12/31/07

Pull-up ladders:
2x (1,2,3,4,5)

Deads:
3-3-3
330-310-290

Pull-ups:
1,2,3,4,5

TGU:
7 on each side in 10 minutes

Pull-ups:
1,2,3,4,5

Pistols:
1-1-1-1-1 (Each rep L and R)
all with 24kg KB

Pull-ups:
1,2,3,4,5

KB swings: 2 minutes mixing between double KB swings and one arm swings

In the evening I practiced snatches with the 24kg. I did 5L/5R every 4 minutes for a total of about 30-40 on each arm (I lost track at some point)

12/29/07

Pull-up ladders:
5x (1,2,3,4)

Deadlift:
1-1-1-1-1
280-320-340-300-330*
*was supposed to be 340, but somehow I left off one of the 10# plates without even noticing until I saw it sitting on the weight tree. 340 is all my plates, so when I saw one not on the bar I knew I screwed up.

HSPU:
5-5-5-4-4
First day doing these with hands elevated on cinder blocks. It adds 8" to the ROM, so they are now significantly harder, which I hope bodes well for my next pressing test.

The fun part:
One minute rounds alternating between sledge hammer strikes and 63# farmer carries. I "invented" a devious way to make the farmer carries ridiculously hard. I looped a hand towel through the handle of a kettlebell, then threaded the ends of the towel through a 10# plate. The towel is the grip, and it is much harder than the typical dumbbell handle I've been using. I did a total of four rounds, and four minutes of these carries alternated with four minutes of sledgehammer strikes was more than enough to smoke my grip.

12/28/07

Deads:
5-5
283-253

OHS:
5-5-5-5-4
109-116-126-133-143

Power cleans:
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2
on the minute, 199 for all

Crush grip device:
3-3-3
2x45# plates, this was very hard

Incline bench:
3-3-3
175-165-155

Don't know why I decided to do these. I had some extra gym time and couldn't think of anything good to do. Next time if I wind up with extra time I will do TGUs.

As a second workout, I did the following-

Pull-up ladders:
4x (1,2,3,4,5)
goal is to generate enough force so that my mid chest touches the bar with each rep. I can always do the 2nd rung of each ladder, but after that it gets uncertain.

21, 15 and 9 rep rounds of:
24kg KB swings L
24kg KB swings R
push-ups

6:13

12/26/07

So I let Annie post those pictures, and I think she was a little harder on herself than I would have been.

Deadlift:
5-3-2
275-295-315

Press:
3-3-3-3-3-3-3
135-145-150-140-145-135-150

Pull-ups:
3(1-2-3-4-5) plus a set of 5 for a total of 50

Front squat:
5-5-5-5-5
135-155-175-195-205

Conditioning:
50 swings (24kg)
10 squats
30 swings
30 squats
10 swings
50 squats

8:39

And this is off topic, but here is a picture of my nephew Aurelio opening the Red Ryder BB gun I got him for Christmas.

Annie's "Before" Pictures

Here is pre-baby Annie. Notice the defined collar bones and cheek bones, healthy looking skin, 27-inch waist, and--count 'em--ONE chin!

Here are the post-baby, pre-workout pictures. Yuck! Check out that midsection flab! Expanded waistline! Ever-growing double chin!!

12/25/07

Well, I can safely say that this was a pretty great Christmas. Among lots of other loot that was not related to training (I know, what a waste of perfectly good presents, right?) I received my pair of 24kg kettlebells, a dragging harness, a weight tree (now I can clean up the living room!), a gymboss workout timer, a copy of Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel, and that might be it. It was a lot of gear.
The gymboss is pretty cool. You can set it up to time you on repeating intervals, or you can set two intervals and have them alternate (such as tabatas, or rounds and rest periods if you wanted to do some fight conditioning). Another great thing is that in addition to making noise, you can clip it to your clothes and set it to vibrate. Today I used it for some density KB clean and presses. Nice piece of gear, and not very expensive for what you get.

PTP deads:
5-5
280-255

Double KB clean and press:
5-5-5-5-5 on the 1:30
used the new 24kg bells

Sledge hammer levers: front and back, bunch of different set and reps

12/24/07

Deadlift:
3-3-3
330-310-290

TGU:
1-1-1-1-1 (L + R = 1 rep)
all with 24kg KB

Pistols:
1-1-1-1-1 (L + R = 1 rep)
all with 24kg KB

Will do fighter pull-ups and kb swings later today.
Edit: Did the fighter pull-ups, but never got to the swings

Pull-ups: 10-8-6-6-4

12/22/07

Today was my anniversary, so no real serious training. I pulled 265 for 5 singles, did a few sets of pull-ups and messed around on my snatches. Monday I get back to it for real.
The most exciting thing was that my wife had her first PTP session. She did deadlifts at 65# and presses at 13#. We'll look to see her get a lot stronger over the next 12 weeks, and then if she is ready we'll start her on the ETK Program Minimum. She really wants to get back in shape after having a C-section, so she's pretty much an ideal trainee. Very motivated and eager to be coached.

Here you go Colin...

I've been meaning to post these, but just never got around to it.
Broad jump: going to have to scrap this as a test. Good idea, but in practice it was extremely hard to measure. The trick is, if you go all out you will never "stick" the landing, so unless you have someone to measure for you, it makes it hard to get an accurate result.

Deadlift: 403- as we already know, this was a significant PR. Hooray!

Press: 165- slightly disappointing, as this is 10# off my best. I hadn't been doing a ton of pressing, I guess, and I've heard that the shoulders really respond well to volume. I will be starting to do my HSPUs with feet elevated here shortly, so perhaps the added difficulty there will have some carryover to my pressing. If not, too bad, I'm really not willing to do any more pressing, as the main thrust of my training is to improve on the events that are tested in the TSC.

Pull-ups: 13- well, I am ashamed to admit it, but I really didn't go all out on this particular effort. I don't know if I was just sort of drained from the other tests or what, but I just didn't have it in me. Also, pull-ups seem to do best with more volume in the days leading up to the test, so I will do more in my next off week. A big part of these deload weeks is experimentation to see what works best in terms of setting myself up for a strong effort on the test day.

Snatches: I know I said run, but there was still a ton of snow on the track. I thought it would all melt, because the temperature has been well above freezing, but it must just be really shady on the track or something. Anyway, 103 snatches with the 16kg in 5 minutes. Felt kind of pointless, since all future testing will be with 24kg.

Program modifications for next three weeks

As Pavel says, training should be "same but different," so I will make some minor changes to my programming during the next 3 weeks in hopes of keeping the gains coming. The movements and exercise pairings will remain the same, but the set and rep scheme will look a bit different.

