(squat-snatch 1RM) > (power-snatch 1RM)

Transitioning to a lifter

A month ago I set a snatch PR with a 70kg power-snatch at the Conn Open. Upon closer examination of a video of that lift (provided at no cost via email by meet director Gary Valentine .. you can bet I will repay this wonderful freebie by attending his events every year for as long as possible) revealed the following flaws:

• I tilted my head to the left side to clear the bar
• My receiving stance was way too wide
• I was almost 6" airborne after the pull
  
• Both arms pressed out slightly

I am not knocking the power-snatch .. there are many lifters who just don't have the flexibility for the squat version and do make progress with the power version. In my case it was clear that after examining my technique that it was time to change direction and to put a full-court press on learning to squat under a heavy snatch. Since attending my first meet I was in awe of the lifters who performed the full squat lifts smoothly and powerfully .. I hoped someday I would join their ranks.

This past Saturday I full squat snatched 71kg at the club .. a full kilo more than my flawed power-snatch PR at the Conn Open. With my coach, Ben Fuller, providing encouragement to go for it after failing my first attempt with it, I caught the second attempt in a deep squat with arms fully locked and recovered easily. All I remember is thinking to jump under it as fast as possible and all of a sudden I was in a full squat position with the bar securely placed overhead with locked arms.

I was told by many of the seasoned lifters that eventually if I worked hard and smart, my squat snatch would exceed my power-snatch. For the longest time it seemed unattainable but as with any treasured accomplishments, their value lies in the hard and sustained effort required to overcome a seemingly insurmountable goal. With the support of my coach together with input from Head Coach Freddie Myles of Myles-Ahead, my plan consisted of:

• working only the full squat lifts with a specific focus on the full squat snatch. If a lift was accidentally power-lifted, I would either ride it down or repeat it with the full squat version
• work the stand-on-toes assistance lift and the 3-position versions of the lifts with light weights: Above-knee followed by below-knee followed by from the floor
• systematically and slowly increasing the weight of the full squat version of the lift
  

Here is the roll-up of the eight training sessions that led to accomplishing this goal:

Tuesday August 11, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 1 x 5 3Sn-on-toes + 2High-hang-sn
25 x 1 x 5 3Sn-on-toes + 2High-hang-sn
42 x 5 x 5 HHSn + 4Sn; 2No-lift
45 x 3 x 3 HHSn; 1No-lift

Front Squat (lb):
135 x 1 x 5
155 x 1 x 5
165 x 5 x 5 (75kg; 70%1RM)

BW x 2 x 20/20 Hip Dip
BW x 2 x 3/3 Box Pistol

I worked hard on full squat snatches from the hang position. The idea here was a minimal "bump" and then quickly getting under the bar. Even with light weight this was very challenging but decent progress was made.

Thursday August 13, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 4 Sn-on-toes
40 x 1 x 2
50 x 1 x 2
55 x 1 x 2
60 x 1 x 1 No-lift
50 x 1 x 1

C&J (kg):
40 x 1 x 3 Clean + Front-squat + Jerk
50 x 1 x 3 Clean + Front-squat + Jerk
60 x 4 x 5 C&J

Clean Pull (kg):
80 x 3 x 5
90 x 1 x 5
100 x 1 x 5

Front Squat (lbs):
135 x 1 x 6
155 x 1 x 6
165 x 6 x 6 (75kg; 70%1RM)

I missed a full squat snatch with 60kg today by not getting under it quickly. I finished with a solid 50kg single and moved on.

Saturday August 15, 2009

Noon Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 5 3Sn-on-toes + Sn + SnB
25 x 1 x 5 3Sn-on-toes + Sn + SnB
40 x 1 x 4 3-position-sn + sn
45 x 1 x 4 3-position-sn + sn
50 x 1 x 4 2Sn + 2BK-sn
55 x 1 x 2
55 x 1 x 1
60 x 1 x 2 1No-lift
60 x 1 x 1
64 x 1 x 1 Squat-snatch PR
65 x 1 x 1 Squat-snatch PR

Clean (kg):
65 x 1 x 3
70 x 2 x 3
80 x 1 x 3 1No-lift
85 x 1 x 2
70 x 2 x 3 Hang Clean
80 x 2 x 1 1No-lift

