04.03.10
Posted in Crossfit Workout & Exercises, General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 12:43 pm by Colin McNulty
I’ve started seriously thinking about the BWLA British Masters Olympic Weightlifting Competition at Lilleshall (I came 2nd last year) at the end of March and how I’m going to prepare for it. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I’ve not done as much lifting as I should have done in preparation for this competition. It’s too close to the comp now to actually consider improving strength really, so I’m just going to focus on technique and get my confidence levels up for what I want my starting lifts to be.
The rules say that you must start within 15kg of the qualifying standard, which was 165kg for the 77kg M1 category. So starting at 150 would be an easy 60kg snatch and 90kg clean and jerk. I think I’m going to do a bit better than that and work towards 65kg and 90kg as starting weights, and see how it goes this month, I may up them both to 70kg snatch and 95gk C&J openers. I do need to be confident of getting a total though, so will err on the side of caution if training this month doesn’t go smoothly.
My aim for training is to not try anything that will cause me to drop a lift in the next 4 weeks. I want to go into the comp with utter confidence that I can lift my openers, then just increment each one by 5kg say on the day for the 2nd and 3rd lifts. That would mean if all goes perfectly (ha, when does that happen?!?) my current PB’s of 77kg and 100kg are in range.
With that in mind, my training this week was:
Tuesday
Hang Snatch and Snatch: 2×40, 2×45, 2×50, 2×55, 1×60
Snatch + 2 Over Head Squat: 2×60, 3×65
Snatch Pulls: 3×70, 3×75, 3×80
Then ½ the Crossfit.com WOD, which was 8 rounds (I did 4) of run 400, with 90 second rest between runs. I only did half as I’m not that used to a lot of running and I had brand new Evo Viva Barefoot running shoes and didn’t want to over do it first time out.
They are Vibram FiveFinger substitutes, as I don’t have the right shaped feet for Vibrams (boooo!). Certainly, they have not a lot of sole to speak of and you do feel a lot more of what you’re walking on. They’ll take a bit of getting used to, but should help the Pose running that’s for sure.
Wednesday
Hang Clean & Jerk + Clean & Jerk: 2×50, 2×60, 2×70, 2×80
Clean & Jerk Singles: 3×85, 3×90
I followed this with a Crossfit WOD from a few days ago: Row 5k. I’ve never done a 5k row before, in fact the most I’ve ever rowed has been 2000m, and only once at that, so this was a bit daunting! In fact, it went better than I’d hoped. Each 1000m split was faster than the one before, and I had enough left to end with a bit of a sprint, finishing in a respectable (I thought) 20:28. Will have a go at beating 20mins next time.
Actually the biggest battle at the moment is making the 77kg (169lbs) weight category. I’m down from a portly 13st5 after Xmas to 12st7 as of this morning, so only 6 lbs and 3.5 weeks to go. Should be no problem, as long as I can continue to be good, hoho.
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02.02.10
Posted in Crossfit Workout & Exercises, General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 8:07 pm by Colin McNulty
Today I did Saturday’s workout from the main Crossfit site, it looked fun:
Seven rounds for time of:
- 95 pound Power snatch, 7 reps
- 95 pound Snatch balance, 7 reps
- 95 pound Overhead squat, 7 reps
95lb doesn’t compute too well to kg, and at the last minute I had an inkling that it could be harder than it looked (the rafts of DNFs on the main site was the hint!) so I plumbed for 40kg, which is exactly 1/2 my body weight at the moment.
I’m glad I did, man that sucked! Lifting half body weight over head 147 times was never going to be easy, and do to resting after each exercise, I actually ended up doing 7 more Snatches (to get the bar up for the OHSs). It was a pretty poor time of 32:55 and I was whacked at the end. That’s the longest Crossfit workout I’ve done in a while.
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19.01.10
Posted in Crossfit Workout & Exercises, General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 10:02 pm by Colin McNulty
Going back to the Cardiff gym this week, for the first time since November, was always going to be messy but I’m as sore as I’ve ever been right now.
