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Lee's Training Log: SFG1 Training

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Great job... Upload videos anytime if you want form critique on anything.
 
Isn't it funny what we see in our own videos... usually things no one else would notice!

Start with the bells a little farther in front of you and give them a good hike, as you would with swings.

Clean looks good. Squat looks good, but see if you can actively move your femurs OUT more and lower down between your legs, like Master SFG Jason Marshall teaches in this video. There is also a blog post link in the video comments.

Your breathing on the last few reps sounds right, but for the cert -- might as well start practicing now -- you have to initiate the ascent with a grunt, or "hup!"

Good job with the weight! Those are not easy.
 
Anna C said:
Isn't it funny what we see in our own videos... usually things no one else would notice!

Start with the bells a little farther in front of you and give them a good hike, as you would with swings.

Clean looks good. Squat looks good, but see if you can actively move your femurs OUT more and lower down between your legs, like Master SFG Jason Marshall teaches in this video. There is also a blog post link in the video comments.

Your breathing on the last few reps sounds right, but for the cert -- might as well start practicing now -- you have to initiate the ascent with a grunt, or "hup!"

Good job with the weight! Those are not easy.
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Great, I've tried some Bodyweight squats and everything feels better already. I'll aim to focus on this on s4 this week. Thank you! :)
 
SFG 1 Prep wk3 s3

Warmup:

Crawls
Goblet Squats
Bottoms up press

Session:

Single Press 10 x 5 @ 28kg
1h Swing 10 x OTM x 24 @ 32kg
Falmers walks 4 x 90s @ 2 x 24kg

Notes:

•Presses felt good, here's a video of set 5.



•Swings are still a challenge as to be expected :)

•Falmers walks are business as usual

Have a strong day everyone!
 
Press looks great! Looks like you are tight, the press groove looks good (at least from this angle), your lockout position is good. Your pace is nice; a good solid clean then controlled presses with a slight pause at the lockout.

Your right side is more solid than the left. On the left side (which I take it is the less strong side, in which case it's good that you do it first), there is more spine movement from side to side, and more shoulder movement. Keep working to make it as solid as the right side. Less tension leaks means stronger press.

You might try a slightly narrower stance for better full-body tension and support for the press, although still do exactly as you are now, clean and press without having to adjust the legs after the clean and before the press (which loses tension). Also, you can stack your column of support by shifting your hips just ever so slightly towards the working side. This is something that's most helpful with a very heavy press or maximal attempt. It can be a good habit for any pressing, but is not required.

You can work the negative (descent) by actively pulling the bell down for some extra benefit like a pull-up, but I know today was a lot of volume so that might be a bit much for these sessions. Something for a day where you have some extra energy. :)

Always with the press, you want to wedge yourself under the weight, pressing from the lat, rather than pushing the weight up with the arm and shoulder. Looks to me like you are mostly doing that, but a little more focus on the lat may help you get even stronger.

Good work!!
 
I had a great teacher and mentor (@aciampa ) who brought me up right. :) Just passing along some of the knowledge gifts as I have received...
 
Press:
What @Anna C said (and she definitely stated it better than I would).

DBFSQ:
What @Anna C said + it seems you leak some tension - you have a small but wink at the bottom which is usually happens when one release tension to compensate for mobility. Anna's cues (femurs and breathings) will help with the ROM so it might also correct the tension leak. If not I have two ideas. First, contract your lats hard - think your squatting double Beasts. Second, give this a try - tension leaks are impossible (I do it with a 10kg bar over my shoulder and wrapped in a piece of cloth).
 
SFG 1 Prep wk3 s4 (yesterday)

Warmup:

Crawls
Goblet Squats
Bottoms up press

Session:

KBDL 3 x 5 @ 80kg
TGU 5 x 1 per arm @ 36kg
DBCL 5 x 5 @ 2 x 24kg
DBFSQ 5 x 5 @ 2 x 24kg

Notes:

•TGU's felt good, aiming to slow the movement down further, pausing at each part of the movement.

•Cleans felt better after setting up further away from the bells giving me a better hike.

•Squats still working on what is written above on log

To close out week 3 it's been another really good week. Volume was higher, and the main highlights were getting some great feedback for me to work on as I progress.

Have a strong day everyone!
 
SFG 1 Prep wk4 s1

Warmup:

Crawls
Goblet Squats
Bottoms up press

Session:

Single Press 4 x 1,2,3 @ 32kg
1h Swing 10 x OTM x 24 @ 32kg
Farmers walks 4 x 90s @ 2 x 24kg

Notes:

•Press felt good, less movement when pressing, and more narrow stance helped tremendously.

•Swings we're going really well and we're my best yet. Recovery between sets is definitely improving. Unfortunately I had to cut the swings short as I was close to another callous tear. I hope with sanding them down and treating them they will get stronger with time. So I finished off with some towel swings with a lighter weight just to get extra technique time.

•Walks felt good, focused on tall spine throughout.

Have a strong day everyone!
 
