Pat's Training Log

[mgalovic]

Firstly, congrats on what you've accomplished thus far. You've put in quite a bit of time and effort into your fitness program, and I consider that time well spent. 

Kinda crazy to me to see how much squatting you do. I read you ride you're bike too. I think that is good for your knees, as long as your are referring to a bicycle, not a motorcycle. Although, it appears you are primarily training for strength, power and muscular endurance, it seems like you want to be overall fit. Have you considered doing speed/agility ladder drills? It would give you a more controlled and premeditated way to acclimate your body, especially knees, to a broader range of athletic movement, while lessening the risk of injury associated with spontaneous movement in sports, and transferring the gains you made in the weight room to the field. 

Edited September 21, 2016 by mgalovic

[patrickmeniru]

Hey, thanks very much for taking the time to read my log and more so for commenting!  I cycled a lot at university and during the last 6 months in Amsterdam, although it's only now that I'm starting to also cycle in London (lots of recent improvements in terms of bike lanes etc, and I now live near canals that I can cycle next to, hopefully mean it's not as dangerous).

I'm definitely trying to get stronger and more powerful, but at the same time improve my mobiltiy and not compromise my overall conditioning too much (although conditioning isn't a priority at the moment, as long as I keep up a reasonable level). Reason for squatting a lot is that I'm trying to improve my position and strength in the front squat and overhead squats to improve my olympic lifting, and my squat has lagged a long way behind deadlift for a long time, so I need to try and address that.

I think that the ladder drills are a great idea, I used to do them a lot when I was younger at football practice but haven't tried them out for years.  It's probably about time I swallowed a little pride and realised that I actually need to prep my body to play football competitively (which is a weird concept, as I've been playing since the age of 8).  Will definitely try and incorporate some drills into my training, just need to have a think about how best to go about it. Hopefully my joints will benefit and I can ease back into playing football without it ruining my ability to work in the gym!

[mgalovic]

I hear you on the bike thing. One big reason I don't cycle more is having to deal with fast moving car traffic.  My legs were the biggest when I used to ride my bike a lot up hills, on the hardest gear I could handle, combined with a high carb (brown rice and oatmeal) diet. I'd get a really good pump in my legs, and my knees never felt better. It works a lot of quad too, so I think it would aid in your Olympic lift.

When it comes to your Olympic lift, keep stressing that form. I used to do kettle bell swings. In an effort to get more out of it, I rounded my back. Bad idea. I got an injury that has me afraid to do them to this day. I thought it would rebuild to be stronger, but having tried it a little after the injury seemingly healed, it just feels like I'm in danger of re-aggravating it. 

I think your current focus is on lifting, although you still like playing football. Not to mention it being a good way to get some cardio. Just be careful. You're building your large muscle groups, and the smaller stabilizers used to do more intricate movements involved in football may be getting left behind. As you can imagine, that's a recipe for injury. 

When I go running,  I try to absorb more impact with my calf by landing more on my toes, to put less stress on the knees. I also try to tread lightly. In case I roll my ankle it wont get as badly injured, since I try not to put much weight on it. 

 

 

 

 

[patrickmeniru]

Yes, being light on your feet is definitely an underrated running cue, I also think running barefoot (for a short time, and ideally on grass) is great for improving technique.

21/09/2016

Snatch and overhead squat today, so spent the best part of an hour warming up/mobilising, this isn't ideal but at the moment it's necessary just for me to be able to get into the positions I need to hit for overhead movements, hopefully as I get more mobile I won't need as long.

