Dear Diary Part Deux: The Crossover

g'em

Thanks EC

Here's a couple of videos from last night - this is the first time I've actually seen myself do the lifts so it's really interesting to see the difference between how I perceive the lift under the bar and what I'm actually doing. Both were pretty easy light lifts so I'd expect my form should be fairly decent on both.

39kg Snatch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qShEMO2ieB8

My ass is about .5 - 1 inch too high at the start. Other than that it's pretty solid. Two things I've been concentrating on in the last few weeks is keeping my shoulders over the bar for the pull and keeping the bar much closer to my body (quite difficult to do at first, various bodyparts have a habit of getting in the way :pac:). I could still afford to create more of an S-shape with that lift though, and hopefully doing power snatches will help with that as I increase my hip drive.

50kg Clean & Jerk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0GedE0A4Go

An easy lift, form was good. I have a habit of pushing my back leg out way too far, and as I did this lift last night in my head I was thinking that there was barely a couple of inches between my feet in the split jerk position, but in reality there's quite a distance between them.

Now all I need to do is reproduce those lifts with a few extra kilo's on the bar on Sunday and I'll be grand!!

the drifter

is this the connaught open?? good luck in it anyways!!! few of the limerick lads lifting in it! oh UL opens in Feb ( date not set yet) hope to see you down for it!!

g'em

That's the one. My coach knows most of the lads from Limerick so I'll probably meet them on the day. Fingers crossed if this one goes well I'll be looking to get onto every competition platform available so definitely see you in Feb!

the drifter

g'em wrote: »

That's the one. My coach knows most of the lads from Limerick so I'll probably meet them on the day. Fingers crossed if this one goes well I'll be looking to get onto every competition platform available so definitely see you in Feb!

excellent!!!

g'em

Friday 05/12/08
Did a really, really light session, essentially just doing my warm up lifts to keep the blood flowing.



Sunday 07/12/08 - Connaught Open
(and my birthday )

Weighed in at 73.7kg, the lightest I've been in years, putting me comfortably in the <75kg class. Felt good, but nervous as hell, and as I was the only female lifter on the day I ended up doing all my snatch lifts and clean and jerk lifts in close succession at the beginning of each session. Got all six lifts with 3 whites for all but one; techinically I did great - my lifts are getting solid and I seem to be adapting well so all in all it was a nice performance.

Asbolutely delighted with today, couldn't have asked for a better birthday present - 45kg snatch, 60kg clean & jerk. Should have some videos up in the next day or so.

\o/

amazingemmet

Nice one hun, sounds like you had a good b'day then

ali.c

Yay, well done and happy b-day!!

eclectichoney

Happy birthday!
(and well done for putting all us lazy girls to shame as usual....:o)

FunkZ

Class, well done! You're so feckin' strong!!!

g'em

Videos from the weekend:

45kg Snatch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RJfGKP8mEA

It's not exactly the smoothest of snatches and I'm still muscling the bar up to a certain degree. Still, the lift was allowed, who am I to complain


60kg Clean & Jerk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BVo91x7q-4

One thing I need to work on is bringing my feet underneath my shoulders before starting the jerk. Otherwise fairly a-ok.

the drifter

Lifts looked fairly handy...well done!!

g'em

the drifter wrote: »

Lifts looked fairly handy...well done!!

Thanks Yeah, looking at them now they don't exactly look very taxing, and I'm still adjusting to using such light weights in comparison to when I was PLing. But it's all down to technique, and fingers crossed now that I seem to be getting that part right my numbers will keep going up until I hit something more respectable.

I dunno, 45kg... it's just so... 'light'

the drifter

all im time!!! fair play to you for the crossover..ive been trempted many times myself..i just dont have the flexability or range of motion for it.. than and im afriad it would affect my bench

g'em

I'm a tad impatient it must be said I've only been WLing for 3 months though, so a bit of perspective is probably needed!!

Just as a comparison though this is Lidia Valentin of Spain at the European Championships this year - currently ranked #5 in the World and came 4th in the 08 Olympics in the 75kg weight class (same as myself). 115kg snatch and a 135kg clean & jerk... yup, I've got my work cut out for me :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP2nZ4RmKHo

At the weekend someone compared me to her, that's like a n00b swimmer getting told they have shades of Michael Phelps in their stroke, über complimentary

celestial

g'em wrote: »

I'm a tad impatient it must be said I've only been WLing for 3 months though, so a bit of perspective is probably needed!!

