The Munter Hitch

Good info from Andy Kirkpatrick at psychovertical on how to tie a Munter hitch; another way to tie it here. Key thing to remember is that, opposite to a tube style belay device, you have to move the belay strand parallel to the load strand to lock off (brake hand UP). You can also use it in a Munter-Mule combo to escape the belay. I've actually used it before at the top of a pitch when I've dropped my belay device, with only the faintest memory of how to tie it (sorry B!). Good info to keep in your arsenal.

Adaptation

I was reading some literature on the compressive loads experienced by the spine during deadlifts when I came across some interesting data from a study by Granhed et al. (1987). They calculated loads on the L3 vertebrae of experienced powerlifters (all of the lifters in the study were pulling over 200 kg, with a few over 300 kg). What I found interesting was that the authors reported the the annual lifting tonnage from the lifters' training records. I've re-plotted the data below:
This is essentially Granhed et als third figure, although I've switched the axes to reflect my belief in the causal variable, and included the weights for the lifters and data for control subjects.

The data isn't exactly surprising, and there's good evidence that resistance-exercise makes bone stronger (Suominen, 1993). Of course, the study was cross-sectional, so it's unclear how much increase in bone mineral content these lifters saw over the course of their individual training. It's entirely possible that only lifters with strong spines ever manage to lift a lot of weight over the course of a year, and that they experienced little or no adaptation in bone density from lifting heavy weights. Undoubtedly, this bias exists to some degree; the deadlift is an incredible selective pressure after all (I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen deadlift in my gym over 2 years; ok, that's true only if I exclude the Crossfitters, otherwise I would need two hands). Nevertheless, data from longitudinal studies in athletes suggests that increases in bone density are indeed related to training, suggesting that the above plot isn't entirely correlational.

Oh, and the forces on the lumbar spine during the conventional deadlift? No surprise, they are huge, and the worse your form, the more force you are exposing your spine to. Calculated loads for competitive powerlifters exceed 20 kilonewtons. Climbers will recognize that this is close to the rated strength of many carabiners.

A really great post on the active shoulder by Tracy Fober; here's a snippet, read the rest over at her blog. I've always wondered why people give the cue 'shoulder-into-ears' for movements like the overhead squat.

At a weightlifting meet, you'll hear coaches yell "push" or "reach" to their athletes. The athlete must aggressively resist the downward forces of gravity and barbell to successfully receive the bar and complete the lift. Many people confuse this aggressive "push" with a shrug of the upper trap. Yes, the upper traps are strong, but we do not want to elevate the shoulder girdle and decrease approximation of the scapula on the rib cage; nor do even want to think we can hold that weight up with upper body muscular strength. We receive the bar at arms length, lock the wrist and elbow in a fully extended position, and maximize contact of the scapula with the thorax via serious isometric contraction of scapular stabilizers. The human body supports the overhead load with the greatest area of bony stability possible, and transfers that force over the entire musculoskeletal system.

Evolution

I've been thinking a lot about training specificity lately, and how to make my training more efficient by eliminating that which doesn't offer some hope of transfer. Came across a thoughtful piece by Mark Twight. Here's a teaser:

If mere fitness were the dominant contributor to success in a sport then the fittest would also be the best. But over and over I have seen incredibly fit athletes – by all measures and testing – lose to less fit athletes who have better technical (neurological) skills. It happens in climbing all of the time. It happens in jiu-jitsu. It surely happens running, cycling and Nordic skiing. Great technique differentiates athletes at the highest level; most top tier athletes share similar degrees of fitness. This being the case, technical training must take precedent, which begs the questions, how much conditioning is appropriate to one’s sport? How strong is strong enough? How transferable is one’s “artificial” training? If the answer to the latter is “not very,” meaning significant re-education is required, then sport-specific training is preferable because the brain and central nervous system must continually learn and refine specific motor skills. Achieving fitness at the expense of skill is a waste of time and resources so using “cross-training” as the primary means of improving sport performance is a dead end.

Read the whole thing before passing judgment. It's a great reminder that training only makes sense in the context of concrete goals.

Texas, week 15, recovery

Warm-up:
front squat (triples to 185#)
foam rolling hip flexors

3x3 front squat (210)
3x5 bench press (145)
2-2-5 deadlift (hook grip; 315)

Planned on some running since I've committed to a 5k next weekend, but I'm congested, so I'll try again tomorrow. Front squats are getting heavy; the last reps were slow. Real happy pulling 5x315 without straps using a hook grip; last time required a mixed grip, and my best set of 5 with straps is only 30# more.

