Hey guys!

The second cycle of the Strength and Skills class is here! We finished the last cycle off with some huge strength gains, and now we're shifting our focus to the Olympic lifts: the snatch and clean and jerk.
This class will help you to:
- Be proficient in the Olympic lifts
- Supercharge your strength gains and maximize your potential
- Compete in our local meets
Think of this cycle as an investment: the mobility, speed, agility, strength, and coordination required to correctly perform a snatch or clean and jerk, outmatch any other movement. They are the most complex movements you can do with a barbell. If you take the time to focus on these movements, perfect these movements, by definition your fitness will increase.

On top of that, the results from the fellas in the last cycle speak for themselves. These guys are strong. They took some time off from the conditioning and they hit the barbells, and they hit them hard. The end results were some strong, strong dudes with killer technique. It's true we didn't focus much on conditioning, but it didn't matter. Each of them built a larger engine, and now they can put out more horsepower; Pr's to follow.

I mentioned something about local meets. Every month or so a number of local CrossFit affiliates will get together on a Saturday morning, and we'll max out the snatch and clean and jerk per competition rules. You have three attempts per movement with the goal to lift as much weight as possible. The highest weight for each movement is added together and that's your total. The person with the best total wins.

Why would you want to spend a Saturday morning picking up weighted sticks? I mean c'mon what is there really to gain from it? I'm sure you can list a dozen other things that you would rather spend your time doing than comeback to the gym nice and early; and I mean you just want to get in shape for that up coming beach season right? Forget fitness. Competition will make you a better person.

Competition is a powerful thing. It gives focus, a purpose, behind what you're doing. Your diet cleans up, you fight for that last rep, you come to the gym even though you're exhausted. Pushing becomes easier because you know that it is the means to an end.

Competition isn't easy. Going in front a group of people with the intent to perform a complex movement that has moderate probability of failure is not easy; that's the beauty of it. Competition takes you outside of that comfort zone that you've worked so hard to obtain, and makes you experience the unknown. That's where you get better. 
There's that famous quote by Ali where he was asked how many sit-ups he does, and he replies he doesn't know, he only starts counting when it hurts. Pushing outside of where you're comfortable is where the real gains lie, where your full potential can be met. That goes for working out and for life. Competition is just an outlet to get there.

We started doing these competitions last fall, and they have made all of the difference. Personally, I can say I would not be where I am as an athlete, coach, or student if I hadn't started competing on a regular basis. It brought me to a new level of intensity, focus and dedication that leaked into the rest of my life. 

I've gotten a bit off track, so I'll wrap it up. 

The class meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 and classes go for an hour and a half. Don't worry about price, it works just like the groups classes. 

If you're interested shoot me or Ryan an email, message me on facebook, talk to us at the gym, or just walk in. It's all good. 

Have a great weekend

Alex
amschuld@uwm.edu