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

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

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

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

12/8
Off

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

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

The Training Week That Was - 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.) 

The Training Week That Was 9/23-9/29 and Carb Backloading v2.0

Training 9/23 - 9/29

-Nothing

-Absolutely nothing

-Zero

My back has been giving me fits since Estes Park. I've been trying to train though it with zero success. With that in mind, I've done something that I haven't done in probably a year: I did nothing. No training. No sled dragging or Prowler. No reverse hyper. No yoga. No bar work. No tempo work. Nothing. I saw the chiro twice this week and my back hasn't felt this good in ages. Proof will be in the pudding as I'm restarting training for my next meet tomorrow. 

On to vastly more interesting topics: Carb Backloading. I've tried a number of different diets with my training, from Carb Cycling to a modified version of the Warrior Diet to Intermittent Fasting. I have found my most success from Carb Backloading and its sister plan, Carb Nite. I used Carb Nite for ten weeks right after my last meet and moved from 214-202 and lopped an inch and a half off of my waist, which has stayed off. I must say that I would HIGHLY recommend people try a wide variety of nutrition programming (including ALL of the previous programs) and see what works for you.  

So the basics of carb backloading: skip breakfast, stay ultra low-carb and stick to protein/fats/veggies during the day, train hard and then pound high glycemic carbs til bedtime. That's the 50,000 ft view; the actual mechanics are much more detailed than I can (or should) go into in a blog post. I highly recommend you pick up the book and read it for yourself. There are literally about fifty pages of references for the protocols to scratch your nerd itch, and these protocols are backed by the science. 

I won't go into big picture details, as none of these ideas are mine and I want to protect Kiefer's intellectual property. I will, however, give you some details on what has been optimal for me specifically. This is my second go round and I learned quite a bit from my first run of CBL. 

1. Gluten free is the way to go: I've never had any noticeable issues with gluten in my life. Having said that, I experimented with going gluten free for a week of backloads and the results were fantastic. No bloating, no feelings of impending doom, no issues with sleep and no morning-after carb hangover. I stick to white rice for my first post-workout meal, typically a bowl from Tokyo Joe's, a stir-fry at home and/or a yam and sweet potato. I get a little dirtier for my second meal, which is usually a bowl (or three) of Cocoa Krispies (with raw milk), some Rice Krispie treats or a Fro-Yo. I'm also terribly partial to Udi's gluten free muffins. The cinnamon and chocolate are the shiznit. 

 

2. Paleo is the way to go: I'm no expert on the Paleo diet, but it's very tough to make an argument against the idea of eating whole foods from smart sources. Carb-Backloading, within the Paleo realm, is still incredibly easy. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, bananas, mangoes and cherries all make excellent high-glycemic backloading foods. Personally, I've noticed that I don't get as good results when my backloads are high in fruit, so I stick to the potatoes with a mango or banana or the side rather than the other way around. Honey and agave aren't the best ideas either, as they're actually quite low on the glycemic response scale. 

3. Find your upper and lower ranges: The first week I pushed the backloads very hard to see my upper limits and the second week I pushed them low to see my body's response. For me personally, staying at the lower end and cleaner works best as far as refueling and feeling good. It's probably a function of my style of training (Olympic weightlifting) that I stay at the low end as it isn't terribly glycogen depleting. Carb backloading isn't a one-size fits all protocol; you need to dial up the particulars for your personal situation. 

4. Watch out for too much fat in the morning: My "breakfast" is typically coffee with a half scoop of whey isolate and some combination of coconut oil and heavy cream. When I go overboard on the fats in the morning...the phrase "gastrointestinal distress" some to mind. If/when you go too far, you'll know. 

I like to think of the whole backload process as an extended post-workout shake. Pretty much the entire fitness industry agrees that a post-workout shake is a good idea in most cases. The ideal shake is typically high-glycemic carbohydrate and a fast acting whey protein, rich in leucine. So imagine the backload process as multiple meals within the post-workout window rather than a single meal. 

