Since 1998 or so I've been lifting twice or three times a week.
Without proper feedback on exactly HOW to lift and what programs to use, I've not really seen much progress.. after all, who ever cares to tell you that you shouldn't warm up to failure if you want to get strong. Or cares to show you the little details that make the difference between a technically correct lift or a lousy one.
Not all gym owners or gym staff are like this.. which is why 12 weeks ago, I've joined another gym and signed up for 6 months hands-on coaching by a real (Olympic) trainer. The first idea was to get the details for the deadlift right and maybe the cleans as well. Never did I dream to do any more technical stuff like snatches or pushpresses.
My new trainer thought differently and after just 1 week got me to do just those 2 lifts: (hang) cleans and (hang) snatches.
Shock #1 : all those hang cleans I thought to be doing 'right' were dead wrong.
So these past weeks I've been trying to unlearn all the wrong stuff with the most difficult one being that I need to keep the bar close to the body until way higher than I thought plus getting underneath it into a squat. NOT easy I tell ya!
It's also pretty obvious now why lifters wear socks.. bloodied shins were the first results. However.. when looking in the mirror yesterday, I noticed one other wound. Bruised bones right where the barbell is resting for a front squat or where you bring it to when doing a clean. It just looked like I was bitten by a giant vampire. Hence the name of the log.
To tell you guys the truth.. I'm far from strong and I'm also far from agile. Yet, there seems to be this Oly bug (vampire) that bit me and it'd be really really really fun if the weights used would go to a decent level for my age. And who knows, if I ever acquire proper balancing skills, even do a meet?
Needless to say Jill and tkinsley were and are quite inspirational to me.
hang snatch
Started with 25x2 on Oct 13
Best effort sofar 27,5x3 in the last 2 workouts.
hang clean
Started with 35x2 on Oct 13
Best effort sofar a true clean (from the floor) with 42,5x1
This past week though I've not come further than 40x1 since my shoulder is bothering me a lot.
The 3rd exercise we do is up till now always a back squat, which is mostly a speed squat and hence isn't really much about weights nor a max effort either.. have worked up to 52,5kgx5 .
For comparison, I've been to a mini-PL-meet of a forum I'm a member of and got to do a back squat of 70x3 and a set of box squats: 50x11.
My best front squat is 70x1 and 65x3
One thing I know for sure.. I'm quite happy to be using female Oly bars. My hands are quite small and it makes a hyoooooge difference to use a slimmer barbell that's meant for smaller hands.
On that very same mini-meet I have also finally learnt how to use straps and got to a tie with my best DL sofar: 110x1 while lifting a 'men's bar' (20kg, regular thickness). Without them they would have just slipped out of my fingers.
It's both fun and frustrating at the same time. I'm happy my trainer doesn't yell when I do things wrong and gives encouragements when things aren't as crappy as 'normal' .. I'm my own worst critic at times.
Proprioception (sp?) is a big problem for me.. I can watch videos from others till the cows come home and still not 'see' things. Then do it myself and fail to notice the mistakes.
It has been invaluable sofar to have videos of myself.. too bad I'm unable to do this myself (yet).. perhaps my partner can teach me or come with me more often. I'm sure this would also be of great assistance.
It was just amazing how hard it was to do deadlifts right w/o proper feedback from others or seeing it for myself. It is equally amazing how little feedback you actually get in a gym.. either from staff or from more experienced lifters. Getting info from the internet is just NOT the same.
I'm sure many people here have had the same experience when they finally got hands-on training from someone who knows 'squat' (or snatch)
Saturday December 6
All-round 1-PL4 (1 week after a mini-meet)
all weights in kilograms dynamic warmup : arm circles, calf stretch, Frankensteins, cat /camel, [s]hip stretch[/s] (forgot), scaptions, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, goblet squat w 10kg db, Russian twist w 5kg ball, SHELC & ‘wobbling on a Bosu ball’
A1 weighted chins
(BW+8)x2,PR! – (BW+7)x2 – (BW+6)x2 – (BW+5)x2
Struggled even more with the 7kg than with the first set.
As superset with
A2 hang clean + OHP
27x3+0 – 29x2+0 – 31x1+3– 33x1+5 – 35x1+5, PR
B1 front squat
42x5 – 52x4 – 57x4 – 62x3
Wasn’t into ‘balls to the walls today’.. started to realize last week’s effort (mini-meet ) took a lot more out of me than I realized. Plus, I’d skipped my usual Fri-night carbup since I wasn’t hungry yet.. dumb dumber than dumb! However.. it’s not as bad as it sounds as 62x3 is almost a tie with the PR of 62,5x3
Alternated these with
B2 conventional DL w OH grip
72,5x5 – 82,5x4 – 87,5x4 – 92,5x3
Unbelievable.. just 2 weeks ago I was able to ‘rep’ it out on 87,5x13 , last week did a 110x1 with a thick men’s Oly bar and today even 82,5x4 felt heavy..can you say overstrained CNS?
Comments: considering the circumstances still a good workout.. was happier about how the hang cleans went than 2 weeks ago. Today was the first day I’m trying out BCAAs & L-leucine during my workout, with the main reason being that I generally don’t do dairy or PP.
Monday December 8
Olympic training 12th session all weights in kilograms
Started with my usual dynamic warmup : arm circles, calf/ham stretch, Frankensteins, cat/camel, hip stretch , lateral lunge, reverse lunge & BWsquat , a glute bridge as well as dislocations with a broomstick.
Then proceeded doing
hang power snatch
Broomstick: tons
15x3-3
20x4
25x1+F – 3-3-3-3
27,5x2+F – 2-1
30x1+F – 1-1-1+F , 1st time using 30kg
Staying close to legs is improved and so is the pull. Now the only part that is still ‘shit’ = diving underneath. Some lifts were OK though and the difference was immediately noticeable = virtually no strain on shoulders as the strength doesn’t come out of them (incorrect way) but from the body.
Again, need to dive underneath more. Not too bad today
dynamic front squat
15x5-6
35x5-3
40x3-3-3
Focusing on technique, bit wider stance, keeping back upright, going further ATF.
Comment : some shitty lifts, but overall not too bad.. . Funny though how I’ve been front squatting 60kg on Saturday and am now just focusing on technique and stick to just 40kg. Quality trumps quantity … always. At least for this type of lifting.
It's pretty hard for me to make that switch from valueing quantity over quality to the reverse. Pretty exciting though how I start to see & feel the subtle differences between what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'
If I want to get any good in Olympic lifting, quality is everything.. and until then the weights have to be sub-maximal.
Actually , I'm on the brink of reversing my memberships and switch from unlimited training where I live + training for Olympic lifts once a week further away to the other way around.. train in my trainer's gym 3 times a week (the other 2 times not as closely supervised but with the right materials available and option to drop the weight when needed) and just train once a week in my current gym , preferably combining a yoga session with a lifting session.
It was a very good idea to start this.
The only bad news I just got was that I can't change my membership now. I'll either need to stick to once a week at the trainer's gym + unlimited at gym closer by or have unlimited membership for both, since the membership runs till June, 1 and can't be changed in between. Sux royally actually. Will look into how much it is going to cost me to do both gyms for unlimited membership plus the extra costs of fuel (the one closer-by is at walking distance, the other one is 15mi each way)
all weights in kilograms dynamic warmup
arm circles, calf stretch, Frankensteins, cat /camel, hip stretch, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, goblet squat @ 10kg, Russian twist @ 4kg ball, and SHELC, plus trying to balance myself on the Bosu.
A1 neutral grip chins
BWx5
B1 db press
(18x2)x9
(22x2)x6-5-5
Same wt as last week, but 2 less reps
Together with
B2 Pendlay row (from floor)
40x10
47,5x8-8-9
C1 unilateral LPD
17,5x15/15 – 16/16
Higher wt, still working up
C2 unilateral leg press
14,5x10/10
19x10/10-10/10
Same wt, less reps
D1 preacher curl (bench)
30x8-6
D2 triceps (rope) pushdown
26,3x5
Again, just 1 set this week.
