Saturday, December 31, 2011

Snatch day at Stones and a new training partner



What a great way to end the year. Back in the cave with one old friend and one new one and new training partner. Glenn is a client who is now a friend and a training partner and he fits in perfectly at Stones. There is no one I know that is as much a real deal guy as Glenn and that's what really matters to me.

Glenn is a former football player, Marine, Special Forces, SWAT Cop and Elite Level powerlifter! Hard man with high mileage, something I can seriously relate to. He was broke bad when he came to me and kbs are saving his life just like they saved mine and Tracy's. He's had more surgeries than he can count and almost every joint is broke but he has Heart and Spirit and I know he will make me better just being around him. Can't wait to see how his real success story comes out and I'm proud to now be a part of that.

This guy will pass RKC one day and that will be a miracle and one of the best things in his life. I predict it now.

And that's whose voice you hear in the background. I don't just invite anyone to train with me so you know I like and respect thim.Nick stepped up his game as well. What a great workout to finish off an incredible year.

It also was a balmy 40 degrees in the cave this morning . Much much better than last weeks 30!

7-8 am Full stretchout in the living room


8-9:20


one arm swing warmup
16 kg x5/5/5/5 x 3


Snatch
16 kg x5/5 x2
20 kg x5/5


24 kg x 5/5
          x6/6
          x7/7 x three rounds
108 snatches
5724 lbs

Felt very strong and having nick and glenn both giving me energy really helped. It's said that no good powerlifter ever trains alone and I believe it. The energy of great training partners is trasnformative and increases ones power exponentially.

Form held up great. Wider stance, focus on hip snap, then float the bell, then high pull and punch through. On the descent focus on laying back to keep the bell descending as vertically and as close to my midline as possible,  and then internally rotating the arm to allow the elbows to fully lock out. Pause at the top about 19 reps/minute pace.

Felt very strong and safe just not as fast and that's ok.

Bottoms up cleans
16 kg x5/5
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x3/3
28 kg x 2/2

not bad at all! left side is definitely weaker than right ( mainly grip and lat connection/ strength). But this as I said, was always a solid strong move for me and it's fun to do. Nice to handle heavy weights and feel safe, too.

One arm swings
24 kg x5/5
28 kg x8/8
32 kg x8/8
          x 8/8

Nice. Good to focus just on "going up" in weight than having to do 400 reps with the same weight. Strong is Good! RKC Strong!

Nick knocked it out of the park today with his easy Beast swings! And Glenn did  his first one arm swings with the 32 kg today- perfect to set a PR the first day in your new gym :))

He's also going to keep me company on Thursday workout for pulls, stones, swipes and carries and spider walks! It will make that weirdo day much better.



Nick kills it with the swings and then moans about his calluses lol. We'll have to talk.

Breakfast with the new crew at 4th Street Bowl Diner ! Perfect way to end the year and start the next.

datsit.Sisu

Friday, December 30, 2011

Deadlift special exercises

1) conventional deadlift

2) stone deadlift

3) Coan Barbell row( pause on floor)

4)  barbell sumo deadlift

5) Two hand or Two KB swing


these would be a good pulling variation scheme

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Deadlifts and one arm swipes



Master Instructor Geoff Neupert dropped by Stones for a visit and a workout today and it was great to talk to him and throw around some ( relatively for me at least) heavy iron. Geoff did pull some real weight but I still got a recent pr.Just like the old days.

One arm KB Deadlifts
24 kg x3/3
28 kg x3/3
32 kg x3/3
36 kg x3/3


Barbell Deadlifts
135 x 3x2
155 x3
175 x 2
205 x 2 ( nice jump there :))
220 x 2 ( the above video)
225 x 2 pr

These were very strong and easy  and no doubt having a seriously strong, real deal guy there watching me pull helped, as it always did. Nice to be able to push it a bit and not get stung. Strong feels good. Definitely upped the volume a bit as I turned doubles into triples and did more top end sets as well. Making haste slowly.

