WFAC Seminar recaps

[vegas4x4]

I just wanted to say thanks to Mark, all the trainers, and the other attendees.

I have only been lifting about three months and I was definitely on the fence about attending, but it was well worth it. I'll definitely be back.

The first night I thought I might be totally out of my league since I have no background in anatomy or physiology (never took biology in HS or college). I had no idea what proximal, distal, or motor units were. The reference handout and a few minutes of studying drilled it in for the rest of the weekend though. At least a small engineering background made the moment arm discussions palatable.

The rest of the weekend it seemed we spent most of the time under the bar. I was amazed how quickly time goes when you're on the platform. Lots of corrections later, hopefully I stored some of those cues for use back home!

It was a bit intimidating at first, all the more advanced lifters and trainers who were attending, but everyone was very nice and there was no macho vibe at all.

They really drill the teaching method in, which I think is great, even though I have no aspirations of training anyone (except myself).

Lastly, it made me realize how much strength potential I really have. Seeing the other attendees was definitely a motivator in realizing that you can get strong. I just don't have that many really strong people at my gym. Seeing someone benching 225 at my gym is pretty rare.

I had my first workout tonight since the seminar. I hit PRs on all three exercises and they all felt much easier than my last workout. Who knows if it's improved technique, motivation, or probably a combination.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

[jep6095]

As Brodie alluded to earlier with his comments, this seminar is right for just about everyone. He didn't have any coaching experience but went through the teaching methods just fine and in our case, had his lifter (also a very inexperienced lifter in the power clean) doing a textbook clean. Brodie is also a little hard on himself as far as his own lift, it wasn't a complete train wreck...maybe just a caboose wreck.

It is very common for people to come in and want to make the power clean far more complicated than it needs to be. I've really heard some of the most bizarre "cues" on these platforms (buy me a beer and I'll tell you about the 'arms as tree limbs, blowing in the breeze' speech.) Most of the attendees are able to adjust to the direct, commanding style needed to keep your lifter focused on the key points of the lift.

You'll see a picture below of Andy's snatch. It happens about every other seminar that we have someone who is unable to rack a clean due to their anthropometry. The last time John attended, we had him snatch but he was determined this time to clean. Once we got weight on the bar and bitched at him enough, he did rack the bar. It was fun.

[jep6095]

A recap wouldn't be complete without a mention of the food for the weekend. Steve and I started our weekend at Gene's Tasty Burger where I had a double/double and he had a very sad looking double hamburger.

Gene's was a theme for the weekend as a bunch of you hit it for lunch on Saturday AND Sunday. There's a thread below discussing whether Gene's or Herds in Jacksboro is better and I'll reiterate my position. Herds is better, but Gene's is a close second and since it's only a mile and a half from the gym compared to 50 miles away, Gene's wins.

Wolf hit town Friday afternoon and after helping set up for the seminar and hanging out for a bit, he needed food. FAST! So I sent him over to Hussain's kabob shop where you lay down $10 and ask for as much gyro meat as possible. NOTE: you do not slap down $10 and ask his wife for 10 POUNDS of meat. Wolf, heh. So even though Wolf was accused of eating some crappy taco's from the picture below, it was tasty greek meat with salad. Numms.

The last two pictures represent the entire reason the coaching staff fight to work the WFAC seminars, so Rip will cook for us. Sirloin and ham steak along with Steve's grilled corn was a treat. I didn't get any pictures of the sausage feed after the corn because I was too busy eating.

It was a great weekend and thanks to all of you who made the trek and worked hard. As always, keep us posted on your progress and stay tuned for future Kilt pics from Whities. Heh heh.

[Michael Wolf]

Who accused me of eating some crappy tacos?? Show yourself!

Asking for 10lbs of meat got me a pretty funny stare from Hussain's wife. When I asked for it again and got the "Is this dude for serious?!?" stare, I realized what happened. But it would have been pretty epic to get 10lbs of meat.

[mwhities]

Here is a quick video I took of the crew that was at Gene's Tasty Burgers.



I got the triple/triple with mustard (I believe - Whatever Rip ordered.). It WAS really good. I still think Herd's is better but, as JEP pointed out, Gene's is closer, so easier/faster to get to.

[Charlocity2]

The worst of all press fuck-ups are those of you who come to us with this idea of "head through the window." The first time someone uses that cue on my platform, they are eviscerated to nothing. Well, not really. But ask yourself next time some bonehead, weekend certified personal trainer with little to no experience tells you to shoot your "head through" some imaginary window cranking your neck away from the rest of your spine while you are loaded overhead why this is useful. We had two people on my platform alone with this issue and thankfully they fixed it.

I've not been to the seminar or a press training camp. I'll look for the correct cue in the book and here. If I can't find it I'll come back and ask. Thanks for this.

[jep6095]

If I can't find it I'll come back and ask.

It's been discussed. Search function, eh?

jp