Tuesday, 9/1: Loo Loo Loo, I've got some apples

Week 2, Day 2

1. Muscle Snatch: 4 sets of 5 reps. Keep weight light, just work on bar path and turnover speed.

2. 2 Position Snatch (Floor+Below Knee=1 set):  Max for 1 set, -5% x 1 set, -10% x 1 set

3. Snatch Pulls: 4 sets of 3 reps. If you can keep the speed up, then go heavy and hard.

4. Bent Over Rows: 5 sets of 5 reps

5. Chest to Bar Pull Ups: 5 sets of 8-10 reps

6. Turkish Get Ups: 5 sets of 3 on each side

7. Back (Hip) Ext.: 5 sets of 8 reps, use weight if possible.

8. Foam Roll & Stretch (this should be there anyway, but now you HAVE to do it.)

Now that you have somewhat of a measuring stick for max attempts, try to lift more weight in each exercise than the previous week (as long as you're feeling good, don't kill yourself to get a new max). So, for the 5 RM Back Squat for example, try to get a heavier weight than you did last week. Don't get frustrated if you don't make a record each time, just keep pushing yourself.

For today, make sure that during the pulls you are maintaining proper form and technique. If either start to break down, lower the weight. If you want to do weighted chest to bar pull ups, go for it.

Randomizer Option:

Power Clean+Front Squat+Push Press: 3 sets of 3+3+3, any variation

10 rounds of:

5 Pull Ups

10 Push Ups

15 BW Squats

(Cindy)

Monday, 8/31: Week duex

Week 2, Day 1

1. Snatch Push Press + OHS: 4 sets of 1 + 3

2. Back Squat: 5RM, -5% x 5 reps, -10% x 5 reps

3. Split Squat or Lunge w/ weight overhead: 5 sets of 5 reps

4. Press: 5 sets of 5 reps

5. Clapping Push Ups: 40-50000, however many you feel like.

6. L-Sits: 5 sets of 30-45 seconds

7. 60m Hill Sprints x 5, or Sled Pull 60m x 5 (not both)

How's everybody feeling from last week? Things should start to feel a lot lighter by the end of this week (if they aren't already).

Randomizer Option:

Deadlift: 5 sets of 5 reps

3 Rounds of:

250m Row

15 Thrusters

10 Knees to Elbows

Saturday, 8/29: O-lifter Smash!

(This is what I expect all the males on the program to look like in twelve weeks)

Week 1, Day 6

Snatch: Work up to 1 set of 1 Rep, As Heavy As Possible 

Clean and Jerk: Work up to 1 set of 1 Rep, As Heavy As Possible

Front Squat: Work up to 1 set of 3, As Heavy As Possible

I know it's worded a little funny, but I basically mean work up to a max single in the Snatch, CJ, and for a max triple in the Front Squat.  Don't just choose a weight and go straight to it, take as many warm up attempts as you need, but be smart about it, don't wear yourself out.  For the Front Squat triple, if you're unsure about a good number to go for, try to hit your best Clean weight (or a little more) for a set of 3.  If you don't hit a personal best, no need to fret, there will be plenty of opportunities in the near future.  Just go as heavy as you can, and whether you hit 50% of your best, or 105% of your best, it doesn't matter, just as long as you are doing it with intensity.

Randomizer Option: Day off

Friday, 8/28: Rest Day

Week 1, Day 5

Rest Day!

Randomizer Option:

Bench Press: 5 sets of 3

10,9,...2,1 of:

.75 of BW Clean

Pull Ups

The MetCon is a Crossfit Football workout, just in case you were wondering.

Thursday, 8/27: Quattro Leoni

Week 1, Day 4

1.  Muscle Clean: 5 sets of 5; go light, just work on turnover speed.

2.  3 Position Power Clean: 3 (1+1+1) RM, -5% x 3 reps (1+1+1), -10% x 3 reps (1+1+1).  So 3 total working sets.

3.  Clean Pull: 4 sets of 3 reps

4.  Chest to bar Pull Ups: 5 sets of 5-10 reps, or more if you can.

5.  Muscle Ups: Just for fun, so do however many you want.

6.  Reverse Hyper or Hip Ext.: 5 sets of 8 reps with weight.

7.  Toes to bar: 5 sets of 10-15 reps

Note:  For the Clean Pull, go how you feel, but keep the speed going.  Don't use a weight that starts to make the pulls seem like a deadlift with a shrug at the end.  A good goal initially would be to work in the 90-100% range of your CJ max, but like I said, go how you feel.

Randomizer Option:

Power Snatch+OHS: 4 sets of (2+2)

Jackie: 1000m Row, 50 Thrusters (45#), 30 Pull Ups

Wednesday, 8/26: Numero Three

Week 1, Day 3

1.  Power Jerk: 3 RM, or do 10-12 total reps

2.  Back Squat: Go up to Mondays Max for a set of 3, then +5-10% for a set of 2, then back down 10% of Monday's max for 3 sets of 5.

3.  Glute Ham Raise, or hamstring exercise of your choice: 5 sets of 5

4.  Bench Press: 5 sets of 5

5.  Weighted Abs: 5 sets

6.  Rower Sprints: 200m x 5

If the squats aren't feeling particularly well, then just go how you feel for a heavy set of 3, then 2, then back down to a comfortable but challenging weight for the remaining 3 sets.

