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Always Be Smashing

11/16 07:00

Trifecta
Shoulder sequence

11/16 17:15

Mobility warmup
DL 5x1 335#
KB C&P 4x5 28
TGU 10x1 32,40,32,40,32

Interesting observation on the TGUs; I can get more ROM with the 32 than the 40; have to keep more tension with the 40. So, alternating between the two feels a bit like contract- relax stretching. Tense up in one set, relax and reach further in the second.
 
11/17 07:00

41min treadmill run/walk 3.0m

Had to keep this session short due to kids stuff, no mobility work.

11/17 18:15

Mobility warmup
KB snatch 10x5 36
SQT 3x5 235#
Pullups 3x4
Grip work
Hang board

Tough day with snatches, everything else was great. Light day feeling light. Of course, there's no such thing as a light day on the hang board... so humbling, thinking of how much easier that is for some folks.

I've been participating a little in a recent thread on the forum regarding the difference between pros and amateurs. I very much believe that genetics is the dominating factor. This got me thinking a bit today about myself... I'm no pro, and I've absolutely slowed down since my youth... but, I train twice a day, most average folks don't. I suspect that I'm blessed, if you will, with better-than-average recovery rate.

I'm reminded of when I had my vasectomy several years ago. Friends told me about being laid up for a few days on pain meds. I took one pain pill on the first day. That's it, nothing else. And it's not that I have some masochistic tendency to want to bear the pain. I just didn't need anything else. My experience with Achilles tendon surgery many years before that was similar. I suspect that my recovery rate is simply faster than most.

And perhaps that explains whatever athletic successes I had in my youth; a combination of a willingness to beat myself up in training, which is suspect is not uncommon, combined with a natural ability to absorb more punishment, which I think is more rare.
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
I've been participating a little in a recent thread on the forum regarding the difference between pros and amateurs. I very much believe that genetics is the dominating factor. This got me thinking a bit today about myself... I'm no pro, and I've absolutely slowed down since my youth... but, I train twice a day, most average folks don't. I suspect that I'm blessed, if you will, with better-than-average recovery rate.
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Amateurs who compare themselves too much to pros have to be careful lest they destroy the pleasure of being an amateur. By contrast, you describe the pleasure of your workouts in your log, and you strive to find optimal workouts for you rather than angsting over how to be like such-and-such pro. Your approach is a good one.
 
11/18 07:30

45min treadmill run/walk 3.2m
Foam rolling, bretzels + forward fold

11/18 17:30

Mobility warmup
Burpees 30x2
Bent press 10x1 28

Burpees and bent press are a good combination. Burpees hit the anterior chain and are a good ballistic power movement, bent press hits the posterior and lateral chains. I should give it a catchy name, and write a book. Bent & Burping? Way of the Bur-Ben Warrior? Bent Power to the Bur-People? Will have to schedule a meeting with the marketing department.
 
Bur-Ben Three Chain work, not to be confused with the Bourbon & three ice cube post workout as you rest on the posterior chain.....

WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Burpees and bent press are a good combination. Burpees hit the anterior chain and are a good ballistic power movement, bent press hits the posterior and lateral chains. I should give it a catchy name, and write a book. Bent & Burping? Way of the Bur-Ben Warrior? Bent Power to the Bur-People? Will have to schedule a meeting with the marketing department.
Click to expand...
 
Took a few days off from both training and the internet to go skiing with my family. Yup, skiing is still a thing, even in the COVID age. It's naturally socially-distant, and most folks wear a mask voluntarily (I never take my mask down regardless of COVID, I hate having a cold face). The place we went only had one run open, and you had to get reservations prior to going to limit the number of people on the mountain. So we were only able to go skiing two days out of five for the vacation. But, even so, it was nice to get those first two days of the season knocked out, and it felt reasonably safe.

I did manage to get one hotel-room-style session in while I was up there.

11/22 12:00

Circuit x6
- Pushups x10
- Flat straight leg raise x10
- BW squat x10
- Single- arm bent-over row 2x10 (a little end table, maybe 20#?)
- Straight bridge x10
- Wall handstand hold x10

With my mild shoulder issues, it's very hard for me to sleep on a hard bed, so I slept poorly in the little 70s-era, cheap-furniture condo we rented during the trip. Soooo awesome to get home and get a real good night's sleep. It really matters so much - a good mattress is worth every penny you spend. When the zombie apocalypse comes, that will probably be what does me in - my inability to sleep on the hard ground. Right, @Spartan Agoge ?

