randywv’s BodyBlog

I’m back on a full kettlebell program again, and loving it!  I finished a bench and deadlift cycle (1 month) a few weeks ago and switched over to kettelbells.  The program is great (pullups, swings, snatches, clean & presses), and is detailed in Pavel’s book Enter the Kettlebell (dragondoor.com).  I’ve also decided to become certified as a kettelbell instructor, which involves a tough course I’ll be attending next May in Denmark.  I’m pretty excited about that, and motivated to get into shape so I’ll pass the physical tests that are part of the course with ease.  I have to snatch 24kg 100 times in 5 minutes as well as perform a ‘graduation workout’ which will be even more grueling - and I’m looking forward to it!  To anyone interested in using kettlebells seriously: go see a certified instructor!  I prefer the dragondoor/hardstyle school here, and a RKC will be able to do more for you than any book or cd in the beginning.

Randy

I did some more reviewing on form for swings and getups and worked with my brother to have a second viewpoint on form for the first couple workouts.  The program I’m doing for the next couple months will involve only swings and getups, and I’ll be progressing the weight up as I go along on both.  Gotta love simple programs J.  Swings are a great cardio workout, and the interval training done with sets of swings separated by active recovery is extremely effective.  Getups are also a great workout, and they get you sweating and your heart beating even if you aren’t gasping for breath.  I’ve done a few workouts so far, and appropriately my legs are a little fatigued and my hamstrings are a little tight – good indicators that I’m doing the swings correctly from what I’ve ready.  Looking forward to more!
 
One note I would make when approaching kettlebells is to be very wary of advice from any source that’s not well trusted and in agreement with other trusted sources.  I won’t offer specific advice here for that very reason, but I would encourage anyone interested to do their homework and be sure they’re performing any move correctly and safely.  If it’s possible, see a certified instructor to have your form corrected in person, but don’t take any one person’s word for gospel – even an instructor’s…
  
Randy

I started powerlifting in late December 2008.  It was my first strength training program (and first serious weight lifting of any kind, really).  Now, 5 months later, I’ve finished my second cycle and have made some great gains (the numbers are in my bodyspace details).  In retrospect, I wish I would have taken better ‘before’ pictures and also done a max lift on the three lifts from the very beginning to help gauge my improvement.  I don’t need to know my starting maxes to know that I’ve made great gains though!  I could barely bench 115 lbs when first starting, and I benched 245 lbs for 1 rep yesterday!  My squat was 290 lbs (started well under 200 lbs), and I have my deadlift max left to do (maybe Wednesday - expecting 350+ lbs for 1 rep - started around 160 lbs for 5×5).  I seemed to have picked a great program as an introduction to strength training (even considering ‘beginner gains’), and highly recommend it to anyone interested.  It’s outlined here: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-powerlifting-and-how-to-add-110-pounds-to-your-lifts/     Overall, I’ve gained a good amount of muscle and strength with this program and will definitely revisit it.  I feel like it was the best way to get started in weight lifting, because I quickly got my big lifts up to weights that will be effective on other programs.

 Randy

Last week my deadlifts were really tough.  I found myself staring at the bar not wanting to lift it for some time before actually doing so, and feeling like it was using every ounce of energy left in my body when I did get around to it.  I hung out and got my lifts in (5 sets of 5 all at 265 lbs), but it was really draining, and the cardio afterwards was equally lifeless.  I’m not experiencing any pains or reasons to stop the deadlifts until the end of my current cycle, so I decided to try and change a couple things with my diet and schedule to improve the deadlifting sessions.  I cut out my cardio the day before, ate a normal dinner (off of my ‘slow carb’ diet, so it had some bread and rice), and made sure to get enough sleep.  I also tried to make sure I had enough food throughout the day.  The result was a lot more energy for the workout, and the lift seeming easier (although 10 lbs heavier with the same amount of reps) that the last week.  Deadlifts are the first lift for me to get really draining and intimidating when the numbers go up, so I think I’ll keep this as part of my routine from now on whenever I have deadlifts to do, or whenever I’m struggling in any particular lift.

Randy

The body fat calipers I ordered (Accu-Measure) arrived in the mail today, and I had my first go at using them.  Surprisingly, I was able to get a very consistent reading from several different measurements in the vicinity recommended in the literature (and other places), which is 1" above the point of the right hip bone.  It ended up being 19mm, which translates into 19.6% body fat for my age on the supplied chart.  I’m actually quite happy, as I estimated my own body fat being between 25% and 30% when I started in Dec. ‘08, and my short term goal was to get under 20% body fat, which I seem to have recently reached!
 
