You are a white belt until you can accomplish ALL of the following.
NOTE: The 21 day squat challenge (and any other serious variation on the Squat Nemesis Program) requires that you can do the Mobility and Movement portions on this list!
Mobility
Be able to do these with an empty stick, a band, or “shadow box” style.
Overhead Squat
Lunge with a straight back leg (much like a very long and deep jerk, or even split snatch position).
Cossack Squat
Movement
These are bare minimums…
Push Ups x 5 (for women) or 10 (for men) off the floor
Bulgarian Split Squats x 10 per leg
Bar Hang for 15 seconds (leading toward doing pull ups/chins in the future)
1 leg RDL x 5 (per leg) with an empty bar
Skills
The exercises that are more sport-specific, and involve a barbell. To move past the White Belt rank you must be able to do the following at a satisfactory level. Again, this is subjective ON PURPOSE!
Snatch – Locking out and hitting the hip consistently
Clean – Proper rack, bailing/missing safely, proper bottom position
Jerk – bounce and step
Squat – both front and back squats done to full depth and will full range of motion (including the wrists/arms during a front squat)
Snatch Domination Pull – proper execution of this deeply important drill in our system.
Clean Domination Pull – same.
Practical
Getting past the White Belt Rank requires that you also understand some basics about gym safety and etiquette.
How to miss a back squat behind you safely – you will do this often, near daily; you MUST know how to do this!
How to spot a bench press – we don’t bench much, but if you can’t do this, you don’t belong in the gym.
Clean up after yourself – wipe down benches and anywhere your sweaty ass has been; clean blood off of bars; put your crap away; don’t leave the gym unless you’ve put everything back where you got it.
You are an adult: You consistently follow instructions, the program, and give your honest full effort – I have no tolerance for people who tell me they have a certain goal, but then don’t do what is required to meet it. That is what spoiled children do. You are an adult. Make sure you take that seriously. I am your coach, and I’m a very relaxed guy prone to joking around and keeping my gym environment fun… I am not your “drill sergeant”. I won’t yell at you. I won’t “make” you do anything. I am not here to provide you with some kind of external motivation to make up for the fact that you have no inner passion for this. I only work with passionate respectful people. Period. Either you are ready or you are not – your behavior will tell me the answer.
