Self-respect

[SHRUG]

Monday, March 26, 2007 - 10:11pm

I did not feel right going to bed without updating my log, so here I am at this late hour doing just that. I took things easy today and did not really do much of anything. I am sure you are wondering my reasoning for this and it is as follows. A very good friend of mine who just so happens to be a certified RKC Kettlebell Instructor, is stopping by my house tomorrow to give me a good ass kicking, Russian Kettlebell Style. I gave him a call today and asked him what muscle group I should be working today so that I could still take full advantage of my session tomorrow with the KB's. His answer was "just take things easy today, kettlebells hit the whole body."

I followed his advice and therefore deviated slightly from my plan, however the payoff of the knowledge I will gain tomorrow for future training with the kettlebells will pay me back 10 fold. I am more than willing to cut one workout short and save my body for this chance. Anyway, I don't have anything really worth reporting tonight fellas. I just wanted you guys to know that I am pounding away and am more excited than ever to be training again.

I will post a full report of my training tomorrow and I can't wait to see how things go. I feel a slight cold coming on so I am gonna skip out on work tomorrow so that I can stay home, eat, sleep, and prepare myself for my first of many, many kettlebell training sessions. Talk to you later guys, peace.

P.S. Eric, I am glad to be back brother, and I appreciate your kind words!

SHRUG

[smp76]

I will do cardio with my weight vest as well as sled pullling and sledge hammer swings. I plan on doing half an hour of something every day for cardio, rotating these three things over and over. I will do alot of kettle bell work also and that will help the cardio out a great deal as well as building me a set of bullet proof shoulders!

SHRUG

Sounds great you ever use a heart rate monitor? I find them to be very helpful, shocking at times but if you keep a detailed log you can what your recovery during certain exercises and long term improvement. Just a thought.

-Sean

[SHRUG]

Well fellas, let me tell you. I just finished my first ever training session with Kettlebells and they are the single greatest training implement I have ever used. My buddy put me through a very good beginner routine which I will be focusing on for a while. My other routine will come into play and believe me I did not expect this to happen but they show me my weaknesses so clearly that I can not turn away from them just to up my bench press while neglecting the rest of my body.

My new routine that my friend has got me starting looks like this:

Monday - Focus on one arm swings. Between sets alternate the following exercies - cleans, front squats, kneeling military presses, renegade rows, and one leg deadlifts. So Monday will look like this:

Swings

Cleans

Swings

Front Squats

Swings

Kneeling Military Press

Swings

Renegade Rows

Swings

One Leg Deadlifts

So all in all I will be doing 5 sets of my focus exercise for the day and one set of everything else. The volume will be kept very low and I will only be doing 6 reps per set on everything. All the other days of the week will focus on one of the other exercises at a time with the remaning exercises done between my main sets. The rest of the week will look like this:

Tuesday - Cleans

Wednesday - Front Squats

Thursday - Kneeling Military Press

Friday - Renegade Rows

Saturday - One Leg Deadlifts

That will be my routine till my form is totally locked in and rock solid, then I will move to a heavier bell and start doing the more complex movements and as my cardio shape improves I will of course ramp my volume way, way up. Kettlebells make me feel like a weak little school girl at the moment and that makes me even hungrier than I was to get training hard and heavy as I can.

Oh, by the way, all I have right now in the way of Kettlebells are a pair of 62lbers so that is all I have access to at the moment. I will not bother posting what weight I am using in my log until I get heavier bells and I go up and down depending on the exercise. I am totally stoked, my mind has been totally blown, and I have ALOT, let me say that again, ALOT of work to do. I have seen the light and it shines on the MIGHTY RUSSIAN KETTLEBELL. I am out till tomorrow fellas. Let me know what you think peace.

SHRUG

[jimwylie1]

James, glad to see you posting again. I've been thinking about kettlebells recently. I know nothing at all about kettlebell training but I'll be watching your log with interest to see how you get on.

Jim

[SHRUG]

With my schedule being posted alreadey in my last reply, this is gonna be really easy to update from now on.

I will post details if I move up in weight, increase in reps, or achieve some feat I have been working towards, other than that I am just gonna give you guys the basics.

That is all for now fellas, training continues, this cold I have is starting to kick my ass a little, and I may need a day of rest or so but we will see. Talk to you all later, peace.

