RKC Day 2

Hello everyone! Hope all is well wherever you may be. Nikki and I have made it through day two of RKC and are still holding up well. Hands a little tore up, pretty sore but all in all we are doing good.

Today we covered the clean, press, squat, & snatch all with wonderful workouts following the technique portions. Many terrific drills learned to help clean up clients technique as well. Had a wonderful RKC dinner tonight where we got to speak with top instructors like Geoff Neupert, Delaine Ross, Heidi Rothenburg, Dr. Mark Cheng and of course David Whitley.

Last day toMorrow where we primarily test out, we demonstrate our ability to instruct & we have the grad workout. Will update everyone on our results tomorrow.

RKC Day 1

Hello everyone! Just want to let you know that day 1 has come and gone. We woke up this am very nervous for the upcoming day ahead and of course the snatch test.

Good news is that Nikki and myself both nailed the snatch test. We were so excited and relieved at the same time!

The rest of the day we worked primarily on the swing and Turkish getup. We learned a ton of terrific drills to help make both movements better for our clients.

Heat Exhaustion and Student Athletes

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Nice piece done on the Today Show about the National Athletic Trainer's Associations policy on heat illness.

RKC Update - 9 days and counting

Countdown = 9 days till we begin.
Doing pretty well this week. A little on edge due to one of the most important weekends in our lives if you ask me. You have to understand that I am the guy that gets sick to my stomach nervous before recreation softball games, after the first play or swing of the bat then I will be fine.

I feel that I will be on edge ( feel sorry for my wife Nikki) until after the 5 minute snatch test, then I should be in the zone to workout and learn & leave the nerves behind.

Training has gone fairly well. Saturday we did vo2 work with the snatch test for 17 minutes. Then practiced some teaching to some of the newer members of the bootcamp. On Sunday Nikki and I took the day off since we have been going non-stop for a few weeks now and were starting to feel it a bit. My neck and shoulders were pretty sore on Sunday (which means in my mind I was resorting to using my neck muscles instead of my lats and hips to do the work during the VO2 when I got tired). Been doing some trigger point work and shoulder stabilization exercises and that has helped alot.

Monday I did a workout of Turkish Get Up technique work, overhead walks, burpees and swings. Followed that with a good workout with David (another RKC hopeful) where we did double cleans, double presses, & double squat ladders 3x3 rungs. David is coming along so well and is peaking at the right time. Today he played around with my 32kg kettlebell and was able to perform getups, clean and press and snatches with it. I am almost jealous by how much he has improved in the past 3 weeks (ever since he reached 100 reps on his 5 min snatch test). Proud of you buddy!

The rest of the week I plan on doing Turkish Get Up practice with different weights to continue to improve on my technique along with some rolling exercises (I learned from Gray Cook which will greatly help your TGU in the first 2 and last 2 segments) and thoracic mobility. Also plan on doing some double kb work and some single kb work as well. Lastly one more 5 minute snatch this weekend to prep for the upcoming week.

Real Women Aren't Magazine Covers or Manequins by The Female Fitness and Nutrition Scientist

Great post by Cassandra Forsythe.

Here is the episode.

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RKC Prep Update

Been a while since I have updated everyone on how Nikki and I are doing for our preparation for out Russian Kettlebell Instructor Certification in San Diego, CA on Aug 28-30th.

2 weeks from today we will be on a plane for the west coast. I have been a little on edge lately. Don't think I have been this nervous for anything in my life. State wrestling was one but I was too young and naive to understand the ramifications of what I was about to accomplish. First day of college football and my first day of working at a Division I football school was nerve racking as well. My wedding I was a giddy nervous, I couldn't wait to get married to the love of my life.

I guess when you are so committed to a system (that being the RKC) you really want to not only pass, but perform very well.

If you are interested in seeing what the instructor certification requirements are, click here.

Our instructor Dave Whitley gave us some very encouraging words, he said basically that he feels that we have prepared well and are ready. Anything we need to improve on or "clean up"with our technique should be cleaned up during the certification. All we need to do now for the next 2 weeks is to maintain what we have and don't do anything to jeopardize our performance (example: tearing up our hands, pulling a hamstring, and so forth)

That is all for right now. I will definitely try and blog once or twice down in San Diego depending what is going on and give you a recap after it is all over and done with. I would love to be able to announce in 3 weeks that you are now speaking with Mark Snow, RKC and Nikki Snow, RKC!

Cinnamon Raisin Bars (Precision Nutrition)

Here is my new favorite POST WORKOUT protein bar from Precision Nutrition.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rolled oats

8 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

1 cup raisins (be creative here!, we have used dried cherries and dried cranberries as well!)

1-1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 tbsp Olive oil or flax oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Splenda or Stevia, to taste (about 1/2 cup or 10-15 packets)

(I also like to add a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the recipe but that is up to you.)

INSTRUCTIONS

In a clean, dry blender, process 1 cup of rolled oats into flour (blend on medium for about 1 minute). Stir together the following ingredients in a large bowl: oat flour, remaining rolled oats (1 cup), raisins, protein powder, Splenda, cinnamon, salt. Stir the applesauce and vanilla extract together with eh dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Use some elbow grease people!

Cut 8-10 squares of aluminum foil depending on how big you want the bars to be. Lightly coat the interior with an olive oil cooking spray. Spoon out an equal portion of the mixture into each foil square, and roll them into a bar shape. Fold them like tamales (takes practice, be patient! it is so worth it!) Fold them like tamales, folding the ends over to prevent spillage. You can flatten them into bar shapes if you want to avoid a tube shaped bar.

Bake the bars in the foil in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 16-20 min (I ALWAYS COOK FOR ONLY 16 MIN, ANY LONGER AND A GOOD CHANCE THEY WILL BE VERY DRY, I WILL TAKE GOOEY OVER DRY ANY DAY!)

If you want any further awesome recipes you can get it from the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook. Click the picture below to order if interested.