1 arm row – plank
coaching cues
- get into a plank position on bench or box
- grab a kettlebell or dumbbell with one hand and pull back into a row, squeezing your shoulder blade towards your spine
- lower back to start position
- switch sides as prescribed
- maintain a rigid plank throughout all reps
common mistakes: sagging the hips, piking the hips, jerking the bell.
1 leg box squat
coaching cues
- hold the kettlebell against your chest
- push your hips back into the squat while putting your weight into the heel of the standing foot
- sit back onto the box with your shins perpendicular to the ground
- stand up again, finishing with your hips at full extension
injured leg: if you have a severe injury and can’t put any weight on the bad leg, you will perform this exercise standing on your good leg. if you’re able to place some weight on the bad leg, set up in a squat stance and perform the movement with 75% of the load on the good leg and 25% on the injured leg.
common mistakes: rounding through the back, holding kettlebell away from body.
1 leg deadlift with kb
coaching cues
- hold the bell in one hand. whatever hand is holding the weight, same side leg will be moving.
- lift the leg behind you while the torso hinges forward at the same time. your torso will only hinge as far as the leg lifts.
- keep back straight the whole time.
- tip back to standing position.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell or barbell
common mistakes: rounding through the spine, hips not staying squared up.
leg injury: perform this on the good leg.
arm injury: hold the bell with two hands or just your good arm. you can also do higher reps with no weight at all.
1st pull – scoop – 2nd pull
3 second snatch
coaching cues
- address the barbell on the ground with a snatch grip
- make the pull up your shins take a 3 thousand count from the ground to the transition point right above your knees
- keep your shins perpendicular to the ground and your lats engaged.
- once you get past your knees, jump shrug into a power snatch or full squat snatch, depending on what movement you’re doing.
common mistakes: not keeping the bar on your body, rounding your back, not engaging your lats.
injured leg: if you’re able to put some weight on the bad leg, address the bar normally and put 75% weight on your good leg, 25% on your injured leg. if you can’t do that, don't do this exercise but do the snatch from a hanging starting position while standing on one leg.
injured back: stay with lighter weight and do a hang snatch or hang power snatch.
injured shoulder: do a clean instead of a snatch.
injured arm: do a 1 arm kb or db snatch on the good arm.
3rd world stretch
coaching cues
- hold the pvc pipe with a wide grip in an overhead squat position
- squat deep, keeping tension in your core and your spine as vertical as possible
- hold this position for the prescribed amount of time while trying to sink deeper into the squat
- if you're not mobile in your hips, slide a board under your heels
common mistakes: not keeping core tight, rounding the back.
injured arm: do this without your arms overhead holding the pvc.
injured leg: do this up against a rack on one leg without the overhead component. face a rack and hold on to it. walk your hands down the rack as you lower yourself into a one-legged squat. hold your injured leg in front of you. focus on keeping your torso tight and spine vertical.
6 way shoulder
coaching cues
- start with 2.5 or 5 lb plates in your hands, your arms at sides
- keeping your arms straight, lift the plates in a lateral raise, then bring them to the front of the body, then lift straight up overhead, back down to the front of the body, back to the sides and down
- keep your movements slow and controlled
injured arm/shoulder: do this unloaded. can’t use an arm? do it on the good arm.
ab wheel
coaching cues
- start in a kneeling position with your toes tucked under on ground
- grab the wheel with your hands and roll out slowly as far as you can
- roll back in
common mistakes: rolling out so far that you end up resting on the ground, not locking your arms out.
equipment substitutes: barbell with big plates
active straight leg raise (aslr) 1) lay down on back with legs extended
2) fully exhale into your lower abs. should feel like you are trying to fog a mirror.
3) your lower back should come out of extension and flatten against the ground.
3) take a second deep breath and push out to brace lower back and core keeping the low back out of extension and flush with the floor.
4) actively raise leg of choice as high as possible in a controlled manner.
5) repeat for prescribed reps on each side.
if you lose tension in your core or if your lower back pulls away from the ground, stop, reset and finish out your reps.
air squat
coaching cues
- start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width, toes flared out a bit
- push your hips back and down into the squat, keeping weight in your heels
- squat deeply, i.e. hips below parallel
- stand back up to full extension
common mistakes: rounding the back, weight going into front of foot, squatting shallow.
injured leg: squat on your good leg.
alt grip pullup
coaching cues
- set up your grip with one hand facing towards you, one hand facing away from you
- from a dead hang position, pull your chin up and over the bar
- slowly lower yourself down until your arms are fully extended
- alternate grip directions each round
common mistakes: using momentum to pull yourself up, not extending your arms all the way at the bottom.
alternating dumbbell curl
coaching cues
- grab two dumbbells
- start with both arms in a hammer position
- curl the dumbbell up with one arm, rotating your palm towards your body
- extend all that same arm the way down
- repeat using your other arm
injured arm: just use your good arm only.
ankles to bar / toes to bar
back extension
coaching cues
- lie face down on ground
- keep your feet on ground the whole time
- pull your elbows into your ribs, squeezing and contracting the muscles in your mid spine
- from this position, lift your torso up off ground and then lower it back down
common mistakes: jerking up and down, not locking the elbows into the ribs through the movement.
back squat
execution
- place the barbell in a comfortable position on the back. this can be a low bar or high bar position. we do high bar, because it translates best into olympic lifting and gives us a straight bar bath. do what feels the most comfortable.
- hands should be also in a comfortable position. thumbs can be wrapped or over the top. the grip on the bar should be firm.
- with both feet under barbell unpack the barbell and take two small steps back
- stance should start with heels shoulder width and toes slightly flared out
- take a breath and hold the air in
- focus on one spot in front of you
- start the squat by driving your hips back behind you and descend into a full squat where the upper thighs are at least parallel
- using the stretch reflex at the bottom drive up out of the bottom position leading with your chest. exhale as you hit the sticking point
- take another breath up top and repeat
common mistakes
knee dive
- athletes of all levels do this as the weight gets heavy. it's extremely hard to tell if you are diving unless you have a coach or a mirror. if in front of a mirror it is very obvious to the athlete. the knees need to track inline with where the toes are pointing, slightly out. if you are diving simply think about pushing the knees out. for some it helps to think about standing on pie plates and rotating them out.
pushing through the balls of the feet
- when squatting you should be pressing through your feet evenly. new athletes will push through the balls of the feet and you'll see the heels slightly rise. to correct this you can think about pushing through your heels and the over-correction should have you squatting evenly.
heels coming off the ground
- athletes with poor flexibility or ankle mobility will often pull their heels off the ground in the bottom of the squat. try squatting in flat shoes and only going as deep as you can with flat feet. if that depth is one that is not to a full squat then we recommend elevating the heels an inch off the ground using a board or 5-10lb plates. the elevated heels will allow a deeper squat. by training the squat in a full range of motion the athlete will eventually increase the flexibility and mobility to where they can squat without boards / plates.
bar bending the athlete over
- the cue we give these athletes is to lower the bar slightly and think about leading with the chest. a hinge at the hips is fine as long as there is no rounding of the spine. the spine should remained flat and in extension. excessive arch can be just as bad as flexion, don't overdo the "chest up" cue.
injured athletes
if you have a knee injury then you will most likely be doing single leg box squats with a kettle bell loaded in the front rack position. if you injury is low back or hip based then you will need to either push a sled, drag a tire, or do belt squats. often times athletes with a low back injury can do lunges with the bells in the suitcase position at their sides.
advanced techniques
the age old debate over high bar vs low bar is ongoing among traditional strength coaches and olympic weightlifting coaches. in our programming squatting is squatting and we are simply trying to increase our leg strength. do what feels the best and what comes naturally. both styles have pluses and minuses.
stance and depth is another debate. olympic coaches favor ass to grass narrow stances while power liters favor wider just below parallel stances. when we back squat we favor a wider stance, when we front squat we favor a narrower more upright stance. again both methods are correct in their own sport and we coach each lift differently.
back squat w/ controlled descent and hold 1) start controlled descent and hold in bottom for dictated time.
2) when time elapses explode out of the bottom of squat as fast as possible.
3) do not hold in the top longer than it takes to take a stabilizing breath and begin descent.
bounce out of the bottom if needed and while the descent is controlled we want the ascent to be as explosive as possible
back squat w/ hold at top 1)start the athletes at the 0 on the clock and tell them to squat every 5 seconds or as other dictated time.
