If It Sucks, It Probably Instructs: How And Why To Keep Promises To Yourself

Here is another great piece from a fellow RKC. I'm excited to include Josh as a guest at Charm City Kettlebells blog. He a wonderful wordsmith with great information. I hope to feature him regularly.

If It Sucks, It Probably Instructs: How And Why To Keep Promises To Yourself

By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

When my grandfather was 13 years old, his father drove him to a large field in the middle of Utah, let him out, and said: “Build us a barn. I’ll see you at the end of the summer.” It was the first week in June. That gangly teenager built the barn, slept on the ground, and had enough time left over to shoot enough deer to feed his seven brothers and sisters that winter.

The plight of the modern day human

How often does your job require you to reach over your head, get down on the floor, breathe heavily, or expend enough energy to burn the calories from your lunch? If you’re at all like me, not often. I manage a library and spend about six hours a day on a computer. My whole world, if I didn’t make it otherwise, has shrunken to a three-foot box about the size of a baseball strike zone.

Inside that box is where I reach for my keyboard. It’s where my hands go when they need to answer the phone. My shoulders try to slump forward and my spine tries to curve in ways that it was never intended to.

But I’ve shattered that box and nothing feels better. My tiny office is full of sledgehammers, kettlebells, grippers, decks of cards, and a pull-up bar I rigged up. I had to throw my chair away to fit all the stuff in. Best decision I ever made. Modern man allows terms and spaces to be dictated to him.

Reject this and evolve. It just takes a decision. Not wishful thinking, a decision. When the pain of not being strong and fit gets so great that you can’t bear it, you will change it or you will pay the price.

A brief background to my training

For over 20 years I’ve battled the stupid and occasionally very entertaining disorder called Tourette’s Syndrome. If you’d like to learn more about this you can check out my series How To Have Tourette’s. TS can manifest in different ways, but here’s what it’s like for me: it forces me to make noises and movements involuntarily. This can range from rapid eye blinking to screaming so hard without warning that I once got a hernia from it. It was a big fat wrench in all of my goals and plans. I was smart, capable, able-bodied (for a while), but I had a hellish time even going out in public.

When I was in my early twenties, my dad suggested I started hitting the weights. “You need some small victories,” he said. I was willing to try anything, so we bought some weights and got after it. How can I describe the change? I’m very good with words—I have the irrelevant English degree and smart-guy glasses to prove it. But I can’t describe how much I loved to whip myself with that iron.

For so long my body had done whatever it wanted. Now, for a brief time each day, my body belonged to me. I could look at myself in the mirror and glare and say “All right you, for the next hour you’re going to do exactly what I tell you. Now shut up and get after it.” And when I was done with that hour, my tics flooded back in like clockwork. But I no longer cared as much. I was strong. After enough voluntary, productive, hurts-so-good-beg-for-mercy pain and sweat, nothing else during that day scared me. Not for a second. To hell with the dislocated thumbs, the hernia, the weird looks from strangers, or the fact that I was still trapped in my house.
I even gave up my voice for three years so doctor’s could experiment with a treatment they hoped would help: botox injections in my vocal cords. I gave up talking, but I didn’t give up working out my rage, pain, and the frustrations that are the cost of living.

When my symptoms grew more manageable, I needed the weights for different reasons. I needed them to be my mirror. To teach me.

Give yourself a gift

Perhaps you want to look good or your focus is on brute strength. The good news is that you don’t have to choose one or the other. Fitness is just a word. Strength is an idea that will creep into every part of your life. And the type of strength that lets you move bigger and bigger weights, that makes you collapse on the floor with exhaustion and exhilaration—it’s going to make you look better. Better yet, it’s going to teach you things about yourself.

As Jack Reape said, intensity is not a grimace. It’s a number. It’s work.
Training Hard changes you. I’m not talking about obsessive training or marathon sessions of curls and kickbacks. Zealotry doesn’t ever lead to anything healthy. I’m talking about hard, voluntary, work. Work that your grandfather and the generation from The Depression could respect. You choose to test yourself. You choose to take the trip, the road less traveled. You elect to suffer a bit so that you can be a better human being. The pain gives you perspective. The results give you confidence. Confidence opens doors that you’ll never even see if you’re hiding in your comfort zone—like my office.
Brutally hard work isn’t that fun while you’re doing it. In fact, sometimes it just sucks. But if it sucks, it probably instructs. You can’t know too much about yourself, and there are things you’ll never learn about yourself until you’ve walked this road for a while.

Personally, I’m into kettlebells, deadlifting, and feats of strength. I recently got certified as an RKC (Russian kettlebell instructor), but I’m equally at home tearing a deck of cards in half or pulling heavy deads. The point is not to say Wheeee! I’m strong! Everyone look at me! The point is that I fear nothing more than boredom, stagnation, and the lack of progress. I’m learning character and commitment every day.
Anyone can, but it’s easier not to.