So that's that. Visit Dangerously Hardcore. Read the book. Listen to the Biojacked Radio podcasts, either on Soundcloud or through the Dangerously Hardcore website. Be open minded. Ask questions. I've implemented both diets with success. Be moar healthy and moar awesome. 

Gym Zen - The Will to Truth

I don't remember the exact time that I started to stop lying to myself about sport, but I have a pretty good idea. I had just gotten back from a very successful dryland bobsled camp in Park City. I made all the qualifying times for the combine and actually scored relatively well (numbers translated to "World Cup brakeman", whatever that means). One of coaches had said I should stick with it and keep working because I had great potential. Surely my invite to winter camp in Lake Placid was just a phone call or email away.

I checked my email religiously. Nothing.

I checked voicemails like it was my job. I "star-69'd" three telemarketers in the hopes that one of them was the head coach of USA Bobsled, extending a heartfelt congratulations and asking when I could move into the OTC.  Nothing.

I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that this wasn't a communication breakdown. I think it was somewhere around the time that summer combine dates were announced in the following spring. Yes, I have a very thick noggin from rugby.

I can, however, tell you when I finally stopped lying to myself about sport. It was about twenty minutes after I finished an awful Olympic meet (see "How to go 2/6 in an Olympic Meet") last December. I spent that summer/fall training as Ivan Abadjiev had trained his Bulgarian champions. I trained every day, twice on the weekends, and did the classic exercises daily. I also squatted daily. For some variety, I did a max jerk and some chins to give the legs a "day off". I also managed through a new job working in derivative trading. There was only work, training and sleep. My body felt great and set PRs for the first eight weeks, then went to hell in a hand basket right before the meet. My results speak volumes.

Where does this incredibly long-winded example get us to? Shobogenzo! Dogen believed that the Will to the Truth is a vital aspect of Zen Buddhist study. And it sounds great, right? So easy; just seek the truth and accept the truth as it is. Everyone seeks the truth, right? Everyone wants the truth and everyone wants to accept the truth, right?

Can I handle the truth?

Everyone thinks that they seek the truth and they will accept it, but do we really?

I think most people see "Seek the truth and accept it for what it is" as a call to identify all of your faults and all of the shitty things that you've been glossing over. This is FALSE. Well, it's sort of false. It's true that we should fully realize and accept the faults or things that we have been lying to ourselves about, because this is the first step in addressing them or at least the first step in reducing their power over you.

One of the biggest issues as it relates to acceptance of the truth is the need to compare ourselves to one another. We measure our success by creating an imaginary battle in our minds between ourselves and some we classify as a "measuring stick". Conversely, we find someone at the top of the sport (Klokov, the strong guy in the gym, etc) and logic dictates that, if we train as this person trains, we will have comparable results. We "know" that these methods aren't rational and untrue, but we haven't accepted it.   

I think that I'm starting to seek the truth. Well, I think I've always looked for the truth, so it might be more accurate to say that I'm starting to accept the truth. The main thing I'm starting to wrap my head around is as follows:

"I am no longer qualified to train myself as a competitive athlete"

This stings, as I have what you'd consider to be decent credentials and previous experiences. I've held CSCS and USAW certs, an undergrad in sports medicine, two years spent as an intern and as an assistant strength coach at a Division I university, a couple Top 3 finishes in lightweight strongman, an All-American year of collegiate rugby and some close calls with the US National rugby team plus the previous brush with bobsled glory. I troll EliteFTS and I consider Michael Keck, Jen Comas Keck and Jen Sinkler to be friends. Surely I'm qualified to train myself for athletic endeavors, right?

No, I am not. That is the truth. I am qualified to make adjustments specific to my body. I'm ok at coaching other people as far as technique and making suggestions, but not in writing any sort of full training program. In no way, shape or form am I qualified to be giving myself a full program. I also have too many biases to previous training experience and certain methodologies. Upon full realizing this, I made some decisions and reached out to some coaches to provide higher level guidance. This has lead to some PRs and a nice reduction in BF from 14%-sub 11% through some nutrition coaching from Michael Keck. Yes, I mentioned Mike twice (now three times), because he knows his shit.

