Fun With Iron

16 kg snatch-Overhead Squat-snatch: 3R, 3L; 3R, 3L

32 kg overspeed two handed swings

2 Sets, 8 Reps, Double 32 kg swings

24 kg snatches:12L, 12R

24 kg snatches:8L, 8R

24 kg snatches:8L, 8R

Double 32kg Clean & Push Press (That's 96% of bodyweight, why is it so much harder than a handstand pushup?)

Double 32kg Clean & Front Squat

Double 32kg Clean & Push Press & short walk locked out overhead

Double 32kg Clean & Push Press 

Note: the 24kg Snatches and Double 32 kg work was interleaved

The Vodka is Good, But the Meat is Rotten

No the title is not another Pavel quote, a humorous but undocumented "machine translation" from English to Russian, back to English of:

  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak - Paul of Tarsus

Preamble

The morning didn't start well. There was an overly agressive squrriel that kept coming onto the lawn while I was warming up. When I threw small rocks at it, it just chased them and tried to eat them. When I shoo'ed it away with a broom it just came back. It was probably a human spoiled creature, but I didn't know if it had rabies or plague. I certainly didn't want it climbing my leg and searching for nuts during my snatch MVO2.

Finally I got my dog Coco, and tied her leash to a post near the corner of the lawn where the squirrel kept comming. That worked!

I asked my daughters later, and apparently a neighbor girl had been feeding the squirrel.

MVO2

10 sets into the 20:20 MVO2 I was warmed up, byset 20 I was wondering if I was going to make it to the planned 34 sets. My heart rate was 173 bpm which is 99% of heart rate by age, but bellow my max measured 187. It was a slog, but I knew I could get through it.

On the 23rd set of 11 reps 20:20 MVO2 I tore the skin on my left middle finger. I think I grip the bell too tight with the left hand. I've had four tears on the left hand and none on the right! The tear is very small and I expect it to close up by tonight. I finnished the 24th set since it was with my good hand.

MVO2 20:20 for 30 Initial Target Reached

MVO2* Day

Sticking with 11 reps at 20:20, reached the my initial target of 30 sets!

Near set 20, I noticed I was not firing at Maximal Volitional Contraction (MVC). I used Nikki's Pavelization technique and sharpened up my form quickly.

The skin on my hands held up pretty good. I didn't have to worry about it so I was able to notice other things like my form slipping. The last 10 sets of the 20:20 I really worked up a sweat. Just after set 29 I checked the heart rate monitor, and I reached 187!

*using Kenneth Jay's MVO2 nomenclature, as opposed to the Wikipedia VO2 Max name

epiblog - (fixed typos) 5 hrs later, I still feel the metabolic impact of todays practice.

Heavy Thursday

He ain't heavy, he's my brother, 

2Handed Swings 32 kg; 20 reps - emphasized pulling shoulders down, not bending knees until elbows hit body, loading hips, and accelerated backswing.

Swing Switches 32 kg; 20 reps - I realized I haven't been doing many single handed swings. It was good to work on torsional stability.

Double Kettlebell swings 2 32 kg; 4 sets; 10 reps

Bear Crawls 32 kgs; 15 meters

Hang Cleans 32 k2; 3 R, 3 L-  These are almost as hard as double 32 kgs

Overhead Walk 32 kg; 40 ft R; 30 ft L

In a hurry this morning but my blood pressure was still lower than last week.

120/76 mm*Hg

Day Off PR!

Wow, PR on my day off.

I've had Pre-Hypertension all my adult life. When I was in my early 20's I rode my bicycle 20 miles each weekday and 40-50 miles on the weekend. I still had blood pressure just short of hypertension.

Using the VO2Max protocol, and hitting 183 bpm or 103% of heart rate for my age, I must have blasted open some blockage out of my arteries.

Before I started preparing for the RKC I was 136/91.

After the RKC I was 126/87.

This morning I measured 115/74 this is the lowest I ever remember having. 

It was just one reading, two more in a row and it is officially GOOD!

Hindsight is 20:20

I came away from my last tear pretty lucky. The tear sealed by the end of the day; all I have is a blood callus. Following Rif's golden Rule Don't Tear, I stopped when my callus separated from the flesh bellow. This separation is what precedes a tear by a few snatches.

I found matching heart rate monitor pieces and monitored my heart rate during VO2Max 20:20 (non standard) protocol. It took a few sets to get my heart rate up, but by the end I was at 182 bpm. I got 26 sets in (13 L, 13 R) of 11 reps for 286 snatches.

I am pretty sure I can meet make initial target of 20:20 for 20 minutes (30 sets) once my skin is up to it. But for now I'm stopping when I get a hot spot or similar serious warning. Once I get 20:20 for 32 minutes (48 sets) I plan on bumping up to 12 reps. 13 1/3 reps is the same cadence and 10 reps in the 15:15.

Once I get to 13 reps for 32 minutes of 20:20 or once I move up to GTG presses with the 28kg,
I plan to recalibrate with the 24kg and drop back down to the 15:15. If I hit 13 reps for 32 minutes of 20:20 before I am ready to jump to the 24 kg, I will go to the 30:30 (non standard) protocol.

Heavy Labor Day

Today is Heavy Day and Labor Day.
The girls want to do kettlebells with daddy. They did Deadlifts, squats. Elizabeth (8 yrs 42 Lbs) did swings with the 10 Lbs bell.

Me:
2 Sets 10 reps Two Handed Swings - 32 kg
3 Sets 10 reps Double KB Swings - (32 kg + 32 kg)
1 Double KB Clean (32 kg + 32 kg)
3 Sets 1 Rep Clean, Press, lock-out, standing arm bar - 32 kg (strict press on right, push press on left)

1 strict press left - 28 kg
3 strict press right - 28 kg

3 snatches right - 28 kg
1 snatch left - 28 kg