3/26/14 Wednesday March 26, 2014 (TGUs/RRs/ DB 20kg complex)

7:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 60 minutes (extra work on lacrosse ball for traps, glutes, quads, hams, forearms)

8:45am - 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

9:00am - 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 2, 1 /3 (had to put bell down before getting 3rd rep on the L)

36kg x 1/1 x 2 (got a really good 2nd rep on L with the 36kg, best I have had yet, and decided to finish with that instead of getting a 3rd rep)

Renegade rows after each set, 24kg, 5/5 (first time I have repped rows)

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
4 DB CL (set bell down), 4 DB CL, 4 DB SQ
5 DB CL (set bell down), 5 DB CL, 5 DB SQ

Rest 3-4 minutes

2nd set:
2 DB CL, 1 DB SQ
4 DB CL, 2 DB SQ (set bell down)
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 20 minutes to get the complex done.

9:45am - Complete

Notes -  Well, it was an interesting day on several fronts.  I continue to be interested in this cycle because it is a lot different than what I have been doing.  On the TGUs it was good to get some practice simply rolling to the elbow, my weakest part of the movement.  I am starting to learn to really drive that hip up and over and drive that foot into the ground (same side as the bell).  Doing multiple reps with heavier bells was actually a bit tough, I really noticed it with the 32kg and decided not to even mess with repping with the 36kg because I am not confident with that bell yet.  I did finally today get some good roll to elbows with the 36kg though, which was encouraging.  The hip drive and digging in the foot definitely are helpful cues.  Also I really like doing rows, this is a great movement to teach getting tight and with reps - staying tight.  That was good.  Finally, the complex.  I don't touch my 20kgs that much.  Given all the work I have done with the 24kg, I went into this thinking that the 20kgs would be pretty easy.  Holy shit I was wrong.  I failed to recognize that 1) cleans will smoke you and 2) squats after cleans will really smoke you.  My breathing could have been better in the first set and I was trying to find a groove with the cleans, and didn't really find it until the end of the first set and into the 2nd set.  I did not force reps, didn't try to be a hero, didn't do anything dumb - I parked the bells when I felt like the form was about to go.   I wanted to get in the entire prescribed volume Kevin outlined because I did want my body to feel that amount of volume so I can try and adapt to it.  I can tell you my forearms and in particular my R forearm, which I have been watching closely this week, was really taxed out.  The R forearm is a little taxed I think due to some care and caution I have been putting on the R wrist, and I suspect there is just a little compensation in particular from learning how to swing without letting go of the bell on the float.  Release with the lacrosse ball really helps.  Really overall I have to be pretty pleased with this and will look to see if I can improve the density and not set the bells down as much next week.  Lastly I have continued my focused chiropractic work that goes for 12 weeks (I am around week 9) and today was the first day that everything checked out, no adjustments needed at all, just went straight into traction.  The chiro was very pleased.  I will say that I am feeling pretty strong right now, the deload week was very helpful, the work we are doing is something my body seems to be responding well to (in particular the Planks from Monday I think were a really good movement for me).

3/25/14 Tuesday March 25, 2014 (28kg SW variations)

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 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

9:00am - Complete

Notes -  Didn't sleep well, recovery day, not too much work here although I did decide to bump up to a 28kg and see how that went.  Dropped H2H SW, didn't want to mess with anything that might stress the R wrist at all. No problems with it, just want to watch it and keep practicing the new SW technique of not letting go of the bell on the float.  Forearms are a bit toasted, particularly the R side.  I needed to do some lacrosse ball release and didn't get it done.  Have to focus on that this evening.  

3/24/14 Monday March 24, 2014 (TGUs, TK PR 24kg, DB SW 24 kgs / PU Planks)

6:45am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 50 minutes (extra work on lacrosse ball for traps, glutes, quads, hams)

7:35am - 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

7:50am - 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 3/3 x 5 sets

(15 minute break during the presses for kids)

Superset 8x:

DB SW 24kgs x 10

Around the World (PU Plank) x 1/1

Total of 80 DB SW

9:05am - Complete

Notes -  Pretty cool training session.  We are in a “power” cycle now for 3 weeks, then a deload week. Everything about this was pretty different than what I have been doing for some time and the experience was interesting.  First, on the TGUs, by overhead lockout on both sides was the best it has felt in quite some time.  I am not completely sure what to attribute this to other than I will say the deload week last week probably came at exactly the right time.  Really starting to appreciate the value of the deload weeks and the natural cycle of ramping up to reach a max week, and then backing off, in a 4-week cycle.  This is really working for me.  The TK PR are very good in that they teach or at least help reinforce the benefits of a vertical forearm and staying absolutely tight and vertical with the bell, efficient motion.  I am hoping this can really translate back to my 1 arm presses.  I don't think the groove is quite the same when double pressing, but this groove really would help me with 1 arm presses because I don't think I get vertical enough on some presses, bring the bell too far into the rack / too close to my chest on the descent and rack on military presses.  Good stuff.  Then the best part of the session was experimenting with a new swing technique that Kevin strongly encouraged me to employ, which is not letting go of the bells at the top of the swing on the float, but keeping a grip on them.  I have been letting go of the bells for a long time, which I think can actually be very beneficial, but at the same time now that I have been going up with heavier bells, doing this can potentially pull the wrists/arms if flawless technique is not followed.  And I noticed a weird thing with my R wrist during the last session on Friday, and there is absolutely no way I want to mess with that whatsoever.  So I have had it adjusted by my chiro a couple of times now (no pain whatsoever) and think it is fine, but this new technique of not letting go of the bells really seemed to be good today, no issues whatsoever with the wrist.  It is very, very demanding on grip though and toasted my forearms. Going to need to do more release with the lacrosse balls on my forearms and wrists until I can get used to this.  I do think this is a better technique for me though and I am going to keep at it.  Also noticed a ton of power with the DB SW, really was engaging the lats and hips, totally felt easy, wasn't using my arms to drive.  That was cool.  All of the lat work, rows, pull ups, etc etc. has really helped me a lot and it shows up in movements like this.  I liked the supersets with planks.  I am not sure how this occurred but prior to today my R oblique and psoas had been very tight, for weeks, couldn't seem to get it stretched out.  I realized at the end of the day today that it had been totally feeling good today, all day, after this session.  I suspect the planks were pretty useful in isolating some muscles in the same way that SL DLs seem to be so good for my back, balancing some asymmetries out of the system.  Great stuff.

3/22/14 Saturday March 22, 2014 (interval running , pullups, pushups)

Good day.  Did not get started until pretty late, 630pm.  The weather was unusually nice which was very cool.  Started with various bar hangs to try and stretch out the lats, decompress the back, get the biceps a little stretched out too.  Felt good.

Switched things up a bit this time and went with 3 minute running intervals, a total of 5 sets, which ended up being 30 minutes of running.

Run 3 minutes, SL DLs 5/5, run 3 minutes, pullups 5, pushups 5
x 5

30 minutes running, 25 SL DLs per leg, 25 pullups, 25 pushups

That is the sweet spot I think for me as it gets in about 3 miles, which is perfectly fine, and a shorter interval like 3 minutes allows for a bit more of a sprint.  I might even drop it to 2 minute intervals and see how that goes.  I think that would actually be pretty hard.  This is the strongest I have felt running in a long, long time.  My stride feels so much more powerful, really getting the glutes, hamstrings involved and it is taking a lot of pressure off of the feet and ankles I think to have a more powerful stride.  Strides are longer too.  I think the squatting work lately has been really, really helpful too and definitely want to keep exploring the squat and improving and strengthening it.  I have noticed a little bit of size in the legs as well but not too much.

3/21/14 Friday March 21, 2014 (training with Kevin)

Checked my training log and I last trained with Kevin on Wed Feb 19- about a month ago.

Slept in more than I intended, didn't warm up enough, but did warm up some.

6:35am - Training session with Kevin.  We did some primal move to get warmed up.

