Deadlift + VO2 max

Deadlift: Cycle #1 Workout #6
170lb x 5
160lb x 5

VO2 Max:
16kg - 7 reps per 15 sec. x 40sets (280 snatches)

Stats: 20min 11sec
Avg HR- 158
Peak HR- 173
Energy- 272cal

Crocodile:
10reps Right/Left

Lots of Z to start, after Deadlifts waited about 20min in the sun and then did VO2 Max. Left hand was better but still started to pinch at the end. Lots of Z and stretching after in the sun. Things felt good.

Day off + Articles

Felt a bit sore and run down today. Have just done some Z-Health during the day and nothing else. Some good articles posted this week on yet again the Turkish Getup and it's use as a FMS.

Turkish Getup a good cheap movement screen? by mc

Question's and then some answered by Brett Jones





DragonDoor kettlebells vs. The other guy by David Whitley
This made me laugh out loud

16kg Armbar 2/2

Deadlift: Cycle #1 Workout #5
165lb x 5
155lb x 5

Snatch & Press: saw this on Brett Jones blog, snatch over head and press, snatch, press etc.
24kg 5sets x 2/2reps

Windmill:
12kg x 3/3

Sandbag fun: few cleans, press, carry, going to make a 25lb bag to put in my sandbag to vary the weight a bit more. Can't do much with the 100lbs and 50lbs was a bit to light.

Liked the snatch to press, something different. Had to focus on staying tight and practice tension a bit different with no clean. My left seemed to struggle with this.

Warmup: 12kg from press position
neck rotations
shoulder rotations
hip flexor stretch
active straight leg raise
16kg Armbar 2/2


Turkish Get-up: to half kneeling (no bridge)
16kg x 2/2
24kg x 3/3

Deadlift: Cycle #1 Workout #4
160lbs x 5
150lbs x 5

Z-health, bow stretch, brettzel to finish

Bit sore today after a long weekend, really took my time on the get-ups. Still worried about getting up out of the lunge and hurting my quad so stopped at half kneeling. Felt lubed up enough to deadlift, and reps felt easy.

Weekend

Sunday: Softball
2 games-still sore from Saturday but felt good once I got stretched out and warmed up. Knee, and quad were not a issue which makes me a happy camper. I hit well, but my fielding needs work. Lots of fun, sunny all day.


Saturday: Advanced KB class (2)16kg, 20kg, 24kg were used
Swings
Snatches
Hang cleans + press
Upright rows
Burpee + DL + Goblet Squat
Figure 8 holds + SLDL + Goblet Squat
Suitcase DL + Fast swings

Windmill practice
Hot Potato's
Crocodile's
Various other ab work I don't have names for. There is always way to much in class to list, but that is most of it. Great circuits, supersets, conditioning, and strength workouts, plus some Z and ab work jammed into a hour session. It is always a challenge and a great way to end a week of training.

Off day

Kettlebell class tomorrow, Friday is always a good day to take off. I have been reading Dinosaur Training and decided to make a sandbag today out of a army surplus duffel bag, heavy duty trash bags and of course sand. Poured each 50lb bag into separate trash bags, then double bagged that. Will see how it holds up. I tossed it around, did a few cleans, and a few deadlifts. I will say this, a 100lb sandbag is HEAVY...

Quickie

Deadlift: Cycle #1 Workout #3
155lbs x 5
145lbs x 5

Warmup: Z-Health
FTWSQ, Brettzel
16kg Halos
16kg Armbars 2/2

Deadlift: Cycle #1 Workout #2
150lbs x 5
140lbs x 5

Clean & Press ladders: no rest between rungs
24kg 5sets x (1,2)reps per arm

Farmers Walk: about 60 yards
(2)24kg x 2sets

Straight leg situp w/kb:
16kg 2sets x 5reps

Russian twists:
16kg 10reps

Finished with Z, good morning stretch, brettzel, bow stretch, and pullup bar hangs.

Bit slow going to start but my cleans and pressing felt really easy and dialed in which changed my attitude.

VO2 + Articles

Prepwork:
Z, pumps, brettzel, bow stretch
16kg Armbars 2/2
16kg Halos

16kg VO2 Max - 7 reps per 15 sec. x 37 sets (259 snatches)

Stats: 18:50sec
Average HR- 153
Peak HR - 169
Energy- 241

Finished with some Z and stretching in the sun

I "planned" on 40 sets today so I am happy I came close. I felt strong enough to keep going but I am having issue's with the wear and tear on my left hand. Right hand is fine and the drop and catch seems dialed in without thinking. Left hand is still pinching sometimes so just need more work. Rather stop short then rip a callous. Form felt good and crisp despite. One thing I noticed is I need to stay aware of my wrist in the lockout. I can tell it is pulling back as I fatigue.

