Deads, Pullups, and MV02

After giving my arm a rest for the last couple of days, it feels back to normal. I went to the gym to do my deads and pullups, and then came home to do MV02.

Deadlift: 215x5x3
Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3 x 3
MV02 15:15 w/ 16kg KB: 43 sets of 7

I felt great. No pain at all in the arm.

Yesterdays Deads and Todays Meltdown

I am so out of the habit of writing in my log that I completely forgot to put down yesterdays work. Here it is:

Deadlift: 205 x 5 x 3
Pullup ladder: 1,2,3 x 4

I am rebuilding my deadlift from the ground up. I am really focusing on technique and not weight. I am hoping once I get back up to the poundage that I am used to, the technique will all be dialed in.

As for today, on a whim I decided to do the Meltdown. I don't know why, since it was the routine that F-ed up Josh's shoulder, but I tried it anyway. I got to about the 30th snatch and I felt a twinge in my right bicep. I did a couple more and realized it wasn't going away and stopped dead. I figured I would live to fight another day.

No more meltdown for me.

Back in Business

Last week was a busy week. During those seven days I:

Took my last undergraduate finals...ever!
Moved
Graduated

Needless to say, I barely had time to get a workout in, much less write about it. Now that we have the internet working in our new place, I can get back to my log.

Today I did a bunch of presses with the 32kg and the 24kg and my fourth ever V02 15:15 workout. Here's what it looked like:

Whole lot of press w/ 32kg and 24kg KB
MV02 15:15 w/ 16kg KB: 39 sets of 7

MV02 15:15 Session #2

Before work this morning I thought I would get in an MV02 workout. I increased the sets by 15%, which brought the total to 29 sets of 7. It wasn't that bad. It got me breathing pretty hard but my form never broke down and my breathing remained in control. Pretty good workout.

16kg KB MV02 snatch: 29 sets of 7

PM TGUs

Today I just did my second session of TGUs on the program minimum. Tomorrow, I do my second swing session and also MV02 at night.

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes

15:15 MV02 Protocol For the 1st Time

I guess you could say I'm a sucker. I bought into the hype and ordered a copy of KJ's Viking Warrior Conditiong. I read through it today and it is actually a pretty good read. He gets pretty deep into physiology and why his protocols work the way they do. I couldn't understand most of it, and I like to think of myself as pretty bright when it comes to this stuff, but from what I DID understand it looks pretty solid in the science department. So anyway, I found my MV02 cadence (turns out it is 7) and then rested a few minutes and got right into my first session.

16kg MV02 15:15 for 25 sets of 7 (175 snatches)

It went really well. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I'm probably going to do this 2-3 times a week using KJ's progression formula and see what happens.

Also, I tore two phonebooks today using the method I say on a video on straighttothebar.com last night. I don't know what the technique is called, but your palms are facing each other on opposite sides of the book. I was pretty stoked about it. Now I just need to find more phonebooks...

PM Swings, Core, and More BUP

32kg KB Swings: 12 minutes
Dragon Flag Negatives: 30 sec on/ 30 sec off for 5 rounds
32kg KB Side Bend: 3 sets of 10/side
24kg KB BUP: 10 singles per arm

Pretty good morning. I am enjoying doing the Program Minimum with the 32. I already feel more comfortable working with it after only one week.

Dragon Flags are tough. I can't do the positive portion from the floor up, so I have been working on negatives to get my strength up.

TGUs, Deads and BUP Practice

I woke up this morning to do some TGUs with the 32. After that, I decided to go to the gym and start to work on my deadlift form. I did a whole bunch of light singles, trying to figure things out a little bit. I think I made some progress. My shins are pretty torn up, which indicates to me that I'm on to something since the bar is supposed to be up against your body during the pull so that your center of gravity is as close to the bar as possible. I don't know. I may be way off for all I know.

After that I did some pullup ladders and came home and did some bottoms up press singles. Thats about it. It felt really good.

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes
Deadlift: multiple singles @ 135 and 185
Pullup ladders: 1,2,3 x 5
24kg KB BUP: 10 singles per arm

Just swings

Today was my second swing session of the week on the RKC Min program. It went really well. For active rest, I did some slow burpees.

