THE DIFFERENCE MAKER part 2

Expanding on the previous post, here are things that your attiude CAN do for you.

1)Your attitude makes a difference in your approach to life!

The happiest people in life do not have the BEST of everything. All things in their life are not PERFECT. But they do try to MAKE THE BEST of everything. They're like the person in a remote village going to a well every day to get water who says' "every time I come to this well, I come away with my bucket full!" instead of, "I can't believe I have to keep coming back to this well to fill up my bucket!"

2) Your attitude makes a difference in your relationships with people.

To be successful, a person needs to be able to get along with others. That is why Theodore Roosevelt said, "The most important single ingredient in the formula for success is knowing how to get along with other people." There are many factors that come into play when learning skills of how to work with people, but what makes or breaks that ability is a person's attitude. While it's true that some people seem to have a natural ability to get along with others, even someone with limited people skills can become a people person if he decides to have a positive attitude toward people.

3) Your attitude makes a difference in how you face challenges.

In life there will be certain challenges,problems, failures and tough times. How are you going to handle them? Will you give up? Will you allow circumstances to make you bitter and miserable? Or are you going to make the best of things? Whatever path you choose depends on your attitude.

4) Your attitude is the DIFFERENCE MAKER!

When is your attitude most important? When life is on the line and things are challenging. When things are pushing you to your limit, that is when you attitude is the difference maker. Rosenbaum points out, "We have known for over 2,000 years- from the writings of Plato and Galen - that there is a direct correlation between the mind, the body and one's health." Poet John Milton wrote.

The mind is its own place, and it itself
can make a heav'n o fhell, a hell of heav'n.

Ultimately your attitude has a profound influence on how you see the world - and thus on the way you choose to live out your life!

Blessings!

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

Another Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year and taking the necessary rest we all need. I took a down week from training last week and stretched a bit. My work load was very heavy and I needed the rest.The high rep KB work has caught up with me and my body needs a little break from weights.

So today's post is about a book I started reading by one of my favorite authors, leadership expert John Maxwell. For those of you who are into self growth and becoming a better leader I highly recommend any of John Maxwell's books. This book "the difference maker" is about the importance of "ATTITUDE" and how it really does make a difference in everything you do.

So what exactly is attitude? Attitude is your inward feeling expressed by outward behavior. Ultimately your true attitude will wiggle itself out and it will be exposed. Here is what a good attitude cannot do for you:

1) Your attitude cannot substitute for competence.
2) Your attitude cannot substitute for experience
3) Your attitude cannot change the facts.

If you are 5 feet tall, your dream of playing in the NBA is out. Having a positive attitude cannot change reality. If you don't got it, you don't got it. As the old coach used to say, "You can't get out what God didn't put in."

4)Your attitude cannot substitute for personal growth. You still have to get out there and learn, apply and grow.

5) Your attitude will not stay good automatically. You must constantly choose to work on it and develop it. You can read, watch and meditate on CRAP or you can input words, music and information that is uplifting and empowering. The choice is yours!



More to come!

Snatch Only Day!

Like last wednesday I am keeping with the "one movement" rule for now and only performing snatches. My forearms and elbows are giving me fits,and thanks to Rif's advice I am doing some soft tissue work and trigger point release to aid in the healing. My volume has increased a bit with the higer rep KB work and I can feel it. For that reason I lightened the load today.

Snatches
16kg 20/20, 20/20, 20/20, 20/20 = 160 reps

Short and sweet, the way I like it. Although forearmd are so jacked with blood right now I can hardly type on thie keyboard :)

Dan John's Ten Commandments of Training

Dan John is right on. He may be one of the best presenters I have ever seen. And is hilarious as well. Enjoy!


The Ten Commandments of Lifting
...and Daniel came down from the mountain, yeah, verily, and carried tablets of iron...
1 Use whole body lifts, rarely isolate a muscle

2 Constantly strive for more weight on the bar and move it faster

3 The best anabolic is water

4 Did you eat breakfast? If not, don’t ask me anything about nutrition

5 If you smoke or don’t wear your seat belt, please don’t tell me the quick lifts are dangerous

6 Go heavy, go hard

7 Keep it simple. Less is more

8 You have to put the bar over your head

9 Put the bar on the floor and pick it up a bunch of different ways

10 Know and love the roots of your sport"


http://danjohn.org/

Monday Training

I am not a big Woody Allen fan but I do agree with his principle on success.

"80% of success is showing up."

As I was training today (a very short workout) his quote made perfect sense to me. Just showing up is half the battle. If people just committed 20 to 30 minutes, 3 times per week for focused exercise, they would be astonished how much progress they would make in one year, yet alone one decade.

Training

A-1 Double KB Front Lunge
20kg x 2 5 x 5/5

B-1 Clean and Press

20kg 2 x 2/2
16kg 3 x 5/5

B-2 Single KB Bent Over Row
32kg 1 x 8/8
28kg 2 x 6/6

That was it. My elbows are really jacked, especially my right elbow where I had reconstructive surgery. Something is not right. The ligaments feel weird and often I cannot straighten my arm if I have it in a flexed position for any length of time. Moving furniture around this weekend trashed it. I love the high rep KB Ballistic work but it seems to be aggrivating my elbow. I need to find a balance between high KB rep work and recovery. I'm still not there yet. Going to do some studying on how I might rehab my elbows. The forearm stretching and band extensions don't seem to be working.

Thoughts anyone?

Friday Training

In keeping with my goal of building up to 200 High pulls with the 20kg I was able to get 180 today. Next week will be 200 and then I will back off a couple of weeks and try and get my volume up to 300 reps in the RIF range!

A-1 Chin Ups
28kg 5 x 3

A-2 Clean and Press
20kg 5 x 5/5

B-1 High Pulls
20kg 9 x 10/10 = 180 reps.

Unlike last week, today felt great. I got in a "zone" where I felt like my endurance was great and could have done many more sets!

Snatches....

Today I only wanted to focus on one lift: Snatches. It's amazing how mentally draining doing many exercises on one day can be. To do only one frees up alot of energy for me, which I like. Using the 20kg felt appropriate today.

Snatches
20kg 7 x 10/10 = 140 reps

That was my workout. Short but effective!

Training....Various days

Monday Strength Day

Wanted to keep the volume really low today, epsecially after my temp runs at the track on Saturday. Very sore!

A-1 Double KB Front Lunges
2 x 20kg in rack position 4 sets x 5/5

B-1 Clean and Press
28kg 3 x 3/3

B-2 Chin Ups
24kg 3 x 3

I love these short workouts as they don't waste me at all. Very focused and very productive for me. As Mel Siff says, find a way to train that makes you a better athlete but keep you orthopedically healthy and sane :)

Saturday December 2 / TEMPO RUNS

10 x 100 yards (bodyweight GPP exercises in between)
Push Ups
Fisted Push Ups
Jumping Jacks
Shuffles
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Lunges

Been a while since I've done Tempo runs. These felt great as I feel my CORE work so much when I do them. I might have run them a little too fast as I was over zelous to get back on the track. My glutes and hamstrings were very sore. These tempo runs should have been done at 60% intensity, but I ran them at 70 to 75% intensity, too much! Either way I was so happy that my body tolerated it and my lumbar spine felt good.

Last Friday

Bottoms up clean
16kg 5/5
24kg 3/3
32kg 2/2

High Pulls
20kg 8 sets x 10/10 = 160 reps

The high pulls felt high. Nothing felt right that day. Just couldn't get into a groove at all. At least I trained, that is the positive I can take out of that session.

Wednesday Training

I am finally starting to feel like I'm recovering from the move. Slowly but surely my energy is coming back. A very brief but effective workout today. Energy was much better and I definitely work out better in the mid-day than at night. Night workouts are not for me.

A-1 Chin Ups
20kg 5 x 5 reps

A-2 Clean and Press
24kg 5 x 5/5

B-1 Single Leg Deadlifts
24kg 3 x 5/5

These shorter workout leave me feeling strong. Because I over train rather easy I need to constantly remind myself that my volume to be held at bay, especially considering my demanding work schedule.

All moved in....Time to start training again

We got the keys to our new home (our 1st home ever) on Wednesday. Thanksgiving day we rented a u-haul and along with Yoana and a strong friend of mine moved all our belonings out of our one bedroom apartment in downtown La Jolla to a spacious brand new 2 story home in Carmel Valley. To say that Yoana and I are excited is a gross understatement. We are thrilled and feel blessed to be able to get this house. Having more space to live in feels weird right now, although I really like it. Last week I managed to get in 1 and 1/2 workouts as the move really wiped me out. As many of you know, moving into your first home is rather stressful on the body I feel as weak as a new born kitten. Oddly enough lifting TV's, sofas, beds, and tons of boxes over the weekend didn't bother my back. My lumbar spine has managed to be pain free throughout the move, although I cannot say the same about both of my biceps and elbow joints. I have never had more bicep cramps in my life than last thursday and friday.



Needless to say, I have very little energy right now for training but mentally I need it. I decided to train with my class last night and I got my butt kicked. The kettelbell I picked was light but is still kicked my ass. What's funny is that I almost puked from what would normally be a light workout for me. Mel Siff was so correct in recommending people use a RPE (rate of perceived exertion) every workout. Because of many life factors, you always need to be able to listen to your body and make appropriate changes from there. This week is going to be a very light training week although I need to get back into it.

