I should retitle this post something like, "What I Suck At, Volume 3654." Today, I started doing an extremely basic kettlebell move that is the precursor to more complicated moves; it's called the rack position. You'd think this was a simple and straightforward move, but it's not, and it's broken down into several parts. By the end of the short set I did, uncoordinated as I am, I still didn't feel comfortable doing it. So I might work on it a little more this weekend. Next week, I'm adding heavy-club inside circles to the heavy-club portion of my workout, so I should probably practice those, too.
For those who are wondering: I'm starting with wussy weights: I have a 6-kg and a 10-kg heavy club, and I'm beginning with the 6-kg club. Baby weight for a guy with no muscle in his arms. The inside circle feels to me like the first "real" heavy club move. In Week 1, I did the basic swing, alternating my upper hands when doing sets. In Week 2, I added the heavy-club front press, which is good for the core, the arms, and the shoulders.
I can say, despite the lack of visible progress, that I can feel my deltoids strengthening since I began dumbbell lateral raises (5-kg dumbbells) in Week 1. I'm doing only two sets of ten reps for the moment; I'll eventually max out at three sets of fifteen reps while using 10-kg dumbbells. That might happen sometime next year if I keep this up. Is such weight enough to bulk me out (the pros call it hypertrophy when you gain muscle mass)? Probably not. But I'm not looking to get hugely muscular; what I really care about is functional strength and flexibility as I age, i.e., the continued ability to do stuff without all of the old-man grunting and groaning and exaggerated breathing. Among the "stuff" I want to be able to do are things like sitting down and getting up off the floor without using my arms—the kind of elementary movement we lose as we get older and neglect exercise.
Once I buy some video equipment, I'll see about filming and displaying parts of my workout, so expect some amusing content in the coming months.
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