Life interrupted + ETK: RoP

One of those crazy Days...
6AM KB class went well. I tortured them with John Wolf's EKG Bodyweight #1 Pre-Test, then had them do (5) 2-rung ladders, followed by :30/:30 snatches for 9 min.

Go to work and chaos has setup shop. Minimal Lunch, minimal time seated. go, go go!
Got home late and decided to do my C&P Medium day, but I did not add the Swings & Snatches like I normally do.

If I jam too hard at night, I can't sleep. So for today, 32kg 5x5 C&P.

See ya!

EKG Bodyweight Test + "Easy" C&P day

So far I really like John Wolf's Evolution Kettlebell Groundwork DVD. For those that practice martial arts, especially ones with floorwork, you'll like this. Most of the moves are done with a relatively light weight (12kg, double 12, some 16, etc..) but since you are in unique ground positions, these sizes are challenging!


Today was just a bodyweight pretest. I used it as a warmup, and it felt great. My hips really opened up thanks to the shinboxes and the sprawls.

Now I just need work to settledown enough that I can make it to my martial arts dojang so I can use some of these!


EKG Bodyweight Pretest, Level 1

8 rounds of tabata for each:
Shinbox Hip Extension: 3
Spinal Rock: 7
SL Kick+DL: 3
Mt Climber Sprawl: 5
Total: 18
Needed number to attempt KB Level 1 from EKG DVD: 18! Whew!

Now that I am warmed up, time for my "Easy" Clean & Press day... w/ 28kg
1,2,3 Ladder (oops, shoulda been 2 rungs lower than Hard day (4-2=2)
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
 Rest as needed...Its supposed to be easy day after all..

50% Snatch Effort w/ 28kg....Roll the dice and....3+6. the dice hate me today..9 "EASY" minutes...
Took a little tweaking to figure out 50%...In the end, I matched 4 reps on each side for :30sec total. Rested 30sec. Repeat...
Total Reps: 66

Dan johns 250 swing medley

With 28kg

25 2h sw
25 5/5/5/5/5
50 10/10/10/10/10
25 hth
25 5/5/5/5/5
25 10/10/5
25 hth
25 5/5/5/5/5
Time 12:12

Medium, w/ lorilee (WEDS)

32k swings to warmup
_------

5/5 loaded cl X5

5/5 32k sw 10 darcsw 5/5 sw

#3,2,1 sn 2,2,1sn 1,1 sn

3/3windmill

3/3 windmill

Pulloverz on park bench
10 w/16kg
10 w/ 16kg
5 w/ 32kg
5 w/ 32kg

Hard Clean & Press

So last week I decided to drop the 28kg C&P ladders because I was stalled at 4-rungs.
Per ETK I should use a bell that I can press 5-8 times, which I cannot really do on my left side with a 32kg, but I dont have an interim bell, so I said, screw it! Lets see what happens.
So I cannot quite make 3 full rungs w/ the 32kg. I did give it the old college try. In the end I needed to take a page fromt he 'How to press a heavier Bell' bonus section of ETK and used my off hand to 'assist as little as possible' the pressing side.

Below is my routine. I think I will go back to the 28kg for next weeks Hard day and see how I do with 4-rung ladders. I am hoping I shocked my system enough to get a strength bump.

32kg C&P 3-rung ladders
L/R
1/1
2/2
3*/3
*assisted press on L side

1/1
2/2
3*/3
*assisted press on L side

1/1
2*/2
3*/3*
*push press on L side

 ===================

Rolled 7 on 2 dice....So, 7 minutes of 32kg 1H-swings
5-5-5-5
10-10
20 HTH
5-5-5-5
10-10
20 HTH
120 swings total. Whew!

Hand Care

So sooner or later you will probably end up with some callouses. Typically you get them when you overgrip, when you use your palm to decellerate (control) a heavier bell, or from not having a good hip-hinge/hip-snap. With practice these 'mistakes' will go away.

BUT, you need to stay on top of your callouses. If you dont, they will tear, which hurts. A lot. Torn up hands mean no bell work. We cant have that!

