Enjoy these PR bonanza days, because anybody with long-term experience in weightlifting knows exactly what I’m gonna say next…

You’ll hit a wall at some point. As my coach used to say, “You start reaching a point where you have to work twice as hard to make half as much progress.” This is the best statement I’ve ever heard to describe those time periods when the PRs start to get fewer and farther between.

When you reach this phase, your frustration will get pretty hot. A lot of people want to start changing everything when the progress slows down. They think, “What I used to do isn’t working anymore, so I need to do something different.” Sometimes this might be true…but sometimes it isn’t. When your PRs start getting higher and harder to beat, it doesn’t necessarily mean your program is wrong. You can easily get sucked into a pattern where you’re constantly changing how you do things, and that’s not good. You keep wanting to rearrange your technique or routine because the previous change didn’t lead to any improvement. Before you know it, all you’re doing is jumping from one rock to another. Having good coaches and actually LISTENING to them can make this a lot easier.

I once heard a coach say, “Everything works, but nothing works forever.” I disagree with both parts of that idea. There are some things that clearly don’t work, and there are also things that definitely work forever. Trying to become a better Olympic lifter by using all the newest strength fads you read about on the internet doesn’t work. Mastering the technique of the full competition lifts and improving your squat strength works forever.

Here’s a little thought about making progress. Have you ever chopped down a tree? It didn’t topple to the ground the first time you hit it with the axe, did it? Nope. You had to keep swinging and whacking at it, over and over and over. It took a lot of blows to knock that damn thing down, but you finally did it. You might have had to make a few adjustments while you were doing it, like changing the angle of your axe swings or adjusting your grip on the handle. But it basically came down to simply putting in a lot of effort over a long period of time. That’s how weightlifting works, Jack. -Matt Foreman, Catalyst Athletics

Warmup
Jump Rope 3 minutes

10 Turkish Getups (5R/5L)
20 Downdog Push-ups

Strength
3-3-3-3
Clean High Pull

Conditioning
4 Rounds AFAP
(12 Minute Limit)
8 Double Kettlebell Clean and Press (2x20k/14k)
12 Pull-ups