Light Day, a Little Heavier

Yesterday, Variety Day:

Windmills, singles to triples, 16 to 24 kg

Bent Presses, singles, 16 to 24 kg

Walk 2 miles


Today, ETK ROP Light Day

Planned: 5 x (1-2) w/ 24 kg press and 24 kg on foot for PU

Actual:

1 x (28 mil press x 1, 28 PU x 1L, 24 mil press x 2, 28 PU x 2 R)
1 x (1-2 w/ 28 for everything, again double using R)

9 total reps left to go, decided to:

1 x (24 mil press x 4, PU @ (2 x 16) x 4 - nice, bw + 32 kg x 4, probably a PR

1 x (2-3) w/ 24 kg for everything

Notes:

3 presses were @ 28 kg.
4 PU were @ 32 kg as 2 x 16.
6 PU were @ 28 kg.

Total sets were 7 instead instead of 10, average reps/set was 2 instead of 1.5, 10% of the reps were w/ a heavier weight including one double.

Feel very fresh at the end - that's good because light day will be double in volume in two more weeks as 5 x (1-2) moves to 5 x (1-2-3)

24: swing, 5L+5R x 3, no breaks, 30 reps, on schedule for me as I aim towards 100 swings on heavy day and 50 on light day by the end of this ROP cycle

Onward and Upward, Comrades!

ETK Heavy Day: 4 to 4, 1 to 3, Another 2-Hour+ Workout

Yesterday, Friday, off altogether

Today, Saturday:

Warmup:

BP 95 x 7 - my son has started lifting again, this was on the bar, felt like an OK warmup. Interesting that left shoulder hurt a little for first 2 reps but found a groove and the rest felt fine.

Getup: 24 kg x 3 alternating singles to elbow or hand - left down still worse but gap is slowly closing

ETK ROP Heavy Day:

(1-2-3-4) x 4

(1-2-3) x 1

Finished with 24 kg swings - (4L+4R) x 5 no breaks

Notes: I didn't actually do ladder #2 as written above. Everyone in the room was - at my suggestion - working on their long-neglected bottoms-up clean and press, so I decided to start ladder #2 with a 24 kg single, which in retrospect wasn't such a great idea. Both sides behaved the same - first clean failed, second clean worked and I was able to continue into and complete the press - but the presses were _slow_ and CNS fatiguing, not really what I wanted to do near the beginning of a Heavy Day.

I elected to skip the rungs of 2 and 3 in this ladder - I did the rung of 4 and decided that I'd done just as much work in most senses.

The other ladders were completed as planned.

Again, the workout took over two hours to complete - again, strength without bulk requires patience.

Next weekend, all ladders to 4, and then the real fun begins the week after.

Onward and Upward/

Medium Day w/ a Twist, and a Run

Two interesting training days detailed below:

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - ETK ROP Medium Day

I was a little short on time and also feeling the need for a change of pace, so I did normal sets instead of ladders

Planned: (1-2-3) x 5 = 30 reps in 15 sets

Actual: 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 3 = 23 reps in 6 sets

To my mind, the workout still did what Medium Day was supposed to do, supply a moderate amount of moderately taxing volume without leaving me feeling totally spent.

I had an epiphany of sorts - bringing my feet closer together than usual results in better press form for me. It's too easy to turn a "strict" military press into a hip-kick through the sticking point, effectively borrowing from the side press. More to follow on this subject, I'm certain.


Thursday, February 23, 2012 - Snatches and Run

I'm going to be running with my son this summer but, at age 56 and nearly 57, I need a head start on him. So today, I ran a little outside. (Unfortunately, he followed my lead and also ran .)

Before I ran, I decided to try some 16 kg kettlebell snatches - no warmup of any sort, just mid-afternoon, pick up the bell, and have at it. The loose plan was 20-15-10-5 for a total of 100 reps if that felt good.

I did the 20L+20R+15L+15R, 70 reps total, in just under 3 minutes and stopped there. My breathing was still easy - it was both in and out through my nose to start, and still in through my nose at the end although exhaled through my mouth. I'm going to do something like this at least once a week, keep swinging a 24 or heavier for gradually increasing volume between those times, and hope to hit 100 x 16 kg snatches in short order, after which I will move to the 18 kg and then the 20.

Back to running - I covered, I'm guessing, all of 1/4 mile, just once around a block here, and ran perhaps 1/2 or 3/4 of it.

It's important to know your natural tendencies - I am running well when I'm running fast, and whenever I get back into running, I know the right thing for me is to feel like I just want to run faster and faster - faster is easier for me. Gradually, the ability to maintain good form and keep it up for a longer time will come back to me but, for now, it's basically free-flowing at what's clearly a faster pace than a jog.

Later, grab a 24 kg and front squat - 5L, 5R, just for fun and because I haven't done any 1-kb front squats in a while.

Light Day - In a Hurry

Monday was ETK Light Day but I was short on time - my wife was off and we had a planned day trip to PA to visit her parents. Here's how I executed my 5 x (1-2) plus swings:

0:00 - 1 press left, 1 press right, 1 pullup, took :30
1:00 - 2 presses left, 2 presses right, 2 pullups, took 1:00

3:00 - rung of 1
4:00 - rung of 2

6:00 - rung of 1
7:00 - rung of 2

9:00 - rung of 1
10:00 - rung of 2

12:00 - rung of 1
13:00 - rung of 2

This way, quite the opposite of my most recent Heavy Day, which took 2-1/2 hours, I was able to complete all the presses and pullups in 14 minutes.

I took a 5 minute rest, and did several sets of swings, 4 per arm, and didn't put the bell down until I hit about 25 reps total, which took about a minute, and then I was done for the day.

After going on about the benefits for strength without hypertrophy of taking a long time between rungs and ladders, today I did the opposite. The schedule above represents about equal amounts of time for work and rest. Life intervenes sometimes; I wanted the workout, so I did it more quickly than usual. Left to my own devices, I would have probably done the rungs of 1 and 2 together then taken 5-10 minutes between ladders.

Onward and Upward!

Strength Without Bulk Requires Patience

If you wish to work on your strength without gaining muscle size, you need to be patient in your workout, taking full recovery as often as needed. Case in point:

Today's ETK Heavy Day presses took two hours and thirty minutes to complete, just presses supersetted with pullups as the book says:

(1-2-3-4) x 3

(1-2-3) x 2

Complete recovery before every rung of every ladder, which meant walking out of the room before every rung of more than 2 reps, and at least 10 minutes between ladders.

Video of Final Set, Click Here

Notes:

24 kg for all presses.

24 kg for most pullups but some singles and doubles w/ 28 kg to keep heavy day what it's supposed to be, heavy.

Pullup pause at top and throat height (what you'll see if you watch the video) are good training practice for anyone prepping for the RKC-II.

Even though I missed the last two heavy days due to schedule and illness, I was able to continue with the plan and get a third ladder to 4 today.

At the end, a few 24 kg swings.

Onward and Upward!

Medium Day w/ a Bit of Variety

My first lifting in a week, went pretty well, all things considered.

Wednesday: ETK Medium, 24 kg for presses, 24 kg on foot for pullups except as noted:

5 x (1-2-3)

Notes:

After first ladder, did a single 1-leg DL w/ 24 kg each side
After second ladder, did a single 2 x 24 kg front squat
After fourth ladder, did two 2 x 24 kg front squats

For final rung of 3, tried 28 kg for pullups on right foot but lost the bell after only 1 rep. Put the bell on the other foot, which seems to dorsiflex stronger, and did 2 more reps.

Played with extended t-spine and/or externally rotating shoulders at bottom - doing both felt really powerful.

Still deciding if a 1" or 2" higher box to stand on might work better - getting the right height to start weighted pullups helps.


Variety Thursday: Walked 2 miles plus some light stretching.

Variety Friday: Crane Frolic Qigong including 3 bw-only crane pistols each side, several alternating getups singles w/ 18 kg, and a short walk

Not Training When Sick

My last post was six days ago because that's the last time I did any real lifting.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my wife and I are heavily involved in a big volunteer project in our town at this time of year. Add to that the fact that we both got sick and you'll understand why I haven't lifted. I had a fever over the weekend and had to play 4 shows plus teach a few private lessons - besides those obligations, I did nothing else except rest and try to get better.

It's very, very important to know when to back off on your training - whatever you lose in the short term, you gain in the long term because you've made sure your training will continue after only a brief interruption. The alternative of pushing through with planned training often results in a longer layoff because the illness doesn't get dealt with in a timely manner, and all sorts of other problems often arise, e.g., you lift something heavy with poor form - poor because you're not feeling well - and you get hurt.

I missed a planned Heavy Day last Saturday, and a planned light day on Monday because, even though most of my symptoms were gone and I could have lifted, I elected not to - I still felt quite tired and that was reason enough to skip the planned lifting session for me.

Yesterday, I did some light stretching and a few one-legged deadlifts with a 28 kg bell. Today, I hope to have a more or less normal Medium Day, and I will take the upcoming Heavy Day this weekend by feel - if I can move forward, I will, if I need to repeat my most recent Heavy Day or go backwards, then that's what I'll do.

Onward and Upward!