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PERFORMANCE MENU
JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
ISSUE 88 . MAY 2012
THE PULL FROM THE FLOOR VITAMIN & MINERAL SUPPORT ALEXANDER KRYCHEV JONAH LEHRER FAILURE IS FOR THE WEAK
The Performance Menu is published monthly in digital format by Catalyst Athletics, Inc. Subscriptions Subscriptions to the Performance Menu are available at www.catalystathletics.com/pm/ Back Issues Purchase back issues at www.catalystathletics.com/zen/ Individual Articles Individual articles from the Performance Menu can be purchased online at www.catalystathletics.com/zen/ Copyright Notice All content copyright Catalyst Athletics, Inc and its respective authors. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited by law. Excerpts Catalyst Athletics authorizes the publication of brief excerpts (500 words or less) along with easily visible attribution to the author and The Performance Menu. Attributions for online excerpts must include a hyperlink to www.catalystathletics.com/pm/. Disclaimers The statements and comments in the Performance Menu are those of the authors and not of the Performance Menu or Catalyst Athletics, Inc. Catalyst Athletics, Inc. and its contributors do not make any claim or warranty regarding the safety of any exercise or nutrition information contained herein. Readers are encouraged to consult with their physicians before engaging in any physical activity or nutritional practices. The appearance of advertising in this publication is not necessarily an endorsement of the products or services being advertised.
On the Cover Audra Dunning Editor in Chief Greg Everett Managing Editor Yael Grauer Design Greg Everett Issue Layout Alyssa Sulay Catalyst Athletics, Inc. 1257 Tasman Drive. Suite A Sunnyvale, CA 94089 408-400-0067 catalystathletics.com
PERFORMANCE MENU
JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
Volume 8 . Issue 88 . May 2012
FEATurES
7 ThE PuLL FrOM ThE FLOOr: A BAD TIME TO SuCk
Matt Foreman
rEguLArS
4 ASk grEg
greg Everett Pulling from the floor vs pulling from the blocks, Olympic weightlifting and athletic performance, international training programs
12 ThE OPTIMIzATION OF VITAMIN & MINErAL SuPPOrT FOr TISSuE hEALINg AFTEr AThLETIC TrAININg PArT 1
Matthew hoff and Erik Westerlund, MD
35 COOkINg WITh SCOTTy

Scott hagnas Lotus root stir fry, Mexican pineapple stir fry, Tostones, French style strawberries, Nut butter delight
16 TALkINg POINTS WITh ALExANDEr kryChEV

ryan kyle
22 WhErE CrEATIVITy AND SPOrT INTErSECT: A CONVErSATION WITh JONAh LEhrEr

yael grauer
28 FAILurE IS FOr ThE WEAk

Sean greeley
30 TrAININg PrOgrAM FOr MATT FOrEMAN, JANuAry-MArCh 1993

Matt Foreman
TABLE OF CONTENTS THE PERFORMANCE MENU
ASk grEg & AIMEE

Blake Asks: I have been doing Olympic lifts and have been involved in strength and conditioning for about a year now. I love the website and I always make a point to check it out at least once a day. I noticed, in the training videos, that when you guys do pulls from blocks you break the elbow and do a high pull; but when you pull from the floor, you keep the elbows straight and shrug (which is how I do my pulls). Whats the significance of doing the high pull from blocks? greg Says: That may appear to be a pattern in the videos, but thats not exactly representative of what we do. A clean or snatch pull is the same whether its from the floor, hang or blocks; likewise, a highpull is the same from any starting position. That being said, there are times when I tell a lifter to do different things with the arms in a pull. In a high-pull, the goal is always getting the elbows as high as possible and out to the side (note that this is a different goal than getting the bar as high as possible). In a pull, the goal is to train the extension of the legs and hips. However, there are times when the arms need to be involved somewhat. A lifter who is very stiff-elbowed in his or her pulls will swing the bar away from themselves at the top of the extension. You can shrug to give the bar somewhere to go other than forward,
Want your question answered by Greg or Aimee Everett? Send your email to ask@cathletics.com.
but sometimes thats not enough. So in that case, you break the elbows and guide them to the sides. This is guiding more than pulling and its a chance to ingrain that timing and the mechanics of the arms to ensure that the stiff arms and delay in pulling down doesnt transfer from pulls to snatches or cleans. For a lifter who has a habit of letting the elbows turn toward the back rather than keeping them oriented to the sides, this can also be appropriate to train that position and those mechanics. So more often than not, I will have lifters do pulls with that slight break in the elbows. For a lifter who has a habit of pulling early with the arms, forcing them to do pulls with perfectly straight arms is more appropriate (just make sure that he or she is actively pushing the bar back into their bodies and not swinging it out). PD Asks: Love the articles, videos and resources available on CA. My question relates to the Olympic lifts as part of a training program to get more explosive for sports (specifically ice hockey in my case). Ill do the power versions of the lifts once a week, but always from the ground Im wondering if Im doing myself a disservice or leaving anything on the table by not incorporating them from hanging positions and blocks, etc. Thanks for everything you do!
ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU
greg Says: If youre doing them properly, then I wouldnt be worried about short-changing yourself. However, you might consider incorporating hang or block lifts at least for the sake of variety if nothing else, or to add a second day of lifts into your training at a lower intensity and higher speed. For example, on day one you may do power cleans at relatively heavy weights, and on day two do hang power cleans or hang power snatches at a lower intensity, focusing on speed primarily. This will give you double the exposure to the lifts that you currently have, which will mean better speed and power development, but also technical improvements that will help you push the weights up in your primary lift day, i.e. your heavy power cleans. Another approach would be to use hang or block work at the start of a training cycle and gradually move down to the floor as the cycle progresses and weights increase. For example, in the first 2-3 weeks, you might do power cleans from the blocks just above the knee; the next 2-3 weeks, power cleans from the blocks below the knee; and the last 2-3 weeks, power cleans from the floor. This will work naturally with the increasing weights over the course of the cycle, and will also help improve your speed early on, which will then be put to good use when youre lifting from the floor again. Rocky Asks: Hi Greg, What can we learn or possibly take from the training regiments and approaches to lifting from some of the more Powerhouse weightlifting nations such as China and Russia? Do their programs differ from ours (in the Englishspeaking world where lifting is not such a common sport outside of the Olympics)? What kind of training cycles/techniques/exercises would their athletes use? Would be interesting to see the differences and similarities. greg Says: I will answer this question as well as I can with the disclaimer that I dont know everything about other countries programs, and in fact, no one really knows exactly what they do except those lifters and coaches. Ill try to keep my assumptions to a minimum.
I would say that in terms of the actual training programs, the biggest difference is in volume and frequency. To the best of my knowledge, its most common to train twice daily at least 3 days per week and once daily another 3 days. This is actually the schedule used most of the time at our own Olympic training center; but we have only a handful of resident weightlifters, and few outside of that situation are able to train with such a schedule due to obligations outside of lifting. I suspect that other programs train even more than this, including Warm-up sessions as a team in the mornings, etc. Training volume can be much greater for an individual who is a full-time weightlifterstress other than that from training is minimal, and access to recovery modalities, nutrition, etc. are maximal. If you can snatch 150-200% more times in a given period than your competition, you certainly have a leg up on them. That being said, speaking of the programs overall, I think the key factor for dominant countries success is systematic recruiting and long term development. The more talent you can get into the gym and retain, the better weightlifters you can create. The best training system in the world would never be able to make certain people world champions, and likewise, people built for weightlifting will excel in nearly any environment and with any program. This is not to say that the system and training doesnt matter; its just to underscore the fact that there are inherent abilities that dictate any athletes potential in a given sport, and identifying the people who have physical advantages for that sport is a critical factor. The long term development is just as important. When you start a lifter at a very young age, you can do everything right. You can build the proper foundation both physically and psychologically. When instead, as we most often do in the US, start lifters at later ages after theyve often been athletes in other sports, were working with a host of complications and often the result is that we rush or skip parts of the development process. I would say that another common factor in success is work ethic and dedication. These athletes are weightlifters. Thats it. Theres no question about what
it is theyre in the gym to do, and I would venture to say that the sport defines their lives for the duration of their careers (or at least the most successful parts of them). There have been great weightlifters with odd circumstances out there who are able to be successful without being locked in the gym for 10 years, but theyre the exceptions. Their training and competition are incredibly meaningful, and there is genuine reward for success, whether its monetary or not. Many of these countries (such as Russia and China) have established educational programs at high levels in which professional coaches can be trained. Consider MS and PhDs in the USthere is no degree in weightlifting available. The closest you can get is kinesiology, biomechanics, or exercise physiology, and I think we all have a pretty good idea of how much experience with and exposure to weightlifting these individuals have. There just arent the same educational opportunities here. This results in coaches having to be largely self-taught, which means a lot of experimentation, which means a lot of failure or underwhelming results. Reading Russian training literature for example, it becomes very clear that we in the US are far behind in terms of systematic
weightlifter development. And much of this literature is from the 1970s. And of course, the drug issue cant be ignored. I dont believe this is by any means the only thing that prevents us from being successful internationally, but it certainly cant be ignored. I dont believe drug testing is very successful, and the number of positives that do turn up is not representative of the actual use by lifters. However, if we had everything else in place, I believe we would be able to close the current gap considerably even with our stringent testingworld records and world championships probably not. Ultimately what we can learn from these countries is pretty straightforward: We need better education for coaches; better recruitment of athletes; better long term, systematic development; and better financial support and incentives for success. Making all that happen is the tricky part.
Greg Everett is the owner of Catalyst Athletics, publisher of The Performance Menu and author of Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches.
MATT FOrEMAN
ThE PuLL FrOM ThE FLOOr: A BAD TIME TO SuCk

Weve got pressing business this month, brothers and sisters. There are urgent matters at stake regarding your lifting technique, and this article is going to give you some important little thoughts that will keep your snatches and cleans from descending into a world of suckness. In the coming months, well get back to some juicy writing about motivation, coaching, and all the other tips-for-how-to-fix-your-whole-life stuff that we love so much. Theres plenty of that on the horizon, but this month is focused on technique because we need to get some things straight NOW. Some of you read the blog posts I put on the Catalyst Athletics website. A few weeks ago, I wrote some things about foot positioning in the bottom position of the snatch and clean because I had just attended a meet in California and I saw plenty of athletes who needed some help in this department. Well, this article is coming from that same direction. Its been a good month, because Ive been fortunate enough to see a lot of weightlifting. I went to another local meet last night, and the webcast of the National Collegiate Championships has been playing all weekend. This is fun to watch because its good to see the technique of lifters who arent the best in the world. I know that sounds funny, but its true. We all like to watch World Championship footage because we want to analyze perfect technique, but I think there are huge benefits to watching people who are still in the intermediate stages because you learn how to spot mistakes. Beginners and developing lifters do some things wrong, technically. This isnt insulting or disrespectful because we all know its just part of the learning process. Every lifter has gone through a still making mistakes phase, including me. And these things have to get cleared up one way or another. Hopefully, the next few pages are going to serve that purpose for some of you. The first pull from the floor, when the bar is lifted from the platform to the knees, is our focus area for this analysis. This short range of movement, when the bar travels up the length of the shins and arrives at the patella, is specifically what were going to take a look at. This is when the lift begins, and its tremendously important because there is very little chance of executing a lift correctly if the athlete makes a mistake in this first phase. There are some different schools of thought about how the lifter is supposed to combine speed and balance when the bar is being taken from the floor to the knees. Different coaches have varying beliefs about the proper way to do this. As I always say, Im just going to share some ideas and thoughts about how I think it should be done. Is there going to be somebody out there in weightlifting land who does things differently than I say, and yet still manages to set records and hit huge lifts? Probably. Is there a right way and a wrong way to pull the bar from the floor, regardless of any minor technique differences you might see from various lifters? Certainly. The two areas were going to concentrate on are A) bar speed and B) bodyweight distribution on the foot. I really want to drive home the point that this is crucial stuff. You cant fix a lift that starts out broken, just
like you cant make a good pot of spaghetti if the first thing you do is screw up the sauce. Making errors in the first phase of a snatch or clean puts the athlete in a position where complete technical precision is basically impossible. And regardless of what youve been told by some guy at your gym who says that its okay to do the Olympic lifts with crappy form, you have to make complete precision your goal if youre serious about getting good at this. Read on, and take from these words what you will.
it picks up speed as it starts to reach the level of the thighs. We all know this. But theres a tricky little fine line we need to take a look at when were examining this part of the lifters technique. What Im talking about is when lifters make the mistake of deliberately pulling the bar too slowly in this first phase. When I see lifters in local meets, and also some developing lifters at the national level, it sometimes looks like theyre intentionally moving the bar really, really slowly from the floor to the knees, much slower than they should be. I think whats happening here is these lifters have been taught that the first pull is supposed to be slow and controlled, or maybe theyve just learned this fact on their own if they dont have coaches. The mistake is that theyre taking this notion too far. Theyre overdoing it, and the whole lift becomes inefficient as a result. Heres the rule I learned as a lifter, and its what I still believe now; the athlete should pull the bar from the floor as fast as possible while still maintaining proper
grEASy FAST SPEED