E1 standing gluteus
65x18/18
E2 OH squat
10x6
Will do this exercise in the near future so dabbled a bit with it…
Comment : Could notice fatigue, and actually thought this was a so-so workout as I knew the db presses weren’t as good as they have been.. got a nice surprise at home when checking my Excel spreadsheets how I fared
Only pity was that shoulder started to whine again near the end, so the plan to participate in the new X-Co training was abandoned.
hickey = little bruises on the neck (or anywhere else, for that matter) given to you by someone during makeout. (from suction or bite)
But then, cheerleaders will often get them when their skin gets pinched by someone standing on their shoulders, hence those are called sneaker hickies/hickeys. And then, I just extrapolate from there.
Some episodes are in slow-motion.. and there's a tracking line (?) in them... this is what I was looking for... as I kept wondering when to start diving underneath the bar.. it really *is* after extending fully. At least that's what my coach wants me to do.
I'm wondering who's in them. Am being mesmerized for now
Gqartguy added them on July 11, 2007 and says it's being compiled by Ironmaven
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy
Some episodes are in slow-motion.. and there's a tracking line (?) in them... this is what I was looking for... as I kept wondering when to start diving underneath the bar.. it really *is* after extending fully. At least that's what my coach wants me to do.
I'm wondering who's in them. Am being mesmerized for now
Gqartguy added them on July 11, 2007 and says it's being compiled by Ironmaven
Natalie Wolfolk is awesome.
__________________ True Protein 5% off discount code: ZHS099 www.trueprotein.com
Numbers are silly, but yet I couldn't help to be thrilled by what I saw this morning: 60 kg.
That's exactly 25kg less than my all-time high of 85kg that I hit in 2002 only 7 months after cycling 4000K with a fully loaded touring bike over 100+ French mountain passes in 2 months.
Funny how for the longest time 63kg was my goal wt, but once I got there, I was still dissatisfied about how I looked. Ideally, I'd not mind at all to weigh 63kg but then with more muscle & less fat.
Considering Lyle's articles on P-ratios etc. it was decided to go for 57-58kg (perhaps slightly less) and then start on a bulk.
Still not quite sure if NOW is the right time to cut because I'd started learning how to do Olympic lifts in September. I've at least done a 2 mo. maintenance phase in Sept-Oct when just doing lighter loads fried my CNS enough to make cutting next to impossible.
It seems to me that over time, the loads will/should (!) only increase, so that would make cutting even harder.
I *do* wonder though if starting to learn Oly-lifting isn't the best time ever to do a bulk, despite the crappy P-ratios.
So, that's why I'm going so slow, since it seems that what happens spontaneously every month, viz. me not sticking to the diet and going waaaaay high in calories, actually seems to serve a beneficial effect of resetting metabolism every 4 weeks. After all, I've been an exceptionally good girl in the past cycle.. as a reward, metabolism just drops and I get to eat 200kcal less for the exact same fat loss. Not a fun experience: back to dirty dieting = a bulk every 4th week.
all weights in kilograms dynamic warmup : arm circles, calf stretch, Frankensteins, cat /camel, hip stretch, scaptions, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, goblet squat w 10kg db, Russian twist w 5kg ball, SHELC & ‘wobbling on a Bosu ball’
A1 Javorek complex + snatches
10kg: 6x6+6
B1 weighted chins
(BW+6)x2– (BW+5)x2 – (BW+4)x3 – (BW+3)x3
Could use the 3rd notch of the belt to clamp the db behind
As superset with
B2 hang clean + OHP
25x2+8 – 29x3+6 – 31x1+4– 33x1+4
F*k, I’m weak on low calories!
C1 front squat
41x8 – 51x5 – 56x5 – 61 x4
F*k again, I’m weak… uh, guess not , LOL . Form was ugly-ish on the last rep though..
D2 fake glute ham raise
Didn’t happen.. gym was closing and they had already moved away the Bosu ball (making a ghetto GHR contraption by combining Bosu + abdominal machine)
Comments: damn.. keep forgetting how weak you get from not eating enough. Coz’ of Aunt Flo’s visit, I’m always skipping 1 workout, so took advantage of it and ate sub-1400kcal for 4 consecutive days .. dang! Also still had a problem with shoulders bugging me, so didn’t really rep it out on the OHP/PPs nor on the hang cleans.. which in fact felt really heavy. Practiced a bit with the snatches again.
Yet, quite a surprise to still get 1 PR out of the front squats. Suddenly felt weird too to be squatting more than your own BW. 59.9kg this morning = being a wannabe-midget
power snatch
Broomstick: 5-5
15x5-5
20x4
25x3
27,5x1-F-1-2-2
30x1-1-1-1-1
No fails this time
Finally found back the extremely helpful URL that breaks down the entire lift in pieces: NSCA - Performance Analysis Video
After having looked at a gazillion videos of actual snatches (starting from the floor) I’ve realized that not everyone makes it to the entire pull but dives underneath sooner.. alas, that’s still something which eludes me.. fear still holds me back. Yet , at least no ‘upright rows’ or very few OHPs this time (you’re not supposed to press up)
45kg proved to be too heavy (would’ve been a PR) , so back to doubles with 40kg. Diving underneath was totally lost on me this time.
pulls
40x5
45x3-3
No squats now, only pulls.. I’d said that Lyle said I could practice on pulls..”Oh, really” , so I guess that’s what resulted in me doing pulls today
Comment: still so much to learn.. at least there’s progress and.. last night’s coconut balls (a dietary slip up apart from the planned rice crisps & mini-marshmallows) were put to good use.
Something which is always weird is how it takes incredible amounts of effort to get focused enough and then when I’m done, I’m feeling super-überfocused when driving home and once home, end up being so incredibly agitated that it is hard to lose that energy again.. this is why I’m usually training again on Mon night.. for now I’m going to see if I can train again on Tuesday morning.
all weights in kilograms dynamic warmup : arm circles, calf stretch, Frankensteins, cat /camel, hip stretch, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, goblet squat @ 10kg, Russian twist @ 4kg ball, and SHELC
A1 semi-Javorek
10: 6x6
B1 power snatches + OH squat
10: 2+8
15: 2+6
18: 2+6
19: 3+6
20: 2+5 (plus 1 failed squat)
21: 2+5 (last one was hard)
Fun times when you’re doing something for higher weights the first time.. instant PRs.
Had originally wanted to go up to 23kg but staying in balance on the OH squats was hard enough, plus I’d started at a lower wt than originally planned . Next time I’ll go up by 2 kg at the time from 15kg , like 10-15-17-19-21-23 etc. Considering how poor my balance tends to be, I was quite satisfied. It’s also handy these barbells are so short, that I can stabilize my hands against the disks quite easily.
C1 db press
(15x2)x8
(20x2)x10-9
LOL’d at home upon seeing that I’d never hit more than 9 reps on the db presses.. no wonder 10 reps were hard. For a (low volume) depletion exercise a bit too high in wt.
C2 Pendlay row (from floor)
32,5x8
40x10-10
D1a neutral grip chins
BWx4
D1b unilateral LPD
16x14/14
D2 unilateral leg press
14,5x12/12-12/12
E1 leg extension
35,5x15-15
E2 seated leg curl
40x18-18
Still stronger at curls than extensions.
Comment : technical part went a lot better than I’d imagined, considering the poor sleep and me training w/o the usual sports drink , since this was supposed to be a (low volume) depletion workout, preceded by some technical lifts. However, I’d severely drugged myself with stims : no less than 2x200 mg caffeine plus my usual regular mug of coffee + Svelta (a lightly stimulating fat burner). Felt totally fine till shortly after the workout, then upon walking home, I nearly started puking. Either the OD of caffeine got to me in combination with the glycogen depleting WO or perhaps my water bottle needs replacement.. so tossed the bottle in the garbage disposal (it’s an Evian mineral water bottle, that I replace about once a month anyway).
all weights in kilograms dynamic warmup : arm circles, calf stretch, Frankensteins, cat /camel, hip stretch, scaptions, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, goblet squat w 10kg db, Russian twist w 5kg ball, SHELC & ‘wobbling on a Bosu ball’
Comments: absolutely awesome to train well fed.. and did I ever pig out on good food.. still salivating from the raspberry bavarois trifle. Wasn’t planning to eat a lot on non-training days (gym is closed on X-mas but I got to be eternally grateful for the gym not closing down for an entire week as they used to do all the time) so got to take my X-mas food early (am planning a refeed on Dec26 though) .
