Last Conditioning Session in St. Louis

Two Man Alternating Prowler Push
-1 mile
-First 1/3 mi with 190 lbs.
-Second 2/3 mi with 90 lbs
-24 minutes

Notes
Connor and I went out to the park for one last session.  Originally, we planned on each pushing the sled one mile.  I have no doubt we could have done this, as we've surpassed a mile in normal sled sessions with runs of 75-150 yards.  But we chose to alternate mostly because neither of us wanted to sit there for 30 minutes while the other guy pushed the sled around the parking lot.

So one guy would push the sled for 100-200 yards, and then let the other guy take over.  This was particularly challenging because rest period were short, and you had to keep moving to keep up with the sled.  We started with 190lbs, but that got ridiculous pretty quickly.   We switched over to 90lbs and finished the session at a nice clip.

I managed to throw up during my last run.  Connor pushed it out to hit 1 total mile.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Overall, this is the best condition I've ever been in.  Hard work has paid off this semester.  Its been fun working with a guy that is willing to train hard and go step for step with whatever you want to do.  I've definitely benefited from the partnership.  If either of us ever had a suggestion on volume, intensity or whatever, it was hard to turn it down.  Who wants to be the guy to say "No, I can't do that."

So thats it for training in St. Louis.  It ends with two bros shirtless in the park pushing a rusted sled around a huge parking lot, and with me puking in the grass.  Sweet Jesus, I'm glad no one really reads this blog.

Last Strength Session in St. Louis

Power Day A

1. Clean and Jerk
135x3; 185x1; 200x1; 200x1; 215x1; 215x1; 230x1; 245x1 (PR)

2. RDL
205x8; 205x8; 205x8

3. Behind the Neck Jerk
135x3; 165x3; 205x1; 225x1; 245x1; 260x1 (PR); 275x1 (PR)

Notes
I'm wrapping up my time here in St. Louis. Movers are coming Thursday at noon, and I'm leaving directly after they are done.  I really had no idea what to expect coming into todays session.  I went to a wedding in Arkansas over the weekend.  There was an open bar from 5pm to midnight.  I was actually doing well controlling myself, until I hit the dance floor.  I'm doing some funky shit when all of a sudden I feel a loud "pop" in my right knee.  This is the knee that has kept me from squatting.  Its also the knee that made driving to this wedding an absolute nightmare.  Luckily I was drunk and didn't feel too much.  The next day I could barely extend my leg.  My knee was extremely sore, and I wasn't able to flex my quad without pain.

The best way to sum it up is my knee feels unstable.  Usually that is a sign something is torn.  It gave out a couple times going down stairs and just moving around.  So I was limping around for two days.  Surprisingly, I wake up this morning and it didn't feel too bad.  So I went in and warmed up, still didn't feel too bad.  Did some hang cleans with 135, and it felt fine.  Shrug.  It still feels like something is off, but nothing painful.

I'd been packing all day and just wanted to get in and do a basic session.  I felt good about the regular clean and jerk PR.   Jerking from the front is a little different since you have to readjust the rack position for a wider grip.  It also feels a little weird initiating an overhead movement with your elbows really high. I tried 250, but missed the clean twice.  My clean form still sucks.

The highlight of the day for me was the BTN jerk PR.  I wanted to do something memorable on my last session at WashU's basement dungeon gym.  I felt like a beast jerking 275  and holding it over my head.  I don't know why I'm good at these, but I'm not complaining.  This is somewhat of an unconventional lift, but I think its cool and fun.  I will take any barbell PR any day of the week.

As I said a couple weeks ago, there are tons of ways to get better at overhead movements.  I'm feeling good about the progress thus far.

Edit:  Cot damn this session wrecked me.  I've noticed the heavy jerks really take a toll on my body.  I think part of it is the jerk forces me to support much heavier weight overhead than I am used to.

Day 9

Strength Day B

1a.  Seated DB Press
60x8; 60x8; 60x8

1b.  Facepulls
30x20; 30x20; 30x20

1c.  DB Curl
45x8; 45x8; 45x8

Notes
Quick workout last Friday in my GF's apartment gym.  It took about 15 minutes.

