Silly season

I have been slacking on the blog lately. This time of year is crazy normally. Now throw in the fact that you are going to move across the country in about 6 weeks, it has really taken up some serious time. Things are starting to come together, I think? Every time I think we have it all worked out Jen and I find a whole other list of stuff that needs attending.

On top of that my puppy Willa the one eyed bulldog decided to eat the leather flap off the recliner. Resulting in a blocked bowel that needed operated on, NICE!

In the last week or so it has really hit me that I will be leaving ALL that is comfortable behind and starting all over again. This is both very scary and incredibly exciting. I'm looking forward to the challenge of starting over again, plus having some down time in the near future is a welcome thought.

Fitness orb

This show kills me!

Monday with Mikey

Trained with Mike again yesterday. He said that he wanted to work hard so here is what we did, short but sweet.

Walking see saw press double 24kg
3x55' which works out to about 10-12 reps per side per set.
I go you go style

Pistols
3x5 L,R

Atomic Push (push with feet elevated in the straps followed by a knee tuck) in up on the TRX straps
4x10

Plans for California are moving along swiftly and we will be on the road in no time.

Unintentional GPP

I went over to my parents house yesterday because my Dad needed a hand. So I showed up to their house to find a 6 ton pile of gravel a shovel and a wheelbarrow. For the next three hours I shoveled and wheeled, shoveled and wheeled.

I didn't know what I was in for but after all this time I should have known better.

This weeks training

Here is my training for this week.

Monday with Mikey

Standing log press
3x5 with 160 pounds
1x25 with 80 pounds
3x3 decline sit up done Pavel style

Tuesday
24 kg snatches
3x15 L,R
1x40 L,R

Thursday
Power ropes
8x20 seconds
Renegade rows 5x5L,R 36kg bell from Russia
Kickstand lunges 5x5 double 36kg
Decline sit up 3x3

Friday
TGU 5 minutes 24kg perfect form

Getting things ready

I have been busting my ass getting things set up to make my move as fast and easy as possible. I think I have my gym and house sold already, SWEET!!! Next is finding a place in Cali. and getting my wife a job and we will be off. Training has gone well this week.
Monday with Mike

Finger tip pull ups on Pump Rocks 3X3
One arm olympic bar press
1x5L,R 45#
1x5L,R 55#
1x5L,R 65#
1x5 L,R 75#
1x1R, 1/2 L 95# Form broke down totally my fault
Power ropes
6x 20 seconds BTTW(balls to the wall)

Tuesday
Swings 32kg various styles short sets adding up to 300 reps


Wednesday Did the beginning of KB class with the class. I didn't have any new people so I joined in.
5 min snatch test 24kg 130 reps
2 min rest
5 min TGU

Thursday
Hip Belt squats
1x10 4 45# plates
4x8 5 45# plates
Suitcase DL
1x3L,R 95#
1x3L,r 115#
1x3L,R 135#
1x1L,R 155#
Power ropes 3x20 seconds BTTW
Leg raises 2x3

Friday
MP
1x10L,R 24kg
1x10L,R 28kg
1x10 L,R 32kg

Russian Twist with barbell 2x10L,R

Training and stuff

I haven't posted anything in a awhile because life has been a bit nuts this week. First off everybody is freaking about the move, parents, friends, clients/friends and the whole rest of the world. You forget how many people are involved in your life until something like this goes down. I'm really shocked at how many people are effected by decisions that are made in my life. I knew this was going to be tough but holy cow!

I have been lucky in the last 11 years to have trained and become close with so many great people. They have all shaped my life and career in one way or another and I thank all of you for that. Change is a very scary thing and this was a very hard decision for me to make. I know that if Jen and I don't do this I will always wonder WHAT IF? On the flip side now everybody has a good reason to fly out to California.


training for the week

Wednesday night did snatches and presses with class. body still a mess from the trip
C&P 3x5L,R 24kg
Snatches 5x10 L,R ended up doing 1x 10,10,10,10 then 1x10,10,20,20

Thursday feeling better Gym Boss 40 work 20 rest 4x thru 4 exercises = 16 min

Push up dropping down to elbows and back up between every rep
Pull over sit up 24kg
Snatches 24kg one side per round
Deck squats

Didn't post this before now because I put both of my KB classes through this on Saturday and they loved/hated it

Friday
Two finger pull ups on the pump rocks 3x3
BUP 1x5 16kg 1x3 24kg 1x1 28kg

Still battling the elbow thing that I got from wrestling with my dogs a few months ago.

Recovery

My wife and I returned from a 5 day trip to California Monday night. What a blast! Love the west coast. We had a personal tour guide by the name of Pavel. He took us all over showing us the sights and where he thinks we should move, yeah move.

This was some needed down time for both the wife and I. This was also the first time she has meet the Evil ONE, she was nervous as hell. She soon found out that he is one of the most stand up people you will ever come across. We really enjoyed the time that he spent with us, and it made our trip that much better.

Monday with Mike

Pull ups 5x3
45' bear crawls DBL 32kg 5 times 225' total
DBL 32kg farmers walk 3x150'

Mike is doing a kettlebell class in the AM so we worked more strength today.

Friday training

I did a drop set of Get ups today that went like this.
32kg 3 reps L,R
24kg 5 reps L,R
16kg 5 reps L,R
no rest between any of the sets

I should have done a 20kg as well but this felt pretty good.

After that I some 24kg snatches 2x10L,R the whole reason behind the low number was to be very aware of my form and to make it perfect.

2x5 hanging knee raise.

Training

Today's training was simple and straight forward.

Tactical pull ups 10x3, chest to the bar with a pause at the top
90 pound overhead Keg press 4x3
Atomic push ups 2x10

The keg press is a real pain in the ass. I have 5 old style kegs that go from 40 pounds up to 170 pounds. They are fill with water and are crazy to clean press or snatch. So pressing 90 fixed pounds vs 90 liquid pounds is very different. I did only manage to hit myself in the chin once.

I love the smell of kettlebells in the morning!

Today was a good day. I have been working on freeing up my Tuesday and Thursday schedules, so I have some time for me. Because I'm smart enough, strong enough and gosh darn it people like me. LOL

Anyway I got the chance to jump in to Amy Dudley's KB at my place. It was a good class and I love the fact that I can just stand there and not have to think about what I'm doing next. She is a great instructor and really works everybody hard. If you are in the northeast Ohio area let us know and we will bring on the PAIN!

