Merry Christmas

Random Training Thoughts

1. Are the actions you are taking making you better?
If not, you must re-evaluate your training. Why do something that does not make a positive difference in your life? You exercise for a reason, be it improved performance, fat loss or even as a stress relief. Do not just go through it on autopilot. You must have your goals and visions in your operating system. If you don't there is no real purpose. If you know what you are striving for, everything should lead you to that point.

2. Do not train in pain.
This is just a faster way to the Dark Side! What occurs when you train in pain? Injury, compensation, failure to reach your goals. Unless you are peaking for a specific purpose, i.e. Gold Medal, do not go here. That is what I love about the CK-FMS. It is a map that says "Here be Dragons!" Guess what? It shows you were not to venture until you are ready.

3. Have Fun!
I push myself pretty hard all of the time. But I always have fun with it. If you are not happy when training, you are missing all of the benefits. If you are not happy or having fun, it is "just another thing I have to do." It should be a positive experience that you look forward to. I try to make my classes fun and get people laughing. It should be time away from work and stress. Live in the moment and do not think on the stress from the day/life for an hour.

4. Take a break.
This is where I am right now. I have pushed really hard for the last 4-5 weeks. I have been teaching lots of kid's classes as well as Tough Mudder training and our adult classes. I am tired and needed to take a break. They are good for you, even if you do not think so. you cannot drive a Ferrari at 190 all day, every day without some wear and tear. You have to pull into the pit and take a few minutes/days to recover before hitting the road again.

5. Slow Down...More on this later!


6. Why?

Ouch

New Obstacle for Tough Mudder. Oh boy, this is going to be fun!

Tough Mudder Austin

I signed up to run the Tough Mudder in January! I am pretty excited about this challenge. It will be 9 miles of fun.I am also trying to raise money for The Wounded Warrior Project. I feel that we need to do what we can to help those that have been injured serving our Country. http://www.active.com/donate/ToughMudderTexas2011/britts

I have 62 days to prepare for for the Tough Mudder. I hate to run, so that is not really a large part of my preparations. I am working on Swings(doubles) and Get Ups as my main training tools. I am working towards 45 minutes of swings. I figure that will be really conducive to the strength endurance required to do well. I am also working towards 45 minutes of Get Ups. I am using fairly heavy weights to accomplish  the mission.Last Night was a 15 minute session of double 32's along with pistols and pullups. Today will be a 20 minute get up session coupled with Farmers walks. I am also working corrections for the Active Straight Leg Raise and Shoulder Mobility issues I am dealing with. The corrections are working really well.

I am going to post my training for the event on the blog fairly regular as well as what I need to hit next week. Pushing my times up by 5 minutes is in the works for next week.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a favorite Holiday at my house. It is always great to have family and friends over for the gorging that occurs. there is something fun about stuffing your face and dropping into a food coma with people you are close with. What a great bonding experience, Family, Food, Football and Fun! Enjoy the day. Make it your 20% time if you follow the Primal/Paleo eating style. I am not going totally overboard, but I am going to enjoy myself. I like to follow the 80/20 rule. I think that the 20% allows me to not feel guilty or bad about myself. The guilty or bad feelings about how and what we eat are a part of what occurs in eating disorders. I want to be healthy and live a long time. I do not want to be always in a panic because of how I am eating, what I am eating or if it is right or wrong. We have to eat, it should be enjoyable, it should be in moderation and it should bring families together. So eat, drink and enjoy life... but come visit me Friday for a Turkey Burn!

Having said all of that, I will be avoiding the grains for Thanksgiving. I have found that I do much better without them in my diet. I had some pizza, and I actually developed skin irritations the next morning. So for me the bread/grain products are not a guilt, they actually affected me as an allergen. So goodbye to grain, unless it is a Birthday.

What am I going to eat for Thanksgiving, lots of awesome stuff. Meat, veggies, nuts, salads and even a little pecan pie. I will avoid the pie crust, but I am a Texan and Pecan Pie should be the National Pie of Texas!(Texas being it's own country after all)

Have a great Thanksgiving and remember what we are celebrating and Who we are thanking!

Quick Note - Please give back to those that have helped secure our freedom to celebrate. I am collecting donations for The Wounded Warrior Project as part of the Tough Mudder Texas. I did not want to embed the link so that you know it is legitimate.  http://www.active.com/donate/ToughMudderTexas2011/britts

Thanksgiving Classes, December 4th Workshop etc

It has once again been a really busy time period for me, so posts drop off. We are up and running really well at BTS, just about everything is in place to allow us to have the best training possible at our place. We have been running lots of classes, but we are really looking at kicking off the New Year with some really great programs and workshops. Please keep watching this blog for more! I am also working on in depth articles on all aspects of training, nutrition, martial arts etc.

December 4th Kettlebell and Combatives Seminar

The deadline is fast approaching for this great workshop. It is less than two weeks away and registration closes on Monday, December 29th. I only have a few slots available.

We will be working on an alternating schedule of an hour of RKC skills and an hour of combative skills.No matter what martial arts style you train in, we can show you how to improve your personal skill set.

A great bonus is that every Attendee will have the opportunity to receive and Functional Movement Screen and corrective homework if necessary. That alone is worth $100.00.

So for the price of $75 you will be receiving lots of great training!

Black Friday, November 26th

We will hold a workout at 3pm on Black Friday to help burn off some of the Turkey Gut that might have developed. we are asking that everyone that attends brings canned goods to be donated to Rockwall Helping Hands.

After Thanksgiving Program

We will be running an after Thanksgiving special. It will be announced on Wednesday. If you are a new client, or want to be one, contact us for a consult and you will receive a massive discount...

Last Day for Early Bird special and a New Toy

There is still room in our December 4th Kettlebell and Martial Arts Seminar. The $50.00 early bird price is good till tomorrow morning when I wake up. The seminar will teach Kettlebells and how to incorporate them into your system. We will teach, Joint Mobility, Breathing, Swings, Get Ups and other skills. We will also show how everything taught is already part of your system. Every participant will also receive a Functional Movement Screen and any needed correctives homework. You will be surprised at how it improves your skills and techniques.

On another awesome note we have a new toy! It was built by Outlaw Custom Welding. They did an awesome job and build to order. It is 4x6 with two 8 ft bars, one 7ft and one 6ft bar for different size people. There is even space for the TRX. I was even able to specify bar diameters. Great prices and great service. I will not use anyone else for welding.

December 4th Workshop

Britt's Training Systems is holding a workshop on December 4th showing you how to improve your martial arts skills with body weight and kettlebells. Every Attendee will also recieve an FMS screening.




The seminar will run from 10am-5pm with a lunch break. Class size is limited to 12 and Pregistration is required.



Sign up by Monday November 15th and the class is $50.00 After that the price will increase to $75. sign up below.
 
 
More info later today.

CK-FMS

I recently attended CK-FMS in St. Paul. It was an incredible class with amazing instructors. I think the importance of a class can often be determined by those that attend. The skill and knowledge and accomplishments of the students was absolutely mind boggling. Dan John, Yoana Snideman, Lauren Brooks, Geoff Neupert, Robert Budd, Steve Friedes, Dustin Rippetoe and many many more. This is a group of people that have paid the RKC dues and are Sr. RKC's, Team Leaders and world famous coaches. I was honored to be there and work with such a high caliber of Coach.

Brett Jones and Gray Cook were absolutely two of the best instructors that I have had the opportunity to learn from. The depth of knowledge of each individual is incredible. Together they are an encyclopedia of movement and how to make it better. They were able to teach the information in such a way that even the slow kids, me< were able to follow and use the information that they freely gave. They went above and beyond  what was listed as points in the paperwork and taught much more then the advertisement stated.

CK-FMS is a workshop that you must attend if you are an RKC. I feel that I did my clients wrong by not having this tool in my belt. It is a life changing skill set. In five minutes of correctives, I was able to start on the  right path to shoulder mobility. My shoulder mobility was horrendous prior to attending the workshop. i was not sure how bad it was. That is the beauty of the FMS Screen it allows you to put  a rate and ranking on the individual patterns. I was a "1" on shoulder mobility on the first day. On day 2, we started on level 1 corrections that are simple. I  regained four inches of shoulder mobility in five minutes and moved to a 2 on the scale. My shoulder mobility was so awful that at an RKC Recert, I was in danger of not passing due to the military press. I was unable to fully extend and lock out at the top. Geoff Neupert was my tester at that RKC. When I was performing my military press at this workshop, Geoff came over and watched m as. I nailed the press. Geoff told me that he was impressed by how clean and precise my military press was and how hard I have worked at correcting it. A day earlier and it would have sucked! If five minutes can make a difference for me, think what it could do for others.

I am currently running all of my clients through screens. I have time slots available if anyone else wants a screen. just contact me through the blog or http://www.brittstrainingsystems.com/ It can make a difference in your training that you would not believe.

BTS

One day till CK-FMS!

It has been a whirlwind 2 months. We have been running like crazy since August, starting with Amazing Athletes new school year prep and ending up with our gym. It has been exciting and scary at the same time. If it was not for the support of my wife and family, I would have been lost.

Since August, I have been in a car wreck that banged my shoulder and neck up, attended the Summit of Strength, expanded Amazing Athletes, opened our facility, and have dealt with all of the assorted "have to do's" for everything. The car wreck messed up my training for two weeks and at SOS, I pushed harder than I should have. My shoulder locked up pretty tightly. That coupled with everything else going on might have made a slight impact on my training for RCK Snatch Test recert... I will pass it, if only because I refuse to fail!

I have had 3-4 good training weeks where I have focused on the snatch test. I was hitting 80-90 snatches  consistently at the start of the cycle. Tore my hand up, but continued to hover close to where I was supposed to be for the time. My hand got bad enough that I went to high pulls as the main training tool. I got to where I was hitting 140 High pulls in 5 minutes. My shoulder locked up this week due to stress and I was forced to modify to swings.I decided to work hip snap with swings. Lots of Beast swings on a 20, 15, 10, 5 rep scheme as well as extra sets of 10 where the order of the day.

I feel that I am ready, because failure sucks!

Will try to update while I am at CK-FMS, but no promises, especially since I can't keep up now.

Class schedule for the next week: Class at 5:30 on Friday and 6 on Monday. No class on Saturday or Tuesday.

This goes for adults also.

As money tightens in schools across the country, movement based activities begin to fall by the wayside, as ‘learning time’ takes precedence over ‘play time’. Yet study after study shows that children still need to physically experience concepts in order to fully understand them, this includes concepts of learning, specifically in literacy and language arts.


Movement continues to be the young child’s preferred mode of learning, in fact, children learn BEST through active involvement. For example, prepositions like over, under, around, through… have little meaning until children can experience them in a physical way. The same notion is also true for adverbs. As children learn to move quickly, slowly, or lightly they better grasp the meaning of the word.

At Amazing Athletes we believe that movement is the key to a full learning experience. It is our goal to enhance your child’s education by using movement to help them build strong bodies and strong minds.

*Excerpts from Rae Pica, Linking Literacy & Movement

21 Day Gult Free Thanksgiving Challenge

We want to announce our first 21 Day Challenge! We decided that since Thanksgiving is a time of feasting, weight gain, and shopping it was the right time to put a challenge/solution together. We are going to run special "prehab" classes to get you ready for the week! This will be easier then having to worry about it after Thanksgiving! The 21 Day Challenge will be 3 weeks of classes along with an eating plan to help you beat the holiday weight gain. You will be able to eat without guilt during the Holidays, because you have lost weight and built lean muscle before hand!



The 21 Day Challenge is for new clients only and it is limited to 20 participants. The Challenge is only $79.00 for the 3 week program with the Intro class! Join our program for the cost of a workshop! We will start with a new member introduction on October 30th at 10am. At the introduction class, you will be screened, evaluated and taught the basics exercises. The Challenge classes will start the next Monday(11/01/10) at 5pm. Classes will be held Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons at 5pm. Classes will be 30 minutes in length. That 30 minute class will be fun, but it will be work time! We ask that you pre-register as space is limited to just 20 people!


The best thing is this is risk free. If you followed the plan and are not satisfied, we will refund your$79.00!

Loving Life and training Opportunities

All I can say is that I am so stoked about having a training facility to call my own! It is freeing in many ways. I can teach what I want, how I want and when I want. I am also free to do my own training how and when I want. We do not have enough people yet, but we have been open 2 weeks and have doubled our group. I know that it will take off.

I am currently working on several workshops and challenges for the rest of the year. These will be intro offers for new clients, coupled with workshops. The first is set for October 30th! We are going to run a Guilt Free Thanksgiving Challenge! It will last the three weeks, with a few extra days, leading into the Feasts of Thanksgiving. If you contact me in the next week and sign up, there will be some bonuses!

I am also setting up a December 4th Martial Arts/Kettlebell workshop. It will be limited and should be awesome. I will have that lined up by Thursday! Hoping to have a wide mix of martial artists there for instruction as well as learning! It will be usable by all skill levels.

Oops

I was playing with http://www.brittstrainingsystems.com/ the other day and added a workshop to the calendar. It was just me learning the ropes. However, I forgot to remove the event! If you are interested in training, i will be teaching a free class for new people in the morning. Stop by our place for some great training and lots of fun!

Our sign is pretty Sweet!

Dang, Those are nice shirts!

Up and Running!

we have been really busy over the last three weeks. we had an opportunity to open up our own training facility. It was an out of the blue opportunity that we jumped on. It took three weeks from concept to open for business.

The basics, 1250 square feet of space. 600 feet of flooring, kettlebells, ropes and pullup bars(that needed to be mounted) as well as a tire and a few other toys. We have run two classes out of it now and it feels like home. The comment yesterday was, "This is our place!" I love Eclipse Fitness - Rockwall. We just could not get as dynamic as I would have liked there. If you want a regular gym in Rockwall, that is the only place we would recommend. The people are great and the facility is the nicest in town.

Our place however is awesome!!!! We have already launched kettlebells across the gym with no damage to the floor or bell! The ropes fit well as do our other toys. We will be adding more stuff, but we have enough tools for now to make major changes in the movement and health of anyone that trains with us. We are located at 207 County Line Rd, Rockwall!

We know have a website,  http://www.brittstrainingsystems.com/ , that is linked to this blog. Visit us for some fun, effective training!



Where have I been? Busy!

We have opened Britt's training systems in Rockwall! Will have the newest pictures up later today!

Coming Soon

God Bless America

Still in awe from SOS

I have been running like a lunatic since getting back from the Summit of Strength. It was by far the best training workshop outside of the RKC. Dustin and Kenzie did an amazing job on organization, housekeeping and the like. They showed how to hold a seminar.

