My visit to Hassle Free Barbell: if you wanna be a great coach don't coach and train at the same time!!!!

Over the weekend I visited the well known Weightlifting gym called Hassle Free Barbell club in San Francisco. This gym is without a doubt the best developmental Weightlifting program in the USA. Lifters such as Ian Wilson, Deangelo Osorio, Donovan Ford, Mary Peck just to name a few got their start at Hassle Free. So I went to Hassle Free for some training but really I wanted to get to know the coaches Kevin Doherty and Ben Hwa and how they got their program started and why it's so

successful.

If you want to be a GREAT coach, you don't train and coach at the same time

This might hurt some but the reality is if you want to be a GREAT coach you don't train and coach at the same time! I love lifting as much as the next guy but when it comes to coaching and training it's very important to keep them apart IF you want to take your coaching to the next level. Kevin and Ben made that clear to me. I have heard it before in the past but glad that it was reinforced at Hassle Free.

You have to get young talent involved

I asked Ben Hwa how to get kids started so young in the program. And he gave me 2 options, "You want to make money or not?" My reply was I don't have to make money. In essence, Hassle Free isn't about making money. They allow their lifters to start at such a young age with very little cost. The gym is inside Abraham Lincoln High School so the amount of exposure that kids have with Weightlifting is daily since you have athletes from different sports touching the weight room and getting involved with the sport from an early age. All of this is deliberate to get as many kids involved with Weightlifting. 

No Egos

The coaching staff between Kevin and Ben revolved around trust. There is no room for egos to develop while coaching these lifters to championships that span internationally and nationally. All the coaches at Hassle Free work together to ensure that the program is working and at the same time the lifters are becoming competitive. Hassle Free doesn't need to promote itself. Their lifters are achieving such great results that their performances speak for the club. The coaches prepare the lifters for upcoming meets and are there every step of their preparation.

Final thoughts

If you're in the San Francisco are stop by Hassle Free and get to know coaches Kevin and Ben. The gym is very very small but they get the job done. There is no shortage of weights or bars despite the limited space. Everyone is very welcoming and you'll be inspired. If you live in San Francisco and are a developing Weightlifter you should be training at Hassle Free. 

Respectfully

Coach Cano

Maximum torque and efficient bar paths

When it comes to Weightlifting bar paths are highly looked at. Bar paths can give us an understanding as to how the forces are being expressed. Not all bar paths are expressed equal. Depending on certain factors such as limb lengths and technique expression some bar paths will differ from others. However, there is a general expression of how a bar path should look like. For example, the bar path of a snatch looks very similar as the bar path of a clean. 

Take a look at the bar paths above for the snatch and clean and jerk. Very similar. The most efficient lifters in the world are able to maximize the forces that create the lift in the bar while at the same time express the most efficiency. Long story short, they waste nothing. This comes from years and years of training BUT from perfect training. 

Torque

Torque is force that is acted upon a rotating joint or rotating starting point. For the sake of training, most torques take place around joints such as the knee, hips, elbows etc. Torque is simply another term to define force that is being expressed around these joints. Nothing to fancy but I hope you get the point. 

Maximizing efficiency

The most efficient bar paths are those with the smallest moment arms thus reducing work on the force producing muscles. If work is reduced that means you can maximize force production from the working muscles given along the same bar path. 

The importance of bar path

In order to create maximum torque (maximum force production) it's so important to maintain an efficient bar path. This is why coaches continue to stress to keep a close bar path. Keep the bar close at all times. By doing so, greater efficiency is accomplished and you can create more force.

Deadlift

Question: is it easier to deadlift a weight close to your body or away from your body?

For those that have lifting experience I'm sure you know by now that it's much easier to deadlift a weight close to your body than away. But why? Simple, by bringing the bar close to your body as much as possible you minimize the moment arm. Therefore, your muscles such as the hips can produce more force acting on the barbell. This is the most efficient way to deadlift a weight. 

If you take a look at the picture above you can see the moment arm highlighted in red. It's the distance from the barbell to the prime moving muscles the hips. The longer this moment arm is the more work you will have to do. Torque is being expressed around the hip muscles that are doing the work needed to overcome the weight. Whether you're doing a deadlift, snatch, clean and jerk or squat it doesn't matter. The laws of physics apply the same to everyone and everywhere. 

In conclusion, to express a more efficient bar path it's essential to keep the bar close to you at all times during the ROM (Range Of Motion). Maximum torque will always be created when the moment arm is decreased to express the greatest efficiency possible. To create this, it's important to practice as perfectly as possible. There will be times when you don't have the maximum energy to lift heavy that day which is a great time to practice. Keep the bar close at all times during the ROM.

