5/31/13 Friday May 31, 2013 (TGUs)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move and lacrosse ball release - 30 minutes

7:00am - 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

7:15pm - Training session - Focus on TGUs

Warm up -
Tall kneeling 1H press with 16 kg, 5 L/R; 20 kg 5 L/R (continue to see progress on PR.  very encouraging)

16kg roll to elbow, L X 3, R X 3
24 kg, L/R 3X (alternating singles)

Finisher - a few rack carries and OH walks with the 16, 20 and 24.

7:45am - Complete

Notes - OK this was good as I was able to get in multiple reps with the 24 (3 on each side).  These reps were much more solid than in previous weeks.  I primed these by screwing in the shoulder and firing the oblique and push my back into the ground on the bell side, which were all tips from Kevin on Wed.  Good stuff all around.

5/30/13 Thursday May 30, 2013 (PR, 1H SW, 1/2 SN)

5:45am - Original Strength resets and Primal Move - 45 minutes

6:30am - 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

6:45am - Training session - PR with the 20, 1H SW with the 24, 1/2 SN with the 16

Warm up -

GSq, 24kg, 5

DB DLs 32 kg, 5, ALT 1H DL, 5 each arm

TK PR with 16kg, 5 L/R

PR 20 kg 5 L/R X 5 (25 reps each arm)

1H SW 24 kg 10 L/R X 5 (50 reps each arm)

1/2 SN 16 kg, 5 L/R X 4 (20 reps each arm)

Finisher - a few loaded carries,overhead walks, rack walks putting all of the bells away.

7:15am - Complete

Notes - Really sweet to be pressing again and it was NO PROBLEM.  Shoulders felt great.  Got a lot of tension in glutes and it just made the presses so much easier.  Great stuff.  Got into some quick sets of 1H SW with the 24 and those felt very very strong,  Focused on keeping my arm really close to the body and getting great hip snap as opposed to pulling up with the arms.

Lastly I felt so damn good with the 1H SW I decided what the hell, I am going to do some 1/2 snatch (eliminate the drop and overspeed eccentric between each rep, and instead bring the bell from lockout into the rack, and then drop from the rack).  I got this idea from some blog posts from Mark Reifkind and thought this would work really well for me too, which it did.  I definitely could have done these with the 20 but why at this point?  Will dial in the technique with the 16 for awhile.

5/29/13 Wednesday May 29, 2013 ( Kevin 2H, 1H SW & PR)

Slept in before training with Kevin - did the standard kettlebell warmup for 10 minutes then headed out.  The night before I had done a ton of lacrosse ball release on the forearms after playing a softball game and really noticing they were taxed, particularly the L forearm which I had also noticed on the last TGU from the morning session - the bell was really pulling at that wrist.  The lacrosse ball work the night before had done wonders so the body woke up pretty well despite a quick warm up.

6:30am - Training session with Kevin

We worked in some more Primal Move stuff, tuning up a couple of things and then adding some Primal Move in the TGU position to open up the thoracic spine, which I thought was good stuff.

We warmed up doing a few DLs, then got right into 2H SW, 24, 32, and 36 bells.

We checked in on the TGU and Kevin liked what he saw and noticed major improvement with the 16 on the technique.  We upped it to the 24 and I worked with that bell for several reps, cuing the lats and firing the ob oblique on the roll to elbow, which were good cues.  On coming down from the top position we also cued taking a much bigger step back to set up the kneeling position better, which also made sense.

We did some 2H SW work with the 32 and then 24 as Kevin demonstrated how much power could be generated with the 24.   He wanted that feeling so I could work on eventually getting that with the 32.  He said the 2H SW was really dialed up and looked good.

We then did some 1H SW with the 16, 20 and 24.  Kevin liked what he saw.  One cue was just to keep the arm almost touching the body all the way until the bell is about to hit you and then throw it back between the legs.  Good stuff.

Lastly we finished with some PR with the 20.  Kevin thought that also looked good and indicated that I would start working on PR again (yes).  We didn't get into any cues yet but that will come in time.

7:50am - Finish

Great session, I am really learning a lot from Kevin.  The body has really, really responded over the last nearly 3 weeks since I had seen Kevin with the incorporation of Original Strength on top of Primal Move, continued work on the PM with SW and get up, and a bit more sleep too:)

5/28/13 Tuesday May 28, 2013 (TGUs)

5:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move and lacrosse ball release - 45 minutes

6:30am - 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

6:45pm - Training session - Focus on TGUs

Warm up -
Tall kneeling 1H press with 16 kg, 5 L/R; 20 kg 5 L/R (continue to see progress on PR.  very encouraging)

16, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
16, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up
20, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
20, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up
24, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
24, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up

7:15am - Complete

Notes - Nearly the same exact training session as Friday.  Again, wanted to add more reps on the 24 but just didn't have a ton of time and again felt somewhat fatigued getting through that last full getup with the 24.  Body felt really good and lifts felt good, but just need to find 10 or 15 more minutes so I can get in some reps with the 24.  I think I will skip the 20 next session and just go 1 warmup with the 16 right into then the 24s and just really work on that bell.

