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

This is a funny month for me, I just got back from Montreal last weekend (Kinetik music festival) and will be leaving for Germany the 28th (Wave Gotik Treffen music festival) so between the two trips I have to make sure I don’t catch any colds, etc. etc.  Thankfully I haven’t been slacking off at all before this strange vacation period…  Here’s  yesterday’s "back at it" more maintenance style workout - nothing done to failure, but intense enough to wake everything up, thats for sure.   Weights given are in kilos (8K=17.6lbs, 12K=26.4lbs, 16K=35.2lbs, 20K=44lbs, 24K=52.8lbs)

Chin ups (strict dead hang) 3 sets of 10 (I can do more, but….)
SeeSaw kettlebell presses 2×16K kettlebells 3 sets of 8/per side
Floor Chest Presses 2×16K kettlebells 3 sets of 12
Bottoms up cleans 12k 2 sets of 10/side, 1 set of practice bottoms up presses also 12k
Renegade Rows w/ pushup between rows (pushup from kb handles, lift right, lift left = 1 rep) 2×20k 3 sets of 5
Weird Pavel/AndreaDuKane "powerbreathing crunches" 8 center, 6 each side, 2 sets of 30 "Russian twists" with 8k (the results from doing these sorts of things alternated with doing 3 sets of 50 situps on odd days caused my very very drunk friend at the Kinetik festival to keep rubbing my tummy and excitingly telling others to try it - it was strange… if you like people to do that to you, perhaps you might start doing these exercises?)
Shrugs (because I like my upper trapezius and neck thats slightly too big for certain t-shirts… now where’s my Riddick goggles???) 2×24K kettlebells 3 sets of 15 (I know that’s uncharacteristically high rep, but they’re too easy to do fewer… and I’m NOT about to lug a heaver pair of anything up to the 3rd floor just for 3 sets of freaking shrugs… )

Hope to post the lower half version of this workout tomorrow! :)

Just found an article on Yahoo… talking about women, body image, weight, health etc.  Of course all of these things are BIG ISSUES© and sell a lot of books, magazines etc.   But first I wanted to pull something out of it:

"She points to women athletes as much better role models than supermodels: "There’s an undervaluing of physical fitness and an overvaluing of absolute weight and appearance for women in our culture.""

Seriously - I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’d been happy with the number on the scale, but not with my physical abilites, stamina, general shape, etc.   Now, that I focus on what I can do (chin ups, rock bottom kettlebell pistols, etc.) - or strive towards doing one day, the focus on absolute weight has literally fallen away.  This could be the result of a few things:

1. A shift in priorities
2. I’m in a somewhat maintenance phase and have achieved a baseline of fitness (in my opinion…) so the rest is gravy (devil’s advocate)
3. The gains in physical ability have become a greater reward and a source of confidence, so the need to compare with society’s sometimes unrealistic female images is lessened.***
4. The fact that body composition, and body measurements are greater indicators than just weight/bmi

I remember being a very scrawny vegan (when people were acting "concerned" and before some of you even knew me) and thinking… I just came off a 10 day cleansing fast and could blow away in the wind, why do I still have a saggy ass??   Because the answer, ladies, is NOT TO STARVE YOURSELF! (side note, just because you’re vegan, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re starving yourself, thats not the point I’m trying to make) The answer is to eat realistically and adjust physical activity accordingly.   Maybe physical fitness goals should be put ahead of scale-based goals (for some clients)… I can see how that would be attractive to people who already consider themselves to be athletes - someone who wants to improve their speed on a 5k, train for a marathon, or has a deadlift competition coming up - those people will not be as concerned about their weight (other than the deadlifter getting into a favorable competitive weight class) and certainly not as concerned that they do not look like the woman on the cover of cosmo this month.

So the question is, how do we shift the focus to physical fitness, not just the scale in this image-weight-appearance-based world?  How do we get regular people to think more like athletes, and to respect their own abilities?   This is something I hope to help with - might be idealistic, but I like the idea of a client being all "WOW!  Look what I can DO! Oh, and look at that - I managed to improve my body composition in the process - I almost didn’t notice"

***I swear, I’m going to develop a mini-computer-course in "what can be done with photoshop for magazines and catalogs" for clients who may be too focused on trying to obtain an impossible body which only exists because of photoshop.

A friend of mine was laid off of work a few weeks ago and is still searching for a job - when she’s not furiously interviewing or trying to get an interview, she’s working on a novel and trying to keep up her spirits.   For now she’s my workout partner on some days - since there is a very nice park by her house with one of those fitness trails (yay chinup bar…) etc.    So we haul a bunch of workout stuff out there at least once a week.  Luckily, we are in Florida so we can do this this time of year without our hands freezing to the handles of the kettlebells…  This last time was extra fun though - I had just gotten the "Advanced Russian Kettlebell" DVD with Phil Ross and was itching to try out the Swing to open hand catch move that was NOT ABOUT TO HAPPEN in my condo on the 3rd floor… the neighbors like me and I want to keep it that way - I also don’t want to make big craters in the floor!   The swing to catch is WAY too much fun, btw - I tried it with one of the babies - the 8k just to make sure I had the right idea - then moved up to doing this with the 12k - which was a little easier since the bell part was larger and easier to catch.  I’m pretty sure I can do it with the 16 and will try that next time - if not, it can just fall to the ground safely, no big deal - not like at home…  Proud to say that I have officially moved up to doing multiple sets of 3 pistols/side with the 16k kettlebell - which is a big accomplishment to me at least…
I’m really proud of my friend though, she made some great progress with her Turkish Get Up (and I figured out a few new ways of explaining some of the movements to people…) and her general flexibility has improved a whole lot over the past few weeks - she can now squat a lot deeper for instance.

