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RKC School of Strength

Official blog of the RKC

consistency

Practical Programming

April 1, 2015 By Max Shank 10 Comments

Max Shank Teaching In Germany

Programming is a scary word for coaches, trainers, and exercisers. There seems to be this mystic fog of confusion centered around the idea that the way you put an exercise plan together will completely make or break your gains. Obviously we are all afraid of wasting our time in the gym, so it’s natural for us to feel this way about it–we want optimal results!

There has been a ludicrous amount of time, energy, and experimentation in trying to determine some of the best training plans and methods. You can take a simple idea: “Exercise=good” and after years and years of research, start to worry about whether you did enough transverse plane movements at 85% of your 1RM on Day 4 in week 3 of your 12-week periodized program within a 3 year macrocycle.

Confused yet? Yeah I know.

Here’s the thing, there is a decent amount of science and experimentation to back this stuff up, so in theory it makes sense.

However, my two main issues with complicated programming are centered around the following:

1) Reality
2) Who is this for again?

In a land where unicorns roam free and butterflies kiss the cheek of every child, maybe these intricate plans make sense. However, we live in the real world. We get in an argument with the wife, the kids keep you up all night, you’re stressed out at work, maybe you got super drunk last weekend or didn’t get enough sleep the night before. Whatever it is, we are not consistent nor are we precisely linear. A good plan allows for wiggle room based on how you feel on a given day. Trying to force a certain amount of reps/sets or movements on a day where you maybe shouldn’t is a surefire way to injure yourself. Don’t force square pegs into round holes. Take advantage of the days when you feel good, and don’t push your luck on the days where you don’t.

Most of the best-known and revered programs in the world all center around heavily specified activities like powerlifting/Olympic lifting or gymnastics. What we fail to remember is that these programs are geared toward PROFESSIONALS in these SPECIFIC sports. Last I checked, most of us are just trying to feel better, look better, and then perform better. I don’t know about you but I don’t get paid by the pound when I do a deadlift. The issue here is that we are sacrificing the main goal (better health and fitness) for the secondary cause (lifting more weight). I know that we love measuring things, and it’s a very efficient metric, but let’s not forget why we are lifting weights or training in the first place!

Professional athletes sacrifice health for performance all the time–because they are paid to do so. If you’re not getting paid to lift more weight, you might want to rethink using a program that is built for those who do.

Here’s some parting wisdom when it comes to putting a plan together.

Your nervous system likes frequency over intensity, so train full body workouts and hit all the main patterns every session.

  • Upper Push
  • Upper Pull
  • Lower Push
  • Lower Pull

Be flexible. When you feel super strong, throw on some extra weight. When you don’t feel 100% focus more on things like flexibility and medium weights.

Max Shank Twisted Flagstand

Build your plan around the rest of your life.

One of the biggest problems with any plan is consistency. So take a look at your schedule for the week and find the BEST times where training will fit around that–you want to remove as many barriers as possible when it comes to working up the motivation to work out. Have a plan for when you can’t make it to the gym so you can still train at home or at the park–it’s always good to have a plan B.

The challenge is not in lifting the weight, the challenge is in having the resolve and forethought to be consistent over the long term.

Better every day.
-Max

***
Master RKC Instructor Max Shank is the owner of Ambition Athletics in Encintas, California. He is very active in martial arts, competes in the Highland Games, and promotes a holistic approach to overall fitness. For more information about Max please visit www.maxshank.com.

Max Shank is the author of Master the Kettlebell, now available in paperback and ebook format.

He has also recently released Ultimate Athleticism, an ebook and training program.

Filed Under: Coaching, Kettlebell Training Tagged With: challenges, Coaching, consistency, exercise programming, fitness programming, fitness training, Master the Kettlebell, max shank, programming

3 Traits of Those Who ‘Have What It Takes’ for Kettlebell Training

November 19, 2014 By Nick Lynch 5 Comments

Nick Lynch RKC Team Leader Committed to Kettlebell Training

To properly train your body with kettlebells, you must continually enhance your skills. Correct me if I’m wrong but the Wright brothers crashed many model planes before they actually took flight, right? That’s because they were learning something new. Since each day brings new challenges, each day’s training session is a new opportunity for growth. The kettlebell requires commitment, consistency and willpower for that growth to occur.

