FuBarbell

Coach Jim Scmitz (@jimschmitz) catching a quick workout at The Sports Palace. Coach Schmitz has been lifting since the 60s and has long believed Olympic-style weightlifting is the best total body workout a person can receive demanding a high level of coordination, power, speed and strength. Still practicing what he preaches at the age of 68, Jim shows us that weightlifting can be beneficial (and fun!) for everyone that chooses to participate.

The Chinese are big on accessory work post practice and will often also use these movements to aide as active recovery for the body.

Want to understand the Chinese Weightlifting methodologies better? Diane Fu of FuBarbell has spent some time working with and studying Wu Chuanfu’s (@wuchuanfu) methodology and philosophies. Now she is doing a short mini-series of weekly emails introducing some key concepts of Chinese Weightlifting theory leading into Coach Wu’s seminar tour in the United States.

www.codyapp.com/footwork. Link is also in my bio.

Many of you are a part of my 13-week Olympic Lifting Bundle on @codyapp, however, you might be struggling with form and experiencing some challenges with your lifts. If you were one of my athletes in FuBarbell, we’d start by addressing your foot faults, and that’s exactly what this Footwork plan is designed to do.

If you experience challenges with your lifts – losing the bar forward, losing the bar back, or having instability in the hole, this Footwork Plan on @codyapp was designed for you!

www.codyapp.com/footwork. Link is also in my bio.

Regardless of how strong you are, poor footwork will be the biggest compromise to your speed, balance, power, and the overall success of your lifts.

The low back is one of the weakest links in the body — especially if you consider it’s role in both structural support and extension in weightlifting. This is something athletes that have attended a seminar with me hear me harp on when we start to discuss programming considerations. Last weekend, I picked up another neat low back training exercise from @nikita789 during the Russian WL seminar: The Superman GHD Hold.

There are three popular types of starting positions for you and your athlete to explore. All of them with various benefits for the athlete.

Coach Wu (@wuchuanfu) is currently at a training base in China with a few of his lifters that will competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The Chinese national team sees about 12 workouts a week divided between morning and afternoon sessions. This allows the appropriate amount of time to move these athletes professionally up the ranks.

REPOST FROM @jameskusama: “Less then four years ago, I did not possess the strength nor skill to catch 225#. Now, I can use 225# for EMOM pieces with fun barbell complexes like this.

Could not have been more lucky to have started with a coach like @dianefu to lay the proper ground work for me. #blessed #tbt #crossfit #oly #smartcoachesmakeallthedifference”