I would have gladly paid the same amount of money to attend just one of the MRKC's workshop, let alone 4 of them!

It was laid out in a perfect progression. Everything built upon the last. Jeff O'Conner's portion on Lifelong Strong hit a cord with me. I was reminded that everything we do now will have a consequence down the road. I want my training now to enable me to be functioning well at 70. Is the training you are doing headed towards that same goal?I am not getting any younger and I am reaping the bad training seeds from my youth. I have lots of little restrictions and limits from crappy programs and poor choices as a kid. I have made great progress, but was once again shown that there is a long way to go still.

Jeff O'Conner's children's warm ups were humbling and much needed. I loved the easy progressions that actually made a massive difference in my movements in one sitting. They where so important that they are now part of my own warm up as well as that of the classes I am teaching. I do not want to give away too much as the seminar will be available on DVD pretty soon! We spent well over an hour on what the young ones do in 5 minutes! Sucks getting old and forgetting how to move.

The moves that MRKC O'Conner teaches the children are easy for them, but hard for those of us that have forgot how to play. Thankfully, I get to play like a kid a lot. It was fun to watch adults skipping and hopping. We were reminded that we were supposed to have fun in our training. We forget that as we age, but it makes a difference. the more fun, the better the class! I want to bring that back to my adult class as the kids class is already there.

I have not even had a chance to sit down and even begin to write about part 2, Irontamer's great info. that will be tomorrow!

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got back in the house from the Summit of Strength. I want to digest the info, thoughts and feelings. I will have something up pretty quickly about one of the best workshops that I have ever attended.

Leading from the front

I went to the RKC to increase my knowledge about kettlebells. I worked on techniques out in the backyard on my own and loved it. I was outside as I had put holes in the carpet. Since then I have taught people on almost an ad hoc basis. I have since developed a good core group of people that love the tool as much as I do. I found out this morning that I might have the majority of the group certified as HKC's by the end of the next month. All I can say is, "How cool is that?"

It is an awesome training tool that literally transforms lives. It allows people to return their movement from the grave of the shiny gym. To help spread the word is an honor and a duty. I am glad that I am able to share the fun with an awesome community.

Dang

I did not even get to day 2 before missing a post! Yesterday was a long day with classes starting at 9am and ending at 9pm, I was tired and hungry when I was through and fell asleep.

We have just over a week until the Summit of Strength! I am pretty excited as there are going to be lots of the top RKC Instructors in the world in attendance, not just the four main MRKC's. It will be great to connect and reconnect with everyone. It is a great community and always found to be around everyone.

It has been a rough week to get in training. The last few weeks are the busy times for Amazing Athletes. We are always on the go and we have Open Houses almost nightly. We actually have 4 on the 20th. the day that we are supposed to be in Ok for the Summit!

I am working ETK with 32kg in an attempt to be ready. I have been hitting the 12 Minute goal, now it is time to start decreasing rest time. I have also been hitting about 15 minutes in the Get Up. I can feel those a few days later!

I tweaked my knee in a combatives training session and I am being careful with it. I have not decided if it is actually knee or IT band.

Challenge

I have been so busy the last few weeks with Amazing Athletes that I have not been posting anything on the blog. Bad me. Jordan Vezina RKCTL challenged himself to post 30 entries in 30 days. I can take up that challenge also. It helps to be challenged to reach goals and places. I also equate difficulties to being challenged or threatened, so it fits in with my philosophy anyway.

Right now I am challenged to spread Amazing Athletes to as many schools as possible. I have hired a couple of coaches to help out with the growth. I had one school set to go and they canceled on me last night. I was initially aggravated, actually pissed, as that was the way that my day was going already. today is a new opportunity however. I have a lot more schools to visit and add! Be threatened by one person not seeing the light, or challenged to prove to them and yourself that this is the best program around? Pretty sure my answer is obvious.

I have a couple other challengeses looming. I would love to have my own facility to train people in. I am in an awesome place right now, but would love to have the times that I to train people available. I had someone try and kick me out last night, because they decided that there was a yoga class. It did not happen, but still. I have the CK-FMS class coming up in October. It will be a nice mental challenge as it is a hard program. that couple with having to test my RKC skill sets, including snatch test, is a semi challenge. (Snatch test!)

So as part of a challenge this was one post of thirty.

Back from California

I have been on the road for about a week, so I have not done a lot. I went to San Diego for the Amazing Athletes Conference. It was a lot of fun. I no know what gets people to move out there. Great weather, great people and all types of activities to partake in. I had hoped to get by a couple of the RKC Studios out there, but never had the time. That is the way it is when the kids are running the trips!

I deviated from Primal/Paleo over the trip. The one day that I really slipped was awful. I felt sick and run down pretty much as soon as I ate some crap. I got back on the path pretty quickly and hopefully can stay the course. It seemed like the majority of the restaurants were organic at least. I loved Broken Yolk next to the hotel. They had great omelets.

We hit it hard at the first training session tonight. We started the new cycle with 1/1 work to rest sets. 1 minute on/ 1 minute off. Those times will change as we progress through the next couple of weeks. No easing into it, full speed ahead!

Look for updates more often now that I am back and on track.

Long Break

I did not realize that I was lax in posting anything on the blog, until some of my victims let me hear it. It has been a really busy few weeks as we have had holidays, illnesses and lots of training. I also focus a lot on Amazing Athletes during the day and this is my side business still.

Our classes are growing at Eclipse Rockwall and there is a great core group. We have been working off of Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn the last few weeks. It is a great program. The group has given it a thumbs up! One bought new pants and lost inches before she wore them a week later. It is a great program that actually works.

I have been following a more RTK path still. I do not quite have the T-Spine mobility for Clean and Jerks yet so I have been working on snatches, with C&J practice.  I decided to try the RKC Snatch Test  the other day and made it, but want to not feel that I was hit by a truck the next time.

Jaqui has been working the VWC and hit 80 sets the other night. She is a machine and will be headed to the HKC in September! Here are some Jaqui clips. She is the epitome of Hardstyle and needs to be an RKC.

Thankful for great Founding Fathers

Just in case the weekend is busy... Take a second and review what transpired on July 4th, 1776. A large group of great men signed their name to a document like no other the world has ever see, before or after. We are the product of one of the greatest risks that the world has ever seen. Everyone signing the Declaration assumed that their life was on the line. Thank you to brillant, brave men that put it all on the line for us to celebrate by grilling and being with family.

Also, ask yourself if we are being served by the same caliber of people now. Liberal, Conservative or other, do the people you follow hold a candle to those that created our way of life? I see very few that measure up and hope that we as a nation can find our path again.

There should never be an apology for doing the right thing. I served my Country and love it deeply. It needs to have some better leadership on all sides.

Primal/Paleo

I have really started getting into the primal way of life. The Primal Blueprint is really a life changing book. It puts the reasons for avoiding carbs in a way that anyone can understand. 10 Rules to follow to make changes that last a lifetime. One of those rules is "Don't Be Stupid." That right there is uncommon Common Sense. A rule that covers all bases, do not blindly follow, research and do not just follow the crowd are covered in that statment. It also covers the statement "Hey, watch this..."

The more I read, the more I feel that this is the right path for me. It is the right path for my daughter for sure as she is allergic to all grains and corn. Those are edible substances that are not necessarily good for you. There are so many more allergies to food theses days, you have to wonder what occurred to make them so prevalent. I believe it is the increase in crap that is in our food. We have become the Carb Nation. If you take a look at just about everything we eat there is some over processed grain or corn product in it. According to the Primal Blueprint, we have not adapted to grains and the processing that we are exposed to in this time period. The last few thousand years are a blink in evolution/adaption. It is even a shorter span of time since we started chemical processing of food items. High Fructose Corn Syrup has really only been used extensively since the 70's. It is amazing at how exponentially rampant  Diabetes has become since then. In Police work that is called a "clue."

I believe in Primal/Paleo as an eating lifestyle. I have been on it for a while and find that it works for me. I urge all my clients, family and friends to at least investigate it as a way to be healthier. I am not an affiliate or get anything from any paleo business. I just think that it is the way to be. I have actually dropped 10lbs on a high fat diet. I am currently around 170  with my waist back down to 30inches. I have also increased my strength in the same period. this is all as I head towards my middle 40's. If it helps me, what can it do for our younger generation. Think of what would happen to their health if they went on a better nutrition path today. The problem is that you have to lose the view that you are invincible. You have to realize that you are mortal and need to do a better job of  fighting the ageing process. I feel that while you cannot beat it, you can sure keep it at bay for a long time.

There are some people working on a "Paleo Approved" label. It is a neat idea, but if they can convince more people, it might not be needed. The site has some really good research links about the benefits of Primal/Paleo.

What happened?

I made a committment to post something every day, not sure what happened, other then Father's Day Weekend. I had my baby with me that weekend!

I have had a lot to digest after attending the HKC and an RKC prep class a couple of weekends ago. Once again, the evolution of the RKC continues. There are so many tools to teach and correct with, it is truly a great system. No matter what your tastes or your ills, there is something for you.

If you want one of the greatest training opportunities around then the Summit of Strength is the place to be! Other then attending an RKC, probably not even there, this is the best chance to work with such a large group of Master RKC's. There are still a few slots left, but they are going fast.

We have had some really good classes at Eclipse Fitness Rockwall over the last few weeks! We had a good size group out training last Saturday. It was a hard week, before a little back off and practice. There were some people pretty tired afterwards. This week is being spent on corrections as well as new skill development. That will give us tools for the next 4 week progression as we work towards military press and santching!

10 Tips to get in the best shape of your life

1. Buy A Kettlebell
2. Find an HKC/RKC to train under
3. Learn The RKC 6
4. Practice the RKC 6
5. Practice the RKC 6 (yes it is there twice)
6. Attend an HKC
7. Teach
8. Attend RKC
9. Teach
10. Keep Learning

If you follow this path, you will be in the best shape of your life! It is not easy, but it is simple.

HKC

I just left from Summit Kettlebells and being an assistant at the Ft. Worth HKC class. It was a great day of helping people learn how to use the kettlebell. I never cease to be amazed about the camaraderie that is part of the RKC Community. Dustin Rippetoe and Jon Engum freely gave me pointers on fixing my issues and how to be a better instructor. They are both incredible teachers. Dustin also fits in with our Zombie fighting group.

18 potential candidates attended the HKC. There were 18 new HKCs!One of them was my student, Samuel Stuard. I have been working with Samuel for a while, both in small group and our regular classes. he actually signed up for the HKC about two weeks ago, but had been thinking about it for a while. I have been working his tail off with swings, get ups and squats. He told me this last week he was tired of those exercises... I think that he realized today why we worked so much on those three exercises. He passed the HKC without difficulty. I am pretty proud of him. He worked hard and looked great.

I take every opportunity that I can to continue refining my own skills. I took as many notes or more than the attendees. I have let two years elapse since attending the RKC and the skills are perishable. I know what I am doing, but want perfection in them. After being with Dustin, John and the Spains, how much more I have to learn. Just being an RKC does not mean that you know everything. It is the starting point for a life time of study. since I am shooting for 120, I have a lot of time to fill with knowledge. I will be attending an RKC Skills prep class that Jon Engum is hosting tomorrow at Summit Kettlebells in Ft. Worth. It starts at 12pm. It is a great opportunity to work on RKC skills with a Sr RKC. Call Summit Kettlebells in Ft. Worth or contact Jon ASAP.

There are still a couple of spots left for the Summit of Strength! This is an incredible opportunity to train with 4  Master RKC's.  If you miss this, you will kick yourself in the butt for years to come!

Crap in the name of entertainment

I walked into the training facility and found a sign on the door. The sign advised that there was TV show in the spirit of the Biggest Loser being filmed inside. This show was looking for trainers earlier in the year and it was actually posted on the RKC Only Forum.I actually sent in my info just to see what would happen. I never heard back, guess that was a sign...

I am glad that I did not hear back from them after all. It is scary what those shows actually do to make the weight melt off in the alloted time frame. When I arrived the young lady was locked in the bathroom refusing to come out. Why? Maybe because a trainer put a severely de-conditioned young female through an hour long legs program. I do not put my own but through an hour straight of lifting kettlebells or other weights, let alone a brand new out of shape client. I was appalled at what was happening with the poor kid. they finally talked her out of the locker room to resume training. The last I saw she was on the treadmill looking worn out.

It is because of shows like this and trainers that care more for stardom, that trainers as a whole get bad raps.  This show is for people who want to lose a lot of wait before getting out of High School. I actually left information for the person that if she did quit, I would train her for free. There is plenty of time to drop lots of weight between now and next June, without being on a time frame to entertain the masses.

Freemiums and Observations

The latest marketing approach, is to offer free stuff to get people in the door. There is a fine line in offering such things as I found out today. I offered a free workshop that covered the ffundamentals. I listed it all over the internet, the gym, Facebook and around town. I had people sign up at Eclipse, through the internet and by phone. The funny thing is that the turnout was not as large as the sign up list... I have always been told that people do not value what they do not pay for. I realized that today!
 I greatly appreciate those that showed up. We got a lot of training done in the time period. We had a great time and everyone had the techniques down really well.  I will continue to have free trial classes and I will teach free workshops to groups when asked.

After being back  in a commercial gym for a month, I forget how isolated I was in the garage. I was all alone and did not have to watch anyone else around me, other than the kids and animals. That is not a bad thing... I forgot how the majority of people train. They train without thought or plan from what I can tell. I have watched people actually doing some type of curl on a smith machine. I do not know what the goal was, other then injury or wasted time. I have also seen people standing on a Bosu performing curls. I wanted to ask what the purpose in that particular movement was, but thought better of it. I figured that it would be a conversation that would go nowhere on both sides. I also see the same people doing the same exercises every time I am in the gym, no matter what day. There are a lot of large chests and biceps, but the antagonistic muscles are lagging far behind.

In the class today, I was able to stress that the skills and techniques that we were working on would transfer to regular gym work. The knowledge of proper breathing, correct use of tension and ears as shoulder poison can go a long way to fixing the assorted issues that most people have in the gym. I think that a firm grasp of the RKC can help even those that do not want to use my tool of choice. Just by being open to proper movement will put you near the top of the heap in real world strength and fitness. Some people where exposed to a more holistic approach today.

My partners over at Prograde Nutrition have created this 197 Healthy and Delicious Fat Burning Recipes ebook. It's only $4.95 and I highly recommend it to make healthy weight loss much easier on you.

