ActivitiesGuy Log III: StrongFirst Kettlebells & Deadlifts

Thanks man. My strength pales in comparison to some of the various competitors on here, but I think it shows that the busy working guy with 30 minutes a day can build a respectable level of strength just by putting in consistent work. I know that you mentioned One Lift a Day in your log, and though I’ve never actually run the specific 1LAD program, it certainly shaped this philosophy as well.

Kettlebell weight is in pounds, lol. If you go back a few laps in my training history, there was a period for much of 2014-2015 where virtually all of my training was kettlebell workouts (this after a long period of mostly endurance activities; after a long layoff, KB workouts were my gateway back into strength training). Since I bought the house and outfitted my home gym, I have used the kettlebells much less, but I’ve finally dragged the 88 out for some pressing at the end of a few recent workouts, and at the very least I should stick with that…which is a nice segue into your question about overhead pressing: my interest in that has waxed and waned over the last 2 years. Truth be told, my wrists have always been pissed off after a workout that includes a standard barbell press - I think it serves me better to press with a neutral grip (my wife lived in a different city for a time, and the gym we worked out at had a strongman log tucked away in the corner - any time I was there I would haul the log out for some work) or a kettlebell (where the wrist/hand can rotate freely). I also like the challenge of a unilateral press from a balance/core standpoint. So that’s probably how I’ll keep doing most of my pressing at this time - unilateral kettlebell presses with an 88-pounder.

2 Likes

Thursday 10/12

Deadlift

5x135
5x225
2x315
2x405
1x495
1x570

KB Press

1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88

4 Likes

Friday 10/13

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
2x315

Saturday 10/14

Front Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x300

Sunday 10/15

2-Mile Run (20 Minutes)

Easy run with my wife this morning. Raked leaves and cut the grass in the afternoon.

Monday 10/16

Front Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x285

KB Press

1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88

2 Likes

Tuesday 10/17

Deadlift

5x135
5x225
2x315
2x405
2x435
2x465
2x500

KB Swing

10x88
10x88
10x88
10x88

Wednesday 10/18

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
2x345
2x345

1 Like

Thursday 10/19

Deadlift

5x135
5x225
2x315
2x405
1x435
1x525
1x550
1x595

Good news / bad news tonight. The good news is that I nailed a tough-but-no-doubt single at 595 tonight. The “bad” news is that I can’t load more than this on the bar with my current plates (mostly 45 pound and 15 pound bumpers with one pair of iron 45’s and one pair of iron 35’s). That may not be so bad as it will encourage me to train in between 405 and 565 for the majority of my training instead of just “maxing” all the time; most likely, for any future max attempts, I will seek out a new gym or make a trip to my old CrossFit gym for a day pass to set some records. Gotta admit that I kind of want 675 at some point. We’ll see.

6 Likes
7 Likes

Smooth as always brother. Good work

1 Like

Just got caught back up, I see you haven’t missed a step, ha! Nice work!

Strong man problem #217

2 Likes

Lol, I mean, it was my choice to buy mostly bumper plates (which I still think was/is the right decision; they’ll be easier on the floor and for whatever reason I just like bumper plates) and it won’t matter for 95% of my workouts. The loading on the bar is as follows: bumper 45 (135), bumper 45 (225), bumper 45 (315), bumper 45 (405), bumper 15 (435), iron 45 (525), iron 35 (595). Honestly, if I pick up 1 more pair of iron 45’s at some point, I can swap that in for the 15-pound bumper and then would be loaded up to 655, which should do me for awhile.

4 Likes

This is actually similar to my setup. I only have two sets of 45lb bumpers, but when getting up to the 600lb mark with them on there isn’t enough room for my clips to grab.

I have more steelies but they live in the garage on my farmer’s walk handles. If I am doing a max deadlift day, I will likely need to go bring them to the basement.

Might be worth your while to check craigslist. When I started working out at home I found a guy online selling used plates for 60 cents a pound. Brought em home and scrubbed all the rust off and put a few layers of matte black rustoleum and they’re good as new.

Yeah. TBH…I probably could have outfitted my entire home gym from Craigslist…but I bought some fancy new stuff from Rogue because, as my wife knew, this was the one indulgence that I was giving myself, lol. I usually don’t ask for much, and she told me to go ahead and splurge a little.

The iron plates that I do have (the 45’s and 35’s in the video plus a pair of 10’s, 5’s, and 2.5’s) came from my dad’s overflow collection - actually, they belonged to a good friend of ours (a guy that we used to go to powerlifting meets with when I was a teen) who sadly passed away a few years ago, which is how the plates went to my dad in the first place). I still may end up with some more stuff from my dad at some point, since he’s got a pile of bumpers himself plus a few other stray iron plates. I can do just fine “only” working up to 595 at home and hitting a local gym any time I want to max deadlift. There’s supposed to be a really good WL/PL gym that’s not too far from my house, so I may check that out with a day pass at some point.

2 Likes

Friday 10/20

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
2x345
2x345

Saturday 10/21

8AM: 2.5 Mile Run (22 Minutes)

11AM: Lifting

Back Squat

5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x285
2x285

Deadlift

5x135
5x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
2x405
2x500

Brother came over to lift, so I just stuck with him through the squats and deadlifts before cranking it up at the very end to finish with doubles at 405 and 500. He actually handled 315 for two super-easy doubles and I know he’s good for a lot more, but he admitted to be feeling really tired today so he wanted to take it a little easy. That’s fine. I’ll get him pulling 405 by next spring for sure.

1 Like