As usual this was a good session.  We warmed up with some mobility, bar hangs, learned some t-spine drills, and then practiced crooked arm bars with presses and got some improved technique which was good.  Worked on some TGUs, rolling to elbow only, and various cues to really drive that foot into the ground, drive the hip over, pull with the arm etc.  I think those will continue to help and I will keep refining that TGU to the point where I can nail reps with the 36kg on the L side which has been giving me trouble.

We trained some double front squat with the 24kgs, everything looked good there, Kevin was pleased.  We played a little with keeping my toes pointing out slightly instead of right straight ahead.  Also getting to parallel but not going to far into the hole.

We trained some double swings with the 24kg, felt weird as my R wrist was clicking on the reps, parked the bells and tried to work that out.  Very strange indeed though I noticed this one early this week on a rep doing 1H SW on Tuesday.  I think some things are a little off there.  After this session I had my chiropractor adjust the wrist which seemed to help.  I need to keep releasing the tight spots in the traps, biceps, forearms etc. because I just think everything is a bit tight and the wrist is responding.  Also Kevin advised me to hold on the bell on all swings and not let go at the float which I do on every single rep.  He pointed out that can pull on the wrist, and for now I need to practice keeping a hold of the bell.  It might tax my grip but this will be improved for the wrist on swings.  I am going to follow that advice for certain.

We did a variety of tall kneeling presses with the 24kg, which were good.  These are going to come back into the training plan again.  This is a good movement and deceptively challenging.

Lastly we did some push-presses with the 24kg and then the 32kg for practice, to try and get this movement back. I thought that was good and look forward to sets of these with the 32kg.

7:50am -  Good stuff.  The wrist clicking surprised me but I don't think this is anything as long as I address it, follow Kevin's advice on swings, etc.  I did not notice anything whatsoever on cleans, squats, presses.  Probably a great idea to keep a hold of the bell for all reps and not do the grip / let go / regrip that I have been doing, though that will be a little bit of a habit to break.

3/20/14 Thursday October 20, 2014 (OS PM KB warm up)

9:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

9:45am - 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)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1
Crooked arm bar 12kg, 3+3 presses

10:00am - Complete

Notes -  Slept in this morning after doing the odd late night training session last night.  Body felt ok, pretty tight oblique and hip on the R side, something I have been battling for awhile.  Pretty tight in the overhead position, really trying to work on stretching things out using the arm bars.  Time to see Kevin tomorrow and do an overall check in.  Deload week again is coming at just the right time.

3/20/14 Wednesday March 20, 2014 (DB 24kg total tension complex)

8:15am - 75 minute walk in Spokane around Riverpark Square downtown and Gonzaga Campus

9:30am - finish

Break

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

9:05pm - 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

9:20pm - Training session - DB 24kg total tension complex, focus on squats (deload)

24kg TGU, 2/2
24kg G Sq, 10
24kg 2H SW, 5, 10, 15, 20 (50 reps)

"Total tension complex" from Pavel, emphasis on squats, using a ladder format as follows:

24 kgs DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ, singles of the CL and PR and went sets of 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 for the squats.

After each set, a Renegade Row with the off hand on a box, using the 24kg, 1/1 (7 total sets)

Total of 7 DB CL, DB PR, and 16 reps of the DB SQ with the 24kgs - this is a deload from using DB 28kg and going up to a top ladder of 6

Finisher - 1 minute rack walk with the DB 24kgs (that was a bitch)

9:50pm - Complete

Notes -  Obviously a very unusual day for me, was in Spokane working and consciously decided to wait to train until getting home which had me training very late at night, since I do not have good access to KBs in Spokane.  I could have used the commercial gym in the morning and done all sorts of stuff, but I was very curious how a deload on the total tension complex would feel and did not want to miss training with the bells.  I was just simply stunned because these DB 24kgs felt LIGHT.  The first clean flew up so quick I actually had to stop the bells from nearly going over my shoulders.  Wow.  What am awesome feeling to move weights like this on a "deload" week that definitely in the not that distant past were challenging.  I remember doing DB 24kg squats for sets of 5 and just being blasted.  Not so anymore.  So cool.  Looking forward to training with Kevin on Friday, I think we might do a snatch test.....