jdanger Does Something Stupid

[jdanger]

That's right folks. Life has been happening and my training hasn't been a priority so I'm feeling a bit lazy on that front. Since I need a kick start that I can fit in whenever and I'm a fan of doing ridiculously stupid things I'm going to partake in a little bit of insanity the lovely and talented Mama T brought up in her workout log yesterday. Fans of hers may be familiar with the link she posted to some nutty a-hole who tricked a bunch of people into doing 10,000 kb swings for science. Well.. that number is about to increase.

That's right. Starting tomorrow I'm going to do 10,000+ kb swings in 10 days. Why? Because f*ck it that's why. Plan right now is to hit two or three workouts a day with one am session and 1 or 2 in the pm. Primarily going to use a 28kg(62lb) bell to start with some variety mixed in. Busted out a few with the 48kg bell yesterday just to light the spark. These are regular swings not CF/"American" swings. Not sure Rich Fronning himself could pull that off without destroying his back.

So there you have it. In the words of sort of smart but sort of crazy people everywhere, do as I say not as I do.

[Mama T]

how jdanger will look every night after doing 1,000 kb swings:

a) here's the link to the article: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/ten_thousand_swings_to_fat_loss

i'm pretty sure i know what you mean, but can you clarify "These are regular swings not CF/"American" swings"?

[ETFnerd]

sounds like a nice way to remember the summer of 2012... hahaha...

[ETFnerd]

you too can be holy strong...!

[jdanger]

i'm pretty sure i know what you mean, but can you clarify "These are regular swings not CF/"American" swings"?

A "proper" kb swing to between navel and shoulder height. All glutes. No muscling over head which will come back to bite a person after a while. No matter how bullet proof they are.

And make no mistake folks this is primarily Mama T's fault. So you can congratulate her when I croak before my time and before my campaign against the low bar squat really takes off.

sounds like a nice way to remember the summer of 2012... hahaha...

Haha, yeah. Prolly won't be forgetting it any time soon.

[bigm141414]

You know, I was actually considering doing the same thing.....

Mama T is a terrible influence on all of us.

[This is Seth]

I just read that article a few days ago and though, what sort of maniac would do this...

Thanks for answering that question.

Are you gonna be taking the strict measurements that James did? The results of the people who did the challenge with him were all over the board, so was hoping to see more data.

[ETFnerd]

i wanna see 10K burpees in 10 days... something to think about when the 10K kb swings are done... why stop at stupid...?

[Mama T]

And make no mistake folks this is primarily Mama T's fault. So you can congratulate her when I croak before my time and before my campaign against the low bar squat really takes off.

You know, I was actually considering doing the same thing.....

Mama T is a terrible influence on all of us.

^^^ <3 Phoenix Wright

... i'm not even doing 10k swings, you looney tunes! i am considering 5k, though, maybe. it's tough to do this w/o being able to break it up, doing some in the morning and some in the evening. unless i want to go to CF before AND after work (which i don't).

sooo NerdSwing 10K 2012 is on, i guess.

[nightlight]

i was thinking about doing it too!! but i SUCK at kb swings. next challenge, get better at KB swings.

[Guest Snake McClain]

i wanna see 10K burpees in 10 days... something to think about when the 10K kb swings are done... why stop at stupid...?

agreed

[bigm141414]

i was thinking about doing it too!! but i SUCK at kb swings. next challenge, get better at KB swings.

You and me both. This sounds like a PvP in the making.

[jdanger]

Are you gonna be taking the strict measurements that James did? The results of the people who did the challenge with him were all over the board, so was hoping to see more data.

I don't have access to slick things like body pods and lactate testers but I will track my weight and bf% via calipers to get an idea of comp changes. I'm a little "soft" right now due to aforementioned slacking off and general dietary indiscretion. The diet will be back on track for this so the results could be interesting. Will take weight and bf% readings Wed morning upon waking and again on Sat morning (the day after day 10). I also did some baselining about a week ago in some efforts that are decidedly outside my current realm of fitness (classic CF mixed mode stuff) which I may repeat in the days following this challenge to see if anything got any better there. But again, the goal isn't any sort of usable increase in fitness so that will just be a fun diversion. After this it should be back to my regular old picking up heavy stuff a couple times then sitting around.

The part of the article that struck a cord with me was when they discussed how it will suck and then just.. get better. I've experienced this is in other training cycles (Front squat Smolov anyone) and it is true. On paper the volume looks impossible. A few days in you start to actually believe it's impossible. Then you.. just keep going. I rail against doing stupid things and insane volume all the time but when I look back at my logs, into my training history, I think the times when I'm most involved in my training, when I'm most connected in a way, are the times when I'm doing something dumb like this. The times when you have an insurmountable whole that you have to chew up in manageable pieces and just.. not choke.

i wanna see 10K burpees in 10 days... something to think about when the 10K kb swings are done... why stop at stupid...?

Burpees, thrusters ect. All reasonable (well as reasonable as reasonable gets when talking about something like this) choices. You want big amplitude compound movements that aren't limited by local muscle endurance. Burpees and thrusters can fail that test for a lot of people but if you're a body weight guy or know you can suck it up and bust out 100 25lb DB thrusters on a whim, yeah. It's all stupid.

[The Tin Man]

... i'm not even doing 10k swings, you looney tunes! i am considering 5k, though, maybe. it's tough to do this w/o being able to break it up, doing some in the morning and some in the evening. unless i want to go to CF before AND after work (which i don't).

sooo NerdSwing 10K 2012 is on, i guess.

