Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 12

Hello!

I have finally finished the Catalyst OTM cycle, and I must say that it has been a great ride. I feel kind of unfortunate that I had to skip a week between week 11 and 12. A lot of things came up really suddenly (including a Sabaton/Nightwish concert!!) and I was just not in a position to train.

I think that skipping that week, and then doing things like trampolining over that weekend sort of messed me up for week 12. Unfortunately, I was unable to end the term with a PR. Pretty disappointing, but not a big deal.

Week 12 is actually meant to be a deload week that concludes the training cycle with max attempts on the last day. I think that as a part of the program, it would work effectively as a taper to a max. But because I messed up by taking a week off, I was not really ready for heavy weights on the max days. I also split the max day in to two separate days for Snatch/CJ.

Snatching went great, I spent the week working on technique and feeling it out and getting back into it. And on Sunday, I felt really good about snatching. I hit up to 165 without missing. I'm not sure if maybe it was just out of position a bit or I'm just weak, but 165 felt really heavy overhead. And I think that thought along with the pressure of going for a PR messed me up for 170. It's a major weakness of mine, to get nervous before going for a PR. It's 5lbs, perfectly within my capability, practically not even heavier than the previous weight. It's all in my head though; demons I must conquer. Oh well, I was happy to be able to hit 165 twice.

CJ I think is what I messed up with the week off. I wasn't really prepared to go heavy. And I think I made the other mistake of taking minimal warm up weights. The idea was to conserve energy for the max attempts, but the jumps were a bit too big (I was taking 15lb jumps), and the weight felt too heavy off the ground that I just crashed on receiving. It's been a weakness since the day I started lifting, and it has improved a lot, but I still need to work on preventing the bar from crushing me on the receive. I guess a part of it is just confident from lifting heavy often. Either way, the second 225 I missed the jerk because the clean was really inefficient. Now to be fair, I haven't Front Squatted more than 225 for probably > 6 months.

Not such a big deal. I think 225 is a weight that is meant to be lifted for the first time at the PAC. And I hope this coming term to hit it pretty quickly! All it takes is a good day xD

So overall progress with the program: I'm happy. I know that all I managed was a 5lb PR on both lifts. But the program brought my Snatch up from around 135, and I was practically not CJing at all when I started. Besides, I make really really slow progress in weightlifting. I think the OTM cycle was just what I needed. It's unfortunate that complications occurred, such as delaying days/weeks, and the inability to decide on a form to stay consistent with (esp. for the Snatch). But I still think that consistency and confidence have improved significantly.

Moving forward, I will be taking a week off to recuperate mentally/physically. I'll try to post up my next cycle for the summer term by the end of the week. It won't be as set in stone as this one, because I know things will always come up during the school term. The focus will be imbalance correction, Structural/postural & Overhead strength. I think I'll also be squatting more, to try and keep the squatting movement fresh and get the weights back up to what they were before.

Thanks a lot for following, friends! Stay strong!

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 11

Week 11 has been a great week!

I finally finally managed to break my Snatch plateau.

I think it's been close to a year since I snatched 155. I hit 160 like 1-2 weeks after that. And then I tried 165, and I missed. So I tried it again, and I missed. And I tried, and missed again. And again. And again. And again. I would hit 160 just fine, everything was good. Add 5lbs on the bar, and all of a sudden it becomes impossible to lift. 165 haunted me. I used to have nightmares about that weight. I don't even know why, I had the strength to lift it, it was just a mental barrier. Technique always broke down significantly, I'd knock it forward, or I couldn't tighten up and receive it well; everything was just bad.

And then I started thinking about 160. "What if I miss 160..." And I missed. And then I thought about 155. "...What if I miss this too..." And on and on. Next thing I knew, I was missing 135lbs.

I don't lift much weight. But I've already found that this sport is incredibly hard. Not just physically, but mentally. You have to be prepared. You have to believe in yourself at a level beyond thought. Absolute faith in your ability, and you have to be brave enough to pull yourself underneath a heavy ass bar. I lack this.