So what can I say? Find some truths (positive AND negative) and fully realize them for what they are. In realizing and accepting the truths, they cease to have power over you and you can either address them or simply move on from them. As with most things (especially as it relates to the gym and sport) this is a very simple endeavor, but it is not easy. Fully realizing truths, whether they are positive or negative, will lead to making good choices. As the below scientific diagram shows, good choices = awesomeness.

Thanks to Steve Pulcinella for the above graphic as well as his help writing my training program and providing some coaching for Highland Games. Steve's lifting program as well as throw coaching has yielded mucho PRs. Some slow-motion throwing breakdowns here, but be warned: I practice in Rehbands and they do not leave much to the imagination.

Gym Zen: The Prequel

Shelby Starnes over at EliteFTS posted some quotes from an author, punk rock bassist and Zen Buddhist named Brad Warner. Brad has written a few books on Zen, his most notable are Hardcore Zen and Sit Down and Shut Up. I've always gravitated towards Buddhism but I don't know much about Zen, so I picked up Sit Down and managed to blow through it. Twice. I'm currently going through it with a highlighter in a vain attempt to retain all the good things in that book. It also inspired me to pick up the translation of Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye (Shobogenzo), in order to find a different perspective and start to reach my own conclusions.

I tend to relate things through training and competition, since that's one of the things that has been a constant in my life for the past 12-14 years (give or take a couple injury years). So, with any luck, this will be the first part of a series relating some aspects of Zen to training and competing in sport. My intention is to focus on each of Dogen's main themes of Buddhist study and (try to) draw some parallels and applications to them in the athletic world.

I do my best to write things in the "this is me" tense, rather than the "Here's what I do/did, why you should do it and why everything I do is awesome" tense. One of the bigger concepts I've found in Zen is that we all experience the world uniquely. This seems like a fairly obvious point but it's something that we forget in our day to day lives. My experiences (in training and competing, in relationships, in professional endeavors, etc) are unique from yours and I try to keep that in mind.
So, Dogen. Dogen basically summarized Buddhist study into four basic principles:

1. Establishing the Will to Truth: You have to regard the truth, in all its black and white glory, as your ultimate goal. You also have to be willing to accept what is true, regardless of how you feel about the matter.

2. Deep Belief in Cause and Effect: Dogen believed that the entire universe follows the rule of cause and effect without exception. This is the toughest one for me to wrap my head around, because we as humans live to create exceptions to any rule. "This isn't right, but...".

3. Life as Present Action: Love this from Sit Down, "At best, past and future are reference material for the eternal now. You can dream about the future, but no matter how well you construct that dream, your future will not be precisely as you envisioned it. The world where we live is existence at the present moment." Self-explanatory, no?

4. Zazen: Zazen is the form of meditation in Zen. Dogen thought that zazen was a vital part of experiencing the world as it truly is. Whether or not you care to dabble in meditating or not, the root idea is getting some quiet time to not think (read that again: NOT think) about anything at all. I think we all agree that a little more quiet time would hardly be a bad thing, right?

So there's the primer. Fire away with questions, comments and concerns and thanks very much for taking the time. Now your daily affirmation:

Christmas Night randoms

Just a few random things here on Christmas Night while I listen to Bears/Packers and try to keep from calling EMS to pump my stomach:
1. Falafel, hummus, cucumber salad, baba ganouj, pita and homemade cheesecake DO NOT mix well together. Currently having a Royal Rumble in my stomach; no matter who wins, I lose.

2. Addendum to training plans: Chad Smith from Juggernaut was gracious enough to get me a program now, so I'm starting on that and I'm just going to train through the meet in Vegas in three weeks. I won't be posting the program Chad put together for me (gotta protect the guy's intellectual property), but suffice it to say I'm very excited to get back to training like an athlete rather than strictly as a weightlifter. Starting to look for Highland Games in 2012 as well as a PL meet to do towards the back end of the year. I love to travel for meets, so fire me a Tweet or hit my comments with some ideas. I'm curious to try the 60m indoor track sometime, but I don't even know where to start looking for such a thing besides USA Track.