My next goal will be 15% body fat, and this time I’ll be able to track it on my page here.  Doing the math, I have approx. 40 lbs of fat currently and to have 15% body fat while maintaining muscle mass, I’ll need to reduce my fat to approx 28 lbs for a total weight of 188 lbs.  I expect to gain some muscle, so this may change, but the projection to lose about 12 lbs of fat is reasonable, and I’m giving myself 3 months to get to 15% body fat.
 
The equation I used to find required fat mass for a desired body fat % and given lean mass was (desired body fat%)=(required fat mass)/((lean mass) + (required fat mass)).  I used current body fat% and current weight to find my current lean mass and fat mass.
 
 
Randy

A quick post about something that happened yesterday.  I was in my friend’s garage so we could look at my car, and I didn’t realize that the car wasn’t pulled up far enough to cover the entire opening of the pit in the floor (approx 6ft deep).  I stepped in front of the car to prop open the hood, but I stepped on thin air…  Luckily I caught myself on the edge of the pit behind me with one hand and the front of the car with the other and minimized the impact to the equivalent of sitting down too fast vs. really hurting myself on the concrete edges of the pit or eating the front of my car with my face…  I have never caught myself in this fashion before in my life, probably because I have never had the upper body strength that I have now.  Specifically, the benching (and probably squatting and deadlifting, too) has really increased the strength in my triceps and upper back, which is what mostly saved me during the fall.  I’m sure the getups that I did for about a month helped, too.  It’s definitely nice to have some extra strength when you need it!

-Randy

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and learning over the last 5 months.  First I was focusing on powerlifting with a progressive 5×5 program, and gained some weight pretty quickly.  One of the things I’ve learned is that beginner’s luck isn’t luck at all – Everyone is guaranteed some impressive gains their first time using a strength training program.  I had my ‘spurt’ in the first 6 weeks or so relating to muscle growth, but since then I’ve changed my diet and have seen good changes in fat loss as well.  I’m very happy with my current progress and overall state of physical and mental health as a result of my hard work.
Powerlifting
I enjoy powerlifting, and have learned a bit about the sport from research online and the video ‘Strength Stretching’ (Dragon Door).  I’m not sure yet that I’ll ever try to compete seriously in the sport, but I am sure that I’ll keep it as a valuable part of my training.  I have seen the proof that using full-body movements with heavy weights will trigger significant muscle and strength gains, and can replace more complicated routines that focus on individual muscle groups or body parts.
Fat Loss
Since I want to add muscle but lose fat (most people seem to want this), I’m not concerned with my bodyweight, which is 200 lbs at the time of this writing, but with my body fat percentage.  I ordered body fat calipers after some research into body fat percentage measurement techniques and their pro’s and con’s.  Once they arrive I’m looking forward to tracking my body fat percentage as a tool to tweak my diet and workout routine.  The mirror is a good tool, too, as many have said, but it’s not sufficient for measuring small changes (although I have seen some nice changes in the mirror already!).  My current diet is a low glycemic index diet (also called slow carb, south beach diet, etc.), and it’s working great so far.  I eat normal food once a week to keep my metabolism and other body functions normal, though.
Kettlebells
Kettlebells are very applealing to me, and for a few weeks I added the ‘Program Minimum’ from the book ‘Enter the Kettlebell’ to my workout schedule along with the powerlifting.  The kettlebell getups did great things for my shoulders in just a couple weeks, but the combination of the two programs was too hard on my knees.  This resulted in my taking two additional weeks off from kettlebells and powerlifting to let me knees heal and served as a lesson to me about combining programs that are meant to be used exclusively…  I currently plan to alternate kettlebell and powerlifting cycles (8-12 weeks each with a 1-2 week cardio-only break inbetween) as a long-term plan, and re-evaluate effectiveness after one year.
Cardio
My lesson with combining the two programs and subsequent knee problems led me to incorporate low impact cardio into my powerlifting program so I had the benefit of interval cardio training for fat loss and cardiovascular fitness without the added stress to my body.  I currently get 3-5 cardio sessions per week, alternating swimming (1 lap slow, 1 lap sprint, repeat for 20-30 minutes) and recumbent stationary cycling (45 seconds easy, 30 seconds sprint, repeat for 15-25 minutes).  I enjoy the cardio because it is what gives me energy to stay awake in my chair all day and can wake me up if I’m dragging.
So far things are going great, and I’m looking forward to future improvements, tracking body fat %, and alternating kettlebell programs with powerlifting programs.  Expect updates!
-Randy