Trying to get serious about o lifting

[RegisterJr]

That's a great idea. The bonus of having equipment at home.

 

[Balthazar]

12/18/15

Hang Power Snatch
105x5
125x5
145x5

Hang Power Clean
135x5
155x5
175x3

Snatch Grip DL + Touch&Go Snatch
115x3
135x3
155x3
175x2

Clean + Hang Clean x3
135x1
155x1
175x1
195x1 A little rough form on the last H clean but I got it

Snatch Balance
125x5
145x5
165x5 Not very difficult for the lower body but lowering this much weight under reasonable control lit my triceps on fire by the last rep

Push Press Alt. Front to BHN
115x6
135x6
155x6

Chinese DL
145x5
165x5
185x5
205x5
225x5

Close Grip OHP
65x8
75x8
85x8
95x8
105x5,3 with a push

Snatch Grip Bent Over Row
95x8
115x8
135x8

Much better day today. Pretty happy with everything except H P cleans. SI joint is pretty much back to normal. Added a PC movement back in and started light, it felt great. Things are back on track!

 

[Balthazar]

12/19/15

Front Squat
175x5
195x5
215x5
175x5
195x5
215x5

Split Jerk L,R
95x6
115x6
135x6
155x6
175x4

Power Snatch
115x5
135x5
155x4,-

Power Clean
165x5
185x5
205x5 New PR

Snatch + Hang Snatch x3
135x1
155x1
175x--(1 + 2,--)

Clean Grip DL + Touch&Go Clean
155x3
175x2
195x1
215x1
235x1

Klokov Press
65x8
85x8
105x8

Clean Grip BO Row
115x8
135x8
155x8

Good day today. Thrilled about the power cleans, my pulls for everything felt tight and snappy. Still could complete the front squats with a little more explosive power but by the time I stepped down to work back up they felt pretty good by comparison to the first 3 sets. A lot of room for improvement still at the split jerks but they're coming along.

 

[RegisterJr]

Another PR. Nice man.

 

[Balthazar]

Another PR. Nice man.

thank you sir, i probably won't feel accomplished until i can get 3 plates for that lift lol, it might be a while

 

[RegisterJr]

thank you sir, i probably won't feel accomplished until i can get 3 plates for that lift lol, it might be a while

I disagree. By the time you hit 3 you'll already be wanting 4. lol

 

[Balthazar]

that sounds about right lol, after all the women's world clean and jerk record is over 400 lbs so that probably puts things in perspective pretty well as to how strong i really am :frustrate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QnASEwOBT4

 

[RegisterJr]

She's a big girl

 

[Balthazar]

yeah, the muscular development in her thighs would probably shame most of the lifters on this forum

 

[Balthazar]

12/21/15

Hang Power Snatch
110x5
130x5
150x5 PR

Hang Snatch
125x5
145x5
165x5 PR

Snatch
135x5
155x5
175x5 PR
135x5
135x5

Pause Over Head Squat
145x5
165x5
185x5

Chinese DL
185x5
205x5
225x5

Klokov Push Press
115x5
135x5
155x5

Snatch Grip BO Row
95x8
115x8
135x8

Big day today! 5's suck lol but I pushed for some difficult ones. The last 2 snatches at 175 were pretty much the minimum height that I could pull it and still have enough time to get under it but I completed each one with good bar path and stood up with it totally balanced.

 

[RegisterJr]

I agree, 5's suck.

 

[Dustin07]

holy long workouts!

 

[NurseGray]

holy long workouts!

I thought the same thing!

 

[Balthazar]

holy long workouts!

I thought the same thing!

believe it or not i packed both those sessions into an hour and a half each time, warm up and all. that's all the time i have to get it done before work.

 

[Dustin07]

that's great, I love a good long 90+ minute session. the holidays have been cramping my style!

