New Phase - Day 1

Today was day #1 of the new phase "Road to Nationals." I am not sure if I was still sore from my Saturday session but my body is still sore and will be for the next 8 weeks. Today started with some snatch dubs at 80% with some Box jump fun to top it all off. I would have to say I forgot how fun/hard box jumps are. It has been a while since I have done a non loaded explosive exercise such as a box jump. Moving my body Vs. Moving an external load was a much different shock to my body. I would have to say that I am going to be sore tomorrow and I am very excited about that.

Training Today:

Snatch 6x2 @ 80% 102k

Box Jump 6x3 @ 42"

Hanging Leg raises 3x10

Snatch felt great today, had a great pull and focused on getting my shoulders back behind the bar for the pull. I was able to go 12 for 12 with the lifts today and everyday that I can go without a miss is a win in my book. Box jumps felt great I do believe that next time I will be able to jump to a higher box.

Another day of training down and one step closer to the goal!

Stress Reliever

Sometimes there nothing that can  help relieve than a great training session. Today was one of those days. This week was long, stressful, and tiring but I knew that today was going to be a deciding factor into how my next 8 weeks was going to stack up. The training session consisted of solitude with a little bar slamming mixed in. There really is nothing that compares to the feeling of snatching and Slamming the bar to the ground to help decrease stress levels.
Today was a lighter training session.

Training:
Snatch 5x1 @80%
Clean and Jerk 5x1 @80%
Back Squat - Heavy Triple

Snatch
5x1 100k

Clean Jerk
5x1 125k

Back squat  x3
120x3 Warm Up
160x3
170x3
180x3

Overall the training day felt awesome and was well needed. Having missed two days of training this week I was in need of a good session. Weights felt light, Bottom position felt great, Jerk felt spot on today, and back squat felt somewhat easy.

Solitude is key sometimes

Good Eye! Seeing the little things

Today I was able to get a training session in. I was unable to train the past two days due to my schedule. Today the focus was on getting some good reps in at 80%. I am lucky to have a coach who can see small things that I am doing wrong in my lifts. Today while snatching he noticed that I was not getting my shoulders behind the bar during my second pull. I was getting over the bar great but my shoulder stayed on top of the bar rather than behind it. This minor few degrees was causing my to loop the bar slightly. The small loop could have been the reason why I missed my 125k snatch in the meet. I give the credit to Ben Carter for seeing this minor compensation I was doing.

Snatch
3x1 85% 90k
Worked on Pulling bar in tight to the body and shoulders behind the bar. Once I was able to feel what my Coach was telling me I had some great reps. I was finally able to Pull with my heels on the ground getting a better vertical movement of the bar and faster movement under the bar as well.

Clean and Jerk
3x1 80% 125k

Cleans felt great and very easy! The new jerk grip is coming along just fine. I am starting to get much more comfortable with the wider grip and more stable as well. I know that big this are coming for me. as long as I can stay patient, determined, and disciplined.

Unload/ Snatch Today

This week is going to be a transition week for myself and the other lifter at Bluegrass Barbell. Coming off the "High" of competition you are always eager to get into the gym and hit that next PR! Well that is where a good coach comes in. Coach Ben Carter does a good job at reeling us all back in and allowing adaptation to occur. With the constant "Push Push Push" of Weightlifting there needs to be a time for that stimulus to turn into success. Unloading weeks will allow the body to "Super-compensate" to the stress that is placed upon it. This is where the General Adaptation Syndrome  (GAS) coming to place. With any high level of training the body will adapt to the stress placed upon it. There will be a point where the body starts to be negatively impacted by this stress. When this happens there needs to be a point in training where the body must rest and allow adaptation to occur.

Last week and this week are both two types of deload weeks. Last week was a short taper week to allow my body to feel weight but focus on moving weight with higher velocity. This week is a back off week with Load, the volume is moderately high but with a focus on the quality of each movement.

Training today:
Snatch 6x3 @70% 
6x3 @ 92k
Today was a fantastic day of training. Managed to get by without missing a rep today, which is very exciting for me! I have been struggling with the placement of the snatch, the movement off the floor and how my body is interacting with the bar. I was able to manage my bar path, sweeping the bar in tight to the body and finishing my pulls with each rep.

Snatch Pulls 6x3 @85%
6x3 @ 110k
Pulls felt great today, weight in the heel and mid foot coming off the floor, Lats tight, and a clean brush at the hip for the 2nd pull.