3. Saw an excellent show on Dec 23; the Shaloms and the Nuns of Brixton. The Shaloms are a Ramones tribute band and the Nuns of Brixton are a Clash tribute band. They put on an insane live show and one that I feel very fortunate to have seen, especially since it was a backup plan. If either of these groups come to your town, I highly encourage you to get out and see them.

4. Due to temporary insanity, I've signed up to run 1.5 miles in my skivvies (in Denver, in February) and raise some money for the Children's Tumor Foundation. Please have a look here; any donations would be greatly appreciated. I am also accepting any suggestions for running attire as I've been trying to lose this last tiny bit of shame for quite awhile now. I have no doubts that WAAAAYYYY too many pictures will be taken and posted to various social media sites such as the Twitterz and the Bookface for public consumption/embarassment.

Seriously though: It's a great cause to give some kids a helping hand. Every little bit counts; hell just donate a dollar. Do it anonymously if you're embarrassed at only being able to give a dollar. Sidenote: NEVER be embarrassed about anything that you are GIVING. It's still more than the majority of people out there will do. One size doesn't fit all with regards to helping people; the important point is to DO SOMETHING. Be part of the solution.
5: Elitefts.com is currently selling it's annual Make A Wish manual, entitled "Programs That Work" here. Additionally, they have re-listed the previous years' manuals for sale as well. All proceeds go to the Make a Wish Foundation of Ohio. Having purchased each one of these manuals, including the "Lift Strong" manual in 2007, I can say without a doubt that it is the best collection of information you will find for $10.

Hope everyone is in the midst of an excellent time of year with loved ones, regardless of your belief/religious denomination. Five more days to make your mark on 2011, then the books are closed forever.

Always be a work in progress...

My Trip To Bulgaria...and I didn't even get a passport stamp

One of the most hotly debated topics in athletics is the "Bulgarian" method. Developed by Ivan Abadjiev, the premise is to take maximal attempts in the classic lifts (snatch and clean and jerk), as well as the front squat, as the vast majority of your training. This runs counter to many of the generally accepted truths about weightlifting training regarding CNS burnout, injury, accomodation from limited diversity of movements, etc. Despite these reservations, it seems to be working pretty well for many of the Eastern European champions of the past 30-40 years as well as lifters of California Strength and Average Broz Gym. Me being a glutton for punishment, I decided to give it a shot for this meet cycle, from mid May to mid December.

Note: David Woodhouse wrote an extremely good article on Abadjiev on Weightlifting Exchange, found here. There is also a translation of the Bulgarian documentary School of Champions as well as a lecture (with English notes) from Abadjiev found here. These resources formed the basis for my initial training thoughts and I borrowed some ideas from Cal Strength and Average Broz along the way.

The whole thing became an amalgamation of ideas. My goal every day was to get a max snatch, a max CJ and a squat. I used snatches and cleans from the box, the power lifts and the classical lifts as well as the front and back squat. Including presses and jerks, I believe I used around 10 barbell exercises in total during the 24-odd weeks. I still did a very small percentage of supportive work (lots of pullups, a little ab work and some Prowler).

The theme for this training was this: "To Get Through It, You Have To Go Through It". Simple concept, but not easy. These methods go against everything I'd read from the Russians, everything I had learned during my undergrad and CSCS as well as what I'd learned from listening to the US coaches speak. On the other hand, I'm a great believer in Knowledge Without Mileage = Bullshit (thank you Henry Rollins). If I don't "go", I'll never "know". So I went.

