Push Presses, Triple Extension, and Catapults

Yesterday I posted about jumping and how it relates to the olympic lifts. Peterson from CF KoP commented about doing push presses and having his heels come off the ground. I thought this topic was discussed enough to make it a separate post. First is Peterson's comment, then my response. 

Peterson said...

So I just talked to Aimee about confusion that I had over this very thing. For a push press, I was yelled at (not angrily or anything) for my heels coming off the ground. I don't get why this is an issue since when you jump, you jump from the balls of your feet, with the heal coming off of the ground first. Isn't it just natural that at lighter weights, your heels will be coming off of the ground? I'd guess that having your feet coming off of the ground would be wasting the momentum you built up in a way that isn't directly getting more weight overhead, and that if you are truly at your max, all of your effort goes towards getting that weight overhead without any of the waste seen in your heels coming off the ground...

Peterson, great observation. This is always debated, but my take on it is this: For strength-based (heavy) push presses, you should start with feet planted firmly and fairly even weight distribution with a slight bias towards the heel (but not so much as to wiggle your toes). You should not change the width of your feet AKA do not widen them in the middle of the movement. When driving through the push press, your heels may leave the floor momentarily as a result of the drive up, but it should not be the goal. Your ankles are first closing the angle between your shin and foot (dorsiflexion) and then extending (plantarflexion). As a result of this violent change (and your hip extension), your heels will most likely come off the floor, but if you can help it, try to keep them down.

The metcon (lighter) push press such as in FGB or other workouts is different. If you are cycling push presses at high repetitions, you will naturally be on your toes more as this offers the most athletic stance and most dynamic posture. However, since it is a lighter and more manageable weight, this is generally acceptable with the caveat of having your form dialed in before performing high rep push presses.

This all brings up a very debated topic: heels coming off the ground in triple extension during a clean or snatch. 

Lu Xiaojun - 2010 77kg World Champion

There seem to be two camps when it comes to triple extension. Those that say you should intentionally push off the ground and shrug UP to fully extend the hips, knees, and ankles (triple extension), and those that say the shrug is more of a transition to getting under the bar in triple extension. While I tend to agree more with the latter camp, I think the important thing to realize is that ankle extension (raising the heel) is a result of the hip extension and force imparted on the floor, much like the push press scenario described above. 

Aimee Anaya of Catalyst Athletics

Now, there is a misconception that the "catapult" technique originally coined by Don McCauley promotes flat footed triple extension (no ankle extension). There is a strongly worded blog entry by Sean Waxman about this here. I think what McCauley conveys is correct, but his message gets lost in translation. 

Casey Burgener, son of Mike Burgener

In the end, the extension of the ankles should not be on purpose, but it will just happen as a result of the 2nd pull (hip extension). Variety in anatomy and speed under the bar will change the angle of athletes such that a freeze frame may show one person look almost like a ballerina while others may look quite flat footed. Either way, their ankles are on the way to plantarflexion, but can be cut short by a fast pull under the bar. 

What are your thoughts on heels coming off the floor? 

Is this the first time you've heard of this debate? 

What do you think of the Waxman vs. McCauley debate?

Olympic Lifters and Jumping: Pat Mendes

Back when I started CrossFit at CrossFit King of Prussia, we had an oly lifting seminar with some guest coaches from NY. Although I had previously experience with CrossFit, it was done in a typical school gym where there were only metal plates. Thus, I did not have a ton of experience (let alone good coaching) to refine my olympic lifting. When I started at KoP, my clean and jerk was around 135 and snatch was practically non-existent (not that there's much existence of it today...hm, gotta work on that) Anyway, one of these guest coaches had us box jump and I was wondering, "What the heck does jumping have to do with oly lifting?" Well, it has EVERYTHING to do with oly lifting! You are essentially JUMPING that bar off the ground. Granted, your feet won't much as much as an unloaded jump, but the ability to push through that ground and accelerate the bar is essential. (as is hip extension, etc). Based off my jumping ability, his coach told me he saw my clean and jerk up at 185#; I told him he was nuts. That was summer of 2009. Today, my clean and jerk is 215# and my clean is 225# at a bodyweight of 150# (same as in 2009).

Check out these clips of Pat Mendes for more proof about oly lifters and jumping. This guy is 21 years old (many videos feature him at 20yo) and 285lbs. Incredible. (all videos safe for work)

800# backsquat (raw)

727.5# deadlift x4

Unofficial Jr. world record of 207kg snatch. That's 455#!!!!

