DFW W1D1: Second time through

[jar1437]

Doing DFW for the 2nd time. First time, I did 20 kg.

Then I did 8 weeks of an KB easy strength moved from 20 kg, to 21 kg, to 21.5 kg.

Now I'm doing another run a DFW with 21.5 kg.

I do the C&P and the squats as one set. (e.g. CP, CP, CP, Sq, Sq, Sq, rest)

10 full ladders, and 1 set of 3. Total of 63 reps.

Stopped at ~ 28:15. Had the time to do a full 11th ladder, but my right shoulder didn't feel right on the first press of the next set. I dislocated that shoulder in the past and it sometimes gives me issues. Thought pushing was a good way to get hurt.

All in all a pretty successful day I think. Tricky because we're visiting the inlaws next week, but I didn't want to wait two weeks to start. It's drivable, so my KBs will come with me.

 

[kruise]

@jar1437 I believe it's meant to be CP, CP, CP, c, fsq, fsq, fsq. So 1 more clean than you did

I'm just on my 2nd run through. The highest I got to was early 50s I think and I was pissing sweat. I assume you now look aquatic with 60?

Road trip with bells is fun. Enjoy

 

[jar1437]

@kruise Thanks for the tip.

Nice to have the extra rep. And since I'm press limited, doing an extra clean is a good idea IMO.

 

[kruise]

@jar1437 Oh I'm almost jealous. The clean I find by far the hardest of the 3

 

[jar1437]

Rest day was 40 minute LISS on my recumbent bike.

W1D2: Sticking with the same weight (for now anyway). Singles. 46 reps.

Smaller sets = more rest times.

Still no rest between C&P and squats. But I did add the extra clean per Heavy Dwarf. So sets today were CP, c, FSQ.

Felt easier, but my watch said that I was in Zone 5 longer today than last time. I was surprised by that though. With almost 20 fewer reps and I was purposefully pacing myself and forcing rest between sets. I think too many times, my mindset from playing Rugby in my youth kicks in and I just figure "I'll catch my breath as I do the next set".

Workout #2 was much better this time than the first time I did DFW. I hadn't been doing really any squats last time I started this program. So the DOMS were insane.

This time, I'd been doing some squatting 5/7 days in a KB Easy Strength program. Still some soreness yesterday and today. But not the kind where I complain to my wife every time I need to go up or down a step.

I'm thinking about running weeks 1 and 2 at the current weight (I'm visiting my inlaws next week). Then if my shoulder feels OK, maybe I'll take the advice above and restart with a higher weight.

 

[jar1437]

W1D3: sets of 2 (CP, CP, c, FS, FS)

After humming and hawing, I increased by 1/2 kg. So now doing double 22 kg.

Total of 26 sets (52 reps).

Didn't seem to hurt my shoulder. Will try next week at this weight and re-evaluate then.

 

[emmanuelm118]

@jar1437 Keep up the good work. Last year I was running dfw with 20kg. I'm now going for my fifth run with 28kgs. I've added a ladder of pull-ups to this run. So cp, cp, cp, c, fsq, fsq, fsq and then pull-ups x3. I'll likely provide an update on how that works.

 

[jar1437]

@emmanuelm118 That's awesome!

I understand the benefit of consistent improvement, but it's nice to see it in action.

I use the adjustables and only went up by 1/2 kg last time (while doing an Easy Strength workout).

I was initially surprised at how much heavier they felt (maybe mental?). But after 2 weeks, I would have increased the weight again. But instead, I kept it the same weight and went to DFW. I was doing 2 sets of 5 military press and the same with C&P, so I figured going from 20 presses to 60+ was a good increase (instead of doing that and the weight).

Not sure if I'll go DFW right after or back to Easy Strength for a bit (or something else). But I've got a month to figure it out!

I'm going to focus on Low Intensity Steady State cardio in this run. Probably try to do a 40-60 minute walk on work days and then a 40-ish minute bike on recovery days.

Might try to squeeze in one VO2 max interval day every week (four sets of: 4 minute run, 4 minute walk)...but I kind of hate doing those...which is probably why I should do it.

 

[emmanuelm118]

@jar1437 From my experience, I'll run dfw back to back then do easy strength. I read in the more kettlebell muscle book geoff neupert reccomend breaking up two rounds of his program with 8-12 weeks of easy strength. By my experience, it is a good reccomendation. I'm 37 and can't run dfw 3x in a row, but can do 2x.

 

[jar1437]

@emmanuelm118 Thanks for the tip.

I do kind of like the idea of 8 week blocks of both. We'll see how I feel after the first run.

 

[meeksoul]

@jar1437 Is therea benefit to putting the bells down between the c&p and the squats? Apart from extra practice on the hike-pass? This is the way I do it, as that's how it's written, but I feel that it sometimes kills the flow a bit. This is my first run of DFW (just did w4d1 today) so I'll stick with it and see about changing things next time.

 

[susyq]

@meeksoul In a way it actually makes it tougher to put the bells down between them. Your heart rate spikes when you stop.

 

[jar1437]

@meeksoul I'd imagine that the big benefit is rest. But I don't know.

The first time I started DFW, I only had one adjustable and one 40 lb weight. So I was doing that and alternating hands every set. But since it was a little lighter for me until I got my 2nd adjustable, I just tried to get as many reps as I could, so I eliminated the rest in between

 

[dixieriderxx]

@meeksoul I started out doing it like you and setting it down between the cp and fs. Eventually, I just would clean between the cp and fs. I found it easier to not put them down. Like you said, it kinda killed the flow.

 

[thamtutuhoanglong]

@jar1437 I’m pretty new, can you explain how ladders work?

 

[jar1437]

@thamtutuhoanglong Sure.

A ladder is just a series of sets where the number of reps doesn't stay the same.

For example: Let's say we were doing C&P ladders 1, 2, 3

So as written:

Set 1: 1 C&P.

Set 2: 2 C&P.

Set 3: 3 C&P.

Set 4: 1 C&P.

Set 5: 2 C&P.

Set 6: 3 C&P.

Then the pattern keeps repeating.

Personally, I do "reverse ladders" where I start at the bigger number and "climb" down.

Some people also do "pyramids" where they'd go 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1.

 

[thamtutuhoanglong]

@jar1437 Thanks for the reply! So in the terms of DFW, how do you choose reps? Is that what is meant by 5 max rep?

 

[jar1437]

@thamtutuhoanglong I think part of the popularity of this program is that it's free. Detailed in this article.

Also check out this post on here which talks about DFW, but also a "remix" where you do swings and rows on recovery days.

Lots of info, plus a handy printable calendar telling you what to do on what day.