2) full rom squats with a quick descent and a fast explosion out of the bottom. try to perform each rep as fast as possible.
athlete can breath as needed at the top of the squat.
band pullups
coaching cues
- loop a band over the top of a rack so that it hangs down to your knees or feet or laterally wrap a band around the j-cups of a rack
- with a hanging band, you will start with the knee or foot in. with a laterally wrapped band, you’ll step both feet on band
- grab the bar with your hands, wrapping your thumbs around it
- pull yourself straight up until your chin is over the bar
- slowly lower yourself down
common mistakes: setting up the band to where it doesn’t allow the full range of motion on the pullup, so that it’s either too easy or too hard to perform the movement.
injured arm/shoulder: you can try a one arm pullup or substitute a single arm row.
barbell / dumbbell upright row
barbell push press
execution
- place 4 fingers from each hand on the near side of the barbell in a position slightly wider than shoulder width
- scoop the shoulders forward so there is a shelf where the bar can rest and rotate the elbows down and around so they are pointing at the wall in front of you
- the bar should be lightly resting against your throat and hands should be relaxed
- stand up supporting the load on the shoulders, not the hands or wrist
- take 2 steps back to clear the rack
- take a breath and drop 2-4 inches down by pushing the knees out
- soon as you drop the required distance explosively change directions and violently extend the legs / hips
- clear the head / face out of the way as the barbell moves up
- as the bar moves up drop the elbows under the bar and acquire a full grip
- finish out the lift by pressing up and overhead using the shoulders
common mistakes
poor bar path
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- the most efficient way to move a barbell is straight up. the face keeps this from happening unless you retract or lift the chin to clear the way. many times athletes will simply move the bar around the face instead of vice versa. once they hit the sticking point the bar is no longer over the chest but out in front of them. think about skimming the face and driving straight up off the chest. once the bar clears the face then the head comes back into a neutral position and they finish off the lift.
layback
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- layback is a term for when the load get heavy or the athlete starts to struggle the athlete will lean back trying to use the chest muscles to finish the lift. this puts the back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. keep the head in a neutral position and eyes to the front.
looking down
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- when pressing up the eyes should be focused on the far wall unless lifting the chin to clear the path for the bar, even then once the bar is clear they should pick a spot on the wall and focus on it. often times athletes will finish out the lift by dropping their chin and looking down at the ground
pushing the head too far forward
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- this comes from the cue of "pushing your head through the window" which in theory is getting the athlete into a position with the head neutral and arms to both sides of the head. sometimes this gets taken too far and there is a significant push forward and/or the athlete pushes the bar behind them. soon as the bar clears the face simply place the head back in a normal position where the bar is directly over the chest.
hanging out in the bottom
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- the change in direction needs to be violent and explosive. if the athlete lingers in the bottom position then they will not have the explosively they need.
dropping the elbow
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s - if the elbows drop before the bar leaves the shoulders then the load is transferred to the connective tissue in the arms and shoulders instead of staying on the shelf. this causes that tissue to stretch as the athlete changes direction and reduced the amount the athlete can lift. keep the shoulders up and the hands open until the barbell comes off the shoulders.
bear crawl
coaching cues
- start with both hands and both feet on the ground
- keeping hips piked up, crawl forward on your hands and feet
common mistakes: going too fast and straining your wrists.
behind the neck push press + ohs
bench press
execution
- lie flat on the bench
- roll the barbell to the edge of the hooks
- get into a position so the barbell is above your face while in the rack. this will keep you from hitting the hooks on the way up.
- grip the barbell in a comfortable position - for most males this will be a thumb's length plus from the smooth part of the bar. females will be about thumbs width off the knurling. with the thumbs wrapped, the width varies athlete to athlete.
- before unracking the bar pinch your shoulder blades together to have a flat pressing surface and arch your back slightly
- take a breath in and un-rack the bar
- keeping your butt on the bench lower the bar to the nipple line while holding in your breath
- touch the chest then drive the bar straight up while exhaling through the sticking point
- make sure to keep the feet on ground along with the butt, shoulders, and head on the bench
- take each subsequent breath with the bar fully extended and repeat
common mistakes
the kicking chicken
- it is common for new athletes to flail their legs around once the loads get heavy. keep both feet planted and drive through the feet to increase overall body tension.
bridging
- this is where the athlete will push so hard through their legs that their ass will come off the bench. although the athlete may be able to lift more weight this way this technique put the well-being of the lower back in jeopardy. when you push through your legs think about pushing back instead of up. the weight of the bar on your body will keep you from slipping backwards on the bench.
not wrapping the thumbs
- always wrap your thumbs when pressing a bar overhead. always.
breathing while the bar descends
- always take a breath before allowing the bar to move. this increases the stability of the system. it is extremely inefficient to inhale during the bar's descent.
poor bar path
- as the barbell travels up you want it to track straight up. there shouldn't be excessive horizontal movement towards the head and neck area. on the last rep don't press back towards the hooks, press straight up to normal extension then rack.
injured athletes
the most common reason athletes are unable to do this exercises is a shoulder / elbow injury. simply do single arm dumbbell press off a bench. if the injury is a minor one you can do the strong side with a heavier bell, then go down in weight for the injured one. using dumbbells seems to stress the shoulders less then a barbell.
if your pain is at the bottom of the press you can simply change to a barbell floor press or towel bench. this limits the range of motion and works great in our facility for those that experience pain in the bottom position of the press.
advanced techniques
elite level powerlifters have myriad advanced techniques that allow them to press more weight. for our purposes we keep this exercise simple and teach new athletes the above technique. advanced techniques are fine to use if you have been trained by a professional coach.
bench press with a 1 second pause
bent over barbell row
coaching cues
- stand tall with the barbell at your hips, gripping one thumb's length from the start of the knurling
- hinge forward and push your butt back, keeping the weight in your heels
- pull the barbell up into your low ribs, squeezing shoulder blades together
- slowly lower the bar back to full extension
common mistakes: rounding your back, jerking the bar up, pulling it too high on the torso.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell, kettlebell.
bodyweight get-up or bwgu
box jump
coaching cues
- stand about two feet away from a box in front of you
- drop your hips into a quarter squat, pulling your arms behind you
- swing your arms forward and jump up, pulling your knees up to your chest
- land softly on the box with two feet
- stand all the way up on the box
- step down one foot at a time. do not jump off of the box or you will destroy your achilles sooner or later.
common mistakes: not pulling knees up hard enough, landing too hard, jumping off box.
injured leg: substitute with a one leg squat jump.
bridge complex
coaching cues
we use this exercise to train isometric core strength. we usually program in this exercise for time. you'll often see 20/20/20. each of those numbers dictates an amount of time - 20 seconds left side plank, 20 seconds plank, 20 seconds right side plank.
- start by getting into a side plank
- make sure feet, knees, spine and head are all in one straight line
- roll down into a basic plank on both elbows
- roll to the other side for the last plank
common mistakes:
- in the side position, failing to fully extend your hips or letting them sag towards the ground when tired.
- in the front position, forcing your low spine to support all the weight and making a curvature that looks like an old horse.
broad jump
coaching cues
- from a standing position, drop your hips into quarter squat and pull your arms back
- swing your arms forward while jumping your hips forward through full extension
- jump high and far horizontally
- stick the landing softly
common mistakes: not controlling the landing, landing too hard.
clean – from top to bottom step by step instructions on how to do the clean from the top down. great video for new athletes.
clean corrective complex 1) pull w/ 3 seconds from the floor
2) rdl w/ 3 second hold above the knee
3) hang squat clean w/ 3 second hold in the bottom
4) full clean
clean grip deadlift w/ extension and shrug
clean grip rdl w/ 3 sec pause
clean warmup complex – cwc
corkscrew
coaching cues
- start standing with a plate in both hands
- rotate your torso while dropping down into a quarter squat, tapping the plate on the side of your foot
- pull it up and across your body, extending the plate up and out to the opposite side
- bring it back down across your body to the ground again
common mistakes: not rotating through the movement, rounding through the spine.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell, kettlebell.
injured leg: do this on 1 leg.
injured arm: hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in the one good hand.
corrective getup
coaching cues
- lie on the ground with one knee bent. the arm on the same side as your bent knee will hold a kettlebell. this arm should be fully extended, directly over your shoulder. your opposite arm should be on the ground at a 45 degree angle away from your body.
