Week 3 of the Rite of Passage was one of the best weeks of training I've had in a while. Started on Friday with a Medium Day of presses. Got all the reps, rolled the dice for an 8. Banged out 166 swings with the 88. All time best. Saturday messed around with some squats and swings with a 70 for variety day. 50 squats, 100 swings. Sunday Easy Day of Presses, no sweat. Rolled a 9 for snatches.
Yes, I used gloves, chalked them up. Did sets of 10 on each side put the bell down for 20 seconds do it again. Did 131 in 9 minutes. Again, not even breathing that heavy. Grip was surprisingly strong. form excellent. Monday I did hill sprints. 10 of them with 4 different routes. Tuesday, my legs ached. On Tuesday I did heavy day later in the day at 6 PM. Had a business trip in Hartford and almost held off until Wednesday. Glad I didn't. The bell was flying up on my presses. Did 5 ladders in 55 minutes. Rolled another 8, this time did 176 swings with the 88 in 8 minutes. No grip issues at all.
Took Wednesday off to rest, Thursday was a variety day. Did 5 sets of backup presses with the 88. Backup means, start pressing the bell and then use your off hand to lightly assist. Once I got the bell in motion, I took my hand off the bell and did a 5 second descent back to the rack. Did about 8 reps total on each side. My swings have been going so well, I decided to do the Simple and Sinister test. I have never followed the program, but in order to reach "Simple," men must achieve 100 one hand swings in a row switching hands every 10 reps and then doing 5 Turkish Getups on each side in 10 minutes with a 70 lb. bell. Accomplished that a long time ago. I decided to try with the 88. I finished the swings in 2:47. My legs were complete jello and my heart rate was 186. Rested 5 minutes, banged out the getups in 7:30. The "Sinister" goal is 106 lbs. Never getting there, never buying the bell. I felt like I was in control of the 88, not the other way around.
Feeling pretty proud of myself, I started week 4 of medium day yesterday. Did my rows first with the 88, started my pressing, on rung 4, on the left side. pop. Pulled muscle between my shoulder blades, just to the left of my spine. Stretched out, started ladder 2, twinged a little more. Put the bell down, popped 2 aleve and that was all she wrote. Today, it feels a lot better, but not 100% Would love to go running or sprinting but we had 4 inches of rain last night, it's raining now with gust to 40 MPH. Not happening, just will rest up, probably until Monday.
Same thing happened last year. I did back squats, 10 reps at 315, two days later, back injury. Old age has a way of fighting back. Not worried, I won't lose strength, I basically own the 70.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Rite of Passage, Week 2 The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Just started week 3 of the Rite of Passage, the meat of the program is going well and making progress, but there's some technique that needs to be cleaned up. We're a glass half full cheery type in general so we'll describe it like the Sergio Leone film starring Clint Eastwood as The Good The Bad and The Ugly, which, as the third installment in the unknown man series, was way too long and not as good as A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More.
The Good
No issues pressing the 70 on heavy day, got all the reps, 75 each side. Did it under 60 minutes with one arm rows with an 88. The 88 has felt, manageable to tell you the truth. Did 166 swings/15 sets with an 88 in 8 minutes. Snatched for 2 minutes straight for 38 reps and wasn't breathing heavy afterward. Diet locked in. I took my buddy Tommy's advice, 3 squares. No more fasting. Done with it for now. 2 scoops of protein powder with apple or banana and milk, 3-4 egg/3 egg white omelet with kidney beans, broccoli, spinach, peppers and onions for lunch. Normal dinner, meat, starch, salad. Variety Day week 3, I was squeezed for time, did 4 sets of 50 two hand swings with a 70. Felt like I was doing a set of 20 swings.
The Bad
My kettlebells suck for snatching. I can't put it any other way. The 55's enamel handle gets slick with perspiration after about 15 reps. Need to drive over to Captain Calisthenics house and get one of his 52's. Nice way of asking huh, Tommy Rambo? Did 18 on the left side before it was going to fly out of my hand and 20 on the right. Grip great, breathing great, form good. It's all about the darn drop for me, one pinch and welcome to blood blister city.
The Ugly
Trying to snatch a heavier bell. On variety day with a 62. The drop with my left hand from the palm to the fingers. I wasn't catching it right and it caused my swing to go too low. did 3 sets of 5 each side and ended up pinching my left hand on the last rep. Not doing that anymore. One hand heavy swings instead. Doing isometric cleans on variety day with the thicker handled 88 lb bell. Dropped it to my fingers, whoopsie, thud and put another dent in the carpet. Going to put an area rug or rubber mats in that room. This occurred just before I tried snatching the 62, so let's just say, it was not the greatest of workouts
What's next?
Stay the course, medium day today, 50 reps each side. Rolled an 8, going to see if I can beat 166. I already rolled the dice for easy day and will be snatching for 9 minutes. I think I'm going to open it up a little bit and see how many snatches I can get. Yes, I will put gloves on.
Retired from indoor soccer. Just getting nagging injuries every year. Two years ago, big toe stepped on by a cleat, and a pulled right calf. Last year, kicked in the ribs, and lower back issue, which wasn't brought on by soccer, but kept me out of a session for a few weeks. I'll just have to remember what a legend I was in my own mind on the indoor pitch.
i am going to start playing basketball again. Just need to man up and get myself down to the gym. Hopefully the body will do what the mind wants.
The Good
No issues pressing the 70 on heavy day, got all the reps, 75 each side. Did it under 60 minutes with one arm rows with an 88. The 88 has felt, manageable to tell you the truth. Did 166 swings/15 sets with an 88 in 8 minutes. Snatched for 2 minutes straight for 38 reps and wasn't breathing heavy afterward. Diet locked in. I took my buddy Tommy's advice, 3 squares. No more fasting. Done with it for now. 2 scoops of protein powder with apple or banana and milk, 3-4 egg/3 egg white omelet with kidney beans, broccoli, spinach, peppers and onions for lunch. Normal dinner, meat, starch, salad. Variety Day week 3, I was squeezed for time, did 4 sets of 50 two hand swings with a 70. Felt like I was doing a set of 20 swings.
The Bad
My kettlebells suck for snatching. I can't put it any other way. The 55's enamel handle gets slick with perspiration after about 15 reps. Need to drive over to Captain Calisthenics house and get one of his 52's. Nice way of asking huh, Tommy Rambo? Did 18 on the left side before it was going to fly out of my hand and 20 on the right. Grip great, breathing great, form good. It's all about the darn drop for me, one pinch and welcome to blood blister city.
The Ugly
Trying to snatch a heavier bell. On variety day with a 62. The drop with my left hand from the palm to the fingers. I wasn't catching it right and it caused my swing to go too low. did 3 sets of 5 each side and ended up pinching my left hand on the last rep. Not doing that anymore. One hand heavy swings instead. Doing isometric cleans on variety day with the thicker handled 88 lb bell. Dropped it to my fingers, whoopsie, thud and put another dent in the carpet. Going to put an area rug or rubber mats in that room. This occurred just before I tried snatching the 62, so let's just say, it was not the greatest of workouts
What's next?
Stay the course, medium day today, 50 reps each side. Rolled an 8, going to see if I can beat 166. I already rolled the dice for easy day and will be snatching for 9 minutes. I think I'm going to open it up a little bit and see how many snatches I can get. Yes, I will put gloves on.
Retired from indoor soccer. Just getting nagging injuries every year. Two years ago, big toe stepped on by a cleat, and a pulled right calf. Last year, kicked in the ribs, and lower back issue, which wasn't brought on by soccer, but kept me out of a session for a few weeks. I'll just have to remember what a legend I was in my own mind on the indoor pitch.
i am going to start playing basketball again. Just need to man up and get myself down to the gym. Hopefully the body will do what the mind wants.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Enter The Kettlebell, The Rite of Passage
After having excellent success with the 10,000 swing workout, I decided to change things up. One thing that I really liked about the program was using a single kettlebell. I've been mostly doing doubles for a long time. Single kettlebell work can be tougher because the time under tension is longer. For example, do a set of 5 presses with double bells. Once you hit 5, you're done. Now with singles, you have to switch hands and do 5 on the other side. The set takes longer. So I decided to go back to an oldie but a goody. The Rite of Passage from the book Enter The Kettlebell.
This is one of best kettlebell books ever written. The goal is to snatch a 24kg kettlebell 200 times in 10 minutes and clean and press 1/2 your bodyweight. Two lofty goals indeed. Which is harder? Easy answer, both. If I was a betting man, I figure that the press would be easier. Not that's it's easy. But if you really wanted to eat like a horse, really work on your technique, and if your shoulders can take it, press, press and press some more you'd get there. Of course, gaining weight means making the press even heavier. The snatch test? Too many variables. I think when you get to a certain age, there is a limit on the type of condition you can be in. A month or so ago, I did something that jacked my heart rate up to 210. I was bragging to my cousin until he told me I was an idiot and that was too fast for my age. Second, hand care, one bad rep, blister, shelf. Third, grip strength, 100 in 5 minutes? Done it, give me 6 weeks and I'll get it again, now do 100 more? A noble goal. My all time best was 151, and in hindsight, had probably 160, but not much more. I've done 200 with a 16 kg in sets of 10 in 9 minutes, and it was fatiguing. Now add 20 lbs to each rep. Just remember it's the journey not the result, or so I'm saying as I start this. I'm going to stick with it for at least 12 weeks and see what happens.
