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It happened again – I wrote a workout for an advanced/intermediate-advanced client then really really wanted to do a version of it myself.  Upped the weights here and there, but kept the rep ranges pretty much the same. Slight modification to work around the old school Pavel pull-up program I dusted off for the season (more about that in a few more weeks time when I will have news to report.)

Before beginning the actual workout, I did an abbreviated set of joint mobility exercises before beginning the assigned sets of pull-ups for the day (which were alternated with small chores) That particular day’s assignment was 9,8,7,7,6 dead hang pull-ups, "tactical" grip of course (no thumbs) and on the Dragon Door pull-up bar with its gnarly thick bar. Humbling if you’ve got smaller hands.

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I want to hear from YOU! Please fill out the little survey either below or by using this link. Answers are anonymous, but if you’d like to add your name at some point feel free.  For your time, after you compete the survey, you’ll be given a free code and instructions for an instant download of a workouts ebook (and video demo library)! Lucky you!!!

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Couldn’t resist using this neat photo of the pyramid at the Louvre. Having recently become 41, I remember seeing this interesting structure during its construction (I was VERY young, maybe 7 or 8 at the time). The massive excavation was fascinating, and I would only see the completion of it many years later in the late 90s. "Oh, so that’s how it turned out!" The sense of scale is lost in photos.

We all know that a pyramid is a very strong and stable structure. The shape can also inspire challenging workouts. Unlike a ladder format, where the reps build each set, the pyramid adds reps, reaches a pinnacle then subtracts reps from each set. I like to use pyramids in my own workouts and programming and also for my clients. Particularly with interesting and reasonably challenging moves like upper body pulls and presses (though usually not at the same time).

Pyramid workouts are not just for strength moves either, Master RKC Phil Ross has a formidable pyramid of kettlebell snatches that is humbling to say the least. You may be tempted to try and add up the total reps for the workout before attempting it, but I’d encourage you to wait until you’ve completed it first! (While there’s a warm-up and particular context for his workout, the basic gist is to start with one kettlebell snatch on the right, then one on the left, two on the right, two on the left…. all the way up to 10 and then back down. While that doesn’t necessarily sound too bad to those of us well acquainted with the RKC kettlebell snatch test, I can assure you that 2nd set of 9 reps on the way back down is a meanie.)

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As much as I hate to admit it, when the weather outside gets below freezing, I’m much less likely to work out outside.  Then, one of my clients emailed asking for an indoor alternative to her regular outdoor activities. This workout is one that I created for a small Upper West Side Manhattan gym where I led classes for a week pretty much for the heck of it. (I wanted to get out of town for a bit, and my friend up there needed an extra trainer… While I had no intentions of moving up there and taking the job, he accepted my offer of leading most of the group classes for a week so he could interview people).  Finally, I was able to spend a big chunk of time in NYC, have fun, visit friends, and most shockingly of all… break even. That’s the story of the "NYC Workouts eBook" which is a collection of all the group sessions I led up there during that time.

Anyway, here’s one of the bodyweight only workouts you can do indoors and which is essentially self-scaling. If this looks "easy" to you, make sure you’re working hard enough! 🙂

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There’s a lot of fun, changes, and improvements coming to GiryaGirl.com in 2018, thanks for reading and interacting since 2009! 🙂 If you have 18kg and 20kg kettlebells, bring them out to play today! 🙂

Best to you!
Adrienne

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Before we get into it, please be sure to check out my recent interview with original Battling Ropes System creator, John Brookfield! I was surprised at more than a few of his answers – and am that much more psyched to attend the upcoming Battling Ropes Instructor Certification workshop!

OK! So, once again I revisited a favorite Dan John article to read up on a particular pattern. While Dan had already made several variations of this workout pattern in his article and even more so in his book, The Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge (recommended). The original version is 10 swings, 1 goblet squat, 15 swings, 2 goblet squats, 25 swings, 3 goblet squats, 50 swings, rest.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the original version a whole lot. I use it and enjoy it.

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This past week was crazy busy, but now that I’ve got a little bit of time, there’s two quick workouts to share!  One was indoors, the other outdoors, but both were fun in their own way and combined strength elements with a little bit of HIIT too. I’ve continued to enjoy using the fan bike for 8 all out sets of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest at the end of workouts. More about that near the end of this previous post.

For the first short workout, I’d been meaning to spend more "quality time" with a pair of 20kg kettlebells, so the workout is essentially centered around them. I find that getting in a fair amount of reps of standard presses with a 20kg kettlebell seems to really help my 24kg press and beyond. I need to get back into pressing the 28kg to be honest… I haven’t tried in a while but I’m sure it’s still fairly close if it isn’t already there at least for one on a good day.

So, after a joint mobility warmup (very similar to the one included in my little eBook of random workouts I led in NYC last year) I continued the warm up with a bodyweight get-up on each side immediately followed with a single 20kg kettlebell get-up on each side. Get-ups are not only awesome to include in workouts, but I like to add a couple as part of a warm-up to "get everything working together" for lack of a better term.

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Once again, I wrote a workout for an intermediate client, then felt the need to write a version of it specific to my own needs. I’ll present both of them to you here. I can’t get over how much fun it is to train outside with kettlebells and rocks.* While I ended up doing my version of the workout indoors (it’s been getting dark so early… and it’s easy to lose the kettlebells on the ground out there and create tripping hazards), this particular client was lucky enough to be able to schedule the session during the few hours of daytime that work for both of us.  You’ll see that we’re working on different things as expected.

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Working from home is great if you have the personality for it. I’m very grateful to have been able to have this level of autonomy for such a long time. If we want to get technical, I’ve been in charge of my own schedule for the past 17 years (remember, I’m 40 and all) as an entrepreneur, consultant, and fitness instructor. A great trick to have up your sleeve no matter where you work is a quick, intense, nasty little workout that will get a whole lot done in a short period of time. Kettlebells are especially suited to this kind of activity.

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Until today, it hadn’t occured to me that I’d always used the same grip with my Neuro-Grips… even at the Neuro-Grip Challenge book photoshoot… It’s always been with the stem of the grip between my middle finger and ring finger. (Upper left in the photo below.)

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