SQUAT FOCUS DAY 5, WEEK 6 (2012DEC29) -- 2012 ONAGA CHRISTMAS OPEN

Local meets are a lot of fun and they are an excellent opportunity to catch up with old weightlifting friends.  Yesterday, AJ Rezensky and myself drove out to Onaga, Kansas to participate in the 2012 Onaga Christmas Open and we had a great time.  I'm always awed by the number of participants and the vast level of experience held amongst the athletes and coaches alike.  However, a large group of participants at a local meet inevitably results in a long day full of waiting, delays, and more waiting.  Yesterday was no exception, but my patience paid off big.

In preparation of this particular meet, I focused my attention on establishing and maintaining a solid strength foundation of squats.  Over the past 6 weeks this has been my area of concentration and I believe it paid off handsomely.  My front and back squat have both increased by 10kg and those gains were made in the first 4 weeks!  The only drawback with a squat concentration program is that my classic lifts suffered slightly.  The past two weeks leading up to the meet were hampered with missed lifts at relatively light weights which were unexplainable and uncommon in my normal training regimen.  Furthermore, these errant misses were coupled with an overriding sense of physical exhaustion (possibly overreaching/overtraining) due to the demands of high intensity squatting.  Regardless, after taking the necessary weeks to deload the program has produced significant results.

Speaking of deloads, this was by far the hardest component of the 6 week squat cycle.  Especially, the final week leading up to this meet.  Reducing weights to below 70% seemed irrational and unconscionable, but it works within the parameters of the "super-compensation" theory.  The final week had my classic lifts at no more than 77kg in the snatch and 98kg in the clean and jerk.  Furthermore, to extend the benefits of the deload all of the classic lifts were done in a power fashion (i.e. power snatch, power clean, and power jerk.).

My warm-up progression for the meet follows:

Snatch:
50 x 3/3
60 x 2
70 x 2
75 x 1
80 x 1 (1:1:148)
85 x 1 (1:2:149)
90 x 1 (1:3:150)
95 x 1 (1:4:151)
100 x 1 (1:5:152)
105 x 1 (1:6:153)
110 x 1 snatch pull only (1:7:154)
105 x 1 (Attempt 1) (1:8:155)
110 x 1 (1:9:156)
115 x 1 (1:10:157)
120 x 1 snatch pull only (1:11:158)
115 x F (Attempt 2) (1:12:159)
125 x 1 snatch pull only (1:13:160)
122 x 1 (Attempt 3) * Meet PR * (1:14:161)

* 5 Minute Break *

Clean and Jerk:
50 x 3/3
60 x 2
70 x 2
90 x 1 (1:15:162)
100 x 1 (1:16:163)
110 x 1 (1:17:164)
120 x 1 * Initial Opener changed to 125kg then 130kg. *
125 x 1 (1:18:165)
135 x 1 clean pull only (1:19:166)
130 x 1 (Attempt 1) (1:20:167)
140 x 1 clean pull only (1:21:168)
137 x F (Attempt 2) (1:22:169)
145 x 1 clean pull only (1:23:170)
140 x 1 (Attempt 3) * Meet PR * (1:24:171)

2012 Onaga Christmas Open from Bison Barbell Club on Vimeo.

To finish with two meet PRs, earning 1st place in the Men's Masters 105+ Division, and winning the title of "Overall Best Lifter in the Masters Division" is humbling.  It definitely shows that all my hours of sweating, bleeding, and hard work on the platform weren't for naught.  Yet, none of this could have happened without the efforts and support of others.  Namely, my wife and son, who afford me sufficient time to train and support my efforts unconditionally.  Furthermore, I have to thank my good friend and fellow coach Gregg Hadley whose help was priceless by counting cards for myself, AJ, and his own group of lifters from CrossFit Manhattan Kansas.  He's an artist in juggling bodies, counting cards, providing sage advice, and videotaping my large ass -- thanks Gregg!

I also need to recognize AJ Rezensky who traveled with me to Onaga and tackled his first meet with only 1 month of serious training.  He finished with a total of 188kg, with a snatch of 83kg and a clean and jerk of 105kg.  Considering his competition preparation period was limited to approximately one month, his placing 4th in his weight division is highly commendable.  Kudos AJ!

AJ, Gregg and Joe

Further, I'd like to thank my friends from CrossFit Olathe, Sal Badali, Jerrell Barber, and Tyson Gramkow.  They cohesively pushed and encouraged me throughout the meet.  Their level of motivation and determination were contagious and helped to fuel my drive and reluctance to concede on the platform.  Thanks guys, you all motivate the hell out of me and I look forward to competing with you all in the future, but until then...

Go lift something REALLY HEAVY!