314lbs to 199lbs

Holy…sweet…fucking…hell…

THIS is the plan for me…me vs the barbell/dumbell vs the clock. This is fucking great.

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PLAN

*Complex: 40kg
8 reps: Power clean, Front squat, Military press, Back Squat
6 reps: Power clean, Front squat, Military press, Back Squat
4 reps: Power clean, Front squat, Military press, Back Squat

*Dumbell Swings
24kg * 1,400 HAHAHAHAHA…how delusional I am!

================================================

ACTUAL HA!

  • Complex

8 reps:
Power clean: 8
Front squat: 8
Military press: 5
Back Squat: 4…holy sweet fuck

6 reps:
Power clean: 7
Front squat: 6
Military press: 5
Back Squat: 3…holy sweet fuck

Just dead…DEAD. That was fricken NUTS.

  • Dumbell swing

Ye…24kg just ain’t happening. Jeebus H Christ…

Weight: 16kg

First 500
50, 27, 32, 19 \ 128
25, 13, 25, 25, 25 \ 241 : 32:08
26, 26, 20 // 313 : 43:13 got a warning sickness gulp
21 grip giving out / forearms pumped
26, 20 oh maaannnn, so dead
22, ooofffff, taking 1 sec rest at bottom of swing
24, ooofffff 402: 1:05:322nd digit on both hands super tender. Buying golves, to prevent tearing and fucking me over.
26, wrapped toilet paper around fingers, should hold me
25,
23 \ 500 : 1:19:38

Drank SWF one serving, waiting 7 mins (was going to do 15, but got bored).

Extra:
33 drinking 500ml, you can feel the water sloshing around. Will need to split in 2 at 300 per serving
30 bluebooth headphones low ARGH
14: have to literally tell myself “GO” ar the bottom of the Rep, brain has checked out
15, toilet paper isn’t holding - fingers are TENDER youch
15 \ 107 : 11:13
16 aaahhhhhh
14
16 dead, just dead.
167 : 16:38

TOTAL:
667 reps, 1 hr 36 mins 16 seconds.

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So…after Day 1.

  1. Need gloves…all those swings rub the skin from your 2nd digit finger especially.
  2. Need wrist sweat catchers, as sweat just rolls down your arms.
  3. Will split the 2nd SWF workout dose between 300 reps and then add 25 reps per day to extend the time/amount.
  4. Weird sensation having to literally command your brain to lift the weight. Jeez.
  5. Swings are definitely better at home, esp at my fitness level (time); changing the dumbell weight order right now!
  6. Definitely correct to do the complex first…no chance I’d be able to do it second.
  7. Need to find a “sweet spot” between rest/reps. Tried to hit 25-26 reps…but the rest was prob too long. Maybe live with less reps but more work done per minute.
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THIS is what the process of physical transformation looks like! You are going to change from this my dude.

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Awesome updates. I’m a firm believer in changing up your training just to reignite motivation and kills the “mehs.” I know many coaches say to “stick to the program and be bored” but here in the real world with real people, sometimes we need a change to help us train harder and get focused again. Keep up the great work.

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Complex
Weight: 40kg, Reps: 8,6,4
Set 1: 7:32
Clean: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
Press: shoulders fried from swings. 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Set 2: 11:21
Clean: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
Press: 8,5,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4

That is vicious in terms of sapping energy. Sweated more doing those 2 sets than 250 swings yeaterday. Holy shit.

Hamstrings seized trying set 3: those and my glutes are on fire from the swings yesterday.

It’s my shoulders that are the issue, they aren’t “sore”, just exhausted; lifting my arm up is effort!!

Dumbell swing
16kg

First 500:
42, 20, 22, 18 :// 100: 6:54
19, 16, 17, 9, 16 :// 77
Little finger ripped a good chunk of skin off. Youch. Knew I should have waited for the gloves!!

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Lessons Day 2:

  1. Between the not putting the barbell down and dumbbell, wear bloody gloves.
  2. Bring extra 2L water along with the 500ml serving of SWF. Was thirsty!
  3. Thought this may prompt my brain to sleep longer…still running at 3.5-4 hrs / night. And then I’m wide awake & energetic. See if I add more as this continues.
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You’re doing great for a first time! 667 is unimaginable! Most folks top out at 10x10 reps.

You dialed up the difficulty by going for 24kg and using a dumbbell! Both are super hard from a grip perspective.

If you can get your hands on a cast iron KB that will help with the grip some. Or if that’s a problem, might I suggest putting together a T-handle? T-Handle Exercise Tutorial - RossTraining.com That will be much easier for you to grip and swing, and should cost only 10-20$ at a hardware store.

You will like this post, if you’ve not read it already - Kettlebell Swing | Kettlebell Swing Fat Loss | Bud Jeffries | Dragon Door

Some formats I’d suggest to beat the grip issues:

  1. Do 8 every 30s - this will be roughly 12-15s of work & 12-15s of “rest” - this needs very good cardio/conditioning
  2. Do 16/min, take a minute rest every 5 minutes
  3. As Bud suggests, do a first long set, say 50. Then switch to fixed sets EMOM.
  4. With an interval timer, EMOM sets can be 16 every 1:15 as well. So you can start with 16 EMOM, and then switch to 16 every 1:15, and so on. This will keep you grip a little fresh.
  5. Shake your hands between sets, like you’re shaking off water. One hand above shoulder, one hand below shoulder for 5s at a time works well. But whatever works for you. Gets the blood flowing into the forearm to get some grip back :slight_smile:

Key is to stay ahead of the grip issues. Once grip goes, it becomes a bit harder to get back to long sets.

Also if you want help or feedback post a form check video on the kettlebell sub on reddit. Folks there are kind and helpful.

Src - I am doing 10K swings in 10 days, on D7 now. Did both 9 swings every 30s (16kg), and 24min unbroken swings (~880). Last 1000 swings (12kg) today were in 31mins total. I’m ~65kg ~143lb.

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Wow, this is great. Thanks a lot!

Off today, as weirdly my shoulders are absolutely toasted from swings; followed closely by my hamstrings which are sore to touch.

Hopefully tomorrow we go again; will try the formats. 25 per go is a bit much for me right now, rest periods are too long to recover.

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I would very much not engage in full and complete rest days. “Movement is medicine”. When I’m feeling beat up, a small workout really gets the blood flowing.

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Your traps might be growing from all the swings - awesome :slight_smile:

Just do a few swings to get the blood flowing into those areas - recovery from DOMS will be faster. Even 5x5 swings will help a lot.

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Hey man; hows the training going?

Been awhile since I posted.

Week 11
Thurs-Sun (last week): I took fully off.
I completely crashed from Wed night -Fri evening; getting out of bed was a no go, drifted in and out of sleep for 34 hours. My brain/body decided enough was enough it seems and put me down hard. I bought numerous bags of starchy (carb loaded) vegetables and lots of fruit. Ate, ate and ate some more; to try undo over-doing it.

Week 12
Gym Work: Complexes
Began just complexes, based on an article from Dan John. Basically it’s rounds of 8 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps; not putting the barbell down between rep round. This is quite the metabolic burner. I’m literally drenched in perspiration at the end.

The exercises are: Press ; Back Squat ; Front Squat ; SGHP ; Bench Press. I messed around with the order quite a bit. Shoulders/Hamstrings are the first to burn out; so it’s working around them. Lower weight / higher volume, it’s more hamstrings ; Higher weight / higher volume it’s shoulders.

My goal daily is a) do more volume than previous day, b) try to add 2.5kg to the 1st lift every day or c) take less total time.
b) is constrained by pressing ability for set of 8, so see how it goes. If it gets constrained, then will add a 6th set.

  • You get to dread the first round of 8 each set once you get to the 3rd/4th set!
  • There is a fine line between resting to let shoulders re-group and letting hamstrings seize up. Still figuring out the rest times.

Cardio
Started with 20 mins bike work, adding 5 mins a day.

Second Workout
Dumbell swings will be it, just giving it another week before I add any more work. Prefer not to wipe out like that again.

Flexibility Work
Started doing loaded stretches, based on feedback on a thread in CTs forum. They are really good/useful in reducing the next day DOMS. Basically pick a weight you think you can hold for 1 minute. I do one for: Hamstrings, Lower Back, Chest, Triceps & Shoulders. Will add more in Week 13.

Nutrition
I took the hint to increase my calories further. This is turning into a very weird “diet”; I seem to be increasing whilst losing waist/weight, not decreasing!! Increased by 400 calories week over week (1,200 → 1,600).

Special callout to Glycine mineral that CT suggested on another forum thread. 3mg post gym work & 3mg pre bed (with the Elite Minerals) is notice-able. I tested the neuro-type just out of interest and it came back 1B; which ties to why Glycine works for me.

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+++++++++++++++
Summary:
Time: 05:00 - 06:46
Total volume:15,750
Max weight: 47.5kg
+++++++++++++++

Sets:
Set 1: 40kg. 08:32 90 reps 3600
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 2: 42.5kg. 11:08 90 reps. 3825
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 3: 45kg. 18:17 90 reps. 4050
Holy crap…everyting is on fire.
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 4: 47.5kg. 22:28 90 reps. 4275
Took 8 min rest to regroup.
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 7,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

15750

Just dead. Couldn’t summon the energy to do another.
Set 5: 50kg. 90 reps. 4500
Press:
Back Squat:
Front Squat:
SGHP:
Bench Press:


Loaded Stretches:

Hamstrings
30kg
00:38
00:28
00:27

Lower Back
20kg
00:52
00:34
00:36

Triceps
10kg
01:30 nice!
00:34

Chest
10kg
01:03
00:42

Shoulder
10kg
00:58
00:39

********************“”
Total bike time: 60 mins

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Today’s notes:

  • Not sitting down at all helped with the hamstring seizing. Today it was more shoulders/glutes screaming at me.

  • At 47.5kg, I’m closing in on the possible 8*reps for Press. See how much further I can go up.

  • Off tomorrow, barring cardio; so should be good to do 5 sets Monday.

  • I need to add an exercise for middle back. Considering either assisted chin ups or barbell rows. Will try both Monday.

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70 mins bike today on max resistance.

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Time (start-end): 03:52 - 05:26
Total volume (weight*reps): 20,250


Sets: (weight used | time taken | reps done | volume)
Set 1: 40kg. 09:37 90 reps 3600
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 2: 42.5kg. 12:41 90 reps. 3825
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 3: 45kg. 13:30 90 reps. 4050
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 4: 47.5kg. 15;57 90 reps. 4275
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4

Set 5: 50kg. 16;37 90 reps. 4500
Breathing like a freight train during this. Holy hell.
Press: 8,6,4
Back Squat: 8,6,4
Front Squat: 8,6,4
SGHP: 8,6,4
Bench Press: 8,6,4


Loaded Stretches:

Hamstrings (Romanian deadlift)
30kg
00:39
00:31
00:32

Lower Back hold at the top
22kg
01:06
00:36
00:31

Triceps
14kg
01:16
00:26

Chest
14kg
00:39
00:46

Shoulder
14kg
00:52
00:32


Total bike time:
75 minutes

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Random notes:

  1. Loaded stretches help /alot/. Especially with the hamstring->glute->lower back->mid back issues from all the lying/sitting down I was doing during my illness. Feel so much better.
  2. Going to do assisted chin ups; adding another barbell exercise is much too draining in my (limited) tests.
  3. Bike time flies by vs walking; as you can more easily “zone out”. Also harder vs walking on max resistance, so has that going for it too. Will add 5 mins per day, up to a reasonable amount.
  4. Will start with 50 DB swings this afternoon, and add 25 per day. Testing to see how much I can support before crashing hard again.
  5. Right now, my sets are going +2.5kg per round…may be better off starting at the max weight and working down. OR do 1 setpoint set, then max and work down. Not sure which, currently.
  6. Hoping to get below 40" waist by end of week. Would be damn nice to at least be in the correct 1st double digit.
  7. How I balance “noobie” gains vs weight loss, continues to puzzle. I’m half tempted to instead move to waist " measurement; though even with “noobie” gains, it shouldn’t be impossible to continue reducing the number. I can actually feel muscle on my upper arms, which is something I guess!
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That will be a big win, for sure. (Or “next big win” in your case since you’re stringing up the wins!) Let us know when it happens.

Expanding on my triage method analogy, waist measurement is the most important number to watch. Muscle and strength gains are nice, but getting that waist number down comes first in health triage.