Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Health Snatch practice and more sled dragging.

My shoulder held it's place very well last night and all today  and the place of origin still seems to be overly tight forearm muscles, especially pronator teres and radiobrachialis. First rib back in place ( and staying there) and the more I put my arm/shoulder into external rotation the better it feels.

Started doing overhead stick work with a curl grip and that immediately felt right.forcing the elbow to lockout as I went through the ROM was key.If I let the elbow bend the scap stopped working right. Plus no pain on ROM

Curls continued to feel good as well with NO bicep sorenesss,which I expected.My biceps were getting plenty of loading BUT NOT in an external rotated position! Hey that's cool, curls are fun and my arms will be even bigger,lol.

Now, to get an Ironmind chest expander to work my triceps in old school back press!


Now how to figure out how to stand without going into internal rotation! My norm is hands in the pockets which is exactly the opposite I want my arm/shoulder to be in. Looks dumb to stand in tadasana pose so I'm hoping as I get the forearm open and keep it open it won't be so bad with the arm in neutral( thumb up) .

We'll see. Daily posture causes more orthopedic issues than most people realize,except when they stop to think about just how much time they spend in very bad positions. Me too.:)

SO since Health Snatches are on the Wednesday menu I thought I should get some more practice in but didn't know how the shoulder would take it. Turned out fine

Health Snatch
12 kg x 5/5
14 kg x 5/5
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5  x 10 sets

easy peezy.It was light so I could play with form a bit.On the right side I have to stay rotated a bit to the right on the negative rep on the shoulder says high. This is correct since I am asymmetrically rotated to the left from my scoliosis and ten million twists to the left in gymastics. It's the same position that's strongest in my press.
Also have to keep my crush grip on the right side to stabilize the shoulder as well. An open hand doesn't feel as good

My left side is square just as in my press.

Sled Drag
65 lbs x  full length of block and back

this was cool. Don't know how far it was but I walked til I was tired, rest a bit and continued. I think I need to sled drag two days a week. at least. my legs are really getting stronger and boy do I need that.

Barbell Curls
5 sets of 8 reps with 50 lbs.

These felt remarkably good to do. Lord knows I have done my share of these and it felt like home.

datsit.
Sisu/



Monday, May 27, 2013

Injured people listen better



and that includes myself. I woke up tweaked Friday at 1 am and it was a long weekend. Even though the workout on Saturday didn't particularly make anything worse my right shoulder was locked up all day Sunday and that was no fun at all.

I was trying to figure out WHY it happened as I spent the entire day, rolling and stretching and cupping and getting Tracy do work on me and then I realized I just haven't been spending enough time do my True Workout, which is my full body stretchout.

When my forearm flexors get overly tight it runs straight up to my shoulders. I know this. I knew this BUT I just haven't been forcing myself to do the hanging from the chin bar that I know I need. I just have been feeling too good, too balanced, too strong.

And no one wants to do the boring monotonous stuff when they're feeling good. Only when they're hurt and the HAVE to. Plus, I have been stretching out, at least 30 minutes every day but I know I have very specific postures that I have to do, and HOLD for very long times, to get the benefits I need from them and I just haven't been making myself do them. Until I had to and then it is even more painful :(

Getting the forearm unlocked opened the whole fascial chain and let my shoulder go back where it needs to be. Very strange huh, that muscles in the forearm could knock the shoulder out of alignment but I've seen this happen with me too many times to dispute the accuracy of it. Now just to get my arms overhead more often!

Plus it was that damn Max Vo2 snatch workout that locked things up,lol, I knew I hated that workout for good reason:)

So I had a great full hour stretchout this morning but I knew that pressing today was NOT a good idea. Hell, I had no idea if I could even swing, the shoulder was thank funked up! But as usual, getting back to trying to move normally had a great effect on everything and my double swings were very strong!

Double bell swings
2 12s x 10 
2 16'x x 10 x 2
2 20's x 8
2 24's x 5
          x 6
          x 7
          x 8
          x 9
          x 10
2 28's x 6 x 5 sets !

these felt great! strong and easy although my wind was off from barely sleeping the last few nights. Nothing cuts your endurance like poor sleep. unless it's poor sleep and pain :)

Sled drags
200 ft x 5 laps
1000 feet
these were good and fast as I was solo today and didn't time things well. Oh well, got em over with faster.

