And here I thought the one-arm chin was a difficult skill… How about one finger Also, Jim at Beast Skills turns in some great work on the pegboard, including a muscle-up. That guy is a machine. (both via SttB)
Who knew you could structure an entire blog around breathing More helpful for sports (or at least more concise) is Breathe Right and Win. Very useful for me, as I do way too much breath-holding when working out. Related, and unfortunately incurable by Googling alone, I’m also too stupid to count my reps and breathe at the same time, if the reps and the breaths aren’t synchronized one-to-one. (via jeters)
Coach Sommer, who you may remember from articles like Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning or Developing the Hanging Leg Lift, has a post up on a very interesting "prehab" exercise, Wall Extensions:
Wall Extensions are a relatively simple movement that can be quite effective in treating what I have occasionally referred to as "Bench Press Syndrome"; or a greatly reduced range of motion throughout the shoulder girdle due to an incorrectly designed exercise program.
Just tried these, there is only one way to describe my performance: I sucked. Which is totally unfair, since I don't bench, and work harder on pullups than pushups. Sigh, stupid computer job. Definitely something to add to my regular stretch breaks.
Also, very exciting, his long-awaited book on gymnastic strength training for the layperson, Building the Gymnastic Body is available for preorder! As you can see from the link, you can also buy it with DVDs and/or rings if you want.
I remember, quite a few years ago now, watching DoG play at Regionals. I still remember Billy Rodriguez exhorting a defender from the sidelines, "where do you want to make him go?"
As one who was (and still is, if I let my mind wander) inclined to play defense by merely chasing my guy around, this was revelatory. "Where do I want to make him go"?! What a concept!
Now, years later, Josh Mullen has put up a post laying out how that works in practical terms: Good Defense Happens BEFORE the Disc Moves. Perhaps not as pithy as "where do you want to make him go", but much more helpful.
I appreciate this guy's motivation, from a New Yorker comment on Theatre Of War, a play about the Scottish regiment deployed to Iraq:
At least one veteran declared himself a conscientious objector to the general approval of the play. "I didn't join the Army because I didn't want to work the deli counter at a convenience store," Jason Everman, a heavily tattooed, bearded veteran of the Army Rangers and the Special Forces, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said, referring to the play's depiction of soldiers as having been motivated to enlist by the lack of alternatives. "I joined the Army because I had a specific agenda: to develop the warrior aspect of my persona."
As a teen-ager living in Washington state, Everman explained, he had been inspired by the "Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini." "He was the quintessential Renaissance man: an accomplished warrior, an artist, a philosopher," he said. Everman had already taken care of the artistic aspect of his persona, a friend who was with him said, at which Everman admitted that he had been a guitarist. (No kidding: post-encounter intelligence reveals that in the early nineties he played with Nirvana and Soundgarden.) Having left the military in 2006, he is now studying philosophy at Columbia University. "It's the Platonic ideal of the tripartite soul," he said. "Wisdom, courage, and temperance. Those are Plato's words, not mine."
Here's the Cellini autobiography.
Sorry about the dearth of posts, I'm in a bit of a transition period...
First, a link: Mackey has a great post on squatting up. Go. Read. Watch THE CLIP.
Second, to the Nationals-bound Ultimate players out there, good luck in Sarasota! Wish I could be there, but now I get to join in the trick-or-treat fun. As my daughter told me going into Regionals, "it's a win-win!" And right she was.
Finally, do me a favor? Drop me a line if you find this site useful. You can post here or e-mail me. I'm handing over my oldest, dearest site to a fellow ready to give it a long overdue update, and this site piggybacks on it's framework, so will have to change one way or another. Anyway, I've always been curious about who my readers actually are, so if you're willing (no pressure, of course), just a quick ping: your sport, your team (if applicable), and what you've picked up from here. Thanks!
Outrageous. Maybe the trans fat companies will be next.
Everything Jim at Beast Skills posts warrants a link, and his one arm push-up tutorial is no exception. Great stuff, as always.
Crossfit has launched the latest version of their journal: CrossFit Journal 3.0. For me, the most compelling piece of this offering is that a $25 subscription gets you full access to all their back issues (which were formerly $5 each to buy). Definitely going to look into that after the season.
Thanks to reader llimllib for pointing out the Women's 100m Final. Like the men's race, totally worth watching for Shelly-Ann Fraser's dominant performance, but even better is the joy she expresses in her post-race celebration and interview. Makes me happy just watching her.