Well I kept doing daily TGUs and pushups this week at work. Sometimes I added another set in the evening for good. A set usually being 10 TGUs (5 on each side) and 15 slow pushups.
Pavel coined (or maybe someone else did and he mentioned) the wording Grease the Groove. It simply put means to exercise whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Two months have passed since my last post.
I have slowed things down a bit since then, exercise-wise.
With more focus on the Turkish Getup and complementary body weight movements doing them SLOW!
Yes, you heard me, slow. I realized I was rushing the moves lately, resulting in sloppy style not utilizing the core muscles properly. For some moves slower is better if you are not opting for cardio and/or endurance. Well you kinda get the endurance bit with slow.
Last time around I mentioned doing TGUs with the 36-36 HIIT protocol and I did. I was able to squeeze (literally) 4 TGUs inside 36 seconds. I thought I was super, I thought “Well this has gotten easy with the 16 kg kettlebell, I definitely need to move up to 24 kg”.
While I still should get the 24 kg for the ballistic moves (swings snatches etc.) I couldn’t be more wrong about my mastery of the TGU using the 16 kg bell.
I took it the other way around, stretching a single full TGU cycle over 40-50 seconds, doing proper footwork, stance and the bridge.
Turned out that 5 reps on each side at this pace was a complete workout on its own. Really working all the muscles that should get involved… properly! 🙂
Now I am taking the slow path for non-ballistic kettlebell moves to improve form, stability and balance. I also slowed down the cardio moves like for example the squat thrust.
This way I revisited the 300 Meltdown Kettlebel workout. Taking it slower to improve and emphasize proper form instead of rushing the moves trying to beat the time made a world of difference as how my muscles feel and look 😉
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
We went on vacation for 11 days and then I had a track day on the Istanbul Park circuit. A whole day, seven sessions of 20 minutes from 9 am to 4 pm a very hot day.
17 years after I bought this 1994 Aprilia RS125 we made it onto the intended race track 🙂
I alternated the sessions with my friends Honda CB600F, stings like a hornet 😀
Even though I must have drunk around 6 liters of water and no need to go the toilet I was apparently still dehydrated at the end of the day which took its toll on the rest of the week. I decided to skip workouts until fully recovered and then some.
So today I was back behind my kettlebell doing the last exercise routine in a 40-20 interval fashion for to sets and I was breathless. 🙂
I won’t rush back into pace and pick it up slowly.
Inspired by the original Spartacus Workout I have put together another 10 exercise 60-15 interval workout of two rounds:
1. Kettlebell Goblet Squat
2. Mountain Climber
3. Alternating One Handed Kettlebell Swing
4. Plank Walk to Push-Up Position
5. Split Jump
6. Kettlebell Row (8 on each side)
7. Kettlebell Side Lunge and Touch
8. Windmill
9. Kettlebell Lunge and Rotation
10. Turkish Get-Up (3 on each side)
This makes one round, rest for 2 minutes and repeat one (or if you feel like it two) more time.
Yes! After a lengthy break my wife is back working out with Kettlebells. I am very excited for her and will do my best to share my experience and passion on her journey! 🙂
She got on the Kettlebell Train last year after seeing the results that started to show on me (especially the belly area hehe). We had our first child two years ago and our boy is keeping her really busy so she has little time to go to the Gym to workout (which she loves) and responsibilities added up etc.
Anyways she is now back in the game and is swinging with Lauren Brooks joining her on the Videos we downloaded (The Ultimate Body Sculpt Volumes I & II) and is really enjoying feeling her muscles once again.
Although the Videos might look to be geared towards the female Kettlebell audience, I can assure you they are very effective for everyone as every muscle is utilized during the exercises. Use the above link or the box on the side to see for yourself. I’m sure you too will be impressed and motivated as we are 🙂
Yeah I know not a fancy name, I’ll work on my workout naming. 🙂
After going for High Intensity Interval Training in form of the Spartacus Workouts for the past month I decided it was time to switch back to challenge style and put together my own 300 routine.
Here goes:
50 Kettlebell Snatches (25 Left 25 Right)
50 Plank Walk to Push-Up (I really liked this from the Spartacus Workout 2.0 it kicks my ass 😀 )
50 Alternating One Handed Kettlebell Swings
50 Thrust Squats (Half Burpees without the pushup and jump part)
5 Turkish Get-Ups (Left)
10 Windmills (5 Right 5 Left)
5 TGUs (R)
10 Windmills (5L 5R)
5 TGUs (L)
10 Windmills (5R 5L)
5 TGUs (R)
50 Mountain Climbers
Basic moves but really efficient, takes around 20-25 minutes depending on my day. Usually the Plank Walk to PushUp and TGU-WM routines take most of the time with the other moves relaxing my arms while keeping my core working. Never saw my triceps work this hard 😀
OK so I did the workout the way I described in the last post for 3 days but it turned out that my modifications where not neat enough resulting in knee pain. Especially the first move, I completely replaced it with a two handed KB swing.
I also changed the intervals from 40-20 to 60-15 and did one run per exercise set, rounding down the time to 27 minutes but with the weight of the Kettlebell and the increased time of exercise and decreased time of rest, the end effect was comparable to the original 46 minutes long one.
It’s been a while since I last posted here but despite being busy with lifes other challenges I did continue to do my workouts.
And I tried new things as well, here is the first: Spartacus Workout 2.0!
Doesn’t sound too new eh? Well actually it is. Especially when you try doing it with one Kettlebell. When take a look at the original workout in following this link: http://my.menshealth.com/workout/The-Spartacus-Workout-2.0 , you will see that some of the dumbbell exercises there may pose a challenge if not injury if you try them as is with your current Kettlebell (if you have access to a lighter KB its less of a hassle really).
Originally you do 40 second exercise 20 second rest cycles for the first set of 5 twice, rest 2 minutes and then do the same set of 5 exercises again with 40-20 intervals. Rest another 2 minutes and the second set of 5 exercises the same way. At the end you will have done each exercise 4 times and the whole thing will take something like 46 minutes without warmup and streching.
And the dumbbells weigh less then the 16kg Kettlebell that I have, so the first time I tried this I was wasted before the last 10 minutes set. Here are my moves:
1. Kettlebell Hang Pull: Fully improvised KB adaptation of the DB original. Two hands holding the KB between the legs, pulling up to the chest will going slightly backwards and on your toes. This one got modified in later tries.
2. Offset Kettlebell Reverse Lunge: Pretty much the same works, but without trying to offset too much to prevent injury.
3. Single Arm Kettlebell Swing
4. Kettlebell Thrusters: I modified this to a Kettlebell Jerk one side per set and then the other.
5. Single-Leg Single-Arm Underhand Grip Kettlebell Row: Pretty much the same but beware as the Kettlebell is much heavier.
Second Round of Exercises:
1. Kettlebell Wood Chop: Now if you do this with your regular Kettlebell without prior training it, as I did, you may experience some pain in your joints, particularly your knees. For proper form you can watch this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGS7G6MOkjM
2. Plank Walkup to Pushup
3. Rotational Kettlebell Straight-Leg Deadlift: Your regular Kettlebell may pose a real challenge with this move as well, touch something level with your spare hand to assist. Your knees will thank you 🙂
4. Squat Thrusts (Burpess)
5. Jump Squat
So today I did the Spartacus Workout one more time.
This time I did it in 40-20 Workout-Rest intervals and completed full 3 sets with 2 minutes rests between sets. Total time 34 minutes and I was done, fully soaked with sweat! Definitely going to keep this in my workout rotation list. 🙂