Having priorities in training and in life are obviously a good thing. Training wise I have narrowed down my goals to the following:
1) Maintain stability in lumbar spine and continue to heal from my Disc herniation last year.
2)Continue to sprint at least once per week and run as fast as I can. My goal is to return to running the 100 meters in less than 11 seconds (my PR is a 10.72). I would be very happy getting to a 10.8 again. Two meets ago I ran a 12.2 (worst race of my life) and then followed it up with an 11.7 (still slow, but much better than the 12 second joke). As long as my back tolerates it well I will continue to sprint. If there is pain, I will take a break. I would rather function well and feel great than sprint and live with pain. So far so good.
3)Get damn strong at pull ups and pressing. Pull ups with the BEAST (2 reps) and 2 reps with the BULLDOG on the Press. I'm close to getting one with the BEAST on the pull up (a couple of inches away from my chin.) My press is pathetically far away. Although I was very encouraged by what Kenneth Jay said at the June RKC, in order to Press Heavy you have to press all the time, and not light either. I have my work cut out for me on the press. I am naturally a much better puller than presser. I feel that the heavy pull ups will help my pressing.
4) Be able to do some pistols again. A couple of years ago I could bang out 5 reps on each leg with a 40 pound weight. Now I can do 1 rep with the 24kg on the right and ZERO reps with any weight (even bodyweight ) on my left. Since my back injury I have developed quite a left hip weakness that I am still trying to figure out. The jump stretch bands seem to be a nice help as it allows me to at least get down into the bottom position. My left psoas is tight, rigid and weak, I can feel it.
Tuesday Training
A-1 Weighted Pull Ups
24kg 5,5,5,5,4 = 24 reps (these felt really good - powerful pull!)
B-1 Clean + Squat + Press
32kg 3/3 x 5 sets
9 comments:
Franz,
Do you have any progressions for the squat style TGU? Your wife makes it look so easy, but it is no easy task!
Nate,
You are correct, Yoana makes it look simple! What allows people to perform the squat style is very good hip mobility as well as thoracic spine mobility. Of course if you ankles are tight you'll have a difficult time getting into a rock bottom squat.
My advice would be to determine whether or not you have any restrictions in those areas I mentioned above and address those first and then retest the squat to see if there is improvement. Also, try starting from the top position with the KB overhead and perform some overhead squats as deep as you possibly can. Use the exercise as a stretch to really open up the hips and spine and see if that helps. Hold the bottom position and really USE STRENGTH to get down there.
Hope that helps!
Franz,
From Z-Health's R-Phase: Start performing ankle tilts--lateral and medial, 3 position toe pulls, and 4 position rehab circles on your left leg. This should help you get into a pistol. Come to think of it, perform them on both sides. Hold on to something so balance isn't an issue.
Perform 3 reps 2-3 x per day--GTG style.
Let me know how you get on.
press press press press press
press press press press press
Franz,
FWIW, I am in pretty much the same mode as you, minus the sprinting. I have adjusted my sessions to include snatches (and/or swings), jerks and presses. I also perform pistols and pull-ups. That's it. I practice a few "stunt" lifts at the end of every session, but these are just for fun and practice. Yesterday I pulled of a 44 kg. press (holding a 32 kg and a 12 kg KB in one hand) after performing over 180 swings and nearly 40 pull-ups in my main session. Jerks do help the presses, no doubt because of the amount of volume that you can get. BTW one arm jerks are great and often underrated. Sometimes I press until it feels too heavy then I switch to jerks and carry on. Your shoulders need to be healthy for all this fun and games but you will press big in no time! Enjoy the pain comrade, I'm off to get some sleep after a long week!
Geoff, thanks brother! I am doing them - although I haven't tried any pistols yet. I'll do some pistols today and give it a whirl!
David,
I know man. I must Press alot to get good at pressing - SO TRUE!!!
Tom,
thanks for post brother! Great to hear from you and I hope that you are doing well!
Like you I am trying to simplify my training to Pull ups, chin ups, presses, snatches and pistols (with the occasional front squat, lunge combo, medicine ball exercise)
Be well!
Nice work on the pullups/chin ups! Sweet!
I second the Z work stated above. It still floors me how many times it works! Precision with the drills is extremely key though!
Keep us updated!
Mike N
Post a Comment