Issue 80 September 2011

PERFORMANCE MENU
ISSUE 80 . SEPTEMBER 2011
JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
FLOW WORK
THE USE OF PULLS
CLEAN MASS GAIN
NORIK VARDANIAN
OVERUSE INJURIES
PERFORMANCE MENU
Volume 7 . Issue 80 . September 2011
JOURNAL OF NUTRITION & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

6 Ask Aimee/Greg
Aimee & Greg Everett
Greg gives training tips and discusses rack position and getting under
the bar.
8 Give It a Little Tug: The Use of Pulls for Weightlifters

Matt Foreman
The use of snatch and clean pulls in training
12 Talking Points with Norik Vardanian

Ryan Kyle
Getting to know weightlifter Norik Vardanian
16 Integrated Mobility, Part 2: Flow Work

Scotty Hagnas
Scott discusses the integration of flow work
19 Repetitive Motion/Overuse Injuries in Athletes

Dr. Stephen Flikke
A look at overuse injuries and three general rules to help manage them
22 Clean Mass Gain: A Case Study

Dallas Hartwig
Hartwig shares his methods of nutrition and muscle gain
27 Cooking with Scotty

Scotty Hagnas
Recipes for health, performance and longevity
Info
Contributors
The Performance Menu
Dr. Stephen Flikke is a Sports Chiropractor/ART Physician who specializes in overuse/repetitive

motion type injuries. He is the owner and clinic director of St. Croix Spinal Care & Sports Rehabilitation
Center in Hudson, WI.
On the Cover
Matt Foreman is the football and track & field coach at Mountain View High School in Phoenix, AZ.
A competitive weightliter for twenty years, Foreman is a four-time National Championship bronze
medalist, two-time American Open silver medalist, three-time American Open bronze medalist,
two-time National Collegiate Champion, 2004 US Olympic Trials competitor, 2000 World University
Championship Team USA competitor, and Arizona and Washington state record-holder. He was
also First Team All-Region high school football player, lettered in high school wrestling and track, a
high school national powerlifting champion, and a Scottish Highland Games competitor. Foreman
has coached multiple regional, state, and national champions in track & field, powerlifting, and
weightlifting, and was an assistant coach on 5A Arizona state runner-up football and track teams.
is published monthly in digital

format by Catalyst Athletics, Inc.
Audra Dunning
Editor in Chief
Greg Everett
Managing Editor
Yael Grauer
Design
Greg Everett
Layout
Kara Doherty
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prohibited by law.
Scott Hagnas is owner of CrossFit Portland. He is certified as a CrossFit level 2 trainer and Circular
Strength Training (clubbell) instructor. He has been riding BMX flatland for 26 years and counting
and has filmed/produced/edited several series of BMX videos, plus several training videos. He
formerly competed in bicycle trials, placing second in amateur in the World Championships in 1990.
Cooking is one of his favorite pastimes.
Dallas Hartwig, MS, has been a licensed physical therapist for ten years, and a strength and
conditioning coach for almost as long. He was the owner/founder of CrossFit 603 until founding
Whole9 with Melissa Urban, and now travels nationwide to present their Foundations of Nutrition
and Trainers workshops. He sleeps nine hours a night, and makes no apologies for it.
Ryan Kyle is the coach of Sandusky Weightlifting and the strength coach for St. Marys Central
Catholic High School in Sandusky, Ohio. He is a USA Weightlifting club coach and his lifters
have medaled at the Youth Pan-American Championships and have been Junior World Team
members.
CATALYST ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER

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Have you heard?

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ASK GREG & AIMEE
Get your questions answered directly by Greg Everett or Aimee Anaya.

Send your questions to Greg and AImee at ask@cathletics.com.
Steve Asks: Years ago I understood that in order to

increase muscle size/strength that there was scientific
information that instructed us to overload and muscle
to failure or almost failure and than to rest that muscle
for 40 hours in order to recover. Some new programs
have you working the same muscle after only 24 hours.
What is the latest info on this training tip?
Greg Says: This sounds like standard bodybuilding
protocol, which largely informs the publics
understanding of training in general. If bodybuilding
is what youre doing, than this is reasonable advice,
although there is quite a bit of variation within
bodybuilding and certainly more than one approach
works.
When were talking about training in more of an
athletic vain, its rare to train to failure. This is generally
considered ineffective and even counterproductive.
Whereas with bodybuilding, the basic idea is to create
significant damage to the muscle and then allow
morphological supercompensation, athletes are
interested primarily in qualities like strength, power and
speed more than hypertrophy. When hypertrophy is
a goal, more bodybuilding-esque training is often
included, and this may involve exercises done to
failure or nearly so with less frequency, so this doesnt
really deviate from what youre talking about.
many similar movements frequently, you develop not

only this foundation of accommodation, but the ability
to recover more rapidly (again, this isnt taking the
same exercise to failure every day, and certainly not
with heavy full-body lifts).
So if you look at a week for a weightlifter, for example,
nearly invariably he or she will squat every day in one
way or another; this may be actually doing front or
back squats every day, or it will be a combination of
exercises that involve a squat such as squats, cleans,
snatches, etc. These are all leg exercises, but aside
from the athlete having the ability to manage frequent
training and recover more quickly than an untrained
individual (or one used to training by the protocol you
describe), the exercises vary in a number of ways, from
the actual movement to the loading to the reps to the
total volume. Its this modulation that helps makes it
possible to train like this.
In short, I dont know that theres really any new
information on this; just different groups of people
training different ways that have different effects and
consequently different protocols.
The rest of the training will still remain focused on

athletic qualities. Youre able to walk every day, which
is a leg exercise, without detriment. Why? Because its
such a common, frequently performed exercise that
your body is entirely accommodated to it and it has
virtually no effect anymore. This same thing can and
does happen with any other exercise to some extent.
If an athlete squats the same weight with the same
volume every day, eventually (surprisingly quickly, in
fact), it will cease to cause soreness or even much
fatigue. When youre training in a way that involves
THE PERFORMANCE MENU ISSUE 80 SEPTEMBER 2011 5
Steve Asks: Greg or Aimee, I have been following

CrossFit for about 18 months and seen great results.
James Fitzgerald is now my coach and Im trying to
really up my game. I have one issue though.... Front
Rack position.Do you two have any good suggestions/
exercises for me to increase flexibility in this area?
Wrist, elbow, shoulder? Also, any movements to
increase elbow speed when getting under the bar in
the clean. Thanks for your time. Love the blog, it is a
tremendous resource.
The elbows really shouldnt be stretched per sethey

primarily just need to become conditioned to the stress
of lifting. Spend time warming them up before training
by doing elbow circles both directions while rotating
your hand to get the ulna and radius moving as much
as possible at the elbow. You can also place a bar on
your back as you would for a back squat with your
hands close to you shoulders, then lift your elbows high
in front of you. Gradually move your grip wider as you
loose up.
Greg Says: First, play with your hand spacing on the

bar and find the position that gets you the closest with
your current flexibility. Often this is wider than you feel
like you should be gripping. I generally prefer a wider
clean grip for a number of reasons, such as a quicker
turnover and better positioning during the pull under,
but a wider grip also often makes the rack position
easier for people.
Being able to move your shoulder blades well is

important to get the shoulders up and under the bar
properly. A combination of scap push-ups and scap
ring rows is a good place to start. For the push-up, from
a standard push-up position, with an emphasis on a
straight, rigid body and the head in line with the back,
keep the elbows locked and let your torso sink down
by allowing the shoulder blades to retract completely.
From that bottom position, push the shoulders forward
as far as possible (scapular protraction). Hold each
position for a second before changing directions.
The ring rows are the identical movement, but with
resistance against scapular retraction rather than
protraction. You can alternate the two exercises for
3-4 sets of 10-15.
Improving flexibility for the rack position is fairly

straightforward, but like any other flexibility limitations,
it requires consistency and patience. As a start,
front squat a lot and consider the exercise a stretch.
Emphasize pushing the shoulders forward and up, the
elbows up and the palms up above the fingers.
Wrist flexibility is pretty simple: Find ways to push you
hand back and hold it. Probably the easiest way to
do this is to press your palm against a wall with your
arm perpendicular to the wall. Do this both with the
fingers pointing up and down. As you loosen up, you
can move your arm past perpendicular to close the
angle between the hand and forearm further. You can
also do this stretch against the floor while in a squat
position to combine the two stretches/warm-ups and
save time. All the grip work in lifting can make for very
tight wrist and finger flexors, so stretch them frequently
throughout the day.
Finally, you can try loading up a bar in a squat rack a

bit lower than what you would use to actually squat
from. Get your hands on the bar in the position you
would grip for a front squat, walk yourself under the bar
in a partial squat position, and pushing your shoulders
forward and up and your elbows as high as possible,
squat yourself up into the bar. If you have a partner, he
or she can assist and lift your elbows further than you
can do on your own.
As far as elbow speed goes in the clean, check out this
free article on the website.
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Give It a Little Tug: The Use of Pulls for Weightlifters

