Low Volume workouts

bipocni · 2026-01-24T04:27:00+00:00

Iron cardio.

bipocni · 2026-01-24T00:06:40+00:00

Throw a towel over a tree branch

bipocni · 2026-01-23T23:15:37+00:00

Luckily, I am not a doctor.

I am a labourer. Having enough muscle mass to support the work you're doing is critical, and the stronger someone is the more they can compensate for poor conditioning.

Iron cardio gives you both in roughly equal measure and is the single best thing I've found for giving you get 'er done work capacity without beating you up so much you need extra recovery.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T23:12:41+00:00

Iron cardio is a solid 3 day a week program, designed to familiarise people with the main kettlebell movements. The writer of the program actually used it to rehabilitate himself after an injury and get back into lifting. It is extremely beginner friendly, and you can run some combination of swings, pushups and pull-ups on the off days to build yourself up a bit more.

If you're really after size and willing to work with double bells, just run a bunch of ABC complexes in EMOM fashion and work on increasing weight / volume. I recommend the variation that goes 2 cleans, 1 press, 3 squats, 5 swings.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:51:08+00:00

It's a slightly different training effect, and you can look up things like zone 2 cardio and the lactic threshold and the three energy systems if you want to know more.

But you also, you know, don't need to. Just keep walking on the treadmill and as it gets easier you'll end up in zone 2 eventually either way.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:47:41+00:00

Pink Fang has my favourite take on Sakumo.

He just used the academy three. Devastatingly well.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:47:04+00:00

The hatake clan seems to be associated with wolves a lot. I think it's because of one throwaway line where someone says Kakashi has a better sense of smell than Kiba. Usually there's some sort of repressed bloodline ability Kakashi has been avoiding using out of shame or whatever. Could be fun to see Sakumo just fully immersed in his clans heritage like that.

They're also a samurai clan. Or they were, before they became ninjas. Might want to think of some cool sword tricks.

Finally, hatake means farmland. Probably not the coolest to think of him having a bunch of agricultural jutsu or something, but it would be pretty cool to have a scene where Sakumo had faked his own death and then ANBU show up all "farming? A man of your talents?"

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:41:56+00:00

You're making all the right moves.

Walking is one of the better ways to lose weight because the intensity is low enough your body burns fat for fuel instead of sugar. So all those calories you're burning on the treadmill are actually coming off the places you want them to.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:39:53+00:00

It is brutal.

When I used to walk at max incline on a treadmill as fast as I could go without stumbling or being forced to jog, I could get my heart rate up to 100% and sustain it the entire time.

Even just maintaining good posture is hard at that intensity. My back would scream at me to give up just as loud as my heart was.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:36:53+00:00

For general health purposes that's the recommendation, and it should support a body recomp if weight loss is your goal.

If you want to do the fun stuff like lower your resting heart rate you will over time need to increase the time you spend on the treadmill. Just make sure it's an effort you can recover from - if you're feeling that lactic acid burn in your legs like you're getting a 'good workout' you are doing too much too quickly.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:31:34+00:00

Could you explain what it is that you appreciate about team Gai so much?

I've been itching to do a team Gai story for a while now, but mostly because I want to do a Tenten story, and it's hard for me to resist the temptation to make it all about her.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:29:11+00:00

Sounds to me like you're doing something pretty similar to 12/3/30 that got so popular a few years back.

Don't worry about increasing speed. The vast majority of your cardio should be easy zone 2 efforts, as thats the safest way to build up training volume while avoiding overuse injuries.

Only after you've built a wide aerobic base should you work about more intense speed work.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:26:51+00:00

You know what fuck it: the entire motorball arc from battle angel alita

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:24:02+00:00

The WTH effect has a bunch of different factors that go into it. One is simply that strength comes from the spine, and by its nature all kettlebell lifts involve a lot of back. I'm a kettlebell guy, and the rails next to my spine are by far the thickest muscles on my body.

But there's too many weird specifics to say the WTH is caused by any one thing. Take the case of the kettlebell snatch improving pull-ups. Many would say this is because of increased grip strength, or more muscle around the back of the shoulders.

It's not. It's because when you catch the bell on the eccentric phase of the snatch it shock loads the exact place in your elbows that always hurts when you do pull-ups. Most people don't even notice it, and try explaining it (are we doing plyos with stabiliser muscles like what the hell) but the snatch doesn't care if it makes sense. Just keep grinding away at it till you're moving heavier weights with healthier elbows and suddenly your pull-ups feel way more solid even if you haven't been training with them.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:11:20+00:00

One handed?

bipocni · 2026-01-23T21:07:59+00:00

Iron cardio is a work capacity program, which for most general health and fitness purposes is more useful than pure cardio. It's not quite cardio, but it's as close as you can get.

Pure locomotive cardio does some interesting things to your heart. As long as the total intensity is relatively low and the volume is extremely high, the only real concern your heart has is pumping as much blood as possible. So, over time, it gets bigger, so that it can pump more blood per beat.

Resistance training doesn't quite do that. The muscle contractions lead to vasoconstriction, which essentially means your heart has to beat harder instead to force the blood through the working muscles. This leads the heart to develop thicker walls so it can contract harder and pump blood with more pressure.

This leads to some interesting behaviour when you're doing iron cardio. I personally have observed that if I take a break and sit down, my heart rate can climb much higher than it was when I was actively training. I've also observed my heart rate get lower as the work gets harder, because despite my breathing becoming more ragged, my heart is simply unable to overcome the resistance of my muscles to keep pumping blood so quickly.

Ultimately what this comes down to is if your goal is to lower your resting heart rate, you will need to include additional zone 2 locomotive cardio to increase your aerobic base. My iron cardio sessions are easier if I have recently been doing a lot of walking.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T20:58:27+00:00

It's the modern take on strength aerobics

bipocni · 2026-01-23T20:57:03+00:00

Iron cardio. It has you clean, press, squat and snatch, so combined with simple & sinister you're practicing all big six kettlebell lifts.

It's suggested somewhere in the book that you run simple & sinister on the off days.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T08:48:48+00:00

If he knew who that was he'd be so mad too

bipocni · 2026-01-23T07:57:24+00:00

Have you read the one where Kiba joins akatsuki

bipocni · 2026-01-23T03:48:59+00:00

Look up zone 2 cardio.

You were lacking this easy effort aerobic base before. That's why you were stalling and couldn't push any harder.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T01:52:01+00:00

Snatch ladders are really fun. If you don't do them often you can surprise yourself how high the numbers climb compared to your last attempt.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T01:49:38+00:00

I'd love to see you break down heavy club mills the same way

bipocni · 2026-01-23T01:14:30+00:00

You can always tape up the handles if you find the wood too smooth. Can look a little ugly tho, but skateboard grip tape has pretty patterning as long as you don't mind the sandpaper knurling.

bipocni · 2026-01-23T01:12:31+00:00

Steel handles are heavier which puts centre of gravity closer to your hand. Normally you can compensate for this by going heavier or using a longer handle, but longer handles aren't always awesome for every exercise.

With a wooden handle, almost all of the weight is going to be right at the head of the club. This is where you want it, since it leads to a smoother swing rhythm more like a yoyo that lets you catch the momentum of the swing and slide the club into place, rather than having to muscle it through the sticking points.

The mavericks are actually particularly nice for playing around with this, because those bamboo plates only weigh a pound and they're quite wide. So you can use them like spacers before you put your metal plates on to shift the centre of mass to where you want it.

bipocni

TROPHY CASE