Monday, September 15, 2014

The Swing, The Workouts! #1-#5

HERE THEY ARE!  I've posted a ton of follow along beginning swing workouts for years now, in fact many similar to the ones in my book The Swing, but here are the exact workouts in their entirety from 15 minutes to a full 25 minutes, starting with the first five! 



In Workouts #1 and #2 I guide you through establishing the right amount of work and rest FOR YOU!  Keep a journal, repeat either workout as many times as you feel comfortable before adding more reps per set and more sets per workout.....those are coming next!  Congratulations for taking the first steps toward a healthier and more fit body!



Workout #3 adds 5 more minutes, again taking care to pay attention whether you are ready to add more reps per set, and please don't be intimidated and think you must always add reps!  Back down one or two reps, stay at any particular rep count that is right for you, or go back and start at 10 reps again.  Every workout will be different so keep that journal!



Workouts #4 and #5 move up to 20 reps per minute more quickly, and in fact by the time you complete these two workouts you might start each workout with 20 reps per minute, or as you will next practice in the following workouts, 10 reps per 30 second intervals!

If you are not swinging yet, or maybe you already train regularly but have a family member or friend that wants to start but doesn't know where or how, I do every single rep with you (the viewer), or I coach you through each and every swing rep for complete 15-25 minute workouts!  You will find the written workouts and journals in my book The Swing, if you don't own it yet here is where you can get your copy:

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Lose-Revolutionary-Kettlebell-Program-ebook/dp/B005LBYRV6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1410789160&sr=8-15&keywords=the+swing+book

Enjoy.  Enjoy the book, enjoy the workouts, but mostly, enjoy your strong, healthy and fit life!



ps I chose to not have music in the background so you can listen to what you like!

Monday, September 1, 2014

The Mother of All "51" workouts! A complete 40 minutes of swings



On Saturday we taped this special "51" swing workout designed for me by Meg.  This is not the exact original version of it, which we did on my actual birthday on August 5th, but that one will be repeated at some point! As I was reviewing the pattern, 3 sets of 17 reps every 45 sec interval, followed by one set of 51 reps done in a 2 minute interval I was inspired by the possibilities of the many options that I might be playing with this one for a while!  Leave it to Meg to come up with this crazy rep count pattern!

What I like most about this rep count pattern is that...well, first of all, how brilliant is it that 3 sets of 17 = 51?  I would have never thought of it!  17 reps done every 45 seconds comes out to about 25 seconds of work, to 20 seconds of rest, just slightly more work and I think it's a great way for beginners to push themselves just a tad.  And the set of 51 can easily be reduced to only 40 reps giving an equal work/rest option for anybody that needs it. What kind of swings you do can add to the difficulty for sure, and I'll write about that in a sec.

Here is the workout:

15 2 2 hd sw + 2 R (15 R/ 2 L)
17 2 hd sw
2 L + 15 2 hd sw (2 R/ 15 L)
2.25 min per three sets of 17

15 2 2 hd sw + 2 R  + 17 2 hd sw + 2 L + 15 2 hd sw = 51 reps (10 R/10 L x 2 = 40 reps)
2 min per each set of 51
4.25 min per round


13 2 hd sw + 4 R (13 R/ 4 L)
17 2 hd sw
4 L + 13 2 hd sw (4 R/ 13 L)

13 2 hd sw + 4 R + 17 2 hd sw + 4 L + 13 2 hd sw (5 R/5 L x 4 = 40 reps)

11 2 hd sw + 6 R (11 R/ 6 L)
17 2 hd sw 
6 L + 11 2 hd sw (6 R/ 11 L)

11 2 hd sw + 6 R + 17 2 hd sw + 6 L + 11 2 hd sw (1 sw 1 tr x 20 = 40 reps)

9 2 hd sw + 8 R (9 R/ 8 L)
17 2 hd sw
8 L + 9 2 hd sw (8 R/ 9 L)

9 2 hd sw + 8 R + 17 2 hd sw + 8 L + 9 2 hd sw (40 tr = 40 reps)

7 2 hd sw + 10 R (7 R/ 10 L)
17 2 hd sw
10 L + 7 2 hd sw (10 R/ 7 L)

7 2 hd sw + 10 R + 17 2 hd sw + 10 L + 7 2 hd sw (40 2 hd sw = 40 reps)

now reverse and go back up hill:

9 2 hd sw + 8 R (9 R/ 8 L)
17 2 hd sw
8 L + 9 2 hd sw (8 R/ 9 L)

9 2 hd sw + 8 R + 17 2 hd sw + 8 L + 9 2 hd sw (40 tr = 40 reps)

11 2 hd sw + 6 R (11 R/ 6 L)
17 2 hd sw 
6 L + 11 2 hd sw (6 R/ 11 L)

11 2 hd sw + 6 R + 17 2 hd sw + 6 L + 11 2 hd sw (1 sw 1 tr x 20 = 40 reps)


13 2 hd sw + 4 R  (13 R/ 4 L)
17 2 hd sw
4 L + 13 2 hd sw (4 R/ 13 L)

13 2 hd sw + 4 R + 17 2 hd sw + 4 L + 13 2 hd sw (5 R/5 L x 4 = 40 reps)

15 2 2 hd sw + 2 R (15 R/ 2 L)
17 2 hd sw
2 L + 15 2 hd sw (2 R/ 15 L)

15 2 2 hd sw + 2 R  + 17 2 hd sw + 2 L + 15 2 hd sw = 51 reps (10 R/10 L x 2 = 40 reps)


end with one last set of 51

17 R + 17 2 hd sw + 17 L

OR 

51 2 hd swings!

Just shy of an entire 40 minutes, 869 swing reps

Oh gosh, now I've got to do the math....

Meg and my version, 100 one hand swings (50 R/50 L) and 769 two hand swings!

Susie's version, 819 swings total, 632 one hand swing (316 R/ 316 L), and 187 two hand swings

Whew!  I did not check the math, but at the end of the day it's not a big deal!  Susie's workout is posted in the parentheses in pink.

Who's Susie you might ask, lol!  Susie Grossman is an HKC from Indiana that contacted me about coming in for a private session while here in CA on vacation with her husband.  They hiked Yosemite for a week and then drove up here to the Bay Area.  Susie and I worked together on some SFG prep training and she stayed for my class.  I keep warning you all if you come for a visit to my group training you are likely to end up in a swing video!

Susie's "51" workout was done with mostly one hand swings.  Meg and I did two hand to one hand swing sets, while Susie demonstrated R to L one hand swing sets in the first and third sets of 17.   Also, while Meg and I did 51 reps (the three sets of 17 strung together) Susie did a set of 40 using my progressive swing combinations.  The kind of swings you do is up to you, it's your workout.  Personally, for me, I find the more two hand swings I do adds to my difficulty.

Thank you Susie for demonstrating the one hand swing reps options, especially since she had to count them on her own while I was counting our crazy rep pattern!  She did a much better job than I did keeping it right :)

ps: This was the first time we did this version and although we were using a "cheat sheet" I did manage to screw up a few sets! Oh, and you may notice that on the very first round Susie did in fact follow our lead, but finished the rest of the workout using those one hand swing options.