Trying to Keep the Snatch Close

Had a “rest” day yesterday, but spent 2.5 hours climbing ropes and shit at the Adventure Park in Frakenmuth last night. So much fun and a lot of stabilizer muscles got worked, especially in the shoulders. Worked out by myself in the garage tonight.

Warm-up

5:00 Air Dyne

OLY

  • 4 x 3 x 75# Hang Snatch High Pulls
  • PVC Hang Snatch High Pulls and Hang Power Snatches
  • 2 x 3 x 75# Muscle Snatch
  • 4 x 3 x 95# Power Snatch

I was trying to work on keeping the bar close to my body on the 2nd pull and making sure to keep pulling with the arms. Results were mixed. I felt like it was damn close, but video showed the bar was still coming outside the starting line from where it was on the floor, often by quite a bit. It did seem to be getting back into a good position better though.

Strength & Gymnastics

5 Rounds

  • MAX Pull-ups
  • 5 Deadlifts (315#)
  • 2:00 Rest

I started out wearing the gymnastics grips, but they always seem to bunch up on my under the fingers and start to hurt like a bitch. They also didn’t work too well with the deadlifts. I took them off after the second round. The grips limited my pull-ups in the first two rounds, otherwise I would have had a new streak PR no problem. I got 16-11-13-12-11 pull-ups.

Finisher

Jumped back on the Air Dyne for 10 minutes at a pace faster than warm-ups. 242 calories and 5.52 km.

5 Days of Squats

Woke up feeling pretty good. Trained at 10am.

Warm-up

Easy 500m Row

OLY – Snatches

  • 45# Position Work
  • 2 x 2 @ 95#
  • 2 @ 135#
  • E30S 2:00 – 1 @ 155#
  • 1 @ 155# (forgot to load more weight)
  • 6 x 1 @ 165#

All power snatches again, working on receiving in higher positions. Took some videos and by correcting my setup, the first pull pretty much automatically fixed as a result. No more looping around the knees. Did have some big lopping from the hips to the top though, which will need to be fixed.

Now it’s time to start working on the bar moving more vertical and then back at the top. Here’s my bar path from the best lift of the day.

Power Snatch - 165# Bar Path

With the first pull bar path corrected, if I can improve the rest of the bar path, I think I’ll be headed for some more PRs.

Front Squats

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 205#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 3 @ 235#
  • 3 @ 245#
  • 3 @ 255#
  • 3 @ 265#
  • 3 @ 275# (matches 3RM PR)
  • 2 @ 285# (tried for 3, but got stuck part way up)
  • 1 @ 295#

The goal was to do triples as long as possible, then doubles, and then singles. Mostly for volume. Not much room for the doubles and triples so close to 1RM though. Knees are sore from doing heavy squats 5 days in a row. Probably no squatting until Monday to give it a rest.

Out of Gas

In at 10am this morning, but no gas in the tank. Need to start getting more sleep again and eating more. Kevin was out of it too, so we took it easy.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

OLY

Snatch Work

  • 45# Position Work
  • 65# Position Work
  • 75# Position Work
  • 2 x 2 x Power Snatch + OHS
  • 1 Power Snatch E30S 4:00 (135#)

During the position work Kevin noticed I was behind the bar in my setup and helped fix me. Really different feel in my hamstrings, but it was almost automatic to bring the bar in instead of looping around the knees like I’ve been doing. The 135# power snatches felt ok, but not a whole lot of pop today. Getting used to the corrected start position felt weird too.

Strength

Pendlay Rows

  • 15 x 105#
  • 15 x 125#
  • 15 x 135#

Front Squats

  • 5 x 135#
  • 5 x 185#
  • 3 x 5 x 205#

WOD

10:00 Row

Averaged a 2:09/500m pace and kept strokes at 18-20/minute.

Dropping Dime Squats

Went up to Rogers City for a couple of days, so yesterday was a rest day. Out in the garage for a solo workout today.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • 45# Snatch Position Work
  • 2×2 95# Power Snatch
  • 3×1 135# Power Snatch

Starting to do power snatches when I don’t have to drop all the way down into a full squat. A few thoughts on this:

  1. Should help to teach the timing of receiving the bar at different positions instead of just trying to drop ass to grass all the time. Dropping to far causes the bar to come crashing down on me and sometimes is the reason for a miss.
  2. More powerful because it forces me to be explosive in the 2nd pull in order to get the bar high enough.

OLY

20:00 EMOM

  • 1 Power Snatch (155#)

20/20! Naturally started to drop a little lower as I fatigued towards the end, but was still well above parallel.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 10 x 45#
  • 10 x 135#
  • 10 x 185#
  • 10 x 225#
  • 10 x 255#
  • 10 x 215#
  • 10 x 175#
  • 10 x 125#

Pretty rough.

E2M 14:00

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 10 DB Shoulder Presses (35# DBs)

Did the movements back to back and then rested the remainder of the two minutes. Finished in about 45 seconds each round.

Loving the Squats

Chest, shoulders and back are sore from yesterday. In at 10am again though.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne
  • PVC Pass-thrus

OLY

Snatch day!

Did a few passes through the positions with an empty bar to warm-up.

E2M

  • Snatch
  • Hang Snatch
  • High Hang Snatch

95-105-115-125-135-140

Didn’t miss any, but the high hang snatch with 140# was pretty sketchy and required a few steps to save. PR for the high hang in this complex!

EMOM

  • 1 Snatch

145-150-155-160-165, all makes.

E2M

  • 1 Snatch

Started to run into trouble here. 170 – F, 170, 175 – F, 175 – F, 175. I wasn’t pulling the bar back enough and locking out good.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 10 x 45#
  • 5 x 135#
  • 5 x 225#
  • 5 x 255#
  • 5 x 275#
  • 5 x 295#
  • 10 x 185#

Got into that happy place of almost passing out with 275 and 295#, bit that’s a 5RM PR.

Shoulder Press

  • 5 x 45#
  • 5 x 95#
  • 5 x 105#
  • 5 x 115#
  • 5 x 125#
  • 5 x 130#
  • 3 x 135#

So weak up top.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Wall Balls (10′ target, 20# MB)

Everything unbroken for a time of 4:18. Last round of wall balls sucked after back squats.

Finisher

6 Rounds

  • 45m Sled “Sprint” (225# load + 25# sled)
  • Rest 1-2m

Fun! Good way to finish off the long session, going into a rest day.

Thruster and Dip PRs

Out in the garage again this evening, after the Lions game. Legs are sore from the cleans and 2 days of squats.

Warm-up

5:00 of Jump Rope and DU

OLY

Snatch day

  • E20S 2:00 – 1 x 95#
  • Rest 2:00
  • E30S 2:00 – 1 x 115#
  • Rest 2:00
  • E45S 3:00 – 1 x 135#
  • Rest 3:00
  • EMOM 3:00 – 1 x 155#
  • Rest 1:00
  • EMOM 3:00 – 1 x 165#

I failed on the 1st and 3rd minutes with 165#. Was standing up on the 1st one and started walking forward, but had to bail it because the rack in my garage is too close for much movement. Would have been able to save it anywhere else. On the 3rd rep I had it overhead and sat in tho hole too long, then lost stabilization.

Strength

Thrusters

  • Triples with 135/145/155/165/175/185/195 (3RM PR for 195#)
  • Singles with 205/215/225 (all PRs)

BOOM! Here are the 215# and 225# lifts.

Weighted Dips

Hanging plates and/or KB from the belt.

  • 3 x 25#
  • 3 x 35#
  • 3 x 45#
  • 3 x 53#
  • 3 x 58#
  • 1 x 63#
  • 1 x 68#

Haven’t done these in a couple of months, but I’m pretty sure those are 3RM and 1RM PRs.

WOD

10 Rounds

  • 5 Ring Push-ups
  • 10 Sit-ups (anchored)

Came up with this little gem to work bodyweight movements. The low rep counts were designed to keep moving and not require any rest. Fun one that took me 5:16.

Back Home

Good to be back after 10 day away. In at 10am and was there about 2 hours.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

OLY

  • 5:00 Snatch Positioning (45# training bar)
  • 2:00 E30S – 2 Snatches (95#)
  • 2:00 E30S – 1 Snatch (115#)
  • 4:00 EMOM – 1 Snatch (135#)
  • 4:00 EMOM – 1 Snatch (155#)

I failed because of lack of concentration on my last minute with 155#, but picked it right back up and knocked out the rep. Felt pretty good after not snatching for a week and a half.

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10 x 45#
  • 5 x 135#
  • 5 x 185#
  • 3 x 225#
  • 2 x 255#
  • 2 x 275#
  • 1 x 295#
  • 1 x 305#
  • 5 x 3 x 245#

Could tell I haven’t been squatting. Now I have to pretty much start over getting used to the squat volume.

14:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Strict Deficit HSPU (15# bumpers)
  • Evens: 5 Strict Chin-ups

No problem getting any reps.

WOD

10 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 30s Rest

20131004-135007.jpg
20131004-135019.jpg

Consistent!

Rest 5:00

5 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 30s Rest

20131004-135028.jpg

Picked it up for these last 5 and really pushed. It’s interesting that my s/m were lower on 3 of them.

Recovery

  • Walked 300m
  • 5:00 Air Dyne

4th GLBRT

Today we competed in the 4th Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown {GLBRT}, which was held at Survival Fitness Bay City. We won the 3rd a few months ago, so were hoping for another good finish.

Event 1: “XL Karen”

10:00 Cap
200 wall balls for time.
Women 16# 9′ target. Men’s 20# 11′.
1 person working at a time.
5 burpees EMOM (whole team).

I think we finished in 7:53 to tie for first place.

Event 2: “Grace and Isabel’s Big Day”

10:00 Cap
Part 1:
30 Box Overs (24/20)
Part 2:
“Grace” (135/95)
Part 3:
“Isabel” (135/95)
Part 4:
30 T2B

One Athlete working at a time. There is no requirement on how many reps each athlete needs to complete. There will be two bars provided for the WOD.

