Always a winner to quote Futurama.
Also solid answer,
This counts for a lot.
And agreed here!
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Saturday:
Beach trip with the kayak. Pokai Bay. Paddled each kid around one at a time, then mostly kept paddling. Some snorkeling too.
Trip to the obstacle course park.
A lot of pullups, monkey bars, ladder climbs, then the coup de grace: up, over, and down on the other side of the monkey bars, going across the set. (Simulation of climbing over a 7ft wall)
Did that about 3 or 4 times. Its hard.
Sunday, two family walks.
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9/9/2024 Monday, my birthday!
It never occurred to me to try a challenge workout for my birthday. In retrospect that may have been fun, especially as I only have one more session before my 2-week trip. Anyway, I just did what I was going to do regardless of the calendar:
-Front Squats: Wore a belt and got up to a single at 195, attempted and failed one at 205, went down to 155 and did 3x3.
Was fine with this. My lifetime best front squat was 225 and I think it’s totally achievable to get back to that and better.
Did a little jerk practice, nothing worth logging.
Then, rows, rows, rows, and external rotation/upper back/rear delt stuff. BTN, Y raises, side plank ext rotations, etc etc.
Went pretty nuts on the rows, it’s not something I’ve put a lot of focus on as I felt that my pullup volume takes care of that; however with O-lifting pullups may be the wrong angle, and those little upper back muscles need to be trained to support the overhead loads.
Just a quick note on goals etc. I watched part of JFK’s moon speech, (on a rabbit trail with my kids, way off topic) and I realized something:
The moon wasn’t the goal because the moon mattered; the moon was a McGuffin. The goal was to push our technology and capability as a society. If you can put a man in a jar and land him on the moon, let him walk around, put him back in the jar and come back to earth, and have him SURVIVE, then you as a society will have had to figure out SO MANY THINGS TO GET THERE that you will now be much more advanced then before.
The moon didn’t matter. Getting to the moon mattered.
This could become a long-form blog but I’m not in the headspace to go there. Maybe @T3hPwnisher has already gone on at length about it.
But anyway that’s kind of the idea with O lifting. You can’t achieve a good o-lift without first figuring out a bunch of things that matter, and those things have positive impacts in other areas.
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Better answer!
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LOL I usually have a good answer, deep inside. But these days I don’t spend a lot of time here and it’s usually from my phone so I can’t fully explain myself with all the nuance etc
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A quick physique/healthy-living update while I have a moment:
-Before the Spartan race I think I did some front squats with my belt, and decided it was too loose. Today I used it and it was NOT too loose.
This tracks - I haven’t weighed myself but have put on probably 5 lbs last few weeks. Since the race I haven’t run, haven’t done much of the high-speed calorie-burning training I had been doing, AND have allowed myself to consume plenty of extra sugar. In fact wife bought ice cream for my birthday, and I’ve been eating it.
I’m OK with this, it’s just an observation, I haven’t become a slob overnight.
Leaving in a couple days for a trip, nutrition will be an interesting challenge eating no gluten and living on the road for 2 weeks in foreign countries, so who knows but I’ll likely lose weight on the trip.
Long story short, though, I do need to tighten up at some point and eliminate all refined sugars (again?). But it doesn’t have to be just yet. I’ll get there.
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One of us; one of us!
You got this dude.
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Tomorrow is 9/11.
I won’t be doing a special memorial workout, but I will comment on the significance of the date - something I never really introspected on until recently:
I turned 13 two days before 9/11. All of my teenage years occurred during the immediate aftermath of 9/11, watching America’s pursuit of… something… in response.
I enlisted in the military when I was 18, and when my ship deployed, it was in support of OIF/OEF.
Today a 23 year old wasn’t even born when it happened, hell even a 30 year old was too young to know what was going on at the time or remember that things were different before.
Something it did, I think, is give me a tangible realization that long-tail, seemingly implausible, extremely unlikely events CAN actually happen.
I won’t talk about the geopolitical side. Or draw editorial lines from that day, and the US reaction, to the state of global affairs today.
9/11/24 Wednesday
Last night played pickleball with a friend. Wow! What a game… it’s so full of rules, and everyone seems to know and understand the rules. I found it cognitively demanding just to keep track of it - while also getting used to a paddle that is bizzarrely “dead”.
It’s not like I’m good at tennis or badminton but I didn’t expect to be this bad at PB. Hopefully I get invited to play again but I’d forgive him if he never invited me again!
Training-adjacent note, it’s more intense than walking but less intense than, say, tennis.
Wednesday session:
BSS. 10x0, 5x45, 5x65, 5x85, and just about fell over during that set, 10x45.
Deadlift:
Started at 135 and worked up slowly. Topped out by doing some singles at 315 and 3 triples at 275.
This is WAY down from where I was in the past but that’s OK. I haven’t trained it seriously in a long time.
It did feel good.
After that, a lot of BTN, side raises, Y raises, etc. Triceps and even a little biceps.
Felt good. Ready for vaca.
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Happy belated Birthday! I hope you had an awesome day and that you have a great vacation!
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Still out, but have been putting training to good use. Biking and hiking, more hiking… lots of hills… typically with a backpack and/or a 35+lb child.
(Seriously mile per mile, i carry him more than he walks)
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Fantastic photos, love the one of you and your kid, that look on your face makes you look like your being oppressed by a tiny dictator! Sounds like a great holiday as well! Belated happy birthday.
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I had a wonderful trip, made it back last night.
After a long and miserable days of flying (Two days, actually, but the second one was worse) we were so jet-lagged, our bodies had no idea what time it was; I went to bed around 8 last night and got up for the day at 1:00 AM - just 5 hours later - after realizing around midnight that my body is simply convinced it’s daytime.
Training related:
On the plane I re-read some Dan John I still had on my Kindle app, and it inspired me to jot down some simple goals on a sheet of paper.
Now I can’t find it but it was something like this:
-Weigh in asap. If BW>190, immediately correct this to <190 by end of September.
-Keep BW <190 through the remainder of the year.
-By EOY, comfortably snatch 135LB and clean-and-jerk bodyweight. (Have been there before so this isn’t a stretch… in fact didn’t I just snatch 135 for a triple on 9/6? The sleep dep getting to me… Oh well. The C&J is close but I don’t know that today I can do BW so there’s a little stretch to this goal)
-While pursuing the above, and as 2025 approaches, make new goals to reach in 2025. Get on a meaningful program to pursue them, rather than just puttering around.
Pursuant to the above: My gym membership 1-year is about up anyway. So today I checked out a Marine Corps base gym, to which I have free access. It’s located near where I work, but just a bit out of the way - I’d never been on the base or even knew it was there. Camp H M Smith if anyone cares.
It was recommended to me by a dude who I met O-lifting at my current gym.
I checked it out today after work:
-It looks awesome. Multiple squat racks along a wall, tons of DBs, big open areas, plenty of everything. Similar to my own gym but more well-organized instead of nooks and crannies.
-There are bumper plates and at least one “platform” on which I think I could safely drop a loaded barbell.
-However, that platform is also a squat rack, and these are Marines, so I have a feeling that at 0600 there won’t be much chance of me getting on it.
-Even so, there’s an outdoor area with more bumper plates and a parking lot, and mats you can drag anywhere you want.
-Also, tons of KBs, possibly some strongman implements, not really sure - but it definitely looks like a badass environment.
I see a lot of upside, especially simply being surrounded by professionally athletic people; and the downside, which is that the desk person told me it’s going to be PACKED at my usual time.
I’ll give it a try in the morning, for better or worse, and update. I’ve never trained in the afternoons but at 2:30 PM when I went today, it was empty, so if nothing else it could be an opportunity for occasional after-work sessions if I want.
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Oh and part of being serious about these goals: Just ordered a pair of Nike Romaleos 4, weightlifting shoes.
I’ve been training in the same pair of Nike Metcons for 10 years!
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9/27/2024
Jetlag did me a big favor today. Woke up at 3:30 and so did my wife, so we took advantage of the time!
Then left the house around 4:30 to try the Marine base gym.
Freaking loved it, and unless something changes I don’t think I’m going back to my old gym.
Observations:
-By the time I’d normally be getting there (6:20) it was getting full and both O-platforms were taken I think, but it wasn’t swarming and I’d have had a shot at one. Even without one I could have O-lifted on the back patio.
-There were exactly ZERO hotties. That’s not a factor in gym selection, just an interesting observation. (Also doesn’t mean no female trainees were hot, it just means there weren’t any booty shorts… why am I explaining this? Jesus.)
-I witnessed a lot of courtesy. I think the fact that all these people are on the same “team” unlike strangers at a commercial gym, means there’s an assumed pre-existing relationship between all patrons. Like, I came near the platform, noticed someone was on it, and he immediately went out of his way to tell me it was his last set. Offered to wipe down the bar after. Whereas at old gym, you just pretend other people aren’t there.
OK 9/27 training log:
Snatch.
Warmed up with the bar, then 65, then did 3x3 at 85lb. Then a few at 105lb. Then a few at 125. Or maybe it was just one. Anyway I was pretty upset because I caught 125 at basically a full stand. NOT what I’m trying to do. Heavier weights are supposed to FORCE you to catch deeper, but for me, it’s all mental and I’m more confident in a taller position. Will fix this, just don’t know how yet.
Then, clean and jerk. Up to 135lb and did a few reps like this. Form was sloppy as hell.
Did a few jerks without the cleans.
Some overhead squats. Some bottom-of-snatch pressouts.
After that I puttered around checking out the gym.
GHD, abs, BTN, Y-raises, triceps and biceps for a couple little sets, chest-supported rows… leg ext… nothing of consequence.
And got to work early as hell.
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9/29 Sunday
Finally had a few minutes to skim (not enough to fully read, yet) the two books on weightlifting I bought. Also during a few drives, listened to youtube videos (Sika strength, Zach Telander, and Catalyst) specifically regarding identifying and addressing weaknesses in the O-lifts.
Officially starting a program tomorrow, as it is a Monday, and I was hoping to just plug-and-chug something from one of these books.
If only it were so simple.
I’ll eventually have to pay for someone to program for me, ideally after a video review of my lifts.
But in the meantime, for now,I chose a simple, two-day program from the Masters book, and assigned those to Monday and Friday; then sticking some things I think will be useful in on Wednesday.
Here’s what I came up with:
Monday
-Drills for Snatch, so that the snatches below are done with better form
-Snatch: 3x3, 3x2, 3x1 - no rx weight, but keep light for week 1 and take notes.
-Squat: 5x5, no RX weights but try to increase each set (unless topping out too fast) and take notes. No belt. Try for a higher bar -position and go low.
-Abs
-Spare time, if any exists: Y-raises, BTN, upper back stuff.
Wednesday
-Drills, Prep, etc. This is the most important part of this day but so far I’m to ignorant to say what it will be.
-Cleans: 8x1.
-Overhead Squat. No RX set/rep but take notes.
-Abs.
-Spare time, if any: Pullups, biceps, pressing/triceps.
Friday
-C&J: 5x2, 5x1.
-Front squat: 5x3. No belt. Take notes.
-Abs.
-Spare time, if any: Leg accessory.
A few thoughts going into this.
-I’ll never be able to snatch a weight I can’t overhead squat.
-I’ll never be able to fix my snatch and catch heavy weights low if I’m not strong and comfortable in the bottom position. So overhead squatting and drills such as pressouts in the bottom are a necessary foundation, AS WELL AS drills for actually catching lower.
-Would be good to find my clean max and my jerk max, and thus which one is limiting my C&J. I’m quite certain it’s the jerk, but a max clean for me is still probably a power clean. So dedicated clean practice to work on catching at the bottom of the front squat, because that’s the secret to unlocking a heavier clean.
-Relatedly: I’ll never C&J a weight I can’t front squat, and my front squat isn’t much higher than the C&J’s I’ve hit in training LOL, so time to crank up the front squats. I’ve done 225 before and will need to be there again. And in fact I can probably power-clean more than I can front squat - I’ve always been posterier-dominant. So fix this.
This should hold me over, and I’ll change it as needed on the fly, until I learn more and understand more, and likely eventually seek out some form of coaching.
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9/30/2024 Monday
3/week basic O-template, W1D1:
-Up at 0430. Arrived at gym at 0530.
Drills for snatch
A little progression from a muscle-only snatch with just the bar, to hang snatch with bar, to hang snatches with 65lb. Warms you up really good and I think it helped me catch lower, with a focus on NOT exploding the pull as much as I can (which tends to throw the bar up so high I don’t have to drop)
Snatch
3x3 at 65, 85, 85lb
3x2 at 105 (Notes are bad. May have only done 2x2 oops)
3x1 at 115
(Deliberately not adding weight. Starting light and giving room to progress with good technique.)
[32 minutes so far]
Squat
5x5 at 105, 135, 155, 155, 165
This with a higher bar and upright torso.
[38:26 so far]
Abs
3x5 “full monty” it’s what I’ll call the ab thing where you feet are locked in, your thighs are supported, so your legs are horizontal; back bend your head down to the ground then all the way up. About as full of an abdominal stretch/contraction as you can get.
Extras
Y-raises, BTNs, then some painful abomination that is a combination of the two on a flat bench.
Then a few minutes of stretching, focused on quads and hams.
[Total time about 52 minutes.]
A good start!
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10/2/2024 Wednesday
Up at 4:30, to gym around 5:30. Again no issue with crowding or rack access. Very happy with my choice to change.
Drills
I made a note on my program to do drills as needed as this point. However I haven’t had time to read my books and figure out what drills I need to be doing. So I just did some snatch balances and paid attention to my foot position. Need to get some go-to drills figured out and spend time on technique, that’s the point of my Wednesday plan.
Cleans
95, 95, 115, 115, 135, 135, 145, 155, 165, 165.
These were OK but not always. One of them I caught with vertical forearms, way out in front. On some I was overthinking and so far inside my own head it just wasn’t right. But all in all, good. I need to find out if my clean or my jerk is more limiting, I’m guessing it’s the jerk but probably not by much. However I don’t think it would take much to really increase my clean, just some practice.
Overhead Squat
95lbs, 5,5,8. Wrists hurt after this.
Abs
3x5 full-monte abs superset with 3x8 ghr.
Pullups
3x8
Pressing/triceps
3 sets of: 8 BTN,8 triceps ext,8 strict press; all with 40lb.
Biceps
3x8 biceps curls with 35, 40, 35lb DBs.
The end.
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10/4 Friday
Platforms were taken so had to start outside. Also forgot my headphones so was outside my comfort zone. No problem.
Clean-and-jerk
5x2:
65, 85, 105, 115, 115
5x1:
135, 145, 145, 145, 145
Then back inside to a rack:
Front squat
5x3
135, 145, (knee sleeves on) 155, 165, 175
abs
3x5 full monte ss 3x8 ghr
leg accessories
3x8 each seated ext and seated leg curl
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One-week summary:
This has been a good, solid week. Each session has left me sore but not feeling bad. I also feel like I have a lot of room for growth.
I’ve been motivated to wake up at 4:30 every morning to make sure I get a platform (though today I didn’t get one).
Time you spend training anything is time you could have spent training something else. Everything is a choice. So am I doing the right things with my 3 hours per week? TBD.
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