The Endeavours of a Weightlifting Medic (Oly, strength...the usual suspects)

[Martin Bonn]

Hi everyone,

sooo i've been trianing for a while but i only recently found my way to strength and more recently to oly lifting and i thought i make use of the knowledgeable minds here to help me with it (or i have an unsatisfied need for attention....who knows! :-p)

right so a quick history:
i ve done MA for about 5 years (mostly throwing based stuff like judo and jitsu) and i ve competed on a national level here in the UK.
i ve been doing weight related stuff for about 6 years: i started like most people: i wanted that big biceps so i did bodybuilding stuff for about 4 years...never got anywhere though really...i gained a bit of weight and i got bigger and certainly a bit stronger (a the blissful beginnings!), but i didn t know much about training itself or nutrition or anything else for that matter!
I started reading the usual magazines and stumbled upon crossfit which led me to strength stuff which i ve been doing for 2 years (i still didn t know much about anything but still made more progress then ever before) and eventually oly lifting.

in the last month i ve finally found a proper coach and facilities of oly stuff and i ve been doing that since.

i ve always been really active so my tolerance for training is ok (i can tolerate 6 days a week with up to 9 sessions), but i m by no means an elite athlete!!!

[Martin Bonn]

Stats:
6'1''
204 pounds

LBBS (from my strength days):130kg
HBBS (ATG): 105kg
DL:170kgx3...never really maxed out
Press: 65kg
Front Squat: 90kgx3 (horrible form...from before my oly days...much better form now)
as you can see i have tall man syndrome: skinny legs and weak quads... I m HBBSing now so hopefully the gap between my DL and squat will close a bit!

so here's my programm for the next couple of weeks:

Mo-Sat:
Oly: snatch and clean (high) pulls of the blocks or from mid-hang (trying to get that extension going). decided not to bother with sets or reps yet...just rying to get it right. train for ~45min - 1hr

in the same session i do some strength stuff:
Mo:
Burgener Squat cycle (from his website)

Tu:
Press 10setsx3reps

Wd:
OHS 4x3
Sn DL 4x3

Th:
day 2 of Burgener squat cycle

Fr:
B Press 6x3
Pull-up 4x5

Sat:
Clean DL 4x3

I follow the squat cycle for squats (obviously) the other stuff is taking a bit of a back seat atm (still trying to stay within the 80%+ 1RM range).

i shall report back with number and progress. any input is appreciated!

[Derek Simonds]

From one tall man to another welcome aboard! There are quite a few MA's around here. I will watch your log and enjoy your journey.

[Brandon Oto]

You a UK medic, Martin?

[Martin Bonn]

@Derek: cheers buddy! glad to know i m not by myself with the long legs! god they make squatting difficult!

@Brandon: I am indeed. i m doing medicine as a second degree (did biochem first), now i m on one of the 'fast-track' courses...we do 5 years in 4. I go to Bristol medical school.

[Martin Bonn]

food wise i m doing the following currently:
zone-ish: 2xfat, but i m up-ed the protein to equal bodyweight in lbs, 25 blocks. don't really count calories.
tried to lose a bit of weight recently, went down from 220 to 204 in about 6 weeks.
ATM i m: 204 pounds at 15% bodyfat, i m trying to get that down to 10-12%.

[Brandon Oto]

Ah, gotcha. Thought you were a paramedic.

[Martin Bonn]

yeah, we call medical students 'medics' over here, it s a bit confusing....

[Martin Bonn]

Training on 17AUG08:
Oly: Sn pulls
sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8uqBZHRntU (wfs)
any comments appreciated!
i know my 3rd pull is not quite there yet, but i m focusing more on the 2nd pull atm.
the weight is 50kg.

and a recent set of Fr Sqts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftszQSYmYDc (wfs)
Any suggestions on how i can get my back more upright?

[Steven Low]

Don't have enough technical experience with the Sn pulls to comment.

Front squat:

Looks fine... if you want you can focus on driving the elbows up harder towards the ceiling along with the front of your chest