Monday:
- Deads: 3x3
- Fighter pull-ups
- TGU: mixing it up between kettlebell and barbell, various set and rep schemes
- Weighted pistol: singles
- KB snatch and swing

Tuesday:
- PTP deads: 2 sets of 5
- Edit: Eliminating clean and jerk in favor of hitting the GPP harder and making the day a little easier. This will hopefully allow me to better focus my training.
- GPP: (Grip work, CrossFit, dragging and carrying, etc.)

Wednesday:
- Deads: 5-3-2
- Front squat with chains: 5x5 work up to heaviest
- Press: 7 triples
- Pull-ups: 100 kipping pull-ups
- KB snatch and swing

Friday:
- PTP deads: 2 sets of 5
- Power clean: singles at 214 on the minute for 10 minutes
- OHS: 5x5 work up to heaviest set
- KB snatch and swing

Saturday:
- Deads: 5 singles starting on Monday with 80% working up to 90% and working up to 3 singles at 90% after the end of 3 weeks
- HSPU
-Sprinting or Pistols
- 50 dead hang pull-ups
- GPP

Programming must be working...

I pulled 403# in the deadlift just now. That's just a few pounds away from 2.5xbwt. Not too bad for having only gone as high as 295 on my PTP deads. I think 3 things really helped me pull a PR today:

1. I treat every deadlift like it's a max attempt. I use every tension technique I know, dig in with my heels and start pulling like hell. This helps me to be ready for the weight, and even 363 came up extremely smooth and easy today.
2. Squats with chains, weighted pistols and heavy power cleans. To me, these are the exercises that best complement the deadlift. The squats with chains emphasize speed and acceleration while strengthening the muscles of the posterior chain in a non deadlifting specific way. The power cleans work the deadlifting muscles and teach them to contract quickly. I have heard it said, maybe by Louie Simmons, that you can't lift a heavy weight slowly. If this is the case, then power cleans should be a vital part of training the deadlift. Finally, the weighted pistols are unparallelled for teaching tension without tremendously heavy loading. Paraphrasing Dan John, a weight that can be lifted with one limb cannot be considered heavy. However, I challenge anyone to work weighted pistols without some degree of mastery of the principles of tension. Thus, they are a great bang for the buck exercise since they allow me to practice lifting heavy with a light load.
3. Frequent and consistent practice. I deadlift every day that I work out. If I am going to get good at one lift it will likely be the deadlift. I experiment with different set and rep schemes, but the one thing that never changes is that I am working the dead every day.

I am not what I would call gifted in the area of strength, and tons of people out there are doing 403# for multiple reps, but given the relatively short time I have dedicated to my current program (consistent since the beginning of November), I am very happy with these results. I will keep at it and fully expect to post a new PR every 4 weeks for several more cycles of this routine.

12/19/07

Warm-up:
3 rds-
5 wall squats
3 windmills L/R
7 pull-ups

TGU: 5 minutes with the 35# KB. Didn't even count reps.

Deads:
1-1-1-1-1
225-235-245-255-265

Tomorrow I have my day off and then I test on Friday. I especially hope I deadlift at least 385, but I haven't pulled a really heavy single in so long I have no idea what I'll be capable of.

12/18/07

Warm-up was wall squats, general messing around, drinking tea.

Man makers: 12 minutes alternating swings with jumping rope.

So far the easy week is very easy.

12/17/07

First day of the easy week. For lack of a better plan, I'm doing the Enter the Kettlebell option 1, with 5 minutes of get-ups and 12 minutes of man makers on alternating days. I'm also working in some speed deadlifts on the get-up days, and some pull-ups and push-ups as I feel like it. So far I'm thinking heavier on the pull-ups on the get-up day and more push-ups on the swings day. This week will only be three workouts before the test day, but I will probably do an extra man maker day on Saturday just to shake things out a bit. I will also plan on taking some walks as the opportunity arises, though those may have to wait for nicer weather.

TGU: just the bar for 5 minutes, alternating L/R for singles.
6 singles per arm

Pull-ups:
So far today I've done 4 sets of 7, I will do several more this evening in the GTG format

Deads:
1-1-1-1-1
223-223-223-223-223

What would you do if you had access to barbells only twice a week?

That is the question that has been constantly on my mind for the past several days. It's almost a year away, but travel season looms ahead, and I don't want to repeat the headaches of this past one. I had to drive up to an hour to get to a gym sometimes, and often I had to pay as much as $11 for the privelege of lifting heavy things off the floor and putting them overhead. With that in mind, I have been thinking of ways to train in the hotel room, and I have also been going over the different ways to maximize my two days a week with access to barbells. Obviously I need to pick the exercises that give me the best training effect without replicating movement patterns that I can do without a barbell. For this reason, overhead pressing is out, because HSPUs are an extremely effective way to improve overhead strength. Right now I am thinking of a workout I used to do once a week or so that had me working power cleans and deadlifts on the same day. I would do 5x5 power cleans, increasing the weight each set, then add still more weight and do the same with deadlifts. I would like to start these days off with overhead squats. It would be high volume training, but as the rest of the week would be devoted to bodyweight, kettlebell and dumbbell single limb stuff, etc, I think it is within reason. If I remember right, the routine outlined in Starting Strength (I'm too lazy to run upstairs and look at my copy to be sure, I must be turning into a powerlifter) has trainees working power cleans and deads after heavy back squats, so it's certainly doable. If this is my Friday workout, then perhaps the Saturday workout would consist of weighted pull-ups and squats with chains or box squats.

The rest of the days would be devoted to skill practice, KB work, and bodyweight drills. I will bring my 53# KBs on the road, as well as my rings, and any day I can hang the rings I will do so for some muscle-ups.

So, the program might look like this:


Monday:
-Planche practice
-Pistols- work up to a single with 106#
-TGU
-KB snatches and swings


Tuesday:
-Short bending
-Planch practice
-One arm push-ups
-KB clean and press

Wednesday:
-HSPU
-Planche practice
-Pistols or sprinting

Friday:
-Fighter pull-ups
-OHS
-Power clean
-Deadlift


Saturday:
-Squat with chains or box squat
-Weighted pull-ups

Obviously this is not an ideal program, and I might have some ideas to improve it over the next several months, but it is a start, and I think it will help me make the most of the circumstances. I will keep posting about this as my ideas evolve.

12/15/07

Last day of the three weeks today. Now we move to the easy week and a test day. I think I'll test on Friday this week, as Saturday happens to be my one year wedding anniversary. The test will be:
Standing broad jump
Max overhead press
Max deadlift
Max deadhang pull-ups
1200m run

Today's workout was an ok one. I still owe myself a few more pull-ups here. For the GPP portion I had intended to walk a few blocks, buy a Christmas tree and drag it home instead of the usual farmer carries, sledgehammer strikes or whatever else I would have done. Unfortunately the place where I've bought a tree for the past ten years or something no longer is having them, so all I got was the nice walk. No worries though, because we're expecting up to 16" of snow by tomorrow, so I will get some good snow shoveling in.

PTP deads:
5-5
290-260

These felt awesome. I had really good intensity, and the weight came up really smooth.

HSPU:
I did a set every minute for 21 minutes. For the first 6 minutes I was doing sets of 5, but soon realized that was a little too ambitious and scaled back to 3. Ended up with 75 total reps, all nose to deck and solid.

Pistols:
5-4-3-2-1 L/R
This was actually my first time to do 5 consecutive pistols per leg. I can't really call it a PR, because I've never attempted anything more than a double, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Pull-ups:
Did about 50 pull-ups. Wanted to do more, but obviously not bad enough to actually do them...

A new friend!

Had a nice 45 minute chat with the assistant wrestling coach at Wabash today. He's into a lot of the same stuff as me, and we spent a long time talking about training, various websites, my goal of competing in the TSC in April, his goal of getting his CrossFit level 1 certification this spring, etc. He's a cool guy to talk to, so I will stop back by when I get the chance. I would like to get permission to use the wrestling room for some workouts since they have rings, a tractor tire, climbing ropes and other amazing goodies.
He and I talked about the possiblity of training together sometime. Maybe he could come by the house some Saturday and we could push each other a bit. Could be pretty fun.

12/14/07

Wow. If you want to get made fun of at work just wear a Veggie Tales tie.
As to the day's training, it was pretty good, though it's been better, especially the power cleans.

Fighter pull-ups:
10-8-6-4-4

PTP deads:
5-5
283-253

Power cleans:
5-5-5-5-5
177-187-187-199-199
The sets at 199 felt harder than last week. I got them up, but they could have been crisper. Next three weeks I may have to change to 10 singles at 215 or so. I'm thinking singles on the minute.

OHS: (each set begins with a full squat snatch)
5-5-5-5-5
133-133-133-133-133

Session 2:
Warmup of various drills, halos, wall squats, etc.
20 snatches (10L/10R) density style, countdown of 1:30
total 5 cycles (100 snatches)

12/12/07

PTP deads:
5-5
278-248

Back squat w/chains
5-5-5-5-5
185-185-185-185-185

Presses: (One power clean to start each set)
2-2-2-2-2
153-153-153-153-153

Weighted pull-ups:
2-2-2-2-2
70-70-70-70-70

Sure enough, it's week 3 of 3 and weights that felt tough in the first session are easy now. The presses were no problem today, and the pull-ups were almost all TSC strict, save the final rep.

KB snatches:
2 sets of 20L/R

12/11/07

Today was at best an average day in the weight room. Never really felt like I got going, couldn't summon up much enthusiasm for my deadlifts, and didn't even get much out of the carrying I did at the end. When deads and carrying don't go well that's bad news, because those are usually some of my favorite things along with power cleans and overhead squats.

PTP deads:
5-5
273-243

C&J:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
133-153-177-177-177-199-199-187-187-187

Pull-ups: with 25#
5-4-3-2-1

Waiter walk + farmer carry combo:
Waiter walk L/R, farmer carry for perimeter of weight room
55# dbs for waiter walk, 80# for farmer carry

12/10/07

Good day today. I pulled maybe a little too heavy on my deads, but nobody got hurt, so I will just back off the weight tomorrow and take it from there, no harm done.

Fighter pull-up program:
10-8-6-4-2

PTP deads:
5-5
295-265

TGU:
1-1-1-1-1
65-65-65-65-65 (obviously this is 5 reps on each side)

Weighted pistols:
1-1-1-1-1
35-35-35-35-35 (5 reps on each leg, holding the 1 pood KB. I will be a real man when I can do a rep holding my pair of 53s.)

12/8/07

I am running out of plates for my weight set here at home. I have 295 pounds of plates, which means the heaviest I can go is 340. My max deadlift should be above that, so if I plan to test on the 22nd, I will need to pick up another pair of 45s. That would bring the total to 430, which would be a miracle at this point, but which is actually below my next major goal of 500 in the dead. I would really like to pull 500 at a TSC in the next year or two, depending when I can make it to one. Anyway, about my workout.

PTP deads:
5-5
290-260

HSPUs
Pistols
Pull-ups

I did a weird version of the big 55 program.
10 pistols (5L/5R)
10 HSPU
10 Pull-ups
9 HSPU
9 Pull-ups
...
6 HSPU
6Pull-ups
10 pistols
5 HSPU
5 Pull-ups
...
1 HSPU
1 Pull-up
10 Pistols

I really like doing these workouts that allow me to put in a lot of quality reps at an exercise but still keep the reps well within my ability. Seems to me to be a good way to build up to doing more and more.

KB swings: 6 minutes
5-4-3-2-1 swings (all reps done on both sides)
10 squat flip cleans
5-4-3-2-1 swings
10 figure 8 to hold
5-4-3-2-1 swings
10 squat flip cleans
5-2 (left hand only on the set of two)

102 swings plus the other stuff

Good day. I like having Saturday as my bodyweight day, since by the end of the week I've done so much barbell work. I like being back to the 5-5 deads, and I like skipping the front squats on Saturdays. I am looking forward to some dry weather (the sidewalks were pretty icy today) so I can implement the running.

Tweaking the Program/ New Kettlebells

My new kettlebells arrived today! I don't officially get to start working with them until Christmas Eve, but I did try them out just to be sure they aren't defective. I tested snatches to a comfortable stop and came up with 12L/12R. That is a long way from the RKC standard of 26 per arm, assuming I stay under 165. If I move up to the 176# class I will need 28 per arm. Not a huge difference, actually, so if I move up it's no big deal. I also tried a couple of two arm snatches, and a couple of two arm C&Ps. These are going to be a lot of fun.

In other news, I have begun messing with the Become a Beast program. Ultimately the goals of the program are to be strong as hell and be conditioned enough for the TSC, either this Spring or perhaps in the Fall. I would prefer not to wait until next spring, but Milwaukee is a bit of a hike. The main changes to the program are the addition of an organized pull-up program, changing up the conditioning a bit, backing off the 5-4-3-2-1 set and rep scheme for deads and moving back to 5-5, and dropping the PTP presses. I am also dropping the front squats from the mix on Saturdays in favor of sprinting or pistols if the weather is bad. The new program will look like this:

Monday: Medium
-Fighter pull-up program
-PTP deads
-Pistols
-TGUs
-KB snatches and swings (Medium)(following the program outlined in this article)

Tuesday: Light
-Pull-ups (3 sets of 10, a few sets weighted at 25#, or something)
-PTP deads
-C&J
-Farmer carries, waiter walks, sled dragging, whatever

Wednesday: Heavy
-PTP deads
-Squats with chains, alternating between back squat and front squat in 3 week cycles
-Press
-Weighted pull-ups
-KB snatches and swings (Hard)

Friday: Heavy
-Fighter pull-up program
-PTP deads
-Snatch or power snatch + OHS
-Power cleans
-KB snatches and swings (Easy)

Saturday: Medium
-PTP deads
-HSPUs
-Pistols or sprinting, depending on weather
-Some kind of push, drag or carry

12/7/07

Fighter Pull-up Program: 12-8-6-4-4
Still figuring this one out. Tomorrow I will do some pull-ups and next week I will start the program with 10-8-6-4-2 and work up from there. Starting at 12 just isn't happening for some reason.

PTP
Presses:
5-5
60-55

Deads:
5-5
283-253

Snatch drills w/ 89#, worked on split snatches a little bit.

OHS: (Each set preceded by a power snatch)
5-4-3-2-1
133-133-133-133-133

Power clean:
5-5-5-5-5
177-187-187-199-199

12/5/07

Session 1: 0615
PTP deads:
5-4-3-2-1
223-263-273-283-293

Back squat w/ chains:
5-5-5-5-5
185-185-185-185-185

Weighted pull-ups/Press: (one power clean precedes each set of two presses)
2/2-2/2-2/2-2/2-2/2
70/153-70/153-70/153-70/153-70/153

Lately I feel I am treading a fine line between going hard in my training and being stupid. I am glad for the day off tomorrow, and after this three week cycle is over I will reevaluate my training plan. I am thinking I should combine my snatch and OHS workout, leaving C&J on its own day, and I will definitely scrap the 5-4-3-2-1 set and rep scheme with the deads and go back to 5-5.

Session 2: 2015
Short warm-up of calisthenics and kettlebell drills

7 minutes of swings:
10L/10R/10B (Left, Right, Both)
9L/9R/10B
8L/8R/10B
...
4L/4R/10B
3L/3R/6B

Total: 52L+52R+106B= 180

12/4/07

Session 1: 0600
Snatch:
89# for 5 singles, 3 complexes of snatch, hang snatch and OHS

1-1-1-1-1
133-133-133-143-143

PTP deads:
5-4-3-2-1
223-253-563-273-283

Session 2: 1215
Pull-ups: still figuring out how best to integrate fighter pull-up program- didn't complete it today, so I think I will take a rest and do it to start my workout on Friday.
12-7-10-7

C&J: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
133-133-133-177-177-199-199-199-199-199

Farmer carry/ overhead carry combo:
Start in one corner with a pair of 50# dbs, overhead carry to next corner, put them down and walk back to starting point for 80# dbs, farmer carry to point where the 50's were left, now carry the 50's to the next corner, go back for the 80's, etc until a complete square around the whole weight room has been completed with both sets of dbs.

12/3/07

Session 1: 0445
Fighter pull-up program: 12-10-8-6-4

PTP presses: 5-4-3-2-1
45-50-55-60-65

Deads: 5-4-3-2-1
225-245-255-265-275

Kb Snatches: dice roll came up snake eyes! 2 minutes snatches switch on one minute
21L/23R

Session 2: 1215
Windmills: 45# bar 3 per side

TGU:
85# L- fail R- got up but not back down
75# L- got up but not down R- complete, but ugly
65# 1-1-1-1-1 L/R

Pistols:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 L/R w/ bodyweight only

12/1/07

Today's workout called for front squats and headstand push-ups. I absolutely couldn't face the idea of going heavy on the front squats, so I did Dan John's Big 55 workout. I used 135# front squat, HSPUs and pull-ups in the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 set and rep scheme. This is a good format for the bodyweight stuff, but it was actually fairly easy. If I do it again I should at least do bodyweight on the front squats. I may use this format with my pistols on Monday though, because the HSPUs felt just right, and HSPUs and pistols could both handle a lot more volume. We'll see, I may still decide to do the pistols weighted. When I get my new kettlebells I will definitely be knocking out some weighted pistols...

PTP deads:
5-4-3-2-1
225-265-275-285-295

Big 55 as above

Conditioning:
As a second workout I set the timer and did as many circuits as I could in 8 minutes of-
10 swings L/10 swings R
15 squat flip cleans
20 figure 8 to hold

Got 2 full rounds plus swings and 10 squat flip cleans into 3rd round

(Obviously) the kb stuff is still with the 16kg, but when I get my pair of 24kg bells I guess I will have to be better about being specific.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I ordered a pair of 24kg kettlebells last night as a Christmas present to myself. The 24kg was the standard issue size in Soviet military gyms, or "courage corners." I can now train like a man among men, doing weighted pistols, two handed snatches, swings and c&j for my conditioning, and just generally have a lot of fun. Can't wait!

Progress and Lessons Learned

Dan John says all training is complementary, and I've lately been noticing this in my own training. Recently I've been blowing my old marks out of the water in both overhead squat and the full squat snatch. It seems that when I started drilling the snatch more and getting better I got stronger in the OHS, and now as I OHS more and more I'm able to stay together better in my snatches. The lift just keeps getting easier.
Another "tip" that I've picked up is that my OHS sets go much better when I start each set with a full squat snatch as opposed to starting out of the rack. This is a bit counterintuitive because one might think that starting out of the rack would make me fresher for my set, but whether it's just being in the most natural position for having snatched the weight first or what, it just works for me.
A hard lesson to learn was that I need an extremely long warm-up before I snatch. It's tough, because I like to aggressivley squeeze a lot of work into my hour of gym time, but I've realized that without extensive drilling at 89# to warm up I just don't make my attempts. I suspect the reason is that I'm lifting 5 days a week right now and lifting in the morning when I haven't had a day's activity to limber me up.

11/30/07

I love doing overhead squats and powercleans, so Fridays are about guaranteed to be good days for lifting. Today, however, was even better than usual. I put up PR numbers in both lifts.

Warm-up:
Snatch 89# for 5 singles
3 reps of snatch drill where one rep = 1 snatch + 1 hang snatch + 1 overhead squat
all with 89#

OHS:
3-3-3-3-3 (1 snatch to start each set)
143-143-143-143-143

Powerclean:
5-5-5-5-5
177-187-187-197-197

PTP deads:
5-4-3-2-1
223-253-263-273-288

Didn't really have the side presses after the OHS

11/28/07

I started an experiment today with the deads. I was re-reading PTP last night and got to thinking about Pavel's recommendation that reps be kept to a total of no more than 10 on the work sets. From here on out I will keep the first set of 5 low and will not increase that weight during cycles. The set of 4 will increase and will be the first work set.
Deads:
5-4-3-2-1
223-243-253-263-273

Back squat w/ chains:
5-5-5-5-5
185-185-185-185-185

The chains might add 40# to the top of the lift. I need to weigh them, because really that's just a swag.

Press: (one powerclean precedes each set of presses)
2-2-2-2-2
153-153-153-153-153

Weighted pull-ups:
2-2-2-2-2
70-70-70-70-70

Presses and Pull-ups were supersetted.

