More and Less Kettlebells

Probably like most modern folk I occasionally get caught up in the "more is better" trap. Such has been the case with my addition of loaded carries at the end of my Simple and Sinister practice. I was trying to do them every day or nearly every day even as I was building up my sets to get to all 10 sets of swings and all 10 turkish get ups as prescribed. Not a good idea.

Case in point my training on Saturday, I did 80% Simple and Sinister in 17 minutes then did carries for another 23 minutes! Of course there were some breaks between "sets" of carrying the kettlebells down the and back my driveway. That is a lot of extra work and I paid for it with a very painful hip on Sunday which led me to skip kettlebells as I could hardly walk. I did some active recovery by swimming instead which helped a great deal.

Today I only did simple and sinister, the entire 10 sets of swings and 10 get ups.


Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 4 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 30 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 10 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

So, did my normal OS Reset. No added anything. I was sweating hard when I finished crawling out in the grass under the sun. Which made me nice and warm and ready for the work to come. Total time 13:39. Oh, and I actually got started before 0800 at 0751! Maybe tomorrow I can move that start time 10 minutes earlier.

As noted above I stepped up to 10 sets of swings and 10 sets of get ups. I'm still doing the swings 2 handed for now. My hip twinged a little but it's gonna hurt whether I train or not so I might as well train as long as it's not super painful. I also felt a little twinge in the outside of my left knee on the first get up. I think it was because I didn't have my foot placed properly. Paid more attention in subsequent reps and it was okay thereafter. No extra carrying today! Total time 20:44.

Swimming and Hip Pain

My left hip is still giving me trouble. I did extra mobility and flexibility stuff last night. I did more this morning. But still walking was painful all day. I was paying extra attention to using good posture and foot position but still very painful. I wanted to work out with kettlebells again today, but decided it was better to give the hip a rest.

I did however go swimming. I swam laps for 10 minutes. Then an hour later swam laps for 15 minutes. An hour after that, I swam laps for another 10 minutes. Not really a lot for you diehard swimmers out there but this is only my second time swimming all summer. And the laps were broken up that way because our community pool has 15 minutes every hour where the kids are cleared out and adults can have the pool to ourselves. But all in all 35 minutes of laps ( backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle) is pretty good.

The ability to swim for 10 or 15 minutes continuously when this is only the second time I've swum this year is definitely another kettlebell "what the hell" effect! Kettlebell swings helped improve my aerobic capacity. I haven't been running, rowing or biking either. No running due to the hip, no rowing or biking because I have neither a rower nor a bike.

Oh, and my hip felt much better after swimming. Not nearly as painful. Only hurts a little bit.

Red Tailed Hawks and Kettlebells

So another perk of training outside is to either be lying on your back preparing to do a get up or doing  some weighted carries and see a red tailed circling overhead. That's freaking cool. Not something that you'll experience when you're training inside a big box gym or even inside your own in house gym. This has happened to me a couple of times. Today as I was doing finishing get ups I noticed the shadow of a hawk in my driveway. As I started my carries it circled over again and I watched it as much as I could. Of course since I was training so I couldn't take a picture. So, the included picture is from the US Forest Service. 

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 4 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 30 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Hip Bridges 5 reps

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• 2 x Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 25-25-44 lb Kettlebell
• 2 x Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

The warm up was fine. I did a little extra rocking coming up to a tall kneeling position and full hip extension and opening up my hip flexors. I also did some extra hip bridges, I just felt like I needed it. Total warm up time 16:18.

Kettlebell practice was as normal. Swings were EMOM. I was a little wobbly on the first rep of getups but then I got solid thereafter. I finished my 80% S&S in 17 minutes as planned.

I rested a bit and then started doing some loaded carries. I had listened to an episode of the Everyday Athlete Podcast in which I was reminded that the waiter walk carry is really supposed to be with the bell held bottoms up. Therefore I had to sacrifice weight and do the waiter's walks and rack walks w/ a 25lb. Then I picked up a 44 for the suitcase carries. Waiter down, rack back, suitcase down and back left handed, switch hands and repeat. Rest a bit, repeat both hands. Rest a bit then farmer's walks w/ 44's down and back. Rest a bit. Repeat. Total kettlebell time 40:45.

I think I did a little bit too much on the carries. It was hot. When I was done and cooled off all I wanted to do was shower, eat and take a nap. I did the first two and was revived enough to skip the nap as I'm finally going to go see Wonder Woman! 

I did not get my steps in yesterday. I was just under 7K and my current goal is 8k. And I didn't do any kettlebell practice yesterday either, I let it be a recovery day after three straight days of training. I know S&S is supposed to be daily practice but I'm 51 years old and need to work back up to that, also my left hip seems to need a break every few days.

