Thursday January 15, 2009
Morning Kettlebell min session:
32kg x 2 x 10/10 One-hand swing
32kg x 1 x 5/3 Jerk
Evening Oly Session:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Snatch (kg)
40 x 1 x 3
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 2 x 2
56 x 2 x 2
50 x 3 x 2
C&J (kg)
50 x 1 x 2
60 x 1 x 2
70 x 1 x 2
75 x 1 x 2
80 x 2 x 1
85 x 2 x 1 clean only
90 x 3 x 1 clean misses
BW x 3 x 3 Glute Ham Raise
Tonight I just couldn't drop under anything heavy. On the plus my snatch and clean dead-lift portion of the lifts are getting more solid.
Total Volume: 5900 lbs
Friday, January 16, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Speed Cleans and Power Jerks
Tuesday January 13, 2009
Evening Oly Session:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
1 Speed Clean + 3 Cleans (kg)
40 x 2 x 4
45 x 2 x 4
50 x 2 x 4
55 x 2 x 4
60 x 2 x 4
Clean + Power Jerk (kg)
65 x 5 x 2
Romanian Deadlift (kg)
110 x 2 x 5
100x 2 x 5
The speed cleans are performed by standing straight up with the barbell and pulling the absolute minimum to allow one to jump under the weight into a clean squat and stand up. I did very well with these but the volume did add up. Also the power jerks were brand new and got easier as I got more confident. I had to drop to 100 kg for my last two sets of RDLs as I was pretty gased.
Weight: 183 1/2 lbs
Total Volume: 10450 lbs
Evening Oly Session:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
1 Speed Clean + 3 Cleans (kg)
40 x 2 x 4
45 x 2 x 4
50 x 2 x 4
55 x 2 x 4
60 x 2 x 4
Clean + Power Jerk (kg)
65 x 5 x 2
Romanian Deadlift (kg)
110 x 2 x 5
100x 2 x 5
The speed cleans are performed by standing straight up with the barbell and pulling the absolute minimum to allow one to jump under the weight into a clean squat and stand up. I did very well with these but the volume did add up. Also the power jerks were brand new and got easier as I got more confident. I had to drop to 100 kg for my last two sets of RDLs as I was pretty gased.
Weight: 183 1/2 lbs
Total Volume: 10450 lbs
Monday, January 12, 2009
picking up the Kettlbell gauntlet
Today I met with a two young college students Max and John that I had given an impromptu Kettlebell demonstration in early April of last year during a Easter party that John's mother invited me too. I always keep a few bells in the car just in the case such an opportunity like this arises to demonstrate them.
After that session, both purchased bells and the ETK book and started trainingon their own. Max had a good assortment of bells so today I brought along a 32, 40 and 48 kg bell to complement his set. John unfortunatley had recently re-injured a broken ankle and was not able to participate. He had explained how he made tremondous progress with his 16kg and then 20kg bell and put on 10lbs of lean muscle .. he was really looking forward to getting going again in a few more weeks.
Max had really trained hard was now totally ripped at an almost a competitive body-builder lean 168 lbs. His pressing had gone through the roof as back in April he could only press the 24kg for singles. Today he was able to strictly press double 32's for a triple .. no leaning whatsoever .. very impressive. He then went on to demonstrate a bent press with my 40kg with each arm. He was unable to press it but it was close! However he was able to jerk it for triples with each arm. He is interested in becoming an RKC and certainly has more than enough strength for it. His snatch, swing, clean, front squat and TGU needed only minor adjustments. He can already pass his snatch test so only a steady diet of heavy volume swings is all he needs.
Its hard to put into words how much joy it brings to me to see the progress both these young men have made.
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Kettlebell Session:
24kg x 1 x 1/1 TGU
40kg x 1 x 1/1 TGU
24kg x 1 x 10/10 One-hand swing
24kg x 1 x 20 Roundabout swings
24kg x 1 x 5/5 Front squat
40kg x 1 x 2/2 Front squat
24kgx 1 x 10/10 Snatch
32kg x 1 x 2 Snatch
48kg x 2 x 6 Two-hand swing
40kg x 1 x 3 Jerk
.. a great low volume demonstration session for my loyal Kettlebell devotees.
Weight: 183 lbs
Total Volume: 6000 lbs
After that session, both purchased bells and the ETK book and started trainingon their own. Max had a good assortment of bells so today I brought along a 32, 40 and 48 kg bell to complement his set. John unfortunatley had recently re-injured a broken ankle and was not able to participate. He had explained how he made tremondous progress with his 16kg and then 20kg bell and put on 10lbs of lean muscle .. he was really looking forward to getting going again in a few more weeks.
Max had really trained hard was now totally ripped at an almost a competitive body-builder lean 168 lbs. His pressing had gone through the roof as back in April he could only press the 24kg for singles. Today he was able to strictly press double 32's for a triple .. no leaning whatsoever .. very impressive. He then went on to demonstrate a bent press with my 40kg with each arm. He was unable to press it but it was close! However he was able to jerk it for triples with each arm. He is interested in becoming an RKC and certainly has more than enough strength for it. His snatch, swing, clean, front squat and TGU needed only minor adjustments. He can already pass his snatch test so only a steady diet of heavy volume swings is all he needs.
Its hard to put into words how much joy it brings to me to see the progress both these young men have made.
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Kettlebell Session:
24kg x 1 x 1/1 TGU
40kg x 1 x 1/1 TGU
24kg x 1 x 10/10 One-hand swing
24kg x 1 x 20 Roundabout swings
24kg x 1 x 5/5 Front squat
40kg x 1 x 2/2 Front squat
24kgx 1 x 10/10 Snatch
32kg x 1 x 2 Snatch
48kg x 2 x 6 Two-hand swing
40kg x 1 x 3 Jerk
.. a great low volume demonstration session for my loyal Kettlebell devotees.
Weight: 183 lbs
Total Volume: 6000 lbs
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Snatches and Squats
Afternoon Oly Session
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Squat Snatch (kg)
40 x 4 x 3
50 x 3 x 2
55 x 7 x 2
Back Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 5
160 x 1 x 5
185 x 5 x 5 (5 RM PR)
Snatch Pulls (kg)
60 x 4 x 3
I made a good decision to work snatches again today and had very good results with my squat snatch with large volume at my 1 RM. The key today was keeping my chest over the bar and lifting with my hips. I really pushed myself on the back squats by adding 10lbs to my previous working sets of 5 reps. Coach Fuller helped cued me on the snatch pulls to only jump when the weight shifted to my heels.
Weight: 183 lb
Total Volume: 11000 lbs
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
Squat Snatch (kg)
40 x 4 x 3
50 x 3 x 2
55 x 7 x 2
Back Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 5
160 x 1 x 5
185 x 5 x 5 (5 RM PR)
Snatch Pulls (kg)
60 x 4 x 3
I made a good decision to work snatches again today and had very good results with my squat snatch with large volume at my 1 RM. The key today was keeping my chest over the bar and lifting with my hips. I really pushed myself on the back squats by adding 10lbs to my previous working sets of 5 reps. Coach Fuller helped cued me on the snatch pulls to only jump when the weight shifted to my heels.
Weight: 183 lb
Total Volume: 11000 lbs
Saturday, January 10, 2009
a very ugly muscle snatch PR
Saturday January 10, 2009
Morning Warmup:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Afternoon Oly Session:
Squat Snatch (kg)
40 x 3 x 3
45 x 3 x 2
50 x 2 x 2
55 x 2 x 2
40 x 2 x 5
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2
Muscle Snatch (kg)
60 x 1 x 1
62 x 3 x 1
Front Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 4
150 x 1 x 4
165 x 5 x 4
165 x 1 x 5
Some regression on the squat snatches. The muscle snatches were supposed to be either squat or power snatches but I was too darned scared to get under them. I went back to light weights afterward and was coached through a better hip movement. Typical .. a few steps forward and a few backwards but overall progress.
