Snatch Balance, Back Squat, Press

Snatch Balance
115 x 2
115 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 3

Back Squat
185 x 3
195 x 3
195 x 3
195 x 3
195 x 3

Press
95 x 5
105 x 5
110 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 3

3 sets of 10 reps of laces to bar

Great workout today. Felt really strong on everything. Phil gave me a great cue that I forgot from Gattone's about foot position on the snatch balances. I was starting them with my feet too wide, and thus not doing the foot transition. When I changed my foot position to a jumping stance to start, the 135lbs felt a lot lighter. I'll go heavier next time for sure.

Last time on back squats I did 5 sets of 3 at 185lbs. Today I did it at 195lbs, and it didn't feel too heavy. Next time I'll bump it to 205lbs for my 5 sets of 3.

Today is Day 3 of my "Beef and Water Experiment". Feeling great so far, 2 perfect days of just 2lbs of grass fed ground beef, water, and nothing else. Energy level is as high as ever. Went to bed at 7:30 last night, getting a solid 9 hrs of sleep.

Thursday Garth, Zach and I go to get tested using Poliquin's Biosignature method. Will be interesting to see what advice they give to each of us.

Clean & Jerk and Snatch

Clean & Jerk
135 x 2
185 x 1 - slight press
185 x 1 - no press*
185 x 1 - no press*
185 x 1 - no press*
185 x 1 - press

Snatch
135 x 1 x 5*

*Big breakthrough day today for me. Today was the first time I got three straight clean & jerks at 185lbs without a press at the top. I also snatched 135lbs for a single five times straight without a single miss. And both the c&j and snatch didn't feel as heavy as it has in the past. I think I'm learning the movements better (ie becoming more efficient at them), getting more confidence, building strength, and teaching my body to fire more fibers during the lift. I love this OLY lifting!!

Four rounds of pullup pyramid: 1x2x3x4 (40 pullups total in about 5 minutes)

30 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill (3.8mph, 6% incline)

Today is Day 2 of my 30 day "Beef and Water Experiment". Yesterday was no problem at all!

Wednesday Fun Day

Bench Press:
185 x 3
195 x 3
205 x 3
215 x 2
215 x 2

Team Competition: Metabolic Circuit
400m run
80 deadlifts - 185lbs
80 box jumps - 24"
80 push press - 105lbs
400m run

James/Adam: 16:00
Dave/Joel: 18:30

Today is Day 1 of my 30 Day Meat and Water Experiment. My plan is to eat only 2lbs of grassfed beef per day for the next 30 days.

Here is my 30 day plan:

• 2lbs of 80/20 grass fed ground beef everyday and nothing else
• No coffee (Avoiding caffeine to get cortisol and insulin as low as possible)
• 4 strength-training workouts per week: Short (45 min) and Heavy
• 1 metcon per week (10 minutes or less)
• 7.5hrs+ of sleep per night
• Minimize stress as much as possible
• 5g EPA/DHA fish oil per day
• 30 minutes of 6% incline walking on the treadmill at 3.8mph, 2-3x per week

Push Press, Front Squat, Deadlift

Push Press
155 x 5
160 x 5
165 x 5
170 x 5
175 x 4

Front Squat
135 x 3
165 x 3
175 x 3
175 x 3
175 x 3

Deadlift
225 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 5

Joel, Adam, Phil and I played catch (about 15ft apart from each other) with the 20lb Dynamex ball. If anyone dropped the ball, we all did 5 pushups (ended up doing about 30 pushups). Primal Blueprint Rule #6: PLAY.

Snatch and Clean & Jerk

Snatch:
125 x 2
135 x 1
135 x 2
135 x 1
135 - Failed (rushed the 3rd pull, lost it forward)
135 x 1

Clean & Jerk:
155 x 1
185 x 1 - slight press
185 x 1 - blatant press
185 x 1 - no press at all
185 x 1 - slight press (same as 1st one)

Pullup Pyramid:
4x: 1x2x3x4 (40 pullups total)

3 sets of 10 reps of laces to bar (like knees to elbows, but instead brought front of foot, aka 'laces', to the bar).

