9/15/14 Monday September 15, 2014 (DB 24kg circuit PR focus)

6:15am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

6:45am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses, 1/1

7:00am - Training session - Double 24kg circuit PR focus

24kg Gsq, 5
24kg 2H SW, 10

2x: 30 sec rest between each lift, 2 min rest in between each set

24kg TGU, 1/1
DB 24kg PR, 4
DB 24kg CL, 5
DB 24kg PR, 4
DB 24kg SW, 10
DB 24kg PR, 4
DB 24kg SQ, 5
DB 24kg PR, 4
24kg SN, 10/10

7:40am - Complete

Notes - Good stuff today to start a new cycle where we are upping the volume and are going to push things a bit in prep for the SFG in mid November.  This was a very good start, I am very pleased.  Today was a complex hitting all the main SFG lifts with the double bells, with TGUs and snatching to close and end the complex.  Big-time strength focus using the double 24s.  I picked sets of 4 for the PR as I had a sense that I would be able to complete all reps in both sets without failure.  Perfect choice.  Got to the very last rep on the 2nd set and ground out a very good final press.  Pretty sweet.  Felt strong today, all movements felt very solid which reflects practicing all of these quite a bit overall the last several months.  Really liked the program for today.

9/13/14 Saturday September 13, 2014 (sprints, pistols, pullups and pushups)

Got down to the lake at about 3:00pm, amazing weather, and banged out a very quick but effective training session.   Sprints, pistols, pullups, pushups.

Left ankle still tender, for sure.  Did a much better warm up and the sprints today were probably at about 50% of max effort.  Even saying that, left ankle was noticeable and that tells me something.  It may be time to drop the sprints for awhile and focus on walking again, let this thing play itself out a bit.  Really odd as I did not see this coming a few weeks ago, not exactly sure what the deal is.  Going to do some lacrosse ball work on the foot, calf, some foam roll, and just try to keep some attention on the area and let itself get better.  There was no pain with the sprints and it doesn't seem like a big deal, but there is no reason to push the sprints right now anyway.  Will be smart.

I hit a pistol on each leg for 5 rounds, after each sprint.  Did singles this week and a double on the last set, which went well.  I changed up my form with my arms.  I had been holding them close to my body, almost a kettlebell rack position, and squeezing my hands to create tension.  This time I put them straight out in front of me after seeing various other pictures of pistols, and generated tension in my lats by squeezing my hands tightly.  These were the best pistols I have every done, lol, L ankle was not an issue at all.  It was pretty cool to feel myself pulling by hips down into the squat position with maximum tension, not dropping down and bouncing at all, and then grinding up with glute and quad strength.  I definitely like doing these and it's a really fun movement for me, I a still just so pleased I can actually do these and do them with pretty good technique even.

5 rounds of pull-ups and push-ups after rounds of sprint/pistols.  Pull ups were 7,6,5,4,3 - Fighter pull up style.  Using rings.  Total of 25, up from 24 pull ups last week.   In fact I think I had some counting issues and did 8, 7 on my first two sets by accident, but we will stick with the numbers I put here for setting a baseline for next week.  First time I have done 7 for the top rung, that was cool.  No real issues here, I feel like my pull-ups have taken a jump forward the last several weeks which is cool.

Push-ups were 3,4,5,6,7 - opposite rep scheme of the pull-ups.  I added 2-3 Lizard Push-ups at the end of each regular push-up set.  Feel like I am getting some mileage out of these push-ups even though the reps are low.

