Tuesday 8/5 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups (15 Minutes)
Bike To Work
10 sets of 6 reps again. Good stuff.
Tuesday 8/5 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
30 Clean and Presses (10 sets of 3 per hand)
150 Two-Handed Swings (10 sets of 15)
Wednesday 8/6 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups (15 Minutes)
Bike To Work
10 sets of 6.
You and I have similar goals of hitting 100 pull-ups within a given time. The only time I have done over a hundred pull-ups was when I put a door pull-up bar on a door that I would pass through often and would crank out 5 reps every time I passed through. I totaled 165 pull-ups for that day but I started that at 3 o’clock and hit my last rep at 10:30 or 11:00 back in June.
Super-setting my Kettlebell Clean & Presses with Pull-Ups was also a lot more difficult than I gave it credit for. I did ladders which was 5 sets of 1,2,3,4,5. At the end of the workout it would total 75 Clean & Presses (each arm) with my 55lb KB and 75 pull-ups. Took around 45 minutes or so to complete. The pull-ups were a lot more tiring than the C&P’s.
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Super-setting my Kettlebell Clean & Presses with Pull-Ups was also a lot more difficult than I gave it credit for. I did ladders which was 5 sets of 1,2,3,4,5. At the end of the workout it would total 75 Clean & Presses (each arm) with my 55lb KB and 75 pull-ups. Took around 45 minutes or so to complete. The pull-ups were a lot more tiring than the C&P’s. [/quote]
I’ve thought about doing this, too. Conceptually speaking, I love the idea of alternating sets of pull-ups with kettlebell swings or cleans.
The only reason I haven’t done it yet: I usually do my pull-ups on an outdoor pull-up bar about 2 miles from my apartment, and I’m a little hesitant to ride my bike over there with my kettlebell in my backpack due to the possible balance issue (I don’t have a car). Still, one day I may strap it up and see if I feel comfortable biking over there while hauling the kettlebell in my backpack.
Another option would be doing an awfully long set of waited walks and carries with the kettlebell (don’t rule it out), but that’d have to be on a weekend where I had enough time to walk all the way there lugging the bell, do the workout, and walk home. I’ve also considered putting the bell in my backpack and “hiking” to the pull-up bar, working out for 30 minutes or so, and then “hiking” home.
That’s hard to swallow, just because I’ve gotten progressively busier at my job & lately I usually try to reserve Saturdays and Sundays for my hot yoga classes since it’s tough to get there during the week. It’d be super fun though. We need more weekends. Less work.
We need more weekends. Less work.[/quote]
I once pushed for a 5 day weekend, 2 day work week here at work. That went over pretty smooth with my bosses as you could imagine! Tried to convince them it would make me more productive and I could make better use of my time. Of course I still wanted my 40 hour week pay though!
Wednesday 8/6 (PM)
Bike Home (15 Minutes)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
30 Clean and Presses (10 sets of 3 per hand)
150 Two-Handed Swings (10 sets of 15)
Thursday 8/7 (AM)
Kettlebell Workout (17 Minutes)
Bike To Work (15 Minutes)
Been loving the morning pull-up routine, but I’m hesitant to do more than 3 straight days without at least one day off (from pull-ups, that is), so I did something fun this morning: I took my kettlebell outside and did a full lap of my block while holding the bell overhead the entire time. Every “rep” was done as follows: clean the bell, press it overhead, walk 30 paces, return the bell to the ground, clean and press with opposite hand, walk 30 paces, etc. It took a total of 19 reps (each hand, 38 total) to get all the way around the block, roughly 17 minutes total time. Nice workout 
Also confirms for me that if I ever want to do the workout described yesterday (carrying the bell to CMU’s pullup bar, doing pullups supersetted with some kettlebell work, and carrying the bell home) it will probably have to be done with the bell in a backpack, and be done on a weekend because we’re probably looking at a 2-hour workout with the weighted “hike” in each direction.
Nice work! I have contemplated walking up and down my street for weighted carries. I live in a neighborhood with some young folks but it’s mainly a lot of the nosey old folks who if they see you doing something that’s weird to them they have to ask you about it and make you feel like you are crazy!
If you did the hike with the kettlebell in the backpack, you would make Dan John very proud!
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Nice work! I have contemplated walking up and down my street for weighted carries. I live in a neighborhood with some young folks but it’s mainly a lot of the nosey old folks who if they see you doing something that’s weird to them they have to ask you about it and make you feel like you are crazy!
[/quote]
Lol, I know what you mean. I did get some funny looks this morning, just didn’t bother me that much. When I go on vacation (as long as it’s a “driving” vacation and not a “flying” vacation) I usually bring my 'bell along for a couple of morning workouts. It always draws some odd stares from the locals; I can just imagine one of the local old ladies in some quiet beach or golfing town telling her husband “Honey, there’s a weird looking guy across the street swinging this big iron ball around in the front yard, should I call the police?”
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
If you did the hike with the kettlebell in the backpack, you would make Dan John very proud! [/quote]
The tough part is the time commitment required (2+ hours), which means I probably can’t do it on a weekday…and like I said, I usually reserve the weekends for my hot yoga classes because it’s gotten tougher for me to get to yoga during the week, so I treasure the back-to-back Saturday & Sunday yoga classes.
Still, I think it’d be really fun to wake up, slug down a mug of coffee on a gorgeous fall morning, load the bell into my backpack and hike to the pullup bar, work it over for 30 minutes (probably alternating pullups and swings), then hike home…so I’ll probably give in and do it eventually
*Edited to add: yes, Dan John has provided the inspiration for many of my self-invented kettlebell workouts. I love the way he inspires us to get a little creative while also keeping it simple; he was definitely the one who described the idea of the “waiter walks” which might be my second favorite kettlebell exercise behind the clean and press.
Thursday 8/7 (PM)
Bike Home (15 Minutes)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
20 sets of 3 clean and presses per hand - one every minute on the minute.
Friday 8/8 (AM)
Bike To CMU
65 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
Tried to do 10 sets of 7 today. Got through 7 good sets of 7 reps, but form started to break down a bit, so I did 6, 5, 5 to finish up. Next milestone for me will be getting through 10 straight sets of 7.
Also, weighed myself this morning…I used to weigh myself daily, now I do so much less frequently, but I think I’ll institute a weekly weigh-in to go with my progress pics. I weighed just over 211 at the last photo on 7/31 (while I care more about appearance and leanness than just a number, I was unpleasantly surprised at how high that number was, as I’ve generally stayed between 190-200 for the last five years). I was 209 this morning. I’d like to be under 200 sometime this fall. I expect that the small weight loss will result in both improved pull-up performance and a leaner appearance.
Friday 8/8 (PM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike Home
Felt good enough to do some more in the evening. Couple of yoga classes on tap for the weekend, so I’ll be resting the upper body for a few days anyway.
Saturday 8/9 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Saturday 8/9 (PM)
Just wanted to do a little something before dinner, so I spent about 20 minutes playing around as follows:
KB Clean and Press: 10x3 (each hand)
Push-ups: 5x15
KB Rows: 5x10
Took a page out of my buddy furo’s book today. After doing a bunch of clean and presses, I decided to alternate sets of push-ups and kettlebell rows.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Took a page out of my buddy furo’s book today. After doing a bunch of clean and presses, I decided to alternate sets of push-ups and kettlebell rows.[/quote]
Nice!
I haven’t had the chance to experiment with walks yet as I’ve been very busy and I’ve been struggling to think how to do it as I live on the 3rd floor and don’t have a garden, but I think I will try doing them on the stairs in my apartment building. Have you tried walks like that? I’m a little worried they could go horribly wrong if I were to lose my footing, but at the same time I imagine it would be great for conditioning. Either way, I’ll let you know how I get on!
I’ve never done walks on the stairs except to carry my bell outside (I live on the second floor).
I’m sure it would be a great workout, although there probably is some risk. I’d suggest just hauling your 20 or 28 kg outside and walking around the neighborhood a little bit. Don’t mind any funny states you get! And if you do something like overhead walks, you won’t have to go far to get a workout. I was pretty well drained after my session the other day of just one lap around my block of continuous walks with the bell pressed overhead.
Speaking of which…I might do that for my afternoon workout…
Sunday 8/10 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Sunday 8/10 (PM)
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
All clean and presses today. 20x3 EMOM.
Monday 8/11 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
6x7, 1x6, 3x4. Had to cut the last few sets short; my forearms/grip started to give out.
Monday 8/11 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
12x5 clean and presses (each hand) with 30-45 seconds rest between sets.
Tuesday 8/12 (AM)
Bike To CMU
60 Pull-ups
Bike To Work
4x7, 2x6, 4x5. Grip started to give out again. It seems that I’ve found the tipping point (trying to get through 10 sets of 7) where improvement will no longer be linear. Might also have to be a little tighter on the diet to shed a few pounds and bust this plateau.
Tuesday 8/12 (PM)
Bike Home
Kettlebell Workout (20 Minutes)
A bunch of clean and presses, didn’t keep count, just went for 20 minutes with periodic breaks.
Wednesday 8/13 (AM)
Chest Press 8x100, 8x110, 8x120, 8x130, 8x140, 8x150, 8x160, 8x170
Fly Machine 10x100, 10x100, 10x100
Lat Pulldown 8x100, 8x110, 8x120, 8x130
Bike To Work
Worked out at home (apartment building fitness center this morning). Just a little pump work. Back to pull-ups tomorrow.
Working the beach muscles I see! How are your shoulders holding up doing KB Clean & Presses almost everyday?
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Working the beach muscles I see!
[/quote]
Yep, lol. With my heavy focus on pull-ups and kettlebell work, they don’t get much attention so every so often I’ll do a little machine-based session in my apartment’s fitness center to give the beach muscles a little love.
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
How are your shoulders holding up doing KB Clean & Presses almost everyday?
[/quote]
Fine so far. It’s only been a few weeks, though. I’ve had some shoulder issues in the past from high-volume benching, but never anything really terrible, just “soreness” that meant I had to back off a little…
Doing some kettlebell work every day feels good, and the clean and press is an intuitive human movement, right? Not all that different from lifting stones to build a shelter or something…at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself. But seriously, doing a variety of cleans, presses, swings, and carries with a kettlebell feels like a very “primal” way of exercising to me. Functional fitness! RAH!