 

[Balthazar]

12/23/15

Front Squat
175x5
195x5
215x5
175x5
195x5
215x5

Hang Power Clean
135x5
155x5
175x5

Hang Clean
155x5
175x5
195x5 PR

Clean
175x5
195x5
215x5 PR
175x5
155x5

Split Jerk L,R
85x6
105x6
125x6
145x6
165x6

Push Press Alt. Front to BTN
115x6
135x6
155x6

Clean Grip BO Row
135x5
155x5
175x5

Another big day today, and to reiterate, 5's suck lol. Had to really grind out the last two reps at 215 for clean. My form for clean and variations for all but the heaviest set at clean all felt very tight. Split Jerk is coming along but still lots of improvement to be made. Pretty happy with how this went.

 

[Balthazar]

12/24/15

Squat Jerk
95x5
115x3
135x3
155x2

Snatch Balance
145x3
165x3
185x3 PR

Power Snatch
135x3
155x3
175x3 PR

Power Clean
185x3
205x3
225x3 PR

Snatch Grip DL + Touch&Go Snatch
145x2
165x2
185x2 PR

Clean + Hang Clean x3
165x1
185x1
205x1 PR

Chinese DL
185x5
205x5
225x5

Close Grip OHP
65x8
75x8
85x8
95x8
105x8

Snatch Grip BO Row
95x8
115x8
135x8

Well Santa Claus came early to my house. Today was a gift lol. I went up in weight at every movement that I tried to. The only thing that I felt was lack luster were the Squat Jerks. But I'm not too disappointed with those, they're so technical I feel that I just haven't mastered the movement. I need to just stick with light weight until I iron everything out.

 

[RegisterJr]

Merry Christmas man.

 

[Balthazar]

Thank You sir, hope all is well in the RegisterJr household lol, merry christmas to you too

 

[RegisterJr]

Thank You sir, hope all is well in the RegisterJr household lol, merry christmas to you too

Food on food on food.

Where are you located?

 

[Balthazar]

northern ny my southerly friend lol. pretty much on the border of canada.

 

[Balthazar]

12/25/15

Hang Power Snatch
125x3
145x3
165x3 PR

Hang Snatch
145x3
165x3
185x2,-- PR, wanted the triple pretty bad but still a doubles PR

Snatch
135x3
155x3
175x3
195x3 PR
155x5
135x5

Pause Over Head Squat
155x5
175x5
195x5

Snatch Grip SLDL
240x5
240x5
240x5(+5)

Klokov Press
85x5
105x5
125x3, 2 with a little push

Hang Snatch High Pull
125x5
145x5
165x3

A Christmas Miracle lol! Actually getting some serious output of effort now that I'm now slaving away for the package delivery industry. Adding in the Hang Power Snatch variation has really stimulated my pulling power and caused big improvement at Snatch. 195x3 three was a little rough on form but I got them anyway. 1st rep was good but bar path was a little funny on the other two, still stood up with each one in total balance, just had to pause and stick it out in the bottom to make sure I was stable before coming up with it. That's a triple at 10 less lbs than my current 1rm so hopefully I will be breaking that soon!

 

[RegisterJr]

Christmas Prs!

So, you don't have to partake in the returning of all the gifts?

 

[Balthazar]

Christmas Prs!

So, you don't have to partake in the returning of all the gifts?

if you're referring to my job then i would say yes i do have to do that but in comparison that's no big deal. that's like a day or two of being busy as opposed to the last month in which i probably made about 2300 deliveries, drove 5000 miles and only had 4 days off!

 

[Dustin07]

how the outdoor lifting treating you this week? we had a couple dustings of snow.

 

[Balthazar]

haha it's actually been super warm here for december. there has been some snow a couple times that i've been outside, probably the coldest day that i lifted on was about 25 degrees or so. i feel like as long as i keep my area covered up so it won't get iced over the only thing that's going to hold me back is if it gets so cold that i can't comfortably grip the bar. but i keep the bar inside and so far the heat coming off my hands have kept it warm where i grip it.

