My Blog

HITTING THE WALL!!!

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:17:21 -0400

Everyone loves to see new people get involved in this sport... they encourage and help them... they tell them how much worse they were when they started and how good they will be and all this nice stuff seems to make everyone feel really good and nice.... There is talk of traveling to the next competition and making it to the next level rank... There is talk of making Master of sport... everyone is all fired up... this is a beautiful time. I have seen and been on all sides of this athlete... Unfortunately these warm feelings are fleeting and they lack the necessary horsepower to keep you going when the Dark clouds roll up...
Hitting the Wall is part of doing business as an athlete... It is shortsighted and nieve to think otherwise... Do not delude yourself into thinking that you are somehow above it.. I know I have told myself that because I’m so smart I can avoid these pitfalls and mistakes... It is exactly this type of thinking that accelerates us toward the disaster!!
Everyone wants to do well, in the beginning we are the most teachable and eager to get the information that will help us become better lifters and athletes... After some success however we are not so willing to listen... maybe you make it to a certain rank, or hit some other goal that (according to you) qualifies you to skip over the basics stuff... You are not a beginner and therefore... not really interested in hearing it... that is correct!! You now have a little bit of SWAGGER!!! This feels good!! You worked hard to make the progress you made. You are even kind enough to share your infinite wisdom of the last 6 months...
What happens next is a total mystery to the person it happens to... He is like the active alcoholic who has no Idea how close to complete annihilation he is... He denies his condition and refuses to take an accurate reading of his true position in life... he is sticking to his own skewed “dead reckoning” navigation system... this is what got him to this point... it is not correct and far from reality... He maliciously opposes any suggestion that he might be a LITTLE off course, let alone very very far from the reservation... This is when things begin to quickly unravel... Training seems tougher than usual... In spite of the fact that you need to back off a little bit and figure out what is happening... You pin your ears back and attempt to bully your way to the Promise land... You cannot hit what used to be a pretty easy set... In fact you start to wonder if you ever even did these sets, it is soo hard now... Your head is working overtime... all kinds of negative thoughts are overcoming your head and life... This is not just about training... it is your whole life... everyone around you seems to be complete assholes... The people that care the most seem the most unbearable... Because they know you have turned yourself into a completely useless human being... Your stubbornness and mental resolve has served you well many times before... but in this particular juncture... they are killing you!! You my friend have HIT THE WALL!!! You cannot seem to find the way out of this swamp... the harder you try the deeper you sink!! This fucking blows!!
These times happen for a reason... I am not going to tell you to pray.. (although it is not a terrible idea) It is time to go back to the beginning. Why are you lifting kettlebells? I have found that this is where I need to go when the shit hits the fan. I lift them because I enjoy the way I feel when I do them... I like being strong, I like the daily ritual of training... I love the process of improving and when it goes well...I enjoy helping other people hit there goals... I Love the simplicity of this type of training... I would say that one of the biggest reasons I get off track is because I want to get better numbers as quick as I can... This causes me to “modify” my training for faster results... this is the first sign that I am headed for trouble... The basics are no longer good enough for me... I want to make it more complex for big results...I get greedy!! This my friends is the beginning of the end of progress for me.
How to get back on track... The first thing I need to do is drop down a couple bell sizes and take all the crazy pressure I have been putting on myself OFF. This has to happen so that I can just enjoy getting back to enjoying the movements and the way proper execution feels, the rhythmic breathing patterns ....I heard along time ago that “reps heal” i now understand what they are talking about. I need to use a much lighter bell than I would ever compete with and start from the ground up. All kettlebell lifting starts from the ground.. Getting back to this simple fact is a huge step in the right direction... Having fun is important to surviving the hardships of this game... That means I am not just mindlessly Flogging myself into results. There is a time to back off and re-learn the movements with no pressure or definite goals in mind... Do the lifts well, because they feel good and because you love to do them... Progress will happen as result of loving the movements not because you have some crazy timeline or agenda in your head!! Relax... keep training with reduced loads... the fire is still there you are not quitting or getting demoted... Your practice with lighter bells will payoff huge when you are ready to get things rocking again... Humility is the hallmark of all great champions... The ability to train is a gift... I tend to forget that...

A world of pain

Wed, 5 May 2010 09:35:37 -0400

Pain: A feeling of marked discomfort in a particular part of the body.

Lactic Acid: A colorless syrupy organic formed in sour milk and produced in muscle during strenuous exercise.

