My Plow

I video taped myself today demonstrating how I get myself into the Plow position. Please excuse any stammering on the video, it was unrehearsed.

This is just one of the movements found in Scott Sonnon's Kettlebell Foundation DVD Series. I strongly recommend every kettlebell lifter to buy a copy as it is filled with very powerful information to assist in your kettlebell training and health in general.

Scott does a much better job explaining and demonstrating than I do, so please use my demonstration as just that. If you find it may help you, go out and buy the real thing!

I Nice Week of Kettlebell Work!

TGIF! Let's call it a week!

Adjusting for my new schedule this week, things are moving along nicely. I'll be taking the weekend off, except for some IntuFlow and Yoga.

It was cold again today in the garage. My breath was condensing before my eyes. But I ignored it and hit it hard and fast.

Jerk: 2 x 16kg - 4 minutes @ 6 rpm

Snatch: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

I was pleased at how these felt, particularly the snatches. If it was a tad warmer and I had a bit more feeling in my hands and fingers, the set would have been more enjoyable, but the breathing held up well as did my form. I'm pleased going into the weekend!

Something Different

Used the corporate fitness facility today for a more traditional workout. Since it's been a while performing these exercises, I took it slow and went easy. No need for any unnecessary DOMS.

Pullups - 3 sets of 5
Dips - 3 sets of 5
Pistols - 5/5 holding a 10lb plate in front
Ab Wheel - 2 sets of 5
Quad Squats
Leg Swoops
And Kettlebell Compensatory Movements.

Tomorrow... more bells!

Frozen Hands

Today was the first day for working out in the garage on my lunch hour. I trained with a friend who is relatively new to the bells, so we took turns working our sets. This allowed me to watch him and provide feedback. The garage today was uncommonly COLD. And since I had my bells in the trunk of my car, they were terribly cold as well. The handles were freezing and after some time, my fingers were frozen making it difficult to really be comfortable cleaning the bells when needed.

Here's my session....

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

Push Press: 16kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

1-Arm Long Cycle (Jerk) - 4 minutes @ 10 rpm

1-Arm Jerk: 24kg - 2 minutes @ 10 rpm

Today's session was a bit limited in time, so there was no real cool down except for a shower. This could get interesting. Maybe something different tomorrow...

Need to Work on My Catch

Afternoon workout went well today. Next time out I will start to shorten my rest breaks to 90 seconds when using the WKC Fitness Protocol.

Here's today's session...

Push Press: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 16 rpm

Snatch: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 16 rpm

Long Cycle (Jerk): 16kg - 3 minutes @ 10 rpm

All felt good the 2 minute rest in between sets made it feel relatively easy until I hit the Long Cycle, then I felt like I was working.

I can sense that I am catching the bell differently in my left hand from my right. During my Snatch and Long Cycle, my right hand definitely feels like it has a better grip so I'll need to work on this. Maybe some more sets of Cleans. On the left side I feel like I am catching more of the meat in the middle of my hand versus the right. I think since my right side is my dominant side, I am better throwing the bell into my fingers on the downswing whereas I am in a sense rolling it to my fingers on the left side. It's very easy to identify the difference so hopefully with a little more focused attention I can remedy things pretty quickly. That's it and that's all!

One Mystery Solved & Jerk Progression

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to have my new 15 lb. clubbells delivered to my office. Surprised because I had not received a shipping notice and was therefore not expecting them. Well, let me tell you, these things feel HEAVY! Understanding that I will need to grow into these, but still having to demonstrate briefly to my excited friends and coworkers, I showed a few side swipes and hammer swings with just one of the clubs.

Waking up this morning, the answer to one of my questions hit my like a dump truck. My back was sore!! So part of my troubles had been the mini clubbells I was using as part of the Xtension program. My back is obviously my weakest link right now and apparently the lateral movements are not something I can handle at the moment. I'll have to figure out a way to gradually strengthen this area.

Anyway, not wanting to add too much stress to this today, I decided to remain upright in today's session and worked my Jerk Progression. Here's how it looked:

Press: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 12 rpm

Push Press: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 16 rpm

1-Arm Jerk: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 16 rpm

Took 2 minute break in between sets. Cooled down with a few compensatory movements. Tomorrow I will try to video of few of these and post. That's it for today!

Up A Notch

Since my back has been behaving as of late, I decided to increase my working sets from 2 to 3 minutes tonight. Hopefully, things will continue improving.

1-Arm Clean: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 16 rpm

Press: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 12 rpm

1-Arm Long Cycle Push Press: 16kg - 3 minutes @ 10 rpm

Rested 2 min between sets.

Could definitely feel the 50% increase from the previous level of training.

Cool down consisted of the usual compensatory movements. I must admit I am very pleased with how my plow posture is coming along. I can actually work on raising my hips while at the same time have the balls of my feet on the floor with my knees locked! I few months ago, this alone seemed impossible. Nice!!