New Baby, new hip, New Year!

So this posting stuff on here is like training, the longer you don't do it.. the harder it is to get going again.
On November 1 Teagan Margaret Duffey arrived in the world! She rolled into town like a freight train and things have been a whirlwind ever since... Also on 11/21, I went into the hospital for a  total hip replacement. I have been suffering for a long time and I bottomed out a few weeks before the operation... I got some professional  advice from an actual Medical Doctor... Actually I saw two doctors and they both agreed that I needed a new hip... Apparently, I had absolutely no cartilage at all in my hip socket! I guess that would explain the pain I was having! So I had a chance to get it fixed the day before Thanksgiving and I took it!

The surgery went really well! I am moving around pretty much pain free most of the time.  I have been seeing a PT and he is happy with the way things have been going... I have to wait until the Jan 2 before I can start to do any sort of real training and I need to take it slowly at first...

So besides a new Baby and Major hip surgery, I have not been doing much at all!! Anyway, I am planning to get back to posting my workouts on here... I am very excited to see how the new hip will effect my lifting! Stay tuned! 

VF Performance Kettlebell Testimony - Ivan Denisov

You can get them if you click on the link right on this blog!

My Man Nils making it look easy!

Scott Tighe 2x32 Long Cycle set Chicago 2012

Rebecca Rodriguez WKC Worlds Chicago 2012

Ivan Denisov and Will Metcalf WKC Worlds 2012

Ivan Denisov and Will Metcalf WKC Worlds 2012

Ivan Denisov and Will Metcalf WKC Worlds 2012

Great Picture Taken by Maya at the Ice Chamber

ICKB Girls Victory Dance - Gangnam Style

Forget the tough mudder and spartan races... this is cyclocross from the 1950's

Will Mecalf 32kg Snatch 8 minutes 16 rpms Preparing for Chicago!

The Frog Series: to improve your squat- kicks -and splits

Best 30 bucks you will spend on yourself!

Norwegian Kettlebell Championship 2012 - Nils Lundgren LC 2x24kg 90reps

Ksenia Dedyukhina The winner Cup of Russia 2012 in snatch 24 kg kettlebe...

Will Metcalf 10/2 28 kg snatch

Nils Lundgren LC - Atlantis ventspils IUKL

Will Metcalf 32kg Snatch workout 10 minutes

11 Year Old Girl - 212 reps 8kg Kettlebell Snatch

Segey Mishin / Сергей Мишин (playlist)

The daily deposit!

 
I have learned a few things about myself with this kind of training.. I am either moving forward or I am sliding backwards... It really is that simple. Things do not stay the same! So steady, consistent work is the best way to insure that you are on the right side of this equation.

Everyone wants to be the best, I am no different! But the reality is that I may never be the best on the planet, but vast improvements are totally possible. For me, thinking about breaking World Records and winning the big meet is great, but I need to reel in my mind and focus on lifting well every time I touch a kettlebell. I can get lost in big dreams and foolish reps...

Basically, I look at  training like this, every day I can move myself in the right direction a little bit... No big jumps, just a small positive action!  I think about good reps as money, my job is to do good reps and deposit these into my account.... Some days I put a lot of good reps in the bank... on other days my goal is simply stay out of the red, small positive transactions are my goal...

Investing in your improvement is a daily practice. Everybody loves to see big numbers on the platform, but what you do not see is the many small deposits it took to bankroll that big set!

The Greatest Sergey Mishin (Russian Cup 2000)

Sergey Mishin (Сергей Мишин) - Long Cycle

Scott Tighe 2x32kg Long Cycle training 9/8/2012

Call 911... somebody stole your second dip!

I have noticed a common denominator among people that have been lifting kettlebells for a little while now... It happens to all lifters and I am no exception! So any of you "over sensitive" types... I am not directing this at you!

It seems to me that once a lifter gets to a certain level of proficiency with jerks, the second dip starts to disappear. This is not an intentional happening... I think that as people get past the beginner stages and spend some time under the bells a few things happen... First of all, they get stronger and more flexible in the whole shoulder girdle...The rack improves along with the first dip/drive portion of the jerk, this allows the lifter to slowly shorten up the second dip!  Lastly, the lifter has progressed past the feeling of panic during the set and now the focus becomes numbers!

