Long cycle clean and press,handstands and a new training partner.

November '09This is my back off week as Tracy and I get ready to travel to Tempe Arizona this weekend for an HKC with Keats.It's a good time to do less too as this last ramp up peaked really well last week and it would be time to step back , HKC or no HKC.

The next step off a peak is always down and one can either step back or fall off. I'm so learning to step back if I even smell a peak.The question always is, though, how much to step back, how light is too light and how much volume is enough.?

Too light and I won't feel like I've done enough to maintain my fitness and strength without actually going backward and too heavy, well too heavy makes itself apparent very quickly.I seem to always go to my fallback basic strength work load five sets of five, in some configuration.

I love five rep sets as you can make them just heavy enough to feel satisfied with the weight but the reps are low enough to do enough multiple sets to feel like muscle mass is being maintained, or even improved; even with lower weight loads.

Strict pressing the 24 kg has become a light day for me, as it should be, and I feel that I can press the bell for as many sets for moderate reps as I want to given enough time. Not that I can press for unlimited reps per set but the weight doesn't scare me at all. I remember not too long ago it was a fairly heavy day for me. Thank goodness that's not the case any more.

It's actually harder for me to do long cycle clean and presses than just repping out continuous presses. Tracy finds it just the opposite but we have different strengths and weaknesses for sure. So I decided to DO long cycle just to add some volume and make it harder, especially in the patience and concentration part, definitely a focus of mine of late in my training.

Started the AM off with an hour of stretching as usual and I was REALLY tight today for some reason and it took awhile to loosen up- this hour of stretching, an hour and half with a client and then an hour of pressing, to be exact,lol.

AFTER my workout was over I felt stretched out square and relaxed.That wasn't the case at the start of the workout but I'm just glad I didn't have to go heavy :))

Clean and press

16kg x5/5 x 2 cleans only

16 kg x5/5 clean and press x 2

20 kg x 3/3 clean and press

24 kg x5/5x 5 sets

The first few sets were rough, not from a weight standpoint but from being so freakin creaky and stiff~! The more sets I did the easier, faster and stronger they got! I'm just a slow warmer-upper; always have been.

The BEST part, though was being able to train with my new training partner, my wife, Tracy, the Queen of the kettlebell swing and one heck of a good presser as well. We have been training at the same time, in the same place for quite awhile now but always doing different things.

Her ,some gianormous interval workout with very hard sets and short rests and me, well, you read this blog you know what I do.

But today we were on the same page, doing the same workout, I go, you go style, and it rocked. Each set took about a minute so we were actually doing a Tracy style equal work to equal rest workout as well as my hardstyle, high tension low rep pressing.

I can recover from upper body work way faster than I can from lower body training. Hey, I spent my developmental years living on my hands for 5 hours a day, go figure!

Handstands

Stacking kickups. about ten sets and these went great, way better than last week when I dove in the deep end too fast without enough warmup and progressions and got my butt handed to me.

I also started teaching Tracy the beginning progressions to learn the handstand and that was great fun. LOTS of great upper body work to be had just in the early stages.

By changing my focus to the single leg stack up and NOT trying to go right to the handstand I found myself hitting damn near perfect handstands, free of the wall, without even trying.Its so important in the handstand that the lead leg gets over the hip and shoulders BEFORE one tries to bring the other leg up to finish the move.

Put the together too early and the weight of both legs will just pull you down very fast.Stack the first leg and other legs seems virtually weightless.

Can't to get to teach these progressions in three weeks at Hardstyle Ventura. And so nice of my handstand to remake an appearance just in time for the workshop,lol.Also can't wait to see Tracy really learn this very cool skill from me.

KB Lunge( left leg forward only)

16 kg x8,10

20 kg x10

24 kg x8, 9

these are getting much better and it's right to only do the left leg in front, a page from my asymmetrical training that I did to rehab my back injury and get the left glute to fire better. Did A LOT of wide stance free squats during my stretching the morning and I definitely get the feeling I will be able to load some resistance into the squat pattern again very soon. How cool!

Clubbell Arm casts

two handed

10 lb x10/10

15 lb x10/10

20 lb x10/10 x2

Shield cast

15 lb x10/10

20 lbs x 10/10 x 2

Trained Tracy up on these too and she got it really fast,no surprise there. I also think she will see interesting arm and upper body benefits from these. Plus they are just cool to do :))

Just as with my swings I am enjoying the two handed version of these more than single arms and my body agrees. Always listen to the body, it tells us everything. We just have to learn to really listen well.

Lots of stretching tomorrow then off to Tempe and LOT of kb fun.

datsit :))

ps it's always great when you love your training partner :))