- keeping your eyes on the bell, do a one arm situp, using the elbow on the ground to help you sit up
- push onto your hand from your elbow on the ground
- bridge your hips up and pull the extended leg back onto the knee behind you
- rotate your hips forward, extending the your torso, letting your eyes go to horizontal
- stand all the way up and then come back down
- opposite knee down, getting the eyes on the bell again
- opposite hand posts down on ground
- shoot the leg through onto the ground
- go down onto the elbow
- lie down
common mistakes: not locking out the kb arm, not keeping the eyes on the bell, not bridging the hips enough.
equipment substitutes: dumbbell, make a fist with a shoe on top for a balance challenge.
crossbody shoulder extension
diamond push-up / close grip push-up
dips
coaching cues
- set up two boxes next to each other, leaving enough space for your body in between
- place a dumbbell on top of each box
- gripping the dumbbells, pull your feet off of the ground, holding them behind you
- slowly lower yourself down until the backs of your arms are parallel to the ground
- push yourself back up to full extension while keeping your feet off of the ground
common mistakes: not going down all the way to parallel.
exercise substitutes: you can put two racks facing each other with barbells at same height to make dip bars. or place both hands on a bench or box and elevate your feet on a bench or box and do dips that way.
donkey kick
coaching cues
- start on all fours
- keeping your leg at a 90 degree angle and your foot flexed, engage your hamstring and lift your leg towards the ceiling
- slowly bring back your leg down
common mistakes: jerking your leg up, stretching the leg out, collapsing through the spine.
double kettlebell front squat
coaching cues
- stand with a set of kettlebells in your hands
- clean them up into a high rack position
- kettlebells should be sitting on a ‘shelf’ created by your arms
- take a deep breath and tighten up your core
- push your hips back and down into the full squat
- keep your weight in the heels
- drive up and back to standing
- maintain the high rack position through the entire exercise
common mistakes: dropping the elbows down, squatting shallow, collapsing through the core.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell.
injured arm: do a 1 arm rack using the good arm.
duck walk
coaching cues
- start in a full squat position
- keep your back straight
- staying in the deep squat, start walking forward while keeping the weight in your heels
common mistakes:not maintaining the full deep squat, rounding the back.
dumbbell / kettlebell push press
coaching cues
- stand holding a set of dumbbells up by your shoulders
- hinge the hips back a little, bend your knees a little and jump up, extending your arms overhead
- make sure your arms stack straight over the shoulders, getting your head “through the window"
- slowly lower dumbbells back down
common mistakes: squatting instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not stacking arms over shoulders.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells. sandbag held horizontally on chest in both hands.
injured arm: do a 1 arm push press.
dumbbell bench press
coaching cues
- sit on a bench with your feet flat on the ground. hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- lie back on bench and extend your arms vertically above the chest
- bend your arms at the elbows while keeping the dumbbells in the same horizontal plane they were in at the start until you feel the stretch in your chest
- push your arms back up to full extension until dumbbells touch
common mistakes: letting your feet come off of the ground, lifting your hips off of the bench, not going deep enough.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, barbell bench.
injured arm: do a 1 arm bench press.
dumbbell close grip press
dumbbell complex
coaching cues
- standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width and toes flared out, hold a set of dumbbells in hands
- perform 6 reps of the rdl: hinging the hips back, torso will tip forward. keep the back straight, weight in the heels. go down to mid shin and stand back up. that’s 1x rep.
- perform 6 reps of the hang squat clean: hinge into a hang position. jump and shrug the dumbbells up. jump down into a full squat to catch the dumbbells. stand back up. that’s 1x rep.
- perform 6 reps the thruster: hold the dumbbells by the shoulders. squat deeply and jump the dumbbells overhead until arms are straight above the shoulders. bring bells back down to shoulders. that’s 1x rep.
- perform 3 reps of the scotty bob: get into plank position with the dumbbells in hands. row with right arm. do a pushup. row with left arm. do a pushup. that’s 1x rep.
- perform 6 reps of the situp with bodyweight.
common mistakes: rounding your back, not jumping enough in the squat clean/thruster, not squatting deep enough in squat clean/thruster, not extending your arms over your shoulders in the thruster, too shallow pushups.
dumbbell crawl
coaching cues
- start in a plank position with dumbbells in your hands
- drag the right dumbbell forward on the ground
- drag your feet forward on the ground
- drag the left dumbbell forward on the ground
- drag your feet forward on the ground
common mistakes: piking the hips too high, dropping the hips too low, picking up the dumbbells to move them instead of dragging them on the ground.
dumbbell fly
coaching cues
- lay down on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand
- keep your feet on the ground and your hips on the bench
- extend your arms over your chest
- lower your arms laterally, bending your elbows slightly
- bring the dumbbells back up to touching when you feel the stretch in your pecs
common mistakes: keeping arms straight the whole time or bending them too much, not going down deep enough to feel the stretch.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells.
injured arm: do a 1 arm fly.
dumbbell press / military press
dumbell shrug
coaching cues
- stand holding a set of dumbbells by your sides
- keeping your chest high, simply raise your shoulders straight up as close to your ears as possible
- lower the dumbbells back down
common mistakes: rolling the shoulders forward or back in the movement.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells.
dynamic instep
coaching cues
- start in a plank position with your right foot planted by your right hand
- jump your left foot forward toward the outside of your left hand as you pull the right foot back
- jump and switch for the prescribed reps, stretching and mobilizing the hips
common mistakes: not planting the forward foot close enough to the hand.
eccentric dumbbell bench press
elevated pigeon
coaching cues
- place a box in front of you. the height of the box depends on how tall you are. you’ll want to have it at a height where you can have your bottom foot on the ground through the exercise.
- place the bottom portion of your leg on top of the box at the edge
- bend your standing leg until you feel the stretch in your hip that's elevated on the box
- hold for the prescribed amount of time and switch
common mistakes: not bending the standing knee deep enough, box too high, box too low.
equipment substitutions: you can use any surface where you can hook the leg up.
elevated side bridge
coaching cues
- grab a bench, step or irrigation box - anything that will get your feet at least a foot off the ground
- stack the feet on top of each other on the box and get into a side plank position
- stack the top shoulder on top of the bottom shoulder on top of the elbow
- maintain a straight line from feet to head
- hold for prescribed amount of time and then switch sides
common mistakes: dipping the hips down, not getting the elbow tucked under the shoulder.
injured arm: do this on one side on the good arm.
farmer’s carry
coaching cues
- pick up a set of dumbbells or kettlebells with a flat back
- stand tall and hold the bells by your sides
- roll your shoulders up and back to set the lats
- walk the prescribed length
common mistakes: not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: anything you can grab onto with the hands and walk with counts.
injured arm: hold the weight in the good hand.
floor press
coaching cues
- you’ll be pressing the barbell from a laying down position on the ground, so set up the rack accordingly
- lie on the ground underneath the barbell, like you would a regular bench press
- knees are bent with feet flat on the ground
- roll the barbell to the front of the j-cups, grip appropriately and wrap your thumbs
- un-rack it and lower it down until your elbows hit the ground
- push it back up to a fully extended position
common mistakes: benching it too high or too low, failing to control the bar in line at nipple level.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, kettlebells.
floor slide
coaching cues
- lie down on your back with your knees bent and feet flat
- flatten your low back to the ground
- with arms by your sides at 90 degrees, get your elbows, wrists, and backs of your hands flat on ground
- maintaining contact with the ground, slowly slide your arms straight up as if doing an overhead press
- keep your elbows, wrists, and backs of your hands in contact with the ground at all times
- slowly pull your elbows back down without breaking that position
common mistakes: allowing the arms to come off the ground, going too fast.
substitution: do this flat up against a wall, in either a sitting or standing position.
foam roll
coaching cues
- grab a foam roller
- roll the length of any of whatever muscle or area is prescribed
- start the foam roller at the end of the muscle and very slowly roll the length of the muscle to the other end
- when you find a sensitive, painful spot, hold the pressure there for the prescribed amount of time
common mistakes: rolling too fast, not holding the painful spot long enough.
equipment substitutions: you can use a lacrosse ball or tennis ball for soft tissue work.
front squat
execution
- place at least 2 fingers from each hand on the near side of the barbell in a position slightly wider than shoulder width
- scoop the shoulders forward so there is a shelf where the bar can rest and rotate the elbows down and around so they are pointing at the wall in front of you
- the bar should be lightly resting against your throat and hands should be relaxed
- stand up supporting the load on the shoulders, not the hands or wrist
- take 3 steps back out of the rack. there should be enough room where you can safely ditch the barbell in the case of a failed attempt
- your stance should be slightly narrower than that of a back squat, heels should be under the hips and toes flared out
- focus on one spot in front of you
- take a breath in and hold. keeping the torso upright and elbows up, lower yourself as deep as possible under control
- using the stretch reflex at the bottom drive up out of the bottom position leading with your elbows. exhale as you hit the sticking point
common mistakes
- falling into the bottom - athletes with good mobility sometimes simply relax and drop into that deep squat position and rely on the stretch reflex to propel them up out of the bottom. although we want the athletes to use that bounce at the bottom we don't want them to relax and drop uncontrollably into it. always lower yourself with control.
