Medium day - 5 ladders x 3 rungs C&P / Pull-ups. This was followed by 8 mins of swings. I originally "rolled" a 12 for swings but given the temperature (36 degrees) I opted to cut this back to 8 mins. This was done with 20 swings / 30 secs rest so it wasn't an all out effort.
We leave today for Horsham for Christmas and New Year. Really looking forward to spending time with both Carla's and my family. I'm taking a few training implements home - set of power rings, a band, skipping rope, the 16 kg and 24 kg kettlebell which should keep me out of trouble. In fact the next week and a bit will really set 2010 up in a positive way. No work. Just be able to work out hard, lay around and recover (catch up on some reading) and eat. Weighed in this morning at 85.5 so it will be interesting to see how we go. If I can hold this or even lose some it will be worth it.
If I can figure out how to post on my iphone, I'll be able to continue otherwise it's ciao for now.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday 22/12/09
Variety day on the ROP and it was some loaded cleans alternated by get-ups on the agenda. Given that we are heading home on Thursday and my access to my olympic bar and weight will be non-existent I've decided to focus on this for my variety days.
5x5 loaded cleans alternated with 1 kalos stenhos getup. This was followed by 3 x 10 swings and 2 x 2 snatches. Particularly pleased with how the swinging and snatching of the 24 is going. Will endeavour to build it up to 10 in the coming weeks.
5x5 loaded cleans alternated with 1 kalos stenhos getup. This was followed by 3 x 10 swings and 2 x 2 snatches. Particularly pleased with how the swinging and snatching of the 24 is going. Will endeavour to build it up to 10 in the coming weeks.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday 21/12/09
Light day - 5 x 2 rungs Military Presses (as opposed to clean & press) with pull-ups. Followed up by 10 mins of 10L, 10R snatches with a minute rest. Ended up with 121. Nice and easy workout.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Saturday 19/12/09
Been a couple of days since the last post so here's a summary of the past few days:
Thursday 17/12/09
Variety day - Warm-up & 2 x 5 Deadlifts. Used 60 and 55 for the two sets. Felt pretty good despite not having deadlifted in about a week or so.
Friday 18/12/09
Rest day - Job interview and shopping day at Doncaster. On the feet for most of the day so was pretty tired last night. Not the best day of eating.
Saturday 19/12/09
Heavy Day - 5 ladders x 4 rungs of C&P / Pull-up. Was very satisfied with todays effort. Was able to make all of the ladders as well as being able to do the pull-ups. Will endeavour to take the pull up bar home and continue to integrate the pull-ups into the ROP as I am feeling the improvements. Going to leave the pull-up bar on the door for pull-ups during the day to "grease the groove".
Followed up the clean and presses with 5 mins of swings. 142 in all on a 30 on / 30 sec off arrangement although the rest intervals varied between 15 to 30 secs.
Thursday 17/12/09
Variety day - Warm-up & 2 x 5 Deadlifts. Used 60 and 55 for the two sets. Felt pretty good despite not having deadlifted in about a week or so.
Friday 18/12/09
Rest day - Job interview and shopping day at Doncaster. On the feet for most of the day so was pretty tired last night. Not the best day of eating.
Saturday 19/12/09
Heavy Day - 5 ladders x 4 rungs of C&P / Pull-up. Was very satisfied with todays effort. Was able to make all of the ladders as well as being able to do the pull-ups. Will endeavour to take the pull up bar home and continue to integrate the pull-ups into the ROP as I am feeling the improvements. Going to leave the pull-up bar on the door for pull-ups during the day to "grease the groove".
Followed up the clean and presses with 5 mins of swings. 142 in all on a 30 on / 30 sec off arrangement although the rest intervals varied between 15 to 30 secs.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday 16/12/09
Medium day today - 5 ladders x 3 rungs C&P alternated with one-arm rows. Decided to sub the rows in for pull ups in preparation for going back to Horsham next week. With lack of access to a pull up bar I thought that one arm rows will be a suitable replacement.
This was followed up with 247 swings in 11 minutes. Due to fairly stifling heat (38 degrees) I decided to do my swings in the air conditioned comfort of inside. Good move as I was pretty nailed afterwards and would probably have nearly killed myself otherwise.
This was followed up with 247 swings in 11 minutes. Due to fairly stifling heat (38 degrees) I decided to do my swings in the air conditioned comfort of inside. Good move as I was pretty nailed afterwards and would probably have nearly killed myself otherwise.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Journey
As the year draws to a close I am finding myself reflecting over the past year in particular my training. It's amazing to look back and see just how far you have come and I am finding that using kettlebells on a regular basis, gives you a good gauge of progress.
Purchased the first kettlebell early this year in Geelong along with Mike Mahler's Beginner Kettlebell Workshop DVD. Initially worked through a three day a week program but soon moved onto barbell training at a commercial gym. It was here that a Starting Strength type program was undertaken for a small period of time.
In fact if anything, the first few months of the year was punctuated by switching programs from either Starting Strength, Kettlebells or Crossfit. I was playing golf as well for the first three months and saw my handicap drop from 27 in April 2008 to 17 when I had my last round in around May 2009.
We moved to Melbourne in March and training was very on and off. Again drifting between KB's (it was now that I discovered Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell book and DVD) and Crossfit. Was reluctant to join a commercial gym owing to the fact that I was spending 2 hrs a day in transit. Plus we were entering the colder months and the desire to train was quite low.
Around July was when I purchased a 7ft Olympic Bar with around 77.5kg's of weight. From here I started looking at some of Dan John's programs of cleaning, military pressing and front squatting. It was around this time that I bought another 16 kg KB as well as a 24 kg. Again I flirted with some Crossfit workouts, Program Minimum or bar work.
Around August purchased a weights bench and started doing some more bar work. Benching, squatting, deadlifting, pressing, etc. In September we flew up to the Gold Coast for work where I sort of knew that training would be difficult. I was doing some Program Minimum stuff but decided to put it on hold for the trip.
So we arrive to October and it is decided that it is time to give ETK the attention it deserves. This kicked off virtually the day after my birthday. 4 weeks of Program Minimum and then the Rite of Passage.
Which is where we are today. So far so good. I am amazed at the progress I have made. From struggling to swing the 16kg and doing get-ups to last night being able to snatch the 24 kg (albeit for 2 reps) and able to do hips high get-ups in the Kalos Stenhos style with the 24 kg. Body comp is improving due to the consistency in my workouts as well as changes to diet. Eating eggs every day makes a massive difference and adding bacon to that equation is something I have started to do. My diet is by no means perfect but is certainly a lot better than it was. (a lot of carbs, little protein or good fats). Clothes are fitting better despite only dropping 2 to 3 kgs. Lean muscle is increasing and it is quite visible.
So the plan for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas - The remaining weeks of theROP will take me to the end of January. This is the goal - to finish strong. I have invested nearly 10 weeks of time and effort into the ETK program and I am determined to finish that good work. I have been constantly searching for other program options (e.g. Olympic lifting, Crossfit, Starting Strength, Wendlar's 5/3/1, Viking Warrior Conditioning) but have always gravitated back to ETK.
Once this is done, I plan on doing a 2 week PM with 2 weeks of Power to the People deadlifting and pressing. We shall see.
Purchased the first kettlebell early this year in Geelong along with Mike Mahler's Beginner Kettlebell Workshop DVD. Initially worked through a three day a week program but soon moved onto barbell training at a commercial gym. It was here that a Starting Strength type program was undertaken for a small period of time.
In fact if anything, the first few months of the year was punctuated by switching programs from either Starting Strength, Kettlebells or Crossfit. I was playing golf as well for the first three months and saw my handicap drop from 27 in April 2008 to 17 when I had my last round in around May 2009.
We moved to Melbourne in March and training was very on and off. Again drifting between KB's (it was now that I discovered Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell book and DVD) and Crossfit. Was reluctant to join a commercial gym owing to the fact that I was spending 2 hrs a day in transit. Plus we were entering the colder months and the desire to train was quite low.
