Easy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Was a bit lazy and skipped my usual little complex....again!!
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3) x 5 - total of 30 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 100/10mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing was alrite - not especially great form, wasn't concentrating as much. Trained in my bedroom today as it was bucketing down. Had kerrang music channel on and spent a lot of time watching videos .....ooops :(
Swings were easy - I decided to do them to be on the safe side instead of the snatches cos I was indoors. I think in future I'm going to get a little more scientific on these, timing rests etc. I used to do this but my heart rate monitor watch broke and now i just go from mobile phone timer.
These were an easy 10 on the minute for 10 mins about 50% effort I reckon
Monday 31 December 2007
Saturday 29 December 2007
Workout was as follows:
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Was a bit lazy and skipped my usual little complex.
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3, 4) x 5 - total of 50 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 119/5mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing was really good - added another rung from my last heavy day, which seems such a long time ago!! I really didn't expect to get through them all before I started, but after the first couple of rungs I knew I'd do it. It did take me quite a while....but I don't care another rung next week!!
Swings weren't bad, but a little ways off my best hard day effort. I did try my best which is all that counts. Hopefully I'll be back to my best next week.
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Was a bit lazy and skipped my usual little complex.
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3, 4) x 5 - total of 50 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 119/5mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing was really good - added another rung from my last heavy day, which seems such a long time ago!! I really didn't expect to get through them all before I started, but after the first couple of rungs I knew I'd do it. It did take me quite a while....but I don't care another rung next week!!
Swings weren't bad, but a little ways off my best hard day effort. I did try my best which is all that counts. Hopefully I'll be back to my best next week.
Wednesday 26 December 2007
Workout was as follows:
Medium
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2,3) x 5 - total of 30 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 104/7mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Still not feeling 100% but still went out to do what I was supposed to. Idea was to back off if it was too much - but I was fine.
Swings - sets of 13 with 15 breaths between sets. Bizarrely I didn't do as many swings as with 12/15 breaths. I think that I'm a little bit fitter and my breathing was more controlled so I actually had longer rest periods!! Will increase to 15/10 as it felt a little too easy anyway.
Medium
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2,3) x 5 - total of 30 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 104/7mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Still not feeling 100% but still went out to do what I was supposed to. Idea was to back off if it was too much - but I was fine.
Swings - sets of 13 with 15 breaths between sets. Bizarrely I didn't do as many swings as with 12/15 breaths. I think that I'm a little bit fitter and my breathing was more controlled so I actually had longer rest periods!! Will increase to 15/10 as it felt a little too easy anyway.
Monday 24 December 2007
Takin' it easy
Very Easy
M Press 16Kgs (1,2) x 5 - total of 15 reps L/R
One Arm Sw 16Kgs 80/4mins
I decided to heed the advice of those world renouned trainers....THE EAGLES and Take It Easy today. Feel another virus coming on, throat is sore, lightheaded and not feeling strong at all. Got through this without feeling TOO bad, I wouldn't have been happy to skip another day so soon after illness took a week away from me.
I'm not really prone to getting these things but lately everyone around me seems to be coming down with something. Add to this the fact that my diet for the last month or so has been terrible (Maryland cookies anyone?) and it's not so surprising. Lets get real about this now, over christmas it probably aint going to get too much better. However I will endevour to try to take things in moderation and rest up plenty til my next KB session on Wednesday.
Merry Xmas to my vast readership - you know who you are Martin, possibly Rannoch!! Haha
M Press 16Kgs (1,2) x 5 - total of 15 reps L/R
One Arm Sw 16Kgs 80/4mins
I decided to heed the advice of those world renouned trainers....THE EAGLES and Take It Easy today. Feel another virus coming on, throat is sore, lightheaded and not feeling strong at all. Got through this without feeling TOO bad, I wouldn't have been happy to skip another day so soon after illness took a week away from me.
I'm not really prone to getting these things but lately everyone around me seems to be coming down with something. Add to this the fact that my diet for the last month or so has been terrible (Maryland cookies anyone?) and it's not so surprising. Lets get real about this now, over christmas it probably aint going to get too much better. However I will endevour to try to take things in moderation and rest up plenty til my next KB session on Wednesday.
Merry Xmas to my vast readership - you know who you are Martin, possibly Rannoch!! Haha
Saturday 22 December 2007
Mixing it up
Messing around with various exercises.
Loaded cleans with 24kg/32kg - been banging up my arms a little of late when cleaning for my presses, so I practiced quite a lot of these with good form. Strangely my form was better with the 32kg!!