Keeping promises

One of the hardest things about being human is that it is so easy to let ourselves off the hook. You probably made some New Year’s resolutions a few months ago. How’s that going? If you’re on track, bravo! Most of us have deviated a bit. Why? Because even the most honest person in the world finds it too easy to break promises to themselves. How can this be true? Aren’t we worth more than that? We are, but nobody holds us accountable for the lies we tell ourselves—only we know. Or worse, maybe we don’t even view broken promises to ourselves as lies. We must fix this. Only when we can say, “I am better than this,” can we start heading towards our potential.

Make a decision. Draw a map. Grind your teeth and take a step and never look back. Whatever your tools, whatever your goals, whoever you are and wherever you’re reading this from: you are so much more than you think and you owe it to yourself to love yourself enough to be honest. Your own mind is a classroom you can’t escape from. Fill it with good things and progress reports. (Or lack of progress reports).
My grandfather could work me into the ground in an hour. But he respects my commitment to improvement and progress. If you no longer have a goal, you’re no longer making a journey—you’re on a treadmill, and I don’t care what anyone tells you…that’s not hard, cleansing work that’s going to show you what you’re made of.

Let’s go.

Together.

Today.

I don’t care if you take the lead or you need to follow me. I’m going either way because I know I’m better today than I was yesterday. I can’t wait to see who I’ll be tomorrow.

But once you make the promise, whatever it is, pretend that everyone in the world will know about it and broadcast it on the jumbotron during the Super Bowl.

That would suck, but it would teach you something.

Josh Hanagarne is the World's Strongest Librarian and a big fan of Charm City Kettlebells. If you're looking for more information on kettlebells, coping with Tourette's, buying pants when you're 6'8", you need a shoulder to cry on, or you're wondering how to write a successful but unfocused blog, he's your man.

Please subscribe to Josh's Stronger, Smarter, Better newsletter and RSS updates to stay in touch.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

Dead Lifting in Pennsylvania

After the Delaware Kettlebell Workshop, I added dead lifting to my work routine. Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC TL spent so much time on this primal movement at our seminar and I felt that I benefited so much from that investment that I went back and scoured Power To The People for every tidbit I could about "Hard Style" training in general and dead lifting in particular.

I felt very strongly that I needed to add these pulls to my program so I decided to consult with Marty Gallagher, author of The Purposeful Primitive, and my strength coach. Please keep in mind that the last time I did dead lifts would have been about 1986. Quite awhile ago and even though I trust what I learned with Doc Cheng I wanted to have a power lifting guy look at it too.

I talked to Marty about it and he said why don't you come up so I can take a look? I was a bit concerned when he casually mentioned that Mark Chaillet may be around to take a peek as well. I knew Chaillet's reputation as a dead lifter extraordinaire but until I went back and looked at Purposeful Primitive I had forgotten just how amazing his performance. Mark is the only person to conventionally dead lift over 800 pounds post-age 40. Uh oh I thought. (Actually I said this out loud) This is gonna suck to pull in front of these two. Marty assured me that all Chaillet would be looking at was my form. As a technician, Marty said, "Mark won't notice what's on the bar. Good I said because there won't be much to see:)

So I warm up a bit with some joint work and am feeling pretty self conscious. The analogy would be Tiger Woods helping me with golf. That's the quality of this pair. Marty puts a plate on each side and says "OK let's see." Right away there are corrections. Minor ones so I feel pretty good. A lot of it was being nervous. I made some quick adjustments and then added more poundage. Feeling better and they are liking my dead lifts. A few more adjustment. Ultimately they send me on my way with a narrower stance, slower hips, a more upright back and that was about it. These three corrections made a world of difference and will help me make Marty's secret predication come true about my ultimate dead lift max.

Sandy Sommer, RKC, Towson MD

How to go from Zero to Hero in the Secret Service Snatch Test in Two Easy Steps

I promised to get a blog post out to you all regarding the Secret Service Snatch today and I feel I've really outdown myself! Well I haven't exactly outdone myself since I didn't write this piecebut next week I will offer an alternative for you all to compare to. There are oh so many ways to "Skin a cat" and Sean flat out nails this. Thanks to my good friend Sean Schniederjan, RKC for contributing this set. Sean is also hosting the Pavel Ventura workshop in the Fall! Sean is a very well regarded fellow RKC and wrote How to go from Zero to Hero in the Secret Service Snatch Test in Two Easy Steps:

Step One: Read and do Enter The Kettlebell. There is no doubt that this is the best kettlebell program for raw beginners and those who have a decent base level of strength but no direction in their training. Keep in mind that this isn’t a “workout” book, it is a program that is essentially a road map for hitting difficult yet obtainable goals: Pressing the kettlebell closest to one half your bodyweight and the simple, sinister, and brutal Secret Service Snatch Test (SSST), which will humble even the most elite athletes. The real beauty of ETK is that if you follow it, you will be able to do the SSST, while the most elite athlete with little or no kettlebell experience would be tossing his or her cookies on the pavement. The level of conditioning it takes to perform the SSST is truly out of this world, yet attainable with a little focus and discipline in your training.

What is the SSST?

