Month: November 2024

I’m enjoying the process ; filming, getting more comfortable talking to the camera, gaining skill at video editing (I’m proud of my turkey sketch) – all the while continuing to make training progress while staying consistent with making the videos.

Letting more and more of my personality shine through…

Thanksgiving Day 2024 One Bell 48kg Outdoor Workout

I’m real excited to see where I go with the 48kg bell during the next six months to a year.

With it I’ve now found a bell just about heavy enough to “right size” me, as…

48kg is nothing to scoff at from a strength perspective, and I’m already improving more and more in my ability to swing it – my looking to Bud Jeffries and Tracy Reifkind before me as inspiration as to where I can take this, and…

For swings to click you likely need a bell both heavy enough to be meaningful and heavy enough to truly incorporate strength training, while you must be both comfortable with the movement and be strong enough to train fitness with a bell of that requisite weight.

It’s a certain zone you must get yourself to…

I’ve gotten to that place over the past couple weeks having started to be comfortable with one arm swings at 48kg while being, chomping at the bit excited for my next session ie very into improving my ability to swing it.

The Two Kettlebell Goals I Have In Mind :
•Press 48kg x15/side
•Swing 48kg for 100 reps Unbroken, this can be 50+50, h2h, any combination is fine, though I lean towards wanting this with one arm swing variants moreso than using the two hand swing, and the reps to proper swing height.

See Tracy Reifkind inspiration above, she apparently did unbroken sets mixing one arm variants with the two hand, multiple styles of counting (ladders, reverse ladders, pyramids, straight sets, h2h, etc) basically freestyle keep the set going by any means throughout the set.

I don’t much care if they’re perfect “hardstyle” form, so long as I’m working towards the reps and swing height goals it’s good – I naturally use a more girevoy style form, the heel raising, how my leg kicks out, etc – a okay.

Continuing to improve my bottoms up press from x1 to x10 with the 48kg right hand is more a side quest from those two main missions.

…..

Today I slept right through my alarm to do a sunrise lift, instead ending up lifting near sundown – getting the editing done quickly so as to have the day’s video uploaded by my usual 5pm posting time, today’s video being filmed today and jumping the que since I wanted the holiday workout to be live online on the holiday itself.

It was 33-34°f, just ever so slightly above freezing.
Outdoor training always keeps me one foot in the world of cold exposure.

Remember how a year ago my idea was the blending of kettlebell strength and Wim Hof?

It rained decently hard most of the day.

I filmed and lifted in the rain.
Que sera sera – the weather (almost) does not affect me anymore.

I lift irregardless.

Coincidentally I need to find some sweats that fit well. My build, while not lean, STILL has the issue of pants with ridiculously overly large giant waists being like skinny jeans on my medium athletic sized thighs.

EVEN SWEATPANTS!

Note To Self : a rag over improvised tripod likely would dampen the rain’s pitter patter.

Happy Thanksgiving y’all!
And happy holidays.

-J
Persistence & Tenacity

P.S. Starting tomorrow we can start listening to Christmas songs.

There’s exercise and then there’s movement for the joy of the thing.

Too much of our activity in adulthood is exercise ; the overly stiff lifting of weights, the going nowhere of the treadmill, and similar.

Children are physical, and it is all the fun of play. To a child to be outdoors and moving is all out joy – sprint, rest, drink some apple juice, laugh, giggle, repeat.

In adulthood most lose this in the seemingly never ending negative feedback loop of commute to job, commute home, turn on the television, slop down some microwavable “meal” that didn’t even fully heat through – will you get back up and heat it longer?

As an adult look to things that can be considered skills, things that don’t require intensity – not more than a focused sense of playfulness anyway.

I strongly suggest you find a physical skill or three to learn, and simply approach it as play.

Around the start of spring I arbitrarily decided that I’d pick up soccer juggling.

I’d never played organized soccer, hadn’t even kicked a ball around in over a decade (my buddy and I occasionally did as seniors in high school instead of “the game” with a rugby ball), and instagram had shown me some soccer juggling gymnastic stuff which I found cool, so I ran with it.

At the start eight or so months ago there was still snow on the ground and I’d get a few ct.

Six months ago I was in the 35ct area.

According to where I wrote down my PRcts whether barefoot or wearing shoes had not broke 70ct…until today.

Today I hit 82ct wearing shoes.

At the start of this I wanted to get to 100ct.
Six months ago my best counts were in the 30s whereas today I’ll get a count of 30+ in less than five minutes of practice.

Today was unseasonably warm, mid 50s, when late November could easily be 20°f.

I took the opportunity to get some sunlight and some movement in.

Shirtless because it was still daylight and the temperature, between tree’s being cut nearby as noise filming kettlebell might as well wait til no video and lifting after dark today.

I actually enjoy after dark outdoor lifting more anyway.

(But turns out I got a SOLID one bell 48kg session in during the last hour before dark – that video uploaded and posting monday.)

I’d never have expected it ; to be so far from a gym, to be so into, and so strong from kettlebells, and to up my time fill and playful activity with soccer juggling.

Enjoy your training my friends,
-J