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Larry’s Logs

Today’s practice: 4/23/22
3.5 mile run with the dog to the kids soccer games. HR was very low and controlled today and pace was even up a bit. Felt awesome!
Watched the eldest, had a picnic lunch, then coached the younger two’s practice/game. Went to the beach with the family after.
When we got home I realized I left mine and my son’s shoes at the beach…,so i got a 7 mile sunset ride in as well to retrieve them.
Going to bike out to the dome tomorrow and spectate the grad workout and hopefully meet some folks!
 
@James Sullivan i’d love to hear your critiques on my form if you so choose!
Hey Larry!

I think you could pass the test immediately if you:
1) Had a more structured approach to the test. I like 10L + 10R and then rest for about 10 seconds until the top of the next minute.
2) More power from the hips
3) Dialed in your breathing

I like the bell path for the most part. Especially the early sets. - Close to your body, backswings / hinge looks good- the one thing I'm not sure about is if you are achieving full hip extension early on. Maybe it's just because you are wearing pants and it's hard to see if your knee is straight and your hips are fully at extension. If it's not you are losing power there. At times is looks like you are missing some hip power and 'spearing' up with your arms and pulling with your back to compensate. For me its about squeezing my but from the bottom of the hinge all the way trough the lockout. Toward the end you can see that as your upper body gets fatigued you are using your hips more effectively. Try using more hips and less upper body from the beginning. You've probably heard that all the work is done with the legs and that your arms are just there to adjust the vector of force / bell trajectory and guide to lockout...

Also, in the beginning your breathing pattern is very complex. I personally can not sustain with multiple breaths per rep. I know some people do, but I find the simple biomechanical breathing match works best for me - 1 very sharp nasal inhale in the instant prior to hinging and 1 explosive tssaaa when hip extension is initiated.
 
Hey Larry!

I think you could pass the test immediately if you:
1) Had a more structured approach to the test. I like 10L + 10R and then rest for about 10 seconds until the top of the next minute.
2) More power from the hips
3) Dialed in your breathing

I like the bell path for the most part. Especially the early sets. - Close to your body, backswings / hinge looks good- the one thing I'm not sure about is if you are achieving full hip extension early on. Maybe it's just because you are wearing pants and it's hard to see if your knee is straight and your hips are fully at extension. If it's not you are losing power there. At times is looks like you are missing some hip power and 'spearing' up with your arms and pulling with your back to compensate. For me its about squeezing my but from the bottom of the hinge all the way trough the lockout. Toward the end you can see that as your upper body gets fatigued you are using your hips more effectively. Try using more hips and less upper body from the beginning. You've probably heard that all the work is done with the legs and that your arms are just there to adjust the vector of force / bell trajectory and guide to lockout...

Also, in the beginning your breathing pattern is very complex. I personally can not sustain with multiple breaths per rep. I know some people do, but I find the simple biomechanical breathing match works best for me - 1 very sharp nasal inhale in the instant prior to hinging and 1 explosive tssaaa when hip extension is initiated.
Thanks James! I kind of just did this on a whim and attempted to do 15/15, 10/10, 10/10,5/5, 5/5 but that didn’t work, I think 10/10 is a better approach now.
I saw the same thing with my knees/hips, I’ve been dialing it in but can always do better. I will definitely take you glute cue to heart!
I’ve just started experimenting with double breathing working through QnD so i may not be proficient, but i obviously lost it early once I was in the thick of it. I appreciate your critiques very much!
 
deeper hinge
This is a frequent observation I have to make about my snatches.

when I correct to put more of it into my glutes in the hinge and get a deeper hike back in the bottom - it always makes my snatch more powerful.

my cue for this was to say: Hinge! and I would intend to send my sternum more forward in the down, to get a better more silverback stance.
I would actually keep my head parallel with my torso so I could better monitor how far down I was getting into the stance - and dive a bit deeper. my experience was that I was usually more shallow on camera than I thought I was in practice.

for my practice, this is something I was doing to get the 32kg bell up. but I bet it has a similar effect on a snatch test.

you might get better results if you focus on putting the work into the hips. although - honestly, you're looking pretty good as is. so, while trying a deeper hinge is something that benefitted me getting the 32 snatch overhead - I would have questions about how you were sensing fatigue in higher reps.
 
This is a frequent observation I have to make about my snatches.

when I correct to put more of it into my glutes in the hinge and get a deeper hike back in the bottom - it always makes my snatch more powerful.

my cue for this was to say: Hinge! and I would intend to send my sternum more forward in the down, to get a better more silverback stance.
I would actually keep my head parallel with my torso so I could better monitor how far down I was getting into the stance - and dive a bit deeper. my experience was that I was usually more shallow on camera than I thought I was in practice.

for my practice, this is something I was doing to get the 32kg bell up. but I bet it has a similar effect on a snatch test.

you might get better results if you focus on putting the work into the hips. although - honestly, you're looking pretty good as is. so, while trying a deeper hinge is something that benefitted me getting the 32 snatch overhead - I would have questions about how you were sensing fatigue in higher reps.
I was sore all over right after, but my shoulders were sore the longest which led me to believe i could use my hip/lower body drive. I’ve also been training with the 20k for QnD so pretty happy all in all. I’m planning to do a block of doubles work focused on lower body drive, then another block of snatches but with the 24k. After that i think I’ll have another go at the test.
 
