Progress...Don't Ever Stop!

[Catrin]

That is my new motto, never stop, never give up. That is how to survive a 10 minute kettlebell sport competition set. Of course, if you come out too hot and heavy then that doesn't work well either - don't want to burn out. I've learned that my body LIKES the Long Cycle (combination movement of a kettlebell clean and jerk). Watch Mimi here - she is a 67 year old French woman who competes with kettlebells - the first lift she is working on in this video is the Long Cycle - she is an inspiration!

To make my rank, my bare minimum of good reps that I have to complete in those 10 minutes is 100. I learned recently that I can do that in 8 minutes, so that gives me two minutes to focus on getting as many good extra reps as possible - assuming that I will actually have a competitor in my weight class and rank. Due to my shoulders I have to go lighter than I would like, which is part of it, but there is something about the flow of the movement that my body just really, really likes.

To make matters interesting I've either teres major tendonitis (my doctor thinks), or trigger points that are mimicking the symptoms. I've been cleared to do my two favorite lifts (Long Cycle and Jerk), I just am not currently allowed to do the Snatch, and I wasn't intending on competing in that lift anyway, my body dislikes that movement as much as it likes the Long Cycle. I was surprised my doctor cleared me to do the other work, but the movements are very different. I am following up on the possible trigger point root of the problem. Seems to me if a myofascial tool causes pain in a very different location that it is more than likely a trigger point.

Today I did my usual Sunday Swings workout - it is a ladder workout with 500 single-arm kettlebell swings intermixed with 100 TRX rows. I was vigilant for pain and there wasn't any While this is a great workout, it's main purpose isn't competition or even strength, but as a metabolic booster.