Good luck with the career ideas dude!

Indeed Simon, in fact I should really have a gentle and brief daily stretching routine for all muscles, makes quite a big difference to how limber you feel, especially when you're doing a lot of hard exercise.

Its actually quite pleasant doing some very gentle stretching when you first roll out of bed, good way to wake up and you feel better for it.

--

Cheers Coop!

Today was my second ever workout with kettlebells. They are a brutally effective training tool, you get an extremely intense cardiovascular workout in the mix, highly anaerobic.

Did the following:

(Single arm) Clean & Press ladders

24kg bell

Left arm / Right arm

Ladder set 1: 1,1 / 2,2 / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 2: 1,1 / 2,2, / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 3: 1,1 / 2,2 / 3,3 / 3 (failed 4th), 3 / 2,2

Shoulder/arms were pretty fried by this point. Right arm is definitely stronger, but kept repping at same volume as weaker left: want the left to catch up for perfect balanced strength. Think it is down to superior CNS activation, as although I'm relatively ambidextrous, I'm still more right-hand orientated so have more efficient technique with right.

Due to the way the weight is distributed in a kettlebell, plus the much larger range of motion, a 24kg bell feels much heavier than a 24kg dumbell. It is quite surprising how much tougher it is to press a kettlebell.

Technique was pretty strict, so legs were locked out and supplied no drive, so was a pure press.

(Single arm) Military Press

Ladder set 1: 1,1 / 2,2 / 3,3

Turkish get-ups

24kg bell

1 (R), fail (L)

Very nearly completed left side, but just lost the arm lock out as I attempted to maneuver into the lunge position in preparation of standing. Ditched bell immediately rather than fight it and risk injury. Too fatigued to continue working with the 24kg bell, so:

16kg

10 in total, alternating arms (so 5 per arm).

This is such an awesome exercise, phenomenal for developing shoulder stability, can't believe how hard it worked out all the smaller external rotators which traditionally get neglected in a lot of standard weight pressing exercises. Also tough on the core and obliques.

Kettlebell swing

24kg and 16kg bells

10 minutes in total. Alternated between a double handed grip for a few reps (usually around 25) with the 24kg bell, before ditching and continuing on with the 16kg in single handed swings. Stopped for rest 3 or 4 times during the 10 minutes, pausing the stopwatch. Felt like dying for the entirety of the last 5 minutes. Conditioning is starting to come though!

Also decided to throw in a handful of full on snatches in the last minute with the 16kg bell to really finish me off.

It will probably take me a year of brutal training with these before I can hit 200+ snatches in 10 minutes with a 24kg bell. I look forward to it, sadistically

Kettleballs, Mmmmm, not my thing as the range of motion could easily hurt my shoulders, plus it's a very ghey looking bit of kit....

However, if it works, why not?

Robert lemme know if you're gonna pursue it as I'll set you up with a simple plan that'll lead to superior fitness.

Aren: it's really not that hard, the main part is ripping your hands. I'm currently on a protocol with a 16kg and did 460 snatches in total the other day. Problem is, I tore up my hands pretty good and ended up bleeding on the bell... Getting the technique perfect to avoid that is crucial for serious KB training.

I have never done any kettle bell work really but I can see its benefits, how many of these sessions are you going to do per week?

Rab wrote:

Rilla wrote:Robert lemme know if you're gonna pursue it as I'll set you up with a simple plan that'll lead to superior fitness.

.

I would need to get a kettlebell first mate and right now im the most skint i have been in a long long time witht he combo of the wedding, honeymoon deposit and this damn bodybuilding crap.

But i do think i could do some good stuff with it for cardio to get fat off and spare the muscle in my leg as you know yourself it gets harder and harder to dead and squat when doing several miles every day on them

All you really need for cardio purposes is a 16kg KB.

Mmm, I personally don't think there is anything "ghey" looking about a proper cast iron kettlebell, particularly when you start getting up to serious bells like the 16, 24, or 32kg ones. An indestructible no-nonsense bit of kit. The only thing that would look ghey is the state it reduces it you to after just a couple of minutes, haha!

(I can understand your point if you're referring to the wimpy 2kg vinyl kettlebells that you see advertised on TV shopping channels, however...).

Rab, I don't think you'll look like a raging bender training in your yard unless you go out and buy the aforementioned York vinyl kettlebell set. (Though it would have quite good amusement value seeing someone who can press 55kg+ dumbells swinging a 2kg plastic bell around). I have actually just bought this set (2, 3, and 4kg plastic bells) as well because I know full well that for some potential clients, even my lightest 8kg cast iron kettlebells will be far too heavy for them. (Keeping in mind that for a lot of people, even doing one body weight squat is a big fitness challenge.) What can be more manly than giant lumps of iron?

