Dec.13th.
Warmup: Indian Clubs, and light dumbbell for shoulders, form roller and some heavy bag hands and legs.
Rainy day WOD so its at my box out side porch for some Metcom.
1000 meter rowing on C2
50 wall balls
1500 meters rowing.
50 burpees(suck as always so I will stay out of prison so I have to use them for fitness)
2000 meters rowing
Good session and doing it outside in the fresh also made it enjoyable, except for the burpees.
Gut check on kettlebell exercise for next year;
We all know(except for the brain dead) that the reality shows on TV have nothing to do with reality. When thinking about what is now real life in the fitness world, I came up with a few programs up for debate as I am can only look at it from my narrow view finder. Based on my review, I can embrace a new fitness program for the coming year shedding what is low productive and embrace things that were productive, especially asymmetrical.
1. Kettlebells has become the new kid on the block, especially in the last 5 years, with significant increase in use by everyone from housewives to MMA fighters. However, the number of serious Kettlebell athletics who specialize, mostly as a new sport competition like GS or people who want to be instructors after taking a weekend seminar, still appears to be very low, but growing slowing. There are a lot of detractors out there that believe the Kettlebell fitness thing is shit, and will bad mouth every opportunity, especially if they came on board to get a piece of the action late or don’t like being undercut. Can’t we all get along!
2. I Goggle the word “Kettlebell”and each day I get from 4-50 hits a day of individuals, or companies involved in some commercial fitness program using kettlebells. Everyone must of just awoke to find a new piece of equipment to peddle. There is even some gyms that specialize exclusively to the use of Kettlebell as a total fitness, but they are just starting to emerge. You would think that with all the “fat frying programs” out there, there would never be an obesity problem in the country. Kettlebells will not induce fat loss any more that a set of dumbbells or a boot camp routine…….it’s the diet stupid! You don’t have to do a single push to be thin again. Thin and fit it another thing.
3. GS Kettlebell sport is the only competition with kettlebells and the only real way to evaluate your progress when compared to others that also train. It has a standardization of Kettlebell style, size, weights and type of lifts. Competition is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is a sure way of adding intensity to the workouts and a reason to keep training, that will produce personal growth. One downside is that once a aggressive type person stops competition, there is a high probably that they will lose interest and move on to something else. Have you ever heard of a Pro football player playing in some high school “flag foot ball game” pickup game with the boys? Bottom line if you are looking for something in fitness that will last a life time or your useful years, GS may not be the ticket. If you don’t believe me, the next GS completion, see how many are 50-70 year old men and woman are competing. It is really small! That’s not fair! You see few in that age group in any fitness program.
4. What then do you do with these overprice hunks of iron(KETTLEBELLS) to become useful to a fitness routine if you are not standing up for 10min to have some one count every rep. Well now they have a “strongman division” that’s 4 min timed set for a higher weight Kettlebell but in the same context. A new GS sport completion has arrived with higher weights and shorter time span. AD syndrome comes to mind. Let get this shit over with by adding a heavier Kettlebells( I can also sell bigger kettlebells maybe) and keep the timed sets for the BUFF’s of the Kettlebell world. I do have the heavy Kettlebells and prefer shorter sets, so next year they will be added to the training mix at some point. However, for pure absolute strength development, there is nothing like 500 lbs barbell deadlifts or box squats. I have not seen Kettlebell that big yet.
5. This year I gave up my complete collection of “hard style” kettlebells with the fat handles and various size bells. I gave them to LEO training group who just need a resistance weight with no intent to make kettlebell a life’s mission. Based on my years of using kettlebells for all types of exercise, it’s the completion-GS style Kettlebell for me, not for any reason, I can grab them more effective with my small fingers. So this coming year its completion style kettlebells for completion lifts and all exercise routines. I still don’t like the idea of them being made in China when we have great steel mills in this country, And plenty of people out of work to make them.
6. Personally I have no problem of Kettlebells of much heavier weight for timed sets. All sports activities tries to be inclusive, however, that will only keep the top level competitive Kettlebell GS lifters motivated and will not bring in new real Strong lifters into the sport of GS. That just my experience with “muscle heads” Even though 105-135 lbs lifted over head with one arm for 2 min is definitely nothing to look down on, even for the big Dogs of strength, but it’s not satisfying to a really strong person who are benching 600 to 800 lbs or clean and jerk a Oly bar with 500 lbs. for a few reps. Intensity trumps endurance always!
7. Don’t label me as an anti GS sport Nazi! GS and timed sets for fitness is fantastic! Just Not as a steady diet all year or every workout. I have done my share of 10-20 min timed sets of cleans or long cycle at some point in the year of training and will continue that for the coming year. However, the long Kettlebell sets, even the Strong Sport “ Kettlebell weights, are only a small part of my training year as my goal is fitness and sustainability. OH, that dirty word: sustainability! You mean I have to be fit for life and keep this shit up for the next 10-50 years! Lets see if you all can go to your favorite “Planet Fitness” gym, run on the threadmill, day after day for the next 25 years….can you handle that?
8. I have never been able to keep my level of strength or intensity all year long. So the concept of periodization of some kind is necessary for me, but not as regimented as when I was competing. Therefore, starting sometime around the first to the year I start to work with more weight and volume of Kettlebell exercise, as well the other “toys” so I am at full work capacity in late spring. Then Late in the fall, back off and taper down.
9. The coming year I will also have to watch the volume more closely as there will be adding more “complex” Kettlebell and body weight movements that are not in my regular program, so I may have to tap out sooner each day. The objective is to increase joint mobility which has always been lacking……. like forever! I have a number of exercises using kettlebells that I got from Scott Sonnon who has fitness longevity in terms of style and methods, which I will have be trying this coming year. The more complex exercises tend to be more taxing, therefore I have to see just how much of them can be incorporated each week.
10. Hard style or soft style is just commercial hype as far as I am concerned. It matters little if you are performing a snatch with a hard style Kettlebell or a GS with is considered “soft style”. Try a 20 min set long cycle with a 24kg and see how soft it feels! Or try the slow moving Turkish Get up for a few sets and see how long you can last before you get gassed.
11. All in all the Kettlebell is a great fitness tool but it has lots of completion with barbells, sand bags, chains, kegs, TRX, ropes, logs,….well you get the idea. However, this coming year, and not so much as a resolution, but concentrate more on complex movements both slow like the TGU, and faster asymmectrical cleans and juggling. Add in some body weight exercise for joint mobility, then I should have an interesting training program what will never get stale..So it my get real interesting.
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