"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."
This felt really solid alhough 3 reps or so were out in front as I pushed myself away from the bar instead of falling back then pushing
This seems to be a key point. Once I lock in I have to fall away from the bar ( at least mentally) before I push up. The issue is I also have to maintain hand and arm tension in the rack.
I was a bit 'flat' today from mondays work and it took 4 or so sets to loosen up and feel the groove
Warmups up to 195 went great. First set with 205 was ok but not explosive
Third and fifth sets were great. fourth a little wonky
then 6 a bit slow, 7 and 8 were great 9 was slow but 10 was one of the best of all. Have to keep my elbows higher
CUES ARE;
HIPS IN FRONT
SPOT THE X
ELBOWS UP
UNRACK AND LOCK IN
FALL BACK AND HIP DRIVE
PUSH TO X
20 kg swings 5 x 8/8 fast!
light pushdowns 3 x 15
4 am BW 176.0 BF 14.1
12 noon BW 176.8! BF 10.9 !!! Lowest in forever W 59.8 ( bath but still!)
This was SO DAMN CLOSE. On both! The technique is correct and I executed well but just need to be a bit faster and more confident in it and 225 WILL go, regularly
The main things is though is that it works, is consistent and I can remember how to do it, it seems! No small matter.
I tried really hard NOT to overthink it during the morning lead up to the workout and it doesn't seem to help and in fact usually messes me up by taking me out of my body and the feel I want to get
135 155 175 195 x 1 all easy and fast 205 x 1 warmup probably one of my best ever
then 225 for a close miss. Didn't lock knees enough at start but a good grindI thought about dropping down to 220 but I thought I could get it if I locked my knees better and it was closethen a MAKE at 220. now THIS is unbelievable to make this after two max grindsthen onto 215 where I missed the first attempt by pushing on the bar first instead of falling back but this got fixed well on this second attemptthen three perfect ( albeit tired) singles at 205
then 3 x 8/8 laterals and rear delts with 20's these are FINALLY getting stronger! I can see 25's in the future!
then one set light rep/purple band to warmup then 2 x 10 with black red and purple bands
I had a feeling this might work. But I've had that feeling before
But this time was solid
The idea was this: the only thing I know works is hip drive forward at the start and stay on the X
Starting in that position is not working and getting into it dynamically has to be perfect
I tried to keep my hips too forward at the start and that made the bar go forward
SO:
Oly Shoe Wide stance Closer grip, index on start of smooth Hips forward to get under bar, elbows slightly up Spot X Unrack. Lock knee and stay on X Kono technique start: push back, hips forward and press up all SIMULTANEOUSLY
155, 175 and 195 FLEW
205 also flew!
told myself earlier if 205 went I'd do straight to 225 so I did, Just change tho not platesThis was SO close. I see I had didn't lock out enough on unracking but the rest of the technique held and the bar launched! then 215 SO SOLID
then 6 sets of 205 with just two getting the timing wrong of all three simultaneously but man I was under the rest
Total shit show. Slept great, felt great warm up great then shit the bed at 205
used the same techniques wide stance hips wedge under bar spot x pause call hip drive to start rehip drive
only it didn't work at all today. I did as desired in unracking the bar without pushing forward but had balance problems from the get 175 x 1 195 x 1 205 x 1 MISS! 205 x 1 strong 215 x 1 strong 225 shit 225 better but still shit 220 x shit 205 x 1 x 5
re adjusted technique on 205 to just unrack the bar with hips foward and looking at X but let the bar come off the pins a bit
THEN press and drive hips
going to wear heels again wednesday, still have not made 225 barefoot
Sixth day no alcohol and while I'm still waking up a few times a night to pee or just awaken for no reason I can seem to get back to sleep easier and I'm awakening rested and refreshed for the first time in forever. Good reason to try to continue this.
Tonights date night and I usually have the most alcohol on these nights but not tonite and we'll see if tomorrows ruck is easier or not
Today's swings were really strong but this workload is always hard. Always a ton of work ( many tons actually) and power and bell height were very good
Rest between sets about 2 min.
44 kg One arm swings 16 x 5/5
44 kg belt squats 3 x 10. very strong groovePullaparts 3 x 30
This went great. Another decent nights sleep ( again no wine at all) and all the techniques and timing worked well
Cues
Wide stance
Wedge hips under bar( buckle over arch)
Spot X and arm angle same as back arch
Hips up to unrack, don't lift from arms at all
Hip drive/Hip drive to press
For the unracking I have to think about NOT moving my upper body, even to the point where I'm thinking I'm pressing off the pins
normal warmups to 195 x 1 all solid
205 x MISS out in front craxy
205 x 1 set 3
all were good about the same. have to REALLY take my time in the setup, getting my hips in front of the bar as much as possible set 4 the best set of them all. THIS is the setup and timing
this went and felt as good as it's been. all very consistent and the pause is actually helping me
SOOOOOOO close again.But, realistically this is only the second time I've used this technique with two plates and both were very close attempts
Last time I was late in the second hip drive. This time I didn't my hips forward quite enough in the setup and ended up too vertical
But it was solid attempt. I think next week I will take 212.5 or 215 before two plates to really open up the position and settle in
Then 220 for the 29th time! where I did get my hips forward enough and a solid lockoutthen down to 217.5 instead of 215 and another great one in the right slotthen three singles with 210! another pr
then band pushdowns red purple and black for 3 x 10
these went very very well. paced myself ( probably no more than 2 min/sets) and each set was basically as this ninth set. happy with power and bell height.
