Tag Archives: alternating

HKC Run Away

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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:

With 32kg Kettlebell
20 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 10 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400 m sprint | 90 s walk
20 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 10 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400 m sprint | 90 s walk
With 24kg Kettlebell
30 A1H KB Sw | 2L-2R TGUs | 15 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400m sprint | 90 s walk
30 A1H KB Sw | 1L-1R TGUs | 15 Gob. Sqts. | 90 s walk | 400m sprint | 90 s walk

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

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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

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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 🙂

Time For Proper Pull-ups!

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I have suck at pull-ups for as long as I know myself. So what good are 32 kg Turkish Get-ups when you can hardly manage one full range proper pull-up or chin-up?

Therefore I decided to add 10 pull-ups to my daily Grease the Groove fun. A progressive approach makes sense, as it will help reducing or even preventing shoulder strain and tendinitis, injuries often experienced in the process of mastering pull-ups.

Todays GtG:

10 24 kg TGUs (did 32 kg yesterday so I lessened the load)

10 one leg assisted pull-ups

10 one legged slow push-ups

10 one legged squats (pistol squats)

32 kg Turkish Getups!

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Well after three weeks of GtG TGUs with 24 kg today was the day where I was finally able to do 10 repetitions of 32 kg TGUs back to back (3L-3R-2L-2R) 🙂

I am a bit sore as this a whole new dimension for my body but I am happy I made the step up there. I’ll keep working on this.

Today’s noon time workout:

10 32 kg TGUs

10 One legged squats (pistols) (5L-5R)

15 Slow pushups

5 Half pullups (I am miserable at these and need to focus more)

2 Laps of Farmer Walk with 18 kilo weights (one lap on each side around a basketball field)

 

Then I did barbell snatches and cleans just for the fun of it. 2x 40 kg sntaches where relatively easy (even after all the stuff done above), and 2x 60 kg cleans where also quite solid. I know thats not much but its not something I am for anyway.

Turkish Get Up Combo Workout

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After a short holiday down south for 5 days I am back with another Turkish Get Up workout in form of a combo set:

Starting out with 5 Snatches (preferably on your weaker side) then switch to 1 TGU while the kettlebell is over your head, get down then up, rack it on your chest and do 5 squats then 5 presses then 5 cleans and finally 5 1 handed swings where after you switch hands (or if you need to rest, do rest) and do the same super set with your other hand. Repeat this cycle 5 times with appropriate rests in between. I took 1-2 minute rests in 2-1-2 fashion.

This workout was taken from the fine site http://trainersteve.tumblr.com/post/9584433175

Kettlebell Workouts combined with Warrior Diet

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This week I started yet again another serious session of Intermittent Fasting as described in the Warrior Diet.

I discovered and started doing it Mid-January last year and was able to drop from 89kg (196lb) to about 76kg (168lb) in about 4 months prior to really getting into gear with Kettlebells.

I continued with the way of the Warrior feeding 🙂 after I started doing Kettlebell workouts on a regular 3 times a week basis. I gained weight as I was building muscles. After a while I loosened up on the way of the Warrior and along with muscles came back some bodyfat.

On an important side note, I have the Auto-immune disorder Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I read one article and a couple of comments in forums that Intermittent Fasting actually has a positive effect on Auto-immune disorders. On my annual full body check-up it looked good. All values within the healthy range. And the ever so annoying tiredness in the afternoons gone.

Anyway, this year went less effective regarding my Warrior Diet style eating and although I didn’t put back on much of a belly but I was on the fattening road. Hashimoto’s has one interesting side-effect (at least in my case), changes occur slowly, no matter whether good or bad.

And this year I also decided to completely cut off supplements as well and did go that way. But now that I will do a low carb calorie deficit diet and shed some stubborn fat, I went out to get myself some liquid L-Carnitine for before the workouts, some Whey protein for right after the workouts and some vitamins for those days where I can not eat sufficiently.

With the decreased calorie intake the 16kg Kettlebell wasn’t that easy anymore but I still intend to move up to 24kg and 32kg soon. Less reps with more benefits.

Here is this weeks workouts I did on Monday, Wednesday and Friday:

Monday: 50 Snatches (25L 25R) 50 Plank to Pushup 75 2 Handed Kettlebell Swings 25 Burpees 5-10-5-10-5-10-5 (TGU & Windmills alternating hands, see former workouts) 50 Mountain Climbers

Wednesday: 50 Snatches (25L 25R) 25 Pushups 100 Two Handed Kettlebell Swings 25 Burpees 5-10-5-10-5-10-5 (TGU & Windmills) 50 Mountain Climbers

Friday: 50 Squats 50 Jumping Jacks 50 Snatches 25 Pushups 100 Kettlebell Swings (25L 25R 50 Two Handed) 6 TGUs with 24Kg dumbbell (3L 3R) <— sufficient to kill me off

Half 300 Kettlebell Workout

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Well on Wednesday, stubborn as I act lately, I decided to keep working out, and did a half 300 Kettlebell Workout despite the blood filled calluses on both my hands.

Needless to say, one of them blew up on me early in the exercises and to my surprise it wasn’t painful at all (just a bit messy).

Anyway, the half 300 Kettlebell workout is as follows:

25 Snatches (5 Left hand then blood 10 right hand 10 left hand)

25 Plank to Push-up position

25 Alternating One Handed Kettlebell Swings (Starting on the left)

25 Burpees (just plank and jump no push-up)

5 Turkish Get-ups (Left)

5 Windmills (Right)

5 Windmills (Left)

5 Turkish Get-ups (Right)

30 Mountain Climbers

Blood under my calluses on my hands

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Well today should have been a rest day for me but I just couldn’t sit tight and had to go for what I call a “Cardio Rest Day”.

All swell (though unnecessarily ambitious) but my choice of workout proved to be painful at the end.

I decided to do 300 alternating one handed kettlebell swings.

As a result, although it served the purpose for being a decent cardio workout, it also gave me my first ever in life (I’m 35) blood under the calluses I have (from doing KB exercises) on BOTH hands!

Bummer! I will try to come up with some workout tomorrow which will not make things worse. The calluses are currently not very painful so I will do nothing and wait for them to get hard enough to pull off eventually.

Nasty stuff but a little price to pay for the benefits of the Kettlebell.

 

Cheers 🙂