My road to 206kg

[Mr_Rogers]

The pain is at the base of the biceps, probably the distal biceps tendon. After I start lifting a dull ache pretty much spreads to the whole biceps and gets progressively worse the longer I workout if I'm using my arms a lot. I found a few threads on here that suggested barbell biceps curls so I may give those a shot. I was doing some reading yesterday too and it made a case for limiting overhead work so I'll probably cut out that as well for a week or two and see how it responds.

I'll take your advice on the lacrosse ball and go to town tonight after lifting. That seems to have worked with other nagging muscle issues, hopefully it works for this.

[Mr_Rogers]

Thursday, July 26 - Some gym in Sudbury

Squats:
45lbx x 5 x 2
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
265 x 5 x 3

Curls:
45lbs x 20 x 2

Headed from Sudbury down to Toronto Friday, July 27th for the first night of the seminar. The seminar was a blast. Met lots of great people and learned quite a bit, what else could I have asked for?

Worked up to:
Squats - 245 x 5
Deadlift - 275 x 5
Press - 95lbs x 2 (Rip said it was masturbation and to up the weight), 105 x 5 (still too light according to Rip), 125 x 4
Power Clean - 155lbs (I think) x 3
Bench Press - 175 x 5

It was refreshing to hear that for the most part my form was pretty good for having learned them by myself. A few minor tweaks here and there were all they needed. I was a little disappointed that my bicep acted up on Squats, Press and Power Cleans but a few tips from some of the SS coaches helped. The best part of the whole weekend was the boost in confidence I have in my lifts, I have no doubt that will translate well to progression.

The drive home wasn't as bad as the drive there, but was I ever stiff from being in a car for close to 40 hours and 3,500+ kms. Took the rest of the week off.

[Mr_Rogers]

Saturday, August 4, 2012 @ Superior Crossfit

Jerk from rack:
20kg x 3
30 x 3
40 x 3
50 x 3, 55 x 2, 60 x 1
55 x 3, 60 x 2, 65 x 1
60 x 3, 65 x 2, 70 x 1

I played it safe by only moving up 5kgs because of my left bicep which, knock on wood, seems to be better. I've only jerked a handful of times and for the most part my form was pretty good. I need to remember keep my upper back tight when I initiate the dip and drive. I enjoyed the 3,2,1's.


HB Squats:
20kg x 5
40 x 3
60 x 3 ?
80 x 5 x 2
85 x 5 x 1
90 x 5 x 2
60 x 20 x 1

Coached wanted to see how our squats were and he wants me to do high bar. My form was horrific, but he straightened me out pretty quickly. This was supposed to be 5 x 5, but he thought the weight was a little too light so he kept bumping it up. The set of 20 was brutal, it felt like I was going to vomit all the way home.

[Mr_Rogers]

Coach emailed us a plan:

Contests:
1) Thunder Bay Open: Sept 8/12
2) Manitoba Open: Nov 17/12

I know the Manitoba one is legit, but I think the TBay one is just a local meet at Superior Crossfit. I have no idea if it's a mock event or a real one, not too concerned either way.

Cycle 1 - Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Contest 1
Cycle 2
Cycle 3
Contest 2

Cycle 1

Day 1:
Power clean from floor 3 x 3
Snatch pulls from blocks 5 x 5
Snatch pulls from floor 5 x 5
Front squat 3 x 5

Day 2:
Jerk off rack 3,2,1 x 3
Back squat 5 x 5, 1 x 20
Add in strength movements (press, bench press, etc)

Day 3:
Power snatch from floor 3 x 3
Clean pulls from blocks 5 x 5
Clean pulls from floor 5 x 5
SLDL 3 x 10
- I might throw in squats again because I like squats (either that or day 4)

Day 4:
Jerk of rack 5 x 3
Full snatch technique day
Full clean and jerk technique day


Coach will update me with what weights I should use, but he has us starting light for week 1 and increasing week 2 and again in week 3. Week 4 is a "recovery" week or something like that with week's five being heavy and week six being competition. I would have preferred something with a little more LP, but it is what it is. He's got the plan so I won't think about it and just lift.

