Wednesday, May 24, 2006

i am on the mend booooooyyyyyyyyy!!

Did some high pulls Mon. just to see where the grip is at zero pain. Today is a swing workout 2 handed so as not to tax the grip a lot.
Shelli I know you said you don't know how people get addicted to working out, but I have been missing it like a woman ( well not that much I guess ).

Monday, May 22, 2006

Re-learning an old lesson........

cycle everything. I didn't know what it was called when I was younger. I kind of did it by using common sense. I would do sets of 3 really hard reps, doing a weight untill I failed at 3 then dropping the weight and continuing on. Cycling the weight down. Then there would inevitably be a day where I felt like crap, and because I would not feel like pushing or I would still have some remanants of deep muscle soreness, I would use light weights for higher reps for a workout or two. Instinctive cycling ( really I would be a dumbass to lift as heavy as i could while I was so sore ). Well as i have recently learned, I am getting old LOL, not really old but I can definately get injured easily ( sucks ).
So I am going to wave cycle everything. Time under tension, weight, duration of workout, goals, whatever. Let me give you an example.
Say I can bench 225 for 3 sets of five ( I can't but lets pretend and it will make me feel better ) and i bench on mon and thur. My workouts might look like this
week 1
mon 2 sets
thur 3 sets

week 2
mon 3 sets
thur 4 sets ( 4rth set to how ever many reps i can get )

week 3
mon 2 sets
thur 3 sets

week 4
mon 4 sets
thur 5 sets

week 5
mon 5 sets
thur 3 sets

week 6
mon 4 sets
thur 5 sets

week 7
mon 6 sets
thur 4 sets

Basically hit a higher number and back off, then push for a higher number, then back off.
Give everything a chance to catch up after I have had a PR. If I would have done that with my snatches and grip work I wouldn't be injured right now.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Wrist update

So a dude named Mark Reifkind ( RKC ) was kind enough to give me advice on how to rehab my hand. He has competed in gymnastics, powerlifting, long distance cycling, marathons, and stone lifting over the past 35 years. As well as coaching several sports. When he speaks people should listen. The fact that he took the time out of his day to speak to me was very, very cool. Turns out I have to start watching my range of motion on things and ease into anything new. I still want to be 19 and I ain't. I feel much better already. I could workout today I think, but I am going to give it a couple of days at least. And do a LIGHT workout!!!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Some people might be visiting my blog...

with the intention of learning about kettlebells. So I thought I would post a little about the athletic benifits in particular.
1) In explosive sports such as basketball, track and sprinting am majority of the movement is in the posterior chain, wich is exactly what KB's hit the hardest. Especially the swings, snatches and cleans.
2) KBs are akward just like life, they move in the exact planes we move in. there's no 2 dimensional movements in life or with KBs
3)they hang off center in any movement and the bigger they are the more off center they are, so the core gets used to firing hard in any plane of normal movement.
4) powerlifting in, particular, Ed Coan and Louie Simmons are starting to promote the use of kettlebells for several reasons. Swings follow the exact groove that a deadlift makes, it can be used as an incredible assistance excersize itself, or as Donnie Thompson does, trains the groove with swings and trains deadlift just before competitions. He stated that he has injuries that prevents him from deadlifting year round. Yet after using HEAVY double swings he hit a PR ( if I am not mistaken )in deadlift. That is just one movement that has carryover to powerlifting.
5) High rep snatches or swings are BRUTAL conditioning, try this grab a 40 or 50 lb dumbell hold it in one hand and bend over and swing it back behind your hamies, make sure to load your hamstrings and not bend your legs too much. Then with an explosive hip movement ( think "jump" ) use the force produced to get the dumbell to head level. Your arms should be ropes with hooks just like deadlifting it should be the hip snap alone that moves the dumbell up. Do 20 reps each arm for 3 sets each arm nonstop. Bring a puke bag. Kettlebells are much harder that dumbells. The Russian navy uses these type of workouts to keep the fleet fit on cramped ships.
6) They can be used in conjunction with other types of workout easily such as:
circuits of body weight drills and kb's for stamina
swing 30l 30r
pushup 20 reps
kb front squats
burpees
jumprope
repeat untill not able to move lOL
bodybuilding
bent over rows
overhead press ( kb overhead press hits all three delt heads if done from the correct rack position )
lunges in diferent plains for maximum muscle activation.
again just an SMALL example
Hand eye co-ordination
Check out Jeff Martones web site www.tacticalathlete.com
specifically check out his H2H ( hand 2 hand ) kettlebell stuff INSANE
One of my favorite workouts is High Octane Cardio
this can be done many different ways
I do it like this
KB snatches for reps say 10l 10r
then 2-3 minutes on the heavy bag
rest 60-90 seconds
repeat 5 times
for more cool stuff, and a wealth information as well, as a look at www.mikemahler.com He has taken KBs in the raw strength direction. His website alone is worth keeping an favorits as he has numerous articles that relate to any type of lifting.
David Whitley at irontamer.com has put together kettlebell combinations with high rep bodyweight drill for strength, stamina, muscular endurance, heavy core activation, and flexibility.
One more final note The founder of the American Kettlebell movement Pavel Tsatsouline ( a former russian special forces trainer ) has orginized very simple but yet very sophisticated system that is based on low rep grinds and high rep explosive movements. You end up with freaky real world strength, flexibility, and endurance.
Dragondoor.com has an open forum where any question will be answered by people with a wealth of knowledge.
Good luck and enjoy the PAIN.