At the end of week 16, I'm going to start shifting to more Oly lifting. Here is more knowledge from Glenn Pendlay for future reference.

I <4 deadlifts

There is no point in being alive if you cannot do the DeadLift.
-Jón Páll Sigmarsson

More sound advice from Rippetoe on how to avoid shitting yourself while deadlifting.

The videos below, besides demonstrating ridiculous strength, illustrate two different styles of conventional pulling. Koklyaev with a traditional straight-back, and Konstantinovs with a round-back (lumbar spine in extesion, thoracic spine allowed to round). I've seen some discussion of this technique, but I still fail to understand how at heavier weights this doesn't pose the same risk to your thoracic vertebrae as rounding your lower back does (obviously at lower weights for mere mortals). Anyone care to explain?

Koklyaev 3x370kg (816lb)

Konstantinovs 4x350kg (772lb)

What to do when stalled on the Texas Method

Sooner or later you're gonna find out that you can't keep adding weight to the barbell every week. So, what are you supposed to do when progress stalls? Some great thoughts on working through stalls from Glenn Pendlay (who wrote the Texas Method) in this thread on the Crossfit boards. There's also more good stuff in this interview with Rippetoe, where Pendlay covers some history, training theory and various periodization concepts. Good stuff.

Low-bar versus high-bar back squats

I thought it'd be useful to collect some links to forum discussions, the informed opinions of smart people and some video regarding the distinction between low-bar and high-bar back squats.

Two interesting threads on bar placement over at the Crossfit boards (first and second). Lots of crazy talk to wade through, but the first is notable for a good discussion between Greg Everett and Mark Rippetoe, and the second is rescued by a thoughtful pair of posts by Glenn Pendlay.

Some articles:
The Olympic squat by Tommy Kono
The Squat, or How I Learned to Stop Leg-Pressing and Use My Ass by Mark Rippetoe
Specifically speaking by Lon Kilgore
High- and low-bar squatting techniques during weight-training by Wretenberg et al.
The myths of the squat by Rob Wagner
The squat: Hip vs knee by the Fitness Crew
Do you know squat? by Brian DeGennaro
Olympic vs. Powerlifting Squats by Geoff Neupert and Mike Robertson
A case for the upright squat by Jon Gilson
The 411 on back angles and torque when squatting by Tracy Fober
Notes on the full squat from lectures by Charles Poliquin

It's rare to find videos of the same lifter doing both squat variants with heavy weight (if you know of more, please post links to the comments). The videos below are interesting since while both compare low-bar and high-bar squats, neither lifter has a remarkably wider stance when executing the low-bar squat (the first has gone missing, you can find my own here). This is worth noting since people often associate the low-bar position with a wide, powerlifter's stance. When you only change the bar position, the visual differences between the lifts are pretty subtle.




To the future:
The first video went missing, so I made one of my own, posted here. Another set at different loads here.
Added link to Rips article (see above) 12/23/09.

Texas, week 10, recovery

Warm-up:
front squat (triples to 135#)

3x3 front squat (190)
3x5 shoulder press (95)
3x2 deadlift (315)

Finished with some front tuck levers (about 15 seconds for the longest hold), planks and foam rolling.

Second set of front squats. I could get a bit deeper by narrowing my stance a bit, although I need to check my clean catch position to see if that adjustment would be beneficial. Bar path good on the first 2 reps, but takes an 'S' trajectory on the last rep. A thoughtful piece on the front squat from Crossfit SF that offers insight into what is happening on the third rep. Not really a bad thing, but probably shouldn't happen on weights this light.

Second set of deads. These are pretty ugly; video exposes all sorts of nasty habits. Two obvious defects: 1) silly bouncing around before the first lift fucks up the start position and prevents me from setting my back well, 2) as a consequence of 1), I lose thoracic extension right off the bat (this is less terrible, but still apparent, in the second rep).

Texas, week 0, recovery

Warm-up:
front squat (triples to 175#)

3x3 front squat (175)
3x5 shoulder press (90 [push press last 2 reps])
3x5 bent-over row (135)

3x1 min front plank

I'm starting a new cycle of strength programming known as the Texas Method (here also). This qualifies as a recovery day. The rep schemes and weight progressions vary depending on who you talk to, but the general idea is the same; use 80-90% of your 1RM to get the blood flowing. Worked on some bar muscle-ups at the end, which I just couldn't seem to pull off today.

For future reference, link to a training log from a guy using the Texas Method.

Protect ya neck

Cumulative diagram of 663 survived stab and cut wounds in 158 surviving victims of sharp force injuries (Schmidt & Pollak, 2006). Gotta watch those right-handers.