First of all, most of you probably understand the basic idea of speed in the Olympic lifts. The overall concept is that the first pull from the floor will be a slower movement, and then the athlete will accelerate after the bar passes the knees. This is something you can figure out just by watching weightlifting for a little while, at almost any level. Get on YouTube and type in Olympic Weightlifting, and youll see it. The bar moves relatively slowly from the floor, and then
position and balance. The only time a lifter should consciously think about slowing down the first part of the lift is if he/she is using speed to a degree that it causes a breakdown in form. In simpler terms, we can look at it like this. If the athlete is ripping the bar from the floor so fast that the back loses its tightness and starts to round over in a turtleback position, then there might be a reason to slow down the first phase. This happens with beginners sometimes. The athletes want to move quickly, but they cant maintain a good flat back posture because of a lack of strength. If this is a problem, then I think its appropriate to have the lifters slow down at the beginning of the pull and focus completely on arching the back and staying tight. Regardless of anything, proper positioning of the back cant be compromised. The whole lift is a dead duck if this happens. Another common problem that can occur when beginners pull too fast from the floor is falling forward. Because the lifters arent strong enough to pull quickly, they start to shift forward onto the toes prematurely when they attempt to really rip the hell out of it. Basically, their butt is coming straight up Steve clean pull while the shoulders are still low, which causes everything to tip over. The weight of the bar is winning the battle. When a coach sees either of these problems, the athlete should be taught to correct them. Im not a big fan of ever using the phrase slow down with a lifter. I would rather tell the lifter to focus more on staying tight, and let them continue to pull with good speed. In rare situations where the lifter is just trying so hard to haul ass that he/she cant maintain any kind of control, then saying slow down off the floor might be appropriate. Turtle-backing or falling forward are justifications for a slower first pull because the lifter is losing the fundamental positions that are required for a proficient lift. Okay, weve got that concept nailed down. But we have to remember that what were still trying to do is get the bar moving as fast as possible, as early as possible. As the athletes develop consistent motor patterns and gain strength, theyll be able to keep
their posture tight. This is when speed needs to increase. If you want to study the point Im making, the best place to look is the Bulgarian lifters of the 1980s. For those of you who dont know a lot of lifting history, the Bulgarians of the eighties lifted some of the biggest weights ever seen. Alexander Varbanov clean and jerked 215.5 in the 75 kilo class (thats 474 at 165 for you pound people). Asen Zlatev clean and jerked 225 at 82.5 (496 at 181). To this day, nobody has beaten those lifts. These guys were weightlifting machines like our galaxy has never seen. But their technique is what Im talking about. The Bulgarian lifters were famous for ripping the bar from the floor with speed that defied any accepted principles of gravity. It was freaky to watch them lift. Most of these guys would approach the bar, reach down and grab it with their hands, and then sit down on their haunches in a full squat for ten or fifteen seconds, getting ready to start the lift. Then, they would simply explode with pulling force as they tore the bar from the floor. Some of them would begin their pull so explosively that you could see the hair on their heads jump, and almost all of them screamed like banshees as those plates left the platform. They werent starting with a slow pull and building up speed. They were mashing the gas pedal to the floor from a dead stop. However, because of the immense strength they possessed, their positions werent compromised. Their backs stayed flat as boards and their balance never wavered. This is what were trying to do in weightlifting, my friends. Its the ultimate goal. Rookie lifters and coaches often make a very human, understandable mistake by teaching a first pull thats much slower than it needs to be. If the lifters are getting totally spasticated because the speed of their first pull is too much and theyre not ready to go that fast, then explain to them that they need to modify what theyre doing to keep their positions correct. But dont go crazy with this concept, because you could easily wind up with lifters who are just too freaking slow, plain and simple. Im seeing a lot of this these days.
hEELS? TOES? WhAT ThE ****?

Im going to be very direct and blunt in this section. First, lets just ask the question. Should the lifters have their bodyweight on their heels or their toes as the bar is pulled from the floor? My personal answer is neither. I think the lifter should try to feel their weight in the middle of their foot as the bar is pulled from the floor. Once again, youll hear some conflicting views on this if you interview different coaches. Ive read articles that say the lifter should immediately shift the weight to their heels as soon as the bar is pulled from the floor, and others who have argued for the toes. The heel argument is probably more common. One of the main reasons why theres disagreement on this point is that some world class lifters use different styles. Going back to Bulgaria, theyve had some world champions who used a pulling style that looks like a rocking chair if you watch their feet. As they pull the bar from the floor, the foot is flat on the platform. Then, as the bar is passing the knees, their toes rise slightly (obviously indicating that theyve shifted their weight to the heels). Continuing, as the bar meets the hips and they extend into the top of their pull, their heels rise off the platform and they extend up on the toes in a jumping motion. So theres kind of a flat foot-heels-toes progression from the beginning to the end of the pull. They rock backwards, and then they rock forwards (albeit slightly). You dont see this from many lifters, but Ivan Chakarov did it this way. On the other hand, some rare lifters appear to have their weight on the toes right from the beginning. I was in the warm-up room at a national championship several years ago when Oscar Chaplin was lifting. Oscar was a Junior World Champion and American record holder who snatched 166 kilos in the 85 kilo class, so he definitely qualifies as a world-class lifter. I was sitting in a chair directly behind the platform he was warming up on, probably three or four feet away from him, and I saw his heels separate slightly from the platform right at the beginning of his pull. This guy could snatch 365 pounds at 187 bodyweight, and his weight was obviously more towards the front of his foot when he started his pull from the floor. Different style than Chakarov, and he was still snatching amazing weights.
These are somewhat rare examples of different technique styles. You dont see tons of lifters who use either one. What you see most often are lifters who keep their feet flat on the floor until the bar reaches the level of the hips, and then they extend up on the toes. We covered this in an article I did a few months ago about the difference between flat-foot and toeextension pulling. So, when the lifters have their feet flat on the floor, is their bodyweight shifted to the heels or the toes at the beginning of the pull? You basically need to ask the individual lifter, because you might get some different replies. As a guy who has snatched 341 pounds, I can tell you that I never thought about putting my weight on my heels. I tried to feel my weight on the middle of my foot when I pulled from the floor, and then I extended onto the toes and jumped at the finish. Thats just one opinion from one lifter. I personally have no idea how anybody could do a snatch or clean effectively by shifting their weight to their heels and keeping it there throughout the pull. I cant jump forcefully without driving up onto my toes. Maybe you can, I dont know. If you can pull from your heels and snatch more than me, good for you. Ill buy you a can of Pringles.
AT ThE END OF ThE DAy

