12/31/14 Wednesday December 31, 2014 (DB FSQ, SW 24kgs Complex for time)

10:05am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

10:35am - 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
Arm bar 16kg, 1+1
Crooked Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1

10:50am - Training session - DB FSQ, DB SW 24kgs complex, 20 minutes

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

24kg GSq, 5

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

DB FSQ, DB SW 24kgs complex, 3 DB FSQ, 3 DB SW, as many sets as possible, 20 minutes

15 sets

Totals 45 DB FSQ, 45 DB SW

11:20am - Complete

Notes - This was extremely good, particularly for the circumstances.  Out very late last night, decided not to do this first thing in the morning but instead slept a little bit more and did this mid-morning.  That probably helped the performance significantly because I had been up for several hours and had moved around, so probably a bit stronger than I would be early most mornings.  I was surprised I got 15 complete sets in, which is a very good pace.  For Monday's training of DB PR / CL, I did 13 sets.  So two more sets today with arguably more challenging movements in some ways (you try following up DB FSQs with DB SWs - damn that was something else).  I was pretty dialed into to various technique aspects for each set.  I would pick something to focus on for the FSQ, and then something to focus on for the DB SW and really try to nail that piece on each rep of each movements.  So it could have been pulling into and out of the hole on the FSQ, or using my lats and glutes out of the hole, or on the SW, making sure I was hitting a strong lockout for each rep.  It was good.  My R elbow was a little tight this morning before training and I noticed it thereafter, the tricep muscle and bicep are the culprit.  Going to get in some good mobility work and lacrosse ball work which will help.  Great start out to the squat-focused cycle today.

12/29/14 Monday December 29, 2014 (DB CL, DB PR 24kgs complex) and Tuesday December 30, 2014 (16kg TGUs, SL DLs)

Monday
8:00am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 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, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1
Tempo presses 16kg, 5/5

8:45am -Training session - DB CL, DB PR 24kgs complex, 20 minutes

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

24kg GSq, 5

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

16kg BUP, 1/1

12kg tempo presses, 5/5

16kg BUP, 1/1

DB CL, DB PR 24kgs complex, 3 DB CL, 3 DB PR, as many sets as possible, 20 minutes

13 sets

Totals 39 DB CL, 39 DB PR

2H SW 24kg, 10

9:15am - Complete

Notes - Start of a new cycle.  Going to be a shitload of double bell lifts, squat-focused though there is some cleans and some presses too.  Pretty excited for this.  Felt ok today given the circumstances - traveled all day back to Seattle from South Dakota yesterday, slept ok, it's been a busy week for sure.  I thought I would be a little stronger here but then again I did a decent training session on Saturday, which I never do (gym was closed on Friday), and then traveled, so I wasn't recovered for this work today.  With that said, really pleased with the technique improvements, these were good cleans and solid presses.  Definitely picked up some good tips at the SFG1 in Vancouver in November for both of these lifts, and my technique continues to improve.  Keeping the bells very close, don't let the elbows wander on the cleans.  For the press, press the feet into the ground, grip the shit out of the bells on the push to lockout.  Last reps on the press in the last 2 sets were tough, but not at failure.  Just good grinds with solid technique, pushing through the sticking point and finishing the reps strong.  

Tuesday
8:00am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 25 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, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1
Tempo presses 16kg, 5/5

8:40am - Training session - 16kg TGU, 16kg SLDLs

16kg TGU to the knee, 2/2
16kg SLDL, 5/5

8:45am - Complete

Notes - Feeling very good and moving well.

12/23/14 Tuesday Dec 23 - Sunday Dec 28, 2014 - Vacation in South Dakota

I took my kids to Deadwood, South Dakota (my birthplace and where a lot of my mom's family resides) for Christmas.  It was amazing, and we had a great trip, something I know my kids will remember and that is very special to me.

As far as training goes I didn't really know what to expect.  There is a rec center (basically a YMCA) a block from my grandmother's house with a weight room, pool etc. so I knew I was going to get a little bit of stuff in.  The plan was to go easy regardless and use this as a recharge week.

It turns out they had some light kettlebells, measured in lbs, ranging from 15lb to the heaviest at 45lb (basically an 8kg up to a 20kg).  There were double 40lb kbs which is basically somewhere between a 16kg and a 20kg (essentially an 18kg).  Not a size I ever use.

I got in some training on Wed the 24th and Saturday the 27th.  On Wed the 24th I spent a lot of time doing mobility work and teaching one my brothers some basic mobility work and KB lifts.  That was fun.  I ended up getting in probably 20 minutes or so of decent work.  I decided to do sets of 5 of double snatches with the 40lbs (haven't done a double snatch in god knows 21 months or something), and then did overhead walks, and then sets of 5 double front squats.  I did about 5 rounds of this complex, and thought it was pretty cool.  Mixed in a few sets of 1H SW with the 45lb among doing various other demos of some lifts for my brother.

On Sat the 27th I was by myself and after warming up I did "kettlebell aerobics" which is something I pulled from the SFG Blog.  With the 45lb KB I put 20 minutes on the timer and did 1 CL, 1 PR, 1 SQ and then switched hands, just going back and forth at a steady pace, and doing some fast and loose shaking out the tension between each round.  I ended up doing 18 rounds on each side, so nearly kept up a pace of 1/1 per minute for the 20 minutes.  Felt great and just what I was looking for.  I then did my Fighter Pull-Up work for the week, in a circuit with push-ups and SL DLs with the 45lb KB.   Did 5 total rounds of the circuit, with the pull-ups being 6/5/4/4/3 (22 reps, 1 up from last week), push-ups at 5 per circuit with the first 3 reps in each set basic push-ups and the last 2 reps per set lizard push-ups, and then 5/5 on the SLDLs each round.

