2011 World's Strongest Man

The 2011 MET-Rx World’s Strongest Man contest was originally scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN beginning on January 1, but the new start date is January 14 (all times are EST)


January 14 (ESPN2) World's Strongest Man 2010: 5 - 6 p.m.
January 14 (ESPN2) World's Strongest Man 2011: 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
January 15 (ESPN) World's Strongest Man 2011 (repeat): 5:30 - 7 pm
January 22 (ESPN) World's Strongest Man 2011 (repeat): 4:30 - 6 pm
February 5 (ESPN) World's Strongest Man 2011 (repeat): 6 - 10 p.m.

Lets Kick Some Ass in 2012

It's tha time of year, Post your goals for 2012 in the comments......and here is a review of 2011 Goals:

Eric:
Snatch: 85kg, 87kg (Almost 84kg)
C&J: 105kg, 107kg (Yes got 105kg)
Total: 190kg (Fucking so Close 188kg)
Eat Cleaner (sure)
BW 210lbs (yeah buddy)
Front Squat 120kg (Yup, got that one today)

lil Joe
snatch 93kg, 97kg, 102kg (smoked that 105kg)
c&j 125kg, 130kg, 136kg (yup 140kg)
total 210kg (yes 245kg)
bw 205-210lbs (not so much)
hbbs 181kg (yeah 425lbs)
row every week (????no idea)

Clarke
Snatch - 63kg (Yes)
C&J - 84kg (Yes)
50 miler < 9 hours (just over 9hrs, but its 50miles still nuts)
Escape from Alcatraz < 4 hours (completed)
Compete in weightlifting meet (Yes, 2 and placed in both)
Sign up for 100 miler (you'll have to ask Clarke)

Joey
Side Tracked with endurance sports (did a bunch of runs and races) back to lifting in 2012

Yeah Buddy

Haha, I spelled "injured" wrong

2011 New England Championships

Great job Joe R.

Snatch 105 (PR)

C&J 145 (PR)

Total 250 (PR)

Second Place in 105+ division

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

So I was reading a bunch of articles by Jim Schmitz on Olympic Weightlifting, here are some interesting excerpts:

*When I start a beginner, I don't have him hook grip or use straps for his lifts and pulls for one to two months. There are a couple reasons for this: 1) I want to develop his grip, and 2) his grip will give out before his low back.

*(picking lift weights for meets)Misses may build character, but they don't build champions. A little success is better than a big failure. Little bits add up to a whole lot. So train on success, compete on success, and you will be as successful as you can be

*Take care of and strengthen your hands; don’t neglect them.

*I ask people, do you know how you can tell if you are really a dedicated and addicted weightlifter? If you carry your briefcase or gym bag with a hook grip, and if you hook-grip your steering wheel when driving, then I'd say you're "hooked" on weightlifting!

All articles can be found at: http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Lifts/index.html
Jim Schmitz
U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team Coach 1980, 1988 & 1992

2011 Trinity Open

We had a great meet this past weekend. Trinity was a great venue.

Joe R.

Snatch 102kg PR

C&J 140kg

Total 242kg PR

Eric

Snatch 83kg meet PR

C&J 105kg PR

Total 188kg PR

Thanks again to Coach Gary V and Team Connecticut Weightlifting

Behdad Salimi: 214-kg World Record Snatch
by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. ©2011 IronMind
Paris–With a cash bonus offered by Hossein Rezazadeh if he could break
Rezazadeh’s world record in the snatch, Behdad Salimi (Iran) had added incentive
as he ripped into the 214-kg challenge; and in less than one second, he had it
overhead as he was well on his way to winning the superheavyweight title at the
World Weightlifting Championships.Behdad Salimi had recently snatched 217 kg in a small contest, so everyone knew the horsepower and the technique were there to break Hossein Rezazadeh’s longstanding world record in the snatch. Salimi showed that his
unofficial performances were no fluke as he sank the putt on this 214-kg snatch
at the World Weightlifting Championshps, good for a new world record. Along with expectations of big things from Salimi, weightlifting cognoscenti were awaiting the the man mountain Chingiz Mogushkov (Russia), who weighed in at 184.44 kg, and while coming in as the Russian national champion, he was little known around the world.
Mogushkov had a rough time in the snatch, missing 192 kg twice before making it, and he only fared somewhat better in the clean and jerk: he missed 233 kg, made it, and then ended his evening with a successful 240-kg effort.Salimi has been built up as the heavy favorite in the +105 kg category as the London Olympics draw near, but his clean and jerk have lagged behind his snatch, the jerk in particular, so how he did once the bar hit the region of 250 kg was going to be telling.Opening with a conservative 241kg, he made a good lift and when he called for 250 kg on his second attempt, it was time to see whether or not he could polish off the lift. He did, and in a bid to break the world record in the total, he called for 260 kg on his third attempt, but only pulled it.As expected, Salimi’s teammate Sajjad
Anoushiravani was good for the podium across the board: bronze medal in the
snatch with 198 kg (following Ukrainian Ihor Shymechko, who made 200 kg), silver
in the jerk with 241 (where he edged Korea’s Jeon Sang-Guen on body weight) and
silver in the total. Jeon Sang-Guen won the bronze medal in the total.

