The Blue Nail...Crushed!

I tried bending Iron Mind's blue nail for the first time today. I'd been consistently crushing yellow nails and got a pair of leather wraps...Thanks Kevin! Much more comfortable compaired to the IM wraps.

Here's a vid of the workout today and pic of the damage...

Full, Un-Sick Week!

Had a great week training. Hit my goals and made some significant gains. Amidst teaching classes, I feel great about the little successes as time is usually my deal-breaker when getting the workouts in that I've planned.

Monday - 11-10-08

Bottoms Up Press Ladders
2x1,2,3,4,5 w/ 24kg
Superset Each Rung w/
3 - 135lb Barbell Hang Cleans

Bending:
Green - Reverse Grip (1st try to get the groove - THANKS Adam Glass!!!)
2 - Yellow - Reverse Grip - Very Easy
1 - Yellow - Double Overhand
2 - 60D Nails - Reverse Grip

I'll try to get some vids out there of this for critiquing.

Tuesday - 11-11-08

TGU - 5 mins

Beast Goblet Squat
Bottoms Up - 5x5
Superset w/
Pull Ups - 5x5

Vo2 Max - 40 sets of 8 w/ 16kg

Wednesday - 11-12-08 - With Class

Circuit - :30/:30 - 3x
Double KB Squat Thrust
Planks
Swings
Double KB Overhead Lockout
Burpees
Sling Shots

Ab/Low Back Circuit

Thursday - 11-13-08

TGU - 5 mins

Barbell Front Squat - Worked up to:
245x3
295x1
315x1

Superset w/ Barbell Power (Muscle) Cleans
135
185
205
225

Work w/ Class:

Snatch w/ 24kg - 20/20, 15/15, 10/10, 5/5 ~ 4 mins.
Push Ups - 10x10
Swing - 40x
Squat - 30x
Swing - 20x
Squat - 10x
Pull Ups - 4x5

More Bending:
2 Yellows, Reverse Grip
1 Yellow, Double Overhand

The nail bending is really coming along. My wrists, thumbs and hands in general are sore as all get out for several hours after a session, but the pain soon goes away. I've been doing all of my bending with the canvas Iron Mind wraps that comes with a bag of nails. From what I've read, this is the most uncomfortable way to bend, but it's suited me fine this far. I'm getting some leather wraps to try that out soon. I'm ready to move up to consistently smashing blue nails, but I'm not quite there yet. I think with consistency, it'll come. Patience is the key with this stuff!

The beauty of the bending/tension work is that my overall strength continues to improve. With the V02 Max training, my stamina and staying power is still there as well. It seems to be a great mix.

Two Good Days = A Good Week For Me!

I had a good two days back to back in training. My sinus/head cold subsided and I was able to actually muster the energy to do something in class instead of just coach.

Wednesday - 11-5-08

Variety Day
Circuits w/ Class :30 Work/:30 Rest = 3X
- Snatch
- Planks
- Box Jumps
- Jump Rope
- See Saw Press
- Dead Lifts

Thursday - 11-6-08

Lift Sumpin' Heavy!

Front Squat
Worked up to singles of:
245
265
275

Power Clean
135 1x5
185 2x3
205 1x3

With Class:
- Team Swings and TGU
- Team Front Squat Ladders - 2X1,2,3,4,5
- Smoker - 3X
Heavy 1-Arm Swings - 5/5 - 40kg
Snatch - 5/5 - 32kg
Heavy 1-Arm Swings - 10/10 - 40kg
Snatch - 5/5 - 32kg

BRUTAL!

Hiatus…

So I've been a little less than active with my cyber-presence lately. There are many reasons for this…some legit, some not, but they would all sound like excuses to the outside world, so I'll just gut it up and move forward.

First off…WRECK EM TECH!

My alma mater, Texas Tech University, where football reigns king, is on the national charts with a huge win over #1 Texas last Saturday. If you missed it, you missed the game of the year. I couldn't be prouder…BUT, the win means nothing if they get taken down this Saturday against a very talented, determined Oklahoma State team. So stay focused, stay in your zone and beat the hell out of the Cowboys!!! For those interested in football, you don't want to miss this game. It will be a high flying shootout as both offenses have been putting up serious numbers. 7pm Central on ABC.

Secondly…The Election.

In a nutshell, I'm worried. Our society needs to think more like these guys:

"The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of people who have become wealthy have become so thanks to work they found profoundly absorbing...The long term study of people reveals that their 'luck' arose from accidental dedication they had to an area they enjoyed."

- Srully Blotnick

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

- Thomas Jefferson

The idea of entitlement will cripple this country.

Finally...On to training:

I've been toying with a new training program to see how I like the combination. Here's what it looks like:

Monday:

Heavy Clean and Press - Ladder Style

Superset w/ Pull Ups, Barbell Rows or Barbell Hang Cleans

Tuesday:

Beast Goblet Squat 5X5

Vo2 Max Day - Started with 40 sets of 8 w/ 16kg - Will work up each week

Wednesday:

Goof Off/Variety Day

Thursday:

Heavy Pull or Press Day - Dead Lift, Squat, or Power Clean and Front Squat

Double Swings

Friday - Sunday:

Off

Intermittent bending and grip work throughout the week. I've been hitting yellow nails like they're made of rubber. But the blue nail…not so much.

