Is that Clear?

The Crossfit Toronto Crew at the Olympic Lifting Cert

Snatch!  2 inch!  4 inch! 6 inch!  Jerk!  OH MY!

To the average person, this might sound like there was a little dirty talk going on at Crossfit this weekend!  To the Crossfitter, it could only mean one thing…Coach Burgener was in town!

This weekend several of our Crossfit Toronto members had the incredible opportunity to attend the Olympic Lifting Certification with Coach Burgener.  Two full days of skill development, drills and phenomenal coaching.  Who knew PVC pipe could go from weightless to 3 tonnes in a weekend!

Crossfit incorporates Olympic Lifts into many of the workouts.  These lifts are explosive and powerful, and their application makes athletes stronger and faster.

Crossfit has a strong focus on the clock, and unfortunately this often leads to less than perfect form and technique.  This weekends certification broke the Snatch, Clean, and Jerk down into it’s simplistic components.  However, this disection also showed how critical the execution of these simplistic motions are to successful lifts and continuous improvement.

It truly is as simple as “jump” and “land”  But you must put in the work to PERFECTLY jump and land!  And we worked!  Drills and skill transfers, coach and trainee, and let’s not forget burpees!  Yeah burpees!

Coach B stated it best when he quoted Vince Lombardi:  ”Practice does not make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect!”

All the coaches – Coach B’s son Casey, daughter Sage and daughter-in-law Natalie, as well as the Dynamic Duo from Crossfit Saskatoon (go team Canada!) – were nothing short of amazing.  Coaching isn’t only about having knowledge, it’s about understanding your client and their weaknesses and needs, and knowing how to communicate in terms that are relevant to them.  Coach B’s team were perfect examples of what stellar coaching is all about.  Keen eyes, amazing cues, and valuable feedback.

Crossfit boasts that we “specialize in not specializing.”  Having said that, the olympic lifts require precision, perfect timing, and a whole lot of strength.  To truly improve on these, you need to seek the help of a specialist.  This weekend definitely supplied the experts!

Here’s some learnings and fave Burgisms of the Crossfit Toronto crew from the weekend…

Choke yourself”!  -  Great coaching cue as it emphasises where the bar needs to be.  And it totally sounds like the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket.  I was half expecting Coach B to start calling someone “Pvt. Pile”.  “Did your parents have any children that lived”?!

“You have got to be sh**’ing me”! – A universally applicable chastising for not listening.  And because of the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket

“Generate speed through the middle” – Simple way of explaining a fundamental concept: where the real power and acceleration for the O-lifts takes place.

“Touch your head to the ceiling” – Cue to fix hips thrusting forward (a la kettlebell swing)

john

Loved it!  Burgener doesn’t speak alien language and I understood everything he said and what he wanted us to do.  This is a huge point for me (you know, because english is my second language.  When someone talks about anatomy or uses big words, “????” is all I have in my head.)

I also liked that there was lots of practice!  I am one of those people that has to practice a ton to get it right so it helped me a lot.  He made teaching snatch and clean look easy!  Man, I wish I could do that.  One day!…

“Choke yourself!!”
machiko

“Paralysis by Analysis” – this one really stuck for me b/c I always over-analyze these lifts, when really what I need to be thinking is “down and up”. Who knew that when it comes down to it, learn to jump, you can learn to snatch and clean and jerk.

“Drills enhance the Skills” – I know I need to do these drills more often to develop that muscle memory. the drills are simple, dont take a lot of time but can have a huge impact. Again, simple stuff.

“When the arms bend, the power ends”

“Give me your hips” – coming from a long distance running background, I still suffer from very inflexible hips. This cue for me was super helpful.

This was an amazing weekend for me. As an athlete I got to learn from the best. I mean, how amazing to be coached by an olympic lifter. Awesome. Yes, it highlighted my faults-flexibility being by far the biggest-but by doing that I can only get better as a lifter. As a coach, this really inspired me to be a better one. And identifying my weaknesses, will help me develop a better eye which wil help me when I am back in the gym, working with one of our athletes.

