RAWR!!! back atcha! 
Hi Alexus
I was just watching your last snatch vid along with Deb’s. It seems like it is fear of the weight keeping you from shoving yourself under the higher weight, although you got it the next time you tried, so you can handle the weight. What would happen if you got under a too heavy weight and couldn’t control it? Would it fall forward or backwards? Have you thought about having a plan for this, maybe a plan would alleviate the fear of getting under the heavier weights.
Just a thought: When I would have to perform or step in front of an audience I would always have a plan of how to deal with screw ups or nasty people in the audience, it made me feel more confident to have a just-in-case plan. I’m not sure if this would help with oly lifting, but maybe.
You had a great snatch session today. I could’ve told ya that you had it in you ;D
Lots of progress going on in here!
Did I get it right that your gym has a real GHR? That’s what the pic you posted looks like. If so, I am very jealous.
Your gym snack sounds delicious. Something that I’d eat. Thumbs up on the addition of dark chocolate… makes anything a bit better.
I like to see the OLY vids over here. So awesome. My hyper set up looks like Nikki’s but I’ve got the plats at my chest. Must try this behind the head maneuver. Yum to the trail mix.
As for the vertically challenged having naturally awesome squat capabilities - Not in my case. 
I think Nikki is just a natural athlete.
TRAINING:
usual eva / softball rolling warm-up (only one set of goblet squats)
Snatch.
getting faster with my bar warm-up
20kg 1x3
25kg 1x3 (these are considered part of warm-up now)
30kg 2x3 feeling good so:
32.5kg 1x2 didn’t know i had a double at that weight in me round two:
32.5kg 1x2 - 1, 0, 1. can’t remember what happened there…
32.5kg single.
33.5kg 1, 1
35kg 1, 1, 0, 0, 1
OMFG I GOT THE BUMPERS!!! WOO HOO!!!
fairly high catch position which probably means I’ve got more in me with respect to being able to get myself further under it. pretty motivated to do squats, now, since my snatch is starting to hit upon my max squat. heh.
pretty excited at this point which made me want to bail for some reason…
GHR (assisted) 3x5. couple chin-ups. did bail.
WHOO!! Great job Alexus!! :D!!!
thanks MOM
i think it was partly fear, Charlie. i need to be careful about dropping the training plates too hard since they aren’t really designed to be dropped. i guess i’m fairly comfortable with losing the bar forwards, but the thought of losing the bar backwards scares me a bit. feels to me that i’m more likely to drop the bar backwards if i pull it harder, because that seems to make it arch. know i have the muscle to rebalance 25kg when it is on its way behind me, but i was scared to pull heavier weights harder in case i didn’t have the muscle to rebalance them.
have learned that the heavier the weights are the more i finish the pull so the less arch there is in the bar path, though. so now it feels like i’ve been given permission / have gained the confidence to really pull the crap out of it. 35kg is the bumpers on the women’s bar. at that point i will indeed learn to safely drop the weight behind me so that i won’t be as scared of that anymore (that one seems to remain a bit freaky, though, i think).
thanks nikki finding i have even more in me than i thought…
i got excited that it might be a GHR too, vege. it only has one ankle pad, though, and the width between the ankle pad and the thigh pad is fixed. it doesn’t support the knee so i don’t think it is possible to GHR with it. I GHR with the cable row machine, though (hopefully the pic attaches).
thanks powerpuff. nobody will ever rightly be able to say i have a natural ability or talent for this. it really is amazing to watch those who are naturally gifted, though, i think. at least i have a newfound appreciation for both the natural talent and the dedication and hard work that is required for the truly elite.
Oh yeah, that bar path you’re aiming for is definitely ideal. I might print that pic out and keep it in my log to remind myself. Thanks!
Your back ext machine looks like the GHR machine I’m in love with! Too bad its not adjustable - or else that could def double up as a GHR device.
Yay for getting your RAWR on girl!! And i looks like that worked! You’re snatch numbers are looking great. 35kg is awesome!
And woo hoo for bumpers! Like Andy said, we ladies need balls, and these plates will definitely give you the confidence to drop them I still have mental barriers to dropping the plates - maybe I should practice some fails. HAHAHAH! Ah…
Keep up the good work Lex! Its coming together!
Wow, when you jerk or do the other OH oly movements, you’re supposed to drop the bar behind you?
I’m with you, it seems freaky to me too lol
Nice getting the 35kg snatch. Practice missing snatches behind. Its easy, but kinda scary until you do it a few times. Training seems to be going well. As always I’m impressed by your determination and work ethic.
thanks guys
TRAINING:
usual eva / softball rolling. 2x5 goblet squats 10kg, 15kg. spent longer than usual stretching out my feet after a longer than usual work shift.
SNATCH (VOLUME - 8 WORK SETS)
bar warm-up - getting faster. 20kg double, 25kg double.
30kg 3x3.
32.5kg double attempt - 1, 0, 1 - chickened out on the pull. standing it up was feeling heavy so not getting under properly. more profitable to:
30kg 1x3
30kg triple attempt - 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 - can’t remember what happened.
