Today’s session couldn’t be simpler. Do some joint mobility work to get your body ready for some real work. I recommend the Maxwell Dozen.

Use the kettlebell that you can handle for Hard Style sets of 20. You are looking to create tension and relaxation in each swing. I’ve posted on Hardstyle Swings before here.

Do 25 sets of 20 reps. Rest as needed. Enough to maintain form. Nothing sloppy is allowed. Abort the mission if quality is not possible to maintain.

Train with purpose,

Sandy Sommer RKC

• Monday: 4 kettlebell press ladders with three rungs, 48 total reps at 32 kg. 120 One handed swings, 32 kg.
• Tuesday: 64 reps, 32 kg kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes. Slowly but surely working my way to 100. 4 ladders with 3 rungs on Tactical Pull Ups.
• Wednesday:  3 kettlebell modified Press  ladders with 2 handed swings alternated in between rungs in sets of 15, left then right, 16 kg x9, 24 x 5, 28 x 3, 32 x 2, 36 x 1. This is  a weight ladder.
• Thursday: Dead Lift, 1 x 135, 1 x 185, 1 x 225, 2 x (5 x 255). Strong today.
• Friday: RKC snatch test, 106 reps with 24 kg kettlebell, 5 minutes. Tactical Pull Up Test, 8 reps. At the Tactical Strength Challenge I did 100 snatches and 7 pull ups. So 6% improvement on snatch test and 14% on Pull Ups. Getting there.
• Saturday: 12 16 kg kettlebell pistols. Primal Walk, 55:33, average heart rate was 57%.

Pretty nice week of work. Looking forward to having another great week!

Sandy Sommer, RKC

• Monday- 6 ladders with 3 rungs, kettlebell clean and press, 36 reps per side. 72 total and the bell was flying out of the rack. Great power today. 180 swings in 10 minutes with the 40 kg kettlebell.
• Tuesday- Tactical Ladder Pull Ups, 3 rungs on 3 ladders, 18 reps. 56 reps of 32 kg kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes. Felt great on pull ups and OK on snatches. Also did Primal walking, 35 minutes, average heart rate range was 58% with max of 69%.
• Wednesday-16 kg kettlebell presses, 72 reps in 6 ladders with 3 rungs. 32 kg Kettlebell press, 5 ladders with 3 rungs, 60 reps. 30 minutes walk, average heart rate was 60% with high of 68%
• Thursday- Turkish Get Ups for 10 minutes. Last week of taking off from the Dead Lift.
• Friday- 20 sets of 16 kg kettlebell snatches. 140 reps. 3 Ladders with 3 rungs Tactical Pull Ups, 18 reps. 35 Minute walk, average heart rate 63%.
• Saturday-5 50 yard stride outs followed by 5 75% effort sprints. 20 16 kg pistols.

This week I felt very good. I got my copy of Primal Blueprint this week and my lifestyle, workouts and eating habits require a tiny bit of tweaking to fit inside the Blueprint.

Another thing to note. I saw some meat head doing “squats” in the gym today. Why the quotation marks? Because I don’t consider 405 lbs on the bar with approximately a 3 inch range of motion to qualify. Improper movement patterns under load are not of benefit and more likely are hazardous to joint health and your general well being. Please…..learn how to move and do exercises safely. Your well being depends on it.

Train Hard,

Sandy Sommer, RKC

A few months later at the Delaware Kettlebell Workshop that Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC Team Leader, did at St. Andrews School, he taught it and I had an “ah ha!” moment and have been doing them ever since.

Here’s what I can report to you: The Brettzel is merciless and you will quickly uncover any asymmetries, immobilities and tightness in your quadriceps, hip flexor, glutes, lumbar  and piriformis. Don’t move through pain on this one. I couldn’t even get a full stretch at first because I was so bound up.I have pretty good movement through the Brettzel now but wish I’d taped the first few trys at it. I can assure you that there is more than a good chance that you can do it quite a bit better than I could at the start.

Check out this video

and also the pictures so you can see it. Refer to this piece by Gray Cook.

Sandy Sommer, RKC