The Workouts
5 per week
Easy day, 5 ladders of 1,2,3 cleans and presses alternated with Pullups, Roll dice, do the sum for x minutes snatches, nice and easy about 50-60% effort
Variety Day
Medium Day, 5 ladders, of 1,2,3,4 cleans and presses alternated with Pullups, Roll dice do swings for sum of minutes 75% effort
Variety Day
Heavy Day, 5 ladders of 1,2,3,4,5 of cleans and press alternated with Pullups, Swings at 85-90% effort
Days off before and after heavy day.
One change, I don't have a pullup bar. The one I had wasn't wide enough to fit the doorways in the house I moved into 2 years ago, so we're going to do one arm rows in place.
What should I do on a variety day? Anything you want as long as it isn't too strenuous and affects your pressing. See it as a practice. Or if you want to go for a run, do that.
This book, in my opinion does have it's weaknesses It's vague and also doesn't account for any type of squatting. So my suggestion is do some squatting of variety days if you like. I also don't believe you can get to 200 snatches on an easy day of snatching and under 12 minutes of swings alone, but we'll get to that later.
I'm through week 1 of the pressing, here's how it looked
9/30/16
Medium Day, 32kg/70 lb. kettlebell
5 ladders of 1,2,3,4 left then right cleans and presses supersetted
with 5 ladders of one arm rows 40kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3,4)
Used random.org website to roll dice......Snake eyes! 2 minutes
2 x 30 with a 40 kg/88lb. bell 60 swings
10/1/16
Variety Day
Single kettlebell squat in the rack
40 kg/88 lb. 5 ladders of 1,2,3,4 Left and right
Two hand swings
40 kg/88 lb.
20 sets of 15 reps, 300 total. Rest until the top of each minute
I like these squats better than goblet squats. Not only do you get to practice a clean with a heavier weight, it hits your oblique and forces you to STAY TIGHT. If not, the bell will fall out of the rack.
Swings felt good. The 10,000 in 10 days made this a breeze
10/2/16
Easy Day 32kg/70 lb. kettlebell
5 ladders of one clean then presses (1,2,3) Left, Right supersetted with
5 ladders of one arm rows 40kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3)
Rolled a 9 for snatches
55 lb. bell, 10 sets of 5L, 5R, one set of 4 L, 4 R 108 reps. Did them in a nice pace, didn't really open it up. Did my set, walk a lap around my basement, did another set. The bell felt light.
10/3/16
Off
I did run 4.7 miles. On Saturday I was driving to pick my son up from work on this crappy road that is pothole mired. An 18 wheeler came at me, I moved to the right, BOOM, hit a crater. Bent my rim. When I miraculously made it home, there was 4 PSI in my tire. Allstate Auto came to change it and the rim was bent. Took it to my mechanic on Monday, $172 and a used rim later, I ripped off a letter to the next town's DPW asking for reimbursement. On Sunday there was a cone in the crater which I mentioned in the letter along with a picture of my rim and my paid invoice. It's the principle of the matter. It's the beginning of October not the end of March and winter. How about having a little pride and fixing your roads? I dropped the car off and ran from the mechanic's garage around a pond and home. Hadn't run in 2 weeks. Made it without stopping.
10/4/16
Heavy day 32kg/70. kettlebell
5 ladders of clean and presses (1,2,3,4,5) supersetted
with 5 ladders of one arm rows 40 kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3,4,5)
I got all the reps, nothing got stuck. It was tiring, and took about 63 minutes. Some of the press were great, punching the bell from the rack overhead. Others, went up slower. 150 press is a lot.
Two hand swings, Rolled a 6
Did 6 x 20 and 1 x 12 with a 40 kg/88 lb. bell. Could really feel the grip in my foreams toward the end.
I like two hand swings better than one hand. I am of the opinion for endurance, it tests your grip better because the hands don't get a rest as when doing one hand. Easier on the hands as well.