Belt squats

32 kg x 30 x 2
         x 23

cut the last set short as I started to feel the left glute talk to me. I had forgotten about this exercise when I decided on the drags a day early but then realized I had them on the menu and my shoulder wasn't involved so I did them. Much different after all the sled work :)

Bodyblade laterals
3 sets of 10/10


SO the lesson is treat the mobility/flexibility/pre hab work as the MAIN MEAL not just the side course or perhaps you won't get to eat dinner at all! Being hurt just sucks, and, being in so much pain and having so much restriction the last few days really made very clear to me just how much progress I have made in the last 2 years.

I used to LIVE in that state. EVERY day. For way too many years and I don't now and that's great. And I have no plans to return to that state of being. But it means I have to take my yoga much more seriously as it's own practice. And that's precisely what my stretch mob work is, a Yoga. A Way. A Practice. Time to get serious.

Datsit.
Sisu/

Saturday, May 25, 2013

The Health Snatch



Yesterday was a weird day. And all night. For no good reason my knee went " out" at 9 am and I didn't really get to put it right until after all my sessions. Not a whole lot of fun.I think I crawled too much, to be honest, on the days before and my left sartorius went nuts a bit.

That's what's so much fun about having this beat up old frame to work with; I usually don't find out I did something wrong til day(s) later and then I'm not really sure what it was.But this sartorius tweak has happened before with crawling, only much less last time( which means I'm making progress) but it was too much.

Then at 1 am last night my right shoulder subluxes and I've was up pretty much the rest of the night, off and on, rolling and stretching and trying to convince it go back in.I knew once I got upright it would settle in but I wanted to sleep:)
Of well, the body had other plans.

I have to sleep on the other side of the bed for awhile and let that arm stretch out to the side, instead of keeping it curled up. I know that's what made it tweak. Great stuff, getting hurt sleeping again: my definition of when you are old.

I am old but not done.:) Sisu baby, Sisu.

I was thinking about subbing out this half snatch( it's proper name) on Wednesdays for Max Vo2 as I wrote about last time but thought doing some light snatches might help 'set' my shoulder today so that's what I started out with.

I've learned not to freak out when my body moves around as I've shown myself, over and over, that I can unfuck myself, IF I have the time, AND that moving normally, or trying to, really helps put re set the body by pushing reboot.

But I wasn't prepared for how much I was going to like this move.
It's called the Half Snatch, properly, but I think of it as the Health Snatch as it is FAR easier on my body in total that the ballistic HS snatch.

One of the best things about the GS snatch is that it revolves around saving the grip, which means it revolves around lessening downward forces on the descent. The HS snatch doesn't and for that reason it is a seriously powerful movement and tool. BUT if I don't do things just right things can go wonky for me fast and I'm tired of that.

This movement solves the problem. The ascent part of the snatch is the same, powerful and accelerative. But the descent keeps the bell in over the base much easier into a basic rack position and from there it's easier to power up another snatch with minimal forces on the back or the grip.

PLUS it is a mini press negative and that should help make up for the fact I am only doing singles now on my regular press day.  This was great!

Heath Snatch
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
18 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5 x 2
24 kg x 5/5 x 8

wow this was sweet.two things: one, I felt like I could keep going into higher reps very easily. Two I could definitely go heavier even though I won't :)
Oh, and as usual, the overhead position helped re set the shoulder. thank G-d!

Two Hand swing
28 kg x 10
32 kg x 10
40 kg x 10
52 kg x 10 x 2

these went GREAT as well and the shoulder felt fine. So weird.

CB Shield Casts
20  10/10
25 lbs x 10/10 x 3

these felt good but wanted to take it relatively easy.

Pushups to single bar
3 x 7

just to see how the shoulders respond tomorrow. the reps were easy.

datsit.
Sisu/

Lots of stretching to do today.




Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Snatch Vo2, 32 sets



Man, I love having done this workout but HATE having to do it. Oh yea, and DOING it. sucks too. LOL. It's actually not that bad but it's just not my cup of tea.

Did a ton of crawling yesterday and came through with NO issues save a slightly touchy left adductor that said hello in the middle of the snatch set(s) but no big deal.The crawling felt great and was very easy but I still have to be very careful not to overdo.

