01-11-2025

Warm-up

1. We did walking A skip, A skip, walking B skip, B skip and some hip/hamstring mobility.  We also added in stiff-legged skips and bounding.
2. We spent about 15 mins practicing the 5-10-5 short shuttles and I demonstrated the "cross-over steps" for a fast shuttle time. See https://www.cfl.ca/all-time-cfl-combine-records/ for my credentials on this topic, and the first video included of that record run.

Overhead pressing lessons (repeat):

1. TO PROTECT YOUR SPINE when overhead pressing,  ALWAYS squeeze your glutes, and keep your ribs "down" by also squeezing your abs throughout the motion.
2. Stretch your lats with preacher stretch.
3. Broomstick for external rotation stretch. This helps a lot with our "front rack" position in front squats, military press or push-press. 
4. Use a foam roller to improve the mobility before these lifts. ‍

Deadlift reminders, see previous week for details:

1. Bracing sequence:  Big deep breath in, brace the front of your core (abs) against this breath, and grip the bar.
2. We want feet relatively straight, knees "out" and screw our feet into the floor in the setup.  
3. Lower back must absolutely be flat when we are lifting weight off the floor as beginners.  
4. Pull the bar all the way in towards your shins, which can be accomplished using your powerful lat muscles.

Back Squat lessons:

• Robert was struggling to stop his feet arches from collapsing in, so we got him to push his knees out and start with straighter feet. Next we had him work on the "monster walks" with glute bands around the upper knees.

Front Squat lessons:

• George was killing it at 225 lbs for 4-6 reps no problem, looked great.
• Brady was having a hard time getting into the front rack position due to external rotation issues with shoulder, so we got him on the broomstick stretch too.

High Pull lessons:

• Starting position with butt below knees, and bar at mid-foot (front to back)
• Intentionally slow first pull from floor to 1 inch above the knee
• We then try to keep "shoulders over the bar" as we jump and snap the hips
• End in Triple Extension, ie: ankle, knee and hip are all fully extended. Hip first, then knee, then ankle
• Keep the bar tight to the body all the way, and a straight vertical bar path

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