(Res)training

band pullups: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 8
15min, 240 snatches

That elbow issue is still lurking in the background: the pullups were no problem, but my snatches are a bit slower on that side, at the top. Not much, I still got all 8 reps in, but... dunno. I decided better not to push it and stopped at 'comfortable' 30 sets.

Something is bothering my right elbow...

I bumped it into a door handle pretty hard some time last week and the whole arm was numb for quite a while and then tender for a couple more hours but it seemed to be okay by the next day. Might be the pullups, too, too much too soon, no idea.
Anyway, even if I liked ladders and the many-sets-of-few-reps-approach and they worked, I switched to another program that is more frequent but with less volume at a time.

band pullups: 4, 3, 2, 2, 2
3*1 double C&P @2*16kg
3/3 bent press + windmill + OH squat @16kg
3/3 TGU @16kg
3/3 half kneeling presses @16kg
3/3 arm bar presses @16kg
3/3 MP @16kg
1/1 Sots press @12kg - this is a difficult move for someone who tends to pitch forward in the squat, lol
3/3 bent presses @16kg
3/3 TGU @16kg
3*5 ab wheel, 5sec out, 5sec hold, 5sec back

10/10 swings @24kg
10/10 cleans @24kg
5 rounds

2 VO2Max sessions in 3 hours

This is interesting.

I did 30 sets of 8 @16kg with a client I often train ballistics with at around 5 pm (this was postponed from Monday). Then I remembered I always do VO2Max together with my Thursday 7 pm. advanced group... Doing it again seemed less a nuisance than having to excuse myself, so again, 35 sets of 8.

I knew my hands could take it, my technique has gotten a lot smoother the last few weeks. What I didn't expect was that the first session would have no influence on the second at all. Even though I was teaching in the meantime, I was completely recovered, I had no fatigue from the first one, I didn't slow down and it didn't feel any harder than the first. (5 minutes later I was in my beginner group, teaching - the snatch, lol.)

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg 
30+35 sets of 8
520 snatches

Tomorrow's a new day

5/5 C&P @16kg
3 „L-sit“ chins
5 rounds

A few bent presses @16kg, jerks @24kg and chins with one hand gripping a towel hung on the bar.

VO2Max, 15:15, @16kg
40 sets of 8
20min, 320 snatches

It’s not my day... I’m just dragging myself through it. I did a bit of something just to have something done as I had a day off yesterday already, and I didn’t want to postpone this VO2Max-session any further either – but even if these 40 sets felt easier (physically) than the 30 last time, all I wanted was to get it over with.

VO2Max must wait

My hands are beaten up a bit, from yesterday's 100 24kg snatches. But not more than the 16 used to beat up my hands last year, so there's hope :)

5 assisted pullups (w/ band I used so far)
5/5 bent presses @16kg
5/5 OH squats @16kg
3 assisted pullups (light band)
3/3 2HA @16+12kg

3 rounds

30sec on, 30sec off
7/7 snatches @16kg
20 two-hand swings @24kg
15 sets, 15min

On this sunny day

The weather was so fine I decided to postpone VO2Max and do "outside" things instead where it's better not to have to be concerned about dropping the bell if necessary.

@24kg

1R/1L TGU
10 snatches R
10 snatches L
(missed 10th rep R, bell started to turn around thumb so I better dropped it)
2L/2R TGU
10L/10R snatches
2 L/3R TGU
(missed 3rd rep L when coming up on knee)
10L/10R snatches
1 1/2L/2R TGU
(missed 2nd rep L when coming down to elbow)
10L/10R snatches
1L/1R TGU
10L/10R snatches

I haven't snatched the 24kg since November or so and I've never tried sets of 10/10 yet but I'm glad I did today, it went way better than I expected.
The sun was already going down when I started and it was completely dark when I finished... I had to come in to answer a phone call and I had difficulties finding the bell again afterwards, lol. Well, doing getups can be quite an interesting experience without visual feedback, when all you have is proprioception.

Joined class again

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 8

As it was "just" 30 sets I thought I could try and up the reps from 7 to 8 and see if (or how long) I can keep that speed. I was expecting worse. Now I don't know if I should do those 60 sets of 7 I had planned next time or go for 40 sets of 8...?

