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. 

The Saga of Zammar the Great #14: Father and Son (Indus pt.2)

Story Recap:

Indus is a land of people that live in close harmony with nature. These people tamed the indigenous animals, keeping them as lifelong companions. For thousands of years, different tribes warred amongst themselves. Now, though the nation has been unified under a council, those ancient tensions still linger.

The people of Baghadaar worship the spirits of Raj, Kavi and Harisha, the ancient kings of the tigers, snakes and monkeys.  Aitzaz (Aey-teh-zaaz) is a young tiger tamer of the city, whose tiger is named Khan. Two years ago, he graduated from training school with his classmates Maisa, Rahul, Sachiv and Mahit. These are companions who he has trained with since the choosing ceremony, where he was chosen as a tiger tamer by the spirit of Raj.

Now, just a week has passed since Aitzaz attended the choosing ceremony of his sister, Indira. Indira was chosen by Kavi as the tamer for the Anai-Kondra, a mythical snake that lives for a thousand years and whose birth signifies the beginning of a new age.

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Aitzaz stood outside a small wooden house and peered through a crack in the curtains that covered the window. He could just make out a pile of boxes wrapped in colourful cloth on the table across the room. Welcoming gifts? But it’s been two months...

Aitzaz had helped Lyla move into her new house after her parents, both tiger tamers, were killed. He remembered the day well. She had cried, and he had been there to comfort her. With Khan outside the door, Aitzaz had made sure that he was the only one to do so. The memory was bittersweet; tainted by guilt but redeemed by the joy he would experience over the next two months. She’s happier now, with me.

He knocked on the door, crossed his arms behind his back and waited with a humble smile.

“She’s not there, runt.”

The voice startled Aitzaz, and he turned around to three monkey tamers standing a few meters away. Arms crossed, monkeys hissing furiously on their shoulders, the three glared at him. He recognized them as three of the tamers that had had their choosing with Lyla, the same year as himself.

“Esam, hi.” Aitzaz’s voice didn’t sound nearly as aggressive as it had in his head.

Esam, who was tall with a pockmarked and scared face, cocked an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just visiting Lyla…” Aitzaz mumbled. This is ridiculous, I’m a tiger. I shouldn’t be scared of these guys.

“Well she doesn’t want to see you.”

“What?”

“Just…leave Lyla alone you little shit.” Esam barred his teeth and swung his fist towards Aitzaz’s face. Aitzaz moved quickly; unlike the monkeys he’d been trained in physical combat. One hand blocked the attack while the other countered. The man’s abdomen caved behind the force of his blow.

Esam groaned and clutched at his stomach, but before Aitzaz could continue, he was hit hard from the right. He gasped and stumbled to the left. The other monkey tamers grabbed his arms and soon he was pinned between the two. Esam stood tall and glowered.

“I’ll fucking kill you, you little pig.” His fist made contact with Aitzaz’s stomach. Aitzaz braced in time, but the pain made him gasp. The next attack hurt even more. “Lyla doesn’t belong to you.” Esam spat on Aitzaz and punched him again. His monkey scratched Aitzaz’s arm and shrieked violently.

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.

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.

Catalyst OTM Cycle - Week 1

Hey everyone.

I've decided to start documenting my weightlifting again. I stopped a while ago because I felt like I was making nothing but backwards progress and was somewhat embarrassed and what not. But anyways, I'm going to try my best to keep up with it this time.

There's a change though, I'll be recording training sessions weekly instead of daily. I think this is not just more manageable for me, but more entertaining and easier to read for you guys.

Where I am:

Well, the past few months have been iffy. I had a pretty major hip injury that stopped me from lifting (other than Power snatches and back exercises) for the better part of 2 months. The injury has gotten better now, but I'm left with a couple of imbalances that I'm still working on.

Because of this injury, I won't be squatting really heavy. The focus for this next training cycle will be on technical consistency and improving strength in pulling positions.

To this end, I've decided to, for the first time in my life, run a weightlifting program. I decided that I was thinking too much and confusing myself by self-programming. To that end, I'm going to try the Catalyst Atheletes OTM (on the minute) cycle.

Here's a link:
http://www.catalystathletics.com/olympic-weightlifting-training-program/54/On-The-Minute-Cycle/

I've been doing some similar training recently and I really loved it for technical consistency. Luckily for me, after I spent so long learning a specific & odd style for the Snatch, I decided to flip it and go back to what's more conventional (so I have to relearn everything! :( )

I will be running the above program with some modifications to better tailor it to my own weaknesses. (I think modifications are crucial to a general program, you just need to be smart about it.)

This is how my progress will be shared - With a picture of my daily tracking whiteboard! And occasional videos (though I don't have any for the past week!)

Bottom right corner has the weights I'm using as working maxes going into the program. As you can see, I'm taking it really easy on squats (otherwise I'd have 315 BS & ~250 FS)

So...

Week 1 went pretty well. Weights were generally programmed really light so no major problems. Only miss was that 185 CJ, which was a dumb mistake on the Clean. 

Just so terminology is clear:

OTM: On the minute. This is the trick with this program. The idea is to have a timer running and perform the lift every minute. I've found this to be super advantageous to really get into a good rhythm (and I swear that must be one of the most important things in weightlifting). Also, the movement stays pretty fresh in your mind after every rep, so that helps with technical consistency.

FS: Front Squat

BS: Back Squat

OHS: Overhead Squat

SLDL: Stiff Legged Deadlift

BTNSN: Push Press: Behind the neck Snatch grip push press

SN: Snatch

C&J: Clean and Jerk

Moving forward, I'm going to change the board to show reps x sets. I've always used sets x reps, but it's confusing because the program is written reps x sets...xD 

I'm hoping this program goes well. I'm really behind on my goals!