Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The high pull groove



I used to love these but then they proved problematic for my elbow flexors and I haven't done them in ages. they were always a very strong groove for me as I have very long arms and in one arm swings the combined center of gravity is way out there.

Makes it much harder to stay in balance and on the hips. High pulls bring my CCoG in much closer over my base of support and let me use my upper body to help my hips drive the bell. These feel much more stable and strong IF my arms/shoulders let me do them.

Today's workout was a good indication that they will . The clavicle has been very stable of late and  I've had to do less snatch holds to set it of late. Lots of crawling and rifga stretching and my adaptogenic herbs and my recovery and strength have been the best they've been in ages.

It's about time I felt strong again, I almost forgot what it felt like.

Strong feels good.

8 am full stretchout and primal move
the full lower body upper body rifga session with mostly crawling and pushup position for my PM .

1 pm
High pulls
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg  x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5 x 2
32 kg  x 5/5 x 3 sets
28 kg x 8/8
24 kg x 10/10 x 2 sets
146 high pulls

not bad at all,especially since I haven't done them in so long. I've always liked these Kind of like the strongest part of the snatch and the swing combined. When the hips are done the upper back can continue the work  for a longer time than in the snatch. No float here. But the weight is in much closer and feels stronger and safer.
Plus I can go heavier and do higher reps easier. If my shoulders and elbows say yes than it will be great.

definitely more of an up and down motion in my swing than a tradtional hinger, which is what I've been looking for. Like my Bottoms up clean and press.

Belt squats/wide
32 kg x 10 x 5 sets

these were ok but I'm not sure the wider stance will work. Just didn't feel like it used to back in my PL days and the belt squat is not a PL squat. back to medium

Eccentric Pushups
4 sets of 10

tired. these are getting gassed. time to switch rep schemes to regenerate the movement. Had ONE rep where I didn't concentrate and the shoulder subluxed! Overhead hold re set it but it just shows me how fragile the positioning is. BUT the pushup groove is definitely coming along and my upper body mass is too.

Nice to have some pecs again. Triceps are growing and, strangely enough, biceps too. :)) All that eccentric loading.

bodyblade laterals
3x10/10

datsit.
Sisu/

5 comments:

Diana said...

I was never a fan of the high pull just because of how it felt on my collar bone-especially the left side which I broke as a child. That thing just pops and cracks the entire time, therefore, I never do them! However, watching your video, I see that maybe I'm pulling my arm back to far.
I'll have to play with it!

Mark Reifkind said...

diana

it's my collarbone that subluxes all the time ; this move actually felt good on it. try another groove and don't judo chopit. just a gentle guiding back of the arc with the upper back muscle and a little T spine rotation.

Diana said...

Thanks for the cues Mark! Johnny on the spot....
I used a much more gentle pulling back the arc using my back more. Hmmm, I may have to add these back in to a routine!

Anonymous said...

I love me some high pulls! Hey Mark, just wondering the difference between the belt squats you do compared to something like a goblet squat?

Mark Reifkind said...

Branden

the belt squat takes all the arms and upper body out of it.in the goblet squat the arms are the limiting factor in how much weight you can handle. not so with the belt squat

155 x 3 x 5, 160 x 3 x 5, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

 Thought about going back to 5x5 for a hot second then my left shoulder  reminded me why I stopped doing them before. It doesn't seem to...