4/30/14 Wednesday April 30, 2014 (28kg circuit, 28kg SN ladder)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:30am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

Break for work

9:00am - Training session - Focus on 28kg circuit, 28kg SW to SN ladders

3x:
28kg SL DL, 3/3
28kg TGU , 1/1
28kg Renegade row (hand on box), 3/3
28kg 1H SW, 10/10
Around the world plank 2x

28kg 1H SW to SN ladders

3x:
3 SW, 1 SN
2 SW, 2 SN
1 SW, 3 SN

18 swings / snatches per arm

9:30am - Complete

Notes -  This was outstanding today, I really enjoyed this training session.  Making that 28kg feel like a 24kg.  Love the practice snatching that heavy bell.  Reps felt really powerful, good hip snap, really like starting it with swings, helps the confidence a lot on that first snatch rep.  My plan over the course of this cycle is to up the SL DLs to 5/5 by week 3, same with the rows, and then increase sets on the snatch from 3 this week, to 4, to 5 in week three.  Solid, steady progress, not too much volume too quick with the 28kg.  I am excited at the end of this cycle to snatch a 24kg and feel that difference which I think will be noticeable.

4/28/14 Monday April 28, 2014 (DB 24kg Moving Target Complex)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes

7:15am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

7:30am - Training session - Focus on DB 24 kg Moving Target Complex (CL, PR, SQ)

24kg TGU , 2/2
24kg G Sq, 10
24kg SW, 5, 10, 5, 10

DB 24 kg Moving Target Complex:

1 CL, 2 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 3 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 5 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 2 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 3 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 5 SQ rest
2 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest
3 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest
5 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest

Took about 16 minutes.  Total of 16 DB CL / DB PR / DB SQ

8:00am - Complete

Notes -  started the new strength cycle today, really liked this training session a lot.  Focused on technique, very strong reps here for everything, really good sign as these DB 24s are starting to feel distinctly lighter.  Watching my R tricip, elbow and forearm for tightness, did a lot of lacrosse ball work last night and will keep on the soft tissue work in that area.  Overall this is a good start to the cycle.  Need more sleep though, a lot more.

4/27/14 Sunday April 27, 2014 (interval running / push-ups / pull-ups)

Got going Sunday afternoon.  Body felt great, particularly the hips and low back, the work with Kevin on Friday I think really did some good things around loosening up the hips, tieing the shoulders to the hips better.  I have to keep that going and dial that into the regular routine.  On the other hand my R elbow was acting up this morning.  I messed around at the park yesterday with the kids and tried to do a muscle up on some pull up bars a couple of times (almost got one which surprised me).  However, I have been watching the R elbow a bit this week as I noticed in tighten up after last week's interval pull ups and push ups.  I had upped the numbers and perhaps that was a bad idea.  It seemed at bay this week as I was doing S&S, until Thursday morning when I felt pretty crappy, though I don't recall it really being the R elbow, it was more the overhead position and just being super tight int the R armpit and lat (and issue I am continuing to try and work on through bar hangs and mobility drills).  I felt good training with Kevin on Friday, didn't notice an issue Sat.  I think the point is that everything is tied together and some of the tight spots on my R side, with the armpit, lat, hip, trap definitely are connected to the elbow via soft tissue.  I did a bunch of lacrosse ball work before this run today and man, things were tight as well, hitting the tricep, bicep, forearm, etc. - but things really responded well to that lacrosse ball work.  I need in to see my massage therapist and body work guy.  I have not had soft tissue work done in some time and have been training pretty hard until the last week or so, and that also has something to do with this.

In any event this is what I did today:

3 min run, SL DLs 5/5, 3 min run, Fighter Program pull-ups (sets with reps 5/4/3/2/1), 5 push-ups
x 5

Total of 30 minutes running, 25/25 SL DLs, 15 pull-ups, 25 push-ups

Kevin told me to do Pavel's Fight Pull Up Program so that is what I am doing, and I dropped the push-ups way down from last week and concentrated on full body tension and really driving the movement with the lats, assuming if I dialed in this technique it would take pressure of the elbows.  It did.  I focused on initiating the pull-ups with the lats, and getting full extension at the bottom of each rep, very slow, controlled motions. Went very well, didn't notice any issues at all during the training.  Running was extremely strong today, man that is the best I have felt running in some time.  Just glided along, pretty powerful.  Got to focus on the arms and elbows and stay vigilant on some soft tissue work given the strength cycle starting tomorrow.

