Grammy

I got to coach today.

Read that again. I GOT to coach today. It was a privilege and a pleasure. I got to do something that brings me happiness, something I take pride in, something I know others benefit from. I didn’t HAVE to coach today, I GOT to coach today. 

The past two Saturdays I got to coach a total of 7 athletes at two different meets. I have had bigger groups at meets, and I have coached meets where it was only myself and one athlete. I really poured myself into coaching these past two meets. I felt an extra push this week to do right by my athletes, and give them my best as a coach. All of these athletes had amazing performances and did something on the platform they had never done before. New competition or lifetime PRs, personal achievements in consistency, qualifying for meets at a higher level, and one athlete even competed in their first meet today. The past two Saturdays were great days. 

At 5:51PM today, my mother told me my grandmother had passed. My grandmother has been struggling with dementia and physical health issues such as severe joint problems, mobility issues and heart issues for many years. I am saddened by her passing, but am relieved to know she is no longer in pain. She lived many years longer than predicted after her health declined, and my sister said it is because “She was feisty, and the feisty ones always keep fighting”. I would have to agree. My grandparents on my mother’s side were definitely feisty. I do not remember much about my grandfather on my mother’s side as he passed when I was only 10, but I do remember his commanding presence in any room he was in. I like to think some of the fire that has become my trademark in weightlifting comes from my grandparents on my mothers side in addition to the intensity I know I inherit from my father. I hope my effort in coaching, the “feistiness” I bring to pushing the athletes I get to coaching, honored my grandmother today. I also hope I continued to honor her and my family with my pursuit to make my small mark on this world. 

R.I.P. Grammy

Heavy Single vs. Max Out

One of the common discussions I have with athletes is the difference between a “Heavy Single” and a “Max Out” day. On the surface, and for newer athletes, they seem very similar when in reality they should be approached in two completely different days. I am going to describe each as they relate to my programs (Individual Programs and the Butcher Barbell Team program), and then show where they may crossover.

HEAVY SINGLE

When I program a heavy single day for the Team, what I am usually looking for is a work up to a lift over 90% without any misses or severe breakdown in technique. For athletes who I am programming for individually, where I have more thorough knowledge of their numbers and know where they typically break down, I will give a specific number I want the athlete to either hit or exceed before stopping (unless a miss or breakdown in technique occurs). As simple as a statement as that is, it often needs further explaining- so to be specific, I program heavy singles when I do NOT want athletes to attempt new PRs (though if a PR is made I am not upset). I simply want an athlete to work up through a series of increasing weights without misses (pressouts and technique breakdowns count as a miss in this regard), increasing weight with each make. Heavy single days help athletes to learn their stopping point. They should know by how a weight feels that if they add more to the bar they will likely miss, and it is time to move on to the next exercise.

Heavy single days provide a variety of benefits in training. In addition to what I mentioned above about learning the athletes stopping point, when heavy single days are used repeatedly in a cycle athletes begin to become comfortable and consistent working up to and over 90% without misses. If done well, this should lead to “No Miss” sessions which are a great mental boost for athletes, especially athletes who have spent a long time using only Max Out days and are used to multiple misses in a training session. No miss sessions lead to consistency, and as any great weightlifter will tell you, winning meets is about consistency. A coach once said to me early in my career that it is difficult to beat someone who goes 6/6.

MAX OUT

Max out days are tests. I compare them often to brawls- anything goes, we can miss multiple attempts at the same weight, we can walk the bar to the edge of the platform and the most common cue you will hear after a lift is “add a kilo”. This is the day we coordinate to train with the most friends at the busiest times, stack up 2-3 deep on a platform and trash talk like Conor McGregor. Heavy Metal is coming through the speakers, coach is shouting and perfecting his Coach Lean technique. It’s everyone’s favorite day.

BUT- The max out day is not EVERY DAY. Or every week. Or even every month for that matter. I am careful when I program Max Out days, because I know the environment that it generates and the environment it requires. I am also wary of maxing out an athlete too close or too far from competition. Some athletes, particularly athletes that are transitioning from CrossFit to Weightlifting, have done better when I allow them to max out within 2 weeks of a competition. Others, will have their last TRUE max out day about 3-4 weeks out from competition, and then using Heavy Single days as they get closer to focus on consistently hitting Openers and Second Attempt weights.

A perfect day for me, as a coach, is when I have an athlete max and it looks like a heavy single day. All the lifts look the same, there are no misses or major technique breakdowns, and a new PR is made. It is a rare occurrence but one I strive for with programming and hands on coaching of athletes.  

-Stephen Butcher

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Finding Aggression and Clarity on the Platform

The majority of my friends, acquaintances and (likely) rivals in the weightlifting community will argue over just about anything: Bulgarian system vs. Russian system, drugs vs drug free, Chinese weightlifting technique vs. European weightlifting technique, Power or Nah. But one thing they all seem to come together on is giving me a hard time for my platform presence. Anyone who has been at a meet with me will know what I am referring to. I attempt to bring as much aggression as possible to my 6 attempts on the competition platform. I stalk the bar, finding my focus and visualizing the lift. I approach the bar the same way every time, stomp the platform with my first approaching step, spin the bar with both hands, find my grip, set my back, then my shoulders and finally my hips before bringing my head up and getting my air. Then I pull with everything I have, punching my feet through the platform. When I recover my feet together and get my down signal I bring the bar down (with a little aggression) and if its a PR or a target weight you will often hear my celebration the next town over.

I do not lift in this manner to draw attention or to create a show, but instead this is my way of emptying my headspace before I lift. I am someone who tends to overanalyze every aspect of life and this can create doubt. Things like an inconsistent training schedule, nagging injury, stress of making weight, effort of coaching other athletes and even the particular referees that are officiating the meet can crowd my mind and take focus away from the task at hand- which is to lift the weight within the allotted time and according to the regulations. The growling, the pacing, the particular setup are all actions that take focus and that focus is pulled away from anything that could hinder my ability to move the bar or any thoughts that could cause me to doubt my ability to complete the task.

I coach my athletes to create aggression on the platform in order to find clarity of mind. I often work with them to “Set and go” on competition day. Rarely will I cue technique during warm-ups or even during the week leading into a meet. My cues are centered around subjects like finding a focal point, staying patient while still being aggressive and for some athletes providing a simple reminder of how hard they have worked to get to that day. Often my athletes have celebrations that put mine to shame- I will never forget the time I had to carry an athlete off the platform after she hit the weight on her final attempt to send her to the American Open.

Finding aggression (or focus) will look different for everyone. For myself and some of my athletes, it is loud. Everyone in the meet will know we are coming. For others, such as Coach Jake, it is much quieter. A few cues uttered to himself and a quick toe touch before he steps on the platform. Some lifters want silence, others want the audience to make noise. I encourage those reading this to work on developing their own method of finding aggression and clarity when approaching the bar. And, like myself, I encourage you to do it no matter how much of a hard time anyone else gives you for it.

-Stephen Butcher

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Jerk Steps and Stationary Jerk Steps

One of the exercises I have been programming a lot lately is jerk steps. I first saw this exercise sometime in 2015 being performed by James Tatum while he was still training at the Muscledriver USA facility. I listened to some of his reasoning behind the movement and why he came to add it to his programming. I began to use it in my personal programming, then slowly began to integrate it into the programming I use for the Butcher Barbell athletes. When I transitioned from training in a large facility to my garage, I had to transition from walking jerk steps to stationary jerk steps and found that the stationary variation had its own benefits that were additional to the original purpose of the exercise. In this post I am going to address the exercise and provide a link to a video demonstration.

EQUIPMENT

Barbell and Plates

Squat Rack or Stands.

SETUP

Set the bar in the rack at the same height you would use for a back squat. Place the bar in the back rack position, and walk out of the rack. You will want to back up farther from the rack than if you were just performing a back squat.

EXECUTION

From the starting position, Step forward into a quarter lunge position that mimics your foot position for the Split Jerk. For the walking variation, step the front foot back about half the length of the split, and then step the rear foot forward until it is in line with the front foot. For the Stationary variation, which is demonstrated below, step the front foot back 2 times until it is in line with the rear foot. Repeat with the opposite leg.

POINTS OF PERFORMANCE

-When stepping into the split, drive the back leg into the ground to propel the front foot forward.

-Focus on sending the front foot WITHOUT the torso falling over the front leg. Keep the torso balanced between the front and back legs in the split.

-Torso should stay vertical in the split position.

WHY

This exercise is great for all lifters but especially for lifters who have inconsistent foot place in the as it reinforces proper footwork under load but at a lower speed. James (Tatum) has been known to say that he adds it in to assist with muscular balance in his hips. He says he uses the exercise when he notices he is beginning to twist when recovering in the jerk or when recovering up from the squat in a clean or snatch. I will use the exercise to teach how to balance the load in the split from front to back, IE if I have an athlete who is loading their front knee too much in the jerk I will have them regularly perform Jerk Steps to help them become comfortable in the proper position. I also use this exercise to improve an athlete’s ability to “stop” the weight from pushing them down into the split. This is important for lifters who use the split style outside of the jerk such as the split snatch.

WHEN AND HOW MUCH

I like this exercise on heavier days, which are usually M/W/F for my programs, and towards the latter portion of the workout after snatches, clean and jerks and pulls. Usually I will program this exercise after squats as well. Usually, I will program 3-4 working sets of 10 reps (alternating front leg each rep) above 80% of the athletes 1RM jerk. I have programmed as much volume as 14 reps/set and have programmed the intensity as high as 110% of the athletes 1RM jerk. I do find the stationary variation to be more difficult than the walking variation so I will program the reps and intensity down when choosing stationary jerk steps.

-Stephen Butcher

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Video:

Stationary:

A Typical Workout Structure

I wanted to take an opportunity to give direction to those who are writing their own programs or are writing programs for others on a basic structure for an Olympic Weightlifting workout. I do not view programming as top-secret as everything I create as a coach was first taught to me by other coaches, and those coaches were themselves taught by their coaches. In this post, I am going to give a brief tutorial on how I structure a Monday or Wednesday workout for my athletes, which tend to be medium to heavy days focusing on snatch or clean variations.