A-1 Clean + Squat + Press
20kg 5 x 5/5

A-2 KB Push Ups
Hand on top of two 20kg 4 x 8

A-3 Alternating Swings
20kg 4 x 10/10

That was just the first half of the class. I couldn't even make the second half due to my pukey state and breathing difficulties. Wow, haven't felt this out of shape in a while. Thank God I know why.

Monday Training

This week we are moving into our first home, very exciting! I am cutting my training volume down accordingly due to the move tomorrow! Moves are always stressful but this one is more exciting because we are moving into our first home!

Monday

A-1 Chin ups
20kg 5 x 4 reps

A-2 Single Arm Push Ups (assisted)
BW 5 x 3/3

A-3 Double KB Back Lunge
2 x 16kg 5 x 5/5

More Base Conditioning!

With my recent disc herniation as well as re-reading alot of spinal rehab books and posts from Mark Reifkind Senion RKC, I have come to the conclusion that lumbar spine stability and lumbar musculature endurance are the keys for me in having a healthy pain free back. Since adding more stability work and KB endurance exercises like light weight swings and snatches, my back is certainly on the mend. The concept of building a base as wide as possible is the essential goal for now. It doesn't mean I won't toy around with occasional heavy weights, it just means I will be focused on getting more endurance in those spinal/CORE musculature.

Saturday Training

Clean + Squat + Press
20kg 5 x 5/5

Snatches
20kg 5 x 10/10 = 100 reps

Single Arm Bent Over Row
24kg 3 x 8/8

Short and sweet. Back felt strong!

Monday and Wednesday Training

Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.

Proverbs 4:5-7

That says it all. Get WISDOM. This portion of scripture is really speaking to me righ tnow. This is the scripture verse of the week for me. A life without wisdom is a scary thing. Good to know that God commands us to get SMARTER because he knows it will help keep up us away from things that can hurt us and lead toward things that will bless us! Something to meditate on for sure ;)

This week has been very busy so my training volume is reduced. We have alot of cool things going on right now, but with those cool things comes less sleep and more stress. Need to be really careful these next couple of weeks.

Wednesday

A-1 Clean and Press
24kg 5 x 5/5

B-1 Single Arm Swings
20kg 6 x 10/10 = 120 total reps (200 is my goal!)

C-1 Single KB Clean and Squat
20kg 3 x 3/3

Monday

A-1 Snatches

24kg 4 x 5/5

A-2 Chin ups
20kg 4 x 4

A-3 Double KB Back Lunge
2 x 16kg 4 x 5/5

Short and Sweet. These shorter workouts are life savers. They allow me to train without wasting myself.

Tempo Training.....first time since July

This was the first time I had performed TEMPO running since late July. It felt very challenging even though I did not run them too hard. My technique felt fairly good but my conditioning obviously is not there. Felt good to be out there doing it.

TEMPO TRAINING on Friday

10 x 100 yards + various bodyweight exercises for GPP between intervals.

The entire workout took about 30 minutes. Challenging to say the least. I need to be carefull with how much volume I do from week to week. I'm thinking of altnernating my track workouts each week:

Week 1 Speed Day
Week 2 Tempo Day
Week 3 Speed Day
Week 4 Tempo Day

Because of my work schedule I honestly think my body can handle only one sprinting workout per week. So that means that every other week I will run fast. and every other week run for conditioning. This seems to be the most logical method considering my back injury this year. Less is more!

Thursday Training.......lighter but good

Keeping true to objective of lifting semi-heavy only once per week, today I did not venture higher than the 20kg kettlebell. I added in some one arm swings for spinal endurance as per recommendations from Rif. The swings were very challenging, not on my strength levels, but on my conditioning levels. When I finished with the swings I could not believe how pumped with blood my glutes and adductors were, WOW! It was challenging to walk. I t feels so good to train without pain and to know that you are not damaging anything in your body. These lighter days are great in the middle of the week because as I start getting fatigued from a very hectic work schedule, the ligher day seems to be just what the Doctor ordered.

A-1 Clean and Press
20kg 5 x 5/5

B-1 Clean and Squat
16kg 5 x 3/3

C-1 Single Arm Swings
20kg 5 x 10/10 = 100 reps (I want to build up to 200 reps and then switch to the 24kg)

D-1 Single Arm Bent Over Rows
20kg 3 x 8/8

The workout took 26 minutes and 46 seconds. The blood flow from the swings felt great. It almost as if I am learning how to do the swing from scratch. Rather than being so worried about how explosive I am perfroming each swing, I am starting to feel how to get into a rhythm and be efficient. It has taken me 4 years of kettlebell training to arrive at the fact that I didn't really understand the swing to well.

"Most of us must learn a great deal every day in order to keep ahead of what we forget."

- Frank A. Clark

Tuesday Training....and a recap of Naked Warrior Seminar

Yoana, Ken Black and I had the privelage of assisting at the Naked Warrior seminar in LA over the weekend. The seminar absolutely rocked! Pavel and Steve Maxwell pulled things out their bags of tricks that I had never seen. And the push variations that Steve showed were jaw-dropping. Here are a few of the main points I took home from the workshop:

1) Your body alone is the ultimate gym. There are an infinite amount of ways to make your bodyweight more challenging and thus improve conditioning with only your body weight.

2) Proper biomechanics are very important. You will find a transference of movement principles across all sports. In other words, God created your body to move and funtion in specific ways. Adopt and apply those principles and your performance will improve.

3) Linkage versus Leakage: Connect the shoulders to the body and you will be stronger. Pushing and pulling come from the LATS, period!!!!! When you perform push ups, push from the lats. When you row or perform pull ups/chin ups, use the lats. Initiate pushing and pulling by "packing the Shoulders." Similar to what most people have learned at the RKC, suck the shoulder into the socket.

4) Use the CORKSCREW technique when doing push ups. This keeps the shoulders packed, takes stress off the elbow and place it into the lats. When done properly, your shoulders should lower, never raise, when pushing or pulling.

5) On pistols you must find the power leak and attack it. Maybe it's your ankles that are unstable, maybe your knee, or possibly you lack mobility and strength in your hip. Perform all the troubleshooting assistance exercise and re-test the pistol. The patella must track straight.

6) On Pull Ups and Chin ups you must TRIANGULATE the shoulders, basically, suck the arms into the body from the hang position. Initiate the pull up by tucking the pelvis (engaging the abs) and bringing the legs in front of the body (note: this is not kipping). A wider grip takes stress off of the elbow due to decreased elbow flexion. Most guys might be stronger with a more narrow grip. The key to injury free pull ups is to vary the grips, the width and type of implement you grab (towel, bar, thick bar, rings, ropes).

All in all it was great to learn from the masters and it was fun assisting with Ken Black. Fun times and I look forward to seeing this seminar again!

Tuesday Training

A-1 Snatches
28kg 5 x 5/5

A-2 Chin Ups
20kg 5 x 3

A-3 Double KB Back Lunge
2 x 16kg 5 x 5/5

The training session took my just under 20 minutes. My lungs were BURNING, wow! Felt great!

Life is precious......& Wednesday and Thursday Training

Thank you GOD!
I just want to say Yoana and I are greatful that our fellow brother Pete Diaz was okay after rolling his car in a near fatal accident. Life is so precious and we must thank God for protecting Pete. Let us all count are blessings and remember to live each day like it is our last, because one...............it will be our last. I am not afraid to share my faith here on this blog but I also do not intend to throw it down anyone's throat, but in the grander scheme of things, we are in less control of the bigger picture than we think. Life can be going along so smooth and then something traumatic happens. I know I'll be a little more greatful in my prayers in the weeks and months to come (and hopefully for as long as I am alive.)

Training
Adding back in the stability exercises instantly made my back feel better and more stable. I had stopped doing them for about two weeks and discovered that my lumbar spine was starting to get sore and ache. The solution: Contine to perform the stability exercises I was doing for a long time. They definitely work!

Thursday Training:
32 minutes of Precor Intervals (2 minutes easy, 30 seconds sprint on level 9, and repeat)

Wednesday Training:

A-1 KB Clean and Press
16kg 1 x 3/3 24kg 1 x 3/3
32kg 2 x 1/1

B-1 Single Clean + Squat + Press
20kg 5 x 5/5

C-1 Pull Ups (BW)
5,6,7
4,5,6

D-1 Single arm Snatches
16kg 2 x 10/10

Back off Week! and a little Self Growth talk...

Because I have lifted relatively heavy the last two weeks I decided to lighten the snatch load and give the back a little active recovery. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still training, just going to lighten down to a 24kg for my heavy day.

The Power Circuit

A-1 Gorsky Lunge 20kg 5 x 6/6

A-2 Chin Ups 16kg 5 x 5

A-3 Snatches 24kg 5 x 5/5

20 min Zone

I really enjoy these shorter workouts. It also suits my Lumbar spine recovery well because it limits the total time of each training session and keeps me from overtraining or doing more than I should.

On another note, I recently started re-reading a great book which many of you have probably read, Stephen Covey's classic "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." It's amazing how many different aspects and details of the book I am learning now that I didn't learn or wasn't ready to learn a couple of years ago. Thank God for maturity and the self growth process.

A quick recap of the book. The first three principles are called private victories. The are:

Principle # 1 Be Proactive
Principle # 2 Begin with the end in mind
Principle # 3 Put things first.