Tomorrow will be an off day. I might go for a walk, but other than that, recover from this morning's beating
For variety day on Thursday, I'm going to do the squat workout but only ladders of 1,2,3. Either swings or hill sprints and maybe some loaded cleans and getups.
Tips on the Rite of Passage
As having moved from 55 lbs. to successfully completing 70 lbs. presses here are some tips.
1. Don't kill yourself on variety days. You should feel good when you're done, not peeled off the floor. 50-60% exertion is good.
2. Always go hard on your swing days with good form. 85-90%, also use a bell heavier than the snatch bell.
3. Before jumping up to the next kettlebell, own the bell you are using. If you can complete heavy day with the bell you are working with, keep using it. This will build a pattern of success and help you lock in your form. 8-12 sessions should do it.
4. If you miss a set or 2, put the bell down, shake it out, finish the reps. 1,2,3,4,3,2 still equals 15. You're still getting the volume in, it's just taking an extra couple of sets.
5. The clean is the key to a good press. If your clean isn't crisp and you don't get tight, you're press will stink too.
6. When you press, extend your alternate arm and make a fist to keep tension throughout the body. It works.
7. Have the bell deep in your palm and squeeze the handle tight. If you get stuck, squeeze harder, the bell will move.
8. Flex your lats and pack your shoulder. This will protect your shoulder and you will have a stronger press.
9. Get an intermediate bell. Seriously, invest the money. Going from a 24 to a 32 is 17.6 lbs. A 62 will cost $100 or 3 months of a membership at a real gym. You'll get at least 3 months out of it. Most people quit because they either get bored, or try to make too big of a jump. I still use my 62. It's good for snatches and swings. I'm going to invest in a 36 kg around Christmas time myself. I've tried to press the 88. I can't press the 88. Push press, sure, turkish get up, absolutely. Strict press, no. I can press a 79 and have done it this year at a gym in San Francisco. Did 3 reps each side actually.
All for now, stay tuned for updates.
This is one of best kettlebell books ever written. The goal is to snatch a 24kg kettlebell 200 times in 10 minutes and clean and press 1/2 your bodyweight. Two lofty goals indeed. Which is harder? Easy answer, both. If I was a betting man, I figure that the press would be easier. Not that's it's easy. But if you really wanted to eat like a horse, really work on your technique, and if your shoulders can take it, press, press and press some more you'd get there. Of course, gaining weight means making the press even heavier. The snatch test? Too many variables. I think when you get to a certain age, there is a limit on the type of condition you can be in. A month or so ago, I did something that jacked my heart rate up to 210. I was bragging to my cousin until he told me I was an idiot and that was too fast for my age. Second, hand care, one bad rep, blister, shelf. Third, grip strength, 100 in 5 minutes? Done it, give me 6 weeks and I'll get it again, now do 100 more? A noble goal. My all time best was 151, and in hindsight, had probably 160, but not much more. I've done 200 with a 16 kg in sets of 10 in 9 minutes, and it was fatiguing. Now add 20 lbs to each rep. Just remember it's the journey not the result, or so I'm saying as I start this. I'm going to stick with it for at least 12 weeks and see what happens.
The Workouts
5 per week
Easy day, 5 ladders of 1,2,3 cleans and presses alternated with Pullups, Roll dice, do the sum for x minutes snatches, nice and easy about 50-60% effort
Variety Day
Medium Day, 5 ladders, of 1,2,3,4 cleans and presses alternated with Pullups, Roll dice do swings for sum of minutes 75% effort
Variety Day
Heavy Day, 5 ladders of 1,2,3,4,5 of cleans and press alternated with Pullups, Swings at 85-90% effort
Days off before and after heavy day.
One change, I don't have a pullup bar. The one I had wasn't wide enough to fit the doorways in the house I moved into 2 years ago, so we're going to do one arm rows in place.
What should I do on a variety day? Anything you want as long as it isn't too strenuous and affects your pressing. See it as a practice. Or if you want to go for a run, do that.
This book, in my opinion does have it's weaknesses It's vague and also doesn't account for any type of squatting. So my suggestion is do some squatting of variety days if you like. I also don't believe you can get to 200 snatches on an easy day of snatching and under 12 minutes of swings alone, but we'll get to that later.
