Six Days of Simple and Sinister

Was feeling slugging this morning. Did my morning mobility routine. Slowly made my way down to the beach after breakfast and eventually got started on my training.

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  8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Warm up was normal felt less sluggish afterward. Good enough to do my kettlebell practice. Warm up time was 13:25. And boy was it hot as I didn't get started training until 1135.

Today I did 80% S&S, 8 sets of 10 swings and 8 get ups. Didn't feel to bad. I thought I would be a lot more sore after the kayaking yesterday, but I guess my off again on again kettlebell practice has built some resiliency in my muscles. Felt good. Total kettlebell time was 17:00.

I didn't do any extra cool down. No loaded carries other than carrying my kettlebell to the beach and back. I did of course jump in the ocean and cool down. Good day.

Kayaking and Kettlebells

Got up a little later this morning. Did my morning mobility routine. Then after breakfast we went kayaking on Shem Creek. When we started out I quickly realized just how pre-exhausted my hands, forearms and shoulders were from my daily kettlebell routine. But once I got going, got warmed up everything felt okay. We spent about two hours on the water. It was fun. We saw lots of water birds and a dolphin. Unfortunately we didn't see any manatees this time. I drank about 1.2 liters of water while we were out.

After we got back to the beach house I drank a couple of small Gatorades and more water and headed to the beach carrying my kettlebell, a chair, towel and my string bag w/ a book and my electronics.

It was early afternoon and getting hotter but there was still some good cloud cover. After sitting and watching the waves for a while I got started with my Original Strength warm up and kettlebell practice.

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

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

Finisher

• Waiter Walk - Rack Carry - Suitcase Carry 30 secs, 30 secs, 1 minute, rest 30 secs, repeat series w/ other hand

I did my warm up. Felt good. Of course I was covered in sand by the time I was done rolling and crawling. Nobody came up and asked me what I was doing like they did on Tuesday, though of course I drew funny looks. Total warm up time was 12:46.

Today was a 60% Simple and Sinister day. I decided to do all my swings today one handed. It worked well even though my arms, shoulders and lats had been worked thoroughly by the kayaking. In fact the swings felt really good. Screwed my feet into the sand and no hip or knee pain. The getups we solid. No wobbling, no stumbling, no slipping even though I was in the sand. After I completed the getups, I was so hot and sand covered that I stopped my timer and went into the ocean for a few minutes. Total time was 12:41.

After I got out of the water, I dried off and sat and watched people and waves for a few minutes. Then I did my loaded carries. I started with my left hand and walked away from my chair for 30 seconds in the waiter position, dropped down to front rack for 30 seconds, then suitcase carry for 60 seconds. I rested for 30 seconds, picked up the bell with my right hand then walked back to my chair using the same sequence of positions. I sat and rested for about 2 minutes or so, then did another series left hand then right hand. I didn't make it quite as far down the beach the second time, but I was close. Total time for the carrying was about 11 minutes.

Then I jumped back into the water! The water was nice. The tide was way out, the waves were gentle. I just floated and swam and floated and swam. Wonderful way to end my training.

Isle of Palms 80 Percent Simple and Sinister

This is my third day of training in a row. Feels great to get in rhythm. Let's see how long I can keep it up. Hopefully by waving my volume 100% -60%-80% then repeat I can string together more than 3 or 4 days in a row. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Warmed up with an 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 2 x 10 x 44 lbs
• One Hand Kettlebell Swings L, R, L, R x 10 x 44 lbs
• Two Hand Kettlebell Swings 2 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Finisher

•  Waiter-Rack-Suitcase Carry with 44 lb Kettlebell 1 minute each hand

Cooled down with Brian Friedman's: Kettlebell Technique Yoga Flow

• Mountain
• Extended Arms Mountain
• Half Forward Bend
• High Push Up Position
• Locust
• Downward Dog
• Half Forward Bend
• Mountain

Started out with my normal Original Strength reset work. Everything was pretty normal. An elderly lady who was out walking stopped me while I was crawling and asked me what muscles I was working. I said shoulders and hips, but it works more...all the core stabilizers for instance. Warm up time 14:11.

On to the kettlebell practice. I decided to throw in a couple of sets of one hand swings in the middle of my planned 8 sets of swings. Worked out well. Felt good. I lost my footing in the sand on one of my getups, stumbled to my left with the weight in my right hand but was able to recover w/o falling, dropping the bell or injuring myself. Got done in about 17 minutes. 

I took a two minute break followed by a little loaded carrying. I went down the beach in a waiter walk, bell held in same position as at the top of a get up. I can't yet carry the 44 in the bottoms up position. Transitioned to rack carry and suitcase carry all with left hand. I made it for a total of about 1 minute. Did the same series back to my starting point in one minute. Didn't want to do to much so stopped with that. Total kettlebell time 22:28.

I did a cool down today, a yoga flow. I did the flow 3 times. I need to make sure I'm doing all I can in the flexibility and mobility departments. I really, really do not want to get a hip replacement! And then right into the ocean to cool off!

Simple and Sinister at the Beach

It's been a few days since my last kettlbell session. My darn hip flared up again. Plus I was on call this week and didn't get adequate sleep. Yesterday I got in over 13K steps. A chunk of that was moving my younger son out of the South Carolina Governor's School of Arts and Humanities. Another big chunk of that was cutting the front yard before we left to drive from Greenville to Isle of Palms.

But today, we're on vacation! We're at the beach! Got up early and hit the beach with my kettlebell. Felt good to be out in the ocean breeze, bright sunshine and sand getting my kettlebell practice on.

Warmed up with an 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 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

I did extra rocking for my shoulders and hips during the Original Strength reset. I also paid more attention to stretching my hips while rolling. Overall it was a good warm up. I had done my normal morning joint mobility while the coffee was brewing before I went down to the beach. Warm up time 14:05.

I did my normal kettlebell routine. My hip twinged a little bit during swings but not bad. Like I've said before, it will hurt whether I train or not, so I might as well train. Get ups felt pretty solid, but I was pretty close to being smoked at the 7th rep. I made it through though. Total kettlebell time 21:12.

And once I was done with my kettlebell practice I walked into the ocean and cooled off with a little swimming. It felt magnificent! I'm going to figure out a way to start every day like this. Oh, and of course I trained barefoot and shirtless. And yes people were looking at me like I was off my rocker, but I didn't care. I just happily did my thing!

Swimming and Hip Pain

My left hip is still giving me trouble. I did extra mobility and flexibility stuff last night. I did more this morning. But still walking was painful all day. I was paying extra attention to using good posture and foot position but still very painful. I wanted to work out with kettlebells again today, but decided it was better to give the hip a rest.

I did however go swimming. I swam laps for 10 minutes. Then an hour later swam laps for 15 minutes. An hour after that, I swam laps for another 10 minutes. Not really a lot for you diehard swimmers out there but this is only my second time swimming all summer. And the laps were broken up that way because our community pool has 15 minutes every hour where the kids are cleared out and adults can have the pool to ourselves. But all in all 35 minutes of laps ( backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle) is pretty good.

The ability to swim for 10 or 15 minutes continuously when this is only the second time I've swum this year is definitely another kettlebell "what the hell" effect! Kettlebell swings helped improve my aerobic capacity. I haven't been running, rowing or biking either. No running due to the hip, no rowing or biking because I have neither a rower nor a bike.

Oh, and my hip felt much better after swimming. Not nearly as painful. Only hurts a little bit.

Summer Sweat Angels

Third day in a row of training. I've got to go to bed earlier and get up earlier so I can train and get to
work earlier. I did get up at 0627 and did my normal 5 minutes of mobility and an additional 5 minutes of walking. However, I didn't get outside to start training until 0827. I should have gotten out there at 0727.

Warmed up with an 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 8 x 10 x 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R x 1 x 44 lbs

Warm up was pretty much as normal except I did some extra rocking targeting shoulder health. I didn't do any extra calisthenics. Warm up took 13:36.

