Iron Flinger, Jr Grade

You have a training plan for the next six months, right?

2011-12-14T17:30:00.001-05:00

I'm trying a 5-step seasonal training schedule, adapted from Coach's notes and John Wild Buckley's blog. I think it's time I let go of my 65kg bodyweight and got stronger, at least in the offseason when I'm trying to move up a bell. First PT and recovery, then a serious strength - mass - strength-endurance season before resuming KB sport. This post was written and edited during phase 1 and published late in the 2-wk break in (highlighted below) of Dan John's "Mass Made Simple" article on T-Nation.

Rehab/Phase 1 intro

5wks PT, Convict Conditioning big 6 done 2/day, 3d/wk, stairs on day 1 and treadmill on day 3. Made outstanding progress, bridges helped rehab, handstands helped shoulders and presses. Testing double KB presses in wk 5, I pressed 2x20kg for the first time ever. Running up to 3mi.
December and January: a close adaptation of Mass Made Simple. 3 sets of 2-3 primary lifts, 5 reps, 5 reps, and "as many". A finisher of 2-3 sets of 20-30 reps high back squats around 70% 1RM for the first 2-few weeks, then many sets for the next 4 weeks. I don't know how his athletes had time for what was in that article. 25 sets of 20 after a regular workout?

Monday: 5 each bench presses (maybe dumbbell, maybe inclined), inverted rows, front squats. May substitute or add some uneven pushups. High volume back squats. Walk stairs 10' unloaded to finish.
Wednesday: 5 each clean and press, pullups, single leg dead lifts. High volume back squats.
Friday: back and spine work, more focus on joint mobility drills than other days. 10 HLR to the bar, 5 of the Spetznaz hip rolling drills (need a link), 5 Maxwell rolling planks, and some tumbling drills. Follow by 20-40' light run. 6mph = 2mi/20'. 5mph = 2.5mi/30'. Score a 40' run every few weeks.
Eat for growth and recovery: protein supplements, Metamucil, and 4 or 5 meals. Magnesium oil spray on knee and hip after every session and on back when needed.
2-wk break in: I am visibly bigger but barely 2lb heavier. CC work always bulks me and did so in November. This hasn't been heavy yet. With 2x16kg, presses are solid up to 10 reps and squats up to 30. Time to add weight with dumbbells or barbells. Limit the bulking phase to 4 weeks. Repeat in February if necessary, but only after a break and some fat loss.

Phase 1 - Off-season (indefinite length, starting in January)

I have this idea that I would like to be 150lb and pressing 2x20kg for reps and squatting it for dozens of reps and running miles before I resume LC sport training. Not certain that's all necessary, but I don't want to be struggling every rep and gassed at 6:00 like last time.
Strength, conditioning, technique, and GPP. Build strength up to the next bell.
Barbell dead lifts and squats, KB swings, jump squats, and military presses.
Density KB work: 1-3' sets at comp weight or higher. Done at pace for timing and speed, done with extended overhead time for strength. Aggregate volume, if not extended sets.
Cardio output work at HR 120-150 (5mph or less), 30-90min, 2-3/wk.

Phase 2 - Preseason (4-6wks, maybe 8wks starting in March)

KB sets 5-7' minimum at or near target rpm, 4-5 training days/wk. 1 10' comp set weekly or biweekly. All 1-2' density work stops.

This is the AKC plan. I found I was doing well on a Russian/Denisov plan last year: 2-3' sets at pace to more than 10' volume, varying the rest. May do 3-4days/wk density work, 1 day 10' comp set.

Barbell work reduced to squats and jump squats. All pullups and horizontal pressing stops. Overhead pressing replaced by heavy OAJ with static holds.
Introduce cardio power work at HR above 150, 2-3min intervals: sprints, KB stairs, Eagles. Maintain cardio work 2-3/wk.

Phase 3 - Peaking (2-4wks including competition, maybe 6wks starting in May)

4days/wk: 1 set comp weight/6-8'@target rpm. 1 day/wk: 1 set comp weight/10'@target rpm. Any day that you feel smoked and unable to work the distance with comp weight, use 1 size lighter.

See comment above about AKC/Russian plans. Not sure at this early time whether this is best for me, based on last year's experience.

Mix output cardio and power cardio, 2-3/wk.
Only strength work might be squat jumps. Almost all assistance work on mobility and low-HR cardio.
The week of competition, 1 10' comp set, 1 6-8' set at comp or lighter, then Competition phase.

Phase 4 - Competition (2-3 days in mid-June)

1-3 days off with recovery work and light cardio. Federenko's experience was that he lost conditioning after only 2 days. Maybe test this in Peaking phase with consecutive long runs and HR monitoring.

Phase 5 - Postseason

Karaoke and burgers. (John Wild Buckley)
At least 1wk mobility/maintenance work, light running, stretching, and massage.

Tentative schedule based around June 18, 2010 meet.

Off-season - through February
Preseason - March to May (T minus 3mos)
Peaking - May to mid-June (T minus 4-6wks)
Competition - mid-June (T minus days)
Postseason - when the bells hit the mat

Suggestions

Technique at wk 2 of peaking phase should determine your target weight if you plan to make 10'.
Stair carries lifted me over the hump, but they should have followed a more solid month of long, 130bpm cardio. Bicycling barely served this purpose, but I abandoned it because there was no load on my legs. Running 5mph raises my pulse to 150, but running slower is bumpy on my joints. May just accept running as "volume cardio" and stairs as "power cardio", regardless of being outside my block on the HR chart.

Why am I running?

2011-11-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

I'm on a brief medical hiatus from lifting. I pinched a nerve in my lower back in a dead lift on September 19. That was probably healing on a timeline of 1-2 months, but it felt so much better in 1-2 weeks that I resumed training. I actually thrived and broke some personal records for a few weeks before straining it again on something totally inconsequential in mid-October.

In the meantime, I have seen my orthopedist for a 3-yr checkup and have had a month of PT. The doc says I have good hips, good knees, and a little bulge in the L5-S1 disc. He said I'm getting old, and I strained my back lifting something heavy. Offered me drugs, which I declined, and asked that I see him next time I have a boo-boo in 3 more years (joking). So far, PT has gone well. I'm pain-free and beginning to bend again. My therapist recommended I continue running, as it's probably training good posture. So, outside of all the weight lifting and kettlebells, what finally got me into running?

I only began running a couple months ago, after decades of not trying and 3 years of being completely unable. I've needed a long-slow cardio for quite some time. Stationary cycling worked my knees, but there was no impact or balance and no active engagement of the foot itself. It never "felt right". I needed to bounce. I could creep into a squat and explode out of a squat, but I couldn't leap-frog through the squat. Every running stride, especially downhill, would stiffen my knee and send the whole impact up to my hip, which would seize up in a half-mile.

It took squatting and stairs to rebuild my running, which is interesting. My orthopedist and I disagreed strongly about squats, but he could not argue with my success. I supposedly had a partial ACL tear 3 years ago, and there's no evidence of it now. What does squatting have to do with running? I needed to safely train my leg to drop me in and out of the "hole" without seizing up as a protective reflex. You can't train around a fear reflex under the full-weight burden that causes fear in the first place. You train around that reflex with a fraction of that weight to regain movement and confidence. I had to do deep squats, jump squats, and other movements that required and reinforced elasticity to rebuild elasticity.

The running motion itself required some study. I've had an interest in minimalist shoes and the type of running done by unshod and barely-shod billions around the world since long before Nike, Inc was born in 1972. I work out in Vibram Five Fingers, so I started testing my running motion in them. Running doesn't hurt because it's unnatural; it hurts because you're doing it wrong. (That could be an article unto itself.) It is, rather, the epitome of "natural" human movement. My wife comments that I creep around in my comfy shoes but have this unusually heavy footstep in my motorcycle boots. In bare feet, I'm the wind itself.

I found a few steps into my first run that I land on my midfoot, with a little roll from the outer edge in. I found a few minutes in that I like a fairly high step and broad arc beneath me. I described it once like an ostrich, where the foot reaches forward and scratches the ground beneath the body. A lot of other natural running schools keep the feet basically below and behind the body. I reach forward by comparison, but I've figured out why. That is the important point; I paid attention to what my joints needed. It's inefficient by any measure, but I run 30 minutes twice a week without pain.

Why would I go to all this trouble? First, there's an element of self-discovery and achievement. I'm not a licensed physical therapist, but I rebuilt a cripple into a runner and a weight lifter. Second, every pair of strides is a chance to check my alignment, my balance, the blown right leg, the left ankle I sprained in high school on an otherwise uninjured leg. The footfalls in those goofy plastic shoes on the treadmill give me constant feedback, and I can tell by their tone whether I'm landing on my heel or too flat or too pronated. I run around 850 pairs of strides in every mile, each one a movement screen.

Understand I've done maybe two months of running, with a couple years of conditioning work before it. I'm running in increments not of laps or minutes, but of 2-3 miles. Running is not an unnatural movement. Minimal shoes and bare feet are not dangerous. Squats are not bad for your knees. If I have learned any overarching theme from this long process, it is that my problem is probably not the activity but that I am doing it wrong. I deadlifted wrong, and I knew I rounded my back when I did it, but prior to that, I had added 50lb to my all-time max dead lift. I was rehabbing my knee wrong until I started squatting deep. I was running wrong, in expensive running shoes. I'm clearly blogging wrong, but thanks for joining me along the way.

Training Log 10/02-10/08 - long sets and a 1 mile run

2011-10-07T23:35:00.000-04:00

New focus on improving my cardio and limiting barbell work to cleans and front squats. Hate to say it, but I'm in the 4-wk countdown to regionals. I should be at volume right now. Focusing on single 5-7' sets instead of consolidating multiple 3-4' sets still doesn't sit quite right with me. Doing a 16kg speed/volume Sunday, and using OALC as finishers on 20kg days when I don't have other cardio.

--
10/02 Su 16kg long LC
- LC:
5'@8, mostly locomotive breathing, video
Kink in back. Rest, repeat.
5', breathe after J: 98889
Notes: kink in R scap all wknd, felt a knot there in warmup and at 4'. Loco breathing same tempo as steady after jerk. If anything, 1 breath after jerk works better at 16kg, but that may be better suited for fast pace.
--
10/03 Mo 20kg LC
Lost sleep, light back spasm. Packed a ball. 10 pistols and spine mob before lunch.
20kg LC Evening
- LC: 27/4:30 loco breathing, 3 extra after Jer, almost blacked out!
- OALC 2x10--
10/04 Tue BB
Run/walk/loaded carry dog 1mi
BW 144.0 noon
CL/FSQ: 8@85,95,105, 5@115, from the floor
--
10/05 We 20kg long LC
LC: 25/4:30
Stairs: 6 laps
--
10/06 Th BB work
1mi w dog
DL and SN warmup
CL/FSQ: 8@95, 8@105, 5@115
Cardio 10-12': 12' run, 1mi (ran a mile, PR in every conceivable statistic)
started 5mph, finished 3'@6mph. HR 115 after 2' cool.

Notes: too many things. Wasted time. Better: snatch 45, CL/FSQ 95-105, run. Ran a mile. :-)
--
10/07 Fr 20kg LC
LC: 30/6', no drops (PR reps and time)
--

Training Log 09/11-09/30

2011-10-07T23:26:00.000-04:00

Posted a video outline of my "short set" day, minus dips, which are boring unless they're full depth and weighted. Got away from posting for a while, so this is a recap of September work. I spent the middle of the month rehabilitating a low back/hip strain for a PR dead lift of 235lb. It was a mistake, and I haven't dead lifted heavy since. Cleans, front squats, some jerks and snatches.

The high point of the month was 09/26 in the notes. It's my cardio. I accepted ownership of that, and my numbers started climbing steadily.

--
09/11 Su 16kg short LC
LC:2'@10, 1'rest x3
J:1'@12, CL:2'@12
5SQ/40JSQ, 15 1/4 Dips: x3
Notes: Knee wrap worked well. Keep it.
--
09/15 Mo 16kg med LC
LC: 37/5', 36/5'
--
09/13 Lunch BB
Power CL: 5@65 with sq, 5@95, 3@105
- DL with short plates:
4@135, 2@185, singles 195, 205, 225, 3@165, 2@185, 2@205 Pullups/HLR: 4x5
Stretch
--
09/14 We 16kg long LC
LC: 77666666 (50/8', time PR)
Stair Carries and Squats
--
09/16 Fr 20kg long LC
LC: 54445 (22/5', time PR)
- BB work
CL/FSQ: 3@65, 85, 95
BSQ: 5@135, 2@185, 3@155, 7@145, 8@135
Dips, pistols, pullups

Notes: Dan John advises using only 45s and 25s, mastering the weight and jumping to the next class. Only 10 reps of whole body moves, after warmup sets.
--
09/18 Su 16kg short LC
LC: 30/3', 90"r, 28/3'
J: 18/90", CL: 27/2', exhausted
Squats and dips
--
NEW NOTES FROM COACH: Go 20kg/5-7' plus cardio
--
09/19 Mo 20kg LC
LC: 15/3', loose, 7/75", looser, 10 untimed, better
Notes: ditch the clock, work on breathing
BB work, tall plates
DL: 185 to 235 (PR and lumbar strain), pairs 215 to 175
--
09/21 We 20kg long LC
LC: 19/4', to failure
--
Lower back/hip recovery a few days. Mobility, band work, and recuperative carries through 09/25.
--
09/26 Mo 20kg LC
LC: 5563, drop (19/4:40)
BB work
CL/SQ: warmup, singles to 115, 8@95, 6@115, 5@105
Jumps and carries

Notes: It's my cardio. Walk/run 1mi w Kilo. Rowing, running, or timed sets of JSQ on Mon, FSQ sets 8-10 on Fri, no more singles. Actual 10' stair carries, no more subbing squats and flat ground. Get this turned around. You're strong enough; make it go.
--
09/28 We 20kg long LC
- LC: 22 on video, untimed
OALC: 16/2' each
Stairs: 5 laps/10', breaks at 4' and 8'
--
09/30 Fr 20kg LC
LC: 23/4:20, breathing before CL
BB work
CL/SQ: 8@85, 8@95, 8@105
Few CL and SN with bar, felt good. Stretch, walk, rest.
--

Training Log 09/04-09/10 (wk 1)

2011-09-10T20:16:00.000-04:00

Took a four day rest. Not completely burned, but slipping some. Adding barbell sessions at a new local gym during lunch hour, two days a week. Changing rotation a bit to give Saturdays back to my wife and home.

End of week max: DL 225, BSQ 195, FSQ 115, CL/SQ 105

--
09/04 Su weekend off
--
09/05 Mo 16kg short LC
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:3'@9-10 x2, 30/3' 18/2', rest
J:3'@10-12, 20/2' rest
CL:3'@10-12, 24/2'
-
Pullups/2x16kg MP: 3 x 5
10 dbl sq, probably wasted time but done cleanly
Stretch

Notes: Overslept, dry throat. 3' sets were not working, but 2' sets were fine. May have been late morning start, maybe fighting Dawn's strep, not sure. Got 9' work in, overall good upper body day for lack of BBs.

PM BB session
Mobilize, Hindu pushups, bench jumps
5x2 DL: 4@135, 2@155, 2@180, 2@225 PR on video, light-headed!
Power Clean/FSQ practice: 1/5@65, 2/5@65
Back SQ: 10@95, 3@135, 3@155, 3@175, 1@195 PR
1@205 not parallel. Next time.

Notes: 17:45-18:40, not too sweaty. Lot of time consumed changing plates. Check for DOMS later, but this 2/day may be perfect for fitting in BB work.

--
09/07 We 16kg med LC
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:5'@7-9 x2
35/5' x2
-
Indoor Eagle (studio 30m walk/8 FSQ): 4 circuits

Notes: Skip the 16 long set day in this short week. Spent 10hrs on feet today after a 5am change window and this session. Still stiff through Thursday night.

--
09/09 Fr 20kg LC
5hrs sleep, barely
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:5-7' @4-6 x1 (commit to one long, slow set)
10/2', failed a launch.
Not "working" yet. For some reason, 20kg LC doesn't get smooth until after 2-3' of warmup.
20/3:45 away from clock
10/1:45 timed by breathing. Much better now.
-
Stretch

Lunch BB session
HLR: 2 x 5
DL: 5@135, 3@185, 2@205
Pwr CL/FSQ: 3@65, 2@95, 2@105
Rack FSQ: 3@115 (arms not comfy)
- CL/FSQ 3x3@60-80%:
3@65, 3@85, 3 SQ @115 (folded arms)
-
Back SQ: 3@165
Stretch

Notes: not too sore. BB FSQ challenged rack more than anything else. Cleaning to front of chest, not to top of clavicles. Only 19 reps SQ today, messy. Next time 1@65, 95, 115, 135. 3x5-8@50-80% daily max.

Think whether I want hi vol or "wiry strength" lo vol. 3x10 @50-80% seems wasteful. More recovery needed, higher body weight. Consider 2x5 SQ and DL above 80%. That volume's standard to WL and PL, but I'm not sure I want to waste reps at light weight and add mass for no reason.

20kg LC benefits from more frequent handling and from warmup. Suffers from shock around 2'. Pace by breath, not clock.

Training Log 08/28/09/03

2011-09-10T20:03:00.000-04:00

This is week 4 in a row and was to consist of a test and a back-off period. Joined month-to-month at a new gym to include barbell work. I should not find the 88lb "heavy" from week to week like I have been. Start handling 188 and 288 regularly.

--
8/28 Su 16kg short LC
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:2-3'@9-10 to 10'
25/2:30,1'r,23/2:30 chaos
21/2:30, r, 22/2:30 much better
-
Dumbbell DL (10@150# x3-4): 8,8,8
1/4 Dips: 10,10,15
Stretch

Notes: Dumbbell DLs suck. Wobbly grip, feet not clear of the weights, awkwardness affects focus. 8-9rpm LC ok, 10 was chaotic. Need to work up to that. Last set, did not look at the clock, and it was smoother. Go by breath until I meet the clock. Hands parallel by instinct, maybe pronated will smooth out cleans. Good speed work.

Peeled one dry callus from palm, never stopped. Found it on the handle later. Like a boss.

--
8/30 Tu (7:20 dentist)
Did not sleep. Not safe for timed sets.
Skip.
--
08/31 We 16kg med LC
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:5'@7-9 x2
35/5' x2
-
5SQ/40JSQ x3
Stretch

Note: internally rotating hands on the backswing helped flip the bells into the rack. Much smoother. 1st dip with a little gulp and a partial exhale and a tight 'puff' made the bells bounce off my belly. 2nd set crisper than the 1st. 7's a good pace, long term.

--
09/01 Th 16kg long LC (new gym)
Warmup joints, stick or band, jumps
- LC:6-8'@6-8 x1
3'@6, handles really sticky, see notes
4'@6
-
Hvy DL: 135x2, 155x3, 185x3, 200x5
HLR: sets 5 xxxx
Med Squats: 100lbs 4 sets5, 120lbs 1x5
1/4 Dips: 3 sets 15
Stretch

Notes: did many more things because the equipment was there. Probably good to include HLR, few pullups, and dips. KBs require a vertical, open, lucky insertion. Poor fit for me. DL and SQ could've been heavier, but not the point. 5RM was the point. Good session. Oly stance > sumo for me.

Sore. :-) saw it coming. NOW it's time to recover.

--
09/02 Fri maintenance
Mobilize, stretch
Inc OAP: 5 x
BW SQ: 10 xxxxx
Pistols: 5 x
--
09/03 Sa wknd off

Training Log 08/27-08/28 LC at different weights

2011-08-28T19:20:00.000-04:00

There is a common mantra that you train light to build strength and lift heavy to demonstrate strength. I'll have LC at different weights and set lengths starting this weekend, with a long 20kg set on Saturday and a number of short 16kg sets on Sunday. This Saturday didn't last all the way to the programmed "5-7'@4-6rpm" set, but I did get 7'@6rpm work done in 3 subsets. I barely jerk 16kg pairs at the 9-10rpm Coach requested of me for sustained sets, so this will be a whole new technique and conditioning experience for me. Right away, my cleans are too bumpy to transition smoothly and keep the pace up.

--
08/27 Sat long 20kg LC and squats
Warm up, band work, jumps
- 20kg LC
Goal: 5-7' @4-6rpm
Done: 3'@6rpm, 2'@6rpm, 2'@6rpm
-
Test Olympic Clean and squats with the EZ-Curl barbells on hand
5 @40lb, 5@60lb. These bars are not good, don't rack right at all.
10 @2x20kg

Stairs: 10' work

Notes: this LC is so much heavier than the 16kg LC I did 5' at a time earlier in the week. It wasn't unmanageable, but it was unfamiliar. I got tipped backward on my heels several times and clunked a few cleans into the rack so hard I had to reset to accomplish a jerk afterward. Lightweight practice will refine my speed, breathing, and technique, but it will not train the geometry of counterweighting the bells.

The 2x20kg squats felt surprisingly good. 10 reps well below parallel really surprised me. I may be prepared to start hi-vol squat training at this weight, which would be huge in support of this training.

--
08/28 Sun short 16kg LC and DL
Warm up, stick work, jumps
- 16kg LC @9-10rpm
25/2'30", 1'r, 23/2'30", chaotic, rest
21/2'30", rest, 22/2'30"
- total 91/10'

Dead lift 150lb: 8, 8, 8
1/4 Dips: 10, 10, 15
Stretch

Notes: DB DLs suck. Wobbly grip, feet not clear of the weights, the awkwardness affects my focus and the qualit of every rep. 8-9rpm LC ok, but 10 was chaotic. Need to work up to that. Last set, did not look at the clock, and it was smoother. Going forward, pace by breath until I meet the speed. I backswing with the handles parallel by instinct, maybe pronating the hands to impart a little rotation at the top will smooth out cleans. Good speed work.

Peeled one dry callus from palm, never stopped. Found it on the handle later. Didn't even phase me. The new skin beneath did not blister.

At least exert yourself

2011-08-26T01:37:00.000-04:00

Ed. note: There is a slim chance that a couple of people I know will recognize the situation I describe and the people I'm talking about. I mean no offense, but this profoundly affected me and needs to be said. It's not hurtful, it's just blunt, and it is heart-felt and honest.

--

I did some jerk and some long cycle with a pair of 20kg (44lb) kettlebells today, my current standard, and a pair of modest jerks at the end of the 90min session with a pair of 24kg (53lb) bells. Now the 2 24kg bells were a personal record, and 48kg (106lb) overhead for the first time was every bit heavy. Not three months ago, I nearly put 2 20kg bells on my head with that same lift, but now I train with them regularly. It was a big deal to me that I didn't eat those green 24s.

I saw some new folks training this week. One was pressing a pair of 35lb weights without pausing at the shoulder or at the top and deadlifting 53lb in a circuit. Realize that they were deadlifting, from the floor with both hands, less weight than they were lifting overhead. Now realize that again. When I was 16 years old, I deadlifted a spinet piano once when it tipped over on a moving truck ramp, and I had never lifted weights in high school. They were deadlifting 53 pounds, in a gym, for which they paid money.

These folks were turning their heads to make eye contact and chat. They were talking freely instead of bracing themselves with a deep breath to protect the spine. These are not just my pet peeves; these are details that you cover subconsciously every day to lift things out of your car because the reach feels awkward.

I'm glad they were trying, but let's face facts. This was not exercise. This was not focused; this was not even safe. Going to a gym to get less old/fat/feeble does not automatically make you less old/fat/feeble. Hard work does. I accept I'm good at this because it's my hobby, but I am not the strongest person my size that I know. I know a 120lb woman who can deadlift over 200lb, which I cannot. If some guy bigger than me doesn't want to launch 40kg (88lb) overhead like I do, that's fine, but I know he can lift it off the floor. The point is that he was not even exerting himself, so he was wasting his time and not getting any healthier.

Clinical studies have shown as little as 15min of strenuous exercise on 3 days a week can reduce your body fat and blood lipids. 90min a week was shown to add as much as 3 years to your life expectancy in a long-term study in Taiwan. This isn't about kettlebells or about fat shredding or cardio vs HIIT vs strength training. What I do and call "cardio" is carry 40kg up and down stairs after my regular workout, but I couldn't survive a modern aerobics class. I don't care. I'm stronger than 3 months ago. My cholesterol is down. I eat like a puppy in a bacon store, and I can see my abs in the mirror. None of this would be true if I were too lazy to actually exert myself or too bored by the experience to keep it up.

The longest 10min of my life, and the next-longest 10min

2011-08-20T17:29:00.000-04:00

I prematurely published my log for 08/14-08/20 on the 19th, so I edited the title and wrote a new piece for today. I even did some sets of 5 heavy last night after work that aren't listed, but I'll just call it pre-dinner and let it go. Today's session was good enough to post on its own. I don't do this often.

--
08/20 Sat 2x20kg Jerk
Mobility, band work, 2 sets 5 Bench Jumps
-
Goal = J:2x20/6-8/1'/1'r x7-9 (felt another set in me at the end)
Done = 10 sets 8/1', a PR by 3 full minutes
-
Partial BW dips: 2 sets 20
20kg SW: 30ea, 20ea
10’ Stair carries: 2'carry/30"rest x5, longer rest on #5
Stretch
--

This is actually the first time I've accumulated 10 minutes of Jerk in one session. My Spring cycle was organized to stretch short sets into long sets. The long sets wore me out, so I never actually did 3' x 3 or 5' x 2 or any volume that added up close to 10'. I was one of the few competitors at State who did not finish the clock. The pure beginners, the still-overweight women snatching 8kg, finished their clocks. I made rank plus 9, completely drained, and set the bells down. I knew I had done something wrong.

This was a technically good session, including a few recoveries. The overhead squat training helped me later on. I'm working on launching the bells straight up instead of up and back, more Denisov, less Goncharov. The balance is tenuous, but there's less strain on my back. My new shoulder-width stance can accommodate a clean, more stable and ready for LC. And obviously, I'm recovering well. This is a good place to be 11 weeks out from Regionals.

Clearly, this was not elite mastery of the 10' clock, but this is my new baseline. I had a baseline a year ago of 3200kg ballistics every workout, based initially on 200 16kg swings. Now I have 80reps/10' at 2x20kg... which is ironically 3200kg. (I just noticed that!) What's important is that I did 10 minutes of my skill, then 10 minutes of 2x20kg stair carries for conditioning. This cycle, that's step 1, ground floor, my de-loading routine after a month of heavier stuff.

Training Log 08/14-08/19

2011-08-18T21:06:00.001-04:00

19Started off with Sunday afternoon doubles strength work, on the roof and in the sun. Simple circuit, brisk pace, killer. Again on Wednesday morning, since I was already up from having been paged. Detecting a shift toward the LC, reflected in my choice of work and snatch quality.

--
8/14 Su 2x16kg Complexes
Knee mobility, stick drills
- all done 2x16kg
5 C&P
10 FSQ
5 Ren rows
- 5 circuits/15min
First 2 circuits consecutive, sets 4 and 5 on video

16kg SW: 20ea x2 sets (calluses)

Notes: Felt good. I like this work, having this particular day in my routine. I'd like to think I'd start doing this with 20kg, but the whole point was doubles work for symmetry and I can't press 2x20kg. Pressing 2x16kg is still teaching me things. 50 reps squat is a good addition. Including bodyweight squats, full double-bell squats, overhead squats with sticks and light barbells, and jump squats/jerk bumps, I will squat thousands of reps this month. 50/daily bodyweight, 60-90/Tuesday jerks, 50/Sunday = 400-450/wk with great variety. This is good.

--
8/16 Tu 2x20kg Jerk
Mobility, stick work, 5 bench jumps
- test number of sets, previous PR is 5 sets 8
Goal = J:2x20/6-8/1', 1'r x5-7
Done = 6888888 rushed last set, broke lockout
-
5SQ/30JSQ x3
30# OHSQ: 5 deep

Notes: Great session, like I never missed. Joint work, jumps, OHSQ doing a world of good. Get to 10' volume quickly, raise density gradually. 6rpm did me little good, too slow, too much rack time.

--
08/17 We 2x16kg short sets
Got paged, worked, did some sets of 5
Joints, stick work, slow DLs to warmup
-
5 CL, 5 FSQ, 5 alt MP
- 3 sets
Light stretch

--
Th 20 SW
TGU 1 rachet style, some elbow soreness
OAJ 2x5, L ankle turns during dip
SW:1'/1'r x3 ea, some broken up
Rack carry: 4' out of 5'
stretch

Notes: grip really challenged, some minutes of swings were 30",15",15". Borderline with the new skin. Rack carry needs work, caused numbness, may need chalk/belt. Work more on L ankle mob; L launch is rotating foot around.

Almost too many things. Feels random. Love TGU, but beginning to see them as a distraction. Shoulder is never quite vertical in TGU, better for acclimating to heavy support than a warmup for the jerk. I'd warm up better with a windmill, which can play around at vertical and assume an OHSQ.

My forehead and the wall

2011-08-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

I planned a break at the beginning of August, which overlapped a trip to the family hometown and ended with a few days of fever and throat trouble. All told, maybe 12 days of joint work and light calisthenics, no weights. Did some pistol squats early in the break, felt good.

Then this happened, I resumed training a few days ago with get-ups, double presses, pullups, and some double KB swings, all fine. My second session back, I reintroduced the KB snatch, 1min sets with 1min rests, and I blistered both hands in short order. Keeping in mind that I did heavy-bell swings for for the whole month prior to the break, I expected to be conditioned for snatches.

Now I'll have to let my hands heal and rebuild. There are two competitions on the calendar in two months, and I can't snatch. With or without swings, apparently I have to train snatches constantly to maintain snatches, and therein lies a dilemma.

The snatch has always been uncomfortable for me. I have issues with an elbow and nerve impingement and calluses. My score creeps at a glacial pace. I have never had this sort of anatomical difficulty with the jerk or the long cycle, and the squat work in jerk training is good for my legs. The jerk is just "hard", but it's not "tricky" or "complicated". I love LC. I'd train entirely around competition LC, but I would lose snatches altogether.

At what point am I adding marginal cost to simply compete this event instead of that one, or to compete at all instead of just being healthy and having fun? That is the question. This week, I am officially beyond health and fun and training toward heavy-bell biathlon, and I'm not sure anymore if that's what I want.

--
08/06 Sat 16kg warmup work
TGU: 2 slow ratchet get-ups each side, 8'
-
5 2x16kg military press
5 30lb barbell overhead squats
a few pullups (5, 3, 3, 3, 5)
- 5 circuits

2x16kg swings, 10sw/10breaths x10sets
Stretch in the sun

Notes: Sore throat, watch my health. BW 146 with breakfast, still lean. 1 OHSQ set at 2x16kg, and it was too heavy. 30-40lb BB is just right for now.
--
8/7 Su: Thighs ruined from dbl sw. I knew better than 10x10. (grin) Foam roller, stick OHSQ, and menthol rub. Consider OHSQ and stick work as warmup for a while. I'd have much to gain from a good OHSQ.

08/08 Mo: Cont'd OHSQ with stick and shoulder dislocates. Sore throat spread to wife and a coworker. Not run-down, but not 100%. Consider down a bell this week and reset Sat or Sun. It's just 1wk.

08/09 Tu: Both of us have sore throats. Lost 3hrs sleep. Worked at home. Stretching, 20kg 5J and 5P and GSQ, stick work. Presses were solid.

08/10 We: Fever down, throat 50% better, hamstrings 3/4 better. Train Th morning. Keeping up shoulder dislocates and OHSQ, some Hindu pushups. Feel ok.
--
08/11 Th 16kg and 20kg SN sets
1-2 TGU, 5 OAJ, get my pulse up
-
20kg SN:1-2'@16rpm/1'r x5-6 all L first, then R, 16kg when fatigued
1'SN @20kg,20kg,16kg, 20kg SW 20reps,20reps, stopped for blisters
-
10 20kg GSQ/5 40# OHSQ x2
5 bench jumps, stretch

Notes: chalked, probably shouldn't have. Blistered bad. Hate snatches, and chalk. Love squats. OHSQ 30-40# for a while with bench jumps. When ready, train SW to rebuild SN.

Note to self: I need a heavy low pull to support the clean of "clean and jerk". If I have this much trouble adapting to 20kg snatch, I will seriously consider training Long Cycle with swings and barbell work for support.
--
08/13 Sa 16kg Jerk
Mobility, stick work and OHSQ, Jumps
-
Goal = 9-10/1', 1'r x5-6 sets
Done = 12,12,12,12,12,15. Focused on fixation. Actually got better 4 sets in.
-
5FSQ/30bumps: 1
10’ Stairs total volume: finished 4 laps/5:30.

Notes: Stairs ended with serious systemic fatigue, muscles twitching, grip and back tired. Jerks felt fine; carries were rough. Quick and constant work today, but worn out a little earlier than if I'd been healthy. Wife had 102 fever from this last night.

Training Log 07/23-following, time for a break

2011-07-29T18:00:00.001-04:00

Did a 20kg biathlon sets test, which went okay but strained my back again. Two straight weekends. It turns out I've been almost 4 full months without a rest week.

--
07/23 20kg Biathlon sets
feeling skippy, testing actual biathlon sets instead of 5-8
Mobility, 5' bike warmup
J:20kg/2' sets
16, 16 video, 11/90" failed lockout
SN: 1'ea sets
17 video, 15
5SQ, 30bump x2 sets
Stretch deep in the sun.

Notes: Belt and full chalk today, felt interesting. Not a hindrance at all, though the belt did pinch a little belly against my elbow. Left lower back felt sore again like last weekend, something in my swing/snatch motion.

--
07/24 Monday issues
Worked on left gluteus medius and opening the hip all day Monday to break the pain. I think I'm done.

--
Rest of this week and the next are cancelled.

I have logged 3-5 sessions per week with no more than 3-4 days off since 03/31. No wonder I have lower back fatigue. Have been working out as a mental escape and preoccupation, to bored and restless on off days to actually take them off.

First, I need to revisit some internal priorities and clear my head. Do not do this again.

Second, I'm amazed I made 16wks straight. Revisit my 3-wk cycle design as 4- or 5-wk blocks. I clearly do have more capacity than 3 wks.

--
Recovery through August 05:
Joint mobility drills: wide knee circles, T-spine ribbons, shoulder girdle circles, elbow circles
Band and ball work as needed
- multiple times daily
10 Hindu pushups
10 BW close squats
10 Hindu pushups
10 full squats and hip stretches
-
Hang stretches and cat/cow stretches as available

No full-tension pullups, pistols, etc until at least the weekend. That should be 6 days rest and a week of light recovery. I need this. The open-chain wide knee circles are doing good things for my left hip and my right VMO. Squat's much deeper with natural spine curve and toes forward.

Consider restarting with 16kg biathlon short sets, then evaluating whether to do another 3wks strength work or 20kg biathlon. Probably the "Volume Template" in notes. Need to be doing 20kg volume by 08/31 to make the meet season.

Training Log 07/16-07/22 Strength block 3

2011-07-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Dropping hanging leg raises. Hip flexors are tense already and need to be open for dead lifts and swings. Rely on tension support for ab work.

--
Wknd Single Heavy Work
Mobility, BW warmup
24kg TGU: 10'
-
5 Pull-ups, 1 HLR: 3 sets
DL 3x150,170,170
-
Low SW: 15ea/2' (7, 210 total)

Notes: 142.0 pre-hydrated. Interesting I haven't put on weight yet. This was a good mix overall. Some of the DLs weren't right. Did not sleep: work, epic neighborhood fail. Lower back sore beyond 24hrs. Band work on hips relieved it.

--
Tue Double 20kg Complexes
Mobility, 5' low bike
8CL,8J: 8888,8LC
5SQ,20bump: x3
Stairs: 2 laps of 65 up-down/7'. Plenty of other work done.

Notes: AC out. Scale broken. Lockout tired after 4 sets. HOT. No air. Lifting and eating are spot-on, but not sleeping enough. Salvaging rest after RFCs, up late with glowing rectangles. Need to change nighttime routine.

--
Thu Single Heavy Work
Mobility, BW warmup
24kg TGU: 4ea/8'
-
3-5 Pull-ups: 4,4,4
110lb BB DL: 8,10,10
-
Low SW: 15/15/2' x5
BW cool down.

Notes: SW until skin started moving. DL felt great this time. TGU felt tough, but better. Much better.

Training Log 07/09-07/15 Building Strength Again

2011-07-15T21:37:00.000-04:00

Week 2 of a "strength block" of training, prepping to move up to 20kg Biathlon in the Fall. I read a few articles lately on specificity of training. Faleev on power lifting: just the 3 lifts, unless you are correcting a hazardous dysfunction. Vasiliev and others on GPP for GS: use running, BB lifting, and other sports outside competition season to build GPP. 60-70% of session time spent on warm-up and cool-down. Interesting. Specialized training is demanding stuff.

This "20min to a fitter you" philosophy is a marketing gimmick. Even doing the most basic RKC beginner's workout, I needed to warm up first, and I got sore if I didn't stretch thoroughly at least 1-2 times a week. 20 minutes can help general fitness. It cannot maintain a high-level enthusiast or a competitive athlete, not 20 minutes all-inclusive. 20 minutes of actual resistance training, plus maintenance, that can work.

I'm finding my knees pop in acute angles, and hundreds of weekly squats have not fixed that. The video of my squats sounds like leather stretching, but that's just the cracking and popping with bad acoustics. I'm strong, and I'm mobile, and I'm a coin-toss every morning. Granted, the doc did say I had stretched or "partially torn" my MCL, and I'm missing part of my VMO. Let's try warmup on a recumbent stationary bike with the seat low enough for acute flexion.

I also need to start prepping my snatch technique again. Add some dead lift volume for strength instead of HS swings. Add GS style "low swings" for grip endurance and maintaining arm-trunk contact in the backswing. Pulling from the shoulder's a bad habit for me. Use the right tool for the job.

There's this little grouping I'm doing as warmup and before the majority of meals: knee circles, shoulder girdle (upper T-spine) circles, 10 Hindu pushups, 10 close squats, 10 Hindu pushups, 10 full squats. I'm doing it almost so often that it's not worth documenting, so I'll call it "4 tens" in warmup. I may actually be working out the rotation in my left shoulder. 60 Hindu pushups a day (for someone who never does pushups) will do that.

--
07/09 Double 20kg Complexes
Warmup: 4 tens, 5' low bike

5CL,5J, 2-5s hold: 6 sets, #5 on video
5SQ,20bumps: 3 sets
planned 4, winded

4 tens and stretch

Notes: BW 141.5. 16oz Gatorade before, sloshed in belly during jerks. Did discrete bumps instead of JSQ, treating each as a jerk rep. Knee responding well to warmup and maintenance work. Did extra skill work, less drill work, felt "cardio" was already accomplished. No work wasted for its own sake.

--
Tue Single Heavy Work
4 tens, 5' low bike

24kg TGU: 2ea/5'
-
3-5 Pull-ups, HLR: 4,3,3
DL: 3ea 160lb, 140lb, 120lb
- 3 circuits
Low SW: 10/10 x10
planned 4-5
Stretch

Notes: turning into grip and back day, okay. Complements jerk and squat day. BW 143.0 pre-hydrated. There's no productive reason to do DL in drop sets in this routine.

--
Thu 20kg Double Complexes
4 tens, 5' low bike

8CL, 8J 5"OH: x5 (88855)
5SQ,20bumps: x3
Stairs: 3 laps/9' with some rests

Notes: First full set of stairs with 2x20kg. No shame in catching my breath. Started losing the lockout in jerk at set 3. Traced it back to a weak launch, of course, pressing out at the top. Changing to a shoulder-width stance in set 4 benefited my undersquat and didn't cost much in my launch. If I can train this, intentionally, it will benefit my LC and not let my joints inhibit my 2nd dip.

Ordinarily, the jerk suffers from a wider stance because of the change in the angle of force. You don't see a lot of short guys doing LC because of the spread. This new to the weight class, I'm completing 8 CL and 8 J in 2'. Not bad. Stay here until 5 sets 8 is strong.

Training Log - program change to 20-24kg strength work

2011-07-07T08:41:00.000-04:00

Long Cycle has always fit me well, in the sense that the movement grooves well with little practice and does not provoke soreness. I wanted to get my LC rank III (16kg) so as not to fall behind my Biathlon ranking, but I did not specify a number of weeks or 10' straight. I ranked this week, and I'm moving on to heavier weight. This is a block of 24kg and double 20kg drills to build my strength up. May (need to) put on mass (to progress), so eating freely and tracking BW. Adding squat work almost every day to build up to the heavier jerks. Get-ups feel really good right now.

--
07/02 Sat 2x16kg LC
Warmup, mobilize. Video.
BW: 141.5
LC: 44/6'
added 12/2' x2 to finish at 10' total
Stretch out.

Notes: slept in, trained 14hr fasted. Petered out at the last rep, probably due to being fasted the extra few hours, but the set was solid. That video's been sent in to WKC. This was what I wanted to do, plain and simple.

PM
standing holds
2x16kg 5'
2x20kg 2', 2', 2'

--
07/03 Sun stretching and sunshine
Sun salutes: 2 sets 5 ea
Face-the-wall Squats: 2 sets 10
24kg TGU: 5 ea/10'
24kg 2-handed hardstyle Swings: 5 sets 20
Stretch and sun

Notes: how great will my overhead be when I can do 5 TGU each side without unloading the bell? This felt good. Excited about this month. And the heavy HS swings were a good addition. Go ahead and make the change.

--
07/05 Tue Double 20kg Complexes
Mobilize and windmills as needed. Be mobile and safe.
5CL,3-5jerk/PP: x3 (5,5,5)
5SQ,20FSQ: x3
Stairs: 2laps/5'
Stretch 15', felt good

Notes: 143.0lbs. Shoulder fatigue on stairs. Jerk launch was weak. Add bench jumps, patience. This will come together. Good first session.

--
07/06 Wed maintenance
Before every meal, 10 Hindu pushups x2, 10 close squats, 10 full squats done explosively.
Started when I rolled out of bed, and had a protein meal immediately after. I like this pre-meal routine a lot. Not stressful, not heavy or resource-intensive.

--
07/07 Thu Single Heavy Work
24kg TGU: 6', 4ea
- Circuit
3 Pullups, HLR
5 Goblet SQ
- 4 circuits

24kg Pulls:
OALC: 5ea, for practice
SW: 3'@20 2H hardstyle, 3'@10ea sport style
Stretch thoroughly

Notes: BW 142.5 with 1pt Gatorade in me. A little sore later. 24 is definitely heavy for me. Hardstyle swings are a surprising challenge at this weight and this long out of practice.

Get-ups were more squared and solid after I became aware of my left shoulder external rotation and ducking around beneath the bell. Much better now. Moving very well. Keep these up.

Training Log 06/25-07/01 LC wk 2

2011-07-01T17:37:00.000-04:00

Week 2 of focused Long Cycle training. I gave myself up to 6wks to make my rank numbers in LC (42 reps), then ranked in 2wks. For some odd reason, LC doesn't make me sore, so my perception of recovery and progress is different. I need to transition up a weight class and reserve 16kg for conditioning work.

--
06/25 24kg OALC
BW 141.5, not even trying. Last-min upgrade 20-24kg. We'll see.

Warmup, mobilize, TGUs xx
CP: 1 3-rung push presses :-p
OALC: 1'ea, 1'r x4-5
7,6,6,8,9 (total 36ea/10')
Cycling: L9 4.1/15' 145HR 120cal

Notes: over-rotated a couple with the new weight, all early. Grip fatigued, not hips. Presses are a waste at this weight; do get-ups here and 2x16kg Dbl MP later.

--
06/26 Sun 2x16kg LC (opt)
>> lost sleep, knee sore, worked overnight and afternoon. 5pm short session
Warmup, mobilize
LCCP/Pullups: 1 x3r
LC: 1'@10rpm,1'r x5-6
10, 10, 10, 10, 20/2'
stairs, cycling (skipped)

5' walk, stretch lightly

Notes: dbl cp and pullups were easy. Don't have 30 of them, but short sets were easy. LC pace was aggressive, but reasonable. Jerk has gotten easy, springy, even with the wider stance. My second dip is clearer on video now than a few weeks ago.

--
06/28 Tue 2x16kg LC plus drills
Warmup, mobilize
LCCP/Pullups: 1 x3r

LC: 3',1'r x3-4
18/3', 1'r x4
Stairs: 3laps/5'30"

Notes: banged a finger during warmups; manned it out. Last 1' was real shaky. 6rpm is a LOT of rack time; 7-8rpm may feel better as soon as it's sustainable.

--
06/29 Wed mobility work
Arm bars, get-ups, halos, GSQ.
Midday pistols: alternating singles, 8 or 10 each with short rests. Rock bottom, good form.

--
06/30 Thu 2x16kg LC
Paged on-call, slept in, single 6' set instead of multiple sets. Let's see what this can do.

6' timer: 8,8,8,8,6,8 (46), big PR!
BW 142.5, rank III with spares
2x16kg 5SQ+20JSQ x3
Stretch well

Notes: Skipped cycling and stairs in favor of squat/jump squat complexes. This was short, intense, and focused. Felt good. If not for the 6' timer, I could have actually done 50-plus.

Question: Will I reach a point of diminishing returns gained by extending LC instead of moving up to 20kg biathlon? I need to move up more than I need to sit on LC just because I find it fun. Get a rank video, get a 10' limit test, and move on.

Can I do this instead of that? No.

2011-06-23T22:35:00.002-04:00

I just finished a 6-month program, laid out for me by a coach and culminating in a competition. I made small changes when my stamina improved or to improve mobility. Otherwise, the goals I laid out for months 4, 5, and 6 were met on schedule. I lost 8lbs in the 5th month, right on schedule, and I followed the program.

Then there's this. One of my social venues is a web forum for kettlebell and fitness enthusiasts like myself. New people join the forum, post comments on their own threads until their post count says "Senior Member", and start re-posting the same questions until someone agrees with them.

"Can I do cardio from this program alongside the strength phase of this other program?"

"Can I add high-volume calisthenics along the part of this other program that says 'no other strength training at this time'? "

"I have decided to program my workout this way instead of following the book. I've been at it for a week, and I feel great. Doesn't everyone think this is a great idea?"

I'll summarize by quoting the FAQ of Pavel's "Enter the Kettlebell", with due respect and credit.

"Q: Can I substitute the... with the...?"
"A: No. By virtue of your asking this question."

I'm a student and an educator by nature, and a compulsive hobbyist. I'm bothered by little things "done wrong", like South American fish and Asian plants in the same aquarium. I also care a little and feel compelled to help. Step 1 is to have a goal. Step 2 is to take stock of your own resources and limitations. Planning your training is at least as late as step 3.

"Can I trade out dead lifts and squats from this powerlifting program for shoulder shrugs and bench presses from this body building program?" No, they are completely different. Do kettlebell swings, do rowing, do some sort of hip-driven pull. The shrug is a gesture of someone who does not care. Care.

"I tore my hands up doing snatches; can I keep doing snatches with gloves to train for my RKC." First, no. Pain will corrupt your technique. Let your hands heal. Second, you're not passing the RKC. It's an instructor's certification, and you didn't know better than snatching with blisters.

I'm taking some time off the forum, for my own sake. For the next 6wks, I'm doing 2x16kg Long Cycle, pullups, and carrying bells up and down stairs. Strength training for 6wks after that. Follow me here weekly if you like. You'll be on a program for the next 90 days, right? Send me a link to your training journal, and I'll follow that instead of the forum.

Training Log 06/19-06/24 (Long Cycle wk1)

2011-06-23T21:28:00.000-04:00

I'm starting a block of Long Cycle (Clean and Jerk) training. My long-term goal is to maintain competency in both the Biathlon and the Long Cycle, so there will be milestones along the way to keep their ranks equal. After the 16kg bell, rank tests must be performed at competitions, which are not that common here.

The major competitions are at least slightly "seasonal", with LC in the Spring and Biathlon in the Fall. I may be able to make 20kg Biathlon for Southeast Regionals in November and 20kg LC at the GA State meet next June. I may find cause to travel for this...

--
06/21 Tue Pullups and 2x16kg LC
Warmup, mobilize.
LCCP and Pullups: 2 x1-2-3 in supersets
LC: 2',1'r x4
14,12,12,12 (call it 6rpm)
Cycling: L9 2.7/10' 135HR 75cal

Notes: good start. 6rpm, good volume. Triceps really sore. Knee felt fine.

--
06/22 Wed

Not a training day, but got asked about wreck 'n rehab. Did around 10 pistols each.

--
06/23 Thu 2x16kg LC
Warmup, mobilize, halos, single OH SQ
TGU: 2
LC: 12/2' x5, 1'r
13,12,12,12,17 (7,10) = 66/10' total

Stairs: 3laps/under 6'

Notes: felt good. A little stiff later, but not bad. Plenty of grip fatigue work, including stairs. I like this. Single overhead squat felt surprisingly good. Add some double OH SQ by the end of next week, and add some JSQ sets back into the mix. Not as critical for this slow pace as it was for the jerk, but good squat work will certainly help.

2011 Georgia State Kettlebell Sport Championships

2011-06-20T18:26:00.000-04:00

18 June, 2011, Duluth, GA at Extreme Fitness, hosted by WKC Master Trainer Scott Shetler. I counted 12 competitors on the card, male and female, representing biathlon, long cycle, and strong sport. There were several men competing 20kg LC, and several women put up numbers above rank and lasted the full 10 minutes.

I scored 60J, 54SN to make WKC rank III at 65kg with reps to spare.

I hoped for 60 Jerk and 55 Snatch, both of which would have been personal records by 5 reps. I tried to recover the last snatch, but I couldn't close my fingers around the handle. It was just "over". I took a break in the Jerk at 50 reps, between rank and PR. That breather got me 10 more reps in the 7th minute. I am very close to a 10min set in the Jerk.

On a training note, this is the first time I've taken most of a week's rest before a max effort instead of maintaining momentum. I had a couple of light sessions, 10 reps of each and some bicycling and stretching. I do believe I went in rested, but I definitely came out more sore than I've been in a long time. My knee and triceps were sore for more than 48hrs afterward.

Where do I go from here?

Make steady improvement on movement in my right knee and my left shoulder.
Get my Long Cycle rank III by the end of July. I'm not actively competing it yet, but I don't want my two events to get very staggered.
Train 3/wk for a while. Get a little of my life back on the weekends. Keep a 4th session of one-armed work on file for when I'm bored.
Rank II (20kg) by the Autumn meet. Start some strength training now, which will involve some heavy lifting and more eating. Maintain 10 pullups, 10 pistols, and <150lbs.
Extend my 16kg work to 10min, no questions asked. I need a lightweight, high-volume option. I'm at 7min in both lifts right now.

Training Log 06/11-06/17 State Champs Week

2011-06-20T10:10:00.000-04:00

Light training this week, resting for GA State meet on Saturday.

--
06/11 Sat Assistance work
Warm up, mobilize, stretch, jumps
16kg OALC: 2 sets 5 for warmup
Jerk, 10" OH hold: 3 sets 5
SW: 1'ea, 1'rest, 2 sets
2x16kg stair carries, 3 floors: 4 laps/8'

Notes: 143.5lbs, dressed. Good session, not exhausted. Good OH work.
PM 2x16kg Static holds: 4', 1'rest, 4'

--
06/12 Sun Biathlon
Warm up, mobilize, band stretch, jumps
Scratched plan to do multiple short sets in favor of short rank test
J: 12,12,12,9,5/4'30" (48 and 2 spares)
SN: 20,20,5 ea/4'40" (45)
2x16kg stair carries, 3 floors: 4 laps/7'30"

Notes: 142.0lbs. Just did not feel like 2' sets today. J: 3'@12 was a very significant milestone for conditioning and sprint capacity. Maybe try a comfortable 4-5' on Tuesday, 40 each lift.

P.S. Calves are no longer sore from stair carries. This rank set and stair carry was in VFFs. Stretching out well. This addition may have peaked at an ideal time.

--
06/14 Tue
skipped morning for poor sleep, after work...
OAJ/GSQ: 2x5
TGU: 3 plus 1 ratchet
OAJ: 10, 16/1' ea
SW: 50ea non-stop
Cycling: L9 4.2mi/15', 130HR 125cal
Stretch lightly

--
06/15 Wed pm
8' static hold at arms' length, 2x16kg. Stretching.

Notes: when this hits 10', move up to 20kg.

--
06/16 Thu mobility
BW 141.0
Lunch: mobilize and warmup
Superset pullups/pistols: 4, 3, 3
18 floor round-trip stair walk
Evening stretch

--
06/17 Fri light work
Warmup, stretch, light session
Cycling: 4.25mi/15', 120HR, 115cal
Few jerks, few OAJ, few SN
Some half-Get Up work with spine mobilization
Stretch out

Feels good.

Bonus Round!

2011-06-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

I got last-minute notice of an Indian Club training session this afternoon and bailed work early to get there. Thanks to Scott Shetler for hosting at Extreme Fitness, and thanks to Dr. Ed Thomas for leading a tiny group of us in this surprising, challenging skill. It's just a circle. When did circles get so hard?

I also hung around to video a rank IV (12kg) attempt in Long Cycle. I don't practice a lot of LC. Most competitors focus on biathlon the majority of the year and prep for LC competitions the last couple months before a meet. I'm a biathlon competitor, but I just love what LC represents as an exercise. The heavy swing, the rack, the jerk, the slower pace and slower accumulation of points. LC's always appealed to me. And LC video thumbnails just ROCK.

I didn't want to get more than one or two biathlon ranks and have to start over from scratch at LC, so I planned to "throw together" a LC rank attempt whenever my jerk was good enough. Started shaky, got progressively smoother. That lighter weight never really "pinned" me into the rack or forced me to counterbalance the swing. By rep 40 or so, I was keeping time at four breaths for well over 7 minutes. This is remarkably focused and cathartic for me, especially at a lighter weight like this. If I hadn't trained twice already, I could have done this all day.

Training Log 06/04-06/10 The Home Stretch

2011-06-09T09:17:00.000-04:00

Hands are healing well. First couple sets of snatch did not tear, which is a good thing. Made my target weight on Saturday, 143.0lbs. 143.3 is exactly 65kg, so I am there without rounding or fudging. Finally sustained 12rpm jerk Sunday for the first time. Stair carries are more relevant and sustainable GPP work than squats, more challenging than bicycling. I wish I could run.

Thursday, I hit the 70kg rank III numbers at a weigh-in of 65kg. PR on both lifts, and broke a month-long plateau on snatches.

--
06/04 Sat Assistance work plus 2x16kg bells
Mobilize, warm up, band stretches, 30' total
2x16 LC + 10" OH hold: 2 sets 5
- worked out to around 3rpm with this extended OH hold.
5CL, 5SQ, 10JSQ: 5 sets with 45" rest
1H SW: 1'ea x2, 30rpm

Cycling: upgrade to L9. 4.4mi/15', 150HR, 130cal
Stretch

Notes: BW 143.0. +2lbs by end of session, most of it on my shirt. Band and mobility work helped my squat form. OH holds were really helpful, actually relaxing my quads in lockout a couple times. LC is always fun.

Tiny bubble under new skin on a finger. May need anti-perspirant and tape for snatches. Clean and squat finisher was fun and challenging, but it fried my hips for the next 2-3 days.

--
06/05 Sun Biathlon short sets
Slept poorly, woke up with stiff hip and sore knee. Mobilize and warm up, band stretches.

J: 12/1', 1'rest x5, 15/1' blind sprint to finish

SN/SW: 90"ea, 1'rest x4
25, 22, 18, 10sn + 30"sw each

In lieu of cycling,
3-floor stair carries, shoulders up and farmers down: 5 laps in 9'

Stretch

Notes: hips REALLY tight, but hamstrings loose enough to forward fold head to shin. Never acheived a useful 12rpm jerk before. This will certainly help my conditioning. Band work on my shoulder external rotation really helped.

Stair carries made a GREAT finisher. Leg drive and dip absorption. Shoulder/rack and vertical posture going up, grip impact going down, intense general cardio. Breathing like a train for 9'; I would love to do this for 15-20' instead of cycling. Left my calves really sore, but works the conditioning really well..

--
06/07 Tue Biathlon for time (on video)
Mobilize, warm up, band stretches
Goal: 6'/6'

J: 54/6' (10,10,10,8,8,8) (PR! woo!)
10' rest
SN: 43/6' (tragic)

3-floor stair carries: 3 laps/6'
Stretch

Notes: calves REALLY sore, hips not so much. Surprised I had any launch at all. 1 possible no-count jerk, and a couple of under-dip snatches. Jerk was a PR for time and reps, 6/30" improvement with a little in the tank. Left stopped at 44, almost dropped the bell. Did not have 1 more rep in that hand. Right actually dropped the bell at 43, and there was a peeled callus on the floor. Need to find a better use of intermission to prep forearms, maybe add some static holds or carries. I shouldn't be fighting with this right now. I should be reaching for 60 or 65 reps right now.

--
06/08 Wed
Slept in, soreness in L shoulder from pulling snatches. Worked on that all day.
a.m. 2x16kg side carries, 4', 1'r, 4'
12kg single OH holds 4x1' alt hands.
p.m. 2x16kg side carries, 4', 1'r, 4'

Notes: Start doing these drills regularly. This was good stuff. Standing static holds will help. The overhead holds revealed that my left brachial/ulnar trunk gets impinged and numb over time, even under flexible and optimized posture. May change my strategy on resting during snatches until I can address this later in the summer.

--
06/09 Thu Biathlon for reps, on video
BW 143lb (65kg)
Mobilize, warm up, band stretches
Goal: 55J/55SN

J:55/6'40" PR! Gave myself 1 no-count, had more in the tank.
10' rest
SN:50ea/6'30" PR!

3-floor stair carries: 3 laps/6'
Stretch

Notes: On video, timing was approximate. Jerks worked well. Focus on a visible second dip, even though I'm slamming the heels with my knees bent. Snatches went better at a slightly higher pace on the left. These are both PR numbers and rank III 70kg numbers. I am so relieved to hit 70kg rank at 65kg weight a week in advance.

Training 05/28-06-03

2011-06-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

Dialing back from 5/wk to 4/wk. This weekend was uncertain going in, but long-term something like this.

Sa Jerk sets and squats
Su Snatch/swing sets and cycling, OR Biathlon closer to competition
Tu Biathlon for a timed set
Th Biathlon for a rep number

Remembering that I peeled calluses off left hand last week, I'm willing to switch snatches to swings if needed. I wish I could snatch consecutive days. I wish I had another month to do 1-arm heavy support work, but it's time to scale that back and do the show. Here we go.

--
05/28 Sat
BW 144.5
DL 5x110,130,160
Parallel pistols: 5,5,5 alt
Cycling: 5.8mi/20', HR135, 160cal, 2' end sprint: 125rpm, HR 150.
Stretch well

Notes: first pistols since 05/09, felt good. DL felt good. "Rest" day, right? De-loading at least.

--
05/29 oh, well. Other plans did not materialize.
Mobilize and warm up
J: 2x3', 1'30" rest
10,10,10;6,6,6
SN: 2x2-3', watch skin
2'ea@15, peeled other hand. 40sw ea and done.
Stretch

Notes: peeled other hand during snatches. Did not hurt, came off in a lump on the handle. Actually flicked it and finished the set. Like a boss. 6rpm jerk actually felt almost uncomfortably slow. Breathing never got into a rhythm. That's kind of good.

--
05/30 Memorial Day
Warm up
Pullups: 6,6,6
110#DL: 10,10,10
Cycling: 5.5/20', 135HR, 155cal
Stretching and yoga on roof

Notes: BW 143.5. Pizza Hut made me poop into a lower weight class. Who knew? Good pullups. DLs felt great. Good basic Exercise Day. I wish I could fit this in more often.

--
05/31 Tue Biathlon
Mobilize, warm up
Goal 5'/5', 40 ea optimistic
J: 5'
8rpm, 40/5'
5' rest
SN: 5' split
15,14,6/15,14,6 (34,34/5')
Stretch

Notes: mashed middle finger cleaning up gym. Big bruise over the first knuckle. Affected overlap grip, but worked around it and finished the time. Not a bad snatch total for being a little out of practice.

--
06/02 Thu Bi
Mobilize, warm up
Goal 50/45
J: 50/6'-plus w/o clock.
- 10' walking and mobility work
SN: 42/6'-plus w/o clock. Shoot.
Stretch well

Notes: BW 143.5, and apparently stable! For reference, my WL shoes are 2.5lb.

