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Importance of the Overhead Lockout

June 4, 2014 By Tabitha Dearle Leave a Comment

So many kettlebell exercises go overhead.

Some move quickly like the Snatch (top left picture) and Jerk. Some move slowly like the Press (top right picture) and Bent Press. And some are simply just held overhead like the Turkish Get Up and Windmill but every single one of them should look identical in the lockout position.

When the kettlebell is overhead your body should have tension running through it from top to bottom, reaching the top of your movement is not a moment to relax. Keeping your lats activated, your belly and glutes tight, the arm sucked into the shoulder, wrist straight ensures safety and strength.

Breaking down the Overhead Lockout:

The Wrist: When the wrist is in the correct position the muscle in your forearm remains active. Maintaining a straight wrist with knuckles facing the sky can be a challenge for some, especially when using a lighter kettlebell that sits higher on the wrist and presses on bone. If the pressure on the wrist is too much when you are starting out grab some sweatbands and cover the wrist for protection (not for continual use to cushion a kettlebell banging onto your wrist, that is a different issue altogether).

Keeping the wrist straight is essential in reducing injury, the “Broken Wrist” position will eventually lead to exactly that…

I asked fellow RKC and Physiotherapist Craig Soley for a breakdown of the dangers of incorrect wrist position, the following is his response –

“One of the most common mistakes in KB pressing activities is wrist position. So we can be clear, wrist (neutral) extension is described such that if I drew a line from your knuckles along the back of your hand and down your wrist is would be a perfectly straight line. If the wrist is flexed (a less common mistake) the knuckles would be in front of the wrist and forearm. If the wrist is extended then the knuckles would be located behind the bones of the wrist and forearm. Holding the KB in wrist neutral, the load is carried through the joint and held by muscular effort – this is good. In wrist extension, the load is carried on the joint, less muscle effort and the weight is resting upon the bony structures – over time this is bad and it is bad practice.

Why? Think collapsed arches and flat feet, hyperextended knees and hyperlorditic lumbar spines as other examples of resting on your joints. If you continually rest on your joints they will eventually wear out. Also, if you are training, train! Use your muscles to do the work and take the load off your joints! Keeping your wrist neutral trains for function and longevity.”

The Elbow: The elbow, as with the wrist, should maintain a straight alignment. The extended arm should run parallel to your head with your bicep inline with your ear. If you are hypermobile through the joint you will need to be more mindful of your movements as they are more likely to sustain injury due to the unstable nature of the joint.

Shoulder/Ear Poisoning: Over and over throughout all of my kettlebell learning I’ve heard the phrase “Your ears are poison to your shoulders”, simply meaning that if you’re overhead and the shoulder is close your ear then you’ve lost all stability and strength from the shoulder girdle being in a shrugged up position. Keep the arm securely in the socket and activate your lats for upper torso strength.

Core/Glutes: If you are planning to conquer The Iron Maiden Challenge (or for the fellas The Beast Tamer Challenge) you know that a good heavy Press comes from strong glutes and having your core locked tight. It is the solid base that stops you from leaking power and maintains control. Finish your lift strong by keeping them all engaged – meaning no disengaging in the middle.

Get moving before going overhead: Always warm up before any workout with your aim to target the muscles that are going to be used. PFE warm-up, Halos with Kettlebell, rotating all joints through their full range of movement.

Can’t Maintain Lockout? Thoracic Spine Extension Mobility plays a big part in maintaining posture in the overhead lockout. If you are lacking in thoracic mobility work on it with some of the following stretches/exercises –

Foam Roller on the thoracic spine
Armbar or Crooked Armbar
Thoracic Bridging

Always seek out professional help if you are suffering pain in any overhead position.

***

Tabitha Dearle, RKCII based in Perth, Australia, and is Co-owner of Perth Kettlebell School of Strength. She spent the first decade of her working life managing fast food restaurants before making a life-changing decision to become a Personal Trainer. Since then she’s been helping many, from athletes to seniors to children, change their lifestyles to become fitter, healthier and more mobile mostly through using Kettlebells. You can follow her blog at http://tabidrkc.wordpress.com/

The Only Three Ways to Build the Body

January 22, 2014 By Andrew Read 2 Comments

There are only three ways to build the body – intensity, volume, and density. So why is it that we often look to only change one variable when seeking to improve?

In textbook periodization the early phases of training are characterized by a steady increase in volume first. This continues until beginning the competition preparation phases and a subsequent rise in intensity. However in modern fitness planning it is far more common to see people try to increase either intensity via lifting more weight or density by trying to do more reps in a given time frame.

Back when I started lifting weights it was common for beginners to start in the gym with a simple plan that was full body, with each exercise being done for three sets of ten reps. It was common for there to be an exercise for major muscle groups, and this plan was repeated for three days each week. As the trainee improved it was normal to add an extra day of training, thereby increasing the total volume of work they did for the week.

This process of adding volume was repeated by adding another set or two into the workout, up until it got to the point where it was unrealistic in terms of time management to complete the session. At this point trainees were often put onto a plan called a split routine where they did different body parts on different days, or still did the whole body each time but performed different lifts. The trend of adding volume continued as people added more exercises to each body part, until they arrived at something like three to five exercises per body part, done for three to five sets of eight to fifteen reps each. It’s not uncommon for bodybuilders to hit as many as twenty-five sets of work for a big body part like the legs. As the total volume of the workout increased they kept dividing the workout into smaller and smaller groups of body parts starting with full body, then half body, and then into days where one major part per day was being worked such as legs, arms, or chest.

