getting ready

It's Friday night, tomorrow is snatch day and I don't have to do anything else out of the ordinary all weekend. Now, it's time to focus and prepare for tomorrow.

and lets not forget the Kid

Hanging leg raise, Hardstyle Ventura

what a great place for a workshop, eh?The beach is 100 yards in front of me with awesome waves. great time.

Hardstyle Baby.

Gymnasts don't need to stick landings

In my humble opinion, THIS is the epitome of what modern mens gymnastics should look like."Sticking" the landing is a stupid fashion statement that blows out more backs and knees than all the rest of gymnastics competition and reduces othewise insane routines down to a single flaw in the dissipation of force. High forces

These guys know how to do an insanely high force, high amplitude skill and move right through it. Oh, and yeah pointed toes be damned!

One million more swings and some clubbells

Ok, not exactly a million but it's felt like that in the last week. I went from never having trained Tracystyle to doing three of her classes in a week,the last one being yesterday when we shot her first( of many) train along DVD's.

I was in the Intro to High Volume Swing class and glad that was all I had to do as I watched her lead, coach and encourage the class for another 2 hours after I was finished with MY workout,lol.

I literally was tired just watching them.

I did Saturdays workout with the 20 kg,just to know that I could, and did the same yesterday but it was harder. First, DOMS, which was loading up quite well on Saturday from Wednesdays beating was in full force for Monday's shoot combining nicely with Saturdays workout to make a very potent hamstring, adductor and glute cocktail.

I needed to be very careful not to overextend myself and tweak something, while at the same time doing the work as strongly and proficiently as possible.I am a MRKC after all and had to represent Hardstyle on camera in the best manner possible, even while doing Tracystyle.

No worries, it went off well and my old performer mind rose to the occasion and 464 swings in 30 minutes went down strongly. 20,416 lbs of work in 30 minutes. Again, can anyone do more work per minute with any other tool than a kettlebell ballistic movement? I don't think so and that's not even counting accelerative forces which are easily four times the face value of the weight.

So 80-100,000 lbs of force were created by this 53 year old body in 30 minutes. Tracy did 2404 swings in 2 hours with the 12 kg.That's 62,504 lbs on face value and that's at least 250,000 lbs of force produced !!! Craziness!

Will I train this way regularly. ah, no. it's too many two hand swings for me right now. My right side is stillw ay stronger than my left and while I can tolerate( thank the Gods) and train, two hand swings now I still have to be careful about getting out of balance. I can't deal with overworking my right side. It won't be pretty.

But I did use this Intro workout with all my clients today and they all loved it.You'll love it to but you'll have to buy the video,lol

I didn't feel the need to swing any kbs today but I stretched out from 6-7 am and then spent 45 minutes doing clubbells by themselves from 8:30-9:30 am with the kb Swing Queen who also taught her class from 6-7 am. Just another day at the office for her.

two hand arm casts

10lb, 15 lbs 20 lbs a 10/10

two hand shield casts

10lb, 15 lbs 20lbs x10/10

one arm arm casts

10 lbs, 15 lbs x10/10

one arm shield casts

10 lbs, 15 lbs x10/10 x2

cb torch presses

10 lbs x5/5

15 lbs x5/5

20 lbs x3/3 pr!

wow, havent' done torch presses and forever and they went very well and were very very tough. A very good assistance move for my press tool box.

Still need some serious recovery, lots more food and sleep and hopefully more than a few weeks of normalacy and stability so I can ramp up my training again.

all good stuff

datsits:))

Ok, think you're tough? Do this.

I've surfed big waves, this is different. Way different. Way Different.

Wow.

I was turned on to this video by Gary Music RKC, Chief Instructor at the Ohio Kettlebell Club. This is serious Hardstyle conditioning.

Swing class, snatches and presses.

Since I survived Wednesdays swing beatdown fairly well and I don't have much time to practice I thought it would be a good idea to actually take a real class from the KB Swing Queen herself this morning.

So at 7:30 after a good half hour stretchout I found myself in the back of the class with all the newbies.Beginners mind indeed.I had gone over the sequence of the class in my head many times since Wednesday and thought I had it down pat only this time I wanted to try it with the 20 kg and see how that went as that is the weight I hoped to use during Monday's shoot.