Jerks felt good. I had a couple more. I was resting fairly well in a left-side slouch. I was very tired at the end, but I was not at failure. I've not done jerks to failure in weeks; I have no idea where my actual limit is. My rightward lean seems to be from residual tension in the left glute and hamstring. Right hip flexor stretches can practically dislocate, so it's not the flexors. After a set of hip openers last night, just standing up straight was visibly rotated to the right. May work on SLDLs and some pistol/lunge progressions.

Snatches have not been 100% in a while. Left arm has a persistent ulnar groove tightness, like there's a tendon or nerve slightly inflamed. I got to 42 legit, plus one obvious no-count. Grip just died; my hand was this weird claw that wouldn't close anymore. I was so stressed that my right hand was sweaty before it ever started. My record is 45, so this is more recovery than progress. May do a third biathlon day on weekends and actually take the full 30' with light cycling.

Training Log 05/21-05/27 Test and rest

2011-05-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

Short week, planning an all-out test Tuesday, then 5 days rest. Did not work out that way. I've been experimenting with chalking snatches, and it bit me bad on Sunday. I got in some good jerk work, then right knee came up really sore. Was much better by Thursday, but I've got to stop creating small injuries.

--
05/21 2x16kg Jerk and Squats
- Drive. Relax. Breathe.
shoulders, hips, jumps, OALC warmup
J: 2x16/ /3-4' x2-3
30/3', 30/3', 20/2', lockout getting weak, but good work
5CL-FSQ 20JSQ: 3sets
Stretch legs and back

Notes: finally got elbows to IC in squats. Lockout got loose in set 3. Drive was good. 10rpm was good. Good session.

--
05/22 16kg Snatch and Cycling
- Drive. Relax. Breathe. Done a lot of hasty 4' lately. Maybe 2',1'r,2' L, then repeat on R.
shoulders, hips, Windmills
SN: 2' left, 1' rest, 2' right
Mistake. Outdoors and hot, chalked thoroughly. Blistered the left hand at 3', did not feel it coming on. Blistered the right hand at 3', did not feel it coming on. Tried some swings for conditioning work.
SW: 30ea, no more. Done.
Cycling: 5.5mi/20', HR 130, 160 cal

Notes: chalk does not help me unless the handle is wet-chalked to a smooth, almost plastic finish. The new WKC bells don't have the texture on the handles to hold chalk that way. Outside does not work for SN. Screwed Tue test day entirely, and may lose snatch practice next week. Did not feel any pain 2 reps before failure. Should have seen this coming.

The snatch grip pressure is not equal across all fingers. The fingers that usually slide on the handle with very little pressure were sticking by the chalk and creating friction. Some light damage on middle fingers, but major damage on ring and pinkie fingers, which I don't even use to support the bell. I may be able to do jerks Tuesday or Thursday, but even cleans will be dangerous between now and next week. Dang it.

--
05/23 Mon
Mobility on roof
Cycling: 6.1mi/20', HR 135 at 110rpm, 170cal.
Ended w 3' sprint at 120rpm, HR 155.
FTW SQ: 10,10,10
Divebomber Pushups: 10
Stretch

Knee feels okay. HR is lower now for 20'@110rpm than 3mos ago for 12'@100rpm.

--
05/24 Tue 16kg 2x16kg Jerk test, no SN
- Drive. Relax. Breathe.
shoulders and hips warmed up

J: no attn to clock, test on video
55/6'30" PR, rank III number + 2
Cycling: 3.2/12', 135 HR, 90cal

Notes: pinched heel of thumb 2-3 times near the end, which is weird to do. Made rank plus 2, called it done.

PS: knee got very sore and noisy by afternoon. Mobilized and rubbed down, then iced. Presents catch/pop pain at 90deg, then tension pain at 45deg.

--
05/26 Thu, 144.75lb BW after breakfast
Mobilize all, focus on stabilizing right leg
- alt DL sets with Pullups
Dumbbell Deadlifts: 10x100, 10x120, 5x150
Pullups: 5Close Chin, 5Overhand, 5Towel
Cycling: 5.6mi/20' L8, 135HR, 160cal
Stretch, ice knee

Notes: DLs felt good, pullups were crisp and deep. Strong ext torque on leg relieved knee pain. Make a note. Granted there was rest and therapy, but this practically re-set my knee. I can pass parallel without a hitch, and I can get rock-bottom with a slightly wide stance and parallel feet. This feels great. Also, I did not have any trouble with my hands after all this hook-grip pulling. May be able to snatch next week after all.

--
Notes: 4-wk back off overdue. Last SN PR was May 05, 45ea/6'. Haven't touched it in almost 3wks. L elbow (ulnar nerve) sore since May 15. Blisters on both hands from experimenting with chalk. Strained right knee May 09, still impaired 2wks later. K-Starr's hip openers definitely stretched the knee in the spot where it's sore, like the external torque came from outside the leg. I am NOT injury-free. This is NOT effective training. Lose the chalk for snatches. Drop the 5th session. Rest before resuming with SN day, J day, two Bi days until State. Make weight, or don't, but quit worrying about weight on June 19.

Training Log 05/14-05/20

2011-05-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

Starting the week with a sensitive right knee. Aware of this since a mild patellar strain last Monday (seems to be vastus medialis obliquus). It's getting better, but it's regulating my jerks, deep squats, and stretching.

--
05/14 2x16kg Jerk, Squats
- Drive. Relax. Breathe.
shoulders, hips, jumps 2 x5
OAJ: 10-15ea for breathing

- J: 2x16/40 or 4' x2 sets
35 vid, no clock. Do 40 or 5' next.
40/4'30", cheated some 2nd dips
-

5FSQ 20JSQ: 2
15 Step ups and dips: 2
Stretch back, arms, easy on legs

Notes: triceps and shoulders were tired after. Video shows a SLOW lockout during even the first set, evidence of a sloppy leg drive. Knee was weak but not in pain. I was still tentative with it and cheated a LOT of the second dips. Nothing but massage and ice until Tuesday. Breathing was "off", a little hasty. Never sustained a groove like last week, but I did drift in and out of grooves and keep going for two significant sets.

--
05/15 16kg Snatch, Cycling
shoulders, hips
- Stack. Relax. Breathe.

SN: 16kg/ /4-5' x2-3
30+30/4', 30+30/4', 20+20 untimed

Cycling: 5.25mi/20', HR 125, 150cal
Stretch well, careful with legs

Notes: L elbow sore, feels like ulnar nerve tension. I even stretched between sets. HR was unusually low for a snatch/cycling session. I hope I can attribute that to spectacular conditioning. Finding that the hip opener stretch puts tension on R knee and causes shooting pain around VMO. Susceptible to stretch in internal or external rotation or deep flexion. Be careful with this. This is wk 3, but close enough to the meet to warrant a rest either right now or at weekend.

--
05/17 16 Biathlon
shoulders, hips, jumps 2 x5
- Plan for practice sets, not PR numbers.

J: 10,9,9,8/4'
Stopped early and safe. On video.

SN:35+30
Bell had something on the handle. Grip was irritated.

Notes: Good practice anyway. Sustained 9rpm in Jerk. Snatches were hasty and lacked rhythm, so stopped well short of failure. Knee was okay.

From video: lean back more from snatches. Get forearm on torso. Legs are not vertical in jerks. Stacking and 2nd dip were irregular.

--
05/18 2x16 Jerk, Squats
- Drive. Quads. Breathe.
shoulders, hips, jumps 2 x5

J: 2x16/4-breath test, 2-3'
40/4', 3'r, 24/2', 3'r, 12/1'

5FSQ 20JSQ: 2 sets
Stretch legs and back

Notes: Good drive today. 12rpm is a bear, but 8-10 is manageable and available to me now. This went well. A few reps (no video) absolutely shot up in the air and I moved underneath. My usual motion pulls back overhead at the top. Those few unusual reps were the easiest I've ever done.

--

Training Log 05/07-05/13, Rank IV Test

2011-05-13T20:00:00.001-04:00

Basics over the weekend, testing rank IV (12kg) on Monday.

--
05/07 16kg Snatch, Cycling
sh ext rot, hips, Windmill

- SN: 16kg/16-18rpm/1-2' alt hands
2' ea @16 x3, 2'/1'30"@18
= 128
10ea 2breath: xx
20ea 2breath: x
- Total = 128,10,10,20 = 168ea

Cycling 5.75 mi/20', HR 140, 160 cal
Stretch

Felt good. Did some at pace, some slower with extra breaths in the rhythm. The timing practice was good.

--
05/08 2x16kg Jerk, Squats
- rank test Monday, lighten up
- Big leg drive. Quads relaxed.
sh rot, hips, jumps 2 x5

J 2-3 sets: 24/3',26/3',24/3'

Stretch legs and back

Felt good. 9' total volume at pace. I need more days like this. Soon I'll start reducing assistance work and adding volume sets like this.

--
05/09 rank IV test @5:30

12kg, 55J, 52SN @65kg BW
Jerk Video
Snatch Video

Tested at 65kg. I wanted to present 70kg numbers, mostly to show myself that I could, and to pad a couple extra reps in case the reviewer finds fault. Coach says these looked good. I had more in the tank, lots more. I could probably go 10' at pace with that weight. Vids currently not on my own channel and not searchable; hence, the links.

--
05/11 2x16 Jerk
shoulders, jumps, half get-ups, watch the right knee
- "Practice" by 4-5 breaths, video, 35+ goal, no clock. Find sustainable rhythm.

J: 2x16kg/48/5'35" <-- Big PR

16kg Jump Squats: 30, 20
Stretch well

PR on time and reps, actually 1rpm faster than usual. 65kg rank number at BW 144lb afterward, hydrated, wet t-shirt. I quit while okay, but my lockout was fading fast. Will work 75% for now and re-test in 2wks for 53/50. I think I can.

--
05/12 20kg Snatch and Deadlift
shoulders, half get-ups, watch the right knee
- Keep the arc close, in the top triangle between the legs. Stack and rest. Technique work.

SN: 1'ea @15rpm, 2'r x3sets

DL: 5x140lb, 10x140lb
Stretch well

Iffy. Right snatch was directly overhead, but the left snatch was wide. Could not do the alternating sets non-stop. Felt like a shoulder pull instead of a hip drive. Revisit this later. Heavy swings + comp snatches instead of heavy snatches. Too close to State.

--

Training Log 05/03-05/06

2011-05-05T21:54:00.000-04:00

Fresh off a 4-day rest. Not shooting for PR, but for a clean 38-40 reps in 5'30" or more. 40J/43SN is my standing PR, both in around 5'.

Goals: stack the joints. Relax the quads and shoulders between reps. Do not rush snatches; start at 12 if necessary.

--
05/03 20kg Snatch and Deadlift
shoulders, hips, TGU
SN: 10 at top of the minute, alternating hands

DL: 5x130lb, 5x150lb
10 20kg Goblet Squats
Stretch

Stacked well, 10/40-45". Ready to try 20kg/10-12/1' without setting the bell down.

--
05/04 2x16kg Jerk and Squats
shoulder, hips, jumps 2x5
- J: 2x16/ /4' x2-3, Big leg drive. Relax quads in the rack.
32/4', 3'r, 20/2', 3'r, 20/2'
15 BW dips x2
5FSQ + 35JSQ x2
Stretch legs and back

Stacking felt good. Experimented with 10rpm. I can "do" that, but it catches up with me. I don't feel all the joint discomfort, but I'm totally out of wind. Interesting angle for density training.

--
05/05 16kg Biathlon, 1 set each
shoulders, hips, warm up
- stack 'n relax. Shoot for 40 each.
J: goal 2x16/ /5-6'
(9,8,8,8)/4', stop. Launch never felt "right", didn't push it.
SN: goal 16/ /5'30"
(45+45)/6', significant PR
Stretch

The launch of my jerk never felt right. My 1st dip seemed to drop away from my elbows, so it was jarring and jiggly. At least I didn't fail out in 2min. I stopped when the fatigue impacted my form.

Snatch felt good. Stacked well, breathed twice. Left hand went almost to complete failure on grip alone, not shoulder or wrist pain. Made my 3min. Technically, I was resting okay at the top and might have gotten a few more. Right hand had 3-5 more left in the grip, but there was no point. Interesting, the back of my right hand got sticky and began snagging under the handle. Got wrenched a couple times. Look into chalk, powder, whatever.

--

Recovery Work 04/30-05/01

2011-05-02T17:00:00.002-04:00

Every four weeks I take a back-off period from heavy KB work. Skipping the two weekend sessions buys me four days off. Cycling, yoga and other restorative mobility work, and plenty of sunshine.

--
04/30 Recovery work
Cycling: 5.5mi/20', HR 140
Stretching, ankle work with rubber ball
Yoga by the pool
Pistols: 15 singles each leg, alternating sides, rock-bottom. PR
6' of hip openers

Cycling with a partner, felt great. Right hip finally opened. Pistols got really droopy around 6. Stopped to activate glutes and rehearse the squat position a couple times, resumed. Felt progressively better from 8 to 12. Stopped at 15 due to fatigue, not failure. This was a clear-cut example of training strength until freshness and form first began to diminish.

--
05/01 Recovery work
- worked overnight, so not well rested
3 short sets Pullups: 5,5,3
15' Cycling: 5mi/18', 136cal, HR 145
Stretching, ankle and hip work
Yoga outdoors

Sitting overnight left me sore. Glutes and hips hurt all day. Rigorous work to loosen them up during the evening, much better Monday morning.

--

Training Log 04/23-04/28

2011-04-28T17:05:00.000-04:00

Spread out the assistance work, schedule an optional 5th session, and build some strength with one-armed heavier work. Hopefully the sessions will be shorter and more focused, and I can redeem the time with preparation and recovery. Ended with PRs of 40/5' Jerk and 43/5' Snatch.

--
04/23 24kg OAJ, SW
sh ext rot, hips, TGU x
OAJ ea: 5, 5, 5LC, 5, 10 (total 30+30)
SW 10-15ea: 15,10,10,10,10 (total 110+110)

LC actually felt good, shoulder-wide stance. This was simple and to the point, and I liked it. Started with a "5x5 strength program" idea, and the load was just right. Get-up was heavy and in a confined space, so it presented a real sense of exertion and challenge.

--
04/24 16-20kg Snatch, Cycling
sh ext rot, hips, TGU
SN: 20/9ea/1'
16/32ea/4' x2 sets
6rpm, OH holds, alternating 1': 3sets ea.
Cycling 5.3mi/20' HR 130
Stretch

Snatch sets felt good. Changing to 6rpm let me explore resting at the top. Fairly tired, still stayed up another minute and another 6 reps. PR is still 42+40/5'20" from last Thursday biathlon session. Shoot for 6' this week, even if lower rep count.

--
04/25 maintenance
Lunch hour:
stretch, 10 jerk jumps, 20 seated dips, 4 close-grip pullups, 15 Peterson step-ups
x 2 circuits

--
04/26 20kg SN and Deadlifts
sh ext rot, hip distraction stretches, squats
SN: 10, top of the minute, alternating hands
8'@10rpm changing hands, 14+15/2' finisher
DL 5x130#
DL 5x150#
Stretch

Felt good. The AC was out, so hands were humid and soft and clearly the weak link. Chalk made it worse. Fingers a little sore, but did remarkably well overall. 2' finisher was rewarding.

--
04/27 2x16kg Jerk and Squats
shoulder rotation stretches, hip stretches, TGU
- Big leg drive. Pause until quads relax, even if pace is slow.
J: 2x16/24/3' + 2'rest x3 sets
-- (tried 10rpm in the last set. Got as far as 10,6,8, but I tried.)
5FSQ+30JSQ x2sets
Stretch legs and back

TONS of little adjustments, gleaned from different trainers and therapists. Eyes, "false grip", drop, shoulder stretches, relaxed quads, could be an article in itself. This was a GOOD jerk session for me, better than the raw numbers indicate. I should write this up.

I need 10rpm so bad. I might actually be able to do 7' @8rpm, but it's not competitive. At current pace -- 15rpm snatch and 8rpm jerk -- I'm looking at 7' each to make rank. 5' @10rpm would be a relief.

--
04/28 16kg biathlon, 1 set each
shldr rotation, hip stretches, TGU
- explore stacking for rest, even with low score. Relax quads between reps.
J: 2x16/40/5'
-- Straight 8rpm. Actually stopped with gas in the tank.
10' active recovery
SN: 16/43+44/5'
-- Started 19rpm, catch-up from there. Never stacked and rested right at all.
Stretch

My mistake. Started snatches too fast, and never stacked up right. Forearms pumped, lactate caught up with me. Still a PR in both lifts, though not quite optimized. Really sore afterward.

--
begin 4wk back-off period, off 'til next Tuesday.

Training Log 04/16-04/22

2011-04-21T16:31:00.001-04:00

Met with Coach on Tuesday. Finding benefit in heavy work. Need to build up leg drive, especially on the right. Time to gut it out, endure the pain. "Welcome to the sport; do 5 minutes from now on." Have some video, but it's boring.

04/16 Saturday 16kg Snatches
warmup, TGU, halos, OAJ
- 16kg SN, indoors, some chalked
Planned 4'@15rpm, 1' rest, repeat. Did not get far.
18,12+18,12/3' - failure
10+10: 4 sets
-
Deadlift: 5 x120lb, 5 x140lb
Pistols: 2 x10
Cycling: 20', HR >145
Stretch

Late start, fasted, fast start. This did not work, overall. Lost both grip and shoulders during snatches. Even cycling hit "force of will" at only 6'. Last 4' on the edge of cramps. Sore 2hrs later. Not a good session.

Pistols worked. DL's worked, limited only by grip, not back. 18rpm screwed me, but it was a novel feeling. Grip is developing into an actual, free release and a strong hook that I never managed with traditional bells.

--
04/17 Sunday 2x16kg Jerk
warmup, windmills, halos
- J intended for time, 1-2 sets
2'@10. Rack failed.
2'@10, 2'r, 2'@6, 2'r, 4'@2 for rack work
- total = 34/10' split

15 Step-ups, 15 Dips, 5FSQ + 40JSQ: 2 sets each
Stretch

Rack was infuriating. Revisit this with Coach later in the week.

--
04/18 light 16kg work
OAJ alternating sets of 5: 2 x5
SN slow alternating sets of 5: 2 x5ea

Lunch hour: stretch legs, 5 pistols, stretch lats, 2 x3 pullups
PM: 16kg 2x5 OAJ, 4x5 SN
20kg 5 OAJ, 5 SN

Sleep and recovery... I wake up tired after training days, fresh after rest days. Mental or psychological? I handled some weight on an off day and felt good. How would I manage redistributing this into a 5th session?

--
04/19 Shoulder and hip work, Coach at 5:30pm.

Drive jerks with the legs. 5-10 vertical jumps before jerks. 2x20kg showed I was strong-arming the launch. Use volume 24kg OAJ as supplementary work. Get 16kg/5' at least once a week, period. Hanes t-shirt, WET, worked better than anything else I train in. Add a set of 20kg SN before 16kg training sets. Go for 16kg/6' snatch soon.

Preparing a new program. Possible 5 sessions/wk. Some short heavy work, some long comp work.

--
04/20 worked overnight and half of morning.

16kg 5 SW, 5 CL, 5 OAJ ea
20kg 5 SW, 5 CL, 5 OAJ ea, x2 sets

Felt good. Do often.

--
04/21 16kg biathlon sets
shoulder ext rot stretch, hips, 1 TGU, WET t-shirt
J: shoot for 35/5' - 36/5' (8,8,8,6,6)
15' active recovery
SN: shoot for 35/5' - 42+40/5'20" (15,17,12/17,15,8)
Stretch

Finally made 5' jerk. Chalked SN did not help, tore skin a little. Continue to improve the hook grip.

--
04/22 maintenance work

Begin a 5 session routine next week. 2 exercises a day, assistance work distributed through the week. 1 day each at comp weight, 1 day each heavy, 1 biathlon test weekly.

Training Log 04/11-04/15 - narrower KB jerk stance

2011-04-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

04/11 calisthenics
Begin sets of Peterson step ups throughout the day. Response speed is visibly slower on the right leg. Hip mobility work during lunch.

PM: foam roll, t-spine, 8+12kg rack 10' w step ups, 1x16kg 8' split set.