I was sore all over right after, but my shoulders were sore the longest which led me to believe i could use my hip/lower body drive. I’ve also been training with the 20k for QnD so pretty happy all in all. I’m planning to do a block of doubles work focused on lower body drive, then another block of snatches but with the 24k. After that i think I’ll have another go at the test.
Another cue that might help you is to throw the Bell back harder, if I do that it almost feels like I'm being dragged into a deeper hinge. Getting the Bell back as far as you can without compromising shoulder and other positions will always lead to a more powerful snatch. I like to think that when I'm snatching the work is done by the time the Bell has reached belt height.. Yanking back on the handle from that point sends the bell up so fast you have to be quick to catch it.
 
Another cue that might help you is to throw the Bell back harder, if I do that it almost feels like I'm being dragged into a deeper hinge. Getting the Bell back as far as you can without compromising shoulder and other positions will always lead to a more powerful snatch. I like to think that when I'm snatching the work is done by the time the Bell has reached belt height.. Yanking back on the handle from that point sends the bell up so fast you have to be quick to catch it.
That is a great cue Bret! I often use it from when you told me during my clean work. I’ll keep working and getting better!
 
Today’s practice: 4/25/22
Mobility/hangs/breath work
DKB complex x 3 @24/24k, the double 24’s are humbling! Finally got some new plates and got the adjustable loaded up to 24k exactly! Now I can evenly load up doubles from 16k to 24k. Should keep me busy for quite some time. Better yet the collection of plates are passed down from both my father and father in law. I will one day pass them down to my own along with my collection of bells. Trust in that rust baby!
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DCL x5
DFSQx5
Threw in a few DMP to test it out, these were tough as well. Got in some TGU 1/1x3 @24k
and some some hurdle raises 3x5 @ 20#
QnD 044 2 rounds @20k

Cut the filming short on this last one. You’ll notice the door opening, which is my wife post night shift about to lose her s*** cuz i finiahed all the coffee lmao!
 
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Nice snatch test dude, and I appreciate the solidarity! @James Sullivan is much more experienced than I am but he basically detailed how I did my test, although I really like double breathing.

There were a snatch progression drills Shaun Cairns had us do over the weekend. Really helped me get a more efficient snatch, and showed how much the snatch builds off the clean - not sure if I did them during the test, but I'll definitely being using them in the training. I can make a video if you're interested.
 
Nice snatch test dude, and I appreciate the solidarity! @James Sullivan is much more experienced than I am but he basically detailed how I did my test, although I really like double breathing.

There were a snatch progression drills Shaun Cairns had us do over the weekend. Really helped me get a more efficient snatch, and showed how much the snatch builds off the clean - not sure if I did them during the test, but I'll definitely being using them in the training. I can make a video if you're interested.
Always interested bro! @Bret S. here really helped me up my clean game when I was running ROP and I could really see the carry over to the snatch.
I wanted to come out to the grad workout Sunday and was in communication with Anna, but apparently it wasn’t open to the public this year. I can see myself doing it someday but i just don’t have a real reason to (other than i want to).
I’m also liking the double breathing, besides the fact that it makes me screw up my count. I think could have gotten a lot closer if i had just stuck with 10/10 OTM as well.
 
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I’m also liking the double breathing, besides the fact that it makes me screw up my count.
I count each number twice - once at top and once at bottom. It works for me, helps me keep count.

I'll put that video together a little later this week and shoot it over to you.
 
Today’s practice: 4/26/22
5.25 mile run
Professor is out of state presenting at a conference so I have no reason to run to class so i took the dog with me on an old cemetery route. We had some unexpected company….
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I’ve been feeling fantastic on my runs though, hr is down, pace and cadence are up! I have a 10 mile trail race this weekend (chicago trail race at least), so i am pretty excited to get out there and go full on glycolytic! Maybe even try to race the wife (she’s faster than me….or used to be)!
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Today’s practice: 4/27/22
Playing with doubles: 5x5 squats and snatches @16/16k, couple sets of presses and arm bars too. Did some hangs and pull ups as well. Main goal today was to gauge my DBSN. Going to run “you don’t know squat” from Neuport’s kettlebell express, and you are meant to run it with the 10rm of your weakest exercise. I tried 20k’s but form felt compromised, so it looks like double 16’s for me. I think this will help my single arm snatch and make me use for hip and lower body drive as well.
 
Today’s practice: 4/28/22
4 mile run with the dog, focusing on cadence which continues to improve. HR was a bit higher today, but still at MAF while trying to push the pace. Will probably do one more easy QnD session tomorrow before the race on Sunday. Have an easy day of coaching soccer Saturday.
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Thanks brother, I’m excited! Looks like t-storms the night before and these trails are already known for being sloppy, so it may not be as fast as I’d hoped. I like inclement weather and conditions though.
I’ve had some of my best runs in really terrible conditions…. Love it
 
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