WOD Magazine Scaled Issue 7

A voice for the Australian CrossFit community

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WOD MAGAZINE [Scaled] includes:

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Behind the scenes with Team Schwartz.

AGAIN FASTER FOLDING SQUAT RACK: Review

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EDITOR // Ben Quinney ben@wodmagazine.com.au

DESIGN // Natasha Quinney tash@wodmagazine.com.au

STAFF WRITERS // Nic Brown - nicole@wodmagazine.com.au Mali McKie - mali@wodmagazine.com.au JUNIOR EDITOR // Rachel Riley PUBLISHER // INKYZILLA DISTRIBUTED BY // Network Services PRINTED BY // Blue Star CONTRIBUTORS // Words Images

Adam Lesniak Alex Drew Andi Lew Ben Quinney Brad Fewson Cameron Joseph Crystal Goulding Dr. Benjamin Roufail Fiona Durham Gabriele D’Angelo Justin Redfinger Mali McKie Matt Whittemore Matthew Townsend Michael Roach Nic Brown Sonia Saar

Adrian Morgan Ben Quinney Brad Fewson Carlz J Söderstroöm Frankie Lee Matthews Justin Redfinger Kara Way Matthew Townsend Natasha Quinney Raewyn Luke Reanna Kebblewhite Sam Yeoman Samuel Fitzpatrick

ADVERTISING //

FROM THE

EDITOR

It feels like it’s been forever since I wrote the editors letter for issue 6 as we prepared to head to Wollongong for the 2015 Pacific regionals and what a show it was!

Who could forget Khan Porter and Kara Webb taking out the top spots, New Zealand’s first individual CrossFit Games competitor in the Open period, Kevin Manual, taking 4th place and Ben Garard’s epic last minute charge to pick up the 5th and final individual ticket to the 2015 CrossFit Games for the men were amazing to watch.

Lets not forget about the teams though, our cover athletes the Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne put in a dominant performance at the regionals to claim their 3rd championship in four years ahead of 2nd place finishers Zaks Pack East Tamaki who were the first New Zealand team to ever qualify for the CrossFit Games.

For information about advertising with WOD Magazine please contact us for a copy of our current rates and packages here: info@wodmagazine.com.au

Then in the months since the regionals we all watched our Aussie athletes almost kill themselves in the blistering hot Californian while we shivered our way through an Australian winter. But that’s all over now, Spring is here and the Australian fitness competition season well underway and we couldn’t be happier.

SUBMISSIONS //

We hope you enjoy reading the Spring 2015 issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together and if you have an idea for a story or would like to contribute your own story drop us a line via info@wodmagazine.com.au or message us on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We love being able to share your stories with the Australian CrossFit Community – and you just never know, your story might just inspire someone to become the best version of themselves they can be. Wouldn’t that be cool?

We are always on the look out for inspiring personal journeys, community articles, reviews and the like, we would love to hear from you if you have a story you are itching to write, please contact our editor here: ben@wodmagazine.com.au

SUBSCRIPTIONS // Annual subcriptions are available here: wodmagazine.com.au

To keep up to date with all the latest WOD Magazine news, find us at the usual places:

Keep an eye out for the FREE Spring 2015 version of the “WOD Magazine Scaled” to share with your friends and box mates. If you love WOD Magazine like we do help us spread the word and everyone can feel the love.

Cheers,

BEN QUINNEY

PRODUCT OF Some opinions expressed in WOD Magazine are not necessarily those of its staff or contributing editors.

Those opinions are reproduced with no guarantee of accuracy although WOD Magazine endeavours to ensure those opinions and comments are factual.

© WOD Magazine, 2015.

All rights reserved.

CONTENTS PAGE PHOTO: BEN QUINNEY EDITOR’S PHOTO: NATASHA QUINNEY FRONT COVER: TEAM SCHWARTZ BY MATTHEW TOWNSEND

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STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

WRITTEN BY BEN QUINNEY // PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW TOWNSEND, BEN QUINNEY

CROSSFIT THE SPORT, AND THE PURSUIT OF AN INVITATION TO COMPETE AT THE CROSSFIT GAMES IS RECOGNISED BY MOST AS A JOURNEY UNDERTAKEN BY AN INDIVIDUAL, AN INDIVIDUAL ATHLETE THAT SPENDS HOURS IN THE GYM EACH DAY GETTING STRONGER, FASTER AND FITTER. AND WHILE THE IDEA OF A LONE ATHLETE, EVEN ONE SUPPORTED BY A TEAM OF COACHES, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND TRAINING BUDDIES IS TRUE FOR A LOT OF HIGH LEVEL CROSSFIT GAMES HOPEFULS THERE ARE SOME FOR WHICH THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT – NOT AN INDIVIDUAL CROSSFIT GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT RATHER THE DREAM IS ONE OF WINNING THE CROSSFIT GAMES AFFILIATE CUP AS A MEMBER OF A TEAM. BEN SCHWARTZ AND the coaching staff at Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne are obviously very good at what they do. Together the team from Schwartz’s have produced or fine-tuned a number of Australian CrossFit Games individual competitors like Chris Hogan, Amy Dracup and Denae Brown but they have also simultaneously produced a world class team of athletes that have placed in the top 6 every year at the Australian/Pacific Regionals since 2011. The Schwartz team have been a dominant force every year and even took out the top spot, securing their place at the CrossFit Games, on 3 separate occasions.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

Obviously each of the Schwartz’s teams that have competed at the regionals have been strong teams, after all you don’t place top 6 any year, let alone every year unless you have a group of talented athletes that work well as a unit. When I spoke to Ben Schwartz and the members of Team Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne in the weeks leading up to the 2015 CrossFit Games they all agreed that this team, in particular, was something pretty special. “I think this team of six, and not to have a go at any of the teams we have had before are just really quality people” says Ben Schwartz.

Ben goes on to say “They are just really six quality people so I know they will do their best, and yea I want to finish really high, but I know they will do their best and I think these six won’t have any regrets, so if they finish last or first, as long as they do their best I think they will all be happy. They won’t leave anything that they could have done out there.”

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“ yeah i want to finish really high, but i know they will do their best and i think these six won’t have any regrets, so if they finish last or first, as long as they do their best i think they will all be happy. they won’t leave anything that they could have done out there. ” www.wodmagazine.com.au

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INJURY WOES

Heading into the open and the regionals coach Ben Schwartz had a tight group of 8 athletes that made up the 2015 Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne team, many of whom had been part of the team under Ben’s coaching for several years. Having trained together for months, or years in some cases, the original team comprised of Ali Murdoch, Penny Kemp, Jamie Goodwin, Andrew Lauterstein, Jordan Bender and Mitch Sinnamon with Sam Flavell and Laura Moylan as alternates. But not long after winning the 2015 regionals tragedy struck when Ali Murdoch had to withdraw due to an injury, but who would replace her? Laura Moylan right?

Ben Schwartz remarked that “during the open and the regionals [I kept saying] that I would love to have 4 [girls] and 4 [guys] because those guys who are our alternates were just awesome and they could have gone in there and replaced anyone and that would have [made] it harder for other teams to compete against us with 4 really good girls and 4 really good guys.”

But rather than asking Laura to step up Ben chose a different option, he says after careful consideration he decided to pull out his secret weapon Alice Tucker. “Alice who is an amazing athlete, who everyone saw at the Schwartz challenge last year win 3 events, posted a couple of top scores in the open but had injuries all through the open and even at regionals she was just coming better”, says Ben. Ben continued to say “I had spoken to Laura the whole way through letting her know the situation, but Alice was a weapon. I didn’t even bring it up with the team because first I wanted to make sure and see what happened with Ali because she was in the [original] team and I didn’t want to step on her when she wasn’t done yet.

I also didn’t want to bring Alice into the picture until I knew that her body was ok from the injuries because she is the kind of person who would put pressure on herself, so I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her, but once I knew Ali was out, once I knew Alice’s body was better then I started speaking to Alice more. But the whole way through I let Laura know the situation. It was a tough thing because Laura handled herself with such class and the respect that I have got for her is amazing, she was just awesome the way she handled herself through the whole thing.”

i had spoken to laura the whole way through letting her know the situation, but alice was a weapon. i didn’t even bring it up with the team because first i wanted to make sure and see what happened with ali because she was in the [original] team and i didn’t want to step on her when she wasn’t done yet.

