No time to read the forum; too busy fleecing the OLDS

This is my monthly post to acknowledge that I'm following but have nothing intelligent to add

Second this. Big fan of a quick 70% breath at the top and getting back down into the squat. Gets you out from under that weight faster.

Welcome to the best log in Strength and Fatness!





re jerk transition, never tried faster. I can hang out in the front rack no problem, so I think the amount of energy wasted is negligible, but I'll give a faster transition a try and see how it compares.

Re klokov, I'm actually a lefty so I dunno what's going on there.




ffs Monte, you could say "nice prs. Way to go!" Or on days when I have setbacks, you can say "you'll get em next time tiger. Hold your head up high, you've made terrific progress!"




My pacing could probably be better. I'll try to be consistent pacing wise next time and see if it makes a difference.

I'll take that into account for March!

Haha. Monte gon monte.

POW: I love the complex stuff you do. I don't really know much about oly lifting and am really only just starting to dip my feet into it but that stuff seems pretty **in badass. I guess complexes are part of standard training??? I don't recall reading about frederick bird doing them, though.

I will let Fredricio speak for himself, but afaik he follows a bit more of a Bulgarian style programming where he's finding his daily maxes usually. That type of programming doesn't really lend itself well to doing complexes.

If your brand new to oly, I don't really think complexes are the way to go either. I think practicing technique with lighter weights for singles until your form gets solidish is the way to go imo.

For sure. I'm just starting to learn the form for some of the lifts so that's key now.

POW, where you based out of? Do you mostly Oly or mix in Crossfit as well?

I'm in Miami. I think I kind of veered away from crossfit around this time last year and just focused on getting a little stronger. I will do metcons every now and again, but I think my programming is pretty Oly-centric atm. I've been doing Spencer Arnold's programming probably since around October with fairly decent progress.

2/15/14

They had an oly class at my gym today. My wife wanted to go. Saturday is normally my rest day, but since I'm going to be busy tomorrow, I went with her. Programming was kind of all over the place, but I just decided to do it anyway.

Front Squat

150x8
170x6
2x3x190
225x1

HBBS

190x10
2x6x225
250x3

250 felt fairly heavy.

Clean + Push Press

Establish 2RM clean + PP

135x2
155x2
175x2
185x2
195x1 (failed 2nd push press)
195x1 (failed 2nd push press)

C&J Complex

3 hang cleans + 1 jerk @ 80-90% of above

Did this complex at:

155, 175, 185, 195. All very easy.

Jerk Balance

2x3x95
115x3

Conditioning

3x20x70# KBS (Russian)

Forearms were on fire after the last set and this really got my heart pumping. I need to work swings back into my workouts. They're awesome.

The programming seemed pretty funky, so I asked the coach where he got it from. He basically said he made it up and proceeded to explain how the class is geared for beginners. If I go back next time with my wife, I'll be doing my own programming. Nice guy, but I don't think his class is for me. On another note, there's a gym that just popped up near me that is run by a guy who apparently was a Cuban nationals champ a time or two. I need to reach out to him and see what a real Oly coach can do to help me out with my lifts.

It's good you're learning the OHS now. The snatch is probably the most difficult lift to learn and requires a great deal of mobility, so incorporating the OHS into your workouts now is going to be a pretty good primer when you start flinging 300 pounds over your head and catching it in a full squat.

What do you think of using OHS as a regular part of your workout if you aren't used to doing it? I'm making progress but don't know if the time would be better spent just snatching. Also, thoughts on knee sleeves? I'm not even sure what they're far, except to keep your knees from exploding all over the weights.

Knee sleeves are merely about retaining some heat around the knee joint and creating some compression. They provide a minor injury preventative effect, but are not magic performance increasers.

I think so too. It's super hard and I'm getting better at it quickly. Only actually done it three times now and the most recent attempt was worlds better. Vastly increased shoulder mobility already and up to a few reps at 95 lbs before form breaks down. I think if I do them twice a week I'll be able to make quick gains in them.

