A Forlorn Conclusion and.... I Got It!!

Monday, September 24th

Well, work continues to get busier and busier each and every day. My lunchhour trips to the gym have become less and less frequent. I came to the sad conclusion over the weekend that I will have to give up my hopes of lunchour workouts which include squatting and deadlifting. So for now, I will plan to get up early in the mornings and workout at home... with my kettlebells and power tower (pullup and dip station).

I decided to order the Enter the Kettlebell DVD as well. Since I started with these kettlebells way back in May (my 6 month anniversary isn't too far away) I have never felt comfortable performing cleans. Something just isn't right. I've read about the technique, watched videos on YouTube, yet never seemed to 'get it'. So I figured it was time to watch the master. Plus, since this will now become my fitness method of choice, best to get moving on the right foot and try not to develop any bad habits. So as of this morning, the DVD is in transit.

No on to today's workout. The alarm went off at 5:30am while it was still dark out. I rose from bed at 5:39am, when the first of the snoozes went off. Not used to working the bells first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, I intended to make today's routine relatively easy. Actually, all of this week I hope to make easy, as a way of helping my body adjust to the new sleep/wake/exercise pattern. Therefore I decided to start things off really, really easy by swinging an 8kg bell.

After doing a set of 2 hand swings to help wake me up, I decided to try cleaning again. Now in front of a mirror and using the light kb, I tried to mimic Pavel's rack position. For the longest time I could never end up in that elbow in, in front of the body position with the bell. Well this morning something I read (probably a hundred times by now) about imagining performing the clean as an uppercut. Once that sunk in, viola!! It now makes sense! I Got It!! All this time, what a subtle difference, but what a difference!! I am so psyched now. Wow wee!! Cool.

Now that I am quite excited with myself and excited for my future workouts, here is what I accomplished today.


8kg 2SW - 40
8kg C&P - 6/6
7/7
16kg C&P - 3/3
16kg 2SW - 20
16kg 1SW - 10/10
10/10
10/10
10/10
Pullups - 5, 5

Not too bad for a first day. Tomorrow, we start with TGU's and then sprinkle in a little of this and a little of that. If I can get through this week rising early each day, I'll be good to go. Momentum is everything. Stay tuned for more....