The Most Loathed

It was a little nerve wracking at the beginning because there were parents with children around and I was nervous to have them watching me.  However the longer I was at it the more comfortable I felt.  I also heard one of the mom's say "I wish I could do that" to another mom when I was doing my headstands.  That made me feel cool and I wanted to say "You can do it too!  You just have to work at it."  But I was too shy.

Those first few trips out in public are always a little nerve wracking but I've never been hassled. I've been stared at, questioned, complimented and ignored but never hassled.

Life inside my head:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/inspiring-life-advice-for-economic-realists

"always DREAM like you have a very limited grasp of probability"

I have no idea how I maintain optimism and realism in the same space but they are often the greatest enemies each will face.

Also, listening to this song right now:

I heard back from Oly coaching Plan B and I'm less enthusiastic than I'd like to be. Here are the options before me:

a) Join the local Crossfit where I'm expected to train two nights per week doing a WOD followed by an hour of technical coaching. These coaches seem more Crossfit and less technical which isn't inherently bad but I wouldn't mind it being the other way around. My greatest concern with this option is that If I do Crossfit two nights a week then try to do kettlebells three days/nights, that's almost my entire week and I'm concerned that I'd run dangerously close to burnout and injury

b ) Work with the local weightlifting USA club who expects three nights per week. This is my entire training week and I'd have to drive a half an hour to train when the weather isn't nice enough to train at home. I would like the more technical coaching but the message I got from this coach is that if I'm not training three days a week on his lifts, he didn't want to give me any coaching time. 

c) Keep doing it my way and see if I can improve on my own

d) Let it go

e) Look for additional options

I'm not super excited by any of these. What I had wanted was someone who I could pay for an hour or two a couple of times over the summer then I could train between sessions as needed, balancing any Oly training against my kettlebell training which would remain my priority. I respect that both of the coaches I contacted probably have day jobs and coach on the side because they love it. They should have the opportunity to train only folks who are serious in the way that they want to see. That doesn't make it less frustrating.

more research will happen.

edit note: I hate the B follow by a parenthesis is it makes lettered lists annoying.

It's not complex, it's your attention to detail in your notes, they're very clear and concise, I like it!

ah, thank you. It's a balancing act. Too much and I burn out, too little and the data is useless. I've done it wrong a great deal more than I've done it right.

Hang in there. These are all important parts to your story but none are the big scene...that comes later and will be awesome.

05/13/2014

bodyweight 198.0

workout: none

notes

• another rough day at work for Laura, she wanted a long walk and was willing to let me go workout but was obviously bummed at the prospect. We agreed that I could have every night this week to workout. So I kicked my 24K workout to tomorrow and we went on a walk, a long walk. We walked the dog for about 2 hours and I'd guess we covered at least 8 km.
• I got a call back from Plan A Oly coach. He didn't really want to do just Oly lifts, he wanted me to sign up for his crossfit gym 2-3 days a week. I'm not all that interested. I wouldn't mind having full access to a full crossfit facility but I'm more interested in focusing on kettlebells and just improving my Oly lifts separately. I'm holding out hope for a better response from Plan B in the next couple days
• I'm fighting sweets cravings today. My Danish Breakfast obviously impacted me. It'll take a couple days to bring body chemistry and/or palate back into line.

revised workout plan

Wednesday - 24 kg 

Thursday - Pilates and maybe rowing

Friday - 28 kg

Saturday - Barbell

Sunday - Charity thing in the AM, hoping to lift in the PM but not holding my breath

Lol. Read this aloud to my wife as she has DOMS tonight and has just proposed a long walk.

I am more than happy to give you some tips and tricks, but could use some more info: Do you need progressions to a ring pullup, or from?

I appreciate it. It's up to you what level of effort you want to spend on this, even just pointing me at something that exists works. I don't want to put you through effort.

I do the movement this guy shows for 5X5. I'm hoping to get to a muscle up but don't have the explosivness yet and thought there might be other movements I should train to continue to improve. I've not yet bought GMB Rings 1 so if that's what I need to do. I'll be happy to do that.

Jump Squats with 50K?!

wow

Thanks Mirrodin. I'll play with my grip and stance a bit, there always seems to be some room for improvement there.

I'm trying to get my wife to do a European trip in the next couple years. If I can ever talk her into it, I'll stop by for a training day

In the mean time, I'm just trying to get her to take a trip to Chicago, maybe for a kettlebell meet.

I've still not heard from my first trainer contact attempt. I'm moving on to attempt 2. My second pick is probably a better coach, just much further to drive.

One of the other Scottish nerds is a competitive Olympic lifter, Jaymul, and he's working towards a bodyweight snatch for this challenge. He is really impressive, and his form analysis is amazing. You should check out his threads, if you haven't already that is...

 

His Olympic lifting log

His current challenge

I have not been following him...but I shall. Thanks for the tip.

About those photo's you posted, that's a really striking difference! You look good

About the videos, it's much better than I expected from someone who trains half of the year and doesn't have a coach! The only reason you're not getting 70kg is a mental block. You can get it.. I won't comment on technique because I haven't ever coached oly.. But I'll have my bf take a look.

You are a strong mofo.

Thank. I've not been called that in a while.

I can pull it to head height and can muscle it in from there if I have to but I feel like minor tweaks or, as you suggested, a simple change of thinking would get me there safely and more consistently.

