Pierini's August 2008 Training

Friday, August 1, 2008
Arrived at Bodytribe Gym at 1:50 p.m.

Flexibility & warmup - with a PVC pipe for about 10 minutes.

Clean & jerk warmup drills - #1 = hang clean low pull/hang clean high pull/hang power clean/front squat/split jerk: 45x5 each - #2 = hang clean & jerk: 45x3 - 45x3.

Clean & jerk singles - 95-95-95-115-145-155-165-175FAIL-145-145-145.

A little underfed during this workout and I believe this caused me to be a little weaker during this workout.

Saturday, August 2, 2008
Rest day.

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Rest day but I did walk to and from late-afternoon Sunday Mass at a moderate pace for a total distance of 2 miles.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Monday, August 4, 2008
Arrived at Bodytribe Gym at 2:05 p.m.

Flexibility and warmup - various drills with a PVC pipe for about 10 minutes.

Snatch warmup drills - #1 = 2 sets of 45x5 each of: hang snatch low pulls - hang snatch high pulls - hang power snatch - overhead squats - snatch balance drop squats - #2 = hang squat snatch: 45x3 - 65x2 - 85x1 (power snatch) - 85x1.

Squat snatch singles progression - 95-105-115-125-135-135-135 = 7 for 7 and 3 for 3 at 135 lbs. for a perfect 100% success rate, first time ever!! I am really working on visual training and mental preparation and I think it is helping.

Clean & jerk warmup drills - #1 = 45x5 each of: hang clean low pulls - hang clean high pulls - hang power cleans - front squats - split jerks - #2 = hang clean & jerk singles: 95-95-115-115.

Clean and jerk singles - 135-135-135-135-135 - working on form and speed with this light load.

Back squats - ATG with pause and uprightness correction at the bottom: 135x3 - 135x3 - ATG slow descend and explosive rise: 135x3.

Today was a very good workout.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Complete rest day.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Another complete rest day.

Tonight I'm picking up Tommy Kono from the airport as he will be in Sacramento for the next 10 days to attend a weightlifting competition named in his honor. I'll train tomorrow and have the benefit of his watchful eye and coaching prowess to further remind me of all the things I need to correct. I'm looking forward to it.

Today is day 10 of disciplined eating and my morning bodyweight is down 5.5 lbs. from when I began. I'm not planning on dropping any more bodyweight but I will continue with this disciplined eating until Sunday morning.

Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

[minime]

Congratulations on your ten days of disciplined eating pierini! Not that I would ever doubt your ability to stick to it. Isn't it amazing what a strict diet can do, without even adding in cardio?

I hope you do well in your competition!

Thanks minime. I'm excited about the competition even though I may get last place. I've made alot of progress with my lifts, a little more with the snatch. I can now snatch you overhead like a ragdoll for reps.

But I realize that my best lift weight is the amount that some super lightweight women on the Chinese Olympic weightlifting team warms up with.

Thursday, August 7, 2008
Arrived at Bodytribe Gym at 1:45 p.m.

Flexibility & warmup - various drills with a PVC pipe and other stuff for about 15 minutes.

Snatch warmup drills - #1 = 45x5 each of: hang snatch low pulls - hang snatch high pulls - hang power snatch - overhead squats - snatch balance drop squats - #2 = hang squat snatch: 45x5 - 65x3 - 85x2.

Squat snatch singles progression - 95-95-105-105-115FAIL-115-115-125 = 7 out of 8 attempts completed - worked up to 83% of my current PR of 150.

Clean & jerk warmup - 45x5 of: hang clean low pulls - hang clean high pulls - hang power clean - front squats - split jerk.

Clean & jerk singles progression - 125-135-135-145-145-145 - worked up to 78% of my current PR of 185 and exercised restraint by not performing 2 additional planned singles.

My form felt good today which was my last workout until Sunday which is when I enter my first Oly lift competition. The next two days are rest as in doing absolutely nothing, but I'll do some visualization stuff as that has been helping me alot.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

[Bob44]

Good luck on your first Oly lift competition. I bet you will be dreaming the lifts the next couple of nights. Is there anyone else in your age group?

Enjoy the moment.

[gymgirl]

pierini! got your email! good luck this weekend!

[sweetdream]

what does your disciplined eating consist of? hope u did well!!

[CF-OC_gal]

Good luck on your competition Mr. P!

You've come such a long way from displaying a passing interest in Olympic lifting when I first brought it up in my Journal early 2007 to completely immersing yourself in a focused training program for it. The weight you snatch is impressive. I'll bet you'll place in the competition.

Friday, August 8, 2008
Complete rest day.

Saturday, August 9, 2008
Complete rest day.

Sunday, August 10, 2008
Today I entered my first weightlifting competition, the Tommy Kono III, held at the local high school where Tommy Kono graduated 60 years ago. I competed in the masters division (over age 35) in the 85kg weight division. I weighed in at 84.0 kg (about 185 lbs.) so I dropped 5.5 lbs. from 13 days earlier when I began controlled eating.

I'll have some videos and pictures up later. Here is what I did:

Snatch - I opened with 60kg (132 lbs.) and made it. I was very happy about making my first competitive lift. An analogy is going to your first high school dance and the first time you ask a girl to dance and she says yes. Makes subsequent "no" easier to swallow. My second attempt was 65kg (143 lbs.) and almost made it but couldn't quite hold the bottom position as I didn't have perfect alignment. I tried 65kg for my third attempt and missed it in a more convincing fashion. So 60kg was my snatch. I've done 150 lbs. in training (about 68kg).

Clean & jerk - I opened with 80 kg. (176 lbs.) and made it. I took 83kg (183 lbs.)for my second attempt and made it. I took 85kg (187 lbs.) for my third attempt and, while I got it overhead, the referee gave me a red light fail for pressout. I've done 185 lbs. in training but that probably had the same pressout. So 83kg was my clean & jerk for a total of 143 kg. or 315 lbs.

I don't know how I did in comparison to all the other old geezers but I did get a medal which I received from Tommy Kono who was the master of ceremonies. At that point it was a big blur so I don't know what it was for. I think it was nothing more than one of those participation medals where "everyone is a winner" or maybe a token for admission to the geriatic ward. I'll know more later.

It was a fun day and I saw one person snatch 362 lbs. and clean & jerk 418 lbs.

Thanks all for stopping by and giving me your well wishes. I know that it helped and I really appreciate it.

Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

[minime]

Awesome work peirini! It is so great that you had the opportunity to compete, and that you did well too!

clean & jerk 418lbs, wow! what weight class was that in?

[Eric_B]

Congrats Pierini, sounds like an awesome time. A bodyweight clean and jerk is no joke, especially at such an "advanced age"

You can stream all the olympic lifting at nbcolympics.com It was pretty amazing to see 100 pound women throw 2 plates overhead. I'm looking forward to the heavier divisions coming up.

Looking forward to the pictures and video.

[seraphyne1]

congratulations Pierini, you have done great efforts and that is what counts. Another year of training and next time you will win. Just keep up the good work.

[spiritwind]

Your discipline and passion have amazed me for years (on another site). You have earned your success. Keep up the great work!