[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
hel320 wrote:
When talking to the young, remember, it’s all about them. Having never been on an Oly training regiment I’m not sure what a lot of volume is but 9 x 3 sounds pretty good.
…
I actually felt so strong (for me) that I thought I had that 305 for two but I buried myself on the second rep and didnt risk bouncing my way out. It sort of amazes me that I can do full OL squats at all at my age as I feel like I risk blowing out my knees on the higher weights. But my wrists hurt me and my knees don't so I guess I'm safe. I don't have an alternative anyway given this goal of mine except I did think maybe I should do some heavier half squats to help the thrust on the jerk.
Anyway, its been a good week so far on my OL plan. Doc[/quote]
[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
hel320 wrote:
When talking to the young, remember, it’s all about them. Having never been on an Oly training regiment I’m not sure what a lot of volume is but 9 x 3 sounds pretty good.
Well said about the younguns. Those children have plenty of time to play, so they can spend a couple of hours training and tally up pretty impressive “volume.” Plus, this is the standard of training volume well established by the masters of the sport, the Russians and Bulgarians. Of course, the lifters of those countries are basically professional athletes (admittedly not paid well) and have nothing else to do but train.
I have an hour and a half to train max based on my life responsibilities and with the stretching time needed this cuts my actual weight time to an hour. This is still plenty good enough to do what I need to do now, as I pretty much am spent after two major exercises/lifts. I imagine when my conditioning gets better I might be able to train with more intensity and get in more “volume” even in the same time.
Today, I actually only had time for one lift due to night call, but I got in front squats. I have never loved squats but one thing I love about them is that, like deads, you sometimes can go in the gym and just be twenty pounds stronger for no good reason. Such was the case today. After my usual multiple warm-up sets to get the knees lubed and the butt down to bottom, I hit a nice stretch:
5x185
5x225
3x245
3x265
2x285
1x305
I actually felt so strong (for me) that I thought I had that 305 for two but I buried myself on the second rep and didnt risk bouncing my way out. It sort of amazes me that I can do full OL squats at all at my age as I feel like I risk blowing out my knees on the higher weights. But my wrists hurt me and my knees don’t so I guess I’m safe. I don’t have an alternative anyway given this goal of mine except I did think maybe I should do some heavier half squats to help the thrust on the jerk.
Anyway, its been a good week so far on my OL plan. Doc[/quote]
Awesome work Doc! Your battle is one of pure will, so inspiring.
It’s good to see some new folks posting, that usually means my efforts are getting better. I can actually see my body changing to reflect my different focus…my legs and traps are growing, my biceps and pecs are shrinking. The groove of my various lifts is becoming more smooth and I am having less flying weights in my gym.
Got a big workout planned for today…we’ll see what good triples and doubles I can do in the power clean and then jerks off the rack after. Doc
This story is too good to be true, but I can’t make this stuff up.
So today, I finally found a shoe repairman in town, an apparently endangered species. I brought my Adidas OL shoes and told him I wanted a half inch heel added to it. Now here is this small, old Asian man you would think would just do as I asked but he says, in an adamant voice:
“NO! TOO HIGH. NO GOOD”
I just shake my head and start explaining:
“I’m a weightlifter and I need…”
“No good. Bad for balance. I know shoes. I know weightlifting. I lift for Korea National Team in 1966, I squat 250. Kilos. You fall forward with big heels.”
“But you don’t understand. I am pretty old and inflexible and I can’t get into proper position…”
This guy doesnt let me finish a single sentence. He disappears and goes into his shop and comes out and drops two heel lifts on the floor, each only 1/4 inch thick. He then drops into perfect ass to ground squat position, hands holding an imaginary bar, and says:
“Now you! You put on shoes with these heels and squat!”
By now I realize I have met the Kim Jong Il of shoe repair guys so I dont argue anymore. I squat and show him how my heels rise up badly. So he goes and gets some new heels, this time 3/8 inch thick, and says:
“This is all, I give you no thicker. This or nothing.”
I try the new heels and they are just barely high enough but they’ll do.
“I’ll take these.”
“OK, why you lift now? Is young man sport, and bad for bones.”
“I want to win the Amrican Master’s competition. I only need about 110/150 to win this.”
“110/150? This is weight for children. You big, strong, you do this now, yes?”
“Well, I might, if you can fix these (goddamn) shoes for me.”
You’d think that was enough, but as I was pulling out of the parking lot this guy comes running out toward me, limping as he came.
“You forget receipt.”
“You have a bad leg?”
“Yes, lifting bad for bones!”
!!Doc
The story of my shoe repairman was better than my workout, so I posted that first. I did workout, and after my last two inspired workouts I was ready to lift a ton. But within a few sets into my powercleans I could tell there were no great advances coming today. Just felt tired. However, I plugged away and toward the end popped up a few good ones:
3x5x135
5x185
3x225
3x255
3x255
2x275
The good news here is that my racks were better, elbows slightly higher, and my shoulder didnt hurt until the last set. But because it did, I called it a day. Didnt want to ruin a great week pushing my luck on jerks. May try today. Doc
OK! I got my high heels (medium heels?) back from the Korean shoe dictator and he let me know it was time to lift “BIG WEIGHT!” or he would send his people to take back my shoes.
So I did my shoulder “prehab” and then set about to powersnatching. The shoes immediately made it easier to have proper posture.
5x95
5x95
3x135
3x155
2x175
1x185
1x200
Amen. The Korean will let me live to lift another day.
Did eight sets of front military pressess…just sets of 5x135 trying to get comfortable with the jerk position but got a ways to go here.
BTW, I looked in the mirror and decided I have “reverse body dysmorphic disorder,” which means I actually have thought I look much better than I do. I have become a mutant pot bellied pig (with nice traps). Guess trying to get to a solid 275 at my age with a T level of 450 just aint gonna happen. Oh well, I don’t need all that weight after all, I ran around the block with my son and about had a coronary. Time to clean up the diet. Doc
[quote]hel320 wrote:
How much do you think a strong mil press brings to the C&J? Looks to me like the better your C&J form the less pure pressing strength you’d need.[/quote]
Sometimes Hel I get the feeling you don’t think I know what I’m doing. (Don’t worry, this is a joke because half the time I don’t.)
My thinking on the military presses is simply that the front jerk right now is very uncomfortable (wrists especially, shoulders also), and I have absolutely no sense of a groove whatsover. I’m not particularly keen on jerking into my chin again, so I just want to get comfortable with the jerk position first. I think for now I will use light weights and do military presses, then push presses, then push jerks, and then finally full jerks. I can do heavy behind the neck push jerks right now so I may include those also while I am trying to reestablish the front jerk groove.
It is sort of sad that my body and OL are at war right now. After my 200 powersnatch I have a pulled muscle starting from my left neck going down to and around my shoulder. At work they called me “The Tin Man” because of how frozen and stiff I was. Somebody give me an oil can!
The war aint over until I say it is over. I figure i’m winning several battles right now. Doc
Actually, most of my questions are just that, questions. Sometimes a cigar…oh never mind. I’m not subtle enough to be circumspect in my questioning and I know next to nothing about training for the Oly lifts. I can see though that if your dip/split/whatever under the bar after the clean is good enough the bar need’nt move up at all.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Actually, most of my questions are just that, questions. Sometimes a cigar…oh never mind. I’m not subtle enough to be circumspect in my questioning and I know next to nothing about training for the Oly lifts. I can see though that if your dip/split/whatever under the bar after the clean is good enough the bar need’nt move up at all.[/quote]
For not knowing how to train for o-lifts your cleans are up there.
I can appreciate anyone struggling with the o-lifts
as I struggle with them all the time :).
can you OH squat?
those are my food and water[/quote]
I appreciate your imput…especially on your two threads I am catching up on…as it is obvious on my thread mobility/flexibillity will either make or break my OL hopes.
I have been doing OH squats…but just barely able to do them with my old shoes and a half inch board under my heels. I will see how they go either today or this weekend with my new now famous shoes!
The shoe story…it was all true and I actually forgot to tell parts of the story. The Korean asked me what country I was from…
“You no look American. what country you from?”
I paused, thinking of the best answer. I decided to go with my Mother’s country.
“I’m from Lithuania.”
“What? What?”
“Sorry, LITVAHNIA. (proper international pronunciation).”
“Oh, yes. But you lift with Russians?”
“NO NO! We hate Russians just as much as you. Litvanians fight Russians for freedom.”
“OK, better. But my country…better lifters. Litvanians play basketball. Why you not just
Just play basketball?”
“Bad for feet.”
The story also reminds me, on a more serious note, that life is always about the journey more than the destination. I need to cherish this journey I am on. Were I not taking on this highly unlikely goal to return to OL competition and win something this chance encounter would never have happened. Nor would I have as much interest from good guys like you who post on this thread. Doc