Say CHEESE!

Many years ago I was running intervals at the track when I noticed something. I believe I was somewhere around the third lap of my fourth 1,600-meter interval in a set of six when I became aware that my entire face was tense. By this point in the workout I was feeling rather fatigued and working very hard. My facial muscles were contracting as part of the overall effort. Nothing unusual about that, but on this particular occasion I became conscious of it and responded by consciously relaxing my muscles, which I was able to do quite easily because, of course, it is not necessary to tense one’s facial muscles to run hard. When I relaxed my face I felt that the effort required to complete the interval was ever so slightly reduced.

You can tell how hard any runner is working simply by looking at his or her face. The greater the effort, the more agonized the facial expression becomes. In the last part of any race, runners typically wear facial expressions that, outside of the running context, are seen on them only when they are in pain. The last-mile-of-a-marathon look is also the post-toe-stub look.

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Preparation for BUD/S

Powermetric Pull Ups

5 Rounds

10 Burpee Box Jumps

5 Power Cleans

Magnus Samuelsson

Our Captain's of Crush Training Center will be here on Monday




Clapping Push Ups and The Beast



PR Back Squat

Snatch 2x2

4 Rounds
10 Tire Flips
20 Kettlebell Cleans

When Grok Meets Krog

When I introduced a forum thread asking folks to share their top three challenges in going Primal, one issue got major traction: the S.O. factor (significant other, for those of you not into the whole online brevity thing). It’s a familiar story. One partner takes on a new health commitment. Life changes for that person. He/she goes through struggles, triumphs, growth – an entire physical and psychological process that potentially leaves a relationship chasm in its wake. Then there are the logistics, a menacing obstacle course of loaded questions and irksome details. Do you still eat together? Who cooks (not to mention shops)? Do we have enough pots and pans to make two different meals each night? How do we handle the kids’ food? Finally, what does it mean for the arrangement when one person’s food expenditure overshadows the other’s?

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Tug-of-War. 130 pounds vs 130 pounds

Goblet Squats

Wall Squats

M/E Back Squat

5 Rounds
20 Clapping Push Ups
15 Kettlebell Swings (Men use 48k/Women use 32k)

David Whitley

Conditioning Rope

Jumping Squats
6x2

Pistols

4 Rounds
Sled Pull
5 Double Kettlebell Snatches

Double Kettlebell Snatch

There is more than one way to do a double kettlebell snatch.

Mike Mahler's technique (Mike is a Senior Certified Kettlebell Instructor) is similar to that used by Olympic weightlifters. Mike extends his body and drives his elbows back in order to pull the kettlebells closer once they are level with his head. This kind of double kettlebell snatch pull is an extremely effective upper back exercise on it’s own. When using this technique you should do lots of sets each consisting of low reps. Do not pull with your biceps, use your upper back and momentum instead. Also, drop the KBs back between your legs in between each rep. Once you get the hang of it, practice dipping underneath the KBs and locking out upon completion of the rep.

Following a heavy double snatch remember to ALWAYS lower the kettlebells to your chest before you drop them between your legs.

Brett Jones (another Senior RKC) performs his double kettlebell snatch in a classic "hard" style. His arms stay straight and rigid, with his hips driving hard without a second dip. If you want to work up to this, start by snatching the kettlebells higher and higher with every rep until they’re directly overhead.

With this exercise you will be dropping the kettlebells in one fluid motion and the force of momentum (or ballistic force) will be very high, so you should watch your knees and start out with a lighter weight than you may be used to in order to avoid hurting yourself.

Do not try this one-step version when you go to heavier kettlebells, instead start out with the two-step, pause at the chest method.

This article taken from Kettlebell-Training.com


The Double Kettlebell Snatch

Weighted Dips 2x2

Bent Presses

4 Prowler Sprints

Red Nail

Click here for Iron Mind's rules for becoming a certified Red Nail Bender

M/E Turkish Get Up

4 Rounds

2 Atlas Stones

10 Tactical Pull Ups

Speed Dynamic Warm Up

Train Like Arthur Saxon

Strong enough for ya?

Windmills

Lateral A Skips

4 Rounds
20 Kettlebell Snatches (Men use 32k/Women use 24k)
10 Front Squats with same Kettlebell

Coaching Session With Coach B

Depth Jumps

Box Squats 5x5

4 Rounds

5 Hang Power Cleans (Men use 155/Women use 103)

15 Ring Dips

Brett Jones Demonstraing Our End Goals

Piriformis Stretch

Hip Flexor Stretch

M/E Press

3 Rounds

7 Pull Ups

15 Burpees

10 Swings (Men use 32k/Women use 24k

Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga as a recovery method

Turkish Get Ups

Bent Presses

Curls

Bat Wings

My Philosophiae

Strength is paramount, conditioning is incidental.

Squat and deadlift.

If you are not properly using kettlebells you will never reach your full potential. Kettlebells transfer better to the barbell better than anything I have ever seen. The barbell does not transfer well to kettlebells.

