Dear Diary Part Deux: The Crossover

BossArky

g'em wrote: »

105kg squat

Please stop squatting the same amounts as me - you are putting me to shame

Just kidding - nice one. What kind of bodyweight are you these days? If I remember correctly, we are the same height, bodyweight... and now the same squat :eek: :pac:

g'em

BossArky wrote: »

What kind of bodyweight are you these days? If I remember correctly, we are the same height, bodyweight... and now the same squat :eek: :pac:

Thanks I'm 75kg - pretty happy with that actually, and intending to stay that weight for the forseeable future as it'll mean I can compete in the <75kg class. I don't really look very heavy atm, but as one of the Masters' lifters said to me on Saturday I'm "built for weightlifting, all hips and ass"

The squats feel great right now - I'd be very tempted to see what I could lift with my belt on - 115kg for sure, 120kg maybe?

g'em

Monday 03/11/08
Went training, did warm-up, started doing hang snatches and found that the niggling discomfort in my right arm has now become searing pain when I pull on it.

Going to physio first thing in the morning

wasabi

Get well soon! Hopefully it will be something that can be sorted in a couple of weeks with some rehab exercises.

g'em

Went to the physio, it's nerve tension, more than likely down to the increase in load over the last few weeks. Need to back off a bit this week then get back into weight-lifting next week. Nothing majorly serious, just a lot of discomfort and have some nerve stretches to do. V. pissed off but whatchagonnado.

Will probably end up testing my squat 1RM this week... might as well make the most of the prolonged recovery time

g'em

Thursday 06/11/08
Squat 60 x 5, 70 x 3, 80 x 2, 90 x 2, 95 x 1, 100 x 1, 105 x 1, 110 x 1, 115 x 1, 120 x 1
Leg curls 40 x 8, 45 x 8 x 2, 50 x 8
Bulgarian split squats 10 x 6 x 3

Oooooh yeah baby!! 120kg squat @ 75kg bodyweight

Very happy with that, I really, really needed it after a monumentally crappy day, and the lack of training this week was making my skin crawl.

To (badly) paraphrase Hollywood: you don't stand in front of a mirror before working out, and wonder what the weights will think of your outfit. You don't have to listen to its jokes and pretend they're funny. lt would not be easier to lift if you dressed sexier. The weights don't notice if you're not wearing lipstick. They don't care how old you are. You do not feel uncomfortable because you make more money than the weight. And you can call on the iron whenever you feel like it, whether it's been a day, or even a couple of hours since your last date. The only thing the iron cares about... is that you lift it once in a while.

:pac:

celestial

g'em wrote: »

To (badly) paraphrase Hollywood: you don't stand in front of a mirror before working out, and wonder what the weights will think of your outfit. You don't have to listen to its jokes and pretend they're funny. lt would not be easier to lift if you dressed sexier. The weights don't notice if you're not wearing lipstick. They don't care how old you are. You do not feel uncomfortable because you make more money than the weight. And you can call on the iron whenever you feel like it, whether it's been a day, or even a couple of hours since your last date. The only thing the iron cares about... is that you lift it once in a while.

:pac:

Nice. Real nice

kevpants

g'em wrote: »

To (badly) paraphrase Hollywood: you don't stand in front of a mirror before working out, and wonder what the weights will think of your outfit. You don't have to listen to its jokes and pretend they're funny. lt would not be easier to lift if you dressed sexier. The weights don't notice if you're not wearing lipstick. They don't care how old you are. You do not feel uncomfortable because you make more money than the weight. And you can call on the iron whenever you feel like it, whether it's been a day, or even a couple of hours since your last date. The only thing the iron cares about... is that you lift it once in a while.

:pac:

The amount of epic orchestral music they played in my head as I read that is unreal.

g'em

kevpants wrote: »

The amount of epic orchestral music they played in my head as I read that is unreal.

g'em

Monday 11/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 2
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 2
Hang snatch 25 x 2, 28 x 2, 30 x 2
Sp. Exercise 35 x 4 x 2
Snatch 30 x 1, 33 x 1, 35 x 1, 37 x 1, 39 x 1, 40 x 1 x 5
OH squat 35 x 2, 40 x 2, 44 x 2, 48 x 2, 50 x 2
Front squat 40 x 5 x 2
Hang clean 35 x 2, 40 x 2
Clean 40 x 1, 45 x 1, 50 x 1

