Feeling Good

I have been able to work out now for almost 2 weeks and I am feeling good.  I can instantly feel the difference when I concentrate on the Olympic Lifts.  My body starts to change and my traps get sore. haha  As far as last week goes, I was able to Snatch and Clean & Jerk at the beginning of the week, but then I tweaked a little muscle in my left shoulder.  So then I laid off the overhead stuff for the rest of last week and this week.  The shoulder feels good now, but I will still leave alone until next week to make sure it doesn’t get aggravated.

This week has looked like this:

Monday:

• 1. Back Squats:  60×3, 80×3, 100×3
• 2. Halting Snatch Deadlifts + Shrug:  (50×3)2, 60×3, 70×3, 80×3, 90×3
• 3. Back Squat: 80×3, 100×3, 110×3
• 4. Snatch Shrugs: 100×3, 120×3, 130×3
• 5. Abs and Back: Abmat situps and Good Mornings

Tuesday:

• 1. Halting Clean Deadlifts + Shrug:  60×3, 100×3, (120×3)3, Back down to work speed to 100×3, 110×3, 120×3
• 2. Back Squats: 60×3, 100×3, 120×3, 140×3, 150×3
• 3.  Abs and Back:  GHD situps & Reverse Hypers

All in all I am pretty happy.  The 160kg triple felt pretty easy.  I didn’t go any higher because I was feeling a little tightness in the chest, because of my recent pec surgery.

*** All weights are in KGs *** 

Coming Back Little by Little

Seven weeks out of surgery and the path to recovery is slow and mentally challenging. If any of you have been seriously injured and very active you all know what I am talking about. Not only does the injury put a damper on your spirits but the time you spend getting back to where you before the injury and the discipline it takes can be rough as well. Some people have made comments about my spirit while I was in the sling and have noticed a change for the better now that I am moving around and working out. I guess that is a good thing. I never really noticed how my injuries effect my mood, and others that interact with me. I feel sorry for the people that never work out. What are their lives like?

Today was a great day for the better.  I had a Olympic lifting session with my new International Irish Friend and fellow weightlifter Barry Kinsella.  He maintains the blog http://www.weightliftingepiphanies.blogspot.com/. Very good read and entertaining.  Not only does he write well and add some cool videos, but he is a good lifter as well. Another good thing is that he is a former Rugby player. If you all know me then you know that I play Rugby as well. So naturally we got along. It was fun talking about Rugby and Weightlifting with Barry. Glad he stopped by with his girlfriend Ailish (I think that is how you spell it) for a workout at Crossfit San Diego.

As for the Workout Today I did:

• 1. Snatch: 60kg x 1 for 7 sets (working technique and keeping it light while the pec heals)
• 2.Clean & Jerk: Up to 80kg x 1 for 5 sets (Same as above, keeping it light)
• 3. Front Squat: Up to 120kg.  (Felt good and not too heavy)

Congrats to Barry for setting a new Personal Record of a Behind the Neck Jerk of 150kg!!!  Awesome stuff!!!

Squat Strength Program

Today marks the first day that I am starting a squat strength program.  I am limited on what I can do right now because I just had my torn pectoral tendon re-attached.  Lucky me Coach Burgener has a safety squat bar that lets me do back squats while I let my left pec heal.  Next time I go up to Coach B’s I will take a picture so that you can see what I am talking about.  Basically it has a collar that sits on my shoulders with a couple bars that run down to my chest that I can hold on too without stretching my chest out.  PERFECT!!!  I can still work on gaining strength and not be worthless.   

My intentions were to start some kind of program today when I went up to coach’s (Mike’s Gym).  I talked with him about the Hatch Squat Routine and a couple others.  He decided I should try out another type.  It has a lot of volume but broken up into lots of sets with small reps.  Today looked like this:

• 10sets x 3reps at 120kg (264lbs)
• Back & Abs (GHD sit ups & Back Extensions)

My current PRs are at 180kg for back squat, and 150kg for front squat.  We will see how this program works out.  The program is that you squat twice a week.  One day heavier then the other.  So today would be my heavy day and Thursday will be lighter day.  Then next week I will increase the percentage on my heavy day and light day.  Each week trying to go up more and more.  As for today, I felt pretty good.  Each set pushed me on that 3rd rep. Once I got to the later sets I could feel it was working my legs.  This type of workout is perfect for gaining strength and not getting sore.  We will see how I feel over the next few days.  I am excited to see the results when its all done.  

If your looking to gain some leg strength then give something like this a try.  If you have any questions you can shoot me an email at:

jp@crossfitsandiego.com

Working Olympic Lifts With Injured Hamstring

Most you now know that I have been battling a Hamstring Injury.  One of the hardest things for me to do is to rest when I am injured.  I am one of those guys that can’t stop working out.  I feel depressed, sluggish, and worst of all my joints start to hurt if I am not doing some kind of activity.  The problem with that is that sometimes when I am injured I never allow the injury to fully heal.  Over the years and as I mature I am learning, more often then not the hard way, that I need to rest or work around the body part that is injured. 

Rugby season is over and its time for me to focus on Olympic Lifting.  In order to do that I have to lift.  With a hamstring injury its can be hard to imagine doing Olympic Style lifting without putting a massive amount of stress on the hamstrings.  I couldn’t really figure out how, I was going to do it.  So what did I do?  I called my Guru Coach Burgener.  He suggested I do some light Muscle Snatches off of blocks, Light Overhead squats, some high hang cleans and high hang snatches for this week.  This would allow me to train the lifts while not aggravating the hamstring. 

Monday looked like this:

• Muscle Snatch x 3 +Overhead Squat x 3 (40kg)
• Muscle Snatch x 3 +Overhead Squat x 3 (40kg)
• Muscle Snatch x 2 +Overhead Squat x 2 (60kg)
• Muscle Snatch x 1 +Overhead Squat x 1 (70kg)
• Muscle Snatch x 1 +Overhead Squat x 1 (70kg)

This workout felt good and I was surprised to see that I was only 5kg off of my PR for Muscle Snatch from the ground.  Just proved to me how important that speed through the middle is. 

Weightlifting, teaching the Olympic lifts, and just training people in general is quickly becoming a major passion in my life.  If I can help myself progress doing certain things, then I can’t wait to share those same pointers or techniques with other people. 

Below is a video of the Muscle Snatch + Overhead squat.

If you or anyone you know may benefit from training with me please write me an email at:

jp@crossfitsandiego.com

Crossfit San Diego is the best place for Olympic style lifting in San Diego.

Day before Thanksgiving

No Boot camp to teach tonight, so tonight will be an early night.

As far as today goes, I will be hitting up my Oly lifting pretty hard.  I have Thursday and Friday off as rest days.  So I will get at it today.  This is what the WOD looks like for today courtesy of Coach Burgener.

• 1. muscle snatch: work a heavy single
• 2. sn balance: try to beat your best snatch. or a heavy single (have to beat 100kgs)
• 3. rack jerks: try to beat your best cln and jerk. or a heavy single (have to beat 120)
• 4. core workGET READY FOR TURKEY DAY!!!

Well its about that time so I am going to get busy!!!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

Saturday was a good day

So Saturday went well.  It started off with me Training a client at 8am.  It was her 3rd Foundations session, so we covered the Push Jerk and Medicine Ball Clean.  I could tell that my client was getting frustrated with the movements.  Both Movements can be very tough to learn.  They both require a lot of coordination.  And just like with anything that requires a lot of coordination it takes a lot of practice and time to learn.  So I reminded her of that.  With that being said, she still did well.  She started getting the movements down and was progressing!  YAY!!!

After my Client there was the Crossfit San Diego FREE Saturday workout.  I chose a workout that I knew I could run a lot of people through.  So the one I chose was one that we did in 2nd Phase at BUD/S (SEAL Training) when I was an Instructor.  There were 5 stations of exercises and the Reps counted down from 10.  So you would go to a station do 10 reps, then move to the next and do 10.  After you went through all the stations you would do 9 at all the stations.  You would continue doing that all the way down to 1.  I think we probably had about 30-40 people there and they were all able to workout without being crowded.  AWESOME!!!  From the feedback I got people really enjoyed the workout.

