Snatch, C&J, Burp 6-29-10

Snatch - 65x2x2, 85x2, 95x2, 115x2, 135x1, 145x1, 155x1x1, 165x1, 175x2m, 177.5m, 155x1, 165x1
Clean & Jerk - 155x1, 175x1, 195x1, 215x1, 225x1, 245x2m, 225x3m arggg

50 Burpees - 3:12

Didn't want to push it too hard today with the meet 4 days away. Still got in a good amount of work. Snatches felt decent. Jerks felt good. Cleans were awful. That weird. I'm usually real consistent on them. Wasn't aggressive enough with my pulls and then when I was, I pulled it too high and out front.

My current plan for the meet is:

Snatch with 155lb (90%), then 165 (95%), then go for a PR of 180 (103%)

Clean 225 (90%), 237.5 (95%), 255 (102%)

My current goal is to go at least 4 for 6 and to try and PR if (when) the first two lifts are successful. All of this is subject to change if Jon helps guide me towards a different plan.

And Jon North offered to coach me on Saturday. How cool is that!!! Oh by the way, had he lifted in the US Nationals there is a good chance he would be the current men's 94kg National Champion. Instead he competed Internationally at the Pan Am games and helped the US get a bronze. Humbling to think we are at the same weight class. What a complete animal. Here he is tearing it up!

Bench 6-26-10 Sn, SP, Burps 6-27-10

6-26-10 Bench 185, 205, 230 (+5lb PR), 245m, Max 185x11 (PR)

6-27-10
Snatch - 65x2, 85x2, 95x2, 115x2, 135x2, 145x1, 155 (90%), 155, 155, 155, 155, 165(94%), 177.5m, 180mx2 (soo close..+5lb PR attempt), 155, 165, 175 m, 1 matches PR
Shoulder Press - 135x2, 155x1, 160 (+7.5lb PR)

50 Burpees - 3:02

Snatches felt pretty solid today. Glad I hit so many at and above 90%. Its a real confidence booster for the meet on Saturday. 180 will happen any day now. Just need to stick the receiving position.

Snatch, C&J 6-24-10

Snatch - 115x2, 135x2, 145, 155xm,1, 165, 175 m, 155 m,1,m,1, 135x2
Clean & Jerk - 135x2, 155, 185, 205, 225, 250 (+8lb PR)

I signed up for the Redwood Empire Championship Olympic Weightlifting meet on July 3rd. My first meet.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

Front Squat 6-23-10

Front Squat - 185x3, 205x2, 225x2, 250 dumped it at the bottom. Was planning on trying for 295 as a PR. My left hamstring is feeling hinky. Felt it in the 225 set but did the set anyways. On 250 felt it more. At the bottom the hamstring was tingling and felt like it was ready to pop. Weird feeling that I haven't felt before. Didn't want to risk it so called the workout there. Frustrating, but gotta listen to your body and live to fight another day.

Bench, Pullup, Push Press 6-22-10

Bench 165x3, 190x1, 210x5 (PR), 5x5 190
Weighted Pullup 25x5, 3x5 44lb
DB Push Press - 50x5, 70x5, 90x4, 90x4 with R, only 1 with L

Sn, C&J, FS 6-17-10 Deads, FP 6-18-10

6-17-10

Snatch - 135x2, 145, 155mx2/1, 165, 180 mx4 (+5lb PR attempt) close to sticking it twice.
Clean & Jerk - Missed a bunch of cleans at a silly light weight and quit before shots were fired
Front Squat - 205x2, 230x1, 250x1, 275
Weighted Dip - not today

What the crap is with my ugly cleans… Pulled too low. Pulled too high. Jumped forward. Lost it in front. Ugly and weak.

Then the 275 FS felt like it was 375. So much for a 295 PR attempt. Maybe being sick for the last week has had an effect.

My corner then threw in the towel before the workout TKO’d my lame ass.

6-18-10

Deadlift - 225x5, 255x5, 295x5, 335x3, 365x1, 385x5 (PR), 345x5, 345x5
Floor Press - including 40lb of chains - 175x3, 195x3, 215x3, 230x5 (PR)

Cash Out 50 Wallball - 2:03

Bench, Chin 6-15-10

Bench 135x5, 155x3, 185x1, 205x5 (PR), 5x5 185
Weighted Chin - 5x3 53lb
Bench Press Lockout - 225x5, 245x3, 265x2/f
DB Row - 3x10 118lb

Squat, PP, GHR 6-14-10

Squat - 285, 305, 330 (+5lb PR), 335/F 300x2 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 185x3, 205x3 (PR), 215x2/F (PR)
Eccentric GHR - 4 x 8

Sn, C&J, FS @ CSA 6-12-10

Went into California Strength Academy today. Donny and Jon coached me to some PR's. So much fun to lift there!

Snatch - 40x2, 50x2, 60x1, 70x1, 75xm, 77.5 mx3/1
Clean & Jerk - 70x2, 80x1, 90x1, 95x1, 100x1, 105x1, 110 m the Jerkx2/1 (thats 242lbs .. + 7lb PR)
Front Squat - 120 x1, 125x1, 125x1, 120x1, 120x2 (thats 264lbs ... PR)

Cleans felt good ... jerks didn't feel heavy, just a bit sloppy. 250 will fall very soon. Donny guaranteed me if I come back and train at CSA he'll have me hit a 300lb C&J by OCt 3 at the California Strength Open. WOW that is tempting! Need to figure some things out and think about competing in my first meet. I think its time.

FS, FP 6-9-10

Feel like crap. Lifted anyways.

Front Squat - 250x1, 270x1, 290x1 (+5lb PR from 6-5-10), 260x3 (+5lb PR from 6-5-10) 290 was a true limit lift.
Floor Press - including 40lb of chain 200x3, 225x3 (+ 30lb PR compared to 5-4-10), 225x2f

Bench, Chin, PP 6-8-10

Bench - 200x5(PR), 10x5 180
Weighted Chin - 35x5, 50x1, 70x1, 80x1, 8x3 50lb
Push Press - 135x5, 155x5, 180x5, 185x5(+10lb PR)

Jerk, 'Strongman' fun 6-7-10

First time using my new custom Jerk Blocks. Very beefcakes indeed. I'm quite pleased I can finally do Jerks for reps. A paint job and a mat on top to polish them off and these puppies will be nails!

Jerk - 175x3, 195x3, 205x3, 225x3 (PR)

Dan talked me into more 'Strongman' fun tonight



AMRAP 2:00 min at each station. 1 min rest between stations ...

185lb Clean w/ fat bar - 11

95lb Dumbell Overhead - 11

400lb Deadlift - 6

90lb Sandbag Ground to 5' shelf - 13

2 95lb Dumbells 12" box step ups - 19

Total - 60

Boy that was rough on the low back. Dan got 67, Matt got 53

Cash out - Max 45lb iron plate hold (1 in each hand): 1:18

FS, SP, DB Row 6-5-10

Front Squat - 235x1, 255x1, 275x1 (+5lb PR), 300 F (greeeedy), 285x1(+15lb PR from 4-3-10), 255x3 (+7lb from 1-21-10 PR) had a bit more in me on that last set
Shoulder Press - 140x6 (+5lb and 1 rep PR from 5-29-10), 125x5, 125x5, 125x4, 2x5 115
DB Row - 3x8 118lb need to buy more plates for dumbells ... woot!

Dip, Row, DB Bench, 6-3-10

Weighted Dips - 35lbx2, 45x3 (PR), 55x3(PR), 65x2 (PR), 55x3, 5 x 3 50
Bent Row - 135x5, 175x3, 205x3, 3x5 225 (PR)
Incline fat DB Bench - 8 x 3 61lb (one at a time due to equipment logistics)
Shrug - 135x12, 225x6, 275x6, 2x6 315

Need to buy some straps

Bench, Chins, PP 6-1-10

Bench - 95x5, 135x4, 150x3, 165x2, 180x1, 195 x 5(PR), 175 x 5, 10 x 5 155 .. felt strong, will progress to 200 x 5 next week
Weighted Chins - 35lb x 5, 2 x 5 45lb barely hit the second set of 5
Snatch Grip Push Press - 135x3, 155x3, 175x2, 190x5 (+10lb PR), 170x5 ... 190 was rough, barely made it.
DB 'Power Cleans' - 3 x 10 30lb

Jerk, Squat 5-31-10

Jerk - 195/2, 215/2, 230/2 (PR), 250/F,1, 265/Fx3
Squat - 135/5, 185/4, 225/3, 255/1, 275/1, 285/5 (PR), 255/5, 3 x 5 227.5

Left knee bothering me so stopped at the third set at 227.5. Planned on 5 sets. Low back super tight. I guess the combination of yard work, jerks and squats and its pooped. Need to strengthen that sucker up.

Body weight 213

RUSSIAN BEAR 5-29-10

Start of a new bulking cycle where I'll be doing a program called the Russian Bear for Shoulder Press, Deadlift, Bench and probably Squats. You work up to a heavy set of 5. Then do 90% of that for 5 (2-3 min rest). Then 80% of the original heavy set of 5 for 5 to 10 sets of 5 (30-90 sec rest). The first two sets of 5 is the strength work, the last 5-10 sets of 5 is the hypertrophy/strength work. Dave Williams S&C Coach at Liberty University highly recommends the program and has seen great results in his athletes on it. Pavel wrote the program. Should be an interesting 2 months. I have a spreadsheet breaking down all the percentages if anyone is interested.

Weighed 209 today.

