Client achievements

First of, all my clients are successes for many reasons and I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.

Special note to Nicole whom did 252 snatches with the 12kg in 10 minutes. We did no prior training and her normal snatch workout which is once a week accomplishes no more than 120 in a workout. Nicole is 5'8, 189 at 36% bodyfat and the reason I mention this is because no matter what weight or body fat she is FIT!. Plus she can swing the 24 for 50 rep sets (2 hands), and do everything else with the 16kg. All this with 2, 45 minutes KB sessions a week


AND

Kai, who Pressed and Snatched the Bulldog for Reps. Kai is a strong man and he is just starting to realize this and gain faith in his strength.

Thank you all of you for giving me the best job in the world, to live the life I dream of daily!

! arm swing

Swings galore! This seems to be my big thing these days and man on man do they work.

1 Arm swing
32/10/10
32/15/15
32/20/20
32/25/25
32/10/10
32/15/15
32/20/20
32/25/25

total of 280 javascript:void(0)

Presses
32/8/8x3

Pull-ups
10x3


Mia did 2 hand swings with the 32kg and 24kg for 75 total reps. Great to see her strong, tough body at 115#s move that bell so well. PS this is only her 10th or so KB workout. Cannot wait to see what she can do if she really gets into the bells. This is more of a supplement to all her other fun training.

PR, double 40kg press

Ok, so my wrist is still hurting and it is affecting my lifting ability especially the ability to hold things. So I tried the Deadlifts today but at 315 I was done, no room to move. And, i could only snatch my right side (weaker of the two) and swing on my left. But I did get a new PR x 3

Snatch right side, Swing left side
24kg/20x2

2 tears on right hand, no more snatches...UGH!

1 Arm swings
24k/30/30x1
24k/20/20x2

Double 40kg
Clean x1
Squat x1
Press x1

I just wanted to try this out, I was feeling it to say the least. So, I told Rif I was going to Press the bells after I cleaned them to Rack position and then I decided I should do a squat as well

This is awesome and what a LOAD, yikes that 176#s is heavy stuff but I love feeling strong

Time to let the wrist heal.

40 kilos

Well, Rif is just back from RKC Level 2 and that being said we had discussed skipping today and working out with our Deadlift Routine on Wed. Therefore I still wanted to emphasize strength today and that is why today is the 40 kilos day

Snatch
40/3/3x3

These were tough since I have not touched the 40kg for snatch since late march. But each set got progressively easier and I did the drop to the shoulder for the downward motion. Sure make you feel manly, strong...lol

Press
40/5/5x1
40/4/4x1
40/3/3x1

Grunted and groaned through the first set but feel good overhead with this weight

Pistol
40/1/1x2

Pooped out. Enough grunting and groaning

Pull-ups
55/3x4

Presses, Swings, and Pull-ups

Simple workout daybut intense and challenging

Presses
40/3/3x3

These went up the "easiest" ever. I really felt strong and am getting the feel of the move with the 40

Swings (1 arm)
40/10/10x5

Wanted to do an overload on the swings. My left felt stronger than my right side but I felt good. Boy, the hammies and glutes work hard in this move

Pull-ups
10x3

Nice work and 10 is becoming easiest!

Snatches

Ok, this is a little frustrating for me right now. Still working on my groove which is being affected by my hands, especially on my right side and my shoulder is sore from today which sucks. So, the plan was to switch every 3 reps for as many sets as possible with the 32kg and then do the same thing with 2 and then 1. However after the first 3 and 3 round I made a change since the change seemed to be affecting my grip on the bell since the chalk was wearing off etc

Snatch
32/3/3/3/3x2
32/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3 (15/arm)
32/15/15x1
32/12/12x1

This was much better than I thought. I can handle the reps especially in a descending fashion. I will figure this thing out, just part of the process

Pull-ups
1 set of 15

Deadlifts and Pull-ups

Deadlifts. As Rif said it sure is nice to lift something heavy and truly feel strong! Having 400+ lbs in your hands feels awesome and truly does make me feel strong!

135/5
185/3
225/3
275/2
315/1
365/1
405/1

416/1x6

Remove all the slack, keep my arch! Key points from todays workout! The bar is moving faster and my feel is getting better!

Rack Lockouts (pin #3)
225/2
315/2
405/1x2
455/1
495/1x2

Feels good to have the extra weight in my hands and to train my body to handle such loads. I am so excited about the process behind learning the deadlift and how to effectively design a program to accomplish a said goal.

Pull-ups
55#/2x4
BW/15 + 3, half pull-ups after a hang pause and finished the set with a 10 sec hang (ouch)

Awesome! Super strong with these reps. The 15 bodyweight felt really smooth.

A good day

Morning started off at the Foothill College track/field with a great kettlebell workout.

Swings (1 arm)
32/5/5/5/5
32/5/5/5/5/5/5
32/8/8/8/8
32/10/10/10/10
32/10/10/10/10

Burnt on the swings, my hammies and glutes are just roasted from the week.

Press
32/5/5x2
32/7/7x2

Been 2 weeks since I crashed last week before my presses

Bottoms Up Cleans
24/3/3x3

Just for fun

Push-ups
20x5

Pull-ups
13
15


Then spent the afternoon on the Golf Course for Pops Day. Been over 8 months since my last swing but I did well and finished my last 4 holes, birdie, par, bogey, bogey with opps for a birdie and a par. Plus just had a blast playing with my pops and bro-in law.

For the love of movement

So below are some photos of Mia (Bodybuilding contest day and doing a Pistol in the Japanese Tea Gardens at Golden Gate Park) and myself with my first ever Rock Climbing experience in Joshua Tree, fooling around with a Pistol on a log , just missing the beast challenge pull-up, and doing a pull-up off of a cool sandstone formation near Half Moon bay. It is fun to be strong, fit, mobile and just play). People often wonder what all this training does, well it enables us to have healthy bodies, healthy souls, and healthy minds in which we feel young and alive and can be a kid! Life is grand, enjoy!

Snatches & Swings

Oh how I do love thee Snatch and Swing. Plan and simple these moves are one hell of a workout. Every muscle of the body works to make that bell move and land in proper position with the most graceful and beautiful athleticism. Being of an athletic/athletes mind these suit me well even though they always kick my arse ...lol

Snatch
24/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5 (40 total, 20/side) x3

Heart rate maxed out at 198 or so! Yes, 198! which is theoretically way beyond my max. I noted to Rif that i felt an amazing ability to work even with my heart so high and he mentioned eventhough this is systemic the transferring of hands controls the lactate production levels enabling the body to avoid a fatigue state and therefore keep moving efficiently. If you are not what this means, put it this way it is a real good thing when you are attempting a lot of reps under time, full body stress and muscle fatigue.

Swing, 1 arm style
40/5/5/5/5 x3 (60)
32/5/5/5/5/5/5x2 (60)

The hands are the biggest limitation at this point, especially the right. However, they are much better with the improvement in technique I feel overall much stronger with each of these moves and my hands are taking less of a beating.


I will say this again. If you want a workout and you want to burn MASSIVE calories then swing the bell. Shoot, just look at Tracey Reifkinds blog and see that her movements are pretty simple, a heck of a lot of SWINGS and SNATCHES.

Cheers to a fantastic workout and the 5lbs of water lost due to the 100 weather and working out in the Rifstonian Institute garage.

Yoga

WOW! Gotta love it and every time, I mean every time I finish a yoga session I know why I enjoy it and I know why I need to do it at least once a week if not twice. Right now my hips and shoulders feel OPEN and Free, what a feeling. Did this yoga session with Mia at home listening to a CD by Baron Baptiste. We did an hour + session and at the end did some special focus stretches to work on those areas that need more attention.

