Happy Halloween!!

Long live Mini Twix Bars!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I'll be glad when all this candy is out of the house (well I'll be sorta sad too). Because then we can start thinking about Turkey!! OK, enough about food. Let's get on with today's workout. In the spirit of Enter the Kettlebell, I am trying to keep the Light-Medium-Heavy Day cycling throughout the week. Therefore on Mondays I'll be Snatching with the 16kg (Light), Wednesday will be Swings with both the 16kg and 24kg, and Fridays will be Swings with emphasis on the 24kg (until I get something bigger). Oh yeah, and I'll be doing Clean & Presses each day as well, but those will be focused on building strength with the 24kg. So here's what today's session looked like...

Warmup of 2-Hand Swings and Halos:

8kg - 30 swings; 5/5 halos

16kg - 20 swings; 5/5 halos

24kg - 20 swings; 3/3 halos

Clean & Presses:

16kg - 5/5

24kg - 2/2, 1/1, 2/2

Weighted Pullups:

15lbs - 3, 3, 3

1-Hand Swings:

16kg - 20/20, 15/15, 10/10

24kg - 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

Daily totals:

70 2-Hand Swings for 2288lbs

150 1-Hand Swings for 6336 lbs

Total poundage 8624 lbs

Gotta go, time to put on my costume... possible pics tomorrow....

Z-Health for Breakfast

You know the Rice Crispies commercial right? Snap, Crackle, Pop? Well that's what my neck sounded like this morning as I worked through the neck portion of Z-Health R-Phase.

Today is technically my "day off", but that just means I go easy but still try to keep things moving. Surprisingly my biceps feel a bit sore today, maybe from yesterday's pullups. I almost feel like I've been curling. Anyway, to keep moving today this is what I did...

Practice Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts - an uncounted number of reps where I started first standing maybe two feet away from a 45lb olympic plate, rolled out (from my tippy toes) into it (to a complete stop) and returned back up, did a few reps like this, then inched back and repeated. I did this a few times. Not enough to kill my abs but enough to feel some fatigue. The plan is to continue to do this until I can do a complete rollout and return back to standing without any assistance.

Then on to Z-Health....

Started with Neutral Standing and Lengthening - no prob.

Next worked the Shoulder routine - not too bad, the shoulder circles felt good, the scapula rolls (camshafts) created some popping sounds, but no pain involved, so ok.

Then it was on to the Neck routine - neck continues to be tight on me from my mishap last(?) week. (Maybe it was the week before even...) First real challenge was the Lateral Glide or Egyptian. My range of motion for this is limited. Same for Full Circles since it hits the same movement. Then the Lateral Tilt & Lateral Glide... the Glide was almost non-existent. On either side. I guess I've found an area to concentrate on! Hahaha And lastly, the Figure Eights, good movement here but this is where the Rice Crispies came in. Lots of Snap, Crackle, Pop here.

So all in all, my day off wasn't too physically demanding, so I should feel strong for tomorrow morning's kettlebell workout, but it also has given me something to focus on with Z-Health. I'll continue to work the neck now as much as possible throughout the day and repeat today's routine again in full on Thursday.

Time to run. Keep swinging!

Is It Monday Already?

The weekends go fast around here! I can't believe it's already Monday morning. I was still tight from Saturday's workout, particularly in the hamstrings. But they loosened up pretty well with my warmup. When I warm up with 2-Hand Swings, I typically keep the range of motion small since (1) I'd only woken up a few minutes earlier and (2) it allows me to really focus in on the tight muscles of my legs, hips and back.

So today was the restart of my program. For now, I am going to stay similar to the Enter the Kettlebell program, only I've made a few personal changes. Firstly, with the Cleans & Presses, no laddering, just straight sets. And secondly, I'm not going to be performing my Swings/Snatches to time for a while, also going for straight sets. This will allow to pace myself better and start introducing the 24kg kb into my program.

So this is what today's routine looked like:

Warmed up with my routine of 2-Hand Swings followed immediately by Halos with the 8kg, then the 16kg, then the 24kg

5 sets of Clean & Presses supersetted with Bodyweight Pullups:

Clean & Presses -
16kg 5/5, 5/5
24kg 1/1, 1/1, 1/1

Bodyweight Pullups - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Snatches with 16kg -
10/10 (left/right)
10/10
10/10
10/10
10/10

100 snatches in total for 3520 lbs

Tomorrow I plan to start working on some Z-Health movements. I will be starting out with Lengthening, followed by Shoulders and then Neck. That will be my focus this week. Then I'll add one or two more areas next week (I'll be using the weekends to read up and watch the dvd for incorporating new movements).

I may do a few Turkish GetUps or Windmills tomorrow first. They do seem to be good for my shoulders and I don't want to loose that. But at the same time, I don't want to overdo things again. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and see how things go. Time to shower!

Rainy Saturday

A lot of rain has been falling here in the last two days. So it makes it a lot easier to play with kettlebells in the house. Today was a hybrid workout, something a little different. This still being my off week I'm doing some experimenting to come up with a good program for myself. So today I tried out some pyramiding for my swings.

Workout looked like this...

Warmup of supersets consisting 2-Hand Swings and Halos, first with 8kg, then 16kg, then 24 kg.
(I don't count the reps for these, but do just enough to get my warmed up and loose.)

16kg Turkish GetUp - 5/5
Rather than perform for time, I opted for 5 reps on each side, alternating sides for each rep.

16kg 1-Hand Swings:
10/10
12/12
14/14
12/12
10/10

24kg 1-Hand Swings:
5/5
5/5
5/5

Total volume: 5667 lbs

This felt pretty good. I think I might prefer this type of routine to the timed kind. I think maybe I'll cycle through each kind every few weeks. Also might change the Clean & Presses come next week, to perform more straight sets rather than pyramids (until I start using the 24kg).

Also started reading through and watching the Z-Health R-Phase manual and dvd. There's a lot of info in there to take in, although it seems rather easy, I find it very difficult to perform the "Egyptian". I'm sure there will be other movements that won't come too easy as well. I'm thinking that maybe next week I will start a Mon-Wed-Fri KB routine, introducing Z-Health full body work on Tues-Thurs(-maybe some Saturdays as well).

I am finding it more difficult to get my Saturday workouts in as the weekends are the only days I have at home to get anything done. And I'd feel awfully guilty if I missed a scheduled workout.

That's all for today. Catch you on Monday!

Friday Quickie

Well today is not a usual training day for me, but since I had taken most of this week off I wanted to squeeze in one or two exercises to keep the body on track. I received the Z-Health package yesterday, so I'll start digesting it over the weekend.

Today consisted of the following:

Ab Wheels - 6, 6, 6
One Arm Pushups - 1/1, 1/1, 1/1

That's it!! Back/neck is still awfully tight. Have a great weekend all!

Rest Week

I decided to take a bit of a break this week. I started getting up early almost 5 weeks ago and have been working out 5 days a week. After this past Saturday's heavy swings session, I could feel my body asking for a bit of a reprieve. I did jump in pretty fast with things so I can't blame it for wanting some rest. I plan to restart the ETK program again on Monday, only I am going to jump back a week from where I left off and then start working my way up again. I realize now that there's no hurry for me to reach any specific destination, that benefits are gained on the journey. So why rush when you can enjoy the ride?

I also went out on a limb this week and decided to find out what all the fuss is about with regard to Z-Health. I ordered the R-Phase dvd and manual. With my problem shoulders and neck, I figure it can only help. And from what I've heard/read, this program apparently works.

So today's workout was a Variety Day consisting of...

Warmup - 8/26/24kg - 2SW & Halos

8kg TGU for 5 minutes (still breaking into parts)

BW Pullups - 5, 5
24kg Cleans - 5/5, 5/5

OAP - 1/1, 1/1
8kg Pistols - 1/1, 1/1

Finished off with some stretching. Upper back/neck tightened up on me again yesterday, still pretty tight this morning. Swing 'em high!