5/27/13 Monday May 27, 2013 (2H SW)

10:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move drills - 60 minutes
11:00am - 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

11:15am - Training session -2H SW, ETK PM style

Warm up -
GSq, 24kg , 5
DB DLs 32 kg, 5, ALT 1H DL, 5 each arm
TK PR with 16kg, 5  (very solid presses, felt nothing at all in L elbow, no clicking in L shoulder - this is huge)

SW session:

Warmup:
1H SW 16 kg, 10 L, 10 R
2H SW 24 kg, 10 (1X)

10X:
2H SW 32 kg, 10 (100 reps)

5X:
2H SW 36 kg, 10 (50 reps)

About 175 reps total

11:40am - Complete

Notes -  Lots of extra time due to significant tightness on right oblique, lower right back, right hip - really not sure what the story is but this started cropping up on Saturday evening.  Could be from DB SW on Friday (DOMS) but hard to tell.  did a lot of OS and PM but then also quite a bit of lacrosse ball releases on the glutes, lat on the R side, etc.  It seemed to help and eventually I felt ready to train.

I was moving quickly, not too much rest time between sets.  I think this is the most reps I have done with the 36 and there was no issue at all. Very good bell speed all through each set of 10.  My goal actually was to do 10 sets of 10 with the 36 for a total of 200 SW between the 32/36, but I had to cut it short as I was running into an appointment time.  That will be the goal for next Monday - break 200 SW, but keep density as is.

5/24/13 Friday May 24, 2013 (TGUs)

6:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

6:30am - 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

6:45pm - Training session - Focus on TGUs

Warm up -
Tall kneeling 1H press with 16 kg, 5 L/R; 20 kg 5 L/R (continue to see progress on PR.  very encouraging)
Windmills, 3X L/R with 20kgs (probably not doing this movement perfectly but I do like it, just taking it easy and not pushing to try and get the offhand all the way to the ground yet)

16, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
16, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up
20, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
20, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up
24, L 1X to hand position into 1X full get up
24, R  1X to hand position into 1X full get up

7:15am - Complete

Notes - Technique good on all lifts.  I have been doing these in the manner described above (not setting the bell down between the half get up and then into the full getup, rather after the half get up I go back to the starting position, and then do a full get up).  It is a decent amount of time under load for each arm.  I am really noticing fatigue when I get to the 24, though that does not impact the quality of the rep I do with the 24 as I really try to make it an excellent rep.  I am just going to stay here until I get to the point where my body tells me - do a couple more reps with the 24.  It is coming I think.  I actually got a lot of training in this week and the body is just responding great to it.  No reason to try and push way ahead at this point.  Slow and steady, keep making gains.

5/23/13 Thursday May 23, 2013 (DB SW)

5:45am - Joint mobility, Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 45 minutes

6:30am - 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

6:45am - Training session -DB SW, 16s, 20s, 24s, alternating sets of 10

Warm up -
GSq, 24kg, 5
DB DLs 32 kg, 5, ALT 1H DL, 5 each arm
TK PR with 16kg, 5 L/R  (again, noting continued improvement in presses, almost no clicking on the left side.  A higher rack position seems to be more comfortable/natural and smoother.  Something to watch.)

SW session 5X for the following combo:

DB SW 16s, 10
DB SW 20s, 10
DB SW 24s, 10

A total of 150 reps.  In between sets, some standing cross crawls, and single leg deads without weight.

Finisher - a few loaded carries with 32s, rack walks with 24s, and snatch and OH walks with the 20s and 16s.  All felt great.  OH position closer to ear, elbow straighter - definitely some good improvements in the thorasic spine the last couple of weeks, probably due to OS and PM drills.

7:15am - Complete

Notes - Looking at my notes, I had not done DB SW in nearly a month.  Wow.  The DBs were great.  All of the 2H and 1H work I have been doing clearly had a major translation over to the DBs.  

Good pace, I was breathing very hard but it felt really good. Waving the load from 16s to 24s is something I really like, allows me to get a lot of work in without a ton of stops for recovery.  The DB 24s were the strongest I have ever done, without question.  Really nice loading with straight elbows, and very strong hip snap with float at the top, I could even let go of the bells on the float and then re-grip and throw them towards my groin on the descent.  Really cool.  No need to go to 28s yet - more reps are needed with the 24, probably need to drop the 16s next time and then focus on a few sessions where the primary weight is the 24s, building up towards say 100-120 reps with the 24s and then work in a few short sets of 28s sometime after that.