That lived in look...2 years later.

It's a new Month !!!

We are officially into our third year at this location. The training and results continue to be the focus. There is no signs of slowing down. As a matter of fact, things are picking up. I dug up a couple old pictures to remind us how we use to drag these bells around. Cold bells. Puddles on the tile floors. Loading and unloading before and after every class. 'Below freezing' bells. Crazy stuff but we go thru it !!

HIGH TENSION RULES SUPREME !!

Say what you want. High intensity is only good if you add high tension. I love the H.I.T. Man.....and he H.I.T.s hard, but you have to have tension. Lots of tension. We have hit the shoulders pretty good in the last 2.5-3 weeks. If you only broke a sweat you should have been paying more attention to the weight. Meaning, more of it. Today I broke thru a huge barrier for me. Strict pressed the Beast on the left. Don't tell me Pavel's principles don't work. I just can't hear it. Hard-Style is not the only way to train strength but it has been the most effective and consistent method of training principles I have ever come in contact with during my travels. It works and it doesn't apologize for being hard.

SMOKIN' HOT LINK !!!! Picture Stinks !!!

This is by far the coolest tutorial I have seen. Shoulder
So here's the drill....show me the shoulder. Where is it. What muscles are considered the 'shoulder.' The picture above is the typical presentation of the shoulder. It lacks at best. If you see the website it shows the muscles of specific 'movements.' Awesome. A muscle function in the shoulder region changes depending on the movement your asking the muscle to perform. Last night over half of the training was a static hold. We didn't move. Our lats got hit very hard. Why the lats? Why did we walk around like we had wings? Look at the tutorial...do you still wonder? During the training we felt it to our waist....just holding a bell over head. I hear from people they are having 'pain in their shoulder' but when I ask more questions the response is, "No, not when I do that, or that, or that, or even that...but when I do this... well, not that time, but usually......" It is amazing. Play with the tutorial and try to find your pain within a movement. Label it...and then go see the great massage therapist Jc.

The Happy Couple !!

It was a beautiful wedding. Fantastic day and great reception. Congratulations to pair of 'swingers' (kettlebell) and my very best wishes for the two of you in the future. Now, the honeymoon is over. Get back to training !!!!

Can't begin to dig.....

Here is a great article with Coach Dan John. I love what he says about training, pressing, pressing and fat loss, pressing and strength, strength and women. Peeerfect. Check

MUD RUN...FUN?

"If you attack this course, it will destroy your soul." That was how the designer of the course welcomed us. He was not kidding. If you are a high level tri-athelete....you did well. If you were looking for anything that challenged your upper body, this was not your challenge. The first 1.1 mile was designed to thin the crowd. Right out of the gate you hit knee deep water and mud for about 60-70 feet. Then waist deep for about 40 feet. Now you have a one mile run, wet and muddy over and thru sand hills and dirt paths until you hit the slope. One of Trollhaugens ski slopes. Simple. Just run up it. I'm guessing it was a quarter to one third of a mile. Up a slope. I was walking at this time. The 'fun' only gets worse for the next 5 miles. This was a great experience and I will be pushing it next year. Now we know the in's and outs. I will push it as an event. Not as a race. More on this tonight.
We have some new people starting and things are now back to what I consider normal. Train hard. Steady progress. this will be a great winter for training.
See you tonight.

NEKB in it's 'Hi-Def" form.

Thayne Delivers !!!

I would be lying if I told you I hate saying "I told you so." I said it was a big show and it was. Fact is, this was sweet to watch. Thayne brought his service to NEKB and the response was outstanding. Many, many thanks to my brother for all the love he shared on Wednesday. Ya'll worked your butts off......H.I.T. style. I got a text from him a few minutes ago. He is flying thru his certification and Andrea DuCane is his team leader. Mrs. Strict Form, herself! He will learn a lot from her.

Have a Great 4th ?????

My family has a family cabin and the theme this year for the 'cabin fest' was The Great Race. The teams had 12 countries to visit and complete obstacles at each country. Not to mention each country was about 300 yards apart. I took about two hours to complete. Some teams didn't finish. I was asked to be Russia with my kettlebells. The adults had to bear crawl 60 ft with the appropriate bell size. The children had to farmers walk the same distance. It was a ball. My event was the shortest. Took the least amount of time. I thought I was doing them a favor. I wasn't even strict on the hips staying low. The majority thought the station was the worst. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't make it more benign. My cousins that have trained with me in the past smoked the whole race. Winning by not being sore the next day. I thought we were going to hospital for some of them.Oh well, there's always next year.

