Front Squat

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 8 Day 3

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Alex came over and lifted at 5. I can really feel the CS Plyo from yesterday in my shoulders and those good mornings in my hamstrings.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Handstand Holds
45# Snatch Positions
2x2x75# Snatch

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
1×160#
Fx170#
Fx180#
1×180#
2xFx190#
1×190#
Fx195#
Fx200#
4xFx205#

Not a very good day as you can see by all of the misses. I think this is only the 3rd time I hit 190#, so that felt good. I did get 205# in a high pull before giving up on the first rep and then had it overhead the next 3 reps, just couldn’t get it stabilized in position. If I was able to PR today, that was going to be the end of the snatch in the program for me. Looks like I need to give it a go again next week when I’m rested. Third consecutive day of lifting isn’t that conducive to setting a PR, but I’ll take the mental win of knowing I can get the weight overhead no problem.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
1×205#
1×215#
1×235#

Was feeling pretty good until the 235#. I didn’t get me elbows up under quick enough, so it was a struggle to stand it up with my arms supporting a lot of the weight. Then I just had nothing left for the jerk and missed it.

2×185#
2×215#
2×250#
2×265#
2×275#
2×280#

I missed the last rep again! The first rep felt pretty fast, so I thought I had it.

Snatch Deadlift

2×210#
2×235#
2x2x250#

Damn that was heavy! Instead of doing 5x2x190 from the program I went with the weights Kevin had programmed for Alex. Maybe that’ll be the difference for my snatch next week!

Was supposed to do a 10 minute EMOM of 30 unbroken double unders, but I don’t need to bury myself. I need some rest! I’m going to make some adjustments to the program to lighten the load for days 4 and 5 since I’m going to max my C&J on Monday instead of doing both lifts next Thursday like they have set. No way I’d have enough in the tank to go for C&J after snatches.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 7 Day 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Lifted with Kevin and Alex over at Kevin’s garage at 4:30pm.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation at home before heading over
Band stretches
45# Snatch Position Work

Jerk Footwork

I did the drill somewhere between 5 and 10 times.

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
1×160#
4x1x170#

Felt really good today. Not close to missing anything except the last rep where I got a little extra into it and nearly lost it too high and too far back.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
1×205#
4x1x215#

Best jerk day yet!

Front Squat

2×185#
2×215#
2×250#
2×280#
1×295#
1×310#

Failed to match my PR with 310#. Bottomed the fuck out and had no chance. I think it has become more mental than anything else at this point with my front squats.

Conditioning

8 Rounds (Tabata)

20s Burpees
10s Rest

My goal was to alternate between 8 and 7 each round. Had to make an adjustment in round 7. Ended up going 8-7-8-7-8-7-7-8, with that last rep coming just after time ran out. So close!

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 6 Day 3

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Woke up a little sore today, probably mostly from Monday. Lifting with Alex out in the garage at noon.

Warm-up

3 Rounds NFT

3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# DB)

Haven’t done TGU in a long time. Took breaks between rounds, because 6 in a row got the lungs working.

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
1×160#
1×170#
4x1x180#

Made the first 180# lift, but failed the next two, so added a 4th rep to try and end on a positive note. Missed it too. Not bad misses, just a little forward and probably should have dropped under more on reps 2 and 4. Rep 3 I should have missed backwards but I got uncomfortable and pulled it forward for the miss.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
1×205#
1×215#
3x1x230#

Made everything. Cleans are feeling really good and made some progress with the jerks today. Last two reps were a little iffy, but the other jerks felt solid. I was starting to push myself under more, even at the heavy weights.

Front Squat

2×185#
2×215#
2×250#
2×265#
2×270#
2×275#

Last two sets were programmed to be at 280 but I keep missing that last rep, so I dialed it down today, especially with the heavier cleans now. Still wasn’t easy.

Seated Good Mornings

4×155#
4×165#
4×175#
4×185#
4×195#
4×200#

200# is the heaviest I’ve gone.

Split up the day. Headed out to Survival Fitness for the first time since December 15th to open gym at 8pm. Brent joined me and Matt did some of the rowing with us.

Warm-up

500m Row

Skill

2:00 AMRAP: Shoulder touches
Rest 2:00
2:00 AMRAP: Ring Dips

Switched from DU to ring dips since we did a bunch of DU last night. Had to scale the shoulder touches with my feet up on about a 14 inch box and then walked the hands in trying to get to vertical. I did 114 shoulder touches and 32 ring dips. Did 3×5 strict, a set of 5 kipping and then had to start going to 3s and 2s.

Conditioning

1k Row
Rest 4:00
500m Row
Rest 2:00
250m Row
Rest 1:00
125m Row

I added the 250m and 125m to get in some extra, since tomorrow is a rest day and Friday is a lighter day. My splits were 3:30.7, 1:42.3, 49.1, and 22.8. Wasn’t breaking any PRs on the 1k or 500, but it was good high intensity work for the 2nd session of the day.

Update: That 1k row turned out to be a 5 second PR!

Bring on rest day and hopefully a massage!

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 5 Day 4

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting.

Made a quick trip up to Rogers City yesterday to meet my new niece. Jumped on Dad’s Air Dyne before hitting the road back home.

Conditioning

20:00 Air Dyne at 50-60% effort

Kept my RPM just below 60 on the AD2 and finished with 330 calories, which is pretty close since I’ve done 340 in 10 minutes before. Good way to start the day.

Lifted at 3:30 with Alex in the garage.

Warm-up

Band pass-thrus
45# Snatch Position Work
75# Muscle Snatches and Snatch Presses

Power Snatch from below knee

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
5x1x160#

Felt a little slow and missed the 4th rep at 160#.

Power Clean from below knee & Push Jerk

2×130#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
5x1x205#

Alex told me to be faster with the push jerks and it really helped.

Front Squat

2×185#
2×225#
6x2x250#

Added in those couple of extra warm-up sets since all of the lifts were power variations. Still took a couple of the 250# sets to start feeling ok with the weight.

Snatch Deadlift

5x2x185#

Even these felt heavy! I hope the extra conditioning I’ve added this week isn’t the cause for my sluggish feel. Maybe it was the quick trip with 5 hours of driving.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 5 Day 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting.

I finally finished up the garage gym. The other side of the garage is pretty much all tore down too, but won’t work on that until spring when we can use the saws outside. I’ll get a page up on this site explaining every piece of equipment I have, but you can click through that link above to see more pictures than this.

Out in the garage around 6:45pm by myself to lift. I’m really glad this garage project is over because it’s been affecting my fatigue levels for the last week and a half. No warm-up today, right into the muscle snatches to get warm. I’ve been moving weights and shit around the garage all day, so felt warm enough.

Muscle Snatch

3×75#
3×85#
3×95#
3×105#
3×110#

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
1×160#
4x1x170#

The 170# lifts were soft. Last attempt was forward and I was almost able to pull it back in while in the hole, but failed.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
1×205#
4x1x215#

Felt good on the cleans. Even the jerks felt good up until 190#.

Front Squat

2×135#
2×215#
2×255#
3x2x265#

Legs felt pretty weak. What is it with my front squats lately?

GHR

5×10#
5×15#
5×20#
5×25#
5×25#

Moving on up again! Definitely hit the limit with 25#.

I’m going to start adding in a bit of my own conditioning programming because on Saturday I could feel my engine was running on fumes. Going to have to be smart about it though and not have it impact the lifting. If I kept efforts short I should be ok.

Conditioning

Tabata Burpees
8 Rounds

20s Burpees
10s Rest

I wanted to pick a number that would give me some rest during the first 20 seconds and then shoot to get that number each round. I picked 7, which took me 16 or 17 seconds every round. Perfect choice! This was a nice burn and would be great to do every week.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 4 Day 4

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Over to Kevin’s at 3 to lift.

Warm-up

PVC pass-thrus
Scap work
45# Snatch Positions

Muscle Snatch

3×75#
2x3x85#
2x3x95#

Clean & Jerk

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
5x1x200#

Was only supposed to be cleans. Whoops. Makes up a little for skipping Tuesday, which had jerks from blocks, I guess.

Front Squat

2×185#
2×220#
2×250#
2×265#
2x2x280#

Skipped these yesterday, so got them in today. I failed on the final rep of the day again with this front squat series. Ugh!!

Took off, but got the sit-ups done when I got home.

Sit-ups

100-50-25 with 2:00 rest between sets.

My times were 3:12, 1:38, and 0:46. The AbMat was sliding back on me really bad on top of the puzzle mats, which slowed me down. Not too far off my 3:02 record though. The programming had 3 MAX effort sets, but that would destroy me for a week, so I modified. I’m usually sore for days from 150 sit-ups, so this 175 is going to be bad enough.

Tomorrow is a lot of work, so I think I might split it up into two sessions.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 3 Day 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Out in the garage just after 10 by myself for the start of week 3, with a focus on 85% for the week.

Warm-up

Scap band work
5×45# Shoulder Press
5×95# Shoulder Press

Split Press

2x4x125#
4×130#
2x4x135#

Have been bumping up the total weight on these each week. Not easy though, so they turn out to be solid work.

