Made a fantastic fabulous discovery Friday afternoon – since delving further into Convict Conditioning vol 2, especially the clutch flag section (Thanks for egging me on, Aleks Salkin) I started to view the neighborhood a little differently – I already consider the world to be a gym waiting to happen, but this really brought it into focus. That plus fingertip pull ups with Coach Tim Shuman, RKC2 the other day at our friend’s bike shop. I found that the beams under the lowest staircase landing are pretty much MADE for fingertip pull ups – like woah – perfect height for me too. Hmm and I have to walk past them ALL the time. One of the great things about training here is that we have to walk the kettlebells out to our training area. I had wanted to do some heavy stuff before the small group arrived, and ended up putting together an example of a fun little workout. It’s not for everyone and you should adapt it to your own fitness level, but it’s an example of using things around you (ALWAYS check for rough edges, sharp things, structural integrity first!!!!). It’s about a 100 yard walk to the training area from the storage area, and the “fingertip pull up station” (it’s no longer a staircase) is about 25 yards into it.
And don’t just slog down the path – be intentional with your kettlebell carries – keep your abdominals engaged, keep your shoulders down and back – thinking of holding a pencil between your shoulder blades. We did some really neat detailed work on kettlebell carries at Andrea Du Cane’s Ageless Body Workshop – which I highly recommend for ANY fit pros and not just those that specialize in training older people.
Make 3-5 trips if you’re going one way to train with your friends or small group. Make 2-3 ROUND trips if you’re just doing this to do it. If you’re carrying uneven loads, make sure to swap hands mid-way. ALSO – do NOT do any of this to fatigue – it’s almost a GTG thing – and you should “leave some in the bank.”
Here’s what I did before the small group arrived:
A little joint mobility then…..
Carried pair of 24kg kettlebells out there – on the way, stopped and did 2 fingertip pull ups
Carried single 32kg kettlebell and the battling rope (probably looked like a ships anchor and mooring line LOL!) did 2 fingertip pull ups on the way
Carried 12kg and 16kg kettlebell racked, switched hands midway, did 2 fingertip pull ups.
When I got out there, it was time to warm up with some swings – just a variety – so things like 24kg set of 10, 10/10 snatches with the 16kg, 32kg set of 10, and some single clean and jerks with the 24kg kettlebell. Punctuated with timed L-sits using the pair of 24kg kettlebells as makeshift parallettes (those biggies have nice stable bases!), a few “for fun” 24kg pistols on each side, and handstand practice in the grass.
Tell me again why I’d want to join a gym?!
The above is pretty typical for an “unscripted” day. I don’t go to fatigue on things like that and will often forget that I’ve even “worked out” I’ll remember when dinner disappears though!
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