Road to the Record | 11 Weeks Out

I'm excited! This past week of meet prep went better than I expected and I have good mental and physical momentum going into week 11. Before the week started I was really geared up for my new training program, but I was worried that I was going to have some initial problems acclimating to my new "cutting phase" (changing my eating habits to make my weight class) and that I was going to be frustrated if I didn't lift big numbers in the gym. Neither of those things happened, so it was a total win! I also made sure to sleep at least 7 hours every single day (don't remember the last time that happened) and I feel really good physically and proud of myself for making this a priority.

Weeks 12-10 are focused toward working on a few of my weakest areas in my squat and bench press.

To train up my squat I'm doing low box squats for 4 sets of heavy doubles with absolutely perfect form. If I can't do it with perfect form, I don't increase weight for the next set. How low? Really low...my hips are well below my knees. This has really been helping me feel what its like to hold a tight core under a really heavy load and have the confidence to move it quickly and efficiently. Between weeks 12 and 11 I was able to move 35lb more volume and I'm really happy about that. I've also been doing front squats with bands (which I loathe entirely) because my quads aren't very strong...actually, they're kind of pathetic.

As for my bench press, I've moved back to working on my bar speed by doing banded bench press 1x a week and narrow grip bench press 1x a week (on separate days). I hate both of these exercises because they're difficult for me, but last time I spent time working on my triceps my bench press max went up significantly. For me, if I can floor press it, I can bench press it...i.e. my triceps are my Achilles heel and will determine if I can break the bench press record in May.

Twice a week I have 2 active rest days and 1 off day. During my active rest day I hop on the rower, treadmill, or pull the sled to get warm, then mobilize for a good hour. Doing this is needed for my muscle recovery, join health, and is 2 more days of staying focused toward my goal of breaking the Oklahoma Women's Powerlifting Record.

I'm still playing with my macros and my eating habits a little to see how my body responds, but I'm not making any huge changes besides ensuring I hit certain protein and hydration goals. Stay tuned for that.

Thanks for supporting me and following my road to the record. Make sure to follow Top Crop Barbell on social media and find me on SnapChat 👻 samschaefer.now

Spencer Goering | Athlete of the Week

 

 

Spencer Goering has been a great addition to the Top Crop Barbell team and makes the most out of every training session. He shows up early, regularly holds the Fish Game high score, and has already started doing barbell exercises with fantastic technique. What more could we ask for? If he wasn't tough already, Spencer says he's learned that he can push hard even when it seems impossible to get the last couple reps.

 

School: Maize South Middle School

Grade: 6th

Favorite School Subject: Math

Club Teams: Shox, Hawks, Wildcats

Notable Achievements:

• MVP on baseball team
• Baseball State Champions

Future Goals: Work on Wall Street

 

Spencer enjoys playing sports, solving Rubik's Cubes, and spending time with family and friends. He trains twice a week and is looking to a few training buddies to join him on his journey toward awesomeness.



Road to the Record | 12 Weeks Out



Hello everyone,
It's Sam Schaefer and I'm exactly 12 weeks away from competing at the 2016 Oklahoma AAU State Powerlifting Championships in Tulsa, OK on May 14th. Well, that's not exactly true. I'm not plainly setting out to compete at the meet...anyone can do that. I want to break the current women's raw powerlifting record at the 148.4lb weight class.

For those of you don't know, powerlifting is a sport where lifters compete in 1, 2, or 3 categories...squat, bench, and dead lift. Lifters are also divided by weight class, gender, and raw vs. equipped. Equipped lifters use knee wraps, bench shirts, and squat suits to assist them in their lifts. Raw lifters are allowed to use only knee sleeves, wrist wraps, and weightlifting belts.

Not all powerlifting organizations are the same. I chose AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) because all adults participating in any of their sporting events must be tested for illegal and performance-enhancing drugs. I feel like this gives me the best chance to an even playing field and less frustration during my journey knowing that everyone will be tested.

Here are my current stats:

• Squat 225lb
• Bench Press 140lb (pause bench)
• Dead Lift 280lb
• Total 645lb

I'm coming for you Erin Nally!

How I plan on reaching my goal:

1. Training hard and being focused on my technique.
2. Consistently hitting my macro (carbs, fats, proteins, calories) goals and water intake.
3. Staying on top of my mobility...this is a must!
4. Sleeping 7-8 hours consistently for maximum recovery.

I want to document my journey over the next 3 months in order to give some insight as to how I eat, sleep, and train and also stay honest and committed to my goal. I hope you all will hold me accountable and be my team as I work my butt off for the next 12 weeks.

Working with all of our athletes at TCBB has inspired me to train for something other than general fitness and strength. Thank you all for inspiring me.

The 4 Phases of Sport Performance | The 12 Month Plan

The term "strength and conditioning" sends shivers up and spines of any current and former athlete. Regardless of sport, age, or physical preparedness, coaches from middle school through college have their student athletes doing max power cleans and running miles a day. Why? Most of the time its to see who "really wants it," and if someone gets injured its because their bodies were weak and they "couldn't hang." Sound familiar?

At Top Crop Barbell we aren't strength and conditioning coaches, we're sport performance trainers...there is a difference. Our trainers build a customized training program based on our athletes' movement patterns, sport, and competition season. We don't get our programs from a simple Google search, and this is what coaches aren't willing to give up...simplicity (aka "the easy way out"). We also encourage our athletes to train year-round. We'd rather have an athlete train year-round 1-2 times a week, rather than binge train 3-4 days a week for 2 months. The results are vastly different and the athletes are healthier and stronger as a result.

Sport performance training should be composed of 4 phases.

1. Corrective Exercise
Anyone who sits for 8 hours a day (which is every student in America) develops terrible sitting and standing postures. This directly is translated to their sport and can have lifelong consequences such as irreversible postures and athletic career ending injuries. You must start sitting, standing, and moving properly before you get biggest, faster, and stronger. This phase has no end and should be continued regardless of the time of year.
Frequency: Every Day
Duration: 15 min-1 hour

2. Offseason Training
This is where the magic happens. The offseason is where an athlete can fill gaps in their athletic and sport-specific performance. As my high school basketball coach says, "Just because you're a year older doesn't mean you're a year better." For example, if you never pick up a basketball after the last game of the season in February, you won't walk in to practice in November a better basketball player. Same goes for building strength, quickness, and power. Notice I didn't say run for miles and Olympic lifts are your ticket to building explosiveness. Remember, all training should be tailored to fill the gaps between an athlete's strengths and weaknesses, not to crush their souls with crazy amounts of cardio and leave them injured and frustrated due to haphazard instruction from their (uncertified and unqualified) coaches.
Frequency: 3-4 days a week
Duration: 1-2 hours

3. Pre-Season Training
Pre-season is the few weeks before the season starts and the time to start fine-tuning your training to be even more sport-specific. Now athletes should start doing their speed-agility-quickness (SAQ) training with a basketball (going back to our last example), and increasing their cardio base for the season ahead. This doesn't mean avoid weight training. On the contrary. Keep up with the weights (still keeping it customized to their abilities, age, sport, etc.), but it should start transitioning to workouts integrating more multi-planar movements.
Frequency: 3-4 days a week
Duration: 1-1.5 hours

4. In-Season Training
What?! Athletes should train during the season?! Yes! Especially if they are "specialists," only participating in one sport all year round, or are in a power-driven sport such as baseball/softball, volleyball, and track and field. Power sports are those requiring short bursts of high intensity, followed by slower game play and/or long rest. The goal of in-season training is "add to maintain." In other words, keep up the strength training in order to maintain as much strength as possible. Don't worry about getting crazy strong during the season, its just not going to happen. The goal is to keep your muscles, tendons, and ligaments as healthy as possible while maintaining speed developed during the offseason and pre-season.
Frequency 1-2 days a week
Duration: 1-1.5 hours

Not all sports are the same, and neither should your training.

Julia Graves | Athlete of the Week

Julia is on a mission to be the best libero she can be and adds great value to her volleyball teams and training group. For those of you who don't know, the libero (the player wearing the opposite colored jersey) is the team's defensive specialist. Basically, they do their best to crush the dreams of the opposing attackers by preventing the ball from hitting the ground at all costs. You'd see Julia diving into the bleachers if it was the difference between her team winning or losing the set and she always pushes herself in the gym.

