Vacation is over

[pjb923]

Tonight's OLY session.
Thursday 6/26/08

Power Snatch
Worked up to
45kg x 4 x 4 sets

Snatch Grip Pull(3 stage)
45kg x 6
50kg x 5 x 4 sets

RDL
50kg x 6
80kg x 5
100kg x 4 x 3 sets

Back Squat
70kg x 6
100kg x 5
150kg x 4 x 4 sets

We finished with core stability work. 2 rounds of the following.
Planks on bosu ball - lift 1 leg at a time alternating x 10, rock forward and back x 10
Planks on stability ball - extend arms x 10, rotate left x 10, rotate right x 10
Pushups on stability ball x 10

My shoulder felt great tonight. He avoided anything that involved holding the weight overhead, but we did full snatches and kept the weight low. I had no issues at all.

Then came the fun stuff. 3-stage snatch pulls.
1. pull from floor to below knee and pause
2. pull to power position above knee and pause
3. complete the pull

These things really fry your lower back and quads because of the slow movements and pauses. So after getting my back nice and tired it was time to move to RDL's and then finish up with heavy back squats.

I am really happy with how he is dealing with my shoulder. Working around it, but still managed to get in some snatch work. He even added core work that incorporated shoulder stability.

Great workout tonight!

[Simon C]

Nice squatting Paul! It's good to keep up the heavy back squatting, even with all this strange oly stuff...

How's your technique with all this stuff anyway? I know if it was me, my snatch technique would suck, that and I can't even get into the finishing position!

[pjb923]

Thanks Simon. Don't worry, I won't stray too far and give up on my heavy back squats.

My technique needs work, but I'm improving with every session. I never had a problem with deep squats, so I have no problem with the finishing position. My biggest issue, besides the obvious shoulder/arm numbness, is lifting my hips too fast and shrugging too late in the pull. Most of the work we have done so far has been from above the knees, so we'll see what happens when I pull from the floor.

I had a short workout tonight. Tried doing some DB bench press and my shoulder just didn't feel great. I warmed up and then did a set with 75's and they felt as heavy as the 100's normally do. I need to give it a little more time before pushing it.

I did some more Tabata intervals. 1 round on the rower, and another round on the elliptical, worked up a nice sweat and finished with some ab work.

[pjb923]

Tonights oly session, from memory again, weigts might be off.
Monday 6/30/08

Power Clean from knees into full front squat
worked up to 80kg x 4 x 4 sets

Push Jerk
50kg x 6
60kg x 6
70kg x 4 x 4 sets

Front Squat
90kg x 8
100kg x 6
125kg x 5 x 4 sets

RDL
105kg x 6 x 3 sets

Core Work
2 rounds of the following:
Plank with forearms on stability ball:
extend and retract arms x 10
circle left x 10
circle right x 10
Pushups on stability ball x 10 w/ 10 second hold after last rep

Good workout tonight. We went heavier on the cleans, I think it was 80kg, but I could wrong, it didn't really feel that heavy.

Push jerks felt good tonight, my shoulder is not quite 100%, but getting there.

[Alcoholiday]

good stuff paul!

oly lifts from the knees= hang. so, hang cleans, hang snatches, hang pulls, etc.

[L'ilJ]

So are you doing front squats oly style or just normal? Nice workout btw.

[pjb923]

Thanks guys. The workouts are really improving and my technique is getting better.

I left out one exercise from last night. After the cleans we did more 3 stage pulls from the floor, but using a clean grip this time. Those are not fun, but really help get used to being in proper position through the full range of motion. He said that next week he wants to try to get an idea of some of my 1RM's.

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

good stuff paul!
oly lifts from the knees= hang. so, hang cleans, hang snatches, hang pulls, etc.

I don't know why I stopped writing them like that, I'll refer to all lifts from the knees as a hang from now on. I should be working from the floor soon so it won't matter anyway.

Originally Posted by L'ilJ

So are you doing front squats oly style or just normal? Nice workout btw.

If by oly style you mean with a clean grip, then I use oly style. I was never comfortable with the crossed arm position and just forced myself to use a clean grip. It took a while for my wrist flexibility to improve, but now the rack position is very comfortable.

[pjb923]

Tonight's workout.

I didn't write anything down, but I did a few sets of chest supported rows, shrugs, face pulls and DB bench press.

Bench press is still not feeling 100%. I only worked up to 85lb db's and I didn't feel like I should push any further.

After the weights I had a very intense 20 minutes on the elliptical. I did a few minute warmup, 1 round of tabata intervals, 5 minutes of low intensity, a 2nd round of tabata intervals and finally a cool down. Those 10 second rest periods just seem to get shorter and shorter with every interval. I tried to keep my pace between 1:35-1:45/500m and get in at least 10-12 strokes in during every 20 second interval. By the 8th one it is very difficult to maintain that speed, but I kept pushing.

[L'ilJ]

Originally Posted by pjb923

If by oly style you mean with a clean grip, then I use oly style. I was never comfortable with the crossed arm position and just forced myself to use a clean grip. It took a while for my wrist flexibility to improve, but now the rack position is very comfortable.

That too, but I was wondering if you were doing a full front squat or to parallel.

[pjb923]

Originally Posted by L'ilJ

That too, but I was wondering if you were doing a full front squat or to parallel.

To me there is only one way to squat and that is full ATG all the time.

[tkinsley]

Good man!

[pjb923]

I couldn't do my oly training tonight so I went to the regular gym and did an unplanned workout.

Seated Row
100 x 10
140 x 10
180 x 10 x 2 sets

Dips
BW x 15 x 2 sets

Front Squat
45 x 10
135 x 10
225 x 6

Hammer Curls
25's x 10
40's x 10
35's x 10

Cable pushdowns
100 x 15 x 3 sets

Cable Curls
100 x 15 x 3 sets

Leg Press
2p per side x 15
3p per side x 12 x 3 sets

Calf Raises
100 x 15
200 x 12

Leg Curls
100 x 10
200 x 10
200 x 8

Leg Extension
100 x 10
200 x 15
260 x 12

I wanted to start with front squats, but someone was curling in the squat rack so I did seated rows and dips. Once I was done the rack was free and worked up to 225x6 FS, but didn't have it in me to keep going. I decided to do some fun easy stuff like leg presses, leg curls and extensions and a little direct arm work and just had fun with it.

No cardio because I didn't feel like it.

[pjb923]

1-Arm DB Snatch
25 x 10 each arm
35 x 10 each arm
45 x 10 each arm

RDL
45 x 10
95 x 10
165 x 10
185 x 10

Bent over row
45 x 10
95 x 10
135 x 10

Hang Power Clean
135 x 5
155 x 3
135 x 3

OH Squat
45 x 10
65 x 10

I worked out with my wife today and she took a few quick videos for me so I could check my form on the cleans and OH squats. Towards the end of the OH squats I started to get the numbness in my thumbs, but not too bad.

Sorry the quality sucks, we were using my cell phone camera.



This was my first time doing 1-arm snatches, but I see more of them in my future. It's amazing the how much you can challenge yourself with such a small amount of weight.

[Simon C]

Cool video, time for somebody to rip apart your form...

[L'ilJ]

I'm not gonna rip apart you form. I think for a beginner your form is looking good. You're using your arms a lot, but that's normal when you're starting out and you'll get that shrug going as you continue to practice. Your speed will increase in time as well. Progress looks good!

What does your coach say? What is he/she having you work on?

[pjb923]

Thanks Jill. You picked up on just about everything that my coach has to say about my lifts. He is constantly reminding me to stay over the bar longer, finish my shrug and keep my speed up.

When I'm doing clean pulls I can get a really good shrug and keep my arms out of the movement, but as soon as I do a full clean I start to think too much and never seem to complete the shrug which causes me to use my arms. I never took video of my cleans before, but I can assure you that I have come a long way from the reverse speed curls that I used to do.

He said that he wants to get an idea of my 1RM on cleans and snatches this week, so I'm really looking forward to tonights session.