One arm swipes
10 lbs x 10/10
15 lbs x10/10 x 4 sets
15 lbs x 20/20

stupidly forgot the second cb at Girya and had to do singles. Definitely easier but it was fine.

Spider walks

Ala Tim Anderson and his Bulletproof system. Geoff showed me these and I love them! Wasn't quite sure how to do them before, or even if I could do them but I could and it was cool. Definitely a way to work my gait pattern basically OUT of gravity. Nice. As Geoff said, developmentally, we crawl before we walk and walk before we run so working the crawl pattern hard makes sense.Especially for me as I try to regain the basic walking and running gait patterns

About five laps of 50 feet. This has serious potential for me.

datsit.Sisu

Monday, December 26, 2011

Three times in a row.



That was the rule when I was a gymnast. You didn't "own" a trick unless you could do it three times in succession.That was the start of owning it, anyhow.I've been working on my pbar and floor handstands and while still using the wall as a spotter have been trying to use it less and less and just tap off into a free static handstand as many sets as possible

Today I nailed a no touch kick up to handstand four times in a row.NICE! I did have to adjust by pressing down and then back up a bit but even though in some senses that is a 'miss' it also is a huge gain as I haven't been able to do that top 1/4 press without my shoulder moving around and today it didn't! Opens up a lot of potential moves too.

I also realized that the schedule I thought would stay awhile has to be adjusted already. Not the essence but the days themselves.

Tracy and I are going back to pressing again together on Mondays and I"ll snatch on Saturdays with Nick as well as bottoms up cleans and one arm swings. I'll still try to use the WSB KB press routine just another day.

And snatch vo2 is going away again as I had a revelation after last weeks recent pr session: in order for me to go that fast I have to use my tippy bird form and my back doesn't like that.I need to regroove my snatch form again and trying to do that as I try to go fast doesn't work.

It's like trying to learn to sprint AND go as fast as possible in each practice. Doesn't make sense.

Todays snatch workout was killer;


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


Snatch
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5
          x6/6
          x7/7
          x8/8
          x9/9
          x10/10
24 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets

these were some of the best snatches I have done in, well, perhaps EVER. I changed a lot of things: I opened my stance up wider( 1.5 each side), I layed back a bit on the descent  ala Fuglev although no where near as radical( this kept the bell in much closer to my COG and reduced forward pull making it easier to load the hips), I internally rotated my arm in the back swing( this helped me lock out my elbow better as it crossed midline, and I extrnally rotated on the punch through.
I also made sure to shock absorb with the hips  in the bottom

WOW> more form adjustments than I've made in eons. But everything felt right and my shoulder knee and back said yes  too,although I always have to wait until the next day or two to know for sure.

Two hand arm casts
20 x10/10
25 x10/10
35 x 6/6
     x 8/8
     x 8/8

These were very strong. Nice.The 35 felt light. Maybe it's the deads:))

Pbar handstands
4 sets of 10 seconds as above. No wall touch on any.
Bodyblade laterals  x3x10 each side
Triceps extensions 3 x 40, 30,20


Shoulder bicep tendon still staying in place! WOO freakn Hoo! Nice to have that side of my body back again.


datsit. Sisu.



I also went slow,about 19 reps per minutes

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The latest schedule

Since the New Year is fast approaching and I'm returning back to my cave,my original courage corner it seems fitting that I have a new schedule as well. I want to simplify the routine even more and stop trying to focus so much on doing as much volume as I can on every exercise. I'm always trying to maximize my work capacity but now that I can train strength a bit more I see I can let go of some of the volume on the basic grind exercises.

Doing the bottoms up clean and press and the bottoms up cleans on Saturday made me remember just how strong I was in these movements and how good they felt for me. Time to bring them back.

I've also been talking with Pavel a ot lately about  adapting WSB theory to the kettlebell military press and I think I am going to put that into action a bit myself. Saturdays will start as a quasi Max Effort day( or as Pavel says :" same but different") rotating basic exercises and focusing on lifting as heavy as one can for a few sets of 1-3 reps.
Not a volume workout but an intensity one.

