A Hungarian Courage Corner

Dave Whitley's Lessons from the Old-Time Strongmen DVD

2010-09-15T10:42:00.003+02:00

In case you might have had any doubt if Dave is the right person to talk about old-time strongman training, they'll be dispersed right away as the Iron Tamer starts with a real old time strongman performance with amazing feats like bending nails, straightening a horse shoe, rolling up a frying pan, tearing a deck of cards behind the back, just to mention a few. He makes it all look so easy, he is talking to you casually the whole time, he even makes jokes, like in a circus show, but be aware, he is dropping gems of wisdom right from the start. Just watch out for his definition of "luck" and what it takes to "bend your luck" :)

He'll also take you back in time and talk about performing strongmen's everyday life, organized mainly by their appearances, eventually several times a day (that's how they made their living), and how they managed to maintain and even increase their strength without negative impacts on their performance (many of them accomplished feats that put the best athletes of today to shame - daily!) - and that into high age, which is not the typical sports career today!

I absolutely love the R. W. Emerson quote about methods and principles he uses as a starting point and keeps returning to from time to time: "As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble."

When introducing him at the beginning, Rif mentions Pavel's answer to the question, how one becomes a Master Instructor: 'that's not really something you can apply for, it's something we recognize.' It might be a stupid analogy but this is what came to my mind when I heard the above quote: it's the same thing with methods and principles, there's a lot of schools that teach you methods, but there are very few that, like the RKC, also try to teach you the principles behind them, most of the time you just have to try and be smart enough to recognize them.

Or, now, you can learn them from Iron Tamer Dave.

He'll help you to find your way in a Babel of trends and fads by directing your attention to the only handful of really relevant things, e.g.:

- The RKC definition of strength and a differentiation between technique as a specific set of skills and generating muscle tension as a broader aspect

- The principles of getting stronger are the same regardless of what method one uses, be it a barbell, a kettlebell, odd objects or even bodyweight exercises. If we look back in history and see what the most successful strongmen had in common in their training, the principles shine through, while differences appear on the level of the methods or equipments they used.

- There are really only two basic principles of getting stronger - or if there are more, they tend to fall into one of those two categories. To apply them in practice requires a strong focus but the rules to follow are, as the stories about Arthur Saxon, George Hackenschmidt, Slim the Hammer Man, Dennis Rogers or Joe Rollino and his 'Mr. Trevis' will also reveal, simple.

- A quick check on the lineage, the roots reveals a lot about what you should expect behind promising names like "functional", "core" or even "old-school" training - everybody can create a fad around a specific method but if it doesn't line up with those two principles, it'll go down just as quickly, unable to produce results in the long run.

He'll also tell you why, even if you find an authentic source, you can't just "copy-paste" whatever old time strongmen did: their "context" was way different back then. Modern lifestyle has brought about changes that create some underlying problems. Our ability to move well has deteriorated significantly in the past 100-150 years and we are trying to work our way around it, coming up with ways to successfully add fitness to dysfunction, inviting injury. There are some mentality issues going on as well, partly resulting from the above: today's training became something to "get over with" or to "endure", when measuring progress, focus has shifted from actual results to the amount of pain and soreness (no pain, no gain, uh?), and in general, the principles are outpowered by numbers, routines and getting a "workout".

He'll give you simple guidelines how to avoid those pitfalls and start "from zero" by re-gaining mobility first and adding stability next and how to implement the two basic principles in practice so you can proceed towards "hero" by building useful strength on a solid base. You'll get useful tips on exercise and method selection, programming and tracking progress, and some more crazy feats to wrap it all up: he does a get up with a kettlebell and a sledge hammer and he drives a nail through a board to pop a balloon with bare hands. Impressive, but inspiring as well - he walks his talk, and if you use his stepping stones, invest the time and put in the work, you can walk just as far.

Dave Whitley's Kettlebell Fundamentals: Deepening Your Getup Skills DVD

2010-09-12T14:51:00.003+02:00

Yet another DVD on the Get-Up, you might think. What's the upheaval about this get-up thing anyway, why does it suddenly get so much attention after having been almost forgotten for decades?

Well, there are many ways to do a get-up. And there's the RKC way. What the RKC does is "reverse engineering of what the strongest and most coordinated people do naturally". So you can't go wrong learning it from Master RKC and CK-FMS David Whitley.

Dave walks the talk. Not only is he a big and incredibly strong guy, but he is also very flexible AND moves well, and that's a rare combo indeed. But he is also a passionate and motivating teacher on the quest of making everybody ready to listen move better and get stronger.

So listen.

You'll see the get-up in a totally different light. Depending on how you apply it, it can be a lift, an exercise or a movement screen. It can develop strength, flexibility, coordination or even conditioning.

The RKC Program Minimum starts out beginners on "merely" two exercises: the swing and the get-up, and that has good reasons. And there are different but just as good reasons for why advanced Hardstyle practitioners go full circle and return to refine their swing and get-up... As Dave puts it, "if the swing is the center of the universe, [...] then the get-up is orbiting right around".

He will explain

- how the get-up takes you through all the ways the body can move, how it integrates pushing, pulling, hip dominant, quad dominant and trunk rotational movements, how it improves mobility and stability in all different planes;

- why all progressions, especially overhead work, should (and do) start with the getup and how actually every kettlebell exercise contains and builds on one or more aspects of the swing and the get-up;

- the fascial connection between the lats and the glutes (the two biggest muscles in the body), how their interaction makes back extension a very strong and stable position, as opposed to the flexion-dominance of modern lifestyle.

He'll talk you through the 7 steps one by one, adjusting every position and every transition so you can easily follow along and re-create the sense of precision either at home or when working with your clients. His verbal cues will shift your focus to concentrate on movement quality instead of moving the weight, which - paradoxically, maybe - will also make you stronger instantly.

You'll hear in detail about

- the difference between sitting up and rolling up to the elbow, why you should avoid trunk torsion and how an unusual bridging drill can make sure you combine hip flexion and torso rotation instead;

- the windshield wiper technique to similarly load your hip and unload your spine in the kneeling windmill position;

- how a specific pelvic tilt in sitting facilitates glute-lat-interaction and prevents spine flexion;

- why the high bridge is so much more than just an unnecessary speed bump;

- how your heel coming up or your hand position changing can point towards a hip mobility problem and how a variation of leg swing-through can help opening them;

- how a neurologically built-in protective mechanism makes a bent wrist weak and how to counter that by crush-gripping the handle and goosenecking the wrist;

- how your body angles during the lunge determine whether you're improving your strength or your compensations.

You'll also learn a couple more drills that can be seen as "derivatives" from the get-up leading towards other exercises:

- the classic RKC arm bar and the crooked arm bar, for complex stretching and strengthening at the same time,

- the tall kneeling press, to emphasize hip extension as part of proper alignment for overhead work (glute activation facilitates lat activation, remember?),

- and a crooked arm bar from the kneeling windmill position, an "aha"-drill for the bent press. As a bonus, he'll reveal how a simple household item can drastically shorten the learning curve of this seemingly complicated lift - that alone is worth the price! :)

MRKC Mark Reifkind: Lats, the Super Muscles DVD

2010-09-07T15:58:00.003+02:00

Rif has almost 40 years of experience in training and competing himself, in gymnastics, triathlon, ultramarathon, Ironman, bodybuilding, powerlifting and Hard Style kettlebell training, and more than 30 years in training and coaching other people, from average folks to world class athletes (click here for references). If he, a Master RKC with such a background thinks the lats are important, important enough to do a whole workshop session just on them and publish it on a DVD, then I readily believe they are.

Okay, apart from "the Party is always right!" talk, there are quite a couple of cogent arguments as to why the lats should be considered super-muscles. First, as you'll hear Rif explain and show you, the lats are the second largest muscles in the body, second only to the glutes. They're fan-shaped muscles with very extended origins, on multiple points from the T-spine and the tip of the scapula down to the thoraco-lumbar fascia and the iliac crest, sweeping up and inserting on your upper arm. Consider this for a moment... It is probably not so just for the fun of it, there's good reason to assume they have an accordingly wide range of functions, way more than people in today's inactive civilized life and in a fitness world of disintegration and isolation actually utilize. As Rif puts it, the lats are the "most misunderstood, most under-utilized and hardest to activate" muscles, in spite of the fact that they should be involved everywhere, even in sports movements you wouldn't think they'd play a role. Moving the arm, that's obvious, but did you think of their interplay with the glutes, abdominal muscles (the whole trunk musculature, actually), hip flexors etc. during something as simple as gait, running, swimming? Or their role in back extension and shoulder stabilisation? Overall posture? Even breathing?

After listening to Rif explaining how the lats build a bridge between arm and shoulder, arm and spine, shoulder and hips, arm and lower body, you'll have no doubts that everything you do is a "whole-body, interconnected and interlinked, movement" and the lats have "lots of potential to be used in several different modalities and the ability to use it is critical". And you'll also agree it's not about the kettlebell at all. "There's no kettlebell", as Pavel would say, and there's no barbell, ball, bat or racket either, it's all about how you move.

You will be eager to learn

- how to find your lats and activate them - in both directions (oh yes, it's not just the arm movement!);

- how to fine tune your deadlift set-up by establishing connection between arm and hip and why muscle activation in both directions not only improves your strength instantly but is also hugely protective for the shoulder;

- how lat activation automatically ensures pelvic tilt for safety and better performance with the pendulum swing;

- why a pre-stretched muscle is a stronger muscle and how lat activation increases loading your hips: learn or refine the kettlebell swing hike pass and overspeed eccentric technique;

- how to fine tune lat engagement to increase force generation and to optimalize force transmission from the engine of your swings, the hips, all the way through your core and arms to the hands and the kettlebell;

- from what aspects swinging to parallel and thus projecting force forward is more beneficial than swinging overhead;

- how lat activation before and during overhead presses creates optimal scapular and shoulder position to prevent injury and makes all the difference between an isolated shoulder exercise and an integrated full body move;

- how a couple of slight shifts in focus during your press can instantly set your groove right;

- how slight changes in handle and wrist position can enhance or ruin performance;

- how to use a "pulling" muscle to initiate a strong press and how, in turn, you can use a press to strengthen your lats - or your teres major, depending on your posture;

- why the lats are really hard to stretch out, why it's all the more important to do it and a couple of ways of how to do it effectively.

Expect in-depth and yet easy to understand anatomical and biomechanical explanations on the theory-side and a basketful of brilliant little drills and visual aids to put it all into practice - real gems for your own training and even more so if you work with clients, not just in kettlebell training but practically any sports (stronger bench or pushups, anyone?)!

Well, "it's all easy 'til its heavy" - but "strong fixes almost everything" :)

Tracy Reifkind: Programming the Kettlebell Swing 2-DVD-set

2010-09-05T08:27:00.007+02:00

My first exposure to "Tracy-style" training dates back to the beginning of 2008 when I signed up and started preparing for my RKC. I got a tremendous amount of help right from the beginning from the members of the Dragon Door forum and the blogging part of the RKC community. I was following MRKC Brett Jones' RKC Prep Program for form practice and for conditioning Rif's advice: swings are the best method ever to build up work capacity quickly, safely and effectively. So I studied the Swing Queen's blog, adjusted her workout schemes to my own level of ability and in a matter of just a few months I could do like 1600 swings in an hour or 900 swings in half an hour - thank to Tracy's principle of distraction, combining swing types, different time and rep ladders and using weights from 12 to 24kg. (It also stripped the last rests of stubborn fat off me and I was ripped and muscular like never before - and that wasn't even my goal, just a side effect!).

Work capacity - in a deck of cards it would definitely be one of the aces. No matter what goal you're striving for, from improving body composition to honing athletic skills, you'll have to put in the work necessary, there's no way around it. The better your work capacity, the more work you can put in, the faster you get there. But it also requires a lot of mental strength and self discipline to keep "showing up and doing the work".