9/12/14 Friday September 12, 2014 (training with Kevin)

6:30am - Training with Kevin

7:45am -Finish

Notes - Good training day with Kevin.  Was damn tired, real tired, after being out very late and not getting enough sleep last night.  Dumb.  In any event, did some foam roll and a few mobility drills and then got into TGUs with the 16, 20, and 24kg with pull-ups in between - 2, 3, 5 reps.  For TGUs, worked on keeping the elbow locked, don't move feet too much, bigger lunge into the get-down position.  On pull-ups, make sure I get my shoulders packed before initiating any movement.  Worked on 2H SW with the 24kg, trying not to let the bell fish tail at the top of the swing.  Did some 1H SW with the 24kg, good technique and power on those.  Did double cleans with 24s for 2, 3, 5, focusing on keeping the elbows tight and the catch in the rack soft.  Worked on double front squats with the 24s, 2, 3, 5 reps, trying to sit back at the bottom of the squat motion to prevent tail tuck.  This is an important technique nuance for me as I look to move up in weight and really have a tremendous squat.  Worked on double presses with the 24s, very solid presses, 2, 3, 5 reps, got through a sticking point on the set of 5 pretty well actually with a good grind.  Finished with 10/10 snatches with the 24kg, working on lockout with the elbow.

Everything today was focused on testing for the SFG.  That is completely where the training focus is going to be, SFG test movements for November in Vancouver.  Training is going to ramp up to 4 days of KB work during the week, M/Tue, off Wed (walk at Greenlake for active recovery), Thurs/Fri.  Probably strength day then conditioning day for the two day blocks.  Going to be short but more frequent sessions than what I have been doing (MWF).   Time to get dialed in and really step it up for the next part of the cycle, and work on some of these technique nuances Kevin pointed out.

9/11/14 Thursday September 11, 2014 (24kg TGU, SL DLs)

6:30am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

7:00am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses, 1/1

7:15am - Training session - 24kg TGUs, SL DLs

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

7:30am - Complete

Notes - Good day, feeling refreshed, pretty light week here and the body is responding well.  Not noticing any issues with the L ankle.  Feeling a need to get my hips stretched out better though, I may try some of the Pain Free mobility work I was focused on in June.  

9/10/14 Wednesday September 10, 2014 (24kg complex CL/PR/SQ)

5:45am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

6:15am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses, 1/1

6:30am - Training session - 24kg complex CL/PR/SQ

24kg TGU, 1/1
24kg Gsq, 5
24kg 2H SW, 10
24kg SL DL, 5/5

24kg TGU, 1/1
24kg Gsq, 5
24kg 2H SW, 10

24kg complex, CL 2, PR 1, SQ 3, 1/1 (each arm), x 5

10 CL, 5 PR, 15 SQ, each arm

7:00am - Complete

Notes - Woke up earlier today, that was the plan, this is a step in the right direction.  Felt good, and had fun doing a single bell complex, have not done one of those in a long time.  The technique is a lot different with a single bell rather than doubles, it's interesting.  Frankly this felt so easy it was almost a joke, but again, that's the point.  Frequent training, work on quality movement, never to failure, you are just adding and adding to the base of skill and strength.  I love it.

9/9/14 Tuesday September 9, 2014 (20kg TGU, SL DLs)

6:45am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 15 minutes

7:00am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses, 1/1

7:15am - Training session - 20kg TGUs, SL DLs

20kg TGU, 2/2
20kg SL DL, 5/5

7:30am - Complete

Notes - Quick mobility session after some hard training yesterday.  Body is recovering pretty well, felt good this morning and nice and stretched out after this.  Ankle that was very tender on Sunday is feeling significantly better which is nice. 

9/8/14 Monday September 8, 2014 (24kg S&S)

7:45am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 40 minutes

8:25am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:40am - Training session - 24kg S&S

2X:
24kg Gsq, 5
24kg 2H SW, 10

24kg 1H SW, 10/10, x 5, on the minute
100 reps

1 minute rest

24kg TGU, 1/1, x 5, less than 10 mins
10 reps, 9:30 for time

9:00am - Complete

Notes - Tired, very tired today.  Long weekend running around with the kids.  Things are catching up to me, this deload week comes at a good time.  Body feels good, very strong, just clearly not getting enough consistent rest, not getting to bed on time.  I have to get focused in this area and really dial it in.  My schedule or rather less than optimal maintenance on my time is holding me back.  In any event this training session from Pavel's Simple and Sinister was super easy, barely even noticed it / broke a sweat.  Exactly how you want it to be.