Look, if you have never done Yoga take yourself to a good studio (do some research) and try a class. Do not push it, work at your own pace and just remember the most important aspect is breathing your way through the session. Do not try to over stretch because you will defeat the purpose. Believe me, you will get a great workout no matter what. Plus, when you finish you should feel super relaxed and free of thought. AWHHHHH!

It helps having a girlfriend who is a yogi, super flexible, super strong and knowledgable about the moves.

Until the next Yoga session.

Deadlifts and Pull-ups

A day of deadlift lessons and special training. Rif put me through an interesting workout today with the deads. Today I pulled to my knees for triples as a way to increase my starting streength. We followed that with reps at say 65% of my 1 rm therefore focus on intensity through using a lighter weight but with limited rest (the rest was approx 15 sec between lifts).

Here is how it went

135/5
185/3
225/3
275/2
315/2

To the knee
315/3x1
348/3x1
365/3x4

I felt the connection today to the bar. These were helpful!

315/1x12 with 15 seconds rest. I could feel the fatigue as the reps accumulated but I was pulling like it was 550 per Rifs suggestion. Great coaching is really helping me progress

Pull-ups
45/6x3
12 (bodyweight) with 2, 3/4 pulls for an additional 2 reps to blast me

The cut/scab did not affect my performance and that is a good thing.

Mountain Bike Crash Photos

Swings and a Big bang

Wow, what a morning workout. I worked out at the Foothill JC Football Field this morning, sun shining bright and no one on the field, just me and my 32kg for a round of swings

Swings (1 arm)
32/10/10/10/10 x 3
32/10/10/5/5 x 1

150 total in 10 minutes

Plus did 10 sets of 20 push-ups with the Clients once they arrived.

Lunch time Mountain Bike Session
A good 4.5 mile ride with a nice steady climb with some good sections and then a blast of a downhill. Pushed the pace well on the uphill with the hams and glutes fried from the morning swing session still just hammered.

However, I had a tough downhill and only if I had the pics to show, I do but still have not figured the upload process. Lets put it this way I took a NASTY over the handble bar face plant to shoulder slide. I started headfirst, reminded me of my baseball playing days imitating Ricky Henderson stealing second base. I bleed pretty well and have some nasty cuts, scrapes and wounds to prove it. Put it this way, people stare when they walk by and ask "Are you Ok" with wide eyes.

I am ok, just some dirt rash and good cuts and I will attempt to get some pics.

No overhead for a bit as my shoulder is stiff from the cuts.

Wow, life has an interesting if not many interesting ways of educating. One lesson I learned recently has to do with words and the power of the word. See all to often in life we people speak so unkindly to our own self. We have a distorted self image where we are too fat, not good enough, not rich enough, do not have this or that, etc. What I realized about myself is that I am perfect. Now I know this sounds pompous and all but just think about it for a second. What is wrong with you? Why do you say the negative or believe the negative things you do about yourself?

Now I am 97% positive, have complete love for myself, am proud of who I am, where I am, how I got here and am totally grateful for the life I live and the 32+ years that have lead to this moment. However, I am always striving to evolve, get better, learn, grow, etc. Now I do not think this is a 'bad' thing and in fact I will always live this way. However, I will not do it with the mindset of that I am not perfect, but a mindset that I am perfect and I going to get even more perfect.

The key is to remember that we are all wonderful in our own special way and that we must speak kindly to ourselves and love ourselves. In doing so we will be able to love those around more than ever and everyone will feel better. Life is contagious no matter what it is.

YOU ARE WONDERFUL! Live it! Breathe It! Speak It! Be It!

Thank you for taking time to read this and much respect and love to all who walk this wonderful planet known as Earth! We have one life to live, why waste time, get on It!