4/25/14 Friday April 25, 2014 (training with Kevin)

Checked my training log and I last trained with Kevin on March 21- over a month ago.

Flew back to Seattle from Spokane, didn't get much sleep at all last night (4 hrs), got warmed up with primal move and OS resets, hangs from the pullup bar at the kettlebellity studio and actually felt ok.

2:35pm - Training session with Kevin.  We worked a lot on TGUs today and movements to prep TGUs, and particularly to focus on some of the issues I have had with connecting the hips to the shoulders in the roll to press, particularly with the bell in the L hand.  We did some bridges with yoga blocks, both legs and then dropped the blocks and did single legs, really focusing on getting extension in the hip.   These were good, this will help me.  We then worked some TGUs with the 16kg where I laid on my back and extended the opposite leg up and down, and then also did some opposite side hip circles and shoulder circles with the bell hand in a coordinated fashion to try and connect the opposite hip to the bell shoulder.  I thought these were really good and should help me with leakage issues.  Sprinkled in here as well were a variety of TGUs with the 16kg, roll to elbow for reps, primarily.  After working these we then bought in the 28kg, 32kg, and also the 36kg to test technique and see if form improved.  The reps with the 32kg were very solid.  The 36kg with the L was still a challenge though there were small improvements.  The 36kg with the R was extremely solid, zero issues.  All in all, I have a lot of ideas now, some good things to program into my mobility work, and I really think improvements here could lend a significant benefit not only to heavy TGUs but various other KB work too.  It was clear to me with the tightness in my R hamstring, the fatigue I was experiencing in the R quad, glutes, calf, etc. with these relatively easy movements that this imbalance with the R side is something I simply must work in a more focused way to eradicate.  I think it is really holding me back from what I hope to create which are some serious gains in the next several months in all of the lifts I am working on.  I have to say I felt great after doing all of this work, neck was loose, overhead position felt very good, hips were stretched out.  These are important technique points for me to work on.

After doing this work we did a variety of 2H SW with the 32kg, then some 1H SW with the 28kg.  Swings felt good, the 1H felt better than the 2H but that is due to not really training 2H SW much at all lately.  And it was weird, it actually felt a little hard to get my two hands into the 32kg.  My hands have actually gotten bigger from KB lifting, it is insane but it is true.  Then for the first time ever I got to practice snatching the 28kg.  We did it in a ladder scheme with 1H SW, going 1H SW 3x, SN 1x, SW 2x, SN 2x, SW 1x, SN 3x.  I liked it a lot.  This was power focused, go very slow, hold the lockout, really focus on the hand flip to the descent and load between the legs, just use this as a strength building movement and not so much a ballistic for conditioning.  Snatching that bitch and holding it up strong in lockout just felt amazing.  With the path I have been on and continued strength focus, I can honestly say I think I could snatch the 32kg for some reps, I probably could have even done it today in this ladder scheme using a 1H SW to get momentum built to make the SN easier.  In any event, that was badass.


3:50pm -  Good stuff.  Really good things and I appreciate that Kevin is reading my training notes, asking questions, and really he came prepared with some ideas today on the TGU that were quite beneficial to me.  We talked a bit about the next cycle and we are going for strength work, I am looking forward to it quite a bit.

4/24/14 Thursday April 24, 2014 (OS, PM, KB warm up)

7:25am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:55am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

24kg TK PR, 3/3

8:15am - Complete

Notes -  Didn't have it today.  Overhead position was tight, I tested it with the 24kg on some TK PR and was just shaking my head at how heavy that bell felt today.  I did S&S with a 28kg 3 days in a row, traveled back and forth to the Oregon coast Monday/Wed, had a bunch to catch up on last night and didn't get to sleep until after 1am, didn't sleep that well.  Rather than be a dumbass and push ahead today, I parked everything after the mobility warm up.  Live to train another day.  It's been a good week, I see Kevin tomorrow to fine tune a bunch of things, no need to push harder.  Sometimes you just do not have it, it's not a matter of being lazy, you just have to listen and stick with mobility stuff rather than try and add load.

4/23/14 Wednesday April 23, 2014 (S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs)

8:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 35 minutes

9:05am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

9:20am - Training session - Focus on S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs

28kg 1H SW, 10/10 on the minute for 5 minutes

100 SW

28kg TGU, 1/1 x 5 goal of under 10 minutes, took 9 mins and 45 secs (15 seconds longer than yesterday)

9:40am - Complete

Notes -  Well pretty much the identical training session again.  TGUs took an extra 15 seconds, not sure why, it was a little more difficult than the day before though I slept much better last night.  Technique felt really dialed in though, strong reps.  I am pleased, the work this week I think has been very beneficial particularly just actually doing reps with the TGUs and seeing what that feels like, gives a little more time to really focus on each part of the movement as well starting with gripping the bell on your side on the ground and the way up and then down again to the back.  Good stuff.

