32kg snatches and the Joe Mills Olympic weightlifting template

The video above is of some RKC hardstyle 32kg kettlebell snatch finishers to a Olympic weightlifting session. It was over two years ago that I snatched this once with my right arm .. I'm pleased with the steady progress since. Speaking frankly, these do not look as smooth as 24kg snatches however that will improve over time as well.


For this particular Olympic weightlifting session, I used a template developed by the famous lifter, Olympic champion and coach, Joe Mills. It works great with two lifters alternating and I was extremely fortunate that fellow master lifter, Richard Maloon, trained both sessions and introduced me to this program. I had become very frustrated lately with the long commute to the club so instead I have been training the lifts in my basement.

The program consists of graduated 21 singles of snatches followed by 21 singles of clean & jerks, both full squat lifts. Roughly starting with your 1RM snatch,

• Subtract 25kg and do five singles with that weight.
  
• Add five kilos and do another 5 singles.
  
• Again add five kilos and do another 5 singles.
  
• Do five more singles adding 2kg to each rep.
  
• If all lifts are made try a bonus lift by adding another 2kg.

If the bonus is made start the next session 2kg more than the start of the previous session. If lifts are missed, subtract 2kg to start the next session. There is no required assistance work; just the lifts. I've done this program twice now, and does not leave much left for anything else. For details on the Mill's program check out the wonderful article, here, by Coach Gary Valentine, who train under coach Mills.


Although pleased to be snatching the 32kg for reps, to put things in perspective, below is a video of the extraordinary Derek Toshner, RKC II, setting the record of 207 snatches with the 32kg bell in ten minutes (also know as the UST or "Ultimate Snatch Test"; for more records go to Jared Saviks site, here). Derek, a former Div III National Record for as 10000 meter relay team member, is also a serious rock climber .. these guys are known to be exceptionally lean and powerful so his performance below not too surprising. Also a shout out to rep counter Melissa Schmidt, RKC, who recently earned her RKC title and was on Team Hartle, the same RKC instructor certification team I assisted on back in July.








Thursday, August 19, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg snatch:
5 x 10/10
Time: 100 reps in 4:38

24k MP
10 x 1/1
1 x 2-rung ladder

The 24kg snatch 5 minute snatch test is getting easier with five sets of ten each side. Or more honestly, easier but still far from "easy".

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Morning Olympic Weightlifting Session at Donny's Industrial Bay:

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Snatch (kg):

40 x 1 x 4
50 x 2 x 2
55 x 1 x 2 10

I had to leave as soon as my back acted up on my second rep with 55. The long commute to Donny's does not seem to go well with lifting there. As a result, I made a decision to train at home if I trained at all.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg x 11 x 10/10 snatch

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Evening Kettlebell Session in my basement

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

32kg x 3 5/5 snatch

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

32kg x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swing
32kg x 2 1/1 Push Press
32kg x 2 x 2/2 Push Press
32kg x 2 x 2/2 C&PP


Evening Olympic Weightlifting Session in my basement.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template:

Snatch (kg):
40 x 5 x 1
45 x 5 x 1 10111
50 x 5 x 1 11011
52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 x1

Clean & Jerk (kg):
60 x 5 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
70 x 5 x 1
72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82 x 1

This was the first time Richard Maloon and I alternated as we trained using the Joe Mills template. I made all 42 lifts again so next session I start with 42/62.


Friday, August 27, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg x 11 x 10/10 snatch
24kg x 2 2-rung MP
Double 24kg x 1 x 3 MP

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Morning Olympic Weightlifting Session in my basement.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template:

Snatch (kg):
42 x 5 x 1
47 x 5 x 1 10111
52 x 5 x 1 11011
54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 x1

Clean & Jerk (kg):
62 x 5 x 1
67 x 5 x 1
72 x 5 x 1
74, 76, 78, 80, 82,84 x 1

For the 2nd time Richard Maloon and I alternated as we trained using the Joe Mills template. I made all 42 lifts again so next session I start with 44/64.


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

300 We are Sparta! 24kg snatch complex ladder

Left:
1. One-hand swing
2. Clean
3. Press
4. Front Squat
5. Snatch
6. Swing transfer to right

Right:
1. One-hand swing
2. Clean
3. Press
4. Front Squat
5. Snatch
6. Swing transfer to left

This is one rung. The sequence (the 2nd rung) is then repeated but each lift is done twice. This results in 3 reps per arm for each of the five lifts.
Number of completed two rung complex ladders: 10
Total reps: 300

It was 95 deg and humid. I started the first five ladders every two minutes but then slowed down so that the next five ladders took over thirteen minutes. A very simple but very demanding session.

