Delaine's Training (b)Log

Why Paleo, by Jenn Purdy

2012-01-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

Food Fight II gets underway on Saturday! Nearly 50 FitWitters are taking part, plus close to 20 from Condition Kettlebell Gym. Huge! I’m excited to see everyone’s changes along the way and to report results at the end.

Food Fighters are using the Quick Start Challenge Guide from Paleo Plan for menus, recipes, and shopping lists. I thought it a good time to address what is paleo, and what it’s not. Since there’s a guide book, one might think it’s just another diet. I once tried one guys’ product-driven diet formula. It worked, sort of, not really. I moved on. It wasn’t sustainable to keep on a program for the rest of my life.

When I heard of paleo, honestly the word scared me, probably because I learned it from some really fit trainers I knew. It seemed pretty hard core coming from these elite athletes (it’s not). I didn’t investigate it for a couple more years (I was on the other guys’ program). Take the labels off - paleo, primal, real food, clean eating, whatever you want to call it - and it’s just eating food as is and has been optimal for human digestion and energy sources since we have walked the earth. It’s not a “diet” as a verb. It is “diet” as noun. The name is simply our modern way of identifying human nutrition, from WAY BACK! If you think about it, it’s a bit ridiculous that we have to call our food by a term that refers to how humans have eaten for thousands upon thousands of years. Our modern food and medical industries have blinded us to the ideal human diet. They have vilified foods that sustain us, created profitable pseudo-food, and pushed many lucrative symptom-covering drugs that discount the body’s intelligence to maintain a state of wellness if given the right nutrition.

Paleo is a principle, not a macronutrient formula. Sure, there are certain general guidelines for protein, fat, and carbohydrates depending upon your intentions. That said, someone can eat higher carbohydrate paleo with sweet potatoes and fruit, but it’s not the best plan for fat loss. Some people will find their appetite satisfied with less fat than others. Others have a need for more protein and carbs because they are lifting heavy and muscle growth is the goal. Real food is adaptable to the need of the individual.

Most of us in the Food Fight, or others at FitWit, first want to lose fat, shed cravings, and find out how certain foods make us feel by eliminating them for a good 6 weeks. Lowering carbs so the body can convert to being a fat-burner instead of a sugar burner is step number one in paleo. The body preferentially is a fat-burner, but it can exist as a sugar-burner (obviously), though with undesireable consequences. Beyond fat loss, when the goal changes, then the strategy can change a bit, but the principles remain the same.

Neither paleo nor the Food Fight are inherently weight loss plans, or muscle gain plans. It’s a lifelong health plan. Whatever you do, or your goals at any given time, whole food will fuel your activity and your brain. If fat loss needs to happen, it will as a secondary result of eating real food. Create an environment where your body can burn stored fat instead of constantly storing sugar. If you just came off marathon season, eating healthier may mean gaining back muscle. As a principle, paleo can be tweaked to what works for your needs in your own n=1 learning process.

What you eat will determine up to 80% of your health, not your workouts or your genetics. Movement - exercise, playing sports you love, and intensely lifting heavy things are definitely essential to your health. Think of your plate as a workout, too. What is on it can only make you more healthy or less healthy. We have the luxury of food we can get steps away in the kitchen, or pick-up-ready from a store, conveniently pre-hunted and gathered for us! The work of obtaining nutrition, fuel for life, is no longer tied to our movement. So, we still need to get out and do proper, functional movement. You’ve got that part covered, now fuel it with proper human nutrition!

How? Eat meat, fish, vegetables, some fruit, good fats, nuts & seeds. It doesn’t need to have a label. A lot of things will fall into place if you eat for how your body was designed.

Jenn

Jenn Purdy, RKC, CF-L1

FitWit & Condition Kettlebell Gym - Trainer & Nutrition Coach

Twitter: @PrimalFamily

Facebook: Jenn Purdy Real Food & Fitness

Cardio without Running by Paul Lyngso RKC II

2011-09-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

We are now officially in September! I always enjoy
the cooler weather that the fall brings, it’s a much
needed change of pace after the muggy Chicago Summers.

Fall also brings the one race per year that I actually run,
The Morton Arboretum 5K.

I often then, get the question:

“How do you get your “cardio” if you don’t run?”

The short answer is that my “cardio” is a by product of the way I train. If I had aspirations of being a runner, I would certainly need to work some running practice in so that my body could adapt to that specific stimulus. However, since I’m just a regular guy who wants to be able to run a 5K whenever the mood strikes, my current training will do just fine. Here’s why(the long answer):

I always Focus on Developing Strength and Explosive Power. Simply put, the stronger you are, the less effort each stride takes. Less effort per stride means that you can sustain running longer without fatiguing.

I always Train Total Body Movements. Running requires the use of both upper and lower extremities, with the each leg transferring power to the opposite arm, and vice versa. If you are not coordinated, your running will be very inefficient and much more taxing than it should be. If you train your body as one coordinated unit, each stride will be way more efficient than if you run like Frankenstein.

Finally, my Focus on Joint Mobility, Flexibility, and Quality of Movementallow me to show up for the race, uninjured. Simply put, running is dangerous. In fact, each year about 1000 qualifiers of the Boston Marathon take a medical deferrment, meaning they qualify, but will take a full year off due to injury. And these are folks who know a thing or two about running! If you want to reduce injuries, in ANY atheltic endeavor, you need to focus on the QUALITY of movement (proper exercise form) rather than quantity (45 minutes on a treadmill with horrible posture and your body completely out of alignment). Quality movement starts with healthy joints that can operate pain free through their entire range of motion.