Just as a comparison though this is Lidia Valentin of Spain at the European Championships this year - currently ranked #5 in the World and came 4th in the 08 Olympics in the 75kg weight class (same as myself). 115kg snatch and a 135kg clean & jerk... yup, I've got my work cut out for me :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP2nZ4RmKHo

At the weekend someone compared me to her, that's like a n00b swimmer getting told they have shades of Michael Phelps in their stroke, über complimentary

Lookin strong though g'em. You even look a bit like that w-lifter actually!! Where did you get those arms btw??! - they're practically as big as mine:D

g'em

celestial wrote: »

Where did you get those arms btw??! - they're practically as big as mine:D

Uh thanks... I think My arms have really come up in the last few months since I started to weightlift - they were always kind of big, but I'm much leaner now than I used to be so they pop that little bit more.


Wednesday 10/12/08
OH squat 20 x 5 x 3
Snatch jumps 20 x 5 x 3
Hang sn/ snatch combo 30 x 1, 33 x 1
Snatch 35 x 1, 37 x 1, 39 x 1, 41 x 0, 41 x 1
Jerk Dips/ Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 2/ 25 x 3 x 2
Split Jerk/ Front Squat 25 x 3 x 2/ 25 x 4 x 2
Clean & Jerk 40 x 1, 44 x 1, 47 x 1, 50 x 1, 53 x 1, 56 x 1

Holy moly my CNS is fried :pac:

Everything felt hard, and I was all wobbly during the snatches. The joys of post-comp body stress

BossArky

Nice vids - they all look pretty handy.

g'em

Thursday 11/12/08
Did a v. v. light session, warm-up exercises only.



Saturday 13/12/08 - Hercs' Club Championships
Had a fantastic day, great fun altogether.

Snatch: 42/ 45/ 47 (PB)

Cl & Jk: 56/ 60/ 64 (PB)

Delighted with the PB's and think there's a lot more to come now that the technique is getting sorted out.

wasabi

Yep, it still looks very easy for you and the technique is getting better all the time. Good work!

d-gal

Fair play to u g'em, great strides taken. Your jerk looks great. I say take some time out and really focus on your approach to the bar and just standing up with the bar. Your posture in your scapula and shoulder region is very good, just focus on the simple things like the bar being close to your shins and sitting down with the bar.
Like everyone beginning your lacking your hip drive and shrug. Practice, practice, practice!
The snatch is the snatch..a bitch of a lift, keep it up, you have better technique than me at it!!!

Well done

g'em

Cheers

d-gal wrote: »

just focus on the simple things like the bar being close to your shins and sitting down with the bar.

Yup, I'm still getting used to keeping the bar close to me and I have a bad habit of letting it travel out.

d-gal wrote:

Like everyone beginning your lacking your hip drive and shrug. Practice, practice, practice!

lol, have you been talking to my coach?? You're bang on though, my hip drive needs a lot of work, and that's something that will have to be worked on with time. As a PLer I never had to call on that drive to a huge extent so I'm having to learn a lot as I go!!


Monday 15/12/08
OH squat 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 25 x 4 x 3
Hang sn 28 x 2, 30 x 2, 33 x 2
Snatch 36 x 2, 38 x 1, 40 x 1 x 6
OHS 40 x 2, 45 x 2, 50 x 2 x 3
FS 40 x 5 x 2
Hang clean 45 x 2, 48 x 2
Clean 50 x 1, 53 x 1 x 5

Took it pretty handy, I was still shattered after the weekend and the celebrating on Saturday night

g'em

Jeebus I've been slack with this log!

I'm still training away but just doing it a lot more quietly than I would normally!! Things are going well - I got a 60kg PB on overhead squats last week, very happy with that, it was a bit of a milestone. I'm regularly squatting 100kg+ again and it feels comfortable, I'd be very curious to see what a short squat cycle could bring out in me (130kg would almost certainly be very do-able, 135/ 140kg with some effort perhaps?).

My oly lifts have flip-flopped and it's now my snatch that's coming along stronger - I got 46kg for 6 singles earlier this week so that's my opener decided for the Munster Open on Feb 7th (my snatch PB from Dec is 47kg so I'm definitely making progress). My clean and jerk numbers haven't been increasing the way I'd like, but I'm getting more consistent(ish) which I guess is something. It's frustrating - I know without a shadow of a doubt that I can lift bigger numbers (much bigger ones) but I'm still paralysed by my technique and lack thereof. Trust me, ego's and weightlifting do not mix.

