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.

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.

Announcing: Pavel and Dragon Door's new, one-day, entry-level kettlebell instructor certification workshop

Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification™ (HKC™)



With Pavel Tsatsouline, RCK Chief Instructor, and Master RKCs Andrea Du Cane, Kenneth Jay, Brett Jones, and Mark Reifkind

Saturday, September 26, 2009
8:30am—6:00pm
St. Paul, Minnesota

Attend the HKC and leave with these major advantages:

A deep understanding of the true benefits of kettlebell training—for both yourself and your clients
A solid knowledge of vital kettlebell training safety procedures
A workmanlike grasp of the fundamentals of biomechanics—to ensure your clients move with perfect form and avoid injury
A grasp of the key HardStyle skills and principles of strength
The ability to competently perform the three key kettlebell exercises (the Swing, the Get-Up, and the Goblet Squat)
A "simple and sinister" set of extra exercises that are easy to learn, easy to teach and a great bonus for both you and your clients
The confidence you can now correctly teach the three essential kettlebell exercises—and troubleshoot common technique problems
The ability to write kettlebell training programs for athletes (GPP) and fitness clients in a private or class setting
And discover all this and more in the course of your HKC training:

Understand why mastery of the kettlebell swing is fundamental to high-level HardStyle practice
How to develop power through compensatory acceleration and overspeed eccentrics
How to train hip extension for back and knee health and athletic performance
How to employ bracing and neutral spine—for injury prevention, enhanced performance and optimal transmission of force
How to recruit the lat as a "core muscle" to improve the spine safety and glute strength
How to employ the plank as an effective assessment tool and a corrective drill
How to increase power with the biomechanical breathing match
A safe, effective modality for developing different types of endurance
Explosive training techniques for more effective fat-loss
The two-arm swing and corrective exercises
The concept of rooting and two key drills for developing it
The manual overspeed eccentric swing
The one-arm swing
The hand-to-hand swing
Russian relaxation exercises to enhance the acquisition of skilful movement


The two hundred year history of the get-up
The get-up as an assessment tool
The strength and health benefits of the get-up
How to correctly perform the get-up and teach corrective drills
How to move from mobility to stability, then from stability to strength—and why this progression is crucial for truly effective kettlebell work
The get-up, shoulder mobility and stability exercises. The role of the lat in shoulder stability and strength—and advanced lat facilitation techniques
How to employ and teach steering strength
The concepts of leakage and linkage—and their importance for effective kettlebell lifting


How to perform the goblet squat and corrective drills
"Strength stretching" for the hips
How to quickly teach professional technique in the barbell squat and deadlift with a special kettlebell exercise
How to overcome gluteal amnesia
How to most effectively stretch the hip flexors to dramatically improve athletic performance


Seven effective and easy-to-learn extra kettlebell exercises—to add variety and depth to your clients' kettlebell workouts


Understand the key components of general physical preparation versus special physical preparation
How to train athletes versus training the general population
Special considerations for training military and law enforcement personnel
Personal training versus class training
The essentials of effective kettlebell program design
As with the RKC, the HKC will be earned through diligent testing of each candidate. Besides having to pass the requisite pullup test at the outset of the workshop, each HKC candidate will be evaluated for technical proficiency at the end of the workshop and will then be granted either a pass or fail.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Quest for RKC - Week 2 of 16

Hello everyone out there, hope that the week is treating you well. Nikki and I had a very productive week 2 on our 16 week quest for RKC San Diego. We made it to 3 kettlebell classes this past week. During class we worked on viking push presses, goblet squats, TGU's (Nik did a few rounds with a 20kg and Mark did the majority of his with a 12kg and 24kg at the same time), elevated split squats and some pushups, and of course TONS of swings!

With our at home workouts, we started our Rite of Passage Clean and Press ladders- 3 ladders of 3 rungs with for the heavy day and adjusted for the light and moderate days. Saturday we did a 5min snatch test--both of us hit our numbers. We also did 10 min of double swings (Nik with a 16kg, Mark with a 24kg), 20 sec work, 40 sec rest. We squeezed in a few more similar workouts during the week.