The KStar/Diane Fu Shoulder mob worked better than I could have ever expected and the constant ache in my right shoulder was completely GONE all day today. It's unbelievable how much more energy is immediately available when one doesn't have to deal with managing pain. Crazy.

It's almost impossible to imagine not having to manage SOME pain everyday; it's been that way for so many years. But I can see the end, actually. Haven't been so close to square, plumb and neutral since I was 17 and before my first injury.

SISU baby SISU. Never give up :)

Snatch Vo2
16 kg 
15:15
32 sets of 7
224 reps
8064 lbs

not too bad at all . cooler today so we didn't sweat our asses off  and that helps. Next week up to 36 or 40 and then onto the 20kg and some sets of 10/10. Not going to do Max indefinitely, that's for sure. Hate it too much:))

A cycle of Max, then some 20 kg 10's then the 24 kg for 5-7 and some volume and repeat the micro cycle. Sounds like a plan.

Sled Drag
 5 laps of 200 feet.

these felt great. bumped the weight up 5lbs as well.

Triceps pushdowns with band
5 sets of 20 reps for fun

datsit.
Sisu/




Monday, May 20, 2013

KB Stacked Press, 30 kg Pr

Right shoulder was wonky all weekend although the cupping did help. But it wasn't until I got  a full overhead stretchout hanging on the chin bar in all three grip variations did it settle down. Doing it again this morning  plus adding in this first rib mob from KStarput the icing on the cake and it felt better in the AM than it has in quite awhile.


When the shoulder is not in the right place it 'aches'. Not a 'pain' per se, just a dull ache and messed up movement. This set the first rib and then taking the Supernova to the wrist flexors and getting the elbow to sit right made it all betta'.

When you have tight muscles and loose joints shit moves around all the time and it's a pain getting the tensions right. Especially if you want to do something more than change the channel on the TV:)

Press day today and while I thought originally about just doing 24 kg for LOTS of single I decided to try stacked presses again. last time I did them my forearms didn't like the grip and I haven't played with them in over a year. Today went well

Stacked press
1 10 kg 1 8kg ( 18 kg) x 5/5

2 20 kg x 3/3 ( 20 kg)
1 10 kg 14 kg ( 24kg ) 2/2
2 14 kg x 1/1 PR!

2 16kg  x 1/1 L and R Miss! ack!
1 14+ 1 16 kg x 1/1 ( 30 kg ) x miss
1 14 kg + 1 16 kg( 30 kg) x 1/1 PR!!! 

1 10 kg  + 1 14 ( 24 kg ) x 5/5

whew! glad I went back and tried again, even then I missed the second attempt on the right arm. But I knew it was technical miss and went right back to it. I can get the double 16's next for sure. Most of the miss was just lack of confidence and familiarity with the movement. I was just "feeling" it out, not really going for it.

Still very happy with the day.Shoulder felt fine :)) so strange how fast things come and go these days.

Two Kb swings
2 16 kg x 10 x 8 sets

these felt great! so light now and the groove was fast and powerful.

Belt squats
40 kg x 25 x 4 sets

these were great and I was barely out of breath. Love these , they have been so consistent for me, and my knee.

datsit.
Sisu/




Saturday, May 18, 2013

Big 52 kg day at Stones



Joe has been on my WSB style press program for about 8 weeks now and he was ready for his first attempt at his goal weight, a 52 kg KB Military press! He has killed all this max effort special exercises, his speed work is going great and his strength is up. Time to peak!

He pressed the Beast with both arms for the first time a few weeks ago, a pr, and had even bought a specially made 52 kg bell just for the attempt.( you can get one here for only $75 if you are so inclined) from Hammertone Bells. The thing is a monster as you can see from the photo, and the handle is THICK! 5.68 inches!

And the bell is taller than the Beast but the top of the bell is LOWER which gives it a much lower center of gravity than the DD 48 kg Joe was actually pressing from a deficit position :)) If we had taped weight to the bottom of the DD bell I believe he would have made the press easily.

