The Train kept a rollin’…

I've kept up with my own Kettlebell workouts, but have cut back on posting. Here are some of my achievements

32kg Getups
I performed 5 minutes of getups with the 32kg alternating arms every rep. This used to hurt my wrist… not any more. A New Personal Best.

Double 24kg Getups
I performed 5 double getups with a pair of 24kg Kettlebells. A New Personal Best.

32kg Clean > Press > High Pull Ladders
I achieved 5 Clean & Press & High Pull ladders of 5 rungs ea. using the 32kg/70lb kettlebell. I've been doing ladders this way for a while now.

The Warrior Diet
My girlfriend bought me a copy of Ori Hofmekler's book "The Warrior Diet". I've been reading it over and over again trying to soak it all in. Tons of great information… I'm convinced that this is diet for me. It gives me a great sense of freedom when eating and a ton of energy. I've lost 3 lbs that I didn't know I had to lose and all the while I've continued to set new personal bests during my workouts. There have been several times I've been surprised at how much energy I had in the evening despite teaching up to 6 hours of back to back TKD and Kettlebell. Coincidentally, the days I've experienced the most energy are the days I've followed the warrior diet to the "T". I highly recommend this book. Someone saw me changing shirts and actually commented on my abs… that's never happened, ever!

Ladder + Weight Vest + Front Squats
I was getting bored with the 32kg C&P, HP ladder but I didn't feel ready for a heavier Kettlebell so for two weeks I kicked up the intensity by introducing two new variables to the workout.

1. I added front squats to my ladders after the high pulls. The first rung looks like this: Clean > Press> High Pull > Re-Clean > Front Squat > Repeat with other arm.
   
2. I added a 20lb weight vest for the entire Ladder workout. This means my body is under extra stress the entire time.
   
   These two modifications make the ladders a lot more "interesting", more "fun" and much more challenging. My heart rate monitor reported unusually high amount of calories burned for grinds. It's obvious to see why.
   
   I added Clean, Press, High Pull and Squat ladders to my students group classes… they responded well. Some cursed, some called me evil, some wondered aloud why they subjected themselves to such "torture"… I took this all as compliment. Thank you, thank you very much.
   
   To make things even better whenever there more the 7 minutes to burn at the end of class I throw in one of the circuits from Keith Webber's RKC Extreme Kettlebell Cardio DVD. I love the way his circuits
   

My New Heart Rate Monitor
I purchased an awesome Polar Heart Rate Monitor from Body Basics. This model now calculates my average and maximum heart rate achieved during my workouts. It has a mode that beeps when I should start my next set/ladder. It tracks calories burned per week, keeps a running total to be compared to my goal. It tracks time spent in different heart rate zones determined by me. It has adjustable volume for the heart rate zone alarms. I can input entire workouts into the watch with weights, reps, set and so on. As I move from one exercise to the next I just hit a few buttons and the name of my next exercise pops up with my goal weight, reps and sets. When I get home & upload the data I see all my stats during Clean & Presses & compare them to Swings and so on. I love it. This adds another dimension to weight training giving me tons of ways to compete against previous workouts. IT saves me time because I no longer need to write so much down in a journal while working out.

A week off
Between teaching Taekwondo, teaching Kettlebell, teaching private lessons and getting in my own workouts… I've been sensing some burn-out. I took a week off from my own planned Kettlebell workouts and only participated with my KB students when possible. I was no longer looking forward to my workouts… a clear sign I needed to back off. My only KB workouts were essentially the Extreme Kettlebell Cardio workout with 35s and sometimes 40s. Then I was a little lazy and essentially took another week off, kinda.

28 KG Snatches
Last week I performed 30 seconds on 30 seconds off of snatches with 28kg KB. This was done during the last 10 minutes of a KB class I was teaching.
When I teach I normally don't do a lot of lifting because I need to focus on the safety of my students. This day everyone was in great form so I joined in during the last 7 minutes. I turned on the heart rate monitor and turn out a new personal best. I had never done 30:30 with the 28kg before but that day it seemed easy. I was breathing hard, but my grip was good, my hands were unscathed and I felt like I had plenty of gas left in the tank. When it was all over I checked the stats on my Polar HR Monitor and plugged them into my spreadsheet. To my amazement I had set yet
another Personal Best
and achieved .092 Calories/Minute/Lb of bodyweight. I can't wait to try it again at 40 seconds work and 20 seconds rest.

The 36kg Kettlebell: A surprisingly triumphant Return
Saturday I was feeling guilty and itching to workout. I did some fast tens with double 24kg Kettlebells consisting of cleans, presses, squats, high pull and swings.
I was going to call it day when I decided to do some loaded cleans with the 36 kg/79lb Kettlebell. I cleaned it… it felt light… I pressed it… it seemed light.
I continued cleaning & pressing the 79lb Kettlebell, doing 1 rep per arm, then two, then three, then four reps per arm. I failed on my fifth rung with my left arm but banged out 5 reps with my right with surprising ease. I had just performed a 4 rung ladder of Clean & Presses with my heaviest Kettlebell! Does this mean I'm ready to start my normal ROP workouts with the 79lb Kettlebell? Yes it does! Unfortunately this also means I need to save up for the "Bulldog", Dragon Door's 88 lb kettlebell. All of sudden I felt energized and new level of enthusiasm for returning to the basics.

Some Student Achievements
This morning both Kelly and Pat set new personal bests during 10 minutes of 30:30 snatches, press test and getups.
Both students moved up to the next size KB during their press tests last week. Today they performed 5 minutes of getups with the new KB and a 3x3 ladder workout of Clean, Press, High Pull and Squat. Kelly achieved 0.0691cals/min/lb during 10 minutes of 30:30 snatches with a 25lb kb. Up from her previous record of .0526 with a 20lb.
Pat achieved .0823 cals/min/lb at age 63 while snatching a 15lb kettlebell. This beats her old record of .0816!

Begin Again (36kg)
Today I started the Rite of Passage with my 79lb Dragon Door Kettlebell.

• 3 getups per arm with the 36kg. A new Personal Best.
  
• 3 Ladders x 3 rungs of Clean & Presses & High Pulls 36kg. A new Personal Best
  

  I ended this morning's strength workout here. I will return this afternoon to try some snatches with the 79lb kb before teaching class tonight. I have a feeling I will set a new personal best… after all, I am on a roll. ;)