Matt Foreman
Dont you hate those times when you realize that
youve forgotten to do something that was pretty
important? This probably doesnt happen to most
of you very often, because everybody knows that
reading the Performance Menu sharpens your mind to
the point where it could practically split the atom. But
lets just assume that there are moments when youre
in the middle of your busy life and then, all of a sudden,
it occurs to you that you didnt do something that you
really needed to take care of.
most important components of a weightlifters

development? Pulls are essential if you want to snatch
or clean bigger weights. I cant imagine trying to
become a better weightlifter without using them. This
is a truth that I believe in very strongly, but I understand
that its also a statement that not everybody agrees
with. The use of pulls has been followed by a little
controversy in the weightlifting circles, and well make
sure we take a look at where this controversy comes
from.
I think back to the wonderful, heartwarming days of my

youth when my family would be driving in the station
wagon on the way to a long road-trip vacation. Like
clockwork, we would get six or seven miles down the
road and either my mom, my brother, or I would realize
that we forgot a toothbrush, swimming trunks, whatever.
Aaahhh, the sentimental feelings I get when I recall my
fathers loving response to these little mistakes. Good
lord!! Were ten miles down the *!%&ing road now!!
Were not turning around so you can go back and get
your $#*!ing swimming trunks!! It was like a Hallmark
commercialon crack.
Mea culpa, guys. Good lord, Ive never written an

article about pulls, and youve been reading this
&*%!ing magazine for years!! Better late than never,
though. Im going to jump right into the meat of this
article without any more of my jazzy preamble banter.
I dont want to waste any time, because pulls are just
that important.
The reason Im bringing all of this up is that I recently

realized that I have totally forgotten something pretty
important over the last few years since Ive been writing
for this magazine. Ive written articles on squats, jerks,
several different technical aspects of the Olympic
lifts, training programming, deadlifts, the whole ball of
cheese. But when I looked in my computer file a few
weeks ago where I keep all the Performance Menu
articles Ive done, it occurred to me that Ive never
written an article about the use of pulls. Im talking
about using snatch pulls and clean pulls in training to
improve the performance of the snatch and clean.
I dont know whats going on, brothers and sisters.
How could I have been writing for you all this time and
never given you an article about one of the absolute
Lets get the basics out of the way

Snatch or clean pulls are an assistance exercise for
the development of the Olympic lifts. Most of you
probably know what pulls
are, but lets hit a quick
explanation anyway. In
a snatch or clean pull,
the athlete basically
performs the exact same
movement as the snatch
or clean. But when doing
pulls, the movement
stops at the top of the
pull. There is no turnover
or receiving position.
Visualize a lifter doing a
snatch or clean, and then
hit pause with your brain
when the lifter is at the
fully extended top-pull position. The athlete is extended

as tall as possible onto the toes with the shoulders
shrugging, thats a completed pull. Conceptually, its
very similar to powerlifters using partial movements
like deadlift lockouts in a power rack. The idea is that
the lifters will perform pulls using weights that are
heavier than their maximum snatches or cleans. In
other words, a lifter who can snatch 200 pounds would
use pulls in their workout by doing five sets of three
repetitions with 215-225 pounds, somewhere in that
area. The idea is that the pulling phase of the snatch
or clean will be strengthened through overload. The
200-pound snatcher will build greater pulling strength
by completing these movements with 225 pounds,
which will allow the athlete to eventually snatch a
personal record of 205 or 210 because the body has
developed the power to handle this weight through
multiple pull workouts.
Its important to mention that there is a difference
between pulls and high pulls. When doing pulls, the
arms stay straight throughout the entire movement.
But when doing high pulls, the athlete extends into the
finished pulling movement and also pulls the elbows
upwards, bringing the bar up to the level of the chest.
In other words, the arms pull up on the bar when doing
high pulls, but they stay hanging straight when doing
pulls.
Personally, Im not a big fan of high pulls. I think the
best way to incorporate pulls into a weightlifters
arsenal is to let the arms hang straight and focus on
the movement of the legs, hips, back and shoulders. I
dont think the movement of the high pull has a very
close connection to what actually happens when a
lifter performs a snatch or clean. There have been a
few times in my career when Ive seen elite-level lifters
doing high pulls, but not often. The vast majority of
the lifters Ive seen or trained with over the years have
preferred pulls.
Using straps when doing pulls is a general rule for
weightlifters. Pulls are not a grip training exercise, and
doing multiple sets and reps with a hook grip puts a
serious beating on the thumbs, especially with the
heavy weights that will be used for pulls. If the athlete
uses straps, the focus can be put entirely on the pulling
movement, which is why were doing the damn things
in the first place. For weight selection, many coaches
like to use approximately 110% of the athletes personal
best in the competition lift. If the lifter can snatch 150
kilos, then multiplying 150x1.1 gives us 165 kilos, which is
a good weight for that particular athlete to use for pulls.
Some coaches get aggressive with pulls and decide
to really load the weights up. Ive seen athletes who
clean 90 kilos using 145 for their pulls, which brings us to
one of the most important issues in this discussion.
The technique of the pull must duplicate the

movement of the athletes competition lifts. You heard
me. Your clean pulls should basically look exactly like
your cleans, just without the turnover and completion.
If you decide to use clean pulls in your workouts and
you load the weights up drastically above 110% of
your clean, there is a strong chance that there are
going to be some technical flaws in your pulls. The
back will likely not stay perfectly tight and flat, speed
will be compromised, the butt might rise too quickly
when pulling from the floor, etc. When you get to this
point, you are simply practicing incorrect movements.
There is no point to doing pulls if using them is going
to strengthen technical flaws. Sure, its great to be
able to load all those bumpers on the bar and impress
everybody in your gym. But the translation of your
pulling strength into your actual snatch or clean will
be very minimal. The speed of your pulls should be as
close as possible to the speed of your full lifts. It isnt
realistic to expect to move 110% of your best snatch
with exactly the same speed as your snatches, but
they should be in the same ballpark. If those snatch
pulls start to look more like deadlifts than snatches, you
need to strip some weight off the bar.
The world according to Jaber

My personal belief is that pulls should be finished with
the athlete extending as high up on the toes as possible.
However, this idea comes from my basic philosophy
on how to perform the Olympic lifts. I have always
believed that optimum weightlifting technique requires
the athlete to stretch the body as tall as possible in the
finish of the pull. The lifter should be pushing up onto
the toes, the hips should be totally extended, and the
shoulders should be shrugging violently upwards. Thats
just how I think it should be done, folks.
However, its important to mention at this point that
there are some voices in the weightlifting world that
have different opinions. I just read an article on the
internet a few weeks ago where the writer said the
athlete should perform the entire pulling movement
with the weight on the heels of the foot. I totally
disagree with this idea. I have always taught athletes
to feel their bodyweight in the middle of their foot until
the final extension of the pull, when the goal is to drive
up onto the toes before jumping the feet outwards
into the receiving position.
As I said, there are coaches who teach things
differently. When I was brainstorming this article,
I looked around on YouTube to find some clips of
athletes performing snatch or clean pulls, hoping I
could include the video links here. But I couldnt find
one freaking video where anybody was doing their
pulls correctly. Admittedly, most of the videos I looked

at were not elite weightlifters. That probably explains a
lot. However, I did watch some old video of the 2001
World Weightlifting Championships right before I started
writing this piece, and I got to see superheavyweight
world champion Jaber Salem from Qatar snatching
210 kilos (462 pounds). Jabers technique is a great
visual demonstration of what Im describing. Because
he was raised in the Bulgarian system (hes actually
Yanni Marchakov from Bulgaria, but Qatar offered him
a big chunk of cash to lift for their country), Jaber gets
incredible extension into the top of his pull, rising up
onto the toes before jumping his feet out with a stomp
as he catches the bar overhead. Almost all of the
great Bulgarian lifters have similar technique, including
77 kilo world champion Zlatan Vanev, who is one
of the best technicians Ive ever seen. Its not just a
Bulgarian thing, though. The Russian superheavyweight
who finished second behind Jaber with a 451 pound
snatch executed his lifts in the same manner. The only
thing about Jabers technique I dont like is that he
jumps forward slightly, which is generally a major no-no
in weightlifting. But he snatches 462 pounds. I guess he
can jump wherever he wants.
There will be people who point at great lifters like Pyrros
Dimas of Greece and mention that Dimas basically
stayed flat-footed throughout his pulling movement,
which is different from what I just said about proper
weightlifting technique. Its true, Dimas did pull
almost entirely flat-footed. And that point brings us
to a weightlifting truth that many coaches just cant
seem to understand. There is more than one way to lift
big weights. No technical model is universal, and no
technique philosophy is dogma. World records have
been lifted by people who extend onto the toes and
jump the feet out with a stomp, and world records have
been lifted by people who keep most of their foot on
the floor for most of the lift. I have always believed that
if you watch enough world championship footage,
the majority of the great lifters you see will lift with
technique that is closer to Jabers, the extend-onthe-toes-and-jump-outward model that I described.
Theres a lot of evidence out there to back this up,
and thats why I teach weightlifting the way I do. But I
would never say that theres only one way to perfect
these movements.
Long story short, I think pulls should finish with extension
onto the toes at the top. If you want to do pulls with
your heels on the floor, knock yourself out.
Other incredibly important and intensely

