WORKOUT OF THE WEEK # 005
Olympic Lifting
Thursday 28th October 2021
EMOM X 5
2 Muscle Clean + 2 Front Squat
Intent: This part of the workout is intended as a primer for the rest of the session.
Approach: Use this an extension of your warm-up and a chance to really nail your movement with the barbell, focusing purely on quality and position.
Beginners, don’t worry too much about the weight on the bar, pick a weight that you can move easily without making any major technical errors such as losing balance, incorrect bar path or hitting your elbows on your knees in the bottom of the squat.
Intermediate and advanced athletes, use this EMOM to get the feeling of being really explosive off the ground, still ensure there are no major technical errors before drip feeding the weight on the bar each min. Make sure this is not a max out, only a primer for part 2!
Scaling: The movements are relatively low skill so just really think about the weight you're moving as a scaling option, i.e switching to a training bar if needs be. On the front squat, if you are scaling range of motion, then we recommend you pause for 3 seconds in your deepest position on each rep to get you more comfortable at the bottom of your range and help develop more range over time.
Demo Video: Muscle Clean
Power Clean
Build to a Heavy Double
Intent: The intent of this section depends on how long you have been lifting and your ability. Beginners should focus on more on practicing technique rather than progressing the load. Intermediate & Advanced lifters should use this section to get some working sets done whilst building up to a daily 2 rep max, (doesn’t have to be an all time PB, just a heavy 2 for the day, if its not feeling like a PB don’t stress).
Approach:
Beginners, use this time to find a working weight where you can perform the lifts without any major errors. Stick to this weight until both you and the coach are happy for you to increase the load as it is clearly not challenging enough and you are moving with good technique.
Intermediate & Advanced, use this time (15-18mins) to build the weight after each successful set in which you don’t make any major errors. For example, catching the bar below parallel or star fishing by jumping the feet excessively wide. When you reach a weight that you feel is your max for the day, take a physical or mental not for next time as a good way of tracking your lifts. If you hit your max early and there is still time left on the clock, reduce the load by 10-15% and do a few extra sets. Don’t fall into the trap of missing the same weight over an over: if you miss a lift or make an error then take the weight down so you can get a good set in before building back up.
Scaling: To scale this movement, use the coaches advice as there could be a variety of different things that need adjusting. As an example, let’s use a poor set up position. If you physically can’t achieve a pickup position in which you have a nice proud chest and flat back then we can use a simple tool to scale. We could set the bar up on an elevated surface i.e plates, or we could opt to go for a Hang Power Clean instead, as mobility improves we can decrease the height of the stacked plates etc until you are competent lifting from the ground.
Rest: this depends somewhat on your fitness levels but also on whether you are drilling technique or maxing out. If you are drilling technique as a beginner, stick at a manageable weight and have at least 60-90s rest between sets. If you more of an advanced lifter, then rest at least 2 minutes between sets when maxing out, especially when at that top end strength.
Demo Video: Power Clean
Front Squat
5 X 3r (3s Pause in bottom position).
Intent: The goal here is to increase your strength in the Front Squat, another key accessory in addition to the power clean to achieving a stronger squat clean.
Approach:
Beginners - Drop back to empty bar or a very light weight initially to ensure a full ROM is met in the squat. If successful then slowly build over the 5 sets, ensure the pause is a legit 3s and in a nice active squat, not just resting and collapsing into your bottom position.
Intermediate & Advanced - This is one of our heavy squatting sessions of the week, you will definitely be warm so not many warm up sets will be needed. Once you have got to a heavy weight, use the clock as your friend as stated below and ensure you hit 5 Heavy sets. This doesn’t have to be the exact same weight throughout, just ensure its 5 challenging sets in total! Use the pause to get strong in the bottom position which will have a great carry over for when you catch a heavy clean.
Scaling: If you struggle with full depth, potentially try elevating your heels with some small fractional plates too see if this helps. I would suggest combining a mobility drill with the front squat each set to try and slowly but surely improve position as time goes on. If a barbell squat is out of the question opt for a Goblet squat in which you can use a DB/KB instead and requires less mobility in the front rack position.
Rest: Similar to above, beginners need at-least 60-90s in B/T sets, whereas I would suggest intermediate to advance use the clock and go every 3 Min X 5 Rounds. The clock will ensure adequate and consistent rest rather than guessing and being unsure.
Demo Video: Front Squat (with 3s Pause)
