3 Days of Training

Tuesday -

KB class was light just Pam, Rhea and myself. We did the following workout:

50 2H swings
5 cleans per arm
5 clean & press per arm
5 pushups

then down to 40 and 4, 30 and 3 etc....

50 H2H swings
5 Judo Chops
5 Snatches
5 pushups

in the same manner. Then we did a round of lunge press and one otherr thing to finish it all off.

Wednesday -

30 minutes on the elliptical
Log press with the new Spud, Inc. Log Press/Tri Bar we worked up to 50 lbs. on the bar for a single
Circuit: Rows with the loaded log, Stability ball pushups, Universal Trainer Ab thingies. An insane amount of reps on all of that.

Thursday -

Haven't had class yet but here is what I am thinking. It it hot as hades here and I am thinking that we need to go out and have a good sweat. So depending on class size we will get 2 KB's (I will use 12 KG) and do overhead walking holds for 50 paces then stop and do 5 - 10 double cleans. We will go the 1/3 a mile around the building in this fashion. If that doesn't take an hour then I will have to come up with something else. I will let you know how this goes!!

Haven't posted in a while

Last friday was the X-Files movie premiere. Because I was so over wrought with emotion from the movie, I am just now getting around to posting. I apologize.

Monday, July 25th - The WORST workout I have EVER done!!! This tops the 1,000 rep workout

Squats w/ 135 lbs.
Deadlifts w/ 135 lbs.
Prowler w/ 20 lbs.

10 Squats, 10 Deadlifts, Prowler for 100 ft down and back
9 Squats, 9 Deadlifts, Prowler for 100 ft down and back

The plan was to work down to 1 but we only had time for 10 - 6. I also snuck 3 laps in later in the day because my Gymnasts were taking turns pushing and we had an odd number so I kept having to push back up the hill.

Thursday's KB class

I was too tired last night to post - my arms just wouldn't work. We did this workout with 2 KB's a heavy and a normal size. You are supposed to work with your heavy one for as many reps as you can and switch to the light one when you need to. I'd say we each did about 60 - 70% with our heavy bell. I used a 16 Kg and a 12 Kg

100 swings warm up

Round #1 - 10 cleans/10 clean & press

Round #2 - 10 Judo chops/10 snatches

Round #3 - 10 Swing High Pulls/10 Front squats (w/ 1 bell)

Repeat each round doing 15 reps per

Repeat each round again doing 20 reps per

This is a pretty challenging workout. I always find that my legs turn to jelly first, but with no leg drive it makes the upper body part that much harder. It is a great workout for people who are trying to bump up to the next size KB, because it gives you some good work with that weight with the option of dropping down when you are fatigued.

I am going to see the new X-Files movie "I Want to Believe" at 11:40 this am. I am so excited I might just cry when the opening credits start. I know that is super wierd but there are other X-philes out there who are thinking the same thing...I am not alone!

I haven't posted in awhile...

Monday when I got home to do my post one heck of a storm blew through and took out my power and then on Tuesday I was so busy getting stuff done from having no power on Monday that again I didn't post. So, I have a lot of catching up to do:

Monday -

30 minutes on the Elliptical
Wide Stance Leg press sets of 5-8 with 90 lbs, 180 lbs, 270 lbs, 360 lbs and 450 lbs
Romanian DL's to the knees only w/ 135 lbs. 5 sets of 10
Can't remember what else

Tuesday -

1000 Rep workout in KB class. This workout is a closely guarded secret. We are trying to get it published in a Dragon Door workout book so I am not going to let the cat out of the bag. Suffice it to say this is one Kick Butt workout.

Wednesday -

40 minutes on the elliptical
Sled Hell - 1 time around the parking lot with a 45 lb plate plus 2 10 lb. dumbells. We pulled the sled 1/4 of a lap and then stopped and did 50 reps each of front raises, side raises and Rear Delt flyes. We did this the whole way around and only got 3 good sets in and it was an hour so we just pulled the sled home.

My arms are still shaking.

Saturday's Workout

We had a great workout saturday:

100 swings warmup w/ 12 Kg
3 sets of 10 Short swing flips (way to complicated to explain but they are new technique to teach the snatch and I was trying them out)
3 sets of 5 reps each short swing flips, judo chops & snatchs
100 swing high pulls

something else but I can't remember.

The huge thing about this class was that we had a new member - Tina. She was so awesome. I always start out newbies with just the swing. I teach them the basics and then give them a whole lot to do. While the rest of the class works we all sort of watch the newbie and help give them hints to perfect form. I gave Tina 100 swings w/ the 8 Kg and 100 swings w/ the 12 Kg. Towards the end of class, Tina had about 50 swings to go and she was looking tired. The rest of the class was stopping to stretch and I offered that Tina could stop where she was a stretch with us. Instead she opted to stick with the swings and finish all 200. That was SOOOOO awesome. We have such a great crew of hard workers and I am confident that Tina will fit right in. Good job Tina!

Marc and I saw Batman yesterday. Great movie! Heath Ledger really is awesome. AND only 5 more days until the X-Files. In fact I am sitting here right now watching one of my favorite episodes: Bad Blood. Very funny stuff!

Just me and Randi today

Marc gave us instruction and off we went.

100 body weight squats (which I sort of cheated on since we did so many last night)
10 sets of stairs (taking them 2 at a time)
1 round of lunges (1/3 a mile)
1 round of heavy sled pulling backwards - we each had around 100 lbs. on the sled.

The air was very thick this morning and I was drenched. To make it worse I had gone in the tanning bed so I was sweating gooey tanning bed lotion. It was nice though because Randi had a great conversation about men - in general - and we both got alot off our chest:)

This afternoon I am going home to take the mother of all naps and read. I just started a book by Phillipa Gregory who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl. Apparently, it is her first novel that they have re-released. I hope it is as good as her other books have been.

I almost vomited...

Yep, folks for the first time in a while I actually had to stand outside to wait for the vomit to pass. It was only Pam and me, and here is what we did:

100 double swings w/ 12 Kg
Double clean and Press into a squat thrust (hands on the bell) w/ 12 Kg 5x5
1 lap running
Double Front Squats w/ Double Under jumps 1 of each, 2 of each.....to 10 of each
1 lap walking (was supposed to be running be you just try it and see if you can make your legs run)
Snatches w/ 12 Kg 3 per arm x 5 sets

Now I deserve some Wendy's...the dinner of champions. Just don't ask me what i have because it is not healthy:)

Upper Body

I started out this morning with 10 minutes on the step mill at level 6 and 25 minutes on the elliptical.

Work out with Marc:
Circuit of Benches 25 reps of each
Flat bench w/ 65 lbs.
Incline bench w/ just the bar (we actually only did 15 reps of this)
Pushups

Sled Dragging Upper Body w/ 45 lb. plate. We only had time for one lap which is 1/3 a mile and I did Rear Delt work the whole time.

Now I am working on my long list of things to get accomplished.

I didn't forget...

This is Busta. He and his sister our the newest in our family. They showed up in the gym parking lot 1 1/2 years ago. He was tiny then but weighs 15 lbs. now. He is a big tub of lard.

Today is not a workout day because I have to go to a funeral and a visitation. KB class is going on tonight but someone else is teaching.

I will be back with a killer workout tomorrow morning.

Monday Morning

I started the day with 30 minutes on the elliptical at an elevation of 13 and a degree of difficulty at 8. I read the new US magazine all about Madonna and A-Rod. Then worked on my current book "So Young, Handsome and Lonely" or something like that. It's pretty good.

Marc set up a horrible circuit. I got 3 full rounds and than a 1/2 round. I ran out of time and my wrist was killing me so I stopped.

We warmed up with some bar squats using the buffalo bar then we got to work:

15 squats w/ buffalo bar and 155 lbs.
25 Windshield wipers per side w/ 95 lbs
Run 1 lap

This afternoon I will go to Yin Yoga and hopefully work out what is ailing my elbow, wrist and fingers.

No Workout Sundays

Today is NOT a workout day. My one day off and I am sitting here watching the "8 Essential X-Files episodes" that you need to watch before seeing the new movie on July 25th!

In case you want to watch them to, here they are:

The Pilot

Beyond the Sea

The Host (my absolute favorite episode of ALL time - the mutant Flukeman episode)

Clyde Bruckmans Final Repose (do you know how Clyde says Mulder will die?)

