Squatting the lifts .. continued

Thursday May 14, 2008

This is third session in a row where I have squatted all my Olympic Lifts. I am really pleased with the results so far as I can see my body is starting to perform these movements without me having to think about them as they are performed. Given that they happen in less than a second for each lift there really isn't much time to ponder anyway. I have also decided to start every session off with squat snatches and snatch balances regardless of the group workout template. The snatch movement is so complex that I can not afford to not train it each of the three times a week I train the lifts. So, even though today called for a heavy clean and jerk session, I started off by working up to a set of double squat snatches with 50kg before transitioning to c&j's.

The last two sessions Coach Denis Reno has been spending a lot of time with me helping me hone my snatch technique. This man has been coaching the sport for over forty years so I am always grateful when has the time to work with me. One of the issues he has me working on is to keep my arms loose EVEN during the pull. I've gotten to the point where I'm coming off the floor in good form but now its now we are working on fixing the kinks in the big pull. To help facilitate this, he has had me keep my wrists flexed and elbows over the bar during the pull. I started to get a feel for this and my catch is much smoother.

The c&j's also went very well as this was the first time I was able to do 3 sets of doubles with 80kg. The significance of this is this represents 92% of my 1RM and all cleans were full squat cleans. Also, just six weeks I c&j 80kg for the first time as the jerk held me back. I did try a few singles with 90kg missing the clean the for the first two attempts and then getting a good clean and but badly missed jerk on the last. Once again my jerk lags my clean but the solution to this is keep improving on my 90kg squat clean. As I progress, they require less energy to recover from the clean and I should eventually have enough energy left for a solid jerk.

Evening Olympic lifting session:

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 4 x 5 Hang-snatch, OHS, snatch-balance
40 x 2 x 3 2xSnatch + snatch-balance
45 x 2 x 3 2xSnatch + snatch-balance
50 x 2 x 2 Snatch + snatch-balance

Clean and Jerk (kg):
20 x 2 x 5 c&j + jerk-skill
40 x 2 x2 c&j
50 x 1 x 2 c&j
55 x 1 x 2 c&j
60 x 1 x 2 c&j
65 x 1 x 2 c&j
70 x 1 x 2 c&j
75 x 1 x 2 c&j
80 x 3 x 2 c&j
90 x 1 x 2 both missed cleans
90 x 1 x 1 good clean but a missed jerk

Friday May 15, 2008

Basement Dungeon Morning Olympic Assistance Lift Session:

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Overhead Squats (OHS) (lbs)

85 x 1 x 5
95 x 1 x 5
115 x 1 x 5
135 x 4 x 3
145 x 1 x 3
155 x 1 x 2 (PR)

The most difficult set was the first with 85 lbs. When I got to 135, I really had to keep my lower back extended and push hard with my shoulders. The double with 155 was rock bottom.