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.

2008/08/16 - 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.

2008/08/04 - Tweaking and testing

I have become increasingly interested in body-weight training methods over the last few weeks (particularly mobility work and yoga). Due to the emphasis on kettlebell training in my programme I find that I don't have enought time or energy to develop my body weight work to the extent that I would like to. I've thus decided to try and incorporate some ideas from Scott Sonnon's 4x7 programme into my routine. I have not yet decided to what extent I will cut back on kettlebell work. At this stage I know I will train with the bells at least three times per week (maybe even 5 as I have been). What I will however do is follow a 4 day cycle based on 4 different levels of intensity (none, low, moderate and high). My first day on this schedule was today and I decided to start with a moderate day. This is what I did:

Intuflow intermediate level

16kg / 3 minute sets / 1 minute rest between sets

Push Press: 24/24
Snatch: 24/24
Press: 18/18

Swing (24kg): 20/20

3 rounds of the Prasara Cricket Flow.

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.