He just missed it . Badly on his first attempt at it and very well on his second attempt.Missing weights well, like professional ,as Pavel woud say, is critical. One gets maximally strong using maximal weights which necessitates knowing how to miss strongly ;without hurting yourself in the process, squirreling around under the weight or using weird body english just to finish the lift.
Anything else is just panic. Not the time to panic.



It was a weird day as Joe had to just jet in, try the lift and leave, he had other business so it wasn't a 'normal' day but he did great.

I had a weird day as well. My right shoulder was moving around all day yesterday and most of the night. Didn't really get it set before the workout even though I got a solid stretch/mobility session in first.

The biceps felt tight as well so I went slowly on the warmups. Didn't really have a goal weight after last weeks Beast work; something heavy but not too heavy.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5 x 2 ( this is where I first felt the right elbow/biceps. Just didn't set up well I think but it made me sit up and pay attention)
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5
36 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 5/5 x 2
32 kg x 10/10 x 3 sets

this worked out great! started all the sets above 24 kg with the left arm and the right felt better every set. Left hand grip wasn't great again at start. but got better. I'm used to starting heavy one arm work with my right side and this was definitely different.

Two hand swing
32 kg x 10
36 kg x 10
40 kg x 10
48 kg x 10

52 kg x 10 x 2 !!! Yes!



these felt great! As nasty as this bell looks for single arm work it actually is great for two hand. The handle is wider so both hands fit in easily, the thicker handle actually made for a better grip and the lower center of gravity made it feel lighter in the swing than the 48 ! Fun.:)

Two Hand CB Arm Cast
20 x 10/10
25 x 10/10
35 x 10/10
45 x 8/8 !!!

Nice! Haven't handled the 45 lber in months. Sweet!

Snatch Holds
14 kg x 30 sec
16 kg x 30 sec x 2

these felt surprisingly great! Even on the right arm. Weird . Could it have been my new toys?


My super cool Kelley Starrett designed mobilty toys in the mail yesterday from Rogue and just flat out love them.The Ball AKA Super Nova is just incredible for almost every part; the thing is dense and heavy and stays put. The nubs on the surface just grab the shear the skin/fascia just incredibly well and adheres to the skin without irritating it.
Glutes, calves hammies, hip flexors psoas are easy to get. Even the traps, scalenes and first rib areas are easy to get into with this. same for right under the armpit and the lats, teres and external rotators.

It's not comfy but you can also get it between the spine and the scapula and get some serious movement in there.

ALSO great for releasing the forearm and wrist flexors as you roll them across the top of the ball while it's one the dinner table( as mine is now :)
This thing is amazing. Right up there with as good an advancement in myofascial self release as the rumble roller was.

The Gemini is pretty cool too obviously not as overall useful but I think it's going to be magic for the T spine in a way I can't even comprehend yet. I haven't spent much time opening that area but now I think my overhead restrictions have more to do with that than the lats or pec minor. I just spent a few minutes with it horizontally and vertically between the spine and the scap and my snatch holds today felt crazy different!

Excellent.Also, Joe brought over his cupping kit and I got some serious work on all the nasty tight bits.I bought my own set today and this is going to be a very interesting experiment. It creates some nasty bruises but really gets some serious blood flow to the area and it seems to feel and move better right away!

datsit!
Sisu/



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Snatch VO2 40 sets of 7



This wasn't so bad as I expected, which is usually the case. Energy was good throughout the morning and rolled right into the workout.

I loathe these met con workouts though; they are always hard no matter how good I get at them, and when I'm out of shape for them, as I am now, they just plain suck. Good thing i have the sense to not extend this over 20 minutes and 40 sets. I used to want to go to 80 sets and that's just nuts. Protocol be damned, 20 minutes is more than enough

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15:15
40 sets
280 reps
10,080 lbs :)

these went ok. for some reason I always take my shirt off to do this workout, pretty much the only time. I can't stand to have it on when I'm sweating like this and never have. If you look at my oldest videos of this protocol I have my shirt off, even in the winter,lol.

Forgot I had the kinesiotape on. Didn't plan on doing video as I started this alone( Glenn showed up midway through, missed signals there) and forgot about it. Taping the collarbone has made a big difference in the right side which has been acting up.

I know the lockouts are ugly. I'm working on it but the point of this training is moving as fast as possible and getting my HR up as much as possible. Still need to get the left side back further but again, I'm not worried.

