Pressing the little Beast

In the world of kettlebells the 48 kg bell is called The Beast and only the worlds strongest can snatch or press it.   In my somewhat smaller world the 24 kg is as big as I will personally every need to use for most lifts.  My 2 primary goals at the moment revolve around the 24 kg bell.  My goals are to snatch the 24 kg bell 100x in 5 minutes and be capable of doing multiple rounds of 5 strict pressing a pair of these bells.  I am still looking to buy a 2nd 24 kg bell but there is no rush because I'm very far away from being able to press a pair of these even once!

Here's one of my first shots even attempting to press the 24 kg bell.  Before each rep I do a few specific things.  I grip the ground with my feet, squeeze my thighs, glutes and midsection. I imagine a sponge in between my upper arm and side ribs, squeeze the sponge to activate the lats.  The lats are the bridge for the press.  It is no bs to say that this is a full-body lift!  I try to keep my left arm "alive" by squeezing squeezing the left side of the body as if it was pressing a bell too.   If you try the same exercise without attention to firming the entire body you will be shocked at how weak you will feel.  I will press a pair of these bells 5x before the next 6 months is up!

Kettlebell Muscle!

2012 was a solid year for training!  Considering I lost about 2 months total to rehabbing injuries I am pretty happy with where I am at as the year ends.  The past month has been particularly gratifying because I have been adopting some bodybuilding/powerlifting principles such as longer rest periods and lower rep schemes.  It feels like I have put on some muscle training this way and I am looking forward to more of this kind of training in 2013.  The conditioning work I am doing is definitely working, my resting heart rate was 42 when I had it checked at a recent dr. appt.  I credit high-repetition kettlebell snatching and swinging for making my heart so strong. 

Here's a brag pic to close the year out - 42 years old, 5'9", 165 pounds, under 10% bodyfat.

For 2013 I simply want to keep building strength and muscle while keeping my body fat low.  I do have a few specific goals:

Kettlebell snatch for 100 reps in 5 minutes with the 24 kg bell. (so far only done with the 16kg bell)

Kettlebell Military Press a pair of 24 kg bells for 3 strict sets of 5 (so far my best is the pair of 40's for 7 sets of 5 - I still need to buy a 2nd 24 kg bell lol)

I also want to make it a point to buy an Olympic bar and bench because I want to start deadlifting and bench pressing.  I've avoided these 2 lifts for different reasons.  I have not done the bench press or "the d-bag" press as I like to call it, since my early 20's.  Strength coach Dan Jon has me convinced I can add it to my routine and not be a d-bag.  I need a horizontal press in my workout and the bench will fill this purpose.  The deadlift I avoided because of my "bad" back.  I say "bad" because I have a feeling there is much more "bad" about my deadlift technique then my actual lower back.  I think the past few years of kettlebell training has me ready to safely attack the DL.  At least now I understand the the deadlift is hip driven and should leave the lower back alone if I do it right.  And if kb swinging has taught me anything it is how to load my hips properly to pick up something heavy!

  Happy New Year friends!

Snatch it!...and some Front Squats

I look forward to snatching the kettlebell on Fridays because it is the only day I allow myself to do it. My training schedule looks like this:

Mondays - Swings
Tuesday - Endurance walking
Wednesday - Military Presses
Thursday - Sprints
Friday Snatches & High-rep Front Squats
I practice Get-ups on at least 2 non-consecutive days of my chosing.

If I want to take a day off I skip the walking but I try not to skip any kettlebell training days. 
Every exercise I do to complements the other which is why I only train each exercise 1/7 days. When I am practicing swings I am also practicing the same exact arm and hip movement as the snatch. When I practice my getups I am practicing the above the head portion of the snatch.  It works the other way too so when I am practicing snatches I am improving my 1-arm swing and getup!  The Front Squat is the true beast because it improves every other lift!

The 16 kg bell felt light as a feather and I managed a little work with the 18 kg bell as well.  I did 5 sets of 6 and 5 sets of 7 today.  I meant to do a third round of 8 reps/set but wanted to save some energy for Front Squats. 

Since I am trying to gain muscle I figured it is time to get over myself  and start squatting!  I did a decent amount of back squatting in my 20's and have been avoiding it ever since.  I think my personal record was 225x5 reps or something close to that.  I was never very strong at it and looking back I think my form was probably horrific.  I have decided to focus on the kettlebell front squat instead of the back squat.  It seems safer and  will seriously  help strengthen my military press.  I also wont need to buy an Olypmic bar and squat rack.    My first goal is to Front Squat my 18 kg bells for 50 consecutive reps.  Today I did 3 sets with about 90 seconds rest of 20, 15 and 15 reps.

Here's some snatches with the 18 kg bell.  It's a little too heavy for me but I like playing with it so long as I am warmed up.  My form is pretty bad here.

Press it! ..and a Secret Santa Crossfit Party

Grace took me to a xmas party thrown by the owner of her Horsepower Crossfit gym in Studio City on Saturday.  I was looking forward to talking to a large group of people who do Crossfit!  I really only wanted to know a few things - what do they like/dislike most about Crossfit?...and what experience with kettlebells have you had at Crossfit?

I talked to about 6-7 Crossfitters and was surprised at the different answers I got. As far as what they like most about Crossfit,  3 people said they liked the variety, 2 people said they liked the wallballs and 2 people said they liked training with a group of like-minded friends.   The wallballs do look like fun but I dont think my neighbors would appreciate it!  When it came to what they did not like about Crossfit -   2 people said they disliked any exercise they had to modify to peform.  I think they call this RXing an exercise, like when you use rubberbands to help your pullups or drop your knees for pushups.  1 person said she hated double-unders.  I just nodded my head since I did not know what they are.  Oh, with a jump rope, I get it.  1 guy said he hated running the most. 

I asked about kettlebells and got answers that I pretty much expected.  Yes, we definitely use the kettlbells.  No, there is nothing really memorable about training with them other than the fact that all of the exercises are rigorous and demanding.  Seriously, that about sums up what I could squeeze out of people when it came to kettlebells.  As far as most people knew I may as well have asked them if they like training with dumbells.  I do not see this changing much in the future btw.  I think Pavel has taken kettlbells as far as they can go and they will always be sort of an niche method of training.   Regardless, I am addicted to training kettlbells and believe they have brought me very far in a short period of time. 

