and explode it up off my chest, along with some more form critiquing. That was followed with some more higher volume RS Presses, and more weakness work. Afterward, I was fortunate enough to have Rick allow me to work in with a couple athletes he was training. One was a female high schooler he trained and had just received a full ride soccer scholarship to a D1 school (I'm sure she's top in the nation), the other was a female softball player (sophomore now, but I'm sure she WILL be the best). We did some athlete development work and those ladies made me look stupid. I could really see it helping CFers by building the athlete, then working SSP. After everything we played speed ball.

Friday was the big day. Max Lower. Paulo and Tommy came over and we all trained with Rick and his crew. We all put on suit bottoms and worked up to a max box squat with bands up. The atmosphere was insane! Just being there, you PR'd. I worked up to 565 on the box squats. Just 3 months ago, I would get wobbly all over picking up 405 just to feel the weight, let alone squat it. Now I'm squatting 500+ It's insane! Then we did some heavy rack pulls and I worked up to 405 for a double pulling sumo (second time ever). That was followed with more weakness building. Later we all played speed ball. and finished with a short metcon style workout.

Throughout all 3 days, and after the workouts, Rick pulled me aside and spoke with me from minutes to hours about training; His past training experience, learning from and working with Louie Simmons, working with all his athletes, his philosophy, some things I should be focusing on, and a wealth of other useful information. He really wanted to make sure I understood how everything worked and why.

I've tried to give a quick summary of what went on, but honestly, words can't describe the level Rick is at regarding his knowledge and experience with training athletes.

I can't wait for the seminar he's doing at my gym in less than 2 weeks! If anybody's interested, let me know.

[Thomas Baker]

Excellent post, Tim -- and I second all the words on the vast amount of knowledge and application learned.

Also, Rick will be heading down to Aspire Fitness (my gym) located in Fairfield County, CT. Space is limited so if you'd like to sign up please PM me. We are looking at late May most likely. Get ready to train and learn how to step up your CF game using his methods!

[David Meverden]

Glad to hear things are going so well, Tim! I've been impressed as hell about Coach Scarpulla's willingness to take time and help people.

Curious though about your squat results: Have you seen improvements in box squat translating over to free squat and front squat? Have you tested them recently?

[Tim Nakashima]

Originally Posted by David Meverden

Glad to hear things are going so well, Tim! I've been impressed as hell about Coach Scarpulla's willingness to take time and help people.

Curious though about your squat results: Have you seen improvements in box squat translating over to free squat and front squat? Have you tested them recently?

David, the box squat translates over just fine to free squats and front squats. The main thing is to work in a heavy double free squat every once in a while, or the week before you go for a free squat max to get back in the groove. The real magic is in the accessory work anyway. Really building up the hammies for example (or whatever your weakness is).

My free squat and front squats are climbing just as fast as my box squats and all other lifts. There is significant carryover. Another thing most people don't understand, is that the o-lifts will go up. There are plenty of opportunities to work it into the program, but for me, strength and not so much technique are holding me back. So I make sure my technique stays decent and allow the program to build my strength.

Hope that answers your question. If you have any others, let me know!

[Thomas Baker]

Originally Posted by David Meverden

Glad to hear things are going so well, Tim! I've been impressed as hell about Coach Scarpulla's willingness to take time and help people.

Curious though about your squat results: Have you seen improvements in box squat translating over to free squat and front squat? Have you tested them recently?

No doubt. The great thing about Coach Scarpulla is that he'll go out of his way to make sure you understand how things work, all the way down to the biomechanics of the human body.

In terms of box squat carryover to your basic free or front squat, there is a huge carryover. Your strength gained from the box squats is absolute strength that has significant carryover to a free or front squat.

Also, the assistance work is the meat and bones of the program as Tim stated. This is where you hone your strengths but also hammer down your personal weaknesses. Hamstrings, hips, glutes, you name it. This assistance work will carry over to everything from bodyweight movements to olympic lifting to free squats and crossfit-specific movements and will make you stronger and more dynamic across the board.