Lol's New HST Log

@Jester: Well, the thing is, if I dip any lower it doesn't add anything to the push, as the efficiency of my drive decreases. I can be more explosive from higher up. That's what I find anyway.

@Sci: Haha. You must be thinking of a different Lol. I've always thought my shoulders were kind of sucky. I want to work on them a bit more now as, since I've stopped benching, they have been much less bothersome. I think the shoulder warmup I do each session helps too. At my age, I really need to warm them up thoroughly before they feel good to go. I'm getting a decent amount of fish oil each day too.
 
Sat 7/06/14

Warmup
500m C2 row
Shoulder complex inc. rotations and dislocates
Nekkid bar work

Hang Snatch (kg)
5 x 40
3 x 50
2 x 60
2 x 65
2 x 70
2 x 75
2 x 77.5 - PR
1 x 80
0 x 82 - FF (fail to front)
0 x 82 - FF
0 x 82 - FF; so close!

Straps for most reps

C&J (kg)
1 x 60
1 x 70 + front squat
1 x 80 + front squat
1 x 90 + front squat
1 x 95 (209lb) + front squat
1 x 100 (220lb) + front squat
1 x 105 (231lb) - slight press-out with left arm

Clean (kg)
1 x 110 (242lb) - dip & drive to get bar to top of head but no jerk
0 x 115 (253lb) - missed racking it
0 x 115 - closer but still not quite on shoulders

Belted from 90kg; no knee sleeves

HBBS (kg)
W-U: 5 x 60, 5 x 80, 5 x 110
7 x 3 x 130 (286lb) @ RPE 8
5 x 130 @ RPE 9

Belted; no knee sleeves. 26 total reps @ 130kg

Notes
My snatching wasn't great. I never do well if I feel tired going into a snatch session. It makes the weight seem heavier and then I start to lose confidence in getting under the bar.

Didn't get my elbows around quickly enough in the 115 clean attempts, but at least I got under the bar. If I can rack 115 properly, I know I'll be able to stand up with it, even from a pause in the hole.

Knees have been fine recently so I risked not wearing knee sleeves for squats. I lost back extension a bit on last rep which made it twice as hard. I get really annoyed with myself when I lose focus like that.
 
Sun 8/06/14

Shortish Early-evening Session
Pre workout shake: whey, honey, cinnamon, creatine, water; freshly ground coffee

Snatch Pulls (kg)
5 x 60
5 x 80
5 x 100
5 x 100
Straps. All reps paused below knee on way up and on way down.

Shankle Complex (kg)
1 x 80
1 x 85
1 x 90
No belt or sleeves.
Shankle complex is one deadlift, three pulls/shrugs from hang, one squat-clean from hang, & two jerks. It's a great complex because it keeps the bar in your hands for a long time.

Clean & Push-Press (kg)
90: 1, 1, 2

Post-workout shake: whey, honey, cinnamon, 1/2 pint s/s milk

Notes
90kg is a push-press double PR and I only just missed getting a triple. The joke is that my push-press is more solid than my jerk. I have to remedy this over the coming months.

The negative portion of the presses and jerks really fried my arms and shoulders. Traps were sore immediately after the session too.
 
Mon 9/06/14

Evening Session - Just squats!

Warmup
500m C2 Row: 1:42.4, 40 Cals, 28 SPM, damper 3.5

Front Squat (kg)
W-U: 10 x 40, 5 x 60, 5 x 80, 5 x 100
10 x 2 x 115 (253lb) - belted; knee sleeves

HBBS (kg)
10 x 115 (253lb) - Met set

Notes
Decided to give my hands and wrists a break tonight, so no overhead lifts. Twenty front squats with 115kg was actually quite tiring, even doing doubles. Didn't fancy attempting a set of five front squats at the end so switched to back squats for a metabolic set. Back felt strong. Come on legs! Get stronger!
 
Great lifting. Those push presses are very impressive. Good front squatting too. I'm hoping I can get near that weight at end of cycle. Do you hold the bar Olympic style or arms crossed?
 
@Sci: Haha. You must be thinking of a different Lol. I've always thought my shoulders were kind of sucky. I want to work on them a bit more now as, since I've stopped benching, they have been much less bothersome. I think the shoulder warmup I do each session helps too. At my age, I really need to warm them up thoroughly before they feel good to go. I'm getting a decent amount of fish oil each day too.
Click to expand...


lol_back_11-5-13.jpg


You are too modest.
 
@Sci: I look a tad scrawny, if you ask me. :) I hope I have bulked up a little since that pic was taken.
I'm currently aiming to increase strength in three key areas: legs, back and shoulders. That should help me to keep pushing up my C&J numbers. Snatch will follow as I continue to work on technique. It's the "pretty" lift and doesn't demand the strength of the clean & jerk, yet it still requires a high power output because of the speed of the lift.

