Catalyst Athletic and Crossfit

Run 101

One year ago last weekend, I faced my first 5k run.

5k runs had popped up on CrossFit.com before, of course, but I'd always found an excuse to skip.  The lizard brain was in full effect: I was still considering more Powerlifting meets, and was scared to drop weight.  Realistically, I was just scared to fail, even if failure would be private.  I would know.

I had the accoutrements of a runner: Christmas gifts from my sister (a real runner,) or little things I'd picked up along the way, to be ready for the "someday" when I'd finally do a 5k run. I had no idea what to expect, but I tentatively set a goal of 30 minutes to finish. I Google-mapped out different 5k options.  I timed my meals all day (on a Sunday!,) checked with my wife a hundred times (are you sure you don't need me to re-hinge the cupboards today? Re-gravel the driveway? Check the shingles?) and finally set out.  I told myself to go slow.  At the turnaround, I knew I'd finish: I had to get home, after all.  I walked a lot of the way back (there's a massive hill, about a mile long, at a grade of 6-12 degrees.)  But I finished, just over 30 minutes.  I was happy.  And sore.

Training for last year's Ontario CrossFit Challenge, I was running 400m and 800m pretty regularly.  I wasn't a better runner: I was still very up-and-down, with a long stride and a huge shock to absorb on every step.  I'd finish runs exhausted, but just try to gut-out the lifts anyway.  But when my quads started seizing during training runs, I started to worry: my legs would go numb, and the VMO (largest quadriceps muscle) would fire uncontrollably, as if it were attached to a car battery. I couldn't get my thighs to shut off.  I DNF two workouts that I should have dominated. 

Despite my years of training and coaching and study, I had missed something very simple: running is a skill.  Like cleans and jerks and deadlifts and pullups.  Technique matters.

After the Ontario CrossFit Challenge, I booked some private personal training sessions with Mike.  His words: "You run like a hockey player."  I was leaning back, with a heel strike way in front of my torso.  He videotaped my runs and showed me; I was shocked.  We practiced the POSE method three times, on the hot asphalt of the Industrial Park.  First, I could hold my position for about four or five strides; then for a hundred metres; and slowly, over an entire 400m sprint.  In July, I ran sub-25:00 at midnight, carrying a beer in my gut.  I didn't win, not by a long shot (Beharriell shot by me around the 2k mark - he was already on his way back!) but it was a PR, and I knew I was onto something. My 800m times went from 3:45 to 2:55.  My 400m times, even in the middle of a tough WOD, still dropped to 1:20s. 

How many runners, I wonder, run for 20 years without a coach?  How many read about running, follow the sport, watch the Boston Marathon...and never have their stride assessed? How many New Year's Resolutions die on the cold pavement on January 3rd out of pain and frustration?

Beginner's running groups in the Sault have always served a very important function: develop a running habit.  Cough up some running germs, and let the running itch slowly kindle.  Hope that the passion of the coach is infectious (and usually, at least a few would become runners for life.)  But others became immunized: they'd tried it, found it painful, and given up forever.  If your only exposure to something is painful and frustrating, after all, why would you continue? 

It's now very obvious to us that technique coaching is critical for beginners.  If we can make running easier, 'softer,' virtually pain-free......and you can get better, faster......you're more likely to continue forever. Maybe...you'll like running?  It's not too much to ask.

We all need coaches.  The more elite the athlete, the more it's expected they have a coach. But it's absolutely critical to use a coach when you're a beginner (or a second-time starter.)  Let's do this right.

We've been hosting "Mondays With Mike" - part one and part two have already been published - to help folks learn to run better.  Now he's making himself even more available to help: we'll be starting a morning group for beginners AND an evening group for beginners on March 9.  You can sign up below. It's definitely the best running experience we've ever offered:

On-the-fly running coaching (he's out there with you!)

Whiteboard instruction pre- and post-run

Nutritional advice

Group runs (critical to building a habit)

8-week running program

When you're done, you'll run 5k.  You'll love it.

Tuesdays and Thursdays with the coach, Saturdays with the group.

7am Group - readers of this blog: sign up online before March 1 and get 10% off!

7pm Group - readers of this blog: sign up online before March 1 and get 10% off!

Intrinsic Motor Learning

Phil Mickelson is one of the greatest golfers of all time.  But his collapse in the 2006 Masters Tournament is legendary:

Mickelson started his career 0-for-46 in majors, then changed his approach. He dialed back the aggression and started making much better course management decisions. And it paid off: He entered the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot going for his fourth career major and third in a row.

And he almost got it. But then he reverted to his previous form. His driver deserted him all day (he even hit into a trash can on No. 17), yet he kept hitting it; and his decision-making deserted him on the final hole.

Mickelson had a 1-stroke lead as he stood on the 18th tee. Despite hitting only two fairways all day, he pulled the driver again. And again, he missed - only this time badly, his drive hitting the roof of a hospitality tent and bounding into the spectator area.

 Mickelson had a decent lie, but a bad idea. Rather than advancing the ball a short distance but getting it back in the fairway - where he might make par the hard way, or, at worse, bogey to get into a playoff in which he'd be the heavy favorite - Mickelson attempted a huge slice under and around tree branches. It didn't work. The ball hit a branch and stopped 25 yards in front of him.

He hit another big slice, but this one plugged in a back bunker, and not even Mickelson's short-game magic could save him from there. He double-bogeyed and finished one shot out of a playoff.

"I am such an idiot," he succintly said afterward.

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations – we fall to the level of our training”

-Archilochus, Greek Soldier

What we're talking about here is internalizing a skill until it can happen subconsciously, without conscious thought.  Is it coincidence that the "Canadian Sport For Life" website lists a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice before mastery can be reached?

Malcolm Gladwell sure doesn't think so.  In his essay, "Outliers," he talks extensively about "prodigies" who simply had more practice than their peers.  Mozart was composing symphonies as a child, yes.  But his best work started to emerge in his early 20s - still young, but by that point, he likely had 10,000 hours of practice under his belt.  Gretzky was the same.  Tiger Woods, at age three, below:

Was he already hitting a ball straighter than some adults?  Yes.  Was this his first time holding a club?  Nope.

The process of internalizing motor patterns takes repetitive practice.  And skills must be practiced as close to perfectly as possible, not just wobbled through.  Practice makes permanent.  To become masterful, a child has to stop practicing a new skill when his form degrades, and resume when they can successfully coordinate the movement again.

In the graph at the to the right, we can see that virtuous performance in any sport or motor skill must start from a base of repetitive practice, and then be refined by comparison, competition, and challenge.  Practice IS necessary, but so is competition, to evolve a skill.  And each skill has to start out at the same level, but several can be learned concurrently; some will even help the development of others.

You simply can't 'skip' a level.  Mastery must be achieved at the most very basic set of skills before they can be complemented with greater, better skills.  For instance, if a child isn't taught how to fall and get back up on skates, they'll never progress to learning to stop properly.  Likewise, if an adult isn't first taught how to squat properly, they'll never progress to a clean..... they'll probably defer to the Smith machine and blame their 'bad knees' on squats in general.