--
04/12 16kg Snatch
warmup, TGU, halos
1 set SN 16/4-5': 38+38/5' (big PR)

Pullups 2 sets of 5-8: 6 neutral grip, 5 overhand grip
DL 5ea 110#, 130#, 140#
Cycling 5.5mi/20', HR 140
Stretch

PM:
2x16 Static hang: 2', 3'
2x16 Rack: 3', 3'

Held out until my grip was truly fried this morning. Good session. Previous 16kg snatch PR was 30+30/4'. Possibly do some OA work on Wednesday.

--
04/14 2x16kg Jerk
focus on hip-wide stance today
warmup, WM, OAJ, halos
J: 2'@8, 1'r, 2'@8, 3'r, 3'@8
OAJ: 3'@10
Step Ups, Dips 15x2
5FSQ+40JSQ x2
Stretch, including hip opener from mobilitywod.com

Good work today, and some GOOD diagnostics performed. Slept well, warmed up and lifting by 6, first time in weeks. Total was 2x16/56/7', all on video. Work up to a total of 60/10' with timed rests, the whole program. The rest of this is technical in nature from identifying and fixing some problems.

Got the narrow-stance idea from Ilya Tashlanov, IGSF world champion at 68kg. He's teensy like me, and his stance is shaped like an "H". (Does he even compete LC?) Denisov and Rachinsky are much more A-shaped for LC, which fits the bells but isn't yet sustainable for me. With the new stance, my launch looks more like Tashlanov or Rudnev now and feels good. The rack carries are helping, and I'm fairly comfortable overhead when the launch is good. If I can start breathing again overhead, I'm confident it will add a full minute.

Right leg is improving, on the whole, more than adequate today. The mobilitywod.com hip opener is helping. Left ankle's lack of flexion is rotating my knee out, spreading my stance. (It was laterally sprained once, badly.) This was a good discovery, one I wouldn't have made without the stance change. It threw me completely off during jump squats! Every bounce rotated a little further out. Weightlifting shoes would relieve the limitation. I may be able to fix this in therapy, but it's gonna hurt.

Training Log 04/09-04/10

2011-04-10T17:40:00.000-04:00

04/09 Sat 12-16kg Snatch
warmup, 16kg TGU 2-3, halos
5-10 OAJ x2sets

- Snatch drop sets, as described in notes
16kg/2' + 12kg/2', each hand. See notes about weather.
16kg/(15+15) 12kg/10 L, 16kg/(15+15) 12kg/10 R

12kg/4'@15 x well chalked
16kg/ alt every 10 x3sets ea
- total 12kg/60ea, 16kg/40ea

3 sets Half PLUP: 6OH, 6Close UH, 6OH
3 sets HPistols: 5 +10lb, 8, 8
Cycling: 4mi/15', HR 140
Stretch well

Notes: I've been needing a way to add volume and length to snatch sets. An entry at Girevoy Sport After 40 caught my attention, so I tried it today. It mimics the idea of drop sets. To quote Ukranian coach Morov:

Left: 28 kg - 50 reps, put down, 24 kg - 30 reps, then 16 kg - 50 reps (130 reps total). Without rest repeat the same with the right arm.

Those weights are out of my range, but the idea is accessible. I trained outside, and the weather was muggy. The bells were moistening out of the air. The finish on the 12kg was almost slimy. This was a good idea, but poorly executed. Still, I did train 200 reps of snatch today. No video this time.

Pistols and pullups behaved remarkably well. I'm only training those twice a week. The R knee has been griping at me for 2 days. I was impressed that it warmed up and did the job. I stopped at 8R the second set because I felt the first twinge of discomfort, not because it failed.

--
04/10 Sun 2x16kg Jerk
warmup, windmills, OAJ, halos
- J: schedule 2'@10 + 30"rest, repeat
20/2', 13/1'15"
-
Step Ups, Dips: 15x2
5FSQ+40JSQ x2
Stretch

The pace caught up with me, made me sloppy. I need mechanical work. My elbows don't plant anywhere. Video shows that I'm not just aiming my left arm wide; I'm rotating to the right. I think I might be missing some feedback from my right leg, as much as I hate to keep blaming that.

--
Seeing Coach 04/12 or 04/13. May pre-empt my snatch day.

Training Log 04/05-04/07

2011-04-07T21:11:00.000-04:00

Dealing with a crick in my neck, left side. Has my shoulder a little tweaked, and the elbow's been clicking on terminal extension. This happened to me a couple weeks ago. Working a LOT on mobility therapy.

--
04/05 Tue
Woke with 2-day crick in neck. Midday calisthenics.
Modified sun salutes: pry-the-pump stretches, calf stretch, elbow extensions
Pistols 5 sets of 2
Pullups 3,4,5

Probably work my neck out one more night, train W and Th.

--
04/06 Wed 16kg Snatch
Warmup, stretch, 2-3 16kg TGU
(R callus is suspect. Be careful.)
4'@15 x1, L elbow and shoulder
2'@15 x1, 20/20 untimed x1

DB DL 10@100#, 10@120#
15' Cycling: HR 140, 3.8mi
Stretch, contrast shower, deep work on the neck/shoulder.

Left arm is definitely not 100%.

--
04/07 Thu 2x16kg Jerk
Warmup, stretch, 2 sets of 4 WM, 2 sets of 5 OAJ
J: 3'@8, 1' rest, 3'@8
3' slow: 2,3,3
- circuits
15ea P Step-Ups
15 Dips
5FSQ + 30JSQ
- 2 circuits done

1' OH walk, which felt remarkably good.
Stretch out well, contrast shower, some ice.

Felt better than I expected, honestly. This felt safe while I was doing it. I did not have 4' straight in me, so I did not push it. Sore afterward, but not surprised. I got the 3'/1'/3' set on video, but my camera angle clipped from the elbows up at the lockout. The bells moved vertically, though my left arm feels like it rotates too much. Meet with coach next week. Video this weekend's Jerks, come Hell or high water.

Training Log 04/01-04/03

2011-04-03T22:27:00.001-04:00

--
04/01 Lunch Hour Calisthenics
-
2 Sun salutations each side
3 Close pullups
3 Pistols below horizontal
- 3 circuits

My weight's down to 144lb today. The last thing that actually "packed on slabs of muscle" was Convict Conditioning calisthenics. I enjoyed them, and I've slacked on my commitment to pullups and pistols.

--
04/02 12-16kg Snatches
Warmup, stretch, 2-3 16kg TGU
- SN
12kg 4'@20 planned...
Did 6'@20! Video, 62+60 (huge PR)
16kg @18rpm, 1'30"L, 1'15" R callus stopped me (26+22)
-
3 sets Half Pullups: 8OH, 8UH, 8Close OH
1' OH walk
20' Cycling: cut to 12' by call from work

Note to self: why am I doing pullups on snatch days again with all the grip fatigue? Cheated last 2 pullups, but finished 3 good sets.

12kg Snatch PR! Well above rank requirement. Felt good, even stopped with some reps in the tank. Lost a whole callus on R a week ago, so working today on new skin. May schedule 1 long set SN and add SW for next couple sessions.

P.S. I'm just aware of this. At state last year, two guys above 85kg competed with 12kg bells. The higher score of the two was 184, 80 of it snatch. I stopped that 6' set when I was no longer confident I could keep up 20rpm for a full minute, not when I was out of reps. I can clearly snatch 12kg competitively, especially at featherweight. What limits my jerk is the pressure on my hands, not lift fatigue. I don't even have a pair of 12s to train jerk with. We'll have to see in June whether I compete 12kg or 16kg.

--
04/03 2x16kg Jerks
Warmup, stretch, WM, 5-10 OAJ
LC: 2'@10 x (felt really quick)
J:
3'15" @8 (8,8,8,2)
4' (9,8,8,9, small PR)
Dbl walk and jerk 3'@2

OAJ 6'@8
15 Peterson Step-Ups x2sets
5FSQ + 40JSQ x2sets

Stretch, including quads and back.

First set of jerks felt awkward on hands. I gave up at 3'15", rested, and finished 4' at above 8rpm for the first time. The total 34 was a PR, +3 over previous best and 2 reps better in the 4th minute. Finish strong. Spent over 10' under two bells today and 6' under a single bell. I'll need to add dbl carries during the week to work out the pressure I feel on my joints. If this didn't hurt, I'd do it all day. I made a whiteboard commitment at the office to make rank III by state (below).

My digital camera has failed to actually record videos -- when I pressed the button, heard a click, and even saw a red "Record" icon on screen -- three or four different outdoor sessions now. Any time I'm not in the main gym with the wall clock, my iPhone has to do clock duty and this happens. Need to video some jerks this week for coach.

Personal Records at this time and 66kg BW
Snatch: 16kg 5' (30+30), 12kg 6' (62+60)
Jerk: 2x16kg 4' (34), 2x12kg NA

2011 Georgia State Kettlebell Sport Championship

Saturday June 18, 2011

Events - biathlon, long cycle, strong sport biathlon, strong sport long cycle
*lifters may compete in 1 traditional event and/or 1 strong sport event

Rules and Rankings - World Kettlebell Club sanctioned

Entry fee: $50

Location:
Extreme Conditioning & Fitness / Atlanta Barbell & Kettlebell Club
2830 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Suite-AA
Duluth, GA 30097

Schedule:
8am - weigh-ins
9am - rules
10am - competition begins

To register email Scott at: scott@extreme-fitness.org

Training Log 03/30-03/31, post-op recovery wk

2011-03-31T19:34:00.002-04:00

I had septoplasty last week to open my nose, part of an ongoing plan to silence the sleeping giant. Just yesterday, I got a post-op cleaning and clearance from my doc to resume training with observation for nosebleeds. I'm breathing "okay", but that should be much better over the coming weeks. By state champs in June, I may actually be breathing freely and sleeping deeper at night. That would be awesome.

--
03/30 warm-up training
Sun Salutations and joint mobility to warm up
30min of 12kg Turkish Get-Ups and RKC Arm Bars
15/15 snatches and a few OAJs at 12kg
Stretch out well

Lunch: stretch lats and legs, a few pullups and close squats

This was light, on purpose. Got all my joints to pop. Got declined a few times to feel the blood rush to my nose again. This is still technically a back-off week in my training cycle, so nothing too heavy or too long. No idea what I'm doing tomorrow, maybe OAJ and 1HSW at 20kg.

--
03/31 PM assistance work, single 20kg KB
Sun Salutations, joint mobility
5min 20kg get-ups
- circuit
5 Goblet Squats
5ea Long Cycle Clean & Press
5ea Long Cycle Clean & Jerk
- 3 circuits
Snatch: 5ea x3
10' cycling, 2.6mi
Stretch out

144lb weigh-in (-2 this wk)

Right knee was sore during lunge phase of get-ups, so cut them short. Did some lighter get-ups earlier in the week, so mobility is overall really good. Was pleasantly surprised by 20kg snatches, purely as an experiment.

I am not yet sleeping "better", not consistently. I should have been 8hrs rested when my alarm sounded, but I was dead to the world. Better to keep the commitment later in the day than to tempt fate with a cloudy head.

2x16kg Jerks and muscle motor groups

2011-03-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

I had a goal this week. I wanted to test my longest set of snatches and my longest set of jerks. I actually practiced rack carries to investigate why I struggle to find rest in a set of jerks. Learning a lot about myself and this kind of training.

First, in my last entry, I mentioned an article by Rudnev and Lopatin on how kettlebell sport is an endurance sport, better suited to rowers and cross-country skiiers than to powerlifters. The question has been raised whether you (the royal "you") really need the additional maximal strength to excel in this sport, or whether it's just sexy and distracting.

Second, the latest edition of the Power By Pavel Newsletter came out today from the RKC school, including three articles on the topic of rep speed. The article "Lifting Speed Matters", by neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury, was my take-home message. In brief, our strongest nerve-muscle "motor groups" are only recruited into a movement after our two weaker and longer-lasting motor group types have already been fully activated. Therefore, to produce power efficiently and safely, lift quickly with a maximum force to recruit all three muscle types. These strongest motor groups only have seconds of reserve before they turn off. The next strongest last for minutes before they fatigue out. This was presented with the angle that lifting too slow or too long leaves the lift supported by weaker motor units, causing soreness and long recovery.

There is a complementary point behind this, that sub-maximal training can be extended for minutes instead of seconds. Training medium-heavy for 3min, 5min, 10min builds endurance in your fast-fatigue-resistant motor units, and this is where kettlebell sport comes in. When those motor units can keep you and the bells upright between reps, your strongest motor units can recover and join in the next launch. This is the value of carrying weight around: learning the difference between support and launch, letting the launch muscles rest between reps, training the support muscles to be strong enough to assist the launch. My previous weakest link is no longer my current weakest link.

--
03/23 Stretch and recovery work
5am on the job, followed by foam roller and sun salutations
Before lunch, a few pullups and pistols. Helluva day.
Evening work: 2x16kg rack carries 3' + 1'rest x3
Learned a lot about myself.
Stretch well.

--
03/24 2x16kg Jerk
Warmup: Windmills, OAJ, stretch and joints, 220 step dbl carry
- Jerk. PR is 27/2'. Go 4-5' at whatever slow pace is necessary.
1'@6 to warmup
TEST
31/4' (8,8,8,7) PR
hands got sore, not muscles
2'@8, 2'@4 walking around
= 55 total
-
5 FSQ 30 JSQ x1
C&P 5 x2
Peterson Step Ups 15,15
15' cycling, 4.2 mi on variable hill program
Stretch, 250 step dbl carry home

Just wow. PRs in both biathlon events this week at 16kg. Take a few days off and resume added volume work with 12kg snatches and 2x16kg carries next week.

My flexibility has changed. In a seated hamstring stretch, I touched forehead to knee, both with feet together and in a 120deg split. I've never, ever done that before. Granted, I wake up every day with a tight right IT band, but I am overall not carrying a lot of soreness around.

Training Log 03/22: snatches and the long timed set

2011-03-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

03/22 16 Snatch
Warmup:
Windmills, swings, stretching and joints
- Snatches
2'@12 to warmup
5' test, as slow as needed: 30/30, screwed up video
4'@12, on video
-
4mi/15' stationary cycling on hills program
Stretch thoroughly

The goal today was a long timed set. Not any particular total or speed, but minutes. I've been adding overhead carries to my training lately because my joints get fatigued with the bell overhead.

I've read some interesting commentaries lately about strength vs endurance in kettlebell sport. There's commentary from Cate Imes on the question "Do you need more strength?", something that's been enticing me lately. I've toyed with taking a block of time to do an EDT schedule and build up my strength, but the fact remains I can snatch 16kg and jerk 2x16kg for a few reps just fine. My problem is stamina. I feel the need to train up a weight because I'm not recovering properly.

There was also an article by Rudnev and Lopatin, "Strength or Endurance, development of strength and strength endurance in kettlebell sport", reviewing the emphasis on endurance training in KS. In tests, athletes fared better in KS with backgrounds in cross-country skiing, rowing, and running than with backgrounds in powerlifting or maximal strength training. The difference was not being able to lift twice the weight, but being able to recover between lifts without putting the bells down. The image of a Siberian infantryman with his weapon and backpack on cross-country skis comes to mind and makes sense to me. That's my problem right now, and it's been a long road to come to admit that. I will eventually have to train strength to increase my margin for weakness, but that is not my problem today. Carrying two bells up and down stairs for 10 minutes, that is my problem today.

Training Log 03/19-03/20

2011-03-20T21:46:00.000-04:00

I woke up Wednesday and Thursday with my left shoulder seized. Describing it clearly would be more complicated than just listing what made it hurt. Turning my head left more than 45 degrees. Lying down on my back or rolling from side to side on my back. Made stretching REALLY difficult. Supporting my head in a lying position. At one time, lifting my left arm while upright. It was serious. Overhead stretching was the only thing that gave me relief. I started muscle relaxers, RKC arm bars 24hrs in, and some nerve glides and myofascial release work. By Friday night I felt better.

The only thing I've changed or added lately has been some arm stretching designed to treat forearm pump. External and lateral shoulder rotation, wrist extension, similar to an arm bar. It felt fine at the time, and it felt fine when I resumed it on Friday. I don't suspect it caused a problem.

--
03/19 Sat 16kg Snatches
stretch, windmills
- Snatch:
sets of 5 to warm up x2
2'@15rpm x1
3'@15rpm x2 (drifted 15-18rpm and didn't count)
- conservatively estimated 50ea side including warmups
Overhead carries: change hands @80 steps, 4 sets non-stop
Swings: 1' each arm non-stop (40ea)
Cycling: 3.5mi/12', Level 8, HR ~140

Stationary bike program "Hills - Around the World" has become a standard for me. Good random-ish mix of resistance.

Did not snatch the 12kg today, on purpose. Wanted to test form and stability, not stamina. Short sets at comp weight, worked well. Do not like incomplete chalking at all, will need to consider outdoor snatching as the summer approaches.

Recently bought the Diesel Crew's grip training DVD, need to work a few weeks on grip strength. Grip and my left external rotated/overhead ROM are my two limiting factors in snatches and pullups, and the ROM is affecting jerks as well. Right now, these are as important as jump squats and hip drive.

--
03/20 Sun 2x16 Jerks
stretch, windmills
OAJ 5ea x2
A tad stiff, be watchful.
-
LC: 2'@8 x1 (8,10)
J: 2'/12,12. 2'/10,8. Not able to finish 3' today.
OAJ: 4' 18,16R/18,16L
-
Seated dips: 20 x2
FSQ 5 + JSQ 30 x2
CP: 5ea x2
Peterson Step-Ups: 15ea x2
1' oh walk ea x2
Stretch out, again later in the evening.

Notes: I have GOT to slow down and last 5' at something. If I don't break 5' J and 6' SN by month's end, I'll consider myself seriously behind schedule. I'm probably missing next weekend following a minor surgery, so the clock is ticking.

Training Log 03/12-03/13

2011-03-13T21:49:00.000-04:00

--
Sat 12-16kg snatch
Warm up well
TGU: 2ea
- SN:
12/4'@20rpm x2
16/4'@15rpm, finsihed 90" ea due to grip and skin
-
Half Pullup: 2x15, finished 2x10 barely
DL: 10@100#, x3
4mi/15' cycling @L6, 95rpm, 130bpm HR
Stretch out thoroughly

Cycling felt good, "Hills" program on the machine. Snatch felt good. Grip was just wrung out by the time I started the 16kg set, even though I took minutes between to rest. Deadlifts and Pullups confirmed it was the grip. Took a long, deep stretch session afterward, felt great. I feel "close", like I need to make some little adjustment in programming, but I fool with my programming too much as it is. Hope jerks work tomorrow.

--
Sun 2x16kg LC/Jerk
Windmill: 3ea x2
OAJ: 5-10ea x3
LC: 2'@8rpm x1
Jerk: 2'@12rpm x3
-
Front Squats 5 + Jump Squats 30 x3
C&P: 5ea
Peterson Step-Ups: 15ea x2
1' OH walk ea x2
1H Swings 1'ea x2
Stretch out well

Jerks got fatigued, a little wobbly at the top. I did launch off my hips instead of my arms this time, and wearing VFFs instead of shoes with a heel. Not a whole lot quicker, but I am completing longer total time. The pros recommend 16-18rpm Jerk. I can do 15/1', but I can't keep it up for any length of time. In this session, I started set 3 at 15rpm to experience a last-ditch sprint. Kicked my butt, but I did recover my breath and finish out the 2'.

Sample video of a few reps LC, start and end of 1st set Jerk, and entire 3rd set Jerk to show my fatigue management.

Training Log 03/05-03-11

2011-03-12T16:26:00.000-05:00

This represents a change of content for this blog. Dragondoor.com's new design has dropped their forum user blogs. We're all hoping they reappear. There are little banners and boxes saying "click the user's 'blog' link", but there are no blog links. What's worse is that emails and forum posts asking about this have gone unanswered. My last 2 years of training was on that blog. I may take advantage of this blog's post-by-email feature and start just sending the notes from my iPhone straight to the site. Those particular entries will be less formal than my articles.

