Slow and Steady

Training has gone well the last couple of days.

Monday I hit 10 minutes with 20kg One Arm Kettlebell Jerks at 5 RPM. It wasn't too hard, I just noticed I started to get "antsy" toward the end. I knew I could do and i just wanted the set to be over

Followed that up with some more OAJs with a 32kg 10 reps per side, the focus was quickness. I treated them like barbell jerks, the faster the better.

On to Kettlebell Snatches, nothing earth shattering, just slowly building volume. I chose a 16kg bell and an RPM of 12. So, one snatch every 5 seconds. I always train with a GymBoss, analog clocks, while they work fine, are not for me.

A 6 minute set for a total of 72 reps.

Followed by some swing w/ a 24kg. I just can't get into swings lately. I'd rather do more heavy jerks as an assistance exercise. But, that's just me.

Lastly a run in which I pushed the pace over our normal 2.5 mile coarse. Everything just clicked, and while still minutes slower than my best 5k, I was happy with it.

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Today's training I dialed it back in order to fit more volume in and run myself into the ground. I have had a slightly naggin shoulder for the last couple of days. It has more to do with my posture while working than it does with my training.

After a good warm up I did 2 sets of 6 minutes, again One Arm Jerk, at 6 RPM.

So although my set was shorter the density of work was slightly higher as was the pace. These felt good, fairly easy as 16kg is nothing to write home about.

I wanted to work long on the snatches and maintain good technique so I backed it down to the 12kg today and did a full 10 minutes set. My focus was to cast the bell and not catch my callouses. Mission accomplished.

No other assistance, I'll run later or possibly set up my bike on the trainer since it's only 32 degrees. Normally I'd still run in shorts and a hoodie, but since moving to TX I've become somewhat of a wuss in the "cold".

Day 2 of 24

After a nice fast warm up of pull ups, power snatches (45lb bar) and overhead squats (45lb bar) I was ready to go.

A nice easy session today to work on technique and use like active recovery.

Snatches:

50R/50L @ 15rpm w/ 16kg

5 minutes rest

LCCJ:

15R/15L @ 12RPM w/ 16kg

Swings:

40R/40L w/ 16kg

Took the dog for a quick jog after this, it's finally a little nicer so I figured I'd get out of the house.

This was a good session, the hardest part was the rack position in the LCCJ. I can get really comfortable (this is a relative comfort) on the left side, but I don't have the flexibility/mobility to find my hip on the right side. Over time this should get better.

I think I'll be able to push the LCCJ another 2 minutes at this pace, we'll see next time the exercise comes up.

Stay tuned for today's session.

BJ

3 Short Weeks

Yesterday marked 3 weeks and 3 days until the April RKC. These are always a good time and I'm excited to meet more new, like minded people.

I like assisting at the certifications, too, because having the date on the calender serves as a deadline and forces me to be on top of my game.

Even with my recent cold, it feels like everything is falling into place.

My numbers are going up, body fat is going down and so on.

So in an attempt to squeak out any extra fitness/conditioning/strength I'm going to attempt to train 21 out of the next 24 days.

This will require some serious thought regarding volume, intensity, load, food intake, etc.

I'll make a blog entry for every day of training (I will be traveling a few days next week, but I'll update when I return).

So starting with last nights session:

I did my typical warm up including overhead squats, pull ups and push ups after a thorough joint mobility run through.

Snatches:

24kg / 4 minutes / 15 RPM = 60 reps 30/30

Jerks:

2 16kg / 10, 6, 5, 5, 5

Swings:

24kg / 30/30, 20,20

Random Clubbell movements.

Snatches felt good, I felt a little pulling on a callous but was able to "fix" my grip and continue with out a tear.

The Jerks and still hard for me. Not in terms of load, the load is easy. The return to the rack is what gets me, and I seem to waste a lot of energy getting the bells back to where they should be in the rack. These will get better with time.

Swings were easy and I need to push these more. It seems the little voice in my head tells me to switch hands at 30 reps no matter how taxed I am. I need to break the barrier and push for higher reps next time.

Clubbells, this was just for fun, I want to get better at some of the movements and I like the way they tax the grip in a different way the KBs.

'Til later, I'll post tonight's session once complete.

Kori's 5 minute Snatch Test

Here the video of Kori doing the Snatch test from the Sept 8th TSC.



She did really well. I know she'll blow these numbers out of the water in April!

Soundtrack was Hatebreed.