Day 2 in the books at King Crossfit in Seattle. Rudy and I spent the majority of the day on the Olympic Lifts. It was pretty cool to walk through the first pull, the sweep back of the bar off the floor, and foot positioning in the jerk. They got it! We saw their lifts transform and efficiency started to happen. It was sweet to watch their light bulbs come on for the first time.
We spent all day on the Olympic lifts today because of a couple HUGE principles for Crossfitters. Primarily, Rudy and I are huge advocates that proficiency in the Olympic lifts translates to most everything in Crossfit. Bottomline, if I get really good at the Snatch and Clean and Jerk that ability and capacity will trickle down into every other movement. Think about it this way. If I have a 300lb Front Squat and can Clean 250 then I come up against a competitor with a 400 Front Squat who can clean 350, not only will my competitor beat me in all the lifting BUT he will also move a thruster or a wall ball or perform a air squat faster and with less effort. The same is true of the snatch in comparison to the OHS, KB Swing, or Box Jump. If you are good at the Olympic lifts you will have the capacity and the ability to be good at EVERY other movement. They are top level movements and thus create a greater capacity for the lower level movements. Flip the tables though and find someone who is really good at KB Swings and Wall Balls they may not be good at the Snatch and CJ. (Jason Hoggan) Sure they could destroy a 12 min Opens AMRAP but when they hit the snatch ladder at Regionals their finished. The majority of Crossfit’s movement do not create greater proficiency in the Olympic lifts. It works the other way around. This is why I preach and preach that Crossfitters MUST be good at the Olympic lifts if they expect to compete on a high level in the sport of fitness.
It was a pretty cool day seeing the camp folks understand that and truly desire to be better at the lifts. Awesome day!
Oh and this is pretty cool. Unbelievable honor to be on this poster with some incredible lifters. I mean it is ridiculous that I am even mentioned in the same sentence as folks like Jenny Arthur, Jon North, James Tatum, the Barnes brothers, or Travis Cooper. Incredibly blessed.