Hopefully, youve learned enough to know that theres more than one way to lift big weights. Different lifters have individual nuances in their technique. This is pretty clear. But still, there are certain principles that hold true for everybody, and speed is one of the main ones. I dont know who said it, but I read somewhere at the beginning of my career that a fast lifter with bad technique is better than a slow lifter with good technique. I believe this is true. Now, obviously a fast lifter with good technique is what were all trying to grow into. Thats easy enough to grasp. However, the quote I just gave you is an illustration of the fact that this is a speed sport, plain and simple. I hope all of you have the privilege of going to a national or world championship someday and watching the lifters in the warm-up room or training hall. Im telling you guys you just wont believe how freaking fast most of the top lifters are. You can see it on video, but its a whole other world when you get to witness it in person. Youll know what I mean when you see the best. Its not that their pull from the floor is slow and then their finish is fast. Its more like their pull from the floor is fast and then their finish is super turbo fast. Whether
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they have their bodyweight on their heels or whatever when they pull from the floor will be dependent on their anatomical structure, leg length, and personal feel for the movement. Will you be ready to use this kind of speed when youre a rookie? No, you wont. Speed is just like strength; it takes a long time to really develop. However, we always have to remember that we cant be good weightlifters by moving slowly. So lets just keep that thought in our minds as a cautionary note when were working with newbies. We dont want them slow and properly positioned. We want them fast and properly positioned. At least, thats what I think.
Matt Foreman is the football and track & field coach at Mountain View High School in Phoenix, AZ. A competitive weightliter for twenty years, Foreman is a four-time National Championship bronze medalist, two-time American Open silver medalist, three-time American Open bronze medalist, two-time National Collegiate Champion, 2004 US Olympic Trials competitor, 2000 World University Championship Team USA competitor, and Arizona and Washington state record-holder. He was also First Team All-Region high school football player, lettered in high school wrestling and track, a high school national powerlifting champion, and a Scottish Highland Games competitor. Foreman has coached multiple regional, state, and national champions in track & field, powerlifting, and weightlifting, and was an assistant coach on 5A Arizona state runner-up football and track teams.
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Matthew hoff and Erik Westerlund, MD
ThE OPTIMIzATION OF VITAMIN & MINErAL SuPPOrT FOr TISSuE hEALINg AFTEr AThLETIC TrAININg PArT 1:
An Overview of Vitamins and Minerals Most Important to Athletic recovery (With Their relative Effects & Optimal Doses)
Trauma is a serious shock to living tissue caused by an external force or agent. Some types of trauma are random and completely unexpected, while other types may be anticipated. No one expects to get hit by a car crossing the street, for example, but the trauma of elective surgery is an example of tissue trauma that might be anticipated. Some tissue trauma is minor-the muscle shock to living muscle tissue from the act of achieving a 3-rep max back squat, for instance-while some tissue trauma is major, such as sustaining a full thickness quadriceps strain (tear), or a complete disruption of a knee ACL in a football injury. With these above considerations in mind, it is evident that healing from intense athletic training or overt athletic injury is distinct in that it in part affords the unique opportunity to nutritionally prepare for tissue injury beforehand, in order to preemptively optimize the bodys ability to heal and recover. This is a circumstance that the serious athlete should leverage to their best competitive advantage, but how? The first step is understanding some basic concepts of tissue repair and recovery. The next step is understanding how to strategically use macronutrients, vitamins
and micronutrient co-factors, the most fundamental and natural agents an athlete can engage to facilitate fastest and most complete tissue repair. So, step 1 is recognizing that athletic trauma to living tissue can be minor, from that routine interval workout, or major, from that full-thickness rotator cuff tear. Let us first consider overt or severe tissue injury as a most extreme example in understanding some basics about tissue repair and recovery. Muscle and musculoskeletal tissue repair are complex processes. They involve the interactions of different organs, tissue types, cell types, growth and inflammatory factors, and extracellular matrix components. These processes also occur in combination with factors that include an athletes baseline biologic health and other competing metabolic demands and stresses. The phases of normal tissue healing are distinct across tissue types, as well as within tissue types. These processes are nonetheless continuous and overlapping, progressing in a complex cascade of healing events that lead to a final patient outcome. For the athlete, this desired outcome is a return to
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peak training capacity and performance. Because the overall success and quality of tissue healing requires adequate nutrients to be delivered to the area of injury, the overall health and nutritional status of the entire athlete influences the ultimate potential for healing of damaged or injured tissue. As an example, many clinical experts in complex wound healing recommend a combined holistic and focused approach, to treat, so to speak, not only the whole patient, but the hole in the patient in an integrated, combined fashion. This same approach can and should be applied to treating not just the athletic injury, but also the whole athlete. Training and competition impose markedly increased nutritional and metabolic demands. These include dietary demand in protein, energy sources and hydration, as well as micronutrient vitamins and minerals. Vitamin, mineral, and other micronutrient cofactors are of particular interest given their remarkable potential to foster and accelerate healing, and to help meet the unique physiologic demands of the training, or the injured athlete. As mentioned, there is a broad range of tissue trauma, and there are many types of wounds with a wide range of physiologic character. Surgical wounds are distinguished as a purposeful and organized form of tissue injury, with the greater patient good as the desired outcome. Although the higher goal of training, like surgery, is the repair or restoration of some other compromise, the high intensity training itself is indeed a form of imposed tissue trauma, and necessarily results in organized tissue damage as a result. In this way, high-intensity athletic training often imposes all the increased nutritional and metabolic demands on a patient that are well known to occur in the setting of generalized trauma. Also remember, an additional principal element distinguishing surgical wounds and exercise-induced structural damage from a more typical trauma is that surgery and training are carefully organized and planned. This is particular in that elective surgery and planned training affords the stated unique clinical opportunity for patients to nutritionally prepare for tissue injury beforehand in order to preemptively optimize the bodys ability to heal and recover to its best possible potential. Wound healing must occur in a physiologic environment that is conducive to tissue repair processes and regeneration. A multitude of factors are known to impede healing, including hypoxia, mechanical
factors, infection, neoplastic and or metastatic disease in cancer, underlying medical conditions (such as diabetes), and/or medications (such as prednisone or other chronic steroids). This list continues to include dietary deficiencies in protein, energy sources, hydration, and micronutrient vitamins and minerals. Vitamin, mineral, and other micronutrient cofactors are of particular interest, given their remarkable and often untapped potential to foster and accelerate healing, and to meet the needs of the recovering athlete. The principle objectives in athletic training are to achieve complete recovery as well as gain muscular tissue, skeletal tissue, and CNS development and growth as rapidly as possible. Human studies have repeatedly demonstrated the clear advantages of optimizing nutrition and vitamin/mineral levels before and after surgery as a means of helping clinicians and patients meet these objectives. Researchers who have explored the complex dynamics of tissue repair have described a wide range of micronutrient factors that are required in novel levels by the surgical patient for optimal effect, and that have unique potential for interactive effect toward the demands of different types of tissue healing (i.e., skin, skeletal muscle, tendon, bone, peripheral and central nervous tissue, cardiac tissue, etc). This list includes specific forms and doses of vitamins A, B subtypes, C, D3, K1, and K2, as well as minerals such as copper, zinc and a roster of others. This body of research has also identified properties of vitamins that would make for unfavorable effects or would be frankly contraindicated in the peri-operative environment at their typically recommended daily intake levels. This same research can be applied to the recovery of the same types of tissues and structures in the athlete. At its base, it is the novel integration and application of this knowledge to the understood and unique demands of an athlete serves as the evidence-based scientific foundation for a targeted vitamin and mineral regimen for the athlete. This targeted micronutrient effort is further encouraged by the particularly robust, beneficial micronutrient effects that are possible in the athlete, when the optimal doses and forms of the given micronutrients are used.
PhASES OF hEALINg
Before we delve into specific micronutrients, their
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effects on the body, and our recommendations for athletes, it is important to understand exactly how tissues and structures in the body heal. The human body responds to damaged tissue the same way, regardless of the stress that imposed the damage. This means that to a degree, the processes that the body goes through to repair the tissue share many similarities, regardless if the damage was caused by back squats, a car accident or surgery. This is admittedly an oversimplification, and the magnitude of tissue stress is a critical consideration in crafting an advanced training or recovery program, but for our purposes, we will discuss some of the more typical and common elements of soft tissue healing after extreme physical stress or injury. Each tissue type, be it skin, bone, skeletal muscle, mucosa, etc., has a tissue-specific cascade of healing that is typically defined in phases. Skin and deep tissue healing is a ubiquitous requirement for nearly all training, and as such, wound healing is discussed here as a commonality among all tissue healing procedures. Wound healing also provides a concrete format to demonstrate the applied vitamin and mineral strategy that can be exacted across a range of tissue types in the training athlete (to include bone, tendon, ligament, muscle and other musculoskeletal tissue). This provides us with a well-studied and wellpracticed medical basis to base our recommendations for athletes upon. Let us consider overt trauma as an extreme example to look at the phases of healing after soft tissue injury. The four phases of wound or tissue trauma healing are as follows: the injury event & hemostasis, the inflammatory phase, the proliferative phase, and the remodeling and/or regenerative processes.
permeability. There are multiple sources of growth factors, cytokines, and other micronutrient and nonmicronutrient modulated factors are introduced, and set the stage for the orderly cascade of events that will lead to final tissue repair. The speed and quality of the final repair is influenced (and amplified) from the outset by the athletes pre-existing levels of micronutrients, as well as other exogenous factors, such as sleep.
PhASE 2: ThE INFLAMMATOry PhASE

The second phase of wound healing is the inflammatory phase. It is characterized by erythema, swelling, increased tissue temperature, and pain or discomfort. There is increased vascular permeability, and cellular response in the area of injured tissue. Several factors can drive the prolongation of this phase, including hypoxia, infection, medical comorbidities (i.e., diabetes mellitus), and malnutrition of micronutrient, which is one of several deficiencies disrupting the late inflammatory phase. In this phase, monocytes are converted to macrophages to destroy remaining neutrophils, scavenge devitalized tissue, and eliminate bacterial or other pathogens. These same macrophages initiate the transition from the inflammatory phase to the restorative healing phase.
PhASE 3: ThE PrOLIFErATIVE PhASE

The proliferative phase of wound healing that follows is characterized by tissue re-epithelialization and granulation. The length of this phase is variable, as it is largely and directly related to the extent and relative volume of injured tissue. Growth factors and chemotactic factors are released from macrophages and platelets. This, in turn, prompts the activation of wound fibroblasts, which then produce and prompt substances further essential to wound repair, such as various collagen types (tissue dependent), hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatan and heparin sulfate. Together, these form the described connective tissue matrix that is required for cell migration. Vascular and capillary in-growth is also critical to this phase, in order to provide a means to meet increasing local metabolic demands as healing progresses. The relative vascularity and collagen formation are highly dependent on micronutrient support, with often dramatic potential to modulate the tensile strength and overall quality of healing tissue, as well as more
PhASE 1: ThE INJury EVENT & hEMOSTASIS

The tissue injury event, such as with a surgical incision or microtrauma induced by a training stimulus, initiates a response that prompts that body to clear the wound of devitalized tissue and foreign material, setting the stage for next steps. The initial vascular response involves a brief period of vasoconstriction and hemostasis. This typical six to 12-minute time of intense vasoconstriction is thereafter followed by active vasodilation and increased capillary bed
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generalized biomechanical quality and compliance and other factors.
PhASE 4: rEMODELINg AND/Or rEgENErATIVE PrOCESSES

The final phase of healing is remodeling. This includes the addition and reorganization of collagen fibers and other tissue to optimize wound tensile strength and tissue quality. There is capacity for this phase to continue up to two years for a serious wound or surgery, though 40% to 70% of tensile strength (versus undamaged tissue) is usually recognized in the first four weeks. These first four weeks, therefore, represent the critical healing window, upon which all further healing is entirely dependent. Macronutrition, with appropriate levels of lipids, protein, and carbohydrates, is important in all phases of post-operative wound healing, and is well understood in this setting. From the standpoint of optimized vitamin, mineral and co-factor micronutrition in the setting of athletics, the above can be considered by matching the four phases of wound healing to the nutrients that most impact each of the phases. The injury and hemostasis phase differs for training in that it is continuous, whereas wounds and surgery are punctuated events in a persons life. Therefore, in keeping with both the medical literature and common sense, an athlete can never afford to be micronutrient deficient. Ensuring proper nutrition notably includes forms of vitamin E, as well as non-vitamin herbal supplements and medicines. There is a clear positive role for optimized vitamin K in the inflammatory phase. The inflammatory phase can be positively modulated by increased doses and forms of vitamin A, which supports early inflammatory phase events, vitamin C, which fosters lymphocyte transformation and neutrophil migration, vitamin D, and others. The proliferative phase enhanced by vitamin A (cell differentiation), multiple B vitamins, vitamin C (collagen synthesis and crosslinking, vascular healing), zinc (cell division and DNA synthesis), copper and others. The remodeling phase is positively influenced by elevated doses of vitamin C (collagen remodeling), vitamin K (cell growth), and others. The first step is understanding some basic concepts
of tissue repair and recovery. Heavy stuff, for sure, and we have examined only the tip of it. Now you have some background, though, to consider step 2. The next step is understanding how to use macronutrients, vitamins and micronutrient co-factors to naturally engage fastest and most complete tissue repair. This will outline how to employ vitamin and mineral micronutrition to get the most out of every workout, or how most quickly return to training and competition after injury. In our next installment, we will begin with the first of a series of articles discussing how to best harness the recovery benefits of dietary vitamin and mineral micronutrients. This is the critical material that any athlete that is serious about making efficient and optimal gains in strength, speed, power and endurance should know, as next we will address strategically using favored doses, combinations, and forms of safe and natural vitamins and minerals to optimize healing and recovery time, capturing the essence of there is no such thing as overtrainingthere is only under recovery.
Dr. Erik Westerlund MD is a physician and orthopaedic spine surgeon with a lifetime personal and professional interest in nutrition, health, human performance and biomechanics. After completing medical training at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. in 1995, he pursued orthopaedic surgery training at the University of Virginia, where he also completed advanced fellowship study in human biomechanics and osteobiologics. Dr. Westerlund completed a fellowship in spine surgery in Philadelphia with both the orthopaedic and neurosurgery departments at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Westerlund has focused interest in leveraging the untapped benefits of vitamins, co-factors, and other micronutrients to optimizing human performance, athletic recovery, and injury recovery for the elite, high-performance athlete. He is an avid multi-sport athlete, and enjoys the challenges of trying to keep up with his fire-breather athletic friends and colleagues (like his coauthor Matthew Hoff) here in Army Ranger country. Captain Matthew hoff is a coach at CrossFit Inception and CrossFit Sacrifice in Columbus, Ga., and is a Platoon Tactical Trainer assigned to the 4th Ranger Training Battalion. He is an active athlete competing in everything from local CrossFit competitions, to marathons, to weightlifting meets. Hoff served as a scout platoon leader and in staff positions while assigned to 5-73 Cavalry, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hoff is Ranger, Airborne, Air Assault, and Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course qualified, as well as a recent graduate of the Maneuver Captains Career Course. Hoff has published several articles in the CrossFit Journal and also authors a blog, www.paleonow.com, and conducts workshops about the Paleo lifestyle and kettlebell training.
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ryan kyle
TALkINg POINTS WITh ALExANDEr kryChEV

