Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 4.5 + Week 5

Bit of a weird two weeks. For some reason, 2 days into week 5 the first time around, my hamstring felt a bit funny (just tight I think), I didn't want to injure it so I decided to rest out the week and begin week 5 again the next week. So I basically had a longer resting period in which 2 training sessions happened. These are those two:

Then this past week, I've gone and done the week properly. I also took the opportunity to move training days to free up Saturday, since everyone always wants to do stuff on Saturday :) 

Not such a bad week. Cleans are feeling better than ever (though I'm starting to get into that bad habit of not pulling long enough). Jerks felt good, but a bit wonky on Sunday. The main issue there was that I was starting to put too much weight on the front foot and not balancing the split properly. Just something to keep in mind going forward I think. 

Snatches are crappy as always. I figured out to how to get the best barpath with the new heels. The solution seems to be to starting with the bar farther away. This is really weird for me, because I have never (not once) lifted a weight without it touching my shins. I don't really have much strength in this kind of first pull, and that seems to throw my shoulder off position so my stupid imbalances act up more than before.

I believe practice is key here, because this is almost definitely the best way for me to lift. I've been doing some analysis of longer legged lifters (like Yurik Vardanyan,) and the main difference seems to be starting with the bar farther away. 

If the bar is farther away, the first part of the movement can have the bar coming back in, while my knees also move out of the way. If my legs were touching the bar, my shins are too long and would always force the bar to move out unless I sacrificed the back angle significantly. 

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 4

A day late in uploading this, but week 4 is over. No videos this week because it was a deload week so not really that interesting.

I got my heel height on the shoes adjusted (raised by 1/2'') on Friday. So the last two days were really about trying to adapt. It'll probably take a while, so I'll be playing it on the slightly conservative side.

On the other hand, this was absolutely the first time I've done a deload week. I'm really glad it's there, because I was starting to feel really beat up. Interestingly, I've always had great progress for the first 4-5 weeks of a program and then suddenly been unable to lift as much/as well. I never thought that it was over training, namely because I figured that I just don't lift heavy enough to be over trained.

Even mentally, it's nice to have a break. One of the reasons for my lack of success in this sport is almost definitely how much I stress myself out over it ._.

In hindsight, I can see why I should have incoporated deload weeks.

Looking forward to week 5. The program is starting to get hard, and it'll be harder with me trying to adjust to the new heel height. But hopefully, things will work out for the better!

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 3

Woohoo, week 3 is over.

And it has left me really tired. This program is starting to get tough, so I'm glad that the coming week is a deload week.

Other than an iffy first day of Snatching, it was another good week of training. More goofs at heavier weights, but I'm starting to see where the weaknesses lie. I was happy to hit 150/195, which is heavier than I've done on either lift in a while.

Though that 150 Snatch was super iffy lol
And I can't believe I didn't get that 200, it's like my right elbow just didn't feel like coming up all the way :(

But as for weaknesses, I think it's pretty obvious from watching the video that back strength is a major one. I really need to work on it. At heavier weights, I have a very hard time staying over the bar, and the back collapses. I used to compensate through this by bending my arms, but after having corrected that (to a degree hopefully), now I just collapse and start the second pull because the body doesn't want to stay over the bar any longer. It seems to be a major cause for me missing heavier lifts (especially with Snatches)

Also, I need to be really conscious about keeping the back tight. This is pretty evident if you watch Monday's session (in the gray full sleeve) where I lifted the heaviest weights. For some reason that day I just forgot to queue proper back tightness, and I lost it instantly. It should be passive, unqued, automatic.

Fortunately, this program has shown me SDLs, and what a great exercise they are!
I've also incorporated Snatch Grip RDLs (just like the SDL but with bent knees) for flexibility and back strength. Back strength will definitely be an ongoing process in my training and will probably feature as a more critical part of future programs.