Late Evening Kettlebell Session

My son's went to a later than usual Tae Kwon Do class last night. They didn't eat prior to class so my younger son, 13, got to bed later than usual. I gave him a ride to school this morning so I got to work much earlier than usual. Somehow, I managed to leave work much later than usual and didn't get to home until after 1900. I was tempted to skip my training or rather to postpone it until tomorrow but that is not consistent with my goal so I got down to business.

Warm up walk 0.49 miles in 11:01 for an average of 2.7 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 13:26 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

I didn't mention that I walked at lunch today, took a 30 minute walk yesterday, walked at lunch Monday and walked Sunday evening. This evening my back felt better than Monday. I'm considering using a heavier bell but I want to get up to 20 reps per set and start doing one hand swings, too. We'll see about the heavier bell. Everything felt good and amazingly I finished my kettlebell work in the exact same amount of times as Monday, 35:05.

Missed Logging My Kettlebell Training on 20150914

I was TIRED on Monday when I finished working out so I didn't log my workout. I intended to log it yesterday or earlier today but I let other things get in the way. Here it is.

Warm up walk 0.51 miles in 10:47 for an average of 2.9 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 13:32 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

My lower back felt extra tired during the swings. Not sure why. Was I changing my form? Using bad form? No last impact. Wasn't extra sore in that area the next day nor did I have any major pain. Took about 1.5 minute break before moving on to Turkish Get Ups. I again did 5 straight sets of get ups before taking a very brief break and finishing the remaining 5 sets. Great training session.

Took All Day But Training Is Done

I put on my workout clothes early this morning but procrastinated and didn't train until nearly 1900 hours. How crazy is that. At least I didn't skip today.

Warm up walk 0.51 miles in 10:36 for an average of 2.9 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:32 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

This is my third time completing Tracy Reifkind's full Workout #2 this go around. I think I'll stick with this number of swings for at least three more training sessions, maybe even six before I step up to workout three which increases from 15 to 20 minutes in length. I felt good with the swings but they did get my heart rate up nicely.

I'm more proud of my performance on the Turkish Get Ups today. For a long time I was doing two straight sets then taking a break. A while I ago I upped that to three straight sets before taking a break. Today I decided to push myself and did five straight sets before a break, then did five more for my total of ten. I think I might have been able to do all ten sets without stopping. I think I'll wait a few sessions before trying that. Total kettlebell time 34:14 which is just over one minute faster than last time.

Damn I Burned My Hamstrings and Glutes

I was too tired last night to write this post so here we go. I had intended to train on Wednesday the 9th but I didn't get a full nights sleep and was too tired to train either Wednesday morning or evening. I was determined to workout yesterday evening and did so.

Warm up walk 0.51 miles in 11:10 for an average of 2.8 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:30 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

The camera on my HTC One M7 is flaky. All the pictures I took of the chalk record of my routine in the carport were tinted a strange blue and were blurry. So no pick today. I concentrated hard on my swings. Made sure I got my butt back and hamstrings loaded at the bottom of the movement, squeezed my butt hard at the top. After the workout and my shower I had a rather difficult time walking up and down the driveway to roll the trash cans to the curb. My legs and glutes were on FIRE!

Did the full 10 sets of get ups. Took only 1.5 minute break after finishing swings. Total kettlebell time was 35:19. Almost a minute better than my last training session! Today my entire posterior chain, neck down to calves, is sore along with my forearms and even my biceps a bit.

One Day Hiking Next Day Kettlebells

Yesterday afternoon my spouse, my youngest son and I drove up to Devil's Fork State Park on the shores of Lake Jocassee. We took a short 2.5 mile hike along the Bear Cove Trail. While it was a short hike there were a lot of hills to climb and descend. I think one of the climbs was at least a quarter mile long. But about half way through the 2.5 mile loop we had a great view of the lake.

We took our stuff to swim but we got started late in the day. After we got back to our starting point we ate a very late lunch. Once we were done no one was jazzed to swim so we just headed back to Greenville.

Today I slept in again. I've slept in every day of this long weekend. BTW, I was happy with my weight yesterday it had dropped all the way down to 249.4 pounds. This morning I was all the way back up to 253.0 pounds. It's got to be fluctuations in fluid retention. I've just got to keep putting in the work.

Warm up walk 0.59 miles in 11:00 for an average of 3.2 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:17 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

Did Tracy Reifkind's full Workout #2. I felt good doing those sets every minute on the minute (EMOM). The fifteen reps were just enough. A good challenge but not too much. I'm going to stick with this for at least two more sessions before moving back up to Workout #3. I'll ladder up to the full 20 reps just as I did with the 15 reps the past couple of weeks.

Only took about a 1.5 minute rest after finishing the swings before starting the Turkish Get Ups. I was determined to shave a little time off of these. Still took me 20 minutes but I did manage to shave a bit off. Last time my total kettlebell times was 36:38, today was 36:07 so I did move a little more quickly through the get ups. I don't feel like I'm resting excessively but it sure would be nice to get the time for them down to 15 minutes. IIRC, Simple and Sinister calls for 10x10 swings followed by 10x1 (per side) get ups in 30 minutes with a 1 minute break between swings and get ups.