Alexander Krychev is a former weightlifter for Bulgaria. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he competed in the 110kg weight class under fabled weightlifting coach Ivan Abadjiev. Alexs own story is quite amazing, as he was Mr. Abadjievs Project Zero, being his first student in weightlifting, and was there to witness firsthand the creation of the legendary Bulgarian Training System. For the first time, the story of the Bulgarian system will be told from its earliest incarnation to the latest version of the system, which continues to produce world championship performances. Alexander Krychev was born in Bulgaria in 1951, in an industrial town with many factories. At that time, Bulgaria was a communist country and was seen as the little brother of the Soviet Union. There were many exchanges of ideas between the two countries in a unilateral direction, as the Soviet Union was showing Bulgaria how to be a communist country, which included sport. In 1964, when Alex was 13, Ivan Abadjiev relocated to the city in which Alex lived, and joined the local sports club, which at the time did not have weightlifting. In towns that had sports clubs, all of the equipment would belong to each club. Alex says he was an athletic boy at the time, playing soccer, track and field and volleyball. He says that it was by accident that someone took him to the gym where there was a platform and a bar. Ivan Abadjiev was there and he was looking to find some kids to train, and so Alex became Abadjievs first student. When asked what he was instructed to do the first day of training, Alex tells a story which would be anathema in most gyms. He asked me to lift 50 kilos any way I can, so I lifted it. He said, Okay, can you lift this, 60 kilos?, so I lifted it all the way up. He explains that he lifted it in a pseudo-clean and press manner. After this first workout, Mr. Abadjiev asked him if he would like to become a weightlifter and also if his parents would approve. Alex promised to come back for the next workout. PRs came on a regular basis, which kept him interested in the sport, so he kept coming back. And thus began a coach/pupil relationship that would last for nearly 50 years. Alex explains that during these early years, Abadjievs training methodology was unknown. During his time when he lifted, 54, 5, 6, 7, he had his own version of training, whereas the national team at the time did not follow that version. So he was training at his place, at the time, where he lived in the province, and was doing his own version. So when he came to our town, we were following his version. He explained that as a kid, when the coach tells you to do something, you think that is all that exists, so you just follow the regimen. Alex told a story which helps illustrate how different Abadjievs system was at the time. He says that after he had been training for about six months, he went to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, to visit his aunt. He found a gym close to his aunts house and went to there to train. While he was there, he started doing exercises that Abadjiev had shown him to do. He assumed
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every lifter did these exercises. One exercise was a jerk-drive type movement with very heavy weight. Alex would do these lifts with around 160kg-170kg when his best clean and jerk was 100kg. The coaches at the gym told him to stop doing these exercises immediately; that he may be allowed to do them with Abadjiev, but he was not permitted to do them at their gym. This story stuck with him because it was the first time he realized that the students under Abadjiev really were training under a different system. Alex says at the time it was hard to convince young boys to enter weightlifting because Bulgaria had no Olympic champions and the sport was virtually unknown. In 1968, Bulgaria turned in a terrible performance at the Mexico City Olympics, with a best placing of seventh. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the government opened a school called Olympic Hopes, which housed athletes in the sports of weightlifting, track and field, wrestling, boxing, swimming, gymnastics and bicycling. All of the weightlifters chosen to be a part of the inaugural class were between 14 and 16 years of age, and Ivan Abadjiev was selected to be the coach of the school. The school, which was housed in the capital and would later become the national training center, was set up as a boarding school where the athletes would live, train, and attend school all inside the complex. A typical day in the sports school was as follows: At 7 or 7:15 a.m., they would wake up and eat breakfast. At 8 a.m., they would have school for three hours until 11 a.m., studying the basic courses of Math, Chemistry, Russian, Literature, History, and Western Language. By 11:10 a.m, at the latest, they would be in the gym training until 1:30 p.m., and then theyd head straight to the cafeteria for lunch until 2 p.m. At 2:15 p.m., the lifters would once again become students and would work on homework with tutors until 4 p.m. From 4 to 5 p.m., they would rest before training resumed at 5 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Dinner followed, and then a third workout commenced until 11 p.m., after which the lifters would return to their rooms for a quick shower and then lights out. This schedule was done six days a week! Sunday was the rest day and, as Alex put it, we sleep all day! It was a Spartan life at Olympic Hopes, in which the lifters would only see their parents on birthdays and for the New Year holiday. Some people may find it difficult
to comprehend that a group of teenage boys were able to handle such a demanding training regimen. However, their motivation was even stronger than their muscles. The motivation was that, the life under communism was different in the sense that a young person had almost nothing to look forward. Everybody wants to go abroad, and to go abroad, you either had to be an athlete or a member of the Communist Party. The only way to go to Western countries was through sport. For the world championship in 1970, we killed each other trying to make the team, because you know for three years in advance that the World Championship is in the United States, in68 you know so you say, I want to make sure I am on that plane. You would not believe what kind of incentive that was. You cant even image; you cant even imagine. The schools first class contained 10 students, and was a whos who of future World and Olympic Champions: Yordan Bikov, 1972 Olympic Champion; Andon Nikolov, 1972 Olympic Champion; Atanas Shopov, Olympic silver and bronze medalist, world record holder; Nadelcho Kolev, 2-time World champion and World record holder, and, of course, Alexander Krychev, 1972 Olympic silver medalist and World record holder. According to Alex, the remaining lifters were still quite accomplished. Although they were considered the B-team, they made it to the European Championships and achieved big results. After three months in the school, Abadjiev had the lifters begin his system. For Alex, this was normal, as Abadjiev had brought him up in the sport. However, some of the other lifters did not respond as planned. The earlier program contained a lot of volume; sets of five in the press and clean and jerk, sets of 10 on the pulls and squats, sets of five also in the snatch and front squat; very different from what the system would eventually evolve into. During these months, the other lifters began to resist the training, because they all had their own coaches and their own ways of training, and they rejected Abadjievs difficult training methods. They would call home and tell their coaches what was going on. The coaches would communicate with the federation, and the federation warned Abadjiev that something was going wrong because the kids were complaining. A week later, an inspection came from the Minster of Sport via a Russian coach who stayed for a week and
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wrote a very negative report regarding the training of the Olympic Hopes athletes. After the report, a vote was to take place to remove Ivan Abadjiev from coaching any sport, not just weightlifting. Luckily for Mr. Abadjiev and all of Bulgarian weightlifting, one person at the meeting stood up and asked the group how many medals had the team won in the previous three Olympics. The response was zero. It was decided then to give Abadjiev six months to prove himself before the topic would be reopened for examination. That was December 1968. In late March 1969, a junior competition took place between Bulgaria and Italy. Most of the Bulgarian team at this competition was comprised of members of the Olympic Hopes School. In the competition, Alex broke all of the junior world records and all of the senior Bulgarian records, breaking the total record by 50kg! One week after this competition, Ivan Abadjiev was appointed the national weightlifting coach of Bulgaria. Perhaps a turning point in the evolution of Ivan Abadjievs training system came in 1972, a few months before the Olympics. Four or five months before the Olympics, Alex injured his wrist in training. Abadjiev at that time thought that something may be wrong with
Alex, but that he probably just wanted a few days to rest, or in other words, that he was faking. Abadjiev had reason to be suspicious, as at that time, the lifters would fake injury in order to get a few days rest from the workouts. However, Alex never faked an injury and this time was no different; his wrist was injured. The president of the federation even ridiculed Alex for faking an injury, which naturally upset him. So Alex packed his bags and left the training camp. One night, Alex was driving to the beach when he was pulled over by the police, who proceeded to arrest him. The police put him on a plane and sent him back to the training camp the next morning. When he landed in Sofia, a car was waiting to take him to the Minister of Sport, where he then was taken up the mountain and into the camp. It turns out the president of the weightlifting federation had sent an order to the police to arrest Alex and send him back to the camp. Can you imagine this type of high priority given to a weightlifter? However, it was imperative that the lifters win medals to prove the superiority of the Communist system, and since Alex was a potential medalist, he had to return to the camp.
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When Alex he could have won returned to camp, the gold medal if he sat down with not for a gift from Ivan Abadjiev and a judge. Jan Talts Abadjiev told him (USSR) was the point blank that favorite to win he had missed the Olympics in the boat. In order the 110kg class, for Alex to now and he opened make the team, he the press with would have to do 200kg, which he something drastic. missed. On the Abadjiev put it like next attempt, this; if the new it appeared as method worked though he had Alex could make missed. However, the team. However, Inaugural Class of the Olympic Hopes School Sofia, Bulgaria 1968 Front Row: L-R: Alexander he received a if they did not try Krychev, Atanas Shopov, Unknown, Yordan Bikov Back Row: Second from Left: Nedelcho Kolev, Ivan two-to-one good Abadjiev (center) the new method, lift decision. Alex there was no way recalls that the he would be able to make the team. Essentially, judges included one Soviet, one Bulgarian, and a Alex was about to become a guinea pig for the next Yugoslavian. He assumed the Yugoslavian had given evolution of the Bulgarian system. The hallmark of this him the white light, but later found out the Bulgarian evolution was extended time in the gym. For example, judge had passed the lift and the Yugoslavian had while the rest of the team was done training at 1:30 turned it down. Talts went on to press 210kg for p.m. and headed to lunch, Alex would stay an extra 45 an Olympic record. After the competition, he told minutes and continue training. The volume of training Alex that had he not been given the 200kg second increased, and the number of attempts with maximum attempt, he was not sure if he would have been able weights increased as well. Ivan Abadjiev did not leave to make 200kg and stay in the contest because of the Alexs side during these extended trainings. pressure. In spite of this, Alex was satisfied with the silver medal, because he had beaten several rivals to To put into perspective how difficult this new training earn it. was, Alex recalled the following story. At the training camp, the lifters had to walk up a series of steps to Following the 1972 Olympics, Abadjiev implemented reach the cafeteria for lunch. There were six steps the training used on Alex for the entire Bulgarian to a landing, and then another six or eight steps to national team. Time, volume and maximum attempts the top. After beginning this new training, Alex was all increased. The lifters went from training five hours so tired he was only able to make it up the first six each day to training seven or eight hours a day. In 1978, steps before having to sit and rest for ten minutes. the system again evolved, as the Bulgarian team did Of course, Abadjiev was right next to him. The first not perform up to their standards at the Gettysburg, two weeks, Alex would vomit every practice and the USA World Championships. This time the guinea pig team doctor would routinely check on him, to which would be Yanko Rusev, who would go on to become Abadjiev would tell the doctor, Do not treat him like a five time World Champion, Olympic Champion and a baby! After two weeks, Alex began to feel better World record holder. After Yanko, Alexander Varbanov and after one month, he was back in top form and became the next guinea pig to test the evolution of the began to lift PR weights again. Alex had adapted to system. As the Bulgarian system evolved, Abadjiev this extreme training and, of course, made the 1972 began to move away from volume and increase the Olympic team. intensity and the effort that produced explosive speed and strength. Recalling the competition at the Olympics, Alex feels
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Alex spoke very highly of Alexander Varbanov and his teammate Stefan Botev, stating these two are the strongest people in weightlifting ever. For those of you unfamiliar with these two great lifters, Alexander Varbanov won three world championships at 75kg in 1983, 1985 and 1986. In 1984, he dropped down to the 67.5kg class and clean and jerked a world record of 200kg. In 1987, he snatched 167.5kg and clean and jerked 215.5kg for a world record jerk and total that has never been approached. Alex said that in training, Varbanov clean and jerked 222.5kg and cleaned 230kg, weighing around 77 or 77.5kg. He also front squatted a massive 265kg! Stefan Botev became World Champion in 1989 and 1990. He had personal records of 200kg in the snatch and 250kg in the clean and jerk as a 110kg lifter. Stefans PR snatch in training was 212.5kg and his PR clean and jerk was a very easy 260kg. In fact, Alex recalled a story in which during training Stefan had just clean and jerked 260kg (the world record was 250kg at the time) and Stefan went to load the bar to 270kg! Abadjiev was pulling him back, saying, NO 270kg! Alex said, Botev wouldnt have had a problem winning the gold. If it were not for some unfortunate positive tests for the Bulgarian lifters, fans of the sport would have been able to witness this epic showdown. Leading up to the 1988 Olympics, the Bulgarian lifters expected to win every class they entered. Obviously Botev was in phenomenal shape, but so were the other Bulgarian lifters. Everyone knows what Sevdalin Marinov (52kg), Mitko Grablev (56kg), Stefan Topurov (60kg), Angel Guenchev (67.5kg), and Borislav Gidikov (75kg) lifted, as they were able to compete in the contest. But what about the other Bulgarian entries who did not get to compete due to the positive tests in the lighter classes? Antonio Krastev snatched 225kg and jerked 265kg. Chakarov, 90 kilos (bodyweight), in Japan, in the camp, 197kg snatch, 240kg clean and jerk. There were two 90kg lifters at the camp. Rumen Teodosiev (90kg) snatched 190kg and clean and jerked 240kg. In 82.5kg was Zlatev, 230kg clean and jerk over there in Japan. So what makes a world champion lifter? Is it Abadjievs system? Is it his system mixed with super talented athletes? The answer may surprise you. Alex says that it does not necessarily take a super talented
athlete. According to Alex, Abadjiev said that Naim Suleymanoglu was not that talented. He was very tight in the shoulders; he had problems with the jerk at the shoulders, and they worked very diligently with him on the jerk, he recalled. A 10 on the talent scale, as far as flexibility and talent, was Mincho Pashov. He had impeccable technique, [was] extremely flexible, very economical; however, talent is a combination of many things. Its not only how flexible you are, its not only the body proportions/mechanics, but also how smart you are, and are you able to take the loads, the brutality of the training day in and day out. Its like the NBA here, they say, hes a very good player but can he take the brutality day in and day out to score 30 to 40 points? Thats also [true] with weightlifting. You have other things. How does he perform in competition? Is he afraid in competition? We had a lifter (in Bulgaria) who in the practice at 82kg was doing 215kg (in clean and jerk) and trying 220kg. At competition, he was so scared that he barely did 205kg. And lastly, will he make the very last attempt to win the gold medal? Part of what makes the Bulgarian system so special is its ability to produce strength that is so specific to weightlifting, that it created some of the sports most mythical performances. Alex said, Thats what the Bulgarian system does. The Bulgarian system gives the strength. Here [in the U.S.] everybody says, oh, the strength is the easiest thing to do. That is the most difficult thing to do, acquire the strength, the most difficult thing. Were not talking strength like bodybuilder. If its so easy, why the super heavyweight here, first place is 208kg? Because there is no strength. I asked Alex about this notion of strength, having said myself for years that if you polled the American lifters and their foreign counterparts to get PR numbers on so-called strength lifts (squats, deadlifts, and partial lifts,) that most American lifters would perform as well as the lifters who place higher in competitions year in and year old. When I asked Alex why this so-called strength does not translate into the classic lifts, he said the following: Wrong training. When you do the clean and jerk, there are so many muscles participating in a specific position, and the jerk, those are muscles that are taking place and you need those muscles to be developed to extreme. Now back squat, its different muscles, different positions. If you do jerk from the neck, we give jerk from the neck only to the
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beginners so they can have the position and feeling for how they cannot dip forward. But this is only for the beginners. When I came here [the U.S.,] they had this back jerk for advanced lifters and overhead squat with a big weight. I said, We never did that--never. If you cannot get up with the weight here in the snatch, he said, demonstrating an overhead squat, then you find another sport. I clarified these points with Alex, and what it comes down to for American lifters is not a lack of brute strength, but a lack of the specific strength needed to perform maximum snatches and clean and jerks. Do you know how you develop the specific strength? asked Alex. By a lot of maximum weights, maximum attempts, very frequently. Do you know how many clean and jerks Hysen does in a week? Hysen Pulaku is an Alabanian 77kg currently training with Alex and Abadjiev. 12 to 14 clean and jerks [sessions], but they are all maximum, he says. We dont do 80% or 70% all maximum for the day. Alex explained that you must push yourself to your maximum every day, because lifting with maximum effort is the only way to develop specific proteins that will react when maximum effort is given. Maximum effort is the key, not so much the numerical value of the weight. Different efforts emit a different frequency on the neuron, and it goes to a different gene and that gene produces a protein. For instance, 200kg for Hysen, it is transmitted here and the shape of the protein is here. He draws on the table with his finger. Now tomorrow or after tomorrow, he cannot do 200kg. He does 185kg or 190kg, and it is so heavy that he has to have the maximum effort. That maximum effort is the same frequency and produces the same protein as he did when he lifted 200kg. Now, on a competition, you need that protein. Thats why I always say go to the maximum for the day. If you put a gun to your head, you cannot do 1kg more. Thats your maximum for the day. Alex says that once the body has adapted to lifting maximum weights on a routine basis, warm-ups become insignificant. When you are adapted to this much heavy, heavy maximum weights and so many frequent maximum weights, the body is adapted and can go very fast to maximum. In the wild, the jackrabbit is very fast. When the predator comes, does the jackrabbit say, Wait, let me warm-up, let me
stretch so I can run faster.? [No.] Thats because that jackrabbit sprints all day long. Thats all he does, and hes adapted, so he can go immediately to the 100% sprint, maximum effort. Hysen, he starts with 70kg few times, 120kg, 170, 190kg, 200kg. Once he reaches his maximum, Hysen will make several attempts at that max. If he makes it, he puts more onbecause, as Alex said, more is always better. Reflecting on American lifters, Alex said he sees many young talented lifters in the sport already. However, there is one problem. In the United States, under the current system, if a lifter has not reached his potential, his peak, until nineteen years of age, almost when he gets out of high school, the chances that weightlifter will becomes a world class lifter are greatly diminished. He goes to college, and college work is not easy, so he cannot train as a professional. Or he doesnt go to college, he gets married and he has to provide for a family. I say under the current system, because its an amateur sport. However, in high school, that kid can take so much load that he can become a world champion in the teenage years. During high school, he doesnt think how he is going to pay rent, how is he going to pay insurance, how he is going to provide for the family. All this is provided for him; all he has to do is train, train, train. I think that this is the part that eludes many American coaches. The conventional wisdom tends to be that we do not want to overtrain these young lifters. However, it has been my experience that it is nearly impossible for a healthy young lifter to become overtrained. We tend to err on the side of not enough time in training rather than too much time, because we are afraid they will become burnt out and leave the sport. It is interesting how major sports such as football, basketball and wrestling do not share this same attitude. They push their participants to the maximum day-in and day-out during their season, and in many places, in the off-season as well. Every practice is to maximum. Lets face it. If a lifter quits because the work is too demanding, then that person was not meant to become a champion.
ryan kyle is the coach of Sandusky Weightlifting and the strength coach for St. Marys Central Catholic High School in Sandusky, Ohio. He is a USA Weightlifting club coach and his lifters have medaled at the Youth Pan-American Championships and have been Junior World Team members.
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yAEL grAuEr
WhErE CrEATIVITy AND SPOrT INTErSECT: A CONVErSATION WITh JONAh LEhrEr