Sled Drags
200 ft x 5 laps = 1000ft


these were easier today as well and really leaned into the last lap moving as fast as I have in a long time. that felt great! Been forever since I could run at all :(

Bodyblade laterals 3 x 10/10

Tricep extensions / bands 3 x 20  these didn't affect the shoulder as they did. Nice.

datsit.
Sisu/



Monday, May 13, 2013

32 kg Press, both arms!



It's been quite awhile since I could press strongly with my left arm without something screwing up but it seems to be behaving for now.Almost scared to say it, lest I jinx it, but I haven't 'clunked' on my left side in the rack position OR the press for a awhile now, although it seems I am always 'waiting' for it when I clean and press.

Last weeks six singles with the 28 gave me some confidence though and the heavy one arm , two arm and two hand swings have gotten me stronger it seems. The 28 just didn't feel that heavy , nor did the 32 kg today, when I racked it to press it.

Not happy with the technique, for sure. I did 3 sets of singles and the first set was the worst, with the arm spinning out way too early, BUT , no clunking and it was still strong. My press groove is certainly rusty too and I have more than a few options of how to press so it's a little confused as well ( me too :) .The second set was better and the third set, the one I video'd was the strongest although it still externally rotated too much.

But no pain and it motored up well so I'll take it :)

Clean and Press
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 1/1
28 kg x 1/1
32 kg  x 1/1 x 3 sets
28 kg x 1/1 x 3 sets

kept feeling stronger each set but didn't want to push it any further but needed more groove practice so I went back to the 28. Wow, that moved great and the groove was much improved. I think that as my shoulder stays stable and the groove gets patterned better it will be a much nicer press. It was loose technique too, a bit of a heave but hey, right now I don't care at all.

Two KB swings
2 16's x 10 x 2
2 20's x 10 x 2
2 24's x 8 x 2
2 28's x 6 x 2

This was another surprise.I just felt strong and was ready to pick it up and run with today.Grace doesn't shine very often and one needs to be ready when it does. I SO enjoy focusing on strength rather than endurance I can't tell you. It makes it so much easier to focus in when the weight is heavy than when I am facing tens or hundreds of reps. Just my nature but I am glad I get to play like this again. SO grateful !

Belt squats
40 kg x 20
         x 25
         x 30
         x 25

these were great as usual. Even better as I can now hold a squat bar on my shoulders again after 5+ years of not being able to! That's just craziness! Played around with this morning at work after discovering I could do it with Nick yesterday during his squats. What do you know? If you don't quit great things happen.

Perhaps I can barbell squat a bit again too. But this time I will use a high bar rack, olympic lifting shoes and squat the way I discovered at the end, when it was too late to help me. Maybe a little bit now?

Handstands against wall

three sets and MAN these sucked. Haven't done any HS in months and months and tight would be a very complimentary way to describe how these felt. Have to work them back into the program again.


solid day and I am enjoying every degree of the heat and the sweat. So happy not to be frozen anymore.

datsit.
Sisu
/


Saturday, May 11, 2013

One Arm Beast Swings



Well this was a surprise! A very nice one at that. Pretty stressful day yesterday and I went into the workout not expecting much. But certainly open to the possibilities of swinging the Beast,either this week or next. I would see how I felt, as always.

And the warmups didn't feel that good,lol. So I planned on a 5-10 rep ladder with the 36 kg , the next logical progression after last weeks 32 kg work. But each set got better and after I did this set of 8/8 with the 36 I decided to give the Beast a go.



Very very happy with the workout over all, that's for sure. Haven't felt this strong in eons. especially at 157 lbs :) The most surprising part was how solid my grip was. I remember the first time I swung the 36 kg one arm a few months ago and it was my left hand grip that was the weakest link! No problem at all today on the Beast or any of the other bells. Love having my grip strength back!


One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5

36 kg x 5/5
         x 6/6
         x 7/7
         x 8/8
40 kg x 5/5

48 kg x 5/5 All time PR!!!!
36 kg x 10/10 

Two Hand Swings
36 kg x 8
40 kg x 8
48 kg x 8 x  2 rounds

Wow these weights felt so light when I got to use both hands ,lol. Very good bell speed on all reps as  well and that's always a good size of power,

Two Hand Clubbell Capt America Casts
20 x 16
25 x 16 x 2
36 x 12

wow, not much volume but I was cooked. Joe and Nick were snatching the 36 and 40 kg bells and everybody was working hard, for low heavy reps. Nice! Nick even snatched the Beast with his right hand and had a awesome bailout on his left!

