You could definitely say that my exercise lately falls under “mixing it up”.
Pushups, instead of being “woody woodpeckers” recently started being strict, and now they’re being done super slow – I’m trying to genuinely do a thirty second negative, reps anywhere from three in ten seconds to one or two during that half minute countdown timer.
All in all, maybe one flying 30 second set of 50ish blazingly fast reps, then a handful of 30 second slow sets, call it 50 fast, 15 slow reps each night.
The kettlebell?
The kettlebell is pretty new to me.
I’m enjoying it.
I’m not doing much more than the press/clean & press sets that you see – the light days off camera, and two hand swings too being done occasionally, call it every third day, off camera.
I often use the 40kg, and am going for increasing high reps, and density of work, but I think the best training effect would be more moderate, the 32kg, and violently swinging it for sets of 3 reps, being well rested between sets.
My lifting takes a grand total of twenty minutes of my day, TOPS, including setup/breakdown, and that on a double session day.
A set of press or clean and press earlier, then 10:00 of 2h swings later = real convenient, daily low time investment, but effective manner of training.
If this ever stops working, or if I find the desire to do more, adding volume, adding time each day is an option…
A great option.
There’s a zillion kettlebell things I could be doing more regularly, more c&p, or cleans alone, or presses alone, or both, more swings, two hand or one handed, bottoms up pressing, snatching in any variant, rows, actually doing walks/carries (at rack is evil, devilish…in a good way), etc…a zillion options.
Strength training minimalism is pretty uncommon for me, but alas still I struggle to find the motivation/drive while training alone to do long sessions.
Shrugs.
I don’t like that state of mind, though I’m making it work for me.
Lifting kettlebells. Filming kettlebells.
I’m GOOD at kettlebells. It’s a matter of time til my channel is monetized and explodes!
And that, gives me a whole lot of freedom to move forward.
While making it so I can do this kettlebell thing with more kettlebells, more effectively, better.
A positive feedback/∞ loop.
Genuinely I can see myself doing press every day for life, years down the road being downright scary with heavy AND high rep clean and press – like heavy sets of 30s, 50s every rep style, well heavier belled than the current pair of 40kgs.
I haven’t been consistent with pullups since summer 2021.
5 reps at a bodyweight of 290 a week and a half ago, I haven’t done a set since.
I expect the kettlebell c&p, swing, and snatch all would carry this, increase rep count on some level…the oft totes “wth effect”.
I can see myself rotating in a barbell clean and press, and a snatch grip deadlift on the same once every two weeks time frame of pullups, of which I prefer that fat bar to my present thinner bar option.
The downside there, the weird shape of that particular playground apparatus, meaning I can do full rom pullups, but not even attempt a muscle up on it.
Yes, at 6′ 290lbs I think about repping pullups, getting muscle ups (technically again – I’ve done two singles YEARS back), think about “the beast tamer”, think about a ≤6:00 mile (last done as a sub 180lb teenager, though as a 195lb teenager I regularly ran ~21:00 5ks)…
Not accepting that 29yo is anything but growing into my physical prime.
I like training.
I’m good at it. Particularly with the kettlebell, which I could see heavy, high rep, double bell c&p being my main training for life.
I laid off the burpees, not that it was at a high volume, just brief and high frequency, and have some interest in possibly acquiring a 40-50lb weight vest and adding that in with the kettlebell.
It’d be lunacy to artificially make myself 330, 340lbs, and crush burpees…
But it sounds fun! Phenomenal!
And that’s what we should go for, phenomenal levels of fun in our training, as then we’ll be consistent, and when we’re consistent we become more and more awesome.
-J
12/20/23 ~11pm
