Day One

[BossaGator]

Back to the kettlebells for me. It's been a while.

Yesterday was a complex: swing --> high pull --> clean & press --> thruster --> snatch --> woodchopper

Rep scheme was 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 on each side for each movement (except swings, which were done 2-handed). Did it with a 35# KB.

Good workout but exhausting and I have the particular kettlebell soreness today (forearms, outside of upper arms, shoulders) that is IMO so distinctly different from and more painful than the soreness I generally get with other types of weights. . . . But I must love it or I wouldn't keep coming back. . . . I think tonight will just be a nice long run. Would be a shame not to take advantage of this 60 degree weather in NoVa in late January.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by BossaGator

Back to the kettlebells for me. It's been a while.

Yesterday was a complex: swing --> high pull --> clean & press --> thruster --> snatch --> woodchopper

Rep scheme was 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 on each side for each movement (except swings, which were done 2-handed). Did it with a 35# KB.

Good workout but exhausting and I have the particular kettlebell soreness today (forearms, outside of upper arms, shoulders) that is IMO so distinctly different from and more painful than the soreness I generally get with other types of weights. . . . But I must love it or I wouldn't keep coming back. . . . I think tonight will just be a nice long run. Would be a shame not to take advantage of this 60 degree weather in NoVa in late January.

I may succumb to kettlebells myself someday soon.

[Dreamliner]

Did a one-armed pushup for my wife tonight. Her response: "Oh, WOW!" Considerably better than a, "Damn! That's ugly!"

But what are wives for ?

[Dreamliner]

Pistol Squats: slow eccentric reps to static hold at bottom.

One-Armed Pushups: can get two on the right side, one on the left. So, I'm piling up singles for now.

Advanced Tuck Levers: can now get into them from bottom position as opposed to having to curl up and then settle back down into position.

[Dreamliner]

Did my Workout (B) today. It's my MMA Workout (Minimalist's Minimalist Arrangement). Warmup consists of three exercises: squat-to-stands, side lunges and reverse lunges with contralateral twist. Then work up to 100 consecutive swings with a 43-pound dumbbell.

Tim Ferriss is the Four-Hour Body guy. I'm the Three-Hour Body guy.

By the time I get 100 consecutive swings I'll expect to try for 100 with the 53-pound kettlebell I hope to have shortly. That's one of my three goals for the Spring Challenge.

[Dreamliner]

I may actually cut back to two workouts a week ... to spare the joints. It's not like doing three exercises and finishing with swings would be time-consuming.

[LeafUF]

That would be very minimalist of you.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

That would be very minimalist of you.

I'm going to shock the world!

[LeafUF]

Did some yoga last night at my sisters recommendation. Took the class they said was supposed to be nice and easy, lots of stretching. Sore as heck afterwards. Even stretching in ways you aren't used to can be quite a workout.

[Dreamliner]

Experimental HIT workout today!

Isometric Wall Squat to failure + halfway-up squat to failure + halfway-down squat to failure.

Pushups to failure + static hold halfway down.

Pullups to failure + static hold.

Took about 7 minutes. Will repeat Friday.

Will deliberate but I suspect that this is the most intelligent form of training I could undertake. High-intensity/low-force. Pistols, one-armed pushups, fun party tricks ... but murder on the joints. I spend most of the week below baseline, so to speak. I'm competitive. But this is probably no way to go through life.

[LeafUF]

Deadlift today got 280x5. A full 100 pounds over my bodyweight and a long long way from where I started.

[Dreamliner]

Sweet! I can attest that that 100 pounds above bodyweight is a gratifying accomplishment.

[LeafUF]

Been looking forward to that for a while now and now I am focusing on getting to 300. While keeping my weight stable all of my lifts continue to increase so I am feeling great.

[BossaGator]

I haven't posted much lately on this thread. Definitely been working out pretty hard, just not updating my records as reliabily.

Had a fun one yesterday - simple and intense.

4 rounds:

Run 700m (i.e., around the block I live on. I measured it previously to right about 700m. Some real nice hills in there.)
15 burpees

It went fast, but I definitely wore myself out. I'm careful on burpee volume now after last year's shoulder issue. Have to pay attention to form, as strange as that sounds with burpees. For me, that means not shortcutting the squat portion of the movement and actually squatting all the way down before kicking my legs out. I previously developed a bad habit of kicking my legs out before getting all the way down, leaving my arms (and particularly shoulders) to cushion my full bodyweight as my body fell more or less horizontal toward the ground. VERY hard on the shoulders at higher reps.

[LeafUF]

Hate Burpees... and love them. Sounds like a tough workout.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by BossaGator

I haven't posted much lately on this thread. Definitely been working out pretty hard, just not updating my records as reliabily.

Had a fun one yesterday - simple and intense.

4 rounds:

Run 700m (i.e., around the block I live on. I measured it previously to right about 700m. Some real nice hills in there.)
15 burpees

It went fast, but I definitely wore myself out. I'm careful on burpee volume now after last year's shoulder issue. Have to pay attention to form, as strange as that sounds with burpees. For me, that means not shortcutting the squat portion of the movement and actually squatting all the way down before kicking my legs out. I previously developed a bad habit of kicking my legs out before getting all the way down, leaving my arms (and particularly shoulders) to cushion my full bodyweight as my body fell more or less horizontal toward the ground. VERY hard on the shoulders at higher reps.

I hear you. It's a crying shame that it takes us years to finally reckon with the havoc the exercises "we're supposed to do" are wreaking on our bodies.

For an intriguing read, check out Bill Desimone's "Congruent Exercise. Yes, it has a HIT orientation. But the central premise is that it is stupid to perform exercises which are not congruent with the way the joints actually function.

Bear in mind that the author has no medial tricep in one arm and has a ruptured biceps tendon in the other. He's hoping that others will profit from lessons he learned to late.

I suspect a fair question for us to ask ourselves is, whatever this is that I'm doing, is it something that I can likely do the rest of my life ?

[BossaGator]

Thanks, Dream. I'll check that book out. As someone who basically felt invinceable in his younger years, it can be a tough pill to swallow that I can't get away with high volume training like I used to, recover like I used to, or make up for bad form with the strength and athleticism of youth like I used to.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by BossaGator

Thanks, Dream. I'll check that book out. As someone who basically felt invinceable in his younger years, it can be a tough pill to swallow that I can't get away with high volume training like I used to, recover like I used to, or make up for bad form with the strength and athleticism of youth like I used to.

I've been in denial for a long time myself. Time for common sense and just general health to come to the fore. It's actually liberating to have finally gotten to this point. And for the record - and we'll see if my HIT experiment bears this out - I doubt that one has to sacrifice strength and hypertrophy to exercise in an altogether sane manner. Indeed, I expecting, hoping that the opposite is true!

[Dreamliner]

I've settled on three reps per week. See: 'HIT experiment' thread.

[LeafUF]

Good luck

I took a 90 minute hot yoga today. I want to die, instead im having a beer and giant burger.