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template:

Snatch (kg):
44 x 5 x 1
49 x 5 x 1 10111
54 x 5 x 1 11011
56.58,60,62 x1

Clean & Jerk (kg):
64 x 5 x 1
69 x 5 x 1
74 x 5 x 1
76, 78, 80, 82,84,86 x 1

Again Richard Maloon and I alternated as we trained using the Joe Mills template for the 3rd time. I made all 42 lifts with a string of 126/126 made lifts over three sessions. Next session I start with 46/66.

Saturday, September 3, 2010

Morning Olympic Weightlifting Session in my basement.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template:

Snatch (kg):
46 x 5 x 1
51 x 5 x 1 10111
56 x 5 x 1 11011
58 x 2 x1 01
60 x 2 x 1 01
62 x 1

Clean & Jerk (kg):
66 x 5 x 1
71 x 5 x 1
76 x 5 x 1
78, 80, 82,84,86,88 x 1

Today my training partner Richard participated and didn't miss a lift. As a result he moves up to 44/64. I had a tough time with the snatches, missing 4 of the 20 lifts (no bonus) and as a result following the rules of the template have to drop down 2kg for the start of next snatch session to 44kg.

Somehow I gutted it out with the clean and jerks and didn't miss a lift and actually got more confident as the weights got heavier. As a result I will start c&j's at 68kg next session.

Sunday, September 4, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session at Ogunquit Beach, Maine

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

300 We are Sparta! 24kg crazy combo:
Various combinations of
1. front squats
2. one-hand swings
3. two-hand swings
4. presses
5. push-presses
6. snatches
Total: 300 reps

Another great day at the beach. Plenty of rest between sets as I trained in the wet sand facing the surf.

Monday, September 5, 2010

Evening Olympic Weightlifting Session in my basement.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Joe Mills Template:

Snatch (kg):
44 x 5 x 1
49 x 5 x 1
54 x 5 x 1
58,60,62,64,66 x 1
68 x 1

Clean & Jerk (kg):
68 x 5 x 1
73 x 5 x 1
78 x 5 x 1
80, 82,84,86,88 x 1
90 x 4 x 1 0111

This was the fifth session I used the Joe Mills template but the first time I trained using it without a partner. Fortunately, I was well rested and sufficiently psyched to get through it.

The snatches were so easy I gave myself an additional bonus and easily made 68. This is still only 85% of one 1RM of 80kg but I purposely started this program very conservatively to build confidence as I had struggled greatly with regaining my previous groove.

In the clean and jerk, my only miss was my first jerk with the 90kg bonus. The clean was so surprisingly easy I rush the jerk. I then proceeded to clean and jerk 90 three more times to prove the missed jerk was an anomaly. Next session I start the lifts at 46/70.

Tuesday, September 6, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

300 We are Sparta! 24kg swing medley:
10 x ( 10 left, 10 right, 10 2-hand) swings
Total: 300 reps

Pressing :
24 kg x 1/1 MP
24 kg x 1 x 2/2 MP
24 kg x 1 x 3/3 C&P
24 kg x 1 x 4/4 C&P
24 kg x 1 x 5/5 C&P
24 kg x 1 x 6/6 C&P
32 kg x 1 right MP
24kg x 1 x (8 left, 10 right) C&P
24kg x 10/10 Viking Push Press
32kg x 1 x (2 left, 5 right) Viking Push Press

This was a fun session as we had three additional lifters I trained all participating. Every lifter made a some kind of pressing PR .. lots of encouragement. This was a little more volume than typical. The ten sets of 30 rep swing combo of ten left, ten right and ten two-handed was more challenging then I thought it would be. OTOH, presses felt very strong.

90 lb (41kg) snatch kettlebell PR

This evening I snatched the 90 lb kettlebell with my right arm at the Olympic weightlifting club at the end of the session. I was prepped for it as I had just completed dead lifts and I knew the bell would feel lighter than normal. I'm sure all the 32kg snatching I had been doing lately helped push me over top. Next I want to snatch it with my weaker left arm which I believe is a few weeks to a month away.

Lately, I've have been getting spammed by Chinese bloggers who leave comments containing disguised trailing ellipsis like this

.................................... (this one just takes you back here)

which when clicked take unsuspecting readers to porno sites. As a result I have enabled comment moderation .. what a pain in the butt!

The video below of me performing a few snatch pulls with 85kg was taken in my basement dungeon on Monday .. the lighting is horrendous but as minimal as a place to train in, it works. Also my apology for the rotated image.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Ballistics:
32kg x 5 x 20 Two-hand swings
24kg x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swings

Grinds:
24kg x 5 x 1/1 C+MP
32kg x 3 x 1/1 C+PushPress

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement dungeon:

Snatch (kg):
40 x 2 x 3 Standing squat snatch
50 x 3 x 2 101111
55 x 2 x 2
60 x 3 x 2 110101
65 x 1 x 1
70 x 1 x 1
75 x 1 x 1 0

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

Snatch Grip Dead (kg):
90 x 1 x 2

Front Squat (kg):
70 x 5
80 x 3
90 x 2

Had to switch to the 24kg bell after five sets of twenty two-hand swings with the 32kg bell. On the MP and PushP, really worked the negative. My left side in particular exhibits a large dead range centered around half way up.

My Olympic lifting session in the evening wasn't too bad considering all the training of the last week, however I was a bit surprised at how difficult a double front squat with 90kg was.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Ballistics:
24kg x 15 x 10/10 One-hand swings

Grinds:
24kg x 2 x 200 yard Farmers walk
Dbl 24kg x 1 x 200 yard Farmers walk


Thursday, August 19, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Ballistics Complex Superset:
A1: 24kg x 10/10 Snatch
A2: 24kg x 10/10 One-hand swings
Total supersets: 5

Grinds:
24kg x 5 2-rung MP

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session at Donny's Garage:

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Clean & Jerk (kg):
50 x 2 x (2+2)
60 x 2 x (2+2)
70 x 2 x (2+2)
80 x 2 x (2+2)
80 x 4 x (1+1)
85 x 1 x (1+1)
90 x 2 x 1 00

Clean-grip Deadlift (kg):
90 x 2
100 x 2
110 x 1
120 x 1
132 x 1

Kettlebell Ballistics:
90lb x 1 right snatch 0
90lb x 1 right snatch PR
32kg x 1 x 5/5 snatch
90lb x 1 x 5/5 one hand swing

Kettlebell grinds:
32kg x 1 right MP
32kg x 1 left MP 0

I was having some trouble with the clean recovery. Coach Yasha Kahn recommended tightening my abs as I made the catch. The result was a much easier recovery. Unfortunately by the time I got to 90kg I was too fatigued to clean it. My forward knee on my jerk was not perpendicular to the ground. As the weight gets heavier I need to work on dropping straight down into my split instead of landing a bit forward with a stiff back leg.

Clean grip deadlifts were very difficult although I did PR with 132kg, a 2kg improvement.

Finally, on my second attempt, I snatched a 41kg or 90lb kettlebell with my right arm. I adjusted by rotating my thumb backwards on the swing to better load my hips and then lifted the bell directly over my head instead of slightly to the right side. It shouldn't be too long before I'm doing reps with my right side. Snatching with my left is going to take another month as I need to build up some 40kg one-hand swing volume with my left.

After easily pressing the 32kg bell with my right, I only succeeded in getting it an inch or two above my shoulder with my left. Nailing it with my left is a long term project due to a thirty year old wrestling injury when I separated it.

Some K-Bell Progress

The above photos are taken from the June 2010 RKC Kettlebell instructor certification. It would be impossible to believe that an organization could run a better three day week of hand's on kettlebell instruction than the RKC provides.

It was four months ago when I began to train to re-certify as an RKC instructor. In particular, I had a plan to hit the required one hundred 24kg kettlebell snatches in five minutes. It took two and a half months to achieve after not training kettlelbell in over a year .. I had to ditch them as the Olympic Weightlifting sessions were too demanding (yes, both my body and mind were very slow to acclimate to this new way of training). Originally I was going to shoot for five sets of ten left, ten right on the top of the minute but I just couldn't handle it .. with a few weeks remaining before the cert, when self-tesing, after the third set my arms were completely fatigued.

Changing plans, I found that I could make a hundred snatches in five minutes by doing five sets of nine left, nine right, getting ahead of the clock a few seconds each minute and then blasting out another five left, five right to make a hundred. Earlier this week on a whim, I tested ten left/ten right and nailed it with seven seconds to spare.

Although I'm pleased with achieving this mini-goal, to put it in perspective Faisal Eno, RKC II, can fairly easily do ten sets of ten left, ten right on the minute to routinely pass the SSST. Its probably to late for me to make that kind of gain but I can still approach it incrementally and get as close as possible as this ole body will allow.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

32kg Kettlebell:

5 x 20 Two-hand swing
2 x 10/10 One-hand swing
1 x 5/5/5/5 One-hand swing
2 x 5/5/5/5 Round-about swing

1 x 2-rung 24kg TGU

It was extremely humid so I ditched snatching to keep my hands from getting abused. This heavy swing session felt challenging

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Morning Olympic Weightlifting Session in my basement dungeon

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Back Squat (kg):
70 x 10
85 x 6
95 x 5
105 x 2