Mikey likes it!

I worked out with my last morning client today. I know he has been working hard on a stronger press so press we did. I thought that I could push him if I did it with him and I was right.

Here is what we did.
10x5 standing log press
Mike 100 pound x 50 reps = 5000 pounds
Me 140 pounds x 50 reps = 7000 pounds

2x5 Hanging knee raise

Done

Mike really gutted out the last two sets but got all his reps. WAY TO GO!!!

Thanks, Mike for letting me train with you today, you rock!

Here is a picture of the log I use for presses

Fridays training was good.

32kg swings two hand, one hand, DARC what ever floated my boat. 100 reps total
32kg swing flip catch and press 4x10, I will have to get some video of this hard to explain.

Getting back into things!

I have slowly revved up my training this week.

Monday:

Standing log press 120 pounds 5x10 Easy
Pull ups 3x3
Hanging leg raise 3x3

Tuesday:

DBL 32kg front squats 5x5
Pull ups 3x3


Thursday:

Standing log press 140 pounds 3x3 Easy
Gym Boss 40sec work 20 sec rest

Squat thrust jump into pull up
Tactical lunges 24Kg
6 rounds

Battle ropes
Double wave 6 sets 20 seconds balls to the wall

Hanging knee raise 3x3

I'm starting to feel human again than god, it was really bumming me out.

For my peeps

I want to thank all of the people that sent their prayers to my family. I try to explain to people that the kettlebell community is much more than the letters RKC after your name. Once again all of you went above and beyond. Your words mean more than you will ever know and I thank you. I am glad to involved with so many stand up people and if there is ever anything I can do to repay you please let me know.

getting back to normal

After last week I was spent.Dealing with such heavy issues really breaks you down. This week I feel better. I trained last week but it was with a half ass effort. This week will be a keep it simple week. Lots of over head pressing and squats of some sort.

Today was
overhead log press 120 pounds 5x10, EASY!!!!!!
BW pull ups 3X3
and done.

LIFE

Yesterday I was sitting next to a couple and their 4 month old baby boy. This made me think of my 92 year old Grandmother who has been fighting to stay alive for the last three weeks. When she was 4 months old I bet she would never imagine all of the things she would see and experience during her life. It made me happy and sad all at once.

Today at 5:00pm my Grandmother passed away. It was very difficult for me to let her go, but she is much better off now. I really feel for my father, he has lost both of his parents in the last year and a half and that bothers me tremendously. They were the best Grandparents a person could ever ask for and they will be dearly missed.

training

Things are still nuts around here. So this is what I've done this week

Monday, no training to damn whooped

Tuesday, 20kg snatches 20x6 L,R Vo2 max style, TGU 32kg 3x3L,R

Wednesday, nothing

Thursday, Hip belt squats worked up to 6 plates for 3x3, double 32kg step ups 3x6L,R claf raises

Friday, C&J short cycle double 24kg 5x10, Hanging leg raise 3x3

Life in the fast lane

I haven't been posting much in the last week. I have been running all of over the place. this weekend was no exception. I went with my dad and brother to the Motocross of Nations. Think, Olympics of motocross racing. The race was held at Budds Creek, in Maryland. This is 8 hours from my house and we drove back Sunday night after the races were over. I had 3 hour of sleep from 3am to 6am early Monday morning. Holy crap was I whooped. It was worth it the last time this race was in the states was 20 years ago. Oh yeah the US team killed everybody.

What a crazy week

This week has gotten away from me for sure. I feel like I have been running around with my head cut off. So my training has been all over.

On Tuesday I did a bunch of stuff DARC, MP, overhead squats, pistols and hanging leg raise. All the KB stuff was with a 32kg.


Then tuesday night I was chillin on the floor with the bulldogs and started coughing and low back and right glute cramped so bad I could hardly stand up. In the morning I was hurtin and straight to the foam roller. Holy S@^*!!! I had a wicked knot in my ass.

Thursday I was starting to feel better more foam roll and I was 90%. Did pull ups 3x3, Chin ups 3x3, Off set pullups off the Pump Rocks, one hand high and one low then switch 2x3. Finished with get up sit ups 3x3L,R 40kg

Good Stuff

I have a new team member in my gym, Amy Dudley RKC ! She was in St. Paul for the Sept. cert and killed it. She is a welcome addition to the RKC family and is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one to my facility. She will be doing one on one training and classes for Better Bodies of Medina. Her class times are Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:15. Shoot me an email for her information.

Try to keep the blood moving

I'm having no luck lately. Got a wicked head cold can't smell a damn thing and I think there is a 48kg sitting in my sinus cavity. So today was just about doing something.

Pull ups 3x3
TGU 24kg 3x3

Done. They all felt like I was using the 48kg, being sick SUCKS!

Squats

Front squats
double 24kg 1x5
double 32kg 3x3
pistols 3x3 L,R
and I played with the bent press for fun 24kg

Anger is a great fuel

I don't get angry often. Yesterday was one of those days when it was bubbling under the surface. I could feel it. So I burnt it up with a couple hundred MP and some pull ups.

Did this with an old client who sometimes comes by to do whatever workout I'm doing for the day. We did this in the I go you go fashion.

24kg MP 10x10 L,R
Pull ups 5x5

All in about 30 minutes

Clash with the bulldog

Here is the setting. 31/2 year old Maximus (my American Bulldog) who is not fixed! Female dog somewhere within a 2 mile radius that is in heat. Result, one 135 pound love machine that is trying to hump everything in his way for the last three days!!! This includes one of my other dogs Peanut (100 pound American Bulldog). This doesn't make her very happy.

Monday night after countless little battles between the two it was time for me to step in and show him who is boss. After a brief wrestling match I ended up sitting on top with him on his back. DAMN RIGHT! He submitted and laid there until I told him he could move, cause I'm the king. Problem solved, but I did manage to tweak my elbow tendons damn. I will be getting some deep tissue work to break up the nasty stuff and all will be well.

