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Fitness

The Secret to Cycling Single Lifts

Cycling single lifts efficiently means watching the awards from the podium, not the stands.

Mike Tromello

Written by Mike Tromello Last updated on January 29, 2017

In this video, I’m going to give away one of the key takeaways from my recent experience at Wodapalooza in Miami.

We’ve already established that barbell cycling is one of the most fundamental skill needed to compete effectively in CrossFit competitions. In a previous video, I went over the importance of building not only the horsepower for high-rep barbell movements, but also the technique.

In this video, I’m going to give away one of the key takeaways from my recent experience at Wodapalooza in Miami.

We’ve already established that barbell cycling is one of the most fundamental skill needed to compete effectively in CrossFit competitions. In a previous video, I went over the importance of building not only the horsepower for high-rep barbell movements, but also the technique.

A Proven Technique

Wodapalooza is indisputably a Games-level competition, and it’s become both a proving ground for my programming and a good predictor of how my athletes will do with the Open and Regionals.

This year, I found that not only was it key that my athletes be able to string together continuous, high-rep sets of barbell movements, but it turned out that it was critical that they also cycle single lifts quickly.

So, in this video, I’ll show you what I learned about cycling single lifts efficiently. And, I can tell you from recent experience, this is the kind of thing that makes the difference between watching the awards from the stands or from the podium.

With continuous cycling, the secret is to do two lifts for each rep. But with singles, you drop the bar and have the opportunity to properly reposition yourself for each rep, so this two-lift technique does not apply. So the only thing that can make the difference with singles is shortening the time between each lift.

Of course, the athletes own horsepower and will power matter. But, again, when competition comes down to each second making a difference, anything you can do to shave seconds matters immensely. Just as triathletes with amazing athletic capacity often spend a lot of time working on transitions, so too do high-level CrossFit athletes have to try to shave seconds off of their transitions between lifts.

Again, this sin’t about becoming an Olympic weighlifter. In these compeltitions, you won’t be judged on, and you can’t rely on, pristine weightlifting technique. You’ve got to be great at handling a variety of barbell lifts in a vareity of condidtions, and this is one tool that can be a game-changer becasue it can be applied to many different lifts.

So let’s break it down and go over the secret to success with cycling single lifts.

The Secret to Faster Singles

To cycle singles lifts efficiently, the trick is to not roll the bar around, but to go to the bar. When you are tired and need to go single lifts, there’s a tendency to roll the bar back to you, then look down, reach down, set up, and go.

But, with the technique I used so successfully with my athletes at Wodapalooza, you almost don’t even have to look down, plus you cut the cycle time dramatically. To do this, you have to move to the bar. Sounds simple, right? But, when you are tired and suffering, you’ve got to have a simple mental trick for executing this move. I tell my athletes, “Step, Step, Hands.”

As you can see in the video, stepping to the bar means you already know where the bar is. If you look down while stepping, you’ll be positioned in the middle of the bar and only need to reach down and grab the bar to go. With this technique, they dramatically reduce time between lifts and barely have to glance at the bar to be set up well.

You Need More Than Technique

Just like any skill, building up solid technique is key. But in this case, it’s extremely important that you also have a place to go, mentally, that will get you to execute this technique. Every fiber of your being will be looking for a rest, for any small increment of rest.

Without a mental game plan, you’re doomed. You’ll find yourself rolling the bar around and looking for where to place your hands. And the next athlete will be kicking your butt using this technique. In CrossFit competitions,

High-volume, high-rep barbell movements are a fact of life in CrossFit competitions. And no matter how bad-ass of an athlete you are, you’ll inevitably hit a point of extreme fatigue and start dropping the bar. When that happens, give this a try, because every second really does count.

Mike Tromello

About Mike Tromello

Mike, a graduate of Occidental College, spent three years playing for the SCIAC Champion Tigers, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 2005. In the summer of 2005, Mike spent six months playing professionally in Europe for the Gefle Red Devils of Sweden. Mike also served as the defensive coordinator for the organization’s prep team, as well as the head strength and conditioning coach.

