Ideas about indoor kettlebell and bodyweight workouts

I keep checking to see if any of the neighbors are building an ark.  Seriously... the rain—all week... rain rain rain rain rain.   AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!   This is especially annoying for people who like to walk to their errand destinations, who like to practice beginner and clutch flags on any available safe pole, who like to do fingertip pull ups off of various pieces of architecture...

Not to mention there's NO WAY we're getting the Battling Ropes out in the rain.  Not only will it make them heavier, they'll get all gross I am sure.   Stupid rain!!!!!   So, what's a person to do?!   As I had mentioned in a previous article, it was super weird doing 48kg kettlebell swings indoors (and underground) with Marshall Roy at NYC Equinox this past Monday.   I do Beast swings outside with some regularity, and the nice big expanse of soft grass is soothing to to mind.  In the unlikely event of grip failure or something else going wrong, the kettlebell would simply fall—or fly depending on what happened—rendering a dint in the dirt and no doubt a few chuckles.   Indoors... this would surely bring about great destruction, possible danger, and very good grounds for eviction.   My downstairs neighbor (who seems to think I am up here developing a new martial art... maybe I am...maybe I'm not!) certainly would not appreciate dropped kettlebells.   As a point of general information—and because my property manager occasionally reads this blog—I never swing anything heavy upstairs, it's just not worth it.  Likewise, I have found that even SLIGHT mental inihibition or fear of damaging floors/etc. can have serious consequences on my execise form.   YOU and YOUR SAFETY should take precidence over any concern of property damage, so if you're worried at all, that simply means you shouldn't do it indoors.  

Ivan, it's nothing personal, it's just not right to invite you to my apartment.

So, what are the options?!

• Make it a bodyweight intensive day - Convict Conditioning 1 & 2 spring to mind, as does Raising the Bar.   If you don't have a pull up bar installed in a hallway, consider a doorway mounted one.   It's literally a HUGE investment in your health.  I am going to go out and say it here, it's terribly unprofessional sounding but, Pull Ups Make You Hot.  There.  It's out, bask in the goofy glory of this "great truth" and go do some pull ups, or work towards your first one—Convict Conditioning or Raising the Bar will show you how.
• Grab a kettlebell that is a little lighter than you're accustomed.   For me this would be the kettlebell we use at the RKC Workshops for the snatching test, and one or two sizes down.   So, were I to head indoors for a workout, you'll see me carrying 16kg, 14kg, and possibly a 12kg.   I may do some kind of weird endurance thing, or a cruel form of complex placing the press at the end of the complex to make it more difficult.   See what you can safely do before having to set the kettlebell down.
• Speaking of setting the kettlebell down - I either use the edge of a rug, a folded towel, or a folded yoga mat to protect this vintage parquet wood floor from the ravages of kettlebell madness.  Make sure that you are still safely decelerating the kettlebell and not doing some kind of weird extra moves to put the kettlebell down.   If you are, reevaluate the floor situation until it's something that doesn't inhibit you.   Bad habits die hard, don't make new bad habits!!!!
• Always, always make sure that pets, kids, and other loveable creatures are not going to wander into your workout area.   Likewise, don't swing towards the TV or china cabinet.   I know this is obvious, but sometimes we all get excited about trying something without thinking.   It only takes a second for an accident to happen.
• As I mentioned before, with a moderate kettlebell, you can also make it a "celebration of program minimum day"   Do some VERY serious practice on your get ups, with or without a kettlebell.  Dial in the movements, explore them, be conscious of where all your parts are.   Do you move around a lot and make constant adjustments?  Maybe consider exploring things slowly and start taking those extra adjustments out.  Make the get up fit YOUR body - that takes time, patience, and exploration—the good news is that can also be a whole lot of fun.  Especially on a rainy day with no one around to bug you!
• Explore joint mobility, I really enjoy the exercises in Super Joints and Resilient - these are great practices that you should already be doing, and which can be done indoors very safely.   Learn something new on a rainy day, good stuff!!!
• Get out the TRX! Or destroy your ego and shred your abs with the Pavelizer or Evil Wheel!
• Practice your martial arts forms, it's a great time for Tai Chi or Qigong
• If you've done a lot of hard workouts for the preceding days, then consider taking a research or planning day.  Reevaluate your training program if necessary, write up some workouts you would like to try.  Consider your goals, refine them.

Hope that gave you some food for thought, let me know what YOU like to do on an indoor workout day!

Oh and check out yesterday's quail egg snack time if you haven't already: