2008/09/06 - Another day's training

Yesterday I worked late so I missed my scheduled high intensity day. All the sitting yesterday for some reason tightened up my left hip and it is feeling pretty uncomfortable today. I did the Intuflow beginner sequence this morning to see if it would shift something. I do feel looser but the hip is still not wonderful. I decided to train anyway and this is how it went:

Intuflow beginner sequence (I skipped the 4CBD, floor work and breathing at the end)

One arm jerk: 8 minutes @ 8rpm: 32/32
Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm: 36/36

Swings (24kg): 20/20

Twice through the Prasara yoga Vine flow.

For some reason my hip felt a lot better after the jerk session. The jerks actually seemed to relax whatever was stuck a bit. The Vine flow is something else. I'm grateful nobody can post my performance on Youtube - it was ugly. I enjoy the flow a lot but it is going to take a long time before I can do any of it in such a way that it resembles yoga.

2008/08/19 - Moderate intensity and a new exercise

With the IKFF certification coming closer I'm going to have to start incorporating some neglected exercises into my schedule. Today I threw in some cleans as well as one arm overhead squats (which I haven't trained before). Ouch! Here is what I did:

Intuflow beginner level

Did the following with 1 minute rest between sets:

Press (16kg): 4 minutes: 24/24
One Arm Jerk (24kg): 4 minutes: 16/16
Clean (16kg): 4 minutes: 26/26

2,5 minutes rest

One Arm Overhead Squat (16kg): 2 minutes: 5/5
Swing (32kg): 15/15

Prasara Cricket flow x 2

The overhead squats were very difficult. I didn't have an issue with the arm above my head but it was hell of a difficult to get down low enough into the squat. I now have to figure out where I'm too tight but I suspect it might be my lower back. I'll be working on these squats in the weeks to come.

2008/08/16 - High intensity day

Today I did:

Intuflow beginner level

One Arm Jerk (16kg): 10 minutes @ 8 rpm: 40/40
Snatch (16kg): 6 minutes @ 12rpm: 36/36

Swing (32kg): 10/10

Twice through the Prasara Cricket flow

I'm glad I did a 10 minute set again. With this ten minute set as my benchmark for the high intensity days I will work towards faster ten minute sets as well as longer than 10 minute sets. I could have gone longer in the snatch set but I didn't want to do multiple hand switches so I decided to end at six minutes.

2008/07/31 - Short and hot

It was surprisingly hot for winter today which resulted in a quick and hot session. Instead of finishing off with my usual yoga I ended the session by basically just standing around huffing and puffing to get my breath back. Here we go:

Intuflow beginner level

16kg / 3 minute sets / 1 minute rest:

OAJ: 24/24
Snatch: 24/24
OALC: 14/14

That's all. I need to go sit outside to cool down!

2008/07/09 - Starting on a heavier note

Although I am currently focused on fully mastering the 16kg kettlebell I have decided to maintain some practice with the 24 at least once a week. Catherine Imes initially suggested that I incorporate one arm jerks with the 24 into my program because of the beneficial effect these will have on my snatches and I'm definitely going to follow her advice. So this is what I decided to do today:

Intuflow warm up.

Once through the following sequence with 2 minute rests between sets:

OAJ (24): 4 minutes: 18/18
Snatch (16): 4 minutes: 32/32
One arm LC (16): 4 minutes: 18/18

Prasara flows for 10 minutes to cool down.

The one arm LC was a killer today. I planned on working at 10 rpm but it was just too much - maybe the 24 at the beginning sapped my energy a bit much. Next time through this particular sequence I'll be sure to do the jerks with the 16.

Cheers for now.

2008/07/08 - AKC variety

This was my second day on the AKC protocol. After a staple diet of Jerks and Snatches the variety offered by this approach is quite enjoyable. My main emphasis is still on the so-called classic lifts (Jerk / Snatch / LC) but it is great to throw in some other assistance lifts. Here is today's session:

Intuflow warm-up.

OAJ (16): 4 minutes: 32/32
Half Snatch (16): 4 minutes: 20/20
Bottoms up clean (16): 4 minutes: 24/20

Went once through the sequence with 2 minute breaks between sets.

12/12 32kg swings as a finisher followed by a short set of Prasara.

The session felt good and I feel quite energized afterwards. The hardest part by far was the bottoms up cleans and I nearly lost the bell a few times.