Each day is a day that can be chalked up as a learning experience in the race of life. I look at each day as a chance to get better and impact myself and the other lifters around me.

Bluegrass Barbell Open

   Today was a great day of weight moving, bar slamming, PR setting Weightlifting. I had a great time competing today with some fellow lifters. We had a packed house with a great crowd to support the lifters . I had the pleasure to battle back and forth with some great liters. Wil Fleming, Jacob Flint, and myself battled in the snatch and clean and jerk. Had a great time lifting with those guys. It ended up that Jake got the best lifter award going 5:6 with some massive PR's and a Qualification to nationals.

My goals going into the meet today:
Snatch 120/125
Clean and Jerk 160/165

Outcome
Went 2:3 Snatch 117/ 122/ 125 Miss
Clean 1:3 155/ Missed 161 Jerk Behind/ Missed 161 Jerk in front.
Total 277

 I am not mad about not qualifying for nations today. I got a Meet PR in the Snatch with 122k, opened the Clean and jerk with a 3k increase from last meet. Switched my jerk grip 3 training session ago and only jerked twice with heavy load, so all in all I am very happy with how today went. Going to get back to lifting some heavy weight and getting those PR's I have been searching for. Only time can make me  the lifter I know I can be... and time is all I have.

Videos Below from today.

122 Snatch

155 Clean and Jerk

161 Clean and Jerk- Miss Behind

161 Clean and Jerk -Miss Front

Clean Pull + Clean

Today was a grind to get through, a great lifting session but still a grind. After two days off (unplanned)  I was really hoping for a great session. I had a necessary session that was full of weights moving and bars slamming.

Training
Clean Pull + Pull 6x1+1

50 3x1+1
70 2x1+1
90 x1+1
100  x1+1
110  x1+1
120  x1+1
130  x1+1
140  x1+1
150 x1+1

Goal was to get to 150 and was hoping to get a few sets in at that weight. I was not feeling the best coming off the ground and was very low on energy so decided to cal it there.

Power Clean 3x2
125 3x2

Shoulder work to help with over head stability in jerk. I have been having some issues with my Teres Minor.  Bluegrass Club lift tomorrow night!

Week 2 Day 1: Snatch Work

Coming off a great week of training last week I was hoping for a great day of Snatches. I have been struggling to connect my snatch. Pulling too early, Cutting the pull off, Looping the bar, Over pulling, and Being soft in the hole. You name it i have done it. I am focusing on staying back on my heels, allowing the bar to flow up my hip and creating momentum that will allow the bar to fly past my head.
Training is a day to day process, some days are great, some days are awful. As long as I can keep my head up, My shoes on, Knees sleeves full a sweat, and hand chalked I will be on my way to my goals.
Training Today:

Snatch Pull + Snatch 6x1+1
Bar work
50 2x1+1
70 2x1+1
80 x1+1
90  x1+1
100  x1+1 Miss Behind
100  x1+1 Miss In front 
Could not find my rhythm at 100k today
105  x1+1
110  x1+1
110  x1+1
115  x1+1

Hang Snatch - Below Knee
3x2
95 k 3x2
All Solid

Everyday is a challenge when things are not going great!

Bluegrass Barbell Big week

170kg Clean PR/ Birthday Lift: Great Week of Training

Today makes the day that I finally met a goal! I can now officially mark of my list: Clean 170kg. Today is also the day that I turn 27. It has been a great birthday. Wife made me a fantastic breakfast, Trained for 2.5 Hours, Hit a PR, and  now going to be around friends and family to celebrate.

Training today consisted of Clean and Jerk (Jerk was taken out due to shoulders being a little upset).
Clean and Jerk:
Bar x10
50k x1
70 x1
90 x1
100x1
110 x1
120 x1 (Shoulders started to act up)
120 x1 Moved Faster under the jerk
130 x1 Hit the jerk decided

Clean Max
140 x1
150 x1
160 x1
167 x1 (PR 2k)
170 x1 (PR 5K)

Back Squat 3x3
165 x3
170 2x3

It was a long training session but full of PR's. A few of my Teammates hit a few PR's or at the least had a great lift as well. Dan Worked on moving under the bar faster, and saw some marked improvements in that. Coach Ben is tapering for the Arnold Classic next weekend. Chad blew up 250kg Box Squat today! (Wish I could Squat like Chad). All in all it was a great week of training and a fantastic training session today to top it all off.