RDL (kg):
70 x 1 x 5
90 x 3 x 3

Back Squat (kg):
70 x 1 x 5
80 x 1 x 3
90 x 1 x 3
100 x 1 x 3

Evening Olympic Lifting Session in my basement dungeon

Snatch (kg):
40 x 1 x 3 Sn + 2AK-sn
40 x 1 x 2
50 x 1 x 3 2Sn + AK-sn
55 x 1 x 2 Sn + AK-sn
60 x 1 x 2 2No-lift
60 x 1 x 1 No-lift
60 x 6 x 1
65 x 2 x 1

24kg Kettlebell AMT Complex
20 Two-hand swings
1 TGU left
1 TGU right
Total: 5 complexes

Worked the full squat snatches hard today with a double session, the 2nd being an impromptu one. The significance was evening session with the six straight singles with 60kg really focusing on jumping under quickly. This was after missing my first three. I then did two singles with 65kg with the 2nd one a much deeper catch.

Tuesday August 18, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 5 3Sn-on-toes + 2HH-Sn
25 x 2 x 5 Sn-on-toes
25 x 1 x 5 Sn-on-toes + Sots-press
30 x 1 x 6 HH-sn + 3Sots-press
40 x 1 x 4 Sn + 3Sots-press
50 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 3
55 x 1 x 2
60 x 1 x 2 2No-lift
60 x 1 x 1

Clean (kg):
60 x 1 x 5
70 x 1 x 5
75 x 1 x 5
80 x 3 x 3
85 x 1 x 3

Front Squat (kg):
70 x 1 x 4
80 x 1 x 4
80 x 1 x 3

The cleans left me so exhausted I coulnd not complete the five sets of four front squat reps.

Thursday August 20, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 3 x 5 AK-Sn, Sn-on-toes
40 x 1 x 5
40 x 1 x 3
45 x 1 x 3 3-Pos-Sn
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2 AK-Sn, Sn
55 x 2 x 2
60 x 2 x 1
60 x 2 x 2 1NoLift
60 x 1 x 2
60 x 10 x 1 1 NoLift
50 x 1 x 2 AK-sn
55 x 1 x2 AK-sn

RDL (kg):
70 x 2 x 4
80 x 1 x 3
90 x 1 x 3
100 x 1 x 2

CDL (kg):
110 x 1 x 2
120 x 1 x 2
125 x 1 x 1 NoLift

Tuesday August 25, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 5 Sn-on-toes, AK-sn, Standing-sn
25 x 1 x 3 Standing-sn
32 x 1 x 3 Standing-sn
32 x 1 x 5 2Standing-sn + 3-Pos-sn
40 x 3 x 3
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2 AK-sn, sn
50 x 1 x 3 AK-sn, 2sn

C&J (kg):
50 x 1 x 3
60 x 1 x 3
70 x 1 x 4
70 x 1 x 3
75 x 1 x 3
75 x 1 x 3 Clean-only
80 x 1 x 3 Clean-only
85 x 2 x 1 Nolift
70 x 1 x 1

Back Squat (kg):
60 x 1 x 5
75 x 1 x 5
90 x 3 x 5

Box Pistols
BW x 3 x 3/3

Thursday August 27, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Clean (kg):
40 x 2 x 6 3AK, 3C
50 x 2 x 6 3AK, 3C
60 1 x 3
70 x 5 x 3
80 x 1 x 3
80 x 1 x 2

Muscle Sn (kg):
40 x 5 x 3

Power-Jerk (kg):
50 x 1 x 6 1NoLift
50 x 1 x 5
55 x 1 x 3
60 x 1 x 3
65 x 1 x 5
65 x 1 x 43
70 x 1 x 2
70 x 1 x 3

Front Squat (kg)

Saturday August 29, 2009

Afternoon Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 5 Standing-sn + 3-pos-sn
32 x 2 x 4 Standing-sn + 3-pos-sn
40 x 2 x 3 3-pos-sn
50 x 1 x 3 3-pos-sn, BK-sn-NoLift
55 x 1 x 3 1NoLift
60 x 1 x 2
67 x 1 x 1 Squat snatch PR
71 x 1 x 1 NoLift
71 x 1 x 1 PR

