Emptying the Drawer on Fitness

 1. My Planet Fitness gym sucks.  There I said it.  I like Planet Fitness for the most part.  Black card, it's cheap and you can lift anywhere as well as bring a guest.  The one closest to my house is the worst. Dirty, terrible customer service management and OVERCROWDED.  Rules aren't enforced.  People having full conversations and video conferences on speaker in the middle of working out.  Too many kids.  I'm all for the youth exercising, but the ignorance and lack of etiquette is off the charts.  5 kids around a machine, all with their heads buried in the phones like ants around a melted popsicle stick. Plus the place is having plumbing issues and smells like septic.  I'm switching gyms and cancelled my membership.

2. Competition kettlebells are better than cast iron.  Why?  The handle.  All the bells are the same size in shape and in the handle.  When I had my 88 lb. bells, one of the handles was SO BIG it was scary to use.  I had a 3 day membership at a gym I used to attend.  They had a 106 lb. bell and an 88, which were competition bells.  I did 2 hand swings no problem with each.  I had never swung a 106 before.  The bells were so much easier to use because of the handle.  

3. I've stopped participating in fitness forums.  I'm too busy starting my own business and too many stupid questions.  I am sorry the Dan John forum is dead.  Good guys on there.  For example, on StrongFirst, there is a "Team Leader" who is trying to "tame the beast." Meaning, pressing the 106, doing a pullup with one and a pistol squat.  He has leg issues and is trying to figure out how to work his way around the leg issues.  First, pistols are one of the dumbest movements there are.  Do Bulgarian split squats instead.  Second, there are no rewards for being a "beast tamer."  Why do further damage?  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  The Misc.forum on Bodybuilding.com used to bring the LOLS, but now it's just a bunch of incels.

4. My 20-year-old son is into lifting.  He is 6'2 and about 210 lb. with shoulders like an aircraft carrier.  Although he's not really strong, he is filled with testosterone and putting on muscle quickly.  I told him, "don't put anything more than 225 lb. on the bar until you can squat it 20 times."  And, "dumbbell bench press is your friend."  Why get hurt?  Just do reps. 

5. The Prowler is the best conditioning tool there is.  The gym I'm joining has one with a 25 yard field turf area inside it.  10 laps with six 45 lb. plates is one heck of a workout.  Puddle of sweat when I'm finished.  

6. Another new favorite workout is StairMaster intervals.  No hands, 90 seconds level 5, 30 seconds levels 11-15.  20-30 minutes.  The key is no hands.  Hanging on is cheating.  I also like using this method for running as well. 5-6 mph maintenance, 8-9 mph sprint.  Level 1 on incline.

7. Repeat after me, "It's the diet, stupid."

8. Want to lower your cholesterol?  Take a TBS of Metameucil/Psyllium Husk daily.  Glorious and fills you up when you're hungry.

9. For 80% of people over 50, 3x a week total body lifting workout is way to go.  

Why?

a. Hit each body part 3x a week. More than a "bro" split.

b. Get to use different exercises/More Variety Monday Kettlebell Front Squat, Wednesday Back Squat, Friday Hack Squat or Leg Press.

c. More time to recover. You get stronger on your days off.  That doesn't mean doing nothing.  Do 20 minutes of yoga and go for a 3-5-mile walk. 

d. Get to stimulate muscles without annihilating them. But if you insist, do 5 x 5 and then rep out last set.

10. Sets of 20 swings with a 24 kg or higher during rest periods is a nice way to get some conditioning in, if you're crunched for time.  15 sets of snappy swings becomes 300.

11. Geoff Neupert is pushing his Kettlebell Burn Extreme program through email.  If you want to summer shred in a hurry, get it.  It works, it is also an exercise in delayed gratification.  There was a post on Instagram that said, Week 1, day 2 and showed a guy doing double swings.  All I could think was, "let's see how your enthusiasm is, when you're in the midst of a 36-hour fast, staring up at the of faucet of a cold shower.  The workouts are doable.  The intensity progresses as you are losing weight can provide difficulty, but not killers.  What is a pain in the neck is scheduling around a social calendar. I always had issues with the cheat day coming up on the wrong day.  Dinner on Friday night vs. Saturday night.  Having to fast on a Monday instead of the Sunday due to social obligations.  I have completed it twice.  Pro tip, don't have a beer or alcohol on your cheat day.  Just abstain.

