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RKC School of Strength

Official blog of the RKC

fitness

Fitness, Health, and Performance

February 26, 2014 By Max Shank 4 Comments

Max_Shank_IMG_1520

What is the primary goal of exercise? What is the primary objective to training at all?

The answer is that it depends entirely on the individual. However, most of us will fall into the health category. This would include anyone who is not a professional athlete getting paid for their level of performance. Fitness and Health typically go hand in hand, but Health is the primary goal. It is possible to be fit (physically) but to be unhealthy (pain, disease, malnutrition). Therefore we must look at Health first. Then we can address fitness and performance.

There are a few cases where you may have to sacrifice health to excel at a sport (i.e. cutting weight for wrestling, or taping up an ankle instead of resting because you are the star quarterback playing in the Superbowl.)

As you can see those instances are few and far between. So focus on Health before performance. The really cool part is that being healthy will actually unlock your potential by eliminating negative effects of distress/sickness.
When you are in pain or unhealthy, a couple things will happen:

1) Cortisol (stress hormone) is elevated constantly from pain which decreases growth hormone, testosterone, muscle growth, recovery, strength, etc.

2) Pain is depressing and will be psychologically damaging over time. Do not develop an association between pain and exercise!

3) When you feel pain, your brain will compensate by making you weak, tight, or both so you don’t do any more damage. This obviously makes you weaker or stiffer–the last thing you want.

4) Basic nutrient deficiency can also play a factor in your decreased health and performance

-Fatigue

-Apathy

-Simple Vitamin D deficiency, for example, can cause muscle fatigue, weakness, and even depression

So realize, moving forward, that health is not only a precursor to fitness and performance, but health enhances performance, as well as quality of life.

Common Sense

My best friend’s dad told us when we were young that, “Common sense isn’t very common.”

I have found the last couple decades to have confirmed that statement.

So, with that said, here is an abbreviated list of the most important common sense to be applied to your training.

1) If it hurts, don’t do it.

2) Don’t try to put square pegs into round holes.

3) Heavier does not mean “better.”

4) More does not mean “better.”

5) Your personal goals are yours and yours alone, and they are meaningful

6) You don’t have to do anything

Keep these simple things in mind when you approach your training or coaching.

Fitness Folks

The overwhelming majority of exercisers want the following things in this order:

1) Look better

2) Lose Fat and Build Muscle (see #1)

3) Feel better

4) Get stronger

This is an important reality to understand whether you are a coach or athlete.

Even if you think you are neither of the above, you are an athlete; you just play a different sport.

Maybe your sport is losing ten pounds or walking up the stairs without getting tired after the first 5 steps. We all have goals and should approach them with the same dedication that professional athletes pursue their own goals.

Educate yourself, and attack your goals, whatever they are.

The first thing you have to do is to simply be healthy.

Then move well.

Max_Shank_2 hands anyhow profile***

About Max Shank, Master RKC: Max Shank is not only an extremely gifted teacher, but one of the most well-rounded and capable athletes in the world. From excelling in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu to performing impressive feats of strength in weightlifting and gymnastics, Max has… Read more here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: athletic performance, fitness, health, max shank, RKC, Russian Kettlebell Challenge

Are You Really Missing Out?

January 15, 2014 By Josh Henkin 5 Comments

Josh_HenkinEvery New Years my wife feels like we should do something big! To be honest, I am not all that into going out when so many people are liquored up. I ask her, “why do you want to go out so badly?” She often replies, “cause I don’t want to miss out on anything great!”

The same fear that my wife has about missing something great during New Years is the very same emotion that I think many people in fitness experience. How so? People end up doing everything, every training method, they want to have ever training tool, they have to go to every program under the sun. Why? When I ask people why they do such things, it is often, “I don’t want to be left out”.

I find that staggering, but not shocking. I went through that process in my early career as well. Pretty much any new piece of fitness equipment I got it. Any new program, I had to try it! Then something happened. I changed.

I went from having a extremely packed facility full of equipment to rather bare bones. It wasn’t in an effort to be hip or cool, I just started to realize what I REALLY needed and what really helped the people that I trained. Pretty soon I wasn’t worried that I didn’t perform all the “cool” exercises, I had figured out what worked for what person. I learned the dirty little secret that no single exercise is vital, you have to find the right exercise. Since then, I can’t tell you how much better my own training and that of my clients has been.

That is why I find it interesting when people make strong statements like, “you can’t train only with kettlebells!” Hmmm, you don’t HAVE to train with just kettlebells, but can you?

I hear lots of reasons, “kettlebells don’t go heavy enough”, which leads to “you can’t get really strong”, and of course, “you can’t perform THIS so very important essential exercise.”

Instead of thinking of how training with kettlebells exclusively would make you feel limited. I actually believe it would make your training much smarter! Let me explain by dispelling some of these very common myths.

Kettlebells Don’t Go Heavy Enough

Years ago I heard a well respected strength coach make the argument that kettlebells aren’t that powerful because they only go up to 70 pounds (at the time they did) so they aren’t that great for strength. Ironically, a rather strong person is someone who can manhandle a pair of 70’s (32kgs). How do we have both?

The problem is that most people try to compare the weight of a kettlebell to that of a dumbbell or more problematically a barbell. Sorry, trying to compare the weight of a kettlebell to a barbell is almost apples to oranges. Whether is has to do with the independent movement of the kettlebells, to the different weight distribution, or the fact the holding position of the kettlebell is very different from a barbell. In the end we know one thing and that is weight is not all equal.

I might believe that kettlebells aren’t heavy enough if I routinely saw people throw around double 106 (48kg) bells with ease. However, I find that to be a very rare find.

You Can’t Get Really Strong

To be perfectly honest, this is the one that gets me more wound up. Unfortunately, most people totally screw up the governing principle of strength, the overload principle. The idea of the overload principle leads people to becoming consumed with the idea of load. However, that isn’t what the overload principle actually means. The concept is that we have to provide a stress to the body to cause changes greater than the body experienced before.

The reason that most programs fail is they fall into that trap of just load and forget about the many other variables that actually can play a very important role in improving strength. By not having the small jumps in weight available in kettlebells we can focus on these other concepts.