105-kg Winner Khadzhimurat Akkaev: Big Year
by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2011 IronMind

Paris—Khadzhimurat Akkaev (Russia) is having a big year: first he won the
European Weightlifting Championships, then he made a MILO cover, and tonight he added a victory at the World Weightlifting Championships to his haul.Tell it goodbye: KhadzhimuratAkkaev makes this 232-kg clean and jerk to leapfrog to the gold medal in the jerk and total on the final attempt of the 105-kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships.

It’s been a sea of red lights so far at the World Weightlifting Championships, but the tide turned tonight as three lifters in the 105-kg A session went six-for-six, including the teammates
Khadzhimurat and Dmitry Klokov, who swept the gold and silver medals respectively.Gia Machavariani (Georgia) was the other lifter in this elite group, and his consistency was rewarded with the bronze medal in the snatch for his 187-kg lift. Klokov ended with 196 kg and Akkaev finished with 198 kg. Oleksiy Torokhtiy (Ukraine) made 229 kg on his third attempt
clean and jerk, for the bronze medal in both the jerk and the total, while the two Russians sharpened their knives for their duel: Klokov had opened with a conservative 220 kg and Akkaev answered with 222. Klokov followed with 225 and Akkaev replied with 228, and then both men were down to their final attempts. Akkaev called for 235 kg to wait out Klokov, who made a strong lift with 232 kg, which he celebrated in a very restrained style by his
standards. Akkaev changed his call, moving down to 232 kg, going for the win while showing he could match Klokov in the clean and jerk, but without taking an unnecessary risk. Typical of his business-like style on the platform, Akkaev came out, shooed away the loaders, who were cleaning the bar, and attacked the weight in a lift that was never in doubt.
Hang on for London—this class is going to be fireworks.

Gym Music

So we've switched to Dance/Electronic Music exclusively at the FOB and its had a serious effect, PR's for days...........This is why (please watch videos and listen to music in back ground, it makes men into beasts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeVdTm1Aksc (this one is the best)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtxQFmRlKaY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yfIjayRpns&feature=related

RPS Power Challenge

RPS Power Challenge Results 22Oct2011

Little Joe
squat: 425
bench: 305
deadlift 450
TOTAL: 1180

Pete Skipp:
squat: 485
bench: 370
deadlift: 510
TOTAL: 1365

Eric:
squat: 370
bench: 205
deadlift: 380
TOTAL: 955

Beast of the East

The Beast of the East was a great weightlifting meet, good location and a great group of lifters. Clarke competed in his second meet and kicked ass!! He hit a meet PR snatch of 60kg, life-time PR in Clean and Jerk of 82kg and a PR Total!! Great Job Clarke

I'm back up to speed after my injury, I can finally say I'm not longer rehabbing my wrist injury, I hit 80kg snatch and a 98kg C&J, while was a total of 12kg over my last meet total. Once again thanks to Gary V. and Team CT.

Clarke with Coach Gary Valentine

Bonus Tom G.

Tip of the Special Operations Spear

Tom G Challenge

Tom G. is a Professional Warrior and a Beast in the weight room.......198lbs with 6% body fat.

Here is Tom's Challenge:

Max Rep Deadlift with 1.5% of your BW, no more then 1 sec pause on the ground

(Tom did 40reps w/ 295lbs)

3 minute break

Max Rep Dumbell Incline Bench Press with 40% of your BW

(Tom did 35reps w/ 80lbs DBs)

3 minute break

Max Rep Strict Pull-ups

(Tom did 25reps)

Tom has been made a Honorary Life-Time Member of Darwin Barbell Club

Clarke is Ready for the Beast

Clarke did his first full 20/20 today and killed it. Clarke got a PR body weight snatch of 62.5kg and a PR C&J of 75kg. That would have given Clarke a 1st place at the 2011 CT Open Meet. To finish off the training session, Clarke hit 60kg Back Squat for 20 reps.

Upcoming Meets

Oct 08th/09th Beast Of The East (Weightlifting) http://thebeastoftheeast.com/2011/

Oct 22nd RPS Boston (Powerlifting) http://rychlakpowersystems.com/FORMS/2011%20Power%20Challenge%20Meet%20Form.pdf

Nov 20th Trinity College Open (Weightlifting)

Dec 11th New England Championship @ CF Boston (Weightlifting)

Quest for BW Press

**Darwin Barbell Club Challenge**

Get a Fu*king BW Strict Press...Why Because is probably the most badass thing you can do in the gym....

"You cannot find a better test of pure strength than a Two-Arm Press with a
barbell. Whenever a man starts to talk to me about “knack” in lifting, I give him
a fairly heavy bar-bell and ask him to make a Two-Arm Press.... If the legs are held
straight, nothing will send that bell up except strength, and you need the strength
in the triceps of the arm, the small of the back, and particularly in the deltoid
muscles on the points of the shoulders. No skill is required to press a bell aloft
after you once have it at the chest, and that is why I consider the Two-Arm Press
as the best strength test".

From: http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/the_tragic_death_of_the_military_press

Sorta Half-way Point, 2011 Goals

So looking back at our begining of the years goals, we've had some injuries and some change of focus toward other aspects of fitness/competition, but remember our #1 rule is to keep the Goal the Goal (thanks Dan John). Lets make a strong effort to accomplish what we started. Every one on Team Darwin is hitting the competition circuit hard, I think we've done 3 olympic weightlifting meets, 1 powerlifting meet, 3 grappling meets, 4 endurance events...keep it up Gentlemen.

Eric
Short Term: (wrist injury, as a result made a bunch of PR's in powerlifting)
Snatch: 85kg, 87kg
C&J: 105kg, 107kg
Total: 190kg
Longe Term:
Eat Cleaner
BW 210lbs (Check)
Total: 200kg
Clean: 110kg
Snatch: 90kg
Front Squat 120kg
Joe R
Short Term:
snatch 93kg, 97kg (check)
c&j 125kg, 130kg (check)
total 210kg (check)
long term
bw 205-210lbs
hbbs 181kg
snatch 102kg
c&j 136kg (check)
row every week
Clarke
Short Term:
Snatch - 63kg
C&J - 84kg
50 miler < 9 hours (close enough)

Escape from Alcatraz < 4 hours (check)

Compete in weightlifting meet (check)

Long Term:

Sign up for 100 miler

Joey
2011 short term:
snatch 92kgs
c&j 128kg
Increase Running (check)
2011 long term:
snatch 90-100kg
c&j 136-143kg
snatch balance 250lbs
HBBS 450lbs
deadlift 500lbs
Purple Belt w 2 stripes
Win atleast 2 tournaments

2011 CT Open Weightlifting Meet

8/07/2011 Connecticut Open Results

Joe R: Snatch 95kg,100kg, 105kg -miss

C&J 130kg, 135kg, 140kg(PR)

Total 240kg (PR)


Eric: Snatch 70kg, 75kg-miss, 75kg-miss

C&J 92kg, 96kg, 96kg

Total of 166kg
***first meet after wrist injury***

Europa Battle of Champions 2011

First off, Europa was a good venue and Gene Rychlak was a great meet director.
Powerlifting meets are LONG days, squat then wait a few hours, bench press..few more hours and then deadlift. At the end of the day I understood why gym records are just that gym records and meet records are the real deal. Well Pete Skip and I did really well in our first PL meet. We had little Joe as our coach and he did a great job of timing our warm-ups, coaching during the lifts, managing the Tork, etc.


Back Squat:
Pete 425,440,455
Eric 305,315,330

Bench Press:
Pete 330, 350, 385miss
Eric 205, 215, 225miss

Deadlift:
Pete 405, 450, 470
Eric 330, 360, 375

Personal Records:
Pete 455 squat and 470 deadlift
Eric 330 squat and 375 deadlift





Two first places, Pete was 1st place in Am Raw 275lbs and I was 1st place in Am Raw Police 220lbs

Iron Evolution: Phase 5

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/iron_evolution_phase_5

He asked me if I wanted to be a weightlifter or an exerciser

Very very good article



http://startingstrength.com/articles/training_perspective_gillian.pdf

New Rip Article

"Training is physical activity done with a longer-term goal in mind, the constituent workouts of which are specifically designed to produce that goal. If a program of physical activity isn't designed to get you stronger or faster or better conditioned by producing a specific stress to which a specific desirable adaptation can occur, you don't get to call it training. It's just exercise. For most people, exercise is perfectly adequate – it's certainly better than sitting on your ass channel-surfing.

But for athletes, an improvement in strength provides more improvement in performance than any other adaptation, especially if the athlete isn't already very strong. Strength is the basis of athletic ability. If you're a good athlete, you're stronger than a "less-good" athlete at the same level of skill. So if you want to be a better athlete, get stronger.". _Rippetoe


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_biggest_training_fallacy_of_all

Deadlift Day at the Refuge

Did some high band Deadlifts at the Refuge, this was my first time using bands to deadlift. The idea is to give you a little help off the ground and then from mid-shin to lock-out its actual weight.

My current PR is ~ 365 and today I did three singles with 405lbs, 1 x 425lbs and just missed two attempts with 435lbs. Doing the deadlifts with the bands, showed me a couple of things, 1) my grip is strong enough to pull over 420lbs and I can lock-out over 420lbs. Going for a 375lbs PR means I just need to get it off the ground!!!

Interesting Article

Interesting article and probably the best explaination of why the Bulgarian method works that I've read, whether you agree with it or not


There's no Such Thing as Overtraining

"If you got a job as a garbage man and had to pick up heavy cans all day long, the first day would probably be very difficult, possibly almost impossible for some to complete. So what do you do, take three days off and possibly lose your job?

No, you'd take your sore, beaten self to work the next day. You'd mope around and be fatigued, much less energetic than the previous day, but you'd make yourself get through it. Then you'd get home, soak in the tub, take aspirin, etc. The next day would be even worse.

But eventually you'd be running down the street tossing cans around and joking with your coworkers. How did this happen? You forced your body to adapt to the job at hand! If you can't' squat and lift heavy every day you're not overtrained, you're undertrained! Could a random person off the street come to the gym with you and do your exact workout? Probably not, because they're undertrained. Same goes with most lifters when compared to elite athletes".

– John Broz 2002

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/max_out_on_squats_every_day

Darwin Barbell Club visits The Refuge

Details and Pics to follow...............

Good Video

As you know I hate Crossfit mainly due to the shitty CF community, but watching this video brings me back to the time when CF was under ground and pretty cool. The fact that this dude won some CF event (I think the online quals) without spending $200 a month or training with "certified coaches" is great.

http://journal.crossfit.com/2011/06/danbaileygarage.tpl

Iron Evolution: Phase 4

Iron Evolution: Phase 4
Westside Barbell, the Mental Aspect
by Dave Tate – 6/06/2011

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/iron_evolution_phase_4

Review of 40-day program

I completed the 40-day workout (40DW) that I learned from Dan John, over all it was a good program but tough for me to stick with. I'm used to a 3-day a week program and the 5-day 40DW was hard for me. I tended to go to heavy at the bargaining of the week and found myself tired toward the end. That being said I increased my bench/deadlift/chin-ups/pull-ups/push-ups. My squat seems to have hit a plateau, but I'm working on that for my next workout, which will be a 5-week Powerlifting Meet prep program.

I think the 40DW is worth trying and if done with conservative weights could be a great grease the groove / off season program.

my excerise rotation was:


PUSH: Bench Press --> Strict Press --> Bench Press

PULL: Chin-ups --> Pull-ups --> Weighted Chin-ups --> Weighted Pull-ups

HINGE: Deadlift --> Rack Pulls --> Snatch Grip DL --> Deadlift

SQUAT: Back squat --> Front squat --> Overhead squat --> Back squat

LOADED CARRY: variety of farmers walks and strongman stuff

Fabio is still at it, he's at 8975 step-ups right between

Base Camp (17,388ft) 8694 step-ups

Camp One (20,013ft) 10,006 step-ups

Your almost there Fabio, keep it up



Everest Base Camp

Challenge Review https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3nuUft354EVLwKlA_ykBHVjcPKY1vvLwwdyzVrpoc1BwlJteZFB7apMiwnII4UcDX2tmSt4O_Y5loObTpap27ZHvSc9873MUZeemJtfQqdVfYpXwY0xuWFL7zKH2N3CP2op3A3K4oFmP/s1600/everest.bmp

Off the cuff Total Workout

05/30/2011

Joey
Bench: 235lbs (PR)
Squat: 385lbs
Deadlift: 418lbs
Total: 1038lbs

Eric
Bench: 227lbs (PR) 185lbs x 7 (PR)
Squat: 315lbs
Deadlift: 356lbs
Total: 898lbs

Upcoming Events for Darwin Barbell Club

Clarke: The 2011 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon features a 1.5-mile swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to the shores of the St. Francis Yacht Club, a grueling 18-mile bike ride, and a demanding 8-mile run through the trails of the Golden Gate Recreational Area.



Eric: 1st Powerlifting Meet



Joey: Hartford NAGA (same day and location of Powerlifting Meet)

Joe R: August 7, 2011. Connecticut Open Olympic Weightlifting Championships, Bluestreak Sports Training, Stamford, CT.

The Evolution of Dave Tate

Here is a link to Date Tate's article on his training evolution

The Evolution of Dave Tate
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_evolution_of_dave_tate&cr==

Here are more detailed articles about each stage of his career

Phase 1 - Progressive Overload
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_evolution_of_dave_tate&cr=


Phase 2 - Bodybuilding

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/dave_tates_iron_evolution_phase_2_bodybuilding_1&cr==

Phase 3 - Return to Powerlifting
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/dave_tates_iron_evolution_phase_3_return_to_powerlifting&cr==


Stay Tuned For:
Phase 4 -Westside Method
Phase 5- Mobility/Joint Heath Period

Army APFT

I had to take an Army APFT today on 3-days notice. No Big Deal or is it? The Army APFT is 2min of max push-ups, 2min of max sit-ups and a 2-mile run.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/l/blfitm22to26.htm


Here is the kicker I don't do push-ups (I should though), I get my "ab" work from lifting heavy shit and squatting and I do not even remotely come close to running 2-miles ever (actually log about 0-miles a month running). Oh yeah and i'm of Adult Male weight 200+ pounds.


