workout log, April 27th, 2009

It is time to take the 1RMs I have found in all my lifts and put them to use. Time to get stronger. I am working on a 4 week rotation and will change it every 4 weeks till I have hit my goals. The first day of the week my lift focus is the military press. Typically this is done with a barbell but I am hell-bent on pressing the 20kg kettle bells over my head again so I am tweaking the protocol of what I am following and doing it with kettle bells. I will get to the bar...in due time. The second day of lifting will focus on the deadlift followed by the bench and last but not least my squat. Today was day 1 and military pressing

warm up:
15lb bells x 10reps
18lb bells x 10reps
20lb bells x 10reps

work sets:
22.5lb bells x 5reps*
26lb bells x 5reps
28.5lb bells x 5reps*

*there is no such thing as this size bell. I created it by adding a 2.5 magnet to each bell.

assistance work sets:
Please note the the following: immediately after this work out I needed to hop on the elliptical machine to do my least favorite activity, cardio. I have goals so I must do this...but I want to stress that today my legs were fried due to an excellent squat workout Saturday! I thought, seeing as the weather here in Chicago was actually pleasant and sunny, I would wander out to the back alley of our gym and push the prowler to loosen the legs up a bit. If you do not know what a prowler is, I suggest you look it up! It is a fantastic conditioning tool and should be respected, used and abused often!

Military Press with the kettlebells, pyramid:
28.5 x 5reps
26 x 5reps
26 x 5reps
22.5 x 5reps

In between, I walked the prowler 500 yards down the alley and back with a 25lbs plate on either side. Not too bad for a leg "loosener" and the first prowler trip of the year. I will say that it only gets better ;)

Push ups Body Weight 5x10reps

Interval work on the elliptical for 40 minutes; 5 minutes of warmup. 45 seconds at a steady pace, 15 seconds all out sprint, repeat 20x. Followed this up with 20 minutes steady state cool down. (I am really looking forward to doing this kind of work on the treadmill or a track again. Or even on my bike! I just needed that time for my legs to not feel like rubber following the River to River Relay...oh yeah, and my squat workout this weekend!)

Whew! That was close to and hour and 40 minutes of work...and my legs are the only thing tired....go figure...