Training With Champions: Part 6

Find out what it’s like to train with 2009 CrossFit Games champion Mikko Salo and Dan Bailey, first-place finisher in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games Open, as filmmaker Sevan Matossian captures their training in preparation for the 2012 Games season.

In Part 6, Salo and Bailey hit ring dips ... with a weighted vest, of course. Interestingly, Salo feels the effects of the dips more in his triceps, while Bailey says it’s his chest that gets worked harder.

Working out at the Rogue facility has a few perks, so the champs pull out a prototype “football bar” based on one of Louie Simmons’ inventions. According to the Westside Barbell website, the bar will reduce stress on the rotator cuff and work all stabilizing muscles hard.

Perhaps most critical of all, Salo and Bailey answer the all-important question: “How often do you bench?”

After that, it’s time to test the football bar in a couplet of presses and pull-ups before discussing training intensity and skills days.

14min 12sec

Additional reading: Additional reading: Building a Strong Shoulder Girdle by Bill Starr, published Aug. 26, 2011.