critical issues
Lets do a rapid fire list of other ideas regarding pulls:
Pulls can be performed from the floor, from the hang,
from blocks, etc. I personally like doing all pulls from
the floor because I think that relates most closely with
the movements that will take place on a competition
platform. But a little variety never hurt anybody, and
doing pulls from different positions can be a great way
to mix things up for the athlete.
Sets of three-five are good repetitions for pulls, hitting
three-five sets right after the competition lifts have
been finished in training. In other words, after youve
finished your snatches, do five sets of three in snatch
pulls with around 110% of your highest snatch (then,
do your squats). Thats a solid plan, but remember that
the 110% number isnt etched in stone anywhere. My
coach used to have us occasionally do three sets of
five reps with 100%. Five reps of pulls with your clean
max will give those spinal erectors a good test. Doing
pulls two or three times a week is good planning, and
eliminating them fourteen days before a competition
is even better planning.
As I said, pulls should be an essential component of the
weightlifters preparation. I would never train anybody
who was serious about lifting without including pulls.
Ive heard some coaches say over the years that they
dont think pulls are important because they believe
in the Bulgarian training model and the Bulgarians
dont do them. Okay, let me say a couple of things
about that. First of all, the Bulgarians do pulls. Ive seen
them. It might be true that they dont use pulls as one
of the primary exercises with their top lifters, but they do
include them in different phases of their preparation.
If people tell you differently, remind them that much
of the information weve received in America about
the Bulgarian approach has been skewed. And even
if the Bulgarians dont do a lot of pullsso what? The
Russians do pulls in their training, and theyve been
cranking out the best lifters in the world for fifty years.
So stick that in your pudding and stir it.
They make your core stronger. They make your
technique better. They make your glutes and traps
harder, which is going to increase the love and respect
you get from the weightlifting community. I mean
seriously peoplethere are just too many freaking

positives to walk away from when it comes to pulls.
Ive met some lifters who say they dont like doing pulls.
Okay, fine. Do you like getting the crap kicked out of
you by other weightlifters? No? Then do your pulls. You
can mix up the sets and reps, mix up the weights, mix
up the starting position you do them from, etc. You
can even mix up when you do them in your workout,
although I would always do them before squats.
So there you have it people, an article about one of

the most fundamental weightlifting tools that it took me
three years to think of. Maybe Ill put together some
more keen articles in the next few months about topics
like why its important not to stab yourself, how drinking
bleach is a bad idea, stuff like that. Now that the most
obvious things in the world have made their way to the
front of my brain, the possibilities are endless.
Talking
Points with Norik Vardanian
Ryan Kyle
Norik Vardanian is a member of the Armenian National
Weightlifting Team in the 94kg class. He formerly lived
and trained in the United States and has represented
the U.S. in international competition. He won the 2008
U.S. National Weightlifting Championships and still
holds all of the School Age National records in the
85kg class. As a member of the Armenian National
Team, Norik competed at the 2010 European Under-23
championships and will be representing Armenia at the
2011 World University Championships. (Ed. Note: This
interview took place prior to the World Universities.)
Norik Vardanian began weightlifting when he was
fourteen as a basketball player looking to increase
his vertical jump. At the time, he had no ambition
of becoming a weightlifter, but after about a year
of training he realized that he would be a better
weightlifter than a basketball player and switched his
focus. During his first year of training, he would only lift
five days a week and on the sixth day he would do
plyometrics or play volleyball--some sort of active rest
type activity. These early workouts focused mainly on
technique work. His father, the great Yurik Vardanian,
had him do a lot of full lifts, usually working with 75-80%,
rarely maxing out.
To work on technique, his father had him do full
movements with light weight. These included plenty of
lifts from the hang and lifts from blocks. To learn how
to do the full lifts, Norik started with a 7.5kg bar and
his dad showed him how to snatch. Norik then copied
the movement by doing what he saw; there were no
overhead squats or other transition type lifts done.
He continued to do full movements before learning
the power versions of the lifts and he did all of these
early lifts without bumping/brushing the bar. His dad
always taught him to control the weight. There were
no special exercises used to learn how to move under
the bar, but he was taught to feel where the weight
was at all times. Whether the weight was off the floor,
during the pull or as he was moving under the bar

he was suppose to feel the weight at all times. This
simplistic approach was taken when learning the jerk
as well. His dad told him to feel the weight evenly in
both legs during the split and to split fast and divide
the weight evenly on both legs. As Norik stated, the
jerk has always been his best lift. Even today, he is more
likely miss a jerk in competition because he is tired from
the clean, not because he cannot jerk.
When Norik was 17, he competed at the American
Open and recorded lifts of 135kg snatch and 180kg
clean and jerk as an 85kg lifter. About two months
before the contest, his dad set goals of 140kg and
180kg for him. Yurik made a list of exercises with certain
weights that if Norik accomplished there would be
no reason he could not meet these goals. These lifts
included a 115kg power snatch, 190kg front squat
(which he missed once and then made a week later),
125kg hang snatch, 145kg power clean, and clean
pull of 180kg for an easy triple. Norik met all of the
goals and thus was extremely confident going into
the American Open. Even more impressive was that
during this successful period, he was still training only
once a day. It was not until he moved to the Olympic
Training Center the following year that he began to
train twice a day.
In January 2010, Norik moved back to Armenia and his
personal records now include a 165kg classic snatch,
170kg snatch from blocks, 210kg clean and jerk, 220kg
jerk from rack (done many times), 220kg front squat,
260kg back squat, 140kg power snatch and a 180kg
power clean. He said he moved back to Armenia
because he felt like he wasnt getting any better in
the States. He wanted to train with higher caliber lifters
and he saw it as a great opportunity since he had dual
citizenship. It was a decision he had been considering
for a long time and he finally decided to make the
move.
Norik lives in Yerevan, the capitol of Armenia, and

he trains with his coach at the Physical Education
University. His dad has given up the coaching duties
but will come in when he can to watch his son train.
The gym has old Soviet bars (about 30 years old) and
the only new bar is his own personal Werksan bar. There
are seven platforms, all of which are uneven, but as he
stated, everyone there trains like its their job, even
though he is the only lifter there currently getting paid.
When asked if these conditions better prepare lifters to
deal with the hard training he said, No, I dont think
worse conditions are better for preparation, but it has
more to do with the people. Life in Armenia is much
harder than in the U.S., so the kids train, train their butts
off because that is all they have. Most kids cant afford
to come to workouts every day. I think the reason they
train harder here is the lifestyle. While there is no fee
to train at the gym, simple transportation costs make
it difficult to train daily. According to Norik, if you are
anywhere in the city of Yerevan, you can take a cab
for 2 dollars or a 35 cent van to get to the gym, but a
lot of kids can not even afford this.
The training in Armenia is nothing extraordinarily
special. When Norik is training in his home gym, he is
there five days a week, once a day, with Thursdays
and Sundays off. A typical workout would include
some type of snatch exercise working up to a good
weight (usually 140kg if its a full movement) for 2-3
doubles, then maybe a power clean plus push press
with 140-150kg then pull and then squat followed by
30 minutes of assistance work. When he is not close to
a competition, he will finish his workout and then begin
snatching again. This workout would be on the harder
days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and
Saturday may be a hang snatch with 130-140kg and
jerks off the rack and some presses. These days are
easier in the sense that they have less volume, but he
is more likely to go heavier.
When asked if the 30 minutes of assistance work was
the reason for his increased muscular frame, he said,
Honestly, I still have some extra body fat. All the head
coaches in Armenia tell me that every time I go to
training camp, but most of the loss in body fat comes
from me doing ab work. In the States, I never paid any
attention to ab work. Anyone that I ever trained with
in the States will tell you that I barely ever did any. Here
in Armenia, I do a lot more bodybuilding exercises. I do
abs, presses, lower back work, even curls. I do them
mainly for injury prevention and to become more
muscular to lose the extra weight. The head coach of
Armenia, when I went to my first training camp told
me to do this. We were in the sauna and he came up
and grabbed my lower stomach fat and squeezed it
pretty hard and was like, What the hell is this? I better
not see this next time youre at camp. So I was like,

Okay, sir. He was the one that told me what different
exercises I should do after training, he said after every
workout I should dedicate 30 minutes to bodybuilding
exercises.
As a member of the Armenian National Team, Norik
divides his time between training at home and training
with the rest of team in training camps. These camps
are exclusive and precede the major international
competitions and each camp lasts from two to threeand-a-half weeks, never a full month. They take
place in different cities in Armenia. The conditions at
the camps are better than at the Physical Education
University, with nicer platforms and Eleiko sets, but
still a notch down from what we are use to in the
States. The gyms that are used for the training camps
are used exclusively for the National Team; only one
gym operates as a local club. The lifters are housed
in either special housing for athletes or a nice hotel
depending on which city they are in. Most everyone
has a roommate, although certain lifters are offered a
room to themselves.
The lifters have to be invited to participate in the
camps and if they do not perform up to the coaches
expectations, they are abruptly sent home. For instance,
before the Senior Europeans this year, Norik attended
the first two camps in preparation for the contest. After
the second camp he was told not to come to the
next one. They only keep lifters they believe have a
shot at making the team. After the training camp, the
coaches decide who should stay and who should go.
Its almost like a Real World/Road Rules Challenge,
says Norik. We get voted off when we dont perform
until there are only eight guys left.
During these camps, the lifters train nine times a week
and on the double days the morning workout begins at
8:30 am and consists of something like muscle snatches
followed by push presses with the lifters deciding what
to do. The coaches usually say what we do but they
are really flexible. Their main thing is that we enjoy
training; they will say, Okay, snatch, and I say, What
kind? and they will be like, Whatever kind you like,
but if they notice you like doing something more or if
youre really good at one, for instance, hang snatch,
they will be like, Okay, do snatch, any kind except
hang.
Lest anyone believes the Armenians are adhering to
a secret formula of sets, reps, and percentages, this
is not the case. The coach only says snatch, for lets
say triples, and then he watches and tells you to go up
or not. Then he will ask how many you did at a certain
weight and he will say either thats enough or do two
more. We go by feel, not what is written on paper. A

