Don’t worry about that. I enjoy discussions and information in my log. Always feel free to post here.
It depends. Sometimes it is body weight squats or leg swings. I also have a whole foam rolling/ dynamic stretching routine that I do first. I don’t typically have pain while lifting but I’ve noticed that the longer I do squats I tend to develop pain. Like, it will hurt when I walk up stairs or randomly feel like my knee is going to give when I’m walking. That seems to stop when I stop squatting. Or to be more accurate, when I stop back squatting. I’ve never tried front squats and I’ve never done enough goblet squats to know if they are a problem as well.
If you’re still bit by the kettlebell bug after S&S, Dan John’s “Armor Building Formula” is a wonderful program, and it DOES have an end date of 8 weeks AND a goal of 30 Armor Building Complexes and 100 Clean and Presses (clean once) at the end of the program, so it could scratch the itch of a challenge.
I’ve started doing that for myself, too. I ran a slightly modified version of BB the Upper/Athlete the Lower for two cycles (I did less running) and now I’m doing Strength and Conditioning. I re-read Forever last week and noticed the shift in some of the templates when he started moving assistance to different days than the main work. There are about four programs before you get to Krypteia where you can see that shift in training goals and time restrictions.
I must admit I’ve also tweaked Strength & Conditioning and I’m doing traditional assistance (25-50 reps) instead of 10 minute push-up and pull-up tests. I don’t have a PT test to prepare for and those kind of things just kind of suck. For some reason, I’m a competitive person, but I don’t really enjoy challenge type of workouts. I won’t write off the 10,000 KB Swing Challenge, but if I do it, it’s because of how everyone says they feel good by the end of it. So for me it would be that achievement rather than just completing all the swings.
Warm up
Prying goblet squat 3 x 5
Hip bridge 3 x 5
Halo 3 x 5
Single arm KB swings 20 lb
Rt 5 x 10
Lt 5 x 10
Get-ups no weight
Rt 5 x 10
Lt 5 x 10
Well, that is certainly one way to start your day.
Today was day one and I had no real idea what to expect. I underestimated my weight on swings and underestimated the difficulty of the get-ups. I decided to start with a 20 lb KB and it was entirely too easy. I will move to 25 tomorrow. I should have guessed it would be too light since I was doing 500 with 30 lb, but I’ve never tried single arm swings before so, better to start too light than to be arrogant and hurt myself. The get ups took me a while to figure out. My first set of 10 on each side took forever. My brain had an extremely difficult time translating the pictures and words into actions. The first sets on each side were done with just my arm in the air. All remaining sets were done with a shoe balanced on my fist. Even with no weight I was sweating like a greased up pig by the end. It also took me a few sets to realize that I needed some sort of cushion under myself because it was killing my knees and shins. Once that problem was solved it went relatively well. I don’t see me adding weight to the get-ups this week. It’s going to take me a while to get the form down and I really don’t want to hurt myself. I might even see if I can find a lighter kettlebell to start with. In this particular arena I have no ego. I just want to do it right and see how far I can get while still feeling good.
This workout took way longer than I thought it would. Hopefully tomorrow will go faster since I won’t spend 20 minutes trying to figure out the form.
On a slightly different note, I forgot that I took measurements before I started the KB challenge. This morning I took some post challenge measurements. My measurements in chest, waist and calves are all smaller. Biceps and my darn thick thighs are still the same. All in all I’m calling it a victory. Another small but exciting development. I’m not sure if it’s the exercise, diet or serum that I put on my face, but I swear I look a bit younger that I did 6 months ago. Probably a combination of the three. Either way it’s been a bit of a confidence boost. I’m gonna Benjamin Buttons this shit into my golden years.
Well, I ate like a trash bin today. It’s ok. I’ll be back on the wagon tomorrow. Life got in the way and I didn’t do my workout today. But again, back on the wagon tomorrow.
My favorite part of this season started today. We have a ball diamond across the street where the kids practice baseball. The t-ball team practicing now is around the age of 4 years old. They are so stinking adorable. I’m not sure if there is anything more adorable than watching little guys run the bases.
Warm up
Prying goblet squat 3 x 5
Hip bridge 3 x 5
Halo 3 x 5
Single arm KB swings 25 lb
Rt 5 x 10
Lt 5 x 10
Get-ups 8 lb
Rt 4 x 10
Lt 4 x 10
The swings felt much better today. The additional weight was much more appropriate. The get-ups went well until they didn’t. I cut out the last 2 rounds. I went to start the last round on my right side and felt a rather sharp pain in my anterior right knee. I tried stretching and different movements to try to make it go away, but it persisted. So I called it for the day. I am either not doing it correctly, or my knees aren’t meant for this movement. I’m going to try working my way up to 10 sets to see if that gives my knees a chance to adjust to the new movement. However, with as uncomfortable as this is I’m not sure how long I will give it to adjust. If it continues for very long I might just find something different . I’m too old to risk a legit injury when I could simply find something that works better for me.
I indulged over the weekend and it’s time to get back on track nutritionally.
You’re already in the right head space, but I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes from Mark Bell, which was about the carnivore diet, but works for any nutrition protocol: “You’re always 1 meal away from being back on the plan”. Makes it much less daunting.
Have you done any “naked get ups”? Just the movement without the weight? Might be worth investigating to see if the movement itself is the trigger.
That’s what I did Sunday. I’m planning to ditch the weight tomorrow. Assuming that this pain in my knee goes away by then. I thought I was good when I went up the stairs at work. Then I went down the stairs. That didn’t go well. So we will see. If I have to just do swings for a few days, there are worse things.
As far as the nutrition goes, I’m slowly starting to learn that off days aren’t necessarily a bad thing so long as it’s not a bad week or month. An off day is an off day, not a habit. I’m aiming for overall wellness, not perfection.
I like to tell myself that the off day or meal helps in the long run because my metabolism has to ramp up to digest all the food, and then it overshoots a bit resulting in a net loss.
