Purposeful Primitive Online

I’ve often said that one of the best reasons to train and condiiton yourself is so that the rest of your life becomes easier. My theory was put to the test dramatically in the past week. We have received over 30 inches of snow this past week here in the Baltimore area and I’ve been shoveling off and on all week.

Marty Gallagher and I chatted this morning and I told him how much easier shoveling is now than it used to be. Keep in mind we haven’t had an snow accumalation to speak of in the last few years. The lack of winter precipatation coincides with the approximate time of my kettlebell training.  I told Marty that shoveling is a piece of cake and we talked about the great amount of sustained strength that kettlebells gives those of us who train with them. When I’ve been moving snow this week I’ve had absolutely no huffing and puffing or any back pain while working or after. Another example of the famous kettlebell WTH effect.  Meanwhile, I’ve seen comment after comment on Twitter and Facebook complaining about post snow shoveling muscle soreness as well as how hard it is while doing it.

So Marty asked me to conduct an experiment today. I strapped on my heart rate monitor and set out to shovel my sidewalk for the umpteenth time since last Friday.  Since I’ve been doing my best to keep the walkways clear there wasn’t a ton of new accumulation. I spent 20 minutes working, and my average heart rate was 65% of my Maximim Age Related Heart Rate. I burned an average of 8.3 calories a minute. Not a huge amount considering I can get to over 20 calories per minute in a intense kettlebell session.

And that proves my point. If I work hard in the gym and focus on working hard then real life is much easier. If you don’t work out or don’t work out hard enough to make the real world a piece of cake what’s the point?

Mid Week in Review:

Sunday: did 4 sets of 5 reps with the 55 lb dumbbell

Dead lift was 4 sets of 5 with 225.

I’m ten weeks out from Tactical Strength Challenge and Marty decided to have me back down a bit in anticipation of the stretch run. So this is a new Week 1.

Will be doing 4 days a week of my Marty lifts, 3 days of Recon Ron Pullups and 3 days a week of kettlebell drills.

I feel that the way we have my program now will enable me to really work towards my goals through hard work but will still allow me to remain fresh.

Monday: Recon Ron Pull ups; 8,6,5,5 and 4 reps. Felt good for me today. Only one more workout at this rep scheme and then it changes up again.

Front squat was 4 worksets of 5 reps at 135. Squats have improved dramatically and I know that they will help my dead lifting.

Tuesday: Today was a day of good snatching. It was split between two kettlebell snatch session. The first one, I did 6 sets of 5/5 on the minute for 6 minutes. 60 reps total. I felt pretty solid and shoulder stability was wonderful. This evening, I did 3 intervals of all out 24 kg snatches for 1:30 with a full rest of 6 minutes between intervals. First set I did 39 reps. Same amount in the 2^nd set and was only able to get 35 in the final group. Extrapolation is dangerous but I went from a pace of 26 a minute in the first sets to 23 so I lost 12% of my power. I need to do better in order to hit my goal but felt nice.

Today after I warmed up, I did my pull ups. Rep scheme was again 8,6,5,5 and 4. Struggled a bit but I am looking forward to a weekend of recovery so I can start anew on Monday.

Next I did my dumbbell military press unilaterally. Started with 3 reps on the right and then did them left. Used 55 lbs and did 3 sets. Felt good and after working with Marty Gallagher on Tuesday this was a suggestion from him to lay off the barbell military for a bit and go after it with dumbbells.

Finished with kettlebell snatches. Did 3 sets of 1 minute and 15 seconds full out. Full recovery between sets. Did 30 reps each time. Not the speed I am looking for so I need to improve there.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Did 100 snatches in the 10 minutes. Felt good and have a really nice base to really get after it now. Goal is 125 for the Tactical Strength Challenge in April. Taming the arc nicely and have really worked on the drop.

Pull ups 8,6,5,5 and 4. These felt quite solid and I continue my progress.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Today went well. I weighed in at 177.8 lbs which is slightly concerning but I still continue to get stronger so it isn’t grave at least yet.

Eating quite a lot employing the Primal Blueprint. I avoid grains as much as I can and limit my intake of fruit. I eat a lot of grass fed beef, some lamb, deer, and pastured pig and chicken. Some nuts. I cook with coconut oil and eat lots of leafy greens. Little rice and potato but a lot of sweet potato.

Today I did 2 work sets of 3 reps of 130 lbs on the Standing Barbell Military press.  Rep quality was better than last week at heavier weight.

Tactical Pull ups in set scheme of 8 reps, 6, 5,5 and 4. Making progress.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Today I warmed up with 5 minutes of TGUs. Also did some windmills as well.

Hit 3 sets of 3 with the 16 kg kettlebell too.

Warm up for the standing barbell press, 8 reps at 45, 5 reps at 65, 3 work sets of 3 reps at 125. Felt pretty good but the last rep on the 3rd set was kind of shaky. Got it cleanly though.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Day 3 of the dead lift work I’m doing on Marty’s recommendation. I was starting with my hips too high so I’m really focused on getting back and down if you will. Warmed up and then did 1 set of 5 at 205.

Did Pull ups at 7.6.5.4 and 4 reps.

Finished with 60 32 kg snatches. Did 5 per side for 10 sets.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Did my “Recon Ron” pull up program with sets of 7,6,5,4, and 4 and felt good. Making some speed progress and driving elbows down per Charles Staley recommendation.

10 minutes of Kalos Sthenos style TGU with 16 kg kettlebell. Moved into 10 sets of 10 reps with the 40 KG two handed swing.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Was scheduled with my programming to hit 1 set of 5 reps with 115 lbs.

Did a warm up with 65 for 8 reps then did 95 for 3. Went to work set but was able to complete just 4 of the 5. Looking to see what Marty recommends for my press work next week.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Front squat day and also did the “Recon Ron” Pull up program.

warmed up with 45 lb FS for 8 reps. Then did 5 at 95 lbs and 1 at 135. Work set was 5 reps at 165. Felt great on the first 3 reps. Number 4 was good and 5 I really had to focus on tension inside the core and heel drive to get it.

Pulls up were 7,6,5,4,4 and had good speed.

Sandy Sommer RKC