- elbows dropping - even with experienced athletes you'll need to cue and verbalize the elbows up position. this is due to the fact that the core collapses before the legs give out with this exercise. always strive to push the elbows higher and higher during this exercise.
- knee dive - athletes of all levels do this as the weight gets heavy. it's extremely hard to tell if you are diving unless you have a coach or a mirror. if in front of a mirror it is very obvious to the athlete. the knees need to track inline with where the toes are pointing, slightly out. if you are diving simply think about pushing the knees out. for some it helps to think about standing on pie plates and rotating them out.
- leaning forward - unlike the back squat, the front squat requires the athlete to maintain a vertical torso due to where the bar is loaded. some athletes simply try to do a back squat with the bar in the front rack position. it often helps to tell the athlete to sit down and back onto the heels.
injured athletes
if you have a knee injury then you will most likely be doing single leg box squats with a kettle bell loaded in the front rack position. if you injury is low back or hip based then you will need to either push a sled, drag a tire, or do belt squats. often times athletes with a low back injury can do lunges with the bells in the suitcase position at their sides.
hamstring hell
this is comprised of two exercises back to back.
the first one is the poor man’s leg curl:
- lie on your back on the ground with one foot elevated on a bench or box
- with your hips close to the bench, drive the edge of your heel into the bench and lift your hips off the ground
- your goal is to get your knee, hip, and shoulder in a straight line at the top of the movement
- lower back down
the second one is the donkey kick:
- set up on all fours
- starting with the same leg that you were on on the leg curl, bend that same leg at a 90 degree angle and lift up
- lower back down
common mistakes: leg curl - hips too far away from bench, not lifting high enough, donkey kick-collapsing through the spine, pointing the toe instead of flexing, straightening the leg out.
hand release pushup
coaching cues
- start in a plank position
- lower your body down until your chest is on the ground
- lift your hands off of the floor for a second
- put your hands down and lift back up into a plank position
common mistakes: not getting hands off the ground, body waving up instead of maintaining a stiff plank position through the movement.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm bench press or 1 arm dumbbell floor press.
hang clean / hang squat clean
hang power snatch
coaching cues
- stand with a snatch grip on a barbell at hip height
- pushing your hips back, hinge forward into a hang position with the barbell at the top of your knees
- jump aggressively and shrug, pulling the barbell up
- catch the barbell in a quarter squat with strong, straight arms overhead
- stand up
- lower the barbell back down to your hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, catching with bent arms.
equipment substitutes: you can do a 1 arm or double kettlebell snatch this way.
injured arm: do a 1 arm kettlebell snatch on the good side.
hang snatch
coaching cues
- stand with a snatch grip on a barbell at hip height
- pushing your hips back, hinge forward into a hang position with the barbell at the top of the knees
- jump aggressively and shrug, pulling the barbell up
- catch the barbell in a full squat with strong, straight arms overhead
- stand up
- lower the barbell back down to your hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, catching with bent arms, not squatting below parallel.
hang squat clean
coaching cues
- stand with a clean grip on a barbell at hip height
- pushing your hips back, hinge forward into a hang position with the barbell at the top of the knees
- jump aggressively and shrug, pulling the barbell up
- whip your elbows through into a high rack position, letting go of the bar
- jump down into the squat and catch the barbell on the chest
- stand up
- lower the barbell back down to the hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not letting go of the bar, catching with low elbows, not squatting below parallel.
equipment substitutions: do a double kettlebell squat clean.
injured arm: do a 1 arm kettlebel squat clean.
injured leg: do a hang power (quarter squat) clean with weight on one leg. you will muscle the barbell up instead of jumping it up.
hollow rock and hollow hold
horizontal pullup
coaching cues
- set this up by placing a barbell at a medium to low height on a rack
- lie underneath the bar, extending your legs out with the edge of your heels on the ground
- gripping the bar just slightly wider than your shoulders, pull your body off of the ground
- maintain a straight line from your knees through your hips to your shoulders
- pull your chest up to touch the bar
- slowly lower down to full extension and repeat
easier version: plant the heels flat on the ground and pull from this position.
more challenging version: elevate heels off the ground at least a foot.
common mistakes: not bringing the chest all the way up to the bar, not bridging the hips up enough.
equipment substitutes: rings.
infraspinatus soft tissue
instep +
coaching cues
- set this up with your legs in a lunge position, back knee on the ground
- your front shin should be vertical to the ground
- with the elbow on the same side as the leg in front, reach down as far as you can to the ground
- hold for prescribed length of time
- shift your butt back over your back leg, straightening out the front leg and pulling the front foot up
- hold for prescribed length of time
common mistakes: keeping the back knee elevated.
instep + quad stretch
coaching cues
- start in a lunge position with your back knee on the ground
- your front shin should be vertical to the ground
- grab your back foot and pull it up towards the heel
- holding this position, press your hips forward
- hold for prescribed length of time
jerk – split stance - have the feet between hip and shoulder width apart with the toes flared out slightly.
grip - use a clean grip which for most males is thumbs distance off the knurling. for females is may be as narrow as the actual knurling. there should be 1-2 inches between your hands and your shoulders.
elbows - keep them up pointing towards the wall in front of you, the barbell should be resting on the shoulders and fingertips.
execution:
- set up in the front-squat rack position with upward pressure on the end of the elbows.
- head neutral and feet in a stance of flexibility.
- dip slow, straight and short.
- aggressive change of direction and exaggerated head movement back while maintaining upward elbow pressure.
- hips and ankles open completely as chin is lifted to its highest point.
- as the bar begins to float, it stays in the fingertips as it is guided back slightly and the hips start to drop straight down and the feet split.
- the bar and head will quickly pass each other, at which point the hands will wrap and push the body the rest of the way under for a lockout that will occur immediately after the feet return to the floor.
- the bar is now directly over the shoulders and the hips with the head poking through to the point where the ears are just in front of the arms.
- the front foot moves back first to the point where the back foot will step up and meet in the middle to complete the lift.
mistakes:
- elbows down
- trying to press the barbell up using the shoulders instead of the hips,legs.
- leaning forward during the dip
- dipping to deep
- dipping to fast
kettlebell / dumbbell clean and press
coaching cues
- start standing with a set of kettlebells in your hands
- push your butt back and hinge at your hips a little bit
- dipping the bells between your legs, jump them straight up and catch them in a rack position on the chest
- jump and punch the bells the bells straight overhead into full extension
- bring them back down to your shoulders, then down to the hips
common mistakes: swinging the bells away from the body, rounding the back, not getting the bells stacked straight over the shoulders.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell.
injured arm: do a 1 arm clean and press.
kettlebell complex
coaching cues
this is a 10 minute complex. there are 5 exercises performed on both sides. each exercise is done continuously for 1 minute. here’s the sequence:
right arm 1 arm swing (1 minute)
- hold the bell in your right hand
- drop it under your hip and jump through your hips, swinging the bell up to eye level and back down
figure 8 (1 minute)
- hold the bell in your right hand
- squat shallow, lowering the bell in between your legs
- switch the bell into your left hand
- stand back up
- continue this movement, switching back and forth in a quarter squat
left arm 1 arm swing (1 minute)
- same as above just in the left hand
figure 8 (1 minute)
- same as above just starting in the left hand
right arm 1 arm clean and press (1 minute)
- hold the bell in your right hand
- drop the bell under your hips, then jump it straight up to your chest
- jump and punch straight up overhead
- stack the bell over your shoulder
- bring it back down to your chest, then down to your hips
slasher to halo (1 minute)
- grab the bell by the horns
- drop the bell down to your right hip, rotating the torso toward the bell
- hinge back and pop the hip forward as you guide the bell across your torso, circle around the back of your head to your other shoulder
- continue to guide it across your torso, down to your other hip. repeat on other side
right hold swing lunge (1 minute)
- hold the bell in your right hand next to your right hip
- lunge forward with your left leg
- push back through the center, lunging back with the same leg
- push back through center and repeat
left arm 1 arm clean and press (1 minute)
- same as above but using your left hand
slasher to halo (1 minute)
- same as above, but start with the bell on your left hip
left hold swing lunge (1 minute)
- same as above, but hold the bell in your left hand and lunge with your right leg
kettlebell double eagle
coaching cues
setup:
- a tire with a plate set in the middle
- chain attached to tire with a harness
- a set of kettlebells
movement breakdown:
- step into the harness and wrap the strap around your hips
- walk out until the chain is taut
- clean the bells up into a high rack position
- perform 5 kb front squats
- then bring the bells down by your sides
- run the tire out to the prescribed distance
- stop and place the bells on the plate in the tire
- keeping the strap on your body, turn the tire around
- now face the tire with the strap secured around the back of the hips
- run the tire backward to the start line
- that’s one round
common mistakes: not squatting deep enough, not running fast enough on the drag.