lot of times the lifters want to go up in weight and the
coach comes and takes all the weight off the bar so
you dont do anymore. That is only when the lifter is
real fired up and the coach doesnt want you to go
heavier. [Percentages] is all BS, you have to go by
feel.
One hallmark of these camps seems to be the
camaraderie between lifters, which is only encouraged
by the coaches. Rather than being slaves under a
draconian leader, the lifters help each other out;
everyone gives each other advice. [The camps are]
very intense and serious during workouts, but towards
the end we joke around and there is a guy on the
team that imitates everyones lifting and we laugh our
asses off. On lighter days, we joke around a lot.
For those of you who wish there was a training hall tape
from these camps, you are not alone. Some highlight
lifts Norik has seen so far include the following: Ara
Khachatryan (many times European Championship
silver medalist) after a heavy clean and jerk workout
(he did 205kg that day) grab 120kg from the hang and
powered it like a bar, then jumped to 160kg and also
powered it. Tigran Martirosyan (2010 World Champion)
clean and jerked 210kg weighing 81.5kg and cleaned
215kg. Ruben Aleksanyan (super heavyweight, many
times Youth and Junior European Champion) push
pressed 210kg like a toy.
Contrary to the way operations are conducted in the
U.S., not all of the top lifters are forced to compete in the
Nationals to make a team. The coaches tell who is in
shape at training camps, also when they do compete
they are not forced to cut weight because that affects
training and the main goal is medaling at meets
outside of Armenia. The only eligibility requirement for
international competitions is participation in a training
camp. Usually the youth, junior and senior teams each
have their own camps but sometimes there are a
few exceptions. This year, Gor Minasyan came with
us to training camp because he was the only male
lifter going to Junior Worlds and anyone going on an
international trip has to go to training camp.
Where do all these fantastic lifters come from? The
assumption in the States is that these lifters are recruited
at a young age and systematically trained to become
world champions. However, this is not the case;
weightlifting is not taught in the elementary schools.
According to Norik, gone are the days of Soviet style
recruitment, all of their lifters come from walk-ins. Kids
just come in and ask if they can train. Like after Tigran
became World Champion, I was at his gym training

and two kids came in and asked if they could train. The
coach asked, Why do you want to lift weights? They
replied, So I can be a world champion like Tigran.
Weightlifting continues to be a popular sport in
Armenia, behind only soccer, but as Norik said, our
soccer team sucks, so I guess that makes weightlifting
number one. There are highlights from the national
meets on the news during the sports section and when
the lifters come back with a medal it is a huge deal
and hundreds of people come to the airport to greet
them with cameras and sometimes even the president
of Armenia comes. An example of weightliftings
popularity is Tigran Martirosyan, who cannot walk
down the street without having someone asking to
take a picture with him. Also, Gor Minasyan (94kg+
Youth World Champion) was given the best under-17
athlete in Armenia award - he is making some good
money. And of course Yurik Vardanian is known by
every man, woman and child in the country. They love
their athletes.
While weightlifting brings notoriety in Armenia, financial
bonuses are also a huge incentive for kids to begin
training. When Tigran became World Champion, they
said on TV how he got a house in the center of Yerevan,
approximately worth 300 grand, so that motivates
people. Medaling at an international competition is a
guaranteed stipend for a whole year. You receive a
big payment and then you get money every month
for a year, depending on what meet and what place.
While Norik could not give an exact amount because
it varies, he did say it is much more than the average
person. Even at the Armenian national meets, the
winners all are rewarded with cash. While it is not much
money the top three lifters in each class get paid, it
doesnt matter what weight is lifted.
This is where the differences between the U.S. and the
rest of the world become evident. According to Norik,
the problem with U.S. lifting is there is no motivation
to train. This is from when I was there. I was ranked
top 8 in the nation the last two years I was in the U.S.
and all I got was 500 bucks a month. I could work at
McDonalds and make more than that. I was thinking
to myself why the hell am I lifting weights? Other than
the Olympic dream. But you cant support a family on
500 bucks a month. You can barely support yourself. I
was living at the OTC with everything paid for and 500
bucks was still nothing.
Internal motivation is another difference between the
two countries. In the U.S., a lot of lifters treat weightlifting
like a hobby. It is much more serious in Armenia. I am

way more motivated to train here, says Norik. I watch
little kids train and it motivates me. Almost everyone
here trains with heart. It is literally their job.
the national meets. Stating at a hotel, flight costs, food

- its expensive. In Armenia, the lifters that live outside
of Yerevan get money for their travel expenses. Also,
in the U.S., if you dont go to nationals you cant go to
any other meet outside the U.S.
When asked what problems he sees with U.S.

Weightlifting having now experienced both sides, Norik
said he has noticed the speed of the lifters in Armenia.
You cant even compare it to the lifters in the U.S,
he said. Speed is due to focus on speed: hang work,
sprints, jumps and recovery (including swimming,
sauna and massage.)
I asked Norik how many weightlifting gyms were in

Armenia and he said about 100. The country only has
3.6 million citizens, which makes for about 1 gym per
36,000 people. For comparison, the U.S. would about
need 10,000 weightlifting gyms to reach the same
ratio.
Another key difference Norik has noticed in the U.S.

centers on motivation. An individual has to be a
ridiculously motivated person to train and reach world
caliber status in the U.S., he said. Also, that same
person has to be quite wealthy as well. Going on
to further explain his point, he says, You have to be
wealthy because it costs a lot of money to go to all
Lack of athlete recruitment and special top-secret

training are excuses made by the U.S. lifting community
for poor results. After interviewing Norik, the formula
for success becomes clear. Expose people to the
sport, give them opportunities to train, make their
accomplishments known, and reward them financially
for their successes.
Integrated
Mobility,
Part
2:
Flow
Work
Scotty Hagnas
Last month, we took a look at the five pillars of a
complete mobility practice. This month, Id like to
discuss the integration of mobility, or flow work. Flow
work is whole body, multi-planar movement that
can be used to achieve several different goals. In its
simplest form, it is the movement between or through
several different positions. It can be just your body and
the floor, or you can use an external load such as a
kettlebell. Lets first look a little more deeply into why
this flow work is important and why it should be a
part of your training program.
1. Flow work offers a compact training unit that
develops mobility, balance, accuracy, strength
endurance, relaxation and even creativity.
2. Complex movement patterns have been shown to
deliver a training effect that is greater than the sum of
the individual parts.
3. Flow work offers a release of neuromuscular tension.
This tension may be residual tension from your main
training sessions, or mental/emotional tension from the
stress of your day. By removing this tension before it
embeds as a chronic condition, you can accelerate
recovery and improve health. You may even reduce
elevated stress hormones.
4. Flow work allows you to avoid overuse injuries from
redundant movement patterns. In the current varied/
functional exercise trend, we see a wide variety of
exercises used. However, most of these exercises share
a similar movement pattern. By incorporating more
organic movements and moving in different planes of
motion, you build muscular and structural strength in
all planes of movement.
5. Joint and connective tissue strength is built slowly

and only in the direction or movements that are
done repeatedly. Controlled strain on the joint tissues
may increase the formation of fibers, contributing to
increased elasticity and strength.
6. Flow work provides safety for times when you are
unexpectedly forced out of your regular range of
motion. You will have a built in reserve of joint strength
and control outside of your required ROM.
7. Contrary to what some have said, flow work does
NOT replace your regular training. You still need to
lift, pull, run, etc. Properly sequenced flow work will
amplify your results in your regular training, and more
importantly, allow you to continue it long into the
future.
8. Flow work increases proprioception. The more
complex movements that you regularly perform, the
larger the pool of movement possibilities you can call
on, plus the more finely-tuned the inputs to your central
nervous system will be. Studies have shown that with
lack of regular movement, proprioceptive ability is
diminished.
9. Flow work releases endorphins and activates the
parasympathetic nervous system.
10. Flow work can be used as play. You simply move
and experiment to see what you can do to master
your body, much like a child. Children do not hold
onto stress as much as adults do. A likely reason: they
remove it through movement (play), just as other
animals do. As adults, we often stop moving and the
stress embeds in our body.
Flow work can be used for several distinctly different

purposes. Lets explore these differences.
Movement recovery
In this context, well consider recovery to be removing
a limitation to optimal range of motion or joint
stability. Though early stage work in removing these
impediments will come largely from the other pillars of
mobility work (as discussed in the first installment of this
series), flow work can be used here also. Here, you are
developing the basic movements.
Movement efficiency
a slower pace, flow work can be a great low intensity

recovery session. It can even be done as active rest
during mixed aerobic power sessions. Depending on
the movements chosen, local muscular endurance
may be developed as well.
Stages of Flow Practice:

1) Develop the positions
You first must be comfortable in the positions that
you wish to move through. These positions may be
developed by more traditional stretching methods, or
by practicing each position.
2) Single movement practice
In efficiency practice, you focus on execution of the

movements youve learned as smoothly and effortlessly
as possible. Your focus can be on postural awareness
or breathing. This type of practice is done slowly at
first, and later can be done at greater speeds. One
can even practice with closed eyes as a method of
removing distractions and increasing proprioceptive
input.
Start by using two positions. Practice moving smoothly

between the two points.
3) Sequencing
Once you have several two position movements
learned with a common point, then you can build a
chain of movements.
As a recovery modality
4) Improvisation of practiced movements
The body adapts to everything you do regularly,

whether you want it to or not. To stay healthy and
progress, the concept of structural balance dictates
that the body cannot develop too far in one direction if
the opposing or stabilizing movements are not trained.
In a basic sense, this is now well understood. As an
example, we recognize the importance of balancing
a pushing movement like the bench press with a similar
pulling movement such as a row. Compensation
through flow work goes way beyond this, though. Its
purpose is to realign and stabilize the joints, plus remove
residual tension. To decide what types of movements
should be done as compensation is part art and part
science, just as traditional program design is as much
an art as a science. You want to look at the primary
training movement and see what is not moving, and
also what is not moving through full ROM. From here,
you can develop movements to address this.
As your movement vocabulary grows, you can begin

to practice free-form movement. Pick a time and
move continuously without planning ahead as to what
you will be doing.
As metabolic conditioning
Once you have developed quality technique with a
set of movements, you can use them as energy system
work. Different sequences have inherently different
metabolic demands, and since most flow work
involves the whole body, some movements can be
very demanding from an energy system standpoint. At
Building a Flow
Lets finally get down to how to build a sequence.
Flow work and training complexes are similar in basic
construction. I will use an example of a training complex
that should be familiar to everyone. Imagine that we
have a power clean, a front squat, a front racked
forward lunge and a split jerk. All of these movements
share a common point - the racked position. As a
result, we can combine these movements in many
ways. A planned, known sequence could be done,
and this could be repeated for reps. This is like stage
3 above. Or, one could simply keep the bar moving
for a planned time frame, such as one minute, with no
planned order or number of movements - you just move
constantly through the movements at random. This
would be similar to stage 4. Bar complexes such as the
ones mentioned above arent really flow work in a true
sense, as they are a collection of linear movements.
They serve here to illustrate the basic process, though.
Next, lets develop an actual flow.
Lets say we want to develop a flow to help recover

from squatting. There are many ways to do this, so
please dont take this as a prescription. There are
many individual concerns to take into account and
many potential levels of difficulty! This is simply a nonindividualized, generic example. First, lets look at what
is not moving in a squat. The big one is obvious - the
torso is held rigid during the whole movement. The hips
do not appreciably rotate, either. There is more, but
well start here. Next, what moves, but not through full
range of motion? The entire anterior side of the body
does not fully open, and there is no plantar flexion of
the ankles. Well now build a collection of movements
to address this.
Well use a deep, relaxed squat as a common point.
This position alone can be used to release lumbar
tension and increase mobility around the hip, but well
add to it. The next position will be some variation of
the plough pose from yoga. Connecting the two will
be done using the exercise commonly known as the
deck squat--from the deep squat, roll smoothly onto
your back into a spinal rock or plough position, then
roll back to the deep squat position. The key is to roll
smoothly - try to focus and remove any flat spots that
clunk on the ground as you roll.
The second sequence well use is from the low squat,
reaching behind you with one hand, then the other.
Youll be in a crab walk-like position. Lifting your heel
and staying on your toes, rotate the left hip maximally
outward, then inward. Repeat with the right, and then
push yourself back into the squat. This will take care of
hip rotation.
The third sequence will move from the low squat to an
elevated shin stretch. Youll plant your hands in front of
you, transfer weight to them while softly jumping your
feet together and pointing your toes. Rebound back
to the starting position of the squat.
The fourth and final sequence goes from the low squat
through a gymnastic bridge. My good friend Ido Portal
calls these rotations through high bridge and they
are a staple of his flow practice. Youll reach behind
you with one hand, rotate on the outside of that hand
into a gymnastic bridge, then exit back to the squat on
the opposite side. Repeat in the opposite direction. This
is a more advanced movement than the other three,
but one I feel everyone should be able to eventually
do.
At first, youll practice just the individual sequences.
Later, they can become a complete flow if you move
through them sequentially. Do not move into pain.
You must always seek to remove tension through your
movement, not add to it! If you find a challenging
movement, go slower and relax through it. Do not
hold your breath at any point, as doing so adds to your
tension and decreases your quality of movement. Work
up to performing the entire flow for three rounds of 3
repetitions, resting for 30 seconds between rounds in
the low squat. Do it at the end of your regular workout,
and also on recovery days.
One reason that flow work is rarely taught is because
of the complexity of describing the movements.
Thankfully, Ive linked to a video of these sequences so
you can better understand them. I have also included
a handful of sequences that I use, either in my personal
practice or with my clients so you can get a better
idea of what I am talking about. These sequences are
all floor work, though Ill do some work with weighted
implements in the final installment next month. We will
look at simple but effective sequences that we use in
our facility, how to program flow work into sessions with
examples, and then bring it all back together with the
periodization of flexibility/mobility.
Watch A Video Here
Repetitive
Motion/Overuse
Injuries
in
Athletes
Dr. Stephen Flikke
Repetitive motion/overuse injuries, otherwise known as
cumulative trauma disorders, are described as tissue
damage that results from repetitive demand over
the course of time. The term refers to a vast array of
diagnoses, but is most common in repetitive motion
and high impact activities. As the name indicates,
the types of activities that are most likely to cause
these types of injuries are those that require the same
movement over and over again. Examples of this would
be long distance running or swimming, or any activity
in which the athlete is required to do the exact same
movement in a repetitive motion. In strength training,
you are more likely to see these types of injuries in which
the routine is not changed or the lifter fails to work the
opposing muscles, creating a muscular imbalance.
What is an overuse injury?

Overuse injuries are caused by an accumulation
of micro trauma, or a small amount of muscle injury
(important for muscle growth and strength), which
builds up to macro trauma, which is a large amount
of muscle injury that is not important for muscle growth
or strength and will actually stop your training due
to pain. When a weightlifting injury occurs, this can
cause a weakness. There are three sources for a
weakness due to an injurythe muscle, the joint and
the nerve. The muscle may be damaged, shortened
or deconditioned. If the joint separates at all (such
as the shoulder), the muscles that cross the joint are
not as strong due to the fact that they will not fully
function in an unstable joint. If there is any pressure on
the nerve, such as a herniated disk, this can decrease
the neurological flow to the muscle and cause a
weakness. Also, some new research has shown that
nerve tension can decrease the muscle strength
as well. You need to assess the muscles, joints and
nerve supply to the muscles to determine if any of the
structures are dysfunctional. If any of the structures are
not functioning properly, they need to be fixed, then

rehabilitated.
How are tissue and joints specifically affected by an
overuse injury?
Joints
Joint injuries are either a compression or shearing injury
that can cause pain and multiple muscle weakness
patterns.
In the compression type of injury, the trauma is
directed mostly to the joint itself. This type of injury has
little or no tearing of the tissues and swelling, if present,
is limited to the joint capsule. The stress of the weight
affects mechanoreceptors and nociceptors in the
joint structure. This type of injury appears to affect
the internal structures of the joint that can exhibit
a common finding of multiple muscle weaknesses,
especially muscles that cross that joint. Joints that can
be affected by this include the ankle, knee, lumbar,
thoracic and cervical joints. The exercises that can
affect these joints are usually ones with heavy axial
loading such as heavy squats, deadlifts, shoulder
presses, etc. These heavy loads can compress the
joints enough to create an abnormal firing of joint
receptors and change the normal tone and strength
of the muscles that surround that joint. Repeated
traction of these joints can normalize the firing of the
joint receptors and reestablish the normal tone and
strength of the muscles.
The second type of joint injury can occur from a shearing
or tearing action that can injure multiple structures.
This the most common type of joint injury and occurs
when joints and related structures are strained and
twisted, causing injury to muscles, ligaments, skin and
receptors of the joints. Any joint in the body can be
affected by a shearing injury by virtually any exercise.

