The Entire Reason we use Olympic Lifts with our athletes....

I have always weighed-out the teaching-time to benefit ratio when it came to using the 'full' lifts like power cleans and power snatches (and their variations) vs. a simple jump shrug from the hang position or a clean or snatch pull from the floor. Well, I then came across this study that compared power outputs of hang cleans vs. jump shrugs.

http://www.nsca-lift.org/Abstracts/detabs.asp?id=507

This is a pretty significant finding as jump shrugs take VERY LITTLE teaching time for most folks. It also makes the point that we don't need to 'catch' the weight to get the explosive benefits of many Oly lit variations. I emailed the primary author (who is a former college S&C coach) and he said he decided to look at this comparison since he did a lot of jump shrugs due to lack of teaching time and many athletes who just could not get proficient at the full movt. He said he thought the power outputs would be similar but never would have thought that the Jump Shrugs would actually result in greater numbers. Food for thought...especially if you are training individuals who might tend to be a bit 'motor-challenged' at times!

Is it ever really too late????

This is an amazing story of a 59 year old attempting to make a Div III football squad (that's NOT him in the pic on the left BTW). All indications point to him making the team quite easily as his position coach (linebackers) has stated Mike Flynt is the biggest, strongest linebacker he has on this squad. Mike is a former Div I strength coach who still benches over 400lbs. and is put together pretty well. Mike played on the Permian High School 1965 (a year before I was born...) state championship team (from "Friday Night lights" fame) and went onto play ball at the Univ. of Arkansas before getting into some trouble and transferring to Sul Ross State University in Apline, TX (where he got into some more trouble....seems Mike liked to get into a few scraps now and then). Anyway, this is a great story and tribute to the human spirit (and body!). I can't imagine banging with my own football athletes at the age of 41! It is believed that, if he plays in a game, Mike will be the oldest person to ever play college football by around 18 years or so!

Flynt, 59, making comeback with Sul Ross State University
Associated Press
Updated: August 22, 2007, 12:24 PM ET

ALPINE, Texas -- Mike Flynt was drinking beer and swapping stories with some old football buddies a few months ago when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: Getting kicked off the college team before his senior year. One of his pals asked why he didn't do something about it? So Flynt started a comeback -- at age 59. Flynt has returned to Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, 37 years after he left -- and six years before he goes on Medicare. And, he's has made the roster of the Division III Lobos and could be in action as soon as Sept. 1. Flynt enrolled in graduate school so he can take advantage of his final semester of Division III eligibility. Flynt is giving new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he's a grandfather. He's eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates. His youngest child just started at the University of Tennessee. Flynt's position is still being determined, but he used to play linebacker. Wherever he lines up, just getting into a game likely will make him the oldest player in college football history. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keeps such a statistic, but research hasn't turned up anyone older than mid-40s. And with around 200 pounds on a 5-10 frame, about the only visible difference from his playing days is a shaved head. He's in tremendous shape for his age because he's made a living out of working out. A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, Flynt has spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. He recently taught it to some of the military's special operations forces, keeping up with them in their workouts.

On a similar note, my hero Randy Couture will be defending his UFC heavyweight title this weekend in Las Vegas @ UFC 74..... at the tender age of 44! I will be there to witness greatness.....

Mark Henry and the Famous Thomas Inch Dumbbell performance!

This is the legendary inch dumbbell performance by Mark Henry. For those of you who are not familiar with the Thomas Inch DB, it weights about 173lbs. and has about a 2.5in. diameter handle. I have tried to pick one up off the floor and could not break the weight from floor contact....it would just roll to the side. Watch Mike play with this thing...the most impressive things is how he just picks it up, walks it over to the table, and sets it down!

Kipping vs. Pull-ups

Regardless of the fact that thee girls are kipping rather than performing "pull-ups", it's still HARD WORK. I challenge just about any guy to match these numbers... Kip or No-Kip!