January was an unmitigated disaster for me. In terms of working out, that is. (I only worked out 11 days out of 31 because I was sick a lot. I was also constantly cheating on my diet.)

So, yesterday, I finally got my ass back to the Philippine Kettlebell Training Center/Krav Maga Philippines after having been away for more than six months. I think I did about three months of kettlebell training last year, and maybe five sessions of Krav Maga.

This year, I’m committing to doing six months of both. Well, as far as this commitment-phobe can commit, at the very least.

It was good to be back. The kettlebell class was small. It was just me, Ed, John, and Fred, the instructor. So Fred gave us a circuit to do around the room.

Ed, John, and my disembodied hand take a three-minute break in between sets.

We divided the room into the following stations, as indicated above.

• A: Two-hand kettlebell swings – I used 14 kilos.
• B. 1 KB clean (left/right) – I used 6 kilos.
• C. Pull-ups, any style, or rows – I rowed 8 kilos first then pyramid down to 6 kilos.
• D. One-hand kettlebell swings (left/right) – I used 12 kilos.
• E. Push-ups, any style – I alternated between wide arm and tricep push-ups.
• F. 1 KB clean and press (left/right) – I used 6 kilos.

We did one minute of continuous reps at each station, with hardly any rest in between stations. (Where it says “left/right”, we did 30 seconds for each arm.). In between each set though, Fred gave us three minutes rests.

As usual, I decided to take my first day back easy and lifted conservatively. Until my form is absolutely correct, I don’t see the point of lifting any heavier.

After three sets, we had to do 500 crunches or leg lifts, or any combination thereof.

Anyone who has ever worked out with me will know that I don’t like resting too much in between sets. I found the three minutes too long so I took to boxing, elbowing, and delivering hammer fists to a punching bag standing in one corner of the room.

By the time the Krav Maga crowd arrived and Fred started the class with us doing three sets of 10 push-ups and 10 punches, I had tired myself out and landed a punch wrong, bruising one of my fists badly. (As I write, it is glaring at me, red and swollen.)

Fred taught us the different Krav Maga stances (passive, semi-passive and fighting), how to throw a straight punch and how to deflect combination punches from an attacker.

At the end of the class, he gave us several group exercises. The first involved punching a bag being held up by a member of the group and then switching to another bag when given the signal, while being pulled, pushed or tripped by other group members.

Then that person had to try to get out from under a pile of bodies.

The last exercise started the person off with eyes closed. As soon as he or she opened their eyes, they had to deflect a frontal attack.

We took turns doing the exercises until each of us had gone through everything.

Today, I’m sufficiently sore and bruised. I can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow!