An Overreaction

19-year-old spoken-word poet Sarah O'Neal recites her poem “An Overreaction,” where she speaks about Dr. King and her frustration at having to defend the protests.

In light of #BlackLivesMatter protests across the country, people have been reflecting on how #MartinLutherKing Jr....

Posted by AJ+ on Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Whole Lot of Physical Activity

Occasionally my job requires work late at night. Last night was one of those nights. I worked from 2200 until after 0200. I did get a 90 minute nap in that ended at about 2157! I almost overslept. I didn't get back to sleep until after 0300. Then I started getting paged around 0800. So much for sleeping in.

I was determined to get my training in though. I didn't get started until 1356 but I did get started. I didn't even feel as tired and lackluster as I did a few workouts ago.

Warm Up

Walk 16:00, 0.66 miles for an average of 2.5 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 15# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

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

In the warm up circuits I had been doing the squats w/ no weight and using the pole of our basketball goal as a "guide." Today I decided to do them holding a light kettlebell and with no guide. Felt good and I was able to maintain my balance in the bottom. I need to work on staying down there and opening my hips and ankles for a few seconds each rep.

Yesterday I skimmed over Simple and Sinister again. I found that I was doing the halo wrong. I should have been holding the kettlebell with the ball part up and the handle down which is the opposite of what one normally does. So, fixed that and worked my shoulder girdle a bit more effectively. Total time for the circuits 13 minutes.

On to the real training. Started out with 5 sets of 10 as normal. Tracy Reifkind's Workout #2 calls for the second group of 5 sets to ladder up 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. The last couple of times I tried to progress to workout 2 I don't think I really owned it. I decided to ease into it. Last time after the first group of 5 sets of 10 reps I did 10 sets of 11 reps. Today in the second group of 5 sets I did 11, 12, 12, 12, 12. In the third group of 5 sets I stayed at 12 reps for all 5 sets. 

My plan for the next workout is for the second group of 5 to be 11, 12, 13, 13, 13. The third group of 5 sets will be 13 reps for each set. See what I'm doing there? It will take me at least 3 more workouts after today to get to Workout #2 as designed.

The Turkish Get Ups felt good. They're feeling better every session. I think my right shoulder and core are getting stronger. Also, my hips are opening up making the move more fluid. I finished my kettlebell workout in 27 minutes, better than the 30 minutes of my last session and with more reps of swings. Total time 56 minutes.

Ordinarily that would be it. But I had planned to cut my backyard yesterday, however it rained. So I had to get to it done. Two hours later I was done. That was nearly 3 hours of physical activity, all of it outside. I've already got 12,335 steps for the day. I also weighed in at 258.8 which is down 2.8 pounds since I weighed in on 20150422.

Eyes Burning and Feet Cramping

Once again I contemplated not doing my kettlebell trainging today but shortly before leaving work and on the way home I listened to an interview of Tracy Reifkind on the Real Word Fitness podcast. She is so enthusiastic, so committed that I just had to get my training on. I also listened to part of the Strength Matters podcast interview with Chris Duffin which was quite inspirational, too. Anyway on with the training.

Warm Up

Walk 16:15, 0.65 miles for an average of 2.4 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

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

So, before I started my warm up I was feeling sleepy and sluggish. I felt energized after my slow warm up walk. Was feeling a little down again during the calisthenic circuits but I persevered.  The swings felt good, really work me up and got me sweating profusely.

On to the Get Ups, this is where the eye burning came in. I was sweating so much that the sweat was running into my eyes and thus the burning. I think between the prying squats and the get ups my hips are getting a little more loose. I felt more fluid in the portion of the getup where you sweep the extended leg through as you move to a lunge position.

I do my training either barefoot or in my Vibram Five Fingers, which is the next best thing to barefoot. I find that when you're doing swings you really grip the ground with your feet to help maintain a stable position. I must have been gripping very hard today because I've been having cramps in my feet off and on since I finished training. Maybe an emphasis on fluid replacement, with some gatorade and extra water, will help alleviate the cramps and prevent them from spreading. Anyway, I feel good. It was a good session.

My Glasses Fogged Up

Consistency is the key. I was tempted to skip working out this evening, especially since I worked late. But there was still daylight so I got down to it. Plus I didn't have to cook tonight.

Warm Up

Walk 13:02, 0.54 miles for an average of 2.5 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x25# (per side)

Nothing new and different. Just a good workout, my usual combination of Tracy Reifkind's kettlebell swing workouts and Pavel Tsatsouline's Simple and Sinister. I swing using Tracy's pattern and follow it up with Turkish Get Ups as per Pavel. By the end of the swings I was sweating profusely.

I really want to increase my weight on the Get Ups but I think I better take it slow and make sure my right shoulder can take it. I think I'll buy a 30# kettlebell instead of jumping up from 25# to 35#. Midway through the getups my glasses started fogging up. I was just that hot and sweaty. It seems like I can feel every muscle from the base of my neck down my back and down to my feet. Core muscles got a good workout, too. My legs as a whole feel thoroughly worked. That's it. Good Night!

Soakin' Wet With Sweat!

I actually got up from my desk and took a walk outside today! It's been weeks. I've either convinced myself I was too busy, or too engaged or it was raining. No excuses today. I walked 1.69 miles in 35 minutes. That's not too shabby, 2.9 mph.

Came home after work and cooked dinner. Then I put on my workout clothes and headed out the door.

Warm Up

Walk 17:32, 0.55 miles for an average of 1.9 mph. This was kinda' bogus. I stopped for about 5 minutes talking to my neighbor in the middle of this walk but apparently my phone didn't detect the lack of movement and pause my walk tracking app. Grrrr....should have been more like 12 minutes or so. Then I followed on with my normal warm up circuit.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x25# (per side)

This was a good workout. I stuck to 10 reps every minute on the minute for 15 minutes. I think I'll keep with that set/rep pattern through Friday then start increasing reps again on Sunday or Monday. Even with only doing 150 reps I was still pretty winded and sweating profusely once I completed my swings. 

On to the Turkish Get Ups. By the end of the second set I was sweating so much that I had to stop and wipe the sweat out of my eyes. My right ankle was giving me a little pain. Felt tighter than normal, of course it's the one I tore up so badly that I couldn't go to West Point. All in all a good workout. I finished the warm up circuits in 11 minutes. I finished the kettlebell practice in 27 minutes. 

After 2 Weeks Back to TRifs Workout One

Slack, slack, slack. Last week I was on call and had two bad nights which totally disrupted my sleep and training. Also, my right shoulder is just not up to snuff. I didn't even do any microsets of pushups this week in order to rest it. Anyway, I was feeling sluggish and kinda' depressed. I knew I needed to workout. It was a struggle to get started. But I got started.

Warm Up

Walk 15:00, 0.56 miles for an average of 2.2 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x25# (per side)

I walked slowly through a light rain. I still wasn't feeling it after the walk. I sat down for a couple of minutes then told myself I would at least do my warmup circuits and if I didn't feel it after that I would stop. I still really didn't feel it after the circuits, but I said well just do the first 5 sets of swings of Tracy Reifkind's Workout One after that I could quit. 

Once I had knocked those out I decided to just keep on going and I felt reasonably good. I figured if I wasn't in to it after the swings I would skip the get ups. But I really did feel good after the swings and finished up with the get ups. But in deference to my shoulder I dropped the weight to 25 pounds. It felt really light but it was for the best. In fact even after two weeks off the 35# bell felt kinda light on the swings.

Not My Best Kettlebell Training Day

I've been working my brain extremely hard the last couple of days writing computer programs and it really showed in my kettlebell training tonight. I just didn't have the mental energy to push as hard as I did last time. Well, enough set up, let's see what I really did.

Warm Up

Walk 14:06, 0.55 miles for an average of 2.3 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x10,12,8,10,10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x35# (per side)

Cool down walk 22:42 minutes, 0.9 miles for 2.4 mph.

The warm up circuit took 12:54 minutes. I could feel the lack of energy even in the warm up walk and circuits. But I didn't feel bad enough to stop. the first 5 sets of swings felt pretty good, good enough that I went on and increased reps in second 5 sets. I thought I might be able to at least duplicate my last session but my lower back was feeling tight and I only got 50 reps total in the last 5 sets. Last time I got 65 reps in those final 5 sets. So that's 165 reps instead of the 180 I total I did last time. Oh well. Hopefully I'll do better next go round.

I complete my 5 sets of 1 rep per side of Turkish Get Ups. My triceps in particular were burning after two sets. Once I was done my core was super tight. I finished the kettlebell training in 32 minutes. So that means much lower intensity, few reps overall in more time. I knew I had done less work, not to this level of detail, but still I knew. So, I made sure I got in my cool down walk which was pretty slow, too. All I can say is I got it done.

Inspired Kettlebell Training

I was tempted to skip training today. I had already missed training on Monday. We traveled to Winston-Salem, NC on Sunday to visit Wake Forest University with my son. I slept terribly Sunday night and didn't get up early enough Monday to train and was too tired by the time we got home Monday night. Yesterday evening I went to my son's lacrosse game so training was again out.

Today as I was surfing Facebook I saw a video of Daniel Casey. I said to myself if that guy can work out, so can I. Unfortunately I can't find a direct link to the video. If you're on Facebook to the Crossfit Games page and you'll find it. I'm not doing Crossfit right now, just my same old mixture of Tracy Reifkind's kettlebell swing workouts and Pavel Tsatsouline's Simple and Sinister. I swing using Tracy's pattern and follow it up with Turkish Get Ups as per Pavel. So without further ado...

Warm Up

Walk 12:15, 0.55 miles for an average of 2.7 mph.

Circuit 3 circuits 5 reps each

• Prying Squat
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction)
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x10,15,10,15,15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 5x1x35# (per side)

I pushed hard on my last group of 5 sets of swings. I got 8 more total reps in the same amount of time. Total reps 180 versus 172 last training session. I finished up with the turkish get ups as normal but I continued with the 35# bell like my last session. It is really hard to keep the arm holding the kettlebell stable especially in the phase of returning to the ground from the sorta' half side plank position. Hard, hard, hard. But that's what will make my shoulders stronger and more stable in the long run. Total time 30 minutes.

You might not believe it but my calves were almost cramping up when I came up the steps into the house once I was done. I do my training either barefoot or in my Vibram Five Fingers, like tonight. When keeping myself stable in the swings I really grip the ground with my feet. These two simple moves really work almost every muscle in the body.