So this week I focused particularly on bodyweight movements. I love my kettlebells, but the bodyweight movements are particularly good for mobility and relative, functional strength. If someone can back squat 300 pounds but can’t keep his heels down or get past parallel with his thighs to actually fire the glutes when he does a bodyweight squat (the 300 pounds can help you keep your heels on the ground, or get down past parallel, “in the hole,” as they say….), then he still has some work to do to be getting the most out of those squats. And bodyweight movements are helpful for that.
Pistol squats and 1-arm pushups of any variety are still a real challenge for me, and I can’t do them in high reps yet. They help to develop max strength, and they don’t require any equipment at all. That is the whole premise of Pavel’s Naked Warrior.
(It’s a great read, by the way. I totally recommend it. Very simple concepts, but certainly hard.) Anyway, here’s what the week looked like:
Monday (6/25)
Rest.
Tuesday (6/26)
- 5 minutes of Turkish Get-ups (53# KB)
- 15-minute countdown
- 1-arm pushup: 1 rep left
- 1-arm pushup: 1 rep right
- 12 split squats
I initially planned on doing the countdown for 10 minutes, but it felt great, so I kept going. 15 minutes was good, but I still had plenty in the tank. I don’t feel too badly about it, though. It’s not bad to finish freshly when you’re trying to gain strength. It’s pretty great when I consider that about three months ago my 1-arm pushups were wobbly an weak. Now I did 15 in a workout and felt fine, and could have done more. That’s encouraging, and it’s the byproduct of my frequent work on them, I think.
On a different note, my obliques were a bit sore after this workout (like for the next two days afterward). That was a bit surprising, but certainly welcome. I’m always glad to find out afterward that I’ve been working my core all along. 🙂
Wednesday (6/27)
- 5 minutes of Turkish Get-ups (53# KB)
- 10-minute countdown:
- 1 pistol squat left
- 1 pistol squat right
- 15 pushups
By the time I was done with this one, I was pretty whipped. The pistols were okay. They’re not awesome yet but they’re getting there. I did them on the edge of a step to help a little bit. But it was the pushups who got to me after the 1-arm pushups the day before. I wasn’t exactly sore, but fatigued.
Thursday (6/28)
Rest. I decided to take this day off, like I usually do, but particularly because I needed the day of recovery.
Friday (6/29)
- 5 minutes of Turkish Get-ups (53# KB)
- 12-minute countdown:
- Spinal rock to stand: 5 reps
- Neutral-grip “L” pull-ups: 3 reps
I’d never done a full workout involving the spinal rock to stand bodyweight movement, and I ended up doing 60 of them. On Saturday, I had the sore abs to prove it. Plus the “L” pull-ups require a tight core, too. This was a very good, low impact, tiring workout. My heart rate was about 152 when I stopped, which is good but by no means crazy.
All in all, a lighter week, and I’ll look forward to hitting my kettlebells again hard this week.
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