Below is Sunday's workout. We took the Tracy Reifkind , RKC workout and adjusted it some to use 2 kb's to get us prepared for RKC:)

The Double Kettlebell Circuit
(Nik did 2x12kg, Mark did 2x16kg)

Set one:

20 double swings

20 transfers w/1 kettlebell (DARCs)

Set two:

20 double swings
1 transfer 40 times

Set three:

15 double swings
15 transfers

Set Four:

One double swing, 1 double Clean, Press: 10 reps

then 10 transfers

Set Five:

One double swing, 1 double Clean, Press: 10 reps

then transfer10 times

Set Six:

One double swing, one double snatch, 10 reps
then 10 Transfers (DARCs)

Set Seven:

One double swing, one double snatch: 10 reps

Then 10 transfers (DARCs)

Below is Tracy's original workout:

Tracy’s 100-Pound
weight loss
workout routine

The Kettlebell Circuit
(all done with 26# kb)

Set one:
20 swings left, Transfer 20 swings right
20 transfers (DARCs)

Set two:

10 swings left, Transfer
10 swings right
1 swing, one transfer, 40 times

Set three:

One swing, one transfer 30 times

Set Four:

One swing, Clean, Press: 10 reps per
arm then transfer to opposite arm

Set Five:

One swing, Clean, Press: one rep per
arm then transfer10 times
then 10 Transfers (DARCs)

Set Six:

One swing, one snatch, 10 reps per
arm then transfer to opposite arm
then 10 Transfers (DARCs)

Set Seven:

One swing, one snatch per arm then
transfer ten times
Then 10 transfers (DARCs)

My take on P90x

I have had a lot of people ask me about P90x. I will have to admit that Nikki and I purchased the p90x and did the workouts for about 60 days. This was well before we were introduced to RKC style of kettlebell training.

If you have not heard about p90x, it is a set of 12 DVDs that contains strength training, yoga, and plyometric workouts. It comes with a diet & workout plan. The plan is pretty well thought out and the exercises are pretty good. You use tubing or dumbbells for the training DVDs. Right now to purchase the DVD set it is around 150 dollars including shipping.

My thoughts on the P90X.

• The P90x plan is 150 dollars but there are more costs involved, we ended up buying a pull up bar, 2 sets of powerblock dumbbells, tubing, yoga mats and ended up making a subscription to team beachbody (they suckered us in and then tried to keep charging us a quarterly fee for it, which we had to call them about 4 times to get them to stop taking money out of our account). All in all it cost us closer to $500 dollars.

Power Blocks




• The DVD's themselves are good, you get a great workout. The sessions can last from 50 minutes to 90 minutes! That is a long time to find to workout. Most people don't have that kind of time in a pinch so they will just ditch the workout in all.
• Some people are imbalanced and this type of training can put what Gray Cook calls "fitness on top of dysfunction". This means that if you are imbalanced you will be doing the exercises with the wrong set of muscles, this leads to micro trauma, and that leads to injury.
• It got too easy for us to not do our workouts. I got tired of the same person cracking the same jokes by about week 4 of the series. I got bored and I will admit lazy.
• I did not see the results I wanted. I did not lose any weight from the program although the workouts stated that I was burning around 800 calories per workout.

It wasn't until about 5 months after trying P90X that I went to the Functional Movement Screen Seminar hosted by Gray Cook and Lee Burton. Gray spoke about the functionality of the kettlebell and how well they helped to clean up movement/muscular imbalances. Someone thankfully asked the best way to get started and he stated to look into the Russian Kettlebell Challenge by Pavel Tsatsouline.

Now Nikki and I had trained with kettlebells in the past and I really didn't see the advantages of them very much. We went to target and got the Iron Core kettlebells/Go Fit (I am ashamed to say that I got a 15 pound one for myself and Nikki got the 10 lb.) We worked out with them now and again but did not use them very much.

This time I researched and was blessed to find out that I was so fortunate to have a Senior Kettlebell Instructor (RKC) here in Nashville named David Whitley (who is also familiar with FMS). When we first met he told us we were using way to light of a weight and bumped us up almost immediately. The reason for this was a point reflected by David and Gray that if you use too light of a weight you will not get the correct muscular firing pattern. The body will "cheat" sort of speaking.

Since last October 2008, I have had my eyes widely opened to the Hard Style method to training. We love it.