--
03/05/11 - Snatch Saturday
TGU: 2ea @16
- Snatches:
12/3'@20rpm, 2sets
16/3'@15, finished 2'30"
Total = 157/8'30", 2032kg total
-
Half Pullup: 2sets 10oh, 10uh
DL: 5@90#, 10@100# x2sets
Peterson Step-Ups: 15ea x3sets
Terminal Knee Extension machine: 70# tested well
Stationary Cycling: 2.5mi/10' @Level 8, 3' cool down

The 20rpm snatches were leading over the top internally rotated, which was causing my right hand to tingle again. I may not have 20rpm in me anymore without some serious posture finagling. At 16kg, one of my calluses dried out from the chalk and started to split at 1'15", so I changed hands. Other hand cramped at 1'15". Convenient that I can fail on either hand in the same number of seconds.

Dead lifts felt GREAT. Step-ups are an interesting addition; "hurt" on the right but "challenged" the left more. Never liked stationary bikes, but this was a good replacement for running. I am still not completely over that cramp-up from Tuesday.

--
03/06 2x16kg LC Sunday
Windmill: 3ea
OAJ: 5ea x2
LC: tried 10rpm, too fast
2'@6, 3'@6
J: tried 15rpm, too fast
1'@15, 2'@12
FSQ 5 + JSQ 25 x2
MP: 5ea, 1xSC, 1xLC, 1xDbl LC
Peterson Step-Ups: 15ea x2
A slow get-up and stretch out to close

Jerk does not have a rhythm, and that impacts both my jerk and my long cycle. Work on timed sets at 10-12rpm until 5-6' set; postpone LC beyond a single 2-3' set. 8'15" x12rpm is 100 reps, respectable at this level.

--
03/08 12-16kg Snatch
TGU: 2ea
- Snatches:
12/3'@20 x2 sets
55+55/6' , 35+35/3'
16/3'@15 x2 sets:
22+22/3' , 22+22/3'
= 180x12, 88x16
Half Pullups: 1 set 10
Deadlifts: 1 set 10@100#
Grip FRIED, move on
Cycling: 3.0mi/12'@L8 x HR 137/144, 95rpm, 11'30"

Snatch worked well. Did 3' each by mistake again, but without the cramps and profanity. Forearms had so much pump they were visibly red. Pullups and deadlifts were a formality to get the movements in. Stick to the sport moves and the assistance exercises. This was the highest volume of snatches I've done in a year, and it was in long timed sets. I finished strong, 2 x 3' @16kg. Getting it done.

Stationary cycling is not my choice, but it's my least objectionable machine class alongside stair climbing. I've got stairs, and cycling lets me work hip flexors in equal volume with extensors. This is a better substitute for running than I want to admit, and my leg's not complaining. 12' at pace and resistance.

--
03/10 AM work early
stretch out
Half SQ: 5ea, 10ea video
HKR: 15, 15 (2 PS)

PM 2x16kg Jerks
Windmill: 3ea
OAJ: 5-10ea
- 2x16kg J:
2'@10, 1'30"@12 smashed finger
1'30"@6, 2'@6
- disappointing launch, form was off. Had one aching wrist and legs tired from pistols. Not the best way to start.
FSQ 5 + JSQ 25 x2
MP: 5/5 x2
Peterson Step-Ups: 15ea x2

Felt "off" the entire session. I think my knees were tired from doing substantial pistol sets earlier.

What exactly did you train today?

2011-01-18T18:04:00.000-05:00

I read a few senior trainers' personal training logs, and I'm noticing a pattern. They don't seem to organize their own training like the rest of us. So many group sessions and forum posts at "my level" will include snatches, Russian twists, Renegade Rows, KB deadlifts, floor presses, but I less often see "long cycle clean & press" (LCCP) or "swings and get-ups". The first elective, advanced training workshop I was privileged to attend in the RKC school was all about swings and get-ups, by MRKCs David Whitley and Jeff O'Connor. The answer to every question was "swings and get-ups", and yet it was revolutionary when SRKC Zar Horton proposed a season dedicated to swings and get-ups to start 2011. Rather than be surprised, we all should have seen it coming.

I laid out a recent group session with get-ups, front squats, LCCP, and swings. I thought it was a little busy, but those were the elements of ETK and the HKC and should be familiar to everyone. It caught some of them completely off-guard. They were accustomed to 6-8 different things a session, some of which I'd call assistance drills. I was accustomed to drilling 2 basics. I've done just LCCP for 45min every weekend of the last three months, but I didn't think it would fly for a group class. Maybe I should have tried it.

The journals of many elite trainers have entries like "snatches and pistols" or "pullups and long cycle". It may be 5-7 days between repeats of a particular exercise. Some of them will do those two exercises for dozens or hundreds of reps, as practice. Some of them have a seasonal focus, like Rif's gradual return to the press or Dave's bending stuff while his knee heals. More often, it's because they don't need a whole week, like I do, to put in a significant volume of practice. They, better than I, can answer the question "what exactly did you train today?"

I spent a year-plus working my press to the next heavier bell. It was successful, but it took forever. Now I'm taking a season to work a) the "rest of my body", b) get-ups and swings with a heavier bell, and c) competition lifts. I'm by no means an expert, but I've learned to recognize a plateau and I'm learning to focus. Pistols and pullups (largely therapeutic), carrying a heavy weight, snatches and jerks. That's maybe 6 months of work, with a good sense of focus. My blog's going to be BOR-ing, but I like what Rif reposted recently: "Simple and boring usually is code for consistently basic, heavy and progressive."

Drills, focus, and drills

2011-01-17T21:27:00.000-05:00

I'm in a recovery week right now. That's when I've been working a tension exercise like the military press in high volume for 4-5 weeks straight and need a week off. This type of fatigue is as much neural as muscular. I've had trouble getting out of bed in the morning, and a heavy-press test last week went worse than the month prior. I wrote up a plan of calisthenics and heavy swings and get-ups. Then it was 6 days a week training 5 things a day, just not the military press. That worked for exactly one session. New plan.

Weekend: total fiasco with too many things.
Monday: stretching, squat-related drills, some GS biathlon practice.
Tuesday: heavy get-ups, short sets of heavy swings, a few cleans.
Thursday: leg raises, half-depth pushups (optional and short), GS biathlon practice.
Friday: pullups, single-leg squats, bridge-related drills.
Weekend: a heavy press, some pullups, a longer GS biathlon session.

First, I have one notably weaker leg that needs to bounce out from any lower than parallel. Therefore, close-stance squats done :30 down, :30 up (thank you, Doc Cheng at KBLA). I can actually feel the quads and glutes firing alternately until they sync up and "pull me out of the hole". There is SO MUCH to learn about your movement when it's done super-slow, but that's a whole other article.

Second, in bridging and pushups, my left wrist goes numb. Especially in bridging, I can feel the wrist catch the nerve pinch off at the armpit. My left arm is a constant struggle, but I'm discovering the flaws one by one and addressing them without 50lb overhead. It is definitely getting better.

Lastly, the KB work. There's a difference between lifting a weight and supporting a weight on an extended arm overhead. The snatch and the jerk launch a weight overhead and "land" it on the up-stretched arm. If you did get-ups while someone shot a toy dart gun at the bell, you'd understand what I'm feeling and what benefit I'm getting from these two moves in a recovery week. I may maintain this routine for a month if it feels right by the weekend.

P.S. Notice that on any given day, I'm training 3-4 exercises. I'm basically training biathlon, squats, and pullups with a few assistance drills for the torso. There's a whole other article about that in the works, how we have group sessions with 8 different things and our senior/master RKCs trained "pistols and long cycle today". I did a group session with get-ups, planks (elbows and hands), swings, and long cycle C&P, and it wore people out. I thought those were the things people trained the most, from day one, but it caught them completely off-guard. What's up with that?

Wrapping a Season of Press

2011-01-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

It's been, what, 18 months on Rite of Passage presses and swings? I think 18 months is long enough to consider a program "thoroughly tested", even with schedule variations like Kenneth Jay's "Perfecting the Press!" protocol. This week I pressed the 16kg kettlebell 120 reps each arm in 36min. It was almost continuous work. I had stalled with strain injuries at the very end of 2 separate passes through the ROP at 16kg, but I'm doing 4-rung ladders of 20kg and reps of 24kg now. I'm stronger, I'm snatching again, and it's time for a season of something slightly different.

I'm officially no longer chasing the RKC this year. I could get a few things up to speed in time. Not the doubles work and the 24kg snatch test and the 3 straight days and the 1000 heavy swings wrapped around the rest of the workout. If I'm not training this on my own, I won't have it for a whole weekend.

I've started training for my health again and for competition. Pullups, pistols and spine work from Convict Conditioning, all of which is basically physical therapy. A heavy bell day of get-ups, short presses, and swings. A medium bell day of long-cycle clean and press for volume, which may well turn into 2-bell long-cycle and double swings for time. A day devoted to get-ups and snatches, and WKC protocol circuits a couple times a week. I feel great. I'm snatching 3 or 4 days a week, up to 20kg without nerve pain. This is miles ahead of last year, miles ahead of 3 months ago.

I'm a lot less interested right now in programs than in being strong and healthy and enjoying a sport again. It's a mystery to me why one coach would say 5x5 reps and another 5x1+2+3+4+5 reps and another 120 reps, all from the same discipline. I'm really interested in going in without a quota for a while, seeing what I can do before I get fatigued, making my sport lifts and pullups stronger. If I can be strong and mobile and enjoy myself, it will be worth a season off the reservation. I'm not an employee. I think I've earned it.

P.S. wow, some of this program stuff is really sticking in my throat lately...

2011 Health and Training Goals

2010-12-29T00:09:00.000-05:00

... and a look back at 2010. I made some resolutions on my facebook page a year ago. Some accomplished, some postponed by injury, some just silly in the first place. I have no use for 1000 16kg swings, and pistols and one-armed pushups really taper off if you don't train them regularly. My body doesn't tolerate pushing hard like it used to. This has eaten my whole life, thinking about training and recovering from training.

The announcement of the Chicago RKC in September made me dizzy. I would love to do that, and everyone says it's a landmark experience in one's life that ranks up there with parenthood. Even with early discounts, I'm looking around $1500. I need to pursue this either as a side career or as a hobby, and the hobby direction is beginning to make more sense. I'm tired of arguing on the forums and writing about working out all the time and nursing the shoulder and the wrist and the blisters. This isn't my livelihood. I can't look anyone in the eye and tell them KB training will save them time.

I am committed to completing PTP! 4-month plan in February or at least a variation of month #4. Probably finish 5x5 ladders @20kg and 5/5 @24kg, then focus on something else for a while. Leaning toward calisthenics and GS basics. I lost a lot of ground with simple pushups and pullups this year, though I can press all day.
Snatch 20kg in volume and 24kg on occasion. Strip handles if necessary, but get this worked out. I want to retire single 16kg work in 2011.
3200kg work is my new ballistics baseline: 200x16kg, 160x20kg, 133x24kg, 100xDBL16kg. Expect to do this every session by swing, snatch, or clean.
RKC? Chicago, September 28. Get serious before January 10.
Compete in June AKC meet, preferably for rank III. Maybe.

I just deleted a page of sample workout routines for AKC events and RKC prep. Waste of my time. If I want to prep for RKC, I'll talk to Delaine and James. If I want to prep for the AKC meet, I'll talk to Scott. If I want to be healthy, I'll look seriously into even-easier strength and CC progressions. If I did my 3200 plus two other moves, 4 days a week, I'd be a monster.

Get-ups + pullup progressions
double long cycle + leg raises
pushup progressions + squat progressions
single clean and press + bridges
3200kg of mixed ballistics each session, preferably heavy

That looks killer. Even if I rotated out two pairs each month on a MTh/TuF thing, it would still be killer. ROP and PTP! and CC is too much already, and now I'm trying to shoehorn it all into competitions and certification workshops. I need to train a couple things at a time each season and "practice" more. This is not my life. Go to bed already, it's midnight.

Fatigue Month and an HKC workshop

2010-12-11T00:10:00.000-05:00

I ended a 4wk block in the Perfecting the Press! program this week, and there's an HKC workshop this weekend at Condition Gym. It all made a perfect occasion to schedule a recovery break. That's a lot of links; I hope I get some sort of ad money.

My last workout was supposed to be a Heavy Session with a personal record test. Now, this was the Fatigue block of the PTP! program, but I tried the 24kg anyway. The very first left-armed rep was a fail. I had to regroup, mix in squat presses and warm up the machinery to complete 10 reps each side. I had prepped with 16kg and 20kg before carrying Frank off to the gym, plus halos and stretching. It was just so... heavy. I am still getting over that and may be sidelined a few more days while this shoulder quiets down. I should know better. I felt fatigued Sunday, and I should have known better. It's called freaking "Fatigue block".

I added a pullup variation from Convict Conditioning to the Sunday Volume Session, and the overall high-tension work may have been more than I needed. I need to make time for pullups, but they always compromise my lats or my grip or something I need for another exercise. My cleans and swings were compromised by the end of the session, and I am still aching in my lats today. I need to do more hanging from bars, lots more. Just daily lat support and grip training with no other agenda.

There's a small reshuffling of gym priorities coming. PTP! Density block is next, if I continue unabated. I'm considering doing it with double kettlebells, similar to competition style. I've discovered such an interest lately in bodyweight training and in Girevoy Sport that I ponder during this respite, what training would I do if I walked away from my current community with just a single bag of gear? That remains for another edition.

I think I fixed my snatch today

2010-11-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

... and applied things people have taught me to correct a dysfunction.

It's been a never-ending story of me straining my wrist and making my fingers go numb, clearly neural in nature. I snatched hundreds of reps in the Spring, dozens of reps in the Summer, then almost none at all through the Autumn because I was pinching nerves in my wrist and could not fix it. I tried catching with an "OK" grip and a flat-fingered grip, only marginally better with the latter. Heavier swings, shorter snatch sets, snatching once a week, kinesio tape, all sorts of things. It was after my last post on Thanksgiving Day that I noticed something in my video. In tipping the bell over the top, I was flexing my wrist. It's right there, plain as day in even a motion-blurred frame. If anything, this may be one of the lesser examples I could have chosen.

Also, I recently read a "trouble with my snatch" thread on the forum at Dragondoor.com. The advice was that the poster was not breaking the elbow first. Clearly my elbow is bent in this frame, but I haven't been "doing it". I started high-volume snatches in the Spring with a light bell, and I was probably flicking it over the top by default because the light weight didn't force me to do it right. That practice became a pattern, and the heavier bell was no longer within my physical tolerances. So here's what I've done in the last few days.

1-handed swings with a heavier bell, completely releasing the bell at the top and grabbing it out of the air on the way down. I cleared the bell by a good couple inches. I adapted two new things. I learned to release and grab, even imperfectly, a heavier bell and not drop it. Not a textbook hook grip, but no sliding friction on my palms at all. Also, I learned to capture an uneven, wobbly descent. That required some adaptation in my back and shoulders, like the difference between identical GS reps and KB juggling.

I also consciously broke at the elbow first, turning it in ever so slightly, like I was elbowing a wrestler's head at the corner of my rib cage. This new visualization of aiming the elbow at my ribs, however slight, did the trick. My elbow only really moved medially an inch or two, but the motion externally rotated the heel of my pinky finger into the curve of the handle. My wrist was straight, my fingers hooked, before the bell was shoulder-high. Out of 5 sets of 5 on each hand, I only pinched my palm a couple times and never felt numbness.

This is esoteric work for a lot of people, but it's applied knowledge for me. Today I snatched my heavy-press bell for the first time ever, 4 reps each hand. That was at the end of an hour of heavy presses, cleans, suspended rows, and 5 min of 1-handed swings. I still had the grip for 9 reps with a bell I'd never snatched before, and I never went numb. Doing that FRESH would have been remarkable. Doing it tired was an act of discovery.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010! What'd you lift today?

2010-11-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Welcome to the 2nd annual Thanksgiving Day Kettlepalooza.

I. It's a wonderful time of the year. The air is crisp and clear. There's pie on the counter, bird in the oven, and Saints on TV at 4:30. You should all be done reading me by then. I am a blessed man, grateful in my heart for my God who watches over me and the place I've been so fortunate to live, excepting maybe the TSA.

II. A bunch of my friends have posted pre-Thanksgiving Kettlebell fat burn workouts and sweet potato pie workouts. I don't pretend to have their expertise or creativity, but I posted a clip last year and do so again this year. My current Thursday lineup is get-ups and snatches; this is the last get-up and the first set of snatches from an hour of activity.

III. It's been a while since I've put myself on video. These were pretty good reps, but I saw a couple things as soon as I started editing. I'd love to see what you caught! I did 5 warmup reps, then one snatch + one breath in the lockout for a minute with each hand. I haven't done many snatches this Fall season, and I'm training longer sets between hand switches.

IV. I have done short sessions of hard muscle activity 4 times this week. My appetite's ferocious, my weight's stable, and the missus says I look huge. ("Huge" is a literary term; just go with it.) That means my metabolism is high. There will be a lot of people hitting treadmills and to burn off holiday meals. Research clearly shows they would be better off lifting something heavy for about 15min, but that's not "cardio" and it's not popular. I was the only person in my gym this morning. No treadmills, no machines, nobody warming up the engine. Gonna be a fat weekend around the apartment complex.

P.S. Below is a little snip of the Thanksgiving 2009 workout, when I was a wee kettle newbie. I do believe there's improvement. The weight's bigger, at least, and I'm not coming apart at the shoulder anymore. There is just SO much to learn from watching your own video!

Hardstyle Ventura 2010 (My Little Pony)

2010-11-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

I'll occasionally go to some master-level workshop to beef up my skills and have my technique evaluated. This weekend was Hardstyle Ventura 2010 (www.hardstyleventura.com), a workshop devoted to bodyweight exercise and kettlebell training. The list of topics is outlined at the site, and I won't belabor the table of contents here. It was outstanding. It was overcast and windy and chilly, but it was outstanding. There was far too much to cover here, but I took home a handful of very personal observations.

When an experience brings you back to step #1, you find yourself reconsidering what you've called "progress". My HKC workshop in January, a bad nerve pinch in June, now HSV 2010. While Dr. Mark Cheng led us through a Horse Stance drill, I struggled just to stand up straight. Cheng writes here on how this ancient Chinese martial arts drill has improved hip mobility and relieved back pain in his students. There are some challenging statements in the article, challenging even for the very athletic. I found them reflected in a few quotes from the workshop, some paraphrased from Gray Cook and others with our gratitude.

"The greatest athletes are not those with the best movement patterns. They are the ones with the strongest compensations."

"If you argue on behalf of your weaknesses, you will own them."

"Adding weight to a movement reinforces that movement pattern."

(from another trainer in the crowd, to our impatient clientele) "You move like ####. You shouldn't even be lifting weights. If you're not willing to put in the work, you're just wasting my Chi."

(My personal favorite. You sort of had to be there.)

So why was this event such a game changer? That Horse Stance indicated not only the last remaining weakness in my injured knee, but a stiff, clunky ankle that I sprained in high school. That sprain was 25 years ago, but it affects my arch and my gait to this day. Now I have drills to treat these two deficiencies and a screen to evaluate their progress. The progress will be obvious as it happens.

I've been proud of my squat for three months now, but I was splaying my feet unnecessarily. I've been proud of my new overhead shoulder range, but I was arching my back. I have been compensating because of injuries that won't get better and adding more weight and work every week, everything "wrong" from this workshop. My injuries have not healed. Research shows that while learning a new activity, one really bad repetition may require as many as 10 good repetitions to re-pattern the behavior in memory. I hope I can integrate my corrections instead of starting over from scratch.

Practice really does make permanent

2010-10-22T18:00:00.009-04:00

I've been experimenting with two new things lately, high-volume overhead presses from Kenneth Jay's "Perfecting the Press!" and bodyweight exercises from Paul Wade's "Convict Conditioning". Working near my personal "long session" limits has taught me a few things first-hand that I've only previously seen in books. Everyone else already knows this, but it has been interesting to me.

Practice what you want to do - I'm doing long sets of CC squat progressions as part of my workout instead of weighted squats to recondition my pistol. A month ago, these were stretches for me, and weighted front squats were workouts. The change has improved my endurance and mobility some, but it cut my weight-bearing squat strength almost immediately. I struggled today to squat 5 times with a weight that I routinely press overhead. I have squatted twice this amount in the past. I need to practice both volume squats and heavy squats going forward, like I do with swings and presses and get-ups. (brilliant, huh?)

