Week 1 Day 1 New Program

Week 1 Day 1
This starts a new phase of training!  This program is an intensification from the last program, meaning you will be using relatively heavier weights through out the program.  Today we are working on building up some consistency with weights that are a little heavier.  I usually don't give percentages unless its to just give you an idea of what weight you should be using   If someone could do more than the percentage I would be all for it (with good form).  But today I want you to stay at the percentages prescribed for Snatch and Clean and Jerk to build consistency at that weight.

High Hang Snatch
2 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest keep weight light and work on form

Snatch From Floor
5 sets of 1 rep with 2 minutes rest use 85% 1RM

Rest 15 minutes

Clean and Jerk
5 sets of 1 rep with 2 minutes rest use 85% 1RM

Rest 15 minutes

Back Squat
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds rest use approximatly 70-75% 1RM

Week 4 Day 5

Looking to see some PR's Today!!  Have fun

Snatch
Max out

Clean and Jerk
Max out

Optional if you want to max out on squat or front squat today might as well go for it!

Week 4 Day 4

NHNF Snatch (No hook grip and no foot movement)
2 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest
Stay lighter than last week and work on form

That's it for today. Rest up for tomorrow!

Week 4 Day 3

Hang Snatch from below knee
2 sets of 2 reps with 2 minutes of rest

Hang Clean and Jerk (from below the knee)
2 sets of 1 rep with 2 minutes of rest


Front Squat
1 set of 3 reps with 2 minutes of rest

Workout is short today and the rest of the week.  Deload for Friday Max Out!

Week 4 Day 2

Snatch From the Floor
1 rep on the minute for 10 minutes about 60-70%

Push Press from behind the Neck
1 set of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
use more weight than last week

Pendlay Row
1 set of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
use more weight than last week

Prone Sweeping Exercise
1 set of 10 reps with 2 minutes of rest
stay light

Week 4 Day 1

Starting to back off on volume this week.  You should start feeling fresh by Wednesday!

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use Straps)
3 sets of 2 reps with 2 minutes of rest

Hang Clean from mid thigh + 2 Jerks
3 sets with 2 minutes of rest

Back Squat
1 set of 7 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds of rest
Use 5-10% more weight than last week

And a video just for fun!

Week 3 Day 5

Max Effort Snatch

Max Effort Clean and Jerk

Week 3 Day 4

NHNF Snatch (No hook grip and no foot movement)

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Use a weight that you can still keep good form. (you should not miss reps)

Jerks from the rack

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Stay light and work on speed and positions.

Week 3 Day 3

First off Wanted to give a quick link to some guys who are pursuing what they are passionate about, worth watching the video.

Now onto the workout

So buy now you should start feeling a little beat down.  Maybe that happened earlier this week or maybe your still adapting and getting stronger and better, everyone is a little different just know that you wont always be able to progress every workout.  But the point is that you want to really start focusing on keeping good form and movement.  Don't worry so much about beating your weights from last week today but just get good work sets in even if they are a little lighter.  Also you might start to be getting bored doing the same thing over and over each week... but repetition will help you build a more consistent technique.  Consistent technique is better than perfect technique that you can't replicate.  With that said their is nothing better for a any athlete than to have a coach, it makes a world of difference with technique and training overall.

Hang Snatch from below knee
3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest

Klokov Complex (deadlift + 3 snatch hang pulls+ snatch)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest

Hang Clean and Jerk (from below the knee)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest


Shankle Complex (deadlift + 3 hang clean pulls + hang clean + 2 jerks)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest

Front Squat
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds rest

Week 3 Day 2

Snatch from the floor
1 rep on the minute for 20 minutes with approximately 60-70%

Push Press from behind the neck
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
Use more weight than last week

Pendlay Row
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
Use more weight than last week

Prone Sweeping Row
2 sets of 10 reps with 2 minutes between sets.
Stay light

Week 3 Day 1

This week you should expect to really start getting the hang of the exercises and should be able to use more weight.

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use Straps)
3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest
Should be able to use considerably more weight this week.

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use Straps)
3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest
Use more weight than last week (Form is more important than weight)

Rest 15 minutes before completing the rest of this workout

Hang Clean from mid thigh + 2 Jerks
3 sets with 90 seconds of rest

Jerks from the BLOCKS (no from the rack)
3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest
use more weight than last week

Back Squat
3 sets of 7 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds of rest
Use 5-10% more weight than last week

A tip from Travis Cooper and I:  If you are trying to move up a weight class you should experience what is called a "Temple Pump".  Meaning you should eat so much food that your temples should be burning.  Also the food should be high quality and not easy to chew processed food.

