I'm back home for Paddys, so trained in the gym here Tuesday. I did a lot of shoulder rehab work, specifically scap work; and followed it up with a little squatting. I only managed to work up to 5*90kg for 3 sets, which I wasn't overly happy with, but you have to put up with the bad days.
I also spent a little time trying to teach my bro how to squat. He's 14, so I figured he would have an good base to start from. I was wrong! He spends quite a lot of time sitting playing xbox, slumped in the chair, and this has badly effected his back and hip mobility. I have him working him on few things though, so hopefully I can get him squatting the bar in a few weeks.
Tuesday evening I had a little trigger point release done on my back and shoulder. My friend's sister, Aoibheann, has just opened her own place in town, and I had got a little work done with her before, so I arranged to call in at 5. Before starting she got me to try the IYWT test against the wall. For I and Y my ribs poke out quite a bit, because my shoulders aren't mobile enough. For W I literally couldn't externally rotate fully to touch the wall, and for T I was fine.
The therapy involved both deep tissue massage and dry needling targeting my traps, lats, and lower back. Aoibheann believes a lot of my trouble is coming from tightness in the lats, again in the levator scap, and from some issues with thoracic spine mobility. Afterwords I tried the IYWT test again, and you could see a marked improvement.
Aoibheann has suggested I call in each Friday I'm home to speed up my progress. I won't be about this week, since there's a squad session Saturday, but I intend on going again Friday week. I'm sure it'll be worth while. Feel free to check out Aoibheann's website.
I'll be training again Thursday with the club.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Weekend Learning
I trained with the club again 3 days this week, it was a pretty busy week overall, so I didn't make it into Hercs. We're still training similarly to the previous weeks, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I think my technique is improving, and I'm sure my flexibility and hip mobility is, thankfully. I started the Level 1 IAWLA Coaching Course this weekend, so I got more work done both today and yesterday, so overall there was a little more practice done this week than previous weeks!
The course was quite interesting. We got to try the different parts of the lifts quite a bit both days, but we were mainly focusing on was pointing out what issues others were having with the lifts. My knowledge has most definitely increased, and a few more problems I'm having are becoming clear. While this is not altogether encouraging, I now know what I need to work on to improve. I hope I see some big improvements soon.
At the end of the course Sunday I joined Alex, who was also doing the course; for some squatting. Harry was in to offer advice, so a few other club members joined us too. Here's what I did-
Back Squat - 3*60kg, 3*70kg, 3*80kg, 3*90kg, 5*3*100kg
I was pretty happy with these. I was quiet tired from the 2 days, yet they still felt quite comfortable, and I'm sure I had more in the tank.
Alex squatted up to 85kg for 5*3 after being sick for the last 2 weeks or so, which was very impressive. I think this spurred everyone on to train harder. Two lads from the club, Alan and Stephen, worked up to 60kg for a few sets, and it's obvious they've a lot more to come.
The second weekend of the course starts April 17th, so I've a few weeks now to get a few sessions filled in in my logbook. Not completely sure how often I'll get to train this week with Paddy's Day in between, but should get in for at least 3. Thankfully we've only six sessions to fill in before it, so it shouldn't be too much trouble.
The course was quite interesting. We got to try the different parts of the lifts quite a bit both days, but we were mainly focusing on was pointing out what issues others were having with the lifts. My knowledge has most definitely increased, and a few more problems I'm having are becoming clear. While this is not altogether encouraging, I now know what I need to work on to improve. I hope I see some big improvements soon.
At the end of the course Sunday I joined Alex, who was also doing the course; for some squatting. Harry was in to offer advice, so a few other club members joined us too. Here's what I did-
Back Squat - 3*60kg, 3*70kg, 3*80kg, 3*90kg, 5*3*100kg
I was pretty happy with these. I was quiet tired from the 2 days, yet they still felt quite comfortable, and I'm sure I had more in the tank.
Alex squatted up to 85kg for 5*3 after being sick for the last 2 weeks or so, which was very impressive. I think this spurred everyone on to train harder. Two lads from the club, Alan and Stephen, worked up to 60kg for a few sets, and it's obvious they've a lot more to come.
The second weekend of the course starts April 17th, so I've a few weeks now to get a few sessions filled in in my logbook. Not completely sure how often I'll get to train this week with Paddy's Day in between, but should get in for at least 3. Thankfully we've only six sessions to fill in before it, so it shouldn't be too much trouble.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Club Training
My only training this week was with the weightlifting club, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I planned on training in Hercs two other days, but I was tired, and suffering from a slight head cold, so it didn't happen. Ah laziness...