Saturday Squeezed for Time

Saturday has finally arrived. My Heavy Day is upon me. Let me tell you, I have been tired and sore and stiff from this past week's workouts. My Thursday workout of TGU's and Ab Wheels left me so sore, that I felt like I had a bruised rib. Breathing in too deeply has been uncomfortable. I guess I was breaking down the TGU pieces correctly! Wow.

So anyway, I was pressed for time today. And I didn't want to push today's routine into Sunday because that would screw up the rest of my week. So I left out the pullups today that I typically superset with my C&P's. Also, I kicked today's swings up a notch by working with the 24kg. Bam!!

So today was pretty simple... added the fifth rung to my C&P ladders...

16kg C&P - 1/2/3/4/5 x 3

24kg 2SW - 4 min - the dice have been kind to me the last few sessions =)
- 20
- 15
- 15
- 15
65 swings in total, for 3432 lbs or 858 lb/min
Since I haven't been working with the 24kg in a while I opted to do 2 Hand Swings today. And it feels heavy!! But good!

That's it for today, gotta run now. Swing 'em high!!

Easy Thursday

This seems to have been a tough week for me. First I strained my neck on Monday, then I feel like I'm fighting off a cold or something, and on top of that I'm feeling awfully tired. The important thing is that I did not miss any workouts. I may have eased up on some things, but listening to one's body is very important. And so today being my Variety Day, I got up at 5:50am (I snoozed it a bit this morning) and got moving.

Warmup with 2SW & Halos - 8/16/24kg

8kg TGU - 5 min
(I lightened up on these today so that I could start refining my form. Definitely feel it in my obliques after this. Still a long way to go.)

OAP - 1/1, 1/1
8kg Pistols - 1/1, 1/1
(Left shin is still pretty tight, although the affected area seems to have decreased in size, now seems focused closer to the knee cap. OAP continue to come along although still not full.)

Ab Wheel - 6, 6, 6

Gotta run!

Wednesday... Whew!

I'm finding Wed's are turning out to be the hardest day of the week for me. I guess third day in a row of workouts and getting up early start to catch up with me by now. I had a hard time getting myself out of bed this morning, but did. (Gotta type fast, I hear my little guy waking up now...)

Warmup - 8/16/24kg - 2SW & Halos

16kg C&P - 1/2/3/4, 1/2/3/4, 1/2/3/4
BW Pullups - 1/2/3/4, 1/2/3/4, 1/2/3/4

16kg 1SW - 4 min
10/10
10/10
10/10
5/5
70 swings, 2464 lbs, 616 lb/min

Gotta go!!

Tuesday Morning Recovery

Good morning. I know so many of you out there have been worrying about me since yesterday's mishap. Thank you for your concerns and well wishes. I am recovering. I was well enough this morning to not miss my Variety Day workout. The good thing about Variety Day is that aside from the TGU's, I can tailor it however I want. And that means, when your neck is still tight and aching, you can sorta go easy on yourself. =)

Warmup - The Usual - 8kg/16kg/24kg 2SW & Halos

16kg TGU for 5 min - now of these today I did sort of go easy. Rather than go full out from the start I spent some time breaking down the movement, first just the shoulder raise, then a half TGU up onto my elbow, then finally to full standing. On Thursday, I think I'm going to drop down to the 8kg and really break it down like I saw DiLuglio (sp?) do it on his website.

Next supersetted Windmills with Twist Hot Potatoes...

16kg Windmill - 3/3, 3/3
8kg Hot Pot - 20, 20

24kg Windmill - 2/2
8kg Hot Pot - 20

Finished off today with some One Arm Pushup (OAP) practice...

OAP - 1/1, 1/1, 1/1

And that was it! Today, I'll keep up on the neck with some isometrics throughout the day along with some stretching. Oh yeah, and maybe another Aleve! Swing 'em high everyone!

Monday Morning Injury?

Well it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and a typical Monday morning - filled with Kettlebells.

I started today off with the usual warmup of 2SW & Halos using the 8kg, 16kg and 24kg.

