Crossfit posts a video laying it all out. A must-watch, and contains yet another reference to the importance of hip action in elite athleticism. It is striking how often that theme is repeated in my reading and surfing.

My only complaint about the video is that it ends too soon.

I was going to write something about pull-ups, but there's so much good information out there I'll just link you up:

If you can't do any pull-ups, or if you struggle just to do one (that's where I started out at the beginning of this year) give Pullup Training for Women and/or The Road to Your First Pull-Up a good read. The former article talks about using Jump-Stretch bands to assist, which seems like a much more economical solution than the Active Cords I used (I swear they were cheaper way back when I bought them).

Regardless of how many pull-ups you can do to start, you should definitely read The Application and Creation of Pullup Power first for invaluable advice about engaging the big muscles of the upper back rather than just pulling with your arms.

That's really all you need to know to get on the road to respectable pullup power. Beyond that, there's The MonkeyMaker, and a great discussion on Crossfit concerning how high to pull yourself (click the "Archive through..." link at the top of the page to get back to the beginning of the discussion). From that discussion, take special note of this post by Greg Everett and watch the "Big Fat Pullups" video he links to. The guy just flys over the bar.

These rings would be a fine, fine addition to the local playground! The bottom left and bottom center videos are particularly good. « via Crossfit »

In addition to the two free fantastic PDFs from the Crossfit mothership, Crossfit NorCal has a couple as well. First up is a sample of their newsletter, Performance Menu, which includes an interview with Art De Vany and an introduction to one of the basic (doesn't look basic though!) Capoeira strength moves. They also list among various resources a link to the March 2003 Crossfit journal, which includes a wonderful article on "the lowly pushup." If it doesn't inspire you to start working on that exercise, nothing will. If for no other reason you really should download it for their definition of an "honest pushup", along with the "cheater's guide to lousy pushups."

Ross Enamait just posted a new article on jump rope training, and like everything else he writes it's well worth reading, and will make you want to run to the gym (or outside) and try whatever it is he's currently preaching. As a bonus, there's a great video included that'll show you what the skill looks like after you put in 20 or so years of work.

If you have any shin issues take careful note of his advice to wear crosstrainers and work on a forgiving surface. So far I haven't found anything harder on my shins than jumping rope.

There's a quick bit on the decline of some traditional ball sports in the October issue of Outside Magazine (issue not yet online at the time of this writing):

At a time when participation in some traditional ball sports is in decline nationwide, sports like surfing and climbing—long neglected at the youth level—are enjoying unprecedented support. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), a trade group that tracks U.S. sports, reports up to 21 percent reductions in the number of school-age kids taking part in activities like basketball, baseball, and soccer from 1998 to 2004. At the same time, kayak academies, high school surf crews, and youth climbing teams have blossomed.

From this one paragraph it's impossible to know if one group is directly cannibalizing another, but it's still an interesting trend, one I wasn't aware of, and one I wouldn't have guessed from casual observation of local youth sports. I bet the SGMA reports are interesting. Too bad they range from $100 to $600 a pop (of the ones I looked at).

There's a very interesting table embedded in this Paul Chek article. It's from the late Mel Siff's Supertraining, an out-of-print book I really should track down. The table lists...

...contribution of short, intermediate and long-term energy systems to common sports. This information is useful in determining acute exercise variables for program design. Please note that most sports are anaerobic, yet many athletes and coaches make the mistake of using aerobic training to prepare for anaerobic sports, which actually decreases performance.

So is Ultimate more like basketball, or soccer? And if soccer, which position? Keep in mind there's more subbing in Ultimate (which is not to say I've already formed my opinion).

To date I've been a Burpee man exclusively, but some digging turned up two other full-body plyometric exercises, bringing the list to:

• Burpees
• Thunder Rolls
• The Mahler Body Blaster

Here's a quick Thunder Rolls vs. Burpees thread. I just tried a quick set of Thunder Rolls without a medicine ball (don't own one yet), and it does seem like you get quite a bit of help from momentum that you don't get with Burpees in the lower part of the exercise. Maybe I'll feel differently when I add a ball, but I could add a ball to Burpees as well.

I haven't tried the Mahler Body Blaster yet, as it's dark outside right now so I don't want to brave the wolves, and I can't do them in here as the exercise covers more horizontal space than my basement allows. I don't think I've figured it out though. Do you ever stand up again after the initial squat, or do you just keep going roll-pushup-roll-pushup-etc.? Also, after the pushup do you keep your feet in place and use your arms to return to the squat and then roll back, or do you jump your feet up to your hands and then roll back? If the latter, you could do Body Blasters for distance, as you'd move forward with each rep.

The prisoner's workout would be fun for any of these, I bet. I tried this yesterday for the first time, but I started at a paltry 10 burpees and laddered down from there. My walk was about a 10-second walk. Concentrated on form and speed, making sure I exploded on the jump, and then flowed into the next burpee immediately upon landing (i.e. rather than catch myself on the landing from the jump, I pretty much let gravity pull me right down into the squat, with minimal slowing and no hitches). 10 wasn't too bad, 9 was uncomfortable, 8 through 5 truly sucked, 4 showed the light at the end of the tunnel, while 3, 2, and 1 were a welcome home stretch. I really must get better at these.

