Dead On

Chris Mason offers a program designed for CrossFitters who want to improve their deadlifts without compromising overall fitness.

CrossFit and a big deadlift … .

Thus far, we have not seen too many competitive CrossFit athletes with a big pull. I firmly believe this relates to how CrossFitters normally attempt to integrate strength training with their CrossFit programming. The purpose of this article is to provide an effective alternative that will both build your deadlift and improve your overall CrossFit performance.

I suppose one’s interpretation of a “big pull” can vary quite significantly. I come from a powerlifting background, but I am not expecting CrossFitters to become the record-holding deadlifters in their respective weight classes. It’s obviously not realistic to expect a good CrossFitter to pull 800-plus lb., but I do think it’s realistic that we should see a lot more 550-plus-lb. pulls from the men and 350-plus-lb. pulls from the women.

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David Stowe: Globo Guerrilla

David Stowe placed ninth in the Reebok CrossFit Games Open and qualified for the Central East Regional. Unlike many other CrossFitters, Stowe does not train at a CrossFit box. Instead, he spends 80 percent of his time training at Global Fitness and the rest in his home.

When Stowe started CrossFitting at Global Fitness, he caused some problems with a few movements and maybe just a little broken drywall.

“I had a couple issues, been kicked out a couple times, had a couple people fired because of me getting kicked out,” he said. “The owner’s pretty much sided with me, and now I get to stay here and kick butt.”

At the Globo Gym, Stowe’s found a way to do wall-ball shots, handstand push-ups, pull-ups, sprints and Olympic lifts in what he calls “David’s corner.” After cracking the top 10 in the Open, Stowe will now get the chance to put his “guerrilla training” to the test as he competes against overall Open winner Dan Bailey in the Central East Regional June 10-12.

11min 44sec

Additional video: A CrossFit Affiliate in a Globo Gym by Allison Autrey, published March 19, 2011.

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Yardwork: Pirates Fans Protect Their Catcher & a Walkoff Balk

Pirates catcher Chris Snyder and his family had a bit of a scare and guess who lost on a walkoff balk?

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A study suggests Minnesota has Big Ten’s best student section

Considering how often we hear someone say that a raucous student section can impact a college basketball game in the home team's favor, it's amazing it's taken this long for anyone to investigate whether that's true or not.

Corey Schmidt of the newly created blog Halcyon Hoops attempted to study the impact of Big Ten student sections by analyzing how each has affected opposing free throw shooters the past two seasons. His chosen method was to compare a visiting team's free throw percentage in the first half and second half of games because road teams shoot their free throws toward the student section after halftime at every Big Ten school.

Curiously, the results show that visiting teams hit 2.6 percent more of their free throws in the second half than they do in the first.

In only three Big Ten arenas did facing the student section adversely impact visiting free throw shooters: Minnesota (minus 4.7 percent), Illinois (minus 3.7 percent) and Indiana (minus 3.4 percent). Conversely, visiting free throw shooters actually shot 2.8 percent better in the second halves at Michigan State, 4.8 percent better at Wisconsin and 10.5 percent better at Purdue, schools with three of the league's better student sections.

Schmidt acknowledges it casts doubt on his study that Purdue's Paint Crew is among the least impactful student sections in the league, which is especially hard to believe after watching them serenade Jared Sullinger with "Party in the USA" last year. Nonetheless, he does offer a credible explanation for why free throw percentage is higher in the second half.

According to Schmidt's research, twice as many free throws were attempted in the second halves of Big Ten games the past two seasons than the first halves. It's logical that players would grow more comfortable at the foul line the more times they shoot. Furthermore, the players fouled to extend a game in the closing seconds are often that team's best free throw shooters.

If Schmidt's method of analysis has validity, one thing is clear: Students at Minnesota and Illinois should keep doing whatever they're doing when visiting players are at the foul line and students from Iowa and Purdue might want to mix it up.

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?I Am Not Breast Cancer?

“I am not breast cancer,” says Liz Anderson, co-owner of CrossFit Blaze in Naples, Fla. She has been battling breast cancer for two years, and CrossFit has helped her find the strength to fight.

Anderson says she has been through multiple treatments, chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries.

“I actually did CrossFit during chemotherapy,” she says. “The energy level goes way down when you’re going through something like that. So it helped me to keep my energy up and helped me to feel more positive about a situation that was obviously, you know, scary—very scary.”

She continues: “There is a parallel with CrossFit and going through breast-cancer treatment.”

Through her experience, she found the mental fortitude required to get through treatment and testing is similar to the mental fortitude CrossFit demands for that next pull-up or lift.

Although she is still on her road to recovery, Anderson is excited to pursue her CrossFit goals.

“I will be doing a pull-up,” Anderson says. “I’m determined.”

8min 58sec

Additional reading: Lifting to Save a Pair by Robert Wilson, published Sept. 27, 2010.

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Working the Olympic Lifts at CrossFit Longevity

“The Olympic lifting has been a challenge all the way around,” says John Van Every, owner of CrossFit Longevity in Santa Cruz, Calif. He’s offering CrossFit to a specialized segment of the population: athletes 50 years of age and older.

“I think the biggest challenges faced by this age demographic for especially the Olympic lifting is the set-up, always the set-up position,” Van Every says. He notes that the flexibility required for a proper starting position is a challenge for older athletes.

“The clean has been the slowest to progress,” he says.

The deadlift is his starting point for training good Oly movement.

“I would say mechanically if we can correct the deadlift positioning and transfer that over to the start of the clean, I think that is the best way to approach it, but it takes a long time,” Van Every says.

6min 15sec

Additional reading: Seniors and Kids by Greg Glassman, published Feb. 1, 2003.

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Green Lantern Was Kind of Boring

Blake Lively in tight dresses? Check. Aimless plot? Check. Boring? Indeed. It'll still probably rake in $40 million this weekend.

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