Then on to the C&P's, today is the start of Week 3 of ETK Program, so we increased the Monday ladders by another rung. Supersetted with BW Pullups, it looked something like this:

16kg C&P - 1/2/3, 1/2/3, 1/2/3
BW Pullups - 1/2/3, 1/2/3, 1/2/3

Then on to Snatches for 8 minutes:
16kg SN - 10/10
- 10/10
- 10/10
- 5/5/5/5
For a total of 80 snatches, or 2816 lbs in 8 min, or 352 lb/min

Again, against last week, I was able to perform the same number of snatches but shaved off one minute. Improvement.

So here I was done with a successful workout to get my morning started when I decided to stretch a bit. Well at one point I was laying on my back and for some reason had the urge to go into a neck bridge. I guess that sort of thing happens when you're feeling invincible... well my neck wasn't feeling invincible, particularly since this isn't something I ever do. Needless to say, right now turning my head in either direction isn't too pleasant a motion. I think today is going to call for a lot of Alleve and a lot of stretching. Stay tuned.

Heavy Saturday

Today was a tough workout day... really tough... my body did not feel like working today. My little guy wasn't feeling well last night. He cried all through yesterday evening and then slept with us in our bed last night. That forces me to sleep in awkward positions on top of being woken up repeatedly throughout the night. And when I got up this morning, everything was tight and aching. And that caused to carry around a headache most of the afternoon. But being as stubborn as I am, I didn't succumb to the discomfort and take any Advil. I toughed it out.

So the 'new' typical warmup today... 8kg/16kg/24kg 2SW and Halos (new because I'm now incorporating the 24kg into the mix)

Being my Heavy Day, today we up'd the ladders to 4 rungs, still 3 times through.

16kg C&P - 1/2/3/4 x 3
BW Pullups - 1/2/3/4 x 3 (these were getting tough toward the latter ladders)

16kg 1SW - 10 minutes (I think these dice are fixed)
- 20/20
- 15/15
- 15/15
- 15/15
- 15/15
- 5 / 5 / 5 / 5
180 swings in total for 6336 lbs or 634 lbs/min

This was the same number of swings I performed last Sat, only last week was in 11 minutes, not 10. So I've shown some improvement in my work capacity!!

And now that I've cooled down, my headache has eased up!! Woo hoo!! Time to enjoy the rest of the weekend. I sure hope I get some more sleep tonight..... Have a great one eveybody!

TGU Refinement

I was checking out the video demonstration of the Turkish Getup on www.artofstrength.com (check out 2006 Kettlebell Videos) and realized how much refining I need to do on the TGU. There are a lot of good videos here to view that could be quite helpful.

I guess I'll have to start with a light kg this weekend and dissect the movement as Anthony does on the video to improve my form. It's amazing how simple yet complex these movements can be!

It Is $et In Stone

Well last night I finally made the leap and enrolled in my first kettlebell seminar. Although I think I've come along pretty far on my own, I'm sure that having an expert watch me and correct me will only pay off huge. So I signed up for Mike Mahler's seminar here in NYC in April. Hopefully I won't have developed any bad habits that can't be undone before then.

Today was my Variety Day. Was tough getting up this morning as the last two nights my little guy has been waking up between 3am-4am because of a stuffy nose. And then decides he'd like to stay up for a while. But HUGE thanks to my wife for taking the brunt of this. If it weren't for her, I'd have nothing to write about this morning.

I woke up today with my body feeling pretty tired. I think I'm starting to push it a bit more and it's feeling it. But at the same time, I am mentally fired up, so I wanted to play today smart.

Warmed up today with 2SW and Halos using the 8kg, then the 16kg... then the 24kg. I am totally amazed at how well my shoulders feel performing the Halos with the 24kg. I remember when I didn't think I could handle the 16kg. Awesome!