Randomizer Option: Day off.  Again I should have probably mentioned the randomizer will only be Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri.  

Tuesday, 8/25: Number Two

Week 1, Day 2:

1.  Muscle Snatch: 5 sets of 5

2.  3 Position Power Snatch (Floor, Below Knee, Above Knee): 3 RM, -5% x 3, -10% x 3

3.  Snatch Deadlift: 5 RM, -5% x 5, -10% x 5

4.  Snatch RDL+Sn. Pull from Above Knee: 3 sets of 5+5  

5.  Weighted Pull Ups: 5 sets of 5

6.  Abs: 5 sets

7.  Hip Extension: 5 sets of 10, use weight if possible, but don't get crazy.

8.  Box Jumps: 5 sets of 5

Notes:  The muscle snatch is an assistance exercise, so don't worry about weight, just worry about the movement and turnover speed.  Next, 3 RM for 3 Pos. Sn. means one of each position, not 3+3+3.  For this program, I won't do more than 3 reps/set for O-Lifts.  For Snatch RDL+Sn. Pull, do a RDL, then a pull.  Don't do 5 RDL's, then 5 Pulls.  Also, hold for a split second on the RDL before doing the pull.

I probably should have explained this earlier, but when an exercise has a "RM" next to it, be smart about your warm-ups.  For instance, yesterdays Back Squat workout had a 5 RM.  I did a couple triples, but mostly singles and doubles leading up to that 5 RM.  Gauge how the lighter weights feel, and then choose a weight that you think you'll be able to do 5 with, but no way on Earth you'll get 6.  The max set is the most important, all the sets leading up to it are just for warming up, not wearing you down.  In a competition, taking too many warm ups is detrimental, and the same applies for RM days.

Also, spend the majority of the time on the important exercises (in this case, ex. 2-4), but no more than 1 hour.  Rest 2 minutes or less between sets, maybe a little more with strength exercises, and I'd probably say don't spend more than 40 minutes total on all the assistance work.  If you want to take the assistance exercises and turn them into a MetCon type workout (for conditioning or to save time), that's totally kew.  

Randomizer Option:

Snatch Pulls: 4 sets of 2

Complete 3 rounds of:

800m Run

15 HSPU

30 1 Arm Snatch

Monday, 8/24: And here...we...go...

Week 1, Day 1

1. Snatch Push Press+OHS: 5 sets of (2+2)

2. Back Squat: Work up to a 5 Rep Max,

back down 5% for 5, then 10% (off Max for day) for 5

3. Split Squat or Lunge: 5 sets of 5

4. Press: 5 sets of 5

5. Dips: 5 sets of 5

6. Weighted Abs: 5 sets

7. Hill Sprints: 60m, 5 times

If you'd like to maximize your workouts, break them up into two. Do exercises 1-4 in one, then 5-7 in the other.

Randomizer Option:

Cleans: 3 sets of 2, go heavy.

3 rounds of:

250m Row

5 Muscle Ups

15 Wall Balls

Easy one today.  The 3 sets of 2 in the clean are all working sets, they do not include warm up weights.

12 Week Program

No, I'm not talking about a 12 step program to help cure your addiction to stuffed animals, I'm talking about Olympic lifting. On August 24th, I'm going to start a 12 week cycle, in which there are 3 micro-cycles; strength, power, and competition. I spent a fair amount of time developing it, and now it's time to see how it works. My own ideas about training are meaningless until they are applied successfully. So, hopefully the next 12 weeks will give me the insight into what needs to be tweaked, changed, or thrown out entirely. I'm going to post the workout the night before (e.g., Monday's workout will be posted Sunday night), and if I'm bored enough, I'll put in what percentages I did during the actual workout. Hopefully it'll be fun, and if you have any comments, I'd love to hear them.

For the next week and a half I plan on doing whatever I want, but getting some sort of a base with the purpose of not being entirely unprepared for the 24th.

A little bit about my program; it was compiled out of things I experienced from Burgener, Fleschler, Garcy, and Cioroslan, along with influences from Zatsiorsky, Pierce, Stone, Simmons (not Richard), Glassman and others. Most of the exercises are tailored to my needs as a lifter, so it may not be able to benefit everybody, though it's still pretty well balanced. The whole goal is to make a lifter who will be strong in all areas and maintain physical longevity. Like surfers who pride themselves on being good swimmers, fisherman, body surfers, etc., I want to create something similar with O-lifters; a great overall weight lifting athlete. It may work great, it may fail miserably, but it's at least worth a try. There's a lot of variation (which I personally like) to keep the body guessing and the mind from going numb. That's basically it in a nutshell.

A major component of the program however is intensity.  I could write the greatest program in the world for somebody (not that this is it) and it wouldn't make any difference if it were executed poorly, with minimal effort and drive.  So, make sure that you push yourself when you need to, rest when necessary, and do whatever you can to become a well oiled machine.

I also developed an Excel program that I call "The Randomizer." I'm going to post those workouts as well. It's pretty much a hopper, but with the majority of the exercises helping to cure me of my major weakness, conditioning.  It's not meant to be included with the 12 week cycle, it's just another option for anybody who was interested in something different, but didn't want O-lifting only.