"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."
Another solid day, just what I was hoping for for the second to last kb workout before my trip to Italy. Very interesting to come down to the 24 kg after last weeks 48 kg training. The result is just what I planned. very crisp, fast accelerative swings with the very low perceived exertion. That's what getting into shape feels like: more work than ever but feeling like you did nothing.
Want to really focus on the one arms so I bumped the sets up from 10-15 and got up to 300 reps. Not close to my pr of 600 but it's ok. I chose to increase sets instead of reps because I've found after 20 rep sets the power goes down and I don't want that. Rather do more sets
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets
24 kg x 10/10 x 15 sets
300 reps
15, 900 lbs
Two hand dead stop swings
32 kg x 5
40 kg x 5
48 kg x 5
52 kg x 5 x 2
tried the 68 kg bell again but it just doesn't work for two handers and it will be a very very long time before I attempt it with one arms so that's cool. If I didn't have anything other than the 48 kg that would be fine as well/ IN fact, I just might limit it to that.
Crawls
4 laps of 50, 60, 70 100 feet
first time crawling in a few months, we'll see how the shoulders react. I think they will be fine and that it was the pressing and snatching that caused the problems. that would be very nice as I love the crawl for many reasons.
Strong and easy today. glad it didn't fall off too much. a good sign
Ring triceps ext
4 x 15, 12, 11, 10
yea! all sets above 10 reps.
Another very solid day. First time really working with the 28's and it went better than I could have hoped. The video above was my tenth set and the speed and power, as well as the height of the bells was better than it felt when I was doing it.
This was not a light day for me but it moved very strongly. In fact I just felt strong all over. Had a full hour to stretch out as well and that always helps. Shoulder is feeling great; just concentrating on mobility, flexibility and ROM and they feel the best they have felt in the last year. Not banging out 200 snatches with the 24kg probably helps as well.
Ironically I haven't lost any upper body size, in fact, I seem a bit thicker than before. All the tension that heavy swings provide and the hyper irradiation effect really does work for this for me. Also amazing that double 16 kgs used to kick my ass before I discovered my own groove for this movement.
two kb swings
2 16's x 10 x 2
2 20's x 8
2 24's x 5
2 28's x 8 x 10 sets
100 reps
12,320 lbs
could have easily done more sets or done 10 reps per set but since this is the top of the cycle ( 20s, 24s, 28s) and the first time through I wanted to leave a little something on the table. Had I known the swing were as high as they were I would have done tens. Next time
Walking lunges ( on grass)
4 laps of 100 feet
these were awesome! about 18 sets per lap this time. the first two laps were smoking my quads until I realized I was more vertical than usual. Leaned in a little and really felt the glutes kick in and distribute the load better. Both versions are good and the quad burn was very nice :)
I just love being able to do these now, they are seriously tough but doable and seriously functional. Perhaps one day :
Shoulder sled pull
85 lbs x 250 ft x 4 sets
again. very strong. leaning into a semi crouch and 'fake' sprinting down the sidewalk felt great. up on my toes for most of the lap except the last 30 ft or so when the bear jumped on my back :)
Ring extensions
15, 13, 10, 6
wanted to keep all the reps above tens but tricep death kicked in . this move still is working and the triceps are making a comeback
moves to add in
Akward pose Utkasasana ( yoga) for knee mobility
this should be interesting. Tried to do it regularly when I did my time in Bikrams in 2008-9 but with the old knee it was always a loosing proposition. This could be ok now.Probably will go in the morning mobility sessions.
datsit. Almost time to go teach in Italy. Can't wait, this should be awesome! 75 candidate instructors all ready to really learn the SFG system. Love it.
I had had my fill of one rep absolute strength after 13 years of competitive powerlifting. It broke me. When I first read the Russian Kettlebell Challenge book and saw the DVD I knew that this is what I needed to get back my fitness; my health, my strength, my vigor.
I just felt it.