Of course I was prepared to answer the inevitable question, how come you dont train Crossfit?  My basic answer was, "I prefer to train myself and am focusing on kettlbells at the moment."  If pressed I explained that I had a lifetime of classroom training behind me and had nothing against training with a group.  Believe me, I remember what extra energy you get when you get that group energy going!  I tend toward specialization and Crossfit will readily admit that they are generalists.  It is a fantastic school of training and I am lucky to be able to watch Grace progress with them.

They had a Secret Santa at the party and somehow I luckboxed myself into a 25 lb kettlbell!  Even better, Santa left a receipt taped to the bottom of the bell and I was able to trade it in for a 40 lb bell which is what I really needed!  I hope you like the miniature samurai sword set I gave you!  Cmon, this is a good Secret Santa gift.  As a jew my thoughts on secret santa are this - you should give something that you would enjoy receiving yourself but would not actually spend money on.  Miniature samurai sword FTW.

Weds is press day.  I did 10 sets of 5 reps, mostly with the pair of 40 lb bells.   There is more info on my training in the details of this clip.

Set 5/10 - 40 lb bells

Snatch it!

Feeling strong today.  My calves are sore as fuck from yesterdays experimental run but they are not a big part of kettlebell snatches.

Very happy to be getting back to full intensity snatches!  If I am not at 100% since my upper back injury I am very close :). 

All that time I spent practicing technique with smaller bells has really paid off.  It feels like I am getting the kettlbell deep in the hole (the backswing) without leaning to one side and my lockouts look decent.  I did 3 rounds of snatches today, all done on the minute. 5x5 and 5x6  with the 16 kg bell as well as a 5x6 round with the 18 kg bell.    Here's my second round.

Running

I do not like running!  When I was forced to do it as a kid during organized sports it was hell for me.  My knees and low back would hurt and I would gas out very quickly.

For the past year I have been very dedicated to my kettlelbell practice as well as hiking regularly.  The hikes have gotten easier over time so I resorted to doing things like hiking the steep parts 2x or adding pushups and/or squats througout the hike.  Adding this little bit of high intensity intervals has really brought my conditioning to life and even though I hate running and almost never do it I am convinced I am in better shape than the average runner.  I seem to pass every single person when I hike the Ridge at Runyon - I even pass runners because they need to stop running and start walking the moment the path starts going up the hill.

So today I decided to add a little bit of running to my hike up the ridge.   I did 3-4 short burtss of jogging as I went up the hill and ran about 50% of the way down the hill on the paved road.  It felt overall pretty good but my calves were killing me when I finished!  I hope I dont wake up unable to walk tomorrow..gonna heat em up and see if I can get Grace to massage me a bit :)

My time from gate to gate was 29:45.  I timed it from the gate nearest the left turn off the paved road that leads to the ridge. I came down on the paved side because it is probably safer to run down the paved road than the steps which tend to be slippery.

What is your best time on the ridge?  Wondering if anybody can beat me!

Attacking the weak spots

Ever since my shoulder was dislocated in my early 20's I have been avoiding presses of all types.  I could go years without doing a pushup and I am pretty sure it was more than a decade in between overhead pressing any serious weight.  I am getting semi-competent at the ballistic kettlebell movements, mainly the swing, clean and snatch, but have been avoiding the overhead presses.   I am going to start doing 1 day a week of a certain kind of  old-school strength work.  I dont really know what it is called but it is similiar to what bodybuilders do in the gym - they tend to lift as heavy as they can for 1-10 reps and then rest for as long as they want, sometimes exceeding 2-3 minute rest periods.  It is a method of training where there is no rush because you  want to stay as fresh as possible for your next set.  In this approach of training you also avoid training to failure.  I have a feeling that I held myself back for years as far as gaining strength through weight training because I was a huge advocate of training to failure every time I worked out.  Studying kettlebell technique and the way kettlebellers, particularly the Russian type,  has really opened my eyes and I can feel myself growing stronger by the week! 

I decided that my own old-school approach would be the very simple 5x5 set/rep scheme.  I'm doing 5 sets of 5 reps with a weight that makes the last rep in the last set very difficult but not impossible.    Even though you can do this routine and rest for a very long time in between sets I had to draw the line somewhere.  I did one 5x5 round on the 2nd minute which was way too much resting.  The 5x5 on the 1.5 minute worked much better.  Here is a clip of one round of 5 with the 16 and 18 kg bell.  I am using different size bells because I dont have a 2nd 18 kg bell!  My right arm is also still a little stronger than my left so I feel the asymetrical training can only be good for me.

Kettlebell Cleans - loading up!

2nd round of 3 from todays training.  10 minutes total, 40 seconds on 20 seconds off  kettlebell cleans.  Starting with a small weight and working up to the biggest I can do reps with which is my 40 lb bell.  My clean tecnhique is still that of a beginner but I think it is still a solid video to train along with.  The key to the clean is to keep the upper arm tight to the body and to keep the bell as close to you as possible.

5 swings 5 squats - follow along kettlebell video

I've been recording my training - here's a 10 minute round of 5 swings followed by 5 squats.  Be careful on the transition not to throw your kettlebell!  Start with a very small weight, practice the transition, and then load it up! 

I dont always go vegetarian but when I do....

....I always buy Vega products to make sure I get the the large amount of protein I prefer to consume.

I advise vegetarian athletes regularly and the one major difficulty for them is getting enough high-quality complete protein without overloading on the carbohydrates that are a necessary part of food combining.   It gets even more difficult for vegans because they abstain from dairy and eggs.

I was turned on to Vega products after reading Brendan Fraziers book "Thrive".  It is a fanastic book that discusses nutrition from a high level triathletes point of view who also happens to be a vegan.   This book is one of my all-time favorite nutrition books.  Brendan coined the term "net-gain nutrition".  Google it!

Click the Vega links in my blog for more info on this line of vegan products.

Vegetarian nutrition for the strength athlete.

