"I have nothing to sell; I'm an entertainer...I approach you in the same spirit as a pianist with his piano or a violinist with her violin. I just want you to enjoy a point of view which I enjoy." - Alan Watts
Showing posts with label Catalyst Athletics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catalyst Athletics. Show all posts
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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
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
