rebuild.

Pretty beat by now but know I will be fine once I get a sweat going. Didnt get to sweat enough this weekend. Usually that's not a problem. Want to experiment to see whether my back will tolerate two kb cleans. I know I can do some two handed swings; this will be a nice addition.

Two kb cleans
(2)16kg x
8
10
12
14
16
20

80 reps 5760

not bad. These are hard for high reps and it seemed fine on my shoulder and back.Skipped 18 because I knew I only had one set in me. Nice workload too as the two bells,even though they are light, add up to a two pood. cool. Didnt have to setup too wide either as that bugs me usually.The 2 24's might be a problem but they are a long way off.

One arm Swings Max Vo2 training
16 kg kb x 15 sec on/ 15 sec off for 15 sets.
8 reps per 15 sec
120 reps
4320 reps

This was from Kenneth Jays study and is one of the protocols on how to build max V02 levels. Kenneth used and recommended the snatch as the primary lift,saying the swing worked well but not AS well.This isnt critical for me as my competitive days are over. I will use the swing. I LOVE training like this. Short work bouts and short rest bouts, just like powerlifting speed .
work, The good news is that the study actually used the 16 kg and came out with incredible results. Nice to not feel guilty about using light weight.He recommended 20-50 sets. I will work my way up( at least I think is that protocol; my manual is at work) . This will sub out for mondays 100 reps sets I think.

DARCs with 24 kg
5 sets of 20 reps
100 reps
5300 lbs

took my time between sets, 1.5 minutes or more. starting to fade.Didnt eat much this weekend either.

Snatch holds
16kgx30 sec each arm
20 kg x30 sec each arm
24 kg x30 sec each arm

these went well

Face pulls, stick presses,stick squats, glute medius abduction with bands( left only)
left arm curls complex, lateral raise, 2 rounds each.

BW 159.6
BF 10.4
Water?

I am dehydrated for sure.

dats it, time to get loose again.

"A back of iron and legs that never quit"

I'll have at least 8 weeks of uninterrupted training before I have to go back to Minnesota and that means I can build a decent head of steam again. I've learned to not train on the Wednesday before I leave for a cert and of course I miss Saturday's training. I used to have to miss Monday's as well as I was so wiped from the teaching, standing and walking that it literally took me all week, or more, to recover.

So although I am fresh for the cert( which is key) I have to start rebuilding again right after as top end strength and conditioning starts to fall off. My base is strong enough so it wouldnt go too far down but I can still feel the difference and I do not like how it feels. Weak never feels good.

This month, with two certs two weeks apart, really tweaked my training but it worked out well in the end. My work capacity is monumentally higher than it was six months ago and insanely better than just one year ago; which was the best it had been in ages,lol!

This cert had much more standing rather than walking and I found that more fatiguing in the legs. Plus, all the bent press demos( as few as they were)that I was doing loaded up my left hammy and it was tugging on my fibula head late saturday and sunday.Still, I walked strongly through the airport after 4 long days and that is the key and the goal.

I can focus mostly on how my knee feels, I have realized, because my back no longer bothers me if I use the least amount of common sense.Sitting on the plane used to KILL my back and I would be wrecked after a flight like that. Now I can actually rest on the plane and my back is staying mobile loose and functional. Just need a knew knee,it seems.

I always come back from these envious of all the things I cannot do that so many do so easily;and take so much for granted.But now I know that having a really good work capcity and ' a back of iron and legs that dont quit' is the most important goal and what will help me the most over the next 50 years. Being able to pullup the Beast and snatch the two pood is great, but keeping my functional work capacity way high will have to do. Swinging and walking, dats the ticket for me.

What a day!

As I said yesterday, I am always amazed at how much I learn at these certs,even though I come to teach. Today, Brett gave one of most amazing presentations I have heard at the RKC. His lecture on the Functional Movement Screen program was simply amazing and is some of the best info on assessing and correcting movement and muscle imbalances and assymmetries I have seen.It is truly state of the art stuff! Very basic and right to the point with some very demonstrable changes in very little time.
It is also extremely accessible to the regular trainer that needs real time tools to assess his clients in the primal movement patterns and make real time changes.Very, very impressive.

It was an excellent day and Kenneth Jays presentation on the cardiovascular effects of the snatch was also enlightening and provided great scientific data on how to utilize the snatch to increase vo2 max as well as overall cardiac condtioning with the kettlebell.While not as physically demanding as the RKC level 1 the incredible information provided really is going to help the rkc intructors provide their clients with even more state of the ar training.great stuff.

Now I just have to get through my presentation tomorrow and it is smooth sailing!

http://Functionalmovement.com

day one done.

No matter how many times I come to these certs I am always amazed at how much I learn and how inspired I get.The energy is so high and the community of athletes so remarkable that I never notice the passage of time.
This time it was even better, as I have never been to a level two cert before,nor seen a Naked Warrior workshop, so the information on Pavel's technology for pullups and pistols,which got covered in depth today, brought all kinds of things into place.As usual, there are layers under layers and what seems so simple has a unique depth all it's own.
So many great drills,corrections and information it can keep one focused for many moons.
Off to dinner now and another long day tomorow.The knee held up great,even better than last time.The fact that there are some serious high density foam rollers all over the place helped tremendously.
More later.

Off to Level Two Cert.

The psoas. Man, don't piss this guy off!

Man I can't beleive it's already time to go back to Minnesota for the Level Two RKC.I recovered from the June cert much quicker than I did from the April cert and I think this should be stronger as well. I've got my packing minimalized already!Lol. Get to do a two hour presentation on Sunday on Length/Tension relationships, imbalances and using the foam roller for myo fascial release, can't wait,this is going to be great.There is going to be SO much great information on such a large variety of topics that it is going to be a whirlwind for sure.

Took today off and just stretched out.the stick press and stick squat pattern work is really paying off. I am consistently more to the left than I should be and squaring up makes an immediate difference in body tension and joint rom.

I can feel though that the deadlift put me back on my right leg/side too hard again. when you have had such big strength imbalance as I have when you do bilateral moves the strong side just overwhelms the weaker. Too much tension on one side creates rotation in the core and thats where the whole problem started orignally! I'll stay with the unilateral kb swings. It seems to be the thing for me.

Will be posting from the cert as I can.

Heavier.

After watching Doug Nepodal bottoms up clean and press a full water bottle I realized just how weak I've gotten. I have to psyche up to change the bottle these days as the heaviest thing I pick up is the two pood. Now, being weak and being able to walk, move, etc. with little pain is prefeable BUT, all things being equal being stronger is better.
My squat pattern is much better and my stick squat position is getting more square everyday.So I decided to try some clean grip deadlifts. I haven't deadlifted in more than two years but knew I wanted to pick something heavier than a kb up.Of course, this is how things start to go wrong but hey, lets see.

So, no belt double overgrip olympic style deadlift:
135x3x2
185x2x2
225x1x2

woo freaking hoo. Felt like I had pr'ed,lol. Very square and even pull. Won't know of course til tomorrow but I should be fine.Not sure though how much tension I should put through my back.Could be that it's the squat pattern I need to build first, as I already have the swings as a solid pull pattern that is safely working.

