Friday, August 21, 2009

What has a green shell and swims underwater?

Me apparently, when I do those plank holds with a green 10kg plate.

So, today, still feeling tired. Wasn't happening with those power snatches at 40 kilos this week, had to drop back. Power cleans didn't have a lot of pop either but still managed to hit a new weight on those for triples. Holiday time now!

Friday 21st August

Power snatch from high hang: 3@25 x 2, 3@30, 3@35, miss+miss@40, 3@35, 3@35, 3@35
Snatch pulls: 2@45, 2@50, 2@55 x 5
Power cleans: 3@45, 3@50, 3@55, 3@60 x 3
Back squats: 5@50, 5@60, 5@70, 5@80 x 3
Plank holds: 3 x 1 minute holds with 10kg plate

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The CNS of a very, very small invertebrate

The gym is always excellent fun the day after a max squat session. I was tired going in and frankly crushed coming out. I'd have definitely taken the day off if not for the fact that I'm on my holidays (exotic northern Scotland) next week and need to get the training in.

Thursday 20th August
Snatch warmup
Snatch: 2@33, 2@36, 2@39, 2@42 x 3
Power Jerk: 5@bar, 3@25, 2@35, 2@40, 2@45, 2@50, 2@55, miss@59, 2@55, miss@55, 2@55
C+J: 2@40, 2@45, 2@50, 2@55, 2@60 x 4
Trap bar deadlifts: 3@bar+55, 3@bar+85, 3@bar+100 x 3

All frankly fairly poxy apart from the C+Js. I felt like a 90 year old lady snatching, and there was nothing in the tank for the power jerks. Felt better C+Jing, although I was wishing I'd brought a giant Red Bull to the gym instead of the normal sized one. Just one of those sessions you battle through, I suppose. Tomorrow is the last day of this prep phase, and then a week off - looking forward to it!

Now with 5% extra leg strength!

Tuesday 18th August
Warmup, OHS, drop snatches
Snatch: 2@34, 2@37, 1@40, 42, 44, 46, miss@47, 47, 47, 47, 47
Rack jerk: 2@35, 2@40, 2@45, 1@50, 54, 58, 62, 62, 62, 62
Cleans: 2@40, 2@45, 2@50, 2@55, 2@60, 2@63, 2@65, 2@65, 1+miss+1@65
Front squat: warmups, 3@70 x 3

Good day all in all, got 4 out of 5 reps snatching 47 despite my sore legs from Sunday. I missed the first attempt due to not pulling hard enough, the others were comfy enough. That's a bit of progress there.

Jerks a bit tough, finding it hard to jerk from the rack at the moment. Need to keep working on keeping the elbows up and the drive straight, they were tending to go forward a bit.

Cleans were somewhat gruelling, very hard to get through the sticking point on the second reps. Had my first clean miss in ages on the last set, caught it a bit off balance. I was working on trying to lock the torso when catching, rather than slightly after, was having some success but needs more work.

Wednesday 19th August
Power snatch: 3@25, 3@30, 2@34, 2@37, 2@40, 2@43 x 4
BTN jerk: bar, 3@40, 2@45, 2@50, 2@55, 2@60, 2@62 x 4
Front squat: 3@55, 3@60, 1@65, 70, 74, 78, 81, 83, 84
Press: 5@25, 5@31, 5@34 x 3
Lat pulldowns: 3 x 5

A good day there. Power snatched really well, have never done 43 for a double before. I'm working on the smoother acceleration in the pull and it seems to be giving a bit more oomph alright, despite fatigue from heavy cleans and squats yesterday. Behind the neck jerks were 2kg heavier than last week, and they were easy.

We tested front squat for first time since spring - got 84kg, up from 80, so I have indeed been getting stronger. This is good news, we have succeeded in adding some much needed leg strength while also improving some aspects of technique, not easy to do. Especially when you throw a good bout of mumps into the equation :) Hopefully we can repeat this trick between the Club Championships and Christmas.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Training session with Andy Tysz

On Sunday 15th of August I attended a training session down in Limerick overseen by Andy Tysz and his assistant coach Stephen. It was an informal enough affair, basically we did two of our usual training sessions with Andy and Stephen providing feedback, with some Q+A afterwards.

