MikeD 2010-11 Offseason

[miked]

27 dec 10 pull

so, i missed my pull workout on Saturday cuz of Xmas. sunday i woke up with a sinus infection. today, i was feeling good. thought the body was well rested and ready go for a big pull workout before a week of deloading. well, wrong. mentally, i was going to go down to the basement and pull a 585 DL for a new PR. didn't happen. couldn't budge 545. then, was a bit aggravated with myself and decided i was going to hang clean 275 for a double regardless of the state of my body, cns, or mind. it took me three attempts, but i succeeded. this was a very disappointing and reassuring workout. and, yes, i had the camera on hand to show of my big pull. haha little bit of humble pie before a bit of confidence stew.

dwu
DL - 135x3 225x3, 315x3, 405x1, 49x1, 545 miss, 545 miss
hang clean - 135x3, 185x3, 225x2, 255x2, 275x0, 27x0, 275x2
done

first vid of 2011 offseason (probably a bit self-indulgent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDuxzuEsqtU

[krazy40]

Dude, if you got 275x2 with that tech, you can do three bills no problem.

Its all about the shrug and the extension. You are not shrugging AT ALL. Watch your video, you are trying to upright row the bar to your chest, which is wrong. At the top of your pull, your shoulders/traps should be shrugged to your ears and your body should fully extended with you on your toes. Then BOOM, you snap under the bar into your front squat position for the catch. Thats ideal, but like you(and many other people i've seen) I also spread my legs instead of squating down, haha.

Think of it as 2 separate phases: the extension and the catch. The shrug and the extension is was moves 95% of the weight. From there you are just trying to get under the bar and catch it. From watching your video, you are pretty much catching a glorified upright row. the hands/arms pretty much guide the bar and shouldn't do much of the lifting. I will guarantee you will easily add 20-30 pounds if you work on this, no problem.

If i was you, i would drop down to a weight you can move pretty easily, practice the extension. Do the normal drop down(looks like you go to about your knees) then explode up, throwing your hips forward, coming up on your toes, and shrugging your shoulders to your ears. You might even leave your feet with the lighter weight. Do this until you are comfortable, then start catching it. Like i said, the catch should look like the bottom of your front squat, but we aren't Olympic lifters, so do the leg spread if you want. I will bet you a beer or 2, if you do this even half way right, you will get 300lbs the first workout if you don't gas yourself out practicing it.

[bjketchem]

great post Jeremy. Hope your doing well brother.

Great effort, Mike "I got so much moxie it makes up for my awful technique, which resembles a my break dancing skills circa 1983" Dickens...but Jeremy's right, go lighter, and work the tech brother.

[miked]

Thanks for the input, Jeremy. I have long suspected that my oly form is somewhat less than ideal. To bad I haven't had a training partner over the past couple of years who could have pointed this out to me . . . oh wait, he just did right after you mentioned it. Thanks, BJ. haha

Yeah, when I watched this video I was impressed at how much the catch looked nothing like the bottom of a front squat, or anything like it should. Definitely need to work the technique.

Thanks, again.

[ADaniel]

Mike, when will you start doing some drills/pre-season throwing? Thx!

[miked]

In theory, I always do drills. as part of my dynamic warmup, when walking around the house, in the hallways and bathrooms at work, in the aisles at stores, etc. but, i haven't been as regular with this as i should be. and, anytime the weather allows i will do some drilling and light throwing with the implements.

i probably won't get serious about the drilling and throwing until some time in mid march or april, this year.

Dec 28- Jan 3 Deload
this was some serious deloading. i did jack and squat. nada

4 Jan Squat
dwu
Snatch grip JS - upto 185x3x3
Oly style ATG Back Squats (the only way i do them now) - upto 415x5x4 sets
hanging leg raises.

not gonna lie, the squats were rough. allowed 3 mins recovery between sets.

