A Kettlebell Workout

Over the last few days I had gotten an itch for some kettlebell lifting. The weekend is usually my time off from Olympic weightlifting these days. So I decided to hti the garage and move the bells around a bit.

There was no rhyme or reason to the progression. I just went with the flow and what I felt like playing with. Here is the video of the workout, rest breaks removed.

Let me know if you have any questions on what I did.

Legend: Yellow = 16kg, Purple = 20kg, Green = 24kg, Orange = 28kg, Red = 32kg

Olympic Weightlifting & Kettlebell Lifting

So you are wondering how to train both Olympic weightlifting as well as kettlebell lifting. Is there a balance that can be met? Well, if you are trying to seriously train for either sport, then in my opinion, no. One has to give. Sure you can use the other as a compliment to your training, but it has to take a back seat and it has to be of relatively low intensity.

Each of these sports hits the central nervous system in different manners. And when training at high intensity, one needs to give their body a chance to adequately recover. Simultaneously training for each of these sports won't allow that recovery to happen.

At the moment, I can focused on Olympic weightlifting. Personally, after a training session with heavy barbells I have no desire to start lifting a kettlebell, or two, for long sets. First, my body is already fatigued. Second, my hands are usually already feeling like raw meat. Neither of these bodes well for kettlebell training. So what do I do?

I now use kettlebells as a means for conditioning. I typically pick up the bells on the days I am not training the Olympic lifts. I will train for long sets but with lighter bells. I may also include this bell work in conjunction with some other conditioning work.

Extended set of kettlebell swings: Swings are relatively easy on the hands. Depending on the weight used, I may alternate hands every minute and swing for a long set. For example, I've performed a 10 minute swing set with a 16kg bell, switching hands every minute.

Circuit of kettlebell swing and jumping rope: Perform a 2-minute set of kettlebell swings (1 minute per hand) with a heavier kettlebell, then move right into a 2 minute set of jump rope. Then rest for a minute or two and repeat. A few circuits of this works one pretty well.

Half Turkish Getups: For some core work, I have started introducing these into the mix. They are easy on the hands and work one's core pretty well. If you want to superset with ab wheel rollouts, go for it.

Extended set of kettlebell snatches: For days when my hands are feeling good, I'll perform an extended set of snatches with a lighter bell similar to the extended swing set. Focus is on breathing and technique. The last thing you want to do is tear your hands up. Especially if you are scheduled to pick up a barbell the following day. If you perform you snatches with proper technique, you will not damage your hands. This should be avoided particularly when training.

Personally, I am still experimenting with what works best for me. I try to be flexible in my exercise selection. I may also play around with light clubbells, medicine balls, "battling" ropes and box jumps. Whatever you choose to play with, just make sure you have fun with it!

Injury Recovery

I've gotten really bad at blogging. I apologize. These days there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get on here and share all the thoughts that typically go through my head. But I do have a few minutes available today, so here's an update.

Almost two weeks ago, during a lifting session my right quad cramped up on me during one of my squat sets. This had never happened to me before. The pain was so bad that I was forced to drop the weight. Lucky for me my OL coach is also a physical therapist, so when I saw him the following day he confirmed that it was an IT band injury. He instructed me to stay off the leg for two weeks.

So what have I been doing for the last two weeks? Umm, just about nothing. Well actually, I have been having deep tissue work done on the leg, some very light mobility work and as of this weekend I have now started to put weight back on the leg via (high) single legged squats.

The leg is feeling much better, but I fear it will still be a bit before I can jump back into my routine. And not being able to train is a killer for me.

Those of us that love our training, usually have a hard time holding back. We become impatient, jump headlong back into training before we are ready and many times end up aggravating the injury again or worse re-injuring one's self. So what is my current solution? I decided to start playing around with the parallette bars that I build last year. I figure parallette work is upper body and core based. It should give me something to focus on while giving my leg the time it needs. And it's a new skill I can develop. And it looks like fun.

This afternoon I'll be having my leg worked on. If all continues to go well, I should be able to start to increase the intensity on the leg a bit more. We'll see in about four hours.

So the moral of the story is, we all get injured no matter how hard we try not to and when it occurs we should find other, creative avenues to pursue that will continue to let us grow and develop without jeopardizing our recovery. Train hard and train safe!

Back to Blog

I've taken a short hiatus from blogging, about three months worth. During this time I have been diligently working on my Olympic lifting. I've also been dealing with some nasty tendinitis in my right forearm. Kettlebells have taken a bit of a back seat, as I'm learning that you can't train for two sports at the same time. I've also started playing around more with clubbells as part of my active recovery.

I think I am going to shift the focus of this journal to be less about my numbers and more about the weird stuff that goes through my head about training. I can only hope that it will be something interesting, but there's no guarantee of that.

Anyway, tonight's training consisted of:

Barbell Clean
Barbell Snatch
Back Squat
Kettlebell Push Press

During my training, I occasionally glance at my iPhone in between sets. I'll check out the latest Facebook posts, check my email, maybe play a one minute game of Bejeweled. It struck me this evening how many Facebook posts I see each day with people talking about food and diet and losing weight. I have been guilty of that a bit, but to be honest I'm really getting tired of seeing it all the time. I've read a lot about the subject in the past few months. And this is what I've come to accept: (1) If you want to get lean, cut out the processed carbs - the breads, pastas, cereals, etc. Make your carbs consist of fruits and vegetables. (2) If you want to be healthy, cut out the crap. (3) Don't be afraid of fat. That includes saturated fats. They are not bad for you. It's the trans fats that are bad for you. (4) If milk doesn't agree with you, or if glutens (typically wheat products) don't agree with you, stop eating them. Or anything that doesn't seem to agree with you for that matter. If you're ok with it, enjoy it. (5) Reduce your caffeine intake toward the evening. Ummm... that's probably about it. Not too complicated.

Now plan your training for tomorrow and get a good night's sleep!

Bells: Bars & Kettles

Nice short session today. My knees and ankles are on the mend, so I didn't want to do anything too extreme today. But just enough to keep progressing forward.

Warmup: empty bar, the usual

Snatch: 65/3, 85/3, 105/2, 115/2

Back Squat: 115/5, 135/5

Kettlebell Long Cycle: 2 x 16kg - 5 minutes @ 6 rpm

Band work for the rotators

Snatches felt good, they are landing overhead nicely, without too much of a squat. I threw in the back squats to see how my knees would feel tomorrow. My delts and rotators have been fried as of late, so looking to balance them out with some band work. No pressing for them today.

Long Cycle felt good. Not too intense today, but a good start. I need 60 reps to make Rank III. I am going to try to start working these in regularly and hopefully hit rank soon, then move up to the 20's for the November competition in NJ.

USAW Coach

As I returned from today's workout I received an email from USA Weightlifting informing me that I am now officially one of their Sports Performance Coaches! Hurray!!

OK, enough celebrating, now let's get down to business. I was out of commission last week as the family and I went away on vacation. No real training there except for running after the kids.

Once I returned, I had a few short kettlebell sessions to get things moving again. The first was a 12 minute Clean & Press set with a 16kg bell for 10 rpm. The next was an 8 minute snatch set with a 20kg bell at 14 rpm. Both of these sets were with multiple hand switches.

Today was the first day back at the gym for some Olympic lifting.

Warmup - my now-standard empty bar warmup

Snatch: 65/5, 85/3, 105/3, 115/1

Press: 65/5, 85/5, 105/5

Front Squat: 95/2, 115/2, 155/1, 175/1

Handstand Pushup: 1 set of 5

Kettlebell Swing: 16kg - 4 minutes (switched hands as needed)

That's it and that's all!