Anger Can Be Power, Don't You Know That You Can Use It?

"Be aware of yourself, as you are, without judgement. See What Is. If you can do this, then you have no further problems." - Krishnamurti via Alan Watts

One of the things that drew me to Zen Buddhism are the concepts of reality and truth. These are two of the main (and only) "goals" of the practice of Zen Buddhism. You seek the truth and accept it. Sounds good but incredibly difficult in practice. @FAKEGRIMLOCK has a pretty excellent Ted Talk that addresses the subject a bit. One of my all-time favorite talks.

I define frustration as the difference between reality and what we believe reality "ought" to be. Wait But Why has a good read here on reasons why Gen Y (my generation) is generally a bit unhappy with their place in the world. I'm more interested in looking forwards than looking back, but I think it's important to understand that the major things addressed in the article are issues of perception and perception and thought processes can be refined and conditioned.

I don't have a fantastic solution or new way of thinking that's going to magically end frustration, nor would I want one. A world of "enlightenment" or "liberated beings" would probably be a bit boring and nothing would get done. On the contrary, friction will (and SHOULD) always be there and it is healthy. Friction and frustration generate anger and, as the Clash told us many years ago, anger can be power. Anger is the sort of thing that leads to real behavior changes. Behavior changes when the pain of changing hurts less than the pain of not changing. This is productive anger.

Productive anger gets you up at 5am to train before going to work. It gets you to work a little earlier during the week so you can hang with the kids on the weekend. You burn Friday night studying instead of doing keg stands. It gets you to do all that extra stuff that 90% of people don't do because you're clawing for every little advantage you can find to do whatever it is you want to do. Like Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday, those extra inches we need are all around us. People don't see them or they choose not to reach for them, but they're out there. To use a term from Steven Pressfield in Turning Pro, those inches are the difference between being an amateur and being a professional.

Unproductive anger is snapping at someone for chewing too loudly, yelling at the dog for being a dog or snapping off at a kid for just being a kid and doing kid things. This is displaced anger due to some friction or a perceived wrong in some other aspect in life; the proverbial shit rolling downhill. This is the stuff that doesn't matter. To paraphrase Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club: let that which does not matter truly slide.

Things that truly matter are the greatest sources of friction and need to be addressed in some way, shape or form. These are the big things that trickle down into all of the other aspects of your life. When we address the big things, we don't even notice the small things; they'll have already slid away.

Catch up time: Training Week(s) - 7/8 - 8/10

Little catch-up time here. I'm starting to transition out of the Catalyst program and back into some of writing my own programming, with a bit of idea generation from Lifthard as well as Glenn Pendlay and the folks at Muscledriver.

Clean Grip Snatches are definitely a staple in my snatch warm-ups. Really liking the carryover to the second and third pulls as well as implied shoulder mobility work. Try them: just hang snatch with a clean grip (empty bar) for a few reps, the go back to your regular snatch grip. It feels like the pull gets cut in half. Nice little trick.

7/8
CFTS Abs/Sots Press
Front Squat to 140x1
Snatch - empty bar x30 to 82x2x2 92x2 100x0x2 85x1 02x0 97x0 80x2x4
Sn DL to Knee/Knee to Hip/Full Pull (2+2+1; all floating) - 110x1x2 120x1x3
-3x1 @ 120 full pull only
B Sqt to 152x1x2 then 4x3 @ 125
GM - 95x5x2 105x1
BW Lunges and Lu Raises

7/9
GH Raises/Duck Walk/Clean Grip Snatch/Sots Press/Gymnastic Stuff
B Squat to 160x1
Sn Pull + Hang Pwr Sn + OH Sqt - 75x1x4 80x1x2
Pwr Cl + F Sqt + Jerk - 100x1x3 110x1x3
Snatch PP - 80x5 90x5x4
F Sqt to 125x1 then 3x3 @ 100
KB Swing + DB Press + Behind Neck Pullup (band assisted) - 3x15 each

7/10
CFTS Abs/Planks/Duck Walks/Handstands/Behind Neck Pulldown
F Sqt to 145x1
CJ to 100x1x2 110x1x3 120x1x2 120xFJx2
(2+1) 100x1 110x1 115xFJ
DL to Knee/Pull to Hip/Pull (2+2+1) - 140x1x5

7/11
CFTS/Duck Walks/Sots/Behind Neck Pulldown/Cal Back Ext
B Sqt to 140x1
Jerk - (100x3/110x2/110x1)x3
Pwr Cl - 90x2 100x2x2 90x2x2
Push Press - 75x5x4

7/13 (total mess; last day of squatting multi times per day)
F Sqt to 135x1
Snatch to 85x1, 95x0
CJ to 100x1
B Sqt to 100x1
GM 3x5 @ 75

7/15
Abs/Sots Press/Clean Grip Sn/Chinese High Pull
Snatch (82x2 87x1 92x1) x3
Sn Pull + Chinese Rebend - 100x3 110x3 110x3 120x3
B Sqt - 120x2 130x2 140x1 120x2
GM - 100x5x3
Lu Raises + Death Marches

7/16
CFTS/Handstands/Behind Neck Pulldown/
Pwr Snatch - 70x2x2 80x2x2 80x2x2
Pwr CJ - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
F Sqt to 120x1, 110x2x3
Leg Ext/Chins/Side Bends

7/17
CFTS/Handstands/Leg Ext/GH Raises/Clean Grip OH Sqt
CJ - (95x2+1/105x1/110x1) x3
C Pull + Rebend - 120x3x3
B Sqt to 140x1
Paused - 100x3x3
GM - 95x5x2 100x5 105x5
Lu Raise + Death March

7/18 (Borked; training four days in a row seems to be very disagreeable)
Clean Grip Snatch/KB Windmills/CFTS/Sots Press/Russian Balances
Jerks - bunch of singles at 100
Pwr Cl - bunch at 80 and 90
Pendlay Rows

7/20
Snatch - 40-60-80-90-100x1x2 107x1 (PR!) 110x0
CJ - 60-80-90-105-115-110-120x1x2 - 122xFJ
Behind Neck Press - 3x10 @ 45kg

7/21
Jerk Balance - to 85x1x5
Jerk to 122x1x3
Jerk Drives to 125 for some triples

7/22
Duck Walks/Russian Balances/Planks/Abs/Chinese Stretch
Sn - 40-60-80x2 80x1 87x1 95x1 102x0 - (90x1, 95x1)x3
CJ - 50-70-90x1x3 105x1x2 110x1 120x1x3 - (110x1x8)
Sn Pull + Rebend - 120x2x4
F Sqt to 110x2 110x2x3

7/23
Heavy Pulldown Abs/Cal Back
Hang Pwr Sn to 70x2 80x2x2 70x2x4 75x2x2
Hang Pwr Cl - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
- messed up and pwr cleaned doubles up to 100 before I realized it's supposed to be high hang
Behind Neck Press 3x10 @ 40
Arches - 25-40-40-40
Pendlay Rows - 3x10 @ 60

7/24
Close Grip Snatch/Russian Balance/Jerk Balances
Snatch to 90x1x3 then 80x2x3
CJ to 110x (2+1)
Sn Pull - 110x3x2 130x2x3

7/25 - totally borked; seeing a trend on Thursdays?
Pwr Sn - 60x1x6
B Sqt to 125x5x4
Cl Pull to 145x1

7/27 - Coached so I barely trained. Just muscle cleaned a bit.

7/29
Snatch - to 90x1 95x1x2 then 80x3x3 (1 full snatch + 2 high hang snatches)
CnJ - to 110x1 120xpressout 120xFJx2 then 100x(2+1) x3
B Sqt - 125x5x5
Cl Pull - 130x3 140x3x2 150x3x3
Snatch Push Press - 85x5x5
Lateral Raises and Lunges

7/30
KB Windmill/Abs/Russian Balances
Abv Knee Snatch to 90x1x2 95x1x2 100x1 102x1x2/ 7x2 @ 80kg
Snatch Balance - 5x3@ 70 (haven't done these in YEARS)
SN Pull from Deficit, two pauses - 100x3x5
Block Pull plus Rebend - 100x3x6
Chinese Rows/Lunges

7/31
Pulldown Abs/Windmills/Muscle Clean
Hang CnJ - 110xFJx3 then (1 clean + 2 jerks) 90x1x6
F Sqt - 115x3x5
C Pull plus Rebend - 6x3 @ 120
Behind Neck Jerk - 90x1x8
Front Push Press - 80x3x5

8/1
Chins/Snatch Press/Jerk Balances
B Sqt - 6x3 @ 135kg
Sn to 90x1x3
CJ to 105x1x4
Strict Press and Pendlay Rows - 5x5 each

8/3
Snatch to 90x1x2 97x0x2 90x1 95x1 100x1
CnJ to 115x1 125x1 (clean only) 130x0 120x1x2
Sn Pull - 120x3x5
Block Pull + Rebend - 120x3x5
Jerk Supports to 110x3x4

8/4
Handstands/Chins
B Sqt to 152x5 (5RM) (There was more here. I think my best is 165 or 170, so not far off. Shooting for 190x5 by end of 2013)
Push Press to 85x5 (15% off my best; explains why my jerk is so shit)
Cl Pull from Deficit - 145x3 157x3x4
Snatch Balance 75x3x5
Bent Rows (sloppy) to 60x10/85x10/102x5x3