12. There has been this trend lately of getting in the habit of getting up at 5 AM.  Just for the sake of discipline.  Just dumb advice. Yes, you can be productive and focus.  BUT, what about recovery?  What is the most important part of recovery?  SLEEP!!!  So, to prove discipline, I'm going to have the alarm set at 5 AM for no reason when my body needs another 90 minutes of sleep.  I get the early bird gets the worm, but I'm not going to bet at 8 PM.  If you're a monk who lives alone with no family, sure, go for it. 

UPDATE on Number 12. Woke up early this AM around 4:43 to empty my bladder . Watched the Celtics game, but went to bed at 10:45 which is a reasonable hour.  Fell back asleep and woke up at 7:20.  And had a great workout at 9.  Sleep > Starting the Day Early.

Kettlebell Training Around Injuries and Other Hot Takes (As well as cold)

 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?                                           

The Giant 2.0

 Yesterday in my journey of doing Geoff Neupert's The Giant, kettlebell program,  I finished the 2.0 workout.  What makes this different than the other 4 workouts is that it uses ladders vs. straight sets.  I believe this is the best next progression after 1.0.  Why?  In 1.0, the heavy day is the 6 rep day.  For 20-30 minutes, you're performing continuous reps of 6.  If you do the 1.1 workout, 6 is the light day and 8 is the heavy day!  That might be too much progression.  Kind of like a $3.5 trillion spending bill. No, that would be the 1.2 program.

The 2.0 program uses ladders ranging from 3-8.  Meaning, first set, do a set of 4. Rest, next set of 6, rest set of 8. Start ladder over.  What I like about ladders is instead of balling out and starting with a set of 8, which might feel awful, you kind of ease into it. Set of 4, loosen up a little, set of 6, warmed up, set of 8.  It's kind of like pitching.  You don't go into a game without warming up.  The first couple of rungs help you get the movement pattern down for the money set.

I ran this program with double 55 lb./25kg kettlebells.  4 weeks, 1st 3 were for 30 minutes, last week was 20.  My best was 75 reps on a medium day, which was a personal record.  The magic in this program is in the high rep sets, 7's and 8's.  They also take a LOT out of you.  I never went to failure, but hit a wall on heavy day in week 3.  Now if I did the program as written and rested, maybe the results might have been even better.  

I am still running a couple of days a week on treadmill or outdoors.  3-5 miles, just for meditative purposes.  Also gone to the gym to do some pullups and rows.  Last Sunday, after an easy day deload week 20 minute session, I decided to do a snatch test for 5 minutes.  Being over 50, as a "master" (insert joke), I can use the 45 lb. bell.  

Chalked up, set the clock and started.  There are many different ways to get to 100.  20 reps sets descending to 15, 10 and 5.  I'm not a fan of long sets.  I find them to be grip fryers and cause shoulder fatigue.  When the grip starts going, you're more apt to have a bad rep, a pinch and a blood blister.  Sets of 10 are okay.  Just boring.  A few years ago, I did this with a 35 and did 200 in 9 minutes.  It was still pretty miserable.  

Personally I like, 8, 8 and then 6 sets of 7,7.  The grip stays fresher. The sets don't seem that long.  If you can do 5 reps, everyone can do an extra 2. And my shoulders feel better.  There are some drawbacks to this.  First, you have to keep a decent pace.  Hand switches waste time. Second, the counting aspect.  This isn't a problem for me.  My brother teases me, that I know my exact golf score in my head or how many points I scored when I played basketball.  But it works for me.  

The key is NOT PUTTING  THE BELL DOWN.  If you put the bell down, fatigue takes over, it's hard to get going again, and you'll put it down again.  Ever notice when running how hard it is to start running again when you stop? Or doing a task you dread at work, get going on it and stop?  Same thing.  Anyway, I did the 100 at a nice easy pace in 4:50 and did 4 more for 104 total.  I might train with a 55 again.  I haven't done 100 with a 55 in about 5 years.  

What's next? I'm kind of in a no-man's land. Going on vacation in 20 days.  I can squeeze 3 weeks of The Giant 1.1 in.  Then take a week off as a de-load. And finish week 4 by doing a full 30 minutes.  Or I could finish Ballistic Beatdown.  I have 3 weeks left. I'm not a fan of it.  I HATE high pulls.  Especially before snatches. Finishing it would be more of a matter of pride than enjoyment  I'm leaning toward the former.

The Giant 1.0 = Results

I decided after finishing Lucky 13 to start The Giant 1.0 program by Geoff Neupert. When I purchased The Giant, for a whole $19, I would test my clean and press and work with my 10 repetition max as recommended in the book.  Started with 55's and only did 6.  I decided to begin with 45's.  After a week or 2 of pressing into triple digits on 1.0, I quit the program and went to Giant 3.0, which is a lower rep program using 5 RM max.  I used 55's and that helped me raise my rep max to a whopping 7. I ran 1.2 which is all reps with 45's.  I sincerely believe doing all those reps with 45's really helped me, because my press became a lot more efficient. The more vertical the path, the shorter the length to locking out. 