Great strength...little credit to the Yell King.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. When everyone is on the field and in uniform all eyes are on the ladies. They fly thru the air. Flip. Kick. Lots of eye candy. The guys are just 'support.' Support indeed. Here is a nice couple on spring break showing their stuff. She looks good. Relaxed. perfect position and form. Very symmetrical. HE LOOKS OUTSTANDING ! Thick as a tree trunk and relaxed. We never get this impression when they are in uniform because the guys are covered up.The ladies are much more exposed. From now on I will spend more time watching the guys. The amount of lifts they do during practice must be impressive. More research is needed.....must....watch...more....cheerleading.....

This is crazy...

I don't know if he is an RKC or not. He has some stuff that is pretty good. Of his 70+ videos (really, over 70? some people are just a tad self consumed) many can be deleted just because of the poor form. Like this one.

KB University

Robert Budd RKC-TL is not only a great guy but a very devoted trainer. I have had the pleasure of going thru two certifications with him. He is not short on patience or knowledge when it comes to his clients or his own training. I love what he has done with his business and website. Once again, why recreate the wheel. His videos are not only fundamentally correct but he does it very well. Click on this link to see some videos of the movement patterns which can be performed with the KB.

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY !!

Just because the person occupying the White House may not care to celebrate Memorial Day by going to Arlington National Cemetery and laying a wreath, doesn't mean we can't celebrate the national holiday. After all, It is a national holiday. Have a great holiday and we will resume training on Wednesday. No class Memorial Day. It's a national holiday. (did I mention it's a holiday?)

SSST and ULTIMATE SSST

Here is the official/unofficial site for keeping track of the numbers. I was talking to Robert Budd RKC-TL a while back when he was trying to get on the list. He was a little annoyed it was taking so long to get his effort posted. So, it must be an important site to get published on if you want to post the numbers. Either way, the numbers are impressive.

Genetics plays a part..

...but doesn't control everything. Look at this guy. He's huge. And, he's natural. He doesn't lift weights to get big. He eats branches. Humans are the only creatures on the planet that go to a gym to get stronger. To out perform others. To change our human form or status. For us, our body seems very vulnerable to the old 'form follows function' tag line. Can you name another species that will go into the jungle, set up an obstacle course for themselves and then run it until time and/or strength improves? We are not a rare breed. We are the ONLY breed. And we will debate or argue which way of training is most effective. Proof is in the results. That will end the discussions and debates. This is a nice blog. Very simply describes 'Hard-Style.'

Not that long ago....

...it was just another empty space. I came across this picture last night. Some will think back when we were still in the community center as the beginning of NEKB. Others will remember with reverence when NEKB only had one beer fridge. Either way I had the doors open this morning while vacuuming (Yes, I agree. In a perfect world 'vacuuming' would have one 'u' and two 'm's'.) and listening to the radio happier than a pig in mud.

For my training today I kept it simple. Vacuumed and pushed the Prowler. The Prowler kicked my butt, but my vacuuming is really coming along !

A History of Evolution...

This is a picture taken in a friends garage of their skis. This is about half of them. At some point thru the years I think every pair has skied past me or been in front of me on a lift. My point is simple.This is what they do and they have the boneyard to prove it. You don't know them. They didn't go national or win olympic titles. They have just stuck with something they love. They ARE expert skiers. Quietly enjoying a sport. Supporting that sport. Pushing that sport thru the years so other can enjoy it some day. This kind of dedication is why others can come and go from the ski resorts and there is still a ski resort to come and go from. Why is this important? Because it is the RKC and NE Kettlebells. We do because it works. We have the track record to prove it. Matt just pressed a #7 (32 kg) . The women are blowing PR's out of the water. We care about it. It's important. Others will never get it or understand it...and that's okay. This matters to me. It's fun for me. I take them on vacation and long weekends. I look forward to getting together with like minded people. It is exactly how you get a collection of ski's in your garage.

READ THIS. It is a long read but it will end any discussions about the RKC-"Hard-Style" effectiveness.

The Bell Handle Made With Women In Mind.

Gotta' share a great observation that Gina RKC made. She perfected her snatch grip for the RKC and did volume after volume of snatches to get the required amount for certification. After that weekend she came home with a 'female friendly' handled bell. Two weeks later her grip technique has adapted to the smaller handle and the other bells are ripping into her hands. So, unless Dragon Door is going to make a complete set of bells with smaller handles your training may suffer. Use the smaller handled bells are your own discretion.

BECOME KETTLEBELL CERTIFIED...

AND NEVER LIFT A KETTLEBELL ??? This is a link to the crap certification The American Sports and Fitness Ass's-ociation puts out. $99 get you the wall certificate and a handy wallet sized card to represent yourself. What a joke. Go ahead. Take the test. You only pay or sign up if you pass and actually want it. The questions are amazing.