I'd agree with Rilla that if it is primarily cardio conditioning from the ballistic action of throwing a bell around, then the 16kg is an extremely good all round choice, as you'll be able to keep it up for quite a while; heavier than that and you will fatigue pretty quickly unless you're as hard as an elite commando. 24kg is the Russian army standard, and 10 minutes with one of those will wipe you out pretty damn good.

Heavier bells should in principle be an excellent strength training tool: it will be interesting to see how much carry over effect I notice on my major lifts in the gym. It is difficult to estimate, but I'd probably subtract at least 10kg (if not more) from the heaviest dumbell you can press to get the same respective weight you could press with a kettlebell, I think largely because of the increased range of motion and the lower center of gravity on the bell.

Rilla, 460 snatches with a 16kg bell is an impressive effort. My technique has massively improved, so it isn't so bad on my hands as it was. You might want to consider investing in a 24kg bell, or alternatively a second 16kg bell so you can do double snatches, swings, lunges, squats and overhead squats, etc.

Coop, I'll mix things up week on week, but the objective is to train at least 2x a week with them.

Monday 6th Sept.

AM: Kettlebell snatch training/testing. First serious attempt to see what my base starting point is. Managed 82 snatches in 10 minutes with a 24kg bell. Pretty pleased with that as a first effort. I fully expect to exceed 100 on next test attempt.

PM: Moderate intensity run, about 35 minutes, in the woods, on a quite difficult loop which has an extensive and tough uphill section (about 15 minutes continuous uphill running).

Tuesday 7th Sept.

Rest. Feel a slight early warning of a shin splint on my right leg, not surprised as the dynamic loading on my legs has been far far greater than for quite some time, particularly with the sprinting on the track and some extremely high intensity cardio work. Will therefore delay introducing plyometric exercises into my program for 1-2 weeks to let the musculature adapt, after which point it will not be a problem again.

I've also had a very slight and very annoying cough recently, which only comes at night, just as I'm trying to sleep. It is f**king annoying, as I start off with just the odd cough, very nearly fall asleep, cough and wake myself up, and then it continues to irritate until I'm full on coughing. I have no problem whatsoever during the day. Guess I'll have to buy some cough syrup to knock me out tonight so that my body can fully get rid of it.

I'm on my week off this week, my course is at the end of the week, so think I'll probably just stick to kettlebell workouts.

Plan for today is to do some upper body work with pressing again, and try to avoid putting too much loading through my lower leg until that is 100% again.

Rab, yes, I completely understand what you mean about "flavour of the month", the fitness industry tends to get obsessed on a certain thing and then herald it as the next "holy grail" of all health and fitness needs. Like this ridiculous obsession with the exercise ball: they are a genuinely useful tool, used appropriately, even for an advanced athlete; however they tend to be inappropriately and grossly overused, championed as if they are some miracle "core" workout tool - I see so many PTs basically getting clients to do an entire workout on them, when clearly a lot of the exercises would have been better done on a stable bench, or done standing, with a heavier weight, and thereby with a great training overload.

The fact of the matter is that provided someone knows how to activate their core properly (as they hopefully should, automatically, if they do an exercise with good technique), then exercises such as the squat and upright row are in fact real powerhouse "core" exercises. Exercise balls are useful for small stabilisers, balance, and some advanced exercises.

Anyway, I digress. Kettlebells might indeed have suddenly become fashionable, but unlike most other fitness fads, they've actually been used in Russia as the training tool of choice for over 300 years! (Or at least, that's the first records we can find indicating their use). I can certainly vouch for them absolutely killing you!

Excellent workout today:

(Single arm) Clean & Press ladders

24kg bell

Left arm / Right arm

Ladder set 1: 1,1 / 2,2 / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 2: 1,1 / 2,2, / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 3: 1,1 / 2,2, / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 4: 1,1 / 2,2, / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5
Ladder set 5: 1,1 / 2,2, / 3,3 / 4,4 / 5,5

Significant strength/power improvement, and a particularly significant cardio improvement, was synchronising my breathing properly this time, and exploding out with the presses. I failed half-way through the third ladder last time, on this occasion I completed all five ladders. Very pleased indeed! Explosive power is coming back. Time to progress to a heavier bell next time!

Unequal standing military press

24kg & 16kg bells

24kg (L), 16kg (R) * 7 ; 16kg (L), 24kg (R) * 7

Just managed to rep out a further 7 reps per side after all my single arm C&Ps with both bells in an unequal lift. Great for dynamic core strength.

Double kettlebell swing

24kg & 16kg bells

12 reps (24/16); 12 reps (16/24)

This was too heavy really, which is why I only did twelve swings per side. I just felt like giving it a go for the hell of it, but 40kg is a pretty hefty swing for someone of my current build/weight/strength. Again, having unequal bells is extremely challenging as you're having to compensate continually against the weight discrepancy; it also forces you into a much wider stance which also makes the exercise a lot more difficult.

