From my July training log:
Tuesday, July 5
Haven't done much lower body strength work, so decided to revisit Full KOntact KB basic drills, with double 16kg KBs.
1-leg DL x5 x2
Dragon Twist x3 x2
Weaving Side Step x5 x2
Side-Side Step x5 x2
Front-Back Step Left Lead x5 x2
Front-Back Step Right Lead x5 x2
Joint mobility during breaks between sets
Arms and shoulders sore just from supporting KBs in rack holds.
Read about a Body-Flow Kinetic Chain, recommended as a compensatory movement for high volume upper body training with KBs and CBs, on the Rmax forum. I didn't do much upper body specific work today, but the movement interested me so I decided to try it:
Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll (then reverse the chain)
I did about 5 reps of the chain. Out of the 5, I succeeded in doing one continuously without interruptions in movement. Not an easy kinetic chain for me, but fun, considering I just learned the Long Arm Roll last weekend.
Wednesday, July 6
Modified Upper Body EDT:
10 sets of:
Pullup x2, supersetted with
1-arm Military Press w/16kg KB x2
Minimum of 60sec. breaks between sets, joint mobility during breaks
Power Wheel work:
Pike Ups x3 x4
Hip Ups x3 x4
Cooldown/Release:
Body-Flow Kinetic Chain: Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll x5
Notes: Been doing a lot of KB work of late to build up work capacity for KB workshop on July 16 and to rebuild strength to handle 15lb clubbells. Did not manage a single rep of the Kinetic Chain without interruption in movement, but the movement felt smoother this time around.
Saturday, July 9
Warrior Wellness at Intermediate, except for Neck, 4CBD, and Ankles
Modified Lower Body EDT w/16kg KBs:
10 sets of:
Double Swing x2, supersetted with
Dragon Twist x2
Minimum of 60sec. breaks between sets, joint mobility during breaks
I started doing Double Snatches, but after 2 sets, I realized my form was really, really rusty and decided to stick to double swings. I decided I should stick to Mike Mahler's original instruction to have a 1 min. break between exercises instead of supersetting two exercises together. Moving on...
H2H 2-hand Flip-and-Catch x5 x2
Under Leg Pass x5/direction x2
Cooldown/Release:
Body Flow:
Sideway Squat Creep x6
Long Leg Creep x6
Descending Shin Roll x3
Ascending Shin Roll Chain x5 x2
Elevated Scorpion x5
Kinetic Chain: Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll x3
Spinal Rock x5 x2
Spinal Clover Leaf (Warrior Wellness Advanced) x3
Downward Pelvic Tilts
Sunday, July 10
Warrior Wellness Intermediate (except Neck, at Beginner)
Monday, July 11
Warrior Wellness Intermediate for Legs
Modified EDT Upper Body Circuit (8 sets)
Double 16kg KB Military Press x3
1 min. break
Pullups x3
5 min. break
Power Wheel work:
Pike Ups x4 x2
Hip Ups x4 x2
Joint mobility and Fast&Loose relaxation drills during breaks
Body-Flow:
Neck Roll x5
Kinetic Chain: Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll x5
Tuesday, July 12
1st session with 24kg KB since shoulder injury:
1-arm Swing x5 x10
Double KB Swing x3 x4
Original plan was to snatch, but body wasn't used to the weight.
Body-Flow Practice:
Neck Roll x3
Kinetic Chain: Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll x5 x2
Spinal Rock x4 x2
Some playing with Arm Thread Roll
Wednesday, July 13
Final KB workout before the weekend workshop - plan is to rest for the rest of the week. Lower back pain has returned from all the KB work I'd been doing. I realized the double KB work was going to be extra demanding on my lower back, but I had to prepare my body for the demands of a 6-hour workshop.
All KB work with 24kg KBs.
Double KB Cleans x3 x4
1-arm Clean&Jerk x3 x4
Jerk Position KB walk with each arm
Joint mobility during breaks between sets
Body-Flow Practice:
Neck Roll x3
Twisting Spinal Arch x3
Arm Thread Shoulder Roll x3
Kinetic Chain: Long Arm Roll + Shinbox Switch + Reverse Long Arm Roll x5
Spinal Rock x5 x2
Lower back was feeling good after Body-Flow. Tried my new Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR) red ball, following the back routine on the YBR Total Body Workout DVD. Back pain still returned anyway. I'll have to wait until I try the full YBR workout before I pass further judgement on the method.
Saturday, July 16
Attended the Lisa Shaffer-Dylan Thomas KB workshop. It was 6 hours of KB training with occasional short breaks. Low back was especially sore, having been already in pain from the week's KB work.
When I got back home, tried some Long Arm Rolls and Spinal Rocks as compensatory movements for all the KB work.
Sunday, July 17
Was sore from Saturday, but still made it out to the No. VA Kettlebell Mafia Gathering organized by Dylan. Because of my sore lower back, I restricted my activity to a bit of dragging on John Starego's homemade weight sled and participating in a KB tossing contest.
Monday, July 18
Warrior Wellness in the morning and early evening helped banish most of the pain.
Body-Flow practice:
Knee Switch x10
Ascending Shin Roll Kinetic Chain x3 x2
Long Leg Roll across patch both directions - if I did it a certain way, my back didn't hurt - otherwise, well, it hurt
Circular Scorpion x5 x2
Springing Tripod Single (basic) x5 x2
Quad Switch x3 x2 - this one was really tricky on the back too
Leg Thread x3 x2 - forgot quite a bit how to do it. Will have to review on DVD
Neck Roll x5 x2
Twisting Spinal Arch x5 x2
Long Arm Roll + Reverse Long Arm Roll x5 x2
Forget the Kinetic Chain - still having difficulty doing the Reverse Long Arm Roll with my left arm being "long".
Arm Thread Shoulder Roll x5 x2
Again, I had trouble transitioning from the Spinal Rock back to Cossack Squat with the left arm threading
Spinal Rock x3 x2 - went for quicker than usual tempo this time.
Back felt great afterwards! Still feels good right now!
Wednesday, July 20
Sitting at work all day still causes my low back pain to return. I believe the cause was too much volume in the KB work I did last week. My low back was already feeling sore BEFORE the KB workshop and KB Mafia Gathering last weekend, so of course it kept on feeling bad going into this week.
Tried the Yamuna Body Rolling Total Body Workout to see what I could do for my lower back. I followed all the routines on the DVD. It was fascinating to feel the ball sink deeper and deeper into my body with each exhalation, especially on the front side routines. Still, my low back did not feel as good as it feels after a Body-Flow session. Does this invalidate the Yamuna method? Not necessarily, in that there is a lot of technique involved - I suspect a lot of it is in syncing the breath with the movement of the body in relation to the ball, as well as the ball placement. I'm still largely unfamiliar with the method. I'll get in another Body-Flow session tomorrow.
Ok, my analysis:
I believe the cause of my present lower back pain was doing too much work with too much weight too soon. I recall double military presses with 16kg KBs feeling hard on my lower back during my July 11 workout. I should have done them in alternating (one KB in rack hold while the other is pressed) or see-saw style (press one KB while simultaneously lowering the other). The transition from 32kg total weight to 48kg total weight on July 12 (or, 72 lbs to 106lbs) was too much of a jump in weight in too short of a time period. I should have phased in the greater weight more gradually over time. By Thursday, July 14, my lower back pain was back. And of course the KB workshop weekend made it worse.
On top of that, my chair at work was aggravating my lower back pain.
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