Vanity Log: how much in a year?
- Thread starter mrthingyx
- Start date
Adjusted routine because of how my energy levels seem to be all over the place at the moment...
DAV 5
Pull-ups 3x8 @ BW
Supersetted with:
Lat pull-downs 3x8 @ 15 (whatever that means - 3/4 down the stack)
Bench press 3x8 @ 85kg + 70kg * 8
This stung quite a lot. Not used to high reps at this weight.
Single arm row 2x8 @ 40kg + 1x8 @36kg
Lats were already fried, so dropped the weight on the last set to prevent too much twisting.
Front squats 3*5
60-80-90
Working to a new pattern on these to keep my torso as vertical as possible. And crikey does it hammer the thighs!
Good session today: not really down with this hypertrophy range work, but it's amusing for hte pump. My chest and back felt ready to explode!
Oh, well - a couple of nights on OAKG over the weekend should calm things down, ready for snatching on Monday.
DAV 5
Pull-ups 3x8 @ BW
Supersetted with:
Lat pull-downs 3x8 @ 15 (whatever that means - 3/4 down the stack)
Bench press 3x8 @ 85kg + 70kg * 8
This stung quite a lot. Not used to high reps at this weight.
Single arm row 2x8 @ 40kg + 1x8 @36kg
Lats were already fried, so dropped the weight on the last set to prevent too much twisting.
Front squats 3*5
60-80-90
Working to a new pattern on these to keep my torso as vertical as possible. And crikey does it hammer the thighs!
Good session today: not really down with this hypertrophy range work, but it's amusing for hte pump. My chest and back felt ready to explode!
Oh, well - a couple of nights on OAKG over the weekend should calm things down, ready for snatching on Monday.
I get tired, too, y'know.
For some reason, it just feels the 'right' way to get tension out of and blood into my arms and shoulders...
But maybe that's just odd.
I dunno, it does feel like its the right thing to do for me and not just to stop me falling over haha
Not very interesting...
Made up day today... feeling like I was running on empty today, and a possible telephone interview cramping my time in the gym.
Snatch grip first pull 4x5 (last three sets strapped)
70-110-110-110
Urgh. Felt like rubbish. This told me I'm picking up some vestige of the cold that's been running round the office or home recently. Not impressed.
SLDL 3x5 (strapped)
110-110-130
Where did my time go? Clearly I spend too much time on soft tissue work...
A bit (very) ropey as sessions go. I'm going to a new gym tomorrow (Cambridge Stags and Does) that will allow me to lift and drop without issue (owners of the gym seem up for some Olympic noises), so will hopefully go home, get a good night's sleep and party tomorrow.
Made up day today... feeling like I was running on empty today, and a possible telephone interview cramping my time in the gym.
Snatch grip first pull 4x5 (last three sets strapped)
70-110-110-110
Urgh. Felt like rubbish. This told me I'm picking up some vestige of the cold that's been running round the office or home recently. Not impressed.
SLDL 3x5 (strapped)
110-110-130
Where did my time go? Clearly I spend too much time on soft tissue work...
A bit (very) ropey as sessions go. I'm going to a new gym tomorrow (Cambridge Stags and Does) that will allow me to lift and drop without issue (owners of the gym seem up for some Olympic noises), so will hopefully go home, get a good night's sleep and party tomorrow.
First day at Cambridge Stags and Does (a Crossfit gym... ) and it was a bit strange.
Big open space, rubberised flooring and some very basic bars and plates.
Awesome.
The owners said I could have the gym to myself from 07:30 for an hour, and so I got down and dirty with some snatch.
Snatch balance 3x3
BAR-BAR-40
It was cold, so speed was increased across the sets. Shape was good for the loaded reps.
Snatch pulls 3x3
100-100-100
Power was ok - not as good as it should be, but I'm running on much lower muscle glycogen than I'm used to (muscles still don't like this fuelling regime).