I decided to do workouts from the main Crossfit.com site. I can’t necessarily follow their daily scheme, either because like today, it’s a rest day, or because it’s not practical in a “normal” gym, e.g. Fight Gone Bad. So this is what I picked for yesterday, after doing some heavy Cleans, up to 90kg:
With a continuously running clock, squat for 60 seconds. Subtract the number of squats completed from 60, and do that many pull-ups in minute two. In minute three, squat again, subtracting the number completed from 60. Do that number of push-ups in minute four. Minute five is squatting again, and minute six pull-ups.
The pattern is squats, pull-ups, squats, push-ups, squats, pull-ups, etc. The goal is to stay within the workout’s formula for as long as possible.
Don’t do more than 60 squats in any round.
In any case, stay moving for at least 12 minutes.
It looked like fun, and was for the first 4 minutes or so, then it started to go down hill. I won’t bore with the details, but I did do 174 squats in the 12 minutes and boy did my thighs ache this morning!
Then today, I decided to do some light Snatch work, and so just did pairs of Hand Power Snatches + Squat Snatch, up to a modest 55kg. Followed by Grace (30 x power cleans and push jerks) @ 60kg. I was way off the pace at 11:20 and if I thought my thighs ached before, I was wrong! Walking upstairs this evening was a serious struggle, and that was after a good 10 minutes stretching out.
Ho ho, welcome back Crossfit, how I’ve missed you!
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24.11.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 6:16 am by Colin McNulty
It’s hard to start this post… without resorting to impolite expletives! This weekend’s weightlifting competition went about as wrong as it could have done, short of bombing (failing to get any lifts).
I could wax lyrical about my failures, but can’t quite face it to be honest. It was a shambles that’s soonest forgotten. The short version is, I got only 2 of my 6 lifts: 70kg Snatch and 95kg Clean & Jerk, for a 165 total. A mile away from the 182 total I was hoping for. Here’s the high def video, in all its embarrassing glory:
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20.11.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 2:00 pm by Colin McNulty
The day I’ve been waiting 2 months for has finally arrived – the Northern Open Olympic Weightlifting competition, held in Mytholmrod, West Yorkshire (England that is).
First the important stuff: I made the weight. For the last 5 days I’ve been at or under my target weight, which is the upper limit of the 77kg weight category (169 lbs, or 12 stone 1 in old money). On my more accurate scales, this morning, I weighed 76.5kg (168.8 lbs), happy days! Although not happy enough for me to be able to have any breakfast or indeed drink much in the next 4 hours till the official weigh in. See my previous post for how I tweaked the zone diet to loose the weight I needed in just 3 weeks. The zone diet comes through for me again. Here’s my weightloss graph for the last 3 weeks:
I was asked yesterday if I was ready. The answer is: I’m never ready! Well I never feel ready anyway. On the face of it that sounds bad, but think about it for a moment. If I felt ready, that is comfortably ready with the knowledge that I was perfectly able to lift the weight I wanted to, then wouldn’t I be trying below my potential? I don’t know, but I do know that I’m relying on that bit of adrenaline to out perform my previous best ever lifts, either in competition or training.
I’ve been nominally following a Hungarian weightlifting program, set weekly by my coach at Crossfit Manchester. It will be interesting to see whether I’ve progressed in the 2 months I’ve been doing it. I certainly think I have, but whether I can translate that into performance on the day, we’ll see.
Just to recap, the purpose of this comp is to qualify for the European Masters Weightlifting Championships in 2010. I’ve already qualified for the 2010 BWLA British Masters Championships. For this I need to improve on my current personal best total of 177kg, and lift the qualifying weight of 182 total. Here’s the game plan (and anyone who knows me, knows that A LOT of thought has gone into the following):
Snatch: Warm up to 70kg. Open with 75, then 78, and then 80. Current PB is 77, but I’ve only ever lifted over 75 twice ever. To be honest, opening with 75 is the big risk, just 2kg below my PB and whilst I know I can do it, I’ve not been consistent in training, dropping four 70kg snatches in a row only last week for example! There’s a significant chance I will bomb at 75 (fail to get any lifts).
