Catching up again!

Several workouts to report!
I've been working on kettlebell form, since my HKC instructor certification is only two weeks away!
I think I'm ready. People are surprised when I tell them I'm going to an all-day class to learn to teach three moves. Ha! I've only heard good things from those who have been through it, though.

I sent several form check videos to friends, including one RKC, and got some excellent advice. I've already made some great strides with my goblet squats and will work some more on TGUs over the next two weeks.

April 6:
Foam Rolling
DL - 3x135#, 3x165#, 5x170#, 5x175#
RDL - 4x10x135#
Hanging Knee Raise - 4x10

April 9:
Foam rolling
Goblet Squat - 4x12kg, 4x16kg, 3x16kg
2-hand KB swings - 7x20x16kg

April 10:
Foam rolling
BB Floor Press - 5x45#, 3x65#, 2x85#, 5x90#, 5x95#
Diamond Push-up (subbed for dips)- 4x10
Inverted row, palms up, knees bent - 4x10

April 12:
Squats. I was focusing on form, so I didn't have time for some of the accessory work. I do think I made some progress, though, so it was worth it.
BB Squat - 5x45#, 4x65#, 3x75#, 2x5x85#
BB Rev. Lunge - 2x10x45#
Hanging Knee Raise - 2x10

April 13:
12 to 1 ladder of 2-handed swings, goblet squats, and push-ups.
16kg for the swings, for the goblet squats: 20# for the first 2 sets, 12kg for the next 4 sets, 16kg for the last 6. Making lots of progress on the squats!

Today:
2.7 mile run in VFFs. Warm (55F) but very foggy and wet! Left calf is very tight.

Yes, I'm here!

Between vacation and a week-long sickness, I got of rythym a bit. I did get back to working out last week, in not a little slowly. I feel much better now and even improved a lift today!

I've been working a lot on kettlebell stuff, checking form mostly. My HKC class is coming up soon! I've also started running in my minimalist shoes. I have Vibram Five Fingers and Merrell Pace Gloves.

Today, I did a Simple Strength I workout from Beautiful Badass.

Standing Overhead BB Press - 7x45#, 2x7x65#
Suspended Push-up - on JGXT, hands ~2ft off ground - 5x8
Neutral Grip Chin-up - feet on ground with JGXT - 5x8
1.2 mile run in VFFs

I decided that for lifts like the OH press, I can't stand a lot of warm up. It's too fatiguing. So, I only did the one warm up set to get the form down and then went straight to the working set. The last rep in each OH press set was a grinder!

Press that floor!

Today was a combo of my regular strength workout and a few things to complete quests on Fitocracy. LOL!

Foam rolling
Floor Press - 8x45#, 6x65#, 2x7x90#
Diamond push-up - 5x8
Palms Up Inverted Row - knees bent - 5x8
Planks (tight!) - 5x60s
1 jump up wide grip pull up

Done deloading

Last week was a deload week, so I didn't have much to post.

Yesterday, I did my grip-killing workout. Then, today, I made the mistake of doing a kettlebell swing workout. Yikes. Forearms are not happy. I had to switch to the lighter kettlebell just to finish.

Yesterday:
mobility and foam rolling
Barbell deadlift - 4x135#, 3x145#, 7x155#, 2x7x160# (misloaded the last set; thought I was putting on 165#, but forgot a 5# plate. Doh! Didn't notice the imbalance at all.)
Romanian deadlift - 5x7x135#
Hanging knee raise - 5x8

Today:
Lots of 2-handed and 1-handed swings thanks to Tracy Reifkind.

Deload week

I got to the 4th week ok the Simple Strength 1 program from Beautiful Badass. This is a deload week where I am supposed to lower the weights. It went well. Having the video was nice. My form seems ok.

Mobility
Deadlift - 3x5x115#
RDL - 4x10x120#
Hanging knee raise - 4x10

Squats!

