Leg strength, leg strength, leg strength... and great shoulder mobility and terrific overall stability. These three things are required for anyone who looks to compete in Olympic weightlifting using the Squat Jerk technique. What the Squat Jerk may remove in technical complexity (compared to the more common Split Jerk), it more than makes up for in brute strength and physical requirements.

A Recap of the 2016 USA National Championships: The California Strength Women's Team

This year we had the amazing opportunity to send SIX stunning women to compete for and represent California Strength at the 2016 National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah. The lineup included a number of individual medalists and one lady in Olympic Trial portion of the meet! We came together as a team that weekend and learned so much, bringing our friendship closer than ever before.

Strictly for the Ladies

What do I have that the boys don’t besides great hair, good hygiene, awesome personality, brains, common sense... Eventually we thought to work with my hormones and, that’s right, MY PERIOD. After some research and some testing, we had success with timing my training progressions and deloads with my menstrual cycle.

Preparing for the Open with Rachael Stull

During my preparation for the 2016 Open, we needed to increase strength while maintaining my metabolic capacity, and the solution was adding The Barbell WOD programming to my training arsenal. The Barbell WOD provided a spotlight focus on my Olympic weightlifting while still allowing me to recover enough to complete my daily Metcons. The strength that I gained as a result of the programming has had a huge impact on increasing my 1RM's in the Olympic lifts and building CrossFit-specific strength in barbell cycling.