Here's an email I sent to a student interested in a vegetarian approach to losing bodyfat.   In this case the student wants to lose bodyfat and maintain/gain muscle.  Vegetarians have it pretty easy so long as they eat eggs and dairy.  Eggs are simply king of the protein universe and allowing whey protein drinks makes it so easy to get the days supply of protein.  Vegans can pull this off too but they will be challenged!  Vegans will strive to get proteins nearly every meal but will have to be careful not to overload on the carbs.  Here's the email:
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I strive to eat small meals and have some sort of protein in almost every meal.  I try to eat protein only early in the day because it helps curb the appetite and has a myriad of other benefits that I have experienced, ranging from cognitive to physical. . I try to get all of my carbs from fruits and veges. When it comes to weight loss foods like crackers, rice cakes, fake meatfoods,  low-fat chips and pretzels are the absolute worse things to eat.  I respect vegetarianism and as a yogi am also concerned with ethical treatment of life. I almost completely avoid factory farmed animals and spend the extra money to get ethically raised beasts. Here's that outline!

Meal #1 Protein + Veges
2-3 eggs any style + large portion of veges - I typically add bell peppers, onions and some sort of green such as baby spinach

Meal #2 Protein shake - some sort of whey protein is good + any kind of fruit you like. I prefer frozen strawberries/blueberries because of the convenience, taste and low calorie content.

Meal #3 Any low-sugar cereal you like + almond milk. No fruit! the cereal itself is already a carb so we'll save the fruit for later

Meal #4 A meal that combines 2 or more foods to create a perfect protein. Do you know the difference between complete and incomplete proteins? If not google it and we can talk about it later. Impotant stuff for vegetarian athletes. A good meal at this time would be rice and beans. I eat wild rice and not white/brown rice. IMO Brown rice is a scam and not that much different from white.

Meal 5 - Big Salad! All raw, as many ingredients as you can get together.  Go for different colors and at least 5 different veges.  Add as little dressing as you can tolerate!  You can use beans but be moderate with them because they are healthy but starchy. I always add nuts as they will help with the digestion of the greens.  Raw nuts are best but if it helps go 50% raw 50% roasted until you get used to raw :)

Meal 6 - This is the end of the day snack meal and will provide your muscles with enough sugar/glycogen for the next 12-24 hours depending on your activity level.   It can be all carbs if you want so long as you keep your portion moderate. I typically eat fruit (fresh or dried), sweet potatoes/yams, sometimes protein bars. Grace has apples and almond butter almost every night.  At least until they pulled almond butter from the shelves! 

 Meals 3, 4 and 5 can be eaten in a different order but meals 1,2 and 6 should be eaten at their proper times

Let me know if you have any questions. Please get information from different sources and find out what works for you:

P.S.  I also tend to plan cheat meals. Motivation has proven to be limited so we eat whatever we want 2-3 meals a week. 

Kettlebell Cleans

The original purpose of the kettlebell clean was to provide a safe way to get 1 or 2 kettlebells in position for overhead pressing.  A it turns out the kettlebell clean is a great stand alone exercise as well.  It may look like an arm exercise but similiar to the swing the arm acts only as a link to the posterior chain, basically the back of the body.  The clean is in fact a swing with a smaller arc.  When done properly the bell should not smash heavily the forearm but instead land lighlty on the back of the arm. It is important to keep a loose grip on the bell!  If you take a death-grip on it the bell will smash your arm every time.  Try to think of moving your hand around the bell as it moves though the arc you sent it on when you had it in the backswing.  You need to be experienced with the swing if you want to learn the clean, this is why all of my students start with the kettlebell swing before learning the clean.  Practice with a light weight first.  Clean technique and form with smaller bells will help you tremendously when you start pushing the bigger weights.

This 40 lb bell is the bell I hurt myself with recently lol.   It was my fault I got injured because I was overhead pressing this bell and doing turkish getups with it too.  It's too heavy of a weight for those exercises for me but I feel that I am ready to do some cleans with it.  I did 3 sets using the 26, 35 an 40 lb bell, 7-12 reps each arm with each bell for a total of 9 sets and probably about 150 cleans.  I also did about 50 double bell (26 lb bells) clean and presses which are quickly becoming one of my favorite exercises.

Snatches and why I dont eat oatmeal for breakfast

The upper back felt very good today!  You know I love putting a percentage on it so I would say I am about 88% at the moment.  I wanted to start to get some volume done today in my training and was happy to bang out 410 snatches with the 12 kg bell.  I did a set of 50, 60, 70, 80 , 100 and a final set of 50 with about  2 minutes rest in between rounds.   I believe I am a workout or 2 away from picking up my 16 kg bell on the regular :)

My diet is fucking ridiculous at the moment.  I have been weighing myself every other day and for a few weigh-ins in a row I was 157/158 which I believe is a little too light for me!  I have been eating whatever I want for the past few days and it has been fun :)   I had ham and egg on a bagel from Bagel Broker for breakfast.  I just finished off a killer burrito and a boatload of chips at Sharkeys on Cahuenga for lunch/dinner.  It looks like I'm gonna have cannabis cookies and yogurtland for dinner holy cow.

Obviously I do not recommend eating this way.  The biggest problem with it is how hard it can be to get back on the program when the time comes.  My trick to getting through the first day back eating clean is to have only coffee/almond milk early in the day and wait as long as I can to eat real food.  After a few days of loading up on carbs my appetite gets severely fucked up.  By fucked up I mean I can only muster up an appetite for carbs and find my typical proteins totally unappetizing.  To counteract this I basically fast until my body and mind are so hungry that they crave proteins.  Once I get that meal of eggs, bacon and veggies into my blood my cravings for sugars go away almost instantly!  I'm telling ya, that oatmeal you are eating for breakfast every day is setting you up for nutritional failure later in the day.  Instant oatmeal in particular is a terrible breakfast food.  Did you know that instant oatmeals glycemic index is 83?  Your body treats instant oatmeal the same way it does all white foods, almost exactly like sugar!   Seriously, you would be better off having a piece of pizza for breakfast.

 Protein for breakfast for lifetime of  easily being ripped!

Training day

Had a great day today training myself and a few students.   I am slowly breaking new students into my home studio and am pretty sure a few people will wake up sore tomorrow!  I enjoyed myself so much training with these motivated students. Contact me if you want to join one of my classes, they are only $12.50 per class and the results you get will knock your socks off! 

 I want to get back to blogging my workouts since it feels like I have been a little willy-nilly lately.
Today I did all 30 second on/30second off sets.

2 hand kettlebell swings - 16 kg bell 10 rounds
Snatches - 12 kg bell - 10 rounds
Clean and Press, 12 kg bell - 10 rounds

After finishing 30 minutes with the kettlebells I hiked the Stairs at Runyon, the easier path.  Planning on setting a personal record on the Ridge tomorrow!

First time I picked up the 16 kg bell since I injured my upper back about 6 weeks ago.  Let me tell you this was a horrible injury.  I heard a snap in my upper back that felt and sounded like a thick rubberband snapping.  6 weeks later I still have a little tightness in my upper back but feel at about 85, maybe even 90%.  I believe that the combination of  kettlebell rehab exercises and some great bodywork from my girlfriend Grace in getting me close to 100%.

I know I shouldnt of done this but I banged out some snatches with the 16 kg bell.  Hard to believe that not too long ago I snatched this bell 100x in 5 minutes.  I will do it again soon :)

My back is back! (almost)

 It has been almost 6 weeks since I tore a muscle in my upper back and I am happy to say I feel good today!  I seriously miss doing the clean and press but until today I felt like it was too dangerous to mess around with.  Looking forward to getting back to my bigger bells but very happy to throw around the 12 kg weights for  few sets :)

 

You can be anything you want!

“You can be anything you want. A warrior. An athlete. A hard man or woman ready to handle whatever life throws at you. But you must be strong first."

 “Strength is the foundation for development of the rest of physical qualities,” categorically stated Professor Leonid Matveev. It takes priority over all others: endurance, flexibility, etc.

Until one becomes “entry level strong”, e.g., a strict bodyweight military press for men or strict pullups for women, no priority other than strength can be justified for a healthy athlete. Science and experience have taught us that any athlete, even in ultra-endurance sports, who has not built a foundation of strength will fail to reach his or her potential.
Strength has been compared to a glass that can be filled with other qualities. The larger the glass, the more endurance, sport skill, fat loss, etc. can hold."
                                 
                                                   Be what you choose to be.

                                                        But be Strong First.

These are quotes from Pavels new facebook page, StrongFirst.   I am assuming the comment about  men doing a strict bodyweight military press means that part of the StrongFirst physical requirements will be just that.  Can I Military Press 157 lbs?  I can only guess he means with a barbell as opposed to kettlebells since there are very few people who could Kettlebell Press their BW!  I am guessing that the new protocols will involve barbells which is fine by me.  I have been talking to Grace about looking for some Olympic style bars and plates for our home gym anyway!  It is possible I have not handled a barbell since I was 25 years old, about 17 years ago, holy shit am I getting up there.

Can not wait for Pavel and his new organization StrongFirst to annonce when and where there first certifcations will be!  It would be nice to have a tangible goal to work towards.

Kettlebell Interval Hiking 10/29, 10-11am

The first thing I ever did with a 12 kg kettlebell is pick it up and hike with it.  Once I got conditioned enough to hike The Ridge at Runyon I started adding interval stations to make these hikes insanely intense!  We are going to hike up The Ridge and stop to train at all of the places normal people take breaks!  I do 5 stations, the entire hike should take no more than an hour.  I need to be home for an 1130am private lesson so I will be pretty strict with the 10a-11am training time, BE EARLY! 

This hike is for all levels of conditioning.  If you are in very bad shape you have 5 rest stations to catch your breath.  The better shape you are in the more difficult your personal interval will be.   I am going to give you each different exercises to do depending on what your fitness goal.

$5 suggested donation, meets the Fuller ave entrance to Runyon.  Be early!

50% off private training and the current state of RCB

You do not need to read this entire post if you are interested in half-priced training, just scroll down to the end.

I want to first apologize for abruptly cancelling Runyon Canyon Bootcamp. I know there are a handful of you that were counting on the workouts and I am sorry that I couldn’t be there for you. I have been putting off blogging about this because it touches on a few different things that I have a hard time putting into words. I initially cancelled RCB because I seriously hurt my back about a month ago. I couldn’t even pick up the 4 kg kettle bell without pain so I knew this would be a 6-week injury at the least. I have had way too much time to think about what I want to do with RCB and kettlebell training specifically.

When I started RCB at the beginning of this summer I had high hopes for it! My goal was to make it as big as the yoga classes that I started at Runyon so many years ago. I was hoping I could make the class big enough so I could offer it for donations and still make something close to a living wage for myself. I needed to average 10-12 students per class but in reality averaged 5-6 students per class. Compound this with the fact that not everybody who attended paid the $5 donation and I find myself teaching for much less than I think I am worth. Teaching for donations-only is a funny thing because after doing it for so many years I think I lost sense of what I am worth as a teacher. I still want to offer donation kettlebell classes at Runyon but instead of scheduling a class every day I will offer them a couple of times a week on a one-off basis. I will post one-off classes on my Facebook and Twitter account the night before I offer them and I will be asking for a $5 donation for these classes.

Another reason for these changes is that I want to teach what I am interested in myself at the moment which are the 6 basic RKC lifts of kettle bell training.  Even though we have been working a couple of these exercises (the swing, the goblet squat) I had to create hybrid classes so less motivated students would stay interested. This is diametrically opposed to the way I train myself.   I believe in practicing the basics over and over again until you have burned them into your long-term muscle memory. This is why after being absent from martial arts for 20 years I can still kick and punch skillfully.  This is why I can still do the advanced yoga postures even though I have not had a serious yoga practice for years. This comes from 10 years of practicing the same basic kicks, punches, yoga postures until they became a part of me. I am now interested in doing the same thing with kettlebells.

Nearly all of the people I look up to in the kettlebell world are RKC.  RKC stands for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge. The RKC was created by Pavel Tsatsouline and is the most well known and respected school of kettlbells in the world. In the fitness world if you want high-level kettlebell training everybody knows that RKC is the best.

