George Hackenschmidt, RKC???

The Russian Lion, George Hackenschmidt.

No, Hack didn't attend the RKC. However, the principals of the RKC School of Strength have deep roots.


In "The Way To Live" Hack describes the proper execution of the one-arm Barbell Jerk:

"Exercise 7. Jerk a bar-bell ...... from the shoulder, erect above the head, with one arm.

The elbow should rest firmly against the hip, thus transferring the whole weight of the bar-bell to the legs, principally to the one leg.

Quickly bend the knees, and, at the same time, "throw" the weight upwards, while with the same quick movement you stretch the arm. You will find that the principal impetus of strength will be given by the legs.

The movements have to be made very quickly. This particular exercise requires a certain technique. It greatly furthers the preservation a perfect nimbleness and equilibrium, and develops at the same time the muscles of the legs, forearm, and triceps. The exercise should be performed with both the right and left arm, at first five times, every second week increasing by one up to ten times, then increase weight by 5 lb. and start afresh. "

Hack is decribing what we call the "2nd dip" in the RKC. Many Hardstyle kettlebell lifters do this so forcefully it is expressed as a stomp.

We emphasize the 2nd dip in the RKC for 2 reasons:

1. You don't need to lift the kettlebell as high.
2. The downward movement of the athlete's body helps propel the kettlebell upward.

The Hardstyle Jerk builds explosive power that transfers to punches, kicks, hitting, throwing....just about anything athletic. It also allows you to put a kettlebell overhead that is too heavy for you to press, developing static strength in the lockout.

Big News

I am really excited to share this great news with you.

I have been selected as one of the 80+ fitness experts totake part in the world's largest virtual fitness event.

There are going to be over 100 cutting-edge sessions delivered by me and so many other world-class experts.

Be warned! This is no ordinary fitness event. Sure,there are the great sessions covering the latest trainingtechniques (everything from foam rollers to kettlebells), but it's much more.

There are entire session tracks on coaching, running bootcamps,semi-private training, online marketing, entrepreneurship andmuch more.

Today is the first day of registration and when you register right now,you'll save 1/2 off the already low admission as the "early bird"special.

Use this link now to lock-in the early bird and take a peak at allthe sessions lined up just for you:

Fitcom expo

Pullups, Presses, Volume, Creatine and Weight gain

At the beginning of the year I decided to spend some time working on pullups, which have always been a weak point for me, being a bigger guy.

I started doing a descending ladder set program of Pavels, the Fighter Pullup program. The problem was that my rep max is one. So, I began the 5rm program with a rubber band, to lessen the resistance. The first day is 5,4,3,2,1 and you do pullups daily, increasing the volume every workout.

At the same time I have bee working on variations of KB presses. Several of these workouts were in an EDT format of presses combined with rows and several were Viking inspired high volume pressing sessions ( eg-25 sets of 5 per arm w/32kg). In the interest of improving strength I also started supplementing with creatine, which I haven't done in a while, but I got a good deal (free) on a kilo of creatine, so why not?

My BW at the beginning of the year was around 269.

I began noticing that my traps and shoulders were looking a little more pronounced and that my lats feel wider. Great. I went to test my RM the pullup on Monday and I am still at 1! And it was a hard one too. So I am thinking: "This SHOULD be easier by this point, shouldn't it?"

I stepped on the scale: 278. No wonder! I shouldn't be surprised, given the way creatine works with H2O retention, so I had a big "ah-HAH!" moment there. Thankfully none of the weight gain has been in my belly and my presses are getting stronger.

Now, the important thing here is that not only do I understand WHY the weight gain, but also that it is in fact a GOOD thing, given the increase in my pressing and the fact that had I tried a pullup with 10lbs strapped to me 6 weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

So my next step in training is to shift back into a pure fat-loss mode for the next 10 weeks and see how much of my new muscle I can keep while whittling away at my belly.

Motivation

Every few weeks I talk to someone or get an email that is something like this:

"I know need to to lose weight, but it's so HARD. I need somebody to motivate me. Can you motivate me?"

Yes.

Yes I can.

Here is your motivation:

• You're so fat you can't tie your own shoes
• You're so fat you can't walk a flight of stairs without feeling like you're going to stroke out
• You've put yourself at serious risk of having a heart attack because you're so fat
• You've got a serious chance of becoming a diabetic because you're so fat
• Your kids may not have a parent because you might die young because you're so fat

Until you want to help yourself, I cannot help you.

If you are willing to do the work, I can help you. If not, go back home, turn the TV back on and get caught up on the latest news about Britney, Brad and Angelina.

If you want change in your life, you're going to have to put in the work. The work may be very hard. Your motivation comes from within.

Is it going to be a LOT harder for some people than others?

Yes, it's going to be a LOT harder for some than others.

Do people deserve all the love and support and encouragement I (we) can possibly give them?

Yes, they do.

Can I (we) do it for them?

No. Until you want to help yourself, I can do nothing.

I give thanks everyday for all the wonderful things in my life. I am truly blessed.

And a lot of peopel email me and tell me this blog and my email newsletter is inspiration to them.
I'm very grateful to be in that postition. But as I tell everyone I work with, you must be motivated from within.