Being constantly injured or in nagging pain is a sure fire way to dampen not only your fitness goals, but your overall quality of life.

I know I haven’t even mentioned heart rate yet. Well here is the deal, when you train strength, such as, say by doing kettlebell swings, Turkish Get Ups, and squats, your heart rate goes up. A lot. Then we rest and let it come back down a hair. And then we do another set, and the heart rate goes up again. This constant up/down makes your heart stronger i.e. more efficient at pumping blood. The more blood your heart can move with each heart beat, the longer you can sustain an activity, such as jogging, with a lower heart rate. Lower heart rate=Less Energy Used=Less Fatigue.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Lance Armstrong here when it comes to endurance sports. However, I would venture to say that any of my clients would put a treadmill junkie to shame any day when it comes to a 5K (or most any athletic feat). Just sayin…

Paul Lyngso, RKC II and Owner of Burr Ridge Kettlebells

www.burrridgekettlebellclub.com/

You Can't Outrun a Doughnut

2011-06-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

This article was inspired by Dan John's presentation at NPE's business coaching training last weekend.

You Can’t Outrun a Doughnut. It might not be the first time you have heard that statement and it’s true. There is no way to get the body you want without both exercise and diet. Unfortunately, in my book, diet is about 80% of the battle. Wouldn’t it be easy if we could eat whatever we wanted as long as we exercised? Many people do think that way, and as the owner of a kettlebell gym the ability to exercise without having to watch my diet would be a dream come true. It’s my JOB to exercise and to guide people through their fitness journey, but I still have to be careful what fuel I put in my body.

According to Livestrong.com, a 175lb person burns about 1700 calories running a half marathon. That’s approximately the equivalent of three slices of pizza and a milkshake, but do we go out and run a half marathon after every party we attend? I would guess most of us don’t, and those 30 minutes on the elliptical won’t do as much damage control as we would like to think. Don’t get me wrong -I’m not saying to just diet without exercising. Lean muscle increases metabolism and helps us burn more calories. Exercise is also imperative for our hearts and has a plethora of other health benefits, but exercise cannot stand alone in the fat loss battle.

So what diet works? The one you can stick with. There are many different options out there and I lean towards the diets with real foods that require the least thinking. After “retiring” from fitness competitions, I vowed to never do another eating plan that required me to measure anything – and luckily there are plenty of companies out there do all the measuring for you. All you have to do is pick it up from one of the convenient local sponsors’ refrigerators or have it shipped to your door. How easy is that? Having a no brainer eating plan (that happens to taste good too) is the perfect complement to a rigorous exercise program to help us win the battle against fat! Good luck on your journey!

June 25th HKC

2011-05-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the June 25th HKC with MRKC David "Iron Tamer" Whitley!

If you havent seen David's show reels, you can check some of his highlights out on this episode of Dragon Door TV where he is Comrade of the Week.

At the HKC, we will cover in detail how to teach and perform the foundation kettlebell exercises: the swing, get-up, and squat. These exercises will make you powerful, strong, and mobile. Everything else is icing on the cake.

If you have any interest at all in teaching kettlebells, DO NOT MISS this workshop. You can register here - early registration ends June 3rd so don't wait!

Train hard but train smart. :)

Why Kettlebells?

2011-05-19T08:32:00.001-07:00

One of the biggest selling points of Kettlebell training is that it’ s strength, cardio, and mobility all in one

efficient training. Unfortunately, when many people think of those 3 components they think yes, we know

cardio is important to keep us in shape and keep our hearts healthy, being strong is pretty important, but

often they gloss over mobility. “ I don’ t care if I can touch my toes” – well, I don’ t care if they can touch

their toes either. When we in the RKC community speak of mobility, we mean the ability to move properly,

to own the primitive movement patterns we seem to lose when we get stuck behind a desk or in a car all

day long. The mobility that is critical for our health and well-being.

It’ s a matter of fact that the American Society as a whole lives in flexion. We sit and do work at our

computers, behind the wheel, on a couch – and even our children are growing up playing video games

instead of playing outside. Many in our society cannot move the middle of their spines (the thoracic spine)

in order to stand up straight. I have seen countless people who have no thoracic spine mobility say “ But I

can stand up straight” and then they move from their lower back. It’ s no wonder that back pain is the most

common ailment among Americans. Or maybe someone says “ But I can stand up straight” and then they

move from their shoulders. Either way, they are compensating with poor movement pattern and making

things that much worse.

Even many “ gym people” who are a step ahead of the sedentary spend their time looking in the mirror

working their biceps, and pecs, and then what happens? They build up the front of their bodies and neglect

the backside. They too, end up in flexion. The problem guys who "can’ t put their arms down" have because their "lats are so

huge" (a "disorder" that some lovingly call ILS - or Invisible Lat Syndrome) is more likely caused by an

immobility in their thoracic spine rather than bulging muscles.

What’ s left is a society with poor thoracic spine mobility, no shoulder stability, weak and tight hip flexors,

and no glutes - well, no strength in the posterior chain at all. As fellow RKC, Paul Lyngso said "We look like a group of Mr Burns' from the Simpsons!"

The beautiful thing about Kettlebell training is that it addresses all of these issues: regaining the rolling,

standing, kneeling primitive movement patterns as well as training the posterior chain making us mobile,

strong and powerful. And the best part about it is that good practice can take only 30 minutes (or less) only

a few times a week!

