Fri, 12/14 - High Pulls

Friday's has become my High Pulls Day (at least for now). Monday has turned into Snatches Day and Wednesday has become Swings Day. When I finally did get around to the High Pulls today, the first couple of sets were rough, particularly on the left side, as my hands were hurtin' big time today. It was hard getting a good grip on the bell, but I finally seemed to settle in on a comfortable position (or maybe my hands just went numb) around the third set or so.

Here's this morning's practice...

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 30, 24kg - 20

Clean & Press: 16kg - 5/5

Windmills: 16kg - 5/5, 24kg - 1/1 for 3 sets

High Pulls: 24kg - 5/5 for 8 sets

It's likely I'll take the weekend off from training. At least that's what my brain is saying right now. I guess I'll have to wait and see how I'm feeling tomorrow. I do like having the day before and the day after Snatches off. So tomorrow is my last chance to get something else in for the week. Later!

Thurs, 12/13

Today is a (relatively) easy day for me. I was going to say I didn't touch a single kettlebell, but that's not true since I used one to support one arm while working on one-arm pushups. They have infiltrated every aspect of my life!!

Anyhoo, today was somewhat short and quick...

Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts - 5, 5, 3, 3, 1

These are definitely getting tougher now as I'm almost fully stretched out at the bottom position.

Assisted 1-Arm Pushups - 5/5 for 2 sets

Used the 24kg kb to keep the non-working arm raised out to the side while concentrating on my form with the working arm.

Finished off with some Z-Health: Lengthening, Pelvis, Lumbar, Thoracic, Neck & Shoulders (in that order). I guess it's time to watch some more of the DVD and add another body segment...

Wed, 12/12 - Swings

Good morning! I was feeling pretty good today. And I should since I took yesterday off from working out. This has happened twice now in the last two weeks and I think it's because I'm bumping up the intensity of my Monday Snatch workout. Which is a good thing. So for now it looks like on Tuesday's I get to sleep till 6am!!

My hands are still a bit sensitive from the Snatch workout as well, so luckily I am able to hang on to the 24kg for reps using the hook grip. Here's what today looked like...

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 40, 24kg - 20

Turkish Getups: 16kg - 5/5

Pistols: 8kg - 5/5

1-Hand Swings: 24kg - 10/10 for 4 sets

Today was the first day in a long while that I was able to get to rock bottom on my left leg Pistol. I had been working the movement just up to the point of tightness (that arose out of nowhere that I could determine, and was painful to work through) and slowly over some time was able to increase the range of motion without feeling any pain or tightness. The first few reps I was stopping prematurely because I thought I sensed a bit of tightness, but on the 4th rep, I tried inching beyond that point and though "hmm". Last rep all the way down and felt good! Then I thought, "should I do another set?" But common sense told me no, don't push it. Baby steps.

So all in all, very happy with today's session. Swing 'em high!

No Dead Lifting

Today I ran over to the Planet Fitness facility near my office. They gym that I had belonged to has been bought out by Planet Fitness and my membership was transferred to their other location. Now I haven't been to the gym in months, since I've been working out with my kettlebells consistently at home in the early mornings. But my monthly membership fee was so small that I hadn't cancelled in case things at work change which would allow me to return to getting a workout in on my lunch hour.

But I finally decided to cut loose. As I stood in the facility, which looked pretty nice, I took note that it was painted nicely, looked clean, with a myriad of weight machines and cardio equipment, but was missing free weights. Then I spotted a small rack containing new looking rubber dumbbells. Next to it was another rack with some fixed plate barbells. And right above both on the wall was a big sign that read "No Dead Lifting".

That made me smile as I cancelled my membership and walked out the door.

Mon, 12/10 - Snatch Day

For those of you who have been following along, last Monday was a breakthrough day for me in terms of Snatches. It was the first day that I really felt comfortable and was able to Snatch for decent volume with the 24kg. All week I continued to train and prepare for this morning's session. Was last week just a fluke? Could I comfortably repeat last week's numbers?

Well I am happy to say that last week was not a fluke and this week saw an improvement over last (with some minor adjustments to my routine). So here goes...

Warmed up with the usual sequence of movement, only reduced the number of Swings a bit from the usual amount.

2-Hand Swings: 16kg - 30, 24kg - 10
Halos: 16kg - 5/5
Figure 8 to Hold - 5/5

Then moved right on to the main feature...

Snatches: 16kg - 5/5
24 kg - 5/5 x 7 sets

Amazing. I don't think I overdid it either. I'll see how I feel during the day today. I'm trying to incrementally increase my volume without feeling any harsh after effects. I guess my sessions are working. Sweet!

Quick Swings

Did two sets of quick swings today, just to keep things loose and moving...

1-Hand Swings:
16kg - 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1
24kg - 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1

These were performed 1 rep left, 1 rep right, 2 reps left, 2 reps right, etc. non-stop up and down the pyramid. Therefore each set consisted of a total of 50 swings. I got the idea for this from the mentioned on the recent Power by Pavel email newsletter, "what 200 snatched can do for the relative beginner". Not too bad.

Howie B., RKC??

Well first things first. Recovering from getting rear ended on my way in to work yesterday morning, if you want to call it recovering, is going extremely well. As a matter of fact, I don't have any post-accident problems or issues today whatsoever. I was a bit tight around my obliques this morning, but I think that's a result of yesterday morning's Windmills. So I am a very fortunate guy. Getting hit from behind on a highway is not something anyone wants to brag about. My rear bumper looks like it needs a bit of a lift, but other than that I think my car is ok as well. That Civic has been very good to me over the years.

Now on to the title of today's posting. I have decided that I will pursue an RKC certification. If any certifications get scheduled following the coming June session, I'll be there. I am already a great proponent of the kettlebells, whether it be to family, friends or coworkers. I'll always telling people how great they are, how much fun they are to swing and how amazing they are for one's health and fitness. I've taken my kb with me to work and demonstrated for friends, directed people to dragondoor and Enter the Kettlebell. I think it only makes sense to go all the way.

I know the April certification is already sold out, and that's all well and good because I don't know if I'd be ready for the Snatch test by then. And the June certification falls over the same weekend as my wife's birthday. And there's no way I'm going away during that time. So that leaves me to hope that the second half of 2008 will offer me a chance to get certified. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep my eyes on the dragondoor website. Oh yeah, and I'll keep working on my Snatches!!