Warmed up with the Super Joints. This is such a great way to get started and loosen up. Especially when the real job has you riding a desk most of the time.
ROP Medium Day.
Clean and Press Ladders 3 ladders of 1,2,3 @ 32kg with Pistol Practice in between.
Two Hand Swings with Bulldog. Dice rolls for time. Rolled a 9. Did :20 seconds of work and :40 seconds of rest for 9 rounds. Averaged 14 reps in those :20 seconds.
If I'm doing the math right, Sunday's volume looked like this:
(1+2+3)2 x 3 = 36 x 32 = 1152kg pressed (2540lbs)
14 x 9 = 126 reps x 40kg = 5040 kg swung (11113.2lbs)
Cool down: Hanging Leg Raises 5x5 and Cobra Stretches. Arm Bar when I got home with 24 # bell.
Highlights: Mrs Bradley joined me and shadowed me on the ladders and the Swings. She used a 24# bell for the Clean and Press and did her Swings with the 35#er. My lady did some good work.
Felt the second round of Pistol practice was the best attempts of the 3 rounds. I had more control in the decent which for me is important. I know once I pass parallel, I start to get anxious about falling backward. I think next time around I will try to go even lower and ride the anxiety all the way down. Once I get to a certain point, I loose either strength, flexibility or both and then fall back. I want to get that "fall back" part lower and consistent.
Tuesday (Heavy day) I will shoot for 3 x 1,2,3,4 on the Clean & Press plus Box Pistols and then see what fate brings for the Bulldog.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday Night Training
So Thursday night after working at the "real" job, I headed to the park to enjoy the receding daylight and get in my easy ladders and snatches.
Warm up was the classic warm up from Enter the Kettlebell.
The work was 3 ladders of 1,2 on the Clean and Press with the 32kg bell and in between ladders, I used a pole to lower myself into a rock bottom pistol and performed static holds for as long as it seemed "comfortable." Just trying to stick the bottom with strength, flexibility and balance. Slightly better than last time. I felt a bit more flexible and my balance is improving. Don't get me wrong, if I'd have let go of the pole, I'd have been on my ass faster than you could say "on your ass." It's just that I didn't have to hold on so hard so I'm calling that an improvement. After the holds, I would do a Pump/Cobra stretch and then return to the Clean and Press.
Interesting how sore you can get from a static hold. Meaning had some good DOMF the next morning. Mostly felt in in the hips and deep in the hams and glutes. This wasn't the normal lactic acid cesspool you get after a high volume day of Romanian Deadlifts, this was a deep soreness, like muscles are working now that don't really get out much.
Snatches. Goal was 120 in 10 minutes or less with the 24. Got that. Wouldn't say it was easy. I had about 15 seconds left when I stopped. I was simply doing sets of 5 and 5. I split it up into rounds. First round was 3 sets; 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5 stop, 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5, 5/5, stop, and 5/5.
Slow and steady wins the race. My glutes wore out and the last set was all heart. It seems as if the conditioning is there, but it's been a while since I worked with the 24 on high volume snatching so my body is coming back to it a little reluctantly. Which is fine. 200 in 10 will fall by the end of the year if not sooner.
Warm up was the classic warm up from Enter the Kettlebell.
The work was 3 ladders of 1,2 on the Clean and Press with the 32kg bell and in between ladders, I used a pole to lower myself into a rock bottom pistol and performed static holds for as long as it seemed "comfortable." Just trying to stick the bottom with strength, flexibility and balance. Slightly better than last time. I felt a bit more flexible and my balance is improving. Don't get me wrong, if I'd have let go of the pole, I'd have been on my ass faster than you could say "on your ass." It's just that I didn't have to hold on so hard so I'm calling that an improvement. After the holds, I would do a Pump/Cobra stretch and then return to the Clean and Press.
Interesting how sore you can get from a static hold. Meaning had some good DOMF the next morning. Mostly felt in in the hips and deep in the hams and glutes. This wasn't the normal lactic acid cesspool you get after a high volume day of Romanian Deadlifts, this was a deep soreness, like muscles are working now that don't really get out much.
Snatches. Goal was 120 in 10 minutes or less with the 24. Got that. Wouldn't say it was easy. I had about 15 seconds left when I stopped. I was simply doing sets of 5 and 5. I split it up into rounds. First round was 3 sets; 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5 stop, 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, stop, 5/5, 5/5, stop, and 5/5.
Slow and steady wins the race. My glutes wore out and the last set was all heart. It seems as if the conditioning is there, but it's been a while since I worked with the 24 on high volume snatching so my body is coming back to it a little reluctantly. Which is fine. 200 in 10 will fall by the end of the year if not sooner.
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Tao of the Kettlebell - Verse 10
Carrying body and soul
and embracing the one,
can you avoid separation?
Can you let your body become
as supple as a newborn child's?
In the opening and shutting of heaven's gate,
can you play the feminine part?
Can you love your people
and govern your domain
without self-importance?
Giving birth and nourishing;
having, yet not possessing;
working, yet not taking credit;
leading without controlling or dominating.
One who heed this power
brings the Tao to this very earth.
This is the primal virtue.
's Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
, he refers to this verse of the Tao as "Living Oneness." Dr. Dyer also goes on to introduce this verse by reminding us of the paradoxical nature of the Tao. Body and Spirit, Yen and Yang. Same only different. "We are connected to the power of the eternal Tao, while simultaneously being in a mortal physique." That is how the verse starts off. Lao-Tzu tells us:Carrying body and soul and embracing the one, can you avoid separation?
