[quote]nlmain wrote:
in terms of volume I’d rather hit 10 sets of 5 reps over 5 sets of 10 reps. The breather between sets reminds me to reset my cues, something I don’t do if I’m just churning them out.[/quote]
Frenchie, that makes a lot of sense. In gymnastics, I’m resetting after each skill or each skill series. So, I see now that low reps is the better way to go. Thanks.
thanks guys 
the nasal spray bottle is a great idea. don’t know why i though that it was supposed to go down your throat… i’ll look into getting one then can refill it with salt water.
don’t know why i got it into my head that more reps would be done with the same weight. so… taking a 5x5 weight and doing fewer sets with more reps at that same weight. so i’ve been thinking no way am i going to do that! but i guess the idea is to use a lighter weight and do more of a greasing the groove perfect rep thing with it… i think i might be up for that. trying sets of 10 or something with a lighter weight to try and feel some muscle burn or something.
so true that there is so much time to try different things, masch. i’ve been stuck in the whole ‘i’m just a beginner (look at my numbers!) so i should be making beginners gains on a 5x5 squat program!’ time to face facts… i’m not.
i need to look into 5/3/1 a bit more, i think. i’ve been reluctant because of the math :-/ realized that every time i squat i’m trying to match or better what i did last time and that isn’t feasible. doesn’t matter how sucky my squat is that approach isn’t working very well for me. is the whole ‘i don’t want to reset my maxes’ thing about people not wanting to go back to lifting lighter weights for a while before trying for a new PR?
because if that is what it is about… i really like the idea of backing off for a bit (greasing the groove) and building up to a new max. rather than going for a new max every squat session and then just feeling really demoralized when i don’t get it. or kind of ashamed if i don’t feel up to trying. anyway… bre sent me some excel spreadsheets so i’ll have a looksee and see if i can make sense of how to use it for my squats… maybe try it next month.
anger… i don’t know if that is what it is. i just need to be pretty amped up to finish the pull properly. techno music to get my heart pumping. coffee… nicotine… i kinda feel like if someone slapped me a bit and got in my face a bit then i’d finish the pull much better. or i’d break down crying and go hide in the corner. lol. i don’t know. i know some people say too much arousal and you are too ballistic… but i haven’t experienced that.
deloading…
just a few snatches today. worked up to a few sets of triples @30kg with a bit of rest between reps.
yesterday… snatches… was making progress with getting amped up and yelling since i had the room to myself then totally lost it when a couple people came in. got too self conscious about yelling… did some front squats. sets of 5. up to 3 sets @ 30kg. 25kg feels like a nice work weight for being really strict about form. sad, but true. some paused in the hole. some trying to bounce out the hole.
deloading…
think i’ll take tomorrow off and go for some heavy squats on Saturday.
[quote]alexus wrote:
techno music to get my heart pumping. coffee… nicotine…
[/quote]
Love it! Now all we need is a bump and we’re ready to party! =D
(And by “bump” I obviously mean the second extension…)
You’ll find what sets/reps work for you. If you’re looking to increase numbers AND get the technique down, I agree, a 5/3/1 type program will probably get that job done.
Happy deloading!
I know what you mean about getting amped up, though I have a tougher time doing it in the gym than I do during other sports. I usually pick a song I like - dance around, sing along then go lift. Basement gym FTW!
What I like about 5/3/1 is that it lays out my numbers for me each week. If I don’t have that then I tend to be a bit inconsistent. Since your training max is 90% of your true max, you’ll be starting out lifting less weight which might give you that time to work on your technique. I think it is a plan that you have to stick with for a few months to see the benefit.
Enjoy your deload!
I will throw my thumbs up in for 5-3-1. However, it is REALLY important and psychologically difficult to set your maxes low and not deviate from this as you go along, no matter how “good” you’re feeling that day. If you start convincing yourself that you didn’t work hard enough that day, or that your max has certainly gone up since you started the program 2 weeks ago (arbitrary time), you will at best hate life and at worst get really injured (I speak with some serious experience here).
