10,000 KBS, WORKOUT 4, 8 JULY 2014

-I can’t overstate how much I love Kettlebells. I appreciate their simplicity, their utility, and their effectiveness. I ‘m drawn by how ruthless and punishing they are when used incorrectly, while being incredibly efficient and rewarding when used the right way. And the 10,000 KBS work out will let you know, post haste, if you are using them correctly or incorrectly. Another reason I’m enjoying this program so much is that I am achieving success with each workout. Frankly, with all the recent shoulder trouble I have had, it has been a while since I have felt successful in any of my physical endeavors. Being able to complete a workout to standard with no modification while still feeling greatly challenged has been nothing short of fantastic. Needless to say, from the time I opened my eyes this morning I was chomping at the bit to start swinging bells today.

-I completed the work out in 44:30 and increased my FS weight by 10# to 235, or just over .72 1RM. I got 6 hours of sleep the night prior. My swinging cadence was between 35 and 38 SPM, or 1.6-1.7 seconds per swing.

-Unfortunately, as excited as I was to begin today’s training session I found myself, once again, in a time crunch. I was doing this work out between classes. I had workers over in the new space and athletes that needed some help, and the clock was ticking. By the time I started warming up it was already 0820. I had to coach another class at 0930. In my haste to get moving I forgot to put the 5’s on the bar to bring the bar up to 235#. When I approached the bar to knock out the first FS in the first cluster I saw my mistake. It cost me about 25 seconds to get it all sorted out.

-On a positive note my breathing was on point right from the first swing on. I felt completely relaxed right through my set of 50 in the first cluster. Disassociative breathing works! The FS in the first cluster felt heavier than I would have liked, but the swings were no problem.

-The second cluster was easier than the first and the FS felt much quicker. Rather than pausing to reset at the top, from the second cluster on I did the sets of 2 and 3 reps without a reset.

-The third and forth clusters required about the same effort. At the completion of the 4th cluster I was primed and ready to go for the 5th one. I knew the sets of 10, 15, and 25 KBS and the 1, 2, and 3 FS were not going to pose a problem and I was looking forward to seeing how relaxed I could stay in my final set of 50 swings.

-The final cluster went as predicted. You can see in the attached video https://vimeo.com/103089295 that my breathing did become more labored by mid set, and soon there after my breaths start to sync up with my swings. However, my last 50 swings were a challenge for my grip and nothing more. While that’s a good problem to have, it’s a problem nonetheless. I’m under-belled. Time to throw the 32kg into the mix.