Basic, Basic, Basic. If someone is proficient at the two foundation Kettlebell exercises: the swing and the

get-up, they will more than likely move better, perform better, and feel better than most of the population.

The swing is strength and cardio in one exercise; the get-up is strength and mobility in one exercise.

Everything else is icing on the cake. "Magic" happens with the other exercises when the basics get better.

In one particularly busy month last year I stopped all training except, MRKC David Whitley's Furnace,

twice a week. What happened? I set a PR on my military press without training presses. The WTH effect

in full force. As taught in the CK-FMS course, we need a solid base of mobility and stability before we can

even think about piling strength on top of a bad foundation.

So why Kettlebells? The foundation Kettlebell exercises teach us to move properly and counteract the

damage we do by the postures we live in. They train our bodies to work as a unit and have the composition

we are made to have - and the exercises are so efficient and powerful that it takes a fraction of the time

many are accustomed to spending on their training.

Dragon Door TV

2011-05-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Check out my favorite Dragon Door TV episode - with my good buddy, uh I mean "Mate" Andrew Read!

How it All Began

2011-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

On January 16th, I posted that it was my 5 year kettlebelliversary. Fellow RKC, Mark Snow asked for a blog post on how it all began. Here it is:

In 2004 when I was living in Atlanta after graduating from Georgia Tech, I had a flexible outside sales job and a long distance relationship. That combination meant that there was a lot of free time that I needed to fill. I chose to occupy my free time with frequent trips to the gym. I quickly became addicted and found myself spending 2 hours a day, 6 days a week in the gym. That's TWELVE HOURS of gym time each week. I thought that I had to go that often to get enough cardio training, plus strength and flexibility training.

Fast forward and I am living in San Diego, working a 55 hour a week job and trying to balance life and a relationship at the same time. Needless to say, no matter how much I rearranged my schedule, I didn't have the 12 hours that I was used to spending at the gym anymore. That is when I heard a local radio station talk about a gym called Iron Core that used these things called 'kettlebells.' According to the people interviewed, kettlebells dramatically decreased your time in the gym since the workouts were cardio, strength and flexibility all at the same time. It was too good to be true. I had to check it out for myself.

So, I went down on a Saturday morning for a 'trial class' and was amazed at what I discovered. The workout was intense and very different from what I was used to. It was some serious cardio without the boredom of the 'hamster wheel' (AKA the treadmill) and strength training without the monotony of isolated repetitions such as bicep curls. It was strength stretching without the endless poses of yoga. The workout was not only comprehensive and intense, but it was a lot of fun! And the trainer who, to me, was "just the guy at the gym down the street" was someone named Brett Jones (you may have heard of him.) I had NO IDEA at the time what a gold mine it was to be able to train with him multiple times a week!

I went from going to the gym 12 times a week, to taking three 45 minute classes, and yet somehow I found my strength and body composition improving. I wasn't getting those bulky, beefy muscles that you would think would accompany strength gains, but was getting long, lean lines and definition - all while spending 1/3 of the time in the gym!

I knew within a month that I wanted to be certified to teach and be able to share kettlebells with others. I attended the September 2006 RKC - back when they were only held in Minneapolis. Iron Core was nice enough to let me teach some classes after work and then a year later I decided that it was time to move back to Atlanta and open my own place.

When Condition opened, I was the only class instructor and Katie Bigelow (Now RKC2 and Z-Health Master Trainer) helped me out in the intro workshops. She went through the RKC 6 months after Condition opened and now almost 3.5 years later there are 12 HKC's or RKC's who teach here on a regular or substitute basis. I'm proud of all of them as they all have full time jobs outside of kettlebells and got certified because of their love for the training - just as I did.

I cant imagine a time where I won't train with kettlebells. I love the efficiency of kettlebells because with less time spent on my own training, I now have more time to do other things: like teach kettlebells, write about kettlebells, or read about kettlebells, or blog about kettlebells.... ;)

Maintaining Sanity Via Kettlebells and the Warrior Diet for Fitness Competitions

2010-10-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

In 2007, I decided to become a fitness competitor. I had been an RKC for a year and kettlebells had been my sole form of exercise for two. One of my friends had a relative who had been competing and hooked us up via email. She let me know that I was on the wrong track and needed the guidance of someone with experience and convinced me to use her online consultant. Now, this company produces the top fitness competitors internationally every year and I knew they could get me where I wanted to be for the first show – and they did. The problem was the path to the first show made me insane! The overwhelming monotony and planning for the diet and hours of conventional fitness training drove me into isolation. It was all consuming. 3 months later when the show came around I was ready, but it came with a price. Was competing worth it? And more importantly, did it have to be this way?

Just a little insight into the competing world: Meals had to be timed no more than 3 hours apart. No alcohol in the last 3 months, and the only allowed vegetables in the last 4 weeks were broccoli, asparagus, spinach, and green beans. Brussel sprouts were not allowed! With 5-6 meals a day timed perfectly, my spreadsheet that had to have macros add up– not just calories – drove me crazy. I remember the times where the protein and carbs would add up but I would be short on good fat and would have to drink a tablespoon of oil at the end of the day to make it all work. And the workouts! Hours at the gym – on the hamster wheel, doing lunges, 4-6 days of hour long “cardio” with different “RPE’s” (which I never fully understood) then 4-5 days of isolated muscle training – tons of reps with very light weights. Add onto that 1-2 days of yoga or pilates, which I am sure are great programs, but they both bored me to tears. I even tried a yoga where you hung from straps off a wall to get my mind off of it. They said “Kettlebells should only be done once a week because they only work the big muscle groups and will never the lines you need.” Between a full time job, diet planning and going to the gym there was no time for myself or my friends. I was a nut job! The smallest things became the biggest deals the closer it was to show time. And apparently, that is “normal” in the fitness world. We were warned of it.