4/22/14 Tuesday April 22, 2014 (S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs)

8:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 35 minutes

9:05am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

9:20am - Training session - Focus on S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs

28kg 1H SW, 10/10 on the minute for 5 minutes

100 SW

28kg TGU, 1/1 x 5 goal of under 10 minutes, took 9 mins and 30 secs (1 min improvement from yesterday)

9:40am - Complete

Notes -  Did this at Cannon Beach on vacation while my kids were watching a movie:)  Good stuff, very good stuff.  I am seeing now some benefits of why S&S has been designed to get the swings done first, and then finish with TGUs for time.  The swings again were no problem with the 28kg, not even breathing too deeply at the end of the last set.  However for the TGUs I got serious, tweaked the switch between hands (instead of moving the bell to my other side as I usually do, I flipped my body around and it saved time - I got these done in under 10 mins and that was cool).  I was sweating at the end of the TGUs.  You do 10 reps with a heavy enough bell, that is a lot of time under tension.  I am looking forward to banging this S&S work out with a 32kg for the first time.  I have done 100 swings with the 32kg a number of times in 5 minutes, that is no issue.  However I have not done that many reps with the 32kg on TGUs, not even close.  With the 28kg work this week and dialing in some improvements in the technique, I can see doing this with the 32kg very, very soon if we elect to work that into the programming.

4/21/14 Monday April 21, 2014 (S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 60 minutes (lots of extra time on the foam roller, lacrosse ball trying to stretch out lats, triceps)

7:30am - 15 min break (kids woke up)

7:45am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:00am - Training session - Focus on S&S - 28kg 1H SW, TGUs

28kg 1H SW, 10/10 on the minute for 5 minutes

100 SW

28kg TGU, 1/1 x 5 goal of under 10 minutes, took 10 mins and 30 secs

8:20am - Complete

Notes -  Good day here.  Doing the Simple and Sinister routine this week every day until training with Kevin on Friday, using a 28kg bell.  The swings were really pretty easy which was great.  Really trying to dial technique and watching the R wrist very closely, continuing to really focus on being very solid on that side and particularly on the height of the swing, keeping a tight grip on that bell and not letting it run out on me at all.  Very good results today, have to keep this going.  For TGUs, very pleased as well to get 5 good reps on the L side with the 28kg.  Perhaps I am starting to get through some of the issues I have had lately on this side.  Still don't like my off leg (leg opposite the bell side) coming up and not staying planted on the roll to elbow as much as I want, but it was better than it has been.  R side continues to be easy with no real technical issues.  If I can get S&S in every day this week, I will certainly get some reps under the belt with the 28kg so more time to work on this technique.  Felt refreshed afterwards, back really felt great, might have been the extra TGU reps.  Interesting.  

4/19/14 Saturday April 19, 2014 (interval running / pull-ups / push-ups)

Got going Saturday afternoon.  Weather was ok, pretty good running weather although it was cold and a little windy.  I took last week off of running and have been watching a very tight R hamstring and ankle, which has alleviated a bit the last few days.  Didn't feel like I had a bunch of sprints in me, particularly as after I did that two weeks ago, I had lingering tightness in the legs for quite some time.  Went back to a tried and true interval, 3 minutes of running intervals with a goal of 30 minutes of total running. Looked like this:

3 min run, SL DLs 5/5, 3 min run, 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups
x 5

Total of 30 minutes running, 25/25 SL DLs, 25 pull-ups, 50 push-ups

Over time I like the sweet spot of hitting about 25 pull-ups in these sessions, and I like sets of 5.  5 pull-ups is the SFG test, and given the vast other KB techniques I am working on, I don't see a need to push pull-up numbers up an more than this.  On the other hand I don't get much horizontal pushing in my routines and so I may start trying to move the push-up numbers a bit and see what happens as a result.  So I worked in 5 sets of 10 this week for 50 total push-ups.  Very slow, controlled, tight glutes, lats, etc and really trying to use the lats to control the movement.  Good stuff.  Pullups got hard on the last couple of reps on the last couple of sets.  This typically has happened when I do this training the day following snatching, which was the case here.  So I didn't think too much about it, just tried to go slow and keep the movement quality high.  I did get pretty close to failure, probably only had 1-2 reps in the bank max at the end, but that was fine.  I am going into an odd training week of just doing the Pavel S&S routine of 1H SW and getups for time, while taking some time off at the Oregon Coast with my kids.  Should be good and then Kevin and I meet on Friday the 25th to devise the next cycle of training which I anticipate is going to be heavy strength work.

4/18/14 Friday April 18, 2014 (24kg PPR ladders, 24 kg SN ladders)

7:15am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes (some extra lacrosse ball work on glutes, traps)

8:00am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:15am - Training session - Focus on 24 kg Push Press (PPR) ladders, 24kg SN 3/6/9 ladders

24kg TGU , 2/2
24kg SL DL, 5/5

3x of the following ladders:

PPR 24kg, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1

18 reps per arm on the PPR

24kg SN ladders, 3/3, 6/6, 9/9 x 2 sets = 72 reps.

8:45am - Complete

Notes -  Not too much to say here, deload week, I dropped the 28kg and 32kg push presses, stayed with 24kg, and dropped sets from 5 to 3.  On snatching I dropped 4 sets to 2 sets.  It was an "easy" session to say the least, bell was flying up on presses and up on the snatches very, very easily.  Talked with Kevin and we are going to have another "deload" week next week due to some timing issues, some vacation for me, etc.  Going to do Simple and Sinister, getups and 1H swings, for a week.  Should be good. Looking forward to getting back to some heavy stuff after that and ideally I will be primed and ready to go.

4/17/14 Thursday April 17, 2014 (24kg TGU / SL DLs / SW)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 20 minutes

6:50am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

7:05am - Training session - Focus on 24kg TGU / SL DLs / SW variations

TGUs 24kg, 2/2

Superset 2x:

SL DLs 24kg, 5/5
2H SW 24kg, 10
1H SW 24kg, 10/10, set bell down, 10/10

100 total SW reps

7:35am - Complete

Notes -  Body felt surprisingly good today given the travel this week. I am pleased because I think I am getting recovered, and again, the deload week is very good timing.  The SWs with the 24kg were just so easy including the 1H which is a key indicator for me that I continue to get a lot stronger.  I remember a time where the 1H with the 24kg felt a bit heavy.  Not at all anymore.  Would be excellent to get things to the point where the 32kg 1H felt like this in my hand.  One thing I continue to watch is grip and R wrist though on the 1H SW.  It is the one movement that can cause some minor discomfort which is why several weeks ago I went to a new technique for me where I do not let go of the bell at the height on the float, but rather keep a firm grip on the bell.  This has eliminated the potential for the bell to take me for a ride or pull my arm/wrist on the re-grip, which in hindsight it may have been doing on some reps hence leading me to notice this potential wrist issue and devise a way to eliminate it (Kevin's suggest on the new technique).  It is interesting because my grip doesn't feel as "deep" on the R hand on the bell as it does on the L.  It is just not quite as "strong".  I do not notice this same issue on presses, snatches, etc.  I think some of the issue may be that I have a tighter R forearm, and shoulder position has been something I have been working with pretty hard on this R side too with mobility work, lacrosse ball etc. for several weeks.  It is all connected.  I think if I can get some of this tension released further, the grip on the R hand is going to follow on these 1H SW.  Something I am working on.

4/16/14 Wednesday April 16, 2014 (TGUs/RRs/ DB 20kg complex)

9:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes

10:30am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

10:45am - Training session - Focus on TGUs / Rows, DB 20kg complex

Superset the following - set of TGUs, then Renegade Rows off hand on a box

TGUs roll to elbow

24kg x 3/3 x 3

Renegade rows after each TGU set, 24kg, 5/5 x 3

Double 20kg complex.  Went like this

1st set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ
6 DB CL, 3 DB SQ
8 DB CL, 4 DB SQ (set bell down)
10 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

