Colucci Still Lifts

I spent a bunch of years training kenpo jiujitsu (and met my eventual-wife at the dojo, actually), but I was using the term “kickboxing” loosely, as it’s literally just been a mix of kicking and/or punching depending on the day.

With the current training plan, it’s either power shots on the heavy bag (typically hook combos and/or roundhouse kicks, sometimes knees) or skillwork/“punches in bunches” on the double-end bag. I was also getting back into smacking the bag with escrima sticks, which is always fun. And loud. But fun.

I think I said before in the log that this program really got me back into enjoying bag work, so I plan on keeping it as a conditioning method for the foreseeable future.

They’re going along fine. Main movements have been power cleans (sometimes with a press, sometimes not), split snatch, and 1-arm drop snatch. Took me a while to wrap my head around the split snatch being a viable option to the squat, but it’s been feeling more natural the more I work it. I squat deep with the drop snatch, so I’m still incorporating ROM there.

I don’t like talking numbers (more headaches than benefits), but like everyone else, they’re moving up but could always be better. As I said some months back, just pretend I use 185 for every exercise, all the time. No biggie.

In the other thread, you mentioned being hesitant to start the O lifts because of their complicated reputation. I get that and I’ve heard it before, but I don’t think it’s a reality-based assessment. Cleans and snatches aren’t significantly more complicated than deads, squats, overhead presses, or any other number of big compound movements.

If you can research, learn, and teach yourself to deadlift or squat safely and productively, you can absolutely research, learn, and teach yourself to do the O lifts safely and productively.

More importantly, if you’re just looking to build size and/or strength, you don’t need 100% technical mastery. If you’re competing in the lifts, then you do. The exact same thing applies to the powerlifts.

I also disagree with the idea of “having to” start with a broomstick for technique. Because they’re ballistic movements, you just can’t get a feel for positioning when there’s no resistance. It’d be like learning kettlebell swings by holding a rolled up magazine. If anything, I’d introduce O-lifts with bar, maybe 55 pounds, for a bunch of sets of singles or doubles.

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