I break workouts usually in 4-6 pieces. I include the primary classic lift for the day, a direct assistance exercise for that lift, a squat variation and midline and shoulder assistance exercises. Depending on the training cycle I may include a warm-up movement or lighter variation of the lift I am trying to focus on for that day, and a pressing movement. For today, I will include those movements and the reasoning why.

For teaching purposes, I will structure a possible snatch-centric workout. If I am using a warm-up movement, it would be something like snatch balances or overhead squats or a complex involving similar movements. I won’t go into reasoning here behind what I would choose or why, but I like athletes to support a moderate to heavy bar in their catch position before moving on to snatches or snatch complexes. Usually we are looking at about 3-5 working sets here.

The second movement is the heart of the workout. Here it will be a snatch or snatch complex, and fairly heavy. I want at least 20-30 minutes of a 90 minute work focused on this portion. I want athletes to take their time and pay close attention to the finer points of the lift. Using TrainHeroic software I can easily program how many sets I want the athlete to take in total, including warm-up sets and back-offs. In regards to back-offs, I do believe each piece of the workout should end on a make, so back off sets are a must for this portion of the workout.

After the focus lift of the workout is done, the next exercise is an assistance exercise that complements the focus lift of the workout. Snatch pulls and deadlifts or variations of them are a typical go to for me. Butcher Barbell athletes are very familiar with the dreaded Snatch Pause Deadlift. Typically, I want the assistance exercise chosen to be programmed at a higher intensity but lower volume than the focus lift. For instance, if I program snatches at 80%, I will probably program snatch pulls at 85%. I don’t put a lot of volume in because I keep the intensity of this exercise high.

After these three exercises, we begin to see some mental fatigue in the athlete so I try to keep the rest of the workout a little less technical while keeping the intensity high. Squats and presses are saved to the end for that reason, usually with squats first then presses. If I am programming a lot of snatch exercises in a workout, I won’t program a snatch grip press. I will save the volume on that wrist position and instead program a close grip bench press or jerk grip standing presses or push presses. For squats, without putting a lot of thought into it, typically I program back squats on Monday, Front squats on Wednesday, and alternate Back and Front squats on Friday depending on the training cycle.

Workouts always end with midline work and shoulder stability work. Midline includes both abdominal exercises and lower back/glute exercises like back extensions on a GHD machine or banded steps. Shoulder stability exercises are usually banded exercises like face-pulls, pull aparts or banded external rotation. I like to program 3-5 sets of 3-4 exercises, again dependent on the training cycle and the athlete.

This is just a brief overview of where I have found success for my athletes and myself. I have not included any specific warm-up, stretching or cool down information here as that tends to be very athlete specific. I am more than happy to answer programming questions, so feel free to email me at butcherbarbell@gmail.com.

-Stephen Butcher

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Squats are assistance lifts for Weightlifters

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with one of my satellite athletes regarding the back squat. A little background to the story is she is currently doing what many weightlifters do, and that is utilizing an open gym membership at a CrossFit gym to do her programming. A coach of the CrossFit gym approached her, and apparently said something along the lines that she should focus on her back squat to improve her snatch and clean.

Now I am going to stop the story here for a moment, and give further background. This particular athlete has a back squat of 105kg to a clean and jerk of 75kg, and a snatch of 60kg. In addition, I know that 105kg is not a “true max” for this athlete as I have had her hit that number on repeated occasions, and do 100+kg for doubles. But if we look at this to her snatch and clean numbers, there is an obvious surplus of leg strength to a lack of technical proficiency. Knowing this surplus exists her programming instead focuses on maintaining current strength numbers and improving technical proficiency in the competition lifts.

Back to our story. This isn’t about the coach’s comment to an athlete but more about the idea that the back squat, or squats in general, are an assistance exercise to the classic lifts and should be treated as such. So when my athlete called me and asked if I thought if a back squat centric program would make her a better weightlifting, I said “not at this time”. I pointed out the discrepancy in her snatch and clean numbers to her back squat and reminded her why we are placing more emphasis on her technical proficiency than improving her strength numbers. Which led me to my next point: That squats are an ASSISTANCE LIFT.

I view the squat as an assistance lift for athletes like myself, like this satellite athlete, and others whose squat numbers drastically overshadow their classic lifts. It is a good “problem” to have, and allows us to use the squat just to improve positioning, tempo and speed out of the hole. For athletes who have a front squat that is the same or only slightly above their clean, the squat IS STILL AN ASSISTANCE LIFT. It is being used to increase the clean or even just make the current clean numbers easier and more consistent so we can hit the jerk. I remind my athletes who are concerned with their 1RM squat numbers that we don’t compete in the squat. We compete in Snatch and Clean & Jerk. And yes, the obvious statement that the stronger we are the easier it is to complete the classic lifts holds true. That strength has to come with technical proficiency in order to be utilized, and therefore treating the squat as a secondary lift to the classic lifts is necessary in order to see progress in competition.

