Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Good Mornings Week 4

GM w/ 50kg x 7
[GM w/ 74kg x 5 x 4
3 minutes rest]

[DB MP w/ 22kg x 2 x 3
3 minute rest]

Face Pulls w/ Red Band x 15 x 3

Sunday, January 28, 2007

DB Military Press Test

DB Press Test:

20kg x 3 (easy)
26kg x 1 (fail)
22kg x 2L+3R ==>2RM

NOTES:
-Why did I suddenly start doing dumbbell military presses ? Well, mainly because KB MP's are
easier, and I figured that if I ever am going to conquer the 32kg KB, I better start making things
a bit harder.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Good Mornings & Muscle Ups Day 3

Good Mornings w/ 50kg x 7

[Good Mornings w/ 74kg x 3 x 8
1 minute rest]
3 minutes rest
Back Squat w/ 90kg x 1
3 minutes rest
Back Squat w/ 100kg x 1 (PR)
3 minutes rest
Back Squat w/ 104kg x 1 (PR)

15 minute PR Zone:
[Muscle Up w/ 10kg x 18 total reps]

NOTES:
-Good mornings felt good, so decided to see how they were
influencing my back squat. Got a nice PR. Next time I'll hope to
get a 110kg back squat.
-All singles were started in the bottom position (dead start) and followed by
1 complete up and down squat to just below parallel.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Olympic Lifting Day 3

Power Snatch w/ 30kg x 3 + 3 Drop Snatches
Power Snatch w/ 50kg x 1,1
3 minutes rest
[Power Snatch w/ 58kg x 1 x 15
1 minute rest]

Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 58kg x 1,1
[Power Clean w/ 70kg x 1 x 11
1 minute rest]

[Good Mornings w/ 74kg x 4 x 5
2 minutes rest]

NOTES:
-Power snatches went well, I seem to find my groove after the 7th set. Probably due to the fact that muscular strength and power improve during subsequent sets. Next week is back off week.
-I really concentrated on completing the pull and 'getting as tall as possible' with the power cleans. It helped me get a good finish and consequently have the weight land in the 'rack' position nicely.
-Missed the 12th jerk in the power cleans. It's not enough to get the clean, one must remain focused until the jerk is completed successfully. Will keep that focus next time.
-For more information and technique tips, check out Tommy Kono's book, It is - hands down - THE BEST book on olympic lifting you will every buy. You will not regret it. You can get his book 'Weightlifting, Olympic style' here.
-Which brings me to my next point: Next time I'll position some tires in front of the bar to be able to guide the loaded bar down there, as I don't want to cause any unnecessary stress to my body when trying to absorb the shock, IF a jerk is missed.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Good Mornings Week 3

Good Morning w/ 50kg x 5

[Good Morning w/ 74kg x 5 x 3
3 minutes rest]

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Good Mornings & Muscle Ups/Bottom Ups Day 2

Good Morning w/ 50kg x 8
2 minutes rest
Good Morning w/ 70kg x 6 (PR)
3 minutes rest
Good Mornings w/ 74kg x 6 (PR)

[Good Mornings w/ 68kg x 3 x 5
1 minute rest]

15 minute PR Zone:
[Muscle Up w/ 5kg x 22
Bottom Up Clean w/ 24kg x 22]

NOTES:
-Good Mornings went well and decided to stop at 74kg to keep my technique smooth.
-Will probably be upping the weight with the muscle-ups next time and I think I will be able to get the same amount of reps I got today (+/- 20).
-Aside from a recent article by Mark Rippetoe, discussing the estimated minimum for starting crossfit, I discovered another very interesting piece on crossfit and the importance of a good strength base:
"Coach Glassman discussed this with me recently, in a conversation about increasing CrossFit’s strength base. We have talked many times about the fact that people who come to CrossFit from a strength-training background tend to perform better in the key aspects of the program."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Olympic Lifting Day 2

Power Snatch w/ 30kg x 1 + 3 Drop Snatches
Power Snatch w/ 30kg x 2

[Power Snatch w/ 56kg x 1 x 15
1 minute rest]

Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 56kg x 1,1
[Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 68kg x 1 x 15
1 minute rest]

[Good Morning w/ 68kg x 4 x 6
2 minute rest]

NOTES:
-I'm happy with the progress I'm making and am excited to anticipate the 60kg Power Snatch and eventually in the near future, a 70kg power snatch (followed by 15 overhead squats with that weight, of course).
-The power variations are fun, but I have to keep my 'full' versions fresh. Once I reach my 70kg power snatch, I will start working on a >50kg drop snatch to work on my balance in the bottom position.
As for the full clean, I am seriously considering the purchase of some genuine olympic lifting shoes. I agree the are quite pricy, BUT they will:
a) significantly improve my form in the lifts (the added heel makes a big difference in your front squat, for sure)
b) increase my flexibility with regular shoes, as mentioned here.
-Eric Cressey's recent article 'What I learned in 2006'
included some very interesting bits of information. I especially liked lesson #5 and #9. Including those exercises in a weightlifting regime could really balance things out as we tend to work too much in the frontal plane, hardly ever moving sideways. This, however, IS the case in everyday athletic endeavors where any kind of running/quick change in direction is involved. One notable exercise exception might be kettlebell swings as seen explained by Mark Reifkind here and here. In summary, no training program is complete without any multi-planar & single leg movements.
For further reading please go to:
Top Ten Training Tips for Athletic Conditioning Success by Alwyn Cosgrove