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WOD MAGAZINE

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i will never be a “ big lifter, and i can never expect to be a big lifter just because i am that much smaller than pretty much everyone ” -jamie goodwin

THE 2015 SCHWARTZ TEAM

alice says that at first she was pretty intimidated at the prospect of attending what many believe to be number 1 gym in australia but says once she started with ben things have “ only gone up since then. i think things happen for a reason.”

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Alice Tucker

Like many successful fitness athletes 23 year old Alice tucker grew up playing pretty much every sport she could, except, in this case, gymnastics which she says “I regret now obviously” but she really found her passion when she started playing tennis. When Alice finished high school she secured a scholarship to go to school in Portland and play tennis on the US college scene but was struck down with a stress fracture in her foot almost as soon as she arrived in America. After being in and out of a boot for 18 months Alice had to ask herself “Was it worth me being over there?”, she went on to say “I wanted to play tennis but I wasn’t able to play because I was broken, so I was like I will just come home.”

Once Alice landed back in Australia she began attending classes at her local CrossFit Affiliate with her friends but when injury struck again, this time a fractured T7, she was forced to take some time off training. Alice explains “I hurt my back, and during that time all my friends moved away, and I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to go back [to my local box] and nobody be there.” But Alice’s friends had some good advice for her, even if they couldn’t be there at the gym with her, they obviously wanted the best for her and recommended that she head over to Schwartz’s.

Alice says that at first she was pretty intimidated at the prospect of attending what many believe to be number 1 gym in Australia but says once she started with Ben “things have only gone up since then. I think things happen for a reason.”

Jamie Goodwin

Jamie’s dad is super sporty and clearly that has rubbed off on her more than a little bit. Jamie says “he is into adventure racing, cycling and running so I think we (Jamie and her sister) grew up and it wasn’t really an option that we were going to be sporty kids.” Jamie and her sister got into gymnastics when she was 4, which Jamie says “was because my dad didn’t want his daughters doing ballet.” Soon after Jamie began to climb the competitive gymnastics ranks and went on to compete at the regional level for her province in New Zealand. Jamie continued to compete at the national level for a few years in a row during her early teens before an injury forced her to stop at 15.

Also an avid runner in her youth Jamie says that once she stopped competing in gymnastics other sports like orienteering took priority. Then at 17 Jamie was introduced to CrossFit as part of her regular sporting activity when a friend from school thought “as a former gymnast the owner would love her.” Shortly after her introduction Jamie began regularly attending CrossFit classes to supplement her running at Kevin Manual’s gym, CrossFit Hawkes Bay, in New Zealand but didn’t take it seriously as a sport until she moved to Auckland for University.

Now days as a CrossFit athlete and coach Jamie spends a lot of time in the gym. She is regularly up at 4.45am to coach the 5.30am class before spending about 4 hours a day training, but says “I tend to be in the gym longer than that while I am warming up and cooling down.” As a smaller athlete Jamie recognises that “I will never be a big lifter, and I can never expect to be a big lifter just because I am that much smaller than pretty much everyone” but that doesn’t stop her from putting up some pretty serious numbers on the barbell anyway.

Mitch Sinnamon

Mitch grew up skateboarding, surfing and boxing which he did right through high school until he joined the Navy at 18 where he was introduced to his new found passion: high intensity training.

Mitch moved to Perth in 2011 after leaving the Navy where he started “to train with with a couple of mates who used to surf and they got me into some general training that was very similar to the training that I did in the Navy and I picked up some work at The Cell and started doing some coaching there and just got really immersed in the culture.” says Mitch.

Also a strong individual athlete Mitch made his regionals debut in 2014 where he finished 23rd but didn’t make the 30 man cut for 2015. “I had surgery a few weeks prior to the open so it was just a hard recover to get back and be ready for it” explains Mitch, “I had surgery on my wrist and then max clean and jerk and handstand push-ups were not ideal. The wrist is stronger than ever now though. I had been having trouble with it for the last couple of years and I broke it a lot when I was younger skateboarding and just general sports and it never healed properly.”

