I did not feel like working out today. I was seriously considering taking the day off and chilling but after doing 2 weeks of maintenance workouts I felt I needed to push myself to get my workout done. I am glad I did because I got a tremendous surge of energy about half way into training. I also felt very strong which was a relief because I have been holding back for 2 weeks and I definitely get a little worried that I am somehow shrinking or getting weaker. I know now that most of these kind of thoughts are just left over body dysmorphia that I am sure I have had my entire life.
Military Presses 5 sets of 5 with the 35 lb kettlebell, 40, 43, 43, 40 (the 43's are the 40's with some chains and plates attached
Snatches 5 sets of 5 with the 35 lb kettlebell, 40, 40, 40, 40 - these felt particularly easy!
10 minutes 30 seconds on 30 seconds off for 5 minutes each of the following exercises
2 handed Kettlebell Swings with the 40 lb kettlebell, 53, 53, 53, 53
1 handed Kettlebell Swings with the 26 lb kettlebell, 35, 35, 35,35
Everything felt light and my goal of pressing a pair of 53 lb kettlebells for multiple sets of 5 does not seem so far away!
I teach Yoga, Hardstyle Kettlebells and barbells.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
....another maintenance workout
To day I did 2 12-minute rounds, 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest. I rested until I felt fresh before I started the 2nd round, about 4-5 minutes.
Round #1
2 Hand Kettlebell Swing 16kg kettlebell, 18, 24, 24,24,24
Kettlbell Military Press - 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
Round #2
Kettlebell Snatches 8 kg kettlebell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
1-arm Kettlebell Swings - 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
Felt great overall. Upper-back is almost normal with no more tight shoulder blades. Looks like I am on track to start upping the intensity. I'm enjoying these workouts so much that I want to continue training this way. Will see how I feel on Monday and decide then.
Round #1
2 Hand Kettlebell Swing 16kg kettlebell, 18, 24, 24,24,24
Kettlbell Military Press - 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
Round #2
Kettlebell Snatches 8 kg kettlebell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
1-arm Kettlebell Swings - 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16, 16
Felt great overall. Upper-back is almost normal with no more tight shoulder blades. Looks like I am on track to start upping the intensity. I'm enjoying these workouts so much that I want to continue training this way. Will see how I feel on Monday and decide then.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Maintenance workout
My upper back has been tight for about 10 days so I am doing medium intensity workouts that I think are just enough to maintain my current strength level. Instead of the usual Mon-Swing, Weds-Press, Fri-Snatch I am doing all of my lifts in the same workout. My goal is to do a few rounds of each exercise building up to what are my typical work weights so my body does not forget what the heavy stuff feels like. I've done this workout 2x so far and plan on doing it until I stop waking up with this tightness in my shoulder blades. It is way better to stay where I am at than risk getting injured.
30 seconds work/ 30 seconds rest for 20 minutes
5 1-minute rounds of each exercise
2 hand Kettlebell swing 12kg bell, 16, 24, 24, 24
Kettlebell snatch 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
1-hand Kettlebell swing 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
Military Press 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
I got a decent amount of work done with my usual 16 kg bell and at least swung the 24 kg bell for a few rounds which makes me feel good!
Doing my best to train hard and train smart.
30 seconds work/ 30 seconds rest for 20 minutes
5 1-minute rounds of each exercise
2 hand Kettlebell swing 12kg bell, 16, 24, 24, 24
Kettlebell snatch 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
1-hand Kettlebell swing 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
Military Press 8 kg bell, 12, 16, 16, 16
I got a decent amount of work done with my usual 16 kg bell and at least swung the 24 kg bell for a few rounds which makes me feel good!
Doing my best to train hard and train smart.
One of my "secrets" to permanent fat loss
Walk to and from at least 4-5 meals a week! If you're reading this you most likely live in SoCal so there you really have no excuse. I make the 1 hour walk (round trip) to my go-to places like Chipotle (no rice bowls), Zanku (quarter chicken plate with garden salad) and even Joes Pizza on Hollywood blvd (2 slices, about 600 calories, not a bad cheat-meal!). I also walk to the grocery store when I am picking up just enough food to carry but not enough that I need the car.
It feels like the walk preps the digestive system to a certain degree, you know, getting the juices flowing a little bit before you put any food in the mouth. In addition, I believe it has been proven that moderate exercise can temporarily suppress your appetite so you will tend to eat less at meals you walk to. You also know you are walking home after the meal so that is another good reason to not stuff yourself.
good luck!
