28 kg press, 36 kg belt squat and I hate daylight saving time

I hate it. I get up every morning at 3:45 am and that's just as early as I ever want to do it. When the clock springs forward, like it did this morning it's really 2:45 and that's not early morning, it's the freakin' MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT and it was NO fun at all today, despite getting to bed on time and having a good night's sleep ( until I woke up too early).

Felt just like jet lag and that was not fun.So when I got to the gym today I was glad it was just presses and not snatches for volume.

Had a solid shoulder stretchout mob session today and that helped.


One arm swing warmup as usual
KB press
16 kg x 5/5
         x 3/3
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 2/2
28 kg x 1/1, 2/2 x 7 rounds

these went very well and I think I found a missing piece of the puzzle. I didn't 'spin out' on my left side until  the fifth set when I realized I had not really gotten the hand through the kb window all the way. basically it was sitting shallow in the grip and that's when the bell spun out early.

on the next set when I got the hand cinched in deep( I think false grip) it was fine. the 28 kg is becoming a regular training weight again and that's great.Shoulders are still feeling fine and the presses didn't aggravate them either. the heavier bell and lower reps are doing their job- keeping the move strong but not too much volume.

Band pullups
5 sets of 5 purple band

 these were easy. time to move to black mini band. still: thumbless grip, medium width, bar to chest. did switch standing in band to left leg instead of right and that helped keep my even more square at the top. never did that before

belt squat- partner supported
basically a tug of war squat position
36 kg x 8 x 5 sets

these went great! bell is almost hitting the floor. medium close stance and really focusing on looking up and keeping t spine extended.

crawls
4 passes of 60 feet.

these always kick my ass. great finisher.

datsit. finally a day off
neverquit.

Sunday Ruck 30 lb pack

" A back of iron and legs that never quit".

That was, and is my main training/life goal, and has been ever since I read it in Pavel's original classic the Russian Kettlebell Challenge.

At the time I was suffering greatly from a lumbar disc herniation and my knee was, well my knee and barely worked at all. So it was a dream more than a goal. But now it is coming to pass, thanks to a Czech manual therapist named Vladimir Janda and my amazing knee surgeon. Janda's work, which I learned of through Paul Chek taught me about length tension relationships, and inbalances, and helped me rehab my back through proper stretching and strengthening.
My surgeon replaced my arthritic knee was metal and high grade plastic and that has made all the difference.
I don't care for doctors much but I love me some surgeons! :)

Bumped up the ruck weight to 30.4 lbs and could immediately tell the difference when I started walking! My legs lit up very fast and it was slow,literally, start.I wondered if I could do all ten laps and made peace with the idea I might have bit off too much and would have to cut back to eight or so laps instead.

Daylight savings time didn't help either but I like walking in the dark :)

The first five laps were a slog with lap times down 10-15 seconds a lap ( from 8 min to 8:15-20). I still stopped each lap for a minute of squat stretches as well. The second half of the walked was much better; I loosened up, my groove appeared and my per lap pace picked up. I am a seriously slow warmer upper :)

According to the pedometer:
8,781 steps
3.7 miles
2.7 average speed
1:44 minutes

this didn't account well for the 10 stops but it gave me the gist of what I did.

My stats
30.4 lb pack
1 hour 45 min time
ten laps
10 min long squat stretches
bw at start 159
bw at finish 157 :)

going to keep this pack weight for a good while. It's heavy enough.

datsit
neverquit/

28 kg One arm swings, 22 kg two bell swings;

Start of a new cycle and I had a great idea. Instead of just cycling the 24, 32, 40 and 48 kg bells I will do TWO different cycles. the one above and these bells: 28,36,44 and 48. this will give me 8 different intensities, volumes and pr's work with. I like it already.

So today started with the 28 kg and sets of 8/8. Could have done sets of 10/10 but there is no hurry. Shoulders are still intact and responding well to the ring mobs!  Still need more teres major and subscap release, as I found out afterward when Joe Sarti worked with me as to why my overhead position has deteriorated so much and those tight buggers seem to be the answer. Need to spend more specific SMR time on them as well as having him release them professionally.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5/ x 3
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 8/8 x 10 sets
160 reps
10,080 lbs

two kb swings
2 16's x 8
2 20's x 8
2 22's x 8 x 5 sets

these went great as well. I will alternated two hand swings with these, every other month. the cycle for two bells will be 22, 24, 38, 32 kg for a variety of reps.
for two hand swings the loads will be pyramided each week for strength work from 40 -68 kg.

DB shoulder complex
bent laterals
infraspinitus laterals
alternate front raises 3 x 10 each with 8's

easier and stronger than last week. definitely need these

Rope triceps extensions
4 sets of 15-10

solid session not too hard but not easy either. with just Joe and me there the pace was very fast.  lots of fun
Big ruck tomorrow, adding in another 2 lbs should bring it up to 30 lbs total. weigh it before I start :)

datsit
neverquit

20 kg snatch, goblet squat, 2 kb front squat,sled

Good training day. Had a full hour to stretch and mobilize the legs today and that helps so much. Really need to do this everyday, if I can just get up earlier :) Also  lots of trx shoulder work, definitely digging that.

Snatch
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 5/5
         x 7/7
          x 10/10 x 6
144 reps
6336 lbs

as good as my shoulders felt all day that's how tight they were when I tried to go overhead! But, I didn't do very much overhead stretching as per usual today. No behind the back stick dislocates OR bar hanging OR t spine shoulder mobs. I guess it makes a difference
when my shoulders finally opened up ( around 50 reps) it wasn't bad and my wind for the sets of 20 wasn't bad at all especially considering it turned into a swamp here today. Literally hot and muggy!