We're still working on the basics, which I'm enjoying, but I really need to make sure I get in another two sessions each week to train the full lifts. Practicing the different parts will no doubt be beneficial, but if it's all I do, I'll likely disimprove.
My flexibility and mobility is undoubtedly increasing, which is great. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable in hole, and overhead too. Hopefully this will help me start bumping up the lifts.
Check out the clubs facebook page. There's some videos of me doing the parts of the lifts we're working on. Comments would be greatly appreciated.
That's all for now. Hopefully I get a bit more training in next week. Me and two friends also plan on trying yoga out Thursday night. Should be interesting!
We're still working on the basics, which I'm enjoying, but I really need to make sure I get in another two sessions each week to train the full lifts. Practicing the different parts will no doubt be beneficial, but if it's all I do, I'll likely disimprove.
My flexibility and mobility is undoubtedly increasing, which is great. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable in hole, and overhead too. Hopefully this will help me start bumping up the lifts.
Check out the clubs facebook page. There's some videos of me doing the parts of the lifts we're working on. Comments would be greatly appreciated.
That's all for now. Hopefully I get a bit more training in next week. Me and two friends also plan on trying yoga out Thursday night. Should be interesting!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Shockin' Busy
I've been busy over the last week, so only getting to post this now. Here it goes-
Saturday
I competed at the Masters, my first competition of the year, and the first since the seniors last year. It was a excellent competition, and I was reasonably happy with how I lifted. I totalled a massive 127kg at 63.5kg, comprising of 52/75. I made all six of my lifts, which tells me I've more in me. That much is encouraging.
Unfortunately the water loading didn't quite work for me. After discussing it with Barry during the week, my attempt became half-hearted. He reminded me I'm only a beginner, and shouldn't be worrying about weight classes at all, which of course he was completely right about.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and encouragement. I met a lot of sound guys at the comp, and their kind words were much appreciated. Congratulations to everyone who lifted, there was a lot of great lifting, and there is much more to come from all.
Tuesday
Tuesday was the first day of training this semester for the DCU Weightlifting Club. We've managed to get our hands on one of the strength and conditioning rooms in the college to use, which is a big improvement on last semester. We've also secured some funding, which means we can purchase some basic gear to get us going. At the minute we're using broom handles, and olympic bars. This is fine for now, as a lot of members need to improve their flexibility before they're ready to use the proper equipment.
The excellent Harry Leech, who has taken position as coach; takes us for two two hour slots during the week, and one hour and a half slot. At the minute the sessions are broken up into a quick warm up, which includes joint mobility work; followed by some skill work (snatch drops, hang snatches, hang cleans etc.). We finish up with squatting followed by some static stretching. The skill work is a step backwards for me, but I think it will be useful practice, and will help iron out some of the issues I'm having in the basic parts of the lifts. I'm also finding the stretching and mobility work very beneficial, this is a very important area for me to work on.
Wednesday
Morning
I trained in Hercs from 11 as Harry was in training. I didn't go to heavy, since it was my first day of proper lifting since the competition. Here's what I did-
Evening
We had another session with Harry in DCU. It was pretty similar to Tuesday, but we got to use a bit of weight when squatting. It's great to see how quickly everyone's improving. Some members have a lot of potential, and I'm really looking forward to seeing us becoming a successful weightlifting club.
Friday
I was majorly hungover from Thursday night, but managed to make it along to the final session of the week in DCU. Good to be working a way at the stretching and mobility work, even if I did feel terrible! The skill work wasn't great at all, and the little bit of squatting felt terribly heavy. Unfortunately most Fridays will be like this.
That was the weeks training. I also did a little bit of shoulder work on Thursday, but it's not really worth logging.
This week's training will be pretty similar. Hopefully I'll have a little more time to update this.
Saturday
I competed at the Masters, my first competition of the year, and the first since the seniors last year. It was a excellent competition, and I was reasonably happy with how I lifted. I totalled a massive 127kg at 63.5kg, comprising of 52/75. I made all six of my lifts, which tells me I've more in me. That much is encouraging.
Unfortunately the water loading didn't quite work for me. After discussing it with Barry during the week, my attempt became half-hearted. He reminded me I'm only a beginner, and shouldn't be worrying about weight classes at all, which of course he was completely right about.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and encouragement. I met a lot of sound guys at the comp, and their kind words were much appreciated. Congratulations to everyone who lifted, there was a lot of great lifting, and there is much more to come from all.
