Look Who's Kettlebellin'

I've talked to several endurance athletes since I've become a Kettlebell Instructor through RKC and they have relatively the same thing to say about kettlebells. Too much strength training. How do you get cardio out of that? I don't want to bulk up...etc. Well, here's a pic of arguably the best endurance athlete of all time with this magical ball of iron....so you tell me, is it for endurance athletes?

Training Week - 12/01/08 - 12/04/08

12/1/08 - Monday

Bottom's Up Press - 24kg

3x1,2,3,4,5

Superset w/ Barbell Bent Rows 225 - 3x1,2135 - 3x3,4,5

3x3 of the following:

Front Squat - Double 40kg

Pull Up - 20kg

Dead Lift - 275

Push Up - Elevated w/ 2-45lb Plates and 30lb Chain on neck

12/2/08 - Tuesday

Vo2 Max - 16kg - 40 sets of 8 - :15/:15

12/3/08 - Wednesday

Active Recovery

Progressive Complex - 12kg

3 Rounds both Left and Right

Swing

Swing, Snatch

Swing, Snatch, Press

Swing, Snatch, Press, Windmill

Swing, Snatch, Press, Windmill, Overhead Squat

Swing, Snatch, Press, Windmill, Overhead Squat, Half Kneeling Press

Swing, Snatch, Press, Windmill, Overhead Squat, Half Kneeling Press, Arm Bar Press x 3, TGU

25 Push Ups between each round

12/4/08 - Thursday

Barbell Front Squat

135 x 10

225 x 5

275 x 2

315 x 1

Tried box jumps again. Hit 61 inches 3 times, which is 3 of my tires stacked on each other. Mixed in Barbell Back Squats ~ 3x5 225

Worked the circuits with the late class.

No short bending this week. I still need to go to the store. I did buy some cards at the dollar store and started on card tearing 'cause I've ripped everything I had in the house with exception of 2 decks. Tearing cards is extremely tough for me. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, but when I watch vids of other guys do it, I can't seem to mimic it with the same grips. Plus it's pretty painful. I did get a full Lubbock Yellow pages phonebook yesterday the "right" way. It's about 1.5 inches thick. I was showing the guys how to do both techniques (parlor trick and strongman) and when showing the strength version the pages just popped apart...it looked as if I'd chopped the top of the book with a machete. Pretty cool! So I finished it off, which took me a little bit. I'll keep grinding at the card tearing. I'm at 30 or so cards now and the tears are ugly....very curvy and the cards are a mess when I'm done. What's crazy is my grip is stronger than it's ever been right now and this seems to be impossible to me right now. The tortoise wins the race with this I guess.

3 Days Of GTG

GTG = Grease The Groove

I know there's a technical definition for this in a training application, but for me it's just do what you want and do it light enough to not over-exert.

Monday, I worked some Bottom's Up Presses after I worked with a class. I really want to hit the 40kg (Bulldog), but it still eludes me.

Team Goblet Squat Ladders (Courtesy of Jeff O'Connor)
24kg - 3x1,2,3,4,5

Bottom's Up Press
28kg - 3x2/2
32kg - 1x1/1
36kg - 1x1 Right, Failed Left
40kg - Good Clean and held it for a bit, 1/2 Pressed and it toppled on me. Soon!!!

Pull Ups
5x3

Tuesday, I worked with my late class. Complexes were on the menu with an interesting approach to the TGU.

TGU - 24kg
Pausing at each individual section of the get up.
1:20 on the way up
1:20 on the way down

1 Left and 1 Right = Over 5 minutes for 2 TGU's! This was brutal, but my shoulders felt unreal and fresh afterwards.

Complex - 5x1,2,3
All done 1-arm and switch
Swing, Clean, Squat, Press, Snatch

Then...40 Swings, 30 Rows (15/15), 20 Squats, 10 Burpees

Wednesday, we worked for our Thanksgiving Turkey. Early class 10 Swings on the minute for 40 minutes (400 swings). 2 late classes, 15 swings on the minute for 40 minutes (600 swings). Rest period was mixture of Fast and Loose and whatever we wanted to work on...Pull Ups, Abs, etc. Great workout and it went surprisingly fast.

Bending and tearing worth mentioning: I've ripped around 10 phone books since Monday. One at work went in 6 seconds!! The thing just exploded on my first rip and felt like it just fell apart. I've gone through all of my bag of nails (except for the Reds) and the stock that I'd cut to blue nail length. I've been working 3-6 blue nails/day. Double Overhand, Double Underhand and Reverse with both hands in front. DU and Reverse are finished DO after the initial bend. Blue nails are becoming good practice, so I'm gonna have to go to the hardware store and stock up on some tougher fare. I printed out "How To Bend The Red Nail" today, and I'm looking forward to reading it. I've kinked one, but it's like pushing on a brick wall.