Single arm kettlebell swing

16kg bell

50 per arm

Did these to finish me off, heart rate was sky high by this point.

Snatches

16kg bell

10 per arm

And what the hell, just a few snatches at the end.

Aren

I'm pleased you're enjoying training as that's all that counts, as for KB's being ghey, Rab said that and he wears a skirt....

All can see is a bird with big nips

Rab wrote:Deep down you really wanna try on a Kilt Dont you Si? I bet you qute fancy yourself as looking good in one

I've got good legs, so the answer is yes

It is that bow-tie that is leaving far deeper mental scars...

Long time, no post.

Been so unbelievably busy.

All I can say is that my life has turned completely upside down since my last post here - in a good way.

I was successful in getting a job as a Personal Trainer at my local gym, and have been busy making it happen!

http://www.tinyurl.com/aren-pt

Feels great being self-employed, in charge of my own destiny, and doing what I love. Just about scraping a living now (really tough in current economic climate) but starting to establish myself. Got about 20 or so clients. For about the first time in my life, I'm not "rotting away" for 8 hours a day bored out my skull!

My own training has been going phenomenally well, have been training far more intensely than ever before (everything previous seems like a warm-up by comparison!), and am now coming back to the best shape of my life (and certainly the strongest). I am now training specifically/exclusively for Powerlifting (instead of my previous hybrid style), and intend to compete in sub 75kg category, hopefully first comp later this year. Sitting at about 76kg and 15-16% bodyfat, so will gradually shave this down to about 10-11% and get sub 75kg whilst continuing to gain strength. The 67.5kg category is too light, as I'd have to get down to an impossibly low BF percentage and probably lose strength by that point (don't think my body would be happy with Scott's 3%-4% BF!). I shudder to think what BF I must have been last August. Based on what I am now, I must have been far worse than I realised, probably something like 25%. Certainly taken a fuck load of training to get back into serious shape. Easy to pile it on when you get lazy and your life goes tits up.... Am far stronger than ever before, and have been training on a brutal 6-day a week regime for last couple of months.

Recent training highlights:

Powerlift squat (wide stance, below //): 3 * 170kg
Deadlift: 3 * 177.5kg
Bench: 2 * 120kg

Both squat and bench press (in particular) have come significantly up. My squat technique is also far better (it was fairly good before) and my core strength greatly improved. Finally seem to have got my groove on bench which forever was my achillies heel and NEVER seemed to improve. Solution: wider grip, far more military presses, plenty of weighted dips, trusting my spotter!

I fully expect (or intend!) to be able to squat and deadlift well in excess of 200kg (unequipped) by summer. I have my sights set on taking the British BDFPA equipped 75kg mens record of 266kg squat, 177.5kg bench, 293kg deadlift. 707.5kg is the rather mighty total to beat. I will get there, just gimme a couple of years!

Training other people for a profession has made my own training infinitely superior, as the constant work I've put into refining my own knowledge on training theory, physiology & biomechanics, nutrition has paid massive dividends in terms of noticing little details about how my own body works (small details on positioning and training loads, etc.).

I'm also quite fortunate in that I've been able to start regularly training with a group of very strong Iranians, one of whom was a professional wrestler, and used to train with the Iranian Olympic lifting team (Iran is one of the leading countries in terms of Olympic lifting...), so have been refining my Olympic lifting technique (I just do a small amount of Oly lifting as supplementary, as it is more about explosive rather than maximal/limit strength. It is handy tool to have in the toolbox).

Also, can now comfortably blast out military presses/jerks with my 32kg KB, and pressing 42kg and 46kg dumbells on incline (to put this into context, I could only just manage a few reps with the 32kg dumbells back when I trained with Alex in Woking...). Gunning to rep out with the 50kg DBs by summer...

Other aspects of my life are... meh.

So I basically just spend my life: training other people, training myself, eating, listening to music, reading a few books, and sleeping. Go out on occasional Sat nights but don't drink much. Women: continual disaster. Oh well. Got everything else right...

Great news dude! Good work!

Congrats on the job and enjoying life again.

Good luck with the powerlifting. Some great numbers already.

Nice one mate. Are you intending to turn up at the British BDFPA comp's - either unequipped in Bournemout or teh equipped in Glasgee or both - this year? If so we should meet up. Even if you;re not competing, if you get teh chance it would be an opportunity to meet/see what goes on and get some advice on suits.

Oh and another thing - What did you do to get 'qualfied' as a personal trainer? I'm sort of half interested to do soemthing and get a qualification so I can do a bit of PT'ing (offical like if you see what I mean) on the side.

Good to see the beard has returned to the boards