Committed October 31, 2007
Posted by hardly Uncategorized
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Today, my wife and I took a rather large step in our commitment to fitness.
One of my traits, I hesitate to call it a positive attribute because it’s really a double-edged sword, is that I must do things that are unconventional, and difficult to accomplish. When it comes to athletics, I’ve always been competitive with myself. I really didn’t get into football, but loved Cross-Country. Took up competitive shooting in my 20s and was ecstatic each time I moved up the ladder. Which is not to say that I don’t think about competing against others, it’s just not nearly as interesting to me as is shattering a PB.
My wife and I have REALLY gotten into our new fitness routine this year. Our lives have changed dramatically for the better with our shift in time priorities, diet, and commitment to fitness.
This commitment shows in many ways. One way is in the family Christmas card photos for this year. I look at both my wife and I in the proofs we just got this year and think, “Wow, we’ve changed since last year (and it’s not just the kids getting bigger).” For me, I look at my face and notice how it’s less round, more angular, and there’s just less there. It reminds me of pictures of my dad taken when he had just returned from his stint in serving our country when he has in his mid-20s. It’s strange to see this time shift.
Another way it shows in what we can physically do that is now easy, but used to be hard. Physical work is much more fun, and we can get a lot more done. This is a great feeling!
And today, we’ve taken a step up the commitment ladder. I can’t talk about it much at the moment, but will in time. It’s analogous to the gang at Sweat365 who decided to take things up a notch and help others on their path to achieving their dreams in the fitness realm. It feels good, and more than a bit scary.
Yes, the word is committed.
50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50… if only U.S. Grant was in the picture October 31, 2007
Posted by hardly 6 Minutes of..., Bar, Flexibility, Kettlebell, Medicine Ball, Strength Training
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Today, our trainer had to leave early, so he gave us a mission. Complete 6 movements of 50 ea, and you have 5 minutes per movement. All I gotta say is that it’s weird to type and feel your upper arms twitch with each keystroke!
Warmup:
2x of
- 30 body-weight squats
- 30 push-ups
- 60 kettlebell snatches @ 20 kg
- 60 sit-ups
Workout:
- 6 minutes of Thrusters @ 65 lbs: 67 (PB!)
- 50 ea of:
- Deadlifts @ 95 lbs
- Pull-ups
- Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
- Dips
- Push-ups
- Wall-ball @ 18 kg medicine ball
Love the personal best in Thrusters! I’m starting to get that one down. Can’t wait to hit 100!
Health:
- Date: 10/31/2007
- Weight: 182
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Hours: 7
- Sleep Pattern: Insomnia
Change in schedule October 29, 2007
Posted by hardly Uncategorized
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Today, getting to the gym just didn’t happen.
Two issues combined to make a storm that I just had to ride out. First, my youngest had a nasty little cold that required me to be up checking on her every hour of the night for two nights in a row, so I was not running on a full tank of sleep. Second, she finally went to sleep just as we were getting ready to go out the door, so it seemed best to let her sleep and not take her to day care.
Although I like working out, knowing that I’m the go-to-guy for my kids trumps all.
Health:
- Date: 10/29/2007
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Hours: 6
- Sleep Pattern: Insufficient
I am Samuel Samuelson of Norway! October 26, 2007
Posted by hardly Dumbbell, Kettlebell, Row, Run, Strength Training
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Gosh it was a gorgeous fall day today. Just the kind of day our coach decides we should go outside and have fun. You know, the part where you get to do the Farmer’s Carry!
Fess up, you’ve seen people do these on the MetRX World’s Strongest Man competition. They are HUGE! They carry ENORMOUS loads! And they definitely do the Farmer’s Carry better than yours truly!
Warmup:
- 30 Kettlebell Snatch & Cleans w/16 kg
- 500 M row
Workout:
- 4x of 15 Pull-ups & 21 Kettlebell Swings w/a 24 kg ‘bell
- 2K Row: 8:17.9 (definitely not a PB)
- Go outside and do the following:
- 30 Bodyweight Squats
- 300 M Farmer’s Carry w/two 35 lbs dumbbells
- 30 Bodyweight Squats
- 300 M Run
- 50 Swedish Ball Sit-ups
I think the pull-ups sealed my fate on a couple of the following events. The basic problem is that I switch back and forth between overhand and underhand pullups, and the underhand pullup really works some key muscles needed in both the row and the Farmer’s Carry.
Still, it was fun to do some new moves. And, it’s Friday, so I get 2 days of much-needed rest!
