Armor Building

I haven't trained since Tuesday 28 May 2019. I meant to train on Thursday 30 May 2019 but started having muscle spasms where my right lat attaches down in the lower back area. Super painful. No way I could train. Friday felt better but decided I should wait another day and that brings us to today.

Started out with my normal movement prep.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

1. Goblet Squats 3x5x35lbs
2. Hip Bridge(Raise) 3x5 
3. Kettlebell Halo 3x5 per direction 35lbs.

Forgot to do my planks as part of the giant set. Did three sets with 2 minute break in between. Total time for prep and planks 18 minutes.

Plank 3x30 seconds

Then l did the armor building routine outlined in the picture above. However, instead of AMRAP 15 I did EMOM 15 and barely was able to keep pace. I used a pair of 16kg (35lb) kettlebells. Also I squated to a box that was just below parallel as I'm still working on strength and mobility for full squats. During my first couple of rounds the cleans were GARBAGE! I need to spend some more time practicing them and snatches.

Cool Down Stretching 

• Super Sets
• 90/90 Stretch 3x30 seconds per side
• QL Straddle Stretch 3x30 seconds per side
• Bretzel 1 minute per side
• Bretzel 2.0 1 minute per side

Total cool down time 14:08. If all goes well and my body doesn't rebel, on Monday I'll resume my simple and sinister practice and up my sets of swings and getups from 8 to 10.

Memorial Day Original Strength and Short Walks

We were travelling Monday to return home from our holiday weekend visits. I got in some Original Strength resets before we got on the road. Walked around at a rest stop and then many short walks throughout the afternoon and evening after we got home. Got nearly 120% of my step goal.

Getting Stronger

I almost skipped training today. Waited until late in the afternoon. I got it done.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

Plank 30 secs, 15 secs, 15 secs

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 4x10x16kg
• One Hand Swings 4x10x20kg
• Get Ups 4x1x16kg
• Get Ups 4x1x20kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

I was stiff today. Movement prep was challenging especially squats. But I was warm and loose afterwards. Planks are not getting easier. Prep and planks took 13:00.

The heavier sets of swings and get ups are getting easier. I feel stronger. My shirts are feeling tighter around the arms, shoulders and chest even though I'm not specifically targeting those areas. Sunday is test day, 80 swings in 4 minutes or less followed by 1 minute rest and then 8 get ups in 8 minutes or less. Total time 26:35. Next cycle is 10 sets each, I'll also shave some rest time off for each set.

Normal cool down. Felt good. Was walking better afterwards. Felt really good overall. Cool down took 8:17.

Cool Cloudy Kettlebell Practice

I didn't get a longish walk in yesterday but I did hit my target goal of 7K+ steps. Today is a kettlebell practice day. It is cool and cloudy. Quite lovely for training.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

Plank 30 secs, 15 secs, 15 secs

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 4x10x16kg
• One Hand Swings 4x10x20kg
• Get Ups 4x1x16kg
• Get Ups 4x1x20kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

First set of squats felt better today, especially considering my hip was bothering me by the end of the day yesterday. I think it was hurting because I was in the office yesterday where I have a standing desk. I've been working at home a lot lately where I do not have a standing desk, so my body is not conditioned for it anymore. Got to do better. Anyway, movement prep was good as usual. Followed it up with planks. I think I'm going to have to "grease the groove" daily to get better at planks and not just this every other day 1 minute accumulation. Total time for prep and planks 12:04.

I again did half of my swings and get ups with the 16kg bell and half with the 20kg bell. Still feel strong. No problems. On get ups I focused on rolling up, not crunching. Holding the bell with my left hand it is hard to go from kneeling to standing than while holding the bell with my right hand. In the former it looks like a left foot forward lunge and that is the hip that gives me trouble. It will get BETTER! Total time 26:13

Finished with normal cool down routine. Felt good. Really felt good walking around afterwards. Total time 8:20.

Heavier Kettlebell Simple and Sinister at Lunch

Yesterday, only got in about 6.1K steps which is 900 short of my 7K daily goal. Friday and Saturday were even worse. I didn't do any mobility, flexibility and stability work yesterday either.

Today, I felt good. Decided to go heavier on a few sets of swings and get ups.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

Plank 30 secs, 15 secs, 10 secs, 5 secs

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 4x10x16kg
• One Hand Swings 4x10x20kg
• Get Ups 4x1x16kg
• Get Ups 4x1x20kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

Movement prep and planks took 13:01. Set one of squats equals struggle bus. All the rest of movement prep was fine. I intended to accumulate 60 seconds of plank time in 1x30 seconds and 2x15 seconds. Had to break that last 15 into 10 seconds and 5 seconds. For some reason my shoulders just gave up. I'll do better next time.

