Bootcamp for Thursday June 18th

Nikki was in charge today as David watched. She did a terrific job!

Circuit: 45 on/15 off
Jumping lunges
Plank
T-push ups
Alternating rows

Then split into groups and did 5 round of the following. One person went right after the other:
20 swings
5 burpees
80 yard run down and back

Very tough workout!

Friday morning bootcamp with Dave Whitley.

Warmup always

Circuit for 2 rounds of:
Goblet squat to overhead press
1 arm rows
Rear foot elevated split squat on picnic bench
Burpees!

30 on, 15 off-switch sides if on a single limb exercise.

Next abdominal circuit of: hot potato, thoracic rotation, cherry pickers & prone plank 30on/10off

Last and never least, kettlebell swings: 25on/15off. 6 rounds.

Everyone have a terrific weekend!

Wednesday Bootcamp 4/8

Beautiful day today here in Nashville. Great for Nikki and I to head off to bootcamp and get our sweat going. Dave took us through a very tough workout tonight.

Began with RKC warm up of Neck ROM, shoulder and arm circles, the pump and spinal wave

Squat ladder in 2 groups resting in down position

-Alternating side 1-1, 2-2, 3-3

-Rest

-Alternating sides 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4

-Rest

-Alternating sides 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5

VO2 snatch training for 10 minutes 15 sec R arm/15 sec rest/15 sec L arm/15 sec rest (goal of 8 reps per side)

Ended with 4 rounds of swings for 45 seconds, then performed 40 yard jog/walk down and back began next round in 1:15.

Bootcamp for Tuesday, April 7th.

It was a cold day in Nashville today, but Nikki and I bundled out and were very pleasantly surprised to see that Ashley, Sue, Melissa, Lesa, Gina and Keith all came out in the cold early morning to workout with us.

Dave took us through a very good workout and we warmed up quickly.

We warmed up for 5 minutes with Neck ROM, Shoulder Rolls, Arm Circles, Spinal Wave and the Pump all for about 30 seconds.

Then we all got a kettlebell (moderately heavy) and went to a picnic table. We performed the following for 3 rounds. (30 seconds on, 15 seconds rest)

• Split squat with back foot elevated on picnic table R leg
• Split squat L leg
• Push ups (either feet elevated on picnic table, regular push ups, or with hands elevated on picnic table)
• 1 arm row Right
• 1 arm row Left

Next we performed a set of swings 30 second on/15 seconds off for 8 rounds with a heavy kettlebell.

Terrific workout!

Remember if you are looking to learn more kettlebell exercises and especially those that help to make you more powerful and balanced for working out and sports there is a Kettlebell Workshop, Friday May 8th. Get the details at www.irontamer.com or email Dave and irontamerdave@hotmail.com.

Friday 4/3/09 Bootcamp Workout

Tough workout today so I thought I would share it with everyone.

Circuit ran 45 seconds/45 seconds/45 seconds then rotate to next station with a 45 second rest

Did 4 rounds. Matt & Dennis did a good job on this one!

Group #1
1 arm row R
1 arm row L
Plank

Group #2
Half kneeling press to TGUish stand R arm/R Leg
Half kneeling press to TGUish stand L arm/L leg
Kettlebell swings

Group #3
Forward Lunge R leg(I did the Prisoner lunge like Sandy Sommer would say)
Forward Lunge L leg
Push Ups

Everyone have a great weekend!

Mark Update

March 2nd, 2008

December 19th, 2008

Just a quick little post to let everyone know how my training is going. For those of you who like to read what we are doing in bootcamp, I will post those as soon as I get time (I know I am behind).

My weight is right at 200 pounds, lowest I have gotten is 198. Not discouraged with what the scale has said due to the fact that my body fat is down 2% since starting kettlebell bootcamp. You know what that means: less fat & more muscle.