@Normo: I always use a clean grip although I don't wrap my fingers tightly around the bar. Sometimes I allow the fourth fingers and pinkies to come right off the bar.
 
Wed 11/06/14

Late session: 10:30pm, so no bar slamming. Better squat then...

General Warmup
C2 Row: 500m, 1:55, DF 125, 21 SPM - slow stroke rate.
30 x 5kg plates "cymbals" (circumduction).
Shoulder dislocates.

BTN Press (kg)
W-U: 15 x 20, 5 x 40
5 x 50 (132lb)
5 x 50
7 x 50
Nice and strict. Good warmup for...

HBBS (kg)
WU: 10 x 40, 5 x 60, 5 x 80, 5 x 100

Front Squat (kg)
2 x 120
1 x 130
1 x 135 (297lbs)
Belted and knee sleeves. Popped these in as part of warm-up, then went back to...

HBBS (kg)
5 x 140 (308lbs)
5 x 140
5 x 140
5 x 140
Belted and knee sleeves.

Negative Emphasised Partial BB Curl (kg)
3 x 5 x 50 (110lbs)

Notes
Best squats in a while. Focussed on maintaining a tight back and it really helped. My back is definitely getting stronger again. It makes a big difference to how squats feel.
Also pleased I managed to get a 135kg front squat without too much trouble. That's only 5kg off my PR. I'll beat it soon.

The funky curls were a bit of a fun experiment. Started in BOR position with supinated grip; raised elbows to sides (partial row) then extended hips until standing while arms maintained isometric contraction; curled bar from horizontal to top position, then full eccentric under control; bar lowered back to floor. Rinse & repeat. I imagine Casey Viator or Mike Mentzer could have done these with 140kg. :)
Haven't worked bis in ages so I started off carefully. Great feeling of strain deep inside. I will see how far I can progress the load doing these.
 
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Lol said:
Wed 11/06/14

Late session: 10:30pm, so no bar slamming. Better squat then...

General Warmup
C2 Row: 500m, 1:55, DF 125, 21 SPM - slow stroke rate.
30 x 5kg plates "cymbals" (circumduction).
Shoulder dislocates.

BTN Press (kg)
W-U: 15 x 20, 5 x 40
5 x 50 (132lb)
5 x 50
7 x 50
Nice and strict. Good warmup for...

HBBS (kg)
WU: 10 x 40, 5 x 60, 5 x 80, 5 x 100

Front Squat (kg)
2 x 120
1 x 130
1 x 135 (297lbs)
Belted and knee sleeves. Popped these in as part of warm-up, then went back to...

HBBS (kg)
5 x 140 (308lbs)
5 x 140
5 x 140
5 x 140
Belted and knee sleeves.

Negative Emphasised Partial BB Curl (kg)
3 x 5 x 50 (110lbs)

Notes
Best squats in a while. Focussed on maintaining a tight back and it really helped. My back is definitely getting stronger again. It makes a big difference to how squats feel.
Also pleased I managed to get a 135kg front squat without too much trouble. That's only 5kg off my PR. I'll beat it soon.

The funky curls were a bit of a fun experiment. Started in BOR position with supinated grip; raised elbows to sides (partial row) then extended hips until standing while arms maintained isometric contraction; curled bar from horizontal to top position, then full eccentric under control; bar lowered back to floor. Rinse & repeat. I imagine Casey Viator or Mike Mentzer could have done these with 140kg. :)
Haven't worked bis in ages so I started off carefully. Great feeling of strain deep inside. I will see how far I can progress the load doing these.
Click to expand...

That is some ridiculous squatting, there, LoL! Your warmup would have been a full workout of PRs for me. Man... you're motivating me to start squatting again...:D
 
12/06/2014 - 14/06/2014

A few bits from my workouts over the last few days...

BTN Press (kg)
5/40
5/50
5/52.5
5,5/55
2,4/60 - belted
First set with 60kg was dire. Took a bit more rest and then got 4 reps. I have much work to do.

BTN Push Press (kg)
5/65
5/70
5/75
Belted throughout. Shoulders were fried by 75kg so stopped there.

Hang-Snatch (kg)
5/20
5/30
5/40
5/50
5/60 Straps from here
5/65
5/70 - PR
3/75 - PR
1X, 1X/77.5
Just missed doubles with 77.5 but got PR's for a set of five and a triple. (X indicates a failed rep.)

High Pull
5/80
3,3,3,3/90
Snatch-grip; straps; focused on constant tension during slow eccentric.

Front Squat (kg)
W-U: 5/40, 5/60, 5/80, 5/100
Belt & knee sleeves from here
1/110
1/120
1/130
1/135 (298lbs)
0/140.5 (310lbs) - Stalled about half-way up. >:/

140.5kg is 0.5kg heavier than my all-time PR. Thought I would go for it. Failed the lift but not too far off. Also, my form is better now and my ROM is greater.
Having dumped the bar from my PR attempt, I now had to do something useful with it before stripping the plates off. So...

Deadlift
10/140.5 (310lbs) Belted & O-shoes.

Notes
Haven't deadlifted in a good while. Although 10 x 140.5kg didn't feel light, I was able to knock out ten solid reps and I could definitely have made it to fifteen, had there been a good reason to do so. There wasn't. :)
My guess is that my current 1RM for deads is about 180kg. One might imagine that pulling a fairly straightforward set of 10 with 140 would make a single clean with 120 potentially doable. I know I can stand up with 120, so it's all about getting under the bar and racking it successfully. That's where my form sucks and I need to put in the work.
 
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Cheers TTL! First rep is usually closer to a power but by the last rep in a set of 5 I'm having to get down into a fairly deep squat. I often ride the bar down if I catch it high in order to drill the bottom position.
 
I read a Dan John article a few years ago where he wrote about a bodyweight snatch workout: warmup, work up to a bodyweight snatch, do 15 reps, go home.
At the time, I had no idea how hard that would be. Now I at least have a clue. Maybe one day I'll be able to write to let him know I managed it.
 
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Sun 15/06/14
Really sore thumbs from the new straps I've been using. They put pressure on my thumbs in a different way to my previous straps. Anyway, no straps today!

Warmup
500m C2 Row: 1:45.6; 26 SPM
Shoulder complex: dislocates, cymbals, lateral raises etc.

Snatch (kg)
20/5
30/5
40/3
50/2
60/2
65/2
70/X1 - first lift slightly forward
72.5/X1 - ditto
75/X1 - ditto
77.5/XX1 - first two reps slightly forward
80/1 - sweet first attempt
82.5/X, 1 - PR
85/1, X - PR Oh yeah!
No straps throughout; knee bandages.

C&J (kg)
85/5
Rapid fire set to burn off a bit of adrenalin following my snatch PR. It'll be cool when I can snatch 85 like this.

Notes
So I achieved my bodyweight snatch of 85kg. It's been a while in the making and it was such a great feeling to finally make it. Grip felt really strong so using straps hasn't affected it negatively at all.
My technique is improving all the time so it may not be long before I PR again. Next goal is a 200lbs snatch, which works out to be about 91kg.
One thing I've noticed is that it's become easier to be consistent as the load has increased. That makes sense as the extra load increases the inertia of the bar which translates to a kind of movement damping effect.
Shoulders are feeling pretty sore and beaten up at the moment. Knees feeling good though. I shall stick with the plan until my lifts plateau.
I'm using a different notation for my reps and sets. It's easier and quicker to enter here. Commas indicate a rest between reps or sets at a particular load.
Eg. 70/1,X means two singles & 70kg: first lift good, second lift failed, rest between attempts. 70/1X means a double @ 70kg: first lift good, second lift failed, no rest between attempts.
 
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Mon 16/06/14

Tonight was meant to be a shoulder press and squat session but my shoulders are a bit hammered so they're having a night off. Time to squat!

Warmup
500m C2 row: 1:43.8; 27 SPM
Shoulder rotations complex with 5kg plates.

HBBS (kg)
W-U: 40/10, 60/5, 80/5,
110/3
130/2
140/2
150/1 - no belt or sleeves to here
160/1,1,1,1,1 - belted; knee sleeves
140/8 - belted; knee sleeves

Hanging Leg Raises
10

Notes
Squatted outside of the rack. Worked up to a single with 150 without belt or sleeves. That may well be the heaviest I have squatted without any support.
Then I belted and sleeved up for the singles with 160. They got successively tougher but were not too bad: maybe RPE 9 for the final single. My goal was to maintain form as much as possible.
It seems to me that keeping a tight back is absolutely essential. As soon as you lose back extension, it's impossible to maintain the same back angle and the whole system begins to break down, making the movement even harder. You really do have to have a strong back if squats, of any kind, are going to work your legs as hard as possible.
I reckon I could have made a final set of 10 reps with 140 had I been inside the rack. Still, 8 x 140 is my best set of squats for a good while. And no knee pain. :)
 
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Tue 17/06/14

Only time for a short session this eve. Sore legs from last night. Noticeably more tired on rower.

Warmup
500m C2 row: 1:45.3; 27 SPM
Shoulder rotations complex with 5kg plates.
Nekkid bar muscle snatches

C&J (kg)
40/1 + 2h-c + fs + 3j
50/1 + 2h-c + fs + 3j
60/1 + 2j
70/1
80/1
90/3
100/3 - PR

Belted for the final set. Got my best triple ever. All good jerks. Had to stop there but I would have liked to have carried on as I was feeling strong and confident in my jerks. Ne'er mind. I'll go for some heavier jerks soon.
 
Adidas vs Nike OWLs? Buying next week.

Have decided to go to HBBS, as my low-bar is just too PC dominant once I get above 5-6RM.

Also, that's a ridiculous C&J, great work.
 
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