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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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