3/7/14 Friday March 7, 2014 (heavy TGUs, SN 24kg 8/8 for 7 mins)

8:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 60 minutes (extra time today)

9:00am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12 kg, 3+3

9:15am - Training session - Focus on TGUs, SN the 24kg 8/8 for 7 minutes

TGU 24kg, 1+1
TGU 32kg, 1+1
TGU 28kg, 1+1
TGU 36kg, 1+1 (shaky rep on the L side)

SL DL 24kg, 5/5

SN 24kg 8/8 for 7 minutes - 112 total reps (last week 7/7, 98 total reps)

Didn't make 7 mins - needed 20 extra seconds to finish the last set

9:45am - Complete

Notes -  Interesting day.  It has been somewhat of a long week, being out of commission Monday evening, all of Tuesday with either food poisoning or some sort of stomach bug has thrown things off.  PRs in the press with the DB 28kgs on Monday, PRs in the squat DB 28kgs on Wed, you would not expect some sort of PR in the snatch today and that definitely was not the case.  I lost wind at about 5 minutes in.  I did not want to reduce power or have bad reps and I was determined to focus on that and not the clock.  So I took extra time to finish the last set but did so with good technique and maintaining power. I cannot have snatches that are bad reps, a poor lockout or loss of power really can cause me problems with the elbow, shoulder etc.  It's just critical that I do not chase reps with the snatch, I just will not do it anymore unless it is a "true" timed SFG test to re-establish baselines (which I will not be doing that frequently).  On a macro level, this was a good session and I got better - that's what matters.  I also did have a shaky rep with the 36kg on the L side, roll to elbow still causing issues, can't keep my feet planted and this time it was both feet.  Was able to steady the bell very well, good thing I have solid shoulder stabilization, and was not in jeopardy of missing the lift but was still pissed off.  I really need to work on this side and doing it with more reps of the 32kg makes more sense probably than doing 36kgs.  Just a little bit off on that side.  All in all, good week of training, now rest and recovery for the weekend.

3/6/14 Thursday March 6, 2014 (24kg SL DLs, SW variations)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:00am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

Kids woke up - 15 min interruption

7:30am - Training session - Focus on 24kg SL DLs, TGUs, SW combos

The following  2x:

24kg SL DLs, 3/3

Break

9:30am -

2H SW 24kg, 10
1H SW 24kg, 10/10
H2H SW 24kg, 10/10

100 total SW reps

9:45am - Complete

Notes -  Good day.  Nothing big to say here, just got a few things done.  Need to keep working the lacrosse ball on my triceps, biceps, left trap and left pec near the clavicle.  Left side is still tender in the lockout position just a little bit, I think some soft tissue work and continuing to work on that lockout position will continue improving things.  All in all, things are fine, better than fine, just little stuff to keep an eye on and keep working on.

3/5/14 Wednesday March 5, 2014 (DB 28kg total tension complex)

7:20am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 50 minutes (some extra work on foam roll and lacrosse ball for lats, traps)

8:10am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:25am - Training session - Focus on the Total Tension Complex with the DB 28kgs, squat emphasis

24kg TGU, 2/2

24kg G Sq, 10

24kg 2H SW, 5, 10, 15, 20 (50 reps)

"Total tension complex" from Pavel, emphasis on squats, using a ladder format as follows:

28 kgs DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ, singles of the CL and PR and went sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1 for the squats.  (last week top ladder 5) (PR for squats)

After each set, Renegade Row with off hand on a box, 1/1 with the 24kg (forgot to do these last week)

Total of 11 DB CL, DB PR, and 36 reps of the DB SQ with the 28kgs (9 and 25 last week)

9:15 - Complete

Notes -  What the hell.  I am not even sure what to say other than I learned something important today.  As my training notes from yesterday explain, on Monday night I came down with a nasty case of food poisoning, around 9pm.  From then until after training this morning, the only thing I put in my body was water, some gatorade, a cup of coffee, and last night for dinner, some corn chips and a bowl of vegetable soup.  So in about 36 hrs I had next to no nourishment, no appetite.  However I slept last night for nearly 10 hrs, forced myself to go down to bed at 9pm, totally exhausted.  Decided to sleep in until 7am and really get rested.  So what would happen with training?  A PR in double squats with the 28kgs, by a mile, I was able to add a 6th rung, which gave me an additional 5th rung in the ladder scheme to get to 36 reps with the 28kgs.  Today I really respected the weights.  I was totally dialed in on my technique, from the start of the clean, into the rack, tension for the presses, back to the rack, and then tension and good reps for the squats.  Same with the rows, really concentrating on locking down the lats, glutes, quads etc. to create a really stable base.  This is one of my favorite training sessions ever and one I will not forget given the circumstances.  Bottom line I think if I really want to take my training to another level, I must do a better job at recovery and that starts with sleeping more.  I am simply not getting the job done in that area and it was perfectly obvious to me today what I might be capable of if I improved in that area.  Given my lifestyle and commitments that is not going to be easy to improve but certainly I know the only person who can do something about it is me.

