This past weekend, KJ and Christina both took on the annual MS 150. Over a two day span, the two road over 160 miles each to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis. Here is what Christina had to say about her experience:

KJ also weighs in on her experience:

“This was my fourth year to ride the MS150 with the Brew Crew. Day one is always a great time. Tons of riders. Rest stops are hoppin’, and before you know it you are at mile 80-something and feeling good. Only 2.5 miles to go and… a flat tire. After about an hour of trying to figure out how to change and air up a tire (I’ve never changed one by myself!), I was finally back on the road. Day 1 was over. Day 2 was a completely different story. The route changed so I had no idea what I was getting into except that we would ride close to 175 miles in total. The first 30 weren’t too bad considering you rode a million the day before, but the last 50 were pretty challenging. I think we had climbed approximately 35,287 feet in elevation in hurricane force winds – at least that’s what it felt like – when I started to shed a few tears and about to call it quits. After we got to the top of what was probably the tallest, steepest hill in Texas a guy comes up along side of us using a hand cycle. He’s riding these dang hills using his arms, surely I can use my legs. Later I came to learn that he has MS. He is the reason we ride and the reason we raise money. I’m proud to say that not only did I ride (slowly) all 170+ miles, but this year the Brew Crew raised just over $38,000 for MS!”

Monday 5/4

A) Back squat 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; rest 2-3mins

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3-4 sets tough effort:

– Row 250m

– 15 KB swings (53/35)

– 10 burpees (AFAP)

rest 4-5 mins

Tuesday 5/5

A1) Push press cluster 1.1 x 10S/30S

A2) 6-10 UB T2B; R2-3M x 4 sets

*accumulate at least 6 reps if not UB

1. B) Every 2 min on the min x 12 min:

– 5 TnG power snatches (115/75, 95/55, 75/35)

– 10/7 HR push-ups

– 15 lateral hops

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Optional:

3 x 20 partner medball sit-ups

Wednesday 5/6

Long aerobic warm-up, then…

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30 min AMRAP at 85% (tester)

– 4 wall walks

– 8 box jumps – SD (24/20”)

– 12 Russian KB swings (heavy)

– 16 walking lunges

– 20 double unders (60 singles)

– 400 m run

Thursday 5/7

A) EMOM x 14 min

E: bench press 3-4 @ 70%

O: Romanian deadlift 5 reps (tough)

B) EMOM x 10 min

E: 1-3 MU or 4-8 CTB pull-ups

O: Power clean TnG cluster 2. 2 @ 65%

C) BB hip thrust 8-12 x 3 sets @ 20X1; R90S (tough)

Friday 5/8

A1) DB rear elevated split squat 8 reps/leg @ 20X1; R30Sbtwn/30Safter

A2) Pendlay row 4-6 (tough); R30S

A3) 1 min max DUs/ 1 min DU practice; R90S x 3 sets

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Three sets for max reps of:

– 60 seconds of Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lbs)

– 60 seconds of Push Press (75/55 lbs)

– 60 seconds of Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

– 60 seconds of Rowing for Calories

– Rest 60 seconds

*Take total of each round. Add three totals to have grand total.

When we first introduce the Snatch to our athletes in the Prep Course it can be pretty daunting. We spend two full classes breaking down the snatch into separate parts before bringing it all together and adding weight appropriately. After two full classes of learning the ins and outs of the movement and another reviewing it, there is a certain level of comfort with the snatch. In this blog post, I will go over exactly how it is broken down.

First, we revisit the overhead squat position (or as close as we could get for some of our new athletes) in order to get comfortable in the receiving position, or “catch”, of the snatch. This is noted by the “catch phase” below.

Next we go through the snatch complex. This is a series of movements that we use as a warm up to reteach positioning and bar path in the snatch. The complex goes as follows: overhead squat –> snatch balance –> muscle snatch (from hip) –> position 1 snatch –> position 2 snatch –> position 3 snatch. The snatch balance is designed to teach the athlete how to properly drive themselves under the bar into the overhead squat or catch position. The muscle snatch teaches the athlete how to move the barbell with the arms after the big hip extension.

After getting a feeling for how to open the hips and pull oneself under the barbell while keeping bar path close to the body through the snatch balance and muscle snatch, we then start to pull from 3 different positions:

• High Hang Snatch (Position 1) – Starting with the bar at the hips. The torso is vertical. You then extend the hips propelling the body into a vertical jump before pulling yourself under the barbell and ending in the bottom of an overhead squat.
• Hang Snatch (Position 2) – Also, called the hang squat snatch is a movement where the barbell starts at the pockets (similar to the first pull phase in the picture above). With a wide grip on the barbell, the bar should slide back into the hips (sweeping) while you extend the hips and subsequently pull yourself underneath the barbell into the catch position (the bottom of the overhead squat). The lift is completed when the athlete stands the bar up overhead successfully.
• Squat Snatch (Position 3) – This is basically a full snatch movement with the barbell starting on the ground. From the ground, you have to be in a good starting position to initiate the lift. This includes the chest and shoulders being over the barbell, the toes and knees being slightly turned out, and the butt lowered well below the shoulders. The weight should be in the front half of the foot. As the barbell starts to come off of the ground, 4 very important things happen:
  1. The knees start to track back to a position where the shin is perpendicular to the ground.
  2. As the knees are tracking back (extending), the weight simultaneously shifts to the back half of the foot and then to the heels.
  3. All the while, the chest and shoulders stay over and “hovering” the barbell.
  4. The hips MUST stay low to keep a consistent back angle until the bar reaches the pockets. Do not do “the stripper pole” and lift the hips up while keeping the torso in the same position. The raising of the hips and torso happens simultaneously and is perceived as one unit.

After our 3-position work we then move onto the power snatch:

• Power Snatch – The movement starts the exact same as the squat version and can be initiated in either position 1, 2 or 3. The athlete still pulls themselves under the barbell with the feet landing in the landing position or squat width stance. There is a bend to the hips but the athlete stays taller and out of a full squat.