Before I got certified I used to teach business communication psychology a lot, and this background made me appreciate Tracy's principle of distracton even more. It's a brilliant way to sell yourself the idea of doing tons of reps of a single same exercise! Because, let's face it, even if one recognizes the exceptional value of "the center of the RKC universe", even if one really strives to stay internally focused on perfecting every single rep, the mere idea of doing hundreds of them can be discouraging and they can very well get boring. The more you have to concentrate on the scheme the less energy you have to think about how much work you have done and/or how much is still left. But there's more to it. It's human nature to group and organize things into patterns - AND to keep those patterns whole, the more complicated the pattern, the more so. You may, for example, plan 10 sets of 10 and stop by set 7 because you're tired, but you are probably less likely to abandon a 100 rep workout if it calls for a pyramid from 1 up to 10 and back down to 1, because it would leave you with a stronger feeling of 'unfinished business'...

Simply put, you can trick yourself - or your clients! - into doing workloads you never thought possible if you follow Tracy's methods. Iwas sold on them in the moment I saw a sample workout on her blog and so will you a few minutes into her DVD Programming the Kettlebell Swing. It comes with a pdf of the progressions and a Disc 2 with a panel Q&A discussion.

But let's see what you can expect.

First, one thing you should be clear about: the information on this DVD is not about how to learn or practice the swing, but how to train it once you have the basics of at least the two hand swing technique down. Apart from that, Tracy's progressions can be started at any, even a very low, level of conditioning. She lays a heavy emphasis on how to increase load incrementally, easing into high volume training: "you can start with 10 reps at a time... or even less". If you're at an advanced level, just grab a heavier bell and/or watch out for the special tips coming throughout the DVD.

You will learn, by following along if you want:

- how high volume kettlebell swing training, especially longer sets, combines aerobic and slightly anaerobic work, burns A LOT of calories AND builds muscle, increases muscle tone in the shortest amount of time;

- how you can create practically infinite ways to maximize the workload by manipulating single or multiple factors of intensity like weight, sets, reps, speed, swing types and their combinations, work to rest ratios, etc.;

- why pacing is important, how you can establish a comfortable pace that lets you go the distance, and how to do "speed swings", a less obvious alternative to heavier weights to increase intensity and boost your metabolism;

- about the importance of equal work to equal rest and how "on-the-minute training"makes it possible, even in groups, to individualize workload for everyone, how it makes tracking progress easy and how it takes beginners safely and effectively to 1:1 work:rest ratio;

- how to go beyond that and build up aerobic capacity to be able to do long sets, by "working into rest", "overloading short sets", "stealing" progressively from the rest period, while being distracted by the laddering concept, going uphill, downhill or both (all have different effect);

- a seemingly minor tweak on the one hand swing that proves to be an effective way to make sure your posture stays correct and your mechanics natural and also shortens the learning curve of the hand switch - while increasing your power output at the same time;

- why the two hand swing is easier and harder than the one arm swing at the same time, how the difficulty of transfers and one arm swings compares from different aspects, and what difference all this makes when teaching/learning vs. training the one arm swing and the hand switch;

- how you can use combinations of these different swing types either to ease into high volume training mentally, or into swinging heavier bells one handed by learning the TracyRif Roundabout, which is not only the absolutely most grip sparing swing rep scheme ever, but also has a built-in mechanism of preventing you from being thrown off-center for long by the heavy weight;

and at the end you get a sample workout combining different concepts. You can do it as it is, as a complete workout, or you can also freely choose any part or sequence and repeat it X times, but it also provides a glimpse into the endless variety of possible combinations of the presented methods - even if you just stay with the same weight (as for me, I'm a big fan of adding different bell sizes into the mix as well, an option mentioned but not demonstrated in this workshop), you could train your swings every day for years without having to repeat a single session!

1000 swings are no joke for two, either

2009-12-28T11:20:00.002+01:00

Especially if you've been kettlebelling only for 5 weeks :) Still there were two studs that did all the 1000 by themselves - with a 16 though, but it's a great accomplishment anyway! Those working in pairs got served right, too, of course, as the bigger bells came into play, too :)

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Get your own

Congrats to them all, t.b.c. in January, happy New Year to you all!

1000 swings are no joke

2009-12-19T16:22:00.003+01:00

But we all had a great time, nevertheless :)

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Get your own

Everybody did great: 3 people finished in less than 50, 5 more under 60min, nobody needed more than 90min. I'm so proud of them all!

A few guys that wanted to come couldn't make it, which is a pity - but it's not all lost yet as they have one more opportunity to join in on Tuesday 5:30PM.

Who would've thought?

2009-12-17T14:51:00.003+01:00

What started out as a joke on one of my students' part on Monday that we should skip training at the last session of the year and order some food to the gym instead has by now developed, pretty much spontaneously, into a full-blown Christmas-New-Year-event tomorrow, with everybody taking the 1000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge and then of course dinner and party :)

I'm impressed: almost all my advanced students have signed up so far, some former students, too, incl. Sebi from Oradea, who has since become an RKC himself. Wow!

Even my beginners (1 to 3 months' practice) are participating, they'll do the 1000 reps in pairs or eventually teams of 3. We'll do that on Tuesday. Certainly with dinner and all, too :)

I wish I could have brought them all together, but I don't have space for so many people :( Next time we do something similar we'll choose a less snowy season so we can go outside. But this is gonna be fun anyway!

Parasympathetic Nervous System Influence

2009-11-09T11:54:00.001+01:00

"Rest and digest." The Z stuff is amazing. I'd like to come up with a writeup of how I personally see and understand the small bit of Z I learned at R-Phase, but I want it to be concise and at the same time easily comprehensible for anyybody out there, so it'll probably take a few more days. But I've already started practicing the talk as well as the walk :)

As soon as I arrived home, I started out working with my family. They all got pretty excited (except my husband, ever the classically stoic type, he just kept smiling at the sudden reduction of the funny "sweep" of his right foot he had had ever since he was a kid, a sort of a bit incredulous and confused but anyway appreciative smile... ). My son enjoyed "being made strong", my younger daughter got rid of her loud, "thumping" walk that had been also causing her heel pains for quite a while now, and my elder daughter was so fascinated altogether she announced she wanted me to teach her "all the moves and all this stuff" right away (she's 13) :)

I did a short demo in my morning group during the warmup, too, as a result of which the right shoulder ROM of a client improved instantly from what you would call Nazi-style lockout to full vertical. Later, in the middle of the workout he came up to me and asked: "Would you please do that magic to my other shoulder, too? It's so cool there's no tension, restriction, whatsoever on my right any more..." The beauty of the whole thing is, it is you, my friend, that should perform the "conjuring trick" for it to last, and I can teach you how... :)

Cooooool!

2009-11-06T21:14:00.001+01:00

The fifth day of Z-Health R-Phase is over, we did the written, teaching and assessment testing today. I think I did quite well - which is really easy as all you have to do is follow the protocols by the letter and pay attention to details with the drills and everything else takes care of themselves as if by magic. And exactly this is what is on my mind all the time: this is like magic. We spent 5 days going over background and theory and all that, and it all makes perfect sense, and I do feel comfortable with all that in general, but still, it is still way beyond my comprehension when, in particular, I see tilting one's ankle 3 times gently to the side make a chronic shoulder pain go away, on the spot... ?!?

Also, I was lucky enough that I got the chance to have my injured leg checked by Dr. Cobb personally! Wowww :) It was massively frightening to be confronted with the fact that my center of gravity was inches away from where it should have been... Was it a wonder, then, that I had balance issues even just standing on that leg?!? He worked with me on that a bit today, he put me in one (two, actually) of the most weird positions imaginable and all I had to do was a few small pelvic tilts (he called them nerve glides). And!!! Lo and behold, there was I standing on one leg, planted like a tree, and even did my first ever stable pistol on my left leg there and then! (He did hold my hand for all cases but he didn't actually support me). Woohoo!! Freakin' awesome, and at the same time, sort of, mystical :)
And on top of all that, he said the balance issue was probably not from the knee tendinitis but the other way around, and it all goes back to an impingement of a nerve by scar tissue of a many years old abdominal surgery incision... A glimpse of how endlessly much I don't know I don't know.

Another really cool thing was that yesterday during lunch break Kenneth The Dane Of Pain personally taught me the Viking Push Press, the jerk and checked my bent press too. There were, thank God, no really big issues, but, as we all know, it's the small details that make the big difference :)

Am I lucky or what? Life's soooo good! :)

FMS, Z-Health and such

2009-11-03T20:44:00.002+01:00

We had another FMS-weekend with our one and only Brett Jones at the end of October, which was, as expected, a blast. Lots of AHA-moments, for me personally also some unpleasant news: he scored me two asymmetrical 1's (HS left, ILL right) and even the TSPU was 1. I was not that much surprized by the former, all the more by the latter (I used to be a solid 3 on that). Brett had a fully comprehensible explanation for it (injury and pain messes up or even blocks your stability patterns to protect you, so to say, from yourself), but still... Okay, I know what to do and I'll fix that, but I wouldn't have thought it'd have such an effect even after half a year or so.

But now I also see why it was (and why it necessarily was) the case and now I don't even understand what I was so surprized about, lol. This Z-Health stuff is amazing, and although we are only at the end of the second day yet and we only got just a small glimpse of the system, it brought about, like the CK-FMS, an instant paradigm shift, from the biomechanical approach to the neurological one and that makes the whole thing frighteningly large-scaled and at the same time so logical and, actually, simple that I get light-headed just to think of it.

More to come and 'get busy being afraid': in addition to broomstick voodoo I can now cast or break a spell (if I so wish, haha) with one touch :)

Kettlebell Woodstock

2009-10-02T22:30:00.002+02:00

That's what the first ever HKC event was like, with Pavel and John, all the Masters and all but one Seniors (so sad Sara couldn't make it) present. It was sooo coool to see them all again, as well as many more friends like Andrea Chang, Ricardo, Fawn, Tracy, and to finally meet guys in person like Adam Glass, Dustin Rippetoe or Brad Nelson.
Speaking of the latter... Well... he's such a nice guy, really... You wouldn't ever think he'd come up with something as mean as The Sissy Test... :) (In case you haven't tried yet: it's 25 swings, 1 burpee, 24 swings, 2 burpees, 23 swings, 3 burpees, etc., all the way down to 1 swing and 25 burpees - done for time.) I did that last Tuesday, it took me about 40min and it was waaay more of a horror than 1000 swings in 50min @24kg or 80 sets of 8 @16kg VO2Max or whatever crazy stuff I had ever done before. (I had suspected something like that, or else why would I have kept putting this off for more than a year in the first place? LOL.)
I even had the chance to clear up a couple of form questions regarding the windmill and the bent press with David Whitley (thanks again, Dave!) so I'm a lot more positive about L2 now, too.

But back to the HKC itself.

In a nutshell: The 3 most basic kettlebell lifts were taught, the goblet squat, the (old, switching-legs) get-up and the basic swing. There was a technique test and a teaching test, too. I missed the workouts though - although the chapter on program design in the manual is a gem, in training matters feeling is more believing than seeing, I'd say :) Oh, and there was an entry test of pullups/flexed arm hang, too (I still wish it was something KB-related, just to make sure people do spend some time practicing the drills before showing up).
Assisting Andrea Du Cane was, again, a great experience, highly educational and lots of fun at the same time. We had a fantastic bunch of dedicated people on our team who were a pleasure to work with. Results-wise, I don't know for sure but I think the overall failure rate was similar to that of an average RKC. The HKC was nowhere near as physically challenging as even half a day of an RKC weekend, that's true, but, its main focus was on teaching people how to train with kettlebells _safely_ and that was taken very seriously when it came to passing or failing people.

