from Bill, a student at the eve classes in Richfield


 
You are here by invited to the first outdoor Crucible of 2010 on January 2nd in Minneapolis at Breck High School!

There's a tough group of folks led by RKC Kathy Crawford and her husband that does an outside Crucible every Saturday morning at 7am at Breck High School. We've been out in 12" of snow, blowing wind, rain, weather never matters, every Saturday for the last year.

Why not get off your duff after drinking and eating too much for two days and make something of yourself! 

What: 100 yard Crucible of 20 Swings, Double Clean and Step Press for 6 Steps, Repeat for 100 yards. Bring two (2) Kettlebells that you can Swing, Clean, Press, and hold on to for 30 minutes or so.

When: 7am January 2nd SHARP! You're late you watch. I'd get there about 15 - 20 minutes early so you can find a spot on the end line. If there's more then one line, Mr Crawford (aka Tom Malone) will send them off.

Where: Breck High School practice football/soccer field.
123 Ottawa Avenue North, Golden Valley, MN 55422 (Google it). Right across from the parking lot.

Amenities: NONE! No bathrooms, no food, no water, no emergency services, NADA! Just you, your kettlebells, and a bunch of others.

Attire: Warm clothes, Boots, Gloves, anything to keep the bite of Winter and Wind Chill at bay.

One thing we do provide is MUSIC. Submit your songs for inclusion and we'll tee up a playlist for the event. We use a home made boombox with a 300 Watt Amp that rocks the neighborhood. Submit one song per person and we'll pick the best (yup, our choice as always).

Get the year started right and come out, grab 2 of your favorite KB, and get on the line!



The Saturday Class for the 2nd will be making an outing of this, call me or email for details

so you want to lose weight, get strong, and not bulk up..... want to lose weight, get strong, and not bulk up?

follow this protocol for 6 weeks

measure your
1. Weight
2. Waist, biceps, thighs, and chest in inches or centimeters
3. Clean and press the heaviest kettlebell you can for as many repetitions as you can complete with perfect form

record that and email it to me

then

follow this plan


eat whatever you like, within reason, make it healthy but no worries on the quantities
just stop when you feel more thirsty than hungry, start each day with a cup of live culture yogurt, have a light lunch that has a salad as a main component, and start each evening meal with a large salad (mixed greens, some bitter-read mustard, collard etc, no iceberg lettuce)


Day 1

10 minutes of Turkish Get Ups with a water bottle with 1 inch of water in the bottom(when you can go through the entire motion with the bottle, you can switch to a light weight)

100 swings with a med weight kettlebell as fast as you can perform them, shoot for 2 minutes or less

Clean and press in a ladder rep/set pattern with 3 ladders (your rep set pattern will be emailed to you when you send me your info)

Day 2


10 minutes of Turkish Get Ups with a water bottle with 1 inch of water in the bottom(when you can go through the entire motion with the bottle, you can switch to a light weight)

100 swings with a med weight kettlebell as fast as you can perform them, shoot for 2 minutes or less

Day 3


10 minutes of Turkish Get Ups with a water bottle with 1 inch of water in the bottom(when you can go through the entire motion with the bottle, you can switch to a light weight)

100 swings with a med weight kettlebell as fast as you can perform them, shoot for 2 minutes or less

Viking Push Press on the 15:15 protocol with a light-med bell, shoot for 6-8 reps per set, complete as many sets as possible with perfect form

Day 4


10 minutes of Turkish Get Ups with a water bottle with 1 inch of water in the bottom(when you can go through the entire motion with the bottle, you can switch to a light weight)

100 swings with a med weight kettlebell as fast as you can perform them, shoot for 2 minutes or less

Day 5

Active Rest, do only turkish get ups with a water bottle, no weight

Day 6

Do nothing but eat well and enjoy a day of rest

Day 7 Test your Clean and Press totals again, divide the total on each arm by 2, this is your new starting ladder, you will halve each set (ie, if the total is 8, the starting number is 4, second set would be 2, last set would be 1)

