Monday, October 26, 2009

RTK Inspired Workouts....

I haven't been doing a strict "block periodization" RTK program, but I have been incorporating a number of exercises into my two-a-day, 6 days a week program. It has been going well so far. Since I am still doing a lot of barbell training and bowling, I don't feel that I can give the full RTK program justice yet.

Initial insights:
* Double Ladders Jerks, Presses, and Snatches really fill up the posterior chain and shoulders up with muscle. I can see it in the mirror and on the scale. And I am much closer to 40 than 20.
* Even though I am not even doing the full program, I am hungry all of the time just like the book said I would be.
* You learn jerks by doing them. Ladders (e.g., 5 x 2,4,6,8, 10) are great for learning them because you get a lot of "first reps" where you dial in your form (similar to West Side Barbell). Also, in RTK it is about volume, not energy conservation.
* Some of the new exercises (Side Snatches, Front Snatches, Double Dead Cleans, Pullovers) are good for jacked up shoulders like mine.

What I have been doing is:
* On my leg day, I am doing ladders of 24kg Double C&J for 5 ladders of (2,4,6,8, 10). I tested myself afterwards and I was able to get 6 with double 32kg bells. I am going to start doing 32kg x 4 x 2,4,6.
* On shoulder workouts all I do is 24kg Double MP ladders of 5 x 2,4,6,8,10 ==> I am going to start with 3 x 1,2,3 with the 32kg. I have also been doing some stacked pressed and double stacked presses recently.
* I have been doing double snatches with the 24kg bells on my KB only days. I have also done uneven snatches with two bells, which are not as unbalance as you would think.

This is great stuff. My personal opinion is that this book was not as well written as ETK, but the workout/exercises are exactly what a somewhat experienced girevik needs. My body can feel the difference.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

DDR Hottest Party 3 is coming out...

I am looking forward to getting this new version of Dance Dance Revolution. I am looking forward to the following features:
* 8 arrow mode (more precise movements as well as differing movements)
* Potential using of the balance board and incorporating those movements
* New songs and new challenges

I have talked about Dance Dance Revolution a lot. I believe if that you want to lose weight and you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to give DDR a shot for the following reasons:
* I know the term "functional" gets thrown around a lot, but DDR is functions in that you move your body around in all different ranges of motion. If you have asymmetries, you will find them quickly just playing a couple of songs. And the kicker is they get corrected just by playing. A lot of cardio "creates" imbalances.
* The song does not slow down for you. This makes it very motivating.
* One of the things that makes KB training very motivating are the discreet feats of strength (i.e., I want to do this lift with this weight). With barbells and dumbbells, since you can set the weights to the nearest pound, you lose some of that. I like the sense of satisfaction that I get when I get an "A" on a certain song or set a given number of combos.
* You can burn a hell of a lot of calories. I can burn about 800 in one hour.
* While I don't think I look particularly macho playing DDR, at least I don't looks like the asshats that are using the elliptical with their arms.

Again - just like the anticipation of getting the next heavier bell, I am looking forward to the new challenge of Hottest Party 3.

Fun KB workout....

Whenever you have taught KB in 5 different zip codes, you have had a good week. On Saturday, I found myself with a both a pairs of 16kg and 12kg bells in my car and I had about 1 hour to get a workout in. I decided to play around with these smaller bells so here is what I did. A true variety day to say the least.

Halos: 12kg x 1 x 10
Bottom Up Presses: 12kg x 1 x 5; 16kg x 1 x 5 (I did these more than once)
Sots Presses: 12kg, 16kg x 1 x 5 (I found the 16kg sots easier, I should do more of these to improve thoracic mobility)
Double Bottoms Up Presses: 12kg x 1 x 5; 16kg x 2 x 5
Stacked Presses: 12+16kg x 1 x 5; 16kg + 16kg x 1 x 5L/4R
Double Stacked Presses: 12kg+16kg x 1 x 5; 12kg+16kg x 1 x 8 (the clean is challenging)
Single Leg Presses: 16kg x 2 x 5 (exposed some rooting issues that I have)

Double Dead Cleans: 16kg x 1 x 16
Double Snatches: 16kg x 2 x 20
Double Dead Snatches: 16kg x 1 x 10
Double Hang Snatches: 16kg x 1 x 10

Stacked Swings: 16kg+16kg x 2 x 10
Stacked Double Swings: 16kg+12kg x 2 x 10
Double Swings: 16kg x 1 x 30

Double Rack Walks, Double Overhead Walks, and Double Farmers Walks: 60yd each

Sprints: 35yd x 5

It was really fun to do a lot of leverage presses, snatches, and swings and just have fun with a limited set of light bells. It was a great night to work out outdoors in Tampa. I truly feel sorry for those who think a workout is doing crunches and a treadmill (unless you are a hamster with epilepsy).

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Some workouts this week....

I have not been logging my workouts much, but here are some that I did.