-Stephen Butcher

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The Best You Have on That Day

Recently, a few of the Butcher Barbell lifters, as well as myself, competed in the American Open Series II in Miami. The 4 of us- Coach Jake, Olga P., Barry and myself- were all coming in at very different points in our training. Coach Jake was peaked and had a full training cycle into the Meet. Barry has been primarily coached by Jake in Colorado and was in top form in Miami. Olga had been struggling with a little shoulder pain, and also had to lift after driving in the day/night before. And I had come back from about a 3 month training lay off due to a health scare (which essentially turned out to be a misdiagnosis, more on that in a different post). The short version is, Jake had some tough referees but still managed to tie his National-event total PR and his Meet PR clean and jerk on a 3/6 meet, which should have been at least a 4/6 in my opinion but referees have the final say. Barry took home a Gold medal on a great 5/6 performance that included a PR clean and jerk Olga also went 3/6, also had a bad referee decision on a clean and jerk, but still came within 8kg of her total PR and 2kg of her clean and jerk PR for a great day and her first total in a National level meet. I had a meet I was very pleased with despite it being about 17kg off of my best total. I am VERY pleased with the performance of the Butcher Barbell athletes, and walked away from Miami knowing everyone gave it their best on THAT DAY.

Now, I want anyone reading this to think about that last sentence. “The best on that day.” This is an important concept because when meet day comes around, we are not always at our best. Using myself as an example, in January of this year I had as close to a perfect meet as I could get, hitting PRs in both lifts and the total. About 2 weeks after I had a few health issues hit me and had to sit on the sidelines for a few months until I was able to figure it out. I gained about 10kg of unwanted weight and lost a good bit of strength and speed. When I was finally able to start training again, I had to stay reserved at first to be safe. I was only really able to train hard for about 9 weeks leading into the AO Series event in Miami. In addition, I had to shed the 10kg I had gained from a new, sedentary job and poor food choices. While I went from a bodyweight of 102kg to 96kg, then cut an additional 2kg the week of the meet I managed to get my numbers to within about 93% of where they were before the layoff. I had wanted to get a little closer to 95-97% of my best, but arrived in Miami not really knowing what to expect of my lifting.

The stress of cutting, coaching and generally participating in a National meet in addition to some difficulties in my personal life had me questioning my abilities all the way up until weigh-ins on Sunday. Then, as I have in the past at other meets, I decided that I would simply give the best I have on THAT DAY. It may not be my all time best but it would be everything my body could produce on that day. So what does that mean? It means that I was both fired up to perform but realistic about what my performance would be that day. I adjusted my planned attempts to give myself the best shot at a 6/6 meet while still getting as close to the top 10 in my division as possible. Looking back, there is not much I would do differently on that day with the knowledge I have now and I feel I performed the best that I could on that day even though it was not my best ever.

I feel that the reflection I have on the Miami event is more important that my actual numbers. For me, and for my athletes who had a tough meet, it still stands as a meet where we performed to the best of our abilities that day. You won’t always arrive at a meet ready to set PRs or stand on top of the podium. You just have to lift the best that you can with what your training has prepared you for and what your body is capable of that day and adjust your game plan accordingly.

In the next blog post, I am going to address how to determine your attempts for success and help provide a guide for what success at a meet means.

-Stephen Butcher

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Go here to sign up for the next USAW Course that I will be teaching in Weddington, NC: https://webpoint.usaweightlifting.org/wp15/Events2/ViewEvt.wp?EventID=97934

How to deal with Distractions during Training

Training Distractions

I have trained in many settings and facilities. I have had access to some amazing ones, which had competitive teams and scheduled practice times, some where it was equally amazing with all the equipment I could imagine but I was only able to train alone, and I have also just trained in my garage. A different type and level of focus was required in each one but there were also common themes. The biggest distraction for most is their phone, and this certainly isn’t any less true for me. Whether it is dealing with work (outside of coaching), checking or answering emails, the ever consuming instagram stalking of my competition or answering/responding to text messages, the smart phone is the ultimate killer of focus in a training environment.

Another enormous distraction during training for me is music. There have been a few facilities where the music was not to my taste, so much so it was distracting. I consider myself to have great focus when I approach the bar but there have been times when I have approached the bar, only to stop what I am doing and back away after hearing Justin Bieber or Kesha violate my earspace.

The final distraction I will address is one that is probably the hardest to solve, and that is letting your personal, work, relationship, family, etc. struggles invade your training time. This is incredibly difficult for me, but I won’t limit it to myself either. I know my athletes who have struggled with life outside the gym have had a hard time making the most of their training time on their rough days. It is incredibly difficult not to let your outside and stress affect your training time. Very few, if any, U.S. lifters are “full-time”, meaning that the majority of those reading this have a day job, financial struggles, and a home life. Personally, the struggle with life’s uncertainties is was typically creeps its way into my sessions as I rest between sets. A 1-2 minute rest to breathe and chalk turns in a 5 minute “What if…” rabbit hole of a thought process. And that rabbit hole is just as dark, daunting and frustrating during training as it is any other time.

How do we regain focus?

The three distractions listed above are the ones that primarily affect me, and the solutions below are my personal tools to regain focus.

The first two, music and smart phone, I had to learn to solve very fast. The music issue has become easy as I currently train alone in the garage- if I don’t like it I can change it. But when I was in bigger facilities where it was not my call, I typically would visualize an “Off” switch to the rest of the world as I approached the bar. It begin by me saying, to no one but myself, “Click”. And I could feel the world go silent. Over time, as I built a ritual for every time I approached the bar to lift (anyone who has seen me lift knows I approach the same every time), the world would automatically “go silent” until I dropped the bar. My advice to those who struggle with outside noise and movement is to get deeply involved in creating a routine approaching the bar. Press the “mute” button or flip the switch as you begin. Let the world fall silent and still around you even if you are in a busy, packed gym. And lift.

The second item for me was the smart phone. I had to lessen the importance of it. I am (believe it or not) old enough to remember life before everyone had a cell phone. I did not have a smart phone until I was in my Mid-20s, and I had to think about the fact that for over 20 years of my life, and for life before smart phones, people could not be reached at every second of every day. Most people will call, send a text or email, or make a social media post and expect immediate response. That is ok- 99% of the time folks will be ok waiting 2 hours for my workout to end for me to respond. The world keeps spinning, time keeps moving, and the information they need isn’t time sensitive (sorry, but my opinions on the apparently awful person you’re dating or the amazing sandwich you had for lunch are not time sensitive.) If you can’t reach that line of thinking on your own then I would leave your phone in your locker or car, and give the people close to you the number to the gym for emergencies.

The final one is, as I said before, the most difficult to solve. The answer, of course, is fluid and different for everyone. One of the lines that has always stuck with me came from a coaching mentor and former employer, Cory Worf of CrossFit Weddington. He said, when referring to our job as coaches, that we should make the members time in the gym the best hour of the day. While this was said to affect my actions as a coach, it also became twisted into “My training should be the BEST part of my day.” For 2 hours, more or less, that rabbit hole of uncertainty has to be closed and my mind is on what I enjoy the most- improving myself. When it opens between sets, I do whatever I can to self-cue to bring focus to what I can make better RIGHT THEN about my lifts because that is the only thing I can directly control at the moment.

The final piece of advice on focus that I will hand out, concerning all distractions, is that it is OK to take a day from training for mental health. If you have been hitting it hard for weeks, months even a full year with no real stopping point, and out of nowhere life hits hard- you lose a job, you break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend, your bank account hit zero, the world ran out of bacon- and you get that awful pit in your stomach and pain in your chest, your arms and legs feel heavy and you know if you try to lift anything it will come back down and crush you, go home. And go straight to bed. And sleep until you can’t sleep anymore. But know that you only get that one day to lose focus- because the next day you have to be an athlete again.

Stephen Butcher

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Announcement: Military and First Responder Discount Program!

I am excited to announce a discount program for all active duty Military/LEO/Fire/EMS personnel as well as retired Military personnel! This is a cause near and dear to Butcher Barbell, and we are excited to promote fitness, strength and readiness as well as increase the population of competitive weightlifters from this community. How to access the program is simple: Email us at butcherbarbell@gmail.com. Let us know about your service or past service, and we will email you a link for a discount to our team program! In addition, if you are interested in Custom Programming, we offer a 20% discount on all of our Custom Programming and Private Coaching Services!

Stay tuned for more special programs for Military and First Responders!

Stephen Butcher

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Butcher Barbell Exercise Guide: The Deficit Snatch Pause Deadlift

Every so often I am going to post about one of the exercises that pops up in the Butcher Barbell Team Program and explain who, what, when, why and how to do the exercise. Very few, if any, of the exercises I include in the programming were invented by me, but I feel the need to explain them and why we have you perform them as part of the program. This post, we take a close look at the Deficit Snatch Pause Deadlift.

EQUIPMENT

Barbell and Weights

A riser (a board, 15kg plate or piece of stall matting can work)

Straps and other supportive equipment

SETUP

Set your feet on a 2” Riser. Grip the bar the bar with a snatch grip and assume your snatch starting position.

EXECUTION

First movement is to deadlift the bar to where the BOTTOM of the plates are level with the TOP of the riser you are set on. This position should be identical to your normal set-up without the riser. Butcher Barbell athletes know this position as simply Position 3. Shoulders should be directly over the bar, shins should be angled over the bar, and there should be a slight space between the barbell and the shin. Weight Should be balanced toward the midfoot/ball of the foot. Pause here for 2-3 Seconds.

Second movement is to sweep the bar back to the mid-knee position (Butcher Barbell athletes hear me call this Position 2). Your shoulders should be in advance of the bar, the shins should be perpendicular to the floor and the weight should shifted toward the heel with the foot still flat. Pause here for 2-3 Seconds.

The final transition on the way UP is to sweep the bar from the Mid-Knee (Position 2) into the Power Position (Position 1). The bar should be in the crease of the hips with the arms straight, the knees bent and the weight still favoring the heel of the foot. The Torso should be vertical with the shoulders behind the bar.

The second half of the movement is simply a reverse of the first 2 transitions and pauses. You will first lower the bar down the thigh to the Mid-Knee (Position 2) and then to Position 3, pausing at both positions for 2-3 seconds.

See Coach Jake Perform a demonstration of this exercise HERE

WHY

This exercise is all about refining and strengthening key positions in the pull. While you can pause and hold at any point, I use these positions in particular because they are the main transition points in the lift. Adding the pause also allows for time to make corrections at a position before proceeding to the next one.

WHO

All of my athletes will have this programmed at some point, but it is especially useful for beginners who are still learning the different positions of the pull and need to improve their ability to hit these positions in the pull.

