7/9/14 Wednesday July 9, 2014 (DB 24kg CL / PPR / FSQ complex, 1H SW)

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

8:30am - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:45am - Training session - 24kg DB CL, PPR, FSQ complex, 1H SW practice

24kg TGU, 1/1
28kg TGU, 3/3
24kg GSq, 5
24kg TK PR, 2/2
24kg Hike/Swing/Park, 5
28kg Hike/Swing/Park ,5

15 minutes:
DB 24kgs CL 2, PPR 3, FSQ, 1

Got 9 rounds done.  18 DB CL, 27 DB PR, 9 DB FSQ.

1H SW practice:

2x:
24kg, 5/5
28kg, 5/5

40 1H SW

DB 24kg farmer's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1
28kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1

9:30am - Complete

Notes - Good day.  I had a taxing day yesterday and was pretty worn out physically, mentally, emotionally.  Woke up late but felt good actually.  Did my mobility work, still a little tight from sprinting on Sunday, 3 days later, which is a bit frustrating but my body is not at all used to sprinting, not that surprising really.  Overhead work felt good on the TGUs, got in several strong reps with the 28kg.  Decided to focus on the push press today in the complex.  Strong reps but I definitely was gassed, probably started hitting me at set 5 of the 9 I did in 15 mins.  I had to watch the last couple of reps and make sure I wasn't doing any leaning back and putting myself into too much extension, more straight up and down.  Tough with the push press when you are getting tired.  Still, it was a good session, technique was on point.  I practiced some 1H SW today for the first time in a very long time, it felt really good actually though I stopped it at 2 sets of the 24 and 28kg because I was just taxed.  I think this is a good sign however to be able to build back up into snatching once a week again.  For Friday I will either use DB 20kgs for the complex, or I will use DB 24kgs but drop the time from 15 to 10 mins.  Feeling like a bit of tapering or just waving the load is appropriate.  Next week I plan on doing S&S for a deload week, training with Kevin, and setting a plan out for the next cycle.

7/8/14 Tuesday July 8, 2014 (16kg TGUs / SL DL, long walk)

7:30am - FMS drills, OS resets - 30 minutes

8:00am - 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 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:15am - Training session - TGU practice

16kg TGU to knee, 3/3
16kg SL DL, 5/5

8:30am - Complete

8:00pm - 9:00pm - brisk walk around Greenlake (3 1/2 miles)

Notes - Good day today, in some ways, at least in terms of how my body felt in the morning.  Had to go to bed late last night due to getting materials ready for the mediation appt today with Jill, but slept ok, had to sleep in a bit though.  Hung out with the kids while I did my FMS and other mobility work.  Definitely quite tight in the quads and hips, this is from sprinting on Sunday.  The sprint work is something I am going to have to get used to.  I wonder if 10 1-minute sprints, which is what I did, is a bit much.  Certainly nothing more is needed.  I did some lacrosse ball and foam roll and certainly that helped.  Interestingly enough, I don't think the heavy volume of KB lifts on Monday had too much of a negative impact in terms of recovery, which is a great sign.  I did some light TGUs, overhead position felt very good, did a few SL DLs as those tend to be very good for my back and just sort of lining everything up, and those felt good too.  Jill and I had our mediation appt at 3pm this afternoon.  Certainly that was not easy and it has been weighing heavily on my mind leading up to today.  All things being equal, it did "go well" and we have another one in two weeks.  Just trying to keep moving forward.  I took an extra long walk around Greenlake afterwards to clear my head.  It was beautiful, and a very nice walk.  I am sitting here at 9pm and completely drained and exhausted.  Time to go to bed early.

