Home Alone

I have completely given up on traveling to train with my club as my work has gotten so demanding I can no longer afford the hour and half commute each way. As a result I will be training the Olympic lifts in the solitude of my basement dungeon following the Joe Mills template. Richard Maloon, fellow master lifter and great training partner, was joining me every other week but unfortunately he re-injured his recently repaired torn bicep tendon by overdoing heavy lat pull-downs .. its exactly the type of dopey thing I would do.

Having now trained alone a several times, I have the deepest respect for those individuals who continue to make progress this way .. so far I'm struggling to stay afloat yet improve.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement

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

Joe Mills Template

Snatch (kg):
(40,45) x 1 warmups
(52, 57, 62) x 5 x 1
(64,66,68,68,70,70) x 1 x 1 [110101]

C&J (kg):
(60,67) x 1 x 1 warmups
(74, 79, 84) x 5 x 1
(86,88,90,92,94,96) x 1 x 1 [111100]

This evening I was alone and knew this would be difficult as my sleep the last three nights has been very poor. Both snatch and c&j started off well but ran into trouble when second half of the 2 kilo increments hit. As Master RKC, Mark "Rif" Reifkind is fond of saying:

"Its easy until its heavy"

I did clean 94 however but the clean recovery was too difficult leaving very little for the missed jerk. I tried to clean 96 afterward, stood up with and refused to get under it .. my body remembered the difficulty getting up with 94 and bailed.

Having missed key lifts, I will decrease my starting weights next session two kilos each to 50/72. Still nothing to be ashamed of as I started this program at 40/60 and the trend is upward.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Morning Kettlebell session in my basement

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

40kg x 3 x 5/5 One-hand swing
32 x 5 x 7/7 Snatch
35 x 5 x 10/10 One-hand swing

My goal was ten sets of seven left, seven right 32kg snatches at the top of every minute and a half but I was too spent after the fifth set. The three sets of 40kg one-hand swings to warm up were explosive but too much. I ended with five sets of one-hand swings with the 32kg but had to slow down to the top of every two minutes after the second set.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

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

24kg x 9 x 10/10 Snatch
24kg x 1 x 20/20 Snatch

Dbl 24kg x 1 x 5 Swing
Dbl 24kg x 1 x 5 Clean & Press
Dbl 24kg x 1 x 4 Snatch

Two other co-worker's who I trained joined me and we alternated turns. Since there was more than adequate rest between sets I ending with 20 left/20 right on my snatches. I followed with some doubles work and was pleased to hit five reps with my clean and press.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

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

24kg x 10 x 10/10 1-hand swing at the top of the minute

Dbl 24kg x 4 x 10 Swing

A suggestion of co-worker, Gorden Lee, to do some swings on the minute. Around set seven I was feeling it.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Evening Olympic Weightlifting session in my basement

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

Joe Mills Template

Snatch (kg):
(40,45) x 1 warmups
(50, 55, 60) x 5 x 1
(62, 62, 62, 64, 66, 66) x 1 x 1 [001101]

C&J (kg):
(60,65) x 1 x 1 warmups
(70, 75, 80) x 5 x 1
(82,84,86,88,90) x 1 x 1 [11110]

I found out earlier in the day my training partner, Richard Maloon, reinjured his torn bicep that he recently had surgery for. He will be out at least for two weeks. I will have to suck it up and keep training. Tonight was mediocre but no surprise as I hadn't trained O-lifts since last Friday. As a result I will move down to 48/68 and try to build back up.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Noon Kettlebell session outside on office building lawn.

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

24kg Max VO2 One-hand Swing, 8 reps/set; 15secs work/15sec rest alternating hands.
Total: 50 sets, 400 swings in 25 minutes

I wanted a good conditioning session that was easy on the shoulders and this really fit the bill. The last ten sets were difficult but every swing was above parallel with a crisp hip snap, so I was pleased my form never degraded.