Grunt Work Re-test

Nineteen days ago I tested a Grunt Work AMRAP session of double kettlebell deadlifts and farmers carries. Back then I made it through the round of 12 deadlifts and a final 50 foot farmer carry w/ a pair of 20kg (44lb) kettlebells.

Today I tried it again. Same weights. Differences, today I did it in the early afternoon instead of after work. It was much hotter today (94F vs 80F). I trained in a fasted state. I did the same movement prep I usually do for my Simple and Sinister training whereas I did no warm up last time.

Movement Prep Giant Sets

1. Assisted Squats 3x5
2. Hip Bridge(Raise) 3x5 
3. Kettlebell Halo 3x5 per direction 35lbs.
4. Plank 3x30 secs

In the movement prep I did the planks as a movement in the giant set instead of as a stand alone exercise after the completion of the giant set. I think this allowed me to get more time in the planks as compared to the last few training sessions. Total time was 15:02

Following the formula in the included image I made it up to and completed the round of 16 reps of deadlifts and a final 50 foot farmers carry. Again, I was blasted when I finished. I resisted the urge to collapse on the ground and instead slowly walked around shaking my arms and legs until I got my breathing back under control. 

Finished w/ my normal S&S cool down stretches. I figured that would work as deadlifts and kettlebell swings are both working the hinge pattern.

Cool Down Stretching Super Sets

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

Cool down time was 8:23.

Outdoor Training Is Fun(ctional)

Felt a little stiff and sore this morning, particularly the left hip as usual but put my workout clothes on as soon as I got out of bed. Did my five minutes of joint mobility and five minutes of walking while the coffee was brewing and that made me feel better. After some coffee, etc. got outside to start training around 0830.

Warmed up with an Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side 
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

• Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell
• Farmer's Walk with 2 44 lb Kettlebells

The OS reset felt good. When I was rolling I could feel the tightness and some pain in my left hip. The rocking and crawling helped more. Took 11:52 for the warm up.

Swings were easy. Get ups felt good. Took a little longer on the get ups. Planned to take 13 minutes for S&S, took about 14. Then took about another 9 minutes to do my carries. I decided to not do the waiter walk with the kettlebell in the bottoms up position but rather to use a heavier weight. Total kettlebell time 22.56. Got my steps in yesterday, too.

So the fun(ctional) part of outdoor training. You get fresh air. You get sunshine. You train on possible uneven surfaces. It's not climate controlled so you have to adapt to heat & humidity or cold. Once upon a time, homo sapiens spent their entire lives outside. Now we spend the majority of our lives inside with little exposure to the elements.

Added a Couple of Sets Each of Swings and Get Ups

Looked back over my training log and I've done seven sessions at sixty percent of the sets prescribed in Simple and Sinister. Decided to go up to eighty percent today. It's lovely outside, 78°F w/ only 49% humidity, sunny and a nice breeze. Did a little meditation then got started.

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

1 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 25 lbs.

Simple and Sinister

• One Hand Kettlebell Swings L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 10 x 35 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 25 lbs

I added Dr. Stuart McGill's Big 3 exercises for the core to my performance prep. Was reintroduced to

them during Scott Iardella's interview with Brian Carroll, a champion powerlifter for 20 years who came back from a terrible back injury. I recognize the need to make sure I'm doing some direct core work, it's been a weakness of mine for decades. Can only get better from here! Total prep time 20:30.

Got a good sweat going with swings, a little short of breath and heart rate up. Felt good. Good form. Really tried to dial in every aspect of get ups with particular attention to shoulder position. I want to use the get up to make sure this exercise improves my shoulders. Total kettlebell time 15:55.

I also spent some time last night doing as much of the Gold Medal Bodies Hip Flexibility Sequence as I could. It's going to be a long work in progress to get to where the coach in the video is, if I ever get there considering my hip problems. Only got 6320 steps yesterday, averaged only 5492 over the last 28 days so I set my goal back down to 6500 and I'll work up again.

Eleven Training Sessions in Twelve Days

Another warm day another session of Simple and Sinister.

Warm Up 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 Arm Bar per side, 1 minute each w/ 15 lbs.
1 set of Kettlebell Halo w/ 25 lbs.

