4/21/08 - 4/25/08

This was a good week. Everyone in class broke some PR's and pushed which was really great to see.

Class Workouts
Monday
Farmer Carry
Clean and Press Ladders - 3x1,2,3
Superset w/ Pull Ups
Fast Tens: 5 Rounds w/ Double KB
5 Swings
5 Cleans
5 Squats

Tuesday
Same as Monday

Wednesday
Bottoms Up Press
Windmills
Circuit the following 5x
2 TGU - L
2 Overhead Squat - L
2 Windmill - L
10 2 Hand Swings
2 TGU - R
2 Overhead Squat - R
2 Windmill - R
10 2 Hand Swings

Friday
Class Choice - 20 mins - :30 Work/:30 Rest
Class Choice - 10 mins Swings or 5 Snatch

My Workouts
Monday
Worked w/ Class
Used 40kg on C & P Ladders and 2 28kg on Fast Tens

Tuesday
3 Board Press - worked up to 345, then 295 for 3x3
Close Grip
Face Pulls
Rear Raise off Incline

Thursday
Box Squat - worked up to 395 3x3
Good Mornings

Friday
Tabata Snatches

The Week of 4/14/08

I think I'm going to change my blogging frequency purely for time reasons. Here's last week broken down.

Classes
Monday:
Double Overhead KB Walks
Clean & Press Ladders 2x1-5
w/ Pull Ups
Fast Tens Swings or Lead Boots

Tuesday:
Same as Monday

Wednesday:
Circuits for Time

Thursday/Friday:
Farmer Carry/Rack Carry
Pick Your Poison
Swing Ladders w/ a Twist

My Workouts
Monday:
Worked w/ one of the classes
C&P Ladders w/ 32kg
Fast Tens Swings w/ 2 28kg
Lead Boots

Tuesday:
Bench Day
Worked Up to 305
Close Grip
JM Press
Lat Pull
Low Row

Thursday:
Box Squat Day
Worked Up to 465
Good Mornings
Front Squats

Friday:
Tabata KB Snatch
Messed around w/ some Barbell Cleans, Snatches and Light Dead Lift Variations

Saturday:
Windmills
Bottoms up Press
Dips
Jump Rope
Pull Ups
Swings
Push Ups

The Weight Training Dogma...Hardcore or Hard Work?

I was reading an article last week titled, The Muffin Top Manifesto, by Susan Finley, an RKC out of South Carolina. The article was about the constant battle Americans are constantly fighting with fat loss. (By the way, Obesity is the 2nd leading preventable cause of death in America, just behind smoking) She made a comment that got me thinking that "Hard Work" could be an interchangeable term with the unfavorable term "Hardcore," (in the context of training) and I started thinking how this related to me and my training. Here ya go...

The Weight Training Dogma…Hardcore or Hard Work?

When I finished my undergrad I began lifting at a local commercial gym. Even though I was never very strong or powerful, I’ve had a label placed on me as the guy who did the hardcore workouts or was too hardcore to talk to. The more time and effort I put into the gym, my lifts became stronger and heavier. My workouts became more structured and pragmatic. I started putting a lot of mental energy into my quest for strength. Is this what hardcore is? I believe all I did was unconsciously implement a lifelong value system that I happened to learn while growing up on a cotton farm…Hard Work. Farming is extremely hard work. The time, money and energy invested in a crop is at times difficult to fathom, and all for a result and reward that can be wiped away by the next dark cloud in the sky. Training, much like farming, can yield results that will be stolen from you in an instant. But instead of being visited by a hail storm, you’re visited by an injury that keeps you from your goals for weeks or even months.

I really enjoyed what I was doing while training, achieving results that I could see and feel, and pushing towards the genetic potential that God blessed me with. But why have I seen such a constant barrage of negativity towards the way I train by average people? Do they truly understand how much I’ve invested in this activity society dubs “working out?” I don’t feel that I’m hardcore at all. I work hard. I use kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, giant tires, sleds, sledge hammers, pipes, over sized rubber bands, my own body weight and anything else I can get my hands on to achieve my goals. Sometimes the goal is specific, sometimes not, but the underlying goal of pushing my physical and mental abilities will always stay constant.

Many of us take for granted the simple physical abilities that we are blessed with. Even if you think weight training is “hardcore,” step back and think how you are using your abilities and how hard you work to push yourself to reach your potential. It’s honestly just a matter of a cognizant decision to make yourself the best you can be with what God gave you. Take the first step, and just get up and do something….anything. Studies have shown it takes six weeks to form a habit. Let us make working hard on our bodies a “habit” that we keep for the rest of our lives!

New Videos

Here's a couple of new vids I put together from yesterday. I was just playing around and hadn't tried the pistol in awhile so I decided to attempt the "Taming" protocol for the Bulldog or 40kg KB. I was also intrigued by something I read about doing Double KB Turkish Get Ups, so I gave those a shot as well. I stopped at the 24kgs.