Pavel goes into a detailed description of the origins of the SSST in ETK, but essentially it is performing 200 snatches (24kg for men, 16kg for women) in 10 minutes. The bell may be set down and you may take as many hand switches as you please. All you have to do is get to 200 and I guarantee you will not come close on your first try. I don’t believe I’ve heard of anyone faring well on their first try. You probably guessed that the United States Secret Service uses this to test the mental and physical abilities of their agents under high levels of stress. There is a point every victim of the test reaches during the test where the true nature of the stress of what you are doing becomes evident to the body and mind. The mind and body experience an intense “shock” that can only be overcome with good form and sharp mental stamina. You really must experience this for yourself.

My Experience with the ETK

I’m your average male. I’m not a mutant by any means and don’t have a lot of sports and working out in my background besides the occasional push up and curl binges in high school and college. However, following ETK and my own tweaked up version of the Program Minimum allowed me to hit a 240 in the SSST, which some might consider mutant territory in this particular endeavor. That was a few years ago and to this day is my proudest physical achievement.

I had been doing KBs for around two years prior with little direction. I randomly did swings, snatches, Turkish get-ups, floor presses, military presses, etc, pretty much towed the party line. Soon after the release of ETK, the dragondoor forum was buzzing with talk of the SSST. I hadn’t bought or read ETK yet, but I thought since all these people were attacking the SSST, I might as well do it too since I knew how to snatch a KB and could fairly easily bang out sets of 10-20 snatches with a 24kg. So I grabbed my watch, my kettlebell, and ventured out to the backyard to do 200 reps in 10 minutes. I thought I was a pretty good snatcher and with a tough attitude, I honestly thought I was going to go out there and do this. As Troy MacClure, the washed out actor voiced by Phil Hartmann in the early years of the Simpsons would say: “Nothing could be further from the truth!” It was around the 8 or 9 minute mark and I was positively done at a little over 120 total snatches. I could not do one more snatch, even if some were there yelling at me or offering me something of high value.

The truth set in and it hurt. Humility is knowledge of the truth, and I had just experienced the truth: I was a looooong way from 200 snatches in 10 minutes.

A few weeks later ETK arrived. This was the first laid out training program I had ever done. Weeks started going by and I was surprised at how easy it was to stay on the program. There is something natural about the way the program is set up. Easy, Medium, and Heavy days with the lifts used (swings and snatches, along with presses for the shoulder/arm work) just agreed with me and I had no trouble fulfilling my three day per week obligation. I hardly ever used the optional “variety days,” which was a testament to how satisfying and quality my workouts were for the minimal three days. My variety day was resting my body. Progress came quickly. After a few weeks of the swings, I noticed I could (big surprise) do more swings…in less time!

The light days on ETK use snatches instead of swings, with more of an emphasis on pure form than killing yourself as you would on a heavy day. About a month or two into the program I remember having to 8 minutes of snatching on the easy day. I decided to test myself and go harder than the requirements of that day and I ended up with 160 snatches in 8 minutes. That shocked me, but what shocked me even more was that I was relatively close to not being smoked (I always get smoked from snatches, but this was real progress)!

So I kept at it and at last test day came. Long story short, I made a calculation error in my set breakdown and did only 197 in 10 minutes when I thought I had done 207. It was a colossal bummer, but I knew I was right at the doorstep of 200. More swings later, I tested again and hit 210. I remember thinking that something magical would happen the moment I crossed 200. I was expecting my shirt to get ripped off my body and my soul torn from my body and thrown into heaven by a jealous god (or something you might read on the comments section of the howling wolves t-shirts on amazon).

Follow ETK by the spirit and the letter and you will pass the Secret Service Snatch Test. If I can, then you can. Every girivik should own a dog-eared copy of Enter the Kettlebell! If you don’t have it, get it. There are good resources for beginners out there, but nothing will deliver the quickness of results in less time in a rational, comprehensive, yet simple manner as ETK. This book belongs in the library of anyone remotely interested in physical culture.

Once you have crossed 200, here is another simple strategy I discovered for getting closer to 250 in the SSST:

Do one arm swings (always do one arm swings when training for the SSST) with a heavier bell. For men, mix it up with a 32kg and a 40kg. For shoulder stability and more core and conditioning work, do Turkish getups with a 32kg and a 40kg. If you can do 200 in the SSST but want more, try this simple 3 day program:

You’ll be doing two medium days (there are no easy days because you are a stud now), and one balls out heavy day. Depending on how you feel, use either the 32kg or the 40kg for swings and get-ups. Depending on how you feel, do 5-10 minutes of TGUs, alternating sides with each rep, rest for a minute or two, then do 5-10 minutes of one arm swings. On a heavy day, shoot for 300 one arm swings in 10 minutes with the 32kg or 200 with the 40kg. It won’t happen most likely, but those are the numbers you should measure yourself against. On the heavy days for TGU, aim at not taking breaks between reps, which shouldn’t be hard at all for the first 5 minutes or so with a 32kg. When you get closer to 10 minutes, it gets difficult to not take a brief breather. So 10 minutes of continuous get-ups with a 32kg should be your measure on the heavy day. Don’t use the 40kg for get-ups or swings on the heavy day. The 40kg is used on the medium days to make the 32kg feel lighter on heavy days. So do your best with the bulldog on a medium day, but don’t do anything stupid. That thing is heavy. As a general rule, anything over 100 one arm swings in 5 minutes with a 40kg is pretty good. 5 minutes of more or less continuous TGU reps with the 40kg is pretty good. But again, the 40kg is used to make the 32kg easier to handle on heavy days, so don’t get bogged down with your 40kg numbers as much.

Do this for a month or two and then pick up the 24kg for an SSST. That thing will be feeling nice and light. If you are in the 260-300 range with one arm swings with a 32kg and you can do 8-10 minutes of continuous TGUs with a 32kg, then you have the conditioning and shoulder stability requisites to truly kill the SSST.

ETK KB/Book/DVD Starter Kit Found Here for men:

Starter Kit For Ladies:

KBs Only:

Book Only:

Snatches Followed By Power To The People

I did 100 snatches to get the juices flowing and felt quite good doing them. Easy pace and I'm happy that snatching hasn't pulled a callous in almost a year. Nice:)

Second session of PTTP cycle. If you want to really understand what "Hard Style" training is then read this book. It is a masterpiece. Clear and concise it flat out rocks.

So I followed the book and did dead lifts today as well as Barbell Side Presses. I feel like I could blast through a brick wall.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

What is Hard Style Strength And How Does It Work?

According to the RKC Instructor Manual, "Hardstyle Strength is exemplified by power lifting and Okinawan karate. The common denominator is COMPRESSION."

We compress the muscles as force is produced through tensing.

We compress the breath as extraordinary intra-abdomincal pressure increases your strength. Think of a can.

We compress the ground to create amazing stability and take full advantage of the reactive force of the deck. Th goal is to take root.

And finally we compress our focus. Think of the difference between a laser and a light bulb. Try a static dead lift until you feel your feet burn.

Many folks have asked me to define "Hard Style" and the above is surely better than anything I can come up with.

So how does it work? Well for me it's worked like this. I am leaner, stronger, more mobile, more flexible and have great cardio conditioning. Remember, I'm 47 but am at least as fit as when I played NCAA football. And I feel a ton better.

I use three tools. An Olympic bar, a pull up bar and kettlebells. Pretty basic. I do squats, dead lifts, tactical pull ups, side press,clean and press, snatches, swings and Turkish Get ups. Each is a compound exercise.

I use maximal speed both up and down in the quick lifts like snatches, cleans and swings. We go all out for two reasons. First, your hips store tons of power on the way down on a swing and when you explode back up it is like letting a pulled rubber band go. Second, you get good training effect without a huge volume. Anyone who tells you that they are swinging a 32 KG kettlebell for 300 reps non stop is not employing Hard Style technique.

Doing grinds like the squat, dead lift presses etc I go slow and create as much muscular tension as I can. Tension is strength but it is slow. You must practice creating tension on the grinds even using lighter weights or even when doing bodyweight work. If you don't you won't have a chance when dealing with real weight.

If you use kettlebells for strength and conditioning you really want to make the lifts as difficult as you can. The goal is to make your chosen sport (life or otherwise) as easy as possible.

Hard Style in it's essense is about kinetic linking. Kinetic linkage required that you work multiple joints all at once and is the opposite of one joint exercise. Nothing we do treats the body as collected body parts. The body is a machine and that is how we work it.

Again to quote the RKC manual. "RKC teaches how to focus the scattered energies of the body into a directed all-out effort while minimizing the odds of injuries."


I'd love to have you share your thoughts here as well or ask any questions.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

Delaware Hard Style By Way Of LA

If you were one of the dedicated ones who made it to Middletown DE on June 21, 2009, then you came away with some amazing new tools for your toolbox. I always have a lot of trouble describing events in detail. Sorry about this inability but I will give it a shot anyway.

If you are an RKC and you attended, then you were surely blown away by all that Doctor Mark Cheng, RKC Team Leader, shared with us. If you had never been exposed to "Hard Style" training then you may not fully appreciate yet what you learned. You will. Trust me. Here's a look at the thoughts of one such uninitiated.

Doc Cheng contacted me 3 or 4 months ago to see if I'd be interested in helping him put on his "Hard Style, High Density" workshop at his Alma mater, St. Andrews School. I saw it as a unique opportunity to help spread the work about the RKC on the East Coast, work with Doc Cheng and help out the school since we donated 50% of proceeds back to them. Pretty much a "win-win-win" situation. But it just gets better.

First off, St. Andrews School is first rate and reminded me so much of my beloved St. James. I graduated in 1980 and there are many similarities between the institutions. I was happy we could be of financial assistance and we look forward to this being an annual event. I would guess that many of the folks who attended this year will be back.

Secondly, Dr. Cheng is really tuned in to proper movements and patterning movement. I truly believe Pavel Tsatsouline himself would have learned something. I learned far more than I bargained for and was humbled a bit by the experience. The RKC system of strength is fairly easy to implement safely but mastery is another entire matter. Mastery may always prove elusive and that is now a wonderful feeling. I hated that thought at first but am fully at peace with it now. I will never, ever stop learning.

