Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Had to man up:Snatch Vo2 Pr 60 sets of 8

Wow, you just NEVER know when gravity is going to be light,and the gods are going to be kind. I had written off this entire workout early this morning when I realized I had scheduled my thursday client during my training time . We leave tomorrow for the first ever LA RKC and I usually skip my wednesday workout to taper abit before the rigors of 12+ hour days on my feet. ! I was bitching to Tracy about having to miss my workout. She said " I don't think so. You're doing it, I'll help".
And help she did. She did her 15 min progressive swing ladder along with me and knowing she had just done 74 sets of 8 in the max vo2 snatch the day before with only 10 lbs less than I was using pushed me that much harder not to embarass myself.
At first I thought my pr was 50 sets and I would aim for 52 or so.Then Tracy said at least 55. Then I checked the board and the pr was 55. Ouch.
This could be a long day.
Tracy said, " eh, no problem".
I said, I decide when I get there.
She said, " no you won't you'll just do it."

And she was right.No warmup, right into 8's with 1.5 seconds to spare on the 15 second clock and for the first time in my life I though I could get 9 reps in 15 seconds.The first 25 sets passed as easily as they ever had and my heartrate was probably no more that 155.Strange.And I knew then that 60 sets would be done . Most excellent :))
You never know when it's gonna be a great workout, you just have to be prepared to ride it when it shows up.

Snatch Vo2
15:15 16 kg
60 sets of 8 reps
480 reps ( wow.)
17,280 ( wow )
30 minutes

Top heartate at end 170 +( VERY interesting.)
My snatch groove has been evolving a lot of late. Same with my swing groove. What is happening is that I can now get my hips into the action a lot more than ever before.I am pulling myself down into the back position much more with my hip flexors and getting a much better stretch reflex in my glutes, which have never really worked to well.Same thing the other day with my swing, much more of a proper good morning/deadlift hip position.
Before if I had used that technique my lower back would howl for days and or lock up. Now it's fine, it seems.I really concentrated on staying upright as long as possible on the downswing of the snatch before pulling myself sharply into the bottom. Much different but natural and felt great and strong. faster too.
Nothing feels better than being able to do a ton of hard work strongly. Especially something that previously kicked your ass.
Here are the last 4 sets:


Shield casts
15 lb Clubbell x 10/10
25 lb clubbell x 10/10x4 sets


These are great. I am glad to be fully back on the clubs. They are the perfect compliment to kbs for me.

heres some of the shield casts and Tracy's push presses she did after her swings.She basically swung for 30 minutes straight:


So we are off to the RKC tomorrow and it's gonna be a great weekend seeing all the boyys and girls that make up this great RKC community. Plus it's in my same time zone. Tracy will be official blogger and photographer for this cert and we will have as many updates as time will allow.Most probably on her blog.

oh yes and a decent weight/bodyfat pr as well

bw 158.6
bf 7.5%!
water 61.7 %

a good day was had by all. Again so much thanks to the love of my life for kicking my ass into the gym and getting a great PR out of me. Thanks Hon :))
datsit.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

your pr inspired me to do my workout tonnight (I got 40 sets, 15:15, 7 reps, I think its a pr for me). I've found your blog posts (and Mrs. Rif's) to be super helpful and motivating! -Kendall

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks kendall. the key to training consistently is motivation and the key to that is inspiration and you get that wherever you can. glad we could help and nice job!

Joe Sarti said...

Awesome Rif as usual pushng the boundaries and barriers to new levels. As always enjoy your time and stoked to read that the misses will be shooting and reporting on what I am sure to be another amazing KB Cert.

Wish I was going for the first time just to gather all the wisdom.

Take care and catch up with you when return.

Franklin said...

Hey, that looked too easy! You are talking and having a good time on sets 56 through 60. Great work!!

(Same here Kendall, I would have never started VO2Max training without Rif blazing the trail.)

Aaron Friday said...

Man, that's fucking awesome! I knew you'd do it once you mentioned it some time ago. Congratulations on a superb effort and accomplishment! Kudos go out to Tracy as well. What a hard-assed coach!

On another note, you're so lean that you look like a slim gorilla, minus a bunch of hair. Your pecs are big, and your abs stick out. Instead of swinging on vines, you snatch, which is a natural compromise for a human being living in California who pays taxes.

Speaking of snatches, how the hell do you get that bell up? Is it like an internal twitch inside your body, and then the bell rises on its own? It's like voo-doo.

Taikei Matsushita said...

Have great time in LA!

"I hate failing people. It ruins my week end!!"

was the coaches speach you made before the victim's teaching session. I think this got us fired up, just like Bear Bryant quoted "Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister! "

Mark Reifkind said...

aaron,,
lol, thanks man.I try to touch the bell as little as possible on the way up and the way down oneach rep. 'an internal twitch" I like that. and yes my wife is one tough ass coach, I need her to get these tough ass numbers too.
see you guys in week.

Mark Reifkind said...

aaron,,
lol, thanks man.I try to touch the bell as little as possible on the way up and the way down oneach rep. 'an internal twitch" I like that. and yes my wife is one tough ass coach, I need her to get these tough ass numbers too.
see you guys in week.

Mark Reifkind said...

aaron,,
lol, thanks man.I try to touch the bell as little as possible on the way up and the way down oneach rep. 'an internal twitch" I like that. and yes my wife is one tough ass coach, I need her to get these tough ass numbers too.
see you guys in week.

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks franklin and glad I had a postive influence on you as Kenneth Jay has on me.mvo2 rocks! and when the atars are aligned prs are easy,as they should be.

Mark Reifkind said...

taikei,

lol, thanks for reminding me, that is true this weekend as well and I will tell my students that too. it never ceases to amaze me how they transform in sucha short time. unreal.

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195 x 1 x 9 205 x 1 225 x CLOSE! 205 x 1 20kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 30

 What a great day! Moved my grip and my stance back in. Concentrated on pushing UP on the bar un takeoff and then decided, during warmups, t...