A funny thing, she went to find the water fountain and I somehow ended up doing cartwheels in the grass, just for the hell of it - and I have to say - it is the weirdest thing if you haven’t done them since childhood - part of your body remembers being smaller for a split second - so yeah, for all the big burly fitness talk I sometimes do, I end up doing cartwheels and jumping rope in the park.  Its good stuff though, and a little cardio fun between sets never hurt anybody…
I finally posted a couple new pictures!!   I need to take some at the park during one of our crazy times - you will be amused.

Yesterday a friend tipped me off to a local metal scrapyard selling some kettlebells (in need of a little rustoleum) at bargain prices… so I picked up a pair of 24k bells (boyfriend seemed enthused about them, and they were $35 for the PAIR, Perform Better Brand) and a spare 16k… I now have at my disposal a whole lot of these crazy things… so instead of the kettlebell circuit I had been working on, I decided to modify it to use all of them for one thing or another here’s what happened (I know these are in a strange order, but I’m working on a few things in terms of endurance etc… and keep in mind when you see the weights of these things that I’m a girl…)

Approx Metric Conversion Cheat Sheet:
8k = 17.6lbs, 12k=26lbs, 16k=36lbs, 20k=44lbs, 24k=52lbs
Start with 40 1-hand swings with a 12k (I switch hands every 10 swings) as a warm up, take a minute rest

Set a timer for 5 minutes (I’m starting to train for the RKC Snatch test for women that weigh more than 123lbs) and do at LEAST 50 total snatches with the 16k kettlebell, resting as necessary.  I need to improve my form and consistency, but I knocked out 54 of them.  Considering how long it will take me to save up for the RKC class, I’m not too worried - its all about starting early!  2 Minute rest

Pistols - 4/side with 12k kettlebell held in front

Overhead lockout squats with 2 12k kettlebells held overhead

10 sumo deadlifts with the 2 24k kettlebells

30 Twist crunches with the 12k kettlebell

Low figure 8 with 12k bell, 30 passes

NEXT iteration…

30 1 hand swings with the 16k kettlebell, 10-10-5-5 would have done more but hands got sweaty

Reciprocating snatches for 30 seconds straight with the pair of 8k kettlebells to get the groove down - this exercise looks funny, like a monkey freaking out!
2 pistols each side with a 16k kettlebell held out front

Overhead lockout squats with 2 12k kettlebells held overhead

12 sumo deadlifts with the 2 24k kettlebells

50 traditional situps
Low figure 8 with 12k bell, 30 passes

Third and Final iteration:

20 2 handed swings with the 20k kettlebell

Reciprocating snatches for 30 seconds straight with the pair of 8k kettlebells

2 pistols each side with the pair of 8k bells in the racked position (balancing act!)

10 Squats with the pair of 20k bells in the racked position

12 sumo deadlifts with the pair of 24k bells

Weird Systema inspired "leg lift" lower ab exercise that also includes the plow stretch (its a precursor to doing rolls) 5 iterations

Low figure 8 with 12k bell, 30 passes

WHEW.  That used all of them.  Is it nap time yet?????

I was thinking the other night, while re-watching Pitch Black for the 1,000th time of something VERY VERY silly: the fact that the Riddick Trilogy motivated me to do something (a few years ago and continuing to the present day)… and that is to train my upper traps.

I know… its not the most feminine thing in the world, but I think a defined neckline looks nice - on me at least, its probably not for everyone, and I’ve had to cut the neck binding off of a few band t-shirts so that they don’t get all tight and annoying, but these are small sacrifices…

What is something silly like that which has motivated you to train a particular muscle group, or adopt a new method of training/eating/etc. etc.???

Just got in a small pair of kettlebells from Muscle Driver…  nick named them the "baby bells" though I won’t call them that in front of clients - they’re 8k each and great for teaching a beginning woman, or to try a complicated exercise for the first time - I figured out the groove for reciprocating snatches the other day… neat stuff!   Anyway, when I’ve mentioned them to a couple of female friends (non-lifters) they still baulk at the idea of just under 18lbs that you use both hands with (I would start them on 2 handed swings/box squats) though I know from past shopping trips they regularly haul around with heavy purses and multiple bags of multiple pairs of shoes…  Don’t make me paint those little kbells to look like your new Kate Spade bag, sweetie…. I’ll do it!  HAHAHA!   But I digress, I think once they get the idea of the movements then it shouldn’t be a big deal.

Also planning a "play in the park day" for adults - agility/footwork stuff, obstacles, kbells, basic calisthenic exercises, just a fun workout.  Hopefully this will happen soon and I’ll have pictures of us all going nuts jumping running etc.  It will be a good test of my "explaining how to do stuff" skills… thats for sure!!

But I’m still keeping up with the workouts - if not more so…. traded in some jogging (sooo boring) and elliptical (see jogging) training for a little cardio kettlebell circuit I came up with, I say little because I’m using "the small one" (12k or 26lbs) and the main goal is a whole lot of sweating and leg work (hince the pistols break) - I’ll do anything to get off those darned machines:

Do the circuit at least 3 times:

40 1 hand swings (10 then switch hands)

12 snatches on each side (24 total)
12 overhead lockout squats each hand  (24 total)

Pistols - 2 per side while holding kb.

30 Seated (well leaning back but keeping back straight) twists while holding kb

Figure 8 (30 counts, switch directions in middle)

150 turns of the jump rope

As long as you don’t rest too long between them, this gets the heart going!

I need to update my stats and pictures on this thing…. the tiniest hint of a 6-pack is showing in certain types of light, but I’m so pale I don’t know if it would show up for the camera!  Oh well :)