PM grinds

After some posts on the dragon door forum and redefining my priorities I've decided to halt my progress on the ROP grinds. I was finding it was too much volume and interfering with my recovery. I wasn't doing well in either grinds or ballistics. So I am going to focus on VERY low rep grinds while I'm concentrating on the high rep ballistics. But to get benefit out of the grinds they are going to have to be heavy. When i attempted the full TGU with the 24kg and I got it with confidence, I selected that as my primary get up bell. And I'm feeling strong

Warm up:
TGU 16 kg 1L/1R X1
TGU 24 kg 1L/1R X1 (felt strong!)
       rest 5 min

Work:
5 min of Continuous TGU singles 24kg 4L/4R.
       rest 5 min
2X5 (2 sets/5 reps) MP 20kg
       resting 5 min in between sets.

I feel great and not drained at all.  :)

feeling better

I'm feeling better today that i did yesterday and the day before. So I decided to get back into the swing of things so to speak. Yesterday I skipped the grind day and took some much needed rest. And so, since yesterday turned into a rest day I started back up with ballistics. I picked something were I know I could get a great workout and not feel like a total lazy ass.
I did a breathing ladder today
1-20-1 with the 24kg bell. took 40min. simple sinister and effective.

Also Ive been on the Dragondoor.com forum and Ive been wondering if I should change the grinds I've been doing to something less volume intensive. I think just going back to TGU and maybe a 2X5 set of C&P or strick MP. We shall see.

I was not feeling it today. everything just felt so heavy. And today my cardio was pushed like it hasnt been in a long time.
all work done with 16kg.

Warm up 40 2 hand swings x 5 sets = 1 min. on 1 min. off
total 10 min.

1 swing, 1 high pull 10 L, 10 R x 2 sets = 1 min. on 1 min. off
total 4 min.
Btw I hate combos because i keep forgetting what number im on.

1 swing, 1 snatch L, 1 trans, 1 snatch R
1 trans, 2 snatch L, 1 trans, 2 snatch R
1 trans, 3 snatch L, 1 trans, 3 snatch R
1 trans, 4 snatch L, 1 trans, 4 snatch R
1 trans, 5 snatch L, 1 trans, 5 snatch R
1 trans, 6 snatch L, 1 trans, 6 snatch R
Rest 1 Min
1 swing, 6 snatch L, 1 trans, 6 snatch R
1 trans, 5 snatch L, 1 trans, 5 snatch R
1 trans, 4 snatch L, 1 trans, 4 snatch R
1 trans, 3 snatch L, 1 trans, 3 snatch R
1 trans, 2 snatch L, 1 trans, 2 snatch R
1 trans, 1 snatch L, 1 trans, 1 snatch R

Both of these sets took me 2 min. to complete, I took 1 min. rest in between and repeated twice.

I am trying to copy o at least emulate Tracy Reifkind. wow she is a machine.
http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/2006/12/new-snatch-combo.html

July 25th grinds

So today I was not feeling strong. But I stopped complaining and I got to work. Today was supposed to be my "heavy" day. I was supposed to do 4 rungs on the C&P ladder. I wasn't able to grind it out all the way. Here is what I did.

Warm up:
Tgu singles 1L/1R 16kg + 1L/1R 20kg

Work sets:
C&P with the 20kg 3X1,2,3,4 and then I did  2X4 Military press reps.


So this session I wasn't able to complete the 5x1,2,3,4. But I'm Still going to keep trying. This cycle's "light" grinds will look like 5x 1,2. and the "medium" will look like 5x1,2,3. If I hit those numbers I'm sure I will hit the 5x1,2,3,4 next cycle.

ballistics day

So today was ballistics day and I wanted to work on some intervals so I did workout #12 from Tracy Reifkind's book "The Swing". and when my fiance got home from her work we did workout #3.

Swing will be abbreviated as sw.

