Rite of Passage !!! (so far....)

Here's the recap...First we found out the five ladders with five rungs (5x5) weight. Then we went up one bell and dropped one rung across all ladders. We are still doing five ladders total. So,...for the sake of discussion...let's talk about me. I completed 5x5 with the #7 (32kg). The standard applied. No leg assist. Heels on the ground. Knees locked. Full press to the lockout over head. Re-cleaned before each press. Monday I went up a bell size to the 7.5 (36kg). Monday is a light day so the ladder is 5 with 2 rungs (2 rungs less that the heavy day which will have 4 rungs). I got the 5x2. It was hard but it is suppose to be hard. That's the point. Today I will do 5x3 with the same weight. Let's say I can't get all the rungs. Let's say on the forth ladder I can only get 2 presses...well then I have some choices. Keep it to 2 reps or drop the clean before each press. This is why you may want to keep a log book. The best lifters keep a log book and follow how their body responded to their training. This is pretty simple so far but if your into the 5th or 6th week and things aren't moving...you need to go back and figure out the "why" in the equation. IF I decide to keep it to two presses it will look like this on the 4th ladder 1 + 2 + 2. The 5th ladder will look the same. So what happens on Friday? I couldn't get all the rungs on Wednesday so what's the point of adding rungs up to 4 on the first ladders ? Because you may be able to get the first couple ladders and the the 3rd ladder is where things drop off. This is where the training comes in....not the work-out. Anyone can sweat. Sweating is not the sign of a good or productive work out. It's just sweat. Sweat is easy. Plenty misshapen bodies sweat. Improve your ladder presses. Now your doing something. I barely sweated from fall thru spring when I was strength training.....weights always improved. It's not about the sweat.....not anymore. Time to get your press on !

The Punisher

Eat well. Sleep well. Tomorrow nights class will be a hell storm. Good ol' fashion "what the hell just happened" , "I feel like ground meat", "I won't be able to walk for a week", "anything goes" and "everything is on the table." I am seriously worried. One thing for sure....it will not be repeated on Saturday. One night only. This will be "The Punisher."

LOADS OF FUN

I was a little annoyed by not finishing my ladder last Saturday morning. I knew what was going to happen and I felt pretty good considering I had not eaten well or slept. I worked the night before so the typical 2 hours of sleep in the past 24 was in play. All that aside, I felt pretty good. The ladder was a challenge . For those missing the action, It went like this:

Press L x5
Goblet Squat x 5
Press R x5
Swing x10
Snatch L x5
Goblet squat x5
Snatch R x5
Swing x10

The rules: Complete the above with one bell (keep the same bell) for all movements. Do everything in 2 minutes and do it 8 times. that's 16 minutes of straight work. Wait 5 minutes (rest) and do it again.

I used a 24 kg bell. I got thru the first set of 8....rested and only made it to 11 minutes the second half. My form was beginning to suffer and we all know the rule. When the form goes, your done ! So I put it down. Afterwards we talked. I heard a common theme. "Think I could have finished if I started with a ___ . I found myself falling into this thought pattern. I know I could have finished if I would have used the 20 kg bell instead of the 24 kg bell. Then I thought......maybe not. Maybe I hit peak capacity in that short time frame. Curious, I did the math. It's the same total weight lifted. Finishing with the 20 kg is the same total weight as quitting early with the 24 kg. Maybe I did hit my peak work load before my form went to hell. I won't know for sure until I do it again. Actually, I need to do it 2 more times. Once with the 20 kg and one more time with the 24 kg but, this time, well rested and fed. Only then will I know for sure. This will be revisited.

So, here's what we got....... " The Food Choice Challenge ! "

Oh, quit your whining.There is a very good reason behind the madness. First, let's look at our training (try and keep up with the long narrative, Dan (Seawell) ). IT'S HARD. Real hard. One might even call it a 'hard-style.' We are getting stronger. Breaking down and building up muscle is the pattern. The waste products need to be eliminated and are eliminated...for the most part. But, elbows and knees feel tight. Joints, shoulders, backs take a hit and don't feel 100% at times. Take a Motrin. Drink a beer. Drink some wine. Shot of bourbon. Whatever. Body feels a little better and we are back at it. I have had more conversations about tennis elbow, shoulder pain and knee pain in the last 8 weeks than in the entire 6 years I have been doing this KB stuff. These are all symptoms of the same problem. I am not going to get into all the research and studies...it isn't needed. But here is the bottom line...the stuff we eat is the stuff we become. Not only that, the cells actually modify themselves when they replicate to accept and process more crap that we eat which leaves less room for the cell to have receptor sites for the normal items of proper metabolism/nutrition. It is a sick cycle. And I do mean sick...like 'ill.' Cells that are so out of balance they just keep replicating but they have lost function. They become cancers. This isn't rocket science. Rocket science is simple compared to the complexities of this process. This is more important.
So, What's the fix. We are all walking around as toxic waste holding ponds. We have inflammation in our joints, under our eyes and in the lymphs. We continue to eat the foods that cause it so it doesn't go away. Well, my challenge to you is to stop...for 60 days. You have been grazing to your hearts delight your entire adult life. In the 3 weeks you have know about this challenge I have had multiple people want to get 'their food' on the list. Look, you don't have to do this. I really don't care. I know it's needed and you will experience what I experienced June-Sept 1982.
If you ever had your food rationed, you quickly learn things about yourself AND your neighbor. My food was rationed for almost 4 months. I went to boot camp. A real boot camp. There is only one. Not the weekends off, go out in town and call mommy to send you an extra pillow. I'm talkin' The Marine Corps. Any other boot camp doesn't count. Why? Because in the Marines, the time was restricted. Food was rationed and regulated AND freedom was taken away. What other bootcamp does this? None. You go thru the chow line with your sectional tray and hold it out. You get a spoon of scrabbled eggs and you move on. You get the same spoon the guy in front of you and behind you got on their trays. NO REGARD FOR YOUR HEIGHT OR WEIGHT. NO SECOND HELPINGS AND NO TIME TO EAT IT. We all ended up the same shape after 3-4 months. Skinny got lean. Lean stayed lean. Fat got lean. Muscular got lean. We all looked the same. Same with P.O.W.'s...They all look the same. Nobodys 'fat gene' kept them fat. What keeps you fat is shoving crap in your mouth.Every new crop of young nurses that graduates and starts working nights starts getting fat because night nurses eat to stay awake...and they eat crap. You can argue cortisol levels if you want....but your retarded. Sorry.Everyone that uses that argument has a mouthful of crap they are constantly digesting. Whatever. Live your life. But don't feed me your justifications for feeling sick or being fat. There seems to be a trend as we age that we deserve to enjoy ourselves and enjoy the fruits or our labors....by eating rich foods. Oh sure...you never tasted ice cream until you had a good job and a house that is mortgage free. Give me a break. You have been enjoying yourselves the whole way. Well Here's the challenge....( For you spiritual folk, think of it as a nutritional sojourn. Fellow Catholics....think of it as a lent from hell.) Stop eating your stuff and eat this stuff.
Paleo list of approved foods I had a real nice piece I was typing but Linnea gave me a hand out at the studio and it directed me to this fabulous list. I am not one for recreating the wheel. The idea is to eat what cavemen would have been exposed to back in the day. It is how our bodies are genetically wired to best respond. You may not buy that. You may think it's crap. You may be right. A lot of evolution has happened since Paleo' period. Who cares. I can tell you right now that we were never designed to ingest High Fructose Corn Syrup. So relax. It's only 60 days. The list is only half the story. The list is what you can eat. Here's what you can't eat. Gluten. That little word is going to piss off a lot of people. No breads. No pastas. No dairy. No alcohol. NO FAST FOOD. NO POPS. No exceptions. " But Mike, what if it is gluten free bread?" No. It's still bread and it only 60 days. "What about gluten free cookies?" No. It's still bakery goods and it's only 60 days. (see a pattern?) NOW, if your totally lost and completely bummed and extremely agitated that I am expecting you to "go without " for 60 days and you think this is unreasonable. I think you need to reconsider. Consider this.......how weak are you? As a 18 year old punk I went without candy and my favorite stuff for 4 months. Nobody died but, everyone did get diarrhea when we drank our first Coke after abstaining for 4 months. Stomach aches and Diarrhea. That crap is nasty.
Here's what will happen. You will feel better. Much better. Skin will be healthier. Nails will grow longer. You'll sleep better. You'll move better and have more energy.
For those doing the Mud Run. You will have a major event kick starting your metabolism to a very high caloric need for about 3 days. Eat properly and your body will be different your first week.
One last item of note....and it's a big one. Guys.....you get no more than 2000 Kcal a day. Ladies.....you get no more than 1650 Kcal. How you get those calories is your business. Just remember the meats. All meats are very lean meat cuts. I am surprised that pork is on the list. Personally I only eat bacon so it will be easy to get rid of pork altogether.
The caloric intake is based on BMI for average body frames. Welcome to boot camp !!!

