Martin roy training log

[Alan H]

It'll be worth it to have a regular Olympic lifter coach you once in the hip snatches, I bet. Even just one session will give you cues to do it "more right". I know that lifting with Wendy really helped me.

[Martin Roy]

Getting some coaching from an Oly lifter would be good, but I haven't noticed anyone in my gym doing Oly lifts. It's more focused on power lifting and body building. At this point my "coach" is Dan McKim; his video doing hip snatches with 325 are beyond impressive. I'm basically following his movement pattern. He calls the move a hang snatch, but he's not doing it from a hang position.

In other news, tonight was bench night; the squat racks were occupied making the decision a no-brainer. So, as I warmed up on the bench with 2 sets of 5 at 95, 115, and 135 I came to the realization that it felt easy and I'd broken through the plateau of sorts that I was venting about last week. Thus, I bumped up to 155 for a set of five, then 165 for a double and couple singles. Had more in the tank but that was a good start in moving up the chart.

Moved over to incline for a couple sets of 5 at 95 and 115. Then I went for 135 and hit it for 4 reps. Felt good and marks a breakthrough in incline press. I'm hoping that this will help with Braemar.

5x5 with 35 db seated overhead press. Up from last week and next week I'll bump to 40.

Needed a little break in the shoulder action - abs, elliptical, and bike.

One-armed db snatch. Started with 5 reps both hands with 30; same with 35. All of these went smoothly. Moved up to 42.5 for 3 reps with each hand, still felt good. Then 50 for 3 reps with each hand. Stopped there, very satisfied.

Treadmill for a stroll to end this good session.

[Martin Roy]

Squat night. A fairly humdrum squat night at that. Worked up to multiple sets at 255; the first couple were sets of 5 followed by several sets of 3. I decided to go with some volume at 255 simply because it felt right.

Because I was short on time, I cooled off on light leg press, abs and elliptical.

Finished with a good session of curls with the bar. Set of 10 with 60, set of 10 with 65, set of 5 with 70, set of 5 with 75, set of 5 with 80, and a final set of 5 with 85 - had to cheat a little on the last couple of reps. Cooled off with a set of 10 with 60.

Goin' for the caber guns.

[Martin Roy]

Yesterday was back day and after the first few weeks of experimentation with various possible exercises, I've gotten a fairly good routine established.


After warm ups I started with pull ups - 6 sets of 5. Followed by the new seated bench row which I still don't like but I can use it as a general prep for other moves, 4 sets of 5. Went to the pec deck, back and front with varying weight 4 sets of 10 each way.


Traps 3 sets of 10 with moderate weight. And db bench row 3 sets of 10 with 60; next time I'll go heavier.


Finished with some bike and treadmill to cool down.


This went well but I need to up the intensity next time; the back routine is still a work in progress.

R&R today.

[Alan H]

Getting some coaching from an Oly lifter would be good, but I haven't noticed anyone in my gym doing Oly lifts. It's more focused on power lifting and body building. At this point my "coach" is Dan McKim; his video doing hip snatches with 325 are beyond impressive. I'm basically following his movement pattern. He calls the move a hang snatch, but he's not doing it from a hang position.

In other news, tonight was bench night; the squat racks were occupied making the decision a no-brainer. So, as I warmed up on the bench with 2 sets of 5 at 95, 115, and 135 I came to the realization that it felt easy and I'd broken through the plateau of sorts that I was venting about last week. Thus, I bumped up to 155 for a set of five, then 165 for a double and couple singles. Had more in the tank but that was a good start in moving up the chart.

Moved over to incline for a couple sets of 5 at 95 and 115. Then I went for 135 and hit it for 4 reps. Felt good and marks a breakthrough in incline press. I'm hoping that this will help with Braemar.

5x5 with 35 db seated overhead press. Up from last week and next week I'll bump to 40.

Needed a little break in the shoulder action - abs, elliptical, and bike.

One-armed db snatch. Started with 5 reps both hands with 30; same with 35. All of these went smoothly. Moved up to 42.5 for 3 reps with each hand, still felt good. Then 50 for 3 reps with each hand. Stopped there, very satisfied.

Treadmill for a stroll to end this good session.

There's the ticket for a 12 foot WOB!

[Martin Roy]

Thursday was a no-gym off day, much needed, and yesterday I felt really good. However, once I started things seemed off. Couldn't really tell you why, just off. Sections of the weight room were crowded that normally aren't; sections that I needed. This resulted in tossing my original plan out the window.

End result was that I started with flat bench - 2 sets of 5 with 135, 2 sets of 3 with 155, 2 sets of 2 with 165, and two singles at 175.

After that I wandered around doing odds and ends waiting for something to open up. Finally, got the bench I wanted for db work. Two sets of 5 db overhead press with 35, 2 sets of 5 with 40, and one set of 5 with 45. I'm dropping my front box squat/push press with dbs because it doesn't feel balanced. I'll figure out a replacement move.

Hip snatches, warmed up with about 5-6 reps with 60, a couple sets of 3 with 70. Finished with a single at 80 to see how it felt. And it felt good, slowly moving up.

Ran out of time because I had to meet my son to go watch Aptos High play Scotts Valley in the final game of the season. Both teams undefeated in league play, winner goes home champion. Aptos wons decisively 35-12. Scotts Valley came into the game thinking they had a real chance to knock us off. Wrong.

Aptos rules.

[Martin Roy]

Saturday was a light cardio, stretch, and core day.

After the session on Friday on my way out of the gym I decided to use a foam roller on my left anterior deltoid. I had an annoying knot or kink or something that had been causing some discomfort for a couple of months. I've never really gotten any serious benefit from rolling in the past, but this really did the trick. My shoulder felt better almost immediately. Saturday I tested it, rolled it again, and the kink seems to be gone. I'm going to reconsider rolling on a regular basis as a result.

For core work yesterday, in a new wrinkle, I added med ball twists. Holding 20lb med ball at belly button level, then twisting from side to side. I like this much better than cable twists because I felt a more direct engagement of the abs and obliques. This will definitely be a part of the regular routine.

Today I had planned to have my first winter throwing session. But it rained. Can't complain because we desperately need the rain, but it does interfere with throwing. Decided to take an off day to be refreshed for squats tomorrow.

[Martin Roy]

Went in tonight planning on a good squat session but both racks were taken. One by some guy who would do a three rep set and then play with his phone for ten minutes before the next set. The other rack was some guy who had 10lb plates on the bar and then added a couple of fives. Arrggghh...

So it was a bench night. Flat bench. Warm up set of 10 with 115, 2 sets of 5 with 135, 2 sets of 5 with 155, a set of 3 with 165, three singles with 175. Incline bench 5x5 with 115. Db seated overhead press 5x5 with 35. I decided not to push the weight and instead go for some volume work. After rolling the kink out of my shoulder over the weekend I didn't want to do anything that would re-kink it. And it felt good throughout the session. Rolling it before and after tonight's session probably helped also.

Followed with med ball twists. Moved up to a 30lb ball, 2 sets of 30. Over the next several weeks I'll move to a 40lb ball and increase sets and reps. Last year I did similar twists with plates, started out too heavy and too many reps. Overdid it. Lesson learned.

Finished with a curlathon. Two sets of 10 with 65, 5x5 with 75, final set of 10 with 65.

Elliptical cool down and stretching.

Squats tomorrow if I have to camp out at the rack.

[Martin Roy]

I got a rack but I had to camp out on the leg press to make sure I could pounce as soon as it opened up. While waiting I did about 5 fast sets of 20 reps with fairly light weight on the leg press.

Then, finally, squats. A warm up set of 10 with 135, 2 sets of 5 with 185, 2 sets of 5 at 225, a set of 5 with 255, a set of 3 with 255, 2 reps at 275, and a single at 275. Very pleased with hitting 275; I'll build on the reps and sets before moving up to 300.

Goblet squats to loosen up along with some elliptical following the squats.

5 sets of traps, 3 sets of med ball twists.

Good session.

[Martin Roy]

Back night yesterday. When I started warm ups I was still feeling a little sore in my shoulders from Monday's session and my legs from Tuesday's session so I took extra time to get loose. Bike, elliptical, abs, med ball twists, and some light stretching.


Pull ups 5x5-starting to feel the groove again.


Back flyes on the pec deck 4x10, followed by db bench row with 65 3x8.


Many, many traps with light weight to loosen up everything.


Hammer curls 3x10.


Another round of med ball twists, bike and elliptical again and done.


Recovery today and speed stuff tomorrow.