Todays session 22/01/11

A real buzzing session today. Density training as taught to me on the IKFF CKT course by Steve Cotter is an absolute blast and massively ramps up your work capacity to levels you wouldn't think possible!
I started off with snatches, the most satisfying of all kettlebell exercises in my opinion. Carting off the 6 kettlebells into my bedroom, I deliberately grab the weights in ascending order of weight since I feel as though this will help prepare me for the sets to come. The 12, 16, 20 and 24 all seem perfectly fine but then once I get to the 28 and 32 it suddenly dawns on me that the next 15 minutes are going to be tough!
OK, density training, what is it:
You start with a light weight and perform a set amount of reps before moving on to the next weight. You continue up until you arrive at your max weight and then you start back down again. Nothing ground breaking about this but the fact is, it is tough, no rest periods other than the time it takes to change the bell.
Of course it's easy at first, the 12 kg bell produces a healthy heart rate response but nothing too spectacular. The 16 also feels light (of course this is all relative to your own strength levels and abilities)as does the 20. By the time the 24 comes up I'm in the zone, loving what I'm doing and no longer intimidated by the upcoming 28 and 32. The simple fact is is that by the time I get to the 28 and 32 I am no longer thinking about how heavy they are, purely focusing on getting the reps done and maintaining my form. They're heavy, for sure but no longer as heavy as when I transported them into the room and this is the beauty of density training, the gradual build up enables you to lift more weight then you would ever think possible at the start.
I complete the 11 sets of snatches in sub 15 minutes and have listed the stats below.

I then moved onto cleans after a 6 minute rest.
Using exactly the same rep scheme, these feel relatively easy in comparison.
I have also listed the stats for these below.

Feeling great, I then decided, in a moment of madness maybe, to go for the RKC snatch test which is a 5 minute test whereby you have to perform 100 snatches with a 24 kg bell in 5 minutes or less.
This is a tough test and is normally done in isolation and not as a finisher!
I set my clock for 5 x 1 minute intervals in order to maintain a steady cadance of 20RPM and then went for it. I changed hands after every 10 reps here as opposed to my normal 20, 15, 10, 5. All went really well and i managed the test relatively easily.

This bodes well for my max test next week whereby I will be videoing my attempt at a 5 minute snatch test for the challenge I have entered on www.konkura.com
I am aiming for 120 snatches minimum here for the 24kg 5 minute snatch test.

Here are my stats for todays session:
Snatches, All 10 reps left and right
12KG x 10/10 HR 128
16KG X 10/10 HR 141
20KG X 10/10 HR 154
24KG X 10/10 HR 162
28KG X 10/10 HR 170
32KG X 10/10 HR 172
28KG X 10/10 HR 175
24KG X 10/10 HR 172
20KG X 10/10 HR 170
16KG X 10/10 HR 169
12KG X 10/10 HR 166
Totals:
Time: 14 min, 55 seconds
Average HR: 156
Peak HR: 175
CALS: 223
REPS: 220

Cleans12KG x 10/10 HR 144
16KG X 10/10 HR 151
20KG X 10/10 HR 154
24KG X 10/10 HR 161
28KG X 10/10 HR 166
32KG X 10/10 HR 171
28KG X 10/10 HR 170
24KG X 10/10 HR 170
20KG X 10/10 HR 165
16KG X 10/10 HR 155
12KG X 10/10 HR 154
Totals:
Time: 14 minutes
Average HR: 157
Peak HR: 171
CALS: 211
REPS: 220

5 minute snatch test
Time: 4 minutes 50 seconds
Average HR: 172
Peak HR: 182
CALS: 100
REPS: 100