Summer Sweat Angels

Third day in a row of training. I've got to go to bed earlier and get up earlier so I can train and get to
work earlier. I did get up at 0627 and did my normal 5 minutes of mobility and an additional 5 minutes of walking. However, I didn't get outside to start training until 0827. I should have gotten out there at 0727.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 4 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 40 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Warm up was pretty much as normal except I did some extra rocking targeting shoulder health. I didn't do any extra calisthenics. Warm up took 13:36.

Did normal S&S. Swings were fine. I got wobbly on the last get up with my left hand. I had to reposition myself twice to make it through the rep. I don't recall being unstable with my right hand. I also manage to get through the get ups in 8 minutes, which is the prescribed 1 minute per rep. 

I chose not to do any loaded carries because I swam last night and my core was pretty twitchy last night. Also, I had to get myself ready for a meeting at 1000. Total kettlebell time 17 minutes. Also, I got in over 10K steps yesterday.

Daily Muscle Top Off

One of the principle of Simple and Sinister is to do a "daily top off" of the muscles. The daily training builds resilience in the muscles. Adhering to the daily, or near daily, training schedule makes your muscles almost soreness proof. The program doesn't require max efforts but you'll also get stronger.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 4 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Supersets of Australian Pull Ups and Push Ups 2 x 6, 5

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

The warm up was good. Took my time with all the resets. Tried to really stretch my hips when rolling. Once I was done with the original strength part I did two supersets of Aussie pull ups and push ups. I increased the reps in the 2nd set from 4 to 5 as compared to last time I did these. Total time 17:25.

Once again I did 80% of the sets for S&S. My left hip was a little sore this morning when I started the swings. But by about the 4th set or so I was fine. I was a little wobbly on the 2nd left handed get up. But the rest seemed solid. The swings were EMOM. I took a little longer than the allotted 10 minutes to do the get ups. Finished S&S in 17:30. 

Having learned my lesson on trying to do the Waiter-Front Rack-Suitcase walks after the extra shoulder work of the Aussie pull ups and push ups, I skipped that series of carries today. After about a 2.5 minute rest from S&S, I just did down and back of the farmer walk, rested a minute and repeated. Kettlebell work done in 23:32.

I actually got in over 10K steps yesterday! I also completed a 24 hour fast.

80 Percent Simple and Sinister

So, as anticipated I did not train yesterday other than getting in my steps and doing a little mobility work as usual. I also did a tiny amount of plank training. I didn't train because I was sore and because I hadn't gotten much sleep Sunday night/Monday morning.

Felt good this morning so right back to training. I also decided to increase my sets of swings and get ups. Headed outside and trained barefoot and shirtless. It's a lot easier early-ish in the morning as the concrete hasn't been heated to foot burning temperatures by the sun.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 4 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell
• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

Warm up felt good. I wonder if I should start doing some Original Strength progressions from these beginner moves? Or just keep working on my mobility, stability and flexibility with these movements? I'll have to revisit the book to see what the progressions are. Warm up time 11:08.

Increased swings from 6 sets to 8. Still did the swings two handed EMOM. Took a little bit longer for the break between the swings and get ups. Get ups felt strong. I had one wobbly rep holding the ketllebell with my right hand, I think on the 3rd set. Total S&S time was about 19:30.

Took a two minute break then finished with some loaded carries. Started with the left hand. Waiter walk down the driveway, rack carry up the driveway, suitcase carry down and back. Then did the same for the right hand. Took a minute or so break, can't recall exactly how long now, then did farmers walk down and back. My grip was going, so I set my kettlebells down, took a minute break then down and back again. Total kettlebell time 32:26. 

One of the best things about this training routine is that I know I'm getting stronger but I don't feel wrecked afterwards. Instead I feel energized and ready to go. Thanks, Pavel! I also got my steps in yesterday, even after increasing my goal from 7500 to 8000 steps.

Do I Own the 44 Pound Kettlebell Getup

Do I own the 44 pound (20 kilogram) kettlebell get up? Meaning have I completely mastered it so I can move up to the 53 pound (24 kilogram) kettlebell? Not yet. I'll explain more toward the end of this post.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Supersets of Australian Pull Ups and Push Ups 2 x 6, 4

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 6 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Waiter Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell
• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

So, after the warm up of an OS Reset I decided to throw in a couple of supersets of Australian Pull Ups and Push Ups. Kept the reps low since I haven't done either move in quite some time. Felt good though. Total warm up time including the supersets was 18:00 minutes.