The shearing type of joint injury will cause weakness
of the muscles that cross the joint. The weaknened
muscle pattern will cause a strain on ligaments, which
will cause residual pain over the ligaments. Ligaments
are the structures that cross and stabilize the joint and
when stressed abnormally, will cause a weakness
in the muscles that cross that joint. There are certain
receptors in ligaments that when overloaded will
cause a reflex muscle weakness. This is because the
muscles will not function properly or with full strength
in an unstable joint; this is a protective mechanism to
prevent further damage to the joint. Depending on
the severity of the injury and the length of time before
initiation of treatment, the patient will adapt to their
injury and require treatment for muscle incoordination
and imbalances. This will cause a secondary reason
for pain and weakness in the muscle when doing the
exercise, long after the initial injury. Limitation of range
of motion can indicate an imbalance of the prime
movers and synergists and antagonists. An example of
this would be doing the squat improperly and inducing
an injury to the knee. This will cause an abnormal stress
on the knee ligaments and cause a weakness of the
muscles that cross that joint such as the quadriceps
and hamstrings. If the injury to the knee is not treated
and rehabilitated immediately and properly, this can
cause an imbalance between the quadriceps and
hamstrings and create more pain and weakness. If the
imbalance is severe enough or is allowed to exist for a
long period of time, this can also cause stress in other
joints and weakness in other muscles unrelated to the
original injury.
Muscles and Ligaments

Strength training injuries in the soft tissue can come
from a variety of sources. Examples of this may be poor
lifting technique, lifting beyond your capabilities or
training too often without proper rest or recuperation.
All of these sources can lead to micro trauma, or small
injury, that can get worse over time. Because you dont
recognize that the injury is there, you reinjure yourself
frequently. This repeated micro trauma can eventually
have a profound effect on the specific action of the
joint and the surrounding tissues. The effects of the
micro trauma include the micro tearing of the muscle,
the sheath around the muscle and the adjacent
connective tissue, as well as stress to the tendon and
its bony attachments. The micro tearing of the muscle
tissue leads to microscopic bleeding, all of which
affects the entire area around the injury, contributing
to what is commonly know as inflammation.
Most people assume that inflammation can be easy to
detect, like the swelling around a badly sprained ankle.
This is not always the case, however. Micro trauma
causes a corresponding low level of inflammation that

cannot be seen or palpated.
The body responds to this myofascitis (inflammation of
the muscle and fascia) by forming fibrous adhesions,
or scar tissue, in the muscle between the sheaths of
adjacent muscle groups and between the fascia and
the muscle sheaths. These fibrous adhesions limit the
ease and range of motion of muscles and joints and
can decrease the muscles lengthening and shortening
capabilities. Once the normal biomechanics of the
joint are altered, this can lead to further inflammation
and the pattern becomes a vicious cycle of long-term
wear and tear.
This fibrous adhesion pattern can be seen in people
who do certain exercises such as bench press and
complain of the same pain in the exact same spot.
This doesnt happen by chance. The fibrous adhesion
formed in the shoulder muscle is preventing proper
motion and pulling on the various soft tissue structures
like muscle, fascia, tendon and bursa when trying
to perform the bench press. An option would be to
alternate the barbell bench press with the dumbbell
bench press. You are still able to target the same
muscles but at the same time you are allowing other
muscle groups to fire and create stability.
Managing Overuse Injuries

Three general rules to remember for managing and
strengthening overuse injuries:
1) Muscles work best when they can move through their
full Range of Motion (ROM). If you have a joint that is
limited, it will impact how the muscles around it work.
This may not be the case with your injury, but without a
known cause, its best to cover all of your bases. If you
do not have full range of motion in a muscle, you may
want to focus on the antagonist muscle and decrease
the weight that you are using or seek help from a
manual therapist or ART practitioner who specializes in
restoration of ROM in the muscle.
2) Each muscle group has a beginning and an end,
or origin and insertion. In overuse injuries, one end
is usually symptomatic and the other is not. While
working to loosen the symptomatic area, it is crucial
to remember to work on both ends to alleviate built
up tension throughout the entire muscle. The best way
to do this is make sure you run through the full range
of motion. When you are doing a squat, if you do not
complete the squat, you are only working the superior
portion if the muscle group. By bringing the squat
down to the full range, you are also using the lower
hamstring muscles, for example.
3) Muscle groups work in pairs that work against each

other in opposite directionsas one group contracts,
the other relaxes. If one group of muscles becomes
tight or fatigued, it will stop contracting fully. This
means that the opposing group of muscles will stop
being stretched when that happens and stiffen up
and restrict motion as a result. Therefore, you need
to work on the antagonist muscle groups. If your
quads become over developed, for example, your
hamstrings will become weak and fatigued, causing
muscular imbalance and leaving you prone to injury.
Your training program should always include antagonist
muscle groups. Balance quad-dominant exercises
with posterior chain work and low back-dominant
exercises with abdominal work. As far as volume goes,
antagonists should be trained at the same level as the

opposing group.
Be aware of minor injuries building up over time. For
home care, make sure you ice and use a foam roller.
For more serious injuries, make sure you go to someone
who specializes in overuse injuries such as a sports
chiropractor or a manual therapist.
If you like to run or bike, realize that you also need to
do strength training and if you lift, realize that your
core strengthening is key to preventing injury. When
you are lifting or training, especially in the off-season,
make sure you mix things up. Dont just do what you
feel you are good at.
Clean Mass Gain: A Case Study

Dallas Hartwig
Few topics Ive talked about writing about have

garnered more interest than my clean mass gain
experiment. In fact, as noted by Greg Everett and Robb
Wolf in earlier PM articles, few topics in the physical
culture realm receive more attention than gaining
muscle. In an effort to write about this subject from
a personal perspective, I recently undertook a clean
mass gain experiment, gaining 12 lean pounds in 5
weeks. I intend to share both my methods, focusing on
the nutritional aspect, as well as some of my thoughts
on mass gain here, however tedious they might be.
Health, Performance, or Both

Keith Norris speaks intelligently about the correlatedbut-not-synonymous nature of performance and
health. Ill not dissect that topic here; thats a longer
discussion for another day. However, his general point
is that at levels of performance approaching elite
(whatever that is), health must be compromised to
continue to support performance enhancement. Well
operate on this premise during this discussion.
It is important to recognize that, to a very large degree,
performance enhancement tends to be synergistic
with health promotion, and there is fortunately a
long period of high correlation between health and
performance as both improve. Of course, it is possible
to do things that, for a limited time, profoundly
enhance performance, but have the potential to be
destructive to long-term health. Said another way, I
believe that optimal performance is built on a deep
and solid foundation of health, and that it is difficult
for most individuals to achieve very high levels of
performance without that foundation. Furthermore,
in the vast majority of individuals, building that solid
health foundation should take precedence over a
pure performance-driven program.
In Greg Everetts Mass (A)Gain article, he made

the point that, for competitive athletes who are
aggressively seeking mass to enhance already good
performance, vast amounts of food are necessary.
And in this particular scenario, he wrote, quantity takes
precedence over quality more unequivocally
beats out better. However, the challenge faced
by us normal people (amateur recreational athletes
and fitness enthusiasts) is that many who desire to
aggressively gain mass to increase their performance
unwittingly sacrifice already suboptimal health in that
pursuit.
Why Would You Want To Do That?

After all those preliminary meanderings, Ill mention
that this article is addressed primarily to normal folks,
not elite-level performers. Those statistical outliers
have somewhat different rules, given that their
level of performance is often in spite of their nutrition,
instead of because of it. (I wont guarantee to make
Michael Phelps, famous for his not-so-clean diet,
faster by altering his nutrition plan though its not
unimaginable.) Truly high-level athletes have already
made a decision, consciously or otherwise, to sacrifice
some degree of health for performance, and they
often employ different strategies than mentioned here
quite successfully.
But while interacting with hundreds of normal people
at our nutrition workshops, it seems that health and
longevity are at the core of many peoples desire
to gain massin essence, more muscle will improve
physical capacity, glucose disposal, etc. So Ill operate
on the premise that youre reading this because you
care first and foremost about your health, potentially
with secondary goals as well.
Whats Your Motivation?

Before jumping into any mass gain program, the intrinsic
motivation for desiring to gain mass (presumably
mostly muscle) must be first ferreted out so that
an appropriate strategy may be employed. In my
experience, there are three primary motivations to gain
mass: performance, health and vanity. Those are not
mutually exclusive, nor is vanity an unworthy reason for
undertaking a mass gain program. Furthermore, most
individuals dont have a singule reason for seeking more
mass; generally, there is one primary motivation, with
some secondary motivations in the mix. Determining
which is primary will be key in determining your plan of
attack. Just be honest with yourself (and, if applicable,
your trainer/coach) about your primary motivation to
seek more muscle, as that will make you more likely to
facilitate success in reaching your goals.
(Aside: If, after some introspection and detailed goalsetting, your primary focus is not health, but aesthetics,
theres good news for you. That particular formula
has already been worked out to a very large degree
by physical culturalists, and refined even further by
bodybuilders. I will not disparage your goals, but it is
not necessary for me to write further about that topic
a host of publications already outline that kind of a
program with generally good results.)
What is Clean?
As part of our consulting practice, we run into lots of
folks with (often unidentified) food intolerances and
pre-existing health issues that require a cleaner dayto-day diet. We employ a flexible Paleo-ish nutritional
strategy with them, generally with great success. For
most people, the closer they get to an unprocessed,
squeaky-clean Whole30-type diet, the better their
overall health. The categorical omission of foods like
sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy and legumes is highly
simplified, sure, but in our experience, the vast majority
of our clients dont do best with one or more of those
general categories of foods in their diets.
So if most people attain excellent health with this type
of nutrition strategy, and this article is directed primarily
at health-oriented individuals, then a clean nutrition
strategy seems well-matched for putting on mass
while retaining health - even if that mass gain plan is
fairly aggressive. The oft-recommended gallon of milk
a day (GOMAD) program seems to create as many
problems as it solves, and the inclusion of more overtly
unhealthy choices (e.g. ice cream) and processed
choices (e.g. most protein shakes) dont seem wellsuited to those of us with a significant health bias.
clean mass gain to express that I ate a grain- and

legume-free diet, and that the only dairy products I
used were pastured, clarified butter and organic heavy
cream. I reasonably limited my added sugar intake (I
didnt go so far as to forgo ketchup, for example), and
consumed only two alcoholic beverages in the course
of the month.
For the record, I dont think that a clean plan has to
mean sanitized of all possible contaminants. Frankly,
the plan itself was hard enough, and trying to gain
significant mass while doing the Whole30 might have
pushed me over the edge.
Training: Move Heavy Weight. Move Fast.

