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Terry, sounds like you had a great trip. The only way I can eat Paleo in an airport is McDonald's----the salads with chicken.

So please share what you learned about working on stiff shoulders.

Tomorrow's WOD is front squats. I watched the video on the main site and see the the BB is held in the fingers for this. For years I have been doing the same exercise with the bar resting on my shoulders. Take a look:

[url]http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/GluteusMaximus/BBFrontSquat.html[/url]

I'd like to get some feedback on this. I have a better chance of keeping my body properly alligned with the bar on my shoulders. With the bar on my fingers, I get pulled forward.

Today's WOD was 400 meters running, 21 KB swing or 55lb. db swing, and 12 HSPU. I scaled this to 500 meters rowing, db 55, and legs leaning on the wall just below full extension. This took 15:58.

BTW, that's my 3 yo. grandson in the picture. Big kid. He and I have a pretty physical relationship. Unfortunately at the time of the picture we were at a wedding and he was wound up regardless and in the midst of throwing himself at me. If nothing else, the CF bestows a lot of energy to keep up my grandsons.:):)

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Pat,
I think I was much more optimistic about improving shoulder flexibility at the cert. I asked a few of the trainers (all of them very young) if they thought poor shoulder flexibility had anything to do with age. They all said no. After referencing Rippetoe’s starting strength book tonight, he comments about shoulder flexibility and how it can sometimes be much less for us older folk due to bony changes in the joint capsule. He mentions it sometimes improves in older athletes but sometimes doesn’t improve much at all. These young trainers know a lot but they haven’t experienced what we have at our age. So in my opinion their comments to me now appear to be incorrect. I have had shoulder surgery on both sides (from football and weights) and I know that hasn’t helped. But my shoulder flexibility has improved a ton since starting CF, but it’s still bad when compared to some of these young guys, I will still work on it but I am not going to lose sleep over it. Some of the techniques they showed me for improving it are basically PNF stretching techniques and shoulder dislocates.
Doing front squats with your arms crossed is sometimes referred around here as California front squat (this is from Coach Rip’s SS book). This style of front squat does not require the same flexibility and is proportionately less secure on the shoulders. Rip goes on to say the standard position is derived from the clean, the position that proceeds the front squat in Oly lifts. There is an argument to be made for cleaning everything you can front squat. If you have the SS 2nd edition check out his comments on page 231. I usually use a wider grip due to my poor flexibility. Plus I think forcing myself to do it the right way has helped improve my flexibility.

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[I][B]0906022 MONDAY

[/B][/I]Only got about 2-3 hours sleep last night - - my back gave me fits....

[I][B]Warm-up:
[/B][/I][B]Stationary Cycling: [/B]10:00 / L3 / 100 RPM / 2.6 miles
[B]CF Redding WU: [/B]Push ups and dips on parallettes. Sit-ups with PVC across shoulders on incline bench - 25 reps.

[B][I]OHS Practice:[/I] [/B]PVC X 10 X 5. Getting better.....

[B][I]Pull-ups:[/I]
Dead Hangs: [/B]OH Grip X 5. Parallel Grip X 8
[B]Kipping:[/B] OH grip on bar: 5, 4, 9.
Parallel Grip: [B][COLOR=Red]13! [/COLOR][/B][I][COLOR=Red](PR for reps)[/COLOR][/I][COLOR=Red], [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]10.[/COLOR]

[I][B]Kb Swings:
[/B][/I]35# X 10, 55# X 10, 70# X 10.

[I][B]WOD:[/B][/I]
Intended to do the Main Page today - - ended up making my back hurt more warming up on the Kbs.......subbed the pull-up WOD from yesterday; arms were so fried, I couldn't get through more than one round - - DNF

[I][B]Alternate WOD:
[/B][/I][B]Rowing: [/B]30:00 / 6,688m / 2:14.5 average pace per 500m.
First 2K in 9:22. 5K in 22:57. Next 500m rowed at 1:55 pace. Slowed back down to finish.

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[B]Charlie,

[/B]Glad you got yours built - - had some fun with mine today......Nice work on the BS and Tabatas!

[B]John,

[/B]Great job on the Burpees, press series, pull-ups, and of course, the DLs! Props on the great PR!

[B]Scott,

[/B]Lots of strong work there - - and a great Helen time!

[B]Tom,

[/B]Busy Father's Day weekend you had - - I like the "training wheels off the squat rack" comment!

[B]Pat,

[/B]Nice photo with you and your grandson! Great job on today's WOD. I'll retry it when my back feels better (tomorrow?).

[B]Terry,

[/B]Welcome back! Congrats on the great Fran PR, getting your L-1, and can't forget the MU, of course!

I've been really working on my shoulder flexibility, and though I've never had the injuries and repair work you've undergone, I still have had difficulty. After a lot of shoulder pass-throughs, stretching, and some active shoulder strengthening exercises, it seems as though all of a sudden, the flexibility is finally coming. I guess all we old-timers can do is just keep at it.

Glad you got a chance to meet Karl and Seth at the L-1; both are great guys and are real fire-breathers. The affiliate is coming along slowly, but surely.

