Training Log

I had an awful workout on Monday- felt totally listless, struggled to reach reps that I'd normally achieve with little effort, just not pleasant at all. I'm putting it down to a few poor nights sleep in a row. I hadn't realised it had taken quite so much out of me.

Today I decided to ease back a little and so I stuck to doing the basic and essential kettlebell swing. Not wanting to overwork myself I just did a 100 repetitions, taking as little time between sets to rest, and only ending a set when I felt that my form was beginning to slip. It didn't take long but it broke out a sweat and left me breathless. An hour later I felt like I hadn' t trained at all- my muscles got it easy but my heart and lungs had to put in the effort.

Tomorrow I'll go back to doing swings, snatches, clean and jerks and a set or two of squats. I'm not able to do long reps with the 2-pood (32kg) KB yet but that's easily overcome; with lots and lots of short sets.

My initial aim when I began training was to strengthen my injured back and also to lose some of the weight that I've put on since that injury worsened a few years back.

Kettlebells are renowned for their ability to fix "glass backs"- mine isn't fixed exactly (and probably never will be because of the arthritis) but it is more stable than it was. One of the advatages of the girya is that your back is supposed to be straight virtually all the time- I don't have to bend it or twist it. My joints still tend to stick, there are lumps of knotted muscle here and there and I get quite nasty spasms now and then (over the weekend I couldn't turn my head to the right) but my back does feel a little more sturdy than it was. The slightest thing can set me off (getting up from a chair, staying too long in one position, etc) but I feel like my back is better able to absorb some of the shocks it's exposed to. And I am certainly fitter than I have been in a long time; if nothing else, that's a big relief. My main worry now is that I'll lose some of the gains I've made recently next time my back decides it wants to go through a bad patch and they can last anywhere from a week to a couple of months.

As for my weight loss- it isn't happening. My wife tells me I'm definitely getting slimmer (and I feel thinner) but my weight is remaining pretty much constant, within a few pounds of 14 stone- I'm hoping that means more muscle and less fat and not just that she's telling me what I want to hear!