Day 8

Conditioning

75 Yard Prowler runs w/ 180 lbs.
12 runs
24 minutes.

Notes
Intense session.  Doubled the normal weight per friend's request.  When it comes to the prowler, I generally think lighter weight for longer sessions is better than heavy weight for short sessions.  But sometimes its nice to try something in between.  I still kept my HR in the normal ranges, save for the last run which I sprinted.

Strength Training

Power Day

Clean and Split Jerk
185 for 20 singles on the minute

Hanging knee raises
8; 8.. too sore to do ab wheels.

Notes
Been training non-stop the past week with double sessions on most days.  I feel physically beat down, but its fun. This is basically it.  I won't be able to do this sort of thing for a long time.  I'm out of town this weekend, then moving next week.

Nothing heavy, but I'm trying to be technical with this shit.  This was the first time I've tried actual clean and jerks.  The cleans still need some work, but the jerks are light and feel natural.  I greatly prefer split jerks over power jerks.  When I split, the weight flies up. So my power clean PR is 245, and my btn jerk PR is 255.  My goal for this summer is a 275 clean and jerk.  I'm going to have to buy 45lb bumpers to bring to the NH gym over the summer.

Day 7

Conditioning

1. Tire Flips
50 down the field, 50 back
About 15 minutes

2. Stadium Runs
Down and back
About 20 minutes

139 avg hr, 158 peak for the session.

Golf
Walked 9 holes in the morning.

Notes
Armor building, yo.  Aside from this session, the walking made for a long day.

Day 6

Conditioning

10 Rounds:

1.  120 yard sled push

2.  60 yard KB Loaded Carries (rotate waiter walks, 1 arm farmer walks, high/low carries, two arm farmers walks).

3.  KB Swings/Snatches/Clean and Presses (rotated, about 6-12 reps)

4.  Rest (60-90 seconds)

-Time:  52 minutes
-Avg HR: 149
-Peak HR: 172
-Calories: 852

Notes
Excellent conditioning session.  There were three total people, so we added in extra kettlebell work in between sled pushes.  I'm really starting to see the loaded carries start to pay off. I've been doing farmers walks, waiters walks, and all those sort of variations for about two years now.  It makes you feel solid as fuck.  It takes true core stability to tightly control  loads while walking around.

My new favorite version is a 70lb one arm farmer's walk, coupled with a 53lb waiter walk in the other hand.  It might seem a little gimmicky, but it is challenging as fuck.  Easily the hardest loaded carry variation I've tried.  I find it particularly effective because all of the one arm work has give me a good mind body connection to obliques and lateral core.  I'm pretty good at telling whether I'm level and upright.   This makes it a lot easier to lock in weird and awkward variations.

I remember a couple years back at iFast with Gabe. We did some farmers walks and he commented I was all hunched over, or something to that effect.  At the time, I didn't know any better. If you could only see me now brah.  Haha.

Strength Training

1. BTN Split Jerks
135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x3

2.  Seated DB Press
55x8; 55x8; 55x8

3.  Pendlay Rows
185x5; 185x5; 185x5

4.  Face Pulls
25 reps; 25 reps (switch variations and angles)

5a.  Power Curls
95x5; 95x5; 95x5

5b.  Suitcase Deadlift
135x3/3; 135x3/3; 185x1/1

Notes
Solid day. Started with BTN split jerks because yesterday I was push pressing the lockout a little bit.  I'm much more explosive with the split.  It also feels cooler.  Pendlay's felt solid.  I do these perfectly strict right now.  Zero hip action or change in back angle.  Feels good loading my posterior.

Dropped the trap bar deadlift today because I've pounded the shit out of my legs the past couple days.

