New Year

I never really believed in new year's resolutions, but I figured maybe since I just started a new style of lifting, I might as well set some goals and coincidentally, it's almost the start of a new year! ballin!

If people want to make progress in something I don't see why they should wait till the start of the new year to set their goals, which eventually they will forget about. If you want to do something, set a plan and do it. Anyway, enough pessimism, I'm not sure how well I'll stick to these goals, or how achievable they are, but we'll see in time.

I'd like to clean 3 plates and snatch 2 plates by the latter half of 2012.. it doesn't seem too unreasonable. I'm at 2 plates clean and 1 plate snatch right now, actually just over.

Today -
Snatch balance - 52.5kg 2x3
Muscle snatch + snatch + hang snatch - 60kg 4 sets
Pulls ups - 3 sets of 5

More Lifts

Going to the gym more often means technically I should be blogging more, since that was the reason I started this thing.. but I'm falling behind. I realized one thing, Oly lifting generally requires more time training than powerlifting.. I'm at the gym more often, although the intensity isn't as high yet.

I'm spending more time now on the technical side of it rather than seeing how much weight I can lift, which is good, at this stage that's what I need. I'd rather not rush now and clean 3 plates with bad form only to walk out of there with no back. I've struggled with my clean the past couple of weeks being stuck at 2 plates.

Recovery - well overall I think I recover better than when I was strictly powerlifting, but the stress on my knees and upper back is new.

Yesterday -

Front squat - 95 5x3
Clean pull - 102.5 x 3, 105 x 2, 107.5 x 1
Rack jerk behind neck - worked up to 1 plate

Lifts

I forgot to write what I lifted a couple of days ago... ahmaigaaad.

Snatch - 65kg new PR
C&J - 100kg.. I'm stuck here
Front squat - 115kg new PR

Carry on.

The Real Deal-yo

I haven't blogged in three days, cos I'm cool like that. I trained in a new gym today.. let's just say this is the gym I need to be in. Real equipment, knowledgeable people, you know..the good stuff. The only down side is it's a little far from my house.. either that or I've been spoilt with my usual gym being too close.

I met a couple of cool people today, and one of them was at the same stage in Oly lifting as myself: the absolute beginning, so we exchanged some thoughts and he was nice enough to video a couple of my lifts.. I'll post my snatch today for the interwebz masses to enjoy, or not enjoy.

New PRs

I was supposed to try out new PRs today.. it didn't go exactly as expected, but given that I got new numbers last week I wasn't too surprised.

Snatch - 62.5kg.. shaddap, I'm still new at this.
Clean - 100kg - I was going for 102.5 but my phenomenal musculature just failed me, twice.. I couldn't even clean the bar, it just kept turning into a shrug.. my body was fried. So I called it a day.

Why I Don't Like The Idea of a Cheat Day

More often than not, when you come across someone who’s dieting they’ll tell you that they occasionally allow themselves to have a cheat day. This could be once a week, once a month or whatever, but the idea is that they’re allowed to have a cheat meal/day and not feel guilty about it.

Okay, I understand you’re dieting all week and working hard to do it, so the least you deserve is a day or a meal where you can pig out and the calories don’t count. I don’t necessarily disagree with the idea, but I don’t completely support it either; I’m somewhere in the middle. Also, the idea that calories ‘don’t count’ is ridiculous.

While I’m more of an ‘everything in moderation’ type person, I can see why a cheat day is preferred by some people. It gives you something to look forward to at the end of the week, or whenever it’s scheduled into your calendar and it feels rewarding. I feel though that if you start working with this mindset, maybe you’re dieting for the wrong reasons. It’s not right to diet because the reward is a nice juicy burger on the weekend. It seems then that the entire approach is wrong. Someone trying to lose weight should make it a point first to eat healthier by incorporating more whole foods into their diet, and then use those eating habits along with calorie restriction to drop the weight.

Whether your goal is to lose weight or to simply start eating healthier food, understanding that everything in moderation won’t harm you is a good way to start. I’ve had a sweet tooth my whole life, and as many times as I’ve tried to restrict myself from anything artificial and stick to fruits it just doesn’t seem to work in the long run. Once in a while I need to have a bite of chocolate, and it doesn’t help that my mom bakes some of the worlds best deserts on a daily basis (she runs her own baking business). If I decide to go cold turkey, I know in the back of my mind it’s just a matter of time before I cave.

If you make the time and effort to work out roughly how many calories you’re going to take in on a daily basis, you can simply factor in something you consider a treat and make sure it’s still within your caloric limit. On the other hand, sometimes we’re just presented with a situation where it’s almost impossible to know how many calories you’re consuming. Say there’s an office party with tons of food, or you’re out with friends for dinner, or anything like that, and you don’t want to be the person sitting doing mental math counting the calories in 12.4 grams of this food or that food. The point is don’t make it a big deal; enjoy whatever it is you’re eating and understand that a bit of flexibility in your diet is important. It keeps you sane, keeps your sweet tooth in check and doesn’t result in a pig out session on the weekend where likely the calories you’ve been cutting can be consumed in one sitting.

Consider the bigger picture and remember that everything in moderation is the key.

Today:
Snatch push press + overhead squat – 1+2 for 3 sets working up to a heavy set
Power clean + push press + push jerk – 60% for 3 sets

New PRs.

I've been a little off my game lately.. my apologies to anyone who cares, or reads this thing. I lifted new maxes today and it went pretty well. I'm getting more comfortable learning the lifts although I'm sure if someone experienced saw me they'd laugh hysterically. Anyway..

Snatch - 60kg
C&J - 100kg

I need to do more mobility work and make it a point to warm up properly.. so much to do so little time.