Tag: Kettlebell Swing

A Sunday Triple

Feelin’ good. Getting a lot of sleep. Eating pretty healthy. Drinking more water. Seeing results. Went in for the 11am.

Warm-up

  • 100 Jumping Jacks
  • 100 Mountain Climbers
  • 100 Butt Kicks
  • 100 Lateral Hops (I alternated legs each 25)
  • 25 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3 x 1m Bottom Squat Hold (30s rest between each)

WOD #1

Tabata Front Squats (65#)

I got 80 total reps. Nice burn, but could really feel my lower back towards the end.

Take 2 minutes of rest before the next WOD.

WOD #2

13 -> 1 Ladder

  • Burpees
  • Russian KBS (53# KB)

Never took a break and finished in 8:56. It was a 10:00 time cap and then 3 minutes of rest before starting the next WOD, so it was nice to get that extra minute of rest.

WOD #3

50 Reps of Sandbag Complex

  • Clean the bag up on to a shoulder
  • Squat
  • Press the bag up OH and on to the other shoulder
  • Squat

I was able to find a nice rhythm with these and did blocks of 5 throughout most of the WOD. At the end, the presses started to get harder so I switched to blocks of 4 at a time. Crushed this one in 7:37.

Great hour of work for a Sunday. I’m shocked how fast my conditioning has come back. I’ve only been doing the extra rowing stuff at home for a couple of weeks and just cleaned up my diet a week ago. I hope this continues.

Feeling, Bad to Good

I got up early for a Saturday. I think it was before 7:30. Didn’t feel good all morning as I lazed in front of the TV. Seriously thought about staying home from the gym, but went to 10am anyway.

Warm-up

50 Rounds

  • 2 Russian KBS (40# KB)
  • Goblet Squat (40# KB)

It took a few reps to get used to releasing the KB after the 2nd swing and catching it for the goblet, then throwing it back in the air after the goblet to go into the next swings.

WOD

  • 100 Jump Squats
  • 25 “Gladiator” Man Makers (25# DBs)
    • Row, Push-up, T, Row, Push-up, T, Stand, Clean, Press
  • 50 Burpees

Those jump squats to start are deceptively difficult. I was feeling the burn in my legs at 30 reps. Broke the gladiator man makers down in to 5 sets of 5 by using a popsicle stick for every 5th rep so I didn’t lose count. When a movement is as complicated as these were, counting always gets hard. Having to move the stick provided a nice little break in there. The last 10 reps were difficult, with the T (twist your torso and reach the DB straight up to the sky) being the hardest part. Once I got to the burpees I knew the end was in sight and knocked them out unbroken. I flew through the last 5 as fast as possible for that extra little push.

I think my time was 17:34. It wasn’t the heaviest use of DBs, but I couldn’t have gone any heavier with that type of intensity, so I’ll take my top time of the class. It’s been awhile since I’ve knocked out a WOD like this, so I think my conditioning is coming back up. And to think I wasn’t feeling well before getting to the gym.

Finisher

10-20-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • AbMat Sit-ups
  • Weighted V-ups (20# DB)

Ugh, this ab circuit Kevin made up a couple of weeks ago is horrible, mostly because of the weighted v-ups. It was especially bad today because our abs were fatigued from the plank position held for most of the WOD.

Hopefully I feel up for some rowing later tonight.

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

Feeling great after a solid night’s rest and taking it easy all day yesterday.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 1m MB Cleans (20# MB)
  • 1m Inch Worms
  • 1m Jump Rope
  • 1m Figure 8s (20# KB, 25# KB in round 5)
  • 1m Hand-to-hand KBS (39# KB)
  • 1m Rest

The goal is to keep a decent pace, but not any real high intensity. It was easy.

WOD

7 Rounds

  • 24 OH Lunges (20# MB, 12 each leg)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 8 T2B

I really enjoyed this one. It was a WOD where I could go-go-go. Holding the medicine ball overhead was the toughest part of this. In rounds 3 and 4 I split up the lunges into 16 and 8. Other than that, everything was unbroken. I did take a few second breather in between each round as I moved a popsicle stick for counting. Finished in 14:48.

How About Some Deadlifts?

Was thinking maybe I’d take the day off, but felt good when I woke up, so went to 9am.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 20 Russian KBS (30# KB)
  • 6 Burpees

The swings were so easy so I concentrated completely on the hip drive.

Strength

5×3 Deficit (3″) Deadlifts

Warmed up with 10 @ 135# and then used 225#, 295#, 325#, 345#, and 365# for my working sets. Solid.

WOD

12:00 EMOM

  • 5 Deadlifts (255# – use 70% of 3RM)
  • 7 V-ups

Holy shit did that 255# get heavy. It was hard to get the first rep going in the last 4 or 5 rounds. Powered through the v-ups without much trouble, but took my time on them in the final minute.

255lb-deadlifts

Finisher

30-20-10

  • Box Jumps (24″)
  • HR Push-ups

Didn’t take more than a minute or two of rest after the WOD and “jumped” right into this. Started out without rebounding, but then saw Cora rebounding so I had to step it up. Couldn’t let her beat me in my strength, especially since she probably has the upper hand in the push-ups.

Sixth Double Day

Today is the 6th day in a row where I’ve done two workouts. I’m actually feeling good though and have been smart about them for the most part.

Went to OLY class at 6pm and worked on the clean and jerk by doing singles of:

  • Clean Deadlift
  • Hang Clean
  • Jerk

I worked my way up in weight doing at least 2 or 3 before increasing the load. After one at 195# I stopped doing the jerks because they were starting to bother my shoulders. I got up to a 205# for a couple of singles and stopped there. Have never done hang cleans even close to that heavy, but they felt good and really forced me to work on getting under the bar quick to receive it in the squat.

Stayed right after for the 7pm class.

Warm-up

10->1

  • Russian KBS (40# KB)
  • Star Jumps

Strength

5×5 Deficit Deadlifts off 8 foam mats, which is about 3″

  • 5 @ 225#
  • 5 @ 275#
  • 5 @ 305#
  • 5 @ 325#
  • 5 @ 345#

Felt kind of heavy today, but that’s 20 pounds heavier than a 5×3 a couple of months ago, so I guess that feeling should be expected!

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 3:00 AMRAP
    • 3 Power Cleans (115#)
    • 6 Chest to Deck Push-ups
    • 9 Air Squats
  • 1m Rest

I finished 21 rounds + the 3 cleans, 6 push-ups, and 3 of the air squats. I’ll take it after doing an hour of clean and jerks just before. Glad I didn’t try to Rx this at 135# because it would have been bad. Using 115# allowed me to focus on keeping a good back position and cycling the reps without dropping the bar after each rep. The push-ups weren’t a problem, but my squats were kind of slow after the first couple of rounds.

Road Work Circuit

I’m feeling pretty good after yesterday’s WOD and then the explosive training we did at night. Little sore in a lot of places, but nothing bad. Went to the 11am today and 14 of us were there to get our sweat on.

Warm-up

Matt called this a road work circuit, with the goal being to keep your heart rate in the 130-150 range, but work hard enough to get a sweat on.

5 Rounds

  • 1m Russian KBS (40# KB)
  • 1m Lateral Step Overs (12″ box)
  • 1m Air Squats
  • 1m Jump Rope
  • 1m Jingle Jangles
  • 1m Rest

It was kind of hard not to push the pace, but at the same time nice to work at a steady pace. I started out a little slow and my heart rate was less than 130, so I stepped it up a bit and each round it went up progressively, while still staying below the high-end of the range. Solid long “warm-up” that would be harder than most fitness classes out there.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

  • 12 Box Jumps (32″)
  • 6 Thrusters (75#)
  • 6 Burpees

This is actually based off the hero WOD “Rahoi” but due to space and box availability we had to switch it up. We don’t have the room for bar-facing burpees so we just did normal ones and our supply of 24″ boxes ran out quick so I went with the 32″ box. Since my box was so high, I scaled the thruster weight down from 95# to try to even it out a bit. You can’t really even out those box jumps though. The level of concentration and effort needed to keep jumping on that box is so much more than a 24″. The jump down off the box is really taxing too. Thrusters were probably too easy at 75# so it’s time to start stepping up my game on those. I was able to do 5 complete rounds plus 12 box jumps, 6 thrusters, and 3 of the burpees for a 5 + 21 score.

Cleaning Up

Feeling good today after getting a good night’s sleep in my own bed. Went in at 10am for another Kevin WOD.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Lateral Hops

Olympic Lifting

Find 1RM Clean & Jerk

  • 2 @ 135#
  • 165#
  • 185#
  • 205#
  • 225# (missed the jerk)

Felt pretty good so I went for it on my last attempt. After catching the clean I sat in the bottom of the squat for at least a second or two and felt like I nearly choked myself. I powered through the squat, which is only 10# below my last 1RM in the front squat. Set myself up for the jerk, but the clean took a lot out of me. I’ve only done 205# once in the jerk and never even attempted 225#, so confidence probably played a bit into the miss too. Next time! That was another 10# PR in the clean over the 215# that I just hit last weekend.