Weight: 184 lb (I was 176 back in June .. started increasing the junk over the holidays and pounds quickly followed)
Total volume: 9500 lbs
Morning Warmup:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Afternoon Oly Session:
Squat Snatch (kg)
40 x 3 x 3
45 x 3 x 2
50 x 2 x 2
55 x 2 x 2
40 x 2 x 5
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2
Muscle Snatch (kg)
60 x 1 x 1
62 x 3 x 1
Front Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 4
150 x 1 x 4
165 x 5 x 4
165 x 1 x 5
Some regression on the squat snatches. The muscle snatches were supposed to be either squat or power snatches but I was too darned scared to get under them. I went back to light weights afterward and was coached through a better hip movement. Typical .. a few steps forward and a few backwards but overall progress.
Weight: 184 lb (I was 176 back in June .. started increasing the junk over the holidays and pounds quickly followed)
Total volume: 9500 lbs
Thursday, January 8, 2009
C&J, Squat and Clean-Dead Oly Session
Thursday January 8, 2009
Tuesdays Oly session left me very sore and a poor nights sleep. Yesterday I took off completely and went to bed early and sleep long and hard. Tonights's C&J based Oly session was the highest volume to date but much easier on me than the Tuesdays snatch based session.
Clean and Jerk (kg)
40 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 3
60 x 2 x 3
65 x 1 x 3
70 x 1 x 3
Back Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 5
155 x 1 x 5
175 x 5 x 5 (75% of 1RM)
Clean Deadlift (kg)
110 x 3 x 5
The C&J and Back Squat part of the session went well. I'm pretty sure my back squat 1RM is closer to 250 and I will test it next week. My first set of clean deadlifts were incorrectly performed as Romanian deadlifts. The second and third sets were a little better but my hips come up to quickly and then use my back to straighten up. I will need to master this correctly if I'm ever going to clean 110kgs let alone jerk it.
Total Volume: 11700 lbs
Tuesdays Oly session left me very sore and a poor nights sleep. Yesterday I took off completely and went to bed early and sleep long and hard. Tonights's C&J based Oly session was the highest volume to date but much easier on me than the Tuesdays snatch based session.
Clean and Jerk (kg)
40 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 3
60 x 2 x 3
65 x 1 x 3
70 x 1 x 3
Back Squat (lb)
135 x 1 x 5
155 x 1 x 5
175 x 5 x 5 (75% of 1RM)
Clean Deadlift (kg)
110 x 3 x 5
The C&J and Back Squat part of the session went well. I'm pretty sure my back squat 1RM is closer to 250 and I will test it next week. My first set of clean deadlifts were incorrectly performed as Romanian deadlifts. The second and third sets were a little better but my hips come up to quickly and then use my back to straighten up. I will need to master this correctly if I'm ever going to clean 110kgs let alone jerk it.
Total Volume: 11700 lbs
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Closing the Snatch Gap
Tuesday January 6, 2009
Olympic lifting requires heavy assistance leg lifts including lunges and both front/back squats. Back squats, usually just called squats are also performed by power lifters. A good example of an exceptionally strong raw squatter (no funky high tension squat suit worn) is Fawn Friday, RKC, the national record holder in the women's 125lb weight class. When used as Oly assistance lifts, both squats are performed ATG (Ass-To-Grass or equivalently thighs to calves) whereas in powerlifting it is enough to squat a bit below parallel. Feeling strong today I decided to see what I could back squat:
Morning Warmup:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Late Afternoon:
ATG Barbell Back Squat
205 x 1 x 3 PR
230 x 2 x 1 PR
1/8 Front Squat (one fourth of the way from erect to parallel and back up to erect)
230 x 1 x 1
275 x 1 x 2
300 x 1 x 2
I have a one year goal of a 100kg (220lbs) Clean and Jerk. As a result I decided to load up my rack just to see what it is like to just hold a heavy weight in the front squat rack position. The highest rung on my rack is 1/4 squat position. The 300 singles weren't too bad but it does amaze me that this weight and more can be cleaned and jerked by Chen Yanqing, the recent 127 lb Chinese woman gold medalist.
Evening Oly Session:
Power Snatch (kg)
42 x 4 x 3
Squat Snatch (kg)
42 x 6 x 3
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2
52 x 1 x 2
55 x 1 x 1 (PR)
Incline Bench (lb)
45 x 1 x 10
95 x 1 x 10
115 x 1 x 10
135 x 1 x 5
Coach Denis Reno was available tonight and his coaching cues got me to a 55kg relaxed full squat snatch. Previously once I got around 50kg, my squat snatch would degenerate into a combo power snatch followed by an OH squat. Now the gap between my max power snatch (60kg) and squat snatch has been reduced to 5kg. Given that Denis was a team lead for one of the USA Olympic Weightlifting teams, it makes sense that I should do whatever he says regardless of how counter-intuitive it may sound at the time .. it worked!
I haven't' done any kind of bench pressing in the last 5 years so the inclines where a little tough. This assistance lift is only performed at most once a week .. in earlier times when the OH press was still an Olympic lift, this exercise was much more important.
BW Weight: 182.5 lbs
Total Volume: 7930 lbs
Olympic lifting requires heavy assistance leg lifts including lunges and both front/back squats. Back squats, usually just called squats are also performed by power lifters. A good example of an exceptionally strong raw squatter (no funky high tension squat suit worn) is Fawn Friday, RKC, the national record holder in the women's 125lb weight class. When used as Oly assistance lifts, both squats are performed ATG (Ass-To-Grass or equivalently thighs to calves) whereas in powerlifting it is enough to squat a bit below parallel. Feeling strong today I decided to see what I could back squat:
Morning Warmup:
Z-Health: Neural Warm-up Level 2 (Dynamic Joint Mobility Drills)
BW x 1 x 10 Heavy blue band Goodmorning
BW x 1 x 5 Ab wheel on the knee rollouts, 5 sec hold and rollback
Late Afternoon:
ATG Barbell Back Squat
205 x 1 x 3 PR
230 x 2 x 1 PR
1/8 Front Squat (one fourth of the way from erect to parallel and back up to erect)
230 x 1 x 1
275 x 1 x 2
300 x 1 x 2
I have a one year goal of a 100kg (220lbs) Clean and Jerk. As a result I decided to load up my rack just to see what it is like to just hold a heavy weight in the front squat rack position. The highest rung on my rack is 1/4 squat position. The 300 singles weren't too bad but it does amaze me that this weight and more can be cleaned and jerked by Chen Yanqing, the recent 127 lb Chinese woman gold medalist.
Evening Oly Session:
Power Snatch (kg)
42 x 4 x 3
Squat Snatch (kg)
42 x 6 x 3
45 x 1 x 3
50 x 1 x 2
52 x 1 x 2
55 x 1 x 1 (PR)
Incline Bench (lb)
45 x 1 x 10
95 x 1 x 10
115 x 1 x 10
135 x 1 x 5
Coach Denis Reno was available tonight and his coaching cues got me to a 55kg relaxed full squat snatch. Previously once I got around 50kg, my squat snatch would degenerate into a combo power snatch followed by an OH squat. Now the gap between my max power snatch (60kg) and squat snatch has been reduced to 5kg. Given that Denis was a team lead for one of the USA Olympic Weightlifting teams, it makes sense that I should do whatever he says regardless of how counter-intuitive it may sound at the time .. it worked!
I haven't' done any kind of bench pressing in the last 5 years so the inclines where a little tough. This assistance lift is only performed at most once a week .. in earlier times when the OH press was still an Olympic lift, this exercise was much more important.
BW Weight: 182.5 lbs
Total Volume: 7930 lbs
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