We have this body, this vessel that is mortal, that carries an eternal piece. A piece of the Tao or God or the Universe. Many are not fully aware of the other side. By that I mean the spiritual aspect of their body. If you exercise, train with weights, Kettlebells specifically, and Hardstyle to be even more specific, then you understand the moments of euphoria when you hit a PR. But wasn't it more about the journey? Aren't you stronger for it and I don't mean just the body.
Whether you like it or not there's a whole other side. The white to the black and it is eternal. Eventually you will connect with it. The question is, will you do it now or later? By connecting to and maintaining that connection, you can harness the strength to lift yourself out of the deepest and darkest of holes.
Can you let your body become as supple as a newborn child's?
Tension. It helps generate force. Tension is the beginning of strength. But what about the opposite? The Yang? There must be time to relax. To shake out the tension. Release it and regain the suppleness of the child. And through that practice, can we also reconnect to the childlike joy and peace that exists when Santa Claus is coming to town?
The RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) system in also known as Hardstyle. Meaning the practice of Hardstyle Kettlebell training has one basic thread throughout the practice and that is compression. Hardstyle Kettlebell training will teach you how to create strength and force through the focus of energy and generation of tension. There's nothing "supple" about Hardstyle Kettlebell Training.
Or is there? What is the Yang to the Yin of tension? The Tao says "supple." The RKC says relaxation. In the RKC there are "grinds" and there are "ballistics." When you grind out a repetition, there is lots of tension and when you're working your ballistics, like swings and snatches, you get to waver between tension and relaxation.
"The effect of these exercises, when performed with light clubs, is chiefly a neural one, hence they are primary factors in the development of grace, coordination and rhythm. As they tend to supple the muscles and articulations of the shoulders and to the upper and fore arms and wrist, they are indicated in case where there is a tendency toward what is ordinarily known as muscle bound."
Notice the word supple? Another method of creating supple is in Qi Gong. More specifically, John DuCane's Recharge. Either way, it's about balance. And speaking of balance,
In the opening and shutting of heaven's gate, can you play the feminine part?
Think of the feminine. Women tend to be more supple then men. The woman is the creator of life. The creative spirit is uniquely feminine. Can one in their strength be strong enough to allow the creative to flow into them and then out to share heaven with the world? By helping others regain that suppleness of children coupled with the firmness and tension of adulthood we can reconnect to that which we grew out of. Can we grow back into suppleness? Tension is one of the tool. One must understand both to be the master.
We can now start to see the challenge Lao-Tzu is putting forth.
Can you love your people and govern your domain without self-importance?
Whether you're an RKC, a coach, an educator, or none of the above, you are still a teacher. You teach others by your example. How you carry yourself. Your actions. Your deeds. You teach others how you want to be treated. Make it all about you and that is all you will have. Make it all about them and you will know love.
Giving birth and nourishing; having, yet not possessing; working, yet not taking credit; leading without controlling or dominating.
One who heed this power brings the Tao to this very earth. This is the primal virtue.
This is the way of heaven. A primal virtue. Primal, to me means something that comes from deep down. A part of our very fabric of being. And virtue has always stood for something good that may require some work. Patience is a virtue, they say. Patience requires a decision and some effort. So to have a virtue, moral excellence, as Webster puts it, that reaches deep down into the fabric of your being, that is something worth training for.
How can you apply this into your training?
Kettlebell Stickers and Wounded Warriors
The Pura Vida Company is proud to announce that now through Monday, 100% of all sales from Kettlebell Stickers will be donated to the Wounded Warriors project! After Monday 5/31, 1$ will be donated!
http://shop.thepuravidacompany.com/Kettlebell-Stickers_c2.htm
Being Memorial Day, it's important to recognize the sacrifice that our troops past and present make daily and have made to keep our country safe and out of harms way.
The Wounded Warriors Project is a non profit group dedicated to honor and empower our wounded warriors.
This is a group that needs to be recognized, thanked and equally empowered as their cause is nobel.
I'd like to help this group if even in a small way which is why I'll be donating 100% of the proceeds this weekend and 1$ per sale there after!
If you train with Kettlebells and are proud of this country and would like to thank that men and women who make it possible and keep us safe, having a Kettlebell bumper sticker is a nice way to say thanks.
Tuesday/Wednesday - Heavy Day and Active Recovery
ETK ROP Heavy Day
My heavy day was... well, heavy. Clean and Press with the 32. I did 5 ladders of 1,2,3. That's 30 per side, 60 total. 1920kg lifted. Phew!
Followed that up with 1 near max set of Swings with the Bulldog. Got 22 good reps. Anymore would have been sloppy. Took a rest and knocked out 20 reps and then 18. Called myself sufficiently smoked and went to stretch out.
Active Recovery
I love a nice day of Active Recovery. Headed down to the beach off of Topanga Canyon and PCH. Just below the Getty Villa, there a few nice spots. I ran through John DuCane's Recharge and then Practiced Movement's 1 and 2 from Club Swinging Essentials. From there I headed down to the old Muscle Beach. Played on the rings for a while. Overall, all was right with the world!
My heavy day was... well, heavy. Clean and Press with the 32. I did 5 ladders of 1,2,3. That's 30 per side, 60 total. 1920kg lifted. Phew!
Followed that up with 1 near max set of Swings with the Bulldog. Got 22 good reps. Anymore would have been sloppy. Took a rest and knocked out 20 reps and then 18. Called myself sufficiently smoked and went to stretch out.
Active Recovery
I love a nice day of Active Recovery. Headed down to the beach off of Topanga Canyon and PCH. Just below the Getty Villa, there a few nice spots. I ran through John DuCane's Recharge and then Practiced Movement's 1 and 2 from Club Swinging Essentials. From there I headed down to the old Muscle Beach. Played on the rings for a while. Overall, all was right with the world!
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