Topic: LaDuke's Training Log

[Carl Darby]

Yes, I've noticed the improvement. Thanks for putting up the video of the two misses. If anything, at least on the second attempt, you are doing better keeping you weight back than on the 130 clean. Maybe just being more aggressive pulling under, keeping tighter when you catch it, and maybe starting the pull under a tiny fraction of a second sooner is all that's standing between you and a 136-140 clean. You certainly have the strength.

[leighton richards]

Do you always train the clean separately from the jerk?
Do you find it much more difficult to jerk a weight after you've cleaned it, as opposed to jerking it from the rack?
I know my jerks from the rack are quite strong compared to my clean, but I always the clean & jerk on the jerk after I have cleaned it.

[Keith Miller]

Very close on that second attempt.  2 things I noticed, the first of which leighton mentioned, dropping the head.  the second is not keeping the elbows and chest up, the weight just looked like it collapsed you.  You definately have enough pull to get it, keep it up!!

[Paul LaDuke]

Leighton,

I usually try to train the clean and jerk together.  Sometimes I will train the jerk from the rack because I feel it needs more work than my clean.  I just wanted to see what I could do in the clean and to know what I am capable of.  I am finding that I am really surprising myself as I struggled just 3 mos. ago to clean and jerk 120kgs!  For a 41 year old to make this kind of improvement to me is surprising.  I did a 125kg clean and jerk 3 or 4 times (1x in comp) in the summer of 2007.  I kinda figured that age was starting to get the best of me so I embarked on the Russian squat routine to retard that decline to a slow crawl.  I have been amazed to see how my training has taken off and to see the strength gains that I have made.  I truly believe that my total can jump to a 240 or even 250 in a few months of smart training and if I stay healthy.  But, I got some work to do in the jerk if I want that kind of total!

Jack, Carl and Keith,

Thanks for the feedback!  I certainly am pulling the weight high enough.  I was really surprised to see the height of the bar when I watched the video.  No excuse for not cleaning that weight when I am pulling it that high and at that speed.  So, I think the biggest thing was the mental side of the lift.  Not that I was intimidated but that I had lapses in form (staying back on my heels, hips starting too high, not tight enough off the ground, head dropping during the 3rd pull).  I now KNOW that my next attempt at it will be successful because all the strength is there.

[Paul LaDuke]

Workout, 3/10/2009

Warm Up shoulder circuit #1, presses, front squats, squats, good mornings, stretch

Snatch
- 5 x 50kg
- 3 x 60kg
- 2 x 2 x 70kg
- 3 x 2 x 80kg

Clean
- 3 x 2 x 110kgs

Jerk from Rack
- 3 x 80kg
- 3 x 90kg (jerks felt pretty good at this point, so I decided to see what I was capable of)
- 1 x 100kg
- 1 x 110kg
- 1 x 120kg
- 2 x 1 x 130kg (missed both attempts)

Front Squat
- 3 x 1 x 140kgs

[Paul LaDuke]

Workout, 3/12/2009

Warm Up - squats, lunges, stretches, DB lat. raise, DB Cuban raise, Presses, BB rows, OHS

Snatch
- 5 x 50
- 5 x 60
- 2 x 70
- 4 x 1 x 80
- 2 x 1 x 82.5
- 2 x 1 x 85
- 2 x 1 x 87.5 (missed 1st)
- 2 x 1 x 90 (missed both)
all misses were slightly out front, need to work on keeping back and finishing

Snatch Pulls
- 3 x 3 x 110kgs (felt pretty light)

Snatch Balance
- 3 x 60
- 3 x 70
- 2 x 3 x 75kgs
used a slightly narrower grip to improve some flexibility

[Paul LaDuke]

Wanted to concentrate more on form and volume today so stayed at moderate weights.

Workout, 3/13/2009

Warm Up - normal stuff, felt pretty good so didn't need to do a whole lot.

Tall Cleans for Speed - working on speed into bottom position
- 5 x 60kgs
- 5 x 70kgs

Clean and Split Jerk
- 3 x 2 x 90kgs
- 3 x 2 x 100kgs
- 3 x 1 x 110kgs (1 jerk left out front, rest felt good)
- 1 x 112.5kgs


Pretty simple workout but pretty gassed after wards.  I did this all in the span of 45 minutes, so there wasn't much sitting around.

[Paul LaDuke]

Today's session was light weight for form and then a max effort back squat day.

Workout, 3/15/2009

Warm Up - Rode some bike with my daughter (5yo) and then squats and stretching,

Tall Snatch - working on speed under the bar
- 3 x 3 x 50kgs

Tall Cleans
- 3 x 3 x 70kgs

Rack Jerks
- 3 x 3 x 70kgs

Back Squat
- 5 x 100kgs
- 3 x 120kgs
- 2 x 140kgs
- 2 x 160kgs
- 1 x 170kgs
- 1 x 175kgs
- miss at 180kgs, had it halfway up.  Guess my max Olympic style, high bar squat would be 390# or 177.5kgs!  The 175kg was my heaviest successful attempt in about 1.5 years.