On another note, it’s been fun to look through your log, as well as others who are olympic lifting. Since I’m so new to it, it’s nice to see how you guys have progressed with these lifts.
the math isn’t that daunting - if I can figure it out, trust me so can you.
brute - i do play a bit with single leg stuff sometimes, but i have enough trouble balancing on two legs!
i’ll look into 5/3/1 some more… i do want to squat at least twice per week, though… hmm… wonder if it can be run with back and front squats simultaneously… figure it out looking at starting it after my next deload (want to see what i can do over the next 3 or so weeks with my current plan).
DELOAD TRAINING:
spent longer than usual stretching feet out after work shift. will find out tomorrow if that was a good idea or not. i’m thinking it was good.
SNATCHES:
don’t seem to be the kind of thing that needs to be deloaded…
so… warm-up with bar up to 35kg.
35kg. lots of missing forwards. annoyed with self. think i’m not finishing the pull because i’ve got it in my head that i don’t need to / that i’ll miss backwards if i pull it too hard. managed to get a couple then things came right as the weight went up:
36kg 1
37kg 1
37.5kg 1
38.5kg 1
39.5kg 1
40kg 0, 0, 0
of course the people started arriving once i had 40kg on the bar. i think i could do this if they didn’t pick that moment to come in. might try increasing the weight a bit faster tomorrow, too, so i’m fresher once i get to 40kg.
SNATCH TECHNIQUE
did some triples of first pulls, knee paused powersnatches, powersnatches with 25kg. just trying to get it smoothly to the power position and extend properly.
PLANKS
20kg 60 seconds x3.
hi sbmart, welcome to my log i do tend to rant… but try and post vids sometimes. cool that you have a coach for your Oly Lifting. will be interested to see how you progress since different coaches seem to teach the lifts differently.
I find rolling my feet on a hard ball (hockey, lacrosse, pool, etc) feels great - give it a try.
Are you worried about missing backwards? If you are you could try doing it on purpose a couple of times.
Mind over matter with the 40. Forget the people mama! Easier said than done, but you gotta do your thang regardless of people around or not.
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
My coach just said this to me the other day:
It takes 5 years to learn to snatch, it takes another 5 years to find out how much weight you can snatch.
In other words, this is a long fucking process, which requires a lot of different kinds of training - high volume, low volume, stalling on one thing to improve another, then taking your improvements to overhaul something else…I think that’s just the nature of the game!
And I actually agree with Nadia and Mainy, the high volume is probably a great way to learn technique and bar path, the low volume is great for putting up big weight. And I’ll add that in my opinion, throwing in a set of high volume squats at a low weight at the end of a session is a great way to build muscle. I dread it, but my coach makes me do it - 10-12 rep squats, then some quarter squats…I’ll have to ask him what the purpose is for that…
That BW squat is coming your way!! You’ll see.
[/quote]
Hi Alexus! I felt tired today too. I think it’s time for some going easy, keeping things light, eating, and resting.
This is something I should put on my nightstand in a frame. It’s a process. There’s no need to feel like it’s a race. So many things in life are like this.
Cal - I find it great, too! My ‘softball rolling’ is a softball (the sport) sized hard plastic ball. Use it mostly on my feet (trying to stretch out my arches), my calves, and find it pretty good to dig around my hips / glutes, too. It is indeed part of my daily ritual and has been for a while now.
Debra - I don’t think I’m particularly scared to miss backwards anymore. It is more that I don’t want to miss the lift at all and I feel like I will miss backwards if I finish the pull. So… I don’t finish the pull. And sometimes I miss it forwards. And more often I catch it and stabilize it - even though it is a bit forwards, really. I think it might be one of those things where I need to err by overcompensating (probably smashing my hips and / or missing back a few times) till I’ve got it sorted. Need to have a ‘just you try and miss it backwards!’ session and hopefully figure out how to do it right. I see you have the jumping backwards thing sorted out in some of your vids. Jealous! I wanna be jumping backwards for the catch!
Nikki - I so agree with the ‘mind over matter’ thing with 40. And I take full responsibility for being distracted by people. I need to learn to focus better. Mostly they aren’t crowding me or paying me any particular attention, really. So I just need to get a whole heap better at just doing my thing. Hopefully it will come in time.
Puff - Yeah. It is a process, indeed. Looks like we are in it for the long haul
This week has been weird. More girls in the heavy weights room than I think I’ve ever seen… A variety… I realize that it really would be cool if there were more women training in there. But I’d rather the absence of bros / those showing off to encourage the bros. Of either gender.
