Biathlon Bells

Trained the bells today. I can see that my endurance has dropped a bit since I have started focusing on the Olympic lifts. It's ok, nothing that I couldn't pick back up with some focused bell training when the time comes. So I'll consider today's session a maintenance session.

Kettlebell Jerk: 2 x 24kg
4 minutes @ 8 rpm
1 minute @ 10 rpm
1 minute @ 12 rpm

Kettlebell Snatch: 24kg
3 minutes @ 14 rpm
2 minutes @ 16 rpm

That's it and that's all!

Hook Grip 1 and Hook Grip 2

Today I started working in some Olympic lifting in conjunction with my kettlebells. I'm practicing with the bar at the moment as I let me body learn some new movement patterns. I have some flexibility issues with my wrists as well as the overhead snatch position, but I'm confident these will come quickly.

I like the way both the Olympic lifts have one hook grip while the kettlebells have another. And they are opposite of one another. To hold the barbell, the first and second finger overlap the thumb. To hold the kettlebell, the thumb overlaps the first finger. Cool stuff, no?

So this was today...

Front Squat: 5 5 5

Power Clean: 5 5

Overhead Squat: 5 5 5

Pressing Snatch Balance: 5 5 5

Power Snatch: 5 5

Kettlebell Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm


Formal instruction on the Olympic lifts will be coming in three weeks. Until then I will be doing my best to get comfortable with moving a barbell again. I think I'm going to like this.

Happy Friday!

It's a beautiful Friday afternoon and training in a place where you can see the daylight and feel the air blowing is awesome! (I'm getting spoiled, ain't I?) Today I warmed up with some light barbell squatting - nothing serious, just an empty bar and then hit some bells.

Warmup: Empty Bar - Front Squat & Overhead Squat - 3 sets of 5 reps for each lift

Snatch: 24kg - 5 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 32kg - 4 minutes @ 10 rpm

That's it and that's all.

Training alongside the Fighters

So I've now begun to train my kettlebells in the local MMA. It's quite a change from the parking garage! First of all, there is actually air circulating and light to see. That alone is a big improvement. Today while I trained, there was a boxer working out next to me and a crew of jiu jitsu practitioners working on the mat. Having other dedicated individuals around you while training is definitely a great motivator. In a sense, it also makes me feel somewhat primitive, just pumping out reps while they engage in higher order activities. But we all do what we do, right? =)

So here's today's session...

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 minutes on / 1 minute off

Snatch: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

Even taking the jump rope 'break' didn't help much with the fatigue from the jerks. The first few snatches in particular were shaky. They firmed up but two minutes per side was it for today. All in all, a good training day!

Mix It Up Monday

I've decided to mix things up a bit. You know, keep it fresh. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be straying far. I've built up a nice foundation with my lifting and am not looking to have it all go down the drain for the sake of variety. Here's today's fun...

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 24kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Swing: 24kg - 25/25

Snatches felt good. I need to concentrate on not overdoing it with these. With the heat and humidity, my hands have been taking a bit of a beating. The heavier OAJs following were tough. After they were over, I looked at the bells again knowing that I wanted to swing and I got a sick feeling in my stomach. So I rested a bit more, then did what I could.

(My) Snatches Suck

Still struggling with grip issues. Maybe it's the high humidity that I've been training in, I'm not really sure. But I will be focusing a lot more on swings to try to help bring this aspect of my lifting up.

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 32kg - 15/15

Swing: 28kg - 30/30

That's all for today.

Weekly Update

I'm getting bad at keeping this up to date...

Tuesday:

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 7 rpm

Snatch: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm


Thursday:

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 7 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 5 minutes @ 14 rpm


Friday:

Snatch: 24kg - 5 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 24kg - 3 minutes @ 12 rpm

Jump Rope: 4 rounds of 2-1/2 min on / 1 min off


It's been a very busy week at work, so I am glad that I got in as much training as I did. On top of it, the heat and humidity have been off the charts. Not a pleasant environment to train in for any extended period of time. Hopefully, one of these weeks, things will let up a bit. In the meantime, keep moving as best as possible.

Monday!

My second attempt at Split Day Training was a success!

AM
Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm

PM
Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 7 rpm

Swing: 24kg - 30/30

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 min on / 1 min off

Feels good to be getting good sets of both jerk and snatch in again!

Split Routine

Sorry, have been a bit negligent in keeping up with my posting. I'm not going to try to catch up with what's past but start fresh with today.

