Monday 12/15 (PM)
Kettlebell Swings and Pump Work (20 Minutes)
A1. Kettlebell Swings 15x45
A2. Lat Pulldowns 8x150
Ten rounds.
Gym is closed until after the New Year, so probably going to be doing a lot of workouts like this in my apartment fitness room.
Tuesday 12/16 (AM)
Kettlebell Swings and Pump Work (20 Minutes)
A1. Kettlebell Swings 15x45
A2. EZ-Bar Curls 10x65
Ten rounds.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
My thoughts:
The biceps are coming along nicely. In fact, if you’re interested in hearing feedback, I’d say they are outpacing your triceps at this point.
Which leads to a question. Perusing your log to see what you’re doing for triceps turned up nothing. In fact, I don’t see any ‘push’ work (chest/shoulders/tris) at all. Am I simply missing it, or are you not doing any push work? If not, may I ask why?
[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
My thoughts:
The biceps are coming along nicely. In fact, if you’re interested in hearing feedback, I’d say they are outpacing your triceps at this point.
Which leads to a question. Perusing your log to see what you’re doing for triceps turned up nothing. In fact, I don’t see any ‘push’ work (chest/shoulders/tris) at all. Am I simply missing it, or are you not doing any push work? If not, may I ask why?[/quote]
You certainly MAY ask why! I’m afraid that the reply will be a bit unsatisfactory, though, but let’s press on.
I tend to get into these little 4-6 week cycles where I focus on one or two things (of late, pull-ups) and rarely follow any sort of program other than “Do Something Every Day” - a poor excuse, but that’s the answer, for now.
I benched a lot this spring. Felt pretty good about it, too, at least the weights that I was handling. But my shoulders started grinding and popping a lot, and it wasn’t taking me very far in terms of physique progress, so I mostly abandoned benching, and decided that I was going to do lots and lots of pull-ups and kettlebell work. That just kind of became “the thing I was working on” and any sort of “push” exercise has become a novelty.
I still do an occasional bench workout, but they are few and fairly far between (usually if I’m going to LA Fitness with my brother or working out at home with my dad).
Should I resume benching (in moderation), or absent a regular bench workout, at least some degree of “push” work? Probably, yes! Will I do it? Perhaps in the New Year, I will. Given my previously-stated intentions of a “Kettlebell-Swings-And-Something-Else” workout most evenings, it would be easy to include a machine-chest-press or dumbbell-press as the “Something Else” a few times a week instead of always using a pull exercise. There is an OK chest-press attachment in my apt fitness center that I have used quite a bit during my tenure here, just not very much lately.
I say this tongue-in-cheek, but you have “guilted” me into doing the right thing, in a way. I should stop making excuses like “I’m specializing in Exercise X” and strive for a reasonably balanced physique.
You could always just throw some triceps builders into your pump work. Single-arm overhead triceps extension is my personal go-to and probably comprises about 80% of my triceps work. You can do them with many different contraction styles and you can also use KBs. You will get more bang for your buck from a t-shirt perspective with bigger tris, though, so I say go for it.
Changing gears here, but I saw what you wrote about being a little soft in the summer of '14 and getting leaner in '15. Curious to see what your current approach and plan is for that if you don’t mind sharing.
Interestingly I’m in a very similar position to you ActivitiesGuy - with my kettlebell based training I feel like I hit my lower body and pulling muscles well, but I’ve just sort of faded away from real push work (mostly because of shoulders not feeling great, but also because I haven’t found an exercise that hits my pushing muscles satisfactorily).
The overhead triceps extensions sound like a good idea Serge - do you ever have any elbow issues with them? What sort of rep scheme do you use for them - higher reps with controlled technique? I’ll definitely try them out in my push session tomorrow.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Changing gears here, but I saw what you wrote about being a little soft in the summer of '14 and getting leaner in '15. Curious to see what your current approach and plan is for that if you don’t mind sharing.
[/quote]
Surely. I have written about my training history at scattered points during the log, but I think a brief recap is in order for context (my various peaks and valleys along the way inform how you view things).
2007 (fall): played my final season of college football at 240ish pounds. At this time I had somewhat of a mediocre powerlifter’s physique: I was strong, bulky, and had a bit of a gut and love handles. I wanted hawt abz instead, and attacked that with fervor: eating less and exercising like crazy - all things, lifting, running, biking, pickup basketball, whatever I could do. Some days I did 3 or 4 “workouts” in a day (ride a bike in the morning, lift after class, play basketball before dinner, maybe ride a bike again after dinner).
2008 (spring): Mission accomplished. I went on spring break weighing 205 and looking pretty good by my standards.
2009-2012: distance running phase. Weight got as low as 185, usually hovered in the 190’s. Lost some muscle and some fat. There’s a pic in my hub of me running a 5K around 192 pounds bodyweight, that’s pretty representative of what I looked like during this time.
I abandoned high-volume running in late 2012 due to chronic injuries. I love the sport, but even with lots of yoga, foam rolling, stretching, soft-tissue massage, and every preventive thing I could think of, I could rarely last longer than a few weeks of 30+ miles (which isn’t really that high), both of my Achilles tendons and my right hip being the two most common offenders. So…
2013: I turned back to mostly lifting and achieved an “okay” physique by that 2013 beach vacation. Most of my workouts at that time, incidentally, were pretty similar to what I’ve been turning to for the last month or so - kettlebell stuff mixed with some pump work in my apartment’s fitness center, and(ding ding ding, lightbulb goes on for me) I varied that “pump work” as we’ve discussed here - a mixture of lat pulldowns, seated rows, chest presses, triceps pushdowns, etc.
2014: some fat crept on without realizing it. I never stopped working out - I was doing lots of yoga, some lifting, some biking - but too many treats, not enough hard workouts had me feeling soft. My diet did not change a LOT, but there were a FEW more treats that I used to get away with when I had been working our HARDER. Since I was just sort of coasting through “exercise” instead of really “working out” I don’t think the ol’ furnace was burning hot enough to get away with that stuff any more.
Which brings me to the current approach. Of late - since the summer - I have been intermittent fasting (on weekdays) and mostly-Paleo because I like both things and they work nicely with my typical day’s structure. I have been, as stated, diddling around with a bunch of workout thingies but have settled on the following as my template that, really, promise, this is what I’m going to stick with for January-February-March 2015:
Weekdays:
PM Workout: 150 KB Swings + some pump work
Dinner: 1 pound meat + 1 pound veggies
Weekends will be more variable. Depending on whether my GF is visiting, or I am visiting her, there will always be a workout from the list of (yoga class, kettlebell circuit, something else active) and we will still be eating mostly-Paleo, as she has been on that train for some time as well. I am a very good cook, as is she, and thus we are pretty aggressive in our meal prep. It is no chore whatsoever for me to eat a good diet, I love meat and vegetables and rarely crave sweets. That catch-all of “1 pound meat + 1 pound veggies” for dinner has a lot of variety in it; it could be a duck leg with some squash and cauliflower puree, could be a couple of chicken drumsticks with Brussels sprouts and bacon, could be a plain old mess of ground beef with some tomato paste and spices to be a mock chili. I do eat sweet potatoes often because, let’s face it, they are freaking delicious and nutritious.
Oh, and also…re the catch-all of “pump work” listed up there…I will take the advice prescribed by the good Doctor above and use a mixture of things (chest press, curl variants, triceps work, and so on: one-lift-a-day meets the 10,000 swing workout, for you Dan John fans). Gosh, I’m going to use something resembling a bodypart split. Somewhere my 21-year-old self is scoffing at what I’ve become, but I like the looks of this. I will add some reps to the kettlebell work if they are too easy - I want to do 10 sets, whether that’s 15 reps per set, 20, 25, whatever it takes depending on how I am feeling that day.
