FOR YOU......PANSIES!

It was just a snow day. We live in Minne-snow-dah. It's what we do. Shoveling is activity, not a workout. Yes, it's cold. There's a shocker. Dig deep and get your training completed. For those that missed it, we covered the snatch. Then, we drilled the snatch. Three different size bells to drill and then one to hang and polish ourselves off. (ya'know, re-reading this...I'm glad we know what we're discussing)

So, today I did a VO2 Max. I grabbed the 24kg (#5) and did 80 sets of 6. Forty total minutes. I don't like the idea of limiting myself. My hope is to continue to advance and outperform myself. Hit personal records until I die. I know it's not realistic. I know years from now I will fall into the "That's great for a guy his age" category. But for now I will continue to strive for improvement and betterment just for the.....health of it. That being said, I think I have hit my limit with the VO2. What I did today was over 25,000 lbs of work in 40 minutes. The adjustments I was making to get the snatches, not to mention the tempo, I think demonstrated some limitations. End game. Here's why. The top athletes in the world put a disproportionate amount of energy and effort into gaining a very small percent of performance which puts them on top. For me to step up in conditioning that allows more snatches (7 or 8 in 15 seconds) I would need to place far too much focus on VO2. I believe I would risk injury and setbacks. I did the full 6 reps every time. The full 6 reps took the full 15 seconds the last 10 minutes. The ballistics were decreasing and I was adjusting technique to fire things off. I made the mistake of trying to spare a hand. I did back to back sets with one arm to give a potential rip a break and all it did was fry my grip on that arm. It did not recover for the remaining time of the event.

So there's the bar. Someday I may grab the 28kg (#6) bell and give it a go. Who knows. For now the bar has been set at 24kg/6 snatches (25,000+ lbs work). By the way, to put things in perspective, you need to snatch the 16 kg (#3) 9 times every 15 seconds in order to meet the work load of 25,000+ lbs. Or, the 20kg (#4) 7 times every 15 seconds. End game. Break those numbers (16kg x 10 and 20kg x 8) and the bar gets raised. One rule. You have to stay with the same number the entire 80 sets in order for the work load to count towards raising the bar. Go ahead...snatch the pebble, Grasshopper.

Oh What Fun.......

...it is to snatch!!!!!!! Today was playtime. I am going to 'own' every step. Today I did VO2 max with the #5 for 80 sets of 5. That is over 21,000 lbs of work on 40 min. Not bad and .......not totally taxing. I will see how it hits my body tomorrow. Right now I feel pretty good about things. So, next time the number will be 6. Grip wasn't an issue. Now having said that, typing this is starting to kill my grip. Funny how that works. Todays training will be very easy on the hands. No worries.

Somewhere in THERE........

Side snatches. What can I say. I am still feeling the effect. Generalized local aches and pains. Nothing too bad, just feeling the tension between my shoulder blades. We worked some of the kinks out last night but this one will take a while to recover. Not a bad thing. Actually, considering the movement I am surprised we aren't more bent out of shape over the whole session. It was a new movement for us and it went well. Much better than those loopy-cleany-thingies we did once. And unlike the loopy-cleany-thingies we will revisit the side snatches.

Feeling good about your training? Not getting as smoked as you did when you first started training. Are you feeling like you have reached a comfortable level of endurance and strength. Wrong. Time to step up, grab a bigger bell by the horns and become reacquainted with your body and it's potentials. STEP UP !

While away......

...She found a place to play. Here are some pic's of Linnea's new space for training. I see ropes!! Now if we could just see a pic of her using them :)

GOTTA' SMILE !!!!

...CUZ' THE EMAILS KEEP COMIN' IN !! The main thrust is the VO2 Max was a great experience. Some wanted to quit but stuck it out. Some think they could have use a bigger bell or went up a weight. Just remember, this is the bench mark. From hear we move forward. You know your potentials and abilities so let's adjust for the next run at it. It won't be for a while for the obvious reasons.

A couple quick observations about nutrition. I am not big on nutrition. I know I can't "out snatch" my mouth so I keep the volume of stuff going in it down. I don't pay particular attention to what it is. I drink soda/pop very rare. It's the 'anything in moderation' approach. This does not apply to poisons. Recently I have done a lot of reading on three things; High Fructose Corn Syrup, Aspartame and MSG (Monosodium glutamate). The casual and safe level of consumption are off the charts. I have included links to the first two. MSG is a bigger bear to link primarily because there is so much conflicting info'. Everyone agrees it is a neurotoxin but the levels and effects depend on...the amount you consume. I know, duh. The others have nothing beneficial. All are products of 'brewing' from bacteria (aspergillus, E.coli, yeast). Basically, the waste product (poo) tastes sweet (who was the first sic' pup to put that in their mouth!). It is very concentrated. Easier to ship than sugar. Dissolves in everything. Cheap. Read the links above and you'll find it is making everyone around us fat and diabetic. And, it is a weird fat. Look at teenagers. This fat hangs near the organs. The midline. This is a new phenomenon. HERE'S THE PROBLEM. I looked around the house and then went shopping. A friend of mine (who has recently dropped about 4 notches in his belt loop by avoiding this crap) made this observation. You can't shop at Cub anymore. Everything has this stuff in it. If it comes in a box or a bag...you can't put it in you mouth. So yesterday I bought actual ingredients for things. I am on a new path. Primarily for my kids.

Do with the intel' as you please. Just remember one word that sums it all up...NEUROTOXIN.

Post VO2 Max

What Happened????? I don't know. Everyone just kinda' figured it out somewhere between snatch 400-450. Then things started looking great! Funny how that works. I am so sorry for the tech isssues during the second class. I have not found a single thing wrong with the settings. Gremlins. Either way...amazing efforts all around. It is a boat load of work and everyone managed it perfect. A little skin tear here and there but nothing major. Awesome! Really. So....now what. Now you do your own reading and rest knowing that you have achieved a very high level of conditioning.

Have a great rest. You've earned it! If you eat modestly over the next couple days your body will continue to burn fat after a training period like this one. Get the extra kick out of the effort you just put in...regular meals. Not extra Kcals.

"nuff said.......

Here is a link to an excellent thread on the Dragon Door forum. I am an advocate of NOT 'warming up' before training. I find it useless and it does NOT prevent injury. Here is what others are saying. Warm-up or not?