Shoulder Press
135 x 5 (PR compare to 117.5 x 5 on 2-19-10)
122.5 x 5
10 x 5 107.5

DB Row
90 x 5, 95 x5, 100 x 5 (PR) ran out of standard DB so had to use 2" fat bar DB on last set which made it a good deal tougher

Floor Press
175 x 5, 195 x 5, 205 x 5 includes 40lb of chain (PR)

Deadlift, GHR 5-27-10

Deadlift - 320 x 5, 340 x 5, 365 x 5 (+65lb PR)
GHR - 3 x 10

Bench, Chin, PP 5-25-10

Bench Press - 135 x 3, 155 x 3, 175 x 3, 5 x 3 185lb + all sets w/ 40lb of chain (225lb total) PR
Weighted Chin - 3 x 5 40lb
Push Press - 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5 (+15lb PR and 1 rep from 2-25-10)

Jerk, BS, 'Gorilla Madness' 5-25-10

Jerk - 135x3, 155x2, 185x2, 205x2, 225x2, 245x1, 260x1 (+5lb PR)
Squat - 225x3, 250x3, 265x3, 295 x 3 (+ 20lb PR from 1-25-10)

Implements of destruction:





'Gorilla Madness'

3 Rounds for time:

5- KB Swing 88lb
4- Tire flip - 475lb
3- Sandbag 90lb from ground to over top crossbar of 7' power rack
2- Deadlift 2" fat bar - 400lb
1 - 115ft Farmer Walk w/ 88lb KB and 70lb KB

11:55





That was the most fun I've had in a wod in a long time. Everything taxed our grip. My buddy Dan was lying on the ground after killing the wod in 8 min and change and coined the name for the wod. I'll have to try this again when I get some metcon capacity. Will be able to get it down around 9.

SP, Row, Dip 5-22-10

HSPU to 25lb bumper 3 x 3
Shoulder Press - 5/100, 3/115, Max 130/8 (+2.5lb PR compared to 127.5/8 5-4-10)
DB Row - 65/10, 70/10, 80/10 (PR)
Weighted Dip - 3 x 5 40lb (5lb PR)

Cash Out: Kneeling Jump Squats - 3, 3x45lb, 3x65, 3x85, 1x95

Never tried kneeling jump squats before. Should have more in me. I think I'll do them inside the cage next time.

Snatch, Dead, GM 5-20-10

Split Snatch - 135/2, 155/2, 165/1, 175/1, 180/1 (+10lb PR)
Deadlift - 275/3, 305/3, 325/3, 345/3, 365/3 (+60lb PR)
Good Morning - 135/5, 150/5, 160/5, 170/5 (5lb PR)

First time in loong time trying split snatch. Done very little of them. Decided to try something different and see how I did with them because I feel real comfortable splitting when Jerking and I have a strong pull and a weak receiving position at the bottom of the standard snatch. And wham! 10lb PR. Saweet! The 180 wasn't competition legal, had a press out with my right arm, but I'll count it as a gym PR. Here is the video, including Bergen who is my first official client as a personal trainer outside the Academy which is kinda cool. Bergen is a 17 y/o novice lifter who I've been working with for a month on Starting Strength: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9lWstnExc

Bergen is doing great. Steadily adding 5lbs to his 3x5 squat 3 days a week for the last month. It'll be fun to see how he progresses. Just needs to learn how to EAT!

Slight tweak on the outside of my right elbow (supinated grip side) after set of 365 so stopped there. Was going to go for 385 which I would have gotten then 400 which I'm not sure if I would have pulled off...next time.

Chin, Bench 5-18-10

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets of Max with 25lb Tactical Vest - 8 (deadhang), 11, 10, 10, 10
Bench - 3 x 5 190lb (5 rep PR ... compare to 175x4 on 2-3-10)

On pullups I regripped the bar once each set since my grip was the limiting factor and I wanted to get in the work. Probably rested too much between the last few sets.

PC and Jerk for 15 min 5-11-10

From Xfit Football:

Perform 2 Power Cleans and Jerks on the minute for 15 minutes ... I used 185lbs

*Start the clock. At the top of every minute perform 2 Power Cleans and Jerks
*Use a maximal weight 90% of 1 RM Power Clean
Post rounds completed to comments

185lbs is 82% of my 1RM power clean of 225. I realized doing it with 200lbs (90%) wasn't going to go so well. 1st round Power Jerks. After that Split Jerks.

Finished all 15 Rounds.

This was a tough but good one. Next time I'll bump it up to 200 and see what I can get. 2nd day in a row of doing a metcon. Yeah it played to my strength, but a metcon nonetheless. I'm impressed with myself.

Thruster, Deadlift/HSPU/BJ 5-10-10

Inspired this weekend by the Crossfit Masters Regional, I worked up to a 1RM Thruster. Haven't tried it in well over a year.

Thruster - 155/1, 175/1, 195/1, 205/1, 215/f1, 220/1 (~65lb PR), 225/f

Happy with that effort because it beat my Push Press from 3-11-10 of 215. Theoretically one's Push Press should be just a hair stronger then a thruster, right?

Josh was over today and brought his Australian buddy James who is on holiday. Dan gave Josh and I this wod to do. Josh got 12:40ish. He really should have scaled the weight down on the deadlifts, since his back was rounding, but he ground through it.

7 Rounds:

3 Deadlift 275lb
4 HSPU - to abmat with a spotter assisting
9 Box Jump - 24"

7:48

Deadlifts were broken up with quite a few singles. Felt pretty heavy which I think is because I'm so out of cardio shape. 1st two rounds I did 6 HSPU, then dropped it to 4 to match what Josh had just done because he started failing in his 2nd round of HSPU. All my HSPU unbroken. I got a lot of assistance on them, probably more then Josh did. Box jumps were 1st, 2nd and last rounds unbroken the rest were jump up and step downs with 1 or no breaks.

Fun wod though, legs felt like jelly on those box jumps. Metcon madness baby.

Bench 5-8-10

Rest Week

Bench 175 x1, 195 x 1, 215 x 1, 225 x 1 (+25lb PR compared to 3-10-10), 230 f

Deads, GM 5-6-10

Deadlift - 235/5, 265/5, Max 300/17 (+ 25lb PR compared to 4-3-10)
Good Morning - 95/5, 115/5, 135/5 got interrupted and had to stop the workout there

SP, FP, Chin, DB PP 5-4-10

Shoulder Press - 100/5, 115/3, 127.5/8 (PR)
Floor Press - 155/3, 175/3, 195/3
Weighted Chins - 40lb 5,4,4
DB Push Press - 5 x 5 70lb

Did floor press 3 x 5 190lbs including 40lbs of chain last week. 195x3 without chains was considerably more difficult. Makes me realize using chains is definitely easier then the same corresponding weight with all plates. In other words it works as intended, stressing the end of the movement much more.

Boxing 5-2-10 Squat, Jerk 5-3-10

5-2-10

30 min of boxing. Jump rope. Heavy bag. Lots of focus mitt work.

Qualifies as a metcon methinks.

5-3-10

Squat - 220/5, 250/3, Max 280/5 (+ 4 rep PR)
Jerk - 185/2, 205/2, 225/f2, 245/f

On the 5th rep Josh was spotting me and my left elbow hit his knee at the bottom of the lift, causing me to fail. I was feeling good for that rep and maybe one more. I re-racked the bar, did one more and then failed on the 6th rep. Mentally it screwed with me, but I would have only gotten 5 maybe 6 anyways.

The jerks felt heavy today. Haven't failed at 225 in a long time.

Thats all she wrote today.

Bench, Row, Dip 5-1-10

Bench - 125/3, 145/3, Max 165/16 (+2.5lb and 2 rep compared to 4-24-10)
Bent Rows - 135/5, 165/5, 185/5, 205/5, 3x5 215
Dip - 3 x 10

Double date with wife and a buddy his wife. We were able to sneak in a workout at his place afterwards while the wifeys talked. Didn't have access to my log and on bench should have done 5, 3, 1 with the max set of 170 instead of 165lb, but forgot. Oh well, still a PR and only 5lb difference from what I should have done. Did the bent rows much less strict then I've been doing them allowing me to use a lot more weight.

Snatch, Dead, GM, 4-29-10

Leonidas showed up today. I don't know where he's been the last week, but glad he's back.

Snatch - 95/3, 115/2, 135/2, 145/1, 155/1, 165/f x 4 then got 1, 170/f x 3 then got 1 (+5lb PR), 175/1 (+10lb PR)
Deadlift - 225/3, 255/3, Max 285/21 (+ 9 rep PR compared to 3-10-10)
Good Morning - 3 x 10 - 115, 125, 135
Parallets h -Sit 3 x max - 44 sec, 30 sec, 33 sec

Snatch - FINALLY. My 165 PR has stood since Oct 16th, the first day I lifted at California Strength Academy. While my form improved at CSA, I was never able to PR in the 3 months I lifted there. That caused a great deal of frustration, so I haven't been working on them. Haven't Snatched in almost 2 months. Glad I stuck it out and just kept trying for a PR today. Improved strength overhead and heavier BW is what made this PR happen.
Deadlift - Felt strong today. I'm thinking doing the explosive movement first is a good primer for the nervous system before the strength movement. Landing a big PR before is rather helpful too. Working off 350lb 1RM for %'s (which is 75lb under my current PR).

Shoulder Press, FP, Chin 4-27-10

Shoulder Press - 95/3, 105/3, Max 120/10
Floor Press - 135/5, 3 x 5 150lb + 40lb of Chain (PR)
Incline DB Bench - 10 x 50lb, 3 x 5 56lb
Chins - 10, 10, 9

Squat, GHR 4-27-10

Squat - 205/3, 235/3, Max 265/8 (Technically a PR but compare to 270 x 9 on 4-7-10 and I'm not going to call this a PR)
GHR - 3 x 10
Jumping Step Ups - 3 x 10

Legs felt dead on the squats. Had no explosiveness and no strength out of the bottom today. Specifically feeling it in my quads. Weird. Don't have my GHR dialed in yet. Moved it forward a notch tonight which made it more difficult and I think is a better position for me. But the leg pad is super crappy and pushes forward out of position during the set causing the plywood base to dig into the bottom of my quads making it not too much fun. Yukon GHD's suck.

