I’ve had a chance to reflect more on my personal performance
at the kettlebell meet last week- to look a little more objectively at what I
wanted and what I actually did on the platform.
Yes, I was disappointed in myself when I put down the kettlebells. I wanted 50 reps, and I got 45, plus a
no-count. John and Mike told me as soon
as I could stand up again that I was making it look so easy, that they were
shocked when I quit. Andy, a friend at
church, saw the video and jumped on me as well- “you just quit! You had two more minutes, and you just quit
because it was too hard! What kind of a
man are you?” Don’t get me wrong- I want
my friends to push me and hold me to a high standard. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens
another. Without their friction, I won’t
get sharper. I appreciate their honesty and their high standards. I don't want losers for friends. I want friends who push themselves as hard as they push me.
That said, let’s run the numbers. My previous best was 41 clean and jerks, in
just over 8 minutes. Saturday I did 46
clean and jerks, in just over 8 minutes.
One was a no count for a fast drop, but I cleaned it and jerked it, so
it counts in terms of total work capacity.
I wanted 50 reps going in. In
round numbers, that’s a 20% improvement.
I wanted to do 20% more reps than I did less than a month ago, which was
my all-time best with this weight. Is
that a realistic goal? Of course
not. At my age, with this weight, as
long as I’ve been training, 20% jumps just don’t happen. So what did I do? I made a 12% improvement, and got 90% of my
goal. I did 46 clean and jerks in the
time it previously took me to do 41. A
12% improvement is great- I’ll take it, and I’ll quit beating myself up for not
hitting 50. Fifty reps was never a
realistic goal to start with.
Speaking of numbers, I should have been lifting 20k’s. I
psyched myself up for this meet- “I’m finally lifting greens!”, but I was not
ready to make a strong showing with greens, so I came and put up a mediocre
performance. I’ve hit 70 reps twice with the 20k’s, and 60 reps probably 8 or
10 times. I’m just now getting decent
numbers with purples- what made me think I could do well with greens?
So what’s next? I’m
going back to purples, and working on owning 80 reps. The most progress I’ve ever made, was made
using a template someone else had written, telling me every rep and set to do
for 6 weeks. It was not creative or
imaginative or fun. It got boring. It also took me from 56 jerks with 2x20k to
81 in six weeks. Right after I finished,
I hit CMS in the single clean and jerk.
Who needs fun, imagination, or creativity when you can have results? When I can consistently hit high reps with
the 20k’s, I’ll think about the greens again, and when I do, I’ll be a far
better athlete for it.
I got Thierry Sanchez’ new long cycle program, called “Bogatyr
Rising”. It looks great on paper-
increasing time and density, first with shorter intervals, then with longer
sets. Rudnev recommends the same
approach. I may substitute some
bodyweight stuff for the barbell assistance lifts- I’d rather hone my pistol
and one arm pushup right now than my back squat and bench press, but like
Thierry says- don’t sweat it. It’s
assistance work, not powerlifting. The
substance of my training will be his long cycle progression, and long
cycle-specific assistance lifts. I
thrive on a program that says “just do this”.
I do it, check it off, and hit the showers. Left to myself, I get creative in my
training, which means I get inconsistent.
My next meet will probably be in Atlanta on August 18,
exactly three months after this last meet.
Will I be lifting greens then? I
don’t know, and at this point, I don’t care.
I’ve got my hands full with purple.
