Turning Can’t into Can Do with Heavy Kettlebells

Tonight’s workout was 5x5 kettlebell goblet bench squats. My days of heavy lifting on any type of squats are long over because of my (totally not service related according to the VA) back and hip injuries. 

After the warmup it went from 45, 55, 62, 70, and 79. Then I decided to try the monster, the 106lb kettlebell of doom. I haven’t touched the monster in awhile. Waiting till the end of the workout to pickup the heaviest thing is never a good idea. So I was like, why not? 

I knew it was gonna be a short lived bad idea as soon as I picked it up. It was heavy after too long away from it. I managed to get in 2 reps and I quit while I was ahead. 

But it brought about a positive note. I overcame the mental deterrent that it’s too big and heavy to even try. 

It’s heavy but with a smarter approach, I’ll be able to eventually get 3,4 and 5 reps. It’s not impossible. Your mind will fail you long before your body does most of the time. And if you don’t face your fears, they will always win. 

Entering the arena to face the beast is the mental challenge. If your training doesn’t scare you a little bit, you probably aren’t challenging yourself enough. So in that regard, there was no failure, there was a lesson relearned.

Understanding Rates of Progress with Fitness and Nutrition

Have you ever heard someone say “it’s only been a couple of weeks, we have to give it time”. It’s a classic line (excuse) in the fitness and nutrition industry. 

When you are on a fitness/nutrition program and you don’t see the progress which you hoped for, people throw this line out there to cover for it. 

First, you have to understand what realistic expectations are. Most people don’t know or understand and are way off on both ends of the spectrum. 

Doctrinal rates of healthy progress in the weight loss/ fat loss realm are normally around 1lb per week or 1% body fat loss. That means generally 4lbs or 4% body fat loss per month. 

In my program, I expect you to achieve more than that. That is a minimum standard or guideline.

So theoretically if you go two weeks and see nothing, or very little, you are not meeting the standard. “Just keep at it and it will come in time” is absolute BS. 

No progress or less than optimal progress means that you are either not doing something that you should be doing or you are doing things in a manner which are inefficient or ineffective. 

That’s why over the decades my program evolved to using two weeks as a micro cycle for programming. Two weeks is a solid base line to reflect behavior, training and nutrition habits. 

If after two weeks of training, and you are not seeing the progress expected, analysis and course of action development are required. 

Make the necessary changes to your program and you should see progress at the end of the next 2 week cycle. It doesn’t take a month, 3 months, or 6 months to get the ball rolling. 

I give clients two weeks. Either do what needs to be done or be honest with yourself that you are not really committed to the goal / program. 

It starts with your mindset. Free your mind and your glutes will follow! 

Workout Programming Doesn’t Need to be Complicated

Knock ‘‘em out airborne! 

Sometimes the basics are all you need. 

Simple doesn’t means easy.

Here I did 10x10 on the push-up bars.

10 sets of 10 push-ups with a 2 min rest in between after the 5th set. 

It started off easy but half way through it got tougher with each set. You can adjust the variables to suite your own needs. 

Complicated and super detailed programming is not always required. 

If you are an athlete or training for a specific event, then your programming needs to be more specific and detailed. 

If you are training for general physical preparedness and daily life activities, the programming can be much simpler which doesn’t mean easy or ineffective. 

This push-up workout smoked my pecs (chest), anterior deltoids (front of your shoulders), and my triceps (back of your arms). It also provided some core stabilization training. 

And it was something that I could actually do without causing injury or further injury to the old beat up vet bod. 

The complicated and super detailed “perfect program” rarely lasts more than a few weeks unless you are training for a specific task or event. 

Create a simple plan that you can and will follow. Odds of success are much higher.