Saturday’s sensibilities

In today’s workout I was determined to work on my technical deficiencies. Last night I watched all the Tommy Kono lectures and I thought they were fantastic. Several people have been telling me I need to stay over the bar and I have been thinking about it lately, but more so over the last few weeks. Then I hit on the Kono lectures just when I needed them, and the principles expounded were exactly those I had to relearn.

That was definitely my epiphany today. The basics I spent so long learning were put on the back burner so that I could work on the minutiae. The basics are the following: you lock your back; stay over the bar, and extend up. Once you do these basics—they are easier said than done—then the bar stays close to your body and centre of gravity and thus your catch is made easier. Elementary skills they may be, but I lost my focus on them. Now I have to relearn them, and the only way I can do this is to leave my ego firmly at the door and start light. Very light. I really would advocate you watching all of the Kono videos because there are several cracking tips in them.

Here is what I did today:
Snatch –1x3@40, 40, 40 1x2@60, 60, 70, 80, 85 for five doubles. I really focused on staying over the bar throughout the first and second pull. Each set got better and although I have not yet mastered it, the bar felt closer and easier to catch once I finished the pull. The more I stay over the bar, the easier the turnover will be with relaxed wrists.

Clean and Jerk—1x1@60, 60, 80, 90, 100, 110, 115, 120 for four singles. Here I worked on staying over the bar again and extending UP. When I brought my elbows through quickly, my racking position was far better in the catch and also in the Jerk.

Front Squat—1x2@120, 130, 140, 150—The last rep of this was a real grinder, but I got it. I need to get my squatting numbers back up again!

Another tip that really helped from Tommy Kono’s lecture was filling the chest with air to solidify the back. I knew this before and I thought I did it. Today, I put more effort into the breath before the pull and I took in as much breath as possible. I felt it helped and the back arch is definitely one of the areas I need to progress on. Have a look at the video below and leave any constructive criticism. Feedback and criticism are really helpful.