Please come join us for our
5th Annual Pre-Gobble Wobble at SAPT in Fairfax
on Thanksgiving Day morning.
Awesome Athlete Updates
A few cool updates: 1. Huge congratulations to Soolmaz Abooali!
We posted last week on our Facebook page that she competed in 17th World Traditional Karate-Do Championship in Geneva. She dominated and took 4th! She is 4th in the WORLD. That's pretty stinkin' awesome and we're super proud of her and are looking forward to when she conquers the 18th World Championship!
2. Victoria nailed her first bodyweight chin-up two weeks ago and I thought I'd share it.
Victoria worked hard all summer and has improved in more ways that just the chin-up department. It's always a huge encouragement to me when our female athletes rock it in the weight room and attack their workouts with vigor.
3. 2 of our baseball boys committed to colleges recently. Mitch Blackstone committed to Cornell, and Shane Russell to Lynchburg. Great job guys!
4. There is a powerlifting meet in mid-December. We have multiple people from SAPT competing: Conrad Mann, Ron Reed, Matt Gerald, Mike Snowden (SAPT's own coach), and Amanda Santiago (who is killin' her meet prep and destroying her old maxes.) Come out and support us!
That's all for now, though I'm sure we'll have more in the next month!
Welcome to the new SAPTstrength.com
If you've been a long-time reader of the SAPT blog or a SAPT client, please take a few moments to browse around the new site! There are still some bugs to work out and content to put in place, but all-in-all we hope you find the new site more informative and easier to use to get - and stay - in touch with all of us at SAPT!
RunFAST - SAPT's Secret Program Development
I’ll be honest, I’ve got a secret... it’s about a new program SAPT is developing. We’ll actually be launching all the info about it next week, but I’ve got to let on about it at least a little! I’m simply way too pumped up and have had a little too much coffee to keep this under my hat any longer.
It’s so exciting and will introduce yet another innovative, high-octane training method to the area via our resident performance coaching geniuses at SAPT.
This is the type of program that is born from those really special places that foster high-levels of both creativity and respect. An incubator for ideas where art and science merge. The type of place that values quality, service, and creativity above all else. That’s where these kinds of innovations come from.
The program is called RunFAST... that’s all I’m going to mention, as I think the name tells enough.
And, I have to also tell you this new innovative approach we’ll launch next week is just the tip of the iceberg. I wish I could let on about all our projects. But, for the moment, I’ll simply leave you with SAPT’s Big 3: Purpose, Vision, and Mission. Read into them as you like...
Our Purpose: Strengthening bodies and minds to support excellence in life.
Our Vision: People of all ages, abilities, and resources will have access to, appreciation for, and engagement in regular physical fitness training that will lead to improvements in all aspects of daily life.
Our Mission: To develop, research, and share our comprehensive approach to physical fitness training that fosters long-term engagement, promotes excellence in life, nurtures human relationships and inspires the lifelong pursuit of health through exercise.
Please stay tuned to next week on the blog... we’ll be devoting the whole week to RunFAST details!
SAPT's Baseball Summer Training Program
It's that time of year! Time to get stronger, faster, more powerful, and pack some muscle mass onto your frame. Check out our special offer for baseball players this summer:
For the past 6-years, the coaches at SAPT have been helping pitchers and position players alike achieve their potential on the field. Set up a comprehensive evaluation today and start down your path to superhero status!
Conrad Mann at the USPA Larry Garro Memorial Powerlifting Meet
Whether it’s a third grade spelling bee or the Superbowl, putting yourself into competition takes a ton of courage. At 64 years young, Conrad of SAPT fame decided that it was time to enter into his first powerlifting meet (why not?). Even a double knee replacement wouldn’t keep Conrad from competing, and he decided to enter into the bench-only meet.
Here’s how it went down.
The Weigh-In
Conrad was competing in the 164.9 weight class. He was concerned prior to the meet that he might not make weight, but ended up stepping on the scale at a whopping 159 pounds. He came prepared, however, with plenty of fluids and snacks to get properly hydrated before he stepped on the platform.
The Wait
The typical sequence of a powerlifting meet is 1)Squat, 2)Bench Press, and 3)Deadlift. The lifters will have 3 attempts at each lift, and with two flights of competitors in the squat, we had plenty of time to relax and watch the squat attempts. We saw lifters of all shapes and sizes squat one after another. It was awesome to see all the different leverages people possess and the different styles of squatting they chose to utilize. High bar, low bar, Olympic shoes, Chuck Taylors, wider stance, narrow stance, long femurs, long torsos- basically every variation of a barbell back squat that you could imagine. Anyone interested in biomechanics should definitely check out a powerlifting meet just to see the infinite variations in the same basic movement pattern.
Towards the end of the second flight of squat attempts we decided it was time to start prepping both body and mind to push some heavy weight.
The Warm-Up
Taking the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” attitude Conrad went through the same general warm-up as he does prior to a session at SAPT. Mobility work, scap pushups, face pulls and external rotations were all part of the ritual.
Just as important as getting physically warmed up for the bench attempts is getting mentally focused. At this point, Conrad’s level of raw strength was out of our control. The strength-building portion came from weeks of hard work on a brilliant bench specialization program designed in the top secret laboratory that is Steve Reed’s mind. However, this was the time where it was critical to take charge over the factors that we can control, of them being 1)Techniqu0e, and 2)Obeying the commands. The head judge gives three commands after unracking the bar (start, press, rack) during each attempt, and failure to obey any of these commands results in a “no good” lift.
Following the general warm-up we got on the bench. We started with light triples and progressed into heavier singles, ensuring that each rep was crisp and clean. The bar touched the same spot on his chest with every press, the elbows were nicely tucked at the bottom, and each command was obeyed as I yelled them out during the warm-up.
Go Time!
Having successfully primed his central nervous system to its fullest capacity, Conrad was warmed up, suited up, and ready to go. He was in the first flight of benchers and stepped on deck for his first attempt in a powerlifting competition.
Conrad opened at 85kg (187lbs). It was a solid opener, and flew up at lightning speed. Undisputed three whites from the judges for a good lift.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nw78bHsOqI&feature=youtu.be
His second attempt was 92.5kg (203.5lbs). Another easy bench for Conrad and three whites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0dQ6bO8x48
Third attempt here was 97.5kg(214.5lbs) for a PR. Again another solid, clean lift that received a well deserved three whites from the judges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z-L2EkKSXU
Wrap Up
IMG_0769
To sum it up, Conrad walked away from the meet three for three on his attempts, a PR, no torn pecs, and shoulders still in-tact! Can’t ask for much better than that. Congrats Conrad, way to represent SAPT! Big thanks to Ron, Jen, and Sondra being part of the SAPT support staff, and a double thanks to Ron for taking videos of the attempts!