Scott Styles Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 After some time off posting workouts, I've got my training in gear. I have goals, I have a plan, and I'm successfully executing it. Over the next year, I will become relatively strong. I've got a list of body weight dependent strength goals that will require me to either get my weight down or my strength up. Some are easy, some are hard, most I have never done before. Last fall my weight peaked in the mid 240's. I've been dropping weight since then and most recently came in at 223 this morning. I'll be updating this log as I hit goals, or if I have a particularly grip centric workout I feel like posting about. The core of my workout program is an early morning M/T/Th/F upper / lower split, along with caloric restriction that has me dropping 1-2lbs a week. One weekday evening I fit in a random grip workout, one weekend day I fit in a random workout with whatever I feel like doing. Today it was a walk, kettlebells, and 18" lockouts DO on my axle. I'll break this pattern for a few months in the summer with an early morning kettlebell centric workout outside, then return to it in the fall/winter. Without further blabbing, the goals are below. I may add to them as I get good ideas. I do well at this type of training and will hit most of these before the year is out: 1. 1/3 BW KETTLEBELL -------------------- 1.1 Clean 1.2 Push Press 1.3 Snatch 1.4 Press 1.5 Bottoms Up Press 2. 1/2 BW KETTLEBELL --------------------- 2.1 Clean 2.2 Push Press 2.3 Snatch 2.4 Press 2.5 Bottoms Up Press 3. 3/4 BW BARBELL ---------------- 3.1 Front Squat 3.2 Clean 3.3 Push Press 4. 1.0 BW BARBELL --------------- 4.1 Front Squat 4.2 Clean 4.3 Push Press 5. BW --------------------- 5.1 Chin 5.2 Pistol per leg 5.3 5 Chins 5.4 5 Pistols per leg 5.5 3x5 Chins 5.6 3x5 Pistols per leg 5.7 5x5 Chins 5.8 5x5 Pistols per leg 5.9 Handstand 5.10 Handstand Press Up 5.11 L-sit 6. Grip ------------------------ 6.1 1.0 BW DO Axle Deadlift 6.2 1.25 BW DO Axle Deadlift 6.3 Compete in Michigan Contest 6.4 Bend Grade 5 bolt 6.5 1.5 BW DO Axle Deadlift 6.6 Compete in BBB3 6.7 Lift 35lb Blob 6.8 BW V-bar 6.9 BW One Handed Deadlift 7. Mobility / Stability ------------------------- 7.1 3x5 TGU's with 12k KB 7.2 3x5 TGU's with 16k KB 7.3 3x5 TGU's with 20k KB 7.4 3x5 Overhead Squat Empty Bar 7.5 25 Push ups 7.6 60 Second Front Bridge 7.7 60 Second Side Bridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Great set of goals you have there. Some that should be easy for you to hit and some that will push you till the end of the year. Now go out and get 'em, Scott! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I love reading Scott's workouts, they look like a text book. Just to make sure I understand, you intend to snatch and bottoms up press a kettlebell that weighs half your bodyweight. Thus meaning that you intend to do this with a kettlebell that is larger than "the Beast"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 Thanks guys. The 1/2 bodyweight kettlebell stuff is going to be tough and will likely go out to the end of the year. Keep in mind I'm dropping weight, so 1/2 my body weight will be much less than the 106lb beast when I get to that point. My guess is I'll be targeting the 36k bell sold by Gill Athletics. I have doubts on the bottoms up press and press, but reaching goals are important. I've managed to snatch my 28k recently. I got it into the bottoms up clean position, but lacked the strength to press it. I cleaned and push pressed my 32k a week or two ago. Proper rack position is really important for a strong push press with the KB. I imagine I will learn similar tricks for a bigger snatch. I may do better to target the 40k bell at a higher body weight, I'll have to see how my body weight is doing when I head down to Pesotum for BBB3. Due to shipping costs, that's when I'll buy my next heavy KB. I may rely on some grease the groove tricks if I've knocked most the other goals off my list. I do have a small frame at 5' 7", so a lean 158lbs may be a realistic body weight for me. Ironically, this week, I've done nothing but maintain weight. Started getting sick and decided we're going to buy a house last Sunday. Looked at houses Monday night, going to make an offer tonight, hoping to be ready to meet with a mortgage broker by early next week at the latest. The goal is to be closed by the end of March, moved in by the end of April. Between those two stressors, I've had to drop all training and meal preperation so far this week. I finally cooked last night, and I'm hoping to squeeze a quick workout in tonight before we meet with the realtor to draft up an offer. If we get one of the two units we are interested in, our commute to work will become a 3/4 mile walk, and our sleep will no longer be disrupted by the trains. Not only that, we won't be dealing with the stressors of crowds in the city. Our first choice unit backs up to a forest preserve. We still won't have a car, so eating out will drop quite a bit. All of that will add up to greater long term success towards my training goals. I did hit phone book tearing PR on Sunday, and folllowed it on Monday by tearing a book at work I'd failed on previously. So I suppose that is some training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Congrats on the decision to purchase a house. That is awesome. We have a ways to go. We're waiting until we move back to the midwest, we're considering moving to Shy-town even. I'm surprised by your goal. 158lbs! It's a great goal, I'm not trying to break on it at all. It's just that it's like 80lbs. I'm all for it but if you are cutting 80lbs A) get a good before picutre, you could do the talk show circuit or subway commercials B) I think I would make my training goals less strength-centric because your going to need to do cardio all year, a lot of it with some strength stuff to break it up. good luck, I'll be watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 Mike, we'll see what happens with the bodyweight. I have no idea how moving will impact my priorities, but if they stay similar to what they are now, I'll come close to or reach my goal. If I can hit the 40k KB, I only need to drop 46lbs. Either way, I'm not going to get there doing a ton of cardio, it would kill my metabolism. It's going to have to be a slow steady burn of 1-2 lbs a week through strength or strength endurance work, plus a balanced diet with intentional cheat days. I'll also need to allow for down time in training due to the caloric deficit impairing recovery. Based on this week, I might have to update the title of this log to "finding excuses not to train" though. I missed the workout last night, had to shower before meeting with the realtor. No workout tonight either, far too tired. In the last 24 hours we've made a offer on the house, gone through the full negotiation process, and in about 30 minutes I'll be signing the final offer and handing over the check with the earnest money. I've met with the mortgage broker, gotten together all the documentation needed for the mortgage approval process, and expect to lock in the mortgage tomorrow afternoon. If all goes well, I'll also address the home owners insurance, life insurance, and setup the home inspection tomorrow. It looks like approximately 5 days after starting the house hunting process we will have everything locked down and just need to go through the steps to get ready for and close on the home. Thank god, because I am exhausted. Hoefully there will be very few distractions after tomorrow. I had considered taking this full week as a rest week, and I needed it. I'm lucky to have been able to plan my home purchase around my training. If only exercising worked like this. Go balls to the walls for a week, be set for 7 years. I'd do much better at it BTW - You end up moving to Chicago, I know a good realtor and mortgage broker. Hopefully I've got a good source for insurance and home inspections soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 congratulations on the house. That's awesome. I'll bet your glad for you cheapo ways now, nail that down payment. If/when we move to Shytown, you'll be getting a call. The rule is, I have to finish school, then we move to one of three places based on jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 Cheapo ways are paying off huge. Realtor says the place we've offered on would normally be a 2nd time home. The great part is, since we will be so close to work and don't need a car, our monthly recurring expenses still only require our gross income to be half of what it is. Figuring that out calmed my nerves a ton, since we're basically tripling our rent. What are you going to school for again? I don't have much of a network, but I can connect you with any pertinent contacts I do have if you end moving out here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Good to see the new log and the new goals Scott. You'll hammer them all this year. Looking forward to seeing you again at the BBB3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 Thanks Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 It cost me lunch, but everything is done to let the mortgage broker underwrite my loan. Now I'm down to: Inspection tomorrow, deal with report Receive notice loan underwriting is done, get home insurance Get cashier's check / do final walkthrough Close After tomorrow, the dates will be driven by others all the way up to the end of the month. I'll finally be able to relax and get back to training normally. Man I'm looking forward to that. No training tonight for sure, it's only 3pm and I'm already exhausted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 4, 2007 Author Share Posted March 4, 2007 Got the home inspection done yesterday. I didn't have to do anything but sit there while the guy looked the house over, but I was still exhausted by the end of the day. Stress is a funny thing. The results were pretty good, they'll get the once over by my lawyer, then she does her thing and I'm done with that phase. The realtor said yesterday that the inspection should be the last time I have to go somewhere or have a long meeting until the close date. We got pics of the house up too: http://www.gripfaq.com/housephotos/ So today is dedicated to preparing myself to train next week. I've done laundry, cleaned the house, gotten my gym stuff together, etc. I'll cook food for the week this afternoon, hit some grip stuff, then be sure to get to bed early. Tomorrow morning it's up at 6am and back at the upper / lower split grind. I maintained bodyweight and avoided getting sick this week, which were my only two real goals. Progress next week. I also finally got a proper front page on gripfaq.com yesterday. That's been a long time coming and really helps to pull things together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 looks like a great place. I didn't quite look at all 150 or so photos but the sample I picked was real nice. Looks like the main floor is mostly black and white but you have some color upstairs. I hope you guys are really happy there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 Grats on the house Scott. Looks like a nice one. You can turn the basement into your own training dungeon Basements are awesome, but hard to find here in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 4, 2007 Author Share Posted March 4, 2007 Thanks guys, weights look like they will be going in the garage. We don't have a car, so I'll get the whole thing for myself and be able to open the door to the outside when the weather is nice enough. Decided that is more appealing than heat in the winter and AC in the summer, we'll see how I feel when the bad weather hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 Finally got back in the training groove. Yesterday I did some light gripper work and a piss poor tear of a 1.5" phone book. About as sloppy as you can get, but it got done. This morning I hit my lower workout at the gym. Did a bunch of mobility stuff at the end of the workout and feel tons better for it. Only real grip thing in my morning workout is I do side bends with a barbell in one hand, currently at 65lbs. I'm hoping to learn the balance of a barbell in one hand, so that when it comes time to train the one handed deadlift for the Michigan contest I can focus on weight. Last night I also re-ordered a bunch of entries on gripfaq.com. Updated my admin tool to let me filter and sequence stuff through the GUI, instead of needing to use the database. Makes polishing the site much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 Pretty good week of training: Sunday: Tore 1.5" phone book Monday: Lower Tuesday: Upper Wednesday: Grip Thursday: Lower; 2.5 mile walk and tore 1.5" phone book Friday: Rest Missed my upper workout on Friday because I was out late Thursday night walking around the city. Not going to pass up the few chances I have left to do this before the office moves to the suburbs though. I'll just hit a harder kettlebell workout this afternoon. Weight's down to 222. Given what I ate last weekend and the stress of the prior week, I'm happy with 1lb progress. Right now my training is focused on getting to 207lbs. Once there I will test on the following goals: 1.1 Clean 1/3 BW Kettlebell 1.2 Push Press 1/3 BW Kettlebell 5.1 Chin 6.1 1.0 BW DO Axle Deadlift At my current pace, this will probably be sometime in late April or early May. We'll see how things go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Keep up the good work - and congrats on the house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 Thanks Chris. It will be really nice to have my own garage gym. Did some cleanup on gripfaq.com this morning. Laid out my plans for the next few months of revisions. First on the list was making the site printer friendly, which I got done. Using CSS makes this relatively painless. Now someone that doesn't like to read online can print out each section of the site. Ultimately I'd like to get to the point where a nice looking PDF is dynamically generated with the full site content, kinda like a gripping e-book. There's a lot to do before I get to that point though. Time to get ready to kettlebell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Before long you'll be making your own equipment to fill up that empty garage space. You can make an awesome gym with that much space to work with. At the Arnold we stopped by the American Kettlebell booth - they are the ones with the KBs that all the weights are the same size and shape - I really liked the looks of them. I didn't get prices but they sure looked nice, color coded for weight. Someday maybe. I think they said a complete set was $960 or so - that's a pair of each weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 I keep reminding myself I need to move in before I get any new equipment. I'm already thinking about pairing up my kettlebells. I might paint them as well. I left myself a little extra for stuff like that when deciding what sort of down payment to make. I'll need to get tools before I end up making any equipment. I've considered the American Kettlebell bells. I really like the idea of them all being the same size. Considering that I already have one KB of each size from 12k through 32k, $960 is a little pricey for me, especially after shipping costs. However, AKC is currently hosting day long kettlebell instruction workshops for $1000. These include a full set of the professional bells. You still need to pay around $250 to ship them, but if they end up doing a workshop at that price in Chicago, there's a good chance I'll do it. Personal instruction from Valery Fedorenko, the full set of bells, and the chance to meet other like minded Chicago area individuals may be worth that money to me. Today I did (total lbs in parens, just to see): 2 Hand Swings: 10x12k; 10x16k; 10x20k; 10x24k (1584 lbs) 1 Hand Swings: 10x12k; 8x16k; 5x20k; 3x24k (1848lbs) Snatches: 8x12k; 5x16k; 3x20k; 1x24k; 1x24k; (Held the 24k ones at the top for 10-15 seconds) (1250 lbs) Presses: 10x12k; 5x16k; 3x20k; 3x20k + 2 Push Presses; 1x24k; 1x24k + 1 Push Press (1900 lbs) 40 Second Front Bridge (NA) Total lbs: 6582 Thought I might do some axle deads after, but grip was fried. I noticed on the heavier weights my shoulders wobble all over the place. I look forward to building up stability in them over the summer. I thought I might go for 60 seconds with the front bridge, but I was gassed. Walked 1.5 miles and got a frozen pizza to cook for lunch. Then I stretched for about 15 minutes. The rest of the day is dedicated to relaxation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Scott - if you drive to the workshop - you could save the shipping by taking them home with you. If a guy actually wants a set of bells - the workshop is darn near free - I'd sure consider the workshop over just buying the KBs at that price. And for me at least - that's only a 3 hour drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilkaz Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Looking good here, Scott and congrats on the new house ? What town will you be living in, if you don't mind saying ? // neilkaz // 35 miles NW of Chicago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 Chris, I assume you are referencing the seminar they are holding in Cincinnati later this month. Driving to save shipping is a good idea, except they are sold out of the kettlebells and don't expect any until april. I do not know if they bring them to the seminars otherwise. If they end holding a seminar in the Chicago area and will have the kettlebells there for pickup, it's highly likely I'll end up going. Thanks Neil. I'll be moving to Darien, by the intersection of 55 and Lemont road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Yeah, I saw the American ketlebells at the arnold and got personal training advice from Valery Fedorenko (I don't know who that is) for free. He seemed like a nice and knowedgable guy and the bells were pretty comfortable to use. Did a few cleans and presses and then I asked Vallery if I could try and snatch the bell. His expert advice to me, "fine, just don't hurt yourself" hehe NIce work on the 24k snatches and presses, Scott! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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