Invaders must die! (strength/conditioning log, feedback appreciated)

[Mazikins]

My first post here, the training logs were why I registered - I find them a great idea. The title of the log is also the title of the song I find most stimulating when they play it in the gym, also because it was the music for an internal video of awesomeness at my company.

A little bit of background
I don't have much of a training history, until I moved to Iceland I wasn't doing any sports or physical activity. I started doing tribal bellydancing and some specialized yoga (don't laugh, good tribal bellydancers have incredible muscle control and awesome core strength). In an effort to get my (now ex) boyfriend to lose weight, we both went to a personal trainer, but I ended up the only one going to the sessions. Two months later I was loving my new muscles and the feeling of strength.

I started going to a group training called Combat Conditioning - a rather hardcore strength/medium endurance program aimed to train MMA fighters, police special forces and computer nerds (I work for a game company and a lot of my colleagues went to these sessions as well).

I also took up capoeira some months ago and I'm loving it - yes, I know a lot of people don't consider it a "proper" martial art, but I'll take its acrobatics and funky moves over the more "manly", full-contact martial arts.

Recently, Combat Conditioning classes have been suspended until January, so I moved to a kettlebells group class, which I'm loving so far. I started a 5x5 weight lifting program 3 days a week and I try to go to the special deadlift sessions that my gym organizes.

General info
Age: 28
Female
Height: 1.50m (4'9'' in that funky non-metric system)
Weight: Between 49 and 51 kg (108 lbs to 112 lbs, or so Google says)

General goals
* Get better strength and conditioning
* Get more muscle definition
* Get rid of the last bits of fat layer (I have normal weight, but I'm a perfectionist)
* Get at a level where I can be in Iceland's strongwoman competition next year (not allowed to participate, I don't have citizenship, but I still want to train for it)

Short-medium term goals
* Get back to my previous level of weights by the end of November (12 and 16 kg kettlebells, currently I work with 8 and 12)
* Deadlift at least 80 kg by the end of November (current max is 70) - I edited this one twice, from 60 to 70 and now to 80.
* Be able to do unassisted pull-ups by the end of November

Now, compared to some of the big numbers I've seen around, they may not seem like much, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere.

[briangodsen]

I am going to assume you are a woman, and also from Iceland. Those are two good qualities to have. Good luck with your training.

[Mazikins]

Second kettlebells session:

Exercise | Reps | Sets

Single leg squats x 5 x 3 x 2 = 30 (3 sets for each leg)
Spiderman push ups x 8 x 3
Windmill with 8 kg kettlebell x 3 x 10 (5 sets on each side)
Push press with 8 kg kettlebell x 3 x 10 (5 sets for each arm)
Double clean and something in Icelandic (bringing the kettlebells to your chest) x 36 (with small breaks)
Lats pull x 8 x 3
Front plank + lateral plank on either side = 4 minutes (changing every 30 seconds after 1 minute front plank)
4 minutes of swings (12 kg) and squats, alternated every 30 seconds (we were supposed to do squat jumps, but I'm not allowed to jump yet).

Looks kinda weak now that I write it down, but the session was rather intense (no breaks between exercises). Meh.

[Mazikins]

Originally Posted by briangodsen

I am going to assume you are a woman, and also from Iceland. Those are two good qualities to have. Good luck with your training.

Thanks.
Yes, I'm a woman, but not from Iceland, I've just been living here for almost 3 years. If I could learn their funky Viking language I would apply for citzenship though, it's an amazing place to be (at least for me).

[ShadowNINku]

funny that I'm listening to Omen right now, maybe we're talking about different invaders? skipped over IMD and all of a sudden see this title on the right side of my screen

[Lug's Spear]

Good luck! Us short folk gotta stick together. How do you like kettle bell work compared to barbell?

[Mazikins]

ShadowNINku - I'm talking about the song from The Prodigy so, yes, probably the same invaders.

Lug's Spear - I've been training with kettlebells for a while and I find them tricky, but very awesome and cuddly (ok, maybe not cuddly). I also like that the weight progression is 4 kilos, so when you move to heavier weights it really feels like you've made progress. I haven't trained much with barbells, mostly free weights and BW exercises, but I think I like kettlebells more, they're more challenging in some respects.

Nothing major today, just 45 minutes of yoga and a lot of walking in the lovely, cold Icelandic rain.

[Mazikins]

Sick today, I considered not going to the kettlebells/crossfit session, but then I thought "hey, if one-legged people can go to the gym and train, so can I". So I hardened TFU, although this session was mostly conditioning and endurance, almost no strength training at all.

We did about 20 different exercises over an hour and a bit, some sprinting, swings, tons of pushups, suspended knee-to-elbow raises, military burpees and other fun stuff.

The high point for me was an exercise where we were supposed to walk on all fours with another person grappling us around the waist and upper torso. I was too short for this, so I did some kind of Romanian DL instead, only with a wide stance and without using my arms. The girl hanging from me was about 20 kilos heavier than I am. I didn't think I could DL above my body weight at this point, so this pleases me.

[graedy]

Keep up the good work.

[ShadowNINku]

Originally Posted by briangodsen

I am going to assume you are a woman, and also from Iceland. Those are two good qualities to have. Good luck with your training.

videos, photos...... or I call work