Sunday November 30, 2008
Weight: 179 lbs
Although I could have used more sleep, I was encouraged that my left wrist exhibited far less discomfort than the past three weeks. The training session today went very well. This is welcome news as my body is to starting to acclimate to four light to moderate training sessions per week.
It was supposed to have been a do-it-yourself session as the only coach had a private session. As a result, I was planning on implementing the suggestion of Ed Pierini regarding the use of the snatch balance (a.k.a. snatch drop) assistance lift to overcome the fear of dropping under the bar. However, Coach Matt had a cancellation and put us through a great session (I will give the snatch balance a go this evening in my basement dungeon). Also I started bringing my kettlebells to the Oly lifting club as the coaches there are starting to take a greater interest in their application as assistance lifts, particularly the Turkish Get Up (TGU).
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1: BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 10 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Squat C&J (kg):
40 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2
55 x 1 x 2
60 x 4 x 2
65 x 1 x 2
Snatch grip behind the back push presses:
40kg x 3 x 5
Reverse lunges with barbell in front rack position (lbs):
65 x 1 x 5/5
85 x 1 x 5/5
95 x 1 x 5/5
BW x 4 x 4 Tactical Pullup
BW x 1 x 3 Tactical Pullup
Kettlebell Finishers:
48kg x 2 x 10 Two-hand swing
40kg x 1 x 1/1 C&J
32kg x 1 x 2/2 TGU
40kg x 1 x 1 TGU right only
Today's Oly session concentrated on working up to 80% of max clean and jerk and then doing five sets of doubles. I made good progress on my jerk as my left leg is getting more flexible in the split position. This was followed by two new assistance lifts. The first set of behind the back snatch grip (wide) push presses was very awkward especialluy the negative. Then I realized it was much easier to catch the bar on back with a cushioning knee dip. The next two sets felt very easy and I look forward to increasing the weight. The reverse lunges while holding the bar in the clean rack position presented no problem until the last set at 95lbs which took extra focus to keep my torso straight.
I ended the session with a sets of pullups and some heavy kettlebell work.
Total volume: 5198 lbs
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Oly session with Kettlebells TGUs thrown in
Saturday November 29, 2008
Weight: 180 lbs
A good nights sleep is always welcome. Today's Oly session featured a new coach, Coach Matt, and it went very well. I had to give up using my home-brew reverse-hyper setup as holding onto the coffee table was causing too much left wrist discomfort.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
40kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
45kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
50kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
55kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
65kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
70kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
75kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J
80kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J (PR)
40kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
45kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
50kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
55kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch
60kg x 1 x 1 Power Snatch
62kg x 3 x 1 Snatch: no lifts
2 x 5/5 Pistols (One legged squats off 18" box)
1 x 5/5 Pistols (One legged squats off 12" box)
32kg x 1 x 2/2 Kettlebell TGU
32kg x 1 x 1/1 Kettlebell TGU
BW x 3 x 3 Tactical Pullups
Although the volume for today was relatively light, the intensity was very high for me and I was wiped out afterward. The 80kg C&J PR was a little sloppy but a great confidence builder .. two more kilos and I've got a BW C&J. Tomorrow I will work on OH and Front squats. I almost muscle snatched the 62 kg. I still have a great fear of dropping under anything above 50kg on my snatch .. the OH squats are just the thing to work through this. Its been a while since I did pistols. The 18" box was too easy .. the 12" extremely challenging. One of coaches noticed I have tendency to collapse my squatting leg inward. As a result I really focused on keeping it straight. The pullups were very strong. I enjoy doing them on a real free standing pull-up station instead of the door-based home goober I have to use.
Total Volume: 3540 lbs
Weight: 180 lbs
A good nights sleep is always welcome. Today's Oly session featured a new coach, Coach Matt, and it went very well. I had to give up using my home-brew reverse-hyper setup as holding onto the coffee table was causing too much left wrist discomfort.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
40kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
45kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
50kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
55kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
65kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
70kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
75kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J
80kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J (PR)
40kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
45kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
50kg x 1 x 2 Squat Snatch
55kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch
60kg x 1 x 1 Power Snatch
62kg x 3 x 1 Snatch: no lifts
2 x 5/5 Pistols (One legged squats off 18" box)
1 x 5/5 Pistols (One legged squats off 12" box)
32kg x 1 x 2/2 Kettlebell TGU
32kg x 1 x 1/1 Kettlebell TGU
BW x 3 x 3 Tactical Pullups
Although the volume for today was relatively light, the intensity was very high for me and I was wiped out afterward. The 80kg C&J PR was a little sloppy but a great confidence builder .. two more kilos and I've got a BW C&J. Tomorrow I will work on OH and Front squats. I almost muscle snatched the 62 kg. I still have a great fear of dropping under anything above 50kg on my snatch .. the OH squats are just the thing to work through this. Its been a while since I did pistols. The 18" box was too easy .. the 12" extremely challenging. One of coaches noticed I have tendency to collapse my squatting leg inward. As a result I really focused on keeping it straight. The pullups were very strong. I enjoy doing them on a real free standing pull-up station instead of the door-based home goober I have to use.
Total Volume: 3540 lbs
Friday, November 28, 2008
Light Basement Oly Snatch Session
Friday November 28, 2008
Weight: 180 lbs
A decent nights sleep and minimum soreness from yesterday's training session. This evening I rewatched the snatch chapter of the Explosive Lifting for Sports DVD and its starting to make more sense. I decided to try some very light Oly squat snatches in my basement now that I have a little more confidence in being able to recover with light weights .. not having bumper plates or a real Oly bar ( a minimum $500 for the Pendlay or Rip/Burgener bar) not being able to ditch the bar quickly is a recipe for trouble.
I also started GTG-ing sets of 3 rep tactical pullups with several hour rest between sets. This seems to be very easy on my elbows and allows me to build up slowly and safely. Before my overuse injury I had done 9 tacticals and 14 neutrals. Its amusing now to look back in March when I started training these. I switched from tactical to neutral as the formert really aggrevated some tennis elbow I had. The overuse injury I suffered in August was done with neutral grip and resulted in a nasty case of golfers elbow. Now I'm back to tacticals as these are much tolerable .. even a single with neutral grip is very painful.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 10 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Tactical Pullups
BW x 4 x 3 at least 2hrs rest between sets
Evening Oly session:
Squat Snatch (lbs):
45 x 1 x 5
55 x 2 x 3
65 x 2 x 3
75 x 2 x 2
85 x 2 x 2
The key to this lift is to get under the bar as soons as possible. It only has to get a few inches over the chest to pop under .. easier said than done. As soon as it gets a little heavier I get hesitant and wind up power snatching and then dropping down. It would seem that some OH squat overloads might help my confidence. On the other hand lots of volume with ligher weights is the best way to work on technique.
Before I started I went over to my squat rack and got under the 195lb I had left on the bar from yesterday's front squat session. Damn, it felt real heavy and I began to doubt if I will ever jerk it. Very similiar to the first time I considered snatching the 32kg bell. I picked it up and changed my mind instantly .. just will take some time.
Weight: 180 lbs
A decent nights sleep and minimum soreness from yesterday's training session. This evening I rewatched the snatch chapter of the Explosive Lifting for Sports DVD and its starting to make more sense. I decided to try some very light Oly squat snatches in my basement now that I have a little more confidence in being able to recover with light weights .. not having bumper plates or a real Oly bar ( a minimum $500 for the Pendlay or Rip/Burgener bar) not being able to ditch the bar quickly is a recipe for trouble.
I also started GTG-ing sets of 3 rep tactical pullups with several hour rest between sets. This seems to be very easy on my elbows and allows me to build up slowly and safely. Before my overuse injury I had done 9 tacticals and 14 neutrals. Its amusing now to look back in March when I started training these. I switched from tactical to neutral as the formert really aggrevated some tennis elbow I had. The overuse injury I suffered in August was done with neutral grip and resulted in a nasty case of golfers elbow. Now I'm back to tacticals as these are much tolerable .. even a single with neutral grip is very painful.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 10 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Tactical Pullups
BW x 4 x 3 at least 2hrs rest between sets
Evening Oly session:
Squat Snatch (lbs):
45 x 1 x 5
55 x 2 x 3
65 x 2 x 3
75 x 2 x 2
85 x 2 x 2
The key to this lift is to get under the bar as soons as possible. It only has to get a few inches over the chest to pop under .. easier said than done. As soon as it gets a little heavier I get hesitant and wind up power snatching and then dropping down. It would seem that some OH squat overloads might help my confidence. On the other hand lots of volume with ligher weights is the best way to work on technique.
Before I started I went over to my squat rack and got under the 195lb I had left on the bar from yesterday's front squat session. Damn, it felt real heavy and I began to doubt if I will ever jerk it. Very similiar to the first time I considered snatching the 32kg bell. I picked it up and changed my mind instantly .. just will take some time.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Front Squats & Swings
Thursday, November 27, 2008 (Thanksgiving)
Weight: 179 1/2 lbs
Its Turkey Day!! I will not be a glutton .. at least I will try my best. A morning training session is called for to make some room for some yummy vittles.
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 10 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Barbell Front Squat (lbs)
155 x 1 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 3
190 x 1 x 3
195 x 1 x 3 (PR)
Kettlebell swings
32kg x 5 x 20 Two-hand swings
24kg x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swings
I increased my 3RM front squat by 10lbs for a PR. Doing these first helped. For the swings I took two minutes between sets .. its been awhile and my stamina has dropped off.
Total Volume: 15500 lbs
Weight: 179 1/2 lbs
Its Turkey Day!! I will not be a glutton .. at least I will try my best. A morning training session is called for to make some room for some yummy vittles.
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 10 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Barbell Front Squat (lbs)
155 x 1 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 3
190 x 1 x 3
195 x 1 x 3 (PR)
Kettlebell swings
32kg x 5 x 20 Two-hand swings
24kg x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swings
I increased my 3RM front squat by 10lbs for a PR. Doing these first helped. For the swings I took two minutes between sets .. its been awhile and my stamina has dropped off.
Total Volume: 15500 lbs
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Basement Oly Assistance Lifts
Tuesday November 22, 2008
Weight: 178 3/4 lbs
Yesterday required a full days rest due to the back to back weekend days of Oly sessions. Tonight I trained Oly assistance lifts in my basement:
Clean Pulls (lbs)
135 x 2 x 2
155 x 2 x 2
165 x 2 x 2
175 x 2 x 2
185 x 2 x 2
195 x 2 x 1
205 x 2 x 1
215 x 2 x 1
225 x 2 x 1
Front Squats (lbs)
165 x 2 x 2
175 x 1 x 2
185 x 1 x 2
195 x 1 x 1
200 x 1 x 1 (PR)
32kg x 4 x 1/1 Kettlebell Turkish Get Up (TGU)
I was very cautious working up to my Front Squat PR as I don't have a power rack or bumper plates. The KB TGUs were challenging. Just a few months ago I could bang out doubles and triples after a MaxVO2 snatch session. Its just not possible to keep up with all my KB lifts as I have placed a higher priority on working the Oly lifts.
Total Volume: 7280 lbs
Weight: 178 3/4 lbs
Yesterday required a full days rest due to the back to back weekend days of Oly sessions. Tonight I trained Oly assistance lifts in my basement:
Clean Pulls (lbs)
135 x 2 x 2
155 x 2 x 2
165 x 2 x 2
175 x 2 x 2
185 x 2 x 2
195 x 2 x 1
205 x 2 x 1
215 x 2 x 1
225 x 2 x 1
Front Squats (lbs)
165 x 2 x 2
175 x 1 x 2
185 x 1 x 2
195 x 1 x 1
200 x 1 x 1 (PR)
32kg x 4 x 1/1 Kettlebell Turkish Get Up (TGU)
I was very cautious working up to my Front Squat PR as I don't have a power rack or bumper plates. The KB TGUs were challenging. Just a few months ago I could bang out doubles and triples after a MaxVO2 snatch session. Its just not possible to keep up with all my KB lifts as I have placed a higher priority on working the Oly lifts.
Total Volume: 7280 lbs
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Back to back Oly Sessions
Saturday November 22, 2008
Weight: 181 lbs
40kg x 2 x 3 Squat Snatch
45kg x 2 x 3 Squat Snatch
50kg x 2 x 3 Power Snatch
50kg x 2 x 3 OH Squat
55kg x 2 x 2 Power Snatch
55kg x 2 x 2 OH Squat
60kg x 2 x 1 Power Snatch
60kg x 2 x 1 OH Squat (PR)
65kg x 2 x 1 Power Snatch Failure
24kg x 3 x 2/2 Kettlebell TGU
24kg MaxVO2 :15/:15 8 reps/set: 6 sets
Snatch Pulls
145 x 2 x 5
150 x 2 x 6
155 x 1 x 6
160 x 1 x 2
170 x 1 x 2
175 x 1 x 2
180 x 1 x 2
185 x 1 x 2
Front Squats (1lbs)
135 x 1 x 3
145 x 1 x 3
155 x 1 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 2
195 x 1 x 1 (PR)
As soon as I worked up to 50kg for my Oly snatches, I was not comfortable with squat snatching it so I power snatched and then when the bar was OH I did one or two OH squats. The singles with 60kg were very tough. The attempts of power snatching 65kg might has well have been 600kg because it wasn't even close. I will have to build up a solid squat snatch to 60kg and then attempt 65kg again when I'm stronger and have better technique. I can see that a 82kg BW snatch is probably at least a year away if not more .. so humbling yet so challenging!
The snatch pulls and front squats were done in my basement in the evening. When I purchased a second set of inexpensive Olympic bar and weights (to make sure I had enough weight for my Sep TSC hosting), the craigslist seller threw in his bench. I never planned on using it but it turns out that the bench rack was adjustable for with a highest height suitable for front squats. Not having a spotter or any cushioning on my concrete floor where my rack is located, I carefully worked up to a PR with minimum 2 minutes between sets to make sure I was completely recovered.
Total Volume: 12900 lbs
Sunday November 23, 2008
Weight: 179 lbs
The two pound drop in weight was due to all the dancing I did last night at pre-holiday party I was invited to.
I normally do not the 4 day Oly program which requires both Sat and Sun as my S.O. usually has plans for one of those days. However she caught a bad cold so went today as well knowing I would be pretty challenged considering the effects of yesterdays double session.
Oly session:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
40kg x 3 x 2 C&J
45kg x 3 x 2 C&J
50kg x 5 x 2 C&J
55kg x 2 x 2 C&J
60kg x 6 x 1 C&J
50kg x 4 x 1 C&J
50kg x 1 x 3 Rack Jerks
60kg x 1 x 1 Rack Jerks
45kg x 3 Barbell Lunge Walks
Everything felt heavy today! Both coaches gave me many cues to help my rectify the many problems with my split jerk. Although the volume was one-third of yesterdays, I was completely exhausted. I had very little left for the rack split jerks with particular difficulty with the negative .. that is, dropping the bar back into the rack for the next rep.
After the session, my coach explained that it does take about a year before everything clicks after which progress accelerates. This was exemplified today when one of the women lifters broke throw many snatch barriers and added a gigantic 10kg to her squat snatch. She has been at it for just over a year and her form looks excellent. Another lifter, a soccer player, who is the same height as me (5'9") weighs only 135 lbs and is power snatching 70kg (154 lbs), BW plus! Again he too has only been at it a year. Both these folks are very inspiring examples to say the least.
Total Volume: 4400 lbs
Weight: 181 lbs
40kg x 2 x 3 Squat Snatch
45kg x 2 x 3 Squat Snatch
50kg x 2 x 3 Power Snatch
50kg x 2 x 3 OH Squat
55kg x 2 x 2 Power Snatch
55kg x 2 x 2 OH Squat
60kg x 2 x 1 Power Snatch
60kg x 2 x 1 OH Squat (PR)
65kg x 2 x 1 Power Snatch Failure
24kg x 3 x 2/2 Kettlebell TGU
24kg MaxVO2 :15/:15 8 reps/set: 6 sets
Snatch Pulls
145 x 2 x 5
150 x 2 x 6
155 x 1 x 6
160 x 1 x 2
170 x 1 x 2
175 x 1 x 2
180 x 1 x 2
185 x 1 x 2
Front Squats (1lbs)
135 x 1 x 3
145 x 1 x 3
155 x 1 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 2
195 x 1 x 1 (PR)
As soon as I worked up to 50kg for my Oly snatches, I was not comfortable with squat snatching it so I power snatched and then when the bar was OH I did one or two OH squats. The singles with 60kg were very tough. The attempts of power snatching 65kg might has well have been 600kg because it wasn't even close. I will have to build up a solid squat snatch to 60kg and then attempt 65kg again when I'm stronger and have better technique. I can see that a 82kg BW snatch is probably at least a year away if not more .. so humbling yet so challenging!
