Sunday Ruck, 37 lbs/ Pr

What a difference 4 pounds makes! I upped the ruck weight by this measly amount and instantly felt the difference on the way to the track .lol. All in the legs and hips, which was good but it was a slow ten laps to be sure.

No worries it got done and I had actually planned on nine laps up until the ninth laps when I actually started to feel good and went for the tenth. Started slow, 8:30 per lap and it pretty much stayed there til the last two which went for about 8:15.

This was strength training, that's for sure.
Did my squat stretches for 30 seconds after each lap and the extra weight made a difference there too :)
Had my knee flexion tested cold Friday morning and I hit an easy 133, these squats were closer to 140 than 130. Definitely getting there.
Double floor presses tomorrow. That should be fun. Back is normal and shoulders are feeling good as well,keeping up the doorknob lat stretch every chance I get. Grease the groove can be used for more than just chins and presses :)

datsit
neverquit

Double 24 kg swings, heavy two hand swings, crawl, tri's

Going to switch  Saturdays to two bell swings as the main movement for the next month or so. I think the emphasis on super heavy one arm swings has put my abdominal  region a bit out of balance, muscularly, and  the external obliques are over developing relative to the rectus abdominus.The linea alba area is separating a bit and I've developed what called a diastasis recti. Seems to be the purview of post pregnancy but I seemed to have caught it do .Time for some more ab centric swinging as well as some actual rectus abdominus work.

Also the emphasis on back extensions every day over the ball might have lead to this with the constant stretching. It's not a dangerous condition at all but it's definitely out of balance. My training partner developed the same thing almost at the same time and we do pretty much the exact workouts.

It's either that or the lats themselves are pulling too hard and I've developed a stretching routine that is addressing that as well. Either way I did almost nothing but one arms for ten years but this has occurred only after going into the uber heavy bells.My PT at work says the overdevelopment of the obliques and lats can create this.

We'll see.

Two bell swing
2 16's x 10 x 2
2 20's  x 5
2 24's x 10 x 10
100 reps
10,600 lbs ( the magic workload it seems )

Two hand swings
32 kg x 10
36 kg x 10
40 kg x 10
44 kg x 10
48 kg x 10
40 kg x 10
36 kg x 10
32 kg x 10

that was great and I had thought about ten sets but that was plenty for today

Leopard Crawls
4 laps of 60 feet

stronger today here

Ring extensions / rear delts with band
4 x 10  ss 4 x 12 ( last two sets with red bands)

crunches : 3 sets finding the right positions. If I stretch back too far the diastasis pops up and I don't want that do it's a very small movement. will play with leg raises as well

ok datsit. Heavy ruck tomorrow. Pack weight is going up

neverquit

Clean and squats, goblets,pushups,walking lunges,shoulder sled,grippers

The back is still not right. Woke up antalgic but it opened up pretty quickly as I started walking around. I just can only tolerate so much flexion and then things can go back to shit pretty fast. I have to remember that I guess and this was the reminder, along with the same thing in Italy.

My lats and not my abs were  the culprit this time and I discovered that stretching them out with the arm at horizontal or just above ( holding onto doorknob, etc) was better , faster and easier than overhead. Got right into the QL which got locked up bigtime with the shield casts. Again, a nice reminder how thin a line I really walk. It's fine as long as I can still walk.

I knew this would unwind it was just a pain in the ass when I am ready to really get back going again.

Snatches were out today but I thought that perhaps single bell clean and squat would work and it did! Much better than expected and much tougher than expected as well.Even with just the 20kg! I can imagine how tough it will be with the 32 kg but I can imagine it!

Always a shock to see my depth on film, because as I do it, looking in the mirror, it seems much deeper ,lol But it felt great though and I could actually feel a "bottom' position in my squat and an actual rebound. I'll take it. Like the single bell a lot too and the singles are much better on my back as well.

Clean and squat
16 kg x 5/5  x 2
20 kg x 5/5 x 5

Goblet squat
20 kg x 5
24 kg x 5
28 kg x 5
32 kg x 5 pr!

these were great! didn't want to chance doing 10 sets of a new movement on an already wonky back so I added in the goblets as a finish. It's much harder to work on depth on 5 rep sets than on doubles or triples. More muscle work less technique emphasis.

Pushups
4 sets of 10 supersetted with band rear delts  4 sets of 10 ( also did 3 sets of 20 each arm this morning in the morning wakeup workout/ stretchout

Walking lunges
3 laps of 15 sets each way. These were tough!

Shoulder sled
95 lb x 250 ft x 3 laps

COC Gripper
trainer to 3 singles
#1 x 3 single attempts about 3/4 and a little
# 1.5 a bit more than 5/8 good effort

taken to using these again at the end of the workouts for just a few reps. Done it three times the first time I remember to log it :) Grip is SO much stronger since all the heavy one arm swings.

I used to be able to get the # 2 to about 7/8 closed. That's a way off but plenty of time. It definitely is a full body deal, that's for sure.
done!  back felt MUCH better at the end of the workout then at the beginning. should be almost 100% by Sat.

 datsit.
Neverquit.

KB Floor Press, belt squats, hip sled

Well, I didn't think it would be the one arm shield casts that would get me but they did. Not having the proper shoulder mobility to do these well, especially after such a long layoff, using momentum to grind through the bad ROM ended up in my back.

Nothing scary but enough of a pain in the ass to disrupt my day and today's workout as well

Decided to try one arm kb floor press in an effort to 1) stay out of my back and 2) find a press movement I can tolerate beside pushups. Interesting for me to see the video. On my left arm I have the bell too close to the body not like my normal floor press ( barbell) groove at all and my shoulder is not packed at all

On the right it's wider, and better but the right shoulder doesn't want to let the elbow touch and I can really feel it here. I think it MIGHT help to stretch out the tight front delt but who knows? I haven't done a horizontal press in eons and it felt might weird and mighty heavy, considering that I used to use high 300's on the barbell floor press regularly for years :)
Strength goes fast if you don't use it :)

If I can brush my teeth tomorrow and Wed I might have a new press to play with. I might use doubles as well if I can figure out the setup.
 KB Floor press
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 3/3 x 4
20 kg x 4/4, 5/5

definitely have to move the left arm wider.It's all front delt in this position/

Belt squats
36 kg x 10,12,14,16

these felt creaky at first and then strong,very strong. legs feel great back from the trip

Hip sled
95 x 250 x 4 laps

getting tired now

Ring Ext
3 x 8,7,6

now this is tightening up my back again. Time for ibuprofen and a nap :)

datsit but shield casts are out. Perhaps halo' but no momentum yet

Neverquit

Ruck on Sunday.

This was surprisingly, but in retrospect it shouldn't have been. I was stronger here than in any other training discipline all week but looking back I walked, with and without a pack more than I did anything else in Sweden.

The pack felt light on my legs and my back and stride and cadence were good from the start. Even though I woke feeling stiff and achey.
Cut back to nine laps though and the pack was one kilo light,14 instead of 15- just didn't add in the water bottle that I usually do. Wasn't sure how this was going to go and wanted to start slowly. Id my usual squats each lap but focused more this time on longer holds, at least 45 seconds and just waiting out the stretch reflex.

First three laps in 8:25, seventh one in 8:10 and the last two were around 8:00. Not bad at all. My back is tight now as I write this hours later but that just means it's time to stretch out the abs and glutes. :)

Back on track

datsit.
neverquit

24 kg one arm , two hand swings, clubbells and pushups

Back on track today after getting silly sore from that tiny workout on Wednesday. As is usually the case after I take any time off from real training, the first workout back makes my body feel like I've never trained a day in my life. But it doesn't last long.

Back to the grind with speed/ volume work with 24 kg. Felt great, actually. After the first few sets that is

30 minute roll, stretch, hang warmup
Rear delt work: band rear delts, band overhead scap pulls and band pull aparts.

the rear delt work is already paying off, shoulders feel much better


One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps
10,600 lbs

really worked on the overspeed eccentric loading but not TOO much, I know how sore this cam make me.

Two hand swings
24 kg  x 10 x 7 sets
70 reps

again focus was overspeed eccentrics and maxing out power. felt fast and solid.

