Today’s workout was lower-body focused and a bit rushed:

- 5 reps, ring push-ups,
- Set of 6 2x53 lb. kettlebell front squats;
- 5 reps, ring push-ups,
- Set of 5 2x53 lb. kettlebell swings;
- Repeat for FOUR sets.

I can’t really remember if I did 5 or 10 reps on the push-ups, but I’m leaning to thinking I only did 5 as 10 would have been 80 total, which I don’t think I did.

Blech.

Today I warmed up with 8 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest kettlebell drills. These were done with a 35 lb. kettlebell – one-armed swing-flips, ATB uppercuts, swing-taps, swing-flip-press-swing, ATB lunges, and then repeat through to the swing-taps (confusing I know).

Did 50 push-ups. Breakdown was 3x10, 2x5, 3, 2, 3, 2.

Then, 4x4 2x53 lb front squats. Surprisingly hard – nothing like a three month hiatus to sap your strength.

Ended with 8 20/10 second intervals of jump rope.

Warmup:

Two rounds of:
20 push-ups
20 35 lb. kettlebell swings
60 jumping jacks

5 minutes

Workout:

6,4x5 2x53 lb. kettlebell military press, superset with
4x8, 7 2x53 lb. kettlebell row
rest 1 minute between each set

5x5 2x53 lb. kettlebell lunge (reps/side), superset with
5x8 2x53 lb. kettlebell swing
rest 1 minute between each set

5x5 2x53 lb. kettlebell windmill
rest 1 minute between each double-set

Total time: 54 minutes

Workout completed on an empty stomach (about 13 hours fasted). Press was off for some reason – ended up doing about one push press (instead of strict military) for four of the five sets.

Really didn’t want to workout today but of course I am glad I did. Particularly since I’m off to my two brothers’ (one in-law) 30^th b-day celebration.

Warm-up:

30 seconds work / 15 seconds rest
35 lb. kettlebell
Figure-8 Uppercuts
Single-arm swings, alternating w/flip
Figure-8 Hot Potatoes
Swing/flip/catch press/flip/swing
2x

Time: 6 minutes

Workout:

5x5 Double 53 lb. kettlebell military press
5x5 Double 53 lb. kettlebell row
Rest 2 minutes between every set, alternating exercises

8x5 Double 53 lb. kettlebell front squat
8x5 Double 53 lb. kettlebell swing
Rest 2 minutes between every set, alternating exercises

5x4 Double 53 lb. kettlebell windmills
Rest 2 minutes between every set

Time: 1:04:07

Total workout time: 1:10:07

Going for a 5x5 workout using four different exercises:

First superset/combo:

• Double kettlebell military press (and push press) @ 53 lb. kettlebell - 5x6
• Double kettlebell row (same weight) - 5x6

And then:

• Double kettlebell front squat @ 53 lb. kettlebell - 5x6
• Double kettlebell swing @ 53 lb. kettlebell - 5x5

Over the past 24 hours, I tried a carb refeed sticking mostly to cereals/breads (not really eating sugary stuff at all, including fruit) plus a bag o’ popcorn. As opposed to prior “cheat days,” this time around I avoided alcohol, which I think made for an improved refeed/cheat experience as I was able to add carbs to my diet without overfeeding on junk and drinking a bunch of empty calories (alcohol). We’ll see how it works out.

Did Mahler’s 5x5 Kettlebell Training (Day 2 – see this post). I’ve decided I hate these workouts, which must mean they are good. At least, that is what I hope as otherwise, what’s the point?!

As always, used my dual 53 lb. kettlebells. Did 5x8 on the presses and 5x6 on both the rows and squats. Rather than doing double snatches, I elected to do 5x8 single snatches (8 per arm per set). I chose this route because I’m worried more about my form than the strength at this point.

Finally, did the Turkish Get-ups using a 25 lb dumbbell. I hate this part of the workout as I’m exhausted at this point and TGUs are interesting to observe, okay to do a couple of times, and absolutely terrible to do multiple sets of – even worse in that you have to do them per side.

Glad it’s over with.

Did a repeat of this workout from last Monday. Only difference this time around was that I did full double windmills, which is one hell of a way to finish off this workout. Rest time was a minute and a half between supersets (of paired exercises).