Taming The Bulldog

Double KB Turkish Get Up

Amped Friday and Saturday

Friday

We had an intense set of classes Friday. Lots of stuff going on...

TGU - Light, Medium, Heavy - L/R - 2x

Windmill - 5/5

Pick Your Poison - :30/:30 - 16 min.

Smoker

5 Swings - L/R

5 Cleans - L/R

5 Snatches - L/R

Rest

10 Swings - L/R

10 Cleans - L/R

10 Snatches - L/R

Rest

5 Swings - L/R

5 Cleans - L/R

5 Snatches - L/R

Abs

Planks, KB Side Bends, Hanging Knee Raise

Grip

Plate Pinch, Wrist Rollers, Towell-Wrapped Barbell Holds

Saturday

Two of my best friends, B and Rowden came out to learn the ways of the kettlebell. I was glad they could stop and both have a lot of potential!

Found A Post-It Note

I found I post-it note tucked away in my planner that I meant to post a while back. I stumbled across a free link to powerliftingwatch.com which tracks all power lifters regardless of federation so I checked it out. Lo and behold they had just posted the 2007 rankings and I made the list three times. Here's how I ranked last year against other lifters in the 198lb Raw category.

2007 - 198 Raw - All Federations

Squat - 48th
Dead Lift - 29th
Total - 39th

I just thought that was cool I even made a list of any kind. Glad I found the post-it!

Wednesday Night

We worked a new move tonight (purely to show the move off) which proved to be very difficult, even for me.

Sots Press
Inro and Practice
(Justin rocked this and is unusually flexible in his spine and hips. Way to go!)

Circuits :30/:30 - 3x
Jump Rope
Renegade Row
KB Thrusters
Side to Side Hot Potato
Single Leg Dead Lift
Med Ball Slams

Ab Circuit - 3x10
KB Side Bends - L/R
Planks
Lying Leg Lifts

Great Start To The Week

I received my "fat bar" chin up bar for my rack last Friday and I'm excited to finally add some pull ups to the program.

Overhead KB Walks - :30/:30 L/R - 2x

Clean and Press Ladders
Superset with Pull Ups (Band Assisted w/ Green Band)
2x1,2,3,4,5

"Lead Boots"
Taken from Philip Davis, RKC and Dave Whitley, Senior RKC
2 Rounds
Jump Squats - :30
Speed Squats - :30
Pause Squats - :30
Hold Squats - :30
Rest - 1 Minute

Video from TSC

Here's the video from Saturday's TSC...

Tactical Strength Challenge - 4/5/08

Saturday I hosted my first TSC at the gym. David Spriggs, Kevin Hays, Keith Stratton and myself all participated. We also had a few spectators come out and they left excited enough to work towards the next TSC I'll host.

Here's how everyone fared:

Jason Marshall - Open Division
Body Weight - 188
Best Dead Lift - 515
Pull Up - 18
KB Snatch - 116

Keith Stratton - Open Division
Body Weight - 166
Best Dead Lift - 315
Pull Up - 16
KB Snatch - 82

Kevin Hays - Open Division
Body Weight - 259
Best Dead Lift - 440
Pull Up - 0
KB Snatch - 85

David Spriggs - Open Division
Body Weight - 282
Best Dead Lift - 365
Pull Up - 0
KB Snatch - 80

Everyone did a great job and I think we posted some great "first timer" results. The results should be posted soon on the Tactical Strength Challenge website to see how we compared against the rest of the field. Great job and thanks to everyone who came out!

Friday Training

We had a great training session Friday night. Everyone pushed themselves to the limit and I was proud of everyone's accomplishments.

TGU - 5 min. - Alt. L/R

Pick Your Poison - :30 Work/:30 Rest - 16 min.

Swing Ladders: - 10 min.

Kara and Amber hit 200 with the 16kg, Keith obliterated his old record with 256/24kg, David jumped up a weight and hit 200 with 28kg, Chris hit 242/24kg (nice PR) and Eric nailed 225/24kg. Lots of record breaking as we don't aim for swing records every week. Great job!!

Good Article

I forgot to post this in the last post, but this is a good article for you all to check out. It's by Brett Jones who is a very accomplished kettlebell instructor and personal trainer.

Here's the link:
"Can You Adjust Your 'Volume'?"

Good Day!

I had a good today. I got some good sleep last night, felt rejuvinated and had some good things happen today. I got a banner that I had made for the gym and Kevin and I put it up and decided to play around with the tires and kettlebells to make the sign look even more cool.

Hudd came out to learn the last bit of the introductory stuff and he's doing great. For the other class we did the following:

Kettlebell Snatch

5 Sets, 5 R, 5 L

Circuits - 3 Rounds - :30 Work, :30 Rest

Tire Jumps

Double KB Cleans

Med Ball Slams

Swings

Push Ups

Side to Side Hot Potato

Ab/Forearm Circuit

Floor Wipers

Weighted Side Bends

Wrist Rollers

Pinch Grip