Times 5

   Today we will talk about our beloved number 5. We love five, because five is just right, most of the time. It is a great block to build workouts on. The 5x5 style of lifting is widely employed in many different kinds of training. It consists of doing five rep sets,  for five rounds. You can do a 5x5 bench press workout, only utilizing one movement. But we prefer to get a bit more done during our workouts than that. Many of our workouts are structured around the 5 rounds of varying reps of any number of movements. Which is great, it crushes people. But how about doing five reps of an entire complex, times five rounds? This takes our theory of getting more work done in our workouts to the extreme. Especially if you use an especially effective complex.

    On to the Common Bear complex. This is the complex we will be using for our "5x5" complex dig. The Common Bear is a wonderful strength complex, involving a string of heavy power movements into a smooth complex with no real rest available to comrades who brave not to put the kettlebells down. With this complex you will build strength over your entire body, as it makes use of a good variety of motions. Oh yeah, and we're running.

Workout of the Day: Common Bear x 5

5 Reps of complex each round.
5 Rounds. Begin each round with a 400m Run.

Double 50lb Standard. Double 70lb Advanced.
Double 15-35lb for ladies and beginners. 


400m Run
1 KB Clean
1 KB Front Squat
1 KB Press
1 KB Back Squat
1 KB Press
1 KB Bent Over Row
1 KB Deadlift

    It looks easy on paper, but it's surprising the amount of power output you must apply over a very short period of time. Add heavy weight and make sure we keep tight stomachs and solid backs and this workout will make you very strong.

Scaled Workout:  

5 Rounds of...

400 m Run
15 2 Hand KB Swings
15 Goblet Squats
  6 R Hand Swings
  6 L Hand Swings

You will get you fair share of pain as well. Scaled isn't easier, it just employs fewer movements.


Pre-Workout:

Choose a weight that allows you to complete all required reps without breaking good form. There is no sense in using massive weight only to injure yourself or someone around you. These movements are about control, not so much power. So look directly at your kettlebell and focus hard! Smooth, precise movements yeild the greatest results here, so don't rush. You will only look like a stumbling fool.

Windmill
3 Sets of 6 reps each arm.

Turkish Get Up
5 reps per arm.

And a power movement out of the gymnastic playbook. For your muscle up you must use your hips! Try to generate power through the intelligent use of your kipping movement. Try to kip your hips directly upward towards the bar. This along with a big pull, almost like an extremely powerful kipping pullup, will get your chest above the bar. Now is when fast elbows are important, as well as looking down at the ground over the bar. Looking at the ground on the other side of the bar will ensure you are leaning OVER the bar. You should work hard at this time to also switch your elbows from a pullup position to a bar dip position. Once you develop the skill and strength needed to get into the bar dip position, all that is left is the bar dip itself. Viola. Muscle Up.

Muscle Up
15 Reps
(Scaled movement will be Bar Dips 20 reps)

That should do for today. Sleep well comrades, this one will be fun.

Without further delay.

    After a grip intense but overall fairly easy workout of Friday, and two whole days off in a row, it's time to return to business hard style. We have some comrade ladies joining us tomorrow as well, so this workout will demonstrate some of the scaled versions of certain exercises. this will be so that the workout can be adapted to challenge any athlete, without risk of injury. Training new comrades can be difficult for many reasons, but the biggest one is the extreme differences in the athletic ability of people when they first arrive. Everyone is very different and thus, must start at different points and with different movements. Now don't let this fool you into thinking you have to make a beginners workout easy. That is incorrect, you simply must find a group of movements that are extremely challenging, but are within their abilities. This returns us to the rule that one must treat training like a spiral staircase, you can't jump because you'll hit your head, but you can reach great heights so long as you follow the progression of steps. Enough on the newbies, on to the workouts.

    As always I encourage everyone to do some light stretching, halos, and generally just get moving around first and foremost. Some comrades may even take a light jog to get the blood flowing, and the creaks and squeaks loosened up.

  The Bear Double Complex

   5 Rounds of each complex, alternating every round.

   Balding Bear                                               Common Bear
50lb KB Standard                                       Double 50lb KB Standard
15-35lb KB Ladies/Beginners                     Double 15-35lb KB Ladies/Beginners
70lb KB Advanced                                     Double 70lb KB Advanced

5 2 Hand KB Swing                                     1 KB Clean
5 R Hand KB Swing                                     1 KB Front Squat
5 L Hand KB Swing                                     1 KB Press
5 L Hand KB Clean and Press                      1 KB Back Squat
5 R Hand KB Clean and Press                      1 KB Press
5 R Hand KB Swing                                     1 KB Bent Over Row
5 L Hand KB Swing                                     1 KB Deadlift
5 2 Hand KB Swing