I'm through week 1 of the pressing, here's how it looked
9/30/16
Medium Day, 32kg/70 lb. kettlebell
5 ladders of 1,2,3,4 left then right cleans and presses supersetted
with 5 ladders of one arm rows 40kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3,4)
Used random.org website to roll dice......Snake eyes! 2 minutes
2 x 30 with a 40 kg/88lb. bell 60 swings
10/1/16
Variety Day
Single kettlebell squat in the rack
40 kg/88 lb. 5 ladders of 1,2,3,4 Left and right
Two hand swings
40 kg/88 lb.
20 sets of 15 reps, 300 total. Rest until the top of each minute
I like these squats better than goblet squats. Not only do you get to practice a clean with a heavier weight, it hits your oblique and forces you to STAY TIGHT. If not, the bell will fall out of the rack.
Swings felt good. The 10,000 in 10 days made this a breeze
10/2/16
Easy Day 32kg/70 lb. kettlebell
5 ladders of one clean then presses (1,2,3) Left, Right supersetted with
5 ladders of one arm rows 40kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3)
Rolled a 9 for snatches
55 lb. bell, 10 sets of 5L, 5R, one set of 4 L, 4 R 108 reps. Did them in a nice pace, didn't really open it up. Did my set, walk a lap around my basement, did another set. The bell felt light.
10/3/16
Off
I did run 4.7 miles. On Saturday I was driving to pick my son up from work on this crappy road that is pothole mired. An 18 wheeler came at me, I moved to the right, BOOM, hit a crater. Bent my rim. When I miraculously made it home, there was 4 PSI in my tire. Allstate Auto came to change it and the rim was bent. Took it to my mechanic on Monday, $172 and a used rim later, I ripped off a letter to the next town's DPW asking for reimbursement. On Sunday there was a cone in the crater which I mentioned in the letter along with a picture of my rim and my paid invoice. It's the principle of the matter. It's the beginning of October not the end of March and winter. How about having a little pride and fixing your roads? I dropped the car off and ran from the mechanic's garage around a pond and home. Hadn't run in 2 weeks. Made it without stopping.
10/4/16
Heavy day 32kg/70. kettlebell
5 ladders of clean and presses (1,2,3,4,5) supersetted
with 5 ladders of one arm rows 40 kg/88 lb. bell (1,2,3,4,5)
I got all the reps, nothing got stuck. It was tiring, and took about 63 minutes. Some of the press were great, punching the bell from the rack overhead. Others, went up slower. 150 press is a lot.
Two hand swings, Rolled a 6
Did 6 x 20 and 1 x 12 with a 40 kg/88 lb. bell. Could really feel the grip in my foreams toward the end.
I like two hand swings better than one hand. I am of the opinion for endurance, it tests your grip better because the hands don't get a rest as when doing one hand. Easier on the hands as well.
Tomorrow will be an off day. I might go for a walk, but other than that, recover from this morning's beating
For variety day on Thursday, I'm going to do the squat workout but only ladders of 1,2,3. Either swings or hill sprints and maybe some loaded cleans and getups.
Tips on the Rite of Passage
As having moved from 55 lbs. to successfully completing 70 lbs. presses here are some tips.
1. Don't kill yourself on variety days. You should feel good when you're done, not peeled off the floor. 50-60% exertion is good.
2. Always go hard on your swing days with good form. 85-90%, also use a bell heavier than the snatch bell.
3. Before jumping up to the next kettlebell, own the bell you are using. If you can complete heavy day with the bell you are working with, keep using it. This will build a pattern of success and help you lock in your form. 8-12 sessions should do it.
4. If you miss a set or 2, put the bell down, shake it out, finish the reps. 1,2,3,4,3,2 still equals 15. You're still getting the volume in, it's just taking an extra couple of sets.
5. The clean is the key to a good press. If your clean isn't crisp and you don't get tight, you're press will stink too.
6. When you press, extend your alternate arm and make a fist to keep tension throughout the body. It works.
7. Have the bell deep in your palm and squeeze the handle tight. If you get stuck, squeeze harder, the bell will move.
8. Flex your lats and pack your shoulder. This will protect your shoulder and you will have a stronger press.
9. Get an intermediate bell. Seriously, invest the money. Going from a 24 to a 32 is 17.6 lbs. A 62 will cost $100 or 3 months of a membership at a real gym. You'll get at least 3 months out of it. Most people quit because they either get bored, or try to make too big of a jump. I still use my 62. It's good for snatches and swings. I'm going to invest in a 36 kg around Christmas time myself. I've tried to press the 88. I can't press the 88. Push press, sure, turkish get up, absolutely. Strict press, no. I can press a 79 and have done it this year at a gym in San Francisco. Did 3 reps each side actually.
All for now, stay tuned for updates.
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