Monday, August 22, 2011

Day 1 in the bank, yo!

Yes, this is me not finishing my pull..
Day one is complete, and despite my previous concern, I did NOT forget how to snatch.

Workout:

3 Position Snatches 65%x3x5
Snatch Pulls: 90%x3x2
Snatch Deadlifts: 100%x3x2
Snatch Push Press: 3x5 with medium-heavy weight
Prowler push: 6 sets with 60 seconds rest in between each set.

Workout De-coder:

3 Position Snatches: 1 snatch from the ground, 1 snatch from mid thigh, 1 snatch from high hang.
65%x3x5: Anytime you see three numbers together, it reads: 65 % for 3 reps for 5 sets.
3x5: Anytime you only see two numbers together, it reads: 3 sets of 5 reps.
Prowler push: Take that heavy thing over there.. yes, that.. and push it. Fast.

I kept things fairly light today because I do not know what my best numbers are at this point in my life and because it's my first day back into the olympic lifting world. I could base my percentages off of my all time best snatch ever (77 kg), but I know that would be silly since I probably couldn't even back squat that weight right now. Nevertheless, I'm really going to work on being nice to myself and realizing that I'm not as strong as I used to be. I'll get there, I'm sure, but it's going to take time. Getting discouraged because I'm not lifting what I used to never got me any closer to snatching 80 kg.

Things I worked on:
1. With the 3 position snatches, I really worked on feeling each position. I wouldn't just go to mid thigh really quick and then snatch, I would go to mid thigh, make a mental note of how it felt, and then I would snatch it. Same thing with the snatch from the floor and snatch from high hang.

2. I also focused on keeping the barbell close to my body. When I have more than one rep to do, I have a tendency to get lazy and forget my technique. Whenever that happens, the FIRST thing that goes is keeping my elbows high and outside (aka keeping it close). When doing a weight for multiple reps, keeping the bar close is SO important because no matter how little weight you have on the barbell, come rep #3, the weight starts to feel heavy. The heavier that mofo feels, the closer you have to keep it, or that bar aint movin up!

3. On the snatch pulls and snatch deadlifts, I kept my mind on my heels. The pull off the ground is always hard for me because I have weak legs, so shifting to my heels RIGHT when I leave the ground is a MUST. If I don't over exaggerate that shift, the bar pulls me forward and I'm left chasing it for the rest of the movement... and I HATE chasing things!

4. The last thing I focused on with the snatch push press was holding the barbell up over my head for a couple of seconds. I wanted to make sure that I was completely stable and I wanted to give my body a chance to feel heavy weight over my head again. If I just snatch push press it up there and immediately bring it back down, I feel like I never give my muscles a chance to strengthen and become familiar with the position.

5. Oh, and for the prowler push, I just focused on not throwing up.

Quote of the day:
"It is important to look at yourself and identify your gremlins. In sports, as in life, the first step to success is getting out of your own way". ~ Mind Gym Book




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