Training has been pretty random due to some family health stuff. I have done MP, swings and battling ropes. Thanks for listening

PS in that picture Peanut is 6 weeks old and Max is 11/2 and only 115 pounds

Last two sessions

Tuesday
double 24kg MP + front squat 5x5 on each
Single leg dead lift double 24kg 3x5L,R

Thursday
MP ladders
40kg 3x1,2,3,4 L,R

A night at the dirt track

I went to the sprint car races with my Dad and brother last night and had a blast, but came home a bit dirtier than when I left. Here is a in car of what covered everybody in the stands with dirt. 1375 pounds and 700-800 horsepower

Jeep day 1 and day 1 1/2

This thing is going to be trouble!

C&J

Short cycle clean and jerk

double 32kg 5x10

DW got me thinking

On David Whitley's blog today he talked about how strength is viewed and often put down by others. What is easy for some is nearly impossible for others. Does that make one better than the other?

We all started somewhere, none of us started at the top! If it is a first for you be proud! If it is something you do with ease be proud , but don't stand there and bet your chest because you are wonderful. An accomplishment is just that no matter how large or small. We often get stuck in the "I lift more than you" thing and that sucks. Just remember this, there is ALWAYS someone stronger than you are. You might not even know who they are but they are out there.


Quiet Professionalism that should sound familiar to many of you.

Gpp and MP

220 pound sled drag 200 feet
double 24kg MP 2x5
220 pound sled drag 200 feet
double 24kg MP 2x5
220 pound sled drag 200 feet
double 24kg MP 2x5
220 pound backwards sled drag 200 feet
double 24kg MP 2x5
220 pound backwards sled drag 200 feet
double 24kg MP 2x5

Quick

32kg snatch 5x10L,R

training today

24kg MP 18x10L,R

Bad Juju!!!

I got this term from a client of mine several years ago. When you just weren't feeling right about something. I had a bad case of bad juju yesterday before my motorcycle ride. The last time I had one of these feelings I ended up in the woods at 70mph!! So I took it easy on my ride, no problems. All day I couldn't shake the feeling so I've made a very hard decision. I'm selling my motorcycle. Holy crap!!!! Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen but it has.

I will own another bike no doubt, but now is not the time. Still walking and being alive because I listen to what my heart is feeling is priceless.

PS I will be buying the Jeep for sure now!!!

To Jeep or not to Jeep?

Here is the issue. I have been driving my Civic for 7 years. Now all the bumps and what not are fixed I think I want to sell it. If I do I'm buying a Jeep (real Jeep). Here is where my inner Pete(my Dad) takes over. I have had nothing but good luck with my car so why do I want to sell it. Well, because I want a Jeep( and have for two years). So any Jeep owners out there have any words of wisdom for me that would be great.

SSST

I had a client try the SSST the other day and was shocked at the difficulty of the event. That got me thinking I haven't done a SSST in over a year. SO today was as good as any to give it a go.

208 reps with the 24kg. Still had more in the tank I was to slow in the first half. Not to bad, but could and should be much better.
Also did pull ups 3x3. Felt really good though.

It was a good day

Today training went pretty good. I was finally back to normal after the Battling ropes weekend.
Training as follows

DARC swings x10 with
32kg
40kg
48kg

MP with 32kg
5x10L,R

Hanging knee raise 2x3

Check out my new shirts!!! Picture on the right. I will be taking Pay pal after the account becomes active. Guys come in black or olive green. Ladies cut in black, and they run small so get one size up.

Ropes

Who would have thought this would be so tough and fun. I had the chance to spend the day with John Brookfield and his Battling Ropes yesterday. He showed us some really cool velocity training. It was a humbling experience. John is really superhuman. On one of the basics exercises he was asked how long he could do these, his response "several hours"!! We were struggling just to make one minute. We did dozens of variations until lunch.

Then we went outside and started the strength endurance part of the course. Holly crap!!! I have never had my arms cramp so bad in my life. My forearms, shoulders, biceps, triceps, lats and abs were cooked. If you have the chance to work with John and his rope system do it. OR if you are in my area give me a call and I will put a thrashing on you.

These will be a part of my KB training on variety days for sure. I will post pics when I get them.

End of the day

All is well in my world now. The day is almost over, I can start fresh tomorrow. Had a small window to train today lots of unforeseen things to handle today. So here is what I busted out.

double 24kg C&J 5x10
dragon flags x2
and done in about 10 min.

Hopefully Friday will be better. John Brookfield will be in town to do that Battling Ropes seminar. So things are looking up. Thanks to all for the concern. I will try not to run into anything else this week.

Kick me in the teeth next time!

Just got done getting a ticket for running my car into a car that decided to make an illegal u-turn in front of me and left me no where to go. She was let go with nothing, I was sighted. How the hell does that work? Her car was the one making the illegal turn leaving me no options.
So how do you deal with this? Let your insurance handle the whole thing and take your lumps. Is it the end of the world? No, but it is a really bad way to start the day! I have been in worse accidents. Almost three years to the day I crashed a sportbike so I guess I'm due.

I was lucky both today and three years ago. Today no injuries at all. Three years ago I walked away with a ton of bruises and a dislocated finger. I should have been dead. I'm sure that my fitness help me in the motorcycle crash.

high tension

Today I felt really good. Wanted to train. thought I would focus on some high tension stuff today.

Single leg MP

24kg x 5 L,R
32kg x 3 L,R
40kg x 1 L,R
32kg x 3 L,R
24kg x 5 L,R

Bottom up press

24kg 2x3

Single leg dead lift
48kg 3x3 L,R

Everything felt great, all for different reasons. My single leg military press was very strong. BUP felt great on the forearms and the glutes were on fire from the deads. Now if I could figure out some type of crunch to do for my core I would be all set. LOL!!!

I'm back!

I'm on fire today three post, back to training and all that is good in life. What a difference a week off makes. I went through the workout my class has to do tonight, unknown to them. There will be a mod or two for them. I did the following

Double 24kg C&P 5 reps
Double 24kg swings 20 reps
TGU 24kg 3 L,R
Double 24kg snatches 10 reps
Double 24 kg Front squats 5 reps

Went through 3 times.

The class will do single snatches. They will also have a partner. They get to rest while their partner goes.

Life as my brother , aka: bones

He is a motocross racer, enough said!!!
Broken collar bone, broken leg that he walked on for three days, all this
and still able to walk and talk on the cell.
Almost forgot he is the lead singer of a metal band called Co Conspirator

The human animal

I went to watch my first triathlon yesterday. A buddy was doing his first Half Ironman= 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Are you kidding me that's just nuts!!!! True to his form he finished in the top 10, dude is an animal.

In another world my wife is in the middle of working six 12+ hour nights out of 7 nights. Yes, she is a nurse, brutal work!!!!

On my way home from the race yesterday I started to think about how our bodies react to the abuse we put them through. It doesn't matter what you do to it, it will adapt, truly amazing. One thing became very clear to me on the way home. First, I was lost, wasn't paying any damn attention and missed my exit. Second, that the abuse my wife and my buddy deal with is different but the reaction is the same. When they are both done with their jobs they are both after the same things. PROTEIN AND SLEEP!

It is when we push ourselves to the limit that we are stripped of all the things that clutter our lives. Then we resort to our animal needs of food and recovery. I'm always amazed how far we can push our bodies.

My friend is already planning his next race and my wife will be getting up in 3 hours to get ready for her next shift.

On that note it's time for some flesh and a power nap!

Slow your roll

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in a long time. NOTHING!!! It was raining and never stopped the whole day. So no motorcycle ride. BUMMER! so I just hung out and laid around. After I accepted the fact that I was doing nothing I actually relaxed. I felt great by the end of the day. Maybe I need to slow down once and a while??? WHY???

If you are reading this blog you understand how easy it is to keep pushing. Problem being, burn out or injury. So I did a very tough thing today I told myself that this wee would be an easy training week and that I needed to stick to it.
Day one of the easy week

32kg MP 5x5L,R easy
Cook hip lift
5 min of belly breathing

I know this is what I need now I need to stick to it.

Stones &GPP

I felt like something heavy Thursday. Atlas stones are heavy lets pick those up! It was a very low rep day.
175# x1
220# 2x2
250# 2x1
Pull ups with a 8kg hanging off each foot 3x3
hanging knee raise 2x5

Friday
180# GPP sled drags on a very hot very humid day 25 min

That was it for the last two days. I hope that next week slows down some. My two night KB classes have been nuts 20 people at each one. NICE!

Life is crazy!

I have been running around like my head was cut off for the last three days! Here is how my training went

Monday and Wednesday
KJ cardio snatches 20kg 40x7 15sec work 15 rest.

Tuesday
40 kg C&P ladder 3x1,2,3L,R

Deep Thoughts by DN

I went for a 150 mile motorcycle ride yesterday. The thing that is great about the bike is that it takes you out of the world, no cells or radio. This lets the mind work through everything under the sun.

I was riding along getting looks from people in cars and it made me think about peoples comfort levels. I am at home on any motorized vehicle. Contrary to popular belief I don't have a death wish. I'm not going to live my life in a bubble, I could die sitting on the couch. When it's your time it's your time! Then my mind got stuck on the comfort thing. If you are comfortable in your life are you dead? I have been thinking about moving to California due to some prodding from the Evil Russian. Which has put my mind ass over tin can. Do I stay comfortable or do I push it? What do we say in the RKC, if your bored it's not heavy enough. Heavy, how about moving your whole life cross country! Life is a challenge, are you bored or just comfortable?


I did come up with a sweet shirt idea yesterday I will post it as soon as it's done.

Last night sucked

I couldn't sleep at all last night!! I was worked when I got out of bed this morning. During my first three sessions I was trying to talk myself out of doing my snatch training I had planned. Then I had an hour break so I checked my e-mail and poked around on the net and thought just do it now and get it over with. I chalked up and I was off. Now I'm glad that it's done and the session went really well, thank god. Next week 50 sets.

20Kg
40 sets of 6
EASY!!!!

5 Minutes Alone

Monday I followed the 15 sec protocol for Kenneth's cardio snatch workouts. The main reason was that it is easier on your hands. I planned 40 sets of 6, 15 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. All was well but the last five minutes were tough. I had a Pantera CD playing at a roaring level and was by myself just busting my ass. As the next song started I remember thinking only 5 minutes left. Wouldn't you know it the next song is titled 5 Minutes Alone!!! I was pumped, I could have done 60 sets. It was one of those weird things that happens every once and a blue moon.

Monday
20Kg snatch
40 sets of 6

Tuesday
40kg MP 3x3L,R
Suitcase Dead lift 135# 2x3L,R

Tools of the Trade

Over the years of KB training there have been a few things that have saved my skin. Corn Huskers lotion helps to toughen up the skin. The Dremel to sand down my calluses. Climb On Bar to heal my hands after a training boo boo. By using all three of these I was able to do Kenneth's snatch workout yesterday. Keep in mind that I tore a huge chunk of skin off my left hand last Wednesday (5 days ago). The tear was half my fault. My calluses were to large and bunched up and ripped the softer skin around it. So keep up with the hand care and life will be much happier.

GPP

I needed to let the hands rest today. I haven't been doing any general physical preparedness work for a few months, so today was as good as any other to start. My hands were very happy about that. Grabbed the sled and headed to the side walk, loaded up about 180# and I was off. Forwards, backwards, lunges, across the chest and over one shoulder. I love doing this because it is great advertisement for me. My studio sits right on a corner with a traffic light so people get a free show as I go up and down the sidewalk. They ask questions which I answer as I walk by them. Those of you that know me know that I train a friend of mine that owns a hair cutting place, well I am her test subject(dummy). So I always have what I will call different hair cuts. The most recent one is a full blown mohawk (sweet!). I was really getting the looks today. Enough of this rambling I'm going to eat.

Make it work

My hands are still tender but I was still due to train. I couldn't really clean the bell, so no KB presses. I could however clean and press the log that I have at the gym. training went much better than I thought it would.

Standing log press
100# x 10
120# x 10
140# x 8
160# x 5
160# x 5
100# x 15

Pistols 3x3L,R
Get up sit ups 1x3L,R 40kg

Hands By Kenneth

Well I did Kenneth Jay's cardio workout on Friday, Monday and today. After Friday my hands were sore but not to bad. Monday, I managed to only get a small blood blister in the middle of my right hand. Tuesday was a normal heavy press workout. Then today cardio Kenneth style. Unknown to me I had a blister on my left hand as well. I had my last morning client tape my hands up as a precaution. Thanks Mike! About 8 sets in I felt the blister on my left hand tear off, two sets later so did the one on my right. Bleeding and sore I did finish the last 12 sets, it's just skin I will grow more. I was going to try again for this Friday but I will have to see. I will have to get the dremel out and sand down the ridge in my callus. Other than that all is well and I feel very good after the workout.

