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! 

3/31/14 Monday March 31, 2014 (TGUs, TK PR 24kg, DB SW 24 kgs / PU Planks)

8:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 minutes (extra work on lacrosse ball for traps, glutes, quads, hams)

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, 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 4/4 x 5 sets (up from 3/3 x 5 last week)

Superset 9x:

DB SW 24kgs x 10

Around the World (PU Plank) x 1/1

(up from 8x last week)

Total of 90 DB SW (80 last week)

9:50am - Complete

Notes -  So this was a good day to measure progress on several fronts, basically in every single lift.  But I will get to that in a second.  First off I slept in somewhat inadvertently but had time fortunately to get a long mob session.  Body was not that well recovered from my training work yesterday running/pull ups / push ups.  Was feeling very tight in the lats, various hot spots in the legs too so really worked a lot of foam roller and lacrosse ball.  I really wish I could speed up my warm up work, but thus far, to no avail.  Best thing to do would be to improve consistent sleep quality, an area where I notoriously fail.  No doubt it is holding back further gains that could be made because on the work I am doing, things keep getting better.  Good overhead position in the TGUs, very pleased, able to keep the elbows locked out much better and just in general the overhead position is improving.  The TK PRs with the 24kg were very good today, really getting a nice vertical forearm, good lat engagement, I really like these very much.  Best part of the training session was seeing the improvement in the DB SW with the 24 kgs.  Last week felt a little off, just had not practiced the movement in some time, and I was also testing out the new grip where I did not let go of the bells on the float.  Today, got very good power in the swings, crisp, and the new bell consistent grip felt much more comfortable, actually really felt like I had even more control of the bells.  I like the change in grip technique, that was a very good suggestion by Kevin, and there is no issue whatsoever on my wrists if I keep a strong grip on the bells and do not let them go and recatch on the float.  So that technique is definitely here to stay, particularly because I am not interested in "high rep" swings where recatching on the float to preserve grip would be a good idea.  Don't need it. Lastly the planks were good, last week I really felt great after doing these, I think it helped loosen up what had been a very tight R oblique and hip.  Interested to see if a similar thing happens this week though the R side has been feeling good all week.

3/30/14 Sunday March 30, 2014 (interval running / pull ups / push ups)

Did not get going until mid afternoon Sunday.  Absolutely spectacular, warm-ish weather with a lot of sun in Seattle.  Amazing, and is the kind of day you live for to be outside and enjoy being alive.

Stayed nearly the same as last week but added one set as it was so nice; went with 3 minute running intervals, a total of 6 sets, which ended up being 36 minutes of running (30/5 last week).

Run 3 minutes, SL DLs 5/5, run 3 minutes, pullups 5, pushups 5
x 6

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

So again the running felt fantastic.  Really got going fast (for me) on several of the intervals and one in particular I really pushed it, sprinted nearly the entire 3 minutes.  That was tough, felt pretty good to push it.  SL DLs are getting easier, at some point it would be sweet to turn these into some sort of progressions for pistol squats which really is a long-term strength goal.  I have a hard time imagining myself being able to do unweighted pistols but then again I am getting way closer to this achievement given better leg strength with the single leg work, improved recruitment of tension on a number of lifts, etc.  Something to discuss with Kevin and I think I need to read Naked Warrior really closely.

Did this work at a different part of Greenlake, over by the boat launch area for the rowing club.  There are some pull up rings over there and I wanted to see what they were like.  They are much nicer than the other ones by the tennis courts and kiddie playground where I usually train, so that was a pleasant surprise.  A little tougher too because they are a little closer to the ground, it actually forced me to raise my legs higher than usual in the hollow position so as to not touch the ground, so that was tough.  The 5th rep on the last 3 sets was tougher than I would have liked.  I was not at failure, but certainly closer than I wanted to be.  In that sense I am glad I added the 6th set as it would be good to build just a little bit of volume (very little bit) over time with these.