I am very glad that I do not smell like sour milk when I train!! However my 10 year old daughter was kind enough to tell me that I stunk after training one day... I asked her what I smelled like and she said I smelled like..”hot dog water”!! So I got that going for me....

I am going to talk about the pain associated with training for and competing in Kettlebellsport. If you are reading this post I am going to assume that you have some experience with this type of pain. Pain is a good thing, it is a signal given to us by our body that says “stop this right now”!! Even the most ignorant can understand this primative type of “Bio Feedback”... in fact, some people can only understand blunt force trama!!

Anyway, I am not going to tell you tricks to get around the pain, and I am not going offer you secrets to subdue the pain... I am just going to tell you that you should expect pain. Like I said in my previous post “this stuff is hard”. Finding that out was a huge help to me.

Rest is a big term used in kettlebellsport.. I am sure you have been standing there 7 minutes deep into your set and some jackass from the sidelines yells, “OK, Now get your rest, or find some rest”!! I wonder why I didnt think of that??

When I first heard the term rest, or finding rest, I was thinking of a nice rest stop on a scenic highway somewhere up in Vermont in the middle of summer with some ice cold lemonaid, a picnic basket, fried chicken and a ropeswing over a nice cool slow rolling river...

What was I talking about......... Oh ya.. Pain and finding rest... This is not the kind of rest that they are talking about. The type of rest that is being referred to is not even close to being that pleasant. For me it is about finding a brief place that doesn’t kill..

If standing there in the rack position is a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale... then maybe resting in the lockout might only be an 8... this type of relief may not sound that great from where you are sitting now, but I can assure you, that going from a level 10 to a level 8 can like a fucking Carnival Cruise...

Basically my point is, rest does not mean Pain free, it just means you dodged the pain bullet for a few seconds. Finding and developing these little spots of relief can make your set, help you do better numbers, and get you closer to your goals... Learning how to survive under these conditions is not only possible, but it is imperative to make it in this sport.

now what?

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:43:30 -0400

Ok... lets suppose now that you have been training with kettlebells for a little while now. Chances are you might have taken a workshop, gone to get certified... bought DVD’s ....You study YouTube videos of Russian Lifters, You have totally forgotten about golf, tennis, biking or whatever silly sports you used to do before this obsession happened... Now you are training with your own Kettlebells, you bought the shoes, you have chalk all over the place... Your spouse is pretty sure you have completely lost your mind with this whole thing.... Does any of this sound familiar? Is This you? The good news is... you are not alone...
I am going to go on a little bit of rant right now about what I know to be true about kettlebell training...

This sport is fucking hard!!! I know that you heard all about the mind blowing benefits of lifting kettlebells... but it is hard to get better at the sport... I though we should get that out of the way first.
There is a huge difference between exercising and training for a sport... Zoomba will not help you on the platform..
Training wise Long Cycle is less demanding on your time than the Biathalon...
No matter what event you do, one arm jerks will help develop correct overhead position... Great lift with huge carryover in all competition lifts, including the snatch.
Don’t major in minor things. Assistance work is just that, to assist, not a substitute for your main set.
If you train alone, (like many of us) Video your sets and watch them daily!! I have busted myself doing stuff I thought I had fixed a long time ago...
Fundamentals are the most important. For some reason people are very attracted to shortcuts the secret is work!! But keep it down...Shhhhhh!!!!
Training has to be progressive... In order to do that, you have to track it... Write down your training sessions... Also write down anything that might be effecting your training.. poor sleep, feel sick, ate crap... It all has an effect
Ask for help... This has made the biggest difference for me... I have seen plenty of very talented lifters go by the wayside because they were unable to ask for help and follow the directions... They get frustrated or injured and move along.
It really helps to have a support system of like minded people around you... very easy to do now with the facebook and internet groups... Be careful, people are making money off of coaching now... check out your coach before you send any money...
At first you will make great progress with just some regular training... the longer you stay with it.. the slower the gains and the tougher it gets... Kettlebells will expose your weaknesses.. this doesn’t feel good!! Nobody ever orders humble pie.. You just end up with a big plate of it in front of you mysteriously...
The snatch is the funnest lift in the beginning... once you realize how many you need to do... it becomes very difficult.
Training 5 days per week is the best way to go about making progress. One money set per day is best... You don’t want to over do it, but you cannot sandbagg it either... working at about 85 to 90% of your capacity is good.
your mind usually quits way before your body does... Mental toughness is a must develop quality...
The order of sound progression is Time, Pace you work, and finally weight.. If you cannot go 10 minutes snatching the 16 kg at 15/16 rpms.. forget the 20 or the the 24...
People have been supposedly lifting these things for a very long time... If you are getting injured, it is a signal that you are doing something wrong... Kettlebells are only metal... they are not out to get you!!
Better than training is practicing... People that exercise get bored easily.. they need variety.. that is fine... This is a sport and like every sport we have to practice... People that change up the training to keep it fun or interesting are full of shit...
Even when you do everything correctly it takes time to get good... Be patient, focus on getting great at your event and diligently work your ass off... the results are the by product of doing it well.

