Warm Sunny Outdoor Training

Got up late. Lazed around. I wasn't overly sore but I had that good, well worked feeling in my muscles. Put on my exercise gear. Lazed around some more. Finally got out and got to work. Simple and Sinister calls for daily practice with the kettlebells unless one is just too sore or are in a crunch for time.

Warm Up Circuit

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 
• 1x10x20# Two Handed
• 1x10x20# Right Handed
• 1x10x20# Left Handed
• 1x10x20# Two Handed
• 1x10x20# Two Handed
•  Turkish Get Ups 5x1x15# (Actually 1 rep per side then a short break before next set.)

Walking 2.3 miles in 42 minutes.

I used the basketball goal post to work on my deep squats. It was easier to use and I could get my elbows inside my thighs to work on prying open my hips. Nice warm up, but I meant to do some flying dogs, too. Next time.

During the swings I did a couple of sets one handed as noted above. Felt good but I think I should stick to two hands for a while longer. I upped the weight for the get ups from 10# to 15# as the 10 pounders was just too light yesterday. Then I went off for my walk. Felt good.

Simple and Sinister

I felt such resistance to exercising today. I put on some sweats and a tshirt but I just couldn't get to it. I did laundry. I made up our bed. I started cleaning the bathroom. Finally a little more than an hour ago I went out into the back yard and got down to it. Except for walking this is my first session since last Saturday.

I was searching for something about kettlebell training and came across Simple and Sinister by Pavel Tsatsouline. Actually I think I heard about it on Episode 3 of Tim Ferriss' podcast when he interviewed Kelly Starrett and Dr. Justin Mager. And what do you know, Ferriss interviewed Pavel Tsatsouline this week in Episode 55.

Anyway, I bought the book and decided to put it into practice. I had combined kettlebell swings and Turkish get ups into a workout before. They are a great combination. Simple and Sinister includes some key mobility exercises including the "prying goblet squat." That one kinda intimidates me, I know I need to increase my mobility and staying in a deep squat is a challenge. Anyway, here's the workout.

Warm Up Circuit

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x20#
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x10# (Actually 1 rep per side then a short break before next set.)

6 Minute Abs

• Myotatic Crunch 1x10
• CVE 1x10

Walked 1.61 miles in 33:00 minutes. 

All in all a good training session. I did the squats holding on to the fence gate so I could get my but to my heels and stay down there. I tried to move into it, side to side a bit, to work open my hips. Man it's tough! As I get more comfortable down there I'll start holding a kettlebell as recommended.

I bumped up my weight for the swings since I'm doing lower reps. I think I can use heavier kettlebells for both swings and get ups, but I don't have any heavier ones yet. The get ups were pretty easy but I could feel my abs tightening up by the time I finished. That just made the 6 minute ab routine more fun! I was going to skip walking but I'm on a roll of daily 30 minute walks so I got it in. I feel good.

Chill but Sunny Outdoor Workout

I walked yesterday at lunch as per normal. I covered 1.42 miles in 34:31. Decent but not as fast as I would like. My goal is to get consistent at a 3 mph walking speed.

Today I worked out in the afternoon and outside. I didn't go for a walk but I've still managed to walk for more than 40 minutes. Thanks for tracking that Google Fit.

• Two Leg Hip Extensions 20 reps
• Flying Dog 15 reps per side
• Kettlebell Swings 2x50,25 w/ 15# kettlebell
• Myotatic Crunches on Swissball 10 reps
• CVE 10 reps

I upped my reps on the first set of kettlebell swings from 40 (done on Thursday) to 50. Hooray! I can't believe how involved my calves become when doing high rep swings. I do wear Vibram Five Fingers, maybe I'm unconciously gripping the ground?

I need to slow down on the crunches. I need to count 4 on the way down and on the way back up. On the CVE's I should focus more on really pulling my belly button toward my spine. All in all it was a good workout. I can feel it. 

If I can hit 75 straight swings on Monday I'll move up to my 20# kettlebell. After that I reach 75 straight with that one, I'll need to purchase a new kettlebell. I'll probably get a 25# and a 30#.

Evening Workout

I didn't post yesterday but I walked 1.61 miles in 34:02. Today I walked at lunch time even though it was only 27°F. I covered 1.64 miles in 34:39. However, it was sunny and the howling winds of last night had abated. Noom Coach and Noom Walk are not tracking my steps accurately. Oh well.

Once I got home from work I sat around for about an hour and then got my workout on. I went up from a 10 pound to a 15 pound kettlebell for my swings.

• Two Leg Hip Extensions 20 reps
• Flying Dog 15 reps per side
• Kettlebell Swings 2x40,35 w/ 15# kettlebell
• Myotatic Crunches on Swissball 10 reps
• CVE 10 reps

I like this short, simple workout. A little dissapointed that I didn't get 75 reps like my previous workout but getting it done in two sets of 40 and 35 reps matches my first workout with 10 pound kettlebell. I look forward to continuing to use heavier and heavier kettlebells. It will be even better once I can get up and moving early enough to do this routine before breakfast in the morning.

75 Straight Kettlebell Swings

I walked 1.6 miles in 31 minutes at lunch time. I stopped at Wal-mart on the way home. Even though that made me later than usual getting home, I did not snack. I did a couple of chores then got straight to my brief workout.

• Two Leg Hip Extension 20 reps
• Flying Dog 15 reps per side
• 75 Kettlebell Swings Straight! 10#
• 10 Myotatic Crunches on Swissball
• Cat Vomit Exercise 10 reps

Proud of myself for powering through the swings. Even with such a light weight I could feel my thighs and calves burning. Now an hour or so later I can feel soreness in my back muscles. Thankfully my abs didn't cramp up like they did the last two workouts.

