Tue, 8 Dec 09

Snatch: 20kg - 8 minutes @ 14 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 2 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 28kg - 8/8

Swing: 20kg - 15/15


Today is the first day for posting my training here. I'm looking forward to seeing others start joining is as well. I'll do my best to spread the word.

Nice Job Howie! I going to post mine tomorow.

Thursday, 10 Dec 2009

Today was a volume day for Jerks. I admit I strayed a bit from my original plan. Feeling confident, I decided late last night that I would introduce a few sets today with the 28kg bells. Just a few. And I did. And this is what today looked like...

Jerk:
2 x 24kg - 12
2 x 28kg - 8
2 x 24kg - 12
2 x 28kg - 8
2 x 24kg - 8, 8, 12

Squat: 2 x 16kg - 10

Treadmill: easy 1.3 miles

I was rather surprised at how 'light' the 28kg bells felt compared to the 24's. I think I might have to weigh my bells tonight. It was just a bit weird. My original plan was to hit 80 reps in total with today's session using the 24's, but since I introduced the 28's, I didn't quite make it. Nonetheless, I am happy with today's work.

Thanks Mikey! Let's see what you're up to!!

Friday, 11 December 2009

A bit of snatching was on the books for today. I had to cut my sets short as an old blister started to bunch up and I didn't want it to tear. Not too bad a session regardless.

Snatch:
2 x 20kg - 10/10
2 x 24kg - 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

Overhead Quarter Squat: 1 x 24kg - 15/15

"AKC" Swing: 1 x 24kg - 10/10
That's it and that's all. Time to rest!

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Wasn't feeling 'right' today, so decided to just do a bit of cardio to keep things moving.

Treadmill - 20 minutes - 1.65 miles

Cool down with some joint mobility and stretching.

Tuesday, 5 Jan 2010

OK, the holidays are behind us. I'm still working on getting over a recent cold that has now hit everyone in the family. I'm back to work so that means it's time to get some consistency going in my training once again.

Not having too many opportunities to train during the holidays, I plan to scale back up over the next two weeks. This week, I will be training with the 16kg bells. Next week, the 20kgs. And the following week back to the 24's.

I'm down in the parking garage of my office building and given the cold weather here in the Northeast, it's a bit chilly down there. I toughed it out today with two quick and easy sets, just in time before my hands got too cold.

Here's today's session:

Jerk: 2 x 16kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 16kg - 6 minutes @ 16 rpm

That's it and that's all!

Thursday, 7 Jan 2010

Baby, it's cold... in... garage!!

Once I get moving, my core temp goes up quickly. I'm even sweating in the cold. But my hands don't have that luxury. They get cold!

Anyway, still ramping up this week, here is today's workout...

Jerk: 2 x 16kg - 6 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 16kg - 8 minutes $ 14 rpm

I was happy with the session until the end when I realized that if I had only banged out another 10 jerks, that I would have completed my Rank III numbers! Oh well, it's still nice to know that this is now an easy workout for me. =)

Tomorrow is going to be a "special" variety day. Stay tuned...

Monday, 11 Jan 2010

Friday was a Variety Day for me. I picked a few lifts out of Steve's Complete Guide to Kettlebell Lifting and went through them a bit with some coworkers. We trained one-legged deadlifts, racked lunges, one-arm rows, windmills and of course presses and swings.

Today was back to biathlon training. But still relatively easy....

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 3 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14 rpm

Treadmill: easy 20 minute jog

Tomorrow I break out the 24kg bells and really start to work. Jerk ladders on the agenda.

Nice Job Howie. Keep it up.

Tuesday, 12 Jan 2010

I've fallen in love again. It's with my Gymboss interval timer.

On the docket for today was jerk intervals followed by jump rope intervals. Here's the outcome...

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 6 sets of 8 reps with 90 seconds rest between sets

Jump Rope: 5 circuits of 1 min on & 30 sec off, followed by 5 circuits of 1 min on & 1 min off

That's it for today.

Today I had snatches on the agenda. Along with that, today was the first time for me to try out my new Olympic lifting shoes. I ordered a pair of Do Wins from MuscleDriverUSA.

