Physical Confidence: The ability to recognize the (your)body's physical limitations and abilities, and operate within these abilities without fear of failure.

This is one of the intangibles of physical fitness training, yet one of the most important aspects that we, as athletes, could ever hope to garner. This confidence allows us to do well in our chosen sports, helps us through our daily physical challenges; and more importantly... the lack thereof hinders the everyday Joe and forces them into a life of physical distress.

One simple fact: our aging generations, generally, fear breaking a hip or otherwise simply lack the motor development to lift an object of any size over their head. You used to only see this in advanced age, but it has become more common in younger generations, even starting as young as 45. If you know someone who is starting to suffer from an obvious lack of physical confidence, offer to go walking with them, get them involved with a local swimming program, somehow get physical activity back into their lives. It will enrich both of your lives.

In younger generations, it is a faltering physical confidence that makes you take a look at a physical feat, such as a CrossFit workout, and say "that's crazy, I could never do that". I argue to say " You just don't know you can do it".


Daniel performing a basic forward vault.

Once upon a time, there were two tribes: the No Quit Tribe and the Poor Me Tribe. One grabbed life by the shoulders (or even lower) and surged forward, ever forward, no matter the consequences, whether physical or mental: these were the people of the No Quit Tribe. The other tribe – the Poor Me Tribe -- looked at life from an opposite viewpoint: shying away from pain, shunning physical challenges, seeking only to engage in non-threatening activities, with a constant massage of the ego because it made them feel good. They avoided pain at all cost. If things did not work out the way they wanted, they blamed someone else, because their egos could not handle failure. Fortunately, most of them were eaten by wild animals.

Still, some survivors of the Poor Me Tribe managed to hang on. Now, here in the 21st century, the lost members of the Poor Me Tribe have risen from the underbrush to flourish and expand, and they recruit new members daily through television, psychobabble, and (sometimes) the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the No Quit Tribe soldiers on, segmented off into the uniformed services, with outposts of followers in odd places, including private garages, firehouses, cop shops, and CrossFit affiliates. Their grunting and swearing can be heard, if you listen for it, but the bulk of society has drowned them out with advertising and nonsense.

If you’re still reading this far, chances are that you’re a member of the No Quit Tribe and that you know how to squat, jerk, and deadlift. You know that great fitness doesn’t come from a machine and that evolution doesn’t have to mean wussification. You’re on the breaking edge of a revolutionary wave in fitness.

But what you may not have realized is that the revolution will not be televised: it will be e-mailed. So, instead of sitting there and patting yourself on the back for CrossFitting, do something. Act now. Send this article to 5 non-CrossFitting friends who you think can handle getting their butts in serious shape – people who can hang with the No Quit Tribe. (There's a green "Share This" button below this post, if you're interested.) We'll even provide the message, if you want:

Hey Buddy,

Join me in 1 CrossFit Workout. Now is the time to put up or shut up. Loser buys.

Signed,

Your Crazy Friend in the CrossFit Cult

P.S. Which tribe do you belong to?

(Text by Lisbeth Darsh/CrossFit Watertown in Connecticut. Photo courtesy of Joe Waguespack/CrossFit SLA in Louisiana.)

From: Bodyweightculture.com

Suppose you love push-ups and you decided to work on your upper chest. Anyone familiar with basic physiology knows that elevated feet help to shift focus to shoulders and upper chest. Does it mean that your chest automatically becomes fuller and stronger by simply placing your feet up on a chair? The answer is no!

We will give you two tips that will help you make the elevated push-ups an upper chest building nugget of gold.

Tip 1. Keep your elbows out. If your elbows are pressed tight into your body when doing pushups (regular or elevated) your anterior deltoids take away from working your chest. To avoid this you need to keep your elbows out when bending them. This ensures that you’ll be working your chest!

Tip 2. Your upper chest works mainly when your body is in outmost inclined position. Simply put – the lower your head to the floor, the closer you are to your goal. As you probably already realized, you can lower your head further, when you bend your arms!

So here’s what we recommend. Every time you perform the elevated feet push-up, you pause for 3-10 seconds (depending on your conditioning level) while your arms are bent, prior to extending them. You’ll recognize the benefits of this workout the next day when you feel it in your chest.