equipment substitutions: sandbags, dumbbells and a sled instead of a tire.
kettlebell floor press
coaching cues
- lie on your back on the ground with a kettlebell by each shoulder, knees bent
- roll your body toward the bell on one side, grip it, and roll it up onto your shoulder. repeat with other side
- push one kettlebell toward the ceiling, extending your arm, and rolling your shoulder blade on the same side off of the ground so that you go into a mini crunch
- slowly bring the kb back down to rest on the shoulder
- repeat with the other side
common mistakes: elevating the arm on the bottom instead of posting the elbow on the ground.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells.
injured arm: do this on the good arm only.
kettlebell good morning
coaching cues
- stand in a wide stance, toes flared out with a set of kettlebells in your hands
- set your shoulders
- keeping a slight bend in your knees, push your hips back as far back as possible while lowering the bells down towards the ground
- maintain a straight, neutral spine the whole time
- once you’ve felt a good stretch in the hamstrings or you’ve touched the ground, push through your heels to stand back up to full extension
common mistakes: narrow stance, toes not flared out, back rounding, not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell, sandbag, medicine ball, plates.
kettlebell romanian deadlift
coaching cues
- stand with a wide stance, toes flared out with a set of kettlebells in your hands
- set the shoulders
- keeping a slight bend in your knees, push the hips back as far possible while you lower the bells down towards the ground
- maintain a straight, neutral spine the whole time
- once you’ve felt the good stretch in the hamstrings or you’ve touched the ground, push through the heels to stand back up to full extension
common mistakes: narrow stance, toes not flared out, back rounding, not setting the lats.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell, sandbag, medicine ball, plates.
kettlebell strict press
coaching cues
- stand, holding the set of bells in a rack position on your chest
- squeeze your quads and glutes
- push the bells straight up overhead
- stack your arms right over your shoulders
- slowly bring the bells back down and repeat
common mistakes: using momentum from the legs, pressing away from the body.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, barbell.
kneeling half moon
coaching cues
- kneel with your toes tucked under behind you
- grab the load (plate, sandbag, dumbbell, kettlebell) and rotate your chest towards it
- lift it up and over your head, extending your arms all the way to the top and bring it back down to the other side
- repeat to the other side
common mistakes: not rotating the torso enough, not extending the arms all the way at the top.
kneeling keg lift
coaching cues
- have a box set up next to you at least 24” high
- kneel sideways to the box on the ground with a kettlebell set to the other side
- grab the bell by the horns and lift it up across the body and on to the top of the box
- tap the bell on the box and bring it back down to the ground
common mistakes: not rotating enough through the torso.
equipment substitutions: dumbbell, plate, sandbag, sandbell, medicine ball.
kneeling single arm press
kroc row
coaching cues
- grab a dumbbell in one hand
- hinge forward either posting the opposite hand on a bench or on your quad
- keep your back straight and core braced
- start with your arm fully extended and your lat stretched at the bottom
- pull your arm up behind you, squeezing your shoulder blade toward your spine
- slowly extend back down to full extension
common mistakes: rounding the back, not extending the arm long enough, jerking.
equipment substitutions: dumbbell.
lat and pec stretch
coaching cues
- stand in front of something head height and anchored in: a wall, a rack, a post, etc.
- grab the anchor with your right hand and lean your body away, stretching your arm out and elongating the lat
- hold for the prescribed amount of time
- keeping your arm anchored in, stand up and rotate away from the arm, stretching your pec for the prescribed amount of time
- switch sides
lateral jump over obstacle
leg raise
coaching cues
- lay down on your back on a bench with your hands underneath your hips
- make sure your hips line up at the edge of the bench
- lower your extended legs down to the floor
- then lift them up until they’re vertical to the ground
- slowly lower back down
common mistakes: jerking, going too fast, not going all the way down to the ground.
lower clean warm up 3x hip muscle clean
3x hang muscle clean
3x full muscle clean
3x front squats
3x hip power clean+ front squat
3x hang power clean+ front squat
3x full powerclean+ front squat
3x hip clean
3x hang clean
3x full clean
lower snatch warm up 3x hip muscle snatch
3x hang muscle snatch
3x full muscle snatch
3x overhead squats
3x hip power snatch+ overhead squat
3x hang power snatch+ overhead squat
3x full power snatch+ overhead squat
3x hip snatch
3x hang snatch
3x full snatch
lunging kb military press
coaching cues
- start this in a kneeling lunge position
- you will have a pair of kettlebells in a rack position on your chest
- tighten up your core as you lift the bells straight up overhead
- get your head “through the window” as you stack your arms over the shoulders
- slowly lower back down to your chest
- switch sides on the kneeling lunge each round
common mistakes: not stacking the arms straight over the shoulders.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells.
military press
execution
- get a clean grip on the barbell. this means slightly wider than shoulder width. the grip will be a full grip with the thumbs wrapped.
- take a breath in and get under the bar with the elbows slightly pushed in front. the bar should be resting on the chest.
- take a small step back and drive straight up overhead while keeping the barbell in the same vertical plane as much as possible.
- you can either lift the chin up and out of the way or retract the chin back as the barbell passes the face.
- as soon as the bar passes the forehead the head needs to go back to a neutral position between the arms.
- exhale and continue to press the bar directly overhead until in a locked out position.
- take each subsequent breath in the top position and lower the bar back to the chest in a controlled manner touching the chest each rep.
common mistakes
poor bar path
- the most efficient way to move a barbell is straight up. the face keeps this from happening unless you retract or lift the chin to clear the way. many times athletes will simply move the bar around the face instead of vice versa. once they hit the sticking point the bar is no longer over the chest but out in front of them. think about skimming the face and driving straight up off the chest. once the bar clears the face then the head comes back into a neutral position and they finish off the lift.
layback
- layback is a term for when the load get heavy or the athlete starts to struggle the athlete will lean back trying to use the chest muscles to finish the lift. this puts the back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. keep the head in a neutral position and eyes to the front.
looking down
- when pressing up the eyes should be focused on the far wall unless lifting the chin to clear the path for the bar, even then once the bar is clear they should pick a spot on the wall and focus on it. often times athletes will finish out the lift by dropping their chin and looking down at the ground.
pushing the head too far forward
- this comes from the cue of "pushing your head through the window" which in theory is getting the athlete into a position with the head neutral and arms to both sides of the head. sometimes this gets taken too far and there is a significant push forward and/or the athlete pushes the bar behind them. soon as the bar clears the face simply place the head back in a normal position where the bar is directly over the chest.
using the legs or hips
- as the loads get heavy athletes have a tendency to start using their legs to get their reps in. if this is the case simply drop weight and execute the exercise correctly.
movement prep
coaching cues
perform 6 reps of each movement:
- lift head up and down
- turn head left to right
- swing arms in circles clockwise. swing arms in circles counterclockwise
- make circles with the elbows one way. make circles with the elbows the other way
- make circles with the wrists one way. make circles with the wrists the other way
- swing arms front the back opening up the chest
- swing one arm up and laterally over the head as the other swings down. switch the swings each time
- hinge the hips back and forth
- squat
- hold a pvc pipe and do hydrants on one leg. switch sides
- make circles with the hips one way. switch the direction
- alternate legs, pulling the heels to the butt.
