Squat Focus Day

Todays training. Session time, 1 hour 20 mins.


Squat
Bar*15
60*5
80*5
100*5
120*3
130*3 belt on
140*2
150*3
160*1 crap rep and bar slid up shoulders when in the hole
160*1 much better!
140*3

walk outs
175
180
180

Swiss ball crunches
15*bw
10*+5kg
10*+5kg

Side bends
24kg KB 15 per side
28kg Kb 12 per side
28*12 per side

Job done.
Good session today and is the last heavy squat day before my comp.
Next week I will be working up to my opening weight and then allowing 8 - 10 days complete rest before the comp.

Sunday - conditioning session with Kettlebells

Training today was a KB only session as follows:

Jerks
2mins, 20kg 6 reps per minute
2mins 20kg, 6 reps per minute
2 mins 20kg, 6 reps per minute

1 Arm Jerk
1min, 24kg 13 reps L then 1 Min R arm
1min, 24kg 14 reps L then 1 Min R arm

Snatch
20kg 2 mins, 1 min per arm, 10 reps per minute
20kg 2 mins, 1 min per arm 10 reps per minute
16kg 2 mins, 1 min per arm 15 reps per minute

Bottom Up hold (without press)
16kg for numerous attempts.
Managed 3 good sets of 10 second holds

Windmill
20kg*3 each side
24*1*2 each side
28kg*1 each side

That was me, first all KB session since the advanced course and first time of trying snatches after jerks.

Needless to say, the snatches felt poor and were a real effort to punch through at the top.

Whole workout took an hour and I was shattered at the end of it!

Great conditioning though and will be doing this now for the next few weeks in addition to powerlifing dominant work.

Very enjoyable!

Training - Bench Dominant

Trained last night as follows - wasnt feeling 100% due to a pesky cough I have picked up on returning from hols!

Bench Press
Bar*20
40*10
60*5
70*5
80*5
90*3
100*1
110*1
110*1
110*1
110*1
110*1
97.5*2 with extra long pause on chest
95*3 with extra long pause on chest
95*3 "

2 Board press
110*3
115*3
115*3

Just focused on trying to fire em out explosively with 1 second touch on chest

Behind neck press
bar*15
40*6
40*6

KB snatch (10 reps per arm all done in 60 seconds)
16*10 L+R
16*10 L+R
20*10 L+R
20*10 L+R

Rear delts
5kg*12*3 sets

Very good session, lacked a little speed off the chest with the 110's but that's to be expected after a week off and cold.

Next weeks session will be stepped up with a little more weight, but less volume.

Thanks for reading.

It's been a while!

My does'nt time fly?!

I can't believe it was over 2 weeks ago since my last update, but it goes to show how easy it is to lose track of time when your mind is on other things.

Since my last update things have been a little up and down - but all in a good way.

After my Advanced Kettlebell course I admit, I was feeling somewhat beat up - physically and mentally.

I ached for most of the week after the course which meant that my planned training had to be trimmed a little to take account for my added fatigue.

In situations like this I tend to cut right back on the volume, aim for my target set and then back right off with some lighter assistance work.
The fatigue I felt was most apparent in my back, with me noticing some tightness around the lower right hand side of my back, just above the hip.

I had a week of snowboarding planned which was a welcome break from training, and yet equally tiring due to long days out on the slopes and all the effort of control needed to stay upright!

It was a great week filled with amazing scenary, fab company and truly glorious weather!

On returning back to the UK feeling well rested from my usual training it was back to it with squats planned.

The session went as follows: -
Squat
Bar*15
60kg*5
80*5
100*5
120*3
130*3
140*3
150*1
150*1
150*1
150*1
130*5

Box Squat
100*2
100*2
100*2
100*2
100*2

Swiss Ball Crunches with 5kg plate behind head.
10 reps
10 reps
10reps

Side Bends with 20kg Kettlebell
10 reps per side repeated 3 times

Bridges
1 minute * 3 sets with 60 seconds rest between each.

That was it, a very good session within which I felt very strong, despite the week on the slopes which had left me somewhat tired.

3 weeks to go until the British Championships and feeling incredibly focussed!

Thanks for reading.

This weekend was spent on a 1 day course in London - The Optimal Life Fitness Advanced kettlebell course.

It was a great day of competition kettlebell lifts, swings, snatches, cleans, jerks and grind lifts including the windmill, 2 handed anyhow and much more.

Needless to say, after 6 hours of lifting, and two days later - i'm still sore and pretty tired - but happy.

The guys at Optimal Life Fitness are great, with outstanding knowledge and know how.

Check out their web site for the courses they provide if your interested in kettlebells and are based in the Uk.

http://www.optimallifefitness.com/

Tonight I had written in my diary to squat - and with me being away snowboarding next week, it's vital that I complete my core sessions for each of my main lifts, that being squat, deadlift and bench.

So, after a strong coffee it was down to business.

Squats with a cambered bar (helps prevent elbow, shoulder and wrist strain)
Bar*10
40kg*10
60*5
80*5
100*5
120*5
130*3
140*3
140*3
140*3

Box squat performed with speed: -

100kg*2
100kg*2
100kg*2
100kg*2
100kg*2

And that was it.

The box squats were done with a narrower stance and exploded out of the hole as fast as possible for two reps.

Got plenty of stretching to do as my lower back was pretty fatigued after this little lot.

A pleasing session, with the 140's being 80% of my 1 rep maximum.

Perfect!

Thanks for reading.

Hi Everyone,

Well it has been a week since I last updated and in that time it's been my competition.

I awoke on the morning of the comp and weighed in at 81.1kg first thing in the morning, which was perfect and served to give me plenty of room for difference in scales at the competition venue.

The journey there was a little stressful, after getting 5 miles into my journey and picking up a nail in my car tyre!

Thankfully I had a spare and after a quick change I was off again.

On arriving just after 8am I weighed in without issue, 81.1kg.

I was scheduled to lift in the 4th wave, which was great news as it meant I had plenty of time to rehydrate and get some food eaten.

I started off with 1 litre of carbohydrate/electrolyte replacement drink, and a banana and p-nut butter sandwich, which was shortly followed by some home made flapjack while I sat back and watched the first lifters set off.

The day went very well indeed, with me starting lifting at around 11am.

My opening squat was 145kg, followed by 160kg and finishing off with 170kg.
Each of the lifts were legal, and 170kg had been my target, so I was very happy.

About an hour later is was time for my second set of lifts of the day - the bench press.

My opener was 110kg with second lift and New Personal Best of 120kg.
My third attempt was 125kg.

Unfortunately I could not get past my sticking point which is 2" off the chest and failed this lift. Still, a personal best and target achieved saw me very pleased.

I knew that in order to qualify for the BDFPA British Championships I needed to get 490kg in total, so I needeed 200kg for the deadlift and I would be there.

I opened with 180kg which flew up, followed by 190kg.

For my third and final lift I was tempted to go for a personal best, knowing that in training I have lifted 205kg recently.

In the end I decided to play it safe and nominated 200kg which saw three white lights, a successful lift and a place in the British Championships on 18th April 2009!

To say I was over the moon was an understatement - Goal Achieved!

I had one more suprise in store and that was I was called out as 3rd place winner in the South East Region from my category.

Days just don't get much better than that!

So now I have 5 more weeks of training, staying healthy and keeping injuries at bay.

The finals can't come quick enough!

Thanks for reading.