3/28/14 Friday March 28, 2014 (24/28/32 kg PPR ladders, 24 kg SN ladders)

7:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 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 24/28/32 kg Push Press (PPR) ladders, 24kg SN ladders

24kg TGU , 2/2
DB 32 kgs DL, 5 (this felt so light I was completely blown away)
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

2x of the following ladders:

24kg SN, 3/3, 6/6/, 9/9, 12/12 (setting bell down between ladder)

Total of 120 reps on the SN

Took me 15 minutes to do this (really had to take some breaks)

9:15am - Complete

Notes -  This was a really fun day.  Man I have not done the push press in about a year, and I like it.  I like it a lot.  Training for power (really explosive movements) is a lot of fun and this is a great explosive movement.  My technique on this is a hell of a lot better a year later and that is in large part I think because I am a lot stronger.  Much stronger legs now, much better base for this lift because really it is a lift that emphasizes the quads, not the upper body, to get the bell up into lockout.  All of the squatting work is really paying off big time.  I felt like I could definitely improve on the technique here though of course.  I felt good with the drops, and the drive, and had very good lockouts on these reps even with the 32kg.  Overhead lockout is definitely getting better in general.  Focused on really keeping the bell vertical in the rack, elbow really tight to the body, and then straight up into lockout on the drive, trying not to waste movement.  However I felt like I had a little lean back on certain reps, need to stay tighter in the abs, and make sure to really tense the glutes and stay tight in lockout, and lowering the bell down (I did "hard" negatives on every rep, did not drop the bell back into the rack).  These were also good practice for some heaving 1H CL, getting the bell into the rack particularly with the 32kg.   So I was pretty taxed getting to the SN and although Kevin's notes called for 2-3 rounds, I mentally said 2 max, and would re-assess that even after doing 1 round.  The first round was not bad, took me just under 6 minutes to get in the 60 reps, setting the bell down and getting some breaths between each ladder with a focus on maintaining power on every single rep.  I decided to go for the 2nd round but had a feeling I was going to need a lot of rest to finish.  I was right.  Took me just over 9 minutes to get the 2nd round of 60 reps done.  I probably took 3 minutes between the ladders of 9/9 and 12/12 because I really, really did not want shitty reps on the 12/12, needed to make sure I had enough gas in the tank to get good reps done.  I did, felt really good about it at the end.

Also one very random thing I noticed in the warm up is that DB 32kgs deadlifts were just LIGHT.  I have noticed in the farmer walks that the 32kg feels lighter and lighter.  I am wondering what I could deadlift with a bar these days.  I have not deadlifted with a bar in a year.  When I did, my best pull was 300 lbs, something at the time I was quite proud of because honestly I have probably dead lifted with a bar maybe 3-4 days/training sessions total in m life.  It is a hole in my training and I should try to do something about it, but just don't have any real place to train with a bar even if I had one.  I am not about to go back to a commercial gym - ever.  I need a bigger house.  At least the KB work helps the deadlift, it probably wouldn't be too bad if I tested it again.  I would be curious if I could pull 330 without practice (a 10% increase from a year ago).  Probably not, but it would be interesting to know.

Definitely a very tough strength / power training practice today, I really enjoyed it and am just feeling very grateful for everything I have learned from Ross and now Kevin.  My body awareness and intelligence in training is definitely improving and that is very important.  I am far from totaling "being there" with everything but this is a lifelong pursuit.  I am just happy to be able to see real progress, even if it is a slow and steady march.  The journey is fun.

3/27/14 Thursday March 27, 2014 (OS, PM, SL DLs 24kg)

7:15am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

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 with press, 12kg, 3+3

Break

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

24kg SL DLs, 5/5, x 2

8:55am - Complete

Notes -  Good day, body is feeling pretty good. Need to get to bed earlier and get some more restful sleep tonight.  R hip and obliques continue to be very "loose" this week, not tight, this is really a great development. R forearm feeling a little less tension as well after some focused lacrosse ball work.  More tonight to get ready for some push presses and snatching tomorrow, going to be a pretty big training session I think.