7/7/14 Monday July 7, 2014 (DB 24kg CL / PR / FSQ complex, 2H SW ladder)

7:30 am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:30am - Training session - 24kg DB CL, PR, FSQ complex, 2H SW ladder

20kg TGU, 1/1
24kg TGU, 1/1
28kg TGU, 1/1
32kg TGU, 1/1
20kg BU SQ, 1/1
24kg BU SQ, 1/1 (PR)
20kg BU PR, 1/1
24kg BU PR, 1/1 (PR)
24kg GSq, 5
24kg Hike/Swing/Park, 5

15 minutes:
DB 24kgs CL 2, PR 1, FSQ, 3

Got 9 rounds done, with 30 seconds to spare, let it go for more, no time to get greedy.  18 DB CL, 9 DB PR, 27 DB FSQ.

2H SW ladder:

2x:
24kg, 10
32kg, 10
28kg, 10

60 2H SW

32kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1
28kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1
DB 24kg farmer's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1

9:30am - Complete

Notes - Solid, solid day here particularly in light of training yesterday with sprints / pull ups and push ups. Recovery is certainly improving, though it took sleeping in this morning to get there.  Need to keep dialing in the bed time and tighten up my schedule.  With that said, I felt good this morning, did need some lacrosse ball work on the obliques, hips, quads, glutes for certain due to the sprinting.  Overhead actually felt pretty good.  I decided to take that OH and do some TGU practice and a few BU presses rather than go heavy with DB PR in the complex.  Did a solid rep on each side with the 32kg for the TGU, it did feel heavy though, no doubt about it.  Have to keep introducing that weight and get more comfortable with it again. Was pretty excited to get good reps on both the BU SQ and BU PR with the 24kg, both sides, I am definitely sure the BU SQ was a PR and if the BU PR was not, these were the best reps I have done with the 24kg.  Good stuff.   Wed may be day for a focus on MP within the complex, or maybe I will do push presses again and see if I can improve on last week's push press practice.  Finished off with some 2H SW ladders with the 24, 28, and 32kg.  All felt great, loads of power, interesting as I have not been swinging but doing double bell work for weeks.  The double bell work makes you strong all over, and seems to have improved my swings.  Was really quite surprised with the amount of hip power and ability to overspeed the bells back into the hole after the float.  It will be good to get more swings in this week, will try a little bit of 1H on Wed, I don't think I will go any heavier than a 24kg, and see how that feels.  I think the 24kg will feel pretty solid.

7/6/14 Sunday July 6, 2014 (interval running, pullups, pushups)

Busy all weekend with my kids until mid day Sunday.  Great 4th of July bbq at the house on Friday night despite the rain, with the neighbors.  A good week where I was able to take most of Tuesday and Thurs off and hang with the kids.  We did a lot of fun stuff this week.  I think all of that time has been great for my mental state, and that is helping physically a lot.  It's a good thing too as Jill and I have a mediation appt on Tuesday and we meet tomorrow to go over everything in advance of the appt.  Obviously that is on my mind, but I think it is going to turn out ok.  As far as training goes things are really coming around.  I decided to act on my instinct to further shorten the distance/time intervals for running, and really turn this into what they are generally supposed to be - sprinting, or at least the best I can muster for something that passes as sprinting:)

1 min sprint, 1 minute walk, 5 SL DLs, 1 min sprint, 1 minute walk, pull-ups, push-ups - 5 rounds.

Pull ups were 5,4,3,3,2 - Fighter pull up style.  Using rings.  A total of 17 pull ups, up one from last week as planned.

Push-ups were 2,3,3,4,5 - opposite rep scheme of the pull-ups.  Up one rep from last week as planned.

10 minutes of sprinting, 10 minutes of walking, 25/25 SLDLs, 17 pullups, 17 pushups.

Didn't need to hang on the rings as much as last week - felt much looser in the lats, not nearly as tight.  Great sign. With that said, lots of mobility planned this evening, need a fast recovery for tomorrow's KB session.