And the reason for all this is simple – because adding volume works.

But then we get to strength training and one of the things that everyone seems to always think is that plans need to be kept low volume. I don’t believe that to be the case for most people, and the reason is simple – because most haven’t broken through to the point where volume can no longer added. It’s only when you can no longer recover from your previous training that volume can no longer be added. This ultimately is because of only one thing – your training intensity is too high.

Two very noteworthy experts, from two different types of weight lifting, agree on one thing. That average intensity should be around 70%. Sheiko believes this to be the case for power lifters, and Medveydev claims this for nearly all lifters too (except those at International Master of Sports levels, i.e. those attending the Olympics. Obviously because these are rare genetic specimens, and the use of performance enhancing drugs must be considered, the rules that apply to them are slightly different). When two guys at the top of their fields are both saying the same thing we should all listen up.

Often people look at all the numbers in a lifting plan and see a mass of percentages but never take the time to consider how they add up.

Method #1

The simplest way to moderate intensity is to do as many sets above 70% as you do below. For example, doing a set at 60%, then at 70% and finally at 80% keeps the average intensity at 70%, as long as you do the same number of reps in each set.

For example: 60%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3.

If you want to do more sets at the top weight you need extra sets at the lower weights too. The lower weight sets are useful for building technical proficiency.

For example: 55%/3, 65%/3, 70%/3, 80%/3 x 2 will still give you an average intensity of 70%, while giving you exposure to higher loads too.

Method #2

When it comes to fixed weight objects, like kettlebells or sandbags, it becomes much harder to moderate the weight and a better method becomes moderating intensity through manipulating volume. Let’s say that you can press a 24kg bell five times just to make the math easier. If you do ladders of 2, 3, and 5 reps, then your average for each ladder comes out to 67%. That’s pretty good considering that kettlebells tend to come in large jumps in sizes and you can’t micro-load like you can with barbells.

The other way to do this is to play around with how many total ladders you do in a session. Let’s suppose that the maximum number of 2-3-5 ladders you can cope with at a given weight is five. If you have a week where you perform four ladders, then two ladders, and three ladders over successive workouts your average intensity is 60%. However, if you then perform five ladders, three ladders, and four ladders the following week you have an average of 80%. And when you look at the long-term effect of that you wind up back at our magic 70% intensity.

The magic thing about training at this seventy percent average is that you can train a lot. I mean A LOT. Dan John’s Forty Day Plan in Easy Strength is a classic example that allows you to train daily with an average intensity of 70%.

A further example that I’ve used personally was during helping Beth Andrews and Val Hedlund get ready for the Iron Maiden challenge. They both did workouts that featured twenty sets of five presses with a 16kg bell. With a projected max of 24kg, that 16kg works out to 67%. (That’s as close as you’ll likely get when using kettlebells because of the big jumps from one bell to the next).

The lesson here is simple – keep average intensity to seventy percent and try adding volume before you add intensity. This has the added benefit of not taxing the joints so much, nor needing to psyche oneself up for training efforts. There is no need for screaming at this stage of training – save that for game day. But get the volume in.

People like to talk about how strength is a skill. Well, skills need to be practiced a lot before they are polished and become second nature. Keeping the intensity moderate allows many, many practice sessions that would otherwise be missed due to muscle soreness or fatigue. All those extra reps will add up when you call on your strength to be there for you.

At this point you’re asking how do you know if you need more volume? Just ask yourself one question – are you getting the result you want? If not try doing more. I think you’ll be surprised at exactly how much you can do, and how quickly you improve, once you add more volume.

***

About Andrew Read, Master RKC, Dragon Door Australia: Andrew Read, Master 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.

Top 3 Strength Exercises That Carry Over Into Other Training Areas

October 23, 2013 By Shannon Scullin Leave a Comment

Throughout my life I have trained for a variety of different reasons, competing in events such as team sports and endurance racing, to further my knowledge as a trainer by attending certifications such as the RKC and PCC as well as training simply to improve my own personal strength, mobility and coordination.

Quite often I like to I bite off more than I can chew, booking into and training for multiple events at the same time. As a result it is important that I follow a smart strength training program that carries over into all other areas of my training, including not only strength training but also rehab and mobility work too.

As I look back through my years of training diaries there are three staple strength building exercises that I have always reverted to, not only for my own training but for my clients too.

The trifecta of training, as I like to call them, not only builds strength but they compliment and carry over into all other areas of training. They can be regressed or progressed, depending on your level of skill, slightly varied or coupled with other drills to ensure that I get the strength, mobility and rehab work required for me to continue training efficiently, yet are basic enough that it does not take up hours of my day to train them or severely fatigue me neurally. The trifecta are:

Deadlift
Press
Pull Up

Whether you are male or female, beginner or advanced, the deadlift, press and pull up, combine to form a well-rounded training template.

A basic guideline for programming works the following – push/pull movements, legs and abdominals. The beauty of the deadlift, press and pull up is that it not only meets these guidelines but they are exercises in which the entire body is required to synchronise and utilise multiple muscle groups in order to perform these movements. This synchronisation is referred to as intermuscular coordination.

Intermuscular coordination is what we should be aiming for in training. The more synchronised your muscles are the more strength you can recruit to lift heavier weights, in order to get stronger, faster, and more explosive.

The press, pull up, and deadlift are commonly referred to as “grind” movements. This means that they are performed slowly, like a truck grinding its way up a hill in a low gear. The slow “grind” allows you time to focus on keeping your form throughout the movement while creating as much tension as possible, linking your upper and lower body together via the core, teaching it to synchronise and function efficiently as one unit.