With the 2008 season approaching I decided to tweak my approach. I dropped the insane training and only did kettlebells for the Fitness Universe competition in Miami. The diet was still crazy – who likes eating the same vegetables 5 times a day for 30 days? But at least the training time was cut in at least half and I was enjoying it. At Universe I felt even more ready than for my first show and was only about half as crazy as for the first show. But with a little more clarity I started noticing how superficial that world can be and I really didn’t fit in with the glam girls. The problem was, I had invested so much money on shoes and suits and makeup and tanner that I thought it would be a waste if I didn’t do just one more show.

In September 2009, there was a competition for the Southeast regionals only 30 miles from where I live. I decided to drop the fitness diet and use the Warrior Diet instead. Again, I decided to only use kettlebells this time using the Return of the Kettlebell protocol. Once I decided on this program I wanted to run it by an expert so I called Master RKC Dan John for advice. He told me that, for my size goals, I should drop the 2x20 deadlifts and trade them for clean and front squat ladders 1-3. The deadlifts are great for inching up strength but what I needed was a little more mass relatively quickly. And the program worked! What a great way to finish my “career” in the fitness world. No stress on show day, lots of fun backstage. I actually TRULY enjoyed the whole experience. At that show I placed 2^nd overall – the highest I have ever placed – and at the same time maintained “sanity” while dieting and did the training I knew was reliable. They even put my picture from that show on a poster for one of the 2010 shows.

If I was giving advice to an aspiring fitness competitor who was looking to build size, I would tell her to use Return of the Kettlebell or Kettlebell Muscle in the building phase, then 4 weeks prior to the show, use Viking Warrior Conditioning to lean out while maintaining lean muscle mass.

What I took away from the fitness competition experience is that there is more than one way to achieve fitness goals. If you run miles and miles a day or swim for hours or even spend 3 hours at a conventional gym, you can reach your goals. I choose kettlebells because I love the training and it’s the most efficient method I’ve seen. Is it the only way? No, but it makes the most sense for me. I would rather spend 20-45 minutes training 3 times a week than 2-3 hours 6 days a week. I have better things to do than train all day (like teach others to train, or read about training, or write about training…) ;)

Keeping it Real

2010-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

I didn’t realize how badly I was eating until Fall of 2007. I wasn’t overweight and I thought I was eating healthy. I wanted a challenge so I decided to do a fitness competition. I had heard how bad the fitness diet was and I was afraid that I was going to be hungry and cranky all the time. The diet WAS hard but only because of the measuring and preplanning. The food portions were amazingly large. At the time I was working in an office and kept my Lean Cuisines and powerbars in the refrigerator in the break room. They were convenient and doesn’t “lean” mean healthy? They didn’t taste good and never filled me up but I thought I was being healthy. My first show was in 3 months and when I showed my consultant my diet journal she said “You have to cut all that crap out NOW if you want to be ready in 3 months.” I was shocked. I thought I was doing most things right. What she told me was to eat REAL food. If it swims in the water, flies in the sky, runs in a field, grows from the ground or falls from a tree, you can eat it. To my surprise, the portions got bigger and the food tasted better. She told me not eat anything that had an ingredient I needed a college degree to pronounce. I felt better, got leaner, and amazing wasn’t hungry. Eat REAL food. Who knew?

When you eat REAL food, your body knows what to do with it. It can optimally digest foods that are unprocessed and that will result in better body composition.

Now let’s talk about vegan and vegetarianism. If someone is vegan or vegetarian for ethical reasons, more power to them. I’m all for it. But if someone cuts out meat products to lose weight, it generally isn’t a good idea. Of the many acquaintances I have who do not eat meat, none of them only eat vegetables, fruits, and nuts. They tend to fill their plates with soysage hot dogs and tofurkey sandwiches. Their diets are overly starched with tons of bread, rice, pasta - and overly processed – full of fake soy based foods that their bodies don’t know how to digest. It would be healthier and would better help them reach their goals if they made a steak salad with organic dressing.

How do you know if something is natural if it doesn’t have a label? If something doesn’t have a label and you’re not sure if it’s natural, a good idea is to stay away from things that are white. White sugar, white flour – anything bleached has been stripped of its nutrients.

Another diet pitfall is processed or refined sugars and even artificial sweeteners. Now sugar should really be eliminated altogether, but for most people that just isn’t feasible (guilty.) The best form of sugar is raw honey, stevia, or natural sugars such as cane juice. If you use artificial sweeteners, use them sparingly because #1 most are highly chemical and processed and #2 if you use enough of it, your body will treat it as regular sugar. There are plenty of products out there sweetened with natural sugar and I personally think that it tastes better than products with corn syrup in them – from which we should run screaming. But there comes a time when you’re going to want something sweet. There’s nothing wrong with that in moderation but make good choices when you decide on your sweet. If you read the labels of so called “Diet” food, you’ll find many words that look like a bunch of letters put together. My advice is to find organic natural sweets. Compare the two labels: One is Edy’s Slow LIGHT churned vanilla bean ice cream and the other is Straus Family Organic creamery.

