As part of the transition from June’s “rebuild the base” theme to July’s “wicked strength” month, I took yesterday off and moved SFP2.0 to Tuesdays, which will continue for the month of July.
So that’s what I did today, using standard times, and the 16kg for the last time (hopefully). I will start trying snatches with the 24kg next week.
This plan was a little harder to come up with, I don’t mind tellin’ ya. I’m not sure why. We discussed a lot of different exercises that could build strength. One thing we wanted to focus on was cutting the 16kg kettlebell out of the mix as much as possible and doing more with the 24kg.
The “medium” effort day (Monday for me) was three sets of three reps of push press, alternating with get-ups (one with each arm). So a total of 6 getups. Not too taxing. That was followed by three sets of lunges with a minute of rest between each set. For lunges, I take one kb in each arm, take 8 big steps forward, going down and up with each step. Then turn and take 8 steps back, lunging on each. Finally 3×3 of loaded cleans. After a couple weeks, I threw in sets of 10 pushups between the sets of lunges.
I experimented over the month with taking longer breaks vs taking shorter ones. I was able to do more work with longer breaks, but felt like the shorter breaks gave me a more intense workout. Not surprising results.
Heavy effort day was five sets of three reps of push press, alternating with five sets of 1×1 getups, then five sets of lunges as described above, and five sets of five loaded cleans. Whew!
There was a run day, which changed mid-month from being a long and slow endurance run to a shorter run with 1/2 mile and 1 mile intervals at higher intensity levels. There was also one day where we continued SFP2.0.
Sorry for the delays, but I will catch you up on the whole week now.
On Monday, I had to drop back to the original amounts for SFP2.0: 10 minutes snatching, 30 minute run, 5 minutes of swings, although the plan called for increasing the time on snatches and swings by five minutes each. I was just too tuckered out.
Tuesday did clean and press and swings (10 minutes, thanks dice!) according to the plan. I will need to start pressing the 24kg to get much more benefit than I’m currently getting with the 16.
Thursday did the same thing as Monday, original amounts for SFP2.0.
Friday did not happen, and today was an 80 minute run on trails and roads. Some climbing, too. I had a great morning, as a matter of fact. We were in Colorado Springs for a family reunion, staying near the Garden of the Gods park. I drove into the park about 6:30 a.m. and there were few people there. The day was clear and bright and the sky a perfect blue.
I parked at one of the lots and took off into the woods, on an unpaved trail. It had some good ups and downs. I was running north, and had to clap loudly at one point to shoo a deer away that was blocking my trail. (Or was I on his trail?) Anyway, I ran north to one of the main parking lots, then took the road south to “balanced rock”. From there, I wasn’t sure how to get back to my car, and ended up at the visitor’s center at the very southern end of the park, so I had run from stem to stern.
Running north again on the road, I found trail that cut over to where I needed to be, which was east of where I was. I ended up climbing a small mountain and running through some private property before getting back onto park trails. I eventually wound up back at my car. Great run!
Yesterday did 4 sets of clean and press, 10 reps per set with the 16kg. Swings with the 24 this time, because I didn’t feel like I was gaining much benefit from swinging the 16 any more.
Today did a 6.5-7 mile run (Garmin 205 broken, remember?) and ran for about an hour. It felt good. The weather was real nice today.
Yesterday was my second off day for the week.
Today was SFP2.0, with the VO2 max portion dropping back to 10 minutes, and the swings going from 5 minutes to 10. That was killer! I was only able to accomplish 8 minutes before my arms were fried.
I was too lazy to get myself out of bed yesterday, so I missed my SFP2.0 workout for Monday. Today was supposed to be clean and press/swing day, but I canceled that to do SFP today instead.
Today was ramped up to 15 minutes of VO2 max work instead of 10, still using the 16kg bell. Thirty minute run and five minutes of swings. Great workout.
Weight 176.4, down a pound since last week.
Am just doing the one post to cover Saturday and Sunday. C&P’s and Swings on Saturday. Went pretty good.
Ran today, only about 4 miles though. Was supposed to go farther but just didn’t have it in me today. Its been a tough 1st week back in the saddle.
Yesterday, i did clean and press for three sets of seven (vs sets of 10 per the plan) with the 16kg. Did 5 minutes of swings with 15 seconds rest.
Today I did my longer run. It was supposed to be six miles, but since my Garmin 205 doesn’t charge any more, I can’t measure distance. I was taking it easy and assuming a 10 min/mile pace, so i ran for about an hour.
SFP 2.0 – Let’s just say from the beginning, this is no joke. I’m only using the 16kg for snatches and the 24kg for swings. Holy crap!
My heart-rate was maxed out after the snatches, then it was onto the run. I’m not a runner (think fish out of water, see backstory); and normally would hate the run. Except today as it was a chance to cool down. My neighborhood is pretty hilly and so it made the run a little more challenging.
On the return, I was thinking how easy the 5 min of swings would be; boy was I wrong. The timer couldn’t come fast enough. As I sat there reflecting on my previous 45 minutes, I knew I had accomplished something.
In the end, I can already tell this will be a love/hate relationship with the SFP 2.0
On Tuesday, the 9th, I did the clean and press and swings routine from the plan, except I did two sets of 10, not three.
Did 4 minutes of swings with 30 seconds rest, according to the dice roll.
Today i did SFP2.0. No major issues, changes or problems.
