HKC Run Away

Posted on August 17, 2012 by t00r

Apparently the 3 moves I do lately (Swings, TGUs and Goblet Squats) are the nuts and bolts of the HKC (Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge).
In my previous post I mentioned that I intended to add 400m sprints to the mix.
Well I did.
That Friday I did exactly as written in that post.

This Wednesday and today I did it the following way:

Took me about 35 minutes to complete. As you see by dividing the reps with sprints I am back at my original rep counts (100 A1H KB Swings, 10 TGUs and 50 Goblet Squats) with the added sprint distance of 1600 meters (1 mile) and I’m not counting the distance I walk in between (which is about 900 meters).

Feel the burn 🙂

Experimental Endurance

Posted on August 9, 2012 by t00r

I’m pretty happy with the RPT exercises I started doing lately. It takes around 20-25 minutes to complete depending on how good a day I am having.

Since I have made progress in gaining some strength, I decided it’s time to add some endurance enhancing routines.

First form of endurance training I will try to add will be running. 4 x 400 meters with about 90 seconds of rest in between.

I will cut back on my kettlebell reps and add the running as a finisher.

So tomorrow I will try this (not over strain myself):

Kettlebell Golden 3 Routine:
60 A1H KB Swings (24 with 32 kg – 36 with 24 kg)
6 TGUs (1L 32kg – 2L 24kg – 1R 32kg – 2R 24kg)
30 Goblet Squats (10 with 32 kg – 20 with 24kg)

Running Routine (Repeat 4 times):
90 second rest
400 m run as fast as possible (aiming for a time around 90 seconds or faster).

Quasi Reverse Pyramid Training with Kettlebells

Posted on July 25, 2012 by t00r

For the last two weeks I went for a single routine with a 24 kg Kettlebell:

100 Alternating One Handed Kettlebell Swings
10 Turkish Get-Ups (5 Left 5 Right)
50 Goblet Squats (Holding the KB right under my chin)

50 proper goblet squats with a 24 kg back to back is hard for me, so I take micro breaks (~15-30 seconds) in between the following sequence: 25-15-10-5

Well, you might ask where is the RPT (Reverse Pyramid Training) in that? A RPT usually involves the usage of different weights not just decreasing numbers of reps, right?

This week (so far), I did the above 40% with a 32 kg Kettlebell and 60% with a 24 kg Kettlebell:

40 A1H KB Swings 32 kg – 60 A1H KB Swings 24 kg
2 TGUs Left 32 kg – 3 TGUs Left 24 kg – 2 TGUs Right 32 kg – 3 TGUs Right 24 kg
20 Goblet Squats 32 kg (10 break 10) – 30 Goblet Squats 24 kg (15 break 10 break 5)

Feel the burn baby 🙂

One Step Down For The Better

Posted on June 8, 2012 by t00r

So 5 months ago, I got myself a 32 kg Kettlebell, thought I can handle it after successfully wielding a 32 kg dumbell in Turkish Get-ups.

Well, turned out that I am yet to develop the necessary grip strength to handle that thing in ballistic moves. Two handed swings are quite OK, one handed swings… not there yet, snatches… well these are the next step after one handed swings so not even close 🙂

Fun with Kettlebells Workout by TrainerSteve

Posted on May 18, 2012 by t00r

Got this workout from http://trainersteve.tumblr.com/

Did it with one 16kg Kettlebell, was wrong about what a figure 8 to stop and a hot potato drill was but nonetheless, I had fun 🙂

Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout with Mixed Weights

Posted on May 4, 2012 by t00r

Its been three months since my last post, no spectacular changes, only consistency and perseverance.

Not trying to downplay anything, being consistent and persevering is not a small deed. At least not for me anyway. It requires mental strength and discipline. Both very prone to reluctance, one of the major diseases of our age ruled by attention deficit disorder.

My grip was quite weak when I first started using the 32 kg kettlebell, this is still work in progress.

The Easy 30 Kettlebell Workout from www.liftkettlebells.com is a good mix of ballistic and strength moves with the Kettlebell with some bodyweight exercises thrown in to help balance the load and enhance recovery. Here is how I do it these days:

30s Jumping Jacks 
30s Body Squats 
60s 2H Swings 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s Front Squat L 16kg 
30s Front Squat R 16kg 
30s Rest 
60s Windmill L 32kg 5 reps only then rest
60s Windmill R 32kg 5 reps only then rest
30s 2H Swings Waist High 32kg 
30s 2H Swings Head High 32kg 
30s Swings L 16kg 
30s Swings R 16kg 
60s Rest 
30s Military Press L 16kg 
30s Military Press R 16kg 
30s Rest 
60s Jumping Jacks 
30s Pushups 
60s Rest 
60s 2H Swings 16kg 
30s 2H Swings Overhead 16kg 
60s Rest 
60s One Armed Rows 8 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s One Armed Rows 4 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
45s Pullovers 16kg 
30s Floor Press L 16kg 
30s Floor Press R 16kg 
30s Floor Press L 16kg 
30s Floor Press R 16kg 
30s Pullovers 16kg 
60s Rest 
60s One Armed Rows 8 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
30s One Armed Rows 4 on each side 32kg 
30s Rest 
60s Jumping Jacks 
60s Rest 
30s Snatch L 16kg 
30s Snatch R 16kg 
60s Snatch L 16kg 
60s Snatch R 16kg 
30s Snatch L 16kg 
30s Snatch R 16kg

Leangains…

Posted on January 27, 2012 by t00r

Sometimes following links in links from links in web sites you follow can bring you to interesting places. This was the case for me discovering a curious site called Leangains.

The site owner has adopted the Intermittent Fasting approach, put his own twist on it, after extensive trials done by himself and his clients and coupled it with some very basic but powerful weight training exercises.

The results speak for themselves but neither do I nor does the site owner Martin Berkhan want you to believe straight out that this works. You should put some effort reading and understanding the underlying concepts of his approach. If you are ready to spent loads of money and time into ‘magic pill solutions’ which usually do not work at advertised, you can at least take a fraction of that effort and READ this method which makes no magical promises and demands you to workout and eat SMART and most important of all PACE YOURSELF. 🙂

Although I still am not 100% convinced that his approach is cut for my circumstances, as I have Hashimoto’s, I still decided to give it a sensible shot. I changed my IF from Warrior Diet (20/4 hour fast/eat) to Leangains (16/8 hour fast/eat) since last week. I will incorporate the basic weight exercises in that system into my training days as well.

Easy 20 Kettlebell Workout with 32 kg

Posted on January 27, 2012 by t00r

So what was I up to since my last post?

I went back to basics, just as I said, doing the Easy 20 Kettlebell Workout with the 32 kg Kettlebell which is basically a stripped down version of the Easy 30. Just enough load to keep me out of breath nevertheless.

Still can’t do proper one handed swings and, obviously, snatches with the 32 so I try my best with the swings and switch to the 16 kg bell for the snatches, focusing on form and technique.

So Actually I Was Over-training Lately…

Posted on January 16, 2012 by t00r

How do I know? Well, I rested during the weekend, read this article about over-training and thought “Wait a minute…”

So today I was able to do a full set of 75 reps of two handed swings before my grip gave way after warming up with jumping jacks and squats.

And I was able to go for 10 inclined push-ups, 10 pistol squats and 10 TGUs (with 24 kg dumbbells but still) after that intense swing session.

Brought in the 16 kg KB to work more on my technique of several moves.

Definitely going to take tomorrow off, over-training is so painful and annoying, makes you feel weaker then you actually are 🙂

Plain Swinging

Posted on January 12, 2012 by t00r

Done 150 two handed kettlebell swings in 6 sets of 25 reps, calluses becoming back part of my appearance.

Added 10 inclined push-ups, 10 pull-ups (from the edge of a table) and 10 pistol squats. Lots of stretching and rest in between as I still kind of strain my lower back a bit, trying to get used to the much heavier weight.

I will try to increase the reps and decrease the sets, maybe 3 sets 0f 50 reps? I hope my hands and forearms do agree with this 🙂

resync

Category Archives: Workout