At the time my last training block ended, Wil Fleming was on vacation. So I ended up with a week or so of “free time” where I didn’t have a program. This ended up lining up with me dealing with some peronious and VMO issues, so I had to take some time off anyway. So here’s the two weeks my training was like this.
16 March 2015
Wil gave me a one-day plan for this day
warmup
broom and bar warmup
Snatch Balance
– warm, 40 x some, 45 x 3 (4 reps, but missed one)
– 47.5 x 4 x 3
Snatch High Pull + Hang Snatch BK
– 50 x (3+3), 57.5 x (3+3) x 3
2nd pull had a couple centimeters left (finish it). Stretch tall and throw to the ceiling (feuer). The last few centimeters place the bar overhead (very important).
Snatch Pull
– 75 x 3, 80 x 3, 90 x 3 x 3
Lat Pull BN s/s Bottom Up
– 4 sets / 3 sets
Stir the Pot
– 10 x 3
17 March 2015
One hour massage
18 March 2015
Hadn’t heard anything from Wil. Did my own thing with Robert coaching – max clean.
warmup
Clean
– warm, 50 x 5, 60 x 3, 70 x 3, 80 x 3
– 90 x 2, 95 x 2
– 100 x 1, 105 x 1, 110 x 1 x 2 (PR!)
- A lot of weight left in the pull, but I wouldn’t have been able to catch it
- Turnover was slow, causing me to be soft in the bottom (elbows actually touched knees)
- So much pain in the peronious (last day I trained hard before taking time off)
Clean High Pulls
– 60 x 5, 65 x 5, 70 x 5, 75 x 3 x 4
Suspended Good Mornings
– 40 x 10, 60 x 10, 80 x 10 x 2
Lat Pull Bar Low Row
– 40 x 20 x 4 ?
Leg Raises
– body x 20 x 2, small db x 20
Stretching
19 March 2015
I stayed away from anything to aggravate my leg(s), thus upper body only
warm
Bench Press
– bar x bunch, 40 x 10, 60 x 10, 70 x 5, 80 x 2, 90 x 1, 100 x 1
I suck at bench pressing…
FATZ – 60 x 10 x 2
WIDE GRIP – 40 x 15
WIDE AND FATZ – 40 x 25
Played with some tempos and such so the reps don’t necessarily tell difficulty.
Bradford Press + 1
– 20 x 10, 30 x 10 x 2, 20 x 10
Rolling DB s/s Hammer Curl
– bunch o’ sets (good pump)
Self Massage and a little stretching
23 March 2015
After taking some actual days out of the gym, I came back for some more upper body.
warmup
Push Press
– bar x some, 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 5, 70 x 3 x 3
BTN Press
– 40 x 10 x 2, 40 x 8
Klokov Press
– bar x 10, 25 x 10 x 2
Machine Shrugs s/s Neutral Low Row
– 5 sets / 4 sets
Lat Pull s/s Tricep Bar PD
– 5 sets / 5 sets with dropset
EZ Curls
– 10 x 3
Side Bends
– 40 x 20 x 2 (each side)
Some Stretching
24 March 2015
warm slowly
leg curl: lots w/ drop set
leg ext.: lots w/ drop set
back ext.: some w/ drop set
Stretching and self massage
Things were improving.
27 March 2015
It was Friday and I decided I would do some powerlifting, since I knew I wouldn’t have the knee or ankle flexion that causes me pain. I wanted to touch more weight and not make things worse. It was a win-win. I gotta say, I was really excited to box squat.
warmup
Box Squats (parallel – but like actually parallel, so a deep box squat for me)
– warm, 40 x 5, 60 x 5, 80 x 5, 100 x 5
add WL belt – 120 x 3, 130 x 3, 140 x 3
– 150 x 2, 160 x 1 (all time PR)
– 60 x 10
Sumo DL
– 60 x 5, 100 x 5, 120 x 3
add WL belt – 140 x 2, 180 x 1
Technique really wasn’t there – it was obvious.
Suspended GM
– 40 x 10, 50 x 10, 60 x 10
Leg Ext.
– 4 sets or so of 10 to 20 reps
Planks w/ high fives for counting
– 20 x 3
Stretching
28 March 2015
Went to a “normal” fitness studio with Pascal
small warmup
Push Press
– warm, 50 x 5, 60 x 5
No chalk, gave up
Bradford + 1
– 30 x 10, 8, 5
Bench
– warm, 50 x 10, 70 x 5, 82.5 x 3, 50 x 10 x 4 (moved hands wider each set)
DB Rows
The gym had proper DBs, so I took advantage of the opportunity.
– 32 x 10 each, 42 x 10, 56 x 10 x 3
So much fun!
Dirty 30
– 8 kg x 2 rounds
GHR
They had a GHR, so I also took advantage of this.
– 5 x 3
1 April 2015
First real day back after being limited in my ROM and moving out of my apartment, which ate up 30. and 31. of March.
warmup
Power Snatch
Still staying away of diving to the bottom of lifts
– warm x 3, 30 x 5, 40 x 5 x 2, 50 x 3 x 7
Could really tell I didn’t quite have a groove
Power Clean + Power Jerk
– 50 x 5, 60 x 3, 70 x 3 x 3
Felt pretty good. The power jerks were staying in the groove perfectly – I was a little surprised.
Power Jerk off of Blocks
– 60 x 2, 70 x 2, 80 x 2
Much harder to keep the groove when there wasn’t a clean beforehand – really odd.
Lat Pull
– 2 sets of 10
Stretching
2 April 2015
2 hour massage
Really helped clear up some of my trouble areas and I got a few more stretches to add:
- pulling my hand down
- elbow over the head
- one similar to how I stretch my adductor, but bent over more
3 April 2015
Same thing I did two days ago, but heavier.
warmup
Power Snatch
– warm, 40 x 3 x 2, 50 x 3 x 2, 60 x 3 x 2
– 70 x 2 (not so good: 1st was a little slow, 2nd better but was soft with the turnover)
– 70 x 2 (1st good, 2nd I missed, 3rd I hit my knees on the way up – still made the lift, but it wasn’t great)
Obviously I need to keep working on getting my knees back on the 1st pull.
I’m having some issues with my VMOs (both) that I really notice in the starting position of the snatch with my knees pushed out. I’m trying to alter my foot position, which seemed to help a little.
Power Clean + Power Jerk
– 60 x 3, 70 x 3, 80 x 3
– 90 x 1 (miss 2nd rep on strength), (missed next attempt on the jerk – pushed it forward out of the groove), 1 (nailed this one!)
Worked on moving my hands out while standing still upright. I liked it.
Tried Bodyweight Squats
– VMOs were incredibly “grabby” and I couldn’t squat
Talked with Matt Ladewski quite a bit about this and the proposed fix is:
- Don’t foam roll them before lifting, keep it to after if necessary
- Use activation drills, like TKEs, before training
- Floss/mash them – I still need to go buy a bike tube to do this
Reverse Pec Deck s/s BB Curls
– 4 rounds
So that’s that. On Monday I’m back to specific programming with Wil. My body feels ready and the issues that I do still have I know how to deal with. My next block only has me going to full depth twice a week (out of 5 days), so that should allow me even more time to deal with these issues. I will push as hard as I can and make self-adjustments IF NECESSARY to depth or exercise selection. Hopefully minimal to no changes are necessary.
Tanner of Purdue Barbell 