Overhead Squats, Front Squats, Clean Pulls

Overhead Squat
135 x 3
165 x 3
165 x 3
165 x 2 (dropped the bar forward coming up, wasn't tight enough)

Front Squat
165 x 3 x 5 (Five sets of three reps at 165lbs)

Clean Pulls
185 x 3 x 5 (Five sets of three reps at 185lbs)

Knees to Elbows with TOMMY MOHR!
3x: 10 K2E

Played "catch" with the 20lb Dynamex Wall Ball with Joel Santos (standing about 15ft apart, played catch with the ball). Lots of fun, good core exercise. Next Wednesday if 6 guys show up we'll play a fun game of Hoover Ball on Wednesday Fun Day.

Snatch, Clean & Jerk, Pullups

Snatch
125 x 1
135 - Failed (lost it forward)
135 - Failed (lost it forward)
135 x 1
145 - Failed (bar didn't travel high enough to get under)
145 - Failed (bar didn't travel high enough to get under)
145 x 1 - PR! Remembered Coach Zach's cue to be AGGRESSIVE and got it in a full squat

Clean & Jerk
135 x 1
155 x 1
185 x 1 (pressed it out on top, just not aggressive enough in the jerk)
185 - Failed (My elbow touched my knee. This was a first for me; I was clearly fatigued and didn't get my elbows through fast and high enough)
135 x 3

Pullups:
4 pyramids of 1x2x3x4: Pat's advice of four pyramids worked! Did 40 pullups in the same amount of time that I was doing 30-32 before.

30" Box Jump Pyramid: 1x2x3x4x5x6x7x8x9x10

Wednesday Fun Day

Push Jerk
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
185 x 3

Kettlebell Swings
3x: 20 swings, crossfit style 53lb kb

Kettlebell Snatch
2x: 10L, 10R 53lb kb

Snatch Practice
3 x 3 @ 75lbs

Continued to practice Pat's advice of doing power snatches, catching the weight, then riding it down into a full OH squat

Ab Ripper X

Front Squat, Push Press, Ring Dips

A lot of volume today.

Front Squat
135 x 3
155 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3

Push Press
135 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 4

Ring Dip Pyramids:
Took Pat's advice here and did 4 sets of 1x2x3x4 pyramids.
40 ring dips total. Great advice, as I got in many more reps than had I just gone for four sets of max reps on ring dips. I'll be doing this from now on with pull-ups, too.

Knees to Elbows: 3 sets of 10 reps

Snatch work: 3x5 @ 75lbs: 5 sets of 3 reps using 75lbs. Again, took Pat's advice here and worked on completing that 2nd pull, then riding it down into an OHS. Pat was right, I'm rushing into that 3rd pull, which is why I'm losing them forward. Great advice, and a drill I can continue to use.

Clean & Jerk, Snatch, Pullups & Tabata Pushups/Situps

Clean & Jerk
185 x 1 - Pressed it out
185 x 1 - Pressed it out
185 x 1 - No press, much more aggressive on the jerk
135 x 3

Snatch
115 x 2
135 x 1
135 x 1
135 - Failed
135 - Failed

Deadhang Pullups
13
9
7

Tabata Pushups & Situps
Dave Eagle: 85 pushups + 77 situps = 162 (159 on 12/29)
Adam Oldenburg: 66 pushups + 74 situps = 140 (103 on 12/29)
Andy Heikes: 56 pushups + 86 situps = 142 total (first time)
Joel Santos: 20 pushups + 59 situps = 79 total (first time)

Snatch Balance, Back Squat, Snatch Pull

Snatch Balance
125 x 3
135 x 2
135 x 2
135 x 3

Back Squat
185 x 3 x 5 (five sets of three reps at 185lbs)

Snatch Pulls & Full Snatches
75lbs - Focused on the double knee bend and aggressive shrug