Edy's Slow Churned Light Vanilla Bean

INGREDIENTS: milk, skim milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, whey protein, egg yolks, tapioca maltodextrin, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, ground vanilla beans, guar gum, carrageenan, dextrose, vitamin A palmitate, natural flavor

Straus Family Organic Vanilla Bean

Ingredients: Organic cream, organic nonfat milk, organic sugar, organic egg yolk, organic vanilla extract, organic vanilla bean.

Not only are the ingredients recognizable and healthier in the organic ice cream but you will be satisfied quicker. Your body knows what it’s getting. I don’t know about you but with diet foods I never feel like I got enough whereas a couple of spoonfuls of rich, natural ice cream fulfills the need for something sweet. Be careful of marketing that will lead you to bad choices. When I see “Diet” or “Light” and especially “Fat free” I pretty much move on. If it says “Natural” or “Organic” I’ll at least read the label to see what’s really in it. One of the foods we were NEVER allowed to eat on the fitness diet was Dannon“Light and Fit” yogurt because the processed ingredients were so unhealthy, but we could eat Stoneyfield organic yogurt – even though it had more calories. The difference is the calories are useful and our bodies know what to do with them.

If you’re serious about eating natural you can take this a step further by doing things such as eating only grass fed beef. Animals are not meant to eat grains so when cheap grains are fed to cows, they develop ulcers. They are then medicated with hormones and antibiotics, which are then passed to the consumer when eaten.

The transition to real foods can take some time. At first, start paying attention to the ingredient list and what’s really in the food you’re eating. You don’t need to starve to eat right. Just eat foods that are real. And remember.. just because it is “diet” doesn’t mean that it’s “healthy.”

Lift Heavy!

2010-08-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

The NY Times posted this - a testament to lifting heavy!

REALLY?

The Claim: For Better Muscle Tone, Go Lighter and Repeat

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Published: April 4, 2010THE FACTS

Lifting heavy weights makes you big and bulky — or at least that’s the conventional wisdom. It’s the reason many women (and some men) who want slim and “toned” physiques opt for lighter weights, lifted more times.

But the notion is not supported by science. Producing bulky muscles requires not just heavy weights but heavy calorie consumption as well, typically far above the 2,000 daily calories recommended for many adults.

For people who lift weights to tone up and slim down, experts say, a regimen that includes a combination of challenging weights and fewer repetitions can help significantly. In a 2002 study, for example, scientists looked at what happened when women performed various resistance exercises at different weights and repetitions (85 percent of their maximum ability for 8 reps, versus 45 percent for 15). Subjects lifting more weight fewer times burned more energy and had a greater metabolic boost after exercise.

In another study published last year, scientists followed 122 women for six years. They found that those who were assigned to do resistance exercises three times a week — sets of 8 reps at 70 to 80 percent of their ability — lost the most weight and body fat. A similar two-year study of women who did strength training with challenging weight twice weekly found similar effects on body and “intra-abdominal” fat.

THE BOTTOM LINE

For better tone, try fewer reps and more challenging weights.

ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com

Barefoot is Better!

2010-07-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Let me first say that I plagiarized most of this from the Vibram website, Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, and websites discussing McDougall's book in order to put together a 7 minute speech for a business networking group. This is what I presented:

The human foot is pretty complex: it has 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, healthy feet need to be stimulated and exercised.

Many experts believe the shoes we wear virtually cast the foot in a coffin and weaken our foot and leg muscles, leaving them underdeveloped and more prone to injury. And while there are many times where traditional footwear is important for protection, it is just as important to counter the time we wear stiff shoes by exercising the foot in a more natural state. Stimulating muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger, it improves your balance, agility and body awareness.

Despite their marketing suggesting otherwise, no manufacturer has ever invented a shoe that is any help in injury prevention.

In modern years, between 65 to 80 per cent of all runners suffer an injury. At Stanford University, two sales reps from Nike were watching the athletics team practice. Part of their job was to get feedback from the sponsored runners about which shoes they preferred.  Unfortunately, it was difficult that day as the runners all seemed to prefer... nothing. 'Didn't we send you enough shoes?' they asked head coach Vin Lananna. They had, he was just refusing to use them. 'I can't prove this But I believe that when my runners train barefoot they run faster and suffer fewer injuries.' the well-respected coach told them. Nike sponsored the Stanford team as they were the best of the very best. Needless to say, Nike was a little disturbed to hear that Lananna felt the best shoes they had to offer them were not as good as no shoes at all.  When Christopher McDougall, author of “Born to Run” was told of this he wasn’t surprised. He'd spent years struggling with a variety of running-related injuries, each time getting more expensive shoes, which seemed to make no difference. He'd lost count of the amount of money He'd sports-injury clinics - eventually ending with advice from his doctor to give it up and 'buy a bike'.  And he wasn't alone. Remember, every year anywhere from 65 to 80 per cent of all runners suffer an injury. No matter who you are or how much you run, your odds of getting hurt are the same. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, fast or slow, chubby or lean, your feet are still in the danger zone.  But why? What abut the Tarahumara tribe, the best long-distance runners in the world? People who live in caves without running water, and run with only strips of old leather thongs strapped to the bottom of their feet. On race day, they step to the starting line and just go for it, ultra-running for two full days, sometimes covering over 300 miles, non-stop. For fun! One recently came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing nothing but a toga and sandals. He was 57 years old. It’s as if the facts MUST have been recorded wrong. Shouldn't we, the ones with state-of-the-art running shoes, have the zero injury rate, and the Tarahumara, who run far more, on far rockier surfaces, in shoes that barely qualify as shoes, be constantly hospitalized?  The answer, McDougall discovered, will not be easy to swallow for the $20 billion running shoe industry.  