Week one and two; Bottoms up Military press short cycle
Week two and three: palm kb press( waiters press)
Week four and five: KB floor press ( one arm)
Week six and seven : KB Military press ( traditonal)
Week eight: double KB press( max reps)

wow, that looks very cool and doable.I was thinking first about one week minicycles but I think I'm weak enough to make progress from a two week cycle as my body works into the real groove of each move. Especially the palm press haven't done that for ages, and I'm not sure i CAN do kb floor press.

But now that I know how to reset the shoulder it should be fine :))

So

SATURDAY

Max effort clean and press
Bottoms up cleans
One Arm Swings
 Snatch Holds

Monday
Snatch VO2 rotation
week one 16 kg
week two 20 kg
week three 24 kb for total volume, not time.
Two Hand Clubbell work
Handstands/ superset
Bodyblade laterals


Wednesday
Deadlift  max effort( same approach as kb press, vary move each week and work up to easy single) 


Alternate for one week each:
Barbell deadlift
Barbell row
Stone lift

Two clubbell swipe Volume
KB carry ( rack or farmers)
Handstand


we'll see if I can recover fast enough to train on wednesday instead of thursday but it would be better for Saturdays heavier loading

Datsit.Sisu


Saturday, December 24, 2011

Stones Gym Lives!

First real training today at Stones Gym, aka my garage, with Nick for a heavy Saturday workout; just like we used to. We started there squatting on saturdays, then when we moved to kettlebells it was heavy snatch and swing day. Saturday was always the center of the training week and I focused on it more than any other training day.
Competitions, as a rule were on Saturdays, so it was easy to make that the most important training day of the week.

It was great training along side Tracy on Saturdays at Girya but it wasn't the same as my courage corner.It was where I worked, not where I got away from work and the world.It felt odd stepping back into the frigid ( 30 deg!!!) strength box today but it felt like home, too.The pace was fast, we had to keep moving or we would freeze.:0)

It wasn't my first workout back there but it was the first with my training partner of  over ten years Nick Bruckner so now it's official.Stones Gym lives :))

 Wow,that's a long time.

One arm swing warmup
16 kg x 20 x 3 sets


One arm cleans
16 kg x 5/5 x2


Military kb press
16 kg x5/5 x2
20 kg x5/5 x 2
24 kg x 5/5 x 6 sets

the shoulder felt good, just a few clunks and used the distraction band to set things right asap and it held. nice

Bottoms up clean and press, long cycle
16 kg x 5/5
16 kg x 3/3
20 kg x 3/3
          x2/2

havent done these in ages! tough but good too. REALLY is the best special exercise for teaching the right way to press overhead. HAD to activate the lat to get the bell overhead. Back in the mix

Bottoms up cleans
16 kg x5/5 x2
20 kg x5/5
24 kg x 3/3
28 kg x 1/1

Nice as well! these also used to be a very strong movement for me, have to keep them in as well. I 've used the 40 kg for singles for these so I know what I'm capable of and it's good.

One arm swings
24 kg x5/5
          x 10/10 x 4 sets
28 kg x 10/10

These felt great! finally warming up . and my vision seems clearer in the garage, noticed I had no balance issues at all as I sometimes do at Girya
Snatch holds
16 kg x30 sec ea arm
20 kg x 30 sec
24 kg x 30 sec

these were solid

Unloaded my heavy bells from Girya to Stones and set up the squat rack. It was a good morning.
36 kg
40 kg
44 kg
48 kg




datsit. Sisu and Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Get er dun

That was today. Just get something done. Thursday's is always my weirdo workout day; I'm not quite recovered on Wedneday and Thursday is too close to Saturday's heavy day to push it hard.
Plus it's my latest training time and , to be honest, I'm tired .
Especially this time of year when everything's off, people are all over the place and schedule's a mess. Plus the Holidays.

Tough week, but I took my pre warmup hot bath( damn it's cold these days here) and got my butt into the garage.


One arm KB deadlift
24 kg x 3/3
28 kg x3/3
32 kg x3/3
( just to warmup the pulling pattern)


Barbell Deadlift
135 x3
155 x3
175x2
195x1
210x 1 x 2 new pr :))

these went fine but I was just "off" today and didn't have a great mindset other than 'lets get this over with". Sometimes it's magic and other times it's just work.

It was work today and that's fine.It would be easier if I could really figure out the focus of this days' workload anyway.It probably should be swipes and progressing them, and giving the bells, and my arms, a rest between heavy loads

deads were done with left hand under grip and this felt harder today than last week, where it felt very natural.Next week I'll try double over hand again and see how that feels . I just now know that if I use  a mixed grip the left hand has to be under to create torque in the correct direction to balance my spine.

Two Clubbell Swipes
2/ 15's x 20 reps x 5 sets
100 total reps

man these are STILL tough. My grip is loading up way faster than I remember. have to look back at my training logs and see how I progressed these before. Still, this was also a recent best. I've done more reps but not more sets of high reps.

Floor handstands
7 sets of 8 seconds

tight and off here too.each set got better though. Definitely a good thing to do after deads and swipes and all that flexion.

time to relax and get on the floor for some more stretching.


datsit.Sisu

Monday, December 19, 2011

Some speed returns , Snatch VO2 60 sets



I was inspired today to really get my groove back in my snatch vo2 workout after Tracy was telling me how amazed she was at the speed I was able to obtain back in 2008 when we trained max vo2 together in a very serious fashion.

This is the video she was talking about:



I studied the video, very thankful I have a visual recording of what I did, how I did it and how it looked in the past. This is precisely why I tape everything. You never know when you will loose a groove and you never know what little thing it will take to recover it.

One thing I noticed in the video was that I was a serious tippy bird but that's how my lumbar rhythm rolls:my performance tells the real story. If it had been bad teshnik than I wouldn't have been able to move that fast, that easily or that strongly.

Even though the snatch IS a swing, the two techniques for me are very different. I keep forgetting this and try to "swing" my snatch. It works but not like this.

So I put on the same trunks I wore in the old video and hoped they would help.

They did:))

Great workout today and just another reminder of how fast Snatch Vo2 training gets me in shape regardless of how much I hate doing it..I focused on really throwing the bell down and not worrying about bending my knees, they don't bend much on my deadlift either. It's just how I'm built and I'm tired of fighting it and explaining it. Today's result confirms it for me.

The fact that my arms weren't fried from too much volume on Saturday helped a lot too


Snatch V02
15:15
16 kg
30 sets of 6 reps
26 sets of 7 reps
4 sets of 8
394 reps
14,184 !!! nice!

done in alternating sets of 10

Biggest workload in a long time.I would have done 5 sets of 8 at the end but counted wrong. No worries. I was snatching at an 8 and even 9 rep pace the entire time, holding overhead for the full 15 second count

heartate at end was 175-180

Capt America Arm Casts
20 lb cb x 12
25 lb cb x 12
35 lb cb x 8 x 2


Bodyblade laterals 3 x 8
Black band triceps ext 3 x 40,25,15


datsit. Sisu


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Press again, high rep snatches and pbar handstands



It's been 4 months or so that my left bicep tendon has been slipping out of it's notch in the humerus and creating nasty spasms in my levator scap, scalenes, pec major, triceps and rotator cuff. I can get the shoulder to sublux doing almost anything ( sleeping, pushing off the floor, down dog, etc ,etc,) but , until now, haven't figured how to 'get it back in'.

Until now.I tried everything I knew, and I mean everything but nothing would put the shoulder back into neutral.Then I decided to use Kelly Starrets distraction method that he loves for his hips, for the shoulder. He's done a MWOD on using it for the shoulder but I didn't really think it would make the difference.

I was wrong. The shoulder clunked nicely back into place and voila' I could press again and didn't need all the myo fascial release work that I've been doing. Square plumb and neutral and the pain goes away.