No longer wearing XL shirts since they just hang off of me, down to L. Pants are all to big for me. Energy level is doing great. Still eating healthy and trying to get a lean protein and a vegetable or fruit in with every meal. Trying to cut back on processed carbs unless it is right before or right after a workout.

Getting very nice compliments from everyone at work, and my biggest compliment is the sexy looks I get from my wife who enjoys looking at my arms and lats now. Very cool. I feel stronger than I have ever been in my life.

• Pull ups are easier,


• I just cleaned and pressed a 28kg kettlebell with my Left arm and snatched the same weight as well on both sides last night before class started.


• I can do a standing full squat below parallel without cheating.


• My FMS went from a 14 with imbalances to a 17 with no imbalances.

You should see my wife! She is so strong now! Our little "wrestling matches" when I used to dominate are now getting to be more evenly matched. Her strength has sky rocketed in only 9 weeks.

I will have to admit that I am a lifer to Pavel's Hard Style of training. Thanks for opening my eyes David....and for transforming me from a piece of mush into a piece of iron.

Kettlebell Bootcamp #27

Wednesday Evening Class 12/17/08

I know it has been awhile since I last posted a bootcamp. Sorry about that. Things are really taking off for us here.

Warm up included the spinal wave, side lunges (push knee out to side you lunge and point opposite foot to ceiling), body weight squats and the pump.

Began our workout in high gear with a circuit of push ups, body weight squats, snatches on L side, snatches on R side, and v-ups. Then repeated for 3 rounds. ( I am guessing we did around 30 sec each session). THIS WAS AN AWESOME WAY TO START A BOOTCAMP!

Then we revisited the ABdominal Snowman! Hot potato with KB, thoracic rotations with KB, sit ups to double arm overhead lockout with KB, and planks. 3 rounds of that as well at 30 seconds a pop. (I will try and get a video of this ABdominal Snowman, it is a killer workout)

Then we did swings with Tabata protocol, 20 sec on/ 10 sec off. About 10 rounds.

TERRIFIC WORKOUT. I FELT LIKE I HAD 2 CANNON BALLS IN THE BACK OF MY SHORTS, BUT IT WAS JUST MY ASS GETTING KICKED.

Kettlebell Bootcamp #22 (Newbies are coming on strong)

More newbies today that I brought from work.  All are very strong willed, female certified athletic trainers.  All will do well if they stick with it.

Had 12 total participants today in the morning class, no problem for Dave.  

• warm ups including the "spinal wave"
• split into 4 groups of 3, each group had one station: v-ups, push ups, squats, and renegade rows (in deadlift position) for time, 19 seconds rest in between sets, did 3 rounds
• then the carousel of pain, everyone grabbed a different sized kettlebell and we did swings for time 30 on/20 off and rotated to the next kettlebell.  Smallest size we had was a 12kg to the largest being a brand spanking new 28kg kettlebell.   very impressed to say I saw 2/3 of the class swing with the 28kg, while the others did deadlifting with it.  Remember, out of those 12 people, 3 were men.  So don't believe that bullshit that women can't or should not lift heavy weights!

Going to do a post later about making a financial commitment to your health.  You either pay for it now and enjoy the benefits, or pay for it later and be miserable.  Either way you end up spending money.  How much is your happiness worth?

Kettlebell Bootcamp #21 (Always good to start back from scratch)

12/3/08: Very good bootcamp today and all we did was the swing and turkish get up.

There were 5 new people who had little to no knowledge of the kettlebell and its exercises tonight. David introduced all of us step by step how to perform the kettlebell deadlift (essential to learn the swing), the kettlebell swing and the turkish get up.

We practiced right along with the newbies. You would think that Nikki and I would get bored, but I learned some new cues to improve my technique on my swing and especially my turkish get up. I found out that I was not performing the first part correctly and it actually made my getup more productive.

We ended up doing around 6-7 rounds of swings as well in 30 sec on/ 30 sec off. Had the heartrate monitor on today and still got the HR up to 175. And burned over 350 calories.

Kettlebell Bootcamp #20 (Week 7)

Sorry I have missed a couple of workouts. Nik made 2 workouts last week and I made only 1 and we had a short week due to Thanksgiving.

• Warmup including spinal wave and the pump.
• Split into 2 groups and did alternating ladders of goblet squats with the other group resting in the bottom of the squat, and push ups with other group resting in the top push up position (plank like hold) - did about 5 rounds
• Stayed in groups and performed clean to press ladders with other group resting
• Again stayed in the 2 groups and performed kettlebell swings for 30 seconds while other group rested. I believe it was 10 rounds
• 40 minutes later and 513 calories we were finished and exhausted. Great workout

Kettlebell Bootcamp #18-Another Snatch Day

Hello everyone! Happy Friday! If you ask me I would term today's bootcamp is "get your ass kicked by the kettlebell snatch Friday". Dave was back from his travels and we spent the whole session practicing the snatch technique from the single arm kettlebell swing, to the "snatch pull" (as Dave termed it), then to the last part being the end of the snatch position.

We practiced by:

• single arm swings 2x5 each side
• single arm snatch pulls 2x5 each side
• swing, to snatch pull, to snatch (then repeated full snatches x5 each side)
• snatches 1x5 (with a hold at the top anywhere from 5 sec - 20 sec)
• Lastly we did a snatch interval where we did 7 minutes of either continuous snatches, holds at the top of the snatch position, or swings. Our goal was to never drop or set down the kettlebell.

40 minutes later we were beat and the Heart Rate Monitor read 500 calories. Awesome day!

Kettlebell Bootcamp #16

Great workout today.  Did only two foundational exercises but Matt (subbing for Dave who is out of town) put a unique spin on one of them.

• Warm up including "the pump"
• Partner Get Ups 1 rep each side, then partner goes 1 rep each side (10 minutes)
• Kettlebell swings 30 sec on/30 sec off - 1st 5 rounds of swings were performed with a kettlebell in each hand! I used 16kgs, Nik did 12kgs.  Once my technique got a bit sloppy moved to regular swings with a 24kg (Nik did 16kg) for another 5 rounds

Sorry I don't have a calorie count, I was a bit sleepy this AM and forgot to wear my heart rate monitor.  Starting to see some cool changes in the past 6 weeks.  Performing swings with at least 24kg kettlebell, where I could only do that for 1-2 rounds the first week.  Nik is kicking ass with a 16kg on swings and her get ups are getting much crisper.  Won't be long and she will be doing swings with a 24kg on a regular basis.

Dave was nice enough to allow us to loan out some kettlebells this week to practice at home until our order gets in.  He didn't have to do it, but chose to cause he is not only a great instructor, but a great person.  THANKS DAVE!

KB Bootcamp #13 (week 5)

Great class again today.  Today was more of a technique component which I agree is essential to make sure that everyone reviews the very basics of kettlebell exercises.  I was surprised to see that my Turkish Get Up and Swing could still use some work.  This tells me that I should not be practicing other "sexy"  kettlebell tricks until I can get these two movements down.  If I can't perfect these first, then I will be unable to perform the more demanding lifts later on.  

Today in class:

• Warm up for 5 minutes including "the pump"
• Get up practice 1 rep each side
• Partner Turkish Get Ups 1 rep each side then partner goes for 10 minutes
• Kettlebell Swings that ended up turning into the "carousel of pain"  30 seconds swings with 20 seconds rest for 11 rounds

40 minutes & 400 calories later we were done.  Also on another fun note, Nikki and I ordered our first set of actual kettlebells!  I can't wait for them to arrive so I can perfect my Turkish Get Ups and Swings.  

Kettlebell Bootcamp #12 (I got a weak Left cheek)

Very good class today. Not only in a performance aspect, but I always love it when I learn something in a workout.