Waiter Walks with 24kg - pretty weak on these, time under tension not great, probably why I was so bad with the TGUs other day. Think I'll practice a lot of these on variety days from now on.
Swings with 32kg - pretty easy, did 3 sets of 10. Obviously I'm not out to bust myself on these days though. I have been working backwards from the SSST goal lately and thinking about how I'm going to have to reach certain milestones along the way to ace it. The way I see it I need 300 two handed swings in 10mins with 24kg , 300 one hand swings in 10 mins with 24kgs and if I was up to around 250 one handed swings with 32kg I reckon it'd be in the bag!!
Clean & M Press with the 16kg - all about the form and tips on pressing from ETK. Really wanted to feel tight throughout and feel my lats working on way up and more on way down.
Pounding a tire with a sledge hammer - one of my favourite activities!! :) I love the noise it makes and the davistation I know it would cause haha. Took it pretty easy again, but it got the heart pumping a bit.
Farmers walks with 32 and 24 alternating sides.
Probably did a little more than I had intended to, but was working well within myself with possible exception on waiter walks. Locking out for decent periods of time seems to be a weakness of mine and needs to be addressed.
I am trying not to exercise directly in lifts that I want to test myself on to see the WTH effect in operation for myself. Fortuneately there seems to be no end of other stuff I can do with KBs.
Loaded cleans with 24kg/32kg - been banging up my arms a little of late when cleaning for my presses, so I practiced quite a lot of these with good form. Strangely my form was better with the 32kg!!
Waiter Walks with 24kg - pretty weak on these, time under tension not great, probably why I was so bad with the TGUs other day. Think I'll practice a lot of these on variety days from now on.
Swings with 32kg - pretty easy, did 3 sets of 10. Obviously I'm not out to bust myself on these days though. I have been working backwards from the SSST goal lately and thinking about how I'm going to have to reach certain milestones along the way to ace it. The way I see it I need 300 two handed swings in 10mins with 24kg , 300 one hand swings in 10 mins with 24kgs and if I was up to around 250 one handed swings with 32kg I reckon it'd be in the bag!!
Clean & M Press with the 16kg - all about the form and tips on pressing from ETK. Really wanted to feel tight throughout and feel my lats working on way up and more on way down.
Pounding a tire with a sledge hammer - one of my favourite activities!! :) I love the noise it makes and the davistation I know it would cause haha. Took it pretty easy again, but it got the heart pumping a bit.
Farmers walks with 32 and 24 alternating sides.
Probably did a little more than I had intended to, but was working well within myself with possible exception on waiter walks. Locking out for decent periods of time seems to be a weakness of mine and needs to be addressed.
I am trying not to exercise directly in lifts that I want to test myself on to see the WTH effect in operation for myself. Fortuneately there seems to be no end of other stuff I can do with KBs.
Friday 21 December 2007
Workout was as follows:
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3) x 5 - total of 30 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 156/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing was quite good - need to concentrate a lot more on the finer points of pressing it though. I've been reading a lot of posters on DD this week pressing the 40kg and 48kg bells - guys who were either a lot lighter than me or a lot older than me. While it did make me a bit jealous to begin I realised that these guys worked hard and consistantly for it - it has inspired me and made me raise the bar on how much further I'm going to improve!!
Talk about improving in leaps and bounds!! This is 34 more reps of swings than a few weeks ago in the same time - and I'm not sure where the hell it came from!! I think resting for breaths is helping me somehow, I breath deeper and slower and probably don't take as long as for rest overall.
I was right on the limit though - my forearms were like stone after it, and I could hardly hang from the bar for my decompression hangs haha.
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3) x 5 - total of 30 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 156/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing was quite good - need to concentrate a lot more on the finer points of pressing it though. I've been reading a lot of posters on DD this week pressing the 40kg and 48kg bells - guys who were either a lot lighter than me or a lot older than me. While it did make me a bit jealous to begin I realised that these guys worked hard and consistantly for it - it has inspired me and made me raise the bar on how much further I'm going to improve!!
Talk about improving in leaps and bounds!! This is 34 more reps of swings than a few weeks ago in the same time - and I'm not sure where the hell it came from!! I think resting for breaths is helping me somehow, I breath deeper and slower and probably don't take as long as for rest overall.
I was right on the limit though - my forearms were like stone after it, and I could hardly hang from the bar for my decompression hangs haha.
Wednesday 19 December 2007
Medium Day
Workout was as follows:
Medium
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise (note NEVER hit your ear when doing these!!)