8/5 (Little girl at the gym started crying when I dropped a bar warming up and I still feel bad about it. Sorry kiddo, my bad.)
Snatch to 70x2 70x1 80x1x3 90x1x3 95x1 then 85x3 85x2 80x1
CnJ - to 115x1x2 then 100x2x3
B Sqt - 5x5 @ 132
CL Pull + Rebend - 120x3x2 130x3x2 140x3
Snatch Push Press - 80x5 85x5 90x5x2
Dips/Plate Raises/Lunges/Prowler Walk

8/6
Russian Balance/Armbar/Windmill/Snatch Press
Snatch + Overhead Squat - to 80x1x3 87.5x1 90x0x2 (made snatch, missed squat), 90x1x2 (snatch only) then (Snatch x2 + OH Sqt x2) 70x1x2 75x1x2 80x1x2
Snatch Balance - to 70x3x2 80x2 90x0/ 70x2x2 80x2x6
Sn Pull - 115x3x6
Box Pull + Rebend - 110x2x3 115x2x3 120x2x3
Dips/Prowler Walk/Pulldowns

8/7
Jerk Balance/Behind Neck Split Press
Clean + F Sqt + Jerk to 100x1 110x1 120xFJx2 120x1
-(1 clean + 2 jerks) to 100x1x2 105x1x3
F Sqt - 115x3x6
Cl Pull - 140x3x6
Behind Neck Jerk - 105x1x8
Front Push Press - 75x3x4 85x3x2

8/8
B Squat 6x3 @ 102kg
Snatch to 80x1 85x1

8/10
Snatch to 90x1x2 95x0 95x1 100x0 100x1
CnJ to 105x1x3

SMOKED. Been getting up at 4am for work all week and it caught up to me. On the plus side I fixed a couple kinks in my clean and snatch pulls, so that's a victory.

That gets us all caught up! I'll start logging my usual Sunday to Saturday format from now on.

I'm back to writing my own programming, with some suggestions along the way. I'm back to the schedule I was on last fall (Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun). The rest days spread out a bit more evenly leads to higher quality work. I'm training with an eye towards a meet in November. Right now my intention is to have a snatch day, a clean and jerk day, a squat/strength day, a snatch/cnj/strength day and a snatch/cnj only day. Pulling on all of the days except for the snatch/CnJ only say, which will almost always be on Saturday. I'm also going back to Glenn Pendlay's application of the Texas Method to weightlifting with 3-5x3-5 back squats on Tuesday, 3-5x3 front squats on Thursday and trying to new 5RM back squats on Sundays. Basic schedule looks like this:

Tues - Snatch/CnJ/Back Squat/strength work (classic work here will be off blocks, power work, hang work, etc)
Wed - Snatch-specific
Thurs - CnJ Specific/Front Squat
Sat - Max Snatch and CnJ (lower in volume, higher in intensity)
Sun - Back Squat and Push Press for 5RMs, strength work

Floating

Joe Rogan on Sensory Deprivation Tanks

I had investigated floating a bit thanks to a blog post from Brad Feld and the fact that I have a little hippie streak in me. With an ever decreasing number of places where people can get a minute of absolutely silence (much less an hour), this sounded immensely appealing. 

With a fairly stressful job and training life, I like the idea of being able to be almost completely void of external stimuli for an hour and float in six hundred pounds of epsom salt. In addition to keeping you afloat you're also absorbing magnesium through your skin the entire session via the epsom salt. Magnesium deficiency can be problematic for everyone, but more so for people who don't consume enough leafy greens (so EVERYONE) and/or athletes and active people. Magnesium is also incredibly helpful for getting to sleep; epsom salt baths before bed are very helpful for people with sleep problems and many pre-bed sleep supplements contain a massive dose of magnesium and zinc.

I went to Cloud Nine Float Center in Boulder for my initial float. The owner took great care to walk me through anything and everything about the tank, getting in, getting out, operating the controls, etc. Danny couldn't have been more helpful and gave great explanations and details. I must note, speaking as someone with some history of claustrophobia, that never once did I feel claustrophobic during the entire experience. 

I have to think the experience is fairly personal, but I'll give you the gist of what I felt. I shut the lid, flipped off the light and let my head do whatever it wanted to do. I opened my eyes. I closed my eyes. I bumped into the sides of the tank floating around. I've talked to folks who have something specific to think about or work on while floating. I went the opposite direction. No agenda, no pressing thoughts; I just floated to float. I didn't have any psychedelic experiences or hallucinate, although I definitely saw some colors and things like that. Think of it as getting a baseline experience. Now I have a "control" experience that I can use for future reference. 

After a little while I couldn't tell what parts of my body were under water and which parts were exposed. This is by design: the air and water inside the tank are at skin temperature so you start feeling like you're suspended in nothing rather than floating in water. You can also choose music/nature sounds or bring music on a phone/iPod for them to pipe into the tank while you're floating. I went the quiet route and this is something I want to continue for awhile. 

The hour went by pretty quickly and some light music started playing when there were two minutes remaining in my session. I got out, showered off the salts, got dressed and walked out. Very few times before have I felt such a sense of calm and bliss. I stopped by for a small dinner with my mom, went home and had a excellent night of sleep. As I write this (two days later) I still have a tremendous sense of calmness. It felt a bit like a chore to get geared up for training on Saturday morning, although I still managed a new post-back injury PR clean. 

I'm going to play around a bit with the timing on these floats. I want to try one on a Saturday night, when I have two full days before my next training session and a full Sunday free from external obligations. Much like zazen, this is definitely becoming a fixture in my life. 

Training Week - 7/1 - 7/7

Going with no belt on the squats for the next couple weeks to change stimulus up a bit. This will also take down the weights on my squats so this should leave a little more juice in the legs for the main lifts.

7/1 - Happy 33rd birthday to me!
Hanging Leg Raise/OH Squat/YWLT - three sets each
Front Squat - 60-90-110-130-140-150
Supposed to Snatch to a heavy single then 3x2, but my right shoulder is a little banged up so I stuck to Muscle Snatches and then Snatch Balances. On the balances I've always had a problem pressing myself down; I always end up popping the bar up in the air rather than driving myself down.
Pulls - Floor to Knee x2/Knee to Hip x2/Full Pull x1: 110x2 120x3
B Sqt to 150x1 then 140x2x3
GM - 90x5 100x5 100x5

7/2
Cal Back Ext/YWLT - three sets each
B Sqt - 70-100-120-140-150
Sn Pull + Hang Pwr Snatch + OH Sqt - 70x1 70x1 75x1 80x1 85x1 (good for more here)
Pwr Cl + Front Squat + Jerk - 80x1 90x1 100x1x5
Snatch Push Press - 80x5 85x5x3
Front Squat - up to 120x1 then 3x3 @ 100 (back a little rough with no belt)
15 Chins + 15 JM Press - three sets

7/3 @ Centennial
Front Squat - 65-85-105-115-125-135
CJ - 65 - 85 - 105x1x3 - 115x1x2 - 125xFJx2 125x1 - 135x0 (close miss clean, wiped me out)
-(2+1) - 90-90-90 (the try at 135 pretty much wiped me out)
Clean Pull to Knee x2/Knee to Hip x2/Full Pull x1 - 130x1 140x2 150x1 140x2
B Sqt - up to 145x1
Three Count Pause Squat - 100x3x4
GM - 60x5 80x5x3

7/4 - Happy Birthday America
Back Squat - 60-80-100-120-140-150-160
Jerk Series - 100x3 110x2 120x1/105x3 115x2 125x1/110x3 120x2 130x1
Pwr Clean - 80x2 90x2 100x2x3
Push Press - 75x5 80x5 85x5x2
F Squat up to 110x1
-90x3x3
(20KB swings + 15 DB Press) x3

7/5 - First floating experience at Cloud Nine Float Center, which I'll write about later. IT WAS AWESOME.

7/6 @ Centennial Weightlifting
F Sqt to 130x1
Snatch to 85x2 85x1 95x1 105x0x2 95x1 102x1 107x0 (shoulder is OK, not great. But didn't bother me after I popped something on one of my 85s.)
CJ - 60-80-100x1x2 115x1x2 125x1 135xClean only (PR; same weight I missed on Wednesday)
B Sqt - up to 145x1 (CNS smoked)
Pause Squat - 110x3x4
GM - 75x5 95x5x2 105x3 95x3

Training Week - 6/24-6/30

This is a semi-deload kind of week and I am horrible at deloading. I have no burning desire to focus and dial in to do lightened lifts and lower percentages. That's really the whole point of a deload anyways, so I'm not terribly concerned about the weights I hit or how they feel. If you're overly stressed about your deloads, you might need to reassess your training life in general. Much bigger fish to fry. Do less than usual, don't lose sleep over it.

6/24
GH Raise/Pulldown Abs -three sets each
Pendlay Sn Complex x 2 (Snatch + Mid Hang Snatch + OH Squatx2 + Balance)
Snatch to 90x1 100x1 105x1 110x0 107x0x2
Sn Pull - 100x3 110x3 120x3x4
B Sqt - to 170x1 then 140x2 150x2x2
Good Morning - 90x5 100x5x2

6/25
Sots Press 3x10
Pwr Sn + Push Press (1+3): 70x1 80x1x2 75x1x3
Pwr Cl + Push Jerk - 100x1x3 90x1x5
F Sqt to 120x1

6/26
Jerk Complex (Pwr Cl + Press + Press to Splitx2 + Push Press) x3
CJ to 110x1
C Pull - 130x3 150x3x2 160x3x2
B Sqt to 140x1
GM 70x5 90x5x2

6/27
Hang Leg Raise/Rev Hyper/Lateral Raises
Pwr Snatch - 70x2x3 75x2x3
Pwr Cl + Push Press (1+3) - 80x1x2 90x1
12 Chins + 200m row x three sets

6/29
Snatch to 90x2 90x1 100x1 90x1 (r shoulder hurting. Managed to stretch a nerve a bit doing some ab wheels on 6/27. Really cranky)
Clean up to 100x2 110x1, then Pwr Cln 100x1x3
C Pull - 130x3x5 140x3x2

6/30
Climbed the Incline in Colorado Springs. Yes, weightlifters climb too.