32kg KB Swing: 12 minutes

Pretty good day.

TGUs and GTG Pullups

Second TGU workout of the week with the 32. It was good.

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes
GTG Pullups: 30 total

That's it.

Man Makers and GTG Pullups

This morning I woke up early and did my swings with active recovery. Also, throughout the day I did pullups at work on the tire steel. I lost track of the sets, but it was between 6 and 7 sets of 6 reps. I liked it a lot. I hope doing this helps my pullup numbers.

Swings: 12 minutes
GTG Pullups: ~36-42

Good day.

RKC Program Minimum w/ 32kg BEGINS!

The spring TSC has finally come and gone. I was happy (for the most part) with how I did. I was pissed about the pullups (but I have a plan to get them up to par) and thrilled about the snatches and pretty much indifferent about the deadlift. All in all, I can't really complain. What's done is done, and there is always the fall.

I had planned to take a few days off, but that isn't going to happen. Today I started the RKC Program Minimum with the 32kg kettlebell. I want to give my joints a break from the snatching for a few weeks and get more comfortable working with the 32. I've heard that it is a really good program so I'm excited to get started with it.

Today I did:

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes
Also, I plan to GTG pullups throughout the day.

By the way, Josh your website looks great. I got a feeling it is going to be big. Really big.

TSC Results

Deadlift: 385lbs (pr)
Pullups: 11 (not even close to a pr)
24kg KB Snatch: 126 in 5 min (pr)

TSC Prep.

Tomorrow is the TSC. I'm heading to Grand Junction, Co. today. I'm really excited and really nervous. I think it will be good. I have no illusions of placing high, I just know that I am going to set three new PRs, and that excites me. It's gonna be good.

I just did some stretching and some swings this morning to limber up and to get me warmed up for tomorrow.

24kg KB Swings (2hand): 30 sec on/ 15 sec off for 6 rounds

Wish me luck.

Grip and whining

In theory, this week was supposed to be a breeze. It's the week of the TSC, so I told myself I was going to just take it easy and not do anything so I could peak this saturday. It sucks. It really sucks. I don't like to not exercise. It's probably not a bad "problem" to have, considering the alternative, but on weeks like this one I just hate it. I think I will go insane when/if I ever get injured and have to take some real time off.

Anyway, just did some grip work with the COC#1 (6 closes per hand) and the pinch block. I don't know what the deal is, but after just two closes with the left hand I started to cramp up. A charley horse anywhere hurts, but in the hand it hurts really bad. I warm up and all, but I just keep having this problem.

Last Snatch Workout Before TSC

No more snatching until saturday. I can't believe the TSC is just around the corner. When I started to prepare for it, it seemed I had all the time in the world. I hope I'm prepared enough. I am confident that I will do better than I did last time in every event, and that is really all I care about.

Here was today:

Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 4
24 kg KB Snatch: 3 minutes (didn't count, but never put it down either)

Felt pretty good.

Friday and Saturday

It has been a busy last couple of days what with work and school. A lot busier than usual. More workouts were pretty light, but that is what I was looking for this close to the competition.

Friday:

A bunch of half gut-ups with the 24kg
24kg Swings: 5 min

Saturday:

24 kg Swings (5L, 5R, 5twohand): 8 mins

That's it.

Swings and Thoughts on the Warrior Diet

Today I had a lot of energy and decided to do something even though I had planned today as an off day.

24kg KB Swings: 30 sec on/15 sec off for 12 rounds (half 1handed, half 2handed)
45 pushups

I first heard about the Warrior Diet while reading ETK, because it is the diet that Pavel does. I really didn't think much about it at the time besides "wow, what a gay, pretentious name for a diet." As time went on, I stubbled accross more information about it while lurking on the Dragon Door forum and I found the basic outline of it kind of interesting. I still thought the name was gay, but I went to Border's and picked up a copy anyway.

I read the book in less than a day (not because I was super interested, but because it was an easy read). When I was done I thought it sounded pretty cool. Basically, you have an undereating phase during the day where you can eat some fruits and veggies, and then an overeating phase at night where pretty much anything goes (not exactly, but pretty much). This, according to the author, is based off how the warriors of ancient times would eat and also how wild predators eat. While modeling your eating like this, you can apparently get tons of energy during the day, sleep better at night, and burn fat because of the hormones that will be released. I'll tell you right now, I'm not sold on the "science" of this diet. But then I'm not really sold on the science of any diet so this one really isn't any more far fetched than any other. So anyway, I thought I'd give it a whirl more out of curiosity than anything else.

I've been a "warrior" since friday. I am going to reserve my final judgment for a few weeks so that I give it time to do whatever it is going to do (if anything). I do have some early observations about it though.
1: I do indeed have a lot of energy during the day. This is the exact opposite of what I really thought was going to happen. This may be the placebo effect though, it is too early to say.
2: My workouts seem just as productive as they used to be when I was eating "normally", maybe even more so. Also the exact opposite of what I thought was going to happen.
3: After the first day, I wasn't very hungry during the day. I adapted much faster than expected.
4: Overeating at night is fun as hell!
5: The name is still gay. I'm dreading the day when I'm at work and everyone is eating pizza for lunch and ask me why I'm not eating and I say: "cuz I'm on the Warrior Diet!" Ugh...

I'll keep you posted on how this all pans out.

Some TGUs and a Little Grip

32kg KB TGU: 8 minutes
COC#1: 9 closes left, 8 closes right

The get-ups went really good, but I wasn't feeling the grip. My left hand started cramping after every close towards the end. I'm not sure what that is about. I thought I warmed up enough, but I guess not.

Pullup Ladders and a New Snatch PR

Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 4
24 kg KB Snatch: 102 in 5 minutes (PR)

No matter how many times I snatch, it never feels any easier. I was a pussy and put the KB down twice for a total of about 40 seconds and so was only able to get 102 total. I know I could do better, but it is a PR. I'll take it.

Just some swings and TGUs

I just wanted to do a little something to get me going this morning. Here it is:

24kg KB TGU: 7 minutes
24kg KB Swings: 7 minutes of 5L, 5R, 5twohand, resting whenever I needed for a few seconds.

Deads, Pullups, and some Snatch Experiments

Today is probably my last day of deadlifts before the TSC. I have read from a few sources that it is best to stop heavy deads two weeks out from a competition and just work on form during those last few days. I'm going to give that a try. Here's what I did:

Deadlift Warmup: 135x6, 225x3, 315x2
Deadlift Workset: 355x1

The 355 came up a little easier than I had expected. I think I am going to start with 360 at the competition and then go from there depending on how it feels.

Then I did:

Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 3
Snatches: 60 to 70

Once again I didn't count the snatches. Today I just wanted to work on a couple of techniques that I have read about or seen to see how they feel. I tried a couple of breathing techniques and slowing down the reps. I also tried throwing the KB down towards my stomach instead of just letting it drop. That works really well I think. It adds a lot of momentum and makes it easier to bring it up again.

That's it. Pretty okay day.

TGUs and Swings with the 32

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes
32kg KB Swings: 120 total w/ 5-L 5-R 5-2Hand

That's tough. I can't believe how much harder the 1handed swings are compared to the 2handed ones. I do really like working with the 32. I wish I was a little more comfortable with it. It still kind of scares me sometimes. I am thinking that after the TSC I am going to try the RKC Minimum Program with the 32 to build some strength and confidence. I think my joints could use the break from snatches.

Grip night etc.

I had a long day at work. Lots of people wanting their snow tires taken off because winter's over. Lots of stupid, dense people. Sometimes I can't wait until I don't have to do that job anymore.

I surprised myself tonight by getting 17 good closes per hand with the COC#1. I switched hands after every rep, but didn't rest at all other than that. After that I did lots of pinch block work.

I then did a bunch of windmills, planks, and deck-squats just for kicks.

Really good night.

Pullups and Snatches

Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 4
24kg KB Snatch: 5 minutes

My goal with the snatches today was to do them for as long as I could without stopping for a total of 5 minutes. I made it to 3.5 minutes and then put it down for 30 sec and then finished out the last minute. I didn't count because I find that to be really distracting and counter productive. I assume that I got between 90 and 100 at the pace that I was doing but I don't know. My goal at the TSC is to never put the kettlebell down. I don't care how many I get, I just don't want to put the thing down. Judging by today, I should be able to do that with people screaming in my face.