School: Andover High School
Grade: 10th
GPA: 4.0
Club Team: Wichita Volleyball Academy (16-1)
Notable Stats:

• Most Digs on Varsity Team (454)
• Most Aces on Varsity Team (55)
• All League Honorable Mention

Hobbies: Netflix, and hanging out with friends.

Julia's future is bound to be bright and she is working toward landing an athletic scholarship to play volleyball in college. "The biggest thing I've learned while training at TCBB is that if you don't train the right way you're doing no good. It's all about good form, and no 'duck-butting,'" she says with a smile.

We are proud of how far Julia has developed in the gym and can clearly see how her speed and agility has increased during gameplay. She is a joy to work with and is growing into a leader in the gym.

Kiley Sweet | Athlete of the Week

Where do we start with Sweet? Well, she's one of the hardest working athletes in the gym and this week's athlete of the week. She's small, but she's mighty!

School: Eisenhower High School
Grade: 9th
GPA: 4.0
Club Soccer Team: SC Cosmos
Notables:

• Highest GPA out of 230 freshman students
• 10 years soccer experience

Lifting Stats (105lb BW):

• 195lb box squat (no belt, no sleeves)
• 90lb bench press (no wraps)

Sweet has set her sights high and wants to go to college and medical school after graduation. When she isn't playing soccer, she enjoys running and reading good books. When asked what she's learned since training at TCBB, Sweet says she's learned "the ability to push myself" to new athletic and mental levels.

We're excited to follow Kiley as she continues to develop into an unstoppable powerhouse.

You're either in, or you're in the way | Crabs in a Bucket Theory

Picture this. Crabs in a bucket.
One crab decides he doesn't want to be in the bucket anymore and starts climbing out toward freedom. The other crabs notice and start to pull their fellow crab back down into the bucket. They hold on with their pinchers until he finally gives up and settles back down into the bucket.

No, this isn't a depressing story I made up. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself.

 

 

Be honest...which crab are you?

We'd all like to think of ourselves as the brave crab trying to escape mediocrity, but maybe instead you're a part of the chick clique or group of bros that tries to hold back the one trying to leave the cast? (Knowledge bomb. A group of crabs is called a cast.)

 

The Escapee: Do what you need to do to be successful.

Is someone mocking your determined demeanor and laser beam focus? Who cares? You'll be smiling from ear to ear when you land that college athletic scholarship and become an academic all-American student athlete. Do your teammates joke around or flaunt an uncontrollable ego in the weight room? Everyone is trying to race through sports as if its a sprint. Its not. Its a marathon of honing your tactical skill and athleticism while staying free from major injuries. Look at how many were labeled "amazing athletes" their freshmen year, and after four years left school slower and weaker. A lot. Don't let that be you. If they're not in, they're in the way.

 

The Crabs: Man/Woman Up

You think you're too tired for extra practice. Your parents have told you you're too good for that team, and you think you're above hard work. Talent only gets you so far in sports, and when that runs out, hard work has to step in. Its fine if you don't want to do the extra work, I get it, its...well...work. Admit defeat, or man/woman up and work your ass off too. Don't drag down your friends who are genuinely trying to better themselves. If you have a problem with it, its simple, don't be friends with them anymore. Warning: That will backfire because it will be the extra motivation they need to get to the next level. So, you in? If you're out, you're in the way.

 



Ashley Thorne | Athlete of the Week

This is Ashley Thorne, one of our newest TCBB athletes and this week's Athlete of the Week. In the gym she always pushes toward building her strength, power, and quickness, but let's get to know her a little better.

What is the biggest thing you've learned about yourself or about training since you've been coming to TCBB? "I've learned that it's the little details in each lift that will determine whether you get stronger, or hurt yourself."

School: Valley Center High School
Grade: 10th
GPA: 4.0
Sports: Renegade Softball
Hobbies: "I like to go to sporting events with friends.
Goals: "I'm aiming to play softball in college" and study to be a physical therapist.
Follow her on Twitter @ashley_thorne3

Ashley is always focused and determined in the gym and has a "no excuses" attitude. Thank you for being a part of the Top Crop Barbell family.