Totally thrilling deload week, no?

Training Week - 6/10-6/22 (s)

Two weeks to write up here since I've been swamped with work and the gym while also slacking on updates.

6/10
Cal Back Extensions + Hanging Leg Raises three sets each
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x2 120x1 135x1 145x1 152x1
Snatch - 50-70-80x2x2 90x1x2 100x1 105x0x3 110x0/ 80x2 90x2 95x2 100x2
Sn Pull - Knee + Full (2+1) - 110x1x7
B Squat to 150x1/ 120x3x4
Good Morning - 70x5 75x5 80x5

6/11
GH Raise + Hanging Leg Raise - Three sets each
Back Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x2 140x2 155x1
High Hang Snatch - 60-70-80 90x2x5
Pwr Clean + Pwr Jerk - 100x1x4 105x1
F Sqt - 60-80-100-120-130-140-145/ 110x2 120x2 125x2 130x2
(250m row + 12 DB presses) x3  with some side bends

6/12
Pulldown Abs + GH Raise - three sets
F Sqt - 60-80-100-120-140-150-160x
CJ - 70-90-100-110-120xFJx3
Cl Pull - knee + Cl Pull (1+2) - 130x2x1 140x1x3
B Sqt - to 140x1x2
Pause B Sqt - 120x3x4
GM - 80x5x3

6/13
B Sqt to 160x1
Jerk Behind Neck - 100x2x5 (haven't done these FOREVER)
High Hang Clean - 100x2 100x2 105x2 110x2 110x2
Push Press - 75x5x4
Front Sqt to 130x1
(12 KB Swings + 12 Chins) x three sets

Missed training on 6/15 due to having to be out of town for a funeral. Got back Sunday night feeling a little rough.

6/17
F Sqt to 135x1 145x1
Snatch (All of these lifts are done on the minute)
65x1x5
77x1x5
82x1x5
Supposed to go to a heavy single, but didn't have any more gas.
Sn Pull - 110x3x2 120x1x3
B Sqt to 140x1
-110x3x4
GM - 70x5 80x5 90x5 90x5 90x5 100x5

6/18
B Sqt - 70-100-130x2 150x1 160x1 170x1 180x1 (narrowed up my squat stance)
Hang Snatch to Knee - 85x2 90x2 92x2x3
Pwr Cl + Pwr Jerk - 100x1 105x1x4
F Sqt to 130x1/ 100x3x3
(12 DB Row + 12 DB Press) - three sets

6/19
Toes to Bar/GH Raise - three sets of each
Front Squat to 150x1 160x0
CJ (lifts on the minute) - 80x1x5 90x1x5 100x1x5
-110x1 120x1 127x0 130x0
CL Pull - 120x3x2 140x3x3
B Sqt to 150x1
Pause Sqt - 120x3x4
GM 90x5x3

6/20
B Sqt - 60x3x2 90x2 115x2 130x2 145x1 155x1 165x1 175x1
Behind Neck Jerk - 112x2x5 (better)
Hang Clean to Knee - 100x2x5
Push Press - 60x5x2 70x5 80x5 85x5x2
F Sqt to 125x1
(12 chins + 12 ring pushups) x2

6x22
Front Squat up to 135x1 150x0
Snatch to 90x1 100x1 110x0x3 100x1
CJ to 100x2 110x1 120x1 130xFJ 135x0
B Sqt to 135x1 150x1 160x1
Pause Squat 120x3x4
GM 70x5 90x5 100x5x2

I promise I'll be more interesting in the future. Been slammed lately with work and living the good life.

Training Week - 6/3-6/9

                                                            WORST 400m run ever

First "real" week of Catalyst Athletics Double Day Squats cycle (first week is a prep week)
(Just for shits and giggles, and since I'm front and back squatting daily, I'm going to track my daily squat total.)

6/3 (Total 302kg)
GH Raise+Pulldown Abs - three sets of each for warmup
Front Squat - 60x3x2 90x2x2 110x2 130x1 145x1
Snatch - 50xsome 70x2 70x1 80x1 90x1 95x1 100x1 105x0x3
Sn Pull to Knee + Sn Pull (1+2) - 110x1 120x1x4
B Squat (lbs) - 185x3 225x2 275x2 315x1 345x1/ 275x3 295x3x3
GM - 185x5x3

6/4 (Total 230 on account of borked groin from technique change)
GH Raise + Pulldown Abs - three sets of each
B Sqt - to 100x2x2 (groin is all sorts of locked up)
High Hang Snatch - 80x2x6
Pwr CL + Pwr Jerk (2+1) - 90x1 100x1x5
F Sqt - to 130x1/ 100x3x3
10 KB Snatches + 10 KB presses - three sets, no rest with 24kg KB
DB Side Bend + Pulldown Abs - three sets of each

6/5 (Total 288; little different since I used the Safety Squat Bar)
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2 100x1 120x1 135x1 145x1 150x1
CJ - 80-90-100x1x2 110x1 120x1 127xFJ
-2+1: 105x1 110x1 115x1
Cl Pull to Knee + Cl Pull (1+2) - 130x3 120x3
SSB Sqt - up to 305x1
Paused SSB Sqt - 255x3x4
GM - 165lbsx5x3

6/6 (Total 300)
Back Squat - to 170x1
Front Jerk - 100x2x6
High Hang Clean - 100x2x5
Back Push Press - 70x5x4
Front Squat to 130x1/ 110x3x3
15 Chins + 12 DB presses - two sets

6/8 (AM) (Total 300)
Front Squat - 70x3x2 100x2x2 120x1 130x1 140x1
Snatch - 70-80x2 90x2 97x1 100x0 100x1 107x0x3 (REAL CLOSE on these)
CJ - 70-90-100-110x1x2-120x1 (clean only)-125x1 (clean only)

6/8 (PM)
B Sqt - 70-110-130x2 150x1 160x1
Paused B Sqt (five count) - 110x3 120x3 125x3x3
GM - 70x5 80x5x3
15 Chins + 12 DB Presses - two sets


Knee Soreness Level: 50 year old man. My back is also giving me some fits right now, but it's only when I'm driving in my truck. It's something about the angle of my seat but it lights my back up like nobody's business.

Regarding nutrition: I'm not doing anything special right now, just typical Carb-Backloading. I'm eating breakfast (three eggs scrambled in coconut oil with some veggies and a couple strips of bacon) every day just to get some extra calories. My legs are really having a tough time with this so really trying to push the calories and not lose too much sleep about things.

Typical training weekday looks like this:
530am - Wakeup, drink some water and a coffee
630am - Finish coffee with MCT oil and a little whey
8am - Aforementioned breakfast
11-12 - Lunch (usually a salad with some fish oil and a bit of meat)
330-6pm - Train: I usually drink a Monster or a coffee at the beginning of training, then switch over to two scoops of Muscle Feast Anabolic Recovery with creatine and leucine. Two more scoops of Anabolic Recovery plus leucine and creatine are my PWO shake.
7-9:30 or so - Backload.

I train M-Th and Saturday, so Friday and Sunday I go ultra low carb. Lots of calories from protein and fat plus a ton of veggies.

Training Week - 5/27-6/2

Tweet of the week:
"I hate it when you sit down and your legs flatten out to approximately the size of Australia"
-Aimee Everett (@Aimees2cents)



I'm playing with my general warm-ups a little bit. Here's the basic outline:
One or two trips of sled dragging or Prowler push or 500m on the rower
Foam Roll/Agile 8/Lax Ball/Fire Hydrant Circuit (includes front and back hip circles)
One set of reverse hypers to open up back
Band Pull Apart Super Series with monster mini band (I usually do one set as a warm-up and sneak another one at the end of training)
An upper body/lower body/abs circuit for 2-4 sets (ie Pulldown Abs/GH Raises/Chins) or some overhead squats or something along those lines.

5/27
GH Raise/Pulldown Abs - three sets of each
Front Squat - worked up to 125x1
Snatch - 60x3 70x2 80x2 87x1 92x1/ 75x1 80x1 85x1
Sn Pull to Knee + Sn Pull (1+2) 90x1x4
B Squat - to 155x1/ 120x3 130x3 130x3
GM 3x5 @ 60
Hypers/Traction

5/28
GH Raise/Pulldown Abs - three sets
Muscle Snatch - 50x3 50x3 60x3 50x3
High Hang Snatch - 75x2x6
Pwr Clean + Pwr Jerk - to 100x1x5
Front Squat - to 140x1/ 120x2x3
DB Press + DB Bent Row (10+10) - 50s for three sets

5/29
GH Raise/Pulldown Abs - three sets
Front Squat - to 130x1
CJ - 60xsome 80x1x3 100x1x2 110x1 120xFJ 120x0 120x1/(Two Clean + One Jerk) 100-100-105
Cl Pull to Knee + Cl Pull (1+2) - 130x1x4
Back Squat - to 160x1
Pause Back Squat (three count) - 120x3 125x3 125x3
GM - 70x5 80x5 80x5

5/30
Back Squat up to 150x1 (getting much better at making bigger jumps fast)
High Hang Clean - up to 90x2x2 100x2x2 110x2x1
Pwr Snatch up to 70x2x4 80x2x1 (awful)
Front Push Press - 3x5 @ 80
Front Squat - up to 142x1 then 110x3x3
Three sets: 300m row + 12 chins
Neck + Pulldown abs - three sets each
No traction, back feels good. Knees are a bit disappointed with the path I've chosen in life.

