They Call Me, "Long Cycle"

It's been a few days in between workouts this week and today I felt like 'killing it'.



So not only did I increase my working sets from 4 minutes to 5 minutes, but I decided to work through my "Long Cycle Progression". Here's today's workout...

1-Arm Long Cycle Press: 16kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

1-Arm Long Cycle Push Press: 16kg - 5 minutes @ 10 rpm

1-Arm Long Cycle (Jerk): 16kg - 5 minutes @ 10 rpm


Now this is what I call "intense"! I was dripping wet after this session. I have to admit, I don't work Long Cycle enough. Weird thing I noticed during the first set, I started on my left side, and toward the end of the 2-1/2 minutes my Cleans were getting really sloppy. I was worried about how the next two sets would go. But funny thing, my form improved as I continued through. My grip was starting to go on me, as my ok grip (only on the left side) started to disappear, but sliding the bell into the rack improved. Perhaps I was trying to muscle it early on, and as my upper body fatigued it allowed the rest of me to properly execute the technique?

Anyway, this was a good way to start and end the week. It'll be a few days until my next workout as we will be taking my son into the hospital today for a few days of EEG observation. Wish us luck, we're gonna need it!

Quick & Dirty

Been swamped at work this week with little time to train.

Monday afternoon, performed a quick and dirty set....

Jerk: 2 x 16kg - 5 minutes @ 6 rpm

That's it!

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Rabbit Posture

It's still early Sunday morning here and I'm not sure what kind of training, if any, I'll get in today.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you Rabbit Posture. This movement comes out of Scott Sonnon's Kettlebell Foundation DVD Series and is a great compensatory movement to perform after your kettlebell work. This movement opens up the mid-back muscles and assists with increased thoracic mobility.

Again, I learned this from Scott, so if you want to learn first hand, I highly recommend his DVD package.

Bottoms Up!

Woke up today with my body fighting off a cold. Everyone around me is sick these days so it was only a matter of time until something tried to take me down.

Therefore I decided to change things up a bit, tax myself a bit differently, just to keep things moving without wearing myself down too much. So what did I do? Drop the weight and practice a bit of bottoms up bell work. Here's my Saturday session...

1-Arm Bottom Up Press: 12kg - 2 minutes @ 12 rpm

1-Arm Bottom Up Clean: 12kg - 2 minutes @ 16 rpm

1-Arm Bottom Up Long Cycle Press - 12kg - 2 minutes @ 10 rpm

And now I can rest!

Can You Smell It?

It's in the air... can you smell it too? The scent of 5 minute sets is close by.

Chugging along today with the 4 minute sets. Things are feeling pretty good. My only complaint is the cold. Is it Spring yet? Here's today's session...

Push Press: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

Snatch: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

Long Cycle: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 10 rpm

Swings: 24kg - 10L/10R

I won't say 4 minutes is "easy" but it is not a killer any longer. 5 minutes is lurking near!

Gym Session

A quick session today in the "gym".

Pullups
Dips
Pistols
Ab Wheel Rollouts

A few sets of each. Pullups and Dips were body weight. Pistols holding a 10lb plate. Ab Wheels don't need any additional resistance.

I'm still easing into these workouts since it's been a loooooooong time since I've done any of this type of work.

More 4 Minute Sets

Here we go again...

Is anyone getting bored reading about my sessions yet? =)

I'm now working my 4-minute sets. Today I took 2 minute rest breaks in between each. My back injury is rearing its ugly head again, so after today's session I made sure I not only performed some of the compensatory movements but also used a tennis ball to work some of the trigger points not only on my quadratus lumborum (QL) but also some tender spots on each of my hips. Funny, that I found some tender trigger points on my each of my hips but they are in slightly different spots. Nonetheless, they were tender!

So today's session looked like this...

Press: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

Push Press: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

1-Arm Jerk: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

I worked up a good sweat with these. Upon ending my last set I checked my heart rate and I was up at 175 bpm. One minute later I checked again and I was down to 143 bpm. By Marty Gallagher's standards that kind of drop is indicative of a well conditioned athlete!

I have been a big fan of Marty's for a number of years now. It was actually an article written by Marty that introduced me to kettlebells! Marty use to have a weekly fitness column with the Washington Post. He then started his own website and forum and has recently begun writing for Dragon Door. You can find him at http://marty.dragondoor.com/

I have yet to buy his new book, but it won't be long before it gets delivered to my door. Marty is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He tells you straight up what works and what doesn't. And he's the first to tell you that if you want to get fit and change your body, it's going to take HARD WORK! There are no magic pills. But at the same time, greatness is achievable as long as you train intelligently and understand the effects of your diet have on your performance and body composition. Go Marty!