SHRUG

[SHRUG]

Monday, April 02, 2007 - 5:01pm

Took the weekend off guys, I really did not want to but I was forced to do so in order to have a solid training week due to that son of a bitchin cold I had. I kicked that damn things ass and am back training hard as planned. It was very hard not to train over the weekend but that is in the past and I am glad it is over.

Anyway, today I took one of my 62lb bells outside in my driveway to train, I love getting outdoors for training and plan to do so from now until I have masterd those big 106lb Kettlebell Bastards! That is another thing I really love about the KB's, you can take even the big ones anywhere to train.

Today went like this, and of course everything listed below was done with each arm:

Swings X 6

Cleans X 6

Swings X 6

Front Squats X 6

Swings X 6

Kneeling OHP X 6

Swings X 6

Standing OHP X 6

This workout kicked my ass and I was most surprised that the front squats were actually the hardest thing out of what I did today, the KB's really hit you TOTALLY different that a barbell does on front squats and I predict that dual 106lbers is gonna be all the fun I can stand for high rep sets, I can't wait.

I am out of shape and the KB's show me that clearly, I can see each and every one of my weaknesses and know what I need to do. I know for a fact that this is gonna be the hardest training I have ever done. And within 8 months to a year I know that I will be in not only the best shape of my life so far, but I will also be the strongest I have ever been. KB's are AWESOME, talk to you later guys, peace.

SHRUG

P.S. No more missing workouts will occur as I am going on a ridiculous Supplement, Eating, and Sleep Schedule starting tonight. I am hoping that this will prevent me from getting any other kind of illnesses so that I can train totally uninterupted! I hate to sacrafice my entire social life after work but if that is what it takes then so be it. I will update that as well so that I can't cheat. Please bust my ASS fellas if you notice me not posting something.

Edited April 2, 2007 by SHRUG

[SHRUG]

Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 2:55pm

Focused on Cleans today but hit everyting else I listed in my previous posts between my sets of cleans as follows my plan. Went well and I am sore as hell. Might throw in some extra arm training this evening. Need to focus on my diet better but that will come along, bad habits are hard to break. Later fellas, peace.

SHRUG

[BJones]

Keep after it Shrug - looks good.

Brett

[SHRUG]

Thanks Brett, I am really enjoying the Kettlebells and I can't wait till I am using duel 106lbers MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[SHRUG]

Took a break from Kettlebells today and hit the triceps hard. I am almost as strong as I have ever been in this respect, I can't wait to surpass my previous best and see where I can really go!

[lifesnotfair]

Took a break from Kettlebells today and hit the triceps hard. I am almost as strong as I have ever been in this respect, I can't wait to surpass my previous best and see where I can really go!

Are your numbers high enough to POST them yet?

[SHRUG]

I guess I can post them, after all it is not where you are it is where you are going!

Started out with lying triceps extensions with my EZ Bar, these were done very strict with elbows locked at sides. Did two sets with 55lbs to warm up, then did one set with 75lbs, then one set with 95lbs, then one set with 100lbs, and my final set with 125lbs. The warm up sets I did 15 reps per set, my working sets I did 8 reps per set.

Moved to Standing push downs. I did sets of 15 here and worked up to 180lbs. Stayed kinda light because of the high rep work, I did 6 sets here.

Went to band push downs with a Light (Large Purple) Jump Strecth Band. I did 4 sets of 25, these are really a different feeling than regular push downs.

My triceps were pretty well cooked at this point. I could have done more but since I went heavy on the extensions I called it a night.

I used to use much more weight on extensions but I am gaining fast, also I used to cheat really badly and now I am doing the movement like a body builder. My short term goal with this exercise is to get to where I am using 75lbs on each side for my sets. I will be stoked when I get that. I am training Biceps today fellas, peace.

SHRUG

[426]

I guess I can post them, after all it is not where you are it is where you are going!

Keep up the work! I find that it's good to see things a long race, not just a sprint...I just got back to the grade of my hardest climbing 12 years ago...life, injuries and in general a malaise had gripped me for about a decade. I'm stronger in some ways but don't have that "spring back" of my youth. Just have to be smart to move on to 8a level and more insane routes of my dreams!

[SHRUG]

Have not posted in a long time. I am still training though as planned. Auto piolot has kicked in and I am getting in a groove now. Won't wast anyone's time posting unless I hit a big goal.

SHRUG

[honk]

Will you get back to shrugs with monster weights?