Why buy a dumbbell when you can buy a kettlebell?

Your life or the life of another may depend on your physical prowess.

Arthur Saxon and Eugen Sandow got it right, train like them. A 370 pound bent press is unquestionable.

If you want to squat 500 pounds eat like you want to squat 560 pounds because once you squat 500, you'll want 560.

Curls should be in your program. Connective tissue takes 2-3 weeks to grow due to the lack of blood vessels in them whereas muscle takes 2-3 days. This is the same reason steroid users tear tendons and ligamnets. Still not convinced? How about elbow flexion in the saggital plane using a third class lever.

If you can bench press 350 pounds and you put your hands on someone they will go where you want to to go.

Bench presses and curls are both overrated and underrated at the same time.

You should be able to move your body weight with minimal fatigue over an extended period. Push ups, pull ups, flutter kicks, climbing, crawling, et al.

You should also be able to attach a substantial weight to your body and knock out 15 strict pull ups.

One arm/one leg movements = success.

Clean and jerk and snatch, heavy.

SAQ drills strengthen your ACL and aid in preventing tears, do them.

Your body can only weigh so much and so little, you cannot lose bone and organ mass. Worry about strength to weight ratio not what the scale says. The barbell and stopwatch cannot lie.

Drink olive oil.

Learn and master the turkish get up

Mobility will improve your technique and strength. Find your inflexibilities and correct them.

Isolation movements can be used to improve muscle imbalances. They should not be the bulk of your program however.

Triple extension in the Olympic lifts is not the same as rotational strength through the hips.

It was originally spelled "pliometrics".

Know your goals and what you need to do to achieve them. Changes may have to be made.

The biggest muscle isn't always the strongest muscle.

There are some laws that you should know among these are: Accomodation, Supercompensation, and Diminishing Returns. Unless you are in a sport then the Law of Diminishing Returns applies to you. If you are not a powerlifter a 1,100 pound squat stopped benefiting you a long time ago. Know the difference.

We all have a "6 pack", technically we all have an 8 pack. Being able to see your abs doesn't guarantee abdominal strength.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard you train someone will always be stronger and quicker than you. It's your job to surpass them.

Knowledge is an on going process.

The king of kettlebell movements

Knee Snatches

D/E Bench Press

10 Minute VO2Max

Postural Analysis

Within the world of performance training and strength and conditioning, there are several evaluation methods used to determine body function and positioning. Some practitioners choose a variety of different methods while other stick to one comprehensive assessment that might contains pieces of many.

After studying athletes from the youth ranks through the professional ranks and walking through many malls and mass people depots throughout the United States, there are several commonalities which exist:

1. People have very poor posture.

2. People are unaware that they have bad posture, which contributes to daily pain and breakdown over time.

The above have been the driving forces behind our programming for a number of years. Understanding the relationship between posture and injuries has led us to many advances in corrective protocols. It has also helped us understand how sometimes the core exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses, might have more negative effects than positive ones in certain situations and that at times our training and field research have actually hurt our athletes.

The analysis of posture; shoulder, head, pelvic, and foot positioning; torso length; and body sway have given us tremendous insight into the bodies of our athletes and clients. The ability to understand the underlying cause of the above will allow us to resolve daily pain caused by negative stress, which leads to poor joint functioning and negative movement patterns.

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The Brettzel for thoracic mobility



Go to our Photobucket to see Michelle's mobility improve


Dead Stop Front Squats

Side Presses

Deadlift 3x5

3 Rounds
Snow Sled
Waiter's Walk

Bootstrapper Squats

Hamstring PNF

Box Jumps

M/E Snatch

Litvinov Sprints
8 Overhead Squats
Sprint 330m

Deloading Continues...

Rack Jerks

Snatch

Dead Stop Front Squat

Mobility and Strength Clinic

Chandra Jones and myself will be hosting a Mobility and Strength Clinic on January 22, 2011 at our location. Be sure to sign up for the clinic at the website listed above as it is limited to 16 participants.


The ultimate lesson in muscle tension


12 pound "Sheila" Goblet Squats shall henceforth be included in the warm up.

Armbars

Windmills/Side Presses/Bent Presses

50 Swings

Deload Week

What is one of the biggest mistakes strength coaches, personal trainers, athletes and lifters make?

They never DELOAD.

In fact, they come in for weeks and weeks on end and train their asses off. That’s good and bad.

Good - in the fact that they’re trying to build muscle, as well as getting stronger and faster. They’re trying to get more mobile, more explosive and get better for their sport(s).

Bad - with all of this training, you must build times recovery into your program. I’m not talking about a one-day recovery session. I am talking about a week-long process that specifically pays attention to getting your body ready for the next intense three to four week training block.

This is called a deload.


What is a Deload?

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Practice One Arm Push Ups and One Arm/One Leg Push Ups

Box Jump

Kettlebell Snatch Technique

Goblet Squats