to get the job done. I also committed to this workout, to keep the rest times between 2:30 and 3:00 minutes.For those of you just tuning in, I've been writing on HubPages for about 6 months and most of my material there has been about a personal challenge to myself. That challenge is to go through all 101 workouts from David Whitley's ebook, 101 Kettlebell Workouts. He offers a free copy when you subscribe to his newsletter over at irontamerdavidwhitley.com. The work I put up on HubPages is mostly article style where as here, I can simply "blog." Currently, I'm working through the German Volume Training section of the ebook. Stacking is waiting in the wings with a menacing grin...
So, where was I? Yes, Friday morning. Sunshine. German workout. Irish Girevik. Got it...
The warm up is joint mobility drills from Pavel Tsatsouline's DVD, Super Joints. It works for me because it looses me up and helps me prepare my mind for the task at hand. I also did a couple Turkish Get Ups to get the blood flowing.
The workout itself consisted of Double Kettlebell Front Squats alternated with Renegade Rows with no rest between the drills. I did 10 sets of 5 reps. I set the stop watch for 3:00 minutes. After a set, I'd walk around or jump in place a bit, maybe some lite jogging, shake out the tension and when there was :30 seconds left on the clock, I'd reset so at 3:00 even, I'm back to work.
The focus for the Squat was on four things. Pull, Pry, Drive, and Lock. I'm actively pulling myself down. I'm prying my hips apart and knees out so I can squat between my feet (thank you Dan John). At the bottom, I drive with the heels and at the top we lock, ala Hardstyle.
I think Pavel puts it best when he says "strength is a skill" and to "practice strength, don't workout." Sure, we call it a workout, but my goal is to finish stronger.
At the RKC in February 09, Mark Reifkind was talking about his yoga practice and how it related to Kettlebell training. He quoted Bikram Choudhury at stated that, "the pose does not begin until you want to get out if it." I guess for me, that means my workout started after the 6th set. If you'll recall, last week it was the 6th set and beyond that the workout started because I needed to fire up my Irish blood with a little Celtic Punk to close the deal. So this week I started working after the 6th set and with a reduction in rest time. So there we have the small, gradual, finish stronger, improvement that I was looking for.
The best part about this Superset of Suffering is that every muscle gets hit and worked. In addition as the rest time compresses itself, it become one hell of a conditioning session as well. Well executed Kettlebell training is a true triple threat in the fitness world. Strength, Conditioning and Fat Loss in one session. Next time around, I'll see if I can go 2:30 for the rest period.
I finish off with some stretching and hanging leg raises. Normally I work on Friday's but my wife and I had a day off together which resulted in a football sized Fajita Buritto from Abuelita's Mexican Restaurant in Topanga Canyon and a nap on the beach. Perfect post workout meal and a Pura Vida afternoon!
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