The snatch pulls and front squats were done in my basement in the evening. When I purchased a second set of inexpensive Olympic bar and weights (to make sure I had enough weight for my Sep TSC hosting), the craigslist seller threw in his bench. I never planned on using it but it turns out that the bench rack was adjustable for with a highest height suitable for front squats. Not having a spotter or any cushioning on my concrete floor where my rack is located, I carefully worked up to a PR with minimum 2 minutes between sets to make sure I was completely recovered.
Total Volume: 12900 lbs
Sunday November 23, 2008
Weight: 179 lbs
The two pound drop in weight was due to all the dancing I did last night at pre-holiday party I was invited to.
I normally do not the 4 day Oly program which requires both Sat and Sun as my S.O. usually has plans for one of those days. However she caught a bad cold so went today as well knowing I would be pretty challenged considering the effects of yesterdays double session.
Oly session:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
40kg x 3 x 2 C&J
45kg x 3 x 2 C&J
50kg x 5 x 2 C&J
55kg x 2 x 2 C&J
60kg x 6 x 1 C&J
50kg x 4 x 1 C&J
50kg x 1 x 3 Rack Jerks
60kg x 1 x 1 Rack Jerks
45kg x 3 Barbell Lunge Walks
Everything felt heavy today! Both coaches gave me many cues to help my rectify the many problems with my split jerk. Although the volume was one-third of yesterdays, I was completely exhausted. I had very little left for the rack split jerks with particular difficulty with the negative .. that is, dropping the bar back into the rack for the next rep.
After the session, my coach explained that it does take about a year before everything clicks after which progress accelerates. This was exemplified today when one of the women lifters broke throw many snatch barriers and added a gigantic 10kg to her squat snatch. She has been at it for just over a year and her form looks excellent. Another lifter, a soccer player, who is the same height as me (5'9") weighs only 135 lbs and is power snatching 70kg (154 lbs), BW plus! Again he too has only been at it a year. Both these folks are very inspiring examples to say the least.
Total Volume: 4400 lbs
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Kettlbells, Oly lifts and a deep freeze
Wednesday November 19, 2008
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
This morning when I woke up at 6am it was 18 deg F. Last week at this time it was 40 deg F. I knew it was cold when I got up and my left heel was split .. ouch! The bag balm I normally use at night for my hands is now being shared with my feet. Although yesterdays session represented the greatest Oly training volume to date, I felt pretty good in the morning. As a resulted, I decided on a moderate KB session with one of my clients:
24kg Two-hand Swings
2 x (5, 10, 20, 25, 30) Alternating turns with my client
Total: 250 swings
24kg x 1 x 7r Seated MP
24kg x 2 5-rung Viking Push Press Ladder
32kg x 3 3-rung Push Press Ladder
I got a great sweat going from the swings. I really threw the bell down hard on the negative to really work the movement .. makes a huge difference. I was a little wary about my left wrist so skipped on the seated presses on left side.
Thursday November 20, 2008
Weight: 180 1/2 lbs
Another blistering cold and windy day. Usually by February my body slowly gets used to these temperature but such quick transitions are very tough. Fortunately, I feel pretty good considering this will be the third training day in a row (Oly, KB, Oly).
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 9 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Evening Oly Session:
40kg x 2 x 5 Squat C&J
50kg x 2 x 3 Squat C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
70kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
80kg x 1 x 1 Squat Clean (failed on the jerk) (PR)
90kg x 1 x 5 Squat Clean failures
60kg x 3 x 2 Squat C&J
Front Squat (lbs)
135 x 1 x 3
155 x 2 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 3 (PR)
10lb x 2 Two-inch Wrist Curl
BW x 3 x 4 Tactical Pullups
Tonight I was prodded by Assistant Coach Jascha Kahn into the full-squat version of the clean. Fortunately this went very smoothly as I had been doing front squat assistance lifts for a few weeks in preparation. As a result we decided to see how far I could go with the new technique. After working up the 70kg and having it go smoothly, I decided to jump right to 80kg. Although I could not jerk the 80kg I did squat clean it pretty easily for a PR. After another jerk failure with it we decided to focus on the squat clean. Going right to 90kg I got a little freaked out about the jump in weight and subsequently resulted in four horrible misses. After a five minute break I was able to psych myself on a fifth attempt where I was able to get underneath it and raise about three-quarters of the way up when I got stuck. I felt darn good about coming very close knowing I will nail in a week or so.
Following this I dropped back down to 60kg to work on improving my jerk form with the C&J. After three more sets of doubles I stopped with enough in the tank left for front squats. I decided to use a wrist strap technique I found on-line to take pressure off my left wrist while it is still recovering .. the front squat strap usage is demonstrated in the photo below:
This went very well with PRs at 155, 165, 175 and 185 an increase of 40lbs from last Thursday. Next week I will shoot for a triple with 200 to help give me the confidence to squat clean it. In the meantime I need to work hard on my jerk technique .. I know I am strong enough to jerk 80kg but my technique is lacking.
Total volume: 6920 lbs
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
This morning when I woke up at 6am it was 18 deg F. Last week at this time it was 40 deg F. I knew it was cold when I got up and my left heel was split .. ouch! The bag balm I normally use at night for my hands is now being shared with my feet. Although yesterdays session represented the greatest Oly training volume to date, I felt pretty good in the morning. As a resulted, I decided on a moderate KB session with one of my clients:
24kg Two-hand Swings
2 x (5, 10, 20, 25, 30) Alternating turns with my client
Total: 250 swings
24kg x 1 x 7r Seated MP
24kg x 2 5-rung Viking Push Press Ladder
32kg x 3 3-rung Push Press Ladder
I got a great sweat going from the swings. I really threw the bell down hard on the negative to really work the movement .. makes a huge difference. I was a little wary about my left wrist so skipped on the seated presses on left side.
Thursday November 20, 2008
Weight: 180 1/2 lbs
Another blistering cold and windy day. Usually by February my body slowly gets used to these temperature but such quick transitions are very tough. Fortunately, I feel pretty good considering this will be the third training day in a row (Oly, KB, Oly).
