Training Journal for 4/23, 4/25 and 4/27

Every other day is the plan right now and I am alternating workouts between my quest for 200 snatches in 10 minutes and pressing the Bulldog and doing a Pistol.  Last week I felt like I had peaked in terms of training and decided to back off a bit, so...

4/23:  Warm Up Super Joints
          32 kg KB 1-Arm MP(3+3)/Pull Ups(3)+F2G Squats(6) in a circuit for 20 minutes EDT Style
          Ring Push Ups(6) and  Bulldog Swings (12) 15 minutes EDT style
          HLR with Pumps 2 x 5 

4/25:  Warm Up Jump Rope* 5 minutes
          O/H Squats (35# Bar) + Pumps 3 x 5
          Goblet Squats (16kg KB) + TGU's (24kg KB) 3 x 5/1+1
          Club Swings (Practice Movements 1-5) + Windmills (16kg KBl) 1+1
          Snatches 24kg KB 10+10 :50 work/:60 rest 7 rounds

4/27: Warm Up Super Joints
         Double Bell (24) Squat and Press/Pull Ups 20 minutes EDT Style
         Walking Lunge (25 yards) + Ring Push Ups (6) + Sprint (25 yards)**  15 minutes

Notes: 

*This whole "jump rope" thing really isn't 5 minutes of me jumping rope.  It's actually 5 minutes of my uncoordinated ass trying not to fall on my face intermingled with a few brief minutes of some movement pattern that vaguely resembles effective jump roping... 

**  This was a improvised smoker and worked out quite nicely.  Walking lunge for 25 yards up to my low hanging rings, bang out 6 push ups and then run back the 25 yards, take a real quick breather, like 10-15 seconds and repeat.  Worked out quite nicely. 

Rich Man's Gym is evolving and growing so watch out!

Training Journal for Monday 4/18 posted on 4/23

Monday night was one of those sessions where I realized that it's time to back off.  Warmed up nice.  Jumped rope for 5 minutes, a little Super Joint action and then got into the Wall Squats, the Pumps, the Goblet Squats, the TGU's, and the Windmills.  Swung the Clubs some and then as I hit the half way point in the scheduled Snatch workout, I realized I was completely gassed...  and way to soon. 

"Push yourself, but don't be stupid."
                                                     -David Whitley, Master RKC

You just can't argue with that wisdom....  so it's Saturday 4/23.  Five days later.  Feeling refreshed and invigorated.  Off to Rich Man's Gym!

Training Journal for 4/16

As posted on Facebook:  "Gloriously Smoked..."

After a nice Warm Up of Qi Gong Recharge and Super Joints we fired up the Bob Marley in the boom box and got down to it.

Double Clean, Squat, Press with Pull ups.  3 ladders of 1,2,34,5.  Totaling 45 reps with two 24kg Kettlebells.  Volume is (in pounds now) 106 x 45 = 4770 pounds squatted and pressed.  That was some some good work there.

Finished with a little EDT of Bulldog Swings and Ring Push Up.  12 Swings, 8 push ups, 8 rounds in 15 minutes.  More good work. 

Hub called "Rich Man's Gym" in the making, so keep an eye out...

Training Journal for 4/13 and 4/14

Was scheduled to Snatch on Wednesday but decided to go get reamed by my tax guy instead.   Didn't quite enjoy that pain.  And speaking of not enjoying pain, Thursday was exceptionally windy here in the San Fernando Valley so there was too much crap in the air to train outside.  What did I do?  Well the wind didn't really kick up until my workout was off and rolling.  Around my 6th set of 10+10 Snatches I noticed a dusty horizon and felt a scratch in my throat and chest.  So I pulled rank on myself and closed up shop 2 sets too soon.  My target that night was 10 rounds of :50 work and :60 rest.  I stopped short for the safety of it.  It just doesn't make since to be breathing in all that dust and pollen stirring around.  Better to call it quits and come back to fight another day.

That being said, as much as I love "Rich Man's Gym" there's something to be said for indoor training and a controlled environment.

Training Journal 4/11/11

The Rich Man's Gym

Some may call it a poor man's gym but I would beg to differ.  May I present The Rich Man's Gym! 

Tonight's training took a turn for the better as I hit a target.  3 ladders up to 5 reps in the 1-Arm-Kettlebell Military Press with a 32 kg 'Bell.  When you do the math out that's 45 reps per side, 90 total and 2,880kgs lifted (72 pounds x 90 reps is 6480 for those not with the whole metric thing)

In addition I followed each rung up with a pull up ladder and matched that with Feet Together Squats.  The only difference on that is I doubled the volume for the squats.  I'm practicing lowering myself slowly and pausing at the bottom.   The Feet Together Squat is also a great exercise for people in the jock strap business because it's a perfect example of "make sure your hammer and sickles are in the right spot before trying to bounce your ass off your calves."  Otherwise it was a great workout!

So volume is up.  Ya-Whoo!  Next time I'll see if I can get 4 rounds.

Normally I'd wrap things up with some Bulldog Swings and some kind of ring push up or pull over, but instead (and on a whim) I thought, lets do walking lunges and push ups.  Looked good on paper, but my legs were already smoked from the Feet Together Squats so I definitely earned my meat and veggies tonight.

The music was The Young Dubliners.  Always a treat and inspiration.  Get's my Celtic blood-a-pumpin.