Clean (kg):
40 x 1 x 3 3-pos
50 x 1 x 3 3-pos
60 x 1 x 3
65 x 1 x 3
70 x 4 x 3

Clean Pull (kg):
80 x 4 x 4

Front Squat (kg):
60 x 1 x 2
70 x 1 x 2
80 x 1 x 2
85 x 5 x 2

24kg Kettlebell AMT Complex
20 Two-hand swings
1 TGU left
1 TGU right
Total: 2 complexes


After making a full squat snatch with 67kg and ready to move on, Coach Fuller recommended I go for snatch PR. I missed 71kg by not getting under it quickly enough and crashed down on me. With little rest, I was urged to attempt it again just focusing a slow pull off the floor and getting under it quickly. By golly the next thing I knew, I was in a full squat snatch with the bar over my head. I easily recovered and was stunned for several days there after.

An Interview with 2009 Conn Open Masters Champion, Harry Cochran, Jr.

Since getting involved in Olympic weightlifting, I have spent considerable time researching and reading about master lifters that are in my weight class (85kg, 187lb) and approximately my age. Some of these master lifters are very accomplished and can handle weights that even much younger men would be proud to lift. However, it is one thing to read about these lifters, but it is quite another to see one perform live. And this is exactly what happened at the 2009 Conn. Open in Stamford, Ct a month ago. It was such a powerful image that it is forever embedded into my head and one that I will long remember and provide inspiration to keep me training hard and smart.

Gary Valentine, the Conn Open meet director and holder of many American Master records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total, had the brilliant idea of asking all the participants to email him a non-lifting photo and a short bio, which he then compiled into a new meet pamphlet. As I am always interested to see if there are any other master lifters in my weight class, I came across the photo and bio entry for Harry Cochran, Jr. Just a few years younger than me, Harry's bio indicated that only recently had he returned to competitive Olympic lifting after a thirty year hiatus.

As you can see from the photo above, Harry is not some muscle bulging genetic freak but instead a very fit looking middle age man who happens to be exceptionally powerful and explosive. This was extremely important for me to see as it immediately dispelled the false belief that in order to achieve totals to be competitive with the top master lifters in age and weight class, it would require some massive changes in my body composition. I held this ridiculous belief even though I had read that Olympic Weightlifting is not an optimal regime for building massive muscles. At the same top it is also well documented that the elite Olympic weightlifters are the strongest most powerful athletes on the planet.

When Harry arrived at the meet venue, I recognized him immediately from his photo and introduced myself as a fellow master in the same weight class. A friendly and modest individual, Harry did not give any indication that he would later be tearing the place up during the competition. When it was time to lift in the last section, I began warming up with snatches. After struggling to perform a single with 60kg, Harry stepped in to share the bar. I remember watching in disbelief how he first easily power snatched 60kg, slowly brought it down to his thighs and then easily full squat snatched it from the high hang. He then repeated this for multiple reps, each performed effortlessly and with impeccable form. I then watched him shortly afterward do the same thing with 65kg .. with no change in perceived amount of effort! When I mentioned to him how impressed I was with his warm-ups, he just about blushed. When he told he planned on opening with 80kg (a two year away goal for me) I knew he would make it and more. And he did just that with three beautiful full squat snatches of 80kg/85kg/90kg.

For the clean and jerk, Harry went on to make 100kg, then 105kg before barely missing the jerk with 108kg for a total of 195kg. Again all three cleans were smooth as silk full squat clean. I was not the only who was impressed with his superb performance as a number of coaches were speaking highly of Harry as well. Harry went on to win the bronze in the open (all ages combined) 85kg weight class and took first place among all master lifters with the highest computed Sinclair value (this normalizes both the weight and age of the lifter).

Having been awed by Harry’s performance I thought other middle aged master lifters might want to hear a bit more from Harry, so he graciously granted me the interview below:

How and when you were first introduced to Olympic Weightlifting?