Knees to elbows: 3 sets of 10

Last night Pat, Phil, Brian, Kiko, Garth and I spent 2 full hours training with Mike Gattone at WCS Gattone Sports Performance in Buffalo Grove. To get an idea of how fortunate we were to train there, here is a short bio/history on Mike Gattone:

• President/Assistant Coach of Windy City Weightlifting Club
• President of WCS/Gattone Sports Performance
• Manager of Coaching of the US Olympic Committee
• Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Chicago Bulls
• Competition Manager for the 2009 Pan American Weightlifting Championships
• Three National Weightlifting Championships
• 2 Junior National Weightlifting Championships
• 1992 Olympic Trials Manager
• Personal Coach for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Weightlifting GOLD medalist, Tara Nott
• Board of Directors for USA Weightlifting
• Current member of USAW Coaches Committee
• Assistant Women's Coach for the 2008 Junior World Weightlifting Championship USA Team
• Senior International Level Coach with USA Weightlifting
• Coached Dave, Pat, Brian, Kiko, Phil & Garth for 2hrs on January 15, 2010

Obviously the last bullet is to drive home the fact that this INCREDIBLE coach with an INCREDIBLE resume and history in US Weightlifting coached US! On the side, Pat was receiving coaching from Roger Nielsen: An incredible resume as well, including Head Coach of the Men's Olympic Weightlifting Team for Barcelona in 1992 and Beijing in 2008.

The fact that we have this caliber of coaches in BUFFALO GROVE, IL is just incredible.

Clean & Jerk and Snatch

Clean & Jerk:
185 x 1
185 x 1
185 x 1
195 - Failed
195 - Failed

Lack the leg strength to get out of the hole on the cleans at 195. I'm able to shoot my elbows through and get under the bar, but I can't stand up out of the hole with 195.

Snatch:
135 x 1
135 - Failed: Pat talks about liking the OLY lifts for many reasons: strength, power, speed, accuracy, agility, coordination, balance and FOCUS (what Pat calls "Real Mental Toughness"). I wasn't focused, and I dropped it. Simple as that. So I got focused and went for it again:
135 x 1
135 x 1
135 x 1

Got all three after getting my head focused. Plus Tom and Garth were watching me, so I couldn't mess it up!

Dead hang pullups:
14
9
6

Ab Ripper X

Wednesday Fun Day

Incline Press
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 2
185 x 3

Team Competition: One person working while the other two are resting, complete, as a team:
100 pullups
100 pushups
100 situps
100 squats

Team 1 -- 14:48
Adam
Andy
Dave G

Team 2 -- 15:01
Dave E
Phil
Joel

We then did the old 7 minute ab routine.

Front Squat, Deadlift, Push Press

Front Squats:
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
185 x 3

Deadlift:
235 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 3
305 x 2

Push Press:
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 4
155 x 5

Took the guys through "Ab Ripper X" (P90X ab routine)

Snatch and Clean & Jerk

Today we welcome our 8th and newest member to the crew, Joel Santos! Welcome, Joel.

Snatch:
Got 135 for four and 140 for four in the last two weeks, so moved onto 145lbs today. Failed on all four. Will take it back down and keep drilling technique. Looking forward to learning more at Gattone's place on Thursday night.

Clean & Jerk:
185 x 1 (press at the top)
185 x 1 (very slight press with left arm)
185 x 1 -- No press, aggressively got under it

Tabata deadlifts and burpees:

Dave Eagle: 185lbs, 101 total reps
Adam: 135lbs, about the same # of reps as Eagle
Dave G: 135lbs, 99 reps
Andy: 135lbs, 80 reps
Joel: 75lbs, 82 reps

Tomorrow's workout: Front Squat, Clean Deadlift, Snatch Push Press

Snatch and Clean & Jerk

Snatch:
135 - Failed - wasn't aggressive enough and dropped it in the hole
135
135
135

Clean & Jerk:
185 - pressed it at the top
185 - couldn't complete the clean, realized how drained I was from the last three days of training
155 x 3 x 1 (155 three times in a row, just practicing technique and explosiveness)

Dead Hang Pullups: 3x max reps
14
10
8

Knees to elbows, three sets of 10 reps

Wednesday Fun Day

Max height box jumps: Worked up to 40"-42" (didn't have a tape measure)
Kettlebell swing/burpee instruction

Team Competition - Everyone runs together; then only one person can be performing the exercise at a time.

Team 1: Dave Eagle/Phil/Adam
120m run
60 53lb kettlebell swings
120m run
60 pullups
120m run
60 30" box jumps
120m run
60 burpees

Team 2: Dave Glefke/Brian/Andy Heikes/Cory
120m run
60 burpees
120m run
60 30" box jumps
120m run
60 pullups
120m run
60 53lb kettlebell swings

Team 1 beat Team 2 by 8 seconds. Workout was about 12 minutes.

Snatch Grip Deadlift, Back Squat, Push Press

Seven people this morning, so we split it up with four people doing back squats, three people doing snatch grip deadlifts, then switched. We all did push presses at the same time (two bars).

Snatch Grip Deadlift
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 3
225 x 3
225 x 3

Back Squat
185 x 3 x 5 (Five sets of three reps at 185lbs)

Push Press
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 4

5 minutes of double under practice, followed by 6 minutes of planks

Clean & Jerk and Snatch

Clean & Jerk -- Work up to a heavy single, then 85% x 1 x 3
155
185
205 - Failed. Got the full squat clean (PR) but dropped it in the jerk. Wasn't aggressive enough.
175
175
175

Snatch -- Goal was to continue with Pat's advice to get four unbroken, going up 5lbs each week. Was successful at 135 x 4 at Garth's house on 1/1, so went for 140 today - was successful at this today. 140 (63kg) is a PR with perfect form. Caught all in a full squat. At the OLY meet on 12/12 I got 65kg, but that was a power snatch and I had a press in it. Today were all full squat snatches with no press.

140 x 1 x 4

Pullups: 3x max reps
20, 14, 12

2x: 1min front, 1min left, 1min right side planks

30 Muscle Ups for Time

30 muscle ups for time
6:21

First time trying this workout; I haven't been doing muscle ups in the last 4 weeks or so. I'll continue to work at this to get my time sub-5:00. Last 3-4 definitely were the hardest (and slowest).

Made "Paleo Chili" for lunch next week:

3lbs grass fed ground beef
8 tablespoons of bacon grease
2 yellow peppers
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
3 jalepeno peppers
1 tablespoon of oregano and basil

Made four servings. Each serving has:
1120 calories
81g fat
81g protein
12g carbs

Snatch and Heaving Snatch Balances

Garth's garage, 8:30am New Year's Day - Bar was COLD in his garage!

I followed Pat's advice and had a goal of four snatches at the same weight without a miss. Garth has 135lbs in his garage gym, so that's what we used.

135x1
135x1
135x1
135 - Failed. Wasn't aggressive at all - can definitely tell the difference when I approach the bar aggressively and pretend there is 200lbs on there (a la Coach Zach's cues, thanks Zach) vs when I just walk up to the bar and try to snatch it. Need to remember to be AGGRESSIVE every time, no matter what the weight.

Started over on the snatches:

135x1
135x1
135x1
135x1

Great advice from Pat going for four without a miss. Next week I can bump it to 140 and go for four unbroken. If I can do that successfully, I can move to 145, then 150, and so on.

Heaving Snatch Balances
135x5
135x5
135x5

We then spent 10 minutes or so on muscle ups, where Garth got his FIRST MUSCLE UP! Really cool to be there to see it, it was like watching your baby walk for the first time.

Our post-workout meal was Omelet Muffins, one of my favorite easy-to-make post-workout meals. All you do is combine 5 eggs, 3 slices of cooked bacon chopped up, and 1/4 cup of cheese (optional). I greased some muffin tins with a tablespoon of butter, and cooked in the oven at 365 degrees for 20 minutes. With these quantities, you get:

58g fat

48g protein

6g carbs

A perfect high fat, moderate protein, SUPER low carb post-workout meal.