3/4/14 Tuesday March 4, 2014 (OS, PM, KB warm up)

9:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 15 minutes

10:00am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1

10:15am - Complete

Notes -  I am writing this now on Tuesday night.  So Monday night was one of the worst nights of my life - food poisoning.  Something I ate at dinner I think, some pastrami - tainted meat.  I suppose it could have been a stomach bug but I had no signs of something like that coming on.  I ate dinner and then immediately felt sick, stomach really bloated, and I knew something was probably wrong.  I was literally up all night getting sick.  It was awful.  Somehow I got the kids to school in the morning and then was contemplating just not doing anything at all, including going to work, but I had a couple of very important meetings at 11am and 3pm and I did not want to miss those.  After dropping the kids off at school I felt a little better moving around, so I did some mobility work, a few KB warm ups, and called it a day.  I had no idea if I was going to feel better and be able to train normally on Wed.  You will have to read the Wed blog to find out....

3/3/14 Monday March 3, 2014 (BU PR 20kg, PR 28kg, heavy 1H SW ladder)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 65 minutes (ridiculous amount of extra time on the foam roller, lacrosse ball, lots of trigger point release work, long OS resets etc)

8:05am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:20am - Training session - Focus on superset BU PR 20kg / PR 28kg, finish with heavy 1H SW ladder

TGU 20kg, 1+1 including marching in place, about 30 seconds per arm

5X of the following superset:
BU PR 20kg, 1/1 (last week 16kg 2/2)
PR 28kg, 5/5 (PR) (last week 4/4)

Total of 5 BU PR with the 20kg per arm, and 25 PR with the 28kg per arm (PR)

1H SW ladders, 3x as follows:
28kg, 10/10
36kg, 5/5
32kg, 5/5

120 swings total 60 per arm

9:05am - Complete

Notes -  I have an extremely long warm-up again due to trying to get loose from the interval running / pull ups and push ups from yesterday evening.  Definitely took a long time to warm up, but felt good when starting the main training.  I decided to bump up the BUP to a 20kg from a 16kg last week, but drop the double and do singles, and focus on the main event which was trying to go 5 sets of 5/5 on the one-arm PR with the 28kg.  I did it, I nailed all reps, very strong, this is a real solid PR for me.  I am very pleased with the technique improvements and overall strength on the one-arm PR, though I do feel I need to get a little tighter in the core area and try to stand up just a bit straighter on some reps, a little stricter press.  With that said the bell was shooting up most reps and I was staying pretty tight.  Great stuff.  I wanted to also up the heavy swings from 3 sets last week to 4 sets, but after starting I decided not to overdo it having gone up quite a bit on pressing, no need to try and do it all at once.  And these heavy swings are a challenge at the end of this session.  With that said, the 28kg feels like a 24kg, that is awesome, and the 32kg is very crisp and powerful.  The 36kg is still feeling very heavy and I need more time with it, but the reps are good, focused on really trying to hinge back to help with the power output, not worrying about how high the bell was floating but just trying to keep it solid and controlled.

3/2/14 Sunday March 2, 2014 (interval running / pull ups / push ups)

Got going late Sunday afternoon in the absolute pouring rain.  Just terrible weather.  That is 3 or 4 weeks in a row of terrible weather for this weekend training.  Oh well, rain or shine - get shit done.  Ended up doing 4 intervals of the following:

Run 5 minutes, body weight SL DLs 5/5, run 5 minutes, 5 pull-ups on rings followed by 10 push-ups on an elevated bench.  40 minutes of running, 20/20 SL DLs, 20 pull ups and 40 push ups.

Only felt ok today to be honest.  The weather was quite awful.  I wanted to feel the glutes kick in more on the running and they just never seemed to oddly enough.  Legs did feel fine, put just didn't seem to have a lot of pep in the step.  Last couple of nights of sleep were frustratingly cut short by the kids waking up oddly early, probably just a change in sleep cycles as daylight savings time is around the corner.  I have a feeling tomorrow's training could be a challenge unless I can get some decent recovery for sleep tonight.  28kg press ladders and some heavy 1-arm swings, got a big morning in front of me and I want to be ready for it.

2/28/14 Friday February 28, 2014 (heavy TGUs, SN 24kg 7/7 for 7 mins)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes (little extra time today)

7:45am - Kettlebell warm up

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12 kg, 3+3

8:00am - Training session - Focus on TGUs, SN the 24kg 7/7 for 7 minutes

TGU 24kg, 1+1
TGU 32kg, 1+1
TGU 28kg, 1+1
TGU 36kg, 1+1

SL DL 24kg, 5/5

SN 24kg 7/7 for 7 minutes - 98 total reps

8:30am - Complete

Notes -  I thought this was a good session.  Decent sleep last night, needed a bit of recovery with mob time for warming up but once I got going it was good.  TGUs were strong, still need a little better quality on the roll to elbow with the bell in the L hand, but in the R hand, very good.  Just have to keep working at it.  Overhead lockout with the R hand is very good, L, still needing work, I am still working through some tenderness in the lockout position, probably need a little soft tissue work but still feels good overall.  Snatching - probably the most power I have been able to generate, was finishing a lot of the sets with nearly 30 seconds left, so snatching very powerfully and quickly.  It was wearing me out though, needed extra rest on the last set to finish just in time before the timer went off.  Felt really good about the snatches, good end of the first week of training in the next cycle.  Going to be 8/8 for 7 minutes next Friday, I am ready for that.