Moved on to the following:

TGU for 5 minutes - 16kg with one pass of half TGU's using the 24kg

16kg Windmills - 3/3, 3/3, 3/3
Tried one rep on each side picking up the 24kg from the floor on the way up.
Whoa, what a difference! I'm not sure if these have their own name. I'll look it up.
BW Pullups - 3, 3 (just trying to keep these greased until Sat's ladders)

8kg Pistols - 1/1, 1/1, 1/1
16kg Pistols - 1/1

My left shin is still feeling tight but is definitely improved from earlier. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

I will be demonstrating Pistols today at work. An informal group has now formed for exercise education. On Tues I brought in the ab wheel for demonstration. Yesterday, I got pulled into the conference room to demonstrate the proper (Naked Warrior) one arm pushup. And now today will be the Pistol. And by the way, my abs are still screaming from Tuesday's ab wheel work.

That's it for the week! Saturday lookout! Hope you are all swinging out there!

Half Over?

I'll tell ya, for someone who works in a corporate environment and has to wake up at 5:30am to squeeze in a workout, this Enter the Kettlebell routine is GREAT, not only physically but mentally as well. Here is it, Wed morning, my work week has only begun and mentally I am already done for the week. I know tomorrow is my Variety Day. But with that, I could totally skip it if I felt like it. The pressure to get in my Clean & Presses and Swings/Snatches for the week is already over. It is a mentally refreshing routine. And because I feel refreshed from it, and now have the week's weight lifted from my shoulders, I'll get up tomorrow morning to do some Variety work and enjoy it. And come Saturday, I'll be rev'd up to hit it Heavy.

Warmup - 8kg & 16kg for some 2SW (2-Hand Swings) and Halos. 24kg for some 2SW.

16kg C&P - 1/2/3, 1/2/3, 1/2/3
BW Pullups - 1/2/3, 1/2/3, 1/2/3

Three ladders today, three rungs each. On Sat, we'll add a fourth rung.

16kg 1SW - 8 minutes (the dice must be feeling bad for me at this point)
20/20
10/10
10/10
10/10
10/10
120 swings in total, for 4,224 lbs, or 528 lbs/min

Side note: My abs are feeling pretty tight and a bit sore today. Not only did I do some ab wheels in yesterday's workout, but I also brought the ab wheel in to work and demonstrated it to a few people (the CEO included). So it's feeling pretty shredded this morning. But a good shredded! I just hope this won't be a case of DOS, otherwise I might be in for trouble...

Slow Moving Tuesday

Was a bit tired this morning and had to will myself out of bed. Maybe the weekend finally caught up with me. Or maybe it was the idea of practicing TGU's that was keeping me down. But I did get up and did go through my morning workout.

Usual warmup of 2SW and Halos with the 8kg and 16kg. Then on to the good stuff...

16kg TGU for 5 minutes

BW Pullups - 5

Ab Wheel - 5, 5, 5 (notched down a rep from last time, but added another set)

OAP - 1/1, 1/1 (these are finally starting look almost like the real thing. and they absolutely teach you about whole body tension, even moreso (I think) than pistols)

Pistols - 8kg 1/1
- 16kg 1/1
I am still very tight in my left shin. I think its actually stemming from my swings. Maybe the kettlebell version of shin splints. Focusing on keeping tension throughout, I was able to work through the tightness, but limited the reps to only one per set. I'll see how this works and feels. Hopefully as my body adapts to these workouts, the shin will strengthen and feel better. So I just need to be smart about it for now.

That's it for today. Time to shower.

ETK - Start of Week 2

Good morning. Welcome back to the week. After a nice weekend and a tough Sat Heavy Day, it's time to restart the clock and start winding things back up again.

This is the start of Week 2 for me on the Enter the Kettlebell Program. That means this week I add an additional rung to my Clean & Press Ladders. All else stays the same. I'm still rolling the dice to set my Snatch/Swing durations. Last week was not so nice to me, giving me a 9, 10, and 11 for each of my days. Let's see how random this week looks.

Warmup - the usual 8kg and 16kg for some 2SW and Halos. Since I'm essentially rolling out of bed each morning into my workout room, I find the 8kg are a nice way to wake my body up and prepares me to start moving.