Results: the first month or so was great. I set a new clean max at 130kg and a new snatch record at 100kg. I equalled this 130 clean 5 separate times over the first 5 weeks. I matched my snatch record twice and surpassed it twice, hitting 102 on two separate occasions and having a couple near misses at 105 and 107, along with a miss at 107 that nearly decapitated me. My back squat reached a PR of 190kg, suprassed later in the cycle at 195kg. My back jerk topped out 140kg, which I later surpassed at 142kg. I set records in the power snatch, topping out at an ugly 95kg. My power CJ topped out at a pretty ugly 125kg. Oddly enough, my front squat actually regressed to 140kg; I've done a triple at 160kg in the past. My push press topped out around 110kg for a set of 5 and I did multiple sets of 5 at 100kg.

So the first month looks great right? PRs, records, velvet ropes parting, champagne falling from the heavens! Around week 5-6, while all this is happening, my body was slowly descending into the Smackdown Hotel. My CNS went to hell. I noticed when speaking that my words wouldn't quite come out right. This isn't really a new problem, but it's usually for something I say rather than not being able to finish a sentence. I couldn't sleep more than a couple of hours a night for weeks in a row. My joints got brutally stiff when I trained, even worse if I skipped a day. My waking HR, usually in the mid 40s, started getting up into the 60s. I noticed myself getting short and snappy with people and my eyes were pretty much constantly hurting and bloodshot.

This is part of the beauty of the system: you're programming/brainwashing your body to perform a limited number of motor tasks. Accommodation becomes your best friend. After that first month, despite feeling completely awful and sickened by the sight of a barbell, I was still hitting 90-100% of my max snatch and CJ each and every workout. My squats also stayed high, but the drop was a bit more pronounced since I always performed the squats at the end of the workout. I didn't need to warm up with anything besides a set of reverse hypers, some pullups and bar work. Had I tried to introduce brand new stimuli here (sprinting, strongman, etc), there is no doubt I would've become injured. The fact that you have limited biomechanical means to stimulate the organism removes that aspect of variation. The loading becomes the sole means of stimulation as the body has become accustomed to the movements.

This is probably one of the most psychologically damaging aspects of this style; the monotany creeps into your psyche. I have anecdotally read that many of the athletes did not fail physically, but rather psychologically. One must also understand the conditions these athletes operated under were far different than the conditions of US-lifters; for these lifters, their total was their livelihood as well as the livelihoods of their families. The comparison is not "apples to apples", so I hesitate to use this as support for the physical demands.

After progress stagnated around week 6 or so, there was a point where I could've made a different decision. In looking at my log, I see that this was an excellent time for a deload, maybe keeping frequency but only working to 80-85%, anything to take my foot off the gas. BUT, in my limited research, this was something that every source seemed to agree on: when you reach this point, you had to keep going. The key was to drive through the "dark times" as this was precisely the time where the body is retooling. So I kept going. I upped my use of the back squat as a means to increase the absolute loading and kept driving hard for new maxes.

At this point, I was basically alternating the following 7 days a week:

Pwr Snatch, Full CJ, Back Squat
Full Snatch, Pwr CJ, Front Squat

I was still hitting my 90% minimum, but it was getting more and more difficult and I was moving further and further away from my all time PRs. Some technical flaws started becoming a little more evident; I started leaving the bar in front on my snatch, catching it low on my clean and not getting my heels to the ground. Trying to catch a snatch or a clean is tough enough; try doing it on your toes!  I also had a slight scare with my back during this time and I dialed down the intensity for a few weeks. This didn't help and I think it may have thrown my body into all sorts of jacked-upded-ness (write that down).

The past few weeks I've dialed things down as I'm getting ready for a meet on Dec 10. I will still take maximal classical lifts and squats leading up to the meet, but at a reduced frequency and I'll probably add some lower level power lifts (something along the lines of a dynamic day ie 10-12 reps of each at around 60-70%) to groove the lifts and get my CNS snapping. Something I read from Medvedyev that has stuck with me: highly skilled athletes have the ability to tense their muscles faster than others, but also the ability to relax their muscles quicker than others. Think of an Oly lifter like Ronny Weller, who doesn't set up the lift so much as drop and go. That ability to tense is what Louie Simmons references when he expounds on the benefits of dynamic squatting off of a box. Squatting on a box requires you to generate a ton of muscle tension quickly with no room for the stretch reflex to use elastic energy.

