Last week wasn’t a particularly good week in terms of exercise, as I seemed to have a lot of schedule irregularities that prevented me from getting done what I wanted to do. But that’s okay; Rome wasn’t built or destroyed in one week.
Oh, and I DON’T have better news to report on the pull-ups and pistol practice. This is one of the indicators for me that it was a weird week. I didn’t make nearly the headway I wanted to in those areas.
This week I’m shooting for 200 total pull-ups between Monday and Friday. We’ll see how that goes.
Monday (5/7)
I. Turkish Get Ups – 9 minutes (53# bell) II. KB Swings – 12 minutes Tabata protocol (53# bell)
To no surprise, the TGU’s felt great. I’m getting stronger there, I think. I didn’t need any breaks for the duration. That’s a PR for me, I believe. Usually I rest for 30 seconds or so around minute 7.
On the swings I needed two breaks at rounds 15 and 21 (12 minutes is 24 rounds of 30 seconds, right?). My grip was failing, to no surprise. But it was still like 263 swings in 12 minutes, so was pleased. Interestingly, I was not at all sore in the hamstrings or the lower back the next day, which was nice.
Tuesday (5/8)
I. Deadlift: 4×4 @ 285# II. Bench Press: 5×3 @ 175#
Man, did it feel great to do some heavier deadlifts. The bench was fine, too. The key here for me is NOT training to failure. I’m trying to leave these sets feeling fresh in an effort to gain overall strength. Ideally I’ll never reach a failing point on any of these sets.
It’s worth noting that my core – especially my abs and obliques – were sore for a couple of days after the deadlifts, because the deadlift works everything! Before each rep, I’m focusing on tightening the core and my grip and each muscle group. It yields instant returns in output. But it’s no surprise then, that I was sore the next day.
Wednesday (5/9)
I played basketball for a couple of hours. It was interesting, since it was the first cardio-proper workout I’d done in many months. I’m always doing interval training and metabolic conditioning or strength training. At about 10 minutes in, I was sucking wind a little bit, but it could have been because the gym I was in felt like a sauna. After a few minutes, I got the hang of it and had plenty of energy the rest of the time. My stamina was fine, though my game was off, to say the least. (I was rusty….)
But the most interesting thing was that I was not at all sore the next day, though I hand’t used some of those muscles in a long while. Again, that was nice.
Thursday (5/10)
Rest.
Friday (5/11)
I. 5 rounds: A. 53# KB Clean and Press – 3 reps left B. 53# KB Clean and Press – 3 reps right II. Kettlebell Snatch (53# KB): 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
I did this while barbecuing my lunch with the kids playing in the back yard. It was beautiful and my first outdoor KB training session of the season. The snatches were nice and easy, and I didn’t time them.
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