Its a warm spring day in St. Paul, Minn., and Im sprinting across the Macalester College campus -not to improve my intermuscular coordination, but to dart to an empty seat in a packed auditorium for the local stop of Jonah Lehrers book tour. A contributing editor at Wired and the bestselling author of How We Decide, Lehrer is a prolific science writer with a knack for delving into the intricacies of brain science in a way that is both compelling and accessible. His latest offering, Imagine: How Creativity Works, masterfully weaves historical and contemporary examples of individual and collective ingenuity with the latest research from the field. Lehrers work is unapologetically interdisciplinary, his insightful real-world examples ranging from Bob Dylans songwriting to the invention of the Swiffer, from Pixars making of Toy Story 2 to 3Ms forays into the world of tape. Unlike most books on the creative process, Imagine is not a neat, tidy package of cookie-cutter solutions. Rather, it offers a nuanced treatise that teases out distinct mental processes often glommed together under the heading of creativity. In one chapter, Lehrer delves into analysis on creative collaboration, looking at research on social relationships of cast members in musicals. In another, he dissects the benefits of urban friction. Lehrer gives equal time to discussing the effects of sadness (and Benzedrine) on the creative process as he does to extolling the virtues of long walks and warm showers in bringing on much-needed epiphanies. Though polite and softspoken, Lehrer is not afraid to defy convention. He boldly points out that research on group brainstorming indicates that it simply doesnt work, and that activities which seem to be a drain on corporate resources or a waste of time (such as allowing employees time each day to work on personal projects, or seeking assistance from outsider rather than industry experts) often have astounding, if counterintuitive, benefits. His open-minded approach and ability to draw insight from countless disciplines
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made me wonder how his concepts could be applied to athletic performance. Creativity is evident in the gym. Its in the carefully selected cues, drills and exercises a seasoned coach uses to get a lifter to what they need to do. Its in the way a grappler channels his strengths and weaknesses, navigating the limitations created by his opponent and problem solving on the fly. Its in scrappy new gym owners using innovation and insight to obtain phenomenal results for their athletes despite extremely limited equipment or poor conditions. Its in the products created to address problems or deficits in unique ways that seem so simple -- if not obvious -- in hindsight. Its in painstakingly improved proprioceptive integration and in gleefully startling moments of kinesthetic insight, both. Its in the delightful moments of letting go and approaching a sport through the eyes of a child, and in the painful moments spent slogging through grueling and often boring drills again and again and again. I was thrilled to speak with Lehrer by phone in April, and asked him some of the many questions that arose while reading his book. Do you think, is solving a real world problem kind of qualitatively different than, say, a teacher giving a student a test problem with an answer, or even a researcher giving test problems to people in the lab? Thats a really interesting and important question, and theres definitely a debate in the field on it, on exactly to what extent these measures of creativity in the lab line up with real world creativity. And you can talk to five researchers and get five different answers. The datas all over the place. Some tests have been validated by looking at real world creativity, so in this sense, like, Bob Dylan would actually score better on these tests of creativity. And theres some evidence that that is true, that divergent thinking does both. You can measure it in the lab and those results do correlate with real world performance. But this is an ongoing debate, and I think its a healthy debate. I think its led researchers to continue to try to come up with better tests in the lab. And its also led researchers, and I think this is incredibly important, to try to do a better job of really finding ways to measure creative success in the real world
So in the book, I obviously cite lots of lab studies, but I also talk about studies that look at creative performance in the real world. Like the study on ADHD, for instance, this actually was not done with creative tests in the lab, it was actually done by looking at people in the real world.1 So I think its important to take both into account, and to realize that there may be a contradication. There was one sentence in the book where you wrote about finding the perfect choreography for a dance and solving an architectural problem. There is some degree of expressiveness in some sports or physical activities, but in some cases it is just a game of numbers. Some sports are more based on weights and numbers I think, as opposed to, you had a great chapter in your book about surfer Clay Marzo, and I think surfing is a little different as far as creativity goes. Yeah, Im not sure if you weightlift if you want to get too creative, because you might do some damage to your body. Im not sure all sports place the same emphasis on creativity. Like track and field; Im not sure when youre running the 100 yard dash, how much room there is for creativity. That said, you know, you can look at the Fosbury flop and the way it transformed the high jump. Thats actually one of my favorite stories of creativity. Heres this guy who struggles for years to be an athlete, and he really cant find his niche; he wasnt that coordinated. And then he invents the Fosbury flop, which is this radical way of doing high jump where you fall backwards, you jump backwards. What a crazy idea. Why would you ever jump backwards? Were built to jump forwards. And yet the Fosbury flop becomes the dominant technique in the high jump. It allows him to win the 68 Olympics and to break the American record. So that leaves room for creativity in athletic performance, but its also important to note that not every sport is going to require the same kind of creativity. Some sports are definitely more about execution. I guess in Olympic weightlifting, what Ive really picked up from working with the Performance Menu, where the creativity is is that the way that people
1 Holly White and Priti Shah, Creative Style and Achievements in Adults
with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Personality and Individual Differences 50 (2011): 673-77.
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structure their training is very creative, all the different approaches to the same problemand also people sharing strategies for solving problems that come up. One of the things that I found really fascinating in your book was when you talked about the benefits of sharing information instead of selfishly guarding it. Can you talk a little about that? Sure. I think we often see creativity as singular. You know, we talk about one individual changing the world all by themselves Oprah, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, But creativitys actually a lot more social than this, so when to look at which factors predict, for instance, entrepreneurial success, what you find is that those with more diverse social networks are far more innovative. So the equivalent in sports would be a football player who doesnt just hang out with football players but also track stars and ballerinas and scientists, and well, those with really diverse social networks, those entrepreneurs were three times more innovative. And you can measure innovation number of patents and trademarks, for example.2 So this strongly suggests that we do get our best ideas from other people. As Steve Jobs said, Creativity is just connecting things, but most of those connections are going to come from our acquaintance. So thats why I think its important if youre an athlete to not just hang out with people who are also in your sport. Youre going to get your best ideas talking to someone whos in another sport. Thats really interesting. Ive trained in grappling in some gyms where coaches do not even want people to visit other gyms in that same sport, and thats a connection I made to the examples you gave of companies who guard their intellectual property and trade secrets, as opposed to examples you gave (Silicon Valley, Shakespeare, etc.) where people thrived collectively from sharing that information. Speaking of competitive sports, theres kind of a saying that you learn more from a loss than you do from a win. You write a bit about sadness leading to improved focus and persistence with challenge. Do you think that would tie into that experience, with
10 STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING CREATIVITY IN THE GYM

