Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Kettlebell Swing & The GRIND

This week Kiwi added some Kettlebell action into my usual mix of free weights, medicine ball and bosu/swiss ball exercises, which is rad since I've always wanted to work with them but never felt comfortable since I don’t know what the hell I am doing ... hence Kiwi's presence.

He started off by getting me to do a bunch of these little babies: The Kettlebell Swing



They may look easy, but DANG they are hard. But also really fun - gets the blood rushing, the sweat pouring and the core working.


“The kettlebell swing… is the brutal distillation of everything ketttlebell training is about: power, explosiveness, flexibility and lung searing cardio”

That's the thing about Kiwi that I really dig. He mixes it up each session, always adding in new exercises onto what we have already been working on.

And we have been working HARD. Twice a week for an hour, he beats the crap out of me, and I take it.

Which is why when my alarm went off at the CRAK OF FREAKIN' DAWN (6:30AM) this morning, I got up, brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes and got ready to meet some friends before heading over to Grouse Mountain to take on the Grouse Grind

For the first time, today I felt the effects of all my hard work.

Fondly referred to as Mother Nature’s Stairmaster, “The Grind” is a gnarly, extremely steep and mountainous 2.9 km "hike". It’s a full on challenge of rugged terrain and climbing, up an approximate 56 per cent slope (30°), which begins at the 300-metre-elevation Valley Station of Grouse Mountain and climbs to 1,100 metres at the Peak’s plateau

OH and did I mention it has a total of 2,830 stairs?




So clearly it's no walk in the park. Right, we all know that and know what we are getting into.

But today, dare I say, it was noticeably easier than the last time I did it.

All the lunges and squats clearly have paid off, because I was like a freakin' GAZEL on the trail, with long, strong strides and steady pace.

Before I knew it, I was at the top enjoying the view and a well earned smoothie.

So I guess what I am saying is that while The Grind is still and always will be a challenge, the time in the gym is CLEARLY paying off.


Which is EXACTLY what I wanted and I love when I get what I want!

No comments: