When talking to people who have a passion, you can see their eyes light up as they discuss their project. That’s exactly what you see happen when AJ Richards, the CEO of Rush Club, talks about his organization.

Two competitors get ready to throw down on stage for the audience.

Part fight club and part functional fitness on a premier stage, the events can only be described as a spectacle in the greatest sense. From the athletes’ entrances (similar to an MMA bout) to the high-quality venues that offer a unique atmosphere for the patrons, this promotion is about to take the world by storm.

What Is Rush Club?

You haven’t heard of Rush Club before? Well, you might have heard of a few of these names that have graced their stage: Josh Bridges, Noah Olsen, Sam Dancer, Jon Pera, Elisabeth Akinwale, and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet. Within a little over a year, this small organization has showcased some of the best athletes in the functional fitness realm.

This is how Rush Club works:

• Only two athletes for each workout (match).
• Each match has the athletes go head-to-head in a single elimination functional fitness competition.
• Most matches are completed within ten minutes.
• Athletes learn what the workouts are thirty days prior to the competition.
• There are classes for both men and women, including additional weight and master divisions.
• The winner of each division, both male and female competitors, earns the incredibly designed belt and the bragging rights.

With some of the names mentioned above, it is no easy feat to become the champion of any division. But beyond their stats and resumes, what draws the audience is following the athlete’s stories as they get ready for their bouts. In the weeks leading to each event, Rush Club features the athletes through their social media accounts. The audience gets to see the athletes at the weigh-ins the day before the event and at the press conference. And that’s what makes the format so unique. Rush Club is a one-of-a-kind experience due to the athletes being the center stage attraction.

“Part fight club and part functional fitness on a premier stage, the events can only be described as a spectacle in the greatest sense.”

Yes, the workouts are grueling and tough, but it’s more about the stories and the personality of the athletes. Although many different functional fitness competitions have heats of many athletes competing all at once, Rush Club is distinct in having only two athletes featured at a time. I can’t help but remember rule number five of Fight Club: “one fight at a time.”

With each match building to the main event, it highlights the athlete’s progression to the title bout. Because the “card” is built just like a MMA card, each event highlights several weight classes divided between men and women. Once an athlete wins a match, they are eligible to move up in the rankings of their division. And when an athlete goes on a winning streak, it makes it possible for them to challenge for the title.

The Sunglasses and the Beard

The Rush Club environment helps athletes show their personality and unique physicality. When looking at the athletes, we see distinct characteristics. Some athletes just have the x-factor. For example, look no further than Kawika Henderson. Sporting his iconic sunglasses, stylized beard and broad smile, he is easily noticed wherever he goes. Following him on social media, you can track his progress on his pizza diet. (Seriously, go check out his pizza diet. You will see just as many pictures of his food as his training regimen.)

Kawika Henderson is a charasmatic fan favorite.

I asked him about his training for the competition and he said, “I’m test running a program called Barbell Empire. The program is really based on lifting heavy every day. Its emphasis is on: how do you feel that day, proper form, increased muscle endurance. I do a metcon every day.” Kawika also has had a left shoulder injury, but he trains smart by always incorporating mobility, stability drills, and strength exercises in his workout regimen.

Throughout the competitions, we get to witness the highs and lows of each athlete. Every fan of sports loves to see the hero rise from the ashes, and with Rush Club, we get to see this up close and personal. Kawika was the first heavyweight champion in the men’s division, but at Rush Club 003 he came into the competition as a replacement athlete with less than a week’s notice. And the man he was set to face off with was none other than Jon Pera, a multiple CrossFit Games competitor.

With less than six days’ notice and coming back from the flu, Kawika gave the match his all. Although he did not win in the match, he was given a lot of credit for coming in on short notice and giving such a great performance by everyone – from the athlete he went up against (Jon Pera) to the crowd cheering throughout the entire event and the CEO AJ Richards.

Kawika told me that not only is he excited about competing again, but with a full month to prepare, he’ll come back stronger than ever. And after seeing him throw down a few weeks ago during the CrossFit Open (improving his position more than one hundred spots over the previous year) and qualifying for the nationals in strongman, I know the sky is the limit for this athlete.

Strength Will Prevail

On the flipside, Rush Club showcases a female heavyweight champion who couldn’t be different from former college football player Kawika. Her name is Sara Urban, and I can see why she has so many fans. Without either a high school or college sports background, Sara came in and won the Rush Club belt.

Underdog Sara Urban came out of nowhere to win the Rush Club belt.

Sara mentioned to me that she didn’t initially have plans to compete. “I started doing CrossFit to get in shape. I didn’t play division I sports or anything like that. I was 260 pounds and I did it for my health.” Since she is now competing, Sara keeps a balanced view of her weight and nutrition. “I keep an eye on it, I’m conscious of it, but it doesn’t control me,” she told me.

