Here’s Cara Heads, the 2000 Olympian taking someone off the street and teaching them the Olympic lifting movements to prove her point that anyone can get into this sport for fun and fitness.

I have proven over and over in my coaching practice that I can show ANYONE how to do the basic Olympic lifts in under 1 hour.  Period.

You don’t need to be a world champion to get in great shape!

And here’s Cara working on her Snatch technique off the blocks:

A new paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who strength train score higher on cognitive tests.

Older women who did an hour or two of strength training exercises each week had improved cognitive function a year later, scoring higher on tests of the brain processes responsible for planning and executing tasks, a new study has found.

The Women (ages 65 to 75) were all put on a strength training program for a full year.

A year later, the women who did strength training had improved their performance on tests of so-called executive function by 10.9 percent to 12.6 percent, while those assigned to balance and toning exercises experienced a slight deterioration — 0.5 percent. The improvements in the strength training group included an enhanced ability to make decisions, resolve conflicts and focus on subjects without being distracted by competing stimuli.

Notice that the control group still exercised, but only did “toning” and “balance” work and saw a slight deterioration in cognitive function.  This is the kind of stuff you’d do in a Yoga class, or even an aerobics class.  Those things are great (even essential).  But, without a dedicated strength training program, you’re selling yourself short – apparently even your brain!

I get asked often by women over the age of 40 if they are going to be able to handle my programs. 

Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, and video runs at about 30 frames (pic’s) per second, then this 5 minute video is worth 9 million words!  It’s Crystal West doing about 5 straight minutes of bad-ass push up variations.  She’s over 40 and doesn’t let anything stop her. 

In fact in a recent blog post, she said she’s now worked out for a consecutive 766 days!  That’s over 2 years without a day off.  OH, heaven’s you say, she must be wicked over trained.  But, listen to her sensible approach to lifting:

“There are two fundamental ideas that I am aware of as I approach my playout. First, make sure that I am having fun. As my teacher says, ‘Fun is Fundamental.’ Secondly listen to my body that day and let it tell me what is right for me.”

Sarah at the World Championships 2009

Fellow Oregonian, Sarah Bertram recently finished competing at the 2009 World Championships in Goyang City, Korea.  She placed 16th, which makes her the 16 strongest woman on the planet in her weight class.  Put that way, what a bad-ass! Great job, Sarah!

I think she’s in a good position to be competitive in 2 years when the Olympics comes around.  I’ve competed “with” her many times, and she is very impressive to watch (as are her team mates).  It’s been cool to see her improve over the years, first winning Nationals, and now representing the US at the Worlds.

She hit an 89k snatch, and a 107k clean and jerk, for a total of 196k. The snatch was a personal record and the clean was only 2k off of her best.

All the results of the championships can be seen on the IWF website.

EDIT:  It turns out, Sarah is the first Oregonian (female or male) to go to the world championships–ever.  Fantastic.

Sumo Fan Magazine sat down with Nakamura Okamisan for a great interview published here.   For those who don’t follow Sumo, the word “Okamisan” is basically the honorific term for a female manager of a Sumo stable.

Yep, they call the gym where Sumo athletes train a “stable”.  But, hey, they really are as big as a horse!

quote:

Sumo is the condensation of Japanese culture; the beauty Japan contains within, and the way of thinking inherent in this beauty are one of the fascinating things about Ozumo. Thus, I would like to ‘offer’ these things (as representative of Japan and the sport) in order to let fans in foreign countries understand them well.

Sarah Bertram and Jessica Gee got 1st in the 69’s and 4th in the 63’s, respectively, at Nationals this year.  Both of them are from here in Oregon.

Both are also coached by Tom Hirtz, a legend in his own right.  My club competes against their club all the time, and it’s fantastic to see the two of them doing so well.  They both work extremely hard, and are genuinely cool people.  Congratulations!

Here’s a news story about them from KEZI news Eugene, OR. It includes shot of them practicing, and interviews.