Aug. 31 - Monday

Axle Clean + Push Jerk
5 x 45 kg
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 90

15 Minutes (EDT)
Dips x 5 - 12 sets
Ring Row x 5 - 12 sets

1-arm Long-Cycle @ 24kg, switch every minute
- 20 minutes @ 8 rpm
I really worked on breathing in the overhead position, something I struggle with. Otherwise, this was a very easy set and felt like I could go on indefinitely.


Grippers
sport x 10
trainer x 10
#1 x 10
#2 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Sledgehammer internal/external rotation
10 @ 9" from head x 3 sets

Aug. 25 - Tuesday

2-arm Jerk @ 32kg
- 4 minutes @ 8 rpm
- 3 minutes @ 6 rpm

Snatch @ 32kg, single arm switch
- 6 minutes @ 15 rpm

Legs are still tired but after a few days of rest I should be very ggod to go for the comp on this coming Saturday in Chicago. I am really liking my new jerk technique and everyday it feels more comfortable.

Aug. 24 - Monday

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 50 kg
3 x 60
3 x 80
2 x 90
2 x 90
2 x 90

NO energy today. I'll be back tomorrow. Monday's always seem to be a struggle for me.

Aug. 21 - Friday

Barbell Snatch
4 x 40 kg
4 x 50
3 x 55
3 x 60

2-arm Jerk @ 32kg
- 5 minutes @ 6 rpm, Rest 10 minutes
- 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Back Squat
5 x 135 #
5 x 225
5 x 240
5 x 275
10 x 310

Prowler Push @ 180#
- 2 minutes Pushing / 1 minute Rest x 3 - This was HARD!!!!

Aug. 20 - Thursday

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 40 kg
3 x 50
2 x 65
2 x 80
2 x 95
2 x 110

Snatch @ 32kg, single arm switch
- 8 minutes @ 15 rpm

Snatch @ 24kg, single arm switch
- 6 minutes @ 15 rpm

Aug. 18 - Tuesday

Barbell Snatch
3 x 25 kg
3 x 30
3 x 35
3 x 40
3 x 50

2-arm Jerk @ 32kg,
- 10 minutes @ 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 8, 10 - 56 total

Snatch @ 32kg, switch every minute
- 4 minutes @ 18 rpm

Deadlift
5 x 225 #
5 x 275
3 x 350
3 x 405
5 x 455

Prowler Push - 2 x 30 yds at each weight
- 90, 180, 270, 360, 450#

Jerk set felt great today and I'm really liking the new technique. I did not take enough rest before snatches, only about 10 minutes, and then I tried to go faster. NOT a good idea on my part.

Aug. 13 - Thursday

7:30am - 6 mile run with a client - 71 minutes

7:30pm - kettlebell training

2-arm Jerk @ 28kg
- 3 minutes @ 12 rpm
- 2 minutes @ 10,8

Legs and mind did not want to work this evening. I don't run (not my idea of a good time), but I am capable of running when I need to. I just was not able to regain my explosive strength needed for jerks after the slow 6 miles this morning.

Standing Press
5 x 30 kg
5 x 40
5 x 53
5 x 61
6 x 69

15 minutes (EDT)
Ring Row x 5 - 7 sets
Bottoms Up Padlock Press @ 50# x 5 - 7 sets

Pissed about the Jerks but I will be back.

Tuesday - Aug. 11

Snatch @ 28kg, single arm switch
- 15, 15, 15, 20, 15, 15, 15, 23

Deadlift
5 x 225
5 x 275
5 x 325
5 x 375
6 x 430

Prowler
- 6 x 40 yds @ 180#, 60 sec. rest between sprints

Aug. 10 - Monday

2-arm Jerk @ 28kg
- 7 minutes @ 8 rpm
- 4 minutes @ 8 rpm

Here is a video of my new jerk technique. I am working on resting off to the side and then coming back to square before jerking.