Datsit
Sisu/



like the Beast, a big chunk of massiveness :)

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Snatch Vo2 35 sets of 7

A weird day today, like the Moon was in Uranus :) Nothing felt 'right'. Nothing really bad but just 'off' a bit. Oh well, if I waited until I felt great to train I would never train:) I got the news I was solo today this morning as well and Max Vo2 was on the menu. Lovely. Hate this workout and doing it alone is JUST that much more fun.

But it is also character building and I know that. Time to saddle and focus harder.You HAVE to be able to train alone or else it's never really YOURS. You're dependent on someone else to help you through the workout and that never lasts.The extra help from a good training partner is great, and it's amazing what more one can get out of oneself with a great training partner but the bottom, bottom line is you have to train when it's scheduled and that's that. No matter what.

Especially if you don't want to :) Do something.

 It's so nice now that's it's finally warm again and my joints are definitely defrosting . I pledge to NEVER bitch about the heat, no matter what.Being cold is SO much harder on me it's not even close
I don't mind the heat nor sweating; it's just sweat, but I do need some wrist bands or the hardest part of the workout won't be the sets and reps but not losing my grip in my own water.

Snatch Vo 2
16 kg
15:15
35 sets of 7
245 reps
8820 lbs

I hate doing this but I love having done it :) Nothing works me harder than this and going fast on something feels so good.


Not bad for a 56 year old guy if I say so myself.

The heavier swings are definitely making this feels as light as it should

Sled drag
60 lbs x 300 ft x 3 laps
          x 200 ft x 1 lap
1100 ft .
these were extra special fun after snatch vo2:) Not much rest in between sets as without Glenn there to pace it I couldn't tell. It was like a continuation of the snatch workout, breathing( or not breathing) wise.

Bodyblade laterals
4 x 10/10
need to take these more seriously again for supraspinitus work.

Band rear delts
3 x 20

3 Direction arm circles
2 rounds


shoulders are cooked!

datsit.
Sisu/

Karen and Mike Rossler's AWESOME logo for their company SisuStrength .

Monday, May 06, 2013

28 kg KB press, cleans, squats



Pretty damn good day. Got a bunch of good presses in, didn't hurt myself and actually played with some decent weight as well. I do have to admit there is nothing like saddling up to a weight that challenges you to focus that, well, COMMANDS that you concentrate. I love THAT flow state, that Zen state where nothing else exists but you and what you are going to do. Everything else ceases to exist and you are pure intent.

LOVE THAT.

I've had to pull the plug on that for SO many years with my injuries and still have to be SUPER careful with exercise selection, load, etc, but at least I can play A LITTLE these days. That used to be my life; a PR squat, or bench or special exercise. Something I had never done before but was damn well going to do now :))

But that is fleeting and - painful-. SO now I have to be satisfied with this and that's no problem at all. Believe me I am grateful.

But this was fun, as was Saturday and getting to play with the big boy's weights.The Men's weights.

one arm swing warmup : 16 kg x 5/5/ x 2

Clean and Press
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 2/2
24 kg x 1/1

28 kg x 1/1 x 6 sets
No clunking. Still hard to believe but I could push with my left side again. I was contemplating going up to the 32 but realized I needed to be able to do at least 6 singles easily before doing that. I did it and they all moved very fast.

They weren't perfectly strict ( i.e NO torso shove or move to initiate) but I don't care anymore. It's way safer on my shoulder and makes it a much more full body lift.

One arm cleans
28 kg x 3/3
32 kg x 3/3 x 3

this was fun! Again so nice to play with a big bell again.no pain, no problems, pretty damn easy.good solid hold in the rack between reps too and extra long at the last rep.