Add stress into the equation - good 'ol Lizard Brain! - and the athlete will start to backslide, dropping levels until they reach the level at which they've developed the most unconscious skill.

That's not a discouragement; rather, it shows that it's NEVER too late to learn brand-new skills. It's also a terrific illustration of the domain mastery trap: once someone is really, really good at a skill, it's tough to make them consider another.  They'd have to restart at the bottom, after all.  A comfort zone is just another name for quicksand.

Starting a child with a broad base of skills, including running, jumping, tumbling, skipping, calisthenics, ball sports, and weightlifting, ensures that they're starting from a higher level when they learn a sport later in life.  Think Whit's grace in the clean and jerk is just something she's born with?  That's years of gruelling dance rehearsal, plus two years of hard work and coaching. Think Ty's just one of those 'gifted' kids who are great at everything?  Well, he DID everything.  He established a solid motor base as a kid, refined it enough to play baseball at a University level, and is now developing parallel skills - but the broad base was there. 

Development of the 'broad base' can happen at any age.  To become more athletic - fitter, leaner, and able to do more of the good stuff - are you better to do CrossFit, or sit your way through a machine circuit?

Fighter Profile: Ray Gowlett

Complete 7 rounds for time:

6 Squats @ 125% of body weight

8 Standing Broad Jumps (minimum of 6 feet per jump) 

Meet Ray.  Ray's a family man; a farmer; a dirt bike rider; an MMA fighter.  A more average guy, you'd be hard-pressed to find.  Ray goes to work every day, comes home every night.  His credit is good; he eats his fibre.  But on Tuesday nights, for the past several weeks, Ray's been going out.  He kisses his girls goodnight, slips into his truck, and drives to town.  He turns into a dark pocket of the Industrial Park and politely slips in through the crowd at the door.  When they see him come in, they take off their coats and sit down.  Ray's a firebreather.  It doesn't matter what he has planned; they wanna watch.  They know something's gonna happen here, and Gray's Anatomy can wait.

Fight Record: 2 - 2 

Weight Class: 155lbs

Opponent:  Rich Wells - Superior Combat

Training Regimen:  Training for this fight has brought me back to life!  Last year wasn't one of my best years, and I definitely wasn't living a healthy lifestyle.  Finding myself last August depressed, weak, and 14lbs overweight, I new I needed something to get my life back on track.  The first thing I did was commit to something I wouldn't back out of, I decided to fight.  Since then, I began following the precision nutrition guidelines  ( dropped the extra 14 lbs. in the first month).  Next, school started up for me again which meant I was able to workout with my fitness classes twice a day.  During my classes, we cycle through speed days, endurance days, strength days, power days, and tempo days.  The first month was rough, but I was able to keep up.  The next thing that I did was sign-up for the Catalyst games and used that to kickstart a change in training intensity.  A huge help was training for Franfest!  Doing Fran is so close to the energy demands of a fight that it fell perfectly into my fitness training plan.   At the dojo, my regimen included 2.5 hours of training every Monday and Wednesday night developing my kickboxing and jiu-jitsu.  Outside of those regular class hours, our team makes time on the weekends to get together and spar.  All of my toughest fights have been at Ho Shin Sool!  Finally, about 6 weeks out, I started performing high powered workouts, 2-3 times/week.  To do this, I was picking and choosing the WOD's that I wanted to do and when.....this allowed me to be fully recovered for the workout and maximize my power output.  This last week or so has been great.  All I've been doing is maintaining my weight, keeping my edge for sparring, and maintaining my fitness.  I feel like I'm the kid that did all of his homework and is ready for the exam right now.  I'll fine tune a few things before the fight, but I'm not panicked or worried about anything.  I've prepared myself better for this fight than any other fight......I can't wait.

A lot of people wonder why I fight.....one of the answers is for the thrill of it.  There isnothing like the feeling of getting in the cage!!!  I believe humans are hard wired to fight, at least this human is. There is no more honest moment in the world than when you are in the cage.  There is no hiding, there is no trash talk, there is no counting on others, there are no lies…..only truth.  The only thing that you have is what you’re made of, and it becomes very obvious, very quickly, once the fight starts what that is. I love that honesty, it empowers you, it humbles you, it makes you better.

 I know a lot of people wonder what it would be like to get in a cage, and if you’ve competed in a crossfit type competition where it was just you and the WOD, then you’ve come pretty close (except for the getting punched in the face part).  I would joke about how going to Catalyst for the WOD was like showing up for a fight, but the truth is, it’s about as close as it gets.  I’d be nervous all day, I’d be scared of letting myself down by not letting my best get out, I’d be scared of disappointing others, and probably the biggest factor was showing up and knowing that no one was going to let me off the hook.  The WOD was going to try and make me quit, and Catalyst was going to make sure that I didn’t.   It’s really cool how closely fighting and crossfit are related. I could go on for days about fighting and why I like it so much, if you’re interested, stop me sometime and ask……just make sure you’ve got a lot of time. For now, here is the quick list:

 

1.     Fighting keeps me in shape.

2.     I enjoy the challenge.

 3.     When I train for a fight, I get to live like a champion. That’s about 90% of the fun I get from fighting.

4.    I love the sport of MMA. 

5.     There is no feeling like winning a fight.

6.     Practicing improves my mood and makes me feel better (ask my wife how grumpy I get if I don’t practice for a week).

7.     I love the crowds.  I feed off the energy.

8.     I love stepping out of my everyday life and becoming a fighter for a weekend.

9. 

Can't wait to see you there,

Scrapyard.

Your Guide To Barbells at Catalyst

YOUR GUIDE TO BARBELLS AT CATALYST

1. 55lbs Hampton Bars – very stiff, fat diameter, great for deadlifting, pressing, and squatting. Knurling is short and not very sharp; use a little chalk, not much.
2. 45lbs Hampton bars – small amount of bar ‘whip,’ fast sleeves, narrow diameter. Okay for squatting (middle knurling) but too much flex for heavy deadlifts. Knurling is not sharp OR deep, so use a bit of chalk on your hands, but keep the bar clean.
3. 45lbs Ivanko OLY bar – more bar ‘whip,’ very fast sleeves. Built for clean and jerk and snatch. Narrow diameter, sharp knurling, no centre knurling for squatting. Not great for deadlifting.
4. 35lbs York bars – a practice “beater” bar. Sleeves must be tightened before each use. Slow sleeve rotation, no middle knurling.

Yes, you’re a savage. But a bit of barbell etiquette is appreciated:

1. Clean your own platform of chalk and sweat and DNA.Never cross a platform on which a lifter is active or setting up. These lifts require a lot of focus, and movement is very distracting.
2. Keep chalk over the bowl.
3. Put your weights away after use.
4. Never drop an empty bar; try not to drop a bar with only 10lbs or 5lbs plates on it (but if you have to, that’s ok. We’d rather rip a plate than dent your skull.)
5. Don’t use short bars on the platforms. They make dents. And when YOU make dents, WE make dents.