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 9 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Evening Oly Session:
40kg x 2 x 5 Squat C&J
50kg x 2 x 3 Squat C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Squat C&J
70kg x 1 x 1 Squat C&J
80kg x 1 x 1 Squat Clean (failed on the jerk) (PR)
90kg x 1 x 5 Squat Clean failures
60kg x 3 x 2 Squat C&J
Front Squat (lbs)
135 x 1 x 3
155 x 2 x 3
165 x 1 x 3
175 x 1 x 3
185 x 1 x 3 (PR)
10lb x 2 Two-inch Wrist Curl
BW x 3 x 4 Tactical Pullups
Tonight I was prodded by Assistant Coach Jascha Kahn into the full-squat version of the clean. Fortunately this went very smoothly as I had been doing front squat assistance lifts for a few weeks in preparation. As a result we decided to see how far I could go with the new technique. After working up the 70kg and having it go smoothly, I decided to jump right to 80kg. Although I could not jerk the 80kg I did squat clean it pretty easily for a PR. After another jerk failure with it we decided to focus on the squat clean. Going right to 90kg I got a little freaked out about the jump in weight and subsequently resulted in four horrible misses. After a five minute break I was able to psych myself on a fifth attempt where I was able to get underneath it and raise about three-quarters of the way up when I got stuck. I felt darn good about coming very close knowing I will nail in a week or so.
Following this I dropped back down to 60kg to work on improving my jerk form with the C&J. After three more sets of doubles I stopped with enough in the tank left for front squats. I decided to use a wrist strap technique I found on-line to take pressure off my left wrist while it is still recovering .. the front squat strap usage is demonstrated in the photo below:
This went very well with PRs at 155, 165, 175 and 185 an increase of 40lbs from last Thursday. Next week I will shoot for a triple with 200 to help give me the confidence to squat clean it. In the meantime I need to work hard on my jerk technique .. I know I am strong enough to jerk 80kg but my technique is lacking.
Total volume: 6920 lbs
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Barbell Snatch Progress
Tuesday November 18, 2008
Weight: 181 lbs
I blew up to 183 1/2 on Sunday after late night dinners and drinks two nights in a row. Yesterday I went back to 100% PN compliance and almost got back to 180. I gave my sore left wrist another two days of rest and picked up some nylon velcro wrist supports for evening Oly session.
Evening Olympic Lifting Session:
Z-Health: Neural Warmup Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility)
30kg x 2 x 5 Squat Snatch
35kg x 2 x 5 Squat Snatch
40kg x 1 x 3 Squat Snatch
45kg x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
50kg x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
55kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch
60kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch (PR)
40kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
50kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
55kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
60kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
65kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
100kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
110kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
115kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
120kg x 1 x (3,2) Olympic Dead-lift with straps
BW x 2 x 3 Tactical Pullup
BW x 1 x 4 Tactical Pullup
The wrist supports proved very effective as I had no pain at all. Tonight was the first time I performed squat snatches using light weight. I had no problem with flexibility although I need to bring my feet in further and less pointed out to the sides. I had the same problem with my kettlebell front squats but eventually was able to correct as I am sure I will with the squat snatch as well.
After the work with the squat snatches, Coach Fuller let me work up to a max power snatch (the bar is caught in an above parallel squat position before recovering and standing up). My previous was PR was 45kg so I had a big jump to 60kg. However my form for double with the 60kg has a lot to be desired but nonetheless it was a legitimate lift. This is a great confidence builder for me .. the last session I was very frustrated as the weights were so light I couldn't get enough feedback to do perform my lifts correctly.
Last were the Olympic dead-lifts. These are performed using a hook grip (index and middle fingers wrap over the thumb) and with the knees extending fully first and then the hips .. this is how the 1st pull is performed with the Olympic Snatch and C&J. I also GTG-ed some tactical pullups through out the session. I have lost quite a bit strength with these but I know I will gradually get it back.
Total volume: 10400 lbs
Weight: 181 lbs
I blew up to 183 1/2 on Sunday after late night dinners and drinks two nights in a row. Yesterday I went back to 100% PN compliance and almost got back to 180. I gave my sore left wrist another two days of rest and picked up some nylon velcro wrist supports for evening Oly session.
Evening Olympic Lifting Session:
Z-Health: Neural Warmup Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility)
30kg x 2 x 5 Squat Snatch
35kg x 2 x 5 Squat Snatch
40kg x 1 x 3 Squat Snatch
45kg x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
50kg x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
55kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch
60kg x 1 x 2 Power Snatch (PR)
40kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
50kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
55kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
60kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
65kg x 1 x 5 Snatch Pull
100kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
110kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
115kg x 1 x 5 Olympic Dead-lift
120kg x 1 x (3,2) Olympic Dead-lift with straps
BW x 2 x 3 Tactical Pullup
BW x 1 x 4 Tactical Pullup
The wrist supports proved very effective as I had no pain at all. Tonight was the first time I performed squat snatches using light weight. I had no problem with flexibility although I need to bring my feet in further and less pointed out to the sides. I had the same problem with my kettlebell front squats but eventually was able to correct as I am sure I will with the squat snatch as well.
After the work with the squat snatches, Coach Fuller let me work up to a max power snatch (the bar is caught in an above parallel squat position before recovering and standing up). My previous was PR was 45kg so I had a big jump to 60kg. However my form for double with the 60kg has a lot to be desired but nonetheless it was a legitimate lift. This is a great confidence builder for me .. the last session I was very frustrated as the weights were so light I couldn't get enough feedback to do perform my lifts correctly.