A soldiers "legs of iron and a back that never quit" was what I wanted. What I needed. And what I so didn't have at the time. I could barely stand up out of a chair. It was bad. And it was such a far place from where I used to be when I could run 100 miles a week no problem. Ride my ten speed up mountains and ride 3-400 miles a week while swimming ten miles that week as well.
My deadlift wasn't very big at the time but I was the most functional that I had been in almost all my life.
Strength is key but strength isn't just your one rep max.
Durability,resilience,stamina and toughness are just as important. No, they are more important. Because if you have these qualities you can develop your one rep max. If you are just one rep strong you might not make it off the couch to the refrigerator without getting out of breath. Not too functional in the real world.
So today. after I double front squatted 2 28 lg bells for 8 sets of 2 for the first time ever I realized it was after I had ruck marched for two hours yesterday and swung the beast for 120 reps the day before that.
And it was no problem. I was getting All Day Strong. As well as those legs of iron.
Definitely on the right path and I owe it all to the kettlebell and my orthopedic surgeon :) I want to be able to work hard, rest a bit , then work hard again. Then rinse and repeat again.
Especially as I get older. It ain't for sissies or weaklings indeed. But, in the immortal words of Mr America Don " the Ripper Savage" Ross, a friend of mine back in the day; "if I need to lift something that heavy I'll get a forklift".
I'll settle for medium heavy a lot of times.
Solid one hour of stretching. mobilization and soft tissue work.then:
Prying Goblet Squat
16 kg x 5 x 2
20 kg x 4
24 kg x 2
28 kg x 2 x 2
these were great. really warmed me up for the front squats
Double Front squats
2 16s x 5
2 20s x 5
2 24s x 3
2 28s x 2 x 8 sets PR!
These felt so good, the most upright and the least effort to hold the bells in the rack ever. Getting stronger in this position. the closer stance is definitely for me.
Belt squat
32 kg 12, 14, 16 , 20
ouch! was going to do an 18 rep set but I knew I wouldn't make 20 if I did. good choice
Hip sled
95 lbs x 250 ft x 4
done. all I had but the drive on the sled was solid. power all the way through.. better than usual
Strong walk today. Pack weight the same as last time, 32.5 lbs. Twelve laps in 2 hours and 5 minutes. 12 sets of squats held for 30-45 seconds at the end of each lap. This was not a problem. 5 minutes to and from the park. So this is the new standard, 6 laps per hour. Will maintain pack weight for another 3-4 walks then up it to 35 lbs.
Feet felt the best ever and legs very very solid. Coming along nicely.
Strong day and a solid pr but it was tough! I felt strong and the bell felt heavy at the same time! Decided to go for 6's as I thought I would be able to gather a bit more momentum but it was tough on the grip. My grip is as strong as it has been in a long long time but even just one more rep with the Beast pushed it hard.
I was able to transfer from left to right and did so for the first five sets then alternated starting with right arm and setting it down for the left arm. Worked fine. I will get back to transfer right to left soon, I can feel it. As my left shoulder is so much more stable it will work out and the weirdness is,is that the shoulder get wonky as I REACH FOR THE BELL! with no weight yet and moves around before I catch it. Definitely don't want to try to grab 108 falling pounds with my shoulder not in the right place :)
Also much better height and power on each rep.It's definitely good to have to handle this bell once a month. More time between sessions would not be good.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 6/6 x 10 sets
120 reps PR
12,720 lbs! nice
these warmup jumps are ideal to get to the beast.
Two hand swing
52 kg x 8 x 2
68 kg x 5 x 2
52 kg x 10 x 2
the handle on the 68 kg is not good for me and irritates the tendon on my left ring finger. It's just too narrow. I've never had that issue before and if I cinch up on it more it makes it worse. Not risking tendon or finger issues for it though.
the weight felt light though. and the 52 kg swings went great!
Plan is now to just use whatever weight I am using on one arm swings that day as I move to the two hand swing and adjust power and volume accordingly.
Ring triceps extension
20, 12, 10, 10
wow these crashed fast! great work though and still no issues with shoulder or clavicle.
sweet :)
datsit. 12 lap ruck walk tomorrow. that is the new goal 12 laps in two hours. Can't wait.
neverquit.
and a sincere thanks on Memorial day to those vets all throughout our history that made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe and free. Respect!
Solid day today despite being awake since 1 am with some back weirdness. Nothing that didn't get opened up once I got going but sitting too much on the weekend watching movies definitely had a negative effect. Especially when combined with heavy two hand rep swings with the 40 kg
Just another reminder to be on guard with my back and that I can never take pain free mobility for granted.
Mess up, disturb the body's balance too much and it can come back in a heartbeat! And I'm done with being in pain. Just done with it. No lift or record or workout is worth that again, that's for sure.Especially with as good as I'm feeling these days.
It's just very very clear to me how much bad posture can great pain and disfunction.
And today is the 9 month anniversary of my TKR :) What an amazing, wonderful gift this was to myself. I can't believe how blessed I feel to have this second chance to have a normal lower body again. Just amazing!
Stretched out the abs and deep hip rotators and my back opened up really quickly but that's the first time I've been awakened by my back in many moons. Don't like it at all :) but I can't spend hours with a posterior tilt and get away with it it seems.
Two kb swings
2 16's x 10 x 2
2 20's 10 x 2
2 24's x 10 x 10
100 reps
10,600 lbs
these felt easy and strong.
Walking lunges
15 lunges out, 15 lunges back x 4 laps
these went great! did them outside and on the grass in vibrams and I liked it. very solid knee to grass every rep. legs felt strong
Shoulder sled pull
85 lbs x 250 ft x 4 laps
again, in a sprint crouch and faux running. awesome work! I have to hold myself back which is great!
Just by 2.5 lbs but a pr is a pr. I know it's exactly 2.5 lbs because that's what the plate that I put in the pack weighed :) Makes things easier to be precise.
You wouldn't think 2.5 lbs would make a difference but it does. Legs and back were tired from yesterdays workout but mainly from sitting too much yesterday after training
Tracy is in Chicago doing a workshop so I watched movies all day and my back got too tight. I wasn't sitting on my stability ball either like normal, so I moved even less than I normally would and could feel it! Don't know how people sit in chairs for 10-12 hours a day every day. It would cripple me.
Started out slow and built to top speed at 9 laps as I did last week.
Total : 11 laps
two hours
32.5 lb pack
Tony Rosa, 55, of Crofton Crossfit did the GoRuck Challenge and earned his patch with a 12 hour serious gauntlet and a 40 lb pack!
That is one serious workload but Tony, retired Marine that he is rose to the occasion! Respect. It's going to be quite awhile before I could even think about that one but it's a great long term goal.
Very solid day. Shoulder cleared up well after Tracy's evil elbow unjacked the teres major and everything else was on line. Best ever work with 40 kgs. The bell felt light, the swings powerful and high enough. Feeling very strong
30 minute warmup
foam roll
100 ups minor
60 ups major ( pr)
OS rocking on knees, on toes
brettzells
up and down dog
frog squat stretch
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 6/6 x 11 sets
132 reps
11616 lbs
two hand swings
40 kg x 10
x 12
x 14
x 16
x 20
this was stimulating. Pr as well . never did over ten reps with this weight. Bell moved well with good power and speed
Goblet squat
20 kg
24 kg
28 kg x 1 x 2
did these for depth work. perfect and easy peasy.
Ring tricep extensions
4 sets of 20-10
love these now. definitely need the tricep work
datsit.need to add the crawling back in too, probably as warmup this time. Add some weight to the ruck tomorrow :)
The swipes I mean. Teres major locked up big time and refused to unlock all day, til just about now, even after two full hours of bodywork and stretching.
Needed Tracy's magic elbow into the teres to get it to unlock. Yikes, for that much subluxation I could have snatched AND pressed :)
Working on that area under my armpit just now showed me just how much grody tissue is really in there and how litttle I really get in and dig it out. No choice now, have too.
Re focusing on the legs for strength and endurance ( swings, squats, walks) and upper body has to be about mobility and good tissue quality.
Time to pay the piper.