Got in a good day of training getting back after getting back home:

11/25 07:30

45min treadmill run/walk 3.3m
FSPM

11/25 16:30

Mobility warmup
Burpees 30x2
Bent press 10x1 28x2,32x2,28
 
Alexander Halford said:
Some interesting 36kg snatches you've been cooking for a while
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Thanks for checking in, sir.

One of my guiding principles lately has been time management - I don't want to spent more that 1 hour in each training session. That means snatches are always "on the clock" - 10 minutes, 1 set per minute, get it done. That means I don't have the time to do a proper A+A volume session like you are doing. Instead, I have two variables to play with - more weight, or more reps. My plan right now is to alternate between the two - a couple weeks of higher weight, a couple weeks of higher reps.

I really like the recent article put out by @Tony Gracia

www.strongfirst.com

The Snatch Pyramid: Optimize Your Snatch Training | StrongFirst

Take your high-volume kettlebell snatches to the next level.
www.strongfirst.com

I think that's a solid idea on how to structure snatch training; long A+A sessions are the base, with a smaller amount of heavy weeks mixed in, and very rare glycolic peaking. I've certainly been thinking about how I could incorporate more of that kind of base training in... but, the real question is, what am I willing to give up to do that? Today, snatches aren't the main course for me. They are a heavy appetizer with a nice pre-dinner cocktail. The barbell is the main course... at least for now.
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
With my mild shoulder issues, it's very hard for me to sleep on a hard bed, so I slept poorly in the little 70s-era, cheap-furniture condo we rented during the trip. Soooo awesome to get home and get a real good night's sleep. It really matters so much - a good mattress is worth every penny you spend. When the zombie apocalypse comes, that will probably be what does me in - my inability to sleep on the hard ground. Right, @Spartan Agoge ?
Click to expand...

Haha when the zombie apocalypse comes, you will be able to carry your matress for as many miles as needed. You will also be able to clean and press the zombies, so, it doesn't matter...
 
I agree with you about time management. Most of the known kettlebell recipes allow to deal nicely with it. Even A+A can be tilted to the heavier side, sacrificing session's length - exactly what you're playing with, as in my vision A+A is more effort level + rep cadence + rest, and only then volume, where weight is variable.
The article is great. It only proves some of the ideas there, that came from old powerlifting and weightlifting books - build the base, go heavier at lesser extent, peak at the top. Btw, lately I'm doing pretty much the same in the weekly perspective - long A+A as base, heavier A+A with less reps where weight compensates on smaller volume, and fast agressive sets of 10 as peak. The good thing is that first 2 mentioned are serving as the base in bigger perspective.
As for the main course, there's no dispute about tastes, and what do you want to move primarily. Mine is snatch for now, and I don't feel sacrificing anything, even though I love deadlift a lot, and would like eventually to come back to it, having a chance to buy a proper bar and weights, but I'm sure I'm not deteriorating while I'm not touching the bar (for a year already), even if not progressing somehow.
 
I'm still, as always, puzzled when mountains or hills or elevation altogether is automatically associated with skiing. Or I never know what you're talking about exactly. In Finnish skiing is done by our own muscles propelling us forward instead of gravity pulling us down. Downhill skiing is a whole another word.
 
Antti said:
I'm still, as always, puzzled when mountains or hills or elevation altogether is automatically associated with skiing. Or I never know what you're talking about exactly. In Finnish skiing is done by our own muscles propelling us forward instead of gravity pulling us down. Downhill skiing is a whole another word.
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Ah yes.... but if you gentlemen partake in Skimo, or Telemark or back country skiing then you can get the absolute best of both worlds.
Ski up.... ski down... it’s brilliant
 
Antti said:
I'm still, as always, puzzled when mountains or hills or elevation altogether is automatically associated with skiing. Or I never know what you're talking about exactly. In Finnish skiing is done by our own muscles propelling us forward instead of gravity pulling us down. Downhill skiing is a whole another word.
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Quite true - when the average American says "skiing," they really only mean the downhill variety- I've never done anything else.
 
I never gave sleep the credit it deserves, or mattresses. After being sick, sleeping in my bed was an amazing experience after a week in a hospital bed. I have gotten more sleep, and more restful and recovery sleep from sleeping in my bed.
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
With my mild shoulder issues, it's very hard for me to sleep on a hard bed, so I slept poorly in the little 70s-era, cheap-furniture condo we rented during the trip. Soooo awesome to get home and get a real good night's sleep. It really matters so much - a good mattress is worth every penny you spend. When the zombie apocalypse comes, that will probably be what does me in - my inability to sleep on the hard ground. Right, @Spartan Agoge ?
Click to expand...
 
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