Below are 3 items I use for callous control.
The first is a simple glycerine-based, non-oily, hand lotion. (Corn Huskers Lotion) It is said to have skin toughening properties to it. I like it because its cheap and seems to do the job. And it doesnt smell like a flower garden. You can get it for a few bucks at walmat.
http://www.amazon.com/Pfizer-Consumer-Healthcare-Huskers-Lotion/dp/B0015TI8VS/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1315574793&sr=1-3

Next is a ped egg. Looks like a cheese grater, but not painful at all to use.
http://www.amazon.com/Pedicure-Foot-File-Colors-vary/dp/B00113FENI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315582793&sr=8-1

Finally, if you have some serious callous work to do, the tweezerman safety razor is great. But be careful, its possible to dig too deep and cut tender skin.

http://www.amazon.com/Tweezerman-Safety-Slide-Callus-Shaver/dp/B000G62I12/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315574732&sr=8-2

After a bath, doing dishes, or a gentle warm water soaking, let your hands dry off an rehydrate, say, 10-20 mins. (If you try to work on them too soon, you runt he risk of cutting too deep.)

Use the ped-egg or safety razor and file the callouses down as best you can. Then apply some hand lotion.

In your training, focus more on your hip-snap, and your hip-hinge and keeping the bell in the hook of your fingers, rather than at the base where your palm and figners meet. 

Looking for a stronger grip? 

Try 20-30 1-handed swings with a heavy bell for 5-10 sets.

So heavy is a relative term, but for me currently, 88#'s or more is needed to tax my grip. And it doesnt happen until the 3rd set or later. By the end of these sessions I am lucky if I can do 10 swings before setting it down to shake off the pump. I found this out while doing the Program Minimum from Enter The Kettlebell.

Another grip trainer, long (50' is good.) farmers walks with a heavy bell. This seems to develope general strenght and endruance. It will have carry over to your swings, though it is a different kind of challenge. do this one outside, in case you need to dump the bell.

ETK Medium(?)

5x5 40kg Loaded Cleans
5x2 32kg TGU (Note, I had to just do the GeUP partm, no getDOWN as knee is still not trustworthy.)
(I skipped last 3 sets as form felt off and I did not want to injure myself)

5/5 40kg 1H Swing
10/10 40kg 1H Swing
10/10 40kg 1H Swing 

5/5 32kg Snatches
5/5 32kg Snatches
5/5 32kg Snatches

My 36/32 PR from 7/27/2011

Watch "36kg/32kg Double Press PR!" on YouTube

Easy day, plus playing around w/ new exercises

Deadlifts. Pretty much have zero experience w/ deadlifting olympic bars. So today i found the rack empty.
Did a few reps @ 135, and few at 225. Cool, not bad for first time.

Also did my first weighted pullup w/ a 20kg bell on my foot. 2 reps. Again, not bad for my first time.

32kg C&P:
1/1x5

Pullups:
3 - 45s rest
4 - 60s
6 - 60s
5 - 45s
5

32kg C&P's

I have been training with a 28kg, but I seemed somewhat stalled on my heavy days. I am suppsoed to do 5 sets of 4-rung ladders. No problem on the first set, but I kept finding myself only able to do 3-rung ladders after that.

So today I decided to try a different approach, switch to a 32kg bell. My goal was to do 5 sets of 3-rung ladders, but became apparent I was not quite ready for that, so I did the following instead.

(32kg each side )
Set 1: 1,2,2
Set 2: 1,2,1 then 1 push press
Set 3: 1,2,1, then 1 assisted press (see ETK Bonus material)
Set 4: 1,2

No more juice, time to call it a day...

28kg Swings (medley of 1h, hth, and DARC swings)
106reps in 5min, resting as needed.

Loaded Cl + Some Snatch testing...

5/5x5 40kg Loaded Cleans
1/1x5 28kg Turkish Getups

rest

10 2h SW 44kg
5/5 1h SW 40kg

rest

5/5 32kg Snatches
1/1 40kg Snatch (PR)