Jasper Benincasa Tribute

Today I participated in a tribute to a bodyweight training legend, Jasper Benincasa.  Jasper died this January at 90 years of age.  He was a  master of bodyweight exercises, including one armed chin ups.  He did his last one arm chin up at the age of 89, two weeks before entering hospice care.  In his day, he could do as many of 130 consecutive chin ups without letting go of the bar. 

I had planned on attempting 15 chin ups, but I was not feeling the endurance today, so I went after maximum strength instead.  I got a 70 pound chin up, which was a PR (my previous best was 53 pounds).  I attempted a chin up with 88 pounds, and got a little more than halfway up.  Then I looked for odd things to do chin ups with, and came  up with a 50 pound bag of feed, which I pulled for a double, and a 65 pound kid, who was game for a ride. 

If you want to snatch a lot, snatch a lot! Extending snatch sets

I'm working, as always, on snatching more. I'm working primarily with the 32k for straight sets, and the 20k for five minute blitz sets during BOLT Blast workouts. Today, I experiemented with a plateau-buster: the half snatch. I can get up to 25 snatches per arm with the 32k, but the last 5 are scary and ugly. I'm good for about 20-21 clean reps any given day. Today, I did 20 snatches, then dropped the kettlebell into the rack and "rested" (as well as you can rest with 70 pounds sitting on your chest!) for a few breaths before snatching again. Then back to the rack again, for a total of 5 half snatches.  This way, you can "stay with the weight", resting just enough to catch your breath and let your grip recover for the next rep.  I did this for each arm, with about 1 minute rest between them. This way, I got 25 good reps (not competition-legal reps, but good ones) per arm, when previously, I would have had to put down the kettlebell for fear of unsafe, ugly reps. I forced 25% more reps. Not bad. A week or two of sets like this, and longer as I improve, and I'll bet I can get 25 clean reps per arm. Then I may add another 5-7 half snatches, for 30-32 reps per set. It's all about more safe reps per set, right?

Take a look, and let me know what you think! Safe training!

March Training Log

March 30- Squat: one single @ 240, 3 singles @ 250; Bench Press: 2 singles @ 190, 1 single @ 200 (PR, but not legal, as my butt came off the bench); Deadlift: 3 singles @ 315. 

March 29- No barbell work.  24k snatch: 10 minutes @ 15rpm, switching hands every 5 reps.  One arm long cycle, 24k- 10 minutes of work, including 4 minutes of long cycle, and 6 minutes of practicing rest in the rack and overhead positions for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

March 26- Squats: 5 singles @ 220 pounds.  Bench Press: 5 singles @ 180 pounds.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 295.   After each lift, 1 Taekwondo poomse.  After this, 90 seconds of 16k swings (one arm).  48 swings in 90 seconds.  Total: 720 swings = 25,920 pounds swung.

March 25- Weighted chin ups: 70 pounds.  88 pound failure.  50 pound feed bag: double.  65 pound Dorian.

March 24- day off

March 23- Squats: 4 singles @ 230.  Bench Press: 4 singles 2 180.  Deadlift: 4 singles @ 305.  After each barbell single lift, 1 minute of 16k kettlebell swings @32 rpms.  384 swings, for a total of 13,824 pounds swung.  This was spread out over a period of 5 hours during the work day- not a single workout.

March 22- Chin ups: 1 set of 11.  Bench press: 5 singles @ 175 pounds.  Squat: 5 singles @ 210.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 285.  Various  side bends with kettlebells for flexibility and core.  Stretching.

March 21- Bench press: 5 singles @ 175 pounds.  Squat: 5 singles @ 210.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 285.  Follwed each barbell lift with 1 m of 16k swings @ 32 rpm (one hand only).  Total of 15 minutes of swings. 480 reps @ 36 pounds = 17,280 pounds of swings or 1,152 pounds swung per minute with one hand.  Finished day with 90 minutes heavy yard work, mostly shoveling and hauling wet, muddy hay with a wheelbarrow.

March 20- Bench press: 5 singles @ 175 pounds.  Squat: 5 singles @ 210.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 285.  Double Jerk: 2x16k: 3 m. @ 8rpm.  Swings: 16k: 4 min (2 min per arm) 2 32 rpm.  128 swings (4,608 pounds swung).

March 19- Bench press: 5 singles @ 175 pounds.  Squat: 5 singles @ 210.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 285.  Chin ups: 2 sets of 10.  Double jerk: 2x16k: 6 minutes @ 8 rpm for 48 reps.  My weakness in the double jerk is my triceps- they get tight and sore before anything else, so I must be using them too much to get to the lockout.  Snatch: 16k: 8 minutes @ 12 rpm for 96 reps (48 per arm).  Hardstyle swings: 10x10 @ 32k.

March 18-  Made myself take a day off.  After church, layed around and did nothing.  Almost mowed the grass, but stopped myself.

March 17- no serious training. Worked outside on the farm with the family, then played around with a 28k kettlebell for about 15 minutes. Clean and presses, snatch to press, windmill, swings- just random lifting for fun in the sunshine!

March 16- Bench Press: 2 singles @ 180. Squat: 2 singles @ 220.  Deadlift: 2 singles @ 295. 

March 15- Bench Press: 5 singles @ 170.  Squat: 5 singles @ 200.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 275.  Chin ups: 3 sets of 10.  Double Jerk: 2x16k- 6:15 minutes@ 8rpm = 50 reps.  Snatch, 16k: @ 12 rpm. 3/3 minutes, 2/2 minutes (120 reps in 10 minutes, bell not put down).

March 14- Bench Press: 5 singles @ 170.  Squat: 5 singles @ 200.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 275.  10 Chin ups.  Double Jerk: 2x16k- 3 minutes @ 8rpm.  Snatch: 16k- 6 minutes @ 12 rpm. 

March 13- Bench Press: 5 singles @ 170.  Squat: 5 singles @ 200.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 275.  Snatch: 16k- 8 minutes @ 12rpm. Various windmills and flexibility work.

March 12- Bench Press: 5 singles @ 170.  Squat: 5 singles @ 200.  Deadlift: 5 singles @ 275.  10 Chin ups.  Double Jerk: 2x16k- 5 minutes @ 8 rpm.  Snatch, 16k- 8 minutes @ 12 rpm.

March 11- no weight training- worked in the yard all day.

March 10- no training

March 9-  day off

March 8- 175 pounds.  Deadlift: 285, 5 singles.  Side press, 24k: total of 5 per arm.  Side Press: 32k: 5 sets of 3 per arm.

March 7- 174 pounds today.  32k swings to warm up: 10. Deadlift: 280- 5 singles.  Tried to snatch the 32k- got 18 snatches, 1 half snatch left before hand pain stopped the set.  24k snatch- 16 snatches, right hand.  Deep hand soreness from deadlifting and 32k snatching prevented any more pulling.  Did 2 minutes of 16k jerks @ 6 rpm for practice.  10 bent presses per arm with the 32k kettlebell (at the top and bottom of the minute for 10 minutes).

March 6-  Back down to 175 pounds after two days of eating better. Deadlift: 275- 5 singles.  Getting my groove back.  32k snatch, 25 per arm (20 snatches, 5 half-snatches). 

March 5- BOLT Blast with 24k: 35 double jerks, 72 snatches (did not put the bell down), 40 1 arm clean and jerks, 5 double half snatches- I was gassed out from the heavier kettlebells and several days of no lifting.  Deadlift: 270 x 8 singles.  Chin Ups: 10,8,6,4. 

March 3 and 4- Spent the weekend at the Organic Grower's School in Asheville.  No exercise, but a lot of walking all over the campus- probably 45 minutes to an hour of just walking throughout the day.  Ate poorly, and came home up 5 pounds- 179. 

March 2- Worked a lot to get ready to leave for Asheville.  Did a few deadlifts @250 to get my technique back.  Drove to Asheville, and the family took a 2+ hour hike with Farley through some beautiful hills and meadows along the French Broad River.  I was wearing a jacket and work boots, so it was enough of a hike to get me winded.  Great time!

March 1- 32k lockout: 1 min. l/r, 30 sec. l/r without putting the bell down.  32k snatch: 25 left, 25 right, with a few minutes between sets; 20 left, 20 right; 9 left, 9 right.  2x32k jerk:  2 sets of 2.  2x24k jerk: 2 sets of 10.  Deadlift: 250 x 3 singles, 300 x1, 270 x 2 singles, just to check on my strength levels.  Lately, I have done almost no barbell work, and have primarily worked with a single 32k kettlebell, or a pair of 20k's, so the most I have been lifting is 88 pounds.  Then, I've also been doing bodyweight work- pistols, one arm pushups, and chins.  My best deadlift ever was 405 @ 200 pounds bodyweight, so with just bodyweight training and moderate weight kettlebell ballistic lifts, I can pull 75% of my all time best, and I'm 25  pounds lighter now than then!  In the near future, I may incorporte deadlifts again to get back to a double bodyweight pull (that would be 350, so I'm not far off), but for now, I will continue my focus on the snatch, and the Bolt Blast workouts with 20k's, as well as greasing the groove with pistols and one arm pushups.  It's working for me!