1. Are you burnt out and overwhelmed? Feeling totally and completely stumped, but in desperate need of an epiphany that just wont come? If youve spent a ton of time trying and failing to come up with ideas, simply cannot deal with it anymore and are not getting any closer to the solution, just stop. Take a warm shower, go on a hike (without your Smartphone), watch a funny movie, go to a night of stand-up comedy or simply give up and do something else for a while. The answer may very well come to you. 2. Do you need to work on refining your technique? Feel like youre gradually making progress? Buckle down and tap into your internal fortitude. Spend more time trying to figure out what you need or whittling away at the problem. Use caffeine, if necessary, or the harsh words of your critics, or blast some sad tunes on your iPod; whatever it takes to get you to persist with the challenge. 3. Are you a dancer or gymnast struggling with a set that has become too formulaic? Relax. Let yourself go a bit. Welcome that first mistake. Pretend you are a kid again, approaching your activity like you would as a child. 4. Want to make sure youre constantly honing new ideas or coming up with new ones? Make sure to travel--abroad if you can. Instead of just enjoying your getaway, though, make sure you spend time during the trip thinking about those problems you just cant solve back at home. 5. If youre an athlete or coach constantly surrounded by people in your same sport, try surrounding yourself with strangers. You may even want to put yourself in a somewhat uncomfortable situation where you can talk to people who are very different from you. Ask someone youve never met about their work or life. The more you force yourself into these
2 Martin Ruef, Strong Ties, Weak Tues and Islands: Structural and
Cultural Predictors of Organizational Innovation, Industrial and Corporate Change 11 (2002): 427-49.
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performing poorly or losing in a competition?3 Definitely. Like I said in the book, negative moods come with benefits. When were downcast because we lost a big game, for instance, were more attentive, were better at focusing, were more persistent So after a loss, maybe thats a good time to review game plays, to think, What did I get wrong here?, to look at our mistakes and learn from our mistakes. Niels Bohr has this great quote, An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field. And I think thats true of chess grandmasters and NFL quarterbacks; I think thats true of every expert. So maybe this isnt an accident. Maybe thats why this cognitive effect exists. After a loss, youre bummed out, youre sad. You probably lost because you made mistakes, right? Because someone screwed up. Well, thats the time to review it. Thats the time to go over it. I think you have to fight the urge to forget about it and to just move on. Moving ons important, but move on after youve looked at your mistakes and tried to learn from them. I sometimes even wonder, for people in a sport where you have a choice over when and where you compete, whether you need to do harder competitions or compete more often to get that competitive edge; to kind of get that fire back when you lose and youre like, Wow, I suck. I wonder if thats what it takes sometimes The general lesson is the importance of challenging yourself, of putting yourself in situations when youre not always going to win. And this is true in practice, too. If youre practicing and youre having fun, youre almost certainly practicing the wrong way. You want to be pushing yourself at every possible moment to be on the verge of making mistakes, to be doing stuff that feels a little bit uncomfortable. This also I think helps explain why grit is such an important element of success, because grit allows you to practice the right way, which is not the fun way.4
random interactions, the more likely youll get something unexpectedly useful out of it, even if its an association you make on your own later in the day or week. 6. If possible, try to talk to people in other sports or activities about the technical nuances with which youre struggling. If thats not possible, try to pretend you are an outsider and find a way to observe your own problems tediously, carefully, as if you were from a different planet. 7. Visit other gyms and see what they are doing, and share what you are doing. Be less concerned about your own secret methods or intellectual property. Competition may create rapid growth, but collaboration can lead to a more refined growth, which can help take your region to the next level. 8. Feeling stagnant? Compete in a very high level tournament, or get critiqued by a coach who is a staunch perfectionist. Work with people who are better at your sport than you could ever imagine. This can help you get some fire back. Just make sure the critique you get is constructive; not just a list of problems but some strategies to fix them. 9. Have you been working on projects with the same group of people over and over again? Try to add some people you dont know to the mix. You dont have to stop working with your trusted group of co-conspirators in favor of an entire group of strangers, but adding an outsider or two can shake things up a bit and ultimately strengthen your project. 10. Some A-level companies allow employees time off for innovation during their workday, as long as they share what theyre working on with others. We dont all have that luxury, but we can certainly try to tinker with a side project in our off time even if it doesnt seem immediately relevant or appears only peripherally related.
3 Modupe, Akinola and Wendy Mendes, The Dark Side of Creativity: 4 Angela Duckworth, Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term
Biological Vulnerability and Negative Emotions Lead to Greater Artistic Creativity, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34 (2008): 1677-86 Goals, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92 (2007): 1087101
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creators have this remarkably accurate intuition when a problem has been successfully solved. So even though this may seem like, Oh, its just a logo, how do you actually know?, well, the designer might have that feeling, I havent just found it yet. The client likes it because he doesnt know any better but Im going to keep on looking. And thats how you come up with I Love New York. Or in the case of the Brooklyn Brewerys logo [the designer might think,] Ive found this logo. The logo hits it. And the client may say, Oh, we were looking for an Eagle, and the Brooklyn Bridge, not just a cursive B. So if I were that client, Id say, Okay Milton, whatever you think, you know better. And thats true in everything. Thats probably true in athletes, too. You know when youve done your best. You know when youve hit it. And its true for writers, too. You know when your sentence is good enough. Unfortunately, thats rare for me. But youve got a sense of, I did that one. That one I hit. That problem I solved. To me thats true in many domains. People have these intuitions, and I think we should use them more often, that not only are we able to say, I can solve that problem, thats within my reach, thats within my grasp, I can make that move, I can shoot that shot, I can do this physical activity, but the same thing applies to mental problems, and we know were getting closer to it, we know were making progress, and when its complete, we know that to. Its kind of miraculous that we can do this. I guess as an outsider looking at case studies, its hard for me to determine what their success would be. Is someone creating an invention that solves a problem, or do they just have a great marketing strategy? Is it positioning, or hype, or There are so many variables. But youre saying that someone can look at their own activity and know Yeah, I think you should begin by asking yourself, Am I satisfied with this? And then, of course, you need to negotiate the rest of the world. Ive written things before and was satisfied with them, and then my editors took a read and of course they win; they can win any argument. But thats the nature of creativity in the real world. Its a very messy thing. But I think your first question should be, How do I feel about this? And, you know, take that intuition seriously.
Im not quite as familiar with the research on grit; Ive mostly read second-hand reports about it. Is it something you develop or is it something you just have? Its a bit of both. Its like most personality traits, which is actually in the ballpark of 50/50; 50% nature and 50% nurture. Which is actually pretty good news because it means that you can do a lot to build it up. Can I ask you some really hard questions that are really only peripherally related? Just some things that came up to me while reading When you look at something subjective like a logo, how do you define what is successful? Typically, a lot of graphic artists are happy when their client is happy, but you wrote about two different logos In one of them, in the I Love NY logo, the artist didnt like it. In a lot of instances, I think the designer would be satisfied with that, that the client liked it. The other logo, the Brooklyn Brewery logo, the artist liked it but the client didnt like it at first. So how do you define success? Thats a great question. I think if youre Milton Glaser, if youre an expert, if youve got the experience he does and youre one of the most talented graphic designers in the world, I think you want to listen to him. I think
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Do you think theres an inherent trade-off if you want to be creative or be successful, that theres an inherent trade-off, like, that youre going to be less satisfied? Youve written about how many peoples creativity has a tendency to decline unless they continually reinvent themselves it declines as they become enculturated in the status quo Im guessing because its easier or more comfortable to not constantly be pushing the edge? For sure. Thats kind of sad, right? I mean, its totally fucking depressing. But I think theres a reason you see these peak ages of creativity. Because when were young and foolish, we dont know any better, and then we go, Oh, I figured out the game. I know how to get grants now. I know how to live a comfortable lifestyle. Its easier. Its taking the path of least resistance. And thats why people who stay creative their entire careers theyre amazing. Theyre legends. But Im not sure I want to be them. Im not sure I want to be Bob Dylan, who plays 200+ shows a year, or Paul Erdos, who published a paper every 2 weeks and was hooked on amphetamines much of his life. This is kind of miserable, right? So theres definitely a tradeoff. Im not sure between creativity and success, I wouldnt call it success, but Id say between creativity and comfort. I just think about guys who maybe compete and always win in the local scene but do not stand out in the national or international level Its comfortable for them, and they have a certain level of success in that they can beat everyone locally, but theyre not pushing themselves as much as they could be. I mean, there are a lot of athletes I think that would trade off comfort for success and some that wouldnt; Im not sure if I would It definitely is something I think everyone struggles with, right? I mean we all know we could be better, but at what cost? And I think were always taking stock of ourselves on these curves. I can get there, but how many hours am I going to have to put in? How much blood, sweat and tears is involved? I think deep down were always making those calculations and they determine whether we curl down in front of the TV or go back to the gym, whether we go back to the office and chain ourselves to our desk or have a beer. Im not advocating success at all costs by any means. I think its a calculation we all have to do.
Okay. I have so many more questions, but I want to be respectful of your time, so let me end with one on a lighter note. Since youve written about the cognitive consequences of color and architecture what color should you paint your gym? Your gym, Id go for red. Not only would you get the benefits of focus, but youd also get the benefits of vigilance. You probably dont want people lifting in a sky blue gym. You dont want them daydreaming too much while lifting heavy barbells. That seems a little dangerous to me. So red is associated, at least in the West, with blood, stop signs, danger. So people are more aware, theyre better at recall of words and proofreading.5 If I were a gym owner, I would want aware, vigilant users. I wouldnt want people coming up with lots of big creative ideas while on the treadmill; Id want them focused on the treadmill so they wouldnt hurt themselves. Interesting. I did also wonder, were big on evolutionary biology, and I wonder if theres a case to be made for training outside. So maybe what you want is a lot of natural light, people exposed to the light, an open airy space, with a few red walls. Im not sure how the average trainer would react to a powder blue gym. They might be pushing it. Youd have to do yoga. Yeah, the yoga studio should definitely be powder blue.
yael grauer is a freelance writer and editor based in Minn., MN. Her health and fitness writing has been featured in Experience Life, Taste for Life, Black Belt, Ultimate MMA and Bitch Magazine. She works as a food blogger for City Pages Hot Dish, and profiles MMA fighters for Sherdog.com, where she also serves as the weekend editor. Yael enjoys cooking, vegetable gardening, hiking, and obsessively training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She can be found riding her bike to scout out independent bookstores and new cafes in the summer, and listening to bluegrass music with the heat cranked all the way up in the winter. Readers can follow Yael on twitter at @ yaelwrites, check out her website and blog at yaelwrites.com, or send her an e-mail at yael@yaelwrites.com. She likes talking to strangers.
5 Ravi Mehta and Rui Zhu, Blue or Red? Exploring the Effect of Color on
Cognitive Task Performances, Science 323 (2009): 1226-29.
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SEAN grEELEy
FAILurE IS FOr ThE WEAk

