No Mind

 I love the time that I spend out in the garage training. For me it is that time where I am able to let go of the cares and the worries of the day. It is me and the iron. As Henry Rollins has written, the iron is always there for me. It is what gives me peace during times of stress. It occurs because I can allow myself to think of nothing but the struggle to beat gravity and the iron. It is the time that there is nothing else but the struggle to overcome imperfection and myself. Basically they are the same thing as I am imperfect and will always be so.




It is the time where you are dialed in and it is the process that allows you to reach that place where there is nothing but you and the bell, everything else fades out, and nothing interferes. I miss the days I am not able to be there.



Last night was really a good night. I have not really pushed it with heavier weights like I should have been doing. My form has been really good with the 24kg and I decided that it was time to head to the heavy stuff again. The 32kg was covered in dust and looking lonely.



It was pretty amazing how easy it was for my training last night. I was worried that I would be struggling with it and not even able to get a single rep. I felt strong and it floated up last night. This was after training kids from 9am -6:30pm. I contemplated skipping training as I was pretty tired. The struggle was worth it. I hit Clean and Presses and Pull-ups before 4 straight minutes of swings. I felt strong and tight while doing the C&Ps. I only put the bell down 3 times during the swings as I rotated between 1 and 2 hand swings.



I have also joined the Z-Health club. I recently was able to pick of an R-Phase manual and DVD. I have been through the drills at the RKC with Zachariah Salazar and Geoff Neupert. I have been working it for a couple of days with some noticeable improvements in my shoulders.

Ugly Swings

In looking at my training and my skill level lately I have figured out lots of things. I have some issues that need to be corrected to continue to grow and improve. B.J. Bliffert's FMS work with me has opened my eyes to making sure that I am doing things correctly at the highest level I can achieve. My initial foray into Kettlebells begans as a way to fix myself of all of the bad habits developed over the years of "shiny gym." training. I found that Pavel was teaching what I was on the path of for years but could not put my finger on. The kettlebells were the answer to my questions. Pavel's knowledge was the answer to the junk I saw at the gym. I have to remember that as I continue training.

I recorded my latest workout to check my shoulder mobility. I have been working on my shoulders since the RKC in 2008. It seems that it is beginning to finally pay off. I still have lots to do however in that area.

I figured that I have been doing swings forever and almost decided not to record that part of the workout. I am glad that I did record it. I saw how ugly my swings have become. I have never looked at what I saw as a set in stone skill. why shhould I? After all I am an RKC and have been doing this since at least 2004...


How ugly is it? It is pretty bad. I am leaning back way to much, I have way too much pelvic tilt.  I am also not activating my lats as I should to. I am glad that I recorded the swings after all. I always try to better my training and improve my skills. I am searching for perfection in each swing.. I am a good coach, it is hard to coach yourself. My core group of trainess are my coaches. I learn as much from them as they from me and look at it as a chance to make all of us better. They were coaching me on my swing this morning between their sets. One of them, Jaqui, needs to become an RKC. She has a lot of knowledge and is able to teach! (Hear that Jaqui!) I was a lot better by the end of the class.

More videos as I progress through this.

In that spirit, I am not scared to put my errors out there for the world to see. I am on the same path as everyone else. I want to be better and help others as well.

listening

I started the blog initially to keep track of where I was in my training. It is still based on that thought process. Lately there has been a lot going on in my life that has even somewhat affected my training. I have been running my tail off covering schools for my coaches. Just doing that has doubled my activity level on a daily basis. It has its good points in that I am very active lately. It also means that I am pretty tired by my time for training. I have been fighting sinus issues caused by all of the running and exercising that I have done as part of my business.

I have driven my body to the brink for years as that was all I knew how to do. I have since figured out that you need to listen to what it your body is trying to tell you. Jeff Neupert and Adam Glass have discussed biofeedback lately in their blogs and it got me to thinking about my training over the last year. I have really been following that type of process for the last year. I looked back through my blog and have been able to track the times that I have pushed hard and the times were I pulled back. I can also see where I pushed when I should not have, as there are illnesses and injuries at those times.

The first thing I had to figure out was the reason behind pushing 100% every time. Was it habit, ego, stupidity or something else? It turns out that it was usually all three at once. I finally realized that I am older and not competing in anything these days. I do not have to be the strongest person on the block. I just need to be in better shape than 90% of the population. Attending and completing the RKC pretty much guarantees that! The top 10% attends and passes the test.

I am also shooting for durability and longevity. Jack Lalanne is one of my heroes. I want to be as active and healthy as he is at 90+. How do you make it there? Steady, long haul growth without injury. The training has to be well planned and you have to listen to your body.

I stepped back one week on my training this week as I was tired. I did not push through just because I was required to. My training program was written down, but it is not set in stone, unable to change. I am following ETK and the Right of Passage. It is a journey that allows some detours. I was supposed to have 5 ladders this week on three different days. I missed a workout last week, the heavy day of course, and started this week at 4 ladders. I missed last night’s training, but will hit it tonight and the heavy day on Sunday. My body told me to slow down and I listened. I woke up this morning after a good night’s sleep feeling much better. Yesterday had an hour of sleep and knew not to train, even if I did think about doing it anyway. If I had I am sure there would have been a negative consequence...

I am still going to hit 6 1/2 more weeks of this program and then take a week or so off. After that it is on to the Return of the Kettlebell blocks. I am rebuilding my base now with an eye on the future.

I am currently doing some online training. If you would like to hit a high level of fitness and ability, this is for you.

Great Video

Well done video about kettlebells



This is a great resource to get the most out of your kettlebells!

Viking Warrior Conditioning
The Scientific Approach to Forging a Heart of Elastic Steel

Rough Week

It has been an interesting week. I have been making changes in personnel with Amazing Athletes and trying to correct some issues that seemed to have developed. They are hopefully not to major, just normal courses of growing pains.We are continuing to expand and add more schools and children to our programs. It is really fun to work with the kids as they love to move. They also move a lot better then some of us old farts.

We had a really good Shen Chuan class this week. The majority of the group was there, some of them even on time. We were working takedowns and I caught an elbow with the back of my hand. It is still swollen and painful to the touch. The guys told me to stop whining after the first hour... I have some grip still, so I will just let it sit and see if it improves. I was able to do swings, pullups and clean and press last night, so hopefully it is not too bad.

I  met with BJ Bliffert at his awesome place in Frisco this week for an FMS Screening. I had planned on going to both CK-FMS and RKCII this year. After spending an hour and a half with him, I found seveal areas that I have to work on. The FMS is amazing in that it shows you were the work needs to be done. It is awesome how 7 simple screens can pretty much fix what ails you. I know that between my hamstrings and my shoulders, I am in a world of hurt. Thankfully, I have been working lots of RKC armbars! I would have had real issues if I hadn't been.

20 minutes after leaving, I was signed up for CK-FMS and the DVD Home Study were on the way. They arrived today and are sitting next to me now. I have a long weekend to watch them.

We have our group class in the morning and I will be introducing some new drills.

Some Garage Beatings

We were working on some head control last night out in the garage. I often equate marial arts patterns to those of kettlebell movement patterns. The movement is similar to the clean. There is so much crossover between the two that I still need to work on.

This is a raw clip and we are not at combat speed. We are working patterning. We are also in the words of my friend Tony Blauer, "Not practicing to miss."




Here is the same move with the real philosophy behind it.




The footage is rough, but we are working on it!

Program Minimum

Well, I have made it through 5 weeks of Program Minimum. I spent 5 weeks on it as I missed one week of quality training and took a step back. I was able to really improve my swing technique. I follow several good trainer's blogs and found a great piece of advice on mc's about locking up the glutes. Her take on it, simplified for me, is to think of your turning your hips out. You are consciously thinking of rotating them outward. I found that this helped me quite a bit in effectively locking the glutes down. It allowed me to also brace my abdomen much tighter. After 12 minutes of swings, that technique allowed me to finish as strongly as I started.

I really feel that the swing has reset my form and fixed the sloppiness that I had developed over the last year. The focus that I was able to place on the swing also increased my explosive power. There was a very noticeable increase in my relaxed power applications in a recent martial arts class. The relaxed tension that the swing teaches you has increased punching power tremendously . I know that the people I have been training with have noticed it as well. That does not even start on the "Kung Fu Grip" you develop from that much swinging.

I really enjoyed my Get Up portion. Being a dofus I often had to remember to slow down my movements. The Kalos Thenos version is by far one of the best exercises that you can do. By moving slowly and not rushing through the series, it is possible to build proper patterning for real world movement. It took the entire 5 weeks to even make a dent in proper form and technique. I realized that I was wobbly and out of sorts pretty quickly. This was compounded by attempting to make a set number of reps in my 5 minutes. By slowing down to a rep a minute I ws able to lock down the benchmarks that were needed. The high hip bridge being a large one. I figured out that I need to focus through the straight leg heel. Before figuring that point out, I was compensating and the straight leg was coming off the ground. I began to roll to my elbow instead of punching straight up. It allowed a cleaner get up with better mobility. I also learned that I was not tightening my glutes and began to pinch a quarter at the top of the hip bridge. Once I started that, my arm and shoulder locked in correctly. As I wrote, this was only a small dent in a great exercise and I will be going back to it in a month or so.

I have also been playing with my Captains of Crush Grippers a lot. I am not making them a main focus, but Greasing the Groove with ladders. I am in my car a lot these days with wasted training time. I start my travels out by warming up with a Sports COC before I leave the driveway. I then hit reps as I am stopped by red lights. I utilize a ladder to train. I start with 1 rep at the first light, 2 at the next until I am at 5 reps. I hit the next rung after that. I have noticed a difference in grip strength. To prevent imbalances, I use a broccoli band to work the extensors after every rung. I use broccoli bands as I am buying the broccoli anyway. That and I am to cheap to order the "proper" bands. Steve Maxwell taught me that at my first RKC! He had a bunch in his pocket. I am all about saving money!

I am going to put some info on my blog about opening for training. I will also be offering some online training. email me if you are interested.