Good days middling days and awful days

Tuesday I was busy so I just did an hour of training in Kiwifit. Shortened warm-up, rack jerks up to 35kg for triples trying every combination and permutation of movement possible to get my brain to do a short controlled dip and a snappy drive, getting under the bar. I got a few good jerks and I know what it feels like when I get it right but getting it right is still a bit of pot luck.
When I got frustrated with the jerks, I moved on to overhead squats, few triples at 35kg. These were fine and too light to comment on.
Rested Wednesday on coach's orders and trained in Capital on Thursday morning. This is a particularly good time to train as there's usually a good crowd around and a good buzz.
I wasn't too sure about the shoulders or the snatch contact at all so I spent a bit longer warming up than I normally do.
Turns out that the few days off were enough to sort out snatch contact issues. I worked up to 40kg for triples but technique and timing were very off for some unknown reason. I had quite a few misses and took a number of sets a few times on the way to 40kg. I was feeling very frustrated and getting a bit grumpy so I walked away and did some glute activations for a bit. I came back and worked up again from 35kg to timed singles at 43kg. Most of these weren't too bad but much more effort than the 43kg triples of the week before.
Tried warming up the clean and jerks and shoulders said no at 25kg. I cleaned up to 59kg for triples and 61kg for doubles for about 6 sets. Felt satisfyingly heavy but good. I caught one or two a little forward out of the few sets but no major issues.
Finished the session with some clean deadlifts at a weight too low to be mentioned.

Not one of my best days training, feels like a pretty crap week actually. Not bad in terms of weight lifted but in terms of niggles and aches stopping me from doing the training I want to be doing. I just have to keep reminding myself, as I remind my clients and my training friends, this is temporary. There'll be good and bad training days and weeks and months. I just have to keep in mind that this time last year, I couldn't train much at all and be happy with what I got. Hopefully next week is better, the Cork Open Competition isn't too far away now.
A positive outlook and a sunny disposition will see me through to then!

Here's some training footage from Monday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KE5IDGMugY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Monday madness

I'm still having issues with my snatch contact and need a few days to heal up so after my usual warm up of rolling, stretching, mobility and activations, I started on snatch drops. I worked from the bar up to 30kg and wasn't happy with my movement so I went back down to the bar and worked back up to 30kg. I still wasn't happy but stand-in-coach Ed said to leave it there so I moved on to clean and jerk.
I worked up to 55kg for doubles again and * insert jerk whinge here*
Just can't move the way I want to. I've been concentrating on a shallower dip but the weight keeps on driving me lower than I'd like. I also have glute control issues with my feet in this narrow position and my knees come in causing me to split too narrow and making me wobble side to side. I can't decide whether to drop the weight or stick at this one until I get it right.
I'm going to try doing some partial squats in that position with a band around my knees to cue the glutes in this position and that should show up any other issues that need to be worked on.
Next exercise was snatch grip deadlift, up to 80kg for 6 x 3, resting about 30-60 seconds between sets. Easy, more weight and longer rest next time.
Finished with some sexy back squats which have never felt so good. 75kg x 5 x 5 with 1 minute rest between sets. Never thought I'd be able to do this exercise again!
Good day, took me awhile to get going but felt strong once I was warmed up properly.

Deadlifts and kipping pullups

Had a women's deadlift class in Kiwifit on Friday night and the group stayed after to train heavy with me. Some really strong women, very inspiring!
I worked up to a comfortable 140kg x 2 and left it there on coach's orders.
This morning I trained at Capital. There was a great buzz about the place, couldn't ask for nicer people or a better lifting atmosphere.
I'm having some temporary issues with snatch * ahem * contact and so I worked on snatch drops instead, up to 29kg and 31kg for a few triples. This exercise feels quite alien to me as I haven't done it in about 2 years and so I was in no rush to add weight, I just wanted to get it right and get under the bar fast.
Next I worked up to 55kg for doubles on clean and jerk. Clean is a non issue as usual. The jerk felt much better today and I could feel when I dipped too deep and got my timing wrong. I got a few good reps anyway which felt so easy and I could feel when I wasn't doing them right which is the first step towards improving a technique flaw.
Finished with five sets of 70kg front squat triples and some GHR action.
Good day, every session feels like I'm improving and getting better which is very satisfying. I don't feel too far away where I left off. I just have to be sensible and not push too fast too soon. This is easier said than done; I'm starting to feel quite impatient to get more weight on the bar in every lift and the little voice of reason in my head is getting quieter as my wrist feels better. Just one more challenge to overcome.
Rest tomorrow and back hard at it Mon morn.
Dee out yo. Have a nice weekend :)

Back on track

Back to training yesterday, all signs of disease almost gone.
Did my usual warm-up, I'm getting a little speedier with it now as I get used to the routine.
Spent a little longer warming up snatch with bar and worked up to 43kg for doubles. This was about as much as I've ever doubled, even when I was snatching 60kg as I used to be very inconsistent. Having said that, I did have 2 misses out of about 5 sets but I have a tendency to rush the second rep. When I slowed down a little and set up properly for my second rep, everything went great.
Started clean and jerking then and got up to 55kg for doubles. Clean is fine but I have a long history of over thinking the jerk. I didn't miss any of them, most of of the jerks just felt wrong. It did get better as the session went on and the last set was the best but I'm getting a bit frustrated that I just don't seem to be getting it. More work is needed on these and I've a feeling this is going to be a bit of a journey until I get it right.
I was a bit tired after all of that so I just did some isometric overhead bar holds and some GHR.
Today I'll spend a bit longer doing upper back and glutes also, deadlift. I might finally get to lift something properly heavy! Can't wait :) I'll let you all know how I get on with it later.

Plague!

There is a view of athletes and personal trainers and other sporty, fit healthy people that due to their healthy lifestyles, they don't get sick. I don't know who holds this view exactly (possibly just me) but it always comes as a nasty surprise when I find myself spluttering and sneezing along with everyone else.
It's been almost a year and a half since my immune system defenses have been compromised and I'm really taking it well at all.
I never know whether to train through a cold or not (I tell my clients to rest until they are feeling better but I'm different, right?) so I left that decision to Harry, my coach.
After four days rest (climbing the walls!), I went back to training today and what a great day it was!
My shoulders are usually tired by the time I get to the jerks at the end of a session. As a result, I haven't had enough jerk time lately. This is not good enough considering the jerk is my weakest lift of the three so we started with rack jerks today. I worked up to 49kg in triples then a double at 52kg and finished with a double at 55kg. All felt really good and shoulders were nice and loose. I caught the 55kg set with my feet a bit narrow but still felt like a nice powerful lift compared to the rubbish jerks I've been doing lately. Shoulder health is so important for powerful jerks!
Moved on to snatching then, everything felt great from the first set. As the weight increased, I had a slight tendency to catch a bit forward on my toes but I reckon this is due to the fact I'm still not comfortable in the bottom position. This is flexibility rather than technique which will come with time (and hard work). I'm also still struggling to remember to drop the weight between sets, this could be a large part of why my shoulders have been tightening up!
Worked my way up to 42kg for doubles on the snatch, my 1rm from the comp last week! Plenty more there too :)
Finished off with fives on the back squat, three sets at 70kg. These were easy but given my previous poor movement pattern in the squat and subsequent hip injury, it's very important that I use my glutes properly and don't rely on my overly developed quads.
Great day despite my lingering plague. Rest day tomorrow on coach's orders (which I know are correct but don't want to admit that). More training Thursday evening. Hopefully I'll have kicked this embarrassing cold by then!

First miss

After three months of training, I had my first miss today. I know it's not a big deal; it's kind of like thinking you've some tea left after you've drank it all. Still, three months with absolutely no misses is a good streak!

I warmed up as usual and started snatching. I worked up to 34kg for triples and then up to 39kg for doubles. I was focusing on getting my feet out and not forward or up and forgot that for one set. I reckon the 3 months of not missing made me a bit complacent and I slightly underpulled and dropped it forward. I made sure the rest of the reps and sets were good though.
Next I did triples of snatch grip first pull to the knees with 60kg for 3 sets. Felt easy for that exercise but hard to believe I ever snatched that!
Next I worked up to 30kg for behind the neck snatch grip push press and 3 overhead squat. Sounds more complicated than it was! Hardest part of this is on the wrists but feels like it's good for strengthening them up. I did about 3 sets. Flexibility was good in this, movement felt nice.
Finished off my bar work with 3 sets of 5 bottom up back squats at 80kg. Again, easy weights for me but I'm being careful not to increase the weights too soon and injure something. Better safe than something something.
Still had buckets of energy so supersetted 3 x 12 GHR with 3 x 12 leg raised inverted rows. Really concentrated on glute and lower back control and wile it's still challenging, I felt like I did this well.

Good training session, rest day tomorrow.

Monday Capital, Wednesday Asylum

Even though I was feeling good after the competition and hadn't pushed myself, Harry thought it best to take it fairly easy so after my usual super long mobility warm up, I worked up to 30kg for a few triples on the power snatch. Grand. Shoulders were still very tight so just did some power clean doubles at 50kg.
Finished with some jerk technique work with just the bar.
Went to Kiwifit later and had some time before my first afternoon client so I did some shoulder prehab (lots of pulling in different planes) and some glute things (Bulgarians)
Plan was to head to Asylum on Wednesday to check it out for a possible woman's squad session and do some training while there so took Tuesday as a rest day.
Arrived at Asylum in the early afternoon and it was nicely busy under the watchful eye of one of Ireland's best coaches and top lifter, Neil Dougan. Seems to have a good atmosphere, great equipment and a really good space, this is a lovely place to train if you're up North.
After the journey up from Dublin, I was eager to get stuck in to training so I got through my warm up a little faster than usual.
Power snatched 35kg for 6 easy doubles (that was my max snatch 2 weeks ago!)
Shoulders still a bit stiff so just cleaned and went up to 55kg for 3 easy doubles.
Finished off with some GHRs on the only GHR machine I've ever found that fits my shorty legs so well!
Nice easy session and lots of banter.
Back to Capital tomorrow, looking forward to that :)
I've been having things too easy in training lately, it's about time for a tough one!
Will report back on that tomorrow afternoon.

Capital Strength Open 14 Sept 2013

I was nervous as hell, a lot more than I thought I would be. Considering this was just a training competition and I wasn't going for personal bests I really thought I would just take it in my stride but the excitement of my first competition back started building about Tuesday and I was like a kid before Christmas!
Weighed in a comfortable 62.5kg, 500g underneath the limit of the 63kg class (the weight class I always lift in) and after helping out with the women's weigh in and half the men's, I started my usual rolling, stretching and mobility. There are certain things I like doing differently on competition day than every other training day but my warm up isn't it.

Did the usual bar work and light positional work and then worked up to 37kg snatch in doubles and singles. I was one of the last to open in my group so I had plenty of time. Apart from being really nervous (and enjoying that "I'm on a roller coaster" feeling) I felt pretty strong and as seems typical for my lifting at the moment, positions got better as the weight went up. This means I'm still getting used to the positions and also means I need to do more drilling and volume at higher weights.

Opened with 38kg which was easy, then went 40kg which was easy but not as technically pretty and finished with 42kg,  not a bother.

Took a couple of minutes to be happy and chill out and then started clean and jerk warm up. Again, everything felt better as the weight went up. I wasn't as nervous during clean and jerk warm-up and everything just went up without drama. Worked up to 53kg on the warm up platform then opened with an easy 54kg. Went 57kg then 60kg, all quite easy and no drama.

I'm still lifting well within myself and plan to keep it that way for awhile. I really enjoyed the camaraderie with Kortney, Sari and Alex, my fellow Capital Strength teammates. This is something I've never experienced before and is down right cool! Great lifting from all of them, we have a very competitive team.

I came first in the 63kg class with a 102kg total at 62.5kg bodyweight which I'm delighted with for my first comp back.

Next competition is about four weeks
away and I have lots of work to do, getting more comfortable in the snatch and clean, improving ankle flexibility and sorting out a few issues with my jerk. Can't wait until tomorrow to get started!

Last training session before comp

Buzzing with energy when I rolled up to Capital Strength this morning! Did my usual warm up of rolling, stretching, mobility drills and bar work. Took about 30 minutes today.
Worked the snatch up to 30kg for triples then up to 37kg for a couple of singles. Again, technique felt better as the weight got heavier showing that I'm still getting used to the movement again. More technique work needed, but isn't there always?!
Took a very short water break and started warming up the clean and jerk. Worked up to 51kg for doubles and 54kg for a single and while the jerks felt quite heavy, I wasn't in danger of failing any. I haven't actually missed any lifts at all since I've been back training about three months so I suppose I'm doing okay!
Did some light front squat triples at 60kg then, trying to go very slow and keep full tension in legs, hips and back all the way through.
Finished off with 3 sets of 10 on Capital's new GHR device. Fun day, one of the first sessions that I wasn't dead tired at the end. Maybe there's hope for me after all!

So excited about Saturday's competition. I'm not nervous, just really excited, like can't sit still kid waiting for Christmas excited! No goal weight, I'll just go in and have the fun. Videos and write up here Sat evening. Bed now, big rest day tomorrow zzz

Three days in a row

Feeling a bit tired today after training two days in a row but I was at Capital Strength so I trained anyway. Stamina and strength seem to be slow enough to come back.
Spent extra long warming up and felt okay when I started to snatch. Upper back was still a little stiff and needed some extra rolling.
Power snatched up to 32kg for triples. They felt easy enough but I was still moving a little slow, missing some pop.
Power clean and split jerked up to 44 kg for doubles (c,j,c,j) and the first set felt so heavy I couldn't believe it. Proof that it's all in my head and I'm still getting used to the weights; by the 5 th set, it didn't feel too bad at all.
I left it at that then. I need to get back to squatting to get my strength back up but apart from that, if I'm patient, everything will fall back into place. A year and a half is a long time off consistent training.
Feeling pretty wiped now, time for dinner! Rest day tomorrow methinks.
Slowly slowly catchy monkey...

Women's squad session, Capital Strength, Dublin 8

I lifted at a squad session today. Felt pretty good. For the past year and a half, I've been coaching at these things and while I found that very enjoyable, it always made me feel even more like I was missing out on the fun of lifting.
Well not today!
I had a good long warm up, really took my time with both the mobility and bar work. With no expectations, I just lifted what was on the bar in front of me, sometimes doing multiple sets at 60% - 70% weights. I worked up to a very easy 42kg in the snatch, 7kg more than my last max about 3 weeks ago. Lifts got better as the weight went up and I put a little more effort in. Technique and positions are quite good now and consistent, I just have a tendency to be a little slow and controlled off the floor but I speed up as the weight increases. I'm still nowhere near true maximum and I'm happy to take my time and make sure the wrist is okay with each new weight and that technique is still good.
After a short break, I began warming up for the clean and jerk. I should have had more to eat during the break as I was a little tired and sluggish starting off. Again I took my time working up through the weights, doing multiple sets at comfortable weights. I'm still figuring out the best cues and movement patterns for me in the clean and jerk and so I still over think everything. I worked up to 58kg which wasn't as easy as the snatch and didn't feel as solid but was still quite good.
That's a 100kg training total which is a small goal I had for myself. Next goal is 150 Sinclair points.
Finished off with some squats, worked up to 58kg for triples on the front squat. Again, it's all about position, making sure I do everything perfect so I don't injure something again.
Great lifting from all the women there, it's always great to meet up and lift in a supportive atmosphere, something I really missed during my time off.
This week will all be prep for the Capital Strength Open next Saturday, my first competition in over a year. I'm not going to lift heavy at it, I'm just hoping to get comfortable on the platform again. Can't wait!