11:25am - Complete

Notes -  Well I had planned ahead and wanted to be able to get in a session with the KBs today after getting back from working in OKC.  Originally I thought this would be in the afternoon or late at night but got home earlier than expected, got to sleep in my bed, and got 8+ hrs of sleep.  Still, I was very tired and it showed up in a major way during the 20kg complex, which I kind of expected it would.  That was fine.  The plan this week is to deload, and although it didn't feel like much work at all today I had only planned on one set of the complex, I was able to get it done with good technique and sufficient power.  Rows were good, I actually decided to keep 3 sets of 5/5 and not drop them because I want to practice this movement and get to the point of being on two 32kg KBs and doing them that way.  Good practice.  The TGUs with the 24kg were good, particularly the last set on the L side which has been my problem. I keep experimenting with feet placement and cues to make this a more powerful and crisp movement on that side, and I think I finally settled on something a bit wider than what I have been using for the legs' positions.  I realize completely now that probably the biggest issue is my R leg coming off the ground.  That hamstring and hip are very tight, have been now for about 10 days since I did some sprinting a weekend ago, and it is causing issues with the TGUs.  I can see now that when I try to roll the hamstring, since it is tight, senses that and kind of "cramps up" and won't cooperate by staying strong to the ground.  Working that tightness out is going to be key as well as I think this wider base will help too.  R side (bell in R hand) is completely good, very strong, absolutely no issues with any part of the movement.  Always something to work on.

4/15/14 Tuesday April 15, 2014 (30 minute morning walk)

(writing this on Wed afternoon) In OKC, woke up pretty exhausted, could not adjust to the 2hr time zone difference (and didn't really want to) so went to bed late.  I took a nice brisk walk in the sunny 35 degree weather in the morning before heading to work.  I ended up changing my flights and got back to Seattle late last night to the house, 1pm local time, totally exhausted.  I was motivated to get back, sleep in my own bed, sleep in, and try to recover.

4/14/14 Monday April 14, 2014 (OS resets, long walk)

I fly to Oklahoma City today.  It was a hell of a day, out of the house at 5am PST, into OKC finally at 2pm PST, so about a 9 hr travel ordeal with a stop at Dallas / Fort Worth on the way.  I did some OS resets and then took a nice brisk 1 hr walk in sunny, windy, 50 degree weather here in OKC.  Did a few extra minutes of crawling and really appreciate how challenging crawling really is.  I really have to watch my breathing and really focus on taking deep,easy breaths because crawling really works you hard if you do it for any length of time.

4/13/14 Sunday April 13, 2014 (TGUs, TK PR 24kg, DB SW 24 kgs / PU Planks)

Unusual - training for strength on Sunday evening as I am working Oklahoma City the next couple of days.

7:30pm - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes (extra work on lacrosse ball for traps, glutes, quads, hams)

8:15pm - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:30pm - Training session - Focus on TGUs, TK PR 24kg, super DB SW 24 kgs / planks

TGUs (start from the top finish at the top)

16kg x 1/1

20kg x 1/1

24kg x 1/1

12kg Tall Kneeling Halos x 5/5

Deload week - dropping sets in 1/2

24kg TK PR x 3/3 x 5 sets (down from 5/5 x 5 last week)

Superset 5x:

DB SW 24kgs x 10

Around the World (PU Plank) x 1/1

(down from 10x last week)

Total of 50 DB SW (100 last week)

9:15pm - Complete

Notes -  As indicated, very very unusual for me to train on a Sunday with kettlebells, might actually be the first time I have ever done this.  I am flying to OKC very early Monday morning for work, returning Wed mid day and I will pick up my 2nd strength day of the week Wed afternoon or evening.  This is a deload week after training a hard 3-week cycle, seeing Kevin on Friday.  This is all coming at a good time because that cycle was tough, particularly the Friday work with push pressing heavy followed by snatching the 24kg.  This weekend I have been tight as hell, woke up super tired both Sat and Sunday.  Feeling a bit beat up in the mornings, then I start moving the body around and I feel tons better. This training session I actually felt great, kind of refreshed.  It will be a tough week having to travel across the country and back in 3 days, time zone stuff, totally out of the comfort zone etc.  Will be training very, very light the next couple of days, just going to focus on some movement work, trying to stay limber, combat the effects of travel, probably will increase crawling the next few days and use that for strength work. No intention to hit any weights at all while in OKC, at most, I will look for a pull up bar.

4/11/14 Friday April 11, 2014 (24/28/32 kg PPR ladders, 24 kg SN ladders)

6:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 40 minutes

6:40am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

6:55am - Training session - Focus on 24/28/32 kg Push Press (PPR) ladders, 24kg SN 3/6/9 ladders

24kg TGU , 2/2
24kg SL DL, 5/5
DB 32kg DL, 5

5x of the following ladders:

PPR 24kg, 3/3
PPR 28kg, 2/2
PPR 32kg, 1/1

30 reps per arm on the PPR

24kg SN ladders, 3/3, 6/6, 9/9 x 4 sets = 144 reps.  Took about 16 minutes.

