Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Kettlebell 666 Challenge

As I mentioned a couple posts down, I'm fundamentally not all that bright. I mean, I have a large vocabulary and a certain aptitude for scoring well on standardized tests, but I've got no common sense whatsoever. Accordingly, when my friend Mike "Smoke The Blowfish" proposed the following challenge--200 kettlebell swings, 100 prisoner squats, 50 stability ball rollouts, 100 bodyweight squats, 105 pushups, for time--my initial reaction was, "Wow, what a great little workout, but it needs a pull. I know! I'll throw in some chins. How about 45, to make it a nice even 600-rep workout?"

So, that's what I did just now:

200 kettlebell swings with 12 kg (broken up into 4 sets of 50)
45 chins (broken up into sets of 7-8)
100 prisoner squats (70, then 30)
50 rollouts (2 sets of 25)
100 bodyweight squats (60, then 40)
105 pushups (2 sets of 21 and then whatever :))

And then at the end, because I'm just that kind of a person, I did a 66 second extended arm plank after completing my final pushup. Hence the 666.

If I were doing the challenge Mike-style I would finish with either a 2 mile run or a 9 mile bike ride for time, but since I 'm at home I haven't got access to cardio equipment. (My gym has no kettlebells worthy of the name, so on kettlebell days I have to work out at home, which is my preference anyway.

Oh, and my time was 31 min, 23 seconds. Not bad, but I can do better. I haven't been doing a lot of pushups lately, so am out of practice.