Practice success, not failure - I've pressed 5x5 ladders and sat there on the plateau like most of us. When I have tried additional ladders or variations with longer rungs, I have fought fatigue and even injury. I clearly have endurance limits at this level of strength. As part of this new program, I have pressed as much as 20x3 ladders without injury. That's 50% more volume than 5x5 ladders, but programmed to avoid exhaustion. The program does have a high-density module with 4 ladders and 5 ladders, but that will follow weeks of training 120-150 reps instead of the ROP standard 75. The important point is that I'm now practicing high volume instead of fatigue and failure.

Practice progress - Lastly, I've been pressing a heavier weight in 4-5 sets of 1+2 reps on my Heavy Press Days. That has become almost "easy" because I was already doing this a few weeks ago. It's much cleaner now, more confident. Since the heavy day workload hasn't changed in maybe 5wks, I tested 5 straight reps this morning. All good. Start lifting 5 reps more often, and start training 1+2+3+4 ladders right away.

Perfecting the Press, wk 2

2010-10-19T06:22:00.001-04:00

10/17 16kg Volume
warmup, incl upper body
** knee popping a LOT, be careful of squats
- try 3-4 circuits
Jackknife SQ: 10
High-Pulls/SW: 5/5/5
SC C&P: 3r (1-2-3, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 6)
HP, 1-2-3, HP, 2-4, HP, 3-3, HP, 4-2, 2HSW, 6 Half-Kneeling
- did 4 circuits in 63min

Totals = 40 SQ, 300 SW, 120 CP @16kg

10/19 20kg Heavy
warmup, incl upper body, 1/1 TGU (easy)
- goal = 5 sets
Inv Row: 10 (sternum height, mostly OH)
SW: 15x2 (mostly 1H)
LC C&P: 1+2
- 5 circuits in about 40min
SW: 20 2H, 15 1H, 15 1H to finish

Totals = 200 Swings, 50 Inverted Rows, 5x3 ladders (15) long cycle clean & press @20kg

I had serious blisters coming out of last week. Did high pulls Sunday because I can actually tight-grip them to reduce sliding friction. Worked well. "Athletic tape" didn't last two sets. Grip itself is improving with the extended 20kg 1H work, though I did hit fatigue today.

Pressing well. Whitley advised bringing a "heavy, near PR" bell to HSV, so I'm putting off the 24kg for now. Maybe a few swings and get-ups, but that's it. Back is a little stiff, right lats tight enough to give me some minor ulnar nerve irritation even now, but no tingling or grip loss. Monitor super-closely. 3 days rest between VS and HS would be an improvement, even if not mandated medically. Now then... Saturday morning, followed by pizza and video games, or Sun-Wed-Fri? Saturday would get in the way of motorcycling, but Elwood's would make a great recovery meal.

I have questions about this lump-sum design, but I performed better this week than last. Do not yet "own" 5x3 ladders @20kg, do them again. Start with 3x1, set the bell down between reps if needed. These same numbers with greater confidence before moving on. I might try 150x12kg for a weekend with pauses on the ones and half-kneeling sixes. More volume, less soreness. I like this escalating ladder design, very "Tracy" in style. The ease of record keeping was a happy accident: reach "6" and mark a circuit done, instead of tracking 30 identical sets.

4 x (1,2,3 + 2,4 + 3,3 + 4,2 + 6) = 120 @16kg
3 x (2,3,5 + 3,7 + 5,5 + 7,3 + 10) = 150 @12kg
fatigue module, same sets, less rest
density module (1,2,3,4,5 + 3,5,7 + 5,5,5 + 5+10) = 60

Kenneth Jay's "Perfecting the Press!"

2010-10-11T12:06:00.002-04:00

I got Kenneth Jay's "Perfecting the Press!" recently, a deep study on kettlebell press mechanics and corrective drills. The program design chapter caught my attention: one day at 120-150 reps 65% 1RM, one day at 10-20 reps with near-1RM. That's it. Corrective drills specific to high- and low-volume days are provided, and each month a small adjustment in work/rest is made and a 1RM test attempted. There's an impression of "Back and Shoulder Day" in the design's single huge workout that runs counter to the frequent "practice" training espoused by so many in our discpline. It still holds the idea of training high volume to develop neural patterning and good form, but that volume is organized for hypertrophy and probable soreness. (Even 20 reps/session at 85%-100% 1RM could be considered "high volume" in another program.) Not saying it does or doesn't work, but it's the first program I've tried that crosses the three-digit mark on a grind.

My first session was today. I just had a back-off week, with swing and get-up sessions using a heavy bell Thursday and Saturday that felt GREAT. As usual, today was out in the sun. Sweat, chalk, last week's calluses... I screwed my hands up. I should have known better.

10/10 16kg Volume presses
warmup, incl upper body
- goal = 90 reps + swings
- Short Cycle Clean & Press, 2 x "6 reps", alternated with 2 x 20 swings

2HSW, 1HSW
1-2-3CP, 2-4CP
2HSW, 1HSW
3-3CP, 4-2CP
2HSW
6CP

3 circuits/45min, 30cp + 90sw ea
Total = 90 presses, 250 swings

The presses felt good, and I did not let my form slide. I like the way this incorporated ladders. Doing 1-2-3 15 times would have gotten boring and would have ingrained that short-term volume into me. I did the middle 1-2-3, 2-4 sets in a half-kneel position, which firmed up my torso and hips for the remaining ladders. 20kg short session Tuesday or Wednesday, based on my recovery. I have already done 5x1-2-3 at 20kg, so this will be 100-120 reps next weekend.

--

At the time KJ's book was released, a Dan John program (credited to Pavel for the design) called the 40-Day Workout was making the rounds. "High volume" strength training laid out as 10 reps x 5 exercises x 5 days a week. The 5-10 rep practice principle is broadly applicable to strength training and can be seen in other program designs. Personally, I'm intrigued by the regularly spaced schedule, as this would probably have a much lower DOMS and recovery burden. By contrast, KJ's 100-rep/low-rep protocol has been in the RKC manual as a heavy-bell program for years. Interesting.

Here's what's in motion. Delaine Ross started the 40-day workout after her return from the recent Dan and Pavel workshop, and I started the Perfecting the Press program this week. I've arranged 3 training days so each movement (press, swing, pullup, get-up, squat) gets 2 sessions, 1 heavy and 1 long, and a single day for snatch practice. She's a couple weeks ahead of me and has a more refined sense of her own training and development. She will probably thrive. I've already got 3R/2L in my biggest bell, so my goal will be either to finish 5/5 @24kg or to finish 1/1 @28kg stacked. That gives me both a benchmark with a single bell and a reason to work on combinations stacked or hung from one another. This should be fun.

Is "follow-through" the term we're looking for?

2010-09-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

There have been 4 or 5 threads on Dragondoor lately on the Hardstyle Lock, bearing phrases like "focus on my lats" and "cramp my glutes as hard as I can" in each thread. It concerns me a little that there's so much cognitive focus on what I really believe are figurative terms and corrective drills. I may risk my hardstyle card, but I believe there's a point to be made. The point isn't consciously flexing some muscle, and I don't believe that's presented as "the point" in the literature. The point is moving well bearing load.

There's a phase in the learning process when you consciously focus on cramping or packing until it becomes part of your movement. You become aware of it, then you move on. You do that again the next session, then you no longer focus on it consciously. There's the pre-flight checklist and the in-flight checklist. Most of my checklist these days is pre-flight. Crease the hips and tuck the pants legs up in one motion, hook the handle, shoulders back 'til the arms are taut, eyes up. Once that posture is set in motion, I do not consciously cycle through checklists while I'm doing swings.

I believe most of the Hardstyle Lock, as applied to swings, is simply good follow-through. If I drive the bell forward, my hips fully extend as part of the follow-through. If they don't, then I lifted the bell instead of driving it forward. The limiting factors are tight hips and poor follow-through, and I did drills to correct those, but I don't think about the drills every rep. I drive the bell forward.

The bell comes up "high enough", and I press down to stop its ascent, like holding a giant helium balloon at arm's length. That stiffens my grip and torso and leverages my arms downward. Restraining the bell's rise flows naturally into pushing the bell down and back. It's never been about engaging my lats, per se, though tensing the armpits is a conscious drill to learn this motion. It's been about controlling the bell.

What's neat about this is that once I could lift and hike and drive, the bell went "high enough". The first time I double-swung a pair of the heaviest bells I owned, both bells went chest-high on the second rep. I did NOT want two bells rising overhead and free-falling at the end of my arms, so I restrained them down and back. I loaded, drove, and actively hiked every rep. One led to the next naturally.

I can exhaust myself doing "naked" swings without a bell, cramping and sweating and hissing like we do. If you're exhausted and cramped and confused at 5 swings -- I read that in an actual thread -- you may be forcibly waving the bell instead of swinging it. It's not a butter churn; it's a pendulum. There's a drill to stabilize the back during swings, the shoulder during presses, the hips during get-ups, then there's the actual exercise. It's important to keep the point the point.

Finally, up a bell

2010-08-10T19:05:00.002-04:00

At the end of June, I was feeling the effects of a nerve impingement in one arm. I had been pushing really, really hard, and I just got it strained and inflamed. Some therapy, a much lighter bell and different work for a few weeks, and it got better. I still deal with some issues in my wrist, but I'm treating those as they come up.

During rehab, I was pressing 12kg for reps. The last few weeks, I've been pressing 16kg for reps and progressing through the Rite of Passage. I hit 5 sets of 1,2,3,4,5 a few weekends in a row, so it was time to move up. I changed my focus from 100s of swings and dozens of presses to handfuls of presses and dozens of swings with a heavier bell until it was comfortable. Did get-ups and 1+2 presses with it in Thursday's workout. Today, I took the leap.

Swings: 5/5/5 x2
Maxercist Rows: 5/5
Clean & Press: 1+2+3
5 sets, plus 50 added swings at the end to total 200 reps

The last two sets of presses were slow and deliberate and not quite perfect, but they were safe. I'll be at this point at least the next two weekends, but this is huge for me. I'm doing get-ups, swings, presses, and rows with a heavier weight. Finally.

Summer Shoulder and Snatch Sessions

2010-07-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

Got the new 20kg and 8kg bells in last week. Ironically, I've hardly handled the 20kg yet. The 8kg has been great for my arm bars and concentric isometric presses. Every non-workout day last week, I would start at my 8kg with 5 regular presses and 2 with isometric pauses on the way up. Then repeat with the 12kg, then singles with the 16kg until I felt any tiny change in my form. Usually my right arm and hip start to drift out into a sort of bent press, and the left side of my neck tenses up. I've done this nearly every day, plus rehab movements. I finally pressed my way up to 20kg singles with each arm, and my press motion is more vertical and contained on both sides. This is such great news, it's hard to really express clearly. I've been fighting with this motion for over 6 months.

I'm escalating two new priorities for the month of August: hi vol 12kg presses and hi vol 16kg conditioning.

12kg ROP presses, maybe short sets 16kg on heavy day. Heavier singles once or twice a week. I am really struggling to keep myself on the 12kg...
Repeat 500 16kg SW/20min. Work up to 1000/45min by month's end on a fresh day.
Repeat 12kg SN 200/10 and work toward doing it with 16kg. Work toward 20 or 30 min @12kg, VWC style.

My programming the last 6mos has been roughly the Rite of Passage from "Enter the Kettlebell". That's changed since this nerve pinch. I'm pressing lighter, doing more get-ups and arm bars, and doing various rows instead of pullups to work on shoulder extension. More light shoulder movement, fewer heavy presses and pullups. Also, I put up around 1100 swings and 275 snatches each of the last few months. I'm on pace this month for 3 times that. I realize that's what Tracy Rif did by 9am this morning, but it's a significant increase for me.

I think it's accurate to say that I'm working from the bottom up now. Swinging a bell heavier than I'm pressing and snatching. Really heavy swing volume, heavy snatch volume, more get-ups, moderate press volume. I've been focused on my upper body, but my lower body has always responded better. We'll see where this goes.

253, 142.4, 7.0%, 200

2010-07-19T22:29:00.001-04:00

Six years ago, a routine physical and blood workup showed I was 20lb overweight and had a cholesterol of 230. I changed my diet and exercise and dropped 20lb, 100 triglycerides and 50 cholesterol over the next year. Six months ago, I was exercising with Russian kettlebells regularly and another 5lb lighter. A cholesterol screen in a bloodmobile reported 253, and I was just beside myself. I should have gone right to Quest or somewhere and gotten retested, but I was just outdone. I wanted to come back for one more blood screen with a point to make and an axe to grind, to leave no doubt that I had done my due diligence.

Today, I'm another 5lb lighter (lighter than high school graduation). I'm flinging kettlebell 3 or 4 times a week. A local gym brought a machine by the office today to do BMI and body fat measurements.

Age = 40
Height = 5'8"
Weight = 142.4lb
BMI = 21.7
Body fat = 7.0%
BMR = 1551kcal

This deserved a celebration. A few get-ups, a few presses, a few pullups, and a snatch test. The Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST) is 200 reps in 10min with 24kg. I'm not up to 24kg yet, but I snatched 12kg for 200 reps in 10min today for the first time.

I'll get my blood lipids retested again by the end of the month. If my cholesterol's still high, then it's genetic and I'll deal with a doctor who knows more about exercise and nutrition than prescribing statins to perfectly healthy people. I've known two people on statins. They both suffered liver damage and chronic muscle pain. I'd almost rather take my chances with cholesterol and 7.0% body fat.

Snatching as therapy

2010-07-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I was doing rehab on a nerve pinch in my right arm. I've been doing upward isometric presses with 10lb and get-ups with 12kg and 16kg, plus lots of arm bars and windmills. I've also found that I can snatch well, and my weekly snatch volume is 2x or 3x what it was a season ago. I can press 12kg for sets and 16kg for singles and pairs now, which is improvement... and I need to pause on that for a moment.

In May, I had finished a 16kg Rite of Passage. In June, I was doing double presses with 16kg and 12kg bells for 5 sets of 5 on the weekend and pressing 24kg for singles during the week. I did that for two weeks before I felt a little trap pain at Whitley's grand opening on June 26. I did another 5x5 double MP session the next day. By the end of that week, I was in constant nerve pain and seeing a Z Health therapist. I'm in no pain now, and I can finally press 16kg again. I need to buy the 20kg and re-purpose the 24kg. It was just too big a jump for my frame.

I lost easily 6 months progress on presses, pushups, pullups, everything upper body. I am pretty sure that I can trace it back to a 24kg floor press and get-up on June 15 or June 22. I was just barely over my head doing double presses, but they only taxed my left arm. It was the floor press on the right arm that did me in. I am re-learning the motion with lighter weights and isometric pauses, which is greasing the sticking points in my motion. My left arm press is cleaner than it's ever been, if not yet as heavy.

Wknd 16+12 outdoors
Done as a circuit, 4-5 times depending on presses

+ 16kg Swings: 20 2H, 5/5/5/5, 20 transfers
+ Clean + Front Squat: set of 5 with both bells
+ 12kg Military Press: 3 presses + 2 upward isometrics (pause at 6, 4, 2, and 12 o'clock positions)
+ Double rack walks: 60 steps with both bells
Groups of swings as above until at least 240 total
Snatches: sets of :15/:15 seconds or 10/10 reps

2 Wkdy sessions
Circuits as above of swings, TGUs, and Pistols
Windmills and arm bars
Snatches: mostly sets of 10/10 each minute

This is working well so far. What's odd is that the snatches are allowing me some terminal elbow extension without requiring a long push. There is a small tolerance for a poor lockout at the top of a strong snatch, so I am able to practice locking out and stabilizing overhead without having to press the weight up there. I would not even consider this if I did not already know how to snatch and have a strong swing. I started with 12kg for safety before trying this at 16kg.

My swing volume is up. My swing height is up. My grip endurance is good. My back feels great. Last but nowhere near least, my snatch grip can finally do snatches 3 or 4 times a week without peeling my hands. If I cannot press 75 reps each arm for the present time, at least I can learn to press properly and double my swing and snatch volume in the meantime. Swings, get-ups, pistols, and snatches, and I can almost do pullups. I'm actually excited about this.

I lift like a kitten

2010-07-10T21:54:00.001-04:00

I've spent the last week-plus working on mobility drills and resting from right arm pressing motions. I'm not in pain anymore, which is good, but I lift like a kitten.

Regular RKC arm bars and lightweight (12kg or less) Turkish Get-Ups
Z-Health R Phase drills from the floor up
camshaft shoulder drills at varied angles
radial and ulnar nerve glides
isometric military press drills at 10lb and 12kg

I can press 16kg cleanly with the left arm, but not at all with the right. I've just managed a 16kg get-up on the right with an unassisted floor press. I also cannot do a strict pushup without the right arm flaring out and getting weak on me. There's still so much work to be done with the nervous control and movement patterning on that arm. I cannot believe I did this to myself after being able to press 24kg for singles on demand.

Obviously I need to get back into exercising in general, but this changes the plan. I won't be pressing double bells or pressing 5-rung ladders anytime soon. Keep up the therapy above at least daily.

Sun 16+12 outdoors
16kg swings in volume 2-3 sets per interval of lifts
16kg or 28kg cleans and front squats sets of 3-5
12kg presses 5+iso, work on chest and shoulder stabilization, quit when the right hip shifts out
Test 12kg snatches

Tue and Thu 16 indoors
16kg swings, 2-3 sets per interval
16kg get-ups with rachets and alternate middle sections, 2/2
pullups, sets of 5 per interval
pistols, 2/2 per interval

Insight from a Kenneth Jay Workshop

2010-07-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

Saturday was spent with Master RKC instructor Kenneth Jay and about 15 comrades in iron. The title "Presses, Pistols and Pullups" became a bit of a back-story in favor of a discussion of movement therapy and nervous system behavior. The techniques applied toward PP&P were deconstructed with the idea of training the brain to accept these movements as "safe" instead of "threatening". Little hitches in my normal motion are actually unfamiliar movements where the brain briefly blinks or hesitates, and those hitches must be re-learned until they can be completed without stuttering. It's time for me to scale back to a lighter weight and do my reps slower, fewer, different, "right". I have read this on two or three other trainer's blogs in the last few months, Rif, Jordan, and others. Now it's my time.

I've been fighting an inflamed radial nerve for about two weeks now. It just happened, almost overnight. My armpit and tricep ache all day, and I occasionally lose some sensation in my hand. I've seen two different trainer-therapists, and the exercises and drills prescribed have given some relief. There was no attempt to explain how this happened, and rightfully so. Something KJ said yesterday, at least 3 or 4 times, finally clicked with me this morning in hindsight. Asked about putting on muscle mass, he answered, "sure, there are guys who put on huge muscle and got really strong, but they're walking around in pain". It's about muscles getting thicker, either by inflammation from a workout or growth over time, and pinching the nerve bundles that run through them.

That statement of KJ's didn't click with me until this morning. Check my last couple posts. I started a program about a month ago that's designed to put on muscle mass. Lots of two-handed overhead lifts and lifts from hang to shoulder, heavy lifts, with really short rests. I've definitely put on bulk, such as it is on my puny frame. I have to wonder if I caused my own neuritis? I've scheduled a few days of rest and a return to more movement-drill training to perfect my form. Some of the bulk should go away because of the change. It'll be very interesting to see if this nerve condition tracks my size.

I have a new way to unwind

2010-06-23T23:49:00.000-04:00

I came home completely fried today. I used to sit in front of the TV for about 30min to unwind, but the last couple weeks I've actually been more comfortable standing in my bare feet than sitting in a chair. That's in large part to work I've done on posture, hip mobility, and barefoot training, all material for another fitness article.

Stretched out, got my spine straight and my hips folding over properly. Did some mobility work on my spine and shoulders. Felt frisky, so I set up some kettlebell swings. These just clicked, and I ran with it. Understand that I struggle with a neural issue in my wrists, so my grip goes numb before I get winded. Not today. I did a long, uninterrupted set. I did sets with a heavy bell, 1-handed. I did snatches and get-ups. I worked until the iron had enough, and it felt great. Took me no more than 30min.

It feels good to not be dependent on a TV to clear my head. I can play some music or get some exercise or share time with my wife. Those are all good, proactive activities. I spend way too much time on passive things, like sitting in front of glowing rectangles (ironically like this one).

06/17 In the New Routine

2010-06-17T19:10:00.001-04:00

Back from vacation and premiering the new schedule. High volume press/swing day, heavy work day, bodyweight and snatch day.

