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.