Day 5

Range Work... Deadlifts and SANDIES biatch
120 balls
-60-70 pitches and wedge shots
-30-40 mid irons
-10 drives

Strength Training

A.  Power Day 

1. High Pulls
185x2; 205x2; 225x2; 245x2; 255x2

2.  Hang Cleans
185x2; 195x2; 205x2; 215x2; 215x2

3.  Power Cleans
185x2; 205x1; 225x1; 245x1 (PR); 250x0; 250x0

4.  Behind the Neck Jerks
135x1; 185x2; 205x2; 225x1; 225x1; 240x1; 250x1 (PR); 255x1 (PR); 185x2

5a.  Ab Wheel
5; 5; 5

5b.  Chins
5; 5; 5

Notes
The driving range was fatiguing because my swing isn't grooved and my tempo was way too fast.  Just swinging too hard.  But its good to be back on the course.  I want to play a lot this summer.

Pleased with the power session.  The high pulls actually took a lot out of me.  A lot more than I expected.  I was pretty gassed by the time I got to power cleans.  Nonetheless, I managed to hit a PR.  235 was my previous.  I was able to hit 245 mostly because I've been focusing on improving the second pull.

BTN jerks felt a little more natural today.  I was pressing it a little at the end because I wasn't generating enough leg drive.  Something to work on.  I was happy to hit a 10lb PR.  Only 20 lbs off 275, which I think would be pretty cool.

Next session I'm going to do more sets of clean/jerks with lighter weight.  I'm muscling this stuff right now.  I'm fine with that to a degree.  I'm not trying to be an oly all-star, but I'd like to get moderately proficient in this stuff.

Day 4

C - Day Conditioning

Part I

1.  Prowler run @ 120 yards
90 lbs x 10 runs

2.  Prowler run @ 60 yards
90 lbs x 10 runs

Time: 53 minutes (About 33mins for the 120 yarders, and 20mins for the 60 yarders)
Avg HR: 144
Peak HR: 172
Calories: 787

Part II

1.  Walking
35 minutes

Avg HR: 110
Peak HR: 117
Calories: 308

Notes
Solid Sunday conditioning session.  The 120 yard runs were something new.  Lately, I've been doing 75 yard runs.  Because of the increased distance, I had to rest longer in between sets.  At the beginning of the session, 120 yard was taking me approximately 75 seconds, and I was resting 75 seconds to recover (1:1).  By the 10th run, I was up to a 120-150 second rest for recovery (1:1.5 to 1:2). Eventually, I had to switch to 60 yard runs because recovery was taking too long.

I let my heartrate dictate my rest periods because I am primarily targeting the aerobic energy system.    The point here is to accumulate more total work.  Its not necessarily about going faster.  Its about moving the weight for longer periods and longer duration while maintaining the same heartrate.

Day 3

C Day - Conditioning

Part I

10 rounds, 35 minutes:

1a.  Prowler
75 yards, brief rest, 75 yards

1b.  KB Snatches
5 per side

Part II

2.  Waiter Walks
75 yards left, 75 yards right w/ 53lb

3.  1 Arm Carry
75 yards left, 75 yards right w/ 70lb

4.  Waiter Walk w/ One Arm Carry Same Time
75 yards

Notes
This was Wednesday's conditioning.  Average heartrate: 150bpm.  Peak: 179.  Calories: 850.  Time: about 45 minutes.

Day 2

B Day

1. Trap Bar
205x3; 205x3; 205x3; 295x3; 295x3; 295x3

2. Seated DB Press
50x8; 50x8; 50x8

3. Pendlay Row
135x5; 135x5

4.  Power Curls
95x5; 95x5

5. Suitcase Deadlifts
165x3/3; 165x3/3; 165x3/3

Notes
This session was all the way back on Tuesday.  I went light and acclimated myself to the movements.  I'm doing the trap bar work by initiating with a hinge to get down, rather than just a half knee-extended squat.  The tightness I felt during Pendlays was amazing.  Incredible stretch on hammies, glutes, and low/mid back.  I like them now that I've improved my pelvis/hip/spine alignment.

Day 1

Clean Pulls
Tons of reps at 185, a few at 225

Hang cleans
All reps at 185

Power Clean
A few reps at 185

Behind the Neck Jerks
185x2; 205x2; 225x1; 245x1; 245x1; 205x3

Chins
A couple sets

Notes
Pleased with the jerks. I'm leaving some shit out, but I'm drunk and tired.