Clean and Jerk: If I make the 80kg snatch, then I open with 97kg (current PB is 100), then I get 2 cracks at 102 which would give me the 182 total I need. If I get the 102, then 105 will be just for fun.
However if I get the 78kg snatch, then I’ll be starting the C&Js having just dropped a lift, so will start at a confidence building 95, then 100, and finish with 104 for my 182 total. There’s a temptation here to start higher, at 100 say, and potentially get 2 goes at 104. That will depend on how the C&J warm up has gone and how comfortable I feel.
If I only get the 75 snatch, I’m in real trouble and will need a massive PB increase; starting with 97, then 102, then the big 107.
Either way it’s PB territory or bust today! Now to stay busy and forget about my empty belly…
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14.11.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 5:36 pm by Colin McNulty
With a few weeks to go before the competition, it was time to focus on some full Olympic lifts and see how the last 2 months of focus on weightlifting. 2 weeks ago I decided to see if I could pull off any new personal best lifts.
To do this, I needed to get up to a top weight pretty quick, without tiring myself out. So here’s how it went, Snatch (current PB = 77kg) on one day, Clean and Jerk (current PB = 100kg) on the other:
Day 1 – Snatch: 3×40, 2×50, 60, 65, 70, 75. Then I failed at 77.5 five times in a row.
Day 2 – C&J: 3×50, 2×60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100. Then I failed to clean 102.5 four times in a row.
On the one hand, I lifted pretty well, getting up to either very close to, or equal to my PBs quickly. On the other hand, I failed to improve, which was disappointing. This week, I worked on high % reps in final prep for the Northern Open next week.
Day 1 – Snatch: 3×40, 2×50, 60, 65, 70, 3×75. This went well, 3 good lifts at 75kg all felt hard but comfortable.
Day 2 – Snatch: 3×40, 2×50, 60, 65, 70. The 70 felt wobbly, so I thought I’d try it again before moving up. That’s when it all went wrong. I dropped the 2nd 70. Then dropped the 3rd, 4th and 5th! What was going on? I was bombing badly on what should have been a warm up lift. When this happens, it’s sooo demoralising.
Day 3 – C&J: 3×50, 2×60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 95, 95, 95(F), 95. There were several days between Day 2 and 3 to get my head back in gear. 4 out of 5 lifts at 95kg was a good day.
So there we have it. 7 days to see if I can pull off 2 new PBs and qualify for the European Masters and to see if the last 2 months have all be worth the effort. There’s also the small matter of whether I can make the weight, but that’s looking doable now:
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09.11.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting, The Zone Diet Blog at 9:06 pm by Colin McNulty
So this time last week, I had 1/2 stone (7 lbs or 3 kg) to lose in order to get down to my required weight for the Yorkshire Open weightlifting competition on 21st Nov. I’m lifting in the 77kg (169 lb or 12 stone 1) category, but was tipping the scales at 80kg (176 lbs or 12 stone 8). 1/2 stone in 3 weeks seemed like it was doable so I wasn’t too worried.
Last week started well and I lost 3 lbs from Mon to Friday (mostly water I imagine) leaving just 4 lbs over 2 weeks. However a combination of a fireworks party at home on Friday, followed by a night on the razz in Manchester with the boys from Crossfit Manchester, and I put that 3 lbs straight back on. It doesn’t sound too bad, until you see the graph:
That’s not good! So for the next 12 days I’m zoning for all I’m worth. I’m also reducing my fat intake to about a half, dropping the pint of milk I normally drink each day, and cutting my intake to 12 zone blocks per day. Hopefully, that should do it. We’ll see…
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04.11.09
Posted in Crossfit Workout & Exercises, General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 9:31 pm by Colin McNulty
I didn’t get round to posting what I did last week, which was week 7 of the program. Because of holiday I only managed to get to the gym twice, and was recovering from the back niggle from the previous week, so took it easier that I perhaps should:
Day 1
- Snatch – singles up to 75%: I started with trebles, then doubles, then did singles up to 65kg.
- Clean & Jerk – singles up to 75%: I started with doubles, then did singles up to 85kg.
- Front Squat – 3 x 5 reps up to 75%: I did the 3 sets at 70, 80 and 90 kg.
