tuesday pain

7.45 -3.15

Short day today due to several heated arguments which drained me today. Left early for once.

3.30 - 4.30
Snatch 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 52x3; 55x3; 57x2; 57x; 57; 50; 52.

Encountered some left hip pain for the first time today while trying to lower the hips in the pull. I have felt slight pain and pressure over the past few month while climbing stairs. I hope this isnt the start of a more serious hip problem. The ironic thing is that I think I improved my snatch technique today


Snatch Balances. Plenty of exercises here without further hip pain
Power clean. 40x3; 40x3; 45x3; 45x3; 50x3; 50x3; 55x3; 55x3; 60x3; 60x3; 65x3; 65x3; 67x3; 67x3; 70; 72; 75; 77

4 mile walk

mon

87kg. horrendus weight issue. been eating junk now foe week. trying to stop today

4 mile walk in the freezing weather, 6 layers on. Seriously reducing food intake today. Must make the weight in 3 weeks. No other training today

Sunday

Feeling a bit better today. Did some bodybuilding in the leisure centre to try and make up for yesterday's awful lifting

sat

lacking in energy and motivation today but still managed to do some light lifting

clean and jerk only up to 75. Terrible technique on 80 clean and very lucky not to sustain a back injury

Did some presses and front squats but nothing worth recording.

friday evening

Got my training completed early today
Snatch Wave 1
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65x; 65x

60 and 62 were comfortable but a bit disappointed not to get 65. No negativity allowed. I then proceeded into :-
Snatch wave 2
40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65; 67; 70x Very pleased with this but had 70 overhead.

Realised that I had the strength for 70 so took some smelling salts, chalked up, russian music and the 70. Got it. Great feeling after only 10 weeks

Snatch Balance.
I complete 7/8 sets up to 62kg until I had no strength left

thursday

a small amount of aerobic work. Finding it hard to lose excess weight but very pleased with weightlifting progress. 10 weeks done and thoroughly enjoying it

wednesday

Completed mid week session with more rack jerks and some back squats. Some bodybuilding after in rlc

Tuesday night

84.6kg.
This is the tenth week since I returned to weightlifting. Fantastic

Very pleased with tonight's volume. really enjoyed session. Snatch technique seemed out of sync but didnt drop any.

Snatch
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 60; 60; 60; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 60; 60; 60; 60
Snatch Balance
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3
Power clean
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 62; 65; 67; 70; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 62x3; 65; 67; 70
Rack Jerk
40x3; 40x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65; 70; 75; 80; 60x2

Snatch balance was good today. I can't get much higher in the power cleans because technique breaks down. I found an old tip that ronnie gave me 2 years ago and this might have helped a bit.
Tomorrow I finish with a few light jerks, a good squat session and some presses.
Friday is next snatch night. Hopefully Sean comes up.

monday

85.6kg.

not as sore today after a good weekend.

Tomorrow night, back to snatch and snatch balance.

less than 4 weeks to 1st competition in 2 years. Really looking forward to this.

sat

some bodybuilding

friday night [sean's]

Snatch
40; 45; 50 55 60x 60 40 45 50 55x3 60x2 55x13; 57x3
Rack JERK 40X3; 50X3; 60X3 40 50 60 70 75 80 85 92X
Back Squat 40x10; 50x10; 60x10; 70x5; 80; 40x20; 50x15; 60x5

Good session. Snatch technique felt better than before.

pain in the neck

84.8

neck pain again but a bit better. should be ok for snatchathon in seans

went to derry, big meal therefore heavy tomorrow

wednesday

didnt weigh in today

Woke up with alot of neck pain. feels like a trapped nerve. long stressful day at work, home very late. No energy to do anything. 2 hour sleep, half an hour chat with Sean before kicking my toes against the stairs, using alot of foul language following by nil sympathy from my wife.

tue- tricks of the mind

85.3kg

Long day at work. 7.45am to 5pm.
5.30-6.30 4 mile walk

Not feeling it today. Went out to the gym several times and couldnt raise any enthusiasm. I tried to think of a way to get started.

Finally managed to squeeze in some rack jerk b4 dinner
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65x3; 70x3; 60x3; 60x3; 62; 65; 67; 70; 72; 75; 60x3; 60x3; 62; 65.
After dinner
Power Clean 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65x3; 65
Back Squat 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65x3; 70x3; 60x5; 60x5; 40x10; 42x10; 45x16; 47x10
M.Press 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60; 60; 60; 60; 60; 60; 40x10; 42x5; 45x5; 47x5.

This ended up being a really rewarding session.

Monday 16th

Feeling fine today so I decided to have the snatch night a day early.
Snatch
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 50; 52; 55; 57x; 57; 60; 62x; 62; 55x; 55; 57; 60; 60; 60.


A few unexpected failures at low weights but not just as sharp tonight. All of the 60's apart from 1 62 in video below. Not too impressed with technique tonight. too much jump and hips still too high.

Snatch Balance 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 52.

No knee pain tonight which is a relief. Decided not to push it any further. Tomorrow is power clean, rack jerk, squats and press.

From tomorrow, I am going to post my weight in kg. This might give me the incentive to cut down a bit.

Sunday

decided out of boredom to go to the gym but after 2 minutes realised that i was too sore so i decided to do 40 minutes of aerobic work

Sunday

sat afternoon

An hour of solid bodybuilding to compliment yesterday's lifting. Now for a few days off b4 Tuesday's snatch session.

Diet didnt go too well today but have decided to make a fresh start on Monday morning. I need to discipline myself a bit better.

max night in NWBC

Sean came up for a weights session and as usual it was thoroughly enjoyable.

I was a bit worried b4 the start because I had quite a painful neck strain which made the pull uncomfortable.
Snatch 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 50x3; 55x2; 57; 60; 62; 65x; 65; 67x; 67; 70x. Very pleased with 67. 70 was too heavy for me.

Clean and jerk 40x2; 50x2; 60x2; 65; 70; 75x; 75; 80; 90; 92x.
Total 67.5+90=157.5. This is the qualifying mark for the british masters but i wont be able to compete until 2013. Very pleased with progress after 8 weeks. I should be able to beat the irish masters records.

A little bit concerned with a bit of knee pain when doing a few light squats. The clean and jerk takes quite a bit out of the legs.

Sean 60+80 but was definately below par probably because of recent great lifting and high volume but still a sterling effort.

Overall, highly enjoyable. Cant wait until the next one

wednesday

1 hour of light bodybuilding. Rest now until Friday evening.

Weight has moved up to 85kg due to poor diet over the las t 2 weeks. I need to make sure I make 85kg for the next competition

tuesday no-lift

I decided to cancel today's lifting due to fatigue. No catching up to do or guilt complex. I have to listen to my body. Been very very tired recently and doing alot of sleeping.

Tomorrow I will do some light bodybuilding and rest for Friday's lifting.

Therese asked me what I want to do for my birthday on Friday. I told her that I want to lift weights.

monday

4 mile walk. Rest day. Tomorrow is snatch night

Later on I was trying to think of something to do. Snatch sounded good. Starting to love this lift and because I felt fairly fresh, I decided to do this a day early

Snatch 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65x; 65x; 65x; 65x;50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65x; 60.

Snatch Balance 42x3; 47x3; 52x3; 57; 62; 65x; 65; 40x3;42x3; 45x3; 47x3; 50x3.

Very satisfying night even though strength was a bit under par but got as much out of this as I could. Trying hard to keep butt low but plenty of work to do.

Sean might be coming down on Friday. A snatch session will be very interesting

Sunday

Slept most of the day. the recent late night finally caught up with me.

Decided at 4pm not to lift today because i am very fatigued and not feeling it. Concert at 7.30 in derry.

Decided at 4.30 to do alittle clean and jerk after all because i dont want to have to complete saturdays lifting on monday and upset my plans.

Feeling full of food and not motivated, i decided to do a bit.
40x2; 40x2; 60x2; 65; 70; 75; 80. Decided that was that. pleased with 80 although very hard.