One last thing two of my clients stayed to watch. It's always nice to have a little support. I often train by myself and sometimes you need that extra little push. Thanks Mike and Darlene.

Cardio without a single step

Thanks to Kenneth Jay and his damn research. Those of you at the level II know what I'm talking a about. It's a real nasty snatch workout! I won't go into the explanation of finding your training reps you can e-mail him and find out but mine went down like this.

Work and rest intervals were the same 36 seconds, switching hands for each set. Yes, that means that you need to get your reps done in 36 seconds. I ripped my boxer in half on the second set but other than that all was good.

20 sets x15 reps 20kg, 300 reps x 44 pounds = 13,200 pounds
All in 23 min.

Yesterday and today

Training on Mondays has really been hard the last few weeks. I think I'm dehydrated from the weekends. I find that I don't drink nearly as much water as I do when I have a full day of training. I need to make it a point to carry H2O with me on the weekends.

Monday
32kg mp 5x5 L,R
pull ups 5x3
Janda negatives 3x3

Tuesday
One arm straight bar press
65# 3x5L,R
75# 1x5 L,R
80# 2x3 L,R
32kg Renegade rows 3x5L,R
32kg bear crawls 3x50'

Sunday grub

So here is the first meal that I'm going to post. Coffee crusted steak, yes coffee! Also grilled asparagus. It's a very simple recipe

Steak of choice, this one is a 2 pound London Broil
bunch of asparagus
hot grill

Coffee crust:
1/4 cup ground coffee
2 tablespoons of Montreal Steak seasoning
mix them together.

Preheat grill
coat steak with olive oil, this helps the crust form
cover steak with coffee mixture
cook to desired temp
sit back and enjoy!!!

The coffee give you a smokey flavor that surprisingly is not bitter. I have had people ask if there is chocolate on the steak. No but that might be a future post. Sometimes I won't tell people what the crust is made out of very few people guess. Have fun with this one.

Friday

Had a great workout yesterday! I'm not posting it because I'm working on some combos the the cert in Denmark. I think I have come up with a good one with a few more tweaks it should be tough.

To Tracy and Fawn,
I think the recipe thing is awesome. I think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and start posting some as well. It's always nice to get ideas from others. When you eat healthy you tend to fall into the rut of eating the same things over and over. The meal that is your staple might be something totally new for someone else. So I'll try the chicken sausage thing. I will let you know if it makes me weak of anything.

Fun one

My tattoo has finally started to feel better.so today was a good session.

32kg Bear crawls 10x 50'

Gym boss 40 seconds work 20 seconds of rest for 10 minuets
4 rounds of deck squats
2 rounds of deck pistols
2 rounds of donkey kicks
2 rounds of clapping push ups

I was sweating like a mad man and it was great.

Summer Fun

Here is my preferred from of transportation in the summer time. I try to ride it no place special and and everyplace that is fun.

Self Inflicted

I had a tattoo finished on my right pec and delt on Saturday. Man it's sore as hell! I have been able to do rows, SLD, pistols and Battling ropes. I need to play around with the ropes more because John Brookfield is coming to my place Aug. 18th to do a seminar/cert with the ropes. I'm really looking forward to it. He tells me the things I'm doing with them is like kindergarten. Check out John's site under links and see what you think.

1035kg weight pull

Here is an American bulldog pulling 1035kg

Yesterday

Clean and Press 32kg
10x5 L,R

Cleaned the bell after every press. This finished tearing the rest of the skin off of my hands after level II. I don't have to worry about that anymore. The reps felt really good and strong. I have finally got my desire to train back so all is good.

BUSY

Mark, Will and I last weekend

After getting back from St.P. things have been crazy. I've gotten little sleep and not enough food and that sucks. So today I kept the training short.

Double 32kg MP 5x5
Pull ups 3x3

I'm Back

I am never surprised with the amount of information that is given during a Dragon Door event. Every time I attend a certification I learn something new, level II was no exception. All of the presenters were fantastic. Rif and that damn foam roller. WOW THAT IS SOME PAIN! I can only imagine the pain that he had to endure to regain the function that he has, amazing. Kenneth Jay ( Uber Human), put us through a great snatch workout, to show us what real cardio is all about. HINT, there was no running or bikes involved. He and Tommy were fun to hang out and eat dinner with on Saturday. Brett Jones presentation was on Functional Movement Screening. It was amazing and very humbling. I will be doing more of that in the very near future. Then there was Will Williams. I shared a room with Will and had a blast what a great person. We talked life, training and of course RKC. It is amazing how a little pain brings people closer together. Last but not least Pavel. I have said it before and will say it again. He has been one of the most influential people in my adult life and I thank him for that.

Thanks to Kenneth and Tommy for the invite to Denmark next year to be a Team Leader. I can't wait.

Yesterday

Practice again

3x3 BW pull ups with a pause at the top
5x5 MP 28kg Easy!!

I have to say I have great clients. A bunch of them posted comments on the instructors page and I only had to pay them $10 each! Not really. It's always great to hear that what you are doing is making the impact that you want it to. I am very fortunate to have people that are willing to work hard and trust me. Thanks to all of you who have posted a comment for me I owe you big.

Fitness means something different to every person that walks the planet. A six pack, size 4 jeans, 500 pound bench, pressing the beast or running 26.2 miles(don't ask me why). I have been lucky enough to have people that get what I'm all about. I will give you a hint it has nothing to do with 26.2 miles.

nice and easy

Practiced movements that will be tested at levelII.

24kg
windmill and bent press 3x3 L,R on both exercises
pistols 3x3 L,R
pull ups 3x3 with pause at the top

It has been a good week. I have felt very strong even though this is a low carb portion of the Zero Tolerance diet. I am really looking forward to getting together with everyone next weekend.

What a Jerk

Short cycle clean and jerk 2 24kg
10x15
Battle Ropes 3x20 seconds double overhand waves.

Nothing fancy and not real hard, had a great sweat going. My buddy wimped out and started with 20kgs and didn't even get all his reps. What a skirt!!!

Water Bottle clean and press

Water bottles

I was unloading 5 gallon water bottles from my car today and remembered something I was working on this winter. Bottoms up clean and press with a full bottle. I have been able to do sets of 3 bottom up cleans but never the press. I grab the bottle by the neck and clean it just like a kb. Great on the grip and it forces you to keep the elbow tight on the ribs. If you don't you aren't going to catch it. So I played with the clean before my work out today. To press it is very tough because of the water. The rest of the session is as follows.

24kg Snatch
8x15L,R
1x15,15,15,15

150 reps per side 300 total x 24kgs= 15,900 pounds

I did the first 8 sets with a bell with the new finish. My hands were on fire!! I switched to my old bell from 2002 and blew through the last 60 reps. I guess it is time to get the sand paper out and work on some handles.

For the Snideman's

Franz and Yoana,

It was great to have dinner with both of you and thank you for the kind words. Here are the kids. Top picture is Peanut(92 pounds). Bottom Maximus(135 pounds) and Willa(45 pounds) but only 5 months old. All three are American Bulldogs

Back from St. Paul

I didn't have to team lead or assist for the June cert, but I had two students taking it. I decided to go out and show my support. I wanted them to understand that the RKC is more than a certification. They both did great and did me proud. They are no longer my students, they are now part of the family that is the RKC!

Congratulations to Diane and Nate it is well deserved.

I'm leaving for the Level II in 10 days. We are going to be tested on 5 exercises during the course so I practiced all 5 today.

24kg Windmill 3x3 L,R
24kg Bent press 3x3 L,R
Pull ups with a pause at the top 3x3
Pistols 3x3 L,R
34kg Jerks 3x3 L,R

Form was key today. I haven't bent pressed in some time it felt good

Rif Style

This workout was for my buddy Rif

Double KB military press

A pair of 32kg bells 35 min and

15 sets of 5 reps

75 reps total x 140 pounds =10,500 pounds lifted

Thursdays work out

Needed to get some leg work in today. Nice and simple

Hip belt squats

90# 1x12
180# 1x10
225# 1x8
270# 1x3
315# 1x1
180# 1x15


Pull ups attached to monster mini band 5x3

If you have never used an Ironmind Hip belt for squats give it a try they are ruthless.

Food for thought

How hard are you working?

This is an amazing thing to me, I see it every day. How hard people think they are training and how hard they actually are working. Our jobs as trainers is to have people do things they think they can't and we know they can. So the question becomes why can't they do it on their own? I feel there are a few reasons that really stand out.

1. Fear
2. Lack of confidence
3. FEAR

I never tell a new kettlebell client what Kg bell the are using, because it really doesn't matter. All they should be worried about is the form. It is my job to give them the correct weight. If you have a person use an 8kg bell and don't tell them that it is 18 pounds they don't think it is to heavy. After they find out it is 18 pounds they will tell you that it is to heavy. The weight they have been using for 3 weeks is now to heavy for them. FEAR and LACK OF CONFIDENCE!!!
The good news is that both things can be reversed. As they become more confident they fear less.

So what is holding you back?

Think of it like this. If you take a 180 pound man and a 180 gorilla and tell them to jump from this tree to that tree, who is going to do it and who isn't? Why? FEAR! The gorilla just does it because it needs to get over there. The man on the other hand fears what would happen if he doesn't make the jump.


PS. if you never jump you never know

Like it was my job

Today was a day to press till the cows came home. Here it is!

24kg MP 12x10 L,R

Done!!

I was feeling really strong today, there were thoughts of 20 sets but my client showed up early. I guess it will have to wait for another time.

Time to play

Yesterday I just played around with some stuff. I haven't done any of these in a long time.

Clean and press with Apollon's Axle 3x5 with 160
suitcase dead lift 3x3 135 L,R
rolling thunder hip lift 3x3 135 L,R
bent one yellow nail

It somehow turned onto a grip day, that was fine with me. I haven't trained grip for some time now, so it was fun.

Kenneth Jay Stuff

Rif this ones for you. I haven't played around much with the two kb one arm MP, so I thought i would give it a try.
There I stood looking down at my collection(46 in all) of kettlebells and wondering which two to use. I was very cautious in my choice. I know that many things change when you have to balance a load. So here is how a approached it.

Double kb one arm military press
2 12kg 1x5 L,R
2 16kg 5x2 L,R

walking see saw press
32kg 2x40'
24kg 3x50'

Today turned into a press only day. I felt good about the see saws. The one arm two kb press is something that will take time to find my groove. I find it very different then the groove I use for my normal press. I also had some difficulties with my hand positioning. Even though the weight was not overly heavy there is much more work required to complete the press. I really found myself struggling with the balance of the two bells. I'm sure that this wasn't helped by the lack of confidence in my hand position. All in all a good time anyway.

I HATE MY GYM BOSS!!!!

There are days when you know you want to train heavy. Then there are days like today, when I have to tell myself not to. The reason is simple your body needs change and so does your mind. So today was a fast and furious session. These are the days when I hate this little timer called the Gym Boss. It's a dual interval timer that will run on auto until the batteries die or you shut it off. I set a work interval at 40 seconds and a rest interval at 20 seconds. This seem to work well for me. Each round = 60 seconds and you can blast out a session in 10 to 20 minutes. Let me tell you today was a killer.

Here is the circuit that a buddy and I did four times in a row.
24kg get up sit up
double 24kg in the rack walking lunges
24kg swings
squat thrust jump into pull up

That's it 16 minutes. I had a little dry heave on my last set of rack lunges, but all was well.

What a difference a day makes.

My Monday session was rough but today I felt pretty good.

40kg MP 4x3 L,R
32kg windmill 3x3 L,R
Dragon flags 2x3
hanging knee raise 2x5

I felt that things need to be heavy today. I don't really know why I get these feelings they just bubble up to the surface. Simple workout good rest between sets. I felt great when I was done. I'm long past the days of having to feel beat to think that the session was good. Don't get me wrong, I still will smoke myself on a regular basis but not everyday. Mentally you cannot keep that kind of drive going for long periods of time. Your body will shut you down! There is a need to change levels of intensity and work done to keep moving forward.

TIme of the day means a ton

I trained a few clients this morning and then did my training. I usually train at 4:00pm on Mondays, today it was 9:00am. Not that this is early just much different for me. It made a huge difference. I felt weak and sluggish. Here is how it went down

24kg snatches 3x 10/10/10/10/10/10
32kg MP 5x5 L,R
16kg pull ups 2x3

It always amazes me how your body deals with different training times. I felt much better at the end of the session compared to the start. Happy Memorial day

Start slow finish in PAIN!

Needed to get some dead lift work in this week. My groove is feeling much stronger each week. Nice and easy the weight will come. That is all I keep telling myself. I have been relearning the dead lift, because I suck at it. so today's training went like this.

DL 225# 3x3 easy with good form
DARC swings 48kg 2x10 L,R
Atlas stones on to a 3 foot box. I'm only 5'7" so the box might as well be 5 feet
120# 1x5
175# 1x3
220# 1x2
250# 1x1

Jandas 3x3

I haven't use my stones in some time. They really fry your nervous system. My body was done after four sets. The 220 and 250 have a couple of ruff spots so you always leave some skin behind, you can always grow more.

How do you train?

I get this question several times a week. I have done power lifting and bodybuilding training in the past. In 2002 I bought a classic set of KBs and they changed my whole outlook. There is no longer back and bi day. No more tricep kickbacks or preacher curls. Nothing isolated or concentrated. That seems so long ago. It was fun, but not all that practical.

Now my focus is strength, endurance and flexibility. In the past I only had strength. I didn't really care about the rest. It was all how much weight can I lift and how big are my arms. The strange thing is I'm as strong as I have ever been and about 40 pounds lighter. The best of both worlds! How cool. All with out a pec deck or preacher bench. How is that possible? KETTLEBELLS!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't follow any hard and fast training schedule. I tend to rotate between heavy, light and endurance days. What I am feeling that day is what is next. Today is a prime example.

Pull ups 5X5 with a jump stretch monster mini band attached to my waist.
Double 32kg front squat 3x3 followed by see saw press 3x3 L,R
Battling ropes 2x20 seconds of each of the following
overhand alternating waves
underhand alternating waves
two hand overhand waves
two hand underhand waves

Training pull ups with the mini band is killer. The closer you get to the bar the harder it pulls. Boy do those suck! Front squat see saw combo was easy. The Battling Ropes are brutal. If you have never used them check out the site.

To answer the question from the title. I train for strength, endurance and flexibility. Everything Else is just gravy.

Press on

My obliques were fried from yesterday's bear crawl madness. I had planed to do some weighted pull ups but had a tough time creating the tension that I needed to do them right. Time for plan B. MP it is!

24kg MP 10x10 L,R

That's it, done for the day! This weight is easy for me, until set 8-10 it got a little harder. Form was very clean and tight.

Short on time

Man Mondays really suck. I have a crazy schedule on Mondays, tons appointments. So today I had little time to train myself. So it went down like this.

bear crawls 32kgs 10x50'
TRX atomic push ups 3x10

That's all forks! Time for bed

WOW

I was at the Olde Time Strongman picnic yesterday and saw some crazy stuff. The Human Vise, Pat Povilaitis did some wild feats of strength. Here is a link from you tube link to see The Human Vise in action. He broke a wooden bat over his head, tore a 2" phone book while hand cuffed, and stuck his hand in a cougar trap. Andrew Durniat juggled a 130 pound barbell it was unreal.

Roger LaPointe of www.Atomicathletic.com, put the show on for the second year. It was a great place for a bunch of mutants to show up and play around with some of the very unique lifting implements that Roger sells. Thanks Roger I'm looking forward to next year.

Feeling good

Today was a good day. All my clients were upbeat and things went very well. So when it was my turn to workout all was good.

24kg snatch 1x40 L,R
GTG DL 205 3x3
24kg military press 5x10 L,R
Hanging leg raise ankles to the bar 2x3

I haven't trained snatches for reps in some time so I thought I would bust out a set. My pace was crazy fast. I finished the set in a little over three minuets. I'm going to blame it on the sweet Alice In Chains CD I had on. Thank god I wasn't planing to do the secret service test, I would have crashed and burned. The groove for my DL gets better every time(Thanks Rif). MP were easy. Leg raises to the bar always suck if you do them right, Naked warrior style.

I am heading out to the Atomic Athletic Olde Time Strongman picnic tomorrow so I should have some good stuff to post.

A new gym

I went and checked out a new gym in the area today. I have a buddy that has just started personal training and this is his first job, I wanted to show him my support. It's your typical gym tons of those things you run on, plate loaded stuff, dumbbells and stuff. We always workout together on Thursdays at my gym. But I wanted to check the place out. After the tour I figured out what we were going to do. It just so happened that I had a pair of 24kg KBs in my car. Coincidence?
So it went down like this.

One arm olympic bar military press
45# 1x5 L,R
65# 1x5 L,R
75# 1x3 L,R
85# 1x3 L,R

Double 24kg snatch 2x10
Double 24kg front squat 3x5
24kg bear crawl 2x60'
Get ups 24kg 2x3 L,R
Windmills 24kg 2x3 L,R


After it was all said and done the owner came ove to talk to me. I thought for sure that he was going to tell me not to bring the KBs back. Wrong, he offered me a training job. Not what I was expecting to hear. If I didn't have my own gig maybe.

Diet or Lifestyle?

This is the million dollar question. To me A diet is something you are going to stop when you reach your goal. The problem with that is most go right back to the habits that led them to diet in the first place. So when people ask which diet would be best for them I have to ask. Diet or lifestyle change? Lifestyle changes make a greater impact over the long run. Diets are quick fixes that are extreme and difficult to stay on for long periods. People need to remember they didn't get fat overnight so it isn't going to come off that way either!

I have played around with tons of meal plans over the years. Most recent have been the Warrior Diet which I loved ( more in a minute)! Precision Nutrition and currently Zero Tolerance. Here are my thoughts on all three.

Warrior diet: under eating phase during the day/overeating for dinner
I 'm not going into all the details but here is why I liked it. Great sense of freedom during the day. I have a very hectic training schedule one after another hour after hour. Not having to stop and eat was great. After the initial 2-3 weeks the hunger was gone during the day I had tons of energy and great workouts. At the end of the day I would head home eat a huge salad a pile of meat and carbs of choice. When I hit the sac I would be out like a light. I followed this plan for 5 years loved it. LIFESTYLE

Precision Nutrition: 5-6 feeding opportunities a day, protein and veggies at every meal, carbs only after workouts.
I like the idea behind the whole thing but ran into a timing problem. No matter how I worked my clients I was having to eat a meal or drink a super shake(which are awesome) during their session. Did my clients care? No. Did I care? Yes. They aren't there to watch me eat chicken and asparagus at 7:00a.m. After the first two week I felt good and training was going well I just didn't like the timing of the whole thing. Could the become a lifestyle for me? No. For my Clients yes.