The modern running shoe was essentially invented by Nike. The company was founded in the Seventies by Phil Knight, a University of Oregon runner, and Bill Bowerman, the University of Oregon coach. Before then, the modern running shoe didn’t exist. Bowerman didn't actually do much running. In between writing and coaching, Bowerman came up with the idea of sticking a hunk of rubber under the heel of his pumps. With the heel raised, he reasoned, gravity would push them forward ahead of the next man. Bowerman called Nike's first shoe the Cortez – Ironically, after the conquistador who plundered the New World for gold. Bowerman's partner, Knight, set up a manufacturing deal in Japan and was soon selling shoes faster than they could come off the assembly line.

Since then, running-shoe companies have had more than 30 years to perfect their designs so, logically, the injury rate must be in rapid decline by now. Adidas has come up with a $250 shoe with a microprocessor in the sole. Asics spent $3 million to invent the Kinsei, a shoe with 'multi-angled forefoot gel pods', and a 'midfoot thrust enhancer' – whatever those are. Each season brings an expensive new model for the average runner.

But at least you know you'll never limp again. Or so the leading companies would have you believe. As you know by now, running injuries have drastically increased since the invention of the “running shoe.”

Runners wearing top-of-the-line trainers are far more likely to get injured than runners in cheap ones. This was discovered as far back as 1989, according to a study led by Dr Bernard Marti at Switzerland's University of Bern.

Dr Marti's research team analyzed over 4,000 runners in a 9.6-mile road race. The runners filled out an extensive questionnaire that detailed their training habits, injuries and footwear for the previous year. What surprised Dr Marti was the fact that the most common variable among the injuries wasn't training surface, running speed, body weight or weekly mileage. It was the price of the shoe. Runners in shoes that cost more than $95 were more than twice as likely to get hurt as runners in shoes that cost less than $40.

Follow-up studies found similar results. For double the price, you get double the pain.

But WHY is running barefoot so much better? Not only do thick soles restrict our feet, keeping them weak and changing our natural posture, but cushiony shoes change our stride. When you run barefoot you are more likely to land towards front of your foot, whereas running in thick trainers will cause you to have a heel strike. If you run barefoot, your very smart body will tell you if you are doing something right or will send pain signals if doing something wrong. Try running barefoot on your heels. It hurts. Your body is sending these pain signals because it’s just not a good idea. The cushion in trainers absorbs the impact so you don’t get these natural cues from your body yet you’re still putting pounds and pounds of pressure up the chain in a far less than optimal gait. Watch Jesse Owens run: his only shock absorption came from the compression of his legs and his thick pad of midfoot fat. Thumping down on his heels was not an option.

If you decide that being barefoot is the route for you, take one step backward and realize you are most likely in the process of rehabilitating your feet and legs from years of being restricted. All the padding and support has led to weaker feet. Barefoot running is not about blocking or pushing through pain.. It is about tuning-in to what your body is telling you..Listen to it. Adjust and advance accordingly. I’ve been wearing my vibram five fingers for 3 years – the closest to barefoot I can be in my world – and I have never felt better.

What are we selling to our children?

2010-07-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

My good friend Gene Robbins said something profound yesterday. We were talking about the horrible health issues that developed in Morgan Spurlock during his 30 day "Supersize Me" experiment. Gene said "If you smoke cigarettes that can kill you maybe in 20 years, but fast food can kill you in a month - and what are we marketing to children?"

http://www.vivavegie.org/101book/text/nolink/social/supersizeme.htm

Combo Workout

2010-06-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. To switch up class without adding "random acts of variety" I decided to combine some of the basics to create a well-rounded "combo workout." We did 30:30 3 times through.

Halo+Russian Twist (The Snideman's call it a ribbon)

burpee+deadlift (hands on the handles of two heavy bells as you jump back)

Single leg deadlift+maxcercist row right (a one legged row at the bottom of your SLDL)

Single leg deadlift+maxcercist row left

squat + press right (or clean and press)

squat + press left (or clean and press)

swing + snatch

swing+ snatch

Simple but not easy!

I was GOING to write a CK-FMS blog post...

2010-05-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

... but Mark Snow, RKC did it better than I could have. Here is how he said it:

Are you Helping or Hindering Your Performance?

MAY 24, 2010

tags: RKC, david whitley, HKC, Functional Movement Screen, Gray Cook, Brett Jones, FMS, CK-FMS, training for RKC

by mrsghp

Hope everyone is dong very well. I just returned from a fantastic event, the RKC’s Certified Kettlebell Functional Movement Specialist Workshop. What a wonderful 4 days Nikki and I had with our RKC brother/sisterhood.

Throughout all the lectures, labs, and exercise breaks I started thinking to myself: “who would not want to be FMS screened and/or attend CK-FMS?”

Think about it for a second. For those of you who have trained for RKC level I or II, how many of you had to deal with some kind of setback/injury? How many of you when training or attending RKC was informed that your technique was sub par and really struggled with proper technique?