There is a guy doing the video class with a 16 kg but he's doing more than equal work to rest so I figured I should use a heavier bell since I'm getting more rest. Of course he's trained in this method for over year with Tracy leading but that's a minor detail, right? We'll see.

After stretching out I spent about 10 minutes warming up with the 16 and the 20 for one arm two hand and hand to hand swings just to make sure the grooves were good for the pace we would be going at.Things felt great so I decided to go with the 20 although I had the 16 right there if I needed it. No worries.

Can't tell the details of the workout til later but suffice to say I did over 400 reps in 30 minute and it was much better than the first time. It seems, just like I found with max vo2 training, your adaptation to this type of loading comes fast and I already felt I was stronger even with the heavier weight.

Tracy will tell me later exactly how many swings we did but if it was 400 it was 17,600 lbs of work and 586 lbs per minute, about what I did Wednesday but for 50 more reps with a lighter bell.

That's one solid workout for 3o minutes,one weight and basically one movement.

Wednesday I fell into more of a wider stance and leg driven groove as I was following Tracy and that's more her technique.

It felt great on my legs but it's not my style so I went back to my almost pure hinge movement and things went great.

Since my leg strength difference is significant due to my left knee if I use a bilateral technique that emphasizes too much' legs' my right side always takes over and things go amiss. I felt a little of this on Thursday as my right adductor and inner hammies said high and I figured out why.

After changing my soaked t shirt I went to snatches.

I have to work my legs unilaterally for it to work. Have to train the weaknesses by themselves if you want to brings things into balance. It's great I can now do two handed swings but I still have to modulate intensity to make sure things go in the right direction

Snatch

16 kg x5/5

20 kg x5/5 x 5 sets

50 reps

Wanted to go easy here as I didn't know how the swing class would effect my muscles and I still have to repeat everything on Monday. They felt good but I thought more presses would be good.I needed to get some snatch practice in as I missed last Saturdays workout.

KB Press Ladder

16kg x5/5

20 kg x3/3

24 kg x3/3

x4/4

x5/5

x6/6

These were great but I could tell my shoulders were tired from all of the above.

Two Hand Clubbell Shield Cast

15 lb x10/10

20 lbs x 10/10

25 lbs x 8/8 x 3 sets

All in all a great workout. Not used to doing so many different movements and modalities in the same workout but it was fine.Stretch and rest tomorrow and Monday is Show time! Then maybe back to some semblance of a routine :))

Datsit

Lats the Super Muscles on Sale now at DragonDoor!

Way cool, DragonDoor is now carrying our DVD's. Only the beginning.

http://www.dragondoor.com/dv076.html

449 Swings in 30 minutes; TracyStyle.

I have known my wife is a genius for a long time. When she came up with her training methods for high volume swings and snatches I knew it was gold. The changes in her body and the work capacity she achieved was only surpassed by what I saw her students achieve as well with her methods.

Average people doing superhuman work capacities in a very short amount of time.

And yet I've never taken a class from her.

Why?

I was scared.

I have been training strength and conditioning for a very very long time and I KNEW exactly what was going on in those classes and KNEW I didn't want that much pain. It helped that up until a few months ago I coudn't do two handed swings without my spine yelling at me so I had an out.

In TracyStyle High Volume Kettlebell Training, the Two Hand swing is the foundation, and rightfully so. I just couldn't do it.

But my corrective work has actually worked and now I can do two hand swings, the power squat of kettlebell ballistics and ya'll should know how much I LOVE and REVERE the power squat.I always HATED that I couldn't squat OR do two handed swings. But I was also being very cautious as I made my foray into the move that is the easiest and the hardest of all kettlebell swings.

So when Tracy asked me to BE in her next swing class DVD, NEXT FREAKING WEEK, I actually didn't know if I could do the workout even with the 16 kg so today's workout became a practice session for her beginners workout class. Man I wasn't that confident.I can train heavy swings, do a ton of work but ask me to do it with restriced rest periods and my knees get weak,lol.

I HATE intervals even though I know how good they are for you.

But if my love wants me in her video it's time to step up and I did.

And let me tell you first hand, this training is no joke.

Tracy put me through her paces wanting to practice the progressions and the workout for the shoot and I needed to actually know if I could survive this.

I did but I have even more respect for what she has invented. Let me say it as clearly as I can: Her methods will change how everyone trains the kettlebell swing. Or at least the smart ones.

I used the 16 kg.

I listened to the instructor.

I matched her pace and flow.

I never did more than 20 reps at a time.

I did 449 reps in 30 minutes and barely noticed it. Thats almost 1000 swings per hour.

That's 16,164 lbs or 538 lbs per minute lifted.

Freaking Crazy.

The pace and speed FORCED me to swing in a much more dynamic and powerful way than I ever have before, especially with such a light weight. I can totally see now how Tracy gets so much work out of her body with this method as the pace and work load necessitate a certain ballistic power just to survive it!

I threw the bell back harder and just popped up. I really activated the stretch reflex of my hips and hams even harder than before just to make it through the reps with the rest interval she gave me.

At the end my legs were jello, which I haven't felt in ages. Crazy.Good.

This is like the first time I did max vo2 training but the difference is, this training is available to everyone because everyone can swing, although not everyone can snatch.

I can't tell you the workout cause it's top secret but I will train this again Saturday and then tape it on Monday, hopefully with the 20 kg.

The Queen of the Kettlebell Swing is onto something.This is going to be a GREAT DVD.

Back on schedule

Man, I love routine.I love training routines and used to write them obsessively.

When I was in high school I would always have the top six finalists at each of the six gymnastics event at NCAA Gymnastics Champions ships memorized as soon as they came out in Modern Gymnast magazine.

I would create "dream" routines all day long, imagining, to the smallest detail ,what would be the absolute best moves and how they could be put together into a routine. One that I could actually do, possibly, in the near future, and one that I was going to do, at some point in my life.

And how I would train them.

I could visualize the moves from all angles, from the inside, as if I were doing it, as well as a spectator, watching myself do the movement from the audience.

I also learned to "feel" the moves as I visualized them. How they would feel, in my body, as I did them in real life, but as I was just imagining them. I still use this and do this to this day.

Nothing has helped my training more than this except for the stability of my day to day routine. For many, many many years I sacrificed most of everything to gain the 'secrets' of high performance in whatever sport I was competing in at the time.

I had "jobs" not careers, as a gymnastics coach, a short order breakfast cook, or working behind the desk at a gym so I could put my training at the top of the list.Even when I had my son and I had to really "grow up" I stilled stayed close buying the gym I worked in and became my own boss instead of someone else's employee.

Yet my life still revolved around my training and recovery; especially that because it is the limiting factor in your training progress. So I had to monitor and control that as much as possible.

From work loads, to resting, both active and passive, nutrition, supplementation, visualization and the overall stress of my environment I knew for sure that the more stable, and less stressful my life environment was the more stressful my training environment could be.

And that meant better gains. Way better.

But I no longer compete and training is not on the front burner like it was but it still is close, as it's critical now that I maintain my symmetry and balance in my body, as well as my work capacity and useable functionality for real life. And that''s real training too, and the same rules apply.

The more stable your life the easier it is to make progress.

The stability and momentum that stability creates in my life as much as possible. And we've been traveling and on the go a lot and now it looks like a bit of a break, starting this week.

So I had to go medium hard last week to prep for HSV and medium hard again today as I haven't fully recovered and really didn't know where my strength would be.

It was good.

6-7 am stretching with emphasis on overhead work. Feel surprisingly loose and stable,lol. How is that possible?

8:30 am

warmup

swings: 16 kg x 10 2 hand, 5/5 one arm then 5 transfers 3 sets

KB Mil Press(short cycle)

16 kg x8/8x2

20 kg x8/8

24 kg x 8/8

x7/7

x6/6

20 kg x 8/8

x7/7

x6/6

This was excellent and the 24 felt very light again and the reps were very good. the groove one gets from doing higher reps with lighter weight translates very well into what heavy weights feel like from the start.

I thought about, briefly, just doing 8's on all the sets, but my shoulders got tons of work Saturday and even if I felt strong this is just the first day back and I can't get greedy.

Tracy was pressing doubles and did the same number of reps as I did on both arms with double bells.Way harder to me, even though a 16 rep set split between arms seems like way too many reps for me,lol.

Snatch

20 kg x5/5

x6/6

x7/7

x8/8

this was good for stabilizing my shoulder after all those presses as well as making up a little for missing my snatch workout on saturday.again.I can't wait til I have 3 months or so of NO travel and just consistent training, sleeping, recovery.

Great speed power and form on the snatches.nice.

Two hand Clubbell Arm casts

15 lb x8/8

20 lb x8/8

25 lb x10/10( shown in video above)

Shield cast

20 lbs x 10/10

these went great and were as strong as I can be lately. completely digging the two hand work as opposed to all the single arm work I did in the last two years. These feel very strong and powerful and I can see doing almost all of my work with the 25lb'er soon and purchasing a 30 or a 35lber as well!

Handstands in Ventura

Tracy and I just got back from a great weekend down in Ventura where I got to teach handstands at Pavel's workshop and we got to see our great friends Jen and Greg Mishkin again. So many excellent instructors were teaching and in attendance at this second annual event; Pavel, of course, Master David Whitley, Doc Cheng, Mark Toomey, Chris Frankel from TRX, and Seniors Doug Nepodal and Zar Horton. Here's a short clip of me teaching some handstand basics, the 'stack' from the kickup

Swing time in Stones Gym

Stones 2006
It was a long day at work today and, for many reasons, I just didn't want to train at Girya today. Wednesdays workouts have become a challenge and the energy just wasn't good for the big dose of swings that I wanted to do.

I also didn't want to train outside so I decided to clear out a space in what used to be my garage gym, once called Stones( as in, do you have the Stones?) and go back to the future. My own little courage corner for sure. What used to be a seriously solid garage gym is now, well more garage than anything, although that is about to change as well.

But for now the great wood and rubber platforms are covered with boxes and books and all kinds of things that are being stored and, last but not least a bunch of kettlebells.

A few kettlebells, a solid place to stand and some good energy. That's all one needs to train,although a great stereo playing loud and serious rock helps a ton. So I got back on the platform and went to work. I immediately felt great and it brought back so many good memories of seriously intense workouts I've had there over the last 10 years.

I put on Tool and started my one arm swing workout:

One arm swing

uphill and downhill rep ladder

16 kg x10/10 x2

24 kg x5/5

x6/6

x7/7

x8/8

x9/9

x10/10

x10/10

x9/9

x8/8

x7/7

x 6/6

x5/5

180 reps

9540 reps

These felt great and the groove was as solid as it's been in eons. Felt completely natural,completely me .Good bell height, hip snap, shoulder position and good crispness. Most excellent. It's not the 600 rep PR I did a few years but I know now things are back on track and I plan on training in the garage now every Wednesday.

KB Lunges

16 kg x 8 reps x 5 sets

as usual did these with the bell in the left hand with the left leg forward for all sets. This builds my weaker left leg and stretches out the tighter right hip flexor. Always feels good after I do these, a good sign.

Datsit:))

Clean and press,long cycle

Another back off week as we're on the road again this weekend. This time to teach handstands and Pavel's Hardstyle Ventura workshop. Tough life eh? Getting paid to teach and train right on the beach, virtually, with the Chief Instructor himself, not to mention all the other luminati that will be there including MRKC David Whitley, Mark Cheng RKCTL, Mark Toomey RKCTL and so many others.

But it's still work and I have to show up fit for duty so I didn't want to take any chances with anything so just a medium workload to keep things moving in the right direction. So todays challenge was how to create some decent intensity without increase load or volume too much.

The answer was some higher rep sets with the 20 kg before hitting the 24 kg and using a clean before each press( long cycle), as well as going I go you go style with Tracy. The combinaton of the 'pre exhaust" with the 20 , the longer time of each set and the short rest periods made the weights and the load feel heavier than it was. Felt great

Hour long stretch out, as usual from 6-7 am, today concentrating on opening up my wrists and shoulders for the coming presses and handstands.

8:30 am warmup

cleans 16 kg x5/5 x3

Clean and press longcycle

16 kg x 5/5

20 kg x5/5

x6/6

x 7/7

x8/8

here's some video of the last set

these felt great,very fluid and strong. I don't post these videos to show off at all, I mean, c'mon, it's 20 kg for goodness sake but to study my form, my groove and if what I felt during the set matches what it looks like externally.