So how do you program these exercises to get the most out of your training?

I structure my workouts in 2 different ways:

1) Warm up – mobility/stability drills; these drills should be exercises that work the mobility/stability
required for the exercises in the main set of your workout:

Armbar x 5/5

Hard rolls x 5/5

Towel toe touch x 10

TGU x 1/1

**repeat x 3

Main workout
– strength building or sport specific skills; this is where I train the deadlift OR press and pull up:

Deadlift x 5-3-2 (increase weight each time)

** repeat x 2-3 – at the start of each new round add 5kg to the starting weight. If you are using kettlebells and you started with

the 24kg start the next round with the 28kg.

Finisher – core/ballistics:

Because once your core is fatigued your session is finished.

Push press x 1-2-3-4-5

Pull up x 5-4-3-2-1

** repeat x 2-4. Complex – no rest until each ladder is complete. If you cannot do pull ups then do chin ups. If you have not yet progressed to chins then do hanging leg raises. If you cannot do hanging leg raises do knee raises….

The other method of programming I use is:

2) Mobility/stability + strength exercise – With this method I couple 2 x mobility/stability exercises with one strength exercise. This allows me to focus a little more on rehabbing specific areas of concern. It also allows me to actually feel the effect the corrective drills have on each exercise.

Armbar x 5/5

Bretzel x 5/5

Half kneeling press x 5/5

** repeat x 3

Towel toe touch x 10

Single leg deadlift x 5/5

Deadlift x 5

Hard rolls x 5/5

Hollow body hold x 30 sec (squash towel under lumbar spine to ensure hollow position is achieved)

Pull up x 3-5

Which program I use is dependent on the amount of time I have as well as the way my body is feeling at the time. If I am feeling good I go to work on structure #1. If I am lacking in time and/or am feeling a little fatigued structure #2 is my go to program.

For those of you who love to participate in a variety of sports and fitness events, get your variety from your events not your training. A solid training plan transfers to a variety of events. Remember, smart training provides a general physical foundation for all things, not just for one thing.

Happy training 🙂

***

Shannon Scullin is an RKC Team Leader and PCC Instructor based out of Dragon Door Australia. As Australia’s first, and highest ranked female RKC Shannon brings a keen eye for technique to training and is renowned for being very focused on form ensuring that clients with previous injuries are able to train safely. As the head of Personal Training at Read Performance Training she uses the CK FMS to test and evaluate all clients before training, ensuring that not only will they look better from training, but they will also move better too. With a background in triathlon, adventure racing, rock climbing, cycling, hockey and running Shannon fell in love with kettlebells and the FMS system when she saw the immediate result that improving mobility, stability and strength has on sporting performance. She can be reached through: www.readpt.com

Why the Get Up?

October 9, 2013 By Beth Andrews 13 Comments

I love the Get Up, it’s one of my favorite exercises. I think it’s the ultimate show of strength to lie on your back holding a weight at arms length toward the ceiling and then methodically move through various movements to a standing position, still holding the weight at arms length above your head. And then reverse the maneuver.

The GU builds tremendous shoulder strength, stability, and mobility. The isometric contraction from packing the Humerus into the socket will build strength that will carry over into other lifts. Plus, this exercise is possibly the best choice in developing pure athleticism, due to the movement transitions from one position to the next under load and tension. Because this exercise engages the entire body, it builds flexible strength. It is crucial that all Athletes that play sports possess this type strength. Athletes that can move in and out of quick explosive unpredictable positions during a play with flexible strength can possibly reduce the chances of injury. Not an Athlete? The same benefits will carry over to the general public that must handle the activities of daily life.

The GU builds linkage strength and works the stabilizers to correct many asymmetries to improve movement patterns. To quote Gray Cook, “The Get Up is the perfect example of training primitive movement patterns, rolling, kneeling, standing, and reaching.” Studies have shown heavy Get Ups activates all four of the “core” muscles. The Get Up builds resiliency and also embraces “Kalos-Sthenos”, beautiful strength.

Here are some of my favorite GU combinations. I practice these combos for 5-10 minutes straight through without putting the bell down.

The first is a GU to standing, then a windmill, then back down and switch sides.
The second one starts with a Snatch, then reverse the GU down, then back up, then switch to the other side with a snatch and repeat.
The last one is a GU to standing, then lower the bell to a front squat and press, then reverse the GU and repeat on the other side.

You can do any one of these three combos as a warm up, used with a medium sized bell to work on movement patterns, or go for heavy singles.

Here’s a few workout burner’s I play around with.

50 Swings- 5/5 GU.
40 Swings- 4/4 GU.
30 Swings- 3/3 GU.
20 Swings- 2/2 GU.
10 Swings- 1/1 GU.

Start with a light bell and increase to a heavier bell each set. Or you can keep the same bell all the way through. Next time, try the reverse sets from 10- 1/1 up to the 50- 5/5. Then lastly, mix it up, start with 20-2/2, then 40-4/4, 10-1/1, 50-5/5, 30-3/3.

Did I mention the goal is to NOT put the bell down all the way through except to switch sides? Try it once/week for 6 weeks and test your GU weight at the end.

Here’s a tip that I used to get a 36kg GU-Windmill combo.

Heavy overhead holds 1x/week. I increased the time until I got the 36kg for 1 minute.

1 min- 28kg R/L
45sec- 32kg R/L
30sec- 36kg R/L

Some say, “What can you bench?” I say, “What’s your heaviest get up?” Give these a try and let me know what you think.