- make circles with one ankle. switch sides
mutant maker
coaching cues
- stand holding a barbell with a clean grip at hip height
- hinge and push the barbell into hang position at the top of your knees
- jump and shrug, pulling the barbell up to catch on your chest while jumping down in the full squat
- from the squat, jump the barbell all the way up into an overhead press position
- lower the barbell back to the shoulders, then back to the hips
common mistakes: dipping instead of hinging, not jumping hard enough, not squatting deep enough, not using the momentum from jumping out of the squat to get the barbell overhead.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
overbar burpee
coaching cues
this exercise is done in conjunction with the prescribed barbell exercise. there are two ways to do these:
lateral burpees:
- having placed the barbell on the ground, stand laterally to the barbell
- perform 1x burpee, then jump laterally over the bar, immediately jumping down into the next burpee
- continue as prescribed
frontal burpees:
- having placed the barbell on the ground, stand facing the barbell
- perform 1x burpee, jump over the bar, do a quick 180 degree jump to face the barbell again from the other side and do another burpee
- continue as prescribed
overhead dumbell press
coaching cues
- standing or sitting, hold a set of dumbbells up by your shoulders, palms facing your body
- keep your chest high and the core braced
- lift the bells straight up and rotate as you extend your arms
- slowly lower the bells back down to your shoulders
common mistakes: starting the bells with the arms to the sides of the body, not extending all the way at the top.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells.
injured arm: do a 1 arm dumbbell press.
overhead plate lunge
coaching cues
- hold a plate in an overhead position with arms completely locked out over your shoulders
- lunge forward with the right leg, bringing the back left knee down to the ground
- push off the left foot and travel through the middle, lunging forward with the left foot
- continue travelling with alternating legs for prescribed reps or distance
common mistakes: bending the arms while holding the plate, not bringing the back knee down to the ground each time, collapsing through the core.
equipment substitutions: dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine ball.
overhead tricep extension
pause clean
coaching cues
- address the barbell on the ground with a clean grip
- slowly pull the barbell to right above your knees and pause for 3 seconds
- keep your lats engaged, the barbell on your body, back straight and weight in the heels
- after the 3 second count, jump and shrug the barbell straight up the torso
- punch the elbows through and catch in either a power or squat clean, depending on what’s prescribed
common mistakes: rounding the back, not keeping the lats engaged, swinging the bar away from the body.
pause snatch
coaching cues
- address the barbell on the ground with a snatch grip
- slowly pull the barbell to right above your knees and pause for 3 seconds
- keep your lats engaged, the barbell on your body, back straight and weight in the heels
- after the 3 second count, jump and shrug the barbell straight up the torso
- catch with straight arms overhead in either a power or full snatch, depending on what’s prescribed
common mistakes: rounding the back, not keeping the lats engaged, swinging the bar away from the body.
pause squats
coaching cues
purpose: we do pause squats to increase muscular recruitment in the bottom squat position. it helps with building the muscle to explode out of an olympic lift as well. we have also noticed that it helps fix the lower pelvic tilt that occurs when you bottom out in a squat.
execution:
- unrack a barbell and get into a back squat position
- take a deep breath and push your hips back and down into the squat
- keep your chest up and core braced as you break parallel
- once you’re in the full squat, hold the squat for the prescribed time
- while you’re in this bottom position, try to relax and breathe normally
- then drive fast out of the bottom pushing through your heels to standing
common mistakes:
- stance too narrow.
- toes and knees not tracking outward.
- not maintaining a rigid flat back.
- not being able to get out of the squat after pausing.
pause-jerk-pause the pause-jerk-pause gives athletes a chance to slow down the jerk and pinpoint technique issues, such as dipping too low, or diving forward under the bar. the extra pause allows the athlete to correct their movement feel the correct position.
poor man reverse hyper
coaching cues
- set this up by placing a box hip height with an anchor behind it
- lay down on the box, with hips at the edge, holding on to the anchor with your hands
- start with feet all the way down to the ground
- slowly lift your extended legs as high as you can
- slowly lower them back down to the ground
common mistakes: jerking, not going high enough.
power clean
execution
- grab the barbell with a clean grip - one that is slightly wider than shoulder width.
- make sure that you are using a hook grip - one that the index and middle finger wrap over the thumb
- feet should be under the hips with toes only slightly flared. the start position stance is slightly narrower than the front squat stance
- pull the barbell into your shins
- drop your butt into a position slightly lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
- lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
- squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
- as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
- come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the legs at the mid to upper thighs
- pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip and punching the elbows down and around the bar
- receive the bar in a quarter squat in the front rack position with the weight settling onto the shoulders and elbows pointing forward and stand up
common mistakes
- not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
- looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
- jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
- elbows stopping short - if the athlete has a death grip on the barbell and fails to release their grip then the elbows will often get jammed up about half way to the desired position. soon as you start the rotation of the elbows around the bar release the grip and prepare to receive the bar onto the shoulders. it is not required to even have all the fingers under the bar during this. if going overhead after then the athlete will need to adjust but if simply doing a clean they are fine.
- muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
- catching in extension - because the power clean doesn't require the athlete to fully squat often times the will drop their body by pushing the hips forward. this puts the low back in a vulnerable position and should be avoided at all costs. the athlete should be on their way down to a full squat but simply change directions early.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm kettlebell or dumbbell hang power clean with the good arm.
injured leg: do a 1 leg hang power clean.
power clean + push press power clean
grab the barbell with a clean grip - one that is slightly wider than shoulder width.
make sure that you are using a hook grip - one that the index and middle finger wrap over the thumb
feet should be under the hips with toes only slightly flared. the start position stance is slightly narrower than the front squat stance
pull the barbell into your shins
drop your butt into a position slightly lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the legs at the mid to upper thighs
pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip and punching the elbows down and around the bar
receive the bar in a quarter squat in the front rack position with the weight settling onto the shoulders and elbows pointing forward and stand up
push press
place 4 fingers from each hand on the near side of the barbell in a position slightly wider than shoulder width
scoop the shoulders forward so there is a shelf where the bar can rest and rotate the elbows down and around so they are pointing at the wall in front of you
the bar should be lightly resting against your throat and hands should be relaxed
stand up supporting the load on the shoulders, not the hands or wrist
take 2 steps back to clear the rack
take a breath and drop 2-4 inches down by pushing the knees out
soon as you drop the required distance explosively change directions and violently extend the legs / hips
clear the head / face out of the way as the barbell moves up
as the bar moves up drop the elbows under the bar and acquire a full grip
finish out the lift by pressing up and overhead using the shoulders
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm kettlebell or dumbbell hang power clean + push press with the good arm.
injured leg: do a 1 leg hang power clean and push press.
power snatch
coaching cues
- address a barbell on the ground with a snatch grip
- slowly squeeze the barbell off the ground, pulling it up the shins
- once you pass to the top of the knees, aggressively jump and shrug the barbell straight up the body
- jump under the bar in a quarter squat, catching it overhead with straight arms
- stand all the way up
- lower or drop the barbell down to the ground
common mistakes: jerking the bar off the ground, rounding the back, not jumping hard enough, catching the bar with straight legs, catching the bar with bent arms.
equipment substitutions: kettlebells, dumbbells.
injured arm: substitute a 1 arm kettlebell or dumbbell snatch on the good arm.
injured leg: do a 1 leg hang power snatch.
prisoner stretch with band
coaching cues
- set this up by looping a band low on a solid anchor like a rack
- loop the end of the band at the hamstring/glute crease of your back leg
- get into a lunge position with your back knee on the ground
- drive your hips forward, placing your hands behind your head
- keep your head and chest up
- hold for prescribed amount of time
- switch sides
push twist lift
coaching cues
- kneeling on the ground, hinge forward until your torso is facing the ground
- extend your right arm on the ground and push a 5 lb plate laying in front of it 3 times, extending your arm as far as possible by the 3rd rep
- get your forehead on the ground
- then twist the thumb up and lift the arm off the ground for a second
- lower to the ground
- switch sides
pushup
coaching cues
- get into a tall plank position with hands slightly wider than shoulder width
- keeping the body in a straight line, lower down until the chest taps the ground
- drive back up to full extension in the arms
common mistakes: not taking the chest all the way to the ground, dipping the hips, not straightening out the arms all the way at the top.
rdl
coaching cues
- you will do this with either a clean grip or snatch grip
- stand with a barbell at hip height
- keeping your legs as straight as possible, push the hips back, hinging forward
- push the barbell down the front of your thighs, engaging your lats to keep the bar in contact with the body at all times
- weight goes into the heels
- keep the back rigid in a straight line
- stop at the top of the knees and push back to standing
common mistakes: rounding the back, bending the knees too much, letting the bar swing away from the body, going too fast.
rocking bridge / plank
coaching cues
- get into a plank position with your elbows underneath the shoulders
- rock forward and backward on the balls of your feet
- continue for prescribed amount of time
common mistakes: sagging the hips, piking the hips.
rope climb
coaching cues
there are different ways to do the rope climb. we use this particular technique because most of our athletes wear shorts to train and we want them to keep the rope off their legs to avoid a rope burn:
- reach up as high as you can and grab the rope with your hands
- bring your feet up to the rope
- use your right foot to pull the rope over the top of the left foot
- pinch the rope in between the shoes by angling the edge of the right shoe down
- this should give you a secure enough anchor to not have to hold on to the rope really hard with the upper body
- now you will reach up as high as you can and re-grab the rope with the hands
- pull your feet up as high as you can and re-anchor with the same technique
- continue like this all the way up to the top
- then you will allow a little slack in between your shoes to slide down carefully, gripping hand over hand all the way down
common mistakes: not pinching the rope securely enough with the feet, sliding down too fast, jumping off the rope (very dangerous), not chalking the hands if they’re sweaty.
sandbag back squat
coaching cues
- set this up by cleaning a sandbag up and onto the shoulders behind the head. the sandbag should be squared up
- feet are in a squat stance, toes flared out
- take a breath, tighten your core and push the hips back and down into a deep squat
- squat below parallel, keeping the chest high
- keeping the weight in the heels, drive back up to standing
common mistakes: collapsing through the core, squatting shallow, rocking the weight into the balls of the feet.
sandbag clean and push press
sandbag drag
coaching cues
- start on all fours with a sandbag in front of you on the ground
- keeping 3 points of contact on the ground at all times, reach up and grab the bag with your hand and drag it towards you
- crawl back and repeat with the other hand
- stay low to the ground
- continue alternating pulls for the prescribed distance
common mistakes: standing up and dragging.
scorpion stretch w/ cactus arms
scotty bob
coaching cues
- plank tall with a set of dumbbells in your hands on the ground
- pull the right bell up into a row, squeezing your shoulder blade towards the spine
- lower down
- do a pushup, dropping your chest in between the bells
- push back up to plank
- pull the left bell up into a row
- lower down
- do another pushup
- push back up to plank
common mistakes: sagging the hips, piking the hips, shallow pushups.
seated box jump
coaching cues
- set this up by placing a small box (like an irrigation box) a couple feet in front of a taller plyo box (anything from 20” and higher)
- sit on the small box with your feet on the ground
- rock your torso back and forward slightly and jump up onto the plyo box
- make sure to pull your knees up hard as you jump up
- land softly on your feet
- stand all the way up to full extension
- step down one foot at a time
common mistakes: landing hard, not standing all the way up at the top, jumping down on two feet.
seated clean and press
coaching cues
- sit on a bench with a kettlebell or dumbbell in one hand
- hinge forward, dropping the bell under the hips/bench
- then pull the bell hard and straight up the body to your shoulder
- from your shoulder lift straight up overhead, stacking the bell over your shoulder
- lower back down to shoulder and back down to start position
- switch sides as prescribed
seated clean and stand
coaching cues
- sit on a bench with a kettlebell or dumbbell in one hand
- hinge forward, dropping the bell under the hips/bench
- pull the bell hard and straight up the body to your shoulder
- then stand up on the good leg all the way up
- sit back down
- lower the bell back to start position
- continue as prescribed
seated dumbell curl
coaching cues
- sit on a bench or box with a set of dumbbells in hands
- keeping chest tall and shoulders set, curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders
- start in a hammer position and rotate the palms towards your shoulders
- lower back down to full extension
- you will alternate arms or curl both as prescribed
common mistakes: jerking, not extending all the way at the bottom.
seated kb snatch
coaching cues
- sit on a bench with a kettlebell in one hand
- hinge forward, dropping the bell under the hips/bench
- pull the bell hard, straight up the torso all the way to overhead
- punch through the bell at the top, catching it with a straight arm
- lower it back down to your shoulder, then back to start position
common mistakes: catching with a bent arm at the top, not punching through the kettlebell.
equipment substitutions: dumbbell.
seated kb swing
coaching cues
- sit on a bench with a kettlebell in two hands
- hinge forward, dropping the bell under your hips/bench
- swing the bell up to eye level
- swing back down to start position
common mistakes: rounding the back.
equipment substitutions: dumbbell.
shoulder hand job
coaching cues
- lie on your side with a small plate as prescribed
- wedge your elbow into the crook of your top hip
- press your elbow into your hips, activating your rear delt
- arm will be in a right angle, starting at parallel
- grab the plate with your thumb towards the ceiling
- maintaining this position, lift the plate up and back down for prescribed reps
common mistakes: not activating the rear delt enough, jerking with a big movement, dropping the arm below parallel.
shoulder lock and load
coaching cues
- set this up by looping a band shoulder height on a solid anchor, like a rack
- facing the anchor, place your elbow into the end of the band
- grab the two sides of the band from underneath with your hand
- holding onto the band this way, turn around away from the anchor, getting your elbow up and stacked over your shoulder
- walk out until your body is erect and you feel the stretch in the lat
- from here gently place your other hand on your head and draw your head away from the banded arm
- you should feel this stretch in your upper traps
- hold for prescribed amount of time and switch sides
common mistakes: standing with the body slanted as opposed to straight, not weighting the head away from the band.
shoulder scarecrow
coaching cues
- stand with a set of plates as prescribed in hands
- place your middle fingers inside the middle and your thumbs on the outside.
- lift your arms laterally all the way until your arms cross and lay over your head
- lower back down
- lift your arms laterally to parallel and face palms down
- bring your arms in and cross them around your body
- take them back out to parallel and lower down
- repeat as prescribed
common mistakes: not getting the sequence right, rushing through.
single arm isolated curl
coaching cues
- sit down on a box, bench, etc.
- anchor the elbow of one arm into the inner thigh of your leg on the same side
- starting with the bell at full extension and then curl the bell up to your shoulder
- slowly extend it all the way back down
common mistakes: not curling all the way up, not extending all the way down, bouncing the bell up from the bottom.
single arm overhead carry
skullcrusher
coaching cues
- lie on your back on a bench with your feet flat on the ground
- get one or two dumbbells as prescribed in hands with your arms extended right over your chest
- keeping the top arms vertical to the ground and stationary, bend at your elbow, lowering the bell/s down to your forehead or down on either side of the head
- slowly extend all the way to start position
common mistakes: moving the top of arms, not extending all the way at the top.
equipment substitutions: barbell, ez curl bar.
slasher to halo
coaching cues
- stand with a kettlebell in both hands
- hinging your hips back a little, start with the kettlebell on one hip
- pop your hip forward, guiding the bell up and across your body to your opposite shoulder
- guide the bell around the back of your head and bring bell down to the other side across your torso, down to opposite hip
- next rep will start from this hip, mirroring the last rep in the opposite direction
- continue for prescribed reps
common mistakes: not popping through the hips enough, keeping elbows down, not rotating through the torso.
equipment substitutions: dumbbell.
sled push
coaching cues
- you will need a sled and plates
- grab the upright poles with your hands
- push forward, digging your feet into the ground for prescribed length
smoc or single mode of choice
snatch
execution
- find your snatch grip by picking up the barbell and taking the hands out wider and wider until the bar sits in the crease of the hips. for most males this is just about thumbs distance from the outside ring and for females right on the outside ring.
- once you find your grip grab the barbell with the hook grip and pull it into you.
- your stance should be similar to that of a clean with the feet under the hips and toes flared out. because the hands are so much wider you can flare the feet a bit more and push the knees out to get closer to the bar
- drop your butt into a position slighty lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
- lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
- squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
- as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
- come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the area just above the pubic bone
- pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip, flipping the wrists back and locking out your arms
- as you pull yourself under the bar the feet need to transition out into a squat stance. the ideal stance is the same one you overhead squat with.
- after receiving the bar continue to ride the squat down and utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom to drive up and out of the bottom.
common mistakes
- not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
- looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
- jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
- bent arms - dropping under the bar and receiving with bent arms will require the athlete to press the bar overhead with a wide grip to finish the lift. when you drop under the bar during the snatch you need to receive the bar overhead with arms locked out.
- muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
snatch – short execution
- find your snatch grip by picking up the barbell and taking the hands out wider and wider until the bar sits in the crease of the hips. for most males this is just about thumbs distance from the outside ring and for females right on the outside ring.
- once you find your grip grab the barbell with the hook grip and pull it into you.
- your stance should be similar to that of a clean with the feet under the hips and toes flared out. because the hands are so much wider you can flare the feet a bit more and push the knees out to get closer to the bar
- drop your butt into a position slighty lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
- lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
- squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
- as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
- come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the area just above the pubic bone
- pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip, flipping the wrists back and locking out your arms
- as you pull yourself under the bar the feet need to transition out into a squat stance. the ideal stance is the same one you overhead squat with.
- after receiving the bar continue to ride the squat down and utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom to drive up and out of the bottom.
common mistakes
- not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
- looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
- jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
- bent arms - dropping under the bar and receiving with bent arms will require the athlete to press the bar overhead with a wide grip to finish the lift. when you drop under the bar during the snatch you need to receive the bar overhead with arms locked out.
- muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
snatch corrective complex 1) pull with 3 seconds from the floor
2) rdl with 3 sec hold above the knee
3) hang squat snatch w/ 3 sec hold in the bottom
4) full snatch
snatch grip deadlift
coaching cues
- address a barbell on the ground with a snatch grip
- keeping your back in a rigid straight line, pull your arms taut, rocking your weight into your heels
- take a breath and brace your core, squeezing the bar off of the ground
- pull it straight up your legs to a standing position
- slowly lower back down to the ground
common mistakes: rounding the back, not tightening up the core, rocking weight forward, jerking bar off the ground.
snatch grip deadlift with extension and shrug
snatch grip rdl w/ 3 sec pause
snatch warmup complex – swc
squat clean
execution
- grab the barbell with a clean grip - one that is slightly wider than shoulder width.
- make sure that you are using a hook grip - one that the index and middle finger wrap over the thumb
- feet should be under the hips with toes only slightly flared. the start position stance is slightly narrower than the front squat stance
- pull the barbell into your shins
- drop your butt into a position slightly lower than that of a quarter squat - individual start positions will vary
- lift the chest and set the low back. take any slack out of the system, arms should be long and straight
- squeeze the bar off the ground slowly
- as the bar moves up the body keep it as close as possible and increase the speed as it moves up
- come to full extension by explosively extending the hips, knees, and ankles. at this point the bar should impact the legs at the mid to upper thighs
- pull yourself violently under the bar while releasing the hook grip and punching the elbows down and around the bar.
- receive the bar in the front rack position with the weight settling onto the shoulders and elbows pointing forward
- as you pull yourself under the bar the feet need to transition out into a squat stance. the ideal stance is the same one you front squat with
- after receiving the bar continue to ride the squat down and utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom to drive up and out of the squat
common mistakes
- not fully extending - the hips need to come to full extension, sometimes you will see athletes try to sneak under the bar by dropping before the hips come all the way through. doing this does not allow the bar to reach the desired height and will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift.
- looping the bar out - although a small shift in bar path may occur with an explosive olympic lift it should be minimized by activating the lats and pulling the bar into you. new athletes have a tendency to almost curl the barbell up. remember to move the elbows around the bar, not the bar around the elbows.
- jumping forward - jumping forward during a clean can be cause by too much weight forward in a start position, pushing through the balls of the feet instead of the heels while standing up or by attempting to strike the barbell with the legs. if you find yourself jumping forward start by shifting your weight back on the heels some and remember that the bar striking the thighs shouldn't be a conscious action but a side effect of violent hip extension.
- elbows stopping short - if the athlete has a death grip on the barbell and fails to release their grip then the elbows will often get jammed up about half way to the desired position. soon as you start the rotation of the elbows around the bar release the grip and prepare to receive the bar onto the shoulders. it is not required to even have all the fingers under the bar during this. if going overhead after then the athlete will need to adjust but if simply doing a clean they are fine.
- muscling the bar up - new athletes will try to muscle the bar up by bending the arms prior to coming to full extension. keep the arms long and straight until you begin to drop under the bar.
stoc or soft tissue of choice
strikes – front thrust kick
superman stretch with hold
tabata calf raise
coaching cues
- stand holding onto an anchor of some sort, e.g. a pvc or rack
- elevate your toes of your feet on something at least an inch off the ground
- for 20 seconds, lift and lower your heels as high and you can, then down to the ground
- for 10 seconds, hold at the top, heels as high as you can
- repeat for prescribed rounds
takano clean pulls
this is a 4 part pull designed to teach the athlete to maintain back angle and bar position throughout the lift. each lift consists of 4 parts
1x halting deadlift to knee
1x halting deadlift to power position
1x bump shrug
1x high pull
takano snatch pull this is a 4 part pull designed to help the athlete maintain back angle and bar position throughout the lift.
1x halting deadlift to below knee
1x halting deadlift to power position
1x bump + shrug
1x high pull
the exercise
coaching cues
- stand holding a barbell with a snatch grip at hip height
- take a breath and push your butt back, hinging forward, pushing the bar down the front of your quads into a hang position right above your knees
- as soon as you hit the top of your knees, aggressively jump and shrug, pulling the bar straight up your body as you jump down into a full squat, catching the bar in an overhead position with straight arms
- stand all the way up
- take another breath and push your hips back and down into a deep squat
- stand all the way up
- this is 1 rep
- lower back to your hips if stringing together reps or drop to the ground if done
common mistakes: rounding the back at any time, dipping not hinging, squatting shallow, not moving fast enough, bent arms.
thoracic bridge
coaching cues
- sit on the ground with knee bent up and feet flat on the ground
- post your left hand behind you under your shoulder and bridge your hips up
- lean your right arm up and over, letting it dangle to the side while rotating through your upper back
- hold for prescribed amount of time
- bring hips down to the ground
- switch sides
common mistakes: not activating the lats to stabilize the posting arm.
tire drag
coaching cues
- you will need a tire with a plate placed in the middle and a chain attached to the tire with a strap to go around your body
- step inside the strap and secure it around your hips, pulling the chain taut to start
- walk or run as prescribed for the prescribed length
equipment substitutions: sled-with a strap attached to the sled to go around the body.
training age + rate of improvement
triphasic training standards for alternative equipment
ultimate shoulder stretch
coaching cues
- sit on the ground with your knees bent up or legs straight
- set this up with a barbell on the ground behind you and a foam roller placed at the top of your back
- reach back and tuck your fingers under the bar to anchor them in
- relax your body over the foam roller
- then lift your head and chest towards the ceiling, holding for 3 seconds
- slowly lower down and relax
- repeat as prescribed
common mistakes: not getting hips on the ground, foam roller too low on back.
upper body blaster 3 minutes of constant upper body movements. starting at 7 reps of each exercise and dropping reps as the athlete gets fatigued. the ultimate goal is constant upper body movement for 3 minutes.
7x bent over raises
7x lateral raises
7x front raises
7x arnold press
7x curls
7x tricep extensions
vaughn’s
coaching cues
- stand with your arms straight out to the side
- rotate your thumbs down and as far back as possible
- pause and rotate your thumbs back and up, rotating the other way as far as possible
- pause and repeat as prescribed
waiter walk / overhead kb carry
windmill
coaching cues
- stand with a wide stance with a dumbbell or kettlebell in your right hand
- press it out over your shoulder and lock your arm out hard
- place your left hand at the top of your left leg
- tip your torso towards the left, slowly sliding your hand down the inside of your leg until you touch the ground
- the bottom position should have you stacking the bell directly over your two shoulders over the hand on the ground
- touch the ground and slowly reverse the motion back to standing
- keep your arm locked out the whole time
- repeat and switch as prescribed
common mistakes: not bracing the core enough, bending the arm holding the bell.
y+l
coaching cues
- grab a set of light plates
- standing, hinge forward slightly with your arms extended down in front of you
- slowly lift your straight arms, thumbs up into the diagonal (the corners) and then lower down
- rotate your arms, pulling your elbows up laterally
- rotate your arms up towards the ceiling
- rotate down and back to start position
- repeat as prescribed
common mistakes: not hinging, arms extending everywhere but the diagonal line, jerking the arms.
z press a strict military press done with either barbell or dumbbells that has the athlete seated on flat ground with legs extended straight in front of them.
