60 Percent Simple and Sinister Test

Today is my seventh session doing 60 swings and 6 get ups with the 16kg kettlebell. So, as per my plan I'm testing today to see if I can get the swings done in 3 minutes or less, rest a minute, and then get 6 get ups done (alternating sides) in 6 minutes or less. The 60 percent is referring to the number of sets not the weight. The weight I'm using is 50% of the Simple Goal which is to be done with a 32kg, and 33% of the Sinister Goal which requires using a 48kg kettlebell.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

1. Assisted Squats 3x5
2. Hip Bridge(Raise) 3x5 
3. Kettlebell Halo 3x5 per direction 35lbs.

6/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 6x10x16kg
• Get Ups 6x1x16kg

Cool Down Stretching Giant Sets

• 90/90 Stretch 3x30 seconds per side
• QL Straddle Stretch 3x30 seconds per side

Hardstyle Plank 1x30 seconds

I DID IT! I was able to do my 60 swings in 3 minutes! I was sucking wind like crazy, but I did it. My glutes and hamstrings were on fire, but I did it! I also completed my get ups in the alloted 6 minutes. I'm used to doing 1 get up EMOM but not after doing swings in an 1:1 work to rest ratio. Even with the one minute break after the swings my breathing wasn't back to normal, but it was good enough to get the work done.

Next step is to increase to 8 sets each of swings and get ups. Then on my 7th session of that test again. If I can do that in under 13 minutes total, I'll go up to 10 sets of each. But let me not get too far ahead of myself. One training session at a time, grasshopper, one kettlebell practice at a time.

Back Home Simple and Sinister

Took yesterday off from my kettlebell practice. We cleaned the beach house, packed the Toyota Sequoia and drove home from Isle of Palms, SC to Greenville, SC. Once we got home we of course had to unpack the SUV. I walked as much as I could at rest stops and during the above mentioned process but only got in 6244 steps.

Did my morning mobility (did it yesterday, too) but took a long time to get outside and get to my training. The weather is really nice. The humidity is only 35% here at home versus 64% at IoP. Yesterday it was 76% humidity on IoP! The temperature is only 83°F! That's crazy comfortable conditions for July 30th! But despite the nice weather I still made a sweat angel after I finished my practice session. As usual I trained barefoot and shirtless.

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  10 x 10 x 53 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 53 lbs

Normal warm up. Nothing special to say, except my left hip and glute felt a little achy. Maybe the glute medius? Not sure. Need to get myself an anatomy book. Total warm up time was 13:01.

After six straight and solid sessions using the 44 lb kettlebell at the beach in much hotter and more humid conditions I felt like going up to the 53 lb (24 kg) bell today. I put the  44 lb (20 kg) bell in easy reach in case I needed to use a lighter weight. But I didn't need it.

I cranked out my 10 sets of 10 swings. The first couple of reps of the swings took me a little by surprise as the weight was a little more than I expected. Felt heavier but it made me focus and every rep thereafter was solid. Felt good once I was done.

I was a little more uncertain about using the 53 for the getups. I was a little wobbly in the beginning but got more solid as the reps went on. I did take 11 minutes to get them done rather than the allotted 10 minutes. Felt great, nice challenge. I know I'm getting stronger. total kettlebell time 22:02.

BTW, I haven't eaten since dinner yesterday. I weighed 245 before we left on vacation last Saturday, today I weighed in at 250.4. That's the wrong direction and far outside of where I should be by my plan. At this point I should be between 229 and 240.59. If I was right on target I would be at 234.79. So, I'm nearly 10 pounds over what my maximum weight should be at this point, and about 15 pounds over my target. 

I'm not going to beat myself up though, because I'm still 12 pounds down from the beginning of the year. I do need to get serious about my nutrition. So, I'm gonna see if I can kick this week off w/ a 72 hour fast. After that I need to keep my carbs low and limit consumption of calorie laden beverages like beer and alcohol. Back on track I will be!

Lunchtime Mobility and Walking

My hips were hurting pretty badly yesterday even. Really everything in my pelvic region, all the hip
flexors and extensors. I spent a good deal of time stretching, mobilizing and rolling all the tissues out I could before bed. Felt a little better today but my left hip still hurts.

Therefore, I've decided not to do any kettlebell work today. I decided instead to do my normal performance preparation during lunch time and take a little walk around the building.

Performance Preparation

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

Wide Leg Founder 1

McGill Big Three

• Bird Dog
• Rolling Plank
• Curl Up

That will be all for today. If my hip feels better tomorrow I'll practice kettlebells again then.

Another Evening Workout

I just couldn't get moving this morning. I got up at 0615 but just couldn't get into workout mode. I should have put my workout clothes on as soon as I got up but I didn't. Oh well. After dropping Miles off at lacrosse practice I came home, changed and got started training.

Performance Preparation

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

Wide Leg Founder 1
1 Set of 5 reps Kettlebell Halo w/ 25 lbs.

1 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 25 lbs.
1 Superset of 9 reps Push-ups & Australian Pull-ups

Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Kettlebell Swings 10 x 10 x 35 lbs  L, R
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35 lbs per side

Same performance prep but today I added in the superset of push-ups and Australian push-ups. Each time I do them I get one more rep! That's pretty nice progress. Nice and warm when I was done. Total prep time 21:25.

No change up on the kettlebell work. Well, actually I went back to the 45 second rest period between sets of swings whereas I cut that to just 15 seconds yesterday. Everything felt good. My hamstrings and glutes are pretty sore. Total kettlebell time 20:29. Only got 7711 steps yesterday.

Exercise for Energy

I've been told that your exercise routine should make you feel energized and ready to face the day rather than leave you wondering if you can even walk up the steps into your house. Of course, sometimes you need to go all out but most of the time like the strong men of old it's better to leave a little in the tank. You should feel better when you're done than when you started. That's exactly what this combination of Original Strength with Kettlebell Simple and Sinister does for me.

It may seem strange to recommend training without days off when the goal is storing energy, but moderate daily training will keep the muscles’ fuel tanks topped off, while making tissues resistant to microtrauma and almost soreness-proof. It is the ticket to being always ready. Pavel Tsatsouline in Kettlebell Simple and Sinister

Even with that approach, I still made another sweat angel today. Hahaha!

Performance Preparation

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/ legs then arms
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Wide Leg Founder 1
1 Set of 5 reps Kettlebell Halo w/ 25 lbs.

1 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 20 lbs.

6 Minute Abs

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Kettlebell Swings 10 x 10 x 35 lbs R, L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R, L
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35 lbs per side

I didn't skim through the OS reset book as I mentioned yesterday so I did the same routine. Still felt good. I did tack on direct ab work today. Total prep time 24:32.

As planned all of my swings were the one hand version today. Also, did all my get ups with the same 35 lb kettlebell. Felt good, even easy. But just to be on the safe side I'll stay with this set, rep and weight scheme for a few days then start working in the 20kg (44lb) kettlebell. Total ketllebell time 19:59. I only got in 3987 steps yesterday, not good but it was raining nearly all day. BTW, my glutes and hamstrings have some significant soreness. Maybe I'm hinging at the hips even better?

Afternoon Simple and Sinister

Went to bed early and slept late. My fitbit  calculated that I slept for 10:37! I know I was awake for a couple of hours of that at least. I was just lying in bed listening to Krista Tippett interviewing Anil Dash for On Being. Ran some errands and when I finally got home proceeded to do my kettlebell training.

Performance Preparation

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/ legs then arms
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Wide Leg Founder 1
1 Set of 5 reps Kettlebell Halo w/ 25 lbs.

1 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 20 lbs.

6 Minute Abs

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 35 lbs
• One Hand Kettlebell Swings 6 x 10 x 35 lbs L, R, L, R, L, R
• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 35 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 1 x 1 x 25 lbs per side
• Turkish Get Ups 3 x 1 x 35 lbs per side
• Turkish Get Ups 1 x 1 x 25 lbs per side

Performance prep pretty much as normal. I did add in some direct abdominal work. It all felt good. Movement is medicine. The OS Reset really makes me feel great. The ab work is hard but will be worth it in the long run. Total prep time 24:04.

Simple and Sinister as normal. This is my fourth time using this set and weight scheme Three more times and I'll do increase the sets of one hand swings and up the weight on another set of get ups. Felt strong all the way through. Plenty of power for all swings with good form. Get ups were pretty easy. But I'll be patient. Total kettlebell time 20:28.

I got in 9532 steps yesterday. I've been on a steady progression upwards with regard to steps all week. I'm already over 9448 steps today and I'll be up for at least another 3.5 hours. BTW, my glutes and hamstrings are sore.

Warm Again

I stopped watching TV at 2200 hours and got under the covers. I was quickly asleep. However, my Fitbit Charge HR didn't recognize me as being asleep until after 0100! I'm sure I got more than hours of sleep as I didn't get up until about 0615. Therefore, I engaged in my kettlebell practice today after two days of skipping it due to lack of sleep.

Performance Preparation

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

Wide Leg Founder 1
1 Set of 5 reps Kettlebell Halo w/ 25 lbs.

1 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 20 lbs.

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 35 lbs
• One Hand Kettlebell Swings 6 x 10 x 35 lbs R, L, R, L, R, L
• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 35 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 1 x 1 x 25 lbs per side
• Turkish Get Ups 3 x 1 x 35 lbs per side
• Turkish Get Ups 1 x 1 x 25 lbs per side

It sure is a lot nicer to train outdoors when it's 50F rather than when it is in the 30s. It was warm enough that I had to take off my sweatshirt after completing swings and before starting getups as I was getting too hot. Anyway performance prep went well. I think I'll start doing arm bars with the 25lb kettlebell next week. Total prep time 20:21.

Swings felt good. I can really feel my glutes working more. Maybe they were asleep or at least napping? Hahaha! I usually start my one hand swings with my left hand as it is my non-dominant hand but today I switched that up. I also made that switch for get ups. 

The 35 pounder is beginning to feel light again even for 1 hand swings as well as get ups. I'm not going to rush and jump up to another weight yet. Next week I'll do my last sets of swings with one hand and the last set of get ups with the 35, too. Total kettlebell time 20:41.

I only got 7048 steps yesterday. However, that was the most steps I've gotten for days since Friday 01/06/2017. Maybe I can hit my goal of 9K today. BTW, despite a day of rain and the increasing warm temperatures check out the remaining pile of snow over my shoulder!