One Week Repeat...

Repeated the workout from last Monday, but changed up the rep scheme to see which was harder.

Started off with some:

One Handed Farmer Carry
:50 Work / :10 Rest - Timed with the GYMBOSS
L, R, L, R

KB Complex - Done with double KB's - 3 Ladders, 3 Rungs each
Swing
Clean
Squat
Press
Renegade Row
Push Up
Instead of doing a round of each before the next rung of the ladder, the exercises were repeated per the rung. For example, on the 2nd rung, 2 swings were done, then 2 cleans, 2 squats and so on. This was IMO, more difficult than last week. I used the same weights and it felt like more work for some reason, eventhough the volume stayed the same.

Fast Tens Swings - Double KB's or Heavy Single
5, 10, 15, 5, 10, 15, 5, 10, 15, 10 = 100 total swings

Some people did an ab circuit at the end, but I was toast. I used double 28kg KB's for the complexes and swings, busted my shorts open and gave myself an Indian rug burn on the inside of my forearms from the swings. Abs will have to wait.

Overall, a great night and everyone huffed and puffed, but did well to hang with a very tough workout!

Friday...

Slow day at the gym. Many of the clients were out of town, so I had a chance to work one-on-one with a few clients which was welcomed and needed. I enjoyed the classes and turned back the clock on my training and hit some ETK work.

Clean and Press Ladders - Superset with Seated Lat Pulls
C&P w/ 32kg - 2 Ladders, 1,2,3,4,5
Lat Pulls w/ 4 Plates - 2 Ladders, 1,2,3,4,5

Shrugs w/ 48kg - 3x15

Simplicity

Since we did KB complexes Monday and Tuesday I decided to keep things simple tonight. Eventhough we kept the workout to 3 moves, it was definitely a great smoker.

TGU - 5 mins. (Alt L/R)

20 mins. of the following using the GYMBOSS
:15 - Two Hand KB Swing
:15 - Active Rest
:15 - Pushup (Varied hand positions)
:15 - Active Rest

Ab Circuit (for last two classes)
Russian Twists
V-Sit Situps
Side-to-side Hot Potato
Med Ball Slams

I worked in with the last class and used the 20kg on the TGU's and managed an average of 8-9 swings with the 32kg per work set and 10 pushups per work set for around 170 swings and 200 pushups. It was a great smoker and I loved its simplicity!

Rocky Start Today...

I had a hard time getting in the groove with dead lift work. I pulled sumo stance from Pin 1 and couldn't seem to get it together. I think yesterday's workout got the best of me.

Sumo Dead Lift - Pin 1

45 - 10

135 - 5

245 - 3

335 - 1

425 - 1

475 - 1

515 - 1 (Hold for 10 Count)

565 - 1 (fail)

565 - 1 (fail)

Random Grip Work

Wrist Rollers

Pinch Grip

Wrist Curls

Hand Grips

Lat Pulls

Wasn't the greatest of nights for myself, but we had some standouts in my mind with the Jiu Jitsu class. Here's a vid to see what they did.

Also, I'd like to wish the best of luck and safe travels to David, Ty, Chris and Brent as they head to L.A. for the Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships to compete against the best of the best in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Good Luck Fellas!!!

Back To The Gym!!!

I got back home last Thursday night from a week-long trip to Crested Butte, Colorado. The trip was amazing! I got some great snow boarding in and rode a snow mobile for the first time which I will definitely do again. The snow was awesome and the town of Crested Butte has an aura about it that is found nowhere else.

The Rockies! Dressed for Space

Downtown Crested Butte

I had a hard time coming home, but there was plenty of work to be done. I got a new rack shipped in and my new T-shirts were finished the day after we drove in! They look sharp and everyone loves them! Here's a few pics of the new look!

I had a great set of classes Friday night and managed to get a ton done in the wake. Saturday made for an awesome day as well with some personal training and my first workshop which was a great success! Everyone picked up on the techniques extremely well and I'm looking forward to the future progress.

Tonight was a good night as well. I implemented the kettlebell complex and it was a fan favorite. Here's what happened...

3 Ladders, 3-5 Rungs of the following Complex done with double kettlebells

Swing

Clean

Press

Front Squat

Renegade Row

Push Up

Followed with Fast Tens Swings - Doubles or Heavy Single

5, 10, 15 - Several times around depending on the class

Various ab work and cool down to top it off. Pretty good night. This was a favorite from the beginner to the advanced and little variation was implemented from one to the other.

Ugh...Too Much Too Soon!!!

I trained with the class tonight and it wasn't a great idea in hindsight. The VO2 Max Snatch Test yesterday, combined with the heavy pulls from the ground took more out of me than expected. I didn't realize it until half way through the ladders tonight and due to ego (not intelligence) I pushed through the workout. I have to be careful not to overtrain, but the good thing is I'm going on a little hiatus starting Friday to the mecca of mountain biking and snow sports...Crested Butte, CO. I'm going to strap a board to my feet and slide, glide, jump, twist and hopefully not bust down the mountain a whole bunch of times. I'm looking forward to the break and it's coming at a very good time in my training. Good learning experience today though...post VO2 day.

Here's the workout...

TGU's
24kg - L, R, L, R
28kg - L, R
24kg - L, R, L, R
28kg - L, R

Superset Ladders - 2 Ladders, 5 Rungs
Clean & Press - Double 32kg - 1st Ladder, Double 28kg - 2nd Ladder
Renegade Rows - Double 32kg - 1st Ladder, Double 28kg - 2nd Ladder

Fast Tens - 2 Rounds
Double Snatch - 20kg - 5x
Double Swing - 24kg - 10x
Double Front Squat - 24kg - 5x

I was smoked after all of this and it really wasn't that hard in comparison to some of my other workouts I've done before. My shoulders were toast towards the end of the first ladder and it was downhill from there. Needed another day of rest.