Principles 4 through 7 are called public victories and are more related to an indivduals relationship with others and to society. The later principles must be preceded by the private victories and for obvious reasons. Princples 1 through 3 are the internal principles that govern a persons view on life and how they respond to what happens to them. It essentially means you accept the fact that you are responsible for your actions and the outcomes that result from those actions. It is telling yourself, "I am not a victim in life. I do have choices and I can choose how I want to respond to any given situation." What that means is that between STIMULUS...............and......................RESPONSE, there is a space. That space is where your freedom lies. People who successfully live the first three principles are essentially saying that they are responsible for their feelings and ultimately their behavior. The opposite would be like saying, "I couldn't help getting mad and throwing my starbucks coffee in his face, he made me mad." It is allowing external circumstances to govern and control internal conditions.

By truly wrestling and struggling with these principles, you can come to the realization the self growth takes work and is truly HOLY GROUND. But it is the only solution to becomming an effective person and member of society. Until you stop blaming others for your problems and lack of success, you will be like a computer or worse yet, a robot. Someone pushes a button and there is a knee jerk reaction to your behavior. Living the first three principles means:

a) You become a person of character who lives his life according to worthy God honoring principles

b) You do not make decisions based on what others may think of you and on your "feelings."

c) you do not live your life for the approval of others

d) You are Proactive rather than reactive

e) Writing and living your personal mission statement

f) Prioritizing the most important things in your life (family, faith, health, friends, etc..)

I will update more of this book as I begin to disect and devour the content. My challenge to anyone reading this is ask yourself the following Questions:

Question 1: What one thing could you do (you aren't doing now) that if you did on regular basis, would make a tremendous difference in your personal life?

Question 2: What one thing in your business or professional life would bring similar results?

My answer to both questions is very similar. I would spend time daily reviewing and reflecting on my purpose in life (my mission statement) and reviewing my calendar to make sure my daily activities reflect my mission and purpose. I can honestly say that if I did that every single day, I would be a much more effective person. That is my goal, to live my life more ON PURPOSE. I would also say that I need to watch less TV at night and stimulate my mind more...

Anyone else????????????

If you would like to share, please do respond to this post!

Much more to come......

Last Week's Schedule

Saturday - First day on the track!

Today was my first day since the end of July / early August since I have sprinted. My back has been feeling much better so I decided I would do a couple of acceleration sprints at a very low intensity. It's two days later and my back feels fine. Hopefully I will be able to perform one day per week of light sprinting as my goal is to compete next spring in about 6 to 8 track meets in southern california. Of course all depends on how my back responds. If the sprinting starts to hurt back, it may mean that it's to premature for me to start sprinting and that my disc needs more time to heal.

Breif Warm up:
Various Track Drills

4 x 30 meteres acceleration sprints

2 x 40 meters acceleration sprints

That was it, short and sweet. Felt great to be out there, WOW!

Friday

A-1 Snatches

16kg 1 x 5/5
20kg 3 x 10/10

B-1 Bottoms Up Press

16kg 2 x 3/3

C-1 Lunges

16kg 2 x 8/8

D-1 Pull Ups 1 x 10

Thursday

Precor Sprints for 32 minutes (30 sec sprint / 2 min easy)

Great Article by Brett Jones!

Occam's Razor in Program Design

Brett really explains how simple program design should be and even brings in some great minds and philosophers from the past. YOU MUST READ THIS!!!!!!

My Heavier Day!

From the success of last weeks "heavy" day, I am keeping this workout in my training. My goal is to gradually increase the volume, let me emphasize "Gradually." I am the athlete who is so quick to lift as heavy as possible as soon as possible. It has only left me constantly injured and overtrained. I recently had an epiphany that in the past I was literally training all day long. While training clients I would "sneak" in those extra sets of heavy snatches or presses, hoping to get my strength levels up. My infatuation with constant progress actually led to regression (injured disc). I was also always stretching my hips and back constantly which I now see was making my hypermobile left SI joint more unstable. In fact, two months of little to no stretching has made my SI joint feel better than I can ever remember. In retrsospect I see my foolishness and realize that progressing slowly is better, especially if you are in a profession that challenges you physically every day. Now when I train clients instead of moving around and stretching non stop I save my stretching for my stretching session.

ESSENTIAL LESSON LEARNED: In my case it is better for me to segregate and compartmentalize my training and stretching. When I train, train. When I stretch, stretch. After that, leave them alone!

Thus the GTG method for me is super dangerous. The princple is awesome. In the hands of a neurotic training junkee is can lead to overtraining and injury. Let me re-state the word "CAN"! I'm not saying it will for everyone, but in my case it did. I see the wisdom in training during my training session, and not during any other time. In other words, save my best for when it really counts and is needed, during my training session. As Paul Chek once said "TRAIN, DON'"T DRAIN."

No more draining, only training!

A-1 KB Snatches 28kg 6 x 3/3
A-2 KB Clean + Squat + press 24kg 6 x 3/3
A-3 Chin Ups 12kg 6 x 3

Felt great. Kept it under 20 minutes. That's my heavy workout for the week. Next two workouts are with the 20kg and 16kg.

Too much Bread and Cereal in your diet?

High bread consumption tied to kidney cancer

As most people are learning, too much refined bread and cereals can increase RCC (renal cell carcinoma. Something to think about.

Saturday - light day!

As per several posts from Rif, I am adding in some single arm swings to heal up the back.
Back is feeing better and as ever month passes by it seems to get stronger and more resilient.

A-1 Single Leg Deadlift w/20kg 5 x 5/5

B-1 Bottoms Up Presses w/ 20kg 1 x 5/5 1 x 3/3

C-1 DARC Swings w/12kg 1 x 20, w/16kg 5 x 20

D-1 Pull Ups 1 x 12

short and sweet. Feels good!

Great Article!

Check out this article on T-Nation by my brother Keats Snideman and Charles Staley.

Article

For those of you who like EDT, you'll enjoy this.

Thursday workout!

My back felt fine from the heavier loading on Monday. Will continue to keep monday as my heavier day. Everything else from there will be lighter loads for a while.

A-1 Snatches w/20kg 2 x 10/10

B-1 Clean and Press w/20kg 3 x 5/5

C-1 Dynamic Alt. Front Lunges w 16kg 3 x 6/6

D-1 Pull Ups 1 x 10

These easier workouts still feel real good and I know they are doing me alot of good. If I had just listened to Rif from the beginning maybe this would not have happened. Time to build a base (although I don't enjoy doing volume too much as you can tell).

Monday Workout..........not too bad

I have been getting in 3 workout per week, mainly working on the following movements:


Static Lunges
Bottoms Up Presses
Pull up and Chin Ups
Snatches
Bent Over Rows
Clean and Press

Have been using mainly the 16kg , 20kg and occasional 24kg. Back has responded favorably.
On Monday I upped the weight to test my body. Felt pretty good.

A-1 KB Snatch 28kg 5 x 3/3
A-2 Clean + Squat + Press 5 x 3/3
A-3 Chin Ups 5 x 3 (12kg)

Took me 20 minutes. My first real TEST on my body. So far so good. That is as heavy as I will go for a while. Once a week I'll toy around with teh 24kg and maybe the 28kg. The 16kg and 20kg will be the bells of choice for my Wed and Thursday workouts.

More to come!

More rehab....

Jack Lalanne's advice:

"If they're overweight, normalize that weight. Quit exceeding the feed limit. And exercise is number one! I don't care what you have wrong with you, you can do something - right? Maybe there are ten exercises you can't do, but there are a hundred you can do."

This Quote has really made sense to me this last week. I have been so doom and gloom with my back injury and so AFRAID to do anything, I have sometimes felt paralyzed. But what the hell, Jack is right, there are tons of movements I can do.

Back is feeling better although I can still feel the wound in the lumbar area. I was looking at the MRI today and it really bummed me out to see how little disc space is left betweem L-4 and L-5. I've been in a funk mentally the last week or two feeling a little disouraged about the future of my back. I need to pull out of this funk and realize that this is a good thing. It was a great wake up call to take care of my body instead of abusing my body. With my career as a trainer, working and lifting things all day, plus the training I was doing, it caught up with me. I am anxious to get out on the track and sprint, even more so than lift weight ( although I miss lifting the heavier bells).

I am still doing the same rehab drills from before and have added the following exercises:

Static Lunges
Pull Ups
Incline DB Bench Press
KB Clean and Press
Single Leg Deadlifts
Single Arm Bent Over Rows

The weights are light but I feel they are at least exposing my body to some real life movements. Just doing my job is also rehabing my back. I seem to be tolerating quite well my daily work load. Come friday my back is fatigued but I cannot say I am in any pain which is great. One of the biggest BLESSINGS to come out of this is that I am much more connected to my back in the sense that I have think about what postures I am in all day. I am AWARE of my habits and alignment more than ever. That awareness has almost been curative in itself. I'm convinced that changing you daily movement habits is the true secret to having a pain free body. It takes alot of work and patience but it is very effective.

more to come.....

Still Rehabing..........

My low back is healing nicely. I can still feel the "wound" and still have plenty of awkward and vulnerable positions I encounter throughout the day. Strength wise my legs are coming back, although my legs feel as skinny as a Kenyan marathoner. It's been six weeks since my back injury and that is just enough time for the legs to get a little scrawny. Asthetic goals and functional goals do not always see eye to eye, but I'm convinced that in a couple more months my legs will come back up. That last two weeks I did throw in one session of static lunges with bodyweight and than this week with an 8kg. Man did that make me sore!!!