Sunday: 16kg for 5x5 presses, carries, and 264 swings
Tuesday: 24kg for get-ups, a few cleans and presses, some swings, and weighted pullups
Today: 16kg for get-ups, some NW prelim work (pistols to horizontal, low incline OAPs), 6x3 pullups, and a snatch maxVO2 cadence of 24

First, I should probably do maxVO2 snatches at 12kg. I can snatch 16kg, but it's heavy for extended cardio work. 96/6min during my cadence test was a labor. I should either start Team Rif's Freestyle Max counts or some ladders or something more "practice" oriented to build up the 16 first.

Second, I am LOVING 24kg get-ups. I cannot MP that for more than a couple singles yet, but I am doing get-ups visibly better each week. I may modify that day to include front squats instead of presses until I'm stronger. Fewer different exercises, all heavy. And I am so pleasantly surprised that I can do pairs of +25lb pullups.

Third, I had the good sense to start OAPs and Pistols again with intermediate steps. Split squats are helping my knee. Goblet squats are strong, straight, and deep. Working back down the incline on OAPs and adding sets of divebombers and 3-pt pushups on the 24 day. Preparation, preparation, preparation.

Last thing, I am so seriously thinking about packing my 16 and my 12 to do a double-press day. Maybe do double-press 5x5 on Sunday and split 12kg snatches and 16kg swings. I think my shoulders will handle 25 presses and 100 snatches as well as the ROP H 150 presses. Skip get-ups (on the tile gym roof), shorten time on presses, 100 snatches and 200 swings. Not bad.

Teaching a swing basics class tomorrow to a group of people from work. Psyched.

Circuits and Complexes

2010-06-15T21:16:00.000-04:00

My last post outlined a change to circuit training that I made a couple weeks ago. Over the past 5 months, I've made big gains and reached some limits. I've acclimated to a heavier weight, but that upper weight limit has not moved in about a month. Any clinical research or anecdotal experience will tell you that strength gains occur rapidly at first and then plateau, and mine has. I've been looking for a way to break that plateau.

I've been studying questions about my volume over those last 2 months, and I'm intrigued that I stumbled onto "complexes" currently being published by Master RKC Geoff Neupert. Most of the books will say that I'm not advanced enough to do double kettlebell lifts or max VO2 snatches or this or that because I haven't completed the SSST or pressed half my bodyweight, then say that the way to massive gains in presses and snatches is to follow their book. I just need to change "something". I'm having good success and improved recovery with short, dense complexes.

Geoff's article in the summer 2010 Hardstyle Magazine from Dragondoor describes complexes as groups of exercises performed in an uninterrupted sequence with the same weight. Geoff's example complex looks like this, all done without setting down the weight.

Begin complex -
+ Double Swings x5
+ Double High Pulls x5
+ Double Military Presses x5
+ Front Squats x5
+ Rest 120 seconds, perform five complexes

The rest necessary between traditional strength sets is provided by the time between sets of an individual exercise. A mantra quoted to victims at the Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge workshop was "doing something different is rest", so your shoulders get roughly 3 minutes rest between sets of military presses.

I made a transition to (what I called) circuit training some months ago, as I just got tired of wasting the time between consecutive press ladders. I've already posted my reasons for intermingling swings, and the design keeps me performing well throughout the session. There wasn't much sophistication in the decision, but it did evolve into something deliberate and useful. Copied from my last post.

Begin circuit -
+ Swings: 24/min 2H, then 20/min 1H (2min)
+ 5-rung MP ladder
+ 5 Goblet Squats
+ 60step overhead walk on each arm (roughly the perimeter of my gym's rooftop)
+ 1-2min active recovery (shorter than usual), perform 5-6 circuits
+ finish with 6-8min of swings as outlined above

I finished 6 circuits as shown above on my last "long" day, which shows I'm performing well once I warm up. A separate heavy-bell complex day each week has me acclimating to get-ups and cleans at 8kg up from my regular pressing bell, over 1/3 my bodyweight. This is paying serious dividends in strength and saving me hours of time each week. I'm also a little intrigued by the ROP use of 5x5-rung ladders vs so many strength trainers' use of 5x5 sets. I've done high volume, but I eventually could not recover fully between 3 sessions a week at any serious weight or accelerated pace. I'm migrating my way into short, intense complexes with full recovery between workouts, and it's bearing good fruit so far. I may not be lifting double 24s or otherwise qualified to do this kind of work, but it's still yielding good results.

Managing fatigue with a change to a circuit routine

2010-05-30T18:06:00.003-04:00

I am fast approaching a rest week in my usual training cycle, and I slept lousy Friday night. I had scheduled a 16kg Rite Of Passage Heavy day on Saturday but expected to complete around 2 5-rung press ladders, a set of 5 chinups, and maybe 250 swings. That's the state I was in. I was sore, I was tired, and I had carried a crick in my neck for nearly a week. Instead, I broke personal records in total number of swings, Military Presses, and weighted pullups (my first ever 5 reps +15lb). These were significant increases in total volume on the worst practical day I could have tried it.

I had been reading mc's fine columns on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness lately, trying to approach both the pinch in my neck and the soreness that was scheduling my rest week. The research strongly endorses cardio acceleration before exertion both to quicken recovery and to minimize strength loss, moreso than massage or stretching or cool-down, even more than contrast water therapy afterward.

I remember discovering, quite by surprise back in January, that I could do more pullups in circuit training than in longer sets of pullups, nearly twice as many total in a workout. I didn't have an explanation at the time, but the familiar way my lats simply freeze up on me when they've had enough has led me to believe it was an issue of recovery and not capacity or strength. What follows was an application of circuit routine design to manage fatigue and recovery.

My usual cycle in an ROP press day works as follows.

Turkish Get-Up: 1-3 on each side during warmup
Begin circuit -
+ 5-rung MP ladder
+ 5 Goblet Squats
+ Pullups if they are on the day's schedule
+ 2-3min active recovery, including overhead walks with each arm
Repeat circuit until 5 total
Swings: 24/min 2H alternating with 20/min 1H for 8-12min total

I made a change this weekend after reading the research on cardio acceleration before heavy lifting. I was really concerned about pushing long when I could feel the onset of a rest week. All I originally intended with this design was to raise circulation before lifting so I could complete 2 or 3 ladders without wearing out. Keep in mind that, at each single step in this schedule, I expected to complete about half the total volume that I eventually logged.

Turkish Get-Ups: 3/3 during warmup
5 weighted pullups +15lb
Begin circuit -
+ Swings: 24/min 2H, then 20/min 1H (2min)
+ 5-rung MP ladder
+ 5 Goblet Squats
+ 60step overhead walk on each arm (roughly the perimeter of my gym's rooftop)
+ 1-2min active recovery (shorter than usual)
Repeat circuit to 6 total
Swings: 24/min 2H, then 20/min 1H for additional 4 sets each

When all was said and done, this was the first time I had completed 6 ladders of 5 rungs apiece. I had also completed a total of 440 swings @16kg in 20 discontinuous minutes; my previous best was 400 @12kg in 20 straight minutes almost 5mos ago. There was a rotation built into this routine of lower pull with cardio, upper body dynamic press, lower body press, upper body static press, and walking for recovery. After adding 8min of traditional swings at the end, this was accidentally a pretty well-balanced workout.

Completing consecutive sets builds conditioning and stamina, where a full recovery between sets trains strength; this is common knowledge. I cannot say I felt "rested" between 2 sets of swings and a press ladder, but each ladder did stagger less from fatigue than usual. I actually found a second wind and a smoother form after the third complete ladder. The grip failure I usually struggle with in long sets of swings did not come up until the last minute or two of the entire day. The intermittent swings kept my heart rate up, kept my muscles perfused with blood, and managed the single limiting factor in most every movement in my routine.

Wrapping a 16kg RoP for a Heavier Routine

2010-05-27T21:29:00.003-04:00

I've been working a steady ETK Rite of Passage routine for 15 weeks now, following 6wks of the Shoulder Shock protocol. I finished the 5x5 press ladders several weeks ago and finished the RKC pace of 100 snatches in 5min at my 16kg training weight. I'm nowhere near ready for the SSST's 200/10min. Just not even enough to call myself "working on it" with a straight face. That's 5mos of press ladders and swings at roughly the same weight. Need to move on, lift heavy to lift heavier and swing longer to swing longer.

Did something new today, a full circuit workout with 24kg. Loved it. I've been thinking about a few different, very useful goals and routines people focus on. KJ's Beast Pressing program, the Titan Challenge and Jordan's hour of get-ups, and some different cardio training. A high volume swing day, a heavy weight swing day, and a max VO2 snatch day. They're really disparate, but they have common threads in volume vs weight. I'll be feeling this out until mid-June, at least. I've also read some studies on DOMS and interspersed swings with heavy lifting for cardioacceleration, with encouraging results so far. For my schedule, Sunday was my ROP "Heavy" day and is the day I have time for the longest session. Love working out on the gym roof in the afternoon, but there's nowhere up there to do pullups... yet.

Sunday: 16kg ROP Heavy circuit
Clean & Press, 5-rung ladder
+ Pullups, 3-5 per ladder
+ Goblet Squats, 3-5 per ladder
+ the above done as a circuit 5+ times
Pistols or Tactical Lunges, depending on my knee
Swings, 300 or so (which is long for me)

Tuesday: 24kg circuit
Swings, 15-20 x3
+ TGU, 1-2 each side
+ 2H Clean + Goblet Squat, 3-5
+ Clean & Press, 1-2 each side
+ the above done as a circuit until presses wear out
Swings, 15-20 x6-9 at the end

Thursday: 12kg or 16kg get-ups and snatches
TGU, 5 each side
+ Pushups, 10
+ Pullups, 6-10
+ the above done as a circuit 3-5 times
Snatches, :15/:15 sets, done 10+ minutes for endurance

Considered doing the long press day with 12kg for 200+ reps, true Beast Press Protocol style, but 16kg is just right on that edge between conditioning and strength. May do 12kg snatches and BU-TGUs for endurance instead of load, at least for the first few weeks. I'm hoping this new focus on swings will enhance my snatches with 16kg.

When you least expect it.... 'poof' up in the air

2010-05-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

I've had a goal of completing a strict Military Press on each arm with my 24kg kettlebell. I own a pair of 12kg and 16kg that I nicknamed Frik and Frak some time ago. When my new 24kg arrived, I was briefly out of four-letter "F" words for training equipment. I had one other suggestion that didn't "fit", so it's been "Frank the 24" ever since. That title phrase has been on my lips for some three months now.

When you least expect it, Frank... 'poof' up in the air.

I managed to snatch Frank a couple reps on each arm about 10 days ago. That was barely unsafe, but it was fun beyond measure. I pressed Frank with my dominant right arm on March 25. The last two months have been swings, snatches, and left arm therapy.

Waiter Presses: could barely do one with 12kg the first time. Can do sets of 5 @16kg now, and have even done some ladders. Military Presses got cleaner and quicker, but not all that much stronger. Arm is more mobile and healthy for the experience.
Bottom-Up Presses: still can't BUP 16kg left-handed, but that may be neurological instead of muscular. Long-term goal.
Overloads: I started adding incremental weight last weekend, which is doing me a world of good.

Tonight, just screwing around, I completed the following.

2 @18kg (41lb) on each arm
2 @20kg (46lb) on each arm
2 @24kg (53lb) on each arm
2 @24kg later with less warm-up

I lowered each rep slowly, like there was a cup of water on top. The last time I tried that on the left, the bell didn't come off my shoulder. Literally.

I've been watching Rif's technique of progressively loading his swings and presses for some time now. I'm liking what this does for me. I'll try some sets of 5 and 3-rung ladders at 20kg for the next 2 weeks, pressing 24kg in singles as the mood strikes me. The goal is to condition up to a set of 5 straight @24kg by May 31.

What a relief!

"Programs" and Record Keeping

2010-05-12T00:02:00.001-04:00

Yes, I have a spreadsheet. An honest-to-goodness spreadsheet of all my training the last six months. Here's the problem. I've been in "programs" all this time, scheduled days or weeks in advance. One sick day, one poor night of sleep that cuts my volume in half, and I'm off schedule. Mark Reifkind does sets of swings of different lengths, with different weights, and fits it all in a square inch of blog. There's something very liberating about that.

I need to let go of the giant table of the same 3 exercises every day, get myself a moleskin journal and a waterproof pen, and get comfortable with my training. The table meant something to me when I was charting progress and following Fighter Pullup and Shoulder Shock. Not so much anymore. It's less important to me right now whether I can do 9,8,7,7,6 pullups than if I can do 15 straight or do them with hand changes across a set of grips. Can I press 24kg? Can I do the SSST? I can't do enough pistols to lose count, so "can I do good pistols?" I also want to do more bodyweight exercise, but I don't have space for five more exercises. Here's what I have in mind.

Plan A = 16kg TGUs (5/5), One Armed Pushups (2/2), Pistols (2/2), 16kg Swings/Snatches in alternate sessions of THIS routine.
Plan B = Pullups (Fighter Pullup or Ninja Warrior style), 24kg Cleans to Goblet Squats, 24kg Swings
Tu - Plan A, Th - Plan B, Su - Plan A heavy
Tu - Plan B, Th - Plan A, Su - Plan B heavy

Train probably three days a week. Make every Sunday "heavy volume day", so whatever plan I'm on that day gets extra volume. I can't just do an extra 10 pistols, so the extra volume would look more like 1 extra pistol and 40 extra snatches.

Get-up, press, pull, two different squats, two different ballistics (three if you count 16kg and 24kg swings as different). I like this. Frankly, I'd almost just do this to a comfortable stop or a managed fatigue and not keep numbers every single day. At least for a while, that seems like it would be nice. I need to go to the little moleskin journal store in the mall, find something that matches my Vibrams.

Lessons learned during an ROP

2010-05-10T22:07:00.001-04:00

I've just reached some ROP milestones with a 16kg bell at 65kg bodyweight, and I learned a few things along the way. First, do not try to train when you're sick. I pushed through a stomach ailment and found my soreness and fatigue never went away. I was sore for three days because my body didn't actually FEED on anything I put in it. Big mistake.

Second, not every move works for everyone. I have a minor elbow alignment issue and some ulnar nerve binding. My Military Press is a little funny on the left side. I learned Waiter Presses, which helped some, but I cannot do BUPs on the left to save my life. I just discovered the Single Leg MP from the ETK bonus releases. My left SLMP got halfway up and paused, then crept up the rest of the way. No hip shifting, no side pressing, no ballistic launching from the rack. It was hard and scary and tiring, but it was the cleanest left arm MP set I've ever done. I just had to find the right alternate press to train with.

Third, I've been trying to raise my swing density to improve my conditioning. The long-term goal was a snatch test. I'd have been happy with either the RKC numbers (100/5min) or the SSST (200/10min), but I wasn't ready. The last few weeks, I've tried :35/:25 and :40/:20 swings with surprising results. My fingers went numb at 6 or 8 minutes because of my nerve impingement. The new muscle mass during the ROP only made it worse. I had to regroup. I found that one-handed swings at :30/:30 suit me best. This isn't hardstyle and I may catch flak for it, but I can release briefly at the top of a 1H swing to keep the hand fresh. Each arm gets 20 quick releases and :30 off every minute, and I can do 1H swings at a reasonable weight all day again. I did almost 300 this week before acknowledging that I was sick. Similarly, I've managed my snatch rhythm to my hand fatigue, with great results.

To wrap things up, I hit 5-rungs x 5 presses a couple weeks ago and have repeated it for good measure. I finally snatched 100/5min this week . I may continue on for 200/10min, or I may prep to move up a bell. Not sure yet, but I learned a lot on the way here. I think that I'll set what my company calls "stretch goals" for the month of May. See if I can make 200/10min snatches at 16kg. Use SLMP ladders on the left to train to press 24kg for 5 singles. If not by the end of May, then I order a 20kg and make baby steps. Nothing wrong with that.

01/2010 Upgrade

2010-01-18T19:30:00.006-05:00

For the first quarter of 2010, I've stacked a few goals in sequence. They all naturally follow an introductory, therapeutic season with a 12kg bell completed at New Year's.

HKC (completed 01/10/2010 at Condition Gym)
PM with new 16kg kettlebell
Begin RoP with new 16kg kettlebell

I have a basic need to handle a heavier weight. I'm going to swing the 16kg regularly and swing 24kg periodically. I have another basic need to improve pullups. I will do them in sets of varying length and density. Last, I have an elbow/wrist issue in my left arm that hinders every overhead motion. I've done 4 5-rung ladders of MPs with 12kg, so the arm can lift and can find a groove. It's just not right yet. To weave all this together, I've adapted the Program Minimum as follows, and I'm really excited about it.

All @16kg unless noted

Wk 1
- M: 5-10min alt TGU, ladder CP, ladder pullups at :00, 1x5/5 snatches
- Tu: pullup sets at :00, 12min medium swings
- Th: 10-15min alt TGU, short CP sets, ladder pullups/:30
- F: pullup sets/:20, 15min medium swings

Wk 2
- M: 5-10min TGU 2 per side, short CP sets, ladder pullups/:30, 2x5/5 snatches
- Tu: pullup sets/:20, 12min fast swings
- Th: 10-15min TGU 2 per side, short CP sets, pullup sets/:30
- F: 12min medium swings with 24kg, 1-2 pullups between swing sets

Wk 3
- M: TGU 3 per side, no presses, pullup long set test, 4x5/5 snatches (a press, a pull up, a pull down)
- Tu: no pullups, 12-15min fast swings
- Th: TGU 3 per side, ladder CP, pullup sets/:30
- F: 12min fast swings with 24kg (or 15min slow), 1-2 pullups between swing sets

Pullups are done either at the top of the minute or at every 20sec or every 30sec to train density. The total volume is not the focus. I can do 5+4+4 as easily as 3+3+3+3 with rests between sets, but I cannot do 10 straight or 4x5. I have adapted to an arbitrary number. The /:20 and /:30 sessions should eventually train my body to do 10 or 12 straight, and I'll test for a single long set once a month.

Swings... I've done 20x20min swings before, so volume conditioning is not really the point. The point for me is training for heavier weight. 200 reps is a good benchmark for me, and this rotation tops 180 almost every session after Wk 2. After an introductory week at 16kg, swing days will alternate 16kg and 24kg. 24kg swing days will use 1-2 pullups during recovery to try to train the body to do 20-plus pullups in a long session while fatigued. Wish me luck.

I can already snatch 16kg. Each Monday's snatch session will add a set of 5/5. I would be thrilled to find myself doing 5x5/5 in :30/:30 at the end of a PM. This is not a snatch centered program, but there would be nothing wrong with replacing a :30/:30x12min swing day with 60/60 snatches on that same cadence.

If this modified routine accomplishes the goals for which it's designed, I may not be in any hurry to start an RoP. I would love to help more newbies wrap their heads around these two things. First, the basic routines are there to train you to handle weight with clean form. Second, you don't have to do "everything" to be fit. You can add a focus exercise if you understand waviness of load and cycling. I have no need to test my swing limits, but I would love to test :30/:30 snatches around week 6 as a by-product of swinging new weight and practicing snatches weekly. I'm really stoked about this. I actually laid awake Saturday night thinking about swinging my new 24kg next Friday!

Basic Welcome Message

2010-01-01T19:10:00.003-05:00

First, thank you for following along. This will be an ongoing conversation about health and physical training that began for me in the Summer of 2008 at age 38. There was a catastrophic injury and a long rehab. That rehab was the first commitment I had made toward my own fitness in some 15 years.

I am a kettlebell enthusiast and certified instructor of kettlebell skills. My training on shiny white machines stagnated until I found a new motivation in moving myself and simple pieces of iron in the Summer of 2009. What followed has been an exciting and interesting discovery in strength and well-being that continues to this day.

Every few months some men's magazine or website will present "15 physical skills every man should have". 15 pullups, 25 pushups, run 5 miles, carry someone your weight up two flights of stairs, that sort of thing. Useful stuff for getting out from under a motorcycle or into an open window overhead or carrying an injured comrade to safety. There are strong, rippling monsters of manhood that cannot do a pullup or touch their toes. There are people who can run a marathon but cannot carry a heavy load up stairs, and vice versa. The day I handed my walker to my nurse and clambered up two flights of stairs because the elevator was broken, I committed to be more physically fit. Here we go.

-j