"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."
Was a bit tired from yesterdays workout and need to go light these two days as we have a gym to move out on Sunday and I want to be relatively fresh for that.
One arm KB Deads 24 kg x4/4 28 kg x4/4 32 kg x 4/4 36 kg x 4/4 40 kg x 4/4 48 kg x 3/3
Surprsingly my lower back got a little tight after these; concentrating so hard on keeping my left big toe on the deck I don't think I pulled enough from the hips and too much from the back. no worries
Barbell deads 135 x 3 155 x 3 185 x 2 205 x 1 x 5 sets
these just didn't feel right and it wasn't my back. Too much focus on my toe :)) I think I have to switch to double overgrip for awhile and play with the starting position a bit. I don't want this to become a focus on how much weight I do, played that game before and it's not as important,I just want to find a strong and safe position that translates to real strength in real life, not just getting my DL better.
Two CB Swipes 2 15s x 20 x 25 x35 x 20
these went well. grip and technique is finally coming around. totally going for efficiency on these , not power as I want to build reps.Used a shallower sit back on the hinge and that helped as well.
Rack Walks 16 kg x 200 feet per arm 2 sets
Much easier than last weeks 20 kg :) These seem to be helping my left arm find the right rack position for my press as well. Much less 'rattling' around in the shoulder during the walk. nice
Triceps extension black band 40 35 25 20
burn is good.
last day at Girya :)) One era ends, another begins.
It's been a good run. I've been at Girya, 136 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto for the last nine years.It started out as Girya, The Art of Strength when I opened my doors on January 6, 2003, two years before I became RKC certified and over a year before I ever spoke to Pavel.
The kettlebell was a gift from G-d to me and I "got it" right away. It reminded me of a gymnast swinging around the horizontal bar and I knew there was something in this for me. At the time I was struggling with a serious back injury and wanted to train and progress as much as possible as a powerlifter but I knew my days were numbered.
Even more,I thought it was all over for me as an athlete,and more importantly, as a human animal, able to move strongly, and freely, without pain or restriction. The kettlebell swing and snatch changed all that for me and, most important, gave me hope that I could be strong and fit again.And I could and I am. Thanks to that round ball with a handle.
And that's what Girya, The Art of Strength was about.And I spent nine years working with people, one at a time and guiding them on their physical journey. Now it's time for a different venue.We lost our lease as the boom in Silicon Valley lets the landlord ask for double the current rent. No can do. All I need is some floor and a kettlebell to train my clients but I'm getting a lot more at the studio I'm going to.
I started my full time personal training career at No Excuses Fitness in Palo Alto 14 + years ago and spent over 4 years there as Head Trainer before I moved to Girya. I always loved training there as the owners, Angie and Dave DeGeronimo ,have a true passion for fitness and learning.They know the kettlebell is the real deal
and they are ready for the Reifkinds and the KB message.
! Tracy is bringing her classes to a much larger audience with streaming webcasting of her classes coming soon as well.
It will be great to work together even more too!
So February 1 , 2012 Girya, Russian Kettlebells Palo Alto will be located inside No Excuses Fitness
at 2741 Middlefield Road.A completely new beginning and I am seriously pumped about what's going to happen next.
Tracy's book "The Swing" is on the stands March 13 and that's going to be awesome as well!
But I hadn't trained with bells since Saturday so today was snatch day
One arm swings 16 kg x5/5/5/5 x3
Snatches 16 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets 200 reps 7200 lbs
this was a nice easy but still stimulating workout. will repeat this with the 20 kg on Saturday
Two hand arm casts 20 lbs x10/10 25lb x10/10 x 3 sets
Shield casts 20 lbs x 10/10 x 2 sets
superset with
bodyblade laterals 3 x 10/10
Floor handstands 5 sets 10 seconds with one touch off
Good day today, again. What a difference a good crew makes. It feels like the old days when it was either a heavy squat day or a competition and you had your buds there to help you through it. Energy creates energy and just having these guys there makes me stronger .
No repercussions from Thursdays pulls and I actually felt great from all the 100 up and calf work I've been doing. Definitely helps me set my standing and walking stance position and push reset as well when things get wonky. MUCH less leg tension than usual. Nice.
Also nice that it started to rain and warm up and I don't feel like every joint in my body is in the deep freeze. So much easier to move when I'm not frozen :))
7-8 am full stretchout
lots on emphasis on down and up dog and straddle sits/splits. Pain ball work for the brachialis and pec minor. Kinsieo tape on brachialis really helping shoulder too. :))
8 am one arm swing warmup 16 kg x5/5+ 5 transfers x 3 sets Snatches 16 kg x5/5 x 2 20 kg x5/5
Very happy with teshnik, pace and safety feeling.Really feeling like I am owning ALL parts of this move. Not just hinging off my lower back in the bottom position but really getting some shock absorption through the legs and hips.
Also happy with my wind and being able to move up in reps with no discomfort. Staying at the right pace is helping tremendously.I'm moving faster than I thought: 24 reps per minute pace but with no sense of trying to go back.
Basically 20 reps in 50 seconds. Not bad with a definite pause at the top and an attempt to really maximize the back stretch position as well. Cool, it's coming.
Plus Glen caught a crucial mistake I've been making when I snatch: letting my left big toe come off the ground. If the big toe isn't planted you totally lose your "root" and the center of your base. All the foot and ankle mobility I've been doing has really shown me the importance of the mobility and coordination of ALL the toes.It's a key to ankle mobility and that is the key to knee stability and mobility as well.
With my arthritic crooked knee I have to be even more concerned about my foot position and strength and make sure all the digits move and extend correctly.If the toes are tight, the foot is short, if the foot is short the ankle is tight, if the ankle is tight the knee is unstable, etc., etc., etc.
Very excited to be doing calf work again as well, I can already feel the difference in my standing position, walking and gait work.
and Nick had a field day today, killing his snatch workout and ending with this easy 40 kg set
One Arm Swings 28 kg x5/5 32 kg x5/5 36 kg x5/5
datsit.NICE. Haven't swung the 36 kg one arm in a year or more and it was strong. that's it though I'm tired and want to end on a strong/high note
Nice to NOT have to do volume to feel like the workout was enough. It's all easy 'til it's heavy :)) Ans this didn't feel that heavy. The Bulldog will be swung, and soon.
Reverse grip pushdowns ( black band) 5 x 20 supersetted with floor handstands 5 x 10 second/easy :))
great workout, strong the whole way through with almost no issues. Shoulder behaving very well.
After reading Tim Anderson and Mike McNiff's two books on bulletproofing the body and pressing the reset button on so basic but oh so vital movement patterns I decide to do these drills, my variations of them of course ,( I have to carefefully tailor everything I do to my own unique asymmetries and imbalances) every day.
I know my stretch routine is a must and must be done 5 out of 7 days but I think this series of cross crawl, marching, trotting and eventually rolling patterns is really going to make a difference in how well, far and easily I can walk and stand.As well as the calf raise progressions from Convict Conditioning 2.
I now believe that my left knee and ankle issues started to emerge when I stopped bodybuilding, started powerlifting and ceased all calf work. I used to train calves HARD and frequently as they were a weak point of mine and weak points get extra attention.So it's back to calf training and I have a LONG way to go.
The great thing about the CC progressions are that I don't need anything but the bodyweight single calf raise to train them. And a super high pain tolerance and threshold for boredome
I also know that doing the 100 ups( marching in Tim and Mikes book) is key for me. Either done stationary or traveling, fast or slow it is vital for me resetting my 'center of balance' and placing my left leg in the proper position right under me.
It's too easy for me to stand with most of the weight on my dominant ,stronger and uninjured right leg and displace my center of balance. This really shows up in my walking gait as my left leg is no longer directly under me.I can't do that when I march in place, much less trot in place. I played with it all morning and it put in the right position immediately. Nice
SO 100 up's stationary traveling marching 100 steps( some up on toes) bilateral toe raises flat on ground 30 reps slow and controlled (wow this got some blood in there)
100 ups major( trotting in place)
did this three times this morning.
2pm STONES GYM
One arm kb deadlift 24 kg x4/4 28kg x4/4 32 kg x 4/4 36kg x 4/4 40 kg x 3/3
Really took my time and paid attention to position and intent with these and it made a difference. Taking all the slack out of the body arm and lat and keeping hip square as I pulled. Good.
Barbell Deadlifts( left hand undergrip) 135 x3x2 165 x 3 195 x2 220 x 1 x 6 sets PR
these went great! SO cool to be able to pull with Glenn who has pulled an official 755 in three lift competition~ I know the weights are small but that doesn't matter. we approach it just as if it were 500 plus. Treat your light weights like they are heavy and the heavy weights will feel light :))
This was a recent pr on volume so next week back to 190 or so for singles. really focused on pushing with my left side as I deadlifted so I didn't overload my much stronger right side even more.
I know it's risky but this feels right. my new form is much different than my old competition form and not wearing a belt makes a lot of difference. I never ever pulled without a belt. even 135 I had it on. Not wearing one really makes you connect the upper and lower body into one unit.
When you wear the belt you really put so much focus on the abs that it actually disconnects you as a unit, I think. You can put unnatural load on the abs because the belts support.
Big difference without it and I think much more beneficial. Of course one will sacrifice pounds but what is that anyway? And at what price?
Two Clubbell swipes single 10 lb swipe 10/10 two 15s x 15 x20 x25 x30
90 reps. this was the best my grip has felt in a long time. I image the deads are helping that.
Rack Walks 20 kg x 100 foot per arm 2 sets per arm
haven't done this with 20 kg in years . not bad at all.and I think having to figure out the rack position on my left side my help clear up my press position as well. Or not :))
After a nice 50 minute full body stretchout this morning( legs feel much looser) I made this little video about my overhead stick stretching as per a request.
This method has consistently helped my open my lats, pecs, front delts, biceps and forearms and although it is very simple to do kicks most people's asses very quickly. When I ran my Level 2 Team through this in Hungary last summer they ALL had a very hard time holding the double overhead position for a minute, not to mention the alternating single arm work for 45 seconds each as well.
Camping out in whatever position you can hold is the key to getting results from this type of stretch. Spending 10-15 second and them moving onto the next position before you see a change( an increase in ROM or a better position) is the mistake.
Don't go any deeper into the stretch than you can hold is the real key, as well as constantly working to better all the positions.
For the one arm overhead : lock the elbow,pack the shoulder, pull the arm closer to the ear, and reach back. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum :))
I suggest using a mirror as you do this for the feedback of where you actually are versus where you think you are. I wish I had used a mirror today. My left arm wasn't near as vertical as I thought it was.
Also this morning
100 ups minor High strides 100 ups major( trotting in place) calf raise 100 reps trotting around gym commando crawling ( thanks Tim!)
legs felt much better after these. this has to become a daily habit.
It seems in my quest to regain my body and rebalance all ( or at least some) of my asymmetries it seems like I am trying to herd cats. As soon as I get one thing, or side, squared away, something pops out the other.
Like some kind of perverse Jenga game or something. I've been working on rehabbing my right shoulder for what seems an eternity lately( the latest injury was a rotator cuff tear in '03, not counting the original dislocation in 1977!) and it has finally come along! My overhead position on snatches is infinitely better than ever and I've been able to train it, and demonstrate the press with it for the last year plus.
NOW of course that the right side is good the left side has been giving me problems. It hasn't been right ( pun intended) for the last 6 months with SOMETHING sliding out of position in all kinds of weird positions( sleeping at night, side planks, any kind of horizontal pushing but not, up until recently, overhead kb military presses.
The good news is that I have figured out it is my sternal clavical moving around and not the biceps tendon as I thought and I know how to"set" it back into neutral almost instantly.
But I'm tired of fighting it every step of the way in my press workouts and think it might be time to drop that move for awhile. I really hate to do it given that I CAN press well with my right side finally but I think that's the message here.
And I can deadlift again but can't press. So weird.
I once told a friend whose license plate read "Want All" that he COULD have it all. Just not simultaneously :))
Seems the same for me but that is cool. have to heed the signposts and go with the flow :))Life is a wave of unpredictability.Ride it. Adjust. Move on.
It looks like this will end up light/high rep snatch day again :((
here's today presses
one arm swing warmup 16 kg x 5/5/5/5 x 3
Military Press 16 kg x 5/5 x2 20 kg x 5/5 24 kg x 5/5 x2 x 6/6 x 7/7 x 5/5 x 3 sets
my shoulder just wouldn't settle down and I had set it after each set. ack. no fun.
next
Two Hand CB arm casts( "Super Pullovers") 20 lb x 10/10 25 lbs x 10/10 35 lb x 8/8 x 3 sets
these felt very light and strong today
P Bar Handstand 5 sets of 10 second
Easy. nailed them all with no wall touch. nice.
Black band triceps extension
1 set of 45 /outa time :((((
I was worried that I was going to hurt something today because I felt so good going in. Slept well, ate well, stretched out well this morning so I was a bit concerned :))
Good news was that nothing bad happened and the workout went great. Nick was out today so it was just Glenn and me. It's amazing the progress he has made in the 6 short months since he began kb training with me.He hung with me set for set and rep for rep.Amazing.
Stretchout 7-8 am really focused on legs with the usual suspects back over ball rumble roller brettzell with straight leg up dog down dog sumo squat stretch straddle splits side splits both sides hamstring stretch with straps( toes and ball of foot) seated straddle stretch to middle and both sides pike stretch couch series stretch ( hip and quad/hip flexor) RKC kneeling hip flexor stretch with toe dorsiflexed overhead stick stretches
done :))
Warmup:( a balmy 38 deg today in Stone's Ice Cave) 16 kg x 5/5/5/5 x 4 sets
Snatch 16 kg x5/5 x 3 sets 20 kg x5/5 x 2 sets
24 kg x 5/5 x 6/6 x 7/7 x 8/8 x 9/9 x10/10 x5/5 x 3 sets 120 reps 6480 lbs
thank goodness I broke past 108 reps ,lol.
these went great although looking at the video I think my left leg is too wide. With my weird ass left knee finding "center" is not an easy thing.Wider feels better but I have to take more care to set up more evenly.It's way too easy for me to set up on my stronger right leg and have my left leg too far 'left' :))
Anyway the groove felt very solid in all parts, the layback was solid, the rotation of the arm ( need more on my right it seems) helped lock the elbow better, the 'shock absorb' in the hole felt solid and the hip snap high pull worked well too. These were as easy as they've been ever. Nice.
One arm swings 24 kg x 10/10 x 5 sets 100 reps; 5400 lbs
These went very well, Haven't gone "light" in the swing in awhile so it was nice. Could have done more but left feeling fresh. nice.
One arm shield casts 10 lb cb x 10/10 15 lb cb x 10/10 x 2
these were just a finisher. solid workout. time to eat.