Watching my father and brother lift weights in our garage is what sparked my interest in lifting. My father was a natural athlete; however he never participated in Olympic weightlifting. My brother participated in Junior Olympic Lifting, but his real passion was wrestling. My brother was able to perform a standing press of 245 pounds at the age of 17 and a bodyweight of 165 pounds! My brother at the age of 15, and I at the age of 13 entered our first Junior Olympic meet in Philadelphia, PA along with my dear friend Michael Spallone, age 15 (you met him in Connecticut).

Where did you train? What type of lifts did you perform?

My training was in our garage with my father, brother and very dear friends Tom and Jim Martin (you also met Tom in Connecticut) was a regular event. It included lots of squats, presses, power cleans, and power snatches.

What other types of lifts did you work on?

As a youngster, I also experimented with every type of lifting imaginable – curls, pullovers, dips, pull-ups, deadlifts, rows, etc. As a teenager, I participated a few times a year in Junior Olympic lifting events with my brother and Michael Spallone.

What lifters at the time had the most influence on you?

Obviously the lifters that had the most influence on me were the ones closest to me: my father, brother, Tom and Jim Martin and Michael Spallone. Of course I also admired the greats – Bob Hoffman, Bob Bednarski, Phil Gripaldi, Peter Riegert.

What happened in the interim between lifting competitively as young man and now?

With demands of work and raising a family, I had lost touch with competitive lifting. About a year and half ago, Mike Spallone and I attended a East Coast Gold meet held in nearby Moorestown, NJ. At the meet, I had the honor of meeting East Coast Gold President and Executive Director Leo Totten. Since then, Leo has included me in his newsletter e-mails. Mike, Tom and Leo have provided motivation, but the greatest inspiration in everything I do in life comes from my loving wife Sandra. She is the one who encouraged me to compete as a Master.

What are some of the ways you train differently now versus back then?

As a Master weightlifter, I have to spend much more time warming up to avoid injury. Recovery time between workouts is also much longer. Most importantly – read your body’s signals and avoid injury.

How did you train over the years prior to re-entering competitive weightlifting?

During my hiatus imposed by frequent travel to manage construction projects from the Bahamas to San Francisco, I constantly sought out places to lift. When I was unable to lift I would swim, ride a bike or sometimes do calisthenics.

Please tells us a little bit on how often you train and what you do?

Now I lift about 2 – 3 times per week for about 1 hour at a time. On days that I don’t lift I do sit-ups and/or ride a stationary bike or ride outdoors. On some days I do back squats in sets of 20 reps (to keep the weight low on my arthritic knees) and incline presses in sets of 5 reps. On alternate days I do power snatches or power cleans in sets of 3 and standing presses or standing push-presses in sets of 5.

What is your favorite lift?

My favorite Olympic Lift is the snatch – it’s exciting.

What about your favorite assistance lift?

My favorite assistance lift is the full back squat – the foundation for all Olympic Lifting.

What are your short and long term goals with regards to lifting?

My short term goal is to continue to compete in Masters events. Long term, I want to maintain my health and strength so to enjoy activities with my family.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I want to thank you for your interest and to wish you the best of luck. I hope that the responses have been helpful. Can’t wait to check out your blog! Good luck with future meets, I am looking forward to participating with you again. Also Franklin, I can’t believe that you have only been lifting for 8 months – wow! I’m sure it won’t be long before you pass me.

Well, it should be obvious to all that Harry is a gentleman and a complete class act. And honestly, I don't think I'll be passing Harry any time soon, but I know I will continue to improve and enjoy this great sport .. and that's what it’s really all about anyway.

Post Meet Training Week Wrapup and an Invaluable Training Partner

I have continued to stick to only three days a week of training. Knowing I really need a minimum of one rest day following each training session, I have been slowly up-ing the intensity and volume of the training sessions to find a new set point. My "restoratives" consist of sleep, hot Epsom salt baths and the following supplements:

• high concentration EPA fish oil (2 grams a day),
  
• glusosime/condratin (one per day)
• potasium (one per day)
• magnesium (one per day)

I am pleased that I have my weight at or under 182 lbs and that I continue to eat clean. This summer especially has made it a lot easier with the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. With a very low cholesterol level, I have been eating a lot more eggs as they very tasting and high in protein. I still eats lots of canned Alaskan salmon, sardines and organic ground beef. I weigh myself everyday as I need direct and honest feedback to motivate me to stay on course.

Tuesday August 4, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch (kg):
20 x 1 x 3 Sn on Toes
25 x 1 x 3 Sn on Toes
25 x 1 x 3 3 Pos Sn
32 x 1 x 3 3 Pos Sn
32 x 1 x 1 Sn on Toes - NoLift
32 x 1 x 3 SnBal
40 x 1 x 4 3Sn + SnBal
45 x 1 x 4 3Sn + SnBal
50 x 1 x 3 HHSn + 2Sn
55 x 1 x 2 Sn
40 x 3 x 5 3Sn + 2SnBal
45 x 3 x 5 3Sn + 2SnBal
45 x 2 x 3 2HHSn + 1AKHSn
50 x 1 x 3 HHSn
50 x 1 x 2 HHSn
50 x 1 x 3 HHSn

Walking Lunges with Dumbbells held at side (lbs)
40 x 1 x 5/5
50 x 1 x 5/5
70 x 1 x 5/5
80 x 1 x 5/5
90 x 1 x 5/5

Hip Dips
BW x 3 x 20/20

Box Pistols
BW x 3 x 3/3

Coach Fuller's plan for me is to teach me to get under heavier weights especially in the snatch. To this goal, Yasha Kahn worked with me to "small bump and explode under" from the high-hang snatch position. When I started these, I had a tendency to pull too hard, catch high and slowly ride the weight down. Instead, he would hold his hand at the level he wanted me to pull before explode under. To further get me to do this, he had me practice with out a bar just jumping into the deep squat as fast as possible.

Thursday August 6, 2009

Evening Olympic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch on Toes (kg):
20 x 2 x 3
25 x 2 x 3
30 x 2 x 3
35 x 2 x 3 Scarecrow on heels

Cleans (kg):
40 x 1 x 3 HHCl
50 x 1 x 3 HHCl
60 x 1 x 2 HHCl + Cl
70 x 1 x 2 HHCl + Cl
80 x 1 x 2 HHCl + Cl
60 x 1 x 4 HHCl + Cl
85 x 1 x 2 HHCl + Cl HHCl-PR
70 x 1 x 4 x 3 Cl
80 x 1 x 1 HHCl
80 x 1 x 2 HHCl
85 x 1 x 1 HHCl NoLift

Clean Pull (kg):
100 x 1 x 5
100 x 1 x 4
110 x 1 x 4
110 x 1 x 3
100 x 1 x 3

CDL (kg):
110 x 1 x 2
120 x 2 x 2

Front and Back Squat combo (lb):
135 x 1 x 5/5
175 x 1 x 3/3
200 x 1 x 3/3
210 x 1 x 2/3

More of Yasha's help with bump and explode under this time with cleans instead of snatches. I was pleased when I high-hang cleaned 85kg for a PR. This was the heaviest volume I have done with assistance lifts: clean high-pulls, CDLs and Front/Back squat combo.

Saturday August 9, 2009

Having a honest training partner who shares the same desire to improve and work hard is an asset of almost immeasurable value. I am incredibly fortunate that I undertook weightlifting just a few days before Jason Edmonds did. Jason, 37 years of age, is a 6'3" tower of strength who competes in the 105kg weight class. An extremely articulate, thoughtful and kind man, Jason, who previously was a recreational weight trainer, made the difficult transition to weightlifting due to his willingness to work on his weaknesses .. a must to succeed in this sport.

It became obvious after the first day of training together last October, that great benefit for the both of us would result in the mutual support and encouragement of each other. This is not to say that the other lifters did not also provide positive feedback and encouragement, its just not the same as training with someone who is at a similar learning level both in making progress and who also struggles with the same issues. In particular as each of us began to improve either in our lifting form or in the amount of weight lifted, it provided immediate inspiration and encouragement to those of us master lifters, having taking up the sport late in life, can achieve personal satisfaction and success towards mastering the lifts. This relationship has further developed towards the sharing of weight-lifting DVDs and books as well as healthy email discussions of various weight-lifting topics.