So, as I sit here, assessing the last few months and debating where my training should go after this meet, what did I learn?

1. Intensity is King. Periods of maximal and submaximal loading (90-100+%) are beneficial/necessary and something that I hadn't done with regularity since I was previously using my interpretation of the conjugate system. If you're a proponent of using blocks, maybe program 2-3 weeks of a limited exercise range and 90-100% lifts, especially around 4-6 weeks outside of your meet date. Use Prilepin's chart and aim for 4-7 lifts over 90% of your max for that day. Read that again; your max ON THAT DAY, not your absolutely maximum. This goes along with some re-reading I'm doing from Medvedyev and Siff, essentially stating that the average weight of the barbell lifted has a high correlation to making new records. Implication: more repetitions performed at a higher %. I also found some interesting info on 90-100% lift guidelines, but I haven't fully fleshed those out as of yet.

2. Waving Works. Many of my best results in the snatch and CJ came after missing weights multiple times. I would work up to a couple misses in the snatch, then drop 20-30kg and work back up. The first time I made 102, it was on a third wave where my initial miss had been at 90 and second wave miss had been at 97. I believe it was my 5th or 6th miss of the session before I made it. The CJ is a little different and I only used one wave since the load on the barbell (as well as complexity/CNS impact) is much higher than the snatch. Also: I'm much more comfortable snatching than cleaning. I haven't tried waving squats, but for the quick lifts (the Oly lifts as well as the jerk) the response was very positive.

3. Ignore Recovery Methods At Your Own Peril. As I tweeted a few days ago, the Russian lifters averaged 400-500 hours of restorative work per year. This equates to 65-82 mins PER DAY of restorative work. I did nearly nothing as far as restoration outside of eating, sleeping, supplementing (very bare bones: protein powder, fish oil, creatine, multivitamin, mineral supp, curcumin) and some foam rolling. Massage, epsom salt baths, contrast shower and many other means can be done to assist in recovery. I wanted the "full effect" and I ignored some of these methods intentionally to see how the body would respond. Maybe not the smartest idea, but one of my themes of this block was to Trust My Body to be smarter than me and find a way.

I say that with a caveat: recovery methods need to be cycled. The point of training, after all, is to irritate the organism to the point that it adapts to imposed demands. Going overboard with recovery can actual blunt the training effect. Medvedyev addresses this in stating that recovery should be emphasized on "rest" days, or days in which fundamental loading is minimal or non-existant (ie GPP days) so as not to interfere with the training effect from fundamental loading sessions. Even in the weekly training cycle, the Russians are making a reference to a High/Low methodology (introduced to my by James Smith of Power Development Inc).

4. Eating Patterns Matter. A modified Warrior-style of nutrition works incredibly well with this type of training. Michael Keck gave me some ideas that I put into practice during this cycle. Never once did I come into a workout feeling hypoglycemic or cloudy from my eating; I was always just a little hungry and on edge. I carried out this style of eating through the entire span of this cycle, starting out weighing 223 and currently sitting at 208 as I type this (with a belly full of Wahoo's Fish Tacos). The weight loss came with no real cardio and I see how this style, coupled with morning track work or cardio, can yield great body composition results. For my purposes, it kept me feeling edgy and sharp both in the gym and in my career. I anticipate using this style for the forseeable future; Thanks Mike!

Do I think the Bulgarian system "works"? Obviously. It has produced (and continues to produce) great results in the world of weightlifting.

Is it the best system for a 31 yr old professional with long hours in a fairly high stress job? Maybe, maybe not. I definitely didn't set myself up for success, but I had a plan and excluding the one setback with my back, I executed it about as well as I could have hoped. Win, lose or draw, it has been an excellent learning experience, one that makes me a better lifter and gave me a deeper knowledge about my body and its abilities.

The proof comes in two weeks.