My training program during the Clean Mass Gain
(CMG) was simple, hard and effective. With the stellar
program design and coaching of Rob MacDonald at
Gym Jones (my regular gym), I trained 3-4 days per
week, emphasizing big, heavy movements at high
intensity. The focus of this article is the nutrition aspect
of the CMG experiment, but Ill outline a typical week
of training for interests sake.
I trained at Gym Jones three days a week (M, W, F),
with one additional session per week on my own. Each
day had a primary goal, a primary focus. Mondays
were a big neurological day, with a goal of increasing
neural activation of big muscle groups. For example,
Id do 30 second intervals of speed squats (loaded
with <40% of my 1RM) with 30 seconds of rest, for 6-8
intervals. Another effective session included 5 sets of
1-2 deadlifts at >95% immediately followed by 3-5 tuck
jumps, depth jumps or tall box jumps with full recovery
between sets. (If youre interested, do some Googling
on post-activation potentiation.) Mondays were
the one day that I had two sessions; the afternoons
included a track workout. A sample track session would
be 10 x 100m sprints (with 1 minute of rest between), or
5 x 400m repeats (with 4 minutes of rest between).
Wednesdays had an upper body emphasis, generally
with a push/pull pairing. Think push press immediately
followed by pull-ups to failure, or heavy bench press
plus barbell rows. Fridays came to be known as MFLD.
(I shouldnt have to explain.) On Fridays, a 10 x 10 back
squat (or front squat) session at a barely tolerable but
successful) load was more than effective. (For the
record, I increased my loading by 30+ pounds for a 10
x 10 back squat during my CMG, indicating improved
work tolerance, and that the added mass was not just
dumb muscle. And just in case you were wondering,
I did no silly isolation-type exercises.)
Movements that had a significant technical aspect
During my mass gain experiment, I used the phrase
were generally minimized. Think deadlifts and

squats instead of cleans, and bench press and push
press instead of jerks or snatches. (Not to imply that
weightlifting is not of value for mass gain it simply was
not part of my program.)
All long-duration impact activities (like running) were
avoided during this aggressive plan. Frankly, metabolic
conditioning in general was avoided since it would
detract from the primary focus of creating an anabolic
environment; the track work was more directed at
the production of an acidic muscular environment
and neural stimulation than any overt focus on
cardiovascular fitness or energy production. As was
expected, my conditioning suffered tremendously
during this time period, but you cant do it all.
me. I typically run 5-7% body fat, and gaining useful

muscle mass is hard for me. Ive been eating a largely
Paleo-type diet for about five years, and friends
know me as a big eater. I tell you this just so you have
a little context. If I can be successful with a CMG
program, pretty much anyone can with adequate
commitment. In a period of five weeks, I went from 198
lbs. to 210 lbs., with a negligible increase in body fat
(admittedly very subjective). I got as high as 213 lbs. at
one point, but couldnt maintain that weight with my
busy lifestyle. I discontinued the CMG after 7 weeks.
Note, I wasnt interested in dissecting muscle mass vs.
fat percentages, and therefore did not get a precise
body composition measurement (like a DEXA scan or
hydrostatic weighing).
The Core of the Program: Eat. More.
Recovery Matters
Training intensity for the duration of my CMG was
maximal. That approach can be pretty destructive,
but my recovery practices (persistent little bugger, that
recovery thing) were forcibly, radically expanded from
pre-CMG levels. Every training session was followed by
either an ice bath or contrast shower (ice baths were
generally used after the higher volume, leg-intensive
sessions). Sleep became my second (or third) full-time
job. (Well come back to the discussion of sleep, but
understand that naps and 9-10 hours of sleep became
my norm. It had to be that way.) Foam rolling, mobility
work, easy recovery walks or casual 30-60 minute
Airdyne rides helped with recovery as well. Additionally,
I had deep tissue bodywork done almost weekly.
If that last paragraph gave you pause about what
type of lifestyle it takes to support an aggressive mass
gain program, it should have. For those of you who
simply do not have the time to dedicate to extra sleep
and additional recovery practices, an aggressive mass
gain program will likely be less successful. That is not to
say that it is not possible I only wish to emphasize that
success is highly contingent on a lifestyle that supports
such rapid mass gain. (Its not just about eating more
and moving heavy weight.)
While I was thrilled with the training program Rob put

together for me, I dont place that at the top of my
reasons for success. So where did those 12 pounds
come from? I ate like it was my full-time job. I ate
when it wasnt convenient, I ate when I wasnt hungry,
and I often ate well beyond the point of discomfort.
Like Greg Everett has previously written, the discipline
required to successfully gain substantial mass on an
abbreviated schedule is, in a word, considerable.
My nutrition plan was simple: eat large servings of
meat, fish, and eggs, lots of vegetables and fruit, and
add loads of fat to everything. Repeat that as often
as possible. I tracked my daily intake once a week
out of curiosity, and generally consumed 4,500 5,000
calories per day. A ballpark macronutrient breakdown
would be approximately 250g of protein, 300g of
carbohydrate, and 300g of fat. This was not planned
it just worked out that way.
In order to put this case study into context, heres a

bit about me. Im 32, with 15 years of training history,
ranging from volleyball and silly bodybuilding stuff to
CrossFit and some hideous Olympic weightlifting (just
ask Dutch Lowy). At 64, Ive been between 195 and
205 for the last five years, with no effort to directly alter
my bodyweight or body composition.
Every meal was built around a large serving of protein:

a pair of 10 oz grass-fed ribeyes (I chose fatty cuts
on purpose), 6 - 8 eggs, or 1 pounds of wild-caught
salmon were common centerpieces. I favored starchy
vegetables at meals, including yams and sweet potato,
beets, pumpkin, and butternut or acorn squash. I ate
a lot of avocado, either naked or as homemade
guacamole; 2-3 per meal was standard. Pastured
butter and home-roasted bone marrow (from a local,
trusted source) appeared often, and full-fat coconut
milk (sulfite-free) and coconut flakes were a go-to for
fat calories. Despite their ubiquity, I didnt use nuts and
seeds much, though some macadamias and cashews
were thrown in for variety and convenience. I also
ate little poultry; after all, Pavel Tsatsouline says that
eating chicken makes you weak, like looking at the
color pink.
As much as I dont like the hardgainer word, thats
In between prepared meals, Id eat whatever was
About Me
on hand (leftovers, small pets, etc.) and I often made

huge shakes with fruit, eggs, and usually coconut milk.
In fact, I ate liquid food for the same reason that
Robb Wolf says liquid food makes you chubby. The
speed of ingestion and wholesale lack of mastication
allows more calories to flow in before the significant
secretion of hormonal regulators (such as leptin and
peptide YY) that function (partly) to control your
caloric intake. For most folks, that would set them up
for overconsumption; for me, overconsumption was
my goal. Which leads me to reiterate another point: an
aggressive mass gain program is not exactly healthy
- even with clean food. Ongoing over-nutrition has
some pretty unhealthy effects on your body in terms of
metabolic status and inflammatory state which is why
we would never encourage anyone who is overweight
and/or insulin-resistant to go on a mass gain program.
Eating a small meal containing some protein, fat
and carbs shortly before training was valuable, too partly to supply additional energy, partly to minimize
catabolism, and mostly to get more calories in overall.
In addition to my three (or so) meals per day, I also
had a large post-workout (PWO) meal. My PWO meal
was usually a can of sweet potatoes (Farmers Market
brand, containing about 100g of carbs) plus about 40
grams of unflavored, unsweetened egg white powder,
or a half dozen pastured eggs. The egg white powder
is technically processed food, but no one would
confuse it with a milkshake its awful. There is a price
to be paid for laziness (some call it convenience).
On some days, Id mix the egg white powder with an
additional half a can of coconut milk (about 40 grams
of fat).
I ate fruit often, probably 3-6 servings per day. I chose
the most nutrient-dense fruit (berries, cherries, melon,
etc.) the most often, but bananas and plantains
made cameo appearances, too. Another tool
that worked well for me was a tapioca/coconut milk
pudding recipe that I created to cram more calories
in between meals or PWO. Its not exactly dessert, but
it works. (You can find the tapioca recipe, along with
a couple other CMG recipes I used throughout the
course of my experiment, here.)
Additional comments: Im not big on supplements,
and in the name of science, I didnt introduce any
new supplements during the CMG. I take digestive
enzymes (and took a lot more with huge meals), a
vitamin D3 supplement most days, alpha-lipoic acid,
and a zinc/magnesium supplement at bedtime. Id
also been using a clean creatine monohydrate prior
to the CMG (and continued for the duration).
The Bad News

