This past Saturday, the stage was set for another level of learning at DEUCE. We hosted Nate Helming, resident coach at CrossFit San Francisco and founder of Helming Athletics. Twenty-one participants took on Nate’s one day seminar in an effort to connect some dots in their training and movement to improve their endurance sport.
It was an eclectic group. Seasoned triathletes, veteran ultra marathoners, cyclists, Crossfitters, and folks new to it all packed the gym in search of knowledge. The energy was amazing and Nate quickly put the group under his spell. Nate told his story as an unremarkable high school athlete turned elite level endurance competitor who later reemerged from the depths of injury with the help of strength and conditioning. Then, with a calm demeanor and simple language, Nate took the mold of training for marathons, triathlons, and bike races and broke it. Actually, he shattered it in a true soothing-Nate-Helming-relaxed-kind-of-way.
Postion priority.
Starting with seemingly unrelated movements like the squat and the push up, Nate crafted a story from the ground up. Heck, for most of the people in the room it wasn’t even on the radar, let alone “from the ground up.” The foundation Nate laid was so deep that most of us in the room didn’t know how running, swimming, or cycling could possibly be related.
Soon, heads nodded and the room began to pop with “Aha!” moments. “It all makes sense!” was the general attitude. Maybe more of human movement is connected than we think. Then, we went outside and ran. We connected the dots. And even for the Ironman finishers in the crowd, basic movements like the push up, squat, and pistol were more like running than they weren’t.
Twenty-one athletes walked away with a mind shift. They were all better runners, swimmers, and cyclists because they understood how to be better movers. I guess we all walked away better gymnasts and weightlifters, too. That’s just the beauty of skill transfer and the beauty of Nate’s message.
Logan Gelbrich
9/8/13 WOD
Spend 20 min Flipping Tires
Then, complete 2 rounds for reps of:
1 min Max Sledge Hammer Strikes
1 min Max Box Jumps
1 min Max Hand Release Pushups
1 min Max Ring Rows
1 min Max Barbell Back Squats (45/35)
-Rest 2 min-