[quote]Nikki9591 wrote:
Alex is the best at this.
x75 thousand
You are indeed the philosopher of the group 
Very cool to read this log for just that reason
aw, you guys are really sweet to me.
i reckon logging numbers and reps (quantity) and logging how training felt (quality) are two complementary aspects. i probably focus so much on the latter because the former is isn’t working so well for me.
i’m a bit embarrassed about all my ramblings, but editing down to clear, succinct ideas is… well… too much like thesis work for me to be bothered. that being said, i certainly don’t expect anyone to be bothered reading it all and i do appreciate the words of encouragement, comments, and suggestions that people offer very much indeed.
i thought you had those shoes, masch. i love mine, too!
TRAINING
pretty exhausted today after a full on day with both functions and tutoring work.
eva / rolling warm-up. massive knots in my calves after the stretching work i did with my new shoes yesterday. will spend a long time on rolling / stretching them again tomorrow.
SNATCH - feeling pretty good again. felt like i was pulling vertically rather than horizontally, anyway, so pretty happy with that. worked up to 4 singles @35kg.
FRONT SQUATS - 8x3@35kg (had some failures last time)
warm-up
15kg 1x3
20kg 1x3
25kg 1x3
30kg 1x3
35kg 1x3
work sets
40kg 5x3
40kg 2, 1
40kg 1, 2
40kg 2, 1
more failures than last time dammit! still, was better fed and rested last time. my body will eventually learn that it is less work to do them than to do them plus have a couple extra reps that didn’t quite make it up.
possibly i wasn’t warmed up enough. abs / lumbar arch not quite as tight as i’d like. will keep an eye on this. maybe better to move to sets of 5 for 15kg and 20kg. should have done abs but bailed. abs tomorrow.
[quote]alexus wrote:
more failures than last time dammit! still, was better fed and rested last time. my body will eventually learn that it is less work to do them than to do them plus have a couple extra reps that didn’t quite make it up.
.[/quote]
I see you suffer from the mind/body dichotomy too. I often talk to my body like it is something separate from me-- a spoiled, lazy child who refuses to learn her lessons. But,more and more I think if I could shut my mind the fuck up and let my body just take over things would be so much better for me. But my mind is such a mommy dearest–so damn loud and dominating.
I keep hearing things along this line.
What the hell is going on with me? ;D
Don’t be embarrassed, obvously we appreciate all the feedback you give yourself lulz
Awesome work today, there are days when we don’t do as stellar as the last time. I had that day today as well. Just gotta be grateful that you didn’t cave.
I can easily bail on abs too.
LOL I talk to not only my body, but to myself (I’m an only child and a Gemini - lethal combo). I address myself as “fuckhead.”
Glad the squats are improving!
[quote]alexus wrote:
more failures than last time dammit! still, was better fed and rested last time. my body will eventually learn that it is less work to do them than to do them plus have a couple extra reps that didn’t quite make it up.
.[/quote]
I see you suffer from the mind/body dichotomy too. I often talk to my body like it is something separate from me-- a spoiled, lazy child who refuses to learn her lessons. But,more and more I think if I could shut my mind the fuck up and let my body just take over things would be so much better for me. But my mind is such a mommy dearest–so damn loud and dominating.
Only a day late! Or maybe two days late for you down-unda…not sure, that whole time difference boggles my mind.
Anyways, the reason I wanted to come in here and muse is because I totally had the same thought on the level of standards going up on the pulls for myself. So while things are getting better and indeed less frustrating, its like, I just want to snatch PERFECTLY! I know I can land a snatch, but I want it to “feel” perfect. And frankly, who knows how long that will take. I mean, I wonder if it will always feel this way - not perfect. Even when I snatch almost perfect, I know that there is something I didn’t do. lol! Is that ever going stop?
lol @ optimized for addiction! Too true.
As for that variation on the squatting - my squats are the same way. Some days I can kill it and some days my body just hates me and says no. I don’t particularly like squatting, so for me a lot of variables are involved - mental and physical. so just keep at em and, like I always say, capitalize on your strong days. so if for some reason you see that you’re getting all your reps, try another set, up the weight, see if you can outdo yourself, then go eat a big meal. lol!. But yeah, those hulk strong days are few and far between (at least for me).
Btw, you think you will have to re-learn the snatch with the new shoes? Is the heel that much of a difference? My coach just told me that It might behoove me to get a higher heel…i don’t want to relearn anything!! I told him, i’ll just get more flexible.
Lol @ Nadia’s mommy dearest. I actually agree with you on shutting up the mind - I think the body moves more fluidly when you just allow it to do its thing, and the outcome is always surprising. I need to learn this as well, especially since I spend so long in the pull positions imagining the lift. If i just grabbed the bar and went for it, i’m sure I’d be pleasantly surprised.
Alright m’lady - have a wonderful day!! keep killing it! Looking forward to seeing your snatch, sounds like its moving along perfectly!
make a front squat vid wearing your new shoes ! 
I actually come to your log to read your ‘ramblings’ so keep it up.
Also looking forward to seeing your snatch. Very impressive progress in here. Onward and upward, right?
i’ve lost the joy. i blame squats. they really are taking it out of me. feel like all i’m doing is squatting or recovering from squatting.
yesterday… was supposed to be enjoying snatching… felt heavy. lethargic. slow. couldn’t be bothered. did 25 minutes on the AMT (cardio) and realized i really don’t feel very comfortable / enjoy the cardio room. spent quite a while trying to get better dorsiflexion.
today… was supposed to be enjoying snatching… or if that didn’t feel good then today was supposed to be 5x5 back squat day. made sure i was well fueled and rested. but no joy today either. felt to tired / lethargic for the grind of squats even.
i don’t know…
maybe squats 2x per week rather than 3x…
will see how i feel tomorrow. next day is scheduled day off.
my calves are full of knots. spent a long time rolling them but feels like the knots sieze back up couple seconds after they have been released. guess that is a good sign that i got more ankle dorsiflexion.
i want my joy to come back 
thanks for saying how you found squats, masch. i’ve been… thinking i should be making beginners gains on squats (with the weight going up each workout) but i’m not sure that is feasible for me after all. i’m sure i can’t be very close at all to my genetic potential on squats… but whatever. can only do the best i can do and seems that squats just do suck sometimes. so… i better accept that because that is the way it seems to be.
with respect to learning to snatch again… it is more about my squat problems. less heel lift requires me to have a wider stance and / or push my knees out to the sides more or i’ll fall over backwards. i suppose i could just work on my ankle dorsiflexion to eventually be able to squat with my new shoes in my regular stance… but i was thinking about learning to pull / catch snatches with a slightly wider stance. the slightly wider stance feels weaker to stand up. probably because it is more adductor and less quads.
i will take vids soon in both pairs of shoes. hopefully then people will get what i mean…
Oh no! That isn’t good Lex!
What if you cut your squats way back to once or twice a week and focused on the lifts for a bit? I was just reading something from Glenn Pendlay about the lifts training the squat as much as the squat training the lifts and that’s also what was recommended to me to cut back on squats and just clean because the cleans will improve my squat. He was talking about doing a lot of cleans in place so I don’t know how that would be.
I mean, if it’s no longer fun you can’t have that! I think there is a way. You can even go back to squatting more frequently after a time too.
Your joy will come back! Don’t get too discouraged, this is a frustrating sport!
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
I just want to snatch PERFECTLY! I know I can land a snatch, but I want it to “feel” perfect. And frankly, who knows how long that will take. I mean, I wonder if it will always feel this way - not perfect. Even when I snatch almost perfect, I know that there is something I didn’t do. lol! Is that ever going stop?[/quote]
yes yes yes.
even if I snatch 110, if it’s not perfect, it’s like… fuck, who cares. quite the annoying sport, seriously.
BUT, there is hope.
you have good coaching, it will come in time. that ‘perfect’ snatch WILL COME, as long as you keep olympic lifting and don’t get too upset, and just enjoy it. be patient with every training session. don’t get mad, just learn from it. don’t do extra work by doing a million snatches after you are already drained in the gym from your workout… I’ve done this before, it is not a good idea and will just get you pissed off. But trust me, the perfect snatch exists, and it will come. I started this bullcrap when I was 19ish, I’m 22 now, and I just recently (in the past 6 months) found that ‘perfect snatch’. It’s PR time baby.
this sport is like a game of chess. pick your battles.
this was a philosophical one, wasn’t it? 
well… i didn’t squat today… but i found the joy!
nothing spectacular… but the bar was playing well (body felt pretty vertical). worked up to a few at 35, 36, and 37kg. 37.5kg didn’t want to play. but that was because i wasn’t yelling properly. need to be starting to yell before the bar reaches my knees, else it means i’m not keeping my hips down and / or building momentum.
i think that 3 heavy (max) squat sessions a week is too much for me to recover from right now. will keep doing 3 sessions - but one of those can be lighter. i’ll also see how i feel with respect to having either 1 or 2 days rest between them. keeping the joy is really important to me. and when my snatches go well (even when they look crappy on vid) i’m very happy indeed.
debra - i think that coaches de-emphasize squatting for people who have a strong squat already. unfortunately, my squat is far from strong. i do need to be serious about them… but need to keep the joy, too, of course. even if it means my squat goes up more slowly than it could otherwise.
i think i’ve got a bit more of a ROM in my ankle. some serious muscle knots in my calves. my ankles feel weaker. i guess an increased ROM will be weaker through that ROM for a while. takes time to get mobility… then time to strengthen that movement. maybe this is part of what is going on for me? as my squat gets better (with my ankles coming forwards just that little bit more) my squat gets weaker again? one can hope. whatever… this is a recreational activity for me.
yeah, andy, it is important to pick ones battles. wise words, indeed.
