Christa
Level 1 Valued Member
Since I am asking for a bit of training advice, I will start by covering the requisite information according to the forum rules.
- relevant demographics: 35, F, 5'6", 148# (67kg), 25-26% body fat
- injury history: none, a bit of crepitus in my knees (particularly the left) with squats, but never any associated pain
- movement history: have you had a Functional Movement Screen? No. Do you move well or do you feel your muscles and joints are in less than in good working order? I think I move well. I am a rock climber, former dancer, yogi and also study kinesiology- I believe I have pretty good kinesthetic sense and have not suffered any debilitating injuries from training, just a bit of DOMS.
- sports/competition history: More bookworm than athlete, I'm not really competitive. Rock climber for 16 years; that is my main sport/focus/passion. Also an avid skier/ski mountaineer. Ice climb, trail run. Mountains are my play ground.
And last but certainly not least, where do you want to go from here? What are your goals and dreams for yourself in terms of achievement with your body?
Primary goals are always the same- better body comp (fat loss) and to get stronger for rock climbing. I'm thinking at this point that I definitely want to train toward level 1 cert, no set timeframe on that though.
I'm new to hard style KB training (though not new to weight training). I have messed around with KBs in xfit, but... (I don't think I need to say anymore about that). I read ETK and as per the recommendation, I acquired a 12kg competition KB. Perhaps this was huberous to assume I am a 'strong lady.' Perhaps Pavel and I have different definitions of a 'strong lady.' But considering I can do 4-5 strict pull-ups and even do weighted pull-ups with up to 10#, I assumed that I was pretty 'strong' for a beginner lady. (I realize that's nothing compared to an Iron Maiden, but again, relative to a KB newbie.)
Swings are no problem with the 12kg. The TGU is. After trying a TGU with my 12kg bell last week, I realized I was going to hurt myself at worst, 'groove' bad technique at best and promptly ordered an 8 kg bell, which I am still waiting to ship. (The transition into the lunge seemed to be getting me.) In the meantime, I started practicing arm bars, presses and half get-ups with my 12kg bell. I also got my hands on a copy of Simple & Sinister as I had read that had the most up-to-date info on technique and standards. I started the 'Simple' program this morning. After practicing the TGU technique with a shoe, I was able to do it successfully with the 12kg bell on my right side. It was bit wobbly, but my shoulder stayed packed and my elbow straight. On the left side, I was able to successfully get to the lunge on the way back down- I think I transitioned too quickly because it suddenly got very wobbly and I had to rack the bell for safety purposes.
So, now, to get to the point. Work the TGUs with the 8 kg bell and build the stability slowly OR dial the technique without weight (using the shoe) and then practice it very slowly with the 12kg bell? I think I read in one of the books (ETK or S&S) that loading it up with a heavy bell would cause the stabilizing muscles to become even stronger more quickly.
Given the progress of my TGU in just 1 week with better technique and a few prep exercises, I'm afraid that I will quickly out grow the 8kg bell and then it will become a dust collector. If its better to work under the heavy bell in order to provide greater stimulus, then I think I want to cancel my order for the 8kg bell and have them send me a 16kg bell instead, which I know will be soon very useful for squats and swings, and will get significant use in the future as it will be the standard for the snatch test for certification.
Thoughts? Am I totally overthinking this? What the heck and I going to do with this 8 kg bell when I outgrow it (besides use it for weight pull-ups, but even that would be temporary, hopefully.)? Or just buck up, practice more with the 12kg and save my coin for the more useful 16 kg?
Thanks in advance for reading to the end of this and for offering any insight.
- relevant demographics: 35, F, 5'6", 148# (67kg), 25-26% body fat
- injury history: none, a bit of crepitus in my knees (particularly the left) with squats, but never any associated pain
- movement history: have you had a Functional Movement Screen? No. Do you move well or do you feel your muscles and joints are in less than in good working order? I think I move well. I am a rock climber, former dancer, yogi and also study kinesiology- I believe I have pretty good kinesthetic sense and have not suffered any debilitating injuries from training, just a bit of DOMS.
- sports/competition history: More bookworm than athlete, I'm not really competitive. Rock climber for 16 years; that is my main sport/focus/passion. Also an avid skier/ski mountaineer. Ice climb, trail run. Mountains are my play ground.
And last but certainly not least, where do you want to go from here? What are your goals and dreams for yourself in terms of achievement with your body?
Primary goals are always the same- better body comp (fat loss) and to get stronger for rock climbing. I'm thinking at this point that I definitely want to train toward level 1 cert, no set timeframe on that though.
I'm new to hard style KB training (though not new to weight training). I have messed around with KBs in xfit, but... (I don't think I need to say anymore about that). I read ETK and as per the recommendation, I acquired a 12kg competition KB. Perhaps this was huberous to assume I am a 'strong lady.' Perhaps Pavel and I have different definitions of a 'strong lady.' But considering I can do 4-5 strict pull-ups and even do weighted pull-ups with up to 10#, I assumed that I was pretty 'strong' for a beginner lady. (I realize that's nothing compared to an Iron Maiden, but again, relative to a KB newbie.)
Swings are no problem with the 12kg. The TGU is. After trying a TGU with my 12kg bell last week, I realized I was going to hurt myself at worst, 'groove' bad technique at best and promptly ordered an 8 kg bell, which I am still waiting to ship. (The transition into the lunge seemed to be getting me.) In the meantime, I started practicing arm bars, presses and half get-ups with my 12kg bell. I also got my hands on a copy of Simple & Sinister as I had read that had the most up-to-date info on technique and standards. I started the 'Simple' program this morning. After practicing the TGU technique with a shoe, I was able to do it successfully with the 12kg bell on my right side. It was bit wobbly, but my shoulder stayed packed and my elbow straight. On the left side, I was able to successfully get to the lunge on the way back down- I think I transitioned too quickly because it suddenly got very wobbly and I had to rack the bell for safety purposes.
So, now, to get to the point. Work the TGUs with the 8 kg bell and build the stability slowly OR dial the technique without weight (using the shoe) and then practice it very slowly with the 12kg bell? I think I read in one of the books (ETK or S&S) that loading it up with a heavy bell would cause the stabilizing muscles to become even stronger more quickly.
Given the progress of my TGU in just 1 week with better technique and a few prep exercises, I'm afraid that I will quickly out grow the 8kg bell and then it will become a dust collector. If its better to work under the heavy bell in order to provide greater stimulus, then I think I want to cancel my order for the 8kg bell and have them send me a 16kg bell instead, which I know will be soon very useful for squats and swings, and will get significant use in the future as it will be the standard for the snatch test for certification.
Thoughts? Am I totally overthinking this? What the heck and I going to do with this 8 kg bell when I outgrow it (besides use it for weight pull-ups, but even that would be temporary, hopefully.)? Or just buck up, practice more with the 12kg and save my coin for the more useful 16 kg?
Thanks in advance for reading to the end of this and for offering any insight.
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