Snatch - warmed up with some light overhead squats, drop snatch and some hang snatch. Then did triples of full snatch from the floor working from 20kg up to 60kg, doing two or three triples at each 10kg interval until I felt like I hit a solid set before moving up. Did 3 or 4 sets at 60kg then called it a day. Still feel like I need to keep the bar much closer to my body during the second pull and be more hip dominant through the triple extension, but on the upside I was consistently getting myself under the bar, and the purpose of the full snatch days is partly to practice as perfect technique as I can manage for each rep, but also to just accumulate some reps of the overall movement - was listening to some coaches talking lately and they noted that not many people would see a young kid shooting 3 points with poor technique and tell them immediately to stop doing it, you would let them practice a little, work it out themselves, and maybe give them one or two bits of advice, then let them practice a bit more, amassing 100s of reps.  I think if i overthink the olympic movements I'll never actually amass many reps, so going to be mindful to actually practice the full movements at least once a week, even if my technique isn't perfect.

Overhead squats 3 second pause:
1 x 3 w/60kg
1 x 3 w/70kg
1 x 3 w/80kg (PR) these felt really comfortable, but weirdly the pit of my elbow between biceps and the biggest forearm extensor started to feel pretty sore immediately after the each set, a bit like when I first started going back lever work with a supinated grip, which was alarming and I stopped, hopefully just a one off but will keep an eye on it.

Tried to work some handstands but I felt awful overhead and I could feel my elbow not loving it, so stopped.

Finished up with some grip work (farmers walk with 40kg dumbells with fatgripz, suitcase carry with 36kg dumbell and fatgripz and some shrugs with fat gripz to 100kg and then DO to 140kg for sets of 10).

[mgalovic]

I've done a little barefoot running on a treadmill. It felt more ergonomic than in shoes, but it takes some getting used to on the bottom of your feet. I was trying to toughen my feet up a little after watching the show naked and afraid on tv, and seeing the trouble one guy was having walking around barefoot. Grass is probably better, because it is softer to start out with, and it probably helps develop your body's natural defenses better, on the bottom of your feet. An interesting article about barefoot walking: http://b4tea.blogspot.com/2013/06/health-benefits-and-effects-of-walking.html

Also, I feel like the mindfulness you're paying to your technique now is going to pay dividends in the future. I can understand not wanting to stress it so much as to take the enjoyment out of your workout, but we are creatures of habit. Habits are hard to break. With every rep  you slowly develop that habit.

I was experiencing some elbow pain yesterday. I went for a run and it went away. I think it had something to do with the endorphin rush, because I can feel an ache in it now. But, I still did more gripper training yesterday, even though it is what caused the pain in the first place. I think I'll lay off of the gripper today. My thought is that the cardio respiratory exercise increases oxygen rich blood flow throughout the entire body, and the region in question, and cleaned out some of the workout related by-product that may have accumulated in the area, including lactic acid. It also nourishes the body with increased flow of nutrient rich blood without straining the area more, and sweats and respires out impurities.  

[patrickmeniru]

Personally, my experience is that with elbow pain you should stop doing whatever caused the pain for at least a week, for example if heavy grip work caused actual soreness and that soreness got worse after the next grip session, it's time to take a break, so some extensors, take care of the tissue quality in the forearms, wrist mobility etc, then after a week or so (provided no soreness at at) then ease back into things gradually.  Everyone who has ever had bad tendonitis will tell you something broadly similar, if you let it get bad it will stop you training properly for weeks and even months on end - if I had been a bit more careful with my elbows, and known about using lacrosse balls etc then I feel sure I would have achieved a one arm chin up years ago, the injuries came out of my ignorance and trying to progress too fast and that held me back long term.

22/09/2016

Morning session:
10 minute EMOM of:
10 HSPU against wall
10 chest to bar pull-ups
Finished the 5 rounds of pull ups, HSPU reps went 10, 10, 9, 7, 6

Then three rounds of:
30 GHD situps
20 goblet squats w/16kg
10 clapping pushups

Evening session:
Knee felt pretty ropey going in but actually after a good warm up and some mobility work it felt fine.

Split squats in front rack, didn't rack weight whilst changing legs:
1 x 10 w/20kg
1 x 10 w/40kg
1 x 10 w/60kg

Front squats (paused) - focus on keeping hips close to the bar:
2 x 2 w/70kg
2 x 1 w/100kg
5 x 3 w/100kg (3 second pause)
1 x 2(1) w/100kg (3 second pause)
7 x 3 w/100kg
(Did paused set, then unpaused set quite quickly afterwards, then had a longer rest before another paused set until I failed a paused rep - was happy with how I failed, in as much as torso stayed upright and rack position was fine, just couldn't fire my glutes and quads hard enough to get out of the hole)

Strict press:
1 x 8 w/20kg
1 x 6 w/40kg
1 x 6 w/50kg
5 x 6 w/60kg (one failed rep on a 6th rep)
1 x 5 w/60kg

Chin ups (pause at top and bottom):
1 x 2
1 x 2 w/25kg
3 x 2 w/40kg

Bodyweight rows:
2 x 10

Finished with some mobility, rotator cuff work and a few sets of 100 single unders.
 

[patrickmeniru]

23/09/2016

Ran 5km in the morning at a very steady pace, around 24 mins.

Evening session:

Overhead squats:
Sets of 5 with a pause, short break then 6 with no pause. Weights went:
1 round w/20kg
1 round w/40kg
1 round w/50kg
3 rounds w/60kg

Did some grip work with fatgripz, timed holds with 50kg dumbbell (fat gripz weren't closed around handle as already thicker than a normal bar). First set righty was 30 seconds, lefty only 15. Subsequent sets ranged from 5-15 seconds.

Did some other bits and bobs but can't remember what.

 

24/09/2016

Yoga for an hour in the morning.

Deadlifts:
Warmed up and worked up to 200kg, pulled for about 6 triples, focussing on really engaging lats and keeping back as neutral as possible. Weight felt quite heavy but perfectly manageable, could have gone heavier but may have then sacrificed the neutral spine.

Did some FL work, was able to hold an advanced tuck with heels to bum for sets of around 10 seconds. Felt quite solid. Also some handstand work.

Again, did some other work but can't remember what it was.

 

25/09/2016

Power cleans, worked up in triples (two sets at each weight) to 100kg, did around 30 total reps including a couple of failed reps. Tried to  avoid throwing my shoulders back, also noticed some reps a tendency to come forward onto my toes, which I tried to avoid.

WOD - three rounds of:
20 meters handstand walking
10 muscle ups
5 high box jumps (up 6 steps as no boxes)
10 ab-wheel roll outs from kneeling
10 power cleans w/70kg
5 push jerk w/70kg
100 single under
Finished in 24m 12s

Bench (1 second pause):
1 x 6 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/60kg
1 x 3 w/80kg
1 x 3 w/100kg
1 x 3 w/120kg 
2 x 3 w/125kg
1 x 2(1) w/125kg
1 x 10 w/70kg

Front rack holds:
120kg x 1 min
140kg x 1 min
160kg x 40 seconds (4 sets)

Pull ups (chest to bar, or close as possible, leaning all the way back - find very hard):
4 x 5

Did a little dumbell work to finish (curls w/20kg for sets of 6, incline press w/34kg sets of 10, and some rows and forearm extensor work). Finished with some sit-ups and practiced a few double unders, definitely feel that practicing more single unders will be helpful to getting proficient with doubles.

[patrickmeniru]

26/09/2016

Good session today, didn't feel very strong but technique in the clean and jerk felt more consistent (still not consistent but less variation than normal) and I only missed one rep (can't remember which exactly but was with a fairly light load and just didn't time it at all).

Clean and jerk - practiced jerks with both legs, alternating, tried to focus on avoiding overextension in the jerk:
2 x 3 w/20kg
2 x 3 w/40kg
2 x 3 w/50kg
2 x 3 w/60kg
2 x 3 w/70kg
2 x 3 w/80kg
2 x 3 w/90kg (NB elbows were getting sore so just did a jerk on the last rep of each set)

Back squats:
1 x 3 w/70kg
1 x 3 w/110kg
1 x 2 w/140kg
1 x 2 w/150kg
1 x 2 w/160kg (first rep felt very ropey, right knee caved in quite a bit, second rep much better - think I need to practice some more non-paused reps as the first rep of each set felt really awkward).

Front squats:
1 x 1 w/70kg
1 x 1 w/100kg
1 x 1 w/120kg
1 x 0 w/130kg (frustrating not to hit this, did not expect to miss)

Practiced a few handstands, balance felt pretty good today. Finished with 1000 single unders for time, finished in 8:12 and managed to do 371 unbroken, which is a big PR from 150 and I could have done more but needed to move to let some people past the spot I was skipping in and got distracted.

Very strong friend came in to the gym at 9.45pm to bench, did 70kg for three, a double at 120kg then singles at 140kg, 160kg, 180kg and 185kg for a PR before 10pm, was pretty amazing. Also more than I squat . He's also pulled 330kg and squatted 250kg for a double so a strong guy overall!

[patrickmeniru]

27/09/2016

Thought I'd describe what I've been typically doing for a warm up lately:

Rolling on foam roller to work thoracic extension for a minute or so, then taking a weighted bar overhead (whilst lying on back) and doing the same thing. Stretching calves. Doing some thoracic mobility by twisting from variations of being on all fours to try and face my chest to the ceiling. 'Couch stretch' against wall (for hips and quads). Touching toes stretches with feet together and straddled, rolling back and touching toes behind head. Ankle mobilisation with a plate on knee then flexing down into a squat to encourage dorsiflexion. Ankle and hip mobilisation with barbell over knees in squat. Hip mobilisation squatting down with elbows between knees.  Also been doing a little work to further mobilise my hips, placing something between my feet to maintain slight internal rotation of femur with knees as wide as possible on all fours, then trying to push my hips back to mimic squat position. If oly lifting or front squatting, doing some lat stretches with a band and with a flat surface. Then moving onto the opening sets of my workout.

Split squats:
1 x 10 w/20kg
1 x 10 w/40kg
1 x 6 w/70kg
1 x 6 w/90kg
1 x 5 w/110kg

Squats (focus on keeping hips close to bar and torso upright as possible in all phases of squat, pushing knees out as far as possible):
1 x 5 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/100kg
1 x 3 w/120kg
6 x 3 w/130kg
(Happy with improvements in form here, it's a bit of a shock to the system how heavy 130kg feels, or rather how weak I feel squatting it - doesn't actually feel that heavy on my back - but hopefully I'll adapt quickly and ingrain the motor patterns that I need, so that the load can start to increase).

Bodyweight rows - feet elevated:
4 x 10

Pushups:
4 x 10

Leg raises from support:
2 x 10

Crunches:
6 x 10 (different variations)

(Was meant to do weighted dips and pull-ups but elbows didn't feel up to it)

Edited September 28, 2016 by patrickmeniru

[patrickmeniru]

28/09/2016

Warmed up then worked on snatch skills.  Started with some work with just the bar, a couple of sets of paused overhead squats, some muscle snatch from the power position for a few sets (focus on keeping the bar close) and a few sets of drop snatch.

I then worked on moving from the power position to the catch position, getting as deep as I can given the limitation of my hips at the moment (I can get to around parallel but any deeper causes me to sacrifice position overhead, so I'm just working with what I have and will try to improve hip mobility to gradually increase depth) focus was on keeping the bar close, trying to almost brush my shirt on the way up and to cue extension from the hips rather than throwing shoulders back. Sets were:
3 x 5 w/20kg
2 x 5 w/30kg
2 x 5 w/40kg
3 x 5 w/50kg (couple of failed reps in here)

No overhead squats because elbow wasn't feeling great, did some pull-ups with different grips using a friends judo Gi and can also still do a pull-up with just my middle fingers pretty easily and without too much discomfort, which is pleasing.

Did a max effort handstand hold against a wall and got a PR with 1:40, which I was pleased with, although a bit disappointed not to get to 2 mins. Then decided to test deficit handstand pushups for the first time ever, was really happy to manage a solid rep from full depth (i.e. shoulders touching mats - which took me by surprise, hence the pause!)

Finished with a couple of sets of some curl variations with 10kg (normal, hammer and pronated) and one set of 5 german hangs to try and help my elbow/bicep recover.

[Chez]

Impressive. Good to see you still at it Pat. 

[patrickmeniru]

9 hours ago, Chez said:

Impressive. Good to see you still at it Pat. 

Thanks Chez - same to you! Glad to see you're getting back to your best and hopefully going beyond your old PRs soon!  I'm hopeful of getting the #3.5 closed before too long.

29/09/2016

Agreed to go with a friend from work to their Brazilian jui-jitsu school, was an hours cycling each way to get there, then did an hour of training. Thought about squatting afterwards but was too tired (/lazy).

[patrickmeniru]

30/09/2016

Morning: stretched and did some rotator cuff work, face pulls, external rotations with dumbells (6kg and 8kg)

Evening session:

Front squats:
2 x 5 w/20kg
1 x 5 w/50kg
10 x 10 w/70kg (90 seconds recovery) (felt very easy, last set was similar speed to first)
2 x 10 w/90kg (2 min recovery straight after the GVT because I undershot the weight for that - lost thoracic extension on the very last rep but didn't fail it, pleased with form throughout session)

Dips:
1 x 3
1 x 3 w/25kg
1 x 3 w/45kg
3 x 3 w/65kg

Chins:
1 x 3
1 x 3 w/25kg
2 x 3 w.45kg
1 x 0 w/65kg

Abs:
3 x 10 hanging leg raises w/pause at top
3 x 10 hanging Ls side to side
3 x 10 hanging L flutter kicks 20 seconds

[patrickmeniru]

01/10/2016

Yoga for an hour (still find it hard work, but getting better)

Deadlifts (focussing on speed):
1 x 6 w/70kg
1 x 3 w/70kg
2 x 3 w/120kg
2 x 3 w/150kg
1 x 3 w/170kg
4 x 3 w/180kg
2 x 3 w/170kg

Romanian deadlifts:
3 x 5 w/120kg

Overhead press:
3 x 5 w/40kg (snatch grip behind neck)
2 x 5 w/40kg

Dumbbell overhead press:
1 x 10 w/22kg
1 x 6 w/26kg
1 x 5 w/30kg
1 x 5 w/30kg (single arm)
1 x 10 w/16kg

Push press:
1 x 3 w/70kg
1 x 5 w/90kg

[patrickmeniru]

02/10/2016

Afternoon: Stretched and did a lot of mobility work on hips, ankles, lats and thoracic and some soft tissue work on my quads which are still a bit sore from GVT. Then did snatch drills, including my first attempts at doing Sotts Presses (3 x 5 w/20kg), found it very tough on the shoulders because my torso isn't upright enough at the moment due to hip/ankle restrictions, but was able to complete the reps, which is progress I suppose. Also did a few drop snatches and some hang snatches to full depth catch (or as full as I can, hips just below parallel, rather than at parallel, so more progress there) all just with the bar.

Finished up by working on some double unders (no success here, will try again soon) and some handstands.

Evening: 1 strict HSPU, 1 chin, 10 situps then 2 HSPU, 2 chins, 10 situps, then 3, 3 and 10 etc. tried to get through as many rounds as possible in 10 mins. Managed 7 full rounds and 2 HSPU (total 30 HSPU, 28 chins and 70 situps).  Then ran 5km in 20:05, was trying to go sub-20 but didn't push hard enough in the first 15 mins or so.

[patrickmeniru]

03/10/2016

Great session today, really pleased with how it went.

Did the usual mobility work to warm up.

Clean and jerk:
Warmed up with the bar
1 x 3 w/40kg
1 x 3 w/60kg
2 x 3 w/80kg
3 x 3 w/100kg (rep PR)

Squat:
1 x 3 w/70kg
1 x 2 w/110kg
1 x 2 w/140kg
1 x 2 w/160kg
1 x 2 w/170kg (this felt pretty comfortable, could definitely have managed another rep)

Front squat:
1 x 2 w/70kg
1 x 2 w/100kg
1 x 2 w/120kg
1 x 2 w/130kg (rep PR I think)
1 x 1 w/134kg (form stayed solid but was a bit of a grind and didn't think I'd make the second rep)

Front rack holds:
1 x 45 seconds w/170kg (walked this out and felt very solid)
2 x 25 seconds w/200kg (just held above the rack, felt less solid!)

Chins:
3 x 1
3 x 1 w/25kg
1 x 1 w/40kg
2 x 5 w/50kg (rep PR)
Did a few pushups beforehand and between sets because my elbows were feeling slightly sore after front squats, helped a lot.

Flat dumbbell press:
2 x 6 w/40kg (5-2-1-0 tempo)
1 x 8 w/40kg (2 sec pause)

Edited October 3, 2016 by patrickmeniru

[patrickmeniru]

04/10/2016

Warmed up as usual feel like I'm getting better at the hips with the bar across my knees, able to sit deeper and more comfortably even with a slightly wider stance.

Split squats:
1 x 10 w/20kg
1 x 10 w/50kg
1 x 10 w/70kg
1 x 6 w/90kg (switched from front rack to high bar position here)
1 x 6 w/110kg
1 x 6 w/120kg (I think that this is a PR, felt slightly unstable compared to 110kg)

Back squat (slow eccentric, 2 second pause, focus on keeping hips close to the bar and torso as upright as possible, these felt really heavy but was happy because I think I'm finally working the correct musculature and patterns):
1 x 5 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/70kg
5 x 5 w/100kg

Did some face pulls and some abs (crunches with 25kg plate in hands and on shins) and some suitcase carry with 50kg dumbbell.

Tried to do a metcon workout but failed due to awful double unders after the first set, which went okay, and then my rope breaking as I tried to stretch it, have ordered a new one, worked my way through four rounds of the below, but no intensity at all:
15 double unders (replaced these with just jumping up and down after set 2)
12 toes to bar
9 burpees
6 single leg deadlifts pinching two 25kg plates
3 muscle ups

[patrickmeniru]

05/10/2015

Have been reading a little more on Oly lifting and read an interesting article by Gregg Everett which basically said that squat stance should be the same for all movement's in the Oly lifts, i.e. the stance that lets you sit the lowest to the ground whilst maintaining an upright torso and knees tracking properly. So for me I think that's having my feet turned out slightly more than I have typically been aiming for and my stance a bit narrower than I have been using for the overhead position (where I've been moving my feet quite wide).

Will definitely experiment with this, although it's going to take a bit of an adjustment in terms of quickly getting down into the overhead position and fighting the urge to spread my feet wide in order to try and get under the bar and instead focus on just keeping knees out and dropping the hips quickly down.

Snatch:
Warmed up with some muscle snatches from power position, overhead squats (up to 40kg), drop snatch, snatch from power position, hang snatch and full snatch paused at the end of the first pull with the bar. Then added weight to bar and worked on full snatch with pause at end of first pull.  Points I noticed to work on are keeping head up during first pull (i.e. facing ahead not down), keeping the bar close as it passes the knees, keeping feet fully on the floor (not letting toes come off the ground), cuing extension from hips and glutes not shoulders, keeping bar close during second pull, pulling/pushing myself under the bar, catching in narrower stance.  So not much to think about...!
2 x 3 w/20kg
2 x 3 w/40kg (first set was garbage)
1 x 3 w/50kg
5 x 3 w/60kg (few failed lifts in here for various reasons, won't be going heavier until I get a more consistent catch position)

Overhead squats - these felt reasonably good, feel that I'm starting to be able to get a bit lower:
1 x 3 w/70kg (3 sec pause)
1 x 3 w/80kg (3 sec pause - rep PR)
1 x 2 w/90kg (PR - second rep was a bit wobbly in the bottom, but was able to control it, decided against a third)
1 x 3 w/70kg
 

Finished with some handstand work, balance was not particularly good today! Did a few sets of HSPU against a wall and one freestanding.

HSPU:
1 x 6
1 x 8 (wide)
1 x 1(1) from parallettes
1 x 6

[patrickmeniru]

06/10/2016

Warmed up as usual.

Front squats (did some mobility work between first few sets as wasn't feeling entirely comfortable):
1 x 5 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/20kg
2 x 3 w/40kg
2 x 3 w/60kg
1 x 3 w/80kg
1 x 3 w/100kg
12 x 3 w/120kg (happy with how these went, able to keep hips close to bar on every rep, feel that the pattern is getting more strongly ingrained now)
1 x 3 w/70kg

Split squats:
3 x 5 w/40kg (hips felt really tight after front squats)

Overhead press:
1 x 10 w/20kg
1 x 5 w/40kg
1 x 5 w/50kg
5 x 5 w/60kg

Finished with 100 double unders, most unbroken was 19 but mostly sets of 1-3 which is frustrating. Will try and do this at the end of every session until I can do 100 unbroken.  Also did a set of pull-ups with various grips and some single arm hangs between reps, probably 20 reps total in the set.

Borrowed some knee sleeves today (3mm Rehbands) and really liked how warm my knees felt. Have ordered some 5mm Rehbands, hopefully they arrive early next week. Lots of people advised to get the 7mm ones, but I don't want to get assistance in terms of lifting the weight or bounce out of the hole, just to keep my knees warm and be comfortable, and the 3mm ones felt fine to be honest so hopefully 5mm hit the spot.
 

[patrickmeniru]

07/10/2016

Mobility work and overhead squats with 40kg, some double unders, didn't make it to 100 because gym closed.

08/10/2016

Sumo deadlift:
2 x 3 w/70kg
2 x 3 w/120kg
2 x 3 w/150kg
2 x 3 w/170kg
3 x 3 w/180kg

Yoga for an hour.

Clean pulls:
1 x 5 w/50kg
2 x 3 w/100kg
2 x 3 w/120kg
2 x 3 w/140kg
5 x 3 w/160kg

Bench (T&G):
1 x 5 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/60kg
1 x 3 w/80kg
1 x 3 w/100kg
2 x 3 w/120kg
1 x 3 w/130kg
1 x 1(1) w/135kg
1 x 2(1) w/130kg
3 x 5 w/90kg
Friend noticed that my right elbow flares out rather than staying tucked in like my left elbow, which might explain my my right arm is weaker in the press.  Will look to address this.

Still leg deadlifts:
1 x 5 w/100kg
3 x 5 w/120kg

Front squats:
4 x 3 w/50kg
(Focus on technique and sitting as deep as possible)

One arm fatgripz deadlifts:
1 x 2 w/44.5kg
1 x 2 w/64.5kg
1 x 2 w/66.5kg
1 x 1 w/68.5kg 
1 x 1 w/70.5kg (left arm missed this lift and heavier weights right only)
1 x 1 w/72.5kg
1 x 1 w/74.5kg
1 x 0 w/76.5kg

Quarter jumping squats:
1 x 6 w/50kg

100 double unders - much better today, several sets of 10+ and barely any sets under 5 reps.

[patrickmeniru]

09/10/2016

Hungover. Couldn't face doing much so stretched for 90 mins and did a little double unders practice, filmed myself head on and realised that I need to make my rope shorter. Still struggling to consistently hit 10 reps.

