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.