My hand is JACKED

so I did an old school ( lol for me ) pre kb workout
went kinda light just figured I have been pushing too hard lately
BB front squat 5x5 135
BB good morning 95 3x5
Tabata protocal sprints 20 seconds flat out 10 seconds light jog
supposed to work up to 8 rounds wich is 4 min..YEAH RIGHT, I got 3 rounds. tough!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

That damn

wrist-palm tendon thingy is acting up again. Sucks Ice/heat tonight will see what happens. Can't even pick up a kb.

Snatch volume pr

heavy bag
snatches 12/12
5 rounds
insane # of snatches
although an american master of ketlebell sport did 275 snatches in 10 min with a 53 lb kb.


( I just looked over my old workout logs, and this is a HOC snatch pr but not a total vloume pr) OH WELL, now I am dissapointed.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

It is 3:49 in the am and I can't sleep....



Like the old Sublime song says " I work hard, I work fine, but first you must take care of head. " Too much obscurity. I have an overstimulated brain with a body that needs sleep, but if I nod off now I won't be able to get the kids ready in 2.5 hours, and get Barb in 3 hours. Rizzle Dizzle Fizzle Fazzle Dick Triple Flip Fantasia am I tired. Been weeks since I had good sleep. Allergies. Here is the worst part, I have medicine that will allow me to get to sleep, then about this time I wake up because it has stopped working and my tounge is dry and stuck to the roof of my mouth. AND my nose is stopped up, so it is impossible for me to breath. Then it takes a while for me to get back to sleep. UGH UGH.



Yesterday I did an impromptu workout, I had misplaced my grippers, and i found them yesterday. So I did 3 sets of 10 for wrist plate curls ( see above ). Then I did 5 singles either side with my trusty Coc 1 gripper. Then I got stupid and it is very possible I will have a hard time using my hands tommorrow. I threaded a towel through both of my kettlebells ( 88 lbs total ) and proceeded to do swings by holding on to the towel and not the handles of the KB's. It is a common hand strength excersize to do rope or towel pullups. Or even put a rope or towel through your kb and swing it around your body for core work. But KB swings are a diferent animal. Well I did 10 sets of 10. BRUTAL, typing is giving me problems right now.
I have never done 10x10 with 88 lbs on the swings before and my lats, spinus erectors, traps, hammies and maybe even quads are going to be sore later today. Forearms are a differnt story. I can already feel the pain coming. WOW

Sunday, May 14, 2006

bottoms up clean and press



These are very fun, look way cool, really strengthen a persons grip.
I am just getting to the point where I can do sets of them. With either hand.
It makes the KB look like a helium balloon.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

My workout space

my little sanctuary
This is "my space" get it........hahahahah
Really though this is the "Temple" for me!!
On my wish list
3 more sets of heavier Kettlebells
thick bar for deadlifting
more weight plates
some heavy sandbags
and some sort of calf setup for lower legs
AAHHHH to dream

The things that keep me going

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Here is a pic Stella and Trailady


135 lb clean and presses
Sweaty, hot, and very tired. But there I am, like I said just a big farm boy!!!
( plus I had to do a couple of takes before my step-son got the hang of the camera!!!!)

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Yeah I did it

5 rounds
heavy bag 60-90 seconds
rest
snatches 10/10
rest
CNS wasn't real happy afterwards, kinda feeling pukey.
but I did it, I really don't realize how much work this actually is, when I first got my kb I couldn't do ten snatches in a row, last night was 100 snatches and 5 rounds on the heavy bag in just under 25 minutes.
WOW, energy system actually getting some energy to it, way, way cool.
Even in severly sleep deprived state ( 4-5 hours a night for almost 3 weeks......damn allergies ) I feel springier and faster.
I have NEVER felt this good at this weight, I can't wait to see what 200 lbs brings,
to quote a friend, I'm going to take over the f'in world.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Need a heavier kettlebell

Not sore at all today from yesterday's circuit,
going to push it tonight on HOC
working for 10/10 on the snatches
that will give me 100 snatches in the middle of aerobic stress
Actually getting in shape, like my work capacity is rising, way cool.

20 min circuit

I did this yesterday, just to damn tired to blog it.
2 min on i min off
windmill
hindu pushups
bent over row
hindu squat
clean and press
burpee
swing
In a month or so I am getting a 70 pound kb ( more like 6 weeks ), that will be fun
and it adds some actual strength training to my current routine.