Here is a progression form the previous rehab exercises. They did their job and I am a believer in in these types of exercises when injured. My lumbar spine is more stable and feeling stronger although if I'm on my feet all day working with clients my back is sore by the mid-afternoon.

Low Back Disorders......in my case..the disc

Intelligent Quote of the Month:
"To me, the sign of a really excellent routine is one which places great demands on the athlete, yet produces progressive long-term improvement without soreness, injury or the athlete ever feeling thoroughly depleted. Any fool can create a program that is so demanding that it would virtually kill the toughest marine or hardiest of elite athletes, but not any fool can create a tough program that produces progress without unnecessary pain."
Dr. Mel C. Siff

This quote is great. My twin brother Keats recently put it in his excellent newsletter. If you have not signed up for his newsletter, you can do so at www.keatssnideman.com
I agree with the late Mel Siff. How easy it is to design a program that can easily SMOKE somebody. But how difficult is to design a program that get someone super strong yet with no injuries. Something to think about, espeically me with my back issues.

Disc Injuries -

The majority of disc injuries are caused by repeated flexion with rotation. I'm not sure this was my reason for injury, although with heavy deadlifts (which is what injured my spine this time)I know I lose lumbar lordosis. However the majority of disc disorders are caused by poor habits and lazy postures. I wouldn't consider my posture to be lazy, although I have established some poor work habits while working with my clients. Flexing my lumbar spine while doing bodywork, picking up dumbbells and weight plates with a flexed spine. Done once or twice is not a big deal, but done repeatedly day after day for years will destroy the integrity of the disc. I'm convinced that 95% or more of back injuries are result of bad lifting and postural habits. These injuries can be prevented with correct postural exercises and changing habitual movement patterns.

Spinal Instability -
Tissue is damaged from joint laxity, and joint laxity leads to instability. With decreased disc height comes ligament laxity which causes this instability. So when people injure their backs they often feel that there back is too tight, which is often a total fallacy. These same people will try to "stretch" out their pain and this often makes their condition worse. I have experienced this in my own body. The more I stretch my lumbar spine, the more I hurt. If I do too much Joint mobility, Z-heatlh, etc..., I hurt. Most people need more stiffness in thier lumbar spine, not less, especially if they are lifting weight and playing sports. The older I get the more I benefit from stability exercises in the lumbar area where the focus is maintaining a neutral spine.

Much more to come on this topic.......

Congratulations to Mark Reifkind, New Sr. RKC!!

My firend and colleague Mark Reifkind was just announced new Senior RKC of the amazing Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification program. This school of strength has and continues to produce some of the best Strength Coaches in the world, and Mark is certainly one of them. Yoana and I want to congratulate Mark for his incredible achievement. Dragon Door and the RKC system are lucky to have a coach like Mark on board, check out his bio at the following web site.

Mark's Bio

You rock Mark!!!!

Back on the Blog!

Finally life is starting to come back to normal as I am able to walk and do daily activities again. Almost am pain free :) It has been 4 weeks since I hurt my back and the time I have spent recovering has taught me alot about life and the importance of being good to your body. Accidents are one thing, but when an injury comes from over doing it and shere neglegence, it makes you questions things are little more strongly. Let's just say this injury has been a life changing injury on many levels, primarily spiritually, mentally and then physically. With the help of Derek Samuel, a mentor of mine and the best Physical Therapist I have ever met, I am back in training. Although this training is my rehab.

The primary objective of the therapy: to re-educate my abdominal and back muscles to maitain neutral spine during movement.

Exercise One: Standing Double Cable Pulldows (with arms straight)

Exercise Two: Seated SB Hip Flexion (maintaining Neutral spine)

Exercise Three: Seated SB Shoulder Flexion (maintaining neutral spine)

Exercise Four: Seated SB Hip abduction with theraband (maintaining neutral spine) *

* This exercise seems to be helping quite a bit. Being able to turn on my glutes (glute medius, TFL, and maximus) while keeping my lumbar spine from moving is a skill I need to keep me healthy. You would be surprised how such easy looking exercises become very challenging when you are injured. These exercises have made an immediate difference in gettiing me re-connected with my abdominals and spine again. For a while there I felt so disconnected and unstable in my low back. My body is able to tolerate daily movemetns and some flexion. The name of the game: take it slow, and use this as an opportunity to improve my weaknesses and build some health promoting habits. Thank yo God for giving me another chance with my back and with my life!!!

Healing....and feeling better!!!

Well, I'm finally off the narcotics and have swtiched to 2400mg of Ibuprofin (that stuff works - big time.) The cortisone shot the Doc gave me kicked in and I am feeling so much better. Now it's time to let the healting begin and to take a more "conservative" approach to training. As much I love lifting heavy loads on the deadlifts, playing around with the bulldog and Beast, it's time for me to put things in persepctive! I cannot affort to takes weeks off for healing. The reaility of the situation is that I am not a professional athlete and I have nothing to prove. Trying to stroke my ego by being a big shot is a potentially lethal mistake. Here are some of the things I have learned about myself and life during the past two weeks:

1) Find the Sweet spot in training. In other words find the optimal loading Zone of tissues. Tissue breakdown occurs as a result of either insufficient or excessive load. In my case it is from excessive load. Seeing 8 to 10 clients a day, doing bodywork on alot of them, stretching them, running sprints with them at the track. I was doing way TOO MUCH. That is my probelm, I do too much and my body eventually gives up. As much fun as pusing your body is, there is always a pay off. You must and will always "pay the piper" for everything you do. Do too litlle in training, and you waste your time. Do too much and you risk injury and total burnout.

2) Listen to your body. The older you get and more training experience you have, the stress of repetitive movements accumulates and they do take their toll. Become a master at listening to subtle signals your body gives you. If something feels off and your body is telling you not to push it, don't push it. This is where Ihave failed. My bonehead attitude of pushing through pain has only left me injured, frustrated and on my back with an ice pack. I think I finally learned that this type of attitude has done nothing for my long term orthopedic health and mental state.

3) Think Long Term. How do you want your joints and spine to be in 10 years? 20 years? 40 years? Ken Black has turned me on to the concept of finding ways to make lighter weights feels heavy through unconventional means such as grip changes, angle modification and most importantly, creativity. After seeing my MRI I now know have a much deeper appreciation for taking care of my spine. My disc at the L-4 level is pancaked and highly degenerative. In fact I am a great spinal fusion surgery canditate in the future. I do not want to get spinal surgery, therefore I must think long term.

4) Be Humble and appreciate good health! It is amazing how much I appreciate normal body function and health once it is taken away. When you can barely walk and have unbearable pain, your outlook on life changes quickly. All that matters is your health at the moment. Enjoy life and thank your CREATOR every day for the grace and blessings He showers upon you. Life is gift, and having the free will to choose and make good decisions that lead you to a better life is amazing. My injury was my fault and I must take accountability and responsibility for my injury and spine.

Slowly I will start introduce some Phase One exercises (little to no loads at all) and get my training back on track. That's it for now. It is so nice to have less pain and to be able to walk again.

Healing...

My low back has been jacked up for over a week. The herniation I had in 2001 at L-4 is back again rearing its' ugly head. I will see a spine MD tomorrow to talk about it. Will keep everyone posted!

Be well and don't be a bonehead like I was. Listen to your body and learn when to back off (something I must learn how to do)!!!!

Track Day

Speed Day

WARM UP = 25 minutes
Hip Mobility
Track Drills

3 x 30 meters

3 x 40 meters

2 x 150 meters

Left SI Joint hurts. Slept too long Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning with a stiff low back. If I lie in bed more than 8 hours I get back pain. If I sleep 8 hours or less, low back always feels great.

40 random thoughts...

by Eric Cressey. This is Good.

40 Random Thoughts

Saturday Training

Elbow is getting better. The light resistance is helping my elbow. Blood flow is a good thing.

Military Press (right arm only)

26kg 20 reps / 10 reps

Clean and Press (left arm only)

32kg 1 rep x 4 sets

Snatches (right arm)

16kg 20 reps x 3 sets = 60 reps
24kg (left arm) 20 reps x 3 sets = 60 reps

I can tell that my left arm is getting stronger. 32kg feels lighter than it has in a while. Sometimes we can turn injuries into blessings!!!!! :)

Ken Black is a Genious!

You would think as a Strength Coach I would apply what I know to be true and what I teach my clients. Guess again. After talking to Ken Black yesterday he asked my "Why aren't you at leat performing some light KB moves for your injured right elbow".....................Good point Ken! I tried some light presses and rows and instantly my elbow started feeling better. And today it feels the best it has felt in weeks. Thanks Ken! The recent interview of the Stretch Band guy on T-nation talks about the importance of getting blood flow to the injured area ASAP. It's practical and it makes sense

Deadlifts

135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1 x 5

Clean and Press

24kg 5 x 5 sets (left arm only)
8kg 10 x 3 sets (right arm)
12kg 10 x 1 (right arm)

Single Arm Bent Over Rows

32kg 6 x 5 sets (left arm only)
16kg 10 x 5 sets (right arm only)

Deadlifts felt pretty good and no pain in the elbow. Have not performed deadlifts in quite some time. Felt good to pull a little iron off the floor. Low back feels fine today.