Superset of Clean & Press with Bodyweight Pullups (3 ladders, 2 rungs each)...

16kg C&P - 1/2, 1/2, 1/2
16kg BW Pullups - 1/2, 1/2, 1/2

Then it was on to Snatches. I picked up my dice, shook them in my hand violently, and... you know, I've been going through something of an internal debate lastely with this whole dice thing. Part of me says to wait until it's time to swing or snatch before rolling, make it spontaneous, and another part of me thinks that maybe I should do all my rolls for the week at once so that I can mentally prepare myself before each workout. So far, Spontaneous 1, Planned 0. Maybe because I am the type of person that likes to plan everything out, I'm letting the 'crazy' part of me take over here. Whatever. Anyway, so I'm shaking up the dice, cock back my arm, and let them fly..... a 9!!! (this is starting to look like a repeat of last week!)

16kg SN - 9 min
10/10
10/10
5/5
5/5
5/5
5/5

80 swings in total, 2816 lbs, 313 lbs/min

That was it for today. Now it's time to get ready for work. Hey, isn't today a holiday?!?!!

Hot, Hot Saturday

Here we are, the first weekend of October and what do you know... it's 88 degrees outside! So much for autumn weather. We had a big day planned, so I made sure I got my Heavy Day workout in early.


Warmed up with 8kg doing some 2-hand swings and halos. Then same with the 16kg. Just enough to get me warm and loose, but not enough to keep count.


Then began with Clean & Presses with the 16kg. Three ladders, three rungs each.

16kg C&P - 1/1, 2/2, 3/3
- 1/1, 2/2, 3/3
- 1/1, 2/2, 3/3


Then is was time for Swings. I'm using the dice method to set my swing durations. On my Light day this week, I rolled a 9. On my Moderate day, a 10. I was certainly due for a short, but heavy workout. Come on, baby needs a new pair of shoes.... an 11!! So, trying to keep up the intensity, I only rested enough in between sets to catch my breath. This is what it looked like:


16kg 1SW - 11 min
15/15
10/10
10/10
10/10
10/10
5/5/5/5
5/5/5/5
5/5

180 swings in total, for 6336 lbs, or 576 lbs per min.

Then finished up with two sets of BW Pullups: 8, 5



Following the today's workout it was the day to attend the annual Matterhorn October Funfest.




Well let me tell you, 3 hours in the 88-degree sun is exhausting! It was way too hot to enjoy things.





They had a children's band playing (not bad), a tasting of NY wines (so, so), hayrides (too hot), face painting, pumpkin painting, popcorn and other activities for the kids. My nephew and sister-in-law came with us. Nephew is 4 years old, so he had a good time. The rest of us, not so much.





Here's one of me and my little guy Anthony.











I just hope that tomorrow cools down for us. Catch you after the weekend. Enjoy!

Ab Wheel PAIN

So today is my day off from working out. Tomorrow is my scheduled Heavy day for C&P and Swings. Good thing too because I woke up this morning to some really nice soreness throughout my entire upper body, thanks to the ab wheel.

It has been a while since I've rolled that's why I only did 2 sets of 6 yesterday. Doesn't sound like much, but when you're not used to doing them, wow. Don't get me wrong, it is a good soreness. My entire midsection feels like its been stretched out, worked over and put back in place. I can also feel it in my upper back and traps. Nice!

And again, since it's an Off Day for me, I was able to sleep in. I didn't get up until 5:50am today - wooo hooo !! But tomorrow is Saturday, that's the day that I really get to sleep in. My wife usually lets me sleep late on Sat mornings while she hangs with our one-year old. So don't be surprised if I tell you I slept till 8am. We'll see. Just glad today is Friday and the work week is coming to a close.

Fun stuff going on this weekend. Matterhorn Nursery is having their annual autumn family weekend. Wine tasting, hay rides and activities for the kids, Halloween decorations everywhere, should be fun. There's also some Octoberfest stuff going on on Sunday, food, beer, music. I just hope the beautiful weather holds out.

That's it for today, catch you later.

