8/19/13 Monday August 19, 2013 (28 kg complex)

9:00am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 60 minutes (lots of extra time, reps, did not rush, I had the day off from work so I slept in.  Really felt like I needed the recovery time after driving to Portland Friday for my birthday, back Saturday, working for 3-4 hrs in the yard on Sunday in the sun, etc.)

10:00am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12kg armbars - 1 L, 1 R

10:15am - Training session - Single bell 28 kg complex

Warm up -
TGU 16kg, 1+1
GSq 24 kg, 5
DB DL 32 kgs, 10, 10 alt L, R

3X the following, done in circuits.
28 kg TGU, 1+1
28 kg 2H SW, 15 reps
28 kg FSq, 4+4 reps
28 kg 1H SW, 8+8 reps
28 kg C&P, 4+4 reps
28 kg 1H SW, 8+8 reps
24 kg SN, 5+5

This took about 40 minutes to complete including the rests between each movement / round.

To add it up that is 3 TGUs per side, 45 2H SW, 12 FSq per side, 48 1H SW per side, 12 C&P per side, and 15 SN per side.  That is a lot of work.

11:00am - Complete

Notes -  Holy smokes I think this is the hardest kettlebell training session I have ever had.  Most of my training lately has been in the 20-30 minute range max, but this simply was harder and took longer.  I gave Kevin some feedback largely noting that I had some grip fatigue and sweaty hand issues that made the last couple of reps difficult.  I felt I had the strength to do this, which was pretty awesome to be doing everything with a 28 except the snatch.  I felt I had a lot of good reps.  Had a clean get away from me, and a couple of snatches though, and I was not happy about that.  When doing a long circuit like this, I am recognizing that you have to slow down enough to focus 1 rep at a time.  Quality must always be the priority.  Knowing I was trying to hit a number I think was at times problematic when I simply just needed to make sure the next rep was high quality.  This is a mental focus I will work on since most of my work is generally in very short sets.  Because of the way this was put together, it felt like one long set but really each movement was discrete and I need to keep that in mind.  I am going to aim for the same volume next time and try to improve the time and quality of all reps.  Definitely not going to increase the volume until this is dialed in better.

Also going to buy some wristbands for sweat, and some chalk, on Kevin's advice.

8/16/13 Friday August 16, 2013 (24kg SN training with Kevin)

First and most importantly - today was my 36th birthday.  I am in the best shape of my life today, and it feels great.  I am stronger and leaner than I have ever been due to meeting Ross Meyer at Kettlebility in November 2011, training with him until this March, and now training with Kevin Knapp at Kettlebility.  I have learned a ton by reading Pavel's books as well as other kettlebell stuff by Geoff Neupert and others, and reading the Strong First online forum and other internet forums / sites on strength.  I am grateful for all of this new-found knowledge and have to say my life has really been very positively impacted by these experiences.

Before meeting Kevin at 6:30am I did some OS rests and some primal move, a few kettlebell warmups with halos, arm bar etc. and headed out.

6:30am - Training session with Kevin.  We did some primal move, tried some new rocking / rolling moves which were going back on the shoulders/head and rocking front, and then doing the same side to side.  I really liked those resets and will start incorporating those.

We worked on some TGUs, with Kevin focusing on cuing me to keep the elbow locked.  That is something I need to work on - really have to fire the triceps hard.

We did some goblet squats and Kevin showed me a technique to flip the bell upside down vs. holding it by the horns, which felt good.  Was able to pry a bit easier that way, and it takes pressure off of the biceps.

We worked on some 2H swings, including with the 44 kg as Kevin knows I recently purchased that bell.  He liked what he saw, reps were really strong, and felt great.

We then did some pullups as I had not tested pullups in some time.  I was able to bang out some low rep sets of pullups and chins no problem (ladders 2, 3).  It has been months since I did pullups.  Kevin really wants to be to get in a few sets during the week GTG style.  I have to figure out how to get a pullup bar going at the house somehow.  No good ideas at this time.

We then did some 1H SW with the 24kg in anticipation of snatching, the main event of the day.

I did a warm up snatch set with the 20 kg, 5 and 5.  We then moved into several sets of the 24 kg, 5 and 5, with Kevin watching my technique.  Biggest cue was to throw the bell at my belt to start the descent, which helped.  That is always the most challenging part of the movement for me.

We then did about 5 sets of 4/4 on the minute with the 24kg, which will be part of the programming plan for the next couple of weeks.

7:30am - Finish

Great session, I continue to learn a lot from Kevin.  We are moving into a strength wave for the next 3 weeks, with snatching the 24 a focal point.

Other -

I want for a jog around Greenlake with a friend, about 3.2 miles, at 8am.  It was easy and felt good unlike the last time I went running which was about a month ago in Spokane.  Just have to keep working the foam roller and creating better quality movement in my right hip , ankle.

At 9:30am I got a massage for my birthday.  Felt great.  Good day all around.

8/15/13 Thursday August 15, 2013 (2H SW heavy)

6:45am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 30 minutes

7:15am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
12 kg arm bar, L/R

7:30am - Training session -2H SW, heavy (new 44 kg bell)

Warm up -

TGU 24 kg, starting from top, single L, R
GSq 24 kg, 10
DB DL 32 kg, 5, 1H alternating 5

Timed set - 15 minutes, got 110 reps.

2H SW 24 kg, 5

7X:
2H SW 32 kg, 5
2H SW 36 kg, 5
2H SW 44 kg, 5 (first time swinging this heavy bell)
105 reps total.

8:00am - Complete

Notes - 110 reps total in 15 minutes.  I was not trying to push the reps at all here, hence the low rep count of 5 and was just trying to make them extremely powerful.  Swinging the 44 was just badass frankly and makes me want a Beast badddddd.  Love swinging heavy bells with two hands.  Spread the feet, keep the arms connected to the body, lock down the lats, explode the hips and watch it float.  Awesome.