Enkidu
Level 4 Valued Member
My sport is Olympic weightlifting and I will be entering my first competition on February 6 as a VERY light masters lifter (will be a month shy of 45) in the 77kg class (although my actual weight is more like 72.5kg). My goals for my first competition are to hit an 80kg snatch and 100kg clean & jerk. The one MAJOR issue I have is with shoulder flexibility and stability (due in large part to an injury I suffered over 20 years ago). My quest to lift with healthy shoulder has eventually lead me to KBs.
So, last week I decided to start doing daily (5 days per week) of KB 1-arm presses (2x5/each), swings (5x10), and getups (10 total, 5/ea side). I've started very light on all the movements (16kg on 1-arm presses and 24kg on swings). I'm going light because I've added this to my second daily workout of about 20 minutes practicing handstands and about 5 minutes at the end of bridge and compression work. I didn't want to massively increase the volume or use heavy weights since I already lift 5 days per week. I have a really high work capacity and a long history of using 2-a-day workouts, so I was certain I could handle the volume without overtraining, but I still wanted to ramp up slowly.
It has been less than 2 weeks of doing this and my shoulders feel GREAT. Amazing actually. One of my least favorite exercises are overhead squats because of the mobility restriction in my shoulders. Yesterday we had 4x3 overhead squats programmed. I was very tentative with the weights, starting very light. 40 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 50 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 55 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 60 kg, no pain, ease of movement and then coach notices me and says, "Put some weight on that bar! You have no mobility restrictions and it is way too light!"
Hey, maybe it is just coincidence that my shoulders are feeling better than they have in YEARS, but I don't think so. I'm fairly certain it is the getups, even with a fairly easy and light weight, even doing just 25 reps per week per side. I'm very excited by this.
So, last week I decided to start doing daily (5 days per week) of KB 1-arm presses (2x5/each), swings (5x10), and getups (10 total, 5/ea side). I've started very light on all the movements (16kg on 1-arm presses and 24kg on swings). I'm going light because I've added this to my second daily workout of about 20 minutes practicing handstands and about 5 minutes at the end of bridge and compression work. I didn't want to massively increase the volume or use heavy weights since I already lift 5 days per week. I have a really high work capacity and a long history of using 2-a-day workouts, so I was certain I could handle the volume without overtraining, but I still wanted to ramp up slowly.
It has been less than 2 weeks of doing this and my shoulders feel GREAT. Amazing actually. One of my least favorite exercises are overhead squats because of the mobility restriction in my shoulders. Yesterday we had 4x3 overhead squats programmed. I was very tentative with the weights, starting very light. 40 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 50 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 55 kg, no pain, ease of movement. 60 kg, no pain, ease of movement and then coach notices me and says, "Put some weight on that bar! You have no mobility restrictions and it is way too light!"
Hey, maybe it is just coincidence that my shoulders are feeling better than they have in YEARS, but I don't think so. I'm fairly certain it is the getups, even with a fairly easy and light weight, even doing just 25 reps per week per side. I'm very excited by this.