These things happen and while they are good and positive... they cause problems at the same time... And the biggest problem with this is, the vanishing second dip syndrome. So what happens next is, the numbers start to stagnate, feeling frustrated the lifter diggs his heels in further and actually makes further cuts to the already barely perceivable second dip... This continues until something breaks.. usually the mind the lifter!

The way out is to get back to the full movement, force yourself to drop your ass down and back.. quickly! This saves your shoulders and arms and by recruiting the strongest muscles you own to help out, your numbers will start moving the right way after you start dropping under the bells quicker and deeper..
Here is a great clip of a guy that uses a deep second dip!

Maybe you need an advanced class?

When you get sick of sucking at the basics of your sport, you should sign up for the advanced class...These are very popular these days! You will not have to look far to see somebody with a new way, or a level 2 thing happening... If you are lucky, you should get enough "advanced" materials and techniques to keep you busy for like 6 months before you realize that you are now even less proficient at the basics you were trying to avoid by going to this advanced school of buffoonery!

Don't fall for this marketing trick. It is designed to get you to believe that you are lacking vital information and once you get the real stuff they are selling, you performance will skyrocket! I have never seen this happen. So I will tell you something I heard from a guy that set me straight one day.. I was trying to convince him, to agree with me, about one of these advanced classes.... He said to me, "Maybe it's time to stop chasing rainbows, and just do some work"! 

Kettlebell Kimbo!

 
I am sure you remember Kimbo Slice? He took full advantage of the whole you tube phenomena... he beat up dudes in boat yards and alleys... he looked to be perhaps the baddest man on the planet... But something happened that people just didn't expect.. he got recruited into the UFC and they tried to teach him MMA but he didn't do so well... He could street fight other brawlers, but when he stepped into the arena with real fighters, high level athletes.. Kimbo not only got killed, he looked desperately helpless!

I bring this up because I do not want you to get fooled by these youtube heros that never compete anywhere... I saw a guy snatching a kettlebell the other day at like 40 rpms!! There is no way that this can be done safely or intelligently. The best snatchers in the world top out at 30 rpms?? But we are supposed to be impressed with this silly little backyard speed test?

The truth is, if they are so much better than the legit people doing the real lifts, why don't they compete with other lifters? This will never happen...Because,  they have constructed an online persona that would totally be crushed if they showed up and got "Kimboed"...
And let's face it, nobody likes to look like a tomato can!

Developing a strong overhead!

Basically in the sport of Kettlebell lifting, there is only 2 places that you can legally get rest during a set... The first place is the rack position, and second place ( my focus in this blog post) is the overhead position.
Psychologically, it is hard to think about relaxing when you are supporting 2 heavy kettlebells over your cranium, but there are a few compelling reasons to develop this rest spot. I will start with the simplest reason first. If you cannot rest in this position and you are competing against a lifter of the same level as you in every respect except they can rest overhead and you cannot, you will LOSE! By not having 2 places to rest, you have taken away at least 50% of your rest. This is just bad mathematics!
The second reason for developing bulletproof lockouts is so that your reps with count anywhere, in any organization. If you ever compete at an IUKL meet, all the Judges are Russian and speak ZERO english, they do however speak the international language of fixated bells and strong lockouts.

The third reason is joint health, probably should be the top reason actually. But when you hold the weight overhead it forces your alignment to improve and it also increases your static strength which increases your joint health as opposed  to dropping quickly and recklessly, this gets sketchy late in sets of heavy bells... Safer for your joints and body to always stay in control.

Here is my favorite reason for developing the overhead rest position... Breathing!! Without having 2 kettlebells on your chest cavity, you can allow full unobstructed oxygen to flow into your body! As you know, short shallow breaths elevate your heart rate, while deep, rhythmic belly breathing slows  down your heart rate and allows you remain out of the "redzone".

So how do you develop this position? I have seen people do farmers walks with 2 Kettlebell overhead, I have also seen people do handstand pushups, or perhaps extended holds over head.... I suppose these things are useful, but I am a fan of practicing like you play. If you do not need to walk around with kettlebells in competition, why do it in training? I usually prescribe the simplest method, and that is to extend the time your keep the bells overhead! I will slow the rpms down and have the lifter hold the kettlebell in the locked out position for 3 or 4 seconds... I also instruct them to make sure they breathe while doing this... You would be amazed at how many people go into freak out mode with weight overhead! So I encourage them to take at least 2 deep breathes up there... this slowly builds that position as they train... So they do not need to take up other sports to learn hand balancing techniques to improve overhead stability...
I remember hearing a guy say one time," if you want to ride your bike 30 miles an hour, then you have to ride your bike 30 miles and hour" The same type of thinking applies here also!Don't be in hurry to drop the bells.

The final reason for developing this position is, it just makes you look like a classy lifter! Fast drops can make a good rep like a cheap rep!

Will Metcalf 32kg snatch workout tuesday 8/28 8 minutes 16 rpms

Women Double Kettlebell Jerks - ICKB Class

Intro To Kettlebells by Valery Fedorenko - WKC

Top 12 mistakes you can make while Coaching yourself...

Here is a list of the most common mistakes made by people Coaching themselves....

1. Spending too much time on the internet trying to figure out how to train like the professionals on you tube.

2. Not asking anybody for help...

3. Not consistent enough..

4. Short "Sprint" sets start showing up more frequently in the training line up.

5. Skipping over the lighter bells.

6. Not sticking to anything long enough for it to really work...

7. Bullying there way through the sets, and not learning to relax under load.

8. Buying too much into the everyone is different and so everyone has special ways of lifting.. this might be true, but proper mechanics are proper mechanics...

9. Too focused on results and not focused on lifting well.

10. Ignoring clear signs of trouble, swollen forearms, ripped hands, noodle lockouts...

11. Not developing strong confident lockouts...

12. They do too many other things for training... not enough focus on kettlebells...

Scott Tighe Master of Sport part 1- 2x32 jerks 55 reps

An Offer you can't refuse!!

The WKC World Championship is a little over 2 months away!! If you are a self Coached athlete, preparing for an event like this can be overwhelming to say the least!

My offer is this, I will lay out your training sessions every week, I will review you training videos and send you detail instructions on how to fix things. You will not be getting some crazy cookie cutter program to designed to impress you academically...NO!   You will get a custom program specifically designed for your needs and goals... You will have unlimited access to me through text messaging and email for any unforeseen challenges that WILL come up!!

Here is the part you cant refuse:

If you do not achieve your goal in Chicago, you owe me nothing!! So you basically have nothing to lose... If however you do make or exceed you goals, You do owe me something... just what that is I will leave up to you! So even if you do make your goal, you decide what my help was worth.... AFTER YOU GET THE RESULTS.... 

Competing in Kettlebellsport is hard enough, do yourself a huge favor and allow me to help you! I guarantee that you will be amazed at what happens to your lifting!!

Due to the large amount of time I will be putting into these training programs, I will only be accepting a few lifters, so do not waste time if you are ready to go to work!

This is my e mail adress....

32Lockout@gmail.com 

When the numbers take over

Ok so you have some goals, and those goals have a number attached to them. Perhaps you want to make a certain rank or hit a specific number of reps with a certain size kettlebell, it doesn't matter. My point is, when trying to push for these numbers you have to be careful not to lose what got you to the level you are at now.

 I have tried to make certain levels and during my quest, the numbers take up more space in my head, technique and lifting well become less and less important... This leads to  increased stress levels and decreased relaxation during your sets... What happens is this condition snowballs rapidly... as you become less concerned with lifting well, ( I am not saying your reps have turned to crap, just kinda soften up you positions a little bit) At first this strategy works, you can get more reps if you drop it a little quicker from the lockouts, perhaps you shorten up your backswing just a touch, it's barely even noticeable... You are the only one who even knows about it!

This is called corner cutting... There is a difference between cutting corners and becoming more efficient...
Cutting corners allows you to do more in less time but your quality suffers, improving efficiency means you do more with less effort and your quality increases!

Melissa 18kg Snatch PR

SuperDtv Strength Series The Couch Don't Train This!

Scott Tighe 2x28kg Long Cycle

Comrades.. The Party is over!!

I just read this on facebook...

Ladies and gentlemen of RKC,

Due to the differences in vision between the RKC co-founders RKC will cease to exist in its current form on July 1, 2013, the day after the last scheduled RKC event.

Power by Pavel, Inc. will continue licensing its RKC manuals and its 50% stake in the RKC name and logo to Dragon Door until that date and only for the events already announced, in order to honor the commitment to the people who signed up for these workshops. Then PBP will terminate the license.