Training Journal for 4/9/11

Today's workout was bitter sweet as April succumbs to Jack Frost's desire to stick around a little longer.  Chilly wind and blinding sun makes peeking out from the clouds makes for muscle confusion of a different sort.  And all hail the Indian Club as my shoulders continue to loosen up and increase in their range of motion!

Warmed up with some Chi Dancing or "Shaking" from Chinese Shamanic Tiger QiGong.  Believe it or not, but 5 minutes of carefree jumping and bouncing can go a long long way. 

Today's music of choice featured the whimsical soundtrack to O' Brother Where Art Thou.  So how's this for you?  I don't know about you, but there's something entertaining and enjoyable about listening to fairly eclectic music in a fairly busy park on a boom box from the '90s while doing Shaking Practice, Wall Squats, Pumps, Kettlebell Goblet Squats, Turkish Get Ups, Windmills and swinging Indian Clubs.  I don't know, maybe I just like the total "back in the day" immersion, maybe I'm an attention whore, maybe I'm John DuCane's worst PR nightmare, I don't know.  But what I do know is that it works for me and that's really all that matters!

Finished off with Snatches.  24 kg.  50 seconds of work (10 reps per hand) followed by 60 seconds of rest.  Got 8 rounds.  Probably could have hit the full 10 but decided to err on the side of caution and leave a little in the tank.  Finish stronger not weaker.  Next time this workout comes around, I'll hit all 10 rounds and then reduce the rest to 50 seconds.  Even Steven.  From there the real work begins as I begin to work longer than I rest.  200 reps in 10 minutes look out!  This "bell" tolls for you!

Training Journal for 4/7/11

This was the scene last evening... 

Elite Rings + Large Pine Branch
1 pair of 24 kg Kettlebells
1 Bulldog (88 lb Kettlebell)
1 Old School early 90's boom box
Lunasa and The Matrix Soundtrack

Here's the work:

5 minutes of Jumping Jacks, Burpees and Pumps to warm up
Double 24 Clean/Squat/Press + Ring Pull Ups  2 ladders of 1,2,3,4,5 and then 1 ladder of 1,2,3
Bulldog Swings and Ring Push Ups 15 minutes got 8 rounds of 12+12

For an April evening it was rather chilly and windy which quite frankly sucks.  However, the suck factor was acutely over ridden by the man factor of using a big old pine tree as a base to hang your rings to do pull ups and push ups from.  Toss in the Celtic music first, add wood to the fire via The Matrix Soundtrack and you got a pretty damn fine workout if I do say so myself.  Shoulders feel strong.  Looking forward to tomorrow's Snatch workout...  will try to get a photo of my "Richest Man in the Worlds Gym" soon.

Training Journal 4/6/11

After taking an extra day off, stress relief came in the form of...

Super Joints to warm up.

Wall Squats and Pumps 3 x 5
Club Swings movements 1 and 2 practice, practice, practice...

Snatch Work.  14 rounds of 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest.  I wanted to experiment with that work/rest cadence as I work towards 200 in 10 minutes.  Next time out I'm shooting for 50 seconds work and 1 minute off.  10 rounds.  Should be able to get all 10 sets which is 18.33 minutes.  In another week or two, I'm going to re-test my 10 minute base line.

Finished with Hanging and Bretzels.  All's good.

Training Journal for 4/3/11

So after a nice warm up of Super Joints, I dialed into my routine...

32kg Military Press, Pull Ups and F2G Squats with a Hamstring Stretch at the end.  Ladders of 1 for 1 on the MPs and Pull Ups and double the reps on F2Gs.  F2G, by the way, stands for Feet Together.  Since I'm working towards a pistol I took my que from Danny Clark's article on Dragon Door and subbed Box Squat Pistols for Feet Together Squats.  I want 5 ladders up to 10 with a pause at the bottom before returning to Box Pistols. 


So here's how it looked.:

32kg MP 1+1 / Pull Up 1 / F2G Sq 2 / Toe Touch (from Relax into Stretch)
32kg MP 2+2 / Pull Up 2 / F2G Sq 4 / Toe Touch
32kg MP 3+3 / Pull Up 3 / F2G Sq 3 / Toe Touch

Worked up to two ladders of 5 and then 1 ladder of 3.  Next time we'll hit 3 ladders of 5.

Finished with 15 minutes of alternating 12 Bulldogs Swings and 6 Ring Pullovers.  Got 9 rounds of that.  Next time I think I'm going to sub in Walking Lunges and Push Ups for 15 minutes in an EDT style and see what that does for my leg strength.  I'll welcome comments on that.  I think it'll be a nice addition to the Dbl 24 Front Squats I'm doing on my other strength day.

Looking forward to Tuesday night snatch fest!  Que Bevis and Butthead comments now...

Training Journal 4/1/11

I didn't do squat...

April fool!

Super Joints to warm up
Wall Squats and Pumps 3 x 5
16 kg Goblet Squats and 24kg  TGUs 3 x 5/1+1
Club Swings and 16 kg Windmills 3 x 10+10/1+1

24 kg Snatches 10+10 x 10 :50 work/1:20 rest

Notes:  Very important to loosen up the hips and back after working at the office for 8 hours.  Sitting can tighten you up.  Next time we Snatch we'll see about :50 work and 1:10 rest and shoot for 8 to 10 rounds.