Tuesday and Wednesday workouts

Wednesday

Track day = tempo running

Warm Up
Track drills
Hip Mobility

8 x 150 = these felt rather slow - but that's okay. I think I've been running these too fast lately and that is not the idea. The CNS must be left in-tact, and if I sprint them too fast, my CNS reserves become depleted. Need to remember to RELAX and not push the tempo runs!

Tuesday night = Kettlebell Presses and Snatches

I am only using my left arm. Right elbow needs more rest. That whole elbow tendinitis garbage:(

Clean and Press

24kg 3 reps x 3 sets
28kg 1 reps x 3 sets
32 kg 1 reps x 3 sets

Snatches

24kg 10 reps x 6 sets = 60 reps

I am feeling like I've lost some muslce in my upper body. Perhaps I could be the next poster child for the Somalian marathon team :)

Friday Speed

Knee is feeling much better. Time to put on the spikes and run some fast ones.

WARM UP
DRILLS
DYNAMIC Hip mobility

3 x 30 meters

1 x 60 meters

2 x 150 meters

Wow, that felt good. My hammies and glutes are going to be SORE! The speed is starting to come but I realize that taking almost 6 years off was a mistake. Lost alot! I am confident that I will get it back, however, it will take a much more disciplined approach and effort. The quality that is the most easily lost is Power and speed, that ability to produce force quickly. I just don't have the POP I had 6 years ago. At times I can sense that it's coming back and other times it feels like it's gone. This is my objective, to get it back and keep it.

Thursday Training

This week has pretty much been a back off week - nothing to intense. My right elbow is giving me fits as well so that's an issue I need to work through.

Clean and Press (left arm only)

24kg 2 reps x 3 sets
28kg 1 rep x 3 sets
32kg 1 rep x 3 sets

Snatches (left arm only)

32kg x 10 reps x 2 sets

Snatches felt great. Focused on power and speed. No GS style on these ones.

Fun time Pressing

Revolution's new kid on the block John Vandenbrink RKC and myself had a great experimential session of odd types of overhead lifts. I must say that I am impressed with John and how fast he has progressed in some of the more difficult KB lifts. At 6 feett 9 inches tall, his body presents a challenge in many movements for obvious reasons. Never the less, he is becoming much more "Connected" in his body. Check out some of the picks. It was great seeing him experiment and you could see how much joy he had trying new things. It was tons of fun as we were two kids in the candy store tyring to find new ways of pressing objects.

Monday night Training

Elbows have been hurting so no heavy KB's right now. I feel very flat and like I need to tweak my training a bit. Doing presses, snatches, and pull ups is getting very boring and I can feel my body regressing. HMMMMM. Perhaps all I need is more restful sleep?


Walking Lunges
2 x 20kg KB's 5 x 5

Rope Waves 20 waves x 5 sets

Halo's 6/direction x 3 sets

Swings
32kg 5/10/15/20

that was it. That was not too hard.

Saturday Tempo Running

I was planning on doing a speed workout on the track today but during the warm up my right knee had a sharp pain in it. Weird? Maybe from sitting in the car too much during the week or sitting at the computer. Tempo running is a great substitute!

Warm Up = 25 minutes
10 x 100 yards (bodyweight GPP in the end zones)

Felt great. Knee had ZERO problems. For those of you wanting to lean up. get busy doing some tempo running!

Article on T-nation by Keats Snideman

Here is an article that my brother Keats Snideman and Charles Staley co-authored on pulling.

T-nation article

Tempo Day / Snath Day

Wednesday

I decided to add a couple of reps of bench press to excite the nervous system and see if it improved my snatches. Yes, it worked.

Flat Bench Press

135 x 5
185 x 1
205 x 1
210 x 1

Snatches

24kg 5/5 10/10 15/15 10/10 10/10

100 reps = felt great


Tuesday /TEMPO RUNNING

Warm up
Track Drills/ Hip Mobilty
10 x 100 yards

Back from Vacation - back into the saddle!

My wife and I were privelaged to go on a cruise with her entire family through the Caribbean. The cruise was awesome., the service was outstanding and spending time with her family is always fun. With that being said, it feels great to back home, back to our Fitness Studio, and back in the groove. And, we didn't gain any weight because we worked out every day on the cruise. (the average weight gain per person for a 7 day cruise is around 7 pounds - yikes!!!)

Haven't touched a KB in over a week. It feels good to pick one up again, I'm sure many of you can relate to this.

I decided to try the ETK format.

A-1 Clean and Press
24kg x 1/2/3 x 3 sets

A-2 Weighted Pull Ups
24kg x 1/2/3 x 3 sets

B-1 Front Squats
2 x 24kg KB's 5 x 5

C-1 Rope Waves
3 x 30 seconds waves (explosive)

D-1 AB Sit Ups

10lb MB x 15 reps x 2 sets

Snatches

This week had been unbelievably busy. Saw 10 clients today and will see 9 tomorrow. Why? I am leaving on a cruise this weekend so am trying to get everyone in before we leave. Have not trained since last week with weights due to my intense schedule and my SORE body from sprinting. The last sprint session I did worked me BIG TIME! What it really means is that I am finally starting to sprint fast. Every time I run faster in practive it SMOKES my nervous system and it takes me longer to recover. But today I felt unusually strong with the snatch. So I powered in a quick workout before my KB classe at 6pm.

SNATCHES

40kg 3/3 5/5 5/5 felt Great = 26 reps
24kg 30/30 = 60 reps

That was enough!!!! I for sure feel better with less frequent workouts, just works for me better. So there goes my 4 days of weight training per week :) 3 days is plenty.

Lunges, Double Snatches + Heavy MB's

I am performing the same four programs for next couple of weeks. I have a difficult time keeping the same movements in, especially with the same loads. Every week I will add one more set. Last week I did 5 sets, this week six.

A-1 Double KB Front Lunges

2 x 20kg 5 reps x 6 sets

A-2 Double KB Snatches

2 x 20kg 5 reps x 6 sets

B-1 MB Shouldering

100 lb. 3/3 x 2 set
150lb. 1/1 x 1 set

C-1 Prone SB Push Away's

5 reps x 3 sets

Tempo Runs with Yoana

Yoana is really starting to enjoy these tempo runs, and so am I. They really do work wonders in the body in regard to general conditioning, sprint specific conditioning, and FAT LOSS!!!!!!!

WARM UP
track drills (25 minutes)

8 x 150 yards( 70 % effort)

Cool down!

Felt great. Never have I done this much volume(total distance) with tempo runs.

Happy 4th of July!

Blessings to you all! Have a great 4th of July!

Here's a pic of John Vandenbrink( he is 6 feet 9 inches tall) and Pavel at the June RKC. And a pic of me and the Pete Master when he came and visited!

Training:

A-1 Double Clean and Press

2 x 24 kg 5 reps x 5 sets

A-2 Double Bent Over Rows

2 x 24 kg 5 reps x 5 sets

Short and Sweet!


LAST NIGHT TRAINING:

Band Presses

3 Magenta 3 reps x 4 sets

Legs!

Back to some leg training. I have pretty much taken this whole year off from squats, deadlifts and the basic strength exercises due to my lower back disc bulge. My back feels alot better having taken that time off, only problem is that now my legs are resembling a Kenyan marathoner, yikes!!! Need a little more muslces on those STICK legs of mine. However, I still need to be somewhat conservative though. The snatch is still going to be my bread and butter leg and full body power exercise for sprinting.

A-1 Double KB Front Squats 5 reps x 5 sets
2 x 20kg

A-2 Single Arm KB Snatches
40kg 5 r / 2 L x 1 sets
32kg 5 / 5 x 4 sets

Short and sweet -felt good!

Sunday Sprints at the Track

Waking up yesterday, looking at the glorious sunny day, knew it was a track day. It has been very humid and hot lately, but I love it. Warming up your body when it is warm is so much easier than when it's cold and dry outside.

WARM UP:
track drills (lots of them)
Hip Mobility
(this whole arm up usually takes around 20 to 25 minutes)

30 meter sprints x 3

150 meter sprints x 4 (these were tough)

These were great because one direction I was running into the wind and that was so difficult. The other direction I was running with the wind and it made me run so much faster. So it was a nice nervous system overload, one sprint had resistance while the other one was no resistance. I felt like I was flying when the wind was pushing me on, what an amazing feeling. I am slowly going to start to adding more special endurance runs like the 150's and eventually up to 300 meters. What was also cool was that in running the 150 I was able to hit my top speed and hold it for a couple of seconds. With the 30 meter sprints I usually do, I never get up to full speed where I can OPEN it up and just go for it. Now I know that the acceleration is there so I can start doing a little more endurance runs (yes, can you believe it, that 150 meters is endurance for a sprinter?)

Felt great!

2 Days in a row!

usually I do not train with weights consecutive days. Experimenting with traing 4 days a week with KB's and weights, but shorter workouts. My sprint workouts will remain the same

A-1 Double KB Floor Press

53's x 5 x 5 sets

A-2 Weighted pull ups

36lb KB x 5 x 5 sets

B-1 Bottoms up Clean

36lb KB 5/5
53lb KB 3/3
70lb KB 3/3
53lb KB 3/3
70lbKB 3/3

Short and sweet. Wow my glutes are fried from those lunges yesterday. I am taking this week off from Snatches and Presses due to the PR's last weekend at the RKC.