I will keep the weight constant on squats, presses and pull-ups for at least the next two weeks. My goal is to perform all reps perfectly. Today was fine, but not every rep was as strict as I'd like. In particular, I want to work on constant tension in all three lifts. I have to work on pulling myself down in the squat, and ensuring that each pull-up is with shoulders back and down and a TSC strict throat or chest touch to the bar, and in the press I need to focus on squeezing the hell out of the bar and actively pulling it down to chest level.

I finished out the workout with farmer carries using 80# dbs. This lasted about 3 minutes and covered about 100-150 meters.

Later in the day I did my conditioning workout. I warmed up with 23 minutes of kettlebell and bodyweight drills. First I did the 20/50 pull-ups/push-ups program as described in an earlier post. Then I did wall facing squats, tactical lunges, figure eight to a hold, maxercist rows, windmills, etc.

The dice roll came up a 7, so I did one arm swings 10L/10R for a total of 120 in the first 6 minutes, taking it pretty easy. During the last minute I went all out and got a total of 40 more swings by switching arms every 2 reps.

11/27/07

Not my greatest day in the weightroom from a weightlifting standpoint. I'm kind of proud of myself though, because I gutted this one out. I had planned to warm up a bit, do my deadlifts, take a few practice reps and start going heavy on my snatch. However, my plan started to fall apart when I repeatedly missed my attempt at 138. After only minimal fuming and cursing, I put 89 on the bar and started drilling. I did 5 doubles in the full squat snatch, then did 3 reps of the following dill that I got from a Dan John article- 1 full squat snatch + 1 hang snatch + 1 overhead squat = 1 rep.
Eventually I got back under a little bit heavier weight and snatched 148 for a single.
It would have been easy today to just skip the snatches, hit some heavy clean and jerks and then knock out a bunch of pull-ups or something so I could walk away feeling good about the weights put up and the volume put under my belt, (figuratively only, I lift completely raw). Rather, I stuck with the lift, fixed my form issues. (I wasn't aggressively settling under the bar, as I realized when I started the OHS portion of the drill.) I didn't have time to really work any C&J, and I missed out on my conditioning work, but I'm glad I stuck with the snatch. I attacked my weakness, always a good strategy, and I'll get plenty more opportunites to clean and jerk.

PTP deads:
5-4-3-2-1
233-238-248-253-258

Snatch:
1-1-1
138-143-148

C&J:
1-1
148-177

11/26/07

First day on the new programming. I did the pistols and TGUs. I think this workout will become a progression where I work up to 5 heavy singles at a weight on the TGUs, then move those up to doubles, then move the weight up for more singles. As far as the pistols, I need to start adding more volume on them to get better. I will try to add them to my warmups, and eventually I will probably use ladders in this workout.

Warmup:
5 minutes kb practice

PTP:
Deads- 5-4-3-2-1
230-235-240-245-250

Side press- 5-4-3-2-1
55-60-65-70-75

TGUs and pistols: 6 of each on each side, TGUs with just the bar

Conditioning: swings and deadhangs- 5 pull-ups after every 40 one hand swings (total time 5 minutes)
81 swings, 10 pull-ups

Not a terrible first day. I want to go heavy tomorrow.

The Become a Beast Program

I had thought I would stick with the strength program of the past few weeks a bit longer, but some changes in my schedule led me to dream up a new format. It will look a lot like what I've been doing, but the exercise pairings, set and rep schemes, etc. have been altered by necessity. The main force behind this change is the fact that I will now be working out at home on Mondays as well as Saturdays. I will still be training in the morning on the days I train at home, so I have to do things that are relatively quiet so as not to wake the wife and daughter. I have also given up the illusion of reserving a day for conditioning only. Only one thing really matters to me right now, and that is getting strong. For that reason the conditioning will be kept quite short, and if the lifting portion of a workout runs the whole hour, there will be no conditioning that day. Other than that, the schedule is- as Pavel puts it- "same but different." I plan to maintain this for 3 weeks at a time, then drop volume and intensity and come back for another 3 weeks for as many cycles as it yields gains. Gains will be measured by a testing day on the Saturday following the easy week. The test is still being formulated, but will probably involve max deadlift (or maybe 2RM), a pressing test, and maybe max dead hang pull-ups. I have also kicked around the idea of a standing broad jump. We'll see in 3 weeks.

Anyway, here's the new plan:
Every Day: Deadlifts using 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 set and rep scheme
Days 1 and 4: One arm press using 5,4,3,2,1 set and rep scheme

Day 1: (Monday)
TGU
Pistols
This will be a relatively high volume day. I'm contemplating warming up with 10 minutes of kettlebell and bodyweight practice, then going for 30-40 minutes alternating between one TGU on each arm and two pistols on each leg, increasing the weight as I am able. The TGUs will be with the Olympic bar, so that's already relatively hard to maintain for a long time. I may back off and use the kb if this turns out to be too much. I will then take a 5 minute break before the conditioning portion.
Conditioning: swings

Day 2: (Tuesday)
Snatch
C&J
The O-lifts will take on many different forms. I may go for heavy singles, ladders, complexes, etc. as I had been doing previously.
Conditioning: bodyweight ladders, EDT, etc.

Day 3: (Wednesday)
Back squats w/ chains or box squats
Weighted pull-up/ Press supersets
This should be a relatively slow and heavy day. Mainly upper body to reflect the fact that if all goes according to plan I will be about half dead from Monday and Tuesday. Hence the optional conditioning.
Conditioning: either do swings as a second workout of the day or let it go

Day 4: (Friday)
OHS
Powerclean
The OHS will be working toward a goal of 15 reps at bodyweight, but I have a long way to go before then. The powercleans are working up to a goal of 225 for reps.
Conditioning: Tabatas

Day 5: (Saturday)
Front squat
HSPU
Sets and reps will vary. Probably a lot of medium singles in the Front squat to work on proper recruitment. HSPUs are likely to be a lot of ladders.
Conditioning: kb snatches

11/24/07

Started out with 20 minutes of kettlebell and bodyweight practice, mixing it up between wall squats, unanchored sit-ups, chair push-ups, pull-ups, squat flip cleans, maxercist rows, one legged deadlifts, windmills, one footed presses, tactical lunges, etc. At the end of the 20 minutes I worked in my PTP deads.

Deads 5-5
255-230

Front squat:
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3
used 245 for all

Press: (One powerclean to start each set)
1-2-3-1-2-2(F3)-1-1-1
150 for all

5 minute snatch test
106 (PR)

I will need to stick with the same weights for my front squats and presses next week. Although I got all the reps on the front squats, my form was barely passing, and I know I wouldn't be able to move up next week. The snatches felt pretty good. I am eager to get a 53# kb and see what I can do.

11/23/07

Today I remembered how hard it is to do overhead squats with the bar I have, so I switched the workout to pistols and hang power snatches.