I would have killed to have this ease of video taping during my gymnastics days and I think it's crazy more people don't video tape themselves and critique their own form! As my brilliant wife Tracy says to newbie HKC or RKCs " be your own first client, tape your form and find the flaws" and she's right but why stop there?

I used to record my power squat workouts all the time looking at form and depth and technique and it helped tremendously. One must develop a very ,very good eye to be a good trainer and nothing helps more than looking at movement and mechanics and technique over and over and trying to see all the things, good and bad , that the movement presents'.One must LEARN to analyze movement and technique and this is such and easy way to do it.

Plus, this is my training log, always has been, just online, and it's great to be able to look back and what I did a few years ago and critique that and see how far I've come- or how far I fell,lol. You can also really learn to see the subtleties, and that makes ALL the difference as a coach or a trainer.

Be your own coach, then you will be able to coach others. Lead from the front.

Then onto the 24 kg

24 kg x 3/3

x4/4

x5/5

These went so easy. Could have done way more but running out of time.

Also, I kept my eye focus on the floor about 3-4 feet in front of me. The same as in the snatch. I was doing the clean with one eye focus( this one) and then looking almost directly ahead for the press. I know I have better overhead mobility with this slightly down and forward eye position, I think it will hold up in the heavier presses as well.

Handstand stack ups

8-10 sets of 5-7 stack ups( just kicking until the lead leg is directly over the shoulders

these went great but I have to watch the forearm tendons lately in my right arm after doing presses first. Cleans and presses really tighten the forearms and then the handstands stretch them out, sometimes too fast! a bit of kinesio tape and it's all betta.

Two Handed Clubbell casts

arm cast 15 lb x10/10

shield cast 15 lbs x10/10

arm cast 20 lbs x10/10

shield cast 20 lbs x 10/10

arm cast 25 lbs x10/10

shield cast 25 lbs x10/10

these went great and the 25lb'er is feeling light now with two hands. It should, but it didn't for a long long time. Little things like this add up and never neglect to take note and appreciate the little improvements.

Over time they always add up to big gains.

Ok one arm swings and kb lunges tomorrow!

datsit:))

Squat day.

No, not me, unfortunately. Nick has taken to training his power squat again with the intention of breaking his 2006 pr of 601 and I get to support him as he supports me every Saturday when he drives down to Girya to train snatches with me.

The very interesting part is that for the last two years Nick has barely been under a squat bar, and, when he was, the most weight that was on the bar was between 350 and 400 lbs for not an impressive amount of volume.

One could call it maintenance but that would be a generous phrase. What Nick HAS been doing is showing up, rain or shine, crazy business travel schedule or not to train with me on Saturdays. And for many moons it was his only workout of the week.Just a bunch of kb swings and or snatches 24 and 28 kgs.

When he decided to start training for real a few months ago and actually wrote out his training cycle and followed it he was amazed that it produced a very easy 502 double that was so much better than the 500 he did before squatted his pr 601 at Nationals that it wasn't funny. It had to be the kettlebells.

The RKC Hardstyle kb swing and snatch use basically the same mechanical positions, ( straight back, hip hinge, biomechancial breathing match, max acceleration) and focus as the power squat and deadlift.The transfer from KB to Barbell has been obvious and amazing. Even to Nick.

He can't believe that he not only maintained strength but actually Gained barbell strength by swinging and snatching.What the Hell effect indeed!

Here is today's effort. 90 % of his last best , recent effort of 500 for 2. This is how it's done. On a Sunday morning, in a small garage, just two guys, after a crazy busy travel and work schedule,AFTER 100's of snatches yesterday with the 28 kg. Nice job man

450 lb squat, two ways:

Snatch day.

Ack. More sets of 20 reps done in groups of 10/10 slowly, with long pauses at the top. Well, long for me. This type of paced snatching is akin to pulling duct tape off an open wound, one millimeter at a time,lol. I completely understand this is working, building, a much different type of strength that I have, more static strength and strength endurance from a foundational standpoint but man it is crazy hard for me.