I have to admit, I was dawdling this morning, not wanting to do my squat workout. In the past, I've had form issues with the squat and for some reason, I have fear of those coming back. Of course, if they do, I just correct them, but still... Anyway, I pushed through my hesitation and got started. They went fine. I did keep the weight the same on the second working set to correct some issues that were creeping in. I could tell my knees were tending to want to slide back, which probably meant my hips were rising without my shoulders rising. It wasn't horrible, but I want to do these right. My knees didn't cave in, which is what my big problem has been in the past.

For the reverse lunges, 8 reps really started to get my heart going. I kept the weight the same as what I used for most of my 6-rep lunge sets previously. I'm not going to enjoy going up to 10 then 15 reps. I'm definitely going to have to decrease the weight if I'm going to stick with the plan. The 8 reps on the leg raise also got to where I could feel it in my abs more. It's amazing what 2 more reps can do!

Mobility (Desk Jockey 1)
Squat - 5x45#, 4x60#, 4x70#, 3x80#, 2x7x90#
Reverse Lunge - 5x8x65#
Hanging Bent Leg Raise - 5x8

Sore delt

I got in a workout this evening. I did something to my right delt, though. It's rather sore.

EC's Desk Jockey 2 mobility warm up
5 arm bars each side + 2 arm bar presses @12kg
Floor press - 5x65#, 4x75#, 3x85#, 7x90#, 3x95# (failed on 4th rep, delt sore)
Diamond push-ups - 5x8
Palms up inverted row - 5x8
Foam rolling

Deads :)

Late evening lift tonight. Couldn't miss my deadlifts, though!

A&C mobility
Deadlifts - 5x135#, 7x155#, 7x165#
RDL - 2x8x145#, 3x8x155#
Hanging Knee Raise - 2x8
Hanging Bent Leg Raise - 3x8
Foam rolling and back buddy

and some pushups:
8, 6, 6, 4, 4, 5

OHP fatigue

Not much time, but here was my workout:
Mobility
Standing overhead press - 5x45#, 6x55#, 6x65#, 9x60#, 7x55#, I get fatigued on these very quickly
Suspended push-up - on JGXT - 6x6, lowered the handles more for the last two, these are getting really stable
Neutral Grip Chin-up - using JGXT, feet on ground - 6x6
Farmer's walks - 16kg in one hand gripped with fingers, 3x80ft

Working on KB stuff and squats

Yesterday, I decided to work on my shoulder strength and my finger grip strength. Last time I did a lot of 1-handed swings, I got some blisters on the base of my fingers, including one blood blister. That looks gross! The blister is gone now, but the blood is still there.

The blisters formed because my grip was not correct during the switch off between hands. I would grip it too tightly and in the process, pinch skin in between my hand and the handle.

So, I did some farmer's carries to work on finger strength. I also worked on shoulder strength with arm bars and TGUs.

Yesterday's WO:
5L5R 20# arm bar with press
TGU 20# 4L4R3L3R2L3R2L2R1L1R
5LR alternating arm bar with press 12kg
Farmer's walk with one KB using finger hook grip 16kg LRLR ~200ft (10 laps of my weight room)
2-arm swings - 16kg - 210, 10, 10
1-arm swings - 12kg - 2xladder 5L5R -> 1L1R

Today was the Beautiful Badass Simple Strength 1 Week 2 Day 3. I watched the squat section of Rippetoe's Starting Strength video during my workout. Such a good video!

Mobility using A&C Desk Jockey 1
Squat - 6x45#, 4x55#, 4x65#, 9x75#, 9x85#
Reverse Lunge - 3x6x65#, 6x70, 6x65#, 6x70#
Hanging Knee Raise - 6x6

Floor presses and points

I did my regularly scheduled Beautiful Baddass Simple Strength 1 workout and followed up with some bodyweight stuff for Fitocracy quests :)

Yes, I never wanted to do burpees or squat thrusts again, but I guess I'll make an execption for the chance to get closer to the hub's points!  Ha!

mobility and foam rolling
arm bars, 5x20# arm bar presses
Floor Press - 8x45#, 5x70#, 9x85#, 9x90#
Diamond Push-ups - 6x6
Palms Up Inverted Row - 6x6
Then some Fitocracy point stuff:
1-arm DB row - 3x45# each side
BW squat - 15, 15
BW lunge - 10, 10
BW jump squat - 10
Burpee - 10, 15, 15, 15, 20 ,25
Push-up - 5, 5, 10 (because the diamond style push-ups didn't count for the quest, apparently!)