Not in this case.....

Ben Franklin said "Well done is better than well said." Up until this minute I would agree. Andrew Read RKC II, CK-FMS wrote a piece I read this morning that sums it all up. Remove Pavel from Andrew's story and insert Mark Reifkind Master RKC and you will have MY story. Which, speaks to the consistency of the RKC because my conversation with Mark happened over dinner 3 years ago. I was forty-four years old, he and I had an 'old persons' talk about training smarter and not just pounding out reps for rep's sake. Andrew's post is perfect. Read it here. The question is....will you benefit from the advice of experience of others or will you pound yourself into the ground. Remember, there is strength in mobility and symmetry. Even up your bells and iron out your movement compensations that have developed over the years. Last night Shannon was working with me shortly before class on my T-spine rotations. My T-spine is locked up. I stopped rotating my spine in 1991. This was the year I herniated my L5-S1 disc. 'Twisting' killed me so I stopped all rotational sports (if you call softball or baseball a sport...personally I think of them more as 'activity') . Flash forward to 2011 and after 6 years of KB training, I have great back support but the "Bretzel" triggers a dragon deep within the system that seizes my diaphragm, kills my breathing and spasms the peri-spinal muscles. So....I'm working on it. What's your dragon? Can you identify it? Are you working on it or working around it? (BTW-in the picture, Andrew is the first from the left, then it's Andrea, Geoff and Shaun (the original Beast Tamer).

250 LBS -vs- 120 LBS

Yes, it really does change you. Look at the ankle/knee/hip/shoulder joint distortions. Now at 50 pounds over weight the beginnings of the distortions are there to some degree. This depends on HOW you carry the extra weight. This is frightening because the first step for the aggressive 'loser' is to start........running. This is the beauty of KB training. We can place the force....tense the muscle....build the strength....that creates the muscle.....that burns the fat.....that lightens the load and corrects the distortions. All this in a way that is safe and joint friendly. Need we say more. ("Black" on an x-ray or MRI is air or gas. Notice the lungs are full of are and the 250lb person has a lot of gas trapped in their bowels)

Sooo....what's happening?

Does anyone feel it? The 500 snatches with a light weight. I did it Friday with a #3 and Saturday with a #2. I am noticing some serious metabolic demands. Maybe coupling them with the burpees it triggered something but my bodyweight is down and I have woken to my alarm for the past two days and that never happens. So, I think were on to something here. I am going to continue it for as long as it seems reasonable. I have been wanting to drop some body fat before my re-certification in July. I did the 500 snatches again today with the #3. I think I will alternate the 2 and 3 while snatching 500 daily. That is 13,200 lbs of work one day and 17,600 lbs the next. Today it took me 20:45 min to get the 500 snatches. That is an awesome work return on a very small time investment. Now I am off to get my burpees. Get yours. 34!!

BTW....The SSST is on the Calendar !! Time to bust up your number

DAY 3...

Like any good progression, it is totally dependent on staying on track. The benefits happen at the end. Any weight training program will start seeing real results mid-program...not the first 1/3 of the training cycle. So, changing your program frequently falls under the category of muscle confusion which is good. But if you are not on the program long enough to begin with, it just becomes 'a work-out' and not a program. I have trained with some very smart people. Too smart for their own good. Constantly changing things around and going on to a new philosophy of training before getting simple results from the training they were doing. Meanwhile, us 'over-trainers' were still increasing our weights even thou we were "over-training." And we were over-training. No doubt in my mind. But you do have to wring that rag dry before trying something new. Look at how well everyone did on the SSST and RKC Snatch test. We have not been training for this or focusing on 'so-called' conditioning. But there we were, snatching to beat all hell and posting impressive numbers. Look around to other clubs. Ask those who travel around to other clubs (Cap, Linnea, Super Dave, Big Dan...and the others) and check how we compare. We post great numbers. Which brings me to my almost annual shameless self promotion. Dragon Door has a feature on it's website to rank RKC Instructors. Here is the link. If you haven't done so in the past I respectfully request that you put in a good word to the mother ship ON BEHALF OF THE STUDIO. Please take a minute and describe your experience with NEKB. Don't focus so much on my instruction. Rather, if you would talk about the training environment I would greatly appreciate it. People read these things. Dragon Door gets a lot of traffic and it is some of the best advertising for our studio. Plus, other instructors are watching and it's nice to have a little friendly local competition.

NOW->->->->->GET YOUR THREE BURPEES !

CLASS MUG SHOT 2011

Thanks to everyone that could make it to the Monday class. Hard-core and Hard-Style...nothin' wrong with that !

Because They Asked.......

I couldn't be more proud. Our cycle of training has been higher than usual. It all started Jan. 1st and ramping things for the Saturday boot camp. After boot camp we had the heavy snatch day. I had comments on both days to have another boot camp or another heavy snatch day. It would seem the punishment cannot be too great. Last night was a moderately heavy press day to get the shoulders back in the game. This morning I get a request for the Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST). What ?!? More over the top efforts ? What is Feb' going to look like ? Okay...SSST it is. The request wasn't actually for the SSST. It was for the SSST, THIS MONTH !!! I think we are in a groove.

Let's review. The SSST is a timed event. It last 10 minutes. In order to pass...just 'pass' the individual must complete 200 snatches in 10 minutes. Men use a 24kg bell (#5) and ladies use a 12 kg bell. This is the SSST. NO ACCOMMODATIONS FOR AGE !! Although I think it's wonderful your in your twilight years, you can mention that as you boast your numbers. The SSST is a standard. It is hard. It is not meant to be easy. If you get <100...it's a lethargic effort. Thank you for playing. Enjoy the beer. 150 reps gets you in the game. That is one snatch every 4 seconds...half the pace/rate of the VO2. Heart is pumping and body is shaking and taking a hit. 200 let's you know you've been somewhere. It is a tad slower than the VO2. It is not an easy path. You will feel it all over. Your heart will feel like it is jumping out of your chest. The room will spin. Your stomach will flipped. Your hammies are fried. IT'S MISERABLE...for a reason. We want to get the greatest 'suck factor' out of that ten minutes. You will want to die. But, it's only 10 minutes. The bell can be placed on the ground for a rest. Do not rest more than 5 breaths or you will suffer getting the bell moving again. Resting overhead is best. It's only 10 minutes. We will partner up. Your partner will count for you. You don't have to count...just focus on the next rep, and the next, and the next, and the next. The KB stud men and women get numbers in the 230-250 range. Hard-core nuts get the 260-280 range. I have never seen or heard of anyone breaking 300. That would be the VO2 pace for 10 full minutes. One rep every 2 seconds. In-freaking-sane. Personally, I don't know where I stand. I have not attempted the SSST in a long time. I don't know how many over the 200 I can get these days. We'll find out.

Here's what will happen...someone will walk up to me and tell me they "quit early", "rested too much", "they could have done more but".....BUT NOTHING. It's 10 minutes. Dig deep and pull this out out. It's the mother event. We will do this on Monday, 31st. We will do it in both classes. It is the only thing we will do. A nice easy day. 10 min drill. 15-20 minute rest for those that finished. 10 minute drill 15-20 minute rest. Enjoy the rest of the night.

Get some rest.

What can I say........

These are a few of my favorite things. Look at this group. How does a collection of people come together on a
Saturday morning to push themselves in sucha' way that so called 'athletes' or 'trainers' would never do. I had a crazy out of body experience as I was drilling the class. I felt the camera pull back...see the building by the track...see the neighborhood......keep backin' out till I saw the state of Minnesota and then the nation and the globe. Who was doing this at this hour and at this level?Normal people don't do this. They don't experience their potential or expect more from themselves. This is high level stuff. I am proud to be associated with the cool kids !!!! Even if I only watched.

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 !!

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.

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.....

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.

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.'