And not in a good way. I honestly don't know if I can do it. Or want to do it. As my body feels better I want to step on the gas, after spending so much time with one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brake. This feels like more time on the brake.

I took Tom Corrigan's suggestion and opened my hand at the top of each rep but for some reason my right shoulder was tighter than it should have been this morning and that didn't help anything.

I think I like the idea of this type of distance training rather than the reality of it.I have to constantly hold myself back during each rep in this format which is just so different than how my body wants to go.Short and hard. Sprint and rest. Hardstyle.

Still got it done.

Snatches

16 kg x5/5 x2

20 kgx5/5

x7/7

24 kg x 7/7

x 10/10 x 4 sets

20 kg x15/15 x 2 sets

94 reps with the 24 kg

60 reps with the 20 kg

154 total

I actually was good until the 20 kg down sets and they just pissed me off. I wanted to go fast and tear the bandaid off and I was still pulling the tape off one hair at a time. I was tired and bored and abandoned the plan to do down to the 16 kg and do 20 rep sets. Ack. Couldn't handle the thought.

Put on my olympic shoes for the last two sets with the 20kg and really liked the position and leverage. Will wear these again next week for all snatches.

I don't want to go back to mvo2 snatches as I really enjoy working the solid overhead lockout and I don't think this slow paced is going to work for me, perhaps Sr RKC Peter Lakatos's Hungarian Snatches is the next experiment. It's an interesting amalgam of all the things I like:

a powerful descent and ascent

a dead stop hold at the top

working just one arm at a time ala mvo2

resting between sets until HR is 115-120

As much as I want to train for the RKC snatch test I think I will just have to do it when I need to and train as I want to; for power and strength.

Two hand swings

32 kg x10 x 5 sets

short rest /sets. equal work to rest. These felt solid and powerful

Been having a great time playing with the kinesiotape I discovered at Keat's place last weekend. Taping all the weak areas of my left leg and really see a difference in stability and less pain already. wish I had discovered this stuff a long time ago.

Also, the magnesium oil spray is working crazy good and my bodyfat levels have fallen and my muscle mass and strength are decidedly up in very short order. This product is a winner and I can't wait to try some more of the products on the hormone optimization list Mike Mahler sent me. Here's Mike on SuperHuman radio talking about hormone optimization, great info.

datsit :))

I just love this

PRE

"Cassidy sought no euphoric interludes. They came, when they did, quite naturally and he was content to enjoy them privately. He ran not for crypto-religious reasons, but to win races, to cover ground fast. Not only to be better than his fellows, but better than himself.

To be faster by a tenth of a second, by an inch, by two feet or two yards than he had been the week or year before. He sought to conquer the physical limitations placed upon him by a three-dimensional world (and if Time is the fourth dimension, that too was his province).

If he could conquer the weakness, the cowardice in himself, he would not worry about the rest; it would come.

Training was a rite of purification; from it came speed, strength. Racing was a rite of death; from it came knowledge. Such rites demand, if they are to be meaningful at all, a certain amount of time spent precisely on the Red Line, where you can lean over the manicured putting green at the edge of the precipice and see exactly nothing."

"Running to him was real, the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free

."That quarter mile oval may be one of the few places in the world where the bastards can't screw you over, Quenton. That's because there's no place to hide out there. No way to fake it or charm your way through, no deals to be made.

You know all that stuff. You've talked about it. It's why you became a miler. The question is whether you are prepared to live by it or whether it was just a bunch of words."

John L Parker "Once a Runner".

Here's how I did my 24 kg swing pr

A pic from the old days.
Found my 24 kg one arm swing PR workout, way back in december 2007. I have a long way to go

http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/dont-think-just-swing.html

but tomorrow is snatches. Hope to do 5 sets of 10/10 with the 24 kg 3 sets of 15/15 with the 20 kg and 1-2 sets of 20/20 with the 16 kg. We'll see how i feel in the morning but I've been thinking about it all day. Just like the old days.

Swings and carrys.

Not a bad workout but I don't think this plan is going to stick. I thought I wanted a workout more freestyle and out of the gym but I think this is TOO much freestyle and will lend itself to slacking off.