Bench, Row, Sn PP, Jerk, Ring Push Up 4-24-10

Bench - 125/3, 145/3, Max 162.5/14 (+4 rep PR compared to 3-3-10)
Bent Over Rows - 135/5, 155/5, 170/5, 3 x 5 185
Snatch Grip Push Press - 135/5, 145/5, 165/5, 180/5 (+ 10lb PR)
Jerk - 185/2, 205.2, 220/1, 230/1, 245/1, 255/1
Ring Push Up - 3 x 15

Dead, GM 4-22-10

Cossack Squat - 7 x BW, 7 x 35lb KB, 7 x 53lb KB
Deadlift - 195/5, 225/5, Max 250/23 (PR)
Good Morning - 95/5, 115/5, 135/5, 145/5, 155/5, 165/5

SP, FP, Chin, Dip 4-21-10

Shoulder Press - 85/5, 100/5, Max 115/11 matches PR on 4-1-10
Floor Press - 115/2, 135/2, 155/2, 175/2 (+10lb PR), 185/1 (PR) + 40lb of chains
Weighted Chin Up - 3 x 4 40lb
Dip - 40lb x 3, 35lb x 4, 10, 7

Felt like crap today.

Squat, Jerk, GHR, Box Jump 4-19-10

Squat - 185/5, 220/5, Max 250/13 f on 14 (PR)
Jerk - 165/3, 185/2, 205/2, 225/1, 245/f
Eccentric Glute Ham Raises - 3 x 8
Seated Box Jumps - Did about 6 sets of 3, working up to a max of 3 x 43.5"

Forgot to mention the other night I made a wager with my buddy Dan from work: The one with the highest Crossfit Total at the end of the year, wins. Loser buys the winner a steak dinner and a westside barbell t-shirt.

He's a bit ahead of me on all the lifts, so I figure I'll lose, but it'll give me some good motivation to go after him (don't worry I'm far too competitive to have thrown in the towel just yet). His current shoulder press is 160 compared to my 152.5. His squat is 330 compared to my 325 (he almost got 340). His deadlift? Not sure, but near mine. Earlier this week broke 455 off the floor, but failed on it. He Front Squatted 285 tonight (15lb over my PR). We are the same height and he weighs 200, I'm at about 210 right now. He is doing a program similar to CFSB, guided by Jason Highbarger, so he has very solid programming. Should be a fun little competition.

Bench, Row, KB PP, Push Up 4-18-10

*** Begin 3rd Cycle of 5-3-1 ***

Bench - 115/5, 135/5, 155/15 (+ 5 rep PR from 2-25-10)
Bent Over Rows - 95/5, 115/5, 135/5, 3 x 5 155lb, 165/5
KB Push Press - 5 x 1.5pood, 3 x 2 pood, 5 x 3 - 2.5 pood
Ring Push Up max 1 min rest - 13, 6, 5

OHS and Tabata KB Swings 4-15-10

**Rest Week**

OHS - 175/2, 185/1, 200/1, 210/1 (PR +15 lb) 185/4 (+ 15lb and 1 rep PR) Bodyweight OHS Oh Yeah!!! Second time I've gotten BW OHS, but the last time was in October and I weighed 185lbs.

8 rounds of Tabata 20 sec on 10 sec off ... Double 35lb Kettlebell Swings (Russian Style) ... averaged 12 reps until the 6th and 7th rounds of 9/8 and the last round of 11.

First metcon in quite a while and it showed. Youch. That sucked. I think it might just be time to get back into something resembling 'in shape'. Stop the mass gain with the 3/4 gallon of milk a day and excess caloric intake. Trim the extra adipose off and get fit again with an emphasis on continued strength/power development. Weighed 210lb this morning on an empty stomach. I'm thinking I'll level out at around 200lb give or take in a month or two.

Rest Week

**Rest Week** End of 2nd 5-3-1 Cycle

My right shoulder is feeling a small twinge on the anterior deltoid with certain movements so decided to not do any upper body work. Since its a rest week I figured I would just fart around with some different stuff and take it easy.

Toes 2 bar - 3 x 10

Cossack Squats - 3 x 10, 20lb of chain x 10, 40lb of chain x 10 ... In order to add weight, I'll try these in the future while holding a kettlebell in a goblet style position. They clicked for me today. Couldn't do them at all the first time I tried them they other day. Still need to fine tune it by staying on my heels and work on keeping my torso more erect, but a marked improvement.

Weighted Box Jumps - 40lb of chain: 30" 3 x 5, 33" x 3, 36" x failed ... caught my toes on the lip and bit the dust .. tweaked my left outer hip a little bit in the process.

Called the 'workout' there. So much for doing a much needed metcon that I had planned.

CFT 4-11-10

As part of my warmup I worked on Cossack Squats. Wow I suck at them.

CROSSFIT TOTAL

High Bar Back Squat - 295 x 1, 315 x 1, 325 x 1 (+22.5lb PR)
Shoulder Press - 140 x 1, 152.5 x 1 (+2.5lb PR), 155 x f
Deadlift - 385 x 1, 405 x 1, 425 x 1 (+60lb PR)

Total - 902.5 Lightweight baby! My twin came over and lifted with me. Good fun today.

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4tTqJJqxk (wfs)

Critique of my lifts ...

Squat - Went deep enough on the 325 squat for it to qualify for the CFT, but not as deep as I'd like to go. Definitely shallower then the 315 squat.

Shoulder Press - Can you say UGLY! Let it get waaay too far out in front of me. Had a lot of lean back. According to the rules of the CFT excessive backward lean of the torso is identified by:

"A) the position of the most anterior aspect of the armpit, B) the most posterior aspect of the buttocks, C) the plane formed by a straight line between these two points, and D) the movement of that plane to a position behind the vertical"

I believe this lift just barely counts. But its so close, I'm not 100%.

Deadlift - Need to work on my set position because its too low. The dynamic start is a carryover from Oly lifting. Probably not the best approach.

SP, Chin, Ring Push Up 4-9-10

Shoulder Press - 95/5, 112.5/3, Max 122.5/10 (PR) - compare to 115/11 on 4-1-10
Chinup - 10, 10, 10
Weighted Ring Push Ups - Max x 3 w/ 40lb of chain - 7, 6, 4

Squat, Jerk, Dip 4-7-10

Back Squat - 210/5, 240/3, Max 270/9 f on 10th (+ 10lb and 2 rep PR)
Jerk 215/1, 225/1, 240/1, 255/f, 255/1 (+5lb PR)
Weighted Dip - 3 x 5 35lb

I have now officially put more weight over my head then my older, stronger cousin Jerrod. Thats the first lift I have ever beat him on, ever. And such an important one too. Thanks for the motivation of chasing you for all these years J-rod. This is finally the beginning of a little competition for you in the weight room. For those who don't know us, Jerrod is the one who 1st inspired me to ever pick up a weight when I was a junior in high school. I never got serious about it until 2 years ago when I started crossfiting. Funny enough, he is also the one who introduced me to crossfit. Monumental day for this kid to catch up in a small way to my mentor in the game of strength and fitness.

Bench, Clean, C&J, SP 4-5-10

PR day ...

Bench - 135/5, 150/3, Max 167.5/10 (+ 5lb PR)
Clean - 195/1, 215/1, 225/1, 235/1, 245/1 (+ 14lb PR) the video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX4_DmP0P6U
Shoulder Press - 140/1, 145/1, 150/1 (+ 12.5lb PR)

Clean and Jerk 235/1 (+ 4lb PR) ... When doing the above cleans, for some reason I decided to try and jerk 235 because my previous C&J PR was 231 and I figured I could hit it. Hadn't done any jerks at lighter weights. Not the smartest approach, but smoked 235 easy. Tried to jerk 245 too, and it didn't feel too heavy, but missed it out front. I'll get it soon.

Happy with the Clean PR, and thrilled with the Shoulder Press. Its finally coming along nicely. This is the 3rd week on my second month long cycle on Wendler's 5-3-1 and I couldn't be happier with my progress.

Thats 43 PR"s in the last 32 days. Something is working.

Dead, FP, FS, Dip 4-3-10

Deadlift - 205/3, 245/3, Max 275/17 (PR)
Floor Press - 135/5, 155/2, 175/2, 185/2, 195/2 (+5lb PR)
Front Squat - 205/3, 225/2, 245/1, 260/1, 270 (+3lb PR)
Dip - 11, 11, 10

SP, Chin, Row 4-1-10

Shoulder Press - 90/3, 102.5/3, Max 115/11 (2.5lb PR)
Chinup - 10, 10, 9
DB Row - 3 x 10 60lb

Jerk, Squat, Dip, GM 3-30-10

Jerk - 195/2, 210/2, 220/2 (PR), 235/1f Jerk Blocks would make this mo better
Squat - 195/3, 225/3, Max 255/11 (PR)
Dip - 11, 10, 10
Good Morning - 3 x 10 115lb

Taught Bergen how to squat and press. His first day lifting.

