The Training Week That Was - 12/23 - 12/29

12/23
Front Squat 60x3x2 80x3 100x3 120x2 135x1 145x1 155x1 160x0 (jeez I think the knee sleeves help)
Snatch Pull from Deficit w/ Two Pauses  3x3 @ 90
Clean Pull from Deficit w/ Two Pauses 3x3 @ 120
Random upper body

12/24
Snatch Pull - up to 3x3 @ 110
Clean Pull - up to 3x3 @ 140
SSB Squat up to 130x5

12/25 - Happy Christmas/Festivus/Chanakah/Kwanzaa

12/26
Abs x150
Single Arm (R Arm Only) DB Jerk 40x5 60x5 75x5 85x5 90x5x3
Single Arm (R Arm Only) DB Push Press 60x5 75x5 85x0 75x5x3
R Arm Only Pulldown 4x12
R Arm Only DB Swiss Ball Bench 4x15
R Arm Only Row 4x15
Abs x150
7 mins accumulated squat time
Traction

12/27 (First Carb Nite)
Abs x100
Front Squat - 60x5x2 90x4 110x5 120x5x3
GH Raise - 50 reps BW
Reverse Hypers and Traction (back a little dodgy, not sure why)

12/28
Epsom Salt Bath

12/29 (weight is 213.8)
SSB Squat 70x5 90x4 110x5 130x5 140x5 145x5 150x5 (all PRs?)
-OK pretty sure that's three PRs. I've never trained sets of five on the SSB because they SUCK, so anything right now is probably a PR. It's 20kg over what I did just six days ago, so I'll take it.
GH Raise - 6-8 sets of 6 w/ 10kg plate plus one set with a 15kg plate, which is just too much right now.
Standing Abs 4x12 (totally sold on the Spud Ab Strap for standing abs, just ordered one for me and my partners from EliteFTS. It's a totally different lift with this vs. using a tricep rope. Very good for your squat and deadlift.)

The Training Week That Was - 12/16 - 12/22

12/16
Kneeling Jumps up to bar x3
Front Squat 60x3x2 80x2x2 100x2 120x2 130x1 140x1 150x0 150x1 130x1 135x1 140x3
-150x1 and 140x3 were recent PRs (I've done better, but in gear and about fifteen extra pounds) and also managed to spring a leak in my nose on the third rep @ 140. Might be finally starting to figure out this whole "front squatting with straps" thing, hopefully just in time to start back with normal front squatting.
GH Raise 5x5 w/ 10kg plate behind head
Cal Back Extension - 3x15
Chinese Arches - 3x w/ 35kg
Hypers and Traction

I was supposed to do some Zerchers and some other things, but since the front squat went so well I dialed back and just did my usual accessory work.

12/17
Foam rolled out IT bands/inner thigh/quads
Five minutes accumulated in bottom squat position (shoes on)
Five minutes accumulated in bottom squat position (no shoes)
Epsom Salt bath

12/18
Single Leg Box Jump 5x2
Back Squat 60x5 90x3 110x3 130x5 140x5x5
GH Raise (unweighted) 3x15
GH Sit-Up (unweighted) 3x20
Reverse Hypers 2x10
Foam Roller and some squat time
(The SSB squats and the squat accumulation time is really helping everything. Highly recommend the SSB work and 5-10 mins of squat time on your off days. I think the SSB has been very helpful with helping my posture become more upright in the hole and I highly recommend it)

12/19
Box Jumps 3x2 then Kneeling Double Jumps 3x3
-(a kneeling double jump is a kneeling jump + immediately jumping for max height like a vert test. It seems to help me with clean recovery.)
SSB Squat bar x5 70x5 90x4 110x4 120x5x3
Tried some behind the neck presses; hand still too swollen
DB Iso OH Press up to 60x8x3 (R hand) and 40x8x3 (L hand)
Iso Pulldown 4x10+10
T-Bar Row 4x12
Cal Back Extension 4x15
Weighted Plank 4x
Traction
Rolled out IT bands and Inner Thighs + a couple mins in the squat

12/20
Kneeling Jumps 2x3
Front Squat up to 115x3x3 (No carbs since Saturday, running out of gas)
GH Raise BWx8 10kgx6 15kgx5x3
Chinese Arches 25kgx1 40kgx1 50kgx3
Traction
(Blessed, blessed carbs for the first time since Saturday)

12/21 - Off

12/22 (Woke up late, legs DO NOT move quickly or bouncy first thing in the AM)
Tried some jumps but the body wasn't having it. Hand wasn't digging back squatting so I went to the safety squat bar.
SSB: barx5 70kgx5 90x5 110x3 130x3 140x2 145x2 150x1x2
Did some very light snatch pulling from deficit @ 60kg. Hand feels MUCH better than last time I pulled.
Got my hand worked on again at the chiro. It still hurts like hell to get this thing adjusted, but it's getting closer.

-Just got a new pair of knee sleeves from Rehband and Jackal's Gym. This is the first time I've ever worn them and I'm not used to wearing them. I THINK they fit correctly, but it's a new feeling. They feel a little large, but I also haven't tried to clean or snatch in them yet. I have to think the fit for the Olympic lifts are a bit different than just squatting. Any thoughts on the sleeves out there, let me know.

The Training Week That Was - 12/9 - 12/15

12/9
SSB Squats up to 130x3
Bunch of random lower body work.
(I'm not proud of this, but this was a total blow-off day. I was out way too late on Friday night for my company holiday party and did not plan properly. This also explains why I didn't train on 12/8.)

12/11
Long Warmup with a bunch of broomstick drills
Box Jump - worked up to 5x2 with some plates stacked on a box. No idea on height. I'll take a pic next time.
SSB Squat (I think a 30kg bar): bar x5 70x4x2 100x3 110x3 120x5x5
Front Squat Lunges - 4x5 @ 50kg
Depth Jump 3x10
Cal Back Extension + Hanging Leg Raise - Five sets each
Hypers and Traction

12/12 (legs sore as hell)
Ten minutes of time in a squat
Epsom Salt Bath
Foam Roller

12/13
Seated Box Jump to 5x2 w/ stacked boxes and plates (no seriously, I'm gonna take a picture of height)
Front Squat (w/ straps) 60x3x2 90x3 110x2 120x2 130x2 140x2 145x0/120x3x3
SSB Lunge 5x5 - 50kg
Back Extension 5x10 w/ 15kg plate behind head
GH Situp 5x10 w/ 10lbs behind head
Weighted Plank Holds (both sides and front plank) - Two sets w/ 15kg plate, One set w/ 25kg plate
Hypers and Traction

12/15
Kneeling Jumps 5x3
SSB Squat - triples up to 135x3
-Bolted after this to make my chiro appointment. A word of wisdom: getting your hand adjusted when you've got a bone bruise hurts like hell. The hand feels waaaayyyy better post-adjustment and doesn't have that "jammed-up" feeling in my thumb and index finger. Still sticking with goal of being able to snatch again on Christmas. Going to pound town on bone broth and pushing more activity with the hand.

Check this out from Mobility WOD on icing and rehabbing injuries. This makes a lot of sense, and had me diving for my old anatomy books and checking out things like venous return all over again.  This has a lot to do with why I went the contrast route right after the injury rather than straight ice. Now I'm basically heating the hell out of it and lightly compressing when I'm sedentary at work to keep things moving.

Note: I like a hot/cold shower right before bed on training days and epsom salt baths on non-training days. If I have a big backload and a lot of lower body volume, I'll get leg and foot cramps in the night. The contrast gets everything moving and seems to knock me out pretty nicely.