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2) x 5 - total of 15 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 146/8mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Again felt pretty tired before this session - but really blasted through it and feeling good now. Presses were pretty sweet, good and tight, really felt strong and capable of a lot more.
Similar thing with the swings - was more or less doing sets of 12 with 15 breaths between sets. This felt pretty easy and I would have said intensity lay somewhere between easy and medium. I was quite surprised to see that I did 5 more than last time out for this duration.
Medium
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise (note NEVER hit your ear when doing these!!)
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2) x 5 - total of 15 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 146/8mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Again felt pretty tired before this session - but really blasted through it and feeling good now. Presses were pretty sweet, good and tight, really felt strong and capable of a lot more.
Similar thing with the swings - was more or less doing sets of 12 with 15 breaths between sets. This felt pretty easy and I would have said intensity lay somewhere between easy and medium. I was quite surprised to see that I did 5 more than last time out for this duration.
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Variety Day
Messing around with various exercises.
Bottoms Up Presses with 16kg - pretty weak grip on right with these.
Cleans with 32kg, Swings with 32kg - feel pretty easy, in fact don't really notice a lot of diffence from 24 on swings.
Half Get Ups with 32kg - quickly dropping to the 24kg after I nearly dropped the 32kg on my face!! Its no joke that KB for me - I'll wanna be the 24kg TGU Master before I even think about using the 32 again.
Farmers walks with 32 and 24 alternating sides.
All done quite comfortably - except the get ups obviously - haven't been keeping track of numbers as I stop long before it gets hard and may do a couple then 4 then 2 then 3 etc etc - purely going by feel. It makes it seem more of a practice, and a little more fun.
Bottoms Up Presses with 16kg - pretty weak grip on right with these.
Cleans with 32kg, Swings with 32kg - feel pretty easy, in fact don't really notice a lot of diffence from 24 on swings.
Half Get Ups with 32kg - quickly dropping to the 24kg after I nearly dropped the 32kg on my face!! Its no joke that KB for me - I'll wanna be the 24kg TGU Master before I even think about using the 32 again.
Farmers walks with 32 and 24 alternating sides.
All done quite comfortably - except the get ups obviously - haven't been keeping track of numbers as I stop long before it gets hard and may do a couple then 4 then 2 then 3 etc etc - purely going by feel. It makes it seem more of a practice, and a little more fun.
Monday 17 December 2007
I'm Back!!
Easy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 5 - total of 5 reps L/R
Sn 24Kgs 72/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Exact same workout as last Monday before I went down with whatever I went down with. Felt very tired before hand - was very tempted to let myself off the hook by claiming I wasn't over my illness. But I got out there and did....and as usual I'm glad I did.
Feel pretty good now - it went better than last weeks session especially the snatches. Just happy to get through it unscathed and be back training.
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 5 - total of 5 reps L/R
Sn 24Kgs 72/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Exact same workout as last Monday before I went down with whatever I went down with. Felt very tired before hand - was very tempted to let myself off the hook by claiming I wasn't over my illness. But I got out there and did....and as usual I'm glad I did.
Feel pretty good now - it went better than last weeks session especially the snatches. Just happy to get through it unscathed and be back training.
Saturday 15 December 2007
Playtime
Felt pretty much recovered from whatever it was that hit me through the week today. I had to site a few of my vending machines this morning and was feeling a bit tired after that.
So instead of jumping back in I figure that I'll repeat what I should have done last week starting Monday onwards. That left me with today and tomorrow to play around with.
Today I broke out the 32kg KB and messed around with some of the exercies from the bonus pdf you get with ETK. More like practice than anything else - wasn't really counting reps, sets or rest just did what I felt like.
I was doing Loaded Cleans and Swings with the 32kg and Bottoms Up Presses with the 16kg. Cleans and Swings were easier than I thought they'd be, still a few of the cleans weren't really in the grove and I could feel how easy it'd be to wrench your arm. That bell got and will always get full respect!!!
Presses were a little shaky on the right but I was happy enough with these also. Didn't break sweat and I'm just on my way out for a good long walk. Easy break in day.
So instead of jumping back in I figure that I'll repeat what I should have done last week starting Monday onwards. That left me with today and tomorrow to play around with.
Today I broke out the 32kg KB and messed around with some of the exercies from the bonus pdf you get with ETK. More like practice than anything else - wasn't really counting reps, sets or rest just did what I felt like.
I was doing Loaded Cleans and Swings with the 32kg and Bottoms Up Presses with the 16kg. Cleans and Swings were easier than I thought they'd be, still a few of the cleans weren't really in the grove and I could feel how easy it'd be to wrench your arm. That bell got and will always get full respect!!!
