Monday's meeting of the bar

Today was a light day and I needed it. Active recovery is the name of the game and tomorrow's session will be along a similar vein.

Today I worked on something that Wayne Healy has mentioned on a number of occasions and I feel this may result in an epiphany-like change of perception and physical sensation. He was making the point that I was not finishing the pull on any of my lifts that he saw. I thought that I should Snacth the bar to the same height whether I was Snatching 60kg or 100kg kg's plus. This meant that with the lighter weights I was pulling way too short in order to make sure the bar did not go to Power Snatch height. This tendency has formed a nasty little habit that I was working on breaking today. I need to get used to finishing my pull with full speed and with the lighter weights simply ride the bar down, rather than pulling up sort to work on my catch. I am also doing this with my Cleans, but I figure once I fix it with the Snatch it should transfer easily enough over to the Cleans. Here is what I did today:

1. Snatch: Work up to 78kg for 4 x sets of 2--These were very light so I focused on finishing the pull properly and they got better each set.

2. Snatch Pull: Work up to 100kg for 2 sets of 2--Again, very light but I worked on keeping the arms straight and getting more of a pop at the top of the pull.

3. Power & Squat Clean: Work up to 100 for 1 set of 2

4. Back Squat: Work up to 140 for 1 sets of 2

That was it for today. My joints and muscles were quite stiff so I am off for a stretch and a swim in a while. I need to loosen out my hips, legs and back. Tomorrow there will be a guest article from Kevin D'Arcy and it is particularly interesting for beginning and intermediate lifters. I will leave you with two videos. The first shows the Spanish 75kg lifter Lidia Valentín. She had fantastic technique and she weighs 20 kilos less than me but Snatches more. Harry has his work cut out.



This video requires volume because it is very funny. Two Australian comedians commentate on the 62kg class from the 2000 games in Sydney.