@TX_iron @Koestrizer thank you both.
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From what I understand, the idea is to catch the bar WHILE you’re dropping into the front squat position. As such, there is no real impact on the collarbone or anywhere.
That’s why I very much prefer the full clean over the power clean. You’re also supposed to catch the bar while dipping into a quarter-squat position with the power clean, but the fact that you’re only quarter-squatting means that you have to pull the bar higher. If your pull is not good, then you’ll probably never pull high enough to catch the bar correctly.
My pull and general technique is bad, so for while doing power cleans with just 135lb rattled my arms. In comparison, full cleans with 135lb felt fine. Now my pull is strong enough that I just can brute-force the bar high enough to clear whatever height I need to catch it while quarter-squatting.
Try high pulls instead to learn how to really pull the bar? A good alternative would be snatching empty bars I think.
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25/9/17
C3W3D1+D2
Giant set
Squat (TM-85):
2x5x20, 5x40, 5x65, 5x72.5, 5x80, 3x10x50
Bench press (TM-77.5):
2x10x20, 5x40, 5x57.5, 5x65, 5x75, 3x10x57.5
RKC plank- 3x10s
Carry medley: 4x2 lengths of gym
30 kg sandbag
8kg double kettlebell waiter walk
24kg kettlebell suitcase carry ea
Fun day today, everything went fairly well. The bench top set matches my 5RM and was definitely easier than before. I decided to do only three back off sets considering I’m deadlifting and overhead pressing tomorrow and moving into a new house on Wednesday. Hopefully I’ll still be able to walk around and carry stuff my then. The carry medley at the end was just something I did as a fun bit of assistance and wasn’t too bad- I did each round straight after each other apart from a quick sip of my drink.
Here’s a video of my top sets from today.
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26/9/17
C3W3D3+4
Overhead press (TM-42.5):
2x5x20, 5x30, 5x35, 5x40, 2x1x50 (PR)
Superset with
Deadlift (TM-115):
8x20, 5x60, 5x85, 5x100, 5x110, 1x125 (PR), 0x140
BW hang with straps: 1x60s
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
1 chin up
5 press ups
10 BW squats
I got eight in about 9:20 and left it there.
So this morning I got the idea of trying for a 50kg overhead press since I knew I had it and I’ve got basically a week and a half deload coming up. Then on the way to the gym I thought why not just go for a deadlift PR too, particularly 140kg, and then just leave the supplemental stuff. My reasoning was; I’ve a deload coming up, I don’t want to do much volume so I aren’t too beat up tomorrow and if I don’t try 140kg now I won’t have chance for a few more months.
Unfortunately today was not the best day for it. I felt tired and my deadlifts didn’t feel particularly fast leading up to it which is to be expected considering I’ve been working a lot recently and squatted yesterday. Anyway despite knowing it wasn’t the best thing to do I knew if I didn’t try I’d be constantly wondering what if till whenever I next did it so I tried. Obviously you’ve seen it didn’t go well and it got stuck about an inch off the ground. I did video it but my camera didn’t focus so it’s incredibly blurry. The 125kg was good though and I did it hook grip too although it was slipping at lock out. 100kg, 110kg and 140kg were all with straps. The first set of 50kg overhead press my knees unlocked slightly and I don’t know if that discounts it so I did it a second time. Knees stayed locked but it was a bit of a grind at my sticking point.
In summary: happy with the PRs I got but disappointed because I know a 140kg deadlift is close. Maybe if I’m having a good day I could pull it now but I’m not really bothered about those days. Assistance was just something kind of easy and to get my heart rate up.
BW: 87.5kg
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2/10/17
Deload week
Paused bench press:
10x20, 5x40, 2x60, 1x75
T&G bench press: 3x3x60
Paused squat:
5x20, 3x40, 1x60, 1x80, 3x2x60
Back extensions: 4x15xBW
Cable rows: 3x10x20, drop set-10x30+10x20+10x10
Moved into my new house at university last week. Decided to take the week off to relax and had a couple of big nights out too. Unsurprisingly I felt pretty stiff and achy today but I didn’t feel particularly weak. I am going to deadlift and overhead press Wednesday I think then just have fun on Friday.
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4/10/17
Deload week
Deadlift:
5x20, 5x60, 2x80, 3x1x100
Overhead press:
5x20, 5x30, 1x40, 1x45, 1x40, 5x30
Superset with TRX rows: 6x5xBW
Assault bike: 1 mile averaging about 220W, took about three minutes
Tried a new gym today and I’m not sure whether to join this one or the one I used last year. The one today only has one rack and very little weights but it does have a ski erg thing and an assault bike it’s a lot less busy and cheaper whereas the one from last year has two racks and a lot more machines but it gets extremely busy. Will probably go back later this week and have a think about it.
The workout itself was nothing difficult just going through the motions but good as a deload. I really liked the assault bike and I’d like to use it often. I got a great leg pump from it and I was pretty out of breath too. Diet has been good the last few days.
5 Likes
Training Update
I think I may be changing my approach to training. Today was the fair at university where the societies advertise and I got talking to the athletics people. Since reading one of Dan John’s books a couple of months ago I’ve been strongly considering taking up some sort of physical hobby. First I was considering football (soccer), which I used to play for years, then I got onto thinking about some sort of sprinting or throwing and also kickboxing again too.
The athletics society are going to email me about a taster session and I’m going to go down and try some stuff. My friend is also wanting to start kickboxing so I’d like to do that once a week too. Obviously the problem is this is becoming a lot each week with the gym too. I still plan to do WS4SB which is designed for athletes so hopefully that’ll help and I’ll be doing the minimum recommended assistance. I think the most I’d be able to handle on top of the three gym days would be kickboxing once a week and athletics twice.