When asked if she changes her training with the upcoming competition in mind, she responded:

Not really. My coach William Black, [husband of Shannon Black, an athlete from DC Brawlers] has me doing Olympic lifting three times a week and conditioning three times a week. I do think about the cycle time, but I don’t do the workout [announced for the match] at max effort. I go through the order of the motion, though. My goal is beyond just going through the motion: not full capacity, but definitely full effort.

Sara said she might do portions of the next workout that was announced for Rush Club, just to test drive the feel of the event, but she always puts a special emphasis on strength. “Strength will prevail. Everybody can run. Not everyone can move weight proficiently,” she said.

“Yes, the workouts are grueling and tough, but it’s more about the stories and the personality of the athletes.”

Outside of the competitive matches, there’s a strong camaraderie among the athletes of Rush Club. Sara related one her funniest memories when she was hanging out with the other athletes: a spontaneous donut run at the first event, driving in a van with Sam Dancer and Nikki Carlin. She described thinking back and wondering what the staff of the donut shop thought of all these buff people rolling up to a donut shop, ransacking it, and rolling out. Even when they’re not in competition, these athletes are true teammates, and they have a bond that comes from supporting each other throughout the event.

The Spirit of Competition

And that’s why it’s great to see each athlete come out of the tunnel and onto the match platform. All the hard work and practice done behind the scenes, in basements, and in garages throughout the months build to this moment when they perform under the lights. That’s what’s it all about.

And when you see the athletes waiting, in the calm before the storm, ready to pick up their barbells, it makes a smile spread across your face as you get a glimpse at what some of these athletes put themselves through in order to become the Rush Club heavyweight champion.

Check out these related articles:

• I Have a Dream (Team): When Winning is the Only Thing That Matters
• Know Thyself (and You’ll Know How to Train)
• Training Tips for the Average Joe From 3 CrossFit Pros
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of EMOM Photography.

The post Rush Club: a Peek Into the Functional Fitness Underground appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

What Is Fran?

Fran consists of the following:

21-15-9

• Thrusters (M 95lbs/W 65lbs)
• Pull Ups

When a workout is presented with numbers followed by a dash and followed by another number, this indicates the rep scheme for the workout. As far as the order of the exercise, the athlete works from the top of the list of exercises descending down. For example, Fran starts with 21 thrusters followed immediately by 21 pull ups. The athlete then performs the two exercises back to back again, but with the rep count of 15.

The Critical Point

This WOD is all about how efficient you are with thrusters. Period. Yes, if your kip isn’t going great, you might not have a fast cycle time with the pull ups and have an overall time a few seconds longer, but the battle is won or lost by how well you do at thrusters.

“This WOD is all about how efficient you are with thrusters. Period.”

A thruster is an explosive movement comprised of a front squat and a push press put together one fluid motion. The bar starts on the floor. The athlete has to pick up the bar, lowers into a front squat, and then presses the bar overhead. Think of the action like this: power clean to front squat to push press equals thruster. All in one fluid motion.

8 Easy Fixes for the Thruster

Depending on a person’s strength, he or she can display a host of problematic areas in the thruster. In fact, it’s easy to fall into the faults listed below or forget some of the basics when you’re in the heat of the workout. Don’t feel bad, just look for your weaknesses so you can systematically improve them.

“The checklist and tips should be broken down across as many training sessions as needed. Try to address one area per session.”

To find the weaknesses in our movement, we have to look at the entire kinetic chain. We begin our assessment by looking at the feet and continue going up the body. If we have a system for assessment, we can easily discern possible faults instead of haphazardly observing an athlete or ourselves.

Here are eight areas of each movement to pay attention to, along with verbal cues you can use with either yourself or your athletes to facilitate the correct movement:

1. Squat

• Good form: Feet hip-width apart. Dropping the hips back like trying to sit in a chair.
• Verbal cues: Sit down. Don’t over think it.
• Muscle group breakdown: Eccentric contraction of the bilateral hamstrings. Bilateral mentioned for emphasis on even distribution of weight through the legs.

2. Rack Position

• Good form: Elbows almost perpendicular with the floor. Rack position maintained through descending and ascending portion of the squat.
• Verbal cues: Elbows high.
• Muscle group breakdown: Front deltoids, and proper range of motion of wrist flexors.

The rack position is maintained in order to harness the kinetic energy from the squat and use that force in the ascending portion of the thruster. Because the bar is resting on the front delts, the energy from the squat initiates the press. The arms only finish the movement into lockout. If a good rack is not maintained, the thruster becomes segmented and there is an overall loss of power. The exact rack position can also be influenced by the length of the athlete’s radius and ulna, which make up the forearm.

