Ending with a PR

I ended my week with another PR. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

I wasn't sure if I would even get to do any training today. Nothing was testing well. Sumo deadlifts were the only thing that tested really well, and with kettlebells, not a barbell. The last time I did Sumos with two 24 kg kettlebells (106 pounds) I complete 88 reps in 10 minutes. Today:

Sumo Deadlift - two 24 kgs (106 lbs) - 10 minutes
106 reps = 11,236 lbs. moved
-None of my sets were less than 10 reps. The entire 10 minutes was fun.

After the DL, I tested more drills and got nadda, so I did some 10 lb. pinch plate curls. It was weird to call it a day after that, but I have to say, I feel good. There is joy in listening to my body.

10 Tons Of Fun

Single Presses, Snatches, and Swings tested best today. This is the first day deadlift tested poorly. Shocking!

Military Press - 12 kg (26 lbs) - 10 minutes
98 reps = 2548 lbs.
-This is 8 reps more than the last time I did presses w/ the 12 kg. (PR)

Snatch - 16 kg (35 lbs) - 5 minutes
110 reps = 3850 lbs.
-In essence I did the RKC snatch test. I had 10 reps and 10 seconds to spare.

Two-hand Swing - 28 kg (62 lbs) - 10 minutes
220 reps = 13,640 lbs.
-I do not know how in the world I got in 15 reps more than the last time I did 28 kg swings. Yet, it didn't feel like I was pushing myself. (PR)

VooDoo VooDoo ;)

Today I moved 20,038 lbs. in 25 minutes of work time. It felt great, but more importantly, it was fun!

It's Still Deadlift

I tested squats, snatches, swings, deadlifts, presses, and cleans. The deadlift and cleans tested best. I then tested regular deadlift and sumo. Sumo tested better.

Sumo Deadlift - 155 lbs.
34 reps = 5270 lbs.
-I added 20 lbs. to my deadlift. Last Monday I pulled 135 lbs. 43 times. I'm happy with the increased weight. I'm hoping 155 lbs. will feel as easy as 135 lb by next week.

After deadlifting, I retested between cleans and presses. I thought presses might test better after the deadlifting. Wrong. My body wanted to do cleans. So, I tested single and double cleans. Doubles tested better.

Double Cleans - 16 kgs = 70 lbs.
150 reps = 10,500 lbs.
-I really worked on keeping my neck relaxed. That meant keeping my spine in neutral position. It's amazing how much easier the reps are when I do this. I need to keep this in mind every time I work presses as well. (or most drills for that matter)

25 Minutes on Ice

My head feels better today after a nap at 9:00 am. How sad is that?

I just got in from 25 minutes of scraping and scooping ice off of my driveway. It just hit me that I didn't test the scraping or the scooping.

Ooops! ;)

Temporary Outage

I have a head cold and look/feel as if I've been up for days. There will be no training today. I'm hoping this leaves as quickly as it came.

Must.
Sleep.

Still Testing

Today I decided to use a lateral arm raise for my testing rather than the toe touch. It's a bit tricky to determine if my reach is better using the toe touch when I hit palms flat to the floor. The lateral arm raise gave me better feedback, meaning there was a noticeable difference between my baseline and drills that tested well and drills that tested poorly.

Sumo deadlifts tested the best, followed by inchworms, and presses.

Sumo Deadlift - 48 kgs (106 lbs.) - 10 minutes
88 reps = 9328 lbs.
-On Monday I pulled 5805 lbs. in 10 minutes doing regular DL with a bar. Another improvement I noticed was that today I went 10 reps before I sensed a change. All of my sets were sets of 10, except for one set of 8.

Inchworms - 4 sets of 20 yard lengths
-I only did four sets because my ROM wasn't coming back after a couple minutes.

I retested presses and realized I was done. So I did some pinch grip work to finish.

Pinch Plate Curls - 10 lbs.
Dbl Plate Pinch Lift - two 10 lb. plates

Yes, I Hit More PRs Today

Another day. Another snow day in Iowa. The weather kept me off the road again, so I couldn't get to the gym where I keep my large bells. Time to improvise. I went to the local high school to train because they have free weights and a few kettlebells. The largest bells they have are 20 kg and I could only find one 16 kg.

I started by testing my goal drills: press, squat, deadlift, snatch, swing, pullup. I purposely tested them in a different order so I could see if the order of testing has anything to do with my ROM and tension feedback. Press, deadlift, and swings tested well. Deadlift the best. My body must really want to deadlift. Those puppies test well every training session.

Deadlift - 135 lbs. - 10 minutes
43 reps = 5805 lbs.
-Friday, I didn't time myself, and I did 35 reps (4725 lbs.) during deadlift. (I think I went about 12 minutes.) That means today I moved over 1000 lbs. more in two minutes less time. Hello! PR.
-Also, on Friday I did sets of four and three. Today I did mostly sets of five, a set of six, and a few of four.