two things have helped a lot lately: really taking a deep bit grip on the setup and remembering to really 'sniff' in right after the hiss outbreath. If I'm doing this very actively I don't brace enough and my back fatigues . fixed that and it really helped
40 kg belt squats 3 x 12
these were solid too. this is definitely my base leg exercise
This went really well. Ended up only "missing" the 9th set by losing balance at the top and wanting to finish on a good rep. was planning for 8 but this is a PR
My misses were when I didn't start the rep with hip drive first but pushed against the bar too much. But just two reps or so
Had Glenn give me longer than usual pauses and that was much harder. Also showed me that I have to keep my hips actively forward before I re drive them for the start. Or, I fall back a bit
This (205) is the lightest weight I can use that requires the same timing and technique of 225. this has to be my Wednesday training weight. This showed it. 91% of goal weight
SO CLOSE! Just a hair away from two plates! But the great news is all the cues and the technique worked and I will get this regularly very very soon
Every set of the workout was spot on, technique wise. And getting 220 and 215 after grinding on 225 is a good sign as well
THE CUES
1) WIDE STANCE
2 ) HIPS IN FRONT
3) SPOT THE X
4) UNRACK STRAIGHT UP (FROM GLUTES)
5) HIP DRIVE
6) HIP DRIVE AGAIN
135 x 1 155 x 1 175 x 1 195 x 1
205 x 1 just perfect
then right to two plates, setup felt great. surprised I missed it have to do second hip drive much earlier with this weight it seems. looking at video when I should be re driving my torso gets pushed back a bit and that costs me my leverage. very close- just drive the hips and redrive them again almost BEFORE the sticking point. In anticipationthen to 220 really good215 really solid as wellthen three singles at 205, each the same as this perfectthen pushdowns heavy red black and purple bands 3 x 10
This went very well but very hard. It takes SO much mental focus. that's even harder than the heavy ass bells. Especially when I'm trying to maximize the standing plank and bell height. Successfully remembered to sit back more at the top of the swing to counterbalance these monsters. Made all the difference
16 kg x 5/5 x 2 20 kg x 4/4 24 kg x 4/4 28 kg x 3/3 32 kg x 3/3 36 kg x 3/3 40 kg x 3/3 44 kg x 3/3 48 kg x 3/3 60kg x 5/5 x 8 68 kg x 5/5 no transfer x 3/3 no transfer
Should've been a strong one but it was a slog. Slept well, felt fine, overcast and cool, all systems should have been go but it was hard. Speed was ok but it was literally pick one leg up at a time to keep going forward; no flow at all. But it got done
Experimented a lot today and really got things dialed in
First, I changed my grip back to wrapping the thumb. I'm figuring the moment arm on this lift favors the delts not the triceps so I gave it a go and it worked great. This way I can also keep the bar high on the chest where it seems to want to go naturally and not roll around
Second I tried one setting the arch then spotting the X and NOT shifting the hips forward more and that seemed better but Glenn like the shift so I went back and forth for two sets with 185 and NOT shifting after the set up was better. Too hard to control exactly where and what the shoulders did the other way.
Then I realized that the reason I was losing my balance on the second reps is that I'm not coming down in exactly the same place as the first rep so went back to two singles. Both paused . Much better AND harder with the second reps really mimicking a heavy rep
SO ITS:
1) SET THE ARCH AND LOCK IN ON THE X
2) UNRACK STRAIGHT UP
3) DRIVE HIPS FORWARD AT PRESS CALL
4 ) RE DRIVE HIPS AT STICKING POINT
175 X 2 X 2 1st rep pause second touch and go
185 x 2 x 5 sets
195 x 2 x 5 last two sets were two paused singlesthen 20 kg one arm swings 4 x 8/8
It's amazing to me now how much I have to vary the technique by the absolute level of the weight. that is, I cant arch back anywhere near as much with 225 as I can with 205 and get away with it. This is especially true at 215 and up
Another thing I realized is that I thought my unrack didn't really matter much as long as I hip shifted forward before I pressed but it seems to.
I still have to unrack with the hips in front of the bar and THEN load the bow before the press call. all the best lifts today demonstrated that although by accident
The idea today was to unrack then shift hips forward AND back at the same time ( pretty much old "load the bow" technique) but load the bow until I saw the X. This worked well until I unracked it sloppily with my torso coming up too much and my hip shift wasn't enough. I had re arranged the geometry too much
My four down sets with 205 though were pretty much perfect
this warmup 205 was ok. take off was ok but didn't re drive the hips enough at mid point to have speed to lockout
I jumped from 205 to two plates and this is where I got sloppy with the take off. Not keeping my hips in front and shifting my COM BACK too much and although I had a decent bow it wasn't enoughI took it again and did even worse with the take up causing knee bend and a lower finishing point. Ack
then to 217.5 and this is was decent but my left shoulder got wonky and the weight shifted and I missed. But the setup was actually decent
the next attempt wasnt too bad but knee bend at start and didn't maintain hip forwardthen four pretty much perfect singles with 205
Moral of the story? ITS ALL ABOUT THE HIPS
SET UP WITH THE HIPS IN FRONT AND ASCEND STRAIGHT UP
THEN HIPS PUSH FORWARD AS SHOULDERS ARCH BACK
AFTER PAUSE SIGNAL DRIVE HIPS FORWARD HARD AND AGAIN AT STICKING POINT
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