It is your fault because you linked the article. Because that got me really wanting to get in on the KB madness. I couldn't safely do 1,000 a day but I can certainly do some. You've infected everyone with KB fever!

[jdanger]

It is your fault because you linked the article. Because that got me really wanting to get in on the KB madness. I couldn't safely do 1,000 a day but I can certainly do some. You've infected everyone with KB fever!

This is an important point. I'm not a super star but I have a couple major things going for me that will prevent me from death or maiming (hopefully). The first is that I know how to use my glutes and execute a proper kb swing with little strain on my back. This is of primary importance. The other is that while I'm really not in any shape to do something like this currently I do have a history of high volume (and high intensity) training. I've "been there" as it were. I probably shouldn't jump right back there given my current state but that would require being smart. And what fun would that be.

[IfItPlugsIn]

A friend of mine was actually one of the guinea pigs in this (Abby in the result chart at the bottom of the article). I'm pretty sure all of the participants were part of Craig Weller's chain of gyms (Barefoot Fitness), and Abby runs the one where I live. Her husband was pretty impressed, and is currently taking on the challenge as well. Good luck!!

[Elastigirl]

I read that articles last weekend and was very intrigued. I'll be watching your updates with interest.

[weirdquark]

I wonder if I want to jump on this bandwagon. I'd have to pick ten days when I wouldn't do anything else; I've done 100-200 DB swings at the end of my workouts for a finisher before and if I wanted to have the time and energy for more than that, there goes all other lifting. Or at least, I wouldn't want to do much other lifting, might be able to manage a short set of one of the big lifts and then split up the swings into two+ workouts, but probably better to not.

Huh. It actually seems almost manageable when I think about it that way, which is kind of terrifying.

[Corbab]

I'm most interested in the little tidbit near the bottom about the post-workout 2.2mmol/L lactate test. I don't know the exact science, but I'm assuming this means super-efficiency. Can anyone explain further and/or point me towards this? I like the idea of crazy power without fatigue, but I don't have the equipment/proficiency for dem Swings.

[jdanger]

Yeah, I'd have liked to see a little more rigorous application for the lactate testing, say retesting 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes out but the testing at resting levels immediately post workout is consistent with a few (not exactly mutually exclusive) possibilities. The work done pretesting could have been so easy that anaerobic systems where not needed in any meaningful way and would be what we would consider plain old aerobic (sub lactic/anaerobic threshold) training; thus no lactate acc. Another possibility is that the work did dip into anaerobic systems but his lactate clearing ability is so good that the lactate is gobbled up by other muscle cells for energy (an aerobic process) before it can even reach the blood or is cleared from the blood VERY efficiently.

The final possibility is that having taken the test immediately after the workout the lactate simply didn't have enough time to accumulate and circulate through the body. This is why we'd normally like to see tests done through time, to get an idea of just how intense the work was and how well the secondary clearing system (liver) is working. It's possible had he repeated the test at 5m PWO the lactate was through the roof.. but we'll never know.

All that said, it does overall indicate the athlete has a high potential for great sustained power output to burn through such a workout and report resting blood lactate levels after. An interview with Lance Armstrong's coach I heard one day illustrates the ramifications well. He was basically talking about how Lance is so strong and efficient on the bike - that is, that he can generate so much power so easily - he can simply burn people down on hills and sprints by pushing the pace on them. It works so dramatically because he can stay aerobic (below LT) while pushing the other guys into anaerobic systems to even keep pace, quite literally burning them out.

[161803398874989]

I read the topic title and thought: oh no, Jdanger must've accidentally squatted low-bar!

[concretecavewoman]

So apropos of nothing I did 100KB swings this morning and I was face-stomped after. Not only that, it took an appreciable amount of time (ok maybe 10 minutes with rest breaks)... so I can't imagine how long 1000 swings would take. Especially with the breathing pattern described in the article. Add to that "regular workouts" and it seems like you'd be exercising in one form or another for a couple hours a day?

Sounds seriously, masochistically fun though.

[bigm141414]

So apropos of nothing I did 100KB swings this morning and I was face-stomped after. Not only that, it took an appreciable amount of time (ok maybe 10 minutes with rest breaks)... so I can't imagine how long 1000 swings would take. Especially with the breathing pattern described in the article. Add to that "regular workouts" and it seems like you'd be exercising in one form or another for a couple hours a day?

Sounds seriously, masochistically fun though.

j is like that. Have you not heard of his tabata front squats idea? Looney-ness

[fsjjunkie]

i wanna see 10K burpees in 10 days... something to think about when the 10K kb swings are done... why stop at stupid...?

I'm not sure I'm ready for that level of crazy....but I'm thinking about something like that in the next challenge, for the month before my Super Spartan.

[weirdquark]

So apropos of nothing I did 100KB swings this morning and I was face-stomped after. Not only that, it took an appreciable amount of time (ok maybe 10 minutes with rest breaks)... so I can't imagine how long 1000 swings would take. Especially with the breathing pattern described in the article. Add to that "regular workouts" and it seems like you'd be exercising in one form or another for a couple hours a day?

Sounds seriously, masochistically fun though.

I've done twelve swings a minute for ten minutes before. I may have gone as high as fifteen minutes in one go. So, hour and a half? Spread out?