Formosa Fitness

Boy does it help to have a professional do things:

Lower body focus yesterday

workout1

wall squats: 11, 12, 14, 20

box pistols: 20, 20, 20, 40, 20

KB swings 28kg: 30, 30, 30, 20

Squats 2x20kg: 4x20

KB clean 20kg: 100

reverse crunches: 3x15

crunches: 2x10

workout2

ran for 30 minutes

The wall squats were something that Steve Cotter really emphasized at the IKFF cert and boy do I need to do them. He had a whole progression of them but the first one is still hard for me.

I have no idea where the pistols came from today. I've been working on the box version of them but balance and flexibility have always been an issue. Today they were there in droves. Just WOW! I think the wall squats really primed my body to do the pistols. I'll keep that sequence for sure.

The squats were tough today but I ground them out.  For the running, i said damn the number of laps and just ran as I pleased. Very refreshing and no pressure.

I want to start talking a bit about my own training. I'm a little worried about this, though. I'm afraid that people won't understand.

As a trainer, I design programs for other people and often I have done them myself, sometimes for quite a while. I don't like recommending programs I haven't done and am not intimately familiar with. But just because I've done those kinds of workouts doesn't mean I'm doing them right now or that I do them non-stop and do nothing else.

Also as a trainer, my responsibilities are greater. I have to be competent in a wider range of training modalities than your average fitness enthusiast in order to train people as I think they should be trained. For me, intimate knowledge of kettlebells, body weight, and endurance programming are essential to what I do. And it takes me lots of time to build skills in those areas. So I have to spend quite a bit more time than the average guy testing out what works and what doesn't.

So just because I recommend a specific client do a 20:00 workout with 10lbs. dummbells doesn't mean that's what I do everyday. :)

Here's what I did yesterday:

workout 1

L-sits: 10x 0:06

Tucks: 10x 0:06

Dips: 10, 10, 10

Pullups: 10, 7, 7

KB Clean and Press 20kg: Alt. 12, 14, 14

Double Kb rows 2x20kg: 12, 12, 12

KB chest press 24kg: 10/10x3

workout 2

20:00 jump rope no rest

I do two workouts a day because I maximize EPOC that way. EPOC= excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Basically your body continues to burn calories after a serious workout and the maximum benefit from EPOC comes from doing two sessions a day. So I'm maximizing my calorie burn. Also breaking it up helps me control the lactic acid a bit better. Long, intense workouts generate more lactic acid than my body can handle. As the process continues, my uric acid levels go up -- not good for a gout guy like me. Two sessions a day keeps that under control. 

One important note about workout #2. Steve Cotter told us during the IKFF cert that doing reps can really limit your abilities. What happens is that you get this number in your head and then once you start getting to that number, your body starts backing off. You actually are limiting what your body can do.

I've noticed this in my rope jumping -- an exercise I like very much. I usually rope jump as active rest or a warmup and I do sets of 200 continuous jumps. But I noticed that even after 6 straight months, those 200 jumps were about all I could do continuously and that didn't make sense to me.

So yesterday, I just set a timer for 20:00 and sure enough, I did it all the way through. I didn't count reps but just kept going. Counting reps had really limited my ability. So going for time took the brakes off. Try it out for yourself.

http://www.iwanttolooklikethatguy.com/

This is a documentary of Stu MacDonald and his quest to go from a 42 year old guy with a 44 inch waist to looking like the guy in the supplement ads. If you have any interest in fitness and how people can change their body, then this is something you must see. In short, he did it. He got his body fat down to about 4% but it was a real struggle for him, hence the value of the movie.

Stu starts out by saying he's tried every diet and exercise fad out there and none of them has worked. Jeff Willet, a former pro bodybuilder, opens a gym in Stu's town so Stu decides to get Jeff's help in making a serious stab at looking like the guys in the ads.

The movie shows everything from him getting his fat levels tested to the emotional impact his training has on him. That emotional impact takes a while to build up, though. At first, Jeff has Stu do a period of just weight training to build up a base of training. Stu expects instant results and is disappointed at first when things don't change quickly. But actually at the end of the first three months, Stu lost 8% of his body fat. Not bad.

With that strength basis, the real training begins. The workouts got more intense but the diet was particularly emphasized. Stu really struggled with his mental demons as the diet got tighter and tighter and the calories went down and down. He even became a basket case just as he was about to enter his first bodybuilding contest, the highlight of hs journey.