[jkw]

How is the bicep?

[Mr_Rogers]

I'm cautiously optimistic that it's okay. I jerked from the rack on Saturday and it felt fine and didn't bother me at all the rest of the long weekend.

[Mr_Rogers]

Power cleans:
20kg x 3 from hang
30 x 3 from hang
40 x 3
50 x 3 x 3


Snatch pull from hang (need to build blocks):
40kg x 5
50 x 5
60 x 5 x 5


Snatch pull from floor:
60kg x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
75 x 5 x 4


Front squat:
20kg x 5 x 2
40 x 5
60 x 5
85 x 3 it's been too long, too heavy for 5
80 x 5 x 2 belted

I don't know if I was supposed to do 3 sets of 5 reps or 5 sets of 3 reps, but the format in the program made it seem like 3 sets of 5. Brutal.

I was completely gassed by the time I started snatch pulls from the floor. Lifting on the minute is brutally tough, but at least my conditioning will improve. I think I pushed it to 1.5-2 minutes for my work sets from the floor and then 3 minutes on front squats. I wanted to do some press work, but it took me a good half hour of cleaning before I even started lifting so I opted for food instead. I have to review what weights to use with coach this weekend as he's been busy with work and hasn't had a chance to review our numbers yet...my traps are still freaking sore.

Weighed myself post-workout and tipped the scales at 87kgs (191+lbs).

[Mr_Rogers]

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Jerk from rack:
20kg x 3
30 x 3
45 x 3
55 x 3, 60 x 2, 65 x 1
60 x 3, 65 x 2, 70 x 1
65 x 3, 70 x 2, 75 x 0 forward on the dip didn't translate well

I have to jerk between the rafters if I'm going to jerk at home. It's not so bad when I'm in the split, but when I stand up if I'm not lined up properly I hit the ceiling. I'm also looking into building some jerk blocks so I can do jerks from those and also use them as pull blocks.


HB Squat:
20kg x 5 x 3
40 x 5
60 x 5
80 x 5
95 x 5 x 5



High-bar is going to take some getting used to, but I was starting to get it by the fifth set haha Big thanks to Hunter who gave me some pointers.


Bench press:
45lbs x 5 x 2
115 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 2
175 x 5 x 3

Coach kind of has this day as Jerk, Squat, extra strength work. I'm going to bench on my jerk day because I don't see overhead press going well and I'll OHP on days I pull.

[Mr_Rogers]

Just a reminder to try leading with the hips on high-bar squat, or at least unlock them first.

I need to log Saturday's and Sunday's workouts, but I'm insanely busy at work and spent my lunch hour at the grocery store.

I did find out that my coach has medalled (sp?) at our National level as an athlete and his coach finished 5th in the 1984 Olympics. Starting to realize coach may very well know his stuff lol

[Mr_Rogers]

Power Snatch:
20kg x 3
30 x 3
35 x 3
40 x 3 x 3


OHP:
45lbs x 5 x 2
60 x 5
75 x 3
90 x 2
105 x 5 x 3

Going to do OHP twice a week going up in 1lb increments seen as I stalled out at 2.5lb increments before the seminar. I want to add in partials but I need to modify my rack to do so and I just haven't had the chance yet.


Clean pulls from hang:
50kg x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5


Clean pulls from floor:
70kg x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5 x 5


SLDL:
40 x 10
50 x 10
60 x 10

I was supposed to do 3 sets at 60kg but I was spent. I had a difficult time holding on to the bar using a double overhand grip at this point and actually had to hook grip more than a few reps. My hands were sore and my lower back and hamstrings were just dead. I didn't take long enough breaks during the pulls. When I was doing them I seriously thought there was something wrong with my coach, I didn't know how doing them on 1 minute breaks would work and it stretched to 1:30-2:00 towards the end. I found out on Sunday that I was going to low on pulls from the hang (I'm going to stack plates for the time being) and I should have taken longer breaks between sets...oh well, live and learn. Coach got quite the laugh out of it.