I can stop holding my breath now, Brandon

So I'm probably going to stop running serious weekend blog posts. For one, I'm busy on the weekends, and so are you, because reader-ship drops way down on Saturday and Sunday. Two, it is not easy to come up with clever topics on a Sunday morning, because the only thing on my mind when I wake up is my weekly girly breakfast with Jenn. Maybe that's what I'll start posting on Sundays... Things I Covered in Syrup Today. Problem solved. No matter what, though, I'll keep posting gym sessions, because this place is first and foremost my workout log.

Hit Gold's early AM for some Olympic lifting, sponsored by David Blaine*. (*Every time I work on cleans, all my squat cleans magically turn into power cleans.) I was in serious danger of forgetting how to squat clean entirely, so I was determined to break the cycle today. I decided to work with lighter weight and hammer on form until my body started dropping under the bar.

Buy-in

• Jump rope 6:00
  
• Front squats @ 45#
• Tall cleans @ 45# (lots)
  

Squat cleans

• 5@65# (a few power cleans thrown in)
• 5@65# (still a few power cleans - dammit)
• 5@75# (one power clean)
• 5@75#
• 5@85# (one power clean)
  
• 5@85#
• 5@85#
• 5@85#

Now I realize that is a metric fuck-ton of cleans... but 85# is not very heavy for me, and that is how long it took for me to get comfortable dropping under the bar. Gold's was too busy to take video today, but I suspect my form was in the C range. I have a hard time maintaining scapular retraction with cleans... much like my deadlifts, but worse because of the explosive nature of the second pull. I haven't worked on these with my Trainer in almost a year, so they are definitely on deck.

Then Brandon showed up so I could fix his deadlift. His appearance was newsworthy... he's been threatening to meet me at Gold's for months now, but never, ever, ever manages to get his butt out of bed on time. Today he actually made it. He always comes away from his deadlift sessions with back pain, so I started him with a really light bar (115#) and worked on getting his set-up straight. We worked sets of 3-5 up to 185# - his form was looking good by the end of the session.

I'm not a trainer and not an expert on the big lifts, but at this point I think I can armchair coach the deadlift pretty effectively. I can't take an A- deadlift and turn it into an A... my eye isn't quite that good. But I got Brandon to the point where his form looked better than anyone I've seen deadlifting at Gold's. Except me, of course. And my Gym Boyfriend.

No cash-out today, unless you want to count B's coaching session. Works for me.

Music (this is what Oly Day looks like)

• The Kids Aren't Alright, Offspring (hands-down, my favorite gym band ever)
• Real Solution #9, White Zombie (off Astro-Creep... their best, in my opinion)
• No You Don't, Nine Inch Nails (it's just so ANGRY)