Kettlebell safety

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:40:12 -0500

Intrepid fallen heroes fund

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:29:34 -0400

I am almost too excited to talk.. I WON the bid on this!!! I am the owner of this!!! Very Cool !!!

Above is the picture of very special kettlebell. It is special because it is only one of few, that are this heavy.... It weighs 60kg, which is 132 pounds. The fact that it weighs what it does is not so special.. the fact that it is and remains competition size is the special feature of this kettlebell.

The very first American male Master of Sport in the long cycle, Scott Helsley makes these Monsters in his garage. I have wanted one since I found out about the whole process he goes through to make them.. you can check out his Blog at http://blog.rationalfitnesspractice.com Scott is donating all of the proceeds from this sale to the Intrepid Fallen Heros Fund, to learn more about this great cause... check out http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/

Wake UP Call!!

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 15:57:26 -0400

Ya, so there is nothing like a nice nice asskicking to make you look at your life. They say that people can learn things 2 ways. One is the carrot method.. You offer a reward to the student if they complete a task or achieve something. Reward system.. Ok then we have the stick system, this system is usually reserved for animals.. Mainly draft animals like an OX, Mule or Donkey.. They understand Blunt Force Trama the best. So they get whipped or beat with a stick...I am not a carrot guy.. (although I do like them ) I am a blunt force trama guy. So, that means until I get a beating.... I am not really listening.. I might be looking in your direction I might even be nodding as you speak... but I am not hearing you...

Now, when you compete there a a thousand things out of your control.. so the only thing you can really do is remain calm, be ready to rock when you get called and do your very best.. On the day of competition it is best not to start the should have done this or that talk.. you are there and you need to go with what you brought... Meaning you have trust your training. I had a subpar performance and now.... after I didn’t do what I wanted to do... I’m all ears.. I called my coach, and he did what good coaches do... he laid the lumber on me.. Told me the truth and that is that.. reality check.. No sense in talking abut what happens when you are over there..when you are really over here..

The funny thing is, when my coach tells me something.. I have a feeling I know what he is going to say before he says it to me. Usually it is the thing I just didn’t want to do in my training and I thought I could work around.. Wrong again.. The best food for continued athletic improvement or any improvement in my life is not a supplement or a drink or a meat or a plant.. it is a dish known as Humble Pie.. Going to work...

Spotting your weaknesses

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:19:49 -0400

I want to talk about weaknesses, and how to find out what they really are.. How to face them and what to do about them. First of all, if you are a multi-tasker in, you will have a hard time seeing your weaknesses, due to the fact that you spread yourself so thin, quality is not the goal for you so just keep making noise... somewhere people are sure to be impressed with your low quality/ high volume body of work. The simple fact is, you don’t want to slow down because you might accidently bump into yourself. Holy Crap!!

It is another simple fact that, everyone of us has natural talent for things.. I believe that these are God given.. On the flip side of that, we all have weaknesses.. theses are the things that hold us back in life. For instance, we all have seen the book smart person with zero people skills.. So, basically if this person wants to share his information with somebody other than a plant... He has got to find a way to overcome his shortcoming or he is going to end up in a straight jacket, screaming out unconnected phrases to an uninterested audience..

How do we see these weak links in ourselves?? Well, if you want to find out what your weaknesses are.. I have a clue.. ask yourself what aspect of your chosen event that you hate the most..? What part of your training do love to leave out? I cannot answer that question for you, I only know that if I want to find out why I am not making the progress I know I can make, I need to really dig into the things that I am not doing, that will make the biggest difference..

