Thursday, May 31, 2007

Swinging Thursday

Today's gym time was spent swinging the 16kg bell and performing a few pistols. Great workout! 35 min, 489 calories, 85% hr

2HS: 15, 15, 15
1HS: 10/10, 10/10, 5/5/5/5

Cleans: 5/5
Snatches: 5/5, 10/10
Cleans: 5/5

1HS: 5/5/5/5, 5/5/5/5
2HS: 20

Pistols w/ 10 lb: 5/5

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Back in the Saddle Wed

It's been a week since I've been in the gym, so today was something of a ramp up day. With the rotator cuffs still sore, I decided to omit some overhead pressing movements.

Today's routine lasted 27 min, 369 calories burned, heart rate averaged 84% max.

Circuit 1:
Squats: 135/12, 155/12, 175/12, 12
Pushups (performed with one arm elevated): 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 (r/l)

Circuit 2:
DB Front Raises: 10/12, 12, 12
DB Diagonals: 5/10,10; 10,10; 5,5,5,5

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day Weekend Kettlebells

Got home early from the office on Friday and had planned to do some swings since I didn't get to the gym. Unfortunately, activities go the best of me, one of which was reorganizing the exercise room in the house! Once I got the place in order so that we could effectively use it again, I did squeeze in a few swings, 2-hand and 1-hand, but didn't do enough worth writing down.

Saturday morning I woke up with a very sore left rotator cuff. I'm going to have to keep a real close eye on it, keep working it smart and not overdo anything.

Sunday was a beautiful day!! I got outside just after noon, found a shaded spot in the yard and decided to have some fun with the bell. Mixing it up a bit today, I did the following:

2HS: 15, 15, 15
1HS: 10/10, 10/10
DARC: 5/5/5/5 (I forget what DARC stands for exactly, but (I believe) these are one hand swings where you change hands at the top of a swing to keep the reps going - or at least that's what I performed here. 5 reps right hand, mini swing to switch to left hand, 5 reps, back to right hand, 5 reps, and switch once more to left for 5 more)
Figure 8: performed Figure 8 between my legs, heard this works the core well, didn't really count the reps here, but it sure kept the heart rate and sweat going
Cleans: 5/5
Snatches: 5/5, 5/5 (did these with a reverse press on the negative)
Cleans: 5/5
DARC: 5/5/5/5/5/5 (3 sets each side, got heart rate up to 99% max!!), 5/5/5/5
Figure 8: 20 hand passes in one direction X 2

26 min, over 300 cal (lost my readings in watch!! dangit)

Wed, May 23 - Go Fitness

Tri-sets today. Rotators are a bit sore on me so I'm substituting some of my normal exercises for some band work. I'm using the gray therabands these days.

1st circuit -
DB Bench: 45/12, 50/12, 12, 12
DB Rear Lateral: 10/10, 10, 10, 10
DB Diagonals: 10/5, 5, 5, 5

2nd circuit -
BB Rows: 60/12, 70/12, 12
DB Extensions: 15/12, 12, 12, 12
Band Ext Rotations: 10, 10, 10
Band Rear Extensions: 10, 10, 10

28 min, 358 cal, 80% avg heart rate

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Garage KB's

No time to get to they gym today (due to last minute meetings in the office), so I decided to do a quick & dirty kb workout in the garage. Driving to an empty spot in the corner of the garage, I proceeded to slip on my sneaks, remove my watch and got going. Not a lot today, didn't want to return too sweaty, but at least got the muscles (and shoulders) moving. According to Pavel, you don't want every workout to be a grueling one, so this one was a treat for my body today.

16kg -
2HS: 15, 15, 15
1HS: 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

That's all for today. Tomorrow we hit the gym again.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Easy Monday

After a grueling few days of workouts last week, which included my first two kettlebell sessions, I decided to bring it down a notch today, to give my body a bit of a break and a chance to recover more fully. Even after the weekend of "off the charts eating", I'm still down 1/2 pound from last Monday, weighing in at 167-1/2.