Coach Cano

Training beyond your limit

Training gets stagnant and you need to push beyond your limit to reach the next level. However, going to the next level requires breaking down some limitations. Breaking into the next level requires you to walk through fear. It's scary because you've never gone to this level. But it's necessary to reach new heights. It's necessary because it's how growth takes place.

Reaching the next level
The next level is out there beyond your limit. When it comes to strength training your body can do it but have you given your mind the permission to succeed? Have you thought about breaking through? Have you thought about reaching beyond? It's first a mindset. You think about the next level but wonder if you can do it.

Preparing for the next level
Your training should prepare you to take it to the next level. You might have to do things that are uncomfortable such as more reps in a set. You might have to do sets of 5 or 6 rep snatches which might not make too much sense physically but that's not what's it about. Can you mentally go there? Can you imagine completing that many reps? Are you psychologically prepared to handle the loads?

Walking through fear
Going to the next level requires to walk through fear. Because going to a place you've never been to can be scary but it's only because you've never been to the unknown. It's the unknown that scares you. We are so desperate to be certain about life. Having certainty is a psychological need because we know what is on the other side. The unknown is scary but it paralyzes you. Fear prevents you from knowing what's on the other side.

All great expeditions required the travelers to venture into the unknown. Such as traveling into the American West, or having astronauts venture into space. It's having the courage to step into the unknown and discover a new world.

Going to the next level is a major step into the right decision. As a rule of thumb, whenever and wherever you feel fear before venturing into uncharted waters, that is your sign to go out into that path. Because that is the place of the greatest growth...the greatest strength is achieved in the unknown.

Coach Cano

REVIEW: Olympic Lifting Strength Manual by Louie Simmons

So far I've read the first 100 pages and Louie has my attention. Please keep in mind that this is a strength training manual for Olympic lifters. It's not a book about technique for the snatch and clean n jerk. I have a few burning questions:


- How can you apply strength training principles for Olympic lifters? 
- How can an Olympic lifter improve strength WHERE IT MATTERS and have their clean and jerk and snatch go up? 

These are questions I'm asking myself as I read the manual.

Accommodation
So far the grand enemy of limiting strength gains for snatch and clean n jerk is accommodation. After a training cycle using similar percentage loads the body will accommodate. It's a biological law. The manual says that after 3 weeks of training at 90% or more of the same stimulus you will halt progress. To avoid accommodation Louie recommends using 3 week wave intervals. You train for 3 weeks using the same stimulus, same percent range, or same bar and go for a P.R. but after 3 weeks you introduce a new stimulus. For example, your first 3 weeks you can hang snatch. After 3 weeks you hang snatch from below the knees. After those 3 weeks you snatch from the floor. We haven't even talked about snatching from boxes but that's another option. There are many to choose from including complexes.

50% of training volume
Louie got his recommendations from Soviet Union research books that he got from Bud Charniga. The Soviet Union was producing the greatest Weightlifters at that time and their science was available but it was written in Russian. Bud Charniga provided translated versions in English. The Soviets kept records and planned details of programming for their Olympic lifters. Louie adopted those training methods to his powerlifting team to develop the Westside method of strength. In those soviet manuals:

50% of your training volume should be at 75% to 85% or 1 RM (Repetition Maximum)

This is important once again to avoid accommodation.

There is so much more to talk about but these 2 concepts can be implemented now into your training to continue the progress and make those important strength gains. Olympic lifting is still, has always been and will continue to be a strength sport. Those that think it's all about technique I have something to say:

- If Olympic lifting was all about technique, why do they have weight classes?
- If Olympic lifting was all about technique (and not so much strength) then it would be judged similar to Gymnastics and diving. 

In gymnastics and diving, there are no weight classes. Why? Because it's a sport that whoever executes the best technique wins. Therefore, judges are required. Olympic lifting has no judges. They have referee's and officials. I believe this manual is valuable for improved strength for Olympic Weightlifting. More to talk about from this manual later.

Coach Cano

HOW TO BE STRONGER: lose respect for the weight!

One of my favorite lifers is a masters lifter out of Coffee's gym in Marietta Georgia and his name is Juan Sepulveda aka The KING!!!! He has tremendous experience and background in Weightlifting and has over 40 years experience competing!!!

LOSE RESPECT FOR THE WEIGHT!!!!
Juan has a philosophy about losing respect for a weight. This is a weight either for snatch, clean n jerk where you have done it so many times that it no longer scares you! These are weights that you can do them everyday in training. When someone has lost respect for a weight it's because they no longer have fear of the weight.

We have too much respect for weight that the fear cripples us from taking action and we crumble under the weight. Train yourself daily and frequently against weights that you will lost respect for. Increase your performance so that weights you once feared you no longer have respect for. It takes patience and taking chances so you build confidence over time.