One of Jason's outstanding attributes is that he is a real student of the sport, reading and studying anything he can get his hands on. At first I thought he was over-analytical in his approach but I have since come full circle realizing that this is an incredibly technical endeavor that requires a great deal of attention to the details. As a result I now spend a good part of my relaxation time pouring over Olympic weightlifting books, articles and watching DVDs. Between the two of us we are building a good sized library of study materials which we freely share.

With the club having shortened hours this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity for Jason to come over and train with me in my basement.

One of the other benefits of good training partner is the ability to detect lifting defects and not have any reservations about expressing alternatives to correct them. Today's session in my basement took this to the next level as Jason provided with very important points to help me improve:

• When snatching on toes, I was leaning too far forward. As a result, he recommended standing straight up and even leaning a bit backward to simulate the pull under.
• "Stand straight up .. explosively". This has immediate impact in a much more vertical snatch pull resulting in a effortless catch with moderate weights
• When receiving the bar OH in the full bottom squat position, stabilize the bar first before flexing the hips backward to recover. He recommended doing some isometric holds with a moderate weight in this position to help get more comfortable with it.
• "Whip the arms" which provides an alternative coaching cue to "loose arms". Its impossible to whip the arms if they are rigid and stiff.

The synergy of the session was infectious as Jason went on to set two PRs:

• an 81 kg snatch just after matching his best snatch of 80kg only done once about a month ago.
  
• following this he hit a jerk PR of 105kg using the jerk boxes I built a few months ago.
  

With him being 6'3" and not being able to completely recover from his jerk in my basement, we moved two horse stall mats, the bar and weights and the jerk boxes to my driveway (where the New England weather was being very cooperative for a change!). The three photos at the top are of Jason warming up with a split jerk with 80kg. After making 105kg he went for 110kg, jerked it high enough but couldn't quite get under it. I'm convinced this weight will fall for him in the not too distant future.

Knowing I wanted to work extra hard this session not having any time constraints, I added some kettlebell swings to warm up with.

Noon Olympic Lifting session in my basement dungeon:

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Kettlebell Swings (mixture of two and one hand)
32kg x 5 x 20

Snatch (kg):
20 x 2 x 3 Sn-on-toes
25 x 1 x 3 Sn-on-toes
40 x 2 x 2 HHSn
45 x 1 x 2
50 x 1 x 2
55 x 2 x 2
60 x 5 x 1 2-Nolift

Snatch Pull (kg):
70 x 1 x 3
80 x 1 x 3
85 x 1 x 3
90 x 1 x 2
100 x 1 x 1

Clean (kg):
60 x 2 x 2
70 x 1 x 2
80 x 1 x 2
90 x 1 x 1 NoLift

Jerk Box Jerks (kg):
40 x 1 x 3 PwJ
50 x 1 x 3 PwJ
60 x 1 x 3 PwJ
70 x 1 x 3 2PwJ + J
80 x 1 x 2 PwJ + J
90 x 1 x 1 J with pressout
70 x 1 x 2 J

Front/Back Squat Combo (kg):
50 x 1 x 5/5
60 x 1 x 5/5
70 x 1 x 5/5
80 x 1 x 5/5
90 x 1 x 2/3

For the first time ever snatching, I was able to get completely in full bottom OH squat position after receiving a 60kg snatch. Its not comfortable yet and a bit hit or miss but I'm very encouraged.

The Connecticut Open Weightlifting Championships

Sunday August 2, 2009

Once again I carpooled with my training partner, Jason Edmonds. We left Excel Sport and Fitness at 7:30 am Sunday morning and arrived a little before 11 am at the BlueStreak Sports Facility in Stamford Ct. This was a great venue for a weight lifting competition with a modern look, high ceilings, bright lighting located on main avenue with plenty of good restaurants within walking distance. This was my 2nd competition in three weeks so I had very modest expectations. I had trained smart and if anything rested more than in the past.

The day before my s.o. and I took nice long walks in Boston Commons. The temperature was around 85 so by evening I was ready for good nights rest. The previous Sunday I woke up with a cold and was concerned about a pneumonia relapse. I decided that extra sleep was a must so I weaned myself off caffeine for the entire week. It worked as I got an unheard of 8 hours of sound sleep the night before the meet. Also, by competition I had minimal congestion and was ready to go.

Gary Valentine, meet director and American Champion 105kg master lifter, closed the entrees the week before so we had a full plate of very anxious well prepared lifters awaiting to demonstrate for all to see. Although we arrived too late to see the women's snatch competition, we did see some excellent clean and jerks including some 90kg+ clean and jerks. In particular, master 58kg lifter, JoAnne Musa, mother and coach of 17 year old 69kg junior champion Peter, set three American masters record for her age and weight class.

When the first of two sections of the men's competition got under way, we learned that of the nineteen competitors in this section, all but two were in the heavily loaded 77kg class. My club had three lifters in the 77kg class and each went on to record at least one PR:
Coach Matt Delaney won the snatch competition with a meet PR of 111kg by just beating out wunderkinds Eric Briglia and Peter Musa. Matt then went on to set a meet PR of 135 kg in the clean and jerk only to be beat by the 17 year old Peter Musa. (Peter went on to record a PR of 145kg in spectacular fashion with a full squat jerk!) Cormac Mannion, who was nursing a sore shoulder bested his best snatch with a PR of 86kg. Unfortunately, Cormacs shoulder acted up in the clean and jerk and he had to withdraw after his second attempt. No problem as we all know Cormac will be back shortly in full strength. Our third 77kg lifter, Rick Maloon, has only been training for less than six months and went on to set meet PRs of 62/81. In the second men's section, our club had two lifters, Jason Edmonds and myself. Jason, who started training the Olympic lifts at the same time as I did last October, is a 105kg class competitor and went on to redeem himself after bombing in the snatch by setting a PR of 101kg in the clean and jerk on his second attempt.

After reading through the program complete with pictures, I noticed another master lifter, Harry Cochran, just a few years younger than I and in the same 85kg weight class as myself. When he arrived, I immediately recognized him from his picture and introduced myself as another fellow "middle aged fitness dude" in the parlance of Ed Pierini's of the well read "Pierini Fitness" blog. An extremely pleasant individual, Harry informed me that he trained the Olympic lifts over thirty years ago and only recently started resuming his training. Little did I know at the time that Harry would go on to perform some jaw dropping full squat lifts and easily out distance the other eleven master lifter competitors to earn top place including a large striking sculptured trophy via the Sinclair formula with a 90/105, 195kg total performance. (This formula normalizes each lifters totals taking into account both their weight and age. To my surprise I placed fifth among the masters and was awarded a very nice medal.) I am hoping in the near future to interview Harry for this blog so that other lifters might learn about Harry's background and training methods to provide further inspiration to the many other "middle age fitness dudes" who train the iron game.

One of the strangest coincidences occurred when I learned that there were two other male lifters, the Herman brothers, Dan and Ian, who shared my namesake. Dan a 94kg lifter and Ian a 105kg lifter where both from my place of birth and former residence, New York City. Although of no direct known relation between us, this didn't stop the natural camaraderie and mutual cheering for each other as the Herman's, Dan, Ian and Franklin, represented their common family name in the best of fashion. Like myself both Dan and Ian are very new to Olympic lifting however, unlike me, both are in their mid twenties, strong as bulls, and are sure to have long successful lifting careers.

Snatch Warmups (kg):
40 x 2 x 3
45 x 1 x 2
50 x 3 x 1
60 x 1 x 1
64 x 1 x 1

Competition Snatch lifts (kg):
1st Attempt: 67 good lift
2nd Attempt: 70 no-lift
3rd Attempt: 70 good lift (meet and training PR .. power snatch)

Clean and Jerk Warmups (kg):
40 x 1 x 2
50 x 1 x 2
60 x 1 x 2
70 x 1 x 1
80 x 1 x 1
87 x 1 x 1

Competition Clean and Jerk lifts:
1st Attempt: 90 good lift
2nd Attempt: 93 good lift (meet and training PR .. power clean)
3rd Attempt: 95 no lift (power clean but no jerk)

Total: 70/93 = 163 kg (PR)

I had a very strong cup of coffee when we stopped for a rest break on the ride over. Due to the earlier mention of the caffeine weening process I went through the previous week, this wound up keeping me wide awake up through out the day .. I'll never felt tired including during the three and a half hour drive home late that night. When the second session was getting under way, I was extremely stoked to begin my warmups and then get a chance to lift on the platform in front of my encouraging peers.