Workout #12, work and rest are equal
10 2 hand sw X 2 sets. 1 min
5R/5L 1 hand sw X 2 sets. 1 min
10 2 hand sw + 5R/5L X 2 sets. 2 min
(10 2 hand sw + 5R/5L) X2 X 2sets. 4min
20 2 hand sw x 2 sets. 2 min
5R/5L x2 x2 sets. 2min
20 2 hand sw X2 sets. 2 min
20 2 hand sw + 5R/5L x2 x2 sets. 4 min
20 2 hand sw + 5R/5L x2 + 20 2 hand swings x2 sets. 6 min
10 2 hand sw + 5R/5L + 10  2 hand sw x2 sets. 3 min
20 2 hand sw X2 sets. 2 min
10 2 hand sw X2 sets, 1 min

30 total min

before we started the workout #3 i instructed my fiance on the partial TGU. she did great. and just to save time we shaved off the first 4 sets of 10.
workout #3
all swings were done 2 handed and it was all done on the top of the min.
10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,20,20,20,20.
15 min.

Quick grinds

So my fiance and I were doing a good bit of traveling today. But I was still able to get in some quick clean and presses today.
5x 1,2 C&P 20kg.
That was it. No prep no warm up. That's it. I felt strong. Today was a 'medium' day for my presses. Now since I'm moving up a rung for my ladders next 'cycle', I will be using what I did today for my 'light' presses.
Because I'm feeling rather good. I might skip tomorrows rest day and do some swings. We will see after I get off work.

Day 5. Min long sets.

So today was swing day. I really wanted to work on my longer sets and also get some work in with my 20kg.
Work:
1 min on /1 min off @ 40 rpm. With 16kg I did that for 20 min.
30 sec on/30 sec off @ 20 reps per work interval. With the 20kg for 10 min.

My grip was the first thing to go. Not my cardio or my back. But my grip. My forearms were as hard as rocks and my hands were losing grip strength. Thats when I knew it was time to call it a day. I was concentrating on lat contraction and using my glutes.
Great work out.

Day 4

So as per the combo PM, ROP hybrid I'm doing i did the "Light" day for my grinds.
So here it is.
TGU
1 each side 16kg
1 each side 20kg

C&P 5X1X20kg. One rep each side and rest one min between my one rung ladder. This is my last day for singles at this weight.

Windmills 5X2 with the 20kg.

My fiance wanted to work out together today. I bought her a 15lb Kb on our second date and I've been trying to get her interested in using it for almost 2 years now. It took Tracy's book to finally get her into it. I really do owe Tracy Reifkind so much. Any way we did work out number two from her book. It was on the min training  10 reps for the first five min and then adding one rep every min until the last five min. there you stay with the top rep for the remainder. But I really pushed her to finish strong the last few min. So we did 10,10,10,10,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,16,16,20,20.

Not a bad day all in all.

Day 3: swing snatch combo

Day 3:
So today I decided I was going to work on my snatches in combination with swings from my ballistics day. I'll tell you there is no one more knowledgeable than the Queen of swing herself Tracy Reifkind on high rep ballistics. Her book "The Swing" and her blogs http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/ and http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/ have more information and advise than you can possibly believe. Her workouts are amazing! So I decided to go all the way to one of her earliest blog post and attempt them. OMG so humbling. It was amazing. I did half her workout and I'm dripping with sweat and im at my limit.
So this is what i did:
Warm up:
1 TGU each side kalos sthenos style. High hips.
 40 2 hand swings x 3 sets = 1 min. on 1 min. off
10 L, 10 R, 10 L, 10 R, 1 hand swings (40 reps total) x 2 sets = 1 min. on 1 min. off
Total warm up 10 min.
And ill tell you her warm up is a workout in itself!

Work:
12 swing, snatch, transfer x 3 sets = 2 min. on 1 min. off
(Left swing, snatch, transfer to right, right swing, snatch, transfer to left = 1)
Total 9 min.

8 swing, snatch L trans, 8 swing, snatch R x 4 sets = 1 min. on 1 min. off
Total 8 min.
At this point I'm at my limit. I'm not used to doing such long sets so at the end I was feeling some tightness in my lower back and my technique was starting to fail. so i stopped. After some stretching I felt great. I'm just going to have to build up my endurance and work a little on my technique so i use more hip hinge.

Day 2. Grinds

So today I focused on what are known as "Grinds". Thats the "slow strength" that you use to grind out a rep. I focused on maximal tension and a little bit longer rest periods up to 2 min in between ladders. I am doing Clean and Press (C&P) ladders as per Pavel's 'Enter the Kettlebell'. You need to get this book. It will change your life.
So i did a little TGUs for worm ups and then C&P ladders. You know even with longer rest periods my shoulders feel jacked after some strength work.
so here is goes.

Warm up:
1 each side TGU 16KG
1 each side TGU 20KG
1 each side partial TGU 24Kg (to sitting)

Work:
C&P 5X 1,2,3
That is 1 rep left, set the bell down, 1 rep right, set the bell down, 2 rep left, set bell down, 2 rep right, set bell down, ect.. all the way to finishing 5 ladders. And in between ladders i rested about 1.5min-2min. I might need to rest more, because I feel I'm getting to much of a pump in my shoulders. I don't want anymore size. I'm looking to lose weight here.

All in all I fell good. Tomorrow is a rest day.

The Program

Today I am going back to whats called the Program Minimum. Or rather a modified version there of. It's a simple protocol. Its alternating days of Kettlbell swings for 12 min and Turkish Get Up (TGU)for 5min.
So its supposed to look like this
Mon: Swing
Tues: TGU
Wed: off
Thurs: Swing
Fri: TGU
I know it doesnt look hard but believe me it is. I did This for 4 months and then I moved on to the next workout series the ROP.
Well I was doing What was called the Rite of Passage (ROP). And I started to Stagnate in my weight loss. So I'm trying to find an in between. Because the longer high-rep KB swings were really melting the fat off of me and I want that to continue.
So I'm doing a 3 day "split" Its
Day 1: Ballistics. Swings or Snatches. High reps.
Day 2: "grinds". Clean and Press (C&P), TGU, Goblet Squats, Windmills, ect. low reps heavy weight
Day 3: rest. go for a walk.
Repeat.
So in any given 7 day period I'm going to be working out 6 days a week.

So today I started with ballistics
Day 1:
24kg swing breathing ladders 1-20-1 35min
So a breathing ladder is where I'm doing 1 breath for every rep i preform. 1 swing, set the bell down, 1 breath. 2 reps, set the bell down, 2 breaths. Ect. all the way up to 20, and then back down to 1.
It has some great effects and its a great way to get some good volume in without having to lose any due to fatigue.
http://10000swings.blogspot.com/2012/04/day-9-breathing-ladders.html
http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge/article/27/
These are a better explanation of what i just said. anyway it works!

First Post

So this is my journey to take Kettlebells as far as I possibly can. Along the way it's also a goal to drop body fat %, get some kettlebell certifications, and have fun.
If you don't know what a Kettlbell is, you probably stumbled upon my site by accident. But any way a kettlbell is a weighted tool it has been used in Russia for almost 300yrs. It started as a way to measure grain and other things. It eventually became a competition among the farmers to see who could lift the most and thus was born the Kettlebell.

This is my collection of bells. You will notice the different colors and sizes. I use primarily in my training the ones that are yellow, the purple, the bigger green ones and the orange one. Those are my steel Pro-grade bells. The dimensions are the same size but the weight is different. The Pro-grade bells are used in Kettlbell sport and so are pretty standardized.

There are plenty of Kettlebell organizations out there, but the one I started with and I have the best success with is the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) It was the first Kettlbell certification organization here in the US. It was started by a Soviet born ex special forces physical fitness trainer named Pavel. His training methods and books have started me on my journey. They are a wealth of knowledge in physical culture. I also have been really inspired by Tracy Reifkind and her kettlebell swing odyssey.

Anyway I'm starting today chronicling my training and maybe it will help you.