Another day, another workout. Today's session was predominantly skill-centric like Tuesday's, but brought forth some new moves I've never seen before, but expect to get wonderfully fond of in short order.
Darius and I started out with some shoulder rolls, and then worked up to some Halos (around the head pass w/KB) and Figure 8's...which entail passing a KB between the legs. This was followed by a series of swings...and transitions between one arm and the other. Nothing too intense, but I could really feel the exercise throughout. After doing CrossFit, it's kind of neat to really work a muscle group without leave a sweat angel in the grass.....yet!
We then progressed to some more clean work, including the bottoms-up clean.....really works your grip! The other lesson I took away from the clean work was the need to just get the KB to the bellybutton, rather than the chest. It's tempting to overmuscle the bell...the trick is to get just enough momentum and direct it where you need it to be. Master that, and your forearms will thank you.
We then worked on "swing snatches" with a 36lb bell. The idea here is to let the bell arc out in front of you, rather than executing a vertical line of pull. It's not as athletically efficient, but it definately more of a whole body exercise than the traditional snatch. Another RKC keeper!
Last up was a really cool exercise...the one legged KB deadlift. I did some deadlfting w/CrossFit, and liked it because I was good at it. Deadlifts were one of hte few exercises in which I could lift my entire bodyweight (240lbs). Darius's version was more of a skill than I'm used to, but probably far more beneficial. The mixture of a partial squat, the balance required to do it one-legged and the simplicity of the exercise were just awesome. That, and I only needed a 26lb KB to really feel it.
As always, we finished up with an overhead walk and a smile. Did have to cancel the workout for Saturday due to a trip, but look forward to Tuesday at 0600. Too bad I can't just pickup a 36lb KB and take it with me on the train!
Darius and I started out with some shoulder rolls, and then worked up to some Halos (around the head pass w/KB) and Figure 8's...which entail passing a KB between the legs. This was followed by a series of swings...and transitions between one arm and the other. Nothing too intense, but I could really feel the exercise throughout. After doing CrossFit, it's kind of neat to really work a muscle group without leave a sweat angel in the grass.....yet!
We then progressed to some more clean work, including the bottoms-up clean.....really works your grip! The other lesson I took away from the clean work was the need to just get the KB to the bellybutton, rather than the chest. It's tempting to overmuscle the bell...the trick is to get just enough momentum and direct it where you need it to be. Master that, and your forearms will thank you.
We then worked on "swing snatches" with a 36lb bell. The idea here is to let the bell arc out in front of you, rather than executing a vertical line of pull. It's not as athletically efficient, but it definately more of a whole body exercise than the traditional snatch. Another RKC keeper!
Last up was a really cool exercise...the one legged KB deadlift. I did some deadlfting w/CrossFit, and liked it because I was good at it. Deadlifts were one of hte few exercises in which I could lift my entire bodyweight (240lbs). Darius's version was more of a skill than I'm used to, but probably far more beneficial. The mixture of a partial squat, the balance required to do it one-legged and the simplicity of the exercise were just awesome. That, and I only needed a 26lb KB to really feel it.
As always, we finished up with an overhead walk and a smile. Did have to cancel the workout for Saturday due to a trip, but look forward to Tuesday at 0600. Too bad I can't just pickup a 36lb KB and take it with me on the train!
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