TGU in the Morning

Today is Variety Day and that means we get started with Turkish Get Ups. I have bad shoulders. Separated both at different points over the past 10 years or so. Have also sprained my neck which has never been the same. I've been in physical therapy several times for all injuries. Up until 2 weeks ago, I was waking up at night due to aching in my shoulder joints - something that happens when I start to neglect my rotator cuffs. Also a first sign of possible trouble. But oh, I do hate doing all of those rubber band exercises!

Well, since I've started this ETK routine and I believe particularly since I've started performing the TGU's, the shoulder joint pain has pretty much vanished!! I love it! That's why even though I could technically blow off Variety Day, I am now even more motivated to get to it.

Warmed up with 8kg, 2SW and Halos. Then 16kg for more Halos. (I remember trying these a while back and thought my shoulders were going to pop out of their sockets when I tried.) Then on to the short, but sweet, workout for the day...

16kg TGU for 5 min

8kg Pistols - 3/3, 3/3
BW Pullups - 3, 3

OAP -1/1, 1/1
Ab Wheels - 6, 6

I notice that the muscle in my upper left shin is VERY tight. It's throwing off my left side pistols. Not sure what exercise might be causing it. Just as I get to rock bottom position it causes a tendency for me to twist by body a bit, not good. I'll have to try to get some good stretching in on it. Not too long ago, I was doing these with the 16kg and 24kg bell, with very good form. This bothers me, I'm going to have to figure out this mystery.

That's it for today. Next workout is on Saturday. I wonder if I'll decide to sleep in tomorrow...

Wednesday - Moderate ETK

Usual warmup this morning with the 8kg, 2SW and Halos, then 16kg for more Halos.

Today's C&P consisted of 3 ladders, 2 rungs each, supersetted with BW Pullups.

16kg C&P - 1/2, 1/2, 1/2
BW Pullups - 1/2, 1/2, 1/2

Then rolled the dice and came up with 10 min for Swings.

16kg 2SW - 30
16kg 1SW - 10/10
- 10/10
- 10/10
- 10/10
- 10/10
- 10/10
150 swings in total, 5280 pounds

It's only Wed, and for me it already feels like I have accomplished everything for the week! Tomorrow is my Variety day which can be as intense as I feel. I will do at least the 5 min of TGU's, but the rest is up to me. Friday is my rest day, which means I can sleep a bit later if I feel. This is a pretty good feeling!! By the time Sat gets here, I will be fresh and looking forward to my Heavy day. Mmm, mmmm, good!

Tuesday - Variety

Warmed up with the 8kg as is becoming the norm. Did 2-hand swings (2SW) and Halos. Then bumped up to the 16kg for a few more Halos.

16kg TGU for 5 min

8kg Pistols - 3/3, 3/3

BW Pullups - 3, 3

OAP - 1/1, 1/1 (I'm not going all the way down on these yet, but getting closer)

8kg Hot Potato - 20, 20
16kg Hot Potato - 6 (static hold, not tossing)

October 1st - ETK Light Day

Welcome to October!! I am so looking forward to the Fall this year. This coming weekend is already planned the annual trip to the (massive) Garden Center when they have hayrides and wine tastings and all things autumn. And this year with my one-year old, autumn, the holidays, will all seem a little more special.

With that, I awoke early today for the official start of my Enter the Kettlebell (ETK) workouts. Today was a Light day.

Warmed up with 8kg for some 2SW and Halos. Next some Halos with 16kg.

C&P - 1, 1, 1
BW Pullups - 1, 1, 1

For first workout of first week, I only performed one rung on three ladders, with a ladder of BW Pullups in between.

Next, rolled the dice and came up with 9 minutes for Snatches. These were to be done at 50% intensity.

16kg SN - 5/5 x 7 sets

Performed 5 reps each side, for 7 sets. 70 snatches in total.

And that was it. Time to get ready for work and find out what the day holds for me. Oh yeah, supposed to be meeting a friend today for lunch. You don't want to know where... ok, you got it out of me... IHOP! I loves me some buttermilk pancakes!!