An Exercise Update, and Why I’m Cutting Back on My Exercise Posts

After posting 3-4 exercise posts per week for about four months, I have noticed a few trends in terms of our readership.  It turns out that very few people actually read the posts of my workouts.  That is totally fine; I post for the encouragement of others and for a bit of accountability for myself.  But be that as it may, I think I can achieve the same level of benefit for all by posting an exercise update about once a week.

I realize too that part of the reason why some people may not read my exercise posts is because of their repetitive nature.  I totally get that.  I get tired of writing the same thing myself.  But here’s the deal: I believe in having measurable, attainable goals and having a plan to attain them.  And that means following that plan, which may or may not make for an interesting read.  If I have a goal to get to 200 snatches in 10 minutes or less (and I do!), I’m going to be writing a lot about that in the coming weeks (and maybe even months!).  That may or may not be interesting to the typical visitor to our blog.

But Sonja and I believe that bodily exercise is a load-bearing wall in the stewardship house, and without it, the overall integrity of the house is jeopardized.  You have to be active to “exercise” the best stewardship of what God has given you, no question.

So there you go.  Read on to see what I did last week. I love variety and keeping things interesting, but I also love having a goal and working to get there.  My workouts last week involved a lot of all of it.  One of my old students was home from college on spring break, so I introduced him to the glories of kettlebells, ring dips, pistol squats, and more.  It looked like this:

Monday

Five rounds:

1. Kettlebell Clean and presses – 5 reps Left and 5 reps Right
2. Kettlebell Swings – 10 reps
3. Ring Dips – 5 reps
4. Pistol Squats – 3 reps Left and 3 reps Right

Then after he went home, I did…

100 Kettlebell Snatches (24kg) in 4:24.

The snatches felt really good, considering we had just done the other strength work immediately beforehand.  I was encouraged.

Tuesday

10-minute countdown*:

1. 135# Barbell Cleans – 5 reps
2. Pushups – 10 reps

This was a good one, too.  Wow.

* Remember that when I say “10-minute countdown” it means that when the clock hits zero, I jump on it, doing my five cleans then dropping to do my pushups.  It took me about 30 seconds do do the work, leaving me the remaining 30 seconds to rest.

Wednesday

10-minute Countdown:

1. Kettlebell Squat and presses – 5 reps
2. Kettlebell Swings – 10 reps

I used a 70# KB for this one.  I believe it’s the fourth time I’ve done this workout, and every time it’s fantastic; I feel like I’m getting stronger, too.  Great bang-for-the-buck.  Tired quads and glutes afterward, and a pounding heart.  Love it.

Thursday

Stretching for active recovery – about 20 minutes.

Friday

On Friday, I did my kettlebell snatches in the morning.  I tried for 10 reps per side for 7 minutes, only completing 5 per side the last minute.  That means I totaled 130 snatches in 7 minutes.  I was cooked.

Several hours later when my friend came over, we did a bunch of skill work on the barbell overhead squat and the full barbell snatch.  In the snatch, you go into a full overhead squat prior to finishing the rep in overhead lockout standing up.  This contrasts with the power snatch, where you go straight to overhead lockout without the squat.

I did five rounds of three reps with 85# for the practice.  Great movement, but I need to practice it a lot more before I start adding more plates to the barbell.  That was enough weight while I’m perfecting the technique.

Saturday

Stretching for active recovery – about 20 minutes.

Got a question?  Fire away in the comments section below.  Your comments and questions are always welcome!