One arm clubbell shield cast
10 lbs x 10 x 3
15 lbs x 8

want to be able to do these again but they felt awkward, tight and weak on the first two sets. Got back into  as I went but I love the clubs Plus I want to be able to swings my swords more easily
My new addition to the Guardians of Stones Gym
Leon next to his big brother Magnus.

Close grip pushups
4 sets of 10 ( on pbars feet on floor) these worked great

Ring extensions
3 sets of 10,8, 8

the pushups toasted the tri's. perfect

Back to the ruck tomorrow. can't wait but I don't expect it to be easy even after all the pack walking around airports and sweden last week :) Doesn't matter, it'll get done

 datsit
neverquit.

Swedish SFG 1 debrief and back to training.

It was a great cert. Got upgraded to business class from Chicago to London, which made sleeping very easy) and that seemed to be the case for the whole weekend. Got right on Swedish time schedule in part due to Stina Albaihn's hospitality in putting us up in her house and cooking for us as well the first day.We seemed to roll right onto normal day pattern. And since was light out until past 11 pm we had time to adjust.

The cert was small ( 10 people) but there were solidly prepared and ready to work .Had a great time working with, teaching and learning from Tommy Blom,SR SFG and got some great new tips for the snatch progression and new respect and understanding of the high pull into snatch technique.Great cures and details for the arm bar as well as another way to cue the torque in foot placement which makes it much easier to teach.

We had alternating beautiful perfect sunny weather and crazy ass thunder and lightening storms! But it cleared up for our two hour and four hour walking tour of Gotenburg on Thursday and Monday and it's which is now on my list of favorite European cities. Just beautiful and seeming large and small at the same time. Plus, eminently walking and that we did. The knee held up perfectly the whole time, not a moments lick of trouble. Nor the back which made things so much easier.

Had no trouble sleeping and I seemed to get plenty of it despite the strange schedule. Staying at Stina's for dinner a few nights made it much easier to recover too, than going out every night.

Here are some random pictures from the course.

this last picture is of me helping superman Daniel Natterdal get his press with the 48 kg after he missed it on his first attempt. I used the"Mind Spot' and he crushed it after a pretty bad miss on the first attempt.

All the mind spot is is telling the student I will help him if he needs it but in reality all I do is "touch" his arm and or the bell without helping at all. This alleviates all anxiety about what to do if he misses ( as he now knows he won't miss as I will help him if needed) so all his energy goes into making the weight and none into any fear about missing. It's amazing how well this works.

here's another shot of him doing the getup

and this is after he received his "death sentence" from his doctors following a bad back injury, which he healed using kbs for training, just another example of the kb strengthening the body from the inside out.

                                                                                                                                             Both Daniel and his equally strong and conditioned brother Henrik seemed as fresh on Sunday as they did on Friday, as if they hadn't spent 3 days throwing kbs around for 12 hours at a pop~

Plus he could squat like this all day long ( my goal ). Just two examples of the great cast of students we had this weekend.

I taught the swing and the press ( first presses I've done in a couple months) and they both went well. On Saturday I taught the squat and man it was fun. I'm getting deeper all the time and the squats are getting easier as well. I did some one arm kb squats in the rack position and they were much more interesting than before so they will have to go back in the mix too.

Looking at my pictures I realized I have lost too much upper body mass so it's time to do some hypertrophy training again.
I also realized that I have seemingly lost ALL my rear delt size and think this might be part of the reason for the shoulder pain. I have a big imbalance between the front and the rear heads of the delt and that's not good when most of the pain comes from the shoulder being pulled too far forward.

An interesting realization too that not doing presses or snatches or upper body work hasn't really helped the shoulder overhead ROM or decreased the pain that much.SO if it's doing to hurt anyway I might as well train them :)

today: No real training this last week; tons of walking ( literally miles and miles) and lots of demo but not much training but I'm pretty exhausted so a light easy today: warmup band rear delts and overhead band pulldowns for scapula. these seemed right and helped warm up the shoulders well

One arm swings 3 x 10/10 with 16 kg

one arm high pulls 3 x 7/7 x 3

one arm high pull into snatch ( 16 kg) 3 sets of 6/6

snatch ( max vo2 style- one arm at a time- untimed) 16 kg 10 sets of 7

using this new high/high pull into snatch felt great! even the lockout felt solid. did them in them mirror to play with lockout. MY overhead position was never as good as when I was doing max vo2 weekly and heavier snatch holds as well. Time to try these again.

