I have run across the article “Iron and the Soul” by Henry Rollins a couple of times, most recently today. Originally published in Details Magazine in 1994, it has appeared in various fitness sites and if you haven’t read it yet, it never gets old.
Henry Rollins, was the former front man for the 80’s Hermosa Beach, punk band, Black Flag and many projects and work since then. As a kid, Rollins suffered from low esteem and by 18 was filled with rage, something you have to have to lead a successful punk band! In the article, Rollins talks about his relationship with the Iron.
*Update: Greg Everett of Catalyst Athletics and Performance Menu has more to this Crossfit nonsense. While you are at this linked article, why not go ahead and do the workout Everett put up.
Recently, Crossfit affiliate, Greyskull Elite had a scathing piece he wrote titled, Why I Resigned My Affiliation With Crossfit and was met with much discussion, debate and controversy. Things had barely subsided and now we learn that Robb Wolf, one of the Crossfit “old-timers” and all-around good guys got canned amid a considerable amount of acrimony.
Some of the thing at issue is what Crossfitters should eat. How ridiculous! They favor the Zone, Robb prefers Paleo. That longstanding issue about quality control is that there is no quality control. Buyer Beware.
All I can say is I am glad I left Crossfit years ago. I train to escape the drama, kool-aid and the egos not immerse myself in it.
I do look forward to what Robb does and you can find out at robbwolf.com.
Much has been written about the deadlift and yet there are some lingering myths about it like how bad it is for your back. Doing nothing but sitting poorly is much worse for your back than correctly performing the lift.
That said, anytime you are lifting a weight you need to know what you are doing and do it correctly. Jim “Smitty” Smith of Diesel Crew shows and tells how to deadlift the proper way.
Smitty does a great job a describing how to set up the lift and really set up to successfully pull maximum weights safely. Once you learn this, go out and confidently perform the King of Lifts!
Olympic lifting has a long tradition in sports other than Olympic weightlifting for strength, power and conditioning but it is not without it’s detractors by strength coaches mostly, I suppose, because of the steep learning curve it takes to master the lifts. Many coaches are of the opinion the time could be more effectively used for other movements that provide similar benefits.
I was walking down the cyber-street, turned the corner and saw this cyber-skirmish with a former Crossfit affiliate, John Sheaffer of Greyskull Elite well underway.
Whether or not you are a Crossfitter, you’ll probably enjoy the post, Why I Resigned my Affiliation with CrossFit. It is well written and amusing. Be sure and put in you .02 worth.
One of the most insidious devices ever constructed is the Prowler. If you ever went up against one, you know what I am talking about and you probably even know what “Prowler Flu” is. It was our “finisher” for Saturday’s training session and it fully completed it’s task with predictable outcomes.
Some Americans seem to think anything that is European must be cool and maybe it is, I dunno. But I do know I have a Hungarian Core Blaster and it is cool. Now I have a home-brew Bulgarian Training Bag and it too is cool. For the uninitiated, these are fitness implements and why else would you be here, right?
To add to my odd collection, I will one day acquire a Danish Viking Mace on a Chain, but first I must get acquainted with my newly-named Big Sausage Bag, BSB.
Is your training random or structured? Charles Staley of staleytrainingsytems.com has an interesting post on the pros and cons of randomized (Crossfit-style) and structured, sport-specific type training and some ideas that you can use that fall between each.
Back in my high school daze, the benchmark of strength was the bench press. Of course the gymnasts had something to say about strength, but we didn’t pay much attention to them since we thought of them as more of a circus act.