New Routine

Introduction

The primary purpose of this routine is to improve my jerk, and my overhead press.  Simply put, I want to become proficient in putting weight above my head.  I've recently become enamored with lifters of past generations.  Arthur Saxson, Doug Hepburn, Paul Anderson, Tommy Kono, John Grimek, Bill March, etc, etc, etc.  Many of their strength feats still stand today - which is insane when you think about it.  And as I read about these giants, I started to notice a trend. Their methods and protocols varied (sets, reps, frequency, etc), but they ALL devoted a significant time to putting shit over their head.

The classic "clean and press" and its progeny covers a lot of ground: full olympic cleans, power clean, fat bar clean and press, log clean and press, dumbbell clean and press, reverse grip/fast curl and press, power jerks from the front, power jerks from the back, split jerks, kettlebell clean and presses, kettlebell jerks, dumbbell jerks, hang cleans, barbell military press (one arm and two arm), dumbbell military press (one arm and two arm), the side press, and the infamous bent press. The list goes on.  In short, there is a fucking shitload of methods to: 1) lift a heavy object off the ground; and 2) put that heavy object over your head.  I suck at almost all of them.

Overhead work has long been a weak point for me for a number of reasons.  First, and most importantly, I've never prioritized overhead work.  I've done it sporadically, and even when I was consistent with it, it was always a lift I did way down the line.  For example, a typical upper day might be bench, then row, then OH press.  Not going to make a ton of progress like that.  Second, its never felt natural to me.  Even light weight feels like shit.  This brings me to my third reason, which is likely related to the second.  Mechanically, I pressed wrong for a long time.  Hyper-extended lower back, flared ribs, elongated abs, poor scapular function, inactive glutes, and poor shoulder mobility all add up to an awesomely pathetic base from which to press.

Now that I'm better at some of this stuff (or at least self-aware when I'm not), I'd like to develop the clean and press.  To me, the clean is a big part of the movement.  Weight on the ground - weight goes overhead.

To be clear, part of the reason I'm doing this is because I cannot squat.  See last post.  But after some intro-spection, I'm ok with that.  Learning this shit will serve me well.

Routine

The basic routine is a two part split.  Day 1, is focused on power.  Clean and jerk movements.  Day 2 is focused on strength and hypertrophy.  At first, Day 2 will be more hypertrophy focused. Day 3 is optional conditioning.  This can either be on its own day, or simply lopped onto other sessions.  At this point, I'm essentially  always going to have dedicated conditioning days.  I like the way it feels.

Below, I've outlined a pretty balanced program.  Power day focuses on classic oly movements.  Day 2 is more mass based at first.  Eventually, I'd like the first couple movements to be barbell.  But for now, I think this will work fine.  I need more muscle.


Power Day

1.Cleans
-Clean pull, 4-5 sets
-Hang clean, 4-5 sets
-Power clean, work up to strong triple

2. Jerk
-BTN Jerks 10x2
-Split jerks if I feel like it

3. Chins

4. Single Leg RDL

5.  Anterior Core

Strength/Hypertrophy Day

1.  Trap Bar
-3x8-10

2. Seated Shoulder Press
-3-8x10

3.  Bent Row
-Rotate between super strict high rep 45 bent rows on one day and strict  heavy pendlay on other days.

4.  Curls
-Rotate between high rep shit (sets of 15-20 or poundstone) and heavy 3x5 power curls

5. Facepulls
2-3 sets high rep

6.  Rotational/Lateral Core
-One Arm Farmers walks/Suitcase Deadlifts/Barbell Twists

Update

I've started writing this post four or five times in the past couple weeks.  I've had mixed emotions about training, life, and the direction I want to take things.

Law School
Last Monday I turned in my last paper.  I'm done with law school.  Graduation is this coming Friday.  My entire family is flying in, which is really awesome.  All in all, I feel great.  I worked hard.  Originally, I wrote a lot about this, but blah.  In sum: I loved the experience; I loved the way it changed the way I think; I like that I got a decent job where I can use my brain.  Now, I'm ready to get going and restart my adult life.