Day 8 Active Rest, only turkish get ups with a bottle

Day 9, begin cycle again


complete this protocol for 6 weeks

measure all information again



better is better

yes, I am making this point again

better is better

more is less

efficient movement is fast and powerful

work for that,
the effortless power

not powerful effort

selah

and now


The Workout of the Day


FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
10 Minutes of Swings 12-24kg Bell:Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down



you screw around too much,
stop screwing around

now with more ZZZZZZ

first

The Workout of the Day


FMS Correctives
Z-Health Neural Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light bell
Bone Rythym Squats 3 sets of 3-5
Bone Rythym Lunges 3 sets of 3-5
Light Kettlebell 2 hand Swings to a comfortable stop, 3 sets
rest between sets with peg board drill in any of the compass positions
Z-Health R-phase Drills to cool down



Just finished the Z-Health I Phase Certification, so I am now a level 2 Z-Health Movement Re-education specialist

or acolyte witch doctor depending on who you talk to

thanks to Dilf Dilford and the gang for a fantastic weekend

now to go rest my sponge like gray matter

better is better


Today's Workout of the Day
FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up

10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell

Test yourselves today
One hand swings with the heaviest bell you can comfortably swing in the following pattern
15/15 12/12 10/10 8/8 5/5
time is the factor, try to get the best time you can with 5 minutes as a limit

IE set a timer for 5 minutes and try to complete the 100 swings as fast as possible

Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present

Finish with 10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight

Z-Health Cool Down



Better is better, 
more is not better
better is better

doing anything, a lot, really badly (think of the last time you saw someone doing really crappy half assed kipping pull ups) is a great way, to teach your nervous system, how to do whatever it is, a lot, really badly

however
doing something really really well
every time
will in fact teach your nervous system how to perform the action, 

yep
you got it
really really well

to quote my martial arts instructor Sifu O'Melia 
"really bad martial arts done really fast, 
is just really bad martial arts doen really fast"

contemplate that on the tree of woe

kiss

Today's Workout of the Day


FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up 
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
Double Kettlebell work today-
2 Bells of equal size
Swing/Clean/Front Squat/Press at top of Squat 
(or for the advanced mates, sots press from the bottom of the squat then come out of the squat with the bells in the overhead lockout position)
continue for 10 minutes
Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down






Perfection leans to simplicity


the above workout will test many systems in your body, and depending on the intensity and weight, could prove to be a test of your mettle as well.


Keeping it simple is the key to consistent gains
no fantastical maneuvers, no fancy lifts, no unstable surfaces
just pure, power generation, grind and ballistic pairs, and full range of motion


keep the fancy stuff to yourself
if you say this is hard, tell it to the bells


is it challenging?
yes
is it difficult?
no, and if you think it is, seek the help of a professional coach, get your technique tuned up, lower the weight, lower the intensity


you want the magic pill


here it is, the formulae is as follows


move a lot of weight, at a good clip, do this with the best mechanical movement quality you can perform, do this consistently, do this often, consume food that is whole and wholesome, get enough sleep, play, and social interaction to keep your self mentally and spiritually healthy


now get back to work

now, with kung fu grip

Today's Workout of the Day




FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
10 Minutes of Swings 12-24kg Bell:Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down



A huge Gift was given to me by my Sifu this weekend at the Pekiti Tirsia Seminar (espada y daga) with Tuhon Bill McGrath
My Sifu (Guro Mike O'melia of Cornerstone Martial Arts) awarded me my Level 1 Instructor's Certificates for JKD and Filipino Martial Arts. This was a great honor for me to accept these, recognizing me as a competent practitioner and instructor of the arts I have devoted almost 20 years to, I was humbled to say the least.

