First week complete!
If you haven’t read the first entry, Week 0, read that first. SFG is the Strong First Girevik Level 1 Certification. That would be a Kettlebell Certification from the greatest Kettlebell organization in the world.
Excellent week training. Did Swings 3x and Presses 3x. I did miss Monday due to a late broomball game on Sunday night. I shifted everything one day and then did both presses and swings on Saturday when I was fully rested. Broomball is a blast, but we only have 2 more games in the season. Checkout broomball – it’s like hockey, on ice, but with sneakers instead of skates. Great workout, you’ll end up sweating profusely. It’s always good to do something competitive and fun.
I found the training this week not too hard. Definitely felt my heartrate taking longer to get back to normal after each set of swings, but nothing too extreme. This is actually a good thing to happen, it means I’m stressing my body enough so that it overcompensates and is strengthening my heart and lungs. My capacity increases with each workout. Very little delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Just a very small amount of tightness that gets worked out when I do foundation training or Chi Kung. Swings totaled 420 reps for the week.
Sleep on weekends is easy, getting a full 8 hours. During the week has been more difficult, usually 7 hours. I need to focus the coming week on getting 8 hours a night. Since I’m up between 4:30 and 5:00am, I need to get to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. 8:30 seems impossibly early, so I’ll shoot to get to bed at 9 and up at 5.
Weight is looking good, dropped 2 lbs from 184 to 182. Looking to enter the Cert between 170-175. That’s my optimal weight when trying to build strength. If my focus is bodyweight exercises or cycling, then 165 is optimal. Supplementation is minimal right now – 1 tbl fish liver oil each morning along with 2 tbl organic cider vinegar. I’ve ordered Melaleuca’s bone and joint supplements, should get them next week. I’ll continue with these three supplements throughout my training.
Issues? Yes. For the first time in a long time I’ve had a back issue. I experienced brief nerve(?) agitation at the base of my spine, right side. Started happening near the end of presses and swings. While bending to rack the bell, I would feel a brief shot of pain, probably 5 on a scale of 1-10. Very brief but it got my attention. Damn. The only cause I can think of is I need to improve my core stabilization, due to the one handed swings. So, I increased my Foundation Training – especially anchored back extensions and supine decompression. Also added additional gorilla lifts and windmills to improve hip and thoracic mobility. Cut out Goblet Squats. For Presses, I skipped the standard way to rack the weight. Instead I would lift the bell with 2 hands, then rack it while standing upright. No pain. Since I was making the sets easier due to lack of standard racking, I did all the sets with one weight without putting the weight down. So, when I did my 18KG sets of 5,4,3, I didn’t put the weight down. This worked my grip a little more and made the rest a bit more “active”. For swings, I switched to 32KG two handed swings. This builds more power than one handed but doesn’t stress my stabilization/torsion as much.
Finally, I’m going to add daily Turkish Getups with a lighter weight, 3 point planks and side planks. This will safely build my core stabilization. Week 3 I’ll try one handed swings again and see if the pain is gone.
Another reason this might be happening is I’m sitting longer at work. I’ll bring my GymBoss timer in and set it for 25 minutes. That will remind me to get up and walk around every 25 minutes. Sitting longer than that is not healthy.
One thing I’ve noticed with presses is the final set feels easier than the first set. Typically, I’ll do 18KG sets, then 20/22KG, ending with more 18KG sets. After lifting the heavier weight, the final sets with the lighter weight is easy. Wonder if others feel this way?
Week 2 will be 14, 18, 16 minute swings – 140, 180, 160 swings per session. 480 swings total for week. Swings burn about 20 calories per minute. That equates to 48×20 or 960 calories. Presses look like a bit easier than last week.
Have you gotten your swings in this week? If not, do some right now. You’ll feel better.
See you next week, a little bit stronger.