Presses were a little shaky on the right but I was happy enough with these also. Didn't break sweat and I'm just on my way out for a good long walk. Easy break in day.
Thursday 13 December 2007
Illness not laziness :)
Early on Tuesday I began to feel really bloated. This presisted until mid-afternoon when my body decided to throw nausea into the mix. I left work early and by the time i got home my body was shivering, sweating and doing other unspeakable things that I refuse to mention here haha.
It's now Thursday - I haven't eaten anything really for 2 days and anytime I try to it passes right on through!! I am feeling a lot better though and fingers crossed I should be fit for work again tomorrow.
It's either a bug or food posioning, but the only thing I could put that down to would be a bacon sandwich I had. How could bacon do that to me? After all we have been through together!!!!
Seriously though - I don't believe that this was brought on by overtraining weakening my immune system. I felt grand after Monday nights practice. Its a little bit of a set back and when I do get back into KBs I shall probably repeat the week that I missed again.
It is good to know that I do have someone who is going bust me if I do stop for no good reason though. Get a training blog up Martin and I'll gladly do the same for you!! :)
It's now Thursday - I haven't eaten anything really for 2 days and anytime I try to it passes right on through!! I am feeling a lot better though and fingers crossed I should be fit for work again tomorrow.
It's either a bug or food posioning, but the only thing I could put that down to would be a bacon sandwich I had. How could bacon do that to me? After all we have been through together!!!!
Seriously though - I don't believe that this was brought on by overtraining weakening my immune system. I felt grand after Monday nights practice. Its a little bit of a set back and when I do get back into KBs I shall probably repeat the week that I missed again.
It is good to know that I do have someone who is going bust me if I do stop for no good reason though. Get a training blog up Martin and I'll gladly do the same for you!! :)
Monday 10 December 2007
My, what a horrible snatch!!!
Easy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 5 - total of 5 reps L/R
Sn 24Kgs 72/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing form good. Concentrated really well, stayed pretty tight and tonights little area of focus was on the lat on the way up and down. They can really take it out of you when you do them this way even though they seem to go up easier....maybe it's just me though :)
Snatches were UGLY!!! Trouble was that no matter what I did with my right arm I kept pinching a callous on the way down. This kinda resulted in me trying to keep hold of the KB almost on my fingertips!!! I wasn't even really swinging it through my legs, they were more like deadhang snatches.....grim stuff to look at I bet. All of this made it harder on the right hand side than it should have been. Left though was grand. Mind you, if I could stretch out this amount of work over 3 times the time - I'd be well over the target haha.
Will have to have a play about with the 32 tomorrow night....my dad has commented that I'm scared of it....I reckon once he sees me swinging it about like a rag doll, he'll be scared of me ;)
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 5 - total of 5 reps L/R
Sn 24Kgs 72/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing form good. Concentrated really well, stayed pretty tight and tonights little area of focus was on the lat on the way up and down. They can really take it out of you when you do them this way even though they seem to go up easier....maybe it's just me though :)
Snatches were UGLY!!! Trouble was that no matter what I did with my right arm I kept pinching a callous on the way down. This kinda resulted in me trying to keep hold of the KB almost on my fingertips!!! I wasn't even really swinging it through my legs, they were more like deadhang snatches.....grim stuff to look at I bet. All of this made it harder on the right hand side than it should have been. Left though was grand. Mind you, if I could stretch out this amount of work over 3 times the time - I'd be well over the target haha.
Will have to have a play about with the 32 tomorrow night....my dad has commented that I'm scared of it....I reckon once he sees me swinging it about like a rag doll, he'll be scared of me ;)
Friday 7 December 2007
Form -drastic!!
Workout was as follows:
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3) x 4 - total of 24 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 122/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing form wasn't as good tonight. In fact on my last rung on my last ladder I stalled with my 2nd rep. It didn't feel right - so i recleaned and pressed it correctly and then finished with another one. Beginning to see that there is a fine line between successfully completing a rep and completely stalling!!
That said - I still went through this pretty easily, another ladder added next week.
I'm still not feeling it with my swings - I've improved and its over 20 per minute, but I've still got a lot to find and its killing me haha. I am making slow progress though, so I shall just have to be patient and continue to work as hard as I am.
Heavy
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2, 3) x 4 - total of 24 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 122/6mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Pressing form wasn't as good tonight. In fact on my last rung on my last ladder I stalled with my 2nd rep. It didn't feel right - so i recleaned and pressed it correctly and then finished with another one. Beginning to see that there is a fine line between successfully completing a rep and completely stalling!!
