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/