Workin' on the Snatch

They say that the kettlebell snatch is one of the single best movements for developing explosive strength and improving conditioning. I've been doing k-bell snatches on and off in my workouts for a while now but have never really "tested" myself on the lift - today was as good a day as any...

At a time of somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9 minutes I hit my 147th rep and subsequently tore a callous from my left hand - nothing serious, not enough to stop my workout, just enough to put an end to my snatch test. I was pretty happy with this number, as I've not done snatches for this duration before. I think if I clean up my form just a little more that 200+ reps in ten minutes will be very doable before the end of June.

I spent the rest of my workout time juggling my new 30lb kettlebell: mostly hand to hand flips and towers. I also spent a few good minutes working on my BUP toss transfer, which I hit a few times - I think I'll be ready for a clean video of this probably within the next week.

All in all it was a good day - might hit up some Yoga tonight after dinner if I can settle the kids down.

Lots of Reading

I've worked my way through Scott Sonnon's Prasara Yoga book and honestly found it very interesting. Sonnon knows how to take scientific verbiage and make it easy to understand in the settings in which you'll need to use it.

I expected a simple layout with instructions on posing and breathing, but what I got was a detailed history and working game plan backed by scientific evidence and Sonnon's expertise in both Yoga and physicality as a whole to get me back on my path to being fully mobile and pain free again.

I even began with some poses and transitions focusing on breathing and flow after putting the book down. I could tell immediately that the stresses I've been putting my body under over the course of the last few years have really taken a toll on some even simple movements.

With Scott Sonnon's guidance through his very well written book, I hope to have full mobility back in the near future (though it will no doubt take plenty of practice and focus) and at that point I believe I'll be an even more explosive and focused athlete.

Yesterday's Workout and New Yoga Book

Yesterday's workout was all about the kettlebell again...

Circuits of:
Snatches X 10 each arm
Cleans X 10 each arm
Jerks X 10 each arm
Anchor Pulls X 40
Front Squats X 30

I performed the above circuit three times with no rest in between exercises and minimal rest in between circuits.

I followed up with about 10-15 minutes of "juggling", mostly focusing on the basics (same hand flips, hand to hand flips etc.) and I'm working on hand to hand BUP transfers - I'll get a video of that as soon as I think it's clean enough.

My book on Prasara Yoga also showed up at my doorstep yesterday, so after my workout I read the first 50 or so pages. Haven't gotten into the movements yet, but the background info seems pretty good - there's a lot of info in their that I was unaware of being pretty uneducated on Yoga. Here's a link to one of Scott Sonnon's websites, where you can check out Prasara and some of the other fine things this revolutionary coach offers - good stuff!

Gippers

The last two nights I've spent doing loads of volume on the new grippers I received from my sponsor BMF Sports via Alan at APT, for those of you who've never visited APT (famous for wrist wraps) I highly suggest a visit. Alan has amassed a huge inventory of powerlifting, bodybuilding and strongman training equipment and his customer service is second to none.

This was done each night:

Hg100 X 100 each hand
HG200 X 50 each hand
Singles with Vulcan up to level 7

(the large quantities weren't all performed in one set, but broken down over a few - ie, I didn't do 100 reps in a row or 50 reps in a row)

I also did some stretching and some super slow rep push ups and pull ups - nothing to write home about, but enough to get a good burn.

New Kettlebell on the Way!!!

I've been doing much of my kettlebell work with the one bell that I currently own, it's a 16k and is very good for some things, a little light for others and maybe just a touch heavy for some of my juggling endeavors.

I supposedly have some heavier bells on the way to take care of my needs as far as pressing and squats are concerned, so I grabbed a 30lb bell from one of the fine gents on the Gripboard. This bell is a bit unusual, as it it isn't the traditional shape, but it will serve my purposes just fine (and I suspect allow me to get in some marathon sessions of juggling as well)

Above you can see the pic of the bell that's on it's way to me, I know it's only about 5 pounds lighter than the bell I'm currently using for my juggling, but I estimate that that will allow me to conceivably continue one "set" of juggling for quite a bit more time, which should really help to improve my conditioning and my reflexes.

Can't wait for it to get here!

Desperately Seeking... Mobility - and wearing crazy shoes

I'm a pretty strong guy, I have good reactions and reasonable speed but one thing that's always been neglected in my training has been mobility. My hips and shoulders both get stiff after certain workouts and now I feel that this neglect is holding me up in certain areas of my training.

A ways back I received quite the deal on a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes, at that point this unusual form of footwear only had one style and two colors to choose from. I jumped on the chance to grab a pair because I had heard excellent things through the grapevine in regards to them helping to realign the lower body and do wonders for the joints from the ankles up.

Long story short, I wore them maybe two or three times and tossed them in the closet, much like I've done with every other attempt to focus on my joint mobility. Well in an effort to truly become a "complete" and fully functional athlete, I've broken out the "Five Fingers" again. If you've never seen this unique form of footwear, that's a pic at the beginning of the post - and you can find out more info by clicking here

I wore my "Five Fingers" all weekend, which included quite a bit of walking and though I don't necessarily feel like an entirely new person, my lower body does feel a bit looser and free-er than I expect it would have if I'd worn my regular shoes.

I also ordered a book by Scott Sonnen on Prasara Yoga (aka body flow), I hope that by implementing Prasara workouts and frequently foregoing my regular shoes in favor of a more barefoot alternative that all of my mobility problems will soon be a thing of the past - after all, what good is strength if you can't fully implement it in situations where it may be necessary?

Oh - I also had a nice workout yesterday consisting of about 90% kettlebell work (cleans, jerks, snatches, BUPs, Anchor Pulls and juggling) and about 10% bodyweight stuff (push ups, divebombers, squats and chins) It was performed circuit style and I worked up a mighty sweat to go along with all of the huffing and puffing.

TSB & New Grippers

My piece this week for TSB questions the necessity of a positive attitude to achieve results in the gym. In all honesty it wasn't a topic I had thought a whole lot about until I received Mike Mahler's Aggresive Strength Magazine last week. Mike did an article on how having a positive attitude can actually be a detriment to reaching your goals - here are my thoughts on the topic...

TSB Article

I also recieved my three new grippers courtesy of my Sponsor - BMF Sports yesterday (Thanks Bud). I've heard people question the quality of HG hand grippers in the past, but prior to yesterday I had only ever handled two (both of which seemed fine to me), so I honestly wasn't sure exactly what I was going to get. I opened all three grippers and inspected them pretty closely - all mounts are even and all seem of very good construction.

I even took the lightest strength of the three (HG150) and cranked out a few reps on my injured right hand to see how it felt. To my surprise I didn't feel a whole lot of pain, so I proceeded to CCS the 150 for a pretty good number of slow singles with short holds at the end - this was yesterday and my hand actually feels pretty good today, hopefully this is a good sign that I'm nearing full recovery.

Yesterday was pretty hectic (daughter's gymnastics, a fair and a barbecue) so I didn't do a full gripper workout, but like any fitness freak I couldn't resist at least giving all of the new equipment a few minutes of my attention. On my left side I warmed up with the HG150 then did just a few work sets with the HG200 and HG250 - all three grippers seem of very good quality after the brief test run I put them through.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long holiday weekend - it's not often the we get an extra day away from work - so relax, have fun, get in an extra workout and be safe!