I’m so very very grateful for these forums. For all of you wonderful women who are so inspiring and encouraging. I’ve learned so much from you all and feel privileged indeed to have gotten to know so many a bit (there are still some more logs / people here that I haven’t caught up with yet!) It really does help me much more than I can express.
TRAINING:
warm-up: softball / eva rolling. spent longer than usual stretching out feet / ankles. glad i did that yesterday and again today. need to be more regular about spending a bit of time with them and be quite brutal, really, with forcing extra dorsiflexion then gentle stretching / rolling to help things recover with better ROM and tissue quality. this certainly is a process… but i am seeing progress, so sticking with it.
SNATCH:
warm-up to 35kg
35kg 1, 1, 1
36kg 1
37kg 1
37.5kg 1
38.5kg 1
39.5kg 1
40kg 0, 0, 0
dammit. caught the first one solidly but felt stuck in the hole. maybe bottomed out the squat. second one was caught solidly too - but felt a little bit forwards. third one was very forwards. so close i can smell it!!!
PRESS:
15kg 1x5
20kg 1x5
25kg 2x5
27.5kg 1x4, fail, push-press
25kg 1x4, fail, push-press
lots of rest
25kg 1x5
FRONT SQUAT:
15kg 1x5
20kg 1x5
25kg 1x5
30kg 1x5
35kg 5x5 (failed one rep last of the second set. lost tension in the hole).
5/3/1 is looking pretty good. well… first cycle seems easy. second cycle seems a bit hardish… i’m a little dubious about increasing my max by 10 pounds (4.5kg). means that cycle two will be done with my actual current max (of 45kg) rather than my current 90% of max (40.5kg). would it be stupid to reset my max by 5 pounds instead since my squat is pretty weak?
eva / softball rolling / ankle stretching warm-up.
snatch bar warm-up up to 35kg (5kg increases)
SNATCH
35kg 1, 1, 0, 1
37kg 1
37.5kg 0, 1
39.5kg 0, 0, 0
35kg 1, 1, 1
didn’t eat before training so lack of energy, basically. had some nuts and stuff, but not finishing the pull.
SNATCH BAR WORK
A - first pull (start position to bar just past knees). the aim:
B - second pull (bar just above knees to catch). the aim:
try and lower the bar from the hang the same way it came up for extra practice.
20kg (women’s bar + training plates to set the height).
(A x3; A-B x3) x 3.
good. should do MUCH more of this.
25kg
(A x3; A-B x3) x3.
hardest part is getting the bar to leave the floor without letting my hips rise. did some first inch or so of the first pull for some reps. should do more of those, too.
UPPER BODY STUFFS
bench press - just the bar since the first time i tried it. ok. set of 5, set of 10.
dumbbell rows - just 10kg. i need to learn to activate my back properly 
one arm dumbbell press - just 10kg. 2x5 each arm. i need to learn to activate my glutes / core properly
lat pulldown - wide grip, pronated. just 30 pounds. i need to learn to activate my back properly
i think i need to train a bit more like a bodybuilder with respect to the mind-muscle connection on basic movement patterns. pretty sure i used to have it down, but it is something i need to keep up with practicing or my body forgets. my body has forgotten a lot.
thanks Wendler for the whole 5/3/1 thing… the idea of it being worthwhile to do reps with light weights (some of my deload squat weights for the first cycle are 16kg!!!) he said something about how he tried to eliminate the lighter reps… but it didn’t work. he needed them. instead of thinking ‘i can’t do too much upper body stuff cause it fries my joints’ i need to think ‘i should do the upper body movement patterns with whatever weight seems appropriate to help me activate my muscles properly’.
people can think i’m being a girl with the weights, i don’t care.
i suspect it might well be the fastest way for me to get stronger injury free.
some old guy douche at the gym (who pretended he couldn’t hear me to spot me on the bench) tried having a conversation with me about how i should learn to lift without yelling because he found it obnoxious and no other lifters do that and we have a no screaming policy. i thanked him for sharing his opinion. informed him that contrary to his belief many Olympic Lifters do yell on their max attempts. told him that if he had a problem he could talk to the people at the desk (we don’t have a no screaming policy to the best of my knowledge).
