Category: Thoughts & Insights

Bar Whip

Today was jerk day, among other things.  I am happy to report that my jerk is slowly getting better, partially because of increasing upper body strengthening in various ranges of motion, partially by improving mobility and a little by just the sheer grunt work of practicing foot work.

But today my coach Jaremy Lynn (that’s him in the pic) introduced this idea to me.  My weights aren’t giant red plates that bend the bar in the rack.  So to help me feel whip a little more, he moved the plates out closer to the edges of the sleeve by putting in a few “spacer” lockjaw clamps.  Voilá! More whip at the bottom of the dip.  I think it’s a brilliant easy way to start getting a better feel for timing in the dip and drive.

My Stinky Squat is Getting Better!!!

My work on my wonky squat continues.  It’s been about a month since I started dedicated loaded unilateral work at least twice per week.  And guess what?  The hula dance that my hips did (leaning into the weak glute side) is dramatically better! Not totally gone as you can see in the video, but not like I’m wiggling for dolla dolla bills at the club either.  Hooray!!!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZdKS1Rtl5aU

I included some video of one of the many things I’m trying for unilateral strengthening.  Today was box pistol squats.  Why the box?  Because my hamstring flexibility is still closer to a 15yo boy’s than it should be.  So lacking complete straight leg forward mobility, I use the box to cheat and let my leg come down a bit.  But yes, I’m working on the mobility, too.

Not shown but still a lot of fun was handstand work today.  I like handstand training because a) it’s a little like static bodyweight jerk holds and b) it helps me with body awareness.  I found out today that I don’t lock out my right arm which I thought I had been doing.  As soon as I did, boom! I held the handstand for a sec or two.

Of note, I used the Eleiko app to combine the video clips because iMovie kept cutting out my legs when I tried to load it.  Eleiko loads directly to YouTube, which is also useful.  These bar makers are quite clever!

Snatch Balances and Walking Lunges

Today was a snatch-centric day.  Hang snatches at 80%, snatch grip deadlifts at 80% and snatch balances.  I’m still working on that last one.  With light weights I can snap under the bar, but the heavier the weight the more it looks like a snatch grip push press and subsequent overhead squat.  But even done not perfectly, I think it’s great for improving stability under the bar in the snatch.

Then hanging leg raises (can now do sets of 20, hooray!) and front rack walking lunges in the continuing project of fixing my squat.  Started with front squats to warm up (body weight 3×3) because it was actually cold here in the great state of Texas and I didn’t want to move directly into snatches.

Clean Pull Unders

I call these “clean pull unders” but they may have some official name of which I’m unaware.  It’s a great drill for learning to pull under the bar instead of trying to (consciously or unconsciously pull the bar up to the rack position).  It’s a lot tougher than it looks to just stand on your toes, shrug and pull under.  Very worth a try.

this is a second version of the same drill here

Training When Sick

My beloved husband is on a four day fishing trip in another state.  This is fun for him, lonely for me.  The only upside to his being away is that when he’s away, my two girls come down and sleep with me.  It’s like a giant snugglefest of mommy love.

However, snuggling with a 10 year old means catching said 10 year old’s cold.  Yesterday I woke up with a scratchy throat and a mild cough.  Today I’ve got a more productive cough, a scratchy throat that feels like I rubbed Eleiko competition gnurling on my vocal cords and the headache from hell.

Everyone asks me (likely because they know what I”m going to say and they enjoy mocking me) if I’m going to train when I feel like this.

My answer is….. hell yes.

Personally, I feel better after I get blood flowing, joints more limber and have something to focus upon other than the liquid cement that is mucus running through my sinuses.

It’s not dissimilar to operating.  When I had morning sickness with both pregnancies the only time I literally did not sense the stomach roiling was when I was so focused on operating that the world just fell away. That degree of focus is exactly what I experience when lifting, so it makes me feel better.

I might try to avoid the gym so that I keep my pesky germs within my family unit, and just train at home.  If I go to the box, I’ll try to wipe down the bar.

But yeah, I’m going to train if it’s only a cold.  Viri don’t know if you’re doing behind the neck presses and frankly I don’t think a couple of hours of bar work will suppress my immune system enough to make anything worse.  I doubt I’ll PR my lifts, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t get some useful work done.

When would I not train?  Fever is kind of a deal breaker for me – that is your body’s way of asking for more fluid and some rest, not dehydration and speeding up an already elevated heart rate.  Vomiting and diarrhea are also big no-train signals, mostly because, well, yuck.  I admit that I am not hardcore enough to puke in a chalk bucket and finish the rest of my set.

Injury is a slightly different matter, but instead of commenting on that right now, I will link you to this most awesomest of articles from Matt Foreman at Catalyst Athletics.

Now grab a tissue and go train.

 

 

First Week of November Training Wrap-Up

It’s the end of the first week of my new training program, the first week after the American Masters Open.  Body weight 116.4lbs.

I equaled my PR Back Squat (153lbs), PRed by clean by 1kg (49kg) and hit a 94% snatch (35.5kg) without much trouble.  I feel like it’s sort of a good baseline place to start a new program.  I learned not to try my heavy singles day with only one day’s rest.  If I”m only working out 4 times per week, I’ll do the two heavy and big volume days on Monday and Wednesday, plyo stuff Thursday, heavy singles Saturday.  The next step is playing around with sets/reps/percentages up and down Prilepin’s table to see what combo works the best for me right now.

Another Variation on the Back Extension

Yet another variation on the back extension, this time with a row.  You could do this with a barbell, but I prefer kettlebells as this gets heavier, mainly because I like each side to be working independently.   It also doesn’t hurt that the KBs are easier for my short arms to reach from the top of the reverse hyper.  You certainly don’t need any special equipment for this except a friend who is willing to potentially get kicked in the face (my sweet coach is a brave, brave man as you can see here) and something upon which to elevate yourself.  My coach found this variation in an old video from the 80’s (complete with mullet and mustache) of a wicked strong French shot putter.

Warming Up For Competition

I was asked today about tips for national level competitions. I’m not super experienced having only been to two, but I had these two insights that I thought I’d share.
One, colonize a warm-up platform early to put yourself where you’ll be most comfortable. I read a great article recently that talked about being in the “power position” in the warm-up area, like the CEO at the head of the board table.
But I realized about myself that I like being closer to the front where the desk is. I don’t go to meets with a coach who can track attempts for me. And without my glasses I have a hard time seeing across the room. So I feel more secure being closer to where the action is and I can see the clock and glance at the table easily. Many people hate it there because it’s a high traffic zone.
You need to figure out where you’ll be happy and make sure you secure that platform. Like a quiet corner where you can survey the room? Or do you like to be the center of attention? Don’t listen to pundits, listen to what will make you feel the most at home. You’ll already have nervous jitters aplenty.  I liken this to listening to music in the gym.  Lots of people like to shut out surrounding sensory input by listening to music in headphones.  I really don’t like doing that.  I like feeling more connected to my surroundings. Maybe I”m just a paranoid soul or maybe I’m overly social.  But I like being able to both see and hear what’s around me at all times, so music in headphones in the gym is almost a stressor for me.

Two, be prepared for much stricter judging than you might have experienced at a local meet or in your Crossfit box while training.  No wobbling, no pressing out, no hitching.  Power cleans and Power snatches are fine if you can do them, but they still have to manifest excellent form.   Film yourself leading up to the competition and be harsh with what you see on film.  A corollary to this is that you choose an opener that you can hit in your sleep.  Get something on the board that doesn’t worry you too much before reaching for the PRs on the next two attempts.

The Next Phase of Programming

So now onwards to a little volume strength work.  The structure of the next few weeks will look like this:

Two days of 5-6 movements, 3×3-5 working sets (which don’t include warm-up sets) at 80-85% split thus:

The classic lifts (Snatch, Clean, Jerk) or some partial of the classic lifts (like a hang snatch or power clean), overhead work (presses, push presses, jerks from behind and in front, in split, etc), a pulling movement (deadlifts, snatch and clean pulls, RDLs), a squat of some flavor, some work on whatever seems weak (for me it’ll be unilateral leg work and back strength) and abs/core

This program was adopted from an excellent article by Josh Everett for Crossfit Weightlifting.

In addition to those two days, there will be one day of either high volume, low intensity technique work or plyometric exercises (like jumping variations, maybe even hill sprints).

Last but not least, one heavy day leading up to heavy singles (90-100+%) of snatch, clean and jerk and squat.

Four days per week, but I’ll certainly need the recovery days.

I included a video from today’s training which was clean focused.  The first is a high hang clean (what I think of as clean pull unders) to help drill getting under the bar, Cossack squats with both one and two kettlebells for squat work (but could also be considered weakness work) and snatch grip back extensions for both core and weakness work.  Also did toes-to-bar, clean grip deadlifts and exactly 4 front rack walking lunges.

Some Shoulder work

Here are some of the stretches and exercises that I’ve been doing the last two months for my shoulders.  My theory is that the more mobile my shoulders and the stronger they are in various planes, the easier it will be to recover a lift that may be a little in front or behind.  Enjoy!

Some stretches are here.

Hot potato for trunk stability  is shown here.

Reverse planks are here.

unilateral Sots presses with kettlebells are here.

My personal favorite is this one.  It can be done raised as I show it in the video, or with side all the way on the floor, down arm extended in front and internally rotated.  Either way, the moving elbow goes behind the body as it comes down.