Bench, DB PP, Chin 3-29-10

Bench Press - 125/3, 145/3, 160/12 (+ 5lb and 2 rep PR)
DB Push Press - 65/3, 75/3, 85/3 (failed on 3rd rep right arm)
Weighted Pullups - 35lb/3 x 5

5 x 3 min heavy bag working boxing technique. Coached by Chris

SP, Dead, Dip 3-26-10

Shoulder Press - 85/5, 95/5, Max 110/12 (+ 5lb and 1 rep PR)
Deadlift - 200/5, 230/5, Max 265/20 (+ 5lb and 11 rep PR)
Weighted Dip - 15lb/5, 25/5, 35/3 f, 35/4

Deads were brutal .. had to fight hard on them. Back rounded towards the end. Shouldn't have pushed through but wanted 20 bad for some reason. Last comparable high rep set June of '09 21 x 225lb.

I'll be judging at the Northern California Sectionals this weekend. Looking forward to it!

Jerk, BS, GM 3-23-10

video of my Jerks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8blA75C4VI

Jerk - 155/3, 175/2, 195/1, 215/1, 225/1, 235/1, 245/1, 250/1 (+10lb PR)
Back Squat - 180/5, 205/5, Max: 235/10 (+ 8 reps PR)
Good Morning - 2 x 15 115lb

Great day for Jerks, bad day for squats. Mentally crumbled under the bar when squatting. Had a handful left in me if I wasn't such a weenie. A month ago I did 230 x 18, so that puts things in perspective.

Bench, DB PP, Chin 3-22-10

Begin 2nd Cycle 5-3-1

Bench Press - 115/5, 130/5, Max 150/16 (PR + 6 reps and 5lbs on 2-10-10)
DB Push Press - 60/5, 70/5, 75/5
Weighted Chinup - 10lb x 5, 20lb x 5, 30lb x 5

Bench, OHS 3-17-10

Bench Press w/ 40lbs of chains - 155/2, 175/2, 185/2, 195/2, 205/2, 215/2 (PR)
OHS - 155/2, 175, 185, 195 (PR + 10lb), 200 f

The 200lb OHS felt good, went real deep, but lost it at the bottom. I'm happy with my improvement on OHS, since previously my one rep max was limited by what I could lock out overhead. Split jerks instead of push presses worked well and felt solid. Bodyweight OHS is just around the corner.

Rest Week SP, Chin, Dip 3-16-10

**Rest Week**

Shoulder Press - 65/5, 75/5, 85/5
Chinups - 10, 9, 9
Dips - 3 x 5 w/ 5lbs

Felt retarded doing such light weight and not working hard. Hopefully it'll help the gains to keep coming long term.

Squat, Floor Press 3-13-10

Squat - 205/5, 230/3, Max 260/7 (PR + 5 reps) drifted forward a tad out of the hole and bailed on 8th
Floor Press .. includes 40lbs of chains - 165/3, 185/2, 195/2, 205/2
Good Morning - 135 - 2 x 10

Using chains adds 10 points of coolness to any work out. Look it up.

Next week is supposed to be a deload week, even though I feel like hitting it hard.

PushPress, Dip 3-11-10

Chinups - 9, 9, 9
Push Press - 155/3, 175/1, 185/1, 195/1, 205/1, 215/1 (PR), 225/F
Weighted Dips 5lb x 5, 15lb x 5, 25lb x 5, 35lb x 4 F on 5th

30lb PR on Push Press. But haven't tried a single rep max in 9 months. Was supposed to go Snowboarding today but didn't make it, so this was a bit of a hodgepodge workout day.

Jerk, Bench, Dead 3-10-10

Jerk - 175/1, 195/1, 205/1, 225/1, 235/1, 245/m x 2
Bench Press - 155/1, 175/1, 195/1 (PR), 205/m, 200/1 (PR +10lb)
Deadlift - 255/5, 270/3, Max 285/12 (PR + 15lb)

The bar speed on 200 wasn't quite a true limit lift. I should have tried benching 205 again. Or better yet got it the first time. 200 has been a goal for a long time though. So I should be happy. But I'm not. 200 is pathetic. Don't even have a bodyweight bench. Lots and lots of room to improve.

SP, Dip, Chin, Row 3-8-10

Shoulder Press - 87.5/3, 100/3, Max 90% 112.5/11 (7.5lb PR from a week ago!)
Dip - 10, 9, 9
Chinup - 9, 8, 8
DB Row - 55lb 3 x 15

Kinda shocked by the SP PR. Thanks Mr. Creatine!

Squat. Floor Press, Good Morning 3-6-10

Squat - 190/3, 217.5/3, Max 245/12 (PR)
Floor Press - 135/2, 155/2, 170/2, 190/2 (PR)
Good Morning - 95/5, 115/5, 135/5, 155/5, 175/5

First time doing good mornings.

Started taking 3g of kre-akalyn creatine in pill form and glutamine everyday this week. Last time I tried creatine monohydrate powder was when I did Starting Strength in Oct of '08 and had diarrhea like nobody's business! Should be interesting to see how a cycle of this works.

Sn, Dead, Chin, GHR 3-4-10

Snatch - 65/2, 95/2, 115/2, 135/2, 145/1, 155/1, 165/m x 3
Deadlift 210/3, 240/3, Max 270/12 (PR)
Chins - 8, 8 , 8
Glute Ham Raises - 7, 10, 15

First time doing GHR's. Took a little fiddling with the GHD to figure out the best set up.

Bench, C+J, Sn PP 3-3-10

Bench Press - 127.5/5, 145/3, Max w/ 162.5/10 (+7.5lb PR)
Clean and Jerk - 95/2, 115/2, 135/2, 155/1, 175/1, 195/1, 215/1, 227.5/fx2,1 2.5lb off my PR, very happy with that considering I've only C+J once in the last two months!
Snatch Grip Push Press - 135/5, 155/5, 170/5 (PR)
Turkish Get Up - 62lb/1, 70/1, didn't even try 88lb
Plank w/ ~50lb Sandbag on low back - 30 sec x 2

SP, DB Row, Dip 3-1-10

Shoulder Press - 65% - 80/5, 75% - 92.5/5, Max with 85% - 105/11 (PR)
DB Rows - 50lbs 3 x 15
Dips - 10, 9, 8 couldn't lock out #9
Barbell Rollouts - 3 x 10 from knees .. 10 narrow, 10 medium, 10 wide grip these were tough and super sloppy

Chin, Squat, FP 2-27-10

Chins - 7, 8, 8
Squat - 175/5, 205/5, Max reps -230/18 (PR)
Floor Press - 135/2, 155/2, 175/2, 185/2 (PR) - Butt came off the floor on last rep. Not sure if thats a DQ or just frowned upon?
Windshield Wipers 3 x 20 - 135lb

Felt real strong today. Very pleased with the squats since I did 20 reps with 190lbs 3 weeks ago. I figured I'd end up around 10, but just kept charging. Stopped because my low back was screaming and was starting to lean forward those last 2 reps. I had another 2 reps in my legs, but didn't want to risk the old low back injury. It was still some quality tough work.

Bench, Dip, Push Press 2-25-10

Bench - 120/3, 135/3, Max 155/10 (+10lb PR)
Ring Dip - 5, 5, 5
Push Press - 135/5, 145/5 (+ 2.5lb PR), 155/5 (12.5lb PR), 160/4 (PR)

These PR's seem bigger then they should be. I'm not complaining!

Dip, Chins, Squat, Jerk 2-23-10

Dips - 9, 9, 9
Chinup - 8, 7, 7
Squat - 2 reps, 1 minute rest - 205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255, 260, 265 ...Average - 238lb
Jerk - 175/3, 195/2, 210/1, 220/1, 230/m x 2

Dead 2-21-10

Deadlift - 195/5, 225/5, 260/9

Just glad I got something in.

Dip, Chin, SP, FS 2-19-10

Dip - 8, 8, 9
Chinup - 7, 7, 7
Shoulder Press - 95/5, 105/5, 117.5/5 (2.5lb PR)
Front Squat - 205/1, 225/1, 245/1, 270/M

Puts things in perspective that my previous PR on this was done 14 months ago. Lack of consistency working SP would be the major reason here. Though I'm glad to be making progress, its awful slow coming.

Dip, Chinup, DB SP, Squat 2-13-10

Dips - 8, 9, 8
Chinup - 7, 7, 6
DB Shoulder Press 3 x 10 50lb (PR)
Squat - w/ 40lb of chains at the top the weights were: 205/2, 225/2, 245/2, 265/2, 285/2, 295/2 (PR)

1st time using chains. For Valentines day Kate got me 40lbs worth. Best Vday gift I can remember. Ever. Now that is love!

Dip, PU, Bench 2-10-10

Dip - 7, 7, 10
Deadhang PU - 7, 6, 5
Bench Press - 110/5, 127.5/5, Max 145/10 (PR)
Hollow Rocks 15 sec x 15

Start of Wendler's 5-3-1 for bench ... start SP, Squat, Deadlift the following week. As of now my numbers look like this:

Bench Press - 190
Shoulder Press - 138.5
Squat - 302.5
Deadlift - Working off a 305 max even though I can pull more, I'm using this as a reset to dial in my form and strengthen the lift. See if I can't improve my back rounding issues by starting low, doing a slow build up and taking a run at my previous PR of 365. Also haven't deadlifted in something like 6 months, just been doing lots of cleans, so I didn't want to overestimate where I'm at right now.

Dip, PU, FP, FS, Row 2-6-10

Dip 7, 7, 7 Deadhang Pullup - 5, 5, 6
Floor Press - 115/5, 135/5, 155/5
Front Squat - 185/3, 215/3, 235/5 (+ 50lb PR)

Row Intervals 4 rounds: 1 min work, 1 min rest
500m pace was 1:44, 1:45, 1:47, 1:46

First time doing Floor Press. I like it. Should address my weak triceps, helping my SP, bench and everything overhead.

