Max press attempt 52kg

Fail. Simply put. However, it was not due to lack of prep, poor programming, lack of strength, focus, effort. It was just the fact that this day the bell won and I failed to press. 

http://youtu.be/mmG-kpcOGpk

However, I know I can press the beast comfortably for singles. I have much more work but my strength is far improved. Now, I need to focus on technical aspects such as getting tight, core, Lats, and rooting to the floor and linking my body into a connected system. 

Training needs to focus on the little things, take it slow, focus and move with intention. 

Max Effort day

Well today was all about prepping for Saturday and my attempt to press the 52kg bell. Best part is I get to do this in front of Rif, Glenn and Nick. So kept it all in perspective and trained but under control.

Military Press
36/1/1 x 4

Easy money. Nice work nothing strenuous and a good prelude to Saturdays true Max Effort attempt.

Pull-ups
16kg/3 x 5

Again a nice strong, fast pull with a manageable weir but got some good quality work


Zercher Pistol Squat (too box)
Bar
65
90
100
110
125

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s7dEH6xL3Io


All singles and my first time ever doing this move! Awesome move, need to try again to feel it out more and wanted to be conservative today.

Speed Day: press, pistol, pull-up

So schedule shift today and therefore trained at the new gym. It's awesome but certainly weird since I am so used to Rifs garage. Business wise, makes sense to train at Rifs to not interrupt trainers but today I had you adjust. 

Speed Military Press

28/3 x 8 L

28/3 x 8 R

Dropped back since I plan to test my press Wednesday with 52kg KB. Now, lets hope my true peak is this week and not last :). For this reason dropped volume. Everything else the same, start on the 12 & 6.

Pistol box squat (double 16kg)

16/2 x 5 R

16/2 x 5 L

This was way different as I did it on carpet and it significantly changes my rooting and stability of my foot. A good challenge but not necessary. As Rif says do it as perfect as possible natural before

Adding in unnatural surfaces. Had to focus on zipping up from the core, crushing the bells, pushing abs out and tensing Lats.

Kipping Pull-up

10 x 5

There's a purpose for everything and today I added in a different pull-up. :) so

Much easier since I have been doing all my strict dead hang pull-ups

Clean

32kg/5/5x4

Pause at top and focused in being a linked interconnected system which makes everything better and more challenging.

Solid day today! Nothing more, nothing less than just a thorough day with a PR looming for Wednesday. Just focus on what I always do and lift, the rest will happen! That's what consistency and programming do!

Snatch Peak of the Wave

Well, it's been a good week strength wise and today it just felt right. The plan was to do work with the 36kg but sometimes you have to adjust the plan and today was that day. Keep in mind we have earned this right with all the prior weeks work. It was not a rush to judgment by any means but a progression available.

There was good juju today. Rif, Nick and I were all relaxed, performing strong, smiling and had some good laughs but focused on getting in quality work. Rif PR'd his 1 arm, swing with the Beast and easy at that, nick snatched the beast R side and a near L miss. It felt great and wish we did this 3 days a week, because JuJu like this, that community where everyone is working together brings out the best in all of us as evident with today's big numbers and BIG bells.

Snatch
24/3/3
28/3/3
32/3/3
36/3/3
40/1/1 x 5
36/3/3 x 2

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKWuKITqSU

My hands are a bit beat up and this always f-cks things up but Rif did a great tape job and that helped and I had no hand issues. I will say I much prefer skin to bell versus tape to bell but so be it. Felt powerful and just the right numbers of reps with this weight.

2 hand Swing
36/8
40/8
48/8
36/8
40/8
48/8

These were awesome. I liked reducing the snatch volume and subbing in Swings. after all the swing is the king of all movements. Fast, powerful and very well connected. I focused on the following

1. Foot position
2. Driving feet into floor, pressing and spreading the ground.
3. Powering through the hips
4. Lars tight, shoulders linked
5. Driving the bell into the swing
6. Bending the bell by torquing on my pinky pad.

Clubbells arm cast
25/10/10
35/10/10 x 2
35/8/8/8/8 mixed in with shield cast for a combo finisher!

PR and Max Efforts = stepping stones

Yep, it is all a stepping stone to the next....Since January and post Medical school I have gotten back to training. For the first 2 months it was all about getting strength and conditioning. I need to get my body back to a state to handle loads I was capable of and prepare for bigger things.

In late February my coach, friend and training partner Mark Reifkind unveiled a secret plan for building the Kettlebell Military Press. With my goal to get back to the beast and more it was perfect timing and so from that point forward I had a goal and a plan. In addition I had set other personal goals one of which is to pistol the double 32kg kettlebells which I missed at the top back in 2008. Another goal was to pull-up with as much weight as possible at some point, with th beast being first one in sight.

So today I took a GIANT step forward with the press. Feeling good but not great I did a thorough warm up and started pressing. I have to say I did the 40kg aka bulldog and it was easy and followed up with an easy 97lb or 44kg press and I knew I could do it.

Military Press single Kettlebell
16/5/5
20//5/5
24/5/5
28/3/3
32/3/3
36/1/1
40/1/1
44/1/1
48/1/1 x 2



Yes, 2 singles and I figured that was a wise place to rest this move for the day.

All I can say is a strong program design, an athlete who desires to accomplish said goal and is willing and able to do the work, consistency, determination, patience, strong communication with the coach and presto!

Double KB front squat

32/3 x2

40/3 x 1

48/1 x 1 plus a failed squat attempt ......PR

Wow! A few weeks back Ken Black gave me a second Beast and this spelled opportunity. Today   That opportunity came and I took it. This was an absolute first both with the clean (which I successfully did twice, first one was much better) and for my squats. Very happy with this as holding those bells in the rack is brutal which is why I failed on my first set and here on my second rep in the video. A true MAX effort and a success! 

Pull-up 

12kg/3

18kg/2

24kg/1

28kg/1

32kg/1

36kg/1 chin to bar fail

40kg/1 short.

Decided to do an overload here and keep total reps/sets low. Certainly did not have my all considering the above. Plus, it has been 9 days since last pull-up workout. A good session here :)

So a big day! Very happy to see everything come together. Been a good 4 months training and only a step, a big one at that! :) thanks Rif! 

Beyond the Bell

If one is to look at this blog, my 'training log' they may wonder if what I post is all I do. The answer is no. Why, because explaining in detail my other practices is sometimes difficult and other times not nearly as exciting as say pressing the beast kettlebell.

However, I have stated this before, my most important and enduring practice is not the kettlebell, pull-ups, barbells but the other stuff. In particular the yoga and meditation plus pranayama practices. These require the most attention and are the foundation of my practice. 

Over the past few months I have been digging and exploring this practice and do just that practicing and learning new things and differing points of view. Number one has been Budokon which is the simplest form is Hatha yoga, martial arts and meditation. In addition I have been exploring as of recent Capoiera, the Brazilian Martial Art. 

Both of these are self taught with the guidance of videos, YouTube and Internet resources. Time and lack of available teachers has me using that which I have the easiest access. 

The point I wish to share I beleive is clear, I do far more the KBs which I really enjoy and my training and more important my practice is daily, a moving meditation or movement and meditation and breath work. 

Thank you

Speed Day

A little short on time today so I chose to get 3 quality moves in. Only 35 notes with a warm up.

Speed Military Press
28/3 x 10 R
28/3 x 10 L

Per usual I start each set on the 12 & 6 giving me 10 sec work, 20 rest. I perform all moves on one side then after 10 sets switch to other arm.

Today they all felt easy. No struggle, pure fast and quality work. Best day so far.

Box Pistol Squat

Double 16kg/2 x 5 R

Double 16kg/2 x 5 L

This is also using the 12 & 6 on the clock but 15 sec work, 15 rest. Things came together here today. I felt I had a good connection head to toe and my easiest day with this movement under these conditions. This is paying off.

2 hand swing for speed

24/10 x 8

15 sec rest between sets. All about speed endurance here. First time doing this work sequence in forever and I liked it. Primarily because I could connect all the dots, move with perfection and with speed and snap. No video 

Snatch Day

We all gathered at Stones today for the first time in weeks and it felt good to have the pack together. I cannot help but think of the new Hangover and all the personalities, we certainly have 4 characters :)

Saturdays mean one thing, Snatch at least for Nick and I. Rif and Glenn are making a change to heavy swings which compliments nick and I cause heavy is the thing. And heavy usually means 5 or less reps which equates to power, speed and StrongFirst :)

Snatch
32/3/3 x 13
Last set 6/6

No problem. Bell moved fast, groove felt strong and relatively consistent. Hands had a rough time due to my failure to do an adequate job taking care of them this week. Lesson learned.

I love triples, I can really hit the gas and move a big weight fast and with form. No problem doing more sets to get the volume especially when my goal in with the snatch is pure strength, power and speed. I will use track work and mountain biking for my conditioning along with my Monday workouts.