One thing is sure: This is going to be HUGE!! It was amazing to see such a diversity of folks showing up: from as young as 10 years of age (okay, that was Jeff O'connor's son, but still) to well over 60, of all fitness levels and training experience. This way the RKC principles of hardstyle kettlebell lifting are going to reach a much wider public. Many of the candidates stated they wouldn't have dared to even dream of attending an RKC but in the HKC they saw an opportunity to take a smaller bite first - at the end most of them were eager to learn more and do the RKC within a year. They'll be better prepared, not only in the 3 lifts taught but also because they have now seen it's all by far not as easy as they maybe thought to learn (and teach!) correct form and will probably seek out an RKC to help them get ready.

And the other thing is, as kettlebells are now 'in', there are far too many trainers out there already that think they must jump on this wagon too, and they're teaching without a cert and without a freakin' idea of what they're doing trying to copy youtube stuff or whatever and how dangerous that can be for their clients. They'd probably never commit themselves to doing the RKC but much harm could be avoided if they got at least the very basic instruction at an HKC.

As for training this week:
Not much. I'm still tired.
Tuesday I was glad to be alive at all (I arrived Monday night), lol. Some Z drills only.
Wednesday I did a lot of naked and light weight (low and high) windmills, "leash" bent presses, and then
5/5 military presses @12kg
5/5 side presses @12kg
5/5 bent presses @12kg
5 times through.
I actually got a bit sore in the lats, cool.
Thursday I practiced hang cleans and dead cleans @16 and 24kg and then did variations of the FTL press @2*12kg (the double overhead version is really no joke!). Fun stuff.
All I could think of the whole day today was sleep so I only did naked partial get-ups (sit-up to half-kneel, HKC-style - this is a great drill by itself for the T-spine and the hips) and a few 2*32kg deadlifts, that was all.

Heavy swings

2009-09-21T12:50:00.001+02:00

I had to finally try, my ego needed that :D

Yesterday:
Every 45sec:
10 (5/5 one hand) swings @24kg
10 (2 two hand/2 L/2 two hand/2 R/2 two hand) swings @32kg
10 (two hand) swings @40kg
10 times through, 300 swings, 22,5min

That was fun. And hard, too. Especially the one hand swings @32kg - in the last round you would have had to look pretty hard for the "overspeed" in the eccentric, lol. But the 40kg is no joke either, 10 reps may not seem a big deal but there's a whole world of a difference when swinging it in timed sets.
They made the 24kg, on the other hand, feel quite light, which is good if I want to start snatching it again (and eventually try jerking it, too) soon.

Ranting and training

2009-09-19T14:50:00.001+02:00

Let's get that rant over with first.

Ever happened to you? An opponent's ultimate argument in a discussion is "I know I'm right, I've been doing this for 20 years!"
So many people claim to be an expert just because they did something long enough. Even if it was nothing more than mindless repetition of whatever they picked up somewhere some time. Dunno... Especially when I see what results they got - AND at what price. Quantity doesn't equal and doesn't always imply quality.
Experience vs. expertise.
They may sound a bit similar, but please, PLEASE, don't confuse them.
Practice alone doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent.
Just the fact that you have been doing something (one way or the other) for 20 years doesn't necessarily mean you've gotten any better at WHATever you've been doing - you've probably gotten more efficient THE WAY you've been doing it, that's all.
If you were compensating for an asymmetry, you got more efficient compensating your asymmetry.
If you were squatting your swings, you got more efficient squatting your swings.
If you were designing lousy programs you got more efficient designing lousy programs.
I could go on and extend this to all areas of life - please raise your hand if you've never met a lousy teacher/boss/parent/tradesman/doctor/[insert whatever social role here] with an impressive amount of years of "experience"...

As for training this week:

Monday:
5/5 TGU @16kg
some extra work on the high bridge+corkscrew
two hand swing + goblet squat ladder @16kg
10 sw - 10 sq - 9 sw - 9 sq - ... down to 1 (no rest between rungs)
//not only were those goblet squats killing me, I also noticed I'm drifting a bit to the right, still trying to unconsciously unload the injured leg, I guess//
squat form work: 5 curls at the bottom, 1 front raise overhead+ascend @8kg, 5 times
a few 16kg presses

Tuesday:
GTG BW chins and pistols
Pistols on the left leg are a complete disaster: seems like my left ankle got more locked up than ever :( It'll be a loooooong way to the RKC II... But, you have what you have and that's what you have to work with/on.
ankle tilts, toe pulls, 6 position ankle circles, closed chain knee circles
@12kg:
30sec (15) snatches L - 30sec (15) cleans L, 30sec (22) swings L - repeat R (3min)

Wednesday, Thursday and today:
BJ #1, 2, 3
3 rounds @12kg each day
40 swings, 6/6 presses, 10 goblet squats, 5/5 TGU, 10/10 snatches.
That means 600 swings on the swing day, 90 presses/arm on the press day and 150 squats on the squat day. Left me tired and sore but all in all it's not bad for the start.

Still 12kg, upping volume

2009-09-13T20:33:00.003+02:00

Friday:
1min on, 30sec off, @12kg:
4*(snatch - clean - press - snatch - clean - squat - transfer)
44 two-hand-swings
4*(snatch - clean - press - snatch - clean - squat - transfer)
4*11 one-hand swings
5 times through, 30min

Saturday was off, there was a two-day kettlebell bootcamp in Budapest where I also taught a block. It was about how to get a lot of work done in a relatively short time. For me, that means combos and circuits. We did 3 mini-workouts (lighter weights and/or shorter times - more demo-wise). I had them do:
#1
5 snatches L - TGU down and back up L - 5 snatches L - transfer - 5 snatches R - TGU down and back up R - 5 snatches R - transfer - etc.; 7min continuously (you'd normally do 10min or more, if you just do this)
#2
with partner, double bells, I-go-you-go
10 renegade rows
10 see-saw presses
10 cossacks (this was new for many so they used just one light bell)
3 rounds
#3
would have been 5 rounds of the above snatch-press-squat combo, but they were pretty fried already so I did some CK-FMS corrections instead (shoulder blade retraction and open chest when holding one bell by the horns to avoid a "turtle back" while squats/cossacks)
#4
"death in three minutes" - the name comes from a student of mine and the whole thing originates in my lousy memory. I actually wanted to have him do the KBLA Trifecta but I messed up the instructions so it went like this:
30sec swings L - 30sec cleans L - 30sec snatches L - transfer and repeat R
He survived, so we kept it, LOL.

Today I felt pretty hungry right in the morning (which was unusual) and it didn't get better during the day (even more so) so some time around noon I decided to eat a few eggs, so what - but that proved to be a big mistake as I felt so heavy and sluggish the rest of the day I couldn't even see my bells around, let alone do a BJ workout as planned.
Then I checked out Rif's blog and found this:

"Scale it, yes.Modify it, of course. Just don't not show up. Unless blood is involved.
lol.
I think."

Sort of funny, he's like a guardian angel to me, I always find the right thing there at the right time. Thank God he's back to blogging again.
I followed the link to Tracy's blog and found her last workout, 21min of 12kg swings, and did just that.
But, instead of squats and getups at the end I went down the same ladder and added 10 two hand swings just to have 1200 swings in 40min.

That was fun. It's been a long time I hit 4-digit numbers. I guess the last time was November 2008, those 120 sets of 9 @12kg VO2Max.

Busy, lazy, whatever

2009-09-11T11:51:00.000+02:00

Yes, on one hand I was busy, busy, busy figuring out how to make the best of having a place of my own business-wise. Not just marketing and referral system and such, but also, how my training portfolio should look like and what teaching conception it should be based upon. How to integrate the activities of the other two RKCs in the area (my student Will and Zoli, we were teammates when we got certified - they are going to offer classes there, too) so that there's consistency in our work but also room for individuality. Now we have beginners' classes and workshops we all do pretty much the same way - teach the 6 basic exercises. These go for a given time period and once they started no one can join in. Then each of us offer some goal-specific classes, whatever we are more experienced in: for fat loss, GPP, MA and other contact sports conditioning, rehab and restoring movement quality, even classes to compliment (and balance out) bodybuilding (Zoli is a bodybuilding-fitness trainer in the first place). These are open for anyone to join but folks are required to have the basics down. Looks all good on paper, and we had a good start so far, too, but time will tell how it works out in practice...

On the other hand, I used all this as an excuse to procrastinate returning to training - okay, some time off after my knee injury was okay, but then I was on holiday, and then the fear and then this and then that, and maybe it's just me, but the longer I waited the more difficult it seemed to get started again. And then of course I lost a lot of my previous condition and it was frustrating to be confronted with that, too. After the Budapest cert I started practicing the basics again, doing a couple of sets here and there but it was all rather half-hearted and I readily let myself get diverted.

But now it's time to pull myself together. 3 months of passivity was more than enough. Or maybe I needed that, I don't know, but now I definitely feel the urge to get back in shape which was not the case before.

This week I dusted off my 12kg bell and did the Brett Jones 3 day RKC prep program to get a baseline. I did 3 rounds of each day with 20 swings/snatches and 5/5 clean-and-presses, clean-and-squats and TGUs. Took almost an hour and I got pretty tired, but I expected worse...

Then I did a swing workout yesterday:
Start every 45sec:
20 swings @16kg
15 swings @20kg
10 swings @24kg
10 times through, 22,5min, 450 swings

I was very pleased by the fact it didn't feel that hard at all and I could have gone on (I was even thinking of doing 5 more ladders) but then I said to myself I'd better build up slowly and right I was as I got sore like hell by today, LOL.

I'm going to stay with the BJ program with one or two additional swing workouts for two more weeks and after the HKC I'll add VO2Max training back into the mix. I just don't know yet if I should build the 15:15 @16kg back up (I was at 80 sets of 8 in May) or start with 12kg and do the 36:36 protocol first. Let's see what the cadence test says when I'm back home.

The center of the Universe

2009-08-21T21:22:00.002+02:00

That's what a kettlebell swing is.

How many times did I hear that? At least 20 times at every RKC event (this was my 4th), from Pavel and all the Masters, Seniors and Team Leaders, plus at least 20 times every week from my own mouth, when I'm preaching this same thing to my students. Nothing new, one could think.

But...
"An inch wide, a mile deep."

We were sitting in a restaurant Saturday evening, waiting for dinner. I'm talking with Geoff Neupert and I raise the subject of so many people failing RKC 2 and why. He seems reluctant first, 'I wasn't there, I don't know'. - 'But still,' I insist, 'an idea, maybe?' - 'Probably because many people forget the basics'. I don't let the subject lie, however, and go on telling him about my knee injury and the mixed feelings I have towards the L2 drills since that, mainly that the basic (L1) exercises had helped me get and stay out of pain but now the L2 drills seem to put me back into pain again: push presses and jerks bother my knee in the front, windmills and bent presses in the back, pullups bother my elbow, etc. (in short: fear).

He helps me clear up some technique details and gives me tips, which is already great. But then he says:

"It's all about the basics. Remember? The center of the Universe is the swing. A pullup is nothing else than a swing. A jerk is a swing. A windmill is a swing..."

Dinner was served at this moment, we didn't continue. But it's food for thought and I'm digesting it for almost a week now. I re-read some parts of RTK, NW and the old RKC book, searching for the jerk as a swing, the windmill as a swing, the pistol as a swing... I've found a lot and there's more to find. My brain keeps replaying that movie of him sitting there in front of me and telling me this. Not just because he made me stop fretting. It was as if I had caught a glimpse of how deep a mile can be.

Status update

2009-07-18T19:09:00.004+02:00

I just thought I'd announce I'm not gonna post for another month or so :)

Me and my family are leaving for Austria to visit my in-laws, we'll be back around August 8th. And using wifi in the Austrian Alps can be quite a challenge, I'll be glad if the internet connection works long enough to check my emails once in a while.

Those knee issues I had mentioned in my previous post culminated meanwhile in a full blown hamstring tendinitis due to which I had to request an RKC II transfer to next year. It was a bummer, but what can you do. Even now, it isn't fully recovered yet, it still objects to being fully locked out, but at least my everyday life is not affected anymore (it's only funny in the first five minutes to have to work the clutch pedal "from the hip" while driving...).

But I was/am making the best use possible of this down time. There's a lot bubbling in the witch's kitchen :) Me and my student Will have joined forces so we are going to run Kettlebell Debrecen together, in our own Courage Corner. And because two people make up a system and a system is always more than the sum of its elements, there'll be a lot of exciting changes on all fronts in the second half of August after the Budapest Cert, or in September the latest. But I'm not going to tell a word about the details yet, I don't want to blow the surprise :)

Have a wonderful summer!

Short status report

2009-06-09T11:45:00.000+02:00

Seen better times. Quite some health issues in the family lately. Business planning requires a lot of brainwork, need to make some major decisions that can't be put off for long. Concerned about seemingly minor knee issues aggravating and turning stubborn. Don't have the time (and nerves) to blog. Will be back when at least some of the things are settled.

Back from Denmark

2009-05-21T14:59:00.004+02:00

Actually since Monday night already, but it's kind of difficult to get my head out of the RKC clouds and come back to everyday reality. As Doc put it, and everybody else agreed, it's a phenomenon commonly called "post-RKC depression", lol. And I'm still pretty much tired, teaching, with all the responsibility, can very well exhaust you mentally. But I had a great team of wonderful people to assist who put a whole lot of dedication, enthusiasm and effort, but also high spirit and humor on display so it was absolutely a pleasure to work with them, to see instant changes and the overall "transformation" during the course of the three days I experience as a miracle every time. I was on Sr. RKC Jeff O'connor's Team and thanks to his generosity I got the chance to work with folks one on one (use some CK-FMS voodoo, too), do some team practice with them, play a part in the technique testing and shout out the commands during the grad workout at the end. Well, I'll still have to get used to those prompt (and loud) "Yes, Ma'am!"s, but it has a special feeling to it, for sure :) And of course hanging out with Doc, Jeff and Mark Toomey in the evenings and at breakfast, with Pavel, Kenneth, Sara, mc, my student Will and others joining us from time to time, was great fun and highly educational at the same time, I can't be grateful enough for being welcomed like this. I just wish John had made it, too...

As for my student Will, he made me very proud, really. He is the guy I wrote my witch article about - his story became quite intricate later when he injured his knee during competition like two months before the RKC so that he had to go in for surgery on April 6th. That meant we had like 5 weeks for rehab, two of which he spent on crutches, so the decision whether to participate or transfer (especially the squats seemed to be a big challenge) has fallen as late as 3 days or so before flying out. But he was there, set the stage with 140(!) in the snatch test and worked himself up to winning the technique competition, too (with full squats and all, yes!). I'll hold myself back on further details as he is going to write an article for the DD site about his lickety-split recovery and RKC experience - I'll let you know when it's up.

This all sounds like I'm boasting, I guess, and probably because I am... My, can happen once in a while, you'll have to excuse me that. He did an outstanding job AND was careful enough not to get hurt again - I must admit I was pretty much concerned about how that knee would hold up and all the more am I relieved that everything went so well for him.

Pictures here :)

OTG for a week

2009-05-12T23:15:00.001+02:00

I'm leaving for Denmark tomorrow. Woo-hoo, exciting times! Will report when I'm back.
Oh, and I finally got those 80 sets of 8 @16kg this morning.

Exactly this time one year ago

2009-05-11T17:34:00.003+02:00

I was sitting in Doc's room in Budapest, chatting around a bit with Doc and Kenneth before saying goodbye and heading for home from the RKC Budapest, May 9-11, 2008. I was dead tired, moving like a tin soldier but felt great and was simply overwhelmed by the experience. Great memories coming up! Can't believe one year has already flown by... So many things have happened since then, I did the CK-FMS in August, assisted at the RKC in October and at the FMS in February, taught hundreds of KB classes, my way of thinking and acting has changed (in some aspects dramatically), my life(, the universe, and everything, if you know what I mean) has changed, and at the same time it also feels as if nothing had changed... And in a certain sense nothing did. Sorry, if this all sounds weird talk... Can't explain. One has to experience it.

Mind over matter

2009-05-06T16:18:00.001+02:00

Last night:
swings @16kg, with clients
1min on, 30sec off
42 reps/set
10 rounds
15min, 420 swings
An hour later, with class, more
swings @16kg
40sec on, 20sec off
28 reps/set
10 rounds
10min, 280 swings

Today morning:
VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
70 sets of 8
35min, 560 snatches

I was carrying a bit of fatigue from those 700 swings as the two workouts were like 12 hours or so apart, but it was more mentally an issue than physically, as I had no problem keeping up the cadence, once I managed to persuade myself to pick up the bell for the next set, lol. Good I had someone with me, going for 70 sets of 7 @24kg...

(I also keep GTG-ing presses, pullups, pistols, OH squats, windmills, TGU, etc., I don't really keep track of how many sets, I just do one or two whenever, maybe every hour or so. Practice. No elbow or other issues so far.)

Won't take long 'til

2009-05-04T17:08:00.002+02:00

80. Sets, I mean, not years :) If it all goes on like this, I'll get to that milestone before leaving for DK (and see the Viking Warrior KJ - how cool is that?).

Thursday was supposed to be my off day, but then I did 10 sets of 10 swings @24kg with a client I-go-you-go-style (a walkin' Gymboss, lol).
Friday I planned to do 50 sets of 8 (VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg), but I had another kettlebell design with me that started to pinch my skin almost immediately so I got pissed and stopped after like 12 sets. Crazy (and frightening), how I got used to 'my snatch bell'.
Anyway, I did the 50 sets on Saturday and took yesterday off.
Today I did 60 sets of 8 (30min, 480 snatches). I had the same feeling as with snatching the 12kg back last October: once I get over 50 sets, there are no big differences. 60 wasn't much tougher than 50 and I could have gone on, as if I had fallen into a kind of 'automatic mode'. But we'll see.

Better days, finally

2009-04-30T09:14:00.002+02:00

I was so glad last week that I seemed to have gotten rid of those freakin' clingy viruses and could return to training that I probably overdid something (pistols, maybe, dunno) and managed to pull some groin muscle so that for days even driving my car was a challenge. More time off from training, eh. What can I say, I'm obviously not tough enough for being that stupid.

The good news is, however, after this forced off time, voila, I finally managed my first unassisted pullups, woo-hoo, 'twas about time!

Anyhoo, I've decided to proceed real cautiously this time and do all strength work in good old GTG fashion until the DK cert (in two weeks) is over: pullups, pistols, presses, windmills, everything. A set or two between two clients/classes. That adds up quickly.

As for ballistics, I'm getting back into VO2Max training:

Monday:
15:15 @16kg, 20 sets of 8
10min, 160 snatches
That was less than half of what I did last time but it felt unexpectedly tough.
Then, another 10min of swings:
40sec on, 20 sec off
27-28 swings @24kg
10 sets
This was the first time, I think, I worked with the 24 in a work-rest ratio of more than 1:1. Hard on the forearms, although I kept mixing one- and two-hand swings.

Tuesday:
15:15 @16kg, 30 sets of 7
15min, 210 snatches
Cut back a rep and went for more sets. That one rep makes quite a difference.

Yesterday:
15:15 @16kg, 40 sets of 8
20min, 320 snatches
This felt like I'm almost back to where I was. Cool.

And I saved the best for last: by courtesy of John Du Cane and Dragon Door (a big thank you!), I'm now a cartoon heroine! You can check out my new article, a case study of my CK-FMS "voodoo" work in the articles section of the Dragon Door website.

There's hope

2009-04-20T16:03:00.001+02:00

Although I'm a bit scared to say that - the last few days were like a roller coaster, one day I felt better, the next weak again.
Thursday was my planned off day, on Friday I only did my pullups and even that was a burden. On Saturday I was only good for vegging out.

Things were getting better yesterday:
band pullups: 4, 4, 3, 2, 1
Then:
5/5 C&P @16kg
20 swings @32kg
10 rounds

Today:
band pullups +
MP @16kg (L/R) +
box pistols (R/L)
5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Then
VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
50 sets of 8
25min, 400 snatches

So far so good...

Not that slight...

2009-04-15T16:45:00.002+02:00

I made a premature statement last week presuming it was "nothing serious" - the next day I woke up with a full-blown cold so that I was reduced to a state of mere vegetation over the holidays. I'm still far from being okay but I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that yesterday and today, just to remember how it feels to be alive.

Yesterday:

swings
30sec on, 30sec off
10/10 @16kg
10/10 @20kg
10/10 @24kg
20 two-hand @16kg
20 two-hand @20kg
20 two-hand @24kg

4 times through, 24min, 480 swings

Today:

Band pullups: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1
Box pistols: 3*5/5
C&P @16kg 3*5/5

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
40 sets of 8
20min, 320 snatches

Interestingly, strength level has dropped significantly, while ballistic endurance is more or less unchanged. I would've expected the other way round.

No flu

2009-04-09T00:45:00.001+02:00

A slight virus infection, perhaps. Still somewhat weak, a bit of a sore throat and a bit of a running nose but nothing serious, thank God. Elbow and wrist are pretty good already but, as tomorrow I'll be off to Austria for the Easter holidays anyway, I decided to take it easy this week and get rested before I start anew next Tuesday.

Monday:
VO2Max, 15:15, @16kg
30 sets of 8
15min, 240 snatches

Today:
5*10/10 snatches @16kg
5/5 C&P @16kg
5/5 TGU @16kg
5/5 C&FSQ @16kg

45sec on, 45sec off
one-hand swings
rep ladder 1-->5 (30 swings) @16kg
rep ladder 1-->5 (30 swings) @20kg
rep ladder 1-->5 (30 swings) @24kg
7 rounds
31,5min, 630 swings

Happy Easter, everyone!

Still rehab

2009-04-05T09:59:00.002+02:00

I'm still not 100% so I restricted myself mostly to getups, windmills and OH squats (sets of 5/5 @16kg) this week. On Thursday I did 15 rounds of the swing-snatch-combo from Monday with a client - he was down with a bad cold last week so the usual Thursday VO2Max wouldn't have been the right thing to start with.
1min on, 1min off @16kg
3 snatches L - 3 DARC swings - 3 snatches R - 3 DARC swings - ...
6*3 snatches and 5*3 swings per round
15 rounds
30min, 270 snatches, 225 swings

I felt all weak yesterday and got up with a sore throat this morning. I hope it's not that freakin' Influenzavirus B that is reported to have arrived here now that A seems to be leaving, eh.

On the mend

2009-04-01T06:41:00.001+02:00

At least in some regards.
I took the rest of last week off and got that elbow 'beamed'. Low-Level Laser Therapy - it's like exorcism, I tell you!
After the first time the pain stopped radiating into the upper arm but did so all the more into the forearm. Pressure on some spots in the palm sent lightnings into the elbow. After the second time it all left my elbow and moved into the ulna and the wrist. Then into the small and ring fingers. No sensitivity on pressure any more but on pulling, like carrying things. Then only on pronation. Now it is still lurking around in the wrist and ulna a bit but causes only some slight discomfort at one certain movement when the arm is in one certain position.

So Monday I tried a couple of things:

band pullups: 4, 4, 3, 2, 1

I did them, but they didn't feel all that good... Not painful, just sort of weak and unstable. But, thank God, seems like they didn't worsen things either.

3*5/5 MP @16kg
3*5/5 TGU @16kg

Presses were okay, the getups too. I was more concerned about the reps L with my right as the supporting hand, but that was no problem either.

1min on, 1min off, @16kg
3 snatches L - 3 DARC swings - 3 snatches R - 3 DARC swings - ...
6*3 snatches and 5*3 swings per round
20 rounds
40min, 360 snatches, 300 swings

I didn't want to jump right back into VO2Max training right away so I chose this combo with just 3 snatches at a time - the pace is a bit slower (like 7 in 15sec) - and swings mixed in and comfortable 1min rests.

(Res)training

2009-03-24T21:50:00.003+01:00

band pullups: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 8
15min, 240 snatches

That elbow issue is still lurking in the background: the pullups were no problem, but my snatches are a bit slower on that side, at the top. Not much, I still got all 8 reps in, but... dunno. I decided better not to push it and stopped at 'comfortable' 30 sets.

Something is bothering my right elbow...

2009-03-23T20:40:00.001+01:00

I bumped it into a door handle pretty hard some time last week and the whole arm was numb for quite a while and then tender for a couple more hours but it seemed to be okay by the next day. Might be the pullups, too, too much too soon, no idea.
Anyway, even if I liked ladders and the many-sets-of-few-reps-approach and they worked, I switched to another program that is more frequent but with less volume at a time.

band pullups: 4, 3, 2, 2, 2
3*1 double C&P @2*16kg
3/3 bent press + windmill + OH squat @16kg
3/3 TGU @16kg
3/3 half kneeling presses @16kg
3/3 arm bar presses @16kg
3/3 MP @16kg
1/1 Sots press @12kg - this is a difficult move for someone who tends to pitch forward in the squat, lol
3/3 bent presses @16kg
3/3 TGU @16kg
3*5 ab wheel, 5sec out, 5sec hold, 5sec back

10/10 swings @24kg
10/10 cleans @24kg
5 rounds

2 VO2Max sessions in 3 hours

2009-03-19T22:24:00.000+01:00

This is interesting.

I did 30 sets of 8 @16kg with a client I often train ballistics with at around 5 pm (this was postponed from Monday). Then I remembered I always do VO2Max together with my Thursday 7 pm. advanced group... Doing it again seemed less a nuisance than having to excuse myself, so again, 35 sets of 8.

I knew my hands could take it, my technique has gotten a lot smoother the last few weeks. What I didn't expect was that the first session would have no influence on the second at all. Even though I was teaching in the meantime, I was completely recovered, I had no fatigue from the first one, I didn't slow down and it didn't feel any harder than the first. (5 minutes later I was in my beginner group, teaching - the snatch, lol.)

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30+35 sets of 8
520 snatches

Tomorrow's a new day

2009-03-18T13:11:00.002+01:00

5/5 C&P @16kg
3 „L-sit“ chins
5 rounds

A few bent presses @16kg, jerks @24kg and chins with one hand gripping a towel hung on the bar.

VO2Max, 15:15, @16kg
40 sets of 8
20min, 320 snatches

It’s not my day... I’m just dragging myself through it. I did a bit of something just to have something done as I had a day off yesterday already, and I didn’t want to postpone this VO2Max-session any further either – but even if these 40 sets felt easier (physically) than the 30 last time, all I wanted was to get it over with.

VO2Max must wait

2009-03-16T21:36:00.000+01:00

My hands are beaten up a bit, from yesterday's 100 24kg snatches. But not more than the 16 used to beat up my hands last year, so there's hope :)

5 assisted pullups (w/ band I used so far)
5/5 bent presses @16kg
5/5 OH squats @16kg
3 assisted pullups (light band)
3/3 2HA @16+12kg

3 rounds

30sec on, 30sec off
7/7 snatches @16kg
20 two-hand swings @24kg
15 sets, 15min

On this sunny day

2009-03-15T19:25:00.002+01:00

The weather was so fine I decided to postpone VO2Max and do "outside" things instead where it's better not to have to be concerned about dropping the bell if necessary.

@24kg

1R/1L TGU
10 snatches R
10 snatches L
(missed 10th rep R, bell started to turn around thumb so I better dropped it)
2L/2R TGU
10L/10R snatches
2 L/3R TGU
(missed 3rd rep L when coming up on knee)
10L/10R snatches
1 1/2L/2R TGU
(missed 2nd rep L when coming down to elbow)
10L/10R snatches
1L/1R TGU
10L/10R snatches

I haven't snatched the 24kg since November or so and I've never tried sets of 10/10 yet but I'm glad I did today, it went way better than I expected.
The sun was already going down when I started and it was completely dark when I finished... I had to come in to answer a phone call and I had difficulties finding the bell again afterwards, lol. Well, doing getups can be quite an interesting experience without visual feedback, when all you have is proprioception.

Joined class again

2009-03-12T22:38:00.004+01:00

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 8

As it was "just" 30 sets I thought I could try and up the reps from 7 to 8 and see if (or how long) I can keep that speed. I was expecting worse. Now I don't know if I should do those 60 sets of 7 I had planned next time or go for 40 sets of 8...?

One week in the world

2009-03-12T10:10:00.002+01:00

My "grandson" Vili. He and his mother Andrea are both doing great. You can check out the photos on her blog, if you like. The Hungarian text is about her experiences so far: She caught a bad cold a few days before delivery, and although the baby boy was tactful enough to wait until the worst was over, a blocked nose was an interesting addition to the "fun"... Still, she reports, compared to giving birth to her first son, this time she had much more endurance and everybody was amazed by her "pressing strength" :) Overall, as far as she can tell after just a week, her recovery is much faster, she's in a much better mood and there's no comparison of the tone of her post-partum belly this time. Her doc says she might even start with some kind of exercise in 3 weeks - with utmost caution, of course.

Can't say how glad I feel (and relieved that I didn't promise too much)! And I'm looking forward to working with her again. Not just on regaining the body she's had before, but on getting her into a better than ever shape!

Oh, and the anecdotal story behind "grandson":
Andrea and her husband often refer to me jokingly as "our mother Gabi". When I heard the news about her pregnancy back last year, I confronted my unsuspecting husband (we have two daughters, 13 and 11, and a son, 8 yrs) with the following:
"Woo-hoo, just imagine, I'm getting a grandchild!!"
"Huh?"
"Don't worry, not you, just me!"
"????"

Too much is...

2009-03-11T19:36:00.000+01:00

5 double LCCJ @2*16kg
5 chins (5, 4+1 or 3+2)
5/5 double-bell SLDL @2*16kg
7 rounds

No ballistics today: I've probably filed off a bit too much of my callouses yesterday as after the 7th round (right at the first, actually) I was pretty much convinced that gripping the pullup bar alone was heroic enough already, eheh.

It works

2009-03-09T13:13:00.002+01:00

5/5 C&P @16kg
5 assisted pullups
5/5 Bulgarian split squats @16kg

6 rounds

Time to switch to the small band.

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
50 sets of 7
25min, 350 snatches

Was not much tougher than the 40 last time. Could have gone on. I'll go for 60 later this week.

Smelled blood, I guess

2009-03-06T22:35:00.000+01:00

11 AM, w/ client:
VO2Max @16kg
40 sets of 7
20min, 280 snatches

An ad-hoc idea again, but I couldn’t resist now that my palms are not in danger any longer – no sign of abuse even after three days in a row. Cool.

7 PM, 45min break:
chins, alternated with
bent press @16kg
5 ladders of 3

Was meant to be an off day

2009-03-05T22:24:00.001+01:00

But in my last half-hour break in the afternoon I really didn’t have anything better to do.

C&P @16kg, alternated with
close stance (feet together) goblet squats @24kg
3 ladders of 5

Holding that 24kg bell during the squats worked my shoulders at least as hard as the presses themselves, eheh.

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
30 sets of 7
15min, 210 snatches

This was not planned either, just an ad-hoc idea to join my advanced class. The good news is, no hand damage after two consecutive days of snatching. Seems like I’ve finally ’figured it out’.

Slaughtering my dragons

2009-03-04T17:08:00.000+01:00

Okay, they're not quite dead yet, but at least I'm on the warpath :)

2 Dbl. C&P @2*16kg (2*1 in rd. 4 and 5)*
chins or assisted pullups (as many)**
5 Dbl. FSQ @2*16kg
10 Renegade Rows @2*16kg
5/5 double-bell-SLDL @2*16kg

6 rounds

* The plan was 5 double push presses with slow negatives - I didn't know I could actually press them... I just thought I could give it a try before I start and voila, PR.
**2 chins, 3 pullups, 3 chins, 4 chins, 4 pullups, 5 pullups in resp. rounds

Seems like I'm slowly figuring out the pullup technique. I didn't do any chins for quite a while and (apart from sporadic attempts at getting at least my nose to the bar) next to never pullups - partly due to an old injury of both wrists, but mainly because they're hard and I was lazy, lol.

2 clients (hours) later, another one actually bites the dust:

VO2Max, 15:15 @16kg
40 sets of 7
20min, 280 snatches

Some time back in November I did 120 sets of 9 @12kg, that's a full hour and more than 1000 snatches. Proof enough that I've "grown out of" that 12kg... And I still kept procrastinating the next step, that is starting over @16kg. Until now.

New month, new regimen

2009-03-02T19:38:00.001+01:00

3 ladders of 3:
MP @16kg
chins or band assisted pullups
goblet squats @16kg, down on one leg, up on both ("pistol negatives")

15/15 snatches @16kg between ladders

1*100 snatches @16kg (switching hands every 10) - good enough for the new RKC snatch test, regardless of my bodyweight... :)

Two short sessions

2009-03-01T15:06:00.000+01:00

Thursday:

10min VO2Max @16kg, 15:15
14 sets of 8, 6 sets of 7

Friday:

20min LCCJ @16kg
5*5/5
3*10/10
cca. 1min rest between sets

Training in the gym these days

2009-02-26T09:20:00.001+01:00

Trying to make good use of my 'idle' times. The fact that I'm visibly working and not just pretending has an obviously terrorizing effect on many machine-zombies there. But, to paraphrase Pavel, that's between them and their therapist.

A quick session before class on Tuesday

5/5 C&P @16kg
5/5 single (opposite) arm, single leg DL @16kg
10 rounds

BJ swing workout yesterday

I trained an RKC candidate in the afternoon, he's on the BJ prep program - memories coming up, oh, well :) I couldn't resist myself, and, although I was a bit late and only had like 40min before training a client in the evening, I still managed to squeeze in all 3 rounds, even if with very limited rest periods.

@16kg
10/10 swings
5/5 C&P
10/10 swings
5/5 C&FSQ
10/10 swings
5/5 TGU
10/10 swings
10/10 snatches
10/10 swings
3 rounds, 40min

Broke a good sweat :)

Must be the moon phase...

2009-02-24T09:39:00.002+01:00

I can't say I was in top form the last couple of days... I somehow pulled some small muscle or whatever in my back between the shoulder blades, due to which it was problematic to even hold a kettlebell in the rack position. I took a few days off from training and I still managed to rip a callous, so that I have a pretty deep cut in the crease at the base of my middle finger that keeps popping open whenever I extend the finger. On top of that, I cut the thumb of my other hand outside near the joint, so that it keeps popping open whenever I make a fist... Cool setup, lol.

Anyway, I was more than fed up with all this by yesterday and, as at least my back seemed to be okay, I did some pressing and a few other things that don't even require cleaning all too often:

military presses @16kg
1 ladder of 5, 4 ladders of 4

bent press to windmill to OH squat @16kg
3/3, 2/2, 1/1

Things are happening

2009-02-17T10:14:00.003+01:00

If you want to press a lot, well... you have to press a lot.

Presses were always my weakness. This year I was trying to make sure to have at least 3 press sessions a week, preferably ladders. What a surprise, if you keep at practicing, you get better... Solid 20kg MP on my right yesterday, without any need to get fancy creative (like lifting a heel, moving the hip, leaning back, bouncing or the like... Why would anyone practice that, anyway, except for trying to impress with numbers? One would just get better at compensating for a compromised technique... Brett had a much simpler answer as we were talking about this during a lunch break at the FMS course: "Because they're meatheads, that's why." LOL). It still gets stuck at about parallel on my left, but it'll come, too, no haste.

I'm a bit behind with blogging, partly due to another weekend job in Budapest, so here's a short recap of what was going on in the last few days training-wise:

Thursday:

1/1 TGU @16kg
5/5 FSQ @16kg
5/5 windmills @16kg
5 goblet squats @24kg
5/5 double windmills @2*16kg
3 rounds of:
MP L - TGU to floor - 5 floor presses - TGU up - lower, switch hands and repeat R, @16kg
10 Renegade Rows @2*16kg
and 5 double FSQ @2*16kg

30sec on, 30sec off:
7/7 snatches @16kg
20-22 two-hand swings @24kg
10 rounds, 20min

Friday:

Military presses alternated with close stance (feet together) goblet squats @16kg
5 ladders of 3

30sec on, 30sec off:
7/7 snatches @16kg
7/7 cleans @20kg
10/10 swings @24kg
5 rounds, 15min

Yesterday:

@2*12kg:
5*(clean-press-clean-front squat)
10 rounds of:
5 double MP
and 5 double FSQ

My squat form has improved a lot, I don't need to turn my feet out that much and can still kick my knees out. Thanks again for that knee-stabilizing tip, Pavel.

Back again

2009-02-12T09:36:00.004+01:00

Headache, chills and nausea last Tuesday and Wednesday... First I thought maybe I had eaten something I shouldn't have, but on Thursday it turned into a sore and sawdusty throat... Perfectly timed for the weekend's translation-assistance job at the Budapest FMS course, oh my.

But whatever, show must certainly go on, my voice held, we had a lot of fun, my certification procedure as a CK-FMS was finally completed and the course was, all in all, a tremendous success.

It was great to see Brett again and working with him is always a pleasure, even if he keeps joking about how he's set himself the goal of giving me a hard time translating. Precisely formulated, no-nonsense information serving a clear-cut message brought across to the participants in a highly (also time-) effective way - in a most enjoyable presentation. As usual, so far. But, and maybe you've never thought about it this way - translating is tough, but being translated is nonetheless a helluva job. Not only is it a nuisance that you keep falling out of your own rhythm as translating interrupts you all the time, also, you have the same amount of time but you can use half of it at best. Which means you have to strip everything to the bone, decide what to skip and what to keep to still get the main thing through (in this case a whole completely new and revolutionary system) - and that pretty much on the go...

Working with the groups during practice brought me a lot of insights, too. I've been confronted with a whole lot of questions, not only about technical details like is it now a 3 or a 2 or if the stance during testing Shoulder Mobility matters and the like, but about the whys, the biomechanical background of the tests/exercises, the philosophy of the screening and correcting procedure and the hows of implementation/integration into training. Attending a course, listening, understanding, internalizing things like I did at the CK-FMS back in August and applying them in your own job later is one thing, but having to explain them, under time pressure, in a concise, hopefully logical and easily comprehensible way is a completely different matter, forces you to re-think, re-organize and re-systematize whatever you know. This is something unique (and highly addictive) to working as an assistant and I'm looking forward to having the same experience at the Denmark RKC in May.

As for training, I felt pretty much wasted on Monday and Tuesday but I did a little bit yesterday:

10/10 swings, 10/10 cleans and 10/10 snatches @16kg
C&P @16kg, alternated with single (opposite) arm, single leg DL @24kg, 5 ladders of 4
10*10 swings @24kg with a client, I-go-you-go-style

Going barefoot, applying Pavel's knee stabilization technique and concentrating on reaching back during SLDL works wonders.

Still simple

2009-02-02T18:53:00.002+01:00

ROP C&P ladders @16kg
2*(5-->1), 3*(4-->1)
60 L/R
Descending this time, I wanted to see the difference. Can't say it's easier, maybe mentally.

20 swings @16kg
7/7 snatches @16kg
30sec on, 30sec off
15 rounds, 30min, 210 snatches, 300 swings

Feedback

2009-02-01T10:01:00.000+01:00

I got freakin' sore :D Was to be expected, of course, planned, actually. The good news is, soreness is exactly where it should be. Cool.

I can feel it already, lol

2009-01-30T18:25:00.004+01:00

10 DARC swings, 10/10 snatches @16kg
3/3 SLDL @16kg (CK-FMS-style)

4/4, 3/5, 5/5, 5/4, 4/4 strict Military Presses @16kg
5*5/5 SLDL @16kg (CK-FMS-style)

3, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4 Double Jerks with slow negatives (no reclean) @2*16kg
3*5/5 double-bell-SLDL @2*16kg (CK-FMS-style)

5 TGU R @16kg
5 TGU L @16kg

Top of the minute:
10 dbl. swings @2*16kg
10 dbl. cleans @ 2*16kg
5 rounds, 10min

High tension

2009-01-29T22:45:00.000+01:00

5 C&P ladders of 3 @16kg, squeezing a 150lb gripper with the other hand.

This was far more tiring altogether but a lot more effective as for the presses themselves.

Quite some swings

2009-01-27T22:41:00.002+01:00

I only had a 16kg at hand and with my hands a bit beaten from yesterday I didn't really feel like doing anything else than swings. Very simple template, 20 sets of 50 on 45sec rest periods. No, I don't find such sessions boring :)

50 swings @16kg
(10 two-hand/10L/10 two-hand/10R/10 two-hand)
75sec on, 45sec off
20 rounds, 40min, 1000 swings

Usual Monday combo

2009-01-26T17:35:00.001+01:00

4*(swing - snatch - swing - C&J - swing - snatch - transfer) @16kg
1min on, 1min off
20 rounds, 40min

Today

2009-01-23T19:10:00.002+01:00

I turned out to have gotten a great big blister on my right palm (I didn't have my sock sleeves yesterday) so I avoided snatches and restricted cleans to save it.

#1
3 side presses - TGU to half kneeling - 3 half-kneeling presses - TGU to floor - 3 floor presses - TGU to kneeling - 3 half-kneeling presses - TGU to standing - 3 side presses @12kg
3 rounds

(As an advanced group member has put it yesterday, I usually have 'mean ideas, very mean ideas or freakin' mean ideas, and this sequence is of the third category', there's some truth to it, lol.)

#2
Suitcase DL @2*32kg
lift L only - put down - lift both - put down - lift R only - put down - lift both - put down
5 sets

Yesterday

2009-01-23T08:54:00.000+01:00

3 C&P ladders of 3 @16kg
20 Figure 8s to a hold between ladders
3*1/1 Shoulder Flow with bent press instead of MP

swing-snatch-combo @16kg
3 sn L - 3 DARC sw - 3 sn R - 3 DARC sw etc. (18 sn, 15 sw)
1min on, 1min off
15 rounds, 30min
270 snatches, 225 swings

This combo has become a kind of a hit, clients keep asking for it. Maybe because the swings in between make intensity go up and down, which enables them to go for longer sets than with snatches only, but it's more challenging than swings alone.

Swing it, snatch it, jerk it

2009-01-20T07:51:00.000+01:00

Said client liked last week's combo pretty much so we did it again yesterday, this time combined with sets of long-cycle jerks. We were both a bit tired so we were actually going to go by feel about rest times, but then we turned out to be ready to continue in 1min, give or take a few secs.

1min LCCJ - transfer @16kg (10), cca. 1min off
1min swing-snatch-combo from last Thursday @16kg (6*3 snatches and 5*3 swings), cca. 1min off
5 rounds, cca. 20min

Where's my grip endurance?

2009-01-18T19:37:00.002+01:00

Top of the minute:
15 two-hand swings @24kg
20 two-hand swings @24kg
25 two-hand swings @24kg
6 rounds, 18min, 360 swings

I had actually planned to do a bit more but it simply fried my grip pretty soon, so, after a few minutes rest, I switched to two-hand transfers @16kg:

Still top of the minute:
25 two hand transfers @16kg
20 rounds, 20min, 500 swings

At least that was no problem. Would've been really pissed, lol.

Yesterday's press practice

2009-01-18T09:44:00.000+01:00

AM:
ROP C&P ladders @16kg
3*(1-->4)

kneeling presses @12kg
5/5 tall kneeling
5/5 half-kneeling, weight over stance leg
5/5 half-kneeling, weight over step leg

PM:
3 more rounds of kneeling presses @12kg:
5/5 tall kneeling
5/5 half-kneeling, weight over stance leg
5/5 tall kneeling
5/5 half-kneeling, weight over step leg

AM "cardio"

2009-01-15T14:48:00.005+01:00

Swing-snatch combo with an advanced client, @16kg

3 snatches L - 3 DARC swings - 3 snatches R - 3 DARC swings - 3 snatches L - ... - 3 snatches R.

10 rounds, 1min on, 1min off
20min, 180 snatches and 150 swings (6*3 snatches and 5*3 swings per round)

Your "heavy weight, low rep approach for bulking up", Ryan.

What a witless clown.

"Moonstruck" left

2009-01-14T20:48:00.000+01:00

ROP C&P ladders @16kg
5*(1-->3)

5*20 one-hand swings @32kg (5/5/5/5)

My pressing strength has improved bigtime, but it seems like I can't really find my groove on my left. At least it is not reliably settled. One rep goes up smoothly, the next is staggering, the third is smooth again. Maybe some high volume 12kg presses and/or tall and half kneeling presses will fix it.

This turned out to be "fun"

2009-01-12T19:54:00.001+01:00

ROP C&P ladders @16kg
1*(1-->5), 2*(1-->4), 2*(1-->3)

@16kg, 30sec on, 30sec off:

two-hand swings
figure 8s to a hold
dragon twist
one-hand swings
swing-flip-catch-squats
BU cleans
'goblet' cossacks
DARC swings

3 times through, 24min

Well.
Beware of dragons and cossacks.
They're carnivorous.

Heavy swings

2009-01-11T21:05:00.002+01:00

Top of the minute:

10 @24kg (5/5)
10 @32kg (2 two-hand/2L/2 two-hand/2R/2 two-hand)
10 @40kg (two-hand)
10 @48kg (two-hand)

5 rounds, 200 swings, 20min

Wow, this makes that 24 feel like a toy... :)

Doubles again

2009-01-09T19:48:00.000+01:00

Floor press
5*5 @2*16kg

Suitcase deadlift
5*5 @2*32kg

Cleans
5*5 @2*20kg

I really like it this simple.

Squat-Press-Snatch-combo

2009-01-08T17:57:00.000+01:00

I'm pretty sore all over, which is of course no big surprise after having done next to nothing for weeks, so I did some full body combo work today with a moderate weight and at a moderate pace, just to get the blood flowing a bit:

@12kg
clean L - (front squat - press - snatch neg. - snatch - press neg.)*8 - switch hands and repeat R
1min L, 1min R, 1min off
10 rounds, 30min

I had to realize my shoulders got fatigued faster than I thought so I used the momentum of the squat (=thruster) when necessary.

Still just a pull and a press

2009-01-06T16:28:00.002+01:00

Sounds familiar :)

@2*12kg
10 see-saw presses
10 renegade rows
Back to back, took approx. 1min, 1min off
10 rounds, 20min

And some snatches
@12kg, switching hands every 10 reps:
100, 80, 60, 40, 20
300 snatches, not timed, 15-20min

I'll also have some farmer's walk later in the evening - got a bigger room for my classes upstairs so I'll have to move about 400kg of kettlebells... :)

What else to start the new year with

2009-01-05T20:38:00.001+01:00

Program Minimum.