Bluegrass Team Lift

Bluegrass barbell team lift #1! great training session tonight. It is always a great lifting session when success is in the air. Like I said . Great things will be happening this year. Day 3 of the new program was a great lift. Cleans from the hang and power cleans from the floor.I finally got my new knee sleeves in! very excited that m Tommy Kono Knee Sleeves came in and got to test the waters today with them. If you are a serious lifters i now know why every lifter should have some. It was heaven surrounding my knees during the lift.

Cleans - hang below knee 6x1
Bar work to begin.
50 4x1
70 3x1
80 x1
90x1
100 x1
110 x1
120x1 
130x1
135 x1
140 x1
145 x1 
150 x1

Power Clean - Floor 3x2
124 3x2

Below are some videos from the training session. 140/145/150 clean.

Power Jerk!

Today training consisted of all power jerks! Light day only 1 movement trained but the goal was quality. Got the chance to make it to bluegrass barbell today to jerk off the boxes today. Life is so much better when you can drop weight to giant wooden boxes. Day two of the program was Power Jerks for max 2. I had a good feeling going into the training session and I was right. I was extremely sore coming into today's session. Yesterday was a rough session and it came haunt me all day. Breakdown:

Power Jerks
Bar work
50 x2
50x5 press to warm the shoulders up a bit more!
70x2
80x2
90x2
100x2
110x2
120x2
130x2
135 x2
140x2
145x1 press out so I stopped.

Was very happy with how the training session went today. Tom was doing some split jerks with me and we was blowing them up. All around great short session for me and bluegrass.

The beginning- New Program form Coach Carter!

Today marks the beginning of a new phase. Got my program from Coach Ben Carter! Today was a huge training session and I am feeling it! Warm up consisted of some 4" PVC pipe Rolling/ Hip Mobility/ T-Spine Mobility/ Ankle mobility. Grabbed a bar and became one with my bar!


2 Snatch Pull + Snatch
Warm up
50/ 70/80 x 2+1
6x2+1
90 2+1 Solid
95 2+1
100 2+1 Miss in front Rushed the Pull
100 2+1 perfect Stayed on the Heels
105 2+1
110 2+1 Shaky in the hole.

3x3 Hang Snatch Below Knee
89k 3x3
First 2 were perfect each set hand a hard time stabilizing the 3rd snatch each set.
May have to do with a lack of conditioning.

Front Squat 
3x3 150k
This squat session today felt very heavy! Hit all three sets but my legs felt as if i ran a marathon.

Jerk Front Dip Drives
3x3 165
I though that squat felt heavy but 165 felt like 195 today. Struggled through the jerk drives. Tried to stay back on my heels and tight down and back up.

Tomorrow will be a lighter day and looking forward to it.

Confidence booster

Every once in a while a lifter needs their confidence boosted! Today was one of those days! I had envisioned a 120 snatch today. Testing the waters to see where I was when it comes to max outs. I started warming up and felt great I have noticed that I am not exactly where I want to be. Pulling from the floor I am having a tendency of rushing into the pull.
Snatch
50 5x1
70 3x1
80x1
90x1
100x1
110x1
112x1
115 4x1

Now is when the confidence booster came I to play! I grabbed the some pulling blocks to but the bar where I knew I could succeed. With the bar now elevated right at me knees I grabbed my straps gripped the bar and applied some force.
Snatch - block at knee
70x1
90x1
100x1
110x1
115x1
120 (3x1) missed 1 on front 1 behind 1 perfect.
130 3x1 all attempts for fun and wanted to see where I was. I came very close on a couple of attempts just couldn't commit to getting my head through. Soon 130 will be mine again and I will keep pressing on!

Thanks to justin for my post training session massage! Back is feeling great now!

Snatch Pulls!

This has been a very intense week for training. A lot of attempts at 90-95% on both lifts. My shoulders are in shambles as of today. What makes this sport amazing in my eyes is there is always a way to get training in. I have been struggling with maintaining my shoulders healthy for many years. It has been a problem when I have high volumes of overhead stability. The issue with that is; I need to perfect my jerk that is the limiting factor in my competitions but cant work in it as much with pain. I can only train through so much pain before it really gets to me. With that being said I was able to get Pulls in. I am able to get almost the same benefits out of pulls as I do the true lifts.

