Finding the Groove

I haven't been posting much due to work--training clients and opening a new business just doesn't allow you to be on the internet much at all. However, I've still been training and it's going well.

My weight is a constant 220lbs with very little fluctuation--a sure sign that the "weight" I'm putting on is just more than water and stored glycogen. My shoulders, upper back, and legs are all thickening up, a sure sign that the weight is high quality.

My training, has fallen into the pattern I noticed on my last cycle: Over a 14 day period, I train 7 days, Sa-Su-Tu-Th-Sa-Su-T-Off for 3 days. This just happened on the last 2 week cycle and I'm feeling great. Yesterday, after working out some kinks, I worked up to 90kg/2 x3 on the Power Snatch Above Knee. Not particularly impressive, but very easy and definitely an indicator that things are moving in the direction they should. When I can hit 10 doubles here, I'm definitely back in business.

Speaking of being back in business, my legs and back are rapidly regaining the strength they once had. I am only a matter of months from squatting 405/5 x5--perhaps as little as two, but certainly no more than six. And I'm getting VERY hungry to move some of the bigger weights, also a sure sign that my strength (and confidence) is returning. The interesting thing here is that my positions are all very different than they were pre-Z. My starting position on the pulls has much more leg than it used to--more back. My grip has returned to it's origins--when I first started the lifts, and I'm moving faster than I have in years. I am really starting to feel like I am moving at the same speed I was ten years ago.

Yesterday started another two week cycle, although honestly, I'm not sure how this one is going to play out. It may just be a continuation of the H-M-L, with a tweak in loading parameters--dropping reps and really pushing the strength parameters and backing down the next cycle. We'll have to see how I feel once I get to the platform.

Yesterday's training:

A. Power Snatch from above knee: 60kg/3 x3, 70/3 x2, 80/3 x3, 90/2 x3; rest--approx 2 minutes rest.

My right knee was not happy at first and it took quite a bit of I-Phase to cool it off--hence the multiple sets at each weight. By the time I got past 60kg it seemed just fine. No residuals today.

B. Power Clean from above knee: 100kg/5 x5; approx 2 minutes rest.

Just "felt" the need to do some volume work here on the clean. Probably will continue in the same vein for awhile. If my memory serves me correctly, Medvedyev states that one of the issues holding back strength is lack of strength-endurance. I'll have to check again on that--but I really need to push the clean back up to pre-injury status of 170kg. I'll go back and see what the good doctor has to say about this and apply it to my training.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the pace of my training. I'm growing and gaining strength without overtraining or getting injured--firsts in many, many years. This is the type of training Alfonso tried to get me to do 10 years ago but I just insisted on going hard and heavy all the time. The old axiom is true: Youth is wasted on the young.