THANKS. You’re making it better for everyone. Now go lift hard!

Return Of The Betty

NEW Thursday group added!  7pm starting November 19!

"I am strong.  I am beautiful."

This was the mantra given to 17 women in our Barbell Bettys group on October 5.  What started as a private instructional group for women on the ways of the barbell has turned into a loud scrum.  Every Monday and Thursday night, women do the unthinkable:

They put chalk on their hands.

They lift weights that aren't even pink.

They - on purpose! - sometimes sweat.  Right through their t-shirts!

And get this: they don't even wear gloves!

Yes, there are strong ribbons of femininity running through those layers of concrete: headbands, knee socks, lululemon.  Stretchy pants and pink shoelaces come crashing up against loud music, yelling, and personal best deadlifts.

If women need anything in life, it's strength.  This is true whether we prefer it to be, or not.  To further paraphrase Coach Rip: Strong is why we are here.

Men are naturally stronger.  But you've heard the old joke, right?  About Grace Kelly doing everything Fred Astaire could do, but backwards and in high heels?  Well, here's the thing, gentlemen: while you're thinking, "Gotta get this PR.  Gotta crank.  C'mon, grip and rip, baby!" a woman has to also think, "Would my grandma tell me not to lift weights?  How does my butt look while I'm deadlifting?  Is my hair going to fall in my eyes while that bar's going overhead? Is my boyfriend going to make fun of me again tonight?  Are my muscles going to look too prominent?  Should I care? What if I get calluses from this?  Will I have to do the 'full shower' before returning to work, or can I get away without redoing my hair?"  

All this, while lifting stuff that most men wouldn't attempt.  In the last month, we've had a 300 deadlift; we've had a 185lbs back squat for 3 reps; we've had bench presses over 130lbs.  Soon, the Bettys will be throwing Cleans around; bouncing Snatches off the platforms; locking Jerks overhead.  Soon, they'll compete in their first Powerlifting Meet, live and on a world stage.  

Further reading: One Woman's Request (CrossFit Watertown, by Lisbeth Darsh)

The Return of Strong Women (Catalyst Gym, Coach Coop)

Primal Strength Training for Women (Mark's Daily Apple)

6 Weeks - Mondays at 7pm - Park location - Starts November 16

$80 - Members; $125 - Non-members (includes membership for the length of the course)

To register: 256-1344

New Catalyst Teens Groups!

We've just finished our first six-week session of Catalyst Teens.  It's been more than we bargained for.  We though, "we'll take these kids in, show them how to move better, give them a couple of tough workouts, and then do it again after Christmas, maybe."Instead, we got a full group, plus a waiting list.  We got effort and intensity to match the Adult group (and sometimes, more noise than the older CrossFitters...) We got inspired.  Kids would arrive every week, usually early, always ready to throw themselves into the den of any Wolf we could dream up.  Some did better a certain workouts.  Some are better squatters than others.  But every.single.one. hit it hard.  NONE caved.  NONE gave up.  And neither can we.We're expanding our offering: Teens can now choose between Tuesday and Wednesday night groups.  The group will still run at 7pm at the Park.  More details, including our philosophy, below:

Interest in Youth Fitness has never been higher, and it's never been such a touchy subject..

On one hand, there are still opponents to the concept of kids "lifting weights." On the other hand, kids of all ages are jumping, running, tumbling, falling... all activities requiring them to bear their own weight - plus inertia and gravity - at high speed. Do the math: a 12-year-old jumping off a 3-foot snowbank absorbs more than double their bodyweight at impact. If you're a 135lbs 12-year-old, that's the same as back squatting 297lbs safely!

While repetitive high-impact exercise can cause joint dominance issue, these are very different than acute stress injuries. The best way to avoid these kinds of problems? Build a well-balanced, strong, flexible kid. Wayne Gretzky didn't skate in the summer; he was a baseball pitcher. Most high-level athletes started out doing several sports at once. We routinely ask high-level athletes which sports they participated in as kids; the answers are usually gymnastics (tumbling,) martial arts, or dance. The best way to produce a good athlete: give them lots of variety at a young age. The best way to keep a person fit for life? Introduce them to fun exercise at a young age involving a wide variety. These form the backbone of our Catalyst Kids program.

Kids who know how to exercise properly from a young age are far less likely to suffer any athletic injury when they're older. They're less likely to do dumb stuff in a school weight room, or spend all their time obsessing about their "six-pack" when they're in a gym. Got a daughter? Start thinking about ways to avoid an eating disorder. They're becoming more popular, not less. Isn't it better to promote a lifestyle where fitness is based on achievement instead of aesthetic? We think so.

Teen (Age 12-15) CrossFit Group - Tuesdays or Wednesdays at 7pm Starts October 27!

$60 for 6 weeks!

The 1-1-1-1-1

Appropriately, the day after I write about Cherrypicking, a max effort CrossFit WOD pops up.  Fun for the experienced lifter, the benefit of attempting max lefts may not be as obvious to a rookie.

This is NOT about burning calories.  It's not even about improving your strength.  The 1-1-1-1-1 WOD is a test of strength, not a stimulant.  Instead, it's about something nearly invisible but definitely palpable: efficient recruitment of force.

Is this a boring topic?  A bit.  I'll make you a deal: take a deep breath, and hold it.  If I'm not done the description by the time you have to exhale, you can skip the rest.  OK?

 

Your muscles are wired together, and to your brain, through your nervous system.  But this system is wired to do LOTS of things, and learn NEW things, all the time.  It's not wired to be perfect at everything.  This system is responsible for turning on individual muscle fibres in the correct sequence, as quickly as possible.  Problem is, the first few times it has to learn a new pattern, that process is NOT quick.  And since the system teaches itself to do the same thing each time it meets the same challenge, you can actually teach your muscles to be slow.

OK, exhale.  The way we get the muscles to twitch more powerfully - to turn on quicker, line things up in sequence, and fire - is to teach speed.  We in the game call that Rate of Force Development.

We're dealing with units that are so tiny that you'd never see it with your naked eye - unless you're seeing a misfire.  An inefficient recruitment of force.  Remember when that guy was pulling that heavy deadlift, and his hamstrings were shaking? Bingo.  The body was struggling to recruit help from anywhere possible, and it was chasing thousands of rabbits at once.  Do that lift a few more times, though, and you're better at getting things lined up in the proper order.

So why do we care?  Well, for one thing, this will make you stronger without making you bigger.  This is exactly how little guys in the 165lbs weight class can do deadlifts over 600lbs.  It will also have an 'umbrella' effect on your other lifts: pulling your maximum higher will make the lighter weights easier.  

