On Dec 19^th Renfrew Strength and Conditioning Center will be hosting, what we hope to be annual, 5 Lift Christmas Total. This will be a fun filled day where athletes will be attempting to find their 1 Rep Max in 5 main lifts; Squat, Snatch, Bench Press, Clean & Jerk and Deadlift.

“That’s great, but I have no idea what that means.”

Ok let us break it down:

1 Rep Max (1RM): The maximum weight an individual can lift for one repetition in any particular movement/exercise. Each athlete will have 3 attempts in each lift above to find their 1RM.

Total: The sum of heaviest successful lifts for each exercise. So, if an athlete Squats 100 lbs, Snatch 100 lbs, Bench Presses 100 lbs, Clean & Jerks 100 lbs and Deadlifts 100 lbs, their Total would be 500 lbs.

Squat: With a weighted barbell across the top of your back, squat down so that your hips are at least parallel with your knees and stand back up.

Snatch: In one single movement, move a barbell from the ground to overhead with extended arms.

Bench Press: This one usually need no explanation, however … While lying on a Bench lower a barbell all the way to your chest and press it back up until your arm are fully extended.

Clean and Jerk: In two movements move a barbell from the ground to overhead. The first movement, the “Clean”, gets the bar to your shoulders and the second movement, the “Jerk”, moves the bar from your shoulders to overhead with fully extended arms.

Deadlift: This one is simple, simply pick a loaded barbell up from the ground to your waist. Sounds easy doesn’t it …

“Ok, that’s cool, so why these particular exercises?”

These 5 exercises are a combination of all the exercises competed in two of the most popular strength sports, Olympic Weightlifting (Snatch and Clean & Jerk) and Powerlifting (Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift).  At Renfrew we have a number of members who train and/or compete in these two sport, so to avoid favoritism and, more importantly, prevent a brawl between the two groups we decided to combine the two. Plus, we’re meat heads, it’ll be fun 🙂

“Great, I (or someone I know) can do all that, can I (they) participate?”

Yup, anyone is welcome, you don’t have to be a member and it’s FREE. However, space is limited and spots are filling up fast.  We will be running it like a contest so that we can keep things moving along. However, it is meant to be fun and the judging will be lenient.

“That all sounds really cool, but I’m not interested in lifting, but can I come and watch?”

Absolutely! We welcome anyone to come check it out. There will be some pretty impressive athletes from our local area doing some pretty impressive things. We already have a number of guys and girls signed up to compete in all age ranges. Stop by and see what it’s all about. While you’re here, grab a sample of our great tasting protein Pro100 from MUTANT and taste test our Growth and Full Body Recovery supplement, AllDayYouMay, from 5% Nutrition.

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