And let me tell you that I really like the way they feel. I definitely felt much more grounded than usual. Nice and planted into the ground. Good!!

OK, on to the workout...

Snatch: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

One Arm Overhead Quarter Squat: 28kg - 15/15

Snatch: 28kg - 5/5, 5/5, 5/5

Clean - 28kg - 6/6

Jump Rope: 2 min on / 2 min off for 5 rounds

Tomorrow I have an Assistance Day planned. Yippee!!

Friday, 15 January 2010

I was "pressed" for time today, so it turned out to be a relatively quick session. Moved at a pretty quick pace between all sets.

One Arm Press: 24kg (L/R) - 10/10, 8/10, 6/8

Bumps: 2 x 28kg - 15

Overhead 1/4 Squats: 2 x 28kg - 10

Bumps: 2 x 28kg - 15

Squat: 1 x 24kg - 10, 2 x 24kg - 5, 2 x 24kg - 5

That's it. Have a nice weekend!

HowieBrewer wrote:That's it. Have a nice weekend! [/quote]
Thank you, same for you.
Daniel

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Nothing exciting today. Just punching the clock.

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 4 minutes @ 6 rpm

Snatch: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

Rope Work: 1 minute on / 45 seconds off for 10 rounds

That's it. Next workout scheduled for Thursday.

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Jerks today! Jerks today!

Working a bit heavier today, I performed a few short ladders. Here it is...

Jerk: 2 x 28kg - 5, 7, 9, 5, 7, 9, 4, 5 (with 2 min rest in between sets)

Rope Work: 2 min on / 90 sec off for 5 rounds

That's all/enough for today. Tomorrow we snatch!

Monday, 25 January 2010

Today was timed set day with the 24kg bells. I didn't feel like 100% going in, still some lasting soreness from last week's training, but luckily the temperature was on my side today.

Here's the skinny...

Jerk: 2 x 24kg - 3-3/4 minutes @ 8 rpm - total of 30 jerks

Snatch: 24kg - 4 minutes @ 12 rpm

Rope Work: 2-1/2 min on / 2 min off for 4 rounds

I have now improved my jerk set by 6 reps since last test. (That's a 25% increase! Wow!) So now that means I accordingly increase the volume on the days I train my sets/ladders.

Snatches didn't see any improvement, but that could be because I was totally spent after the jerks. The rope work was difficult too. There was a lot of tripping today. Not just because I increased my set time, I was tripping up right from the get go. I must have fried my CNS.

Kettle...

Nice work Howie ! Congrats!

Today was a planned recovery day.

Qigong: Eight Section Brocade routine with some friends.

Followed up with

Jump Rope: 2 min on / 1 min off for 8 rounds

My rope endurance is definitely starting to increase. I lot of trip ups today but I noticed that my pace is increasing and I also tried mixing in a little more variety. Most of the trip ups came from my criss crosses. I need to work on my timing.

Thursday, 28 Jan 2010

Lately I have been pushing things forward, working with the 24kg and 28kg bells. Well I started to develop some muscle soreness in my forearms. To give myself the chance to heal and get stronger I decided to drop down for the rest of this week and work with the 16kg bells. Here's today's session....

Jerk: 2 x 16kg - 7 minutes for total of 58 jerks

Snatch: 16kg - 6 minutes for total of 92 snatches

Jump Rope: 2 min on / 1 min off for 5 rounds

I could have pushed for longer sets with these, but that would have defeated the purpose of active rest. I do notice that my muscular endurance has dropped since working with the heavier bells. As such, I think I am going to drop down in bell size for a bit longer and work on my endurance and pace, you know some of the "finer" points of kettlebell lifting.

Friday, 29 January 2010

Long Cycle Day. Yes, it is finally here!! If you are familiar with my blog, I always talk about inserting a day of Long Cycle work into my routine. And then it never seems to happen.

Well today it finally happened!! This was a very interesting workout, I must say. Not ever practicing Long Cycle, and being in my current recovery phase, I went out with the 16kg bells and gave her a test drive. Here's the scoop...