For the first time in eons, I’ve used Creatyl Pro (CEE) plus the usual Stamina (citrulline malate) and had a very interesting observation: more energy but less oxygen. Was out of breath sooner than with the usual combo of Karno4 (beta-alanin)+ Stamina which gives more staying power. Using both Karno4 + CEE will be like dynamite .
Thanks to the tips I got, I’ll just stick to the large deficit on Tues & Thurs but will be using a few tricks to get asleep since low-carbing/fatting on a workout day just makes me both too wired & tired to sleep.. and no sleep = being totally grumpy and slow. Geez guys it’s not being hungry, it’s being cold & unable to sleep that makes low calories (carbs/fats) such a misery.
Dropping down below the bar was impossible at higher weights, since I was not pulling up enough.. so we split it up in a power snatch plus an OH squat (within the same rep)
technical cleans (mid shin)
15x6-6
25x3
30x3-3-3
A lot less weight as I dived down into the squat.. this was a lot easier than for the snatch, so I’m quite satisfied. Weight dropped waaaaay back down though.
dynamic back squat
30x6-8
35x7
42,5x5
50x5
57,5x3-3-3
Comment: a lot more technical session.. was out of breath a lot faster than before. At the start I was super concentrated, which unfortunatedly diminished quite fast over time, despite having had a huge carb up last night. Hmm… more caffeine?
Both interesting and frustrating. I knew it was going to take a long time, and at the same time wondered why I'd started on this, since balance isn't my strong point at all.
OTOH it's nice to start on something that is quite challenging.
The weaknesses makes me want to adapt my normal program more so that I get better on all the weak points.
Finally a lower bf% reading this morning.. I'd been waiting for over a month to see a sub-24% redading that was so common in October & November when I still wasn't doing the more extreme variation of carb/calorie intake.
I'll only believe that I'm not really losing muscle and only water, when I'm hitting another few PRs this & next week when I'm supposed to hit the heaviest weights anyway
It does seem I really thrive on smaller refeeds done on nearly every single workout. Needless to say that as of mid-January I'll resume my old method again with smaller refeeds every workout.
A very weird phenomenon is also that my BBT is all over the place. I've had fairly stable temps for quite a while and then suddenly they zigzag all over the place, depending on how many carbs I've had the day before. I know there's a TEF effect but seeing a spike of 0.2-0.3°C and a dip when you're not yet having the thermal shift is pretty weird.. sleep has been weird too, unable to sleep more than 3-4 hrs one week and now suddenly sleeping 9hrs or more?
Got wicked DOMS going on.. man that Monday session with diving (bombing) down into a full squat with a barbell overhead or into a cleaned position kicked ass literally. I'm not someone who gets DOMS easily, but now it's going on at the inside of my thighs, the lats and the rear delts.
It will be interesting to see if my lifting today will be affected. I'll be practicing power snatches plus the OH squats once again. The difference is that with a proper snatch you're not just pulling from the floor but immediately dive down into a squat position.. I can't do that, w/o omitting the pull. So I end up diving down already before the pull is finished.. so to make the learning process a bit easier, I'll keep pulling and will raise the bb overhead regardless of whether I am able to do this while diving down underneath.. if not , I'll just squat down ATF.
Afterwards I'll do a light depletion workout.. light in the sense of low volume, viz. less than half the sets that's prescribed for the actual UD2.0 . Not that I can't do all those sets, but it leaves me too wired & tired to do anything useful for a few days and like I said before, unable to sleep.
Tonight though I slept really well, thanks to the tryptophan & 1 serving of fruit+ 2 pcs of licorice that I'd saved up for the evening.
Bitten by Olympic vampires
Linear Mode
