Sunday, May 13, 2007

Mixing It Up!

Today I trained my core with kettlebells and then tried some kettlebell exercises with a barbell for added intensity and balance/coordination work.

I started with a super set with kettlebells. The set looked like this:

Windmills - 5 sets of 5 - 24kg bell, 24kg bell, 16kg bell, 16kg bell, 16kg bell - 50 total reps

One Leg Deadlift into One Leg Clean & Press - 5 sets of 5 - 16kg bell, 16kg bell, 12 kg bell, 12kg bell, 12kg bell - 50 total reps

Then I alternated:

Plank - 30 seconds
Childs Pose - 30 seconds
Plank - 30 seconds
Childs Pose - 30 seconds
Plank - 30 seconds
Childs Pose - 30 seconds

The plank is great for core strength while the childs pose (more of a pilates/yoga move I saw my wife doing) is a great stretch for your upper body and quads. I sometimes think that training static strength is harder than doing a more active workout. Harder mentally at least!

I decided to finish with windmills and TGU's but I wanted to add a twist. I used a regular barbell. It increased the difficulty of the exercises and added some work on flexibility, coordination and balance.

Windmills into TGU - 3 sets of windmills on one side then 1 set of TGU:

15lb barbell, 25 lb barbell, 35 lb barbell, 45 lb barbell

4 total sets - 24 total windmill reps and 8 total TGU reps

The last reps with the 45lb barbell I used the Olympic Bar. It was an exercise in total body strength as you have to use perfect form to complete the rep without dropping the bar. Definitely a challenge and great exercise that I will incorporate going forward.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rob..have you been to Total Performnce Sports in Everett? They just got a 115lb kettlebell in. It is more of a strongman and powerlifting gym but they just moved to a new location and got some bells. I went there for a seminar on Saturday and got to play with the bigger bells.

Rob O'Brien said...

Ryan,

Never been there but sounds great! I will try to check it out soon. I want to press the beast at some point. I have pressed and snatched the 40kb bell and it is a great feeling.

Anonymous said...

40kg...nice..I cleaned the 115 and it is a great ego booster...didnt have the balls to even try to press it. I snatched the 95lb and also pushed pressed it..it is a good feeling especially because I do not consider myself a very good presser.