Groundhog Day

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Leg Break - 1 Yr Later

In just under a year since I broke my leg, I feel that my leg strength is nearly back to my pre-break strength. This morning on my leg workout, I was able to leg press the entire stack of plates (400 lbs.) three times. I can't recall lifting the entire stack before, but I usually lift in the 6-12 rep range. I also squatted 280 lbs 5x3, where my pre-break 1-rep max was 290 lbs.

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Friends Don't Let Friends Workout Irresponsibly

Galan and Swami came over to try out my meager home gym.

SSB Squats 205 lbs 5 x 5 (Galan did sets of 10).
Swami and Galan don't go as deep as I. We all have a variation of our own.

C&P 24kg; 3 ladders of 3 rungs (3 x 1/1,2/2,3/3).
Swings and snatches various weights and reps.
Singles with TGU, F82S, Suitcase DL, and Farmers Walks.

I think they had fun and I liked sharing my toys.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! Counting down to the big KB workout January 19, 2009 followed by a sensible dinner, healthy beverages, and mind stimulation. Cheers!

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Snatch Test

I had a bet with Swami and Galan that by the end of the year I could get 100 snatches in less than 10 minutes. They had some weight loss goals.

I was thinking all day: How hard could it be? I’d set the Gymboss to 30 seconds and the egg timer to 5 minutes. All I needed to do was get 10 reps in every 30 seconds...of course that assumes I could breathe (generally accepted as being over rated). After 60 reps I knew I wasn’t going to make 5 minutes and had to readjust the egg timer. I think I did it in slightly under 7 minutes. It was my first attempt and I learned a lot from the video. Lots of work to do, but still it was a goal.

Snatches 24kg; 5 x 10/10

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Giving Thanks

Not a big fan of the AM workouts, but that’s what I needed to do if I was going to squeeze one in today. Busy week so it had to be done. A quickie:

TGU’s
16kg; 5 x 1/1

One armed swings
16kg; 10 x 10/10 on the top of the minute.
I focused on packing the shoulder, actively pulling the bell down, snapping the hips and pulling up the knees, keeping the weight on the heels, and bending at the hips.

Today is Thanksgiving and it’s been a full year since I started with the Kettlebells. Lot’s of starts and stops. Lots of lessons learned. Next year promises to be better. That’s not to imply this was a bad year. I have lots to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for friends and family and the prayers from those who watch out for me. I’m thankful for a roof over my head, a car that runs, and food on the table. I’m thankful for a job to pay the bills. I’m thankful for enough coin to have a decent lifestyle, but not so much as to not appreciate what I have. I’m thankful for a little girl who doesn’t know the word convenient, but gives great hugs, make me laugh, and is always showing me what’s really important.

(…and if I get the turkey thawed in time I’ll be thankful for that too.)

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