Three years of Training
I can't believe I'm approaching three years of entries on this blog.  I started it in June 2011.  Its hard to describe how much I've learned during this time.  For a number of reasons, it hasn't necessarily translated into more bar weight, but I don't mind.  I've always viewed strength and conditioning as a life long journey.  This is something I need to be healthy, strong, and to keep my sanity when I'm sitting at desk most of the day.

There have certainly been ups and downs.  My very first training entry on this blog was a "Heavy Day" where I squatted 405x3. 415x3. 415x5.  Now, I can't squat at all. Haha.  My second training entry was a hill sprint session.  Though I've had some dry spells here and there, I've consistently conditioned for 1-3x sessions per week over the past couple years.  The result of this conditioning is I developed a VO2max in the highest category for normal athletes (I still haven't blogged about getting this tested yet).  Essentially, my heart can pump oxygen to my muscles at the same maximum rate as an amateur marathon runner.  This means nothing by itself, but overall, I think it makes my training much more consistent.  I cruise through most workouts at a fast pace and get a lot of work in.

I've managed to hit some PR's during this time.  I hit a 570 pull and 340 bench in a meet after experimenting with pulling and benching daily.  I also hit a 275 incline, 455x3 squat, and 100x3 chin after following an RTS routine.  There are other PR's, but certainly not enough in my opinion.

There are many reasons why my Big 3 didn't progress like I wanted it to.  First, I prioritized school.  No explanation needed.  Second, I program hopped.  I don't view this as a bad thing.  I learned a shitload about myself during this time.  I think understanding how adaptation and stress truly works requires time on opposite ends of the spectrum.  The only problem with this is I didn't build momentum very often.  Third, poor movement, mobility, and stability completely fucked me up over time.

Since October, I've been addressing the third issue.  Fucked up movement and mobility. Looking back, I literally knew nothing about barbell movements.  I thought I did, but I didn't.  And quite honestly, I was a snob about it.  I'm a little more humble now.  I could go on and on about everything from the past few months.  I've made a lot of progress, but took some steps backwards in the process.

Squatting went from nonexistant, to bad, to good, to horrible.  I can no longer squat.  I've been battling this for a better part of a year (hip pain started in June 2012), and I'm just fucking tired of it.  I made huge strides in pelvic alignment, neutral spine, and hip mobility, only to develop severe anterior knee pain in the process.  I can only blame myself.  I became obsessed with upright, straight drop squatting, and in the course of a few weeks, I fucked my knees.  My right knee is especially fucked.  Its been a week since I last squatted, and I still can't sit for 5 minutes without throbbing pain.

I'm just exhausted with a single movement bringing so much negativity into my life. And it is my LIFE I'm talking about.  I can barely walk downstairs, I can't drive anywhere, and it generally just fucking sucks.  Its retarded.  I'm done fucking my joints up over a fucking exercise.  I'm not giving up on squats forever, but right now, I'm done.  Its just not worth it anymore.

Forward
Over the past few days, I realized I do a lot of things in the gym because that is what I used to do when I actively powerlifted.   For example, I've been benching 2x a week all semester...  Why?  I have zero plans to compete right now; it puts every other upper body movement on the back burner; and honestly, I don't like having an overdeveloped lower chest.  It looks bad in clothes. Bye bye bench.

I've been squatting because I felt I "had to."  Is squatting important outside of powerlifting?  Yes.  But certainly not to the extent that it destroys your quality of life.  Bye bye squats.

I have no issue with deadlifts right now, but my new routine has a ton of pulling and hinging movements.  Therefore, I do not need to conventionally pull from the ground.  Bye bye deadlifts.

Going forward, I am going to focus on: 1) the clean and jerk/overhead pressing 2) conditioning 3) core/imbalances.

I've always felt slightly embarrassed that I cannot bust out a good powerclean.  I can heave up 225, but it looks like shit.  Also, my overhead strength is pure shit.  Its always taken a back seat to benching.  No more!  Time to get diesel picking up weight and throwing it overhead.