Around July was when I purchased a 7ft Olympic Bar with around 77.5kg's of weight. From here I started looking at some of Dan John's programs of cleaning, military pressing and front squatting. It was around this time that I bought another 16 kg KB as well as a 24 kg. Again I flirted with some Crossfit workouts, Program Minimum or bar work.
Around August purchased a weights bench and started doing some more bar work. Benching, squatting, deadlifting, pressing, etc. In September we flew up to the Gold Coast for work where I sort of knew that training would be difficult. I was doing some Program Minimum stuff but decided to put it on hold for the trip.
So we arrive to October and it is decided that it is time to give ETK the attention it deserves. This kicked off virtually the day after my birthday. 4 weeks of Program Minimum and then the Rite of Passage.
Which is where we are today. So far so good. I am amazed at the progress I have made. From struggling to swing the 16kg and doing get-ups to last night being able to snatch the 24 kg (albeit for 2 reps) and able to do hips high get-ups in the Kalos Stenhos style with the 24 kg. Body comp is improving due to the consistency in my workouts as well as changes to diet. Eating eggs every day makes a massive difference and adding bacon to that equation is something I have started to do. My diet is by no means perfect but is certainly a lot better than it was. (a lot of carbs, little protein or good fats). Clothes are fitting better despite only dropping 2 to 3 kgs. Lean muscle is increasing and it is quite visible.
So the plan for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas - The remaining weeks of theROP will take me to the end of January. This is the goal - to finish strong. I have invested nearly 10 weeks of time and effort into the ETK program and I am determined to finish that good work. I have been constantly searching for other program options (e.g. Olympic lifting, Crossfit, Starting Strength, Wendlar's 5/3/1, Viking Warrior Conditioning) but have always gravitated back to ETK.
Once this is done, I plan on doing a 2 week PM with 2 weeks of Power to the People deadlifting and pressing. We shall see.
Tuesday 15/12/09
Variety day and I decided to do some loaded cleans alternated with get-ups with the 24 kg. This was followed by 3 x 10 swings and 2 x 1 snatches again with the 24 kg. Have decided to focus on these types of drills in the coming weeks with a view to improve the clean and press with the 24kg. Was particularly happy about snatching the 24 kg. Really built up to this in terms of preparing for the worse but like the loaded cleans, the 24 just seems to find the right position.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday 14/12/09
Week no 6 in the Rite of Passage and tonight was a light day. 5 ladders x 2 rungs followed 6 mins of snatches. Snatches are starting to feel really good - left arm in particular. I was contemplating doing the cMVO2 test from Viking Warrior Conditioning tonight but opted not to based on the conclusion that I am probably not quite there yet.
Tonights clean and presses felt pretty good considering what transpired on the weekend. The workout from Saturday left me fairly tired in the afternoon. This coincided with a trip to Geelong to catch up with some friends. Driving duties were left up to me and suffice to say - a late night followed. We didn't get back home until after 1 am.
We woke the next day to go shopping at DFO - another 3 hours on your feet on a nice hard concrete floor in thongs :(. Did not want to get up this morning let me tell you.
Tonights clean and presses felt pretty good considering what transpired on the weekend. The workout from Saturday left me fairly tired in the afternoon. This coincided with a trip to Geelong to catch up with some friends. Driving duties were left up to me and suffice to say - a late night followed. We didn't get back home until after 1 am.
We woke the next day to go shopping at DFO - another 3 hours on your feet on a nice hard concrete floor in thongs :(. Did not want to get up this morning let me tell you.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday 12/12/09
Heavy day on the Rite of Passage. 5 ladders x 4 rungs. First time doing this workout and I must say that it was tough. Subbed some one arm rows at ladder 3 instead of pull-ups which enabled me to finish off each ladder as intended. By the 4th rung of each ladder, in particular with the left arm, I was certainly struggling to press the KB.
Finished this off with 12 mins of swings. I decided to do them on a 20 swing/20 sec rest interval. This gave me a total of 200 by the end. This was a great finisher to a very tough workout.
