101 Kettlebell Workouts: 30 Under 30 Workout # 27 - Sort of

Another busy as hell night at my local gym. As I've mentioned before, Kettlebells and my gym, don't always mix well. Too many freaking people mainly. The prescription for this evening's workout came from David Whitley's ebook, "101 Kettlebell Workouts" available for free over at Irontamer.com. It's a simple workout that can be done in under 30 minutes. It revolves around 3 drills. The Turkish Get Up, Snatches, and Renegade Rows. This is a full body workout that will really target your core while getting in some good conditioning. 3 Sets of each drill is required.

What is also required for a proper and safe Turkish Get Up is space; of which there is none at my gym.  People and equipment all stuffed into a space meant for about 2/3's of what is actually there.  Proper Snatch safety also requires some wiggle room as well as the Renegade Row. 

Initially, I wanted to use a pair of 24kg bells for this, but decided, based on safety alone, to bring one 16kg and "wing it."

Winging it meant plugging in Windmills where the Turkish Get Up should go and subbing in One Arm Rows for Renegade Rows.

Same... only different.

The Windmills felt great. I really focused on pushing my hips back and folding myself down.

The Snatches went off well. I started the Snatches right after an aerobics class had started so the floor traffic was light and I had adequate space for Snatching. What amazes me about the snatch is this; You would think that Snatching a 16kg verses a 24kg bell would almost be an entirely different drill, but the reality is, that it's the exact same movement pattern regardless of the weight being used. The force generated is the exact same too. The only real difference is the weight.

After catching my breath from the Snatches, I did !-Arm-Rows. 3 sets per side. Simple and effective drill but NOT a Renegade Row.

In the absence of the space to do a proper 3 sets of Renegade Rows, I finished my workout over in the stretching area where I performed the Push Up to a Plank drill alternated with Shoulder Bridges. 3 sets of 10 each. Both these drills work the whole core and can be done with limited space. Let me go over those two drills real quick.

Push Up to a Plank: Get into a push up position. Stay tight. Now lower your right arm to rest on your forearm, then do the same with the left. Remember to stay tight. Then, one arm at a time return to the push up position. That's one repetition.

Shoulder Bridge: Lying on your back with your legs bent, feet on the floor at a 90 degree angle and your arms outstretched and flat. Drive your feet into the ground and squeeze your butt.  Keep your feet and shoulders connected with the ground and keep your neck out of it.

All-in-all it was a good workout, but I think had I been where I could fully implement the prescribed exercises, it would have been a little more fulfilling.

The lesson here is two fold. The first is be flexable. Yes I misspelled that on purpose. FLEX-ABLE. The ability to flex your program to adjust to your immediate surroundings. I could have crapped out and went home because there were too many people, but that would have been my way of yielding to the fact that I was tired and wanted to go home. I still found a way to get in a workout.

The second is train anyway. If life hands you a bowl of lemons... well, damnit, you all know what to do. I read something this morning that fits here and here it is:

"...you can control your efforts, not outcomes. Do your best; let God handle the rest."

-Dan Millman