Wednesday 11/26 (PM)
Kettlebell/Dumbbell Combo Workouf (25 Minutes)
A1. KB Clean and Press 3x45 (each hand)
A2. Dumbbell Curl 10x20
Five rounds.
B1. KB Swing 15x45
B2. Hammer Curl 10x20
Five rounds.
C1. Clean and Press 3x45 (each hand)
C2. Corkscrew Curls 10x20
Finisher: 12 clean and presses (each hand) with the 45-pound bell.
GF arrives in town tonight for T-Day weekend with family. Tomorrow morning will probably be a partner KB workout (a former runner/yoga chick only, she’s now hooked on the kettlebell - she packed her 20-pound bell just so we could work out together!) before the afternoon meat-fest.
Thursday 11/27
Bike/Kettlebell Intervals (40 Monutes)
A1. Bike 5 Minutes
A2. Kettlebell Deadlifts 10x45
A3. Kettlebell Squats 10x45
A4. Kettlebell Swings 15x45
A5. Kettlebell Clean and Press 6x45 (each hand)
Four rounds.
Did this with my GF (20 pound bell and treadmill for her).
Off to enjoy Thanksgiving with the fam.
Happy Holidays to all!
Friday 11/28
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Saturday 11/29
Kettlebell / Lifting Circuit (32 Minutes)
A1. Kettlebell Swings 15x45
A2. Barbell Curls 10x65
A3. Lat Pulldown 8x150
Ten rounds.
Sunday 11/30
Kettlebell / Lifting Circuit (28 Minutes)
A1. Kettlebell Swings 15x45
A2. Barbell Curls 10x65
A3. Lat Pulldown 8x150
Ten rounds again. Repeated Saturday’s workout…this worked nicely with my GF’s visit. We could do a set of swings together (her with the 20, me with the 45), then do a “freestyle” movement or two to suit our individual tastes (i.e. she did jumping jacks, or deadlifts with my bell, or an ab movement), then come back together for the swings to keep our HR up. We both enjoyed this as a partner-workout style.
Sunday 11/30 (PM)
Spinning Bike (20 Minutes)
Monday 12/1 (AM)
50 Pull-ups plus pump work (25 Minutes)
A1. Neutral-Grip Pull-ups 5xBW
A2. Cable Curls 10x50
A3. Cable Rows 10x100
Five rounds.
B1. Chin-ups 5xBW
B2. Cable Curls 10x50
B3. Cable Rows 10x100
Five rounds.
Monday 12/1 (PM)
Spinning Bike (20 Minutes)
Tuesday 12/2 (AM)
50 Pull-ups plus pump work (23 Minutes)
A1. Pull-ups 5xBW
A2. Cable Curls 10x50
A3. Cable Rows 10x100
Tuesday 12/2 (PM)
Kettlebell Circuit plus Pump Work (25 Minutes)
A1. KB Swings 15x45
A2. Lat Pulldowns 6x150
Ten rounds.
B1. 1-Arm KB Swings 8x45 (each hand)
B2. Chest Press 5x200
Three rounds.
C KB Clean and Press 20x45
Really enjoyed this as my evening workout.
Also, I’m feeling good and strong, by my standards at least.
Wednesday 12/3 (AM)
50 Pull-ups plus pump work (25 Minutes)
A1. Neutral-Grip Pull-ups 5xBW
A2. Cable Curls 10x50
A3. Rope Curls 10x50
Five rounds.
B1. Chin-ups 5xBW
B2. Cable Curls 10x50
B3. Rope Curls 10x50
Five rounds.
Man, those rope curls (sort of a hammer curl using a rope attached to the cable-crossover) are a killer at the end of these little clusters. For someone like me with more of a “strength” focus that’s never really hammered the MMC thing until recently, that does something to wake up a piece of my arm that’s never been used much before.
Wednesday 12/3 (PM)
Kettlebell Circuit plus Pump Work (25 Minutes)
A1. KB Swings 15x45
A2. Lat Pulldowns 6x150
A3. EZ-Bar Curls 10x65
Ten rounds.
Thursday 12/4 (AM)
50 Pull-ups plus pump work (25 Minutes)
A1. Chin-ups 5xBW
A2. Rope Curls 10x50
A3. Cable Curls 10x50
Five rounds.
B1. Neutral-Grip Pull-ups 5xBW
B2. Cable Rows 10x100
B3. Cable Curls 10x50
Five rounds.
Thursday 12/4 (PM)
Kettlebell Circuit plus Pump Work (25 Minutes)
A1. KB Swings 15x45
A2. Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns 6x150
A3. EZ-Bar Curls 10x65
Ten rounds.
Friday 12/5 (AM)
60 Pull-ups plus pump work (22 Minutes)
A1. Chin-ups 5xBW
A2. Seated Rows 10x100
Twelve rounds. I changed the grip on the seated rows every three sets (first a wide neutral grip handle, then a straigt bar, then a rope, and finally the usual narrow-neutral-grip handle). Good stuff.
