7/24/14 Thursday July 24, 2014 (20kgTGU/32kgHSP, 20kg SW/SN)

6:30am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 45 minutes including kids waking up

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 - 20kg TGU  / 32kg Hike Swing Park, 20kg SW / SN

3x:
20kg TGU, 1/1
32kg HSP, 5 singles

15 minutes of
20kg 1H SW, 5, SN 5, switch hands, SW 5, SN 5, set bell down

Got in 10 rounds in 15 minutes.  100 1H SW, 100 SN

8:00am - Complete

Notes - Solid.  Body felt good, mobility is pretty good these days, got to keep it up.  Talking me less time to warm up and with less body parts that feel like they need extra attention, etc.  All good.  TGUs were solid, hike swing parks good with the 32kg.  Snatching - have not snatched at all in quite some time, actually it's close to 2 months at this point.  I should have expected a few challenges but honestly thought it would go a little bit better in certain ways.  Conditioning was ok, but not great.  Something to keep working on.  Technique was good on the R side for the SN, but I was frustrated with the L as I felt as I was not getting into lockout very well, and my elbow on the L I think was taking a little too much force / was having to work too hard with that arm.  Frustrating.  I just could not seem to get crisply into lockout on about 2 out of every 5 reps.  Power was not as good as I would have hoped for. I tried a deeper hinge and tried to slow down each rep, that certainly helped a bit, but it just was not clean enough.  On the other hand the R side felt crisp, not a lot of wasted motion, and the bell right up into lockout smoothly.  I am anticipating my elbow and forearm on the L will need some lacrosse ball and other myofascial release, they will likely tighten up a bit.  Snatching is a tough movement for me.  I think it brings up some of my asymmetries. It's also a movement though where I get great body composition gains and I think it helps me on other lifts as well, and its a challenge I like trying.  With that said I don't think I do well with high volume snatching.  If my technique was tighter it would probably be fine, but I need to keep getting better.  Once a week is plenty at this volume, an alternative would be to sprinkle very low volume into multiple days but Kevin and I can look to that at some future point.

7/23/14 Wednesday July 23, 2014 (warmup, walk)

7:30am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 15 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
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:30am - walk at Greenlake (1 1/2 miles)

9:00am - Complete

Notes - Felt good this morning but yet again to bed too late last night.  Need to improve and do it immediately starting tonight.  Snatching tomorrow, looking forward to to it.

7/22/14 Tuesday July 22, 2014 (TGU/BU SQ/RR, GSq/2H SW ladder)

6:30am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 45 minutes including kids waking up

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 - TGU ladders, BU SQ, RR on box, GSq / 2H SW ladder

3x:
16kg TGU, 1/1
20kg TGU, 1/1
24kg, TGU, 1/1
16kg BU SQ, 1/1
16kg RR on box, 6/6

GSq / 2H SW ladder:
24kg GSq, 10
24kg 2H SW, 10/10
24kg GSq, 9
24kg 2H SW, 9/9
and so on until
24kg GSq, 1
24kg 2H SW, 1/1

55 reps GSq, 55 reps 2H SW

8:30am - Complete

Notes - Pretty good day.  I had an s-load of work so didn't get to bed early enough, that wasn't a great start.  Got up a little earlier though and got started with mobility earlier, so that is a plus.  Have to keep working at this so I can truly get up at 5:30am and be ready to go.  Body felt good, no ill effects really from yesterday's volume training so that was good to see.  Movements felt good and strong today, TGU elbow lock continues to be a focus.  Goblets were very strong, Kevin's tip to move the bell away from my chest and really squeeze the horns, lock down those traps has been a good one, I like how that movement is feeling for sure.  2H SW is very powerful, if only with the 24kg, definitely I have a more powerful swing now.  Will be interesting to eventually get back to the big bells at some point and see what I can do with them.  Recovery and sleep tonight, brisk walk at Greenlake tomorrow morning for active recovery.

7/21/14 Monday July 21, 2014 (TGU/BUP/SLDL/PR/1HSW)

7:45am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 60 minutes (moving very slowly, lots of tissue work)

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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

9:00am - Training session - TGU ladders, BU PR, SL DLs, PR practice, 1H SW

3x:
16kg TGU, 1/1
20kg TGU, 1/1
24kg, TGU, 1/1
16kg BU PR, 1/1
24kg SL DL, 3/3

16kg TK PR, 5/5
20kg PR, 3/3, x 2
24kg PR, 2/2, x 3

24kg 1H SW, 10/10, 5 mins on the minute (100 reps)