close grip pushups on p bars supersetted with band pushdowns

goblet squats 16 kg x 5, 20 kg x 4 24 kg x 3 x 3

not in the mood for sled drags so I called it a day. Just something light to get back in the mix.

datsit. neverquit

32 kg Goblet squats, pushups,hip sled, ring triceps

 Took a relatively easy day today as tomorrow it's wheel's up to Gothenburg Sweden and and SFG level 1 cert with Tommy Blom and I don't want to tweak anything more than I need a little more stimulation in the training.

So I subbed out kb front squat with goblet squats and liked them so much I just might leave it this way! I can get way deeper with the goblets ( although I need to try the elbows inside the knee position with the double bells first) and it just feels great to do! The double fronts tend to make my back a lit grouchy on the next two days after with all the ab stimulation and I don't need that with all sitting, flying and walking I'm going to be doing.

And the goblets were strong and great fun.

Free squat warmup  3 sets of 12

Goblet squat
 16 kg x 5 x 2
20 kg  x 5
24 kg x 5
32 kg x 3 x 5 sets
24 kg x 5 x 5 sets

definitely a pr since I've never done this workout before but it was cool. Could have easily done the 32 for 5's but the idea was not to push it


Pbar pushups
one single rail.close grip feet on floor( like a decline)

Full reps felt fine on shoulder, like the close grip and the triceps emphasis
 4 sets of 5,6,7,8

Belt squats
32 kg x 12  x 4 sets

easy peazy.

Hip sled drag
95 lbs x 4 laps of 250 feet

VERY strong. Left it at four on purpose.

Ring triceps ext
4  x 12, 12, 10, 6

haha hoping for 4 sets of 12,triceps death had other plans. good work though and upper body is coming back too with some mild triceps and pushup work. It's good to have one natural bodypart :)

datsit. Off the grid til I come back but it should be great fun, haven't been to sweden since 1993 as an assistant team coach for Team USA powerlifting

neverquit.

Sunday ruck; fast finally.

Surprised me today; went faster than normal , earlier than normal. Interesting. Had a solid workout yesterday- was strong but it wasn't "easy" strong. I still had to dig but there was something there to give.
Today I had no idea but the walk to the park and the first lap weren't that sloggy, a good sign. started off with 8:25 laps but then it started to really loosen up and I found a solid groove- loose and fast and could really feel the load on the glutes, not the knees or back. Another great sign.

Lately it's been taking 8 or so laps to get under 8:15 on the lap but today the sixth lap broke and then seven, eight and nine were all at 8:00 or under! Best yet. Lap ten was the same but I could feel fatigue setting in and lap 11 was 8:10 or so. I thought I had bonked but pulled it out for the last lap with a 7:55. Sweet.

When I get back the ruck weight goes up to 17 kg close to the goal of 20 kg. Once I reach that it stays there with a few exceptions once in awhile

Still did squat stretches each lap as well as some shoulder mobility circles and lat stretches. Shoulders feel great now as I write this.

Interesting video by serious powerlifting AND Ultra marathon/triathloner Alex Viada. I agree completely with him and love the logical approach to training he takes. He completely groks the vital importance of recovery in this whole training equation :)



datsit. Legs tomorrow ( probably goblet squats as I prepare for my trip to Sweden and another SFG Level 1 course.

neverquit.

44 kg One arm / two hand swings, crawls and ring triceps

This was not easy. Slept well but still a bit under recovered from this last week. I caught up jet lag wise but then the workouts worked me hard :). No matter, I got them done and they were all a PR.
My old best was 102 reps mostly done in 5's. This was 120 reps in all 6's and much stronger and more powerful to boot.

