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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twelve Weeks to Iceland!

The Training Week That Was (and Beerfest) - 10/7-10/13

10/7

Back Squat - 125x2 135x5 145x5 152x5 (PR)

Front Push Press - 70x5 80x5 85x5

Iso OHP - 45x8 55x8 60x8 (w/ Fat Gripz)

DB Rows 3x8

Fat Grip Batwings 5x10

GH Raises/YWLT Raises

Cal Back/Neck/Curls/Planks

10/9

Snatch + Abv Knee Snatch to 92x1 97x0x3 (made snatch, missed the hang x3)

Snatch + (Abv Knee Snatch x2) 82x3x3

Clean Pull + Abv Knee Clean to 115x1 120x0x2

Clean Pull + Abv Knee Pull + Clean 100x3x3

Back Squat 120x5 125x5 130x5

Cal Back 4x8

Planks/Hanging Leg Raise/GH Raise

10/10

I had a broker dinner this night, so I snuck in a quick upper back day at the Glendale YMCA. They have kettlebells in pairs up to maybe 48kg(?), two platforms, two squat racks and bumper plates. The bars are godawful, but you can't always get what you want. Highly recommend if you're in the Glendale area and need a decent place to train; plus, the rugby pitches are there and always open, so you have someplace to sprint.   

10/11

Low Box Snatch - 80x2 87x1 95x1 102x1 107x0 105x1

Doubles - 85-90-92

Low Box Clean - 95x1 105x1 115x1 122x1 127x0x2 125x1 

Doubles - 100x2x3

Front Squat - 110x3 115x3 120x3

Cal Back - 4x8 50lbs

Chinese Arches/Ab Wheel

10/13

Snatch - 70x2x1 80x1 82x1 92x1 97x1 100x1 105x1 (PR) 110x0x2

Clean -  70x2x2 90x2 100x1 112x1 120x0x2 122x0 115x1 120x1 

Reverse Hypers 1x15


So 10/12 was Great American Beer Fest in Denver. I'm not a massive fan of enclosed spaces with large numbers of hammered people, and I'm not a huge fan of getting smashed up, so I've never been. One of my training partners is an engineer and did some work for a new brewery (Hogshead) that named a beer after him (Barge's Mild), so he came across some tickets. So Friday basically involved beer drinking and walking around from 5-11pm. I do think I found a good protocol for minimizing the effects of a night out: epsom salt bath right before bed with some food (I went with Cocoa Krispies and leucine/whey shake), contrast shower when you wake up (mine was at 6am; finish on cold) and then back to sleep for another hour or two.

Two thoughts on Saturday's max day:
1. It's an illustration of "sometimes your best lifts come when you feel like shit". This is solely based on personal experience that I can lift OK on not much sleep as long as I make fewer attempts. The body can absorb a TON of stress and fight/flight pretty damn well. It's a risk/reward to consider and, as Jim Laird is fond of saying, you have to pay to play. I might have changed plans if it weren't a max day, but the whole purpose of the max day is to put some pressure on yourself, achieve the highest possible training effect and seek new records.

2. Missed opportunity. I smoked the 100 and 105. A well rested and recovered Kyle would have taken 110 for a better ride. The first try was my only really credible attempted; I Clark'd the shit out of the second one. I'm seeing both sides and trying not to dwell too hard on this aspect, as it's really early in my meet prep.

Having said all that, I'm gonna say this: you gotta live your life. This doesn't mean this "Work Hard, Play Hard/YOLO" bullshit that people like to use as an excuse to make some terrible choices. Catch phrases from a top-40 rap song are not justification for your shitty vices. Do some stuff and have some new experiences.

Quick Beerfest writeup - Beerfest Favs were both from the same brewery: Heavy Seas had both a Bourbon and a Cabernet beer that were AWESOME. They were the kind of beers that you want to drink on your porch at sunset, possibly with a cigar if you're into that sort of thing. They were LEGIT. I'm no connoisseur of beers, but I know what I like and what tastes good. If I want something drinkable, I'll go for whatever they have as far as Colorado craft beer or a black and tan. On the beach, I want all the Longboards I can find.  

The Training Week That Was - 9/30-10/6

An entire week free of back pain is a win in my book. I did get a little tweak on Sunday from the push-pressing, but I've been pain free the rest of the week. You'll notice I haven't been doing jerks at all; the overhead work seems to have been what was causing the spasms. I'll give it another week to let things heal up a bit more and then add jerks back in when I change exercises after this upcoming week. My contingency plan is to rotate split jerks if they continue causing issues.

9/30

B Squat up to 140x5

Back Push Press up to 90x5 95x4 (back locked up)

Iso DB OH Press 3x8

Hip Thrust vs Bands

Pulldowns/Iso Neutral-Grip Pulldown/YWLT 

Core x100 

10/2 - Complex(ish) Day

(Snatch + Abv Knee Snatch): 82x1, 87x0, 85x0.5 (made snatch, missed abv knee)

-Down Sets (Snatch+Abv Knee Snatch+Abv Knee Snatch) 70x3

(Clean Pull + Abv Knee Clean): to 115x1 

-Down Sets (Cl Pull+Abv Knee Pull+Clean) 90x3

Clean Pull 3x2

B Squat 120x5x3 

Hypers 4x12/Planksx60/Rev Hyper 1x20

10/3 - Upper Body Assistance Work (no squats, no quick lifts)

Chest Supported Row 4x10

Iso DB Bench + DB Chest Sup Row 3x10+10

Fatty Pullups 5x8

Pulldowns 4x8

Sled Drag Row - 2 trips

Pull Apart/4 Way Neck/Axle Curl x50 of each

10/4 

Low Block* Snatch 70x2x1 80x1x2 85x1 90x1 92x0x2 92x1 95x1 97x1; Down Sets 80x2x3

Low Block* Clean  80x2x2 90x1x2 100x1 110x1 115x1 120x0x3; Down Sets 90x2 95x2x2

F Squat 110x3 115x3x2

Hypers 4x12

Rev Hyper 1x20

10/6

Snatch 80x1x2 87x1 92x0 92x1 97x0 97x1 99x0; Down Sets 80x2x2

Clean 80x2x2 95x1x2 107x1 115x1 120x1 125x0; Down Sets 100x2x2

Rev Hyper 1x20

(My low block here is a 10kg plate and a 25kg plate; bar started just below my patellar tuberosity. I think one more cycle with bar just a bit lower, then I'll move the box/hang work higher.)