Black Box Fort Worth

I once read that the Snatch is the most athletic movement in sport. I’ve been around sports my entire life and am inclined to agree. The amount of athleticism, strength, speed, power and precision needed to successfully complete a snatch is incredible.

And WWKD?

Yea, snatch 205…

Back on track, the Snatch has the unique ability to coordinate every muscle in the body including the brain and the heart to generate enough force to throw a weight over your head.
The benefits range from muscular strength and power development to neurological adaptation as well as metabolic changes through increased muscle mass and improved flexibility and mobility.

First two seem like they would be obvious. Muscular strength comes from muscular stimulation. Any exercise that explores the extreme ranges of motion the body can achieve will produce some sort of muscular stimulation therefore creating the potential for recovery and then gained strength. The power development is a simple equation of P=f*d/t. Taking a weight from the floor to an overhead position in one fluid movement is certainly alot of power, regardless of the weight used. Obviously heavier weight means more power.

Neurological adaptation is not something people generally think of when you look at strength training but in reality it is one of the most important aspects. Our brain works the same way our connections in our muscles work. Its all one big electrical connection that, instead of growing new or bigger muscles, these new neurological connections allow you to use the muscles you already have. Snatching will not make you bigger, but it will make your muscles more active and able to produce more force. See that little girl in the first video? She weighs less than 110lbs but is snatching over 175lbs!!!
This adaptation is HUGE in weightlifting, a sport of weight classes.

Beginners, in any type of strength training, will experience a little bit of body composition change where they will develop some muscle mass. We have all heard it, and its still true, muscle mass will speed metabolism and allow you to increase your metabolic rate. This is a good thing if you are trying to lose weight.

Improved flexibility and mobility come both from doing the movement, Again see the little girl in the first video, and from endeavoring to get better at the movement. So, in order to get better at the snatch you must loosen your hips, torso and shoulders and maintain these changes over time as technique and strength improve. The ability to sit in the bottom of a squat with a heavy load over head is not something many everyday folks can do. As a result working towards that position will make you more mobile and flexible and should help you prevent injuries due to a lack of these things.

So, if any one of the points above strikes your fancy then you are in the right place. And one more video to grow on…

Ok, Last one..

Don’t forget to come snatch with your friends on Saturday. No weigh ins, no singlets, no barriers.

Workout:
Clean and Jerk Opener
Front Squat Clean Opener +5-10% x 3
Followed by:
Tabata Burpees/KB swings

Before you look at the picture below I want to give you a little back ground.
Meggie and I got Chickens about a year ago for a couple reasons. This Video is what pushed me over the edge and i hope it changes the way you think about chickens and eggs moving forward.

So, once we got chickens we started a learning curve to figure out how to keep them alive. In the beginning this is tough since the baby chicks are quite rambunctious and can mess up any system you think you have set up. This equates to constant care for the first 6-8 weeks. Once they are out in the coop things settle down a bit but you would be surprised how much they can mess up regardless how amazing of a system you THINK you have set up. By nature they like to roost, scratch and poop on everything so it tough to keep things in order.

The rewards from all this work are huge. Especially when you get that first egg. All your hard work has paid off. When we started this adventure we had an idea about sustainable farming, or rather thought we had an idea. Recently we have been looking into how to better provide for the little chickies by getting them the food they would naturally eat. We let them out in the backyard to scratch around and pick at our plants but resources are limited in our small plot so we need to supplement.

Chickens are omnivores so in order to keep them healthy they need a variety of foods. Plants, insects and even the occasional meat snack. Sounds weird but they love it, and need it. As a result of the effort to be more sustainable we have created a new kind of farm. A Maggot Farm.

Our Maggot Farm provides good sources of protein on a daily basis for our chickens. Since supplementing with the maggots we have noticed a more steady, consistent stream of eggs as well as stronger shells which is a sign of quality in the eggs.

What are you doing to stay sustainable? Saving rain water for the plants? Composting? Carpooling?
Anything that helps keep the planet a little more healthy is great!

Also, quick note, This Saturday at 10am is our first gym only weightlifting meet. All members are welcome to lift or watch. We start lifting at 10am so if you are competing please come at 9-915 to make sure you are warmed up for your first lift. We will talk more about how things will run during class.

Workout:
Snatch Opener
Sn Pull x 3
Followed by:
3 rounds
400m run
10 burpees
5-7 pullups
Rest 2 min

Today we deviate from the Dash posts and explore Kilos behavior lately. These pictures, only serve to illustrate his personality.

While being very obedient, he is certainly very playful and likes to explore. He is very dog like which make him very predictable. This is a good thing even when his behavior is less than ideal. So long as we can see certain situations coming, we can prevent any negative outcomes. There are still some unknown situations we are aware of such as being around babies… I’m not worried.

Back to the pictures. I’m not entirely sure what he was doing here besides trying to fit into a smaller space than his body would allow. This is a funny situation because usually when I am outside he is more concerned with playing with me than anything else. He is either trying to play chase or fetch or just following me around the yard. This instance he was oblivious to me and totally focused on something under the deck. As you can see, he takes a couple different approaches but luckily fails each time. Had he been successful, he would either still be there or we would have had to tear off some boards to release him.

Something that is funny here is that in one of the pictures you can see dash’s feet like she is sprawled out. Its rare that Dash is lying down especially in the back yard. Kilo, What were you doing??

I don’t really have any lessons to be learned from this but i was certainly amused by his actions and thought y’all would enjoy them too. Happy Friday. I hope you smile lots today!

Workout:
Snatch
back Squat x 3
Followed By:

Thanks again to Meggie for coming through with an amazing recipe. I must give all credit to her unless i get credit for eating her creations. Thank you.

Sweet Potato Spears/Fries with Yummy sauce

Adapted from our paleo comfort foods cookbook, link to purchase here a must-have for those that cook at home.

4 large sweet potatoes

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Cut the sweet potatoes into spears and layer into a single layer on a cookie sheet after mixing with the other ingredients. Bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes and flip spears halfway through cooking.

For the Chipotle Mayo:

½ tsp mustard powder

1 egg at room temp.

3 tsp lemon juice

½ cup LIGHT olive oil

½ cup avocado or coconut oil

3 garlic cloves

4 chipotles from a can of Chipotles in adobo sauce

Lime juice to taste

In your food processor mix the mustard powder, egg, and lemon juice until frothy. SLOWLY add in the oils to get the right consistency otherwise you will end up with a scrambled egg looking mess.

Next add the remaining ingredients and continue to emulsify to your desired consistency. Make sure and keep your mayo refrigerated. This will last up to a week or two in the fridge and goes great on meats, veggie spears, salads etc.

Enjoy!

Workout:
Single Arm Swings x6
Single Leg Deadlift x 8
Followed by:
3 -4 rounds
8 Step Ups
12 Box Jumps
6 Turkish Situps
Rest 90 seconds

Please help me with Blog topics. If you have anything you want to hear about, drop it in the comments or send me an email. Dutch@BlackBoxFW.com

Workout:
Sprints
Single Leg Squats x 6
Followed by:
Farmers Carry 400m
35 Burpees

In part 1 we talked about why we breathe (Pressure difference), and why we may not be breathing correctly (stress, either acute or chronic). Today we are going to talk about how e can breathe to reduce stress and increase physical performance.

The non-stressful breathing or breathing that creates balance throughout the body is called Belly breathing (At least that’s what we are going to call it). Its very simple and I want you to try it right now. Take a deep breath but use your nose and try to fill your belly with air. Then exhale out your mouth like you are trying to warm your hands. A couple things you may notice:

Your chest and shoulders do not rise much
You feel immediately more relaxed through your shoulders and neck (and that was just one breath)
You were able to get more air in and out by controlling your intake with your belly

This gets easier when you are sitting up straighter in your chair or even lying down flat.

Once you have taken a couple deep belly breathes we can get back to reading with a little more focus now. Don’t you feel more relaxed? I do.

Belly breathing is a good tool to use on a daily basis when you get out of bed and get ready to face your day, as you get to the office and are ready to start your day, after lunch as a way to refocus for the second half of the day, before you start a workout as a way to get one last cleansing breathe before doing some hard work, after your workout as a way to get oxygen back to your muscles and brain, and before bed as a way to relax from a busy day.

As you can see Belly breathing is a good way to create balance and decrease stress on a daily and even hourly basis. Its simple and easy to use, you just have to use it.
The second way belly breathing can help us is with performance. We talk about your breathing when you are about to lift a heavy weight. We take a big breath in, fill the belly with tension then clamp down and push out in all directions from the belly button. The creates tension in the core and creates a safe conduit to transfer force from the legs to the upper body or vice versa. The heavier the weight the more tension we need to create. Wanna test it?

Put your hands just above your hips, thumb to the back and forefinger to the front. Take a big breathe through your mouth and see if your midsection expands from both fingers on both sides.

