Press/Windmill Complex again, swings, ZSQ

I'm liking this one.

24 kg: clean, press, windmill, lower rack, press again for a total of 3 presses and 3 windmills, long pause at lockout on final rep of set, did 3L/R - 3rd rep was already hard.

24: about 20 swings as 2T, 2L, 2T, 2R, and kept that rotation going

ZSQ: singles @ 155, 175, 195

Enough for today, production week begins tomorrow and runs 8 straight days of rehearsals and then performances.

Onward and Upward

A bit more lifitng - press, windmill, ZSQ

Freezing outside so no walking.  A long day once lifting is done so not trying to push things too hard.

Stretching - floor work including rocking, cossack sequence, finish with 10 kg getups, 2 alternating singles each side.

24 kg: mil press w/ windmill at top x 1L/R, 1L/R

32: mil press, fail L/R but a good effort.  Haven't been pressing, was fun to fight with it for a few seconds on each side, actually got farther on the left side.

24 kg press/windmill but 2 each side - that second press was noticeably tougher on both sides.  Sequence was clean, press, windmill, pull down to rack, press, windmill, hold overhead for time, pull down to rack.

ZSQ: 165 x 2, 175 (PR) x 3

Onward and Upward

First lifting in almost a week

Very little lifting of late.  Last Thursday and Friday I have 4 performances of a show to play at my wife's school, Saturday and Sunday found me at all-day rehearsals for Jamboree, and now it's Monday.

I did manage several pistols on Saturday during the rehearsal, and also one "loaded carry" - some of the dancers on the stage were men with women sitting on their shoulders, so my wife and I did this during a break in the action.

Yesterday, Monday, the first above-freezing day in a while, walked 2 miles to Whole Foods and back.

24 kg: mil press, 1L/R - aah!

24 kg: mil press + windmill L/R - more aah.  Decided to look at the bell at the top on both sides - good for the right side of my neck.

24 kg, swing x 20 mixing L/R/T

Maybe more later, maybe not

Onward and Upward

No Time? Zercher

1 set of 3 Zercher Squats with 165 lbs., my most to date.  All release on the knees.

Windmill Chain

Saturday - work on music, 7 hour rehearsal, nap, dinner, more work on music, all for Ridgewood Jamboree

Sunday - walk, work on music

Monday, today, work on music from 8 AM to 1:30 PM, then

PU: 1 nice, slow L-sit pullup.  Started in dead hang, did ~2-second leg raise, then a slow controlled, pullup, pause at top, then a slow lowering back to L-sit, then a slow leg lowering.  A pretty good way to spend less than 10 seconds and get some quality exercise in.

24 kg: 1 clean, 2 presses, 4 windmills L/R, pause in bottom position of final windmill looking for stretch in hamstrings

16 kg: swing, 10L/R, break - really explosive, and I am plenty tired from just this much.  Repeat after a 5 min rest.

Onward and Upward

More Windmills

A full day before, and more teaching after, but short and sweet:

OHS - 5' bar, 3 reps -better

24: windmill x 2L/R

32: windmill x 1L/R, x 2L/R - first rep left me wanting another

Short walk

Onward and Upward

32 kg C&J&W (Clean, Jerk, Windmill)

OHS w/ 5' barbell - tough, not very good, maybe 1 solid rep out of 3 tries

Windmill: 16 kg x 2L/R, 24 kg x 1,

32 kg - singles to get C&J practice - 1L/R, 1L/R

2 x 32 kg 1-arm jerks is twice as many as of late, so we'll stop there for today and hope to increase as we move forward

16: bent press, 2L/R, 3L/R - focus is on pushing into bearing hip early and not giving up on it

20: bent press, 1L/R - left side still iffy, but I think this is working on some muscle(s) I've never had.  I noticed the other day but didn't note it in the log that, all of a sudden, I can do a left-handed bar hand without rotating all over the place.

20 kg: goblet squat curls - my arms are too long or my squat too deep or my elbows too low but the bell hits the floor before my elbows are completely straight.

Onward and Upward

Windmill 32 kg x 3, ZSQ 135 x 5

What a day - my 17-year-old was sitting, with the driving tester, at the DMV, waiting to begin his road test, and the car was sideswiped by a tractor trailer.  Never a dull moment.

Windmill: 16 kg x 3L/R, 24 kg x 3L/R, 32 kg x 3L/R - jerk on left side is weak, need to do more 32 kg jerks and more windmills with this weight, which was good enough but still a little shaky.  Ned to flex left wrist a little more, was almost bent back.

BP: 16 kg: 2L/R - that's all that felt good

ZSQ: 135 x 5

Onward and Upward

A few windmills and light bent presses

A very busy weekend with tons of rehearsals, relatives from out of the country, meals out, and very busy, but very good time had by all.

Did a bit of lifting, which I didn't record, on Friday

Sunday - windmills: bw, 16 kg, 24 kg, and that was all the time I had

Today, Monday, zero time again - youngest son home sick, a gazillion errands, emails, scheduling things.

Windmills: 16kg x 3L/R, 24 kg x 3L/R

16: bent press, 5L/R - form improving, though - good!

Onward and Upward

Zercher from 4" boxes, Swings

Short on time

32: swing- 10's on the minute

2H x 10, then

3 x (2H x 2, L x 2, 2H x 2, R x 2, 2H x 2)

Total 40 reps in 3:15

Zercher: 135 lb x 5 but starting from 4" boxes off the floor, no DL first.

Onward and Upward

Windmill, Bent Press, Zercher, Snatch

Cossack Sequence

Windmill: 2L/2R x bw, 16, 24, 32 kg

Bent Press: 16 kg x 5, 5, 20 kg x 3

Zercher: 155 x 3,

18: snatch, 20L/R + 13L/R in 3:12, 66 total reps.  8 days ago is was the same set/rep scheme in 4:40 - today was snatch test pacing, felt good during, all nose breathing on the way in, first part nose breathing in both directions, all reps hard style breathing, but gasping for air when I put the bell down.

Onward and Upward.

Windmills to 32 kg, volume 16 kb bent presses for form

Monday - busy day, no time for anything but house cleaning, cooking, rehearsals, and teaching.

Tuesday (today)

Wiindmill:

bw x L/R

16 kg x L/R w/ a jerk up

24 kg x L/R w/ a press up

32 kg x 2L/2R w/ a jerk up - a little odd to have 32 kg overhead for the first time in probably a year or more, but other than a very small wobble on the left side, it was good.

Notes - I like moving into the windmill fairly quickly after the jerk or press - helps me stay tighter.

Bent Press:

16 kg kettlebell: just a few alternating sides every 1-3 reps, trying to feel the groove of the movement.  I think I need to stay with this weight for a long time now, until my shoulders in particular get well used to it - the weight isn't heavy but it's somehow doing something in my shoulders that feels weak and unfamiliar.

More of the same: 16 kg x 5L, 5R,

Repeat 5L, 5R - left side still wobbly, still figuring out how rotation of the body forward and inward effects the internal/external rotation of the arm in the shoulder.

Onward and Upward

Zercher

Zercher Squat: For each rep, a quasi-dead start by releasing the tension and letting the bar rest on the thighs.

135 lb x 3

155 lb x 3

Onward and Upward

Variety - getups, barbell MP, Zercher

Saturday

Lots of floor stretching

10 kg getup to hand - R, L, R, L - best in some time, was able to do left arm down slower and without pain

Barbell MP: 12 reps w/ bar only - bothers my lower back, need to figure out how to get tighter glutes and abs for this

Repeat above - clench glutes tightly throughout entire set, extra tight just before launching each rep.  Viola, much less back pain at the end - still stiff - that's life with my back - but no specific pressure on bad disc this time.

Zercher - 135 lbs., from the floor, DL to legs, 3 reps, after each rep let the tension out partially and let bar rest on thighs, so each rep is a sort of bottoms-up Zercher without pretension from the previous negative.  135 lbs only, that's enough!

Onward and Upward

Windmill and Bent Press Complex Again, Snatch

Shovel snow.

16: clean, jerk, 2 windmills, 2 bent press - this Left, then Right

24: clean, jerk, 1 windmill, failed 1 bent press left, did the windmill but didn't try the bent press right

Conclusion - too long a break after warmups.

24: bent press, left right, 1 each side - better, maybe windmill first is too much w/ a moderate or heavy weight

28: windmill, lf, 1 each way, easy!

28: bent press - no go on both sides

28: bent press - took a different approach, just a "cheat press" with very little hip bend, and it went up on each side just fine.  Might even have been a legal military press according to some people.

Conclusion - my bent press technique is lousy, but it felt great to have 28 kg overhead because I haven't done that in a while, and it really wasn't hard.  I'm sure I still own a 28 kg military press if I choose to do it, and that's nice to know.

18: snatch, 20L/R + 13L/R in 4:40, 66 total reps - nice, slow pacing, keep working on better form.  Got straighter/taller body alignment on right side this time, got better lockout overall but right side still needs the most work, still rolling into lockout rather than punching up.

Onward and Upward

Kettlebell Windmills and Bent Presses, Swings

Yesterday, New Year's Day, a day off - was tired and sore, anyway.

Today:

bw pistol, 1L, 1R on the front porch.

16: windmill, 3L, 3R

A little complex to try to get into my hip more:

16: 2 MP, 2 Windmill, 2 Bent Press - that Left, repeat Right - still not happy with bent press start

20: 1 c&j, 1 windmill, 1 bent press - that Left, repeat Right - much better

24: as above - form wasn't as good on bent press

24: as above - solid this time, much better, was overthinking bent press

24: swings to finish today: 3 sets of the following, on the :60: 2T, 2L, 2T, 2R, 2T - left grip is the weak point of all these

Onward and Upward