The more tools in the toolbox...

... the better. Luckily enough, I finally got to check out Andrea Du Cane's Kettlebell Goddess DVD.
I must admit I first flinched at the sight of chest flyes and tricep extensions... Nevertheless, I worked through all follow-along Goddess workouts anyway, which turned out a really good idea.
I tend to forget - as in my own training I usually prefer to stick to the very basic few exercises and rather play creative with different combinations - that a lot of people (clients) might very well demand a big variety in exercise selection or want some 'fancy moves', too.
Also, I was anew confronted with the fact that I have major difficulties with even just standing on one leg (tree pose is also a horror in yoga)... a balance issue I don't really have a clue on what to do about and therefore I usually, ehhem... dump into oblivion.

So this, Joint Mobility and "my"Vinyasa is what I've been doing the last couple of days.

Oh, and a squat combo on Friday:
@12kg
clean - front squat - snatch - overhead squat - windmill - snatch drop - transfer
2min on (= 6 times through, 3* per side), 1min off
15 rounds, 45min

This was actually an ad-hoc workout idea that came to my mind when I was asked for some advice (originally C&P instead of snatch), but then I liked it myself so much I had to try :) I got a good sweat even if it's not a fast pace conditioning one (OH squats and windmills are obviously not to be rushed through).

Easy swing and snatch ladders

@12kg
Swing ladder 1-->10 L+R, 3min on, 1min off (110+20 swings)
Snatch ladder 1-->10 L+R, 5min on, 1min off (110 snatches + 20 swings)
4 rounds, 40min, 440 snatches and 600 swings

I reduced my usual snatch pace somewhat and made sure to bring the bell to a complete stop at the top. Felt good, shoulder-wise too. So there's hope :)

My Program Minimum

Thank God and Rif the stinging is gone, but a bit of popping is still there. So still no presses, jerks or heavy snatches yet, I plan to keep with Joint Mobility, selective yoga poses, TGU-windmill-arm bar, squats and of course lots of swings :)

Yesterday:
Yoga, stretching and other maintenance work.

Today:
10min continuous TGU-windmill-arm bar @12kg, switching hands every rep.

two hand swing - swing L - two hand swing - swing R - this counts as one rep
a ladder 1-->5 is one set (15 of the above reps, 60 swings altogether)
1,5min on, 1min off

1 set @16kg
1 set @20kg
1 set @24kg

3 times through, 22,5 min, 540 swings.

Some 12kg snatches tomorrow, maybe.

Hot, hot, hot

Suddenly 90+ degrees for days now... Demoralizing. I had a 3 hour ETK workshop on Friday afternoon, according to the participants it was 100 in the shade. Heroes, all of them :)
I guess I'll have to make sure I have my workouts done first thing early in the morning - procrastination is the devil, oh, yes.

Also, there's a strange popping sound accompanied by a little stinging in my right shoulder so I restricted myself mainly to Joint Mobility, Vinyasa, Shoulder Flow and some not too heavy two hand swings.

Curls? No thanks

5 rounds @20kg, alternating
snatch L - lower with dip and (re-)jerk 5 times - drop and switch hands - repeat R
6 TGU + windmill switching hands every rep

5 rounds, alternating
5 flip swing squats @28kg (= goblet squat with two-hand reclean each time)
5 goblet squats @32kg

Might be worth a try for anybody worried they don't get enough bicep work with kettlebells ;)

Vinyasa, 40min.
It's getting a whole lot easier as I'm getting better at remembering the sequence... I'm starting to have hopes I'm not all that hopeless ;)

Short & sweet

Cleaning up the house was long-long overdue, accordingly, it took ages... So I wanted some fast acting poison :)

Heavy two hand swing ladders:

10 @24kg, 15sec on, 15sec off
10 @28kg, 15sec on, 15sec off
10 @32kg, 15sec on, 15sec off

15 rounds (45 sets), 22,5min.

I'm glad I've left the water bottle open :D

St. Paul Grad Workout

This is what Franklin and his fellow candidates went through.
Of course I had to try myself, too :)
Top of the minute, using my snatch test bell (12kg):
snatch L
lower to rack
front squat
military press
transfer
snatch R
lower to rack
front squat
military press
10 walking two-hand swings
It took me 15 rounds (15min) to cover my usual "G.W. distance" (6 lengths in my garden, cca. 120m). With hindsight, I guess I should have taken the 16kg. Next time.

10 (20sec) snatches L, 13 (20sec) transfers, 10 (20sec) snatches R, 1min on, 30sec off
10 rounds, 15min

Then Vinyasa, 40min., and some foam roller work.

Alive and kicking

I'm a bit behind with posting, so here's what I did the last couple of days.