TGU
5 sets of 3/3 @16kg
approx. 20min

Swings
30:30 @16kg

21-22 two hand
5/5/5/5
21-22 two hand
10/10
21-22 two hand
20 DARC

4 times through, finishing off with one more set of two hand swings
25 sets, 25min, 500+ swings

Sluggish

2008-12-23T09:39:00.003+01:00

The symptoms are gone but energy is low. It's not just that freakin' virus. The last few weeks were draining: on top of the usual lot of KB teaching Sunday through Friday, 4 out of 5 Saturdays were not free either.

I didn't feel like blogging or otherwise keeping record of the workouts the last two weeks. That would have made me want to push it, lol. I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that, sort of variety days "doing whatever I like and taking it easy". Like 5 ladders of 3 C&P @16kg, or 5*5/5 (proper, CK-FMS-approved) SLDL @16kg, 10 sets of 10/10 snatches alternated with 10/10 LCCJ @ 16kg, a few minutes of Shoulder Flow @16kg, some bear crawl - renegade row - pushup combo @2*16kg or a few sets of heavy swings (one hand @ 24 and 32kg, two hand @ 40 and 48kg), these I remember.

I'm going on a vacation over the holidays to visit my in-laws in the Austrian Alps and I'll turn it into, as Marty calls it, a "purposeful layoff". I'm more or less off of the WD these days, too. I feel I need more food and I need more carbs. I'm putting on some weight but that's okay. Cycling nutrition in accordance with exercise (or, in this case, rather the lack of it). I believe Marty. There's some serious work waiting for me next year so I better get ready (and rested, slightly deconditioned)...

My, my, great times are coming :) Big goals... Can't wait to hit it hard when I'm back :)

I'll be OTG until Jan. 5th or so - everybody have a wonderful Christmas and loads of fun at New Year's!

Seems like

2008-12-09T15:23:00.001+01:00

The worst is over - I still have a few cold-like symptoms and could sleep all day but other than that I'm more or less recovered. Yesterday I did a few 16kg presses and today a couple of swings and snatches just to see how it goes but I still didn't feel that much like training so I didn't push it.

This is a nasty one

2008-12-03T08:54:00.001+01:00

Things are better from the neck upwards, but worse everywhere else: muscle cramps. Sneezing, coughing or laughing --> the whole abdominal wall; any sudden movement or attempt to lift anything heavier than 1 lb --> all back muscles on that side; walking faster than 1 mph --> both calves. "I'm getting the joke, I just don't like it..." :)

Must be a kind of virus infection

2008-11-28T18:04:00.001+01:00

Low energy, sore throat, nausea, chills and a rather mysterious pain somewhere between ribcage and shoulder blade on my right side. Will take the rest of the week off and then we'll see.

SLDLs, yippieee!

2008-11-25T15:55:00.001+01:00

Although it took me AGES since the CK-FMS to figure that stabilizing voodoo out, I finally did and that's what counts :)

3*20 DARC swings @16kg

5/5 "chest opening" windmills (non-working arm behind back) @16kg
5/5 SLDLs @16kg
5 rounds

swings @20kg, alternating
30 one hand swings (1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5)
30 two hand swings
45sec on, 30sec off
12 rounds
15min, 360 swings

Yesterday:

10 swings L - 10 swings R - 10 cleans L - 10 cleans R - 10 snatches L - 10 snatches R @16kg
3 rounds

1/1 Shoulder Flow @16kg
3/3 windmills @ 16kg
3/3 OH squats @16kg
3 rounds

3*1/1 side press @16kg
3*1/1 bent press @16kg

10*1/1 two hands anyhow, @16+12kg, windmill style and OH squat style

5*20 fig.8 to a hold @16kg

Sore, lol

2008-11-22T20:30:00.003+01:00

Thank to those doubles I now move like an Imperial AT-AT Walker from Star Wars... I did a bit of swinging yesterday, but today's definitely off.

Yesterday:

40 swings (10 two-hand, 10 L, 10 R, 10 two-hand) @16kg
1min on, 30sec off
20 rounds (30min, 800 swings)

Some doubles

2008-11-20T13:10:00.004+01:00

I haven't done them for quite a while. Add in a few heavy snatches and swings and there you go, "elegantly wasted" :)

#1
Shoulder Flow, 10min (clean - press - OH squat - windmill - TGU to floor - arm bar - TGU to standing - windmill - OH squat - lower to rack - switch hands and repeat) @12kg

#2
5*Double C&P-Snatch-combo (dbl. clean - press - snatch drop - snatch - lower to rack - reclean etc.) @2*12kg
5/5 snatches @20kg
10 rounds

#3
10 steps Bear Crawl + 10 Renegade Rows @2*16kg
20 two hand swings @24kg
5 rounds

#4
10/10 snatches @16kg
20 Figure 8s To A Hold @16kg
3 rounds

Get-downs with presses

2008-11-17T20:35:00.000+01:00

clean and 3 military presses - get down to kneeling - 3 kneeling presses - get down to lying - 3 arm bar presses - get up to half kneeling - 3 kneeling presses - get up to standing - 3 military presses - switch hands and repeat on the other side, @12kg
10/10 snatches @16kg
5 rounds

This is a killer :)

Some more pics

2008-11-13T20:58:00.002+01:00

View Album

Get your own

As for training today:

two-hand swings, 30sec on, 30sec off, alternating 24kg and 32kg, 10 rounds

All because he was late

2008-11-10T11:37:00.002+01:00

VO2Max, 15:15, @12kg
120 sets of 9
one full hour, 1080 snatches

I decided to do my MaxVO2 session before training a client. Planned were 70 sets so I got there 35min earlier. Then it turned out he'd be about 15min late. Okay, I said to myself, I could just as well do all 80... Then: "Okay, simply keep snatching until he shows up."... When he showed up I was at 114... I had to make it 120 :)

Corrective Get-ups

2008-11-09T17:57:00.002+01:00

Different styles (see Brett's blog), many sets of 1/1 scattered throughout the day - with a half empty water bottle.

GTG those presses

2008-11-08T20:50:00.000+01:00

Strict military presses @12kg, 27 sets of 5/5 on long rests.

Originally I thought around 20 would be cool, but then I was translating, too (a set after each paragraph seemed just fine), so I didn't really keep track just kept making strokes on a piece of paper - and that's how many I had at the end.

Yesterday around noon

2008-11-08T08:27:00.001+01:00

VO2Max, 15:15 @12kg
60 sets of 9

It felt like the 50 on Monday, which went easier than the 40 on last Saturday. Around 30 I fell into some kind of automatic mode and felt like I could go on and on and on like a machine. Well, 70 sets to come on Monday, 80 on Thursday or Friday - let's see if it's true :)

Fall colors

2008-11-07T07:20:00.004+01:00

Wow, like illustrations from a book of fairy-tales... Gotta love this spot :)

More pics to come when I get them.

This was a good one

2008-11-06T19:22:00.000+01:00

5/5 military presses @12kg
10 swing-flip-catch-squats @16kg
10 rounds, cca. 30min

Tough combo

2008-11-03T21:33:00.001+01:00

A.m.:
VO2Max, 15:15, 50 sets of 9 @12kg.

Once again I forgot my sock sleeves, and I used up the rest of my tape for my training partner who showed up with shredded hands but insisted on doing it anyway - so no hand protection for me today. Which left me no other option than really concentrating on perfect hardstyle form every single rep - and it went better than ever: not only did my hands stay intact but I didn't even come close to breathlessness.

Before evening class:
clean - jerk - snatch-drop - snatch - slow pull down to rack - this is one rep.
@16kg
2min on (1min L, 1min R, 7-8 reps each), 1min off
7 rounds, 21min

This absolutely smoked my forearm. Now that I think about it, I guess this was the first time I did 2min:1min combo sets @16kg at all, but I'm pretty sure I never did 1min/arm before. Halfway into it I was thinking of switching hands every rep but then I just sucked it up and gutted it out. Those slow negatives, especially towards the end, did make me a better man :)

Nothing special

2008-11-01T21:56:00.002+01:00

Lots of Brettzel and other correctives,
VO2Max, 40 sets of 9 @12kg.

I'm still undecided whether I should work this up to 80 sets or stop at 50 or 60 and start over @16kg. An inner voice is telling me I should actually be doing this @16kg, the former version is just procrastination. Another one says 9 reps/set is pretty fast though, working up to 80 sets at that cadence could just as well be beneficial.

Some presses

2008-10-31T06:28:00.002+01:00

MP, 5 sets of 5/5 @12kg yesterday morning, lots of singles @16kg during the day.

The strength difference between my left and right side has grown quite a bit. Probably because I usually do all demonstrations during classes on my right, which is actually nothing else than GTG. I guess I should wear my watch on my right wrist for a while :)

Chilly morning

2008-10-29T07:05:00.003+01:00

My guys are tough - it's getting pretty cold now that November is closing in (having to scrape frost off my windshield makes it unpleasantly obvious), they still prefer training outside. Which I completely understand, I love this spot, too:

But if I'm teaching several hours in a row I have to keep moving, too, so yesterday I decided to do the ballistics with them. I chose I-go-you-go-style as it regulates rest time naturally, serves demonstration purposes and still enables me to watch them move and make corrections if necessary - and it's fun for them, too.
Unfortunately I forgot my sock sleeves so my hands were beaten up by noon, so that was it for the day (this was all not planned so I don't remember the exact number of sets but it was something like):

10-12 sets of 20 (one and/or two hand, normal or flip) swings @12, 16, 20kg
8-10 sets of 10/10 snatches @16kg,
5 sets of 5/5 snatches @20kg,
5-6 sets of 5/5 cleans @24kg
4-5 sets of 20 Figure 8s To a Hold @16kg
? sets of 12kg juggling

LOL

2008-10-27T22:27:00.006+01:00

Whatever was going on over there, it was not pretty... :D

EDIT:

Okay guys, it's a quiz :)
Leave a comment with your guess on what the heck was happening.

Taikei says a dog ate Brett's lunch and he's about to spank him - sounds plausible to me as my face is frozen as if it was my dog... :D

No 50 sets today

2008-10-27T20:19:00.000+01:00

50 sets of 9 for me, 8 for him - this was the plan for today. But my VO2Max training partner got 34 snatches on his test in the last minute, so (and due to some time constraints, and because he is also one that's itching for challenges) we agreed he'd try and go for 9 reps, too, and we'd drop back to 30 sets. I was a bit sore from the weekend so I didn't mind. Snatching at the same cadence is gonna be more fun :)

I declared my shoulder healed

2008-10-26T12:09:00.001+01:00

Finally! No signs of impingement or any other discomfort.
Which means it is time to add presses back in. The plan is to start out @12kg and build up some volume (er, slowly!!) to get the groove greased again. Well, knowing me you can imagine the most difficult part is not to forget "just because I can doesn’t mean I should.", lol. Re-channeling extra energy is the way. Knowing how to fool yourself is priceless :)

"I'm such a good, good boy... I just need a new toy..." :)

Military press, 6 ladders of 3 @12kg
10 flip swings @24kg between ladders

Oh, and if Motley, here's my favorite for tomorrow's VO2Max :)

Get-ups and clubs

2008-10-25T12:10:00.002+02:00

TGU 1/1 @16kg, 1/1 @20kg, 1/1 @24kg
25 CB double swipes (cca. 1min)
15/15 CB mills (cca. 1min)
5 rounds, rest as necessary.

Finally confident enough to do 24kg get-ups in the house :)
After my first (and right away 3-digit-) rendezvous with the Beast yesterday I didn't actually feel the urge to swing any kettlebell of any size today, lol. The clubs just seemed right to get some blood flowing nice and easy.

