Day 1 with Pierre

Well, I made it through my first day of training - barely. By the end of the day my erectors were so sore around my lower back, I wasn't sure I could finish - I didn't tweak it or anything, it is just that the erectors were working overtime all day to keep my back nice and straight. Pierre alleviated the pain by having me do a bunch of ab work! And it worked!

I went to a max front squat, snatch and clean and jerk three times today!

Pierre's gym is a really special place. He trains young athletes, 14-19 as well as adults. The kids are just incredible athletes and they train with fierce determination.

Pierre is a passionate coach and his sincerity in wanting his athletes to succeed shines through. Pierre uses a lot of visual metaphors and cues, rather than super technical cues that can bog the individual down.

More of the same tomorrow. Max Front squat, max snatch, max clean and jerk, then drop the weight a bit and do doubles.

The philosophy behind Pierre's coaching style, who is heavily influenced by his coach, Alexander Varbanov, is to fatigue the body to the point where you no longer can 'think' about the lifts, you just do them. Key to this training style is adaptation, not recovery. You must train the body to adapt to the immense stimuli. If you are recovered, you are not actually adapting to anything new, you are just experiencing stasis.

Being here and learning under Pierre has reaffirmed how important it is to reach out to those very special individuals that can have a huge impact on your life as well as your ideas around coaching, training and fitness. I have no doubt that Pierre's presence will be felt at our gym in much the same way that OPT's and Ido's philosophies and ideas have been taken up and integrated into Flux.

I can't wait to share everything I have learned with all of you!