Ugh, Bad Sleep October 24, 2007
Posted by hardly 100 of... for time, Dumbbell, Kettlebell, Row, Strength Training
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Last night was a night of little sleep, what w/a child coughing for the first half of the night, a wife that was also restless, and that frickin’ moon! I think it had a negative effect on my workout today. Oh well, they all can’t be great!
Warm-up, 2x through:
- 50 Kettlebell Swings @ 24 kg
- 50 pushups
Workout:
- 21-15-9 of the following:
- Box Jumps (w/a 2″ raise for each progressive set)
- Sit-ups w/a dumbell (30# for the first 2 sets, and then 2 30# dumbells for the last set)
- Dumbell Thrusters @ 2 30# dumbells
- 100 Bodyweight Squats for time: 2:21
- 500K row: 1:39.5
- 100K row, looking for your best split time: 1:28
- Walking lunges w/12 kg kettlebell held above your head, switching arms half-way through the lap
I’ve been focusing on two things for the last several workouts: 1) Retaining my form on all movements, no matter how tired I am; 2) Getting the most non-stop reps possible. The downside on this focus is that it’s easier to get myself to the nausea stage, which is what happened right after the 500K row. The result was that I only did 1 of the 2 100K rows, and 1 lap of walking lunges. Like I said, today is done. Friday, I’ll do better!
Health:
- Date: 10/24/2007
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Hours: 4
- Sleep Pattern: Insufficient
He’s not heavy… October 22, 2007
Posted by hardly 100 of... for time, Bar, Flexibility, Kettlebell, Row, Strength Training, Tabata
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…he’s my kettlebell.
Today was my first workout using the largest kettlebell we have at the gym, @ 28 kg. At first, no problem, I was handling it fine. And then, at the end of the workout, when we were doing thrusters, the magnitude of the workout began to sink in when I couldn’t complete 10 reps of thrusters @ 32kg w/o stopping. I simply couldn’t get enough acceleration on the up stroke to get them off my chest/arm!
My coach loves these moments as he WANTS us to work to the point that we can’t lift anymore. That’s when he knows that we have given it our max effort.
Warmup
- 2x of 12 reps of 90 lbs Plate Lifts + walk around the gym once
- 60 Kettlebell Swings @ 24 kg
- Jump rope (got lots of doubles in today, which was pretty cool).
Workout
- Rowing 20/10 s: 99 M (think tabata row, 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, w/the lowest output of any given set being your score)
- 25 Turkish Getups @ 33 lbs bar
- 100 Pushups for time: 3:38 (pretty sure this is a PB!)
- Kettlebell Cleans @ 28 kg:
- 30 w/a no-load rep between each loaded rep
- 20, all loaded
- Kettlebell Thrusters @ 32 kg (two 16 kg ‘bells)
- 10 reps with a 3-second pause at the bottom, and a 3-second pause at the top (as counted out by the trainer)
- 10 reps at your own pace
- 10 reps w/the counted-out pauses at the top & bottom
- 20 reps at your own pace
- Stretch
During my shower, I noticed that I had some light bruises on my upper arm from the cleans. I suppose this will teach me how to ‘catch’ the big ‘bells better!
No, really, my readers are here to read, not look at pretty pictures! October 20, 2007
Posted by hardly Kettlebell, Uncategorized
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Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down w/Riddenwords over a couple of pumpkins (about to become Jack O’ Lanterns), and we talked about how the visual aspects of my blog were an inspiration to all. Er, um, actually, it was more about how it visually sucked. And, I have to say that Riddenwords has improved a great deal in delivering bad news over the years, ’cause he did start it all of in a complimentary fashion towards my writing. What a guy!
We really did have a great laugh about the visual aspects of my blog. It really did suck. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was a model of how to NOT design a blog for visual appeal.
So, I decided to take some time Saturday morning to spruce things up a bit. I used a new template from the library, added in an ‘About’ section, and my gosh, got an Avatar up. It’s not that it was technically challenging, but artistically, well, that’s another issue altogether. The avatar is really just a placeholder until I can get something else up that’s a bit more visually exciting, but until then, y’all can now see what a kettlebell looks like. Menacing, isn’t it?
I did not know that! October 19, 2007
Posted by hardly Uncategorized
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Today was one of those workout days where I got to learn a few things.
First, have you ever been working out, in a high aerobic state and tasted copper? Or maybe blood? This apparently occurs when your lungs open up unused air sacs so you can create more air capacity. The process causes some slight bleeding, so you sometimes end up tasting this.