Never one to let a little thing like wrist surgery stop him Mitch placed 710th for the Pacific region in the 2015 Open and jokingly says “it was a strong year!” Placing 5138th in 15.5 (the thrusters and rowing workout) with a time of 1hour after attempting the handstand push-up workout twice the week before Mitch says “I probably shouldn’t have done [that], my wrist pulled up really shocking from it and so coming into the next week it was just pretty much get through it. So we had the clock ticking and Ben and I just moved through the workout and just tried to get it done.”

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crossfit just kind of fills all the gaps, “ i can still be part of a team, i can still be training with people that want to be fit and have the same headspace as me and that s ’ why i am here on a saturday night and that doesn t bother me. - penny kemp ’ ”

Penny Kemp

With decades of body awareness experience thanks to a background in gymnastics, hockey, diving, trampolining and surfboat rowing 30 year old Penny Kemp is ideally suited to CrossFit. Starting in a park in 2012 Penny soon joined the ranks of CrossFit StKilda under the expert tutelage of Bjorn Walker, but when she told him that she wanted to compete in the sport of CrossFit he told her “You need to go to Schwartz. You have to train with the best if you want to be the best.”

Penny is a strong individual athlete in her own right finishing 27th in the Australian region of the 2014 Open and 20th in 2015 but says she is “always team through and through and that’s the way it’s going to stay. I just get so much joy and satisfaction from being around like minded people, I mean my background is state league hockey which I did for 13 years and it’s just my nature to be around a team.”

“I left hockey because I was with girls who didn’t really want to be fit so CrossFit just kind of fills all the gaps, I can still be part of a team, I can still be training with people that want to be fit and have the same headspace as me and that’s why I am here on a Saturday night and that doesn’t bother me.”

Penny is obviously a motivated athlete now, but it would seem she has always been motivated to succeed. As a youth Penny’s parents said that the family could get a pool at their house once her, her older sister and younger brother all did their 3km gold swim at the local swim school, which Penny says was because her parents thought “it was very important we all learned how to swim.” So Penny and her siblings immediately started swimming longer and longer distances each week. Penny says she put a lot of pressure on her brother telling him “we need that pool so hurry up” and says “we got the pool in the end when my brother turned 7 and I think he was the youngest person ever at the club to swim 3km.”

Jordan Bender

Jordan was introduced to the CrossFit training methodology at 16 after contacting a friend of his dad who Jordan says “was into fitness.” After six months working on the basics like overhead squats with a stick and the like with his dad’s friend Jordan needed more. “He told me to come and train with his coach because he didn’t know what else to teach me so he handed me off to Ben and I walked into the gym at 16 and Chris Hogan took me through my fundamentals session and [at that stage] Ben Schwartz was one of the biggest and scariest men I had ever seen in my life!”

It didn’t take Jordan long to get hooked, within 6 months he went from training once a week to three times a week and went on to compete in the Schwartz’s in-house challenge in 2009 where he finished in the top 10 and got his first muscle-up. If Jordan wasn’t already on Ben Schwartz’s radar - he was now!

“One day I was at home” explains Jordan “and my mum got a phone call and when she hung up she came and told me ‘That was Benj and he says that you have to start training five times a week and that I have to bring you to the gym every day’ and I said ‘What he asked to bring me down?’ and she said ‘No he TOLD me that you are coming to the gym everyday’ and I was like ‘Oh, Ok’ and she said ‘Yea, he said you HAVE to go to the gym every day after school now’ and from that point on every day I would finish school then come straight to the gym until Ben let me go home.”

Another strong individual athlete Jordan placed 36th in the Ausralian regionals in 2012 and has since been an integral part of the Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne team helping them to win the Australian regional in 2013 and 2015. “The cool thing that I like about the team” explains Jordan “is that I spend eight to twelve hours a day in the gym 7 days a week because I work here as well and a lot of that is training by myself. In the future I would love to go back and complete individually.” Perhaps we might see Jordan back on the individual competition floor in 2016? Only time will tell.