Meh, so-so. The snatches took quite a lot out of me and by the time I came to do the cleans I was pretty bunched. I hate hang cleans btw

I'm getting pretty lethargic an hour into training (a session usually takes 90 mins give or take a few) and I think my food habits are mostly responsible. I'm not actually eating a huge amount right now, no idea why, my appetite has just disappeared. I'm eating little or no junk (finally my head has clicked that crappy, sugar foods = IBS flare up) and with the long hours in work I tend to grab and go. I need to work on that...

g'em

Wednesday 12/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 3
Hang snatch 28 x 2, 30 x 2, 32 x 2
Sp. Exercise 50 x 4 x 2
Snatch 32 x 1, 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 40 x 2
Jerk Dips 25 x 4 x 3
Jerk catches 25 x 4 x 3
Split Jerk 25 x 3 x 2
Jerk 45 x 1, 50 x 1, 54 x 1, 58 x 1, 60 x 1, 63 x 1*, 65 x 1 x 2*, 68 x 1 x 2*

Meh, my snatch sucked (snigger). When I'm tired, or my CNS is feeling shuh-ite my snatch technique absolutely goes to pot. I couldn't stay over teh bar and there was just no drive there.

*PBs The jerks on the other hand were pretty good. I attempted 70kg but couldn't quite manage it, but I definitely have it in me.

g'em

Thursday 13/11/08
OH squat 20 x 4 x 2
Snatch jumps 20 x 4 x 3
Hang snatch 25 x 2, 28 x 2, 30 x 2
Sp. Exercise 40 x 4 x 2
Snatch 32 x 1, 35 x 1, 38 x 1 x 2, 40 x 1
Front squat 40 x 5 x 2
Hang clean 35 x 2, 40 x 2
Squat 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 80 x 3, 85 x 3, 90 x 2, 95 x 2, 100 x 2 x 2

Not a great session. When my body doesn't want to lift, it really doesn't want to lift. Doing some decent squats at the end of one of these sub-par sessions is becoming my saving grace.


Monday 18/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 2
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 3
Hang snatch 25 x 2, 28 x 2, 30 x 2
Sp. Exercise 35 x 5 x 2
Snatch 32 x 1, 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 40 x 1 x 3, 42 x 1 x 4
OH Squats 40 x 2, 45 x 2, 50 x 2, 55 x 2 x 3
Front squat 40 x 5 x 2
Hang clean 40 x 2, 45 x 2
Clean 48 x 1, 50 x 1, 54 x 1, 57 x 1, 60 x 1,x 2, 62* x 1 x 2, 64 x 0

*PB on the Cleans. Otherwise not brilliant, but not awful either. I'm really not keeping my shoulders over the bar for long enough on the snatch and as a result I'm engaging my arms way too much. I need to start doing some power snatches to try and bring up my hip thrust again.

Pleased with the OH squats - my core is getting a lot stronger and it's showing.

I'm disappointed I didn't get the 64kg Clean - it's frustrating, God knows I can handle that weight no problem, it's just my head and my technique holding me back.

Onwards and upwards and outwards and whatnot.

g'em

Tuesday 18/11/08
OH squat 20 x 4 x 2
Snatch jumps 20 x 4 x 3
Hang snatch 28 x 2, 30 x 2, 32 x 2
Sp. Exercise 35 x 4 x 2
Snatch 35 x 2, 38 x 2, 40 x 1, 42 x 1, 44 x 0, 44 x 1
Jerk Dips 25 x 5 x 2
Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 2
Jerk 45 x 1, 50 x 1, 53 x 1, 57 x 1, 59 x 1, 61 x 1 x 2
Front Squat 50 x 5, 55 x 5, 60 x 3, 65 x 3, 70 x 2, 75 x 2

Pretty tired after last night, my shoulders were feeling pretty beaten up and lethargic. Snatches were solid up to a point, same for the jerks, but once I get to about 90% I start to flail a bit. The jerk was nowhere near as strong as last week, I still seem to be very up and down on a regular basis. We'll be putting together a proper plan of action soon so hopefully that'll put more order on things.

kevpants

When you hoping to dip your toe in competition waters G'em?

g'em

kevpants wrote: »

When you hoping to dip your toe in competition waters G'em?