OLY WOD

10:00 EMOTM

  • Power Clean
  • Hang Power Clean & Jerk
  • 20 Lateral Bar Hops

After finding the 1RM we used 70% of that so I went with 155# on the bar. Tried to concentrate on keeping my shoulders back and using good form in all of the cleans.

Plate Shuttle

2 Rounds

  • 25# – 35# – 45#
    • 50y Weighted Run with a plate
    • 50y Sprint back
  • 45# – 35# – 25#
    • 50y Sprint
    • 50y Weighted Run bringing the plate back

It was only 35 degrees outside, but it didn’t take long to warm up and not even think about cold.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

  • 10 MB Sit-ups (20# MB)
  • 10 MB Cleans (20# MB)
  • 10 Russian KBS (44# KB)

I did 7 rounds plus the 10 sit-ups and 9 of the cleans.

Really good WOD today with a lot of different work packed into the hour.

Thanksgiving Sissy Test

I’m up at my parents for a few days so figured it would be a good time to do the Sissy Test. I missed out on it at Survival Fitness a couple of weeks ago. The only time I’ve done it was back in April, when I used a 55# KB and finished in 41:38.

“Sissy Test”

  • 25 -> 1 Burpees
  • 1 -> 25 Russian KBS (53# KB)

For clarification, you do 25 burpees and 1 KBS swing, then 24 and 2, and so on down until 1 and 25.

I made a ghetto KB using my 50 pounder, some duck tape, and a 2.5# plate. It worked for the most part. I finished in 38:16, which is an improvement of 3:22. Could have even been better, but the handle on my KB got so slick towards the end and I had to keep putting it down to wipe the sweat off my hands otherwise it would have went flying.

Bring on the Thanksgiving feast!

Update

Around 11pm I was bored and everyone was in bed. Death by Chest to Deck Push-ups sounded like a good idea. I got through the 18th minute and 16 reps of the 19th for a total of 187 reps. Not bad after doing 325 burpees earlier today. The only other time I did push-ups was last December when I completed 14 + 12 but was not getting my chest to the ground and had to resort to kneelers.

Kevin’s First Class

Went out to the Michigan Tap Room at Stardust last night with some of the Survival Fitness crew. Not feeling the greatest today because of the beer, but I hoped a workout would fix that. Kevin was doing the programming and teaching, so wanted to support him as well. Went in for the 11am.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 50 Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • 40 Bicycles
  • 30s Plank
  • 20 AbMat Sit-ups
  • 10 Inch Worms

Took between 14 and 15 minutes for me to finish this off. Good work for the midline.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 1m Russian KBS (53#)
  • 1m Over the Shoulder Sandbags
  • 1m Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 1m Thrusters (75#)
  • 1m Jingle Jangles
  • 1m Rest

This was a good Fight Gone Bad style WOD. My rep counts for each round were 107, 111, and 107 for a 325 total. Staying consistent is a key in a WOD like this. The bulk of my reps came in the KBS and jingle jangles, with thrusters definitely having the lowest counts.

Finisher

Death by Pull-ups (by 2s)

I finished the round of 16 and then got 17 of 18. Total of 89 pull-ups. Last time doing a “death by” for pull-ups was back in May by 3s and I got through the round of 15, which was a total of 45, so that’s quite an improvement. Really happy with how far my pull-ups have come.

More Grace

Still unbelievably sore from Monday’s WOD, but I don’t think I’m anymore sore than yesterday. Went in for the 5:30pm and did an alternate WOD since the people who didn’t make it Monday were doing 30 reps of the Bear Complex.

Warm-up

30-20

  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • PVC OHS

Strength

5×5 Shoulder Press

  • 8 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 75#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 105#
  • 5 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 130#

Everything felt good and 130# was pretty easy. It would have been nice to know in advance what we were doing because I would have looked up what I did last time and known to go heavier.

WOD

  • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
    • Russian KBS (53#)
    • Floor Presses (40# DBs)
  • “Grace”: 30 Clean & Jerks (115#)

Since I know I’ll be working on the clean and jerks tomorrow in OLY class I went a little easy on myself with 115#. Had also just done “Grace” with 125# on Saturday, so this seemed like an odd choice to put in the WOD. I probably should have went Rx with 45# DBs for the floor presses because I flew through them with the 40s. Finished everything in 9:42.

Finisher

100 Quarter Get-ups (40# KB)

Most of the challenge for me with quarter get-ups is in keeping a stable shoulder as I get up to 10 in a row with one arm. Towards the end of the 100 it did get tougher to actually get up off the ground though.

After class I jumped on the rings and did a kipping muscle-up for the first time since my very first one back in July. This one was actually pretty fluid and I didn’t have to reposition my wrists and arms.