 

[Balthazar]

12/27/15

Front Squat
175x5
195x5
215x5
175x5
195x5
215x5(+2) RPE 8 (it's good to learn new simple notation, trying to keep the rep speed moderate to fast so i stopped at +2)

Hang Power Clean
145x3
165x3
185x3, should be able to do a touch more weight but i've only been working at these for a little while

Hang Clean
175x3
195x3
215x3

Clean Grip DL + Touch&Go Clean
155x3
175x2
195x2
215x2
235x2 (Turnover into rack was pretty rough form but i squeaked both out)
185x3
165x4

Split Jerk L,R
105x6
125x4
145x4
165x4
185x4 (Slowly improving, these were a little rough but +20 lbs from the heaviest weight attempted for this volume previously)

OHP
95x6
115x6
135x6

Clean Grip BO Row
135x6
155x6
175x6

Very solid day, hit everything I wanted to. Front squats slowly improving. The touch and go clean complex was pretty tough for the last set but i'm still happy with it. they're basically like a 1 and 1/2 for clean and because your hips are much higher than your normal starting position when you touch the weight back down it forces you to really tighten up your bar path otherwise your balance is too far forward.

 

[Balthazar]

12/28/15

Squat Jerk- Not satisfied with my form, sticking with light weights until I really get it down.
85x5
105x5
125x5

Snatch Balance
135x5
155x5
175x5 PR

Power Snatch
115x5
135x5
155x5 PR

Power Clean
170x5
190x5
210x4,-- almost

Snatch + Hang Snatch x3
135x1
155x1
175x1 PR

Clean + Split Jerk x2 L,R
135x2
155x2
175x1
195x1
215x(C1+J1,--) Still the heaviest Split Jerk single I've worked up to yet

Chinese DL
185x5
205x5
225x5

Klokov Press
65x8
85x8
105x8

Upright Row
95x8
105x8
115x8

Pretty Solid Day. The only thing I missed that I'm disappointed about is the 5th rep at 210 for p cleans. I did a pretty high volume (for me) of heavy lower body intensive stuff yesterday so I think if I felt a little more fresh that way I would have completed it.

 

[Balthazar]

how the outdoor lifting treating you this week? we had a couple dustings of snow.

i've got an update on that for you. it was somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees out this morning when i started, with the wind chill the weather report said it "felt" more like 5. It was a bit daunting at first but I kept stepping inside between sets and managed to get my temperature up high enough that I had a solid sweat, by that point the cold wasn't a big deal.

 

[Dustin07]

you're a beast.

 

[RegisterJr]

you're a beast.

+ 1

 

[Balthazar]

12/30/15

Hang Power Snatch
145x3
165x2
185x--
185x1 PR

Hang Snatch
155x3
175x2
195x1 PR

Snatch
105x5
125x5
145x3
165x2
185x1
205x1
215x-- Pretty disappointed here
215x-- and here
175x2
155x3
135x5

Over Head Squat Tempo 3 sec. down, fast up
135x5
155x5
175x5

Klokov Press
85x5
105x5
125x5

Snatch Grip BO Row
95x8
115x8
135x8

Some improvement today, but immensely disappointed that I couldn't beat my 1rm at snatch. Although it was not the best form 205 went up reasonably well and I've been hitting some really good attempts that would suggest that I would improve. I think i just psyched myself out or something. I think the remedy is more squats and more stuff to stimulate a stronger third pull.

 

[Balthazar]

12/31/15

Front Squat
180x5
200x5
220x5
180x5
200x5
220x5

Hang Power Clean
155x3
175x2
195x1 PR

Hang Clean
185x3
205x2
225x1 PR

Clean Grip DL + Touch&Go Clean + Split Jerk x2 L,R
125x2
145x2
165x1
185x1
205x(Cx1+SJx1,--) Little disappointed here

OHP
80x8
100x8
120x8

Hang Clean High Pull Pause
115x5
135x5
155x3

Back Squat x2 + BTN Push Press -Getting a little creative here just for fun
135x3
155x3
175x2

Pretty good day today. My SI joint flared up a little bit again which was a little hindering for some of the heavy efforts but it hasn't bothered me for about the last week so hopefully I will be able to straighten it out without too much trouble. Split Jerks need more work. Reasonably happy with how things went.