Given the sprinting today, not exactly sure what I will do with the DB 24kg CL/ PR / SQ complex tomorrow. Originally I had planned on 2/1/3 with squatting being the emphasis.  Given the pulling and sprinting today, it actually may make a little sense to go with a press emphasis tomorrow, 2/3/1.  I think I will go a little bit by feel on this and see how I am feeling with a few TGUs, goblet squats and other things to get warmed up and then make a decision.

7/4/14 July 4, 2014 (DB 24kg CL / PPR / FSQ complex)

6:30 am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

7:30am - Training session - 24kg DB CL, Push PR, FSQ complex

Arm hangs from the balcony

16kg TGU, 1/1
24kg TGU, 1/1
28kg TGU, 1/1
24 kg GSq, 5
16kg BU SQ, 3/3
16kg BU PR, 1/1
24kg BU CL, 1/1, hold for 10 secs
24kg TK PR, 2/2
28kg Hike/Swing/Park, 3

15 minutes:
DB 24kgs CL 2, PPR 3, FSQ, 1

Got 9 rounds done, minus 1 rep on the PPR on the last round - had to stick with 2 reps.  18 DB CL, 26 DB PPR, 9 DB FSQ.

24kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1
28kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1

8:15am - Complete

Notes - Well..... I would not have expected these kinds of results just a few weeks ago.  The healing power of the body once you get out of the way and feed it the right stuff mentally/physically/emotionally etc. is pretty cool.  I am very excited about these results and I fully realize it is all about the time outside of training that is setting up better success during training time.  Sleep, recovery, movement, mobility etc.  In any event, this was another productive day with some mobility to start, felt very good, FMS work that Kevin outlined is helping.  Definitely like starting things out with belly breathing to really engage the diaphragm.  Noticing little things like arm bars being much easier, arm bars with presses feeling very, very solid, shoulder is feeling very solid in the socket, I could even go up to 16kg from 12kg for that movement and really continue to use it to open up the t-spine.  Excellent.  Worked in the 28kg for a TGU today, felt solid, no too heavy.  Used it for hike/swing/parks, I do believe I am ready to do some swinging again and I will work in some low-volume 2H and 1H next week with the 24kg and 28kg to see how that feels after being away from swinging for a month.  Going to keep using some hike/swing/park to start, these are good and frankly I forgot about them even though I read Mark Reifkind using these all the time.  Great exercise for power development it feels.  Messed around with the a BU CL with the 24kg, very solid both sides, I think I could have pressed that no problem.  Need to talk to Kevin about BU work and how to program.  I like BU work - a lot.  Finally into the DB 24kg bells complex, the focus was on push presses and trying to make them powerful.  In large part, pretty successful.  Frankly this was harder / more taxing than perhaps I was expecting.  Much harder than the FSQ practice with DB 24kgs on Wed, which I wasn't necessarily thinking it would be.  Putting DB 24kgs over your head explosively after cleaning them a couple of times I suppose is going to get you going:)  I felt good about the technique, but something to look at with Kevin as a few reps weren't that powerful.  I was focusing on keeping the elbows very tight to my body in the rack, and on the drop keeping them almost digging into my obliques so I could use the lats to put the bells overhead powerfully.  On many reps, this was pretty successful and I felt pretty good with these as I moved through the rounds.  Getting 9 rounds in felt productive and was pretty good density I felt, in 15 minutes.  On the last round after the 2nd PPR I felt power go quite a bit, and finished my last squat and called it.  No need to get greedy, this was definitely progress and you take what you get and move on to train the next time.  For next week, I see Kevin Thursday.  I am thinking about continuing with the DB 24kg complex work on Monday and Wed, think I will emphasize strict presses one day, and squats a different day.  If I recover well this weekend and am feeling it on Monday, will go with strict presses, 2 CL, 3 PR, 1 FSQ.  Wed, 2 CL, 1 PPR, 3 FSQ, or possibly just drop the PPR and just do CL and FSQ.   Will finish the sessions with a bit of 2H and 1H swings to get a little practice, no more than 50 2H, or 1H.

