Three day in the books

I started training Fabio Leopoldo on Tuesday which was followed by my first Jiu-jitsu class. Then the other instructor at the academy Erik Klinger found out I was a kettlebell instructor and wanted to train as well. Wednesday morning 7:30am I trained Erik which was followed by a private Jiu-jitsu session. Today Thursday morning taught class on the beach at 7am. Then went to the gym and did my kettlebell training, followed by training Fabio, Gennie ( Fabio's wife) and John a fellow Jui-jitsu student. After that I went home checked on the dogs and was off to Jui-jitsu class.

It has been a busy but fun day. Class tonight and then I can eat dinner.

What a crazy day!

I had a good class at the beach this morning. Everybody did a really good job and busted their butts. Then I went to the gym to do my training. I taught Monday nights class clean and jerks, which I haven't done in ages. They felt good so that is what I'm going to focus on for the next few weeks. As I did those I saw the Brazilians teaching a class. When they were finished I grabbed them and we got our kettlebell on.

After the kettlebell session they asked me if I was free at noon and if I wanted to take a BJJ class. It was nice to be a student and absorb information. Jiu Jitsu is a technical art that really makes you think. Being a newbie is great, I'm really looking forward to learning these skills.

On teaching them kettlebells it is very different. Fabio's English is pretty good his wife has a tougher time with it though. This will help me teach down the road. When you can't use your normal teaching style you have to be more creative. The good thing about kettlebells is that you can teach it without hardly any words.

Finally they are getting it.

I had a good conversation with three of the trainers from Maverick's gym, one of which is part owner. They are really starting to understand that I know what I'm talking about. They are getting that kettlebell exercises are much more than they appear. Ego in personal training has always been an issue. What most trainers don't understand is that it is OK to say you don't know how to do something. Instead most of them think they can just watch somebody do something and then teach it, WRONG! Pavel talks about this at every RKC I have been to and with good reason. A client will respect you more as a professional if you are willing to not go outside of your expertise. Saying you don't know but will find out is much better than guessing and getting it wrong. So man up and admit that you don't know all there is to know about exercise. Once you do this it will open your eyes and you will learn much more and become a better trainer.

On another note I had a meeting with Fabio Leopoldo last night. He has seen me training with kettlebells and wants to start training twice a week with me. SWEET! Jiu Jitsu really appeals to me, from grade school through 10th grade I wrestled and loved it. I think we are going to trade services. I sat and watched his class last night and there was a really good vibe. He is an MMA fighter but his classes a really laid back and they are all about the technique and not trying to break an arm.

Wednesday at the mall

I had to go to the mall yesterday because I dropped my watch off the kitchen counter face down on the tile floor. I knew from the sound that it wasn't good. I turned it over and I was right smashed the crystal into pieces. Off to the watch store in the mall to see what they can do. Send it out to Citizen to get it fixed. On the way out of the mall I stopped by the farmers market in the mall parking lot and bought a ton of veggies and fruit for the next few days. That's right in the middle of the mall parking lot a local farmers market. There is one somewhere in town everyday of the week. On the weekends there are several so you don't have to go to the store to get FRESH produce you just stop by the mall.

I felt the need for volume

So I hit the gym to do some high volume presses. 24kg 20 sets X 5/5. The people there still don't get what this is all about. They look like they want to ask questions. Instead I ask them if they want to try class on Wednesday nights and they all tell me it's to hard.

What is the deal with socal people being so soft????

These two could be brothers

I was watching a UFC fight last weekend and noticed a resemblance between one of the fighters and a dead rock star. The fighter Keith Jardine. The dead rock star front man for Alice and Chains Layne Staley.


Here is Jardine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLnGRy2K-s

Here is Staley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZE9i3TZfDI

New place to live!

Finally we are done, we have all our stuff in the new place. We are still in boxes but we are in and close to the beach so all is great. I drove bells to the beach for class this morning. I was almost there before I left so that was really cool. This place is going to be cool.

The dogs are getting use to sharing a house. We are in a duplex where we have the bottom so it will take some time to get them not to react to every bump and sound from upstairs. It's been a day and a half and they are already better than yesterday.

Training yesterday was moving everything out of the garage while Jen was at work. The last of which was the washer and dryer. This is always a good time. Nothing makes me feel better than grabbing a washer out of the back of the truck and walking it over to its new home. It does have a tendency to freak out the neighbors, walking around with a washer in your hands. This is WTH at its finest.

Pink Flamingo

This is my nickname for a guy at the gym where my new class started last night. It seems he is always there, morning, noon, and night. Every time I see him he is in his tight tank top and his high$ shoes. He loves the mirror and himself very much. The reason for the name is simple. Every exercise I have seen him do, he does on one leg. I'm talking everything, lateral raises, bicep curls, tricep push downs and everything else under the sun. So I would bet that he read an article in Muscle & Fitness about "functional training". His answer do it on one leg. My favorite thing about him is that when he takes his leg off the floor he hooks it behind his calf on his support leg. Which if you try it is almost as stable as standing on two feet. It always amazes me how people interpret things. God only knows what he would come up with if he started training with kettlebells from watching youtube. Then again I have seen those people too and they are just as messed up. Long live the PINK FLAMINGO!!

Old stomping grounds

Fellow RKC Matt Schinabeck has started the Cleveland Kettlebell Club.
Pretty cool, they get together once and month and enjoy the pain. Nice job guys, I will have to hook up with the crew the next time I'm on the north coast.

Not again

Head cold again, same yet different. Here is how it happens. Jen works in a nursing home and so whatever they get she brings home. Most of the time I I don't get it but this time I it got me. So feeling like crap I taught class last night and this morning. After my morning class I went to the gym where my new kettlebell class starts tomorrow night. I was in the need to sweat. I went over to an area by the cardio. Warmed up and then hit snatches. I started slow, 24kg and the first set sucked 15 L/R then 10/10, 10/10,then is sucked it up and hit 40/40. That felt good. I then just did 3x3 pull ups, arm bars. Brettzel and pump and call it a day. I thought I was feeling better then I got home loaded the dishwasher and started to sweat, can you say fever. So I will be laying low today.

CA vs OH

Since moving to CA. in mid-January tons of things have gone down. The price of gas is crazy. The JEEP is a gas hog. I'm paying rent for no good reason. The house I'm renting is in foreclosure. I'm moving three blocks from the beach. :) I got promoted to Senior RKC. Jen has been busting her butt. There are more farm fields in CA than OH. COLD out here is 45 degrees. Rain is something that might happen and if it does it makes headlines on the news. Fruit is always in season. Starbucks is now a place you get coffee only if you have to. Mom and Pop coffee shops are the way to go. 75 and sunny is norm. Everybody surfs. Everyone stops by the ocean once a day just to watch the waves for 5 minutes. People are happy here.

Switching things up some

Training has been going really well so nothing new to report there, but I'm switching up some things on the food front. DOn't worry I'm still all over the Warrior Diet just changing my beverages some. I have been drinking coffee like it's my job lately so I'm going to switch to green tea after my cup of coffee in the morning. I don't know why but it just seems like the right thing to do. I will let you know how things workout.

The ball is rolling!

I start teaching class at Maverick's Gym on the 15th @6pm. I have bee making my appearances at the gym for my workouts. I would much rather be at the beach but I know that I need to be seen to peak interest. I know there are one or two trainers there that are not happy that I'm going to be there. I think they feel I'm stepping on their toes, I prefer it to be more of a stomping on the toes.

There are plenty of fat people can't we all just get along??? The real problem they have with me from what I can tell is that I don't do curls, pushdowns, crunches or run on a stupid treadmill.
Today was simple a minute of swings, minute of get ups for ten minutes with 24kg. Then 3x3 pullups done the right way and 3x3/3 pistols. All of this in 28 minutes and I was done. The owner still doesn't believe that I don't do any isolation work. So I had a little talk with him about the myth of isolation. I think I will be giving that speech a good bit in my near future.

On another note. We found another house to move into on the 15th. I had several conversations with a lawyer about my house being foreclosed on and what we should do. It comes down to this CYA (cover your ASS) because nobody else will. The bonus is that we are paying less and we will be three blocks from the beach where I teach classes twice a week!! Hell yeah, the ball is rolling in the right direction for once.

Classes are picking up as well so all is right in the world.

Getting there

Slowly but surely I'm feeling better everyday. I have done little training so tomorrow I'm heading to this gym were I will be teaching a night class in two weeks. So I will go and plant myself in the middle of of the training floor and show them what kettlebells are all about. I was there for a meeting with the owner after which I huge out and observed. What I saw was nothing new lots of trainers with clip boards sitting on swiss balls. The kettlebell exercises that I witnessed were something special. That is all I'm gonna say about that.