Couple really good posts by mc on her blog

Turkish Get up High Pelvis or High Hip Bridge

RKC Prep the other stuff

More Deadlift

Prepwork:
Z, Pumps, FTWSQ
16kg Armbar 2/2

Deadlift:Cycle #1 Workout #1
145lb x 5reps
135lb x 5reps

Windmill: practice
12kg 3/3reps

Crushcurls:
16kg 2 x 5reps

Going to add a deadlift cycle and see how it goes with normal training. The harsh reality is I need a greater foundation of strength all around (even more so then before) to pass the new RKC snatch requirement (and the course) so I figured I'd get started. Practiced some windmills in the sun(it is finally here) and worked a few mirror muscles. Here is a terrific article and video on the Deadlift and its benefits by Gray Cook

Not a typical Sunday

Prepwork:
Z-R phase
12kg Getup press stretches (neck rotations, cross body hip stretch, ASLR)
16kg Arm bars 2/2

Getup to Half Kneeling: pausing at each step
16kg 2/2
24kg 3 x 2/2

24kg 5,4,3,2,1 reps of: tried not to rest but I did a little
Goblet squats to
2hand swings to
1hand swings

Farmers walk: about 60 yards in back yard
(2) 24kg 2sets

Ab wheel:
2 x 5reps

Finished with tons of Z while watching the Mariners lose

Left upper quad, and right knee had no issue today. I went to half kneeling on the getups and wanted to do a full again but am going to wait till next week. The lunge to standing really is the final test. Going to start adding some farmers walks to help with my grip hooking on VO2 max snatching. Started to tear up my hands awhile back and been working on dropping and catching the bell on the decent. For some reason I thought I was immune to hand tearing but it is a very true reality for me now. Thanks to Jordan for the video he posted about this awhile back.

VO2 Max

16kg VO2 Max - 7 reps per 15 sec. x 25 sets

Helping the family move today and tomorrow. I had "planned" on 35 sets but just felt run down so called it good.

Lots of Z and breathing practice during the day

Z Health

I had a Z Health session today with Andrea Chang RKC. I have had some more then annoying issues with my right knee and wanted to spend some time getting things corrected and stay corrected.
Movements we worked on:
-Closed chain knee circles in lunge positions
-Hip circles in rehab positions
-Thoracic A/P glides in lunge position, front/back 45 degree turn
-Ankle tilts
-3 position toe pulls

Also need to retrain on breathing. There is a great article by Dr. Cobb on this but his newsletter is coming up "page not found" at this time. So I will post what I have saved in a old email for now. I am actually using a straw a few times a day and just really trying to remind myself of pelvic floor breathing while, driving, sitting, standing etc.


Here is a quick test to determine if you might be breathing paradoxically:
The High-Low Test

1. Sit comfortably in a nice tall posture.
2. Place one hand on your upper abdomen and the other on your upper chest.
3. Inhale and exhale 5 times.
4. During inhalation look for these three signs of paradoxical breathing:

-The upper hand moves first.

- The upper hand moves upward toward the chin rather than slightly forward.

- The upper hand moves significantly more than the hand on the abdomen.

If any of these things occur, it strongly suggests an upper-chest pattern of breathing or paradoxical breathing. Over the course of a year, you will take over 8,000,000 breaths and if most of them are paradoxical, you are asking for trouble! So what do you do? For many of our R-Phase clients, we begin their breathing training with this simple exercise:

Straw Breathing

This easy to perform drill is one of the best ways to strengthen your breathing muscles and retrain your respiration. The "target" of this drill is to focus on a slow, controlled exhale, breathing out through pursed lips. This is similar to blowing air through a straw. Here are the steps in order:

1. Sit or stand in a comfortable long spine position.
2. Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on the chest to monitor for correct movement.
3. Breathe in slowly through the nose for two seconds.
4. Slowly breathe out through pursed lips for 4-8 seconds.
5. Build up to 30-40 repetitions, twice per day.

As you practice this regularly, your breathing will improve dramatically which will have a fantastic impact on your entire body over the course of time. Give this a try and let us know your results, or if we can help you in any way.

Keep Moving,

Dr. Cobb

Quick

Quick prep- Halo's, FTWSQ, Pumps, also did below once with the 16kg to warm up

One arm Swings + Snatch 24kg- 5+5R, 5+5L x 4 (about 30sec rest between sets)

Goblet Squat + Two arm Swings 24kg- 5squats + 10 swings x 2 (about 15sec rest between sets)

Few Z drills, Brettzel and Bow stretch to finish

Deadlift

Tuesday:

Prepwork- Z-R phase, Brettzel, Yoga Bow, Pump stretch, FTWSQ

DL- 135x5, 185x2, 205x1

BU C+P 16kg- 4 x 2/2
BU Clean 24kg- 2 x 1/1 long holds

I have never dead lifted before reading Pavel's Power to the People (which is awesome) about 4 months ago. It has quickly become a favorite, I have spent lots of time on low weight and focusing on technique and tension so this is my first time breaking 200lbs. It of course is not a huge pull in the grand scheme of things, but brings a smile to my face none the less.

First post

Not sure where to begin so I will just jump right in. I assume this will be a constant work in progress. I have been logging my training at DragonDoor link here and figured it might be time for a blog.

Yesterday's workout consisted of..

Monday:
Prepwork 12kg- neck rotations, cross body hip stretch, ASLR all done from Roll to Press position L/R

Arm bars 16kg- 2/2
Getup to High Pelvis 16kg - 3/3
Getup to High Pelvis 24kg- 3 x 2/2
SLDL 24kg- 2 x 3/3

2h Swings 24kg + Figure 8 to hold 16kg superset- 2 x 10swings, 10/10 figure 8

I have had a sore left upper quad and a mobility issue with my right knee, so have been working around that with Getups to High Pelvis. DL do not seem to bother either.