Clubbell single arm cast
20/8/8
25/5/5

Right side is certainly weaker but this movement will lend to its development


Front Lever
3 reps x 3 sets with first static holds. Repeat of Monday but with added hold and spot from Rif.

Planche (band support)
3 rounds of static hold


Total workload today was less than other days. But this was good. I have been doing a lot of yoga combined with bodyweight strengthen yoga movements (hand balances) and other practices such as capoiera (self taught through DVD). So those extra days and movements are key pieces to my flexibility, mobility and general health and conditioning. Feels good!

Strength day

Reset button hit. Hit peak last week of a long cycle. So, today we hit the reset button. Felt good to put some emphasis on other moves. Here is how it went down.

Max reps military press
Double 24/20
Double 24/15

Sled pull forward and backward
100 lbs x 1
135 lbs x 1
155 lbs x 2

Belt at waist height. Walk forward 50 plus yards return walk backwards. Backward is where I really felt the work, especially hammies and post movement quads. These are simply put a solid movement.

Primal crawl
10 steps forward 10 back 4 times x 4 sets

First tried this back in early Jnuary whe Geoff Neupert visited Rif and Stones. After the snatch portion he invited me to do this move. I had wanted Rif to show me so this was a perfect opportunity. All I remember is how sore I was. Total distance probably equal to or less than that particular day but effective nonetheless. I like connecting the spinal alignment with movement. Feels like a very intelligent move and challenging at the same time.


Clubbell arm cast/shield cast combo
25/10/10/10/10 x 1
35/8/8/8/8 x 2

Ok, this was awesome. Second set of 35lbs I could feel the forearm/wrist fatigue. This was a great combo and nice challenge.

All in all a solid day. Nothing earth shattering or awe inspiring but these are the days where you get stronger while recharging the batteries and resetting the switch. A good transition to the next ramp up portion of the cycle. Good training has a natural wave like progression which when drawing Aline through the wave structure you will see a nice solid progression up to new peaks.

Speed Day

Wow, this was a good one. Some strong numbers, strong efforts and speedy movements. Things clicked today on a lot of levels. Programs like these offer moments like today and everything comes full circle. Numbers wise to those who
Do not know they are not impressive, but understanding what I do of the dynamic/speed day from westside, today was a good one

Speed Military Press
28/3 x 10 R
28/3 x 10 L

Really got the speed down. Set 10 felt as good if not better than set 1. Every 30 sec do reps.

Tactical Pull-up, speed style
3 reps every 30 sec x 15 sets

This was tough but set 15 was a strong finish , with 13/14 being the hardest.

Box pistol squat
Double 16kg/2x5 R and L

30 sec rest between sets. Last week these sucked, today they were great. Lost focus/tension a couple times but no
Issues today. Hard hard work but doable And a big improvement

Double Clean
32/5x5

No biggie, just part of the program. The 30 sec intervals with pause make these tougher.

Front lever
3x3

Well, ok! This was of the charts huge for me. I was fooling around last week in warm ups and something clicked. So today I decided to put it all together. It was the swing/snatch/clean hike, the straight arm pulldpwn, the planche, the pull-up all in one! Super happy to be close to doing these.


That's enough for the day, as always warmup, gymnastic/yoga mobility and flexibility, and foam roll.

5 minute Snatch Test, revisited

Ok, I have done this a Number of times, each different.

1. First RKC certification, April 2005. 28/28 with 24kg and one hand switch only (no specific time and could not park the bell until fully completed all 56 reps). Brutal!!!

2. Re-test in April 2006

3. Tested the 5 minute all out as many reps as possible, hit 110, a first and only time I had attempted this and it was extremely tough. All by myself at Cisco Systems.

4. Re-test in 2009 at Camp Pendelton which there is video of myself and Max Shank doing the test filmed by Jordan Vezina. Best part is TAPS played in the middle with the Marine Core Gents standing to salute while we snatched. 77 total reps, as many switches as needed and bell could be parked at will, easy 2:50 to finish, non-stop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUH5UFX7-28&sns=em

5. Forget the day/time but 100 in 5 minute once new standard was established which was after Camp Pendleton.

6. Today: 100 in 4:35. First 50 done in 2 minutes never parking bell, 10/10/10/10/5/5. Struggled through next 50. Hands got sweaty, had no chalk and forearms were pumped. Made some adjustments and finished. Certainly as tough as I recall. Having not done any high intensity time based snatch training this was good but I am not this type of athlete.