The RKC approach to training is similar to the way I have trained myself for a lifetime. RKC emphasizes getting good at a small handful of lifts in order to build strength, endurance and agility. To this date I am 100% self-taught and am very proud that I have been able to learn the basic lifts just by watching videos and reading books. If you wanted to get serious about RKC style training you absolutely must read Pavels book, Enter the Kettlebell. After studying kettlebell techinique since 2009 I have come to the conclusion that the RKC does it “right” and everybody else does it “wrong”.

Kettlebell training works best for students who know what they want to get out of them. There are 3 different ways of approaching kettlebell training that will give different results on your body and conditioning.

Kettlebell training is specifically good for

1) Burning bodyfat! Kettlebell training for burning body fat involves sub-maximal, high-repetition, long duration rounds of training. I have tried every single imaginable form of fitness and nothing got my body truly ripped and lean like kettlebell training. The bells are so effective at burning fat that at one point I got too lean and had to shift to more of a  muscle building program as I was worried I could actually get so lean that it could be unhealthy.   So as it turns out you can actually be too thin! (can you be too rich?  not convinced at this point lol)

2) Rehabbing injuries or dealing with chronic pains. I have had lower back pain my entire life. I started practicing yoga more than 12 years ago and it definitely helped the problem. The stone cold truth of the matter is that in 2004 my lower back pain came back with a vengeance and I have been struggling with it ever since. In 2011 I had a flareup that put me out of action for almost 6 months. Once I got serious about learning proper kettlebell technique I was shocked to find out that my lower back pain 100% vanished! Here are 2 articles as posted in the American College of Sports Medicine which better explain why kettle bells are the ultimate rehab device.



http://physicaltherapyweb.com/articles/kettlebell-back-pain.php http://physicaltherapyweb.com/articles/kettlebell_therapy.php

　

3) Improving athletic performance. Kettlebells build explosive power, the same kind of power you use when jumping, sprinting, punching, kicking and throwing. Basically any athletic technique that involves both tension and release can be improved by learning and practicing the kettlebell swing. If you added kettlebell swinging to triathlons ( I guess we would call them quadathlons?) I am positive every single athlete would have improved times in their swim, bike and run. I can take an experienced endurance athlete (but inexperienced with kettlebells) , put a light kettlebell in their hand, and have them gassed in under 5 minutes. Here’s how the RKC explains it,

 “Elite performers have an amazing ability to go from tense to relaxation and back again – up to 800% faster than normal people. The RKC system is both sides of the performance coin – tension and relaxation are BOTH performance. “

full article: http://breakingmuscle.com/kettlebells/five-reasons-rkc-isnt-just-about-kettlebells

　
All of these leads me to “What the fuck should I do now?” Well, as explained before I still plan on offering one-off donation kettle bell classes a couple of times a week. Check the RCB fan page and my twitter account https://twitter.com/runyonyogadude.

Over the past 10+ years I have been asked many times how much I charge for private training. I would typically say something like, “$150 an hour, more if I have to drive to you.” I was saying stuff like this because at the time I did not want to teach privately and preferred to teach my donation classes exclusively. A lot has changed in the past few years and so has my attitude toward private training. Kettlebell training in particular has opened my eyes up to the value of private training. I want to offer the “average” Hollywood resident a chance to get this private training at a rate I consider affordable. My base rate for private training is  $250 for 5 sessions. Compared to other types of private training I believe this to be on the lower end of the spectrum. If you can not afford the $50/hour rate bring a friend or 2 and share the cost!

Since this is my first time actively seeking private/semi-private students I want to offer a deal that I think nearly everybody can afford. HALF-PRICE! The catch is that you still need to lay out the $250 but instead of 5 classes I will give you 10. This brings the cost of training down to $25/hour. Bring a friend and it will only cost you $12.50/session, bring 2 friends and your cost is down to $8.33/session. Another catch is that I have a strict 24 hour cancellation policy. If you miss a class and do not cancel 24 hours prior you will lose that session. I want to eliminate the aggravation of people not showing up on time or missing sessions entirely and nothing motivates people like money! To be fair I am going to impose these same rules on myself. If I cancel or miss a session without giving you 24 hours notice I will add an additional session to your package. I will be sending out facebook invites over the next couple of days with more info.

I guess that is it! If you read this far I appreciate it as I am basically pouring my guts out here. I am highly motivated to continue offering high-level kettlebell and yoga training. Looking forward to seeing you at Runyon soon!

Let me leave you with my new (well actually very old) motto.

Train hard or GTFO!

Steve

Paleo days 16-21

Well, I didnt slip on the paleo plan as much as I slipped on blogging about it!  Days 16-21 were pretty much the same with a few cheats thrown in.  Had some turkish coffee/peanut butter ice cream from Moshti Malones down the street as well as a couple of slices of pizza.  Otherwise I am happy to go back to my 90% paleo, 10% whatever-I-want eating plan.

Days 14 & 15 paleo challenge

Going strong except for one trip to Yogurtland :)  Have been lazy with the food pics but I've been eating more of the same stuff.   Making a big batch of picadillo right now to cover my meat based protein for the next few days.  Shifting towards baking my sweet potatoes with olive oil and garlic and put the heavier frying down for a few days. 

My upper back is getting better.   After 3+ weeks of doing rehabilitative exercises I am finally getting a little bored with it.  I started doing the RKC 6 with the 4 kg bell.  I feel only a little ridicilous working  this tiny kettlebell but it is allowing me to see each exercise more clearly.   Even though I know I needed technique work I was definitely getting carried away a little bit with the numbers game you tend to play when you strength train.    It's all about the technique when you are working 20% of your typical load.  I am both loving and hating it!  I hope to be back to my usual weights in about 3-4 weeks.  I am not walking around in constant pain any more but there is still one spot in my back that is still very sharp.  

Days 12 &13 paleo - A slip and a breakthrough!

The breakthrough is that I am off roasted and salted nust and made the switch to raw!  It was a short term goal of mine to get into raw nuts and it was tough!  Roasted and salted are just so much easier to chew and tastier but after slowly phasing them out I can confidently say I prefer raw to roasted. 

