Now while I don't consider myself a master, I do however consider myself a smart and driven coach. I am driven to make people move right to improve their strength, flexibility, and improve their daily quality of life. So in recognizing certain patterns in many athletes of various levels, you begin the search for why. Why do these people all have the same faults in their movement? You begin watching closely to how an athlete reacts to your cues. You begin asking master coaches about said problems, and how they fixed them in their athletes. You consume as much knowledge as possible on your quest to solve this movement puzzle. As the answers are reveled you begin putting together a virtual "tool kit" to fix these problems and be able to quickly diagnose and fix future problems.
In recognizing these patterns you begin to realize many people neglect the same things and are weak in the same areas, even if the scope is different. So I have put together a list of five movements/exercises I believe most athletes would benefit from performing. I find that these movements are neglected in many cases by superior athletes and soccer moms alike. Here are my "FAB 5" of movements you NEED to be incorporating into your training regiment.
1. Sled Work
Sled work is amazing on numerous levels. It is great for cardiovascular work as well as muscle endurance training. It is low skill so you don't have to "train" someone to use the sled. If they can walk they can pull a sled. Most look at the sled as simple or boring, but there are many variations of this exercise that can be used. Why we love the sled drag at Steel mill CrossFit:
- It helps build the posterior chain and as many quad dominant CrossFitters can attest to, you will feel it attack your hamstrings.
- If you are injured and cannot squat or have knee pain, the sled allows you to work legs without pain. There is not an extreme bend in the knee so it feels better, and it will help pump blood to the injured knee to help with recovery.
- It can be used for upper body work as well with things like chest pulls, walk and row, etc.
- Helps build work capacity and muscle endurance. If you can pull a heavy sled 400 meters without stopping, then I know the thruster work of FRAN is a walk in the park.
Around the Shoulders - 3 sets of 100 meter walks. 50 meters forward and 50 backward.
Around the waist - My personal favorite. Secure the straps through your weight belt and power walk. For extra credit, do this while holding a medball to your chest.
Bear Crawls - Secured to your waist start bear crawling back and forth across the gym floor.
Lateral Steps - Secured around waist, side step for a certain length then repeat the same number of steps to the other side.
2. Barbell Hip Thrust
Lets talk about your glutes (butt). Strong glutes protect you from injury, enhance athletic performance, and give you a nice curvy shape. Glutes stabilize your pelvis when walking and running. Strong glutes help with hip extension and forward propulsion, as well as help with body alignment. The gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the body, can produce an enormous amount of power. Strengthen this muscle to sprint faster, become more agile, jump higher, cycle more powerfully and lift heavier weights during squats and deadlifts. Strong glutes mean your lower back takes less abuse over the long haul. That is why my favorite glute exercise is the hip thrust.
There are many ways to do the hip thrust. From the floor as pictured above, from a bench, with bands, with a barbell, or even one legged. The point is that a little 5 min effort can go a long way. Want that extra 50 lbs added to your squat and deadlift....do your hip thrusts. They will help you lift more, run faster, jump higher, and most importantly keep you safe.
Much like the reverse hyper, these can be performed multiple days a week. I recommend one heavy day, preferably on your max effort lower day, one mid range for 10-20 reps, and a very light (maybe banded), for 2 sets of 50 reps.
3. Prowler Pushes
These can be the best and worst thing you have ever done. The prowler is amazing for both fat loss and building muscle. If used for sprints with light weight and short distance this machine can wreck you in a very short time. To the newbies, puking is almost inevitable if your not careful. What is great about the prowler sprints is you can get a devastating workout done in just 10 min. So if your short on time and don't know what to do, this may be a great option.
For muscle building go heavy. Load that sucker up and go longer distances. By doing heavy prowler pushes you get an extreme lower body workout without the pounding. There is no eccentric load which means it goes easy on your joints. It will also flood your joints and muscles with blood, which helps with recovery and helps flush lactic acid.
For speed pulling a prowler will make you faster without a coach running you to death. Coaches like Joe DeFranco and Louis Simmons have bee using heavy prowler and sled drag variations to increase sprinting speed for years. When you are pulling a heavy sled you must be in a forward lean, which mocks the proper posture of the acceleration portion of a sprint. So you get to spend time engraining perfect sprinting form without endless sprint drills. This has works wonders with my student athletes.
Whatever your reason or method of using the prowler, definitely give them a try.
4. Reverse Hyperextensions
This one is not only good for but it just may save you from a trip to the hospital. Lets be honest here, we are athletes. We have chosen to be athletes, which means you have chosen to do things others won't do. This also means that although you are saving yourself from things like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity; you also are at more risk of acute injury. What if I told you I had a magic pill that would not only take away any lower back pain, but make you stronger, have better posture, and drop your risk of injury...I bet you would take it. Well I don't have a magic pill but this is a damn close second.
You don't need lots of weight or lots of time. As your belly sits on the pad it supports your spine so it is safer than good mornings, regular hyperextensions, and deadlifts. This is also a benefit to older athletes or people with previous back injuries. When your legs swing under you, your lumbar spine is in traction and it creates space between disks. When you extend your legs that closes and you create a pumping motion with your back, which causes it to fill with blood. It also is a hell of a workout for your spinal erectors.
I recommend 3-4 days each week with 4 sets of 20. You want higher reps to achieve the "pump" we talked about earlier. Each week you add a little weight. Once you've found a weight that is comfortable spend a few weeks there before moving up again. Remember this is about the long game, not how much you can put on the machine.
After many years of wrestling and other sports, I can honestly say I have never felt more healthy and stable as I have since I started using this machine.
5. Farmers Carry
Some of you knew this was coming. Legendary strength coach Dan John said this about the carry, “The loaded carry does more to expand athletic qualities than any other single thing I’ve attempted in my career as a coach and an athlete.” This method of training has been used forever. And from someone who grew up in a farm town and wrestled believe me when I say those "corn fed" boys who were sons of the local farmers were no joke when it came to strength.
For me I use this training in two methods, long and light, and short and heavy. Lets do short and heavy first, you load up the handles with increasing weight and go a short distance (20-60 meters). I like to have my athletes turn while holding the handles, because if forces them to keep their core tight and fight the momentum. For these you should work up to bodyweight in each hand. Then you should aim to make it 1.5x's bodyweight. This would be considered strong.
Now to the long and light. One of my favorite things to do is grab my training partner and walk a mile with kettlebells. Yep I said one mile. This does numerous things. It helps build grip strength and endurance, which any CrossFit athlete knows the longer you can stay on the bar the faster your times. It also is a great core workout because you are forced to keep good posture and stay tight. And maybe most importantly, its a mental gut check. If you regularly can put yourself in uncomfortable positions you will begin to mentally become tougher. Believe me when you are a 1/2 mile away from the gym and you have no choice but to continue, it makes you a stronger athlete. I bet they don't set the bar down in Fran if they can walk a mile with heavy weight.
These movements will make you into a monster, and send your game to the next level. Every one of these exercises can be used in the training of ANY athlete in any sport. They are low skill level and you reap high benefits. So get out here and get after it.
William Davis
Head Trainer at Steel Mill CrossFit