Thursday Training

Haven't been training too frequently over the last 5 weeks. I've probably averaged one to two workouts with weight per week and alot more sprinting. My POWER is definitely better, able to snatch and jerk heavier bells and sprint faster, however; my maximal strength is low. Very strange experience. As my bodyweight has gotten lighter my power has increased, but my maximal strength, like heavy presses, deads, pull ups has decreased.

Here is the Question? At this stage in my career does it really matter?Should I be more concerned about my RFD (rate of force development) in power movements like snatches, swings, jerks, swings and of course sprinting? Or Should I still try and get my maximal strength up in the DL, presses, Rows, Lunges, and Pull ups. I feel the answer is a little of both.

thoughts?


Training today:

A-1 Front Lunges 5 x 5 (2 x 20kg)
A-2 Double Snatches 5 x 5 (2 x 20kg)

B-1 100lb. MB Shouldering 3/3 x sets
C-1 Prone Swiss Ball Reverse Push Away (forearms on bench) 6 x 3 sets

That was it.

Phenomenal RKC

This RKC was the best one I have ever attended. It started off with a quick run through of the seven RKC exercises, rather than spending one full day on the swing like it used to be taught. Overall it was a great group of students and an awesome group of assitant instructors.

John Vandenbrink from Revolution also passed the RKC with flying colors. Way to go John. The RKC system continues to evolve, grow and refined. I am proud to be part of the system and associated with a very cool, friendly and positive community. Many of you who are RKC's can relate to the "special"quality there is at the certification. It really brings people to an entirely new and higher level in their lives.

BTW, I hit some new PR's at the RKC.
Snatches w/40kg 15 reps right, 10 reps left
Snatches w/48kg 3 reps right (this was cool - because my bodyweight is at 167. I am getting stronger as I am getting lighter, weird huh?)

TEMPO RUNNING TODAY

Warm up
Track Drills
6 x 150 yards (this felt wonderful, but it was tough)
Must have been 90 degrees on the track - very hot!!!

It's great to back at home and at Revolution!

Off to the RKC on Thursday!

Yoana, John Vandenbrink and myself are off to the RKC tomorow. Yoana and I are going as instructors and John will be certified for the first time. He is ready to pass his test and I will be proud of his achievement.

I'll post the feedback and happenings from the RKC next monday! Take care everyone!

Been practicing with the BEAST

Here are a couple of shots of me jerking the BEAST last week. I am very excited that I even have the stability and strength to get it overhead. This is a HUGE achievement for me.

Why I sprint - by Keats Snideman

This is a poem my brother Keats wrote called "Why I sprint." I thought it was moving and worth sharing. You can replace wherever it says "sprint" with whatever it is you like to do.

Why I sprint….
Why do I sprint?
I sprint because it makes me feel alive…pushing my body to its envelope is invigorating and a rush. I feel and connect with the brevity of life yet feel optimistic that I’m on the right journey.

I sprint because I can…I am fortunate to have a healthy and functioning body while there are so many who do not. I sprint for all the people who cannot and never know for sure when I too may be unable to sprint.

I sprint for fitness… One only has to glance at the beautiful bodies of Olympic level sprinters and realize the beauty of the human body at rest and in blurring motion. The incredible development of the hamstrings, glutes, calves, and quads are hard to deny on such Olympic bodies. And what about the impressive mid-sections on sprinters- truly a thing of beauty!

I sprint to build courage and strength…It is difficult sometimes to ask your body to go all out. Sometimes things flow and everything comes easily. Other times there is adversity and everything feels more difficult.

I sprint to help me overcome the adversity in my life as well as to help others with the adversity in theirs. What other reason is there for living if you aren’t helping others? By sprinting I am helping myself become a stronger person which in turn helps me help others.

I sprint to find efficiency…Sprinting is all about efficiency; to find the quickest and most efficient path between two points. It is difficult to be smooth and relaxed when asking your body to go all out however that is the goal. Extraneous motion does and will occur. The better my technique and the more I relax, the better I sprint. The best runs are the one’s the felt easy, effortless. I strive to achieve this zone of performance but it is not easy.

I sprint to learn to "flow" and let the speed come out; to let it occur rather than force it. Things work better in life when you just let them happen.

I sprint for love…Sprinting makes me realize how much I love life, my boys, my wife, my parents, my sister, my twin brother, and all of my friends. It connects me with deceased loves ones, especially my late Grandmother, Nana.

I sprint to feel free…to let it all out. I sprint for the many who are imprisoned, either physically, emotionally, spiritually or a combination of the three.

I sprint to break free of the claustrophobia of life that sometimes confines me. Sprinting can therefore be seen a drug, an escape, albeit a healthy one.

Lastly, I sprint to just be….What do you love to do and why?...

Keats Alexander Snideman Sunday, June 04, 2006

PR with the Bulldog and the BEAST

Very excited. I was able to to snatch the bulldog yesterday 17 times (12 r / 5 L). After that I was able to Jerk the BEAST overhead, no problem. Prior to that I had never been able to get the BEAST overhead. Never knew I had it in me. WOW!

It feels so good to set PR's!!!

Great Article by Ken Black

Point Rooting

Wedneday Speed at the Track

Speed day again, or should I say, nervous system day. The speed training is so much more taxing on my nervous system than it is on my muscular system. If you want to be fast, you have to train fast, and ideally, with a fresh CNS.

Warm Up: Great weather today!
Track Drills / Form Drills
GPP Bodyweight exercises
Hip Mobility

30 meters x 4
100 meters x 1

Stadium Sprints x 16
Felt Great. right knee is a little sore, don't know why.

Tuesday Training

MB Shouldering

100lb MB 1/1 x 3 sets

Bodyweight Tactical Pull Ups

6/7/8, 6/7/8, 6/7/8

total = 63 reps

Snatch Test

Yesterday I tested soon to be RKC John Vandenbrink on his snatch test. He passed with flying colors and got the 74 reps he needed with the 24kg. After seeing him do his test, since I am also going to the RKC next week I decide to test my numbers as well. Result: no problem!! My requirement for m bodyweight of 170 is to snatc 54 reps.

SNATCH TEST
24kg 30/30

total = 60 reps (it's nice to be able to knock off 60 reps with minimal training. Just goes to show you how important building the base of conditioning is.)

Band Military Presses

3 purples 4 repsx 4 sets

Short and sweet.

Tempo Running on Sunday

Wow, last week was very busy. Can't remember a week so busy and full of deadlines and important projects coming to a close. Very fun but overly stressful week. Lots of clients too and little sleep. Glad it's over. Didn't train too much. Did a little bit of KB work and pull ups every day.

So Yoana and I were painting Revolution all weekend and doing some serious summer cleaning. Man, can our gym get dirty, yikes!!! Sure could have used Ken Black's expertise and help this weekend on making Revolution more space efficient. Ken is a master on that kind of stuff!!!
So during one of the breaks on Sunday we went out to the track and did a great Tempo Workout, and was it needed!!!

Warm up / Hip mobility
Track / sprinting drills

10 x 100 yards sprints (70%) - focusing on hip drive / stiff core / relaxed arms and fingers
(also - run with a completely relaxed face.......

Between runs we did 30 seconds jumping jacks or shuffles, fisted push ups, single leg push ups, twisters and Jumping lunges.

Felt great..... but very winded........Off to sunday night Church service!

Strength Day

NOON

KB Single arm Clean & Jerk

40kg 1/1 x 3 sets

Single Arm Floor Press (these suck!!)

40kg 2/2 x 2 sets (had to use my right hand to assit my left arm)

Double KB Clean and Press (my CNS is smoked from sprinting yesterday, hence the low volume)

24kg's 5 reps x 2 sets

PM

Pull Ups

Bodyweight (using some of Rif's ladders I see on his blog. I haven't used these methods on pull ups)

6/7/8
6/7/8
total = 42 reps. Felt good. I think I will keep this style of pull ups in the program for a while. Would like to get up to doing around 70 to 80 in one workout.

Monday - I feel the need......for SPEED!!!

Speed day - these are starting to feel better. Although when I really hit top speed, after 50 meters my right hamstring is talking to me. I've been backing off the end of each longer sprint once I feel the hamstring. Not sure what is going on. I suspect that my ATLAS (c-1) is totally whacked, causing me to tilt when I run. That tilt is causing a serious torsion in my pelvis, anteriorly rotating my righ illium. That is putting the hamstring under alot of tension. But this is nothing new. My body since I was a child has always been out of balance in the lumbar /pelvic area. Perhaps this is normal for me? Who knows?

SPEED DAY
warm up
track drills
hip mobility drills
multi-directional drills

4 x 30 meters (full recovery)
2 x 60 meters (has to slow down around 55 meters because of right hamstring)

15 x Stadium Sprints (these felt awesome today. This exercise is really turning into one of my favorites. I can see alot of benefits such as faster arm turnover and quicker foot contact)

Great day!

Friday Tempo running

Back at the track.......and I'm loving every second of it. The tempo running really allows me to focus on several technical aspects that I cannot focus on during the speed workouts.

Why do TEMPO RUNNING?

1) It aids recovery of the muscular system from previous workouts.

