Friday, January 2, 2009

Second workout of 2009

I was supposed to do Resolution III today, but wasn't really in the mood for heavy deads or barbell clean & press, so I began with the RKC Minimum program from Enter the Kettlebell. Workout 1 calls for 10 minutes of mobility drills--the suggested exercises are deep facing-the-wall squats, kettlebell "halos" (you hold a kettlebell by the horns and take it around your head, making a great effort not to bonk yourself at any point), and "pumps" (which are sort of like upward facing dog/downward facing dog with some hip-swiveling action when you're in up dog)--followed by 12 minutes of 20 swings/1 minute of active active recovery (suggested activities are jumping jacks, squat thrusts, mountain climbers, jogging, basically anything that keeps you moving but won't interfere with your performance of the swings). I got in 4 rounds of the mobility drills and 10 sets of swings/other stuff, although I think I ended up working a little longer than the prescribed 12 minutes when I was doing that portion of the workout.

I had some energy left so I followed with a Turbulence Training 10x10 dumbbell circuit. Ten exercises, 10 reps of each exercise, done complex-style, using about 30 percent of your usual dumbbell press weight. I used 12-pounders, but honestly I think I could've gone heavier because I have a lot of endurance for this kind of workout.

The 10 exercises were:

bulgarian split squats
shoulder presses
stepups
chest presses
elbows-out rows
lunges
swings
shrugs (I subbed lateral raises the first time through the circuit, RDL the second two times)
incline presses
squats