The Wolf, Week6

[mariahcarey]

Finale... I dreaded today.

I'm not sure what I'll do next. I have personal goals that aren't related to kettlebells necessarily, so the kettlebells may get relegated to an accessory for a few months. That said, I did order a 62# kettlebell from Rogue this morning... I'm planning on using it for presses, snatches, cleans, front squats, rows, etc. I'm absolutely open to suggestions and I'll probably buy Pavel's book and maybe some Geoff Neupert's stuff to give me ideas.

Thanks to everyone who upvoted my posts or commented. You really helped encourage me to keep it up.

On a side note - I started this 6 weeks ago, on 2/15. I weighed 230# that day. I weighed myself today and I'm down to 218. I will take a loss of 12# over 6 weeks! I feel lighter, tighter, more betterer in general and I'm glad to have gone through the program, even if day 3 sucked for 6 weeks straight

2x53# kettlebells
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Set 1
1:02
0:49
1:20

Set 2
1:00
0:46
1:31

Set 3
1:00
0:48
2:11

Set 4
1:22
0:50
2:36

Set 5
2:08
0:51
1:59

Compared to previous weeks:

Day 1
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

Set 1
1:15
1:07
1:03
0:57
0:57
1:02

Set 2
2:00
1:03
1:02
0:53
0:56
1:00

Set 3
1:58
1:04
1:02
0:54
0:55
1:00

Set 4

2:04
1:04

0:57
1:22

Set 5


1:38


2:08

Day 2
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

Set 1
0:50
0:47
0:52
0:57
0:48
0:49

Set 2
0:50
0:50
0:53
0:54
0:47
0:46

Set 3
0:57
0:50
0:53
0:53
0:47
0:48

Set 4

0:54
0:53

0:48
0:50

Set 5


0:53


0:51

Day 3
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

Set 1
1:24
1:17
1:19
1:17
1:17
1:20

Set 2
2:08
1:49
1:56
1:56
2:03
1:31

Set 3
3:27
3:32
2:30
2:46
2:23
2:11

Set 4

2:44
3:06

2:38
2:36

Set 5


2:55


1:59

 

[chanhhobieu]

@mariahcarey Well done!

Did you notice any muscle gain in any body part? Press strength before and after?

 

[mariahcarey]

@chanhhobieu Thank you!

I don't know about gains, but I definitely feel more "taught". I probably did get some growth in the shoulders but I didn't take before and after photos for comparison.

My press has gotten better for sure. I don't have empirical evidence, but I can just tell I can press more now. At some point last year, I pressed the bar with 135 for 5 but that was it. I'll see what I can do now and report back! Probably can't associate all the gains to this cycle but I didn't really do much else other than the 10k challenge.

 

[chanhhobieu]

@mariahcarey Thank you for your reply! Please report back if you test the press.

I'll probably do one of Geoffs programs soon! The Wolf looks brutal!

 

[mariahcarey]

@chanhhobieu I did some presses today during a quick workout. I was personally surprised at what I was able to do, but I want to put in the caveat that I don't have an apples-to-apples comparison with what I *was* able to do last year for a press workout. I remember pressing the bar for 135 for 5 and thinking "that's enough, man." but I can't find the logs that tell me what that workout actually was.

Weight
Reps
Sets

45
10
1

65
5
2

85
5
1

105
5
1

135
5
5

155
3
1

165
1
1

175
1
1

185
FAIL
1

I'm positive The Wolf added to my press, but I don't know exactly how much. I can say that I went into today thinking I'd work up to something I thought I could do 5x5 at and I was surprised to work up to 135 and thinking, "I can do this." I honestly thought I'd be hanging around 95. Something about the bar + 25s felt like "what I normally do". I will say that while I didn't specifically train the press for a while, I do other stuff - I've done the 10k swing challenge twice now, I toss the kids in the air for sets of 3 or until they get that wild, scared look in their eyes (but they always ask for more once I put them down), etc. I just don't want anyone to get the idea that I put 40# on my press just with the Wolf - that seems unrealistic, unless I was really sandbagging in the past.

I hope this helps more than confuses you. Good luck!

 

[chanhhobieu]

@mariahcarey Thats solid work! A 175 press is really strong. Even if your not sure The Wolf increased your press - would you say it at least maintained it?

 

[mariahcarey]

@chanhhobieu Oh absolutely.

 

[dawn16]

@mariahcarey Congrats on finishing the program! Thats a milestone its self!

 

[mariahcarey]

@dawn16 Thank you!

 

[christfollower1993]

@mariahcarey This one looks brutal, kudos to you!!
What size bells did you use for the program?

 

[mariahcarey]

@christfollower1993 I used a pair of 53# bells. I'm slowly becoming "well belled" to my wife's dismay.

 

[christfollower1993]

@mariahcarey Dang, very nice! Haha gotta catch them all

 

[8weaponx]

@mariahcarey I was looking for folks who completed the WOLF and came across your post. Great job on getting in done. I just started the WOLF and I am in Week 1. Have a few questions that I am trying to resolve

1. I can get through the workouts with heavier bells but with breaks in the complexes but I am trying to get through the complex without putting the bells down. Is this how you ran through the workout, i.e. without putting the bells down?
2. Did you supplement the workout in initial days as the workout pretty much gets done in 10-15 mins?

 

[mariahcarey]

@8weaponx

1. On day 3 of each week, I definitely hit a point where I put the weights down during a complex. My shoulders were my weakest link. Holding the bells on the rack position just started taking its toll. IIRC, in the beginning, I may have put them down during other days as well. I did my damndest not to, though.
2. My workouts during my time with the Wolf consisted of running on the treadmill for an episode of Longmire on Netflix (45-50 min), then doing the complexes for the day. So no extra weight or strength training, just cardio prior.

I hope that helps! Good luck. It is a suckfest but well worth it! Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm happy to answer what I can.

 

[8weaponx]

@mariahcarey Thanks man. That helps. I am going to run it with lower weights and try to not put the bell down. I think I can manage that other than on Day 3, which I will find out tomorrow. Fingers crossed !!! My lats definitely took a beat down on day 1 but that’s also because I was naïve and cleaned a 32kg bell to test if I could. And then did a 5x5 of snatches each arm (using 16kg and 20kg bells) to zero in on the technique. Like I said….naïve !!!

 

[mariahcarey]

@8weaponx 32kg... dang man. I am working up to that weight. Some day!
Good luck and have fun!

 

[8weaponx]

@mariahcarey I recently finished Long Cycle program by Geoff, and by mistake used a 24kg KB .. but it did make me strong quite a bit. Would definitely recommend that program - its from his Kettlebell Express book. Having completed that, I was curious if I could clean and press the 32kg ... surprisingly, I could ... both my arms .. it is my 1 RM now.