I had nothing this morning. This was supposed to be the 2nd session of the 1st week of my 3rd three week cycle of the 1974 Russian Squat Routine. It called for five sets of five with 85% of 1RM which works out to 112kg. I had trained ten consecutive days, rested for one and restarted on Monday but the single day of rest was not sufficient. I knew something was up as my left hip and lower right back were sore. One of these is usually not enough to slow me down but with both acting up I knew I would be in trouble. Am I overtrained? Yes, but still considerably better than how I felt the last time I did the harder 1976 version of the RSR. I couldn't even complete it and had drop my competition lifts 25% to get through standard sessions.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg Kettlebell

5 x 10/10 snatch at the top of the minute.
Time: 100 reps in 4:47 PR

5 x 2-rung MP ladder

A quick session low volume session was what I had planned and I achieved it. I also PR-ed in being able to perform five sets of ten each side of snatches with the 24kg bell at the top of the minute with 13 seconds to spare. Right now it seems impossible to keep that pace up for another five sets but thats my long term goal in conquering the SSST (Secret Service Snatch Test) .. 200 hundred snatches in 10 minutes.

During my military presses, I really engaged my lat on the negative and this really helped my weaker left side.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg Kettlebell

10 x 8/8 Snatch at the top of every 1:30

4 x 2-rung MP
1 x (1,2,2) C&P
1 x 6 C&P left
1 x 10 C&P right

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session at Donny's Industrial Bay:

Snatch (kg):
40 x 2 x 3
40 x 1 x 4
50 x 3 x 3
55 x 2 x 2 1110
60 x 3 x 2 001101
40 x 3 x 3 HighHang Snatch

The afternoon kettlebell session started pretting easy with me putting on the breaks with sets of eight left/eight right 24kg snatches but got out of hand in the press ladders as I ended by maxing out on clean-and-press ladders with both arms. The clean really helps me load my lats and core more than the negative from a the pressing.

The kettlebell session left me very flat for the evening Olympic weightlifting snatch session. On the plus side, Yasha Kahn, snatch silver medalist at the 2010 Nationals in the 105 kg men's weight class, helped at the end of the evening with low weight almost standing snatches to teach me how to get in the rock bottom position of snatch as comfortably and quickly as possible.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on lawn outside my office building.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

24kg Kettlebell Complex
1. 5 Swings Left
2. 5 Cleans Left
3. 5 Push Presses Left
4. 5 Snatches Left
5. 5 Swings Right
6. 5 Cleans Right
7. 5 Push Presses Right
8. 5 Snatches Right
9. Rest 90 secs
10 Repeat 1 through 9 four more times

This session is a modified version of one of the sessions described here:

Kettlebells and Time Travel - Regaining Time and Escalating Energy by Geoff Neupert, Master RKC.

Geoff, a competitive Olympic lifter, is one of the best out there in knowing how get the most out of a short intense Kettlebell session. My modification consisted of replacing the Military Presses with Push-Presses. This template may look easy but it isn't .. the last time through the complex I had to add a 15 second rest between my weaker left side push presses and snatches as I could no longer hold onto the bell. The whole session was over in 15 minutes and I was smoked.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session on Donny's Industrial Bay.

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

Clean & Jerk (kg):
40 x 2 x 4 Almost standing squat clean
50 x 1 x 5 Almost standing squat clean
60 x 1 x (3+1)
70 x 1 x (2+1)
80 x 1 x (2+1)
85 x 1 x (1+1)
90 x 1 x (1+1) Pressout
90 x 1 x (1+1)
95 x 1 x (1+1) Pressout
100 x 2 x 1 00
90 x 3 x (1+1) 001111

Power Jerks (kg):
60 x 3 x 3

Front Squat (kg):
60 x 8
70 x 5
80 x 3
85 x 3
90 x 3

32kg x 1 x 4/4 kettlebell snatch

A solid session. I had a horrible press-out but I did get 95kg over head somehow for the first time in four months. Coach Ben Fuller suggested I needed to work on quickness and suggested Power Jerks. He noticed I was coming up far too slow from the dip and creating separation of the bar. He stressed I should be pushing from the shoulders for I push under the bar and dip.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Afternoon Kettlebell Session in my basement dungeon

Z-Health R-phase Level 2 Dynamic Joint Mobility:

32kg Kettlebell
10 x 5/5 Snatch
Time: 100 reps in 15 mins 30 secs

My goodness, I really hit the groove with these 32kg bell snatches. Two weeks I did seventy over a longer time period and struggled .. today these were really solid and fluid. This is exciting as I know as continue to get more volume with this heavier bell, the 90 lb-er at the club is eventually getting snatched.