Memento Mori

Post-Modern Prometheus (Cher and Mulder and Scully dancing - I cry everytime I see it)

Bad Blood (Scully sleeps with the cute sheriff played by Luke Wilson and Mulder sings Shaft)

Milagro (not one of my favorites just watched it the other day but will watch it again to see how it fits into the grand scheme of things)

And though my puppy is not an X-file, someone asked that I post a picture so here goes. This is my 4 year old pit bull Amber:

KB Strength Workout

I set up a strength workout that we have done before but it is good to get us all working with weights that we are uncomfortable with. Here are the weights we worked with:

Girls: 12 Kg, 16 Kg, 20 Kg, 24 Kg and 28 kg

Boys: 16 Kg, 20 Kg, 24 Kg, 28 Kg, 32 Kg, 34 Kg, 40 Kg

We went up the ladder starting with the lightest bell and did 3 -5 reps of each on 2H swings, Cleans, Clean and Press and Snatches. We went up the ladder with each exercise two times. It takes awhile and there are a lot of rest breaks but it is good to challenge everyone to try a heavy weight. No pressure to do all reps on each KB, do what you can as it gets heavier.

Participant Profile: Vickie McNeill

Vickie has been attending our KB classes for over a year. She took a free community class that I taught after realizing that she needed a new challenge to tackle. Previously, Vickie had started walking (6 days a week for 3 - 8 miles) and had joined weight watchers. When she joined our class, she was 8 lbs. away from her goal weight.

Today, Vickie hit a huge milestone. She did a clean, clean & press and snatch on each arm with the 24 Kg Kettlebell. She has been trying to acheive this for a few months and today did all three of the lifts. This is so awesome. When she started Vickie was using the 8 Kg for everything, now she prefers the 12 or 16 Kg and today she was lovin' the 24 Kg.

Vickie is an inspiration to everyone looking to start working with Kettlebells. Her determination to reach her personal goals of fitness are a joy to watch. She takes our KB class 3 times a week, walks regularly and is looking to add crosstraining and spinning into her workout repertoire.

Great job Vickie! You go Girl!

Friday, July 11, 2008

No cardio this morning because I got to sleep in. Yahoo!!!!

Marc set us up on a circuit. 25 reps of each exercise and we went through it 4 times:

Hanging abs
Ab roller
Obliques w/ 16 Kg KB
Wobble Board squats
Squat Thrusts
Bicep Curls w/ 45 lb. bar
Bench Press w/ 45 lb. bar
Cossack Squats
Jumping Jacks

By Friday I am usually pretty tired so a circuit like this is about all I can handle. I will try this afternoon to do some cardio. If I am feeling spunky I will go out and pull the sled, if not I will just do the step mill and read my book.

Tomorrow I am going to start profiling some of the super cool people who come to my KB class regularly.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Tonights KB class is supposed to be a Strength and Cardio workout but it rained all day so I was limited in the kind of kick butt cardio we could do. Instead, we worked Double KB moves.

Warm-up:
50 heavy 2H swings
25 heavy 1H swings per arm
50 heavy alternating swings
(I used a 24 Kg)

Double Cleans 3x8 (12 Kg)
Double Clean and Press 3x6 (with 3 second hold at the top - 12 Kg)
Double Snatches outside the leg 3x5 (12 Kg)
Double Alternating Snatches inside the leg 3x5 per arm (12 Kg)
Double Front Squats (12 Kg)
Deck Squats 1x6, 1x8 (12 Kg)

We ended with some Yin Yoga stretches.

We have a Pit Bull named Amber and a Cocker Spaniel named Dita that hang around the gym all day. Last night they were both laid out sleeping in the middle of our KB circle. Both dogs are scared of thunder and lightening but let a KB land a foot from their sleepy head and they don't bat an eye. Strange!!!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I started today with 30 minutes on the Elliptical reading Dr. Death by Jonathan Kellerman.

Incline Bench: barx2x5, 65 lbs.x2x5, 85 lbs.x5x5

1/4 dips onto a box: 5 sets of 10 - 12 reps

Overhead press w/ bands: 5 sets of 20 per arm (we used mini jump stretch bands)

Something after that but I forgot what...sorry!

Kettlebell Training July 8, 2008

I was tired this week and had a massage on Monday to loosen my ever tight forearms so we took it kind of slow today.

100 2 Hand Swings for warm-up

200 Snatches & 100 Drop/Catch squats w/ your normal KB (I used a 12 Kg)

Start with 1 rep of each exercise per arm, then do 2 per arm, 3 per arm.....up to 10.

When you get to 10 go down to 9 and come back down to 1.

This is 300 reps

That only took 30 minutes so I had to come up with some basic work to do the rest of the time.

100 H2H swings
3 sets of Figure 8's 15 each direction
3 sets of 5 per arm 1/2 TGU's