Random Thoughts and What's New

 It's always good to clear out the brain when you feel you have some useful thoughts to offer, though the word 'useful' might be subjective.

Just finished 15 weeks of More Kettlebell Muscle using 4 programs.  2 as a complex, 2 as a chain.

The Long Haul and Upper Back Attack, then did The Wolf and Oh Row You Don't.  I underrated the Wolf.  Heavy day on day 3 is one nasty piece of work.  I used 45's. and ran it as a chain.  The one drawback of most of these programs is that it contains the double snatch.  Which, done heavy, is a great way to get yourself hurt.  Medium and Light Day don't contain that exercise.  On week 1, workout 1, I tried to run 55's.  Got 3 cycles into the chain on the 1st set and thought, "what did I get myself into?" Put them down and started over.  Kind of like skiing down a double black, getting 1/2 way through and seeing moguls.  

The last week of the Wolf was a special kind of nasty.  5 rounds, about 2 minutes rest in between, and 75 squats in under 15 minutes.  Heart rate was around 200, and I was still huffing and puffing 10 minutes later.  It did strip 8 lb. off me though.  As the workout says, "Brutal Conditioning."  I do believe there is some real magic in heavy complexes.

Up next for workouts is some random stuff.  2 days a week focus on the long cycle clean and jerk. 2 days go to the gym for pushups, dips and a run.  I'm going to start sprinting when the weather is nice.  I found a link to Geoff Neupert's 102 kettlebell workouts.  I'm going to randomly pick through those depending on how I feel.

Geoff Neupert's 102 Kettlebell workouts

I've done 3 of them so far.  Did snatches with a 55 for 20 minutes for the 1st time in a while.  My traps and upper shoulders have a special soreness going on right now.

I didn't make it a New Year's Resolution, but in 2021, I've been opening my mind to either doing new things or some stuff I haven't done in awhile.  I started a new job in February.  I was happy in my role, a little bored, but content.  I received an offer I couldn't refuse and just finished my first month.  So far so good.  Work for a Canadian company, and they are nice people with a good product. 

After I gave notice, I was driving the house crazy so I decided after a 15 inch snow storm to drive to the local mountain and get on skis for the first time in almost 15 years.  I had so much fun, I went a week later as well. Nice people ski.  Go to a golf course, no one is happy.  The pro is a dink, slaving away with 12 hour days.  Slow play, missed putts, finishing a good round with a snowman.  Skiing is the opposite.  

Went up to the mountains in New Hampshire twice to hike in the dead of winter. My buddy has a house across from Lake Winnipesaukee and heats his whole home with a wood stove.  Also got on ice skates for the 3rd time in 30 years and didn't fall once.  Finally, we had a guys weekend up there and walked a 1/2 mile onto the lake where his friends were ice fishing and grilling.  Now, I've worked in a freezer for 5 summers on the night shift.  Never have I been so cold afterward.  It was fun, but never again. I drove back for 30 minutes, took a hot shower and my feet were still itching from being cold an hour later.  I look forward to getting on the boat in the summer.

One thing I am closing my mind to is taking a vaccine for COVID unless forced.  What are the long term side effects?  No one knows.  Last year I was in Manhattan at a huge conference at the Marriott Marquis.  My buddy and colleague got the virus and was down and out for 10 days. I had one day where I felt chills and had laryngitis (which I get once a year) for a day.  Maybe it was a cold.  Then my son, caught COVID and the other 3 of us in the house tested negative.  Went to North Carolina on a golf trip on an airplane, business as usual.  I NEVER get the flu shot and I'm not getting this.  

Don't be surprised in 2026 if you hear an advertisement say, "if you took the Moderna vaccine in 2021 you may be eligible for financial compensation...."  

I think there are going to be medical passports and in order to be eligible you must get it.  I think masks are unfortunately here to stay.  

The mask rules are a mystery to me.  I can go out to dinner, wear the mask from the entrance of the restaurant to my table.  But then can take it off for 90 minutes and breathe in the same stale air as those around me?  Please explain that logic.  

At our gym, they're required.  Fine, except when I run on the treadmill. It's below my mouth.  I'm not getting a heart attack because of lack of oxygen.  Thankfully, it's almost nice enough to go outside.