RKC was set up as a joint venture between Dragon Door and Tactical Strength, my other company, with DD providing marketing and administration and TS providing leadership and hands on instruction.

Tactical Strength, Inc., is removing itself from the RKC operation on October 29, the day after the last RKC event I had committed to teach at.

I intend to pursue my vision of RKC elsewhere, under a different name, details to be announced in a few weeks. I am sure John will do the same and I wish him best.

Power to you!

Pavel Tsatsouline

Chief RKC Instructor

 Once people saw real kettlebell lifters on youtube, the stuff these guys did just seemed foolish if you ask me...

 

It Does Matter "Warrior Workout"

Surviving the "Dry Season" of kettlebells

If you guys ever watch the Nature channell, then you have undoubtably seen what happens in Africa when dry seasean comes... Basically as you imagine nothing grows and the many, many animals die due to lack of food, water or shade. The animals that do survive, have figured out how to make things work until conditions change.
I bring this up because if you do any sport or physical activity long enough, you are most definitely going to have periods of frustration, disappointment, and reversals. Much like the dry season in Africa, you need to learn how to hang in there until things turn around.
The biggest difference between those animals and us is, we usually bring the dry season on to ourselves. This seems crazy but in my experience it is true. I have done it to myself a few times... I had a goal and an unreasonable time table... this lead to pushing harder than I should have longer than I should have and Wham... I imploded! Now the reasons or the causes can be different but if we are honest with ourselves, we pushed our luck too long!
Why am I bringing this up? Because it is a real problem and I see and hear about lifters that are cruising along great, then all of sudden they hit the wall and never bounce back... So I want to talk about what it takes to snap out of it and get back on track...
When your training falls apart, or you get injured and you can't train, you have plenty of time to think. This is a good thing. But instead of getting down on yourself and beating the crap out of yourself for failing... again, direct your attention at what drew you to this sport in the beginning. Why do you even like kettlebells? Seriously, bringing things back to that level will help put things in focus for you!.
I do know one thing, the great lifters that I have spent time with, LOVE kettlebells... Ivan Denisov LOVES kettlebells, he will be lifting then in some fashion till the day he dies! I am sure of it, Fedor Fuglev told us that Kettlebell lifting is like a drug to him!! And he was very serious about it... Valery Fedorenko LOVES kettlebells more than anyone I have ever met.. He is always making some kind of challenge for himself.. This keeps him happy, fit and strong...
I do not want to sound all mushy here, but when the shit hits the fan and you cant make any progress no matter how hard you try, go back to having fun with a kettlebell, do some light lifting, or some juggling, Go have some fun with a kettlebell and before you know it, you will be thinking about taking another run at the platform!!

Кубок России по гиревому спорту 2011.

Konstantin Strekalovskiy New Sherriff in Town.. and he's not even 20 years old yet!

Andrey Kravtsov

The Champion of Europe kettlebell Lifting 2012 - Goncharov Yevgeniy - Ka...

28kg Snatch 8 minutes 77/78 reps Will Metcalf

Scott Tighe 2x32kg Long Cycle set from 6/19

Last taste of the 32kgs before Ohio this weekend!

Scott Tighe 2x32 Long Cycle 55 reps! Big PR!

2x32kg Long cycle 55 reps!

Oh My Good Gravy!!

IGSF World Championship - Hamburg, Germany 2012

Steady Progress!!

More new secrets...

Nice to see some new Kettlebell "Champions" busting out the new "secrets" for incredible results!!  As luck would have it, the workshops are now available to the future World Champs.. (this means you).... But hurry as space is limited and this offer is too good to miss... So far we have invited 59,000 people on facebook... right now we have 58,961 waiting to respond 22 maybes, 13 not sure, and 1 confirmed (if the card goes through)... see the pay pal link to send the money... also if you are going by my Mom's house (World Headquarters for my extreme mma school, O lifting, Powerlifting, and kettlebell bootcamp ) on the way to VFW hall, where this course is being held... could you pick me up, I need a ride... As an added bonus,  you will get free secrets as we go through the drive through at dunkins!! You are welcome!

Don't be afraid to test.