I was planning on doing 235 for 3, which would have been a 2.5lb PR, but it wasn't bad so I kept going and knocked out 5. I've been doing all singles, doubles or triples with FS recently. Last time I did a set of 5 was 6 months ago when my 1 rep max was also 235. So if my progression on FS stays the same I'll have a 300lb FS in 6 months. My guess is it'll slow down a bit, but time will tell. Back felt tight on the last set, but no pain.

Squat and SP 2-4-10

Squat - 190 x 20

KB Shoulder Press - 44lb 4 x 10 (PR)

Tied the last time I did a 20 rep set of squats which was a year ago. Chose the high reps to keep the weight low and give my back a break.

Bench, Dip, Pullup 2-3-10

Bench - 135/3, 155/1, 175/1, 195/m, 190/1 (PR +5), 175/4 (PR)
Deadhang Chinup - 6, 5, 5
Dip - 7, 6, 6
Med Ball abmat frog Situp Throws 3 x 15

The good news about my sissy bench press is there is lots of room for linear progression there. The chinup and dip numbers are pathetic. Really need to work those back up.

SP, Single Leg Squat 2-1-10

Shoulder Press - 75lb/10, 80/10, 85/10
Single Leg Squat - 135/3, 150/3, 170/3 PR
Vups w/ 20lb Med ball 3 x 15

I skipped the workout on Saturday because my usual back issue was firing up on friday ... not sure what set it off exactly .. saw the back mechanic twice on friday which helped. FIgured I'd do single leg squats to keep the stress on my back lower because of the lighter weight ... and my back proceeded to tell me post workout that it was a dumb idea. Grrrr I really need to keep squatting. I'm hoping this will clear up soon.

PP and metcon 1-28-10

At work with Highbarger ...

WU:
5-4-3-2-1
C2B Pullups
Burpees Jump as high as possible
Run 400m
60' butt kicks
60' high knees
30' Spider Man Crawl
3/10 Shoulder dislocates PVC
3/10 Good Mornings PVC

Push Press

138/3, 158/3, 178lb/3 PR

5 Rounds:

5 Burpees - Jump as high as possible
10 KB Swings - 53lb
Run 200m
7 Pullups
14 Wall Ball - 20lb

Rest ~2 min between rounds

Averaged about 3:00-3:30 on each round. Runs were sloow. Nothing quite feels like trudging back into metcon shape after a hiatus. Oh except when you are in shape and you keep hitting metcons hard. Good clean fun. I liked this metcon better this week then last ... while the amount of work was the same, with the rests thrown in the intensity level was higher.

Deadlift/PU 1-27-10

15 - 12 - 9

Deadlift - 225lb
Pullups

6:39

First round of pullups were C2B ... after that I switched to standard PUs. Weak sauce. This gaining weight thing is like wearing a weight vest. Definitely not gaining mass in order to be a metcon killer.

SP, C&J, Squat 1-25-10

Shoulder Press - 95/5, 115/1, 125/1, 130/1, 135/1, 140/F, 137.5 (PR +10lb) 135 practically flew up, so I thought 140 might go. No luck. But a 10lb PR. First PR in SP in 7 months.
Clean and Jerk - 185/1, 205/1, 225/m the jerk, 235/m ... its been a while and it showed
Back Squat - 225/2, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 302.5/1 (PR + 2.5lb), 275/3 (PR)

I weighed 207lb (PR) when I got home from work this morning. Happy with all these PR's.

Box Squat and Situps 1-23-10

Box Squat

155/3, 175/3, 195/3, 205/3, 225/3

Medicine Ball Situp and Throw

3 x 15 - 20lb ball

Shoulder tweak, Clean Rack Support 1-20-10 FS, metcon 1-21-10

1-20-10

Tweaked my left anterior deltoid last night. Same injury that hit me at the beginning of last year. I don't think its too bad and hopefully it won't slow me down much. Unfortunately I think it may stop me from competing in my first ever OL meet which is coming up in 9 days. Doh! Some buddies from work came over to workout and so I dorked around with them and did Clean Rack Supports - 3 sets of 415lbs for 10 seconds.

1-21-10

Front Squat - 207/1, 227/1, 247/1, 267/1 (PR), 247/3 (PR)

Lifted at work with an odd sized bar that weighs 37lbs .. weird.

Got coached by Jason Highbarger a Coach at Crossfit North Santa Cruz. He was mentored by Coach Glassman himself and has been coaching for 10 years. Good stuff! I was happy that he didn't have any cues for my FS, must be doing something right. He cooked up this wod for me:

20 FS 115lb
40 Abmat situps
Run 200m
15 FS 115lb
30 Abmat situps
Run 200m
10 FS
20 situps
Run 200m
5 FS
10 situps
Run 200m

15:01

Wheels came off during the second run. I don't think you can call what happened after that running. Quads are trashed.

FS, SP, metcon 1-19-10

Front Squat - 200lb/3, 220/3, 232.5/3 PR
KB Shoulder Press - 44lb/8, 44/9, 44/10

4 Rounds for time:
7 Pullups
7 KB Swing 1.5 pood
7 Burpees

5:19

Jerk, Squat, Grace, OHS, Dip 1-17-09

1-16-09

Been a little busy but mostly a lazy sack of lard and missed a week of workouts ... err I mean boy was that a much needed rest week. Yeah thats it.

In the a.m. after work...
Jerk - 165/1, 185/1, 205/1, 225, failed 245/f x 4 (PR attempts) - came real close to locking it out on the 3rd attempt

Squat - 225/1, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 295/f. Felt heavy

Grace - 5:29 - First metcon in 4 months and it showed. Geez that was a suckfest. I chose my first metcon to be probably my best wod that is in my wheelhouse, but it sure felt like I was standing around a lot sucking wind. It was a minute slower then the last time I did Grace (6-12-09 = 4:28) and a minute thirty 36 seconds off my PR (5-8-09 = 3:54). Not too horrendous I suppose, and it'll be interesting to see how long it takes to get my metcon back and surpass my old PR.

Thinking through making some programming changes. Due to a financial setback, I'm going to have to stop going to California Strength Academy. That really takes the wind out of my sails to continue with the sport of Olympic Lifting. I've REALLY enjoyed my experience at CSA. Great group of guys and got excellent coaching. To go from that to Olifting in my garage by myself would bite. I'm bummed by the thought. I'm also fat and out of metcon shape which has been wearing on me. Not that I didn't know it was going to happen with this type of training and going up a weight class, but it kinda sucks. I was hoping to stick with the Olifts specialization for a bit longer before making the switch back to CF, but now it looks like thats not going to happen. I'm considering some type of Catalyst Athletics/CFSB hybrid type program. Gotta think it through.

In the p.m. after a 'nights' sleep ...

Snatch Balance - 115/3, 135/2, 155/1, 165/1, 175/1 (PR +10lb)
OHS - 190/m, 185/m - Failed to lock it out overhead on push jerk because I'm a retard.
Dips - 6, 6, 6 Definitely regressed on these

Technically I consider these workouts as two separate days. I'm not sure my body agrees.

1-5 and 1-8-09

A tough week where I didn't get much done ... pathetic

1-5-09:

Snatch 40/2 x 3, 50/1, 55/1 x 3, 60/1 x 3, 62.5/1 x 3, 65/1 x10
Clean and Jerk 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1

Ran out of time, stopped there

1-8-09

Snatch 65lb/2 x 2, 85/2, 115/1, 135/1, 145/1, 155/1, 167.5/m x 3

CSA 12-31-09

Happy New Year!!!

Donnie says New Year's Eve is a day for PR's. Last day of the year to make a PR. Another wonderful day at CSA, as Jake and Lisa came back. Jake squatted, Lisa learned the Jerk from Donnie and made a big PR, then tied her Snatch PR from Tuesday, and I hit 3 PR's. I really enjoyed lifting with Jake and Lisa.

Snatch - 50/1 x 5, 55/1 x 5, 50/2, Hang Snatch 50/2
Clean and Jerk - 75/1 x5, 80/1 x 2, 85/1 x 5
Front Squat - 90/1, 105/1, 115/1, 122.5/m, 115/2 (PR)
Muscle Snatch - 40/5, 45/5, 50/5, 60/5
Jerk - 90/3, 95/3 (PR), 97.5/2 (PR) missed the third rep 3 times

Might have been cheating on the muscle snatches a bit. No one was around to verify if I was doing them wrong. Never really done them before.

CSA 12-29-09

Snatch - 50/1 x 3, 55/1 x 3, 57.5/1 x 3, 60/1 x 3
Clean and Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 80/1 x 3, 85/1 x 3, 90/1 x 3
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/3, 105/3 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press x 3 + OHS x 3 - 50, 55, 60 ran out of time so had to stop

Lisa and Jake came to CSA with me tonight. Jake observed, Lisa lifted. Dave Spitz walked her through the Snatch step by step and she did really well! Made a Snatch PR and a Clean PR. Nice work Lisa!

CSA 12-26-09

12-26-09

Snatch - 40/2 x 3, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/1, 70/1, 72.5/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/m x 3
Front Squat - 90/2, 100/1, 110/1, 122.5/m, 110/2 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 70/5, 75/5, 75/5
Back Extension - 3 x 10 w/ 20kg

Not much go in my lifts today. I did manage to lose the bar behind me, drop it, bouncing it off the base of my neck and down my back on the first 72.5kg Snatch attempt. Good fun.

12-27-09

Back Squat at work: 225/3, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 305/m, 280/1 and decided not to go for a double at 280 because there was no way that was going to happen. Should have gone with a higher volume rep scheme instead of the heavy single.

Squat and Jerk 12-24-09

Back Squat - 205/3, 235/1, 255/1, 275/1, 300lb/1 PR (+10lb), 275/2 PR
Jerk - 185/2, 205/1, 225/1, 240/m, 240lb/1 PR

Woohoo 3 0 0 !