Snatch Lots x3
40-50-50-60-60-70(1f1)-70-70-70-80(2f)-70(1ff)
All of this from the floor highlights a couple of things:
1) Lack of confidence/stability in the squat: I can powersnatch 70kg without any apparent difficulty given enough rest...
2) Hip drive is rubbish when I'm not concentrating, meaning even basic weights don't budge.
3) Core bracing tends to fail, again if I'm not concentrating = bar all over the shop.
Interesting session. Snatching big-ish from the floor is a whole new ball game versus hang snatching due to the additional stability to maintain the right position in the first pull. So much fatigue in ways that I'm not used to meant that 80kg was no way going to happen, and the last 70kg was pitiful.
Overall, very happy. Owners of the gym are great guys who are big on their Olympic lifts and anybody that wants to do them, so going to do this at least once a week.
And my goodness am I tired.
) and it was a bit strange.Big open space, rubberised flooring and some very basic bars and plates.
Awesome.
The owners said I could have the gym to myself from 07:30 for an hour, and so I got down and dirty with some snatch.
Snatch balance 3x3
BAR-BAR-40
It was cold, so speed was increased across the sets. Shape was good for the loaded reps.
Snatch pulls 3x3
100-100-100
Power was ok - not as good as it should be, but I'm running on much lower muscle glycogen than I'm used to (muscles still don't like this fuelling regime).
Snatch Lots x3
40-50-50-60-60-70(1f1)-70-70-70-80(2f)-70(1ff)
All of this from the floor highlights a couple of things:
1) Lack of confidence/stability in the squat: I can powersnatch 70kg without any apparent difficulty given enough rest...
2) Hip drive is rubbish when I'm not concentrating, meaning even basic weights don't budge.
3) Core bracing tends to fail, again if I'm not concentrating = bar all over the shop.
Interesting session. Snatching big-ish from the floor is a whole new ball game versus hang snatching due to the additional stability to maintain the right position in the first pull. So much fatigue in ways that I'm not used to meant that 80kg was no way going to happen, and the last 70kg was pitiful.
Overall, very happy. Owners of the gym are great guys who are big on their Olympic lifts and anybody that wants to do them, so going to do this at least once a week.
And my goodness am I tired.
Training update today, which basically meant lots of low-weight triples with short rest periods.
That meant huge amounts of fatigue and not much weight shifted.
HOWEVER... some painful technical points...
1) My dive and catch for snatch and clean is driven by folding my hips back, meaning I catch the bar with my torso at a big angle, rather than as close to vertical as possible.
The problem (aside from pattern) is that my back is strong enough to take this loading so just shrug it off.
2) Connection between the hips and bar isn't clear enough, meaning a lot of speed is lost at my hips as it doesn't transfer to the bar. Another pattern thing: I've been training to "hit" the bar at the scoop/second pull.
What is now required is to hold the bar against my legs and hips with my lats. And that is hard.
I have drills to correct both these quirks and I can already feel the movement difference (which is good). Nothing like a paused snatch at 50kg for 10s to shuffle around and find the correct end position. I almost blacked out afterwards.
It was funny getting into the correct position for the snatch as it felt completely different but so much more comfortable and 'right' that powering up and out was almost funny.
I have a technical catch-up with one of the Olympic lifting coaches from Core Cambrdige tomorrow night which will be used to help refine my training programme from here on in, but I'm looking forward to an absolute beasting over the coming weeks.
Fasting
This has trimmed my weight consistently by around 1.2kg over the past 10 days. I can see my second row of abz, which I haven't noticed for a long time. Energy levels when I don't go carb-mad the night before get tanked after around 5 minutes of heavy work, meaning force = easy, but power =
.
Overall, I'm leaning out as expected, and a new emphasis on technical work will mean I can blast through the PB barrier when the food reverts to normal week after next.
That meant huge amounts of fatigue and not much weight shifted.
HOWEVER... some painful technical points...
1) My dive and catch for snatch and clean is driven by folding my hips back, meaning I catch the bar with my torso at a big angle, rather than as close to vertical as possible.
