Saturday’s stipulations

I woke up feeling better than I thought I would. My back and postural muscles were tired and a little stiff, but otherwise I was ok. The Saturday workout usually comprised of pulls and squats mainly, but Glenn changed it around on the day so that we focused more on the classical lifts and squats. As I said earlier, he was telling me to stop doing any Power Cleans and Power Snatches because they are getting me to overpull the bar, causing a sloppy and awkward catch, particularly in the Clean. After a brief warm up, we started with Snatch doubles and did two doubles with 50, 70, 90 and then I did one with 100 and for some reason could not get another with 100 so I dropped back down to 90 for five doubles and then went up to 95 for my final double. I was working on getting a consistent rhythm in my lifts and getting under the bar quicker. Donny and John did five doubles with 130 as did John as Glenn said afterwards, despite the intensity being pretty light, he was moving well and his technique was consistent.

After the Snatch, we moved onto the Clean and Jerks and I did around three double with 110, two with 115 and then I finished off with 120kg. I do not do Clean and Jerk doubles often, but they are quite demanding and after every set, I could feel myself getting more and more consistent. Glenn had me focus on tightening my back as much as I could, getting my feet out in the catch and like the Snatch, getting under the bar far quicker. Normally these weights feel very light, but doubles are very tiring and obviously this makes the second rep in particular feel a lot heavier than it actually is. John was doing doubles with 130 and after his big workout the previous day, along with his jet lag from his trip back from the Pan-Am’s, he was feeling very rough. For his final set, he jumped up to 150kg because that is what Donny was doing and he made this look better than any of his 130’s. These guys compete against each other and that is one of the reasons why they keep improving—this is the case whenever Irish lifters train together also. A competitive environment is a vital component to a successful training program.

The guys had a 45 minute break and then went back to squat. After a brief lunch, we went back, but the owner of the gym, David Spitz along with his lovely wife, took me out to experience the joys of San Francisco in a memorable day, so I skipped squats. I’ll have to make up for the missed lifts, but something tells me that should not be a problem...

On the Sunday a few of us went to the beach to chill out and rest up. I had a short interview with Caleb Ward and hopefully you shall enjoy it.