In Transition

Transition is good right? I know the answer to that and I'm sure most of you do too. I am working on a new blog and some other shameless self promotion stuff so I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Kind of weak and not what I promised all of you.
Just want to give an update from my last post on how I did at my first sanctioned Olympic Lifting meet. Not well. Actually, you could consider it a choke. I started my snatch with 85 kilos (#185) which is something I usually workout with and is a fairly easy weight for me. Scratch! Second attempt I bumped up to 87 kilos (#187). I was angry with the first lift and was bound and determined to not get a scratch. Well I was aggressive and let the bar swing way out in front of me and let the bar go behind my head. Something that is VERY out of the ordinary for me. The last attempt was the same weight and with a little more control and patience I failed to fully pull myself under the bar. Done with the competition.
The truth of the matter is I could have continued on with the clean and jerk and not have any of it count. But I did something I normally don't do and let the misses get the best of me. I had already checked out mentally from the competition and pulled my card. Not one of my finest moments. One thing I can say is that my first meet was a humbling and a great learning experience. I realized that I need some help if I was going to dedicate my full time and attention to training and competing in the Olympic Lifts.
So...I solicited a coach, a top notch one at that and have proceeded to have my lifts broken down and rebuilt. I can already see the changes and can only imagine where I can take this. I'm starting a little old to have any grandeur expectations but I could do well enough to surprise some people.
I'll keep you all posted on the training and look for a lot of new and exciting stuff coming from me in the near future.

Ladies of Oly Lifting Crushin' It!

Several weeks ago Crossfit Central had an all women's challenge called the Iron Belle. There were two divisions, the fun division and the competitive division. The ladies in the pic below are the top three teams of the competitive division winners. I am very proud to say that two of the ladies on the 1st place team are athletes that I coach.
Claudia in the front right and Alexis peeking her head out in the back. These two ladies attend the evening Red Black Olympic Lifting class and come to extra training on Sundays. They have elevated there game and are true competitors. I also want to give a shout out to Stephanie who also is in the same Olympic Lifting class as Claudia and Alexis and competed in the fun division. During the competition she earned a new dead lift PR and rocked the house. She is the young lady pictured in my previous post performing the back squat beautifully.
One more shout out to Claudia who is also one of CrossFit Central's Diesel Athletes. I feel privileged to coach these ladies, and to watch their progress makes me very proud.
Congratulations girls! Now we need to get you all into an Olympic Lifting meet!

One last thing to let everyone know. This weekend I will be competing in my first sanctioned USAW Olympic Lifting competition in San Antonio. Since most of you know that read my blog or follow me on Twitter my passion lies with Olympic Lifting. I pretty much exclusively train Olympic Lifting and now want to see how I fare against other athletes that have the same passion as me. I will be wearing a singlet for the first time since high school power lifting. For those of you that aren't familiar with it you can check it out here. I don't think I'll be making that face though, I hope. I will be tweeting out how I'm doing and will have video and pics of the competition so be on the look out for that. I also want to give a big thanks to 210 Crossfit for putting on the competition.

High Bar v. Low Bar

So this debate has been going on since, well.....a while. High bar back squats vs. low bar back squat. I'm here to say right now I am biased and I only teach the high bar back squat. I'm not saying low bar is wrong, just that the high bar back squat suits Olympic style lifting better. Why you ask, well in my opinion it allows for a deeper squat, and keeps the torso more vertical which is key to the Olympic lifts. Plus, it allows for more range of motion.

Someone who power lifts would probably tell you the low bar back squat allows you to lift more weight because you recruit more hamstring and glutes, which is true. You do use more of those two muscles than when you use the high bar. Someone told me if you want to get stronger faster do low bar back squat. But, if you have ever looked at a power lifter and compare the range of motion to an Olympic lifter I think, in my opinion, you can see which one in the long run is better for you.
Again this is just my opinion, take is for what it's worth.

Found this article about the two lifts just puttin around the net and thought I would share it with ya.
High Bar vs. Low Bar Back Squats: A Brief Look into Mechanical Differences

"There are several benefits to either position and depending on your goals, either could be right for you. The high bar position tends to limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift due to less overall muscle recruitment, more quadriceps and less glutes and hamstrings. But, the movement tends to be considered more athletic as the range of motion is greater and it transitions well into the Olympic style lifts (the clean and jerk and the snatch). The low bar position works more muscles and thus allows the athlete to lift more weight and potentially build more muscle, but unlike the high bar squat it does not lend itself very well to other sports. In the end, no matter which you choose, make sure you are squatting frequently in any strength and conditioning program."

My good friend Lance also shared a good read concerning to lifts. It takes no sides and I think is a fare assessment. So take a look.

Olympic vs. Powerlifting Squats

"The key to healthy, long-term training is knowing the pros and cons of training. Knowing why and how to squat is no different. High quality Olympic squatting will take your training to the next level. The only immediate downside is that you'll have to take weight off the bar. In the long run though, you'll have greater lower and upper body development — and we guarantee that's worth spending time on."

So, I think both of these articles do a fair job of comparing the two different style of squatting. I also think it depends on what your goals are and what style of lifting you want to pursue. My sport is Olympic lifting so naturally I high bar squat.
The most important thing is have squats be a part of your training. Make sure you have proper coaching and technique. And get STRONG AS F*@K!

A Little Hiatus

Well it's been a while since I've written a blog post, but that doesn't mean a lot hasn't gone on. I know the last blog I had written I was in the midst of doing Fuel 21. Well, I will give you all the final results from my experience. Weight lost: #190 to #184. Body Fat: 15.1% to 13.3%. Inches lost 2.75 BUT, gained in my shoulders and biceps.
All in all it was a great experience! Crystal Nelson is top notch and knows her stuff. Her menu is satisfying and there are great recipes in her workbook. She tweaked my diet to fit my training regimen and it obviously paid of.
Since Fuel 21 ended I did go on vacation two times so I obviously didn't stay on it quit as strict. But since the end of July I have been right back on my diet and have seen a great response from my body through sleep and performance. I have been lifting heavy and my performance has not gone down. I am getting stronger and have put on good weight.
I would strongly suggest Fuel 21 for great ideas on food choices, and questions on when to eat. Crystal also touches on performance diet, and post work out suggestions. Great stuff all together.

Awwww, my sweet wife and I got to enjoy the beautiful country of Costa Rica for a week at the first of July with great friends and lots of good food. So you could see why I went off my eating regimen for a bit. I must say IF YOU EVER have a chance to travel to Central America choose Cost Rica. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and the scenery is AMAZING! It was our second time to go and we are already planning the next trip. Oh.... and their national beer Imperial is awesome.

Last but not least the CrossFit Games! I have been to all but one of the Games and the '11 Games were the best! The crowed was amazing the venue was full and the weather was great. A very fun filled group of us stayed in Redondo literally on the Strand on what is the widest beach I have ever seen in my life. I was waiting for Pam Anderson to roll up in her Baywatch truck ready to save me.
My sister Carey Kepler , sister in law Lisa Thiel and good friend Lindsay Smith all did great! Watching them work is awe inspiring and motivating at the same time. The caliber of athletes competing now is pretty impressive. Well, it's come along way since I competed in '08. Mad respect and I can only imagine what the sport is going to evolve into.

So...there is an update and some lame reasoning for the lack of blogging. My training is taking off and I have some Oly meets coming up here in the near future I will be telling you all about. I am bangin' some serious weights right now and fully expect to set some serious Snatch and Clean & Jerk PR's. Oly classes at Red Black are bumpin' and the athletes are making some real progress. Will have more updates on that as well. Good Day!

Domination

As many of you know, this past weekend was the South Central Regional Qualifier for the 2011 Crossfit Games in Carson CA. You all may also know that my sister Carey Kepler and sister-in-law Lisa Thiel finished first and third respectively. And not to be left out, their training partner and good friend Lindsey Smith, who finished second just ahead of Lisa. I have the privilege to be in the gym and to train around and with the three of these girls on a regular basis. They are competitive with each other but also have great respect and help coach and cheer each other on when they are prepping for competition.

I wanted to give them a shout out, and can't wait to go to Cali for the 2011 Crossfit Games. I also wanted to give big props to Ingrid Kantola who is going to be in the Games for sure next year. You talk about Lion Heart!

I wanted to give a big applause to my brother Jeremy Thiel for a tenth place finish and getting the ball rolling for the 2012 Games. He is an assassin and will be on it for next year. Much love for my brother from another mother, Lance Cantu, who finished in eight place. The man is a beast and has heart of a champion. Look for him to make moves.
And last but not least to Crossfit Central's team who battled hard and just came up a little short finishing in fourth place and Team Red Black who finished in twelfth place. Next year can't come soon enough!

And now for your viewing pleasure I have a new video of yours truly doing what I love to do. I must say watching myself train is sometimes hard to do. I must get quicker under the bar with both the clean and the snatch. The practice goes on.

I just wanted to add that I lost a friend this past Sunday. He was a father and husband and had a wonderful family and wife. I grew up playing little league baseball, youth football, junior high and high school football with him. Over the years we had lost touch with each other but occasionally bumped into each other in Lubbock when I would head back into town. (Lubbock is a small place) He was always friendly and back in the day always had my back. I just wanted to say that life is short and you never know. Live it with no regrets and you don't have to take crap from anyone. Talk to your family and friends, and I mean talk to them. Not just through Facbook and texting.
You and your family are in my thoughts Carlton.

Power and Speed

As the sport of CrossFit has grown so have many other not as well known sports. With CrossFit, Olympic lifting and gymnastics have become more mainstream, at least with the CrossFit community. But, those of you who have never played organized sports or it's been a few years since that time may not realize that Olympic lifting has been a mainstay in many of your high school and college weight rooms. There are varying opinions on whether or not Olympic style lifting is as affective as say, power lifting or strongman training for your competitive athlete. I personally think there is room for both, but to build power and speed there is nothing better than the Olympic style lifts.

Artie Dreschler says, "The mere practice of the Olympic lifts teaches an athlete how to apply large amounts of force. Part of the extraordinary abilities of an Olympic lifter arises out of his having learned how to effectively activate more of his muscle fibers more rapidly than others who aren’t trained to do so. This becomes extremely important for athletes who need to remain at lower body weights for athletic purposes but need to learn how to apply greater force. Olympic lifts will help build force development without producing unnecessary hypertrophy, which could even tighten the athlete up and make him or her slower."

You can directly apply this understanding to train football players, wrestlers, baseball players, and even basketball players. Oh, and CrossFitters as well. These lifts can also be applied to your younger athlete to help develop body control and explosive power.

Matt Delany of www.EliteFTS.com says, "However, with younger athletes, there’s a lot you can do to progress them to have bulletproof shoulders with Olympic lifting movements. At this young age, there are many structural and postural changes that can be made quickly as long as you make smart progressions. A very intelligent physical therapist, John Pallof, has actually found a place for cleans in his program for pitchers because he believes the lifts have some unique qualities in force absorption for the shoulder.

Not only will Olympic lifting help with all the stated points above but will help with strength gains. Over the past three months I have dedicated myself nearly to Olympic lifting only with one to two CrossFit workouts a week and have managed to take 80% (#360) of my back squat max and do 6x6 with out any real spotting. Managing to make this jump in such a short period of time is quit an accomplishment for someone who didn't back squat on a regular basis. I have also managed to keep myself in fairly descent metcon shape.

I think Olympic lifting can and should be a valuable part of your training package. You should have a knowledgeable coach to help with form and to guide you with your progressions. The lifts are fun and will help you have the strength gains you want and help develop either the athletes you train or yourself.

Source: Defending Olympic Lifting Movements for Athletes, Strongmen, and Powerlifters.

Update on Fuel 21!
So this is day three of Fuel 21 and so far so good. Sticking to the list and eating when hungry. My body comp was about what I thought it would be with 15% body fat and weighing in at190lbs. My goal is for below 10% body fat and weighing in at below 180lbs. It's gonna happen!
Look for more to come!

Fuel 21 and Me

So here in the next few days I will embark on a new eating adventure. I have committed to doing Crystal Nelson's Fuel 21 for the next three weeks starting this coming Sunday. I received the allowed to eat food list this past weekend and didn't see any beer on it. I say this because during the 21 days I will be going to my home town of Lubbock for a wedding. When in Lubbock I drink a lot with my buddies who are still there and I will be challenged to say the least. Not to mention, my parents own a Mexican food restaurant which is another frequently visited place while in my hometown. And, did I mention I'm going to a wedding??
This should be fun!

I would say darn near everything on the list of acceptable foods I already eat. The biggest difference will be when I eat it and in what combination I eat it. Not to mention I won't be using any supplements other than fish oil and supper foods which I already use. As much as I enjoy post workout shakes, protein shakes along with some other supplements I am looking forward to going the 21 days without them. I am also thankful that everything that is growing in my garden is on the list of foods I can devour. I'm going to state right here right now that I am shooting for a loss of 5% body fat and drop below 180lbs. I weight 188lbs right now as I type this and know for a fact I will get to my stated goal. If I drop 5% body fat that should put me around 10% body fat which would be GREAT! Get stronger and lighter? I can only imagine what my lifts and conditioning will be like!

To say the least, I am excited to get this started and look forward to the challenge of travelling and sticking to the list. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and might even post some before and after pics. After seeing what Fuel 21 did for coach Chris Hartwell I know I will get the same results.
LETS GET IT ON!