WHEN

In the cycle, I typically program this movement in the first 4-8 weeks of a 12-16 week training cycle. I want to use this exercise to develop the strength and positional awareness to perform the pull correctly at full speed later in the cycle and closer to competition. In the workout, it is usually done after the classic lifts programmed for that day, as it is highly taxing but does not require the same agility, balance, power and coordination as a snatch. In order, this is usually the 3rd exercise for a workout.

Try the exercise for yourself for a few weeks or join the Butcher Barbell Team Program to see how we incorporate it into our program. This is one of the exercises we demonstrate and teach at all of our clinics and seminars. See below for information about joining the team or for our next Butcher Barbell clinic!

Stephen Butcher

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Training Around Injury

No matter how careful you are, you will eventually tweak, pull, strain, sprain or have an unforeseen accident while pursuing your athletic goals. In this post I would like to offer some tips on how to train with or around injuries.

What type of injury is it?

First off, determine what the injury is and how long you will be out. Coaches are often not suited to make this call- seek advice from a Physical Therapist or an Orthopedic doctor. I personally favor the PT route, and I have made a point of developing relationships with PTs who have experience participating in or treating patients who participate in Weightlifting, CrossFit, Powerlifting or other strength sports. If you have a video of the particular lift where you first felt pain, show that to the provider. Also show them a successful lift of the same exercise so they can see the difference in movement from your normal technique to the lift where you were hurt. Once you know what the issue is, you can begin developing a training plan around the injury.

Training around the injury

Some injuries, like hernias or severe neck or back injuries, will require complete rest outside of supervised activity. We will not address these injuries here. What we are concerned with are the injuries you can work around.

REHAB

Whatever the injury is, step one is to follow the rehab protocol given to you by your doctor or PT. This is KEY. All training should revolve around the rehab (and the restrictions) you received from the healthcare provider you saw for the injury.

The best way to do this is to perform these exercises at the beginning of your workout when you are the least fatigued and can focus on proper execution of the movement- the same reasoning behind performing the snatch and clean & jerk at the beginning of our workouts!

Bodybuilding

The most common attitude I encounter (and experience myself) when an athlete is injured is a feeling of self pity. They often ask “well, what can I do to train?” JUST ABOUT ANYTHING! One of the things I encourage Weightlifters (and CrossFitters) to do is to think like bodybuilders when they are injured. While we are used to training the body as a whole everyday, now is the time to break it up and choose an injured body part or group of body parts to train each day. When I was first training with weights, the common term for this was the “split” for the week (again, think like a bodybuilder!). Monday was for Chest and Back, Tuesday for Arms and Shoulders, Wednesday for legs, etc. When you're injured, simply removed the injured group of body parts. For example, if you have a shoulder injury, you can still train lower back, glutes, “legs” (quadriceps and hamstrings), and do not forget the abdominal muscles! Isolation movements- even leg curls or extensions with bands- can be useful in building strength during this time.

Treat other nagging injuries

This is a big one. If you injure your knee and can’t squat, take this time to also improve and address weaknesses in the shoulders. Work hard on improving range of motion through stretching, then using large ROM upper body exercises to build strength with that new range of motion to prevent future injuries. Stretch and work on balance on your uninjured side. Take 10-20 minutes to stretch and foam roll the rest of the body at the end of your rehab/bodybuilding workouts. Don’t come back to lifting after healing one injury only to develop another!

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardio! Yes, I said! Get creative and take some time to build basic work capacity that may have been lagging as cardio is generally the devil in weightlifting. Sled walks, short intervals, rowing, etc can all be used to stay healthy while injured. Just don’t go overboard…

Nutrition

Ok, so this is a selfish topic. I will be as blunt as possible- don’t get fat or skinny. Eat to support the workouts you will be doing, but don’t put yourself in a position from grief-eating that you can’t make weight when you come back to normal training. Yes, a good proper eating regimen will aid in the body’s healing process as well, but the primary issue I see as a coach is my athletes using an injury as an excuse to bump up a weight class (or drop down in some cases). You should resume normal training at the same weight as when you were injured. End of conversation

There are many more ways to modify training around an injury and many other considerations to make. The above examples are a few of the areas I encourage my athletes to focus on during injury recovery. If you have questions about how to modify the Butcher Barbell program to train around a current injury, email us at butcherbarbell@gmail.com

-STEPHEN BUTCHER

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Never Miss a Training Opportunity

December 5, 2016

In 2010, I was first learning how to shoot a pistol and I sought out instruction from one of the members of the gym where I was coaching at the time. I knew this member was former military and was currently working as a shooting instructor for a military contracting company, and knew he would have lessons to teach me that would extend far beyond shooting. I was right. Everything we did that day was designed to build good habits in the long term. The way he first exposed me to this ideal was when we were finishing a particular drill and I had to clear my pistol (for those not in the firearms world, this means to make sure the gun is unloaded and safe). I went through the clearing process and then he had me repeat the drill we had just finished, this time by dry-firing the gun, before placing it in the holster. He looked at me and said simply “Never miss a training opportunity.”