There is a LOT of head trip stuff to success. After coaching a lot of people through the years in both fitness and business, I consistently see that what goes on between your ears is just about 99% of the battle. Building a successful business is not unlike a fitness program. What you believe to be true -- what your baselines of standards are -- generally determines how high up the ladder youll climb. YOU know this to be true. Take a look at clients that succeed and clients that fail in your fitness business. Have you ever spent time thinking about what separates the winners from the losers, and then applying that awareness to yourself and your own success in achieving your goals? Lets talk more about a typical fitness client who wants to lose weight. Everyone starts at the same place on day 1. But some people wash out after about a month or so, because they think that building a regular pattern of exercise and healthy nutrition into their life is too much work. Or they think, I just cant do that, because I wasnt born with great genetics, or being fit is only for crazy people that are fanatics. But the reality is that everyone can live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Being overweight and out of shape doesnt just happen, just like getting and staying in great shape doesnt just happen. Both states of being are a result of the choices we make and behaviors we build into our lives. Ask yourself, what do you believe to be true? Is being in shape and being wealthy for crazy people? Personally, I believe that being unfit and broke is whats crazy! We all get to make a choice about whether we want to live fit or fat, rich or broke, happy or miserable. Accepting personal responsibility for the decisions we make in life is the first step in determining the type of life we will live. Then, follow-through with congruency in our behaviors and actions, combined with a commitment to persistent, unyielding and steady discipline, is what completes getting things done. The success formula is really simple. You set a goal, commit to the action steps required to achieve it, and get shit done. In its simplest form, success is NOT a big secret or mystery its just not easy. Putting yourself on the success track (and keeping yourself there) requires a lot of saying no and cutting off old people, patterns of behavior, and other chains that are holding you back. Said another way, before you can fill your refrigerator with healthy fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and lots of bottles of water youve got to throw out all the ice cream, cookies and frozen pizza. And this is where so many people get hung up and stuck. Saying yes to success is easy. But saying no to failure is hard. Its my personal belief and observation as a coach that more than loving success, youve got to really hate failure. And youve got to hate failure so much
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that youll stop at nothing to eliminate it from your life. They say that failure can be a great teacher, and thats true. The biggest lessons in life generally come from failure, not success. In the beginning, you dont know, what you dont know. But after youve made a mistake once, repeating the mistake a second (or third, fourth, fifth) time only means that youre continuing to allow failure to happen through the decisions youve made. Sure, sometimes we all get blindsided. But more often than not, there are warning signs and red flags. Ignoring a problem, repeating a mistake, hoping it will all just go away, or rationalizing to yourself that things will just work themselves out are ALL decisions. But these are decisions for those without the courage to stand up, look failure (and fear) in the eye, and then kick it in the teeth. If you really want success, then you cant run and hide. Youve got to have the courage to stand up and fight every step of the way. And you cant allow anyone or anything (including yourself) to hold you back. Am I crazy? You tell me. Is it crazy to be successful, fit, rich, and happy? Or is it crazy to be a failure, fat, broke, and miserable? Its important that you make a decision here, and dont be wishy-washy about it! Make a stand. As a close friend of mine says, choose your Alamo.
I should warn you that this change in your thinking and beliefs will separate you from the majority of the world. Youll be living your life in a way that most human beings cant understand or identify with. But then again, most of them are failures; fat, broke, and miserable so cutting yourself off from this group, in the end, is a VERY good thing. But dont worry; you dont have to go it alone. There are a LOT of great new people youre going to meet and that youll attract into your world. Like attracts like, and success attracts success. Youll be rising up to join a group of winners and other successful, fit, rich, and happy people. Youll have made your own Quantum Leap.
Sean greeley AKA Mr. Systems is all about making the most from of all youve got. As a professional wakeboarder, he rose to the very highest level, representing team USA at the World Championships in Germany. As a fitness business owner, again, he far surpassed what many of his peers in the industry dreamed of accomplishing, creating a 653-strong client base in just 3 years, starting from nothing. Today, Sean devotes his time to serving thousands of coaches and fitness business owners worldwide, empowering them with the systems, tools, and coaching they need to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams. Seans company NPE has been listed twice on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing US owned private corporations. For more information on how to grow your fitness business, request his Secrets To Their Success magazine and DVD which features 13 in-depth industry-specific case studies by going to FitnessBusinessSystems.com.
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MATT FOrEMAN
TrAININg PrOgrAM FOr MATT FOrEMAN, MArCh-APrIL 1993

This is the second section of my 1993 training program. For those of you who havent been following these articles for the last couple of months, my entire training experience from January through December of 1993 is being documented in monthly installments of Performance Menu. I made a permanent move from my home in Arizona to Auburn, Washington in January 1993 to train with the Calpian Weightlifting Club and coach John Thrush, and this article covers seven weeks of training from the beginning of March through the end of April. I was twenty years old at this time and the Calpians were one of the elite clubs in America. This follows last months installment, where I competed in the Oregon Cup in February and finished with a 115 kilo snatch, 150 kilo clean and jerk, and 265 kilo total. I had previously snatched 120 kilos in competition in 1992, but 265 was still my best total. Here is my progress on this program:
DECEMBEr 1993
Age: 21 Bodyweight: 102 kg Snatch: 132.5 kg Clean and Jerk: 167.5 kg Competition Total: 300 kg Clean: 167.5 kg Rack Jerk: 180 kg Back Squat: 222.5 kg Front Squat: 180 kg As you read this program, keep the following things in mind: Every lift I did in my workouts is recorded here, all warm-up sets included. I write sets and reps as follows: 5x3 means five sets of three repetitions, 100x2 means 100 kilos for a double (a set of two reps), 2x8 means two sets of eight reps, etc. All missed attempts are recorded as well. Any personal records are listed in bold print. Every workout (weights, sets, and reps) was planned out for me. I just followed the program. The lifts are self-explanatory, no tricky names or anything. There are a couple of special exercises we did that need some clarification,
JANuAry 1993
Age: 20 Bodyweight: 101 kg Snatch: 120 kg Clean and Jerk: 150 kg Competition Total: 265 kg Clean: 155 kg Rack Jerk: 155 kg Back Squat: 227.5 kg Front Squat: 180 kg
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and Ill put those in here. General Notes: In the first few weeks of this section of the program, my training started to catch fire and I made some new personal records in the gym that improved on the ones I had already recorded in the previous weeks. Unfortunately, the only injury I had during 1993 happened in this section. When I was attempting a 152.5 kilo clean in the week of 3/29, I got a moderate strain of the lateral collateral ligament in my knee. It was a painful one and it set me back for a while. So the last three weeks of this program are recovery from an injury, where I had to modify my workouts considerably.
100x2, 110x1, 120x1 Snatch Pulls- 130x3, 145 5x3 Back Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 140x3, 140x3, 160x3 Saturday Snatch- 50x4, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 90x3, 90x2, 95x2, 100x2, 100x1, 105x2, 105x1, 107.5x1, 107.5x1, 112.5x2, 117.5 (miss), 110x1, 110x2, 115x1 Clean Pulls- 145x3, 165x3, 175x1, 185 5x3 Stop Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 170x3, 177.5x3, 180x3, 182.5x2
WEEk OF 3/8/93
Monday Clean and Jerk- 60x3, 80x3, 80x3, 80x2, 100x2, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 147.5x1, 152.5x1, 157.5 (missed jerk) Snatch Pulls- 135x3, 145x3, 140x3, 135x3, 130x3 Stop Squat- 110x3, 140x3, 170x3, 177.5x3, 180x3 Tuesday Rack Jerk- 60x3, 60x3, 80x3, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 145x1, 150x1, 140x1, 145x1, 150x1 Power Clean- 60x3, 80x3, 100x2, 120x2, 125x2, 127.5x2 Wednesday Snatch- 50x3, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 90x3, 90x2, 100x2, 100x1, 105x2, 105x1, 105x1, 107.5x2, 112.5x2, 117.5x1, 110x2, 115x2 Clean Pulls- 130x3, 150x3, 180x3, 190x3, 185x3, 180x3, 175x3 Military Press- 55 3x10 Thursday Clean and Jerk- 60x3, 60x2, 80x3, 80x2,
WEEk OF 3/15/93
Monday Snatch Pulls- 60 2x5, 90x3, 110x3, 120x3, 130x3, 142.5 5x3 Clean Pulls- 147.5x3, 155 5x3 Back Squat- 100x5, 140x3, 160x3, 170 5x5 Seated Good Mornings- 60 2x8 o These are good mornings while seated on a bench, with the bar on the shoulders like a back squat.
Tuesday Rack Jerk- 70x5, 70x4, 90x3, 110x2, 120x1, 130x1, 140x1, 150x1, 160 (miss), 165 (miss), 140 5x2 Clean Pulls- 110x3, 140 3x3 Wednesday Clean Pulls- 70x5, 100x3, 130x3, 130x3, 150x3, 170x3, 190 3x3 Stop Squat- 100x3, 100x3, 140x3, 140x3, 160x3, 170 3x3 Thursday Snatch Pulls- 60 2x5, 90x3, 110x3, 120x2, 140x2
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Front Squat- 70x5, 90x3, 110x3, 130x3, 150x3, 160 5x3 Saturday Clean Pulls- 60x4, 90x3, 120x3, 160 5x3 Snatch Pulls- 120 3x3 Back Squat- 70x5, 110x4, 140x3, 160x3, 180x3, 185 3x3 Seated Good Mornings- 50 3x6
95x2, 100x2, 100x2, 105x2, 105x1, 110x1, 110x1, 115x1, 120x1, 105x2, 110x2 Snatch Pulls- 137.5 3x3 Stop Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 177.5 3x3
WEEk OF 3/29/93
Monday Snatch- 50x3, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 90x3, 90x2, 95x2, 100x2, 100x2, 105x2, 105x2, 110x2, 115x1, 117.5x1 Snatch Pulls- 145 5x3 Back Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 170x5, 185x3, 185x2, 170x5 Seated Good Mornings- 70 2x8 Tuesday Power Clean- 60 2x3, 80x3, 100x2, 110x2, 120x1 Jerk- 60x3, 80x3, 100x2, 120x1 Thursday Clean and Jerk- 60x3, 60x2, 80x3, 80x2, 100x2, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 147.5x1, 152.5 (missed clean, knee injury)
WEEk OF 3/22/93
Monday Clean and Jerk- 60x3, 60x2, 80x3, 80x2, 100x2, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 150x1, 155x1, 160 (miss) Snatch Pulls- 120 3x3 Front Squat- 70x3, 100x3, 130x3, 150x1, 160x3 Tuesday Rack Jerk- 60 2x3, 80x3, 90x3, 110x2, 120x1, 135x1, 145x1, 152.5x1, 160x1, 165x1 Clean Pulls- 110x3, 155 3x3 Pressing- 60x5, 70 2x5, 75 2x5 Wednesday Clean Pulls- 60 2x3, 80x3, 100x2, 120x1, 140x2, 160x2, 180 5x3 Snatch Pulls- 140 3x3 Back Squat- 180 5x3 Thursday Snatch- 50x3, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 90x3, 90x2, 95x2, 95x1, 100x2, 100x1, 105x1, 90x2, 95x2, 100x2, 105x1 Front Squat- 70x4, 100x3, 120x3, 145 3x3 Saturday Snatch- 50x4, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 90x3, 90x2,
WEEk OF 4/4/93
Monday Back Squat- 50 2x8, 70 2x8 Shrugs- 85x8, 125x8, 165 3x8 Tuesday Back Squat- 60 4x10 Thursday Back Squat- 60 3x5, 80 5x5 Military Press- 60x5, 70 3x5
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WEEk OF 4/12/93
Monday Snatch Pulls- 60x5, 60x3, 80x3, 80x3, 90x3, 100x3, 110x3, 120 5x3 Back Squat- 60 2x5, 90x5, 110x3, 130x3, 140x3 Seated Good Mornings- 60 2x8 Tuesday Rack Jerk- 60 2x3, 80x3, 100x2, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 130x1, 135x1, 140x1, 145x1 Power Clean from blocks- 60 2x3, 80x3, 90x3, 100x3 Wednesday Snatch Pulls- 60x5, 60x3, 90x3, 90x3, 110x3, 120x3, 130 7x3 Clean Pulls- 130 5x3 Back Squat- 60x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x5, 140 3x5 Seated Good Mornings- 70 2x8 Thursday Clean Pulls- 60x5, 60x3, 90x3, 110x3, 130x3, 150x3, 160 7x3 Snatch Pulls- 130 3x3 Front Squat- 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 120x3, 130 3x3 Seated Good Mornings- 75 3x5 Saturday Clean Pulls- 60x5, 60x3, 90x3, 110x3, 130x3, 150x3, 170 5x3 Snatch Pulls- 130 3x3 Back Squat- 60x5, 90x3, 130x3, 150x3, 170x3, 175x3, 175x3 Seated Good Mornings- 80 2x5
WEEk OF 4/19/93
Monday Snatch- 50x3, 50x3, 70x3, 70x3, 80x3, 80x3, 90x3, 90x3, 95x3, 95x3, 100x1, 100x1, 100x1, 100x1 Snatch Pulls- 120x3, 130x3, 140 5x3 Back Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 160x3, 170 3x3 Seated Good Mornings- 90 3x5 Tuesday Rack Jerk- 60x5, 60x3, 80x3, 90x3, 110x2, 120x1, 130x1, 130x1, 140x1, 140x1, 150x1, 155x1, 160x1, 165 (miss), 165 (miss), 165 (miss), 165x1 Power Clean- 60x3, 80x3, 90x3, 110x2, 110x2, 115x2 Wednesday Clean- 50x3, 60x3, 80x3, 80x2, 90x3, 90x2, 100x2, 110x1 Clean Pulls- 120x3, 140x3, 160x3, 170x3, 175 4x3 Back Squat- 100x3, 140x3, 160x3, 175 3x3 Thursday Snatch- 40 2x3, 50x3, 70 2x3, 90x3, 90x3, 95x3, 95x3, 100x2, 105x2, 105x2, 105x2, 90x4 Snatch Pulls- 120x3, 130x3, 145 4x3 Front Squat- 100x3, 120x3, 120x2, 140 3x3 Seated Good Mornings- 90 3x5 Saturday Clean- 50x4, 60x3, 60x2, 70x3, 80x3, 90x3, 100x3, 100x3, 110x3, 110x3, 110x3, 115x3, 120x3, 110x3, 110x3 Clean Pulls- 150 5x3 Back Squat- 120x3, 150x3, 170x3, 180x3, 190 3x3
33
That does it for this months section. Injuries are no fun, but they happen sometimes. In next months installment, the injury heals all the way up and I start having some big breakthroughs. There are many ways that you can examine and use this information, and hopefully youll get some effec-
tive ideas for your own programming that will lead to big personal records. See you next month, and remember the Calpian motto: Beware the fury of a patient man.
34
COOkINg WITh SCOTTy SCOTT hAgNAS

LOTuS rOOT STIr Fry
This month, our feature food is the lotus root. Lotus root is common in Asian cuisine. Look for it in Asian or Indian markets. Time: 40 minutes 2-3 lotus root 3 Tbsp coconut oil 3 large green onions 1 Tbsp diced ginger garlic powder to taste 2 Tbsp tamari sauce
Lotus Root Stir Fry
Peel and slice the lotus root into 1/4-inch thick disks. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Lay a single layer of the lotus root in the skillet and fry on each side for around 2 minutes, and then remove to a plate. Repeat until you have cooked all of your lotus root. Add more coconut oil to the skillet, then stir fry the green onion and ginger until softened. Return all of the lotus root along with the garlic and tamari sauce. Reduce the heat and cover. Cook for around 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. Nutritional info: 4 servings at 10g carb, 10g fat.
MExICAN PINEAPPLE STIr Fry

Time: 22 minutes 1 1/2 lb chicken thighs or breast, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup chopped leeks (or onion) 1/2 cup chopped bacon 1 each green, red, and orange bell peppers stemmed, seeded, and sliced 1 1/2 cup chopped pineapple 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 1 Tbsp oregano 1 tsp cumin
35
FrENCh STyLE STrAWBErrIES

Time: 10 minutes 1 lb organic strawberries, hulled and halved 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar fresh ground black pepper Simmer the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. You want it to get thick but still pourable. Allow it to cool. Serve the strawberries in a bowl, and then drizzle them with the vinegar. Lightly add the pepper; then serve. Nutritional info: 4 servings at 10g carb.
Mexican Pineapple Stir Fry
Brown the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. While its cooking, add the leeks or onion. Saut until the bacon has browned some and the leeks are soft. Add the chopped chicken and brown on all sides. Then, add the remaining ingredients and cook for around 10 minutes longer. Nutritional info: 3 servings at 21g carb, 55g prot, 20g fat.
NuT BuTTEr DELIghT

Heres a super simple and delicious way to add calories to your day if you are trying to gain weight. Im not a big fan of nut butters, but they are likely fine if used in certain phases such as a mass gain stage. Time: 3 minutes
TOSTONES
Tostones are a side dish common in Central and South America. Some recipes call for mashing and frying twice, but I find its much simpler and just as good keeping it simple. Time: 15 minutes 2 green plantains (bananas can work in a pinch) coconut oil sea salt Heat 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Peel and slice the plantains crosswise into 1/2inch pieces. Saut the plantains, turning, until browned some on both sides. Dust with sea salt. Nutritional info: 4 servings at 26g carb, ~7g fat.
2 Tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter) 1 Tbsp coconut oil dash of vanilla extract optional: cinnamon 1-2 Tbsp raisins Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl; mash and mix well. Nutritional info: 1 serving at 31g fat. (without raisins)
Scott hagnas is owner of CrossFit Portland. He is certified as a CrossFit level 2 trainer and Circular Strength Training (clubbell) instructor. He has been riding BMX flatland for 26 years and counting and has filmed/produced/edited several series of BMX videos, plus several training videos. He formerly competed in bicycle trials, placing second in amateur in the World Championships in 1990. Cooking is one of his favorite pastimes.
36
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JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

ISSUE 88 . MAY 2012

35 COOkINg WITh SCOTTy

16 TALkINg POINTS WITh ALExANDEr kryChEV

22 WhErE CrEATIVITy AND SPOrT INTErSECT: A CONVErSATION WITh JONAh LEhrEr

28 FAILurE IS FOr ThE WEAk

30 TrAININg PrOgrAM FOr MATT FOrEMAN, JANuAry-MArCh 1993

TABLE OF CONTENTS THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ASk grEg & AIMEE

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

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ThE PuLL FrOM ThE FLOOr: A BAD TIME TO SuCk

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grEASy FAST SPEED

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hEELS? TOES? WhAT ThE ****?

AT ThE END OF ThE DAy

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

Matthew hoff and Erik Westerlund, MD

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ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

PhASE 2: ThE INFLAMMATOry PhASE

PhASE 3: ThE PrOLIFErATIVE PhASE

PhASE 1: ThE INJury EVENT & hEMOSTASIS

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

generalized biomechanical quality and compliance and other factors.

PhASE 4: rEMODELINg AND/Or rEgENErATIVE PrOCESSES

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

TALkINg POINTS WITh ALExANDEr kryChEV

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

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WhErE CrEATIVITy AND SPOrT INTErSECT: A CONVErSATION WITh JONAh LEhrEr

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ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

10 STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING CREATIVITY IN THE GYM

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FAILurE IS FOr ThE WEAk

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ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

TrAININg PrOgrAM FOr MATT FOrEMAN, MArCh-APrIL 1993

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ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

COOkINg WITh SCOTTy SCOTT hAgNAS

MExICAN PINEAPPLE STIr Fry

ISSuE 88 / MAy 2012 THE PERFORMANCE MENU

FrENCh STyLE STrAWBErrIES

Mexican Pineapple Stir Fry

NuT BuTTEr DELIghT