I took a workout from the AOS/ETK download I just purchased and then added in some more at the end for good measure. I have to catch a flight in a couple of hours so a quick “smoker” was in order. I’ll read the rest of the workbook on the plane and review it here later. 

Kettlebell Swings, 20 kg x 20 

Jumping Jacks, 60 

Kettlebell Swings, x 20 

Push-ups, 60 

Kettlebell Swings, x 20 

Jumping Jacks, x 60 

Kettlebell Swings, x 20 

Push-ups, x 60 

Kettlebell Swings, x 20 

Jog 1 minute

*5 minute rest* 

High Pulls + Snatch, 14/14

Snatches, 20 kg, 10/20/20/20/10  

 No, not me!
Here is something I doubt I will be doing any time soon, but here is a lifter, and not very big at that, jerking a 200 lb kettlebell for 7 reps. Impressive lift!

Hat Tip to Scott at straighttothebar.com

I did a Crossfit WOD tonight which covered three types of overhead presses, the military press, the push press and the push jerk, which I have trouble with on the lock-out at the top.

This was a relatively slow-paced and enjoyable session of overhead lifting.

Overhead Press, singles: 135/145/155/160/165/170.

Push Press, x 3: 95/135/155/165/170.

Push Jerk, x 5: 95/115/135/145/145.

Clearly, I need a lot of technique work on the push jerk if I am going to get those numbers up.

Technorati Tags:Overhead Press, Push Press, Push Jerk

To be able to train day in and day out, whenever we want is something we just should not take for granted. Rick Hoyt has never been able to do that on his own until he asked his father in 1972, through the help of a specially designed interactive computer, to take him on a 5 mile benefit run. You see, Rick cannot talk or walk, let alone run, but to date, Rick and his father, Dick have done 958 running, cycling and swimming events together as Team Hoyt. Read the amazing history of Team Hoyt.

Hat tip to my friend, Skip Hathaway and to Kim Komando.

The clean and the snatch are both powerful and explosive lifts when done correctly and the speed and power translates into many sports.

The other night, I did hang power cleans and did not do very well as I was lacking in both speed and power. I wasn’t sure how “athletic” my snatches would be tonight. If to snatch, as the dictionary defines it, “a sudden motion to seize something; grab” or merely just a slow”grope”!

I started off with 3 rounds of Burgener’s famous warm-up and started light (and stayed light) with Drop Snatches. My goal tonight was to “explode” the lift and do it as quickly as possible. So, for the drop snatches I dropped 45/45/55/65/75/85/90, 3 reps each.

Those went well, so it was time to move on to Hang Squat Snatches. It was quiet at the gym and so it was was easy to concentrate on good lifts. (I could use some coaching, though).

45/55/60/65/70/75/85/90. Each set was 3 reps. 

They went up ok, not heavy and not pretty either, but it was fun to practice both these fine lifts. 

A number of people at my gym have been buying kettlebells lately and have asked me how to do some basic movements to get started. I suggest buying some training from an RKC instructor like Steve Belanger, as I did or get some video training or buy Pavel’s “Enter the Kettlebell” book and/or dvd.
The starting point should be the two-handed swing, seen here.

 
Once you get good at that, here are some other things you can add to your kettlebell routines.

Put together on the fly was how today’s session played out. I deployed the 20 kg kettlebell and the Elite rings for 3 pairs of exercises and 3 sets of each exercise.

I needed to move away from heavy lifting for a little while and this workout was more about muscular endurance.

Ring Push-Ups: 25/25/25  KB Figure 8’s: 25/25/25

Ring Dips: 8/8/8 (last set done on bars)  KB Swings, H2H: 30/30/30

Ring Body Pulls: 10/10/10/10  Two Hand Anyhow: 20/20/20

I finished with 20 snatches.

High heart rate throughout and I finished with a solid session.

This one was a “4″. After 5 consecutive days of fairly intensive training, my one day off yesterday was not enough rest to recover and reload.

I came to the gym all geeked up to do well in Hang Squat Cleans, but today wasn’t the day. All the weights felt heavy on this day, so I backed off as soon as I hit the wall and finished with manageable, (read, lighter) weights.

I warmed up with 3 Burgener rounds and some light hang squat cleans and overhead squats.

I did 7 x 3 of the HSC and as modest as it was, it looked liked this:

95/115/125/135/145f/115/125.

 Once, while in the third round of a “Fight Gone Bad“, as I was doing wall ball shots, Valerie and Denise were each shouting encouragement to me-in stereo, one on the left and the other on the right. I yelled at them both, in an impolite manner, (is there any other kind?) to get away from me.

Another time, with the bar loaded for a maximum squat in the rack, some ‘roided out bodybuilder stands in front of me at one o’clock and strips down to his posing trunks and curses out his girlfriend to get the camera out and start shooting. Totally oblivious. How could anyone make a heavy lift with that kind of action in front of them?

With a potential new PR loaded on the bar for front squats, my pal Mike is standing in front of me at eleven 0′clock just stretching. While that was only mildly distracting, it wasn’t until I began the lift he started coaching me. For the first time, I dumped a front squat. It had to happen sometime.

For me, while lifting, coaching best serves me before or after the lift. Two women shouting encouragement in my ear works best when I can’t see them or better yet not at all. And bodybuilders stripping down to their Speedos isn’t ever going to add much to focus.

All that said, it makes me wonder, how much more I could lift, if I were able to completely tune out the distractions and focus on the accomplishing the task at hand; not just in the gym, but in life. I am certain Bret Favre is unflinching in the face of an onslaught of pass rushers. When he is not, bad things happen.

It is one thing to pile more plates on the bar to chase PR’s or to improve your technique, but the ability to focus like a laser should not be lost in the skill set. It is an area I need to improve on.

For my next challenge, I will attempt a record deadlift, with hot, fit, cheerleaders standing in front of me urging me on. Stay tuned.

On the lift after the failed front squat, I did get the PR of 255#, although it wasn’t pretty.

Here is the rest, all singles: 135/185/205/225/235/245/255f/255pr/225/225.

Another quiet night at the gym, but that was fine and ideal for tonight’s fun. A few days ago I did DE (dynamic effort) squats and now it was time for DE Deadlifts.

The object here is speed and power off the floor at 60-70% of my 1RM. I gave myself 30-45 seconds between each set of 2 lifts.

60%-261# x 4

65%-281# x 4

70%-310# x 4

330# x2