This Is What I Do

Late night chats with Nick Horton (The Iron Samurai) are the best :)

And he’s on tumblr too! Theironsamurai.tumblr.com

Really light today. Tuesdays and Thursdays are all about technique.

I did get a “that was a pretty lift” from Glenn, which made me happy :)

Working on hitting my heels down hard in the snatch, sweeping the bar back, staying on my heels, and all that good stuff.

This week will be pretty light from now on since I’m competing on Saturday

11am

Snatch
-15kg
-35kg
-40kg/2
-45kg/2
-50kg/2
-55kg 2x2
-60kg/2

Clean and Jerk
-55kg
-60kg
-65kg
-70kg 2x1

Today’s training wasn’t terrible but wasn’t great either. I’m fixing a lot of stuff with my snatch technique so I have a lot going through my head when I lift. As I fix bad habits and develop better technique my numbers will go up. Jerks felt hard today I think because of the squats in the morning even though it was fairly light. Still hit above 90% in both lifts so I’m not worrying about it too much
11am

Snatch
-15kg
-35kg
-40kg x 2
-45kg x 2
-50kg x 2
-55kg x 2
-55kg x 2
-60kg x 2
-60kg x 2

Clean & jerk
-45kg
-55kg
-60kg
-65kg
-70kg

Squat 3 x 5 @100kg
-65kg x 3
-85kg x 3
-100kg x 5
-100kg x 5
-100kg x 5

4pm
Snatch
15kg
-35kg
-40kg x 2
-45kg x 1
-50kg x 1
-55kg x 1
-60kg x 1
-65kg x m, 1
-69kg x m, 1
-71kg x m, m (form went to hell)
-55kg 1x5

Clean & Jerk
-55kg x 2
-65kg
-75kg
-80kg
-85kg
-90kg miss jerk twice
-75kg x 2

That I’m competing this weekend!

The event is called Summer Strong in Columbia, SC

My last chance to qualify for Nationals in July.

Because Glenn Pendlay will be in Venezuela coaching Travis Cooper and James Tatum at Pan Ams, my old coach, Travis Mash will be coaching me :)

That’s all I know about it lol

Saturday training at MDUSA means SQUATZ and OH work.

I’m not used to training anything with reps of 5, which Glenn uses a lot, so today for me was more figuring out what my max set of 5 is for squat and push press.

I told Glenn that I did 113kg for 3 reps last week so he told me to shoot for 107kg for 5. I ended up CRUSHING this haha :)

11am

Squat

• Warmup triples: 15kg, 45kg, 65kg, 80kg, 95kg
• 102kg x 5
• 107kg x 5
• 113kg x 5
• 118kg x 5 (PR) (259.6lbs)

Push Press

• 35kg x 5
• 40kg x 5
• 45kg x 5
• 48kg x 5
• 51kg x 5
• 52kg x 5 (PR)

One thing I find odd about Glenn’s programming is the lack of assistance work. The only things we do are snatch, clean and jerk, variations of snatch/clean & jerk, squat, front squat, jerk, and push press. 

Not saying it’s a bad thing. Just interesting. I’ve hit lots of PRs this week so whatever is happening is working and I’m happy :)

Also here’s the link to the first ever MDUSA training video that I’m featured in even though I’m not shown much and they didn’t get my PR snatch or clean & jerk :( I’ll just start recording my own big lifts just in case :)

Today was max out Friday at MDUSA and there was some awesome lifting going on!

Travis Cooper hit 155kg/195kg and Mike Szela got a PR snatch, total, and clean & jerk and is now only 4 kg away from the American Snatch record! A bunch of the other guys got PRs too :)

I ended up with a PR clean with 95kg! :)

11am

Snatch
-15kg/3
-35kg/3
-40kg/2
-45kg/1
-50kg/1
-55kg/1
-60kg/1

Clean & Jerk
-55kg
-60kg
-65kg
-70kg

4pm
Snatch
-15kg/3
-35kg/3
-40kg/2
-45kg/1
-50kg/1
-55kg/1
-60kg/1
-65kg/1
-70kg/miss x 3
-55kg
-60kg
-65kg
-55kg x 2

Clean & Jerk
-55kg
-65kg
-73kg
-80kg
-85kg
-90kg
-95kg miss jerk x 3 but PR CLEAN!!

Snatches were a little off today but shit happens. I bet I’ll clean 100kg and jerk at least 95kg next week!

Today was a pretty light day. Saving up for PR Friday! We will go light at 11am tomorrow and max at 4pm. Glenn wants me to snatch 76kg. I’m so stoked!

Today we had Elisabeth Akinwale and Rudy Nielsen, Crossfit Outlaw coach, in the house to lift with us. I love Elisabeth. She’s so nice and friendly and has a great attitude. She takes herself seriously when lifting but also has a good sense of humor. They’ll be here for the next couple days! She’ll push me to PR tomorrow :)

11am today
Snatch
-15kg x 3
-35kg x 3
-40kg x 2
-45kg x 2
-50kg x 2
-55kg x 2, 2
-60kg x 2

Clean and jerk
-55kg x 1
-65kg x 1

Clean plus 2 jerks
-65kg
-70kg
-75kg

No misses, super easy and good. Glenn has had me work on my snatch pull and not getting too much double knee bend and I think I’m getting the hang of it and feeling more powerful because of it.

Jerks: I’m still working on splitting my feet wide to avoid tight roping and stepping my front foot through. It’s getting better. I still have to think about what I’m doing but it’s getting easier for sure.

After training today, I visited 3 Crossfit gyms and asked if they needed any extra help coaching and all 3 sounded interested in having me either part time or for weightlifting seminars so that’s good news! Networking for the win :)

Still looking for a more permanent apartment though.

Wrote down the addresses of 10 crossfit places that I will attempt to visit over the next couple of days to ask for a job.

*Fingers crossed* 

I saw you on the live feed! You’ll get that 75kg snatch REALLY soon. :)

Thanks! I hope I get it on PR Friday! 75kg was SO CLOSE. At one point I had it overhead for like 2 seconds and it pulled me backwards :(

3rd day at MDUSA and I got 3 PRs: snatch, clean & jerk, and front squat! :)

Last day training at Mash Elite for a while. I’ll miss the guys and Travis and Drew and coaching there but i plan on visiting when I can :)

Tomorrow morning I start training full time at Muscle Driver! I’m ready to get my ass kicked but I have upped my volume over the last couple weeks so maybe it won’t be such an adjustment training-wise.

I’m excited for some changes even though it means some challenges and more work. Wish me luck tomorrow!

Snatches felt a little off today. I’m dealing with some wrist pain I can’t seem to shake.

Squats felt good although I wish I could’ve gotten more than one rep at 119kg.

Barbell Rollouts suck

Snatch triples
-15kg x 6
-30kg x 3 -40kg x 3
-45kg x 3
-50kg x 3
-55kg x 3
-60kg x 3
-63kg x only got one

Squat
-70kg x 3
-85kg x 3
-95kg x 3
-103kg x 3
-108kg x 3
-113kg x 3
-119kg x 1 (90%)
-92kg x 3 (70%)

Clean pulls
-65kg x 2
-105kg x 2
-105kg x 2
-105kg x 2

Russian Leans ss Barbell Rollouts
3 x 8 3 x 5