3. Ascending Portion of the Lift

• Good form: Weight in the heels, not the toes. Driving power through the legs. Don’t make the arms do the majority of the work.
• Verbal cues: Head and chest up. Core engaged.
• Muscle group breakdown: Quadriceps and core muscles, including rectus abdominals and erectus spinae.

4. Lock Out Overhead

• Good form: Tucking the head with the barbell descending. Core stability during descent.
• Muscle group breakdown: Shoulder girdle muscles including upper trap, pec minor, levator scapulae and shoulder rotator muscles. Also supraspinatous, infraspinatous, teres minor, and subscapularis.

Now that you’ve gone into the fine details of your thruster, we need to go back to looking at the workout as a whole. There are four other aspects of strategy and body mechanics to be addressed. These are applicable not just to Fran, but to all workouts you do.

5. Breathing

With shortness of breath a host of problems can occur such decreased strength, dizziness, and even mental fatigue. But there is a strategy that can be deployed to counteract it.

“With increased circulation through the body, mental awareness and comprehension becomes optimal. This all occurs by controlling your breathing.”

What is it? Pursed lip breathing. An old technique that consists of breathing in through the nose and out through your mouth. That seems like a no brainer! But have you ever noticed how an athlete breathes while doing a hard workout? The smooth breathing goes out the window and it’s replaced with gasping gulps of air.

• Practical application: Utilizing inhalation at the top of the lift (like when the bar is overhead and the chest cavity is elongated); using that diaphragmatic breath to create intra-abdominal pressure which increase stability of the spine.
• Quick Facts: Pursed-lip breathing increases oxygen saturation levels through the blood, causing an improvement to circulatory system and allowing the lungs to work more effectively. With increased circulation through the body, mental awareness and comprehension becomes optimal. This all occurs by controlling your breathing.

6. Pacing

This WOD tastes your mental fortitude and makes you dig deep, especially during the set of fifteen. That is the make or break round. Setting up cognitive cues during the workout is crucial.

• Fight the voice telling you to set the bar down. Tell yourself, “I’ll set it down after this rep.” Fight for one more rep.
• Yes, we know this workout is for time. Yes, you should move fast and have intensity. But once fatigue sets in and you start to put the bar down more frequently, it’s time to reevaluate how you’re going to finish this workout without dying.
• When every second counts, your rest breaks become liabilities. Instead of resting without measure, count three seconds and then approach the bar again. Pick an attainable number for rest breaks and then decrease it.
• Once you start to struggle and perform reps with terrible mechanics it is time to stop again and recover. Sloppy mechanics hurt not only you, but they also establish muscle memory based on that poor movement, and this can lead to injury.

7. Posture

If exaggerated or involuntary trunk flexion occurs, it means your midsection is no longer erect or straight during the movement. When your core and mid-line are not properly aligned, your breathing quickens. Your poor posture compresses the diaphragm, causing a lack of blood flow to the extremities. All this makes it extremely difficult to move effectively under stress.

“When your core and mid-line are not properly aligned, your breathing quickens. Your poor posture compresses the diaphragm, causing a lack of blood flow to the extremities.”

Not to mention, you’re also now in a poor rack position, which will cause you to expend more energy controlling the weight with your upper extremities and take away energy that could be used for the push press.

8. Let’s Get Back to Those Pull Ups

If you cannot perform a strict pull up, you have to develop that skill. Although I love me some kipping pull ups, your foundation should always be a strict pull up to build overall strength in the latissimus dorsi. Kipping techniques can be introduced once two sets of six to ten reps of strict pull ups can be performed. Athletes can start with partner pull ups, jumping pull ups with a controlled descent, and ring rows in different positions to increase difficulty.

Wanted: Honest Feedback

After performing Fran, ask your coaches and trusted peers what they noticed about your form. Ask them to watch your mechanics and see if they notice any faults as compared to the list above. How does your depth look with the squat? How’s your rack position? How many times did you have to put down the bar? How was your back aligned? No “yes-men” allowed!

The checklist and tips above should be broken down across as many training sessions as needed. Try to address one area per session.

Now that you have the blueprint on how to improve the crucial area of the thruster, do not spend too much time working on areas you already good at. Work on the portions of the checklist you struggle with.

The more you work on your weaknesses, the more likely a PR is going to follow close behind. Happy gains and let us know about your progress on your next Fran WOD!

More Like This:

• How to Scale CrossFit WODs for Measurable Improvements
• 6 Practical Tips for Prioritizing Quality in CrossFit
• 5 Exercises You Are Not Doing That Could Improve Your CrossFit
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

Photos 2-6 courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post WOD Mechanics: 8 Easy Fixes to PR Your Fran Time appeared first on Breaking Muscle.