This schedule works with my training, full-time job, social and marriage life(lives). I think I can get strong and conditioned at the same time with this, so I'm going to test it for awhile. Around the beginning of the year, I'll make my way into a Power lifting mode. I'd like to do another full meet next year…maybe coincide with the TSC and then train the techniques for RKC II.

RKC - Assistant Instructor

This post is a bit belated, but this last week has been anything but normal. I'll try to do my best to recount the weekend and experience 'cause I'm still coming down from the "high" of it all. If you've ever been to an RKC event, you know what I mean.



Rather than give a minute-by-minute accounting, I'll just piece together things that are on my mind about the experience as I write about them.



You can not put a price tag or come close to estimating the value of being close to the best trainers in the world. If you've ever felt like you don't fit in because of the way you train, eat or live your life, the RKC just reaffirms the fact that there are others out there who "get it." Just being around other instructors and teaching aspiring instructors that feel the same way is priceless.



Dave Whitley's (Senior RKC) grip strength is really taking off. If you get a chance, have him tear something up in front of you and then you try it. It'll humble you in a hurry. He's one strong dude!



I was on Team Ron Morris (RKC - Team Leader) with another assistant instructor, Jason Wood, RKC. Our team came in and started a little rough around the edges, but the transformation that was made, the progress that we witnessed was unbelievable. Congrats and huge thanks goes out to all of Team Morris and I wish you all the best!

This post would not be complete if I didn't say a huge thank you to Pavel, our Chief Instructor, Master RKC, Brett Jones, the Senior RKC's: Dave Whitley and Jeff O'Connor, RKC Team Leader, Ron Morris and all the Assistant Instructors. I'd also like to thank and congratulate the Dragon Door staff for making the cert so seamless and memorable!

I'm becoming more aware that some of the best times of an RKC event are Sunday night after grad workouts where everyone can celebrate their accomplishments. This cert was no different with good food, drinks, conversation and entertainment, courtesy of many "Hold My Beer/Purse And Watch This" moments.



This cert was special because I was invited by Fawn Friday, RKC to check out her gym and talk shop before my plane headed out. Fawn is amazingly strong and can do stuff most of my male students can't do. It was truly an honor and a pleasure to hang out with Fawn and I would encourage those of you in the St Paul/Minneapolis area to do the same.

All in all, assisting at an RKC event can't be explained, just experienced. I would do it again in a heartbeat and hope to have the opportunity to do so in the near future.

Off To St Paul

In the morning I'm off to St Paul, MN to serve as an Assistant Instructor at the coveted, RKC...THE Gold Standard in kettlebell instructor certifications. I'm totally stoked about the upcoming weekend and can't wait to soak up all it has to offer. I'm looking forward to seeing some old and new acquaintances and building new friendships. This is such an exciting experience and I hope there are many more to come in the future.

RKC, here we go!

Hard Style!

The Birthday 300

Okay, so I had a birthday today and I'm off and running into my thirties....31 to be exact. I decided to give myself a little challenge and some of my students decided to follow suit. Here's my sinister Hard Style version of the 300 workout to honor my 31st year of life.

Swings - 24kg - 31 reps
Dead Lifts - 48kg - 31 reps
Push Ups - 31 reps
Box Jump - 32 inch Tire - 31 reps
Snatch Left - 16kg - 31 reps
Clean & Press Right - 20kg - 31 reps
Front Squat - 24kg - 31 reps
Snatch Right - 16kg - 31 reps
Clean & Press Left - 20kg - 31 reps
Burpees - 31 reps

Total reps = 310 in ~ 20 minutes

So it wasn't exactly 300, but that's what made it so exciting! J/K I almost threw up, but I made it through and was glad I did it. Kind of a commemorative workout to celebrate. As Spriggs said, "I hate to see what I come up with when I'm 50." ;-)

My little brother (6'3" 195), Trevor, got me the new Metallica CD and a Ghost Recon game for my PSP. I listened to the first 5 songs on the way home and I'm totally digging the new album. Sounds like they're getting back to their old roots of head bangin', fist-pumpin' beats with oodles of face-melting rifs and solos. Love it! This will be standard fare in the gym beginning immediately! Thanks (little big) Bro!

Friday, I'm off to Frisco, TX with my buddy Kevin and his family to meet up with the Blifferts and Dave Whitley to attend the Iron Tamer's famous Kettlebell Workshop. I'm really stoked about Saturday and can't wait to see how the day goes.

Next week will be a monumental one as I'm off to St Paul, MN to participate in the Level 1 RKC cert as an Assistant Instructor. This is such a huge honor and I'm very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity. Again, this is going to be such a great experience to see how things are done at an RKC from behind the scenes and from an instructor's eyes. I'm expecting to pull more away (if it's possible) from this than I did as a fledgling RKC in training. Starting to get butterflies!