BreakAway Sport, FLEXIBILITY-Not just for the Yogi

Jeff Teach stretches – a lot! He has always had a very good ROM (range of motion).

Jeff at Jr Worlds 1992 – clean & jerk

Most Olympic Lifters do have very good ROM in every joint. Jeff says, “being big doesn’t make you inflexible. Not stretching makes you inflexible.”

Jeff has always warmed up dynamically and always has finished off his workouts with stretching. During rehab he stretched even more. “Every free moment I had I would stretch my shoulder. I wanted to regain as much ROM before I could start lifting again.”

Part of Jeff’s regular warm-up routine.

Jeff still stretches after every workout religiously. “I never skip out on my stretches. Especially for my shoulder. I stretch, I stretch and I stretch some more.” Even if Jeff doesn’t have time after a workout to stretch at the gym he still stretches at home and foam rolls and uses the inversion table.

Niiiccceee STRETCH!

The other important aspect of Jeff’s workouts are his core and abs. Jeff says a strong lifting base starts with your core whether you are an Olympic lifter or just trying to get in shape. He says, “most core exercises should be performed at the end of your workout. As your core is taxed during workouts and you don’t want to burn it out to flaw your form.” Click to check out Jeff doing some plated abs-still living the dream: IMG_0399 (1)

Looking sharp on the bike….

The seed was planted last week with his 20 minute ride for a purpose – on Sunday Jeff rode his mountain bike for an hour. He says “getting on my bike is addicting. Once you feel your legs burn and your heart rate is up for a long time it is all over. I want to be on my bike regularly!” Jeff says that he stretches even more when he rides. He says, “any repetitive motion type exercise you have to stretch. All long distance repetitive motion athletes (runners, cyclist etc) can’t sleep on stretching and working the core. I was burning up my almost 6 pack abs on that bike on Sunday.”

Jeff is still hitting reps of 15’s this week – last week of 15’s. As we like to say 15’s are a nessassary evil. He will be hitting 12’s if his shoulder can handle heavier loads. In the mean time Jeff writes up some damn good workouts-no one takes it as seriously as him.