Two thousand and eight has started nicely. I am well along on my goal weight of around 165 lb, having lost 8 lbs this month with exercise and a normal diet. I’ve also been able to fit in a nice training schedule between a 65 hour work week and other commitments.
It’s pretty simple, actually, and it is paying dividends. The goal is to jerk, snatch, and swing 5 times a week. Some days, I will do all three. On other days, I only jerk and swing, and on two of those days, I snatch for a timed set and call it a day. If I am feeling fresh, I insert a 4-5m conditioning finisher in there, using the jump rope, long cycle, and other toys I have in my gym/garage. I’ve bought the materials to make a second, heavier sand bag and hope to assemble the bag this weekend.
The jerk has been the bane of my existence in execution, but consistent practice is helping me make strides. My wind is okay, but at about 4m-5m I get fatigued and begin to lose the ability to rack efficiently. One arm jerks are helping as well. Using a combination of grit and a rather creative rack technique I borrowed from others, I was able to complete a 50 reps in a 10m set with two 16kgs.
Now the emphasis is to improve speed. Now that I have done 10m in both the jerk and the snatch, I am focusing on speeding things up. When I get to 70 jerks with the 16kg and 80/80 snatches with the 16kg, I will begin to introduce the 24kgs into my routine (or the 20kgs when those are available).
The AKC style of lifting is simple, takes no more then 30m a day over three sets as I am doing it, and it works for my goals of losing weight, keeping fit, and developing mental toughness.
