Ramping Up Once More

Thursday, August 30th

Getting back into the groove after a lost week. I'll discuss that some more on another post, probably this weekend. So this evening, I got outside with the 16kg to get back into the 'swing' again. With Labor Day weekend upon us, I should be able to squeeze in a few good workouts.

16kg 2SW - 20
16 kg Windmills (WM) - 3/3
16kg 1SW - 20/20, 20/20, 17/17, 15/15
16kg WM - 3/3

Wore my Polar monitor this evening. Total time 18 min, 219 calories burned, avg hr 79% max

Total swings: 5,772 lbs / 18 min = 321 lbs/min

Another Short One

Tuesday, August 21st

Work has been very, very busy as of late. So today, again, a short but sweet trip to the gym on my lunch hour to squeeze in some bells.

16kg 2SW - 30
16kg 1SW - 20/20, 15/15, 15/15
16kg SN - 5/5, 5/5, 5/5
16kg C&P - 3/3, 3/3
16kg Pistols - 3/3, 2/2
16kg Pullups - 3, 3

Finished off stretching.

Quick Thursday Workout

Thursday, August 16th

Work has been totally crazy as of late. Working late every night, bringing work home in the evenings. So I needed to make this workout relatively short and return quickly to the insanity.

24kg 2SW - 20, 20
24kg Pullups - (5x bodyweight warmup), 1, 1
24kg Pistols - 1/1, 1/1, 1/1
24kg TGU - 1/1
24kg 1SW - 10/10, 10/10

Stretch. Back to work!!

Tuesday, August 14th

Today is my first all 24kg workout. I decided to go for the gold today. I was also a bit lazy and didn't feel like lugging both the 16kg and 24kg to work and the gym with me. I definitely get a good warmup on my workout days. Leave the house in the morning, carry the kb's out to the car. Arrive at work, crunch some numbers till about noon. Drive to the gym. Carry the kb's into the gym locker room, change clothes, carry kb's into gym. Workout with kb's. Carry kb's back into locker room. Shower and change. Carry kb's back out to car. Return to work for a few more hours. Drive home. Carry kb's back into house. (Sometimes I do leave them in the car, if I know I'll be visiting the gym again the following day. It's saves me a step.)

So anyway, today's workout consisted of:

24kg 2SW - 20, 20
24kg 1SW - 10/10
24kg SN - 5/5
24kg Pistols - 1/1, 1/1
24kg C&P - 1/1
24kg 1SW - 10/10
24kg SN - 5/5
Pullups bodyweight - 5, 5

Weighed in at 163 lbs today, not bad for being only a few days returned from vacation. And I felt like I ate so much!!

Back from Vacation

Saturday, August 11th

Well we returned from vacation, about a week in Newport, Rhode Island. It was good to get away from things for a bit. Although, this being our first year going on vacation with a child, things didn't seem as restful as they used to be. Being on vacation with a one-year old definitely keeps you busy! But anyway, we're back now and it's time to start getting back into the swing of things.

So what better way than to start swinging again!

It's time I started mixing in the 24kg bell with the 16kg. With a history of shoulder and neck problems, I decided to start out with the 16kg bell. The shoulders are holding up amazing well and since I started working with the kettlebells (back in May, it's been about 3 months now) I can honestly say that I notice an improvement in how my neck feels and how it reacts to stresses. In the past I would noticeably feel the spasms and get some pretty wicked headaches. Early on after my first few workouts with the kettlebells, I experienced some of this. But as I've gotten stronger and better conditioned that's all been in the past. So with all of these good signs, it's time to increase the intensity a bit. (By the way, I decided to drop the RKC program for a while. I think it was a bit too demanding on a newbie like me. I'm going to wing it for a while. Particularly until my left elbow starts to feel normal again. I think the cleans were a bit too demanding on that elbow. So in the meantime, I'll mix in a few cleans here and there and wait for the elbow to catch up with the rest of me.) So today's workout consisted of:

16kg 2SW - 20
16kg 1SW (L/R) - 10/10, 10/10
24kg 2SW - 15
24kg 1SW - 10/10, 10/10
24kg SN (R/L) - 2/2, 4/3
24kg Waiter's Walk - 1x back and forth across my backyard

The 24kg definitely felt heavy. But heavy like the 16kg felt when I first picked it up. So, it's a comfortable heavy! =)

This felt good. Nice to be back (although I wouldn't mind another vacation).

Thursday, Aug 2nd

Starting to feel more like my old self again, strength seems to be returning. Wanting to mix it up a bit today since I still feel like I'm easing back into things.

Started with my usual warmup of 2 Handed Swings..

16kg 2SW - 30
16kg TGU - 5/5, 5/5
16kg Windmills - 3/3, 3/3

16kg Pullups - 3, 3, 0lbs/5
16kg Pistols - 1/1, 4/4, 0lbs/5/5
I performed my last sets of these only body weight just to crank out a few more reps. And yes these were supersetted together.

16kg 1SW - 15/15, 15/15, 10/10

That's it for today, rushing back to work now....

Tuesday, July 31st

Well it's been a week since my last workout. I've been as sick as a dog all week. I decided to get to a doctor before things got really out of hand, so I'm now taking some good horse-pill sized antibiotics. I decided to let today's workout be a "keep things moving so the body doesn't forget" session. So here goes....

16kg 2SW - 30
Pullups w/ 16kg - 3, 3, 3
Pistols w/16kg (L/R) - 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 3/3
[The Pullups and Pistols were alternated]
16kg 1SW (L/R) - 20/20, 20/20, 20/20, 15/15
16kg TGU (L/R) 2/2

Finished off with a good stretching out. Not too bad.
Currently weighing in at 164lbs.