Clear the focus

Ok..again the attempt to get back the discipline of journaling and establishment of new goals. RKC II in 2011. Looks like the option is July 8 in St. Paul. Time to pitch it to the CFO. Anyway..was inspired by fellow RKC George Lin in his work with the 40 kg and a client's goal set of piano play to get more familiar w/handling the 40. So the session went:

TGU's - 40 kg - 2/R - big disconnect in grip for L - 40(1/2), then 32 kg, 24 kg, 20 kg (x2) - 20 felt like a wrist watch :)

Laddering sets cleaning up the cleans was the focus, presses felt right - minimum rest:

40 kg - single - 8 per

32 kg - dble - 10

24 kg - dble w/press x 7

20 kg - dble w/press x 8

Bulgarian bag (Bg) - 15 center, 15 Halo/lasso per, 12 straight arm levers

2nd and 3rd set

40 - singles - 6 per - 5 per

32 - dble on the 2nd for 4, 3rd 1 C&P into windmill per

24 - dble C&P - 5 per - 4 per

20 - dble C&P - 6 per - tapped out on 3rd

Bg - 10/10/10/10 - 3rd just halos for 8 per

Squeezed in between 2nd and 3rd sets (sits between the 32's):

L-sits to tucked push ups for 3 to 3 second hold on sit x 3 reps

L-sits to planche to sit to planche x 4

L-sits to sprawl push up x 8

For fun - 20 kg BUP into windmill 1 per

Felt good to work w/the 40 see if it helps the Achilles heel of a 36 kg strict press........

Quick 'n easy

Nice overcast morning with a bit of dew on the grass. Had a good group of 4 participants joining for the session. Got a bit of an early start prior to everyone showing up, since I knew focus would have to be put with new participants (who got swings down quite quickly!). So the session was very simple:

*TGU's w/32 for 5 sets of singles per side

*2 warm up runs of 32 kg snatches for reps of 8 per

*100 (think maybe more around 120/130) of double 16 kg Clean & Jerks (long cycle) but broken into multiple sets of 10+ (worked in between others while coaching Amber - newcomer)

Simple.

Regroup

Most of Friday morning was not feeling all too hot. Eating and a quick 20 minute meditation had me on the foam roller at the Y for a bit and then worked on full bridges (wheels in yoga), wrestling neck bridges, handstands, straddles, L-sits, and one set of pulls. Was more of a recovery and alignment session, and included a 50 minute myofascial release class after.

Saturday morning had the privilege of again subbing at Revolutions, and lead the class through the hour. The session consisted of:

*Squats - bodyweight, goblet, cossack, overhead and segregated bottom section of two hands anyhow - followed later by two hands anyhow.

*Halos - Good Mornings - double clean & presses.

*few Spetsnaz rolls

Will be interesting to see how Tuesday feels after meeting peer group at the beach on Sunday and have bodyweight conditioning class on Monday evening.....

Kick up the cardio

Ok. Conquered through most of the previous goals, time to add some new ones. Will give until the next TSC (tactical strength challenge) held at the beginning of 2011. Need to get to the point of routinely presses the 32 kg as to participate in the Level II RKC and press the 36 for testing. Bumping up the cardio to work towards a SSST (secret service snatch test) of 200 reps w/a 24 kg in a 10 minute time point. This morning, hopefully being a kick off point went like:

*@ 10 minutes of stretching for warm up to include a couple of 16 kg windmills per into -

*100 reps w/16 kg (50 per side) of flip catches working in reps of 10 for 5 sets per

*32 kg TGU's w/windmill tops - singles per for 2 sets

*100 snatches w/16 kg working in reps of 20 per side for 4 - 1 set of 10 per

*32 kg clean & presses 2/R, 1+1/L

*32 kg squat - push press 4/R. 2+3/L for 2 sets

*Double 24 kg snatch to press for 4 into front squat for 4

*finished w/a 10 sec L-sit - 10 sec straddle - 10 sec planche' between two 24's

Nice sunny SD day for not having that great of a summer. Great morning!

Catch Up

Quick recap of Friday's Y session entailed:

*Single legged stretches up corner edged wall w/dynamic tension @ 30 second total hold per side

*Handstands - around 6 sets w/3 consisting of push ups

*combined w/Strict Pulls 3 sets - 15, 10, 8

*Straight legged raises - 2 sets 15, 12

*Korean dips 3 sets 6, 5, 4

*Planches for 2 sets w/15 lb hexagon dumbbells as base

*Participated in 50 minute myofascial release class

Sunday's session at the beach w/Dusan and Lisa went:

*32 kg TGU's - alternating sides for 3 sets per

*Bulgarian bag (Bb) 25 center swings 10 halo's per 10 O Goshi (judo throw) per (65 total swing) circuited in session for 4 sets

*combined w/dble 32 kg cleans - 3 sets 8, 6, 4 (also 1 dble 20 kg set for 9)

*Dble 20 kg clean & presses - 2 sets 9, 7

*combined w/single 32 kg presses 2 singles w/R, 2 failed attempts w/L

*Bottom up cleans w/32 - 2 sets 3, 2 w/R - 3, 1 w/L

*BUP w/20 kg (one clean) 6 R/4 L

*combined w/20 kg flip catch to waiter's press 5 R/4 L

*32 kg snatches to pull 5 per

*combined w/straight arm raises w/Bb for 10 into grip pulls for 8 per

*one no wall handstand! (although Mark assisted :)

Bada-bing...

My Church =)

Nothing like a nice crisp overcast morning at 'hospitals' break, a fine Scottish type morning w/o the bitter cold and wetness. Mark and Dusan joined the morning - nice to have the back in the swing of things. Started off a bit slower trying to work into things as stiffness is onset from previous sessions. Session went:

*Good mornings - 16 kg in mid back to warm up ham's and low back @ 8 reps

*Half halos w/16 kg 5 reps per into forward fold stretching

*16 kg presses to scapular/sternum stretch - 2 sets 6 per

*16 kg snatch to press 10 reps per

*Full halos w/16 5 reps per into folding stretch

*BU (bottoms up) Goblet squats w/16 kg - 3 curls at rock bottom - 6 reps

*L-sit - straddle - planche hold (line up the body)

Now work -

*Bulgarian bag (Bb) center swings (behind head) 25 reps (total sets thru session = 4) - last set combined 'ear' tosses for grip

*Round about 'Halo' swings 10 each direction (20 reps total) ditto thru to 4 sets

*Straight arm front raises overhead follow for 10 reps - the 4 sets

*Worked in 32 kg snatches for 4 sets in circuit combo w/Bb - 2 sets 5 per - 2/4 per

*Combined w/dble 20 kg snatches to press 3 sets 6/5/4

Played w/-

*20 kg BUP (1 clean) 3 presses per/2 sets

*20 kg BUP into windmill - 1 set 2 reps per

*Seated straddled/split stretch w/16 kg presses 5 reps per

Sun started burning away marine layer turning into nice day. Enjoyed watching some sea creatures play for a good 15 minutes in front of us. Couldn't tell if it was dolphins, sea lions, shark, etc. but seem to be having fun (or eating). Good day!

Frida(Y)

So I was a bit more inspired this week to work on handstands, with the progression of both my children's and a client's. Did somewhere between 15-20 wall handstands working on stacking the body to achieve a strong balance point. Also did quite a few sets w/push ups and noticed the outside edge line that Gray Cook/Pavel advocates works well in finding a particular line in the lat. Combined those with:

*Warmed up on foam roller and single legged active stretch up side wall

*my first few decent front lever raises (although no strong holds) - 3 sets of 3-4 raises

*followed /front lever tucks w/single legged extension - 3 sets of 4-5 extensions per

*3 sets of strict pulls 20, 12, 6

*3 sets of Korean dips 6, 8, 5

*3 strong gripped 45 lb strict presses on R - only 1 on L

*Participated in 50 myofascial release class.

Lats are quite a bit sore on Saturday evening. Dropped all numbers in Biometrics screening (LDL/HDL, BMI, etc) except blood pressure. Primarily systolic high - diastolic in range 1st stage prehypertension. Wondering if due to high pressured exercise, or married with 2 children and 3rd on way. All other criteria fall into play well, except veggie eating and stress =)

Start additional yoga practice....