Goblet squats
16 kg x 2
20 kg x 2
24 kg x 2

these felt great and the weight is insignificant but it really lets me sit back against it. So much progress yet so far to go :) still have that old sit back pattern, have to teach myself to sit up and in  at the halfway point and not reach back with the glutes. More knee ROM necessary too.

2 kb front squat
2 16 x 3
        x 4
2 20 x 5 x 2

these were surprisingly strong and solid. no pause just reps

sled drag
95 lb x 250 ft x 4 laps

very strong. legs feel very strong and solid.


two days off then back to the base of swings, the 24 kg bell

datsit
neverquit

31 kg KB Press, arched back pullups, belt squats and crawls

Interesting day. Right hamstring was tight all morning and I'm not sure what it was. Didn't feel a thing all day yesterday but this am is was tight. Not pulled but not normal. The combination of all those crazy swings with the ruck walk yesterday I'm sure overloaded it. Nothing more stretching and some light work won't fix.

We decided to change today to press day and snatch on wednesdays and it makes sense. We do all those heavy swings on saturday and then turn around and try to do the same basic hip hinge for volume again today. Makes more sense to get in some low volume presses and let the hinge rest up for wednesday. We were thinking of adding snatch vo2 back in but regardless if we snatch wednesday will be more rested.

Shoulder is STILL feeling great and that's a miracle too! So going into press today I was confident. I thought about taping a 5 lb plate to the 28 kg if the 28 felt good so make an intermediate jump. It's 68 lbs and the 32 kg is 70 lbs so it SHOULDN'T make any real difference but it seemed to. Go figure.

The form wasn't great but I was very distracted by the plate rumbling around as I cleaned it and tht didn't help at all. next time I'll just use the 32 but it was a fun experiment. It also showed me that I am more confident in my press than I have been in a long time. That groove is holding too, and, while not perfect( the above set was the worst of five sets) it doesn't hurt and I feel I have leverage.
I just don't have enough patience on my left side yet not to spin out so fast :( Soon though, I can feel it coming

one arm swing warmup 16 kg x 5/5 x 3

Press
16 kg x 5/5
         x 3/3
20 kg x 2/2
24 x 2/2
28 kg x 1/1 x 3
31 kg x 1/1 x 5 sets
28 kg x 1/1 x 3 sets

HAVE to stay tighter, and longer, in the rack to zip everything up on these heavier presses. I lose the tightness trying to get more speed into the rep and it costs me. Everytime. BUT the weights felt medium light, which is very good.

band pullups( arched back, bodybuilder style)
3 sets of 4 with purple band

these felt easier and better. only did three sets to assess any issues tomorrow before I load it more.

belt squats ( supported- held onto Glenn to lean back against. really worked good.)
32 kg x 15,10,10, 10
these worked GREAT and I was as deep as ever. quads really took the load. perfect.Still need more ankle mobility to be able to do these without holding onto something.
want to include both goblets and double front squats for form but don't have the space to put them in right now and they both load my arms and shoulders more than my legs so they have to take a back seat, for now.
Knee flexion and leg strength take priority.

crawls
3 sets of  40 feet
taking it easy to see how the shoulders react. good to do them again, they are always hard!


need to stretch and roll out my hammie tonight. Finally a days rest., well that means just stretching and mobs but that's fine :)

datsit.
neverquit

LATS the Super Muscles :)

Sunday Ruck pr

After yesterdays big one arm swing test I was a bit worried about how my back and legs would feel today. I shouldn't have been. Today was great! Not only did I up the weight a kilo ( 26.4 lbs) but I finished the ten laps in 3 minutes less time, 1 hour 40 minutes on the nose. Nice. Tracy came with me for the first hour and  that was excellent. Legs felt strong and loose and the pack light. Not like the Bataan Death march that was last week :)

The fact that my shoulder was in place, and has been for the last week made a huge difference too. The video above is a demo on the mobilization I've been doing that has helped so much. A few people requested it so here it is.

The key thing for me is getting the arms behind me and holding the stretch until the tight pecs and biceps release.This seems to place the head of the humerus in the right place in the socket and it makes life so much nicer :)

The weather was perfect too; 54 degrees overcast with a light drizzle. Cool and warm at the same time :)

ok, that's it. More Birthday pie to eat :)

datsit.
neverquit

Testing my Spirit on my Birthday: 36 kg One arm swing test/five minutes

I had decided I was going to retest the five minute one arm swing with the 36 kg after I did it with the 32 kg last time and thought March 1, my 57th birthday, would be the right time. Well that was today and I was really thinking I hadn't had decided that.

I knew for sure I could finish it although I didn't know how strong it would be, or how heavy the bell would feel but I also knew that it would suck. It was, after all, only five minutes, but five minutes can be a very long time under the wrong circumstances:)

And I didn't have to do it. No one was making me, nor expecting me to, except for Joe and Glenn, of course. But I knew I was going to so the task at hand was to mentally focus and get my shit squared away; block out any thoughts except those that would help me get the job done.
Not think too much at all, actually, just breathe, focus and warmup

Very happy with the results. Big thanks to Joe and Glenn for keeping me on pace; I got a little slack at first and got behind but Joe pulled me back. I hate doing this stuff. It's just no fun but:

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg  x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4

36 kg x 5/5 x 10 sets in 4:55  PR :)

Power swings
40 kg x 5 x 5 sets

Two hand swings
32 kg x 10 x 5 sets

Db shoulder complex
4 rounds
bent laterals
infraspinatus laterals
front raises, alternating

this was enough. the only redeeming value to this was that it was over with fast. I don't see myself doing this again for a long time. I did it to prove to  myself that I still can and now that is done, but to training, not testing.

time to eat :)

datsit
neverquit.