Belt squat
36 kg  25 x 5 sets

nice a pr! 5 sets instead of 4 . 125 reps . love these

3 directional arm circles: a new thing for shoulder mobility. taught to me by my client David Yawger D.C. Very cool. I need to add mobility work into my static shoulder stretching work. the time is come. it's past time. The static stuff has stalled and this feels great>

It's nothing more than progressively larger arm circles ( arms starting at 25 deg off midline) with the hands/arms first in neutral ( thumbs up) prontated ( palms down) and internally rotated ( thumbs down) in both directions. this was VERY tough the first time I did it and takes about a minute fifteen seconds to complete a set. I did three today and its' getting easier.

I've been greasing the groove with these as well throughout the day for the last few days and I like it.

datsit.
Sisu/



Saturday, May 04, 2013

Swing day, the new schedule starts. 32 kg one arm swing and Beast Power swings.



First day of the new schedule and it went well, despite my left SI joint waking me up at 1 am saying it wanted to say 'hi!" for no damn good reason. Well, there was a reason (there's always a damn reason) getting a bit fancy with my technique in the max Vo2 session and a bit too much turning patterns yesterday doing primal move.

Side out turns in both directions from crawl and half turn to crab position usually ends up with my SI and lumbars feeling weird and yesterday was no exception. Oh well. Got up early and got on the floor and stretched it all out. Felt solid going into the workout.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5

32 kg x 5/5
         x 6/6
         x 7/7
         x 8/8
         x 9/9
         x 10/10
         x 5/5/5/5
110 reps
7,700 lbs

these went well and I felt bell speed was fine. Easily the most and best I've done one arm swings of late.

Power swings


32 kg x 5
40 kg x 5
48 kg x 5 x 5 sets

this is the most sets I've done with the Beast in ballistic or Power swings and it was strong! Very happy with form and workload. Now just better in each. More hike on the backswing and more height on the swing itself.

Reverse grip pushups to single bar
4 sets of 10


Lol this brings back memories! I used  the reverse grip bench in powerlifting training and competition in the early 1990's as it was very strong for me AND was far easier on my shoulder. BUT it was very dangerous as if you pushed the bar back towards your face at ALL( not just straight up, as you should) you could have that bar on your throat or face in a millisecond!

Add in the craziness of the bench shirt and it was just too dangerous.

But it was immediately easy to do and boy did I feel my triceps from the get! Just what I wanted too and not too much on the front delts and pecs, which I didn't want. Couldn't quite reach the bar but it will get there.fun variation

Capt America Arm casts
20 x 15

25 x 15 x 3 sets

Love this variation the best. switch top hand each set. This is the best CB move for me.

This new saturday is going to be great! I love being able to throw around some heavy shit again :)

 datsit.
Sisu/



you gotta have the stones if you want to be strong :)

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Snatch Vo2 30 sets



Well, haven't done this workout in awhile and it wasn't that bad at all. Both Glenn and I were thinking that because we haven't done much high rep work in the last few months this would kill us but it didn't. In fact we stopped at 30 sets but could have done more. It is good to start slowly back into something new; especially when it's tweaked you in the past.

I did this workout, wave cycles once a week for three years and it never failed to be very hard and very do able at the same time. The pace is just so relentless but the weight is light and the main obstacle is the mind. Keeping your focus on going fast even while you can't breathe.

But this is my kind of met con, my kind of cardio; lots of short work sets, done fast , with a little rest.

Got a great stretchout this morning again and that helped. Actually felt more square than I have in days/ weeks. I was surprised how good my form felt too, and I felt free to play around with some GS type variations that seem to come naturally to me. All the heavy swings though made the 16 feel as light as it is and made throwing it around that much easier.

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15: 15
 30 sets of 7
210 reps
6300 lbs
15 minutes :)

the video above is from a few years back when I accomplished my goal of 50,000 snatches  done in little over a year. It was a "contest" that many entered and almost none accomplished. I had some great fun "racing" Rob Obrien to the goal but he was way stronger than me and crushed by me as he got serious with multiple snatch workouts and using heavier weights ( for more points).

It was all I could do to do my once weekly workout.

One arm KB row
24 kg x 8/8

28 kg x8/8 x 3 sets

Sled Drag
60 lbs x 300 ft work sets x  3
900 feet.

this was good. just 50 feet more work per lap but it definitely added up! especially after the snatches, the rows felt light. it feels so good to feel a little bit 'real/ strong again:)

datis
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...