Mike Harrison said:
You are smart to avoid a callous tear @Lee Hunt ! Better to cut 1 day short than have to take off 1-2 weeks.
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Agreed! As frustrating as it was to dial back on what was my best swing session yet (recovery wise) I don't want to lose ground. Especially when I introduce the snatches next week :)
 
Yesterday I met up with a local SFG 2 for a one off so that I can run through a few things face to face. And I'm pleased to hear that a lot of the support from yourselves has payed off. Including the golden tips from @Anna C! Also the tip for the bar on the shoulder @Shahaf Levin has really tightened up my squat. :)

Peter Lant went through all 6 moves and has given me further assistance with specifics.

Notes:

•Clean: I was dropping the bell down instead of getting into position to drive the bell back

•Snatch: 4 point breathing which has helped me breath better and not run out of breath too soon.
Flick at the top of the movement to get the bell in the right position to drive back without tearing my hands up.
Keeping the bell along my centre line.

•TGU: On the down part keeping my foot knee and hand inline, my hand was positioning to far out. Run the hand down my glute to do this.

•Squat: Correct tension brace, breathing (yes I did the same as what you pointed out last time @Anna C :() still need to ingrain that! Mobility of the hips and hamstrings.

•Mobility: Peter has given me some great mobility exercises to improve upon. And showed me the windmill technique that I can use too. Also he's suggested getting a stick to do the windmill with too. I've bought one and aiming to unlock my left side better.

All in all a really good hour session! I was in a really good position primarily because of the support of everyone in the strongfirst family :)

Workout to come later!

Have a strong day everyone!
 
Great to hear you got some hands on coaching!

Windmills are excellent... you can bring that feel to your get-ups, too. Feel that windmill when you hinge to tripod, and same thing on the way back up. Hinge hips, rotate T-spine. Same as a windmill. Keeps the lower back happy and helps mobility. And goes with the other thing you mentioned, keeping the hand in line with the foot and knee.

Can you describe the tip on the clean some more? "I was dropping the bell down instead of getting into position to drive the bell back" -- I think I know what you mean there but I'm not sure... and always looking for better ways to coach the clean.
 
great post and I really need to get to a SFG so can benefit from some of this hands on personal coaching.

Lee Hunt said:
natch: 4 point breathing which has helped me breath better and not run out of breath too soon.
Flick at the top of the movement to get the bell in the right position to drive back without tearing my hands up.
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Can you explain this as well?
I find my self getting short of breath when I snatch.
I used the ques from @Anna C to have my "tsa" with the hip hinge part but I find that it feels like I am holding my breath at the top of the snatch and I want to exhale again when the bell is in lock out...
 
I'll jump in on the snatch breathing... The basic breathing is "tsaa" on the hip snap which is your moment of max effort, finishing that exhale as you come to lockout or in lockout, and then inhale as the bell comes down into the hinge (the same as you do for an inhale during a swing), and repeat. If this isn't enough (and often isn't after 20 or 30 continuous snatches), a second quick-ish "inhale/exhale" can be added in lockout. This adds a bit of time and slows the cadence, which isn't a problem for general practice where you're not trying to do max reps in a period of time. If you are trying to max reps in time, a third type of breathing can come into play (this is just me, not any official StrongFirst way), and that is just decouple your breathing and snatching and breathe as you need to in order to keep up with your effort. In my experience this is fine with a snatch test sized bell, especially if you're used to snatching a heavier bell for strength and power. The important thing is ensuring that your abdominal tension maintains your torso integrity and protects your spine. But for practice, definitely seek to have that biomechanical breathing match: power breath exhale as you drive the bell up, and inhale as the bell is coming down.
 
Anna C said:
Can you describe the tip on the clean some more? "I was dropping the bell down instead of getting into position to drive the bell back"
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I'll try and describe it. So I wasn't giving myself enough room on the drop and was more of an up down movement will less hinge. It was almost like having a little guided forward movement with the hands (not enough to throw you forward) on the drop which gave me more space and put me back into the path like the swing and load the hips better for the next Clean. It's a slight and subtle change, but feels better.

I hope that makes sense, I'll post a video later of both if it doesn't so you can see the difference.
 
Anna C said:
I'll jump in on the snatch breathing... The basic breathing is "tsaa" on the hip snap which is your moment of max effort, finishing that exhale as you come to lockout or in lockout, and then inhale as the bell comes down into the hinge (the same as you do for an inhale during a swing), and repeat. If this isn't enough (and often isn't after 20 or 30 continuous snatches), a second quick-ish "inhale/exhale" can be added in lockout. This adds a bit of time and slows the cadence, which isn't a problem for general practice where you're not trying to do max reps in a period of time. If you are trying to max reps in time, a third type of breathing can come into play (this is just me, not any official StrongFirst way), and that is just decouple your breathing and snatching and breathe as you need to in order to keep up with your effort. In my experience this is fine with a snatch test sized bell, especially if you're used to snatching a heavier bell for strength and power. The important thing is ensuring that your abdominal tension maintains your torso integrity and protects your spine. But for practice, definitely seek to have that biomechanical breathing match: power breath exhale as you drive the bell up, and inhale as the bell is coming down.
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OMG ! thanks @Anna C
that is what I did yesterday, I focused on having the "tsaa" with the hip snap and then finished the exhale as the bell was in lockout!
I cant tell you how happy I am to read that and that I was doing it correctly.

Sorry to take over your log Lee.
 
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