Furo's Kettlebell Log

Training Training Logs
1041

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Goals are mainly lifting for aesthetics/ bikini to small figure shape. Because I love it. To continue to lift heavy stuff in my daily life, which is a requirement for me, and enjoy health. Over the next month, I’ll finish cutting from a starting point of 118 to 110 lbs or so. [/quote]

That’s really cool, very similar goals to me (minus the bikini bit lol). Health, the requirement to move daily and aesthetics. Is your training mostly barbell-based? Good luck with the rest of your cut :).

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Upper back tightness, grip, cardio, time and being a wuss for me is what makes timed snatches challenging! Good job on the 1 hand switch. Trying to work that type of stuff out in my training right now. Good to see you are working on it early in the ball game.
[/quote]

Thanks a lot, I really enjoyed it! Ever since getting the 40kg kettlebell my neck has been stiff quite often and always cracks in the morning, and the snatches definitely made that a lot worse this morning. I’m sure it’s a technique issue, I need to work on my upper back and neck positioning throughout the hinge movements. I have a lot of hamstrings DOMS today which I wasn’t expecting - I’ve been doing 40kg swings for sets of 20 and I thought that combination of reps and weight had made me quite DOMS-immune but clearly not. The 10kg has definitely humbled me!

1042

Cutting Week 13: 40-Day Program Day 9

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
28kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
40kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Timed Snatches
10kg: 5min
One hand change.

Bodyweight: 93.2kg

This routine really works. Every exercise feels so much easier in just 2 weeks, and just as importantly I’m continuing to have fun with it. Very happy.

1043

[b] Cutting Week 13 Summary

Week 1: [/b] 96.3kg

Week 2: 95.2kg

Week 3: 95.0kg

Week 4: 94.7kg

Week 5: 94.7kg

Week 6: 94.5kg

Weeks 7 and 8: No data

Week 9: 93.9kg

Week 10: 93.6kg

Week 11: 93.7kg

Week 12: 92.8kg

Week 13: 92.9kg

This was a great week in terms of training: 5 whole body kettlebell sessions, 1 whole body barbell session (inc a front squat PR) and on my day off I went on a good hike. Bodyweight has been static this week, but I can’t complain given the big improvement the week before.

1044

Cutting Week 14
Yesterday I went on a short hike and today I did a very brief gym session: 3x5 neutral grip pull-ups, Tabata cycle machine, 3x5 regular pull-ups. The pull-ups felt disappointingly heavy, but overall it was quite a nice little workout.

1045

Cutting Week 14: 40-Day Program Day 10

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
20kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
28kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Bodyweight: 93.2kg

I have a lot of lat and delt DOMS today, so I went easy on the upper body stuff. The lat DOMS is from the pull-ups and I think the delt DOMS might be from the snatches. The goblet squats actually felt pretty hard today. The only exercise that felt 100% was the swings. My knees are a bit rough.

1046

[quote]furo wrote:
Thanks a lot, I really enjoyed it! Ever since getting the 40kg kettlebell my neck has been stiff quite often and always cracks in the morning, and the snatches definitely made that a lot worse this morning. I’m sure it’s a technique issue, I need to work on my upper back and neck positioning throughout the hinge movements. I have a lot of hamstrings DOMS today which I wasn’t expecting - I’ve been doing 40kg swings for sets of 20 and I thought that combination of reps and weight had made me quite DOMS-immune but clearly not. The 10kg has definitely humbled me![/quote]

From experience I can tell you the DOMs from Snatches doesn’t go away and I’ve been doing them for almost a year consistently with my 55# KB. As far as neck pain the only thing I can think of is you could be throwing your neck back when you are swinging or snatching. It could be subtle and you not know it. Maybe shoot a video of yourself and see if that’s what’s going on. Just remember what Pavel says about keeping your eyes on the horizon and that may help you.

1047

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Goals are mainly lifting for aesthetics/ bikini to small figure shape. Because I love it. To continue to lift heavy stuff in my daily life, which is a requirement for me, and enjoy health. Over the next month, I’ll finish cutting from a starting point of 118 to 110 lbs or so. [/quote]

That’s really cool, very similar goals to me (minus the bikini bit lol). Health, the requirement to move daily and aesthetics. Is your training mostly barbell-based? Good luck with the rest of your cut :).

[/quote]

Thanks! Most of my training is traditional BBing stuff. I use DBs and Machines a lot.

1048

I also did my measurements today, which I haven’t done since the start of the cut. My thighs have gone from 25.5" to 25.0" and my arms have gone from 15.2" to 15.3". I think I store quite a lot of fat on my legs so I’m pretty confident this represents no loss of muscle.

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
From experience I can tell you the DOMs from Snatches doesn’t go away and I’ve been doing them for almost a year consistently with my 55# KB. As far as neck pain the only thing I can think of is you could be throwing your neck back when you are swinging or snatching. It could be subtle and you not know it. Maybe shoot a video of yourself and see if that’s what’s going on. Just remember what Pavel says about keeping your eyes on the horizon and that may help you. [/quote]

That’s exactly what I was thinking, that I’m not using optimal head position when swinging. Taking a video is a good idea, I will do that. I have been trying to keep looking straight ahead, but it’s not something I’ve been focusing much on. I’ll experiment with head position :).

1049

Cutting Week 14: 40-Day Program Day 11

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
28kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
40kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Timed Snatches
10kg: 5min
One Hand Change

Bodyweight: 93.8kg

Everything felt lighter today, which is good. Weight is creeping up :/. Knees feel better but not great, so I will do extra mobility later tonight.

1050

How was your neck feeling during your session today?

1051

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
How was your neck feeling during your session today? [/quote]

My neck felt ok thanks. It’s hard to tell though, because it’s quite a low level chronic thing. But this morning it felt better than usual so I think that it is the neck positioning that I need to work on.

Cutting Week 14: 40-Day Program Day 12

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
28kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
40kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Tabata Goblet Squats
20kg: 4min

Bodyweight: 93.6kg

This session felt good, the exercises felt strong. I tried tabata goblet squats instead of snatches as I wanted to get some blood flowing to my legs. Like the snatches muscular fatigue was more of an issue than pure cardio.

My long term plan is to do this 40-day routine for 2 more weeks and then switch to something more specific for the challenge with ActivitiesGuy. After that I like the idea of going back to the 40-day routine and progressing by adding in exercises, I’ve decided that I’ve had enough of being quite so minimalist. I’ll start off with the basic routine I’m doing at the moment, then each week add in one more exercise to fill in the gaps. So far I’m thinking of push-ups, bodyweight lunges, 1-2mile run and pull-ups (just need to find somewhere to do them). I really like the idea of building up my work capacity, and removing weak points. I have come to the conclusion that minimalist routines don’t make you that well-rounded, and being well-rounded is good.

1052

Cutting Week 14: 40-Day Program Day 13

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
28kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
40kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Timed Snatches
10kg: 5min
One hand change.

Bodyweight: 93.0kg

Starting yesterday I began a new diet approach - eating my usual lunch, but having a very low carb dinner (grilled chicken, greens, houmous etc). I think it will be much easier to stick to as I struggle with rushed lunches and always go pretty high carb. Hopefully this will be enough to reach my goals, but if not I’ll start taking packed lunches.

1053

I just ordered a second 28kg (62lb) kettlebell. So now in total I will have two 20kg (45lbs), two 28kg (62lbs) and one 40kg (88lb) as well as my fiance’s 10kg (22lb). The reason I really want the second 28kg is for double front squats - the 40kg goblet squat is just not heavy enough, but 56kg will be plenty. All other movements are covered by the equipment I already have, and I really don’t think I’ll ever have to buy another one. I don’t think I’ll ever have a need to go heavier than 40kg on swings and rows, and I definitely won’t ever go heavier than 40kg on presses. For progression on rows I could work all the way up to sets of 20 with 40kg before I’d need a heavier weight and I am a very long way from that. As for the swings - I can always get more explosive. But 40kg squats really won’t cut it.

1054

Double Front Squats are an awesome movement and work me pretty hard with my 2 - 55# KBs especially my abs. Possibly some Long Cycle in your future as well?!?

1055

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Double Front Squats are an awesome movement and work me pretty hard with my 2 - 55# KBs especially my abs. Possibly some Long Cycle in your future as well?!?[/quote]

That’s good to hear! How are they for the quads? That’s what I particularly want to hit! I just watched a YouTube video of Ivan Denisov doing long cycle with two 40kg kettlebells! It looks awesome, I think I’d actually prefer it to the snatches. I’ll definitely experiment with it when my second 28kg arrives :slight_smile:

1056

Really cool man! I have just joined the doubles club with my purchase of a second 20 kg (44 LB) and I’m already hooked on doubles stuff. Long cycle is cool. I did a full workout today that was a clean/front squat/ press complex repeated once every 30 seconds, and loved it.