Kettlebell Training the RKC method advantages

• Cost-for the cost of one set of my power blocks, Nikki and I got a 12kg (about 25 lbs) and a 16kg (about 35 lbs). That was all we needed to practice and get a terrific workout at home. Also for the price of buying the P90x we worked out for one month, 3 times a week under the direction of a Senior RKC.
• The dragon door kettlebell has an offset center of gravity and a thick handle. This requires you to use the correct movement patterns to build strength. The kettlebell actually speaks to me on what movements I am doing incorrectly. I was shocked when I could feel the difference, it was amazing. Ask anyone who has trained with kettlebells, if you want an example. Check out this blog from Mike the Machine Bruce.
• Time - Nikki and I can get a terrific workout in any type of time frame. Whether it be 10 minutes or 50 minutes. You will be amazed with what type of workout you can get in 10 minutes.
• I was still getting in the 800 calorie burns like I saw with P90x, but we did it in less time and I was getting so much stronger and felt way more cardiovascular benefit from the interval training I was exposing myself to.
• Results - Since beginning the Kettlebell bootcamp and working out with Nikki at home with our set I have lost almost 20 pounds of fat. I began around 207ish and am now 189. I am way stronger than I ever had been before. I began bootcamp doing a turkish getup with a 16kg kettlebell and a few weeks ago was able to do a turkish get up with a 40kg kettlebell (that is around 88-89lbs).

My attempt at a turkish get up with the 108 lb. kettlebell. David Whitley, Senior RKC spotting.

So there you have it. All in all I would like to say that any workout is a good workout rather than sitting on the couch, but would that be the case if you began a workout with a movement imbalance and then ended up with an injury? Then you would end up back on the couch and in pain....??????

My suggestion is to find a personal trainer or RKC that can screen you correctly, train your movement patterns and teach you how to perform workouts correctly so that you can do them at home. I am not much of a DVD workouter per se. I would rather pay a little more money and see someone in person. More variety in the workouts, I push myself harder when an actual human being is telling me what to do.

If you really want to workout at home then that is fine by me, but at least get screened (doesn't cost much) and meet with a qualified personal trainer or RKC once per month to make sure you stay on track. I would really suggest you attend an RKC workshop, they are such a benefit. The last workshop I attended I realized that my swings weren't as crisp as I thought (even after doing them for 5 months). Another gentleman that drove over 6 hours to attend the workshop and only did kettlebell training to DVDs went from a beginner to a well rehearsed individual in the foundational kettlebell exercises.

Let me know your thoughts! What do you think of this post good or bad?

Shoe Selection

Hey everyone. Hope all of you are doing well this new year. Been pretty crazy on my end. I have been working on a presentation on the Functional Movement Screen for the Tennessee Athletic Trainers Society and have been having some software and computer problems.

Upon the idea of shoe selection, any Physical Therapist and Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) will instruct you to go to the runners store and get measured and fitted for a very good pair of running shoes. At least they should, the off the shelf brands aren't for everyone, many different people run in different ways. (And please stay far far away from Nike Shocks, its like you are running in high heels! BADBADBADBADBAD

Does anyone tell you what type of shoes you should wear to lift in? I learned the hard way from my RKC (Dave Whitley) and it was reinstated to me when I read Enter the Kettlebell by Pavel that any type of running shoe or workout shoe with a high heel is no good for lifting for a few reasons:

• The heavy padding takes away from your "proprioception" or balance. The proprioceptors in your body help to communicate to the rest of the body on where your body is in space, lets just say they are muffled somewhat when you have shoes on with a padded heel
  
• They take away from you using your biggest muscle, YOUR GLUTES! Think of it as this, if you come up from a deadlift or squat and are on your toes coming up you cannot fully initiate your glutes. You need to be able to drive force through your heels when performing squats and deadlifts, not the toes.
  

Your glute muscles are very important to your body and provide stability to your spine and lower body. As a society we suffer from "glute amnesia" (due to the fact that we sit all the time and do not use our glutes like we should, hence all the ankle, knee and back problems I see in therapy that are usually fixed with flexibility and good glute training).

I know, I know. Now you have to buy ANOTHER pair of shoes, but it will be worth it. I changed shoes and hit a new personal best on my snatch test on the 2nd day of training with them. You don't have to spend a lot of money actually. Pavel likes to wear Converse Chuck Taylors, Nikki and I spent $30 each and bought a pair of indoor soccer shoes, alot of RKC's wear Nike Free brand shoes. If is has a flat sole and is comfortable, then you are set!

From this day on if you walk into my clinic for therapy and you are not running that day, I will ask that you workout in flat soled shoes or I will have you work out in socks or bare feet. It makes a very significant difference when training and even in rehabilitation. As for running shoes, stick to running/walking in them. When its time to work on strength, take them off.

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.