Still on the Lean Routine, this was today's workout...

Circuit 1 -
Squats: 135/12, 175/12, 12, 12
DB OH: 20/12, 12, 12, 12

Circuit 2 -
Orange Tubing - Rotator Adductors: 10, 10, 10
Orange Tubing - Rear Swings: 10, 10, 10
Pushups - 15, 15, 10

Today's circuits were followed by some good back and shoulder stretches. Left rotator is feeling a bit sore these days.

24 min, 322 cal, 83% avg hr

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Sunday Morning Kettlebells

What a beautiful morning to swing some kettlebells in the great outdoors! Building onto my first workout, I kept today's session again pretty short. Particularly since I was feeling nausea after that first one. I switched things around a little bit, used the first few sets as warmup (2-arm swings), then moved onto some one-arm sets (before my shoulders tired) then finished off with some more 2-arm swings. The shoulders held up really well today, now that I am learning how to anchor them down and really use my body to move the bell. It's amazing how quickly my body was able to adapt and adjust to these. The 2-hand swings are feeling really good. Could probably move right up to a bigger bell with these. But rather than move too quickly, I'll opt to just do a few more sets and a few more reps. But I can see myself ordering the 2 pood (24 kg) bell in the not too distant future. The 16kg seems to be a very good weight right now for the 1-arm swings. I'll see tomorrow how the shoulder joints feel. I don't expect any problems just from the way I feel now. Definitely felt some work in my forearms today, as well as some residual soreness in the abs from Thurday's session. So here is today's routine:
2-Hand Swings (2HW): 15, 15, 15
1HW: 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 (right/left)
1H Cleans (1HC): 5/5, 5/5
2HS: 15, 15, 15

20 min, 247 cal, 78% avg hr

Now we can rest!

Friday's Workout

Friday's workout at they gym was a good one. Body somewhat tired from the kb workout the evening before but I still gave it my all. 31 min session, 413 calories, avg hr 83%. My two tri-sets were the following:

Circuit 1 -
Deadlifts: 135/10, 155/12, 12, 12
DB Curls: 15/10, 10, 10, 10
Shrugs: 135/10, 155/6, 6, 10

I tried a few Jump Shrugs in here as I was getting tired, man did I feel them waking up the next morning. Traps are still sore.

Circuit 2 -
Dips: 10, 10, 10, 10
Pullups: 5, 4, 4, 4
DB Front Raises: 10/12, 12, 12, 12

Pullups are always weaker when performed after Deads. Also still having pain in the right forearm when I do these. It hasn't gotten worse, but not too much better.

After yesterday's day of rest, we do another kb session today... more on that after it's over.

Friday, May 18, 2007

1st KB Workout

Last night was my first 'official' kb workout. I got home from work, threw on my sneaks and went out back to workout on the grass with my 16kg bell. My plan was to keep the session under 20 minutes for two reasons. One, because I had no idea how it would work me and today is a gym-lifting day, and two, because I didn't want to overstress my shoulders first time out of the box. The session ended up lasting just 16 min. At that point I was nicely tired, to the point where I could feel my form starting to deteriorate as well as the shoulders starting to feel weak. All in all, happy with the workout! 16 min, 205 cal, avg hr 80% max.

Workout -
2-hand swings: 6x15 reps
1-hand swings: 3x10/10 (right/left)

I started the fourth set of 1HS and the shoulder was feeling weak and started clicking, so I decided it was a good place to stop. Shortly after this session, I was feeling a bit nauseau. Not sure if it was because I started the workout hungry on an empty stomach but I'll see if it happens again this weekend. I guess the stories about people puking after kb workouts might actually be true! Physically, I felt good at the end. Was surprised at the nausea. Looking forward to deadlifts today at the gym! More later.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Wed, Circuit