As many of you already know (just ask my wife Nikki) I always preach a lot at about muscle imbalances and how they can wreck your body with activities. The beautiful thing about kettlebell training is that it helps you to work on those muscle imbalances, like my Left butt cheek (sort of speaking).

Today (after warm up) David had us get into a half kneeling position and move our feet in line like we were kneeling on a tight rope (I call it half kneeling tightrope position). Then had us rack the kettlebell and press it overhead. We have done this before but before we would have the left leg forward and press up with the right arm, which was hard enough. Today we had to have the left leg forward and press with the left leg. Talk about hard & unsteady. Then Dave showed what we were doing and then showed what it looks like if you engage your stabilizers (some people say "core" I like to say pillar) this means David engaged his hip stabilizers by squeezing his butt, engaged his core by how he likes to call it "pull your sternum and your pubic bone together" and engaged his scapular stabilizers in his shoulder by pulling back and down with the shoulder blade and squeezing the handle with his hand. This made the movement much more "efficient" lets say with way less "energy leaks". It is those leaks that occur during movement within our training or everyday activities that can lead us to injury.

As it turns out when I was pressing with my right arm, I was having a significant amount of trouble! Does that mean my right side is weaker, maybe. But more than likely it means that I am having trouble stabilizing with my left hip (my weak left cheek). I also notice this with my turkish get ups as well. Here is our workout today:

• We did 1x5 tightrope half kneeling same side presses each side, then received more instruction then repeated with 1x5 each side with much more efficient presses

• Then of course we did KB swings 30 seconds on, 20 seconds off for 6 rounds.

40-45 minutes later and 500 calories later we where winded and finished. Great workout! I will try and get us some video up of the tightrope press when David and I have time. I am also going to introduce everyone to the Functional Movement Screen and how I tested on the FMS before I began kettlebell bootcamp. Have a terrific day everyone!

Kettlebell Bootcamp #11 (I know how to SNATCH now!)

Yes, go ahead and laugh. I did too. Everyone does when they hear the word "snatch". All in all though Nikki and I had a terrific bootcamp this morning. I did not think we could top the rough, kick ass workout we got last night, but my wife and I left bootcamp today with a huge sense of accomplishment. Cause know we have learned the kettlebell snatch, probably wasn't the prettiest of snatches but we did them and our forearms are free from bruises.

The first time Nik and I met with Dave I told him that I have seen the kettlebell snatch but was not familiar on how to do it. He had me try and rep and "WHACK" I popped my forearm so hard I was rubbing it for a week. He told me that he would get me to doing pain free snatches in the near future. Low and behold I banged my forearm up really good with a 12kg kettlebell 4 weeks ago and today I snatched a 16kg kettlebell 15-20 times today and walked out with no bruises and pain free, David is no liar.

Here is the workout:

• Warm up which included spinal wave and "the pump"
• KB squat to press from rack position 15 sec, 15 sec rest then other side 15 sec x 3
• Burpees followed by KB orbits (at least that is what I call them) around our midsection 30sec each then repeat x 2

Then David educated us step by step the art of the kettlebell snatch:

• practiced "pulls" both sides x5, repeated 3 times
• 3 pulls followed by 1 snatch (pull then punch at the sky), then continued with 5 more snatches, then switched sides: performed this 2 times each side
• one arm swings for 30 seconds, 30 second rest
• 3 one arm swings to snatch, continued to perform 5 more snatches, 30 second rest then switched sides

All in all around 43 minutes of work and 599 calories later. Heart rate got up to 185 during snatches. Notes: need to keep my damn opposite hand off of my thigh! Got in trouble 3 times, my bad gang. Ended up finishing my snatches with the opposite hand behind my back. Probably not the best snatches in the world, but damn it feels good to be able to perform a snatch. Need to keep practicing and cleaning up my swing, this will help me to perform a much better snatch!

