Friday, June 18, 2010

There’s a reason why they call them Jerks

Nobody likes jerks, and that includes me. The Snatch used to be my nemesis when I was still training OAJ’s. Now that I’m training proper Jerks the Snatch is starting to feel like a walk in the park. At the moment my focus is on simply mastering the Jerk technique. I've decided not to use my Jerk sets as a conditioning tool just yet. That will obviously come later once I actually feel a bit more comfortable with the technique. The past week’s training went like this:

2010-06-14

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 8rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 7 rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-15

2x20kg Jerk: 3 minutes @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-16

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 7 minutes @ 12rpm

2010-06-17

2x20kg Jerk: 5x1 minute work / 1 minute rest @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-18

2x20kg Jerk: 5x1 minute work / 1 minute rest @ 7rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

32kg Swing: 20/20

I’m pretty happy with the progress I’m making with the Snatches. With the Jerks, not so much. Luckily I’m learning that patience is not a bad thing. One interesting by-product of my current way of training is that my strength and endurance are increasing in surprising ways. I started my current cycle doing 20kg swings (about 2 months ago). I worked up to 30 reps per hand and then switched to the 24kg. The 24kg bell felt about the same as the 20 so I could easily maintain the same rep range. Tonight, just for fun, I swung the 32kg bell and I managed an easy set of 20 reps on the left and then 20 reps on the right. I didn’t expect the 32kg bell to feel this easy but it did. Now the Jerks just need to start feeling easy as well!!! 

2 comments:

Howie B said...

Hahaha... just wait mister. I felt the same way as you. But now things have switched. Now the snatch is my nemesis and the jerk is my friend. It used to be the other way around for me. But I suppose my leg strength and endurance accelerated along the way switching things up. On another note, I received some advice from a solid source regarding swings... minimum of 30 reps per hand. So I have dropped the weight back down to 20kg, have hit that number and will now start working my way back up. Keep up the good work!!

hunashaman said...

I can't wait for the snatch to become my nemesis again. Thanks for the tips on the Swings.