Good luck with your training and tell us what you think of this Nugget.

Guys @ BWC

Taken From Here

Reader Abhishek asked in StrongLifts.com Forum:

My shoulders have always been below par. They can’t handle too much stress. So, as I was at my Overhead Press max, I used my legs to complete all reps.

Is the Push Press a cheating movement? It allows the use of more weight, that’s evident. But isn’t shoulder strength compromised? Should I start using Push Press or stick to the Overhead Press?

Abhishek did the Push Press: Overhead Press using leg drive. You can see it in the video below. Notice he doesn’t start with a) the bar on his chest b) elbows in front of the bar. The former is cheating, the later inefficient.



Continued...

Taken from: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-keep-your-knees-out-on-squats/

Reader Matt asked:

I have a problem with keeping my knees from buckling in as I move to higher weights in my Back Squats. I know that I am weak on the lateral aspect of my legs and that I need to concentrate on abduction movements to help strengthen that area.

Which muscles do I want to target besides my vastus lateralis and gluteus medius to keep my knees straight while doing squats? What exercises would you recommend to strengthen these muscles?

Reader Craig reported the same problem in StrongLifts.com Forum. He wrote: “I’m worried about my knees, they wobble sometimes when I’m pushing up”. Check Craig’s knees in the video below.





Continued....

Jerry Hill asks:

"If your athletes life depended on getting in top-shape in record time what would be the most important thing you would do?"



Response from: Mark Rippetoe



Response from: Jason C. Brown


Jerry Hill has 22 years experience in the Fitness Industry, is a Former Marine, and currently the head coach at CrossFit Old Town in Alexandria, VA.

By: Lisbeth Darsh

Ever play softball? There are three types of outfielders in softball, and I don't mean right fielder, center fielder, and left fielder. You can’t tell the type of outfielder by where they stand: it's what's in their mind that matters. The same standard applies to every CrossFitter but, first, to understand this concept, let's go mentally to the softball field . . .

Green grass, warm sunshine, a slight breeze – and this horrible sinking pit in your stomach. You’re Outfielder #1: the “Please, God, don’t let them hit it to me” player. You’re not certain you can catch the hard-hit ball, not certain that you have a strong enough arm to get the ball back to the second baseman, not certain that the grounder won’t just dribble through your legs and to the fence. You don’t want that ball. Better that they hit to the left-fielder – she can catch it. Just not to you. Please, God, not to you.

This outfielder is the beginning CrossFitter, and, often, the overweight CrossFitter. You can tell just by the way they walk through the door and glance at the Workout of the Day posting. It’s a quick glance, a frightened glance, a deer-just-before-it-hits-your-bumper look. They’re scared of the WOD, just the same way that outfielder is scared of the ball, because they don’t know if they have the skills or the stamina to handle what’s coming at them. They move a bit hesitantly and awkwardly through the workout, often apologizing for their mistakes, somewhat embarrassed by their performance. They give effort, but sometimes not enough; their fear just plain whups their output. But there’s hope! With time and effort, this CrossFitter can gain enough confidence, become more certain of their capabilities, and, eventually, reduce the time needed to complete the WOD. Through repeated effort, they advance out of their comfort zone and into a new realm of achievement.

Continued....

Direct link

A very useful piece of exercise equipment that can be made quickly and cheaply. What you need: About 6-9 feet of PVC or ABS pipe (decide how much you need based on the measurements below). Four T connections. Four elbow joints. Eight end caps. (the diameter can be 3/4-1 1/2 in. depending on the size of the person to use the parallettes) Your local hardware store should have this great stuff.

1. Cut two 10-14 in. pieces of pipe. (These will be the portions you hold onto) Stick an elbow on both ends of both of these pieces.
2. Cut four 3-8 in. pieces depending on the height you want, keep in mind the elbows and T joints will add to the total height. The most important part of this step is to keep all these pieces the same length. Place these in the other end of the elbows, and attach the T joints to the free ends.
3. Cut eight 4-6 in. pieces depending on the base width you desire. Wider is more stable, but takes up more space. Place these pieces in the available slots in the T joints and cap the other ends. You now have parallettes.
4. You will want to score the surface of the grip portion of the parallettes with a wire brush or scouring pad so that chalk will stick to it for a better grip.