55th Year Tuneup and DO NOT DO THE RITE OF PASSAGE White Album Review

Welp, the time has come. SHOULDER REPLACEMENT SURGERY on my left shoulder on November 16.  The cortisone shots were working for less time and my range of motion was lessening. When putting on pit rub or combing your hair is an effort, it's time to address what's wrong. 6 weeks in a sling, right through the New Year.  Currently practicing shaving and brushing my teeth with my right hand. Three- month recuperation, will be ready by spring.  Going to PT twice a week to make the muscles around the shoulder stronger and to pre-habilitate my right shoulder which isn't great either.

I also need a protein injection in my right cornea to keep it from degenerating and starting Wednesday, removing some pre-cancerous skin blemishes from my face. Going to use an ointment that will turn my face completely red on the left side.  Use for 4 weeks. It's basically, chemo ointment.  Good times, going to look fantastic on the family Christmas card.

Been going to the gym. Physically in good shape, can lose 10 lb. but the engine and cardio are strong.  Echo Bike, Sled, Kettlebell Swings, and Hands-free Stairmaster intervals.  The Echo Bike is the nastiest piece of equipment, I've used in a LONG time.  Worked my way up to 19 miserable minutes, adding 1 each time. Tabata on it is the WORST. Now if I could re-lock in my diet, we'd be in business.

So, what caused all this shoulder problems?  Kettlebell volume.  All the pressing and snatching wore the cartilage down to a nub.  I also didn't start until I was 40 and already had mileage on me. All this work pressing double 70's for reps, snatching a 55, 200 times a couple times a week. Dumb dumb dumb.

I'm not saying don't do presses or snatches, I'm saying, pick a volume and go no higher.  For example, the Rite of Passage has you pressing 3x a week. 30 reps, 50 reps and 75 reps each arm, while doing pullups in between sets.  Recipe for disaster.  Both are brutal on the shoulders.  The ideal reps' scheme is 25-50 reps twice a week.  Lose the heavy day.  Grease the groove instead. Most people when they get to 32kg/70 lb. start getting nicked up. I'd say, for most average men, under 225 lb. don't go higher than a 24kg/52 lb. bell most of the time.  

Snatching is just as bad.  Think of the rolling of the ball and socket as it goes over your head.  Is that really good for your shoulders?  I love the exercise but 50 reps MAX per arm a couple of times a week and NEVER heavy.  Meaning no higher than 24kg/52lb. if you aren't interested in tennis elbow.  

I have no one to blame but myself.  I was the ignorant one. I love working with kettlebells, it's just now my time is over with them. Don't get fooled by programs that tell you, to keep banging your head against the wall to achieve 1/2 your body weight press and 200 snatches in 10 minutes.  Showing up, putting in the work, is all that counts. For the last 30 years, my weight has been between 180-200. It doesn't matter if I was running 5/3/1 and squatting 3 plates for 10 or doing 155 lb. with the safety bar.  Or pressing 70's for 3-5 reps or just doing shrugs.  I look the same. Maybe older, fatter and less muscular, but not much of a difference.  

This is not meant to be bitter.  It's reality and I hope others will learn the lesson. I'd be weary of any pressing programs that have you doing it 3x a week for volume. Including THE GIANT. What's the end game?  Squat instead, do rows, swings. 

Quick recap of the Beatles' 1968 White Album.  They did everything better than everyone else.  The Beach Boys in Back in the USSR, hard rock with Helter Skelter, the blues with Yer Blues and Why Don't We Do It in the Road? Music hall with Martha My Dear, Rock with While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Country with Rocky Racoon and Don't Pass Me By.  

30 songs, uneven, a hot mess. You could easily cull 9 songs off of it. Revolution 9, Long, Long, Long, Everybody Has Something To Hide, Rocky Racoon, Bungalow Bill, Wild Honey Pie, Piggies, Goodnight, Cry Baby Cry, and I would even lop Birthday to make it 10. Dumb lyrics.  

I really don't like most of John Lennon's stuff on here. Yer Blues is awesome and so is Sexy Sadie. Mommy issues and wanting to revert to a child with Bungalow Bill, Julia (McCartney with an acoustic singing is WAY better than Lennon), Dear Prudence (no wonder why she wouldn't come out to play). Revolution 9 should have been put on Two Virgins.  I always thought Happiness is a Warm Gun is overrated (ironic a warm gun killed him). I like Glass Onion, Dear Prudence, and I'm So Tired.  He peaked in 1965.

Back in the USSR and While My Guitar Gently Weeps are spectacular. Mother Nature's Son is better than Blackbird.  

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 Greatest Single Kettlebell Program

 Did the title hook you to click?  

My experience with running the The Giant is over.  Using double 55 lb./25 kg kettlebells, I completed all 5 programs of 4 weeks apiece. What I loved about it, was set the clock from 20-30 minutes and do cleans and presses.  No timed rest periods, just auto-regulate and do the work. On days that, I didn't have it, all I had to do was get through the 30 minutes.

The issue, I have, is it is a minimalist approach.  Do one exercise for 20 weeks.  I like variety.  What I loved about the Rite of Passage program, is it also involves swings, snatches and 2 variety days.  As if the author is saying, "I know you're not going to do the program as written, so here are 2 days to do other work."

I freely admit that I was doing pullups, dips, chest presses and running on off days from The Giant.  So what now? 

Well, I combined the things I liked about both of the programs above combined them and added an exercise.

1. Use a single kettlebell

I like changing up between singles and doubles.  ROP is a single kettlebell program and The Giant can be done using a single bell.

2. Set the clock for 30 minutes and do clean and press on each side

I'll pass on doing 5 ladders, 75 repetitions per side and taking over an hour to complete heavy day.  Sweet spot for me is between 25 and 50 repetitions. 

3. ADD A SQUAT

Here is where I am traveling off the reservation.  My biggest complaint with both programs is the lack of squatting.  You can do them on variety days with the ROP, but it's never stated in the program.  I'm also a fan of single kettlebell squats in the rack.  One of the most UNDERRATED exercises. You need to stay tight so the bell doesn't fall out of the rack and it works the side abdominal wall as well.  This is not to be confused with a goblet squat, which you hold with both hands.  

It looks like this.  Medium day is sets of 2.  Clean and Press, Clean and Press, lower bell back to rack, squat 2 times, switch hands and repeat.

4. Swings and Snatches after completing 30 minutes.

I always loved this addition to the ROP for conditioning.  Using a dice roll, from 2-12, calculate the number of minutes to do ballistics.  On medium days, one hand swings, heavy days two hand swings, light days, snatches.  Depending how you feel effort level should be 75-100%.

Perform this program 3 days a week for 4 weeks. On off days, yoga, walk, do a 2-3 mile run, some pullups and dips. Walk on all off days.  I don't see walking as a workout.  I look at it as movement for your heart and to burn calories. 

Putting it all together, it looks like this, I'm using a 61.6 lb./28 kg bell for everything except snatches.  For snatches a 55 lb./25 kg bell.

BELL SIZE 5-6 REP MAX.  

SUNDAY MEDIUM DAY

30 minutes

Sets of 2 Clean and Press/Squat left, then a set of 2 Clean and Press/Squat right

One hand swings

Roll a pair of dice or go to RANDOM.ORG and press the button for a dice roll.  Take sum of roll and do sets of 10 left then 10 right of one hand swings as many sets as possible.  For example, dice roll is 10.  For 10 minutes, do sets of one hand swings, rest as necessary.  No rest between left and right hand.  Park bell once 20 swings are completed.

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY/SATURDAY VARIETY OR REST DAY

Walk, do some YouTube yoga for 30-45 minutes, go to gym and do a light workout or run. Walk EVERYDAY, but at LEAST one day week, do nothing more than walk. 

TUESDAY HEAVY DAY

30 minutes

Sets of 3 Clean and Press/Squat left then a set of 3 Clean and Press/Squat right

Two hand swings

Same instructions as above with the dice roll.  I like doing a set of 10 ever 30 seconds.  So 15 seconds swings, 15 seconds rest. 

THURSDAY EASY DAY

30 minutes

Sets of 1 Clean and Press/Squat left, then a set of 1 Clean and Press/Squat right

One arm snatches

Same instructions as above with the dice roll.  Snatch left, snatch right, park bell. I like either doing a set of 5L, 5R and rest to the top of each minute. Or, a set of 10L, 10R, then rest a minute. Make sure to use impeccable form and take care of your hands to avoid blisters.

Do this for 4 weeks and test clean and press rep max. If the rep max is 7/8, try it using a 3, 4, 5 rep scheme.  If 9/10, do 4, 5, 6 rep scheme.

Happy New Year!

Rite of Passage = Results

Still sticking with the Rite of Passage.  My upper back pull kept me out two days.  Came back like a house of fire.  On the pressing side, instead of cleaning before each press, been cleaning once and then doing the presses.  Much easier on the hands.  Been able to get all the reps.  So ready for the 36 kg bell.  The 32 feels like a toy in my hands. 

For easy day the following Sunday, I had rolled a 10 for snatches.  Thought, "good day for a test."  So instead of pressing first I did my snatches with a  25 kg/55 lb. bell.  Chalked everything so much, my workout room looked like a winter wonderland.  Put gloves on, so as not to worry about tearing up my hands or the perspiration from using enameled handled bells. Did 155 reps, a solid effort.  It wasn't that terrible.  Was I tired at the end?, sure, but not laying on the floor catching my breath.  Started off doing 4 sets of 10 before putting the bell down, Toward the end was putting the bell down every 10 reps which slowed the number down.  Was quite pleased.  Today I followed that up doing 95 reps in 6 minutes which is a 162 rep pace.  On an variety day Sunday, did 10 sets of 10 left, right with a minute rest in between sets.  I just need to be careful of my elbows as to not get tendonitis. 

After the 10 minute test, I did my presses and on the last ladder, just repped out.  Did 6 on each side with a 32/70. 

My numbers have been also improving on my swings with an 88.  120 swings in 5 minutes, 176 in 8 minutes.  Two hand style.

Diet has been good, hanging in the 188 range, wouldn't mind dropping down to 185 for Thanksgiving.  Ate Halloween candy too.  My favorites, Snickers, $100,000 bar, Twix, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kat.  The candy bar has shrunk SO much.

Have a 3 day hiccup coming up next week, need to travel to Austin for work so no kettlebell.  I'll throw some running in just to move some calories around.  Ran yesterday and today.  It had been 3 weeks since I last jogged, and running up the hills in my neighborhood caused my diaphragm to scream.  Legs felt great, didn't stop.  Today, felt strong.  Going to miss election day, but that's okay, I already performed my civic duty. If my side loses, I'll have plenty of beer and brisket to drown my sorrows. 

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.