The next meet for me will be May 12th, which puts me 13 weeks out. The next training cycle is a 12 week block, so that gives me a week of “what the hell do I do with myself”. This week I am going to do whatever I want, basically. Including taking an extra rest day on Sunday, which for the past 18 weeks has been my heavy day.
TUESDAY 0213
- Barbell work: 3×3 of muscle snatch, snatch balance, and hang/tall snatch
- Snatch: Work up to a heavy double, heavy single, then back to the heavy double: 2×85, 2×95, 2×115, 2×135, 2×155, 2×175, 2×185 (87%), 1×196 (92%), 1×205 (97%), 1×190 (90%), 2×185
- Snatch pull: 3×2 @ 225 (106%)
- FS: 4×2 @ 75% / 325
I have mentioned in the past about how 185 has been a weight that messes with my head. The minute the blue and green is on, I zone out. So I have been focused on attacking that number to remove any fear in my mind. Working up to that weight felt good and I seriously thought about just doing a few doubles once I was there, but it felt good so I worked up to a heavy single for the day, which ended up being 97%. This might sound crazy, but it felt really good to have the blues and yellows on for the snatch. Dropping back down, while it felt lighter, felt off sync, but not difficult. I finished with some FS at a lighter weight just to keep a base of squatting under me before this next cycle.
WEDNESDAY 0214
- Pause BS warm-up: 3×2 @ 45% / 225#
- Clean: 2×155, 2×185, 2×225, 2×255, 2×275 (85%), then a heavy single – 295 (91%), 310x, 310 (95%), 320x (98%), 315 (97%)
- BTN strict press: 3×10 @ 95#
I had two goals this morning. The first was to hit a double at 85% without any trouble. Then I wanted to see where I could go for a heavy single. It is rare that I get to work just a heavy clean without the jerk, so I thought it would be fun to try. The double at 85% wasn’t bad at all and it was a big mental victory. When our gym was at the first location about 2 years ago, I was struggling to try and clean 265 once. Now, 275 for a double is becoming a routine thing. The miss on 310 was a dumb one. I just wasn’t focused and tight all the way through the lift. So I tried it again and it felt fine. I made the jump to 320 which I pulled high enough, but didn’t get my elbows under it fast enough. It was also forward, something I do when it gets really heavy because I get impatient. Not wanting to stop there, I dropped to 315 so I could have 3 blues and got that. No PRs, but much like the day before, I was really happy to working with higher percentages.
FRIDAY 0216
- Jerk:
- 3 @ 50% / 165
- 2 @ 60% / 195
- 2 @ 70% / 230
- 1 @ 80% / 261
- 1 @ 85% / 277
- 1 @ 90% / 295
- 1 @ 95% / 310
- 321 (98%)
- 330 (+4lb)
- 345x (+19lb)
- 345x (+19lb)
- BS: 4×3 @ 77% / 385
I did not have the same amount of time today as I normally do and had to be out of the gym no later than 6:00am. So I figured I would work up to a 1RM jerk and then get some back squats in to keep my base. I had a number in my mind for the split jerk and reading the list above, it is clear that I got there. But what isn’t reflected is the absolute struggle with the jerks early on. Lifts 50% – 70% felt like hot garbage. The weight felt heavy just standing it off the blocks. My wrists felt stiff, like I couldn’t get into a decent front rack. I just kept going. I have worked on slowing down the dip just a bit and it paid off today. I hit 330 without too much problem and then jumped to 345. Probably too big of a jump but I wanted the greens and with 330 feeling good, I went for it. Missed it twice and called it there, but they were really close misses. I feel like on a good day I can come back and get them. Now if I could only clean that.
SATURDAY 0217
- Deadlift 1RM
- 3 @ 50% / 275
- 2 @ 60% / 330
- 2 @ 70% / 385
- 1 @ 80% / 440
- 1 @ 85% / 470
- 1 @ 90% / 495
- 1 @ 95% / 525
- 1 @ 98% / 540
- 1 @ 560 (+10lb PR)
- 1 @ 575 (+25lb PR)
- 1 @ 585x
All I planned on doing was deadlifts. And that was all that I did. And also like I expected, I was crushed after. I got a little worried around the earlier sets because it just felt heavier than it should have, but I kept going and it kept feeling better and better. I am still shooting my butt up first on the top sets and I think if I really spent more time focusing on this lift I could pull 600. But adding 25 more pounds to this lift won’t really translate over to adding 25lbs to my snatch. For now, I am pretty happy with this, especially given the fact that I never train heavy deadlifts during my programming. That being said, I might wait until next year to test this lift again.
I am also going to take an additional rest day on Sunday. Not setting my alarm will be amazing.