The Training Week That Was - 11/18 - 11/24

Low back traction has been an absolute godsend for my jammed up back. I'm fully symptom-free right now, only about ten days after I thought I'd have to stop training and get into rehab full-time. I'm going to start backing off and doing these every other workout and see how the back responds. One thing to remember is that the body adapts to EVERYTHING, including recovery means. Recovery means need to be cycled just like you cycle through training exercises/reps/sets/etc. If I tweak it again and I'm already doing traction four days a week then that's a tool that I've basically taken out of my toolbox.

I'm actually ditching the McCauley drills for a little while as they seem to be putting a bit of a loop into my pull. This isn't a question of the quality of the drills; it's a question of my ability to correctly execute them. So I'll go back to Glenn Pendlay's drills (snatch pt 1, pt 2 and pt 3; clean pt 1, pt 2 and pt 3). I'm also thinking about doing an unsanctioned Oly meet here in Denver in three weeks, which would be seven weeks out from Iceland. I think it'd feel good to get in front of people and feel that adrenaline pumping again instead of lifting in my little corner of the gym. It's on a Saturday, so I could train straight through it without disrupting my schedule. Something to contemplate.

11/18
Drills
B Squat 60x3x2 90x3 130x5 145x3 155x5 135x5 140x5 (heavy, but nice and sharp)
Front PP 50x3x2 70x5 80x3 90x3 95x5 97x5 85x5x2
(didn't check my notes, thought 95 was a PR; should've been 97 and then 100)
Chinese DB Row 90x8 110x8x3
Dips and Chins - 30 reps of each w/ Back Ext mixed in between sets
Hypers and Traction

11/20
2+1 Snatch 40x1x3 60x1x2 70x1x2 80x1 90x1 97x0x2 92x1 97x0x3 102x0x1 (82x1 87x1 92x1 95x1 100x0)
2+1 CJ 60x1x3 80x1x2 95x1 105x1 110x0 (these felt awful so I called it)
Clean Pull - 110x3 130x3x3 140x3
Back Squat 3x5 130kg (not easy but sharp. Bar rolling around on my back a bit says I've been slacking on upper back work)

11/22 (Happy Thanksgiving!!)
Box Snatch - 40x1x4 60x1x3 70x1x2 80x1 87x1 95x1 100x0x2 / 85x2 90x2 90x2
Box CJ - 60x2x2 80x1x2 95x1x2 105x1 112x1 117x1 122x1 / 100-105-110 2+1
Front Squat - 60x3x2 80x3 100x2 110x2 120x3 125x3 130x3
Cal Back and GH Raise - Four sets each
Hypers and Traction

11/24 (Trained at my friends' place Crossfit MHF; all weights in lbs)
Snatch up to 215x1 and four singles at 205
CJ up to 275x1, Clarked 285 real bad (misses here at 265 and 275 as well). Nice reminder that I need to train pulls a little more often, will start sneaking them in after main movements. Standing up with weights is noticeably faster, so the squatting is definitely helping.) It's becoming pretty clear that my squat (or lack thereof) is a big limiting factor in my lifts and it's very possible that I've been punching above my weight in terms of competitive lifts given my shitty squats.

Next week I'll start adding back Wednesday upper body training. I might jerk, Sotts press, overhead squat or muscle snatch as a first movement but I want to keep the pulling from the floor and bar on my back to a minimum and keep this as an upper body focused day. Nothing maximal here (even jerks), this is a day for supportive exercises, prehab and muscle/connective tissue building rather than quick lifts. My upper back is caving a bit on my back squats, which is probably because I've been neglecting upper back work the past few weeks.

I think I'm going to change up my squats for December, taking Sunday's back squat down to triples and Thursday's front squat down to doubles and start pushing a bit more in the front squat. I might take the push press down to triples as well, but probably not for a couple weeks. One way I get some extra volume in those sets of five squats and push press is to do back off sets on days in which I don't make a PR. Nothing super scientific; I take 10-15% off the bar and knock out 1-3 more sets of five. When I make a PR for a set of five, I'm usually SMOKED so potential returns from the back offs aren't worth it.

Couple nice videos here from Dave Tate to reinforce a couple of my above points; one on Recovery and one on Human Potential.

The Training Week That Was - 11/11 - 11/17

I've added a couple of Don McCauley's drills for the Oly lifts to my warmups. This and this are staples. This one is good, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I tweaked an ab muscle in performing it, so it's on the shelf for the time being.

11/11
Shoulder complex from NBS Fitness (my standard shoulder warmup)
Front Push Press - 40x5 60x5 75x4 85x4 90x4 95x3 100x1 105x1 110x0 80x10
(I'm no good at grinding out push presses at max weights; when I'm done, I'm done)
Chinese Row - 85x10 105x10x3
Lat Pulldown 4x10
Low Back Traction - strong band and medium band from Elitefts

11/13 (examples of today's snatch and CJ exercises here; I'm using the power jerk off and on)
Agile 8 Warmup/Shoulder Complex
Snatch - Two Pulls + Snatch: 40x1x3 60x1x2 70x1 80x1 90x1 95x0 95x1 100x1 105x0x2
Down Sets - 85x1 90x1 90x1
CJ - Two Pulls + CJ: 50x1x3 70x1x2 90x1 100x1x2 110x0 110x1 115x0 115x1
Down Sets - 95x1 100x1 105x1
Back Squat 3x5 120kg (nice and fast, just grooving after a week off)
Cal Hypers 4x10 40lbs
Rev Hypers - bunch
Low Back Traction

11/14 Off (being super careful with the back this week)

11/15
McCauley Drills - Snatch
Snatch - Box Just Above Knee: 40x2x3 60x2x2 70x2x1 80x2 90x1 97x1 102x0x3 100x0x1 100x1 102x0x2
Down Sets - 85x2 87x2 90x2
McCauley Drills - Clean
CJ - Box Just Above Knee: 50x2x2 70x2x2 90x2x1 100x1 110x1 120x0x2 120x1
Down Sets - 100x2+1 105x2+1 (only took two down sets; gassed)
Front Squat 60x3x2 80x3 100x3 115x3 120x3 125x3 (heavy, but nice and sharp)
GH Raise - 5-6x5, w/ 2x5 w/ 10kg plate behind head
Rev Hyper - 3x12
Band Traction

11/17
Snatch 40x2x3 60x2x2 70x1x2 80x1 90x1 95x1 (switched platforms) 95x0 100x0x3 (tried these eyes closed, then went back to other platform) 70x1 80x1 90x1 97x0
CJ 50x2x3 70x2x2 90x1 105x1 115x1 122x1 127xFJ 127xFJ
Hypers and Traction

I got jammed up by the high school kids in the gym and kinda f'd up my snatch work. Still good day with the CJ and good training with the snatch, if not accurate pulls. I probably should have just done some pulls and moved on to CJ, but that's all good.

The Training Week That Was - 11/4 - 11/10

Taking it down a bit this week. My back is seriously acting up, I believe due to some very poorly executed push presses. I've finally realized that my back can't take long sets from the back. It isn't the press, it's bringing the bar back down without wrecking my spine. Upper back is really tight and stuff, lower back is a mess. I think some therapy and removing some of the extra work will get everything back on track. I'm sticking to my usual schedule, but pushing Wednesday back to a true "upper body" day rather than mixing in muscle snatches, push presses or anything like that. Lots of pulling and abs, little bit of pressing assistance.

11/4
Muscle Snatch up to 70x2
B Squat 60x4 90x3 110x3 125x3 140x5 145x5 (heavy but not ball busters; building the squat back up)
Front PP 50x5 50x3 70x3 82x3 90x5 95x5 (PR)
-I was short on time so I went complex rather than upper body work.
Javorek Complex 50kgx3
-High Pull x6
-Muscle Snatch x6
-Back Squat to Push Press x6
-Good Morning x6
-Bent Row x6

11/5 - Chiropractor

11/6
Snatch doubles from High Hang
40x2x2 60x2x2 75x2 85x2 92x2 97x0x2 100x0
Down Sets (no foot movement) - 82x3 85x3 87x3
Clean, Jerk, Clean, Jerk
50x2x2 70x2x2 90x2 105x2 112x2
Down Sets (3+1) - 92x1 97x1 102x1
Back Squat 125x5 127x5 127x5 (fast, felt light and sharp)
Rev Hypers 4x15

11/8
Chins and Dips x50 each
Handstand Pushups 4x5
Chest Supported Row 3x12
Dips x25
Reverse Hypers - a ton
(Back is flared up so this is really turning into a legit deload week. Lots of therapy and prehab.)

11/10
Dips and Chins - 50 each
Reverse Hypers 3x15
Chiro

Back is still cranky, but pain-free. Starting back to regular training on Tuesday (11/13) and adding in some post-workout band traction to take down the compression. I haven't had to use it for a long time...which really means I've forgotten it/skipped it. Donnie Thompson made a couple excellent vids of band traction here. Elitefts has some info on traction for the shoulder in their rehab/prehab section here.