I think your collection ought to cover you for good. Pretty similar to mine (26, 35, 44, 44, 53, 88) and I’m definitely set for the near future. The only thing I can imagine getting (and this is at least a year away) is, actually, a 106 pounder…having pressed the 88 successfully several times, I’m now fascinated by that possibility…

Oh, and I also watched that video of Denisov long cycle with double 40 kg. Awesome.

1057

What do you normally have for breakfast and lunch?

Just curious.

tweet

1058

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Double Front Squats are an awesome movement and work me pretty hard with my 2 - 55# KBs especially my abs. Possibly some Long Cycle in your future as well?!?[/quote]

That’s good to hear! How are they for the quads? That’s what I particularly want to hit! I just watched a YouTube video of Ivan Denisov doing long cycle with two 40kg kettlebells! It looks awesome, I think I’d actually prefer it to the snatches. I’ll definitely experiment with it when my second 28kg arrives :)[/quote]

They will hit your quads really well if you do enough reps and or sets with them. I prefer barbell front squats for strength purposes but if I were to do higher reps with front squats it would definitely be with 2 kettlebells. They are easier to hang on to for higher reps and you won’t get the wrist discomfort. Dan John has mentioned doing a double front squat and walking lunges with each leg and count it as 1 rep. Sounds interesting.

Ivan Denisov is a freakin’ beast! He almost looks bored when doing competitions and setting world records. Ivan seems like he is more concerned about how many steaks he is going to eat after a competition than the competition itself. If I saw him on the platform next to me in a competition I think I would just take my bells and go home!

1059

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
They will hit your quads really well if you do enough reps and or sets with them. I prefer barbell front squats for strength purposes but if I were to do higher reps with front squats it would definitely be with 2 kettlebells. They are easier to hang on to for higher reps and you won’t get the wrist discomfort. Dan John has mentioned doing a double front squat and walking lunges with each leg and count it as 1 rep. Sounds interesting. [/quote]

That’s good to hear! I like the idea of doing some on-the-minute training with double front squats. I feel like it would be great for lower body strength as well as conditioning. I can definitely understand preferring barbell front squats for pure strength, but as I managed to get a barbell PR from the 40kg goblet squats I am hopeful that 56kg front squats will push my maximal strength up a little further.

[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Ivan Denisov is a freakin’ beast! He almost looks bored when doing competitions and setting world records. Ivan seems like he is more concerned about how many steaks he is going to eat after a competition than the competition itself. If I saw him on the platform next to me in a competition I think I would just take my bells and go home! [/quote]

Haha yes same! That video was really inspirational actually. I always pictured kettlebell sport as more cardio-based but that obviously took a tonne of strength. I think I prefer the idea of long cycle to snatches. I will have to experiment.

[quote]theBird wrote:
What do you normally have for breakfast and lunch?

Just curious.

tweet[/quote]

Hey Bird, I am a fellow IFer so don’t eat breakfast. I have to confess that my lunches aren’t great: usually quite a large portion of meat, chips (fries) and a tonne of green veg. I find it hard to restrict myself at lunch when I’m stressed (poor excuse I know).

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Really cool man! I have just joined the doubles club with my purchase of a second 20 kg (44 LB) and I’m already hooked on doubles stuff. Long cycle is cool. I did a full workout today that was a clean/front squat/ press complex repeated once every 30 seconds, and loved it.

I think your collection ought to cover you for good. Pretty similar to mine (26, 35, 44, 44, 53, 88) and I’m definitely set for the near future. The only thing I can imagine getting (and this is at least a year away) is, actually, a 106 pounder…having pressed the 88 successfully several times, I’m now fascinated by that possibility…

Oh, and I also watched that video of Denisov long cycle with double 40 kg. Awesome.[/quote]

That sounds like a really intense complex - like the crossfit thruster. Horrible stuff! I really like the idea of properly getting into this kettlebell sport stuff actually :). The more I look into it the more it appeals. Ah the 48kg would be amazing! I don’t think I could justify it at the moment as everything seems reasonably well covered, but I’d love to play around with one. I’m not sure if I’d rather get a 48kg or a second 40kg, I think double 40kgs would possibly be more versatile.

1060

Cutting Week 14: 40-Day Program Day 14

Warm-Up
Hip circles and goblet squats

Goblet Squats
40kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Press
28kg: 2x5

Kettlebell Row
40kg: 2x5

Two-Handed Swing
40kg: 20

Ab-Rollouts
BW: 5

Timed Snatches
10kg: 5min
One hand change

Bodyweight: 92.7kg

The new eating approach is definitely working, I’m able to focus at work and put effort into my training but I’ve very quickly reversed my weight gain. I have dropped 1kg in 3 days, and now I’m back on track. This session felt very good, all exercises feel strong.