Anyone try the Tim Ferriss fitness hack?  80 seconds of exercise immediately before eating a large meal and then 90 minutes later another set?  It's supposed to push the calories into the muscles instead of being stored as fat.  Also your blood sugar is highest at the 90 minute mark.  Made a pot of spaghetti sauce and had pasta 2 nights in a row.  I don't know if it works, but it sure makes you less hungry after the first set.

Ringo Starr won the Beatles looks war at 80 years old.  In the Daily Mail on Monday there were pictures of him at the Grammys.  He looks great even the dye job is great.  Meanwhile the cute Beatle Paul McCartney looks like a lesbian scarecrow.  McCartney and McCartney II sucked as albums, why put out McCartney III?  After almost 60 years there is nothing left to say and he can't sing.  Please stop.

I have Illinois as the team that's going to play Gonzaga.  The Illini are big and really fast.  

Am I the only one who hates Bryson DeChambeau's golf game?  The problem with the PGA is, other than the US Open, it's okay to miss fairways.  Any tournament with a total round -12 or better is too easy.

10,000 steps is the new 100 pitches.  Just a nice round number.  There is no difference between 7500 and 10000 in regard to health.  Think minimum effective dose.

Decided to INVEST not trade crypto this year.  Every month I've been investing 3-5k combined at Ethereum and Bitcoin to average cost base it.  Stock market is too high right now and a good time to tread water.  It's money I can afford to lose and it will never be 0.  I love the fact the crypto market doesn't close. Money never sleeps.  

Making money from side hustles and investing is WAY more fun than working.  Just need that health insurance coverage.  12 years 11 months until Medicare....

Watched every Celtics game this year.  I record them and if they're late games, watch them while drinking my morning coffee.  Good, not even close to being good enough.  Tried watching the first 3 Bruins games and they were so anemic offensively I turned them off.  Having lost 9 out of 13 I'm not missing anything.

Get Shorty on Amazon Prime is an excellent show.  Watching Sneaky Pete and the Patriot as well.  My favorite show though is Justified, watching that on free Hulu.  

Bridgerton on free Netflix got 15 minutes of my time. I hate period pieces and don't like my filth that clean.

I could care less about the Royal Family. Meghan Markle and Fredo, I mean Harry are this century's John Lennon and Yoko Ono. 

Goal for this spring is to try and figure out the magic of Loaded Carries.  

Kettlebell Muscle Review

This is the second time I've run the Kettlebell Muscle program.  Kettlebell Muscle is a book written by Geoff Neupert back in 2010.  It is one of the most famous books ever written about the effectiveness of kettlebell complexes and chains.  It was such a success that Geoff followed up with More Kettlebell Muscle which is 20 different programs.  But if you run them as a chain it's realistically 35 programs.

Unfortunately, the book is out of print.  I don't own it, however some generous soul had put it out on Reddit.  I don't use the forum, but copied the workout.  Before this blog, I checked and couldn't find it on a search.  If you want the workout, comment below and I'll get it to you. 

It is a double kettlebell program, using your 10-12 rep pressing max, to perform multiple sets of a complex.  What is a complex?  

A series of exercises strung together doing a number of reps at one exercise, transitioning to the next exercise without rest.  

For example: doing 5 reps of each exercise

Double Clean x 5, Double Snatch x 5, Double Press x 5, Front Squat x 5. Rest and Repeat.

For the Kettlebell Muscle Program, all the reps are set at 5.  Exercises are: Double Swing, Double High Pull, Double Clean, Double Snatch, Military Press, See-Saw Press, Clean and Press, Clean and Push Press and Front Squats. Rest periods run from 75-150 seconds dependent on the progression of the program.  Sets run from 3-7.

Workouts last as short as 7 minutes to almost 18.  Program is done 3 times a week, for 12 weeks. A minimum effective dose?  Absolutely, but it packs a real punch.  Especially weeks 6 and 12.

Having just finished a 16 week program, Geoff's Kettlebell Burn 2.0, where the workouts were 35-46 minutes, I wanted to just hit it and quit it.  I took a week off and went on a golf vacation in Asheville, NC, fully fresh and well fed, I started the program using Double 45's

After the first workout, which took 7 minutes, yes medium day, was 7 minutes.  3 rounds, 120 seconds rest in between. I decided to run the program 6 days a week.  Fit 2 weeks into 1 with a day off. Another change, I made was doing snatches, high pulls, and swings outside the knees.  Better hip snap and protection from popping my SI joint which has been a lingering injury on and off for 3 years.  

The program went by in a blur as I finished it in 6 weeks.  As you progress to 5-6 sets on heavy day and are doing 10 reps of squats with 90 seconds rest, the legs turn to absolute jelly with the shakes. 

In week 6 which occurred in the 3rd week, I had to put the bells down on set 5 of 6 sets.  So I got the rest down and finished rest pause style.  Double clean, rest 15 seconds, Double Press, rest etc.  I finished the workout in the same amount of time, just didn't have the discomfort of holding the bells in the rack and cut the 90 seconds rest down into 15 second increments.

Week 7, the program resets and you start with squats and add a chain movement of clean and push press to heavy day and a clean and press chain to medium day.  The first 6 weeks of the program help you set up for the discomfort of the second half of the program.  On heavy day, the last two exercises of the set are the double snatch and squat.  Once I got through the clean and push press, I knew I'd get through the set. Never did I think a double snatch set would be an oasis.

There were 2 things I was curious about, could you run the whole program as a chain and could you use it for fat loss.

A chain is a sequence of exercises just like a complex except you do one rep of each exercise repeated 5 times

Double Clean x 1 Double Snatch x 1 Press x 1, Squat x 1 and repeat that 5 times to finish the set.  

Chains spread the fatigue around and hit you like a sledge hammer after the 3rd rep. Kind of like drinking gin.  The whole world seems normal and then BOOM.

On an off day in the latter half of the program, I did a couple of sets of heavy day as a chain.  It was tough, yet doable. 

As a fat burner, no. The squatting volume makes you hungry, real hungry.  As in, "I need to social distance from my refrigerator" hungry.

Results:

Incredible condition.  Heart rate up over 180 beats per minute at the end of heavy day. 

Weight: 200-202.  Didn't lose weight, but my pants didn't get any tighter.  Need to cancel my membership in the 2 bills club.  

Strength. Higher.  Pressing 90 lbs. 20-35 reps 6 days a week improved my strength.  I haven't been working with heavy doubles in a year or so.  As a matter of fact, haven't pressed double 70's at all.  This week, I tried it. 140 lb. went up easy with good form.  Did 16 sets of 1 + a squat without any struggle at all

If you can find it, I highly recommend.  Comment below and I'll get you the program.

 

Kettlebell Crossroads

Well, if I didn't consider myself old, going on high blood pressure medication has confirmed it.  After continually getting readings of 137/91-158/100, I was finally prescribed 10 mg of Lisinopril.  This has brought it down to the 120's for systolic and the low to mid 80's for the diastolic.  The good news is my cholesterol level went down from 244 to 238.  The better news is my HDL (good cholesterol) went up 17 points from 79 to 96, which is off the charts good. Heart rate is in the mid 50's, weight in the mid 180's.  All good.

I finished one of the kettlebell programs I was doing after 6 weeks. It was a rowing based complex program and heavy and medium day were, uncomfortable at the end.  4 rounds, work:rest ratio, 1:1

Heavy day 45 lb. kettlebells
Renegade Row x 20 seconds
Double Clean x 20 seconds
Front Squat x 20 seconds
Double Snatch x 20 seconds
Military Press x 20 seconds
Double Swing x 20 seconds
Double Row x 20 seconds.

2:20 on, 2:20 rest.

The other program is a 9 week jerk program I'm doing as a chain. Starting week 8.  Using 45's, 4 rounds work:rest 1:1, week 9 will be 5 rounds.  Takes about 100 seconds and then rest 100.

Heavy Day: Repeat this sequence 6 times for 30 reps
Double Clean x 1
Jerk x 1
Front Squat x 1
Double Snatch x 1
Jerk x 1

Don't be fooled, 4th time around the sequence it starts getting fatiguing.

I like these workouts because they only take 15 minutes max, and if I want to run, play basketball or go to the gym and do chest, I'm not so spent that I can't.  I've been playing hoop 1-2 times a week and it's coming back.  Some nights, like Monday we had 18 guys and I was the oldest one there and I can keep up. Just don't ask me about my kneecaps when I go downstairs the next day.

