kettlebellguy

Archive for December, 2007

Here are my workouts for the coming week.

Monday
Core Circuit – Repeat 3 times with no rest, 15 lb – 12 each x 4 SH Flyes, plus the light weight right shoulder exercises from Luke.
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:30 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
8 kg – 5
Kettlebell Snatch
24 kg – 20 each

Friday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:00 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Clean and Squat
20 kg – 12
Assisted Narrow Grip Pullups
#14 – 11 reps …Increased reps

The gym was really empty this morning. Only a few of the faithfull were there.

It will be interesting to see how many new people we get for the beginning of the year. The gym is running a good special by not charging a registration fee during January. I love to see all the new people because I know that most will not be back again, but their memberships help keep the gym open and going for the rest of us.

Had a good workout although I kind of ran out of gas on set five of my snatches. It’s just a lot for me to do. I broke the 20 into 10′s and took a short break between to get the 5th set done. Not sure if my issue was mental, physical or a combo of both.

Monday
Core Circuit – Repeat 3 times with no rest, 15 lb – 12 each x 4 SH Flyes, plus the light weight right shoulder exercises from Luke.
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:30 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
8 kg – 5
Kettlebell Snatch
24 kg – 20 each

My right shoulder continues to get better but I still have to be really careful with the TGU’s. I can fly through the TGU’s when my left had has the weight, but it seems to take forever when doing the right side.

With my core work, cardio and stretching along with the KB’s I was on the gym floor for 2 hours. I remember when time in the gym would go so slow.

Yesterday I went over to Mom’s and got her going on the new Printer. We went through everything again from scanning, pictures and documents so I think she is all set now.

I was going through some things and came across these pictures. A couple of weeks ago I made a video about my best ever Christmas and the Red Bike I got. I found a picture of it. This was during my “husky” period.

I think these were in 1965. Our home in Georgia.

The problems with my PC #1 are causing me to make some changes. I went to CompUSA today and purchased a new HP w1907 19″ Flat Screen Monitor for the PC #2. I love the bigger screen (easier for my eyes to see) and the space saved on the desk. I pulled out PC #1 and moved it downstairs.

CompUSA was having an inventory sale so I got 10 percent off. Cost about $209.00. Also picked up a new cheap keyboard just to give things kind of a “new” feel.

I spent about an hour just trying to untangle the rat’s nest of electrical cords under my desk. When you have 3 PC’s, 3 printers, a fax and 2 telephone lines all under one desk, things can get messy. All these cords are like varicose veins on my network.

I have PC #1 working and I can connect to the internet, however, I cannot get any browsers to work. I may just continue working with it and just using it for my Video work. I am thinking about an HP All In One as a possible replacement. I am having trouble wading into the world of Vista. I am fine with XP. There are places that still sell pc’s with XP. Maybe I should do that. Every time I read a review of one PC it leads me to looking at yet another PC. I am in no hurry, I will just wait until the right opportunity comes along.

No workout today, although I thought of going several times. The gym does not open until 1P on Saturday so many times I have already got messed into other things by the time afternoon comes along. The gym opens at 7 in the morning so I will go then. My Sunday workout is just for fun, trying new things.

Received my notice to renew my gym membership yesterday. It’s $691.00 for the year. That includes the large locker and towel service for the year. Already sent my money in. This will start my third year at the gym.

Several ladies are now talking about kettlebells in the Gut to Cut group. Thanks to littlesherree for getting the ball rolling. If I could just get some guys to get involved it would be great. Kettlebells have changed my life and I know it can work for other people as well. I think having a woman doing the kettlebells make them more acceptable for the other women. Maybe I am too intimidating and they think they need to be throwing around 50 and 60 pounds at a time. It’s not about the weight, it’s about the movement.

I am trying to figure out why people make comments about kettlebells such as “Just be careful”. They also say this about other forms of exercise but I am sensitive to kettlebell talk.
They say this to people that have survived all these years without any advice from them but suddenly need the advice to be careful. Are the people saying this really representing their own fears of something new and challenging? Or are they looking for the opportunity to say “I told you so”. Why can’t we just encourage people to try something new. We are not talking about taking drugs or jumping out of planes or diving down to the Titanic, we are talking about exercise.

It’s surprising how people, when they take the chance, will figure out on their own if something is for them or not.

Above is a zoho.com shared spreadsheet. It contains my heartrate numbers for this weeks workouts. The setup from Monday to Friday changed as I started collecting more information. The couple of observations I have made so far is that the heartrate numbers usually track with my preceived exertion, except for Monday and Friday. I feel like I work the hardest on Friday, however, the numbers say Monday gets my heartrate going the most. I am also recording my recovery time. Not sure what all that means yet but I will be doing some research.

This mornings workout went well. I started about 8A. I did my shoulder flyes between sets. One set of the flyes takes 90 seconds. That gave me 30 seconds of total rest before staring the Cleans and Squats again.