KB press( left arm only)
16kgx5x2
20kgx4
24kgx5x2
28kgx2x2

these felt good.havent pressed in long time.
One arm swings
16 kg
70/70 pr= 140 reps
25/25/15/15/2o darcs 100 reps
20/20/10/10/20 darcs 80 reps
15/15/15/15/20 darcs 80 reps

400 reps
14,400 ( that number again)

the 70 rep set was not that bad and my left grip was harder than the right for a change.my cardio was solid. I know I could do 100/100 but the question is : why? do I really need to do that?lol. For awhile I thought the cardio would be the problem now I think the grip will be more painful.

The rest of the sets were good and switching definitely makes it easier to go on. More load on the system and not one individual area or muscle group.easier to keep higher force/rep levels.

snatch holds
16 kg right only x
40 sec
45sec
50sec
60 sec
60 sec

45 sec rest /sets

I swear these seem as hard as the 24 kg!


db curl/ lateral raise complex with 12# db.
5-8 reps in each position 3 times

I noticed in the stick press that my right biceps shuts off just where the shoulder "kinks up" in my overhead movement. I was trying NOT to use it as it seemed overly tight but now I'm thinking maybe it's just weak and not activating. This could increase the load on my shoulder itself during ROM.

So I did a combination of:
supinating curl
supinated curl
hammer curl
reverse curl
lateral raise
lateral raise 25 deg adduction
lateral raise at side
pronated lateral raise
pronated lateral raise 25 degrees adduction

I did this the other day and the shoulder felt much better this am.Left arm doesnt need it.
Muscle stuck in flexion too long can get very weak it seems too.

Rack walk 16 kg
1600 continuous feet! PR.
Just for my right arm
switched hands every 200 feet. definitely makes the legs much more of the weak link instead of my arm and upper back. just want I wanted.


datsit. I will do some light training this wednesday but no walking.

datsit, staying loose.

Stretch it out.

ALthough I don't need to be able to do the splits to be healthy and functional on a daily basis, I have found that the more I get back to the flexibility that I had during my developmental years the better I feel. Since I am a trainer and an athlete, not a scientist, I care more about what works than why it does.
As Pavel has said many times, "do you want to understand hydrodynamics or do you want to swim? Understanding is a delaying tactic."
I have been in the deep end of the pool all my life, I just want to be able to keep swimming. The more I stretch the better I feel. That's good enough for me now.

Back to Basics.

I got the snatching out of my system and went back to my basic swing routine.The swing groove is much better for me and works my weak points( glutes/hips) much better and really saves the shoulder.Snatch holds will have to suffice for snatch fun.

One arm swings
36x10/10x3

53x10/10x10 sets
200 reps
10,600 pounds

this took awhile to re find the groove after all the snatching I have been doing.Had to re link the shoulder in and really force the elbow straight.Sucker wants to bend badly.

Two hand swing
53x15x5 sets
75 reps
3975 pounds

This went well; it's a shorter stroke and I can keep my head up, long spine and use my quad as well. This worked me well,especially after the one arms. No problems from Wednesdays foray into two hand land. Great new! I will love to add this to the toolbox, it's a very satisfying movement for me.

total reps= 275
total tonnage= 14,575

Snatch Holds
36x45
53x 40 sec
x 45 sec
x50 sec

havent done these with the 24 in awhile and it felt heavy at first! last set was much better.

Halos
26x10/10x3 sets

stick presses, stick squat stretches and some rifga afterwards. Felt like I didnt do anything; this is good.

datsit, staying loose.

Tracy's 1600 swings in a hour

Dustin Silveri RKC, was trying to emulate tracy's prodigous swing capacity and didnt know how she got the 1600 swings in one hour that I had talked about. Here is a copy of the post I made on Dragon Door detailing the incredible feat of endurance and power.


1600 swings in 60 minutesFrom: rifstonian Subject: FitnessDate/Time 2006-11-04 18:29:37Remote IP: 71.131.11.228
Message
Mrs. Rif is at it again.Tracy did one arm swings with the 12 kg for 60 seconds on 30 seconds off for 60 minutes straight.40 reps per minute for 40 sets.
That's 41,600 pounds in the hour with 40 minutes of solid work and 20 minutes of rest.
The only way you can do more work in an hour is to use a heavier bell. talk about training work capacity!


She regularly does 1000-1200 swings per hour,even with the heaviest bells! Since she is trying up get her muscle mass up she is doing less volume and heavier weights lately. Still insanely impressive.

This video is part of her 1200 heavy swing workout

Graduation!

I am SO proud of my son Gabriel, who graduated Westmont High School yesterday. He is off to be a Spartan, a San Jose University Spartan. RKC Team Leader Chris Holder is the head S&C coach there and has EVERYONE on kettlebells! Gabe will have access to them in college. Cool. It was such a great feeling watching him fulfill this part of his journey. I couldn't love him more.

More mass = More strength?

In bodybuilding world the way one increases their strength is to increase their mass. All things being equal the larger the muscle contracting the stronger it is. But just as bodybuilding training is like having an 8 cyliner engine with only 2 working and strapping on another 8 cylinder engine which also has only 2 working Power to the People methods also increase muscle mass to increase strength; but in a totallydifferent way.

.PtP increases your muscle mass not by increasing the size of the individual fibers but by increasing the total number of muscle GROUPS that are participating in the lift. By hyper irradiation and feed forward tension and conciously activating max number of fibers in the entire body, way more mass is pulled into the effort. Total body effort = great strength. Especially the more skilled you are at activating.

I should know better

there is no keeping up with the Jones's. At least not for me and 99% of everybody else. This guy is strong. I had not forgotten but that video was a good reminder. Don't try this at home folks.



I should know this by now. I am 50 years old and have been beating my head( and other major joints) against the wall since I was 14.But inspired by Mr Jones's incredible compliation video I decided I needed to get a little more leg bend into my swing and snatch techniques and see whether I can tolerate that( I am not injured btw,so the story ends well). I always want to be stronger and Mr Jones looked AWFULLY strong in those moves.

I so wish I would have had youtube to study mechanics from when I was a wee lad as I can ( and have learned tons by studying physical movement frame by frame and in slow motion. Watching the exact mechanics of a really heavy lift teaches us so much about what really goes on in max effort lifts as opposed to what many theorize as to what goes on.
SO I decided my 'built to deadlift' swing mechanics might allow for a little more squat to 'spread the load" as Pavel says.I can do it but it's not how I'm built to maximall produce force in a posterior chain move. Just aint me. Maybe not ever and definitely not now.

ANd NOT listening to what my body was telling me to do when I was powerlifting contributed greatly to my further hurting myself, I now know. I should have been squatting with a closer stance, with an olympic boot and looking down. Just how I pull( minus the boot). SO this time I should listen to what I know to be true.
You are only really strong in one or perhaps one and a half positions. Find them, cultivate them, love them. They are precious and can be fleeting. Like a baseball players swing.Train your weakpoints. Compete your strengths.
But as my stick press is making my overhead positions more fully extended and stable the stick squat is doing the same to my lower body and my squat pattern is coming back. ANd my sumo squat stretch( floor) and Pavels hip opening stretch are doing just that.
I rotated slightly to the right to re orient myself( as per my gait) and swung that way. Felt great and I felt square even though I felt turned.Two hand swings rock! They are the power squat of the ballistic world. And swinging that 88 is no joke! My wife is tough!