There's also a cascade of hormonal release with heavy weights.  For one, insulin sensitivity improves in the muscle, because it's looking to refuel before it begins to repair itself.  Second, the thyroid output of T3 improves to rush nutrients into the system.  Testosterone kicks up a little, which helps in saving protein and preferentially using fat for fuel.

Things like bone density and spinal stability are also improved more efficiently through the use of heavy weights than through the use of repetition.  The stimulus from a high-repetition set of leg extensions is simply not enough to trigger osteoblast (new-bone-generating cells) activity; a heavy set of squats will.

Yes, it's the redemption WOD for muscleheads.  Yes, the coaches yell themselves hoarse.  But the benefits are myriad. Don't skip "singles night."

Cherrypicking

May 2008.  My second day of CrossFit. Linda was her name, and she was well versed in the frustration of young men.  And me, just a barbell-lovin' farmboy from "down the line," who had no idea what he was in for...

 Mike and Tyler had been drinking the Kool-Aid since February, and were already seeing results.  I was coming off a 3-year Powerlifting rip, competing in the 198lbs class.  My first WOD was a huge stroke of luck: CrossFit Total.  My second was....a little less lucky.  Though I was pulling 500+ deads on a semiregular basis, my power clean was an abysmal 135; to make up for it, I added weight on the deadlift.  I didn't rush; I paced between exercises.  I tried to keep my thoughts - and my lunch - to myself.  I was partially successful.  I've never run into Linda again.

If CrossFit is good at one thing, it's this: exposing your weaknesses.  The more weak links in the chain, the quicker the chain will snap.  You can only coast on  your strengths so far; ultimately, there's going to be a big confrontation, and the winner ain't a fixed bet, amigo.

There were a lot of scrapes, twists, and pains at Catalyst Games 2009.  Be sure of that.  Some were mentioned once and then tucked away in some dark recess of the unconscious mind to be dealt with later.  Some were temporarily hobbling.  But 48 hours later, there was only one ache being discussed at the Park: regret.  

I wish I hadn't dropped to the Scaled 2 Class.  

I should have kept going. 

I should have shown up and done the first two Events.

 I should have done it as Rx'd.

I should have done it, period.

You never regret the WOD you finish.  You never look longingly at a platform on which you've left everything you had to leave.  You never wish to have all that sweat back.

If a WOD intimidates you, good.  It's exposing a massive opportunity: a chance to strike right at the heart of your weakness.  A chance to kick Mr. Sandbag while his gloves are drooping.  It's a chance to make an investment: to pay a big lump against the principal, not just cover the interest.  Because there IS interest: the longer you wait to deal with this stuff; the more you choose your WODs based on your strengths and ignore the "hard ones"; the more you turn your cheek to that blazing, illuminating bulb, the harder it's going to be for your sight to adjust.

C'mon, Linda.  One more chance, baby.  You and me, down by the river.....

Barbell Bettys Club

BARBELL BETTYs

Lifting heavy stuff requires more than brute strength: it takes technique.  Not just guts, but grace.

Thanks to CrossFit, dozens of women in Northern Ontario have fallen in love with lifting heavy stuff.  Contrary to the antiquated notion that heavy weights make women too muscular, they stimulate your thyroid to increase your metabolism, make your muscles more sensitive to insulin, and trigger a metabolic trickle-down effect that make you leaner, stronger, and better at doing stuff.

Starting October 5, Coach Tyler will lead a group of lucky women on a journey through the iron jungle.  They'll deadlift.  They'll bench press.  They'll squat, clean, jerk and snatch.  They'll sweat.  They'll use chalk.  They'll do all the fun, gritty stuff usually left to the untidy domain of the men.

6 Weeks - Mondays at 7pm - Park location - Starts Oct 5

NEW! Thursdays at 7pm Group added due to high demand!

$80 - Members; $125 - Non-members (includes membership for the length of the course)

To register: 256-1344

Indoor Cycling Group Starts October 6!

Love your bike? Don't put it away all winter!

Coached by local legend John "Dr. Focus" Santana, this group focuses on training cyclists to go faster. Clients from last year's group noted significant improvement on their cycling times in races this year; hard work really does pay off!

A jovial, friendly hour of hard work on indoor Cyclops2 fluid trainers. Riders are free to bring their own quiet trainer(fluid or magnetic) and save $10!

Tuesday nights at 6pm.

$80 for Session I: October 6 through November 10

(plus gst.)

Please register early at 256-1344.

This class usually has a waiting list, so make sure your spot is reserved!

Limit: 12 riders.

The Lockout

I learned the lockout from Abby Errington, and Abby's never done an Olympic lift in his life.  Maybe he's never lifted weights, even.

Abby (short for Al, Jr.) owns a wilderness lodge in the Chapleau Game Preserve.  You can't get there by car.  There's no electricity, no roads, and not much to distract a ragtag group of teenagers other than the fish.  I spent 5 months with Abby in 1996.  Two hundred miles from civilization, a million miles from a gym, and I learned how to lock out a weight.

My first week, Abby's wife asked me to move a bed from a cabin on this island to a cabin on that island.  There was a short bridge between the two, so I could thankfully pull this off without use of a boat.  

First, I drug the mattress to the door.  Then I stood and looked at it for a few minutes.  It was heavy.  Worse, if I drug it in the dirt, it would be destroyed.  I needed help, but there was none around; besides, I'd been asked with the assumption that I could do it alone, and alone it would be.

Eventually, I went back to the main lodge to ask for a hand truck.  Bosslady told me there weren't any.  So I returned to the mattress, picked it up, and half-lifted, half-slid it a quarter mile through the forest.  I'd lift it up a few inches, slide my foot forward a few inches, and set it back town on the bridge of my foot so it didn't touch the ground.  An hour later, I arrived, leaving a curious wake of dirt and leaves the width of a size-eleven Nike.

Abby followed soon after, carrying the bed frame over his head.  I thought he was Superman.  How the heck did he do that?  I asked.  "It's easier to carry heavy stuff if it's over your head," he said.

As soon as he was out of sight, I wrestled the mattress over my head.  NOT easier.  My back felt like it would snap in half.  I rested it on my head, feeling again the sheer mass of an old mattress, and thought maybe fear would give me the strength to move that sucker down the dock and back.  

I fought, shakily, my way to the end of the pier.  I rested the mattress on my head again while I opened a gate to the dock.  When I tried to move between two posts at the entrance, the mattress bumped against them.  Oh - oh: I'd have to lift it over.  And so I quarter-squatted, jumped up, and let the inertia pull the mattress into the air.  Its sheer springiness made me grip it tightly with my elbows fully locked out.  But then....

...it was easy.  At full lockout, you don't have to struggle to extend your elbows, or even hold them in a state of semi-extension.  At full lockout, your deltoids can rest while infraspinatus anchors your scapulae into a comfortable position.  At full lockout, your humerus is sucked deep into the shoulder, where it anchors and sets itself to stay awhile.  At full lockout, your pelvis is properly aligned to support your core musculature.  It's safer for your back, because the horizontal distance from point of rotation (base of your spine) to weight is virtually zero.  That means less rotational torque, and a spinal position that we're actually built to hold.