5/31 - Off, lots of stretch and foam roll

6/1 (Did this as one long session, but in the future it's going to be an AM/PM split
Front Squat up to 125x1 135x1 140x1
Snatch up to 95x1 102x1 105x1 (post-broken hand PR)
CJ up to 125x1 135x0x2 (MUST STOP RELEASING THE BAR WHEN I GO UNDER)
Back Squat up to 145x1x2 150x1x2 (playing with technique, didn't go super heavy here)
Five Count Paused Back Squat - 3x3 @ 110kg
GM 85x5x3

Something I'm totally shocked by is how much time I was wasting sitting. These workouts have been clocking in right around 2-2.5 hrs from the time I open the gym door to the time I walk out (6/1 was around three hours) with substantially more volume than I had been doing previously. In the same time it was taking me to snatch, clean and squat I've been squatting twice, snatching and cleaning while also getting in assistance work and conditioning. Great idea by Greg Everett at Catalyst Athletics for including that stipulation in this program.

Post-meet training week, a new training block and the Eternal Now

Two videos this week everyone, in honor of me not writing last week and eating with great vengeance and furious anger. This first one is an awesome compilation of power/squat jerks in international competition. The Chinese in particular are insanely good at squat and power jerking.

The second video is the 85kg champion from 2013 European championships, Apti Aukhadov. Staying with the theme of the day (and unbeknownst to everyone watching), Apti switched from split jerks to power/squat jerks. High fives for the awesome multi-directional views here as well. Epic consistency and technique; notice the final jerk is faster and caught higher than the first two.

The week right after a meet is such an individual thing. Some people are so banged up physically that they can't do much of anything besides go for some walks. For some people the body feels good but the nervous system is bashed up and a 50% lift feels like a max lift. You just have to see what you're feeling and react accordingly. I did three workouts this week, all of which consisted of sled work, Prowler work and high rep dumbbell circuits for the upper body. I didn't spend more than 45 minutes in the gym at any one time. The first time I picked up a barbell was one week after the meet and I did some power clean/power jerk and power clean/push press singles at 90kg. Nothing special, just moving a bit.

As far as the week post-meet, there are a couple general guidelines that I can suggest. In A System of Multi-Year Training in Weightlifting, Medvedyev stated that recovery methods involved approx 60-85 mins PER DAY. This is difficult to do for those that work full time jobs or don't train full-time, but it's something to keep in mind the week after a meet, when your training is throttled back. This is an ideal time to dial up the accumulation of recovery time.

-Get outside. Go for walks. Get in the sun.
-Nap and foam roll. A LOT.
-Keep the time in the gym to a minimum and emphasize prehab/rehab movements and things you haven't done for awhile. I did some DB bench for the first time in probably a year.
-Get outside. Get in the sun.
-Nap A LOT.

Here's an example of what my Tuesday/Thursday workouts looked like:

Foam Roll/Reverse Hypers/Fire Hydrant Series/Agile 8
Abs x100/TKEs 2x20
Band Shoulder Circuit
25 minute circuit - DB Single Arm Press 15+15/Chins x10/Parking Lot Sled Drag
Abs x100
Reverse Hypers and Traction

I also ate like a total fat ass basically this entire week. I stayed carb-free during the days all week, but Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun nights were carb explosions. Really just let the diet chill out a bit and didn't stress. No idea where my weight is at and I don't care. No meet for the foreseeable future so no worries. If anything this past meet solidified my thoughts that it's better for me to stay in the 94s rather than try and move up to the 105s. Mostly I need to think about getting my body composition squared away a little bit and get a little more Jacked, Tan and Vascular. To that end I'm gonna make a couple changes for this upcoming block:

-I'm going to actually start counting my carbs on my backloads; 200g seems like a nice round number to start and can tweak it up or down.
-I'm also going to start eating breakfast every morning and try to dial the calories up a little bit in the morning.
-Trying two PWO shakes instead of just one. I got the chance to have a chat with Kiefer and he discouraged the idea of just carbs intra-workout and encouraged me to just have an additional PWO shake. My preferred PWO is Muscle Feast's Anabolic Recovery, so I'll probably dial up two scoops of that during my workout and another two scoops for the drive home. This also decreases the amount of food for my backloads, which is probably a good thing.
-Same recovery methods as always: not pushing the recovery means on training days so as to not interfere with adaptation. I would like to push the contrast showers a bit more in the mornings.

I will do a better job of writing out training, recovery means, etc with this block than I did on the previous one. Better to do it here than try and read the chicken scratch from my training book.

With this upcoming block (courtesy of Greg Everett at Catalyst Athletics), a lot of this is going to be going by feel. Last training block I didn't squat more than three days a week; this block I'll be squatting twice a day and around ten times a week. When I hit my all-time back squat PR of 190 I did it when I was experimenting with Bulgarian training, squatting daily and doing all singles. I have a better base to build off  now with my best back squat set of five increasing from 140-170kg and my SSB squat pushing up to 400lbs. I'm excited to get back to singles now and see what happens.

I'm operating with the below max lifts in mind as far as making percentage calculations for this block:

Front Squat - 160
Back Squat - 190
CJ - 130
Snatch - 105

One of Greg's guidelines for this block stood out to me: no sitting down. Isn't this weightlifting? Hell, the Iranians and the French basically take smoke breaks in between reps. I tested it out a bit as I was getting ready for my last meet and I actually really enjoyed it. It's really easy to sit and relax a bit and let five minutes go by without knowing it. Plus pacing around the platform makes me less of a target for people who want to just sit and chat.

Don't get me wrong: I love talking to people. I love talking lifting, teaching lifting and it still makes me giggle and beam with pride whenever someone asks me for suggestions or training ideas. BUT one of the few places that I've found peace and quiet is on the weightlifting platform, both in competition and in training. For my money it is the epitome of being in the present moment, or the Eternal Now, as it is often referenced in Zen. I very much like that feeling. I'm not worried about a trade, my bank account, if a girl likes me, if I'll ever get married and have kids, if my mom is OK, if I'll ever pay off my student loans or if I need to fart. I'm there. I'm here. I'm everywhere. Going to war with gravity while you have a barbell somewhere on your person tends to focus the mind.

The Week That Was - 5/13 - 5/19

"Making plans for the future is of use only to people who are capable of living completely in the present" - Alan Watts

Starting the week around 96kg, so it's 50/50 whether I cut for 94s or just lift in the 105s. I'd had this magic idea of moving into 105s but...well, as a friend of mine delicately put it: "You're too short for 105". This, of course, is a really nice way of saying "Lose some weight fatty". So we stay on the grind and I'll probably cut down to 94.

5/13 - Acupuncture and Chiro

5/14 MORE acupuncture and chiro - I woke up Tuesday morning with my back basically locked up. For whatever reason, getting adjusted and then lying face down on a table getting needled for an hour really wrecked my SI joints.

5/15
Snatch complex up to 80x1 then did three singles at 80, just testing the back out.
Klokov complex up to 105x1
Last carbs tonight until after weigh-ins

5/16
Snatch up to 90x1
CJ up to 110x1
Shit ton of rumble rolling

5/17
AM - Chiro and Acupuncture
Lots of napping and generally lying around on my ass.

5/18 - Meet Day!
Started the day by checking the scale. Weighing in at a robust 93.6 kilos, I could eat and drink a bit without wrecking my weight. I went with decaf coffee with coconut oil and whey in the morning and worked through a pound of bacon throughout the day. I'm used to running on fat anyways, so not a huge stretch for me. I wanted high calories bang with Sipped some water throughout the day, foam rolled a bunch and squeezed in some reverse hypers to get my back opened up a bit. My legs were super stiff from lying around all day on Friday. #firstworldproblems

Flatirons Crossfit ran an awesome meet. This is the most "on time" meet I've ever been a part of, especially considering the size of the sessions. 14-16 lifters in each of five sessions with six attempts each is between 84-96 lifts per session. Squeezing those into a two hour period while simultaneously getting the next session weighed in in not easy. I've been to meets where the last session is cleaning by moonlight. They got each session started in a two hour window, with sessions beginning at 9am-11am-1pm-3pm-5pm. They have a perfect facility for weightlifting; plenty of platforms, very good bars and kilo plates everywhere. I highly recommend if you're in Boulder or the surrounding area that you check them out. Slowly but surely the Front Range is building a very solid weightlifting community. Along with Flatirons Weightlifting, Paul Fleschler has a very good program going on down in Colorado Springs with Front Range Weightlifting. 2010 World team member Rachel Crass is coaching and building a program at Centennial Weightlifting. The I-25 corridor is becoming a very good space to get some excellent coaching in the Olympic lifts.

                                       Thanks MuscleDriver, USAW and Oskar Blues Brewing

Meet Results:
Snatch - 95-100-102x
CJ - 120x-125x-125

225 total, good for 2nd place in the 94s. 6th overall.

Yet another 3/6 showing with yet another poor performance in the jerk. I got a little unlucky in that my 120 opener got turned down 2-1 for a press out. I shouldn't have let it be that close; 120 is a smoke show jerk in training. I'm still thinking through these technique changes instead of being able to really cut it loose. I hit the goals that I had in mind for my second attempts (100/125), but I had ideas on 102 and 130 for my thirds. In a perfect world, I left seven kilos on the platform. But I got past my openers while entirely changing my jerk and my pull techniques last week. Tough to be too pissed about that. The playlist for my videos is here. The jerks are a bit ugly, as is the 102 snatch that wasn't even close. I've embedded my third CJ below (125) that I made to avoid bombing out of the meet. I'm proud of this jerk as I actually dropped my elbows and brought in my feet. Maybe after another 10,000 attempts it'll start sinking into my skull.

So what's next?

A week or two of downtime, a week or so of real live lifting and then back to the grind. A couple of my rules for the week after a meet: no more than 60mins at a time in the gym, no barbells, no squats, lots of unilateral work, sled and Prowler work, nap a lot, drink a beer or two and LIGHTEN UP FRANCIS.

No planned meet on the horizon so I want to get a little banged up and beaten down in this upcoming block. I would imagine this will entail a lot more squatting as my squat seems to go up when I train it constantly. Squatting three day a week (for triples and fives) previously helped move my 5RM up a bunch (from 130-165) in short order, but that didn't really transfer over to my max, which has been stale at around 180-190kg for a year now.

Oh, I also hit the gym on 5/19 and did an hour of sled dragging and a ton of traction and low back rehab work.

The Week That Was - 5/6 - 5/12

Some excellent mobilizations for a better bottom position from California Strength



5/7 (Still working through this new pull, so just did the full lifts)
Snatch up to 96x1x3  (no misses and lots of reps over 90%)
CJ - 100x1x3 110x1x2 120x1 125x1 130xFJ (no missed cleans, all very sharp)
Clean DL/Pull (no real finish to toes, just fast pull to 1st Position) - TON of doubles and triples here at 150-160

5/8 - Long Walk

5/9
Muscle Snatch 70x3x2 75x2 80x0
High Hang Snatch to 80x1x2 (cut this short because a squat rack opened up)
Front Squat - to 140x1 120x3x3
High Hang CJ to 120x1
(My groove from above the knee to the hip needs some work. Doing some extras as warmups this week)

5/11 - Last heavy day with the full lifts
Sots Press - barx10 40kgx5x2
Snatch - up to 92x1 97x1 102x0x2 100x0
CJ - up to 105x1 115x1 122x1 127x1 132x0
Sled Drags - three trips
Reverse Hypers

5/12
Sled Drags and OH Squat - 3x10 w/ bar only
Front Squat 60x3x2 80x3 100x2 125x2 140x1 152x1
Random Stuff + Traction

The Week That Was - 4/29 - 5/5

I don't have too many heroes, but I have plenty of role models and people who live their lives in a manner which I would consider to be successful. Henry Rollins is on that list. Alan Watts is on that list. And with regards to finance, Paul Tudor Jones is at the top of that list. Not for the wealth he has amassed, but for his approach to finance and all he does as a philanthropist through the Robin Hood Foundation. Awesome profile here from 60 Minutes.

4/30
Sots Press - 40x5x3 50x3x2 55x2 55x1
Pwr Snatch up to 80kgx1x3/ Pwr Sn + Abv Knee Pwr Sn 70x1 75x1 77x1 80x1
Snatch Pull - 100x3x2 110x3x3
Pwr Clean/Pwr Jerk - 50xsome 60xsome 70xsome 80x2x1 90x1x2 100x1 110x1x2/ 2+1 90x1x3
Clean Pull - 100x3 130x3 140x2x3
Back Squat 70x5x2 100x5x2 120x5
Traction and Hypers

5/1 - Off/Roller/Epsom Salt

5/2 (This took WAAAAYYYY too long)
Sots Press - 40x5x2 50x3x3
High Hang Snatch - 50x3 60x3 70x2x2 80x2 87x1 92x1 97x1 100x1 102x0 102x1/80x3 85x3 90x3
High Hang CJ - 60x3 70x2x2 90x1x3 100x1x2 110x1x2 117x1 120x1x2 125x0 125x1
F Squat - triples up to 115; knees are banged up.

5/4 (May the Fourth Be With You)
Spent the day helping out at the USAW Level I course at Centennial Weightlifting. I also got the opportunity to pick Mark Cannella's brain a bit on my lifts. Mark is one of the US Olympic coaches and is a mastermind when it comes to technique. In general I need to work on my position from above the knee to the hip, scrap my dynamic start and go back to basics. Mark made a couple really good points and, while the bar doesn't move as fast off the floor, there's definitely a difference in the lifts. I'm more "connected" to the barbell, if that makes sense.
I snatched up to 95 for three sharp singles then missed 100 three times; twice out the back, which NEVER happens. So I guess no more dynamic start for this guy.
Also did some sets of ten of Sots press and Russian Snatch Balances with just the bar.

5/5 (CINCO CINCO!)
Spent the morning and chunk of the afternoon assisting with the second day of the USAW Level I cert at Centennial Weightlifting. Powered down some Chipotle, took a quick nap and managed to squeeze in a quick squat.
Back Squat barx5 70x5x2 100x3 120x3 140x2 150x2 160x1 170x1x2
Pause Squat 130x3 (blew out my nose on the last rep. Took this as a sign to call it a day.)

The Week That Was - 4/22 - 4/28

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play, his labour and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself he always seems to be doing both. Enough for him that he does it well."

- from 'Education Through Recreation' by Lawrence Pearsall Jacks, 1932

h/t @ReformedBroker

Aimee Anaya Everett from Catalyst Athletics on PRs

Josh Brown (The Reformed Broker) on Optimism as the Default Setting


4/23
OH Squat 50x5x3
Pause Snatch - 50x3x2 70x2x2 80x2 87x1 92x0 92x1 97x0 97x1 102x0 (missed behind) 100x0 (left in front) / 80x2 85x2x2
Pause CJ - 50xbunch 80x2x2 100x1x2 110x1 117x1/105x(2+1)x3
Front Squat - barx5 70x4 100x3 120x3 135x1 145x0/120x2 120x3
Rev Hypers and Traction

4/25
Hip Snatch - 40x3 60x3x2
Snatch - 60x3x2 70x2 80x1x2 85x0 85x1 85x1x11 (1:15-1:30 btwn reps, took around 15 mins. 1,020kg of work sets)
Hip Clean - 60x3 80x3
CJ - 80x2 90x1 100x1 110x1 110x1x4 112x1x2 115x1x2 117x1 120x1 (1:30-1:45 btwn reps, took about 18 mins. 1,241kg of work sets)
Front Squat - barx5 70x4 100x3 120x2 120x1 130x1x3
Traction and Reverse Hypers

4/26
Hip Band Series - 4x15 of Knee Outs/Band Stomps/TKEs
Sled Dragging - 30mins or so
Traction

4/28
Hip Snatch - 50x3 70x2x2
Snatch 50-60xsome 70x2x2 77x2 85x1 90x1 95x1
Hip CJ - 60x3 80x2x2 90x1
CJ - 70xsome 90x1x2 110x1x2 120x1 125x0x2
Attempted a squat but knees were not happy so I left this one alone
GH Raise - 5x8
Traction

Timed Reps By the Numbers

I did timed reps yesterday - ten singles in the snatch and ten singles in the clean and jerk, with between 1:15 and 1:45 between reps. The weights here weren't earth shattering at around 80% of my gym maxes. Doesn't look like much on paper but I am SMOKED today. In an effort to figure out why the hell I'm a mess today, I crunched some numbers:

Snatch -
80 x 1 x 4 = 320kg
82 x 1 x 2 = 164kg
85 x 1 x 4 = 340kg
=824kg (check my math)

CJ -
100x1x2 = 200kg
105x1x3 = 315kg
110x1x5 = 550kg
=1,065kg (again, check my math)

Compare this to a recent Saturday max-out workout. Note: I'm only including +80% lifts in both places:

4/6
Snatch:
85 x 1 = 85kg
92 x 1 = 92kg
80 x 1 = 80kg
85 x 1 = 85
90 x 1 = 90
95 x 1 = 95
=527kg

CJ
100 x 1 x 2 = 200
110 x 1 x 1 = 110
117 x 1 x 1 = 117
122 x 1 x 1 = 122
127 x 1 x 1 = 127
120 x 1 x 1 = 120
=796kg

As usual, math is tough to argue against. I did 297kg more tonnage in the snatch and 269kg more tonnage in the clean and jerk. Why am I shocked that I'm hurting the day after?

Now, are these maximal weights? Of course not. Is there some room for error here? Of course. But that is an awful lot of work accumulated towards the upper end of the percentage spectrum in a very short amount of time.

This is something that I'm going to include on Tuesday for the next two weeks to get some specific work done. Tuesday also keeps it as far away as possible from my Saturday max-out work. I want it to complement, not replace or affect. I'm not one to be changing things with a month to go until a meet, but I feel like this will be an excellent specific training modality as I get closer to the meet. I'll probably replace Saturday max-outs with these for the first block or two of my next training cycle as well to really do some base building.