2)Because Tempo running is done at 70% intenisty or less, it allows you to train without draining the CNS. Speed days smoke the CNS and takes days, sometimes weeks to fully recover. The fact is simple: the faster you sprint, the more CNS involvement. Therefore, tempo days allow you to contnue to train and increase fitness levels.

3) Tempo running allows you to work on specific components of your sprinting mechanics. For example, let's say you are having a difficult time keeping the torso from over-rotating; your CORE is weak. You can focus the tempo session on maintaining more stiffness in the CORE and cognitively think about keeping your torso rigid. Of course, in a competition that is the last thing you want to do, think about your technique while competing. As combat fighting expert Tim Larkin says,

"under stress, we revert to out training."

Precisely my point. Use the tempo days to iron out the kinks in your sprinting style.

4) Increases your fitness leves, GPP, etc.. I have noticed in one month of Tempo running a loss of bodyfat in my legs. It's been over 8 years since my legs were this lean. Woo hooooo!!!

5) The base conditioning builds confidence as an athlete. As you begin to feel more "fit" for sprinting, your confidence booms when you return to the speed workouts. For several reasons tempo running builds character, just like any other form of progressive training.


Warm Up:
Joint Mobility for Hips/ shoulders
Track Drills / Acceleration runs / Multi-directional drills

10 x 100 yards
Push ups, jumping jacks, shuffles, Twisters, plyometric lunges between runs.

Felt great. Love the results!!!!

Change of plans...

Went to the track today to do my TEMPO runs, but the high school football team was using the whole field. So I turned around, went back to the gym, and did a kettlebell workout.
I will perform the tempo running manana!

Double KB Single Leg Deadlift

2 x 32kg 3/3 x2 sets

Double Attack (renegade row + double clean_

2 x 24kg 3/3 x 3 sets

Swings

24kg 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 = this was a joke. Way too easy. Will never do this again. Maybe with a heavier bell.

Double KB Clean and Press

2 x 32kg 1 rep x 3 sets

Short and sweet. Workout was very easy. oh well, next time I will use a heavier bell for swings, or, do sets of 10.

Tuesday Training

Tried a new snatch ladder today. Pretty damn hard. Don't like the 10 rep stuff.

Snatches

53 5/5, 10/10, 5/5, 10/10, 5/5, 10/10, 5/5, 10/10 = 120 reps

Pull Ups

10,9,8

short workout. Felt pretty good. Thanks to coaches like Rif, Mike Mahler and Pavel, I am starting to see and feel the benefit in concentrating on less movements. The challenge with my personality is that I get bored so easily. But after having a talk with Mike Mahler a couple of weeks ago, people only getting bored when they are not making progress. WOW! That hit home big time. When you're making progress, getting stronger and more powerful, that's never boring. Sometimes less is more!!!!!

Monday - Speed day again!

Today was another speed day. Must admit that my upper body is very sore from the DVD we filmed over the weekend & mentally I am very tires. Either way, still want to keep the sprint progression moving forward.

WARM UP
Track drills
Dynamic Hip Mobiity
Multi-directional drills

2 x 20 meters (100%)
2 x 40 meters (100%)

1 x 100 meters (stopped at 80 meters because my right hamstings started tightening. I static stretched for 30 minutes two hour before the workout. I definitely do not sprint fast after static stretching - no surprise there. The static stretches were long holds to - 2 minute holds on most stretches. I usually do not do this and now I know why. The fatigue from the weekend was obviously a factor as well. Stopped the sprints there, took off the spikes and headed for the stadiums)

Stadium Sprints (focusing on arm action = these are quickly becoming one of my favorite drills. I can absolutely feel the carryover of the arm swing into my sprinting. Have never really focused on arm swing like I am now. I like it! these did not hurt my hamsting at all.)

Tempo Day ...feels go good!

I am very much enjoying the tempo running. Tempo running for those of you who are not familiar with the term is recovery sprints done at 60 to 70% effort. You are running "RELAXED" and loose. Overall it aids recovery and enhances circulation. It also helps improve technique issues as well. All world class sprinters perform TEMPO days. I think it's some of the most phenomenal GPP work availalbe. Between runs I do a set of push ups, jumping jacks, shuffles, twisters, jumping lunges, etc.. just something to further enhance my fitness levels.

NOTE: ANYONE WANTING TO LOSE BODYFAT QUICKLY SHOULD ADD IN SOME TEMPO RUNNING.

That is another benefit of the tempo running, it sheds unwanted fat off the body very quickly. Don't believe me; try it for 4 weeks and let's talk.


10 x 100 yards Tempo sprints on Turf (70% effort)

Running into a slight wind today was a nice bonus. It makes me keep my head down which helps my speed. It also makes the CORE work alot more.

Thursday Training

Been doing GTG with KB Clean and Press this week. So far so good, really focusing on focus and being mentally present when I do these. The challenge with GTG is that sometimes you can kind of go through the motions without the necessary intensity and focus. I can tell that my pressing groove has improved allready in a very short time. Today was a more formal workout although the intensity and focus was high.

Double KB Clean and Press

32's x 2 x 2 sets
32's x 1 x 3 sets

Snatches

32kg 5/5 x 1
24kg 5/5 x 5 sets

Short and sweet.

Speed Day .....it's finally coming together

Someone once said that when you are really sprinting it feels like your floating, almost effortless. Therein lies the parodox; how do you get your body to perform a movement so ballistic and aggressive, yet at the same time totally relaxed? It's a difficult thing to do. Today was the first time in years that I actually felt the speed I used to have years ago. I felt like I was floating and almost airborne. Sprinters run in the air, barely making contact with the surface, and only briefly each stride. Contrast that with distance runners who run on the ground and make lots of contact with the surface. What I learned today about sprinting performance:

1) You only get better at sprinting by actually sprinting (duh!!!) The last 5 weeks of sprinting have made a HUGE difference and I can feel my body starting to get the GROOVE back.

2) Keeping my head down for the first 30 meters helps me focus on accleration, why,I'm not sure. I feel that the sooner I lift my head I lose my acceleration. Interesting!!!

3) Powerful arms and shoulders make a difference. KB Snatches, Swings, Cleans and Rows help alot. Loose, lightening quick arms help me explode out of the blocks. Running the stadium stairs has basically turned into an ARM SWING exercise for me. That is my focus on the stairs: Pump my arms as powerfully and quickly as possible. THIS HAS HELPED TONS!!!!

4) Maintaining stiffness in the TORSO / CORE is essential for speed. Get too loose in the mid-section and bad things happen. Sprinting is one of the BEST CORE MOVEMENTS you can do. Don't believe me, get out on the track and run 5 x 50 meters sprints focusing on keeping the CORE still while sprinting. Of course it won't stay totally still but that focus of keeping slight stiffness in your torso and spine will allow you to sprint much more efficiently


Training:

Warm up
Track Drills
Dynamic Hip mobility

2 x 20 meters (100 %)
2 x 50 meters (100 %)

1 x 100 meters (felt good)

That's it. Great weather today. Nice and sunny, & warm. Thank you God for today!!!

Middle of the night SCARE!

Yoana and I got back from an amazing weekend in LA. Mike Mahler and Pavel put on a SUPER Seminar and Yoana and I felt blessed to be able to assist. Mike and Pavel are two of the best coaches on the planet, period!!! Hanging out with the other assistant instructors Ken Black and Joe Sarti is always a blast. Overall it was a long but fun weekend. We have been hitting it hard at work for months now, especially with the finishing of the book, the filming of the DVD this weekend and clients. We are both smoked!

Well last night at about 2:45am I hear Yoana coughing loudly and wheezing. She is clearly having trouble breathing. I listen to her lungs and heart and can immediately tell that she is having some type of asthmatic attack. So after waiting around for 30 minutes to see if she improves, she gets worse. Off to the EMERGENCY ROOM. They diagnosed with allergy induced bronchitis and gave her some type of steroid to open up her airways. It worked like a charm. The moral of the story is that even as health coaches and trainers, we too have allowed the business of life and work pressures to take precedent over a balanced healthy lifestyle. I honestly think this was the wake up call that Yoana needed to realize that she does not have to be superwoman all the time, even though she's a total mutant (most of you know what I mean).

Thank God she's okay.

Friday May 19

TEMPO WORKOUT @ the TRACK

Joint Mobility
Sprint Drills
Dynamic Hip mobility

10 x 100 yard sprints - 60% effort - very relaxed.

Sprinting is starting to feel normal once again.

100-meter record could be taken away from former Vol Justin Gatlin

Gatlin record could be taken away

Tuesday workout

Focus = Pressing

pressing strength has really gone done as of lately. But of course, how can I be great at pressing if I only do it once in a while. I have stayed away from alot of pressing because my LEFT shoulder feels so unstable. HMMMMM? Maybe that I why I need to press more. After about 2 or 3 reps it almost as if my nervous system just shots off neural drive to all the shoulder muscles. It's not a gradual fatigue, it's instantaneous. 1 rep I'm find, the next I can hardly press it more than 2 inches. Something is going on, could it be just instability? Is the brain trying to protect my shoulder by shutting off the prime movers? This has been going on for a while, just haven't really done anyting about it.

Thoughts anyone?

KB Military Press
warm up: 16kg 5/5 x 1

24kg x 5/5 4/4 3/3 x 2 sets

(2nd set had a very diificult time on my left side - reps got ugly)

MB TGU

100lb x 1/1 x 1 sets
50lb x 2/2 x 2 sets

MB Shouldering

100lb MB 3/3 x 3 sets

Short workout. Energy was not as high probably because I trained at night. Night training for me is not ideal. I'm on my feet all day and by the end of the day I'm smoked. Late morning is the best for me as my energy is peaking.

