Lol's New HST Log

My ears are still ringing from the two fantastic Rush gigs I've attended and rocked out to since my last training session and now I'm back and ready to push ahead for a month of (hopefully) solid training.

Thanks for all the positive comments on the vid of my 100kg clean & jerk. :) I've looked at it frame-by-frame and noted several areas in my technique that I need to address.

For the clean:

1) I shoot my hips as I break the bar off the ground resulting in the bar getting too far away from me as it passes up to and over my knees.

2) Because the bar is away from me as I get to the second pull, I end up having to pull the bar too much towards me and then it hits my thighs and gets catapulted too much horizontally rather than vertically.

3) I don't really explode upwards after the second pull and I miss full extension.

For the jerk:

4) At the bottom of my dip I allowed the bar to move a little forward. It's not much, but it should go straight down and back up again so that all the force of the hip extension is transferred to the bar in a vertical direction. Anything other than straight down and up is inefficient.

5) My split is weak. It's not as deep as it should be as I don't reach far enough forward with my front foot; my right shin isn't vertical like it should be either. I need to be more aggressive and really drive that foot out. Then I need to drive my head forward and my shoulders up and back as the bar passes overhead.

6) Torso is not as upright as it should be as I catch the bar: I'm leaning back a bit and overextending my lower-back which is probably why I feel the load there more than I should.

I'm sure there are more things wrong than this but I will work on these things and try to fix them. Doing so should lead to heavier loads going up which is what it's all about.
 
Thought I would post a pic of my back, taken a couple of weeks ago (11/05/13), prior to any serious training this year. I'm hoping that, come December, it'll be thicker and chunkier... assuming I've put in the training time and assuming I've chewed on enough chickens. I think I'm around 12% bf here. I hope it isn't much over that.

lol_back_11-5-13.jpg


It's funny seeing a pic of your own back. I seem to have a few weird things going on along with a few scars. Function over form! :D


@ Tim: I'll see what I can do. :)

Hey, Lol,

I've been away from the board for a few years for various reasons, but it's great to see this pic. Your hard work w/ the weights really shows. Your entire back, bis, traps, shoulder structure looks very solid and strong. What would you say is your easiest muscle group to make gains in?

Keep up the great work.
S
 
Hey, Lol,

I've been away from the board for a few years for various reasons, but it's great to see this pic. Your hard work w/ the weights really shows. Your entire back, bis, traps, shoulder structure looks very solid and strong. What would you say is your easiest muscle group to make gains in?

Keep up the great work.
S
Hey smf, glad to know your still alive and kicking! Thanks for your thoughts. :)

I've had a hit-and-miss couple of years what with one thing and another, so I've been more concerned with clawing back some previous strength levels than anything else. I'm not bulking any more due to my ongoing health situation. I'm now focusing more on strength, mobility and improving my O-lifts with a view to competing at the masters level—if I make the grade. I'll probably compete in the 85kg class but may decide to go up to 94kg, in which case I have room to add some mass.

I think, in my case, I don't seem to have any muscle groups that like to grow more easily than any others; I'm not gifted in any lifts either. It all seems like hard work! :)

I do think the hard work has been worth it though: the very lovely woman who took that pic of my back said I had the body of a 25-year-old! No doubt overly kind (although I didn't ask when she had last had an eye test), but as a 48-year-old that was encouraging to hear. I certainly don't feel like a 25-year-old when I get up in the morning. :-/

All the best with your training. Hope it's going well.
 
Tue 29/05/13

Missed my intended training session today so will start back properly tomorrow. Just did this:

Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Medicine ball squats

C2 Row
500m in 1:39; damper on 3

Focussed on pulling hard and fast with a slowish stroke rate of 26 spm.

Parallel-grip Chins
15+7,5,3 x BW - brief hold at the top of each rep

A sort-of a Myo-rep set: I had a bit more rest between the first and second clusters than I normally would for a myo-rep set as the first 15 reps were tough to complete with good form.

Notes
My left shoulder is a little tweaky from something I did to it during my last C&J session. It's just a bit stiff and slightly uncomfortable in the overhead position. I guess there's a bit of inflammation in there.
 
Lol,
That's good to hear. Good luck w/ the Masters Comp. I know what you mean about every gain requiring hard work, and I agree, it's definitely worth it. I'm just a tad older than you, just turned 50.

I'm still pretty active w/ coaching and playing tennis and my martial arts involvement, but I've been keeping at the lifting too (which I still really enjoy after 35+ yrs.)

Keep up the great work.
S
 
Wed 29/05/13

Things didn't go quite how I expected today so I missed my full session again.

Dips
25 x BW
10 x BW+10kg
10 x BW+10kg @ RPE 10!

Performed these a little differently to my usual dips: slowish eccentric, fast concentric, brief pause at the bottom.
These were much tougher than I thought they would be. I can't rest at any point during a dip (my elbows don't lock out well enough to be able to give my tri's a rest at the top) so I think my TUT was quite high even though it was only 10 reps.

Decline Push-ups
25

Thought I would try something else a bit different so I placed my feet on my 18" bench to do these. They are sort of like an incline press but without the balance issues.

Parallel-grip Chins
10 x BW
10 x BW

These were harder than yesterday's chins. Probably a bit of fatigue was there from the dips.

Stretches
10 minutes of sitting in a deep squat position holding a med ball.
Hip flexor stretches
Shoulder dislocates
 
Thu 30/05/13

Earlier today I spent a good 10 minutes in a deep squat position focussing on stretching out my right achilles and getting my hips forward.

Then tonight...

General Warmup
Lunges
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats
Nekid bar muscle snatches and angel drops (yeah :) )

Snatch - Off High Blocks
5 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
3 x 40kg
3 x 45kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 50kg - 5 second pause in hole for each rep
3 x 50kg - 5 second pause in hole for each rep
3 x 50kg - 5 second pause in hole for reps 1 & 2; 30 second pause for rep 3

No straps; knee sleeves throughout.

Handstand Against Wall
1 x 30 seconds
1 x 45 seconds
1 x 45 seconds
1 x 60 seconds

Notes
I had intended to squat tonight but I finished work late and I really wanted to get back to some O-lifting. I didn't go for anything heavy in the snatches. I haven't done any in over a week so I just wanted to grease the groove.

My hip flexibility is improving which allows my torso to be more upright in a deep squat. This, in turn, enabled me to try using a slightly narrower grip on the bar. My wrists were happier and my shoulders were fine in the overhead squat position. I'll stick with this new grip width and see how it works out with heavier loads.
 
Fri 31/05/13

General Warmup
Lunges
Shoulder dislocates
Nekid bar press and jerks

Paused Front Squat
WU: 5P x 70kg (154lb) - around 4 second pause in hole

5P x 80kg (176lb) ~ 4 sec pause
5P x 90kg (198lb) ~ 4 sec pause
5P x 90kg (198lb) ~ 4 sec pause
3P x 100kg (220lb) ~ 3-4 sec pause

The longer pauses are harsh but they're to help improve my deep squat position.

Front Squat
5 x 100kg (220lb) - brief pause on final rep
15 x 70kg (154lb) - brief pause in hole on final rep... for extra joy!

I caught my breath very briefly at rep 10 and decided to press on.

Press
WU: 10 x 40kg (88lb)
5 x 50kg (110lb)
5 x 60kg (132lb)

Push Press
5 x 65kg (143lb) @ RPE 9 - eek!
4 x 65kg (143lb) @ RPE 10 - failed 5th rep twice!

Belted. All loads for press and push-press cleaned from floor before pressing; not ideal for best grip on bar.

Parallel-grip Chins
15 x BW @ RPE 10 - held last rep at top for count of 5

Push-ups
30 - horrid experience after presses :)

Notes
Calories have been down today so not feeling as topped up as usual.

65kg for push presses seemed overly tough; my shoulders were fried by the last set. The first rep with 65kg seemed easy and then, after the third rep, my strength just dried up. However, I experienced no pain or discomfort during any of the sets which is great. Hopefully, I can now get back to working on these and get my shoulder strength up a bit.

Front squats weren't great tonight. I had expected to get 5 paused reps with 100kg but, after a couple of reps, I decided I ought to make it a triple. I think the longer pauses for the previous sets took some life out of me.

Time for calories!
 
Sat 01/06/13

Very sore legs and upper-mid back today. The front squats did their magic. Shoulders were a little uncomfortable in the night but are fine again now.

Apart from a load of gardening today, I did this:

C2 Row Sprints
Inspired by NTB, I had a go at a few 20 sec sprints with damper on 10.

Furthest I went was 122 metres with an average power output of 635.9 Watts and average stroke rate of 51 spm. I'll get 125m next time when my legs are fresher.

Parallel-grip Chins
17 x BW
Definitely a bit left in the tank.

Handstand Against Wall
1 x 30 seconds
1 x 30 seconds
Attempting to contact the wall as little as possible.

Shankle Jumps
Bit of an experiment: from standing you drop down into squat, roll backwards onto upper-back as if to do a backward rolly-polly(?) and then roll forwards onto feet and jump back up. Rinse and repeat. Might add these into my warmup.
 