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 7 x 10 x 35 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 4 x 1 x 25 lbs per side

I asked a question in the StrongFirst Practice group on Facebook about when I should do the arm bar. Was advised to do it as part of my warm up so I moved it. Warm up took 18:13.

Same as usual on the swings and get ups. Felt good and energized when I was done. Daily practice is great! Time was 16:18.

Second Day of Cloudy Chilly Short Simple and Sinister

Got up at 0630. However, I was moving slow and didn't start my kettlebell practice until well after 0800, actually I didn't start until 0844! Got to do better tomorrow.

Warm Up Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ legs then arms
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 2 minutes

Wide Leg Founder 1

Simple and Sinister

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 35 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 3 x 1 x 25 lbs per side

My warm up, OS Reset and the founder, took 13:27. Kettlebell practice took 11:54. That's about 30 minutes. Felt good. Didn't rush either swings or get ups. Nice steady pace w/ plenty of rest. A little sore from yesterday but not bad.

Finished up with 9274 steps yesterday which is 774 over my current goal of 8500. I didn't take a long walk. Just swept up leaves in the driveway, walked around the house doing chores and in the evening walked 5 minutes after every 25 minutes for several hours. 

My weight has crept from a low of 255 on 09/06/2016 to today's 260.8. Not enough movement. Too many sweets. Too much alcohol. My goal is to lose 3 pounds by the end of December. My big weight release goal is to average 1 pound released per week over the next year. If I succeed I'll be down to 205 by the end of 2017, which is the what I weighed as an undersized football linebacker my senior year of high school.

Fasted Kettlebell Practice

Warm Up 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

Simple and Sinister 

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 10 x 10 x 53 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 44 lbs per side

I didn't start training until mid-afternoon. I hadn't eaten anything. Only had black coffee and water. It was hot, 92°F but felt like 97°F due to 41% humidity. I felt like I was a little slow but as it turned out I wasn't too bad.

Normal warm up. It was quite hot while I was crawling in the yard. I was sweating profusely. I'm still amazed how much the core is engaged during crawling. Warm up took 14:36.

I did what I'm going to call my "heavy" workout for a few weeks. Felt good. Nothing special to report. It took 18:12. I was very hot and super sweaty by the time I finished.

Warm Morning Kettlebell Training

Warm Up Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ legs then arms
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 3 minutes

Simple and Sinister 

• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 3 x 10 x 44 lbs.
• One Hand Kettlebells Swings 2 x 5L, 5R x 44lbs
• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 5 x 10 x 53 lbs.
• Turkish Get Ups 2 x 1 x 35 lbs. per side
• Turkish Get Ups 2 x 1 x 44 lbs. per side
• Turkish Get Ups 1 x 1 x 35 lbs. per side

After not training for 5 days due to some swelling and tendonitis in my right knee I got back to business this morning at 0746. I intended to get started earlier but stayed in bed until around 0630. It is safer for me to be up and moving around for 30-60 minutes to warm up my back before training than to jump right into it.

Anyway, I did my normal Original Strength based warm up then proceeded with Simple and Sinister. I kinda' lost track of my time despite my interval timer and took a little more than the prescribed 1 minute rest between swings and get ups as I had not moved my weights around during the initial 1 minute rest. I felt good once I was done. I really got my heart rate elevated and got very sweaty despite the early morning hour. My max heart rate during kettlebell training was 146 bpm at about 8 minutes into my session. During getups my heart rate w/ around in the 117 bpm range. My kettlebell session took 21:32.

I Feel So Good

I feel so good when I exercise! Why can't I remember this feeling and maintain a regular exercise routine? My whole body feels great! Well, except for my hip but whatever.


Warm Up Original Strength Reset

• Cross Crawl - 20 per side
• Crocodile Breathing - 2 minutes
• Head Nods - 20 reps
• Rolling - 3 reps left and right first leading w/ arms then legs
• Rocking - 20 reps
• Crawling - 2 minutes

Simple and Sinister (shortened)

• Kettlebell Swings 7 x 10 x 44 lbs.
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35 lbs. per side

I decided to up my sets of swings today and go up on my weight for the Turkish Get Ups. The get ups were quite a bit harder. I was a little wobbly. The extra two sets of swings didn't overly tax me. I felt good overall . I got my heart rate up to 126 with the swings. During the get ups it was about 103 today. The warm up took 12:57. The kettlebell practice took 17:13.

Bronchitis Sucks

Where've I been for the last month you ask? Fighting bronchitis. After antibiotics and steroids and a lot of rest I'm most feeling better. I do still have a bit of a cough but it's not all day and night like it was. Nor am I bringing up thick, green, gross phlegm. I lost a whole month of training to this illness.

This morning I did an Original Strength reset inside. It was dry out but cool and all the cars were in the carport and driveway.

• Cross Crawl 20 reps
• Diaphragmatic Breathing 2 minutes
• Head Nods 20 reps
• Segmented rolls 3 reps each direction led by each limb
• Rocking 20 reps
• Baby Crawl 2 minutes

This afternoon after dropping my younger son off at GCYO Sinfonia practice over at Wade Hampton High School I did my Simple and Sinister warm up and practice in the big parking lot by the school's football stadium.

Warm Up 3 circuits 5 reps each exercise

• Deep, assisted squats
• Hip Bridges
• Light Kettlebell Halo
• Bird Dogs

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 35#
• Kettlebell Swings 8 x 10 x 53#
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35# (per side)

When I picked up my 53# bell today for the first time in a month damn if it didn't feel HEAVY! I decided the better part of valor would be to start out w/ 2 sets of swings at 35# to make sure my body was ready for the 53#. I completed the swings in EMOM fashion. It takes me about 15 seconds to do 10 swings, so that left a 45 second rest period after each set.

For the turkish gets ups I stayed w/ the 35# weight I had worked up to in December. I alternated sides and did 5 sets of 1 rep. I was breathing pretty heavily after these two exercises but not nearly as bad as I thought I would be. Also, they didn't set off a coughing spell so that was very good.

Since I missed a month of training I think I'll do S&S every other day for a couple of weeks before gradually ramping back up to every day. As it is, just a couple of hours later, I can really feel the soreness in my hamstrings, glutes and mid & low back from swings. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, my triceps are sore from the get ups.

10 Sets of 10 Reps of Kettlebell Swings with 24 Kilos

This morning I did an Original Strength reset  and a couple of unloaded turkish get ups before leaving home for the office. See yesterday's post for details. At lunch I did some modified shinbox switches and a couple of unloaded turkish get ups. I followed that with a leisurely walk of 1.11 miles in 30 minutes.

When I got home I kinda' didn't want to do my Simple and Sinister routine. My hip was hurting again after driving home and sitting in traffic. So, step one I put on my workout clothes. Step two I went outside and laid out my exercise mat and kettlebells. Step three I took my time warming up, 20 minutes in fact. Told myself if I wasn't feeling it I would stop after the warm up.

Warm Up 3 circuits 5 reps each exercise

• Deep, assisted, Prying Squats
• Hip Bridges
• Light Kettlebell Halo
• Bird Dogs

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 10 x 10 x 53#
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35# (per side)

But I did feel good. My hip stopped hurting so much. In fact I felt so good, so strong, that I upped my sets from 7 to 10 the goal. I did 10 kettlebell swings in EMOM fashion with my 24kg Rogue kettlebell. I can finish 10 swings in 15 seconds, ala Tracy Reifkind, leaving me 45 seconds to rest before the next set. It felt good.

I took one minute rest at the end of the swings and then moved on to Turkish Get Ups. I complete 5 reps per side in just under 10 minutes. The practice took just a little more than 20 minutes. I'm glad i trained. I felt better once I was done and I still had "energy in the bank." BTW, my hamstrings are still getting sore!

300 Kettlebell Swings in 20 Minutes

Warm up walk 0.49 miles in 10:38 for an average of 2.8 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:27 minutes.

• Prying Goblet Squat w/ 25# kettlebell
• Lying Hip Extension
• Halo  w/ 15# kettlebell
• Flying Dog

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x16,17,18,19,120x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x20x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 10x1x25# (per side)

Beautiful, sunny and cool autumn day. Training done. Did Tracy Reifkind's full Workout #3. Completed 305 swings in 20 minutes. Followed up with my 10 sets of turkish get ups ala Pavel's Simple and Sinister. Total kettlebell time 40:46. Disappointed with that time but I took a long time again between swings and get ups.

Another HOT HUMID Workout

Damn it was hot this afternoon when I started working out!

Right before I snapped the above picture the gauge read 100°F. And my truck was parked in the shade! Anyway I got home and got down to it. Thankfully before I got finished, clouds rolled in and the wind began to blow. Felt better but I was still so sweaty you could read the outline of words on my shirt  in the sweat stain I left where I had been supine on the concrete floor as I did getups. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Warm Up Walk 0.64 miles in 13:00 for average speed of 2.9 mph.

Calisthenic Circuits 14:00 minutes.

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

The Practice

Dang another hardly readable picture. Guess I need darker chalk and/or brighter light.

• Kettlebell Swings 5x10x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 5x11,12,13,14,15x35# Two Handed
• Kettlebell Swings 10x15x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 7x1x25# (per side)

I stepped up to Tracy's Workout #3 just as I had planned. However, I didn't do the maximum prescribed reps. I did do the full 20 minutes, but stuck at 15 reps for the last 10 sets (10 minutes). I keep trying to get my break between the swings and turkish get ups down to 1 minute but it always seems to creep up to between 1.5 and 3 minutes. Today was no exception.

Anyway, I was quite wobbly on the very first rep. My wife was sitting outside in the carport where I train drinking a glass of wine. She said something to me and I tried to respond. I think that broke my concentration. I also got a little loose on the last set. I had to correct and pack the arm holding the kettlebell back into my shoulder socket.

Oh, I forgot. my hands were so slippery with sweat during the swings that I had to keep toweling them off and toweling off the kettlebell handle. Even so, on one rep I lost my grip with my left hand as I was swing the bell up. I just turned it into sort of a one hand swing then re-gripped with both hands and finished the set. Total kettlebell time 37 minutes.

Walk for Lunch and Evening FMS Exercises

I took a walk at lunchtime. I covered 1.41 miles in 32:48 for an average speed of just 2.6 mph. Much slower than my 3.1 mph walk on Saturday evening with Laura.

This evening I did my FMS corrective exercises. I got them done in 12:48. Once again I did some extra rolling of my hip flexors after I was done with the FMS prescribed stuff. Nearly at 10K steps at the time of this writing with 9889. I'm sure I'll get the 10K before I go to bed.

Raven Cliff Falls Hike

We decided to go on a family hike last week and picked Sunday, yesterday. We drove up to Caesar's Head to hike to Raven Cliff Falls. There are a couple of ways to go. We did the shorter route about 10 years ago when my youngest son was a toddler and I carried him a good portion of the hike in one of those baby carrier backpacks.

Anyway this time decided to go the longer route. The wife and I let the kids (22, 16 and 12) go on ahead at their pace and we went at ours. We just asked them to wait for us at the first forking of the trail so we could really decide which way to go, short or long. They waited, not too long, and we decided to go long.

Well, I thought they were going to wait for us again at the next fork, but they didn't. My wife and I ended up going on the fork the kids had not taken and descended a good ways into the valley to the Suspension Bridge over the falls. It was quite a climb back out for us as we have not been doing any hiking. We eventually got back to together at the fork where we had chosen different paths and then headed back to the car.

Round trip was over 8 miles, nearly 9, and it took us about 4.5 hours. By the way, every site I visit has different mileage numbers for the hike! That 4.5 hours was with stopping to take pictures, stopping for a snack and just looking at the beautiful scenery and wildlife.

I walked 26,987 steps or 10.01 miles yesterday! Walking trails, up and down the sides of mountains, is a lot different than walking in the neighborhood. But I should add that without the walking I've been doing and the kettlebell training I would not have been able to hike 8 or 9 miles! I also wear Vibram Five Fingers almost all of the time including yesterday when I wore my Speed XCs. The muscles in my feet and calves were ACHING today. But it was well worth it.