Wednesday
Vinyasa, 40min
I was amazed how much better it felt than last time. A great big part of it was due to attitude: If I take it easy, it actually gets easy! I mean, not to try and force things, to stop thinking in terms of "good enough or not good enough", to practice patience instead and to simply be content with whatever I am currently able to do actually can prevent cramping, helps to focus on the given poses, stretches and breathing, so I can come a lot further. Sometimes one just has to stop standing in one's own way... :)

Thursday
New gym
After several months of no barbell work I pulled myself together and joined a good friend (a kettlebell enthusiast and even more a pistol fanatic, although still mostly in theory :D) to his training. A small gym, far too many machines, too little space for free weights... I had some difficulties as all I'd have needed was a barbell, plates and, well, room...
But! Far less sissies than usual, quite some fighters and powerlifters there, you can use chalk, you can bump the weights, and overall a bunch of crazies, open minds (not at all horrified by the sight of strange moves like a full contact twist or a kettlebell snatch, heh!), fun atmosphere, good energy. Big dilemma, believe me.
Anyway, even if it took two hours to finish, I did, just to ease into things, a couple of sets of
kettlebell swings, snatches, jerks, windmills @16kg
BW chins
bent-over rows, 40kg
'T-bar' rows with the barbell in the corner, 50kg
deadlifts, conventional and sumo, 60kg
hanging leg raise (foot to bar)
full contact twist, 30kg
renegade row 2*14kg dumbbells
kettlebell ballistics @16kg, 30sec on, 30 sec off, alternating sets of 20 swings (one hand, two hand, DARC) and 7/7 snatches, 15min

Yesterday I was off to Budapest: there was a business workshop organized by Peter, then an RKC-dinner, where I think I succeeded in demonstrating what the fun part of the Warrior Diet is after fasting all day ;)
Today morning I met up with a really dedicated young couple who were probably one of the first kettlebell pioneers in Hungary - they had stories :) (I'm not sure I wouldn't have given up if I had had to start out on a kettlestack, lol) Some technique clean up, some shoulder rehab (for him) and some pre-pregnancy (for her) ideas - good progress and a great time!

I'm still quite a bit sore from the weight room but I hope by tomorrow I'll be fine for a light KB session at least.

Long time no combos

I was hesitating between a LCCJ-workout and some Tracy-style combo (those are always fun, nonetheless, they smoke one's ass, too, lol).
But why choose? :)
C&J is a great strength endurance exercise by itself but it fits very well into combos, or as David Whitley calls them, Extended Kettlebell Drills, too: "It [an E. K. D.] works your strength-endurance and coordination while giving you a tremendous cardio blast. It is not for the faint of heart."
And now that the secret of Kenneth Jay's "Viking push press" is lifted, why not integrate that as well? :)

So today's 'salad':

swing
snatch
clean & jerk
"Viking" push press
snatch
transfer

4 times through = 1min

9 rounds, alternating sets of
2min on, 1min off @12kg and
1min on, 1min off @ 16kg
for a total of 45min.

This is a good one :) I'll try it with doubles sometime, too.

Here's the last two sets, with corresponding fatigue:

Yoga is no joke!

All world is doing yoga... I've been contemplating it for quite a while, and now Fawn delivered the last kick in the ass to get me going :))



Vinyasa For Beginners. A DVD I got from my sister-in-law.
A humbling experience, lol!!
I had to realize I could easily come into most poses, but had major difficulties _maintaining_ those poses. Holy crap, more often than not did I end up on the verge of cramping, swearing like a trooper, or a sailor, whichever is worse, at those crazies telling me all the time this should feel good and I should relax and no tension and such :)))

An indisputable proof of how badly I need this :)

A little bit of this

...and a little bit of that. Just to see where I am, how it feels and such.

MP (no reclean) + BW chins ladders
3*(1-5) @12kg
2*(1-4) @2*12kg
10 BW pistols (1/1) between ladders

5*10/10 snatches @16kg

swings, 5 rounds, 20 sets total:
10 two hand @32kg
10 L @24kg
10 two hand @32kg
10 R @24kg

I really need to work on those presses. Low volume, concentration, high tension techniques. Practice, practice.
Chins as expected, balance has already been better with pistols.
My hands need to be re-conditioned and they still don't like the thick handle of the 16kg :)

Some light weight ballistics

5 rounds, @12kg:

30/30 snatches, 2min on, 1min off
40/40 swings, 2min on, 1min off

Total: 30min, 300 snatches, 400 swings

It was a good idea to do something "workout-like", timed sets, that is. At least I have a first goal now: regaining the grip-endurance I used to have :D

As for the close and distant future, some ideas that came to my mind (no special order):

TSC
Sig Klein Challenge (14 double dead clean & presses @12kg KB)
one arm pushup
32 snatches @24kg (Men's RKC test number for my weight)
weighted pistols for reps
something with LCCJ
tactical pullups
UST
Lady Beast Challenge
snatch 28kg (half my BW)
clean 32kg

Spoilt for choice :)

Low volume, low intensity

Do you remember this? :)))

I've almost forgotten, how much fun kettlebell juggling is :)
After goofing around a half an hour or so with the 8kg and 12kg I also did a couple of flip swings and jerks @16kg and some swings, two and one handed, @32 kg.
A new handle rips well, so sanding is the order of the day :)