WOD: Still Going

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, deadlifts, 2 rounds: 5 pullups, 10 situps, 5 dips, 10 drop squats

Workout

With double 16's

-5x15 swings (chest level)

-5x45s rack holds (1 min rest between rounds)

-5x10 slow bumps

-5x20 overhead lockout 1/4 squats

Results

Decided to skip the deadlifts tonight and go straight into the swings. They definitely need some work, but I'm getting there. I also tried to concentrate on letting the bells pull me back down onto my heels.

Rack holds are still kinda tough during the last couple of rounds, so I'll stick with the 45 second intervals for a little longer. The slow bumps were a good idea. I think my timing is starting to come together....might stick with them for a little longer.

The overhead lockout holds/squats felt good. I think I'll progress to walking around with them next. And over all, I'm trying to work on breathing during all of these drills. If I can start breathing correctly now while working on the components, hopefully it will come naturally when I start doing the whole lift

WOD: More of the Same

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, 3 rounds: 5 pullups, 10 situps, 5 dips, 10 drop squats

Workout

With double 16s

-2x10 deadlifts

-3x15 lazy swings

-4x10 swings (chest level)

-5x45s rack holds (1 min rest between rounds)

-5x10 bumps

-5x15 overhead lockout + 1/4 squat

Results

The deadlifts/swings are feeling good. I know I still have a ton of room for improvement, but they're coming along nicely. I thought the longer rack holds were going to be tougher than they were. I'll probably still stick at 45 seconds for the next week.

Unhappy with the bumps. I need a lot of work there. I'm going to start from scratch again with SLOW bumps to really try to find that timing. Happy with the lockouts. I think I'll move them up 20 reps as they were pretty easy even with minimal rest.

I have to admit, I don't like how long these workouts are. They're not very intense...they just take about an hour. That's a long time for someone who's used to warming up, working out, showering and sitting down to eat in that amount of time. Oh well, I'm sure I can stand to watch a little less tv at night

WOD: More Long Cycle Stuff

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, squats, pushups

Workout

-4x10 double deadlifts (16kg)

-5x15 double lazy swings (16kg)

-rack holds, 30 seconds work, 1 min rest (16kg)

-5x10 kettlebell bumps (16kg)

-4x5 overhead lockout leans (16kg)

Results

I cut back on the deadlifts a little bit and focused more on the lazy swings. I think I can work on the timing better with swings

I'll probably increase the time on the rack holds next workout...maybe 45s. I think I'm starting to get the hang of the kettlebell bumps and might bump up the reps on those too.

I also wanted to get an idea of how flexible my lower back is right now, so I decided to add the leaning to the overhead lockouts....yeah, not real flexible. I think I'll just do quarter squats for now.

WOD: Long Cycle Training

Warmup

joint mobility, stretching, 2 rounds: 5 pullups, 10 situps, 5 dips, 10 drop squats

Workout

-5x10, double kb deadlifts (16kg). Focus: come up on toes, pull with shoulders

-5x10 double lazy swings (16kg). Focus: come up on toes, pull with shoulders

-5 rounds: rack holds (16kg) - 30 seconds work, 1 min rest. Focus: knees locked, relax arms

-5x10 kettlebell bumps (16kg). Focus: bend & lock knees quickly, then come up on toes

-5 rounds: overhead lockout - 30 seconds work, 1 min rest. Focus: knees locked, proper grip

Results

My body definitley needs some practice, but I think if I concentrate on these drills for the next few weeks, my timing will improve and I'll be able to move onto more advanced drills.

Long Cycle Training

I was planning to try the long cycle until exhaustion sometime this past week, because I wanted to get an idea of how far I am from surviving the 10 minutes. But I've decided instead to take a step back.

The long cycle is really more about being efficient than it is about being strong. It's about using your whole body to move the bells. It's about learning how to move your body around the bells. Simply put, there's a science behind it. So if I'm going to take the long cycle seriously, I need to learn and apply that science.

So I bought a 3-DVD series called The Science of Kettlebell Sport. Denis Kanygin takes you through each of the GS (Girevoy Sport) lifts and breaks them down into their core components. He teaches you each component, how the components come together and some training exercises to help learn/master them. He also teaches how to breathe properly throughout the lifts, which is a key aspect of being efficient.

