Hybrid powerlifting/olympic lifting training journal

[Airror]

I started powerlifting back in 2009 and did two meets, but I ended up stopping lifting entirely around 2010 to focus on getting my GPA up/finishing college. Now college is done and over with and I'm back in the gym. I decided to start learning the snatch and clean and jerk late last year. I basically taught myself everything about the lifts and I lift alone. I plan on competing in powerlifting (132 or 148 class) before I turn 24 and I'm not sure if I will ever compete in weightlifting. For my next few cycles, I'm focusing more on my snatch and clean and jerk.

After ****ing Smolov Jr. (for bench) up royally, I have finally decided to make a journal in hopes that if I am in the process of screwing my training up, someone will point it out and save me from my own stupidity. Basically, I ended up waiting too long to max out my bench. I used 135 lbs as my max going into Smolov Jr., which might have been a little high, and Monday I couldn't even bench 130 lbs. I made it through the entire program and only missed my last rep (with 125 lbs) of my last set of the last day on the last week.

On to Monday's workout.

Started with a general warm up.

Bench max test fail
bar x some
65 x 10
85 x 5
105 x 3
115 x 1
120 x 1
130 x fail
125 x 1
130 x utter failure

Power snatch
bar x some
50 x 4 x 4

Snatch high pull
95 x 3 x 4

High bar back squat
bar x some
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 1
145 x 3 x 4

Usually, for my squats, I work up to a heavy single and then back down to 70% of that for three reps and increase in 5% increments from there and stop increasing once I feel my form starts to go. Didn't do that today due to time. Didn't have any time to stretch afterwards either.

Well, it's after 1 am. Time to cry myself to sleep and have nightmares about benching.

[-Lucifer]

I'm here to make sure you don't mess things up again.

[Airror]

I'm here to make sure you don't mess things up again.

Thanks, Lu. I certainly need it, hehe.

I'll be going in to do some light snatch and clean and jerk work tonight.

[-Lucifer]

I'll be going in to do some light snatch and clean and jerk work tonight.

What does your program look like? Just the basic layout will do. Also, is it 'weight x reps x sets'?

Snatch high pull
95 x 3 x 4

[Airror]

What does your program look like? Just the basic layout will do. Also, is it 'weight x reps x sets'?

Monday: Already posted. Usually I bench last & superset with DB rows. Didn't do that Monday because I maxed bench.
Tuesday: 'bout to post it. Basically a light day for the snatch & clean and jerk.
Thursday: Front squat, push press and jerk, low bar squat (speed work)
Saturday: Heavy day for snatch and clean and jerk, SLDL or sumo deadlifts

Throw in ab work whenever.

Correct, it is weight x reps x sets. If no weight is listed, it is sets x reps.

[Airror]

Some general warm up stuff.

Power snatch + snatch + snatch balance
50 x (1+2+1) x 4

Three position clean + jerk
70 x (1+1) x 2
75 x (1+1) x 2

Clean pull
135 x 3 x 4

Benching again
bar x some
65 x 5
95 x 4
105 x 2
115 x 1
125 x 1
130 x 1 (touch and go)(PR)(okay.jpg)

Hanging leg raises
2x12
1x10

I wasn't supposed to bench today, but I couldn't help myself.

Did about 10 minutes of stretching. Need to do more.

[-Lucifer]

Sweet PR. Just a nickel away from 135! Did you do your own liftoff?

[Airror]

Sweet PR. Just a nickel away from 135! Did you do your own liftoff?

Soon

Yes, I do my own liftoff. Tried to get a liftoff once and they pulled my shoulders out. I didn't like that and neither did my shoulders.

[Airror]

Front squats
bar x some
65 x 5
85 x 4
95 x 3
110 x 2
120 x 1
135 x 1
95 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3 x 3

OHP + jerk
bar x some x 2
55 x (5+0)
65 x (3+1)
75 x (2+1) x 3

Push press + jerk
85 x (1+1)
90 x (1+1)

DE low bar squats (70%)
135 x 2 x 8

Front squats felt terrible yesterday, so I stopped at 75% and did sets there.

Will be going to the gym tonight to bench again, do some upper back/core work, and stretch.

[-Lucifer]

Strong front squats. How wide of a grip do you use whilst overhead pressing? By the way, I heard benching too often can mess with the Oly lifts. Something to think about.

[Airror]

Strong front squats. How wide of a grip do you use whilst overhead pressing? By the way, I heard benching too often can mess with the Oly lifts. Something to think about.

Front squats were super weak that day. I've hit 140 on them and usually I work up to 85% of the day's max.

Yes, and sumo deadlifts and low bar squats can also interfere. But, I don't normally bench that much. Usually only 1-2x a week.

[Airror]

Bench
warm up sets
130 x 1
135 x nope

DB row ss/ cable face pulls
40 x 15, 45 x 10 x 3 ss/ 40 x 10 x 4

Hanging leg raises ss/ weighted planks
3 x 12 ss/ 25 x ~60s x 3

Did some stretching, PVC rolling, and tennis ball work afterwards. Time to go back to benching only once a week; I'll probably run 5/3/1 for my bench. I'm going to try benching with less of an arch from now on and making sure I pause all my reps. It seems I have been having trouble keeping my ass on the bench and the posterior left side of my hip is inflamed from arching so much. Sumo deadlifting irritates my hip, so I'll probably stick to SLDL Saturday.