Day 2
- Power Snatch Doubles up to 85%: I did 40, 50, 55, 60, 62.5, 65kg
- Power Clean Doubles up to 90%: I did 40, 60, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90(F2), 90(F2) which means I failed on the second lift.
This week (Week 8), as it’s getting close to the competition, I decided to see if I could set any new records. If you remember, my aim is to lift a total of 182kg (80 Snatch and 102 C&J say) to qualify for the European Masters championships in 2010.
However, I also need to lose some weight, as my weight has crept up over the last few months, mostly due to too many sweeties (shock horror!), not helped by Halloween I can tell you! So I actually started the week with a Crossfit style workout, to get the ol’ heart rate up and to burn a few extra calories.
Day 1
10 minutes of 1 minute rounds, each consisting of:
- 15 squats
- 10 sit ups
- 5 push ups
In hindsight, this was a bad idea. I should have known better than to do expect no after effects from doing my first Crossfit workout in 2 months! Over the last 2 days, I’ve had significant DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) in my pecks and thighs. Not great to have when going for a new PB. :-S
Day 2
- Snatch singles for max: 3×40, 2×50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, then I failed 77.5kg (170 lbs and PB attempt) five times before giving up. Same old problem: losing it forward at the bottom.
Day 3
- Clean and Jerk singles for max: 3×50, 2×60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, then I failed 102.5kg (225 lbs and a PB attempt) four times before giving up. Actually I failed to clean the 102.5, which was a blow. I was getting under it, but again, losing it forward i.e. it was rolling off my shoulders at the bottom of the clean.
All in all, not what I was hoping for. However the 75 snatch was just off my record of 77 and the 100 clean & jerk was an equal personal best, so it’s far from discouraging. I’m hoping the adrenaline of the competition will carry the day, as has happened before. No more PB attempts before the comp now.
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22.10.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 10:12 am by Colin McNulty
True to form, another weightlifting only week comes and I’ve picked up another niggle. A bit more of a niggle actually, yesterday I could barely walk! I have no idea what I’ve done, I only know that my right hip is extremely painful if I move it a certain way. Obviously I’m trying not to move it that way, but it’s kind of hard getting around without sitting down, standing up, going up or down stairs, rolling over (in bed), turning round too fast, or moving too quickly in any direction really.
Most of the time I’m fine, but when it hurts, the sharp stabbing pain I get is not funny. 9 out of 10 on the pain scale for sure. As a result I’ve had to miss one weightlifting session already this week and it’s not looking good for the rest of the week atm.
Ho hum.
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14.10.09
Posted in General Colin McNulty Stuff, Olympic Weightlifting at 6:33 am by Colin McNulty
Day 1
- Snatch Doubles – 5 sets up to 80% = 62.5
- Clean and Jerk Doubles – 7 sets up to 80% = 80
- Dead Pull of Clean – 5 sets of 3 reps up to 110kg
- Front Squat – 7 sets of 3 reps up to 85% = 105
Day 2
- Front Squat + Split Jerk – 4 sets of 2 + 2 up to 80% of Jerk = 80
- Split Jerk – 5 sets. Starting with doubles, finishing with singles (max of 85%) = 85
- Power Snatch Doubles. 6 sets up to 80% of Power Snatch = 62.5
- Power Clean Doubles. 6 sets up to 80% of Power Clean = 80
Day 3
- Snatch – 8 sets starting with doubles, finishing with singles at 85% = 65
- Clean and Jerk 8 sets starting with doubles finishing with singles at 85% = 85
- Dead Pull of Snatch 5 sets of 3 reps at 90kg
- Back Squat – 7 sets of 3 reps up to 85% = 127.5
I have to say that I’ve cut down to 3 days a week, mostly in an attempt to reduce the niggles I’ve been picking up. 4 different ones in 4 weeks now. Last week it was my back. This week it’s a groin strain. In all instances, they’ve been mild and a few days rest has mostly sorted me out, but it’s a pain (literally and figuratively!). Certianly I’ve picked up more niggles in the last month than I have in the last year of ordinary Crossfit.
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