In practice with Mike Mahler’s 5x5 kettlebell training from here, I did the “Day 2″ workout. Here it is as Rx’ed:

A-1: Double Floor Press. *
A-2: Double Bent-over Row.
Same directions as Day 1.
B-1: Double Front Squat.
B-2: Double Snatch.
Same directions as Day 1.
Turkish Get-Up (TGU) - 5 x 5 (left and right) .
Take two minute breaks in between each set. One complete set equals five reps on each side.

My 53 lb. kettlebells were used for the above with the following changes:

I did 5x6 on the front squats and DB presses (if I recall correctly, writing this almost a week later). The Turkish Get-Ups were way too hard for me using a 53 lb. kettleblell, so I scaled way down to my wife’s 18 pounder, which was maybe a bit too easy. Even so, I was so zonked, I only did 3x5 of the TGUs.

Definitely a strong workout.

Warmed up doing around five minutes of kettlebell drills using the wife’s 18 lb. kettlebell (Fig 8 Uppercuts/flips/hot potatoes, swing and flip to press and flip).

Then, using my pair of 53 lb. kettlebells, I followed the program for weeks 1-4 here. As Rx’ed:

Day 1
A-1: Double Military Press.
A-2: Kettlebell Pull-Up - (a regular pull-up with a kettlebell attached to your waist via a weight belt)
Do A-1 and A-2 back to back. In other words, do one set of A-1, wait a minute and then do a set of A-2, wait a minute and then do another set of A-1 and so forth. Keep going back and forth between A-1 and A-2 until you have completed all five sets.
B-1: Double Front Squat.
B-2: Double Swing.
Same directions as A-1 and A-2.

Double Windmill - 5 x 5 (left and right).
Take two minute breaks in between each set. One complete set equals five reps on each side.

I modified by using only the 18lb kettlebell tucked into my Camelbak for the pull-ups (Call that about 20 lbs) and I skimped on the double-windmills until the last set of five.

Overall impression: double-KB swings using two 1.5 pood kettlebells — very intense. I think I’ll have the double-windmills down in a week or two if I keep this up, which is the current plan.

The whole shebang took about 50 minutes, which surprises me now (didn’t feel that long).

Cooled down by doing some hacky-sacking and a few more 18 lb kettlebell drills.

Also, incorporating more carbohydrates into my diet since today was a high-intensity day. Food today was flat iron steak for lunch and dinner. Had sliced green/red/yellow bell peppers sauteed in coconut oil in addition to the steak for lunch. Post workout I had a mug full of milk and a granny smith green apple. Had sauteed grape tomatoes and spinach with the steak. Capped it off with a glass of Pinot Noir and will have a little ice cream around 9:00pm. Note: Trying to get closer to:

1. Martin Berkhan’s leangains.com approach, which I am approximating based on what I’ve gleaned from his site (i.e. more carbs on weight-lifting days, 16/8 fasting/eating windows, lower carbs on lighter days — all of this is just my take and it could be totally wrong)
2. Incorporate more regular carbohydrates in my diet to suit my weight-lifting needs.

Re: 2., I had noticed while trying more of a carb cheat day on the weekends/keeping very low carbs during the week that my performance on weight-lifting days seemed to deteriorate as the week progressed. Of course, this probably makes sense as high-intensity exercises require the energy burst of stored glycogen. After a few days of low-carbing, my muscles were getting totally depleted of glycogen.

So I’m hoping this approach makes more sense. I’ve also decided that the binge-cheat day just sucks – it’s not fun feeling turbo-bloated late Saturday night having gorged on carbohydrates. I’d rather spread that out throughout the week! And based on the various results I’ve seen on leangains.com, Martin is clearly on to something.

I can’t wait for his book to come out.

CrossFit Warmup (Subbed .75 mile bike rides for the 400m run)

50 Front Squats with dual 53 pound (1.5 pood) kettlebells (In the FiveFingers). Official CrossFit WOD was 5-5-5-5-5 back squats, so this was inspired by that (and modified for my home equipment).

As done: Set of 10, 8 sets of 5. Performed in the garage/outside. I think the temperature was “feels like” 102. Fun: