1 August 2009

It was either going for a run or doing snatches. Snatches won.

20 kg snatches:
switch every 10 reps
200 reps total

Whoever says that snatching with multiple switches is meaningless has not tried it. It took me good several minutes to catch my breath at the end of this workout, and my heart rate was close to 200/min. The reason I am doing it this way is to get my GS snatch numbers up. Keep following my blog, and it will be clearer how I am going to do it. First 50 customers will get 60% discount! Just kidding... Keep following though if you are interested.

30 July 2009

2 x 16 kg LC:
6 reps/min, 7 min, 42 reps
6 reps/min, 4 min, 24 reps

Dead.

27 July 2009

20 kg snatch:
switch every 10 reps
160 reps total

Went for a run 15 minutes later but could not do it, as my calf muscles cramped up after 400m.

So instead did

20 kg ETK press ladders:
1-2-3 x 3 sets

25 July 2009

Went away for the weekend and took 16 kg with me. So did all kind of stuff while chatting to my friend, all one arm: snatches, cleans, squats, overhead squats, push presses, jerks, presses etc. Sort of variety workout.

22 July 2009

20 kg ETK ladders:
1-2-3-4-5 x 3 sets

20 kg snatch:
switch every 10 reps
5 sets/arm, 100 reps total

19 July 2009

I haven't recovered from the workshop on Saturday: my butt, traps, legs and arms are sore. No surprise, it was more or less six hour workout stretched over the course of the day. I didn't have much time either: today my wife went to Ginko's seminar, and I have to look after (entertain) my younger daughter and my mom who is visiting us from Moscow. So the workout was short:

2 x 16 kg jerks:
10 minutes/40 reps

Ginko Seminar

Vasily Ginko came to Sydney to conduct Level 1 and Level 2 certifications. I went to Level 1 on the 17th. I need time to write the detailed report about the workshop. For now I will say only one thing: it was incredible.

12 July 2009

Front squat:
50 kg x 4
60 kg x 5 x 5 sets

ETK ladders 24 kg:
1-2-3 x 5 sets

Chin ups:
13 (max)

2 x 16 kg MP - 15 reps
(arm finisher)

8 July 2009

2 x 24 kg jerk:
2 min/10 reps x 4 sets

2 x 16 kg:
Dan John's 2-3-5-10 ladder

Did the ladder mostly for fun, to try it. Dan John suggested 5 sets of them. Must be bloody kidding...

2 x 16 kg MP:
15 reps

4 July 2009

1 km/7 min run

Front squat:
55 kg x 5 x 4 sets

Chin ups:
6 x 5 sets (failed on the last rep)

Later:
ETK press ladders 20 kg:
1-2-3-4 x 5 sets

Intermittent snatching

An overlooked article from Rostov site, Alternating Snatch by Rustem Hairullin, PhD. From Kazan. http://www.fgsrostov.aaanet.ru/10_stati.htm, under No.17.

According to Hairullin GS snatch is a relatively simple and technically the most accessible lift. However despite of its seeming simplicity the snatch carries a few negative moments. During snatch the muscles of arms and the back are subjected to significant forces, which may lead to trauma. One of the most unpleasant moments is tearing of calluses on the palms. This may deter some women from taking up GS.

According to the rules the snatch is performed by one arm and then another. Sometimet during competition due to several reasons the bell flies out of the hand, and if this has happened during snatching with the first arm, the athlete gets zero points for the lift.

To avoid this unpleasant complication Hairulling suggests changing the rules of competition for women and offers the Intermittent Snatching, where the bell changes hands after every rep.

The technique is as follows:

From starting position the bell is snatched to overhead position. When the bell is lowered the palm of the free hand is applied to the dorsal area of the gripping hand, and the bell continues moving down. With the bell between the legs – the precise position may be chosen individually – the bell is transferred from one hand to another. The snatching continues. Positives of such lifting are considerable decrease of the load on the muscles of the arms and the back and the palm of the hand. Thye chance of trauma of working muscles is reduced, as they don’t get worked up to serious failure. Less chance of dropping the bell with the consequent disappointment, therefore better opportunity to realize the athlete’s potential.
Hairullin believes that for women snatching should be performed this way, intermittently. This way of lifting may also be beneficial for some junior groups and veterans, as it may reduce the compression load on the vertebral column.

According to Hairullin, this way of snatching fully supports the slogan “do not harm” and may facilitate further development and popularization of GS, one of the most accessible traditional sports.

And a very modest comment from me. Changing hands every rep (or every other or more) is a nice way to prolong the set and keep the cardiovascular workout going. All that without killing yourself. Very useful for easier sessions. Hairullin didn’t know when writing this article that many AKCers already do long sets of one armed lifts. In any case, another trick in the hat, at least to fight boredom.

GymBoss

A few months ago I bought GymBoss, the interval pager. It allows to set two time intervals and is useful for - soryy for the repetition - interval training. I was planning to do snatches with it and time left and right arms or work/rest intervals with heavier bells. After pulling my back though I am not doing snatches for a while, and cleans only with light bells. Ginko is coming to Sydney in couple of weeks, and I want to check my technique with him (with Him!) before starting snatches with a light bell.

I found another use for the GymBoss in the meantime: it is useful for setting the tempo of other lifts. I do LC EDT style at 6 reps per minute, and physically watching the clock is a pain. But setting the timer to beep every 10 seconds does the trick. It helps to get the rhythm going: beep, jerk, lower, re-clean, rack, rest. Beep - next cycle. Very convenient.

2 July 2009

2 x 16 kg LC:
5 min/30 reps, 5 min rest
5 min/30 reps

then, after 4 min rest:

2 min/10 reps, 1 min rest
2 min/10 reps, 1 min rest
1.5 min/10 reps, 1 min rest
1.5 min/10 reps

The last 4 sets are for finishing whatever strength is left in the body, especially the forearms. It is akin to pause-rest method, where by making short pauses between repetitions it is possible to pull through bigger volume. Nice finisher.

Going for a run later.

Here it is:

4.5 km run, about 40 min