Over the years, something that I always wanted to run alongside our current program schedule was a barbell club. We are finally at a place where it makes sense to launch this. The purpose of this program is not to serve only those that are interested in olympic weightlifting but to serve as an all-encompassing program for anyone looking to improve in barbell movements, mobility, and overall strength. I have said for years that if you want to get better at any piece of CrossFit, usually the first step to that goal is increasing your squat. I would make the claim that for any fitness goal, 99% of the time, one of the first ways to be successful in the achievement of that goal would be to increase your squat. As you can tell, increasing your squat will be one of the many goals of this club.
I have also learned from personal experience that one of the more therapeutic practices I have found over the years involves a barbell in my hands and some like-minded people working out next to me. Our goal is to offer a barbell program that will appeal to a variety of athletes ranging from beginner up to those who have been Olympic Lifting for years. Similar to CrossFit, the members of this club will be given a specialized training plan that can be altered based on their experience and prior exposure to the Olympic Lifts.
Initially, we will launch this program on Thursdays @ 6:45p. We will kick off this program Thursday, February 11th and we will be offering it at no cost for 7 weeks so that members can attend the classes and find out for themselves if it is something that makes sense to be a part of. Following the trial period, if the interest is there, the Barbell Club will go live and meet 2x/week. The cost of the barbell club would be $65/month ($8/class) and would include an Open Gym Membership.
The idea of the Barbell Club was simple, finding the right person to run it was much more difficult. One of the main reasons I brought Nate Lambert on with the Vitality Staff was for this reason. I have watched him develop into a very proficient Olympic Lifter and his passion for teaching the movements has continued to grow and I feel confident he is the perfect choice to head this program. We have worked together over the past 6 months designing programs that will be implemented and followed and I am excited to see the results that will surely come to anyone who commits to the time and training that will be laid out.
Nate’s thoughts on the Barbell Club:
The Vitality Barbell Club’s objective will be to improve all athlete’s performance in the olympic lifts, being the snatch and clean and jerk, as well as all variations of those movements. To accomplish this objective, our first goal is to improve our athlete’s level of mobility. Every class will incorporate at least two mobility drills tailored to improve necessary range of motion associated with the olympic lifts. Secondly, we will shift our focus to the mechanics of the olympic lifts. Progressions to emphasize the “positions/phases” of lifts will be a primary focus. However, this doesn’t just mean using a PVC or empty barbell. If an athlete’s mechanics are efficient, they will be able to put some light to moderate weight on the bar while working through these technical, positioning focused lifts. Then comes probably the most exciting part for all the athletes, we lift. Heavy. In every class there will be the opportunity to move some challenging weight around. After giving the necessary, and often overlooked attention to our mobility and nailing our technique, your reward is seeing improvement in your performance whenever your hands touch a barbell to snatch, clean, or go overhead. In order to lift your heaviest, you must first learn the basics, and that is exactly where we will start.
Nate’s Experience:
CrossFit L1
CrossFit L2
USAW Sport Performance Coach
Pendlay L1 Athlete Seminar