Road to the USA Weightlifting American Open

[FiremanDan]

Hi to all in the Animal family. My name is Dan. I'm a weightlifter in the 105+ kilogram weight class. Currently I'm training for the American Open in Reno, NV December 3-6. I'm currently 3 weeks out from the state championships in Greenville, NC on October 3rd. States will be more of just a max out day and an attempt set some new PR's. I'm currently ranked 9th in the country in my weight class and I'm constantly in pursuit of that top spot and standing on top of the podium. Right now my coach Travis Mash has me on a squat everyday program. I usually don't name drop but I give credit where it's due and he has gotten me to being a top level athlete. The program is about the same for 4 weeks with a variation of the front, back, and overhead squat. Right now it's like this:

Week 1-4
Day 1 Week 1
Warm Up with OH Squat Variations 2 Snatch Grip Push Presses & 1 OH Squat work up to 75% of Snatch
Front Squat Paused 3 sec no belt Max, then -20% for 3 not paused
Snatch from High Blocks EMOMs Start at 70% 8 sets x 1 rep working up heavy but no misses
Jerk from Block work Paused 3 sec in dip and catch 1RM, then -20% for 2x2
Upper Muscular Imbalance Work 1

Conditioning
400m Walking Lunges


Day 2
Front Squat Paused 3 sec with Belt max
Clean from High Blocks EMOMs Start at 70% 8 sets x 1 rep working up heavy but no misses
Snatch Pulls 95% for 3x3 with a 6 sec eccentric
Core Muscular Imbalance 1
Optional Cardio, GPP, HIIT

Conditioning
400m Walking Lunges


Day 3
High Bar Back Squat Paused 3 sec with Belt Max, then -20% for 3 no pause
Push Press 5RM, then -10% for 2x5
Upper Muscular Imbalance 2


Day 4
Warm Up with OH Squat Variations Work up to 70% for 3 reps with 1st rep paused 5 sec
Front Squat with Belt no pause Max
Snatch Max Effort Snatch to Hang Snatch Max, then -10% for one down set
Optional Cardio, GPP, HIIT

400M Walking Lunges


Day 5
Low or High Bar Back Squat no pause with Belt Max
Clean & Jerk Max Effort Clean, 2 Front Squats, and Jerk Max, then -15% for 1 down set
Clean Pulls 95% 3x3
Core Muscular Imbalance 2

400M Walking Lunges


Day 6
OH Squat Variation Max Effort 1RM with 5 sec pause, then -20% for 3 reps not paused
RDLs 3x8
GHDs 3x8
Lower Muscular Imbalance


Day 7 Optional
Thruster or Cluster 3RM, then -15% for 3
GPP, Interval , cardio
Mobility

Along with these I have been doing some variation of accessory work to help strengthen weaknesses like my glutes. I've had an issue in the past with being quad dominant in the squat. I have a variation of the reverse hyper i use to help strengthen that weakness. A powerlifter friend of mine spotted it immediately and helped me correct it.

You can follow my on instagram at dankoppenhaver, facebook, and YouTube at Dan Koppenhaver.

I hope you all enjoy this thread. i will be sure to post videos to Youtube and Instagram. I'm a little behind on youtube but will be uploading videos today.

[GunRock]

Hi to all in the Animal family.

I've had an issue in the past with being quad dominant in the squat. I have a variation of the reverse hyper i use to help strengthen that weakness. A powerlifter friend of mine spotted it immediately and helped me correct it.


Good to see how somebody trains who's on the other side of strength sports. Travis Mash is a beast and I love what he does with the underprivileged kids in his gym. Good to see learning occur from one strength discipline to another. We have way too much division between the various strength sports nowadays.

Just reading your training split tired me out. Good luck at the Open!

[FiremanDan]

The last 2 days have been hard I my body. Mainly because of a lack of good sleep. I haven't felt wrecked like this in a while. Seems like it's about time for a trip to see my massage therapist. It's one of the many recovery techniques I use to keep myself heathy. Other than hitting good quality sack time, I use such things as self myofacsial release with pvc pipe, very size balls from softballs to golf balls. Positioning and mobility (aka flexibility) are crucial in weightlifting with how dynamic and complex the movements are. I've posted a video of a stretch I learned form the Chinese junior world team that uses two 25 kilo plates place on top of the knee in the squat position. It's helped a lot as my history as strongman man and powerlifter (also young and inexperienced as a lifter in general). I changed a lot about how I approach warm ups and stretching have greatly improved my mobility. One thing I think I should include here are my best numbers
Snatch:151 kg
Clean and Jerk: 185 kg
Jerk: 215 kilos
Front squat: 235 kilos
Back squat: 266 kilos
Deadlift: 280 kilos
Bench: 165 kilos
Push press: 160 kilos

Today was a max front squat with a 1 second pause. Ended up hitting a 220kg as the top weight and hit a 170 clean off the high blocks. I'm looking forward to Thursday and Friday. Friday I'm lifting with a friend of mine and planning to go to maximum.

[FiremanDan]

This past weekend were the NC State Championships in Greenville, NC. I won the state championship title as well as got best male lifter by sinclair total (weight lifted + body weight x coeefficient).
Snatch:150 kilos (5 kilo competition PR)
Clean and Jerk: 187 (7 kilo competition PR and 1 kilo life time PR)
Total:337 (12 kilo competition PR)

All in all it was great competition. being in the super heavy weight division, best male lifter is rarely given out to a super heavyweight. I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym and hitting the weights even harder. My goal at the american open is 160/190 minimum ultimately wanting to hit way higher than than. I know I can do it but must totally focus on the gal from here on out. I will post videos once i figure out how to use the video splicing app on my phone.

[C.Coronato]

Nice bro, congrats. I have a buddy from here in NJ that is qualified and going to Reno also for that!

[FiremanDan]

Good to see how somebody trains who's on the other side of strength sports. Travis Mash is a beast and I love what he does with the underprivileged kids in his gym. Good to see learning occur from one strength discipline to another. We have way too much division between the various strength sports nowadays.

Just reading your training split tired me out. Good luck at the Open!

Haha Thanks brother! I'm not snootie by any means. I think we all can learn something from everyone regardless of discipline. Watching guys like Dan Green and Andre Malanchiev (I hope I spelled that right) squat right before i go squat gets me amped up!

[FiremanDan]

Here's the link to my state championship performance on my youtube channel. I didn't have the gas left to go for 191 kilos in the clean and jerk but tried for it anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-sUPGeaMtM

[ganderson]

Awesome man, some good numbers right there. Congratulations!