Welp. That’s the gist of my approach. I have trimmed from a high of soft-ish 211 to slightly-less-soft 203 and would ultimately like to reach a sort-of-lean 195 by next summer, as I think that’s the weight where I look and feel truly good. All suggestions and comments welcome, even if I may ignore them in favor of “Doing What I Want To Do Because I Just Feel Like It”
Oh, and also…full implementation of this plan has to wait until January…I am a faculty member at a college and thus do most of my workouts at their gym. I’ll do a reasonable simulation of this at home with my kettlebells, dumbbells, and the machines in the apartment fitness center; only the pull-ups will be missing for the time being.
When I go home (Dec 20-28, approximately) for the holidays with my GF, I will be taking my kettlebell along (don’t worry, the family is used to this nonsense) and doing daily KB workouts along with some yoga classes (my parents and GF are both into yoga) plus a bench workout with my dad, if I can squeeze it into the cycle of visiting everyone.
Tuesday 12/16 (PM)
A1. Kettlebell Swing 15x45
A2. Chest Press 10x110, 120, 130, 140, 150
Ten rounds (ramped weight in chest press up from 110 on first set to 150 on last set).
A nod to the good suggestions above on varying the pump work to include more than just the back and biceps.
Serge - I note your suggestion of tricep extensions using a KB or DB and agree. That will go into the pump work rotation as well.
Wednesday 12/17 (AM)
A1. Kettlebell Clean-N-Press 5x45 (each hand)
A2. Lat Pulldown 8x150
Ten rounds.
Wednesday 12/17 (PM)
A1. Kettlebell Swing 15x45
A2. Barbell Curl 10x65
Ten rounds.
Thursday 12/18 (AM)
A1. Kettlebell Clean-N-Press 5x45 (each hand)
A2. Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown 10x110, 120, 130, 140, 150 (ramped across sets)
Ten rounds.
Having some fun toying around with different variants of “Kettlebell-And-Something” workouts to implement in January.
I’ll take a before pic in the first week of January and stick with the template outlined above for three consecutive months, then take a pic in late March/early April to see what happens across roughly 90 days.
Also, the more that I do this stuff, the more that I convince myself a heavier kettlebell would be worth the money. Something in the 60-75 pound range would be good. I’d like to be able to vary between heavier-loaded movements and lighter, high-rep swings with the 45.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Also, the more that I do this stuff, the more that I convince myself a heavier kettlebell would be worth the money. Something in the 60-75 pound range would be good. I’d like to be able to vary between heavier-loaded movements and lighter, high-rep swings with the 45.[/quote]
I definitely agree with this statement just because this is how my KB training is pretty much structured. Oddly enough the 80lb KB from CAP was about 20 bucks cheaper than the 70lb that I originally wanted. The only thing I don’t like about my CAP KB is it has a glossy finish and can get slippery when working outside with it. I would buy one as heavy as possible (and available) just because with kettlebell training you progress pretty fast as far as strength when it comes to the the "death"bell. Definitely worth the investment.
I’m with you, jblues. I was inspired by a comment that I read in furo’s log where he mentioned that training heavier seemed to do more for him than using his lighter KB’s for high-rep stuff. I can toss my 45 around all I want, but something tells me that I need to be working high reps with the 45 plus at least SOME degree of heavier-loaded work.
I also know that I can do some damage with a 70; I’ve played around with one at LA Fitness when I’ve gone as my brother’s guest a few times. So stay tuned. That might be a late-January or early-February purchase, perhaps as a reward for sticking with the plan in the New Year instead of running off in a different direction.
I am also in need of a heavy-ass kettlebell. I like my 50 for clean+press and snatches, but it is getting pretty light for swings and squats. When I’m motivated and not too fried from lifting I can get 40 swings in per set with my 50. I haven’t swung it other than after weights for quite a while, and I could probably get 60 or so per set if I was “fresh”.
I’ve never handled anything heavier than my 50, so I’m not quite sure what size to get. Luckily I’m heading down to a serious powerlifting gym in January for a little seminar and they have KB’s there. The place is stacked with some very, very strong guys, so I’m assuming they have 'bells suitable for guys with 1500-2000lb totals. That’ll give me the chance to try some of the heavier bells to see how they feel before I commit to another purchase.
I think swinging a 100+ pounder would do some good things!
Right before I bought my 80 pound kettlebell I hit 117 straight swings with my 55 without putting it down and that’s when I knew it was time for an upgrade. Looking back at my spreadsheet that was an odd day where I did 217 swings in 6 minutes back in July.
I really recommend getting a heavier kettlebell - getting the 88lber really transformed my training in my opinion. When I first got it I was worried I gone too heavy, but you very quickly get used to it and it really provides a better training stimulus. I think my biggest problem with it was just confidence and grip (like jblues my one is very slippery lol) but practice and some liquid chalk solved those problems. I think a mixture of lighter KB conditioning work and heavier KB strength work is a winning combination (not that I can be bothered with much conditioning work myself lol).
I’d highly recommend getting one around 88lbs - you’re definitely strong enough to handle it and it will be a nice jump from your current kettlebells.
I am glad that my kettlebell chatter has inspired some discussion!
One of the things that’s pretty cool about a kettlebell is that it has utility for all types. The powerlifter that primarily chases strength who also wants a little conditioning work (twojarslave and jblues), the survivalist who just wants to be a functional badass (furo), the guy who uses it for fat-loss and core work (EyeDentist), and Serge A. Storms, who is his own category.
twojarslave: a big strong dude like you probably COULD handle a kettlebell of 100 pounds or more, but I think it’s all a question of what you’re planning to use it for. The 50 is obviously good for warm-ups, high-rep work, conditioning, etc. In thinking about what kind of heavier bell would meet YOUR needs, you might consider the following article and see if THAT is the kind of “heavy” you are striving for
I can’t imagine buying a bell THAT heavy because that’s not what I am looking for. More on this in a moment.
jblues: it’s interesting, I have never done truly HIGH -REP swings like you have, although I may start moving in that direction. I think that my years of training primarily for football, wrestling, etc kept me firmly in the 1-10 rep range for most exercises so I’ve always thought of even 15 as “high reps” - even when transitioning to swings, which is admittedly kind of dumb now that I think about it. I will start upping the reps to 20, 25, 30 per set with my 45 and see how things go.
furo: thanks for the input - as I alluded to earlier, a note somewhere in your log about how training with the heavier bell felt like a big deal to you is what’s inspired me to think “You know, if I’m building my entire program around kettlebells mixed with some pump work, maybe I should have a heavier bell to mix in.”
I had mentioned a 60-75, but an 88 might be even better. I could probably manage a clean-and-press with that, and I know that it would be fine for rows and goblet squats. Ideally the “heavy” bell would be something I could do one-armed swings with and could work up to clean-and-pressing for a couple of reps, which is why an 88 sounds like such a monster jump from a 45…we’ll see.
One other factor in all of this: I have periodically mentioned my GF in this log. Previously a cardio-only (running/aerobics/yoga) type, she has really taken to the kettlebell (we’re long distance, spend 2-3 weekends together per month plus holidays; when we’re together, every day includes either a KB workout or a hot yoga class, and she does a KB workout at least once or twice a week on her own now). We presently have 20 and 35 pounders that “live” at her place and 25/45 pounders that stay at my place so we can always do at least some kind of KB workout - perfect “partner” workout because we can both use our own weights easily, doesn’t require much space or special equipment, etc (and it still feels like she gets her heart-rate up and sweats, which seems to be an important factor for a girl in feeling like something is a real “workout”). She handles the 20/25 with ease for swings, and has taken to goblet squatting and rowing the 35/45 when she can. If I add the big bell at my place, I might want to switch which bells are stored where…but I’ll figure that out when I buy a big one (I’ve now decided that I will, just waiting til January or February after the holidays).
Thursday 12/18 (PM)
A1. Kettlebell Swings 20x45
A2. Chest Press 10x110, 120, 130, 140, 150 (ramped across sets)
Ten rounds.
Friday 12/19 (AM)
A1. Kettlebell Clean-N-Press 5x45 (each hand)
A2. Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown 10x110, 120, 130, 140, 150 (ramped across sets)
Ten rounds.