That is how you find out where theses things live, now what? I would suggest getting some help from a better player or coach that has been in the game for a while. Ask questions, use them to affirm what is happening with you. Only then you can develop a plan of action based on you and where you really are.. not where you think you are or where others think you are or where you thought you should be by now.. right here where your feet are.. I remember when Bill Parcells came to the Patriots and he was at a press conference He said,” hey if you are 2 and 12...you are 2 and 12” Meaning, it is... what it is.. Don’t have to stay there, just have to know where you are at in reality.. Not that easy to do when it is about you..

I read a book called The Goal, By Eli Goldratt.. It is a business book based on the theory of constraints..(TOC). Bottlenecks are a term I learned there..The throughput in a factory is only as good as your slowest area in production.. To Illustrate, he takes a bunch of young cubscouts on a hike in the woods.. Well before long the faster scouts get ahead of the group and they have to find everyone and it is time consuming.. They have about 2 miles to go into the woods before they can camp.. So they are on this single track trail and they keep getting spread out.. slow kids way behind, faster kids up ahead.. the progress is painfully slow.. So, finally the guy in the book, decides to arrange the troops from the slowest to the swiftest.. Slowest in the front.. fastest in the back.. The group stayed together and they arrived in a very short amount of time.. so, the principle is keep your weakness (bottleneck) up front and you will get there faster than the scattilogical method...

Once you have the problem Isolated, the solution is going to have to be something like... “Focussed Work”.. How the hell do you do this?? Let’s say it is a technical issues that is preventing forward movement.. Practice the movement perfectly with a light load.. at first. (Tape yourself and study how you move) You want to start rewiring your Central Nervous system with the correct movement patterns... before you do any sort of conditioning work.... Conditioning is great, but I would be more afraid of a guy that has proper technique and weak conditioning than a guy that has poor technique and great conditioning.. If his techniques is still sharp, he will not need much conditioning as the fight will be over before he get into that kind of trouble..So, the techniques always comes first.. Alway practice the weakness when you are fresh.. all fine motor skills work should be practiced when you are fresh, physically and mentally.. This will let you feel and develop the right movement patterns for you brain to hardwire into your hard drive. After this type of training you can then put the harder stuff into your workout.. I cannot state clearly enough the importance of using your freshness to your advantage.. Put the weaknesses first and you will see big changes in your life quick... Study the greats of you sport and really watch what is happening while they are moving ad how they do it.. where is there w eight. how are they breathing, do they look relaxed, or are they tense.. Just suck up anything about there movements that you can.. You are on your way to becoming a better whatever it is that you do out there.. and remember...

YOU CAN’T FIX WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE..... YOU CANNOT SEE WHAT YOU REFUSE TO LOOK AT..

but for you, it is harder

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:35:39 -0400

I recently had a talk with my coach, I asked him how come I am having such an difficult time with snatches as opposed to jerks? I asked him this because I need to make rank to qualify for the WKC meet coming up later this month.. I am lopsided with my lifts. I can’t make rank unless I really bring up my weaker lift results.. I am having a hard time doing this... Anyway, he told me, for everybody it is hard, for you... it is JUST HARDER.. So, the point is shut up and stop crying about this and that and do the work.. Training for competition in Kettlebell sport is tough.. Everyone has a tough time.. not just me. I did not get a secret solution I was looking for, I didn’t get some esoteric information that only the inside circle gets.. I got, you have to really work if you want to make it to your goal.. That is the simple and Brutal truth about this whole thing..
Now as time goes on and interest in competition grows, people will be selling the “better way” for success in this sport. But beware of the Naked man that offers you the “shirt off his back”.

Who KB sport is not for: Who it is for:
Posers. workers
corner cutters Mustard cutters
People that make excuses people that have and don’t use excuses exercise for cosmetic purposes performance based athletes
love new fads in fitness loyal to there sport
talkers listeners
teachers/big egos students/ humble
pain duckers pain eaters
want quick results / impatient know how far they have to go/ patient
happy when they get attention happy when they hit the goal
needs a lot of encouragement/ insecure
doesn’t want to know how weak they really
critic participates
living in the past/ used to be something lives in the present/ reality
put people down to boost self esteem pulls people up with actions and words
Blames others when things don’t work out responsible for themselves and outcomes
Victim volunteer
wants to know what they can get wants to know what to bring

conflicted?

