Sunday, June 15, 2008

Still basking in the RKC Cert After-Glow

I know I will probably come back down (maybe I already did since I got unbelievable 11 hours of sleep last night) however its been just over a week and I am still riding a physical and emotional high since my RKC Cert. I just can't stop thinking about my fellow participants and the incredible RKC instructor staff. When I went back to our group photo, I counted 24 instructors to 57 candidates. That's an absolutely amazing ratio .. no surprise as while there I could always feel being under the watchful eyes of one or more of these instructors at all times. Weight: 175 1/2, BF%: 14.8.

Below is quick summary of the last three days of training.

Friday:
Z-Health Mix of R-Phase plus Neural Warmup Level 2

24kg x 1 x (9 x 4/4, 1 x 6l/8r) 1-arm LCCJ without putting bell down @ 1set/min
Total: :86 reps in 10 min

An improvement of 4 reps since the day before. The difference here is that I had paced myself much better this time and was able to crank out the extra reps the last minute. That's all as this was plenty for a light day.

Yesterday:
Z-Health Mix of R-Phase plus Neural Warmup Level 2
Qigong; Bear and Tiger Frolic

24kg x 1 x (9 x 5/5, 1 x 5l/6r) 1-arm LCCJ without putting bell down @ 1set/min
Total: :101 reps in 10 min

This the PR I've been chasing since a few months prior to the RKC Cert. This completes the 1st major stage as outlined in Scott Sonnon's article here. The next step is to drop down to 6 mins and crank the RPM to 12 and then work back up to the full 120 reps in 10 minutes. Colin of the UK, who suggested we might have a friendly inter-continental competition and who already had reached the 100 in 10 minutes about a month ago, has agreed to renew the race with this next step. Colin is the odds on favorite again and I would still be honored to repeat with the silver .. the benefit of completing this goal has excellent carry over to many other lifts and is an excellent conditioner.

Power Wheel:
BW x 2 x 10 On the knees roll-outs, hold for 5 secs, and roll-back
BW x 1 x 25 yards Crawl up and down my driveway.

Today:
Z-Health Mix of R-Phase plus Neural Warmup Level 2

Convenential Dead-lift standing on two 1" 35lb plates. Lift just up to the knees:
200lbs x 1 x (5,4,3,2,1)

Dbl 24kg x 5 x 10 double swings

BW x 2 x 4 Glute-ham raises

When I started dead-lifting about two months ago, I switched from conventional to sumo style as the former was too much for my lower back. With the RKC Cert completed and feeling sufficiently rested, I can continue with Rif's plan in earnest. Today I chose to do the assistance exercise day and switched to conventional as recommended. Although they did feel awkward, I managed these without too much difficulty. The 24kg double swings were done explosively with little rest between sets as called for (I had also done a good share of these at the Cert). As I don't have a Glute-Ham Bench, I followed the lead of Kurt Veit, RKC here and settled for putting on 35lb plates and smaller on my olympic bar and using a pillow under my ankles. Note, these are very challenging. My range of motion through the movement was very small and I am going to to have to proceed very slowly with these.

5 comments:

Howie B said...

Excellent work with the Long Cycle, Franklin. It's great to hear you're still flying high. And putting in lots of TUB!! Hope you're having a happy Father's Day!

Franklin said...

Howie,

Thanks! LCCJ is still my favorite as its easy in my elbows and has great carryover.

I actually had an early Father's day celebration. I made a five course vegetarian dinner for my daughter and her boyfriend on Friday and yesterday my son and I spent the day in Boston for a movie and dinner at great restaurant in Chinatown.

I hope you too are enjoying your Father's day.

Colin said...

Odds on??? I doubt that. While I've been doing a good impression of Jabba the Hut you've completed 2 KB certs!!! Smart money would be on you.

I'll be happy to hang onto your coat tails and get there without any injury. Let the games begin :)

Franz Snideman said...

Congratulations on taking the RKC!!!!

NICE!!!!!!

Feels good doesn't it?

Franklin said...

Colin,

No way man, you kicked my butt last time! And yes, lets not get injured .. the goal is just that a goal, the training to get there is the real gold.

Franz,

Thanks so much! I've become a member of a very fine family of RKC's and I'm extremely both proud and humbled by it. And now that I've seen RKC team leaders in action that's an incredible honor bestowed onto you. Maybe some day in the future I might have the privilege to serve as one of your assistant instructors .. it would be VERY cool!