Guys who can pull a ton don’t get there by jerking the weight up. Here’s the right way to get set for a big PR. …read more

I just came back from a very exciting two day trip to crossfit headquarters in Santa Cruz California. Russell Berger from Crossfit Inc. sent me an email asking if I’d like to be part of a roundtable discussion on kipping pullups. It’s part of a crossfit segment entitled “offline” where several topics related and unrelated to crossfit are discussed.

My response… Hell yes! A week later crossfit treated me to a trip out to sunny california for a bit of fun and discussion. The panel that came out to speak was filled with studs:

• David Durante – Formerly a member of team USA gymnastics
• Carl Paoli – One of my favorite sources for gymnastics coaching, also an excellent former gymnast
• Jacob Tsypski – Owner of Crossfit Monterey. Contributor to Juggernaut Training Systems
• Special guest: Dan Bailey

Over the two days we had some great conversation and fun. Overall I was very pleased and am excited to have hopefully sparked some interest in this controversial exercise. I had a chance to meet several members of crossfit who I’ve seen only online and I was a bit star struck.

Well, I’m tired and ready for bed. I just wanted to post something for the week and fill you in on why I didn’t have any new material. I’ll post the video once it’s up! Thanks for everyone for the support over the years.

Dan Pope

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The barbell has things to teach you, pantywaist. Painful, but very rewarding things. …read more

Do this simple test on your thoracic spine, apply the easy fixes, and watch as your chin-ups, pull-ups, and OH presses explode. …read more

Simple yet effective ways to turn tired old exercises into plateau busting, muscle building dynamos. …read more

It’s that time of the month again. Time for a new program. Overall I was happy with the amount of volume from last month’s program. I had fun with the workouts and didn’t feel too gassed. One of the biggest things I changed personally was splitting up some of the workouts. I know this isn’t possible for everyone but I feel it makes an enormous difference. I hit a new PR on my power snatch with a lift of 195lbs. Snatch has always been a weakness and it’s been improving regularly. I’m going to try and post my lifts and WOD times at the end of this program as well so you can get an idea of how I modify things. Here are the changes for this month:

• More regimented squat program – I added some elements from the Hatch squatting program. I’ve had great success with this program in the past but felt it was very tough on the knees with the high volume of squatting. I’ve modified it some and given some extra time between workouts. I’ve taken out some of the squatting during met-con and other knee intensive exercises to balance things out. We’ll be running this for the next 15 weeks. Be ready for some big jumps in squat power, both with back, front and overhead squatting.
• Slightly less volume on overhead pressing. I’ve had some feedback that the program was still a bit tough on the shoulders and have taken this into account.
• Optional workouts – We all want to be absolute badasses and do as much as possible to reach these goals. However, some days you just don’t have it in the tank. On top of that, some days we feel great and really want to push it. That’s why I started this. These …read more
  

The muscle snatch is an Olympic-style lift that doesn’t need any coaching or seminars. You just grip it and rip it. …read more

Always going heavy on the Big 3 leads to injury and stagnation. Here are some simple ways to lighten your loads. …read more

Could the Bulgarian squat be better than the King of Exercises? Ben Bruno makes his case. …read more

How many of the following training mistakes do you make on a regular basis? The answer may shame you. …read more