Kettlebell Bootcamp #10

Kick ass day today in KBBC. Dave just returned from Japan where he instructed a kettlebell seminar and basically stepped off of the plane and headed over to teach class. Nikki and I went to an evening class this time due to the fact that Nikki has to go to work early on Friday.

• Circuits of alternating dumbell row, push ups, goblet squats (I believe we went 30 seconds exercise and then 15 seconds rest) x4

• After a quick break we did double arm kettlebell swings for 30 seconds and then 10 second rest x5

All in all we did only around 30 minutes of work, but my heart rate shot up to 185 and I burned 400 calories in that time. Let alone how many calories I am going to burn (one article states up to and maybe over 38 hour increase in calorie burn) since I combined weight training in a format that gets my heart rate to go at different levels.

After class I wanted to video myself performing a turkish get up to show everyone what we are doing when they hear about the turkish get up. David was so gracious as to stick around and watch to make sure I performed it correctly and then jumped in and gave step by step instructions. Thanks so much Dave. Your class and your instruction is top notch! Here is the video with instruction first and the full get up second.

Kettlebell Bootcamp #9

Two full weeks performed of kettlebell bootcamp.  Already had three comments this week of "have you lost weight" which is always welcomed.  Feeling stronger as well.  Nikki bought me as a pick me up when I was a little down in the dumps a cookbook called "Gourmet Nutrition 2.0".  I am so stoked about the cookbook as it comes from the precision nutrition line.  This is where the pumpkin pie bars came from.  We are going to try some recipes this weekend and I will report back next week.

As for the workout, after quick warm up:

• Circuit of body weight lunges, kettlebell presses, and one arm bent over rows (30 seconds R  side, 30 seconds L side, rotate to next station during 30 seconds rest)
• Kettlebell swings (45 seconds on, 45 seconds rest)  did 6 rounds I believe

40 minutes later and 460 calories torched, more of a strength portion today which was different since we went high on endurance last two sessions.  Still max heart rate got up to 175. 

Kettlebell Bootcamp #8

Today was a bit different today.  Dave was out of town in Japan doing a kettlebell workshop, so Dennis was are replacement instructor.  Today we re-learned the turkish get up, and learned a new spin on the swing, the 1 arm swing.

After warm up 5 min, we followed with:

• Turkish get ups, 1 rep, alternate sides for 10 min
• Goblet squat (also called steering wheel squat) with kettlebell followed by 5 push ups then repeat for time (I believe we did 10 minutes or 5 or 6 rounds)
• 1 arm swings with partner (1 person swings while the other rests) 10 swings each arm, then 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and finally one last set of 10 each arm.

All in all we did around 10 getups each side, 50 or 60 squats with perfect technique, 25-30 push ups and a total of 200 swings. 45 minutes, 570 calories later and my heart rate reached a max of 183.  

Kettlebell Bootcamp #7 (Week 3)

Today was a rough one. You wouldn't think that way if I told you all we did today was push ups, squats and kettlebell swings.

• Warm up 5 min
  
• Ladder (2 teams, 3 rounds) of push ups then sumo squats with kettlebell at chest level, beginning at 1 rep, 2, 3, 4, 5.  Other team not performing reps in up push up position or in down position of sumo squat with butt towards floor and chest tall
• Then performed 5 push ups and 5 sumo squats all together
• 10 push ups and 10 sumo squats all together
• Kettlebell swings 11 rounds at 30 second swings with 30 seconds rest
• final round of swings for 60 seconds total (I call it the ass kicker, literally!)

All in all we performed 60 squats with weight and 60 push ups, we improved squatting technique with the use of the kettlebell and did planks during our rest times.  I am guessing we did over 200 kettlebell swings in that time as well.  

40-45 minutes total, 800 stinking calories later!  

I also have an upcoming surprise and will try and get some new pictures up as well!

If you would like to see what some of the kettlebell exercises are like.  David Whitley has some videos up on his website.  http://irontamer.homestead.com/video.html