102 Degree Heat Index

By the time I goofed around, lazed around, helped cook breakfast, washed dishes and did some laundry it was about the hottest part of the day. The heat index was up to 102 degrees. And there I was beginning my kettlebell training like a crazy man. But I survived as evidenced by this post!

Warm up walk 17:02 minutes for 0.63 miles and an average speed of 2.2 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 5 reps per exercise, 16:04 minutes.

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

Training

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 20x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x20x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

Man the heat made this very hard. I stubbornly trained outside. I did have a powerful electric fan aiding the nice ocean breeze. But still. It was HOT. I could feel my grip being challenged around set 12 or 13 and it just kept getting hard. I kept drying off my hands and the bell. I made it through the full 20 minutes, with the final 5 sets being 20 reps each as prescribed in Tracy Reifkind's Workout #3. I hope it will be much easier to complete this workout back at home. We'll see.

I took a really long break between the swings, probably about 5 minutes. I was just too hot and exhausted to hold that break down to one minute. I motored on through the getups after that break but it still took me another 20+ minutes. So very hot. Total time 50 minutes.

Steamy Midafternoon Training

Yesterday, I was on target to workout before noon. Probably around 1030 or 1100. Then I got a text message. Please come pick up Mom and Stephanie in Charleston. Plans derailed. We're staying out on Isle of Palms. Various members of the family take a bike ride from the house we rent on the island into downtown Charleston each time we visit IoP. This time my wife got overheated going up the Cooper River Bridge on the way to Charleston.

Once I got to town, picked up Laura, Stephanie and Miles and back to the island with a stop at the grocery store for water, gatorade and ice it was midday. I was also already hot and sweaty. I took some time to drink some fluids and cool off a bit. It was 1448 before I got out the door to start my training routine.

Warm up walk 16:08 minutes for 0.67 miles and an average speed of 2.5 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 5 reps per exercise, 14:35 minutes.

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

Training

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 20x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x20, 15, 20, 15, 20x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

The warm up walk was hot. My t-shirt was soaked with sweat by the time I got back. Just as I got within a few hundred yards of the house a quick thunderstorm blew up. Before I finished my calisthenic warmup it was over. Instead of cooling things off it just got more and more steamy. Which made things harder. I'm really glad I've been training outdoors at home!

After I finished my swings and was a couple of sets into the Turkish get ups another thunderstorm started! This one was a serious downpour! I was training downstairs underneath the screen porch and deck so the first storm didn't bother me. The volume of water and high winds of this second storm forced me to stop training and take my electronics inside and also move my mat and kettlebells to a more central location as big puddles were forming and the wind was blowing in rain. This caused my workout time to be recorded as 54:13.

I did my planned number of reps upping the final 5 sets from 15, 20, 15, 20, 15 to 20, 15, 20, 15, 20 for 295 total reps versus 290 reps last time. The rain stopped before I finished my get ups.  The swing portion of my training is as outlined by Tracy Reifkind's Workout #3. Overall a good session.

Hot, Humid Sea Level Kettlebell Training

Long hours at work knocked me off my training schedule. I am still on call even though I'm technically on vacation and I got paged at 0330 this morning and didn't get back to bed until after 0600. I was determined to get in some training today.

Warm up walk 15 minutes for 0.65 miles and an average speed of 2.6 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 5 reps per exercise, 12:33 minutes.

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

Training

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 20x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x15, 20, 15, 20, 15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

As I mentioned I'm on vacation. I'm on Isle of Palms. It was so hot by the time, 1515, I started my workout it was so hot that just my moderately paced, short walk had me sweating like the proverbial pig. But then on to my calisthenic warm up. Talk about warmed up! The heat in itself is a warm up.

I went on to the swings. I wasn't too overwhelmed by the heat. I just worked my way up to 20 reps as normal. However, in my last set instead of doing 5 sets of 20 reps I alternated some lower reps 15, 20, 15, 20, 15 in order to not let the heat and humidity overwhelm me. I think I did pretty good since I've been doing my training outside at home where it is just as hot. I'll do 20, 15, 20, 15, 20 in the final five sets next session.

