Wednesday, October 15, 2008

80 sets of 8 Max VO2.

Wow. It's been a great little couple weeks back. After last weeks pr of 65 sets of 8 in the mvo2 I was thinking I might actually attempt a 'down' day and be smart but,nah, that's really not my nature. Or at least it seems.
I knew once I started I would know how many total sets I would get that day but in the back of my little mind I knew if I got past 70 sets I would have to go for the big Eight Oh.And of course Tracy was training with me today so the pressure was on.I figured it would be 50 or 80.
80 it was.She ended up doingFOUR TEN MINUTE snatch swing sets with the 12 kg.
Woo Freaking Hoo for both of us.
This has been a long time coming. 15 months to be exact.And it makes be bow my head in awe of Mark O Madsens 80 sets of 8 with the 24 kg. Unfreakingbeleivable.
Kenneth I cannot BELIEVE how much using this training protocol has changed me and my level of fitness.Thank you for your research and your ideas. They are revolutionary,imo.

One of the hardest parts was the damn sweating on the bells,lol.Bikram kettlebells.
But the hands held up well, and Saturdays tear was not a problem. Almost no chalk either. I'm trying to get over my chalk fetish.

Snatch vo2
15:15
16 kg
80 sets of 8
640 snatches(!)
23,040 lbs(!!)

All time PR goal achieved.

Man I remember when I hit 50 sets of 7 for the first time I was jazzed! Then 50 of 8! Now EIGHTY? Crazy!What an unbeleivable increase in my work capacity.And I feel totally recoved now as I write this. Insane.And after yoga yesterday. What a blessing this is to me to be able to be an athlete again and have some of my old mobility and agility back.
ANd I swear the whole key to this was Brett Jones telling me " if you're going to have a light day, make it light" for my swing work which opened my head to Kenneth giving me 'permission' to train with 16 kg for snatches.
Light let me go fast which allowed for training intensity without injury. crazy smart. Elastic steel indeed.
And I'll give credit where credit is due: Bikrams heat tolerance work really let me relax much more as these high rep sets "heat up".Especially when the heart rate goes up so much. A lot of Bikrams poses are done primarily TO get the heartate up.So it was easier to relax it seemed.
I started out using the same 'short' stroke position of last week, with single breath hardstyle breathing and over the top technique for both arms. havent done any corkscrew technique for awhile and dont think I will return to it.

Sets 1 through 25 went be pretty easily and wasnt taht noticeable.25- 50 were strong and I was on time for all the sets. The sweat hadnt really kicked in yet.Heartrate at this point was high 160's and respiration was easy.50-60 were harder but mainly because the sweat started and I had to spend precious time and oxygen bending over to dry the bells and my forearms.
Once I got to 60 and realized I had to get at least 70 sets.I started to slow down a bit at this point and the cleaning of the bells got me 5 -6 seconds late into some sets. I did a couple sets back to back to makeup for the time lag. THAT was fun. Not.
Yeah, I ain't breathing hard enough, throw in a sprint. Once I got to 70 I knew I had to go all the way. Tracy was STILL doing those ten minute snatch/swing sets and as she says "what's gonna stop you?"
Nothing.
I didnt know when I would feel this strong again so I decided to do the eighty and it was cool.
I love to feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I get a real decent psych going. You are committed. Tis NO doubt that what you are going for will be done.You get beautiful surge of energy and you can cruise it on home, right though the 'pain'.The music got louder in my head, my eyes got more focused and I was yelling each rep up.
Brings back memories of the old days doing heavy bodybuilding and powerlifting. I haven't let myself get psyched in years,it was too dangerous to my health. So nice how things have changed.
So next week I WILL have a down week and then ramp back up. Doing it once is great. Owning it is another story.
And another goal. What a blessing to be able to train for real again. I don't take it for granted for even one minute. To have my life back.Amazing.

Nothing after this, it would have been anticlimatic and I have yoga tomorrow with my love:))

Datsit.

23 comments:

The Endos & Morenos said...

Pretty freaking amazing Sr. Rif! Outstanding work -- Congratulations!

Mark Reifkind said...

thank you sir, it was a decent day I will say!

Nikki Shlosser said...

HUUUGE!! Bra-VO, Sir!
Brahh-VO.

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks Nikki :))

MKSchinabeck said...

Nice work Rif! I hope to be joining you in a couple of weeks in the elusive 80 set club.

fawn said...

WOW! Very impressive! 80 sets just sounds scary to me... when my meet is over I might have to get on the VO2 band wagon.

Cecilia Tom said...

ROOOH AAAH!

Bikram kettlebell, lol. I don't sweat much, but I bled all over mine tonight. Blog post to come. At least you got nicer hands :-)

Mark Reifkind said...

matt thanks, I am sure you will be there in no time flat.

Mark Reifkind said...

fawn I think you should. as much as I loved powerlifting I think your kb potential is even higher. come to the REAL dark side,lol.

Mark Reifkind said...

cecilia,

my hands ain't that pretty. I got tears on tears but not from yesterday. trying hold onto the bell as little as necessary.thanks though and I do sweat too much,lol.

Iron Tamer said...

Awesome work.

Jordan Vezina said...

Great work Rif. 80 hurts.

Craig B. said...

Killer. I keep meaning to post that we train to some of the same. Love the Monster Magnet.

Mark Reifkind said...

david and jordan

thanks guys, the next rounds will be very interesting/

Mark Reifkind said...

chavo

I am FINALLY getting tired of that cd,have to get some new stuff.lol.

Aaron Friday said...

Awesome, my man. I knew you'd be attacking this one.

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks aaron. its nice to be moving forward agaion.

Craig B. said...

Mark-

if you haven't, check out Spirit Caravan, Los Natas (Argentina), or the old stand-by, Kyuss. That's my current lifting music...

Authentic Strength Training said...

I hit my 80 last Tuesday. I am still on down time. 36;36 commences Sunday. I cannot imagine how good it must feel to have your joints back after years of distressed knee, hip, and shoulder. I praise you as you motivate me. Cheers!

W2

Mark Reifkind said...

W2

thank you sir and yes, it is great to have some of my old mobility and flexibilty back
I too am going to do 36:36 next week although just for a week.too high of reps kill my grip which kills my shoulders.

good job on your 80 sets man!

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks chavo I will check it out!

Rob said...

Hi, Some great work Rif!
I'm not up on the V02MAX stuff so please be kind.
Does the 15:15 mean 15 secs on 15 secs off?
Or please point to where I can find out.

Great blog and love to see what all the kettlebell freaks are upto

Cheers
Rob

Mark Reifkind said...

rob

so a blog search for max vo2 on my blog and on dragon door forum, all will be clear!

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