Tuesday, September 30, 2008

ETK Program Minimum - Week 8, Day 2:

Wall Squats, 24kg Halos, & Pumps x 10 reps x 2

32kg Practice:
C&P x 2L&R (weak on the left)
Snatch x 3L&R (will go for 4 next time)

TGU singles x 5:50 minutes time under tension (TUT)

Racked Carry singles x 50 seconds

Sweat is as good as gold!

6 comments:

Aaron Friday said...

How are all those presses doing on your shoulders? I worked up to 5, 1-2-3 clean&press ladders with the 32kg, and then managed to nail the 40kg for one rep on each side. Since then, my right shoulder has been farked for pressing.

Pisses me off, too. I pressed barbells twice a week before then with no problems, and was looking forward to nailing 185 pounds. Now, I don't do it at all.

I think the risk of injury with 1rm kettlebell pressing is largely being ignored in the community. What do you think?

John Roberts said...

Hey Aaron,
Actually, I am not doing that many 32kg presses. Only 2 left and right on most days before my Program Minimum with the 32kg. A few months ago I was able to get 3 reps on my weaker left side, but not now (see my reason for why later). But when I did the ROP for the first time with a 24kg many months ago, I did have to redo the 5 rungs and ladders for a few weeks before I was comfortable with my strength. My left shoulder has always had a little snap, crackle, and pop here and there (no pain). So, I extended my ROP to try to build strength. I think that I tried to rush through the 24kg exercises during the Program Minimum before I was ready. I started with 6 reps on the left as my max. So, now I am going to stay on the Program Minimum with the 32kg until I can do atleast 3 "easy" presses and/or 7 without failure. It may take many more months, but after reading other training logs, I may need to back off more often, which I plan on doing next week. So, the only comment I have about injury whether one rep or more, is that the cause is probably doing too much too soon with bad form, not enough rest, or both.

Congrats on the 40kg reps!

Like my portfolio, I think slow and steady growth is the best policy!
:)

John Roberts said...

One more thought Aaron... were you doing an oppossing exercise such as pull-ups or rows with your presses? Could it be a muscle imbalance? I just saw a post concerning this on a post on the Dragondoor forum. I haven't done any pull-ups in quite a while and will now start.

Aaron Friday said...

John, I've done pullups throughout my kettlebell training. I am convinced that I definitely have muscle imbalances nonetheless and have tried to work them out.

The 5 ladders of 1-5 with the 24kg was boring, but not challenging to my shoulders. When I started pressing the 32kg, my body oddly switched from a weak left shoulder to a weak right shoulder. Things just didn't line up anymore. After pressing the 40kg, I was ruined.

Kettlebells are just too wiggly to be safe with huge weights. Barbells don't have that problem, because they're not wiggly.

I found a workaround in the form of bottoms-up pressing. The extreme instability of a bottoms-up press forces me to keep the weight relatively low and maintain perfect form.

It still doesn't compare to heavy overhead barbell pressing for overall strength and satisfaction.

John Roberts said...

Hey Aaron,
I like that idea of using a controllable weight for bottoms-up pressing. It takes much focus. Like some things in the news recently, it is also very unstable and unforgiving, but will make us stronger! Gawd, I gotta get away from the media.
:)

Aaron Friday said...

Me too, John. With the media blasting at us, there's just no peace. It's better to have a simple plan and stick to it.