Olympic Lifting

Workout 8 May 2010:

Olympic Lifting Class, 90 minutes

Results:
1RM Clean: 200lbs
1RM Front Squat: 205lbs

Previous best:
1RM Clean: 185lbs (28 Mar 10)
1RM Front Squat: 215lb (16 Jan 10)

This is my third Olympic Lifting class with coach Dan Bell. After my 185lb clean last time, I was determined to get to 200lbs today. After some warm ups and plenty of heavy singles, I was able to hit my goal with a 200lb lift that was actually technically sound. Since that lift went so well, I tried for 205lbs next, caught the bar well, but wasn't able to completely stand up. At that point, the coach stopped me and had me work on front squats.

I haven't had much formal training in front squats, but still had a decent PR of 215lbs. Two areas in which I need to improve are maintaining a more upright torso (just like the clean), and using the stretch reflex to get out of the bottom of the lift more efficiently. With enough practice, I should be able to meet and beat my previous PR, and carry that over to an even heavier clean. I topped out at a 205lb front squat today, and probably could have gone heavier, but didn't want to risk over-training today.