Programming squats becomes a bit of a problem here, but this probably just means I'll front squat for a heavy single or two either before or after these sets. Back squatting will only be on Sunday until after the meet. Combined with my front squatting on Tue/Thurs and this will naturally reduce the tonnage of my squats, which will hopefully carry over to the lifts in the next month.

BeeTeeDub: I threw the original article on timed reps and Joe Mills' 20/20 in my blog right here.

Joe Mills' 20/20 Workout

Here is the original article on Joe Mills' 20/20 workout written by one of Joe's former athletes, Gary Valentine. I wish I had found this two years ago when I started this wild goose chase. Better late than never.


Joe Mills' 20/20 Workout! by Gary Valentine, MA, CSCS*D
"The woods are full of strongmen, but very few great Weightlifters!" this was the first of many aphorisms I was to hear when i began training with the legendary Joe Mills of Central Falls Rhode Island. He had so many of these humorous sayings that summed up his philosophy, and 10 years after his passing, I find myself thinking of, or using one of them almost daily.

Joe was 82 when he passed away in 1990, a Member of the Weightlifting Hall of Fame, National Champion in the 30's, and coach of some of Americas greatest lifters, Bob Bednarski and Mark Cameron to name but a few. For many New England Lifters, the trek to Central Falls to be taught Weightlifting and to socialize with Joe was an experience never to be forgotten.

The above quote rang true for me, and so many trainees that sought out his direction. I knew little about the sport in 1980 when I met him. AT 22 years old, I had lifted weights initially to improve my baseball playing, and did what everyone was doing at the time in the gyms - a bodybuilding/powerlifting kind of workout. I soon learned that size and strength were ok, but unless they helped you snatch and clean and jerk more, he was definitely not impressed. At 200 pounds or so, I had done the lifts on my own for about 6 months, learning from an old manual I found somewhere. My clean of 300 pounds was more of a high rounded back deadlift, and what I hoped would impress him made him cringe terribly! "You keep doing that you'll kill yourself" was his comment as I recall.

Style.
Technique.
Body speed.
Fluid motion.
Timing.

This is what he was teaching, with an insight that I continue to find amazing to this day. Today's researchers have discovered "Rate of Force Development" training, and "Task Specificity", as if new and startling discoveries. These were the foundations of Joe's philosophy.

"Sure you’ve got to be strong" he'd say sarcastically, "but if you don’t know how to use it, what good is it?!"

"Perfect practice makes perfect" he repeated constantly. Knowing that the biggest need for most trainees that came to him, myself included, was to learn to apply their strength to the Olympic Movements, he recommended the 20/20 workout. This consisted of 20 progressively heavier snatches and 20 clean and jerks, under his constant constructive criticism. This "got you in shape for Weightlifting" he said, and frowned upon the overemphasis of assistance lifts. "Endless drilling" he claimed was necessary to ingrain the proper motor pattern so that when maximum weights were attempted in a meet, all energy would go toward explosive effort, with no slowing sown of the movement due to conscious thought.

"Don't think, you're ill-equipped!" he remarked, half jokingly, but also to bring out the point that the movement had to be automatic.

"You play baseball right?" he asked, "When was the last time you thought about where your feet were while you were swinging a bat?!" That hit home with me, because I'd been playing ball since age 7, and the only times i was in a batting slump was when I started to think!

After warmup, you take approximately 70-75% of your best snatch. This is performed in exact competition squat style for 5 singles, about a minute or 2 apart. Usually you'd do one, turn to re-chalk for 30 seconds or so while hearing a coaching point, do another, then rest a few minutes while another lifter went and you discussed your lifts and what to work on. After five good singles were completed, you add 5 kg to the bar, and continue for another five singles. Then 2.5 more kg for another five singles. You've now completed fifteen lifts. At this point, if your style was good and the lifts were "pulling you up" - his criteria for a good training lift and the sign that you had more in you- you would continue with 2.5 kg increases for one single at a time until missing. If you made the 20th lift, you were close to your best lift. If you make 21 or 22 consistently, this was the sign to increase the starting weight, and therefore the whole sequence, by 2.5 kg. After a 5 - 10 minute break, clean and jerks were done in the same fashion. Some days you'll do just 15-17 of each lift, or once every week or two, depending on your recovery ability, you would push to 20+. Assistance lifts were something he did not recommend "while trying to learn how to lift weights". Believe me, if you put everything into this workout as you were supposed to, you weren't asking for anything more!

"You just did 40 of your pulls, squats and jerks exactly the way you need to, so go home and recover!" was his recommendation.

I've found this to be an incredibly demanding workout that truly tests your desire to be an Olympic Lifter! It is ideal for building confidence, and helping determine your openers. Always better to start a little lighter, I learned, and do them sharply. Used exclusively of course, it can easily lead to overtraining or staleness, so try it a few times and see where it fits for you. I learned from Joe that this sport is a perfect blend of all athletic qualities. Unfortunately, many people in it overemphasize the strength or size aspect, almost downplaying "technique" as some sort of trick or something. Joe knew that you had to have it all. If you had strength without style, you’d probably never realize your full potential, and injury was almost inevitable. All technique and no strength would not cut it either, but he realized that strength was movement and speed specific, so a workout like this was designed to apply all the strength you had.

Please give this a try! I'd be interested in your experiences. Feel free to email me garyv@optonline.net to tell us how it goes or with questions.

I'll end with another Mills quote that you'll need for this workout -"You’re never as tired as you think you are!".

I don’t know about that one! Good luck, and enjoy your workouts!

The Week That Was - 4/15 - 4/21

All of the sessions from the 2013 European Weightlifting Championships via All Things Gym here.

Also at All Things Gym: Band Decompression. I show this stuff to everyone who trains. Having had one back surgery, I don't wish it on anyone. Bands can be found at Elitefts.

Alan Watts giving an excellent talk on...well damn near everything.

4/15 - Epsom salt, roller, etc

4/16
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (1+3) 50x1x3
Floating Snatch (two pulls) 50x2x2 60x2 70x2 80x1 87x1 92x1 97x0 97x1 102x0 100x0 87x1 92x1
Pendlay Snatch Complex 80-80-85
Floating CJ - 60x2x2 85x1x2 100x1 110x1
Reverse Hypers and Neck

(Tiny R knee tweak on the 110 so I shut this down for the day. Nothing special, just keeping it safe. I also took 4/17 and 4/18 off from the blizzard here and some rough days at work.)

4/19
Pendlay Snatch warmup and some Rock n Roll drills
Snatch from Low Box (15kg plate on the floor) 60x2x3 72x2x2 82x2x2 90x1x5/80x2x5
(The reps at 90 were so perfect I wanted to do some work there plus the two days off left me stiff as hell)
Pendlay Clean Warmup
CJ from Low Box - 60xsome 85x2x2 100x1x2 110x1x2 120x1 120xFJ/100x2
Front Squat - 70x5 100x4 110x3x3
Hip Thrust - 70x10x2 110x8x2
Grappler Abs/Cal Back Extensions - Three sets each
Sled Drag - two trips to get the legs opened up a bit

4/20 - Timed Sets (1:15 between reps in the snatch and 1:30-1:45 between reps in the CJ)
Snatch - 80-80-80-80-82-82-85-85-85-85
CJ - 100-100-105-105-105-110-110-110-110-110
Abs and Rev Hypers
(No reason to take max weights when I'm feeling subpar from the two snowdays. Weights are somewhere around 80%, so nothing special; just punching the clock. Going to use these more often on Saturdays going forward.)

4/21 (NOT one of my finer days. Those timed sets really banged up my CNS. BIG FAN.)
Sots Press - 40x5x2 45x5x2
OH Squat - 50x5 70x5
Back Squat - barx5x2 60x5x2 100x4x2 130x3 150x2 160x1/130x5x5
Push Press - 50x5x2 70x5 80x5 (Popped some scar tissue or something in my left index finger so I shut this down. Discretion is the better part of valor.)
Meadows Row - 5x10
JM Press + Chins - five sets each
Four Way Neck + Cal Back Extension + Hanging Leg Raise - three sets of each
Traction

The Week That Was - 4/8 - 4/14

4/9
Sots Press + Russian Balance (3+2) 40x1x2
Muscle Snatch + OH Sqt + Balance (1+2+1) 50x1 60x1x2
Floating Snatch (two pulls) 50x1x2 60x1x2 70x1 77x1 85x1 90x1 95x1 100x0x2 87x1 92x1 97x1 100x0
Sn+Abv Knee Sn+OH Sqt+Balance - 70x1 80x1 85x1
Floating CJ (2 pulls) 60x1x2 90x1x2 105x1 115x1 122x1 125x1 (prob should have hit one more at 120 just to feel it)
Klokov Complex - 95x1 102x1 107x0x2 (missed push press both times)
Back Squat barx5 70x5 100x5 125x5 130x5 135x5
Neck x90
Traction

4/10
Planks x120
Sots Press 3x5 @ 40kg
Pwr Snatch - doubles up to 75x2, then 60x2x3
Pwr Clean - doubles up to 105x2
Front Jerk - 70x3 90x3 90x2 100x2 110x2x2 120x2x2 130x1x3 120x2x3 120x4
Chinese DB Rows - 85x10+10 100x10+10x3
Chins/Standing Abs/GH Raise - four sets of each