7:45am - Complete

Notes -  Didn't sleep much.  Kids woke me up at 3:45am, got them back to bed right away, but I could not get back to sleep really and just "rested" until I forced myself up around 6am.  Actually felt ok though and warm up was good, I had a feeling it would be a pretty good day.  Probably because I love this training session, a combination of push presses and snatches and you know you are going to be working hard, in a good way.  Push presses were going up well.  Took time to practice the cleans, and as with last week I transferred the bell between arms and didn't set it down, increasing the time under tension.  Noticed the cleans were flying up with the 24kg and the 28kg, interesting to see that. Of course the 32kg is heavier.  On the snatches also noticed the bell was flying up on the hip snap, very interesting, I think that is the most power I have had coming out of the backswing ever with snatches.  Knew 4th set was going to be a challenge but I wanted that additional volume this week, this is the last training day before a deload week, and it was time to push it a little bit.  Good stuff.  Hands holding up pretty well too, pumice stone has really worked well for me.  Looking forward to a delaod, it has been a very productive 3 week cycle and I definitely have learned and improved on some things.

4/10/14 Thursday April 10, 2014 (OS, PM, TGUs / SL DLs 24kg)

7:15am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 15 minutes

7:30am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

Break

8:45am - Training session - Focus on 24kg TGUs, SL DLs

24kg TGU, 2/2 x 2 (to the knee and back down)
24kg SL DLs, 5/5 x 2

9:00am - Complete

Notes -  Body feeling pretty good.  Just a little bit of work, this is a rest day.

4/9/14 Wednesday April 9, 2014 (TGUs/RRs/ DB 20kg complex)

7:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 50 minutes

8:20am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:35am - Training session - Focus on TGUs / Rows, DB 20kg complex

Superset the following - set of TGUs, then Renegade Rows off hand on a box

TGUs roll to elbow

28kg x 3/3

32kg x  - L side - 1, fail, 1, 1 - R side - 3

36kg x  L side - fail, fail R side - 1

Renegade rows after each TGU set, 24kg, 5/5 (x 3)

Double 20kg complex.  Went like this

1st set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ
6 DB CL, 3 DB SQ
8 DB CL, 4 DB SQ (set bell down)
10 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

Rest 2 minutes

2nd set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ
6 DB CL, 3 DB SQ (set bell down)
8 DB CL, 4 DB SQ (set bell down)
10 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

9:20am - Complete

Notes -  I will start backwards.  With the 20kg complex, pretty much the same exact performance as last week. Se the bells down at the same intervals, took about the same amount of time total (12 minutes).  Pretty good performance but didn't improve density, technique probably was a little bit better.  The TGUs - wow not great, very interesting.  The L side roll to elbow is just_not_good_enough and it is frustrating.  That is where the fail is occurring.  Bell is not too heavy, including with the 36kg - the weight is not a problem other than my roll to elbow is not good enough with heavier weights.  I have to figure this out.  On the R side, got 3 straight reps with the 32kg, that is probably the first time I have done that, so small victory.  I also got a rep with the 36kg on the R side without undue effort.  But I bailed out on multiple tries with the 32kg and the 36kg on the L side due to poor roll to elbows.  I am just not getting the grip with the bell side leg on the ground, my elbow is not pulling hard enough on the ground (non bell) side, and I am not getting that strong roll with the hip to sync with the elbow pull.  I have serious work to do.  I do suspect part of my issues is fatigue from sprinting on Sunday combined with Monday's training.  My R hamstring has been incredibly tight since since Sunday, all the way from the glute to the ankle.  R ankle tight too.  I think somehow this is impacting my TGUs in an odd way, the imbalances.  Something is up with it and I just need to get that technique improved on the L side.

4/8/14 Tuesday April 8, 2014 (28kg SW variations)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:30am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

Break

9:15am - Training session - Focus on 28kg SW variations

2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x
1H SW 28kg, 10/10
2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x
1H SW 28kg, 10/10
2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x

100 total SW reps

9:25am - Complete

Notes -  Felt pretty good today.  Need to dial in the sleep to get to bed sooner, get up sooner, this is really bothering me that I have not been able to make an adjustment.  Too much going on.  Did like the fact that on the 28kg 1H SW, felt stronger, grip good, no R wrist issue whatsoever, this is clearly improving with the change in SW technique not to loosen the grip on the float.  Good stuff.