Warmup:
3 rds-
5 one legged deadlifts with 35# kettlebell
10 perfect pull-ups (shoulders really retracted, slow throughout)\
5 wall squats

PTP:
Deads 5-5
250-225

Presses 5-5
60-55

1-2-1-2-1-2 pistols

2-2-2-2-2-2 hang power snatch
115-115-115-115-115-115

Later in the day I downloaded the special supplement to Enter the Kettlebell and spent 20 minutes practising some of the drills. I did tactical lunges, squat flip cleans, bottoms up clean and presses, crush curls, figure eight to a hold, hand to hand cleans and in between drills I would throw in 15 push-ups off chairs or 5 perfect pull-ups. This didn't tire me out at all, as I stopped each set well short of being "smoked."

11/21/07

Made up a little complex for my snatch workout today. One rep is 1 squat snatch + 1 overhead squat + 1 snatch balance. This got the blood moving and was just the right level for today.

PTP Deads 5-5
240-225

Side press 3-3-3
75-65-65

Snatch complex from above
1-1-1-1-1
135-135-135-135-135

Clean & Jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
199-199-199-199-199-199-199

Tabata pull-ups
lowest was a 6

11/20/07

Lifted on my lunchbreak. It was ok, but I prefer the morning.

Density push-ups: 12 on the minute for 8 minutes, got 9 deep into the 9th minute

TGU: with the barbell
1-1-1-1
45-55-55-55

Tabata front squats: 95#
lowest was 5

11/19/07

I almost didn't get to lift today. First I decided not to lift in the morning because I didn't go straight to the office and I didn't want to lift at home because it would have woken Annie and Anja. Then I didn't do it at lunch because I mistakenly believed I had a meeting, so I thought I wouldn't have time. Finally I did get to lift, but it was the last part of the day instead of the first and now I'm getting to bed a bit later than I would have liked.

Warm up:
3 rds of
5 pull-ups
8 kettlebell snatches
5 feet elevated diamond push-ups
1 deadlift (ramping up from 145 to 235)

PTP Deads 5-5
235-215

5-5-5-4-3-2-1 Back squat
185-205-225-225-225-225-225

5-5-5-5-5 Powerclean
155-175-175-185-185

Side Press 3-3-3
75-75-75

The p-cleans are finally approaching my limit for 5 reps. I may try to get up to 195 for one set next week, then hold steady and try to get at least 3 sets at 195 before upping the top weight again. No conditioning today, was going to try out my new Hungarian Core Blaster, but I had already done a lot of big pulls, so maybe a different time.

11/18/07

Today I did Saturday's (yesterday's) workout on Sunday. I didn't manage to fit it in yesterday because for some reason I ended up working more than I do on most week days.
Anyway...
Warm up:
3 rds of
5 wall squats
5 halos
5 windmills

PTP:
5-5 Deads
250-225

Front squat:
1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3
all with 240#

Press:
1-2-3 (12 pull-ups) 1-2-3 (12 pull-ups) 1-2-3 (12 pull-ups)
all with 145

Today I also decided to start each set of presses with a powerclean. It's really a pretty light powerclean, and I love doing them. They have been called the "king of the weight room" because they teach the violent hip extension that is central to ppractically every sport, so why not sneak them in?

5 minute snatches with the 35# kettlebell
101
Not quite a PR, but a decent effort. I experimented with some different length sets. next time I should just stick with 5.

The quick and easy guide to 20 deadhang pull-ups

For my conditioning today I warmed up with a little drill I used to do every morning and evening about two summers ago. This was the trick that allowed me to knock out 20-25 deadhangs and 60-75 push-ups so long as I had a day's rest before, and often even without that. This was in addition to at least one workout and often two daily, usually the CrossFit WOD plus running or heavy lifting two or three times a week.
Basically, the idea is you do deadhang pull-ups to Pavel's "comfortable stop" and immediately drop and do push-ups. The number of push-ups to do is calculated by multiplying the number of pull-ups by 2.5. Immediately upon finishing the push-ups, you get back on the bar and do pull-ups so that the total of the 2 sets of pull-ups is 20, and then do push-ups so that the total of the two sets is 50.
Rest between sets should be kept at a minimum. At most maybe a few quick breaths and a few seconds of shaking out the limbs should suffice. The goal here is to accomplish the work fairly quickly, so that even a second set of 3 pull-ups feels hard.
When you get to the point where you can get 20 pull-ups and 50 push-ups fairly routinely, bump the pull-ups up by 5 and the multiplier up by .5. Now you will be doing 25 deadhangs and 75 push-ups in two sets per exercise.
An example session might look like this:
Set one: 15 pull-ups followed by 38 push-ups
Set two: 5 pull-ups followed by 12 push-ups
As you can see, in this example the athlete would have to decide how to split up the push-ups, since 15 times 2.5 is 37.5. Basically it's not important at all how one decides to split this up as long as the total of the two sets of push-ups is 50. This is because being able to do a lot of push-ups was not a goal of mine when I designed this program.
If you have a goal of doing a lot of pull-ups there are a lot of programs out there. I have had good luck in the past with Grease the Groove, density training, weighted pull-ups etc. The main advantage to this program was that it allowed me to train as fresh as possible as often as possible while practicing conditions that closely mimic the test I wanted to perform. When I tested for 20 pull-ups, I was already used to struggling through the last 5 or so reps, so there was no mental barrier that made me want to drop off the bar before I was truly "done."
I hope this program helps you achieve your goals as it helped me achieve mine.

11/16/07

Today was one of those 20% days in the weight room. (Pareto's law: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. If you can't figure out how this relates to training you need to read more articles by Dan John) I cranked out some nasty overhead squats, and the weight I chose for weighted pull-ups felt ridiculously easy.

PTP:
Deadlift 5-5
245-220

One arm press:
3-5
75-65

5-5-5-5-5 Overhead squats (each set starts with a full squat snatch)
135-135-135-135-135

1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Weighted pull-ups
70-70-70-70-70-70-70

5 rds:
10 sit-ups
3 ground base jammer w/ 2 plates per side

Overall a great day today. I wish they were all like this.

Conditioning:
After dinner I warmed up with 20 deadhangs and 50 push-ups split into two sets. See the post above for a detailed explanation.

Long cycle: 5 minutes, 70 reps. Nothing really went right here. I accidentally set the timer for 5 minutes instead of 6, my pacing was off by 1rpm, and I felt like I might throw up my lasagna the entire time.

Swings: Decided to roll three dice to see how many sets of 10 swings to do. Came up with 13, so I did 130 swings in sets of 10 with almost full recovery between sets. Again, I felt like I might lose my lasagna, but the swings felt snappy and smooth.

11/14/07

Today I lucked out on my dice roll and only had to do 3 minutes of swings. I set a PR with the 35# kettlebell by doing about 76 consecutive swings without stopping. The rest of the workout went well also. If I had been working out at Wabash rather than at home I might have been a tad more aggressive with the heavy o-lifting, but I still felt pretty good about the weights I put up. Annie is sick of hearing this from me, but there are few things more satisfying than picking up a heavy object and putting it overhead.

PTP:
5-5 Deads
240-215

5-5 One arm db press
68-58

Snatch:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
135-135-135-135-135-135-135

Bear complex: (where 1 rep equals 1 full squat clean + 1 front squat + 1 split jerk + 1 back squat + 1 behind the neck jerk)
1-1-1-1-1-1
155-165-175-185-185-185

Swings:
100 in 3 minutes, put the bell down twice

11/13/07

Well, after a brief hiatus brought about by the birth of my daughter, it is time to hit the weights again. Today I took it fairly easy on the back squats, but upped the total load on my 5x5 power cleans and added a minute to my long cycle clean and jerks.

To warm up I did-
5 rds:
10 jumping jacks
10 push-ups
10 sit-ups

And added 10 pull-ups on rounds 1,3 and 5

For the workout I started with the PTP deadlifts:
5-5
235-210

Back squat:
Took a few singles to warm up, then
3-3-3
225-225-225

Power clean
5-5-5-5-5
155-165-175-175-175

Note that on multiple rep deadlifts it is actually just a string of singles with virtually no rest between reps. I stand up and completely reset after each rep, because the deadlift actually has no eccentric, or lowering, portion.

After dinner I finished things off with long cycle clean and jerks with the 35# kettlebell.
I got 74 total reps in 5 minutes, so about 15 rpm.
I ended with 25 snatches on each side with the 35# bell. This was nowhere near a max effort, but it does give me some idea what I might be able to approach in a true max attempt, especially since this came after a good hard workout.

Final note: While waiting for Annie and Anja Louise to be ready for bed, I was reading some stuff by Eugen Sandow and got inspired to knock out some one arm dumbbell presses. I did two sets of 5 on each arm. The first set was at 68# and the second set was with 58#.

11/7/07

In the hotel "gym" I did 5 rounds of the following complex:
5 dumbbell deadlifts
5 db hang power cleans
5 db front squats
5 db push press

I used the 45# dbs, and it was a fairly good workout considering the light weights

Later in the hotel room I did long cycle clean and jerks with the 1 pood kb. I counted 63 reps in 4 minutes, switching hands every 5 reps, so this is just under 16 rpm. I had not meant to increase rpm, so I will have to watch that. I also did 3 sets of 30 swings.

11/6/07

Another day working out in the hotel room. In the morning I did a brief PT session consisting of 3 rounds:
20 jumping jacks
10 wall facing squats (stretch, very difficult to describe)
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups (diamond, feet elevated and regular)

In the evening I warmed up with 2 rounds:
5 wall facing squats picking up 1 pood kb
5 halos left, 5 halos right with 1 pood kb
5 dive bomber push-ups

then a workout of:
3 minutes of long cycle clean and jerks (1 pood kb)

got 44 reps, so about 15 rpm

3 sets of 10 snatches

I have more or less decided to make the kb my primary conditioning tool for the time being, as the main concern currently is with developing strength. As anyone can tell you, developing world class conditioning is far easier to do than building real strength. Strength takes far more time to build and building strength requires more discipline than conditioning. With this in mind, I will not pay much attention to conditioning. Rather, my strength workouts will potentiate conditioning gains by making bodyweight and weights for conditioning workouts that much easier to move.

11/5/07

Today was a deviation from the plan in that I was working out in a hotel "exercise room" and was limited by equipment. They had dumbbells up to 45 pounds, so that's what I used.
I did 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 step-ups with 2x45# dbs, as well as 5-5-5-5-5 one arm snatches with the 45# db and clean and jerks with the 45# dbs. For conditioning I did 8 minutes of swings with the 1 pood kb. Total was 170 swings in 8 minutes, or about 21 swings per minute.

11/3/07

Following the usual Saturday program, I did 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 front squats and presses. The front squats were done with 235 and the presses were done with 140. After every 3rd set of presses I did 11 dead hang pull-ups. My PTP deadlifts were done with 225 and 205, and I completed 103 snatches in 5 minutes with the 1 pood kettle bell. The weight will move up for next week. Overall this was a good day. The snatches were a PR. I switched hands every 5 reps, which has been working well lately.

New Program

I am writing my own programming again because right now I can't be tied down to someone else's workouts. My program is as follows:
Saturday will always be the same. I will do 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 front squats and presses followed by 2 sets of 5 deadlifts as outlined in Power to the People and 5 minute kettlebell snatches.

The rest of the week I will try to go heavy 3 times a week, leaving one day for some technique work to improve my o-lifts and and a longer conditioning session, which will usually be one of the CrossFit girls or Hero workouts.
The heavy days will look like this:
Day 1: Back squats and power cleans followed by a short conditioning session (metcon- metabolic conditioning)
Day 2: Snatch, C&J followed by a short metcon
Day 3: Skill work, girl or hero workout
Day 4: OHS and weighted pull-ups followed by a longer metcon

Every heavy day will include the PTP deadlifts. Right now I am thinking of a wave cycle of 3 steps forward, 2 back. Ideally, day 1 will be Monday, day 2 will be Tuesday day 3 will be Wednesday and day 4 will be Friday.

Working out when on the road

This was an interesting week for training. I completed three workouts in as many gyms, and experiences ranged from great to lousy. On Monday I trained at Indiana University's SRSC. They charged me $6 for the experience, and the facility was surprisingly lousy. They had one squat rack, several bench variations, a big rack of fixed weight EZ-curl bars, and a set of dumbells. The pull-up bars were on the pulley stations, and the o-lifting platform and bumpers were wedged in behind the benches.
The next day I saw a much better facility at Bloomington South High School. The majority of the weightroom was taken up by about 12 o-lifting platforms and squat racks, and there were plenty of Ivanko bumpers to go around. There was even chalk available, and though I didn't see where they were kept, I noticed some students working with kettlebells. This was by far the nicest facility I trained in this week, and it was built to serve a population about 5% as big as the student body at IU.
Wednesday did not start out well. I asked if I could lift at Wood Memorial High School in Oakland City, but the Athletic Director said I couldn't because of liability. This is about as lame a reason as you can give for not wanting to be nice to a person, but I won't go into that here. I next swung by Oakland City University and was happy to be told that I could use their facilities. Happy, that is, until I saw the facilities. It was all machines. I'm sorry, but I train for performance and health. I left.
Then I came upon a place called Dye's Gym, also in Oakland City. Here I was able to train in a good basic facility with a nice plywood platform, adequate pull-up bar and a good amount of barbells and dumbbells for the price of $5.
The award for best gym goes to South High, while the worst gym goes to Oakland City University. Least friendly people were at Wood Memorial High. I will never travel to that school again.