4/11 (Back is starting to feel a little dodgy. MUST STAY HEALTHY)
Sots Presses and Muscle Sn + OH Sqt + Balance for warmups
Low Block Snatch - 60xsome 70x2x2 80x2 87x2 92x0 92x1x3/80x2x4
Low Block CJ - 60xsome 90x2x2 110x1 120x0 120x1x3/100x2+1 100x3 (no jerk)
Front Squat 70x5 70x3 100x3 120x3 125x3 127x1 120x3
Hip Thrust - 70x10 110x10x2
Grappler Abs and Heavy Hypers - Three sets each
Traction

4/12 (@Centennial Weightlifting)
Snatch to 70x1x3
CJ to 90x1x2

4/13 (@ Centennial Weightlifting; Back and legs are SHOT. Training on Friday was unwise)
Snatch to 85x1 90x0
CJ to 90x1

4/14
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (1+3) 60x1x3
Front Squat 60x3x3 70x3 100x3 120x2 135x1 145x1 (I semi-attempted 150 but some jag walked right in front of me as I unracked it, so I took that as a sign and moved on.)
1 1/4 Front Squat 110x2x2 100x3x4 (basically
Low Handle Prowler + RDL - Three trips
Push Press 50x5x2 70x5 80x5 85x5x5
Traction

I've always done better when I train more so I'm trying to add sessions. I'm looking for 6-7 sessions a week, with two sessions on Sunday. The second session on Sunday is purely for GPP purposes to get a head start on recovery for the start of the training week on Tuesday. I usually finish my Sunday AM around noon and don't have another training session until Tuesday afternoon; basically 52hrs to recover.

More than anything I want to string together a solid amount of training without injury or time off. To this end, I'm 99% sure that I will be skipping Highland Games this year. Just too much wear and tear on my back and it basically shuts down my lifting for six months. Over the last year or two I haven't been able to string more than twelve weeks or so together without having to take some time off for injury, competition, etc. The last time I put together a good stretch of injury free training together is when I was doing strongman. Definitely the strongest I've ever been in my life at that time. I am looking forward to an epic summer of training and gains.

The template I'm trying to get to right now looks something like this:

Tuesday - Complexes/doubles/lot of volume Back Squat 3-5x5
Wednesday - Overhead Work, Pwr Sn/Pwr Clean, upper body assistance + aerobic work/sled drags, etc
Thurs - Singles off boxes/hangs/pauses, Front Squat 3-5x3
Sat - Max Snatch and CJ or something similar (timed reps, split sessions, etc)
Sunday AM - Squat (singles/doubles), Push Press (currently either 5RM or 5x5), assistance work
Sunday PM - Big Circuit tempo work

Once I get through the meet, this will refocus to squats and pulls with less emphasis on the competition lifts. I'll detail that a bit more as I get it written up. It'll look something similar to what I was doing while my hands were broken/sprained. I plan to run the Safety Squat bar again and try rotating squats a bit like Brandon Lilly's Cube Method or Joe Kenn's Tier Method. Should be really interesting and cool, or a total shitshow. Either way, we'll all learn something. :)

Training is still based off of Glenn Pendlay's intermediate template that he writes about here. Monday and Friday are logical off-days (work schedules and whatnot) and I'm more comfortable having longer sessions during the week or doing double sessions on Saturday/Sunday than I am in not having a day or two completely out of the gym. I don't LIKE taking off days but I know that I tend to under-recover and my lifts go swimming in the piss-warm waters of mediocrity until I pull my head out of my ass. Just better for my general well-being/body/mind/social life/etc.

The Week That Was - 4/1 - 4/7

"The world is coming to a bunch of pants-shitting mouth breathers that don't want to do any work."

In many, if not most cases, breakfast sucks.

TenSexyLadies: the most sanitarium-worthy tumblr you'll read today.

Henry Rollins vs. Iggy Pop. Spoiler alert: IGGY WINS.

Upcoming shows in Denver, CO: Gaslight Anthem at the Ogden, Lucero at the Bluebird, Face to Face at the Gothic Theater.

4/2
Sots Press + Russian Balance 40x1x2 45x1x2
Snatch + Below Knee Snatch 50xsome 60x1x3 70x1x2 77x1 85x1 90x0 (made first) 80x1x2
Pendlay Sn Complex (snatch+abv knee snatch+OH Sqt+Snatch Balance) 70x1 75x1 80x1x2
Clean Pull + Below Knee CJ 60xsome 80x1x2 90x1 100x1 110x1 115x1 120x1
Klokov Complex 90x1 95x1 100x1 105x0 (missed push press)
Back Squat bar x5 70x5 100x4 130x5 135x5 140x5
Heavy Reverse Hypers - Three sets

4/3
OH Squat - 40x10 40x10 50x10
Sots Press - barx5x2 40x3x3 50x3
Pwr Snatch - 60x2x4 70x2x3 75x2
Pwr Clean + Pwr Jerk - 60xsome 80x2x2 90x1x2 100x1 110x1
Back Jerk 60xsome 80x3x2 90x2x2 100x2x2 110x2 120x1
Chinsx20

4/4
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (1+3) 40x1x2 50x1x2
Box Snatch 50x3 60x3 70x2 80x2 85x1 90x1 95x1 100x0 80x2x3
Box CJ - 60x3 80x1x2 90x1x2 100x1 110x1 (got chatty and got cold, so I shut this down)
F Sqt - 60x3 90x3 110x2 120x1 130x1x2

4/6 (almost back to pre-injury levels)
Snatch - bar x bunch 50xbunch 65xbunch 75x2x2 85x1x2 92x1 80x1 85x1 90x1 95x1 100x0x2/ 110x2x2 high pull
CJ - bar x bunch 70 x bunch 90x2x2 100x1x2 110x1 117x1 122x1 127x1 132x0 120x1/130x3 140x2 high pull only
Bar work and Sots Press to cool down

4/7
AM
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat + Snatch Balance (1+2+1) 40x1 50x1x2 60x1x2 70x1
Back Squat - barx5x2 70x5 70x3 100x3 130x3 150x2 170x1 180x1 150x2 170x1 175x1
Pause Squat - 140x2x4
Front Push Press - barx5x2 50x5 70x5x2 80x5 90x5 95x5 85x5x3
Pendlay Row 5x8
GH Raise/Chins/JM Press - Three sets each
Traction

PM
600m of tempo (10x60m) with abs between runs

The Week That Was - 3/25 - 3/31

                                             No idea why but this is absolutely hilarious to me.


Mike Tuchscherer on speed work in powerlifting. Also squatting 705x4. Redonk.
Follow-up from Mike
Chad Wesley Smith's response to Mike response to his own article.

I F---ing Love Science Facebook run by a girl, idiots respond with their outside voices. This is why we can't have nice things, you guys.

The best of Ron Swanson...and more bester

3/26
Sots Press + Russian Snatch Balance (2+2) 40x1x3
Snatch + Below Knee Snatch 60x1x3 70x1x2 80x1x2 87x1 92x1 95x0x2 (made first snatch)
Snatch Complex (snatch + abv knee + OH Squat + Snatch Balance) 70-75-80-85x-85
Clean Pull + Below Knee CJ - 60xsome 80x1x3 100x1x2 110x1 115x1 110x1
Klokov Complex (cl pull + clean + pause front squat + push press + pause jerk) 90x1 100x1x3
Back Squat 60x5 95x5 120x4 135x5x2 140x5
Standing Abs + Heavy Reverse Hypers - Five sets
Band Traction

3/27
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (2+2) 60x1x2 70x1x2
Pwr Snatch up to 87kgx1x2 90x0x2
Pwr Clean to 117x1 120x0
Back Jerk to 100x2x3 110x2x2
Chins and GH Raises - Three sets each

3/28
Sots Press + Russian Snatch Balance (2+2) - 40x1x6 50x1
High Box Snatch (bar just above kneecap) - 40x3x2 50x3 60x3 70x2 80x2 85x1 90x1 92x1 95x1 80x2x3
High Box CJ - 60x2 80x1x2 100x1x2 110x1 115x1 110x1 C+CJ - 100x1 100x1 105x1
Front Squat 60x5x2 90x3 100x3 110x3 120x3

3/29 - Good Friday (day off work, so of course I trained. Just shaking off some soreness.)
Bunch of sled drags
Back Push Press - 50x5 70x5x2 90x5x2 100x3
Chins
Traction

3/30 @ Centennial Weightlifting
Sots Press + Russian Balance 40x1x3 50x1
Snatch up to 185x1 205x0x2 155x2x3 175x1x2 185x0
Clean and Jerk up to 245x1 with two misses
Clean Pulls up to 335x2x5
Light Traction

3/31
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (2+2) 50x1x2 60x1x2 70x1x2 75x1 (PR)
Back Squat - barx5 70x5x2 100x4 130x4 150x4 160x3 165x4/135x5 140x5 145x5
Front Push Press - bar x5 50x5x2 70x5 80x5 87x5 92x4/80x5x3
Chinese Row 5x8
JM Press 4x15
GH Raise/Hanging Leg Raise/Four-Way Neck/Grappler Abs - Four circuits
Barbell Hip Thrusts
Traction

Second Week Soreness is kicking in big time right now, as evidenced by the shitshow on 3/30. Legs are really hurting units right now. Not banging my head against a wall trying to get lifts when they clearly aren't going, so I did some pulls and called it an early day. Sometimes you'll be able to challenge new PRs, and sometimes you're gonna have to just check the box and keep swinging the hammer.