This was a really depressing time for me. I've never progressed fast in weightlifting. It took me years to get my squat to where it is, and then you can compare it to people who can walk into the gym and squat just as much within a week. So to see my snatch, my favourite lift, actually accumulating negative progress was pretty demotivating.

I was even training 4-5 times a week, and when each session is 3-4 hours long, you spend a lot of time in the gym. Backwards progress is the last thing you want to see.

The Catalyst cycle has been great for me. It's helped me get back to where I was before without over thinking things. I guess all I needed was a reset, high volume at low weights and the ability to throw out my ego. Maybe all that happened was that I got really burned out always trying to push myself. But lessons were learned.

This was the penultimate week of the cycle. The last time you work up to heavy singles. Week 12 is essentially a deload and taper up to a max out day.

Clean and Jerks were a little bit bleh. Main reason was that I was apathetic and put them on the back burner to really push the snatch. I know I can do well in the CJ if I'm well rested.

So, I don't actually have the time this week for week 12's training unfortunately. I'm going to try to sneak in a training session tomorrow but it's a maybe. Week 12 will probably be next week. It's not such a big deal I think. The rest is just going to be trying to hit a PR or two. The goals are 170/225.

So, what's going to happen next?

After the cycle, I'm going to take a short break. I'm feeling really burned out after these 15ish weeks of training 5 times a week for 4 hours a day (my warm up takes forever :( ). So the week before classes is probably going to be all rest, with maybe one or two sessions.

Next term is when I'll begin the new cycle. I think it's pretty obvious watching the video, the reason for my misses at the heaviest weights seems to stem largely from the imbalances that have been formed due to the recent hip injury and my eternally stiff shoulder. At heavy weights I end up gripping and ripping, thus not controlling my movements very well, and imbalances just show more at heavy weights generally.

So fixing those imbalances will be one of the primary focuses for next term's training. For this, I'll probably be taking a much more active approach using exercise selection in the workout as opposed to just stretching and activation in the warmup/cool down. The second focus will be structural/postural strength. I'll be doing a lot of pulls, RDLs, SLDs, etc. To try and maintain strength over the bar and better back positioning. Will probably be 4 days a week (but will vary a lot with class and associated work). Squats will probably be low weight/high volume (to work on the imbalances). I'm also planning on working on Overhead stability. I've been basically power snatching exclusively this term. Partially to save the injured hip, but also because thinking about power snatching really helps tighten up and receive the bar well for me. It's just that my best weights are so low that I have the strength to power snatch them, but I lack other things that cause me to miss. But to get better, I still need to be prepared to hit full snatches though.

Will definitely be carrying forward loading and programming experiences learned from the OTM cycle.

Thanks for the read! Thanks for the support!

PS I'm sorry for being so loud! I've been encouraging myself to let loose a bit more, especially since I'm lifting alone. And the moment I locked out 165 was so cathartic that I ended up getting a bit excited xD

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 9

Week 9 is done.

The program has switched to a Bulgarian style daily max training thing. And I've found it so far to be really hard, tiring and time consuming xD

I was doing fine for a Snatch HS and CJ HS once a week on a weekend when I'm rested. But It's really hard on weekdays after a long day at work. I was struggling with CJs this week but then I realized, at the end of the week too, that my start position was off. Also, didn't really have the energy after snatching heavy + back off sets.

The program also includes heavy singles for squats, which is a major first for me. I haven't squatted a heavy single in a really long time, as the last time I was avidly training squats, they were on a high volume program. But this is kind of good because it lets me see where I am, sort of. If only I wasn't so tired when it came time to squatting xD

IT band/Quad on my right leg was feeling really tight this week, so I took it easy on the squats anyway. 240 was 6 reps before the hip injury. I'm hoping to hit a minimum of 275 back squat by the end of the term/cycle.