One quick word on traction: traction isn't a panacea or a cure-all. It's another tool to keep in the box. If you have some tight hips, shoulders, etc then it can be immensely helpful. But consider your training, competitive and injury history and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Personally, I can't do much single leg hip traction because it really tugs at my surgically repaired back. They aren't magic, but they provide some serious relief for some people with bulges, herniations or just jammed up joints. In 99% of cases (injury, training, etc), Movement is Medicine.

The Training Week That Was - 10/28 - 11/3 - Twelve Weeks to Iceland

10/28
Bar Work/Muscle Snatch/Muscle Clean
B Squat 60x3 90x3 110x2 130x5 145x2 155x5 160x5 (PR)
Front PP 50x4 70x3 85x5 92x5 85x5x3 (no juice left after the squats, probably bad jumps)
"Chinese" DB Rows 4x8 105lbs
Lat Pulldowns + GH Raise Four sets each
Batwing + Curls Three sets each
Barbell Rollouts and Rev Hypers Four of each

This was AM training, only on coffee/coconut oil/whey. Two scoops of isolate/leucine/creatine PWO, then ULC til nighttime, when I had some grilled chicken pho, bowl of Cocoa Krispies and two GF cinnamon rolls from Udi's.

10/30
Snatch - Doubles from High Hang: 40x1x2 60x1x2 75x1 85x1 90x1 95x1 97x1 (PR) 100x0x3 (made the first, missed the second all three times)
Down Sets - 82x3x3
CJ - Doubles from High Hang: 50x1x2 70x1x2 90x1 100x1 107x1 110x1 115x0 112x0 (made first CJ, missed second clean both times)
Down Sets - (3+1) 90x1 95x1 100x1
SSB Squat 110x5 115x5 120x5 (took this down a bit, legs are tired)
Cal Back Ext + Ab Wheel: Five sets of each
Forgot to do reverse hypers, left plates on the machine. Yep, I'm a dick.

10/31
Muscle Snatch from hang and high blocks to 55x3x3
Back Push Press up to 90x5x3 (didn't push these, just getting groove)
Chins 35 reps
Axle Pendlay Rows 4x8
Plate Pinches
Tate Press/Curls/Neck 3x15 each

11/1 (Just wasn't very snappy today)
Snatch from LOW Box 40x2x2 60x2x2 75x1x2 85x1 92x1 97x0x2 97x1 100x0x4
Down Sets 80x3x3
CJ from LOW Box 50x2x2 70x2x2 90x1x2 105x1 115x1 120x1 125xFJ 130x0x2
Down Sets 100x(2+1)x3
F Squat 50x3 70x3 90x3 110x2 117x3 122x3 (cut these short; my back is acting up just a wee bit)
Rev Hypers 5x10

11/3
Snatch  40x2x3 60x2x2 70x1x2 80x1x2 87x1 92x1 97x0x2 90x1 95x0
-Bar was moving forward off the floor and nothing felt right here.
CJ 50x2x3 70x2x2 90x1x2 105x1 115x1 122x0
-Again, didn't push these as there was nothing in the tank.
Sn Pull 100x3 110x2 120x2x2
Cl Pull 120x2x2 130x2 140x2
Rev Hyper 3x15

This whole week my body has felt "off". Sleep hasn't been great, work has been a bit stressful and food has been good but not great. Sleep in particular is something I need to get sorted out. I'm pulling back on the squats for the next week or two in an effort to get the competition lifts moving. No pushing any new PRs in the squats and cutting the target weights by about 10-15% and then working back up over the course of a couple weeks. The real idea here is to "dumb down" the squats and reduce the novelty of squatting (i.e. challenging PRs or changing exercises) so the body can devote more "juice" to the competition lifts.

The fifth or sixth week of a training cycle is usually about when things start to get a bit stale; the joints get a little stiff and some tendinitis usually starts kicking in around now. And right on schedule, my back is feeling dinged up and shoulders n elbows are getting stiff.

I stepped on the scale for the first time in six weeks and checked in at a robust 215lbs. My "yardstick" jeans fit better than when I weighed 205. This is about as high as I'd like to get weight-wise, so I'll look at cleaning up the backloads a bit more, adding in some complexes, or both. They're getting a bit snug through my quads, but the waist is feeling excellent right now. It's like there's some to this whole cyclic ketogenic, Carb Backloading stuff.

Twelve Weeks to Iceland!