5/3/14 Saturday May 3, 2014 (interval running / push-ups / pull-ups)

Got going Saturday afternoon in pouring rain, miserable weather, but I was pretty pumped up to do some training so frankly I didn't care.  Body felt good.  My traps are pretty shot today from doing TGU ladders yesterday and then beast swings with the 48kg.  Can't tell if it was the TGUs or the 48kg or both that contributed, but I am feeling it a bit.  Left overhead position particularly is a bit tight, that is my strong (not the stronger:) ) side and I do think get up reps can be a bit tough on that shoulder.  However, I also know they are extremely good for that shoulder if maintaining good technique - this is just the process of getting strong.

In any event this is what I did today:

3 min run, SL DLs 5/5, 3 min run, Fighter Program pull-ups for the second week (sets with reps 5/4/3/2/2, up from 5/4/3/2/1 last week), 5 push-ups
x 5

Total of 30 minutes running, 25/25 SL DLs, 16 pull-ups, 25 push-ups

Good stuff today.  Powerful running, got stretched out for the pull ups with a lot of bar hangs first, that definitely helped.  Focused on really controlling the negatives, getting to full ROM at the bottom, and then pulling with the lats for the next rep.  Good practice.  Elbows and forearms feel better than a week ago, even after what was definitely a strong week of training with plenty of heavy stuff in there.  Good signs.

5/2/14 Friday May 2, 2014 (TGU practice, 48kg 2H SW for 10 mins)

6:40am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

7:10am - 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

7:25am - Training session - Focus on TGU practice, 48kg 2H SW 10 mins

Hip bridges, two legs, single leg
16kg TGU opposite arm / leg rotations

Roll to elbow practice on TGUs:
20kg, 5/5
24kg, 3/3
28kg, 2/2
32kg, 1/1 x 5

48kg 2H SW, 10, on the minute, 10 minutes (100 beast swings)

8:15am - Complete

Notes -  Good day today, didn't get much sleep but body felt pretty good actually.  Good practice here on the toughest part of the get up for me, got mostly high quality reps here, this will help me.  Had not swung the beast 48kg in some time, these were the most powerful I have had with the beast, so I am getting stronger for sure.  The last round or two was a bit tougher but I felt like I had good power and tempo until the very last rep, so it was a good time to put down the bell.  Looking forward to rest and recovery for a couple of days.

5/1/14 Thursday May 1, 2014 (OS, PM, 24kg SW)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 15 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 SW variations

2H SW 24kg, 10
1H SW 24kg, 10/10
2H SW 24kg, 10
1H SW 24kg, 10/10
2H SW 24kg, 10
1H SW 24kg, 10/10
2H SW 24kg, 10

100 total SW reps

7:45am - Complete

Notes -  Not much to report here, felt pretty good today, definitely the 28kg snatch is hard on the traps, grip, I noticed it today when swinging the 24kg with one hand.  Next time I snatch the 28kg I will probably focus on something else the day after, maybe just 2H SW or SL DLs.  Looking forward to TGU practice tomorrow and then 2H swinging the 48kg beast.

4/30/14 Wednesday April 30, 2014 (28kg circuit, 28kg SN ladder)

7:00am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 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 12kg, 3+3 with press

Break for work

9:00am - Training session - Focus on 28kg circuit, 28kg SW to SN ladders

3x:
28kg SL DL, 3/3
28kg TGU , 1/1
28kg Renegade row (hand on box), 3/3
28kg 1H SW, 10/10
Around the world plank 2x

28kg 1H SW to SN ladders

3x:
3 SW, 1 SN
2 SW, 2 SN
1 SW, 3 SN

18 swings / snatches per arm

9:30am - Complete

Notes -  This was outstanding today, I really enjoyed this training session.  Making that 28kg feel like a 24kg.  Love the practice snatching that heavy bell.  Reps felt really powerful, good hip snap, really like starting it with swings, helps the confidence a lot on that first snatch rep.  My plan over the course of this cycle is to up the SL DLs to 5/5 by week 3, same with the rows, and then increase sets on the snatch from 3 this week, to 4, to 5 in week three.  Solid, steady progress, not too much volume too quick with the 28kg.  I am excited at the end of this cycle to snatch a 24kg and feel that difference which I think will be noticeable.

4/28/14 Monday April 28, 2014 (DB 24kg Moving Target Complex)

6:30am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 45 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 12kg, 3+3 with press

7:30am - Training session - Focus on DB 24 kg Moving Target Complex (CL, PR, SQ)

24kg TGU , 2/2
24kg G Sq, 10
24kg SW, 5, 10, 5, 10

DB 24 kg Moving Target Complex:

1 CL, 2 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 3 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 5 PR, 1 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 2 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 3 SQ rest
1 CL, 1 PR, 5 SQ rest
2 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest
3 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest
5 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ rest

Took about 16 minutes.  Total of 16 DB CL / DB PR / DB SQ

8:00am - Complete

Notes -  started the new strength cycle today, really liked this training session a lot.  Focused on technique, very strong reps here for everything, really good sign as these DB 24s are starting to feel distinctly lighter.  Watching my R tricip, elbow and forearm for tightness, did a lot of lacrosse ball work last night and will keep on the soft tissue work in that area.  Overall this is a good start to the cycle.  Need more sleep though, a lot more.

4/27/14 Sunday April 27, 2014 (interval running / push-ups / pull-ups)

Got going Sunday afternoon.  Body felt great, particularly the hips and low back, the work with Kevin on Friday I think really did some good things around loosening up the hips, tieing the shoulders to the hips better.  I have to keep that going and dial that into the regular routine.  On the other hand my R elbow was acting up this morning.  I messed around at the park yesterday with the kids and tried to do a muscle up on some pull up bars a couple of times (almost got one which surprised me).  However, I have been watching the R elbow a bit this week as I noticed in tighten up after last week's interval pull ups and push ups.  I had upped the numbers and perhaps that was a bad idea.  It seemed at bay this week as I was doing S&S, until Thursday morning when I felt pretty crappy, though I don't recall it really being the R elbow, it was more the overhead position and just being super tight int the R armpit and lat (and issue I am continuing to try and work on through bar hangs and mobility drills).  I felt good training with Kevin on Friday, didn't notice an issue Sat.  I think the point is that everything is tied together and some of the tight spots on my R side, with the armpit, lat, hip, trap definitely are connected to the elbow via soft tissue.  I did a bunch of lacrosse ball work before this run today and man, things were tight as well, hitting the tricep, bicep, forearm, etc. - but things really responded well to that lacrosse ball work.  I need in to see my massage therapist and body work guy.  I have not had soft tissue work done in some time and have been training pretty hard until the last week or so, and that also has something to do with this.

In any event this is what I did today:

3 min run, SL DLs 5/5, 3 min run, Fighter Program pull-ups (sets with reps 5/4/3/2/1), 5 push-ups
x 5

Total of 30 minutes running, 25/25 SL DLs, 15 pull-ups, 25 push-ups

Kevin told me to do Pavel's Fight Pull Up Program so that is what I am doing, and I dropped the push-ups way down from last week and concentrated on full body tension and really driving the movement with the lats, assuming if I dialed in this technique it would take pressure of the elbows.  It did.  I focused on initiating the pull-ups with the lats, and getting full extension at the bottom of each rep, very slow, controlled motions. Went very well, didn't notice any issues at all during the training.  Running was extremely strong today, man that is the best I have felt running in some time.  Just glided along, pretty powerful.  Got to focus on the arms and elbows and stay vigilant on some soft tissue work given the strength cycle starting tomorrow.

4/25/14 Friday April 25, 2014 (training with Kevin)

Checked my training log and I last trained with Kevin on March 21- over a month ago.

Flew back to Seattle from Spokane, didn't get much sleep at all last night (4 hrs), got warmed up with primal move and OS resets, hangs from the pullup bar at the kettlebellity studio and actually felt ok.

2:35pm - Training session with Kevin.  We worked a lot on TGUs today and movements to prep TGUs, and particularly to focus on some of the issues I have had with connecting the hips to the shoulders in the roll to press, particularly with the bell in the L hand.  We did some bridges with yoga blocks, both legs and then dropped the blocks and did single legs, really focusing on getting extension in the hip.   These were good, this will help me.  We then worked some TGUs with the 16kg where I laid on my back and extended the opposite leg up and down, and then also did some opposite side hip circles and shoulder circles with the bell hand in a coordinated fashion to try and connect the opposite hip to the bell shoulder.  I thought these were really good and should help me with leakage issues.  Sprinkled in here as well were a variety of TGUs with the 16kg, roll to elbow for reps, primarily.  After working these we then bought in the 28kg, 32kg, and also the 36kg to test technique and see if form improved.  The reps with the 32kg were very solid.  The 36kg with the L was still a challenge though there were small improvements.  The 36kg with the R was extremely solid, zero issues.  All in all, I have a lot of ideas now, some good things to program into my mobility work, and I really think improvements here could lend a significant benefit not only to heavy TGUs but various other KB work too.  It was clear to me with the tightness in my R hamstring, the fatigue I was experiencing in the R quad, glutes, calf, etc. with these relatively easy movements that this imbalance with the R side is something I simply must work in a more focused way to eradicate.  I think it is really holding me back from what I hope to create which are some serious gains in the next several months in all of the lifts I am working on.  I have to say I felt great after doing all of this work, neck was loose, overhead position felt very good, hips were stretched out.  These are important technique points for me to work on.

After doing this work we did a variety of 2H SW with the 32kg, then some 1H SW with the 28kg.  Swings felt good, the 1H felt better than the 2H but that is due to not really training 2H SW much at all lately.  And it was weird, it actually felt a little hard to get my two hands into the 32kg.  My hands have actually gotten bigger from KB lifting, it is insane but it is true.  Then for the first time ever I got to practice snatching the 28kg.  We did it in a ladder scheme with 1H SW, going 1H SW 3x, SN 1x, SW 2x, SN 2x, SW 1x, SN 3x.  I liked it a lot.  This was power focused, go very slow, hold the lockout, really focus on the hand flip to the descent and load between the legs, just use this as a strength building movement and not so much a ballistic for conditioning.  Snatching that bitch and holding it up strong in lockout just felt amazing.  With the path I have been on and continued strength focus, I can honestly say I think I could snatch the 32kg for some reps, I probably could have even done it today in this ladder scheme using a 1H SW to get momentum built to make the SN easier.  In any event, that was badass.


3:50pm -  Good stuff.  Really good things and I appreciate that Kevin is reading my training notes, asking questions, and really he came prepared with some ideas today on the TGU that were quite beneficial to me.  We talked a bit about the next cycle and we are going for strength work, I am looking forward to it quite a bit.