I’m making this short and sweet.  There’s no other way to follow yesterday’s post. 

I’m off track a little, still in recovery mode.  I just wanted to do swings today.  But then I decided to add some kettlebell snatches.  In the end, this was the practice:

• 10 2 Hand Swings
• 10 Single Hand Swings R
• 10 Single Hand Swings L
• :30 Rest

Did that for 10 rounds, 300 swings total.

Then:

• 10 kettlebell snatches R
• 10 kettlebell snatches L
• :30 Rest

Did five rounds, for total of 100 snatches.

To top it off I did 5 windmills on each side. 

Tomorrow will be the Lower Body workout (Brutal.) Ugh.

I really have a love/hate relationship with the workout of the day – the Lower Body Workout from Elise.  The official name I’m giving this one is Brutal.  It’s exhausting and humbling from front squat after front squat after front squat.  Almost in a MMA Conditioning Workout  kind of way.  But, the rewards are significant - legs that feel they’ve been given a good shake up, and a  healthy number on the heart rate monitor in the calorie burn category.  Plus a feeling of accomplishment from knowing that I’ve given due attention to my most “troublesome” area.

Here’s the program:  10  2 Hand Swings, 10 Front Squats, 10 Reverse Lunges (5R, 5L) 10 Single Hand Swings (each hand) and 10 Clean & Squat (5R, 5L.)  Rest and repeat.  Over the last 3 weeks, this has been my progression with the workout:

• 12 kg kettlebell x 6 rounds (2 weeks ago)
• 12 kg kettlebell x 3 rounds. 16 kg kettlebell x 2 rounds (last week)
• 12 kg kettlebell x 4 rounds, 16 kg kettlebell x 2 rounds (today)

I don’t want to do more than 6 rounds of this one EVER if I can help it.  Ugh!  So I guess next week I’ll try to use the 12kg for 3 rounds and the 16 kg for 3 rounds.  I don’t know if that will happen, though.   Any other suggestions?

This is what I did for fun practice, after the above: 

• snatches with the 8kg bell 5R, 5L
• Windmills with the 4kg (tiny I know, but I was tired by then) 5R, 5L

Did that 2 times through.  I wanted to do more snatches but I was pretty much in agony with my hands.  They are lagging behind on the snatch-adaption process.  Sigh.

Over the weekend I also performed  the workout I named Beautiful.  Nothing major to report – it was decent, although the cleans must have gone wrong at some point because by the end I had some tender spots on my left forearm.  I practiced snatching and windmilling and deads at the end, and felt good, with the exception of my hands.  See above.

This week I have the goal of adding in a strictly HIIT day also.  Haven’t decided what it will consist of.  Probably it won’t include a kettlebell.  Just for a change. 

 I woke up feeling a bit out of it today, and wasn’t sure how I would do with my kettlebell practice.  Elise  designed a pretty tough  Beginner Lower Body Workout, but I got through it alright.  This is what it looked like:

10 2 Hand Swings

10 Front Squats

10 Reverse Lunges (5R, 5L)

10 Single Hand Swings R

10 Single Hand Swings L

10 Clean & Squats (5R, RL)

She suggests a rest as needed between exercises and then a longer rest after the the circuit.  Then repeat.

I just wanted to match the same effort as the last time I did this  lower body workout, and I managed that.  Every day doesn’t have to be ground breaking. (I’ve been repeating that to myself all day.)

I’m probably taking a rest day tomorrow since today was iffy.  The elbow is bugging me today also, which is another good reason to rest.