Zero Tolerance: 3 whole food meals a day and three amino acid loads a day plus an amino load before and after training. The first 14 days protein and veggies only, days 15-28 three carb meals a week after training only. Repeat
Three meals a day a very easy to space and amino loads can be done while training clients and I don't miss a beat. This is what I am currently doing. I am very happy with this plan. It always keep my metabolic rate going and the two week switched are great way to stay motivated. LIFESTYLE

If you have any questions or want more details on any of the above let me know.

PS OFF DAY NO TRAINING

Needed to sweat

Today was a day I need to gut it out and sweat hard. It went like this.
Gym Boss 40 seconds of work 20 seconds of rest.for each of the following.

Squat thrust jump into pull up
48kg swings
48kg Get up sit up left
squat thrust to pull up
48kg get up sit up right
deck squat pistols
squat thrust to pull up
48kg clean transfer clean
deck squat pistols
squat thrust to pull up
deck squats
static knee raise
squat thrust to pull up
floor wipers
knee raises
15 minutes total
followed by
double 24kg rack walk
double 24kg farmers walk
double 24kg overhead walk

all three done one after another 150 feet each

Sweat accomplished!

Grind away

Time to practice. Today was an emotionally draining day as a trainer. One of those days when all your clients are having big issues outside of the gym. I don't mind clients puking there problems during the session. I actually like the fact that they feel that comfortable with around me. I try not to offer much in the way of an opinion, but to offer them a place to vent. Days like today fry my brain. So I wasn't to jazzed about my training.

swings 24kg 3x20 to get the blood moving.
DL 3x3 195 EASY
40kg hack squats 3x3 Kept good tension all 3 sets
BW pistols 3x5L,R

The DL is killing me mentally. In the past I have done 365 for reps, but my form was trash. The weight is not the problem just need to grease the groove. PATIENCE!!!! ARRRRR!!!

Friday Fun

I haven't done much in the way of heavy KB military press for some time so Friday was the day.
Military press
24kg 1x5 L,R
48kg 3x1 L,R
24kg 10x10 L,R

Pull ups
16kg 3x3

TXR body saw w/knee tucks 2x10 www.fitnessanywhere.com

I haven't even touched the 48kg in two months so I was happy with the results. I need to play around with it a tad more. It makes for cool party tricks.
The rest of the work out felt great. The knee tucks w/body saw on the TRX system is killer on the mid section.

OH THE PAIN!

Today was a day I needed to bang it out. Simple and brutal.
Used my Gym Boss interval timer.
interval #1 40 seconds(work) interval #20 seconds (rest) = 1 round

Overhead sledgehammer strikes into tire for 40 seconds
20 seconds to run over to my 155 pound indoor tire and flip end over end for 40 seconds

Went through 10 rounds total

rested for one minute

5 minutes of Get ups 32kg

Total workout time 17 minutes covered in sweat and loving it.

Great Day to train

75 and sunny, it's about time!!! Had a good session today.
Practiced my DL groove and weighted pull ups
DL 3x5 190# easy groove is feeling much better
Pull ups 4x3 with 16kg
24kg core combo one after the other repeat 3 times
pull over sit up 5 reps
get up sit up 5 l,r
hot potato 30 reps


It felt good to do the pull ups again. I injured both elbows rock climbing about a month ago. This forced me to take time off to heal up. They felt really strong today. Which was the first time for a long time thank goodness.

I have been following the Zero Tolerance diet for about a month now. I will give the details when I have time.

Start of a new week

One of my trainers bought a body fat% scale over the weekend, so we did some comparisons. Here is what I noticed. It was high on me because of my height. 5'7" and 185 pounds seems off as far as the scale is concerned. I had my % done before I got on the scale and I came in at 12.07%. The scale had me at 16.4%. She thought that she had purchased a piece of junk, but I don't think so. It gives you a number to start with. Is it high? In my case yes. Does it mean you can't use it to measure fat lose? NO. It will still measure a lose of % and that is all that matters. People tend to worry about the number to much. Instead they need to focus on making that number smaller.

Toady's work
Double 24kg clean and jerk 90 reps in 9 min.
Military press with a 6kg stacked on top of a 24kg 2x3l,r

The clean and jerks took a ton out of me I haven't trained them for a long time

Friday's work

I have never been a good deadlifter, it would always turn into a stiff legged dead. Great for the hams, bad for the back. As a result I stopped doing them long ago. So now I have decided the I am going to work on my DL. First things first check the ego at the door. Easy for me to do since I train by myself and in my own gym. MISSION: find my DL groove.
so it went like this
DL 5x5 185# This was easy,but that was the point.
Get ups 32kg 5 min
Overhead sledgehammer strikes into tire 2x20 l,r

The DL was easy, but that is the point. If you can't find your groove with a light weight your form just gets worse as the pounds increase. Also you can make any weight heavy if you grind the whole movement. So there I was fighting every little inch with a weight that I could have just popped off the ground. If you would have just seen the tension in my in my body you would have thought I was lifting the world. So I really worked wedging myself between the bar ands the floor. It was so powerful what a great feeling. I will add weight slowly and take my sweet time and get my groove dialed in.

Short and sweet

Yesterdays workout was a short and sweet one.
double 32kg bells front squat 3x3
double 24kg walking see saw press 50' x3
double 24kg windmill 2x3l,r
floor wipers 2x5l,r holding two 24kg
get up sit up 32kg 1x3l,r

Obliques were fried after, this felt great!

Last weekend's RKC

Well last weekend has made me think long and hard about where I am and where I would like to go. David Whitley and I had a great conversation about training and life. It is always great to get another persons point of view on life and work issues. Some times it takes a person outside of your life to tell you things that you already know. Funny how that works.

So I headed into the weekend thinking about the things Dave and I had discussed. I love teaching at the RKC!! To watch everybody struggle and bond through the pain and becoming a better man for it (including the women), what an incredible thing to be a part of. I remember being in their shoes not to long ago, and what the RKC changed in my life and hopefully it did the same for them.

So look for new things from me in the future. Until then KEEP SWINGING THAT KB!!!

Doug