a snatch consulation with Mark Toomey, RKC Team Leader

A decent nights rest and woke up real early. Weight: 177 7/8 lbs. This is okay for now as I try to stay under 178 lbs while trying to control a recent upsurge in hunger. Just a few quick Z drills and then out to fight the eastbound traffic to South Boston. It turns out that at the last minute I was able to confirm a consultation with Mark Toomey, RKC Team Leader of Reno Nevada. He just happened to be coming out for business to Boston as I learned from a lengthy email exchange regarding his excellent "Remedial Snatch Drill" video that Mark Reifkind, Sr RKC, posted on his blog.

After having me snatch the 24kg for a few reps on each side, we worked on these snatch remedial drills:

• Hip Flexor Stretch
• Ball squeeze with knees together with back bridge thrusts
• Exhale on the eccentric to assist in loading the hips
• Partial high pull by only using the hips
• Palm snatching the 16kg
• Swing three times and then snatch
• Extra loading the hips during swinging by him pushing the bell down on the eccentric

He pointed a number of adjustments I should work on:

• Keep my shoulders in line with my hips. I have tendency to lean backwards during snap/pull.
• My hip snap needs to be more powerful as I still am using too much arm which causes elbow and forearm issues.
• Load my hips the same way when I load them when I swing. Exhaling on the eccentric helps to do this.

Mark demonstrated a number of palm snatches with the 24kg .. at the top of snatch the bell is let go and caught in the open palm with the handle facing down. It is then dropped and caught during the start of the descent. He did these and all other demonstrations effortlessly .. this is no surprise as he is an extremely strong man with perfect technique. He also demonstrated some really neat juggling while explaining that the key to it all is in the hip snap.

During all the drills, we talked about the RKC Cert. He mentioned that I might consider registering for the October Cert as he would be there as a Team Leader. This is a great goal and it gives me five months to prepare, more than enough even with my modest level of progression.

Words can not describe what a class act Mark is. After this experience, its very easy to see that the great success of the RKC is directly attributable to individuals like Mark, who exhibit modesty, integrity and a love for what they do.

Snatch:
16kg x 1 x 7/3
24kg x 5 x 5/5

GTG Neutral Grip Fighter Pull-ups
BW x 3 x 7
BW x 3 x 5
BW x 1 x 4
BW x (1,2,3,2,1)
BW x 3 x (1,2)
Total: 58

GTG-ed through out the day. The 3 x 7 were done at Gold's Gym where it is a little easier as I didn't have to use additional energy to hold my legs off the ground.


LCCJ
24kg 3 x 5 left
24kg 2 x 5 right

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Diet and Nutrition Log

Breakfast:
1 bowl of Kitchari with sweet potato and green gram curry
2 cups of coffee with tbs of 1/2 and 1/2
2 dates
1 banana


Lunch (out):
1 large plate of assorted Indian buffet entries and appetizers
2 small bowls of Kier


Afternoon snack:
2 small handfuls of roasted almonds

Dinner:
1 small bowl of pan-fried salmon with sweet potato
1 small scoop of ice cream

2 ZMA tablets before bed