As I wrote earlier I was feeling good and strong today so my initial thought was to do 1 set each on each side of swings and get ups at 20kg instead of the 16kg I have been using for the last few weeks. I ended up doing half of all my sets with the 20kg and it felt good. I'll try to repeat this on my next two training sessions. Time was 26:35, which is about twice as long as a test of 8 sets each of swings and gets up should take, 13 minutes.

Did my normal cool down routine. It took 8:01. Got to make sure I do an Original Strength reset at least on the days I don't do kettlebells. I've also been doing 30-60 seconds of the Bretzel 1.0 before bed on kettlebell days.

Lazy Saturday Kettlebell Practice

I had a hard week of work. Long hours and disrupted sleep patterns. I woke up this morning around 0400 and never really got back to sleep. Spent most of the day binge watching Game of Thrones. I did do a few minor chores around the house. Then finally got off my ass and got in my kettlebell practice. This was my first ketllebell session since Tuesday, but I did do an original strength reset on Wednesday along with a 30+ minute walk.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

Plank 30 secs, 15 secs, 15 secs

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 8x10x16kg
• Get Ups 8x1x16kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

Movement prep felt good. First set of squats is always a challenge, but by the end of the three giant sets I'm always loosened up and warm. Followed that with planks accumulating one minute total. All of that took 11:20.

Then with minimal rest and set up time I went into the simple and sinister routine. Swings were easy and even with the extended rest time I was breathing hard and feeling it by sixth set. Get ups felt particularly solid and fluid at the same time. My hips felt much better. Total kettlebell time 26;40.

Finished up with the recommended stretching. Again my hips felt much better than usual in the 90/90 stretch. Also I think I was able to part my legs a few extra degrees for the straddle stretch. Slow and steady wins the race. Consistency is key! Total time 8:00.

Original Strength and Walking

Today I did about five minutes of Original Strength resets then took a 30 minute walk. Hip is my limiting factor on walks. At least I got out there and did it. It was a nice day, cool and cloudy. I need to keep doing original strength type work to improve my mobility and flexibility. Not much else to say.

Cool Shirtless and Barefoot Kettlebell Practice

Working from home again today which let me get my kettlebell practice in around midday. It is unseasonably cool but sunny with a breeze. I almost always train barefoot or in one of my several pairs of Vibram FiveFingers. Today was barefoot. I also found a sunny spot and got shirtless to get a little extra vitamin D.

I was scheduled to do this training session yesterday, but was feeling unusually sluggish and sore still. Mostly my hip from the walk on Sunday. It pays to listen to my body, especially as I get older.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

Plank 30 secs, 15 secs, 15 secs

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 8x10x16kg
• Get Ups 8x1x16kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

I keep forgetting to do my planks after the kettlebell practice so I moved them to the end of movement prep. I was nice and warm after giant sets of movement prep. What was sore felt better. I was nice and loose. Ready to go. It took 11:48 including planks.

As noted I built more time into the sets of swings and get ups to make this more a practice than test. It was still enough work quickly enough to get my heart rate elevated and a good sweat. Swings felt good and powerful. Get ups were solid. Less pain in my hip. Kettlebell practice took 26:16.

Then the cooldown of S&S recommended stretches. These are the most difficult and obviously most needed part of the routine for me, these and squats. I'll start doing goblet squats soon. Need to work on ankle and hip mobility. Cool down took 8:00. Tomorrow I will do a longish walk.

80 Percent Simple and Sinister Practice One

I took two days off after the Gruntwork kettlebell deadlift and farmer carry session on May 8th. Really needed it as I was quite sore, especially my left hip and upper back. Back in the saddle today.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

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

8/10 Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Swings 8x10x16kg
• Get Ups 8x1x16kg

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

Felt good after the movement prep. Warm, loose and ready to go. Prep took 10:05.

Upped sets of swings and get ups to 8, thus the 80% in the title. Took my time with swings with plenty of rest in between sets as this is practice not a test. Same for get ups. Still got my heart rate up and got a good sweat going. Focused on generating power on swings and really squeezing my glutes at the top. Focused on form during get ups, keeping kettlebell arm strait, getting square, etc. Kettlebell practice took 20:35.

I forgot to do my plank practice, bummer. Guess I'll go do one now. Cooled down w/ the recommended S&S stretches. Cool down was 8:30. Everything feels better now. Tomorrow will be a longish (for me) walk. I walked 21:20 this past Thursday.

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.

Slow One Hour Walk

For now I'm practicing Kettlebell Simple and Sinister every other day. So, on the days I'm not practicing kettlebells I am going to take a longish walk. I've not been doing such walks as of late, just lots of short walks every hour from 0700 to 2100.

Today I set out for a 2 mile walk. I thought I would finish in about 40-45 minutes. It took me an hour. My cardiovascular conditioning was not the limiting factor, but rather my hip and back. After about 35-40 minutes of my walk, my speed fell off precipitously as I had to pause often to stretch my hips and back.

I think I'll limit myself to 40 minutes maximum walking time for a while and see how my hip and back do. It was challenging to get home today. It might be better to just go out for 10 minutes and back 10 minutes, twice so I'm not too far from home if my hip and back give me trouble. I'll try that on Tuesday. BTW, I did my walk in a fasted state.

Another Barefoot and Shirtless Kettlebell Session

Trained on schedule, as in only one day off since last session. This is my sixth session since I started this program on 20 April 2019. Should have been my 7th. On Monday I'm going to try to do my swings in 3 minutes or less and my get ups in 6 minutes or less. Today I trained fasted, barefoot and shirtless in the nice sunshine. It's already 84°F!

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

Hardstyle Plank 1x30 seconds

Cool Down Stretching Giant Sets

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

Less assistance on my squats. I hang out in the bottom for about 5 seconds per rep. Really focused on getting hips high on bridges. Did halo in tall kneeling position. Warm up took 10:39,

Swings went well. Starting to feel light but I'm not going to go up in weight until I'm doing the full ten sets of swings and get ups in the prescribed 5 minutes and 10 minutes respectively. Get ups felt good, too. Left hip felt better today than Thursday. Focused on keeping the elbow of the arm holding the kettlebell straight at all times. Other focus points opening hips and staying square. S&S took 16:00.

After S&S I did 1 set of the hardstyle plank for as long as I could, 30 seconds. Added in the recommended cool down stretching. I really need to work on opening my hips and stretching out my hamstrings. The abs and flexibility/mobility of my lower body are weak points. Total time 9:17.

Barefoot Kettlebell Practice

I should have trained yesterday. I was tired and took a nap after work. Training is only as effective as your rest, recovery and nutrition.

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

As I was walking around outside I talked myself up to get my training in. I was thinking I might skip the movement prep and just jump right into the kettlebell practice. However, I kicked off my FiveFingers, got barefoot and did do the prep. Felt good and took 10:32.

Swings were good. Getting easier and in a little better shape, not quite as winded. Get up were a bit challenging with my left up and forward in the lunge position. My hip flexors on that side are tight and sore. Caught myself letting my "posting" shoulder slump a bit, otherwise good form I think. One more thing to be extra mindful of is to alignment in the windmill position. Total time 16:01.

Meditation and Original Strength

I had meditated ( I use the Calm App for timed silent meditation) for 11 straight days before yesterday when I missed. I did an Original Strength Reset 10 of those 11 days, just didn't do it on the first of those 11 days. I missed yesterday. Today I meditated and did an OS Reset.

I had noticed that I was feeling much better physically and mentally the last couple of days before I missed a day. I wonder if that sense of well being led to a temporary urge to self sabotage? At any rate, I complied with the mantra of "never miss two days in a row" and got back to it today. I'll try to keep my streak going even while I'm traveling in Japan!

Trying to Get Pain Free

I haven't done much besides walk for a long time. Trying to get my left hip as pain free as possible. I did Original Strength resets & the Dynamic Aging routine semi-consistently for a while. I started on the Gold Medal Bodies Elements program but fell off in week 2. Since then just trying to get my steps up. I managed to average 7138 steps during May while I had a goal of 6K steps. This month I'm upping my goal to 7K.

I got down to my lowest weight on May 28th at 248.0 pounds. That's my lowest weight since August 28th, 2017. In the intervening time, I've gotten as high as 256. I attribute that to a couple of things. First, walking more as for a while I was only getting 3K or 4K a day. Second, I've been trying with maybe only 60-70% success is following the 4S+A diet. That is no Snacks, no Seconds, no Sweets, and no Alcohol except on Sometimes on days that start w/ S. Third I've been trying to get 7 hours of sleep per night. Fourth, one of my aunts sent me some Laird Superfood for my birthday. I've been using it in my coffee in the morning. It fuels me pretty well and I'm able to maintain a 16-20 hour fast most week days. Occasionally I'll have some bone broth around lunch or mid-afternoon.

Now to keep the weight going down. My conservative goal for the end of June is 245. If I get lower that will be a bonus. I'm going to restart the GMB Elements tomorrow. Also the last couple of weeks I've been doing Farmer carries and Suitcase carries with my 35 pound kettlebells a few times a week. I'll probably throw in a couple days of upper body weight workouts as well.