The technical details came later, of course.  All I knew was that I could carry a mattress to the end of the dock and back.  Watching Ty coach the Jerk this weekend, I thought of Abby Errington Jr., and how lessons learned the hard way are usually the ones that last.  

Highlights from Tyler's OLY course this weekend:

Download the clinic notes: Download OLY seminar

HOCKEY DRYLAND CAMPS START TODAY!

"Why are your players so much more fit than anyone else's?"

"What are you doing that's so different?"

"How can you get this kind of player without steroids?"

"Can you get this kid back to the way he was at his best?"

"This kid was the surprise of the draft.  He earned his spot because he was so far ahead of everyone else at fitness testing."

These are all questions we've heard from OHL coaches since last fall.  Different teams, different players, different coaches.  Some during phone calls with Coaching staff, some via email.  

The kicker: we're not doing anything that's top secret.  Instead, we're constantly reviewing scientific research and applying it to our athletes. We write great programs, and excellent food plans, and make sure our athletes use them.  Most of our players don't use any supplements at all; the others use only a basic protein supplement.

THE CATALYST DIFFERENCE: 

Intense application of basic physical movement.  First, we make our athletes experts at basic compound movements like squats, deadlifts, presses, and cleans.  Then we take them to the next level through creative workouts that combine elements of weight lifting, calisthenics, sprinting, Strongman, gymnastics, kettlebells, and more.  

Want an example?  A typical (non-Catalyst) Trainer will split up an athlete's week into body parts and add a bunch of distance running.  In contrast, we'll focus on movements like hip extension, explosive technique, and challenge-based workouts.  By training MOVEMENTS, not individual MUSCLES by themselves, we make a better athlete.

In fact, athletes who train with us OFTEN KNOW MORE about exercise than any of their peers, and sometimes know more than their coaches!  Junior-level coaches will even admit that their offseason program is only a rough guideline to be followed if there's no other option.  In 2009, 3 OHL teams have already told their players to follow OUR program instead of their team's offseason handbook!

Parents: you'll be secure in the knowledge that if your son or daughter has to play in another city, they'll know how to take care of their own training safely and effectively. Because we first emphasize mastery of the basics, they'll always know how to exercise without risk of injury AND for maximum benefit in limited time.

MAKE THE CUT.  DON'T LEAVE YOUR TRAINING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!

Our camps all include: 

Membership to Catalyst Athletic - our Athletic Training Gym in the Industrial Park

Full Food Plan

Coaching by the best Trainers in Ontario

Exposure to exercises you'll NEED to know to play NCAA or OHL hockey - but CAN'T find anywhere else

Extra workouts 

CAT Testing at the beginning and end of the program with detailed reports

Online tracking 

Summer Dryland Strength and Conditioning Camp

8 Weeks - July 6 Through August 28

Monday and Thursday Mornings

Two Groups: Midget-Junior and Bantam-Under

$329 (plus gst.)

Bantam Group: 9am

Midget-Junior: 10:30am

TO REGISTER: SHOW UP 10min BEFORE YOUR GROUP STARTS!

Mental Toughness: Shelby MacDonald

It will be a year in June since my second surgery on my knee, my first being in January of the same year.  There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about that devastating occurrence in my life.  One that has truly changed my life – not necessarily for the better……but then again they do say that “things happen for a reason.”  While the whole events surrounding the injury have not been easy, they have certainly placed a positive spin on things for me.  I am indeed a better person for enduring what I have been through. Questions cross my mind such as will I be at the same level I was prior to the injury?  Will I be able to complete without worrying about hurting myself again?  Will I have limitations? Will I have the confidence to rise above this?  So many questions and so much doubt have entered my head. 

 

 

Unlike other sports, gymnastics is not an easy sport to transition into following an ACL injury.  The pounding and abuse the body takes is like no other.  The mind is a powerful tool, and I have learned to utilize it to help me get through this ordeal.  I realize the importance of rehab, conditioning and practicing daily to achieve desired outcomes.  First and foremost, it is paramount to cut off the doubt fast and refocus on the positives that will help me perform.  When in doubt, I know my confidence is affected, so telling myself that I can and will nail it and visualizing myself doing all these things really helps to put things in perspective.  I try to create in my mind what skills I want to do and then work to bring them into physical existence. 

 

Proper conditioning is a vital and driving force in my recovery, and I enjoy varying degrees of conditioning so I am always eager to approach Chris Cooper for innovative and helpful tips.  Strength is also key and helps to raise my confidence while motivating me to work through the sometimes unavoidable physical pain.   

 

Prior to a competition, I like to set positive goals for each event to help me focus on what I want to achieve instead of worrying about what could go wrong.   I totally involve myself in achieving those goals by staying focused and committed to the game. I find it helpful to putaside the idea that others are watching or evaluating my performance.  Regardless of how often I compete, there is always that element of fear.  However, I like to imagine that fear is a normal reaction and that every one experiences it to some degree. To alleviate my fear, I like to envision something comical like my mom trying to do a balancing act on the beam. (It is definitely a lot harder than it looks.  Gymnasts make it look easy). 

 

While everyone deserves a second chance, not everyone is as fortunate as I have been to get one.  While overcoming obstacles, I have had tremendous support from family, teachers, coaches, therapists and mentors.  It is indeed a privilege to have had these wonderful people in my life, particularly Chris Cooper (personal trainer @ Catalyst) and Lisa Proctor (gym coach) whose guidance has been immeasurable.

 

I look forward to training through the summer and next year at Twistars Gym in Lansing,Michigan, where it is my hope to take my gymnastics to another level.  My personal mission statement is to obtain a gymnastics scholarship and to continue to participate in the sport for as long as I am able to.- Shelby MacDonald

2009 Hockey Camps

"How are you guys getting this kid so strong?"

"Why are your players so much more fit than anyone else's?"

"What are you doing that's so different?"

"How can you get this kind of player without steroids?"

"Can you get this kid back to the way he was at his best?"

"This kid was the surprise of the draft. He earned his spot because he was so far ahead of everyone else at fitness testing."

These are all questions we've heard from OHL coaches since last fall. Different teams, different players, different coaches. Some during phone calls with Coaching staff, some via email.

The kicker: we're not doing anything that's top secret. Instead, we're constantly reviewing scientific research and applying it to our athletes. We write great programs, and excellent food plans, and make sure our athletes use them. Most of our players don't use any supplements at all; the others use only a basic protein supplement.

THE CATALYST DIFFERENCE:

Intense application of basic physical movement. First, we make our athletes experts at basic compound movements like squats, deadlifts, presses, and cleans. Then we take them to the next level through creative workouts that combine elements of weight lifting, calisthenics, sprinting, Strongman, gymnastics, kettlebells, and more.

