Yesterday was an all-day Parkour jam up in Roseville. It was pretty much awesome! I'll link the video. I'm the one who still needs to learn to keep moving after each trick. Oh well, it's a learning process! I've never been the most graceful.
NCPK Jam Video
Took it fairly easy today because of PK awesomeness yesterday.
Convict Conditioning:
Knee Pushups - 2 sets of 10
Flat Bent Leg Raises - 2 sets of 10
Kettlebell Ladders:
5 Ladders up to 2 rungs @16kg
Soon enough I'll be moving up to the 24kg!
Showing posts with label kettlebell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kettlebell. Show all posts
Monday, September 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
WOD 8/31/2011
Today's workout:
Convict Conditioning
Crow Stand - 1 full minute (this was Step 2 progression standard)
Straight Bridge - 3 sets of 40 reps (also progression standard)
Kettlebells
5 ladders, up to 2 reps each @ 16kg
Windmills - 3 sets of 10 per side @ 16kg
Swings -233 in 12 minutes
THEN
CORE BLASTER
This was fun. I had to design a core workout for my group exercise class. It has to last about 15 minutes.
I only did one round of it to test it.
10x per side: Standing side bend w/ overhead dumbbell press @ 5#
30 sec per side: Side plank
10x per side Medicine ball chop @ 10#
30 sec Plank
10x Seated med ball rotation (5 per side, alternating) @ 10#
10x Pushup position plank (down position), w/ side knee touch to same side elbow (5 per side, alternating)
10x Flat knee raise (knees at 90 degree bend, back flat on floor)
30 sec Bridge hold (only going high enough to get full abdominal contraction)
Fun stuff.
Convict Conditioning
Crow Stand - 1 full minute (this was Step 2 progression standard)
Straight Bridge - 3 sets of 40 reps (also progression standard)
Kettlebells
5 ladders, up to 2 reps each @ 16kg
Windmills - 3 sets of 10 per side @ 16kg
Swings -233 in 12 minutes
THEN
CORE BLASTER
This was fun. I had to design a core workout for my group exercise class. It has to last about 15 minutes.
I only did one round of it to test it.
10x per side: Standing side bend w/ overhead dumbbell press @ 5#
30 sec per side: Side plank
10x per side Medicine ball chop @ 10#
30 sec Plank
10x Seated med ball rotation (5 per side, alternating) @ 10#
10x Pushup position plank (down position), w/ side knee touch to same side elbow (5 per side, alternating)
10x Flat knee raise (knees at 90 degree bend, back flat on floor)
30 sec Bridge hold (only going high enough to get full abdominal contraction)
Fun stuff.
Here's A Little Insight On What I'm Doing
My two current focuses are on bodyweight strength training and kettlebells. I'm following bodyweight progressions from a book called Convict Conditioning, by Paul "Coach" Wade. The book has been endorsed by experts that command my utmost respect, so I had to try it. I'm also doing Pavel Tsatsouline's Kettlebell Challenge program, and I'm working on a progression program for sledgehammer work (levering and whatnot). Lastly, whenever I get the chance I try to sneak in a sprint workout once or twice a week.
Here's a rundown on the two programs:
Convict Conditioning covers six bodyweight exercises: the Pushup, the Squat, the Leg Raise, the Pullup, the Bridge, and the Handstand Pushup. These are the most useful bodyweight exercises for strength because they have the most progression potential. There are ten progressions (or Steps) for each exercise, and three standards in each Step. So for Step One it looks like this: Beginner Standard (one set and usually ten reps), Intermediate Standard (two sets on 20-30 reps), and the Progression Standard (3 sets of 30-50 reps). Once one reaches the progression standard they can move on to the next Step.
The author advises everyone, no matter how strong they already are, to start at the first progression and work steadily up. This builds "exercise momentum" and strengthens the tendons at the same rate as the muscles (tendons usually take longer to adapt than muscles). It also shores up imbalances and can help rehab injuries. In fact, the first three steps can be considered prehab or rehab.
I'll give you a brief summary of what I've done so far soon. For now, let's move on to the Kettlebells.
The Kettlebell program I'm following is called the RKC Rite of Passage. It consists of kettlebell ladders, snatches, and swings. I've laid it out like this:
Ladders: Here's an example. Say I'm doing 3 ladders of 3 reps. Each ladder looks like this: Rung 1 - Clean the bell, press once, switch hands, and repeat. Rung 2 - Clean the bell, press once, reset, clean again, press again, and switch. Third rung is the same, but you do three cleans and presses in a row. Repeat the full ladder two more times and you've done a total of 18 reps on each arm. Once you reach 5 rungs on 5 ladders, you'll be doing a total of 75 reps.
Start with a weight that you can press for 8 reps. For me, that's 16kg (~35lbs).
Monday is easy day and snatch day. Ladders are easy and I start 2 rungs lower than my highest ladders on my hard days. So, for example, I started with 3 ladders of 1 rep. Once I reach the highest reps and ladders on my hard day, easy day will look like 5 ladders of 3 reps. Then, for the snatches, I would roll two dice. Whatever number comes up is how many minutes I do snatches. If you get snake eyes, you're lucky...if you get 12, it's going to suck. This is also how I do swings on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since Monday is easy day, I would go fairly easy (just hard enough to make it metabolically challenging).
Wednesday is moderate day, so the ladders will be one rung lower than Hard day. Starting the program, moderate day would look like this: 3 ladders of 2 reps; once you reach the highest progression you'd be doing 5 ladders of 4 reps. Swings would be harder than Monday's snatches, but not balls-to-the-wall like Saturday will be. The time will also be decided by dice.
Saturday is hard day. Full ladders. Swings are hard. No matter what you roll, you should try to get the absolute highest number of swings possible. This should leave you on the floor in a puddle of sweat.
That's about it. Once I reach 5 ladders of 5 reps, I'll progress (hopefully) to the 20kg bell. I don't have one right now though, and if I can't get my hands on one by then I'll be jumping straight up to the 24kg bell.
Here's a rundown on the two programs:
Convict Conditioning covers six bodyweight exercises: the Pushup, the Squat, the Leg Raise, the Pullup, the Bridge, and the Handstand Pushup. These are the most useful bodyweight exercises for strength because they have the most progression potential. There are ten progressions (or Steps) for each exercise, and three standards in each Step. So for Step One it looks like this: Beginner Standard (one set and usually ten reps), Intermediate Standard (two sets on 20-30 reps), and the Progression Standard (3 sets of 30-50 reps). Once one reaches the progression standard they can move on to the next Step.
The author advises everyone, no matter how strong they already are, to start at the first progression and work steadily up. This builds "exercise momentum" and strengthens the tendons at the same rate as the muscles (tendons usually take longer to adapt than muscles). It also shores up imbalances and can help rehab injuries. In fact, the first three steps can be considered prehab or rehab.
I'll give you a brief summary of what I've done so far soon. For now, let's move on to the Kettlebells.
The Kettlebell program I'm following is called the RKC Rite of Passage. It consists of kettlebell ladders, snatches, and swings. I've laid it out like this:
Ladders: Here's an example. Say I'm doing 3 ladders of 3 reps. Each ladder looks like this: Rung 1 - Clean the bell, press once, switch hands, and repeat. Rung 2 - Clean the bell, press once, reset, clean again, press again, and switch. Third rung is the same, but you do three cleans and presses in a row. Repeat the full ladder two more times and you've done a total of 18 reps on each arm. Once you reach 5 rungs on 5 ladders, you'll be doing a total of 75 reps.
Start with a weight that you can press for 8 reps. For me, that's 16kg (~35lbs).
Monday is easy day and snatch day. Ladders are easy and I start 2 rungs lower than my highest ladders on my hard days. So, for example, I started with 3 ladders of 1 rep. Once I reach the highest reps and ladders on my hard day, easy day will look like 5 ladders of 3 reps. Then, for the snatches, I would roll two dice. Whatever number comes up is how many minutes I do snatches. If you get snake eyes, you're lucky...if you get 12, it's going to suck. This is also how I do swings on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since Monday is easy day, I would go fairly easy (just hard enough to make it metabolically challenging).
Wednesday is moderate day, so the ladders will be one rung lower than Hard day. Starting the program, moderate day would look like this: 3 ladders of 2 reps; once you reach the highest progression you'd be doing 5 ladders of 4 reps. Swings would be harder than Monday's snatches, but not balls-to-the-wall like Saturday will be. The time will also be decided by dice.
Saturday is hard day. Full ladders. Swings are hard. No matter what you roll, you should try to get the absolute highest number of swings possible. This should leave you on the floor in a puddle of sweat.
That's about it. Once I reach 5 ladders of 5 reps, I'll progress (hopefully) to the 20kg bell. I don't have one right now though, and if I can't get my hands on one by then I'll be jumping straight up to the 24kg bell.
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