The get ups were hard at first but got better as I went on. It felt like I was getting strong as I went along.  I did the full ten sets as I planned. I finished up in 40:40 which was about the same as last time.

Stormy Evening Workout

Got home a little earlier today, 1800 instead of 1900 or 2000. Dark clouds were rolling in. I chilled for about 20 minutes then got changed and started in on my training routine. Two thirds of the way through my warm up walk it began to rain lightly. It grew stronger, though never really a heavy rain and very windy.

Warm up walk 14:11 for 0.73 miles and an average speed of 3.1 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 5 reps per exercise, 13:21 minutes.

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

Training

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 20x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x20x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

I upped the max reps to 20 as planned. I am finally back to Tracy Reifkind's full Workout #3. I was soaking wet after the kettlebell swings. My breathing wasn't too bad. I was able to move on to the Turkish get ups after about 2 minutes of rest, maybe 2.5 minutes. I also upped the sets of TGUs to 10. Felt very strong. Total kettlebell time 40:33 about 2.5 minutes shorter than last time! Hooray! More work in less time!

Here is a picture of my outdoor gym. Simple. Kettlebells, a mat, a fan, my laptop for music via my Beats Pill, a little chalk and my smartphone.

An Hours Rest Then Late Evening Training

I hardly left my desk today. I did go to lunch, but not much else. Once again I didn't get home until 1900 hours. I decided to rest a bit. I stretched out in my bed, and listened to an episode of Half Size Me to help get me in the groove for exercise. I listened and dozed off and on then got up after a bit more than an hour and got busy!

Warm up walk 12:55 for 0.55 miles and an average speed of 2.5 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 5 reps per exercise, 14:15 minutes.

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

Training

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 19x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x19x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 9x1x25# (per side)

Worked my way up to 19 reps set in EMOM fashion. This was my second time doing Tracy Reifkind's workout #3 at this rep level. Twenty minutes of kettlebell swings is not easy, but I think it's getting easier. After all this is my sixth time doing a variation of this training session. After my 20th set I took my pulse and it was around 122 beats per minute which is about 72% of my max which is nicely in the cardio zone.

I ended up taking about a 3.5 minute rest before getting started with my get ups. I stuck with nine sets again. The 25# bell is really feeling light these days but I'm going to stick with it a while longer. I was wobbly in a couple of sets but not too bad. I could feel it and corrected my form. I finished the kettlebell training in 43:31 which was not better than last time. Next time I'm going to do the swings with max sets of 20 reps and I'll bump up my get ups to 10 sets.

By the way, it was still so hot and humid at 2000 hours that I took a fan out into the carport and directed it at my training area. This made me think it was cooler but I was still soaking wet with sweat when I was done even with the fan.

Two Days Rest

I took two days rest after my July 4th training session. Either my training session was a little too hard or else the unfamiliar, very firm bed at my father-in-law's house flared up my back a bit. Or maybe it was a combination of both. By Saturday evening, we drove down on Friday, I had pain mostly in the S1 and L5 area. Kinda' radiating out from my tailbone into my glutes. Still felt that way Sunday and Monday morning so postponed training yesterday until today. I felt much better this morning.

Warm Up Walk 0.68 miles in 14:33 for average speed of 2.8 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 13:02 minutes.

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

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 19, 19x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x19x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 9x1x25# (per side)

Laddered my swings up to a max of 19 reps, part of my plan for getting back to the full 20 reps outlined in Tracy Reifkind's Workout #3. BTW, I also listened to a great interview of Tracy on the Strength Matters Podcast. It was pretty tough getting those 7 sets of 19 reps. You wouldn't think add just one more rep would make such a difference, but remember these sets are performed in EMOM fashion so every additional rep also decreases the rest time between sets.