Want an example? A typical (non-Catalyst) Trainer will split up an athlete's week into body parts and add a bunch of distance running. In contrast, we'll focus on movements like hip extension, explosive technique, and challenge-based workouts. By training MOVEMENTS, not individual MUSCLES by themselves, we make a better athlete.

In fact, athletes who train with us OFTEN KNOW MORE about exercise than any of their peers, and sometimes know more than their coaches! Junior-level coaches will even admit that their offseason program is only a rough guideline to be followed if there's no other option. In 2009, 3 OHL teams have already told their players to follow OUR program instead of their team's offseason handbook!

Parents: you'll be secure in the knowledge that if your son or daughter has to play in another city, they'll know how to take care of their own training safely and effectively. Because we first emphasize mastery of the basics, they'll always know how to exercise without risk of injury AND for maximum benefit in limited time.

MAKE THE CUT. DON'T LEAVE YOUR TRAINING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!

For the second year, we're offering our EARLY CAMP starting mid-May. This camp is available only to Midget and Junior-level players, and runs Thursday nights at our Athletic Training facility in the Industrial Park.

Our camps all include:

Membership to Catalyst Athletic - our Athletic Training Gym in the Industrial Park

Full Food Plan

Coaching by the best Trainers in Ontario

Exposure to exercises you'll NEED to know to play NCAA or OHL hockey - but CAN'T find anywhere else

Extra workouts

CAT Testing at the beginning and end of the program with detailed reports

Online tracking

Early Camp:

8 Weeks -May 14-July 3

Thursday Nights at 7pm

Midget-Junior Aged Players

$169 (plus gst.)

Summer Dryland Strength and Conditioning Camp

8 Weeks - July 6 Through August 28

Monday and Thursday Mornings

Two Groups: Midget-Junior and Bantam-Under

$329 (plus gst.)

Both Camps Combined

$469 (plus gst.) SAVE $29!

TO REGISTER: CALL (705)253-0011 soon!

Cardio vs. Work Capacity For Hockey Players

More now than ever, we're getting calls from coaches in the OHL, Junior, and Midget levels.  At the start of the offseason, they want to know that their players are in good hands; totally understandable.  Most have already given their players an offseason workout plan, and just want to make sure the Trainer checks all the boxes and keeps input to a minimum.

After talking with us, usually for at least a half hour, though, it's common for them to call the player and advise them to follow our plan instead.  Want to know why?  It's not a secret. Read on.

"Cardio" is a slang term reserved for aerobic endurance work.  "Work Capacity" is the ability to apply force  across a distance for a specified time.  To get mathematical for a second, 

W = Fs : Work = Force x Distance.  Force = mass x acceleration.

Typically, most offseason Hockey programs focus only on aerobic development: long runs, hill repeats, jogs, cycling.....all in the pursuit of the elusive and undefined 'base.'  'Base' training is similarly undefined, but most coaches would agree that it refers to the ability to avoid fatigue at the high level of output demanded by hockey.  In other words, the capacity to perform work.

If the GOAL of all the 'cardio' is to increase the ability to perform work, is jogging or running 5km the best way to do it?    Let's get back to math:

Work = Force x Distance.  In the case of cycling or running, 'Distance' is the movement of the limb in space; force is the energy exerted to move the body that distance.  Simple stuff, really.  

Let's take a 5k run. Since there's very little acceleration after the start (you keep a constant pace for most of the run) the actual Force generated is tiny.  Pulling a sled, though, on concrete?  There's no momentum due to the friction of the asphalt and steel.  Hammering through 30 pullups after a 400m sprint and 30 pushups?  Lots of force there!

In real-world terms, performing long aerobic training at submaximal heart rates (below 70%, typically) will NOT improve performance at heart rates above that level. That's a key point.  Running/jogging long distances will NOT improve your ability to work hard under fatigue.  

Long aerobic work WILL improve oxygen uptake efficiency - your V02 max score, which is another variable often used by hockey trainers - but not necessarily at a rapid heart rate, which is common after a rough shift.  Nor will aerobic work help you avoid the rapid heart rate, which is caused as much by performing the Valsalva maneuvre as it is by metabolic turnover (using oxygen to metabolize energy.)  Doug Bodger, Defenseman for San Jose: ""I don't think you're breathing half the time. You're mostly exhaling...pushing and shoving...and concentrating so much you don't think about breathing at all. That's why we can only stay out there for a minute at a time. It's like holding your breath."

When you start a skating stride, you 'brace' down your spine: your glottis closes, you trap air in the lungs, and are thus stabilized to transfer force to the legs.  You can't avoid the Valsalva maneuvre; it's necessary for spinal integrity.  Unfortunately, your heart races to recover when you DO take a breath.  Endless hours of cardio-based training won't alter this necessity.

So far, this article has focused on what DOESN'T work: the ages-old habit of doing endless aerobic exercise to develop the mythical 'base.'  What DOES work, then?  High-intensity intervals under load.  Brief, all-out bursts of twenty to sixty seconds, usually while performing a complex task or combination of simple tasks.  Mixed workouts .  Full-body movement instead of isolation exercises.  

Every year, we hear something like this: "We picked him up in the fifth round, but he really impressed us at camp" or "he was the steal of the draft" or "can you get him back to the level he reached last summer with you?"  or "What are you guys DOING with these kids?  They're way ahead - it's almost unfair!"  These are actual quotes from OHL coaches.  And the truth is, we don't have any secrets.  We have logic, science, and a burning desire to win at all costs.  Heck, our capacity for work isn't too bad, either.

In one week, we'll be putting our daily workouts online free.  These are for hockey players; they're not tailored to any one player to address individual strengths and weaknesses.  Rather, they'll develop anyone to a level of excellent overall fitness.  Our job in the offseason is to deliver the player to the coach with an elite level of fitness, injury-free, ready to be a better hockey player.  

For more about the physics of hockey, click here.

 

Kettlebell Basics Course - April 25

2009 Kettlebell Basics Seminar

featuring Marnie Holley (IFBB Fitness Pro, AKC level 2 )

When:        Saturday, April 25, 2009 – 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Where:       Catalyst Fitness, 99 Industrial Park B   Sault Ste. Marie, ON 256-1344

Cost:          $50.00

This 90-minute seminar with IFBB Fitness Pro/Agatsu Kettlebell Certified Instructor Marnie Holley, will give you the knowledge necessary to implement safe and effective kettlebell training into your fitness program. Basic exercises (and their variations) such as the swing, clean, snatch, press, windmill, and Turkish get-up will be taught.  A variety of bodyweight exercises and sample strength/endurance circuits will also be presented.

This seminar is expected to sell out FAST! It will be capped at 15 attendees, so please register at Catalyst Fitness ASAP to reserve your spot. Entry will be on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please note that you will be required to make advance payment and will need to complete a registration form/waiver.  Please make cheques payable to Marnie Holley. 

Be sure to wear workout clothing, flat-soled shoes, and bring a small towel and water bottle.

For further information please contact Catalyst Fitness at (705) 256-1344 or email catalystfitness@yahoo.ca

DOWLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM:

Download CATALYST KETTLEBELL SEMINAR REGISTRATION 

Minor Football Camp April 17!

GET READY FOR SMFA FOOTBALL!

Register for our Preseason Training Camp NOW!  253-0011

Group includes: 4 weeks of coaching from Elite Catalyst Trainer Tyler Belanger

1-month membership to Catalyst Gym

Weekly Group Workout

Training in Football-Specific Movements and Exercises

4-week Age-Specific Training Plan

Food Plan

Week One: Mini-Combine / Testing

Week Two: Strength Training

Week Three: Power Training

Week Four: Speed Training

THURSDAYS AT 6:30 - CATALYST GYM - 99 INDUSTRIAL COURT 'B'

4 WEEKS

Fee: $139 (plus GST)

253-0011 to register!  Limited to 20 Players - sign up NOW!

Welcome Knights!

"Helen"

Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
12 Pull-ups

St. Mary's will be at Catalyst Gym this morning at 9am.  They're learning how to clean, squat, deadlift, and bench press - staples in the football life.  They're going to flip tires, jump onto and over stuff, push and pull sleds, and swing kettlebells.  Want to play college ball?  Better have a good clean; your pec deck numbers don't count.  Biceps curls?  Good for getting food to your mouth faster.  Smith machine squats?  They make your quads look great on the bench.

Welcome, Knights.  Get ready to turn a corner.

Want to get YOUR football / hockey / wrestling / gum-chewing team into Catalyst for a free skills session?  Call us: 256-1344, or email chris@catalystgym.com.

FOOTBALL

...is coming back.  Soon.  

Chris will be at St. Mary's College this morning, talking to their players about REAL strength training.  Want to see what they'll see?  Download the synopsis and workout template Download OFFSEASON FOOTBALL TRAINING .

Want a great illustration of the industrial-style workout?  Watch this video.  It features two approaches to training in the offseason.  On the one hand, there's hard work, chalk, and  improvement.  On the other, there's chest-bumping, fashion advice, and a lot of talking.

The industrial gym featured: Joe Defranco's.  A great resource for football players.  Defranco literally wrote the book on combine preparation.

Want to read more about the Westside template?  Click here.

Baseball Training Group

Baseball is coming.

It's so close, you can almost smell it. Fresh-mown grass, early morning dew, rich dirt, clean uniforms....

Make this your best year ever. Our baseball training group starts February 7.

Get small-group training from Elite Trainer and Coach Tyler Belanger.

6 Weeks - February 7 through March 14

Includes 1 group session per week, workouts for the duration of the program, a 2-month gym membership to Catalyst Gym (built for athletes!) and a six-week food plan.

$189 (plus gst)

8-player limit! Sign up early! 256-1344.

Strength Training For Skiers

Downhill Ski Training:  A Question of Balance (in more ways than one)

Mike Watson, BHK, CSCS

Recently we’ve been blessed to have a fantastic group of local downhill ski racers join us at the Park location for some dryland training.  I’ve been lucky enough to work with a handful or the Sault’s elite in the past five years.  Some of these skiers have competed in the provincial and U.S. intercollegiate systems.

When training for a sport such as skiing, we often have to wade through the gimmicks and archaic training methods and find what will work best in the least amount of time.  We also have to pick training methods that will give our athletes the best chances to avoid common injuries associated with the sport and the training practices that sometimes come with it.

The nature of the beast: What is skiing?

Pure and simple, skiing is about power.  The average race will last no more than a minute and a half.  The movements that happen during that time are fast, powerful and heavily loaded challenges to the hip, knee and ankle joints.  Each turn sees the skier forcefully loading these joints eccentrically to avoid collapse or crash; and equally as powerfully, concentrically loaded to power out of each turn.  There is NOTHING slow and controlled about skiing.

So, if there is nothing slow and controlled about our sport, then why would we ever have our athletes train this way?   3 or 4 sets of 10-12 reps are not going to help us recruit muscle at the rate needed to absorb the gravitational forces generated by a steep pitch.  We need to teach these athletes to train fast and explosively!

The most common complaint from the kids in our dryland group (ages 10-16) is knee pain.   Most of these kids already have the beginnings of patellar tendonitis or patellar femoral syndrome.  Three big reasons:  age, nature of the sport, and misinformed training habits.

Most of these kids are growing like crazy. Their muscles and connective tissues are struggling to catch up to growing bones.  Boys tend to get super tight posterior chains (low back, glutes, hamstrings) while the girls, due to feminine pelvic structure, are blessed with posterior chain issues and illiotibial band issues at the same time!  The nature of the sport sees them ina constant state of squatting and resisting squatting.  The outcome is a lot of very quad-dominant athletes with sore knees.

All too often, we hear of coaches and trainers interpreting knee issues and quadriceps fatigue during skiing as a sign of weak quads, leading to……you guessed it!  More quad training, and weird…..more pain!  I recently heard of a trainer telling a skier with obvious patellar issues to stay low all the way through repetitive sets of lunges to “focus on the quads.”  While personal trainers aren't always the best at diagnosing a joint issue, it's fair to say that the patellar strain injuries caused by repetitive strain from skiing can generally be cleared up by strengthening the hamstrings, stretching the quadriceps, and correcting the motor pattern in around 3-4 weeks. 

A general rule:  if there is pain or discomfort at a joint, chances are that the joint itself is not the issue.  Most likely there is an imbalance either above or below the joint.  In the case of the knee, we’re usually looking above to the balance between the posterior chain and quads.    During running and skiing, our quads play a major role, but mostly as a decelerator or shock absorber.  Hip extension in skiing and most other sports is where we get our power and increased performance, not from more powerful knee extension.  If quads fatigue early, it is likely that they do so because of lack of support from other muscles around the hip and knees.

Try this as a great example:  Squat.  Get your hips back over your heels as if you’re sitting back onto a low bench or in a skiing tuck.   Now extend your legs using just your quads as if you were on a leg extension machine at your gym.  You can’t?  No surprise.

Now try to get out of that squat by squeezing your glutes and driving your hips forward.  Notice any difference in your performance?

Simply put, if we develop the posterior chain, everything else falls into place athletically.  A well developed low back leads to better posture, which means the abdominals are engaged and suddenly our ability to control our bodies becomes a lot more proficient.  That leads me to a pet peeve:  balance training.

One of the biggest trends in gyms and with athletes is balance training: doing things on unstable surfaces such as physio balls or Bosu balls to “engage the core.”  Much of the recent research shows that unless you’re an elderly woman, or under the age of 12, you not only look funny, but you’re wasting your time.

In adults, balance skills can be regained but not taught.  If you don’t already have adequate balance skills by the time you’re 12 years old, you are not going to dramatically improve.  You're wasting your time (and money).   However, if you’ve lost these skills over time, as in the case of the elderly, then balance training can help you relearn some of these skills and help prevent falls.

