Aaron Asks: Hi Greg, just wanted to see if you could point me in the right direction for a good back squat program?

Greg Says: Check out the Catalyst Athletics website. We have several free ones such as the 4-Week Leg Strength Block 1, 4-Week Leg Strength Block 2, and Double Day Squats & Heavy Weights. There are also a couple front squat emphasis cycles.

Billy Asks: I am a college student who CrossFits, so it's sometimes difficult to find time to WOD and do what's prescribed for a training cycle on the same day. On days where I miss my lifting session, is it better to make up for that day another time or skip it completely and keep going with what's programmed next?

Greg Says: You need to adjust based on the content of the workout you missed and your priorities and needs as a lifter. If you miss a lighter, easier day with exercises you don’t have any particular problems with, you can simply skip the workout and do the next one the following training day. If you’re a weak squatter, for example, and you missed a session of heavy squatting, you need to make it up the next training day.

There are a few ways to do this. The simplest is to replace the next day with the missed day, assuming that the next day is of lower priority. If instead the next day is also a priority session, you need to find a way to combine the highest priority lifts from each session into a single session of reasonable duration. That is, don’t just do both sessions back to back in a single day—trim the least important work and save the most important. Finally, if you really feel everything you missed is necessary, you can try spreading the lifts from the missed day across several days, e.g. adding one lift from the missed session to each subsequent training session. Just be smart about what you put where, and avoid conflicts and interference with following sessions.

Cole Asks: Two questions that have been eating away at me for quite sometime. Hoping you can help me out here... One: When I Jerk (Split Jerk or Push Jerk), when I catch I get this jarring pain in my shoulders, even on submaximal loads. I've tried mobility work, strengthening the shoulder girdle via Sots press, push press, strict press, and all sorts of accessory movements in different planes, but still to no avail I get pain when I jerk. Do you have any idea as to what is going on or what may be my cause? I have considered it is the way I catch I may not be staying with the bar enough. But I would like your opinion.

Second question: I introduced my boss to the Olympic lifts about 3 months ago and he has become obsessed with them. However he hasn't taken the time to properly learn them and whenever I try to give him pointers he kind of scoffs me off. I have my USAW, and I've read your book, I was in an OLY club in college, and I've taken the time to learn them and learn how to teach them. It is getting worse however because he has started trying to teach some of his clients weightlifting and I fear someone is bound to get hurt. Do you have a professional way to tell someone, "Hey, I don't think you should be doing all of this without seeking proper help first." Maybe some seminars/certifications to point him in the right direction? Thank you Greg, I look forward to hearing from you.

Greg Says: Regarding your first question, you’re probably correct about losing connection to the bar and it crashing down on you. No matter how strong or stable your shoulders are, crashing like that is pretty likely to cause some pain. That said, often the issue is in fact mobility of the arm rotators and adductors. In slow movements like pressing or even push pressing, it’s not noticeable because those muscles have more time to relax and also have a more gradual reciprocal inhibition response as tension in the antagonists grows. In contrast, with a quick punch of the arms like in a jerk, that more gradual tension increase is replaced with a very abrupt one, and the duration of the movement is greatly reduced.

I would suggest spending extra time getting your shoulders warm before training, and foam rolling and working with a lacrosse or softball on all the underarm muscular attachments. Also keep working on your jerk technique to improve your connection to the bar and your ability to receive it smoothly with no crashing. You can try tall jerks, push jerks (keeping feet flat on the floor) and pause jerks to help with this.

Regarding your second question, I hate to say it, but you’re probably not going to find a truly satisfactory solution. The problem with bosses is that they’re the bosses, and you’re the subordinate—you have to be very careful about how you broach any topic and what you say. More than likely, any criticism, or even constructive critique, will not be well-received, no matter how noble your intentions.

The best approach I can suggest is to simply encourage him to read, watch and learn more from the right sources without first telling him he’s doing something wrong; that is, bring these resources to his attention with the purpose of helping him learn more about something that obviously interests him, rather than with the purpose of correcting his mistakes. The first is a helpful, thoughtful gesture, and the second is criticism and insubordination. He is far more likely to be receptive if he sees it as the former rather than the latter. Regarding the best resources: articles, video, a forum, training programs, etc. all available for free on the Catalyst Athletics website; more advanced content in our books and seminar videos; and we provide the best seminars and certification available. Yes, we are the best, and I’m not going to be subtle about it.