The slip was a half day of eating whatever I wanted, including some very bad for you but delicious foods we deep-friend in canola oil.  Grace and I had a last minute UFC gathering (Silva vs Bonnar).  We were going to order Buffalo Wild Wings but instead decided to make our own junk food!  I picked up some breaded chicken wings and french fries.  It was like making a fresher, cleaner version of fast food but definitely still unhealthy.   I am pretty sure canola oil is very bad for your blood health but I dont think occassional binges like this are going to affect your body too badly in the long run.   I will say this, everybody who came to the party ate and enjoyed the food.  People love high-density flavorful fatty/carby/salty foods!  Even if they said they were not hungry once they smelled it and watched someone else eat it they were hooked.  I can see how the fast-food business got so big! 

I have had a couple of solid slips on this 21-day challenge.  I am still happy with my progress because I had a 6 1/2 day run without a single processed food and another 4 day run.  This is a great thing for me and I know I am heading in the right direction!

My upper back is getting better..I think I am at about 40% at the moment.  I am moving away from rehab type exercises and am moving  to traditional kettlebell exercises.  It feels great to get the kettlebell in my hand and move it around, even if I am only working with the 4 kg bell.  This injury is definitely humbling.  Before the injury I was doing the RKC 6 with the 18 kg bell!  I think my search for the perfect form in the kettlebell swing, snatch and clean is going to benefit tremendously from this injury.  Since the 4 kg bell is so small it gives a great opportunity to pay attention to the fine details of the movements rather than being concerned with moving bigger and bigger weights.



Prepping the eggs.  My goal is to  make the vegetable portion of my meals as big or bigger than the animal product of the meal. 

3 free range brown organic eggs, 1 whole red bell pepper, 1/4 onion ready to eat.  Just add tapatio!

My entire life I avoided apples.  Now I am an apple enthusiast!  These red apples from Trader Joes were pefect.

Daily Big Salad!  No meat for this meal, it is loaded with baby spinach, carrots, red bell pepper and a big handful of raw sunflower seeds.

Prepping the picadillo.  I like this dish so much that I made a 2-3 day supply to pick at during the weekend. 2 pounds of  grass-fed ground beef, 2 green bell peppers, 1 whole onion, garlic.    Simple recipe - Brown the peppers/onions in a pan, mash in the 2 lbs of beef and garlic, add 1 tsp of salt/black pepper, 1 can tomato sauce, 3-5 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano and let simmer on low for 15 minutes.  Reheats easily in the microwave and has a good strong taste!

The peppers and onions ready to go!

Paleo challenge day 11 -Botocamp video!

Runyon Canyon Bootcamp promo video..thanks Michelle!

It has been 3 days since I slipped into the world of refined carbs and I finally feel stabilized.  For me, stabilized means that my cravings for sweets are low and my appetite for real food high.  When I wake up hungry for coffee and scrambled eggs with green veges I know I am living right!

Rehabbing my upper back is going well.  I would say I am at about 35% at the moment.  It is still quite painful when I put more than 10 pounds in my left hand and try to extend it forward but I am definitely improving.  I especially notice improvements when I sleep - the first 10 days were brutal since I toss and turn often and kept aggravating my injury.  Last night I finally made it through the night without any pain.  Sticking with my rehab/workouts that consist of rigorous hiking up The Ridge and rehab exercises for my upper back as I walk down the hill. 

I always drink 2 cups of water for evey cup of coffee I drink..  Looks like this morning I will be drinking about 6 cups of water since I am already on my 3rd cup of joe! 

3 scrambled eggs, heavy on the baby spinach and onions.

Big Salad!  I'm always hungry when I make these salads and ate more than half of it before I forgot to take a pic.  Baby spinach, carrots, tomatoes, left over fried chicken and a tbsp of BBQ sauce.

I am still drinking 1-2 protein shakes a day but am trying to cut back.  I love the convenience of protein shakes (and the sweet taste!) but I feel like nothing compares to real actual whole food!

How to get a handle on your food addiction.

I did not give up my food vices overnight, it was a long process that I would like to share with you. I do not believe in going cold-turkey when it comes to giving up unhealthy foods. I have tried many times before to give up sweets and low-quality fats by forcing the issue, “Today you will stop eating this crap!” It was almost always a Monday morning when I was telling myself this and I was usually hungover (bellyache, headache, groggy) from the previous nights eating.

The cornerstone of my method to beating food addiction is ‘delayed gratification’. Instead of saying, “I will not eat these foods starting right now until the end of time!”, I am training myself to say, “Do not eat that candy bar right now! You are going to eat it soon, just not at this moment!” In the early phases of my clean nutritional program all I needed to do was tell myself to put off that cheat-food until the end of the day. More often than not the evening would role around and my mindset would be different, the craving easier to deny. Sometimes I wouldn’t even eat that cheat-food until the next day!

I started with short delays of gratification and extended the length of time between cheats as my body and mind got used to it. The next time you decide to go off your nutritional plan and eat some cheat-food try and put off that food for 1 full hour. I like to look closely at that delicious morsel of food and then store it away in the fridge/cabinet for just 1 hour At the end of the hour go ahead and eat it! Now you have a baseline of “1-hour I resisted a craving”. Next time you crave something try to extend the actual eating of the food to 2 hours. Keep extending that delay of gratification as long as you can! It took me a long time but I can delay gratification for days at a time. I typically cheat every 3-4 days and feel it absolutely necessary.  To be honest, the longer I delay the gratification the less satisfying the actual eating of the food becomes.  It is almost like the craving, the anticipation of eating the cheat food is better than the food itself!

I learned this from my friends who go to 12-step meetings, “Cravings eventually go away whether you fulfill them or not!”

Paleo challenge day 10 on track!

Enjoyed everything I ate today. I ate more on the heavier spectrum of the paleo diet including a good portion of fried foods - fried chicken and sweet potatoes!   In addition to these bigger meals pictured I ate dried cantaloupe, bananas and sunflower seeds throughout the day.  I'm not doing to good with my greens at the moment and even resorted to adding psyllium husk to my protein shake.  Making a note to get back on the big-salad-every-day program :)

I still can not find a better way to start the day than bacon and eggs!  3 eggs, 2 strips bacon, 1 whole red bell pepper, 1/4 onion.

