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| Having fun with old-school, split style snatches in the outdoor training area at Dino Headquarters. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Three quick notes and then we'll talk
training - as in, how I do warm-up sets.
1. The Dinosaur Files Newsletter
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Jan issues of The Dinosaur Files news-
letter:
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2. The John Wood Report
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4. How I Do Warm-Up Sets
In response to yesterday's email about the
importance of pre-workout visualization drills,
I received the following email from one of our
longtime Dinos:
Thank you for focusing our attention on the prep
time before each workout. I have found it to be
a useful practice in all areas of life.
While reading, however, a question came to me.
You wrote that your first lift was with the empty
bar.
How quickly do you progress up to your planned
top weight for the day?
Is it more like a series of 5 pound jumps - or do
you go from empty bar to, say, 50 percent, then
75 percent, then 85 percent?
Michael Gray
Thanks for your question, Michael. It's a very
common one.
My weight jumps on warm-ups have changed
over the years based on two primary factors:
(1) My age,
and
(2) My exercises.
When I was in my 20's and then my 30's, I did
very heavy powerlifting workouts. I didn't need
very much warming up, so I started with a 135
pound bar in squats, benches and deadlifts, and
moved up in 90 pound jumps - in other words,
I added two 45's to the bar.
When I got closer to my top weight I added less
weight per set.
For example:
Bottom Position Bench Press
135 x 5
225 x 1
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
415 x 1
425 x 1
In my 40's, I did more overhead lifting, and
found that I needed more warm-up sets - so
I started lighter and took smaller jumps:
Clean and Press
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 1
200 x 1
220 x 1
240 x 1
250 x 1
260 x 1
270 x 1
Today, at age 61, doing Olympic lifting, I
need lots of warm-up sets - and I need to
get really loose and limber before I go
heavy.
So I begin with 10 to 20 minutes of free
hand warm-ups - stretching, thera-band
pulls, overhead squats with a broomstick,
etc. - and then I begin with the empty bar.
I should note that almost all Olympic lifters
start with the empty bar - even the younger
guys and gals - including the World and
Olympic champions. You need to do it to
get loose and flexible for smooth lifting.
From there, I go up in 10 kilo jumps (22
pounds). And I usually do 3 to 5 singles at
each weight for snatches - and 2 or 3 singles
at each weight for clean and jerks.
As the weights get heavier I drop to 5 kilo
(11 pound) weight increases.
And when I get to working weight territory,
or close to it, I usually drop the number of
singles at each weight.
So snatches might look like:
Split Snatches
Bar x 5 singles
66 lbs. x 5 singles
88 lbs. x 5 singles
110 lbs. x 5 singles
121 lbs. x 3 singles
132 x 2 singles
143 x 1 single
154 x 1 single
The other thing I should mention is this -
I always move at less than 100 percent
speed with the empty bar and the lighter
weights - and gradually increase my speed
as I add weight to the bar.
And yes, that's a lot of very light work at
the beginning - but as a 61-year old who
likes to do OL work, it's the only way to
do it. In essence, the first half of every
workout is a very long, methodical and
progressive warm-up.
Hope that helps!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. For more training tips for older Dinos,
grab Gray Hair and Black Iron:
http://www.brookskubik.com/grayhair_blackiron.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters - including
links to my PDF courses and my Kindle
books:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"Time marches on, and so do older
Dinos."
- Brooks Kubik
BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .
We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle
bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:
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