5 Jan Upper Push/Pull
dwu
PP - 135x3x3
Bench - upto 265x5x4 sets, drop to 225x14f
BO row - upto 255x8, drop to 225x8
Std DB OHP - upto 80x8
Lat PD (Nautilus machine, haha) - 140x10, 185x10, 155x6

[miked]

8 Jan Pull
dwu
clean grip Power shrug/triple ext- up to 245x3x3 - last rep on each i pulled through and caught. focusing on firing the traps and pulling through the top, and watching in mirror to check tech.
DL - upto 440x4x6 sets - doing the "Patient Mans 6x4" with 3 mins recovery between sets. man, funny how time works. those 3 mins pass much faster with each progressive set.
Hang leg raise - 15x3

BJ had an interesting question, how does the volume of poundage compare to "heavier" DL workouts?

245x2+335x3+415x1+440x6x4 = 12430 total lbs
last full DL workout was hex deads up to 505x10 so: 135x3+225x3+315x3+405x2+455x1+505x10= 7885 total lbs

hmmm

[chirolifter]

Yes, but Power output is much higher with o-lifts... Isnt that what we want?

[miked]

that's what i've been told. i will move to focusing more on the oly lifts here in a few weeks. right now i want to work the technique a little more and develop more strength.

[miked]

i have been training. just been pretty busy. i will post them before too much longer.

[miked]

so, i was out of town most of the past two weeks, but still managed to get my workouts in, although for most of them i just hit the primary lift.

9 Jan Push
dwu
OHP - got up to mh first set of 3 at 155, then had to stop and tend to some family business

12 JAN Squat
dwu
Snatch grip Power shrug (working tech) - up to 185 x 3 x 3
Squat - upto 435x3, 435x2, 405x4x2 sets, drop to 315x10
GM - 225x8x2 sets
70# KB swings x 20 each side

13 JAN Upper Push/Pull
dwu
PP - upto 225x3
Bench - upto 280x4x4, drop to 225x13
BO Row - 225x8x3
DB OHP drop set - 60 down to 20's
Lat PD - drop set 165 down to 105
Hmr Benchh - 160x15
some curls and tris and crunches

the workouts on the 12 and 13th were in 1/75 Ranger battalions gym. the rangers have sweet gyms. they do a lot of crossfit type stuff (which is helps the type of strength conditioning that is good for their jobs) so, they have lots of bumper plates, boxes, oly platforms, kettlebells, and they even had tires out front ranging from about 150# up to about 600#.

[miked]

15 JAN Pull
dwu
snatch grip hi pull - upto 185x3x3 sets
DL - up to 465x4x3sets was supposed to get 6 sets but bonked. i was pretty tired from sleeping in a hotel all week and working long hours, and hadn't gotten home the night before until 11 pm
step ups 12" box - 135x10x2 sets
rvs hyper - 140x15x2 sets


16 JAN Push
dwu
speed bench - 135x3x4 sets - tried releasing and catching at the top on last set. got some serious clearance of about a half inch haha
OHP - upto 175x4x4, drop to 135x10
some tri's
rvshyper - 140x10x3 sets

[miked]

18 JAN Squat
dwu
snatch - upto 185x3x2 sets
squat - up to 425x4x3 sets, drop to 315x10


19 JAN - upper push/pull
dwu
Bench - upto 295x3x4 sets, drop to 225x16
BO row - 225x8x2 sets
std DB OHP - 70x14
close grip Lat Pulldown - Drop set 180 down to 100

Both of these workouts were done in the 3/75 ranger battalion's gym. same thing as stated before, awesome gym. the second workout, Jan 19th, I managed to forget to put my shorts and t-shirt in my gym bag. so, i did the workout in my khaki's and v-neck white undershirt. haha the dudes (rangers) were looking at me like "who the f***** is this guy in our gym? haha

[miked]

22 JAN Pull
dwu
snatch hi pulls/snatch - multiple sets at 135x3; working technique
hex deads - up to 475x4x6 sets
hex shrugs - 225x20
12" box step ups - 225x8x2 sets
rvs hyper - 140x10x2 sets

[miked]

23 JAN Push
dwu
speed bench - 135x3x3 release at top
OHP - upto 185x3x4 sets, drop to 135 x 11
JM press - 135x10x2 sets
rvs hyper - 140x20
some curls and extenstions
JM press - 135x10
crunches

[miked]

25 JAN Squat

Decided to listen to my body and deload this week even though I was doing a 6 week cycle.

dwu
squat - up to 225x8x3 sets
GM - 135x10x2
hammer winds (oh yeah ) 10 sets of 3 to each side - - these felt goooood
rvs hyper - 140x10x2 sets
"cardio" - 12 mins brisk walking on treadmill
good long stretching session

[chirolifter]

Low 400's for 3's, nice..... Im going to "try" and spin this yr. in stone... Might as well since my glide sucks!!!

[miked]

use to squat 500 for 3's. but, then i went to the oly style ATG squat. quite different. body is still adapting to it.

you gonna do the south african or work the full? either way,the key is to drive the hips ahead of the upper body at the finish. that will snap/whip the upper body. true for the glide, too, actually.

[miked]

I was sick most of last week with some sort of respiratory crap. so, i was good i decided to go ahead deload. I managed to make 3 of 4 workouts

26 JAN
dwu
DB OHP - 20x 8, 40x8
bench - upto 185x8x2 sets
BO row - 135x8x2
some curls and tri ext's
crunches


29 JAN
seated BNP - upto 135x5x3 sets
DB bench - 70x5x3 sets
DB OHP - 50x5x2
Hmr Bench - 140x12x2
hanging leg raises - 15x3
core crusher - 95x20

there was a bench competition going on at the gym when i was doing my deload push workout. haha i felt like a real weenie. it was a raw comp. the most impressive thing i saw was a dude with one hand bench 420 at about 220 bodyweight. he balanced on his wrist nub. impressive.

[miked]

1 FEB snatch/squat
dwu
snatch up to 155x3x2
squat - 435x5x2 sets, 405x5x2
GM - 225x8x2
side lunges - bar for range of motion x 20
some ext's
some calves


starting to get the throwing fever. gonna have to work in more drills with implements and actually throw a little. hope the dadgum weather clears up some soon.

[miked]

2 FEB Upper Push/pull
dwu
PP - upto 225x3x3
Bench - upto 280x5x4 sets, 225x12
DB BO Row - upto 115x8x2 sets
Seated DB OHP - 75x6, 85x5
JM Press - 135x10x2
Lat PD - 200x10x2
some curls and push downs
some core

[miked]

Sat PULL
dwu
if you saw BJs post then you have a pretty good idea of what we did, a lot of dynamic pulls
snatch - bunch of sets of 3 up to 135 for several
clean - bunch of sets of 3 up to 225
RDL into power shrug/jump shrug - buch up to several of 3 with 315

[miked]

Been sick all week. Apparently its the H1N1 stuff. Funny, i thought the swine flu was just a big hoax.

Anyway, feeling tons better today as the day has progressed. Finally ate something. Last solid food was Monday breakfast. Monday night and Tuesday I felt horrible. Worst I have felt in recent memory. The worse stuff was the body/muscular aches and headache. I don't usually have headaches, so that sucked. i am sure most of it was due to being dehydrated. I was pushing fluids the whole time . . . . in and out, unfortunately.

hope to workout on Saturday and Sunday. We'll see.

[miked]

8 FEB -sick

9 FEB - sick

finally started feeling better towards the end of the week. decided i was going to work out on Saturday and Sunday no matter what. time to be finished with being sick.

12 FEB Pull
dwu
snatch - upto 135x3x3
clean - upto 225x3x3
RDL power shrugs - upto 275x5
GHRx10

felt better than i expected. not as weak as i thought i might after a week of doing nothing and barely eating.

13 FEB push
dwu
speed bench - 135x4x3 sets
OHP - 135x5x5
Incline JM press - 135x8x3 sets
some curls and extensions
reverse hyper - 140x15
hammer winds - 10 sets of 3 each way

felt better, again, than expected. hopefully this bears out and my strength levels will not have taken much of a hit.

[miked]

16 FEB snatch/squat
dwu
snatch - 135x3x4 sets didn't feel very explosion
front squat - upto 315x3 felt pretty good, but want to ease into things after last week
back squat - 315x10
gm - 135x10
rvs hyper - 140x15
some core

[miked]

picked up some implements and threw some yesterday for the first time since Meadow in October. Daaaaang.