The basic idea on Sunday is to either make a new PR for a set of five or a PR for 5x5 in both the back squat and the front push press, then get accessory work done. I just go by how I feel as I start working up. If I'm getting up there and things just aren't moving I can go the rep PR route, and if I'm crushing sets then I can challenge a new PR set of five.

The Week That Was - 3/18 - 3/24

Look and Listen:
-Glenn Pendlay and Team Muscledriver has a new podcast series here. The discussion on nutrition in particular is a really good one. Glad to see elite level weightlifters and coaches advocating a high fat diet and getting down on heavy cream and butter in coffee.
-Josh Brown sez we've learned nothing
-Free CFA study materials here. (also some subscription stuff)
-Thick McRunFast: The many nicknames of David Ryder from Mystery Science Theater 3000
-One of my favs from The Gaslight Anthem
-The Book of Awesome by Fake Grimlock (I'm a backer)

Deload Week(ish; I got after it on Saturday and Sunday but five good days of light lifting)
3/19
Sots Press
Snatch + Below Knee Snatch - up to 70 for a couple sets
1+2 for down sets
Clean Pull + Below Knee CJ up to 100x1
Clean-Clean-Jerk - 3 sets @ 90
Back Squat 70x5 100x5 130x5x2

3/20
Sots Press
Pwr Snatch up to 70kg for some doubles (this is awkward as hell)
Pwr Clean up to 100kg for some doubles
Jerks - Two front jerks + two back jerks at 100kg for some sets
Chins + Standing Abs - Three sets

3/21
Snatch from High Blocks to 70kg for some doubles
Pendlay Snatch Complex (Snatch + Hang Snatch + OH Squat + Drop Snatch) two sets @ 60
CJ from High Blocks to 90 for some doubles
Klokov Complex - two sets at 90
Front Squat 60x3 80x3 100x3x2

3/22 - Roller. Got on a scale for first time in months: 216.6lbs (98.4kg). Perfecto. Just clean the backloads up a wee bit and that'll come off real quick.

3/23 @ Centennial Crossfit/Weightlifting
Snatch up to 205lbs for four singles, then missed 215 twice
CJ up to 260lbsx1 275x1x2 no jerk
-The full lifts both feel shitty but they're getting less shitty, so that's a step in the right direction.

3/24
Muscle Snatch + OH Squat (2+2) 50x1x3 60x1x2
Back Squat barx5x2 70x5 100x4 120x4 135x3 150x3 160x5
Pause Squat 140x2x4
Front Push Press 50x5 70x5 80x5 87x5
Chest Supported Machine Row - buncha sets
JM Press and Grappler Abs - buncha sets
Barbell Hip Thrusts and Banded Hip Thrusts- buncha sets
Band Traction

The Training Week That Was - 3/10 - 3/17

Men's 105kg class from 2012 Olympics. Tremendous lifting from the champion Torokhtiy. Bonk is also interesting to watch in that he externally rotates and "winds up" his hips (jump to 26:25, 32:35 and 38:30) during his setup in the snatch and creates a ton of torque before he starts. As Kelly Starrett has noted about a million times, torque is the key to pretty much everything we do in the athletic realm.

Random reads:
-Quesarito!!!
-Blog post on Carb Backloading from Cookie Monster
-Creatine: How Much article from Schwarzenegger
-My next meet at Flatirons Crossfit. More to come.
-Rachel Guy on Dangerously Hardcore talking back training for the ladies.
-Jim Laird from J&M Strength and Conditioning on meditation, relaxing and chilling the f*** out
   -Jim and Molly are hosting the Train Like A Girl seminar in Lexington on May 18-19, 2013. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.


3/11
Muscle Snatch 3x2 70kg
Snatch + Abv Knee Snatch 50xsome 60x1x2 70x1x2 80x0 80x1x2 85x1 90x0x2 (not too far off)
Down Sets (1+2) - 70x1x2 75x1 80x1
Sn Pull w/ Pause - 140x3x3
Back Squat - 140x5 145x5 145x5
Pause Back Squat - 3x4 @ 120 w/ five count pause
Dead Back Squat - 7x1 @ 150

3/13
Sots Press/Pendlay Snatch Drills
Pendlay Clean Drills
High Hang CJ (pwr jerk)- 80x1x3 90x1x2 100x1 110x1x2 115x1x2 122xFJ 127x0x2
Floating CJ (pwr jerk)- 110x1x3
Cl Pull w/ Pause 150x3x3
Front Squat 120x3x3
Pause Front Squat 100x3x2 90x3
(Skipped my dead front squats; my legs were a MESS)

3/16 (No wrist wraps, no wrist issues and no misses except for the 125 jerk; nice step forward)
Snatch - bar work 40x a bunch 60x a lesser bunch 70x2x2 70x1 80x1x2 90x1
CJ (pwr jerk) - bar work 60x a bunch 80x1x3 100x1x2 110x1 117x1 125xFJ

3/17
Muscle Snatch 60kg 3x3
B Sqt - 60x5x2 100x3 120x3 145x3 160x3 185x1 175x3
Pause Squat - 100x3 130x3 150x1 160x1 170x1
Push Press 3x5 80kg (wrists are weak but all good; no wraps, no worries)
Standing Row + Standing Abs - buncha sets
JM Press - buncha sets

I'll be deloading next week so I'm going to take a carb-free week to get some water out and check the scale. I haven't been on a scale in months, no idea where I'm at; I'm guessing 215-220 realm? I'm going to emphasize lots of overhead accessory work to get that brought up after being gone from training for the better part of four months.

Bonus: You gotta appreciate the awesomeness of this dubstep sign flipper.

The Training Week That Was - 3/3 - 3/9

3/3
Muscle Snatches and some OH Squats (the wrist might be ready for snatching again)
Back Squat barx3x2 60x5x2 90x3 110x3 130x3 150x3 160x3 170x3 then
130x3 and 140x3 each with a five count pause
Push Press 60x5x2 80x5 90x2 (wrists a-ok)
Chest Supported Row + Standing Abs 4x12 each
Traction

3/5
Muscle Snatch
Snatch + Abv Knee Snatch to 70x1, then (1+2) @ 60kg x1x2
Sn Pull w/ Pause - 130x3x3
B Squat - 140x5x3
Pause Back Squat - 3x4 @ 120kg w/ five count pause
Dead Back Squat - 7x1 @ 140

3/6 - Trained at Crossfit SoCal in San Diego. This is an excellent Crossfit box with very smart and qualified coaches and a stout group of athletes, both competitors and non-competitors alike.
OH Press 12x1 @ 155
500m Rower Sprints (three minutes rest between reps) 1:29/1:33/1:37

3/7 - Another day at Crossfit SoCal
Muscle Clean - 60x2x4
High Hang CJ - 60xsome 80x1x2 100x1x2 110x1x2 120x1x2 125x0
Floating CJ - 80x1x2 100x1 110x1x3
Clean Pull w/ Pause - 110x3 130x3 150x3x3
Front Squat - 110x3 120x3 125x3 130x3 135x3 140x3
Pause Front Squat - 80x3 100x3 110x3x3 w/ five count pause
Dead Front Squat - 110x1x3 120x1x7

3/8 - Trained at AFP Center in Santa Monica (GREAT gym, will be my home gym if I relocate to Santa Monica. Also National Champ weightlifter Derrick Johnson's home gym)
Snatch up to 80x1x2
Hip Snatches
CJ up to 110x1x2
Power CJ up to 110x1x2

3/9
Just messed around at Gold's. Some KB windmills and overhead pressing

The Training Week That Was - 2/24 - 3/2

"I'm an entertainer. I have nothing to sell...I just want you to enjoy a point of view that I enjoy" - Alan Watts


2/24 Snowing BALLS here so got a quickie in at the Glendale YMCA
500m row @ 1:33
Abs x60/Chins x10
Military Press bar x10x2 95x5x2 115x3 135x3 145x2 155x1x12 w/ minute between reps (this is a Steve Pulcinella idea from his IronSport Method)
Chinese DB Row 85x10x5
JM Press - 7x10
Pulldown 2x20

2/25 - Acupuncture from Chiropractic of North Denver

2/26
Muscle Snatch (one full + two from high hang) 60kg 3x3
Snatch High Pull (1+2) up to 100x1x4
Floating Snatch High Pull (1+2) bunch at 80
Snatch Pull w/ Pause 100x3 120x3 140x3 150x3 140x3x3
Back Squat 135lbsx5x2 205x5 255x5 275x5 285x5x2 295x5
Pause Squat (seven second pause) 3x5 @ 195lbs
Dead Squat 10x1@245lbs, 30s between reps
Heavy Standing Abs - 3x10  Grappler Abs 2x8+8

2/27
Military Press up to 160x1x6 155x1x3 150x1x3
Chins x20
Bunch of snatch grip upright row-type things

2/28
Muscle Clean 50kgx3x3
High Hang Clean up to 115kgx1x2 then Floating Clean 70x1x2 90x1x2 (wrists getting better)
Clean Pull w/ Pause 110x3 140x3 160x3x3
Front Squat 135lbsx5x2 205x3 245x3 265x3 275x3x2
Seven Count Pause Squat 185lbsx3x3
Dead Front Squat 135lbsx1x3 185x1x5
-Had to cut the squats short because I was running late for a company dinner. This should have been 10x1 of dead squats and 5x3 of the pause squats.

3/2
Only had an hour to lift so I worked up to 120x1 in the clean and then bolted for acupuncture. My back tends to not appreciate rushed morning sessions.