So the APFT is on a point scale per event, 60 points is passing with 100 points being the max. I maxed the push-ups (77 reps), scored 82 points on the sit-ups (65 reps) and 62 points on the run (16:47) for a total of 243 out of 300.


I have found that the sit-ups are harder now, even though my mid-line is way stronger then when I was crossfitting and scoring 100% on the sit-ups, I find that doing the army type sit-up really burns out my hips. I can definately feel the difference of body weight from when I ran the 2-miles at 175lbs to now at 205lbs. But I'd rather be bigger and stronger any day of the week.


That being said, I hate running and think its horrible for your lower extremities, conventional sit-ups are horrible for your neck and spine and push-ups are ok, but not a good calculator of upper body strength (I'd suggest the pull-up or strict press). With all of that I passed my APFT without any issues or undue stress about not passing. Just Sayin

New Mark Rippetoe Article

"If I had a thousand dollars for every squat I see in my gym done above parallel, I'd be a broke motherfucker. This is because we don't allow partial squats on the premises"._Rippetoe

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/when_it_comes_to_squats_easier_doesnt_work

15 years journey of iron, blood and good-times

15 years journey of iron, blood and good-times


It all started in 1996 at the Middletown YMCA.
The “Y” was a small dirty gym with a ton of free weights and old school experience. Joey and I did what most 15 year olds do, we bought Arnold Schwarzenegger The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and taught ourselves how to lift, maybe not correctly, but it was with barbells and dumbbells. One day stands out more then any other, that day was when we were going to squat “all-day” long, well I think we ended up doing 100 reps, but it sure seemed like all-day long. The “Y” was great and in some ways, our journey has made it back full circle, back to dirty, grime, 45lbs plates, barbells, thermal underwear and years and years worth of knowledge, created by 1000s of hours of hard work, trials and tribulations.

While lifting at the “Y”, I started doing Judo and that’s where I met my next training partner Big Dan. Big Dan was a black belt Judo player and at the time the biggest guy I knew in person. Big Dan and I starting lifting at World’s Gym, my first commercial gym and consequently my first job. I cleaned the gym at night 3 days a week for a small pay check and a free membership. Big Dan was a genetic freak, he was rep-ing out 405 like it was nothing and to a 16 year old, that was big dog weight, hell for bench press it still is 15 years later. We did the usual body part programming, chest and triceps and back and biceps. I distinctly remember having to lift up a 120lbs dumbbell to Big Dan, so he could do seated tricep extensions. For me at that time, it was a pretty serious deadlift-to-shoulder movement. Eventually Joey joined “Worlds” and that was our spot for a few years.


During college, I walked-on to play football at CCSU and that was my first introduction to actual Strength and Conditioning. Coach Erickson taught me how to power clean, squat, use a GHD and do walking lunges amongst other things. I hated him, I was a lazy college kid when it came to the weight room, I killed my self during football practice, but never wanted to sweat in the weight room. If only I could go back in time, he had platforms and bumpers for Christ sake, that’s what it’s all about…but I had no freaking idea. When the school year ended and the football players went home for the summer, we were given huge binders with the CCSU Strength and Conditioning program. It was a percentage based program and Joey and I were back at Worlds with a real program and we finally got real results, I don’t remember the numbers we put up, but whatever they were they increased a lot.


So what happened after football, I pretty much forgot everything I was taught in the football weight room, once again I was a college student with a million things on my mind and the gym wasn’t at the top of the list. A year or so later Joey and I were training together at Bigsky and we found another great book, Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks. This was a 20 rep squat program and it was hard and we really enjoyed it, I think Joey ended up doing 225 for 20-reps, which is pretty sick, especially for two guys who were smarter then most people at the gym, but overall still pretty gym ignorant.




I joined the Army and did only body weight stuff for a while. During my deployment to Afghanistan, I started heading back in the right direction, I flipped some tires and squatted again, heavy. I was focused on trying out for Special Forces, so I would find any excuse to go over to their compound. One day I was over there and I looked inside their gym, I saw different colored weights (Olympic bumpers), kettlebells and gymnastic rings? What the hell was that stuff? Well I wouldn’t find that until 6 months later.

First day at my new unit and a team guy said, hey if you really
want to get into shape, check out this website called www.crossfit.com .
I checked it out and found that Crossfit Central Connecticut was
located near my house. Well that was that, I fell in love with Crossfit (CF) and the first person I pulled into the mix with me was Joey. Constantly Varied Functional Fitness done at High Intensity, at the time it made sense and seemed to be the end-all be-all. I went to a Gregg Everett Olympics lifting seminar, Level one “certification” and Rippetoe’s Basic Barbell seminar. I was using dumbbells, kettlebells and doing power-lifting, Olympic lifts, gymnastics and it was pretty great. Tom Taylor was a great instructor and really hammered the fundamentals. At this time CF was still very underground, with only 2 or 3 gyms in Connecticut. Joey and I competed at the first east coast CF competition located in Albany NY. CF was growing in size and Joey and I felt we need to move to a larger and more well-equipped gym, CF USA.