10:00am - Complete

Notes - Interesting day in a variety of ways.  I am tired.  No doubt about it.  Woke up late, didn't even hear my alarm.  I did sleep soundly at least.  I realized I have burned it now for a good solid week, and things are catching up with me.  Variety of things including work events, traveling to Spokane and back, then traveling to Portland over the weekend for family time.  I absolutely positively must focus on recovery and quickly for the next several days.  Extra sleep is critical.  Body actually feels good in some ways, but I am headed for an issue if I don't get properly rested.  This showed up today in the sense that I moved extremely slowly through everything.  I am mean SLOW.  Warm-ups, sets, etc.  Didn't do anything quickly.  I was using light weights which was a good thing.  This is a new cycle I have started with Kevin - lighter weights, more volume, starting to prep for SFG in November.  It makes a lot of sense what we are doing here but I need to ensure I can make progress by being properly recovered and rested for these sessions.  I was not today but at least I realize it and can make immediate adjustments.  The sprint and pull-up work yesterday may have contributed a bit as well.  It's generally better for me when I can get that work in on Saturdays instead of Sunday, but you do what you can.  

7/20/14 Sunday July 20, 2014 (interval running / pullups and pushups)

Left for Portland on Friday, back late afternoon Sunday and I made it out for some quick training.  Tons and tons of sitting the last several days in the car and otherwise.  Yuck.  Body actually feels surprisingly good despite all the sitting.  Mobility work this week will be in important.

After warming up a bit I felt good enough to try some sprinting again this week.  I decided to head to the track at Greenlake and ultimately did the sprints on the turf on the soccer field, which actually was nice and soft and felt great.

Sprints were much shorter in duration than before.  About 22-23 seconds each, the length of the soccer field.  I tried to make them very powerful given the short duration.

This is how it went down. Sprint, rest, sprint, SL DLs, walk to pull-up bar, pull-ups, push-ups, walk back to sprint again.  5 rounds.

Pull ups were 5,5,4,3,2 - Fighter pull up style.  Using rings.  A total of 19 pull ups, up one from last week as planned.

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

Reps on the SL DLs were 3 each time.   Why did a drop to 3?  Because I GOT BW PISTOLS ON BOTH LEGS.  Totally out of the blue.  I have not been practicing a pistol at all because I didn't think I could do it.  However I have been squatting a ton, doing SL DLs, and have gain a lot of stability and size in my legs.  My ability to generate tension is much better, in the glutes, lats, static stomp with the foot etc.  So before doing the SL DLs I thought what the hell  I will try to see if I could do pistols.  Nailed it.  Yes the technique could be better, they can definitely get deeper, but still, I felt pretty damn good with what I did and from no practice whatsoever, not even starting with simpler progressions.  Talk about a What The Hell effect from training smart with good movements.  Great day, it sure is cool to get  a PR.  A bodyweight PR is almost cooler than lifting a heavier kettlebell, doing more reps with a KB etc. because you realize you got your body to do something it had never done before.  Pretty awesome stuff.  I know this is nothing for tons of people but for me to get a BW pistol and now realize I can keep going, is a great accomplishment.

7/18/14 Friday July 18, 2014 (24kg GSq, 2H SW complex)

7:15am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling), some OS resets - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

8:00am - Training session - 24kg GSq, 2H SW complex

16kg TGU, 1/1
20kg TGU, 1/1
24kg, TGU, 1/1

24kg GSq, 10
24kg 2H SW, 10
24kg GSq, 9
24kg 2H SW, 99
......
All the way down to

24kg GSq, 1
24kg 2H SW, 1

55 reps of GSq, and 2H SW

8:20am - Complete

Notes - Good stuff.  Little Friday session design by Kevin to bridge until the next cycle starting Monday.  Tougher conditioning than expected.  I liked it.  

7/17/14 Thursday July 17, 2014 (training with Kevin)

7:15am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 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, 2+2
Arm bar 12kg with 3 presses, 1/1

Break

9:00am - Training with Kevin

10:15am -Finish

Notes - Good day.  We worked on TGUs in a ladder format, 16, 20, 24kg.  Lockout and really focusing on the tricep and getting long from the shoulder through the elbow and forearm is key.  We worked on some swings with the 24kg, both 2H and 1H, lots of power.  Did some pressing, again in a 16, 20, 24kg format.  Focus on getting tight, broad, pushing the forearm into the bell which engages the lat and prevents a shoulder shrug/impingement and loss of power.  Got some real good tips there from Kevin.  We did some bottoms ups pressing with the 16kg, reinforcing the same mechanics.  Also did some snatching at the end with the 20kg.

The plan is to do 2 days of strength work, working up to the work weight of 24kg, pressing and squatting.  2 days of conditioning work, swings and snatching.  Increase of volume for this period, but not the weight because there is not a real need for the SFG cert in November in Vancouver BC.  I need to get conditioned for the volume and just be very, very good with the 24kgs.  Mobility work, and a day on the weekend for sprinting, pull-ups etc. whatever I feel like.  Sounds great.  I am looking forward to focusing on technique and starting to get physically and mentally prepared for Vancouver BC.