Quick evening workout:
TGU: 24kg x 10:00
Top of the minute swings: 48kg x 10 x 12

My gym has only 75lb dumbbells, so I did some renegade incline DB presses and some see-saw DB presses. I was able to get 10s with both variations.

I did a double KB presses for 24kg x 4 x (2,4,6,8), then double KB snatches for 24kg x 3 x 15. I had been practicing some uneven snatches with (20kg + 16kg) and it really is not much of a core workout like other people say it is.

On leg day, I have been doing DL for sets of 15 with 245lb. Pretty easy so far, I am going to try 265 tomorrow.

I taught one of my clients the renegade row, and he loves it.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I still don't understand.....

....the logic behind core workouts. I hear of people doing entire core workouts and core bootcamps. Even though I think that this can be effective, I never understood why you would do it for the following reasons:

* Any time you lift anything heavy, like a near maximum effort deadlift, bench or squat - you activate your core big time. In fact, for many lifters, the core is what falls apart first. And not just rectus abdominus either. Since you are using the "core" for stabilization, by definition you must recruit the ENTIRE core musculature to stabilize the torso for that effort. Even a KB press needs a contracted core.


* I have a three very basic exercises that I use that I would consider a core workout, in order of frequency used:
- Renegade Row (about 2-3x/week)
- Turkish Get Up (about 1-2x/week)
- Russian Twists (about 1x/week), but I do them in a Roman chair. You "core" can't hide in this position.

==> None of these exercises need to be done for more than 10 minutes, much less have a whole workout dedicated to them. My opinion is that if it takes longer than 10 minutes, you are not working hard enough. I incorporate core into all workouts for clients because to me if I dedicate workouts to core exercises, it takes away from teaching real exercises. I know that I can do almost everyone's core workout that I see, but most people don't attempt the stuff I do...this leads me to believe I got the right perspective.

New goals, new training location...

1) I have started providing personal training services at YouFit gym in Largo. I am there on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM. So far, so good. They let me bring in by kettlebells.

2) I have been doing some RTK styled workouts. My left shoulder is still not 100%, but I can do double grind ladders and double clean and jerks with the 24kg bells. I have also added pullovers, side snatches, double cleans, and front snatches. I have noticed increased musculature in my traps, shoulders, rhomboids, and lats. Also, I am hungry ALL OF THE TIME (in a good way).

3) I have three clients who have had to buy new clothes. And I did this without having to "m*therfu@k" my clients. There is a difference between berating your clients and instilling confidence in your clients. I prefer to do the latter. I had a client do timed KB swings for the first time and even though her heat was beating out of her chest, she loved it.

4) Bowling: I am working on getting the ball farther down lane, while still staying down. I started with a 235, 227 last week, so we will see. It is always something.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

New Stuff....

Weight: I recently got my weight down to 177 -- 7lbs to go (actually, probably more like 9, really overdid the eating last night). This was kind of surprising because I was not real good with the diet this week.

Bowling: Simple, not good at all. Averaging 193 over 5 weeks. That is just bad. I am picking up spare, but I am not stringing strikes and leaving pocket splits. Maybe the 15lb ball experiment should be shelved. Even though the accuracy is better, my carry sucks.

DDR: I am getting full combos of songs and higher scores since getting the new dance pad. I have really noticed how open the hips are. I am doing full squats on medicine balls. This is because DDR forces you to move in all directions. At about 25cal/song (or about 825/hr), the calories burn is similar to spinning but a lot more functional and athletic.

KB training/weight training: Working towards the tactical strenght challenge in April. Started Deadlifting and doing pullups. My shoulder still hurts, but it is getting better. I do fixed sets of pullups -- currently 10 sets of 6. (By the way, these are really pullups - dead hang at the bottom/touch bar with neck or chest at top. I have never seen a tactical pullup done in the gym). I and a client are working on a number of deadlift varieties to explore the deadlift, including:
* Dimel Deadlift
* KB touch and go deadlifts
* Sumo Deadlift
* Still Legged Deadlift
* Tire Flips
* Hockey Deadlift
* Full Body Attacks

Pressing -- Pressing still hurts the right shoulder. I can get presses again with the 32kg, but I really have to focus on exerternally rotating the shoulder.

Really working some of the RTK Exercises: Double cleans, front snatches, side snatches, pullovers to fix the shoulders.

Food Finds:
* Green Iguana/Ybor City has $3 appetizers and Miller Genuine Draft bottles on Friday's between 4-7PM.

Client: I recently helped a client eliminate sciatica with a program of corrective exercise, stretching and foam rolling. If you have a loved one that is suffering from pain = fix the source of the problem, don't reach for the bottle of pills.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Combo'd the entire song on "Expert" for the first time.

New PR today. Combo'd an entire song (Sunshine Superman) on Expert mode. 210 Combos!

I also hit the 40,000,000 mark in one of the songs recently too.

Today's workout:
KB MP: 32kg x 6 x 3 (light)
KB Swings: 40kg x 10 x 15