 

[Balthazar]

So ultimately my goal is to continue to "try to get serious about o lifting" but I'm going to try something radically different for awhile and see how it goes. I'm going to go down in lifts and percentages overall. My main focus is going to be a DUP style setup for front squat, OHP and snatch grip SLDL. I'm still going to do my o lifts but cut out all the variations save one day of the week and i'm going to reduce the weight and overall volume for both lifts and just try to get stricter form.

My overall goals for this change are as follows:
1. Increase my overall lift strength at these assistance lifts which will eventually directly transmit into more explosive power for the o lifts.

2. Stimulate hypertrophy faster than with a more o lift specific routine so that added muscularity will create a higher overall lift strength potential to continue building on once I return back to a more o lift specific program.

3. As a secondary focus, gradually build back up to presently comparable lift weights for snatch and clean+jerk with stricter form and execution so that once they become my main focus again I will have a very high potential for increasing lift weight.

 

[Balthazar]

1/3/16

Front Squat-Hypertrophy
(155x8)x5

OHP-Strength
((95x5)(105x5)(115x5))x2

Snatch Grip SLDL-Power
(175x5)x5

Snatch
95x5
115x5
135x5

Clean and Jerk- I might go up a little in weight and only do triples and doubles for this, even at lighter weights 5 seemed pretty tiring after the added front squat volume. Also I'm not really trying to directly stimulate more hypertrophy with these and I would admit my legs were getting a little lit up on the last set.
125x5
145x5
165x5

BO Row
(135x8)x3

Close Grip OHP
(85x8)x3

Seemed like a pretty good day. Its definitely going to take some adjustment to get used to sets of 8 for big movements. Although I've recently been trying to keep my rest time down and feel like I pack in a lot of volume, I think doing more volume with lifts that require less rest and going lighter at the o lifts is going to have some added aerobic/conditioning benefit. I'm able to complete each set faster by setting the weight down strict enough that there's little setup/pause to start the following rep. I know I was more out of breath after c+j and was sweating through out more than I have in awhile.

 

[RegisterJr]

I like your new plan. I'm soon going to try and re-condition as well. Happy New Year bro.

 

[Balthazar]

I like your new plan. I'm soon going to try and re-condition as well. Happy New Year bro.

thanks, i think with the weights your putting up for your power lifting oriented stuff anything "moderate" for you will require a serious output of energy if done in a way for the added benefit of conditioning, and you'll find yourself in better shape pretty quick.

also 330 in the morning man, holy crap, i thought getting up at 5 to do my routine was rough!

 

[RegisterJr]

thanks, i think with the weights your putting up for your power lifting oriented stuff anything "moderate" for you will require a serious output of energy if done in a way for the added benefit of conditioning, and you'll find yourself in better shape pretty quick.

also 330 in the morning man, holy crap, i thought getting up at 5 to do my routine was rough!

330 on accessory only days, 0300 on DL, squat, and bench to allow for more mobility time. I'm tired...

 

[Dustin07]

you get full props and respect for dedication to whats important to you. nice job man. you definitely set the bar and set an example.

 

[Balthazar]

1/5/16

front squat-strength
145x5
165x5
185x5
145x5
165x5
185x5-Pretty easy weight but as mentioned before, I dropped down on all my lifts to give myself room to grow with this new program and adjust to the added volume and frequency on all my main lifts.

OHP-Power, decided to make power sets 5x3 rather than 5x5
(85x3)x5

SG SLDL-Hypertrophy-holy hamstring stretch
(175x8)x5

Snatch
115x5
135x3
155x3

Clean+Jerk
145x3
165x2
185x2

Push Press
115x5
135x5
155x5

Upright Row
(95x8)x3

It was a wonderfully comfortable 10 degrees outside with a strong wind today, talk about motivating factor. I squeezed this into an hour, warm up and all so I thought that was pretty good. So far this feels pretty different but I'm enjoying it and I can see a pretty big potential for improvement. I'm going to at least stick with it for about 3 months and if it feels like I'm still progressing at a good rate I'll continue. My thoughts on focusing on my overall strength lifts are as follows:

Somewhere out there is a 140 lb chinese womens weightlifter that can squat more than me lol.
https://youtu.be/lMxNHUhQ2fw

I'm 6 ft 2 and at that height my body type really only fits into the unlimited weight class so I need to pack on as much size and strength in general. I'm not planning on competing any time soon so I might as well build a lot of mass so I can create a much higher potential for overall strength and explosive power. I'm still doing the o lifts every day anyway so they'll improve all the while.