Next week we will start posting short training clips. I also want to shout, "Great Job, Jaqui!" 35lbs lost since January. "Great Job, Sylvia!" lost 25lbs since January

Why I promote Prograde Nutrition Products

As you probably already know, the supplement industry is filled with phonies.


They use shady manufacturing processes. They use cheap ingredients. Heck, sometimes they don't even use the ingredients they claim on the label!

And for awhile now I've been talking about Prograde Nutrition. They are the real deal.

In fact, they've created a behind-the-scenes video that SHOWS you how they make their products. What other company does that?

Seriously, this is REALLY cool. You even get to see how they do micro-biological testing on the ingredients before they are even used. And if they don't pass their tests then they do NOT make it into the bottle.

See for yourself here: Prograde Nutrition Video



I don't know of any supplement company - other than Prograde Nutrition  - that would have the guts to do this. And I'm sure their competitors aren't too happy about it!

I am a Prograde Nutrition partner

Just plain cool!

Do you like free stuff?

Free Fundamentals Workshop on Saturday, June 5 at 9:00am.

We will be at Eclipse Fitness, 201 E IH 30 in Rockwall. The class will go over Swings, Get Ups and Squats.

Last day to let me know you will be there is Thursday June 3rd! Space is Limited!
If anybody out there is thinking about the RKC or HKC certification, register through my affiliate link and I will give you a FREE workshop where:

* Your fundamentals will be dialed in.

* Design a plan to insure you pass.

For HKC, this means a 2 hour workshop and 3 hours for RKC.

The only catch is that you have to come to the Dallas area for the workshops!

More Changes in the Air

I have not trained in a week and half due to injury. Arrrgggghhh. I did not hurt myself training, but doing some work around the house. A strain in my trap threw off my entire week. My weakness is that I get aggravated and quit doing anything. Once again,  I decided that I needed to take a complete break from training to let it heal. I have been teaching so many kids classes that I figured that I would get some training benefits. It worked, but it is time to start up again. I have not totally healed, so RTK is out for at least a week longer. I am going to work partial Get Ups, RKC Armbar, Active Straight Leg Raise corrections, before hitting swings, squats and dead lifts this week. I do not want to lose the progress I was making before this setback, and want to make sure that I practice what I preach. A return of strength, movement and stability where and when it is needed.

I have been able to go over a lot of training material in the last two weeks. It has helped reset where I am headed with the kettlebell program. I am going to branch out a little bit, but will be staying at Eclipse Fitness for a while. It is a great facility and well worth training at.

I have always been an affiliate with Dragon Door, meaning there is a financial partnership there. If you need anything from DD, please feel free to order it from my blog! If you want a great training reference click on the book cover near the top of my page. I was an assistant at the RKC under Geoff Neupert and can tell you he is squared away. Best of all, order it by June 11th and it is $5.00 off!

 I have also recently partnered with Prograde and will have a link to their supplements on the blog. If you want great products, please order them through this site.

We are in the process of setting up a new website, but until then, this is the place to see what we are up to.

Free Fundamentals Workshop on Saturday, June 5 at 9:00am. We will be at Eclipse Fitness, 201 E IH 30 in Rockwall. The class will go over Swings, Get Ups and Squats. Last day to let me know you will be there is Thursday June 3rd! Space is Limited!

Resurrected Strength

If you have been to this blog before, you might notice a change in title. I have been Go Home Alive for a long time, but that originated with my martial arts/ Police training classes. It is not gone, but it does not reflect where my journey has lead me as a primary focus. I have felt that it was well past time for a change as a way to crystallize where I am headed.

I am moving towards some of business goals that I had jotted down a long time ago. They were written, but cobwebs covered the words and they were lost to time. I have always loved strength, fitness and healthy living. I am at a point in my life where I have the ability to include those goals in with my other business.

I have started "Resurrected Strength" as the fitness and health arm of Britt's Training Systems Inc. The name encompasses many aspects of my life. I have found that Pavel and HardStyle kettlebell training returns peoples strength, mobility and lifestyles from the grave. It literally allows people to regain that which they thought was lost. You can become stronger and healthier by following the appropriate plan and with the right tools.I believe that kettlebells, bodyweight training and philosophy as taught by the Chief Instructor are the right plan and right tools. I am attending CK-FMS in October and after that, we will be bringing back strength from the grave! FMS is such an incredible tool and made more so when coupled with the right tools.

Resurrected Strength also follows my spiritual and religious journey. I am very much a religious person. I believe that God exists. I believe that we are not happenstance and that we were created for a purpose. I have seen so many things in my life, both terrible and miraculous that there is no way that I could not believe. That belief sets my moral code and compass. Without my belief, what would be the point? Live, Die, turn to dirt? Life has purpose because of faith and belief.

Resurrected Strength also encompasses the core group that I have found myself part of because of kettlebells. I have always trained so that I could defeat the Zombies. Zombie movies are the only scary movies that I will watch I figured that I could always take the zombies out should the need ever arise. We have quite a few zombie movie aficionados in our group, including a good make up artist that does awesome zombie faces! So Resurrected Strength is training to destroy the undead! "Kettlebells - The anti-zombie workout." (yes, I already have the copyright)

In a nutshell, that is pretty much where we are right now. Eclipse Fitness-Rockwall is our home location. We are holding a free Kettlebell Fundamentals workshop on June 5th at 9:00am. It is a required class to join the next four week cycle of our group sessions.

Changes

We have had a great turnout at Eclipse for our kettlebell training. In an effort to make sure that we get the most out of our training, I have to institute a required fundamentals class. The good news is that it is a free class. The bad news is that you have to have the class to attend training, or meet with me for a seperate class session that will cost $50 per person.

The free class is June 5th at 9:00am at Eclipse Fitness Rockwall. The class will be 90 minutes long and will teach swings, squats and begin teaching Get Ups.

I will also be making some changes to the business itself. I taught for fun out of the garage for years, but have some good ideas of where I want to be pretty quickly. We will have a new website and address to coincide with those changes. Look for updates.

I have two students attending the June 12th HKC in Ft. Worth!!! I am pretty excited for them. If you are interested in attending, it is not to late! Click on the link! HKC

Week 2 at Eclipse

What a week! We had some great press on Planet Rockwall for our class at Eclipse! I hope that it leads to some growth for us. I think it will as we are the only real Kettlebell training program in Rockwall.


I have had people from a lot of different backgrounds come to class. It is really neat to meet people from all types of training. We have had some home trained Kettlebell fans as well as some Crossfit fans train with us. The one thing that I have heard is that form and technique make a huge difference in performance. It is hard to learn the skill perfectly from a video, but at least the beginnings of are there.

I have been told that form and technique are not considered important in some circles. It is about getting the “smoker” completed that is most important. As an RKC I want good form and technique first. As an old guy, form and technique are what allow me to continue to progress injury free. I want to have good form and technique before I use heavy weights. Heavy weights are relative to the individual student, so we build the proper base from day one. For me as an RKC form and technique is part and parcel to safety being a part of what we do, rather than an afterthought. I want to have good form as I press the Beast, because the consequences could be dire… I am not up for injury, destruction of joints torn muscles or the like as it does not sound like a fun way to have a back off week. There is very little active recovery when you are laid up with an injury.

Injury occurs not only through bad form and technique, but through the lack of proper program planning. I program active recovery and down time into my own training as well as that of my students. We will push hard for 3-4 weeks and then back off to allow our bodies to recover. I talked to an instructor of another program in my town and she bragged about how her clients were beat down and sick by the end of the week. The failure to back down and recover from this type of training pretty much guarantees that burnout, injury and a lack of desire to train occurs.

To pretty much sum it up, train smart with good form and you will make great progress. Learn proper technique from an RKC, even if you are training other ways. It will only make you stronger and protect you from training injuries.

Workout of the week has been based on swings and squats. Thursday night we performed 10 Swings/5squats and then a 1 minute rest for 12 sets. We finished off class with the start of our Get Up practice. we worked through the punch and the post without weight. I want to build a solid foundation and structure before we add weight to it.

Kettlebells at the Harbor in Rockwall

We have made it through the first week of kettlebell class at Eclipse-Rockwall! It is really a great facility. The training view cannot be beat! It is starting out a little slower then I had hoped for, but I know we will grow as people start seeing the results. Classes are Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm and Saturday morning at 8am.


We had a really great workout on Saturday. We were able to train outside under the cottonwood trees. We warmed up and started out with Get Ups 1, to the elbow. Then it was on to the fun. We had almost a football field of space to work with. I set up the two rows of kettlebells about 40 meters apart and a third position 60 meters beyond. The drill was easy…10 swings, move to second bell 5 squats, move to third point as recovery and return to squat line for 5 and back to swing line for 10! The majority of the class had 5 sets of this fun! It was a workout that could be completed by the advanced as well as the newbies. I actually had the newbies do less reps and sets.

I have continued to work on Return of The Kettlebell. I finally feel that I am learning the jerk. I really felt the work being done in the shoulders on the first week. This week, I seem to be getting under the bell for the second dip like I am supposed to do. There are still a lot of things to work at in the skill set. My heels are coming up and I still need to get the timing down. It will come. I just need to spend a lot more time under the kettlebell.

This will be a recovery week for me. I might work on the Get Up and some swings. I have not really decided what KB exercises to play with yet. I am getting a lot of active recovery with Amazing Athletes and working with kids.

I have also been reading Primal Blueprint by Mark Sission. It is a good read and makes a lot of sense, both in the eating and training aspects.. The premise is to eat and train like our bodies were designed to do. He makes a great case that in evolution, 10,000 years is a mere blink. Agriculture has changed the way we eat in the last 2000 years and our bodies have yet to adapt to the that change. As a parent of a child that is allergic to all grains, we were already on that path anyway. I will try eating closer to the book plan for a few months and see how it goes. I will not even start on how technology has tended to make our bodies weaker. I always picture the adults in Wall-E being close to real life.

I can already tell some improvements have occurred. I do not have the after meal drowsiness that I have experienced in the past. I also sleep better at night since the insulin surge from carbs at dinner does not occur. I have cut back to 100-150 grams of carbs a day. It takes a lot of vegetables and fruit to get there.

Great Weekend

This past weekend was the infamous, at least locally, Warrior Dash. I initially signed up for the Warrior Dash within the first 5 minutes of learning about it. I was on Dragon Door one day when it came up as a topic on the forums. I love Ninja Warrior on G-4 and knew that it was for me. I was so excited that I even talked Amazing Athletes Corporate into signing up for the SoCal event.

There was only one thing that I forgot and that was the fact that I hate running. I positively do not like to run as a training tool. I do not ever derive any pleasure from it at all. I used to really like it, but woke up one day in the Army and realized that it sucked to have to run!

I was actually happy to be injured and not be able to run. I then decided that since I could not/would not train by running that I would just skip the the entire event. I continued to train with kettlebells. Since signing up I went through ETK Program Minimum, performing swings up to 15 minutes and Get Up progressions for up to 25 minutes. I then started on Return of the Kettlebell and I am on my third week of that program now. I finished the first week of the ballistic block on Saturday.

I woke up Sunday morning and decided that I was going to go through with the Warrior Dash. I am so glad that I did it. I had a lot of fun. I was only able to be there to complete the Dash and not do anything else. I wish that I could have stayed as they had some cool activities to such as: Stone Heaving, Ax Throwing, Turkey Legs, Beer and Bands.

I ended up starting in the middle of the pack of a wave of 500 people. I was worried that I would be sucking some wind pretty fast. I was wrong! I kept up a good pace through the whole course. It was messy! I do not think that I have played in that much mud since being 8. The mud was like ice in some areas. People were unable to stand as they tried to get through it. People even  lost shoes in the mud bogs.

The only area that I had any issue with was the lake and the log crossing. It was at the half way point of the Dash. The water was fairly deep and we had to get over or under logs that would roll. I made it over all but the last one as the water was over my head. Then I had to swim the rest of the way across the pond. I was tired and I do not float. That was not a good combo. I was more tired after that section then any other. There was some nice slick mud to walk through right after the lake that allowed me to get by wind back. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing till the finish line!

I do not know my time yet, as they have not posted them. I think I made the course in 35-40min. I was pretty happy with that time, especially since I do not run. I woke up today felling great with very little soreness.

This leads me to believe that kettlebells are incredible tools. I know that in the old days of working out less then smartly, there would have been no way that I could have completed a 3.5 mile run without running before hand. Enter the Kettlebell works! RKC is the way to go.

May 4th will be our first class at Eclipse! Join us for a great time and great program.

Training News

I am starting a kettlebell training program at Eclipse Fitness - Rockwall on Tuesday, May 4th. If you want to learn the proper way to train with kettlebells this is the program for you. Class size is limited to insure that you receive the most benefit possible.

The schedule:

Tuesday 6:30pm
Thursday 6:30pm
Saturday 8am

If you are interested please email me at brittstrainingsystems@gmail.com.

Classes will be fun, challenging and worth your time. We guarantee you will be satisfied with the results.

RTK

I am finishing up my second week of Return of the Kettlebell with pretty good progress. I actually have my heavy day left this week. I am on 5 Ladders a lot faster than I thought I would be. It is a great program, even if I was not quite as ready for it as I should have been.

I can tell a big difference in my pressing and snatch techniques as I progress. I have been working a lot of RKC Arm bars as well as Z-Health techniques such as the A/P Thoracic Glide. I really seemed to have gained a lot more mobility in my shoulders as the weeks have passed. It really comes down to doing the prehab work. I am pretty disciplined about working the area prior to the full training session. I have been having some pain in my shoulder, but not during presses or snatches. The pain is present only on rotational movements such as Get Ups and does not rotate. I am able to work around it as there is no pain with my chosen program. I will not train through injury or pain anymore. If I learn nothing else from all of the much smarter RKC’s it is to not train through injury and screw myself up for longer.

I will be starting the Ballistic Block next Tuesday. I am excited and expect it will take me a couple of weeks to really get the form down. I will have to tape it to see where to fix it. That means I will be posting more screw ups!

I will be starting kettlebell group classes and individual training next month at Eclipse Fitness in Rockwall. I will post more as it becomes set. I am pretty psyched about it. Spreding love to more victims!

I cannot stress enough about the great opportunity of a DFW Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification. If you are wanting to be the best, this is the place to start. I will be an Assistant at the HKC and also have a student going through it. Go Jaqui!

Professor Joe R. Lansdale

Did not realize that it had been so long since I lost posted anything. It has been a busy couple of weeks with business and training. I have been working a modified RTK style program to make sure I had the form and techniques down. I have my second week of the grind block to work on this week.