Some experts go so far as to say that the majority of our balance skills come before the age of 4.  They cite elite skiers as having some of the best balance and spatial awareness skills you’ll see, because they often are on the slopes at a very young age.   They go on to suggest that the best way to develop balance skills needed for skiing is to have strong and balanced low back, rectus abdominus and oblique muscles and to ski as much as possible.  Turns out that standing and squatting on a physio ball with 10 lbs weights doesn’t improve your performance; it just makes you better at your party trick.

Want to improve in a hurry?  Stick to mastering the basics of human function: squatting, jumping, and picking stuff up.  Strengthen your hips to save your knees, and most importantly, seek qualified guidance to avoid problems down the road.

Bench Shirts - The Truth

Bench shirts aren't magical.  Made of tough material, they simply stretch when the bar is pulled to the chest.  You can't put on a bench shirt and magically add 100lbs to your press, unfortunately.  

Powerlifters are evenly split on the use of shirts.  On the one hand, shirts do a lot of the work.  That's undeniable.  They help.  A lot.  On the other hand, they don't help through the whole range of motion.  They're available in different strengths and fabrics; they take some practice.   While some can get as much as 200lbs or more out of a good shirt, some struggle to add 20lbs to their press.  What's more, most powerlifting federations have made bench shirts mandatory for competition.

Origins

Bench pressing began as an assistance exercise for the Jerk, an Olympic lift.  However, since big men with less mobility could do well in the bench press, squat, and deadlift - but perhaps not in the more athletic lifts, the Clean, Jerk, and Snatch - competitions sprung up for these new 'powerlifts' all over the place.  Most of the rules are still built on those of the Olympic lifts, but one in particular has changed the way athletes now train for the bench press.  I'm talking about the PAUSE.

In a powerlifting meet, after lowering the bar under control to your chest, you have to pause it, motionless, until the referee says, "Press!"  At that point, you explode upward, and pause at lockout.  This is harder than it sounds.  You may be motionless for anywhere from a split second up to 3 seconds (at which point your stretch reflex is significantly diminished.)  Since you're actually stronger at lowering a weight (eccentric phase) than holding it still, it's really tough on the shoulders to hold a maximal weight at the chest longer than a full second.  Bench press shirts were originally born to remove that stress at the shoulder.

The first bench press shirt was patented by Inzer (www.inzernet.com) in the 1980s.  Up until that point, bench presses approached 600lbs (Bill Kazmaier) but that was assumed to be the ceiling.  Inzer's first shirts didn't really do much, but they helped just enough to get athletes thinking of ways to use them better.  Inzer's shirt was a single-layer polyester (more on that below,) but when their patent ran out in the 1990s, other manufacturers were already ready and waiting in the wings, including Titan and Crain.

These days, a single-ply poly is rare.  I have one, but I also have a single-ply denim, and there's a big difference.  Most big lifters are using triply-ply denim (some with a bit of poly sewn in,) and there's no chance you could ever use them.

How They Work

Bench shirts have very small chests, which have to be stretched out to the shoulders as the bar is lowered.  Grab a 3" stretch of your jeans, and try to stretch it to 12".  Not easy.  That's what a bench shirt does.  Most shirts are also stitched in such a way that your shoulders stay forward, your arms can't drift downward, and your elbows pull toward one another.  Watch a bench presser in between attempts: if he leaves his shirt on, he can't lower his arms.  

Bench shirts have a 'sweet spot' that lifters call 'the bubble.'  Essentially, if you bring the bar lower on your chest, you'll get more resistance from the shirt (good.)  If your arms drift back, you'll suddenly lose resistance, as if you were sliding off the side of a bubble (bad.)  Bench shirts can help, but if you get in trouble on your press, things can get very bad very quickly.

Types

Poly - a rubberish material.  Lots of pop out of the bottom of your press, but ridiculously hard to put on.  Notoriously painful; if you wear a poly shirt, your armpits are going to bleed.  So while you're trying to press a new PR, you're also bearing the pain of being cut, from your underarms to your lats.  They also take at least one strong helper to get on and seated properly.  It's not easy; it's so fatiguing on your assistant that they usually won't be able to bench that day.  As soon as your shirt's on, your circulation is cut off, so timing is critical.  Hard to wrap up when you can't feel your thumbs!

Denim - much more comfortable and easy to get on.  Usually have the back wide open, so you'll only need help pulling it tight across the back of the shoulders.  However, it's still not loose; you'll still bleed when the bar's coming down.  To work, the shirt has to anchor somewhere; that somewhere is your skin.  Denim is very resilient to stretch, which means there's not much of a 'pop' out of the hole.  However, since it's stronger than poly, if you know how to tweak it well, you'll get more out of the denim.

Problems you wouldn't expect

First off, there's the lockout.  If the shirt is tight enough to do anything, then there's no way you can make your current max touch your chest with the shirt on.  You'll have to pull it down as hard as possible, or add weight.  And since the shirt only helps for the first part of the lift, you'll have to press the increased weight back up.  For instance, if your raw bench is 300lbs, it's not unreasonable to try to add 20lbs to your bench with a shirt.  If your shirt's too strong, though, you'll never pull 320lbs to your chest.  If your shirt's not that strong, you'll have trouble pressing it back up.  That's why, for people bench pressing under 350lbs, carryover from the shirt isn't that big.  That's also why you can't just buy a triply-ply denim shirt, have it tailored, and press 800lbs.  That gap between the weight you can lock out and the weight required to touch - and pause at - your chest is too big.

Next, shirts wear out.  Especially poly.  You can wash them to shrink them back down, but that just makes them lose elasticity more quickly.  They're also pretty costly.

Last, even though they're customized to your measurements when you buy them, they're not always to your liking. The Internet is full of used bench shirts, worn once and discarded.  

Are they cheating?

Used in a gym?  Absolutely.  If someone's using a bench shirt and not competing in, or training for, a real powerlifting meet, then they're doing it for show.  Maybe that's impressive to some.  Maybe it's acceptable to others.  But don't compare your bench numbers in a shirt to those of your unshirted friends; it's a very different lift.

Used in a meet?  No.  It's mandatory in most meets, like it or not.  There are some raw meets out there, and they're fine for those who like the 'real' bench press.  Every federation is different, too, about what they'll allow: the IPF is now accepting single-ply poly, while the WPO is very accepting of anything the lifter wants to wear.

This is an unanswerable question.  While they're not quite steroids, in that using a bench shirt takes a lot of skill and practice, it's not the same as a normal bench press.  They're practically two different sports.  Using even the best bench shirt takes a lot of practice and customization and blood, and the lifts are still ridiculous.  But they're not magical.  Your first time in a bench shirt will rarely yield a PR bench press.  

We keep a couple of old shirts around; if you'd like to try one for yourself, just ask.  Like everything else in the iron world, it's fun to try once, if only to say you've done it.

NHL Star Does Crossfit