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Andrew Lauterstein

Although he may not be a household name among the Australian CrossFit community yet Andrew Lauterstein is no stranger to the global sporting stage. As a 3 time Olympic medalist with a sliver in the 4x100m medley relay and two bronze medals in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m medley Andrew brings a wealth of competitive experience to the Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne team.

“Growing up I did as much as I could and obviously swimming was one of my main focuses”, says Andrew “but I also did lifesaving, baseball and AFL. I did AFL at a state level, I even made [an] Australian team for baseball in under 14s and 16s so I was pretty competitive across those sports.” Always a competitive athlete Andrew explains that “it was the individual aspect of swimming that got me moving a little more towards that [swimming], the ability for me to put in the hard work and then turn up to a competition, dive in and be given a timed result was something I really liked rather than banking on my team mate that I gave a handball to, to kick the goal.”

As a part owner of the swimwear company Engine Andrew is an understandably busy guy, but with the understanding of his workmates and the love and support of his girlfriend he is able to squeeze his training into his hectic lifestyle. Andrew explained that most days “I do the 6am class so my team mate Jordan Bender is my coach. I probably get here (Schwartz’s) at 5:15am and mobilise for about half an hour. I am here from 5:15am until 7:15am every morning and then again in the afternoons but the weekends are not quite as early.” Andrew explain that “for the 4 weeks leading into the regionals I actually sent an email to everyone at work saying that I was going to leave work at 4pm for the next 4 weeks.”

it was the individual “ aspect of swimming that got me moving a little more towards that [swimming], the ability for me to put in the hard work and then turn up to a competition, dive in and be given a timed result. ” - andrew lauterstein

A SOLID PERFORMANCE AT CARSON

A couple of days after I spoke to the members of Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne coach Ben and the team, along with individual athlete Denae Brown, made their way over to Carson to spend a little time acclimatising to the Californian heat and fine tuning their training before they took on the 2015 CrossFit Games.

The team put in a good show finishing in 21st place after taking three top 10 finishes in the first two days competition before falling off the pace on the Saturday and Sunday with tough workouts like the max total clean and jerk and the team chipper. But don’t count them out just yet because if history teaches us anything it’s that the Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne team will be back at the Pacific regionals in 2016 to assert their dominance once again - and I for one cannot wait to watch it all happen.

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PRODUCT REVIEW:

WRITTEN BY BEN QUINNEY // PHOTOGRAPHY: NATASHA QUINNEY

Unlike any other product on the market the Again Faster fold up rack delivers the stability, strength and flexibility of a permanently fixed full or half cage thanks to its unique hinge system but can fold up out of the way when not in use.

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HOW DOES IT

RATE:

FLOOR SPACE IS INCREDIBLY VALUABLE IN ANY GYM, BE IT A COMMERCIAL SPACE OR A GARAGE GYM. THE MORE EQUIPMENT YOU CAN COMFORTABLY FIT INTO YOUR SPACE WITHOUT CLUTTERING UP THE FLOOR THE BETTER BUT ALL THAT EQUIPMENT HAS TO LIVE SOMEWHERE, RIGHT?

Stability

Space at a premium Appearance Ease of use Price

Free standing cages and half racks that bolt to the wall are a staple in most functional fitness training facilities around the world and they are great. Cages are capable of acting as both a squat rack and a pull-up rig as well as somewhere to hang your low and high rings and if we are honest they probably get more use in your local box than the barbells. But what happens when the class gets full and you start running out of squat racks or you are a small facility with limited floor space? Enter the Again Faster Fold Up Squat Rack.

It’s a busy Wednesday morning at your local affiliate or training centre and everyone in the class is setting up to find their 5 rep max back squat but all the racks are full and a number of other athletes are already sharing a bar.

Or you are setting up a home gym in your shed or garage and would love to include a squat rack in the mix, but doing so would mean leaving your car out on the street. What do you do?

What lives in the dusty corner of your gym?

The design of the rack features two lock pins that secure the hinge design to create a stable, safe base that you can trust to shoulder the weight of any PR attempt.