10/3/07

From the Performance Menu
Front squat - 75% x 3 x 5
Clean Pull - 90% x 3, 95% x 3, 100% x 3 (% of best clean)
Rack jerk behind the neck - work up to heavy single

3 rounds for time of:
20 KB swings
20 Pull-ups
20 Windshield Wipers (sub lying hip swing)

Front Squat: 185x3x5
Clean Pull: 190x3, 200x3, 210x3
Rack Jerk: start at 135 and work up to 205, also got 215 overhead, but I pressed it out

3 rounds for time of:
20 x55# db swings
20 pull-ups
10 lying hip swings

9:42

10/2/07

Muscle snatch - 3 x 3 - work up to a heavy triple
Hang power snatch - 5 x 2 - stay light and work on speed and technique. straps fine.

3 rounds for time of:
50 m sprint
10 box jumps
20 cross chops

Muscle snatch: 88-98-108
Also did a triple at 118, but didn't count it because form was questionable.

Hang power snatch: 88x2x5
These felt crisp and blinding fast.

3 rds for time of:
30 step-ups onto 8" box
10 24" box jumps
20 cross chops with a 25# plate

5:23

10/1/07

Back squat - 75% x 3 x 5
Snatch deadlift - triples up to 100% x 3 (% of snatch)
Push press - 5 x 3 - work up to heaviest triple
Turkish Get-up sit--ups - 30% BW x 5/side x 3
Pull-ups (deadhang) - 3 x max reps

Snatch deadlift percentage is based on your best snatch, unless your snatch is considerably low relative to your pulling strength; in this case, take the final set of DLs to a tough but manageable triple.

Back Squat: Warm-up 135 to 195 in increments of 20lbs. 205x3x5
Snatch DL: 135-155-175-195-215
TGU sit-up: 50x5x2, 50x3x1
DB Push Press 3-3-3-3-3,
50-60-70-75-80
Pull-ups: 15-9-9

Well, this was the 1st day of the Performance Menu workouts. They did not disappoint. I am looking forward to the next few weeks and to evaluating my progress.

9/29/07

From the Performance Menu
Snatch
Clean & Jerk

Take each lift up to a single that's approaching heavy, but completely manageable. Then drop 10% and take another single; then drop another 10% and take 2 singles.

4 rounds of:
30 Russian twists
10 overhead sit-ups

Warmed up with 3 minutes of rowing and some mobility drills.

Snatch: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
89-89-89-94-99-104-109-114-119-124-124-124-114-104

Clean & Jerk: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
133-143-153-163-173-187-173-163

2 rounds of:
20 Russian twists
7 overhead sit-ups

Had to modify the ab circuit because I almost never do any serious ab work. This will probably be up Rx'd status in the next month or so.

9/28/07

Warmup: 4-2-1-1 TGU/ weighted pull-up
35-45-55-60

Workout: Max out Back Squat 1-1-1-1-1
135-185-225-245-265
Snatch Drill- 1 snatch and 3 OHS for 8 all with 89#

Don't really know what happened on the back squats. Maybe a high gravity day or something. I woke up yesterday and today with some weird soreness in my lower back, so maybe that slowed me down a little. Either way, an embarrassing effort.
I will go ahead and use 265 for the workout on Monday, and next time I take a taper week it will look a little different. More box squats and power cleans, for instance.

A Recipe for the Working Man

A tasty lunch that I can whip up in my cubicle is the Barbecue Tuna Wrap. To make this delectable dish you will need:
-A 7oz package of tuna in water. I like the pouches because they are already drained.
-Tortillas.
-Barbecue sauce.

All you have to do is put about half the tuna on a tortilla and cover liberally with barbecue sauce, then roll and eat! After you finish the first one, repeat. They are delicious and filling, and if you eat a piece of fruit with them it makes a nice lunch.

9/26/07

Warm-up consisted of pull-ups and sit-ups as well as putting the dumbbells in order. I can't stand to see a dumbbell rack that's all out of order, and since people are usually the laziest when it comes to putting back the heavier bells, putting everything in its proper place can actually be a fun and utilitarian component to a warm-up.

Workout: 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 one arm dumbbell snatch each set is left followed by right
35-40-45-50-55-60-65-65-65-60-55-50-45-40-35

3-3-3-3-3 dumbbell bench press
70-80-90-85-80

Another easy day. Can't wait for the 1st.

It's coming...

From the Performance Menu yesterday.
"Some questions have been circulating about the upcoming WOD schedule. For at least the first 16 weeks, we will train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; Thursday and Sunday will be rest days."

That's almost MY exact training schedule!

From the Performance Menu today.
"For those who will be training early in the morning and are concerned about getting the day's workout in time, fear not. You can access the next day's workout by clicking the tomorrow link at the top of the page."

I train early in the morning! It's like this is directed specifically at me!

Earlier those who were contemplating trying the Performance Menu WOD were advised to taper this week and test 1RM back squat on Friday the 28th. I think I'm going to do it. I hadn't planned to go heavy this week, but this is too tempting. I will take Saturday as an extra recovery day, maybe just grease the groove with muscleups or something.

9/25/07

Day two of my easy microcycle. Warmup consisted mainly of screwing around doing various sit-ups, squat variations, windmills, etc. Every once in a while I realize that flexibility in the sense that most people think of it (i.e. being able to touch you toes) is not a strong point. It's easy to forget because the flexibility needed for lifting heavy things is so different from flexibility as most people think of it.

Workout: 7 rds of 7 pull-ups, 7 sandbag thrusters
6:07

This was just about right. I changed my mind at the last minute and used the sandbag instead of dumbbells because it sounded more fun, and normally it would be too light for me to use, so the easy week was my one chance.

9/24/07

Easy day today. Did one arm clean and two presses, where clean and press press counts as one rep.1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-140-45-50-55-60-(65x5)-60-55-50-45-40Finished with 4 sets of 10 sit-ups and 3 sets of 10 deadhang pull-ups. This was exactly what I intended it to be- a nice easy day in the weightroom. Interestingly, taking it easy in training takes far more discipline for me than going hard, so I hope I will resist the temptation to add more work than I had scheduled for myself. The main thing will be to avoid squats and deadlifts.

Today begins a week of half-speed days for some extra recovery before hitting it hard again. Tentative schedule:
Monday: One arm clean and press press
Tuesday: 7 rds of 7 pull-ups and 7 thrusters with 25# dbs
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: One arm snatch and dumbbell bench
Friday: 20 minute row and 10 minutes of 5 pull-ups and 5 clapping push-ups
Saturday: 20-30 minutes of kettlebell juggling and running

Next week the training will get serious again. In other news, the Performance Menu will be posting a WOD beginning on Oct. 1st. I'm interested to see what that will look like.