Monday, April 7, 2008

A short KB session tonight

Stayed in bed an extra hour for a good nights sleep. Weight: 180 7/8 lbs. Both elbows sore.

Performed Z-Health R-Phase throughout the day. I received a Mike Mahler DVD "Beginner Kettlebell Workshop". His snatch and swing teaching methodology are excellent and shed new insight into these exercises.

Although my elbows felt much better this evening they are not 100%, but I decided to try a KB session as I remembered that even back in the the beginning of Feb they weren't perfect and I still went ahead an did two straight months of great KB training. So tonight I did a short KB workout with a mish-mash of different exercises:

32kg 1 x 30 2-Hand swings
Double 32kg 2 x 2 Cleans
24kg 3 x 20/20 1-Hand swing
24kg 2 x 5/5, 2 x 10/10 snatch
Double 32kg 20 sec Farmer Hold both bells in right then left
24kg 2 x 2, 5 x 1 MP with left
24kg 2 x 5, MP with right

I got the idea of the Farmer Holds from one of Aaron Friday's lifting buddies Sean Schniederjan. It was surprisingly easy to pick up two 32kgs with one hand. Holding them for 20 seconds was tough though. I was also pleased to get two sets of 2 reps of 24kg MP with my left. Previously, only a good day could I even get a single with my left.

Snatch total pts = 126 (prev) + 50 (today) = 176 pts

BW Power Wheel On Knees Roll-out, Hold and Back
6,5 @ 5 sec holds
4,3 @ 10 sec holds

The 10 second holds were very strong in the extended position. Again Z drills were mixed in between rungs and exercises.

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Diet and Nutrition Log

Breakfast:
1 bowl of Kitchari with sweet potato
1 small bowl of Green Gram Curry
2 cups of coffee with tbs of 1/2 and 1/2
4 dates
1 banana

Morning Snack:
3 small handfuls of roasted almonds
4 oz Kefir

Lunch:
1 bowl of Gujarati green beans with brown rice, sweet potato and Green Gram Curry
1 orange
4 dates

Afternoon snack:
4 small handfuls of roasted almonds
4 oz of Kefir
3 wheat crackers

Dinner:
1 bowl of leftover Sichuan chicken and pork
1 bowl of brown and white
1 moderate helping of cilantro and pan fried salmon
3 scoops of ice cream
2 mint chocolate chip cookies

5 comments:

Howie B said...

That "short" session looked pretty intense to me. But then again, I guess everyone's got a different definition of "short". Hope the elbow is treating you well!

Do you own the Brett Jones "KB Basics for Trainers" DVD? I wonder how it compares to Mahler's?

Franklin said...

Normally I'm totally smoked after a workout. This time I rested until fully recovered (no gymboss) before starting any new ballistics set. I felt very re-freshed afterwards, but now that I think about it, it probably was not very short time wise.

I do not own Brett's DVD. I would be open to swapping my Mahler for your Brett to evaluate for a few weeks. In particular, the Mahler snatch, swing and MP tutorials were particularly illuminating .. I was able to use his snatch advice to correct some issues. If you are interested please drop me an email at:

herma48852@gmail.com

Colin said...

Nice work on that "short session" - you got rewarded with plenty of food for it too haha.

Good work on the DLs too - personally I try not to over think them too much. Get tight as possible, keep my head up and do what comes naturally from there on in. I use the same grip as you.

Gotta get me some Chuck taylors though - it ain't right doing them in my slippers :)

Gabi said...

2*32kg in one hand?? I'm wordless...

Franklin said...

@Colin,

Your are quite welcome sir! Yes the extra grub was well-earned.

@Gabi,

I find conventional DLs of 135 lbs much harder than picking up double 32's in one hand. The latter I can really feel my hams fire but with the DL only my lower back does. Maybe I should give Sumo DLs a shot.