I have been keeping a secret.  I purchased a deep fryer recently.  This fried chicken is breaded with almond flour instead of regular flour to make it paleo friendly.  Sweet potatoes are one of the tastiest and most fulfilling foods allowed on the paleo plan.  Is deep frying healthy?  You can google it for yourself and formulate your own opinion.  I am using extra-virgin olive oil which is ridicilously expensive.  I am planning on buying a big chunk of leaf lard.  Leaf lard is pig fat and if you google that  you may discover things about nutritional fats you would not believe!

Graces Paleo Puffs - they are on the dark chocolate side which I am adapting to.  I keep telling her to sneak more brown sugar into them!

Picadillo!  This is my 3rd batch and my best.  I used a ton of garlic and an entire large onion as well as a pound of grass-fed beef.  I hope to get 4-6 servings out of this big batch. 

Paleo challenge days 7, 8 and 9

At the end of the 7th day of this challenge I had a major discipline meltdown.   I ate extremely clean during the day but at night I went to Yogurtland and got a gigantic $8 bowl of ice cream and candy.  I call this stuff ice cream because it is as similiar to yogurt as oreos are to apples.  I had a bad feeling going into the 8th day and I even told Grace so.  I knew her graduation ceremony from massage school  would give me the perfect excuse to say, "Lets go off this stupid diet and have a big meal to celebrate your graduation!"   We had mexican food at one of our favorite places Velvet Margarita.  I  I ate 2 bowls of chips and a gigantic portion of their World Famous Fajitas.  I also consumed 2 cupcakes and a coffee cake at the graduation ceremony.  To top it off I ate both packages of dried cantaloupe Grace picked up at the Farmers Market.  That cantaloupe was supposed to last the week! 

Day 9 went normalish.  I am craving sweets like crazy but am instead eating very lightly to reset my appetite for sweets.  I want to wake up hungry in the morning so I can get a protein heavy meal into my body.  Protein in the morning is definitely one of my keys to curbing my appetite, especially for sweets.  I was lazy as possible today and didnt take a single picture of my food! 

I slipped on my food intake but of course I never miss a workout, especially while I am rehabbing my upper back!  Yesterday (Mon) I carried the 9 lb kettlebell up The Ridge at Runyon.  I stopped 5x on the way up and did a set of 15-20 front squats.  I did the entire thing without breaking pace, my legs and cardio are strong as fuck at the moment.  I did my rehab exercises on the way down the hill, overhead presses and holds, front laterals and some stationary exercises turning my neck in all directions.   Today I hiked the ridge again, this time with Grace.  I am resting my upper back but wanted to push my lower body so I picked the 3 hardest sections of the hike and doubled back to do them twice.  It was sick and I know my legs are gonna be sore as fuck tomorrow.  My upper back is feeling much better!  I like to put numbers on progress so I would say I am at about 30%.  I wish I could of started bootcamp this week but I worry I could fuck up my rehab progress if I get back to it too early. 

Congrats Grace, official CMT!  But I am mostly thinking about chips and salsa at this point.

Looking forward to getting back to bootcamp October 15th. :)

Runyon Canyon Bootcamp schedule starting Monday October 15th

Runyon Canyon Bootcamp schedule starting Monday October 15th.   $5/class or $40/month for unlimited classes.  You can pay cash before class or via paypal by clicking the donation link next to this post.  You must be at least 5 minutes early for every class so I can give you the appropriate size kettlebell for your level. 

Monday 8-9am - Kettlebell Cardio Hiking

Tuesday 5:30-6:30pm - Kettlebell Yoga

Wednesday 12-1pm - Kettlebell Fundamentals

Thursday 8-9am - Kettlebell Cardio Hiking
                 5:30-6:30pm - Kettlebell Yoga

Saturday 12-1pm - Kettlebell Fundamentals

Kettlebell Cardio Hiking -  Hiking in itself is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind.    Putting a kettlebell in your hand while you hike will make you superhuman!  KB Hiking is a big part of my personal workout and a great way to get started with kettlebells.  Suitable for beginners and up.  I challenge anybody who thinks they have good cardio and endurance to try this class, it will take you to the next level I promise!

Kettlebell Yoga - The real POWERYOGA!  Most of us are limited by our bodyweight and flexiblity when it comes to pushing our yoga practice to its limits.   Put a kettlebell in your hands and all of the traditional postures will turn you into a muscle building, fat burning machine!   Suitable for beginners and up. 

Kettlbell Fundamentals -Pretty much what we have been doing the past 4 months at RBC. Based on the fundamentals of the Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC).  This class will focus on building technique, strength and endurance using the 6 basic lifts as taught by the RKC: The kettlebell swing, clean, press, goblet or front squat, snatch and turkish getup. RKC training offers both strength and cardio at the same time.  RKC training is the core of my personal practice and I live for it.  RKC training will make you insanely strong and give you incredible endurance. 

Day 6 paleo..Protein-style at In&Out!

I have heard the myth of the protein-style burger at In&Out but never tried one.  I was on the road and was hungry for a meal so I got 2 of these loaded with onions pickles and tomatoes.  The romaine lettuce is borderline gross but it holds the meat and veges together pretty well

Prepping the eggs and veges.  Cooking the bacon on the foreman grill.

2 eggs, baby spinach, peppers,carrots onions and 2 slices bacon.

Some banana chips I just finished in the dehydrator.  They are good!  I snacked on them throughout the day and they kept me from getting too hungry.

I taught yoga class for the first time today in over a week.  I didnt realize how tight my upper back was until I started demonstrating some poses.  My voice felt strong at the beginning but halfway through the class is started cracking.  When I dont teach regularly I tend to push my voice too hard when I do finally get to a class.  Looking forward to teaching yoga class today (sunday).   Bootcamp will most likely be put off another week as it seems my body is still in the early phases of recovery.  Keep an eye out for the new schedule on the RCB page.

Observe-Investigate-Decide for yourself

When you eat a fake-food that is sweet and the packaging says "no sugar or artifical sweetener used" you are being told a half-truth.  If the product is sweet there must be something giving the fake-food its taste! I am looking at a fake-food candy protein bar from a company giving away free samples at Runyon Canyon. The first 2 ingredients are Whey and Milk protein ( I generally like this stuff) but the 3rd ingredient is something I have never heard of, "Isomaltooilgosaccharides"  I was at the park getting ready to teach yoga when I read the label and my internet connection was not good.  I looked closely at the word and realized there was a part of the word I was familiar with, "saccharides".  I know I heard this word before!   Saccharin!  This shit is flavored with a variation of the artificial sweetener saccharin. 