***

Beth is the owner of Maximum Body Training. She became an RKC Sr. Instructor in Feb 2013 and the 5th Iron Maiden in June 2013. You can visit her website at www.maximumbodytraining.com

My Weight Loss Struggle

August 28, 2013 By Laurel Blackburn 64 Comments

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.

The Smarter Complex

April 12, 2013 By Josh Henkin 2 Comments

When people ask me, “what got you into kettlebells?” It was simple, kettlebells allowed me to bring exercises that normally would be too difficult to teach and make the drills much more accessible to my clients and create incredibly dynamic and athletic based exercises.

However, as I say this now over ten years later, I have sadly seen the kettlebell for the most part be regulated to a handful of very basic exercises.

Are the basics and foundations important? Of course they are! Are they where we stop with training? Absolutely not! Many people are big believers in the K.I.S.S. method (keep it simple stupid) and believe this is where the majority of your training should lie. Unfortunately, if we are focused on being athletic, mobile, and truly addressing functional based training we need to get out of the very basic movement skills of lifting. Performance coach, Scott Sonnon, gives an opposing view to the K.I.S.S. method and refers to a lot of people being stuck in S.I.S.S. (stuck in stupid simplicity).

I am not going to take away anything from the incredible feats that Powerlifters and Olympic lifters can achieve. However, when I think of a great athlete, if I ask YOU to close your eyes and think of a great athlete, do you think of someone standing in one place? While being “athletic” is as vague as being “strong” or “in shape”, we have a tendency to know what it looks like when we see it.

Often it revolves around people moving in many directions or gracefully through space. They are moving in ways we know are difficult, but they make it look easy. Being a basketball fan most of my life and growing up in Chicago, I can’t help but think of ultimate athleticism when Michael Jordan switched hands in mid air during the 1991 NBA Championships. So amazing, so graceful, so unbelievable, but he made it look so easy. Don’t we want our training to be more of the same?

One of the most common places I see people stuck in just the basics is in the use of kettlebell complexes. A complex is one exercise made up of several individual exercises. Typically they flow from one movement to another making a natural pattern to the overall exercise. This is a phenomenal way to build conditioning, drop fat, build muscle balance, and functional strength.

The father of complexes, Istvan Javorek, believed complexes offered incredible benefits, “The main purpose of combination lifts is to improve and stimulate neuromuscular coordination, increase the workout load and intensity, stimulate the musculoskeletal system, increase the free weight program’s cardiovascular quality, and make a program more dynamic and efficient.The number of combination exercises is unlimited, depending on the coach’s knowledge and creativity, the gym’s equipment and apparatus, and the goals of the coaches and athletes.”

While I am far from the first to see the unique benefits and almost infinite options kettlebell complexes allow, most coaches have lost the true intent of complexes and have become a victim of very repetitive training. What do I mean? In a complex we want to see the body move in a variety of ways stimulating different movement patterns. We don’t want to just replicate what we do in our standard training programs. Such specialized lifting loses some of the essence of complexes, especially kettlebell complexes.

In order to illustrate my point, here is a commonly used kettlebell complex…

Swing
Clean
Snatch

Is this wrong? Maybe the order is slightly, but inherently not “wrong”, but limiting. Here we have three examples of the same movement pattern, the hip hinge. Not only a hip hinge, but a movement pattern performed in the same pattern, same stance, same direction.

A more common complex that at least stresses three different movement patterns….

Clean
Squat
Press

This is better, but still if we stop using our movement skills, can become limiting itself. In addition, the above complex is always limited by the amount we can press as typically one can squat and clean with far more weight. So only one third of the complex is being effectively stressed.

Complexes can range from very foundational to very complex. The number of exercises within a complex should be related to the fitness of the individual and the goal of the training session. Someone with a more extensive background can handle a complex of more exercises than an individual rather new to training. If the goal is a bit more strength oriented less exercises should be used in the complex. Yet, if the goal is more general conditioning we can use more exercises within the complex. Below is a progression of complexes we can use to start from foundational to complex.

Generally, I will work the most challenging aspect of the complex first and as someone fatigues more, move to the more stable or easiest. Take for instance in the example of Clean-Squat-Press, my preferred sequence would be to perform the press for reps then squat for reps, then clean for reps (hardest portion to easiest).

That also brings up how many different ways you can perform a complex. There are typically two different means. The first being performing all of one segment of the complex before moving onto the next.

Press x 6 reps proceed to..
Squat x 6 reps proceed to…
Clean x 6 reps

I generally use this method when there are very distinct differences between the various movements of the complex. Again, the press is going to be generally less than one’s squat or clean. It also makes sense to perform the weakest aspect of the complex first, as fatigue accumulates we can move to our stronger segments.

The other means is to perform one segment right after another. Such a complex may look like the following…

Snatch x 1 rep move directly into..
Rack Drop Lunge x 1 rep move directly into
Press x 1 rep and repeat for 4-5 more cycles.

Today’s video demonstrates some different ways to create complexes. In more advanced variations we want to work various stability patterns, planes of motions, and angles. In more foundational complexes we will focus on building good movement skills and teaching the principles to more challenging movement patterns.

The complex is a wonderful method for a host of different goals and circumstances. If you start to broaden your mind upon with purpose and creativity, you will find that the kettlebell complex offers almost endless productive and fun forms of training.

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About Josh Henkin: 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

Smart Fat Loss Circuits

April 3, 2013 By Josh Hillis 7 Comments

Well known and long standing adages like “leave a couple reps in the bank” and “safety is part of performance” often, sadly, are put aside for fat loss circuits.

In this world of CrossFit, P90X, and super ultra-hardcore-bootcamps everywhere, it’s hard not to fall into the “more is better” trap that everyone is constantly pushing. As RKC’s we should be well aware that more isn’t better. It’s just more.

Fat loss clients come in with that perspective, and it’s our job to educate them. Often we’ll get a new client who will literally tell us “I want to sweat and puke and be sore.” Regardless of how stupid a goal this might sound to us, we’re best off giving them some of that, in the smartest way possible. We usually can give ’em what they think they want up front, then educate them over time.

In this article, we’re going to talk about what smart, RKC-style fat loss circuits could look like.

A Smarter AMRAP

CrossFit popularized the term AMRAP for “as many rounds as possible”, and I thank them for that.

Unfortunately, the concept of doing an AMRAP workout at 100% effort is a recipe for disaster. You can only push oxygen debt and muscle exhaustion for so long before exercise form goes out the window. So don’t do that.

Or as Yoda so famously said: “Stupidity leads to bad form. Bad form leads injury. And injury leads to the orthopedic surgeon.”

We’re going to slow our AMRAPs down – somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-90%, and err on the side of too little vs. too much.

We’ve all been fed a myth about intensity. And it feeds that thing inside us that always tells us we should be doing more. But it’s false. I experimented with my clients for two years during the writing of my first book, and found no difference in results between running clients at 80-90% intensity in workouts and running them at close to 100%.

So… 80-90% intensity… all of the benefits… none of the injuries… shouldn’t that be like, totally obvious, right?

The Josh Hills Fat Loss Circuit Progression: Not Just More Rounds

More rounds is also another stupid thing that most circuit based workouts do. Just more. More, more, more. More isn’t better. So very un-RKC.

I consider 5 rounds the magic number for any of these workouts. They may have to work up to being able to complete five rounds. That’s fine. But when they are getting up over 7 rounds, bump ’em up a level. That could be a harder bodyweight progression, a lower bench for pistols, a lighter band for pull-ups, or a heavier kettlebell.

But lets not turn this into a Group X class. Lets up the weight on our circuits instead of just cranking out a zillion rounds.

This is a super important point, and I’ve never seen anyone else in the entire fitness industry bring it up. There is a right amount of work to get done in a circuit, and you can have it happen like clockwork every single time. It’s right about 5 rounds. It’s heavy enough that they *have to* rest during the 20 minutes, but no so heavy that it looses it’s circuit-ness.

It also lets clients know that it’s *ok* to rest. Obviously if they could crank through the 20 minutes without any rest, they’d be doing 10+ rounds or so. It gives them a target, it lets them know how they are doing, and it lets them know when they can progress. These are all major points for having clients understand and be engaged in the workout program.

20 Minutes of Circuits, Then Do Strength

A 20 minute bout of circuits, at 80-90% intensity, should be enough high intensity stimulus for all of the fat loss results we want. And it should be enough to satisfy the clients who want to feel like they are getting throttled.

After that, we can move on to very well rested strength work. We put the circuits at the beginning (after a joint mobility warm up), because it’s hard enough to keep everything tight in a circuit anyway – we want them as fresh mentally and physically as possible, to do the circuit with the heaviest weights possible and the most perfect form.

We’ll put three movements in the circuit, and then we’ll do the fourth movement in the strength portion. For example, if we have a push, a pull, and a squat in the circuit, we’ll do a hip hinge in the strength part. If we have a push, a squat and a hip hinge in the circuit, we’ll do a pull for the strength part. That way, we’re always hitting all four basic movements, but we’re rotating through which ones we do in the circuit and which ones we do for strength.

If the client also needs FMS or any other corrective exercises, you can super-set the correctives with the strength work.

Workout A:

As many rounds in 20 minutes:

Assisted Pullups x 3
Kettlebell Push Presses x 10L+10R
Kettlebell Goblet Squats x 10
3 minutes rest, then
Single Leg Deadlifts 3 x 5L+5R
with 1-3 minutes rest between sets, then
Side plank 2 x 0:30L+0:30R
Plank 2 x 0:45

Workout B

As many rounds in 20 minutes:

Bear Crawl x 50 ft
Walking Lunges x 100 ft
Kettlebell Swings x 25
3 minutes rest, then
Assisted Pullups 3 x 5
with 1-3 minutes rest between sets, then
Side plank 2 x 0:30L+0:30R
Plank 2 x 0:45

Workout C

As many rounds in 20 minutes:

Convict Conditioning Style Pushup Progression x 10
Kettlebell Bent Over Rows x 10L+10R
Kettlebell Swings x 25
3 minutes rest, then
Bench Pistols or Split Squats 3 x 5L+5R
with 1-3 minutes rest between sets, then
Side plank 2 x 0:30L+0:30R
Plank 2 x 0:45

Food, Food, Food

Look, no fat loss article can ever be complete without mentioning that the food is going to be the number one driver of fat loss. Smart fat loss workouts complement a smart food program. That’s why it’s so totally stupid to kill people in the workouts or push the envelope to the point of injury – it just isn’t going to make a difference.

Be smart, check people’s food journals (both quality of food and quantity of food) and do intelligent circuits at 80-90% intensity, with smart progressions over time. Your clients will stay healthy, happy, and injury free, and most importantly – get all of the fat loss results that they hired you for.