Despite the wipe out on the first day doing agility drills (yes, this was before we had even started lifting), the aptly named “injured giraffe”, the incredibly sore  and very inflexible hips, I know that my own lifting and coaching was improved by these two days. I’m excited to go back to the gym, practice what I learned and be a better coach. I went into this thinking that I would leave with incredibly technical tips and cues. What I learned is that keeping it simple is the key. It is amazing how Coach B can break these lifts down to a level that anyone can do. It all starts with a simple jump…

Thanks to Coach B and his crew-for their time and patience and for making olympic lifts accessible to anyone.

LadyG (Leah)

What I liked about it was:

• Lots and lots of movement.  (the Level 1 cert was much less physical)
• Great coaching

Coach B controls a large group effectively
Tons of cues for the movements, one or two of them will resonate with you and you’ll get the movement.

Fave burg’ism!

• “Pockets!  Yeah burpees!
• Paralysis by analysis!
• Whatit did for ya?
• “You’ve got to be the meanest junkyard dog.”
• All of the call and response stuff was great.
• “You’ve got to be the meanest junkyard dog.”
• All of the call and response stuff was great.

tyler

I thought the certification was great. It is a must if you truly want to become a better crossfitter. Coach B and and his coaches teach you how to become a more efficient lifter, which in turn means getting stronger and faster. The progressions used make Olympic lifting look easy until you go through the progressions and then truly see how much time and effort you need to put into Olympic Lifting if you truly want to excel at this.

I took this course so I could teach the Olympic lifts better, to incorporate the progressions into my teaching, and to make myself a more efficient and stronger lifter = better crossfitter.
2 things I took away from this course:
1) Jump and land
2) Elbows bend = Power Ends

Loved the course it was great.
Ryan

I was delighted that we got to do the Cert with THE MAN. The ‘Burgener’ in our warmup.
Loved being with fellow crossfitters, they are a really nice bunch of people. So inclusive.

Loved:

• Two four letter words…jump….land
• The body knows what to do
• Numbered burpees with a yell at the top. liked that.

Hated

• Not being able to stand up after lunch today
• Trying to eat a 3 block paleo meal in 20minutes. I was watching Machiko try to eat radishes quickly…cannot be done

Deanne

One of the first things Coach B told us to do was “jump”  That’s it!  That was the clincher for me.  I’m a thinker!  Right before any lift I get hit with a rush of thoughts…strong back, jump, big shrug, high elbows, don’t break the arms too soon, jump, get under the bar…all this before I have ever even gotten the bar off the ground.  As you can imagine it’s been a bit of a train wreck to ate with my lifts!  From the second Coach B said “just jump” all the other thoughts disappeared.  AMAZING!

“Jump and Land” were like secret passwords for me!

Casey’s “keep the back angle the same” completely clicked and helped me maintain form when starting a lift from the ground.

“Pockets”  Finally I understand where to jump from!

As the poster child for “Chest Up” I am thrilled to announce from this point forward I am erasing those words from my memory!  ”Give me your hips” is where it’s at!”  Same outcome, but for me, thinking in terms of adjusting from the bottom helps me upright my wonky squat!  This makes me oh so happy!

I attended this certification to learn more about the Olympic lifts and improve my form.  I am a Health and Safety professional by day, and Crossfitter by night!  I am always amazed at the applicabliilty of Crossfit and it’s concepts outside of the gym.  There was a strong emphasis on coaching this weekend and we were both the trainee and trainer.  In both roles, I learned the importance of communicating in terms that are relevant to your audience and this is something that will help me in my professional life as I deal with people daily.

t-dot sio (Siobhain)

Crossfit Toronto is holding another Olympic Lifting Certification in August, hosted by Crossfit All-Star Josh Everett.  Whether trainer or trainee, anyone interested in improving their lifts won’t want to miss this!

Workout

Complete 10 rounds for time:

• 1 10 second Handstand Hold
• 2 Ring Dips
• 3 Push Ups
• 4 Knees to Elbows
• 5 Deadhang Pull Ups