Sunday, July 29

My knee is better pain-wise, but it is still swollen. I am hopeful that I do not have a major injury.

Swings seem to loosen the knee up, so I did 500 today over about 30 minutes.

Sunday, July 29

Warmup
1. 16kg swing sets – 5x (15R, rest 30s, 15L, rest 30s). 150 swings total, 10:00.
2A. 16kg swing set – 3x (15R, rest 30s, 15L, rest 30s) followed by
2B. 20kg swing set – 3x (15R, rest 30s, 15L, rest 30s) followed by
2C. 24kg swing set – 3x (15R, rest 30s, 15L, rest 30s). 270 swings total, 18:00.
3.16kg swing set – 15R, rest 30s, 15L, rest 30s. 30 swings total, 1:00.
Rest
4. 24kg swing set – 25/25. 50 swings total.

Working around a bum knee

I drove down to the Kettlebell Club today to see what I could do without aggravating the knee. I wish I knew what the specific problem was, but a diagnosis is about a week off. Swings and snatches seem to work, double jerks not so much, squats not at all, and single jerks work pretty well. It’s too bad about the double jerk, since I was beginning to make some progress. Guess I will be a swinging and snatching machine for awhile until this gets resolved.

Saturday, July 28

Warmup
1. 16kg swing set – 5x (18R, rest 30s, 18L, rest 30s). 180 swings total.
2. 32kg press practice – 1/1, 1/1
3. 16kg jerk set – 1:00. 6 total. Double jerks don’t seem to agree with my swollen knee.
4. 16kg snatch set – 6:00. (13R,13R,15R,13L,13L,15R). 41/41, 82 total. PR for reps.
5. 32kg one arm jerk – 5/5. Doesn’t bother the knee like the double jerk for some reason.

Here We Go Again…

I had my knee scoped in 2005 due to a cyst, and it just wasn’t the same afterwards. I traded my running addiction for kettlebells, and was fine until last night. No pain, and a full range of activity but for running.

I did something very, very bad to my knee yesterday. I am hopeful that this is temporary. I ran a very uncomfortable mile on Monday, and I did the “reverse escalator” stair climber at the gym on Wednesday. Yesterday, while doing a set of one arm jerks, something popped. The knee swelled up last night, I can hardly walk, and I am in significant pain.

Although I am going back to the surgeon (and will be getting a second or third opinion if need be), I hope this is just a temporary setback. We will see if Motrin or Aleve will get the swelling down in the short term. As for exercise, I am going to have to experiment a bit. I am not giving up exercise due to a bum knee, but I am going to have to get creative.

Stay tuned.

Thursday

1. 16kg jerk set – 5:00 (6,6,6,6,6). 30 total. PR for reps.

2. 16kg speeding jerk set – 2:00 (10,10). 20 total.

3. 24kg one arm jerk set – 8/8. 16 total.

4. 24kg swing set – 30/30.

I really need to crank out a snatch set pretty soon.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

My weight has more or less stablized between 175 and 178, with about a 0.5 lb weight loss per week. I am at either a plateau or I am not being as diligent about writing down what I eat. I am going to maintain this 0.5 lbs per week weight loss for awhile and see where I really bottom out. I suspect around 170 or so.

Running yesterday was mistake, and my surgically repaired knee is on fire. Fortunately, jerking and swinging do not bother my knee. As long as I can walk and lift pain free, which I can, there is no need to go see sawbones again.

All in all, today was a good lifting day. Tomorrow, I am going to do a 6:00 snatch set at 14 rpm and then some sort of medley for time with the 16kg for a little variety.

Tuesday, July 24

Warmup and basic mobility movements.

1. 16kg jerk set – 5:00. (5,6,5,6,6). 28 total. PR for reps.

2. 24kg one arm jerk sets – 5/5, 10/10.

3. 24 kg swing set – 30/30.

I really like the high repetition swing set for a finisher and will make that a mainstay of my training. At about rep 22-25, my forearms are on fire. Although I am very careful with watching my technique on each rep, reps 26-30 are just gutting it through. In a few months, reps 40-50 will be the just gutting it through.

Happy Lifting!

