4/12/24
Just after midnight, it’s a packet of microwave ninety second rice (mexican rice), a metrx bar, and some milk.
I’m thinking I’ll do a 40kg bup today, hopefully a double or better.
…..
Inflexibility in the shoulders, the elbows, that’s my weakness in the bottoms up press.
I need a bunch of mobility to match my left arm numbers to my right arm numbers.
It would make sense to have those 4kg jumps between 20kg and 32kg for training the left hand, but as I filmed yesterday – I can train a long while on bottoms up snatch volume with the 16kg and 20kg before “needing” to make the 24 & 28 jumps on the road to 32kg consistently left handed.
What I really need is a training partner to manually stretch the left side, to force the positions.
…..
Haven’t more people made it in difficult circumstances than in easy circumstance?
Tell yourself that.
Shrug at everything.
Keep going.
…..
I write it time and again ; the kettlebell is meant to be done with high frequency, high volume, the loads and variations varied.
My upper back has been developing amazingly, and it’s the fact that everything kettlebell works it.
So do your bottoms up work, all your presses, snatches, swings, and build dense glutes, a crazy upper back, awesome shoulders, and ever thickening forearms.
It’s actually pretty simple to do some kettlebell work daily.
If I’m really not feeling it I’ll just do some form of light pressing, then move on.
Comically little like 10 presses or bottoms up presses a side with 16kg.
It’s always better to do something “even if it’s the empty bar” (to paraphrase John Broz), than to take the day entirely off.
The thing is, usually that quick light minisession ; it’ll get my heart into it more, or later in the day the urge will strike and I’ll lift more.
…..
I may lift kettlebells daily, or nearly so, for the rest of my life.
I can easily see this as being the case.
The kettlebell, it just clicks for me.
I’m good at it pretty early as shown by the 40kg bottoms up press, and now at 29 years old it’s converting the beginner gains in size that I’d made at 17 years old to quality with muscular separation, increasing leanness, while maintaining lots of size.
Imagine if I’d started this stuff at 11 years old or so!
(the path of “working man’s rugged weightlifting gpp” aka kettlebell training – the thing really is a nice blend of lifting strength, manual labor strength, and grappling strength all in one cast iron bell, and I feel would’ve been/would be fine for youth strength training)
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The humidity was off the charts high today with a bit of a drizzle/misting (it had rained earlier really giving credit to that phrase “april showers”).
The lift went meh. I failed a bunch of attempts at a 40kg bup, though I almost rode one down and back up for a 40kg bottoms up rack front squat.
I lost the bell near or at the top, almost a complete rep.
To end the lift I did a regular press, one rep a side, with the 40kg.
Maybe it’s time to deload.
If I make the purchase of 24,28,36,44,48 I’d be able to start at a 16 and run it for forever, bottoms up almost exclusively, high volume, and back to PRs plus some really impressive stuff.
The soccer ball dribbling was right after the lift, it too started off meh with 3s, 4s, maybe a 5ct, but within ten minutes I got a couple of 10s, and an 11ct that might’ve been an ugly ugly 12ct.
I ended on a high note. A 10ct where it was like two a side back and forth, maybe the best control I’ve had yet.
Not every lift is great, but the fact you lifted is.
I got outside, sweat, drenched by the humidity, lifted my kettlebell, and dribbled the soccer ball.
There’s some wins there.
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Second session, light 16kg, x10, 8, 6 of bottoms up snatch, bottoms up clean & press, alternating left, right, movement to movement ie
•bus l
•bus r
•bucp l
•bucp r
•soccer ball
•repeat
Yep, again I mixed in the soccer ball dribbling – I’m digging the practice.
Got a 15ct this time, some back and forth on it, though mostly right foot.
Not only do I enjoy the practice, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment seeing the skill improving with practice.
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Another half hour of soccer ball a half hour or so before dark (no kettlebell this time), no count PR, but movement, and some with better height and from foot to foot.
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If I was to deload I’d probably go for minutes long sets of buc&p light at 16kg, aim for taking 2h swings to 100x40kg, and do a lot of “skill” stuff – the soccer ball, handstands (cause eventually I want freestanding hspu), maybe new skills.
We’ll see.
Psychologically it’s hard for me to deload, and essentially impossible for me to fully take a day off when my heart is into frequency.
In 2022 there were times I went almost two weeks between sessions of barbell press, training no other lifts, but doing my daily pushups like usual, and after every shift my tree branch mace swings.
It’s not 2022, it’s 2024!
Mentally I function better with high frequency. It’s best to always structure my life in a way so as to lift some weights daily. Keeps me happier in every way.
Persistence & Tenacity