Viking Warrior Conditioning - 80 Sets

Tonight we had 3 athletes reach the 80 set mark.

15 seconds of kettlebell snatches at  VO2 max pace.  15 seconds of rest.  One set.

Varying weights, same approach and level of effort.

LOTS of work done.

Check out more in the book: Viking Warrior Conditioning

Rack Pulls and the Pursuit of Breaking 400

It's going to happen.  I will break my own self-imposed barrier of 400lbs.  Deadlift, from the floor, 405.  In the picture I'm doing a rack pull of 425.  Now I know I can at least hold the weight.  The question is can I hold it through the different transitions?  Shin level, just below the knee, at the knee, above the knee, to full lock-out.  I can pull it from above the knee.  Now I just need to spend some time hanging out below the knee.

For the next 6 weeks I will be using a program borrowed from David Whitley's article on DragonDoor.

It's a series of singles that increase in weight and drop in reps throughout each week.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Right now my max deadlift is at 355.  It's a lot of weight to add (another 50 pounds) but I am confident it's going to happen.

This has been the longest running goal of mine, even outlasting my IronMan, and RKC goals.  I've been letting the 405 goal taunt me for some time.  Now it's time to take it down.

Or should I say pull it up?

Atlas Stone Training

Nothing like picking things up and letting them fall.

Then doing it again.

and again.

Viking Training Onward!

How's the viking training going?  I have to say that my expectations of the strength and endurance gains over the last 2 months have been shattered.  Here are some short stats on what I've seen happen:

• 5k times are dropping - 100% improvement across the board.
• Snatch strength and conditioning - numerous 80-set achievements, bell weights and reps are moving up!
• Overall strength gains and carry-over to other activities (i.e. swimming, viking raids)
  

Just so you know, I am also following the protocol.   I don't get all the runs in that I'd like, and sometimes the kids bring home extra-special colds from school, but with what I'm able to get in, cool things have happened.

This week:

• 30-mile run on Sunday (18 minutes faster than last year)
• 3/3 Kettlebell Snatch with a 72# bell
• 290 lbs sumo deadlift for 5 reps
• 140 lbs shoulder press for 1 rep

Endurance and strength can and DO go together. 

If you've experienced some cool stuff training with me, please write about it!

http://www.dragondoor.com/brandon-nugent/

Running 50 Miles

Kettlebell Training - Swings and Snatches

In 2010, I ran my first 50 miles.  It was uncharted territory for me.  In 2011 I tackle it with more knowledge and hopefully better planning than I did in 2010.

Tire Sled Training

Some guidelines for running your first 50 miles:

• don't get injured from overtraining
• get comfortable being uncomfortable
• strength is the base that speed is built on, get stronger
• speed training (high intensity speed training) builds endurance AND speed.
  • (see tabata protocol)
• kettlebell swings help running
• running makes you a better runner, train your nervous system to run the pace you want to run at.
• sleep
• eat good food
• listen to the horns of fatigue, back off when you feel like crap, then back off some more
• don't be an a-hole about training, family first

Finishing the American River 50

 

Sticking with a Program

Sticking with a Program

Welcome to week TWO of the Program Minimum.  Dan John had it right when he was referring to people hitting that weak spot around day 14 of a program.  All of a sudden I find myself wanting to tweak the plan, make compromises, put off the planned workout.  It was really hard not to do something that had more glitz, seemed like more 'fun', than do what the coach had prescribed.

Generally I train haphazard on a daily basis.    This year, up until October when I did the CrossFit mainsite wods and rested on the 3-on 1-off pattern, I was doing all training by the seat of my pants.  No plan, just do something and rest when you felt like it.

Well the obvious happened when I went to test myself on a half-ironman triathlon.  Over confident and convinced I was better conditioned than my 2004 self, I was hell-bent on beating my old time.  Instead what happened, I added 30 minutes to my race time.  Still, I was able to get under 6 hours, but that was a PAINFUL race.  It was also eye opening.  While I am significantly stronger (there's no way I could clean and jerk 100 pounds in 2004, let alone the 185 that I did this August), and I can run far (ran 50 miles in April this year qualifying for Western States 100), I did not have the specialized fitness I used to have in order to get a sub 5 1/2 hour half-ironman.

So what am I doing different now?  First, I'm hitting the big training reset button for November.  Program Minimum, from Pavel's "Enter the Kettlebell" program.  Strength and mobility work with Turkish Get-ups, and strength and cardiovascular conditioning with swings.  In the evenings and off-days I'll do the occasional track workout and focus on running form with speed emphasis.  The bike will be put on the trainer and rides will start happening again.

Next, the plan for 2011 is laid out.

Depending on what happens Dec 4th (Western States Lottery), I may be shifting gears to run 100 miles in June.  If not, the plan is either to do another month of full CrossFit for December (swings and getups will still be part of the program) and then January through February will be the Right of Passage (ROP) program for the 24kg bell.  Running, paddling and mountain biking will become more important as the the Gold Rush 4-Day Expedition Adventure Race will be on the calendar. 

So I am sticking with these programs!  Last night I almost caved to not doing the swing workout.  It was a 5 minute AMRAP of single arm swings for the 24kg kettlebell.  In short, I set a PR for single-arm swings, and I was glad I did it.

I drafted out the training plan in October, knowing that there might be a period in the program where I felt like couldn't do a workout.  There's really no excuse.  It was FIVE MINUTES of focused effort.  How hard is it to get 5 minutes in?  I even went through DROM and my standard warm-up.  It took 20 minutes total.

If you have doubts, tell yourself you'll quit tomorrow.  Which is what I did.  I told myself let's do this one workout and we can quit tomorrow if we feel like it.    It worked, I got a new PR and today I have no intention of quitting.

Stick with the Program!

Five Minutes of Turkish Get-ups

It's not about the bell.

It's about moving well.  Listening to the creaks,becoming aware of where your body has the 'brakes' on, the turkish get-up shines a light on your movement, good and bad.

Use the 5 minutes as an opportunity to learn from a whole-body perspective.  As you press the weight up overhead, take your time to feel that weight transfer to elbow, heel... and pay attention as you lunge up.  Feel the weight and listen.

Pick an appropriate weight and get up!

Today it happened to be a 24kg bell for 5 minutes.

If you don't have this skill, find someone (i.e. an RKC instructor) and learn it. 

As an added challenge, do this with an cup of water balanced on your fist instead of using weight.  The worst thing that happens to you is you get wet.  The coolest thing that could happen:  you develop a heightened body awareness and a mastery of the movement.  The cup never lies :)