The C & J on the other hand isn't coming along with the linear progression I'd like. One part of it is almost certainly down to fatigue - by the time I get around to it I've been giving my all to snatching for 45 minutes and I'm tired. Going to have to look at some dedicated jerk/ overhead sessions soon.

I've also got nerve tension back in my left arm - this happened when I started weightlifting and I had it seen to by a physio. It's nothing serious, I just need to rest it. No problem except that I have a comp in 2.5 weeks time I'll just to play it by ear and tbh, the Feb comp plays second fiddle to the Nationals in April - I have to treat it like a competitive training session and not get hung up on numbers.

I'm having problems with my extension on the clean and my drive (there's no 'pop' in it) on the jerk. These are really things that come with practice, but goodness knows I'm impatient at the best of times and it's hard to see a resolution when you're consistently not seeing things click.

Anyways, I'll try and get back on target with my log, it should be interesting to see what 2009 brings for me

g'em

Friday 23/01/09
OH squat 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 25 x 4 x 3
Power snatch 28 x 3, 30 x 3, 33 x 3, 36 x 3 x 3
Jerk Dips 25 x 5 x 2
Jerk catches 25 x 5 x 2
Split Jerk 25 x 3 x 2
Front squat 25 x 5 x 2
2Cl/1Jk 40 x 1, 45 x 1, 50 x 1
C&J 54 x 1, 57 x 1, 60 x 1, 62 x 1, 64 x 1 x 2

Really happy with tonight's session - my C & J has been slacking of late but this evening I got two singles with my PB so I'm back on target. Form was really good all round and I'm finally beginning to keep the bar close to me and my shoulders over the bar.

Happy days.

the drifter

ul opens??

g'em

the drifter wrote: »

ul opens??

oooh gawd I was hoping no-one would ask me that yet

Um... 46 and 62.

Almost certainly. Maybe. (PBs are 47 and 64 from Dec 08)

the drifter

noted

g'em

the drifter wrote: »

noted

Damn

Ah no, I may come bring the snatch down a kg or two, I haven't even discussed those openers with my coach yet tbh. I'm just trying to see the UL comp as an intense training session and whatever happens, happens.

You'll be at the comp I take it? You must come over and say howdy - I'll be one of the 2, or maybe even 3 women competing!! Oh and just got word that there's going to be tv coverage of the Nationals too which should be pretty exciting.

the drifter

i will ill be the unshaven sleepy guy loading on the day i owe the lads a days labour for the countless liftouts and spots ive gotten over th year!!...ill pop over and say hello...

g'em

Saturday 24/01/09
OHS 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 25 x 4 x 2, 30 x 4 x 2
Power Snatches 30 x 3, 33 x 3 x 3
Jerk Dips 25 x 4 x 3
Jerk catches 25 x 4 x 3
Split Jerk 35 x 3 x 4
Squats 60 x 5, 70 x 4, 80 x 3, 90 x 3, 96 x 3 x 4

Just a small session to finish off the week - one thing I've noticed is that I was being a little lazy about my warm-up technique and wasn't paying attention to nailing my form with lighter weight. I'm working on rectifying that though and my split jerks were excellent today. I needed to get a better drop under the bar and extend my front foot further out, which in trun ensures much better placement of the bar overhead.

g'em

Monday 26/01/09
OHS 15 x 4 x 3
Snatch jumps 25 x 4, 30 x 4 x 2
Hang Snatches 30 x 3, 33 x 3, 35 x 3
Hang/ Full Snatch Combo 37 x 2, 39 x 2
Snatch 41, 43, 45, 47, 49 (PB), 50 (PB)
OHS 45 x 2, 50 x 2, 55 x 2
Jerk Dips 25 x 4 x 2
Jerk catches 25 x 4 x 2
Split Jerk 25 x 3 x 3
Jerk 45, 50, 53, 56, 59, 62, 64

Cracking session. W00t for the snatch PB's!! Fifty kilo's is a real milestone, and I didn't think I'd be attempting it until the comp but I'm delighted we decided to test it tonight. It wasn't a 1RM either, there's definitely some more left in me, so it'll be really interesting to see what happnes on Feb 7th.

Jerks were solid, I'm getting under the bar much faster and more solidly - still need a bit more bar confidence but that'll come with time.

Happy days.