Sunday, April 23, 2017. Week 8 complete, 5 days to go. 400 Swing Volume for the week.
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.
Very different than I was planning this week. I took Monday off since I had a KB session on Sunday and am seeing Mike Perry Tuesday, which I expect to be difficult. Great work with Mike but took me down a peg – My Getup had many flaws, along with my swings. Getup’s I was collapsing my shoulder and my KB arm was not always locked and vertical. Had a tendency to have my arm forward, rather than vertical. Felt very different and more stressful on my shoulder doing it this way, but will work on it this week. Swings were more shoulder flaws – I was not keeping my shoulder anti-shrugged and against my lats, instead they were internally rotating. This will cause me issues in the future if I don’t correct now. Also found that I was hyperextending my lumbar at the top of the swing. I should be straight up and down at the top, instead I was leaning back a bit and putting extra stress on my lumbar spine. Need to just plank it at the top.
Double Cleans I had never really done before and that was obvious to Mike. I needed to start the movement with the 2 Kettlebell handles facing toward each other and me into a “V”, arms internally rotated. Then as you lift, externally rotate the bells as you lift to the rack position. Elbows in tight and firmly presses against the lats. Movement should be similar to barbell clean in terms of weight movement – keep close to the body and move up almost vertically, instead of out and away like a swing. Double Front Squats I learned I need to keep a more narrow stance for my hips and focus on keeping my knees wide.
Snatch was a basket case! I couldn’t get the KB to flip over smoothly right about when the arms are parallel with the ground. I was also swinging the bell instead of following a path closer to the body. Basically, the movement should be halfway between a swing and a clean. Not as far away as a swing, but not as close to the body as a clean. To me, this is a very different movement than the swing, not what I was expecting. Mike showed me a number of things to do to fix this. I’ll see what works best.
I’ll be working on the getup, swing and snatch every day for good technique and form. Monday of next week will be my last hard session for the week. Take off Wed, just mobility and a few sets of 5 for all the exercises. Thursday I’ll be travelling to Chicago. Friday is day 1 of the Cert.
Tuesday – Session with Mike at SOS. Getups, Swings, Dbl Clean, Dbl Front Squat. Probably 140 Swings.
Wednesday – Technique with Getups, mainly 16KG. Worked the steps from down to on one elbow and then the finish from elbow to start position. One set of 20KG. Also did Dbl Front Squat using 12 inch box to make sure I was getting below parallel. Snatch still not working right.
Thursday – Same as Wednesday
Friday – Swings 32Kg(T) 10×2; 24(1) 10×4; Dbl Cleans 20/18 x 5; Press 16×2,3,5 / 20×2,3,5; Dbl Front Squat 20/22 5×2; Snatch technique; Getup 16Kg x1 / 20Kgx2
Saturday – Getup and Snatch technique
Sunday – Test 24KG 100 Swings -> 100 in 2:52, 120 IN 5:00.
Received the attendee packet from Jon Engbom. Gave the schedule and what to bring. Per recommendation, I bought some cheap gardening gloves and cutoff the fingers. This will help to keep my palms from tearing due to the high volume of work we’ll do over the 3 days. Hardware store had some cheap jersey knit gloves that should do the trick. Bought 3 pairs for $6.
Stay Strong!