Training update, October 2011

Just a few weeks out from the One Hour Long Cycle and my hands are a little tired. A little bit shredded and a little bit too callused. Ouch.

This weekend, I have to hit 50 minutes straight, which I'm not exactly looking forward to. My hands aren't yet up to snuff from the last long training session. I've had to tape them up to hold down some blistered skin.

While my hands heal, I'm concentrating on pressing and squatting, pushups and pullups. I still get my swings in but even those hurt a bit more than I'd like.

My latest goals have been to gain muscle without too much fat, get ready for the OHLC, then look ahead to competing in the Long Cycle with two 24s on January 21st (I aim to hit 37 reps in ten minutes).

I haven't been pleased... I feel fatter than I'd like, although I'm close to my goal of 200lbs, but I've been 198 for almost two months. I need to eat more and get this done. Also, I'm anxious to do more double kettlebell work, but my hands are thrashed from my sweaty mistake in last week's One Hour training. Finally, I'm tired from training too much in general, but not enough in the areas where I want.

I need better clearer goals.

There are positives, however.

I just pressed a 24kg for ten good reps, then followed that up with two more sets of 10. I'm getting stronger and need to buy a 32.

I just did 20 good front squats with a 24kg, too. It took shoes with a heel. With bare feet or Chucks, I can do 15 and my back tires first.

Pride has held me back from using weightlifting shoes, despite the fact that many KB Sport competitors use them. But they use them to get into a good Kettlebell Sport rack position, which I don't need help with. I have the opposite problem and I feel like I'll topple over with heels when I'm in that position. But, I suppose I'll give them a shot, and competitions or not, I can work them into my regular training, too. I'll just have to make sure to do plenty of squats without them; all the goblet squats have helped my squat to get better, even though it's not perfect.

One consolation is that some Oly shoes look awesome.

I really like these, which I saw at last year's One Hour Long Cycle. I hope that dude is there again, so I can ask him about his shoes...