After my workout I had a nice slowcarb dinner of broiled salmon, cabbage, black eyed peas and water. 

Missed A Day

I missed a day but I'm back on track. There was just too much rain on Saturday. It finally let up today. Also, I was just lazy. I could have done my kettlebell swings and 6 minute abs yesterday but I didn't. Got it all in today.

• Walk 2.4 miles in 52 minutes.
• Kettlebell Swings 2x50,25 w/ 10# in 4 minutes.
• Myotatic Crunches on swiss ball 10 reps
• CVE 10 reps

My walking speed today, 2.8 mph, was faster than Friday's 2.7 mph and slower than Thursday's 2.9 mph. But look at that! The mean is 2.8 mph. LOL! Yes, I'm a nerd.

Just a Quick Walk Before the Rain

Got in a quick walk before the rain. Only 1.6 miles in 36 minutes. But enough to ease the soreness in my legs and abs from yesterday's workout. Might do a little mobility work throughout the day. My goal is to get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. I plan to do kettlebell swings and the 6 minute ab routine every other day. BTW, my hip doesn't hurt or feel weak like it did yesterday. That is all.

Movement Is Medicine

First workout of the year. I'm so tired of being overweight. Tired of my joints hurting. I was just walking in the kitchen this morning and my hip almost gave out. My right shoulder is hurting even now. I can't lie on my right side for very long without my shoulder hurting. I even get tingling in the fingers of my right hand. Movement is medicine so I got moving.

• Walked 2.36 miles in 49:20.
• Kettlebell
• Deadlift from point A 5 reps with 10#
• Deadlift from point A 5 reps with 10#
• Swings 5 reps with 10#
• Swings 2x40, 35 with 10#
• 6 Minute Abs
• Myotatic crunches 10 reps on Swiss ball
• Cat Vomit Exercise 10 reps

After the crunches my abs cramped up so hard and painfully that I had to just stretch out on my yoga mat. I also tried to stretch them out with little success. Overall a good workout.

CT-50 Workout CT02

Yesterday I only had a short, slow walk late in the day. It was only 1.09 miles in 27'38". A little exercise is better than none.

Today was CT02 from the CT-50 workout program by Tyler Bramlett. I started out with the level one warm up, which was pretty easy (as a warm up should be). It did get me loose and get my whole body warmed up for the work to come in just 6'41".

4 Rounds, 30 seconds per exercise with 20 second break between exercises

1. Kettlebell Swings
2. Crunch Tucks
3. Should Bridge Hip Lift
4. Sumo Squat

It was only 45°F out when I started, so I had on sweats over my shorts and t-shirt. By the end of the first round I had to discard my sweatshirt. I was hot and sweating. By the end of the workout I was sweating profusely. It only took 13'20" to complete the real workout but it smoked me pretty good. I still intend to walk at lunch time.

CT-50 CT01

Got a bit of a late start this morning. Didn't get up until 0630. I was close to postponing this CT-50 workout until the evening but I didn't! Go me! I looked at the requirements and saw it was only 10 minutes. Who doesn't have time to workout for 10 minutes?

3 Rounds with 10 minute time limit

1. 20 Touch Jumps
2. 10 Two Arm Presses
3. 5 One-Leg Shin Taps, left
4. 5 One-Leg Shin Taps, right
5. 10 Two Arm Rows
6. 20 Climber Toe Taps

I just barely squeaked in under the 10 minute mark finishing in 9 minutes and 55 seconds. The touch jumps were the thing that really got my heart racing and my lungs pumping like a bellows. In the second round my quads were burning something fierce.

I used a really light weight, a pair of 10 pound dumbbells, for the presses and rows. If I do this workout again, I'll use heavier weights. The shin taps, which are basically single leg deadlifts without weight,  were a bit of a balance challenge which surprised me because I normally have good balance.

The climber toe taps were a bit of a challenge. I need more flexibility in my whole pelvic region and legs. I think that was the main limiting factor in this exercise. I did have a bit of a breath challange but not too much.

Also, I just came back from walking 1.5 miles in 35 minutes and 8 seconds.

CT-50 CT10 Challenge

I had started doing Neila Rey's 30 Days of Change. It's a program focusing on bodyweight exercises and running. As it turned out, even level one was too much for my old, aching joints. So, I made an impulse buy of Tyler Bramlett's CT-50 program. It appears to be a well designed program of exercise progressions. If I can actually make it through this program it should prepare me for a return to Crossfit which is really what I want to do. Also, if I can take 20 pounds off with this program I should be able to run with much less pain.

The first thing to do with this program is do the CT10 Challenge to determine what level I should start on. I was pretty sure I should start on level one of five but I did the challenge to make sure. If I completed more than 400 reps I would need to do the level 2 challenge on my next workout and so on until I reached a challenge where I couldn't do more than 400 reps.

30 seconds per exercise, 4 rounds, 90 second break between rounds.

1. Bodyweight Row          9, 7, 9, 7 = 32
2. Down Dog to Up Dog  10, 8, 7, 6 = 31
3. Jumping Jacks 2            5, 26, 23, 22 = 96
4. Reverse Crunch           10, 10, 10, 8 = 38
5. Kneeling Pushups        10, 9, 9, 9 = 37
6. Face the Wall Squat      7, 8, 7, 8 = 30
7. Sumo Deadlift               5, 8, 7, 8 = 28

Total reps was 292. The numbers for the first round are kinda suspect. I tried to go through the entire round without writing down reps so those numbers are a guestimate. I used a 20 pound kettlebell for the Sumo Deadlifts. We'll see how it goes but I feel good right now. Monday I'll do CT01.