This means that I may now bring this material to you, my clients, with the blessings of my instructor and Mentor. Having a legitimate lineage directly to Sigung Bruce Lee and Guro Dan Inosanto is more than an honor and privilege. And I will be happy to bring any one who wants to learn along on the journey to proficient application of the principles and methods passed on to me by Guro O'Melia.

If anyone would like personal, one on one instruction for martial arts, self defense, martial sport or science applications, just contact me and we will arrange a demonstration and discuss what opportunities we have to work together. If you are interested in group instruction, that may also be a possibility, just contact me and we will work out the details.

now


get back to work

good, so far

so far today

Z-health Neural Warm up 1 (10 minutes)
FMS Correctives (10 Minutes)
Aslr/Side lying with Rotation/Trunk Rotations/Hip Bridges W/Extension and Arms overhead

2 pistols left and right (152lbs current body weight)
1 Kalos Sthenos Turkish Get Up, left and right 24kg
1 minute left, 1 minute right of Strict Press Bone Rhythm Drills
1 Strict Press left and right 28kg
1 Strict Press left and right 24kg
1 Waiters Press left and right 24kg
10x10 Bone Rhythm Split Squats (both leads)
6 Snatches left and right 24kg
7 Viking Push Press left and right 24kg

my grease the groove drill for the day will be pistols (based on rom test)
so, every 15 minutes I will perform 1 pistol on each leg until my work day is done


I will still have a "workout" later on this afternoon, likely going to be a long set of Kalos Sthenos with a light bell to work out some kinks and nail down the technique and mobility/stability

my question is

what are you doing?

email me, give me some thoughts


Today's Workout of the Day



FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
3-5 Sets of 3-5 Reps:Body Weight "Bone Rhythm" Squats
3-5 Sets of 3-5 Reps"Bone Rhythm" Push Ups(these can be performed on any surface that allows the movement to be crisp, precise, and puts the least amount of stress on the system
Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


100% compliance

Today's Workout of the Day

FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
3-5 Sets of 3-5 Reps:Body Weight "Bone Rhythm" Squats
3-5 Sets of 3-5 Reps"Bone Rhythm" Push Ups(these can be performed on any surface that allows the movement to be crisp, precise, and puts the least amount of stress on the system
Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


recently I was listening to the Irontamer's teleconference over at Geoff Neupert's site -Kettlebellsecrets.com-

at one point Sr. RKC David Whitley aka "the Irontamer" talks about the compliance model

50% of the model is the physical
50% is nutrition and diet

so

where do you fit in the compliance model

personally, I sit around 80% most of the time

I do something physical every day, and eat really well, that is to say I eat a lot of really high quality food, almost all organic, whole, unprocessed as possible, and as I have intimated in the past, if it has a label, it is immediately suspect
that is not to say that I do not eat sweets ( I have at least one Bija Bar a day, it's got omega 3/6/9 blend of udo's in it ) and love chocolate (whatever the best stuff on sale at the co-op is) cookies (again, the best organic on sale cookies a the co-op)
but I also have a salad before almost every evening meal, a huge salad most of the time (2 qt mixing bowl huge) that is mixed greens with some bitter herbs in there (mustard, collards, etc)
I eat pizza, yes, I will cop to it, I have slices of "white" or oil only pizzas and the occaisional alfredo from the shop above my office, however
for the most part

my diet is at least 30% on target

the physical happens every day
z-health drills, kettlebells, club swinging, martial arts, body weight drills....
every day
even sunday

7 days a week

365


a day without movement is a day that I wonder if I am really alive

what is your compliance model?

get it right, then move on

Today's Workout of the Day
FMS Corrective Strategies
Full Body R-Phase Session-Coordinated Speed
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell

Renegade Row 5x 5/5 alternated with
Swings 5x25

Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


First
be correct in the movement
then
be efficient in the movement
then
be proficient in the movement
then

move on

slow down, you move to fast, you got to make the ....

