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.

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-

• Snatch - worked up to 6*1*47kg

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.


• Clean & Jerk - worked up to 4*2*61kg

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!


• Back Squat - worked up to 4*3*90kg

Afterwards I went up to do a little stretching with Harry and Alex. I didn't really do much, but got a few more issues I'm having pointed out by Alex. The list keeps building! The newest is weakness in the inner abdominals/obliques. A lot of these problems seem to be connected, and contributing to my weak jerk and snatch. I feel as if I'm improving slowly though.

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.

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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.

Tuesday's Road to Recovery

I had a pretty bad allergic reaction yesterday, so couldn't train. I got in today, but I'm still recovering, so it wasn't as good as it could have been.

I trained in Hercs again, starting with the basic warm up. This had many indications the lifting wasn't going to be good. I did the usual overhead squat + snatch balance combo, and even missed some of the snatch balances. Surprisingly though, the snatching went well. I managed to equal my comp pb of 49kg for a few top sets, which was great.

Harry arrived in when I moved on to Clean and Jerks. These unfortunately weren't as clean cut as the snatches. I only managed to work up to 60kg for a few top sets, and they were tough. Even the cleans felt ropey, when usually they're fine. Here's what I did-

• Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 2*2*44kg, 2*2*47kg, 4*2*49kg

I then did some jerk skill, followed by some clean warm ups. I was quite stiff in the rack position, so Laura did some pnf stretching with me. This helped a lot.


• Clean & Jerk - 2*50kg, 2*55kg, 3*2*60kg


• Back Squat - 3*60kg, 3*70kg, 3*80kg, 3*90kg, 4*3*100kg

I finished off with some stretching. It's actually insane how tight my shoulders are. I can barely grasp my hands behind my back. Alex was there to offer some advice again. She assures me it's tightness in most of the muscle groups in the shoulder, rather than being isolated.

She also showed me some more good stretches that felt great. I can really feel the stretch, as well as scaps moving into they're proper position. The more of these I do, the more my shoulders will improve, so I'm going to keep at it.

Harry might be in DCU tomorrow evening. We're hoping to get club training back underway for semester 2. So chances are I'll be training there. Otherwise I'll be in Hercs. Hopefully I'm well recovered from the allergic reaction for it.

3 More Sessions to Finish the Week

Been pretty busy over the last two days, so only getting a chance to post this now.

Tuesday
I trained in Hercs again. I was pretty tired, as I'm still adjusting to the volume, but it was still a good session. I'm beginning to realise I need to start taking a record of my lifts in the gym, because I'm struggling to remember what I did afterwards! So I'll just give a brief summary

• Hang Snatch + Snatch - Worked up to 4*2*48kg

These were pretty rough, and there was definitely a few misses in there. Still not extending fully, and compensating for this by pulling with my arms. Hard habit to kick.

After some jerk skill work-


• Clean & Jerk - Worked up to 4*2*65kg

Afterwards Alex showed me some stretches to help sort my shoulders out. I did some leg stretches Harry was doing too. Was damn hard to keep face, the pain was pretty serious! I've no doubt keeping at them will be beneficial though, so I intend on doing them each session. Alex is reasonably new to lifting, but has a lot of potential. Her technique is excellent for a beginner, and her strength levels are quite good too. Definitely one to keep an eye on.


Wednesday
Harry advised me to take the day off Wednesday, as I was tired Tuesday. So I did a session in DCU, focusing on my shoulder rehabbing. I tried some of the lat stretches Alex showed me, as well as adjusting some of the older exercises I was doing, on her advice. They're all feeling a lot more effective. She definitely knows her stuff.

I finished off with some squatting, and glute/ham raises.

• Back Squat - 3*50kg, 3*60kg, 3*80kg, 3*90kg, 3*3*100kg, 3*3*102.5kg


• Glute/Ham Raise - 3*6reps

Thursday
Trained in Hercs again today. Harry wasn't in, but Laura and Gill were. I was out last night, so I was suffering a little! But I decided to train anyway. I'll undoubtedly have to train hungover every now and again, so I might as well get used to it.

It really wasn't very productive, but I'm glad I went in anyway. Here's what I did-

• Overhead Squat + Snatch Balance - 2+2*bar, 2+2*30, 2+2*40


• Snatch - 4*2*40kg, 2*2*44kg, 3*2*47kg

As with Tuesday, some of these were misses. I wasn't extending fully as usual, and the arms were doing most of the work. Laura offered me some advice on getting the full extension. Driving hard through the heals, while thinking about driving yourself up onto your toes. I started doing this, and some reps improved slightly. I was definitely getting the bar closer throughout the lift, which is a start.


• Front Squat + Jerk - 2+1*50kg, 2+1*55kg, 2*2+1*60kg

These didn't feel great at all. I was unbalanced, and couldn't lock them out fully. This is without doubt my main problem in the jerk, and Harry is placing a lot of emphasis on how important it is to get sorted. Hopefully this shoulder rehabbing will pay off in the end. So I "cut my losses short" as Laura put it, and moved on to front squats.


• Front Squat - 3*60kg, 3*70kg, 3*3*80kg

That's all I'm going to train this week. I'm playing at a friends 21st at the weekend, so gonna be busy with some last minute practice. I'll try doing some of the shoulder rehab anyway to keep things in order.