It was great to watch his transformation from 28% body fat to 4%. He actually did it. His six pack came out, he got ripped, learned to pose, the whole picture. I've never seen a documentary that showed this process before and it will make a great tool for showing clients how tough the fitness lifestyle can be.

BTW, I'm very interested in the Max OT method Jeff used to train Stu. The workouts apparently lasted only 30-40 minutes and yet Stu burned lots of fat and built muscle. I'll report back what I find on this workout method.

The main lesson I took away is that it is possible for a normal guy to achieve amazing results in 6 months given the right plan and the willpower to make it happen. But expect to sacrifice everything to make it happen.

Very inspiring and very highly recommended!

This kettlebell program got posted over at Irongarm:

Level 1 1 minute each hand rest 2 minutes
Level 2 1 minute each hand rest 1:30
Level 3 1 minute each hand rest 1 minute
Level 4 1 minute each hand rest 30 seconds
Level 5 1:30 each hand rest 2 minutes
Level 6 1:30 each hand rest 1:30 minutes
Level 7 1:30 each hand rest 1 minutes
Level 8 1:30 each hand rest 30 seconds
Level 9 2:00 each hand rest 2 minutes
Level 10 2:00 each hand rest 1:30
Level 11 2:00 each hand rest 1 minutes
Level 12 2:00 each hand rest 30 seconds
Level 13 2:30 each hand rest 2 minutes
Level 14 2:30 each hand rest 1:30
Level 15 2:30 each hand rest 1 minutes
Level 16 2:30 each hand rest 30 seconds
Level 17 3:00 each hand rest 2 minutes
Level 18 3:00 each hand rest 1:30
Level 19 3:00 each hand rest 1 minutes
Level 20 3:00 each hand rest 30 seconds

The RPMs
One arm jerk (OAJ) 4-16 RPMS
Snatch 12-16 RPMS
One arm long cylce (OALC) 4-10 RPMs

It's a good GS progression that builds volume through time. This kind of progression is kind of hard to figure out on your own. I saw a question about it yesterday on the IKFF Facebook page. So here's how to do it: pick you exercise and start the level you're at. Obviously start at level one if this is new to you. Work at the listed reps per minute. After the time has elapsed, switch hands and do the same then rest for the time suggested. Repeat as desired. Work your way up the levels as you progress. Have fun.

I'm re-reading Tom Kurz' Science of Sports Training because I'm better able to understand the concepts after having gotten my NASM cert. If you haven't read the book and want something that is way more technical about setting up training programs than the average book but isn't quite a real textbook on the subject, then Kurz' book is exactly what you need. Don't look for a cookie-cutter program through. Kurz lays out the basics and gives you the tools to do it yourself. But this is waaaay beyond the average lifting/exercise book so be warned.

In the opening chapters, he talks about how volume should always proceed intensity and that's a good point that I'd forgotten about recently. You have to do a higher volme of work BEFORE you can squeeze all that volume down into a more intense workout.

I'd forgotten that with my kettlebell workouts recently. I had reached a certain level with the 16kg KB through sets and reps training, tested it with 10 minute sets in the IKFF cert, and thought I was therefore ready to just jump into 20kg KB training with long sets. That was a no go.

It took me time to build up my KB training with the 16kg KB. I didn't just do a long set the first day I got it. I had forgotten that. The intensity of jumping from a 16kg KB to a 20 kg was too much for my hands. Time to go back to volume and build myself back up with the technique and endurance before I try long sets with the 20kg.

Remember: volume before intensity.

I was recently asked what the activity in this pic above could possibly do to improve your taichi. My initial response was that it's valuable because it does everything taichi does not: build strength, burns calories, etc. But in fact, kettlebell lifting does some things that help people with other endeavors like taichi, etc.

For one, just look at the pic: am I fully present in that moment? You bet your ass I am.

I'm not thinking about what I had for lunch or what my wife and I discussed the night before in that pic. I'm putting 100% of my physical and mental being into keeping that kettlebell over my head. It was liked forced meditation.

People can't focus for long, especially in our pampered culture. Meditation asks people to focus while staying relaxed and it's a great path. But kettlebell lifting FORCES you to focus on the kettlebell because if you don't, it'll drop on your head or your foot.

If you teach beginners taichi, you'll sometimes find that they stare out the window. Focusing is the hardest thing for beginners to do because it's an internal focus that they need for taichi. They have to focus on their bodies, which they can't feel yet, and consciously let go of tensions. But not having this type of awareness, they can space out fairly easily. It's a tough art to learn.

Giving them an external object like a candle meditation helps for some people. Focus on the external object first then bring that focus inside. But for others that isn't enough.

Kettlebell lifting brings laser-like focus to your movements. You're moving a weight over time. Don't pay attention to it and you'll get hurt.

The bell also gives you feedback. It bangs into your body on bad cleans. This wakes you up like a Zen master banging you on the back with a long stick. Wake up!

The relaxation and tension of kettlebells also starts teaching people about efficiency of movement. This isn't like other types of weight lifting. We aren't trying to get huge or lift maximal amounts of weight. Kettlebells excel at strength endurance, meaning that you have to move the bells over time and that requires that you relax as much as you can and only use tension as needed by the lift. It's an amzing education process. Students learn about their bodies over time through the medium of the kettlebell. Plus, unlike taichi, they get comfortable with using tension where it's needed, which is a lesson that most taichi styles (except Chen style) don't teach well.

This process teaches students to not be afraid of necessary tension, but gets rid of unnecessary tension. So a proper use of tension and a healthy relationship with it is restored.

There are many lessons the KB can teach us and these are just a few.

接下來要介紹的是第一個典型的壺鈴動作。之前所介紹的deadlift和short swing，讓您可以準備好做這個動作。下列為動作要點:
1.使用臀部的力量，而非手臂的力量，把壺鈴往前推舉。握著壺鈴的手臂應該是垂放在骨 盆前方。
2.當您習慣了擺盪壺鈴所帶來的衝力後，可以開始做較長較高的擺盪。擺盪到胸部的高度 是您應期望達成的第一個目標。當您擺盪壺鈴的技巧愈純熟，您可以把它擺盪得愈高。
3.當壺鈴擺盪回您的身體時，千萬不要讓它撞擊到您的鼠蹊處。所以當壺鈴擺盪回來時， 您的臀部必須跟著往後方移動。
4.當壺鈴擺盪回您的兩腿之間時，用臀部的力量把垂放在骨盆前方的手臂往前用力推出， 而非手臂自己的力量。
5.當您把壺鈴擺盪出去時，除了縮緊臀部的肌肉來產生更大的動力，也要保持腹部緊繃， 來保護下背部。
6.重複上述動作。
單手擺盪壺鈴(one-arm swing)跟雙手擺盪壺鈴(two-arm swing)是差不多一樣的。唯一的不同處是單手擺盪時，身體會稍微轉向到側邊。

I did a ten minute set of kettlebell snatches last week and tore my left hand. I did another 10 minute set today and tore my right hand. So that's it for me for a while.

When I do sets and reps with the KB my hands are okay. But most every time i do a 10 minue set, I tear them. I know that these long sets are the standard for comparison in the KB community but I'm starting to think they have limitations as a training method. LOL. I'm going back to sets and reps.

As a KB fan, if my hands are messed up then my workouts suffer. I can never do the same volume at the intensity I like with torn up hands. As a teacher, torn hands are a mess because they can screw up your form while teaching and make you wince when the bell rubs the tear.

I'd be interested to hear how others deal with this.

接下來要介紹的是壺鈴的第二種基本動作—擺盪，英文就叫做swing。就是當您一提起 壺鈴後，就馬上擺盪它。下列是擺盪壺鈴的要點:
1.使用臀部的力量把壺鈴向前擺盪，千萬要注意不是用手臂的力量去擺盪壺鈴。每次擺盪 後，握著壺鈴的手臂應該是垂放在骨盆前方。
2.先做短促的擺盪(short swing)來習慣擺盪壺鈴所帶來的衝力。
3.當壺鈴擺盪回您的身體時，千萬不要讓它撞擊到您的鼠蹊處。所以當壺鈴擺盪回來時， 您的臀部必須跟著往後方移動。
4.當壺鈴擺盪回您的兩腿之間時，用臀部的力量把垂放在骨盆前方的手臂往前用力推出， 而非手臂自己的力量。
5.重複上述動作