30kg 2x3
Feeling pretty good. Only recently learned that I could do 30kg for a triple and this is the first time I’ve done this volume in a while (usually cutting them at 30 minutes). Starting with ‘chest up’ which is pulling my hips down even more. Can feel my hips wanting to rise early but fighting that and I think when I’m successful at that the bar moves back from the floor. Trying to be faster, too, but that is a few to many things at once lol. Feeling like I’m making progress anyway
FRONT SQUAT (8x3 WORK SETS)
20kg 1x5, 25kg 1x3, 30kg 1x3.
35kg 8x3.
Felt pretty good (though ran out of food!) Fighting my abs caving and legs are taking a while to get the bar moving up, but pretty good. Will try and move at least 3 of those sets to 37.5kg next time.
ABS: Plank 60 seconds, 15kg. There was wobbling.
Need to check when my deload is supposed to start because I’m starting to feel that I’m getting a bit ready for one! Having a day off might fix it…
Awesome news about your snatch! Big improvements make me smile, so happy for you.
Also very excited for your FS. FS volume is no joke but you’ll nail the 37,5
I know nothing about OLY training, but you seem excited and I’m glad to read your’remaking progress! Now take a rest day. I remember being awed by the amount of time you spend in the gym. You train a lot and often!
Looks like a good session, what signs is your body giving you that you need a deload?
Is **your nutrition okay? Training 6 days a week can be taxing unless your diet backs you up. Unless you’re deloading around that time of month, but if that’s not the reason for the frequent deloads, maybe you need more fuel for your workouts?
**Edit: Now I can’t spell ‘your’. WOW
Yeah to what Nikki said. I am eating so much red meat right now and so much food in general. These lifts are really hard work and appetite building! But if I keep up with the eating, I don’t need to back off on the weights much.
alexus, you are working strong! Your feet don’t seem to be limiting you any, which is awesome! I’m still stretching mine out too.
the last thing i feel like doing when contemplating squat volume is laughing, vege. i know my ‘volume’ isn’t really volume at all, heh.
i have had much advice that is probably really very good advice re: squats… i’m thinking that my body is telling me something with those, though, and i want to try at least 4-6 weeks of listening to it. it is saying i need to keep the reps at about 5 for good form. it is also saying ‘you are a wuss’, however. so i need to find a balance between sets of 5 for form and manipulating my psychology so i get heavier weights up.
if i know i can do it for a single then i know a double isn’t too far away. if i know i can get a double a triple isn’t too far away. then four… then finally five.
so… one day of 5x5 for greasing the form. one day of 8x3 (heavier weight for triples) which is a balance between greasing form and working at harder weights (also trying to turn the triple into 4 and eventually 5 reps to plug into the sets of 5). one day of working on my max. trying to get a new one / trying to turn an old one into a double and eventually a triple to plug into the 8x3. i’m hoping this is a good balance for me that will see heavier weights discovered on max day, turned into triples day, and finally plugging into the sets of five.
i’m optimistic and kind of excited about trying this strategy - so i’m hoping that my feeling about it will see it work for a while at least even if it isn’t the most sensible strategy. time will tell.
thanks nadia! i’m resting today. feet are shot from yesterday. work shift had them curled up all fetal (if it makes sense to say that of feet) and while i did manage to stretch them out some they promptly seized up after training so i could barely walk
I rucked!!! Realized that I do ruck once per week when I carry my groceries home! It might not sound like much, but I do eat a fair amount of tinned fish and kilos of fruit / veges etc. milk. chicken. 30 minutes unweighted ‘warm-up’ heh, and 30 minutes lugging the damned things home.
carry food → eat → get stronger → carry more food → eat more food → get stronger → carry even more food etc.
guess it keeps my strength / bodyweight balance in check heh.
nikki - more food, yes. i’m also really very bad at training only 6 days per week. i think ‘just a couple snatches - okay?’ on my day off and end up snatching for 1 1/2 hours. haven’t had a day off since… last time i posted i had one… think i need to listed to my body when it feels like a day off because that happens very rarely for me (about once every two or three weeks). i most certainly do have light days, though. in order to train like that.
yes deb, more food… i really am trying. lots of snacking on nuts… have a good protein powder now, too. making much more of an effort to chuck back a lot of veges. hooked on avocado (at least half of one per day). love dairy (lots of whole milk, cheese). a perk to the functions work i’m doing is that we get free food around the shifts. i’m trying to be a bit careful of all the cookies - and basically use it as an opportunity to load up on meat that is a bit expensive and time consuming for me to bother with (salmon steaks, roast lamb / beef etc). people do look at me strangely for loading up my plate with meat and a little salad - mostly feta chunks and olives (pass on the rice thanks) lol. getting more than a few ‘where on earth do you put it?’ questions / looks heh.
thanks kimba. still not good enough to jerk, unfortunately. still… if i hadn’t done so much work on them i don’t think the functions work would have been possible for me… and i think they are slowly, gradually, getting better. going to ask whether i can wear my vibrams to work but pretty sure the answer will be ‘no’. my ‘dress shoes’ are docs - fairly flat wide sole. still, my feet just want to curl up and drop off after 4 or 5 hours on my feet with them. will get some black socks to wear with my vibrams and see if i can get my boss in a good mood to ask…
sounds good to me! regular squats i too can’t train much more then singles and doubles :{ they are taxing! and i also get bad from quick trying to rep out with those. you can use lighter stuff for the fun sets.
sounds good to me! regular squats i too can’t train much more then singles and doubles :{ they are taxing! and i also get bad from quick trying to rep out with those. you can use lighter stuff for the fun sets.