The Training Week That Was - 12/2 - 12/8

12/2
Snatch bar work (can't catch cleans or overhead squat yet)
Back Squat 60x5 90x4 120x5 (left hand/wrist not strong enough to keep bar on shoulders, so I junked this)
SSB Squat 70x5 100x5 125x3 135x3 145x3 155x3 (PR) / 110x4 120x4 130x4
DB Row 85x8 110x8x2 115x8 120x8
Lat Pulldown/Barbell Hip Thrust - four sets of each
Jerk bar work (can't put the bar in a front squat position but can do some limited technique work)
Cal Back Extension/GH Situp five sets of each
Reverse Hypers and Traction

12/4
Snatch Pulls - up to 130kg x 2x7 or 8 sets
Clean Pulls - up to 150kg x 2x5 or 6 sets; did some pull + hang pulls at 130kg
Back Squat - 110x5 130x5 135x5x4 (hand MUCH better than Sunday but still weak)
GH Raises - 35 reps at BW, pushed pad out to make these harder
Single Leg Glute Bridges and Reverse Hypers

12/6
10 mins lying on roller (to open up discs)
Snatch Pull 12x1 @ 110
Clean Pull 12x1 @ 140
Front Squat (w/ straps) up to 130x2 120x3x2
Posterior Chain Work

12/8
Off

So I'm admitting defeat on my hand. The healing process is clearly not being helped by my pulls and half-assed attempts at bar work and overhead squats. The best thing I can do right now is give it rest. Which means that pulling is out and a lot of upper body work is out. What can I do without putting any pressure on the hand? Well, I can front squat with crossed arms and I can squat with the Safety Squat Bar. I can do all my usual lower body work as long as it doesn't involve holding anything. I'm going to be a bit creative and try to get some upper back work done. For the next few weeks though, it's pretty much all legs and squats all the time. Not an entirely unsavory proposition, just not what I'd prefer to be working on with sevenish weeks to go until a meet. This probably means I need to step up my squats to four days a week to make up for the missing leg stimulation. Next week you'll see my basic idea for training around this injury while keeping my template about the same.

PS: I noticed that I've been getting a lot of hits from Russia and Germany lately, so "Спасибо за чтение" to my Russian friends and "Danke fürs Lesen" for the Germans out there. Drop me a suggestion or comment sometime!

The Training Week That Was - 11/25 - 12/1

11/25
Muscle Snatch - 50x2x3 60x2 70x1 75x1 80x0
Back Squat - 60x3x2 90x3 120x3 135x5 150x2 157x2 165x5 (PR)
Front PP - 50x3x3 70x3 82x3 90x5 95x2 100x4 100x1 (forgot to do my down sets here)
DB Row - 85x8 105x8x2 115x8x2
Lat Pulldown + 4 Way Neck - 5 sets each
GH Raise 5x5 up to 25lb plate
Arches - 35kg for two sets for max time
Traction and Hypers

11/27
Pendlay Snatch Drills
Snatch + Abv Knee Snatch - 40x1x3 60x1x3 70x1x2 80x1 87x1 95x0 90x1 95x1 100x0x2
-85x3x4
Pendlay Clean Drills
Clean Pull + Abv Knee CJ - 40x1x3 70x1x3 90x1x2 100x1 110x1 117x1 122x0 (jammed the shit out of my wrist; puked a bit outside and almost passed out. Real winner of a workout. Note to self: just let it go when you get that far out of position.)
SSB Squat (can't grip anything with the wrist) 70x5 100x5 120x5x2
Cal Back Extension - 5x10
I should have tractioned after the SSB (it messes my back up sometimes) but my hand is a mess. Tomorrow morning might be a very enlightening experience with this hand. I'm very hopeful that it isn't broken and it's just really really sprained. The one other time I did this I dropped 125kg right on the palm of my hand; thought I had a spiral fracture of my forearm. This one is much farther back on the hand, so I'm hopeful it's all soft tissue. Everything in my hand just feels stretched/sprained, all the way into my fingers. It isn't super swollen or discolored, so I'm hopeful.