The focus of this workshop was the RKC Program Minimum. Dead lifts, Swings, Turkish Get Ups. We also did some work with cleans, Tactical Pull Ups and snatches. The focus was all on the foundation that the RKC is built on. Tension equalling strength. Breathing being a huge component of that. If all we had worked on was breathing and creating tension it would have been a worthwhile day.

Luckily we also worked a lot on mobility in general. Specifically the t-spine work we did was amazing and has already helped me with my Turkish get ups (which I thought were decent pre workshop) and also has allowed me to really improve my tactical pull ups. Put another way, fairly fatigued a came within an inch of a completed tactical pull up with the 24 KG Kettlebell hanging off my right foot.

How about thinking of your body as a can? Without the top and bottom to keep the contents in the container and under pressure it is useless. If you can't create the bottom of the can in your pelvis and the top from the lats down you will have difficulty. But if you can, then imagine the power capability.

Everyone who participated learned something. My 69 year old mom learned a ton that will help her move better than she does and she moves fairly well.My fellow RKCs and I learned a ton. I will be stronger, move better, teach better and feel better from what I learned and how far I have to grow. Do you know how hard light dead lifting can be? Ask Jen Morey!

Sandy Sommer, RKC

What I Learned in My Week Off From Training

I took a week off from training and started back today. I did play some tennis and also one round of golf while I was in Rehoboth Beach. We had amazing weather and the surf was perfect. Great water temperature and enough of a curl that body surfing was equally good.

The last day I trained was at the Delaware Kettlebell Workshop we had at Saint Andrew's School on June 21st. I hadn't taken anytime off since I was in New Orleans at the beginning of last June. Here's what I learned:

Taking time off for me isn't that worthwhile. I know for many people this isn't the case but I didn't get weaker and I didn't get stronger. My absolute strength work out today was the exact replica of the one I did two weeks ago. Same rep count, same resistance and then the "back down" sets until form denigrates to the point of a repetition that lacks "hardstyle" quality.

I was hoping to somehow get stronger while off the kettlebells and other resistance training for a week. It seemed that the extra time off would give me a chance to have extra recovery. Here's what I found for me with "Hardstyle" Training we do enough "Same but different" work as Pavel puts it, that I don't seem to get stale and I seem to increase my strength too. I am rarely if ever sore. Soreness really doesn't indicate the level of work you've done. In most cases it means you are working muscles that you haven't worked in awhile. Since "hard style" work is essentially full body work then soreness isn't an issue.

So what is "same but different" mean exactly? Well for the snatch it may mean that after a MVO2 cycle you do a Secret Service Snatch Test Cycle. The operative phrase is "Complete a cycle."

Or instead of doing heavy swings you could do a cycle of overspeed eccentric swings. Same but different doesn't mean you jump from one exercise to the next. A lot of this is covered if "Power To The People." This book is an absolute "must" if you desire to understand and implement the RKC system of strength.


Please share what you have learned when you take time off from training. I'd love to know what you have found out!

Sandy Sommer, RKC

P.S. Be sure to read my take on the Delaware Kettlebell Workshop. I will post that tomorrow.

What is Sea Wave Training?

If you read my blog, then you know that the level of intensity from workout to workout varies pretty wildly. And it's by design. You just can't go "all out" each and every day and expect to really see the gains that you are probably looking for. You break yourself down during a workout and then get strong during recovery. Lots of you may find this hard to grasp. Why wouldn't you? It's been drilled into our heads that hard is better and if you don't work hard then you don't get results.

Well working hard is only part of the equation that will end in results. Intelligence in training is often overlooked it seems to me. First you must start with a plan. Each day should be mapped out before your workoout week begins. For example, I know what I am doing today and each day for the rest of the week. The work I'll do this week is the "same but different" as last week. I don't workout for entertainment. I work out to get fitter and stronger so the rest of my life is easier. Workout variety is overrated and one way that a lot of trainers seek to entertain their clients. Doing fewer things very very well is the real meal ticket. Folks want results. And there are only a few primal movement patterns. Use them. Each week I do swings, TGU, Clean and Press, Tactical Pull Ups, Pistols, Squats, Renegade lunges, and snatches. That may be too much and maybe I need to pare something.

I wrote the "same but different" above. What do I mean by that? I mean that the workout movements really don't vary. I change the volume and I change the intensity in waves. Oleg Chelischev wrote, "The Workload must flucuate like a sea wave: Up and down, from glass calm to a storm."

I'm very happy with my fitness level and I'm happy with my progress. Give wave training a chance and I think you will be happy too!

Why You Must Use A Heart Rate Monitor When You Kettlebell

A lot of people who read my blog or follow me on Twitter have asked why I wear my FT-80 Heart Rate Monitor while I do my kettlebell sessions. Let me preface this post with this: Until I heard Pavel Tsatsouline recommend its use I didn't dream of using one. Marty Gallagher had mentioned to Pavel that they are a required tool for his clientele and when Marty speaks, even Pavel pays attention.

Here's why I wear one and why you must as well. How else would you be able to compare your cardio results without the information provided. When you are really fit you can't just "feel" if a workout is more intense, you need to be able to look at the hard numbers to tell for sure. You want to plot and graph average heart rate, high heart rate, Kcals oxidized, intensity, duration and be able to see how you are progressing. How will you know if you don't have the data?