Programming note:
As anyone who flips through my log can see, I tend to get on little “kicks” where I really focus on something for 4-6 weeks, then inevitably change things around. I’ve been pretty good about sticking to my pull-ups as a tracker of progress, and I’ve started mixing in some isolation work to bring up a few weaknesses (or at least maintain what little I’ve got - biceps, I’m looking at you - as I try to lean out a bit).
I really like my morning “50 pullups plus a little pump work” routine, and I also enjoy unwinding after work with a few rounds of kettlebell swings. So I’d like to build a little program around both of those constructs and stick with it for three solid months. This will get disrupted for most of December, as I travel and the school gym is closed, but when I return in January & the new semester begins, this is what I’d like to do:
Weekdays:
AM - 50 pullups plus pump work
PM - 150 kettlebell swings plus pump work
Both of the daily workouts will have the same structure: ten rounds of (5 pullups) or (15 kettlebell swings) plus a selected isolation exercise (cable curls, seated rows if at the University gym; EZ-bar curls, lat pulldowns, chest press, whatever if using my apartment fitness center) in between, spread over 20-25 minutes.
Weekends will always be a wild-card from the list of :
Bikram Yoga
Spinning Bike
Kettlebell Workouts (if my GF is visiting me, or I am visiting her)
Gym Workouts (with brother and/or dad if the occasion allows)
The dual focus on pull-ups and kettlebell swings should be fun.
I’ll be doing this “as best as possible” for the next month, but once the Uni gym closes and I go spend a week at home for the holidays, this exact structure will not be practical - I’ll get a workout in every day of some type, but at home it will be a hodgepodge of kettlebell stuff and yoga classes. So this will pick up in earnest just after the New Year.
Other lifting note:
Regular readers (or periodic checkers) of my log have probably seen some mention of my father at some point. Long story short, my Dad started powerlifting in his late 30’s and achieved “mediocre gym guy” status in the 220/242 class with a squat around 400, bench around 275, and deadlift of 475 (or something like that). We did a few PL meets together when I was a teen training for football, and while he no longer lifts really heavy, he still has a nice setup at home and lifts 2-3 days a week. He’d been restricted to “only” squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses of late because…
His old cheap incline-bench broke a year or two ago (amazing it lasted as long as it did, really, it was a pretty cheap old thing and we’d been using it since I was 9) and after listening to him always sort-of talk about fixing it or getting a new one, my brother and I decided to buy him a good solid bench for Christmas this year. Dad’s the kind of guy who you never really know what to get for Christmas, and he never buys anything for himself because he doesn’t want to make a fuss of any kind, so we knew this was a perfect present, almost like making up for 10 years of never knowing what to get him.
I called York Barbell two weeks ago, we picked one out, and I placed the order the Monday before Thanksgiving, figuring it might take a little while to get there. Little did I know that it would arrive just two days later! My mom said that he was really delighted with the gift - he already has put it together and took it for a test drive last night. Coincidentally, I’m going home this weekend so tomorrow morning, I will get a bench workout in with my dad for old times’ sake 
Awesome gift for the old man.
Most people in my family would take deep offense to receiving a fitness-type of gift!
I’m still holding out that Santa is going to bring me a 70lb kettlebell and a pair of Rehband knee sleeves. I’ll probably just get lots of craft beer and a ridiculously large tub of caramel corn like last year. That’s how my family rolls.
Good stuff in those last few updates.
Do you do those KB swings all the same way, sticking to the same basic “KB swing” form?
I’ve been adding more DB swings and snatches to my lifting, using pretty light weights and doing long, continuous metcon-style sets.
I’m playing around with grooving all sorts of different patterns though - every thing between a straight up snatch and a very round swing, shifting the focus around from hams to lower back to upper back to shoulders. I even use side swings. Sometimes I’ll start off a long set without using my legs at all, and gradually increase the lower body contribution as my upper body fatigues.
I enjoy this because I get the dual benefits of the conditioning/calorie burning while also being able to pump the shit out of my upper back muscles, shoulders, and traps.
Just a few ideas to play around with if you’re ever in the mood.
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
Awesome gift for the old man.
Most people in my family would take deep offense to receiving a fitness-type of gift!
[/quote]
Indeed. As would many. I feel very blessed to have a family that is 1) very into sports and 2) at least mostly into fitness. Nobody quite has the drive for it that I do, but Mom is a walker-and-yoga devotee, Dad lifts and does some yoga, my brother is at least a weekend-warrior at the gym, and my GF is a runner/yogi that is starting to love kettlebell work.
Buy yourself that 70 pound kettlebell. You’re too much of a bear for just that 50.
I’m also plotting (my next fitness purchase, probably will save up a little bit, I’ve been buying a lot of “stuff” lately) to buy a 70-ish pounder myself, eventually.