I swam with my kids on the 24th and 27th as well, and went skiing with them on the 26th.  It was a perfect mix of relaxation and being active on this vacation.  Great stuff.

12/22/14 Monday December 22, 2014 (DB 24kg Moving Target Complex, 1H SW 32kg)

7:10am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 30 minutes

7:40am - 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
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1

7:55am - Training session - DB 24kg Moving Target Complex, 1H SW 32kg

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

24kg GSq, 5

24kg TGU, 1/1 to the knee

2H SW 24kg, 10

16kg BUP, 1/1
12kg tempo presses, 5/5
24kg BU CL, 1/1

DB 24kg Moving Target Complex – for time

2, 3, 5

DB CL, DB PR x 2, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x2

DB CL x 2, DB PR, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR x 3, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x3

DB CL x 3, DB PR, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR x 5, DB SQ

DB CL, DB PR, DB SQ x5

DB CL x 5, DB PR, DB SQ

Totals 16 DB CL, 16 DB PR, 16 DB SQ

Did this VERY quickly - 10-11 mins total.

1H SW 32kg, 8/8, x 5

80 1H SW (up from 70 last week)

8:25am - Complete

Notes - Writing this on Sunday the 28th after getting back from vacation in South Dakota from Tuesday the 23rd to today.  This was a good final training session before going on vacation.  I remember being surprised at how light the bells felt on all movements, and including the 1H SW with the 32kg, which was very strong.  Just great stuff all around.  Adding in some BUP and the tempo presses to warm up for pressing really feels good.

12/20/14 Saturday December 20, 2014 (pull-ups, push-ups, walking, hill sprints)

Writing this on Sunday evening.  Got this work in yesterday mid day, which was nice for once.  It was raining throughout and the only little challenge was keeping a good enough grip on the rings for pull-ups, but it was fine.  Got an awful lot of walking in and also added some sprints for the first time in a long time (and this time, on a hill).

Hanging from bar
Hip mobility

6 pull-ups
5 push-ups (3 regular, 2 lizard - same for all sets)
Short walk

5 pull-ups
5 push-ups
Short walk

4 pull-ups
5 push-ups
Short walk

3 pull-ups
5 push-ups
Short walk

3 pull-ups
5 push-ups
Short walk

Total pull-ups - 21, up 1 from last week; 25 push-ups

Walked for about 15 minutes after finishing this to the hill at the south end of the lake.  Did 4 sets of hill sprints, didn't time them, but its' probably about 15 seconds from the bottom of the hill to the top. Sprint up, walk down, shake it out, do it again - not that much rest between the 4 sets.  It was actually raining pretty hard at this point but didn't bother me.  Felt good actually. It's a pretty steep hill, but it felt great to do these.  My running motion felt really, really efficient and strong.  That was really cool to see as I have done no running or sprinting in a long, long time, months basically as I dropped the sprinting back in October to focus purely on SFG1 lifts.  I am writing this on Sunday and am not sore today, whereas flat ground sprints when I was doing them definitely were accompanied with some DOMS.  I think these hill sprints are going to be a great weekend addition to the other bodyweight work.

12/19/14 Friday December 19, 2014 (1H PR 28kg, DB SW 24kg)

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, 1+1
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1

8:00am - Training session - 1H PR 28kg, DB SW 24kg

24kg TGU, 1/1

16kg BUP, 1/1

24kg BU CL, 1/1
24kg TGU, 1/1
16kg BUP, 1/1
12kg tempo press, 5/5

1H Press Ladders 28kg

28kg, 1, 2, 3, x 5 each arm  (PR)

30 presses each arm

DB SW 24kg, 10, x 4

8:45am - Complete

Notes - Just awesome stuff.  My overhead position is feeling really good, very strong, significantly less tension and tightness on the R side.  Very pleased.  The arm bar and other work is opening things up.  These presses today were VERY strong.  I absolutely owned the 28kg for 5 sets of 1, 2, 3 - this is a PR.  I am very pleased about the 1H pressing improvement during this cycle.  Great stuff going into a Christmas week where I will be vacationing in South Dakota with my kids.  Will be bodyweight work mostly I anticipate as I probably won't have access to KBs, maybe a little barbell work but I don't plan on going too hard - mostly resting, mobility, some pull-ups and push-up variations, probably some pistol squats on a GTG basis.  

12/18/14 Thursday December 18, 2014 (16kg TGUs, SL DLs)

7:00am - FMS drills (belly breathing, soft tissue work, t-spine, 1/2 kneeling) - 25 minutes

7:25am - 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, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg, 1/1
Arm bar 16kg with 3 presses and rotations, 1/1

7:40am - Training session - 16kg TGU, 16kg SLDLs

16kg TGU to the knee, 2/2
16kg SLDL, 5/5

7:45am - Complete

Notes - Feeling very good and moving well.  Very pleased.  Looking forward to some 28kg pressing tomorrow, hitting 5 ladders of 1, 2, 3 and trying to dominate each rep to really own the 28kg.