If you aren't as fit as you will be in the future then you need it too. Here's why: physical renovation requires patience, iniative, and safety. You really need to monitor your intensity and duration and keep adding to both incrementally in a cardio cycle. I'm here to help you in anyway I can in this regard so please don't hesitate to just ask!

Finally, if your business is physical and mental renovation, i.e. you're a fitness pro, and yoru clients are not required to wear one, then you are plain boneheaded. Most trainers have no clue as to what sort of heart rate is being generated during a session. Not only can this prove dangerous if the completely unfit are subjected to high impact jogging, boot camp or other forms of cardio but the information is a real coaching opportunity. Here you can use hard info to show how poor eating habits can completely undo a solid work session. As David Whitley, SRKC, so eloquesntly puts it, "You can't outwork a donut." Well stated.

I highly recommend using this tool for you and your clients if you have them. You can't go wrong and it is a chance to really differentiate yourself from the Fitness Nazis of the world.

Please leave your commentary here and if you have any ideas for future article please leave a comment. I will be covering "Reverse Engineering Your Way to Success" in the near futture!

Sandy Sommer, RKC

Learning From The Masters

Back in the 1930s, one of the nations most prominent institutions of higher learning abandoned traditional educational orthodoxy and decided that learning from the source was a better alternative than textbooks.

St. Johns College in Annapolis MD and later also in Santa Fe NM took a radical step in implementing their "Great Books" program but the thesis of the program was that if you read the Masters then through discourse and thought, you as a student could have a clearer understanding of the matter at hand. For example, Euclid would be considered the source for Geometry and say Adam Smith for Economics. You learn by studying from the real source and then with true critique and thought apply it on your own. No textbooks or secondary sources were allowed. Interesting idea.

So what does this have to do with kettlebells? It turns out a lot. A year and one half ago I decided to attend a "certification" (still can't believe that they got away with calling it that) of a kettlebell business. The weekend was not conducive to learning. I didn't learn to design a workout program or for that matter teach any students what I was learning. If you can call it learning. My recollection is that my snatch got a bit better but that nothing else changed much. I was using a secondary source as the instructor; a former Pavel protege.

I was still convinced that I was onto something with kettlebells and I reached out to Delaine Ross,RKC and David Whitley, SRKC. Why not learn from the Master they both said? So instead of a watered down and seemingly misinterpreting secondary source I went to the RKC. Or the direct source for Kettlebell Strength and Conditioning. If you are looking to participate in kettlebell sport than the source would be AKC.

Now I am going to admit something that I've never publicly admitted before. The first certification was physically and mentally much easier than the RKC. When I heard about the RKC requirements my first thought was that it was insanity. I had to do how many snatches? The graduate workout? Yea right. But I wanted it badly and set off on a journey that I'm not sure has a end. The destination keeps changing and I like what I've seen so far on my trip.

But I digress. Why study from either Pavel Tsatsouline or Valery Fedorenko? Well why not? They are the two who introduced their time tested methods here in the United States. Do they have a monopoly on excellent kettlebell ideas? No, they don't but if you learn from the Masters than you can ultimately put your own indelible mark on the mastery you've acquired.

Who Needs Shiny Objects? We Have Kettlebells!

I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to the latest, greatest stuff. It's fun to try out something new and variety is said to be the spice of life. To be truly skilled though in anything that we need to be well schooled in the basics. To paraphrase from the RKC instructors manual "the difference between the elite and the merely able, is that the elite do the fundamentals to perfection."

Interesting. Yet I get emails all the time wondering about why my workouts don't seem to have much variety in them. All I am interested in is results. I'm not in the entertainment business for either me or my clients. My business is physical and mental renovation. So we focus on the Swing, Turkish Get Up, Clean, Military Press, Tactical Pull Ups, Pistol, Front Squat and the Snatch. I will throw in a few other things from time to time that are body weight or kettlebells but what you see is what you get.

I was talking to Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC Team Leader, today and his focus on the RKC fundamentals is like a laser. And why wouldn't it be. If you want to move well and with power than kettlebells are likely your prescription. Speaking of a prescription, check out Dr. Cheng's Delaware Kettlebell Workshop. It will prove to be a great opportunity to learn from one of the best. To give you an idea, about half of the enrollment is RKC certified, yet a complete neophyte will be comfortable and learn enough that they will be more than competent.

It is quite simple...I didn't say easy, I said simple. I can help someone reverse engineer almost any goal or, if it isn't realistic or is too easy, then I can help them come up with something better. To complete a physical renovation goal you really need to be able to quantify where you are now and where you want to be.

Next time, I will share with you a lot of my thoughts on reverse engineering. Trust me it works.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

On Kettlebells and Benchmarks and Goals and Such

Why do we work out? Do you know?

If not, then you are like most of the people who are out there struggling to get more fit. As an example, "I want to get stronger" is not a goal. "I will do 100 snatches in five minutes by July 1, 2009 " is a goal.

Goals are important to the success of any endeavor. I mean how can you do something if you don't know what you want to do. Right?