Tuesday
Tuesday was the first day of training this semester for the DCU Weightlifting Club. We've managed to get our hands on one of the strength and conditioning rooms in the college to use, which is a big improvement on last semester. We've also secured some funding, which means we can purchase some basic gear to get us going. At the minute we're using broom handles, and olympic bars. This is fine for now, as a lot of members need to improve their flexibility before they're ready to use the proper equipment.
The excellent Harry Leech, who has taken position as coach; takes us for two two hour slots during the week, and one hour and a half slot. At the minute the sessions are broken up into a quick warm up, which includes joint mobility work; followed by some skill work (snatch drops, hang snatches, hang cleans etc.). We finish up with squatting followed by some static stretching. The skill work is a step backwards for me, but I think it will be useful practice, and will help iron out some of the issues I'm having in the basic parts of the lifts. I'm also finding the stretching and mobility work very beneficial, this is a very important area for me to work on.
Wednesday
Morning
I trained in Hercs from 11 as Harry was in training. I didn't go to heavy, since it was my first day of proper lifting since the competition. Here's what I did-
- Snatch - worked up to 6*1*47kg
- Clean & Jerk - worked up to 4*2*61kg
- Back Squat - worked up to 4*3*90kg
Harry had me focusing on getting the hips lower for these. I found it was making it a lot easier to push through the center of my feet. When I had then higher I was extending through the toes, which was causing many other problems.
Again Harry had me trying to get the hips lower, and again it was effective. I was very tired for these though. Especially the second reps. I'm really not used to morning sessions at all!
Evening
We had another session with Harry in DCU. It was pretty similar to Tuesday, but we got to use a bit of weight when squatting. It's great to see how quickly everyone's improving. Some members have a lot of potential, and I'm really looking forward to seeing us becoming a successful weightlifting club.
Friday
I was majorly hungover from Thursday night, but managed to make it along to the final session of the week in DCU. Good to be working a way at the stretching and mobility work, even if I did feel terrible! The skill work wasn't great at all, and the little bit of squatting felt terribly heavy. Unfortunately most Fridays will be like this.
That was the weeks training. I also did a little bit of shoulder work on Thursday, but it's not really worth logging.
This week's training will be pretty similar. Hopefully I'll have a little more time to update this.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday's Inadequacy
Trained in Hercs today. It was a quick session as I had a meal to go to a little after six, but I got as much done as I could. When I arrived Cathal Byrd, Cathal Twaddle, Barry, Wayne and someone I'd never seen lifting before, Amy; were training. Clearly the place was pretty busy, so I headed upstairs to do some shoulder rehabbing and stretching. When I got back, I managed (just about!) to find space on one of the platforms.
I felt pretty inadequate lifting with so many great lifters, and I think this affected my focus. My first few snatches felt terrible, both in the starting position, and in the lockout. They improved slightly as I went on, but they still weren't great. Here's what I did -
Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 2*2*43kg, 2*2*45kg, 2*1*47kg, 2*1*49kg
Clean & Jerk - 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg
These didn't feel fantastic, and I was in a rush, so I left it at that.
Will probably train again tomorrow. Still haven't got talking to Harry so I'm undecided.
I felt pretty inadequate lifting with so many great lifters, and I think this affected my focus. My first few snatches felt terrible, both in the starting position, and in the lockout. They improved slightly as I went on, but they still weren't great. Here's what I did -
Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 2*2*43kg, 2*2*45kg, 2*1*47kg, 2*1*49kg
Clean & Jerk - 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg
These didn't feel fantastic, and I was in a rush, so I left it at that.
Will probably train again tomorrow. Still haven't got talking to Harry so I'm undecided.
Tuesday's Preparation
As I said I'm hoping to compete at the masters this Saturday. As part of my preparation I'm water loading. It's pretty tough going, the amount of toilet visits are plentiful! I'll keep at it though. I'm not a fan of dieting, so hopefully this works.
I trained Tuesday in DCU. It was a pretty short session. I lowered the volume, and worked up to a little above what I hope to open with Saturday. It had been a few days since I'd trained, so I was pretty fresh. My snatches felt a lot faster than usual, and very solid overhead. The Clean and Jerks were a lot more snappy too.
After some shoulder rehabbing and stretching here's what I did-
Snatch - 2*30kg, 2*2*40kg, 2*42.5kg, 2*45kg, 1*47.5kg, 1*50kgX, 1*50kg
The rep I missed landed me on my ass! I likely would have lost it behind if my shoulders were more flexible.
After some jerk and clean warm up -
Clean & Jerk - 2*50kg, 2*55kg, 2*60kg, 1*65kg, 1*70kg
The lock out was better on these than usual, which I was happy with. I'm finding the second rep pretty tough for any I did. Really need to improve my conditioning!
I left it at that, and headed to the pool for a little while. Can't beat a little chillin in the sauna!
I'll be training in Hercs today.
I trained Tuesday in DCU. It was a pretty short session. I lowered the volume, and worked up to a little above what I hope to open with Saturday. It had been a few days since I'd trained, so I was pretty fresh. My snatches felt a lot faster than usual, and very solid overhead. The Clean and Jerks were a lot more snappy too.
After some shoulder rehabbing and stretching here's what I did-
Snatch - 2*30kg, 2*2*40kg, 2*42.5kg, 2*45kg, 1*47.5kg, 1*50kgX, 1*50kg
The rep I missed landed me on my ass! I likely would have lost it behind if my shoulders were more flexible.
After some jerk and clean warm up -
Clean & Jerk - 2*50kg, 2*55kg, 2*60kg, 1*65kg, 1*70kg
The lock out was better on these than usual, which I was happy with. I'm finding the second rep pretty tough for any I did. Really need to improve my conditioning!
I left it at that, and headed to the pool for a little while. Can't beat a little chillin in the sauna!
I'll be training in Hercs today.
Monday, February 15, 2010
End of Week Round Up
Trained Thursday in Hercs. Was a day of much thought about my lifting. I'm realising the list of obstacles I have to cross is endless, but I'm enjoying it, so I'll keep fighting!
Tommy Hayden was in coaching Cathal Twaddle, and was offering me a little advice. His main point was that I'm always extending through the front of my foot, rather than through the base. This, he says, is the main cause of my under extension, which is forcing me to use my arms. While I may be able to snatch light weights like this, heavier weights definitely won't be happening. He advises going back to snatching from the boards. Bit of a step backwards, but if it helps I'm willing to try it. Will have to get talking to Harry about it.
My lifting wasn't great. I kept it a little lighter than usual to focus on technique, but everything was still feeling out of place. Here's what I did-
Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 3*2*43kg, 4*2*46kg
Clean - 2*50kg, 2*55kg, 2*60kg, 2*65kg, 4*2*70kg
Back Squat - 5*60kg, 5*70kg, 5*80kg, 5*90kg, 3*5*100kg.
Saturday
Trained at home Saturday. Only got in for an hour, so did some thorough shoulder rehabbing, as well as a little military pressing. Still unsure if my lock-out is improving.
Military press - 2*5*bar, 5*30kg, 5*40kg, 3*50kg, 3*55kg
Planning on competing in the masters in dublin this weekend (as an open lifter obviously!). Just started some water loading, which I've never tried before. Testing it out to see if I can make the 62s. I'm weighing about 64kg at the minute, so it should work if I stick at it. Still unsure what way I'm going to train this week. Will have to give Harry a call to see what he thinks. I'll likely take Thursday and Friday off to rest, but we'll see.
Tommy Hayden was in coaching Cathal Twaddle, and was offering me a little advice. His main point was that I'm always extending through the front of my foot, rather than through the base. This, he says, is the main cause of my under extension, which is forcing me to use my arms. While I may be able to snatch light weights like this, heavier weights definitely won't be happening. He advises going back to snatching from the boards. Bit of a step backwards, but if it helps I'm willing to try it. Will have to get talking to Harry about it.
My lifting wasn't great. I kept it a little lighter than usual to focus on technique, but everything was still feeling out of place. Here's what I did-
Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 3*2*43kg, 4*2*46kg
Clean - 2*50kg, 2*55kg, 2*60kg, 2*65kg, 4*2*70kg
Back Squat - 5*60kg, 5*70kg, 5*80kg, 5*90kg, 3*5*100kg.
Saturday
Trained at home Saturday. Only got in for an hour, so did some thorough shoulder rehabbing, as well as a little military pressing. Still unsure if my lock-out is improving.
Military press - 2*5*bar, 5*30kg, 5*40kg, 3*50kg, 3*55kg
Planning on competing in the masters in dublin this weekend (as an open lifter obviously!). Just started some water loading, which I've never tried before. Testing it out to see if I can make the 62s. I'm weighing about 64kg at the minute, so it should work if I stick at it. Still unsure what way I'm going to train this week. Will have to give Harry a call to see what he thinks. I'll likely take Thursday and Friday off to rest, but we'll see.
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