If you find that only one finger moves then you are not creating tension throughout your entire midsection and we need to work on a more complete tension in the core. Practice is the best way to sort this out. Yes, Practice breathing. Lay on your back with your feet on a box or couch to create a neutral spine. Place your fingers as they were in the position above, close your eyes and focus on moving both fingers at the same time. From years of coaching i realize that everyone needs different cues so find what works for you. Once you have mastered this lying down, go to a seated position, then a standing one and finally one with load like a squat.

Questions? Need to see any of this? Just ask in Class.

Workout:
Power Snatch
Explosive Push Ups x 6
Followed by:
5 rounds
10 wall Ball
10 KB swings
Rest 90 seconds
3 rounds
10 wall ball
10 KB swings

Air, Much like water, food and A/C, we would not be alive without it. Your breath and the way you breathe are two very important things to the way your body functions on a daily basis. It is vital to stress management, relaxation, optimal performance and Life in general. Its something we are never without and therefore if we know how to use it can become a very powerful tool to keep us healthy long term.

The first thing to understand about breathing is why we do it. The most basic reason for taking in air and expelling air is pressure. The pressure difference inside our bodies in relationship to the pressure outside our body is why we breathe. Its also why it gets harder and harder to breathe as we rise in elevation. As elevation increases The pressure difference becomes less and less and as a result we have to work harder to take air in and expel air out making us feel like the “air is thinner”.

A secondary reason for breathing is to supply our muscles and organs with oxygen as well as expel the toxic carbon dioxide. This gas exchange happens in the lunges and is crucial to both daily function as well as physical performance. We will talk more about that shortly.

The way we breathe is really what I wanted to talk about in this post. Too often we get out of healthy patterns and into high stress situations and as a result our breathing changes. I see it everyday in the gym. All I have to do is ask someone to get on the Airdyne… Your breathing probably just changed even though its not you I was asking to go for a ride. Our breathing pattern changes with our emotions as well as with our physical activity. You may notice that when you are pushing yourself really hard and your respiratory rate increases, you tend to take bigger breathes into your chest. This is our bodies natural reaction to stressful situations. This is among other reactions you may notice like increased heart rate, increased blood proliferation to your extremities and an increased alertness. There also may be an analgesic effect depending on the actual stressful event. With exercise its usually that euphoric feeling you get after a hard training session.

Ok, lets fast forward to after a workout and we are gasping for breath. Next time you are in the gym, look around and notice how you see people gasping for breath and shoulders rising and chest heaving up and down. These are NOT relaxing breathes. These, in fact, are likely to cause more stress due to the amount of effort its takes to just breathe. Interestingly enough exercise and acute stressors are not the only things that cause you to chest breathe. Chronic stress such as work issues or personal issues can cause you to default to a stressed out breathing pattern. Chest breathing is a sign of stress and is something we can control. How do we control it? First you must become aware of it.

Part 2 will cover Belly breathing and how that will help you out of stressful situations and help to make you stronger.

Workout:
Cleand and Jerk
Followed by:
5 sets
6 step ups
6 Pullups
2 min rest
3x max time plank

We have been quietly holding saturday classes over the last couple weeks but I am ready to go full steam on saturdays. At 9am I want to invite you out to come workout with the group as a great start for the weekend. Everyone is welcome and its all about having fun!

At 10am we start weightlifting. Think of this more as a training session than a coached session. Its a time to get to train with everyone and throw around some big weights!

In the coming weeks we have a couple events that i want everyone to know about.

First, June 16th will be the first BlackBox Members Weightlifting meet. This is designed to be really low key. There will not be any weigh ins or special clothing required, unless of course you want to wear something special (It may be worth coming just to see this… Erik?). Our goal with this is to get everyone exposed to a little competition style lifting without all the pressure with a real meet. Sign up at the gym on the whiteboard.

The second event is your chance to share BlackBox with your friends. Our First Bring a Friend day will be June 30th at 9am. If you have family or friend interested in what you do here at BlackBox, this is your chance to let them experience it. Don’t be afraid to share the love!

Lastly, The picture at the top is what our new shirts are going to look like. Enjoy!

Workout:
Snatch
Back Squat x 3
Followed by:
Tabata Row or Ride

Workout:
Sn PP+OHS 1+3
Med ball Throws
Followed by:
3-4 rounds
12 box jumps
6 explosive push ups
400m run
Rest 90 seconds

WOrkout:
KB swings x 6
Pullups x 6
Followed by:
6-8 sets of 7-10 burpees
Rest 45-60 seconds