Finished this off with 12 mins of swings. I decided to do them on a 20 swing/20 sec rest interval. This gave me a total of 200 by the end. This was a great finisher to a very tough workout.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday 10/12/09
Variety day today and I once again decided to deadlift. Experimented a bit with the warm-up though. Started with 2x10 Overhead Squats with the broomstick followed by some hip flexor stretches. Then did sets of 3 in the kalos stenhos get-up to the hips high position (3 left, 3 right). Followed this up with some romanian deadlift stretches, some snatch practice and jerk practice using the broomstick.
For the main set I was able to whack the 20's on each side of the bar for the first time in a while :) Followed this up with 5 reps of 55 kg. All in all a productive session.
Was quite bemused driving in to work this morning and listening to SEN. Because I have been driving my girlfriends car and don't have access to my mp3 player in the car, I have been listening to them in the morning on the way to work. Their bias towards all things AFL football is bordering on ridiculous but they managed to discuss other matters this morning - namely cricket.
They interviewed Terry Jenner who was Shane Warne's former coach. They were discussing the merits of a reality style / Australian Idol type show to discover the next Shane Warne. The fact that Warne was a one in a generation type bowler seemed to be lost to the interviewers as they continued to press the whole "so how would the show work" and "would you have Shane on it", etc. The fact that Jenner squashed the notion right at the outset didn't stop their incessant and inane questions.
Jenner did mention the difficulty of the current situation of development in under 19 players and in particular spin bowlers. They are groomed for bi-annual world cup tournament in which they play 50 over matches. The style of bowling required for this type of cricket requires a spinner to place importance on conceding fewer runs at the expense of taking wickets. Contrast this to Shanes day in which the development squads of his era played 4 day matches and he had the freedom to aggressively attack the stumps and try and take wickets.
So we have a situation where the system does not encourage or foster the ability of another Shane Warne. Again this seemed to be lost to the interviewers as well.
This reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers which goes into great depth on the "other" factors that contribute to greatness. The fact that Shane Warne with his freakish abilities was able to go through a system that encouraged his ability contributed to his overall ability. It would be interesting to discover what other factors may have contributed as well.
For the main set I was able to whack the 20's on each side of the bar for the first time in a while :) Followed this up with 5 reps of 55 kg. All in all a productive session.
Was quite bemused driving in to work this morning and listening to SEN. Because I have been driving my girlfriends car and don't have access to my mp3 player in the car, I have been listening to them in the morning on the way to work. Their bias towards all things AFL football is bordering on ridiculous but they managed to discuss other matters this morning - namely cricket.
They interviewed Terry Jenner who was Shane Warne's former coach. They were discussing the merits of a reality style / Australian Idol type show to discover the next Shane Warne. The fact that Warne was a one in a generation type bowler seemed to be lost to the interviewers as they continued to press the whole "so how would the show work" and "would you have Shane on it", etc. The fact that Jenner squashed the notion right at the outset didn't stop their incessant and inane questions.
Jenner did mention the difficulty of the current situation of development in under 19 players and in particular spin bowlers. They are groomed for bi-annual world cup tournament in which they play 50 over matches. The style of bowling required for this type of cricket requires a spinner to place importance on conceding fewer runs at the expense of taking wickets. Contrast this to Shanes day in which the development squads of his era played 4 day matches and he had the freedom to aggressively attack the stumps and try and take wickets.
So we have a situation where the system does not encourage or foster the ability of another Shane Warne. Again this seemed to be lost to the interviewers as well.
This reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers which goes into great depth on the "other" factors that contribute to greatness. The fact that Shane Warne with his freakish abilities was able to go through a system that encouraged his ability contributed to his overall ability. It would be interesting to discover what other factors may have contributed as well.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday 9/12/09
Medium day ROP - 5 ladders x 3 rungs C&P with chin-ups (as opposed to pull-ups). Followed by 2 mins of swings.
Clean & presses went well given this was deemed a heavy workout all of two weeks ago. 30 reps total for each arm. Required a bit of assistance with the chin-ups by way of completing the chin-up and then resetting between reps.
With 2 mins allocated to swings I wanted to go the whole duration and just see how many swings I ended up with. Totalled 78 which I was reasonably pleased about. The aim will be to hit 100 with the 16 kg.
Clean & presses went well given this was deemed a heavy workout all of two weeks ago. 30 reps total for each arm. Required a bit of assistance with the chin-ups by way of completing the chin-up and then resetting between reps.
With 2 mins allocated to swings I wanted to go the whole duration and just see how many swings I ended up with. Totalled 78 which I was reasonably pleased about. The aim will be to hit 100 with the 16 kg.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday 8/12/09
Variety day today in the ROP and I decided to mix up the warm-up just a bit. Started with a set of 8 overhead squats with a broomstick. This was followed by approx. 20 metres of waiter walks, suitcase walks and heartbeat walks - all with the 16 kg. I then did 3 hips high Kalos Stenhos get-ups on each side.
For the main workout I did 2 x 5 deadlifts with 57.5kg and 52.5kg respectively. The first set was done with a reasonably long lifting tempo and felt pretty good. The backdown set was equally as smooth. All in all a nice workout.
Tonight's medium day of 5 ladders x 3 rungs (which was my previous heavy day) with 2 mins of swings. Thinking of going in two directions with the swings: a) either balls out swinging with the 16 kg or b) using the 24 kg. Not sure at this stage. Will see how we feel tonight.
For the main workout I did 2 x 5 deadlifts with 57.5kg and 52.5kg respectively. The first set was done with a reasonably long lifting tempo and felt pretty good. The backdown set was equally as smooth. All in all a nice workout.
Tonight's medium day of 5 ladders x 3 rungs (which was my previous heavy day) with 2 mins of swings. Thinking of going in two directions with the swings: a) either balls out swinging with the 16 kg or b) using the 24 kg. Not sure at this stage. Will see how we feel tonight.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Monday 7/12/09
Yesterday I watched Dan Johns Olympic Lifting DVD for beginners and decided to participate in the workouts. Essentially Dan teachs the olympic lifts using PVC pipes or broomsticks. The only weight lifted was the 16 kg bell for goblet squatting and romanian deadlift stretching. This is an excellent DVD and by the end of it I felt comfortable with the snatch and clean and jerk. Would love to integrate this into my current training but fear that if may interfere a little more than I would like. Once the ROP is over I might consider a period of focussing on the 0-lifts but that will be a decision for later.
This morning was ROP light day and this week I am shooting for 5 ladders x 4 rungs for my heavy day on Saturday. This means that your medium day will be 5 x 3 and the light day 5 x 2. Felt pretty good this morning. Need to work on working the pull-up consecutively i.e. 2 pull-ups straight instead of 1 and then 1.
For my volume work I did 9 mins of 10L and 10R handed snatches with 1 mins rest. Ended up with 100. Starting to feel a lot better in the snatch in particular the left hand. Not banging it up as badly as I did at the start. Dan in the kettlebell DVD suggests that you refine your technique by doing Kenneth Jays Viking Warrior Conditioning program. (incidently received that over the weekend and started to read it). Right arm still is a lot stronger but the left hand is getting there.
The Vo2 max program in Kenneths book is definately worth a look but again will complete my ROP cycle first. In fact in a form post on Dave Drapers site, Dan recommended completing the ROP and then doing 2 cycles of - 2 weeks of Program minimum, 2 weeks of Power to the People deadlifts and then 2 weeks of VWC for a total duration of 12 weeks. He then suggested to do 2 more weeks of PM and then 2 weeks of PTTP and finally the last 2 weeks of the rite of passage to try and ace the snatch test. This is looking like the most likely scenario but will assess things in 8 weeks time.
This morning was ROP light day and this week I am shooting for 5 ladders x 4 rungs for my heavy day on Saturday. This means that your medium day will be 5 x 3 and the light day 5 x 2. Felt pretty good this morning. Need to work on working the pull-up consecutively i.e. 2 pull-ups straight instead of 1 and then 1.
For my volume work I did 9 mins of 10L and 10R handed snatches with 1 mins rest. Ended up with 100. Starting to feel a lot better in the snatch in particular the left hand. Not banging it up as badly as I did at the start. Dan in the kettlebell DVD suggests that you refine your technique by doing Kenneth Jays Viking Warrior Conditioning program. (incidently received that over the weekend and started to read it). Right arm still is a lot stronger but the left hand is getting there.
The Vo2 max program in Kenneths book is definately worth a look but again will complete my ROP cycle first. In fact in a form post on Dave Drapers site, Dan recommended completing the ROP and then doing 2 cycles of - 2 weeks of Program minimum, 2 weeks of Power to the People deadlifts and then 2 weeks of VWC for a total duration of 12 weeks. He then suggested to do 2 more weeks of PM and then 2 weeks of PTTP and finally the last 2 weeks of the rite of passage to try and ace the snatch test. This is looking like the most likely scenario but will assess things in 8 weeks time.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Saturday 5/12/09
Today was a clean & press and snatch test day. The intention was to attempt as many clean & presses with the 24kg KB and then perform a 5 min snatch test with the 16kg.
Started off with some swings, C&P's, and get-ups with the 16kg. This was followed by loaded cleans with the 24kg. A pretty good warmup and I was feeling good.
I tested the left arm C&P and ended up with 1 (well 1 and a half actually). The right hand resulted in 2. It is fairly evident that I require a bit more C&P work if I am to progress to the pressing half your body weight goal.
The snatch test went reasonably well but for the fact that I didn't do it exactly as stipulated in the ETK manual. The snatch test listed in the book calls for the lifter to maintain a grip on the kettlebell at all times. Suffice to say I put it down when changing hands. So if I was to go by the rules I would have only ended up with 10 but as it were I completed 100. This was my goal as I figured I could peel off 10 per hand in a minute.
Started off with some swings, C&P's, and get-ups with the 16kg. This was followed by loaded cleans with the 24kg. A pretty good warmup and I was feeling good.
I tested the left arm C&P and ended up with 1 (well 1 and a half actually). The right hand resulted in 2. It is fairly evident that I require a bit more C&P work if I am to progress to the pressing half your body weight goal.
The snatch test went reasonably well but for the fact that I didn't do it exactly as stipulated in the ETK manual. The snatch test listed in the book calls for the lifter to maintain a grip on the kettlebell at all times. Suffice to say I put it down when changing hands. So if I was to go by the rules I would have only ended up with 10 but as it were I completed 100. This was my goal as I figured I could peel off 10 per hand in a minute.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Friday 4/12/09
Rest day today. Was great to be able to sleep in until 6:15 :( Kind of sad!
Awaiting delivery of a hard copy of Enter the Kettlebell and Viking Warrior Conditioning. Hopefully both show up today.
Watched Dan Johns kettlebell DVD and part of the Olympic Lifting one as well last night. As per usual there is plenty of good stuff in both. Dan John breaks down the hardstyle KB swing and the Kalos Stenhos get-up (both part of the Program Minimum in ETK). He described the concept of a moving plank and being quite tight (as per a plank) when the KB comes to chest level, really pulling it down towards your zipper (to empasise the lats) and hike passing it (look it up on google - NFL term). Some things to work on with my next lot of swings. He made the point of not "squat" swinging the KB but rather snapping the hips to drive the bell towards the chest level.
Next he went through the Kalos Stenhos method. I have been using this for any get-ups I've been doing in the past few weeks. He uses some really good cues to get you to the right position. (cuddle postion, hips high, to the T, etc). Seeing these two movements coached well really emphasises their importance but also demonstrates their ability to provide you with all the conditioning, strength training and joint mobility that you will ever need.
Awaiting delivery of a hard copy of Enter the Kettlebell and Viking Warrior Conditioning. Hopefully both show up today.
Watched Dan Johns kettlebell DVD and part of the Olympic Lifting one as well last night. As per usual there is plenty of good stuff in both. Dan John breaks down the hardstyle KB swing and the Kalos Stenhos get-up (both part of the Program Minimum in ETK). He described the concept of a moving plank and being quite tight (as per a plank) when the KB comes to chest level, really pulling it down towards your zipper (to empasise the lats) and hike passing it (look it up on google - NFL term). Some things to work on with my next lot of swings. He made the point of not "squat" swinging the KB but rather snapping the hips to drive the bell towards the chest level.