I have chosen this complex as it includes various movements, it is grueling, and it will give me an opportunity to assess and correct new comrades form. It is many many reps, and it really gets your heart pounding, but safety is maintained by limiting the frequency of weight being lifted overhead. Nobody wants to drop a kettlebell on their head. Rule of thumb though is to really have newbies just swing that KB till they fall over dead, because this is the core movement. But I enjoy the clean and squat being included as well, as they are the base for many more complicated KB and barbell movements. Obviously one could scale the Clean and Press to simply a basic clean, to protect injured shoulders. Or removing the Rows for comrades with less strength in that motion. Just adjust and remove/add movements to suit any level of fitness.

Workout of the Day

    So you just lifted and swung the kettlebell many many times. I bet you will be tired of your cannonball friend by now. Well that is too bad. Thankfully you will have some time to recover when you are done right?

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of...

5 KB Swing
5 Goblet Squats
5 Pullups
5 Burpees

That is all comrades. It will be tough, but it will be worth it in the end. Just remember if you want easy, go watch some tv. If you want entertaining, go rent a movie. But if you want RESULTS, then you must earn them. Trust me, upon reaching even the smallest goals you will be proud. Mush prouder than the never ending excuse machines that will be wondering what you have been doing to get so fit. You can either have results or excuses, not both.

On the Grind

    Today we will cover an interesting day's work. We did this session yesterday and let me tell you, it leaves the legs quite sore! We introduce a new (to us) complex, a skill movement, and a brand new high intensity interval training style workout based somewhat on a CrossFit unnamed workout. Our actual WOD, or workout of the day, was designed with the Bear of Destroy in mind. We must increase our training that develops good running and sprinting skills, as well as increasing the duration of the workouts as well. This help build that mental strength to know you can make it through a workout that is very long and demanding, even when you feel like dying after round 2 of 5. More on the WOD in a moment, first we will discuss our fun new complex.

    We can thank YouTube for this very strength biased workout. As a fellow comrade was spending some leisure time watching people perform kettlebell workout on YouTube (Great gireviks live the way of the kettlebell, even when he cannot do the workout himself, the KB love is always there) he came across this interesting complex. It was called the "Bear Complex" which of course immediately caught his eye since we love the mighty bear strength as well! It was a fast, but heavy complex that builds some great strength and explosive skills. This complex may not be a cardio monster, but what it lacks in cardio destruction, it makes up for in volume.

Bear Complex

5 Rounds with 30 seconds of rest in between rounds.
Can be done in a 10 round set if desired.

Go through the complex twice for one round.

All movement are done with double 50lb KBs standard.
20-35lb KBs for lady comrades and beginners.
70lb KBs for advanced athletes.

1 Clean
1 Front Squat
1 Press
1 Back Squat
1 Press
1 Bent Over Row
1 Deadlift

    This complex is a great alternative to our beloved Balding Bear complex, and we will use it frequently to ensure diversity in our programming. Don't think you can't mix and match movements and create countless hundreds of complexes. Just make sure you pick motions that flow together well, no jerky form, and no crazy out of control positions comrades!


   On to the next movement that we did yesterday afternoon. This movement is a very common exercise and should be done fairly regularly to thoroughly develop the skill. It is also a great midline stability (often referred to as "core training" in big box metrosexual gyms) workout. In addition to it's midline benefits it also develops great overhead stability and strength as well as some rather good balance. Look up some of Steve Cotter's instructional videos on how to do a windmills and he will explain the fine details of the movement.

Windmill
Complete 10 smooth and stable repetitions per side. Focus on form and slow strength, not speed.

    Now for the final exercise, our WOD for yesterday. Aptly named "The Grinder" this is a tough workout that requires an athlete to stay focused on not only their form and their performance, but especially their breathing. When sprinting and jogging and doing power movements all in rapid succession you breathing can get out of control very quickly as you heart rate spirals upward. Always remember that the heart follows the breath. So as long as you can slow down your breathing, and make it smooth and powerful, you can also slow your heart rate and increase your work capacity. This workout is based on a interval workout I learned from a fellow Crossfitter some time ago. It is simple and effective in it's basic form, but we are interested in a bit more than that here. It is 10 100m sprints with 1 minute of rest between each one. I added a few movements that will increase the torture a bit, and make the workout truer to our girevik lifestyle. Now enough of my rambling, I introduce to you, The Grinder.

The Grinder

10 Rounds with 1 minute of rest in between rounds.

Snatches (35lb KB standard, 10-20lb KB for ladies and beginners, 50lb KB advanced.)
Slams (50lb KB standard, 20-35lb KB for ladies and beginners, 70lb KB advanced.)