Other Overload Variables:

-Speed

-Load Position

-Body Position

-Range of Motion

-Volume (amount of work)

-Density (amount of work in a given amount of time)

-Direction of Force

-Type of Muscle Contraction

Each one of these concepts could be an article within themselves. My point though is to show how many other variables most programs fail to actually consider. If we look at each and think about how they play a vital role in strength training and program development, we can see that kettlebells can work incredibly well in all these variables and how the weights of kettlebells could be greatly altered in conjunction with manipulating these different ideas.

We often hear the legend of old time strongmen performing incredible feats of strength. Ironically, most didn’t sit there focusing on adding 2 1/2 pounds to a lift. They intuitively used these other methods to manipulate load. The deadlift didn’t really become a staple lift till 1910-1920 when South African Strongman, Hermann Goerner, made it a focused lift. Bob Hoffman of York Barbell Company really popularized the more familiar barbell that we know in the early 1930’s. My point is that these things we consider soooo important to get strong are really rather new ideas. We have seen people become incredibly strong without the luxury of small weight increases or a wide array of weights for centuries.

The Fitness Cynic

I don’t blame people for being more than a bit skeptical about the idea of getting stronger by JUST using kettlebells. However, since Dragon Door helped bring back kettlebells to the modern fitness world, there have been hundreds of real world stories of people getting darn strong!

Some may feel a bit cynical because there was marketing of kettlebells that helped the movement and therefore, their popularity. Few realize that the barbell become popular because Bob Hoffman and York Barbell were advertising and promoting the benefits of barbell training. Why? They wanted to sell barbells, but also because this is what they truly believed, the barbell was a great and powerful tool that could change people’s lives.

A third reason that I think many people have issues with the idea of kettlebell training only goes back to an interesting piece I saw on CNN about social media. The story told of how less and less young people are using Facebook as their primary social media outlet. Why? Much has to do with the fact it went mainstream. When the grandparents started becoming active on social media, it started to become deemed “less cool” by the younger generation.

Now that you can find infomercials on kettlebells, fitness ads using kettlebells, and just about any fitness media that wants to appear cool. I think some people have fallen victim to the idea that kettlebells aren’t cool because anyone can use them. Funny enough, I think that is what makes them a beautiful tool.

***

About Josh: Josh Henkin, Senior RKC, CSCS has been a RKC instructor since 2003 and has implemented kettlebell programs for major Division I programs, SWAT teams, and many different general fitness programs. Josh is also the creator of the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training system where he is a highly sought after presenter worldwide. He can be reached at info@ultimatesandbagtraining.com or http://DVRTFitness.com.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: barbells, coach, complex, exercise, fitness, heavy, Josh Henkin, kettlebells, missing out, sandbags, senior rkc

My Weight Loss Struggle

August 28, 2013 By Laurel Blackburn 64 Comments

laurel
On left: In my body-building days / 
On right: Most recent pic – feeling huge

I’ve been thinking about writing this blog for quite a while. I’ve been struggling with this issue since I was a teenager. I know I am not alone.

This blog won’t give you the latest weight loss secret, nor will it give you a really incredible workout. As a matter of fact, it won’t give you any answers. My hope is that it starts a conversation that needs to happen.
It’s time for me to get honest with myself and it’s time for me to get honest with others.

I need to hear about other people out there who struggle with the same issues as I do. I know I am not alone. I see it in others, I see it in my clients, I see it all over social media and I see it in my family.

My issue is my love/hate affair with my body. I can’t even tell you when or why this started. All I know is that I have fought with my body image and my weight since I started junior high school. I have no idea whether or not I was actually overweight, but that does not even matter. I thought I was overweight and thus began decades of self-loathing, countless diets and a trip to a 28 day eating disorder clinic.

laurel3
On left: At leadership meeting, very ashamed about weight /
On right: Starting another diet

At 20 years old and after the birth of my first son, my goal was to weigh in the double digits. Imagine my elation when I tipped the scales at 99 pounds. I was on top of the world. That number meant that I was finally a success and that I was attractive.

Of course it didn’t last long. Before I knew it, I ballooned to a whopping 119 pounds. I felt like a failure. Suddenly I went from feeling attractive to feeling like a monster. I was buying a size 20 in clothes to hide my hideous body.

I only wore clothes that hid my massive frame. It was then that I sought help and entered treatment for my eating disorder. I never considered myself anorexic nor bulimic, I went because I was a straight up binge eater and my weight was out of control. Again I only weighed 119 pounds.

One of the things we had to do was exercise. I felt so hideous that my workout clothes consisted of my huge potato sack skirt that reached the floor and a huge over-sized shirt. After all, I didn’t want anyone to see how big I was.

I spent 28 days in treatment and left the same as when I went in.

laurel2
On left: Weight down, feel great /
On right: Weight up again – note the baggy clothes

Over the past decades, I have gained and lost 20 pounds.

My biggest weight loss successes came when I was competing in bodybuilding. Those were the days. Some how I managed to stay with a strict diet for 12 weeks. I ate by the clock every 2-3 hours. My meals consisted of boiled chicken, rice, cold sweet potatoes and broccoli. It wasn’t good, but it was what I ate. Food was not longer enjoyable. I even traveled to Las Vegas on vacation for a week with my cooler full of food.

On the day of my contests, my body fat was approximately, 18% and yet I still had a wad of fat on the back of my legs. I guess I should mention that I am of Hispanic, Italian descent.  We have some meaty thighs! God, how I hate them.

It took about 3-4 weeks after each contest to gain back 20 pounds. I had no idea how to transition back to normal eating. I went from a ripped, lean size 0, back to what I felt was a fat, over weight woman.

The next few years, I gained and lost 15-20 pounds through various diets and exercise plans.

Now I sit here writing this, ashamed. I am 51 years old and I’m still struggling with weight and body image.

Laurel5
On left: Weight up… Again / On right: Starting yet another diet…

As fitness professional, I know better. But, first and foremost, I am a woman. I am woman who has struggled with her weight, self-image, self-esteem and body image for 40 years.

Trust me, I have done every diet out there. I have done Paleo, I have done the Whole30, I have gone off sugar, I have gone off carbs, I have detoxed, I have done Precision Nutrition, I have eaten low fat, high fat, low protein, high protein, I have kept food journals. I have counted calories and I have measured my food. I have done tons of cardio, I have lifted heavy weights…I have done it all.

I still go through the same emotions and behaviors. I lose around 7-10 pounds. I feel great. I feel attractive. I feel successful. I go shopping and buy cute clothes and wear them with pride. Then I gain the weight back. My self-esteem, body image and confidence go to hell. I go back to my baggy clothes.

So, is there a point in life and I am asking anyone who is reading this blog, in which you stop the madness and just accept who you are, accept and love your body and quit torturing yourself? Or do you continue the self-destructive mental and physical abuse?

At 51 years old, I’m tired of fighting this. I’m tired of hating and fighting with my body. I want to enjoy my life and I want to just enjoy food. Damnit, I want to eat cake and not feel like a loser and not feel judged and not feel guilty.

I know I am not alone. I have clients who have been coming to me for years who pretty much do the same. We have transformation contests with pretty amazing results. After the contest is over, they end up where they started. I have clients who, after coming for years look pretty much the same. They work hard, their health has improved tremendously, but they are still overweight. Is that so bad?

As fitness professionals, we post before and after pictures of our best client’s transformations. However, when I see group pictures of clients working out, there are some who are over weight and obese and I know those clients have been coming to those classes for a very long time. It happens in gyms, in boot camps, in Kettlebell classes and in Crossfit.

Now I know that other fitness professionals will judge me because I am fitness professional and I should look the part. What is the part? Many of my new clients, when asked what their goals are, say they want arms like mine.

One of the things I am guilty of that just adds fuel to my already low self-esteem fire is that I compare myself to other women on Facebook who are leaner and stronger. I know those are part of the issues I need to work on.

I don’t know the answers. I don’t know what to tell my clients who struggle with the same issues. When is it time to quit the madness?

Laurel4
On left: Weight back up, ashamed.. / On right: Diet success, feeling great

One thing that really helps me is to understand different body types. We are all different. I will never be a skinny girl even though I have tried. My brothers and my oldest son struggle to put on weight. They are tall and thin with nice long legs. My sisters and I are short with short, muscular legs. No matter how hard I try and how lean I get, I will not have tall, lean legs. I know I can have a lean upper body, but my legs will always be and look heavier.

One of the things that help me, is the website that has pictures of some of the world’s most elite athletes. You will see they have completely different body types depending on their sport. None of them are the same.

http://reelfoto.blogspot.com/2012/08/howard-schatz-and-beverly-ornstein.html

I am not writing this blog to get pity and I am certainly not writing it to get any more advice.

If you are one of those who have never struggled with weight, or if you are one of those who have fought the weight loss battle and won, without having to fight the demons of self-loathing and constant failures, then you will never be able to wrap your head around this. As fitness professionals however, we need to understand that for some of your clients that struggle with this, we have to understand and we have to be able to help them.

Another diet, another food journal and harder workouts will not take care of the underlying emotional issues surrounding this issue.

So what are we to do?

Is quitting the madness and focusing on health instead of losing weight so bad? Do we support and affirm their efforts on improving their health or are we focused on their weight loss?

Do we refer them out for help, for counseling?

I go to counseling and have been on anti-depressants since I was a teenager. Many of our clients have never been and maybe it’s time. Do we do them a disservice by not addressing this issue?

I ask you to please share this blog in the hopes that it helps someone and starts a conversation that I think needs to happen. I really put myself out there and I would like to think I didn’t do this in vain.

***

Laurel Blackburn is an RKC Team Leader and owner of Boot Camp Fitness and Training and Tallahassee Kettlebells.  Look for Laurel at www.bootcampstogo.com or www.tallahasseekettlebells.com.

At 51, she is out to prove that age is just a number. Her goal is to motivate and inspire people everywhere, both young and old that strength, flexibility and mobility can get better with age. Follow her adventures on her blog: www.SuperStrongNana.com. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: anorexia, blackburn, bulimia, challenge, coach, disorders, eating, emotional, fitness, Kettlebell, laurel, loss, mom, nana, strength, trainer, trainers, weight

The Usual Suspects

June 26, 2013 By Thomas Phillips Leave a Comment

When I sat with my colleague, good friend and level 4 Z-health trainer / RKC Steve Pucciarelli to create a viable kid’s program to compliment the UTC (www.TheUltimateTransformationChallenge.com), we agreed that kids should be able to identify simple ways to improve performance.  We narrowed a long list to ‘5 usual suspects.’  Having successfully completed that task, we agreed that the information should be presented to EVERYONE, not just kids.

This article demonstrates how proper use of kettlebells can address the FIRST ‘usual suspect;’  however, I will be presenting this material in a ½ day seminar along with RKC / Z- health expert Steve Pucciarelli and RKC Team Leader Matt Maher.  In fact, on July 14th we will address ALL 5 ‘usual suspects.’

Suspect #1:  The “Chest / Reverse breather”

Tphillips_Usual_Suspects

How to address the “chest breather” with kettlebells:

Practice diaphragm breathing

1)    Perform a set of 10 dead swings.  Count each rep out loud at the top of the swing with conviction.  This will assure you have some air in your lungs at the bottom and letting it release up top.  Many people mistakenly breathe in at the top of the swing instead of “spitting the air out.”  Therefore, think about “spitting the air out” at the top of EACH swing along with the rep number you are currently performing.

2)    In between the next set of 10 dead swings, lay on your belly with your elbows under your chest and think about breathing into the floor with your belly.  Allow your belly to naturally push into the floor as you visualize sending your breath deep past your belly button and toward your groin.  Do this for a minute, then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

3)    In between the next set of 10 dead swings lay on your back and allow the back of your head to touch the floor while keeping the neck NEUTRAL.  (Note: If your chin is up then you may need a thin pad to put behind your head).  Once in place, think about keeping the back of your neck long.  Block one nostril with your finger and put the other hand on top of your belly.  Finally, breathe deeply into the belly (as described in #2) while maintaining that long neck and neutral cervical spine.  Do this for one minute, and then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

4)    Once you become comfortable with the 2 breathing techniques described above, try continuing both of those strategies while closing your eyes and consciously attempting to slow your breathing / heart rate.  This should result in relaxation of residual tension in your muscles. Do this for one minute, and then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

Practice Hard style breathing

5)    Rack a pair of kettlebells and get ready for front squats.  Breathe into the diaphragm while standing with the bells racked.  Think about making the belly big, then hold your breath and drop into your front squat.  Initiate the ascent with a loud and abrupt “up” from the belly.  You will only be letting about 10% of your air out when you initiate this sound.

If the sound is initiated incorrectly (from the throat) you will not feel as strong and “connected” on your ascent; however, if the sound is initiated correctly (from the diaphragm) you will hear a better quality of sound and feel a better quality of connection as you ascend.

Understand the difference between the “qualities of sound” in this way:

From the throat think “Bob Dylan”  (INCORRECT)

From the diaphragm think “Pavarotti”  (CORRECT)

Check out high-level powerlifters or strong men as they squat or deadlift heavy weights.  Notice the big breath in, the intensity on their faces and their ability to grind through a heavy rep without panicking.  This is an example of mastery of this technique.  Take a look at powerlifting legend Ed Coan:

Now, try a heavy set of kettlebell front squats.  Perform 5 sets of 5 reps focusing on these principles.  At the top of each rep, take another breath and perform the next repetition.

Practice breathing behind the shield.

6)    Hold 2 heavy, heavy kettlebells in each hand in front of you while standing with your feet spread slightly wider than usual.  Try to create as much tension as possible in your body by doing the following:

a)    Lock your knees and tighten your quads
b)    Squeeze your glutes as hard as possible
c)    Grip the bells with your hands as tight as possible
d)    Tighten your triceps
e)    Tighten your lats
f)    Keep holding… tighter… tighter… tighter!!!

7)    You will notice that if you breathe too deeply and hold your breath as described earlier in the front squat, you will not be able to sustain this amount of intra-abdominal pressure very long.  Therefore, a different approach is required.

8)    Try this:  Get into a front plank position (like a push-up but on your elbows), then close your eyes and imagine someone is about to kick you rapidly in the stomach 10 times in a row.  This should force you to do each of the following:

1)    Tuck your pelvis
2)    Brace your abdominals
3)    Breathe more shallow

This should also STOP you from doing each of the following:

1)    Sagging your belly
2)    Relaxing your mid-section
3)    Putting your lower-back into extension

From this position, try to create as much tension as possible by focusing on squeezing your glutes as hard as you can.  This will help maintain a tucked pelvis and braced abdominals while also giving the opportunity to breathe shallow into the belly.

Here is an example of me utilizing these principles in a plank:

Here is an example of me utilizing these principles in a push-up:

This ability to comfortably breathe shallow “behind” braced abdominals is what we mean by “breathing behind the shield.”

Use this technique for exercises that require isometric holds.  Gymnasts must use this technique on the rings, the parallel bars, etc; however, notice how RELAXED their faces are as they utilize this breathing strategy.  This is an example of mastery of this technique.  However, you can also use this technique during sub-maximal lifting where the goal is to lift a relatively heavy weight for as many reps as you can over a period of time.  Here is an example of me lifting 265 lbs for 30 reps in less than 90 seconds at 165 lbs bodyweight.  After my AAU meet, I elected to try the “feats of strength competition” in Las Vegas last summer.  This was the result using the principles of “breathing behind the shield”:

Practice anatomic breathing:

Suppose the goal is to do as many reps as possible over a longer period of time (perhaps 30 seconds or as long as 5 minutes or more).

Take a light to moderate kettlbell and put it in the rack.  Use your legs to help you push press the weight as fast as possible while maintaining good form.  For me, a 16 kg bell for 30 reps in 30 seconds does the trick.  Take a look:

For this technique I’m using my body as a “spring” and “catching” the bell with my WHOLE BODY.  As the bell descends and hits my body I breathe out to “absorb” the force of the bell, then, immediately redirect the bell upward as I breathe in again.  You can see this type of speed would be impossible if I were to use Hard-Style, / High Tension / Intra-Abdominal breathing described earlier in the front squat.  Instead, I breathe out while moving WITH the force by absorbing this force into the WHOLE BODY, then I “take it somewhere else…” in the example of the push press I absorb and redirect the bell straight back up into the air.

As you can see, breath mastery is critical to performance.  Practice the appropriate techniques depending on the task at hand; however, there is NEVER a reason to be a “chest breather.”

To register for the ½ day seminar on July 14th, contact Master RKC Thomas Phillips at fitforlifemarlboro@yahoo.com sign-ups are limited because this seminar is part of a larger seminar series.

***

tphillips

About Thomas Phillips, Master RKC: Being a good student, teacher and athlete has always been a priority. This is why I choose to remain the student and the teacher in all aspects of life. Other than being a teacher of math and philosophy for the past 13 years, I am also a writer, gym owner, as well as a proud father and husband. I continue to challenge myself physically by competing in… Read more here.

www.fflmarlboro.com
www.TheUltimateTransformationChallenge.com
www.TotalAchievementProgram.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: breath, breathe, breathing, chest, diaphragm, exercise, fitness, kettlebells, phillips, suspects, the, thomas, usual, z-health

My Best Friend …

June 11, 2013 By Phil Ross Leave a Comment

jumprope

Are you a fitness enthusiast that takes their running shoes on trips, only to feel uncomfortable road running in unfamiliar areas? Are you tired of endlessly waiting for cardio equipment to free up at your gym, only to feel like a hamster running on a wheel? Do you love to run outdoors, yet shy away from putting on five layers of under-armor and sweats on in order to brave the sub arctic temperatures?

Well, let me introduce you to my “Best Friend,” the jump rope. You can take it anywhere, you do not need much space, it does not matter what the weather is like outside, you do not need expensive equipment ($2.00 to $20.00 for a rope, my favorite costs $8.00) and you can vary the routines and movements to keep it interesting. My Grandfather was a boxing trainer in Paterson, NJ back in the 30’s, 40’s and into the 50’s. He instructed me on how to jump rope as a teenager as a means to improve my foot speed and endurance for wrestling and football. I then began to realize the incredible benefits of jumping rope.

If you jump rope at a good pace for 5 minutes, it’s equivalent to running a mile! The coordination of your hands and feet moving in rhythm with each other is essential for a fighter. All of my martial arts classes begin with 3 to 5 minutes of jumping rope. In addition to the coordination development, jumping rope is an incredible means to warm up the body.

Even if you are a beginner and you miss on your jump, keep moving your feet. To learn how to jump, here are a couple of tips:

1) Play some music that you like with a good beat. You should put together a playlist for at least the same amount of time that you want to jump for. Use your favorite, upbeat songs & make a mix. Or, for those with obsessive, manic personalities, repeat the same song as an extended version. This also helps you jump rope longer. You basically fool your self into NOT thinking that you are jumping that long.

2) To initially get your timing, watch as the rope hits the ground. That’s when you time your jump. It may take a few weeks to get your timing, but keep working, it will eventually happen.

3) If you are still having issues, try putting the rope in one hand and jump up and down while rotating your wrist. This will help you to find your timing.

4) Remember the less movement of your arms, the better. Your wrists are the primary focus of the rotation. Try also to keep them in the same spot, approximately chest level. This does not hold true when you are doing more advanced movements, like crossing the rope or double jumps.

5) You do not have to jump very high. You only need to jump high enough to allow the thin rope to pass under your feet. Get your rhythm and all else will fall into place.

If you’d like to workout the rest of your body, try performing push-ups and abdominal exercises in a rotation with jumping rope. You can start with 100 jumps, 20 push – ups and 30 abdominals. Start with 3 rotations and then increase to 5. You may also execute additional push – ups or abdominals. What a great way to start the day!

Victory Favors the Prepared!

– Phil

P.S. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach me at www.philross.com.

About Master RKC Phil Ross: Master RKC, 8th Degree Black Belt, Specialist in Bodyweight Strength, PCC and CK-FMS Certified. His name is synonymous with Martial Arts and Fitness. He is known as the area’s Kettlebell King and has successfully competed on the National Level in…  Read more here.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: best, experts, fitness, friend, jump, jumprope, Marlboro, master, my, New Jersey, phil, RKC, rope, ross, says, When

Run for Your Life

May 29, 2013 By Andrew Read Leave a Comment

run-for-your-life-517

Distance running was indispensible; it was the way we survived and thrived across the planet. You ran to eat and avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and you ran off with her to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else. And like everything else we love – everything we sentimentally call our “passions” and “desires” it’s really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. We’re all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known. – Christopher McDougall, Born to Run

Like many who found Dragon Door, I first came to the site looking for kettlebell information. Back then I was looking for a training method that didn’t make me feel so awful all the time. I wasn’t training stupidly, far from it, but I was starting to notice that my body wasn’t feeling good very often. My back would be stiff like a block of wood and no amount of foam rolling, mobility work or massage was even making a dent in it. But it wasn’t until my shoulder started to act up that I really started to look in earnest for whatever piece of the puzzle was missing.

Up until that point I’d had what I thought of as a fairly active life. I’d done martial arts for more than twenty years with some decent competitive results, spent some time in the mud and fooled around with just about every form of training you can think of – from sandbags to Olympic lifts to body weight and everything in between I’ve pretty much done it. (No Shake Weight though, because, well….you know.)

But I’d never really done much running. Growing up I’d been a good swimmer and spent many hours in the pool but ‘d never been comfortable as a runner. Even when I was in the military and would run most days it was a rare occasion that I would finish a run feeling the same sense of whole body joy that I did from a good weights session.

But once I started training with kettlebells I found a whole new level of what I should be thinking of as “good”. My movement got better; I became accidentally more mobile. I was really only training with a single bell at this time learning the lifts but the benefits started happening so fast that they were impossible to miss. The odd thing was that as my movement got better my desire to move more increased too. Suddenly I wanted to run.

The problem with that, as any person over thirty will tell you, is that if you haven’t built the skill as a runner early in life you are going to suffer when you take it up later on. But as McDougall says in the quote above – we are hardwired to run. Without it we’d all have never made it out of the Paleolithic era. And the better my body felt the more I wanted to run, because the human animal is designed to run.

One of the things that often draws people to the kettlebell is its usefulness as a go anywhere, train you for anything, all in one hand held gym nature. It’s for that reason that they’ve been taken up by many military units around the world so they can set up small workout areas, so called “courage corners”, on far flung bases to help keep the men fit.

The modern fitness world is full of people telling you that such and such is the key to tactical fitness or that this certain thing is what SEALs use to stay in shape. But the bit no one is telling you, is that the toughest, fittest, baddest men on the planet all have one thing in common – they run.

Man evolved to be an apex predator because of our running abilities. We aren’t the fastest by any means but given time we can run down just about anything eventually. Due to our ability to regulate heat without needing to stop and pant we can literally run an animal to death by heatstroke. Persistence hunting has been around for about two million years and was one of the main ways we could catch more nutrient dense prey when all we had was rocks for weapons.

Over the last few years this idea has become more and more firmly planted in my head – that training has to be about movement. Not just mobility work but being outside, connected to our planet, moving over the earth – and that our fitness work should support that instead of being done solely inside an artificial environment and judged against artificial parameters – who really cares how fast you did a workout, or if you lifted slightly more weight? How did it make you a better animal and get you back closer to your apex predator status?

So how do we transfer our gym fitness to actual useful fitness? I have to be honest and say that there is often, in the world of performance training, an over simplification by people with vested commercial interests in saying things like “just get stronger”. While many people do need extra strength, when it comes to covering ground quickly, particularly with a heavy pack, there is no substitute for putting in the miles. Getting miles in the legs has been a time proven method of developing Spartan stamina and elite fighters for as far back as we can find records. From Ali to Dan Gable, from Tito Ortiz to SEALs and the SAS, aerobic efficiency is the most highly prized commodity and the only way to gain that is to spend time practicing it.

I’ve been fooling around a lot with this for the last two years, developing a base strategy to use for anyone that covers a lot of ground. From Ironman triathletes to those attending special forces selection the results are now there to show that it works across the board. Here’s my list of essential exercises:

Hinge exercises –

The single leg deadlift is king here. Many will wonder why no barbell deadlift. To them I say go try to run for two hours the day after barbell deadlifts and you will understand the reason. Single leg training gives you the same hip strength benefits, plus anti rotation and a stable single leg stance from which to base your stride. Because the loads used are lower there is less stiffness in the following days meaning you are better able to swim, ride, run or pack march. While there is a place for maximal strength work it needs to be well away from operational periods or racing.

The swing. Kettlebell swings have a therapeutic effect on the back. Because they can be done for higher reps it’s possible to flush large amounts of blood into the back and offer it some relief. Believe me when I say that a hundred swings the day after a six-hour ride in the aero position will make you feel like a new man.

For lower body assistance work nothing beats a sled/ prowler. Concentric only work is similar to cycling in effect, has near zero cost in terms of muscle soreness and helps get you up hills faster. If you have no sled then high rep step ups can be substituted (step height needs to be high enough that thigh is parallel to floor).

Upper body –

Nothing beats body weight work. If the goal is to move your body fast for extended periods of time you need to practice moving your body. My personal favourite are ring dips and pull ups, or if you’re able, muscle ups. While barbells and kettlebells have a place here one of the problems faced is extra weight being added to the frame. Speed and efficiency have a lot to do with how heavy you are, and on operations that extra muscle needs feeding too. Keeping your bodyweight down has many big benefits too in terms of injury prevention. (A 2kg/ 5lb weight gain is equivalent to dealing with an extra 15,000kg/ ~7,000lbs of extra force through your spine and joints while running over 5km).

Core work –

Keeping your spine in place for long periods of time means you need to spend time on core training. Many relegate core training to the banished list figuring that all the load bearing activity they do is enough. It’s not. My current training sessions are roughly two hours long and I’m focusing on many harder body weight skills. These skills all have one thing in common – every single one of them is a plank or hollow position drill. With limited running since an Ironman event I am actually running faster – my body feels far more stable and locked in place when I run, thanks to my daily single leg deadlifts and core work.

Assistance/ conditioning work –

There’s only two lifts worth worrying about here for my money. Snatches and long cycle clean and jerks are the two biggest bang for your buck kettlebell exercises. But unlike normal training sessions where your goal is a certain number of reps you need to focus instead on time. I often intersperse these with some running – think of it as kettlebell roadwork. A minute of long cycle followed by an 800m run, four times through is a solid session. I tend to reverse these so that a longer interval of snatches or long cycle is followed by a shorter interval run and vice versa. Don’t try to do five minutes of snatching then a 1km interval run. (Because you’ll only try that the one time, trust me).

Running and walking –

While elite runners are out there pounding away daily we do need to make some concession to them being elite runners – in other words they are genetically selected to being able to withstand daily running. At Read Performance Training we use a run/ walk strategy alternating each daily. Walking has an enormous recovery benefit, is a good way to continue strengthening your aerobic system, and also to keep building the body to handle more running. Don’t discount how powerful walking can be. Our running is built around three to four days per week with two easy runs of 30-40 minutes and a longer run of up to two hours with the last 20-30 minutes hard. If they can handle a fourth day we do a harder interval session, like the long cycle/ 800m run option listed above. On non-running days our clients walk for an hour.

Now you’ve got the tools, get out there and get moving. You were born to do it.

 ***

About Andrew Read, Senior RKC, Dragon Door Australia: Andrew Read, Senior RKC, is head of Dragon Door Australia and Read Performance Training. Recognized as Australia’s leading functional strength trainer he is a regular contributor to Blitz, Inside MMA, International Kickboxer, Oxygen, Ultrafit and Breaking Muscle. His coaching background spans nearly twenty years having worked with many Olympic and world championship level athletes.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aussies, australia, door, dragon, fitness, hkc, kettlebells, life, pcc, RKC, run

The Windmill: Safe and Effective Implementation

May 22, 2013 By Mark Bixby 1 Comment

 

The windmill is an outstanding advanced kettlebell move that combines shoulder stabilization, thoracic rotation, plus hip and hamstring mobilization. Mastering this exercise will improve functional qualities like dynamic motor control and mid-line stabilization. It will also improve your overhead lifting skills. Unfortunately, the windmill is usually misunderstood as a basic side-bend like something learned in yoga. The following breakdown provides a useful and safe progression to learning the windmill.

Step One: Start in a half-kneeling position, not standing. The outstanding FMS dvds Kettlebells from the Ground Up 1 and 2 provide detailed tutorials on these kneeling positions. Part 2 of the series focuses almost extensively on these positions. Do yourself a favor and make them part of your training library.

To get in the open-half-kneeling position (the easiest position), assume a lunge position on the floor where the front and back legs are at 90 degrees. Swivel the shin of the back leg (the one with knee down) in 90 degrees (shin should be perpendicular to the heel of the standing leg). Raise one arm overhead (the arm that coincides with the standing leg, if right leg is standing, right arm should be overhead) in an elbow-locked, shoulder-packed position. The bicep of the raised arm should be even with (not touching) your ear. Now, hinge back in the hip of the standing leg and drop your non-raised arm to the floor straight in front of the kneeling knee (it should be 10-12 inches forward of the down knee). You should be looking up at the raised arm. Now, you’re in the hip-hinged, trunk-rotated position that will eventually be the bottom of your windmill.

The next step involves keeping the exact same setup as before but with an additional flexibility component that will more closely approximate the flexibility needed to actually windmill. From your open-half-kneeling position with arm raised, start to descend to the floor by this time reaching for the top of your standing foot with your descending arm. Cup the top of your foot with the hand, hinge back in the folding hip and try to bring your elbow and forearm to the floor. You should feel this in the backside of your hip—not your low back. If you feel it in your low back, you’ve gone too far. You don’t have to reach the floor with your elbow; instead go as far as is comfortable.

Step Two: Repeat this drill on the other side of your body. Then, to gain more stretch and the closest approximation to a standing windmill, do the exact same drills from your regular kneeling lunge position. You’re now lunging on “railroad tracks,” without the turned in back shin. These will be more difficult.

Step Three: After you feel comfortable in these positions, the next task is to add a kettlebell. Use a light bell and repeat the previous drills with a kb in the half-kneeling positions. To repeat, you should not feel this in your low back. If you do, you probably lack either hip mobility or thoracic rotation.

Step Four: You are now ready to try this standing. As before, you will do these drills unloaded first and then add a kettlebell. Assume a shoulder-width standing position. Let’s assume we’re working on our right side. Swivel on your heels so that you’re right foot is turned left at about 30 degrees and your left foot is turned left 30-45 degrees. Raise your right hand overhead to the press lockout position. Look up at your raised hand. Now, hinge back in the right hip and try to visualize that your hip is hinging in a line with the 30 degree line of your right foot. Your right leg should stay straight as you descend and rotate (just keep your eye on your pressing hand, and you’ll properly rotate). The knuckle-side of your left hand should be tracing a line down the inside of your left leg (which can be slightly bent). Most of your weight should be in your back leg (right leg in this case) at probably an 80/20 ratio. Now that you’re standing, you will feel the stretch in your hinging hip and the hamstring of your straight leg. Only reach as far down your front leg as you can without deviating from the straight back, hip-hinged position. Eventually, you will be able to touch the floor or pick up a kettlebell with the reaching hand. For now, just make sure that you can do the move with perfect technique and no pain. Repeat this sequence on the other leg.

Step Five: Once you have accomplished the progression, you are ready to add a kettlebell. Either clean/press or snatch the bell up, and then follow the exact same cues as are detailed in Step Four. Once you have mastered the technique of windmills, you can add them to the beginning or end of your workouts. Or, they are a great stand-alone drill on a rest/mobility day.

Step Six: Mastery of the windmill (including the ability to do it perfectly with substantial weight) will allow you to start learning the kettlebell bent press, which is an even more advanced windmill progression that allows for greater load bearing. Practice these drills sequentially and safely, and your overhead kettlebell skills and total body coordination will improve dramatically. Enjoy.

***

About Keira Newton, Master RKC Instructor: Master RKC, Level 3 Z-Health, MCT. Keira first picked up a kettlebell in 2005 when her husband challenged her to stop laughing and start swinging. She stuck with the challenge when she realized that she could get an all-in-one workout in a fraction of the time she spent at the gym. Keira was convinced… Read more here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: advice, effective, fitness, implementation, instructors, kettlebells, master rkc, RKC, safe, videos, windmill

The Deadlift Row With Andrea Du Cane

April 25, 2013 By Andrea Du Cane 2 Comments

I hope you enjoyed my last post and video on the low or pendulum swing.

The second exercise I came up with during my knee re-hab was the kettlebell deadlift row. This is an incredible back and lower body exercise that again anyone can do. It follows the deadlift/hinge pattern, the key to a lower body killer workout is to keep the shins as vertical as possible and yet drop your hips down as low as possible.

 

 

This exercise really targets the mid-back muscles, like the hard to strengthen Rhomboids, as well as lower trap, lats, triceps and biceps. The key here is to keep your chest facing toward the ground at the bottom of the deadlift to be in the proper position for the row.

The secret to a proper row, is to initiate the movement by depressing the lats first. I think of it as pushing my shoulders down away from my ears. This will prevent the movement from being a trapezius exercise.

Then I pull my scapula together and drive my elbows back. The inside of the upper arms should “scrape” against the ribcage and the elbows should pinch together at the top. The chest will naturally push out and forward at the top of the pull. Keep the neck and head neutral.

Slowly straighten the elbows and then stand up from the deadlift. Pause a moment and tighten the glutes, legs, and abs while keeping your shoulders down and and shoulder blades pinching together.

You are ready for another rep. Lower down to the bottom of the deadlift with the kettlebell a couple of inches from the floor and perform the row again. Always straighten your arms completely before standing up again.

I do these as a superset with the low pendulum swings covered in the previous post.

Again I do intervals of :30 work to :25 rest. I’ll also add in dead swings, or single rep swings and regular swings as well.

You’ll love how this drill really targets the upper and mid-back while you are still working your hips and legs hard!

***

Andrea Du Cane is a Master Kettlebell Instructor, CK-FMS certified, CICS certified, Primal Move National Instructor and RIST, ZHealth certified, and has a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.  She is featured on Breaking Muscle website as the February 2012 coach of the month. She is also a Pilates instructor. She has over twenty years of aerobics, weight training and fitness experience, with an additional background in… Read more here.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: andrea, cane, deadlift, du, ducane, fitness, goddess, heavy, Kettlebell, kettlebells, row

The 9-Minute Kettlebell Complex From Hell

April 24, 2013 By Pat Flynn 12 Comments

 

patflynn1

Complex creation is a delicate art. If not constructed thoughtfully and with a proper understanding of the primary function of the thing itself, you will not have a complex. You will have tapioca. You will be assiduously chugging your way through, sweat beating off your brow, optimistically thinking you’re going to make it, and then, out of nowhere, it hits you with the double snatch and there you are.

I employ kettlebell complexes for the singular function of augmenting metabolic capacity, and I would argue that that is how everyone ought to employ them.

Fatigue is not desired when training strength, as we’ve come to know. But when conditioning yourself, metabolically or otherwise, fatigue is nearly inevitable. To understand this is to know that if we wish to increase the efficient delivery of the metabolic pathways, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, we must then impose a demand upon them blah, blah, blah, blah, blah , law of adaptation, blah, blah, blah. That is, if we wish to NOT get tired so quickly, then we have to make a habit out of tiring ourselves, from time to time.

And it is here that I admit even Crossfit has gained an elementary understanding. What they have failed to understand, however, is that capacity training does not need to be so complex or cluttered to be effective. There are perilous cracks in the system, you see—the inclusion of high rep Olympic lifting is demonstrative of this, and is in large part why I am naturally hesitant to encourage anyone to partake in a Crossfit WOD, less I have something against them.

So, if fatigue is generally unavoidable with capacity training—which it is—then we ought to construct our complexes from movements that are not of such a high technical skill. But this is not to say from movements that are easy—oh no, no, no.

Let us take the swing for example. It is a relatively low skill movement, is it not? I mean, you throw your hips back and then blast ‘em forward like you’re really getting after something. But would you call this an “easy” movement? I certainly would not—even after all these years I still would not call it an “easy” movement. To this very day the swing still presents me with a considerable metabolic challenge. But, since it is of relatively low skill, proficiency may be maintained well into the higher repetitions. Thus, it makes for a safe and convenient component for complex construction.

The same can be said of all the fundamental kettlebell movements, really. Yes, even the snatch. While the “czar of all kettlebell lifts” may be technically more demanding than the swing, it is still a relatively low-skill movement—particularly when compared to something like the barbell snatch.

This is why I fancy the kettlebell for metabolic training to the extent that I do. The movements are comparatively “low-skill” yet remain “high-demand”, not to mention friendlier on the joints than say kipping pull ups or box jumps (both of which are rubbish for capacity training, if you ask me).

Remember, the objective of metabolic conditioning is simply to keep the system as a whole under a prolonged period of stress (the heart, lungs, kidneys, etc) while cycling through various muscle groups and energy systems. This takes a special kind of conditioning to endure, specifically, it is what Arthur Jones referred to as “the metabolic condition”. This is to say that it takes metabolic conditioning to develop “the metabolic condition”. And what I’m saying is this can be achieved conveniently, cleanly, and safely through kettlebell complex training.

I have over at my website a library of metabolic conditioning complexes. I have even put together a free eBook of 101 of my favorite kettlebell complexes for blasting fat and boosting muscle. If you’re into this sort of thing, you may download it HERE.

But today, I wish to share with you one particularly heinous invention of mine.