Hey, I can walk without pain for as long as I want and squat almost like a real human, it's a fair trade.
Now at least I know for sure about clubbells for me.
It's been quite awhile since I trained the clubbell swipes. It's a strong move for me, definitely easier than the kb snatch.I've done 300 continuous reps with the 10's and 106 with the 15's but I thought it was tightening up my teres major awhile back and decided to choose the kb snatch in it's place.
Now I'm choosing the swipe, for now, instead of the snatch. I have to let go of heavy overhead work for awhile, perhaps forever, and work on overhead mobility and flexibility. We'll see how it goes but my shoulders already feel tons better in the last week.
It was just time. Past time.
And we'll see if the swipes work, if they don't also irritate the shoulder. If so, they go too. But after today's workout ( of course we will really see tomorrow) I think it will work.
am work
100 ups
50 running in place
10 ups
10 running in place
10 ups 10 in place
TKE purple ban 80 continuous left leg only reps/
nice! these feel great and I'm very happy with this workload
Lower body stretchout
I CAN GRAB MY LEFT LEG BY THE ANKLE DOING BRETTZELLS NOW!
Wow figured that out by accident but I've never even come close before. I was using the jumpstretch band and realized I was almost touching my ankle. then I did!
Overhead shoulder stick work on the rack. More on this later it is really helping as much as the rings are.
Most of day spent standing or squatting
CB swipes
2 10s x 10
x 12
x 14
x 16
x 18
x 20
2 15's as above with a 12- 20 rep ladder.
not bad but not easy. this is such a natural movement for me and I have very good leverage in it.
2 CB rockets
I wasn't able to do this one very well with my old knee but it's no problem with the new appliance :)
2 10's x 15 reps
2 15s x 15 x 4 sets
2 20's x 10 x 3 sets
Blow torch on the quads! sweet, just what I was looking for
Left leg only step ups
4 sets of 10 onto 13 inch box
I need more specific left leg work to increase left size without increasing right . this felt very good but will see.
shoulder sled
85 lbs x 200 ft x 4 laps
these were good but very tough. almost 100 degrees today. Summer is starting and heat conditioning has begun in earnest.It's been awhile though, last summers have been pretty mild.
didn't sleep well last night very tired. tonight will be good :)
This is going to be fun. Leg day. nothing but legs. I remember those days. It's all coming back to me.Before I couldn't I was leg obsessed. For many many years. From 1974 when i blew out my knee and they told me ( later) that the stronger my legs got the better my knee would fare. And it was true until I took up powerlifting and forgot how to really squat in lieu of deadlifting with the bar on my back.
But that's another story.
Endless running miles. Endless hills and sprints and mile upon mile on my race bike. Huge leg pumps doing high intensity bodybuilding. All balancing my body with it's natural upper size and toothpick legs ,lol.
Nothing made me feel more invincible than "legs that never quit." and then I couldn't even walk anymore and that sucked more than anything.
You're as young as your legs and once they go you're pretty much done.So getting another chance is pretty freaking amazing to me and I'm enjoying every second of it. Just have to not be greedy here.
Surprisingly my upper body is seemingly growing even as I do less upper body work. Must be all the leg work. I am always squatting during my work hours or I'm standing. I'm almost never sitting on the ball anymore and that's a big difference from just a few months ago.
What a gift.
KB front squat
2 16's x 5 x 2
2 20's x 5
2 24's x 5 x 5 ( medium stance- video)
2 20's x 5 x 4 ( close stance)
solo today so the pace was fast. amazing that this felt like absolutely no work at all. Compared to swings and snatches it wasn't but it used to be such an impossible goal. crazy.still lots of work to hold the damn bells and not move too fast and not get deep enough.
if I try to pause too much I tend to lose the bells off the front.
depth is getting better slowly and I actually think the closer stance that I did on my 20'kg set was deeper. I'll tape that next week and see
Belt squat
28 kg x 12
x 14
x 16
x 18
x 20
I usually do these tug of war style holding onto Glenn so I can stay very upright but the kb front squats take care of that now. I just want to really torch the quads and this did it very nicely.
