Topic: Training in the Utah'n winter

[Taylor Chiu]

Greetings everyone-

I decided as a means of motivation for myself, and for the interest of the casual observer, to post the workouts of my current training cycle.

My end goal is the qualify for Americans in the beginning of December, and hoist a 600 lb (273 kg) total!

I believe I have to submit a qualifying total by the 11th of Nov., a hefty 260 kg for my 85 kg weight class.

The next meet I'll be lifting in is on Nov. 1st, here in my hometown of Provo.

Currently, my best competition lifts are:
106 kg (I"ll assume kg from now on, unless I mention otherwise) Snatch
120 kg C&J

Although since then I have done 110/130 in workouts.

I weigh about 83 kgs, although I put on a few of those in just the past couple of weeks (trying to bulk up).

Here's some other personal bests:
190 Back Squat
180 Stop back squat (did this yesterday)
155 Front Squat
150(2)2 Front squat
137 Squat Jerk

Here's my basic weekly layout:

Monday:
90% (of max) SN
Heavy squats (usually FS)

Tuesday:
80% C&J
Heavy squats (BSQ)

Wednesday:
80% SN

Thursday:
90% C&J
Heavy pulls, Deadlifts and Romanians

Friday:
70% SN and C&J

Saturday:
80% SN and C&J
Squat Jerks and Snatch Squats

I know I've got a long way to go to make my goals, but you've got to set the bar high if you want to really succeed.

[Taylor Chiu]

So here's yesterday's workout (it was an 80% C&J day):

50 - 3 DL (deadlifts) + 2 RM (romanians)
50 - 2 DL + 3 RM
50 - 5 SN HPL (high pulls)
50 - PC (power clean)
50 - PC + FSJ (front squat jerk)
50 - PCJ + PC + FSJ
50 - SN (snatch) w/ hook grip
50 - SN
50 - PS + SN

Everything above with 50 is my normal warmup.

70 - C&J
90 - C&J
105 - C&J
115(C&J)5 (this means 5 sets of a single with 115) - unusually sharp for such a large jump on the first one,                            missed the 2nd clean - a little too much back and forth movement with the bar)

Stop Back Squats ("stop" means that I lower into the deep squat position, pause, and then squat up - no bounce):

100(2)
140(1)
160(1)
170(1) w/ belt
175(1) w/ belt  PR!!!!!!!!!!
180(1) w/ belt  PR!!!!!!!!!!
165(3) w/ belt  PR!!!!!!!!!!

Not a bad day.

[Matt Erdman]

Looks like you already have the strength for 260. What do you think is holding back your lifts?

[Taylor Chiu]

I agree Matt.
My technique is trying to play catch-up with my strength, but I've been making big strides lately.  Why the low comp. PR's?  My competition SN is from a few months ago (my last competition), and my C&J from last year's collegiates (had a tour in Iraq and a hurt wrist since then).
I'm hoping for a big breakthrough one of these days.
One thing that's really been helping lately is a focus on cocking the hips, something that seems very noticeable in Kolecki and Aramnau's lifting.  The weight really pops overhead quickly and shoots the body downward.
Anyone else had success with this technique?

[Taylor Chiu]

Also, I was unable to do any O-lifts for a month and a half this summer because of an injured wrist.  A long list of other minor but nagging injuries have also kept me back, but they all seem to be clearing up now.

[Taylor Chiu]

Man, school sure makes it hard to keep up with journal like this.

So, last Thursday I did heavy C&J's, but hurt my lower back (missed 132.5 three times after making 127.5).  So I took the next few days off from lifting.  Unfortunately for my back, that was because I had to go hike around with a pack on my back with the Marine Corps.  Luckily it didn't feel too bad.

I did a light workout on Monday; here are the highlights-
145 (FS) 3
80 (SN + SS + hookless PL) 2
100 (C + J + C) 2
110 (FS + FS + J) 2

On Tuesday ,my snatch warm-up felt really strong, so I decided to go heavy on the snatches.
50 warm-up
70 (SN)
80 (SN)
90 (SN) w/ hk
100 (SN) w/ stp
105 (SN) w/ stp
110 (missed SN) w/ stp  --- lost the extension into the bar at the top of the pull; was intimidated by the weight and as a result trying to get under the bar too fast
After last weeks debacle of a heavy C&J workout, I (along with my dad) decided that almost anytime I missed a lift, I would have to drop the weight lower and then to build back up(instead of attempting the same weight again).
90 (SN)
100 (SN) 2 w/ stp
105 (SN miss) w/ stp
Here's where things started going well:
100 (SN) 2 w/ stp
105 (SN) 4 w/ stp

My back was starting to feel cranky, so I held off from doing heavy back squats.

Wow! So I ended up doing 10 snatches with 100 kilos or more (5 with 100, and 5 with 105; all with straps).

Time to crank it up! The total deadline for Americans is a little over a month away.

[Stephen_Wasylishen]

Hi Taylor, how do you mean 'cock the hips'?

[Taylor Chiu]

Hi Stephen-

My dad could explain this a lot better than I can, but when I say "cock the hips" I mean locking them back so that they can explosively thrust forward..  This is done by tightening the butt muscles and the lower back.  As a result, the lifter's body shoots downward (and the weight upward) much more rapidly than with the triple extension.  Also, the lifter's feet stay relatively grounded as compared with the triple extension.

Good examples of lifters who very noticeably do this are Kolecki and Aramnau.   

Sorry if my explanation is unclear.  The best way to see what I'm saying is to watch the top half of Kolecki and Aramnau's pulls.