Incremental Progress

An accomplished lifter has counseled me and the lifting public at large that lifting for time is not for those who are impatient. You’ll obtain results lifting for time, but you have to be patient. I am finding for me that the price I am paying (patience) is yielding healthy joints, strength, and resiliency. Not a bad price to pay I’d say.

I have been hovering around a 5:00 jerk set, albeit at 4 reps per minute. Today I only jerked for 4:00, but it was at 5-6 reps per minute and I had some gas left in the tank. So tomorrow, I will do 5:00 at 5-6rpm. Also hit 14 rpm for a 4:00 snatch set, so all is well in the snatch department, and I finally did a 30/30 set of swings with the 24kg. All is well in my world.

Warmup and joint mobility

1. 16kg jerk set – 4:00. (5,5,5,6). 21 total.

2. 24kg one arm jerk set – 10/10.

3. 16kg snatch set – 4:00. (14R,14R,14L,14L). 28R/28L. 56 total.

4. 24kg swing set – 30R/30L.

5. Short, slow jog.

A Funny Story About The Turkish Get Up

I have a story about the Turkish Get Up that is personal to me that I need to share. 

The Turkish Get Up is an interesting exercise. Some will say it is merely a circus trick or a feat of strength, others will swear by it for the strength and shoulder benefits. One school of kettlebell lifting even makes the exercise a central part of their program. For various reasons, I rarely execute the movement in my current practice.

My lovely bride is an Armenian who emigrated from Turkey over 12 years ago. As such, my wife is quite familiar with Turkey, and, like all Armenians, has a witty sense of humor. About a year ago, I was practicing the Turkish Get Up in my garage and my wife walked in. Here is the exchange that followed:

WIFE: What are you doing?

ME: It’s called a Turkish Get Up (note that I was struggling with the movement)

WIFE: Turkish Get Up?

ME: Yes, the idea is to keep the load bearing arm locked, shoulder packed, and to get up to a standing position.

WIFE: Well, you don’t even look remotely Turkish, thank God, and it doesn’t look like you’re getting up either.

ME: Just speechless…

Saturday, July 21

The bells felt very heavy today.

Saturday, July 21

Warm-up and mobility

1. 16kg jerk set – 3:00 (7,7,7). 21 total.

2. 16kg jerk set – 2:00 (6,6). 12 total.

3. 24kg one arm jerk set – 8/8

4. 16kg snatch set – 3:00 (16R,8R/8L,16L). 24R/24L. 48 total. There is a big difference between 12rpm and 16rpm. I will slow it down to 14rpm next time.

5. 32kg press – 1R/1L

6. 24kg swing sets – 25/25, 20/20. 90 total

7. 24kg swing sets – 3×10R, rest 0:30, 10L, rest 0:30. 60 total.

8. A few 16kg snatches with a 28lb XVest.

Speeding

Today was a little different. Same exercises, but a different focus. In the past few days, I have gotten to the 5:00 barrier in a jerk timed set, which was an important mental barrier for me. Five minutes of work with the 71 lbs (2-16kg) going up 4 times per minute, or 20 times.

After a day of rest, I decided to speed things up and shorten my sets. Four reps per minute on the jerk is hard, because it’s about 3 seconds of work and 12 seconds in the rack. Eight reps per minute, on the other hand, was more comfortable in some ways and at the end of my 3:00, I had gas left in the tank. Similarly, increasing the snatch cadence from 12 to 19 per minute was also more comfortable in some ways, although I cannot hold 19 rpm for very long.

Tomorrow, it’s time to modestly increase my pace in both the 5:00 jerk set and the 4:00 snatch set and see where that takes me. Here is what I did today.

 

Wednesday, July 18

Joint mobility and warmup swing set

1. 16kg jerk set – 3:00. (8;8;8). 24 total.

2. 24kg one arm jerk set – 2:00. 10R/10L. 20 total.

3. 16kg snatch set – 2:00. (19R;19L). 38 total.

4. 16kg swing sets – (3×1:00 work,1:30 rest). 3×16R/16L. 96 total.

5. 24kg swing sets – (2×1:00 work,1:30 rest). 2×16R/16L. 64 total.

Nothing doing today

Bells felt heavy today.