My Hamstrings Are Fried

Yesterday my only exercise was a walk during the heat of the day, lunch time. I walked 1.54 miles in 37:14 for an average speed of 2.5 mph. Not very fast but considering how hot it was, I think it was good. Especially since I had to go back into the office. I did change into a t-shirt before walking. I also had a towel with me so I dried off before changing back into my polo shirt.

Today was my normal kettlebell swings and turkish get ups routine. I left work late again. Really didn't want to exercise. Listened to most of an episode of Half Size Me on the way home which was enough to get me changed into my workout gear. Out the door I went to get warmed up and I continued listening to the podcast.

Between the time I left work and the time I spent warming up I probably listened to about 1.5 episodes of Half Size Me. In the beginning of the second episode Heather talked about a woman who was a substitute leader for the Body Pump class Heather attends. This woman was appeared to be a cancer survivor but she never talked about it. She was full of enthusiasm and vigorously led the sessions. A few weeks later the woman was dead.

Little did Heather know but the woman was undergoing chemo therapy during the same time frame when she was leading classes! Unfortunately she had a very aggressive form of cancer which she had only been diagnosed with a year before and it ultimately took her life quickly. That fired me up pretty good!

Warm Up Walk 0.66 miles in 17:06 for average speed of 2.3 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 14:13 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo (each direction) w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog (5 reps per side)

Dang that's a bad picture. Here's today's training record.

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 6x1x25# (per side)

I'm going to go up to 20 minutes (Tracy Reifkind's Workout #3) on my next training day. Even though I was soaking wet with sweat after 15 minutes of kettlebell swings it was relatively easy. But I'm not going to jump to 20 reps either. I'll ease my way back up to 20 reps a set.

Stuck with 6 sets of get ups. I might ease one more set in there next time if the 20 minutes of swings EMOM isn't too taxing. We'll see. I think my shoulders are getting more stable and stronger as a result of this exercise, although I feel like I could use some ice on my right shoulder right now.

Oh yeah, my hamstrings are on FIRE! I had no idea how torched they were until I sat down for dinner. Then within a couple of minutes my glutes started aching. These are two sure signs that I'm using some good form on my kettlebell swings which is a hip hinge, rather than a squat, and really loads the hamstrings and glutes. Total kettlebell time 30 minutes. I took way too long of a break in between swings and getups though. I've got to get that break time down.