It feels like the walk preps the digestive system to a certain degree, you know, getting the juices flowing a little bit before you put any food in the mouth. In addition, I believe it has been proven that moderate exercise can temporarily suppress your appetite so you will tend to eat less at meals you walk to. You also know you are walking home after the meal so that is another good reason to not stuff yourself.
good luck!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Pressing PR
Today was Military Presses only. I was supposed to do Front Squats but did not feel up to it, will bang em out tomorrow.
I got a personal record today in the press. My previous best is 5 sets of 5 with the 18 kg bells. Today I did 2 sets of 5 with the 18.62 kg bells and 3 sets with the 18 kg bells. What the fuck is a 18.62 kg kettlebell? It's an 18 kg bell with a 1.5 lb plate taped to one side. It can be expensive buying pairs of heavy kettlebells, a pair of new 45 lb bells retails for about $150. I'm experimenting with ways of sticking weight onto these bells so I dont have to buy a new pair.
Feeling good. Some tight spots in my upper back which I am going to be very mindful of and start using the heating pad on every night.
edit: here's some 40 lb bells with a 2.5 lb weight attached by a chain. Of course it messes with the stability of the bell but it's just too good of an idea to pass up!
I got a personal record today in the press. My previous best is 5 sets of 5 with the 18 kg bells. Today I did 2 sets of 5 with the 18.62 kg bells and 3 sets with the 18 kg bells. What the fuck is a 18.62 kg kettlebell? It's an 18 kg bell with a 1.5 lb plate taped to one side. It can be expensive buying pairs of heavy kettlebells, a pair of new 45 lb bells retails for about $150. I'm experimenting with ways of sticking weight onto these bells so I dont have to buy a new pair.
Feeling good. Some tight spots in my upper back which I am going to be very mindful of and start using the heating pad on every night.
edit: here's some 40 lb bells with a 2.5 lb weight attached by a chain. Of course it messes with the stability of the bell but it's just too good of an idea to pass up!
Friday, January 4, 2013
back off Snatch day..
3 rounds of 5 minutes with the 16 kg bell, on the minute - 5/5, 6/6, 7/7 reps - total 180 snatches
My plan is to do 6/6, 7/7, 8/8 next week and progress until I can do 100 reps in under 5 minutes.
Looking forward to getting back to a full push next week. I've got a pretty good idea of what I am doing for the next few weeks. I am hoping to push hard for the next 3 weeks and then do another recovery week like I just finished.
My plan is to do 6/6, 7/7, 8/8 next week and progress until I can do 100 reps in under 5 minutes.
Looking forward to getting back to a full push next week. I've got a pretty good idea of what I am doing for the next few weeks. I am hoping to push hard for the next 3 weeks and then do another recovery week like I just finished.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Back off day #2 - Shoulder presses and Front Squats
It is difficult to hold back when everything feels good but I want to stick to my game plan of training at about 85% intensity this week. Wednesday is Military Presses and I am also throwing in a single set of Front Squats.
Kettlebell Military Presses on the 2nd minute for 12 rounds x 5 reps using the following bells 16 kg, 16, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 18, 16, 18, 16, 16. Last week I did 7 sets with the 18 kg bells and they were somewhat sloppy. Today I only did 4 sets with the 18 kg bells but my form was much cleaner. The 16kg bells felt extremelly light! I think this back off week is a good idea, I feel strong and big today and nothing hurts :)
Kettlebell Front Squats - 1 set 30 reps using the 18 kg bells. Every rep after 10 basically sucks. I am training myself to get used to it. Here's the video.
Kettlebell Military Presses on the 2nd minute for 12 rounds x 5 reps using the following bells 16 kg, 16, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 18, 16, 18, 16, 16. Last week I did 7 sets with the 18 kg bells and they were somewhat sloppy. Today I only did 4 sets with the 18 kg bells but my form was much cleaner. The 16kg bells felt extremelly light! I think this back off week is a good idea, I feel strong and big today and nothing hurts :)
Kettlebell Front Squats - 1 set 30 reps using the 18 kg bells. Every rep after 10 basically sucks. I am training myself to get used to it. Here's the video.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Swing day..and how to reduce chance of injuries.
