Recovery Weekend

I've taken the weekend to work on some active recovery. The past two weeks I have pretty much opened up the throttle on my training and unfortunately, I can feel my back starting to protest. Therefore I am going to have to ease up a bit relative to recent days.

Yesterday I practiced the Intu-Flow Intermediate program.

Today was a thorough review, with the DVD playing, of Scott Sonnon's Kettlebell Foundation Joint Mobility program. I then followed that up with some of the Compensatory movements from the same DVD set.

Tomorrow, it's back to the bells!

A Few Steps Back

I've been taking it easy the past few days as my back continues to throw up road blocks toward my progress. I'm finding it bizarre that very similar muscular pain has now developed in the exact same place on the opposite side of my back from the injury I'm now recovering from.

Therefore the last few days have consisted of some Intu-Flow (with Xtension), some Kettlebell Foundation Compensatory Movements and FlowFit.

I am fortunate to have a friend who had an extra copy of the FlowFit DVD and was kind enough to give it to me. It received it yesterday, watched it through last night and experimented with it this morning. Up until now I had used Coach Steer's web videos as my guide for this. Now I see the whole picture and can visualize where the development of these skills will take me.

The goal of FlowFit is to perform the movements continuously, flowing one movement into the next, for 14-18 minutes, while maintaining prescribed levels of technique, exertion and discomfort. Even at the beginning stages are not easy if you are just starting out. These are whole-body movements with ranges of motion that most people do not usually work through - they are designed to move you through all 3 dimensions.

I'm going to take a few days off from the bells, continue to work my body in this manner and maybe within a week or so return to the bells, dropping back the intensity once again and see how things feel building back up again. I have also found that there is a rolfer not too far from my home and may try to give that a shot if my schedule allows. That's it for now, stay tuned.

First Sunday of the New Year

Even though I wake up with a particularly tight back in the morning, I usually feel pretty good as the day goes on. Today was no different, so I decided to make it a Jerk Day.

Early this morning I practiced the Intermediate Intu-Flow program along with a few of my Muscular Retraining exercises.

This afternoon consisted of the following...

Swing: 12kg - 20/20

Jerk:

2 x 12kg - 6 minutes @ 6 rpm

2 x 16kg - 2 minutes @ 6 rpm

1-Arm Long Cycle: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 8 rpm (switching hands each minute)

Cooled down with Kettlebell Foundation Compensatory Movements.

It's been a while since I've done any real work with bigger bells and my hands could feel the difference using the 20kg. My plan is to slowly add in the bigger bells for the sake of my back. At the same time, it should help my hands acclimate as well. So far, so good! Jerk 'em up y'all!

New Year's Eve - Active Recovery

With my back tight (as it's been as of late), I decided to make today an active recovery day.

Started out with Intermediate program of Intu-Flow.

Then worked through a short session of the Xtension program with my mini clubbells. I incorporated the Front Swipe for the first time for completeness. That made the entire session include the following:
1) Front Swipe
2) Side Swipe
3) Hammer Swing
4) Split Swipe
5) Alternating Mill
6) Alternating Backstroke

Finished off with Kettlebell Foundations Compensatory Program and some trigger point tennis ball work.

Let me now wish everyone a very Happy New Year. May 2009 bring you health, happiness and bigger kettlebells!!

Tumbleweed, Take 2

I woke up early today even though I'm off from work to try out the suggestions made to me by Coach Adam Steer following yesterday's session.

I started off performing Intu-Flow's Intermediate program.

I then warmed my body up with a selection of FlowFit movements:
Trinity Squat
Quad Squat
Leg Swoop
Tripod Switch
Upward Facing Dog
Spinal Rock

Forgetting to repeat the mid-line Intu-Flow (oops), I then gave Tumbleweed another go.

Being warmed up this way definitely made a bit of a difference for me. I still am very tight and don't expect miracles first time through. But I will continue to practice this way until my body begins to unknot itself. As I'm typing this I can feel the after effects of this session on my lower back and rear pelvis. Hopefully, I didn't over do it(!).

Tumbleweed

I've been taking a bit easier the past few days as I have been waking up to some nasty back spasms. They are actually occurring on the opposite side of my back from where I have/had my injury.

Yesterday I practiced IntuFlow Intermediate only.

This morning, again with IntuFlow Intermediate as well as starting to practice the Tumbleweed Prasara Flow. I have two things working against me right now. (1) Yoga first thing in the morning when your body is tight is not an easy thing to do. (2) Not having a lot of space to work in also makes Prasara, known for its fluid transitions, somewhat difficult to perform.

Being new to this, I focused mostly on the individual postures. I now have a new respect for Sleeping Warrior pose after watching Scott Sonnon explain the counterpoints to the movement. It's not a restful position at all, even though it appears to someone else that you might be sleeping! Plow is difficult for me this early in the morning with all of my current back tightness.

It's a start. I feel good. I'm glad I woke up early to practice this. I may opt for some bodyweight movements tomorrow depending on how my back feels, otherwise it'll be the bells. That's it. Off to work now. Only day in the office this week! =)

First Frost

Leaving the house this morning, to head into the office, I was forced to backtrack and hunt out the ice scraper for my car windshield. This was the first morning that required some elbow grease to clean off the windshield . The thermostat read 31 degrees (F) and there was a nice, thin layer of ice hugging each of my windows.

Luckily, I can say that I am feeling better today than yesterday. A bit of Claritin and a heavy dose of the Neti pot seems to have had a positive effect on this cold that started to hit me Wed evening. Nonetheless, I found it difficult to get out of bed this morning. Sleeping in would have been sooooooo nice.

But I made today my low intensity day. Very low. Warmed up with Intu-Flow Beginner program. I then went through and practiced the first 13 movements (of 22 in total) of Scott Sonnon's Kettlebell Foundation Compensatory Movements.

I am really digging these! They are something of a prelude to his Prasara Yoga program and for someone who practices kettlebells but does not have a lot of yoga experience, these movements will set you on the path. Scott does a fantastic job explaining and demonstrating each movement. Some are easier performed than others, but all feel good to the body. I was amazed at how far I was able to move into the Forward Fold posture given the fact that I haven't been stretching regularly. But by following Scott's directions I got into it deep! And felt great from it.

Tomorrow I have my bodyweight work lined up. Swing 'em high y'all!