Week 2 Day 5

Snatch Max

Clean and Jerk Max

Back Squat
shoot for a new 5RM

Week 2 Day 4

NHNF Snatch (No hook grip and no foot movement)

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Use a weight that you can still keep good form. (you should not miss reps)

Jerks from the rack

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Stay light and work on speed and positions.

Stay light today to rest up for tomorrow Max Out!

Week 2 Day 3

Hang Snatch from below knee
3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest
Use more weight than last week.

Klokov Complex (deadlift + 3 snatch hang pulls+ snatch)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest
Use more weight than last week

Hang Clean and Jerk (from below the knee)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest
Use more weight than last week

Shankle Complex (deadlift + 3 hang clean pulls + hang clean + 2 jerks)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest
Use ore weight than last week

Front Squat
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds rest
Use more weight than last week.

Week 2 Day 2

Snatch from the floor
1 rep on the minute for 20 minutes with approximately 60-70%

Push Press from behind the neck
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
Use more weight than last week

Pendlay Row
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets
Use more weight than last week

Prone Sweeping Row
2 sets of 10 reps with 2 minutes between sets.
Stay light

American Open and Week 2 Day 1 Oly Program

The American Open was this weekend, here is how everyone on Team MDUSA did.

Jess N     77/94         9th
Mike S    112/145     3rd
Chris G    125/155     5th
James T   133/163     1st
Travis C   145/185     1st
Jon N       160/188     1st
Caleb W   140/180     9th
Tom S       NA/192     na

Our team got 2nd place as a team, Jon North got Best Male Lifter, and I got a Rick Schutz award (named after Rick Schutz who went 6 for 6 at the 1992 Olympics).

I also got a chance to be on Jon North's "Weightlifting Talk".  He had a lot of people as guests including Kendrick Farris, Greg Everett, Holly Mangold, and a few others.  Here is the link to it
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weightlifting-talk1/2012/12/02/weightlifting-talk--american-open

Well here is the workout!

Week 2 Day 1
Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use Straps)
3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest
Use more weight than last week even if its just 1kg

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use Straps)
3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest
Use more weight than last week (Form is more important than weight)

Rest 15 minutes before completing the rest of this workout

Hang Clean from mid thigh + 2 Jerks
3 sets with 90 seconds of rest

Jerks from Rack
3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest
use more weight than last week

Back Squat
3 sets of 7 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds of rest
Use 5-10% more weight than last week

Week 1 Day 5

Snatch Max

Clean and Jerk Max

Back Squat
Find your 5 RM

No lifting on day 6 and 7.  We will start back up on week 2 day 1!

Week 1 Day 4

NHNF Snatch (No hook grip and no foot movement)

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Use a weight that you can still keep good form. (you should not miss reps)

Jerks from the rack

5 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds rest.  Stay light and work on speed and positions.

Today should be fairly light, to rest up for tomorrow!

Week 1 Day 3

Day 3

Hang Snatch from below knee
3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest

Klokov Complex (deadlift+ 3 snatch hang pulls+ snatch)
3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest

Hang Clean and Jerk (from below the knee)

3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest

Shankle Complex (deadlift+3 hang clean pulls+hang clean + 2 jerks)

3 sets of 1 complex with 90 seconds of rest 

Front Squat

3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds of rest 

Week 1 Day 2

Snatch from the floor
1 rep on the minute for 20 minutes with approximately 60-70% 1RM

Push Press from behind the neck
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets.  Use a weight that is difficult to preform for 5 reps with good form.

Pendlay Row
3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets.  Use a weight that is difficult to perform with good form.

Prone Sweeping exercise
2 sets of 10 reps with 2 minutes rest between sets. Stay light.

Week 1 Day 1 Olympic Lifting Workout

So this is going to be a beginner/intermediate program for Olympic Style Weightlifting.  I will post the first day of the program today, so here we go!  Please post if this is something that is interesting to you or if you have any questions. 

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use straps)

 3 sets of 2 reps with 90 seconds of rest. 

Use a weight that you can do with good form and work your way up until you get 3 work sets in with good form and no missed reps. Do not let go of the bar for all the reps.  

Hang Snatch from mid thigh (use straps)

3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest.