There's a competition in early December (on my birthday \o/) that I'm humming and hawing about entering. I'm in two minds: I really want to get stuck in and just get the fcuk on with it - the great thing about weightlifting is that there's pretty much a comp on every other month with the 'big' one being the Irish Seniors in April, and doing a come smaller comps before then would help build my confidence.

Buuuut at the same time I'm still very inconsistent with my lifts, and it could all go very belly up on the day. Hell, I've only once put the C & J together in training I'm afraid that a bad competition experience will knock me back a lot (it's happened before) and I'll be afraid to do another one.

So to answer your Q: I don't know.

g'em

Thursday 20/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 3
Power snatch 25 x 3, 28 x 3, 30 x 3 x 3
Hang snatch 30 x 2, 33 x 2
Sp. Exercise 45 x 4 x 3
Snatch 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 39 x 1, 40 x 1, 42 x 1, 44 x 1, 45 x 1 x 2, 40 x 1 x 3
Jerk Dips 20 x 4 x 3
Jerk catches 20 x 4 x 3
Splite Jerk 20 x 4 x 3
Clean & Jerk 45 x 1, 50 x 1, 53 x 1, 55 x 1, 58* x 1, 60* x 1
Jerk 50 x 1 x 4
Squat 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 80 x 3, 85 x 3, 90 x 3, 95 x 3, 100 x 2

*PBs.

Looong day today!! Some good lifting in there though, I'm pretty chuffed. The power cleans are to help my drive - I still have a nasty habit of muscling up the weight and relying on brute strength instead of getting the technique right. The clean & jerk PB was really important mentally - it now means I have a comfortable 100+kg total for competition, which is a decent enough start.

I have the weekend off, and after this evening I definitely need it



P.S. Ro, the 60kg c&j was just for you, seeings how you asked so nicely

brianthebard

Wow 60kg isn't far off bodyweight c&j, nice work.

g'em

Monday 24/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 3
Hang snatch 28 x 2, 30 x 2, 32 x 2
Snatch 32 x 1, 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 40 x 1, 42 x 1 x 6
OH Squat 40 x 2, 43 x 2, 46 x 2, 49 x 2, 52 x 2 x 3
Jerk Dips 20 x 5 x 3
Jerk catches 20 x 5 x 3
Jerk 45 x 1, 48 x 1, 50 x 1, 53 x 1, 56 x 1, 59 x 1, 61 x 1 x 3, 60* x 1 x 3

I had two late nights over the weekend so I wasn't really up to hitting any hyoooge big numbers today - I just wanted a good solid session, and hey presto, that's what I got.

I'm happy that I'm starting to cope better with the volume - I haven't done six singles with any appreciable weight before so that felt great.

One of these was actually a push jerk - I didn't mean to but my training partner was giving me a few pointers and my head got a bit overloaded (I'm blonde, it happens)**. Still, it's good to know I can do a 60kg press when needs be



** It may also have something to do with the fact that the blokes I train with are great guy candy and can be terribly distracting sometimes. I weight lifters :pac:

wasabi

g'em wrote: »

** It may also have something to do with the fact that the blokes I train with are great guy candy and can be terribly distracting sometimes. I weight lifters :pac:

What, was someone posing in their underpants again?

Great work on your 60kg C+J, another milestone passed!

g'em

Wednesday 26/11/08
OH squat 20 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 20 x 4 x 2
Hang snatch 30 x 2, 32.5 x 2, 35 x 2
Snatch 38 x 1, 40 x 1 x 3, 42 x 1, 43 x 1 x 5
Front squat 40 x 5 x 2
Hang clean 42 x 2, 46 x 2
Clean 51 x 1, 54 x 1, 57 x 0, 55 x 1

Sh!te tbh. This is really beginning to bug me, the inconsistency. It doesn't really bode well having these days when I'm supposed to be doing a comp in a week and a half. Traps are a in ribbons too.

wasabi

Hey, seriously don't beat yourself up about the inconsistency, it just takes time to develop consistent technique (go have a look over some of my old logs, you know where they are). Quite a lot of time. It took me over a year to get to the point where I'm rarely missing submaximal lifts, and I'm still nowhere near where I'd really like to be. Most people take several years to peak, that's just how the sport is.

