The Level 2 Cert — Fixing the Dip

Pat, your microphone furries are showing.

I remember that cert... I was involved in one of the most epic scissor/paper/rock battles ever, and part of an interview that has probably been burned 50 times over.

Good times.

Gordo!

Thanks so much for this!

For those of us hoping to achieve L2 and beyond, tiny peeks behind the curtain like this are truly invaluable.

It's amazing to study the Boz technique classes, and get to "virtually" experience the difference between textbook perfection and the real life teaching happening here.

This has really broadened my view as to what's going on with trainees.

Scott - CrossFit Ellsworth

When the trainer made the suggestion to bring the trainee to the wall for some dip therapy and was told to try something else, from Nicole, I would have brought the wall to the trainee. Using the pvc as the "wall" by placing the stick vertical so that it is up against the trainee's butt and scap while he is standing tall and then have him dip down keeping his butt and scap against the stick (wall) and have him create the proper lumbar arch as not to mute the hip. Once the trainee feels the right position from the tactile cue of the stick have him perform some without the stick and if that works, great, if not bring the stick back against him for some more reps.
I learned that trick from Boz and Andy Stumpf at my level II. Works great.

Michael,

Awesome comment. Thanks for that.

Scott - CFE

I agree with Scott, a peek into level 2 if very beneficial. Since my level 1 I have always wished there was a CrossFit DVD with excerpts explaining and demonstrating the 9 fundamental movements. I guess that is what the exercise demo portion of the website is for, but I took a lot from the small groups lead by CrossFit's best.

I recently had a crossfit trainer at the globogym tell me I had too much lumbar extension in my squat. Is it possible (clearly you can't know for sure without watching me) to have too much lordosis? She wanted me to maintain the neutral lumbar arch throughout the squat and I thought the online trainings (i.e. this video) say to actively extend that area to keep the chest up.

Nicole's comment on having the client "feel" the wrong/right position rather than being told what he/she is doing wrong is consistent with the best research on training human beings any skill.

I found in a study published in 2003 in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis that immediate and specific performance feedback (i.e., praise for correct behavior, correction for incorrect behavior) was superior in training acquisition to providing detailed information to the trainee. We followed this up with a study in 2007 that showed viewing a video of correct performance followed up by immediate performance feedback was the absolute best method.

This is what is great about the Crossfit approach. You have tons of videos of correct (even superior) performance. If you follow this up with training at a Crossfit affliated gym, then you have the makings of superior training.

Too much lordosis is bad. It puts pressure on the discs.

This lecture may be of interest to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yYJ4hEYudE

This was like a eureka moment for me,realizing what i've been doin wrong,
helped in my next 2 workouts right away.plus being able to see in others and
correct it with the right cues.

In this video there's a lot of excellent detail being taught about the mechanics of the dip but but I'd like to see some mention made of the incorrect bar positioning for all four trainees. Teaching the minutiae of the dip is largely wasted when the bar has absolutely no contact with the shoulders.

#10 Nicole does point out the bar positioning but notes that can be addressed in other movements. The concentration here is on the dip. Why this is made so hard I don't know. Initiate with the butt going back chest up and explode the hips open, right; short, quick, explosive. Done right, a good dip drive pulls me off my heels into the air. As for using a wall, I don't know how that works here. The trainer (Gordon?) doesn't seem to know what he is looking at or how to properly perform the movement.

i dont agree with this video at all. Although this dude does clearly have muted hips, putting him into a completely forward tilt position is going to put way too much stress on his lower back and isnt going to allow his posterior chain to activate correctly. He needs to pull his ribcage down while keeping his shoulders back and down and maintain tension in his glutes to keep his spine neutral and driving his knees out on the dip the same way he would for a squat. if he cant do these things and keep his chest up he needs to work on his thoracic mobility