Drop the weight by 20% from the first exercise and work on technique. Hold onto the bar the whole time.

Rest 15 Minutes before starting the rest of this workout.

Jerks from the rack

3 sets of 3 reps with 90 seconds of rest.

Use a weight that you can do with good form and no missed reps.  After you recover each rep lower the bar back down to the rack position (don't drop it on the floor or on the blocks, the goal is for you to keep your hands on the bar the whole time)

Hang Cleans from mid thigh 

5 sets of 1 rep with 90 seconds of rest.

Use  weight that is sub maximal.  Work on good technique.  

Back Squat (high bar)

3 sets of 7 reps with 2 minutes and 30 seconds rest between sets.  use a weight that is challenging to complete the rep range with good from.  About 65-70% of your 1RM.

Odd day at the gym

Jerks, Jerks, Jerk! In today's training I did pretty good on Snatch: 130 for a single and 120 for a double.  While trying 125 for a double I ripped my strap and my hand flew off the bar on the second rep... Once I got to Clean and Jerk, I did terrible.  I did the same weight on Clean and Jerk as I did Snatch.  I have not done that since my first weightlifting meet.  I was irritated with my Cleans so I just went on to Jerks.  Then what happens?  I get a PR Jerk of 170 kg from behind the neck!  Strange. Overall it was an odd day at the gym.   Thanks for reading.

Stay Strong,

James Tatum

Oh, and the coupon code 172kg for 10% off your entire order at TatumTrained.com is still good until the 31st!!

172kg

Slowly but surely my Front Squat is coming around! 172 kg was a PR set of 3 for me.  One of my issues with the squat is going down too slow and not catching the bounce out of the bottom.  I am finally starting to catch the bounce on my front squats and cleans.  I am hoping to be able to clean and  jerk this weight in the near future!  

http://tatumtrained.com/

I will be lifting at the American Open Weightlifting Championships on Saturday December 1st at 2pm.  304kg total is still the goal. 

In house Competition

Here is a video of our in house competition on Wednesday.  In house competitions are great to add a little extra intensity. Tom Sroka, Mike Szela, and Jessica North all made PR's. I totaled 285kg at 78.7kg body weight with a 135kg snatch which is the closest I have gotten to my 137kg PR (at a higher weight class).  I had more in the tank, but missed the jerk on 158kg twice which would have been a PR total.  For the next 3 weeks my focus is Jerks, Jerks, and more Jerks!  304kg total is on the way.

Stay Strong,

James Tatum

Some Tatum's Representing! 

Not Making the Hulk Angry

This is a blog I wrote a while back on jrodtrained.com.

Not Making the Hulk Angry… April 15, 2011

A few things on goal setting is that they should be

1) Challenging but achievable.  Don’t set a goal to defeat the Hulk when you are Batman.  Instead, in Batman’s case: set a goal to NOT make The Hulk angry.

2) The more specific your goal the more likely you will achieve it.  If you set a goal to “do your best” or “win” without defining exactly what that is (i.e.” your previous best XXX and you will beat it by YYY” or “the record is ZZZ and you will beat it by YYY”) it is not likely that you will achieve your goal.

3) You should start by setting small, short term, and easy to achieve goals such as getting one more rep on a set than the last set.  Or too not make The Hulk angry this week.  Then after you have had practice setting goals move onto harder ones and include long-term goals.  For example get to X% body fat by (XXX date) and maintain it for 6 months (or 180 days).

4) Set an action plan to obtain these goals.  A goal is meaningless if you don’t do something about it.  For example if your goal was to lose body fat, more specifically 2% in 30 days, you could put in your action plan that you make workout 4 times a week and eat a meat an nut breakfast every morning at 7AM.

5) Evaluate your goals often.  If your goal is a body composition goal you should evaluate your progress every 2 weeks by getting your body fat tested.

6) Revise your goal if needed.  If a barrier shows up that makes you unable to reach your goal of YYY by date XXX then you should revise your goal so that it is achievable.  Do not just give up on that goal.  If your goal was to do 12 pull ups in 90 days and 60 days into it you can only do 2 reps, you should change your goal into doing 3 more reps in the next 60 days.  That way you still challenge yourself to do better than you did the previous 60 days and your end goal is more achievable.

7) You should be held accountable for the goals you set for yourself.   Tell your friends your goal(s) so when they ask you how your goal is coming along you will have to tell them something.  Everyone needs someone to hold them accountable.

I encourage you to start setting goals and don’t forget to write them down.

Stay Strong,

James Tatum

Bar's Loaded

"Bar’s Loaded" 

I chalk my hands and then stare down at the bar. My heart rate increases and I can feel the adrenaline running through my body. I hear a grunt, then a bar slam behind me as other lifters warm-up. My hands are shaking with excitement. I walk to the back of the platform. The air is cold on my arms, and it gives me a chill. I walk to the bar and place my right hand on it, fasten my hook-grip up and then do the same with my left. My hands are steadied by the barbell. I give a grunt. I look up and don’t see anything in the general direction that my eyes are looking.  I imagine myself pulling the bar off the floor and sweeping it back as I get to my heels. I visualize the extension of my second pull to my hips and pulling myself down while moving my feet slightly outwards. I go back to the reality of actually lifting. I pull that bar without anything to spare. Next thing I know, I am standing up with the bar over my head patiently waiting for the down signal. Everything went just as I visualized it right before the lift, even though I felt like I had no time to control anything. My adrenaline-filled body obeyed my mind. 

"Down"

"Good Lift"

My hands are shaking again, ready for the next lift.

Training updates

Got an update on training!  For those of you who are interested, check out my online log book at

http://www.pendlayforum.com/showthread.php?t=7283

I update it every training day.  I have always encouraged people to keep personal log books.  They help you see the progress you're making.  Occasionally I'll look back at my training log books from 2008.  It surprises me the difference in programing and strength levels!  What is really cool is that I can see great gains from July 16th 2012 (1st day of training with Team MDUSA).  A few of the benefits of having my log book public is that it holds me accountable.  How? Well the act of writing down the workouts and getting to write PR (Personal Record) next to a weight is pretty exciting! Also, a whole lot of people can see if I am slacking off...  So if you find that I'm slacking don't be afraid to call me out.  Call me out on http://www.facebook.com/tatumtrained, Twitter (@JamesTatum8), and/or Pendlayforum.com.

Ohh and American Open weightlifting competition is coming up and I'm revising my goal of a 300 total to 306. Why not?  Also Coach Pendlay thinks I'll be able to get there!

Stay Strong,

James Tatum

The Phases of Rest

When someone asked Winston Churchill what he attributed his success in life he answered:

"Economy of effort. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down."

This quote was changed a little by Al Schoterman (1972 Olympic Hammer Throw) into this poem

"The Phases of Rest"

Never run when you can walk

Never walk when you can get a ride 

Never stand when you can sit 

Never sit when you can lie down 

Never lie down when you can go to sleep

This quote has brought a new meaning when I started training 9 times a week.  Prior to training with Team MDUSA, I had mostly trained 5 times a week but occasionally 8 times when I was feeling frisky.  For the past 5 weeks I have trained 9 times a week.  I have broken a lot of the general principles of strength training (like never train more than 1 hour at a time) and gotten great results. While breaking some principles I have come to understand other ones better, like the Phases of Rest.  When training volume is so high taking as much rest as possible is crucial because in the end more training yields more results.... as long as you rest enough in between training sessions.

This was also the last day in Wilmington for Stefanie (my beautiful wife of 3 months!) and me.  Stefanie just finished her Masters in Chemistry from UNCW and we will be moving to Charlotte NC so I can train full time with the team.  Thanks to everyone who supported me in my training so far: Jared and Dawn Olson of Next Level Nutrition, Tony Cowden and the Crossfit Wilmington Team, and to all my friends and family who have been so supportive.  Thank you.

Stay Strong!

James Tatum

The Beginning

I am sitting here waiting to train for the second time today.  I have just joined the MDUSA weightlifting team and I am surrounded by people who are by far stronger than me.  So as I start my journey with this team, I come in at the bottom.  I used to watch the Ustream videos Coach Pendlay had of the practice to get some motivation in my own training, but now I am training with the people who motivate me! It is great to take a second and watch one of my teammates lift before I do.  This has led me to get some good PR's in the three weeks I have been on the program!

I am a big believer in goals and making goals public so that I am held accountable.  So for my first blog as new member of Team MDUSA I wrote some short term goals below.

This is what I want to hit at the American open in December 2012.
Snatch 140kg
Clean and Jerk 160
Total 300
140/160 (written like this from now on)
Current Numbers
137/155

Thanks for reading, and also checkout my website Tatumtrained.com!

Stay Strong,

James Tatum