Got back on schedule today with my Mon/Wed/Fri lifting sessions. Today's circuits targeted some smaller muscle groups than yesterday's (squats) so my heart rate and calorie burn was a bit lower. So-k, I don't mind having an easier day every once and a while. Friday's routine will include deadlifts, so I make up for it then. Today's circuits were:

Circuit 1 -
DB Bench Press: 45/12, 12, 12, 12
DB Stiff Legs: 45/12, 12, 12, 12
Rear Delt Laterals: 10/10, 10, 10, 10

Circuit 2 -
Barbell Row: 50/12, 60/12, 12, 12
DB Tric Extension: 10/12, 15/12, 12, 12
DB Hammer Curls: 10/10, 12, 12, 12

30 min workout, 369 cal, 143 avg hr (78% max)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Tues 5/15 @ Go Fitness

Before arriving I decided to make today a lifting day. Still on my 'lean routine', my routine consists of tri-sets performed at a brisk pace, my heart rate monitor strapped on, and my daily caloric intake at a reduced level. It's been a week since my last gym visit so I kept things a bit tame today.

First tri set -
Squat: 135/12, 155/12, 175/12, 12
Pushups: 20, 15, 15, 15
DB OH: 15/12, 12, 12, 12
(Following the squats my hr was up somwhere b/w 95-101%, so I let it get down to about 90% before moving on to the pushups. After DB OH, I let it drop to about 70% before starting over. Last week, I jumped back in at around 80%.)

Second tri set -
Calf sled: 180/20, 20, 17
DB Lateral Raises: 15/10, 10, 10
DB 'Diagonal Raises': 8/8, 10, 10

Session lasted 36 min in total, 504 calories burned, and an avg hr 155 bpm (85% of max). Not too bad!! My bodyweight is now at 168 lbs. That's a 6 pound loss in 5-1/2 weeks. So far, right on track with my plan of approx 1 lb per week.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Yesterday marked the start of a new era for me and my training. When I arrived home my one pood kettlebell was waiting at the front door for me. It sat there in a little cardboard box at the top of the steps. No sense bringing it inside, we were heading into the backyard! With my Russian Kettlebell Challenge book under my arm, I could now, finally, apply some of what I have been reading for about a year now into practice!

I started with two hand swings. Got into a good position, similar to that when performing stiff legged deadlifts, and tried a few. Immediately both shoulders started "clicking" as the bell traveled up and away from me. I don't think this was a good thing. I made two adjustments immediately - (1) don't swing so high and (2) pull the shoulders down and anchor them in. That did the trick! I continued to do a few sets of about 10 reps of these. Then proceeded to try a few snatches, a few cleans and ultimately some presses. I def felt the should joints being strained while doing the presses. I'll have to work on my form on these. I don't have a problems doing the same weight with a dumbell, so it shouldn't take too long to get accustomed to the kb.

Today is a gym workout, not sure yet if I'll make it a lifting session or a cardio session... I'm gonna play it by ear.

Monday, May 14, 2007

My Personal Blog

Today I start my new personal, training blog. I want to use this forum to keep track of my training as well as share ideas and get input from those around me. Up until now I have been working out in a traditional gym, focusing on functional strength, powerlifting-centric exercises. That sprikled with traditional cardio - mostly treadmill and jump rope - I get in on average 3-5 workouts per week. This is usually done during the day, on my lunch hour, my actual gym time at most lasting about 45 minutes.

But today is different. Today I expect to receive via UPS my first kettlebell! A 16 kg bell should be arriving today and I am excited. I will be taking a 3-session kb course starting beginning of June at the community college. In the meantime, I'll be referencing Pavel's Russian Kettlebell Challenge book for guidance. How will I incorporate this new modality into my current routine? I'm not sure yet. I honestly don't even know how much I will enjoy working with the kb. This is a new experiment for me. I hope that when I get home this evening, the kb will be waiting for me. I'm looking forward to the first of my swings. Stay tuned...