Second, my trainer ratcheted me up on my kettlebell, so I’m now taking on 24kg (52.8 lbs) loads for the lower-count activities. This is great, I love improving. Hower, on our last excercise, my form was, as he termed it, “very sloppy”. So, I got a little schooling on a technique or two to bring my form back into alignment. One of the things that I noticed in our discussion is that my form goes all to hell when I stop thinking about the basics of doing it right, and just focus instead on getting the reps done, which tends to happen towards the end of a workout when I’m tired. I guess it’s good to know the signs of getting off your game!
It’s interesting though that as the loads increase, and things get harder, you really start noticing the little things in your form that hold you back, either during the workout, or later during recovery.
Warmup (all w/24 kg kettlebell):
- 30 Kettlebell Cleans
- 30 Kettlebell Swings
- Kettlebell walk up one flight of stairs and back
- 30 Kettlebell Squats
- 30 Kettlebell Snatches
Workout:
- 20 Kettlebell Snatches @ 20 kg, 10 on ea. arm, on the count of the instructor (he makes you keep it up above your head a while, oh joy)
- 20 Kettlebell Snatches @ 20 kg, 10 on ea. arm at your own pace
- 2K Relay Row, team must complete it w/an average of 2:07 per 500M (we hit 2:02).
- 6 minutes of Kettlebell Thrusters @24 kg: 60
- L-Sits, 4 sets of 6 ea.
- 60 continuous Kettlebell Swings @ 20 kg - or - 90 Kettlebell swings in 30 rep increments. If, however, you cannot complete a set, 60 or 30, you have to do another 30 reps. (Better be sure!!)
So glad it’s the weekend and I get two days of recovery!
Health:
- Date: 10/19/2007
- Weight: 183
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Hours: 8
- Sleep Pattern: Disturbed
One Thousand-One, One Thousand-Two… October 17, 2007
Posted by hardly 6 Minutes of..., Bar, General Cardio, Kettlebell, Medicine Ball, Row, Strength Training, Tabata
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Imagine doing the standard body-weight squat. It’s just a squat movement, your body goes down, you keep your back straight, stick the butt out, bend your knee needs to at least 90 degrees, a bit more than that is better, and then you come back up. O.K., that’s one. Now, do 20 of those. Now, do 20 of those in 20 seconds. Now, do eight sets of those with 10 seconds rest. You get the idea… that’s what my Tabata Squats were like today.
Warm-up:
- 2x 300K row (about a minute for each)
- 40 Push-presses @ 45 lbs
- 40 Push-ups
Workout:
- Tabata Squats: 20 (PB!!!!)
- 100 Kettlebell Snatches @ 20 kg for time: 7:18
- 6 minutes of pull-ups: 41
- Team Wall-ball: 120 reps between two people w/10 kg medicine ball (80 reps for me)
- 3 minutes of:
- Push-presses @ 65 lbs
- Kettlebell Swings @ 20 kg
- Box-jumps
- Total rep count: 60
- 60 continuous sit-ups
I’m pretty danged excited about the new PB for Tabata Squats. I’m definitely getting better at this stuff, I think my first time around on this was 13 late last winter, and approaching the rarefied air (at my gym at least) of the top scores in this category. One amazing lady has hit 23… or was it 24? Gives me something to shoot for!
Health:
- Date: 10/17/2007
- Weight: 180
- Mood: Normal
- Resting Heart rate: 50
- Sleep Hours: 8
- Sleep Pattern: Normal
Loving your Kettlebell, one hour at a time October 15, 2007
Posted by hardly Dumbbell, Flexibility, Kettlebell, Strength Training
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I dunno what was up w/our trainer today, but he seemed to have a serious kettlebell fixation. I think the only thing we didn’t do with them today was to clean ‘em and fry ‘em.
Warmup:
- 2x of: 1 lap of walking lunges, 30 kettlebell swings @ 16 kg, 20 body-weight squats.
Workout:
- 24 Dumbbell deadlifts @ 100 lbs (slowly w/extreme form focus)
- 10 Dumbbell deadlifts @ 100 lbs, with a body-weight squat interspersed between reps.
- 60 Kettlebell swings @ 20 kg
- 2x 10 Kettlebell lunges @ 20 kg
- 2x 6 Kettlebell figure-8 circuits @ 20 kk
- 2x Kettlebell Overhead Squats @ 12 kg, 4 reps per arm
- 20 Kettlebell Snatches @ 20 kg
- 3x 20 Kettlebell Snatches @ 16 kg (slowly, deliberately, w/extreme form focus)
- 3x 10 Kettlebell Squats w/40kg + 1 lap around the gym (without stopping, if possible)
- 30 pushups, just for fun, at the end.
Health:
- Date: 10/15/2007
- Weight: 181
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Hours: 8
- Sleep Pattern: Normal