Some of you might be thinking that eating all that
Good Food sounds pretty awesome. But take it from
someone who likes to eat - eating that much is not fun
at all. Eating when youre not hungry (or still straightup full) from your last meal is remarkably hard. No,
not just hard its awful. The large servings of protein
and fat were highly satiating, and I could have easily
gone for five or six hours after one of my mass gain
meals without becoming hungry. But I didnt, because
when youre on a mass gain program, you dont have
the luxury of experiencing hunger. Feeling that postThanksgiving-dinner discomfort every day is not much
fun, nor is telling your spouse that you cant come to
bed right now because you have to eat 500 more
calories first. The long and short about an aggressive
mass gain program is this: it is hard.
For those of you not deterred by hard, theres
more. Eating this much high-quality food was really
expensive, and that food prep, eating, and post-meal
stupor consumed a lot of hours during my CMG. Its not
really practical for super-busy folks, especially those
with long work hours and/or families that they still want
to spend time with.
And now, back to sleep and recovery practices. In
my opinion, if you cant get 9+ quality hours of sleep
almost every day, your mass gain results will be muted.
Naps help, but do not replace nighttime sleep. And if
you do shift work, your hormonal balance (tilted away
from an anabolic state due to sleep/wake disturbance)
will certainly make aggressive mass gain harder. In
addition, if youre not willing to dedicate significantly
more time and energy to recovery practices, you might
as well not start an aggressive mass gain program.
In summary, the increased training demand on your
body will simply wear you down (and eventually break
you) if you dont give back to your body in your nontraining hours.
Finally, the last thing about this experiment is that, for
me, it simply wasnt sustainable. Unless I continued to
eat, train, and recover with the level of dedication I
had during the CMG, I could not maintain all the mass
Id gained. Ive gained (and retained) considerable
strength, but my weight has partially retreated since
I completed the program about a month ago. (At
time of writing, Im back down to 206-208, a testament
to the power of a bodys set point.) Nonetheless, I
consider the CMG a success.
Real People With Real Lives

This experiment was admittedly ambitious, and pretty
much took over my life for the duration. However, if
the realities of your life dont support such a resourceintensive plan, take hope. Similar nutritional concepts,
combined with solid training and recovery practices,
could be applied in a less aggressive fashion over
longer periods of time. Greg Everett and Robb Wolf,
among others, have written about that quality-plusquantity approach in previous Performance Menu
articles.
4.
Make food palatable. Try new recipes, new spices and new meats. If you are bored of burgers
after week one, youre in trouble.
5.
Training should be hard, heavy, and simple. Dont

try to perfect your snatch technique (or get a
front lever) during a mass gain program. In general, 3-4 days a week of moving heavy weight is
adequate. More training is not better.
6.
More food and hard training only make sense if

you appropriately increase your recovery as well:
sleep more, use ice baths and contrast showers often, and do self-mobility work and/or have
bodywork (your modality of choice) done as often as possible.
7.
If there are life factors (stressors) beyond your

control, you might not be eligible for such an
aggressive program. However, similar concepts,
applied more gently, could be useful in gaining
functional mass more slowly.
8.
Resist the urge to drink milkshakes and eat fries

(even if its only five) just because some pro athlete gets away with it. You are not a professional
athlete, and if you are, youve wasted a lot of
time reading an article by a guy who shouldnt
be telling you much of anything about how to be
successful. Sorry about that.
Rubber, Meet Road

So here are the salient points about the Clean Mass
Gain:
1.
Its hard. Its not fun. Youd better really want it,
and know why you want it.
2.
Eat more. Eat all the time. Eat when you think that
youre going to burst. (You probably wont.) Build
your meals around a huge chunk of protein, and
add lots of everything to it. You cannot fear carbohydrate (or insulin, for that matter) on a mass
gain program.
3.
Planning is key. Have food on hand in hand all

day. Buy more Tupperware, pack a cooler, make
a yam/egg/coconut milk shake ahead of time
(see the recipe link above). Drink straight from
the blender jug.
Best of luck to those of you who decide to take this on.

Now go eat something.
COOKING WITH SCOTTY SCOTT HAGNAS

This month, Im featuring really quick recipes for the person on the go. Active time is usually just a few minutes. I make
use of pre-bagged veggie mixes like you might find at Trader Joes. Remember, if you have more time, using fresh, local
vegetables is always preferable!
Mexican Spiced Pork

Active time: 3-4 minutes
Marination time: 12 hours
Cooking time: 1 hour
1 1/2 lb pork, diced
3 cups water
1/2 of a Mexican spice blend packet, such as Los
Chileros
Pre-made spice blends can really save you time. A
variety of Mexican seasoning packets can be found in
most markets. The blend I used here contained chiles,
garlic, onion, salt and oregano. This simple recipe is
adapted from a suggestion on the spice packet. You
can always season your pork with spices you have on
hand. Use a lot; I used 2 oz of spice for this!
3 Tbsp tahini
juice of 1/2 lemon
Add the kale plus 1/2 cup of water to your pressure
cooker. Bring to pressure, then reduce the heat to
medium and cook for 2 minutes. (If you dont have
a pressure cooker, steam the kale until it begins to
soften.)
Drain the water (I save and drink it for the nutrients),
put the kale into a bowl and add the tahini and lemon
juice. Mix thoroughly. You can serve this warm or chill
it first.
Nutritional info: 4 servings at 7g carb, 7g prot, 21g fat.
Add the water and the spices to a large casserole dish.

Mix well. Dice the pork and add to the dish. Mix and
cover. Marinate by refrigerating for 12 hours.
Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve
alone, or over roasted yams.
Nutritional info: 4 servings at 40g prot, 7.5g fat.
Quick Kale & Tahini

Time: 4 minutes
1 bag chopped kale (Trader Joes, or chop 1 bunch
fresh kale)
Fusion Fajitas
The molasses add flavor, plus its a rich source of

manganese and magnesium.
In Portland, Oregon, where I live, there is a phenomenon

where there are little clusters of food carts all over town.
Some of these carts serve traditional fare, but there is
also a growing segment of them that feature unusual
fusion recipes. Inspired by this, Ive been mixing things
up by experimenting with some unusual combinations.
Here is an Indian spiced fajita recipe.
Time: 20 minutes
1 Tbsp coconut oil, lard or tallow
1 1/2lb chicken breast, cut into strips
3/4 cup onion, diced (buy pre-diced to save time)
1 bag frozen fire roasted peppers (Trader Joes)
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp dill seed
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
garlic powder, ginger, and sea salt to taste
Time: 3 minutes
1/2 bag of shredded carrots (or ~2 cups if you shred
your own)
3/4 cup blackberries
2 tsp molasses
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt
Add all of the ingredients to a bowl. Mix well.
Nutritional info: 1 serving at 31g carb.
Easy Coleslaw (No Mayo)
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and onion;
cook for about five minutes until they are browned on
all sides. Add the spices and frozen peppers. Saut,
stirring often for about 10 more minutes.
In this recipe, Ive used a bag of pre-shredded

cabbage to save time. You can always use fresh
veggies and shred them yourself if you have the time.
If using a food processor, it will only take you a couple
of minutes more.
Serve as is, or over lettuce leaves.
Time: 3 minutes
Nutritional info: 3 servings at 12g carb, 56g prot, 12g

fat.
12oz bag shredded cabbage

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp toasted sesame oil
sea salt to taste
Carrot & Blackberry Slaw

Here is a simple slaw using fresh blackberries. I like to
pair this with some protein and use it as a post workout
meal after a workout with a low glycogen demand.
Empty the cabbage into a bowl, add the vinegar and

spices. Mix well and serve.
You can easily tweak this recipe to very different effect.
Try adding tamari sauce and sliced almonds instead
of the vinegar, or add a diced jalapeno and a dash
of cumin. Red onion and just a bit of honey is a third
option. Also, I sometimes add seafood to this base
recipe for a complete meal. Experiment and enjoy!
Nutritional info: 2 servings at 7g carb, ~10g fat.
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PERFORMANCE MENU

ISSUE 80 . SEPTEMBER 2011

JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

JOURNAL OF NUTRITION & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

8 Give It a Little Tug: The Use of Pulls for Weightlifters

The use of snatch and clean pulls in training

12 Talking Points with Norik Vardanian

Getting to know weightlifter Norik Vardanian

16 Integrated Mobility, Part 2: Flow Work

Scott discusses the integration of flow work

19 Repetitive Motion/Overuse Injuries in Athletes

22 Clean Mass Gain: A Case Study

Hartwig shares his methods of nutrition and muscle gain

27 Cooking with Scotty

Recipes for health, performance and longevity

The Performance Menu

Dr. Stephen Flikke is a Sports Chiropractor/ART Physician who specializes in overuse/repetitive

is published monthly in digital

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The reason Im bringing all of this up is that I recently

Lets get the basics out of the way

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fully extended top-pull position. The athlete is extended

The technique of the pull must duplicate the

The world according to Jaber

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pulls correctly. Admittedly, most of the videos I looked

Other incredibly important and intensely

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seriously peoplethere are just too many freaking

So there you have it people, an article about one of

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during the pull or as he was moving under the bar

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Norik lives in Yerevan, the capitol of Armenia, and

not see this next time youre at camp. So I was like,

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more. We go by feel, not what is written on paper. A

became World Champion, I was at his gym training

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