Crunch Time! --- OTG

OK... It's 1 week away from when I get on a plane, and I've still got 10 chapters to edit, 4 Taegeuk forms to re-learn, and 2 articles to finish.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! Crunch time. Workouts are going to have to take a serious back-seat to me getting this book edited (and as close to done as possible) before next Wednesday 4/23.

Luckily, today was my first day back into KBing with relatively serious intensity all with a 24kg KB. This morning, under the eye of my mentor, Pavel Tsatsouline, I warmed up with 5 TGUs per side, 4 sets of Goblet Squats (10 reps each w/holding the bottom on the 10th for 10 seconds), lunge stretches, Cobras, and a 10-minute press workout (taking breaks as needed & switching at will).

I haven't done a lot of pressing in ages, probably because it's my least favorite thing to do. I'll snatch, swing, or clean whenever, but I hate to press for some reason. Feeling a slight twinge in my right scalene 45 seconds out from the 10 minute mark, I put the bell down and gave it a rest.

At the end of the training session, Sifu Dan Inosanto asked a great question: "Is it better to go for higher reps with lower weight, or lower reps with higher weight?"

Pavel's answer was dead-on: "Sir, first and foremost, your form should be your concern. Each rep should be done with strong form. Otherwise, it's smarter to put the bell down."

OK, folks. If you're pulling for me, I thank you for your understanding when I drop off the grid for a while. I will be teaching until I get on the plane, and while I'm out of town, my group classes (both martial arts and KBs) will go on as usual under the lead of my instructors.

I look forward with great excitement to meeting many of you in St. Paul, Copenhagen, and Budapest at the RKCs in the coming weeks!