Weights used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I've continued practicing the bottom's up variation of the goblet squat, as the squatting movement of choice for this ICT program. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, holding the kettlebell bottom's up allows the torso to lean slightly back. This helps prevent the torso from flexing forward, which is pretty bad for my injury-prone back.
For this week I increased the goblet squat weight from 16kg to 20kg. This made me feel like I was working a little harder in my goblet squat sets. I could probably increase the load again but I don't want to add risk to my lower back.
The other weight increase this week was a 12kg to 16kg change in load for the KB snatch. The 12kg KB was starting to feel a little light. Still, the 4kg change in load made Session A workouts wore me out more quickly. My execution got sloppier in the last couple of sets of the workout. However I never felt in danger of losing control of the KB or my balance.
I bought a $7 kitchen timer. I had been using the Clock app on mya= smartphone to time my conditioning sets. My issue with using the app was that I occasionially set the timer without tapping the onscreen button to start the timer. The physical buttons on the cheap kitchen timer feel more reassuring than the phone's touchscreen. I can feel the start button get pressed on the kitchen timer, which eliminates the distraction of wondering if I actually started the timer as I'm practicing snatches or push presses.
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 6 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
When I started ICT, I tried dead hangs as part of my post-workout recovery. My body felt fine during the hang, but afterwards, I felt an onset of upper back soreness that was unusually intense. This happened after my Session A workouts, which are done in the mornings. I think the snatch practice had something to do with it. This week, I tried dead hangs in the afternoon instead of immediately after the morning workout. This time there was no surprise unpleasant soreness.
Bodyweight is about 156 lbs, down from the pre-ICT weight of about 161 lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
When I started ICT, I tried dead hangs as part of my post-workout recovery. My body felt fine during the hang, but afterwards, I felt an onset of upper back soreness that was unusually intense. This happened after my Session A workouts, which are done in the mornings. I think the snatch practice had something to do with it. This week, I tried dead hangs in the afternoon instead of immediately after the morning workout. This time there was no surprise unpleasant soreness.
Bodyweight is about 156 lbs, down from the pre-ICT weight of about 161 lbs.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 5
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I expected the workouts to get harder with the increase in conditioning set time and strength set reps, and I was not disappointed. However, as long as I believed that I set the timer properly, I was able to get through the sets without feeling like I was running out of gas on every set. It was when I doubted that I had set the timer that I start to feel gassed.
Callouses from all this snatch practice are starting to peel. Time to use the pumice stone.
Bodyweight is about 157 lbs. Starting weight was about 161 lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I expected the workouts to get harder with the increase in conditioning set time and strength set reps, and I was not disappointed. However, as long as I believed that I set the timer properly, I was able to get through the sets without feeling like I was running out of gas on every set. It was when I doubted that I had set the timer that I start to feel gassed.
Callouses from all this snatch practice are starting to peel. Time to use the pumice stone.
Bodyweight is about 157 lbs. Starting weight was about 161 lbs.
Friday, February 02, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 4 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used - same as last week:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
My conditioning continued to improve. During the last session of the week (Session B), I did not have to rest for the maximum 2 minutes. Under autoregulation guidelines I was often ready to go with 35-45 seconds still left on the timer.
For Weeks 1-3 I set the timer to 33 seconds - the extra seconds to account for set up time - counted how many reps I did until the timer rang, then did the same number of reps for every set of the conditioning exercise for the rest of the workout. I just didn't feel like changing the timer back and forth between the conditioning time and the maximum rest time.
For this week, I used the timer on all conditioning sets. This allowed me to focus more on the pacing and quality of movement. I tended to rush more when I was counting reps.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
My conditioning continued to improve. During the last session of the week (Session B), I did not have to rest for the maximum 2 minutes. Under autoregulation guidelines I was often ready to go with 35-45 seconds still left on the timer.
For Weeks 1-3 I set the timer to 33 seconds - the extra seconds to account for set up time - counted how many reps I did until the timer rang, then did the same number of reps for every set of the conditioning exercise for the rest of the workout. I just didn't feel like changing the timer back and forth between the conditioning time and the maximum rest time.
For this week, I used the timer on all conditioning sets. This allowed me to focus more on the pacing and quality of movement. I tended to rush more when I was counting reps.
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