Wednesday's wholesome snack of humble pie

I trained twice yesterday and enjoyed myself despite the lacklustre performance. I trained with Zag, Cathal and Alex again. I did a nice enjoyable morning session where I did my prehabs, my joint warm up, the power plate, some bar work and I power Snatched up to 70 for 3 singles. I felt great and was looking forward to the second session where I would see what happened.

I made the mistake of having a massive lunch which left me feeling sluggish. For whatever other reasons, I was not lifting in the zone and when 80kg felt heavy in the Snatch, I knew today would not be my day. I did 90, then missed 97 and then got it and I missed 101 twice. I should have stopped at 90 and worked on some technical matters or moved on, but I got stubborn. After seeing Byrdy Snatch 101 I was determined to get it even though my Snatch felt awful and different to how I normally lifted. On Birdy's advice, I went back to 60kg again and did some Power Snatches up to singles with 70, 80, 90 and then a Snatch with 95 which was rough, but better than my previous attempts. I left it there. If it is not happenning, accept and move on. Maybe next time I can move on earlier.

I then went onto some Front Squat and Jerks and worked up to singles with 100, 110 and 120. They felt easy, but like the Snatch, not in the groove. I left them there and then did three triples in the Front Squat with 130 to tie me over nicely. I finished off the session with more flexibility work with Alex and Cathal, focusing on the partner stretches and forced flexibility. We also did some soft tissue work on problem areas; mine being my glute meds and around that area and Byrdy's being his adductors. Have a look at the video and pay special attention to the first and last clips...

Monday's marital breakdown

Monday was strange because I did not have the best lifting session, but then I did an hour of stretching with Alex and Emmett showing myself, Harry and Zag the quickest ways to getting flexible and it made my training day. I felt much better afterwards and completely re-energised after a session where intelligence got run over by stubborn ignorance.

Starting off with the Snatch, I was feeling quite fast and I was enjoying my lifting. Wayne was there for a while and helped myself and Zag with our Snatch and we both found this very helpful. I worked up to singles with 80 and 85 and then put 100 on the bar thinking it was 90. Halfway through the pull I thought to myself, this feels heavy! I missed it behind on the way up, but I really should have gotten it. I went back down to 95 and then 90 and left there. I only intended on going up to 90 or 95 because I was tired, but I was happy with how my catch felt. My back decided to ignore the straight lock I have been working on, but you can't get it right every day.

I went on to the Jerk off the rack and worked up to singles with 120, 125 and then I missed 130 three times and finally got it on the fourth attempt. I was Jerking it forward last night and like the Snatch, my technique was off slightly. I was getting stubborn and instead of taking my foot off the gas and leaving it at 110 or 120, I ploughed on ahead, learning nothing and just irritating myself all the more. But, if you don't make mistakes, how can you learn?

I continued in the same vein with my Front Squats and worked up to a single with 150 and missed the second rep. I dropped back to 130 for a double and left it there. I was fatigued and annoyed at my lack of self control, but the flexibility work really cleared my mind and perspective, so thank yo Alex and Emmett!

Have a look at the video below. Zag barely misses a 130 Jerk and hits 125 nicely for Jerk pr off the rack--he has Cleaned and Jerked 128 though. Tomorrow I am going to post a report written by Cathal Byrd about his visit to John Broz's gym while visiting Las Vegas.

Friday's fortunes

Myself and Zag got down to Limerick for around 5 in the evening so we trained an hour later and the change of scene was invigorating. Neither of us was fresh or fast in our lifting, but we enjoyed the session anyway. Here is what we did:

Snatch--2x3@40 1x2@60, 70 1x1@90, 95 miss due to not finishing the pull. I then got it, and Snatched 100 for three singles. They were not fast in the slightest, but they felt close and upon looking at the video below, I stayed over the bar better then before.

Snatch Pulls--1x2@100, 105, 110, 115--My bacl lock was not as pristine as I wanted, but it was ok. My pull trajectory was ok and I needed to get my knees out of the way quicker which I think would help me keep my back locked.

Jerk from the rack--Because I am training tomorrow I left out the squats with this movement. I started off with two triples with 60 and then on an absurd competitive streak with Byrdie, we jumped straight to 120 to see if we could get it. We did and it turned out to be my best Jerk of the day because I had to put so much into it. I then nailed 120 again, got 130, 140 and missed 145. I then got 145 with an outrageous press out, but I still got it up there. It was out front and like my jerks yesterday, they lacked control. I still enjoyed it though. Byrdie nailed 150 and 155kg and Zag nailed 120 and just missed 125kg.

We finished off with some flexibility and contrast showers with a sauna and steam room which helped us feel all the fresher for tomorrow. Leave any comments that you see fit and which can be helpful.

Friday's fencing with time

Today's session was grinding as I was tired by the end of the week and my legs were shouting at me because they are not used to all this work. I need a massage or at the very least a whole lot of foam rolling to try and get the legs as fresh as possible. I can also feel the areas around my hips getting more and more tension as the weeks go by, so I may have to try and squeeze in an ART appointment somewhere. I did my squats in the early afternoon and the rest of my session after work. Here is what I did:

Back Squats:1x5@60, 60, 80 1x3@80, 100, 120, 130, 140, 150, 150, 150--I was happy with these as I was only getting doubles with these at the start of the week. Over the next few weeks I have to start getting my squatting poundages up.

Later that day I only had less than an hour to finish my session so I left out the Snatch Pulls and kept the essentials in.

Snatch--I worked up to a single with 100, followed by a miss and then a success with 103 and then three misses with 105. My back lock was a bit better again, but I lacked the hip flexibility in the receiving position and I also lacked that bit of finish in the pull. I was happy enough because it was the end of the week and a bit better than before. I need to continue inching up with each session.

2 Front Squats and 1 Jerk--I only had fifteen minutes for these, so I worked up to three singles with 120kg. Last week I only got one of these so I was happy to get all three. They were tough because I was rushing and also because I had squatted earlier in the day. My final rep was the best because I got the rhythm right in the dip and exploded under the bar quicker to get a better lockout.

I have some videos that I shall put up tomorrow. Next week is massively important. Everything is getting that little bit sharper than it was, and my technique, mental focus, flexibility and power need to continue this return to form.

Sunday’s sacrosanct Jerk session

Yesterday’s session focused more on the Jerk than anything else. After the previous day’s heavy session, we actually all felt sharper and quicker than on the Saturday, so this proved to be a good workout.

1. Power Clean and Power Jerk—We did one Power Clean and two Power Jerks up to 100kg, and then myself and Byrdie started to do singles and we got 110, 115, 120, 125, and 130. I had missed 130 when training in Las Vegas with John Broz so it was nice to get it this time. This movement was all about speed—in both the Clean and the Power Jerk where Charlie focused on speed of lockout and speed of foot. I am simply not fast enough yet, so this session helped emphasise and start to address one of the areas that need strengthening. Murph got an easy 110 for a pb and just missed 115kg.

2. Front Squat and Jerk—Again, we did two Front Squats and two Jerks up until 110kg. We then went to singles with 120 and over. Murph got an easy 120 for a Front Squat and Jerk pb for him. I got 140 on a second attempt and narrowly missed 145kg behind because my arms were too soft in the catch. Again, speed under the bar and locking out the bar were the key factors. Bar height was not a problem for me, it was simply locking out both arms solidly and quickly. This speed of movement ties into the general speed of lifting that I must get better with. Byrdie nailed 140 and also narrowly missed 145 behind also.

Thursday’s technical illustration

Myself, Andy, Byrdie all trained once this evening in Charlie Hamilton’s gym in Kilmarnock. Our first session was technical but challenging. We were exposed to some of Chick’s coaching methodologies, and Cathal has written an account of the most important facts, some of which include:

- Keeping the hips and backside down as much as possible during the pull in order to improve leverage when exploding at the top of the pull

- Using the traps at the top of the pull rather than the deltoids and arms in order to keep the bar path as straight and as close to the body as possible. This in turn will help the lifter to catch the bar more efficiently and reduce the possibility of the bar being out of place, be this in front or behind

- The benefit of doing hang work below the knee as this replicates the full lifts much more than above the knee

- The importance of keeping the tempo high during training in order to stay mentally and physically focused and to also increase work capacity

Another training approach of significant interest that Charlie instilled in us was the importance of a technically sound pull. He had us perform two different types of snatch pull. The first one involved performing one pull from the floor immediately followed by two pulls from below the knee. At the top of each pull Charlie taught us to explode powerfully from the hips and shrug hard with the traps while simultaneously rising up onto the toes. We were taught to hold this extended position for a second or two before lowering the bar. We all went to about 80% of our best snatch in this exercise. The second type of pull we did was a slow speed pull with about 20kg more than the aforementioned pull. Charlie had us focus on pinning the hips down throughout the pull, keeping the shoulders over the bar as the bar reaches knee level and then shrugging at the top of the pull while simultaneously rising onto the toes. Again we held this extended position for a second or two. The main difference between this second pull variation and the aforementioned is that we didn’t explode through the hips; we simply shrugged at the top with the traps. Also the pull was much slower, deliberately so, in order to ensure technically sound positioning throughout the pull.


Thanks to Cathal for writing that. We all did the same exercises but with different weight. I did the following:

1. 1 Power Snatch + 2 Hang Power Snatches—1x3@ 40, 40, 60, 76 for three triples for 80% of Power Snatch and then back down sets with 74 and 72kg. Chick got me to change my pull slightly by continuing to control the bar on the way up and only begin the second pull once it reached the top of my quads, rather than what I was doing which was initiating the pull around the middle of my quads. He also got me to widen my stance a good few inches. I will see how that goes over the week.

2. 1 Snatch pull + 2 Hang Snatch Pulls from below the knee—1x3@76, 86 for three triples. With this exercise he really got us to engage the traps at the top of the pull and to keep our arms and shoulders as relaxed as possible.

3. Snatch Deadlift with shrug—1x3@ 80, 90, 100 for four triples. Like Jim Schmitz’s Clean deadlifts, they are done in slow motion and are done like this to improve strength and positioning.

4. 1 Front Squat, 1 Jerk + 1 more Front Squat and Jerk—1x4@60, 80, 90, 100, 110 for three triples of this weight. This was demanding physically and for some reason my Jerk was better each time on the second Jerk when I was the most tired. I really focused on a quick lock out.


All in all, this was a great session which we all really enjoyed. It was a great learning experience and hopefully each session will continue to be as productive.

Tuesday's tenuous technical and physical adjustments

Today was another challenging day's training and focused more on the Clean and Jerk than the Snatch. The first session started at 9 AM and this was a first for me as this is an hour later than Irish time. Here is what myself and Tom's 12 year old son did:

Session 1: 9 AM
General body warm up with various bodyweight drills designed to open up the hips and shoulders, stretch out the back and lock the core areas.
We then did 3 reps on a Muscle Snatch/Overhead Squat/Drop Snatch up to 3 sets of 50kg.

Power Clean from below knees--We focused on getting the back as arched as possible and by rotating my elbows towards my body anti-clockwise. This felt different but it meant that I could rack the bar with my hands on it, not just my fingers. I think this may help with the Jerk. I only worked up to three or four triples with 100, but with the isometric contractions with the back and legs, it was quite tiring.

Good morning to press--I worked up to 3 sets of 8 with 60 kilos. The purpose of these was to get the back used to being locked and working out the hamstrings. The reps were the tiring part, not the weight. There is a video of this exercise below. The idea is to contract the relevant muscles rather than lift massive weights.

Session 2: 7.30 pm

Bodyweight and bar warm up that was surprisingly tiring. Sufak was training in this session and he is an 85kg lifter with 115/145 lifts to his name. He is quick and has efficient technique.

1. Cleans—I worked up to doubles with 120 for two sets and then a single with 130 and then back down to 110 again to work on keeping my lower and upper back and also the shoulders locked throughout the first pull and the transition. This got much better as the session progressed. It means that I can get a much better hip drive in the Clean and I can transfer power better from my lower body.

2. Back Squat—I worked up to a double with 160, but Tom said I was doing plyometric squats, as in I was going down too fast to focus on strength. I went back down to 130 and 120 and really focused on setting that back and sitting in the hole with as locked a back as possible. It was a whole lot slower when I was going down with more control and pausing at the bottom.

3. Jerk from the rack—I worked up to a single with 120. In the beginning we focused on my Dip and controlling it down better and staying on the heels. This really improved. Then we focused on getting through the Jerk by keeping the back locked and getting through with the abdomen. The angle that my elbows were flexed at was wrong and this meant that I was bouncing under the Jerk rather than fixing it. This is the next thing to fix. Maybe I was too tight in the upper body and need to relax more? I missed 130 twice even though it was flying up.
We then finished up with some stretching and that was that. A great day as my Clean and my Jerk dip really improved. My hamstrings and glutes are in pieces now though... Any constructive criticism you have from the video would be great.

Monday's mounting volume

I had an excellent day's training today. Harry has myself and Sami--and I think the two girls also-- on our intense competition phase. I did half an hour Power Snatches, Jerk from the rack and Back Squats. I was far more energised mentally and physically than last week and the lower intensity did me good. Sami Jerked 117 from the rack which was great considering his best Clean and Jerk is 110. This will fall very soon.
Here is what I did today:

Overhead Squats--3x5--I did not do too many sets of these. I knew I would do more flexibility later on.
Power Snatch--30 minutes--1x3@50, 50, 50, 60 1x2@70
1x1@75, 80, 85, 87, 89--This last rep was to about parallel so I went back to 80% for doubles.
4x2@73

Jerk skill with 60kg
Jerk from the rack--30 minutes--1x2@60, 80 1x1@90, 100, 110, 110, 115, 120, 125, 125, 127, 130--This last rep was my fastest and technically my best. I then went down to 100 for two doubles.

Back Squat--30 minutes--1x3@60, 60 1x2@100, 120 1x1@130, 140, 150, 160--This last rep was fine but not as quick as I would have liked so I did not go any higher.
4x2@130

Band Pull Aparts--3x20
Single arm band pulls--3x20
Scap pull ups/push ups--3x8
Barbell sit ups--3x10

I then spent half an hour using the medicine ball to release the tension in my hips and IT bands. I also used a hockey ball for ten minutes. This was very intense but it did the job. My hips felt very free afterwards. Here is a video of Sami's 117 Jerk. It shows how much more there is to come from him.

Thursday's triples

I had an excellent session today. I had a busy day but I was energised from a good coaching session before and I was raring to go. I was short for time so I had to skip the lengthy warm up skill work and get straight into the meat of the session. I did the following:

Overhead Squats--5x5
Hang Power Snatch--1x3@60, 65, 70, 75, 80 for 5 sets. These were fast, but very tiring. I was feeling my legs after this one so I knew I must have been using the right muscles.
Jerk skill with the bar
Jerk from the rack--1x1@70, 70, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 115 for 5 singles. I really had to focus on getting these right. I always find Jerks from the rack difficult, so Iput everything I had into these.
Front Squat--1x3@70, 90, 110, 125, 135, 145--These felt good and solid. I had only previously squatted 145 for a double and 150 for a single so I was happy with my final set.

That was it for this evening. Below is a video of my third set of Hang Power Snatches at 80 and one Jerk with 110 and my final set of Squats. As usual, if you have any feedback on my technique I would appreciate the pointers.