That’s an interesting observation, because I’ve noticed the inverse for myself - doing a pulling exercise like seated rows always improves my dumbbell (chest) pressing performance. Even simple band pull-aparts beforehand work better than going straight to pressing.
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Monday 11/25
LIGHT KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
4, 5, 4, 5, 4 x 62
What benefits do you think the bottoms up press gives you relative to the regular press? Do you try for a certain ratio of weight between the two lifts, or do you just go by body intuition to figure out how much weight to use?
You’re like a metronome of dedication!
Thanks for the compliment about the dedication!
For the bottoms up press, lately I’ve just been using it as a warmup. Two sets of 5 with the 26 per hand is just enough to wake up the pressing muscles before starting the heavy work. I may start pushing the weight more on the bottoms up press itself at some point - it is a neat party trick and would be cool to actually be able to manage it with a heavier bell - but for right now it’s just kind of a warmup / prehab thing.
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Tuesday 11/26
CONDITIONING
Pull-ups
10 x 3
So this may seem a bit silly but I think I’m going to just stick with “10 triples” as my standard pull-up workout (set done every 90 seconds so it takes 15 minutes total). I’m a bigger guy at 220+ pounds, I do my pull-ups pretty slow and deliberate from a dead hang with a full chest-to-bar motion, and I think that pushing for higher reps is where my form starts to break down. Not that a set of 7 is that crazy or anything, but 10 triples just feels good. If anything I’m inclined to get a weighted vest and start adding some load rather than reps. Watch this space!
Wednesday 11/27
MEDIUM KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
3, 4, 3, 4, 3 x 70
Weighted Pull-ups
3 (BW)
3 (+15)
3 (+20)
3 (+25)
3 (+15)
Really happy with these already…I bought a nice weighted vest with little pockets and 2.5 pound weights that allow for pretty simple adjustment mid-workout. Vest comes with 50 pounds of weights. I’ll tinker with my favorite way of setting up and adding weights during the workout. But I think I’m going to much prefer pull-up workouts based around triples with added weight vs. increasing reps. Of course, the vest won’t always travel easily so I might still be doing all body weight for some workouts, but when I do pull-ups at home I’ll probably use the vest a lot.
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Thursday 11/28
CONDITIONING
Weighted Pull-ups
5 x 3 (+25)
Pull-ups
5 x 3
Kettlebell Press
1, 1, 1, 1, 1 x 80
Gonna have to play around a bit with my favorite way to incorporate the weighted pull-ups (would I rather start with a few sets unloaded then add the vest, or vice versa) but these did feel good. Added a few bonus presses because it’s Thanksgiving and I’ll be eating hearty…
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Friday 11/29
HEAVY KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
2, 3, 2, 3, 2 x 80
Weighted Pull-ups
3 x 3 (+25)
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Saturday 11/30
MAX EFFORT KB PRESS
Bottoms Up Press
5, 5, 5, 5, 5 x 26
Kettlebell Press
2x53
2x62
2x70
1x80
1x88
1x97
1x97
1x97
1x97
1x97
Going to see my college alma mater play in the first round of NCAA Division III playoffs today. Wanted to do something a bit inspired so I worked up to a solid five singles on each side with the 97.
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Sunday 12/1
CONDITIONING
Pull-ups
10 x 3
Monday 12/2
LIGHT KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
4, 5, 4, 5, 4 x 62
Tuesday 12/3
CONDITIONING
Axle Deadlift
3x115
3x145
3x175
3x205
3x235
Weighted Pull-ups
5 x 3 (+25)
First time I’ve done a deadlift since hernia surgery. I have an outline of a plan that I’d like to start in January to reintroduce all of the core movements (squatting, pressing, and deadlifting) but through some work travel and holidays it will be hard to firmly establish that until January. So for now, in December I’m gonna do some of what you see here - handful of these little light deadlift workouts doing triples up to 235 (when using the axle) or 255 (when using the barbell) mixed in with my weighted pull-ups, just to reintroduce the movement, get my body used to handling (some) weight again, make sure that my hernia repair doesn’t give me any grief with this before starting to open the throttle a bit in January. One month with a few of these sprinkled in should be enough to boost my confidence in resuming some real axle & barbell work in January. I won’t be abandoning the kettlebells and pull-ups, though. I’m going to aim for something like:
Sunday: Pull-ups
Monday: Squat Variation
Tuesday: Light KB Press
Wednesday: Press Variation
Thursday: Light KB Press
Friday: Deadlift Variation
Saturday: Heavy KB Press
I think I’ll rotate each of the 3 core lifts on a three week cycle - box squat, front squat, and back squat; axle overhead press, axle bench press and barbell bench press; axle deadlift, conventional deadlift, and sumo deadlift. For the first couple of months it’ll still be pretty gentle, just working my way back into it. I used to love cranking up to heavy singles but I may be more reserved as I get started this time. Just want to get strong and functional and feel good. If I get to summer and I’m squatting in the high 200’s, pressing in the low 200’s and deadlifting in the 300’s for workouts while still keeping my pull-ups and kettlebell press where they are or better, that would be a successful restart and I can figure it out from there.
2 Likes
Wednesday 12/4
MEDIUM KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
3, 4, 3, 4, 3 x 70
Conventional Deadlift
3x135
3x165
3x195
3x225
3x255
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Thursday 12/5
EASY DEADLIFT LADDER
Deadlift
3x135
3x165
3x195
3x225
3x255
3x255
3x255
Wayyyy too cold to do pull-ups outside so I just did my little remedial deadlift ladder. I’m sticking to “no more than 255” for at least the month of December - need to get a couple of these workouts in to build confidence. I’m also hopeful that maybe starting from the ground up I can rebuild my conventional deadlift and avoid some of the back issues that have plagued me in the past.
Or, you know, maybe I’ll just hang out doing triples at like 295/315 for a while with various stances and implements (eg mixtures of axle and barbell, sumo and conventional stance)? Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Friday 12/6
HEAVY KB PRESS
Bottoms-Up Press
5x26, 5x26
Kettlebell Press
2, 3, 2, 3, 2 x 80
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Saturday 12/7
EASY DEADLIFT LADDER
Deadlift
3x135
3x165
3x195
3x225
3x255
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1x275
1 Like
Sunday 12/8
CONDITIONING
Weighted Pull-ups
3 (+15)
3 (+20)
3 (+25)
3 (+30)
3 (+25)
3 (+20)
3 (+15)
Pull-ups
8
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Monday 12/9
LIGHT KB PRESS
Kettlebell Press
4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4 x 50
Traveling for work for a few days. Luckily the hotel does have kettlebells up to 50 pounds, so I can basically just do my usual “light KB press” workout every morning until I’m back at home. With some year end work stuff and holidays the next few weeks of training are likely to be a little haphazard, but I’m really excited to start my new program in January 2025 (alluded to in my post on 12/3).
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Tuesday 12/10
LIGHT KB PRESS
Kettlebell Press
4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4 x 50
Wednesday 12/11
LIGHT KB PRESS
Kettlebell Press
4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4 x 50