My goals right now are just to complete the programs.  I have ZERO interest in lifting heavy.  I haven't picked up my 70's or 88's in long time.  My fear is my elbows. When doing Turkish Getups with the 88, which I have no problem performing on each side. The hyperextending of my elbows makes them sore the next day. If that's the case what's the point?  Did 200 snatches in 19 minutes with a 55 doing 5 each hand at the top of the minute. No problem, but my hands never feel great after and my form is solid.

So I have 2 weeks to figure out what to do next.  I am going to continue to use kettlebells.  Right now I know what I'm not going to do.

No Rite of Passage, too much volume, no farmers carries, no Simple and Sinister (with all the fun and different exercises you can do with a kettlebell, why would anyone stick to just getups and swings is beyond me), no Easy Strength, no 10000 swings.

Stacking 3x a week is a possibility, Escalation Density Training is a maybe, 3x a week.  My only issue with that is I get nothing out of floor presses so I need to figure out a pressing movement on Day 2.  I'm also thinking of simplifying things and using one kettlebell for awhile.  I'm better when I'm doing programs vs. free forming.

This is not on my purchase list.

The Turkish Get Up is a Kettlebell Chain

I received an email from Scott Iardella, The Scientist of Strength, about a 21 day Turkish Get Up program that started up on May 1. I decided to sign up for it and am six days through it. The program is supposed to be a supplement to what your current workout is, and done at the end of your workout.  The volume is surprisingly low, but there is a caveat. Each get up must take about a minute to perform.  Which for me, is long.  I'm usually on a slow day, 30 seconds and efficient.  I see where he is coming from.  Focus on perfect movement and time under tension.  It should be hard, but not a struggle. Each sequence should improve as you graduate through the program.  I'm using a 70 to start, it's fatiguing yet achievable. The Easy Strength Street of the TGU. Getting better through practice.

But here is where I question it.  If one is efficient with all the steps of the movement, and you want to focus on time under tension, wouldn't you achieve the same effect by doing multiple repetitions on one side, before switching hands?  That way you would get more movement in, while achieving time under tension. Or, another way, do the get down first, then a get up.  What makes this hard is the bell never comes down to the floor when you alternate hands.  You're switching at the top of the movement and have to press or snatch it to the other side.

I am following the program as it is written out, but this is what is going through my head as I'm performing it. I like the Turkish Get Up, it's a great exercise that helps build shoulders and fluidity of movement. Making sure all your parts are moving in working order. Is it the Holy Grail of kettlebell exercises?  No, but I think it helps prepare your body to everything you can do with a kettlebell.  It's sequential parts are similar to a kettlebell chain, which I believe is diabolical in an underrated way.  The program is challenging. On day 5, it's 4 get ups on each side which takes about 9 -10 minutes.  I was glad it was over.  Maybe I'll move up to the 88 next week, now that will be a challenge on the way back down.  I'll probably stick with the 70.

The beauty of get ups is you can do them every day in low volume. The book Simple and Sinister has shown that. In my opinion, that program is great as a finisher or if you're really pressed for time.  Or if you just want a program where there is zero thinking involved and you're deloading from another program. But by no means is it the magic formula.  A good beginners program as well. I've done the 100 swing test with an 88 and lived to tell about it.  Those days are over.  Last time I did high volume one hand swings with a 70,  7 sets of 15, 15 L,R rest 30 seconds, my sacrum acted up an I had to take a few days off.  I'd rather snatch.

I purchased Geoff Neupert's More Kettlebell Muscle 3 years ago. It has 20 different 6-9 week programs using double kettlebells.  You can do the programs as a complex or as a chain. I have completed 19 of the 20 programs using at least two 45 lb. kettlebells.  The only one I cannot complete is The A & P.  The heavy days are too much and I'm not buying another 35 lb. bell just to do it.  Heart rate and breathing are never an issue for me. I panic when the grip starts to go or the posterior of my shoulders start fatiguing.  Don't believe me?  Try it, take double kettlebells, a pair you're confident with.  30 seconds of cleans, 30 seconds of high pulls, 30 seconds of double snatches, 30 seconds of swings.  That's about 12-14 cleans, and 17 high pulls.  So you're at 30 reps before you start the double snatch, and because the grip is tighter with a high pull, the grip is starting to go.  Finish with double swings.  I bet you can't get it above your hips.  The first round, maybe the second round can be completed. Put a stamp on the third.  Or the other heavy day. Front Squat x 30, Press x 30, Front Squat x 30, Push Press x 30.  That's about 10 squats, and holding the bells in the rack is pre-fatiguing the press.  Then, another 10 squats.  The push press will require a lot more leg drive.  Leave the puke bucket next to you.  I made it to the third week.  I was stressed out between sets with anxiety about how terrible the workout was. 

When you do complexes for time, it can be extremely challenging to keep good form and pace in the rep scheme.  When you're doing a complex for reps, instead of time, I feel the chain is harder.  With a complex, you can get into a rhythm and the fatigue is isolated.  6 cleans, 6 press, 6 squats, 6 double snatches.  A chain is done sequentially. 1 clean, 1 press, 1 squat, 1 double snatch, repeat 6 times. It seems SO easy, until you the 3rd or 4th sequence and fatigue is spreading through the body.  I finished the Wolf which is one of the squat programs. I used 55's on easy and medium day and 45's on heavy day because I wasn't going to take my head off doing double snatches in a chain.  Medium day is clean, squat, press, clean, squat x 5.  It's a 25 rep chain with 10 squats. I've never been so happy to release the bells out of a rack with a clean. The 4th or 5th press set off the lunk alarm down the street at Planet Fitness.

Like a Turkish Get Up, the sequence of a chain stresses the body. When doing ballistics, such as a swings or snatches, you're heart rate, rises. Do a few get ups, when finished, even though moving slower than a ballistic, how high your heart rate is as well as how tired you feel.  That is the beauty of a chain.

Currently I'm doing two complexes from the book. One is done as a chain, the other as a complex, alternating days and the get up program. 

Next post, I'll focus on the the benefits and limitations of kettlebells. 

2016 Review and Some Other Thoughts

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope everyone enjoyed it with family and friends.  I'm sad to see 2016 end.  I am grateful that when I look over my soon to be 49th year on the planet, this was one of the better ones.  Top 10, closer to 5 than 10.  Hopefully, 2017 we can keep the winning streak alive.  It was a home run, personally, professionally and healthwise.

After recovering from a lower back injury in February and March, I hung up the barbells, quit the gym and just focused on kettlebells and running.  It worked out well for me.  I lost my winter weight, and set some PR's.  I'm not doing 315 x 10 on the back squat like I was doing, but who gives a care?  I finished a 10,000 swing program in 10 days.  I snatched 160 reps with a 55 in 10 minutes.  I completed a couple of More Kettlebell Muscle programs that I hadn't done as well as press an 80 lb. kettlebell for 3 reps on each side.  Conditioning wise, I ran 8 miles one day and even now can do a 10k at a moment's notice.  Pushed a sled with my near decade younger cousin without losing my breakfast.  Achieved Simpler and Sinister with an 88 without training for it. (100 consecutive one hand swings and 5 getups each side in under 10 minutes).

Currently, I'm repeating a program I had done about 2.5 years ago, but didn't complete as written. The Long Haul from More Kettlebell Muscle. Using Double 45's, I just finished Week 7 of the 9 week program.  It's a complex that has Light Day, 3 exercises 30 seconds each, Medium Day, 4 exercises 30 seconds each, Heavy Day 5 exercises, 30 seconds each.  Work:Rest ratio 1:2 first 3 weeks (heavy day has 5 minutes between rounds), 1:1.5 Weeks 4-6, 1:1 Weeks 7-9.  Before week 7, I was throwing in some strength work on my off days.  Low volume/moderately heavy. That was until last week....

Does the Minimal Effective Dose work?  Well, of course it does.  Water boils at 212 F.  It doesn't need to get to 213.  Well, that was my thinking at the 7th week.  You get stronger and grow on your rest days after the stimulus of the weight work.  So I decided I needed all the rest I could get with the rest periods of the Long Haul being 1:1.  Started on Medium Day.  4 rounds, 2 minutes a round, rest 2 minutes.  Total workout time 14 minutes.  I was cooked.  Upper back/shoulders exhausted, because I had to do double snatches, then press, followed by front squats.  Front squats and snatches fry your upper back.  Decided, I'm doing the last 8 workouts with as much rest as possible.