Did normal S&S. Swings were fine. I got wobbly on the last get up with my left hand. I had to reposition myself twice to make it through the rep. I don't recall being unstable with my right hand. I also manage to get through the get ups in 8 minutes, which is the prescribed 1 minute per rep. 

I chose not to do any loaded carries because I swam last night and my core was pretty twitchy last night. Also, I had to get myself ready for a meeting at 1000. Total kettlebell time 17 minutes. Also, I got in over 10K steps yesterday.

Two Weeks Off

So, my last training session was on 23 July 2016. We went on vacation that week and I didn't take a kettlebell with me. Neither of the two places we stayed had kettlebells or well equipped gyms. The only exercise I did on vacation was swimming and walking in the ocean and walking on the beach and around Wilmington, NC.

This past week I just didn't get back in the training groove. It was hard enough to get back into the work groove! Oh, while on vacation my hip was hurting from standing and fighting the waves in the ocean while watching over my little cousins. The tides were strong so an adult need to stay out with them and keep them from getting swept too far down the beach. That same hip was hurting terribly yesterday and I knew it was because I hadn't been doing my normal exercises, particularly the Original Strength resets. Got back on it today with a light session.

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 44 lbs
• Turkish Get Ups 5 x 1 x 35 lbs per side

Finisher

Farmer Carry with 20kg (44lb) kettlebells - From backdoor to end of driveway and back w/o stopping one time.

I feel really good after training. The warmup took 15:29. Was sweating lightly and felt limber. Decided to do a light kettlebell session to get back in the swing, pun intended, of things. I did however use the 16kg (35lb) bell for get ups. The 12kg (25lb) bell just felt ridiculously light when I carried it over to my exercise mat. Moved well. Could feel some muscles fatiguing that attach in the glute area to the spine in the latter sets of swings but it wasn't terrible. Finished Simple & Sinister and the farmer carry in 18:10.

Three in a Row

Stressful day at work. Actually it has been a stress filled week. Haven't gotten home before 1830 hours even once this week. Felt like skipping my training session as I was winding down to come home. However, I was listening to episodes of the Half Size Me podcast with the express purpose of over coming the reluctance to get my exercise in. I think the one I was listening to near the end of the workday was episode 57. The interviewee talked about a small victory of getting her exercise in when it was dark and rainy after a long tough day. So I made up my mind not skip.

Warm up walk 0.48 miles in 10:35 for an average of 2.7 mph.

Warm up calisthenic circuits 5 reps per exercise,  (per side or direction if a unilateral type exercise) 12:02 minutes.

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

The Practice

• Kettlebell Swings 15x10x35# Two Handed
• Turkish Get Ups 6x1x25# (per side)

Nothing new here.  Good session. Felt good but not overwhelming. Time to go on to Tracy Reifkind's Workout #2 again. I wonder if I should jump straight to laddering up to 15 in the second group of 5 sets or just add 1 rep to each of the last 10 sets, meaning 11 reps per set for the last 10 sets. I think I'll take it slow.

Yesterday I forgot to record that I walked 22 minutes and swam for about 15 minutes.

20130729 Beach Workout Improvisation

Spent most of Monday at the beach once the rain had passed. Late in the afternoon I didn't want to go back up to the house to retrieve my "T-Bar Kettlebell" and dumbbell for a workout. So, I filled a large kid's sand bucket with sand and used it for my workout.

1. Turkish Get Ups
• Strong ( right ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Weak ( left ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Strong ( right ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Weak ( left ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Weak ( left ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Weak ( left ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
• Weak ( left ) Side x 5 x full large sand bucket
2. One Arm Sand Bucket Swings
• Right  x 20 x full large sand bucket
• Left  x 20 x full large sand bucket
• Right  x 20 x full large sand bucket
• Left  x 20 x full large sand bucket
• Right  x 10 x full large sand bucket
• Left  x 10 x full large sand bucket

That was the entire workout. Keep in mind though that this was after a day of ocean swimming and playing on the beach. I could feel the one arm swings in some different areas of my back but I didn't hurt anything. I have no idea how long this workout took but I didn't take inordinately long breaks.