Two Hand Swings
16kgx10
20kgx10

24kgx10
28kgx10
32kgx10
88kgx10 x 3 rounds. 2minute rest/sets

120 reps 5160 pounds

way off usual training schedule and decided to power up abit as I have to taper again next week and will miss normal training when I'm at the Level 2.These felt great and I was using both legs and hips and had my center of gravity much more in the middle of the base. Felt strong.If I can do these like this; and for power I will satisfied.

Snatch Practice
30 minutes of working on the snatch in sets of 5, sometimes alternated with swings.Playing with different swing grooves and hip snap timing. I am NOT a OL style snatcher as my shoulder and biceps do not like it at all. I can certainly do it well enough and it feels good my the bones dont like it,.
BUT, what the hell am I doing???? I should not worm my way back into training this as alift again, just as I cannot train the squat as a lift again. It's just stupid.

Rack Walk
one lap, 1200 feet, switching arms every 200 feet.

wow, this was good.

BW 159.5!!!
BF 9.9%
Water 59.5%


wow, I am light. Warrior diet rocked at the cert.its hot too which is great. I can always tell when i am in good shape when I am heat adapted. The heat at the cert didnt bother me at all. I love to sweat.

But one can see how easily I can , and have, gotten myself in trouble by trying to always be better than I currently am.And when I see someone doing something I know how to do I always think " hell, if he can do it I should be able to!" Or least an approximation. I love strength and always want to feel and be stronger. The better I feel the more It want to push.

Shoot for the stars, end up on the roof. Shoot for the roof, maybe not get off the floor.

Brett Jones, Sr RKC./ Strong Man

The RKC School of Strength rocks on! Check this out:

It just had to be done.

As Joe says, after I come back from a cert I always want to snatch. I haven't been doing snatches in my program other than snatching the weight overhead for my holds as regular snatch work just seems to irritate my right shoulder.But it is such an explosive, dynamic, athletic and just damn COOL move that when I go to the cert and see everybody 'getting' to snatch I am envious.

So:

Snatch
16kgx5/5x2
24 kg x 5/5 x10 sets
100 reps
5300 pounds

One arm swings
24 kg x 5/5/5/5x5 sets
100 reps
5300 pounds

200 total reps
10,600 pounds

Snatch holds
16 kg x30 sec x 4 sets

man these are always as hard as the 24 kg!LOL.

spent a lot of time tweaking my form relative to the nuances I have made lately in my stance, gait and torso rotations.My right side move is definitely a different and unique motor pattern as compared to my left. I am only realizing the true depth of this lately and how badly being allowed to twist in the wrong direction in gymnastics really set the stage for all these imbalances and injuries.

These nuances made a huge difference to me while I went through the physical demands of this weekend and really drove home that I am on the right path. For instance, I made it through April's cert better than the one before but I couldnt train on that next Monday and had to do major bodywork all week after to get even close to 'neutral'.
This time I feel fine and was walking strong through the airport last night! Work was no problem even though I can feel the adrenaline let down coming a bit.But I feel healthy ,loose and balanced.

I barely had to use the thumper all weekend although I was doing lots of palms open close stance squatting and 'no stick' open palm stick press patterns all day to keep things square and plumb.Being barefoot helped ALOT. As well as all the time being barefoot and standing this last month.

So I have to figure out the unique rotation that will let me snatch with my right arm without the biceps tendon getting impinged. I am getting the correct static posture and gait I need but I still need to grok the dynamic posture.

I brough my stance in a bit today and adopted my eyes and shoulder to the right posture and it was interesting. But the biceps tendon still gets tired early.
Could be not having an intact shoulder capsule, torn posterior AC ligaments and bone spurs, arthritis and plenty of miles on this 30 year old injury. Hell, what am I expecting?lol.
Rode hard, put up wet.


datsit,good to be home. Gotta stretch.


PS I just realized that perhaps the dead snatch might hold a clue to the correct position/rotation for the right arm. will experiment.

Jeff Steinberg tames the Beast!

Stud athlete and Team Rif member Jeff Steinberg became the lightest man to Tame the Beast this weekend when at 170 pounds he crushed the challenge with the 106 lb kb manhandling the pistol, press and pullup.His pullup was especially effortless. But the press and pisotl were easy too!Jeff had just pressed the Bulldog for the first time a few weeks ago.

here is Jeff deadlifting behind the back 500 for 3


and sumo pulling 600 for 4!


Congrats to Jeff.

day two done.

It's amazing to me each time I come to a cert to see the incredible transformation that each student undergoes, from the first day and all the incredible amount of work that somehow doesnt kill them but sees each and every one getting stronger and better as the day wears on. Despite incredible physical fatigue, torn to shreds hands and and an unbelievable amount of data that has to be grokked they keep going and going and going.

Seeing people who had horrible form the first day get so much better after a few thousand swings, cleans, snatches, presses and squats is always an amazing sight.Pavel says its from greasing the groove neurologically all weekend and he must be right because at the end of the second day Team Rif was hitting weights and reps with better form than the first day when they were all fresh and un tore up.
I got to get a little training in myself while teaching the snatch segment and it always amazes me too that I need no warmup to press snatch and swing weights that always need quite a bit of preparation for at home.Adrenaline is such a great hormone....
Doug Nepodal, who came out to support one of his clients taking the cert, actually told me( unsolicited) that he thought my gait was much better than when he saw me in April.So nice to hear something positive about my funky knee and walk.It blows me away that it isnt killing me at the end of two twelve hour days of being on my feet.
I've stayed barefoot all day and that has helped as well as the adjustments I've made to stance and weight distribtion.So weird to feel like I can actually walk without pain. way cool.
making myself stand at work for the last month has also helped alot. I stood alot before but the last month has been virtually on my feet the whole time.that has helped find a much more stable and pain reduced stance. Cool.
One more tough day of evals and then I'm home.Also cool.

a good day

Its the end of a very long very good day at the RKC and I am very happy with how well my knee has held up this time. I have made some very different adjustments to my stance and mechanics and it has been very successful in keeping the pain down and the knee bending as well as it has in a long time.
for instance even though I have been standing and walking on it since 7 am and its now 11pm minnesota time I havent even had to use the g5 thumper to calm down spams and the knee feels pretty decent!

It probably doesnt look much differnet to those who obseve my gait but it sure does feel different and I will take that!
I have a great group of trainees and I really enjoy this very different teaching process more each time I come out here.
I spend so much time doing one on one training that being able to work with groups and teach in front of large groups is very exciting.
I teach the snatch tomorrow,not today and that is fine.I gave my lecture on 'what is the RKC'and it was very well received. One of my favorite topics!
dats all for now, time to get some rest.

I love the smell of kettlebells in the morning.

Ah yes, its 4:30 am (PST) I am jacked up on Peets coffee(never leave home without it!) just finished stretching out and going over my notes formy presentations today. I love this shit!
I actually feel good for a change when traveling and my knee and back cooperated very well going through the airport and sitting on the plane for 4.5 hours.I hope this is a good omen for the rest of the weekend.

I used to feel this way going to powerlifting meets. Getting to leave the regular routine behind and spend the weekend with a bunch of hardcore lifting nuts and talking nonstop about training and the sport. Now powerlifting has been replaced with kbs and getting though the weekend strongly has become my 'competition'. even though I am not 'training' through the weekend it is serious physical challenge for me; 12hours a day for three days straight of standing,walking,teaching,lecturing and demonstrating.Great stuff!
I got to meet Dustin,Takei( who is on my team!) Franz and Yoanna and so many others last night at the meet and greet.Everybody asked if Tracy was here; she is definitely missed aleady!
Time to get to work, I get to teach the snatch segment today and I can't wait!

Off to the Cert.

I am off to the Cert today. I am bringing my laptop so I hope to be able to blog a bit each day and keep in touch, although one never knows....

One thing I think people forget about the RKC Certification course is that it is an INSTRUCTOR course. It is not a user course but for those interested in teaching KB's to others and who want to do so safely and efficiently.

The average person who just wants to use a kettlebell does not need to know all the detail and minutae that an instructor will need to know to observe,analyze and correct the mistakes of a variety of different students.
Datsit, gotta go get on a plane!

Ron Morris RKC Team Leader's Website

I haven't seen this before and that's too bad, it's a great site. Don't get any more real deal than Ron.
Click on the title to get to his site.


http://www.usakettlebells.com/

More stupid strong.

New School


Old School


Watching a Japanese Olympic gymnast perform on the rings in the 1972 Olympic Games is what inspired me to get into gymnastics and so begin this incredible physical odessey that has been the last 36 years of my life.You can also see how it could destroy one's shoulders. Its all a give and take.

P bars.

Insane montage of my favorite event.these guys fly.

David Whitley RKC Team Leader

Now THIS is something else. Plus he smiles when he's doing the heaviest stuff, gotta love that.

Light swings.

Definitely wanted a light one today, in both volume and intensity to start the taper for this weekend. So instead of straight swings I decided to include Darcs, which always make the set easier.
No warmups needed for this stuff, lol.

one arm swings/darcs
10 left,10 right, 10 darcs, 10 left, 10 right= 50 reps
8 sets of these.
400 reps
14,400( there's that magic number again,lol)


Its amazing how easy a 50 rep set can feel when you are used to doing 100.Definitely made the reps crisper and more forceful since I had so few to do. Makes a difference even in these low reps; is obviously much more work and you tire earlier.
The more I endure baby workouts like this the more I am impressed with Tracy's work capacity and power. Its really amazing.And her recovery is incredible as well. The next day she was just fine; it was just another workout.

Snatch holds
16kgx 60 sec x 3 sets

didnt get enough in monday and am skipping wednesday.

Rack Walk
1200 feet at once. switch hands every 200 feet!

This was great! I have never tried that before an it worked just like DARCs. A switch is as good as a rest.Very happy.By trying to keep on just one arm for as long as possible I am just letting the fatigue of my arm be the weakest link, instead of my systemic condition.Switching from now on for longer distances per set.

BW 162
BF 9.5%

forgot to take water. Weighed after workout instead of normal before.

Datsit, gotta stretch.

Rifga

Did not get stretched out yesterday and can really feel it today. I videoed Tracy's ssst yesterday and missed my normal stretch out then just skipped it yesterday afternoon. SOOOOO it had to get done yesterday as all the same characters started to lock up this AM.

1) close stance dl stretch to floor

2)upward dog

3) horse stance with dorsiflexion

4)downward dog,alternating feet

5) frog squat stretch

6) tuck and roll on back

7)straddle stretch

8) pike stretch

9) single leg "L" sit and hammie stretch

10) cross over IT band stretch

11) cross leg glute stretch

12) cross leg glute/ham stretch

13) stick press

14) stick squat pattern, OL style,close stance

15) stick behind neck stretch.

Tracy does 295 reps in the SSST!

This was the first time she tried this challenge. She has done 140 reps in the five minute version. This is just an unbelievable performance!This clip is from minute 8 to 9!She's already been snatching for 8 minutes!


Crazy woman 'finshed' her workout with another 30 minutes of kb work including another 5 sets of 20 each arm in the SNATCH! Now I have been known to be excessive in my love for volume training but even I have to take my hat off to that kind of conditioning.

Last heavy day before the cert.

Next weekend I'll be teaching, standing and walking all day for three days so this is the last tough day I will have this week. I'll train Monday but skip Wednesday and just stretch out.
All pumped up from watching my Star Wife put up close to the record in the Secret Service Snatch Test the first time I was ready to train!
Tracy is a natural athlete with really good natural strength and coordination. Not to mention a freakish level of endurance! The first time I took her for a ride on a racing road bike( first time she had been on one) I had not been far removed from fairly serious bike training and took her for a circuit called the 'loop' in Palo Alto. She crushed it like a bug and it didnt seem to faze her much at all.I was impressed then and also impressed when she squatted and deadlift 245 lbs weighing just 150.
But this performance was the most impressive I've seen her do. Amazing. Congrats Honey! 300 plus is coming.

One arm swings
16kgx5/5/5/5x2
24kgx5/5/5/5x2

32kgx5/5/5/5x12 sets
240 reps pr
17,280 pounds. nice.

these felt really good although my forearms were still a bit cooked from wednesays and just work. The groove felt solid and the speed was good as well.

Two kb one arm swing
16kg+12 kg( 28kg)x5/5
20kg+16kg(36 kg)x5/5
24kg+16 kg( 40kg)x5/5
24kg+24kg(48kg)x5/5
280+360+400+480=1520 kg/3344 pounds.

this was tough. I was much more tired from swings than last week. plus I didnt get my grip right on one set on the left hand and felt just how much stress their can be on the fingers if you dont set up right.might not be a moved that needs to be trained; just done occasionally.

two kb one hand press
2 12 kgs x3/3
12 + 16x2/2 x 2

this was tough today as well. done here.

Snatch holds
16kg x45 sec
24kgx45 sec x2

Halos
12 kg x 3x12

datsit and congrats again to my studette wife!

Some gems from the late Dr Siff

Been going back and re-reading Supertraining by the late Dr Mel Siff and am even more amazed than the first time I saw this monster. Supertraining is the bible of the scientific analysis of strength training methods and practices and Dr.Siff was every bit the genius for writing it.A real deal guy who lived as a multi sport athlete and an intellect of the highest order.
Someone should be teaching a course on training for strength, sport and fitness using Supertraining as the only course text. It would be a year long course,at least. Even now reading through it again it is daunting.
The density of information is not to be believed.
Name a topic or aspect of athletic,fitness or rehab training and Siff has thought about it, analyzed it, corrected it and wrote about it! From the physics,biomechanics,physiological and neurobiological aspect of sport and training Siff was into it at the highest levels.

An excerpt:

" The sequence of recruitment of muscle fibers by exercise also has important consequences for training. The ST( type 1) fibers are recruited first for muscle tensions up to about 25 %, the FTa( type 2a) are recruited next and the FT ( FF or Type 2x) fibers last, as the intensity of the activity increases towards a maximum or as the ST fibers becomes seriously energy depleted. Thereforeif the intention is to train FT fibers for a particular sport, it is vital that high intensity training be concentrated upon.

Further research reveals that this high intensity is not necessarily dependent on on the use of 1 RM( 1 repetition maximum) or near 1 RM loads, but the degree to which the relevant muscle fibers are recruited during the effort.In this resepct, the terms fast twitch and slow twitch do not necessarly mean that fast movements recruit exclusively FT fiber and slow movements ST fibers.To analyze the involvement of different fiber types, it is vital to determind the force that needs to be produced. If large acceleration of the load is involved, Newton's Second Law of Motion decrees that the resulting force will be large. Thus, the maximal force generated from the rapid accleleration of a 100 kg bench press easily can exceed the maximal foce produced during a slowly accelerated 150 kg bench press.

Both a small load accelerated rapidly and a heavy load accelerated slowly strongly involve the FT fibers.Likewise,expsolsive movements rely heavily on the action of FT fibers."

Dr Mel Siff Supertraining Chp 1.12 page 59/60

No wonder Louie and Dr Siff got along so well.

Stick press/upward shrug for the Yoganator

This movement has done more to de-impinge my shoulder than anything I have done yet. I use a regular stretching stick and slide it up and down the outside of a power rack( as if it were a smith machine) going through the full ROM of a perfectly strict military press.The forerarms stay perpindicular to the ground at all times and this is one of the keys. FIghting to keep the arm externally rotated as the bar passes the head is vital for 'turning on' these easy to deactivate but critical external rotators.
The upward shrugging releases the lower rhomboids in some way normalizing scapula mobility and allowing the humeral head to position itself more in neutral. I dont quite understand how the mechanics actually work but they have! I can wake up relly impinged, go to the rack, do a bunch of these and have it release the teres, the levator , the corocoid brachialis and reset the shoulder! It also has worked wonders for all my clients.
I can now also get the same release with a free movement but the rack was pivotol in finding the correct groove.Slide the bar overhead as if you were holding a big med ball between your elbows.
Sorry for the dark pictures; we took these months ago.

A MUST read; the article that really change my shoulder by Bill Hartman. The shoulder from the inside out.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1426252

Acceleration day.

The Squat Master, Louie Simmons.

That's how I think about wednesdays swing workouts. Trying to get my body standing up as fast as possible each rep and transfering that force into the bell each rep.If the reps start to slow down I am over my limit. Since I did 300 reps in transfer sets of 5/5/5/5 last week I wanted to do something different. I decided on sets of 20 reps per arm but only one arm per set.
I would do 20 reps on one arm as hard and fast as possible., set the bell down and let Joe go, then do the other arm. Worked great. 20 reps worked out to about 40 sec per set which is about the peak time for anaerobic training. The longer it goes the more oxygen dependent the set gets and the less white fiber gets used.Lower intensity is for mondays. Today is sprints.

One arm swings.
16 kg x5/5/5/5x2

24 kg x20 reps per arm
5 sets per arm
200 reps total

reps starting to slow down and lose force so I go to
10/10x 3 sets
60 reps

260 total reps
13,780 pounds

I was hoping for closer to 300 ( or even above) but a serious racoon/cat death match got us up and kept us up in the middle of the night so I didnt get much sleep.Energy ,bell and extension speed started to wane so I shut 'er down.
We thought it was our favorite calico Jello, and I seriously thought I would find a dead cat this morning. Thank goodness she was ok.

Snatch holds
20 kgx 45 sec x 4 sets

this felt great!snatch position is improving daily it seems. Overhead ROM is doing great and the stick press rocks! The two kb/one arm press also seems to be helping, strangely enough.

rack walks 20 kg
200 feet per arm
200 feet per lap
6 laps/1200 feet.

ok I bonked and just got through this. I was not in the mood.the 20 kg seemed heavy. Just tired . The higher intensity of each rep also played a part. Can't sprint for that long, it has an accumulated fatigue effect. This is also the point of Hardstyle and WSB box squat training. High force per rep, low reps per set, short rest periods, high level of total muscular( re; white fiber musculature) overload and fast twich adaptive response set into play.

Low force, low intensity long duration sets work the red fibers, mitochondria, capillaries and oxygen delivery system. Great base and ground work as I am finding out from my monday rep sessions. forgot how that feels; havent been able to do that since 2000 since I hurt my back.
Louie always emphasized LOTS of GPP and being in shape to lift; hence the 12 sets of 2 on below parallel box squats with chains and or bands and only 45 sec rest between sets.Dragging sleds, pulling sleds and lots of extra lower intensity special exercise workouts to increase work capacity and bring up weak points.reverse hypers, pullthroughs, kbs, anything,everything.

Being real strong and being in great shape at the same time feels amazing. I will settle for being in great shape and being able to move with no pain.

except for the shitty night sleep killing my energy this was a good one.Nothing like a big shot of adrenaline at midnight and then trying to go right back to sleep. How the hell do firefighters do that?No wonder they can only work ten days a month.

BW 162.6
BF 8.5%
Water 61.1%

Stir frys and ice cream are back and the bodyfat is down. go figure.

datsit, gotta stretch.

I could fly

Back in the day.My senior year, 1975. another view.

gymnastics is seriously addicting.

Let it hurt.

I definitely have a love/hate thing going with Mondays focus on high rep sets. On the one hand I love what the high reps are doing for me; conditioning and gpp wise. Now if its not a hundred rep set it seems like it's nothing. But I freaking LOATHE doing them,lol. Thank goodness Joeis here to count my reps and yell at me. Helps a lot.Its just a reflex by now for me. Tell me I'm slacking and to push harder in a set and I just go. THis is even better if I am dying inside and want to quit. Something clicks and it just overrides the weakness.

I do have to be very careful with this though as I should NOT override deep fatigue or technique breakdown ever again. Can't afford it. But I feel pretty safe with 16 kg swings,especially at the ass end of a hundred rep set and I am too fatigued to call up much in the way of real force. And I feel square and plumb enough to push things a bit thesedays.Not too much, but just a bit. Gotta have some fun eh?Truth is just not being in searing pain is a lot of fun. Pain puts things in perspective pretty quickly.Have to keep reminding myself of that as I do what I do naturally, keep going forwards.

Warmup:
around body pass( left to right ONLY. same as my pommell horse circle direction)
around knee pass( as above)
figure eights( as above)

12 kg, 5 reps per move x 2 set
16kgx 5 reps per move x2 sets

One arm swings
16 kg x60/60
x30/30/20/20
x 20/20/20/20
x15/15/15/15
x20/20
400 reps
14,400 pounds( this weeks magic number it seems)

The first big set was not that bad and I conciously relaxed my grip at the top of each set( as I rooted) and that helped a lot.Last week 50 reps torched my grip and this tiem 60 was ok.Plus my next set was not impaired as it was last week. The first set worked the grip endurance, the next 4 worked systemic endurance and weren't that bad at all. recovery between sets was solid and Joe and I alternated 3 setsof him to my 1 as he was doing deadlift singles.Still wind was solid and I sprinted the last 20 to 30 reps of each set, pulling the bell down and really standing up as fast as possible.
The first part of each set was very relaxed and focused on pacing.
The 120 rep set took 3:20.Have no idea what pace that means for me yet.Thinking I could train to do 100/100 and that would be a feat,lol. Of pure mascochism.It seems to be going that way on Mondays now.

Two KB/One hand Press
8kg and 12 kg(20 kg)x3/3
12/12kg (24 kg)x3/3x 2 sets!
12kg and 16 kg(28kg) 3/3x 2 sets!!!!!

wow, had to try these again to see if them not hurting my right shoulder was a fluke or not and it doesnt seem to be! Doing aa triple with 62 in my right arm PAINFREE was very wierd. Very interesting groove for me.It did NOT activate my biceps tendon or my teres. Most excellent :))
Something also about the very WIDE grip is not messing with the biceps tendon and having the two kbs stacked on top of each other makes it HARDER, I think to internally rotate the arm. I get stuck just where I need to be. At least thats the hypothesis.

It also seems like the press tension starts at the mouth area rather than from below my chin,even thought thats where the hand is, because of the stacked bells. much higher combined center of mass but it makes it easier, not harder, for me.I dont seem to have a sticking point like I do with the single bell press. I am strangely built and wired, thats for sure.

Halos
12kg x10/10x3
16 kg8/8x3

Rack Walks/16 kg
300 feet per arm
600 foot per lap
3 laps + 200 extra on last pass
2000 feet.

these are getting tough after these 100 rep sets and working all morning. But they are also what test me the best. I so want to give in and cut the reps down and not push my self to do more,especially at the end of the walks when I just want to sit down; but then I ask 'how bad does it really hurt? Let it hurt, how bad is it? Is it gonna kill you? ( thanks furman, though I've been saying that too for years. True knowledges.) Let it then. Just freaking die right here. Go ahead. Ok I'll finish the damn 2000 feet. Good, I win again. Winning, at anything is good for you and builds testosterone as well as confidence.
Everytime you dont do what you set out to do you lose, and lose testosterone and confidence. Doesnt matter what the challenge is, it's good for you to win. Set the bar as low as you want, don't matter,just acomplish it, THEN raise the bar and repeat.

BW 163.2
BF 8.2% ( havent seen this in eons.)
Water 61.5% ( all the extra tea is helping)I guess the weight increase is water in the muscle. Most excellent.

dats it, gotta stretch.

Ross Rocks.

This guy has it all.

Myo fascial release

Very interesting article/website on myo fascial pain, trigger point therapy and myo fascial pain management. Good stuff.

http://www.painsociety.com/articletemplate.cfm?id=21

and here's a good list of the muscles' tendencies to be too tight or too long.

Muscles Prone to Tightness
Gastrocnemius
Soleus
Tibialis Posterior
Short Hip Adductors
Hamstrings
Rectus Femoris
Iliopsoas
Tensor Fasciae Latae
Piriformins
Erector Spinae
Quadratus Lumborum
Pectoralis Major
Upper Trapezius
Levator Scapulae
Sternocleidomastoid
Scaleni
Flexors of Upper Limb
Masticatories

Muscles Prone to Weakness
Peronei
Tibialis Anterior
Vastus Medialis and Lateralis
Gluteus Maximus, Medius and Minimus
Rectus Abdominis
Serratus Anterior
Rhomboids
Middle and Lower Trapezius
Deep Neck Flexors
Digastricus
Extensors of Upper Limb

Rifga= Corrective Yoga.

I just realized what my 'rifga' stretching/yoga practice is, at it's heart. It's corrective yoga. My approach is to do the poses/stretches that open me up in the best way to get to anatomical neutral . That is my goal and that is why I stretch early and before exertion.I want to be as plumb and square as possible before I load my body. If I dont 're-open' my structure as exertion and activities tighten it back up, pain increases. A sure sign I am doing something wrong. especially when I can get the pain to diminish by getting closer to square all the time.
That was the major mistake I have made all those years of heavy training and competing. I didnt fully address my serious myofascial imbalances enough and loaded the frame way to hard for how 'bent' it was.
I have never seen any "magic" in basic yoga other than a series of poses held for varying lengths of time and focused on integrating breathing and open primal positions at the same time. Great stuff for sure but I never saw any supra physical mojo to being flexible enough to wrap both ankles around your neck. And I think that learning how to breathe, and hence relax, while working the body is the key component.
When clients ask me about taking yoga my only reluctance is to say that it is not individualized enough for most of them and would overstretch some areas and understretch others. Not good for unstable spines or joint capsules.And certainly not the best and straightest path to "neutral body".
The key is really being able to hold the poses and breathe deeply into them.Gradually increasing one's ROM and comfort zone in those positions.
I found a great calf/ankle stretch in the basic position of kneeling horse stance( a chek position) just by dorsiflexing the left ankle. to Such an incrediblly basic and simple posture but so replete with possibilities to connect to the entire body.Opening up that sides soleus while working knee flexion AND holding neutral spine connects all the dots. SO it's not just opening up the ankle but opening the ankle while manipulating the knee/hip and back angles for optimal balance as well.

This may not make sense to all but remember my left knee only bends 90 degrees and that side ankle is almost as locked as well. These are extreme restrictions but I see minor variations every day in my 'normal' clients that can very well add up to future injuries if they are not addressed early. Especially if they are going to load themselves seriously,either with weight or volume.accumulated micro trauma gets almost all,regardless whether one is weak and can't hold themselves up against gravity anymore or one is strong and pushes the limits their frame can handle in the quest for super health, fitness or performance.

So it's corrective/selective stretching/yoga for me. Just as I am 'corrective' in my approach to exercise selection that is the basis of my stretching yoga practice as well. Neutral is the goal.Not only neutral spine but neutral knee, shoulder, neck, elbow,etc.
Chek was right.

How to set up the 2 kb, one hand swing, by Royce

Much thanks to Royce Mills for showing me an idiot proof way of setting this up.Thanks again Royce.

Guardens's at it again. 2 32 kg no hand TGU!

Cameraman missed the first part but you can clearly see how tough this is!

Rifs arm

I sent Ken Black a pic of me holding a kb overhead when I was thinking of changing logos.this is how he morphed it. pretty cool,eh? Thanks ken.

This is just stupid strong.

This is the strongest ring routine I have ever seen

Think you can swing? Try this

This was my probably my best event in gymnastics and my second favorite( to parallel bars). Look how much the pommels resemble kb handles.



Course this is some crazy shit too. Man gymnastics was great fun.

Strong is Good.

one 24kg and one 16 kg

2x24 kg. The setup for the second hand was the hardest part,lol

Still pumped up from that Danish RKC video I got some fun stuff in today that I havent even thought of trying in months! Got the basic part of the workout done and then played around with a bunch of 'tricks' that I saw on the video.It went very, very well,suprisingly enough :))

Warmup:
Around the body pass/around the knees pass/ figure eights
8kg for two sets of 8 or so each move
12 kg for two sets of 8
16kg for two sets of 8

I LOVE this move.Reminds me everytime of swinging side horse in gymnastics. I will play around with more H2H from now on as a warmup.

DARCs
36x20x2
53x20

72x20x10 sets
200 reps
14,400 lbs
Havent played with the two pood in a few weeks and I was tentative. It warmed up well and the last half of the sets my groove was back.

2 KB, One arm swing
2 12 kgx 5/5 ( 24 kg)
1 16 kg and 1 12 kg x5/5 ( 28 kg)
1 24 kg and 16x 5/5 (40 kg)
2 24 kg x6/6 ( 48 kg!- this is a PR)
I have done this before and it feels very good to me. It shortens the lever arm when I swing and it seems almost easier for me! I also ALWAYS feel my hips more with this version. FUn too. The grip is no problem but getting it started( as is evident in the video,lol) is another story. I'm sure I could work up to the 32 and the 24 kg (56 kg).
This also makes Kenneth Jays double Beasts ( 2 48 kg=96 kg!) look like another Galaxy away.

Snatch Holds
24kgx 60 sec x 3 sets
this is getting much better,both in overhead position for my right shoulder and the endurance.

Two kb, one hand presses
2 8 kg x5/5
2 12 kg x 5./5
2 16kg x 3 left
2 12 kg x 3 right
this was suprisingly alright on my right shoulder. the raised center of gravity was easier on the joint. very interesting!Another good find.