New snatch test rules

2008-10-24T22:05:00.002+02:00

That means I have 5min to snatch the 16kg as many times as my BW in kg.
That freakin' thick handled thing that keeps beating up my hands.
(Which is probably due to the fact that I only snatch it if I have to. I usually prefer doing high volume with a lighter weight or low volume with a heavy weight.)

So I better get used to it.
And I better start off by making it feel light.
It even looks light :)

10 two hand swings @48kg
10/10 snatches @16kg
10 rounds.

Time to jump back on that blog wagon

2008-10-23T16:49:00.008+02:00

Thank you, guys, for all the comments and emails, it really warms my heart and I'm more grateful for your care and concern than I can say!

Now, this is what's going on:

I'm working a lot. Out of bed at 5 a.m., back home around 8 p.m. I invest a lot of time and energy into my "victims", and it pays off. I love to see them getting stronger and healthier day by day. See a guy who was on the verge of puking after a couple of sets with a 12kg two months ago swing the Bulldog now. See a wrecked shoulder confidently support 24kg snatches. See the amazed look at the ground suddenly so near when the crossed tubing makes a knee stiffened by an old injury bend into a deep squat. See overweight people drop belt holes, bodybuilders open up, postures improve, flat feet regain arch, back pains diminish. My fighters bring medals home. The young lady I posted about swung a 20kg yesterday, for sets of 10. And the like. But it also means I'm dog tired by the time I get home and I often just can't wait to fall into bed, thinking to myself "I'll post tomorrow", just that those tomorrows are no different, lol.

Also, the CK-FMS stuff turned my first interest in biomechanics into something close to obsession (my family and No.1 test persons say: "you're a maniac but this is what makes you special", lol). I couldn't put the reasons for this any better than Roger Bartlett:

"But why do we do it? Well, the usual reasons are:
• To help people perform their chosen sporting activity better. We should note here that this does not just apply to the elite athlete but to any sportsperson who wants to improve his or her performance.
• To help reduce the risk of injury.
[...] And, from a personal viewpoint:
• Because it is so fascinating. Yes, it is fascinating, otherwise so many of my generation would not still be doing it. It is also intellectually challenging and personally gratifying – if you can contribute to reducing an athlete’s injury risk or to improving his or her performance, it gives you a warm glow."

And the more I learn about all this, the more I can also catch a glimpse of how the RKC system is perfectly in line with these principles, taking them to yet another level... fascinating, indeed.

I'm also translating the FMS manual into Hungarian for the Budapest course in February. A helluva job, and pretty time consuming, too, as it also means creating terminology, sort of. Nonetheless a very rewarding one, too.

Speaking of translation... The RKC weekend! (My, that was almost 3 weeks ago, and I still owe a writeup...)

It was a very intense weekend, indeed. I had the double job of assisting and translating, but that was no burden at all, on the contrary, it was the best thing that could happen to me, as it delivered a tremendous opportunity to benefit as much from being present as possible: First, there was no way I could skip a word of what Andrea and Brett were presenting. (I even had to translate Peter 'back' into Hungarian, now that was sort of funny!) Well, if you ever tried translating you probably now you sooner or later switch to a kind of automatic mode where information just "flows through you" and you don't remember much after you're done. This time this was not an option as right after translating a section I had to go and put all that was said into practice by assisting the candidates. Circumstances can be your best friend if you just let them :)
It was a different approach this time, with more focus on teaching how to teach, so to say, and now that I had more kettlebell teaching experience myself than back in May I kept linking info and tips to my own clients and real training situations and real problem solving... I think it's not that much of an overstatement to say I learned even more this time than in May. Not that we missed out on all this stuff when I got certified, please don't misunderstand, but it all was more hypothetic back then and so more difficult to internalize and integrate into my present system of knowledge, not like the exercise form details and stuff related to our own training that I, of course, had a better foundation to build on for. I'd rather say many "loose puzzle pieces" I had been carrying around from May slipped to their places in combination of the new info or seen from the new points of view delivered this time.
And of course there was a lot of fun to have, too, starting right on Thursday with having the chance to spend a big part of the day with Andrea and Brett just hanging out in Budapest, visiting the King's Palace, having lunch together and doing some shopping downtown - I had a backpack full of questions half of which I didn't ask because it was a lot more interesting to just listen to whatever they had to say :) Then I met people I was looking forward to meet and exchange thoughts with like Tamás "Crossfit-Budapest" Radnai I only knew from the blogosphere, and also made friends with great people I didn't even knew they exist a day before... Oh, and there was a lot of shakin' and bakin', too, during the course of which I was suddenly hovering intimidatingly near the ceiling and Brett was raised to knighthood and in spite of which I now own a neatly bent red nail I keep showing around earning considerable respect with as a person that knows people that can do things like this to objects like this... :)

Andrea

Brett (and said red nail)

Peter

Tamás

Another milestone

2008-09-30T20:58:00.001+02:00

As I learned from Fireman Tom, applying the "Corkscrew" from NW to the legs I posted about some 3 weeks ago is an existing technique Pavel called Spiraling, often used with squats. I was of course encouraged by that and started practicing it, especially with loaded cleans (I don't try and press heavy until after the Cert, but I can work on building a solid foundation for it in the meantime). Well, it works: now I can clean the 32kg :) A few days ago R only, today L, too. Okay, I can't say I was very far from it before, but I wasn't there, and now I am, and that's cool ;)

And what's even more cool: I have a young lady, three weeks ago she was quite shocked to find out even BW squats were difficult for her - by adding this technique to the other HT ones she brought herself to suitcase deadlifting double 16s last Saturday, for several singles!

My new favorite

2008-09-28T19:49:00.002+02:00

Is combining farmer's walk and OH carry. The idea is originally from Andrea Du Cane's Special Populations DVD, but it wouldn't be me if I hadn't put it into some combo :)

Snatch a 16kg. Do a windmill, pick up a 24kg from the floor. (Adjust the weights relative to your own BW, of course, the two together are approx. 70% of mine.) Set your shoulder back and down, keep your elbow locked out. Walk around a bit. Put the 24kg back down windmill-wise. Straighten up, then drop the 16kg, too. Switch hands and do the other side. Repeat until a better man :)

The variation I also have many of my beginners do (with lighter weights of course) is to clean or cheat-curl the lighter bell, suitcase deadlift the heavier one and set it up for the farmer's walk, press up the lighter one and start walking. Then lower the top one under control (pull down to rack), put the other one down (suitcase style), switch hands.

I can't say they enjoy it, but they badly need stability work. At least as badly as me :)

OMG

2008-09-24T16:18:00.001+02:00

I haven't blogged for more than a week again! 24 hours a day seem to be far less than enough for all the things I'd like to do. And this is just partly due to the fact that I now teach KB around 20 hours per week in addition to some other work I still do, it is time management I should be more disciplined about. Use those seemingly "too-short-to-do-anything"-breaks, too, otherwise they add up to several hours of wasted time a day.

Good news shoulder-wise: no pain or discomfort these days, although I started adding OH presses back in. I'm practicing the move by doing just one strict military press ladder a session (1 to 5, no reclean) with a light weight, otherwise I do arm bar presses, side presses, kneeling/half-kneeling presses. I'm working the getups and do some windmills, too. I've tried some 12kg snatches, 5*30/30, and as those were fine, the next time I went for sets of 10/10 @16kg. Last Thursday I even snatched the 24kg a couple of times just to see if I still could (I couldn't resist, lol, but at least I somehow managed not to overdo it) and they were stronger than ever. The Cert is next weekend, I'll try and finally clean up those presses of mine and then I hope to be able to get serious about ROPping them up a bit :)

Pregnancy exercise

2008-09-15T22:54:00.003+02:00

Andrea is a tough gal. After some initial nausea and low energy at the beginning, she's now into the second trimester, abusing her poor 12kg with regained strength. As her doc says, she is "so sturdy she can do whatever she wants" - like swing...

Or wrestle with this:

150 lb - it won't take her long to close it :)

Her husband is still rehabbing an injured shoulder, but he's doing fine with side presses and DL PttP-wise. We added some FMS-corrections into the mix now, too. I know the Brettzel's going to be his favorite ;)

Busy weekend

2008-09-15T22:54:00.000+02:00

Was off to Budapest on Friday, met friends and had a fun training session in the afternoon (see next post). On Saturday there was a workshop for RKCs only with Peter going through the basics of L2 material with us, then on Sunday we had some introduction to working with ropes and clubs. I thought my shoulder would be okay for all this but it didn't really like the bent press... I even strained the opposite hip a bit, but a good night's rest fixed it. My, those ropes are no joke! I think I've never done anything that intense (although I had a couple of crazy KB workouts in my training history, lol). As for the clubs, except for some kind of bent-press-like variation there was nothing new (we applied the RKC priciples, e.g. we left off the "soft catch", the rebending of the knee when cleaning to order, but that's how I'd worked with them before, too), it's a pity we didn't come to the sideward moves like inward-outward pendulum or mills that I would have been interested in more. But I'm sure it was still plenty for those who never tried the clubs before and it's never useless to go through the basics again. All in all, we had a great time.

Workshop pics

2008-09-10T22:27:00.003+02:00

From June, what a shame it took me so long to post them... I was invited by Ten-Shin Karate Club to hold an ETK seminar.

View Album

Get your own

As for training, I've been doing a lot of juggling these days. Nothing fancy, I just found it is a fun way to fill the breaks between clients, and not bad for conditioning, either, if you do 3 to 5 10-15min sessions throughout the day. Yesterday I also fit in some VO2Max: 30 sets of 8 @12kg (15:15, 15min), today 10 sets of 40 swings 1min on, 30sec off (15min). This won't work when I start with ROP though.

Corkscrew

2008-09-07T21:45:00.001+02:00

The best in teaching is, you learn so much.
We are a hunchback nation. At least 80% of all people I screened scrored low on Shoulder Mobility. Which is, as we now know, not at all necessarily a "shoulder issue". I found the corkscrew principle from the Naked Warrior is a good cue for packing the shoulder and helps a lot with poor posture in many cases.
Then, over the weekend, I did Brett's RKC prep workouts. All three days I did 2 rounds with sets of 20 swings, 10/10 snatches and 5/5 of all other exercises. Between rounds I did the RKC snatch test (30/30 @12kg). I knew I would do okay with the swings and squats, I dreaded the press day however, I was concerned about my shoulder.
The first set went accordingly. Then I suddenly remembered my own preaching and took the time to really make sure to reset that shoulder at every clean. Then I was thinking about the clean, the loaded clean ("Your press is only as good as your clean.") and remebered the advice I got on the forum to narrow my stance a bit. (The stance... The connection to the ground, where the power comes from...) I tried it but it felt very "unhealthy". That corkscrew principle was still on my mind so I decided to try and apply it with the legs, too. Suck them into the hip joints. Push down with the heels and pretend to turn the feet outwards, without really moving them. And suddenly everything was stable, everything was tight like never before, no leakage.
Sometimes it takes just ages to really know what you already know actually, lol.
After the cert, ROP-time :)

Active recovery... sort of

2008-09-04T20:16:00.002+02:00

After quite a time of next to no overhead work, my shoulder took the beating (snatching) better than I expected (although I was careless enough to snatch a 20kg R later yesterday, to demonstrate the forward lean), the considerable lack of skin continuance however is a nuisance. Coincidentally, today was one of the rare days I didn't need to take bells with me so I could dust off my bike... I love to whizz by between the queues of cars in rush hour :) I think I did quite a mileage during the day as I had a lot of errands to run but it was definitely much more fun than work :) I rounded it up with some yoga practice and mobility stuff including the Brettzel.
I also realized (thanks Brett and Jason!) there are only 4 weeks to go until the October cert... Well, if the Man himself does it, does an assistant need to look any further? Tomorrow's Friday, perfect to start with it rested.