LOSE RESPECT FOR THE WEIGHT!!!

Coach Cano

My visit to Coffee's Gym PT. 1

Hi everyone.
I traveled from California to Coffee's gym in Marietta Georgia (30min north from Atlanta) this past weekend to meet some friends but more importantly to train there. Training in different gym environments gives you an opportunity to perform at a higher level because you are not familiar with the people, energy and environment. Coffee's gym gave me an EXPLOSIVE energy and I didn't disappoint!!!


Coffee's Gym
John Coffee is a legendary Weightlifting coach out of Georgia. In the early 1990's his gym was the dominant Women's Weightlifting gym for years. Many girls came to John Coffee and still do and turn out to be amazing lifters. One of Coffee's gym most successful Weightlifters is Robin Goad who became IWF World Champion in 1994. This is a very rare achievement in the USA. She is just one of numerous lifters who have come out of Coffee's gym with huge success.

When you enter the gym it's divided into 2 sections:  one section is for fitness/bodybuilding which is generally seen throughout all gyms and the second section is entirely dedicated to Olympic Weightlifting. When you enter you notice the walls full of placards of achievements that go from top to bottom. Then there are framed pictures of both national lifters and international lifters all over the walls.

In one corner lies John Coffee's coaching couch where he spends a lot of time coaching...and napping. Around Mr. Coffee are endless newspapers and magazines and kinda looks like a bomb went off. Some people are just special like that.

Coffee's gym has so many lifters from different age ranges from junior lifters, senior lifters and many masters lifters. But don't be fooled, all these lifters are taking their training serious!!!! You just don't walk into Coffee's gym haphazardly!! You are there for a purpose!!!! 

I stated my training with the one and only Mr. Juan Sepulveda aka THE KING!!! IF you don't know who THE KING is let me tell you something about him. At 63 years old, he can snatch 100kgs, clean and jerk 300lbs and created his own Crossfit workout called Crossfit 'WHO?' It's 8 reps of 100kg power cleans. I saw it in person and said, 'WOW!!!!" I couldn't believe it. He was going to another planet!!!!

I'll write more about it next time in PT. 2 of my Coffee's gym experience. I'll introduce you to some of the people I met there and other details not mentioned here. 

Till next time,

Coach Cano

NO New Years Resolutions

I don't deal with that crap when it comes to my lifting goals. It's all about lifetime progress. The new year is all about a continuation of progress established towards lifetime goals.

That's all I got. Take it and run with it.

Coach Cap

The younger you start the better off!!!

It's never too late to start but the younger you are the better chances you have. Kids in Europe, China, Colombia, Russia start as early as 10 years old.

Performance Interview with Edinson Angulo of the Colombian National Weightlifting team!

Weightlifting in Colombia: PT.1 with National Coach Luis Arrieta

So Cap's Cave Strength made a trip to Colombia where in recent years Colombia has produced Weightlifters who have won medals in the Olympics with Diego Salazar and Oscar Figueroa and in last years World Championships where Luis Javier Mosquera won the Bronze medal in the snatch. Prviously, Mosquera won the Junior World championships. So something special is going on in Colombia where both men and women are competing at the highest levels whereas in the USA our program is developing but we're still behind in terms of success what the Colombian's have achieved.

Luis Arrieta Weightlifting School in Barranquilla

250kg squat 20 years old 77kg body weight

I first met Luis on Facebook and he invited me to come down to his Weightlifting school in Barranquilla Colombia. I've never been to South America and have always wanted to so here's a perfect opportunity to visit the exotic continent of South America. First stop, Barranquilla. I met Luis outside the gates of the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla where his weightlifting school is at.

His Weightlifting school is centered around developing youth lifters from 10 years old till 20 and under. From there on, lifters who are good enough and need more development after 20 years old will be relocated to one of several training bases in Colombia such as Cartagena, Cali or Bogota. His Weightlifting school is one of many in the country.

Colombian Weightlifting schools
The sport of Weightlifting in Colombia is free for anyone that wants to participate. The funding is provided for by the state. The state covers uniforms, shoes and travel expenses when competing nationally or internationally. There are lifting leagues within each lifting department and all competitions develop lifters to rise in the ranks or qualify to bigger competitions such as Pan American's, World Youth Championships, or youth nationals.

At the Luis Arrieta lifting school there are both boys and girls training. The boys there were squatting close to 200kgs or over. A 20 year old lifter was squatting 250kgs at 77kg body weight. This is common in Colombia. After years of technique training they put a lot of focus on developing strength for the lifts.

In PT. 2 I want to share with you a deeper look into the Colombian training system and how they develop that system to develop their lifters and their lifting program.