While doing Lucky 13, I did some intermittent lifting with 55's.  5 sets of 2-4 reps for a couple of weeks. I decided at this point to just run 1.0 with the 55's and see what happens.  No rep max test.  Suck it up candy ass.  Well the results are in.  First week, 167 total reps in 90 minutes to 185 total reps in the 3rd week.  My only setback was in week 2, I wasn't able to add a set on the heavy day.  I did more reps as I did a quick 2 at the end to finish. 10 x 6 + 1 x 2 for 62.  Completely my fault. I was running Ballistic Beatdown from More Kettlebell Muscle, on 3 of the off days for fat loss/cardio purposes. Heavy day was the day before and the workout was 180 reps of Double Swings, High Pulls, Double Snatches, Squats and Jerks.  Shoulders were tired.  Learned my lesson and shelved it.  Instead went to Planet Fitness and did some light pulldowns, rows and a run on off days. 

I have finished week 4 by deloading down to 20 minutes from 30, and doing an easy 6-8 sets.  

What I've noticed:

• My conditioning is off the charts.  Between running 1.2, then the complexes tuned my engine up.  I'm running 5 miles no sweat once a week and did a 3 mile treadmill run in under 25 minutes. I haven't done that since my 30's.
• The light days were harder sometimes than the heavy days.  At first, I thought it was mental or anti-climatic, but then, duh, more sets = lower rest periods.  11 sets in 30 minutes is a lot less than 15 total sets.
• I'm hungry, all the time.  Weight went to 190. I'm going on a golf vacation Thursday to my buddy's house in Asheville, NC. The plan is to clean up the diet after.
• The Giant 1.0 did not help my golf game.  I've become a complete mental basketcase.  Need to find my relaxed Zen.  Bad swing thoughts = bad results.  Is it really too much to just be a 13-15 handicap?  My irons and putting are good enough.  Erratic off the tee and inconsistent with the fairway woods.  I shot 41 this summer with a triple on a par 3 because I hit a 9 iron into the shit and lost a ball.  Didn't hit anything other than 6 iron off the tee that 9 in Naples. Go figure.

Saturday I decided to test my rep max with the double 55's/25kg bells.  I'm not a fan of tests anymore, or road races.  But I decided to just do it.  I banged out 10 and absolutely had 1 in the tank.  Here's the proof.  

.

•  Two weeks ago I tried to clean and press double 32 kg/70 lb. bells and failed.  Not even close.   This past Saturday, 30 minutes after the test above, I tried twice, got a LOT closer but failed. I had not done cleans in a long time with the 70's.  They weren't crisp and I needed to zip up and get tighter.  Sunday comes, I'm vacuuming in the basement, I walked over, did a set of 4 double cleans just to get warmed up and used to the movement, focusing on getting tight. 10 minutes later:                   

      

             

    It was a GRIND, by no means a thing of beauty but it went up.  First time in at least 4, probably            closer to 5 years, since I did it.

What's next on tap?  Well I have 3 choices.  

• Finish Ballistic Beatdown, (3 1/2 more weeks of workouts, and get the eating under control) 
• Run Giant 1.1.  Probably the 3rd choice.  6 rep days are the light days instead of the heavy days
• Run Giant 2.0. Reps are ladder style.  There are some hairy rep counts, but not 30 minutes of doing straight 8 rep sets. 

I'm going to have to run 1.1 and take ALL rest days, so I'd like the diet to be under control.  Also, the weather is gorgeous here, and I still want to get some runs in.  Ballistic Beatdown is a bitch, I should probably finish it and wave the load of pressing.  

Lucky 13, More Kettlebells Muscle

So the plan of doing bodyweight exercises for 30 days lasted a whole 4 days.  My left shoulder could not take it.   Pushups, pullups, dips were irritating my clavicle.  Pressing overhead doesn't cause issues but anything lateral makes it squawk.  I wasn't ready to go back to The Giant yet, so I decided to go to my old standby: More Kettlebell Muscle by Geoff Neupert. Purchase here.