The sand bucket left my left arm in particular bruised and sore where the lip of the bucket was pressing on my forearm.

Spent almost the entire day yesterday, Tuesday 20130730, on the beach or in the ocean. Spent many hours swimming, floating, wading and battling the breakers. I also did a couple of reps of Bretzel 1.0 and 2.0. A little bit later today I'll get my workout on with my weights. 

20130708 On A Roll

I didn't post yesterday. I did get in a swim, about 30 minutes total in two 15 minute sessions. Also, I ate following the Slow Carb Diet all day except one small piece of cheese late in the evening.

Today I got up at 0545 but still didn't start my workout until after 0700. I've got to do better!

1. Two-legged Glute Activation Raises 1 x 20
2. Flying Dogs 1 x 15 per side
3. Kettlebell Swings
• Point A 5 x 22.5 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Point B 5 x 22.5 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 5 x 22.5 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 3 x 30 x 32.5 lb t-bar homemade kettlebell
4. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10 x 5 lb dumbbell
5. The Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

I was even slower today as I finished this workout in 27.5 minutes. I took a longer break than normal between the 2nd and 3rd working sets of kettlebell swings. This was because I had to move my "outdoor gym" out of my wife's way so she could pull her car out of the carport and head off to her office.

I think I hurried a bit on the myotatic crunches. Need to slow down on the descent into the stretch. I was dripping sweat during the CVEs. Overall a good workout. I'm feeling better each time through. Looking forward to getting 75 reps of swings straight so I can add another 5 or 10 pounds. My steps for Sunday were better than Saturday but still a pretty dismal 3730. Weight on Sunday was 257.4 but today was 256.0.

BTW, I joined the Stylez DietBet! The pot is up to $10,250 with 410 players! The game starts in one more day! You still have a chance to get in. You're betting $25 that you can lose 4% of your body weight in four weeks. Of the pot 85% is split between the players who make the goal. Say 60% of the players lose 4%+, then ( $10,250 * 0.85) / ( 410 people * 0.60 ) = $35.42/person! That's about a 42% return on your money in four weeks, plus you'll be healthier for it! Got for it? What have you got to lose?

20130706 Swimming and Free Eating Day

Yesterday was my day to eat anything I wanted, a la Slow Carb Diet and Four Hour Body, and I did. It was the first time I really let loose as Tim Ferriss suggests and I almost, but not quite, made my self sick with carbs ( cereal, chips, fruit, cookies, bread, potato salad, ice cream ), diary and sugar. I'm glad to be eating more cleanly today.

The only exercise I got was about 25 minutes of actual swimming as we spent an hour at the pool in the rain. We had the whole pool to ourselves, just us and the lifeguard. My steps for the day were dismal, only 2809. Weight yesterday morning was 253.4 this morning after the binge 257.4. It's probably mostly water. I'll try to go swimming again today.

20130629 Only Two Workouts for the Week Again

I was awake off and on from 0530 this morning. I should have gotten up but I kept reading and dozing off then waking up, repeat. Finally got up around 0700. Spent a few hours drinking coffee and water, playing games on my tablet and doing chores around the house. Just finished my workout at about 1130.

1. Two-legged Glute Activation Raises 1 x 20
2. Flying Dogs 1 x 15 per side
3. Kettlebell Swings
• Point A 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Point B 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 30,30,20 x 32 lb t-bar homemade kettlebell
4. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10 x 5 lb dumbbell
5. The Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

I finished this work out in 25.8 minutes. I'm really happy with my progress on the kettlebell swings. I really focused on moving through the MCs slowly, getting a full stretch and a hard squeeze at the top. I focused more one the CVEs.

Four weeks until the beach! Got to get three of these workouts per week and swim at least twice a week. I'm doing better on the Slow-Carb Diet. I'm also reading a great book Eat Move Sleep. It's The Slight Edge approach to health. I only averaged about 4000 steps the last two days, not good.