Double Press - two 12 kgs bells (52 lbs.) - 10 minutes
52 reps = 2704 lbs.
-The last time I did presses, I did 41 reps and most of my sets were of four. Today, most of my sets were of five. I'm also feeling less tension in my neck when pressing.

One-Hand Swings - 20 kg (44 lbs) - 10 minutes
240 reps = 10,560 lbs.
-I would have used two 16 kg bells, but I could only find one. I didn't move as much weight as when I use a 28 kg (62 lbs) bell, but I came pretty close.

30 minutes of work time = 19,069 lbs. moved

My Gym Movement DVD arrived. Guess what I'm watching tonight!

Friday's Training

After a crazy busy week, I was unsure how my body would respond to training. My CNS is tapped for sure. I went in with an open mind and a willingness to test and act. I can't overthink my training. I just need to do it.

I tested my goal movements with the toe touch - pullup, squats, deadlifts, presses, swings, and snatches. Pullup, DL, and swings tested well.

Tactical Pullups (palms away, no thumb grip, hands shoulder width)
-I used a jumpstretch band to aid me, so I'm unable to put down a weight amount. I would guesstimate I moved about 3100 pounds if I pulled 100 pounds per rep. That's probably a bit conservative
-31 reps in 10 minutes

Deadlift - 135 lbs. (bar and plates)
-35 reps = 4725 lbs. moved
-I didn't time these. I just went until my ROM tested poorly. My guess is it took me 12 minutes or so.
-I haven't done a lot of bar DLs, so I have many, many reps ahead of me to find my optimal grip and stance as well as set up. So while this doesn't look like much for weight, it is a big step for me.

Swings - 28 kg (62 lbs)
-205 reps in 10 minutes = 12,710 pounds
-On Wednesday I completed 170 reps in 10 minutes. What's that? Did someone say PR? And this was on a day I was feel a bit blah about training. Crazy!!

So today I moved over 20,500 lbs. Not too shabby.

22,500+ lbs. in 28 Minutes

Over 11 TONS in 28 minutes of work. Holy Kettlebell, Batman!

I tested. I worked. I conquered.

Deadlifts - double 24 kg (106 lbs) - 10 minutes
93 reps = 9858 lbs.

Double Press - 12 kg (52 lbs.) - 8 minutes
41 reps = 2132 lbs.

Swings - 28 kg (62 lbs.) - 10 minutes
170 reps = 10,540 lbs.

TOTAL LBS. MOVED - 22,530

All I left was piles of kettlebell shards. I tore em up! This was accomplished in less than 30 minutes of work time.

I tested presses, squats, deadlift, snatches, and pullups. The deads and presses tested the best today. After those I wanted to burn more calories, so I tested crab walks, inchworms, and swings. Swings rocked my biofeedback world. I set the Gymboss for 10 minutes and started swinging. For my first set, I did 20 reps. Then I did 15 rep sets, one 10 rep set, and finished with a 20 rep set. That last set was my best one.

I can't tell you how amazing I feel right now.

Grip n Rip

I moved 11,032 lbs. in 18 minutes this morning doing 2 drills - deadlifts and presses.

I got animal - crabwalk, bear crawls, kangaroo jumps, frog jumps, inchworms.

I learned how to PR every day, and I will.

Stay tuned.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

Moved more weight than I did last Wednesday........again. Do I sound like a broken record? :)

Stiff Leg Deadlifts - two 24 kg bells - 6 reps
Dbl Jerks - two 16 kg bells - 6 reps
6 Rounds
Rest 20 seconds between drills
RPE - 8
-Last week I did single 28 kg stiff leg deadlifts. This week I nearly doubled the weight. How crazy is that?

Finishing Circuit - 5 Rounds
Mountain Climbers - 60 reps
Burpees - 15 reps
Swings - 28 kg - 15 reps
5 Rounds
Do each drill back-to-back
RPE - 7

Somebody Stop Me! Not Really

My training is really on a roll. When I compare last Monday's training to today's, it is a little overwhelming to realize how much more weight I'm moving around with ease (relatively). I've never made progress this fast.

Circuit - 8 Rounds
Dbl Cleans - two 16 kgs - 8 reps
Dbl Clean & Press - two 12 kgs - 6 reps
Dbl Squat - two 12 kgs - 5 reps
20 seconds rest between drills and rounds
RPE - 8
-My cleans and C & P tested well, so I did those as scheduled. The squats tested better with a narrow stance, so that's what I did.
-Last week I did this same circuit for 6 rounds. When I saw that Brad wanted me to do 8 rounds, I was skeptical. When I got going, each round got better.

I finished with a little snatching - 160 reps in 10 minutes is all.

Snatches - 16 kg - 10 x 8 L, R
Rest 30 seconds between sets
RPE - 8
-Last week I did 15 rounds of 12 L, R w/ the 12 kg bell. It's hard to compare the two sessions. However, the 12 kg bells have a tendency to cause more problems with my hands. I think it's because the handle isn't as thick as on the 16 kg and I end up gripping more with my hand than with my fingers.