Braemar felt pretty good.
Open stone felt way off. Forgot how different it is moving through the positons on grass. slow and all over the place. may have to go south african next week at AZ
lightweigt, felt a little awkward but started coming around afte a few throws.
heavyweight - dude. . . . . didn't fall down, but felt really awkward and out of sync. took three throws. the third wasn't quite in the ballpark, but was at least in the right zip code.
light hammer - felt pretty good. i credit this to having done winds on a couple of occassions. key here is to remember to push the hammer through the low point and then lift, turn, and counter back against it. I think this year my hammer will finally get back on track.


20 FEB Pull
dwu
clean - up to 265x2
DL - upto 405x3
RDL power shrug - 315x5, 225x10
rvs hyper - 140x15x2 sets
some curls
some core

when i got to the set of 3 with 405 i realized how dead and flat my system was. it was a chore to get those 3 reps. so, i am pretty happy with the cleans.
Gonna star a conjugat phae now. two heavy/max effort days a week and two speed/dynamic effort days a week. the speed/DE days will basically be throwing days with some oly/jumping type stuff.

[grgreer]

You may inspire me to do a training log, yet. Especially if the dynamic warmups are part of it. I have been working to improve my WOB, my stones, and hopefully my caber, and by default, the sheaf. My hammers are something I will have to concentrate on when the weather breaks. My low back limits the flexibility of my twists. I have been doing plyometrics and cleans (not at the same time, or the same day). Cleans 2x a week, plyos on Wednesdays with an xtra day thrown in here or there. My goal was to drop a few lbs this OS, cardio 5x a week, but I actually gained 5 pounds. I'm up to 305, give or take, depending on the barometric pressure.

[miked]

at 305i think you are effecting the barometric pressure, not the other way around.

[miked]

I am a bit behind in my posting.

22Feb Push/Pull Upper
dwu
PP - 135x3x3 sets
Bench - up to 275 x 3
BO row - 135x10x2 sets
JM press - 135x10

had a nice sinus infection starting on the 24th. lasted a few days. Made for a nice physical state at the AZ HG. I sucked. No good throws to speak of. Fouled out of the 56. had a good time out there, though.

1 Mar DE Upper
dwu
Cont PP - up to 135x4x4 sets
BO row - 135x3
had to stop workout to deal with the family

5 Mar Lower ME
dwu
cleans - upto 205x2
FS - upto 365x1 felt good structurally with these, could have handled more weight, but body was dead
BS - 315x10
RDL Power shrug - 225x8, 225x5 feeling smoked at this point
Rvs Hyper - 140x10x2 sets

still recovering from being sick, I think.


6 Mar Upper ME
dwu
Continuous PP - 135x5x2
seated OHP - 135x5, 155x3, 175x3, 195x3, 215x1, 135x15
Rvs grip supported BO row - upto 135x8
DB bench - 90x6, 105x6
Lat PD - upto 200x8
JM press - 135x10x2
some curls and tri ext
cable sidebends - 70x20x2
Plank x 1 min

[miked]

9 Mar DE Lower World Gym, Fayetteville, NC
dwu
Snatch - upto 175x2 - gotta work technique with the Oly lifts. i have a bad habit of pulling up and back, rather than up, up, up
Clean - 225x3x2
RDL PS - upt to 275x5
BB Jumps - 135x4x3 sets


10 Mar DE Upper World Gym, Fayetteville, NC
dwu
continuous PP - upto 155x5x2 sets
BO row - upto 225x8
Bench - doubles up to 275x2 drop to 225 x 17
Hmr Lat PD - up to 230x15
DB OHP - 50x15



12 Mar Lower ME Dickens Basement of Pain, Montclair, VA
dwu
snatch from boxes at top of knee - upto 115x3x2 working technique, technique, tech
Box Pulls from top of knee - 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 405x3, 455x1, 505x1, 545x1, 605x1, 655x1, 705x10
Rvs Hyper - 140x15x2 sets

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLH8iKh1qJk