On to the kettlebell practice. Swings were fine. Did six sets of 10 reps EMOM. On the getups I decided to see if I "owned" the 44 lb kettlebell. One method of doing this is to see if you can do press the kettlebell at each of the intermediate positions of get up. I could not keep my balance and press the kettlebell when posted to my hand while half kneeling. Every other position was fine, so I'm close as far as that test goes.

However, those extra presses plus the APU/PU supersets fried my shoulders. I could only make it halfway down the driveway during my waiter walk before I had to put the bell down. I tried ot rack carry back up after finishing the waiter walk but my shoulder was just gone. I switched form my left hand to my right and waiter walked back to my starting point. Since my shoulders were done, and since I was running out of time I didn't try any more single arm carries, I just did one down and back of farmer's carries and called it a day. Total kettlebell time 15:46. 

Yesterday's 60 Percent Simple and Sinister

Yesterday, despite having written about it before, in the middle of my training session I realized I was doing just 50% of the swings required by Simple and Sinister while doing 60% of the getups. So, I upped the swings to 60% to match.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 6 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell
• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

Warm up was fine. I finished it in a quick 9:31. Not sure how I managed that! As noted above I realized mid-workout that I should do an extra set of swings. I didn't take the time to change the timer I had set up on my phone. I just did the extra set of 10 swings during the prescribed 1 minute of rest between swings and getups. So, I did the getups with about 15-20 seconds less rest than normal.

Even so, everything was fine. Finished S&S in about 12.5 minutes. Then after a little rest did some carries. Waiter's walk down the driveway, front rack carry up the driveway, suitcase carry down and back. Did left hand first, repeated the whole sequence with right hand. Then down and back farmer's walk, rest a bit, repeat. Total kettlebell time 26:23.  Got in my step goal, too.

Outdoor Training Is Fun(ctional)

Felt a little stiff and sore this morning, particularly the left hip as usual but put my workout clothes on as soon as I got out of bed. Did my five minutes of joint mobility and five minutes of walking while the coffee was brewing and that made me feel better. After some coffee, etc. got outside to start training around 0830.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell
• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

The OS reset felt good. When I was rolling I could feel the tightness and some pain in my left hip. The rocking and crawling helped more. Took 11:52 for the warm up.

Swings were easy. Get ups felt good. Took a little longer on the get ups. Planned to take 13 minutes for S&S, took about 14. Then took about another 9 minutes to do my carries. I decided to not do the waiter walk with the kettlebell in the bottoms up position but rather to use a heavier weight. Total kettlebell time 22.56. Got my steps in yesterday, too.

So the fun(ctional) part of outdoor training. You get fresh air. You get sunshine. You train on possible uneven surfaces. It's not climate controlled so you have to adapt to heat & humidity or cold. Once upon a time, homo sapiens spent their entire lives outside. Now we spend the majority of our lives inside with little exposure to the elements.

Barefoot Shirtless 1/2 Simple & Sinister

My hip was pretty sore yesterday. I didn't get up early enough to train before work and thought it was better once I got home with my sore hip to just wait until this morning. So that's what I did.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

As usual I worked out outside and barefoot. I got started just before 0800 and it was already hot. Once I finished my warm up I took off my shirt and did my kettlebell routine out in the driveway in the sun instead of in the shady carport. I realized I've hardly been shirtless out in the sun at all this summer and it's already July!

Anyway, the session was good. Really sweaty. Felt like I could do the whole 10 sets of swings when I finished the 5 but made myself stick with the plan. I don't want to over do it and set myself back another month. Warm up time 12:38, kettlebell time 12:50. Got all my steps in the last two days.

I forgot to add that after I stopped timing my kettlebell work I did a few carries. I took the 20 kilo bells down to the end of the driveway and back in a farmer's carry. Then I took a 12 kilo bell and did waiter walk - rack walk - suitcase carry combo with each arm. Nice little finisher. I was going to try that last bit with the 16 kilo bell but I didn't think I could stabilize the it in the bottoms up position for waiter walks. I'll have to work on that.

Half Simple and Sinister

After our trip to Virginia last month, and my last real training session, my hip was so sore for the entire following week that I did nothing other than some mobility stuff in the mornings. Frankly, I was really scared by the pain. I really didn't want to go into that feeling and so I just avoided working out. I got up and put my workout clothes on each of the last 3 days and just got myself to do a workout today.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Felt good. My hip was a little sore when I finished. And then we had to drive to Charlotte, NC and back to pick up my eldest son from the airport. Now my hip hurts more but not nearly as badly as after the Virginia trip. The swings were easy, I could probably use my 53 lb. bell. I surprised myself with the get ups at 44 lbs., they were easier than I expected. All in all a good session. I'm glad I cut the total sets of swings in half and the sets of get ups by 40%. Hopefully I'll be able to train again tomorrow before work. Got my goal number of steps, too.