We crushed this one and even though I didn’t think I was going to be able to do touch-n-go snatches, I got 2 without trouble in the warm-up and was excited! I was able to get sets of 4-3-3 I think in the workout. We took first and finished around 4:30 I think.

Event 3: “Fran Fran go Fran”

10:00 Cap
63-45-27
Thrusters(95/65)
Pull ups

– One person working at a time.
– Each teammate must complete a thruster and a pull-up in each round.

Not our greatest, but we still took 5th with a time of 7:33-ish. Put us in a tie for first heading into the final event, which was for the top 6 teams.

Event 4

Must choose one person for each part, each teammate must be used.
Part 1:
3:00 AMRAP
Max Air squats
Rest 1:00

Part 2:
3:00 AMRAP
Air Dyne calories
Rest 1:00

Part 3:
3:00
Max deadlift
Rest 1:00

Part 4:
3 min AMRAP
Meters rowed

Score = squats + calories + pounds + meters.

– To make the dead lift more fair, we will subtract the dead lifters body weight from their final dead lift. They will be weighed on spot.
– Teammates CAN help the dead lifter load the bar.

I really liked our chances going into this one. We brought home the belt with 1st place in this event for the overall win! The crowd really got me going and I ended up setting a 15# PR on my deadlift with a pull of 515#.

Really fun day!

glbrt4-podium

I’ll add more pictures later once everyone posts them on Facebook.

No Touch-n-Go Snatches For Me

Went to open gym. It was a packed house tonight!

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Snatches

  • 5:00 45# Snatch Position Work
  • 2 @ 95#
  • 2 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 135# (disaster trying 2 TnG for the competition Sunday. I’ll be dropping each rep!)
  • EMOM: 1 Snatch
    • 145#
    • 150#
    • 155#
    • 160#
    • 165#
    • 170#
    • 175# F
    • 175#
    • 180#
    • 185# F
    • 185# F (waited a few minutes before this last attempt)

Felt ok, but wasn’t all that comfortable with so many people moving around me and talking to me when my next minute was about to start. Probably not the best thing to do during an open gym.

Back Squats

  • 2×5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 2 @ 225#
  • 2 @ 255#
  • 2 @ 275#
  • 2 @ 295#
  • 1 @ 305#
  • 1 @ 315#
  • 4×3 @ 255#

Didn’t feel as good as Wednesday, but that’s 3 heavy squat days in a row and 5 this week, so I’ll take the effort. A lot of heavy reps!

WOD

10 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 30s Rest

The added deadlift and squat strength is translating to much more power on the rower. My meters were 151/152/153/154/154/154/154/156/157/158 and I still felt great at the end.

Eating to Perform and Performing PRs

Starting keeping track of food yesterday in an attempt to eat following some of the Eat to Perform guidelines. A lot more carbs than I’m used to eating. Went in at 10am to lift with Kevin.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Olympic Lifting

More snatching! Did my typical 5:00 with 45# on the training for position work and then got into the snatches. Had no plan going in, but wanted to try to set another PR.

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 2 @ 115#
  • 2 @ 135#
  • 1 @ 155#
  • 1 @ 165#
  • 1 @ 170#
  • F/1 @ 175#
  • F/F/F/1 @ 180#
  • F/F/1 @ 185# (PR)

When I get up there I have to remember to be explosive and not focus too much on dropping under it. I also need to stay patient with standing up. Was frustrating with so many misses, but mission accomplished. Ten more pounds for a body weight snatch!

Strength

Wanted to do back squats, but didn’t really have a plan for them either.

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 225#
  • 5 @ 255#
  • 1 @ 265#
  • 1 @ 275#
  • 1 @ 285#
  • 1 @ 295#
  • 1 @ 305#
  • 1 @ 215#
  • 1 @ 325#
  • 1 @ 335# (PR)

Wasn’t expecting that, especially after already doing so many singles. Felt good to have my squat back. Kevin pointed out that I’d let my elbows drift back sometimes on the way up, which caused my forward lean and ugly squat. I was able to keep it pretty solid after that, but it happened on 335# lift and I was able to power through it.

Back at 7pm to workout with a class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 20s Bottom Squat Hold
  • 10 Zombie Kicks
  • 5 Burpees

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 RDLs (195#)
  • Evens: 10/10 Kroc Rows (62# KB)

Today I learned that the RDL is not another name for a stiff leg deadlift, which I always thought was the case. I’ve always been doing SLDL and calling them RDL. Whoops!

Here are some short demos and explanations from Catalyst Athletics for each type of deadlift:

10:00 EMOM

  • 8 Strict Chin-ups
  • 30s Plank

Trying to use the chin-ups to work my biceps to help out my elbows, which hyper-extend. The right one has been getting achy for a few weeks due to all of the snatch volume.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

  • 5 SH to OH (115#)
  • 10 Deadlifts (115#)
  • 15 Box Jumps or Step-ups (24″)

Two minutes longer than Open WOD 13.2, but I got about a round less. I did all box jumps until the final round, which I think gassed me a lot more. I never took a break during the Open, but took quite a few today. Managed to get 7+26, but was expecting more. I did all of the push jerks and deadlifts unbroken without a problem.