We need goals for each workout. Goals for life. Goals for love. Short term goals. Medium ones etc. etc. Sunday drives with no particular destination are surely nice from time to time. But every day?

The start of a workout is not the time to decide what you are going to do. You really ought to consider trying to create your workout the day before. You should know what you will do and then do it. Folks who have no goals before a workout typically don't want to be held to account. Don't be this person. Look, freestyle workouts are great from time to time. But you won't accomplish much if freestyle is your workout of choice.

The only way to set up new benchmarks is to keep a workout journal.I find that those who keep a diary are much more successful than those who don't. Write down your results, your state of mind....in short, anything that will impact what you were able to accomplish. And your benchmarks should be realistic for you. 100 snatches in 5 minutes isn't realistic for most of my clients in the foreseeable future. Now 50 in 5 may be good. Benchmarks are personal and need to take into account lots of things. How hard you are able and willing to work? Your age, your sex, etc...all will come into play. The key is to always be improving.

Memorial Day Weekend Workouts

I went to Rehoboth Beach Delaware to spend the weekend with my family. We had great weather and a wonderful time celebrating those who have given their lives for our country.

I played tennis each morning and was a bit surprised by the Heart Rate Monitor results for tennis doubles. We played for 2 hours each day from 9 AM to 11 AM. I was going through 900 + calories in that time frame. AHR was around 64% and max was 91%. Not bad at all and we had a blast. I am so much faster and quicker than pre-kettlebell.

My kettlebell workouts were (as always) based on the Viking Warrior Strength Practice and Conditioning Program. I'm getting amazing results in raw strengthm, sustained power and cardio conditioning.

Saturday, before we played tennis I did my low volume tactical pullups and hit 100% of goal so I was happy. Didn't feel quite as strong as I hoped but hit the numbers. Late afternoon was when I had planned my first new Viking Conditioning Workout. By new I mean that I moved to the :36/:36 protocol. 35 work sets is the goal and I didn't hit that the first time out but I felt pretty good. My grip fell apart and I can't wait to do this on Tuesday again. Keep in mind that this was done after pullups, two hours of tennis and a full beach day of surf and sand so I wasn't all that unhappy.

Sunday was just a tennis day but today was tennis this morning and then I did high volume presses this evening when we got back from the beach. I hit 100% of goal and felt stronger than ever. Really a great workout. Did 15% more work than last Monday and I didn't it in 85% of the time. So it was way solid.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

Viking Warrior Conditioning and Low Volume Pistols

Today it's beautiful here in the Baltimore Metro area and I did all of my work outside.

Started with 10 minutes alternating from kettlebell halos, Pumps and bodyweight squats. Felt perfect upon completion.

Did 10 reps of the one legged squat with a kettlebell or pistol. I just did 5 on each side alternating with rest between each two. I revisited the Naked Warrior this morning and if there is a better resource for pistols, then please share it with me.

Reviewing the information really got me onto the razor as we say. Balanced and as thin as I could be.

Once I finished the pistols I went to the Viking Warrior Conditioning. Did 80 work sets for 560 total reps with the 16kg Kettlebell. Next up: :36/:36 protolcol.

Viking Warrior Strength Practice and Conditioning

Many of you know that I have a goal to be an RKC II and I plan on earning that in June, 2010. Check out the requirements here.

To that end I continue to work on my Viking Warrior Strength and Conditioning Program. Today was all about the kettlebell press.

This was the first day for me to use 2 16kg kettlebells in one hand. So 32 kgs total but with a weird level of stability and a different center of gravity than the 32 kg kettlebell has.

Last week, I did 4 sets of 4 reps per hand using the 12 and 16 kg kettlebell in one hand. Today, I was able to press the 16 and 16 3 times for 3 sets on the right side. I did 2 sets of just one rep on the left side and then finished strong with the final set pushing 2 reps.

I also did 40 sets of the mVO2 with the 16 kg kettlebell with a cadence of 7.

Sandy Sommer, RKC

High Volume Kettlebell Presses

Today I moved up in intensity for the Kettlebell Press. I moved from the 20 kg Kettlebell to the 24 kg kettlebell for the high volume Press day.


Definitely made a difference as I was able to do 160 reps with excellent form. With high Volume Strength work it's very important that it be done with submaximal weight and NEVER done to failure. The purpose of this type of workout is to get a lot of work done correctly. It is really for practicing solid technique and to really develop a "feel" for the exercise.

I did accomplish this today.

Progress in My Viking Strength Practice

I'm making great strides in my cardiovascular conditioning as well as my maximal strength in the Press, Pistol and Tactical Pull Up.

I do the Viking Warrior Strength Practice 6 days a week. I do each exercise twice each week. Once, low volume with near maximum weight and another high volume with sub maximal weight. I have seen big gains in a short amount of time.

Twice a week I do the Viking Warrior Conditioning as well. With another day of Turkish Get Ups thrown on a low volume day.

I haven't had any recovery issues and each workout is planned well in advance. The next workout is based off the one prior to it.