Today's Workout of the Day

FMS Corrective Strategies
Full Body R-Phase Session-Coordinated Speed
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell

10 minutes of Viking Warrior Conditioning with appropriate sized bell at your personal cadence on the 15:15 protocol

Pekiti Tirsia Dirty Dozens 1 min of each drill

Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


yes, I am quoting Simon and Garfunkle
yes, I know the "feeling groovy" song
yes, I am a geek


now


before you decide to hit the gym to work your "ass" off or any other part of the body you are trying to lose before bikini and speedo time rolls around again


think on this


if you got into the shape you are in overnight, you can get out of it over night
however
if it took any longer to get there, 
you may need more time to get back to "fighting" shape


dig


you did not get
fat
out of shape
slow
de-conditioned 
etc.....
in one day


so, it will take some time to get back to the place you once called home (as far as the body and its capabilities goes anyway)
bearing this in mind, 
take the time to get there in a fashion that does not involve 
crash diets
insane workout regimens
thousands of dollars of new equipment


start by working on mobility 
then
work on your ability to perform a skill
then
try this novel idea
do some body weight exercises to get reaquainted with physical movement beyond making it from the couch to the store for more ho-ho's, beer, and bacon


snarky?


yep


after you can move your own body through space under control, and have a decent grasp of the range of motion you are capable of, perhaps now is the time to attack the gym with a sensible, manageable routine, that will guarantee success


and stick with the plan


no shiny syndrome
no bs
just work at something for 6wks at the least, then re-evaluate and see what your needs are


go

Fists, sticks, bells and brains

Dig


Today's Workout of the Day

FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
Kalos Sthenos Get-up 10 single reps, alternating arms each rep.  
One arm swing 5x10/10 

From BJJ:
Shrimp Left/Right/Backward/Forward
Hip Up and reach over to slap mat 50 times left and right
100 Wall Tackles

Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


If you are noticing a difference in the workouts, here is the deal

I am a martial artist,coach and student of martial science/sport/art

some of the work I do that does not involve kettlebells, clubs, or other pure exercise and mobility is in the realm of the martial errata

thus

I will be including some bits in the workout of the day that is for those of you who have a martial hobby, and know what they are, enjoy, if you do not know what they are, no worries, you can email me, or just pretend you don't see them

where the drills call for partners, I will point it out, most however are solo type drills that you can get in most anywhere (if you don't mind some funny looks)

be sharp though
do not start swinging a machete around in an alley and expect to not be noticed
you may make some new friends, or you may get tazed

it will not be my fault



Skill, as practice

Today's Workout of the Day



FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
10 Minutes of any of the following with Perfect Reps in mind

Swings with a 12-24kg Bell
Pekiti Tirsia Single Stick 5 Angles of Attack with Footwork
Pekiti Tirsia Espada y Daga 1st Seguidas
Carenza with:single of double stick,
stick and dagger,
single or double dagger,
or empty hands kali drills

Resting when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


It occurred to me on the way home friday evening, that if folks were to practice the skills of any part of their daily lives, the way that I apply my skill practice to things like strength and martial science, they would soon have proficiency if not mastery of the skills.

So,
pick a drill, any drill 
be it mobility, strength, relaxation, some physical movement pattern (ie a martial art technique or principle)
and practice that skill the way I grease the groove

email me and give me a list of your gtg (grease the groove) patterns and I may well join you

in fact

if I like it, I will post it here with attribution and you can be the progenitor of skill for some others (which, is a great feeling, trust me)

James@5RingsFitness.com

selah

Junkie Logic

Today's Workout of the Day




FMS Corrective Strategies
Neural Warm Up 1-Coordinated Speed
10 Minutes of the following cycle as Ladders With 1-5 rungs
2 Hand Swing/Goblet Squat/Renegade Rows (Switch sides after each rep)
Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down



Junkie Logic


Go here
Read that article, then ask yourself if you are an addict


Last night, my wife and I were discussing this article, both of us having been followers of the "no label" diet for a while.
If it has a label, it may not be worth consideration as a food.
Simple enough


