“Iron becomes steel when it feels the hammer and the white heat.”
I took this quote from one of the professional journals that I regularly read. It was said to be an old Russian proverb. If so, I think that it accurately represents what weight training and girevoy sport in particular is all about.
At the risk of sounding too corny, we plan our training days in such a way as to forge our bodies and, just as importantly, our minds, into steel. For some, that steel is used in the battle of a competition where we attempt to move the weight at a particular speed for a set time.
For others, we battle the daily stress that hits us from multiple angles and tries to make our bodies sick. The “steel” forged during a good workout helps shield us from those stressors and makes the mind sharp. It also reminds us that in our mostly sedentary lives, we can still do battle by setting goals and defeating the weight of the kettlebells and gravity.
Last week I had a couple “unsatisfying” workouts. I was anxious to practice last night and when I returned home, got changed and chalked my two 20 kg kettlebells right away. I warmed up with Scott Sonnon’s kettlebell mobility drills, and a dozen “pumps” to get the blood flowing. My wife wasn’t feeling up to par yesterday, so she elected not to join me.
I’ve been doing double jerks on Mondays, but without a proper warmup. I therefore began my workout with a couple sets of double jerks with my 12 kg bells. I concentrated on the first and second dip, as well as the rack, getting my muscles used to the movement and my mind into exercise and out of the external crap.
I then picked up my 20s and did 12 sets of 10 reps, with between 1:00 and 1:30 break between them. I added one more set from last week’s 11 sets, with my goal to get to 15 sets before I go to 15 reps for 10 sets.
Since I started double jerks, I noticed that it takes me between four and five sets of jerks before I fall into a groove and they seem to move more smoothly than the beginning sets. I’d really like to hear from other lifters if this is a common occurrence or not. I seem to recall that someone on IGX or maybe the AKC forum mentioned something like this happening.
I also practiced my “false grip” as Bob Garon mentioned in one of his recent blog posts (Read it here: http://tinyurl.com/BobGaron). This seemed to help my grip immensely and forearm fatigue was nonexistent.
Once done, I did my usual mobility drills to cool down and stretch out before dinner.
It feels good when everything clicks.
Be like the blacksmith and bring the hammer and the heat.
(Blacksmith image can be found at www.marshforge.co.uk)
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Absolutely the same with me Jim. I think the first few minutes are necessary to get the blood flowing, the muscles to relax as they need to before you can really get comfortable in the rack. Maybe after we’ve been doing this for 10 years it’ll happen a lot sooner. During the first few minutes, I’m asking myself if I’ll make it to minute 5, then before you know it, minute 5 is past and I’m feeling confident to hit minute 8. Now look what you’ve done, I want to go down and hit the bells now… no, no, no, I need to wait till morning!
Once the body warms up the animal comes out and plays!!!