30 min roll/stretchout.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5/ x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 3/3
32 kg x 3/3
44 kg x 6/6 x 10 sets
120 reps
116,640

not bad workload at all

Two hand swings
44 kg x 10 x 5 sets

very powerful as well. no problems at all

Crawls
4 laps of 60 feet.
by myself fast turnaround.

strong but hard as well

ring triceps ext
5 sets of 10

wanted to not have such a fall off so I stayed with 10's the entire time. Still, barely made the last two reps ,lol.

solid day. Long ruck tomorrow too. last one for a week. better bring it tomorrow :)

datsit
neverquit

Double 24 kg swings, walking lunges, pushups and shoulder sled

Everything was attached this morning and stayed that way to training time :) Legs still a bit flat from the weekend so I opted for medium heavy weights for double swings, the 24's.
Felt strong  from the git.Can't believe this is one of my favorite movements now.

Double swings
2 16s x 5
2 20s x 5
2 24s x 5,6,7,8,9,10 x 2 rounds

this felt very strong and easy.

Walking lunges
4 laps of 100 feet. These were good but tough, on grass not pavement. Had more than a few wobbles as I could really feel how tired the legs were.

Neg Only pushups
three sets of six

working good so far

Shoulder sled
95 lbs x 250 ft x 3 laps

ok legs cooked now. done

Ring Triceps extension
3 sets of 15, 12, 8

triceps death

datsit.
neverquit

28 kg double front squat, 24 kg single front squats, belt squat and hip sled

heavy day today and I don't mean just the weight size. It felt heavy,lol. Getting back on track has caught up to me a bit today and the double 28's were a real test. No tweaks though after the heavy swings and long ruck but I was tired and tight.
Especially my calves which ended up hurting me in my depth. But no excuses, just another day at the office and while the reps weren't my best, they were a pr and the job got done.

Double front squats
2 16's x 5 x 2
2 20's x 4
2 24's x 3
2 28's x 3 x 6 sets

Single bell front squats


these were interesting. I was definitely done with double so I thought I'd try this. They worked pretty well and when I was doing them I felt like I was much deeper than I was via the video above :)
Hard to watch depth in the mirror when I have to keep my head up to hold my arch.lol. But it'll get there. Looser calves will help
 20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5

definitely different too being able to do higher reps  on each side. Plus the side carrying the load obviously does more work. Interesting movement I likey.

Belt squats
36 kg x 12,14,16. 20

yeow! blow torch on the quads/ Decided not to stand on plates because I always feel a bit off in the knees the next day after I do that. this was plenty of ROM

Hip sled
95 lbs x 250 ft x 5 laps

five is the new four. Not bad at all

Negative only pushups
3 sets of 5

trying these again. no repercussions from Saturday's pushps so maybe if I do these without the overhead work the shoulders will behave and let me build some more upper body mass :)

Ring extensions
1 sets of 12
tri's surprisingly cooked :)

datsit.
neverquit.

Sunday Ruck. Hard work, work.

It was just work this morning, as I expected it would be. It doesn't take much to take the cream off the top of my fitness and missing a week of "training", world travel across many time zones and montezuma's revenge didn't help either.

But I knew it wouldn't matter, either. I would just ruck up and do my best. See who was home, as Glenn would say.
It wasn't that bad; the first five laps were around 8:30 seconds and the body just didn't want to go any faster but then on lap six things loosened up and I got to 8:15's then the last three laps were all around 8:00 or less!

Two hours, twelve laps.
Same 15 kg ruck weight. Won't bump that up til I get back from Sweden  July 1.

Glenn put on this Army Cadence song above yesterday during our sets and I thought it would be good to listen to as I walked my laps.

It was. But after a few times it started to distract trying to get the next one up on the phone so I ditched it.

But, it was in my head and that was even better

28 kg front squat tomorrow. Can't wait

datsit.
Neversquit

36 kg One arm and two hand swings, crawls, ring triceps

Had a visit from Mike Sousa SFG2 and all around strong guy at Stone Gym today. He elected to come and train with us on our "boring" but tough swing day. Glad to see we made him work a little :)
It's not a sexy workout but it ain't easy. It's deceiving at first, just a few swings with a ( semi) moderate weight. But when they just don't stop and your goal is to keep the power and acceleration up, the concept of having a high work capacity sinks right in. Mike kicked it's ass but it left a mark :)

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
36 kg x 7/7 x 10 sets
140 reps
11,060 lbs


Glenn wanted to play the US Army Cadence song and it seemed perfectly appropriate
" hard work, work; hard work work "

My sets felt great.Strong and fast. grip held easy. I decided to take this inbetween weight as I missed the 32 kg week last week and didn't want to use the 40. I do the 44 kg next week before I take off for Sweden SFG 1 course. Tactical periodization :)

36 kg Two hand swings
5 sets of 10

No problem either ,strong and fast.

