@Lonnie123 Honestly, what it boils down to is I’ve been DENYING myself for so long, and it eventually destroyed me physically and otherwise. My intuition is doing everything it can to heal me, and I’m finally listening to it. And in turn, I’m after NO results aside from just finding harmony. What’s outstanding is what my body is revealing WHEN harmony is felt.
I legit, have had ZERO goal, concern or desire to lose weight since I started this. I dropped 25lbs. It was effortless. It’s been the easiest weight I’ve ever lost in my life. I lost physical weight to coincide with the metaphorical weight. It’s wild. My body is just shedding all that stuff it didn’t need. My pain level has greatly diminished. My strength is high. My ability is up. My mood is improved. And all I wanted was to just live freely. It’s wild. I want to write and talk about it so much, haha.
TO VALHALLA Week 2, Workout 2: “Viking Raid: Varangian Guard Ambushed At High Tide”
10 rounds of:
20 Viking rows w/25lbs on axle
30 KB swings w/24kg bell
Keg carry (carry locked out overhead on way up, cross body carry on way down, alternate each round)
30 KB swings
While wearing 10lb vest
Increase Viking rows reps by 5 every odd round
Total time: 37:30, then 1 bonus round of 20 rows, 30 swings and 1 keg carry locked out overhead
Then 300 squats and 300 push ups in 7:30
BREAKFAST
2+ mile walk in the sun with the dog
Notes:
Video is uploading. No idea what the hold up is. Will post when it’s ready, because it explains a lot, but I’ll narrate some parts here too.
Here’s the story behind the workout: we’re back to the Viking raid. We’re wearing our armor (10lb vest) because we are a raiding party. BUT, we planned poorly, and high tide rolled in. This is why the keg has to be carried to the boat locked out overhead: gotta keep it above the water. The tide has also made a quick escape impossible, and our victims have more fight in them than before. So this means we row to the shore, swing our weapon 30 times, take the bounty, load it on the boat, swing our weapon at the reinforcements, and row it back home. We get home and find that the province has come under invasion from marauders who sought to strike the homefront while we were away, so we fend them off, unload the bounty, get in some quick weapon training to stay sharp, and row out for the next raid. And, of course, since we are Varangian, there are many Rus among us, which is why our weapon is the mighty kettlebell. …oh my goodness, yes, that is SUCH a stretch and I absolutely love it. I’m having so much fun role-playing my training, and I am a jacked enough DnD nerd that if anyone wants to give me any crap about it I will stuff them in a locker.
Increasing the row reps had me finishing out with 40 reps for rounds 9 and 10. It’s trying to create that whole “row to the shore, row back home” construct.
Swings with a vest on is next level! Since swings have you moving your torso through space, this adds a new element of challenge to things. Doing 630 of the f—king things just makes it more ridiculous. But I’m glad I could do so, as it’s contributed well to my goal of getting in the 15k swings.
Really trying to focus on rep quality on said swings. I wanna make the most of this. I remember how transformative this was the first time, and I’m excited for that.
This workout itself was absolutely outstanding. Total gasser, moving through all sorts of spaces and getting all sorts of quality work in. And I hit the Dan John checklists of push (push ups) pull (Viking row), squat (squats) hinge (swings) loaded carry (keg).
I put in for a day off work on Thursday, so I’m going to pivot things around and make THAT the day I do the Festival of Orm Storolfsson, since I’ll have a bit more time to get things done that day.
Tacos, on those egg wraps, with grassfed sour cream, grassfed Dubliner cheese, grassfed piedmontese steak tips, fajita style chicken (pre-cooked/frozen stuff leftover from a past life), and then I crumbled up a pork rind on top, to make it 3 different animals in each taco AND made it a crispy taco from the inside out. This was a lot of leftovers and ready made stuff, and is still carnivore/animal the whole way through, and something I whipped together after coming home late from work so I could still have time with the family and get in a 10+ minute walk outside in the sun.
@SvenG It doesn’t capture it too well, but I got bit by the viking handle here
It’s created a nasty purple and red bruise on the chest that the Mrs keyed in on right away, but tis just a flesh wound, haha. And thanks for the kind words!
@raven78 It means a TON to me that you took to long to really go over what I wrote and digest it. I’m hoping it was beneficial. I am really just loving living this way, and want to share this with as many as I can.
AM WORKOUT (0430 natural wake up, rough night of sleep, mind racing, too excited about training) FED
TO VALHALLA Week 2, Workout 3 “Carried Away By Valkyries: Grace, Fran and Cindy”
“Valkyrie Grace”
30 floor to overheads w/Viking handle
9x135 on the axle to start, and then…
Took off a 45 and got in the remaining 21 reps
“Valkyrie Fran”
21-15-9 Viking thruster and strict chins
“Valkyrie Cindy”
20 minutes AMRAP of
5 chins-10 push ups-15 squats-20 KB swings w/24kg bell
15 rounds completed
OFF CAMERA
8 rounds of
27 swings
15 push ups
8 squats
And then 65 swings, 20 squats and 30 push ups, to get all my daily totals and then some. Totaled out 581 swings, and 1786 for 3 days so far.
BREAKFAST
2 mile walk in the sun
Notes:
Not really sure what happened with Grace. It was moving along real well, and alluva sudden I just couldn’t get that clean any more. The transition from floor to rack can be a little tricky, but I was running into some weird resistance. The handle ripped up my chest a little bit there, but it looks worse than it is. Had to swallow my pride. I proved myself undeserving of Grace, and, in turn, had to do battle with Fran and Cindy to earn my place in Valhalla.
In general, I like these variations of the WODs, as the Viking handle is a lot more sparing of tissue compared to traditional barbell work. However, I abandoned my plan of getting in some cosmetic work, and it honestly needs happening. I can see my arms getting a little smaller from the lack of direct stimulus. I’m taking on a lot with this swing challenge, but that’s part of just pivoting with my schedule. I’ll be traveling over the long Juneteenth weekend, and it’s better having no plan in turn vs a disrupted plan. Chaos IS the plan.
Cindy was a good way to sneak in my own daily requirements on top of some training. Cleaned up what was left after the official close of the WODs. Nice to get in some chins: been neglecting that.
Was able to get in some lawn mowing, Tang Soo Do, and piedmontese grassfed hot dogs on egg white wraps with grassfed cheese/sour cream and pork rinds for dinner
Down here we would usually have hot dogs with onions and ketchup. Not sure I have ever thought to add cheese and sour cream. Also pork rind or pork scratchings as they are called in the UK, would usually accompany a pint of beer. Maybe weird was the wrong word. Different.
I appreciate that, but dude, it’s not about being consistent. It’s about being HEALED. That stuff was killing me. I’m not going to eat it. It’s been a very easy decision to not poison myself.
Where do you find all of the grassfed beef and dairy? I realize you’re in beef country, but I suspect you might have providers other than your local grocery market.
I’m in Santa Cruz, tourist town (I know you have been here and know it) and am just hammered by the lack of diversity of product and the prices - it’s brutal.
