The Sexy Challenge - my starting point

Last year Bret Contreras posted The Sexy Challenge, a combination of 5 exercises to test overall strength.  To complete the challenge you have to do max reps of the following 5 exercises in an hour with your body weight (or half body weight for one):

1. Front Squat (140lbs)
2. Dead lift (140lbs)
3. Chin Ups
4. Incline Bench Press (70lbs)
5. Barbell Hip Thrusts (140lbs)

Although I do a lot of training with kettlebells, I have barely ever touched a barbell so while the challenge seems like a good goal it is a little intimidating to me.  Also, I can’t even do one chin up without using the bands, but I guess that is what makes this an even better goal.  I decided to give myself a baseline and see where I am and what I need to work on.  After a kettlebell sport workout I played around with some of these exercises.

I usually do trap bar dead lifts, so transitioning to the straight bar was pretty simple.  I did a bunch of sets gradually building up in weight and at the end hit 4 reps at 140lbs.  The hip thrusts are probably the easiest for me since a lot of what we do at the gym targets the ass.  I also found that a barbell front squat is WAY easier than a kettlebell goblet squat, and was able to get up to 108lbs.  I need to work to get this a little higher, but I think with some practice I can get there in a few months.

Now my upper body is a different story.  Earlier in the week I tried an inclince bench and got 3 reps at 45lbs.  I have a long way to go with both this and the chin ups, so that is where I need to focus most of my work.

Kettlebella

Bella seriously loves the gym. Maybe it's because certain people bring her treats every single day, maybe it's because she has her own box of toys there, and maybe it's because she gets pet almost non stop. But more than anything, I think Bella loves when no one is at the gym, when we release the beast from her leash, and she gets free reign of the place. In these happy times she sprints in circles just out of our reach carrying her favorite toy like a cigar hanging out of the corner of her mouth. I guess even the gym dog needs to work out at the gym.

VIDEO OF BELLA RUNNING THE GYM

Barbell Hip Thrusts

In class we normally do a lot of glute bridges during warm ups, and do sand bag hip thrusts for time during circuits, but I have never before tried to see how much weight I could move with this exercise.  After watching a video of Molly Galbraith doing 315lb hip thrusts I was inspired to give it a try.  This is my first day of these, so I know they are not perfect, but I managed to work up to 10 reps at 148lbs.  The biggest thing I noticed after watching my video and comparing it to some online is that I need to keep my neck more neutral.  It was also a little rough on the hips since we don't have the right kind of pad to soften the bar.  Looks like all those swings have come in handy!

Pistol Duel

After the gym today Justin was trying to do some pistol squats.  I have a soft place in my heart for these and after watching videos of women doing pistols with a 40kg bell I have been motivated to someday reach this goal myself.  So I did one with a 10lb bell, then Justin did one with 10lbs.  So of course then I had to do one with an 18lb bell, and Justin matched me.  This duel continued until I maxed out with a 40lb bell (I only got my left leg on this one), and Justin beat me by going up one more. 

Here is one attempt with a 16kg bell.  It may be a little ugly but I didn't think I would even be able to do it so I'm pretty excited!

It's Kettlebell Sport Time!

After a month off of sport, it is once again time to start training.  Our next competition is June 22nd in Ohio, which gives me just under 3 months.  In the last competition I did a 16kg long cycle hitting 103 reps.  I had about 10 no counts, meaning this next time I really have to focus on fixation with each rep.

I have done 4 competitions with the yellow and feel like it’s time to move on to something heavier.  Now that the wedding is over I no longer have to worry about weird wrist bruises, so I think for June I am going to try to compete with the 18kg.  It is a WKC meet, so intermediate weights are allowed.  Although this seems pretty intimidating to me right now, my goal is to hit 40 reps a hand and be ready to compete with the 20kg by IKFF nationals in Detroit in November.  And now the work begins…

-Alison Dempsey

Owner of the owner, Instinct Fitness

Bella the Kettlebell Dog

Meet our dog Bella.

Bella is a Catahoula leopard dog, a breed created in Louisiana to hunt wild boars.  Her crazy looks are matched by a crazy in your face personality.  She has two speeds – she is either passed out on top of you (sometimes she tries to actually sit on my head) or sprinting around the room like a kid after Halloween.  Her true joys in life are eating chalk, destroying toys, cuddling, chasing, and being chased.  She spends her days at the gym with Justin working as customer service representative and being paid in raw hides and treats from our clients.

Although we try our hardest to get Bella enough exercise somehow she always seems to have a hidden store of more energy.  We take her on hikes, to the dog park, play with her at home, she runs sprints around the gym, but man that dog never gets tired.  And when she isn't tired, she lets you know.  Usually this comes in the form of sitting on your lap licking your face or chewing on your fingers until you put all attention on Bella.

We recently watched a few episodes of the dog whisperer, and one thing that seemed to pop up frequently is a dog back pack.  Every time Caesar meets a hyperactive dog he gives them a backpack which he explains gives the dog a job to do and keeps them busy.  This is supposed to tire the dog out and make them feel accomplished.  So last weekend while playing around in REI we decided to buy one of these bags for Bella.

To start out we put a half full bottle of water in each saddle bag so she could get used to how it felt.  The first part of the hike she was a little tentative.  The bag stopped her from weaving between the trees as easily as before, and seemed a little awkward when she ran too fast.  But by day two she didn't even seem to notice the bag.  I on the other hand already love it – Bella carried my gloves and water the whole hike.

Since she doesn’t seem to mind (and still didn’t seem super tired) the next step is to add something heavier to the bag.  It will be Bella’s turn to lift some weights.