As an example, I'm using information from Marty Gallagher to do the low volume component of the workout. Once I get to 4 reps per side per set for 4 sets I move up. So I will be working with 2 16 kg kettlebells in my 1 hand next week on the low volume day of presses.Single-hand double kettlebell presses are an amazing tool. First of all they tell you the truth. You simply can't do them and not do them right. Drive a hip out and hello bell to head. Take your forearm off perpendicular, hello bell. If you didn't know what you were doing wrong before now you know:)

In addition, the bio mechanics of the movement are a bit different than a single whole kettlebell. The center of gravity changes with two bells. Try it with the larger bell on top of the smaller bell and you will see what I mean. You really must generate explosive power to move two bells. The sticking point is different as well. Give this a shot but remember to clean the bells safely using two hands. DON"T TRY IT WITH ONE HAND!

For the high volume work, I'm currently using the 20 kg kettlebell. I'm a workout or two away from moving up to the 24 kg kettlebell for this part of the practice. This week, my high volume session was 264 reps with the 20 kg bell. So I moved 5280 kgs. Not bad at all. That is the volume. On the low volume day it was around 900 kgs of volume. Quite a bit different. And that difference allows for recovery. Good sleep and proper fueling allow we do keep going.

I hope you find this helpful and please feel free to ask me any questions at all or feel free to comment.

I'll give some info about the pistols and Pull Ups another time. I'm excited to write about pistols as I've made significant progress lately.

One of Those Days

Today has been one of those days:) I don't know if it's the July like humidity here but I've been having trouble getting it together today and can now barely keep my eyes open.

I planned on doing low volume pistols using the 16 KG kettlebell and got that accomplished. Did 10 reps total.

After I did that my idea was to do 72 work sets of the mVO2 conditioning from Viking Warrior Conditioning. I had made sure to hydrate myself but apparently drank too much agua. At around the ten minutes mark the "sloshing" of liquid in my gut was bugging me. By 15 minutes I thought it was going to make me lose lunch so I stopped. Now feel poorly mentally and physically and just need to move on!

Sandy Sommer, RKC

Sandy Sommer, Baltimore Kettlebell Instructor Demonstrates 40 KG Turkish Get Up

I've been working on my Turkish Get Ups quite a lot and have made some real progess the last few weeks. "Kettlebells From The Ground Up" is the resource I've referenced in order to get more proficient in this kettlebell movement. And I've practiced and practiced. I want to be able to press the 40 KG Kettlebell and the Turkish Get up will help me get there.




Sandy Sommer, RKC

How Should You Train for The New RKC Snatch Test?

This post presupposes that you have built a solid base to build off of. I mean that you have tackled "Enter The Kettlebell" to build your resilience or worked with an RKC instructor who has given you the go ahead to tackle this elephant. Preferably both. Getting hurt while training is not the goal. Train hard but train smart. If you aren't able to follow this advice, then rest assured kettlebell training isn't appropriate for you.

Once your base is built and that foundation is solid, then you are ready for the "Czar of Kettlebell lifts." (Contact me if you need to build your foundation).

You want to train the snatch twice a week. There is so much more to getting your RKC certification than the infamous snatch test. If you choose to focus all your work on the snatch test you will wish you'd never heard of the RKC by the end of your certification weekend. You really will need to practice the other 5 foundations of "Hard Style" as well. Seriously.

You should also be aware of hand care. You don't, I repeat don't want to rip your hands to shreds. It's not a sign of toughness nor is it a badge of honor. I need to be careful here but I just saw a ton of picsture of shredded hands after last weekends certification. I had one tiny blister after the RKC weekend. Handcare is paramount, pre RKC, at the cert and as an instructor. Again I can't stress enough that you need to use your head on this. Forget the crush grip for snatches. You must have relaxed hands or you will pay a heavy tol. Check this out about handcare.

Enough of that, we are here to talk the snatch.

For men, the snatch test is 100 reps in 5 minutes with the 24 kg kettlebell. For women, you will use the 16 at a weight heaver than 56 KG and 12 if you are below that. You too need to do 100 reps in 5 minutes.

Please remember that this is written for those who are SURE of their snatch form. We go "Hard Style" here...not GS sport...No corkscrew. Hard Style.

If you don't know what that means ask:)

Set your timer for 5 minutes. Do 5 reps per hand at the top of each minute. Start here don't jump ahead. You are building the walls of your house. Forget the roof at this point. Once you can go 5 minutes add sets, not reps. Go to six minutes and keep adding to it. So you work your way to 20 minutes. That will be 200 reps. Solid work in 20 minutes.

Now you'll want to take a few days off and test your max without switching hands. start on your less dominant side and try for as many as you can and then switch to the strong side. Most likely you'll be able to do at least 50 total.

From there you'll next work up to 20-15-10-5. If you switch hands on each number it will help save your grip. Once again, I recommend starting on your weaker side. Keep pushing through. If you need to you can back off and start on a different rep count than 20 so it may look like 15-10-5-1 at first and your goal would be to add reps to each component. To reiterate, train smart. Getting hurt will slow your progress to a standstill. Take time off if your body is telling you to do so.

This road map will work for you. I promise. Use patience and perseverance and you will own this.

Please leave your commentary and any thoughts.

Sandy Sommer, RKC