Then I was off to Coach Burgener’s house.  He put me through a workout that had Snatches and Behind the Neck Jerks ( first time I have done those ).  This is what the workout looked like:

SNATCH

• 40kg x 3
• 50kg x 2
• 60kg x 1
• 70kg x 1 Made it but I received it a little forward.
• 75kg x 1 Missed it Forward
• 75kg x 1 Coach didn’t see it so he made me do it again. (Notre Dame Game was on)
• 75kg x 1
• 80kg x 1
• 85kg x 1

Behind the Neck Jerks ( First time )

• 20kg x 3 – just the bar
• 40kg x 2
• 60kg x 1
• 80kg x 1
• 100kg x 1
• 110kg x 1
• 120kg x 1
• 130kg x 1
• 140kg x 1  I drove it up and pussed out!   Coach wasn’t happy.  That is a lot of weight!!! 
• 140kg x 1  Didn’t get a good Drive
• 140kg x 1  Drove it up, but it was forward.
• 140kg x 1 Made it!!!  Yay!!!  That is 308lbs!!!! 

  That was the first time I did a Jerk behind the Neck.  Coach had me do those so that there would be so much pressure on my elbows.  That wasy they can rest and heal. 

So as of right now I can Front Squat 141kg and jerk 140kg, now I just have to be able to Clean 140kg.  Then put it all together.  Yeah Buddy!!!

Got busy today!!!

So today I headed up to Coach Burgener’s house (Mike’s Gym) for my workout.  I usually try to get up there once or twice a week, and when I can’t get up there I will workout with his son Casey.  I think its really important to have EXPERIENCED eyes on when your training in the Olympic style lifts.  That way they can tell me how I’m doing and what I need to do.  Lucky for me they just happen to be in the area. 

I have been having some issues with my elbows being sore.  Reasons behind that are that I am doing a lot of heavy lifting and its all new to my body. So this week we have been taking it easy on the arms.  I have been doing squats, pulls, deadlifts, and light snatches.  Trying to let the pain subside so that i can get back to it. 

So for today we did:

Back Squats 75% x 5 x 5  Last set as many reps as possible

• 128kg x 5 (282lbs)
• 128kg x 5
• 128kg x 5
• 128kg x 5
• 128kg x15  WHAT?  Where did that come from?  I just kept pushing.  That was tough!!!

Clean Pulls

• 120kg x 3
• 120kg x 3
• 120kg x 3

Clean Shrugs of blocks

• 130kg x5
• 140kg x5
• 150kg x5

Those shrugs were no joke!!!  I loved that workout.I really felt like I was pushing myself today while still being able to protect my elbows. 

The elbows have been feeling much better since last week.  Partly because I have been resting them are partly because I have been going to a doc to do some Active Release Technique (ART).  I wouldn’t say I like the ART when I am getting it done, but my arms feels better and more flexible because of it.  I will talk more about it in another post.

Crossfit San Diego Bootcamp Class 1

This was originally posted on another link.  But I decided to bring it back to the main page because it was lost in all the other pages.  This is how the first day went for Crossfit San Diego’s first Boot Camp.  This particular group of people is awesome!  They are fired up, motivated, and support one another.  Makes a trainer like myself excited to train.  I look forward to each class with these guys.  Keep it up!!!

CFSD Boot Camp Class 1

CFSD Boot Camp started yesterday.  It was a great time.  I had 5 motivated and fired up trainees.  I explained to them a little about myself and Crossfit.  told them what they could expect out of the next 4 weeks and then got into a fitness test.  This is the results of the fitness test which will be compared to the results they get on their last day at boot camp.  I can’t wait to see the improvements!!!

Fitness test went like this:

• 1000 meter row
• pull ups
• sit ups
• push ups
• 800 meter run

This is the results.

Nicole    (4:51)    (8big band)    (60)    (15m,29w)    (3:54)

Lauren    (4:10)          (1)            (58)   (15m, 35w)   (4:45)

Adam      (4:29)         (16)           (55)        (72)         (3:48)

Van         (4:46)  (3 small band)  (61)  (25m, 11w)    (4:50)

Karen      (4:24)  (3 small band)  (74)   (27m, 10w)   (4:37)

This was a perfect place to start with this group.  They really got me fired up.  One thing I really liked in particular was how they were motivating and supporting each other through the exercises.  It really makes for a great and fun atmosphere to train in.  WAY TO GO GUYS!!!  SEE YOU WEDNESDAY!!!

November off to a Great Start!!!

I can’t think of a better way to start November.  On Saturday I went up to Mike’s Gym for our heavy day.  That consists of:

• Snatch: Heavy Single
• Clean & Jerk: Heavy Single
• Front Squat: Heavy Single

I was waiting for this day all week.  I wanted so bad to beat my PRs.  So I warmed up getting on the rower and bike, did a few stretches so that I was nice and loose.  Then I got into the Burgener Warm up.  After that I was ready to start adding the weights.  Started off at 40kgs and moved up from there.  This is what it looked like.  *** ALL WEIGHTS IN KILOGRAMS, 2.2lbs= 1KG ***

SNATCH:

• 40 x 2
• 60 x 2
• 70 x 1
• 80 x 1
• 86 x 1
• 91 x 1 NEW PR#1
• 93 x 1 miss
• 93 x 1 miss
• 93 x 1 NEW PR#2 (204.6lbs)

I was definitely fired up.  I wasn’t happy about missing 93 twice, but glad to make it on that 3rd time.  That set me up for the Clean & Jerk.  I always have to start off by stretching out my elbows and shoulders.  My flexibility in these areas is sub-par.  So I constantly have to remind myself to stretch.  I do this with the bar and then add 60kg and hold it in the rack position at the top and bottom of the squat.  I do a couple sets like this to make sure its all loose.  Then I add the weight.

CLEAN & JERK:

• 60 x 1 (stretch top and bottom of squat)
• 60 x 1 (stretch top and bottom of squat)
• 80 x1
• 100 x 1
• 107 x 1 Hung out up at the top after recovery too long, almost passed out but made it.  Ugly!
• 111 x 1 NEW PR#1
• 115 x 1 NEW PR#2
• 120 x 1 NEW PR#3 (264lbs)  That really fired me up!!!

So I was feeling good that day.  I broke my PRs in all the excersizes.  The Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and Front Squat (140 to 141kg).  I probably could have done more on the front squat but coach called it a day.  I was smoked anyway.  But a very good day for me. 

I later found out that after my first competition on Saturday I was ranked 97 out of 357.  Not bad for the first one.  I am going to keep climbing those rankings one by one if I have to. 

I have my sights lined up on a goal, I won’t stop until I hit them!!!

Staying tight and working the Core.

Yesterday drove up to Coach’s house to get my workout in.  I knew he was going to say something about me going for 115 in the competition, when I should have only gone for 112.  Don’t know what I was thinking.  Anyways, back to working out. 

Yesterday we did some work on the Snatch.  It went like this.

• Burgener warm up
• power snatch + snatch 70%x6  63kg
• Snatch Pulls  85kg x2, 91kgx2
• Snatch Deadlift 95kgx3, 100kgx2
• Front squat:  Got up to 120kg

So that was yesterday.  Today I was supposed to take today off, but I felt that I needed the extra work.  So after talking with Coach, we decided that I should Muscle Snatch and then go into Snatch push press with overhead squats.  Sounds good.

Here is the what I did today with Casey Burgener:

• Muscle Snatch: work up to Heavy single  NEW PR 70kg
• Snatch push Press + Overhead Squat: 40kg 3+3, 50kg 2+3, 60kg 2+3, 70kg1+2, 80kg 1+1, 82.5kg 1+1, 85kg 1+1, 87.5kg 1+1, 90kg 1+1, and finally 92.5kg 1+1.
• Back and Abs

This is exactly what I needed.  I have a problem staying tight in the bottom or what you call the recieving position of the Snatch.  So this helps me out tremendously. 

Remember if you guys are squating or doing cleans or Snatches, you must stay tight.  Control your body!!!  Keep your core tight.  These are great exercises for that. 

JP out!!!