15 minutes (EDT)
Bench Press @ 145# - 9 sets of 5
Pullups - 9 sets of 5

Friday - Aug. 7

Single Leg Box Jumps
- 3 x 6 (r/l) @ 18"

Back Squat
5 x 135#
5 x 155
5 x 175
5 x 205
5 x 230

Prowler Push
- 30 yds down and back on the horns. Start with 2 plates and add 2 plates every down and back up to 5 plates per side. 60 seconds rest between down and backs.

KB Snatch @ 24kg, single arm switch
- 8 minutes @ 15 rpm, rest 6 minutes
- 8 minutes @ 15 rpm

So much for today being an easy day. Oh well, going camping over the weekend to rest.

August 5/6 - Wednesday / Thursday

Wednesday,

1-arm Long Cycle @ 24kg
- 20 minutes @ 10 rpm, switch arms every minute


Thursday,

2-arm Jerk @ 24kg
- 10 minutes @ 8 rpm

Bench Press
- 4 x 10 @ 135#

2.5" revolving handle - DB Row
- 5 x 5 (r/l) @ 135#

I worked on a new Jerk/ Rack rest technique today and I'm excited to see how it feels with the heavier weights. I'll shoot some video for everyone to see next week.

Ventspils Atlants Competition

The event started at noon on Saturday, August 2 with an opening ceremony for the 14 countries represented. Competitive division were broken up into Male / Female and then Youth, Amateurs and Masters, body weight categories were added from there. The youth jerk competition was first to start, followed by amateurs and finally masters, and I knew I had a while to wait, being in the last heat of the day, I was off to get some much needed food.

My warm-up felt good after the long wait and I was eager to get on the platform. I was on platform #6 next to a Lithuanian with the last name Savickas while world champion Fedor Fuglov from the Ukraine was on platform #1 next to my roommate and good friend Gregor Sobocan from Slovania. We started into our 10 minute set and the first minute felt great, 8 reps per minute was the plan. After 3 minutes, I felt like I was sinking, getting shorter as my legs were giving out. At the 5 minute mark I made the decision to slow down to 6 reps per minute to try and save energy. At 7 minutes standing was no longer an option and I was not happy with only 7 minutes and 52 reps total.


(Fedor Fuglov and Gregor Sobocan)
(Myself and Gregor Sobocan)

This was the end of Day 1, Saturday, for the Ventspils competition and a departure from the usual competition day consisting of both jerks and snatches on the same day with a minimal of 20 minutes between events. It was very welcomed this trip as it gave me another night to rest and come back again stronger.

Day 2, Sunday, started with the woman's snatch competition. Again, youth were first, followed by amateurs and masters. The American women competing this trip were; Chriss Dattner, Maya Garcia, and Cate Imes. All gave tremendous effort; Chriss set a PR with 64 snatches, Cate was strong with 138 and Maya's 133 rep effort earned her the best lifter award when bodyweight was calculated in. Truly an awesome effort by our women, congrats to all.

With our women done competing, I still had some time to wait. Interspersed throughout both days of competition were kettlebell juggling acts and kettlebell juggling was a part of this competition with the female world kettlebell juggling champion present and competing. The performances were extremely well done and the flips and rotations they were performing was quite amazing. Very much reminded me of figure skating.

Finally we reached the end of the day and my flight. I was moved to platform #5 due to Gregor leaving early to catch a flight back home for work. Snatching is what I do best and I REALLY wanted to make up for my poor performance the day before. I was still a little nervous, as my shirt was visibly bouncing on my chest from my heartbeat as we walked out to the platforms. Nonetheless, my set started smoothly at 15 reps per minute as planned. After a little over 4 minutes on my right arm i was starting to lose my grip, so I chose to switch arms after 64 reps. I started into my left arm nice and smooth again at 15 rep per minute. Towards the end my pace slowed but I knew I wanted to go the whole 10 minutes. I believe I stood with the bell extended overhead for 30 seconds at the end because I knew another downswing would result in me losing the bell. It was a great feeling to look over and see that Fedor Fuglov was the only other athlete still on the platform lifting when the clock hit 10 minutes.



With the awards ceremony over, we were invited over to Vasily Ginko's (secretary of the IUKL and 7-time world champion) house for an evening barbeque with the competitors who were still in town. It was a great way to finish off our stay and relax with friends.