Open Palm presses( waiters press)
12 kg x5/5
16kgx8/8x2
this also felt good on the shoulder pressing. we'll see. I like the open palm, it helps stretch out my always tight forearms

Face pulls
1x12
1x20

datsit! Good one. gonna stretch.

If there is no will, there is no way.

One of the things I've always told my boys was that one of the key principles in life was to train yourself to able to make yourself do things you didnt want to. If you cannot make yourself do what you do not want to do you cannot accomplish anything. If you can make yourself do what you seriously dont want to,but need to , you can move mountains.
All the important or morally correct things we need to do are hard to do. They require a force of will that is no longer regarded as vital to one's character and that's a shame. That force is discipline,which requires an act of will to be brought to bear. And discipline is just like a muscle; use it, challenge it and its gets stronger, bigger and can exert more force. Let it lie low and rest it gets weak and sallow and smaller. Much harder to get going in an emergency and capable of so much less than it's potential.
The gym , or more correctly, the Courage Corner, is such a critical place in peoples lives just for that reason. A safe, controlled atmosphere to practice ones physical discipline and watch it grow stronger and more alive after each workout.regardless of whether one can make the kitchen a courage corner of its own ,training, for just such a small amount of time and energy invested( as long as its consistent)can pay huge dividends. On many levels.
So many are so concerned with what I call the "Big Program". The perfect program design. First things first. What really matters is "Program Minimum", which to me is the minimal amount of days per week, minutes per day and number of exericses one will ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY commit to doing WITHOUT FAIL OR EXCUSE each week. Indefinitely.
That they know that even if the baby is sick and they had a shitty day at work and absolutely do not feel like training, they can FORCE themselves to do.
Thats the starting point. Once that is done then one can advance into more time and more technicalities.
AS I wrote in this months Hardstyle about the RKC as a Stand Alone program, doing just TGU's and Swings twice a week for 15 minutes sounds easy til both are done with the two pood and you are getting as many reps per set as you can. Do that twice a week without fail for a year and see how you feel. Hell just swing twice a week, as hard as you can that day, for 15 minutes and call me in a year. You will be transformed.
BUt if you get the latest and greatest 5 day a week program that promises to increase your strength or size some ridiculous amount in some ridiculously short period of time don't worry about it working or not because 99 out of 100 will not stick with it long enough to even start to get those gains.
Consistency is much more important than intensity. If consistency is maintained, intensity is right around the corner.

As far as not having time, I did MANY, MANY, MANY workouts at 4:45 am for years because that was the only time I could squeeze it in.Even when my kids were young, even when we were broke. Cause I knew that once I started missing it was all down hill from there. It just gets easier to skip as you get weaker. As your will gets weaker.
And knowing that JUST SHOWING UP is as much a part of the training as any weight that goes on the bar.That THAT ACT OF WILL is the key to you achieving whatever goals you have set for yourself.Cause you can't make any progress if you don't first get to the gym ,eh?
So even if you show up and leave you are still stronger than never getting started and staying on the couch.
When I am having problems getting going I always imagine one of my coaches or mentors waiting for me in the gym, getting ready to impune my manhood for being so damn weak. If Louie or Pavel were waiting to train I would not be dragging my ass no matter how early I got up.It used to be Arnold when I was a bodybuilder but times change eh?LOL.
As Louie would say, 'git er dun'.

And as Pavel would say, " it will make you a better man".And they are both right.

2007 Danish RKC Video.

This video rocks! What a collection of Monsters, all of them. Kenneth Jay, Mr Jones tearing shit,Whitley!!!! What a horse!Very good promotional video and it kinds of lulls you in with the goofy music and then you see what these guys are doing; effortlessly! Made me sit back and go wow.
I am teaching there next year.Think I have to gain some weight.

Guardens Beastly TGU

Now heres a serious piece of strength work! well done Jacob!



http://guarden.wordpress.com/

Speed Day.

Just like this picture. brings back lots of great memories.nobody knows swings like a gymnast.

Back on schedule finally, and for once I didnt feel dead right before the session. Slept well and body feels relatively stable.Still LOTS of stretching thumping and rifga to do but things aren't acute for a change. Course with me wait ten minutes and that can change.

Good to be back focusing on swings again. I like the snatch but know that I can't train it hard at all anymore and should be happen to do it a little. THe bent arms involved do not make my right shoulder happy, whereas the swings actually do. SO swings it is and lots of work to be done perfectly those, that's for sure. It's all easy til its heavy. Or you have to do 100 reps of anything.

Today being speed day I decided to only do 5 reps a side and then transfer, to keep acceleration as high as possible each rep.When you can switch hands before lactate sets in you are testing the overall system more than one particular set of muscles(specifically hand and forearm flexors). Transfering definitely affects a different musculature and lets the force stay high longer than staying on one arm.

One arm swings

16 kg 5/5/5/5x2

24 kg

5/5/5/5x 15 sets

300 reps

15,900 lbs

these went great,very snappy and with good rooting all the way through the rep.really feeling my way around the balance point too, playing with laying back at different times to find the optimal power spot. Maintained good speed for all three hundred although the last 50 was tough on my hands. a bit tender :))

Snatch holds

16kg 60 sec x 3 sets. Right shoulder felt really good. solid set.bicep is loosening up too.

Rack Walks

20 kg x 200feet per arm

200 feet per lap

6 laps/1200 feet/

I was tired and it was late.the extra weight does make a difference though. This will evolve to 24 kg rack walk day.

BW 162

BF 9.1%

Water 60.5%

got LOTS of tea today. made me realize that I havent been drinking near enough.datsit, gotta stretch.

Ok so you THINK you have strong legs?

LOL!Just freaky strong


and this is just CRAZY!

Taking the bell for a walk

The road cyclists I used to ride with had a phrase they used to describe those rides where they just went out and put some miles in. No hills, no sprints, no overdistance ; just 'taking the bike for a walk'. A recovery ride when doing nothing was not an option , yet neither was anything too hard.

So I took the bell for a walk. So often life messes up your training and this weekend was one of those times. Nothing horrible but stupid bssand it took the wind out of my sails today, especially for high rep training day, which I hate under the best of circumstances.

LOTS of waiting around for the training muse or at least some decent anger to show up and kick me in the head but I was just flat and thats all there was to it.Waiting longer wasnt going to make me stronger or the workout easier. I thought of the tv show I saw on the training of the French Foreign Legion soliders and their bootcamp motto of "don't think, just do" and got er done.I still hate high reps but being able to do some decent numbers even when this apathetic shows me my base line fitness is defintely up.

One arm swings
50/50
40/40
30/30
20/20
15/15
10/10/10/10
25/25

400 reps
14,400 pounds

God this was hard getting started, lol. Especially with a 50 rep per arm set which is a pr,even though it is twinky weight. The forearms were burnin' pretty good though at the end of each 50!~I need this grip endurance work. I have good grip absolute strength but I need more endurance. this will help.
For some reason, even dropping the reps each set didnt help all that much. ugh.
BUT, the 25/25 finisher set was probably the strongest of the bunch so it was coming back . good.

Rack walks
16 kg x300 feet per arm
600 feet per lap
3 laps/1800 feet.

these were the longest laps I have done and they were quick. painful but quick.short rest between laps as well.

halo
12 kg x10/10x3 sets

havent done these in awhile and need to.

BW 162.6
BF 9.8%
water 59.5%

definitely been eating too much cereal. love it though.steak tonight.

datsit, gotta stretch.

