Tuesday 20 July 2010

Tuesday's toll

I had an enjoyable workout today and yesterday in East Coast Barbell. We are very close to opening and I am really looking forward to starting officially. The carpentry is now finished and the place needs a thorough cleaning, but otherwise we should be ready by the end of this week.

Myself, Byrdie and Germans trained today and I had a good session. Today was my 85% day and I worked up to 97.5kg for six doubles in the Snatch and 117.5kg in the Clean and Jerk. These are not heavy weights, but the doubles are killers! I had an 80% session for the six doubles on Monday and I will have another 80% session tomorrow. On Thursday, which will be my second 85% session, I will move the Clean and Jerk doubles up to 120kg and maintain the 97.5 for the Snatch. I am still squatting loads and three times a week I Front Squat and twice a week I Back Squat.

I am happy, because for the first time I feel stronger in the third week of a program, when usually I go over the top in the first two weeks rather than build up. Because I have a 6 month plan, I am far happier to be more patient and gradually build things up. It is easy to do this as a coach, but as a lifter, far more difficult. How have you found this process? Do you find it easy or difficult to gradually build up to when it really matters?

Have a look at this interview. There are four parts in total:

5 comments:

Johan said...

Could you outline the gist of the 6 month program for the curious? :)

Barry said...

It is very very basic. For July and August I will be training with greater volume in the classical lifts and the squats and this will be the case with September also. In October I will start to drop a small part of the volume and increase the intensity and this will occur in November again so that I am ready to go for December.

My program is just as basic. It is five days:

Day one and three: 80% for six doubles in the Snatch and CJ and 8x3 in Front Squat one day and 6x2 the other.

Day two and four: 85% for six doubles in Snatch and Clean and Jerk and 6x2 and 8x3 in Back Squat. In the first four days I do some back strengthening work also.

Day five: Snatch, CJ and Front Squat to max of the day and then back down in Front squat to 1x2@90% and 2x3@80%.

This is so basic it looks easy, but I can feel the benefits already after only 3 weeks. Hope this helps,

Barry

Johan said...

Thanks thats very helpful. I am just starting to dabble in weightlifting, after many years of powerlifting and bodybuilding, and weightlifting programing is still a bit vague to me. Not that programing is my main problem right now, technique is.

Is there any particular reason you never max in back squat or simply just a preference for the front squat?

Anonymous said...

maximum every day...

Wednesday was C&J...failed to Clean 137 twice, got the 3rd, failed the jerk, PC&PJ 120k cleaned 137 better and jerked it with a bit of a press with my left arm...felt smashed after the comp 2 days earlier...got some decent squats in, 160 x 3r x 5sets; 170 x 3reps, going to 'actually' squat every session...after work quick session 165 x 6reps :)

hamstrings feel tired and stiff but it's part and parcel of not squating in a while!

Saturday...more C&J then Snatch then front squats...hopefully 140 x 4reps x 6sets...Going to steal your advice and do some more back exercises.

Whens your next comp mate? Not sure when mine is, I heard theres one on October in the midlands?

Koing

Barry said...

Kroppskultur,

We are using the Back Squat to build general leg/hip strength and also to build up the workload. The Front squats are arguably more applicable to weightlifting, so that is what we are focusing on.

Koing, glad your training is going well mate. My next comp is not until mid October, so I have a lot of time to continue working on the basics, which is something I should have done far more over the last two years. I am really feeling this program working for me and the weights keep rising steadily. This is basically what Glenn Pendlay told me to do also, so I am very confident with what we are doing. Keep up the great work my man.

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