This also gives me a chance to test out an idea. When I iced the crap out of things, I notice that things are stiff for multiple days and my mobility/flexibility goes to hell. So here's what I'm trying, we'll see what happens: just got home a little while ago and I covered my hand in liniment (All-Pro Science Complete Relief). I'm also working it over in a bowl of very hot water and some epsom salt, alternating with bowl of ice water. The swelling is coming in a bit in my palm of all places, so I'm hopeful it's more of a big assed bruise rather than anything serious. The heat is actually going to encourage swelling, so my guess is this thing is gonna blow up like crazy. Trying to keep it active as long as I can and more Complete Relief before bed. I won't be able to keep the ice/heat combo going at work, but I'll ice it up and see what happens.

11/28 - Hoping for Sprain, but Planning for a Break
Hand swelled up like the Hamburger Helper overnight:

I'm currently alternating the hot water/ice water and figuring out what I can and can't do in the gym. Bruising is coming in hot and saucy and I'm going for x-rays Thursday afternoon. It would appear I will be doing a shit load of Safety Squat Bar work, posterior chain work, abs and plyos. Hardly the worst thing in the world, but kind of a bummer for my upper body work as that's where I really need work, relatively speaking (I need work everywhere, but you know that). I'm hoping the wrist will allow me to do some upper body pulling work with straps in the not too distant future.

11/29
Little bit of bar work, nothing special
Kneeling Jump Plyos bunch of sets
Front Squat (used straps) up to 120x3 127x3 132x3 (PR) then 120x4x2 120x5x1 (smoked these)
GH Raise worked up to 4x6 w/ 10kg plate behind head
Cal Back Extensions 4x12 w/ 10lb plate
Planks/Neck/Rev Hypers - three sets each
Traction

X-Rays: NEGATIVE. No broken hand, just very f'd up. Alternating the hot water/epsom salt with ice water seems to be really helping. On Wednesday I couldn't hold a coffee mug, couldn't button a shirt, couldn't turn my steering wheel and turn a door handle. Today I did all of those things plus did some bar work in the gym. Function and pain-free grip strength is returning real fast but the swelling is staying stubborn, especially in my palm. Still targeting next Tuesday as a return to full lifting. This Sunday is my last week of sets of five in the back squat so I'm going to aim for another PR at 170. Not being able to Oly lift is a natural deload and my squat should be raring to go as long as I can hold the bar.

12/1
Lot of warmup stuff
Bar work (ish)
Snatch Pull to 130x2x2 110x2x4
Clean Pull to 150x2 130x2x4
Rev Hypers

Function coming back real fast. Pulling doesn't bother it, but hand is still so swollen that my grip is messed up. Straps are unusable; causing too much pressure in the area. Tried compression wrap post-workout and having another thrilling day of alternating ice and heat. So satisfying ;)

Steve Pulcinella's Flowchart of Domination

It's pretty simple. 

Zazen: Burn Out or Fade Away?

"...the ability to let that which does not matter truly slide" - Tyler Durden from Fight Club

The are few real "goals" to zazen; the doing is the goal. You sit, stare at a wall and get yourself some peace and quiet from a loud and ever-changing world. You also get some coveted alone time with the universe, which is fairly tough to come by these days. Not that I blame the universe; it has an infinite number of constituents and a secretary who still schedules appointments on a Palm Pilot.

One of the main ideas of zazen is the concept of "falling off of body and mind". Brad Warner refers to it as "thinking not thinking", and I like that description very much. You just kind of think nothing and, when thoughts DO come up, you just sort of let them fly off. What happens to a small, smoldering ember when you don't blow on it or give it any kindling? It dies out. The same goes for thoughts: without actively giving them energy and cultivating them, thoughts fall away. 

Thoughts can be quicksand. The more you struggle against them and try to get away, the further down you get pulled. One of the biggest lessons of zazen practice is being able to actively control which thoughts are cultivated and which thoughts are allowed to burn out and fade away. Learning how to not energize undesirable thoughts and how to cultivate desirable ones is easily one of the most tangible and applicable lessons of Zen.