Even simpler, keep the list of ingredients on a label down to a minimum, and if you cannot pronounce it or identify it? Why bother eating it?


enjoy


ps 
If you want to get yourself some brush up or exposure to some of the best edged weapons methods available in modern times, show up this weekend (October 25th) at Cornerstone Martial Arts 
Sifu Mike O'Melia will be putting on a workshop to prepare for the upcoming Stick and Dagger Seminar with Tuhon Bill McGrath which will be held Nov. 7th and 8th


It has been my great pleasure to have been Sifu O'Melia's student for the last 8 years, (caveat, I am a coach at Cornerstone, though, the business end of my life has kept me out of the gym for too long lately, sorry mates, I will be back to beat you with sticks, and be beaten in turn ;) 
I have also had the rare opportunities to have trained under Tuhon McGrath and find him to be both a principled and dedicated instructor, as well as an all around Capital Fellow! (my navigation skills were overlooked) 
If you get the chance to stop by and take part, please do not pass up the opportunity, the knowledge will be worth the price of admission, and the company will be top quality.


Selah


I could not say it better, so I will not

Today's Workout of the Day

FMS Corrective Strategies
Full Body R-Phase Session-Coordinated Speed
10 Minutes of the following cycle with a Med-Heavy Bell
One Hand Swing/Clean and Press/Overhead Squat
Switch Sides after each Cycle
Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


A Fellow RKC has recently penned an article touching on what I wrote about yesterday, I encourage you to check out Comrade Ross's article here

She nails it


enjoy the day mates, more comin 

Can you sustain the pace?

Today's Workout of the Day



FMS Corrective Strategies and or Z-Health Warm Up
10 Minutes of Kalos Sthenos with a light Kettlebell
10 Minutes of the following cycle
Halo/Slingshot/Tactical Lunges
10 reps per drill
Rest when any of the 4 Elements of Efficiency are no longer present
10 Minutes of Hardstyle Turkish Get Ups with a bell weighing no more than 20% of your bodyweight
Z-Health Cool Down


Can you sustain the pace?

One of my clients asked me recently how I gauged the pace that I worked at, or more to the point, how I knew that I was getting the most effect for the effort.

Easy, I replied, if I think I can sustain the pace that I am working at for 10 minutes of uninterrupted effort, it is a good pace.

There is a pace that you can find, at which you feel like you can work for a reasonable amount of time and still have a solid reserve of energy.

Unless you are a combat athlete, or a tactical athlete (meaning you carry a firearm for a living and deal with threat to life stress, not that you do pull ups without your thumbs for reps), the efficacy of training in a state at which you start a hormonal cascade is questionable at least, not recommended for most and possibly dangerous for the majority of the population.

Sound like heresy?
Maybe,
but maybe making grandma swing a bell for 10 minutes on her first evening is abuse as well

perhaps having someone sacrifice quality of movement to achieve the goal is cheating the client



Find a pace that you can work at, without losing the quality of the movement being performed, your postural alignment, your control of your breath, or the balance of tension and relaxation in the movement, and you will have found the best pace for every day work.

Save the emotional work for days when you are hitting vo2 snatch sessions ala the Viking Warrior Conditioning

You will not be any less manly or Valkyrie like 

I would posit, that you will in fact get stronger, faster, and have more cardiovascular endurance, for having worked at an easy pace, allowing your body and systems to adapt to the stress you are imposing on it without detriment to the systems or sacrifice of quality of movement

It has worked for me, and many I know
In fact, most of the folks that I take my cues from, advocate much the same thing

work smart
expend the effort where it will give the most reward

or you can ignore what I say
do preacher curls till your biceps explode and you look like half a cover of Muscle and Fiction

go nuts

see you in 20 years, 
we will see who is pushing whom in a chair


getting stronger yet?





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