I basically want to do something I can put my effort into and try to get better at and something that my efforts in the gym feed into. I’m not bothered about being competitive for now but I want to go against myself and keep trying to get better. All this could easily change over the next couple of weeks but it’s what I’m thinking at the minute.
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5/10/17
Deload week
Squat:
2x5x20, 3x60, 1x80, 1x90, 1x105 (PR)
Incline bench:
5x20, 3x40, 3x50, 3x60 (PR)
Back extensions: 8x10xBW (30s rest)
Cable rows: 10x20, 10x25, 10x30, 10x35, 30x15
Preacher curls superset with lateral raises: 3x8x10/ 3x12x4s
Another good workout, I’ve really been enjoying this deload week. I wanted to squat something heavy so I took a token PR with 105kg and it moved very nicely. Incline press I basically never do so that was a very easy PR too- I could have very easily done more reps with it but I’ve never even gone that heavy. Overall it’s been a fun week of training. I’ve enjoyed just going into the gym and hitting something pretty heavy and I’m feeling great too.
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Do something that requires strength an power. Problem with football is what noticeable transfer are you expecting from squatting 105 to running around a field.
I doubt there would be much. I definitely won’t be taking up football, I only considered it because it’s something I used to play for years. I think I’m going to do some sort of throwing and sprinting.
Congrats on the PRs!
Thank you, there’s more to come soon.
I am certain that there is.
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If you are serious about training, 3 other training sessions for your other sports is doable.
You need to prioritize though. I used to do a lot of training for triathlon and then picked up strength training. I slowly had to realize that when you add something, you need to take something away unless you like feeling like total crap.
Especially with university, be careful. You don’t want to show up in class tired etc.
Having said that, training every day is not a problem as many people do it, and do it very well. But they understand that even though they train everyday, some sessions are much easier than others.
Personally, if I still wanted to be competitve in my original sport I would be doing 5’s pro and 5x5 FSL for two lifts, 2 days a week with low TM’s as recommended by Jim. Minimal assistance with bodyweight exercices, not caring too much about the numbers. At least in season. Jim has said it here a few times that in that case you should never leave the gym exhausted.
I’m talking about my own experience but the sports session I attended with the clubs are usually pretty tough. You need to know when to push, and when to chill.
Say you are training for an athletics competition, the rest will have to be on the back burner, and vice-versa.
Good luck and enjoy!
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Thanks for your advice mate.
It looks like Monday will be a general fitness session with short and middle distance running, Tuesday kickboxing and Wednesday a track and field day. For the first couple of weeks though I’m going to miss the Monday session so I aren’t changing too much at once. I’m also happy with WS4SB because it was designed for in season athletes. Finally my diet and sleep has been very good for me recently so hopefully everything will go nicely.
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9/10/17
WS4SB- ME upper
Bench press:
2x10x20, 5x40, 3x60, 2x70, 4x80 (PR)
Dumbell rows superset with dumbell bench:
4x10x20/ 3x10x20
Face pulls superset with standing cable crunches:
3x15x10/ 3x15x10
Good to start the program with a PR. Reps one and two were nice and fast then I misgrooved the third by bringing it down too high up my chest but it wasn’t too bad, fourth was a bit grindy and my right glute cramped pretty bad so I didn’t try a fifth but it was probably there. Next week I’ll try 82.5kg. I’m not sure about the cable crunches; if I did it to hit my abs my back felt funny and if I did it so it felt better I felt like it was more hip flexors.
BW: 88.7kg
I’m surprised it was this high but I’m not too bothered. For now with the new stuff I’m introducing I’m just going to focus on eating and recovering well then in a few weeks I can start eating a bit less if I need to. Funnily I feel like I’m slightly leaner if anything which I suppose is probably less bloating and water retention from eating better food choices.
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11/10/17
WS4SB- Lower
Deadlift:
8x20, 5x60, 2x80, 1x100, 1x110, 1x120, 1x130 (PR)
Split squats: 3x10xBW
Back extensions superset with plate pinches:
3x10x5/ 60s x5, 2x45s x5
Stretching: 10 minutes
Max incline treadmill walk (15%): 5 mins at 4km/h
Another good session when I was feeling quite tired which is nice. I forgot my straps and don’t think I could do 5x120 like I planned without them or mixed grip, which I didn’t want to use, so I decided to do a heavy single with hook grip instead. 130kg moved fairly well and I’m happy with being able to do it hook grip.
Assistance was fun and gave me a nice leg pump especially glutes and hamstrings. I think 5kg was too light for the plate pinches but it was all there was nearby. The stretching and treadmill walk I just tagged on at the end because I was waiting for my friend to finish swimming so I could get a lift home. Looking forward to tomorrow’s workout.
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Fuck yeah! You are getting very close now ;). One tip because I can imagine that you want to reach your goal of 140 kg badly: When it is time to go for a heavy single again, shoot for 135 kg, not 140 kg
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Thank you. You’re right it’s going to be difficult to resist trying 140kg instead of 135kg but I think I’ve learnt my lesson. I doubt I’ll be going for another heavy single anytime soon so hopefully by the time I do pull 140kg I’ll be able to do it for reps.
12/10/17
WS4SB- Repetition upper
Dumbell bench press (60s rest):
18, 14, 10x20
Skullcrushers: 3x10x10
Hammer lat pull-down: 4x12x40
Lateral raises superset with dumbell curls:
3x12x5s/ 3x12x5s
Ab circuit (3 rounds):
Lying leg raises x5
Russian twists x5 each side
Mountain climbers x5 each side
Only had 45 minutes at most to get through this and managed to do it in about half an hour. Got a decent pump in my upper body. From now I’ll start recording the total reps I get in three sets for the main movement and try to beat it every week.
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