CSA 12-19-09

Snatch - worked up to 70 (90%), missed 3 times at 72.5
Clean & Jerk - worked up to 100 (95%), missed the clean 3 times at 107 (2 kilo PR attempt)
Back Squat - 100, 110, 120, 130 (tied PR), 132.5 needed a good amount of help with a spot to make it

I tried for the first time to use a belt while Snatching today just for the heck of it on the final couple lifts. I was hoping it'd make an awe inspiring magical difference causing an anti gravity storm and a huge PR ... No dice.

12-21-09

Ran out of time on the 19th to do Jerks, so I did them today.

175lb/1, 205/1, 215/1, 225/1, 235/1 PR, 240/m x 2

CSA 12-17-09

Snatch - 30/2 x 3, 40/2 x 2, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m
Clean & Jerk - 50/2, 60/2, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 100/m
Front Squat - 100/1, 110/1, 120/1 PR
Block Jerks - 90/1, 100/1, 105/m, 107.5/m, 95/1

Happy with my FS PR of 264lbs (+ 11.5 lb). I weighed 200lbs for the first time ever (middle of the day after lunch yesterday).

So in the 2 months that I've now been at California Strength Academy, I've gained 13-15 lbs, my front Squat has gone up 30lbs, High Bar Back Squat + 55lbs, Snatch + 10lbs, and Clean and Jerk + 26lbs. My form has also improved a good deal. I'd call that some quality gains that I'm very pleased with. It'll be interesting to see how long I can continue making similar jumps.

CSA 12-15-09

Snatch - 40/2 x 3, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 100/m
Back Squat - 105/3, 110/3, 115/3 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 70/5, 75/5, 77.5/4

Sn, C&J, FS 12-12-09

Snatch - worked up to 170lbs/1, Failed at 175lbs
Clean and Jerk - 135lbs/1, 155/1, 185/1, 205/1, 225/m
Front Squat - 205lbs/1, 225/1, 245/1, 260/m

CSA 12-10-09

Snatch + Snatch Balance - 40/2, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/1, 60/2
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/2, 70/1, 85/1, 95/1, 100/m, 90/2
Back Squat - 100/1, 110/1, 125/1, 135/1 *needed a small spot to push through the sticking point*, 120/1, 120/1

Squat and Press 12-6-09

Easy day today at home:

Front Squat - 200lbs/1, 200/1, 200/1
Shoulder Press - 95lbs/10, On 2nd set I stopped at 4 because of a twinge in my left anterior deltoid. Finished it off with kettlebells since that didn't aggravate it - 35lb/12, 35/12

After lifting yesterday my shoulder felt a little weird, but didn't think much of it because minor annoyances like that pop up regularly. I've felt that same shoulder twinge before and its never developed into a real problem, so I'm not worried about it. Hopefully by tuesday it'll be good to go.

CSA 12-5-09

Snatch - 30/2, 40/2, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/got it on 2nd attempt, 75/1, 77.5/M x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/got it on 3rd attempt, 105 PR
Snatch + Snatch Balance - 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/2, 60/2
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 110/1, 115/m, 105/1, 110/m

Had an issue diagnosed that I think will be key in fixing my snatch. The culprit is upper body weakness in the bottom of the overhead squat position. The good news is we figured it out and its quite fixable. Get stronger! My pulls at 77.5 were strong enough, I was finishing my pull, was quick enough under the bar (all issues I've been working through), just need to strengthen my receiving position. I did the Snatch Balances in order to strengthen that position. On a good note, I got lower then I think I ever have before when doing those snatch balances because he kept yelling at me to get lower. Just felt like I sunk an extra couple inches that I didn't know I could. Kinda weird to just 'find' that extra depth.

At 100 I made the cleans but missed the jerk twice, before coming back a third time and nailing it. The jerk definitely felt lighter that time because I squared away my form. Funny how that works. Hitting 105kg (231lbs) felt really good. It was just a lot of fun to lock it out and stand up with that puppy. It was some hard work with the 3 attempts at 100 immediately before, but I'm glad I pushed and went for 105. Donnie thinks I'll have 110 in 2 weeks. Snatching 75 (matches my PR), and C&J 105 also gives me a meet total PR of 180. =) Best day at CSA so far.

I was worn out for the front squats, so not surprising they were nothing special.

CSA 12-3-09

AM Session:
Snatch - 55/1 x 7, 60/1 x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 95/1
Back Squat - 100/5, 105/5, 105/5

Should have pushed the back squat a bit heavier. Thought I'd be more worn out from squatting 3 times already this weak. Glad to see I wasn't.

PM Session:
Front Squat - 40/3, 60/3, 80/2, 90/1, 100/1, 110/1, 120/m x 2

Grrrrr I was hoping to hit 120kilos (265lbs) so I'd be on track for a 105 kg Clean on Saturday. Just couldn't grind through it.

Talked with Donnie about some changes to the programming. Set up a schedule and it looks to be some tough work is coming down the pipe.

Mon: FS 5x5 *at home*

Tues: Sn, C&J, FS, and if time Block Jerks *at CSA*

Wed: PP: 5x5 - alternating weekly between Clean grip and Snatch Grip *at home*

Thur AM: Sn, C&J, FS, if time Block Jerks *at CSA*
PM: FS *at home*

Fri: Rest

Sat: Sn, C&J, BS heavy single, if time Block Jerks or other accessory strength work *at CSA*

Sun: FS (moderate) *at home*

The priority in this program is given to the three days at CSA. The other work done at home is as of secondary importance as my job/life will probably fairly regularly get in the way. He wants me doing Block Jerks 2 to 3 times a week if possible. Need to double check with him what he means by a moderate FS day on Sunday. This program also takes into account that I'm attempting to gain weight and move up to the top of the 94 kilo (207 lb) weight class. It also attempts to take into account my nutty work and sleep schedule by being a little flexible.

Squat and Push Press 12-2-09

Squat - 95lbs/3, 155/3, 185/2, 205/1, 225/1, 245/1, 270/1, 290lbs/1 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 120lbs/5, 130/5, 140/5, 155lbs/5 (PR)

Most I've ever back squatted including Low Bar Back Squat! Thanks Dan for coming over, that was fun like the good ol' times in the gym.

Squat 11-29-09 and 11-30-09

After a conversation with Jon North who is ranked #5 in the 94kg class in the USA, it became apparent that I need to be squatting more. The elite team at CSA lift 6 days a week. Squatting 1 or 2 times a day. He was fully confident that I'd be able to handle that kind of volume and more if I had the time/discipline to do it. Stepping up my squatting game to 5 days a week may now be necessary. My only concern is the tolls of shift work and lack of sleep and how that may play into it. We shall see. Today took all of 20 minutes including warmup. Nice to get back into my garage and lift there again.

Back Squat - 95lbs/5, 155/2, 185/1, 205/1, 225/1, 255/1, 265/1, 280lbs/1 PR

300lbs should be here soon. So a PR Front Squat yesterday and Back Squat today. Might be something to this squatting 5 days a week thing.

11-30-09

Back Squat - 95lbs/3, 155/3, 185/1, 205/1, 225/1, 255/1, 265/1, 285lbs/1 PR

That matches my best ever low bar back squat! 3 days and 3 squat PR's. Not bad. Been sleeping good, eating tons and lifting heavy. Loving it.

CSA 11-28-09

Snatch - 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 92.5/1, 102.5/1 PR!
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 107.5/1, 115/1 PR
Block Jerks - 90/1, 100/m x 2, 90/2, 70/3

Snatch - grrrr
Clean and Jerk - Failed the clean twice, then 225lb x 1 (102.5kg) which was my goal for this year! Nailed it! Game Over!!
Front Squat - heavy, but it went up
Block Jerks- Sometimes I put my head through, sometimes I dont. Really need to square that away.

CSA 11-25-09

Alex Honnold Half Dome Free Solo from Joshua Wagner on Vimeo.

Snatch High Pull + Snatch - 40/2, 40/2, 50/2 x 5, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/1, 75/m x 3
Clean + 2 Jerk - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 90/1, 95/m the jerk
Back Squat - 100/5, 100/5, 100/5, 100/5, 100/5 (5x5 PR)

Snatch - First time I've snatched 70 in exactly a month. It went up quick, and like just about all successful snatches it felt easy and good. I think the keys to making that lift was being more aggressive at the end of my pull, being quicker under the bar, and snapping my hands up explosively. Glad I hit it, but tired of being stuck here. I've got some form issues that I need to iron out.
Back Squat - that was 80% of my max 5x5. Uoof. I don't know if I wasn't expecting to work when I came into the gym or what, but that was tough. Certainly doable, but the first set was harder then it should of been because mentally I wasn't ready. I also think a couple of my first set squats may have been shallow.

Now its time to load up on a lot of delicious calories today and tomorrow (2 thanksgivings, woot!) and go into my Saturday lifting session 2 kilos heavier. Yeehaww! Happy Gobbler day!

CSA 11-21-09

Snatch - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 85/1, 95/1, 102.5/ made the clean for a PR and missed the jerk
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 107.5/1, 115/1 PR
Snatch Push Press - 52.5/5, 57.5/5, 62.5/5, 67.5/5 PR

Clean PR of 225lbs and a Front Squat PR of 253lbs. Both were absolute eye popping grind your teeth gut check maximums. Woot! The Snatch Push Press is a PR as well, haven't trained them much.