Today I experimented with a split routine. It worked well and am going to try to keep it up. Not sure how easy that will be. It went like this...

AM
Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

PM
Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Swing: 24kg - 30/30

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 min on / 1 min off

Since this was my first day I went easy on myself. The super heat and humidity was also a factor. It's really brutal training when it's this hot and damp. But we must try, mustn't we?!!

Catch Up

Haven't posted in a little while, but have been busy training. Let's see if I can catch you up...

Thursday, June 24th
Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm
Jump Rope: 5 rounds, 2 min on/1 min off
Snatch: 24kg - 2 minutes @ 12 rpm

Friday, June 25th
Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm
Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 4 minutes @ 6 rpm
One Arm Jerk: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

Monday, June 28th
Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm
Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 3 minutes @ 6 rpm
One Arm Jerk: 32kg - 8/8

Tuesday, June 29th
Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm
One Arm Jerk: 28kg - 6 minutes @ 6 rpm
Treadmill: 20 minutes, 1.5 miles

Whew! That's about it. All caught up now!!

Snatchcentricity

Today's training was focused on snatches. Thus it was a snatch-centric day. My snatches have been lagging my jerks and I need to start devoting some more time to them. Here's how I attacked the snatch today...

Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 32kg - 4 minutes (2 mph) @ 6 rpm (12/12)

Swing: 20kg - 30/30

This might not look like much, but completing this in a relatively short time frame, I was exhausted - in a good way!

The Jerk Express

Hop on the Jerk Express! Jerks are coming along amazing! I just wish I could say the same for my snatches!!

Friday was a tough session. Probably a result of cumulative fatigue over the course of the week.

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 7 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Swing: 20kg - 30/30


Today I was able to pick it up even more...

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 min on / 1 min off

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm


Tomorrow I attack the snatch.

Faster

After yesterday's performance with the 24kg bells, I felt like I still had a little bit left in me at the end of my jerk set. So today I thought I would pick up the pace just a little bit.

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 7 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Swing: 28kg - 10/10, 10/10

This jerk set was tough enough! This is where I'll stay for a while. It's a nice combination of muscular and cardiorespiratory fatigue. Snatches are feeling much better as of late. I plan to stay here as well just a bit longer before pushing further.

Movin' On Up

Time to move up to the 24kgs for my jerks. I'm keeping the snatches where they are until those numbers get higher. But boy, what a difference 8kg can make!

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 5 minutes @ 6 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Swing: 28kg - 15/15

Snatches felt best yet. It's a good feeling!

Hit My Jerk Target

I did it. I pushed through and did it.


Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 10 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm


Well alright! Now I can enjoy the weekend!!

An Easy Day

Went easy today...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 8rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rom

Swing: 28kg - 10/10

That's it and that's all.

Assistance Work for the Mind

Today was my first day back to training this week. I wanted to start off with a long 8 minute jerk set today. I was successful, but not completely happy.

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 8 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 min on / 1 min off

Swing: 28kg - 10/10

The reason I'm not completely happy is because at the end of the eighth minute I could have physically cranked out a ninth minute, but mentally I wasn't prepared for it, so I ended the set where I had originally planned. I am happy because at my current body weight I need 63 jerks to make Rank II, and now I've exceeded that number with more still in the tank. But when you get that close to an even greater result and don't go for it, it can be a bit of a downer. That's ok. I'll be hitting 10 minutes at this pace very soon. Very soon!

Internal Dialog

Me @ 6am: "No training today, you need the day off."
Me @ 7am: "OK, maybe just some assistance work today. Nothing too strenuous, just get moving."
Me @ 8am: "C'mon, let's hit it hard! 8 minute jerk set, let's do it!!"
Me @ 10am: "If I hit the jerks hard, I won't be able to hit my snatches hard. And I want those snatches!"
Me @ 11am: "Maybe I should just rest today..."

Here's what happened come noon...

Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 28kg - 20/20

Swing: 28kg - 15/15

This week seemed to wear me down. It was a good week. Trained four days in a row. Now I can rest!

An Easy Day

Today turned out to be an "easy" day, even though it really didn't feel so easy.

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 10 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Swing: 12kg - 15/15, 20/20

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 min on / 45 sec off

More tomorrow!

Good Day

Shortened my jerk set today as I was a bit stiff from yesterday's session. But still keeping things moving.

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes, 54 reps

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 12 rpm

Treadmill: 10 minutes, 0.8 miles

Things are progressing well!