Took the next day off, as a matter of fact, fasted for 36 hours.  I got back into it this month after, ripping on it in my last post.  On Christmas Eve, ate a big breakfast.  3 eggs with cheese, toast, kielbasia and an orange.  Figured I needed as much nutrition as I could before the workout.  Waited 90 minutes and did heavy day...

Top 3 HARDEST workouts that I was able to complete this year.  Probably the hardest.  It was miserable. When double snatches are an oasis movement, you know the suck factor is high.  On paper it looked challenging but not over the top.  4 rounds, 2.5 minutes.  The issue was only resting 2.5 minutes between rounds vs. 3:45 or 5 minutes.  17 minutes and 30 seconds of hell.  My shoulders ached, my calves hurt (no idea why), my heart rate according to my pulse and stopwatch was 218 per minute.  I was junk when I was done.  After 5 minutes I sat and meditated for 20 minutes.  I couldn't get up off the floor after that. Just wiped out.  All I could think was, I have to do 5 rounds next week and 6 the week after.  How am I going to do that?

In hindsight, fasting the day before probably affected my performance.  Took Christmas off and had a prime rib, potato pancakes and creamed spinach dinner. at 8 PM.  Yesterday, I did easy day and it was 180 degrees from heavy day.  Finished it barely breaking a sweat.  Heart rate was 180, but wasn't gasping for breath.  Only 10:30 seconds.  So we'll see how the Minimal Effective Dose fares.

December has been a kick ass month for me.  As President-elect Trump says, "Think Big and Kick Ass."  For those of you who didn't vote for him, and that's fine, look at your investments over the last 7 weeks and get back to me. 17 new record highs in the Dow.

I decided to go into the New Year flying on a health kick vs. trodding slowly like a sloth.  Started fasting for 36-40 hours once a week, no alcohol, meditating for 15-20 minutes daily, usually after working out.  I've eaten well, whatever I want as a matter of fact. The results are: workouts have been better than ever, weight in the 186-187 range (that's good fighting weight for me), usually around 193-194 and trending upward in December, feel sharp as a tack and locked in.  I've weaved and bobbed through every social land mine there is. 100 person Christmas party, huge cocktail party, out to dinner three times,  Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family.  A nice bottle of Macallan 12 year as a gift from my father in law.  No booze. I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight.  Throw in the empty calories of alcohol and I gain.  I'd rather eat than drink to tell you the truth.  Lemon water on ice or soda is good with me.

Moderation in my opinion, doesn't work for my personality.  I'm an all or nothing person.  Abstinence is easier for me.  Why?  There is no negotiation. I'm fasting today.  That means no food.  My mind is made up, I'm done. Call it being a twin syndrome and having to share a womb.  Abstinence gives you more room for error.  Have you noticed most people don't finish things strong?  They get to 80% and say, well that was a good effort, close enough.  (Lean into the microphone, ) WRONG!  You need to finish the job.  Why fast only 24 hours, when the free fatty acids are highest in your blood at the 32 hour mark?  You make it 24, suck it up for 4 more hours, go to bed and when you wake up, your body is in full fat burning mode.  When you don't drink for a month, your skin glows from hydration, fat in your liver decreases by 15% and your cholesterol goes down 5-10%.  Why blow those benefits and quit at 3 weeks?

Moderation is akin to picking at a scab. Abstinence is healing.  It requires more mental toughness, but you don't go backwards.  Abstinence is strength, moderation is a mind game.  Constantly negotiating with yourself.  Embrace the suck, start today, you'll get to your destination and goals faster.

I don't have or need to have a specific goal or any resolutions for Twenty Seventeen.  Just keep on keeping on.  Being grateful, continuing to enjoy the good life.  A promotion and a nice President's Club trip with my wife are in the works professionally.  Enjoying coaching my younger son's basketball and baseball teams and watching my older son, who was undefeated in tennis last year as a sophomore, play again this year. My younger son should start on number 2 doubles as an 8th grader, so I look forward to the challenge of running back and forth watching two matches.

The years fly by, try to make them all great.  Happy New Year, God Bless You All.