Actually, that’s probably it more so than anything else: discounting the dumb stuff I did in university, I’ve only been at this for the past 5-7 years (depending on how you count, exactly) and, more importantly, I’ve only been doing what you see in this log since a month or two after I started this log!
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The fact that you have been doing it ‘right’ also helps. You train hard and I mean it…hard. But you also do mobility, conditioning and you seem to have a good handle on eating and sleeping. You are also not a blob. You are pretty much the poster boy for how to do this stuff properly without breaking. Massive respect to you for this because most people and I mean most people just don’t seem to be able to work this stuff out. I know @T3hPwnisher will agree with me here and that’s as much as a stamp of a approval that anyone can get in this game. Keep on trucking mate you are deff wining.
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Thanks for that, @simo74! I’m humbled by your words. Truly.
6K(-ish) Swing Challenge - Day 6 of 12
Friday - 14 October 2022
Workout: Swing, 0525-0555 (30 minutes)
6 rounds of:
a) 10 swing
b) 15 swing
c) 25 swing
d) 50 swing
e) 90-second rest
Time: 24:15
Swings: 6000/6000(-ish)
Fasted. That’s 6000/6000(-ish) done. 12K: Here we come!
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6K(-ish) Swing Challenge - Day 6 of 12
Friday - 14 October 2022
Workout: Swing & press, 1720-1805 (45 minutes)
6 rounds of:
a) 10 swing, 1 press
b) 15 swing, 2 press
c) 25 swing, 3 press
d) 50 swing
e) 90-second rest
Time: 33:37
Swings: 6600/6000(-ish)
Best just get out the way, folks, 'cause there ain’t no stopping me!
I entered this afternoon’s workout having already obliterated 6000 24-kg swings, so I bumped up the KB to 28 kg—I mean, why not, right?
And, yeah, I still crushed the swing & press session I did, like, what—maybe 36 hours ago?—by just over 2 minutes.
I’m so incredibly amp’ed right, and it feels awesome. Oh, and I’m already setup for tomorrow’s swing & dip workout, and it’s all I can do not to go swing some more, haha!
But in reality, it’s now time to E-A-T! I’m gonna crush that too!
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I have been skipping a little through the last few posts… Why the change of pace with training?
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Mostly this:
In context, “[t]hat one” is 5/3/1 for Hardgainers. I finished it, departed that same afternoon for a 7-day overseas work trip that left no time or desire to train, came back and jumped right into a 5/3/1 7WP TM Test week, found it exceedingly hard—mentally and physically—and then realized I only had 12 more days until another trip (this time a family trip and pure fun!), so…
Why not try something different?
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That’s as good as any reason! But will there be no barbell work at all?
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I’ve been pressing and front squatting with a BB for two of the Rx strength movements. (I’ve been doing weighted dips and weighted chins for the other two.) So, there’s SOME barbell work, but it hasn’t been the focus for the past 6 days (nor for the next 6 days), and it won’t come back into focus until after the family trip.
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6K(-ish) Swing Challenge - Day 7 of 12
Saturday - 15 October 2022
Workout: Swing & dip, 0525-0615 (50 minutes)
6 rounds of:
a) 10 swing, 2 dip
b) 15 swing, 3 dip
c) 25 swing, 5 dip
d) 50 swing
e) 90-second rest
Time: 37:45
Swings: 7200/6000(-ish)
Fasted. Meant to say yesterday that I really appreciate how the heavier bell keeps me honest: If my arms try to get involved too much, they tire out quickly, so I’m forced to keep the work in my hips (especially on those longer 50-rep sets).
Today was fine, a bit behind the last swing & dip workout, but I’ve bumped up the KB weight so… Not a bad performance overall, particularly because there’s a certain amount of overhead getting into and out of the dip belt.
I’m setup for swings & front squats later today, and this is the first time I’m dreading one of these workouts—yeah, I hate front squats THAT much. But I survived the last one and I’ll survive this one too. Besides, once that’s done, I’ll only have one more swing & squat workout left to finish before this challenge is in the books!
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I would like to join that club. I just hate them because my wrists don’t like front rack.
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Welcome! Glad to have you with us, haha.
Exactly this. My rack hold is awful, I have to do the arms-crossed-in-front thing, the bar crushes my windpipe the whole time, and my clavicles get bruised like crazy—good times!
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This is great to see. The sets of 50 on the heavier bell… how did they feel?
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Thanks for dropping! It’s not a huge weight difference, but I can feel it nonetheless. I have a tendency to cheat the bell up with my arms by making it kind of a front raise sometimes, but I notice when I do that much sooner with the heavier one, so it forces me to keep the swing in my lower body.
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6K(-ish) Swing Challenge - Day 7 of 12
Saturday - 15 October 2022
Workout: Swing & squat, 1400-1440 (40 minutes)
6 rounds of:
a) 10 swing, 1 front squat
b) 15 swing, 2 front squat
c) 25 swing, 3 front squat
d) 50 swing
e) 90-second rest
Time: 32:54
Swings: 7800/6000(-ish)
Another one down. That’s 13 600-swing workouts in 7 days, and I’m still feeling good—front squats notwithstanding, haha.
Setup for swing & chin tomorrow AM!
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Damn! That is a lot of swings
how do you manage grip fatigue?
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Well, it’s 2200 shy of what some people—one Pwn-erson?—have done in 7 days, but it’s also 1800 more than I thought I’d be doing over the course of 12 days when I started this thing, so that’s awesome!
Grip was a BIG challenge the first few days, but then on Tuesday morning (I think), it just wasn’t anymore—it’s like that was enough time for my body to realize I wasn’t letting go (haha!), so it just adapted.
Now that’s not to say it’s not A challenge, it’s just not a big challenge anymore. I spend the 90-second between-round breaks shaking out and stretching my hands, and I’ve been re-chalking before just about every 50-rep set.
That seems to be enough grip management so far…
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I dunked forearms in an ice-water-filled sink the first few times, then adapted, when i did the regular challenge a couple years ago.
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6K(-ish) Swing Challenge - Day 8 of 12
Sunday - 16 October 2022
Workout: Swing & chin-up + penalty round, 0620-0700 + 0800-0805 (40 + 5 minutes)
6 rounds of:
a) 10 swing, 1 chin
b) 15 swing, 2 chin
c) 25 swing, 3 chin
d) 50 swing
e) 90-second rest
Time: 32:42
Swings: 8400/6000(-ish)
Fasted. Went to bed later than usual last night, so I turned my alarm off, rolled over, slept another half-hour this morning. But I’m somehow running about a full hour behind. Anyway…
Chins at 45 lbs today—remember how I said grip wasn’t a big challenge anymore? That was before I did this workout with a plate strapped to me. WOW! I’ve never done weighted chins at 45 lbs before, but now that I have, I realize how lop-sided my eccentric is: I really rely on my right arm to bear the weight during the descent, particularly when my left grip is shot.
Oh, and the last 10 swings of the last round were just awful, definitely the closest I’ve come to losing the KB. I was really cheating the ROM on the upswing during those reps just so I didn’t lose it!
That doesn’t sit well with me, so I’ll do another round a bit later in the day before my second workout, but I won’t count the swings—they’ll just be that poor-form penalty thing I do sometimes.
Edit: 8400 swings in, my calluses have calluses, and those have blisters!
Can’t wait to see what kind of shape my hands are in at the end of this!
Edit 2: Okay, 10-15-20-50 penalty swings in 3:00 flat. They still hurt like the dickens, but my form was solid throughout. Oh, and bad news: I realized I forgot to do yesterday’s BB curls (again), so I own 141 unbroken for last week. Maybe I’ll get to those today, maybe I won’t, but I WILL catch up before this week’s 142 roll around.
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I ended up with swollen fingers and calluses on top of calluses. All good.
I’m loving what you’re doing with this.
Same. I would at this point like to mention the oft overlooked Zercher Squat.
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