     The simplest way to know if you are improving or not is to do an actual test set.  I know that this is not very sexy or advanced, but... you do not need a flowchart or periodization plan to try this. You just pick up the bells and go to work! See how many reps you can do in 10 minutes... I have found that this is most accurate way to find out where you are actually at.

     I read many posts by Coaches and athletes.. I cannot understand why people are afraid to test themselves? It is almost like they are afraid that they will spoil there training cycle if they do an all out effort.. I do not subscribe to this school of thought. We are not cycling big weights here, kettlebells are not maximal loads, you do not need to worry about blowing yourself up or anything...

       The best part about testing is, when you do pick up a few reps, it fires you up to keep doing the things that got you there... I have a few successful and loyal lifters, they all understand the value of testing...  

Andy Fitting Swinging the Beast!

Here we see Andy Busting it up with the 48 Kg...

How about when things go right?

One of the hardest things for me to handle is when things go right! I know how to grind through workouts that start out shitty and get worse from there. I know what its like to wake up in the morning dreading my workout that evening... all day worrying about how much it is going to suck.... I have found myself, during the day floating in and out or conversations because of the set that is looming later in the day!!

This is sick! I am not stranger to taking the long way home in order to delay my pain! This is normal to me!!  I am ok doing this.. I guess it is just part of my "process".. Hahaha..

Every once in while though, something completely unexpected happens... After putting myself through all of this mental drama, I get to a point where, doing it and dealing with the failure is less painful than the mental torture I have happening in my squash! 

OK, So...now I am looking forward now to getting my ass handed to me..(again) and then when I start to do the set, things don't seem so bad, in fact... things seem pretty good! I am breathing correctly, my legs are working, by back doesn't hurt... Holy shit!! I am having a breakthrough!! The pace that usually kills me seems kinda slow today?? I just whistled past the point where the reps usually get ugly, Like nothing.... The Kettlebell weighs the same as always, but today it seems "nicer"... Basically, the mental pain was harder to deal with than the physical pain of actually executing the lift!

One time I started a snatch set and things were going great, I was catching the bell perfectly, my backswing felt natural, I was landing the bell in the sweet spot every rep... I actually got spooked and stopped the set for no other reason than it was going too well?? This has happened to me a few times...

So I have learned to not question when progress shows up.. Just take it when it comes and do the math later! Just be grateful and "KEEP GOING" because moments like this are rare... So again, take it when it comes... however it comes... Could be a while til happens again!! 

Things do change overnight, you just do not which night!

Big Output!!

Will Metcalf speaks to Emily of Australian Kettlebell Club.

Read the interview here!

Truth

Love this one...



" Some people confused, they don't understand that moving the kettlebells faster doesn't make the time go by faster, it just kills you quicker" 
Valery Fedorenko

Keep your analysis concise and your solutions simple.

http://alongthelinesof.com/2012/04/25/one-from-the-ground-two-from-the-hang/

My Student Nils break his record today!! 2x32kg Long cycle 50 reps 10 minutes!

How this for a "cool-down"?

So after travelling to the US, teaching a 2 days seminar, and 123 jerks and 210 snatches with 32kg... Fedor Fuglev Cools down with a Nice easy set of Long Cycle, 2x32kg bells 7 minutes 50 reps!!

Some thoughts about programming

The biggest mistake you can make as kettlebell lifter is to blindly follow some high level lifter's training program. How the Eeeeelite train and how you train are not even close! 

I just spent the weekend with Fedor Fuglev. No doubt one of the best to ever step on the platform. Now how he trains and how you should train are not even close. This guy is one seriously crazed athlete... I mean that he is all about winning and will whatever it takes to win... He is wired that way mentally! Most of us are not that driven or crazed.. For example...He said to us over the weekend that he wanted to learn how to flip a 32kg kettlebells 3 times and catch it... 1 time is easy, 2 flips is harder but not that bad... 3 flips is another matter altogether...anyway he practiced this for 9 hours until he got it!! He hands were bloody and torn... But he made his goal happen... Now this is the type of mentality that this guy has, so he can train however he wants, on game day he is not going to win based on his programming! He is not going to be standing on platform thinking... "I should have ran more" or "I wish my Fran time was better" He is thinking, " I will die before I lose"... That is not something you will pick up through programming! 

Most American lifters are full of shit when it comes to Programming! They wanna debate how this guy does it and how this guys does it... It doesn't matter how they do it... It takes years to develop the tendon strength and skills to do the volume that they do with the loads they handle... 

