This year I've had 2 cortisone shots in my right foot and two in my left shoulder. The shoulder needs the cap replaced as I don't have cartilage left in it and the foot is Morton's Neuroma that is sheer irritation. My wife and I hiked Mt Wachusett with our dog and the whole descent, my ring toe was burning. I can run a little, 2 miles on a treadmill, but don't want to irritate it. At the end of July, we went on a cruise to Bermuda, and I did run every day at the gym. Because I can only get shots 3 x a year, so I try to space them out 5-6 months until I need them. I need to be realistic and limited to what I can and cannot do.
For the past 2 months, I've been doing kettlebell complex programs. Geoff Neupert's The Wolf as a chain and currently, The Long Haul. As stated in previous posts I can finish the reps with the rest periods based on the total time. However, instead of doing one exercise after another as you would in a complex, I put the bells down and do the next exercise with as little rest as possible. Why? First, as you age, your ability to increase your maximum heart rate is lessened and second, I don't want to get injured because I'm fatigued. Sure, I lose the production of lactic acid buildup and the production of HGH, but I get the benefits of doing the reps, fresh and get a heck of a workout in the same amount of time.
Looks like this:
Medium Day of The Long Haul, Week 4: Double 45 lb. bells
Double Snatch x 30 seconds
Press x 30 seconds
Front Squat x 30 seconds
Double Swing x 30 seconds
3 rounds Work:Rest ratio, 1:1.5
2 minutes of work, 3 minutes rest between rounds, Total workout is 12 minutes, or 720 seconds
Total exercises completed is 12. (4 exercises a round x 3 rounds) 720/12 = 60. Start the next exercise at the top of the minute.
Snatch:30 rest to top of minute, Press: 30 rest, repeat until all 12 exercises are completed. Finish in 11:30 vs. 12 minutes
I am all in these days on 15–30-minute workouts, hit it and quit it. Light, quick and don't get hurt. I have double 55's and 70's that are collecting dust in my basement. At this point the goal is maintenance with cardiovascular health. No one builds muscle in their 50's unless they are on steroids.
I hate the concept of "minimalism" in kettlebells. Doing getups and one hand swings day after day or doing nothing but clean and presses is too boring for me. That doesn't mean you won't get really good at each, you will, it's just boring, and too much volume.
My comrade Tommy Rambo and I were playing golf at his course in Connecticut, and he was telling me he was doing "80 cleans and presses in 30 minutes with his 24 kg bells). Three times a week. Really good for 53?" I said, "what's the point of that amount of volume?" The joints have only so many reps, why not play the long game? He has since taken the month off and still looks jacked. He's a Marine, and fun to play golf with. Structured, flask of Dewar's one cigar on front 9, one on back. whistling his way to a 15 handicap. That being said anything over 50 reps for grinds is too much. 25-50 is the sweet spot, 40 is better.
I have eliminated a LOT of exercises from my repertoire, I don't want to hear Rice Krispie's in my shoulder and want to keep my right shoulder as healthy as possible.
1. High volume snatches.
2. One hand swings
3. Heavy presses
4. Jerks. Not good bouncing on the ball of my foot for my neuroma.
5. Heavy Front Squats
There is a lot of value in these movements, just not for me anymore. Here are some movements that are just dumb stupid circus tricks.
1. Heavy Turkish Getups. I raise my hand guilty as charged. I used to do them. As George W. Bush said, "when I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid." Here's proof from 2013. The get down was always the hardest part for me. I used to do 5 a side switching hands every rep. I was mentally exhausted when I was done. The last time I have done a TGU over 55 lb. was on a bet this past March. Someone told me I couldn't do one on each side with a 32 kg at my gym. I did 2 in a a row on each side and collected on a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black. Hadn't done a TGU 6 months prior to it or done one that heavy since.
Dan John has railed against heavy getups for a LONG time. I was fortunate enough to be a guest of Dan's at the Perform Better conference last month. A great guy who is extremely generous with his time. His coaching discussion and workshop were incredible.
I am of the opinion that unless you are a mutant, save your money on buying heavy kettlebells. I sold my two 88 lb. kettlebells in the midst of the pandemic for more money than I paid for them. Stick to 32kg/70lb. and under. No reason at all to go heavier.
2. Windmills. Some please tell me why you need them? Want a strong core? Ab wheel
3. Bent Press Silly old time circus trick. Either you can press the weight or not. The number of people who care I can count on one hand.
4. Bottoms-up loaded carries. I like my teeth the way they are.
5. Rotational ballistics. Turn and do swings or cleans. Huh? Nope. There is an instructor I USED to follow who does these. I'll leave him nameless to protect the idiocy.
Other thoughts from the DragonDoor/StrongFirst universe
1. Simple is great, Sinister is stupid. One hand swings, with a 48 kg are ugly.
2. You will reach a limit to your strength. Not everyone will reach the Rite of Passage. At 188 lb., I maxed out at 36 kg/79 lb. bell. Never came close on the 40kg/88 lb. bell. I could push press it.
3. Press>Jerk>Push Press. Push presses will not help your press. Too much leakage of strength.
4. You will reach your limit for snatching. 160 in 10 minutes for me with a 55 lb. bell. You get to a certain age, see above where the cardiovascular engine only has so much horsepower. Grip, shoulder fatigue, hamstring comfort, breathing. 100 in 5 minutes? In the old days, sure. Minutes 6-10 are a different animal.
5. Why would anyone do Girevoy Sport? Other than the pretty colored kettlebells?
6. The individuals that blindly follow the Simple and Sinister workout for more than 3 months are completely missing the boat on what makes kettlebells fun. I've never laid down and thought, "can't wait to do Turkish Getups today!" I like them, just never looked forward to them.
7. Not following a program and freestyling it, can be the most emancipating fun workouts to do. Make up your own.
8. The protocols with numbers QD45, are silly. It's not a nuclear program. Silly marketing schtick. I still burst out laughing anytime I see the old StrongFirst photos of guys dressed up in paramilitary gear.
9. If I was to choose a program for 12 weeks, it would be the Rite of Passage. The dread of heavy day still reigns in the back of my head. But it works. REALLY REALLY works. Unfortunately, once you get to the 32kg/70 lb. lots of people, including me start to get nicked up. 150 presses are A LOT.
10. Why is it always the BJJ guys who have programming ADD? Can I do this? and this? while doing my BJJ 4 days a week?