So far I certainly like them. Probably more useful than a lot of other supplementary exercises. Shoulders have always been my weak point fwiw

I think the ohs is a good progression for beginners. I don't know if any oly lifters have it as part of their mainstay programming. It's part of my programming usually as part of a complex, so something like 1 snatch + 3 ohs or something like that. But if you're still getting used to it, I would definitely do it as an accessory exercise once a week and as part of a regular pre snatch warm up with the bar/pvc.

My GF is still new to snatching but we went through OHS quick and moved towards snatch balance(drops) in the progression and she has improved tremendously in a short amount of time. Even if its the empty bar just a few reps 2-4x a week helps a ton.

BTM add in some sotts press is also great for shoulder stability

Definitely agree that after someone is comfortable with the ohs, heaving snatch balances and drop snatches are the next step and really help with speed under the bar.

Sotts presses are excellent too.

2/17/14

Klokov Press

45x10
95x5
100x5
100x3

Was supposed to do 4x5 @ 40-50% of snatch. After the second set at 100, I decided to just move on.

Hang Snatch (below knees)

Find max double

95x3
115x2
135x2
145x2
155x2
165x2
175x2 (second was a press out--see vid below)
180xf
180x1+1fail behind
180x2 (**** yeh!)
185x1
185x1
185x1
185xf

Ok, I can't really complain about being able to do a double from the hang with what a weight I might have been able to hit 1/10 attempts in June of last year. Some serious progress is being made on this lift. 225 by the end of the year hopefully.



Snatch Pull from 3' Deficit

185x4
195x4
2x3x205
2x3x215

Easy enough. I should've videoed to make sure my back remained neutral, but I'm fairly certain is was. I'm pretty flexible, which is why I don't mind pulling from a deficit.

HBBS

warmups
170x3
190x3
6x3x205

Tried to do these AFAP. They felt somewhat heavy for 70%, but whatever. I was going to do GSLP, but I thought a mini-deload was in order. Maybe I'll get back to attempting 3x5x250 later in the week or on Sunday.

Pendlay Rows

5x5x215

Not too bad

Conditioning

3x20x80# KBS (Russian)

Do you have any idea why neck/head position is so different in oly lifting than how it's supposed to be in powerlifting? Like the whole packing the neck / tucking the chin thing to prevent injuries.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone do this in oly lifting. Even more, hyperextension seems to be the standard.

What's up with that?

I have no idea why, but it's an interesting distinction. One thing I would say is that a maximal effort deadlift is very very different than a dynamic pull like a snatch or clean. But yeh, I dunno.

2/18/14

BTN Push Press + OHS

95 x 3 + 3
135 x 3 + 3
145 x 3 + 3
155 x 3 + 3
170 x 1 + 2 (failed 3rd)
170 x 1 + 1 (failed 2nd)

CGOHS are so so very difficult.



C&J Complex

Hip Clean + Hang CLean + Push Jerk

135 x 2 + 2 + 2
145 x 2 + 2 + 2
155 x 1 + 2 + 1
170 x 1 + 1 + 1
185 + 1 + 1 + 1 (2 sets)
190 X 1 + 1 +1



Hang cleans:
225xf
225x1 (PR)
225xf

Clean Pulls

2x4x245
2x4x265

Bench Press

135x5
155x5
175x5
2x5x185

Pretty easy considering I bench almost exactly never. Perhaps I should have gone a little heavier. My bench has gone up considerably I think since the last time I benched and I don't even bench. I taped the two top sets. Any form issues of which I should be aware?





Core

3 x 20 second planks +45#

Is this the first time we've seen you bench?

First bench set was all over the place, wobbling left and right. Keep it tight and smooth and straight. Second set looked much better, but you show clear dominance on one side.

Yes first time ever!! I think I have some asymmetry issues I need to work out. It's evident in basically all pressing movements.

Surprised you didn't mention this while you were spotting him.

LOL

Wow lol. Expert commenting bad flappy bird