Even with my inconsistent workouts and only being about 66-75% compliant w/ the Slow Carb diet on a daily basis I've lost seven pounds in two weeks! I really may drop below 240 by the time we go to hte beach as I'm at 254.6 today.

Shame on Me

It's been a while since I worked out. I don't think I've done a work out since 20130518. Shame on me for not working out!

1. Two-legged Glute Activation Raises 1 x 20
2. Flying Dogs 1 x 15 per side
3. Kettlebell Swings
• Point A 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Point B 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 5 x 22 lb. t-bar homemade kettlebell
• Swings 25,25,10 x 32 lb t-bar homemade kettlebell
4. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10 x 10 lb dumbbell
5. The Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

I finished this work out in 25 minutes and 44 seconds. 

We are going to the beach on 26 July 2013 for a week. That gives me 56 days, or 8 weeks, including today to shed a minimum of 16 pounds. I'm going to do this workout three times a week, swim laps on Saturday and Sunday at the Furman pool and stick to a Slow Carb Diet. I might even be able to lose as much as 40 pounds in the next two months. Stay tuned!

I Am SORE

I am SORE from my calves to my shoulder blades. I am SORE front to back and side to side! This is almost laughable. I've been swimming and such twice a week for a two or more months. I only added a very few exercises yesterday, most with no extra weight and one with ridiculously light weight. But I feel like I had a marathon work out session.

I guess that just shows the effectiveness of a few well chosen exercises and swimming! I almost hate to think about how I'll feel tomorrow. Usually the soreness is worst on the second day after a workout. It'll be interesting to see how my currently under-trained forty-seven year old body responds.

Swimming

It has been a long time since I posted. I started having some serious pain in my left hip around Halloween 2012. Sharp, stabbing pain. I could be walking along fine and all of a sudden PAIN! Pain so intense I would nearly fall down.

Fast forward to January 2013. I finally decide to go to the doctor. I have Xrays, an MRI the works. All they see is evidence of arthritis. I go to physical therapy. The exercises I do for my hip set off some severe back pain, pain even worse than my hip. I have some deteriorating disks in my lumbar spine. I miss a lot of work. I finally get in to see a spine specialist. He wants to do epidural steroid injections but he's about to go on vacation. I have an MRI of my spine and start taking oral steroids.

Spine doctor gets back from vacation two weeks later. My back feels enough better that I decline the epidural steroid injections. Also I've been going to the heated therapy pool at Furman University. In the therapy pool I spend 20-30 minutes walking then another 20 minutes doing mobility exercises for my lower body and treading water. When I first started going to the pool I was limping and walking all hunched over like a really, really old man. Now, my hip still hurts but I'm walking like a normal person. I even started swimming laps in the lap pool a few weeks ago.

Today I walked in the therapy pool for 20 minutes.

• Five minutes walking forward
• Five minutes walking backward
• Five minutes walking sideways
• Five minutes walking sideways crossing one foot front then back

Followed by ten minutes of mobility exercise. Then treading water 4 x 90 seconds on and 30 seconds rest. After that I swam 22 lengths of the lap pool which is about  three tenths of a mile. I repeated the following four times

• kick board one length
• freestyle one length
• breast stroke one length
• freestyle one length
• back stroke one length

That was twenty lengths. I finished off with two fast, for me, freestyle lengths. I'm beat and sore tonight. Last week was the 2nd annual Running Nerds 5K. I ran the first one for my 46 birthday in 2012. This year I can't run. This Friday is the Swamp Rabbit 5K which I ran with Laura and Miles last year. This year I can't run but Laura, Gabby, Isaiah and Miles are going to run it. I'm just going to keep on swimming and maybe start walking again.

I had been swimming and working out in the therapy pool only twice a week on Saturday and Sunday as I thought those were the only days the therapy pool was open to the public. As it turns out it is open to the public after 530pm during the week. Just this week I went on a Wednesday after work. I'm going to stick with three days a week for a while then maybe move up to four days a week of swimming.