100m Sprint
5 R Hand KB Snatch
5 L Hand KB Snatch
100m Run
10 KB Slam

    Sounds simple enough right? Heck, it even sounds kinda easy. But you will find the real killer in this WOD is the fact that your beloved minute of rest seems to grow shorter and shorter, as the 100 meter distance seems to grow longer and longer. Surprisingly enough one of the hardest parts of the workout is the 100m run. During this portion of the round, after doing your Sprint, and 10 very fast snatches you now must jog/run at a reasonable pace. That's when it goes sort of bad, your heart rate is going crazy, so your breath follows if you do not make a conscious effort to control it. This is very difficult to do, as it creates almost a desperate panic breathing situation. This MUST be controlled, you must use the most powerful, and strongest weapon you posses, your brain. Control your breath and you will succeed, and you will conquer The Grinder.

You all may be wondering what the heck a slam is. And I will tell you now, no worries comrades. A slam is a simple movement that is great for your midline as well as just simply being brutal, and fun! You simply get the KB from ground to overhead (Clean and press it, snatch it, swing it, how you get it up there is your problem, no my problem) Catch the KB by it's horns (sides of the handle) then slam it onto the ground with as much force as you can generate. Piece of cake, right? I have never discussed Slams here before, as many folks do not use kettlebells for slams. Most folks use their kettlebells in their homes or in gyms where slamming them on the ground would be unacceptable. It would damage the KBs as well as the floor. Rogue Fitness (rougefitness.com) has slamballs that are more akin to a medicine ball, only they are very heavy and very durable that are intended for slams. This product may be of use to comrades that don't have access to an area with soft ground to slam their KBs onto. Another concern to keep in mind is the area you do your slams.

    You will find that you KBs will punish the earth and begin pounding a rather deep hole into almost any terrain. So don't do it where someone may step into it and break an ankle, and you probably won't want to do it in your front yard. I prefer using some forgotten unused patch of dirt where nobody will care about, or be injured by the holes. Or even better, a place like the beach, or a sandy area where you can easily fill the holes in when you are done. Some have even suggested using a piece of rubber mat to save the ground from the beating, which may work for you. I don't particularly like this method as the KB tends to bounce, which may be difficult to control when fatigued. Nobody wants to take a flying 70lb KB to the shin do they? I didn't think so. So be responsible when slamming KBs, or any slamming implement, and enjoy the slams comrades! They are fun!

Until next time comrades, eat, sleep, work, train, and play like you mean it and be twice the human you ever thought possible!

A goal worth fighting for. The Bear of Destroy.

  I have created a new workout, well more of a challenge, as an end result of a two week sector of training. It is a very long workout, during which one will run almost three miles, swing a 50lb KB 240 times, involving both hands in unison, as well as individually. The athlete will also be required to press a 50lb KB 240 times. In addition to all that, during this deathly task the athlete must complete 60 total pull ups. Now at first it may seem like "too much" for a workout, teetering on the edge of what is beneficial and what is just torturous. well, that is true. It is brutal, cold hearted, and painful. And that is the intent.

  Keep in mind now that this is not a "Workout of the Day" or "WOD" style event. It is intended to be a challenge of an athletes mental and physical resolve. It is meant to push you to the edge and force you to keep a cool head and KEEP MOVING. I would not recommend any newer comrades attempting this one, unless of course you are already in pretty good shape and/or you intend on scaling the workout to your fitness level. Obviously less weight could be used to lighten the burden on less experienced, young, or female athletes. Standard weight for adult male comrades will be 50lbs. One of the beautiful things about this challenge is that it requires nothing more than a pull up bar, room to run, a single 50lb KB, and an athlete willing to give it his all for something in the neighborhood of 30 minutes. Pure torture, no rest. Metal fortitude will be tested.

  Enter the Bear of Destroy.

Inverted Pyramid style. 5 Rounds in order of 1,2,3,2,1.
Women (20lb-35lb KB based on level of fitness) Men (50lb KB standard, 35lb scaled for beginners)

Round 1:
800m Run
30 2 Hand KB Swing
15 R Hand KB Swing
15 L Hand KB Swing
15 R Hand KB C&P
15 L Hand KB C&P
15 Pull ups

Round 2:
400m Run
20 2 Hand KB Swing
10 R Hand KB Swing
10 L Hand KB Swing
10 R Hand KB C&P
10 L Hand  KB C&P
10 Pull ups

Round 3:
200m Run
10 2 Hand KB Swing
5 R Hand KB Swing
5 L Hand KB Swing
5 R Hand KB C&P
5 L Hand KB C&P
5 Pull ups

That's it. No big deal, don't worry you can collapse in a pool of your own sweat and misery when you are done. No body will mind. You earned it.