The problem (aside from pattern) is that my back is strong enough to take this loading so just shrug it off.
2) Connection between the hips and bar isn't clear enough, meaning a lot of speed is lost at my hips as it doesn't transfer to the bar. Another pattern thing: I've been training to "hit" the bar at the scoop/second pull.
What is now required is to hold the bar against my legs and hips with my lats. And that is hard.
I have drills to correct both these quirks and I can already feel the movement difference (which is good). Nothing like a paused snatch at 50kg for 10s to shuffle around and find the correct end position. I almost blacked out afterwards.
It was funny getting into the correct position for the snatch as it felt completely different but so much more comfortable and 'right' that powering up and out was almost funny.
I have a technical catch-up with one of the Olympic lifting coaches from Core Cambrdige tomorrow night which will be used to help refine my training programme from here on in, but I'm looking forward to an absolute beasting over the coming weeks.
Fasting
This has trimmed my weight consistently by around 1.2kg over the past 10 days. I can see my second row of abz, which I haven't noticed for a long time. Energy levels when I don't go carb-mad the night before get tanked after around 5 minutes of heavy work, meaning force = easy, but power =
.Overall, I'm leaning out as expected, and a new emphasis on technical work will mean I can blast through the PB barrier when the food reverts to normal week after next.
You can see it in the videos I've posted: look at the angle of my torso.
The drills are basically:
1) Snatch balance.
2) Snatch balance with load;
3) Hip extension and "jump down" via forcing the knees apart.
It's funny, actually, because the above wind me up in the most outrageous ATG position possible: knees out wide, back vertical and bum around two inches off the ground.
Pulling up from that after 10 seconds positioning almost caused my quads and adductors to detach. The load was just completely different, however, with comparatively little back loading.
Fricking awesome.
Very stiff this morning, despite not shifting much last night.
Session was with one of the weightlifting coaches from an "elite sportscoaching and rehabilitation" facility in Cambridge, and well... I was in for an ****-kicking.
The coach asked for a snatch from the floor and was very polite about what he saw, finishing with "let's take you back to basics..."
Apparently, my technique is fine for the beginner with the core rudiments of what is required (lots of power, great hip drive) but not suited to progressing my lifting to what I want to lift.
So a technical reconstruction was required. What then followed was 1h15m of snatch coaching and then 45m of clean work.
My technique was good enough (and I was strong enough) for him to start loading the bar up to the point I snatched 55kg and cleaned 90kg which - after a combination of 2hrs training and on a serious carb depletion) was funny. He was clearly just trying to see what he could make me doeek and having fun in the process.
He also diagnosed some internal shoulder rotation limitations and has given me some homework to do with those. I take mobility issues as a personal insult from my body, so will be hammering these like nobody's business!
For me, it was bizarre, as I'm using my strength in what are only slightly different techniques, but they feel VERY different. I'll probably have to update my "How To..." thread on the basis of:
- Stage 1 (hip drive);
- Stage 2 (l337ness).
I got home late last night, crammed in as much food as I could find and collapsed asleep. This morning, my legs are aching like nobody's business, and I have some bench/overhead work to do today!
Big PBs incoming? Not for a while... However, if any of your are interested in getting some dedicated coaching and there is a good facility local to you, I would definitely recommend it.
Session was with one of the weightlifting coaches from an "elite sportscoaching and rehabilitation" facility in Cambridge, and well... I was in for an ****-kicking.
The coach asked for a snatch from the floor and was very polite about what he saw, finishing with "let's take you back to basics..."
Apparently, my technique is fine for the beginner with the core rudiments of what is required (lots of power, great hip drive) but not suited to progressing my lifting to what I want to lift.
So a technical reconstruction was required. What then followed was 1h15m of snatch coaching and then 45m of clean work.
My technique was good enough (and I was strong enough) for him to start loading the bar up to the point I snatched 55kg and cleaned 90kg which - after a combination of 2hrs training and on a serious carb depletion) was funny. He was clearly just trying to see what he could make me do
eek and having fun in the process.He also diagnosed some internal shoulder rotation limitations and has given me some homework to do with those. I take mobility issues as a personal insult from my body, so will be hammering these like nobody's business!
For me, it was bizarre, as I'm using my strength in what are only slightly different techniques, but they feel VERY different. I'll probably have to update my "How To..." thread on the basis of:
- Stage 1 (hip drive);
- Stage 2 (l337ness).
I got home late last night, crammed in as much food as I could find and collapsed asleep. This morning, my legs are aching like nobody's business, and I have some bench/overhead work to do today!
Big PBs incoming? Not for a while...
However, if any of your are interested in getting some dedicated coaching and there is a good facility local to you, I would definitely recommend it.Haha this!I take mobility issues as a personal insult from my body, so will be hammering these like nobody's business!
Jelly of your coaching too
Heh - it was just funny because I do a huge amount of external rotation work for snatches and it took him around 15 seconds to spot the internal rotation issue when it came to my clean and front rack.
Now I'm going to beast my shoulders like my pain recepters have stopped responding...
Changing aruond of my programme to take advantage/account of the off-site training tomorrow and the coaching session last Thursday...
Overhead day
Overhead squats 5*5 (paused for 3 seconds)
BAR-40-50-60-70
The pause at the bottom was to make sure my hips and knees were in the right place, but it worked out as a useful workout, nonetheless.
Push press from back 4*3
80-90-90-90
Tring to get my new hip drive pattern engaged to really launch these. Not sure if it worked, but it felt different and the bar still well up...
Over head press 4*5
55-50-50-50
Clearly my shoulders need work as 55 felt heavy, and I couldn't shift it after that. Volume is always the answer.
Due to the use of a temporary pass my session had to be cut short. No push-jerking this time, but need to work my hip drive pattern a bit more until I am confident of hauling weight over my head.
Overhead day
Overhead squats 5*5 (paused for 3 seconds)
BAR-40-50-60-70
The pause at the bottom was to make sure my hips and knees were in the right place, but it worked out as a useful workout, nonetheless.
Push press from back 4*3
80-90-90-90
Tring to get my new hip drive pattern engaged to really launch these. Not sure if it worked, but it felt different and the bar still well up...
Over head press 4*5
55-50-50-50
Clearly my shoulders need work as 55 felt heavy, and I couldn't shift it after that.
Volume is always the answer. Due to the use of a temporary pass my session had to be cut short. No push-jerking this time, but need to work my hip drive pattern a bit more until I am confident of hauling weight over my head.
Tuesday, which means Stags and Does for floor and drop work!
Warm-up
Overhead squats w/bar...
Snatch balance w/bar.
HANG SNATCH sets of 3
40-60-70-80(f1f)-80(2f)-85(fff)s-80*3(fff)
Might not seem like a lot, but crikey that was tiring. Although most were below-knee hang snatches, around half were slow from the floor.
New technique is slowly bedding in, but the lifts are still a bit toes-y, meaning I have to concentrate hard on driving from heels, and only heels.
This also meant that my previous PB of 80kg for a single went BANG! for a double (almost triple, too!) - I reckon I could probably pull 90kg overhead if I came in warm and fresh, but that will have to weight until I get back from a work trip next week.
FULL CLEAN sets of 3
80-80-90-90-90(1f1)
First two sets were clean and jerk, but shoulders and tris are still not great from yesterday.
Was shattered from the snatch work, so focussed on technique for the cleans. Will probably drop the weight a fair bit more for a few weeks to bring technique on, as - perversely - 90kg is too light for anything other than a powerclean. In that sense, the new technique is working wonders, but have to concentrate on HEELS and ELBOWS (coming through for the catch).
BICEP CURLZ sets of 8, minute's rest.
16-16-16
Just because.
Overall, a great-feeling session. Having watched the video above back, what felt like a great snatch was actually still too mid->toe rather than heel, and the catch - whilst not bad - could have been more vertical.
Still, very happy with the new shape, and will see how we do.
Warm-up
Overhead squats w/bar...
Snatch balance w/bar.
HANG SNATCH sets of 3
40-60-70-80(f1f)-80(2f)-85(fff)s-80*3(fff)
Might not seem like a lot, but crikey that was tiring. Although most were below-knee hang snatches, around half were slow from the floor.
New technique is slowly bedding in, but the lifts are still a bit toes-y, meaning I have to concentrate hard on driving from heels, and only heels.
This also meant that my previous PB of 80kg for a single went BANG! for a double (almost triple, too!) - I reckon I could probably pull 90kg overhead if I came in warm and fresh, but that will have to weight until I get back from a work trip next week.
FULL CLEAN sets of 3
80-80-90-90-90(1f1)
First two sets were clean and jerk, but shoulders and tris are still not great from yesterday.
Was shattered from the snatch work, so focussed on technique for the cleans. Will probably drop the weight a fair bit more for a few weeks to bring technique on, as - perversely - 90kg is too light for anything other than a powerclean. In that sense, the new technique is working wonders, but have to concentrate on HEELS and ELBOWS (coming through for the catch).
BICEP CURLZ sets of 8, minute's rest.
16-16-16
Just because.
Overall, a great-feeling session. Having watched the video above back, what felt like a great snatch was actually still too mid->toe rather than heel, and the catch - whilst not bad - could have been more vertical.
Still, very happy with the new shape, and will see how we do.
Programme is still in flux at the moment because of my floor sessions, so today is Beach Weights Wednesday. After Biceps Tuesday.
DBSS 3*8 (weights are for each hand)
[BW-12]WU-22.5-25-27.5
Had to take a ten second breather with the last two on the last set because that felt HAAAAAAAAAARD.
Bench 4*5
WU[BAR]-85-85-85-[85*2+70*4)
Supersetted with
TRX 'ring' push-ups 3*8
BW-Blue Band Resisted*7-Red Band Resisted*7
Would normally floor/pin press, but couldn't be bothered to reset the pins (somebody was in the way). The band resisted ones were a step too far. Couldn't get out an eight rep for either set. Also shredded my arms with the TRX clips.
Pecs were not responding after this.
Wide grip chins 5*5 @ BW
Supersetted with
Wide grip lat pull-downs @ setting 16 of 20 (whatever that means...
Lats dead. So now would be a good time for:
Narrow grip pull-downs 5*5
Supersetted with
BORS 5*5
80-80-80-80-80
Shouldering on the last rep of the last two sets. It's difficult to lift the bar when one's lats aren't actually doing anything...
I can't actually feel any of the muscles on my back at the moment, Tomorrow is going to be DOMS hell in both my chest and back. It's going to be awesome.
DBSS 3*8 (weights are for each hand)
[BW-12]WU-22.5-25-27.5
Had to take a ten second breather with the last two on the last set because that felt HAAAAAAAAAARD.
Bench 4*5
WU[BAR]-85-85-85-[85*2+70*4)
Supersetted with
TRX 'ring' push-ups 3*8
BW-Blue Band Resisted*7-Red Band Resisted*7
Would normally floor/pin press, but couldn't be bothered to reset the pins (somebody was in the way). The band resisted ones were a step too far.
Couldn't get out an eight rep for either set. Also shredded my arms with the TRX clips. Pecs were not responding after this.
Wide grip chins 5*5 @ BW
Supersetted with
Wide grip lat pull-downs @ setting 16 of 20 (whatever that means...
Lats dead. So now would be a good time for:
Narrow grip pull-downs 5*5
Supersetted with
BORS 5*5
80-80-80-80-80
Shouldering on the last rep of the last two sets. It's difficult to lift the bar when one's lats aren't actually doing anything...
I can't actually feel any of the muscles on my back at the moment, Tomorrow is going to be DOMS hell in both my chest and back. It's going to be awesome.