Coach Fuller, our club coach, was managing all my warmup lifts as well as the four other club lifters. He was caught by surprise when the it was announced that I was on-deck and I had not finished my warmup sequence. No problem, he quickly had me do a 64kg snatch, which I made, and a minute later I went out and nailed 67kg easily with a power snatch. Making that first lift takes such enormous pressure off the lifter and I was glad to have gotten that one out of the way. One of my modest goals of this meet was to finally hit a 70kg snatch. I had just PR-ed with 68kg three weeks ago at the Redwood Empire Championship but pressed out 70kg in my last attempt. Well when I went out and failed my second attempt with the same weight by not pulling it correctly, well, I got little, shall I say more than a little, PO-ed. My coach calmed me down and told me that I would make this lift if I was patient and smoothly got the bar into my hip crease before catapulting it upward. I did just that and popped that bar as explosively as I have ever done to date and power snatched it. What a great feeling! I now know in a month or so, that I will learn to get under it and start snatching heavier weights. However, at the present, I am still quite pleased that this great psychological barrier for me has been finally broken through.

After the close call with snatch warmups Coach Fuller timed my the clean and jerk warmups very nicely so that I hit my last one with 87kg, with no problem. Feeling very confident, I asked him to move my opener from 87kg to 90kg, which he did, and I went out to power clean and easily jerk it. And just like that I already had a new PR total of 160kg. Although I missed 93kg in practice a week ago, we decided to go for it and again I power-cleaned it and jerked it solidly on my second attempt. I now had achieved three PRs in one day and still had another lift to go. For my last attempt we went to 95kg. I know this may sound silly, but it felt great to able to go out there and attempt a shot at it having now moved up to the red 25 and green 10 kg plates .. it just looks so much cooler with the dual colored plates! I had only barely squat cleaned this once about a month and half ago, so I knew it was possible. Again Coach had me focus on coming off the floor smoothly and getting that bar to my mid-thigh before pushing my heels through the floor. To my surprise I pulled it high and easily power cleaned it which was then nicely set in my hands for the jerk without any adjustment in hand position necessary. However, instead of going straight up with it after the dip, it got in front of me and I had to ditch it thereby missing the lift. I now know I will nail this in training with the next month as I inch closer to my goal of 100kg clean and jerk before the year out.

After the award ceremony, eleven lifters, including myself, representing four different clubs, headed out to a nearby restaurant for a tasty dinner and lively conversation. The ensuing three and half hour ride went very quickly as Jason and myself recalled all the fine moments from the meet and further discussed in great detail how we would both work on our respective weaknesses to getting ready for the next competition.

De-loading before the Conn. Open

These last two session, Tues and Thurs, were light but just heavy enough to realize that I would not need a Saturday session before Sunday's meet.

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Evening Olyumpic Lifting Session at Excel Fitness and Sports

Z-Health Neural Warmup Level II Dynamic Joint Mobility

Snatch on Toes (kg):
20 x 2 x 5
25 x 2 x 3

3 Position Snatch (kg):
40 x 1 x 3
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 3

Snatch (kg):
60 x 1 x 1 Hang snatch with press-out
60 x 3 x 1 1-NoLift

Clean (kg):
50 x 1 x 2
60 x 1 x 2
70 x 1 x 2
80 x 2 x 1
70 x 1 x 1

Front Squat (kg):
60 x 1 x 5
70 x 1 x 4
80 x 1 x 3
90 x 1 x 3
90 x 1 x 1

Thursday July 30, 2009

Snatch on Toes (kg):
20 x 2 x 3
31 x 1 x 1

3 Position Snatch (kg):
31 x 1 x 3
40 x 2 x 3

Snatch (kg):
45 x 1 x 4
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 5 x 1
52 x 2 x 1

Front Squat (kg):
70 x 1 x 4
80 x 1 x 3
84 x 2 x 2