Part 1

Part 2

I much prefer t snatch the beast and work on power, speed, strength elements. Although, I will say it is good to challenge oneself with this crazy stuff. Form suffered under the duress but I finished strong and healthy. Thankful the the captain was there to support me today as the other guys, Rif and Nick were each out.

This was the beginning and end of today's workout. I am at the peak of the cycle and need to come down and re-ramp. Plus I have lots of lifting and building as I set the gym up. Rest is necessary as is smart training.

Max effort and failure

Yes, sometimes we fail! That's max effort, trying to do something you have never done before on a specific move. Today was a day filled with failure and success. It's good to be strong, better yet it's good to fail because success lies within failure. I cannot say it enough, the stronger I grow, the heavier the weights get. The heavier the weights get, the harder the work!

Days like this, when you start with failure can have a way of getting in between you and the workout as a whole. This was not the case, I made some adjustments as things went along and I will say I finished strong, including with a PR! Must stay focused, challenge is the name of the game on Max days.

Bottoms Up Press
32/1 on L, fail after
28/1 on R, fail after

This was during the "warm-up" or at least work up to max effort....it never happened. I could tell right away, in the early sets that I was lacking the strength here today so I changed it up.

Stack Press
20/22: 1/1
22/22: 1/1
24/22: 1/1
24/24: 1/1
28/22: 3 failed attempts each side....here is the video

At this point I knew I was done and all though no new Max efforts I still fought hard, paid close attention to what I had in the gas tank and pushed to failure. Moves the above are as much about skill as anything. They are not basic moves, and practice surely helps. However, since they are not moves I do weekly but instead periodically some days I just don't have it as an example today

Pull-ups
16/2
20/2
24/1x2
28/1
32/1x4

This was good today. A solid lift across the board! Content here!

Lunge (double bell)
24/3/3
28/3/3
32/3/3
36/1/1
40/2/2 x 3 PR

This was a PR in weight today. Certainly stronger than the prior time I did this.

Clubbells arm cast
20/10/10
25/10/10
35/10/10 x 2

Clubbells Shield Cast
20/10/10
25/10/10
35/10/10 x 2

Accessory Work
Rear Delts
30lb DB 8x3

Bicep curl
30lb DB 8x3

Tricep double black band
10 x 3

Straight arm band pull down
5/5x3

Rotator cuff band
8x3

Speed: press, pull-up, pistol

Ok, this day took a turn for the better. Introduced a westside approach to pull-up and pistol, complimenting the press. Purpose is simple, achieve a goal of max strength relative to all 3 moves. The clock was running all day, trying to be fast, technical and with little rest adds up. Great great great day!

Speed military press
28kg/3 x 8 L
28kg/3 x 8 R

Work done every 30 seconds with a pause taking out all the elastic energy and equivalent to doing 1 rep sets.

Speed Pull-up 

3 x 12

Dead hang every 30 seconds. Essentially 10 sec work, 20 rest. These got hard, especially keeping the speed and powerful pull. Again no elastic energy, essentially 36 single reps.

Speed Pistol 

Double 16kg/2 X 5 R

Double 16kg/2 X 5 L

Did these to a low box with a pause. Took 15 sec or about to complete and thus 15 sec rests. Speed was questionable but effort and work very high. First time doing this and it was tough but doable. It will get better next week. 

Cleans
32/5/5x5

Part of the program requires doing one bell higher than press bell. Hold in rack after each rep. Took 40 seconds to complete, 30 sec rest

Dips
12kg/5x4

More support of weak muscles.

Tonight, foam roll, yoga and rotator cuff work.

Great training day, I was sweating, in fact dripping as Stones was hot at 70 degrees.

Snatch power style

Power snatch
32/3/3x12

First time ever doing this. A tremendous amount power, force production, and work! This baby hits the CNS but feels so damn good doing so!

Also, this moves hones in skill and technique. As Rif said you realize how important the back swing is and how much a difference a good back swing makes. This is in the rotation and I am very happy I learned this move. thanks Rif ;)


Stacked Swing
20/20 for 3/3
24/24 for 3/3
28/28 for 3/3
32/28 for 3/3
36/32 for 3/3 (equal to 150lbs in one hand)

A different leverage point indeed. This is a good variation on swings at this point in my training and will be in the cycle. This is a serious grip workout as you can tell in the video, set up is crucial.


Clubbell single arm cast
20/8/8x3


Planche
practice, using a band at the feet.
4 sets including a push-up.

Have to work on the position here.first time and just learning to link everything together. The hand position took pressure off the wrists and I felt stronger here. Next time less band more me :)