Snatch Pulls:
2x4 50/70
2x3 80/90
3x2 100/110/110
5x1 120
5x1 125
5x1 130

My goal was to stay in the upper range of my snatch. I wanted to get the majority of my pulls in at 90-100% of my old Snatch 1RM. I was feeling great moving the bar. I was really focusing on trying to keep my chest over the bar, keeping my feet flat as the bar transitioned to my hips. From that position extending the hips and getting as tall as possible. I had a few reps at 120 that felt as if i had a superman pull (Jon North Term). Really trying to load the hips as the bar transitions into the 2nd pull to forcefully move it vertically. I have been missing a lot of my lifts in front which is telling me that I need to finish my pulls and not be in such a rush to get under the bar. Making strides everyday in training. Long road ahead of me, I plan o being in this iron game for many years to come and I can only get better from here.

Shout out to a fellow team member Chase McDaniel who hit a Clean and Jerk PR! Link Below
 Chase Clean and Jerk PR 110k

Double session training- pm session Bluegrass Barbell!

Training today was a very rough and tiring day! Double session today snatch in the morning session clean and jerk in the evening.
Snatch
The goal for snatch today was 2 waves that went 85/90/95 x1.
Opening up I had great warm up reps. Working my way up to 85% I knew I was going to have a great day! Then bam hit a wall like a crash test dummy.
105 hit
110 hit
117 miss
110 hit
115 miss
110 miss
112 hit
115 hit
117 miss 5 in a row! I did not want to give up on this weight. I know if I stopped I would have a hard time mentally getting over the weight! Got angry and ripped the bar off the floor, finished the pull, drove my body into the bottom and finally hit it!
117 hit!

Clean and jerk PM session
For my evening session I was able to go train with my Coach at Bluegrass Barbell. I was looking forward to this session all day. My goal was to work up to my opener 152. After warming up I knew my bicep tendon was not going to let me perform to the best of my ability. I also found out that I need to work more on my jerk. My coach pointed out that I am having a hard time staying in the correct line when driving though the jerk. Lifts started out well.
90 clean jerk
100 clean jerk
110 clean
120 clean jerk
130 ran jerk
135 clean jerk
140 clean jerk
145 clean missed jerk
130 clean jerk
135 clean jerk
140 clean jerk
Power cleans floor
100 3x1
110 3x1
120 2x1
130 2x1
I wanted to get the most out of this double session so that is why I added in the power cleans at the end. I was physically feeling great in my lower body but I couldn't handle any more over head stability. Tomorrow is going to be a great off day and full of recovery and hopefully a massage!

The Start to a Rough Week! Heave press/ Back Squats

This weeks training is a Higher volume/ Higher Intensity training week. My goal is to get around 20 reps of Snatch and Clean and Jerk over 90%. It is also going to be a big week of squatting. Toady's lift was a grinder it took about 2hrs to finally get though. Had some waves today, Waved Heave press and Back Squat.
Heave Press: Did not go how I wanted it to go. I have been having some issues with my bottom position in the squat when i get over 80%. I decide it was time to switch it up and work on my weaknesses for a little. Here is how that turned out.
Worked up too 80% of snatch Max
105 x1
110 x1
117 x1Miss
122 x1Miss
110 x1Miss
117 x1Make
122 x1 Make

After watching some footage I had a hard time keeping the weight in my heels. Missed in front on way too may reps. I had planned on this exercise helping me and it turned out to be more frustrating than anything.

Back Squat
160 x3
170 x3
175 x3
165 x3
172 x2
180 x3 (2 Make Missed Last rep)

Back squat was a long session in itself. I had 6 sets and it felt like I was Squatting for days. I had a very had time keeping my mind in the squatting workout. I decided to put my big boy pants on and put a goal in my head for the day. This week is going to be full of ups and down but as long as I can keep my mind on the prize (Nationals).

Light Day!

I went and spoke at the NSCA KY state Conference today with fellow Performance Specialist Eric Hammer. We discussed Power Development for athletes and it went awesome.

Today was all about moving some light weight and recovering. This is a recovery week for me in preparation for a very intense week next week. High levels of volume with high levels of load.

Lift:
Snatch/ Clean jerk 3x1 80%

Snatch
50 x1
70 x1
80 x1
90x1
100x1
105 4x1 (Missed one in Front) Youtube
I decided to do 1 extra single in snatch because I missed one in front from not being patient. My last attempt was much better.