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:15:15 -0400

Why do people spend all kind of time and effort to try and improve sports performance doing things that have nothing at all to do with the event that they compete in. I mean if you are a fitness person that is into exercising to get good at exercising.. Great!! that is not for me, but good for you, anytime people are moving, I am happy for them.. But if you are an athlete that wants to be better at your game... play your game more.. I used to be into racing mountain bikes and cyclocross, so in an effort to improve my race performance, I thought... If I am stronger, I will go faster and I will be tougher, more durable and therefore better at my game.. So, I started training in the Gym, doing high reps squats and in between sets I was jumping rope to work on my wind.. A coach I knew and respect asked me what I was doing, and why I was doing it.. I repeated what I just told you and he asked me a question.. He said, look at hockey players, it is the summer and one hockey player jumps rope all summer.. Now this player is going to be better prepared than the player that didn’t do anything all summer but chase girls at the beach.. But, the player that is going to be better off than the jump roper or the beach goer is the guy that played hockey all summer.. that player is going to be much better off than the other 2 guys.. My coach Valery Fedorenko told me one time, we lift kettlebells, so if you want to get better at that you do that, not go play Basketball.
Now I see and hear about this kind of stuff all the time, if you want to get better at Kettlebellsport, you better go get a movement screening or perhaps some sort of postural alignment. Or better yet, join a gym and start lifting weights cause you are going to need to be strong to lift theses things... This is totally crazy... If you want to get better at any sport.. Play that sport as much as you possibly can stand.. reading about it from successful athletes is useful, thinking about is good also, but nothing can help you more than doing it and becoming a master at the basics.. Every coach I ever had told me the basics, basics.. Always come back to the basics.. Proper mechanics, practice at slow speeds, close your eyes, in a mirror, watch your shadow, study better players and how they move and make transitions.. What do they look like when they get rattled.. how do you get unrattled during the game?? What does it take to get good at your sport? Find out, because right now, outside somewhere, there is a kid who just picked up a football, or a tennis racket, or a shotput, or a bat, or a golf club... and that kid is going to study the game and the players and he is going to practice the basics until he has them as part of his makeup.. conditioning will not even be an issue because this kid will play until he is totally spent, then tomorrow... he will repeat this process.. It is this type of passion and focus that determines the great ones from the “also rans”, this pure love of the game that will eventually lead this kid... to greatness.. The take home point is, if your goal is east... don’t let people tell you to go west first... If you don’t have a game... get one!! Operating from the position of practicing for an event that you like is better than just working out to work out.. When you start operating from that place.. the practice become a part of your day and you will look forward to getting better at the sport first and along the way.. you get strong and conditioned while increasing athleticism.

what and the what now??

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:59:28 -0400

I have a Daughter that is 9 and half years old. She has this thing she says when I ask her a direct question about something she either did or didn’t do, or was supposed to take care of.. I am usually asking her as a follow up to a previous conversation about whatever task it was.. I know instantly that she hasn’t done the thing because of the look on her face and then as a stall tactic, she will say.. “The what and the what now, Daddy?” I have a hard time keeping a straight face when this happens. cause she learned this tactic from me, so how upset can I get.? She is the fruit of my loins.. very funny and clever I adore her completely.. I mean plus she is 9 and just a kid, she is not making any bogus claims, she is working on doing what people do.. ducking the hard stuff, to do the fun stuff.
Recently I had an encounter with a new internet kettlebell guru, he speaks Russian, he talks the talk... he has history... So, I asked him a simple Direct question about his competition scores and I get the same thing that I get from my 9 year old.. What am I talking about?? I felt like I was the guy who asked how come the King has no clothes on !! I got some bullshit back from him about training people and a coaches job... what difference does it make what my lifts are like if I can coach others... My results are not the issue here.. Bla, bla, bla...
When you go to buy a book, on the inside back cover somewhere, there is a short story about the author, usually this is to let you know that the person who wrote the book is qualified to tell you about it..If I want to learn to knit a sweater, build a boat, or start a garden.. I want to know who is telling me this stuff, and where are the sweaters, boats, or veggies that this person claims to now how to produce??
I read that book by Donald Trump, The Art of the Deal, a long time ago. In that book he talks about his first big project and how he was talking it up and promoting it to the city, but nothing was happening because he was having a hard time getting the financing and meeting deadlines... Anyway, the guy that had done a lot of projects and was very connected to whole scene was asked what he thought about the new guy and the all the noise that was being made about the big project... He just said..” I hear a lot of great things... But where are the bricks and mortar???”