Saturday 7/25
Log Clean-N-Press
5x1x145
5x1x155
1x1x165
10x1x145
Burnout: clean once and press 5x145
Sunday 7/26 (AM)
Barbell Clean-N-Press
1x135, 1x140, 1x145, 1x150, 1x155, 1x160, 1x165, 1x170, 1x175
Deadlit
1x225, 1x235, 1x245, 1x255, 1x265, 1x275
DB Clean-N-Press
2x50, 2x55, 2x60, 2x65, 2x70, 2x75, 2x80, 2x85
Sunday 7/26 (PM)
KB Clean-N-Press 30 x 2 x 53
Just needed to move a little after a long day of driving.
Trying to upload video of my last set of log clean-and-presses from yesterday…I hope this isn’t sideways…
Well that one looks sideways…let’s see if I could successfully rotate it this time…
Monday 7/27 (AM)
KB Clean-N-Press 30 x 2 x 53
Monday 7/27 (PM)
KB Clean-N-Press 1x53 (right hand), 1x53 (left hand)
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53 (right hand), 2x53 (left hand)
KB Clean-N-Press 3x53 (right hand), 3x53 (left hand)
KB Clean-N-Press 4x53 (right hand), 4x53 (left hand)
KB Clean-N-Press 5x53 (right hand), 5x53 (left hand)
KB Snatch 20x53
Chest Press 6x110
KB Clean-N-Press 1x53
Chest Press 6x120
KB Clean-N-Press 1x53
Chest Press 6x130
KB Clean-N-Press 1x53
Chest Press 6x140
KB Clean-N-Press 1x53
Chest Press 6x190
KB Snatch 20x53
Random grab bag of stuff this evening. Just felt like moving around and getting some blood pumping, no real structure.
Tuesday 7/28 (AM)
A1. KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
A2. Lat Pulldown 6x110, 6x120, 6x130, 6x140, 6x150
A3. Chest Press 6x110, 6x120, 6x130, 6x140, 6x150
Tuesday 7/28 (PM)
A1. KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
A2. Lat Pulldown 6x110, 6x120, 6x130, 6x140, 6x150, 6x150, 6x150, 6x150
A3. Chest Press 6x110, 6x120, 6x130, 6x140, 6x150, 6x160, 6x170, 6x180
Wednesday 7/29 (AM)
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
KB Clean-N-Press 2x53
KB Clean-N-Press 4x53
KB Clean-N-Press 6x53
KB Clean-N-Press 8x53
KB Snatch 20x53
KB Snatch 20x53
KB Long Cycle Ladder* 1x53, 2x53, 3x53, 4x53, 5x53
*Without putting the bell down: clean with right hand, press with right hand, switch to left, clean with left hand, press with left hand = 1 rep…so I did 1 rep with right hand, 1 with left hand, then 2 with right hand, 2 with left hand, etc without putting the bell down at all
KB Clean-N-Press 10x53
KB Clean-N-Press 4x53
Wednesday 7/29 (PM)
KB Clean-N-Press 14 x 2 x 88
Thursday 7/30
A1. KB Clean-N-Press 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88, 2x88
A2. Chest Press 6x110, 6x120, 6x130, 6x140, 6x150, 6x160, 12x110, 12x110
Friday 7/31
KB Swings, Chest Presses, KB Clean-N-Press (20 Minutes)
Just kind of a grab bag. Don’t remember the whole thing, but I did do a set of 8 clean and presses with my 88-pound kettlebell, my best performance in the last few weeks,
Saturday 8/1
Found a gym within walking distance of my apartment that offered a free trial, decided I may as well check it out. I love my KB’s and they’re definitely going to remain my bread-and-butter for awhile, but it is nice to do some barbell work on weekends when I have spare time to get to a gym (Monday through Friday, I’m generally quite busy so the convenience of working out at home with the KB’s is hard to pass up). I think that a little heavier strength work probably will benefit my KB performance as well.