[B]Hello, Diane![/B]

[B]Take care all!
[/B]

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[QUOTE=John Burch;612123]Scott Allen what is a slackline?[/QUOTE]

John,

Kind of a climber's game of tight-rope walking, but the rope isn't taut and its tubular webbing. Here's a pic (wfs):

[url]http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.sicherungsprofi.de/images/Eingangsbild%2520slackline.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.sicherungsprofi.de/index.php%3FcPath%3D97&h=500&w=500&sz=82&tbnid=aCum8iVK8R4bjM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dslackline%2Bphoto&usg=__dfLb2K-KZFeV3lL5dDm3cR53Atg=&ei=dNRAStjgAoiIswPD18SMCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image[/url]

I figure an old guy can always benefit from some balance work, providing he doesn't break his neck in the process!

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[B]Pat,[/B]
The bar should be resting on your shoulders with either front squat technique. It's usually more a limitation of wrist flexibility rather than shoulders that cause it to be supported by the hands/fingers in the rack position. The fingers should be under the bar, but not supporting it. As Terry wrote, the front squat with the bar in the rack position (elbows up, fingers under bar) has more transferability to the clean.

That's a fine looking grandson you've got there. I'm sure he just hates rough-housing with grandpa ;).

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[B]2009 06 23[/B]

WU: 0.8 mile run

[B]Deadlift[/B]
WU Sets: 2x95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 225x2
[B]Working Sets:[/B] 250x5, 275x5
Had originally planned an intermediate set of 5 @265. Elected to jump straight to 275 after the first set because I wanted to reduce volume a bit and it was hot like the surface of the sun.

[B]Deadlift 205x20[/B] (OMG)

[B]5X100m Sprints.[/B] And this old guy did sprint. Surprised myself. All of those box jumps and power cleans paid off. Unable to time myself. My watch kept running backwards on every run.

Did not do my skills practice. By the end of the last sprint, I was starting to feel the onset of overheating so I stopped.

[B]Scott[/B]…Now I understand why someone would want to PR early in their sets and then stop. Yesterday’s workout wore me out to the point that I was worried that I wouldn’t recover enough to do well today. So, besides the crazy heat in the base gym, I decided to hit the high note early on and call it good. Was going to try the high reps at 225 but now I am glad I didn’t. I did 20 at 205 and that was plenty. Now I have some idea what I can do. First ten reps felt fine. The last ten, not so much.

[B]Pat[/B]…You’re probably tired of hearing about how to hold the bar for the FS, but here’s what I have learned. Your deltoids support the bar and your fingers press just enough to keep it there, similar to how your hands press just enough to keep the bar on your shoulder blade for a back squat. That is, your hands are not bearing any of the weight. They just help keep the bar on the spot of your body that does bear the weight. Almost impossible to train to that ability with a PVC pipe or broom handle, but a 45 lb bar has enough heft to work your flexibility without painfully overstretching your wrists. I had wrist flexibility issues at first, but I kept working at it with my presses and other overhead lifts, as well as with FS’s, until I can now fairly comfortably hold the bar in place. In general, CF and lifting has really improved my flexibility.

[B]Deadlift Broccoli[/B]

:broc::broc::broc::broc::broc:


Found out something new today about our wayward broccoli. Somewhere in his adventures, he ended up with a brand new tattoo. A mexican cutie. How it got there he hasn't a clue.

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[I][B]090623 TUESDAY

Warm-up:
[/B][/I][B]Walk/Run: [/B]Treadmill / 10:00 / .80 miles. Walk at 4.0 MPH. Run 400m @ 6.0 MPH, Walk at 4.0; run .10 miles at 8.0 MPH, walk at 4.0 until 10:00 mark.
[B]CFRedding Warm-up: [/B]Subbed in 50 Abmat sit-ups (unanchored) for GHDs. OHS X 15 (PVC), and 6 DHPU.

[B][I]WOD:[/I][/B]
[B]Front Squat 3, 3, 3, 3, 3. Post loads.
[I]Warm-ups:
[/I][/B]PVC X 15
45# X 10
95# X 10
[I][B]Working:
[/B][/I]115# X 3
135# X 3
145# X 3
155# X 3 [I](lost focus and form started to suffer. Corrected on 3rd rep)[/I]
[B][COLOR=Red]160# X 3[/COLOR][I] [COLOR=Red](PR[/COLOR][/I][/B][COLOR=Red][I][B] by 15#). [/B][/I][/COLOR][COLOR=Black]Last FS 145# 090504.[/COLOR] [I](Good form - - felt like I should have tried 165#.....)

[B]Other Work:[/B][/I]
[B]Kipping Pull-ups: [/B]Used parallel grip. 10, 10, 5 = 25. Every rep was chest to bar/(handles). First time [B][U]ever[/U][/B] getting C2B on more than one rep! YAY for pull-up [B][COLOR=Red]PR[/COLOR][/B]s!

[B]Running: [/B]
Run 1:00 at 8.0 MPH
Rest 1:00 at 4.0 MPH
Run 0:45 at 10.0 MPH. Felt left hamstring pull slightly at :45, so I called it good there and quit for the day.

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[B]2009 06 23[/B]

Worked on my kipping pullups after I got home to finish my workout for the day. Did manage to finally link 4 or 5 together.

Forgot to mention...got to enjoy the first produce from my garden with my lunch today...radishes.

[B]Steve[/B]...Good job on the new FS PR! :super:

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AMRAP in 12min

20 SHPDL@75#
20 20" BX JUMP
20 PP@75#

total 3