Power Posing

Friday, November 30, 2012

 

Mobility:

Keg Drill
Super Rack
Overhead Band Distraction
Posterior Chain Flossing
Hip Extension with Band

Group Warmup:

10 Hang Power Cleans with Barbell
10 Push Jerk with Barbell
10 Power Cleans with Barbell
10 Push Jerk with Barbell  

Classic Programming

Barbell Gymnastics:

Spend 15 minutes to work up to a heavy Power Clean + Push Jerk

Notes: Focus on making contact with the hips on the clean and a solid overhead position on the jerk.  If you do not have a good overhead position, you may sub Push Press or Split Jerk.

Conditioning:

3 Rounds for time:
7 Burpee Pullups
14 Thrusters (95/65)
21 Medicine Ball Situps (20/14) 

Advanced Programming

Barbell Gymnastics:

7×1 Power Clean + Hang Power Clean + Push Jerk @ 70% of 1RM Clean

Notes: Rest 1 minute between sets.

Conditioning:

3 Round for time:
7 Muscle Ups
14 Thrusters (115/75)
21 GHD Situps

Cool Down:

Cobra, 30 seconds
German Stretch or German Hang, accumulate 1 minute
Sampson  Stretch, 1 minute
Straddle Stretch, 2 minutes

 

Check out the 2nd Annual PCF Beach Cruiser Triathlon video down below!  A big thank  you to all the competitors, to all the volunteers, and all the spectators.  It wouldn’t have been the same without you!  And a special shout out to Sandy and Mo for taking such great care of everyone and providing amazing post race festivities!  It was a blast!

I recently watched the TED Talk by Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are and I can’t stop thinking about it!  The video is posted below, and if you don’t have time to watch the whole twenty minutes, you can watch three minutes from 9:40 to 12:40, which is the part that stuck out the most for me and what I wanted to share with you.

They ran an experiment to test if any hormonal changes would occur after holding different poses (high power or low power) for 2 minutes at a time.  It is known that your mind can shape your body language.  For example, if you are scared you might instinctually shrink down and wrap your arms around yourself in a protective manner.  Or, if you win a race and are all jacked up you might naturally throw your arms and head into the air in celebration.  But the experiment wanted to see if the opposite was true, if your pose (ie your body language) could shape your mind (ie your emotions and hormones). 

They found that this actually does happen, that you can literally change your hormonal levels while holding positive or negative poses.  They had subjects either hold a positive or a negative pose for 2 minutes and measured their testosterone and cortisol levels before and after.  Testosterone is linked to confidence while cortisol is linked to stress.  The findings: On average, high power posing results in a 20% increase in testosterone and a 25% decrease in cortisol, while low power posing results in a 10% decrease in testosterone and a 15% increase in cortisol.  Essentially, whatever pose you have been holding for the past 2 minutes has altered hormones that configure your brain to leave you feeling either confident and assertive, or completely stressed out!

This just reminded me of the often overlooked mind-body connection in health.  At the gym we focus on the physical and often overlook how our thoughts and body language can affect our physiology.  If you had asked me before this presentation how to raise your testosterone I would have answered eat more red meat, work out, and get a good night’s sleep.  To lower cortisol I would have said meditate, work out, and get a good night’s sleep.  It completely blows my mind that these same physical changes can occur solely through power posing!

I love hearing or learning something new and then seeing examples of it everywhere after.  It makes me realize that the thing I learned was always present, I had just never made the connection before.  I was listening to Jon North’s podcast Weightlifting Talk and they were talking about a recent PR he made in the Clean & Jerk.  Donny Shankle made an offhand comment about Jon’s attitude and posture when walking in the gym something to the effect of, “Jon, you were beaming with confidence before that lift. I could tell something special was about to happen. You were pacing back and forth in the gym with shoulder cocked back!”  He was probably so jacked on confidence he couldn’t help but exhibit a power pose and stick the lift.

Take a look at the whole presentation and let me know what you think!  I’d love to hear of any examples you find with friends, family, and co-workers.  Don’t underestimate the mind-body and body-mind connection, and make sure to do a posture check from time to time to see what your body is telling your mind!

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