I’m glad that I’ve bee able to maintain a consistent training program this past week or so. The stretching I’ve been doing a lot of lately is gradually working out the tight spots in my body which really seems to be making it easier to train with the bells consistently. Today I upped my sets to three minutes.
Intu Flow warm up
16kg Clean: 3 minutes
16kg OAJ: 3 minutes
16kg Snatch: 3 minutes
24kg Swing: 15/15
Tomorrow will probably be a rest day. More on Monday.
I followed the same format today as I have been for the past week or so but chose to do different lifts. The session looked like this:
Intu-Flow warm up
16kg Press: 2 minutes
16kg Push Press: 2 minutes
16kg Half Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 15/15Stretching.
Now it is time for the weekend to start!
For months now I’ve been watching our baby girl gradually becoming more physically capable. She has been gradually noticing more of this big process called life. With every passing day she is trying out new-found abilities but without any major impatience or a desire to reach the end goal. Even moving forward a couple of inches a day is ok for her. It dawned on me today that she knows exactly how to live life and remain immortal and progressive. She is patient and she is quite willing to gradually increase her strength and general movement potential. Even more importantly, she is enjoying the process. Tonight I decided to apply this to my training. There is no reason to rush anything. Just keep going one little incremental step at a time whilst enjoying the process of discovery. My baby steps for today was all about doing what I did with the bells yesterday in a slightly more comfortable way. This is what I did:
Gentle Intu-Flow warm-up
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes
16kg Snatches: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 15/15
Stretching focused on the hip area: 3 minute holds
Perhaps tomorrow I’ll do one more rep or manage to go for 30 more seconds. For now I’m just happy that I kept the momentum going today. Don’t rush! Rather choose to enjoy the scenery.
Just more of the same today; bells and stretching:
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 15/15
I ended the session with some hamstring stretches – 3 minute holds. I’m itching to start incorporating the 32kg into my swings. Maybe tomorrow.
2008-03-23
Just another quick session with the bells today.
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes / 14rpm
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes / 14rpm
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes / 14rpm
24kg Swings: 15/15
I finished off with some stretching, holding each stretch for 3 minutes.
Lately I’ve been focusing on stretching to get rid of the tightness in my body. I’ve tried various approaches to joint mobility with limited success and eventually realized that my joints are pretty mobile - the issue I sit with has to do with overly tight muscles rather than immobile joints. After about two weeks of exclusively stretching I felt so much better that I decided to gradually work the bells back into the equation. So far so good. I did the following short session over the past few days:
2010-03-18
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 10/10
2010-03-19
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes
16kg Push Press: 2 minutes
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 10/10
2010-03-20
16kg Press: 2 minutes
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 12/12
2010-03-22
16kg Cleans: 2 minutes
16kg OAJ’s: 2 minutes
16kg Snatch: 2 minutes
24kg Swings: 12/12
I’m taking things pretty easy with the bells at the moment and I’ll maintain the stretching program to keep myself loose and limber. I wish I started listening to my body sooner. A lot of people seem to think that stretching is not necessary; well, for me it is.
The world we live in is filled with hype. This diet is best, this religion is the final answer, this healing modality can cure everything, this training program will get you in the best shape of your life…blah, blah, blah.
When I first studied psychology I soon realized that therapy is less about the theories proposed by Freud, Jung, Rogers or the local milkman…it is about the person you are interacting with as a therapist as well as your own personal preferences as a therapist. Look at the facts at hand and adjust your approach to them.
The same thing applies to training. When I first discovered kung fu in 1986 it really worked for me. At that point in time my body and mind was “kung fu ready.” After a long hiatus I tried kung fu again in 2003 but my body simply didn’t like it. As a result I tried the Russian Martial Art (Systema) and my body found something that works for it.
A similar thing happened when it comes to my general conditioning and strength training. I started weight training in 2005 with some very basic lifts (bench press, squat, military press, dips, pull-ups, and deadlifts). That was all. Not only did I make major gains in strength and body composition, I also started moving with a lot less efforts.
My enquiring mind eventually led me to explore kettlebells; specifically the Hard Style of Pavel. It worked like a charm. Due to a lot of hype on the web I gradually shifted away from weight training and the HS kettlebell methods towards the GS methods.
Since this shift took place I have been pretty much in constant pain and have picked up some major injuries and muscle imbalances. NOW, don’t get me wrong. This is not in any way due to an inherent problem with Girevoy Sport. It simply boils down to the basic fact that I am not a sportsman. I’m a big guy and therefore doing ballet has never been an option for me. What does seem to be an option for me is either learning a fighting system that allows me to use my best attributes effectively or to learn how to lift up heavy stuff in the simplest possible manner.
Systema is all about efficient movement and a reliance on what is both natural (for you) and efficient from a bio-kinesthetic perspective. Similarly, a training program using either weights or just body weight should be natural for you.
For the last 4 days I have been experimenting with a system known as Gym Movement. The jury is not yet in on this one and it is also creating quite a bit of…attention, or friction on forums like DD. What I can say at present is that I have picked up extra muscle and shed some excess bulk in 4 days (yes, 4 days). I am also stronger based on objective pressing tests with the 24kg kettlebell.
I do not believe in an ultimate answer for anything, but I do tend to believe that it is best when we are able to tune in to what is best for our bodies at any given point in time. For now I am pretty impressed with the results delivered by GM. Hopefully I will have more positive results to share in the next few weeks.
Happy training!
.JPG)