"Wiggle Your Big Toe"

Recently I was sitting in a volunteer training at Judi's House, where I do some volunteer work, and we discussed emotional triggers. The discussion reminded me of an important one for me (completely self inflicted) in relation to athletics and injuries.

You remember that scene from Kill Bill where Uma Thurman is in the back of the truck, paralyzed and trying to will herself to move? She keeps repeating over and over again "Wiggle Your Big Toe" until her toe finally budges a fraction of an inch, thus rendering her free to move, kick, punch and slice her way to victory?

I can totally relate...and not because I've been paralyzed in the back of some dude's pickup truck. (5th Amendment)

In 2004 (I was 24 at the time), I slipped the L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs during a weightlifting workout. A smarter man would've taken time off, rehabbed and lived to fight another day. Being that I am, in fact, NOT a smarter man, I played through a season of rugby while training 4 days a week for powerlifting. Playing in the front row for rugby while also pulling/squatting for a max every Monday night is not conducive to lower back rehab and I developed some serious sciatica in my right leg.

At this time, I was also finishing my undergrad in sports medicine at Colorado State University and interning in the weight room. This entailed being on my feet coaching from around 11am until 4-5pm, at which time I would either head to Denver for rugby training or train with one of the other coaches. I've never felt pain like I did in those days of being on my feet; I actually chipped a tooth from grinding my teeth. That is not a badge of honor and pride; it's a badge of stupidity and ego.

Fast forward 9 months: I get an MRI after the rugby season ends and take it to one of the orthopedic surgeons at CSU. He has me take off my shoes, looks at the MRI, palpates my spine and puts me through some balance tests, which I fail spectacularly (go big or go home). He then asks me to stand on both feet and raise the big toe on my right foot.

Nothing. Not even a twitch of life.

I flexed my foot with every fiber of my being. The other four toes moved off of the ground easily, but the big toe mind as well have been glued to the ground. The resulting conversation was award-winning movie dialogue:

"I can't move my toe"
-Nope
"That is not good."
-Nope

From that day up until the day I went in for microdiscectomy (day before Thanksgiving in 2005), I would constantly test my big toe. From the time I awoke to the time I went to sleep, I would test it and try to make it move. It's the very first thing I did once I woke up post-op in the recovery room and I still do it from time to time because it sets off that cacade of memories in my mind. That surgery is a story unto itself (including my first and only experience with a catheder), but that experience of not being able to move something simple like a toe has stuck with me. The phrase "Lift Your Toe" is something that goes through my mind at key points in my life, both in and out of the gym.

Athletically speaking (both physically and mentally), recovering from surgery is one of the toughest things I've done. I went from limping and not able to stand upright pain free to getting back to playing high level rugby, going to camp with USA Bobsled, competing in athletics and just living a (semi) pain free life. When I'm dragging and hurting and I don't want to train, I always remember the times when I couldn't lift my big toe. It's an emotional trigger for me and it conjures up images of the pre-op days lying on my girlfriend's kitchen floor and the post-op days when I needed a grabber arm to get dressed and when my only activity came from pacing laps in my 600 sq ft apartment. Vasily Alexeyev (one of the greatest weightlifters of all time) said this (from Elitefts.com):

"It seems to me that some of the talented athletes lack one thing-- they
haven't had an injury. That's right!  An injury that will put them out of
commission for a year during which time they'll have a chance to weigh every-
thing.  I, too, would not be where I am if I had not injured my back.  I
suffered for a year and a half thinking everything over ... After a
misfortune, people pull through and become, if possible, great people -- and
sportsmen, in particular. Those who are stronger find their way out and to
the top.
The past can be a very powerful tool in your arsenal, if used appropriately. Athletes tend to focus on the "glory days" while forgetting the dark days and time spent rehabilitating from injury. Rehab and recovery from an injury is one of the toughest things that an athlete will do; it forces you to weigh everything in your life when you make the "Do I or Don't I" decision. Don't forget about those days when you're laid up on crutches or in a sling; those are the times when you really had to weigh everything. Those are the turning points, the times when you decided to really go to work.

Just Lift Your Toe.