Morning Session:
Snatch warmup (usual stuff, overhead squats, drop snatches, some dynamic warmup stuff and selected stretches)
Snatch: 2@34, 2@35, 2@37.5, 2@40, 2@42.5, 2@45, 2@45, 1+miss@45
Jerk from split: 3@30, 3@35, 3@40 x 3
Rack jerk: 2@40, 2@40, 2@45, 1@50, 1@55, miss@57.5 (small pressout), 57.5, 60, 60, 60

I felt a bit sluggish initially snatching, probably due to the unaccustomed hour, but things improved and I ended up doing 2 personal best doubles at 45, while feeling quite good and fast. I didn't get a lot of feedback on the snatch from Andy - he said I should go and get faster and stronger, mostly. He did suggest that I lock my snatch out overhead in an odd way, externally rotating my arms as opposed to internally rotating them which he reckons is standard. TBH what I do feels perfectly secure to me and I don't tend to lose snatches that I get to lockout height, but I will experiment with the other way and see how it feels.

On the jerks he mentioned the timing of the dip and drive and my tendency to drop my elbows a little as I dip - both things Harry has pointed out and that I'm already working on.

Afternoon Session:
Power snatch: 2@25 x 2, 2@30, 2@35, 2@37.5, 2@40 x 5
C+J: 2@35, 2@42.5, 1@47.5, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, 65, 67, 68, miss@69 (missed jerk)
Back squat: warmups, 2@80 x 3
Planks: 3 holds with 10kg

Didn't go super heavy on the power snatches because I was a bit fatigued. However, the feedback I got on these was possibly the most useful I got all day. Andy spotted the fact that I seem to pause a bit between my first and second pulls, losing some bar speed. He thinks if I can make that transition smoother I'll get more power. I tried this on the last couple of sets and things did feel easier. I think it probably applies to the full snatch as well.

Another tip exclusive to the power snatch was that I seem to end up chasing the bar overhead sometimes in my power snatch because I'm dropping down and forward to catch, rather than just down. That was something that had been annoying me for a while, because it never happens in the full snatch. Good to know.

A final small thing was that Stephen spotted my starting position is slightly uneven, with my left foot slightly rotated out. Not sure I can fix this one though, it's probably how I compensate for my left leg being slightly longer.

So on to clean and jerks - for someone who hasn't cleaned over 64 or jerked over 63 in months I did pretty well - 68 was a PR C+J and equals my best rack jerk. It was a fairly nice smooth lift apart from the jerk being very slightly in front - those pesky dropping elbows again.

I did a decent clean with 69 too but missed the jerk - I think I just didn't drive it hard enough. It feels like it should come soon though. The clean felt excellent, it just felt like a nice challenging weight to get my teeth into rather than a limit weight - it actually felt easier than a 69kg front squat would be, although that might have been partly adrenalin :)

Feedback on C+J was that I can improve my timing slightly when catching the bar in both clean and jerk - I am locking myself under the bar fractionally too late in both. I'll have to work on this one.

All in all a very good day and I'm glad I went. Andy Tysz has a really good eye for diagnosing even the tiniest of problems. It was also nice to outnumber the boys for once, we had 5 female lifters down to 3 males, which is definitely a first for Irish weightlifting.

DOMS aplenty

Tuesday 11th August
Snatch: warmup sets, 2@42, 2@42, 1+miss@42, 2@42
Jerks from split: warmup sets, 3@35 x 4
Back squats: warmup sets, 2@80 x 3
Plank holds

A nice easy first session back after being sick. Snatches down 2kg from my usual doubles weight, but for first day back they were good and snappy, if a little wobbly at the bottom. Quads were asleep totally, doubles with 80kg were harder than 5s with 82 10 days previously.

On the other hand, the time off did wonders for my shoulder tendonitis - shoulder now feels like a normal shoulder again, so maybe it was worth it.

Wednesday 12th August
Snatch: 2@35, 1@37, 39, 41, 43, 45, miss@46 (locked out but caught higher on one side than the other, lost it), 46, 46, 46
Rack jerks: 2@35, 2@40, 2@45, 1@50, 54, 58, 61, 63, 63, 63, miss@63, 63
Cleans: warmup sets, 2@62 x 3
Front squat: warmups, 3@67 x 3

Good day today - snatching good singles at 46 with only one very close miss. Rack jerks were the heaviest I've jerked since April, and no lockout problems. Cleans and squats down a bit though.

Thursday 13th August
Power snatch: warmups, 2@42.5, 2@42.5, 2@42.5, miss@42.5
BTN jerks: warmups, 2@60 x 3
C+J: warmups, 2@58 x 3
Front squat: warmups, 2@67 x 2
Lat pulldowns 3 x 5

Another decent day - added a kilo to the BTN jerks and C+Js. Front squats feeling a bit easier, too.

Friday 14th August
Hang power snatch from high hang: warmup sets, 3@40 x 4
Light snatch: 2@35, 22@40 x 4
Snatch pulls: 2@44, 2@49, 2@54 x 4
Power jerks: warmups, 2@58 x 3
Power cleans: warmups, 3@58 x 4
Back squats: warmups, 5@76 x 3

A long day today, due to compressing most of what I normally do in three sessions into two. A really good day though - I made all 12 reps on the hang power snatches with 40 for the first time. Power jerks were apparently 'textbook', my timing on these is getting much better. Added weight to the power clean triples and got through that fine despite being pretty wrecked at that stage. Took it easy enough on the back squats, in order to not be too fatigued for Sunday.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Attack of the giant tonsils

Friday 31st July

Power snatch from high hang: warmup sets., 3@40, 3@40, 1+miss+1@40, 1+miss+miss@40
Snatch pulls: warmup sets, 3@50 x 3
Power cleans: warmup sets, 3@57 x 4
Back squats: warmup sets, 5@82 x 3
Plank holds x 3

Good day, missed some of the hang power snatches but power cleans were snappy. Added weight to back squats again, they were fairly tough. I was due a light week after this session but it ultimately turned into a week off because I came down with tonsillitis and was feeling generally crappy.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Super Awesome Jerks

Wednesday 22nd July
Power snatch; 4@25, 2@30, 2@35, 2@38, 2@41, 1+miss@43, 2@41 x 3
Behind the neck jerks: 3@40, 3@45, 2@50, 5@55, 2@59 x 4
Front squat: 2@50, 2@55, 2@60, 2@67, 2@72 x 3
Press: 5@32 x 3
Lat pulldowns 5 x 3

A reasonably nice easy day. Power snatches were a bit flaky - I tried a double with 43 and it wasn't quite there, so had to drop back down... but third day in a row training and probably not 100% sharp.

BTN jerks on the other hand were sharp, nice and fast with a good lockout on every one. The first set of 59s I actually did thinking it was 54kg, I was using a 20kg bar because we'd run out of 15kg ones and forgot to compensate. Once this was pointed out I promptly missed my next attempt at the same weight, before getting the next 3 sets done perfectly. See, all in the brain!

Thursday 23rd July
Snatch (light day): 2@33, 2@37, 2@40 x 4
Power Jerk: 3@25, 3@35, 2@40, 2@45, 2@59, 2@53 x 2, 2@56 x 3.
C+J: warmup sets, 2@55 x 3
Trap bar deadlifts: warmup sets, 3@90 x 3 (plus weight of trap bar)

OK day, power jerks strong but a bit wobbly at top of a couple of them, mainly due to losing focus - got to be better on this, even when I think the lift is easy. C+Js were fine, cleans easy and jerks were good.

Friday 24th July
Power snatch from high hang: warmup sets, 3@40, 3@40, 3@40, miss+1+miss@40
Snatch pulls: warmup sets, 2@53 x 4
Split jerks: warmup sets, 3@35 x 4
Back squats: warmup sets, 5@80 x 3

Think that's the first time I've managed 40 x 3 on the hang power snatches. Yay! Another kilo on the back squat 5s.

Monday 27th July
Snatch warmup
Snatch: warmup sets, 2@44 x 4
Jerks from split: warmup sets, 3@35 x 4
Plank holds, abs, back extensions

All my reps in the snatches, yay. Felt really good, all caught in good position and easy.

Skipped squats just this once to leave something in the tank for Tuesday.

Have swapped jerks from split at the end of the week with power cleans at the start, also in order to have more in the tank for snatches at the start of the week, and to get me in the groove for rack jerks on Tuesdays. Also dropping most of my pulls (we just think I've run the course of them for the moment and am doing plenty of volume), so that makes this a nice easy session.

Tuesday 28th July
Snatch to max: 2@34, 2@37, 1@40, 42, 44, 46, miss@48, 48, 49, miss@50 x 3
Rack jerks: 3@35, 2@40, 2@45, 1@49, 1@53, 1@56, 1@56, 1@58, 1@60, 1@62, 1@62
Clean: 2@45, 2@49, 2@54, 2@58, 2@61, 2@64 x 3
Front squat: warmup sets, 3@73 x 3

Good day today - snatched well, and managed to hit 49kg which is only 1kg under my best and considering I haven't snatched over 46 since April pretty pleased with that. Missed 50 3 times, was close the second time but not quite. I've got to stop poking my head forward when receiving the bar. I was also cutting my pull a bit on the heavier snatches, which I have stopped doing on the lighter ones. A timing thing to work on. There is definitely more there now.

Good jerks too, apparently a little wobble at the top of the 62s but still, a lot heavier than I was able to jerk last week. Clean doubles heavy, but good form overall. Harry is bored with my cleans now because I never miss anymore, even when doing doubles at 3kg under my personal best. Ah well, he will have to live with it.

Front squats tough after all that - yet another PR triple on those.