I have only recently learned the value of cycling intensity levels when it comes to my own training. I guess I noticed that injuries tend to happen when I was on an upswing in my practice. My last injury happened just after I set some personal records in the swing and started to increase the amount of weight I was using in the RKC 6. Just when I thought I was superman I pulled a muscle in my upper back that put me down for a couple of months. If I think back to the sessions just before the injury I believe my body was giving me signals that I was ignoring. There were some minor issues with my upper back and neck that would go away once I got warmed up. My left shoulder felt funny when I put it overhead for getups or snatches. These were just minor annoyances but it is possible I had pushed too hard for too many weeks and my body was giving me some friendly warnings to slow down.
I pushed myself particularly hard the past 4 weeks because the 2 months prior I was mostly doing rehab work. About a month ago I felt strong enough to start doing my typical routines and the past 4 weeks have been awesome! My numbers are getting better every session and it seems no matter what I eat I'm not gaining anything but muscle. The problem is that by the end of last week I realized I was getting those subtle signs again. Tight shoulder, stiffer than usual upper back and neck. And my lower back is talking to me very quietly but it is talking to me. My lower. back almost never hurts which I credit to kettlebell swingining. If my lower back is giving me a hard time I know I need to slow down.
I made a conscious decision to train at about 85% intensity this week no matter how I felt. Today was swing day and I feel strong! When I set up the bells to be close to me the weights feel very light and that is a good sign. Normally I would push as hard as I could on a day like this but I kept reminding myself of how the body felt last week. Last session I did 24 minutes of swings using almost exclusively the 24 kg bell for each round. It was an incredibly hard session that had me almost crying like a baby! I decided this week to do the same 24 minute drill but use the 18 kb bell instead of the 24. I am lucky I did because by the end of the 20th round I could feel some pain in my left front hip, a place that normally never bothers me. I dropped down to the 12 kg bell to finish the last few rounds and the pain in my hip went away. I am convinced that if I was using the 24 kg bell I may have had an unnecessary training injury.
Training - 1/1 Tues- Pull day
24 minutes kettlebell swings, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off
alternating rounds of 2H swing and 1H swing
2H swing - 18 kg bell for all but 3 rounds I used the 24 kg and 2 rounds with the 12 kg bell.
1H swing - alternated using the 16 and 18 kg bell with a few rounds with the 12 to back off.
post-workout stretches (only recently started doing this 3 days/week always after lifting)
2 10 breath wheel rollouts on the ball
2 10 breath hip rollouts on ball - just like when but ass on ball instead of back
2 10 breath seated twists
2 10 breath standing forward bends
I pushed myself particularly hard the past 4 weeks because the 2 months prior I was mostly doing rehab work. About a month ago I felt strong enough to start doing my typical routines and the past 4 weeks have been awesome! My numbers are getting better every session and it seems no matter what I eat I'm not gaining anything but muscle. The problem is that by the end of last week I realized I was getting those subtle signs again. Tight shoulder, stiffer than usual upper back and neck. And my lower back is talking to me very quietly but it is talking to me. My lower. back almost never hurts which I credit to kettlebell swingining. If my lower back is giving me a hard time I know I need to slow down.
I made a conscious decision to train at about 85% intensity this week no matter how I felt. Today was swing day and I feel strong! When I set up the bells to be close to me the weights feel very light and that is a good sign. Normally I would push as hard as I could on a day like this but I kept reminding myself of how the body felt last week. Last session I did 24 minutes of swings using almost exclusively the 24 kg bell for each round. It was an incredibly hard session that had me almost crying like a baby! I decided this week to do the same 24 minute drill but use the 18 kb bell instead of the 24. I am lucky I did because by the end of the 20th round I could feel some pain in my left front hip, a place that normally never bothers me. I dropped down to the 12 kg bell to finish the last few rounds and the pain in my hip went away. I am convinced that if I was using the 24 kg bell I may have had an unnecessary training injury.
Training - 1/1 Tues- Pull day
24 minutes kettlebell swings, 30 seconds on 30 seconds off
alternating rounds of 2H swing and 1H swing
2H swing - 18 kg bell for all but 3 rounds I used the 24 kg and 2 rounds with the 12 kg bell.
1H swing - alternated using the 16 and 18 kg bell with a few rounds with the 12 to back off.
post-workout stretches (only recently started doing this 3 days/week always after lifting)
2 10 breath wheel rollouts on the ball
2 10 breath hip rollouts on ball - just like when but ass on ball instead of back
2 10 breath seated twists
2 10 breath standing forward bends
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