7/3/14 Thursday July 3, 2014 (24kg TGUs, long walk)

7:30am - FMS drills, OS resets - 60 minutes

8:30am - 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, 2+2

8:45am - Training session - TGU practice

24kg TGU to knee, 1/1, x 2
24kg Hike/Swing/Park, 5 singles

8:55am - Complete

8:15pm - 9:15pm - brisk walk around Greenlake (3 1/2 miles)

Notes - Writing this on Friday morning.  Felt great on Thursday, day after a hard training session on Wed.  Great sign - recovery time is improving, this is very encouraging indeed.  Took my kids to Bainbridge Island for the morning and had fun walking and playing soccer, tag, and "monster chase" in the park and riding the ferry.  Finished the day with a brisk walk around Greenlake.  Walking is feeling powerful.  Strides are strong, I have noticeably bigger glutes and quads these days, I can literally feel it wearing pants and shorts and when walking, it is simply just much easier to walk briskly and powerfully for me than in the past.  Working out some of these movement issues, doing good mobility work, getting more rest, and taking the time to recover from harder weight sessions is really the key for me.  

7/2/14 Wednesday July 2, 2014 (DB 24kg FSQ)

7:00am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 45 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, 2+2

8:00am - Training session - Focus on DB 24kg FSQs

Arm hangs from the balcony

24kg TGU 1/1, x 5
DB 24kg DL, 5, x 2
24 kg GSq, 5
24kg SL DL, 3/3
24kg Hike/Swing/Park, 5 singles
24kg TK PR, 2/2

15 minutes:
DB 24kgs FSQ, 2, 3, 5

Got in 3 rounds, plus an additional 2, 3 for a total of  35 reps in 15 minutes

24kg waiter's walk carries, 1 minute, 1/1

Arm hangs from the balcony

8:35am - Complete

Notes - What can I say.  I can't remember where I read this, maybe it was Mark Reifkind on his blog or somewhere else, but you lay in waiting for training days like this.  I felt like a total animal on these squats.  Best squatting I have ever done, I think this may be a PR and it came just a little bit out of nowhere given the road back I have been on the last month.  Well, I do know where it came from a little bit.  Taking steps back, getting my head straight, focusing on rest, recovery, sleep, nutrition, mobility.   Notice I did not say - focusing on my training!  I am starting to realize albeit slowly here that all of these other factors are just so critical to success and progress.  It's never been an issue for me to "do the work / do the training" as I always show up.  I enjoy it.  But clearly I have not taken care of the time outside of training like I really am capable, so that I can maximize my time and make more consistent progress.  I think I had better refer to this post in the future when I get off track.  In any event, felt good this morning, did a variety of warm up movements and went by feel.  The TGUs were to get some weight overhead on a day when I wasn't focused on OH movements, just to get that groove greased.  I was very pleased with the feel on the hike/swing/parks as I have not been swinging at all for a month to let this right arm and forearm come back around.  I have to say, I think I am close now, time to do some short sets of swings and see how that feels.  Encouraging.  Also noticed on the TK PR practice that these reps went up very quickly, noticeably quick on the speed.  Interesting, and a good sign.  Really trying to press from the lat and keep that shoulder down.  As to the FSQs, just damn good for me and I am getting better.  Very solid cleans, focusing on "cleaning to the waist" so as to not overclean the bells and have the arc go too far away from me.  The cue is working.  Very solid cleans, this is excellent, particularly with DB 24kgs.  Squats were deep, strong, no where close to failure even on the sets of 5.  Honestly I could have pushed and gotten more as I finished with 30 seconds on the clock for 15 minutes, and told myself that was more than good enough for today, it's not time to get greedy.  I won't proclaim to be all the way back until I am snatching again with some authority (for me), but it feels good to get this accomplished today.  Now time to focus on rest and recovery before Friday morning's next session with a DB 24kg complex with a push press focus.