Once I had internet access I looked up  "Isomaltooilgosaccharides" and sure enough it is garbage.  The first line of the wiki definition said it all, "Isomaltooligosaccharide or IMO is a mixture of short-chain carbohydrates which has a digestion-resistant property. IMO is found naturally in some foods, as well as manufactured commercially. The raw material used for manufacturing IMO is starch, which is enzymatically converted into a mixture of isomaltooligosaccharide."

Digestion resistant starch!  Short-chain carbs means that the body treats this substance as if it was table sugar.  Starch and sugar = same thing. Yum, so it's like a piece of white bread that you can not even digest.  Nice!

Day 5 paleo challenge or gluten free challenge?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/mark-sisson-gluten-free-diet_n_1937059.html

Just finished watching this short video where Mark Sisson is promoting a caveman or gluten-free lifestyle.  He does not use the words "paleo" or "primal" at all.  I am wondering if he does this to eliminate the "paleo = lots of meat" summary judgement many people give this lifestyle.   If you are gluten free, you are paleo and vice-versa. 

Prepping some apples and bananas for the dryer.  I pre-treat with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

2 eggs, 3 sausage links, 1 whole red pepper, 2 carrots, 1/4 onion, tapatia sauce.

Big Salad!  Baby spinach, tomatoes, carrots, onions, chicken breast.

I need to buy more paleo friendly snacks!  Finished off these raw almonds, roasted/salted sunflower seeds, dried turkish apricots and the last of the Nicks Grass-Fed Beef sticks!  Even though these sticks were on the expensive side they are tasty and a great way to get a quick 10 grams of complete protein.

Sticking with my workout/rehab routine for the upper back.  On this 5th day I hiked the ridge carrying 4 lbs of water (2 bottles of water bagged in each hand).  I also did 2 rounds of therapeutic exercises - 15 second overhead and front lateral holds and 7-rep sets of the same exercises but dynamically.  Pain in the upper back is still sharp but improved about 50% since I fucked it up last friday.  I do not think I will be brining bootcamp back until the week starting October 14th.

Day 4 paleo challenge - Is lard bad for you?

Whey protein and blueberries.  I am totally off psyllium husk.  For a long time I added it to my shakes for digestion but when you eat this much fruits and veges all of your digestion issues vanish!

2 eggs, 1 whole red pepper, 2 whole carrots, ,1/4 onion, 2 strips bacon 2 sausages.  While this seems like a large portion in reality the bacon and pork are about 300 calories, the eggs are 140 and the veges are probably less than 100. 

I ate at least this much nuts and fruits today.

Big Salad.  Tomatoes, spinach lettuce, carrots, green peppers - 2 chicken sausages.

2nd batch of fried chicken. I used olive oil but am making the switch to lard if I can find it!  Is lard good for you?  Try googling, "lard healthy"  and see what you find!  Here's a quote I have found many different variations of while studying      "The prime example of fats we all thought were bad for us, lard and schmaltz (rendered chicken, pork, or goose fat) may have been wrongly demonized for years. The main fat in lard—oleic acid—is a monounsaturated fat linked to decreased risk of depression, says Drew Ramsey, MD, coauthor of The Happiness Diet (Rodale, 2010). Those same monounsaturated fats, which make up 45 percent of the fat in lard, are responsible for lowering LDL levels while leaving HDL ("good") cholesterol levels alone. Lard and schmaltz also tolerate high cooking temperatures—they're often recommended for frying—and have long shelf lives."

Sweet potato fries.

Goji berries.  A little bitter.


Hiked the ridge at Runyon Canyon carrying 3 lbs of water.  I added some therapeutic exercises on the walk down, overhead presses and holds, front laterals and front lateral holds.  The pain in my upper back is still quite sharp but definitely improving since I hurt it a week ago today.  I do not think I will be doing any real strength training for at least another week or 2.  I want to bring back Bootcamp this week but am unsure if I will be ready.  Keep checking the RCB page for updates.

Day 3 - homemade fruit rollups and 'clean' Slim Jims :)

Writing this on the 4th morning of this challege.  I didnt do any training because I wanted to fully rest my upper back and that included not doing any long walks.  Today I am going to take a long walk and carry 3 lbs of water.  Nutrition is going well!  I am walking around just the slightest bit hungry most of the day and my energy levels are extremelly high.  I am fantasizing about pizza and ice cream in only the smallest ways.  I've eaten enough of that stuff to last 2 lifetimes and am sure I can make it 21 days without!  Here's some of my main meals.  I am eating my larger and heavier meals in the AM and relying on fruits and nuts the remainder of the day.  I never ate this many vegetables in my life.  I am eating more greens and fruits than most vegetarians I know!

First batch of homemade fruit rollups straight out of my new dehydrator!  95% fresh strawberries, 5% honey.

Prepping the vegetarian breakfast. 2 eggs, 1/2 chopped pepper, 1/4 onion, 2 big carrots and 3 garlic cloves.

Vegetarian eggs ready to go!  Of course I always add tapatio sauce :)

Skipped the meat in the AM so I could add some tasty sausages and bacon to my afternoon Big Salad!  Spinach lettuce, peppers, onins, carrots, brocoli, tomatoes a little BBQ sauce.

A paleo friendly (and low sugar/glycemic idex) snack.  Sweet potato fries cooked in s small amount of olive oil and fresh garlic.

My only cheat so far.  Not sure why I bought this.  I've been pigging out on paleo foods the past 3 days and nothing gave me an upset stomach like this soda did!  Going to stay off it for the remainder of the challenge.

There are some tasty looking paleo foods available online but they are expensive!  These grass-fed beef sticks I ordered are good but way too pricey.  After shipping each pack of 2 costs about 3.50. They would be a good deal if each stick had 10 grams of protein like I initially believed.  Turns out that they are 5 grams protein/stick which makes them a little too expensive for every day use.   They tasted like Slim Jims without the grease.