Lady Up...32kg Sinister!

It was NOT my idea!  In fact, I'm not sure I've ever swing the 32kg before...oh, yes, maybe I did 100 reps in sets of 5 last year?  Anyway....



5 reps at a time is NOT 20 reps!  And 20 reps is NOT 20 reps when you only get 7 seconds rest since the last 15 reps!  That's how freakin Sinister it is!  5 reps,easy, 10 reps totally doable, 15, starts to get irritating (in a good way!), and 20, especially with practically no rest, sucks!  Sucks wind that is!

This workout was done first by Karen Rossler maybe 3 weeks ago, and she posted video of her last of four rotations  50 reps w/32kg on facebook (and here it is below!)  I was surprised to hear of, and see, a woman just decide "Hey, I think I'll use the 32kg!"  I mean why not? Because it's he-he-he-heavy!  That's what so great about the swing.  If you can deadlift the bell, you can probably swing it.  How many reps? Well, that's the test!



And speaking of tests, and I consider "challenges" the same as a "test", a "peak", a personal best, etc., I don't believe that once presented you have to just go out and do it, or try it, asap, and you have to consider the source as well!  If you train on a regular basis (which you should be to even consider something like this) you also have to take into account your core workouts first.  I had just been doing a cycle of some really heavy ballistic training and had just backed off, so as much as my ego wanted to "just do it", I gave it some time and a little planning to recover from the weeks of heavy loading I had just completed.

Then, again on facebook, another one of my fellow female RKC Instructors, Michelle Carlborg, had posted that she had been doing a bit of Sinister training, and I asked if she had tried it with the 32kg, using Karen workout as an example.  Well, wouldn't you know what?  Michelle posted over the weekend this picture of her, yep, swinging the 32kg!  It was time for me to Lady up!

I never feel pressure to compete or to take on a ridiculous challenge....let's see...the "10,000 swings in a month challenge" to name one...not that I don't already do that kind of volume, but I would never ever promote it, especially to someone untrained.  Besides if you train consistently you already do your share of reps, and consistency is way more important that driving yourself into the ground because someone threw out a crazy number based on the only fact that it was a crazy number (to most people).  Anyway....I did NOT take this 32kg Sinister as a challenge, and I'm not presenting it to anybody else as a challenge.

The true challenge is to work up to swinging 20-30 minutes two - three times a week, using an equal work to rest interval ratio as a first goal.  The next goal is to keep showing up on a regular schedule and repeat it over 3 - 6 - 9 - 12 months! During this time, if you want to drag out a really heavy bell and have some fun, give it a go!  No pressure, because as Mark says, you gotta get back in the gym for your next workout anyway.

Ok, so the low down?  I was a little concerned about my grip, but that was never a problem.  What really surprised me was the super intense cardio element created by moving such a heavy load with short intervals!  My heart rate got up to around 160-165 and it took 2 minutes to come barely start coming down after I stopped!

I knew my Flip was about done with the batteries, but I ran out of new replacements so I couldn't change them (seriously, I'm not lying!).  So when I heard the Flip "go off" during my third rotation, with nobody watching I'm afraid to admit things probably got a bit ugly!  My last 2 sets of 15 and 20 reps all I kept focusing on was 5 reps at a time.  15 reps meant I had to repeat "5 " three times...short, short rest...ok, now I only had to repeat "5" four times and that was it!  Really it was all I could think about!

Looking back at it, it was crazy fun!  But one more confession....my heart rate got so high I was actually concerned, maybe a little afraid!  There I was at 6:30am, in my garage, all alone!  What if I gave myself a heart attack?  lol  Funny thinking maybe, but I'm not a spring chicken afterall!

Oh, and maybe one more confession....will I do it again?  Hell to the NO!  Afterwards I never wanted to pick up the 32kg again!  But now that I've had time to calm down a bit...me and the 32kg?  It's on!

10 min, 200 reps, 32kg, Sinister. 14,400 lbs moved.

Video shows the first two rotations complete and turns off during the third set of the third rotation, rep 118 out of a total of 200.