Getting heavier

I'm working my deadlifts weights back up. Feels good!

I took my time resting between sets. It's nice not to have to rush on weekends. The RDLs were giving me a bit of grip strength challenge. I only used a mixed grip on the last set, though.  I used Lynx grips for the hanging knee raises and focussed on keeping my lats tight, like the start of a pull-up.

What a great way to start the day!

BB Simple Strength 1
Mobility & foam rolling
DL - 4x135#, 9x145#, 9x155#
RDL - 2x6x145#, 2c6x150#, 6x155#, 6x160#
Hanging knee raise - 6x6

Pressing matters

This morning was another good lift. I watched Rippetoe's Starting Strength video for the overhead press during this. That was nice because I don't have a whole lot of experience with the BB press.

EC mobility Desk Jockey 2
arm bars
Standing Overhead Press - 3x45#, 3x55#, 7x65#, 9x60#, 7x60#
Suspended Push-up - arms raised ~2ft on JGXT - 6x6
Neutral Grip Chin-up - using JGXT with feet on floor - 6x6
Then 3x45# bench press for a Fitocracy quest :)

I think I found my 9RM (if there is such a thing) on the OH Press!

Squats and swings

Yesterday was a good squat workout.

Squats - 20x45#, 9x65#, 9x75#
Reverse Lunge - 6x6x65#
Hanging Knee Raise - 6x6
Plus a bunch of stuff to get points on Fitocracy.

Today, I did the 2nd workout from Mastering the Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing. Good stuff. I could follow along a little better with this one. Still not sure I like follow-along videos for kettlebells. I get annoyed when I'm not in synch with them. But, it was great to have the cues and the programming ideas.

All together I did:
230 2-handed swings with the 16kg bell
150 1-handed with the 12kg bell
90 1-handed with the 16kg bell

1-handed swings, in particular, are giving me issues with grip. I have a hard time gripping properly so as not to cause callouses. Hmmm....

I also did some silly stuff for Fitocracy quests:
BP 3x45#
Seated DB Press 10x15#ea
DB Chest Flyes 15x15#ea
DB biceps Curl 15x10#ea
Cable Face Pull 10x20#
Dance 10 minutes

Floor Presses!

The snow has started! It's not clear how much we'll get, since we are on the edge of a system, but it's coming down thickly right now. Maybe the ski hill with get a reprieve from snow making!

This morning was a good lift. I'm liking the shorter routines. That leaves me more time to get in a little bit of pre-hab work, like foam rolling and arm bars.

Beautiful Badass Simple Strength Wk1D2
Desk Jockey 2 warmup/mobility, arm bars
Floor Press - 8x45#, 6x45#, 4x65#, 9x85#, 9x85#
Diamond Push-ups - (subbed for dips) 6x6
Palms Up Inverted Row - 6x6

I'm baaaack!

Yesterday I finished up Body of Fire. It felt great to be done. It was a tough program. There wasn't much heavy lifting, but it was still hard. I definitely improved my push-up capacity. All in all, I did 1740 push-ups, not including ones that were included in the combos.

Now, I'm on to Beautiful Badass, using the Simple Strength program. I also warmed up with the Desk Jockey Option 1 warm up from Assess & Correct. I miss Eric Cressey's mobility work, so this was welcome.

The program was shorter than I've been doing, so I had more time to do some soft tissue work afterward. That will be helpful. I think I will call this day my grip strength day.

Here is is:
SS1
DJ1 Warm-up
Deadlift - 9x135#, 9x145#
RDL - 4x6x135#, 6x145#, 6x150#
Hanging Knee Raise - 6x6
Foam rolling and soft tissue work