8/28 Training

Last night was KBLA's FMS screening. I'm not sure which, if any, corrective exercises I'll need to do, so until then, it's business as usual. :)

20kg press: 3L/4R for 3 sets

18lb pullup: couple singles, full-body tension

Tai Chi with Ellen from our group class for about 45 minutes - we went through the whole form, worked on the sticky parts, and went back through Section 3 a second time.

24kg snatch: 5L/5R for 15 sets
These weren't timed tonight, I took it nice and easy, held several of them, and did a press on the right in between a few of the sets.

24kg press on right: 1, for 7 sets
The 7th almost didn't make it up, so I stopped with that one.

8/25-8/26

24kg swings
24kg snatches (90 total)
16kg sots press 5L/5R for a couple sets
18lb pullups
20kg presses
24kg presses on right
Tennis
16kg halo

During last night's training, an elderly couple walked up, interested in the bells. The gentleman gestured to ask, "may I?", walked over to the 16kg, and busted out a pressed-snatch and four MPs. I smiled and said, "you've done this before?" In a strong accent, he responded with "I am Russian."
:)

Yes, it's real, and yes, this was Take No. 1

My little brother was actually standing right there. (How cool is that?!)



Insane!!

If you're in San Diego,

Don't miss this chance to train with Brett Jones, Master RKC.

Seriously, this is a rare opportunity, and he is REALLY that good.

September 12th-14th, a comprehensive RKC prep course, limited to 20 participants.
http://www.ironcorekettlebells.com/rkc.html

And... today's the last day to save $100.

Ingredients.

An excellent early-morning Tai Chi class.
Perfect, sunny weather.
A glittering swimming pool,
shiny green palm trees against a blue ocean,
great friends and a birthday to celebrate,
running to the ice cream truck in a bikini,
tequila,
beer,
wine,
iPod,
dancing,
singing,
...and kettlebells. Haha. ;D

A good day. :)

A teeny-tiny PR.

I told Adam Glass today, in response to his totally inspiring forum post, that I would go and get a PR. I didn't really mean TODAY, but it just sorta worked out that way.

I just squeezed out 3 strict military presses with the 20, on my left. (weak side.) I'm almost positive I had only gotten 2 before, and nowhere near every time.

So, yeah, it's a tiny PR. But it's still moving in the right direction, it's still a PR. ;) So stop laughing. ;)

I took a moment between each MP and re-pressurized: feet grabbing ground, locked knees, tensed glutes, compressed midsection, activated lats, strong grips.


So, here's the short-term pressing goal:

1 strict military press on the right with the 28
1 strict military press on the left with the 24

Next week is my FMS screen, so we'll see if there's anything to address as far as press strength imbalance, or whatever else.

Timeline: 3 weeks? I'll test on September 7 and 14.

Training 8/21

20kg press: 1L/3R for 2 sets

24kg snatch: 5L/5R on 1:30 for 10 sets.
This was hard today, I got pretty winded. (It's not supposed to be easy, anyway ;) Had the benefit of Sifu's sharp eye: I'm shifting my weight just a bit too far forward at the punch. Focus on staying firmly on heels throughout, keep midsection compressed, think about attaining a perfect vertical line from bell to shoulders to hips to heels. It will just take some diligent practice to get that "feeling" dialed-in and programmed.

24kg arm bar on L and R. Hips touch both sides... nice. Felt strong, felt good.

24kg press on R, couple singles.


Kickboxing Lesson #2
Notes:
Keep good stance (don't let feet cross or become too narrow).
Lean into, not away, from an advance.
Drive punches with hips, lead with knees.
Every punch should prepare for the next.
Really shift weight to back foot on left hook, to front foot on right hook, and sink down.
Pivot foot on kicks! ALL the way. Even more. 180 degrees. Work on this.
Knee up, not in.
Lead with knee.
Open hips.
Keep sufficient distance.

SUCH a fun lesson. Love it!

Training 8/19, 8/20

"Your press is only as good as your clean..."

Kenneth Jay echoes in my head almost every time I clean to an MP set. It just can't be helped. And... it helps. ;)

GTG Presses, Pistols, and Pull ups.

Mostly 16kg, some 20kg for presses
Mostly BW, some 16kg for pistols
Mostly 12kg lat pull holds, been a while since I trained pull ups with these, and they're good.

Looking forward to being FMS screened next week. I have a noticeable difference in BW pistol between left and right, and I'm curious what the screen will show in that regard... not to mention in every other way!


8/20 Restaurant review:
R+D Kitchen, Santa Monica

It's basically a Houston's with open windows, an even smaller menu, but more wines by the glass... and a plywood Eames elephant. (Why??)

I had the rubenesque, without "coleslaw" (mayonnaise is just a vile substance, IMO, and why not the standard kraut?). It was fine... not worth $16. Jayson had the french dip... overcooked, unimpressive. Expected Houston's quality f.dip or better (it's amazing there), and disappointed overall. Same fries as Hoston's, which are yummy, even if a bit oily. Atmosphere: a bit loud, but not obnoxiously so. Tables not crammed together. Bar area is not good, too many people, too difficult to get served. Food came out even a bit too fast. Service okay - forgot to bring out our heirloom tomato salad, otherwise spot-on.

Wines: glass of the Argentinan Malbec and a Spanish Tempranillo, both were nice.

Overall: Glad we tried it, but probably won't go back. Overpriced.