Friday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:00 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Clean and Squat
20 kg – 12
Assisted Neutral Grip Pullups
#14 – 10 reps

Another great workout this morning. Debbie had to go in at 8A so I left at the same time for the gym. I really utilized my heart monitor as a tool to keep me going. I had to keep going because I wanted to fill out my chart of my peak heart rate during certain points of my circuits. As soon as I can get the time I will put that all into a spreadsheet format.

Thursday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 1 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Lateral Lunge
28 kg – 18 reps each leg….Increased Reps
Rope Biceps Curls
160 lbs. – 8 reps
Rope Triceps Pushdowns
160 lbs. – 8 reps
Face Pulls
85 – 15 reps

I continue to work on getting my pc back in working order. It’s not going well. I am really thinking about just getting a new PC with Vista. I will keep trying for a few more days to see if I can make any progress.

Tonight I stopped at CompUSA to look at what desktop PC‘s they had available. I may just order something online. The stores are useless to me. Just a lot of equipment with a lot of signs. I do better with online ordering where I don’t have so many distractions as you do in a store. After that I stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat and someone hit my truck in the parking lot and drove away. Someone did get the license plate number and gave it to me. It’s just cosmetic damage, nothing operational. I will call the insurance company in the morning. I have good insurance so I am not worried, it is just another hassle in my life.

I really had little reaction to the entire thing, other than disappointment. There is nothing in the world I can do about it at this point. I guess I could have started yelling and screaming, calling the cops and demanding that they go arrest the person associated with the license plate number someone gave me. I could have come home and beat the dogs or ordered a couple of large pizzas or found a way to blame it all on my wife, but I just went and worked out.

Is that the right way to react? Should I be more upset about something I have no control over? Should I let the person that hit and run ruin my night and my days to come? Should I care more? Maybe I am just the king of denial, just pretending that it did not even happen.

I can only do what works for me.

I went directly to the gym and worked hard for another hour and a half. I did some work with setups. When I started this back in October of 06 I could not do 1 setup. Tonight I held a 45 pound kettlebell and did setups with my legs flat on the ground. I can actually just raise myself up from laying down to setting up with just the strength of my abs. It’s amazing.

Posted a couple of videos today. Having to use work around to get the videos up because of the problems with my PC, but I made it work.

I felt really energized this morning during my workout. Debbie had to be at work at 7 so I left when she did and started my workout at 7A. I kicked my swings up to 11 rather than 10. Used my heartrate monitor. I am working on developing a spreadsheet that collects some of the important readings. That is a work in progress.

Wednesday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 1 minute rest between sets
1-Hand Kettlebell Swings
32 kg – 10 reps each
Kettlebell Figure 8’s
24 kg – 15 each

While at the gym this morning Sam stopped me to say that he got Kettlebells for Christmas. He said some really nice things about my progress and how he could tell the Kettlebells were working for me. I invited him to workout along with me any morning with the kettlebells.

Took the printer back to Staples. As I feared they did not have anymore printers in stock. There is another Staples across town. I had them call ahead and hold me one of the printers they had there and I drove across town to get it. Went over to Moms and Mark and I set the printer up. This one worked liked a charm. This was a super excellent value for only $79.00 bucks. Mom printed of a couple pictures and really liked the quality and ease of use. I don’t think she will have any problem running the printer.

Mark and I move out the old exercise bike and treadmill to the garage. Hopefully Mom will have them carted away. Since she is going to Curves she does not need them. She needs the room they take up more. Also, we all feel better that she will not be using the equipment at home by herself in the event she might fall.

Had a nice lunch of leftovers and headed back home.

Started off the day with my workout. Got to the gym at about 8:30A. Only a few people at the gym, however, by the time I left, around 10A, things were starting to pick up.

Had a new exercise today using the Paramont Functional Trainer. Squats to a single arm row. I can tell that my legs and butt will be hurting in the morning. Because I was not working with a really heavy load I worked on form during the squats to make sure I was getting the most out of them.

My new heart monitor is great. My peak today was around 145-155. From a heartrate perspective today was less intense than yesterday. I need to find a way to document these results and continue to investigate what all this new information means and how I can use it to enhance my program.

Tuesday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 1:20 minute rest between sets
Dumbbell Push Press – 50 lb Dumbbells – 11 reps
Rear Lunge to Row (Set at top position)…First time for this
(Grab the handle on one side and step back into a rear lunge on the same side leg. Hold the bottom position and row. Return to the top and repeat.)
55 lbs – 8 reps each side – keep core tight!!!!!

When I came out of the gym the sun was shinning. The sun was out for most of the day.

Debbie and I got to Mom’s around noon. Carol, Mark and Mac the pug were already there. We had a wonderful dinner with ham, potatoes and all the other goodies. I did ok with the actual meal but went way overboard with the goodies after dinner. I am anxious for tomorrow to try to get my eating back to “normal”.

After dinner Mark and I worked on getting the new HP printer setup. I was really confident going in because this is the exact same printer that I have. We even followed the instructions. We did run into a problem where the printer was not recgonizing the ink cartridges. I logged into support at HP and ended up talking to Dawson using their chat program. We went through several tests to figure out what was going on. The result of all that was Dawson recommended that I return the printer to the store where purchased for a replacement. There is a 15 day in-store replacment policy. I will take it back to Staples tomorrow. I fully expect that they will not have any in stock so I don’t know how that will work out. I hate to lose the benefit of the sale price and $50 rebate. I wanted to get Mom all set up today but this is all part of life.