[-Lucifer]

Where did you fail with 135?

SLDL is risky. I hurt my back once, so be careful. Control the descent.

[Airror]

Where did you fail with 135?

SLDL is risky. I hurt my back once, so be careful. Control the descent.

Didn't even get it off my chest.

I will, don't worry. I'm more of an overuse injury type of person, anyway.

Oh, and my grip on OHP is about thumb's length from the smooth.

[-Lucifer]

Didn't even get it off my chest.

Oh, and my grip on OHP is about thumb's length from the smooth.

Okay. Too heavy/10.

That's a bit wide. Makes the bottom part a lot harder. My grip is around 1.5" away from the smooth part. Also, squeezing your biceps[at the bottom] makes a lot of difference.

[TheBeastTyler]

Good luck getting back into, man!

[Airror]

General warm up

Snatch
bar x some
55 x 3 x 3
60 x 2 x 3

Clean and jerk
85 x (2+1)
95 x (1+1)
105 x (1+1)
95 x (2+1) x 3

SLDL
135 x 6
155 x 4
175 x 4
185 x 4
195 x 3

I'm like 85% sure that 105 jerk was a PR. Now I just need to work on jerking my max clean. Going to roll around on my PVC pipe soon.

[Airror]

Okay. Too heavy/10.

That's a bit wide. Makes the bottom part a lot harder. My grip is around 1.5" away from the smooth part. Also, squeezing your biceps[at the bottom] makes a lot of difference.

Yeah, just a little.

I think my grip is about 1.5" from the smooth. It's the same grip that I jerk with, so I didn't want to change it.

Biceps? What is that pokemon? Not srs, I'll give it a go the next time I press.

Good luck getting back into, man!

Woman*

But thanks, it is good to be back in the weight-room.

[-Lucifer]

http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2012/06...press.html?m=1

Good job on the PR. The SLDL is pretty impressive as well. Pulled the slack out of the bar?

[Airror]

General warm up

Power snatch + snatch + snatch balance
50 x (1+2+1) x 2
55 + (1+2+1) x 2

Snatch pull
95 x 3 x 5

High bar back squat
bar x some
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 2
155 x 1
160 x 1
110 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 3
135 x 3

5/3/1 bench (paused reps)
90 x 5
95 x 5
100 x 8

DB row
40 x 15 x 5

Hanging leg raises ss/ standing cable crunches
3 x 12 ss/ 3 x 12

About 25 minutes of stretching and soft tissue work after.

Used a max of 125 for 5/3/1 since I'm not arching as much and I'm pausing all my reps. Hopefully it is not too high.

[Airror]

http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2012/06...press.html?m=1

Good job on the PR. The SLDL is pretty impressive as well. Pulled the slack out of the bar?

There's really no slack to pull out of the bar since it's a pretty stiff bar and I'm not using much weight.

[-Lucifer]

Nice squatting.

[Airror]

General warm up

High hang snatch
bar x 3 x 10

Three position clean + jerk
70 x (1+1) x 2
75 x (1+1) x 2

Clean pull
135 x 3 x 5

Hanging leg raises ss/ weighted planks
4 x 12 ss/ 25 x ~60s x 4

Finished with about 10-15 minutes of stretching.

I think I will stick with snatches from the high hang to really hammer down pulling myself under the bar on snatches.

[-Lucifer]

Wtf at your plank strength. You're making me look like a bitch.

[Airror]

General warmup.

Front squats
bar x some
65 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 1
135 x 1
95 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3
115 x 3
120 x 3

OHP + jerk
bar x some
55 x (3+0)
65 x (3+1)
80 x (2+1) x 3

Push press + jerk
85 x (1+1)
95 x (1+1)

DE low bar squats (75%)
145 x 2 x 8

Did some stretching, not enough. Front squats went much better this session.

My right hamstring is still pretty tight, hasn't been getting much better. Hopefully I don't wake up with an inflamed hip tomorrow; if I do then I know it's low bar squatting that is aggravating it.

[Airror]

Wtf at your plank strength. You're making me look like a bitch.

I actually lost some core strength when I did smolov jr because I didn't keep up with core work. I was using 35 lb plate not too long ago.

I always thought that my core was pretty weak, so I've been working hard to bring it up. Hanging leg raises and weighted planks are two of my "favorite" exercises for core.

[-Lucifer]

I actually lost some core strength when I did smolov jr because I didn't keep up with core work. I was using 35 lb plate not too long ago.

I always thought that my core was pretty weak, so I've been working hard to bring it up. Hanging leg raises and weighted planks are two of my "favorite" exercises for core.

It's not weak. I prefer doing it for 10-15 sec, by the way. My logic: your core does the most work at the bottom of the squat, so you won't be in that position for a long time.

[Airror]

It's not weak. I prefer doing it for 10-15 sec, by the way. My logic: your core does the most work at the bottom of the squat, so you won't be in that position for a long time.

I meant that my core was weak when I started.

I suppose, the abs are comprised of a larger percentage of fast twitch fibers if I'm remembering correctly, but it still might be best to get in some longer times.

[-Lucifer]

[Airror]

Seen this before... I am subbed to their channel.