GTG for left military press - I start this week.

Sprinting out of the blocks

Very similar speed day like I've been doing the last couple of weeks. The only difference was that today I used the Starting Blocks. Felt very awkard in the blocks. Been many years that I've worked on block starts. I am not pushing off the blocks, am not using the blocks. Need to learn how to EXPLODE out of the blocks!!!

BTW - American Justin Gatlin broke the world record in the 100 meter dash last Friday.
The previous WR was held by Jamaican Asafa Powell at 9.97. Gatlin ran a 9.96 - that is blazing!!! Look for that record to be beaten once again this year.

Warm Ups:
Various sprinting drills
joint mobility
high speed hip mobility

From the blocks:
2 x 20 meter @ 100%

2 x 40 meter @ 100%

2 x 60 meter @ 100%


Stadium sprints: 12 reps
* Focused on arm swing and powerful shoulders.

1 hour - that was it!

Easy upper body workout

it's been an extremely busy week and I'm still recovering from the sprint workout earlier in the week. But need to get some mild workout it that doesn't involve alot of legs.

Bench Press
135 x 5 warm up

155 x 4 reps x 10 sets

Bent Over Rows (barbell)
135 x 8 reps x 3 sets

Hanging leg raises
2 sets x 6 reps

That felt great. little more challenging than I had expected.

Snatches with 32kg

Legs are sore from sprinting - but I like it! Today is Snatch day - woo hoo!

SNATCHES
warm up16kg x 5/5

32kg x 5/5 x 10 sets

100 total reps in less than 12 minutes. Very Challenging. I'm not sure if I've ever done this before, but either way, it felt good. My left arm / shoulder has a little pain. I think the left shoulder is unstable and weak. Timing of the shoulder muscles is off. Need to start performing overhead farmers walk with KB.

Bodyweight Pull ups
10 / 8/ 4 - that's it!

Speed Day at La Jolla High School Track

I have to admit that the first couple of weeks back sprinting have been tough. My energy has not been too good and my speed has been slow to come back. Today, although not totally rested, felt really good. Finally I am starting to get some bounce back in my legs and I can feel a definite change in muscle quality in my legs. The high tension exercises I have been focusing on actually teach your muscles to co-contract, which is not what sprinting is at all. The co-contraction actually acts like car breaks and slows me down. Sprinting is a constant interplay between contraction of the agonist, relaxation of the antagonist, and vice versa. I feel like I have been running with so much TENSION in my body, but for a reason. What have I been doing for years and years? High Tension co-contraction exercises.


Warm Up:
Various Sprint Drills (high knees, A skips, etc.)
Karioka, lateral bounding
Skipping
dynamic joint mobility for shoulders/hips
Acceleration runs

20 meter sprints 3 @100%
40 meter sprints 3 @100%

Stadium sprints (more focusing on Arm swing / Shoulder power)
x 12

felt great. I can feel the speed in my legs, just need lots more sprinting. Pretty simple concept. Strength Coach for the Chicago Bulls says, "TRAIN SLOW, BE SLOW." And that's pretty much what I have done for the last 4 years. I have focused on High Tension exercise and not on speed. Well, I am a walking testimony to Al Vermeil's saying, I have trained slow, and I became slow. I am so much stronger that I have ever been and I'm slower. There was no immediate application of the strength I was gaining to my sprinting and therefore lost alot of the contraction speed potential, not too mention sprint specific conditioning. The goal is clear, the path is lit! Train for speed , maintain strength, get flexible.

sometimes I make it more complicated than I need to. It really is a simple solution!!!!

MB Training

30 minutes before the TSC I got in a quick workout. Pulled out the 100 pound MB, and thank God, hallelulia!!! It did not hurt my elbows like it has in the past. My elbows can finally tolerate the 100 pounder.

TGU with 100lb. MB on chest. This was done obviously holding onto the MB with both hands. Tremendous CORE workout. Alternated reps by lunging up with right leg and then left leg. Coming down I just bear hugged the MB and squatted down in to the supine position.

1oolb. x 1/1 x 3 sets

MB Shouldering (alternating sides)

100lb. 3/3 x 3 sets

Bench Press

Warm up: 135 x 5

185 x 3 x 2 sets
185 x 5 x 1 sets

Felt Awesome. Amazing how anabolic and PUMPED up I felt in my legs /arms / shoulders from the heavy MB Turkish Get Ups and MB shouldering. That heavy MB work was just what the doctor ordered!

Saturday TSC - awesome!

Saturday, May 6th

TSC was lots of fun. There were four competitors, two from Revolution and two from San Diego State University.

Erik Blekeberg from SDSU, one strong kid.

DL: 450 Pull ups: 18 Snatches :107

Charlie Reid from SDSU. This guy was WAY stronger than last time. He's got some fight in him!

DL: 425 Pull Ups:19 Snatches:125

Aaron Wilson from Revolution. Ex-college Wrestler. At 151 pounds, he is BRUTALY strong! I love this guys determination and effort.

DL: 420 Pull Ups:36 Snatches:121

Michelle Hackett from Revolution. Yoana trained her and created a new BEAST. She is talented!

DL: 225 Pull ups: 9 Snatches: 137 - are you kidding me? This girl is awesome!

Great spectator turnout as usual. These TSC's are so much fun. It truly brings out the best in everyone as the human spirit is pushed to the limit. Looking forward to the next one.

Snatch Day

Left adductor is feeling very weird from Sprinting. Need to have some NMT this week in legs.
Overall body is tolerating the increased sprint load quite well.

Double KB Clean and Press
20kg 4 reps
32kg 3 sets x 1 reps

Snatches
32kg 5/5 x 5 sets
24kg 5/5 x 5 sets

Single KB Bent Over Row
40kg 5/5 x 3 sets

Short and sweet. Energy was not too high today. Need to do alot more static stretching!!!!

Sunday Sprint

Feels so good to be back in training. Don't know why I ever stopped training. Sometimes life just sends you in a different direction. Anyway, glad to be sprinting again, what a privelage.

Warm Up:
Joint mobility
Track Drills
Hip Loosening - needs lots of that.

3 x 20 meter sprints (100%)
3 x 40 meters sprints (100 %)

12 Stadium Sprints (for the Drive)

Great Stuff!

Fun in the Sun!

Decided to play some Beach Tennis, with those small rackets. My wife and I love doing this during the summer. Great workout for the legs, cardio as well as phemonenal REFLEX training. 25 minute of this is plenty.

Prior to that, Yoana and I did a couple sets of deadlifts, totally random. It always seems like we respond better to deadlifting when we just instinctively throw it in, almost like a game. We don't even consider it training, more PRACTICE, which is what I like. When you think of practining a SKILL rather than training, much more rewarding.

Warm up:

185 x1,205 x 1, 225 x 1, 240 x 1, 315 x 1

365 x 1 That's it!

Yoana got a PR - and she hasn't been deadlifting too much. She was WAY strong today, bar just flew up. My belief is that her nervous system was fresh. She beat her previous PR of 235 and today she pulled an easy, and I mean EASY 240.

Bring on the summer baby!!!!!

Man I love the sun!

Thursday Training

Mentally I am very tired so energy has not been too great. I am very sore in the upper back and traps from the Snatch test on Tuesday, although it feels like I needed it. There is a very unique type of conditioning you can only get from high rep kettlebell work. Pavel talks about it in the Russian Kettlebell Challenge how the Russians abandoned the low rep maximal strength work for the higher rep work which gave them "staying" power for the brutal and often harsh realities of Russian Life. Bottom line - why do not both - the higher rep ballistic work and the lower rep GRIND work.

Double Clean and Press

53kg x 2 10 sets x 2 reps

Weighted Pulls Ups

48kg x 3 negatives (8-10 seconds holds) - very tough

I tried a couple of full reps and came up a little short. Can't quite get my Chin to the bar. Yoana says I'm only a couple of inches away. Hopefully soon I will be able to do a full chin with the beast.

That it for today. Stretching later tonight.

RKC Snatch Requirements

Yoana and I are going to assist in June at the RKC, so I wanted to test myself and make sure I could pass the sntach test. Requirements for my weight (170 pounds) are to perform a total of 52 reps, both arms combined.

Today I did the following:

Left arm = 30 reps
Right arm - 33 reps

Overall it was not too taxing. What fatigued the most was my right wrist and forearm. Started to lose control of my right hand so I stopped. For sure could have gotten 40 with my right. I need to start foam rolling my right forearm and getting some NMT on all flexors, extensors, sub-scap, pecs and lats.

Ready for the June RKC!

Also, I tested future Revolution Trainer John Vandenbrink. At 6 foot 8, he brings some interesting technique modifications into the picture. He will be going to the JUNE RKC as well to get certified, requirement for all trainers working out of Revolution.

He got 40 on his left arm, and 21 on his right. He mistakenly forgot that he could only switch hands once, so I had to stop him after he returned to his left hand. The good news is that he totally could have reached 72 reps (what he needs to snatch in order to pass the test). Next time for sure. Exciting to see him right on target to reach his goal. You'll be hearing alot more about John in the upcoming months.

That's it for now! Blessings!