When I finish a program in the book, I write down whether I did it as a complex or chain, and the date I finished.  I've finished 15 of them.  There is one I can't complete because my grip can't handle it,  I need another 35 lb. bell.  I selected Lucky 13 and decided to do it as a chain.  All these programs last 6-9 weeks, 3 workouts per week. For some of these programs, the workouts are under 10 minutes for the first 3-4 weeks.  48 hours rest between workouts.  I decided to combine 2 weeks into one and complete it in 3 weeks.

What makes Lucky 13 different from other programs is the inclusion of the reverse lunge.  Although you do a lunge in the getup, it's not programmed in most kettlebell workouts.  Why? It is a balance issue, can cause knee issues and one needs practice to perfect them.  Too bad, because they are a PHENOMENAL exercise with good form while holding 2 bells in the rack.  And they are great for conditioning.  I remember including them in an Escalated Density program I was doing with the double snatch.  15 minutes of work never took so long.  I prefer them over the goblet squat, which in my opinion is a nice beginner movement to pry the hips open but that's where it belongs, or as a warmup.

I haven't done complexes or chains in awhile, so the first 5 or 6 workouts were getting my locomotive engine back into metabolic conditioning.  Although I've been doing a lot of running and hiking, there is HUGE difference than doing 90 second kettlebells sets.  The medium day and the easy day were both, nice easy workouts.  The reverse lunge in medium day helped me get used to doing the movement again.  Had a couple of bad reps, but was able to find the groove.  No lunges on easy day.  Then we get to day 3, heavy day.  I was using two 45 lb. kettlebells. 

Heavy day includes lunges and squats.  30 reps of total exercise per round. 3 rounds in week 1, 5 rounds, weeks, 3 and 5, 6 rounds week 6.  The work : rest ratio shrinks from 1:2 weeks 1-3 to 1:1.5 weeks 4-6.  When I was done the 1st week of heavy day, I was so happy there were only 3 rounds.  I was a puddle of sweat huffing and puffing.  As my conditioning for chains came back I handled the 4 and 5 rounds weeks 1-3.  Uncomfortably with legs starting to shake.  

Week 5 heavy day was particularly brutal.  I was trash for 30 minutes.  First, the breath starts to increase, then the shoulders start to tire from pressing and holding the bells in the rack for so long, finally the panic sets in as the foundation, AKA legs start to shake.  I didn't have a 6th round in me and was questioning, how I would conclude this.  

Welp, I kind of cheated.  The good news was I got all the reps in, and the time it took to do the workout was less than I had estimated. Here's what I did: 

Number of seconds per round + rest period.  So 84 seconds to complete the chain of one of the 6 rounds.  Rest 126 seconds which is 1.5 x 84.  Add 84 + 126 gives you the time between starting a new round which is 210 seconds.  Multiply that for 5 complete rounds and you get 1,050 seconds.  Add 84 more seconds for the 6th round gets you to 1134 seconds or 17:54 for total time.

Each round contains 5 sequences.  So 6 rounds x 5 sequences is 30 total sequences.  Now take 1134 seconds and divide by 30.  Equals 37.8 seconds.  So instead of doing 5 sequences at once and resting for 2 minutes and 6 seconds, I did a sequence, rested until 37 seconds passed and did the sequence again.  30 times.  So it was, Sequence, rest to 37 seconds, sequence, rest to 1:14 seconds, sequence rest to 1:51 until I  finished the 30 sequences.  

Think of it as rest:pause/interval training vs. doing 5 at once and resting.  Heartrate stays up, form doesn't breakdown because fatigue isn't setting in, finished  all the reps done in less time, didn't stiffen up from resting 2 minutes.  The only thing that didn't happen was lactic acid setting in from the fatigue.  I finished in 17:32. I did need to pay attention not to lose count.

Results were positive, while doing this program, I hiked in Acadia National Park up in Bar Harbor, ME with my wife for our 25th anniversary and rucked up three 1200 foot summits which according to AllTrails were deemed "DIFFICULT" with no problem.  I also did a mountain goat run at home which has eluded me for couple of years due to the steepness of one of the hills about 2 miles out and was able to complete the run.  Heartrate has been around 52.  Weight around 186, blood pressure in check. 

In order to keep up with strength goals for starting The Giant again, I've been following this "grease the groove" pressing program using double 55's.  I like calling it "intermittent workouts."  Every 30 minutes to an hour do a set until you do 5 sets.  My only issues is sitting down, I have to get up and walk around to loosen up before doing the set.  I was feeling cocky on Saturday and tried a clean and press with double 70's.  Not even close, those days might be done. 

On tap is one more program of complexes. It's probably going to be "Ballistic Beatdown."  With reps of 10, it looks like it might be a grip killer.  I'll run it as a complex.