This is a little bit of footage taken at the “Building the Efficient Athlete” seminar at Peak Performance in NYC.
Needless to say, all those in attendance were quite impressed.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Matgic1
Enjoy.
-MAtt
smooove.
Does anyone know why he brings his ass up, and then quickly down just before he lifts? I mean, you could say stretch reflex, but then why not have your ass up the whole time, until just before you pull?
Okay…that was impressive!
[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
Does anyone know why he brings his ass up, and then quickly down just before he lifts? I mean, you could say stretch reflex, but then why not have your ass up the whole time, until just before you pull?[/quote]
Some people like the dive bomber style, it has a little to do with the stretch reflex and some to do with the fact that you need to take a Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath of air before you go down and doing so at the bottom is hard if not impossible.
You take your breath of air, dive down and try to pull with the same breath.
Was this with no suit and no belt?? Very nice. Gotta love a rounded back deadlift!!! lol.
pfffft - he used straps! cheater…
No suit and minimal warmup.
The straps are because it was an olympic bar with no knurling.
-MAtt
[quote]Matgic wrote:
No suit and minimal warmup.
The straps are because it was an olympic bar with no knurling.
-MAtt[/quote]
That would definately screw up a fella’s gripping power.
From a previous footage of Cressey DLing 600lbs, he improved his technique a lot with max weights. Congrats on that, it’s the trademark of great coaches to examplify what they preach.
If you want to see a rounded upper back check out Konstantine Konstantinov. Crazy upper back rounding which according too one of Dave Tates article is OK for improving leverage. However its NOT OK to round the lower back. I havn’t exactly been able to round the upper and arch the lower with much success myself…any tips?
[quote]Matgic wrote:
No suit and minimal warmup. [/quote]
But I vibrated! 
No fair. He cheats. He is actually a Cyborg.
Part human, part crane.
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
Matgic wrote:
No suit and minimal warmup.
But I vibrated! :P[/quote]
Haha, well I was thinking of mentioning that, but I didn’t want to upset anyone who might have “gotten off” on the vibration device.
Basically, there was a vibrating platform device being demoed at the seminar.
It’s results were…less than amazing let’s say.
-MAtt
It gives you a little more pop off the floor. I think it also helps you get the weight back onto your heels quicker. Also, if you pull conventional in a tight suit, you almost have to do it to get into a proper pulling position.
[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
Does anyone know why he brings his ass up, and then quickly down just before he lifts? I mean, you could say stretch reflex, but then why not have your ass up the whole time, until just before you pull?[/quote]
Draw a big gulp of air deep into lungs (breath with your belly, yoga-style) and flex your abs outward. If you can hold this, your lower back won’t round. Let your shoulders slump down and forward- if the weight is heavy and your are keeping your lower back straight, the upper back will round on its own.
[quote]AceDeuce wrote:
If you want to see a rounded upper back check out Konstantine Konstantinov. Crazy upper back rounding which according too one of Dave Tates article is OK for improving leverage. However its NOT OK to round the lower back. I havn’t exactly been able to round the upper and arch the lower with much success myself…any tips?[/quote]
I see the title of the seminar, and wonder if any of the T-Mag guys drop stepped and dunked on someone, or ran a 4.5 forty…?
You know, “walked the walk” is the term so often thrown around here. Did anyone do an impromptu display of athleticism?
J
[quote]Jumanji wrote:
I see the title of the seminar, and wonder if any of the T-Mag guys drop stepped and dunked on someone, or ran a 4.5 forty…?
You know, “walked the walk” is the term so often thrown around here. Did anyone do an impromptu display of athleticism?
J[/quote]
Well, “athleticism” is a loose term at best; it’s relative to the sport in question, you know? We had cyclists, MMA competitors, strongmen, baseball players, and basketball players in the audience; there isn’t a single measure that is going to define any of them.
All that said, my rec softball team did sweep its first playoff doubleheader last week, and all of our players remained sober through the duration of the contests. How’s that for impressive?
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
Jumanji wrote:
I see the title of the seminar, and wonder if any of the T-Mag guys drop stepped and dunked on someone, or ran a 4.5 forty…?
You know, “walked the walk” is the term so often thrown around here. Did anyone do an impromptu display of athleticism?
J
Well, “athleticism” is a loose term at best; it’s relative to the sport in question, you know? We had cyclists, MMA competitors, strongmen, baseball players, and basketball players in the audience; there isn’t a single measure that is going to define any of them.
All that said, my rec softball team did sweep its first playoff doubleheader last week, and all of our players remained sober through the duration of the contests. How’s that for impressive? :P[/quote]
Nice job on the sweep, although I have generally thought of softball as the very final “screw it, I am washed up” stage. Give my knees a few more years, and I will probably be writing you to see if you need a left handed hitter with blazing speed.
The comment had little to nothing to do with you Eric, but rather the general premise of “walking the walk” that is so very loosely thrown around here.
I think the term is mostly used to describe lifting weights as walking the walk. For strength dominated sports (PL, Strongman, Linemen), I couldn’t agree more. But, for the majority of athletes, I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, they need to lift weights, but for the millions of athletes NOT blessed with natural fast twitch dominance and reactive qualities, their needs lie in the speed-strength and plyo areas. So walking the walk for most sports would be being dominant in these areas…not in sustainable muscular tension… most sports need peak tension with immediate release… far different than picking up heavy stuff.
For the group you described, save for the cyclists, a drop-step dunk would measure lower body explosiveness quite nicely. Relative strength with a low explosive strength deficit… with some reactivity mixed in. I realize a strongman is pinnacle strength and strength endurance based, but dunking isn’t that hard for fairly tall guys with great relative strength. Even Tractor Trailer could do it at Michigan at “just a biscuit under 260”. I am quite certain his relative strength levels were nowhere near a strongman… unless you put a triple cheeseburger out there as reward.
Useable explosive strength would be a solid measure in my opinion. I do agree that picking heavy crap up is the first of very many steps towards athleticism. It provides a solid base of strength.
Congrats on the win Eric. And definitely more impressive, congrats on the lift… strong human being.
J
Absolute crap form on that deadlift. Is this the way you teach your athletes to deadlift? Where are the legs? Or is this a new kind of lift-“the backlift”.