Upon his return home, Mike went back to Occidental College to complete his master’s degree and earn his secondary school teaching credential, which he completed in the spring of 2006. In December of 2006, Mike represented Team USA against Team Canada in a football showdown between the two countries. Between 2005 and 2009, Mike spent five seasons as the strength and conditioning and secondary coach for the Occidental College football team.

In September of 2008, Mike took over as the middle school strength and conditioning coach at Harvard-Westlake School. Here, he was put in charge of the school’s developmental strength and conditioning program. For eight years, Mike aided in the school’s creation of a vertically-integrated strength program. Within this program students where taught how to build a technical weightlifting base, starting in the seventh grade, that was developed upon over time. Through technical efficiency learned at a young age, students vertically integrated to the high school program where strength was developed further. This program received much acclaim by major strength and conditioning associations, such as the NSCA. It also led Mike to publish a book on the subject matter: “Building the Beast: A comprehensive Guide to Adolescent Strength & Conditioning.” In addition to this work with adolescents, Mike also was the Head Strength & Condition Coach for the Varsity Water Polo and Track Teams. By the completion of his tenure at HW, Mike was a part of 2 National and 3 CIF Championship Teams. Mike was also put into the HW Water polo Hall of Fame.

In addition to his work as an elite strength & conditioning coach, Mike is also an accomplished CrossFit and Weightlifting coach. Over the past several years he has coached multiple athletes, all of whom have fared very well, to the national and world levels of Weightlifting: Frank Datello (2018 University National and AO3 Champion), Urbana Sepulveda (2019 Masters National Champ, 2019 Masters Worlds Silver Medalist, 2019 World Open Champ), Margie Rivas (2019 World Open Silver Medalist), Hannah Hall (2020 Youth & University National Champ), Crystal Riggs (2012, 13 & 15 American Open Championships, and 2015 & 16 USA Nationals), Katie Crowe (2012 & 13 American Open Championships), Chrissy Barron (2015 American Open Championships), Nathan Doud (2015 American Open Championships), Deanna Douglas (2015 & 16 University Nationals), Danielle Marino (2015 & 16 University Nationals), and Evan Hardman (2016 University Nationals), Lindsey Valenzuela (2009 American Open Championships) . In CrossFit he has coached multiple Games and Regional athletes, such as Hunter McIntyre (2019 CrossFit Games), Team Torrance Training Lab (2018 CrossFit Games), Tori Dow (2017 & 18 CrossFit Games), Hannah Hall (2018 CrossFit Games), Bill Grundler (2016 CrossFit Games 45-49 Silver Medalist), James Grundler (2015,16,17, & 18 CrossFit Games), Alison Locke (2014 & 16 CrossFit Games), Dan Wells (2015 CrossFit Games), Greg Smiley (2013 CrossFit Games), Chelsey Grigsby (2018 CrossFit Games), Dane McLaughlin (2018 CrossFit Regionals), Nolan Gouveia (2018 CrossFit Regionals), Katie Crowe (2011,12,13,14, & 15 Southern California & California Regionals), Jessica Goeser (2012,13,14,15 & 16 Southern California & California Regionals), Lindsey Deitsch (2014, 15 & 16 Southern California & California Regionals), and Daimino Stewart (2014, 15 & 16 Southern California & California Regionals), to name a few. In addition, he has coached his gym’s team (TEAM PRECISION) to every Regional / Sanctional since the inception of the CrossFit Games Open in 2011.

-WINNER OF THE 2016 STAR PHYSIQUE AWARD FOR MOST INSPIRING COACH IN HEALTH AND FITNESS
-MASTERS DEGREE
-CERTIFIED STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING SPECIALIST (CSCS)
-REGISTERED STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH WITH DISTINCTION(RSCC*D)
-USAW NATIONAL COACH
-USAW LEVEL 2 COACH
-CROSSFIT LEVEL 2 COACH
-CIF COACHING CERTIFIED
-CALIFORNIA TEACHING CREDENTIAL

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