Long Cycle: 2 x 16kg - 7 minutes @ 6 rpm

Treadmill: 20 minutes, easy walk with incline

L-Sits - Tuck: 3 sets of 15 second holds

So my first attempt at Long Cycle and without trying too hard I hit 42 reps. IKFF Rank IV / WKC Rank III for me in this lift is 54 reps. Not too shabby. I also performed this (and yesterday's jerks) with a dry shirt. A little bit of water would have made my rack a bit easier to hold and would have definitely helped increase my numbers. Nonetheless, this is good!

Monday, 1 February 2010

Just jerks today. Still in 'recuperation' training mode.

Jerks: 2 x 16kg - 10 minutes @ 8 rpm

Jump Rope: 2-1/2 minutes on / 90 seconds off for 4 rounds

L-Sits - Tuck: 15 second holds for 3 sets

That's it for today!

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

Just one set of snatches today...

Snatch: 16kg - 10 minutes @ 14 rpm

Treadmill: 10 minutes low intensity (my shins were killing me today)

That's it. Tomorrow is rest and on Thursday I break out the 20kg bells.

Thursday, 4 February 2010

Jerks were on the schedule for today. I am moving up to the 20kg bells now for a bit. Here's the skinny....


Jerk: 2 x 20kg -
3 minutes @ 8 rpm
1 minute @ 10 rpm followed by one minute rest - 3 rounds of this

Swing: 20kg - 15/15

Jump Rope: 2-1/2 minute on / 90 seconds off for 4 rounds

L-Sit - Tuck: 15 second holds on the minute for 4 rounds

Bodyweight Dips: 5 reps for 3 sets

Bodyweight Pistols: 2/2, 3/3, 3/3

That's it and that was enough.

I was hoping to work a longer set of jerks but because I was wearing my Under Armour, long sleeve shirt under my t-shirt, it was next to impossible to keep my elbows from sliding out of the rack. So I decided to compensate for the extra sets after the longer set. Added an extra set of L-Sits today as well since the 15 second sets are starting to get easy. I'll work up to 5 sets of these before increasing my hold time. Through in the Dips and Pistols for added fun!

Kickin ass Howie! Nice.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

With all the hullaballoo these days about Indian Clubs, I thought it might be a nice addition to warm up a bit with my Mini Clubbells. I have no experience with Indian Clubs, so I can't compare the two. But I had always intended to use the (mini) Clubbells to complement by Kettlebell work, it just never materialized until now, mostly because of my back issues.

Anyway, here's today's session...

Mini Clubbells (5lbs): Xtension program for warm up - this includes front swipes, side swipes, hammer swings, alternating mills, alternating backstroke and split swipe

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14 rpm

Jump Rope: 2 min on / 1 min off for 5 rounds

L-Sit - Tuck: 15 second hold / 45 second rest for 4 rounds

Bodyweight Dips: 3 sets of 5

Bodyweight Pistols: 3 sets of 5/5

That's it for today. I would have/could have gone longer in the snatch but my hands were frozen. I meant to bring my bell inside last night, but forgot. Friday will be an 8 minute set for sure.

Thursday, 11 February 2010

Nothing too exciting to talk about today. It was a simple, but good, session.

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Jump Rope: 3 min on / 2 min off / 2 min on / 1 min off for 2 rounds (giving me a total of 10 minutes jumping time)

L-Sit - Tuck: 15 sec on / 45 sec off for 4 rounds

Bodyweight Dips: 3 sets of 5

That's it.

Friday, 12 February 2010

Is it Spring yet??? I just checked the calendar... five more weeks. The cold is really affecting my snatch workouts.

I had intended to hit 8 minutes today, but again had to stop early because of the cold. I had brought my bell inside last night to keep it warm and today while in the back of my car, I enclosed it within the styrofoam packing material that it ships in. I thought the styrofoam would provide some insulation. I was wrong. My last recourse is that from now on I have to lug it into my office on the days I intend to snatch. At least until it gets warmer outside.

