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.

---

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.

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.

Tuesday's Steady Progress

I trained in Hercs again today. It really is great to be back. The change in environment, improvement in training gear, and coaching from Harry is fantastic to say the least!

I arrived a little earlier than usual, so managed to fit in some of my shoulder rehab work. When Harry arrived I moved on to snatches. These were pretty good for a while. I was still making simple mistakes like not extending fully, as well as other smaller ones. Not staying over the bar, or getting my knees back enough going into the second pull were some Harry mentioned.

After that I did some jerks. These are improving a lot technique wise. That wouldn't be hard though. They really couldn't have been much uglier! Harry got me focus on the drive mainly. I definitely wasn't putting enough power or speed into it before. This made them feel a lot easier. As usual I finished with some squats. Here's what I did-

Snatch - 2*2*40kg, 2*2*43kg, 2*2*47kg, 2*1*47kg
It was intended that all four sets of 47kg would be doubles, but I missed the second in the last two sets. I was pretty annoyed about that. I lost them out front each time. The lock-out really needs improving.

After some jerk skill work with 40kg-
Jerk - 2*40kg, 2*45kg, 2*50kg
Front Squat + Jerk -
2+1*50kg, 2+1*54kg, 2+1*58kg, 2+1*62kg, 4*2+1*65kg
Front Squat - 3*65kg, 3*75kg, 5*3*85kg
These were pretty tough. But I managed to squeeze out the 5 sets of 85kg.

Today's session was very enjoyable overall. I think my strength levels have actually decreased though. I don't mind anyway, technique is the most important thing at the minute.

I have four exams out of five done, so I'm almost at the point where I can completely focus on training for a while. Really looking forward to getting this last one out of the way.

I should be down in Hercs again Thursday. There'll undoubtedly be a session that night though, since it's the last day of exams, but I'll make the best of it anyway. Even if the recovery time suffers. Here's hoping the DOMs aren't too bad!

Hours of sleep - 7/8hrs