Went on to the Turkish Get Ups as per usual. I was getting pretty tired around 6 sets. I started playing CT Fletcher in my head hearing him saying ISYMFS! I made it through my planned nine sets. I felt totally exhausted and my body felt thoroughly worked. I got a nice endorphin rush. Once again I took 2.5 minutes break between swings and getups. Total kettlebell time 43:09 which is rather disappointing. I'll do better next time.

Hot Aiken Kettlebell Training

We're in Aiken, SC visiting my father-in-law and assorted other relatives for the 4th of July long holiday weekend. Of course I'm still on call for work. I've been paged about something in the wee hours every night  for the last 3 or 4 nights. Therefore I didn't get around to my training today until 1312 when it was already 84°F and feeling like 87°F. Which really isn't too bad at all for Aiken in July. It is usually in the mid to upper nineties this time of year.

Warm Up Walk 0.71 miles in 15:52 for average speed of 2.7 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 13:02 minutes.

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

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 18, 18x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x18x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 9x1x25# (per side)

I walked a little longer today than normal. I haven't walked around in Houndslake Country Club, my father-in-law's neighborhood, in several months so my remembrance of distances was not the best. But that's okay cause I didn't top 7K steps yesterday. Hopefully, today I'll get over 7K. My calisthenic circuit was as normal.

Since my heart rate got so high during my last training session today I decided to repeat the same rep counts for kettlebell swings. That means I went no higher than 18 reps. And my heart rate didn't jump up like crazy today. In fact even though I was working out in direct sun I felt good. My daughter reminded me the other day that I need to get some sun on my bare torso before we go to the beach in two weeks or else I'll be sun burnt and not happy :-(

Since my swings went so well I decided to add another set to my Turkish Get Ups. I did nine sets today. Unfortunately, I think I took about 2.5 to 3 minutes rest between the swings and getups again. I really need to focus on shortening that to one minute as per Simple and Sinister.  But maybe that's an unrealistic expectation since Tracy Reifkind's Workout #3 has so many more reps of swings than Simple and Sinister calls for, today I did 292 reps. I think S&S calls for 10x10 or 100 reps of swings in 10 minutes followed by 10x1 TGUs per side after a 1 minute break. Anyway, my overall kettlebell time crept up to 39:48, 2:27 more than last time. Got to do better.

Max Heart Rate Encounter

It rained again today and cooled things off but DAMN it was humid. I left work early and got home at 1630 or so but wasn't in frame of mind to immediately start training. Then my youngest son needed me to take him over to his gig cutting a yard. Once I got him there I figured I would have to go back and pick him up so I just chilled and listened to Half Size Me. Then he came waltzing in, the guy he helps brought him home.

Then the wife started doing some yard work, edging the front yard. My part of the job is to pick up the turf she chops out and sweep the sidewalks and drive way. I also transport the turf to the backyard where we're using it, glass clippings and leaves to fill in a low spot in the center of the yard. Finally at 1943 I started training.

Warm Up Walk 0.57 miles in 13:17 for average speed of 2.6 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 13:13 minutes.

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

The Practice

Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed

Kettlebell Swings 5x11, 12, 13, 14, 15x35# Two Handed

Kettlebell Swings 5x16, 17, 18, 18, 18x35# Two Handed

Kettlebell Swings 5x18x35# Two Handed

Turkish Get Ups 8x1x25# (per side)

Everything was going just fine until set 17. Near the end of that set my heart was racing like it was going to pump right through my chest. I took a few extra seconds of rest before the 18th set but not enough cause I had to stop after only two reps. I walked around for at least a minute to allow my heart rate to drop back from the edge of my max heart rate. I completed the 18th set and then was able to finish the final two sets in normal fashion.

On to the get ups. I got started after only 1.5 minutes of rest. The first couple of sets felt easy, the #25 kettlebell felt light. But about the 4th set my heart rate was creeping back up and that kettlebell started feeling heavier and heavier. I made it through all eight sets with good form. No wobbles. Total kettlebell time 37:21.