C2 Row Sprints
Inspired by NTB, I had a go at a few 20 sec sprints with damper on 10.

Furthest I went was 122 metres with an average power output of 635.9 Watts and average stroke rate of 51 spm. I'll get 125m next time when my legs are fresher.

Wow, that is some serious rowing, LOL!! 122 metres and 51 SPM is crazy fast. My technique must be wrong because my arse lifts off the seat whenever I try to go faster than around 43-45 spm. I actually came completely off the seat once and I almost fell off the dang thing. I've never looked at the "power" output before, but I'll do that next time. I know I'm nowhere close to 635.9 :)

Shankle Jumps
Bit of an experiment: from standing you drop down into squat, roll backwards onto upper-back as if to do a backward rolly-polly(?) and then roll forwards onto feet and jump back up. Rinse and repeat. Might add these into my warmup.

I like the name "Shankle jumps" better, I always called these "rolling squat jumps" and they are an outstanding exercise!
 
Sun 02/06/13

A brief session before I had to go out.

Front Squat
5 x 105kg (231lb)

No warmup except for a few quick air squats! Bit silly really but thought I would give it a go seeing my mate had just PR'd on his back squats for a set of 5 using the same load.

Snatch off High Blocks
5 x 20kg
5 x 30kg
5 x 40kg
3 x 50kg
1 x 55kg
1 x 55kg
1 x 55kg
1 x 60kg

Straps throughout. Pause in the bottom position for most reps, which is definitely feeling more comfortable now.

Push Press
12 x 60kg

Parallel-grip Chins
15 x BW @ RPE 9

Notes
For my snatching, my new grip width is definitely better; the bar sits better in the crease of my hips now and I'm getting a better feeling of catapulting the bar when my hips make contact with it for the second pull. Snatching off the high blocks is helping improve my position for the start of the second pull. It forces me to stay over the bar longer than when I pull from the floor and it makes me stay back on my heels more which is good. However, I'm still struggling to drop down to catch the bar as low as I should.
 
Wow, that is some serious rowing, LOL!! 122 metres and 51 SPM is crazy fast. My technique must be wrong because my arse lifts off the seat whenever I try to go faster than around 43-45 spm. I actually came completely off the seat once and I almost fell off the dang thing. I've never looked at the "power" output before, but I'll do that next time. I know I'm nowhere close to 635.9 :)

The C2 allows you to flick between average split time, average power output and number of cals burnt (which is an approximation based on a particular body weight; can't remember what it is but it's mentioned in the C2 monitor manual) after you finish your row. On my monitor, I just have to keep pressing the Output button until I see the reading I want.

It's quite fun to measure your max power output. Set the monitor output on Watts, Damper on 10 and then give it everything you've got for three strokes. See what your max reading is.

Some of the big lads can pull 1,600W! Now that is scary!

Have you tried setting the foot stretchers a little higher so that you are pushing more back than up for the drive? That may help you to stay in the seat. For a max power output attempt put something rubbery on the seat as that'll also help you not to slide off it. I've done this several times!
 
Mon 03/06/13

Had to do my session in two parts tonight: snatches first and the rest two hours later.

General Warmup
Shoulder Dislocates
Air OHS
Lunges
Nekid bar power snatches

Snatch off High Blocks
3 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 55kg
3 x 55kg
5 x 55kg - straps from here
5 x 57.5kg + 3 OHS

Lots of pausing at rock-bottom!

Front Squat
W-U: 5 x 70kg
5 x 90kg
5 x 90kg
5 x 90kg
10 x 90kg @ RPE 8.5/9

Knee sleeves; belted for work sets.
Intended to use 100kg for my work sets but my legs felt really tired on my first set with 90kg. So much is in the mind so I decided to try a bit harder on the last set. Probably could have managed 12 but 10 was enough.

Parallel-grip Chins
17+5,3,3,2 x BW - Myo-rep set
30 total reps.
These were tough.

Push-ups
25+15,10 - Myo-rep set
50 total reps.
Slight decline; hands on blocks for greater ROM.
Shoulders felt okay.

Notes
Better snatches tonight. Got a bit more aggressive, which always helps.
 
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Have you tried setting the foot stretchers a little higher so that you are pushing more back than up for the drive? That may help you to stay in the seat. For a max power output attempt put something rubbery on the seat as that'll also help you not to slide off it. I've done this several times!

Thanks, LoL, tomorrow I'm going to move my feet up a bit so more force goes down. After today's workout, I'm not sure I'll do much on the sprints tomorrow... we'll see.
 