So above is the technique I use to get the humerus back into the rear of the socket where it belongs!
Thanks KStar for all your great work.It's changed my life. No joke.


7- 7:45 am full stretchout


7:45- 9 am 


Long cycle clean and press
one arm swing warmup : 16 kg x 5/5/5/5 x3


Clean and press
16 kg x5/5
20 kg x 4/4


24 kg x 3/3
          x4/4
          x 5/5
          x 5/5
          x5/5
          x 5/5


These went VERY well and the few times I had some shoulder movement I just went to the jumpstretch band and distracted the joint and it was peachy in seconds. About freakin time I figured this one out. If I can press it makes things so much nicer.

Snatch


16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 20/20
          x 15/15


ouch. that was not fun. I didn't expect it to be, and to be honest it wasn't that hard BUT it really showed my cardio weak link in that energy system. It will build up quickly and I will be doing 2 x 25/25 with the 20 kg soon and then move up to the 24kg to build that up too.

I'll get the snatch volume on Mondays with snatch vo2

Nick was doing his own thing as usual going heavier rather than going for volume. He bumped up to the 32 kg for his last set and instead of doing his usual 5 rep set he keeps going, and going and going until he hits 20 reps with his right arm!

I know Nick has never snatch more than 10 reps in a row with ANY weight let alone the 32 kg! I figured he was done for sure but he switched hands and kept going. I seriously would have bet my  house that he was going to put the bell down after the 20 on his right arm but I would have bet EVERYTHING he couldn't have made another twenty on his left. But he did :))Amazing. Boy is strong for real.

His heart rate will be elevated for days, believe me :))
Well done Brother.


PBar Handstands


5 sets of 10 seconds off Bosu ball. These were very strong

SO the new schedule :

Saturday
Clean and press
 Snatch ( 2 sets high reps)
Pbar handstands
Triceps extensions


Monday
Snatch Vo2
Two hand clubbells
Floor handstands
Bodyblade Laterals




Wednesday
One arm swings  heavy volume
 Deadlifts
2 Clubbell Swipes ( 2 sets max reps)
Floor handstands
Tricep extensions

datsit. Sisu




Thursday, December 15, 2011

Deadlifts, swipes and some trotting.



It's been a good year for Restoring Lost Physical function ,lol. Being able to press again, then press with two arms, then be able to squat down another 15 degrees led to less knee pain and better all around EVERYTHING.

Being able to focus more on how I can move more and better instead of spending countless hours days and weeks on sheer rehab to get to tolerable levels of pain was much better and drained energy incredibly less as well.
Which led to all kinds of other things getting done.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better I saw this video( http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/11/02/magazine/100000001149415/the-lost-secret-of-running.html) and being able to walk in place, then run in place then actually trot around like almost running human being!!!

This was crazy. A dream, a miracle.SO I practice my 100 ups every day, at least two or three times, actually, greasing the groove and now can break out into a trot at will

I can't call it running yet but I guarantee I will at some point soon.It will be nice to not to have to dream to actually be able to run again. And I hope the mechanics will translate to my walking gait as well.

But now that Stones Gym is alive and I can train in my own Courage Corner again, the always loaded deadlift bar started talking to me. It's important for my rehab that I can lift things that are at least slightly heavier than what I will have to do in real life.

The heaviest thing you lift will be what becomes what is 'heavy' for you, and I don't want that to always be a five gallon water bottle. Although I will tell you honestly that I am VERY happy when I can change the water with no back pain, and I will be forever grateful to be able to do so.

Even if that's all I can lift.

But today I could lift more and I did.

One Arm Deadift
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x3/3
28 kg x 3/3
32 kg x 3/3


Barbell deadlift, mixed grip
135x 3
155 x3
175 x 3
195x1
205x1x2!!!

this was amazing and easy. I can't remember the last time I deadlifted anything but a kettlebell but it was around 2004. That's a long time ago and it was singles with 315 and they were hard and hurt. today was easy and pain free.

I used the mixed grip to actually create torque in the correct way I need to counter rotate for my back. It worked out well, although I always have to wait and see what the next day(s) bring.

2 CB Swipes


since it seems my attempts at recreating the volume workouts I did in the past is futile I've decided on swipes and snatches to go for a few high rep sets and call it a day! I would love to be able to do 100 swipes with the 15s and recreate my original snatch test numbers of 25 and 25 with the 24 kg.
This will require just 2-3 hi rep sets and not much else.We'll see how this goes. I just don't have the desire to push for high total rep numbers like I did before.

I'll shoot for quality and less quantity although I still want to keep my swing volume high. we'll see. the main thing is that I keep inspired, motivated and in the gym three days a week with kbs and cbs.

Floor Handstnds


8 sets of 8 seconds

wow these were very hard to get going. took 5 sets before things settled in. All that flexion make upside down extension way tough to get into. It opened up towards the end which is exactly why I did them,

Datsit. Sisu.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Snatch Vo2


It seems my shoulder strategy is working. After spending considerable time with the lacrosse ball firmly ensconced in my pec minor,and more enjoyably , my teres major, the shoulder released and has been in neutral for the last few days. Nice. No new pec or front delt tension to pull it forward an d out right now and all the snatching has really activated my rotator cuff so it seems I dodged yet another bullet.

I knew I had to dig those out I just didn't want to. Just because I have a high pain tolerance doesn't mean I like it. I do the myo fascial release work because I have to to even come close to being square plumb and neutral not out of some masochistic delight :))

Of course my forearms were totally cooked from all the 24 kg snatching and only one day of downtime to recover. Nice. Plus it was freaking COLD at Girya this morning and that always tightens me up big time.

Perfect prelude to lots of fast snatching right,lol? All that are tension just meant I had to be really perfect with my snatch groove or else they would feel it big time.

6:30-7:30

full stretchout. lots of leg and ab release stretches.

9 am snatch vo2
15;15

warmups with
12 kg x 5/5 x 2
14 kg x5/5 x2

16 kg x 5/5 x 5 sets
x6/6 x 5 sets
x7/7 x 5 sets
x5/5 x 5sets
x6/6 x 5 sets
x7/7 x 5 sets
x5/5 x 5 sets
x 6/6 x 5 sets
x7/7 x 5 sets
x 5/5 x 5 sets
x7/7 x 5 sets
55 sets
20 sets of fives
15 sets of sixes
20sets of sevens
330 reps
11,880 lbs

the hardest part is just tallying these disparate numbers up! definitely felt off today and should have done more sets of just 6 and 7 but my arms were sore and my groove as different than last week,slightly wider stance and sheer over the top hardstyle. felt good but different and it was hard to go faster.

I do like using the fives as warmups and I take up the entire 15 seconds with more overhead holds, which I need as well/

two hand clubbell arm casts
20 x 10/10
25 x8/8 x 2
Shield cast
25 x 8/8 x 3 sets

these felt heavy too. ack. felt rushed too as my body was so stiff and uncooperative.

Floor handstands
5 sets of 10 seconds
these felt great, surprisingly, but I tapped off the wall too:)). I can find my balance right away off the wall but I will need more forearm recovery and muscle release if I want to start doing them free standing.
Also need to use a harder surface too. My mats are just a bit on the "givey' side.

datsit. Sisu

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Never Quit


Just another way of saying Sisu.

I found this very cool shirt on Forged website designed by Navy Seal Vet and Hero Marcus Luttrell and I loved the phrase and the Lone Survivor foundation so I got one. I am forever watching out for anything that will inspire me and keep me motivated to do what I need to do to achieve what I want to achieve a great t shirt that stands for something always helps :)) Whatever works.

Nick is one arm swinging the Bulldog in the background before working up to the Beast. He is becoming quite the Beast himself these days.

Saturday has become 24 kg snatch day for awhile until my bicep tendon behaves. That's just fine as I love the snatch and it's time to get the rep numbers and total reps done up to more reasonable standards:))
The shoulder stayed where it should the entire workout for a change, making me realize this was indeed the right move, exercise selection wise.

The snatch however felt very off, and my balance and groove didn't kick in until the down sets with the 20 kg. I lose my snatch groove crazy fast and the 16 kg done fast is NOT the 24 kg:))

I did have fun focusing on the press again but now it's back to the snatch and swing work;

7-8 am
full stretchout

8-9:15 am Snatch

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

Snatch
16 kg x5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5 x2

24 kg x 5/5 x 6 sets
20 kg x 10/10 x 2 sets

100 reps the easy way. I wanted to do at least 100 24 kg reps but it wasn't there today. Got to work back up slowly it seems. I played with the corkscrew technique but soon reverted to my Hardstyle form. It felt fine on the shoulder which is the only reason I played with it Monday.

Where my eyes were looking was another story and I felt all over the place. Weird.

One arm swings
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5 x 5 sets

wow that looks like so little when I write it but it sure seemed like a lot when I was doing it :)) It' just amazing to me how quickly the ability to do volume dissipates for me if I back off even a little.I can't believe I did 400 one arm swings with the 32 kg just a few years ago. Crazy. I have to focus more

Floor Handstands
8 sets of 10 second

these were off too. I started on the floor with Nick acting as the wall/backstop but could not find the groove so I went to the wall itself and those I nailed.Finally, something. But hey, the shoulder was "in" so I shouldn't complain .

Band tricep kickbacks
I started with extensions but the biceps tendon started making some noises so I switched to these with a reverse grip. No problems
35, 25, 17, 12

datsit.Sisu


Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Sometimes life get in the way of training


but you get something done anyway. At least I do. But I've had to modify that idea as I get older so that sometimes it means just one exercise and 30 minutes of work. IN my old world that wouldn't even qualify as a workout worth doing but things are different now.

Now that 30 minute quick and dirty little session seems like a preview of the type of workouts I SHOULD be doing as I get older. But not quite yet

I had only 30 minutes between my last of 7 clients and a seriously important meeting so instead of bailing for tomorrow( when I have another crazy ass meeting as well after work) I decided to just " get er dun" today.

two clubbell swipes
2 10s's x 20 x 2
2 15s x 20 x 5
100 reps

short rest between sets and my forearms pumped up big but this was a good solid workout and my teshnik is coming along very well on these.

Floor Handstands
5 sets of 10 second holds after a tap off.

These were tough for some reason and I never really got comfortable,even though I could hold them for the 10 sec. Never really 'settled' into the bone lock. No problem, I got them in.

Band triceps extensions

3 sets of 20

done

datsit. Sisu

Monday, December 05, 2011

"Everything works but nothing works forever"

I first heard this from Louie Simmons and it's as true now as when I read it 15 years ago. I applied it to my snatch vo2 workout today as my left bicep tendon woke up cranky and even though I knew the snatches would help getting started was slow as I had very early clients and not great stretchout time before the workout

Internally rotating the arm and or loading it in flexion( which is what happens when my arms crosses midline in a swing, because of my arm carry and arm length) is what irritates it so instead of using over the top hardstyle technique I decided to try a modified corkscrew descent and found it worked very well to keep the shoulder in the socket and the bell closer to me, mitigating forces .

Any port in a storm

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15;15

6 sets of 5 ( 30)
6 sets of 6 ( 36)
6 sets of 7 ( 42)
6 sets of 5( 30
6 sets of 6( 36)
6 set of 7( 42)
14 sets of 7(98)

50 total sets
314 reps
11304 lbs

surprisingly strong and easy. If my shoulder wasn't wonky I would be killing this now. But this is definitely in the right direction.I took ALL of the 15 second whether or not it involved holding the overhead position in the fives and sixes. the corkscrew is slower for me so the sevens took the whole 15 seconds

Two hand CB arm casts
20lbs x 10 /10
25 lbs x8/8
35 lbs x5/5 x 3 sets

Two hand shield casts
20 lbs x 10/10 x 3 sets

these went well and I needed to put that crusier bell up again. been too long. didn't feel that heavy which is very good.

Bodyblade laterals
3 sets of 10/10

just pre hab

Floor handstands

5 sets of 6-8 seconds holds/ start against wall

these were tougher than expected and my shoulders were cooked.


triceps extensions black band
40, 30 15

datsit.Sisu


Saturday, December 03, 2011

Presses and snatch holds


Woke up with the shoulder feeling really good from Thursday's snatch holds. But as soon as I started pressing ,even with the 16kg the left bicep tendon started moving around and the shoulder was not happy.

This was definitely a sign.A sign that I've peaked out on my pressing and need to re direct towards a higher volume of snatching relative to presses. that makes sense as that as what rehabbed my right shoulder into even being able to press again a few years ago. I got through the press work out but it's reached it's zenith. New protocol coming

7-8 am

full stretchout focusing on legs and hips.


8-9 am
one arm swing warmup
16 kg x 5/5/5 x 4 sets

long cyle clean and press
16 kg x5/5
20 kg x5/5
24 kg x5/5 x 5 sets

these went very easy but I had to hunt around for a left arm position that stabilized the shoulder. Strange as I ended up where I started at weeks ago. It's a moveable feast :))

one arm swings
24 kg x5/5
28 kg x 5/5
x6/6
x7/7
x8/8
x9/9
x10/10

these went strong and well although my left shoulder was still not happy and I had to conciously pack the shoulder to keep it stable.

Snatch Holds
20 kg x 30 sec
x 45 sec
x 60 sec

these were not easy although it felt perfect to do them My shoulder got more stable with every set. the overhead position gotten to via the snatch is somehow much different than that achieve with the press.I'm not sure why but I am definitely sure that it is. The snatch position is much better to stabilize the shoulder for me.

The left arm felt like it's old self and though the right side is better than ever you can see from the video how much tighter is still is.Will work up to the 24kg for time on these as well. I will cycle the weights and the corresponding times each week as well.

PBar handstands from floor

4 sets of 8 seconds

these were hard. almost the same muscles as the snatch holds, which were now very tired. :)) Pretty solid though and all from the floor. Nick spotted to a free hold.

datsit. Sisu

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Clubbell swings and PBar handstands


had to get it in quickly today as the Dentist was right after work, Just a great day :))

My shoulder has really responded well to the snatch holds, amazingly so. When you have the right key the door unlocks easily.

Two Clubbell swings Superset with PBar handstands

10 lb clubs x 20 reps x 2 sets
10 sec handstand on p bars
15 lb club x 15 reps
10 sec handstand
20 lb clubs x 10 reps x 10 sets
10 sets of handstands x 10 seconds


this was harder than I thought it would be,mostly after the 7th set. I used the bosu ball to kick up with but got the last three sets pretty much right to a free handstand without tapping off the wall first. My shoulders were pretty cooked at the end as the pace was fast. I basically did the handstands and swings back to back and then took a minute or so rest.

Haven't really trained clubbell swings but since my shoulder was doing so well this last week I wanted to let it alone and not push it with the 20 lb swipes that were on the schedule. They were very interesting,not as hard as I thought but I did low rep sets. The 20's were tough to hold on to and keep the acceleration up. good work though. I can see how high reps with heavy weight could add up fast.

Ring Supports and snatch holds
8 second holds in a basic ring support supersetted with snatch holds with the 16 kg. First set of holds was 60 seconds long and then the last 4 sets were 45 seconds long.

this was a serious static strength day,lol. the ring supports were easy and strong and the shoulder stayed in the whole time. Snatch holds rock, used the GS well as it hands lower and is more comfy for time :))

datsit.Sisu

205, 215, 217.5,205 x 1 x 6, 190 x 1 x 3, laterals, rear delts bw pushups

 Well this went great. not perfect but the basic premise worked and I'm happy. I was not optimistic at all about this at all given recen...