Too much material



Too much material

It was chilly this morning, but 10 men dragged themselves out of the fartsack to sling some iron. Stone Cold, Horsehead, and YHC did a 3 mile pre-run with a flyby of the old Meathead AO. #pouroneout

After a somewhat disjointed COVIDisclaimer, we grabbed our bells and waiter carried them to one of the giant parking lots down by the church. We circled up there for some quick kettlebell instruction, covering all the ballistic movements (swing, snatch, clean, high pull). Some reminders for the pax:

  • Hips drive, arms guide. The power should come from your hips and your arms are just there to guide the bell in its arc and to keep it from flying into the guy in front of you.
  • The handle of the bell should pass above your knees on the backswing. If it’s lower than that, you’re bending your knees too much (or you have arms like an orangutan).
  • Vertical shins. This is a hip hinge movement, not a squat. Minimize knee bend and try to keep your shins close to vertical.
  • Eyes on the horizon, shoulders anti-shrugged away from your ears, and proud chest. Like the monkey humper, it’s best to stare deeply into the eyes of the guy across from you. #pleasedont
  • The bell should always start and end in front of your feet, so you have to tip the handle toward you to launch it. Engage your lats as you start the backswing. This will prevent you from using your lower back.
  • Bell size. For these types of ballistic movements, you need a decent-sized bell (at least 45 lbs.) to really feel the movement where you should. If you’re using a smaller bell, you can muscle through poor form, which can lead to injury. If you need a bigger bell, ask to borrow one from another pax.
  • StrongFirst has some great videos on their Youtube channel:
    • Swing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHxcTn1UeAc
    • Clean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDpATbCmuuM
    • Swing and Snatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PdNx36VIt0
    • High pull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyXGycl1ZrQ
    • Snatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZO3DzqaKfs

After the tutorial, the pax partnered up (KB size and speed don’t matter). Partner 1 works while Partner 2 runs to the first island on the left and back. Each partner completes 4 rounds of each KB exercise:

  • Snatch
  • Clean
  • High Pull
  • Swing

Collect your bells and carry back to the launch lot, where we circled up for some Meathead Mary: elbow plank, hollow body hold, glute bridge, and LBCs.

COT: Thanks to Stone Cold for taking us out.

Announcements:

  • Congratulations to Dollywood and his family on the birth of their second child and best of luck to Battleship as his first child is due on Friday. It was good to meet you and I look forward to seeing you again in about 9 months!
  • Please note that Skunkworks will be moving its launch point next week to be closer to 51. Reach out to Horsehead or Stone Cold with any questions.
  • Please keep social distancing in mind as much as possible. There’s more community spread of COVID and we don’t want F3 to be the reason anyone gets sick. We also want to model good behavior and be considerate of other pax that might have a reason to be more cautious than most.
  • With everyone training at home, there’s been a shortage of kettlebells on the market. Carolina Fitness Equipment is a good local choice. Some online retailers I’ve used include Rogue, X Training Equipment, Get RX’d, and Kettlebell Kings. It’s probably worth it to shop around for availability and price.

Moleskine:

  • Thanks to Horsehead and Stone Cold for inviting me out to Skunkworks this morning. As you may have heard, I’m a big fan of kettlebells, but I rarely make it out to Skunkworks these days because I’ve got Swole on Monday and Meathead on Wednesday. It’s good to get back out and to see some of the kettlebell pax from the Matthews side of Area 51. I was a little disappointed that Chin Music didn’t show, but I’m sure Header will give him the play-by-play the next time he sees them. Thanks to the pax for posting and following my lead for 45 minutes.
  • Das Boot didn’t get enough bells last week at Meathead, so he came out and punched his passport at Skunkworks this morning. Lucky for him, I didn’t make him lead any of the workout. He was driving up from a different state, so we’ll excuse his tardiness, even though it resulted in him missing the tutorial at the beginning. He then proceeded to troll us on Slack with a “catfished arm injury” (Horsehead’s apt description), making me wish I had repeated the disclaimer.
  • Battleship posted in a hat that looked like something Dan Ackroyd wore in Spies Like Us. The only thing bigger than his hat was his kettlebell, which appeared to be plastic and filled with helium. I have no doubt that once he gets his form down, he’s going to be swinging some heavy bells in no time.
  • Header was an old school Meathead pax, so I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when he showed up with what looked like a 35# bell. I know he can swing more than that. He proceeded to crush the workout, leading the way on the runs and getting plenty of reps in on the exercises.
  • I haven’t been to Joust in a while, so haven’t had the opportunity to work out with Yeti a lot, but he showed up dressed like Header’s twin and did equally well on the workout.
  • Lois looked like some sort of ninja out there this morning with leggings and a balaclava (I think that’s what it was). I can only imagine what kind of layers he’s going to have on at Peak 51 when it gets down in the teens and 20s. I think he should put a bigger bell on his Christmas list because he’s stronger than he thinks.
  • I think Cage was our only respect out there this morning, but you wouldn’t know it from his performance. He was crushing the reps and the running and quietly getting the work done.
  • It was great to see Baracus out there this morning. He’s been coming back strong from his hip injury and was proudly sporting his Steelers cap. #undefeated He’s got the Q at Anvil tomorrow, so please come out if you’re a Ravens, Browns, Bengals, or Patriots fan.
  • I don’t think I’d seen Stone Cold since the morning of Halloween when he posted for about 25% of a Stuckey’s workout. As always, it was great to see him and he got after it during both the pre-run and the workout.
  • Despite coming off of a torn quadriceps tendon injury, Horsehead pre-ran the workout and led the way on the running portions of the workout. I also know he’s judging this backblast and I feel like I’ve fallen short. I guess I didn’t eat enough lead paint as a child to come up with the same free association writing style that he does. Hopefully he will embellish it with some comments down below.

About the author

Voodoo author

Area 51/SOB, Meathead co-site Q

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