we will see if we get a no screaming policy…
i don’t think they would do that… time will tell, i guess.
oh. its not anger. it is DETERMINATION.
i’m surprised you have the balls to scream in front of everyday gym-goers, as opposed to training in front of other olympic lifters. props to you, 'cause I wouldn’t do it. 
ah :-/
we have a more commercial weight training space next door. better than most standard gyms. a variety of bench press stations, dumbbells, preloaded barbells up to 60kg, a variety of cable machines. a nice little track through the middle of the space for the cardio bunnies to use walking to and fro the cardio room so the bros can get their pump on and have a bit of an oggle. lots of mirrors. air conditioning, proper heating, and carpet (some rubber matting around the dumbbells). two smith machines.
the platform is located in the heavy weights room. there is some duplication of dumbbells and cable machines and variety of bench press stations so no particular reason why people can’t use the ones next door. the two squat racks, two sets of uprights, decent leg press, and platform with bumper plates are particular to the heavy weights room, though. it is awkward to set up deadlifts or powercleans with the Oly Bars next door, too, though not impossible (especially since the preloadeds go up to 60kg).
i purposely don’t train during peak hours or when it is likely to be busy (unless it is busy with the Oly Lifting / Powerlifting guys who don’t seem to mind me). Most of the time I get the place pretty much to myself. Just sometimes up to about 4 randoms. Usually only 1 or 2 who aren’t blasting their i-pods too loudly to be hearing me anyways.
I take it that it is pretty much designed to be a serious training space. Whether or not I’m the only one Oly Lifting…
Well I can see how someone screaming would be off-putting but couldn’t he go train in the other room? Eh…
I hear what you’re saying about the light weights on 5/3/1. I’m doing a lot of light weights myself at the moment. Embarrassingly light weights. I figure it’s better than nothing. I’m having to go back to basics on most things because of the amount of injuries I have. I wish I could just get everything replaced with cybernetic parts but apparently, they don’t yet have the technology to rebuild me. Heh.
well… he does rack pulls so it does make more sense to train in the heavy weights room. i only think of him as a douche because we both seem to have similar aims of avoiding other people and doing our thing and unfortunately our things seem to be mutually exclusive. he likes to use the blocks for his rack pulls and i used to like to use them for my oly lifting… so we are already primed to dislike each others presence since it means we have to wait for about 40 minutes for the equipment to free up.
i got training plates so problem solved.
but now he has a problem with my yelling.
even though he reckoned he was too deaf to hear me basically ask him to help get the bar off me incase i got pinned since i’d never benched before.
but was hearing enabled enough to want to have a lengthy conversation about yelling. i think part of it might be about how some of the older guys in particular think that women yelling in tennis is abhorrent. so he was telling me i should learn to lift without yelling…
i dunno.
i’ll ask some of the gym guys what they think…
i guess i don’t have a particular urge to defend it since i do feel ambivalent about whether or not it is appropriate.
not doing it… does impact on my training, though.
and other people sometimes yell a bit on their heavier squats and deads and nobody seems to mind that. and people make very bizzarre humping noises over on the leg press sometimes…
[quote]alexus wrote:
5/3/1 is looking pretty good. well… first cycle seems easy. second cycle seems a bit hardish… i’m a little dubious about increasing my max by 10 pounds (4.5kg). means that cycle two will be done with my actual current max (of 45kg) rather than my current 90% of max (40.5kg). would it be stupid to reset my max by 5 pounds instead since my squat is pretty weak?[/quote]
I increase my lower body lifts (generally) by 5lbs and my upper body lifts by 2.5lbs. I also take 15% of my max to start so I can make progress over the longer haul. Wendler endorses both of these variations. I’ve written this before, but for lifters who lift more modest weight a 10lb increase can be a substantially large percentage jump.
YOu understand the philosophy of the program. Train submaximally. Stretch out progress for as long as you can. It is better to start too light. YOu can’t start too light. When I started logging here I was encouraged to reset my maxes because I was repping away like a mother fucker. My first post was a dl workout of 155x15. Now, 7 months later I’m repping in the 200s, and my 1 rep is 265 up 40lbs from 225.