Stop worrying about your victory speech and figure out how to hold onto the bells for 10 minutes is a good place to start! 

Perhaps the Best Female Kettlebell lifter In the US right now!

FACT: The Snatch is the hardest lift to master, I know that we have some serious Long Cyclers,  But the snatch is a different animal!

This is from The IUKL meet on 4/22. I met Svitlana and her Coach 3 years ago at the WKC Vegas meet. They are very sweet people, but when she gets a Kettlebell in her hand... she is all business!!

Fedor Fuglev IUKL meet 2x32 jerks 120 reps

Fedor Fuglev IUKL 32kg snatch 210 reps!

Big PR for Will Metcalf IUKL meet 2x32 jerks

Will Metcalf IUKL 32kg snatch set

IUKL Meet Scott Tighe 32kg Long Cycle

Andy Fitting 6min Kettlebell Snatch - 63/63 reps

Scott Tighe 2x32 Long Cycle 10 minutes 48 reps

Will Metcalf and Andy Fitting 32kg Kettlebell Snatch set

Will Metcalf Sets a PR on 2x32 jerks

Fedor Fuglev - 228 reps snatch 32kg 3/23/12

Now here is a Lifter!!

Will 24kg snatch 10 minutes 20 rpms

Adaptation Error: Cool Down

2/28-29-3/1 training

Ok here it is...
Tues 2/28
20kg snatch 10 minutes 18 rpms... this was good.. After I lokked at the video.. I lost a couple reps each side.. that is a lot of counting...
28 swings 30/30 x2

Wens...
10,000 meter row.. 46:11 seconds  this was a tough... I wore my HR monitor but at like 23 minutes I went to look at it and accidently reset it.. so it took my like 30 seconds to reset and figure it all out... any way the first section my av hr was 144.. the second section half my av HR was 170 and the max was 190!! I was happy with that...

Thursday...
2x20 jerk 2 minutes 10,10
2 min rest
2x24 jerks 5 minutes 8 rpms
2 min rest
2x26 jerk 2 min 8 rpms
2 min rest
2x28 jerk 2 min 8 rpms   hard!
2 min rest
2x20 jerk 8 rpms
bike ride on trainer for 20 minutes easy...

2/27 training

Monday...
Feeling pretty good... decided to lift the 24kgs today, but after I got changed up... I realized that they were still in my car from saturday... I didnt feel like lifting cold Bells or going outside in my shorts... Haha...
So here is what I did instead
15 minutes stretching/ joint mobility/ Js bands

Jerks
2x20 1 min 10
1 min rest
2x20 2 min 10,10
2 min rest
2x20 3 min 10,10,10
3 min rest
2x20 4 min 10,10,10,18
These felt really good..

20 minute row... 4300 meters 149 av HR-178 max 338 calories...

Will Metcalf 2x32jerk PR

Big Pr For Melissa with the new WKC Performance Women's kettlebell!!

2/25 training day

Trained with Scotty T, Will and Melissa Metcalf today...
Melissa just got one of the new performance grade women bells.. 16kg. This bell fits her much much better than the standard size comp bells... She needs 55/55 jerks and the same for snatch to make cms. Today she crushed her cms jerk number by going 58/57 or something close to that...  Then on snatches she did 53/53 in 8 minutes! She set 2 big Pr's today! Great day!
Scotty did 2 money sets in Long cycle.. 2x23kg 5,5,5,5,5,4  then 2x28kg 5 minutes 40 reps...
Will did 2x32 7 minutes 54 reps... and his hand was a little mangled but not ripped from yesterdays snatch set... so he did a second set of jerks 2x28 15,14
I have been training with the 20kgs this week... So, I did 2x20 jerks 8 minutes 10,10,10,10,10,10,10,18 feeling pretty good... The I snatches the 20kg 8 minutes 18 rpms..
Good day all around!

2/22-2/23 training

2/22
Just rowed 20 minutes and stretched
2/23
2x20 jerk 7 min 10 rpm
20kg snatch 8 min 16 Rpms
That's all The time I had

2/21 training

Tues..
16kg oaj 20/20
20kg oaj 20/20
2x20 jerk 6 min 70 reps better than yesterday..
16kg snatch 30/30
20kg snatch 8 minutes 16rpms

2,000 meter row... that is it today...