Check it out!!

RKC WEEKEND APRIL 25th

The photo says it all. She looks great. I heard she even swung a #2 !!

One for the books....a PR

"Why" seems to be the recurring theme. It is the under current of what we are doing to ourselves. Here's a thought, the next time somebody asks you why you try with bells take a look at them and say why do you accept your current condition. Why is walking around with a six pack unproductive to some people but the keg hanging over their belt is ok. Do you really think your 'mate' accepts you for who you are? Lose 30 pounds and watch how they light up like its Christmas. Feel how easy you move. How easy you breathe.

Recently I decided to lose some body fat. Okay, cut silly looks. What I mean is I have decided to really 'cut' myself down. Just once. Only because I have never pushed myself like that in the past. The goal is to drop the body fat but not the strength.Not an easy process. It is the hardest thing to do if your a competitive lifter or bodybuilder. Why? Because it's constant. You can never drop the ball. You have to stay with it 24/7. Focus on a workout for 1-2 hours a day is easy. Get motivated and do it. But, keeping to a very strict course of eating takes more grit. This would increase my strength to weight ratio so theoretically I will be able to use a bigger bell for pull-ups or pistols.

So, I'm doing the reading. I haven't started yet. I am compiling information on nutritionally dense foods. I won't be able to eat a lot of volume so what I do take in must count. No empty calories. I have found myself looking into more and more organic stuff. Say what you want about organic foods and the expense because it is all true. Damn stuff is expensive. But it's real. Real food. Does it make a difference nutritionally? Oh hell-yah. Cost point?...I can spend $60 at the co-op and come away with maybe 10-12 meals. That same $60 bucks won't get me and my 2 kids one meal and a beer at Granite City Grill. The three dollars for a dozen organic eggs is a bargain compared to the $4 latte I continue to suck down. It really is about choices. What is my point!!! My point is I have been eating less food and partying more in the past week. I have had some events that needed attending and It just worked out that way. The food I have been eating is more nutritionally dense. Ice cream twice yesterday but otherwise no empty calories. I am slowly moving into 'cut' mode. This morning on an empty stomach I had a PR. I pressed the Beast on the right. It was towards the end of my training but I felt good. I can't get the beast off my arm typically. The next bell down is not a problem and the Bulldogs get 'rep'ed out anytime I have the desire. The Beast just sat there for years. At least two. I can only account for the increase in strength by the simple fact that I am eating real food. Not better. I have always ate well. But the grass fed meat from the co-op is just better meat than I was getting from Cub or Rainbow. The veggies are better because they are real. They have flavor. The Bushel Boy tomatoes at Cub taste like the paper sack they used to come in. My body is responding to it. I suspect Ready Meats has the same corn/grain fed meat. Shame. I will miss going there. This is my path for the summer. If I begin to look gaunt and eco-friendly mid-summer I hope somebody will rush me to BK and shovel a Whopper down my throat. I think that's basic CPR. Meanwhile, I am setting up more dates with the Beast.

Neck/Back issues....

Not any more !! On my back in gravel at a childs playground. The pain in my neck is sharper than it has been for the last 3 weeks. Something is pinching. Neck out of alignment. I need to see Jc...and soon. This time it seems to reach down into my upper back. Right between the shoulder blades. My neck is relaxed so I started pushing and probing deep with my fingers. I felt a very large bump...cyst? Tumor? I pressed on it very hard. It gave way. The muscle rolled and it was gone. So was the pain. I broke an adhesion free that had been there for 3 weeks. I have full range of motion. Moral of the story...any pain lasting longer than 3-4 days (normal recovery time) go to an expert. Go see Jc.

ASPARTAME

Do your own reading. There is a ton of stuff out there for and against. It is an easy thing to avoid to eliminate any risk. It is a scary thought that the methanol group is even there in the chemical composition. Watch the first 10 minutes of this video if you have the time. I take that back, make the time.

Here's the problem....

...everything is connected. Wrist flexors and forearm flexors wrapped by extensors. The grip is easy to overwork. Once over worked and fatigued, it can take weeks to recover. Months if you continue to train like a monster. Farmer walks are great but they destroy the grip for a disproportionate amount of time. Typing on a keyboard can be tough and become a challenge. The only way I know to recover a grip quickly is to see a massage therapist to work the area and then rest the area. If you know of a better, less expensive way, please let me know. Oh, and a hot tub works pretty slick as well.

If ya' gotta...

Then do it!! Sometimes we just need a break. The good news is everything happens when we are sleeping. It is the single best thing we can do for our bodies. All repairs are made while sleeping. Google "why do we need sleep" and read a few of the articles. Now I am not saying to take a month off from training. But, a couple days off here and there are best for recovery and growth. TRAIN SMARTER. NOT HARDER. It is the truth. Just because it is on sale doesn't mean you need it. More days training isn't always more better (more better?). Think through your training. Sometimes a week off is all you need to reset and heal.

Once again...

...you get out of it what you put into it. Anyone can swing a KB. But doing a 'swing' takes much more effort with much greater results. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Every movement, every rep, every time. Step up and dial in.

Need I Say Anything?

Team Update

Roxanne has been brewing a nice following north of us in some of the community centers. A new article about her classes is on the back wall of the studio. Additionally if you follow this link and then click on the kettlebell RKC video you can see her in action. Tuesday is the VO2-again. We get things rolling at 6:15 pm. It is always a ride so prepare to stay for a proper cool down before stepping outside. Bring a hat for your head and keep your spine warm. See you tomorrow.

Ten-Shun....lots of tension.

Break it into small bits...Slow it down...Work on the edge of your abilities. (The last phrase is key!)

It wasn't suppose to be easy. If you train at the very edge of your range, your range will increase/widen. It is the range (mobility) and tension (strength) combined that make the process work. You should have been working out side your comfort zone. Pushing it. The weight was light. No one gets hurt but everyone feels it. Keep this in mind on Wednesday.

RIp, Tear, Shred.....

Well, we did short work of the stack of phone books. This is the kind of training the big box gyms don't offer. And yet, our grip got fried rippin' thru those books. We will restock and hit it again. Now the key is to let the grips recover so we can to the VO2 on the 9th. It will be more challenging this time because we know the proper weight or have a better idea. The key is to work on the edge of your abilities. Don't shy from it. Chase it down and hog tie it. Done!

Combo' Efforts Tonight...

It's idiot proof. When it's done well. Tonight we hammer out everything KB stands for. I did this drill at 1000 this morning. It is now 1330 and I am a better man. The T-Bone I had for lunch didn't hurt either. This is a good day to check in, Gary.

VO2 Results

There's good news...and bad news. The good news is about 18 people showed for the VO2 night. I was a great effort by a very respectable group. I wasn't kidding when I asked what someone would think if they looked in on the group. People were looking in. From the outside it must look crazy. Music thumpin'. Colored lights pumpin' to the music like a disco. Everyone thrusting weights overhead on cue. Nobody talking. Everyone staring forward. Sweating buckets. Craziness. IT ROCKED ! We will do it again in two or three weeks. We did learn some things. First, it is not about muscle strength. It is all cardiac. People stopped or changed their number because they couldn't catch their breath. Not because muscle gave out. It is a different beast. The bad news is we lost some people the next day. It was brutal on the hands. Technique is King and rules supreme. We knew that going in. But, it was really put to task after 640 snatches. This needs to be figured out by the individual. Nobody can do it for you. Figure it out. This is our challenge. It is what sets us back in training. Sore and bloody hands cannot be dismissed. They command attention and will bring you to your knees. MANY articles have been written about how to spare your hands. If one of them helps you, great! You still need to figure it out. Heal well. More work ahead.
The picture above is Caps' hand. He took a hit but finished. I see two open areas and at least one more 'hot spot'. It gets really rough when one hand has more than one open area. Heal well, Cap.

CLASS OF 2010

Photo Time.....

Please make it a point to come to class on Monday (18th) for the annual class photo. Let's plan on taking the photo at 6:10 pm

Having a Melt Down ?

The heavy snatches went better than I expected. I call it the big reveal. I knew some people were sandbagging it but I had know idea how many. It was great. PR's with the men and women. Now we can all move up a weight. The bell you can hang with has changed and so has the hang time. From now on we will grab a heavy bell to hang with for single digit minutes rather than a light bell for double digit minutes. Our big light days will be VO2 days. Time to change the format and get neck deep in 'Hard-Style."
Today I tested the waters. I snatched the 24 kg (#5) seven times following the VO2 15:15 protocol. I didn't complete it I only went for 20 minutes. It is a very different beast. Next time I will go for 30 minutes and see how it turns out before I zip into the full 40 minutes. It is a different beast.

Back at it....

Backs and bells. You just can't beat the combo'. At the last session we went heavy for presses. Very basic move. Very common activity. We need to get objects over our heads. Putting or pulling items down from an overhead shelf or lifting to another person, it is a very common move. If you train controlled and heavy you will be able to bounce back from the occasional mishap when your movement patterns aren't what they should be in the field. Quite a few people pressed more than they had in the past and the women were no exception. The ladies are very capable of pressing weights that humble the average guy. It is a limitation we impose on ourselves. If you don't think you can do a lift...you are correct everytime. We will put this into practice again...tonight.