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14 rpm

One Arm Long Cycle: 20kg - 3 minutes @ 10 rpm

Bodyweight Pullups: 3 sets of 5

Single Leg Squats (aka Pistols): 3 sets of 3/3

That's it for the week. Enjoy the weekend!!

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

I'm Sending Sexy Back

Good session today. Good but not very sexy. I've come to realize that real fitness training is not sexy. It is hard and it is monotonous. But that's what it takes. Granted, when you look at my training, it is does not consist of hours and hours of training. But it is rather boring compared to other sexy workouts. Nonetheless, it is effective and I wouldn't recommend anything other than this to others.

So with today's volume work of jerks, I'm sending sexy back...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 9, 7, 5, 7, 9, 11 (1 minute rest between each set)

Jump Rope: 2-1/2 min on / 90 sec off for 4 rounds

L-Sit - Tuck: 20 sec hold / 40 sec rest for 3 rounds

Bodyweight Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps

That's it for today.

Good stuff Howie. Nice combo of timed sets and higher volume work.

Thanks, Ken. Just trying to figure out what works best for me. It's still something of an experiment.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Today was Snatch Day. Today I finally lugged my 20kg bell into work with me. Through the underground garage, put one elevator, through the building lobby, up another elevator and into my office on the fifth floor. As you'd expect the handle stayed nice and warm today. Hurray!

Unfortunately, the cold weather and its effect on my sessions has taken its toll. Here's what happened today...

Snatch: 20kg - 7 minutes @ 14 rpm

Swings: 20kg - 15/15, 15/15, 15/15

Cool down with Z-Health R-Phase.

The time away from long sets has definitely had a negative effect on my grip. I was shooting for an 8 minute set but decided to change hands at the 3-1/2 minute mark. My grip was shot and I did not want to risk tearing my hands. I then decided to finish off with a few swing sets. Maybe because my hands were fatigued, but even these didn't feel as comfortable as I remember. I definitely don't do enough swings. So it's time for me to return to basics. Time to move ahead.

Friday, 19 February 2010

I was tired today. I was a bit sore today. But I got my butt moving nonetheless. Once I got going, things went rather well...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg -
4 minutes: 8 / 10/ 10 / 8
short rest
1 minute @ 12 rpm
1 minute rest
1 minute @ 12 rpm

Swings: 20kg - 15/15

Jump Rope: 4 min on / 2 min off / 2 min on / 2 min off / 4 min on

Bodyweight Pistols: 3 sets of 3/3

Bodyweight Pullups: 3 sets of 3/3

That's it. Have a great weekend!

Monday, 22 February 2010

Good, fun session today.

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 28kg - 12/12

Swings: 20kg - 20/20

Jump Rope: 5 min on / 2 min off / 2 min on / 2 min off / 3 min on

L-Sit - Tuck: 3 rounds of 20 sec on / 40 sec off

Weighted Dips: 25lbs - 3 sets of 5

Today was the first time hitting a 5 minute set of jump rope. Yeah! And adding some weight to my dips felt good too. Very nice session, indeed!

Saturday, 27 February 2010

After a long week, without getting any training in, except for snow shoveling, I was able to squeeze in a short session today. I decided to single bell it today, 20kg. And work through a few lifts that are atypical from my usual session.

One Arm Jerk: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

Rest 2 minutes

Cleans: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm

Rest 2 minutes

One Arm Long Cycle: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 10 rpm

Now, I like to think that I'm in pretty good shape. At least relative to most of the folks around me. But this workout was tough! I don't think I'm in as good shape as I could be. I think I might have to work this type of training for a little while.

And now when I look at the ladies who are training for sport, using the 20kg bell, and going for 10 minute sets, I am absolutely humbled. My hat is off to all of you. I can't wait to see the results from the competition being held at The Arnold next weekend. Ladies, do your best and make me feel small! =)

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

The past two weeks have been terrible in terms of me trying to get in my normal workout. Hopefully the worst is over and I can get back onto something steady again. Today's session was meant to be relatively easy. Just a means to get the body moving again.

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 3 minutes @ 10 rpm, 1 min rest, 1 minute @ 10 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 16 rpm - changed hands each minute

Swing: 20kg - 15 / 15

L-Sit - Tuck: 20 second hold, 40 second rest for 3 rounds

Bodyweight Dips: 3 sets of 5

I decided today not to wet my shirt for my jerks. I did notice that not doing this fatigues my delts a lot faster. I suppose its because they get recruited more as I try to keep my elbows from sliding off my hips. That's it and that's all!

Thursday, 4 March 2010

Personal revelation: If I want to get good at performing long, timed sets of kettlebell lefts, then I need to practice long, timed sets of kettlebell lifts.

This might not be true for everyone, but it is for me. After a few months of experimentation, I learned a few things:
(1) My body has a hard time recovering from high volume work
(2) My back has a hard time recovering from high volume work
(3) I can perform multiple sets of a lift for a high number of total reps, but that does not translate well for me to performing one long, high rep set

I will admit maybe I have not given the "volume" approach enough time to "sink in". But I have been experimenting with it for the last few months and I can honestly say that in that time, I am not happy with the results. Like I said, others my have achieved better results with this method. But I have not. With that, I will be devoted the majority of my training once again to longer, timed sets.

So here was today's session...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 4 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 4 minutes @ 14 rpm

Swing: 28kg - 5/5/5/5

Jump Rope: 3 min on / 1 min off / 2 min on / 2 min off / 3 min on / 1 min off / 2 min on

Cooled down with some light stretching. That's it for today. My short term goal is to get back to where I was in October. Hit some rank numbers and then move up to the 24kg bells once and for all!

Monday, 8 March 2010

So I've returned to training jerks and snatches in the same session. My goal today was to start stretching out my jerk sets again. To do that, I decided to slow down my pace today to see how a five minute set felt. Here's the skinny...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14/12/12 - 14/12/12

Swing: 28kg - 10 / 10

Jump Rope: 5 rounds of 2 minutes on / 30 seconds off


The jerk set felt REALLY GOOD! I could have stretched it to six minutes, but that wasn't the plan. I'm going to build this back up nice and steady.

Now the snatches were another story. I forgot how fatigued my shoulders get following my jerk set. And with only a few minutes rest in between, these can get pretty ugly. They felt ugly today. I think I'm going to have an easier time building up my jerks now and will need to pay extra attention to my snatches.

Swings felt really good today too! Last week they just felt off. Today, nice and smooth and comfortable. I'll take it when I can get it! That's it for today!

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Today's session was an experiment of sorts. Thinking about yesterday's outing, I came to think that I might have been spending too much time resting in the overhead position with my jerks. That could have been a major factor for my fatigued shoulders during my snatch set. So today, I wanted to give it another go, trying to rest more in the rack. Here's the result...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg - 5 minutes @ 8 rpm

Snatch: 20kg - 6 minutes @ 14 rpm

Swing: 28kg - 10 / 10

Treadmill: 20 minutes, walk/light run, 1:1 ratio


So the jerk set was a bit more difficult than yesterday. Mostly because yesterday's session came off the weekend of rest. But the snatch set was MUCH better fatigue-wise. My cardio was taxed more today than yesterday, but my pace was up from yesterday as well. Good call, I say! I'm liking what I'm seeing!

Wednesday, 10 Mar 2010

Yeeeaahhh... feeling good and climbing back up to where I want to be. I was surprised to find my quads a bit sore today from the treadmill work. Well, not really too surprised. It's been a while since I've done anything close to running. But that wasn't a factor in today's session. I decided to skip snatches today, just to give my hands a day off. But up for it in other ways. Here's the scoop...

Jerk: 2 x 20kg -
5 minutes - 8/10/8/10/8 (44 total reps)
short rest
1 minute @ 10 rpm
short rest
1 minute @ 12 rpm

One Arm Jerk: 28kg - 10/10

Swing: 28kg - 12/12

Jump Rope: 5 min on / 2 min off / 3 min on / 1 min off / 3 min on

All felt good! I'm undecided on what to do, if anything for the rest of the week. I want to rest up a bit because this weekend I will be attending the AKC Coach's Certification. Two full days of kettlebell lifting with some of the best lifters in this country. Giddy up!!