Also, really don't stress over the competition. The reason you're competing is not to win or to set records, but to gain experience of competing so that a couple of years down the line when you are nearer your peak as a lifter and going off to bigger competitions you'll understand how competitions run and won't be put off by all that stuff. Your coach is the best in the country and he'll walk you through the warmups and openers selection and support you in general. Trust me, he's great.

You'll also get to meet some other lifters and see them lift, not to mention eat Jaffa cakes without guilt Competitions are good fun!

g'em

wasabi I know what you're trying to say, and thank you, but it's not about records or PBs, I just don't want to crash and burn. When I miss easy lifts it worries me (come on, I'm human!); I've bombed in-comp before, it sucks, I'd rather it didn't happen again And seriously, I knoooow what a competition setting/ atmosphere entails!

Believe me, I'm very, very aware how lucky I (we) are to have the coach we do. He's already been amazing and he's helped bring my confidence back in a big, big way.

However with all that aside, the great thing is, I'm a tenacious bitch, and training today was excellent.

Thursday 27/11/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 4
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 3
Power snatch 25 x 3, 28 x 3, 30 x 3, 33 x 3 x 3
Jerk Dips 25 x 5 x 3
Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 3
Splite Jerk 25 x 3 x 2
Front squat 25 x 5 x 2
Clean & Jerk 45 x 1, 48 x 1, 50 x 1, 53 x 1, 55 x 1 x 6
Squat 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 80 x 3, 90 x 3, 100 x 2 x 6
Step up 40 x 8 x 6

I figured out what was going wrong with my clean yesterday - I can't really explain it properly but I was staying far too rigid when I was taking it off the ground, and I'm still in the habit of leaning back to far and not keeping my shoulders over the bar.

Cracking session volume wise, it's a long, long time since I've done that much heavy squatting. Happy days.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Considering how you're one of the biggest inspirations for myself and god knows how many others on the board here (with your attitude and dedication), you'll be grand either way in the comp. The squatting is coming together and so will everything else on the day.

Chin up!! (not the exercise!)

celestial

You're gonna ace it on the day g'em - no matter what happens.

Arsenal1986

Never realised o lifting had so much volume in it thats crazy id be dead after that fair dues!Great Squatting!

g'em

Thanks lads, I really appreciate the support


Saturday 29/11/08
Warm up
Drop snatches: 25 x 4 x 5
Power snatches: 25 x 4 x 5
Jerk catches: 25 x 4 x 5
Split jerks: 25 x 4 x 5

Just a back off day today & got the above done in about 25 mins - pfft, who needs cardio, this little number definitely got my heart pumping

ali.c

You are making great progress- Good Luck in your upcoming competition hun!

g'em

Monday 01/12/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 2
Snatch jumps 15 x 4 x 2
Hang snatch 27.5 x 2, 30 x 2, 32.5 x 2
Sp exercise 35 x 4 x 2
Snatch 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 40 x 1, 43 x 1 x 6
OH Squat 40 x 2, 45 x 2, 50 x 2, 55 x 2, 57.5 x 2
Jerk Dips 25 x 5 x 2
Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 2
Split jerk 25 x 4 x 2
Jerk 45 x 1, 50 x 1, 52.5 x 1, 55 x 1, 57.5 x 1, 61 x 1 x 6

Lovely solid session, no missed lifts, no fcuk ups, no tantrums. Result

g'em

Wednesday 03/12/08
OH squat 15 x 5 x 3
Snatch jumps 15 x 5 x 3
Hang clean 25 x 2, 28 x 2, 30 x 2
Special exercise 35 x 5 x 2
Snatch 32 x 2, 35 x 1, 38 x 1, 39 x 1
Jerk Dips 25 x 5 x 2
Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 2
Split Jerk 25 x x 2
Clean & Jerk 35 x 1, 40 x 1, 44 x 1, 47 x 1, 50 x 1
Squat 60 x 3, 70 x 3, 80 x 2, 85 x 2, 90 x 1 x 3

Last proper session before the comp on Sunday so I just worked up to my openers. I'll do another super-light session on Friday but that'll just consist of my warm up to get the blood flowing. I was full of nervous energy this evening. We've got the plan sorted for the weekend, there won't be any suprise lifts in store, the main goal is to get a decent total and get some experience. Oh, and the competition is on my birthday - that's gotta be a good omen right?

eclectichoney

Good luck with the comp G'em. *Insert general kick ass/take names type sentiment here*