Unfortunately, family things came up on Sunday so I had to move the training session back to Saturday. This meant I had 5 training sessions in a row. I think the result of this is pretty evident, in that I couldn't hit a 155 snatch on Saturday. (but I'm just making excuses xD)

That being said, I was really glad to hit 155 twice. 150 is the weight I expect myself to be able to hit on a daily basis. So getting back up to 155 feels good. Though every day it happened on the 2nd attempt. If I get it on the first, I'll try for 160. But I need to train smart through this phase. Can't spend excessive energy chasing Snatch PRs and miss out on the Clean and Jerk part. Just gotta put in the work.

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 7

Week 7 is finally done, and with it the high volume portion of this program. Good riddance! (This OTM stuff is so tiring!)

On paper, this looks like a really good week. In many ways it was, but it was hell to get through as well. Back tightness from last week continued periodically throughout the week. As a result, the Jerk day was really not as good as it could have been, but still not bad. Unfortunately, I was so tired after that jerk training session that come Thursday for Cleans, my upper back was just fried. I had a really tough time staying tight on the receive, so I didn't want to push Cleans too much.

Snatching went great! Sort of. I managed to super man 150 after like 18 other reps at or above 85% on Tuesday. It displayed my imbalances to the worst extent they can be though :D. I was really in the mindset of "Just pick this thing up, man."

Friday's reps felt awkward, but I think were important in coming up with the right feeling and helped a lot on Sunday.

Sunday was awesome. Snatched up to 155, and probably couldve done 160 (in another attempt) if I didn't want to save energy for CJs. 160 is the all time best, and I haven't hit anything above 150 for close to 8 months now =|

As is evident in the video, back angle in the snatch is still a major source of inconsistency. The issue is that I just don't know what's right, and I end up improvising according to what feels right the day of...

The issue is that naturally, my back angle would be very horizontal. This feels good in some ways, letting me keep the bar closer in the 3rd pull, but it sacrifices so much power that I have a hard time power snatching anything. It also leads to drifting on my toes, and since I have a weak back, forces a bunch of arm bend.

On the other hand, if I keep my back more vertical, my hips are in a far better position to produce power and I can power snatch my best (probably, maybe?). It also seems to result in a tighter receive. Unfortunately, I end up hitting the bar forward, and this is really costly.

I've been trying to find a middle ground...I guess the experimentation continues =|

BUT GOOD NEWS

A PR, FINALLY! (after like 6 months or something)

And a big one! 220lb/100kg Clean and Jerk! It's only 5lbs better than the previous, but it's huge! First three digit lift, so pretty happy. Not as happy as 225 will make me though! :)

Interestingly, I really was not feeling C&J's on Sunday. Especially the jerks. I was pretty tired after Snatching, and sort of just did it. The jerks were crappy (kept shifting to front leg and not getting front foot out enough), but I managed to do the work. I'm confident that 230 is in the park on a better day.

Also, I randomly suffered an ab cramp while walking around yesterday (after training). It's a bit sore today, but hopefully will be better for tomorrows training.

Week 8 is deload week! (Thank you Greg :) )



p.s. I apologize for all the man grunting. I don't know when I became so noisy >_>

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 6 + Week 6.5

Hi everyone, super late on updating this.

I finished two weeks of training pretty well, including a fun Sunday at the PAC.

But for some reason, on Tuesday when I was meant to start week 7, my back was like NOPE. I think I slept in an awkward position and I woke up with it soo tight, in a way it hasn't been tight before. This time it was the thoracic area, not the traps like usual :p

I decided, regretfully to redo what I did in week 4.5 and take the week easy. All I did was 2 snatch technique sessions.

Will be starting week 7 tomorrow hopefully...

On a different note, I've sort of learned that training 5x a week is a bit too much for my body. It sucks, since that's like the minimum to make decent progress...But every time I train 5x a week, injuries happen >_>
I still plan on finishing this program, but it's something I'm keeping in mind moving forward.