I can think of few athletic endeavors where wet, sweaty hands are an advantage. Playing Ultimate, the range and consistency of my forehand suffers in the rain, or on the steamiest days (I know, I know, it's because I've been holding it wrong for 16 friggin' years - I'm going to rebuild my grip in the off-season). So I was pretty interested to discover that the Power Rings folks sell a product called Tite-Grip. It sounds like it's a heavy-duty anti-perspirant so it, combined with wristbands, might be a boon for hot, humid Ultimate days. But what about the rain?

Well, there's another product called Dry Hands that bills itself more as a kind of wicking solution than an anti-perspirant, and it claims to be effective in the rain. There's quite a testimonial on rec.sport.disc. I'll have to give this one a whirl. I'll report back after the next rain game.

In a recent post I mentioned Ross Enamait and his books. Let me try and do more justice to the two books of his I own.

First up is The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness (now discontinued). Here's a quick rundown:

• More bodyweight exercises for the upper body, core, and legs than you can shake a stick at. After a lot of searching I found a good number of these online, but many were completely new to me, and the book collects them all in one place.
• Fifteen different animal walks and jumps (e.g. bear walk).
• Balance training (so often overlooked, but I really think this has made a difference for me - I'm saving this subject for a separate post).
• His stretching chapter is more a discussion of different stretching styles than detailed routines or exercises, so you'll want a separate source for those (see my "Books" section to the right).
• The conditioning section is all high-intensity work, and goes into lots of detail on various forms of interval training and explosive exercises.
• The nutrition chapter is fascinating, with a lot of discussion on various supplements and how elite athletes diet must differ from that of your average sedentary drone. I have not put much of this into play for myself yet though, so can't comment on it first-hand.
• Routines, routines, routines! Ross includes a bunch of ready-made routines putting it all together. You could easily build your own with all the information provided, but it's great to have so many off-the-shelf options, which also serve as great jumping-off points for improvisation.
• No equipment necessary! Well, you'd greatly benefit from a pull-up bar (I got mine for $25), an ab wheel ($10 or so), and a two-by-four, but otherwise your only equipment costs are the book itself and your workout clothes.

As I mentioned in my other post, you could build a lifetime's worth of workouts from the material contained here. So why buy any of his other books?

Well, I recently picked up his new one, Infinite Intensity. I did this mostly for inspiration, as it was billed as containing more advanced exercises than The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness, many of which I have not mastered yet. Sure enough, many of the exercises are currently out of my league. However, the book was still a fantastic purchase with direct relevance to where I am now in my fitness. A quick summary, from the book's page:

• Dumbbell training for power and strength
• Advanced bodyweight exercises
• Isometrics
• Weighted and bodyweight core movements
• Low budget options for homemade training equipment
• Heavy bag drills for enhanced punching power
• Conditioning drills to enhance each energy system
• An analysis of periodization for combat athletes
• Research from world renowned sports scientists
• Commonly neglected areas such as the hands and neck
• A 50 day training program
• And much, much more...

First off, the exercises complement and extend what is in Warrior Fitness, and the chapter on isometrics was completely new to me and compelling (moreso as the two gymnastic holds I'm working on are isometric in nature). But the big thing that makes the book worthwhile right now, even if you're nowhere close to such feats as a one-arm chin, is this: where Warrior Fitness gives you everything you need to build a fantastic workout, Infinite Intensity gives you everything you need to put those workouts together for a complete, long-term, training lifestyle. Personally, the chapter on periodization was worth the price of admission alone. I had always written off periodization because of it's emphasis on peaking for a certain key event, but it turns out that's only one kind of periodization. There are other forms that are relevant to longer seasons and year-round fitness, which is much more what I'm after.

A few final general notes...

All Ross's books are geared towards fighters, but the techniques are highly relevant for any competitive athlete, or those simply dedicated to getting into better shape.

The books are spiral-bound, which I understand can be a turnoff for some, but I really like being able to fold them over.

Finally, Ross is a one-man operation. He is self-published, fills the orders personally, encourages and answers all e-mail questions, and is an active participant in his forums. My books arrived almost instantly (I'm sure it helps that we both live in the northeast), and my few e-mail communications with him have shown him to be very responsive and helpful.

In short, I can't recommend his books highly enough. I love the two I have, but I bet they're all great.

Oh, last thing, if you want to get a better sense of Ross's writing and exercise routines before buying, here are his articles and videos.

I was remiss in my Crossfit post yesterday: read the FAQ! It's a gold mine in its own right, and has more video links than my meager Googling managed to uncover.

Jim of Beast Skills fame has just posted a One-Arm Chin-Up/Pull-up Tutorial. Yow. I need to pick some easier goals!