That said - I still went through this pretty easily, another ladder added next week.
I'm still not feeling it with my swings - I've improved and its over 20 per minute, but I've still got a lot to find and its killing me haha. I am making slow progress though, so I shall just have to be patient and continue to work as hard as I am.
Wednesday 5 December 2007
Form-tastic!!
Workout was as follows:
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2) x 4 - total of 12 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 141/8mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Couple of times tonight I really got what I'm supposed to in pressing - I was zipped up, strong through the middle, kettlebell across the palm of my hand and power breathing forcefully...the KB practically floated up. Even on the way down, I was engaging my lat well. It felt great!! Didn't happen often enough, but it's a start.
Paced myself a lot better on the swings this week. Just did sets of 10 with roughly 10secs rest. I know I have a lot more to come on these and I know that I really need to improve my grip for the snatches. The 32kger still hasn't arrived (the guy was just telling me that his delivery man has nearly died delivering his stuff up 3 flights of stairs haha), but hopefully once I start with that it will go a long way to improving these areas.
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2) x 4 - total of 12 reps L/R
Sw 24Kgs 141/8mins
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Couple of times tonight I really got what I'm supposed to in pressing - I was zipped up, strong through the middle, kettlebell across the palm of my hand and power breathing forcefully...the KB practically floated up. Even on the way down, I was engaging my lat well. It felt great!! Didn't happen often enough, but it's a start.
Paced myself a lot better on the swings this week. Just did sets of 10 with roughly 10secs rest. I know I have a lot more to come on these and I know that I really need to improve my grip for the snatches. The 32kger still hasn't arrived (the guy was just telling me that his delivery man has nearly died delivering his stuff up 3 flights of stairs haha), but hopefully once I start with that it will go a long way to improving these areas.
Monday 3 December 2007
Get a grip son!!
Workout was as follows:
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x2
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 4 L/R
Snatches 24Kgs 5L/5R x 7 (10 at the top of each min for 7 mins = 70 reps)
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Is it just me or is this 24 starting to feel a bit lighter already? Presses, pretty easy (you'd expect that on easy day though).
Any illusions of gandeur were shattered though when I was snatching though. Still make me puff quite hard - form was a little off tonight, especially on my weaker right side. Not so bad that I was smashing myself up or anything, just not in the groove. Grip was starting to go towards the end as well on my right hand. Hopefully swings with the mighty 32 will sort that out when it comes. Was working out at 30secs on/ 30secs off snatching for 5 each side. Probably quite slow compared to a lot as well.
Again recovered fairly quickly though and feel now like I haven't done anything tonight.
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x2
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 4 L/R
Snatches 24Kgs 5L/5R x 7 (10 at the top of each min for 7 mins = 70 reps)
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Is it just me or is this 24 starting to feel a bit lighter already? Presses, pretty easy (you'd expect that on easy day though).
Any illusions of gandeur were shattered though when I was snatching though. Still make me puff quite hard - form was a little off tonight, especially on my weaker right side. Not so bad that I was smashing myself up or anything, just not in the groove. Grip was starting to go towards the end as well on my right hand. Hopefully swings with the mighty 32 will sort that out when it comes. Was working out at 30secs on/ 30secs off snatching for 5 each side. Probably quite slow compared to a lot as well.
Again recovered fairly quickly though and feel now like I haven't done anything tonight.
Sunday 2 December 2007
Sale of the Century
Yeeeeharrrrr!! I'm sure that a lot of people don't understand how you could get this excited about taking delivery of a 32kg hunk of metal....but that's cos they don't use Kettlebells.
After much searching and internet research, emailing to and fro I have found a supplier who can send me one of these babies for what I consider a bargin :)
I can sense a picture coming on - but will it be after cleaning it, pressing it or snatching it I wonder!!
Haven't trained this weekend, have been quite busy and did 3 sessions this week anyway. In the coming weeks though I will be looking to add 1 or 2 variety days - using the 32kg of course to help me pass the ROP quicker......bring it on!!!
Friday 30 November 2007
Not the King of the Swingers
Medium Day, swings and grind 'em outs :)
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x3
M Press 24Kgs (1,2) x 3 L/R
Swings 24Kgs x 6mins (started 25 reps & 10s rest, quickly dropped to 10 reps = 105 reps)
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Again, very tired before I started. Been a hectic week for me, new job, long hours travelling, blah blah blah. The grinds felt good though, KB didn't feel quite as heavy as it did the other day. Was really concentrating on "zipping up", making myself as tight as possible. Will have a good old re-read of ETK and write down all the coaching points for the clean & press for next time.