[patrickmeniru]

10/10/2016

Did not feel great today at all, but hit reasonable numbers so fairly pleased with the session. Need to try and get my sessions done faster so that I can spend more time on mobility and sleep.

Clean and jerk:
Some bar work to finish warm up
1 x 3 w/20kg
1 x 3 w/40kg
1 x 3 w/60kg
1 x 3 w/80kg
1 x 3 w/90kg
1 x 3 w/100kg
1 x 2(2) w/104kg - first two reps were okay, third rep I missed the clean (drop bar forward in catch after huge separation) then ground out the clean but didn't re-reack well and after 10 seconds or so missed the jerk - mental more than anything.  Not too disappointed given that this was my 1RM clean to full catch, think I'll try for 105kg next week if I'm feeling good, otherwise will go back down to 100kg.
4 x 1 complex w/90kg - power clean, full clean, front squat, jerk

Back squat (3 sec pause):
1 x 2 w/60kg
1 x 2 w/90kg
1 x 2 w/110kg
1 x 2 w/130kg
1 x 2 w/140kg
1 x 2 w/145kg
1 x 2 w/150kg
1 x 2 w/160kg (form started to break down a little here, didn't keep torso as upright as I would like).

Front squat (3 sec pause):
1 x 2 w/60kg
1 x 2 w/80kg
1 x 2 w/100kg
1 x 2 w/110kg
1 x 2 w/120kg (started to lose a little thoracic extension here out of the hole on second rep but managed to get my hips under the bar and recover)

Finished with some grip work and double unders. Grip work was one arm hangs with 22kg (30 secs) and 40kg (20 secs) as well as one arm hang shrugs.  Also did one arm deadlift hook grip with 140kg for a single each arm and 163kg for two singles each arm, although couldn't fully lock out, not due to grip giving out but because I couldn't get my hips through properly for some reason.

Double unders felt good today, was able to feel the rhythm and control better and managed a few consecutive sets of 10-15 reps. Also shortened my rope up a bit.

[patrickmeniru]

Video showing some of the grip work I've been doing lately.

 

[patrickmeniru]

11/10/2016

Split squats:
1 x 10 w/20kg
1 x 10 w/50kg
1 x 10 w/70kg
1 x 10 w/90kg
1 x 10 w/100kg

Back squat (each set as fast as possible):
1 x 8 w/20kg
1 x 5 w/70kg
1 x 5 w/100kg
1 x 5 w/120kg (12 seconds for the set)
2 x 5 w/140kg (16 secs first set, 22 secs second set)
Planned on one more set but left elbow was getting really sore, need to stop neglecting shoulder mobility for squat as don't want to start getting elbow pain again.

Finished with some abs, three sets of 10 GHRs with 20kg bar on back and double unders practice, was terrible today so progress definitely not linear but kept persisting for 15 mins or so.

12/10/2016

Morning session:
10 min AMRAP Handstand pushups - 61, technique definitely rusty here, haven't done any kipping work for a few weeks, think I should be good for 100 once I sort it out.

Rowed 2000m in 7:10, not sure if this is a PR but felt like hard work!

[patrickmeniru]

12/10/2016

Feel like I'm going through a slightly less productive phase in my training atm, low energy and strength generally, will look to try and clean up my diet  a bit more (have been indulging in more sugars than usual of late) and get to bed a little earlier. Elbows are still feeling sore (especially left) which cut short this evening session quite a lot.  On the plus side, my mobility continues to improve, and I'm now getting close to a snatch/overhead squat bottom position that I'm happy with, just need to work a little more on my ankle ROM so that I don't need to put weight to ball of foot to get necessary dorsiflexion, hips to get knees a little wider and lats so that I don't lose external rotation in the hole - but things definitely moving in the right direction.

Warmed up for snatch with some overhead squats and drop snatch up to 50kg but then elbow started hurting so called it a day, practiced some double unders (better than yesterday but still not great) before I left.