Out of Action for a LONG Time

I haven't practiced kettlebells since 5 August 2017. During the fall I did the Dynamic Aging Whole Body Flow (DAWBF) pretty often. The last couple of months I haven't done much at all. My left hip has been the limiting factor, that and my attitude I guess.

The hip has hurt very badly quite often. It hurt to the point where I bought a cane and there were even a few days when I actually used it just to walk around in the house. I just haven't wanted to do anything, the pain just sucked everything out of me, or I allowed it to do so.

This happens to me often. Even though I told myself just walk and do the "old folks" workout, DAWBF, I just couldn't keep the momentum. But I'm feeling really lousy and gained back about 10 pounds. I've got to do something.

With that in mind, Friday I did an Original Strength reset. I did the same yesterday. A couple of days before that I bought the Gold Medal Bodies Elements program which I started today. When I woke up this morning my body felt noticeably better and a little sore just from the resets.

The first day of the 8 week Elements program is basically an assessment and learning day. Even with that, my mobility, flexibility and strength is really, really poor right now. Every movement was a challenge. The most challenging for my hip were the floor hip circles. Anyway, I'm going to keep with this eight week program and see how much I can increase my mobility and strength while hopefully decreasing my pain. I'll mix in some OS Resets and DAWBF, too.

Saturday Morning Kettlebells

Went to bed late. Slept in. Got started training late after a couple of cups of coffee, morning mobility and a little reading. Of course that means it was hotter than when I usually train by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

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 - 50 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings  6 x 10 x 53 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 53 lbs

Loaded Carries

• Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell (left then right)
• 2 x Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

As usual did an Original strength reset to warm up. I did more rocking than normal, with some extra stuff for both shoulders and hip flexors. Felt really good. Crawled farther than usual in the same three minutes. I should try some 4 point (hands and feet) crawling soon instead of the 6 point (hands, knees, & feet) crawling I've been doing. Total time 16:22.

Planned kettlebell practice today called for six sets each of swings and get ups. Stuck with that plan but decided to tack on some loaded carries at the end. I haven't done any of those since July 27th. Swings were easy. Get ups were going well. As I was completing my fourth rep my wife came out to take her car to the store so I had to move out of her way and pause for about 1.5 minutes. Then I got right back to it and finished strong. So, what was planned to take 13 minutes took about 14.5.

On to the carries after a two minute break. I started with my left hand. Went down the driveway in waiter's position, back up in rack position, then down and back in suitcase position. Repeated with my right hand. Then two rounds of farmer's walks with two 44s. I took one minute rest between each round of carries. So the total kettlebell time was 25:28. Met my step goal yesterday for the first time since the 27th.

Cloudy Cool Summer Morning Simple and Sinister

I ate three good meals and a snack yesterday. I went to bed early again, like 2115 or so. I did not get
in all my steps yesterday but more than I have for the last several days.

I got up this morning around 0630 but didn't get started training until just after 0800. This morning was partly cloudy and cool but with high humidity.











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

Good warm up session. Consistent original strength resets seem to be helping my hip. It hurts some but not nearly as much as it was a couple of weeks ago. Warm up time was 14:37.

Kettlebell swings were crisp and strong. Felt really good today. I need to do a little more practice with one hand swings. Maybe the next 3 day cycle I'll drop back down to 44lbs and do all one hand swings for that 3 day cycle. Get ups were strong and solid w/ a couple of wobbles here and there but nothing major. I tell you what though, holding the 53 in full straight arm extension really works the triceps! My triceps were on fire by the 3rd or 4th pair of reps. Total kettlebell time 21:19. 

Quick Kettlebell Practice

I didn't train yesterday. I only got six hours of sleep the night before. I trained hard the day before yesterday and didn't really feel up to it yesterday. I listened to my body. I ate two good meals, lunch and dinner. I was good to go this morning.

I didn't wear my Fitbit Blaze to bed last night, it needed a charge. So, I don't have an exact measurement of my sleep last night. I estimate I got between 7 and 8 hours of sleep. Like I said, I felt very good when I got up this morning. The weather is awesome...and strange. The low last night was 66°F and the humidity this morning was only 39%. This made for super comfortable training conditions. I trained barefoot and shirtless as normal.

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

I'm still going to cycle my training for now as follows 10 sets day one, 6 sets day two, 8 sets day three, then repeat. Taking rest days as appropriate of course. Today was a 6 set day. That came in handy as I had an 0900 meeting today for work.

Warm up was as usual, nothing extra. Just enough to get a light sweat going, muscles & joints warm and flexible. Total time 13:49. Kettlebell practice was short and sweet. Nothing much to say, felt good. Total time 13:54. I've not been getting my steps in everyday since I went on vacation. I'll make a more concerted effort to do so from today on.

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!