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!