What a profound idea? Everything is a training opportunity. Cleaning the bar to place it in the rack or perform an exercise. Picking up the dumbbells for a farmer’s carry. Beginning a set of kettlebell swings. For athletes that train with me, they will often be told to drop a bar or redo a clean when they are being lazy about picking a bar off the ground to place in the rack. I make them treat every single rep as if it matters to take advantage of the training opportunity it will provide. Over 250 training sessions in a year, how many training opportunities are being missed in your workouts?

-STEPHEN BUTCHER

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Competition: Butcher Barbell Style

A common theme among athletes I have coached in weightlifting is a fear or anxiety of their first meet. Some of these lifters are afraid of placing last or in their words “looking silly”. Some are just simply terrified of being seen in public wearing a singlet. The common fear is simply a fear of the unknown. That is where my coaches and I step in for athletes.

My First Meet

First, to understand our approach to coaching athletes at a meet, a trip down memory lane is necessary. When I attended my first meet, I had a friend in attendance to watch and take pictures as my only support. I did not have a coach to count attempts and strategize my warm-up, nor did I know that is was necessary to count attempts or plan a warm-up strategy. I had no teammates to load plates, help fill water or fend other lifters out of my space. The meet was sanctioned but you could lift as an unsanctioned lifter (as I did), wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

I warmed immediately after the weigh-in, not accounting for the time after the session starts to when I actually lift. I actually warmed up both lifts to 2kg over my opening weights before my session started! A fellow competitor saw this, and suggested that I just lift the same weight as what is being lifted on the platform, and make the increases on the competition bar my pattern for my warm-up. I followed his advice and was ready to lift. I approached the bar for my first attempt, the same way I even do today, and made 2 of my 3 snatches. I followed the advice I had seen in a YouTube video that said to open with a weight you could make first thing out of bed, then follow with a weight that is either your current PR or slightly under it. I followed the same strategy on clean and jerk, but only made 1 lift. When the dust settled, I was surprised to learned that I took 3rd place in my class and walked away with a bronze medal.

What I learned

Throughout the day, I was amazed by the kindness of the other lifters that were competing. While most were first time lifters like myself, the more experienced lifters spent the day asking questions and assisting all of the beginners. That first meet saw a number of lifters who are now big names in the sport compete for the first time and I highly doubt they would have continued in the sport if the first meet was an unhappy experience.

There were simply things I learned throughout the day: somewhat how to strategize a warm-up, what to keep in my gear bag for a meet, how to conduct myself when approaching the marshall’s table, and a few things about what would become my own personal style of lifting in a meet.

The biggest lesson I took away from that meet was there is a counter to every fear of competing. I was afraid my numbers would be so low that I would be an embarrassment, and I wound up making the podium. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to lift proficiently in front of a crowd, and realized that the only crowd I was lifting in front of were other lifters that were competing that day. While I didn’t wear a singlet at my first meet, I wish I had and had competed as a sanctioned lifter because no one cared what they looked like wearing one. At the end of the meet, my fear of the unknown had gone and I was already looking for the next one.

How we coach and why

I also learned that while there were many lifters around that were helpful, I still felt very alone at my first meet. And I watched other athletes who were visibly shaken by the same feeling I had. A few years later, in February 2015 I coached my first athletes in a meet in Colorado Springs. And I discovered rapidly that because of my first meet experience, I coach very differently from other coaches when it comes to competition.

The first thing I realized is that it is difficult being a one man show as a coach, which is why we call ourselves a team. My partner coach Jake and I run this team together, knowing our roles as coaches. One of us stays by the marshall’s table and keeps the count of attempts, pays attention to the moves made by other lifters, and strategizes to make the proper jumps to achieve the desired total or placing. The other coach stays with the lifter, assisting in loading the warm-up bar, watching the warm up attempts to cue as needed, and providing any other assistance that the athlete needs. We aim to simplify the process as much as possible, which from an outside view may look bossy or controlling. We tell our athletes exactly when to lift, when to sit, where to look, and for some athletes we even program in scheduled bathroom breaks. We do not allow lifters to load their own bars or go to the marshall’s table- that is the job of the coaches or team mates assisting the coaches. Again, this may seem controlling but we have found that it allows the lifter to focus on the only thing that is important at that time: Lifting!

When the final warm-up lift is completed, the coach walks with the athlete to sit by the platform until they are called for their first attempt. This is where our trademarked style comes into play. One of the coaches walks with the athlete to the corner of the platform or stage, and stays there through the lift. We take pride in knowing our athletes well enough that we can give precise, final cues custom to each athlete we coach. Some of the cues have to do with the lift itself, others just provide a gentle reminder to stay focused but relaxed. When the athlete completes their attempt, we want to be the first ones there to provide what they need before their next attempt on the platform.

Our approach to other lifters at meets

On more than one occasion, we have helped athletes at a meet who are not part of our team. Because I have been in their shoes, I can often recognize an athlete who is competing for the first time or is competing without a coach. Often, they are making the same mistakes I made at my first meet: Warming up too soon, missing equipment, etc. I make a point of approaching these lifters, inviting them to warm up with my athletes and providing them as much assistance as I can by counting their attempts and helping them warm-up. I never ask for payment or thanks from these lifters, I simply do it because I want them to enjoy their experience and develop a love for the sport. I am proud to say that Jake has embraced this attitude as well, and we strongly impress upon our athletes to foster a welcoming demeanor at competitions even towards their fiercest competitors. Generally we never hear from these athletes again, but a few of them have now become permanent fixtures on our team or have become our closest friends on other teams.

