Week 1: new cycle, and welcome Coach Piper!

Day 1
Clean and jerk: 3 sets of 3+3 @ 70-80%; 1 single @ 85-95%
Clean pull: 3 sets of 5 reps
Back squat: 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 2
Snatch: 3 sets of 3 reps @ 70-80%; 1 single @ 85-95%
Snatch pull: 3 sets of 5 reps
Front squat: 3 sets of 3 reps

Day 3
Snatch: 1RM
Clean and jerk: 1RM
Back squat: 5RM

We start a new training cycle this week, and we've made a few small changes to improve things this time around. On days 1 and 2, we will be focusing on either the snatch or the clean and jerk. On these days, we will first work up to something that we can do for triples and perform 3-5 sets of triples in that intensity range. After completing those working sets, we will work up to a heavy-ish single for the day in that lift. This is NOT meant to be a max effort lift, but rather just something heavy for the day that you can do with great technique. You should not be missing working up to this heavy single, and you should NOT just keep going until you miss. I have attached percentage ranges to both the triples and to the singles to give you an idea of what intensity ranges you should be shooting for. I don't want to give hard and fast rules about percentages you should train at because I think that can be too restricting, but these should give you at least a starting point for what you should shoot for.

The rationale for this structure of volume work and then working up to a heavy single is pretty simple. Basically, the intent of the volume work is to reinforce good technique with lots of reps at sub-maximal loads, build work capacity for more heavy training in the coming months, and build strength in the positions required to properly execute heavy snatches and clean and jerks. The intent of the heavy singles is to get used to regularly hitting lifts at high percentages of your maxes. We are not necessarily trying to raise our maximums on these days, but rather just to get more consistent at heavier weights and to raise our "minimums". I'll talk more about this in a coming post and link to some other good posts from others who have a lot more experience in this sport than I do, but I am really excited to add this piece to our training.

When I write "snatch" or "clean and jerk" on days 1 and 2, I leave this open to performing either the full snatch and clean and jerk, or any variation thereof that will help fix weaknesses. I may give some of you different variations to work on with the volume work at least, but when in doubt, just do the full lifts. No need to overcomplicate this!

The pulls should be performed at a weight that allows perfect technique and good speed at the top. This is not an exercise to go nuts on! The point of these is to work on the technique of your pull without worrying about having to pull under the bar and receive it overhead or in the front rack. It's hard to give a rule on these, but loads should probably not exceed your best snatch or clean and jerk by more than a few of kilos.

For the squats, we are continuing to follow our simple intermediate linear progression program, but we are going back to sets of 5 on the back squat and sets of 3 on the front squat. You should start Day 1 this week at NO MORE THAN 85% of your 5RM back squat, and Day 2 at NO MORE THAN 85% of your 3RM front squat (if you know it). The only people I am aware of who have not made progress on this program since we implemented it either started out too heavy, or tried to progress week to week too quickly. Starting conservatively is the key to being able to add weight each week. Go nuts on Day 3, but Days 1 and 2 are for getting quality work in. Try to progress the weight by 2-3 kg (and only 2-3 kg) each week. On Day 3 this week you should aim for 5-10 kg under your best 5RM, and increasing weight steadily by 2-3 kg each week, you should surpass that old 5RM in 3-4 weeks and continue improving.

I write this as a 3-day program because that is what most of you tend to follow, and what I think is sufficient for most of us to make progress on. These workouts are scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. For most of you, Friday's training is treated largely as a "make-up" day for any missed days. Days 1 and 2 are always the priorities.

Finally, I am very excited to announce that Piper will begin coaching the Friday sessions from now on, starting this week! Piper has been a part of our weightlifting team since our very first session, and many of you already know her as a great coach from the CrossFit classes she coaches at Industrious. She has helped me out at a number of the meets that I've coached, listens to my endless pondering over weightlifting technique and programming (and participates in many spirited discussions of those subjects!), and has a deep understanding of all of the work that goes into our program from the coaching and development end and of how to perform and coach the lifts. Her coaching on Fridays will offer another eye and perspective to catch and correct weaknesses and technique flaws that I miss or have trouble fixing. Furthermore, her coaching Fridays will allow me to participate on Fridays as a lifter from now on, and I am very excited to be able to train alongside my team for the first time ever! Please take a moment to welcome her as a coach next time you see her!

Week 1, here we go!