12/23/14 Tuesday Dec 23 - Sunday Dec 28, 2014 - Vacation in South Dakota

I took my kids to Deadwood, South Dakota (my birthplace and where a lot of my mom's family resides) for Christmas.  It was amazing, and we had a great trip, something I know my kids will remember and that is very special to me.

As far as training goes I didn't really know what to expect.  There is a rec center (basically a YMCA) a block from my grandmother's house with a weight room, pool etc. so I knew I was going to get a little bit of stuff in.  The plan was to go easy regardless and use this as a recharge week.

It turns out they had some light kettlebells, measured in lbs, ranging from 15lb to the heaviest at 45lb (basically an 8kg up to a 20kg).  There were double 40lb kbs which is basically somewhere between a 16kg and a 20kg (essentially an 18kg).  Not a size I ever use.

I got in some training on Wed the 24th and Saturday the 27th.  On Wed the 24th I spent a lot of time doing mobility work and teaching one my brothers some basic mobility work and KB lifts.  That was fun.  I ended up getting in probably 20 minutes or so of decent work.  I decided to do sets of 5 of double snatches with the 40lbs (haven't done a double snatch in god knows 21 months or something), and then did overhead walks, and then sets of 5 double front squats.  I did about 5 rounds of this complex, and thought it was pretty cool.  Mixed in a few sets of 1H SW with the 45lb among doing various other demos of some lifts for my brother.

On Sat the 27th I was by myself and after warming up I did "kettlebell aerobics" which is something I pulled from the SFG Blog.  With the 45lb KB I put 20 minutes on the timer and did 1 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ and then switched hands, just going back and forth at a steady pace, and doing some fast and loose shaking out the tension between each round.  I ended up doing 18 rounds on each side, so nearly kept up a pace of 1/1 per minute for the 20 minutes.  Felt great and just what I was looking for.  I then did my Fighter Pull-Up work for the week, in a circuit with push-ups and SL DLs with the 45lb KB.   Did 5 total rounds of the circuit, with the pull-ups being 6/5/4/4/3 (22 reps, 1 up from last week), push-ups at 5 per circuit with the first 3 reps in each set basic push-ups and the last 2 reps per set lizard push-ups, and then 5/5 on the SLDLs each round.

I swam with my kids on the 24th and 27th as well, and went skiing with them on the 26th.  It was a perfect mix of relaxation and being active on this vacation.  Great stuff.

12/22/14 Monday December 22, 2014 (DB 24kg Moving Target Complex, 1H SW 32kg)

7:10am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

7:40am - 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
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1

7:55am - Training session - DB 24kg Moving Target Complex, 1H SW 32kg

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

24kg GSq, 5

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

2H SW 24kg, 10

16kg BUP, 1/1
12kg tempo presses, 5/5
24kg BU CL, 1/1

DB 24kg Moving Target Complex – for time

2, 3, 5

DB CL, DB PR x 2, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x2

DB CL x 2, DB PR, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR x 3, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x3

DB CL x 3, DB PR, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR x 5, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x5

DB CL x 5, DB PR, DB SQ

Totals 16 DB CL, 16 DB PR, 16 DB SQ

Did this VERY quickly - 10-11 mins total.

1H SW 32kg, 8/8, x 5

80 1H SW (up from 70 last week)

8:25am - Complete

Notes - Writing this on Sunday the 28th after getting back from vacation in South Dakota from Tuesday the 23rd to today.  This was a good final training session before going on vacation.  I remember being surprised at how light the bells felt on all movements, and including the 1H SW with the 32kg, which was very strong.  Just great stuff all around.  Adding in some BUP and the tempo presses to warm up for pressing really feels good.