For those of you who are anxious your first competition, especially those of you that have become part of Butcher Barbell, relax. Let your coach take control. If you are competing alone without a coach, research how to count attempts and plan a warm-up. If you are not on the Butcher Barbell team, but are in the Colorado or North Carolina areas, contact us and we will help you ourselves or hook you up with a coach or team that can.

-Stephen Butcher

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BB Technique Cues #1: Find the heels in the Jerk

One of the most common issues I have found in weightlifters, especially any coming from a high school or college sport background, is a forward bar path in the jerk. Whenever I see a lifter throwing the bar forward off the shoulder, the first thing I look at is what is happening with their feet when they begin the dip portion of the movement. Instead of looking at all the flaws that can happen here, I will tell you what SHOULD be happening, and give you a simple drill to help ingrain the proper technique.

“Find the Heels”

After standing the clean and setting for the jerk, the athlete should take a brief moment to adjust how they are balancing their weight on their foot. The athlete should have their own bodyweight AND the weight of the bar centered over to ankle and slightly toward the heel. Once this balance is found, the athlete should “pin” or “push” the big toe to the ground. This helps to keep the athlete’s weight and the weight of the bar pushed over the rear of the foot.

When beginning the movement of the jerk the goal is to keep the weight balanced in the foot as described above. To do so, the torso and the weight of the bar should be dipped straight down over the ankles by the knees being bent and slightly pushed outward to stay in line with the feet. Continuing to keep the weight toward the rear of the foot, the athlete drives upward by actively pushing the feet into the ground to extend the legs. This creates a vertical drive and bar path.

The Wall Drill

This is an easy and quick drill that can be used as a warm-up for the jerk. With your back to the wall, set the feet 2-3 inches away from the wall. Then lean back until the butt, shoulder blades and head are on the wall. With all three of these point of contact staying on the wall, perform the dip and drive while keeping the feet FLAT and glued to the ground. Perform 2-3 sets of 10 reps, focusing on staying connected to the wall with the butt, shoulders and head and to the floor with the feet. Again, this is best performed as part of a warm-up for the jerk.

-Stephen Butcher

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Compete & Compete Often

Before I was a weightlifter, or even a coach, I practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At the time the sport was not that popular and tournaments were few and far between. The first tournament I did I actually drove 6 hours, stayed in a hotel room, and I finished the tournament second to last in my division. Despite my poor finish, I was excited. I discovered facts about myself and learned things about the sport I never knew. It was worth every minute in the car. Shortly after this tournament, I moved to a different state and a new gym. The instructor of the new gym shed some light on my discoveries in competition with a simple phrase that has stuck with me through other sports, “One tournament is worth 6 months of training”.

What I believe he meant was that the confidence garnered by participating in one day of competition is equivalent to the confidence gained in 6 months in the gym. I believe this holds true for other sports as well, but especially true for Weightlifting. I feel that the experience of competing is not easily replicated in a gym setting. The adrenaline of being on a platform, the sights and sounds, and the pressure of making weight are just a few factors that an athlete must deal with when competing. Some individuals embrace this, and thrive in this environment. Others are rattled and have difficulty performing. Both types of individual can benefit from competing often.

I am an athlete that tends to thrive in the competition environment. In my own career, all of my breakthroughs and personal records (PRs) in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk have been made in competition. This is a frequent occurrence for the athletes under my coaching as well. I, and athletes like me who embrace the competition atmosphere, benefit from frequent competition for a variety of reasons. Competition acts as a progress marker for this group. Athletes who perform better in competition than in the gym need frequent competitions to advance their numbers and check their progress. Competition also gives these athletes a sense of success in their training, especially if they rarely or never make new PRs in the gym. When they PR on the competition platform they begin to see the fruits of their labor.

The group of athletes that is rattled by competition also benefits from high competition frequency for many reasons. Often the idea of making weight is the scariest part of the competition for this group, and competing often allows these athletes to become accustomed to holding a weight instead of trying to cut weight to compete. The other main obstacle for this group of athletes revolves around having an audience (other than their coach or teammates) while they lift. Gaining more exposure to this environment can prepare the athlete for the “big show” meets such as State Championship meets or National events.

Frequent competition also exposes athletes to Murphy’s law: What can go wrong, will go wrong. In a meet setting, for both of the aforementioned types of athlete, Murphy’s law will arise. Forgetting/missing equipment, limited warm-up space, running behind or ahead of schedule, multiple competition platforms running at once, even power outages and fire alarms are all things that can go wrong or take place. Creating exposure to these circumstances can condition an athlete for when they arrive at a big meet and Murphy rears his ugly head.

All of this to say that you should compete as often as possible! Enjoy the experience, or learn to do so if you do not already. Embrace Murphy’s law. Play to the audience (even if it’s only your team and your parents). Embrace the fight for the podium. Have a beer with your competitors afterwards and then find the next meet to do. At the end of the day, this is a sport and meant to be played and played often!

-Stephen Butcher

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