Three months!

[Brent Brown]

So!  I am at my three month anniversary of kettlebelling!

 

I couldn't be happier!  Strength and fitness improvements are better than I expected.  Body composition changes are proceeding at a nice steady pace.  I'm averaging about a pound a week loss of scale weight (whatever that is good that measurement is for).  My Robb Wolf "Look-Feel-Perform" measurements are off the charts!

 

Three months is also when folks talk about taking a "week off" from exercise.  I've struggled about what to do with that.  I have some good momentum and it seems a waste to lose a whole week.  In particular, I'd like to keep working on my snatches and TGUs and work towards increasing my RPM.

 

However, I also seem wisdom in taking time off.  I've hit these three months pretty dang hard.  Workouts five or six days a week, two cycles of ladder programs and increasing a bunch of kettlebell weight.  It would not be surprisng for the stress to have my cortisol all jacked up... especially since my sleep isn't all it should be. I can feel it too.  Each week my body feels like it is not quite as recovered as it was the same time last week.  Like I am slowly losing ground in recovery.  I think a week off would help reset that.

 

Also, I need some time to reflect on what is working well and what is not.  Despite things going well, there is always room for improvement.  I could use the time and energy of a rest week to put some structures in place to help me fix the stuff that needs some help.

 

The last argument for a rest week is that the remainder of this year is going to be rough.  Between now and early January, we have not only the schedule/stress/nutrition disasters that are Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years... But every single birthday in our family (other than mine) falls in that time span as well.  Also, January is crazy season at my job, so I'll be gearing up for that.  In short, I am going to need to be super focused to stay on top of my game for the rest of 2011. 

 

Not only am I NOT going to have setbacks, I AM going to ROCK the rest of this year and blast into 2012 in great shape!

 

So now is the time to get set up for that.  The next day that I touch a kettlebell will be 9/25.  Between now and then I am going to rest, reflect, jot down some notes on what I can do to improve, run it all past Jim, and put the stuff into place that I will need for the next three months.

 

My blog posts for the next week will mostly be those reflections and the changes I am making to improve the weaknesses I've identified.  Those posts will be my accountability.  This needs to be a productive week!  Just productive in a different way.

 

We'll see how it all turns out.  :)

 

 

[Pam Benedick]

Happy 3 month anniversary!  Cool to see all your improvements and your enthusiasm for whats to come!!!