Whew! I just caught up and was about to come up with an inspirational speech that would bring your joy back and then bam you already had it. I think three heavy squats a week is too much unless you are a beginner. But, I have had success throwing in Light High Volume squats several times a week. Good job listening to your body!
Sometimes you just have to let yourself “have a day”. We all have them. When my joy is gone, it usually means I need quality SLEEP! I’ve decided to pull back from the dreaded squats a bit and just try to go really low ass to grass, form, technique, focus…not sexy but I don’t think pushing the weight up is going to help them right now.
I’m glad you found the joy. If you’re not enjoying your training, you have to change it to something that you can enjoy.
If you squat 3 times a week, have you considered doing one session with 12+ reps, another with moderate reps and the other with heavy squats?
YAY! Glad you found the joy! (have you been listening to Donny reading Genesis again?). Its important to remember that this is supposed to be fun, no?
I like Niks idea about the high rep day (no better way to build muscle than with volume, if you ask me). I usually do 1 heavy front squat day, 1 heavy back squat day and 1 high reps day of whichever one I want to do, also depending on what needs work. I like squatting 3x a week.
You’ll figure out what works for you and what keeps your mojo going. Don’t be afraid to cycle things up - as long as you’re working on your main lifts, the other stuff you can change up if you feel like you’re over it.
Alexus, great news!
Don’t forget your snatch and your squat are pretty close, so you are working your squat hard there too. In my case less squatting was recommended because I could better use the time and energy for cleans but in your case your other lifts are so matched to your squats that if your doing a lot of the lifts you are already squatting a lot.
I sent you a link in a pm to the discussion from Glenn Pendlay but here’s a quote:
[quote]
"I did a bit of an experiment a 3-4 years ago with a couple of brothers who had trained for 6 months and were, as I remember 13 and 15 years old. For that 6 months, they had done a standard amount of squatting, usually multiple sets of 5 on monday and friday, and sets of 3 on the front squat on wednesday. They had both made reasonable progress on the squat, both moved up at least one weight class, etc. Both also clean and jerked about the same as they could front squat, and about the same as they could do for a set of 5 on the back squat.
I had both of them STOP doing any squats for 6 months, and replaced that by having them do about double the cleans in training each week that they had been doing. They both did well, continued to make progress, etc. After 6 months I let them both do 2-3 workouts on the back squat to get familiar with the exercise again, then tested them for a 5 rep max. I found that they had progressed almost exactly the same on the back squat in the 6 months where they didnt squat as they did in the 6 months where they were squatting 3 times a week. Seems that adding 20kg to your clean does in fact affect the back squat.
I dont recommend stopping back squatting. But this really showed me that the lifts and the squats both affect each other, its not a one way street."[/quote]
Anyways, it’s not to say you should stop squatting or working on your squat as much as to say with the weights your using on your lifts you are already doing a lot of squats and so you’re putting in a lot of work so you don’t have to feel like you are giving much up by squatting a little less. You’re already squatting way more than most.
I forgot to say I did 5x5 standing press yesterday, too. @25kg. Ready to put the weight up to 27.5kg next time because my abs are starting to activate better. Did 3x 60 sec 25kg planks, too.
Today…
Some snatching. Trying to have fun. Had some fun. Worked up to 37.5kg. Lots of misses (FINISH THE PULL!!!)
Thanks for saying that stuff about energy Nimain… I’m thinking… Anger. Anger seems to work for me. When guys at the gym crowd me that really gets to me. Also… I used to be a person who would walk around with my head down and I’d avoid or move out of peoples way. Now… I’m holding my head up more and feeling a lot more secure in my walking stride. Fairly effortless to negotiate my way around people who are aware. But some people don’t seem to be. Mostly guys. They think I should move out of their way, I realize. I don’t. That seems to surprise them. It makes me feel mad. I suspect it is triggering something for me… The best lifts I make are the ones where I feel that someone has got in my face / personal space because they weren’t properly respectful / aware of me. So… Something in that that I need to learn to channel for my lifting.
Some sinus infection stuff, perhaps. Just need to sleep a lot… Weather has turned pretty cold here… Take it a bit easy…
Squats tomorrow (guys around so I’ll get 'em done).
Thanks for the encouragement, guys.