Did I say invention? Because I did not mean to. No man is truly original—it is an impossible task, can’t be done. We are, in fact, congenitally incapable of origination, not a singular fleeting thought has ever truly been our own. We are ultimately all a function of our outside influences. Through these outside influences we may then make new associations and connections—if we are so able—and turn out innovation, but never, ever origination. We just can’t do it.

So I hereby concede that this is not my invention, simply my innovation. It is merely the consequence of what results when you enter the bathroom with Enter the Kettlebell in one hand, Dante’s Inferno in the other, and read them both in the very same session.

patflynn2

 

There are a few prerequisites to this complex. The first of which, is that you must own the technique of the all the collective kettlebell techniques individually. That is, you must have proficiency in each movement by itself before you even think about stringing them together. Actually, that’s pretty much the only prerequisite.

There are also a few rules to this complex. The first is unbreakable, and that, of course, is to maintain safe form at all times. If form starts to go, put the bell down at once and rest for as long as necessary. The second is to maintain consistent form; meaning, as you grow more and more fatigued, you must diligently fight the urge to cheat reps—namely, cutting depth in the swing or the squat. I’d rather you rested and continued on with consistent form when you are able than to push through sloppily and disjointedly. Thirdly, work at a REASONABLE pace. Do NOT make an attempt to squeeze as many reps in per set as possible, as this will only lead to some really crappy movement. The idea here is not to try and set any records, just to keep moving the entire time with good form.

For the average male a 16kg or 20kg kettlebell will do fine. This may seem light, but just take my word on it for now. For the ladies, I’d recommend an 8kg or a 12kg.

The complex is as follows:

 The one arm swing (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The high pull (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The clean (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The snatch (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The reverse lunge (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The military press (30 seconds left + 30 seconds right)

The two hand swing (30 seconds)

Four point plank (30 seconds)

The two hand swing (30 seconds)

Four point plank (30 seconds)

Push Up (30 seconds)

 

Hey, I guess that’s really only eight a half minutes. Go figure.

 

*The source of this complex at present remains unverified. It is likely that it is not actually from Hell as the author claims.

***

patflynn3

 

Pat Flynn is the founder of Chronicles of Strength, publisher of the Chronicles of Strength Newsletter, and chief contributor to the Chronicles of Strength Inner Circle – a membership site dedicated to helping others grow strong(er) and get lean(er) through kettlebell training and primal fitness approaches. Pat is also the co-author of the upcoming book tentatively titled Paleo Fitness for Dummies.

But that is not the worst. Pat Flynn is also a certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge instructor, and other things of the sort. He talks mostly on how to chop fat and build muscle through kettlebell complex training.

He has an unrivaled capacity to think hard about himself for hours on end – and when at last he is exhausted of the subject matter, he is then in a condition to watch Matlock.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Workout of the Week Tagged With: 9-minute, basics, complex, complexes, ebook, fitness, Flynn, free, funny, hell, hilarious, Kettlebell, Milton, Pat, snatch, well-read

My Journey to the 1 Arm, 1 Leg Push Up

April 17, 2013 By Beth Andrews 3 Comments

I’ve always been interested in mastering body weight exercises. There is a fascination with athletes that are able to push and pull their body around with total body strength as opposed to those that can only lift a heavy object. When I began kettlebell training, and more specifically, when I got certified in RKC, I began drifting towards the body weight challenges.

At my RKC2 in April 2012, I bought the Convict Conditioning book and signed up for the Naked Warrior cert held in October. Females were required to do a 1 arm push up to pass. I didn’t know much about the technique of the 1 arm push up and with only a few months to prepare, I dug into the CC book for guidance. My program design was centered on training Pull ups, HLR, OAPU, Pistols, Handstands, and Bridge work.

Just prior to the cert, the results were: HLR- 2 sets 27reps, Pistols- 37right/37left, Uneven Pull Ups- 5sets 5reps, Bridges improved, and even though I was hesitant in kicking up a Handstand, I had help getting up and then would hold the position. And of course, sets of 1 arm assisted push-ups. I had actually gotten an ugly 1APU . The strength was there but the mechanics of tension, engaging hollow, breathing, etc., was missing.

The Naked Warrior cert went into details with creating tension, engaging hollow, breathing, shoulder positioning, etc. and it all came together for me. I was able to achieve the 1 arm push up.

Here’s a demonstration video, followed by some cues:

 

 

Cues to Use: Root hand in floor. Pack the shoulder. Wrap arm around low back and squeeze fist creating tension. Engage the hollow position. Quick breath in and hold. Chest to floor. Let just enough air out to push up.

The following week, I designed a thirty day program for the 1 Arm 1 Leg Push Up using ladders. I paired variations of pull-ups with OAOLPU assisted ladders. I only laddered up to three on each side but varied the rounds each day I trained. I also varied the intensity by using a basket ball on easier days and using a towel/Frisbee as a harder variation. I didn’t over complicate things with different variations I picked 2 and stuck with it.

 

MONDAY- 3 rounds

BW pull ups- 10

OAOLPU ladders- 1-1,2-2,3-3 (towel assisted)

WEDNESDAY- 4 rounds

L-sit Baseball grip pull ups- 8

OAOLPU ladders- 1-1,2-2,3-3

FRIDAY/SATURDAY- 3 rounds

Weighted pull ups- 5

OAOLPU ladders- 1-1,2-2,3-3 (Towel assisted)

 

I kept it simple. I never went to failure. I always could have done a few more reps. I never forced reps. If I needed a day of rest I took it. I waited thirty days before testing to see the progress.

On Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, the workout consisted of bridges, handstands, hollow drills, pistols, cossack pistols, weighted push ups, HLR, and OAOL plank holds. I also snatched twice a week.

After 30 days, I achieved the OAOLPU.

Here’s a video and cues:

 

 

Cues to Use: Root hand in floor. Pack the shoulder. Lift opposite leg and push contact foot into floor. Wrap arm around low back and squeeze fist creating tension. Engage the hollow position. Quick breath in and hold. Chest to floor. Let just enough air out to push up.

Next up is the PCC, as Al Kavadlo says on the Progressive Calisthenics blog… ”We’re Working Out.”

 ***

More about Beth Andrews: Beth Andrews, Senior RKC,  is a gym owner and instructor at Maximum Body Training in Cartersville, Georgia.  She can also be reached through her website: http://www.wix.com/drruss21/mbt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Workout of the Week Tagged With: beth andrews, body, bodyweight, exercises, fitness, oaolpu, one arm, one leg, pushups, RKC, senior, weight, women, workout

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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.