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