Did you ever think that your setback and/or injury may have been due to a limitation that may exist in your body? How about the thought that this limitation puts your body in a position that you cannot perform the RKC standard for exercise technique?

That is the beautiful thing about the FMS.
It sets a baseline that gives you an idea about what your limitations are (be it asymmetry or imbalance). It provides you with a proven method of correcting these limitations whether it be improving on mobility, stability and/or motor control.

The reason why I am talking about it is because I have seen it as well as experienced it. I have seen individuals training for HKC and RKC get setbacks in their training due to a limitation. I have seen those same individuals fail their certification because they would not take the time to work on that limitation.

I am no better!!! I had alot of trouble getting my snatch numbers as well as being able to demonstrate RKC competency in my press and snatch in the lockout position. I was very fortunate enough to understand my shoulder/thoracic limitation in my FMS score and addressed it during training and taking a step back from training to get my shoulder mobility score to where it needed to be. Then I slowly progressed back into proper technique with corrective exercise and help from my instructor Master RKC David Whitley.

So if you would consider some advice:

If you are planning on training and attending a RKC level I or HKC. Take the time to get a FMS and work with an RKC. Better yet, get with a CK-FMS and get the best of both worlds. Then you can make sure that you are limitation free and that your technique is solid.

If you are RKC Level I, attend CK-FMS. This is a terrific opportunity for you to better yourself as a Kettlebell instructor. Knowing your clients FMS score helps tremendously with guiding you as a RKC to determine what patterning will work best to get your clients training with proper technique. Remember what I said earlier, poor technique may be due to your client’s limitation

Also you are giving your clients more value to your training by helping to get them in fantastic shape AND prevent injury!

Nikki and Imade a very good decision and went to CK-FMS before attending RKC II. This gives us all the tools to keep our limitations at bay and have the optimal ability to train for the rigors of Level II. Also, another smart thing we have decided is to attend the Summit of Strength to help us get our technique on target to train limitation free and with solid technique!

Training ADD and Random Acts of Variety

2010-05-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

MRKC Mark Reifkind uses the term "Random acts of variety" to describe training with no purpose - doing random exercises with no real objective - or at least no real focus. I have had, in the past, training ADD and if you follow the blog know that I have put myself on variety restriction. What my training has evolved into is:

2 days of the MRKC David Whitley's "Furnace" (one round with a 12kg, one round with a 16kg, one with a 20kg, and one with a 24kg - because each training session with the Furnace has two rounds)

1 day of Geoff Neupert's "Deep Six" (using the 12kg and 16kg - trying to work up to all 5 rounds with the 16kg.)

A couple of days of playing around with heavy deadlifts (usually 9 single sumo deadlifts with 2 48kg's) just because I love deadlifting.

I love this schedule. I feel like by sticking to the basics my RKC skills are staying sharp. I dont feel like my head is spinning trying to figure out what program to do and never actually doing anything purposeful.

Big Mike Bottoms Up Presses the 40kg!

2010-05-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Mike is a naturally strong guy but he topped himself this week by bottoms up pressing a 40kg kettlebell. He's pretty close to the 44kg!

Before You "Rep it Out" Read This Article by Pavel

2010-04-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

This article explains the fine art of the grind. Enjoy!

Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast

By Pavel
© 2010 Power by Pavel, Inc.

This article was inspired by Marty’s insightful Rep Speed: Velocity Versus Grind piece and its title by Jordan Vezina, RKC Team Leader.

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”. If lifters picked up this paradoxical cue from shooters, there would be lot more strength to go around.

Understanding a perfect ‘grind’ calls for a short lesson in Newtonian physics. F=ma, force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. This formula has at least two implications for a lifter. First, to quote influential Russian coach Sergey Smolov, ”…more strength is needed to lift a heavy [weight] fast than to lift it slow and, accordingly, the slower is the… lift, the greater weight can be lifted.”¹ Say, F equals 4 units (forget Newtons for simplicity’s sake). You can arrive at F of 4 by different combinations of m and a: 2×2, 1×4, 4×1, etc. If the first number represents mass, it becomes apparent that you will lift the heaviest weight with lower acceleration: 4×1, not 1×4. (Theoretically, one would lift the most weight at a near zero acceleration—e.g. 4=400×0.01— but then we run into an endurance problem as one’s max force output drops off in seconds.)

The second lesson from the F=ma formula is that acceleration must remain positive until the completion of the lift. If you have been moving as fast as you could from the start of the lift, you will be forced to slow down at the sticking point because you are at you most disadvantageous leverage to exert maximum force. This deceleration will finish off your already low force output, compliments of Newton. The moral of the story: do not accelerate when it does not count, so you can when it does. According to Dr. Thomas McLaughlin, an expert max lift is characterized by relatively even, low acceleration.
You should teach yourself to lift in such a way that even the heaviest weight is slightly speeding up towards the lockout. Boris Sheyko, Marty Gallagher’s Russian counterpart, emphasizes that “The barbell must leave the platform unhurriedly but afterwards it should move with constant acceleration…” I would like to underline that he said “constant acceleration”, not “constant speed”.

