PB Today (Full 10-minutes Set with double kettlebells)

A personal best for me today, and my first ever full 10-minutes set with double kettlebells, so thought I’d open with that one.

On another note, my training plan was to compete a 7′ set today, so I guess I changed the plan once again. 😀 )Maybe I should rename it to ‘training guideline’ or similar.

Still, it does highlight one key point and that’s to listen to your body and how it’s feeling.

If you’ve seen my previous posts, you’ll know the recent trials and tribulations, and I will admit I was in two minds whether to go for the 7′ or 10′ minuter today.

For me, there were 2 over-riding factors…

Two Over-riding Factors

First and foremost was how my back was feeling (and my body in general).

Fortunately, though my shoulders still ache and I’m semi-walking like Herman Munster because of the 90-odd squats I did on my post-lunchtime walk the other day (and boy, have they been telling me what a good idea that wasn’t!), my back feels 100%. And that’s got to be the main driver.

Second, because of the limited time between now and the competition date (31st July is the last day I can submit online), and because of monitoring my back, I said I’d stick to 8kg until 1a) my back was okay, and 1b) until I could complete 10-minutes with the 8’s.

Kettlebells and Conditioning (and Coffee Call) with Peter Forneck

Peter, who runs the Kettlebell and Conditioning academy on Skool, holds a coffee and chat call once a month. In it, he happily answers questions from academy members and also provides instruction/coaching depending on time (and he’s very generous with his time)

On our last call, which was not long after I was injured, he was talking about recovery and competing and reiterated about you should always focus on reps before weight. Meaning, you only increase the weight when you know you can do the reps.

Reps Before Weight Can Mean Different Things

Now, this may mean different things to different people, depending on where they are and what they’re doing, but for me, who’s looking to compete in the 10-minutes Double Half-Snatch competition, this means competing the 10-minutes with my lowest weight before I increase the bell weight.

You’ll notice there’s no mention of reps per minute (or total reps here). In this case, the goal is to perform for the whole 10-minutes without putting the bell down.

If that involves 5, 8, 10 rpm or whatever, that’s down to you.

Complete the 10-minute set.

Keeping the Weight Manageable

Doing it this way not only minimises any risk of injury, but it also allows you to focus more on form, technique, breathing, etc., without worrying overly about hurting yourself.

In contrast, going all Hercules and muscling through could do some serious damage.

Reps before weight.

If, let’s say, you completed a 10-minutes set at 5 rpm and 50 reps was your goal, great. Move up to the next weight.

However, if your ultimate goal is 130 reps and you’re just starting out, now you know you can do 50 reps in 10 minutes, next you might want to aim for 7 or 8 rpm, and build up from there.

Reps before weight.

Make sense?

If you’ve got any questions, fire away and I’ll do my best to get back to you asap.

My 10-minutes Session

Anyway, here’s my session:

Lunch

OMAD lunch today was 260 g ribeye steak (which I almost overcooked in the air fryer: I messed up with setting the sous video and took my eye off it because the postman delivered my new heart rate tracker! 4 rashers of back bacon, and 4 boiled eggs and mayo, butter, and black pepper!

Post-lunch walk was a 15-minuter around the house.

(Not many steps today as I’m still doing Herman Munster impressions! But a pb with double bells ain’t half bad in comparison!)