I put 87.5 on the bar to look at it and went into the house. Then Sean's recent lifting came into my head and i thought 'i owe him one for his brilliant recent snatches"

I got the 87.5 although with a tough clean and ugly press out.

Finished the session with a few presses up to 65 and a few front squats.

restathon/foodathon

Decided to rest my body today and have a well earned rest. feeling a little fatigued after yesterday's snatching. Will go for a decent clean and jerk tomorrow.

Went to donegal with dad and brian and had a bit of a cliff top walk. Nearly froze to death. Had a meal and dessert and then continued to eat for the rest of the day.

I have now got the date for the irish masters - 18th feb. 6 weeks away so tomorrow, i totally dedicate myself to clean diet and getting in shape for dublin. Strangely enough, the dublin open is a week after but unlikely for me to compete 2 weeks in a row but who knows.

Sean's inspired

Weekend session 1

Didn't feel like lifting today. Sore after yesterday but focus a bit on what Sean achieved the other day and decided to give it a lash.

Snatch 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 62; 65; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60x3.




Very pleased to get up to 65 while keeping my snatch form. The 60x3 was inspired by Sean's lifting. Delighted to do this at this stage. Satisfying to nail 3 in a row without jumping forward. I seem to be keeping the arms straight much later in the pull. Total thanks and regard given to Sean for this

Snatch Balance 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 52; 55.

thursday

A really good session at the local leisure centre. Plenty of good assistance/supplementary exercises. Flexibility improving.

This now week 7 for me and still lifting. I can't believe how much I am enjoying this. Technique improving slowly.

Very interested in joining 'go-lift' but living in Strabane makes the journey's for now difficult. I could do with the coaching and the buzz of squad sessions. Maybe I will eventually be able to link with someone and share the travel.

Tomorrow night is snatch and snatch balance with clean and jerk and the rest on sat. Will meet up with sean later in the month for another 'max' session. Sean's lifts are about 'to go through the roof' Next snatch competition will be interesting.

The irish masters records are modest at 65+85. At the moment i can see my starting lifts being 66+86. 70+90 would be fantastic for mid feb.

Wednesday 'B' session part.

Felt inspired today with Sean's lifting yesterday. It is great that we can feed each other at the moment. Long may it continue.

Rack Jerk 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65x3; 70; 72; 77; 87* The 87 was an ugly press out. More about this later. Anyway,an ugly 87 at home is a good lift in competition. A 90 clean and jerk is a possibility in feb. Would be very pleased with that at this stage.


Back Squat 40x3; 47x3; 52x3; 57x3; 62x3; 67x3; 72x3; 77; 82
Press 45x3; 47x3; 52x3; 57x3; 62.

82 in the back squat gave me a slight twinge in the back. Definately backs up my plan to squat light for a few months. My squat clean is coping with the jerk anyway.

Dinner

During dinner, I thought a bit about my rack jerk and how poor it feels so a thought came into head and I decided to try it out

Rack Jerk
40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65; 70; 75; 80. The technique felt considerably better, film to follow.


Back Squat 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3; 60x3; 65x3
Press 40x3; 45x10; 50x7; 55; 50x5; 50x5
Deadlift 92x3; 102x3; 112x3; 122x3.

All in all, a good session. Next up is Friday night snatch night.

tue

Snatch 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 40x3; 42; 45; 47; 50; 52; 55; 57; 60; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55x3

Tried very hard today to improve technique by rotating my elbows. I think I can definately see some improvement in the start of the pull.




Snatch Balance 42x3; 47x3; 52x3; 40x3; 45x3; 47; 50; 52. Found these very tough today so decided not to push it.

Power Clean 40x3; 40x3; 45x3; 50x3; 55. Again, I went light today to see if I could improve my technique

Monday

One hour of light bodybuilding today. Some sit-ups and stretches as well

Tomorrow evening is snatch and snatch balance.

Next big max session is possibly going to be in Cookstown when Sean comes up again.

After 6 weeks, progress is going well, although I have the usual technical problems.

My aim of 66+86 to break the irish masters records have now been revised a bit. My aim for mid feb competiton is around 70+90 for a 160 total.