Nice Weather for an Evening Kettlebell Session

I slept in a bit today. Got up at 0830. Around 0930 I put on my workout clothes. What time did I start working out? Oh about 1727. HA! As it turned out, due to the crazy storm we had last night the weather was pleasant instead of oppressively hot as it usually is this time of day in September in South Carolina. It's only 82°F and feels like 83°F and the humidity is only 54%! There's a slight breeze blowing, too.

Warm up walk 0.54 miles in 10:57 for an average of 3.0 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 11:46 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,14x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x14x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

Warm ups were good. Proud of the 3.0 mph walking speed. Completed my calisthenics a little faster, too. Increased my reps a bit on swings by doing 14 reps on the last two sets of the second group of 5 sets, and then sticking with 14 reps during the final 5 sets. Monday I'll step up to 15 reps and do Tracy Reifkind's full Workout #2. The swings are done one set every minute on the minute so it took 15 minutes to complete them.

I also stepped up on the Turkish Get Ups. I did a full 10 sets per side after taking only about a 1.5 minute break once I completed my swings. So it took me about 20 minutes to do all the get ups. That feels like too long. I am going to try to shave some time off of that. Total kettlebell time 36:38.

Kettlebell Swings and Turkish Get Ups

Walked about 15 minutes at lunch time. Got homeat a decent time and got right down to training.

Warm up walk 0.52 miles in 11:10 for an average of 2.8 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:07 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,13,13x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x13x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 8x1x25# (per side)

I love this workout. The EMOM swings really work cardiovascular system. Combined with get upss, nearly my whole body gets a thorough workout. Total kettlebell time 35:32.

Kettlebell Training on Schedule

Got up early this morning. Was on a conference call with the team in Hyderabad at 0700 and worked until about lunch time from home. Then I took my lunch break to do my kettlebell training.

Warm up walk 0.52 miles in 10:30 for an average of 3.0 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:00 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,12,12,12x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x12x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 8x1x25# (per side)

Felt good. Walked a bit faster than my warmup walk on Saturday. Got my calisthenic warm up done in the same amount of time. Added more reps to my kettlebell swings. Working my way up to the full Tracy Reifkind Workout #2. Did my eight sets of get ups. I've just got to keep putting in the work. I want to crush it when I get to Workout #3 which is 20 minutes long with some sets of 20 reps.

Missed My Weight Goal

I put some weekly weight loss goals on my Google Calendar. My goal for today was to weigh 249 pounds. On 08/26 I weighed 248.6, on 08/27 I weighed in at 248.8. I figured I had it for this week. Alas, I did not. I didn't complete my second 24 hour fast of the week. I went out for a big breakfast with my wife yesterday that was full of carbs. As a result I weighed in this afternoon after my workout at 251.8.

I was initially mad at myself but that's how it goes. I may have held on to some extra water. Also, I usually weigh in early in the morning but today I waited until the afternoon. Also, I didn't weigh myself yesterday. I hate missing data points.

Anyway, I did my normal training routine.

Warm up walk 0.50 miles in 10:30 for an average of 2.8 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:00 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 10x11x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 8x1x25# (per side)

Normal routine. I stepped up a little in the last 10 sets of kettlebell swings by doing one extra rep, i.e. 11 reps, per set. All 15 sets were done EMOM. I added two extra sets of Turkish Get Ups for a total of 8 sets. Working on getting up to 10 sets. I took about a two minute break in between swings and getups, which is longer than my last few training sessions. Total kettlebell time 33:31.

Three in a Row

Stressful day at work. Actually it has been a stress filled week. Haven't gotten home before 1830 hours even once this week. Felt like skipping my training session as I was winding down to come home. However, I was listening to episodes of the Half Size Me podcast with the express purpose of over coming the reluctance to get my exercise in. I think the one I was listening to near the end of the workday was episode 57. The interviewee talked about a small victory of getting her exercise in when it was dark and rainy after a long tough day. So I made up my mind not skip.

Warm up walk 0.48 miles in 10:35 for an average of 2.7 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:02 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 6x1x25# (per side)

Nothing new here.  Good session. Felt good but not overwhelming. Time to go on to Tracy Reifkind's Workout #2 again. I wonder if I should jump straight to laddering up to 15 in the second group of 5 sets or just add 1 rep to each of the last 10 sets, meaning 11 reps per set for the last 10 sets. I think I'll take it slow.

Yesterday I forgot to record that I walked 22 minutes and swam for about 15 minutes.

Kettlebells in the Evening

Yesterday I walked about 16 minutes after lunch. I'm going to try to walk for at least 15 minutes after meals as often as I can. Today after breakfast I started a 24 hour fast. I didn't have lunch but I did take my early afternoon walk.

This evening though I left work a bit late I was determined to get my training in and I did. I'll continue getting up earlier so I can start training in the morning.

Warm up walk 0.51 miles in 11:22 for an average of 2.7 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 13:10 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 6x1x25# (per side)

Same sets and reps as last time. Just trying to make sure my conditioning is solid again before I increase the reps. I was pretty sore yesterday from the race walk on Saturday and the kettlebells on Sunday. Felt better today. I'll probably be sore again tomorrow but it is so worth it.