Using this series, I am going to try to learn the long cylce from the ground up. It will probably take some time, but I might as well do it right if I'm going to do it at all. I'm not sure if my workouts will be dedicated exclusively to GS training, but if they are, I'll still be working my entire body along with my cardio...that's the nature of GS

WOD: Recovery Day

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, deadlifts, swings

Workout

AMRAP in 20 minutes

-10 double swings (16kg)

-10 drop squats

-15 shrugs (16kg)

-15 mountain climbers

Results

I was 12 mountain climbers shy of 10 rounds (I finished them out). I didn't push myselft too hard (considering these are all pretty easy), so I think that was a pretty decent result

Arms and legs were still sore from yesterday's workout, so I wanted something that wasn't too intense but got the heart rate up...and this worked just fine. Oh, I also wanted to get some drop squats in there, since I failed so miserably on them in tabata this.

I almost like this one. I think I need to tweak with the weight or reps or something to get this one on the favorite list.

WOD: Tabata This!

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, deadlifts, swings

Workout

Crossfit "Tabata This" WOD...slightly altered

-tabata SDHP (20kg)

-1 min rest

-tabata drop squats

-1 min rest

-tabata pullups (chair-assisted)

-1 min rest

-tabata pushups

-1 min rest

-tabata situps

Results

poor showing, great workout. This one typically calls for rows instead of SDHP, but I don't have a rowing machine. I also changed squats to drop squats and of course have to do assited pullups

Those SDHPs were getting tough toward the end, but I didn't fail on any of them. I averaged 11 reps per round. The squats were bad with my legs already tired from the sdhp's. I failed on just about all of them with somewhere around 8-9 reps per failed round.

Pullups were a mess, but that's to be expected. I averaged between 6-8 reps except for the first round where I got 11. I paced myself on the pushups - 7 reps first, 6 the rest of the way. Situps weren't bad, 9 reps every round.

This one was a killer for me, but it feels great just getting through it with my lunch still secure in my stomach

WOD: Long Cycle Ladder

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, swings, windmills, tgu's

Workout

Ladder down 20-16-12-8-4, double LCCJ (16kg)

Finished with some rack/waiter holds

Results

I decided earlier this year to stop concentrating on the Long Cycle...well, I think I'm changing my mind again. I picked up a pair of 16kg competition bells (yes I bought more kb's), and I wanted to see how far from the 10 min long cylce I am....pretty far. But it was a new year's resolution, and I want to see if I can get there in 2 1/2 months.

This workout wasn't real tough, so that's good. I think next week I'm going to go til exhaustion to see how many reps I can get....hoping to get above 30. If I average 6 reps a minute, I'll need to get 60 continous reps to last the entire 10 minutes.

WOD: Snatches and Pushups

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, 2 rounds: 5 pullups, 10 situps, 5 dips, 10 squats (25lb)

Workout

For time, rounds of 21, 15, 9

-snatches left (16kg)

-snatches right (16kg)

-pushups

Results

Another quick one...time: 7:48. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I went pretty much nonstop.

Had to pause and bridge for some of the pushups but they were technically unbroken.

Snatches felt pretty good actually, I was a little surprised. My left seems noticeably weaker or less efficient than right though, so that's something I can hopefully work on.

WOD: One Arm Long Cycle

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, deadlifts, swings

Workout

One arm long cylce, 1 min left / 1 min right for 10 minutes (20kg)

Results

Didn't have a lot of time tonight, so I thought I'd sneak in a good 10 minutes. I tried to keep the reps around 6. If I finished those reps a little early, I'd just hold it in the rack for the last few seconds.

The cleans on my right were good, a little worse on the left. And as time went on, they became a little too arced.

My form on the jerks isn't real consistent, but overall decent. And I really need to figure out how to avoid the foot cramps.

WOD: Warmup Ladders Again

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, tgu's, windmills, ribbons, slingshots

Workout

Ladder down 10-1

-pullups (strict)

-situps x2 (no anchor)

-dips

-drop squats x2

Results

time: 25:21. Kinda disappointing....this was a little slower than the last time I tried this one, and I thought I was on a decent pace. Oh well, it's still a good workout.

Pullups were broken starting in the second round and increasingly so as time went on. Nothing else was broken. Last time I did just regular air squats, but I think I like the drop squats more.

WOD: A Nice Little Circuit

Warmup

stretching, joint mobility, deadlifts, swings, 3 rounds: 5 pullups, 10 situps, 5 dips, 10 squats (25lb)

Workout

4 rounds of the following single-bell circuit (20kg)

-10 swings (l/r)

-8 cleans (l/r)

-6 jerks (l/r)

-4 snatches (l/r)

Results

I like this circuit. It's not too tough but not easy either, and it hits the forearms hard! I wanted to do 5 rounds, but my hands were just sweating too much. That's ok though, it was a good workout...especially after a long saturday and lazy sunday.

The cleans were probably the toughest, but only on the left side. Snatches felt good which was encouraging. I think as long as my grip isn't too slippery, I could bust out quite a few.