October 2014

Attempting to get back on track I am using Pavel's Simple and Sinister program.

Breaking in slowly I started with swings.  I used a grease the grove method - 20 swings every half our or so.  This is a great way to focus on the strength of the move as well as breaking out of the inertial rut I've been in.

October 7 - Swings, 20 kg;  4 x 10/10
October 8 - Swings, 20 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5

October 10 - Swings, 20 kg;  4 x 5/5/5/5

October 16 - Swings, 20 kg;  4 x 5/5/5/5
October 17 - Swings, 20 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5
October 18 - Swings, 20 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5

October 21 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5
October 22 - Swings, 24 kg;  4 x 5/5/5/5


October 25 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5 and TGUs, 20 kg; 5 x 1/1
October 26 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5 and TGUs, 20 kg; 5 x 1/1
October 27 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5 and TGUs, 20 kg; 5 x 1/1
October 28 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5

October 31 - Swings, 24 kg;  5 x 5/5/5/5 and TGUs, 20 kg; 5 x 1/1


Thirteen days of swings with the 20 kg or 24 kg for 1,220 reps.
Four days of Turkish Get Up's with the 20 kg bell for 40 total reps.
No test days this month.

February Recap.

Ten workouts – three ballistic, five grinds, and two variety. That’s an average of one workout every 2.8 days. Well that’s consistent anyway. Checking off the calendar I see one lengthy gap. Timed work sets totaled 193 minutes – just shy of 3 and one third hours. Less than last month, but remember that’s ‘timed’ work sets. I experimented with pyramids this month and didn’t time everything. The total weight lifted was 76,438 pounds. A lot less than last month. It’s easy to see that I only swung the beast once in February and with only three ballistic workouts in February I missed a lot of swing volume. I really didn’t feel like I was dialing it in during February. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was work, maybe because I’m primarily focusing on squat technique – whatever, I didn’t really feel like I made much progress. Certainly a huge weakness with February’s practice time was the number of workouts, especially the ballistics. With only three ballistic workouts in February I’m not boosting my conditioning they way I should. Something to be conscious of during March.

I recorded 16 personal records in 10 work rounds:

Goblet Squat – 2(Volume PR), 2(Rep PR), 1(Volume Density PR)
Clean and Press – 1(VPR), 3 (RD PR), 3(VD PR)
Double Clean and Press – 2(V PR), 1 (VD PR)
Long Cycle Clean and Jerk – 1(V PR)

Types of PR’s I’m keeping track of:

Volume = total weight lifted per lift or overall
Volume Density = total weight lifted per minute
Reps = number of lifts with a given weight
Rep Density = number of lifts per minute

PR elements others keep track of are volume, intensity, density, and fatigue index. Intensity and fatigue index rely on knowing your 1 rep max. Although not impossible I think it’s impractical to track intensity and fatigue index with my kettlebell work. I do think that tracking overall reps (for endurance) and rep density (how much I really own a bell or a lift) are valuable for me. If I want to ‘turn it up a notch’ I can plan accordingly. But that’s just what works for me.

January Recap.

Eleven workouts – six ballistic and five grinds. That’s an average of one workout every 2.8 days. I suppose that’s acceptable, a good start, but there’s room for improvement. Checking off the calendar I see several lengthy gaps. There are several reasons: parenting schedule, working too late or snow hampered commutes, fatigue, or Gopher Basketball games. Work sets (excluding warm-ups and finishers) totaled five and a half hours and the total weight lifted was 125,822 pounds.

On the more positive side of things I recorded personal records in 10 work rounds (I have yet to add to the PR page): three in LCCJ, two beast swings, two double C&P’s , and one each in double front squats, TGU’s, and clean and presses. The 10 include seven for volume per minute, five for total volume, and four for rep per minute.

The back, shoulder, and knee seem to be holding up. (Knock on wood.)

I’ll be updating the template for February after I meet with my trainer this weekend.

I’m hoping small steps yield healthy progress for 2011.