Full ROM and Some VO2

I had a few minutes to practice some pulls from the floor, so I worked up to semi-heavy single without a belt and worked the VO2 snatch test. The deads felt a bit heavy today, but my warmups were a little rushed so that might've been a part of it. The snatch test felt good. My heart rate stayed around 70-80% of max and got a pretty good sweat in the last few minutes. Here's how it looked...

Various Warm Up Drills w/ Bar - Around 5 mins.

Dead Lift - Full ROM, Sumo Stance
135 - 10
245 - 5
335 - 1
425 - 1
515 - 1
Done! Should've pulled a few more singles at 500+, but I was strapped for time and wanted to do the VO2 test.

KB Snatch - 20kg
:15 Work, :15 Rest
7 Reps per work set
28 Sets or 14 minutes - 196 total reps.
Very nice test...I really liked the way I felt afterward....not too tired, but worked....gas still in the tank. Next I'll try 1 more rep per work set for 28 more total to put me at 224 reps.

A Respectfull Attempt

I made a valient attempt at completing a 300 workout today during one of the classes. The work was set at 20 mins. for the class so I decided to try one of the 300 workouts I've seen on the web. I was interrupted at minute 19 and missed the last 10 reps of pullups. Got them in the next :30, so I completed the following in 20 mins. 30 secs.

25 Body Weight Pull Ups
50 Dead Lifts w/ 135 lbs
50 Push Ups
50 Box Jumps on 24 inch Box (Used my big tire for the jumps. Measured at 30 inches)
50 Floor Wipers (Holding a 135 lb bar at lock out over chest)
25 Clean and Press w/ 16kg Kettlebell - Right Hand (Set KB down after each rep)
25 Clean and Press w/ 16kg Kettlebell - Left Hand (Set KB down after each rep)
25 Body Weight Pull Ups

The Box Jumps were the toughest of the series. It was a good change of pace, but still worked on things I needed to for the TSC and gave me a little volume at the same time. Good work out though...I may try it again and push a little harder to get through in 20 mins or less.

Recovery....Thank Goodness

I'm a little knotted up from yesterday's pin pulls. Good thing I can still move, 'cause I needed to. I cranked out a little superset with the last class of the night. Things were going crazy, people were moving everywhere, Kettlebells, Sledge Hammers, Medicine Balls and Jump Ropes were being flung in every which way and direction (under control of course).

Classes were pretty fun and the students were given freedom of choice and did a great job pushing themselves. We played around with the new tire and Keith got the gymnastic bug and just had to run on the tire, so we obliged him.

I worked some pull ups and practiced some pistols with some weighted step ups.

Pull Ups

12kg - 5x5

Superset w/

Pistol w/ 32kg - Right Leg Only - 5x2

Weighted Step Ups - 32kg - Left Leg Only 5x5-10

A little explanation...

I had surgery on my left knee in Sept. of 2006 (Medial Meniscus, Cysts, Floaties...etc.) Supposedly all is fixed, I rehabed for 3 months, but I still hear rice krispies when I extend my knee joint and can't even pistol with body weight. A very weak, struggling pistol while holding the rack is the best I can muster. Soooo, I'm still in strength-mode to catch up with the "good" leg. What's crazy, that's about the only move that bothers it. I still get swelling and soreness from other stuff, mainly squats, but it never bothers me as much as trying pistols.

I got my first gym shirts in yesterday. They came out pretty cool, I thought. They look good on the black shirts too.

Lo And Behold

Big day for my Dead Lift progress. I set out to hold a weight in my hands that they've never held before. Today was the day, albeit from a pin pull, but it was still a nice PR. 605 from the 3rd Pin, Sumo Style. Here's how I worked up to it...

Bar - 10-20x

135 - 10x

245 - 5x

335 - 1x

425 - 1x

515 - 1x (no belt here)

565 - 1x (add belt)

605 - 1x (felt as fast or faster than the other to 500+ lifts. I think I have more in me, but we'll see what happens when the pull is from the floor. I think I'll start my dynamic pulls on an elevated surface this week to strengthen my starting strength. All my dynamic work is done in a full ROM.

Snatch work

16kg - :15 work, :15 rest - 8 minutes...not sure on the reps, but I was keeping around 6 reps per :15. Nice sweat, but it really wasn't that difficult. I'll go up in weight next time.

Class was good. The BJJ guys worked on their KB Snatch form, hit some strength work and had a nice smoker at the end. 10 swings per rung of a ladder of burpees/sprawls up to 5 and back down again. Took about 7 minutes as they push themselves pretty hard.

Not Much Work For Myself, But Some Great A-Ha Moments

My workout was very limited tonight, but it was well worth it for the concepts that were grasped by some of the students tonight. We worked some snatches in the workout and have practiced them for the last couple of weeks. It seems everyone's internal key of how to perform a movement is expressed differently. I can tell someone to move their elbow like their hitting someone standing behind them or tell them to mimic some cheerleading move they learned in high school. Either way, the concept stays the same and with the snatch (one of the most difficult moves to teach in my opinion) the concepts take a little longer to pick up. The baby steps have paid off in a big way and I'm looking at some pretty impressive weights being moved by some beginners who didn't know what the kettlebell snatch was two weeks ago!

What I did?
KB Flat Bench Press
2-16kg - 10
2-24kg - 10
2-32kg - 8
2-40kg - 3x5
The tough part about this is just cleaning the bells...the pressing was fairly easy. I didn't try cleaning the double beasts to press, but I will the next time when I try this.

Messin' around with some KB Juggling
Med Ball Slams - 3x10

Pretty good night...I'll try to pull heavy tomorrow. Start mentally preparing now!