I feel like looking at the list of PBs this blogs going to be shorter than usual, but thats the natural way of things. You get peaks and troughs and right now, alot of my guys are in their off season or the early phases of their training cycles ready to get back to competition after Christmas. There have been a couple of competitions in November though and one coming up in early December which will be the final one of the year. So without further ado, lets get at it.
Joes been working hard in the dark and is starting to get to the point where rep PBs are starting to happen, the first one of this training cycle is a 170kg Front Squat for 5.
Pitstop 1: While the Front Squat is a strength of Joes, it would be silly to neglect it as I find it directly correlates with Push Press strength. If your Push Press and Front Squat technique are good, it’s likely an increase in the Front Squat will lead to increases in the Push Press
Taj is in the early phases of a training cycle too and unfortunately for Taj, his general strength levels far outweigh weightlifting strength levels and has been given 5s and 4s in the Snatch and the Jerk, sorry mate. Those aren’t the PBs I’m going to write about though. Taj hit a PB Block Clean of 62kg x3. The reason the Block Clean is in his program is to try to help increase his rate of force development while also simplifying the Clean so we can build confidence with bigger numbers.
Jack has a wild job with lots of travel and struggled with consistency for a good while, not any more though and things are starting to come to fruition. Jack nailed a 100kg Push Press for a new 3RM for his consistency.
Pitstop 2: This may seem obvious, but as a coach, I can write the program, modify technique, give a focus and advise on lifestyle choices… But I can’t do the work and if I could I’d be a ver rich man. Along with effort, consistency is the thing I strive for most from people. Thats where the magic really happens.
Marie had a good end to her training cycle with PBs i the Snach at 45kg x3, Block Jerk at 59kg x2 & C&J of 50kg for 1+3 which is a bit of convoluted PB but is actually a 3RM Jerk. It’s unfortunate we didn’t hit any 1RMs but it just wasn’t to be at the Yorkshire Open where we ended our training cycle. Marie finished on a 53kg Snatch and a 59KG C&J which isn’t far from her top numbers but we had things working against us.
A Double Header: Part 1… ‘Ladytime’: I’ll not talk about it too much because (as a man) all of my experience is anecdotal, but ‘lady time’ as Marie calls it can hit women in different ways, in Marie’s case it manifests itself as joint pain due to connective tissue laxity, which obviously isn’t great for lifting maximal weight. I don’t subscribe to the idea that every woman needs their periodisation written around their period as some women don’t seem to be effected, but I do subscribe to the idea that it’s variable and some women will need more changes than others when it hits.
A Double Header: Part 2… Weight classes and performance: On top of that, we’ve essentially been managing a decline since January, which is what training through any type of weight loss is. With weightlifting being a weight category sport, it’s often about identifying which weight category will be best for you to be competitive in once you’re past the just go lift beginner stage. Usually how it goes is:
Going up a weight class = Performance will go up and your competitiveness within your class will go down
Dropping into a lower weight class = Performance will usually go down, but your competitiveness within your class will increase.
Marie has lost an amazing 8kg since January. 👏🏻
Things are starting to come together for Xena and she hit a new 1RM Snatch at 42kg and 2RM Push Press at 43kg… Now we just need to put the C&J together and complete the training cycle before Christmas.
Little Jo had a nice finish to her training cycle with a trio of Deadlift PBs across 3 or 4 weeks hitting PBs at 70kg, 72.5kg & 75kg. She also put the cherry on the training cycle with another Strict OHP PB adding to the Squat and Bench PBs we hit earlier in the training cycle.
Liam P has had a great training cycle and I think the upcoming competition has brought out the best of him… Here’s a list!
Squat - 160kg x3
Squat - 165kg x3
Pause Bench Press - 105kg x4
Pause Bench Press - 107.5kg x2
Pause Bench Press - 107.5kg x3
Pause Bench Press - 110kg x1
Deadlift (Strapless) - 210kg x4
Deadlift (Strapless) -220kg x2
Deadlift (Stiff Bar) - 222.5kg x1 (All Time PB)
Deadlift (DL Bar) - 225kg x1
It’s touch and go on the squat despite a great training cycle due to an adductor issue, but we’re well on the way to achieving our goals of matching his gym PBs in the Squat & Bench to competition standards with commands and smoking his Deadlift PB.
Competition: I often find the best training cycles are the ones that apply a little pressure to the athlete and entering a competition is one way to do that. It provides an extra focus, a timeframe and an immovable goal. Something you can’t replicate just by going through a normal training cycle with no competition at the end.
Scott is starting to hit rep PBs on his first training cycle and a new 5RM in the Squat is the first of many I suspect. Scott has his sights on doing his first Strongman competition around April next year.
Jack Is in the middle of a Squat cycle and has hit a new 10RM at 128kg, but that didn’t stop him competing at the Yorkshire Open where hit 89kg in the Snatch and 110kg in the C&J. These aren’t his best numbers, but we knew we’d be training through the competition and that he’d be lifting on tired legs and it’s all vital competition experience. He’s also hit a new 2RM Below the Knee Block Clean of 110kg x2.
Pitstop 3: Training through a smaller competition is a great way to gain competition experience. With Weightlifting only having 2 lifts, it lends it’s self to it a little more than strongman does, but in either sport, as long as you have realistic expectations and goals, it’s a great way to gain competition experience. In weightlifting I don’t mind it being an extra day of training or as the heavy session. In strongman, i’d usually replace the event session with the competition that week.
Being in the same club, Jen is on the same Squat program as Jack and has hit a new 6RM in the Squat of 90kg. She also hit a PB Power Clean of 60kg!
The strongmen are currently preparing for UKNS Englands at the end of January so I didn’t expect any PBs this month and i’ll likely have more to write about in December & January, still though George F hit a new rep max in the Double Overhand Deadlift at 180kg x6. Grip gains in strongman are important and with a Max time frame hold the increased capacity in his grip its welcome.
A Training Hack: Obviously I program general warm ups, but I often program the warm ups sets of my athletes first main movement of the day. It’s an opportunity for me to make sure they’re doing the right amount on the way up to their main sets while also being an opportunity to give them a variation or focus through the warm up sets to fix technical deficiencies. Things like Pauses and close variations are all mainstays that I pick from dependant on the movement being performed and the deficiency. My favourite start points are:
5x5@ 50% (Good for static / slow strength movements like Squats & Presses)
2to3x5 @50 to 60% followed by 1to2x3@60 to 70% (A good progression from the 5x5 if lower volume its needed)
3x3 @50 to 60% followed by 2x2@60 to 70%.
In Georges case, before his main deadlifts, he had 5x5 @50% Double Overhand Deadlift and it’s increased to 5x5 @50 to 70% over the course of the training block. In the next training block as things intensify and we need less volume in the warm up, we’ll probably drop to the second.
Karen has been flying in the Squat hitting PBs of 64kg x6, 61kg (80%) x13 , 77.5kg x1, Squat - 82.5kg x1. Hitting new 1RMs mid training cycle is usually a good sign… Unfortunately for her it means she has higher numbers to work off for the remainder of the cycle.
Finally we have Stephen who to 170kg for a spin on the Deadlift for 5x5 and that just happened to also be a new 5RM.
Thats it, I usually feel a pressure to write something here to give extra value to your tine spent reading it, but with the new way I write I feel there’s plenty of value, along with context already in there…
So, until next time
Adam