Bit disappointed with the swings though - my form was really good throughout, popping the hips through, locking the knees etc - but I thought that I'd have a lot more in me than that. Possibly closer to 140!! Oh well, leaves plenty of room for improvement. I've got a feeling that I would really need to be hitting well over 300 in 10 mins to have a good chance of the SSST.
Thinking about it now, I can't really complain. Sure I can always improve the form but it was pretty solid throughout and I gave what I had on the day. Can't really ask much more than that.
Thursday 29 November 2007
Potential "What The Hell"Effects
What the hell (WTH) effects for those who don't know, are the great side effects that come with training with Kettlebells. These are kinda outlined in the story below of the study in which a group was able to increase scores in PT test exercises simply by doing KB training.
People have experienced good gains in running, chins, deadlift, vertical jump, standing jump, throwing, push ups etc and many other unrelated exercises to KB training. This is what draws so many to them I think.
So, just to check for any WTH effects while I'm striving for the ROP test I'm going to record some of my PR's and see if I can bust 'em after I reach these goals.
1.5 miles run - 8mins 55secs
100m sprint - 14 secs (yeah, I know...I'm like BillyWhiz!!)
Deadlift - 140Kgs
BW Deadhang Chin Ups - 3
Barbell Clean and Push Press - 65kgs
With the exception of the 1.5 mile run most of these were set fairly recently - so it shall be interesting to see what changes occur. I wish that I had some for throwing a shot put, standing jumps, long jump etc.
I will also keep you updated with any unusual ones that crop up in everyday life as I go along ;)
People have experienced good gains in running, chins, deadlift, vertical jump, standing jump, throwing, push ups etc and many other unrelated exercises to KB training. This is what draws so many to them I think.
So, just to check for any WTH effects while I'm striving for the ROP test I'm going to record some of my PR's and see if I can bust 'em after I reach these goals.
1.5 miles run - 8mins 55secs
100m sprint - 14 secs (yeah, I know...I'm like BillyWhiz!!)
Deadlift - 140Kgs
BW Deadhang Chin Ups - 3
Barbell Clean and Push Press - 65kgs
With the exception of the 1.5 mile run most of these were set fairly recently - so it shall be interesting to see what changes occur. I wish that I had some for throwing a shot put, standing jumps, long jump etc.
I will also keep you updated with any unusual ones that crop up in everyday life as I go along ;)
Wednesday 28 November 2007
"Easy" Day
Easy day is snatch day and I was keen to try it with the 24kg. It's been a while and I didn't have especially fond memories of it. Workout was as follows:
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x2
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 3 L/R
Snatches 24Kgs 5L/5R x 5 (10 at the top of each min for 5 mins = 50 reps)
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Felt pretty tired before hand, and the 24 felt heavy!!! Still was easy enough to grind through, as it was very low volume. Snatches were quite hard though, I was puffing quite heavily after 3rd minute!! It was round-about here that I really concentrated on form and they seemed to get a fair bit easier...if thats the right term.
Recovered fairly quickly though and feel pretty good now afterwards.
Warm Up:
Mobility Drills (Neck, Shoulders, Upper Spine, Hips, Knees and Ankles)
Front Squat 16kgs 3x5
Halos 16Kgs 3x5 Clockwise and Anticlockwise
M Press 16Kgs 2x2
M Press 24Kgs (1) x 3 L/R
Snatches 24Kgs 5L/5R x 5 (10 at the top of each min for 5 mins = 50 reps)
Decompression Hang / Hamstring Stretch
Felt pretty tired before hand, and the 24 felt heavy!!! Still was easy enough to grind through, as it was very low volume. Snatches were quite hard though, I was puffing quite heavily after 3rd minute!! It was round-about here that I really concentrated on form and they seemed to get a fair bit easier...if thats the right term.
Recovered fairly quickly though and feel pretty good now afterwards.
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Revised Plan
Well, yesterday certainly came out of the blue for me. Just goes to show how you are capable of more than you think when your heads in the right place. Feel generally tired today, but nothing is sore I'm glad to report.
After discussing it with a few people in the know I have decided to go with my gut instinct and start this cycle with ETK ROP. I will still use AOS swing and snatch numbers as a guide to where I should be in terms of volume with those, but I'm going to start the presses a little lower than is advised in that. I feel that starting off with (1,2,3) x 5 @ 24kgs for a heavy day is a little much.
