Tuesday’s tramping around on a rainy morning

Session 1

Our first session was very early and we were warming up at 8.45AM. It turned out to an incredibly demanding session, but it was extremely worthwhile. The video below shows how our session was structured but here is what I did:

Bar work to warm up

Clean triples up to 85% for three sets—1x3@40, 40, 40, 60, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 for three doubles. I missed my last Clean in the first set, got all three reps on my second set and on my third set that is on the video below, I missed the first rep by overpulling and I got the following two reps. This was very difficult because this was all happening around 9.15 am. None of us had ever trained this heavy this early.

Clean singles to max—I got a single with 125, missed 130 and then got it. This was demanding because my brain was telling me it was too early. At no stage of the pull or catch did I feel in any way fluid, but we had to go through with the Cleans anyway and improve our mental strength and our ability to switch off the negative sides of our brains. I then did a single with 135 and I was unable to focus enough in order to Clean 140.

Power Clean and 3 Jerks—Myself and Byrdie worked up to 110kg. Again, it was the co-ordination—or lack of it—that made the exercise tricky. I really focused on driving under the weight and moving as quickly as I could. Because the weight was light, it meant my split was very close, but I could really feel myself getting under the bar. It is quite strange that when we did the max Jerks with 100kg the previous day, it was the 6th, 7th and 8th Jerks that were my best and the first real time that I drove myself under the bar in the split Jerk.

Power Cleans—We did three or four singles with 110kg to work on keeping the bar as close as possible by focusing on the top of the pull.

Session two—7 pm

Snatch—I did doubles up until 90kg and then went onto singles. Throughout the warm up and all my Snatches, I tried to make my lifts as fast as I possibly could and to finish the pulls. This is very tricky with 60kg, but I have to learn to do it.
1x1@95, 100, 105—The 100/105 felt very smooth and close to the body, but there was no pop in the pull in order for a fast finish. I then missed 110 three times which was very frustrating as the bar was high enough, but I lacked the final zip in the finish of the pull and my hips were not opening up enough to get down at rock bottom. I have a good bit of flexibility work to do over the next few weeks. My hip flexibility really improved but since I have been away for the last month, it has gone to the dogs.

Snatch 80% for five reps in a row—Murph and Byrdie were able to get their five singles, but I could only get four. Like out earlier session, Chick was really trying to change the way our mind works and shake it out of our comfort zones. This set felt like an equivalent of a weightlifting brawl and I got knocked out in the final round.
Back Squat—We worked up to a max triple. Murph got 140, I got 160 and Byrdie got 168. Chick really emphasised having your foot spacing and back angle in the same position as you would the Clean receiving position.

That was it. A tough, but exhilarating day’s training where we really pushed the limits of what we were used to, and comfortable doing also. We can always do more than the mind tells us. Peter Kirkbride came into the gym around 8pm and was clearly shattered form a day working on a building site. He was still able to lift some outrageous weights that were very close to his max lifts. This shows how mentally strong he is and how Chick coaches lifters to ignore the mind and to trust his coaching awareness that he has developed over the years. When I come into the gym after a tough day’s work, my mind tells me to take it easy and have a light session. This is fine if one does not want to improve, but rather stagnate. Sometimes one is forced to rest, but there are also times when one has to transcend their previous limits and put everything they have and more than they think they have into a session. This is the biggest thing I have learned off Chick that goes beyond the technical details. I have more mental strength in me than I realise and I need to work on building up this strength and it will come into play on the days were in a tough session or in a competition, I can compose myself, ignore the doubts and simply grip and rip. Here is the video below. I have only included myself, Muprh’s and Cathal’s lifts and in a few days I will publish some videos of Chick’s younger lifters and Peter that will bring a tear to the eye. I also got a great interview with Chick that I will post when I am able. Comment on any aspect of the video that interests you or include any constructive criticism you may have.



As a bonus feature for this post, I have added the third part of Jim Schmitz's interview. It is on how he structures his programmes and also on competition strategy, so enjoy.

Tuesday's think tank

I was going to have a session comprising on bar work and flexibility, but after arriving home yesterday, my body clock has not quite recovered yet, so I watched Sami train instead. I am off to Scotland tomorrow evening to train with Charlie Hamilton and his boys for six days in Kilmarnock and Andy Murphy and Cathal Byrd will be going also. Of course, I will update the blog as much as possible and hopefully I can sneak in an interview with Charlie, whom many regard as the best coach in Great Britain. There are some tremendous lifters in his gym so I might be able to take some videos of them also.

As promised, here is the part two of my interview with Jim Schmitz and it deals with weightlifting technique across the board. Here and here are my two posts regarding my training in the Sports' Palace. Thanks again to Jim for giving the interview and hopefully you will be as interested in what he says as I am. I will close this post with the great advice that he gave me in an email today:


Barry,

It was a pleasure meeting you and having you workout with me. And a big thanks for the interview you posted, I have received many very positive comments about it. So, get those legs really strong and your technique more consistent and efficient and I think you will lift some big weights. However, watch out for "paralysis due to analysis", don't think too much, especially when you grab the bar, if you pull as hard as you can and move as fast as you can you have a good chance for success.

Weightlifting is Fun, Lifting More Weight is More Fun, So Lift a Lot of Weight and Have a Lot of Fun!

Jim

Friday's firestorm in the Sport's Palace

This was my second session with Jim Schmitz and it was even more enjoyable than the first session. Despite the fact that I had cycled around hilly San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge for over two and a half hours the previous day, I was raring to go. Before the session started, Jim agreed to give a three part interview and the first part is below and it deals with his overall experience with the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Here is the session that Jim put me through and what I learned from it:

I did a short warm up and then Jim had me do a quick circiut with the bar that got the blood flowing and stretched out the relevant muscles a small bit.

Snatch doubles--I actually began with two Power Snatches and one Squat Snatch and I did three sets of this with 50kg.

1x2 @ 65, 75, 85, 95kg--I was told in no uncertain terms that I needed to reach up in my Snatches more and that I needed to get my earlobes up to my deltoids. I found this helped my transition from the pull to the catch. He also got me to stay in the bottom position for a second or two to get comfortable down there so that if a lift was out of position I could save it. I also had to get into a different habit of performing the second Snatch as soon as the bar hit the floor after the first. Usually I would take a few seconds to step away and regroup but Jim had me lift straight away which, because of fatigue, placed a far greater demand on both finishing the pull and keeping the back straight.
5x2 @ 100kg--I did five sets of doubles with 100 and I got both reps in my second, third and fifth sets. I found this very beneficial because I thought I was trying my hardest on my first set, but I really wasn't. More focus was required in order to keep the back locked in the first pull and also to finish the second pull fully. The fact that I could do it in the sets after the first, shows me that it was a state of mind, not of the body.

Power Clean and Jerk--I did three sets of three Power Cleand and one Jerk with 60kg to warm up. Then I did the following:
1x2@ 90, 110
1x1@120, 125--I then missed a Power Clean with 130 so I settled for a full clean because that was all I could do on the day. I got three Clean and Jerks with 130 although one of them was a press out because as Jim noted, it was "a dainty Jerk."

Clean Deadlift and Shrug--Jim uses these to help create a flat back and this is particularly good for me. The deadlift is done slowly with a shug at the top while also extending onto your toes. He explains the exercise in greater detail in part of the interview, I can't remember which of the three. I did doubles with 130, 140, 145 and 150. Not only did this show me I am simply not strong enough, it also showed me that, like in Amsterdam, I need to improve my back arch, which one has to really focus on in the second rep in particular.

Back Squat--1x5@70 1x4@110 1x3@140 1x2@160--I missed the second rep twice which was annoying. My legs did not have it in them again. I went back down to do three triples with 140.

1 Military Press + 1 Push Press + 1 Power Jerk--3x3@60--This last exercise was just to show me a nice combination to improve positioning and bar awareness.



All in all, I really enjoyed training in the Sports' Palce with Jim and his lifters. I was made feel welcome and I learned a lot. Jim is extremely experienced in the sport and his passion inspired me, much like John Broz's did the previous week. Above is a video of some of my lifts and as always, please male any constructive criticism that you think may help. Below is the first of a three part interview with Jim and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did:

Wednesday's worhipping at the Sports' Palace

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived into the gym where Jim Schmitz trains his lifters in San Francisco. The usual training area was being refurbished so it was a makeshift gym in a different part of the gym that I trained in. I met Jim and a few of his lifters that were preparing themselves for a competition in Sacramento on Saturday.

I did a quick warm up with the bar and then I asked Jim what I should do. He got me to Snatch and Clean and Jerk up to a comfortable 90% or so so that he could observe my lifting and take it from there.

Snatch--I began with 2 Power Snatches and one Squat Snatch with 40, 50, 60 and 70kgs. I was then told to Squat Snatch 80 and 90 and then I Snatched 100. None of these felt particularly good, with 100 feeling far heavier than usual. I then missed 105 twice and then missed 100 again. I was not finishing my pull and I felt very flat. The driving up the coast of California was beautiful but it was not particularly conducive to lifting I am afraid. My Snatch has been feeling very fast lately so I was a little annoyed I was not at the races in that regard, although I do realise I am on holidays!

Clean and Jerk--I started off with one Power Clean, one Squat Clean and one Jerk with 60, then 90, then 100 and then 110. Then it was a straight Clean and Jerk with 120, 130 and a solid 135 which was fast, but was what Jim called a "wet bag jerk" meaning that I was too soft in the recieving position. I left it there; the Cleans also felt far heavier than they should have.

An interesting thing that Jim repeated a few times was that when I finish any lift, I need to stabilise the bar at the top of the Snatch or Jerk in order to both create the habit of finishing the lift properly and also to strengthen the stabilising muscles isometrically. Harry has tried to get me to do the same thing but Jim's explanation sounded much cooler.

Miyake High Pulls--This is a Snatch assistance exercise that is used to improve the transition from the first pull to the scooping point. The High Pull added into the end helps put the movement in place. Jim got this exercise from the man it is named after and upon looking at the video below, my back needs a tighter arch throughout the pull. The exercise begins with a Snatch first pull from the ground up to the scoop point, then the bar is brought down below the knees and back up to the scoop point and then the bar is brought back down to below to knee and the lifter extend up into a high pull. I worked up to two sets with 90kg in this exercise.

Front Squats with a Jerk--I began with 5 squats with 60 with a Jerk at the end. Then I went up to 90kg for 4 squat and one Jerk. Then I went to 110kg for 4 squats and one Jerk followed by 125kg for 2 squats and one Jerk. I really enjoyed these and it is a great way to work on the Jerk while getting your lighter squats in. I then went up to 140 for a Front Squat double followed by a very hard 150 for a double. My legs are still feeling a bit weak I am afraid. I would highly recommend adding a Jerk to your Squats because it reinforces skill as well as forcing you to Jerk when your legs may be fatigued.

The Sultan Rakhmanov exercise--This was something I have never seen before and Jim uses it to strengthen the posterior chain as well as to teach the body how to bring the hips through and extend when the hamstrings are stretched like in a lift. The exercise is in the video below and Jim got it from the famous Russian lifter who it is named after. I had no idea how, but I tweaked my hip, so I could not perform the movement the way I wanted to. You position yourself like in a Back Squat and descend into a good morning, and when at the bottom of the good morning, you bring your hips through and scoop under and extend up. It is very interesting and like some of the exercises I learned in Holland, could help me get that back locked.

All in all, it was a great first session. I should have a good interview for the next post and a few videos to boot.