Last were the Olympic dead-lifts. These are performed using a hook grip (index and middle fingers wrap over the thumb) and with the knees extending fully first and then the hips .. this is how the 1st pull is performed with the Olympic Snatch and C&J. I also GTG-ed some tactical pullups through out the session. I have lost quite a bit strength with these but I know I will gradually get it back.
Total volume: 10400 lbs
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A Weekly Summary
Below is a summary of the last week
Tuesday November 11, 2008
Weight: 180 lbs
Back to over 95% compliant Precision Nutrition consumption. I've increased the caloric count but have not gained any weight.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Early Evening:
Oly Session:
Barbell Snatch (kg)
30 x 4 x 5
35 x 4 x 5
40 x 2 x 3
Hang Snatch (kg)
40 x 2 x 3
Snatch Pulls
40 x 5 x 3
Coach Fuller kept it really light as my form has many issues .. here as some them:
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
Hmm .. right trap is very achy and I slept like crud. Last nights Oly session was more demanding than I thought. A full day of recovery is required.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 7 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Thursday November 12, 2008
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
I woke up feeling much better.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 7 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Evening Oly Session:
Barbell Power Clean (kg)
30 x 4 x 5
35 x 4 x 5
40 x 2 x 3
45 x 2 x 3
Hang Clean Pulls (kg)
45 x 3 x 3
Front Squat (lbs)
95 x 1 x 3
115 x 1 x 3
135 x 3 x 3
145 x 1 x 3
Coach Fuller insisted on real light cleans. These felt too light and my form degenerated. It seems to me that there has to be enough weight to get a feel for the lift. I was extremely frustrated and almost considered packing it in. The front squats went reasonably well as my rack felt very comfortable.
Unfortunately my left wrist was very sore by the time I got home. I can see why this sport is not very popular. Even with very low volume, the barbell is very unkind to joints. In particular, I can now really appreciate the RKC hard-style emphasis of always maintaining a straight wrist .. its pretty hard to injure ones wrist if the joint is locked out straight.
Saturday November 15, 2008
Weight: 182 lbs
Yesterday I had to take a large dose of Ibuprofen for my left wrist. My S.O. and I went out to both a Chinese buffet for lunch and then for barbecued pork ribs for dinner. I pigged out and the morning weigh in reflected it. My wrist felt much better today so I decided to train and play it by ear.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 8 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Afternoon:
2 x 24kg x 1 x 5 MP
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 5 C&P
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 3-rung ladder MP
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 3-rung ladder C&P
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
40kg x 2 x 15 Swing
28kg x 2 x 10 Swing
Barbell Hang Clean Pulls (lbs)
105 x 1 x 5
115 x 1 x 5
135 x 1 x 5
155 x 1 x 5
185 x 2 x 3
205 x 2 x 2
225 x 2 x 2
Although I've lost a bit of strength and endurance, it was great to get back to Kettlebell lifting. I made sure not to overdo it and had plenty left for some barbell hang clean pulls. I am very pleased that a couple of 225 hang clean pulls didn't feel to tough. I can remember just a half a year ago when 225 was a PR in my dead-lift.
I had to ice my wrist immediately after the session as I could felt a little discomfort. I will have to monitor this tweak carefully to ensure I don't wind having to take another week of forced downtime.
Tuesday November 11, 2008
Weight: 180 lbs
Back to over 95% compliant Precision Nutrition consumption. I've increased the caloric count but have not gained any weight.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Early Evening:
Oly Session:
Barbell Snatch (kg)
30 x 4 x 5
35 x 4 x 5
40 x 2 x 3
Hang Snatch (kg)
40 x 2 x 3
Snatch Pulls
40 x 5 x 3
Coach Fuller kept it really light as my form has many issues .. here as some them:
- Need more hip
- Feet should not leave the ground
- Arms should be ropes
- More pushing the ground away instead of jumping
- Hips lower off of the ground
- Chest needs to out over the bar
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
Hmm .. right trap is very achy and I slept like crud. Last nights Oly session was more demanding than I thought. A full day of recovery is required.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 7 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Thursday November 12, 2008
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
I woke up feeling much better.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 7 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 1 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Evening Oly Session:
Barbell Power Clean (kg)
30 x 4 x 5
35 x 4 x 5
40 x 2 x 3
45 x 2 x 3
Hang Clean Pulls (kg)
45 x 3 x 3
Front Squat (lbs)
95 x 1 x 3
115 x 1 x 3
135 x 3 x 3
145 x 1 x 3
Coach Fuller insisted on real light cleans. These felt too light and my form degenerated. It seems to me that there has to be enough weight to get a feel for the lift. I was extremely frustrated and almost considered packing it in. The front squats went reasonably well as my rack felt very comfortable.
Unfortunately my left wrist was very sore by the time I got home. I can see why this sport is not very popular. Even with very low volume, the barbell is very unkind to joints. In particular, I can now really appreciate the RKC hard-style emphasis of always maintaining a straight wrist .. its pretty hard to injure ones wrist if the joint is locked out straight.
Saturday November 15, 2008
Weight: 182 lbs
Yesterday I had to take a large dose of Ibuprofen for my left wrist. My S.O. and I went out to both a Chinese buffet for lunch and then for barbecued pork ribs for dinner. I pigged out and the morning weigh in reflected it. My wrist felt much better today so I decided to train and play it by ear.
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 8 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Afternoon:
2 x 24kg x 1 x 5 MP
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 5 C&P
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 3-rung ladder MP
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
2 x 24kg x 1 x 3-rung ladder C&P
2 x 24kg x 1 x 10 Swing
40kg x 2 x 15 Swing
28kg x 2 x 10 Swing
Barbell Hang Clean Pulls (lbs)
105 x 1 x 5
115 x 1 x 5
135 x 1 x 5
155 x 1 x 5
185 x 2 x 3
205 x 2 x 2
225 x 2 x 2
Although I've lost a bit of strength and endurance, it was great to get back to Kettlebell lifting. I made sure not to overdo it and had plenty left for some barbell hang clean pulls. I am very pleased that a couple of 225 hang clean pulls didn't feel to tough. I can remember just a half a year ago when 225 was a PR in my dead-lift.
I had to ice my wrist immediately after the session as I could felt a little discomfort. I will have to monitor this tweak carefully to ensure I don't wind having to take another week of forced downtime.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
More Deads with Chains
Weight: 180 lbs
This is minimalist and as beautiful as it gets:
John Coltrane: Naima
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
(BW + 15 lbs) x 1 x 10 Reverse Hyper on home-brew setup
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 2 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Deadlift (lbs)
240 x 1 x 3 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
215 x 1 x 5 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
The goal was 5 but I settled for 3 with the 240. The 215 was fairly easy. The good news is my right shoulder and peck are fine.
This is minimalist and as beautiful as it gets:
John Coltrane: Naima
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
(BW + 15 lbs) x 1 x 10 Reverse Hyper on home-brew setup
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Elbow complex: 2 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
Deadlift (lbs)
240 x 1 x 3 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
215 x 1 x 5 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
The goal was 5 but I settled for 3 with the 240. The 215 was fairly easy. The good news is my right shoulder and peck are fine.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Meeting Denis Reno
Weight: 179 7/8 lbs
There have been a number of great music videos posted on some of the training blogs. Here is one of my favorites. Although this is a youtube "video", its a actually just a still frame with audio .. I hope you believe as I do nothing else is necessary.
Mikhail Voskresensky: Chopin Opus 20 C-sharp minor Posthumous
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Oly Lifts:
20kg x 1 x 3 Power C&J
30kg x 1 x 3 Power C&J
40kg x 2 x 3 Power C&J
45kg x 2 x 3 Power C&J
50kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
55kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
65kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
70kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
72kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J
Back Squats:
40kg x 1 x 3
50kg x 1 x 3
70kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 2 x 3
Today at the Oly Lifting club, I had the greatest pleasure today of meeting and being coached by Denis Reno, the 1992 Team Leader for the US Olympic Weightlifting team. Denis will be traveling around the world following Oly competitions and will be returning to our club in mid December. I am certainly looking forward to some more coaching from this legend.
I had never done back squats before but having carefully read Mark Rippetoe's chapter on the back squat in "Starting Strength" and the coaching cues by Coach Fuller, I felt very comfortable with the 80kg.
With the demands of learning and participating in Oly lifting and training, I have had to back off the intense Kettlebell training I was doing in parallel. I will integrate it back in as soon as I can get a better feel for how my body responds to three weekly sessions of Oly lifting.
There have been a number of great music videos posted on some of the training blogs. Here is one of my favorites. Although this is a youtube "video", its a actually just a still frame with audio .. I hope you believe as I do nothing else is necessary.
Mikhail Voskresensky: Chopin Opus 20 C-sharp minor Posthumous
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Oly Lifts:
20kg x 1 x 3 Power C&J
30kg x 1 x 3 Power C&J
40kg x 2 x 3 Power C&J
45kg x 2 x 3 Power C&J
50kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
55kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
60kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
65kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
70kg x 1 x 2 Power C&J
72kg x 1 x 1 Power C&J
Back Squats:
40kg x 1 x 3
50kg x 1 x 3
70kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 2 x 3
Today at the Oly Lifting club, I had the greatest pleasure today of meeting and being coached by Denis Reno, the 1992 Team Leader for the US Olympic Weightlifting team. Denis will be traveling around the world following Oly competitions and will be returning to our club in mid December. I am certainly looking forward to some more coaching from this legend.
I had never done back squats before but having carefully read Mark Rippetoe's chapter on the back squat in "Starting Strength" and the coaching cues by Coach Fuller, I felt very comfortable with the 80kg.
With the demands of learning and participating in Oly lifting and training, I have had to back off the intense Kettlebell training I was doing in parallel. I will integrate it back in as soon as I can get a better feel for how my body responds to three weekly sessions of Oly lifting.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Honing in on the Power Snatch
Morning:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
(BW + 15 lbs) x 1 x 10 Reverse Hyper on home-brew setup
Elbow complex: 2 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
Normally I would do two sets of 10 Ab Wheel rollouts but these seem to bother my shoulder. As a result I stuck to one set of 5. The Reverse Hypers were very tough today so I limited myself to a single set.
Evening:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Oly lifts (kg)
40 x 2 x 5 Power Snatch
45 x 2 x 3 Power Snatch
50 x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
45 x 10 x 3 Power Snatch
53 x 5 x 5 Snatch Pull
55 x 5 x 5 Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
I got to the club early to go through my Z-Health again. Given that I can double snatch the 24s for sets of 5, the 45 feels pretty light. To my surprise, my only set with the 50 didn't go well as I jumped way to wide to get underneath instead of jumping with more force. As a result, Coach Fuller had me drop back down to sets with the 45. By the end of my last power snatch, my form was getting consistent and the weight was moving with much greater ease.
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Back & Ab Complex: 1 set
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
A2: BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
(BW + 15 lbs) x 1 x 10 Reverse Hyper on home-brew setup
Elbow complex: 2 sets
A1: 1 x 4 reverse wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A2: 1 x 5 wrist curl with 10 lb shot-put
A1:BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
Normally I would do two sets of 10 Ab Wheel rollouts but these seem to bother my shoulder. As a result I stuck to one set of 5. The Reverse Hypers were very tough today so I limited myself to a single set.