I was also surprised by how different the photos looked. Even when I was 260, I rarely think of myself as overly fat, then I lose some weight and in retrospect I can suddenly see how much extra weight I was carrying. I like to think that I've hit the max return on that investment which is to say, I think I'm about done losing. Given how ineffective of a judge I have been to date, I don't really trust myself though. 

My scale tells me I'm getting down towards 20% bodyfat but I don't actually know what the right number would be. I'm almost Not Obesse  for the first time since I was 17. I'm aware of all the issues with BMI but it's a weird milestone that I'm about to hit.

what? I didn't do anything!

Sounds like an awesome couple of days,  new fitbit and kettlebell. You're on a roll!

Yep, you can get conditioned to it and forget what it feels like. Those little reminders and both refreshing and humbling. 

If none of them appear high, does that mean that you are?

Is it something you would even want to do? Because my best advise would be not to get started with it at all if you're not really passionate about it.

At the risk of threadjacking:

I'm of mixed opinions on it. As I mentioned to Mad Hatter, she's not the first to suggest I should begin kettlebell sport coaching and promotion in my area. What i didn't mention was that none of the people has been me. There was a time, nearly a decade ago when I dreamed of opening a gym. Since then I've seen a bunch of people open gyms and seen how much of themselves they have to pour into it to break even. I've also seen how it erodes their own training time. 

I'd like there to be a kettlebell sport community in my area. I'd actively support it monetarily and with a couple hours of my time per week. I don't want to give up all my time to it. 

I could prattle on longer but I think that sums it up pretty well.

I recommend a clown party.

Last year for my birthday we invited a couple we know over, went to see Pacific Rim at the theater (I see maybe one movie per year in the theater), I grilled then we played two rounds of Betrayal at House on the Hill, my favorite game.

This year I want to find a venue to invite as many people as I can for games, have food catered in, call it a day. I've been trying to get in touch with the Highland Chatterbox but had trouble.

If I know enough workout folks, I'd definitely host a "skills challenge" for my birthdays. Max clean, push up contest, fastest run then a bunch of silly stuff followed by a bar-b-q.

Super Solid lifts.

I like the way you plan your week and take into account the events that can/will happen

I might try that for myself and see how that goes

It helps me to deal with my obsessive nature. If I prepare my mind for nights when I may not get to train as desired I am more tolerant and more tolerable. It also helps me to pin down the things that I feel I must do on days that I feel confident that I will get into the gym and put more optional training on the days that are more dubious.

Man, I feel like I'm viewing my challenge like Checkers and you're planning it out like Chess!

Tell me a little more about this. It's my hope that my workouts are clear and focused. If they come across as complex and lengthy I should review that.

Thanks Wolf. I've been following you as well and you do quite well yourself

05/12/2014

bodyweight: 197.2

workout

0900

Concept II setting 6 5,000m 2:00/m

soft tissue work 1 hour

1600

circuit 1

 - Scorpion Pushup 7/7

 - Jump Squat (hands on head) 15

 - 1 arm swing 32k 15/15

X 5 12:30

2:30 rest

circuit 2

 - TRX Pistol 10/10

 - sit out 10/10

 - halo 20 kg 10/10

X 5 14:30

notes

• bodyweight was super solid all things considered
• I had hoped to row longer but I've been struggling with some chafing issues of late that I need to resolve so I can get back to 10 km rows. I was feeling really sluggish this morning so 2:00 was the fastest I could maintain.
• Afternoon workout went well. With warm up I completely filled the hour I had (that's right 30 minutes warm up)
• I tried to contact a local crossfit gym that says their headcoach is an Oly coach but no reply, I do have a plan B if needed
• I contacted LifeTime fitness to see if I could find out where I fell on the bodyfat leaderboards before they do the essays and pictures. I was told that they'd get back to me but got a very vague reply. I'd like to know but I don't care enough to bother following up
• I got tons of chores done today after the family visit. I could totally live like this, two-a-days with chores. Alas, tomorrow it's back to work.

+1

Also, any pro-tips on ring pull up progression?

I'm pulling on rings now by rotating my hands to face me during the movement and I think I've seen in your videos that you keep your hands facing away, is that considered a part of the progression, rotating the hands less?

Maybe you should get to it?

You're not the first to suggest as much. I'm not planning on any coaching certifications until this time next year. I want to have at least two actual competitions under my belt and an IUKL cert before I start acting like I know what I'm talking about. Even then I doubt that I'll feel like an expert but I'll at least feel like my form is untested and so filled with errors that I'll only hurt people.

After that, yeah, I'll need to decide how to address this. I know several gym owners that I can approach. I don't look forward to losing my own training time for this.

Here they are, my awful Barbell Snatch videos. 

First some misses. This video is 70 kilograms and they way I set my phone you can only see half the barbell but I believe you can see enough of me to see many of the issues

Second, 60K snatches front and side

I've already started looking at coaches in the area. The obvious challenge is, I'm a kettlebeller first and barbell will always be second fiddle. Second is that I wont be pulling once it gets cold again in 4-6 months. Given those challenges, I'm not looking to be amazing or anything, just proficient. I don't know what is good for Oly lifts but I'm thinking something like a bodyweight snatch and 1.5 bodyweight Clean and Jerk, pending validation that those are reasonable.

Dan John has a some great programs. I look forward to hearing your take on this one.

bump