This gym had any and every piece of equipment you could or would want.
Joey and I climbed 20 foot ropes, pushed the prowler, and started
to really get into Olympic weightlifting. At this time our “fitness knowledge” had increased 10-fold and we were finding our stride in the game of physical fitness. The key to physical fitness was STRENGTH and that’s what we wanted to achieve. We attended a Strongman Seminar and began reading books from Dan John and Mark Twight. Also around this time, we started to really hate CF and especially the CF community. Joey and I noticed a ton of injuries occurring at CF gyms and an unfortunate event that was repeating itself time and time again. This event was inexperienced people going to a 2 day “certification” and then opening a gym
WTF, how was that possible and why was it allowed. As a result

of the shear watering down of CF and influx of non athletic people joining the gyms, Team Darwin was born. Before I go off on a why I hate CF tangent, I will get back on track, CF was our gateway drug, to much bigger and better things….Olympic Weightlifting.


So I did what I’d been wanted to do for a while, I built a garage gym and totally broke contact with commercial gyms. We started Olympic Weightlifting and took it a step further and contacted Gary Valentine of Team Connecticut Weightlifting and the rest is what you call history…Darwin Barbell Club was born, we became members of Team Connecticut Weightlifting, got 70sbig and I met Dan John…..scary what knowledge and dedication does for you…I’ve probably missed a gym here or there and a crazy program we did here or there, but hell it’s 15 years of shit, I remembered the important stuff.. Squat, always use a barbell, keep a training log and have great lifting partners.

Loaded Carries

Great Article By Dan John

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_secret_of_loaded_carries&cr=

Darwin Barbell Club

Status Up Date....

Here's what we have cookin at the moment:

Fabio: Working his way up Everest 7650 step-ups

Joe R: Olympic Weightlifting meet May 1st

Joey: Naga Grappling Tournament/Adventure Racing

Clarke: Triathlon Training

Eric: Wrist rehab, 40-Day Dan John Program
To check out the program and follow my progress, click on the 40-day tab in the header

The Goal is to keep the Goal, the Goal!!

The Dan John seminar was great, I came out of it with six typed pages of notes!! I have to say that meeting Dan John was pretty special and that he is an excellent and captive speaker. I started his 40-day program on 04-11-2011 and I'm super motivated and focused on my goals. To check out the program and follow my progress, click on the 40-day tab in the header.

Dan John This Sunday

Strength Secrets with Dan John - April 10
This was an email from Dan John "I will be going over the information that I think is "game changing." I'm not blowing smoke here, this is the cutting edge of my field(s). I'm looking forward to this. Bring plenty of paper and pens". I can't WAIT!!!

Joey Doing Rack Pulls W/ 661lbs

Update on the Iowa football rhabdo victims:

University of Iowa defensive back Willie Lowe, one of the 13 players hospitalized in January with a muscle disorder following workouts, has asked for a release to allow his transfer from the school. He, however, also said Tuesday that he's not sure if he'll be able to play again.
"I don't know," Lowe said. "I would like to be able to sit out a year, regain my strength, feel fine and play again. But I don't know. I am still down 20 pounds and I am having headaches every few days."
Iowa has announced that all 13 players have been cleared to participate this spring. But the senior back said, "Only a few players are back to full speed that I know of. Some said this wasn't a big deal. But this was a big deal to me."
Lowe said he worked out for the first time since the hospitalization on Monday.
"I can confirm that William Lowe has requested permission to talk with other schools," Gary Barta, Iowa's athletic director, said in a statement. "While we've honored that request, our interest is for him to remain a Hawkeye."
Two family sources of hospitalized players said Lowe is not the only cleared player to still be experiencing symptoms from workouts that occurred more than two months ago.
One source close to Lowe said the player will undergo an independent medical evaluation to determine the possible long-term effects of the rhabdomyolsis, a stress-induced syndrome that can damage cells and also affected Lowe's kidneys.
An Iowa investigation concluded that a strenuous squat-lifting workout was the primary cause of the 13 players being hospitalized. Written by Joe Schad is a college football reporter for ESPN.

Week PR's

Joe R: C&J 132kg
Eric: 1 mile swim 33:35 and Bench Press PR

Nick from The Refuge hitting a 600lbs Bench PR, this past weekend, check them out on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Refuge-Strength-Training/132666473422227?ref=ts#!/pages/The-Refuge-Strength-Training/132666473422227?sk=info

Clarke's Recap

Got to the event about an hour early (5am), where all the athletes meet up at a church for race information. I brought road shoes and trail shoes because I didn't know what the terrain would be like. People there are about 50/50 split on the types of shoes so I went with the road ones, which were significantly lighter. There were about 50 people in the room, but it was really quiet. There was lots of nervous stretching going on. Most of the people there were like me in that it was their first 50 mile experience. Eventually it gets close to start time so we are herded outside. They give the final instructions and then send people off. I did not have a headlamp, but I definitely should have thought to bring one. At the beginning, the trail was very poorly maintained and I would have definitely risked an ankle if I wasn't following somebody with adequate lighting to see the trail arrows and obstacles. For the first 10 miles or so I'm basically trying to find some company to run with. Most of the people I initially go with are doing some sort of "run 4 miles/walk 0.1" or "run 4 minutes/walk 1 minute". It was very uncomfortable for me, and I never trained like that, so I had to dump them, which made me very uneasy. Every time they would ask me, "what was your longest training run?". They had all run at least 30 miles on at least one occasion. When I responded with 10 miles, I got double takes every time. Some of them were condescending, and all of this made me a little nervous to drop them. Finally about 15 miles in, I started running with a 5 time 50 mile finisher, who I stayed with until about 41 miles where he dropped me like a bad habit. I ended up lapping the original group I was with. We ran continuously except for a period between 32 miles and 41 where we walked every so often (this was the lowest point of my morale). After 41 miles, I stopped walking altogether because it was too hard to get started again. In hindsight, I don't know how much this actually helped. At the time, slowing to a walk felt really good, but it always took a lot out of me to start up again. I truly don't know if it would have made it easier or harder to finish without walking. We shared the course with lots of runners from different categories (the longest being 100 miles), and I saw all of the 100 milers walking at some point, which leads me to believe there is a smart way to include walking in the race that will decrease overall time, but I still haven't figured that out yet. How I basically break down the race is on a pain scale (0 = no pain, 10 = most excruciating pain ever experienced). The mileage numbers seem strange but that is because they are between checkpoints (where we get our bib marked as evidence).
0-16 miles --> 1/10
16-32 --> 2/10
32-41 --> 6/10
41-50 --> 7/10
The last nine miles weren't so bad mentally because I knew I was close to the finish. There is only probably a 10-15% chance I could have made it to 100 miles. The pain was very bad, and although I never thought about quitting, the whole endeavor really made me want to reevaluate the goal of doing 100 miles. The pain is very real the entire time. 7/10 pain feels like you're running on feet with broken bones (which I think I did). A 100 mile race means an additional 12 hours (at least) where I would need to run on broken feet, and I'm not sure mentally I'm there yet. I need to do a lot of thinking about it. It was a very humbling experience.

You want to talk about elite fitness.........

You want to talk about elite fitness, well fuck crossfit...Clarke finished 2nd in a sanctioned USA Weightlifting meet and then 4 weeks later completed a 50 mile race in 10hrs and 08 minutes. How was he able to do this???? Simple he created a great strength base and then specialized his training to prepare for the specific event....pretty simple..Be Strong always and focus your training when needed.

50mile in 10:08

Last Weeks PRs

Joe R: C & J 130kg
Big Brian: Snatch 120kg and Clean 170kg
Eric: 800m swim 15:33

“All the mystery of combat is in the legs and it is to the legs that we should apply ourselves.”

Good Read

http://startingstrength.com/articles/combat_worst_case_whittemore.pdf

On A Side Note

Clarke, Commanding Officer of Team Darwin Endurance is running a 50mile race this weekend in New Jersey. Yes I said 50miles. http://www.njtrailseries.com/njultrafestival

Big Brian 120kg Snatch

Kathmandu

Fabio and Eric reach Kathmandu..........which is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Nepal and the offical start to Mount Everest.

Fabio: 3150

Eric: 2300

Johnboy: TBA

Joey: 400

The Tactical Strength Challenge

I stumbled across this and I found some impressive numbers, very impressive.

The Challenge is:

A three-attempt 1RM deadlift
Strict Pullups for max reps
53lbs Kettlebell snatches for max reps in a 5:00 time period

Here TSC Reference Scores
Men
Deadlift: 440 lbs. (200 kg.)
Pullup: 20 reps
Snatch: 100 reps

Here Are Top 4 scores from an event in september 2010

.............................BW... DL... Pullup... Snatch
Kevin Montoya: 166... 500..... 31......... 137
Tyrone Ross: 204... 555..... 23......... 135
Chris Dozois: 209... 530..... 25......... 129
Josh Behr: 198.... 485..... 26......... 132

Everest Week 2

2/20 to 2/27

Fabio: 2250 (50 short of Kathmandu)

Eric: 1650

John-Boy: 1000

Joey: 400 (had an Adventrue Race Last Week)

When In Rome

I was down at Ft. Bragg this week and I worked out my buddy Tom, Tom is a beast. Tom is old school and lifts using the "bodypart" method. We did Chest and Tri's. I have to say that I enjoyed the workout and think that there is nothing wrong with Hypertrophy type workouts if they are "add-ons" to doing the Big Lifts (squat,pull,push,snatch,press). Anyway after about 50 sets of chest and tri's I felt that Tom and I got our swole on. I did PR bench press!!!

On a sit note, I was super impressed with the new gyms at Ft. Bragg, they are all about functional fitnees, they each had 8-10 full olympic platforms with complete Werksan sets, rows of C2 rowers, prowlers, MMA rooms....its was great and I was really happy to see that our military (at least some of it, is on the right track).

New Equipment for Darwin Barbell Club

Atlantic States Open Recap

Arrive in Lynn, Ma YMCA at 8:30am for Clarkes weigh-in (60.5kg).

Clarke is lifting in his first meet and i'm trying to explain all

the rules and regs to him on the fly. At 10:30am the meet begins and Clarke is just finishing his warm-up. Clarke is opening with a 50kg snatch, Clarke nails the snatch and is ready to take 53kg. A few lifters take and miss attempts between 50kg to 53kg and Clarke ends up sitting for about 6-8minutes, this is a long time in between lifts. Clarke misses his 53kg snatch, but nails it on his third attempt. After a short break, Clarke is warming-up for his C&J. Clarke opens with 70kg and makes the lift no problem. 72kg is Clarke's second attempt and is even easier. Clarke wants 75kg for his final attempt, this is uncharted territory for Clarke. Clarke nails a 75kg C&J, however he had a little press-out during the jerk, 3 red lights, but still a made lift in our book.

Clarke wins second place in the 62kg weight class, with 53/72/125

Now for the big guys. Joe R. and Brian start lifting around 3:15-3:30pm (long day) Joe R. opens with a 88kg snatch, it looks rough, but I think he's just not warmed-up enough. Joe R. takes 92kg with ease and is ready to tackle a new PR snatch of 96kg. Joe R. nails 96kg with a solid lift.

Brian is also lifting in his first meet and he opens with a 105kg snatch. Brian goes on to make a sweet 110kg snatch. Brian takes 115kg for his third and final snatch, miss, but he makes it look good (ass over tea kettle, pictures to follow).

Now the nervousness is gone and the big big weights can be moved....Clean and Jerk Time!!!

Joe R opens with an easy 115kg C&J, 120kg goes up even easier. For Joe R's third and final lift, he goes for a 125kg new PR C&J. Now a little back ground on Joe R, he can Jerk well over 140kg, so if he can Clean it, its a done deal. Joe R. nails the clean and thats that, new PR 125kg C&J.

Big Brian is the last to lift on Platform A, Brian says to me "I have to follow myself" and I respond, get used to it. Brian opens with 144kg C&J, ugly but a good lift. We go over some tech issues in the warm-up area and Brian goes out and nails 150kg. Now its PR time for Brian, 155kg (Big F-in Weight). I tell Brian "just use your legs" and he makes easy work of 155kg.

Brian and Joe R. Finish 1st and 2nd in the 105+ weight class.

Joe R. 96/125/221

Brian 110/155/265

I have to mention that Brian did not lift the tops weights at this meet, take the time to reasearch the name Yasha Kahn, he was impressive in the 105kg class with a 150kg snatch and a 170kg C&J

Once again thank you to Coach Gary Valentine

14,514 step-ups

Alright so 14,514 steps-ups are a lot, so here are some mini goals, when someone meets a mini goal, I will post a picture and a description of the location.

Kathmandu (4,600ft) 2300 step-ups

Lukla (9,350ft) 4675 step-ups

Thyangboche Monastery (12,887ft) 6443 step-ups

Base Camp (17,388ft) 8694 step-ups

Camp One (20,013ft) 10,006 step-ups

Camp Two (21,325ft) 10,662 step-ups

Camp Four (25,919ft) 12,959 step-ups

Summit (29,029ft) 14,514 step-ups

Vitamin D3: Do You Take It?

There a plenty of good articles, but I just came across this one that sums up why Vitamin D3 is good in a fairly short article.


http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/10/a-closer-look-at-vitamin-d/

Good Coaching Article From Mark Rippetoe:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/proper_back_position_for_power

Good Squat Article From Charles Poliquin:
http://strengthplusmagazine.com/8-stupid-myths-about-squatting/

Good Articles

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201102/no-more-crunches-abs-olutely

http://strengthvillain.com/?p=303#more-303

Hello Mr. Dan John

I've booked my spot and I'm going to see the one and only Dan John!!

12 Iowa Football Players Hospitalized After Offseason Workout

The University of Iowa confirmed Wednesday that 13 football players were hospitalized this week with an unusual muscle disorder following grueling offseason workouts. The players have rhabdomyolysis, a stress-induced syndrome that can damage cells and cause kidney failure in severe cases.
On Jan. 20, an Iowa football player posted about a staggering workout on Facebook: "I had to squat 240 pounds 100 times and it was timed. I can't walk and I fell down the stairs ...Sounds like some S&C coaches were trying a little x-fit.

The negatives are just what you'd think they'd be, but a view from the flip side of the coin can be found here http://talktomejohnnie.com/football/iowa-football-rhabdo , it is written by John Welbourn a former NFL Lineman.

Post your thoughts in Comments

Don't Over Look The Middle

Another Great Article from Mr. Starr (StartingStrength.com)

http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/dont_overlook_the_middle



John Phillip (lifter) and Bill
Starr (spotter) at an outdoor meet
in Honolulu