With the general purpose of staying moving for 40-60 minutes alternating various forms of kettlebell walks: farmers racks with one arm or two and swings( one arm, two hand, transfers, etc) there is way too much room for "going with the flow" and taking it easy.

Today was a good case in point. I was pretty tired going in so I started the first half off with the 16 kg bell. Not too bad but I wasn't particularly inspired and with no real set goals or pr's to chase it became very easy to slack off a bit. Maybe that's a good thing and I needed more rest but I think it was jsut hard and I didn't want to do it and, since there was no real measurement, no real accounting, I could.

Realizing this I stepped it up and bit and drug out the 24 kg for the walks and the swings but it was still uninspired. Being in the elements was nice but distracting as well. I think I need to stay after at Girya on Wednesdays and train my one arm swing.

Then go home and do my carrys like I used to; alternating one arm rack walks for continuous distance. My old pr with the 16 kg was 2000 feet and I can add in pr's with the 24 kg as well. I think I will start building my one arm swing volume back on Wednesdays with the 24, 28 and 32 kg bells, switching weights each week and then recycling.

Who knows, perhaps I will add in one arms with the 36 kg? It is a handsome bell and just sits at Girya way too much. Lonely and hardly used. Who knows how strong I can get again?

My best in the one arm swings are 300 with the 28,400 with the 32, and 600 with the 24 kg. I rested as long as necessary between sets, until my HR got down to 115 or so, or my partner finished his set and used reps between 5 and 10, sometimes doing multiple arm transfers to get the volume in.

Will try this approach again next wednesday and see how things go.

today

40 minutes alternating 100 foot farmers and rack walks with swings.

datsit:))

Stretch out.

This is for Mablack2 who wanted to see my stretch routine. I will list my current routine but also add in some old favorites that I am not currently doing regularly but I believe are amazing

The Full Stretchout: this is pretty much the sequence every AM

1) Foam roller( now on rumble roller): IT band, hamstrings,hip rotators/glutes, quads, TFL, calves, anterior tibs, lumbar spine.

2) Upward dog for abdominal release( can stay here for minutes at a time)

3) Downward dog, alternate leg for calf, hamstring release( and for my left knee)( same here. sometimes a five minute set), then double leg traditional down dog.

4) squat stretch: from downdog keep arms vertical and bring legs to side of arms, hip and knee stretch

5)seated straddle stretch: traditional pre split stretch for adductors and hammies. I don't emphasize forward lean here, just getting wider with tall chest position and vertical sacrum.

6) Single leg hamstring stretch with strap.

7) Crossover hamstring stretch with strap.

8) Single leg hamstring stretch from toes( strap looped over each individual toe)

9) Bretzell with straight top leg for hamstring stretch

10) Bretzell with bottom arm in external rotation

11) Bretzell with shoulder slide in frontal plane on floor( I don't grab the bottom leg and just work shoulder flexion with scapula flush on floor)

12) Hip opening stretch ( wide stance squat holding onto to support. shins vertical hips only move deeper,. Kind of like a supported goblet squat with prying, just wide.

13) Overhead stick stretch( straight back then each arm to ear. repeat 3-5 times moving hands in closer each time.

14) Behind back stick stretch with both grip positions, forward and back.

15) Overhead hang stretch on TAPS bar with under and over grip

16) Overhead stick stretch, three positions in standing lunge.

17) Back bend stretch over stability ball, hands clasped and locked elbows.

18) Standing Horse Stance squat stretch

19) Power squat rack position with stick, shoulder stretch

20) Foam roller, start over if necessary.

I hold each of these positions from 30 seconds to five minutes , focusing on breathing in and backing off the tension of the stretch and then exhaling and advancing the depth of the stretch. " breathe in back off, exhale an advance" the stretch. Basic Relax into Stretch.

The goal of static stretching is to push back the stretch reflex which is firing too early to give you your desired level of flexibility.I hold each stretch as relaxed as I can for as long as it takes to get the tight muscle to "release" .

How long? Can't tell you. Until it releases. Sometimes it takes seconds, other times many many minutes.The point of the stretch is the release. You have to wait for it and breathe, breathe, breathe into the stretch.

I now view my stretch training as Real training, not just something I have to do when I'm injured, or, trying to prevent injury. It is my yoga, it's own special practice. And, it ain't easy.