 

[Epolis13]

Hey there - was just creepin' on the logs and saw that this one was all about the olys. I'm an avid oly lifter, so I'd love to follow along

 

[RegisterJr]

Dude, no PRs, I think your account was hacked.

Let's see a pic of your outdoor gym.

 

[Balthazar]

Hey there - was just creepin' on the logs and saw that this one was all about the olys. I'm an avid oly lifter, so I'd love to follow along

welcome aboard! as you can see my focus has kind of shifted a little bit and put the o lift specific program on the back burner but what i'm doing now is still generally purposed towards improving at them, just in a less direct way for now.

 

[Balthazar]

Dude, no PRs, I think your account was hacked.

Let's see a pic of your outdoor gym.

lol i can't keep improving at that consistency for too long without changing something up. i think i'm going to go up in small increments but often at the 3 dup lifts until i get back up to where i left off and then i expect to continue improving but spend longer intervals of time before i decide to increase weight. For the hypertrophy and power schemes i will increase weight if i meet the total volume goal and if my strength volume lift goes up. for strength i'm going to do 5x5 and 5x5,3,3,3,3 and test out on the last set of 3 and go up in weight if i can get additional reps. so it might be awhile before any new PRs

also i'm happy to announce that i just made an addition of a new pair of 45lb plates to my winter wonderland gym, so i've actually got a fair amount of weight to mess with now.

 

[Epolis13]

welcome aboard! as you can see my focus has kind of shifted a little bit and put the o lift specific program on the back burner but what i'm doing now is still generally purposed towards improving at them, just in a less direct way for now.

I was just looking at that. I still think you'll see the o-lifts improve with the workouts you're doing. You're working them in a new capacity, which is like a new stimulus for your body. I do a lot of conditioning work with the olys - lots of barbell cycling. When I have 1RM testing days after a barbell cycle, they always seem to go up or at the very least stay the same. I think the accessory work you're doing will also combine nicely for you.

 

[Balthazar]

oh yeah! that's the plan, i feel like my front squat is so weak right now that it's my main hindrance so once i get that up it should be gold. also there are two kind of lifters for clean and jerk: the ones who can clean a lot more than they can jerk and the ones who can jerk more than they can clean. I'm the former, so i think doing a lot of OHP will strengthen my upper body in such a way that the heavier jerk weights will feel less taxing and i can close the gap a little. honestly if i'm going for reps at jerk the most tiring thing is not the lift but holding on to that weight with so much of my upper body the whole time.

 

[Balthazar]

1/7/16

Front Squat-Power
(155x3)x5-These felt good, I came up with such speed that I made one rep pop up about 3 inches out of my rack lol

OHP-Hypertrophy
(85x8)X5

SG SLDL-Strength
((165x5)(185x5)(205x5))x2

Snatch + Hang Snatch x3
95x2
115x2
135x2

Clean Grip DL + Touch&Go Clean + Split Jerk x2 L,R
125x2
145x2
165x2

Close Grip OHP
(85x8)x3

BO Row
(135x8)x3

Solid day, everything felt good. Since I've gone down in weight at these lifts the only thing difficult in the clean complex I did today was completing the split jerks because I suck at them lol.

 

[Epolis13]

How much benching do you do? Benching helps literally everything overhead, esp jerks, I've found. My jerk went from 205# to 235# after adding in more bench days over the course of a year. I would consider adding it in if you haven't yet.

 

[Balthazar]

How much benching do you do? Benching helps literally everything overhead, esp jerks, I've found. My jerk went from 205# to 235# after adding in more bench days over the course of a year. I would consider adding it in if you haven't yet.

unfortunately i don't have a bench to do it on lol...your lift is very impressive though!

 

[Dustin07]

for what its worth I think snatch helped grow my OHP as well.
also if you're shy a bench, maybe floor press as a substitute for bench press.