Tuesday, January 8, 2008

6 minutes and counting...

With our house in shambles in the midst of a re-model...we have no bathroom.

No, really.

OK, we have a second toilet in the basement powder room...But that's it.

So, since we returned from Texas we have made nightly trips to my parents in North Prairie, 20-30 minutes away, to take showers.

This has taken a toll on the training schedule, but we have managed to get some pretty good sessions in.

Every year it seems I start over...in a good way. More technical work, lower load and so on. It just seems right and I have never lost any noticeable amount of strength.

I have decided in 2008 I want to "go the whole ten minutes" with one hand switch, first with the 16kg, then slowly move to the 24kg.

So last night, in my parents living room, was the second time I completed a 6 minute set, changing hands at 3 minutes. The load was my 16kg Pro-Grade bell (Christmas present to myself).

At a pace of 12 RPM I completed 72 reps.

This is where a
Gymboss Timer
really comes in handy.

I set the timer for 5 seconds which equates to 12 RPM. The timer beeps every five seconds and I complete a rep and hold the bell overhead until the timer sounds again.

You're probably thinking, "But, with only 16kg that should be a piece of cake." Guess again.

It's tougher than it sounds.

After that set I did two more 2 minute sets, switching hands at the 1 minute mark.

Finished it up with a set of 25 R/L One Hand Swings.

All and all not a bad session (in light of being in my parents living room), hit my goal of six minutes. Upping the time will be rough and seems to be as much mental as it does physical.

Next stop: 7 minutes @ 12 RPM. That's a total of 84 reps, not record breaking and I know I could pound out plenty more if I upped the pace. I trying to take the way of the tortoise, slow and steady.

It'll be interesting.

4 comments:

Franz Snideman said...

Nice job on the 6 min test! 10 minutes does sound challenging..but why what the heck....I think you could do it now!

I have never ventured over 5 minutes in the TSC. 10 minute test sounds like a potential goal for me this year! I have never thought about it until I read your post! As a 100 meter sprinter, 10 minutes is a little long for me but .....if you can swing a KB overhead for 10 minutes...that's darn impressive!!!!

BJ Bliffert said...

It's the pacing that gets me...deliberately going slower than I normally would during something like a 5 or 10 minute SSST,

That's where the timer comes in. It acts like a metronome and keeps me from getting ahead of myself.

I guess, kind of the same way a miler would use his 400m times to pace.

Give it a try!

Jordan Vezina said...

Good work with the timed sets. I'm doing the same thing. I've been working with the 16 and moved up to the 24 today for a short 4 minutes, but I can feel the difference. Great idea about using the gymboss as a metronome, I hadn't thought of that.

BJ Bliffert said...

That's weird, Jordan...I was going to post on your blog today and ask you how your sets were going.

I have only used a 24kg for a couple timed sets, 4 minutes was about all I could last too. Holding the bell in lockout was rough. I have some shoulder issues and could tell it wasn't where I should start this type of training.