Anyways, week 6:

Pretty decent week actually! 

I'm sort of starting to figure out Cues and etc. for Snatches. They're feeling decent. Cleans this week were awkward and weird, except for Sunday when I matched by all time best CJ of 215. That day Cleans felt awesome O_o, funny because snatches felt horrible. 

Jerks are feeling pretty good as well. 

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 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.

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 2

Week 2's training went pretty well. It was a bit of a rocky start because I sort of forgot about some of the changes I'd made to my Clean starting position until after I did all of my 20 cleans. I was really confused as to why it felt so different and why I was pulling really low off the legs...Oh well >_>

Shoulders feeling really tight. Well, not really shoulders. More like traps/neck. The new office job isn't helping with this, and it's pretty noticeable in the video (if you watch the bar rotate overhead.)

I've always had this imbalance where my right shoulder is significantly less flexible than my left...This means the right shoulder doesn't go as far back as the left, so the left takes a bit longer and that's why you see that rotation. It's something I'm working on at the end/beginning of training sessions.

First time snatching upto 145 in a long time. Was less than perfect (could've stayed over the bar much longer), but glad I could do it without too much difficulty.

Couple of goofs, but overall a good week.

A week of training - 18th May 2014

Hehe, long hiatus but sort of back.

First training log after a long hiatus.

Was doing a strength cycle, which is pretty boring to watch so I decided to not video that :p

Back to a classical focus now. Things are feeling good and consistent.

Training in my garage on my ghetto, improvised platform. Some soft stuff under it compresses a fair bit, which is an annoying loss of energy in lifting. My current hope is that it just makes me stronger!!!

Looking forward to a successful term of training.

I guess calling it a "Weekly training video" is a bit inappropriate, it's more like a weeks worth of training :D

Weekly Training Video #6:- Dec 2nd 2013

This weeks log is a bit different. 

I've been working at Snatch technique. Specifically, reducing premature arm bend. It is proving to be an incredibly hard to break habit that throws everything else off if I try. 
I guess things have been getting better, but I am still a bit conflicted on whether I should be doing this at all. 

Pulls are going well for this, but Snatching seems to be a different story. This is why I'm doing complexes of Pulls + Snatch to try and ingrain good habits. 
I think a bit of arm bend is acceptable as it allows me to get a better position. I just need to consistent with it, and achieve that amount at heavy weights while being aggressive. 

So, this week I decided to make the video a bit more focused on the less mentioned accessory exercises. I included a few of the important ones I do as well as some tips for anyone who wants to try them! 

Weekly Training Video #5:- Nov 18th 2013

Pretty crappy week for Snatching again. Big part of that is technical adjustments. Trying to get more Lat activation to reduce the arm bend a bit. Not only hard but throws me off the groove majorly.
Pretty confused on how much arm bend is optimal for me, it allows me to use a narrower grip while still pulling high to my hips...But more arm bend also results in a reduction of Hip Power output, and I think it probably affects timing on the receive.

Arm bend on clean is pretty freakishly awesome though.  :D

Lat activation started getting much better towards end of week.
As far as I can tell, the bar path looks alright. I'm sure there's room for improvement though. Need to do that for the Clean too.

I think a video got cut short here by accident (that 165 CJ was meant to have a Power Clean at the beginning :D )

Weekly Training Video #4:- Nov 11th 2013

Decent week. Wasn't really feeling the Snatches though. 

Focusing on Lat Activation when Snatching and receiving tight when cleaning

Weekly Training Video #3:- Oct 27th 2013

Snatch PR is not really a big thing, considering it's 5lbs. But, it is infinitely more confident than my previous 150. Additionally, recently training hasn't been going too well, so it was well needed for mental happiness. 

Can and should be doing more.

(It's at 3:37)

Weekly Training Video #2:- Oct 20th 2013

Weekly Training Video #1:- Sept 16th 2013