-I just upped my amino acid intake and added some creatine to increase power production. These two supplements seem to work great together. Here's Christian Thibaudeau's take on things: "My super secret is to use a combo of creatine, BCAA, and glutamine five times per day. At each serving you ingest 5g of each. The BCAA powder should be at least 50% leucine as this is the most anabolic of the three BCAAs. Glutamine has gotten a bad rep, but when used as part of this stack it's effective. I've had clients gain up to eight pounds in two weeks while losing fat by adding this simple strategy."
-Please understand that my goal is not necessarily weight gain (although in the form of muscle it's a nice side effect), but power production and speedy recovery, focusing on quality supplementation.
-For more info on creatine and (BC)AA's go here:
'Dangerous Creatine' by David Barr
'The Creatine Controversy' by David Barr
'Creatine Combinations' by John Berardi
BCAA info

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Good Mornings Week 2

GM w/ 50kg x 7
[GM w/ 68kg x 5 x 4
3 minute rest]

15 minute PR Zone:
[2x24kg KB Military Press x 20 total reps]

NOTES:
-The Good Mornings were pretty hard at first, but after a couple of sets I got
into the groove.
-In my quest to conquer the 32kg KB x 5 MP mark, I am adding the military
press with 2 kettlebells, which is considerably harder than the 1 KB press.
One has to really focus to press straight up, no lean allowed. Once I get 40 total
reps I'll see where I stand with the 32kg.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Good Mornings & Muscle Ups/Bottom Ups: Day 1

Good Mornings w/ 50kg x 7
[Good Mornings w/ 68kg x 3 x 8
1 minute rest]

15 Minute PR Zone:
[Muscle Ups w/ 5kg x 19 reps
Bottom Up clean w/ 24kg x 22 reps (L&R)]

NOTES:
-The good morning variation I use is the 'bent over with bent legs' version as explained in http://www.westside-barbell.com/articles.htm ==> April 02: Back and Ab Training. The good mornings felt great and I was ending the movement explosively , locking out with glutes as in in a squat/deadlift.
-I was planning on doing the muscle ups, but didn't want to spend my time recovering between sets doing nothing. So I supersetted muscle ups with bottom up cleans w/ 24kg KB to keep working my grip. The bottoms up clean were mostly attempts as I haven't mastered it with both hands yet. Will up the weight used for muscle ups when I will be able to double the amount of reps I did today (19x2=38reps).
-The muscle ups were mainly done as singles and doubles, while the bottom up clean were doubles (L&R).

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Olympic Lifting Day I

Power Snatch w/ 30kg x 2 + 2 Drop Snatches
Power Snatch w/ 50kg x 1,1
[Power Snatch w/ 54kg x 1 x 15
1 minute rest]

Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 54kg x 1,1

[Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 68kg x 1 x 10
1 minute rest]

[GM w/ 68kg x 4 x 5
2 minutes rest]

NOTES:
-I finally managed to increase my bests in the power snatches and PC&PJ.
The whole workout was good, but left my nervous system pretty tired. If time would have been plentiful, I would have taken a small power nap, just to take the edge off.
-Although I was tired, I did notice the powerful effect (explosiveness) the combination of olympic lifting and good mornings have together. Good stuff.
-I can imagine these kind of workout aren't the athlete's in-season favorites, but I think they have their place in the off season.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Back on Track: Good Mornings

After browsing through the exercise index at the elite fts site, I noticed this excerpt about Good Mornings:

"To illustrate the power of good mornings, I'll use my wife as an example.[...]

The first good morning session was done with a broomstick and then progressed to good mornings while standing on a band with the other end of the band around her upper traps. Her torso was the weakness and these movements were the solution.

So how did it work? Eleven months later, she squatted 365, bench pressed 240, and deadlifted 315... in the 123 weight class.

The key is to begin and train at the level you're at. If you're too weak to do a good morning, then use a broomstick until you can use a curl bar. Then move to a barbell and so on. Her best good morning before the meet was 225 for three reps."


So I decided to try some good mornings in the recommended rep range:

30kg x 5
50kg x 5
70kg x 5 (bad form, weight a bit too heavy)
60kg x 6
68kg x 5 ==> will be using this weight and go from there.

OBSERVATIONS:
-I felt like jumping a hole in the sky after that last set of 5. My hamstrings and lower back felt full and I can really see the carry over to the back squat, as lowering the bar - in a squatting motion - afterwards feels easy compared to the good mornings themselves.
-Will be using 68kg for now and progress from there. If I can make 225lbs/100kg for 3 reps the 365lbs squat should be well within reach.
-I decided to add good mornings in 3 x a week and keep my regular Olympic Lifting day on Wednesday.

Olympic Wednesday

Power Snatch w/ 30kg x 1 x 3 + 3 Drop Snatches
Power Snatch w/ 50kg x 1,1,1
3 minute rest
[Power Snatch w/ 54kg x 1 x 5
1 minute rest]

Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 54kg x 1,1
Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 60kg x 1

[Power Clean + Power Jerk w/ 68kg x 1 x 5
1 minute rest]


NOTES:
-This was meant to be my usual Wednesday Olympic Lifting template, but I didn't have a lot of energy left to top my previous gains. Still looking for that moment of clarity to capture my focus and blast those plateaus.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Squat + Bent Over Row

Squat w/ 70kg x 6
Squat w/ 90kg x 4
Bent Over Row w/ 60kg x 5
2x24kg Press x 2
Bent Over Row w/ 60kg x 4
Wheel Rollout 2x5


NOTES:
-This was meant to be a HIT-style workout, but I overestimated the weight selection. Was pretty tired as I did all this after my usual bike ride. The last couple of days were pretty tiring too. Maintaining my gains until I recover.