Senior RKC Dan John has a few things to say on this subject. “My Coach, the late Ralph Maughan, taught us the key to throwing anything was “Constant Acceleration”. Anybody can start fast, but speeding up after starting fast gives little [explosion]. Starting by grinding your “off foot” and letting things build allows you to snap the implement at the right time. “It is difficult to teach this as the beginner wants to generate all the speed at the start and coast to the finish. And, by the way, the beginner is REWARDED at first with this method as the neophyte’s light weights can be jacked overhead. That is why many people love the first months of training, but success comes when frustration arises. After missing over and over with just enough to demand better technique, the athlete tends to give in, grind it up, snap it at the right moment and continues on the path. “That is why so many people like to “dabble” with the first fleeting success of lifting. Then, then try 5K runs or bike races or whatever. Greatness comes when you decide to be patient enough to take the time to lift/throw right.”

Dan has a brilliantly simple self-correcting method of teaching one to smoothly squeeze the barbell off the platform and “constantly” accelerate it: use a thick bar. If you jerk, your fingers will peel open. But if you think like an expert marksman, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”, you will make the lift. Consider using the double overhand grip and taking a pass on the chalk in your deadlift warmups to learn and reinforce this lesson.

Let us sum up.

A grind is a non-ballistic lift done with a low positive acceleration throughoutthe range of motion.

A grind is a professional mindset for lifting the most weight. A mindset that takes years to practice and perfect.

A grind is not jerky or panicked. It is not sluggish or artificially slow either.

A grind has composure. Like a space shuttle, it lifts off at its leisure and slowly picks up with the unhurried inevitability of an unstoppable force.
A grind displays the confidence of real strength.

38 percent of the participants at this RKC PRed on their Strict Press

In spite of fatigue, at the end of the second day of the RKC kettlebell instructor course at least one third of the students (38% at the course at which this photo was taken) set strict military press PRs. We teach them how to ‘grind’.
Photo courtesy www.DragonDoor.com

If you want to learn what the Russian science has to say about ‘grinding” versus exploding, refer to my book Power To The People Professional ↩

Helpful Tip for the TGU

2010-04-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, MRKC Jeff O'Connor recently came to Condition and taught an Advanced Basics workshops covering the swing and Get-up in-depth. The piece of information I came away with that was the most beneficial is the following: I never knew you could pivot on the heel of the planted foot. Duh! It only makes sense because you want your toes and your knee pointing in the same direction. I was trying to come out into the bridge on the way down with my foot planted when I needed to pivot on my heel. It makes a HUGE difference. You may already be doing that, but if not it really helps.

Experience so far...

2010-04-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, I posted my simple training plan. I modified it a little and also did the Warrior Diet starting Wenesday. Here is what happened:

Monday: Furnace workout with a 16kg both rounds

Tuesday: OFF

Wednesday: Deep Six (I decided to sub MRKC's Deep Six workout for one of the furnace days I was planning.

Thursday: Convict Conditioning focusing on Pullups

Friday: Furnace workout with 20kg first round and 12kg second.

I weighed myself Saturday and had lost 3 pounds since Tuesday... And felt awesome.

My experiment

2010-04-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

I decided that I am tired of trying to juggle a whole bunch of exercises in my training. I want to get GOOD at something. And that something is pull-ups. I also want to maintain my strength for other exercises. My program that I am going to follow for the next 6 weeks is

3 days Furnace: starting out 1 day/week 16kg, 1 day 12kg 1 day 20 kg. Hopefully by the end it will be 30kg, 16kg, 24kg. Two days will be pullup protocols from Convict Conditioning.

Yesterday, I did the Furnace with a 16kg so today will be pullup day. I'll let you know what happens...

The Furnace!

2010-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to MRKC David Whitley, I have found my absolute favorite training session. I love the furnace. If you haven't experienced the furnace I HIGHLY suggest that you try it. It's all about dissecting the get-up and adding swings to have a complete version of the Program Minimum.

If you want to learn more about the Furnace, go to the Nashville Bootcamp blog explaining it!

Jeff O'Connor and David Whitley were THE BOMB this past weekend!

2010-04-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Condition hosted an Advanced Basics Workshop with Master RKC Jeff O'Connor (and special guest MRKC David Whitley.) It was entire day of only... you guessed it... Swings and Get-ups. They reiterated how important those two exercises are and that the better you can perform the basics, the better you will be at everything else. It was also one of those days that taught me a lot about myself.

I remember when I went through the RKC the first time back in 2006. I thought I knew EVERYTHING about kettlebells - I was an RKC! Then I assisted the following year and thought... hmm... maybe I don't know as much as I thought. 4 years, 4 RKC's, 2 RKC 2's, an HKC and countless workshops put on by Pavel, Senior and Master RKC's later and I realize I know NOTHING. I wake up every day and get to "play kettlebells" - working with the tool I love the most, and the more I know about the body the more I realize there is to learn. Thankfully, I have a network of others around the world in similar situations and we make each other better. The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.

Exciting announcement!

2010-03-12T12:06:00.001-08:00

This past Wednesday, Dragon Door announced the promotion of 3 Master RKC's, 4 Senior RKC's and 17 Team Leaders. I am honored and excited to be on the list of new Team Leaders. :) Congratulations to everyone!

I'm back!

2010-03-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

This is my new blog address. I got locked out of my other one and couldnt figure out how to get back in, so I just started a new one. A new blog and a new training program! Here was yesterday's training session - I'm easing back into a real regimen:

3x3 2kb presses with 16kg's

3x3 2kb deadlift with 40kg's

100 swings with a 16kg

5/5 TGU with a 12kg for cool down

Today's training will be pullups, bent presses, and Viking Push presses