Clean and Power Jerk/Jerk
I started out doing Clean + Power Jerk. Worked all the way up to 132 (80%) with that.
 Clean and Power Jerk :
90 x1
100 x1
110 x1
120 x1
132 x1

Clean and Jerk
132 2x1 Youtube

I have come to realize that almost all Lifters are very messy when they are training I took this Picture below. I figured out that it is just easier to have the weights close by but it takes forever to clean up at the end of a training session. Talk about great GPP work.

Before

After

Team Bluegrass Barbell -Pulls/ Jerks (PR)

This has been an up and down week. Only got to train twice this week but I am now an official member of Bluegrass Barbell Lifting Club with Coach Ben Carter. I am very excited for the future for me and my club. We have a lot of new lifters who keep getting better everyday they step on the platform. Coach Carter is doing a great job with his team and I am very excited to be a part of it. Stay tuned for training updates and videos from myself and my fellow teammates. (Videos on Blog)

Training day number two for the week. I was more or less forced into taking a recovery week from an overall frequency standpoint. With that in mind i wanted to get the most of my training day.
Snatch Pulls and Clean Pulls followed by BN Split Jerk.

Snatch Pulls:Floor/ Hang
2x4 80/90
2x3 100/110
2x2 120/130
4x1 130/140/140/130

Clean Pulls: Floor /Hang
1x4 130
5x2 140/140/150/160/170

BN Split Jerk x1
90 x1
100 x1
110 x1
120 x1
130 x1
140x1
150 x1 (Miss)
150 x1
160 x1
170 x1 (Miss)

I was hoping for a good day of training so I could be in a better mood. It turned out to be a great day of training. Hitting a 3k Pr in the BN Split Jerk. I had 170 just could not hold the lock out. In a week or so that 170 will be a thing of the past.

Coach Ben Carter's Youtube Page (Bluegrass BB Lifters)

Farrel Youtube Training 

Bluegrass Barbell Facebook

Bluegrass barbell

Great training session at bluegrass barbell/ Crossfit Louisville! It was a special day my lovely wife trained with is today and learned how to snatch finally and was surprised on how fast she picked up the technique Shout out to all the people who trained today it was a great session, Caleigh, Dan, Ben, mike, and Tom.
Warm up:
Soft tissue mobilization using a rumble roller. Child's pose with posterior capsule stretch, iso squat hold using a rack for stability-:30s
1-leg squats 1x3e
Bar work x3 min

Lift today
Snatch work to 85% 3x1
Today 110k 3x1 a little frustrating I missed all 3 attempts.
It was just a little but annoying because all the attempts felt great just wasn't strong in the hole.
Clean and jerk
Work to 85% 3x1
140k 3x1
First attempt jerk felt rushed so I switched to a pause in my jet. Paused in dip to stay loaded and to keep my torso vertical. Rep 2/3 felt much better. Rep 3 is on my YouTube page if you want to check it out.
The training session took about 90 min so I was not able to fit squat in today. Just finished programming for the next 5 weeks and hoping for great numbers to come out of this training cycle. To make it to nationals I need to get a total of 283 (275 as if now) . If I have an on day that can be very easy to manage! Always an up and down path on the iron game but I am excited to be on for the ride!

Friday training

Today was a great day if training it was lighter volume but great quality.
Warmup:
Mobility work spent about 10 min total. Started off with a great exercise created by Gray Cook called "the Bretzel 1.0" this exercise is amazing in many ways. works on the breathing pattern, quad/hip flex stretch/ abductor stretch and T-spine rotation all in one. Adductor mobility 2x10e, child's pose to cobra x5e w/ posterior capsule stretch.
Ankle mobility - wall knee drive x10e foot flat and toe elevated.
Activation:
1-leg squat to 12"box 2x5e
Glute ham 45 degree isometric sit up 2x:20
Back Extension x20
Bar work

Training:
Cleans pause at knee 2sec
Warm up to 70% of 1RM (115k) x1's
70% 3x1
75% 2x1
80%5x1

All lifts felt great bar path was exactly what I was looking for. Got great trie extension and moved under the bar fast.
Accessory work
1leg squats to finish off 2x5e
Bi/tri complex.
All in all great day not too sore or tired and looking forward to a big training session tomorrow at Ben Carter's gym. Bluegrass barbell/Crossfit louisville snatch/clean and jerk work up to 85% 3x1 for both and hopefully some back squat!