4/7/14 Monday April 7, 2014 (TGUs, TK PR 24kg, DB SW 24 kgs / PU Planks)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes (extra work on lacrosse ball for traps, glutes, quads, hams)

7:45am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:00am - Training session - Focus on TGUs, TK PR 24kg, super DB SW 24 kgs / planks

TGUs (start from the top finish at the top)

16kg x 1/1

20kg x 1/1

24kg x 1/1

12kg Tall Kneeling Halos x 5/5

24kg TK PR x 5/5 x 5 sets (up from 4/4 x 5 last week)

Superset 5x:

DB SW 24kgs x 10 x 2

Around the World (PU Plank) x 1/1

(up from 9x last week)

Total of 100 DB SW (90 last week)

8:45am - Complete

Notes -  Good day.  Body felt pretty good given the tough training yesterday evening with running / pull ups and push ups.  Legs are pretty tight for sure, right ankle continues to be a little stiff after running, mobility is not as good as the left.  Need to work on it, undoubtedly that gets connected to the R hip getting tight, obliques etc.  Was able to up the presses to 5 sets of 5/5, felt very strong.  The TK practice has been excellent for the press, really feeling good about the groove.  I was pressed for time so I did 2 sets of 10 DB SW with the 24kgs before moving to the planks, so did just 5 sets of planks with a total of 20 sets of 10 DB SW, for 100 reps total.  DB SW felt very powerful, has gotten better every single week with practice.  R wrist absolutely zero issue, noticed nothing, keeping a grip on the bell and not letting go on the float has been totally on point advice from Kevin, this is now my go-to swing technique and will just keep refining it.

4/6/14 Sunday April 6, 2014 (interval running / pull ups / push ups)

Got going Sunday afternoon.  Weather was decent, pretty good running weather.  Air was warmed, had to ditch my stocking cap for the first time all year.  That was nice.  Went with a different scheme this week - 2 minute running intervals, a total of 16 segments of these for 32 minutes running. Looked like this:

2 min run, SL DLs 4/4, 2 min run, 4 pull-ups, 4 push-ups
x 8

Total of 32 minutes running, 32/32 SL DLs, 32 pull-ups, 32 push-ups

I liked this but I am thinking I can run less and get the same benefits.  I am going to go with 12 segments next week, which will equate to 24 minutes running.  I am going to bump the reps on everything back up to 5s, which will equal out to 30 pull ups and 30 push ups.  I am going to try and push the pace harder on the running, knowing that I have less segments should help with this.  I really pushed it on one of the last ones today and I know I have the ability to push harder but I am going to have to decrease the overall running time to maintain a good level of power.  That is really the point of this work so I need to get the overall running time down to accommodate.  It will be interesting to see the impact on the strength movements.  Today was the shortest intervals I have ran using the 2 minute markers, and it was not a problem, pull ups and push ups were quite strong.  It's good to keep mixing it up.  Eventually would be great to get pistols and one-arm push ups going here, but I need to work on variations with Kevin and on my own to get started down that road.

Also I would be remiss to not mention that I woke up TIGHT AS HELL today, I could not believe it, didn't even see that coming.  It's really my R armpit/lat/psoas/oblique/hip, very very tight stuff.  Bar hangs today helped a lot as did lacrosse ball work.  It's from push pressing and snatching, that really hits those muscles hard and although I noticed nothing at all Friday or Saturday, the 2-day DOMS hit me hard.  That does happen to me sometimes.  It's a delay and then hits 2 days after.  Have to be vigilant to keep those spots loosened up, fortunately I have some different techniques that help.  Some soft tissue massage or bodywork may be in order very soon.

4/4/14 Friday April 4, 2014 (24/28/32 kg PPR ladders, 24 kg SN 5 min test)

7:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 60 minutes (moving very slow, lots of extra trigger point release)

8:30am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:45am - Training session - Focus on 24/28/32 kg Push Press (PPR) ladders, 24kg SN 5 min test

24kg TGU , 2/2
24kg SL DL, 5/5

5x of the following ladders:

PPR 24kg, 3/3
PPR 28kg, 2/2
PPR 32kg, 1/1

30 reps per arm on the PPR

5 minute snatch test with the 24kg - goal was 100 reps.

Got 97.  Took a few extra seconds to get the final 3 reps.

9:20am - Complete

Notes -  DAMN IT.  I thought today was going to be the day to officially show myself that I could pass the 5 minute snatch test.  So close.  97 reps.  Went like this:  10/10, 10/10, put bell down, 10/10, 5/5, put bell down (2 minutes left), 5/5, rechalk, 10/7 (timer off) 3 final reps.  Frustrating.  I had 70 reps in about 3 minutes, which should have been enough (about 23 reps per minute, need a pace of 20).  However I was tired after doing the push presses and frankly came into the morning feeling very sluggish.  Long week, I was out a little bit late with some co workers and it was not the best prep for this training session today.  I was sucking wind at the 2 minute left mark, needed to take some breaths, and where I screwed up is that I should have rechalked at that point and then blasted out the final 30 reps.  Instead I wasted a few seconds rechalking after 10 reps and could not quite get the final 20 done in time.  I will say, I was pleased with the technique in general today, and the power, I felt like I had powerful reps.  Issue seems to be conditioning a little bit or possibly just lack of recovery (actually thinking it might be the latter).  In any event you know what it's all good.  PPRs felt great, technique improved, felt like I was getting some good power, even leaving the ground onto my toes on many reps (which I think is ok).  Lockout feels really good on both arms.  Continuing to notice some body comp changes as well, more defined musculature on the traps, biceps, chest.  This is just the result of a long time training but I do think the progression to heavier and heavier bells is really helping me a lot.  Also I think snatching consistently as I have for months has been huge for body comp.  The 24kg is a challenging weight so you get a lot of benefits including strength.  I have not gone back and snatched the 16 or the 20kg in some time but man I bet those would feel like toys.  At some point I need to talk to Kevin about messing around with very low rep sets of the 28kg to see what he thinks.  However I need to show I can pass the snatch test first with the 24kg:)

4/3/14 Thursday April 3, 2014 (OS, PM, SL DLs 24kg)

6:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:15am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

7:30am - Training session - Focus on 24kg SL DLs

24kg SL DLs, 5/5, x 2 (first ipsalateral, second contralateral)

7:45am - Complete

Notes -  Body felt good today.  Mixed up the SLDLs slightly by accident, did ipsalateral set first (bell on same side as standing leg).  Didn't really think much of it, I think contra lateral is better for me but who really knows?

4/2/14 Wednesday April 2, 2014 (TGUs/RRs/ DB 20kg complex)

7:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

8:15am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 with press

8:30am - Training session - Focus on TGUs / Rows, DB 20kg complex

Superset the following - set of TGUs, then Renegade Rows off hand on a box

TGUs roll to elbow

28kg x 3/3

32kg x 1, 1, 1 / 2, 1 (3 singles on the L, then 2, 1 on the R)

36kg x 1/1 x 1 (pressed for time today, I felt pretty good with these two reps, and decided to park it and move on)

Renegade rows after each TGU set, 24kg, 5/5 

Double 20kg complex.  Went like this

1st set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ
6 DB CL, 3 DB SQ
8 DB CL, 4 DB SQ (set bell down)
10 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

Rest 2 minutes

2nd set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ
6 DB CL, 3 DB SQ (set bell down)
8 DB CL, 4 DB SQ (set bell down)
10 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

Overall took about 12 minutes to get the complex done.  This was a massive improvement over last week which took me about 20 minutes.  I was extremely pleased.

9:00am - Complete

Notes -  Pressed for time a bit today, and I was extremely pleased with the result on the DB 20kg complex. Major improvements in technique, conditioning etc.  Went from 20 minutes to 12 minutes.  I was able to set the bells down a lot less, and this was good.  I might be able to get all reps in on the first set next week without setting the bell down which would be quite an accomplishment.  This complex is absolutely murder on the forearms, and biceps too. Wow.  

4/1/14 Tuesday April 1, 2014 (28kg SW variations)

6:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:15am - Kettlebell warm up

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

16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar with press, 12kg, 3+3

7:30am - Training session - Focus on 28kg SW variations

2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x
1H SW 28kg, 10/10
2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x
1H SW 28kg, 10/10
2H SW 28kg, 10, 2x

100 total SW reps

7:45am - Complete

Notes -  Good day, body felt good, slept ok.  A couple of reps on the 28kg SW, still felt like the R wrist was just ever so slightly being irritated / didn't feel quite 100% strong with the grip on the bell.  It's weird.  There is no pain whatsoever but it bears watching.  I probably need to just continue to strengthen things, stay on top of keep my shoulders flexibility in order, keep the forearms from getting overly tight, etc. Some of the wrist feeling could be easily more so a tight forearm, which the R one has been a bit and is something I am watching and keeping on top of with lacrosse ball release.  I know this is a very minor thing and only SW, and mainly 1H SW, where I don't have a very good grip on the bell brings this up, and it's at the top of the SW only.  No issues TGU, pressing, squatting, snatching or any other movements.  Stay vigilant!