Monday, February 11, 2008

Max VO2 PR

Wow. Now I know what the Max in Max Vo2 stands for.Hit an easy 200 BPM HR today after finishing up 50 sets of snatches; 20 sets of 7 and 30 sets of 8. Old PR was 25 and 25.After blowing through that today I can't even imagine what 50 straight sets of 8 reps will feel like.Yeah I can. Horrible.Pain. For 25 straight minutes. I can wait a bit to get to that level :))
Got off work early today so I got to train early for a change and went solo as well.Joe is resting up for the Beast Challenge and I wanted to venture into this territory by myself anyway.
Wednesday is usually max vo2 snatch day but I am supposed to be tapering and had planned Wednesday as a Z/Stretch day so I thought I would do some more 'cardio' today.It was the right thing to do and I thought I should just ride this peak just a bit more. Didnt want to do heavy slow snatches today so some speed work was in order.
Rested well yesterday, slept and ate well and knew it was time to go. I hate to taper.Especially when things are going right and you feel strong and fit. You just want to do more, not less.But I have to remember not to be greedy. Very important to never forget that.

The first 20 sets were very easy and I was finishing the seven with 2 seconds to spare. A good sign. Usually the first sets of 7 eat up the whole time frame.The first ten sets of 8 were strong and fast and I actually finished ahead of time a few sets as well but I could really feel the uptick on the heart and lungs and knew it was going to be a LONG 20 more sets. I was wishing I had asked Tracy to push me through the end like I had thought about doing. Sets 30-40 were pretty brutal and a bit sloppy as wiping my face,trying to get some chalk or water really pushed me hard and it didnt feel like much rest at all
.
But then Tracy magically appeared,thank God, and kicked my ass for the next 10 sets . She really helped get me through the torture, challenging me perfectly as any good training partner would.Did the last 2 sets back to back.Just wanted it over,lol. 200+ HR is fast.Came down to 110 within a minute and a half or so so thats good too.

Max Vo2 snatch 15:15
16kg
x 20sets of 7
x30 sets of 8
50 total sets
140 reps @ 5040 lbs

240 reps@ 8640 lbs
380 reps@ 13,680 lbs!!

Wow, thats a lot of snatches and a lot of tonnage. Excellent.glad I don't think about those numbers til AFTER the workout,lol.

ten minute break then:

Two CB rockits
15'sx4x25 reps

these were just what I needed to load the quads a bit and take some pressure off the tightening hammies, as well as traction the elbows and get some tension into the triceps.

Rack walk
16kg x1200 feet
switch hands every 200 feet.

this was harder on my arms then the legs for a change. I good sign.

BW 163.4
BF 9.1%
Water 60.2%

definitely have been easy on the diet; not fasting as long, eating more grains and desserts and generally not worrying about letting the weight or the bodyfat go up a bit.If I don't break the fast with my veggie/protein stir fry it doesnt go as well. Shit, I'm freeezing most of the time being so skinny so it's hard to motivate myself not to eat.! and it's been cold, real cold for us thin blooded californians, for months.
But now the sun is back, at least for awhile I won't need so many calories to warm me up.Just a reptile it seems, not a fish.

datsit. out to the sun for more z and rifga stretches.This weekend should be AmAzing.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Strong effort...By my math you shorted yourself 20 reps. Total should be 380??..
I have not done this in a while and as FUN as you make it sound...it might be time to give it another whirl.
Take Care...

Mark Reifkind said...

britt,

thanks for catching that. I messed up the tonnage too.Was still probably out of it when I posted,lol.GLad it was more not less.
and oh yes, it is LOTS of fun.

Bill Fox said...

Any thoughts of a point at which you go to the 24kg?

Adam said...

Rif

Casey and I go through the same thing man. I have had volume workouts where i dont know if i would have pushed all the wau through with out her yelling at me to finish it. 40 sets at 8 reps-brutal!

Mark Reifkind said...

bill,

ways to go before that. I want to OWN 50 sets of 8 before I would go to the 20 kg next.When I get through 50x8 3-5 times I will consider it. No need really.
another way to gauge it would be when using the 16kg couldnt get my HR into the right zone for adaptation.

Steve Reishus said...

Great job! 200 BPM is nuts!

Mark Reifkind said...

adam,
I thought I could get through it totally solo but I got tough. I would have made it but not as strongly.she got me going :))

Mark Reifkind said...

steve,

yeah,lol. And that was taking it 5 seconds late after I set it down and tried not to hack up a lung before remembering I was supposed to take it.

Anonymous said...

Great blog. I have a kettlebell but am loathe to start b/c, well, I am a lazy bastard. Hate doing cardio b/c, again, I am a lazy bastard.

But your bodyfat percentage sounds phenomenal -- and has inspired me -- you have any pics that would get us fired up?

Mark Reifkind said...

sorry it's been too cold and I have winter coat of fat on,lol. as well as my shirt.
I plan on leaning out more this summer.

Anonymous said...

What sort of set/rep breakdown would you recommend for those of us who:

a) are athletic but lazy -- meaning, I would rather go ultra-high intensity for a short time then medium intensity for a medium time

b) would like to strip some fat off our bodies

Any and all advice would be well received and appreciated.

TIA.

Mark Reifkind said...

varangy,

the max vo2 workout is perfect. short work bouts( 15 sec) and lots of rest after each set(15 sec).the high intensity pace really sets the metabolism on high.start with 20 sets of 7 and build up slowly to 50 sets.
on another day do 30 seconds of swings with 30 seconds of rest with a 24 kg kb.work up to 20-30 sets.

a good start.

4 Ranges, RKC said...

Nice nice NICE!!!

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks rolando.it felt great to be able to really push hard without hurting anything!

Kenneth Jay said...

Hey Rif,

You are definetely getting the most out of the MVO2 protocol. excellent work. Now you see why I have been having such great success with the athletes that I coach. I have not seen bigger improvements in cardiovascular strength with any other protocol.

You have done tremendous work with the protocol Rif! awesome work!

Mark Reifkind said...

kenneth,

thank YOU so much for taking the time and doing this research. It has totally revised and energized ALL my training.the fact that I can get so many gains using such a light kettlebell makes it even better.
I always believed in the 'virtual force' created by the kb ballistics but now I really have data to back it up.
I can beleive that you are getting great results with your athletes,as I am also with my clients.
what's really amazing is how FAST the body adapts to this protocol.Big changes very quickly.Especially since I am only using it once per week.

Thursday ruck

 Another decently strong one. Cool weather again and that helps.. Calves were tight, the only thing slowing me down 45 lb ruck 6 laps 3 mile...