Double Kettlebell 400-Rep-Drill

20 x 8 Cleans
15 x 8 Presses
10 x 8 Clean and Press
05 x 8 Clean and Squat Press


That's the way the workout was supposed to go, but here's what actually happened.

I started out feeling good about being able to knock out 8 sets of 20 repetitions of Cleans with the 62# kettlebells, but immediately after starting, I realized that I might have bitten off more than I could chew. Fortunately for me I had my two coaches helping me out. I had my 9 year old, Mita, who I call "Head Coach," and my 13 year old, who I call "Coach Mito" providing motivation and statistical support.

The first three sets of 20 were so challenging, that I knew I had to adapt by breaking my sets into smaller reps. By the time I was supposed to do Presses my delts were at their wick's end, so instead of performing eight sets of 15, I did 15 sets of eight. I came up short for the Clean & Press and eliminated the Clean & Squat Press altogether. I thought, "Better to listen to my body than to drive-on and provoke an injury." That's the nature of extreme endurance sports, we're constantly straddling the edge of peak performance. Fall off on one side and we have injury; fall off on the other and fail to put in enough work to meet performance goals.

During a high-rep kettlebell workout, my purpose is to burn calories, keep my heart rate up, and improve my lung capacity. Ultimately today's session broke down to the following:

Cleans: 20, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Presses: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Clean and Press: 10, 10

Time: 2:01:17, 300 total reps, and 34 total sets with an average of 3.5 minutes rest per set.

Note to self: Next workout standard will be with a single 53# kettlebell for 200 reps on each side, continuous for time.