Video from practice today

Great little video of practice today, really working on digging the shoulders under the hips as quickly as possible.




Always Pursuing -Mark-

5 Left and Hang Clean Baby!!!

Couple new videos from practice Friday. First one is 5 left approach, 15'7" 195lb Pacer Carbon Weave pole. Working on quick last 2 steps and hitting the takeoff with a solid body.



This video is Hang Clean 3x 265lbs, 2nd set, first set was 3x255lbs. THis is really where all that power you gain in the squat, lunge, every lift you do comes into play.  Your transferring strength into power and explosiveness. 



Always Pursuing -Mark-

Couple new videos from practice

Ok I have had a lot of positive feedback about all the new videos, so im going to try to keep it up. I have had one response to my windshield wiper challenge, scott elliot was able to knock out 35 solid wipers! I asked scott if there was anything else he would like to see on the blog and he said he would like to see more drills. This video is a 4 left straight pole drill but this time theres a mini hurdle on the runway. The hurdle here is set at about 10'6" here were working on cycling the legs through very quickly on the last 2 steps to pop up off the ground.




This video the hurdle is set at about 12', same thing getting the legs through quick to jump up off the ground, maintaining a solid body at takeoff as if your going to be punched in the stomach. Now if you want to try this at your practice i would suggest starting with a shirt or towel on the ground, and working up to a mini hurdle.



Always Pursuing -Mark-

First day on bent pole!

first day bending the pole! everything weve been working on straight pole has transferred to a bent pole which i am very excited about, this is my 3rd jump of the day. 15ft 190lb pacer carbon holding about 14'6"




Always Pursuing -Mark-

Back from Vegas, back to work!

Got back from Vegas Monday, had a great time and even learned a few things.  Its always good to get together with a bunch of people who are all trying to do the same thing you are, that way you can talk to them and find out whats working and whats not. 

Now to the good stuff!  I just got a new camera for my birthday, i got the Kodak Playsport, its a lot like the Flip but actually is waterproof!  My birthday is not until the first of December but I know you guys have been getting restless wondering where the new videos are at.  So i took some at practice today of some vaults and also at gymnastics. This first one is my last drill of the day, 4 lefts, 13'2" grip, working on hitting the takeoff with a solid body. 



These Windshield Wipers are just a taste of the core we do at gymnastics, hanging here from parallel bar, keep your arms straight, lift your feet to your hands and go back and forth trying to go as far as you can on each side.

So heres the challenge. Try this at home, you can use a high bar, squat rack, or just about anything you can hang from. See how far you can go from side to side and how many you can do without letting your feet come away from your feet. Post the video on youtube,facebook or where ever, comment on this post with the link, and i will choose the winner. And who knows maybe along the line there will be prizes!

Always Pursuing -Mark-

Heading to Vegas

Once again it has been a couple of weeks since my last entry, I have no excuses. Today we finish up our third week of fall training, its been good, really good. Like I talked about last time, it feels great mentally to get back at it and now physically my body is getting more and more used to the extra pounding. One thing that made workouts this week something to look forward to was we started vaulting! Monday we did 1 left drills into the sand working on a strong penultimate and really driving the right heal up into the hamstring at takeoff. We also moved over to the vault pit and got back to 2 lefts working on the same thing, seeing how high we can grip on a stiff(non bending) pole and still get into the mats, my best Wednesday was 13'6". As I get better and better at the penultimate and driving everything up that number should go up.

We've also added some new lifts to our program including 3 step squats, an eccentric squat where you go down to about 60% pause for 3sec and try to explode back up. We also added some calf and shin exercises and amped up the handstands and ring work. Gymnastics on tuesdays has been going great, we did some giants this week as well as some nasty core that has just ripped me up.

I just landed in Las Vegas for the USATF jumps and throws summit. I don't know exactly everything that is planned but I do know it should be a great time of discussion and hopefully learn a few things while were here.

Always Pursuing,
Mark