Next he went through the Kalos Stenhos method. I have been using this for any get-ups I've been doing in the past few weeks. He uses some really good cues to get you to the right position. (cuddle postion, hips high, to the T, etc). Seeing these two movements coached well really emphasises their importance but also demonstrates their ability to provide you with all the conditioning, strength training and joint mobility that you will ever need.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thursday 3/12/09
Day 4 of the Rite of Passage program calls for a variety day. The intention was to do some loaded cleans / get-ups with the 24kg and then some swings but opted instead for 2x5 Deadlifts as per the Power to the People program. It is an option contained within the FAQ of the Enter the Kettlebell book in which Pavel suggests utilising the deadlifts on the variety days in the ROP. He says to drop the pressing movement as you will be getting ample pressing work via the clean and presses with the kettlebell. It's a nice and simple workout - warmup (3x10 Goblet Squats, 10 Halos, 5 pump stretches) with the deadlifts. Want to work up to a double body weight deadlift (which would be around the 170kg mark at present) in time.
Was going to book the Danny Green v Roy Jones Jr fight last night on pay per view. At $49.95 I opted not to which given the result of the fight, was proabably a good move. Instead I watched the first Dan John DVD. There is so much gold in this first DVD.
He reinforces the concept of "the goal is to keep the goal the goal" throughout which is something I must keep in mind. He talked about the role of the strength coach (and for the home trainer this means you) and the different levels therein. Level 1 for example being "Do no harm" with level 2 "addressing qualities". He makes the point that for most people the 2 qualities most sought after are fat loss and hypertrophy. This is something I must keep in mind when my mind starts to entertain thoughts of boxing, karate, etc.
Dan touched on training movements and not muscles. This was followed up by a fantastic description of the Phasic and Tonic muscles. Tonic muscles tend to tighten as we age, hence why you see old people hunched over. Phasic muscles tend to weaken. For me this was a real a-ha moment and could prove to be valuable as I forge on in my fitness and training career. Dan mentioned that the Program Minimum in ETK is more than what most people require. With swings and get-ups you are training movements, strengthening and lengthening the tonic and phasic muscles and addressing the qualities that most people are after.
As I mentioned, this DVD (the first of four) was pure gold. Going to watch the second one tonight which covers kettlebells.
Was going to book the Danny Green v Roy Jones Jr fight last night on pay per view. At $49.95 I opted not to which given the result of the fight, was proabably a good move. Instead I watched the first Dan John DVD. There is so much gold in this first DVD.
He reinforces the concept of "the goal is to keep the goal the goal" throughout which is something I must keep in mind. He talked about the role of the strength coach (and for the home trainer this means you) and the different levels therein. Level 1 for example being "Do no harm" with level 2 "addressing qualities". He makes the point that for most people the 2 qualities most sought after are fat loss and hypertrophy. This is something I must keep in mind when my mind starts to entertain thoughts of boxing, karate, etc.
Dan touched on training movements and not muscles. This was followed up by a fantastic description of the Phasic and Tonic muscles. Tonic muscles tend to tighten as we age, hence why you see old people hunched over. Phasic muscles tend to weaken. For me this was a real a-ha moment and could prove to be valuable as I forge on in my fitness and training career. Dan mentioned that the Program Minimum in ETK is more than what most people require. With swings and get-ups you are training movements, strengthening and lengthening the tonic and phasic muscles and addressing the qualities that most people are after.
As I mentioned, this DVD (the first of four) was pure gold. Going to watch the second one tonight which covers kettlebells.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Wednesday 2/12/09
Rite of passage "medium" day. 5 ladders x 2 rungs C&P/Pull-ups with 6 mins of swings - 154 total. Fairly nice day. Was intending to do a longer swing set but backed it off with the upcoming Press and Snatch test on Saturday.
Received my Dan John DVD's yesterday. Basically 5 DVD's that cover all sorts of matters relating to strength training. Will cover them off over the coming days.
Received my Dan John DVD's yesterday. Basically 5 DVD's that cover all sorts of matters relating to strength training. Will cover them off over the coming days.
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