Commitment

Has anyone started a new job without any sort of onsite training? Sorry, but we don’t come out of the womb with a tool belt, construction hat, and the know-how to build a house! To build your first home, more likely than not, you’ll collapse a few walls, stub some toes, nail a finger or two to the wall before your dream stands sturdy and proud. If you’re really serious about getting started with kettlebell training or continuing your path of training, commitment is mandatory. A practice regimen of once per week won’t cut it. Kettlebell training is a 7-days-a-week commitment regardless if you’re swinging, pressing or just working on mobility. During your training, all your thoughts and movements should be focused on enhancing your skills.

I recommend picking up Max Shank’s Master The Kettlebell. Read it! Now read it again. And then? Read it again. Hire a local RKC Instructor and have them teach you the basics. At first, go light to go right. Don’t worry, I assure you the beast tamers who may have inspired you started just like this on Day one.

Senior RKC Robert Miller pressing a kettlebell twice the size of his head
Senior RKC Robert Miller pressing a kettlebell twice the size of his head!

Consistency

It may not be a good fit for everyone to lift weights 7-days per week. Your body will tell you if it’s a day to go crazy or a day to stay away; waving loads is essential when training consistently. One must be skilled in knowing when to go heavy, when to go light, or when to not to go at all. Programming with consistency is what kettlebell training is all about! I’ve seen the best results with a Monday/Wednesday/Friday routine: Monday’s light, Wednesday’s medium and Friday’s heavy. I practice swings, calisthenics and mobility on the days in between to prepare myself for the next lifting day.

What is consistency? Consistency is following though with a training schedule. Our lives are centered on some sort of schedule. Each commitment requires a consistent schedule to succeed. You have to train your body properly everyday if you want real results. Set a schedule that works for you and don’t let anyone or anything get in the way. Consistency allows you to achive progress and is essential for growth.

Willpower

If we’re all being honest with ourselves, we will admit that it takes willpower to consistently commit to any type of program. Kettlebell training is complex and requires both commitment and consistency. Regardless of what your goals are, you’ll need willpower. You’re going to have that coworker who guarantees what you’re doing is a waste of time. You may even have some friends who are upset that it’s Friday night and while they’re on shot #3 and beer #4 you’re busy with Turkish Get Up #4 on minute #3. Willpower is required to stand up to the inevitable temptations. Remind your friends that you want to enhance your health. Who can argue with that? By surrounding yourself with things and people conducive to your goals and tuning out the rest, willpower grows!

Casia Justine, RKC tapping into her willpower
Casia Justine, RKC tapping into her willpower

Cultivate willpower, become consistent and be commited to your kettlebell program. If you don’t know what to do, hire a local RKC Instructor. If you don’t have a local RKC, hire one via the Internet. With commitment, consistency and willpower prepare for some serious strength and conditioning gains! Thanks for reading and feel free to ask some questions in the comments section below. I’ll do my best to answer or point you in the right direction!

In the following video, I press a 36kg kettlebell after years of practicing with commitment, consistency and willpower. For these long legs and skinny arms this a most excellent feat of strength!

***

RKC Team Leader Nick Lynch is a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Milwaukee School of Engineering University (MSOE). He owns Superb Health Milwaukee, a kettlebell studio in Milwaukee, WI. Most recently, he became an RKC Team Leader. He has 13 years of full-time training and coaching experience and a lifetime of wellness education. Nick lives in Milwaukee, WI with his wife Natalie and son Weston.

Filed Under: Coaching, Kettlebell Training Tagged With: commitment, consistency, consistent kettlebell training, consistent training, how often to exercise, importance of willpower, kettlebell training, kettlebells, Master the Kettlebell, Motivation, Nick Lynch, RKC Instructors, willpower

It’s All About the “C” Word

June 19, 2013 By Angelo Gala Leave a Comment

CSCBbend

Have you ever looked at a professional athlete in total amazement as they gracefully move through the air in a gravity-defying move to score a game winning goal?

Scratched your head in total confusion wondering how that weightlifter in your box just dropped under a barbell to catch a snatch with 225 pounds when you are struggling to secure the bar overhead with just 135 pounds?

How about those bikini and figure models strutting around showing off their beautifully sculpted 6-pack of abs?

Its all too easy to sit back and cop out an excuse that these individuals are just gifted. To say that they are “freaks of nature,” or accuse them of having way more time available to train. The truth is that we all are capable of amazing ourselves with personal accomplishment. Maybe our window of opportunity to become a pro ball player has closed a little earlier than we would have hoped, but don’t throw in the towel just yet. You still have plenty of time to achieve great things.

What builds great athletes happens behind closed doors when no one is watching. Everyone struggles when they have goals that scare the sh*t out of them. The secret to success is persistence through the tough times and consistently working to move forward no matter the resistance that is faced.

It is too easy to watch any athlete on a National or International stage and overlook the work it took to get there. Of course I have to acknowledge that many athletes do possess a genetic predisposition to be great at what they do. Some endurance athletes are blessed with an astronomical lung capacity (think Lance Armstrong), perfectly shaped musculo-skeletal system for their given activity (Michael Phelp’s wing span and hand size) or even fiber typing within the muscle itself that can predispose someone to naturally be more explosive (Pyrros Dimas). Please don’t let this discourage you in your journey to crush personal records in training whether you compete or are simply a fitness enthusiast.

It’s funny how many things come in 3’s. A sneeze frequently is followed by a second and third subsequent blast out of the nose. Tibetan Buddhism prayer verse is typically repeated in three’s.  Traffic lights in the United States have 3 signals.  Traditional nutrition tells us to eat a protein and two sources of vegetables (that’s a combination of 3) and we all know that it takes at least three months of effort to make noticeable change to the body. So what does this tell us? We need to be patient and persistent to accumulate enough volume to make the desired change we seek.

Lets break this down specifically to fitness. Say you have a weight-loss goal. It takes three weeks to make a habit stick.  So in the course of those initial three weeks you may focus on making small changes. Initially frequency and timing of food may be the top concern. Once you have adjusted to eating regularly you may begin to add in more fresh produce. Before you know it, those initial three weeks have ended and you are starting to get frustrated with a lack of results or even an increase in total body weight. Don’t worry because we still have plenty of room for improvement. Now that we know you are proactively battling the blood-sugar regulation game we can pull out all grains and starchy foods. Sorry man, that means no more bread, rice or pasta and white potatoes. All of a sudden, BOOM! Some of that extra padding begins to melt away.

When it comes to resistance training and even flexibility (shout out to my fellow Yogis out there!) we need to see the same persistence and consistency. Strength training should be performed on 3 or MORE days a week if you would like to make gains. Now if you are like me, over 30 and slowly losing peak hormone levels, then a greater priority on frequency should be observed otherwise you may find yourself treading water at best. In the yoga community we have a saying that goes something along he lines of “stretch once a week to feel better, stretch twice a week to maintain your current flexibility, stretch 3 times a week to make a change.”

Now general rules of physiology apply to flexibility just as much as they do to strength. In a given strength session, a minimum of three sets of a given exercise are needed to provide enough stimulus to improve strength or promote hypertrophy.

Accumulated volume towards the improvement of muscle length and specific flexibility should be noted as well. If you are working on improving your backbend in a bridge posture, just hitting your maximal global spinal extension for one uncomfortable hold or repetition isn’t going to cut it.

First you should prep your body by opening your hip flexors, thoracic spine and throw in a shoulder stretch or two. Now that your body is ready to bend, try setting up your bridge for a solid 5 slow breaths or thirty seconds, lower to a resting position for a few breaths and repeat the exact same posture for at least two more sets. It’s never enough to just go through the motions one time and expect great change. Don’t forget that to improve your bridge it should be performed with the same care on two other training days that same week!

In regards to all aspects of the body we need to understand that it takes consistent and repeated practice to make change. For some enthusiasts the change may come as fast as a few days or weeks and for others it may take months or even years. As long as we keep chipping away at our goals by taking small bites at a time, success is as sure to come, as the seasons are sure to change. I challenge you to stay present and be mindful during your journey as you very well may learn something new about yourself along the way.

***
About Angelo Gala, RKC Team Leader: Angelo Gala has been a fitness professional in the Boston area for greater than 11 years. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NCSA, has studied the Pranavayu system of yoga under David Magone and he is a Dharma friend at the Sakya Center of Buddhist Studies in Cambridge, MA where he completed a 1 year intensive study of Mangalam Yantra Yoga Under the guidance of Lama Migmar Tseten.
 
 He considers himself an all-around fitness nerd and endurance junkie who refuses to fall under the category of a one-trick pony.  Gala continually works to better himself and inspire others by leading a lifestyle conducive to physical, emotional, and spiritual development. He believes that no one should focus too much time and energy on a single dimension of fitness. The body craves all different types of movement that is not limited to just running, jumping, swimming, biking or lifting things up and putting them down again and again. He teaches clients to train with intention progressively, intelligently and with as many different modalities as the heart desires. Do this and the body and mind will be forever grateful.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: angelo, body, Bridge, consistency, gala, kettlebells, strength, weight, yoga

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Dragon Door Publications / The author(s) and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions or opinions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.