Hey John, Love the program and thank you for what you do for us. I was a collegiate rower over a decade ago, but since then have given up the long steady-state work and have fallen in love with strength training. I’ve been on the Amateur program for about 1 year now and I’ve been making good strides in my overall strength. But I know I have a weak link…my lower back (and [...]
I have a client playing college football for Montana next year. He has had issues with stingers any suggestions to help with those. I am thinking heavy farmers walks and deadlifts. Maybe some bridge work. Any suggestions would be helpful. He is playing tight end. Thanks, Jake For those you that have never played contact sports or were not privy to bone crushing hits on a daily basis, a stinger or burner is [...]
Johnnie, What's your take on what age young athletes should start lifting weights? I am working with a group of 11 and 12 year-old baseball players doing mostly speed and agility work because their parents are terrified of strength training. Sandy H. Lets take a look at how kids unfold. As children grow in size and develop muscle mass, they also develop increased strength. These strength improvements are independent of any training stimulus. [...]
I was in Fairfield, CT last month for a certification and Zach Even-Esh took a drive up from New Jersey to say hello. Zach and I have been emailing for over a year and finally got the chance to meet up. He loaned me a collection of old PL'ing articles for light reading on the plane ride home. I was reading an old article from Joe Weider in 1969 by Dick Tyler entitled [...]
John, I was wondering what you suggest for your female athletes with regards to their body changes. I started eating Paleo in January and have succeeded in eliminating all grains and dairy (never drank milk before anyway) and I do feel great In May, I weighed 115 lbs at 5' tall and my body fat was 15%. Fast forward to August, now I weigh 110 lbs and my concern is whether it was [...]
Hey John, I've just been reading a lot of material on the Paleo diet, and I believe I've gotten a lot of the science down pat and analyzed. But now, I'm wondering more about programming and the type of reading I should be doing. I've taken the CFFB Level 1 Cert, and I'm wondering if there's any specific books your would recommend? Per chance some Mark Rippetoe? Anthony Yes! I have been waiting [...]
Hey Johnnie, This question has been bugging the crap out of me and I can't seem to get a complete answer. My question is very basic, why is there such difference in body composition between olympic athletes? I have seen olympic meets where you can compare 77kg (169lb'ish) lifters; some are completely jacked while others are straight up skinny! Is this a difference in genetics, training programming, and diet? The reason I ask [...]
"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." - Bruce Lee [...]
Hi John - My name is Tyler and I am a swimmer at Middlebury College. Along with some of my teammates I have been following CFFB since our season ended. As both sprinters and athletes needing big gains in strength and size, the CFFB programming has been a perfect fit for our needs. Personally, I've coupled it with w CFE-type swimming program and I am swimming faster than I did all season! Thanks [...]
I happened last Tues doing OHS. The gym here is somewhat of a “globo” gym, so they don't have anything like bumper plates, or anything CrossFit related. The rack is too wide to set your hands for OHS right out of the rack. So we'll just take it off in a rack position, set our hands, jerk it overhead, do the reps, and either bring it back to rack position, or drop the [...]