CSA 11-19-09

Snatch High Pull + Snatch - 40/2, 40/2, 50/2 x 6
Power Clean and Power Jerk - 60/3, 70/2, 75/2, 80/2, 85/1, 90/1 PR for Power Jerk
Back Squat - 70/3, 90/2, 110/1, 120/1, 125/1 PR, 115/1, 115/1
Jerk off Blocks - 85/3, 95/2, 95/2, 105/m, 100/1, 102.5/m, 102.5/1 PR

3 PRs. I'm a happy man. First time I've gone for a heavy single on a back squat while at CSA. Up to this point its been all front squats and when back squatting its been speed work on the tendo machine, or strength work for sets of 5. I was stoked with my 14 kg (31lbs) PR. That puts me at only 5 kg away from my previous best low bar back squat PR of 285lbs. It'll be fun to finally catch up with that and start squatting heavier then ever before. Now if I had continued doing low bar back squats I'm sure I'd be up around 300lbs right now. But I'll get there soon enough with the high bar back squat and its better for the olympic lifts (in my opinion).

Donnie was surprised with my 198lb Power Jerk. He figured I'd max out at 80. With a 90kg power jerk he said I should have a 110kg split jerk instead of 100kg. So something is off that is keeping me from the numbers I should be hitting in the split jerk. I've got some form issues to iron out or some weakness in that position to improve upon. Not sure what it is just yet. It could be based upon the large amounts of power jerks done in crossfit causing me to be stronger in that position then the average lifter who rarely works it.

Took a fight to make the jerk PR. I mean it was a grind. Rode that puppy super low, but managed to keep the arms locked out and got it done. 225lbs overhead is a good way to end a workout. Especially when clean and jerking 225 is my goal for the year. Should be happening in the next week or two.

CSA 11-14-09

Snatch - 40/2, 50/2, 50/2, 60/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m, 72/m x 3, 60/1, 67.5/m, 65/1, 55/2, 55/2
Clean and Jerk - 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 97.5/1 (PR), 100/1 (PR)
Front Squat - 80/3, 90/2, 100/1, 110/1, 115/m, 100/2
Dumbell Shoulder Press - 40lbs/12, 40/10, 40/8, 40/6, 40/6, 40/6

Stoked about the Clean and Jerk PR. Triple Digits!! SAt 100kg I made the first clean, missed the jerk, missed the second clean, made the third clean, missed the jerk and on the fourth attempt it finally went up. So that was also 3 clean singles at PR weight. Nice to know it wasn't a fluke to clean 100. A lightbulb went on today that I've gotta explode out of the bottom of the clean. I had been collapsing before today at the bottom of a real heavy clean. But I figured out if I don't wait around at the bottom of the front squat (though I wasn't doing this consciously) and instead concentrate on firing the weight back up as soon as possible, I don't collapse under the weight like I did before. A subtle but important difference. I'm now 5lbs away from this year's C&J goal of 225lbs. A good day. Now all I have to do is get those darn snatches to start coming along.

CSA 11-10-09

Snatch - 50 - 1 x 8, 55/m, 50/1, 52/1, 55/1, 57.5/1, 60/m, 60/1, 65/1, 65.7/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 97.5/m, 97.5/clean then missed the jerk - that makes a clean PR
Back Squat - 88.75/5, 92.5/5, 92.5/5

Got some good coaching from Max today. He suggested box squats (bodyweight only for now) as a part of my warmup to get my hips, groin and hamstrings more flexible. On the Snatch need to raise my back/head faster in order to keep up with my hips which were coming up off the ground ahead of my back/head. My back squat is about the same as my front squat. Which says that my back is the weak link in the chain. I was happy with my Clean PR of 97.5, and I think that Jerk will happen next time. 100 is getting within range.

CSA 11-7-09

Snatch - 40/2, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/Mx3, Snatch High Pull+Snatch - 50/2, 55/2
Clean & Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/M on clean, 97.5/M on clean, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 85/1
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 105/1, 90/2, 90/2
Snatch Grip Push Press - 50/5, 50/5, 55/5, 60/5
OHS - 60/3, 65/3, 70/3

Was hoping for a PR today. No dice. Probably should have gone a little heavier on the Snatch Grip Push Press.

CSA 11-5-09

Snatch - 30/3, 40/3, 50/3, 55/3, 60/3, 60/3
Power Clean, Clean & Jerk - 50/3, 60/3, 65/3, 70/3, 70/3, 70/3, 70/3
Back Squat (tendo) - 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2 - velocity varied between 0.67 - 0.83
Dumbell Shoulder Press - 40lb/8, 40/8, 45/6, 40/8
OHS - 60/3, 60/3, 65/3

CSA 11-4-09

2008 Bejing Gold medalist @ 105 kg - with an Olympic and World Record total of 436kg



Snatch High Pull, Snatch - 30/1, 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1
Clean and Jerk - 30/1, 40/1, 50/2, 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1
Front Squat - 80/3, 90/2, 100/1, 102.5/1, 112.5/1 (PR +2.5kg), 100/3 (PR)
Jerk from Blocks - 75/3, 75/3, 75/3, 75/3
Sled Drag 50kg x 2
Back Extensions - 2 x 10

On the snatches stayed at a lower weight and goal was to have zero misses. Missed twice with 60 on 2nd and 2nd to last attempts. Immediately redid them and made the lifts.

Donny just wanted me to C&J to 90. No misses. Which ended leaving my legs fresh for a Front Squat PR of 112.5 kg or 248lbs. And then a PR on the triple of 100 kg or 220lbs. My legs felt strong and I had a little more left in them but Donnie called it there. He said with a triple at 100 on the front squat I can be confident that I'll be able to clean 100 on Saturday no problem when I go for a PR C&J. Interesting because I was tired after a long night of work ridden with overtime. I almost didn't train today and didn't think I'd have much in me. I hadn't planned on going for a PR but Donnie told me to try. The outside voice of a coach is so important. Its not always best to listen to our bodies but rather the voice of an experienced guide.

Jerks went up pretty well with no misses. Need to have quicker feet.

CSA 10-31-09

Snatch - 30/3, 40/2, 50/1, 57.5/1, 62.5/1, 67.5/m x 3, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m, 60/1
Clean & Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/mx3, 90/1
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/1, 105/1, 107.5/1, 100/2
Push Press - 40/5, 50/5, 60/5, 65/5 (PR)
Back Extension - 10 x 3 with 5kg bar

Just wasn't my day to snatch

C&J - Missed all three attempts at 100 on the clean. 2nd attempt was close but couldn't stand up with it, failed at the sticking point. Would have been a 4kg PR. All the pulls looked good, it was just too heavy to front squat it.

Push Press - I think I have more in me if I approached a 5 rep max fresh.

CSA 10-29-09

At CSA

Snatch - 20 in 20 minutes at 55kg
C&J - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 70/2, 70/2
Back Squat (on tendo machine) 70/2 -0.97 80/2 -0.87 90/2-0.73 90/2-0.72 90/2-0.73 90/2-0.69
Jerk from Jerk blocks - 70/3, 75/3, 80/2, 85/2, 90/1, 95/m, 95/1

Snatches completed with no misses.

First time using a tendo machine and it was pretty cool. They had it set to measure velocity. Worked on speed out of the hole. The faster you can explode out of the bottom using stretch reflex the better you'll be at pushing through the sticking point and the heavier weights you'll lift.

Never used Jerk blocks either. Good stuff.

CSA 10-27-09

At CSA

Snatch - 30/2, 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 65/1, 70/1, 75/f, 76/f, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 96/1 (PR), 98/f, 90/1, 90/1
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/2(PR), 110/f, 105/1

Snatch - Working on staying on my heels the entire lift instead of drifting forward toward the ball of my feet as I get the bar past my knees. Also need to stay over the bar longer and explode my second pull off the hips instead of off the thighs. I was also brushing the bar up my quads/hips and never really contacting them solidly. I need to connect with the bar in an aggressive, solid explosion in order to really explode. More like bouncing the bar off my legs explosively. I'm not explaining this very well at all.

C&J - 1k PR. I'll take it. Couldn't clean it at 98kg. Coach Pendlay said I was pulling it real high...higher then I needed to, which caused the weight to crash down on me when I receive it and that makes it a lot heavier and harder to recover from the front squat.

I brain farted on the front squats and did a triple at 90 instead of 70 and a double at 100 instead of 80. Which in turn wore me out and caused the failure at 110. Oh well.

CSA 10-24-09

At California Strength Academy

Snatch - 30kilos/2, 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 65/1, 70/Miss x 3, 55/2, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2

Clean and Jerk - 50kilos/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/Miss x 3

Had to rush the workout so didn't get to work any doubles at a lower weight on C&J or get to squat

At home got in my Front Squats - 155lbs/3, 175/1, 200/1, 220/1, 230/1, 240/1, 250/Miss x 2

Snatch - Got a great cue from John North. I wasn't pulling from the hip, I was exploding when the bar got just above my knee. This caused me to muscle it up and not get my legs/hips into it as much. When he gave me that cue and I made the fix of pulling from the hip by staying over the bar longer, the bar flew up much faster. There was a very noticeable increase in bar speed. Felt much more explosive. I love it when a light bulb clicks on in the ol' brain. Now all I need to do is finish better and pull myself under the bar to drop it into the slot. And keep my upper back tight by pulling that bar apart thus giving me a stronger receiving position. And once I have that dialed there will be plenty more to work on. But every improvement in form leads to more weight on the bar, so I'm loving this.

C&J - Hit the clean on the first attempt at 95, then missed the Jerk and missed the following two cleans.

Front Squat - At 250lbs, I almooost had it on the first attempt. Couldn't quite grind past the sticking point on the way up but I was close. A little greedy to go for 250, which was a 8lb jump from two days ago when I got a 7lb PR. I'll get it soon enough though.