Given that I didn't come through a cycle and a whole load of pressing and snatching to pass with the 16kgs - I feel that I'd be fresh enough to take this approach on this cycle.
Being able to do 200 reps satches in 10 mins with the 24kgs seems crazy to me now. I can still remember the day I got it and couldn't resist trying to snatch it. I got it up there, but it nearly yanked my arm out of the socket and my back throbbed for a little while. Haha.
It shall sure be interesting to see how I get on with it tomorrow on my easy day!!
After discussing it with a few people in the know I have decided to go with my gut instinct and start this cycle with ETK ROP. I will still use AOS swing and snatch numbers as a guide to where I should be in terms of volume with those, but I'm going to start the presses a little lower than is advised in that. I feel that starting off with (1,2,3) x 5 @ 24kgs for a heavy day is a little much.
Given that I didn't come through a cycle and a whole load of pressing and snatching to pass with the 16kgs - I feel that I'd be fresh enough to take this approach on this cycle.
Being able to do 200 reps satches in 10 mins with the 24kgs seems crazy to me now. I can still remember the day I got it and couldn't resist trying to snatch it. I got it up there, but it nearly yanked my arm out of the socket and my back throbbed for a little while. Haha.
It shall sure be interesting to see how I get on with it tomorrow on my easy day!!
Monday 26 November 2007
How do you measure up? (Part 2)
Test Day!!!
I decided that I wanted to know exactly where I was with ROP before starting into ETK. I didn't think that I was that far away with the 16kg KB and so I was going to start about halfway through AOS workbook instead of right back at the start.
Anyway - here's how it went....
C&P 16kg 2, 2, 2 per arm
Loaded Clean 24kg x 2 per arm
C&P 24kg x 6 Left 5 Right (PR)
USSS snatch 16kgs x 200 (equals PR)
Thats right - I NAILED IT!!!
Didn't think I'd be far off the snatches - maybe around 180, but I certainly wasn't expecting to grind out those C&Ps first. Absolutely delighted I am.
Kinda puts me in a quandry though of where to start with the AOS workbook with the 24kg KB. Shall have to seek advice.
I decided that I wanted to know exactly where I was with ROP before starting into ETK. I didn't think that I was that far away with the 16kg KB and so I was going to start about halfway through AOS workbook instead of right back at the start.
Anyway - here's how it went....
C&P 16kg 2, 2, 2 per arm
Loaded Clean 24kg x 2 per arm
C&P 24kg x 6 Left 5 Right (PR)
USSS snatch 16kgs x 200 (equals PR)
Thats right - I NAILED IT!!!
Didn't think I'd be far off the snatches - maybe around 180, but I certainly wasn't expecting to grind out those C&Ps first. Absolutely delighted I am.
Kinda puts me in a quandry though of where to start with the AOS workbook with the 24kg KB. Shall have to seek advice.
Sunday 25 November 2007
My Goals and The Plan
Although I've already said that I want to lose fat and gain muscle, according to anything I've read on setting goals these are not specific enough.
So, I have another more specific set of goals for the first set of medium/long term.
Goal - Pass the RKC Rite of Passage drills.
Which specifically means being able to one-arm press half your body weight and snatch a 24kg KB 200 times in 10 minutes....to become a man among men!!!
So why have I selected Kettlebells as my vehicle to reach my goals? KB lifting is one of the best tools for all round physical development. A russian study was done which observed two groups of students over a period of 2 years. Performance was measured using a standard battery of military PT tests - Pull Ups, Broad jumps, 100 meter sprint and 1k run. One group practiced using a standard program emphasizing the above exercises, the other group only used KB lifts. In spite of their lack of practice in any of the tests the KB group showed better scores in everyone of them!!
KBs are highly effective for building strength. It is great for your heart. It improves body composition. Good enough reasons? I think so. By getting myself to the level of my goals I have no doubts of improved stats in weight and fat percentage, also being much stronger and having a greater work capacity.
The Plan
Is simple. I will follow Pavel Tsatsouline's Enter The Kettlebell along with the AOS workbook which supports it. I will cycle through them both over and over with heavier KBs until I have passed the ROP. I will post each workout here along with some pics and any other info that I feel is relevant.
So, I have another more specific set of goals for the first set of medium/long term.
Goal - Pass the RKC Rite of Passage drills.
Which specifically means being able to one-arm press half your body weight and snatch a 24kg KB 200 times in 10 minutes....to become a man among men!!!