Push Pull by Brian Siders

Note the pvc pipe under Brians back as he benches. He uses it to help increase his arch.A guess touch and go deadlifts also have a purpose!

Bounce back.

Woke up feeling pretty good this morning. A little back stiffness but I slept well( meaning I could turn over without pain) and that was really good sign.One of the things I did yesterday that I know helped was to get back to normal movement and ROM as fast as possible. Once the spasm released( tylenol works MUCH better than Aleve; never used it before- this could be good) I got back to moving normally as best I could.
I think the CNS recognized the 'up to now pain free' ROMs and let me do them . THis helped to normalize things I think.The more you splint the longer you stay tight it seems. The G5 helped SO much.Melted the ab spasms fast.
I was very happy with all that I could do today.

One arm swings
warmup:
12 kg x5/5/5/5x2
16 kgx5/5/5/5x3

work sets
24 kg
5/5/5/5
6/6/6/6
7/7/7/7
8/8/8/8
9/9/9/9
10/10/10/10
180 reps
9540 lbs

this was good enough. back started slowly and loosened up each sets

Snatch( OL pull ascent, corkscrew descent)
16kgx
25/25
20/20
20/20

20 reps a minute pace.focused on keeping the bell close on the ascent and descent and resting at the top. havent really done the corkscrew technique but it's not that hard,especially with the 16kg. really spares the grip too, as it is supposed to. Focused on technique and pace, not power.
Using the ol style pull/yank as I hip extend takes all the pressure off the biceps and also spares the grip. doing a HS swing snatch really works the crap outa the grip.not the best for reps though. Since my back was tweaky and I didnt snatch the 24 today thought I would fool around a bit.

Snatch holds
24kgx
45 secx3 set

Face pulls
3x12
Stickpress
3x8

Very, very happy with being able to train today and not crawling on the floor hoping I can stand up and work monday. I got the lesson on facilitation and it's even fresher in my mind than ever,lol. No need for a refresher course again.No more double kb work or ab dominant stuff.

datsit, gotta stretch.

This should change things a bit.

Water as fuel

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Facilitation.

It's very interesting to me how the universe can work.Fer instance, I have been reading and thinking a lot about tonic and phasic musculature and the whole length tension relationship thing and got a fer real lesson in it the last two days.

It's never fun for me when the universe smacks me in the head, or even worse, the back, but it seems I'm getting better reflexes and am able to see the punch and get out of the way in record time. At least for me,lol.

I thought I could do a little bilateal work with the double kb rack holds but I was worried about it and even though I got mostly out of the way, I got tagged abit the last two days.. Too much glute ab tension and my back gets wonkers quick. And NOTHING scares the shit out of me more than my back going out. Just that simple. Give me a knee or shoulder dislocation any ol time.

So when a tonic muscle gets facillitated it basically contracts when it shouldnt; like when your erectors fire when you do a situp or a crunch. You dont want your back locking up as your abs try to flex the spine. SO Cheks approach is to stretch out the facilitated muscle BEFORE trying to activate the antagonist, to get it into balance.

Those rack holds activated my mighty abs and they locked down on my erectors ,quadratus, deep hip rotators and medius.I SO wanted to release the back caused it seemed so tight but I k new I had to go to work on my abs and got on the floor and did upward dogs, back stretch over the stability ball and overhead decompressions from the chin bar but the problem with all of those, is that when the back starts to 'splint' or spasm and lock up even trying to get light stretching activates the stretch reflex and you get MORE contraction, not less.

SO out comes the G5 thumper and just let it hum over the abs and obliques and it just melts the ab tension and with it goes the back tension. Wow, that things just melts spasm and trigger points. This saves SO much work on my thumbs too. Looking back to the earlier methods with the 'thumbs of death' and sticks and early thumpers it seems getting these facillatated muscles to open has come a long way.Now I can actually stretch again. Cool.

BUt that was too freakin close and is a good reminder NOT to get greedy. Shit can happen in a second.

How to tape your hands.

This has proven to be a most effective method of taping hands as a preventative to tears or after one has already torn.I used it for years a gymnast and a gymnastics coach with athletes that tear their hands to shred every day training. If you tape horizontally the tape rolls up and it doesnt last.

Use Johnsons athletic tape ,the cloth porous kind. the cheap stuff and or plastic tape DOES NOT WORK.
Once you set the strips you can anchor at the body and at the end of the workout take off the anchor and reuse the "grip" another day or two. Or just retape but the setup is durable. There is an art to getting the tape right over the hot spot(s) and not rolling or bunching and practice makes perfect.

If you are going to the June Cert PLEASE PRACTICE these techniques. I swear I taped 30 hands each day at the April Cert each day. Team Leaders and assistants should definitely learn this technique as well so they can use with their team.

The cert is tough on hands, no real way around it and having this technique avaible really makes a huge difference because you can still swing,snatch and clean even if you have a tear with this setup.

Have fun!

Rif

All killer no filler.

It was a long ass day at work today with seemingly everybody needing bodywork. My G-5 thumper kicks ass and its better than using my thumbs but man it still works my hands wrists forearms biceps and thus, shoulders. Plus, then my arms are too wrecked to work on myself,lol.

I know,cry me a river; life's a bitch then you die.Get to work.

One Arm swings
36x5/5/5/5x2

54x5/5/5/5x 15 sets
300 reps
15,900 lbs

This went well and 20 reps sets where you switch every five are freaking cake,lol after 100 reps.This is the effect I was hoping to get from my endurance sets; making the low rep stuff seem like nothing so I don't hold back at all on each rep.

Trained with Joe today and he was snatching the two pood like a toy so it was much easier to do my little swing workout.As usual once I got started and got out of my head and into my body for real the workout was great.Strong today too,although my back and hips are tired from the 100's.

Waiters walks/12 kg
200 feet per arm
400 feet per lap
3 laps/1200 feet

dropped down to the TINY 12 kg and did 200 feet per set. Shoulders are tired from the snatches and all theheavy and light holds. The 12 kg was the right weight and they went well.

Two KB Rack holds
2 16 kg x 1.5 min for 3 sets

I am starting to like this GS inspired form of masochism.Especially perfect for guys like me that can't move well anymore but know how to sit still and suffer. Tried to used it as a standing meditation and that was helpful. Hold 2 32 kgs for ten minutes is a ridiculous amount of total body static strength and endurance.

One technique I like is 'find the center of the pain'. When something hurts instead of trying to get away from it, of resisting it try going into the pain and try to find the center of it.Find the exact spot where it hurts the most, and then find the center of that. and then again and you'll be suprised and what you will find.

I find that it is impossible to find the center and the more you seek it the more elusive it gets. ANd, as that is happening, you notice that the "pain" is nowhere near as intense and has dispersed a bit; no center to be found. Pain has a spectrum of course and what one perceives as very intense in one instance can become quite mild with a different mind set.

It is boring as hell, though, that's for sure.

About an hour.

BW 161.8
BF 10%
Water 59.5%

Datsit,gotta stretch. all meat no potatoes today. felt good but i have to watch my back, its pretty fatigued and it's mainly from the reps. Time for a back off week.

Great new blog!

Doug Nepodal, RKC and Team Leader has a great new blog out. Doug is the real deal, both as an athlete and an instructor and has a great eye,something you can't buy.Enjoy!


http://dougnepodal.blogspot.com/