Deadlift and bench press competition

Saturday 28th October will be Kiwifit's 1st Bench press and Deadlift competition.
Weigh in will run from 10am This is open to everyone, all levels welcome.
We have room for 10 men and 10 women. To book your place, Dee@Kiwifit.ie 0877915646

Special early bird price of €10 for bench press and €10 for deadlift if you pay up by 14th October, otherwise €20 for bench press and €20 for deadlift.

Dee will be running special Bench press and Deadlift workshops in preparation for this competition which will cost €10. Email for further info.

Snatch day

Feeling a little stiff and vaguely DOMSy after yesterday so spent a little longer warming up. Form rolled, stretched, overhead squat with stick then with bar and a few snatch drills up to 25kg. Did a few snatch triples at 25kg from blocks then off the floor.
Worked up to 32kg for snatch triples. Pull is still a bit out front off the floor and I'm working much harder than I think I need to keep it back in. I got a few really good reps though.
Took a break and ate a grapefruit then went on to snatch grip deadlifts. Was bored with the triples format so worked up to a relatively heavy single under the careful watchful eye of Dr. Beard and got a nice enough rep at 90kg. Called it there as I knew I'd just use my quads for any more weight.
Finished off the session with six triples on the front squat with 55kg. Haven't front squatted in a few months due to mix of wrist injury and sore hip so was very happy with no pain here. Also felt I was I using my glutes properly and really driving through the heels with knees out.
All in all a fairly standard day but still looking at it through the shiny eyes of the newly healed. Long may it continue :)

Injuries heal

A year and a half ago, I dropped an 82.5 kg bar on my wrist while performing a clean with poor technique. I was fatigued from doing 2 competitions in the weeks before and should have known better.
The wrist is finally at a place where I can manage the pain effectively and I'm starting to train consistently, although still quite light.
I've lost a lot of strength during my healing time but I've used the time to work on mobility and fix some muscle imbalances that my ego was making me ignore.
Working around such a slow healing injury can be very humbling and frustrating but as the title of this blog states, injuries heal.
Thank f**k for that, I wasn't so sure for awhile there!

I'm training in a place in Dublin 8, Capital Strength. This is a purpose built weightlifting gym with lovely equipment and even lovelier coaches. They're really helping me to manage my training expectations so I don't try and go too heavy too fast and re injure myself while also helping me make the most of this time and do some technique work. While this isn't as sexy or fun as lifting the heavy things, I know it's the best for me and I definitely wouldn't stick to it without having someone other than me to answer to.

I've been back training for about 3 months now. Today I spent about 30 minutes warming up including foam rolling, stretching and some squat drills and then I did some clean and jerk drills with the bar and gradually worked up to 51kg for a few sets of doubles on the clean and jerk. I found this quite tough and I wasn't as consistent as I'd like to be. I felt I was catching the bar a little forward and I wasn't getting my feet out enough. Weird as I never used to have that problem. I had a few good jerks but right elbow felt a little slow and soft in the jerk. This used to be a warm up weight for me but injury doesn't allow for ego! I knocked back to 45kg and did a drop down set which was perfect in every way. Hopefully it won't be long until 50odd feels that way and upwards from there.
Did some clean grip deadlifts, up to 95kg for few sets of triples and finished with some squats from pins, fives at 65 and 70kg.

Progress is slow as heck but I'm enjoying the journey and I'm still very happy and appreciative to be back lifting. It seemed that was never going to happen.

Snatch day tomorrow, can't wait!