Interestingly, even though we had a fifth man in the mix, we finished the workout 15 minutes earlier than usual. And we weren't even trying, at least I didn't think so. Well maybe trying to impress :)

Crawls
4 sets of 50, 60 70 80 feet

these felt great

Ring Triceps extensions
4 sets of 18, 15, 12, 10

these went well. here's a video from a few years ago when I just revisited them



Negative only pushups
2 sets of 8
REALLY need to be able to do these. Try again and see how shoulder feels. Since I'm not pressing or snatching I should be able to get away with them. It's much more important to me to be able to do pushups than press overhead. For sure

Datsit. Regular Ruck march tomorrow. Can't wait
Neverquit.

Italy SFG re cap and double 24 kg swings, front squats, walking lunges and shoulder sled

 What a week! I thought the trip to Italy would go strongly, and perhaps, in one way it did, but it was tough. A short bullet point recap.
Flight over was easy. Flights on time, body okay mind strong.
 On arrival at hotel NEW knee acts up for the first freakin' time in ten months!!! Had a weird pain at the insertion  of the anterior tib, right under the knee and it didn't want to hold my weight!! GREAT TIMING! Mind- not so good.
Got it untwisted- I think popliteus was locked tight as I felt so good I hadn't stretched out much and may have been more dehydrated than I thought. Thursday AM it was better but not perfect.
Thursday- lots of sitting around, talking business and no stretching. Knee ok back ok. Late dinner out and then NO SLEEP. Zero. :) AND
Back locks up. Obviously the no stretching part is seriously kicking my ass. I thought the bed was great, solid and firm but Friday at 5:30 am can barely move. More great :) Full stretchout. Back is slowly unlocking. Hydrating like crazy.
Friday  at cert. Taught the swing and the clean and led my Team ( my favorite part of all :) ) from 8-3 or so. Back was feeling better than on awakeing but all the loading was not helping. Plus no time to really stretch fully out. It was 100 degrees too. Did not help trying to stay hydrated.

Also, the no sleep was catching up quickly as  well. Knee was fine :)

Friday night. Come back from cert and pass out.Slept well except for the stomach cramps I started getting. :) Hello stomach flu :)

Saturday all day. SEVERE stomach flu and diarrhea. Hey, more fun! I got to teach and demonstrate the squat for the first time ever! It ROCKED

Luckily didn't have teach as much in front of group.  Long hot day. Not sure I was going to live BUT some of my best teaching and lecturing ever ? Go figure. My team was melding into one solid group of Instructor candidates.My favorite part- to watch the transformation.

Sunday- things began to ease and I finally caught up with hydration. Intense day with all the testing but less work in teaching. Starting to feel more normal. Got some Italian Imodium which didn't seem to help. 

Note to self for travel kit : add pepto bismol and imodium tablets as well as some high potency anti biotics. Be Prepared.

Training:

Double bell swings

2 16's x 5  x 2

2 20's x 5 

2 24's x 8,8,10, 12, 14, 16

decided to give Glenn some suffering support as he was doing high rep snatches and I started out with low rep swings. Felt VERY strong despite losing five pounds over the weekend 

Double front squats

2 16's x 5

2 24's x 5 x 5

this was as strong as could be. double 32's will be there no problem Surprised how strong I  feel

Walking lunges

four passes of 36 lunge steps. Getting tired now, VERY hot and sun is intense.

Shoulder sled drags

95 lbs x 3 laps of 250 feet. 

could have done four but that would have pushed it too much. need sleep and food.

Ring triceps extension

4 sets of 15, 13, 10 8

datsit.

neverquit.

now, just a few more weeks then off to Sweden!

                                                                                                                       

Front squat on Monday, 20 kg, 36 kg belt squats, hip sled

These were probably the best squats I have ever done. Definitely the most symmetrical and deepest. It was only 20 kg bells but for the first time, perhaps ever, felt like I had TWO legs under me when I was squatting.