10/20/12 Training

Monday...
Still have some flem coming up... but I am losing my mind not training...
heres what it looked like today...
16kg OAj 15/15
2x20 jerk 2 min 10 rpms
2 min rest
2x24 jerk 2 min 10 rpms    felt heavy
2 min rest
2x20 jerk 5 min 10 rpms
shoulders are not used to this shit... the tendon on my front delts was smoking... funny how you lose it...

16kg snatch 30/30
20kg snatch 6 minutes 16 rpms
thats it...

I think Im coming out of it now...

Well, I finally put a few days of training in a row.... Nothing big but, I am happy to have some consistency

going... 

I did train one day last week a little bit of one arm stuff, but when I droppe the KB to my chest on the right side... I could feel how congested I am... it triggered coughing fits... So I packed it in...

This thing kicked the crap out of me... I started sleeping all through the night about last thursday... Friday night I slept 8 solid hours... I woke on saturday aroudn 8 am.. I ate and hung around the house... about 1130 I decided to take a nap... I woke up 5 hours later!! That was what really indicated to me how deep of hole I had landed in.... anyway, here is my what I got done this week so far...

Tues... 

I tried some 2x26 jerks... only lasted 1 and half minutes... I only had 2x26kg at me house that day, SO i tried and got stuffed... 

something more realistic... 16kg snatch set 10 minutes 20 rpms... good sweat, not too tough... glad I did it... 

Wens..

went to the gym... feeling good but flat...

I did 16,20,24,28 OAJ 1 min per hand, no rest pretty fast.. like 20, 18,16,14 rpms respectively... immediately repeating on the second hand... this was a good session.. my feet actually hurt afterward...

then 24kg OALC press 10 rpms 6 minutes...

thursday 

2x20 jerks 5 minutes 10 rpms.. felt good shoulders tired from yesterday...

20kg snatch 6 minutes 16-18 rpms..

2000meter row... thats it! 

I have learned that starting light and focussing on technique leads to good things... Goota get back in the rhythm of training!! 

Will Metcalf 28kg snatch set 2/11/12 8 minutes 17 rpms

2/9/2012 training

Went to the gym and wanted to leave... I felt weak as kitty cat... I didn't do anything worht talking about.. just moved around. I ended up riding the spinbike for 20 minutes... I think today will be better...

Feeling better!!

I am feeling better and better every day now.. sleep is much improved and I think I am going to try to train a litle bit today... Nothing crazy, just move around and break a sweat!! I will let you know..
I am amazed at how serious this cough became... I have never had anything like this crazyness in my life...

Out of Hand Cough!

I started coughing about 2 and half weeks ago. Like the knucklehead I am, I took the flim flam approach to treating this.. I started out with Homeopathic remedies, then throat coat teas, upped the cod liver oil... Then I went to the minute clinic at CVS, I figures it would be a simple matter, 3 visits later I had to see my doctor..( which I should have done in the beginning)... I finally go the right meds and I am confident that the worst over... 

So I had to stop training and focus on coughing... Hopefully I will back to training soonly!!

Workout 27.01.2012 Ivan Denisov long cycle 27,5 kg kettlebells 8minutes ...

Scott Tighe 2x32 Long Cycle 10 minutes 40 reps

Some people just love when you get sick!

       How about those people that absolutely light up like a Christmas tree when they hear you coughing or sneezing? They delight in the fact that you maybe slightly under the weather? At this point, I ususally brace myself for the statement that you know is coming and they cant wait to say...." sounds like you got what's been going around". 

Then they love to give you the list of all the sick people they know within a 300 miles radius.... The funny thing is that usually these are the type of people that can't remember what they ate for dinner the night before, but can recount the horror of others sickness with exactly detail!!  No matter what time of the year it is, or what is actually happening... these people always say the same thing.." There's a lot of stuff going around right now"...

Usually what happens next is they tell you what you have how long you will be sick and what you need to do to get over it... But the whole time you can see that they love the fact that you are suffering... Especially if they know you train or workout or try to be a healthy person... You know the type..

I usually just deny being sick or feeling bad... and I take it another step which completely stupefies these misery lovers... I say, I never get sick... That usually ends the stories they keep ready in their holsters for time like this...

What is really going around is a word that I re-learned this week... 

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\ , noun:

A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

Pentathlon Meet 1/14

So I ended up going to this meet last minute.. Scott had signed up for and his goal was to break 2000. I was on the fence about going... it is about a 4.5 hour drive from my house... I decided mid week that I would go... I have been training but mostly light bells for general fitness... Nothing super hard... The last time/ first time I did the pentathlon, I was conservative... I scored in the high 1600's... So my hope was to better that..

Here is the what really happened to me... I cleaned the 32kg for 6 minutes at 20 rpms... I have never done this and my hands reminded me that you cannot just jump into this and get r done.. I damaged my hands, but not on the surface...  Anyone that has had this happen to them will understand what I'm talking about... Your skin rips down deep at first.. then if you continue.... it get looser and looser until it heats up and tears on the surface... I have done this more times than I would like to admit... Once this happens, you are in trouble... SO on my next set of Long cycle press I used the 28kg and on the hand switches my skin let go first on my left side, then on my right side...  So I had to decide what I was going to do... I decided to drop down in bell size and get through the competition... Next event was the OAJ so that wasn't too bad on the hands, but I still had to switch, I slowed down and got 80 reps... the Half snatch was next, I decided to use the 20 to make sure I didn't do any more damage... then the push press I used the 24kg.. I ended up with a score of 1600.. not great not bad...

The main lesson I learned (again the hard way) was that if your hands are not conditioned for competition, you are looking for trouble....

Scott did break 2000 which is really really hard... Only Andy fitting has done it in competion. I know Charlie Fornelli has done it in training...  He did 36kg cleans 120 reps, 28 LCpress 60 reps, 32kg OAJ 120 reps, 28kg 1/2 snatch 108 reps, and 28kg push press 120 reps... it was a good time... 

Scott Tighe 28kg Push Press 120 reps

Scott Tighe 32kg One Arm Jerk 120 reps

Scott Tighe 28kg 1/2 Snatch 108 reps

Scott Tighe pentathlon Long cycle press

Scott Tighe Pentathlon 1/14 36kg Cleans 120 reps

Denisov / Fedorenko Sport Camp SF 2012 Promo

Wow... 25k hits...

I can't believe that this blog has had over 25 thousands hits. Thank you for following my craziness... Things have been slow around here for a couple of months... I promise to fix that... Once again, Thank you for reading!

This Guy is Serious! 2x32 LC 5 min 47 reps

Case for the Gym

One of the biggest reasons I started lifting Kettlebells was so that I didn't have to go a gym. I basically got sick of the whole scene. From automatic withdrawals that never stop, to listening to the crazy training/ nutrition talk... I had to escape.

Training at home is great! Pick your own music, wear whatever you want, nobody to think about but yourself... perfect for a guy like me... I work in the fish business so most days I have a slight hint of fish on my shoes from walking around the plant... this is not that noticeable at my house... it is very noticeable in a gym type place...

I decided to join a place on my way home from work. This is has turned out to be a very good idea.. I go there looking forward to training.. I go in, change up and get to work.. when I go home, I open mail, look in the fridge, go online, do some laundry, answer the phone... then I start to get ready, this process could take me a long, long time... very easy to stall at home... Big problem... Some nights when I'm dogging it, I might start working out at like 8pm... this is bad! That means I eat late, shower late, go to sleep late... all bad..
Going to the gym forces me to get in there, change up and go to work.. No mail, no internet, no laundry, I usually start my sessions with some form or cardio, rower, treadmill, stairclimber, and get my body temperature elevated... then I do some joint mobility... foam roller, stretch a little bit... just get loose...
then, what I have been doing is all one arm work... basically 4 to 6 minute sets of the pentathlon lifts... and some swings at the end... I usually try to do 3 or 4 work sets sometime heavy, sometimes light... sometimes I start light and work up every set, sometime I start heavy and drop down every set... The main point right now is to work and make things fun...
Another unexpected benefit is that I find myself doing more stuff after I finish the bells... Nothing huge but things like battling ropes, TRX, body weight exercises, plyo metrics... things I do not do at home...
Things are going well, I am sure that when I have some clear targets I will go back into my little pain cave at home... but for right now, I am very happy with hitting the gym...

Snatch 16 kg Irina Myakisheva .MP4