that's a monster rep ladder for me and knee movement is very good. My hips could go deeper but I can see I'm getting a solid ROM from my knee during each rep. I'll take it
Hip sled
5 x 250 feet with 85 lbs
1250 feet PR
this was tough.Super hot out and I was toast to begin with but I pushed through. Love that strong leg feeling.missed it forever.
ring tricep extension
20, 15 ,10 8
actually had some energy to throw these in as well. Nice. still felt hard on the tri's easy on the shoulders
Shoulders are feeling great lately, ever since I decided to NOT snatch or press for awhile. I think my body relaxed in anticipation of not getting hit with a hammer :) It seems to work that way these days. I can create a physical result just from imagining an exercise or technique. positive or negative. That's how I know if an exercise is a keeper or not. Sometimes I ignore it but I know I always get the high sign from my body way in advance. I'm just stubborn sometimes. :)
What an apt day to celebrate my ten years of keeping this blog with my ritual Sunday Ruck walk. A solid and strong two hour walk with my 30lb rucksack. Ten years ago when I started this blog, on a lark, I couldn't walk two blocks without serious knee pain. I had been training with kettlebells at that time for a solid year,reluctantly giving up ALL powerlifting movements as it was obvious, even to me, that it was crazy to try to keep on finding a new way around the inevitable; that I was finished lifting heavy things.
And today, with a brand new knee and a new life, I seriously have hit my stride , both literally and figuratively. Today's walk took it's usual course; a very slow start and really loosening up at lap nine. Lap 11 was the fastest by almost 45 seconds.
The kb was really starting to rehab my back and I was slowly but surely able to move better and better all the time but it wasn't until almost a year later that I started blogging my actual workouts here.And, with the exception of a mental health break for 9 months in 2009, every single workout I have done in these last 9 years has been logged here.
I have kept training logs for almost as many years as I have been training. Not during the gymnastics years but definitely with the endurance training ,bodybuilding and powerlifting. It just didn't make sense to keep a paper log and a digital one, so in 2004 when most of my life was shifting to the computer I decided to go with just this online training log. And the rest is history, digital history.
I used to write more "article" like entries but it just got to be too tough to keep up, and the entries just became more pedestrian record keeping of my training, with the occasional insight into some breakthrough or frustration or training idea. So it goes and anyone interested in it has plenty of grist for the mill to look over.
As I don't ever plan on quitting training I also don't plan on not recording those workouts, as always for me primarily. If anyone learns something from my training journey so much the better but the key thing is for ME to learn from each and every workout as well as to have those sessions written down so I can observe, analyze and measure progress or the lack there of. And, of course, find the reason for what is happening. Same with the videos I take.It's very cool to be able to look at what I did any number of years ago and compare not only my training form but my physique and actually see if what I think is happening is actually happening :)
Today was solid if not a slow start:
Eleven Laps
Two full hours of walking
Eleven squat stretches for 45 seconds each ( still getting deeper)
Thirty pound pack
Very strong day.With two partners out it was just Nick and me so things went fast. No problem though and that's a good sign. Shoulder chilled out yesterday after beating the hell out of the teres major so the start was solid as well.
Warmed up easily and fast, another good sign.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
100 reps 7000 lbs
these were as solid as they've every been AND I could alternate start hands which I haven't been able to do for a few months. Right side shoulder felt fine. Nice.
Two Hand swings
2 20's x 10
2 24's x 8
2 28's x 8 x 3
x 10 x 2
Also the best these have ever been. I've done these before but not this strongly and not for 10's!
Ring Triceps extensions
5 sets of 20-10
these also felt great, worked the hell out of the long head of the triceps and my shoulders didn't say a word.
nice one.Two hour ruck tomorrow for the 10 year Anniversary of this blog!! Yup, May 11, 2004 I did my first post.
Ok definitely on the tired side now. Pushed it pretty hard these last four days and more loading than unloading time. Filled some time I thought I was going to have for stretching and mobilization in the AM with clients so I am behind on the full 'unglueing' of tissues. Can really tell; especially with all this uber hard leg work I've been doing. PLUS spending most of the morning squatting instead of sitting, and, today,demoing quite a bit of 100 ups, both minor and major
SO cool to be able to feel like I can run again but the legs are definitely tired now.
Got an early start too but it still was freakin' hard today.
Snatch
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 8/8 x 10 sets
160 reps
7040 lbs
never felt good overhead. I did have plenty of overhead stretch out time today so I can't blame that but getting my arm over my head loaded just isn't much fun anymore. Actually thinking of subbing out clubbell swipes next week to see how they would feel. They are definitely too much in addition to snatches but perhaps instead? I even put on my oly shoes and that actually made it feel better but not that much.
I'm just not sure the snatches are helping me much anymore.
Lunges
bw x 10/10
2 cbl shoulder park 10 lbs x 10/10 x 4 sets
these actually felt really good. stayed on one leg fore and aft and tried to do them in airborne lunge fashion. Knees are tired though
Shoulder sled drags
80 lbs x 250 ft x 4
1000 ft
these felt great!really leaned in and felt like I was running( no impact ) but they felt very powerful.
very tired at the end though time to eat
This was a good one. Felt strong all day with a full hour stretchout and plenty of bodyweight squats during work as my "chair" position. This is getting better all the time. Some on toes, some flatfooted. Some toes out and medium stance, some close stance and feet straight ahead.
The 24's didn't feel heavy at all today. Not in the clean or the rack or the squat. THAT has been a long time coming. Just a good day.
Double KB Front squats
2 16's x 5 x 2
2 20's x 3
2 24's x 3 x 10 sets
easy peasy. Wore the Oly shoe and it was a smart move. Felt very balanced and solid.Didn't shift at all and left leg felt as strong as right.
Belt squats ( on 20 kg plates- 1/2 deficit)
36 kg x 12 x 4 sets
these were a bit tougher after the front squats. Had to go on the plate to get the bigger bell to touch the floor. Did the first set with the oly shoe then went to vibrams. Just felt right to do so. Used tug of war style and it is really helping.
had delusions of grandeur about 15+ rep squat sets but no go. Yet. :)
Hip sled
95 lbs x 250 ft x 4 laps
was thinking five as it was very very strong, even after all that leg work but I let it stay at four. don't be greedy. tomorrow is the real test.
Make sure to get on the floor and the roller tonight and unglue things
Another solid 2 hours exactly today. Not strong but not hard. It just started slow and it's weird now that my start time the sun has already risen. I'm used to starting out in semi darkness. I prefer that. Maybe I have to get up earlier. Ah, no. :)
Eleven laps plus an extra 5 minute lengthening of the walk home and that got me right to two hours. The usual varying stance squats at the end of each lap. Hold were just about 30 seconds each as my legs were pretty tired,lol. Didn't want to push it.
Pack was same as before, thirty pounds. Legs felt much better around lap seven and eight, and I couldn't believe it could really take me that long to loosen up but it seemed to.
Feet achy at the end though.
Did NOT stretch out at all this morning, as an experiment and I think that had something to do with it. Rolling and stretching definitely act as a passive warmup for me.I need to unglue those tissues and restore the sliding surfaces if I want to train my legs at this level and every increasing volume.
The self myofascial release is as important,or more, than ever.
datsit. kb front squats tomorrow. shoulder is holding fine, which is excellent
Back to the start of the wave and this is the best this workout has ever felt. Pretty much reached the goal of doing more work than usual and feeling like I did nothing.The bell felt light, the speed of each rep faster than usual, same with recovery and power was great. This is just what I want this workout to be, fast, powerful and with power and endurance to spare.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps
10,600 lbs
fastest reps ever
Two kb swings
2 16's x 10
2 20's x 10
2 24's x 10 x 4 sets
easy peasy. best ever
Ring triceps extentions
4 sets of 15.
this might be a keeper. felt very good on the triceps and the shoulders didn't say a word. Continue to work the scar and the results seem very solid. big relief
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