Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Progress report


BW is 269 this AM.

I hit 267.5 last week, but I think that with the heat, dehydration may have been a factor. It has cooled down to the low 90's now ;)

10 weeks into this and feeling good. I compared these shots to the ones from July, it is working well.






Monday, September 17, 2007

304 snatches in 10:00 with 16kg

Today's training:
A1: Split squat x10/10
A2: SLow Pushup x10

B1: 40kg C&P x5/5
B2: 40kg Row x8/8

Swing 40kg +16kg in one hand 2x4 reps

Intervals:
Swing 40kg x20 (roughly :30)
Snatch 16kg x7/7 (again roughly :30)
:30 rest
repeat for 4 rounds

Then I decided to see what the pace would be like for 300 reps for the full 10:00, so I grabbed a 16kg, and away I went.

Switching hands every 10 reps, I got 304, 34 reps the first minute, 30 per the rest of the time. Ran out of time on the 4th rep with the right hand, but finished the set of 10 after.

No big deal until about the 7:30 mark, then my mind went into a slow-motion-tunnel-time-warp kind of state.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Core Training Continued

I ran across this clip from the Gym Jones crew. It further illustrates the point I made yesterday.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Core training?

I have often said that "training the core" has developed into just another form of isolation.

I believe in full-body movements that may (or may not) emphasize one aspect or attribute more that another while retaining full-body power. This is one of the key aspects of the RKC and the Hard-Style School of Strength.

Example 1: The military press. What is the difference between the "shoulder press" and a proper Hard-Style military press?

Full-body tension. Total tension in heavy lifts equals safety and improved perfromance. Grip the ground with your toes. Tighten the legs, lock the knees, squeeze the glutes, pull up the pelvic floor, compress the ribs, compress the breath and squeeze the weight as you press. You WILL be stronger.

Example 2: Hanging leg raise. Try a HLR and see if you can do it WITHOUT tensing the arms and legs (which incidentally, ain't part of the core). Again, Full-body tension is needed.

Example 3: The beloved Pushup. Not the sway back, chicken head pushup most people try to get away with. Do a pushup with a 3 second descent, 2 second pause and explode back up. Full-body tension.

Example 4: Any and all grip work. Try to close a hard CoC gripper, bend a nail, tear a phone book, farmers walk and what will you need?.....I'll take "Full-body tension" for $500, Alex!

Example 5: We mustn't forget the snatch! Try heavy KB snatches in multiple sets of low reps with short rest periods. You obliques will thank you.

Example 6: The deadlift....are you starting to get the picture?

Your body is a single unit, not a collection of parts. Train it that way.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Michael Moore

It is a cliche that you are either part of the problem or part of the solution, buit cliches exist because there is truth in them.

Now, I haven't seen the movie Sicko, mostly because I don't care what Michael Moore has to say about anything. I know the movie is about the health care system in this country. I saw a clip on youtube where Moore says that it is important that we "remove the profit incentive from health care" in the US. That was enough for me.

Anyway, a guy in the public eye as much as he is has the ability to make an impact. I think he should lead by example. So do my friends Jim Labadie and Ryan Lee. Check out: http://michaelmoorehealthchallenge.com/

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Kodiak Grizzly Showdown



Amazing footage of two bears with high level martial arts skills.