Snatch

2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
1×155#
4x1x165#

Felt pretty good with the snatch today.

Clean & Jerk

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
1×200#
2x1x215#

Cleans felt powerful, but jerks still feel awkward.

Front Squat

2×185#
2×220#
2×250#
2×280#
1×295#
Miss 310#
Miss 300#
2x1x285#

Fuck! We were supposed to do 4 singles at 100%, but I failed the first, so dropped some weight and missed that. Struggled to get the 285# singles.

Made all of my other lifts for the day, so I guess there’s that to look at as a win. Kind of a downer with the front squats though.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 2 Day 3

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Got everything done in the morning.

Warm-up

Handstand practice
45# Snatch positions
2 Snatches (65#)
5 Snatch Presses (65#)

Tried some free-standing handstands without much success, so I kicked up to the wall and then worked on taking my feet off the wall for a few seconds at a time.

Snatch

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2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
1×155#
1×165#
3x1x170#

I missed 170# on the first set, so went again and missed again. I need to learn to just move on. An attempt is an attempt. I made the lift on the next two sets.

Jerk Footwork (Demo Video)

Was supposed to do these before the snatches, but I didn’t realize I skipped them until halfway through my sets. So I did some before the C&J, and mixed some in between sets.

Clean & Jerk

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
1×200#
1×215#
3x1x225#

Jerks were feeling really weak today. My wrists were already getting pretty sore yesterday from all of the jerk volume. I missed the clean on my last set of the day. Just pooped right out!

Front Squat

2×185#
2×215#
2×250#
2×265#
2x2x280#

I wasn’t real confident about squatting after the other lifts, but they actually felt ok after getting into a set or two. I had to dump the last rep of the day, but I got the first rep of the set. I’ll take it.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

3 Strict Pull-ups
3 Strict Ring Dips

Felt good to get some of these in.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

5 Wall Climbs
10 Broad Jumps (5’+)
15 Sit-ups

My goal was to keep moving. The wall climbs weren’t nearly as bad as I was expecting with shoulders as dead as they were. Finished in 12:15.

Looking forward to some rest. Won’t lift next until Saturday afternoon and I’m getting a much-needed massage tomorrow.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 1 Day 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. In to Survival Fitness at 10am. Took about 2 hours total with my warm-up.

Warm-up

2:00 Air Dyne
PVC Pass-thrus
Banded OH Stretch (purple bands)

Wow, I was out of breath after the AD. Being sick really fucks up training.

Muscle Snatches

From 2 positions for each rep, above knee and below knee (Demo).

Warmed up with 2×45# and 2x2x75#
2x3x95#
3x3x85#

95# didn’t feel terrible, but it was a bit much and losing the technique aspect, so I dropped down.

Muscle Cleans

From 2 positions for each rep, above knee and below knee (Demo).

Warmed up with 2×75#, 2x2x105#
5x2x125#

125# was pretty ideal here.

Turned out both of these muscle movements were supposed to be from the floor, not according to the demo videos they sent. I was thinking it was turning out to be a shit load of reps!

Snatches

2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
1×150#
4x1x160#

Made every lift and felt pretty good.

Front Squats

2×95#
2×215#
2×250#
3x2x265#

This was a new way of doing squats for me. Big jump and not much warm-up! Felt really heavy after not squatting since Tuesday.

Behind The Neck Work

Nasty freezing rain last night. In at 10am with Kevin and Michelle.

Warm-up

3:00 Jump Rope (unbroken)
45# Clean Positions Warm-up

OLY

2 Clean Pulls
1 Power Clean
1 Front Squat

It wasn’t exactly that each time, but always at least those reps.

95-115-135-155-175-185-185-185-185

Strength

Behind the neck Split Jerks

3 @ 95#
3 @ 115#
3 @ 135#
3 @ 155#
4 @ 155#
3 @ 155#

Behind the neck Push Presses

3 @ 155#
3 @ 165#
3 @ 175#
3 @ 185#
2 @ 195#
2 @ 205#

I’m still really hesitant bringing heavy loads down to my back, but got more comfortable today due to the number of reps between the jerks and push presses. Felt pretty good about the weight, so decided to shoot for a front rack push press PR.

Push Press

225# (PR)
F @ 235#
230# (PR)

Beats my old 215# PR. I missed 235# because it was too far out front. Concentrated on a big leg drink and getting the bar back as fast as possible with 230#.

Gymnastics

After an hour of OH work, why not burn the shoulders some more, right? Did 3 handstand holds facing the wall with a wall walk to get in place. The goal was 1:00, but had to drop after 40 seconds on the second one. Held on for it on the 3rd though. We rested 2:00 between each one.