One week in the world

My "grandson" Vili. He and his mother Andrea are both doing great. You can check out the photos on her blog, if you like. The Hungarian text is about her experiences so far: She caught a bad cold a few days before delivery, and although the baby boy was tactful enough to wait until the worst was over, a blocked nose was an interesting addition to the "fun"... Still, she reports, compared to giving birth to her first son, this time she had much more endurance and everybody was amazed by her "pressing strength" :) Overall, as far as she can tell after just a week, her recovery is much faster, she's in a much better mood and there's no comparison of the tone of her post-partum belly this time. Her doc says she might even start with some kind of exercise in 3 weeks - with utmost caution, of course.

Can't say how glad I feel (and relieved that I didn't promise too much)! And I'm looking forward to working with her again. Not just on regaining the body she's had before, but on getting her into a better than ever shape!

Oh, and the anecdotal story behind "grandson":
Andrea and her husband often refer to me jokingly as "our mother Gabi". When I heard the news about her pregnancy back last year, I confronted my unsuspecting husband (we have two daughters, 13 and 11, and a son, 8 yrs) with the following:
"Woo-hoo, just imagine, I'm getting a grandchild!!"
"Huh?"
"Don't worry, not you, just me!"
"????"

Too much is...

5 double LCCJ @2*16kg
5 chins (5, 4+1 or 3+2)
5/5 double-bell SLDL @2*16kg
7 rounds

No ballistics today: I've probably filed off a bit too much of my callouses yesterday as after the 7th round (right at the first, actually) I was pretty much convinced that gripping the pullup bar alone was heroic enough already, eheh.

It works

5/5 C&P @16kg
5 assisted pullups
5/5 Bulgarian split squats @16kg

6 rounds

Time to switch to the small band. 

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
50 sets of 7
25min, 350 snatches

Was not much tougher than the 40 last time. Could have gone on. I'll go for 60 later this week.

Smelled blood, I guess

11 AM, w/ client:
VO2Max @16kg
40 sets of 7
20min, 280 snatches

An ad-hoc idea again, but I couldn’t resist now that my palms are not in danger any longer – no sign of abuse even after three days in a row. Cool.

7 PM, 45min break:
chins, alternated with
bent press @16kg
5 ladders of 3

Was meant to be an off day

But in my last half-hour break in the afternoon I really didn’t have anything better to do.

C&P @16kg, alternated with
close stance (feet together) goblet squats @24kg
3 ladders of 5

Holding that 24kg bell during the squats worked my shoulders at least as hard as the presses themselves, eheh.

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 7
15min, 210 snatches

This was not planned either, just an ad-hoc idea to join my advanced class. The good news is, no hand damage after two consecutive days of snatching. Seems like I’ve finally ’figured it out’.

Slaughtering my dragons

Okay, they're not quite dead yet, but at least I'm on the warpath :)

2 Dbl. C&P @2*16kg (2*1 in rd. 4 and 5)*
chins or assisted pullups (as many)**
5 Dbl. FSQ @2*16kg
10 Renegade Rows @2*16kg
5/5 double-bell-SLDL @2*16kg

6 rounds

* The plan was 5 double push presses with slow negatives - I didn't know I could actually press them... I just thought I could give it a try before I start and voila, PR.
**2 chins, 3 pullups, 3 chins, 4 chins, 4 pullups, 5 pullups in resp. rounds

Seems like I'm slowly figuring out the pullup technique. I didn't do any chins for quite a while and (apart from sporadic attempts at getting at least my nose to the bar) next to never pullups - partly due to an old injury of both wrists, but mainly because they're hard and I was lazy, lol.

2 clients (hours) later, another one actually bites the dust:

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
40 sets of 7
20min, 280 snatches

Some time back in November I did 120 sets of 9 @12kg, that's a full hour and more than 1000 snatches. Proof enough that I've "grown out of" that 12kg... And I still kept procrastinating the next step, that is starting over @16kg. Until now.

New month, new regimen

3 ladders of 3:
MP @16kg
chins or band assisted pullups
goblet squats @16kg, down on one leg, up on both ("pistol negatives")

15/15 snatches @16kg between ladders

1*100 snatches @16kg (switching hands every 10) - good enough for the new RKC snatch test, regardless of my bodyweight... :)

Two short sessions

Thursday:

10min VO2Max @16kg, 15:15
14 sets of 8, 6 sets of 7

Friday:

20min LCCJ @16kg
5*5/5
3*10/10
cca. 1min rest between sets