Monday, June 23, 2008

ROP 2.0

I've come up with what I call "ROP 2.0," or the "Right of Passage, 2.0"

The original ROP in ETK is essentially single arm C+P ladders and Snatches. The 2.0 version is done with Double Clean and Press and Pistols and Snatches: C+P & Pistols one day, Snatches the next. The original called for 3 C+P workouts per week, L, M, H, (not in that order.) The 2.0 calls for them 2x week--L and H. The goal is still the same: 75 reps from 5 ladders of 1-5 reps on not only the C+P, but also the Pistol

For me, my goal is to achieve this with 2x48kg KBs on the C+P for 75 reps and 48kg on the Pistol for 75 reps. Lofty goals, but I've got to start somewhere.

The thing that makes this particularly nasty for me is that I am pairing the C+P and the Pistols. This takes a lot out of me. I'm giving myself approximately 60s between each pair. Tough.

I bought a pair of 36kg's for home. The 40kg's are light for low intensity work, but I wanted to hit some volume work and push up my work capacity, so I bought these.

I tried this workout tonight. It's been awhile since I've done Pistols, so they didn't go as well as I wanted them to.

Here's how the whole thing went down:

A1. Double C+P, 2x36kg: 1,2,3/1,2,3/1,2,3; NL=18. Felt very easy, but trying to match the sets and reps with the Pistols using the same weight--this may change.

A2. Pistols, L, R, 1x36kg: 1,2,3/1,2,3/1; NL = 13+13. Left psoas bothering me, so stopped it here.

This was harder than it should be due to my slothfulness in training since I tweaked my hip in April training for that meet. I'm out of shape and this workout proved that point.

This should be good. Perhaps I'll achieve my goals by the end of December and my 36th birthday. Something to shoot for.

Oh yeah, since I still am "jones-ing" for Olympic lifting, I'm going to hit that once a week for now on the weekends. That way I'll get to see the transfer of strength from the KB exercise to my sport of choice. Should be good, especially all those pistols. It is also my reward: No KB work, no Oly. We'll see how this works out.

Friday, June 20, 2008

I've Thought It, But Never Seen It Done...

...And Here It Is...



...courtesy Fawn Friday, RKC. OUTSTANDING Job, Fawn!

This obviously takes a great deal of athleticism, coordination, mobility, flexibility, and strength.

Something for us to all aspire to, that's for sure.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Back From the RKC

It was great.

I'm still a little cooked.

This was my first RKC as a newly minted Senior Instructor and it was a blast.

Good quality candidates and everybody worked really hard.

The course moved at a very fast pace and had a great flow to it.

It was also great to see Randy Hauer and Shaun Cairns again. Randy and I went through the RKC together 3 summers ago and Shaun and I went through the Level 2 together 2 summers ago. High class guys, outstanding instructors.

Brett and I roomed together and O'Connor and Brett and I hung out whenever we could--like the Three Amigos--or Stooges. Good times, quality people.

My RKC workout was similar to the one I always do while there:

A. Double C+P drop sets: 40kg/3, 36kg/3, 32kg/3, 28kg/3, 24kg/3, rest 3 mins., repeat.
B. Chins off basketball stands, thumbless, descending ladder: 5,4,3,2,1

I've been running the shop since my business partner is on vacation, so my workouts have been short and sweet.

Monday: Clean + Press w/32kg, As Many Reps As Possible: 20+20.
This left me breathing pretty darn hard for about 5 minutes after.

Tuesday: Get-Up Series.
(24kg/1+1, 32kg/1+1, 40kg/1+1, 48kg/1+1) x 2
This felt good even though I hate the GU. It made me more tired today than I'd like to admit.

Tonight I'm taking off and will hit something bigger tomorrow. Massage planned for Friday before I head out of town on Friday night for a short trip to Florida.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

10+10

Gearing up for teaching this weekend at the RKC.

Messed around last night. As a SrRKC I have certain minimum expectations for myself. One of them is snatching the 48kg for 10+10, so I decided to take the Beast for a ride.

It was pretty easy--there's definitely more room in the tank. I think my ultimate goal will be 20+20 or 25+25, somewhere up there.

Warmed up with the following: 24kg/10+10, 32kg/10+10, 40kg/10+10. The 24kg felt terrible, so of course I went up. Then things got better. By the time I hit the 40, I was feeling good.

The toughest part of the whole thing was not letting my face go into startle--but forcing myself to keep it relaxed. This of course distracted me from my heart rate, which stayed up for about 5 minutes after the set. I hate that part, but admittedly, it's very cool to do that little work and have that big of an effect. The other thing I have to work on is keeping my right foot firmly planted--it started to drift into external rotation.

Was playing around with competing on August 10th, but it's too soon due to my hectic summer, so it'll be a summer of "Mastering the Beast" I guess.