And man, let me tell you after squatting on basically one leg for all these years, two is a LOT easier. And stronger. And more balanced, lol.

Had some big improvement in my supported static squat stretch yesterday during the walk. Yesterday was just a great hike day overall, in many ways and the squat depth improvement was a big part of it.
I stopped alternating stances each laps and just stayed with my optimal squat stance- which is on the medium side of medium wide and I just kinda "dropped" in another inch or so and it felt great. And it seems to carry over to todays squat.


As usual more free squatting than sitting on stability ball today. Knees felt good. A bit tired from the weekend but definitely better than normal- less stiff - more recovered.

Goblet squat
16 kg x 3 x 2
20 kg x 3 x 2

this is turning out to be a great warmup

Double front squat
2 16s x 5 x 2
2 20s x 5 x 10 sets
50 reps
4400 lbs work

that's not a half bad workload either

Belt squat ( on 10 kg plates)
36 kg x 10 x 4 sets
ALL touch floor,strong and deeper here too.

Hip sled
95 lbs x 250 ft x 5 sets
Five is the new four.

Ring tricep extensions
3 x 18, 13, 8 :)

tricep death. perfect.shoulders are excellent

datsit. Wheels up tomorrow and a week of beautiful Italy and kettlebell teaching and coaching. Can't wait.

neverquit.

Ruck on Sunday

Perhaps the strongest yet even though I had a bit too much vino last night and was a touch slow getting up :)
 And, as keeping with my nature I was slow getting started but finished fast.
First lap was 8:25.
Last lap was 7:55 :)
Each lap got faster as I warmed up and got looser.
Same pack weight, 15 kg and same number of laps : twelve.
Shoulders were sore when I woke up making me re think the crawls but loosened up very quickly. not the same as before when they didn't loosen up for days so they will probably stay in for now.
When I get back from Italy the pack weight goes up another 2.5 pounds to an even 35. Once I hit 40 lbs it will stay there for the duration.
Each lap had a 30-45 second supported squat stretch and they were the deepest I've gone yet. Stayed with one width this time and it really worked well.

datsit.
Neverquit

now that's a ruck :)

24 kg one arm swings, 52 kg two hand dead stop swings, crawls, triceps

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.

Goblets
20 kg x 3 sets of 2

just to open up the hips

12 lap ruck march tomorrow. should be great.

datsit.
Neverquit.

Double 28 kg swings, walking lunges, shoulder sled, triceps

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.

neverquit.

All Day Strong.

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

datsit. very very happy with this effort

neverquit.

Sunday Ruck. PR and new standard

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.

48 kg One arm swing Pr total, 52 and 68 kg two hand swings, triceps

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!

Double 24 kg swings, walking lunges, shoulder sled. 9 month Anniversary of TKR.

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!

datsit.
Never quit.

3 months to one year in.

22 kg front squat, 32 kg goblet squat sled

Very solid day today. squats were strong and pretty deep. A pr 32 kg goblet squat as well and it was easy.

2 kb front squat
 2 16s x 5
2 20s x 5
2 22s x 5 x 8 sets

these were much better than last week. Test with and without the OL shoe and the flat foot was deeper. sold

goblet squat


22 kg x 2
24 kg x 2
28 kg x 2
32 kg x 2 pr!

the best this has ever felt!

Belt squat
40 kg x 10, 12, 14

wow that burns. bell hits floor too early but it's harder in it's own way. quads feeling strong again

Hip sled
5 sets of 250 ft
95 lbs

back up to full weight. very strong as well. in good shape now.

datsit. double swings on wednesday

neverquit.

Ruckwalk Sunday pr weight

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.

datsit. leg day tomorrow. Can't wait

Neverquit.

40 kg One arm swings, 40 kg two hand swings, goblet squat

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 :)

neverquit.

Well that didn't work

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.

Clubbell swipes and rockets

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 :)

datsit
neverquit.

Squats, three ways

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. :)

datsit.
neverquit

Ten Year Blog Anniversary Finding my stride

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

Most excellent.

tomorrow; LOTS of KB Front squats

datsit
neverquit.

32 kg one arm swings, double 28kg swings, triceps

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.

datsit.
Neverquit.