Completed Another Cycle of the ROP with the 44lb Kettlebell
Finished out this Cycle of the Rite Of Passage with the 44lb kettlebell I named Oni. And he was a demon. I knew I was making changes, but I wasn’t sure how much of a difference. And now, I’m even more impressed with Pavel‘s program in Enter The Kettlebell.
Mondays is the Light Day. I was military pressing Oni, and doing pull-ups since the rows had done their job. My posture was fixed. However I stopped when the volume got high and the sessions were taking to long.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are my Variety Days. These became Rest days when the volume got high.
Wednesday is the Medium Day. About 70% of the volume of the Heavy Day. Because I’m not yet capable of swinging the 44 constantly for time I’m doing interval training if the dice dictate more than 4 minutes. More than that and I swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds.
Saturdays I go big, its the Heavy Day. I go as Heavy as I can and still leave one in the tank. And that’s hard as it should be. And Joint Mobility from Pavel’s SuperJoints.
So on my normal three training days are Presses, Pull Ups and Swings. Let’s see where it got me.
Fitness Progress Report:
Military Press with the 53lb.
Left: 3 times Right: 3 times
- One-Rep Max Weight
Left:56lbs (was 55lbs) Right: 56lbs (was 50lbs)
Body Composition
Let’s look at the difference from before the Cycle with the 44lb.
Body Part Before After -/+
Neck 14.5 14.1 -.4
Shoulders 42.5 44.25 +1.75
Chest 36.75 38.2 +1.45
Waist 29.75 31.0 +1.25
Biceps 12 12.1 +.10
Forearms 10.50 10.87 +.37
Thighs 20.50 20.50 0
Calves 13.25 13.20 -.05
Weight 139.8lbs 143.4 +3.6lbs
Body Fat % 10.10% 12.3% +2.2%
Lean Body Mass 125.68lbs 125.40 -0.28lbs
Some size gain, little muscle loss, maybe from protein intake tapering the last few weeks. Little fat increase, but hey, its only just under 12%, how many can say that. My waist grew but that’s from my obliques finally building up.
Now I’m going to take a couple of weeks and do the Program Minimum. Swings and TGU’s twice a week. Active Recovery and from what I read in Return Of The Kettlebell you can back off for two weeks and not lose strength. Then I’ll build up my armor and form by owning the Press with the 44. Work up to (3-5-7)5. Still 75 reps, but more compact. More dense. What I call ROP Armor. And then
I’ll start the next cycle with my shiny new DragonDoor 53lb kettlebell.
Related Articles:
What Has The 44lb/20kg Kettlebell Forged; 6 Week Assessment
Six Weeks Into the Rite of Passage; Where Am I Now?
August 23, 2012 at 8:13 am
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