Saturday, August 16, 2008

Some Double 32kg LCCJ progress

Saturday August 16, 2008

Weight: 180 1/2 lbs. Slowly chipping it back down.

Morning:

Z-Health: Neural Warmup II DVD Follow-along

32kg x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swing
32kg x 1 x 5/5 Jerk (PR)

Double 32kg LCCJ
2 x 1 (PR), 2 x 2 (PR), 1 x 3 (PR)

The 32kg one-hand swings felt good and strong. I really squeezed my glutes and relaxed my arms every rep. The bell seemed to just fly up. These used to destroy my hands but no more.

The five jerks with my left surprised the heck out of me as my previous left side best was two. The lockouts were strong but what was really different was how easy it was to control the negative back to the rack position. Previously, I would just drop, pray and catch. The heavy TGUs and all the controlled negative work during my recent 24kg ROP press ladders must be partly responsible.

With the 32kg OAJ feeling comfortable I pushed on to new territory. I'm no Marty Farrell, that's for sure, but for the first time I was able to clean and jerk a pair of 32s. (At 150 lbs, the former RKC, Mutant Marty Farrell, Master of GS Sport, can jerk a pair of 32s an amazing 60 times!) After two singles, I got brave and got two doubles and then a triple. Its clear that since returning from my RKC two months ago, I have gotten considerably stronger .. yeah Hard-Style!!

Afternoon:

Double 32kg x 1 x 10 Swings

24kg MaxVO2 @ :15/:15, 7reps/set
Total: 20 sets, 140 reps in 10 min

24kg x 10 x 5/5 Dead Hang Snatch @ 1set/2min

Double 32kg x 2 x 1 FSq

32kg x 5 x 5/5 Snatch

A very solid workout. The 20 sets of 7 reps per set MaxVO2 was a killer .. barely made it. Originally I was going to work back up to 60 sets at the 6 rep pace (currently at 40 sets) but a discussion for how to train for the TSC with Kenneth Jay, The Dane of Pain, Master RKC, changed my plans. With the TSC less then five weeks away, he advised the following the steps below:
  1. Jack up the pace to 7 reps and work up to five minutes of work, i.e, 20 sets. DONE!
  2. Once there, shoot for ten sets at 8 reps followed by ten sets of 7 reps.
  3. If possible train MaxVO2 three times a week.
  4. Don't train Dead-lifts the day after a MaxVO2 training day as the lower back needs rest.
  5. Don't bother training timed sets. You should be able to go the full five minutes without rest during the TSC.
  6. Two weeks before the event, test all three events in TSC order but only do a 20 set MaxVO2 for the snatch test. The Dead-lift and pull-ups tests should be restricted at 85% of current maximums.
The ease of the first three sets of five each side of 32kg snatches surprised me. Not wanting to al ready push a heavy workout, I used liberal un-timed rest periods between sets. The last two were much more difficult as my grip was beginning to fade.

Today was a great training day .. I have earned a day off tomorrow.

9 comments:

Howie B said...

Damn Franklin, you are a MONSTER!!

Take tomorrow off, and hey, treat yourself to some ice cream tonight. You earned it!

Colin said...

Good review from the cert and back into your hard training - you are indeed a monster Franklinstein ;)

You must be having a ball this year - what's next??

Phil Scarito said...

Franklin,

How are those TGU's coming along brother. Great to hear from you. I have been doing a lot of deadlifts and TGU in my classes so far.

Did you screen anyone yet? I put your link on my blog as well.

Keep in touch.

Franklin said...

Howie,

Thanks bro .. its funny that only a short while ago I could barely clean them. The great thing about KBs is there are so many lifts that eventually by cycling through them all one is bound to PR on something.

Colin,

The cert was great but I'm pleased to get back to training. The next biggie is hosting and training for the TSC in Sep.

Phil,

So glad you stopped by! I screened by S.O. today. She did well with only one asymmetry we'll get to correcting that some time this week.

I practiced "naked" FMS-style TGUs today and had to really concentrate on each transition. Funny, if you look at mc's blog of Doc Cheng's TGU photos, you will notice that his extended leg (right) is externally rotated with his foot turned out. Clearly this stuff is still being sorted out somewhat.

Also I ordered one of your custom RKC Instructor shirts .. I like'em better than the DD ones!

Katie, KettlebellKate said...

Hi Franklin-Hope you enjoyed your well earned day off. I take them whether I "earn" them or not. It was great meeting you in RL. It is a challenge to fit in so much fun and training in one weekend, but I think we pulled it off!!-Katie

Martin Schap said...

You are back at it with a vengeance. I had begun to worry about you. Congrats on the progress you have been making. 32kg snatches are an impressive testament to the work you're putting in lately.

Aaron Friday said...

"Don't bother training timed sets. You should be able to go the full five minutes without rest during the TSC."

Sorry, I think this is bull-shit. If you haven't actually done 5 minutes straight, how the hell do you know you can do 5 minutes straight?

Sprint-and-rest does not equate to a constant 5 minutes of work, no matter what kind of shape you're in. The technique is different, and this is all about the SAID principle. With one, you're going from 100% to 0% effort. With the other, you're 70% the whole time. You HAVE TO shift gears, because they're fundamentally different.

Truth be told, it pissed me off that K. Jay said this to you.

Franklin said...

katie,

I've now completed seven screens and have three more scheduled. When I get to twenty I'll take the on-line test.

martin,

thanks! I was quite pleased with how smooth the 32kg snatching was. I will now mix in one once in awhile.

aaron,

Hey, hey. I'm a big believer in SAID too, so I was a bit confused about not practicing timed sets. He emphasized "Its only five minutes .. switch hands every ten reps and you will be fine especially if you hit your MaxVO2 numbers."

Given KJ's Master RKC and his Olympic strength and conditioning coach credentials I am going to put my faith in him.

Aaron Friday said...

Franklin, if you can say "it's only 5 minutes" after nailing 100+ reps in continuous motion, then I'll stop being pissed off and probably take up VO2 max myself.