LIght Day

Just a light or submax workout today

Windmill
24/5/5x4

Press
28/8/8x3

Chin-ups
10x3

One set of morning pull-ups
15

A number of ab exercises with the clients

Nice light day with a busy schedule this was a nice workout

Snatches

The Hands, they are improving. I took good care of them last week, shaving, filing, shaving, filing and just being aware. So I was cautious today in my approach. Rif and I discussed doing 5 and 5 for up to 3 minutes with the 24kg and then having a full recovery and repeating. Here it goes

Snatch
24/5/5x5 total of 50 reps in 2:35

Started to experience some general fatigue. Grip, back, arms, shoulders, legs and cardio were all good. Form was strong and this was the right approach for the first round. The first round came in the morning when truly my body is not really ready for working out. I train mostly late morning (after 11) to anywhere up to 6;30 at night just depends on what kind of work I am doing. So, felt a little sluggish in this respect

ROUND 2
24/5/5x6 total of 60 reps in 3:12

This felt stronger and as you can tell by reps and time it was indeed. Same fatigue concept and I could have went 40 and 40 but with a goal of 3 minutes and my hands not ripping and body feeling intact I stopped ahead of the game. Although at the end I did notice that my tear from a week ago was cracking and I thought it better to stop. I liked the split session (similar to a grease the groove concept). My heart rate was definitely high but I did not feel anything truly limiting my performance. My technique has completed improved and the work at Rifs with his eyes watching over me has really helped. Great to have a training partner.

Also
Pull-ups
10, 8, 6 while waiting for a client

Dips
10, 20, 15

Abs
20x5


4 mile hike this evening with a client as part of his training for his upcoming attempt to Summit Mt Shasta as part of a benefit
We did this same hike Monday evening although tonight I am going to carry a 16kg KB in my pack as an extra workout.

There you go!

Better Shoulders, a must read

This is from Rifs blog listed on the right side as a link. Below is the link that contains the pics supporting the article, which I have reposted the written section and could not get the pics up. Also, note at the bottom of his write up a link to a excellent article on T-Nation regarding shoulders

http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/stick-pressupward-shrug-for-yoganator.html


This movement has done more to de-impinge my shoulder than anything I have done yet. I use a regular stretching stick and slide it up and down the outside of a power rack( as if it were a smith machine) going through the full ROM of a perfectly strict military press.The forerarms stay perpindicular to the ground at all times and this is one of the keys. FIghting to keep the arm externally rotated as the bar passes the head is vital for 'turning on' these easy to deactivate but critical external rotators.
The upward shrugging releases the lower rhomboids in some way normalizing scapula mobility and allowing the humeral head to position itself more in neutral. I dont quite understand how the mechanics actually work but they have! I can wake up relly impinged, go to the rack, do a bunch of these and have it release the teres, the levator , the corocoid brachialis and reset the shoulder! It also has worked wonders for all my clients.
I can now also get the same release with a free movement but the rack was pivotol in finding the correct groove.Slide the bar overhead as if you were holding a big med ball between your elbows.
Sorry for the dark pictures; we took these months ago.

A MUST read; the article that really change my shoulder by Bill Hartman. The shoulder from the inside out.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1426252

Deadlifts

Wow, what a good day with the Deadlift. I love school, I am enjoying the progression, theory, approach and constant learning environment.

Deadlift
135/5
185/3
225/3
275/3
315/2
365/1
405/1

Worksets
440/1x4

Last set I struggled and Rif could see the fatigue.

387/1x3 (with 30 sec rest)
387/1x3 (with 30 sec rest)

These felt strong and powerful, moving the bar fast and with really good fundamentals

Pull-ups
45/4x5

I felt strong today and my body was in the groove

Friday and Saturdays Workouts

Friday Bulldog day

Presses
40/3/3x5

Pistols
40/1/1x3

Pull-ups
13
9
8
13


Saturday
1 arm swing
32/10/10
32/15/15
32/20/20
32/20/20
32/15/15
32/10/10

Guard Pressand Pull-up superset
24/15/15x3

Pull-up
8x4