Clean-N-Press
1x135, 1x140, 1x145, 1x150, 1x155, 1x160, 1x165, 1x170
Power Clean
1x175, 1x180, 1x185, 1x190, 1x195, 1x200, 1x205
Deadlift
1x225, 1x235, 1x245, 1x255, 1x265, 1x275, 1x290
Incline Bench
5x135, 5x145, 5x155, 5x165
A few comments:
I’m relatively pleased with the power clean, being that I have not done heavy barbell cleans in…uh, years? I would really like to be able to clean 225 and expect that a few weeks’ practice will get me there. I also expect that re-adding some heavy swings with the 88 during the week will help (I looked back through my log and realized that I’ve almost entirely dropped 2-handed heavy swings to focus on snatches and clean-and-presses…but I really should be doing them, such a good builder of posterior chain).
I stopped wayyyy short of a true max on the deadlift. I haven’t lifted anything that heavy in a VERY long time and want to ease myself back to that. I would like to do a solid single with 315 in the next few weeks and then start creeping my way up to 405. I also expect that heavy swings will help with that.
I’m not doing this for strict PL purposes, nor because I want to prioritize the max DL or power clean…really just because I think getting back to a basic level of strength in those two lifts will be good for a) general health and b) carry-over to KB snatch performance. No denying that improved top-end strength will make that 53 feel lighter and lighter for high-rep snatches.
Sunday 8/2 (AM)
Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)
Sunday 8/2 (PM)
KB Clean-N-Press 20 x 1 x 88
So this morning I decided to join that gym I went to on Saturday. They have a summer special (waiving initiation fee) and it’s a decent price with month-to-month contracts that can be canceled any time. Might as well give it a whirl for a few months and see if I go often enough to be worthwhile. I am excited at the prospect of doing some heavy cleans and deadlifts to supplement my kettlebell work.
Monday 8/3 (AM)
Power Clean
1x135
1x140
1x145
1x150
1x155
1x160
1x165
1x170
1x175
1x180
1x185
1x190
1x195
Deadlift
1x225
1x235
1x245
1x255
1x265
1x275
1x285
1x300
Clean-N-Press
5x135
This is the first time I have deadlifted 300 in several years, which I guess is kind of cool. Maybe will try 315 next week. Don’t plan to rush this - I want to get back up to deadlifting 405 but also want to do it with my spine intact.
Welcome back to the barbell world my friend!!! A lift that really helped me hit my KB Snatch goals were Box Squats set to above parallel along with Power Cleans. Box Squats seem to help get my hamstrings and glutes stronger in regards to KB Snatches. With the box height I was using at that time it was set pretty close to where my position would be on the downswing.
RDL’s and other Stiff Leg work had it’s place in my training but Box Squats and Power Cleans had the best carryover to my KB Snatch along with ab work. Was not doing conventional deads during that time since I was already getting so much posterior chain work from kettlebells. Just passing along some information that really helped me hit the 100+ snatches in 5 minutes with my 55# KB for the 2nd time.
Tuesday 8/4
A1. Bench Press 5x135, 5x145, 5x155, 5x165, 5x175, 5x185, 5x195, 5x205
A2. Lat Pulldowns 8x110, 8x110, 8x110, 8x110, 8x110, 8x110, 8x110, 8x110
Bench Press 5x225
Pull-ups 1x10
jblues: thanks for the input, man, much obliged.
I am really stoked about this. I have really enjoyed working out at home with my KB’s and certainly will not be abandoning them (and in the dead of winter, I expect that I’ll be more inclined to do the workouts at home without the need to venture to the gym). But I think that some good barbell work, especially power cleans and deadlifts, will do me good, both in kettlebell performance and general strength.
I also love and miss(ed) both lifts, and really want to feel like I can attain (and then, maintain) some acceptable level of strength, for which my very-abitrary bar is a 225 power clean and a 405 deadlift to go with the RKC snatch (100x53) and press (1x106) standards. Hitting all 4 of those at a BW around 200, while it’s not going to get me into the Olympics/CrossFit Games/Arnold Classic, is a fine level of “decently strong and fit” that I would be happy to reach by my 30th birthday (I’m just about to turn 29) and hold for a few decades.
I heard of this new exercise called “squatting” - or maybe it’s pronounced “swatting”, I’m not sure. The "q "could be silent…anyways, Yogi said he might start doing them, so I also decided to do a few of them today.
Wednesday 8/5
Power Clean
1x135
1x145
1x155
1x165
1x175
1x185
1x195
Deadlift
1x225
1x235
1x245
1x255
1x265
1x275
1x285
1x295
1x305
Squat
1x135
1x145
1x155
1x165
1x175
1x185
1x195
Pull-ups
1x10
One may quite reasonably ask "Dude, ActivitiesGuy, why are you only doing singles? And are those weights in pounds or kilograms, you pansy? "
…and those would be very fair questions/comments. I suppose my (possibly harebrained) logic, besides just “I want to do it that way” - is that I am just re-starting these exercises after years doing an assortment of distance running, cycling, yoga, and (more recently) kettlebelling. Other than some bench-press-and-curl workouts, I have not done much in this arena for six or seven years, and only in the last two-and-a-half years, with the introduction of my kettlebells, have I really done anything strength-related, period.
For me, it feels easier to focus, stay tight, and concentrate on doing a single good rep than it would to maintain that through a set of 5-10 reps. I have a (bad) tendency to lose focus and go on auto-pilot in high rep sets of things like lat pulldowns, chest press, etc (in a related story, that’s probably why I never saw much progress from any sort of “traditional hypertrophy” program - I never really committed to doing 12 good reps of curls with my 20-25 pound dumbbells, I’d inevitably get bored and start cheat-curling them). I think by focusing on workouts with 8-10 singles per core lift (for now), I stand a decent chance of rebuilding a little base, then can re-evaluate in time.
Ahhh barbells!
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing those singles, especially as you’re just re-acclimating yourself to the activity. Once you get comfortable doing the movements it is a short leap to doubles and triples. From there a set of 5 will seem like nothing. Or you can continue with heavy singles if that’s what you want to do.
On a related note, I believe a certain level of form-breakdown or “slop” in my movements has helped me become stronger overall. Keep in mind, these are relatively minor breakdowns that occur in the last few reps of a set and I tend to stay on the side of racking the bar instead of grinding a rep out. Still, I feel form deviations on just about every top set and I’ve learned to not let those bother me too much.
Also, if you are just walking up to the bar and power cleaning 195 and DL’ing 305 without any recent training on the movements, I believe you can easily meet the 225 and 405 goals in a matter of months, if not weeks. I think your kettlebellery will have a decent bit of carryover to both of those, especially with all the hip hinging.
Keep it up brother!
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
On a related note, I believe a certain level of form-breakdown or “slop” in my movements has helped me become stronger overall. Keep in mind, these are relatively minor breakdowns that occur in the last few reps of a set and I tend to stay on the side of racking the bar instead of grinding a rep out. Still, I feel form deviations on just about every top set and I’ve learned to not let those bother me too much.
[/quote]
I think Punisher has written the same, and I actually think that this is completely true…we should not be so fearful of form breakdowns that we are afraid to work hard. And once I have spent a couple months re-acclimating to the strain of heavy barbell work, I will probably be more willing to push that envelope as well.
Max-effort lifts are rarely, if ever, going to look like that picture-perfect rep you did with 85% of your max. Totally agreed. I just want to make sure that I’m re-establishing good habits when it comes to setup, posture, etc so the deviations from good form are just that - DEVIATIONS - and not the new norm.
Thanks for stopping in, man. Appreciate it. Hope all is well with you.
You might appreciate a rest pause approach using a rack. I did something like this with front squats a long while back. It was for triples, but singles would work as well.
Hit your single, rack the bar, take 12-15 deep breaths, repeat. This way, you can still go about with focusing on just that 1 rep, but you’ll also get in a pretty gnarly workout with the shorter rest periods.