Obsession with EPICNESS

Do you have an obsession with epic workouts? I'm guessing that as a CrossFitter, you probably do. I just saw a video of a CrossFitter in Scottsdale do 1000 pull ups and 1000 push ups for time. It took him over 4 hours to do it. 2009 CrossFit Games champion Mikko Salo did 1000 burpees in 82 minutes.

I suppose feats of strength/endurance/etc. have been occurring throughout history. From Wikipedia, Jack Lalanne in 1957 (age 43) swam the Golden Gate channel while towing a 2,500-pound (1,100 kg; 180 st) cabin cruiser. The swift ocean currents turned this one-mile (1.6 km) swim into a swimming distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km). Dean Karnazes ran across America in 75 days, totaling over 3,000 miles and averaging 40-50 miles per day. Diana Nyad swam 102 miles at age 30 in 1979. And the list goes on.

There's something appealing to ridiculous workouts whether it's the work itself or explaining to people you just did 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 situps, and 100 squats for time and watching their jaw drop. To those seasoned CrossFitters, you know this workout as "Angie" and for some of you, it's not even that epic.

It's easy to get caught up in the EPICness of these workouts, but also realize the importance of BORING workouts. By that I mean 5x5 back squats, 7x1 shoulder press, 400m sprints, etc. Yes, some of you might like these movements over others, but at the end of the day they don't get as much glamour as those epic metcons. I think it's important to focus on a solid foundation, especially when it comes to strength. A lot of the athletes who do these major EPIC workouts already have a great strength and cardio background. (plus they're usually genetic outliers) Just because you see a video of a guy doing 1000 handstand push ups doesn't mean you should try it.

Know your limitations, and every once in awhile, go for one of the hero workouts or longer metcons. But the majority of your time should be spent getting strong and building a solid foundation, not killing yourself every other day with muscle-wasting workouts.

Updated: Inov8's CrossFit Shoe: Bare-XF 210

Inov8 released information and pictures for their future CrossFit specific shoe: the Bare-XF 210. Featuring a 3mm, zero differential sole (the height difference between heel and toe is 0, vs. many typical shoes in the 10+ mm range), and a specially reinforced upper that will handle the beatings from rope climbs, this is theoretically the perfect CrossFit shoe. Ready for the unknown and unknowable. However, the release date is supposedly March of 2012.  (update: Now available Dec 2011!) My question is: why so late? I feel that other companies (e.g. Reebok) will beat them to the punch and even if they don't, there is just too much time for being excited about these shoes and pulling the trigger to have them in hand (or on foot). While I do think they will sell, by next year there will probably be several competing brands all with similar, or even better, features. 

What do you think of the Inov8 Bare-XF 210's? Would you buy these or stick with your current Inov8s, Vibrams, Frees, etc?

Are there other features in a shoe that you would look for to aid you in CF WODs?

UPDATE 12/23/11: After seeing so many hits on this particular post, it looks like plenty of folks are researching the Bare-XF 210's. Here is Inov-8's link to the shoe, the link to Rogue's product page so you can buy them, and a video from Inov-8 showcasing the XF 210's. 

Inov-8's Bare-XF 210 product page
Again Faster: Bare-XF 210

 Rogue Fitness: Bare-XF 210

Chris Spealler

me, Speal, Tim, Aimee, and Jason at CrossFit KoP

This weekend I had the opportunity to meet Chris Spealler. He was running a Level I Certification at CrossFit King of Prussia, so I stopped in on the last day to say hi. For those that don't know, Speal is one of CrossFit's original firebreathers. When I got into CF in 2008, I would watch videos of Greg Amundson, Jeremy Thiel, Nicole Carroll, Eva T., James "OPT" Fitzgerald, and Chris Spealler. I never really grew up thinking of NFL/MLB/NBA athletes as role models until these guys and girls. Relatively unknown athletes made famous by a handheld camcorder and some barbells. Speal is one of the most well-liked figures in that he doesn't fit the 5'10", 185lb. frame that most people say is necessary to succeed in CrossFit. At 5'5" and 140lbs., he's a figure head for the "small guy." Even at that height and weight, he can throw heavy barbells around like he was twice the size as in the video below of him against Jason Khalipa, winner of the 2008 CrossFit Games. Speal is one of only few athletes to compete in all four CrossFit Games. Last year he placed 3rd and won the "Spirit of the Games" award.


When he was at the box, he saw that I held the gym record of 192 double unders. I didn't see him do it, but he said he wanted to "crush my soul" and obliterate my record. (His PR is 360+) Apparently he got tripped up at 193, but witnesses say he wasn't even breathing hard. Yikes!