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About Josh Hillis: RKC, NASM-CPT/PES/CES, Z-MRS/MIS, www.21daykettlebell.com: Over the last 8 years as a personal trainer, Josh has worked with every kind of fat loss client, but he is a specialist in helping fit women lose the last 5-10 pounds of stubborn fat. He’s been quoted by The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post, he’s been in USA Today, and was a featured expert for Experience Life! Magazine. Josh has written six books on fat loss and kettlebell training, created an audio program on fat loss nutrition for On Target Publications, and contributed a chapter “Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss” to The RKC Book of Strength and Conditioning for DragonDoor Publications. Josh holds beginner and advanced fat loss nutrition workshops on a monthly basis at several kettlebell gyms in Colorado. Josh is the creator and writer for www.LoseStubbornFat.com, which has over 32,000 subscribers in over 200 countries world-wide.

Ten Reasons to Train with Kettlebells

March 27, 2013 By Mike Krivka 14 Comments

RKC Team Leader Mike Krivka lifts one of his favorite weights – his son Jak!

I’m well into my second decade of training with Kettlebells and I can honestly say that I learn something new every single time I pick one (or two) up – and that’s usually several times a day! I’ve had the great honor to train with a wide variety of people and introduce them to what I consider to be the best strength and conditioning tool around. In each and every instance people are fascinated and appalled at how this seemingly simple tool can be so hard to use well and so amazingly effective at the same time. It doesn’t matter if I’m training with a “Soccer Mom”, a Marine Corps officer, or an aspiring athlete – they all learn very quickly that the lessons that the Kettlebell can teach them will serve them well.

Following are a quick list of ten reasons why I think you should be training with kettlebells. There are many more, but I’m hoping this list will help you come to be a better understanding on how to approach utilizing this amazing tool.

1. Efficiency – Kettlebells (in conjunction with a handful of high-tension body weight skills) can provide an intense full-body workout in an incredibly short period of time. With a workout of less than 30 minutes in length you drenched with sweat and gasping for air. Think about the last time you did the RKC Snatch Test (five minutes) or the USSS Snatch Test (ten minutes) – both are great mono-structured workouts that do the job without wasting time. Most “trainers” recommend that you perform lengthy cardio and resistance sessions for up to 6 to 8 hours a week. A week’s worth of kettlebell workouts equal only a fraction of that and you will get much better results.

2. Tension Management – Kettlebells require that you develop a high level of sensitivity in regards to grip strength and tension distribution and redistribution that readily carries over into all forms of athletics. The kettlebell’s displaced center of gravity create grip and forearm strength requirements that cannot be matched by regular free weights or machines. The ability to create and distribute tension is of paramount importance to any athlete. Not only is it a factor in strength, but also in speed, flexibility, and endurance as well. Muscles become stronger by learning how to contract them more effectively, explosively, and efficiently. The body as a unit becomes stronger by learning how to instigate a coordinated firing of muscles in a more effective, explosive, and efficient manner.

3. Mindfulness – Kettlebell training requires you to “be in the moment,” allowing you to develop a high-level of concentration, focus, intensity and body awareness. Lapses in concentration or body awareness are swiftly punished. A lack of intensity will not allow you to build the requisite strength and mental toughness needed to distinguish yourself in action. How many people have you seen staring off into space while they were working out? Don’t even think about doing that with kettlebells unless of course you enjoy sitting in the Emergency Room!

4. Sensitivity – Kettlebells require you to constantly challenge your spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, tension, balance and timing. Once again, these are all very martial skills that will cross over into your training and especially into combat athletics. Doing a 7.5 foot ROM snatch requires a much higher degree of skill and muscle mastery than a 1.5 foot ROM biceps curl does. Think about it.

5. Raw Strength – Kettlebells develop thick, dense muscles that deliver when you need them – as opposed to the puffy, tribal-tattooed ‘look good in a Speedo’ muscles. By forcing the muscle to support the KB you end up activating the deeper, harder-to-work, stabilizing and supporting muscles. Most people who start using kettlebells see a rapid loss of excess body fat and weight loss. Once the ‘honeymoon’ is over there oftentimes occurs an increase in weight that accompanies a rapid rise in strength. This is when the muscles start becoming denser and the deficient areas of the musculature start suddenly filling in.

Mike lifting the ‘Beast’ Kettlebell

6. Unilateral Strength – Kettlebells require that you develop unilateral skills, coordination and strength. There is no hiding behind your “strong-hand” in kettlebell training. Weak links in power development are filled in as you get stronger and become accustomed to the bracing requirements of kettlebell training. Being able to move a load on a bar doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to move the same load using one or two kettlebells. I’ve embarrassed way too many “gym rats” by matching their bar loads and then leaving them in the dust with a pair of kettlebells. Try getting the meathead at the gym with the 350 pound bench press to military press your two 53 lbs kettlebells – try not to laugh when he can’t get them off of his shoulders.

7. Holistic – Kettlebells combine strength, flexibility, mobility and anaerobic training into one workout. No other tool will challenge you when it comes to developing attributes that you will be able to apply on the hardwood, the court or the battlefield. Kettlebell training specifically trains all of the physical traits required by the elite athlete and succeeds where other methods fail. In particular, KB training addresses all of the elements that are going to be required of an athlete in competition or in a life-or-death struggle.

8. Mental Hardening – Kettlebell training develops a high level of mental toughness and an understanding of controlled aggression. You can’t approach a kettlebell workout without either – the kettlebell is the enemy and it has to be submitted, controlled or destroyed; or the kettlebell will destroy you. Someone who is looking for a “light” or “toning” workout can find just that by using kettlebell techniques that will enhance their overall mobility and awareness, but for someone who is looking to get an edge on their opponents, the kettlebell is the key that opens the lock. If you have ever done any high-repetition kettlebell training you know exactly what I’m talking about. That little voice in your head that tells you it’s time to quit has to be wrestled to the ground and choked out so that you can build the strength that you want.

9. Movement – Kettlebells require you to learn how to move your body efficiently, strongly and with grace and power. Sitting in a machine or lying on a bench is not going to give you the athletic ability to do a single leg takedown or knock-out an opponent. Learning how to transition for movement to movement without external stabilization, (i.e., a bench or machine) will require you to develop a higher level of strength and mobility that no machine can ever provide. Developing the ability to internally stabilize an external load will give you the sensitivity and control you will need to play or fight at a higher level. Kettlebells will rub your face in your weaknesses until they become strengths – and then humble you over and over again.

10. Complete System – Training with Kettlebells may be the perfect system for developing strength. Kettlebells allow you to perform all of the basic movement patterns (Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge, Carry and the Turkish Get-up; kudos to Dan John for this list) safely, efficiently and effectively. No other tool out there can make this claim and many will try – but very few will even come close. Through a unique combination of design, utilization and loading the Kettlebell is “efficiently inefficient” in building strength – something that will serve anyone from a “Soccer Mom” to a US Navy SEAL.

I’m sure that you can think of a lot more reasons why someone should train with kettlebells and I’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to respond to this blog post to share your thoughts and ideas.

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Michael A. Krivka, Sr., RKC Team Leader is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Kettlebell training for over a decade and is currently an RKC Team Leader and member of the RKC Board of Advisors under Dragon Door (where he has been listed as one of the top reviewed RKC’s in the world for the last five years… read more here.

Kettlebells and 007 (Part 1) by Mike Krivka

January 11, 2013 By Mike Krivka 6 Comments

If you’ve watched any of the Bond movies, you’ll notice one undeniable fact: James Bond is one tough and resilient mother! Okay, there was a while when one-liners were more important than the ability to shoot or throw a decent punch, but those days are behind us now that Daniel Craig is portraying 007. Bond is back and he’s as tough as ever—which is just the way I like him!

So, what does this have to do with you? Well, quite a bit actually. I contend that the training necessary for a top-tier secret agent is the same for a Super Mom or Dad, or even a semi-decent athlete. Let me explain—and this is important so PAY ATTENTION! You need the same physical abilities and attributes as a secret agent but you won’t need them to the extreme degree—but you never know! You need the ability to pick up heavy things; push, pull, and squat with a load; and move fast and hard when necessary. What’s not super about that?

A secret agent needs to be:

Strong
Resilient
Tenacious
Flexible
Mobile
Agile
Athletic

These are all physical attributes that you can develop through a well-rounded functional training program. You need to have a balance of strength, speed, power and endurance—just like you’d need to chase down a couple kids all day, or to keep yourself motivated while you’re huddled over a computer.

Let’s see how that stacks up against the CrossFit Ten Attributes of Fitness:

Strength
Agility
Flexibility
Power
Speed
Stamina
Accuracy
Balance
Endurance
Coordination

Not bad. Actually darn close. Both lists have similar physical and mental aspects. So, how many of these attributes do you need? I would say you need all of them. You might need more of some and less of others, but you will still need all of them. You will also need to spend extra time on the attributes where you’re deficient.

Now would be a good time for me to define each one of the Secret Agent Attributes mean to me and how I think you’ll need to develop them.

Let’s start with Strong. If you could only improve one attribute—and this applies to most everyone—it would be strength. I’m not talking about increasing your bench press or biceps curl, I’m talking about adding pounds to your deadlift, clean or military press. Increasing your ability to move heavy weights is going to put some meat in the right spots and make you harder to kill! I think Mark Rippetoe was quoted as saying, “Strong people are harder to kill.” I couldn’t agree more. I don’t mean that in a literal sense—unless you really are a secret agent! What I’m referring to is real muscle (not the puffy muscles from bodybuilding) which allows you to perform difficult tasks with ease and survive situations that would injure or kill others. I really like the CrossFit dictum of “training for the known and unknown”. I think this is an important mindset to keep in mind when conceptualizing your training program and components. In short, get strong to be strong.

Resilient – To me, being resilient means that you can do what needs to be done, without getting destroyed in the process. Resilience is different at different ages. As a secret agent in your prime (30’s), resilience means escaping the villain’s underground lair while being shot at, chased by henchmen, while still having a little left in the tank to show the cute redheaded damsel you saved a good time… if you know what I mean. As you get older, resilience means bouncing back from a tough workout quickly, taking an unexpected fall without injury, or even changing a tire on the side of the road. Once again, it’s only a matter of degree not function. By the way, as far as I’m concerned, resilience is also a mental attribute—meaning you can face adversity, persevere, and accomplish your goals.

Tenacious – I love that word! When I think of tenacity I think of my old dog Katana Loki (yeah, I know, cool name). She was a Staffordshire Terrier (another name for Pit Bull, but don’t hold that against my little girl) and I used to play tug of war with her and she would NEVER let me win – EVER. She only weighed about forty-five pounds but she would give everything she had when it came down to it. As a physical attribute, tenacity is the ability to find the way to accomplish your goals, even if the path is difficult or painful. Being a secret agent, or even a Jane or Joe Bland, is sometimes a tough path and you’ll need to have the physical and mental ability to keep going even when you want to quit. How do you develop tenacity? The only way is to train outside your comfort zone and do the workouts that others won’t. You’ll become physically stronger, and you’ll also have the mental muscle to match. Bruce Lee made an interesting observation about fighting many years ago. He said, “If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.”

“Flexible as silk and as strong as steel,” one of my Gung Fu instructors admonished us to become in every aspect of our lives. Looking at some people, you might think flexibility is the antithesis of strength, but I think it is part of the same package. To me, flexibility means you’ve developed your physical attributes to accommodate movement within your sport or activity, within and sometimes exceeding normal range of motion. I’m not saying that you have to do full splits, but you should have enough command of your muscles that you can move and perform without running into roadblocks of inflexibility. I’m fortunate that I’ve always been relatively flexible, but I still have to work to maintaining it. I’ve worked with a lot of athletes who were extremely strong but couldn’t even touch their own toes. Think about this— being strong makes you harder to kill, but flexibility makes you even harder to injure. Is there a mental aspect to flexibility? Hell yeah! If you can’t take the obstacles thrown in front of you and turn them into hurdles, then you need to get a grip and focus on the goal.

You might ask, “Isn’t being ‘Mobile‘ the same thing as being flexible?” Hardly! To me, being mobile means that you have that ability to move and function at the full capacity of your body. After many years of taking hard falls in wrestling and judo you’d think my back, neck, and shoulders would be toast, but that’s not the case. I’ve spent a lot of time keeping all of my joints and connective tissue mobilized through various means like foam rollers and yoga. As a secret agent, you never know when you’ll have to climb to the top of a tower to disarm a nuclear weapon. Or, as a parent you never know when you may have to chase down one of your kids from the top of the play set at McDonald’s. Being mobile makes you more resilient and will also give you more confident in your ability to get the work done without injury. Explore the information on the MobilityWOD site or attend a Primal Move workshop and you will understand what you need to work on.

Being “Agile” doesn’t necessarily mean jumping and leaping like a ballerina in the Bolshoi. To me it means the ability to quickly and seamlessly transition from skill to skill. I am reminded of an experience I had while working with some tactical officers from a large metropolitan police department. The officers prided themselves on their shooting skills, and I was impressed with their ability to “kill” paper targets. When they asked for my assessment I gave them a quick skill test to show them the real life level of their pistol work. I made them do 5 kicks to the heavy bag with each leg, and 4 lengths of hand over hand on the monkey bars, 5 burpees, and 4 bodyweight deadlifts. Then they had 30 seconds to put 5 rounds in the “X”, change magazines and then put 5 more rounds in the “X”. (Note: everyone had a chance to shoot their 5+5 first, in order to establish a baseline of accuracy and time.) How did they do? Well, no one had an accidental discharge in the process, but no one came anywhere near their previous score. So is agility a physical or mental skill? The answer is yes…

Everyone is “Athletic” to one degree or another. If someone says that they’re a “runner” then they are considered an athlete. If someone else says they’re a “tennis player,” then they are considered an athlete as well. Some people are more athletic than others in my eyes. If someone is a NCAA wrestler, a high level MMA competitor, or an Olympic caliber gymnast, then they are going to get kudos from me. If you are trying to find your “inner athlete” then you are on the right path and I commend you. To me being athletic means that you have developed the basic skills of your sport to a relatively high degree, and are able to apply them under dynamic circumstances. What are the skills that you will need as a secret agent? It’s a long list but it would definitely include running, climbing, combatives, etc. All of those skills take the preceding attributes (strength, resilience, tenacity, etc.) and put them into a dynamic, competitive environment where your skills are tested to see if they “hold up under fire”. In other words, an athlete puts himself into a competitive environment to see if his training and skills hold up. The same thing should hold true for the secret agent—and for you. I’m not saying you have to topple megalomaniacs seeking to control the world’s supply of gold, but you want to be able to test yourself through the auspices of a difficult workout on occasion in order to see if your training is actually working.

Note: I have to mention a very powerful concept that changed how I train myself and others. You will see this as an underlying theme within the workouts and throughout the whole program. While no one workout will address all of the skills below, most address several. Dan John identified five movement skills which need to be practiced and that you should be using when developing strength and experience:

Push
Pull
Squat
Hinge
Carry
Other – i.e., Turkish Get Up, “Ground” work

This grouping of movements should define your strength program, and also give you a framework for identifying your strengths and weaknesses. (For a more detailed explanation of this, pick up Dan John and Pavel’s book Easy Strength. It will give you a completely different perspective on your training requirements.)

For more super-powered James Bond-style workouts, check out Mike’s book, Code Name: Indestructible.

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About the Author:

Michael A. Krivka, Sr. is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Kettlebell training for over a decade and is currently an RKC Team Leader and member of the RKC Board of Advisors under Dragon Door (where he has been listed as one of the top reviewed RKC’s in the world for the last five years). Mike has traveled extensively throughout the United States teaching Russian Kettlebells to military (USMC, USN, USA and USAF) and law enforcement personnel (FBI, DEA, USSS and CIA) as well hard-living civilians from Soccer Moms to CEOs. In addition to teaching workshops and clinics he logs several hundred hours a year teaching and training with Russian Kettlebells at his own gym and martial arts studio. He is also a Level I CrossFit Trainer, and Olympic Lifting Coach.

When he is not tossing Kettlebells around he is teaching and training in the martial arts, something he has done since he was thirteen years old. His martial arts training, sparked by a childhood fascination with Bruce Lee, spans early training in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wrestling, Western Fencing, Sambo, Ninjutsu, Muay Thai and Gung Fu and has culminated in being awarded a Full Instructor JKD Concepts (Jeet Kune Do – Bruce Lee’s base art) and the Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Escrima, Arnis and Maphilindo Silat) under Guro Dan Inosanto. He continues to train in and explore other martial arts to continue to hone his technical and teaching skills.