...I am getting better and better" The mantra of one Chief Inspector Charles LaRousse Dreyfus. The unfortunate supervisor of Inspector Clouseau in the classic Pink Panther movies. (The original and not that bloody Steve Martin cheap knock off) Dreyfus would constantly repeat the line to try and ward off the effects of of Clouseu's stupidity. The phrase is actually credited to Emile Coue, a French psychotherapist from the nineteenth century and I believe it should be our mantra in the gym.

A lot of programs I have seen have the athlete go and complete a set routine for a set numbers of weeks and then evaluated and rescaled as the trainer sees fit. This never really seemed right with me and just looked like the trainer was taking it safe. I know that we can not improve in everything every session but that should not stop us from trying, even if it is just the way you grip the bar, control our breath ect.

Last year I read 'The New Rules of Lifting' by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgroveand and found it quite refreshing. The book really didn't influence my program or the way I lift but I still got a lot out of it. One of the main themes I got from the book was that every session you should attempt to do something better. This really reinforced what i already previous thought.

This morning with my Sunday strength session I was still taking it easy. But I still have the focus on doing everything better than last time. When I did front squats I really worked on the rack position. With my presses with the lighter weight I could really work on 'active shoulder.' But my main accomplishment this morning was powercleaning and push press 90kg. A 10kg jump from last time.

Front squats: For ease and for the fact I was taking it easy I worked in with my girlfriend and another training partner in the gym. When the were squating I just did front squats all the way to 75kg. Even though my rack position has improved I still got pain supporting the bar with my hands. I believe that this just a flexibility issue which I will continue to work on it.

Press: All the squats stands were taking so we cleaned the weight up to rack position and then pressed for there. We got up to 50kg.

Deadlift/ Power cleans: Still work within the group I decided to do the deadlifts with them then power clean and press the weight. This went well with weights up to and including the 90kg. My technique was not perfect and the concept of even trying to push jerk something of that weight just seemed impossible so I was fortunate enough to accomplish it with just a push press. Time to dial in both my full clean and jerk and start lifting some real weight.

PS: after writing this article I discovered that I had also added 5kg to my working set for front squats.