The Quest For Big Boy Pants

  To quote Eric Bana in "Blackhawk Down" - "It's Monday - it's the start of a whole new week". I always liked that line, and I often tell it to myself. It brings the hope of a new start in a very ordinary way - regardless of what happened before. So here we are on Monday, a new week, the second week of a new program (with a new twist over last week), and a new chance for me to actually meet my goal of a daily blog post chronicling the daily programming and antics at Redemption Kettlebell Gym.
 The title of today's post is inspired by what's become a joke amongst myself and one of the members. I've ribbed Mike a couple of times about "putting his big boy pants on" during class, and it's become a slogan of sorts. When stepping up to a challenge in class, or when someone else is, Mike usually punctuates it with "Big boy pants !" 
 Like many things in training, the concept applies to so much more than just the weight being lifted. You see, "putting your big boy pants on" is simply doing what you know you have to do instead of what you want to do. It's when you decide to do the uncomfortable for the sake of improving a situation - doing the right thing over the safe thing - taking responsibility for yourself, your actions, and their outcomes.
 Monday's Big Boy Pants training brings us back to last weeks program with the addition of a technical section. We've got our 10 min, as many rounds possible, body weight warmup followed by Double Kettlebell Swings for  5 sets of 3 singles. The idea here is to  work on the drive and control necessary to handle double bells. 
 This is a great opportunity for the advanced to work into heavier bells without sacrificing technique, while the newbs can get a feel for working with double bells and properly learn how to catch with the hips, which becomes more challenging with double bells.
 Next there's the main body of the training day, which is a heavy upper body sequence. Double Kettlebell Clean & Press (heavy) x 5, Pullup x 5, Farmer Walk (heavy) x 2 Laps. This is done for as many rounds as possible in 10 min. As always, the Peripheral Field Test is the rest between rounds.
 The finishing sequence is a lower body conditioning dominant kettlebell sequence. Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 5, Double Kettlebell Clean x 5, Double Kettlebell Swing x 5 - all completed without putting the bells down. This too is done for as many rounds as possible in 10 min. , with Peripheral Field Test being the rest as before. 
 I said last week that this last sequence is downright hateful. It's important not to underestimate it. Remember, it's 15 total reps per round, double bells, all working the hips. I always have people start off light on the first set and increase weight from there. Members new to the program will use a single bell and work 5 Goblet Squats, 5 Cleans per side, 5 Swings per side. 


Monday (Day 1) - Heavy Upper Body/Lower Body Conditioning


Warmup:
               Dynamic Joint Mobility/Ground Movement
               10 min. of As Many Rounds Possible 
               Pushup x 5
               Body Weight Row x 5
               Walking Lunge x 10/10
               Push Up Plank x 30 - 45 sec.
              Peripheral Field Test after every round


Technical:
                 Double Kettlebell Swing x 3 Singles x 5 Rounds


Block 1: 
              10 Min. Of As Many Rounds Possible
              Double Kettlebell Clean & Press x 5
              Pullup x 5
              Farmer Walk x 2 Laps
             Peripheral Field Test after every round


Block 2:
              10 Min. Of As Many Rounds Possible
              Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 5
              Double Kettlebell Clean x 5
              Double Kettlebell Swing x 5
             Peripheral Field Test after every round