8/18 Training

Joint Mobility
24kg snatch: 5L/5R on 1:30 for 10 sets
BW pistol: 6, alternating

8/17 Training

24kg snatch: 5L/5R for 10 sets
Felt great. Had more forward lean at punch tonight. It wasn't timed... I walked in on Jayson's training and alternated sets with him.
(He did 23 or more sets of 15 swings - 3rd ballistic KB workout ever, BTW)
16kg press: 5L/5R for 4 sets
16kg TGU: 1L/1R
16kg arm bar: nice long pulses on Left and Right. Left hip touches easily, right hip about 1mm away! Will work on this, I love this drill.
16kg pistol: 1L/1R
BW pullup: 3, 3, 3, 4
Foam roller

8/16 Training

BW pullups: 2 for 3 sets
Joint Mobility
10 24kg swings
24kg snatch: 5L/5R on 1:30 for 4 sets

It was WAY muggy outside, hands did not cooperate, and form suffered. Switched to swings after 4 sets.

24kg swing: 15 on 1:30 for the last 6 sets. Nice and sharp, strong.

16kg press: 5L/5R for 6 sets
16kg goblet squat: 10

Foam roller

8/15 Training

24kg snatch: 5L/5R on 1:45 for 10 sets. Focus on MVC and faster hinging.
16kg seated press: 4L/4R - I've lost a lot of pressing strength. Gonna get back to work on this.

Getting back to business.

Hands are healed enough. It is SO time to start training again.
I was a bit under the weather the past day and a half, and have a show at the Hollywood Bowl tonight, so any work I want to do today will have to be squeezed in here at the office.

Luckily, I do keep my 20kg bell here. :)
Snatches feel good!

Started with 5L/5R, then three sets of 10L/10R... so just 70 total for today.

I now really wish I had some time for the 24kg tonight... but I'll just have to wait till tomorrow.

I miss the heavy snatches. It's going to be a good week of training after this long rest, and I cannot wait.

(I'm coming after you, Peggy!)


EDIT: I found 10 minutes. :)

24kg snatch: 5L/5R for 5 sets.

The RKC Grad Workout, in Photos

Farmer's walk to the starting point, at the opposite end of the field.

Hey, this isn't so bad.


Just keep swinging, just keep swinging, what do we do, we swing...

You never know when Pavel is going to sneak up behind you and start shouting words of encouragement. ;)
(In all honesty I didn't see or hear a thing during the whole length of the field, Pavel included. I saw this photo and thought: Yup, you better believe it, Pavel is watching you! Don't even think about taking an extra step...and if you did...yeah he probably saw it. Future RKCs take note.)

Simple... not easy.

This is what the audible "heihhh!" pant looks like. It is a little awkward to have a camera in your face when you're breathing too hard to speak. You're not quite finished yet... ready, and...


See-saw.

Get it done.

A few favorite RKC moments, in pretty close to chron order. (And I even found photos for some of them.)

My teammate, Peter, passing his snatch test for the first time ever - the time it counted. Ooo-Rah, Peter.

Intros: "KBLA!"

Mike's Beast Taming: Jaw-dropping, simply awesome. (No I did not attempt this time, have more work to do on the pull-up.)

Pavel's Troubleshooting demos. Yes, I took thorough notes.

Rif calling me up to demo.

Chillin' with Tracy Rif.

Brett Jones' lectures and demos. I am so glad he was at my cert.

Finding a cold, thawed Gatorade in my bag.

Dan John. (see the close attention I'm paying)

Hearing Pavel say "...unless you are a mutant, like Nikki."

Helping my teammate, Ro, find the sweet spot on presses.

Realizing my swings have improved a great deal, thanks to three newly-acquired foci: really pull the bell down instead of letting it fall, hinge only when arms reach ribs, compress midsection even more to keep from leaning backward, even if only slightly. (Thanks, W2)

Teaching my victims.

Being surprised by the sight of Jayson, standing there taking photos. That was a great surprise. :)

Yes, even the grad workout was a favorite moment. It was hard. It was hot. Jays was there with a cold water. I saw a halo around his head at least twice. We finished as a team.

Rif & KJ's promotion to Master RKC.

The clean-up, as an RKC.

The ride home, as an RKC.

Waking up the next morning, as an RKC.

4 Days Later....

Pretty close to healed! Aw, look, it's in the shape of a heart, how sweet.

While I'm feeling the need to get back to training after my 2 consecutive off-days after the RKC, I suppose I should just let my hand heal completely first.

Oh, right, the RKC... ;)

So, I was REALLY excited for my cert, every part of it. The learning, the challenge, the acquaintances.... the whole experience. I had huge expectations. And, I am not disappointed. I got to meet several people I'd admired for a long time, I did learn (and retain!) a great deal, and it certainly was challenging. Let's put a more accurate word to it: does "Brutal" fit? The RKC is hardcore. Yeah, most of us already knew that. Yet, as a girl who, I admit, likes to think of herself as pretty tough, I can tell you that all of that goes bye-bye with the last remnant of fog of the Los Angeles summer morning. The heat bears down, the skin starts tearing, you have to grab an opporunity to hydrate when you can, because you might sweat a liter before getting another chance. Honestly, although I can't remember ever being that sore from head to toe (first day snowboarding comes close), the hand problems were still the biggest physical challenge for me. And that, of course, was really disappointing, not to mention surprising. I do a pretty high volume of KB snatches, without any protection. My hands are well-conditioned. Throw some brand new gritty bells, major heat, moisture, and overspeed swings (pictured left) into the mix, however, and the "tough" girl with the good callouses ends up blistered, weepy, pouty, and a little bit pissed. You know what, though, I should have been prepared. I should have bought some sock-sleeves, and I should have been taped from hour 1. Remember the line from Kettlebell Safety 101? "It's your fault."!

TBC.

Random Thought of the Day

A rare filet mignon.
Guinness.
Kettlebells.

...Iron-y.