This is video of my Instructor Joe R Lansdale. It is great to finally have some good clips of him to post. The beating dummy is my friend Adam Coats. He will be up in June to train with us. I am thinking of making it a seminar.

Lesson Learned

I noticed that I was getting lazy on form on a few techniques again. The principle of SAID, Specific Adaption to Imposed Demand raised its ugly head and bit me on the buttocks! I was getting really good at those performing those crappy reps. Which makes sense as the principle states that we will get “better” at whatever we do, for good or bad. I ended up tweaking my shoulder a little bit on a less than ideal snatch with a heavy kettlebell. It really seems to require 100 good reps to undo the damage of 1 bad rep. That might not be the reality for everyone, but unfortunately it is mine.

I also learned this week that strength is a skill. I know that we talk about it as RKCs. I knew it intellectually, but had to earn the knowledge physically and emotionally. The requirement for the Return of The Kettlebell is completion of the SSST and a press with half bodyweight kettlebell. The 40kg is my benchmark. I have pressed it for multiple reps in the past, it has just been a while… I started RTK and decided pretty early that I was not quite ready for it. I was a little weaker then I should have been as the skill has eroded! I think it has been six months or longer since I pressed the 40kg. In the words of the great Homer, “D’oh!” I will say that the program is awesome; I was just not where I needed to be to do it justice.

Where does that leave me? I am not at square one at least. I am going to modify the program somewhat to reacquire the old skills. I am going to work on them over the next few weeks by working double snatches, presses and squats along with swings. I am going to hopefully work back into the 32s for good form snatches and presses. This week will be 16kgs and 24kgs and I might keep it there for two weeks before moving up. I am not in a super hurry as the Summit of Strength is not until August! (Hate to embarrass myself!)

I will be an assistant at the June 12th HKC in Ft. Worth. This is a great program if you have a desire to teach or just want to improve your own skills. We have one person from our group going at this time. I am going to convince some more hopefully!

We have a few other things in the works also. I hope to have a set kettlebell base to call home starting in May! We are working on a training DVD for martial arts. It will include self defense and kettlebells together. It is still in the planning stages and will be knocked out in June. We are also going to have a Martial Arts/Kettlebell Workshop in June!

Shen Chuan

Most everything we do is about patterning. Be it the way we move on an everyday basis or a skill set that we are trying to learn. I always teach my guys that there is no need to blaze through techniques at Mach 1. When you train like that you tend to not make contact. As my friend Tony Blauer always says, "Don't Practice Missing!" The skill sets that we put up here are not spontaneous moves, but a skill and tool to have in the system.

We try to train in a manner so that no matter what is thrown at us, we have seen the attack before. That helps keep us from being vapor locked with a threat we have never seen before. More wisdom from Tony, there are only a few attacks that actually occur in a real fight and they are pretty much haymakers, shoves, tackles and crappy linear kicks.

We will be posting some High Gear and Shockknife videos soon to show a little reality! The first clip is actually the first skill set from our system. I caught Brent on the brachial plexus and had to catch him.

I am always trying to multitask also!

Learning

It has once again been a really busy week here. My daughter is involved in 4H and we have been prepping for the Rockwall County Youth Fair. We have 4 rabbits that she is showing. Today, Saturday, is the Auction! She wants to be a Veterinarian and is putting any money made towards her tuition. She is 10, so we have a little while to go still. Thank Goodness.

I am really proud of how she has worked really hard for the last few months. She has paid for everything on her own. Whenever I have tried to purchase something to help out, she has told me “No.” She has made it clear that this is her project and she wants to earn her own way. I cannot fault her for that. She is driven to succeed. It is typical of her desire to do well. She decided to learn magic for a talent show in 1st Grade and she won. She sets high goals and pretty much meets those goals.

What does that have to do with Kettlebells and Martial Arts? I am a teacher, but that does not mean that I know everything. I learn from everybody that I meet. Every class I teach increases my knowledge and abilities, every book I read teaches me something new.

Sometimes the skills and abilities that we need are right under our noses. I have to latch on to the ability to see my goals and drive through to reach them. I have to learn a skill at 42, that my 10 year old knows now. Never stop driving and the world is yours!

Nothing to do with KB or martial arts

I really like OK Go, do here is their newest video!

This is what I do and love

This is what I do every day! This is probably the most fun I have ever had working. Sonja should be the Franchisee of the Year! I hope to be as successful as she is!

Step up

I missed over a week of training due to being ill. That is par for the course when working with kids! There has been a really bad stomach bug in my area that lasts up to a week or more. I ended up sleeping for over 30 hours in a 48 hour period. I was so exhausted that I was unable to get out of bedto even get water. My hip and back locked up from being in the same sleep position for the entire time.

Tonight was my first attempt at training since getting sick. It went pretty well. I decided to do swings tonight. I grabbed the 32kg and did one hand swings for about 9 minutes. My hip flexor twinged a little, so I shut it down for the evening. The newest biggest deal is biofeedback and listening to your body, so I did. I will see what I feel like doing tomorrow night. I am pretty sure it will be get ups. I am looking at hitting a short cycle of Program Minimum to get back on track before attempting the Return of the Kettlebell Program. I hit all of the bench marks with the ETK and want to hit heavy stuff again.

I was training someone in martial arts tonight and was still amazed at how kettlebells and martial arts fit together. KB's are about correct natural movement and the best martial arts do the same. More to come on this topic.

Where we need to focus

Amid Rising Childhood Obesity, Preschoolers Found To Be Inactive


ScienceDaily (2009-02-15) -- A study of children enrolled at 24 community-based preschool programs finds that preschoolers are inactive for much of their preschool day, with 89 percent of physical activity characterized as sedentary. The study also finds that teachers very rarely encourage children to be more physically active. Based on these findings, there may be more of a need for preschool teachers to organize, model and encourage physical activity. ... > read full article

We all want to be healthy and have healthy kids. This article is proof that we are still not doing everything we can to help our kids. This is my main business focus with Amazing Athletes and it shows me that there are a lot of opportunities for me still untapped.

Not My Class

This does not represent my training program in any way! Just an example of what people will do. I hurt just watching it.

Movement

Movement -

a. The act or an instance of moving; a change in place or position.
b. A particular manner of moving.
c. A series of actions and events taking place over a period of time and working to foster a principle or policy
d. An organized effort by supporters of a common goal.
e. A tendency or trend

Movement is the back bone of the RKC and rightly so. As a society, we do not move the way that we did as youth. We are tied to desks, vehicles and entertainment that require us to just sit and become one with the chair. I started this off with some definitions of movement so that we have a beginning point of what we should be doing.

The first two parts of the definition are easy to cover and understand. We all move and currently each of us have a particular way of moving. The question is however, are we moving the correct way? I know that I do not always move as well as I could. If I wasn’t sure before, I am after B.J. Bliffert showed me I needed some work through the CK-FMS program. I have crappy shoulder mobility and active straight leg raise issues. I have a definite lack of mobility in my shoulder as evidence through having to really work to pass my RKC Skills set as an Assistant. It has been an issue for a long time that is no being corrected. I have practiced a lot of RKC Armbars to fixing my shoulders. It has made a change in my ability to move more freely and correctly when doing clean and presses.

The RKC as a whole deals with the third and fourth parts of the definition. The RKC is an organized effort that continuously evolves in support of the common goal of strength and proper movement. That alone is what differentiates an RKC from other “certified” instructors. We have the common goal of spreading/teaching proper movements to increase strength, fitness and durability. We use the kettlebell as the tool to reach this common goal. The HKC, RKC, RKC II and CK-FMS show that this organization is about continual growth and improvement. There is no better certification system out there that allows you to be strong for the long haul.

