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The Hoyles Fitness Workout and General Roundup

This post is a bit of an epic – hence the vague title of ‘the Hoyles Fitness Workout and General Roundup’. There’s a lot been going on, so here goes my attempt at bringing you up to date in all things Hoyles Fitness…

I’ve had another busy week which has meant I haven’t updated my fitness and workout diary – I still kept it, I just haven’t uploaded it!

Why haven’t I blogged much recently?

Well, I’ve been beavering away on the Fitness Blogger Network Podcast, working hard on organising the Hoyles Fitness retreat later in the year and have started writing another ebook which I will release later this year. I have spells like this where I don’t have the time to blog, but that’s life eh?

I’m going to use this blog post to bring you up to date on my training and other projects I’ve got going on.

I can’t quite remember the dates of these workouts, but here are some of the sessions I’ve done (I won’t upload them all because there’s quite a few, but here’s a flavour)…

A workout

  • Squats 10, 8, 6, 3, 3
  • Stiff leg deadlifts 5, 5, 5, 5
  • Military press 10, 10, 10
  • Swing snatch 10 per side x 3
  • Roman chair reverse crunches 10, 10, 10

Another workout…

  • Snatch 3, 3, 3, 1
  • Snatch into overheard squat 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
  • Clean into push jerk 2 of each 1, 1, 1, 1
  • Olympic Lift Complex 2 x Deadlift, 2 x Cleans, 2 x Front Squat, 2 x Push Press x 4

A Dan John Workout

  • Snatch Doubles x 8
  • Clean and Jerk Singles x 8
  • Front Squats 5 x 5
  • Overhead Press 5 x 3

And another workout…

  • Hang Clean to Press 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
  • Squats 3, 3, 3, 3
  • Barbell Bench Press 5, 5, 5, 5
  • Pull Ups 6, 6, 6, 6
  • Olympic Lift Complex: 2 x Deadlift, 2 x Cleans, 2 x Front Squat, 2 x Push Press x 4

What I’ve been experimenting with…

Olympic Lifting

I’m still working on my Olympic Lifting. The Dan John workout noted above forced me to do a lot of Snatching. I’m improving with this exercise but there is still a mobility/technique issue because I always suffer neck pain for a few days afterwards. I’m going to investigate this further.

I’m also noticing with the Snatch that I’m not consistent with my bar speed. When I concentrate and get my bar speed right, the weight goes up well and feels comfortable. When I don’t get my bar speed right I fail with weights as low as 50kg, which is pretty embarrassing!

My current clean PB is remaining steady at 100kg, but I haven’t tried to push much beyond that recently. I will do though.

Barbell/Strength Complexes

I’ve used complexes in my training before, but I’m adding more in. I love the effect of the weight lifting complexes, but at the time they feel so tough! In fact, I’ve written about complexes I’ve used in my training before here.

Previously I’ve thrown them in my training just to add volume and difficulty, but now I’m adding them in with purpose – I’m treating them as drills to help me improve my technique and my bar speed. At the moment I’m self-learning the lifts so am taking things at a slower than normal pace. The complexes allow me to both perform more reps but also practice elements of lifts.

Snatch Grip Deadlift

This is a new exercise to me. I use variations of the deadlift in my training, but now I’ve added more snatch grip deadlifts in. There’s three reasons for this…

  1. I want to get used to holding the barbell wider than I do for all other exercises.
  2. They are tough and provide a new test.
  3. They are helping me with the snatch.

I’ve gone from deadlifting 180kg to snatch grip deadlifting 120 for triples. It’s providing a tough text for my grip though, so I’ll start to use lifting straps again soon to help me progress.

Clean and Jerk

Another new exercise to me is the clean and jerk. I spent some time learning the clean, so I’m feeling pretty comfortable with it. The Jerk is getting there, but I don’t feel 100% confident in my technique yet.

This is an exercise that has the ability to fatigue you VERY quickly, meaning it’s difficult to practice much at a heavy weight, which explains some of the slow progress! I haven’t experimented with any jerk variations yet either, but they’ll be featuring soon.

I’ve been watching the experienced lifters in the gym and they all seem to use lifting belts. I haven’t used mine in an age, but maybe it’s time to dust it off!

Hook Grip

The standard Olympic weight lifting grip is the hook grip. I can’t get used to it. I’d be lying if I said I’ve persevered, but it feels so alien that I haven’t given it the time. I get the feeling that because so many people use it, it must be important. I’ll do my research, then probably my hard-yards of struggling with it until it becomes natural, as is the way with many new skills!

hook grip

The Hoyles Fitness Retreat

I’m working with a company in Fuerteventura to put together a fitness and wellbeing retreat. I’m in the final process of putting the details together, but I’m really excited – it’s going to be fantastic value and a real chance to mix both the relaxation of a holiday with the health benefits of fitness, exercise and a healthy diet.

Oh, plus it will be in October so if you’re reading this from the UK you’ll benefit from a nice blast of winter sun!

We’re looking at a price of around £750 for Hoyles Fitness subscribers (it’ll be around £100 more for non-subscribers), so if you want to hear more jump on my mailing list!

Podcast, Media and Books

You may be familiar with my other project, the Fitness Blogger Network that I run with a couple of friends. Our podcast is going great guns – we’ve been downloaded over 1000 times across 6 episodes, so we are really happy. This figure continues to grow every day.

Further down the line we are looking to host events under the FBN brand, so watch this space.

Media-wise, with the platform this Hoyles Fitness blog gets, I’m being asked more and more to feature and cover events. This year I’m going to BodyPower UK with the Fitness Blogger Network guys where we are going to live blog, podcast and video from the event.

If you want to go, use the code HFAFF at the checkout and you’ll receive a free autograph book so you can collect the signatures of the celebrities you’ll no doubt see there.

Finally, I’m working on another eBook, which will compliment some of the personal training work I do and will feature as part of the future of both Hoyles Fitness in person and the Hoyles Fitness online brand, which I hope to grow this year.

I’ll share more news on that when I have it.

So there we are – an update on what has been going on over the last fortnight or so that I haven’t posted. It’s not that I’ve been idle – far from it, I’ve just been too busy to write on the blog with all of my other projects going on!

I’m taking Rachel on a short break next month, so it’s still full steam ahead until then. I promise I’ll try to keep up with my blogging though – I’ve got a couple of ideas at the draft stage, I’ll get them to a publication standard soon, I promise!

Before I go, I’d like you to go and check out our podcast. It’s a bit of a passion project at the moment, but the feedback has been excellent and we have big plans for it, so give it a listen and (hopefully) a 5 star review!

Thanks!

P.S. I’m giving away a FREE eBook ‘101 Health and Fitness Tips’ to everyone who subscribes to my VIP email list. By joining the list you’ll have access to exclusive content, discounts, offers and products from both me and selected partners. Click here to download!

free health and fitness ebook

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HoylesFitness

Owner of www.hoylesfitness.com. Personal Trainer, Father and fitness copy writer. Working hard making the world fitter and healthier!

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