Evening:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Oly lifts (kg)
40 x 2 x 5 Power Snatch
45 x 2 x 3 Power Snatch
50 x 1 x 3 Power Snatch
45 x 10 x 3 Power Snatch
53 x 5 x 5 Snatch Pull
55 x 5 x 5 Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
I got to the club early to go through my Z-Health again. Given that I can double snatch the 24s for sets of 5, the 45 feels pretty light. To my surprise, my only set with the 50 didn't go well as I jumped way to wide to get underneath instead of jumping with more force. As a result, Coach Fuller had me drop back down to sets with the 45. By the end of my last power snatch, my form was getting consistent and the weight was moving with much greater ease.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Some down time and then back up again
This is a summary post for the past eleven days, most of which were forced downtime for the first ten days. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to resume my Oly lifts.
Sunday October 26, 2008
Very sore right peck and shoulder. Pain when reaching my right arm over to the left and overhead. This goes back all the way two and half weeks to Sunday October 19. I did way too much volume. I can remember how I felt discomfort on my right side during the last two sets of 32kg one hand swings .. 40 sets of 24kg MaxVO2 was more than enough .. I didn't need another 5 tons of heavy swings on top of it. The problem I have to deal with is when I'm feeling so jacked after a MaxVO2 that I need to learn to chill out instead of working myself into a few weeks of forced downtime.
Monday October 27, 2008
Still sore .. taking it very easy today.
Tuesday October 28, 2008
Testing the waters with some deads.
Deadlift (lbs)
230 x 1 x 5 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
210 x 1 x 5 Sumo plus 38lbs chain
The deads felt strong however I did feel some discomfort on my right peck. As the day wore on, the right side of my neck, right peck and right shoulder got very sore.
Wednesday October 29, 2008
My right shoulder and peck still very achy. I had a client tonight and only did some presses, push presses and jerks on my left side.
24kg x 1 5-rung MP ladder left side
32kg x 1 x 5 Push press left side
32kg x 1 x 5 Jerk left side
Thursday October 30, 2008
Again woke up sore. I will test my left later in the day.
32kg x 5 x 5 Push Press Left-only
I thought I would see how only lifting on my left effected my right side. I did feel a little discomfort so I will have to see how I feel in the morning.
Friday October 31, 2008
Saturday November 1, 2008
Sunday November 2, 2008
Monday November 3, 2008
Tuesday November 4, 2008
Still sore so lots of rest. I even skipped two days of Z-Health
Wednesday November 5
Congratulations to our newly elected President Barack Obama. A win-win situation as far as I was concerned as I really liked both candidates. Felt pretty good this morning. I will try a moderate session this evening.
Evening:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Double 24kg x 2 x 10 Swings
32kg x 1 x 20 Two-hand swings
32kg x 1 x 5/5 One-hand swings
24kg x 1 x 5,10,15,20,25 Two hand swings
24kg MaxVO2 @ :15/:15, 8reps/set: 4 sets
16kg x 1 5-rung seated press ladder both sides
24kg x 1 2-rung seated press ladder both sides
16kg x 1 5-rung seated press ladder both sides
This was my first session in awhile. I can't believe how smoked I was after a lousy 4 sets of MaxVO2. Not too concerned as I know I can recover my strength-endurance pretty quickly. I was with a client when I did the seated presses. His knee was bothering him from a tweak he obtained during some intramural hockey so this a great grind that doesn't require any knee flexion at all. I forgot how tough these were.
Sunday October 26, 2008
Very sore right peck and shoulder. Pain when reaching my right arm over to the left and overhead. This goes back all the way two and half weeks to Sunday October 19. I did way too much volume. I can remember how I felt discomfort on my right side during the last two sets of 32kg one hand swings .. 40 sets of 24kg MaxVO2 was more than enough .. I didn't need another 5 tons of heavy swings on top of it. The problem I have to deal with is when I'm feeling so jacked after a MaxVO2 that I need to learn to chill out instead of working myself into a few weeks of forced downtime.
Monday October 27, 2008
Still sore .. taking it very easy today.
Tuesday October 28, 2008
Testing the waters with some deads.
Deadlift (lbs)
230 x 1 x 5 Conventional plus 38lbs chain
210 x 1 x 5 Sumo plus 38lbs chain
The deads felt strong however I did feel some discomfort on my right peck. As the day wore on, the right side of my neck, right peck and right shoulder got very sore.
Wednesday October 29, 2008
My right shoulder and peck still very achy. I had a client tonight and only did some presses, push presses and jerks on my left side.
24kg x 1 5-rung MP ladder left side
32kg x 1 x 5 Push press left side
32kg x 1 x 5 Jerk left side
Thursday October 30, 2008
Again woke up sore. I will test my left later in the day.
32kg x 5 x 5 Push Press Left-only
I thought I would see how only lifting on my left effected my right side. I did feel a little discomfort so I will have to see how I feel in the morning.
Friday October 31, 2008
Saturday November 1, 2008
Sunday November 2, 2008
Monday November 3, 2008
Tuesday November 4, 2008
Still sore so lots of rest. I even skipped two days of Z-Health
Wednesday November 5
Congratulations to our newly elected President Barack Obama. A win-win situation as far as I was concerned as I really liked both candidates. Felt pretty good this morning. I will try a moderate session this evening.
Evening:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Double 24kg x 2 x 10 Swings
32kg x 1 x 20 Two-hand swings
32kg x 1 x 5/5 One-hand swings
24kg x 1 x 5,10,15,20,25 Two hand swings
24kg MaxVO2 @ :15/:15, 8reps/set: 4 sets
16kg x 1 5-rung seated press ladder both sides
24kg x 1 2-rung seated press ladder both sides
16kg x 1 5-rung seated press ladder both sides
This was my first session in awhile. I can't believe how smoked I was after a lousy 4 sets of MaxVO2. Not too concerned as I know I can recover my strength-endurance pretty quickly. I was with a client when I did the seated presses. His knee was bothering him from a tweak he obtained during some intramural hockey so this a great grind that doesn't require any knee flexion at all. I forgot how tough these were.
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