CSA 10-22-09

Session coached by Donnie at California Strength Academy

Snatch - 30 x 3, 40 x 2, 50 x 2, 60 x 1, 65 x 1
High Hang Snatch - 40 x 2, 50 f x 2, 50 x 2
Clean & Jerk - 50 x 2, 60 x 1, 70 x 1, 80 x 1, 90 x 1
High Hang Clean & Jerk - 70 x 2, 75 x 2
Front Squat - 70 x 3, 80 x 2, 90 x 1, 100 x 1, 110 x 1 (PR)
Rack Jerk - 60 x 3, 60 x 3, 60 x 3

On the Snatch I need to 'spread the bar' or 'pull it apart' when receiving it. My shoulders will tend to roll forward some and create weaker shoulders and upper back. I believe that may be an important key to fix a lot of my frustrating misses where I pull the bar high enough, get under it, the bar falls into the slot, but I kinda collapse under the weight starting with my upper back. Its nice to have that diagnosed!

On my cleans I'm hopping forward some and need to stop that.

Front Squats - PR! Thats a 7.5 lb PR. I need to be quicker out of the hole. Need to learn to work the bounce out of the bottom. Gotta keep my back tight. Used a belt on the last rep as Donnie thought I'd benefit from a belt on squats and when going overhead with Jerks. Looks like it'll become a regular part of my lifting. As Donnie said, any tool that will make us stronger, we'll use.

Kept the rack jerks light to work on the following:
On the Jerks I need to focus on 'putting my head through', and 'reaching for the shelf' - getting full extension of my arms and shoulders when receiving the bar. I also need to slow down my decent on the dip so I don't lose contact with the bar which causes it to crash down on me in the bottom of the dip, making it feel heavier then it is. And plant the front foot better.

There's no replacement for good coaching.

Bike 10-20 and Lift 10-20-09

10-19-09

1 hour mt bike ride with the Academy

10-20-09

Snatch
65lbs x 2, 85 x 2, 95 x 2, 115 x 2, 135 x 1, 145 f then x 1, 155 f then x 1, 160 f, 165 f x2, 137.5 f x 3 For some reason after hitting 155 which was my PR as of a week ago and 94% of my PR from Friday, I all of a sudden couldn't Snatch 137.5 for the life of me. Blahh.

Clean & Jerk

95lbs x 2, 115 x 2, 135 x 1, 155 x 1, 175 x 1, 185 x 1, 195 x 1, 205 x 1, 215 f on clean. Good pull and got under it but was in a bad position to receive it and bailed (would have been a 6lb PR) 175 Clean and 2 Jerks, 185 Clean and 2 Jerks

Front Squat

205lbs x 3, 215 x 1, 225 x 1, 235 x 1 (ties PR) - This was possibly the slowest front squat I've ever done, was barely able to push through the sticking point.

I fashioned my workout similar to what I did with Donny Shankle on Saturday and what he explained will probably be my programming. In general he said the programming for someone like me tends to be 3 days of: Snatch heavy single, Clean and Jerk heavy single, and front squats. Usually percentage wise it should be close to lifting with 95% on Mon, 90% on Wed, and 105% on Fri. Then if anything extra is added it is decided by Glenn Pendlay who will pick a little accessory work to address whatever specific weakness I need to work through. Seems pretty common to hit a heavy single for the day and then drop back down about 10% or so and hit a few doubles or triples.

I have a private session scheduled with Glenn on Saturday which I'm really looking forward to. I'm thinking I may schedule a few of them in the next few weeks. I hope to establish a baseline of my lifting mechanics with him so he gets an idea of what I need to work on. Also I'm hoping to get put on a specific program. I'm very interested to see what exactly it will be.

Snatch worked up to 70k
Clean and Jerk - worked up to 90 where I failed on the jerk three times. then did clean and 2 jerks at 70, 75, 80
Front Squat - 100 x 3, 105 x 2, 110 f x 2 (would have been a 3.5 kilo PR), 95 x 2

Got coached by Donny Shankle. How cool is that???

California Strength Academy

First up in this video is Donny Shankle



Snatch - 40 x 2, 50 x 2, 55 x 2, 60 x 2, 65 x 2, 70 x 1 f on 2nd, 75k (165lb) x 1 PR, 80f
Clean & Jerk - 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 (209lb) PR, 100 f

I went for it. Jumped in with both feet and joined the California Strength Academy Weightlifting Club. Head coach? None other then Glenn Pendlay. The team is stacked with some powerhouse athletes. Everybody I met there were nice and encouraging. It was such a great environment to train in. And not just because of the quality Werksan training and economy bumpers with Werksan, Pendlay and Elieko bars. Though having quality equiment like that to lift with sure can't help but put a smile on my face. The atmosphere is awesome really because of the level of intensity in that place. Gets me fired up now just thinking about it. No wonder I had a 10lb PR in the Snatch and 4 lb PR in the Clean and Jerk. What a great day it was. I'm exited about the future strength and power gains to come. As David Spitz put it after watching me lift...he said there are a lot of kilos I will add to my lifts by cleaning up my technique and becoming more efficient and not becoming a kilo stronger. But not to worry, I'll be getting plenty stronger while I'm there too. If I can swing it and get the time off work the first meet is in November.

Wow. I'm stoked.

Run/OHS

Had to run with the academy today. 16 min run.

Felt scorched after the run so I 86'd the mass (a)gain programming.

Did some overhead squats with another trainer - 95 x 5, 115 x 3, 135 x 3, 155, 165, 175, 185 (PR) 190 f

That makes for a bodyweight OHS. Woohoo!

Previously I've failed when going for a one rep max during the jerk portion. I was push jerking it. Today I tried split jerking the weight from behind my back in a snatch grip and it worked much better. The failure at 190 was losing it at the bottom.

This was the final day of my second week on the mass gain program. Pretty much a wasted week primarily because of redman extra academy PT and business. I'll get back on track and redo week 2, starting on Wednesday.

Mass Gain/Redman

10-7-09

Back Squat 77% 3 x 10 - 180lbs
Ring Dips - 10, 7, 6

10-8-09

8 hours in Redman suit

Mass Gain Day 4

The warmup



And the Snatch in competition after the warmup



Clean and Jerk



10-5-09

Front Squat – 75% x 3 x 5 - 175lbs
Snatch – heavy single - 95, 115, 135, 145, 150, 155 f, 160 f
Press – 75% x 3 x 5 - 90lbs

Mass Gain Day 2 & 3

Mass Gain Week 1, Day 2 & 3

10-1-09

Power Snatch – 60% (of snatch) x 2 x 3 - 95lbs
Power Clean & Jerk – 60% (of CJ) x 2 x 3 - 125lbs
Max Pull-ups – 30, 19, 12

10-2-09

Deadlift – 80% x 3 x 3 - 275lbs
Weighted Ring Dips – 5 x 5 - 5lbs
Max Weighted Pull-ups – 10lbs - 11, 11, 6

Deadlifts were heavy. I've regressed on them some. That sucks. Weighted dips were harder then I thought. 1st set of pullups I came off the rings before I hit a true max. d-u-m-b.

Mass Gain Day 1

I'm on to a new program. Greg Everett's Mass Gain program from the Mass (a)gain article found in Performance Menu.

CA WOD # 25 & #26 9-26-09

On 9-24-09 a buddy Matt came over and I worked up to 150lb snatch.  Worked on his deadlift form and tried hammering silly bodybuilding thoughts out of his head.  Thats all I got in.

9-26-09

Snatch heavy single -  65 x 3, 85 x 2, 95 x 1, 115 x 1, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 145 x 1, 150 x 1, 155 x 1, 155 f x 3, 160 f x 3

Clean and Jerk heavy single - 135, 155, 175, 185, 195, 205 f on jerk

Front Squat heavy clean single weight 2 x 2 - 205

Toes to Bar 3 x 10

I really wanted a Snatch PR today.  I failed to get 155 3 times.  But I stepped up to 160 anyways.  Couldn't feel really much difference between the two.  Failed 3 more times at 160.  No bueno.  

OL WOD # 25 9-23-09

I'll stop calling what I'm doing Catalyst Athletics because I've been off of it for so many weeks now.  I've basically been stringing together Catalyst Athletics type workouts together on my own.

Snatch heavy single - worked up to 150, 155 f

OHS - 135 x 9 PR, worked up to 175, 185 f on push press portion

A couple buddies from work came over.  Worked on snatch and ohs form with them and talked shop which slowed us way down.  No time for more.  

CA WOD # 24 9-21-09

Snatch 80% 1 x 5 - 125lbs

Clean and Jerk 80% 1 x 5 - 170lbs

Snatch Balance Heavy Single - 95, 115, 135, 145, 155, 165 f x 2

Felt good to get in some lighter weight, skill work.  Better day today.  Concentrated on keeping the weight on my heels which I think helped me not lose the weight in front of me in the receiving position.

CA WOD # 24 9-20-09

I need a kick in the rear.  Some motivation.  Gotta get out of this slump.  Maybe this video will help a little.  Iron Mike had a heck of a work ethic.

Snatch Heavy Single then 90% of that 1 x 3 - worked up to 145 then 130 3 x 1

Clean and Jerk Heavy Single then 90% of that 1 x 3 - failed my clean at 175.  Pathetic.  Quit cleaning and just jerked on up to 195 where I failed.  Threw in the towel.  So Front Squats and ab work didn't happen.

Crappy day in the gym.  Well rested so I thought it'd be a good day.  Boy was I wrong.  These are the dividends of being an inconsistent lazy nogooder.  Don't be that guy!

CA WOD # 23 9-17-09

9-15-09  No time so ...  Weighted Bar Dips 10lbs - 10, 10, 9

9-17-09  Week 9

Snatch Balance - 95, 115, 135, 145, 155 f x 3

Jerk - 155, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215 f x 2

back squat with today's max jerk weight 2 x 3 - 205

Windshield Wipers 10 x 3 - 135lb

Checked the workout box today despite my lazy intent not to.