Tue 04/06/13

I let the end of the month pass without attempting any new maxes. It really didn't make sense, having missed so many training sessions. The months are flying by this year; it'll be the end of June before I know it, so I'll have ago at maxing out a few lifts then.

Short but sweet tonight. Mostly a squat form session.

General Warmup
Shoulder Dislocates
Air squats

High-bar Back Squat
W-U: 10 x 70kg, 10 x 90kg
10 x 100kg (220lb)
11 x 100kg (220lb) - last rep paused; took video of this set

Belted & knee sleeves for work sets

EZ-bar Curl
10 x 39kg (86lb)
10 x 49kg (108lb)

Plus a few "gymnasticy" things: handstands, lever work.

Notes
For my squats, I'm working on not allowing my knees (particularly my right knee) to cave in coming out of the hole, especially as the loads go up. Tonight I tried thinking about externally rotating my hips/femurs while keeping my feet facing almost straight ahead, rather than driving my knees out—that cue doesn't seem to work that well for me for some reason? I'm not sure that thinking about externally rotating my hips worked brilliantly well either! If I get time, I'll post the video.
 
Here's the last set of squats I did last night.

It's a relatively light load (100kg) but I'm still struggling to keep my knees out when I drive up out of the hole.

I think I still have a long way to go to improve my hip flexibility. If I can get my hips further forward in the bottom position that may help a bit too. It'll probably also require a slightly wider stance.

 
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Wed 05/06/13

General Warmup
Shankle Jumps
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats
Nekid-bar power snatches

Snatch off High Blocks
5 x 30kg - straps from here
5 x 40kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 55kg
3 x 55kg
3 x 57.5kg
3 x 60kg
3 x 60kg
3 x 60kg + 5 OHS

Belted; straps; knee sleeves.
Last rep of each set paused in hole for a good stretch.

Parallel-grip Chins
15 x BW
7 x BW+10kg
8 x BW+10kg

Push Press
W-U: 5 x 40kg, 5 x 50kg, 5 x 60kg
5 x 70kg
5 x 70kg

Cleaned the bar before the presses.

Finished up with some ab stuff and a couple of sets of db curls and db tri extensions.

Notes
Snatches were better tonight. I had a mate watch me for some sets and he definitely felt I was getting under the bar faster. The sets with 60kg didn't feel quite as heavy as they normally do either. Not all reps were great though. Still, I feel that I am making progress.

Shoulders coped well with the push presses. I put the load up 10kg and still no pain! Keeping the volume at a low level for a while.
 
Wed 05/06/13

Really fancied doing some cleans tonight, so...

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats

Clean off High Blocks
5 x 40kg
5 x 50kg
3 x 60kg
3 x 70kg
3 x 80kg
3 x 85kg
3 x 85kg
3 x 90kg
2 x 95kg (209lb) - had to stop! See notes.

Belted; knee sleeves; wrist wraps. Most reps paused in hole.

Front Squats
WU: 3 x 50kg, 3 x 70kg
5 x 100kg
5 x 100kg
6 x 100kg

Belted; knee sleeves.
Carrying tons of fatigue into these so they felt pretty hard after only two or three reps. I have squatted in one form or another for the last five days in a row.

Dips
25 x BW
15 x BW+12.5kg (28lb)
15 x BW+12.5kg (28lb)

Plus some 'gymnasticy' moves again.

Notes
This was the first time I have tried cleans off the high blocks. They're very good for getting used to keeping a knees-bent stance as the back raises into the 'power' position, at which point the hips open explosively, immediately followed by shrugging down under the bar.

I was really getting into it when, sadly, my high blocks began to disintegrate. 95kg slamming down on them, even from shoulder height, was too much for them to bear, so I had to stop after 2 reps and call it quits. :-/

Legs are getting really tired but should get a bit of a chance to recover tomorrow as I'm off to the "Big Smoke" with some mates to see Sanguine Hum perform—a prog-rock outfit. Need to try to eat a lot on the way, which will be less then easy to do unless I take a lot of food with me for the 8+ hours of travelling.
 
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Hey Lol - Just watched the squat vid. It may have been the angle of the view - but coming out of the hole it looks like you are getting a tiny bit stuck with your torso forward before straightening out for the rest of the eccentric portion of the movement. As you said, a slightly wider stance may really help that with a more natural body position but the struggle to keep knees in check grows as the stance widens. Regardless - seeing you do a full squat movement is refreshing; I never, ever see folks doing full squats in my gym.

Enjoy the show - for 8+ hours of travel, this must be a solid act live. Good luck in the nutrition game!!!!!!!!
 
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