Pretty good day.

Damn XBOX

I did not want to get out of bed this morning. It's my own fault really. I stayed up pretty late playing Dead Space. Holy crap that game is scary. I've never played a game where I absolutely DID NOT want to enter a room because I didn't know what was going to jump out at me or when.

Anyway, here was the workout today:

Deadlift Warmup: 135x5, 225x3, 295x2
Deadlift Work Set: 340x2x1
Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4,5x2 and 1,2,3x2
24kg KB Snatch: 70 to 80 total

I forgot my gymboss today so I couldn't time my sets and then as I was doing them I lost count. I did as many as fast as I could while still maintaining good form. Whenever it seemed to slip I would switch hands or put it down for a bit. Not my best performance or effort, but I was pretty tired. All in all, not too happy with todays work.

Some TGUs and Swings

The stiffness in my hip is almost gone but I didn't want to do anything that might make it worse. I just did some TGUs and swings.

24kg KB TGU: 8 minutes
24kg KB 2Hand Swings: 30 sec on/15 sec off for 10 rounds

Felt good. My hip still feels great after the workout so I think I'm almost back to normal.

Pretty Light Day

My hip is still pretty stiff so I didn't go all out on the snatches today. I'm still pretty happy with how it went though.

Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4,5 x 1 & 1,2,3,4 x 3
24kg KB Snatch: 84 in 5 minutes

Gripwork:
COC#1: 6 closes per hand
Lots of pinch block work

I had a really hard time with the grip stuff today. All the pullups and snatches had a bigger effect on my grip than I thought they would.

All in all, pretty good day.

Nothin...

Well, today would normally be deadlifts and snatches, but I woke up not feeling too great. I haven't slept very well the last two nights and my joints ache a bit AND I just feel tired. Systemic fatigue. I'm not sure if I'm getting sick or not, but I am pretty sure I'm starting to overtrain a little. So, I am going to scale it back some and not do anything but grip until monday. Here's hoping that works.

TGUs and Grip

I love Spring Break. I could get used to not going to school or work, sleeping until I feel like waking up, training without any time constraints, and then doing whatever else I feel like doing. Too bad today is my last day of that.

24kg KB TGU: 8 minutes
24kg KB C&P Ladders: 1,2,3 x 2

Gripwork
COC#1: 13 closes per hand, alternating hands after each rep.
Pinch block: 3 set of 5/arm with 7.5lbs on the end

I am loving Get-ups lately. I would rather do them than almost anything else. I am also really pleased with the COC closes today. Chalk helps a lot. My hands are so small (thanks a lot, Mom) that it's hard to set it in my hand without it slipping. That's where the chalk comes in.

Pullups, Chins, and Dips

I decided to take it easy today and not do any swings or really anything that involves the hips because since yesterdays swings with the 32, my left hip is really tight and sore. I can't figure out how to stretch it either. It's really frustrating.

Pullups @ BW+35lbs: 4x1, 3x3
Chin Ladders @ BW: 1,2,3 x 3
Dips @ BW+35lbs: 6x3

TGUs and Swings

I wanted to work a little bit with the 32kg so I did some TGUs and swings. Everything seems a whole lot harder with the 32.

32kg KB TGU: 5 minutes
32kg KB 2hand Swings: 30 sec on/15 sec off for 10 rounds

That's it. Felt great.

Snatch#1 and Grip work

Morning

Pullup ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 5
Hanging Leg Raises: 10x3
Snatch: 5/5 on the min for 11 rounds

I am going to do snatches twice a week from now until the TSC and the first of which will be an easier one. I focused on form and nice crisp reps and stopped before my form got even close to breaking down.

