FeralGoth’s BodyBlog

My awesome friends save a "join our gym for 1 week free" coupon for me every 6 months or so - and we all go together etc.   A few strange things happened this time though… first off, I’ve been working out at home or parks or backyards almost exclusively for 6 months - most of the time *barefoot* and with kettlebells and a combination of calisthenic and basic exercises (pullups/chin ups).   I got into the gym and the freeweights and barbells almost felt *strange*.  That and it took me a while to find my shoes in the closet of doom.  The good news was, my work at home had paid off - things like overhead military presses had increased, even though the movement using a barbell felt SUPER DUPER WEIRD as compared to the kettlebell military presses I had been doing.  No stress though, I had collars on the ends of the barbell, and my excellent spotting friend right there behind me.  Later this week we might try to figure out our 1RM for bench - GIRL POWER TIME! :)

Oddly enough though, even though I am glad for the variety, ultimately I feel like I’m getting a more intense workout outside of the gym… hmmmmmmm.

Another workout (yesterday), or how to "make the bottom half hurt like the top half does" part of the "I can’t be bothered to drive anywhere in this heat to work out, so I should do this at home" kettlebell series.

Decided to continue with the multiple sets thing from Monday and apply it to the lower body.

Pistols - with 1 16K (approx 35lbs) kettlebell:
4 sets of 4 on each side

Front Squats with 2 20K (approx 44lbs each) kettlebells:
5 sets of 5

Good Mornings with 1 24K (approx 53lbs) Kettlebell - with strict attention to form:
3 sets of 12

Kettlebell Hack Squats (ala Steve Maxwell) light weight for practice and balance (8K and 12K kbs used)
5 sets of 6

1 Leg Deadlift strict form 1 24K kettlebell
3 sets of 8 per side

Renegade Lunges with 16K kettlebell
2 sets of 10 (would have done more, but had to get ready to meet people for dinner)

Today will be an "easy day" mostly of cardio and ab work - then its back at the ladder from the previous post!   I have to say though, I was getting ready for bed last night and the backs of my arms kept bumping "something" - that something was a lat - I thought the new grip on the "tactical" chin ups was effective OUCH!!!!  Guess it was!!!!

In other news, I was inspired by the Protein Peanut Butter Balls on this page:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/10_beginner_recipes.htm

My variant uses 2 scoops of  BSN Dessert Chocolate Fudge, skips the oatmeal, uses half peanut butter and half almond butter, cuts the honey in half and adds a dash of salt.   This also requires you to mash it all up with your hands - FUN!!!!!

Needed to shake things up a bit - I’ve been stuck in a rut with kettlebell see-saw presses (variant of military press) and decided to do an interesting challenge yesterday with upper body change ups:

Some of the weights seem a little light, but this is more of a volume workout and the starting point of a little workout cycle:

Overhand "tactical" pullups (touch the bar with your neck or upper chest) wide-ish grip (relative to shoulders):
6 sets of 5 reps each, though towards the end I lost a rep :(

Kettlebell Clean and Press Ladder (the beginning) 16K (35lb) kettlebell (ladder of 1,2,3 then switch hands 1, 2, 3 brief rest, repeat 5 times)

Chest Press from the Floor 2X16K kettlebells - 4 sets: 12, 11, 9?!?, 11

Floor Flys with pair of 20lb dbs - 1 set of 10 reps (need to rethink this one, and got rushed…)

Renegade Rows with pushup (ie: "man maker" though I think thats a silly name) 2×20K (44lb) kettlebells 4 sets of 5 reps (rep equals 1 pushup, and one row each arm)

Selection of bizarre ab exercises: Russian Twist (with 8K kb), Half Up (with 8K), Powerbreathing crunch 10 reps

KB snatches with 16K kettlebell, 12/side