Mom gave us a very generous financial gift, even though we don’t exchange gifts at Christmas anymore. She also had an envelope that has money in it and she is putting that away for us all go to Outback in May. Last May we all went to celebrate my 35th service anniversary with ATT and we had a wonderful time.

I started getting one of my headaches while still at Mom’s. When we got home I took some meds and laid down on the couch. Then I went up to bed at 5P. Got a little rest but woke up every few minutes. Because it gets dark so early I was getting confused thinking that it was 6 in the morning and I was late for my workout when I really had only been sleeping for a few minutes. I got up about 8P. We will see how sleep goes tonight.

LittleSherrie made her youtube video showing her yellow kettlebell. I was really excited for her and glad that she got it. I am looking forward to a demo video from her.

I am on vacation for the rest of the week, even though I have to be alert because I am covering for myself. I don’t expect much activity until January 7th.

Yesterday I picked up a Polar FS1 Heart Monitor at Dicks Sporting Goods. I got the most basic model on sale for $53.98 plus $3.37 tax, total $57.35. I used it during my workout this morning and I really like it so far. It’s nice having that constant feedback of your heartrate. One of the really important things about this model is that the display is large enough for me to easily read without my glasses. That is really important. I would hate to have to put on my glasses everytime to read the display. The highest my heartrate went was 159 following my 10 TGU’s and 40 snatches circuit. I got back down to 110 within 2 minutes. Now I need to start figuring out what that really means. I am going to have all sorts of data to create endless spreadsheets with. I will do a video on the actual setup and use of the monitor.

You need to wear the chest strap and that was no problem. I got use to it quickly. One more reason I am glad I am a guy. This must be just a small sample of what women go through putting on a bra everyday. It did give a certain lift to my moobs. Seriously, if you wear a loose t-shirt no one would know you have it on.

I jumped on the elliptical and it picked up my heartrate from the monitor so I got constant feedback while doing my cardio. I was able to get up into the 140′s. The interesting thing to note is I get more of a cardio workout doing my kettlebells than the elliptical. And it is all HTTP. Not really a suprise, I figured that would be the case.

Monday
Core Circuit – Repeat 3 times with no rest, 4-6 sets of rear shoulder flyes.
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:30 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
8 kg – 5
Kettlebell Snatch
24 kg – 20 each

Lots of people missing this morning from the gym. I slept from 9P to 4A so I was there a bit after 5. It seems like my “got to go” problem during the night is improving and I can make it about 6-7 hours rather than 3-4. I am continuing to take my Flomax.

My PC is causing all sorts of problems. I have a trojan or spyware or something going on. I have found lsass.exe using up all resources. I am fortunate to have two other PC’s on my network at home so I am not out of touch. I just need to work through these issues and get it working good again. Right now I am trying to get Panda Antivirus installed to see if that helps. I hate when these things happen but I usually end up learning alot by the time I have things figured out.

I also stopped at Staples and picked up an HP Photosmart C5180 printer to replace my Mom’s dying 10 year old printer. It was $149.00 with a $50 mail in rebate. Can’t beat $79 for the printer. It is the same printer I have and it has worked great. I will set that up for her tomorrow.

I was sorry to see the note from Disneyfreak that she will not be using youtube anymore. She was a fun and interesting personality that I will miss. I do appreciate that she said she was leaving rather than just leaving us hanging as some people do.

I sent a note off to Steph in Hawaii a couple of days ago but no response. I hope things are getting better for her.

The gym is open 8A to 1P tomorrow.

Monday
Core Circuit – Repeat 3 times with no rest, 4-6 sets of rear shoulder flyes.
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:30 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
8 kg – 5
Kettlebell Snatch
24 kg – 20 each

Friday
Core Circuit – same as workout 1
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:00 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Clean and Squat
20 kg – 12
Assisted Neutral Grip Pullups
#14 – 10 reps

Completed my Friday workout. Always a challenge on Friday but I got it done. I worked on actually taking my time on the Kettlebell squats and cleans this morning. I came to the conclusion that I was rushing myself to complete them. I tried to relax and do the clean and hold it for a few seconds. That helped me do a better job in completing them.

Friday
Circuit – Repeat for 5 total sets with 2:00 minute rest between sets
Kettlebell Clean and Squat
20 kg (double) – 12
Assisted Wide Grip Pullups
#14 – 10 reps

As usual, on Friday’s, the only day I use the Assisted Pullup machine, everyone in town wants to use it. That messed up my timing just a bit. I just get cranked because they are using MY machine. Don’t they know that it is mine?

I noticed today that my shoulder continues to improve. The exercises that actually caused some pain a month ago have really improved. It’s all about getting the experts to help you figure out what to do.

Found a new youtube member blog to watch My Biggest Journey