Night

Tried out my new pinch block from Stronger Grip. I love it.
Right 5x1 with 10lbs on the end, Left 3x1 with 10lbs on the end
Right 10x2 with 5lbs on the end, left 10x2 with 5lbs on the end

COC#1: 5 closes with each hand

Windmills with 24kg KB just for fun: 5x3/side

Friday Heavy Workout

Deadlift Warmup: 135x5, 225x3, 275x2
Dead Workset: 330x3x1
Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 4
24kg KB Snatch: 16/16, 15/15, 15/15, 15/15 for a total of 122 with 4 minute rest period between each set.

I read an article on Dragondoor by an RKC (I forget his name) about preparing for the RKC Snatch Test. He suggested that once your snatch max per arm is between 20 and 25 in a single set, you should do multiple sets at 70-80% of that max with 3-5 minute rest periods between. He also suggested you do snatches 2-3 times a week. So even though I am not preparing for the RKC as of yet, the TSC is pretty similar so I thought I would give it a try. I'm going to mix this type of workout with the minute on/minute off type as well as some others. Today felt good so I'm hoping this will work out for me.

Grip Work etc.

I got my Captains of Crush #1 in the mail last night. That thing is serious. I was super excited to work with it today. Before I did, I did a couple warm-up sets with a little crappy plastic gripper like the Ironmind people suggest. After that I did 2 sets of 4 with each hand (I could barely close it towards the end with my left hand) and then I did 2 sets of holding it closed for a count of 5.

It's a little strange that my left hand's grip is a little weaker than my right's when my left hand/arm is generally my strongest. I don't know why that should be the case.

I also have done a bunch of Face-the-Wall Squats, pry the pump streches, and arm-bars today and will continue to do so throughout the night. Hopefully these stretches and exercises will help me fine tune my KB technique.

Kind of a light day

Morning

Pullups @ BW+25lbs: 4 sets of 5
Dips @ BW: 3 sets of 10
Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets of 10

Night

24kg KB C&P Ladders: 1,2,3,4 x 2
24kg KB 2hand Swing: 5 minutes

Thats it for today.

Pullups and TGUs

Pullups: to failure = 14
Pullup ladders: 1,2,3 x 3
24kg KB TGU: 10 minutes switching arms with every rep. Lost count of how many I did.
"Clocks" : 3 sets of 8 rounds
V-ups: 3 sets of 10

I had a really restful weekend so today I felt great. My pullup max is slowly getting better. The ladders are really helping.

Deadlifts, snatches, chemistry, and the best Civil War Moustache since 1863!

I got up really early so that I could get a good workout in before I started to study for my chemistry test today. The test was brutal. Even now all I can see when I close my eyes are carboxylic acids, lipids, and amino acids. Anyway, the workout before the test was great.

Deadlift Warmup: 135x5, 225x3, 275x2
Deadlift Workset: 325x3x1
Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3 x 5
24kg KB Snatches: 64 in 3 minutes

I took it pretty easy on the snatches since my low back was a little tender from the deads and probably the swings a couple days ago. I kept my breathing under control and performed every rep in strict form. Felt really good. I'm still about 5 weeks out from the TSC and already feel like my conditioning is better than it was at the october TSC.

Oh, and I shaved my beard tonight after work into the most incredible Civil War Moustache that has been seen in over a century. It truly is a sight to see. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain would be very proud. Lindsey hates it.

More swings and such

Halos: 3 sets of 10
Pushups: 3 sets of 25
24kg KB Windmills: 3 sets of 5/side
24kg KB Deck Squat: 2 sets of 5
24kg KB 1hand Swings: 137 in 5 minutes

Everything felt really good today. I've neglected swings for a long time. I wish I hadn't now. They are awesome.

Timed swings

I woke up late this morning and couldn't face the gym today. This time of morning it would have been crowded and I just couldn't handle that today. Good thing I don't need to go to the gym to get a workout.

24kg KB C&P Ladders: 1,2,3 x 3 (I really focused on performing the reps like the W.S.L. showed me this weekend).
32kg KB 2handed Swings: 146 in 7 minutes
Planks: min on/min off for 5 minutes (3 minutes of planks total)

Everything felt really good. My conditioning is coming right along I think.

Deadlift and 24kg Snatch

Deadlift Warmup: 135x5, 225x2, 275x2
Deadlift Worksets: 315x3x2
Pullup Ladder: 1,2,3,4,5 x 3
24kg KB Snatch: 65 in 3 minutes

Judging from todays snatches, I think my conditioning is coming along okay. I think it has been helping to do them at the end of my workouts instead of the beginning (where it is a lot easier).

Misc. Kettlebell Day

Deadlifts and my second snatch session of the week are both tommorrow so I didn't want do anything too taxing, so I just did a few things to get my heart rate up a little.

24kg KB C&P Ladder: 1,2,3,4,5/arm x 2
24kg KB Russian Twist: 30 count x 2
24 kg KB Swings: 20x3
24kg KB Overhead Hold (2 of them): 1.5 minutes

The overhead hold kicked my butt. I thought I could do it for longer than that. Turns out I couldn't. My arms got really shaky at about the 1 minute mark. I held out as long as I felt it safe...

Light Core

Warm-up: 5 one-hand swing, 5 high pull, 5 C&P/arm x 2
Halos: 10x3
24kg KB Windmill: 5x3/side
24kg KB Deck Squat: 5x2
24kg Russian Twist: 30x3

32kg KB Day

Light Squat: 155x5x3
Pullup Ladders: 1,2,3,4,5 x 2 and 1,2,3 x 1
32kg KB Snatch: 40 total
32kg KB 1-arm Swing: 60 in 3 minutes

The gym was nearly empty today. There was only three other people. They kept walking around and in front of me. It got really annoying.

Deadlifts and such

Deadlift Warm-up: 135x3, 225x3, 275x2
Deadlift work set: 305x3
24kg KB C&P + Pullup Ladders: 3 of 1,2,3
24kg KB Snatch: R/12 L/12, R/12 L/12, R/10 L/10 = 68

Misc light day

16kg KB C&P Ladder: 1 ladder of 1,2,3,4,5
24kg KB Swings: 3 sets of 20 (really concentrating on throwing it down at the top)
Planks: 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off for 5 rounds
24 kg KB Russian Twist (planted): 3 sets of 30 count
V-Ups: 36

Core

24kg KB Double Windmill: 2 sets of 5/side
16kg KB Deck Squat: 3 sets of 5
24kg KB Halo: 3 sets of 8/direction
16kg KB Russian Twist: 3 sets of 40 count
Reverse Crunch: 36

32kg KB Snatch and stuff

Light Squats: 155x5x3 with a 2 second pause at the bottom
Pullups: BW + 45 x 3,3,3,2,1
Dips: BW + 25x7x3
On the Minute Snatch w/ 32kg KB: 5/5 for 5 rounds(50 total)

The snatches were tough. My form broke down quickly during the 5th round. I want to do a lot of snatch work with the 32 in the hopes that the 24 will feel easier by comparison. They kicked my butt though, no doubt about it.

I'm not going work on squats until after the TSC. I'll just do light sets like I did today once a week or so to kind of maintain.

Deadlift etc

Deadlift: 300x3x2
Speed Deads: 225x4x3
Pullup ladders: 3 of 1,2,3 @ BW+35
2 24kg KB Situps: 3 sets of 5
Russian Twist w/ 16kg KB: 3 sets of 40 count

I felt good this morning. The 300 seemed about as heavy as it should have.

On the Minute Snatches

24kg KB Snatch on the minute: 6/6 for 10 rounds = 120
24kg KB Press + Pullup ladder: 4 x 1,2,3

The snatches felt good. My hands held up really well and so did my cardio. Some little jack-ass kept looking and me and smirking though. I just looked back at him until he went back to his kick-backs. Little prick.

Light-ish KB workout

A series of unfortunate events has made it hard to get a workout in this week. I didn't want to over-do it tonight since I will be doing snatches in the morning, so I just did what I thought would be a light workout. It turned out to be kinda tough.

Circuit: 5/arm 32kg KB Cleans, 15 pushups, 20 32kg KB swings with 1 minute rest period between circuits x 5 rounds.

Russian Twists: 3 sets of a count of 40 with 15kg KB

Saturday morning deadlift

I had two tests this week (Genetics and Chemistry) so I didn't work out as much as I would have liked. Ah well, at least I got deadlifts in.

Deadlift: 255x20x1
DB 1-arm rows: 85x5x3
Pullup ladders: 5 of 3 (30 total)

The deads kicked my butt. I am going to drop the weight next time and work my way back up.

Core

My left wrist has been hurting for a few days and I was planning on not working out until friday so that it could have a chance to heal up...but that didn't end up happening. I felt like doing a core workout tonight, and a few C&P to warm up.

24kg KB C & P Ladders: 2 ladders of 5/arm (30/arm total)
24kg KB Figure 8: Minute on/Minute off for 5 minutes (3 total minutes of figure 8's)
Planks: Minute on/Minute off for 5 minutes (3 total minutes of planks)
24kg KB Windmill: 1 set of 5/arm (I was fried after that other stuff, these were getting scary)

Night at the gym

I went to the gym tonight after dinner. I usually go just after waking up in the morning, so that is what I am used to. I didn't feel near as strong as I do in the mornings. I'm glad I went, but it didn't feel as productive.

Zercher squat: 135x6x3
Pullup ladder: 2 ladders of 5 (almost). Got 28 rather than 30. I blame it on the time of day.
Chins: 3 sets of 5 - I did these really slow both on the positive and negative portions of the rep.

That's it. Never again will I go at night unless I have no other choice.

Sumo deads etc.

Sumo Deadlift: 215x8x3
Pullup max test: 13
DB 1-arm rows: 80x5x3
Pistols: 2 per leg with 25lb plate (2nd on left leg was a partial)
Abs: 36 leg lifts, 45 crunches

Pretty good day. I decided on the spur of the moment to test my pullup max. I got two more than I have ever done before. I feel like I could do more if I was fresher since I have done pullup and chin ladders already this week and I am still feeling them a bit. My goal is to get 20 by the end of the year.

The pistols are coming along I guess. Some days are better than others for my left leg.

KB at the Gym

I took 24kg KB to the gym again today. Lots more people were there. Lots more staring. Aside from that it was good.

24kg KB Snatch: Sets of 15,10,5,5,5,5,5 per arm with brief rest between sets.
24kg KB Press + Pullup ladders: 6 of 3
Abs: 60 crunches

The snatches were pretty hard. I have to get back into shape with them.

Light day

Just did a few light things tonight. Had a pretty long day at work.

15kg KB C&P: 5 sets of 5 per arm
15kg KB Get-up: 2 sets of 5 per arm
24kg KB Double Windmill: 2 sets of 5 per arm

Thats it.

Good old monday

Squat: 200x5x5
Chin Ladders: 4 of 4 (40 total)
24kg KB swing w/ oven mitt: Right-20,15 Left-20,15
Pushups: 3 sets of 20
Abs: 50 crunches

Deadlift

Deadlift: 245x20x1
Back Extensions: 3 sets of 10 with a 25lb plate
Pullup ladder: 3 of 4 (30 total)

That's it for today. Tired. Didn't feel very strong. I may reduce weight next week on deadlift and try and build some momentum. Depends on how I feel.

Misc. KB stuff

I'm pretty sore from yesterday...must be the snatches. Decided to take it easy today. Just a couple of things to get my blood flowing.

15kg KB press ladders: 3 of 5 (45 total per arm)
30 pushups
24kg KB Get-ups: 3 per arm

Snatches and such

It had been months since I did a snatch (because it is so damn cold outside) so I decided I would finally bite the bullet and bring a kettlebell to the gym. I dreaded doing this because I was afraid everyone would stare at me...and they did. It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't hate it so much.

The snatches were a lot harder than they were a couple months ago.

24kg KB snatch: On the minute for 10 minutes, 5right/5left (100 total)
24kg KB press + pullup ladder: 5 of 3 (30 total pullups, 30 total presses per arm)
Pistols: 2 full reps out of 4 attempts on right, 4 attempts on left (so close!)
Abs: 40 crunches

Squat day

So it begins. I slept really well last night so I felt really good for my workout. Forgot my stupid dip belt though.

Squats: 195x5x5
Dips: BWx10x3
Chin ladders: 3 of 4 (30 total)
Abs: 60 crunches, 30 reverse crunches