  I will continue in greater detail in a future entry about how we intend to ready ourselves for this challenge. From the workouts we will do to prepare ourselves to the phase of reduction in volume, without reducing our activity level. Once again this is only something you do rarely. And mostly to challenge your level of fitness. Not for fitness development. Thanks for reading comrades, and upon completing this grinder of a task, stand proud like the mighty bear we all strive to be.

Meet Brutus

First we begin our workout with our usual warmups. We'll cover the topic of pre-workout warmups in greater detail in the future. Then we begin our workout with our favorite complex, the Balding Bear. This complex was created by a fellow comrade with a rather bare scalp, hence the name. Despite it's silly sounding name, this complex is hard, and effective. It will get your heart rate up, it will make you breathe hard, and it will get those muscles moving and ready for the main workout of the day. Note that with a 50lb kettlebell (KB)  for a beginning comrade man, or even an intermediate one, this may be quite a workout in and of itself. Perhaps comrades feeling a bit intimidated by the weight should perform this complex with a 35lb KB to build their strength first. For the lady comradettes, begin with 20lb KB or even lighter depending on your level of conditioning. Always remember to perfect the movements with lighter weight before progressing to heavier ones. Moving up too fast in weight is a recipe for injuries, and we don't want that do we?

Balding Bear

5 Rounds with a 30 second-1 minute rest between rounds.
Beginners and Women (20-35lb KB), Intermediate-Experienced Men (50lb KB), Advanced (70lb KB)

5 2 Hand KB Swings
5 R Hand KB Swings
5 L Hand KB Swings
5 L C&P
5 R C&P
5 R Hand KB Swings
5 L Hand KB Swings
5 2 Hand KB Swings

Some of you may have noticed the similarity of this complex the the Pyramid style exercise structure common in the fitness world. This is intentional. Pyramids are a great way to structure a workout, and they are downright hard when done right. So do your swings hard-style, and don't you dare put that kettlebell down till the complex is over. Trust me, you can do it!

Brutus

5 Rounds for time

10 R KB Snatches (35lb KB)
10 L KB Snatches (35lb KB)
5 Bar Dips
10 Pullups (KPU)
5 KB Clean-Squat-Press (Double 50lb KB)

  This is Brutus. We have contructed this workout as a strength building workout for sure. But one thing it also does is build strength endurance, since there is little to no break between movements. We created a similar workout recently, but we found that that workout wasn't quite challenging enough. So Brutus was born. The initail workout only had 5 kipping pullups (KPU) and regular Clean and Presses (C&P) minus the squat that was added to that movement in Brutus. Also the bar dips were added for a little extra variety of movement.

  Alot of the reasoning behind the addition of the bar dips, and the increase in number of pullups was to assist a Comrade in building his strength directly related to the Muscle-Up (MU). He is very close to achieving his first muscle-up and I thought that adding these movements would be just what he needed to get that first muscle-up. One of the interesting points of the bar dips is that unlike most folks, who do bar dips on parallel bars, we do them on a straight pullup bar. We use a bar that is low enough to the ground that most Comrades can jump up into a muscle-up position and begin their dips. This forces them to go through almost exactly the same movement pattern as a real muscle up, it just allows them to use their legs to generate the upward movement normally derived from the kipping motion. This builds that difficult to work transitional strength between a pullup and a dip that is absolutely pivotal to a muscle-up.

Welcome to Girevik Bear Blog

Welcome all,
  This is The Girevik Bear Blog. In this blog I will cover interesting topics about the world of health and fitness. Follow along with my weekly programming, and learn about it's intended affects. Also enjoy watching as this program evolves, and moulds itself into a solid, respectable, and well versed fitness concept. As the name suggests I have a special interest in the Russian Girevik style of training. This involves lifting kettlebells both heavy and light and a variety of movements. My style of training also draws much of it's style from Crossfit and it's methodology, so expect those schools of thought to also be explored. I also find myself drawn to trail running and any outdoor activity really, so there will be opportunities to discuss that as well. There will be much more to come in the future, as this is only the first entry. I will post pictures, and daily workouts, travel workouts for the Bears among us who may have limited access to equipment or facilities, as well as sound nutrition advice, and general musings about the sciences behind the sports.

  Please visit the Girevik Bear often, and learn the path to becoming a mighty Bear. You can posess great strength and stamina, and be more of a human than you have ever been in the past. Learn to work, learn to eat, learn to rest, and learn to play. But above all, let's reach an understanding of WHY we do what we do for our bodies. And how it makes us FEEL, both in body and in spirit.

  Thanks for reading, fellow Bears, look for more in the near future.