Free standing squat racks are a good idea, they are portable and can easily be pulled out of a dusty corner of the gym where you store your extra equipment when needed, but they too are taking up your valuable floor space and can be difficult for inexperienced athletes or those pushing for max effort lifts to use and are prone to toppling over if the athlete isn’t careful when reracking the barbell. The Again Faster Fold Up Squat Rack might be the solution you are looking for - it is incredibly stable and folds up out of the way when not in use and when paired with a wall or ceiling mounted pull up bar you will have everything you need to push yourself through any workout without your equipment taking up all of your valuable floor space.

The Fold Up Squat Rack from Again Faster is in a class all of it’s own. Unlike any other product on the market the Again Faster fold up rack delivers the stability, strength and flexibility of a permanently fixed full or half cage thanks to its unique hinge system, the vertical folding movement and horizontal stability bar incorporated into the design helps to minimise horizontal sway while being used, but also allows the rack to be folded up out of the way when it’s not being used and when we say “out of the way” we really mean it!

The disappearing squat rack When folded up the rack seems to almost disappears into itself - sitting just 15cm out from the wall when folded up you would almost be forgiven for not noticing it as you walked past. Once installed the rack system has a simple 3-step setup that is incredibly easy to follow allowing almost anyone to lower the rack into position for use and is equally easy to fold up once you are finished smashing out your back squats.

The rack system is completely self contained and has no detachable components when in use or stored away which further helps to reduce clutter and the risk of losing parts. The design of the rack features two lock pins that secure the hinge design to create a stable, safe base that you can trust to shoulder the weight of any PR attempt without having to worry about whether or not the rack will topple over when you re-rack the weight.

Built strong and stable Built with durability and stability in mind, the Again Faster Fold Up Squat Rack is manufactured with 11-gauge, 2x3 inch steel tubing and 5/8 inch hardware.

When extended to the floor the rack has a footprint of just 813mm out from the wall x 1220mm wide x 1778mm tall and when folded up against the wall it measures only 230mm out from the wall x 1220mm wide x 2337mm tall.

The Again Faster Fold Up Squat Rack comees with all the required hardware, assembly instructions, J-Cups and floor anchoring screws included and mounting hardware can be used on concrete, wood and metal studs and is available exclusively from Again Faster Australia (www. againfaster.com.au) for just $379 plus shipping.

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KLOKOV

WRITTEN BY BEN QUINNEY PHOTOGRAPHY: ADAM LESNIAK

COMPETITION BARBELLS & BUMPERS

WE ALL HAVE OUR FAVOURITE BARBELL AT THE GYM, THAT BAR YOU USED WHEN YOU HIT YOUR FIRST HEAVY SNATCH OR THE ONE YOU USED WHEN YOU PB’D FRAN - YOU KNOW THE ONE. WHAT ABOUT BUMPERS? DO YOU PREFER THE COMPETITION PLATES TO THE EVERY DAY BUMPERS WHEN YOU DO YOUR WOD? WELL, LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUR NEW FAVOURITE SETUP: THE KLOKOV COMPETITION BARBELL AND BUMPER.

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Dmitry Klokov knows weightlifting. He is about partnering to create a new line of hosted hundreds of seminars around the REVIEWS + MORE & GEAR COMMUNITY MORE ARTICLES, CONTENT: 100% Australian a World Champion and an Olympic Silver weightlifting gear,stories, with the goal EVENT of providing world, striving to make weightlifting more medallist and has been training day in and day out for decades with some of the most battered and brutalised weightlifting barbells and bumpers on the planet. Some of the equipment Klokov has been using for decades in Russian training halls has been around since the early 70’s and is still used everyday by weightlifting masters and up and coming athletes alike.

It was with this experience in mind that Again Faster approached Klokov

equipment that can meet both the demands of CrossFit Affiliates and the standards of elite weightlifting. Again Faster and Klokov developed the KLOKOVD range, to exceed the standard of equipment he had been using in the Russian training halls since his early teen years.

Along with his own competitive accomplishments, Klokov has dedicated much of his time and energy to the growth of the sport of weightlifting. He has

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Together with Klokov, Again Faster has created a bearing bar that meets all International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) weight and dimension specifications, uses the strongest steel on the market and satisfies the uncompromising demands of one of the greatest weightlifters of his generation and we got our grubby hands on them to put them through their paces.

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