So why have I selected Kettlebells as my vehicle to reach my goals? KB lifting is one of the best tools for all round physical development. A russian study was done which observed two groups of students over a period of 2 years. Performance was measured using a standard battery of military PT tests - Pull Ups, Broad jumps, 100 meter sprint and 1k run. One group practiced using a standard program emphasizing the above exercises, the other group only used KB lifts. In spite of their lack of practice in any of the tests the KB group showed better scores in everyone of them!!
KBs are highly effective for building strength. It is great for your heart. It improves body composition. Good enough reasons? I think so. By getting myself to the level of my goals I have no doubts of improved stats in weight and fat percentage, also being much stronger and having a greater work capacity.
The Plan
Is simple. I will follow Pavel Tsatsouline's Enter The Kettlebell along with the AOS workbook which supports it. I will cycle through them both over and over with heavier KBs until I have passed the ROP. I will post each workout here along with some pics and any other info that I feel is relevant.
How do you measure up? (Part 1)
The way I see it is if you have a vision of where you want to be, the first thing to do is to know where you are now. So here's where I am now.
This is going to be in 2 parts. First up is recording my weight, fat percentage and various girth measurements of body parts (no not that one!!!!). Then tomorrow I am going to test myself with the RKC Rite of Passage drills - more on that in another post though.
Here are my stats:
Age: 34 Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 14st 5.6lbs (201.6lbs) Body Fat %: 25.3
Body Part Measurements
Neck: 14.75" Chest: 42" Upper Arm: 13.25" Waist: 42" Hips: 42.25"
Thigh: 24" Calf:15.5" Forearms: 11.5"
Ok, lets take a look at these.
I can't do much about the first 2, but if I found that by the end of this experience I was 2 years younger and 3" taller then I'd open up the worlds first Kettlebell Church and never stop preachin'!!!!
The next 2 however are of a lot more concern to me. I have been in and around this weight for a couple of years now. I have been "fat" throughout my life and more than likely consistantly clinically obese. Although at one stage in my adult life I had been down to 11st 7lbs - I still had a fairly flabby stomach!!
Below is a table of the categorized ranges of body fat percentages:
| Description | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Essential fat | 12–15% | 2–5% |
| Athletes | 16–20% | 6–13% |
| Fitness | 21–24% | 14–17% |
| Acceptable | 25–31% | 18–25% |
| Obese | 32%+ | 25%+ |
I fall slightly over the acceptable range for men into obese (depending on accuracy of my scales). Although looking at my picture you wouldn't say I was obese and certainly none of my friends would call me obese. I can tell you that I do have large deposits of fat around my midsection - which judging from what I've read about it is the worst place to have it as it puts you at risk to all sorts of nasty diseases.
So in terms of body weight and composition - its not good and both need to take a nose dive.
The other measurements aren't really all that important to me - I don't strive to have a 45" chest or 18" biceps. It is unlikely that Kettlebell practice will give me those anyway.Kettlebells forge doers’ physiques along the lines of antique statues: broad shoulders with just a hint of pecs, back muscles like steel cables, wiry arms, rugged forearms, a cut midsection, and strong lean legs. I took those measurements just to see exactly what changes would take place.
So my goal is to drop body fat and weight overall, while maintaining or increasing the muscle I have so I never hit that 11st 7lbs and still flabby body again. Sounds like an original goal huh?
First Post
My name is Colin. I am 34 years old and like many I consider myself overweight and operating WAY below my physical (and dare I say my mental) capacity.
This is about how I am going to use kettlebell workouts, alone, at my house for 3 or 4 workouts a week to get the body I want. My vision is of being lean, strong and having plenty of endurance. I want to be able to handle all that life can throw at me, be it lifting and carrying akward heavy objects, pulling myself up and over obstacles, swinging a sledgehammer or digging a ditch.
I am going to use this blog as a way to record and measure my progress, and hopefully to motivate and inspire those of us who are struggling to get a lean, strong and healthy body.
I look forward to sharing my journey as well as hearing from others who share the same interests.
Colin
This is about how I am going to use kettlebell workouts, alone, at my house for 3 or 4 workouts a week to get the body I want. My vision is of being lean, strong and having plenty of endurance. I want to be able to handle all that life can throw at me, be it lifting and carrying akward heavy objects, pulling myself up and over obstacles, swinging a sledgehammer or digging a ditch.
I am going to use this blog as a way to record and measure my progress, and hopefully to motivate and inspire those of us who are struggling to get a lean, strong and healthy body.
I look forward to sharing my journey as well as hearing from others who share the same interests.
Colin
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