I keep bringing up the swing and the get up. They are the two movements that create the most benefit for the time spent. I have had one of my trainees working Naked Get Ups for several weeks now. We have only made it to the hip bridge during that time. We have worked the first 5 steps of the get up to the point where he owns those positions. His movements have improved as he has developed the ability to feel his body as it changes positions during the movement. He has also increased the mobility in his hip/pelvis area. He has been a block of stone in the past. We have had to hit him with the sledge hammer to move his hips. He now has about 50% more hip mobility then two weeks ago. It is not magic on my part, it is hard work and the RKC that allows this to occur.

Movement is what we have to do at all the time. We might as well move the best possible way that we can. This will allow us to have fewer injuries and more productive lives. It is the cornerstone for how we live our lives.

My shoulder mobility has improved, but there are still some things to fix. I need to pack my shoulders a little better and make sure the elbow is locked. I also had a little hip pop, but not as much as a bent press. Life is a work in progress.

I support the troops

http://www.thewarriorsong.com/video.html

Saturday Night Lite

I am dreading the start of my running on Monday! Thought that I would just throw that out there! The Warrior Dash is only 85 days away. I would not sweat it so much, but if you are going to do something you might as well bust tail and do well.


I am seeing some real progress on fixing my shoulder mobility issues. I used the Flip tonight and actually saw good form with the 32kg. I am pretty excited about that. It seems like the hard work and lots of RKC Armbars has made a big difference!

Damien Walters is pretty cool!

Newest and Bestest

There is always something new out there to hopefully improve our training.. I recently purchased Gym Movements based on some good recommendations. I received it today. Unfortunately, I am unable to recommend it to anyone at this time. The info and DVD did not live up to the hype. To Frankie’s credit, they are refunding the purchase price and our working on a retooling. I hope that it is a much better product. As it stands now it is not the newest and bestest product out there.

I have been trying to decide how best to train for the Warrior Dash in May. It should be pretty self evident on the training program, except I HATE running. It is my least favorite thing to do. I thought about Viking Warrior Conditioning, but decided that it was not exactly what I needed right now. I have ran the Cooper test in the past with no running, but this is a 3.5 mile course. I could do it, but would be pretty screwed up afterwards. I also wanted to be under a heavier load and increase my strength again. I can Press the 88’s still, but would love to be where I was at 2 years ago with multiple sets and reps with them. So… It is back to Rite of Passage with heavier weights. I also have to work on my snatch technique, but chose to go with swings tonight. I rolled a 7 minute swing fest tonight! I have bought some running shoes, Yuck, and will start some running next week. I hate entering anything if I do not plan on doing well. That means that I have to bite the bullet and start running. I keep telling myself it will not be an extended program.

I am working on some more things for the future. I am most likely going to become a kettlebell distributor for the area east of Dallas in the near future. I am also working on holding more seminars for both Combatives and Kettlebells. I am also setting up some Law Enforcement training. If you are interested in a seminar, please contact me.

Gym Movement

I am always amazed by what happens on Forums across the internet. I am down to posting on only a few as it takes a lot of time away from important things, kids, family, and training. On Dragon Door recently a big stink was created because a well known trainer chose to “Forsake” kettlebells and Pavel. That is not really what happened, but someone took it and ran with it. Next thing you know, TMZ will be on his doorstep! It was such a blasphemy that there were over 92 responses and 5400 views on the thread. It has to be a record for Dragon Door. People have to realize that training is never stagnant. There is always a way to improve what you are doing. That includes looking at the past for answers. If it offends you that people do not follow a single principle from birth to grave, welcome to America. It is what sets us apart.


If you look at the blogs that I follow, you will see Adam T. Glass’ blog. I have never trained with him, but have followed him as he has become freaking strong! Adam and I have talked in the past and he knows what he is doing. He has lately talked about Gym Movement being an incredible training paradigm. It was created by Frankie Faires over the last several years. I have never met Frankie, even though he lives in the Dallas area. He was an early RKC, Z-Health person that I wanted to meet a few years ago. It did not happen. It is funny how things circle around however.

Adam has pretty much stated that Gym Movement is well worth looking at as a training tool. That is enough for me to at least look at it. When I gave him advice a few years ago, he took it and followed through. I owe him that much. Adam is one of the few people that I look forward to meeting at one of the gatherings in the near future. He is a squared away, top notch trainer. He will tell you like it is and not mince words. We have that in common.

I ordered Gym Movement last night and hope to get it in the next couple of days. I will post my thoughts on it in the near future. If it is everything Adam says it is, I should be hitting the Beast Challenge pretty soon. So close, but so far still.

We have Shen Chuan tonight. I have been asked by Joe R Lansdale to put our stuff on tape. That will be the plan tonight. We want to get the first set or two recorded. It will allow us to post more circus monkey beatings on the blog!

I am also training a few people online and have to tape some stuff for them also. I will occasionally post a nameless update on their progress as we get it into full swing. (Pun intended)

http://www.warriordash.com/info.php I just came across this on Dragon Door. I already registered. It will change my training a little bit...

Z-Health, CK-FMS and Down Time

Lots of down time this weekend, but it was nice. I ended up taking a 3 hour nap after class on Saturday! The body knows what it needs; we just have to listen to it. I have been watching CK-FMS videos and working with Z-Health.

I ended up taking a couple days off from hard training this week due to being exhausted. That was cemented after the worst snatching I have done in years. I could not get my hip snap right and banged the kettlebell off my wrists and forearms. It has been about 3 years since my snatches have been that ugly. I was actually bruised up from it. I have been teaching upwards of 8 classes a day for the last month. It equates to about 6 hours of exercising a day, before my own training. I continue to walk that fine line between rested and over trained most of the time. I was starting to step over the line this week.

I believe that the Z-Health has really helped me out a lot. I have been working on R-Phase for several weeks with noticeable improvements in posture, movement and durability. I have been unable to sleep on my Right side for as long as I can remember. I have felt bound up in that position and my back would hurt immediately. I was able to sleep on that side last night! That is a big change. I think that R-Phase has helped keep me from being as severely over trained as I have been in the past. It is a good program and I wish I had started it years ago when I saw it on RMAX. I recently picked up the I-Phase Manual and DVD and will start that in about 3 months.
I have decided that I need to run through it at a much slower pace than I have been using. I still need to work on my ankles and T-Spine a little more in-depth. It has worked well, but the slower speed should make a bigger impact.

I cannot wait until the CK-FMS class in October. I am really excited about it. I think that it will be an incredible experience. It will allow me to really help people with their training. I have learned a lot from the videos and I am itching to be hands on. I will have to watch the DVD’s several times by the time of the class.

I have a small chance of attending RKCII still this summer. I am still trying to decide if I should wait till next year. I most likely will wait, but I have about a month to decide. That is time that I could use to build the kettlebell side of my business life. I have had a couple of opportunities come up and I would like to jump on them. Meanwhile we are starting to expand the group class. That will force me to clean out our training area to allow expansion. That is a good thing.

I will be back to the program this week. I plan on restarting at three Ladders with three Rungs this week. I will be adding a Ladder next week and the following week also. That should put me back on the right path. I will be working Z-Health at a much slower pace as well.