It is not the critic who counts!

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

One of my most favorite quotes of all time. In fact I had this engraved onto a beautiful piece of wood that I hung in my hallway in my house. Every time I read it I remember how important it is to take action and forget about people's approval or disapproval of you. In the end all that matters is what and how you act upon the dreams inside of your heart.

There is a saying that the talents and potential we have is a gift from God. Our gift back to God is what we do with those talents!I

Friday Training

Clean and Press Ladders (High Volume day)
28kg 1,2,3,4 x 1 (PR)
28kg 1,2,3 x 4

Weighted Pull ups
28kg 5,3,4,4,4,4 = 24 reps

Love Being a DAD!!!

You gotta love the coconut bra :)


I gotta say that I love being a Dad. Every month gets better with our daughter and each month I like more than the previous one. It just keeps getting more and more exciting and awesome. All you parents out there will relate, the love you feel for a child is beyond comprehension. Rarely would you ever willingly die for anybody on this planet. But for your child, you would die in one second. In fact, the attachment I felt with Marianna when I first got to hold her was so strong, it was as if she had been in my life forever and I couldn't imagine life without her. How unreal? You know this little person for 1 minute and yet you would take a bullet for her without a second thought!

I think God uses children in our lives to teach us about life and about how he must unconditionally love us.

Training -

Monday August 25
Clean and Press Ladders (Easy Day)
28kg 5 sets x1/1

Snatches w/16kg
40 L / 40 R = 80 reps - nice finisher

Tuesday
Basketball (to help me work on explosive power, jumping and multi-directional agility)

Wednesday
Clean and Press Ladders (medium day)
28kg 5 sets x 1,2

Weighted Pull Ups
28kg 6 sets x 3

Goblet Squats
32kg 10,8,6

One Arm swings
16kg 25 L, 25 R x 2 = 100 reps

Blessings to all!

Fighting the good fight!!!

(the above photo is my twin brother Keats with his boys and my daughter Marianna. Bottom photo is Keats and I with Marianna)

This week was tough in the sense that I could feel my body not responding to much of anything.....the reason being the my busy schedule and travel schedule finally caught up with me. I am smoked! Santa Fe 4 day trip followed by 4 days at the UCLA RKC, followed immediately by the CK-FMS. Whooooooooo! Mucho tired!

Very tired......and everything hurts. Need to get some long needed rest. Overall I am still excited with the whole process of improving my physical asymmetries because it is helping me gain victory over other lifestyle issues such as being over worked and lack of sleep. It's forcing me to re-structure my work schedule and take more time off to spend with the family and do things for me such as sleep, reading, track work, and massage. But I must FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!!!!

Especially now since I have to be able to press the 40kg (BULLDOG) if I want to pass the RKC II next summer. I have alot of work to do.............A LOT!!!!!!! But I'm up for the challenge!!!!!

TRAINING (every day - Active Straight Leg Raise Corrective work, T-Spine Mobility work)

Last Thursday
Clean and Press Ladder w/28kg 1,2,3 x 3 sets

Last Friday
Sumo Deadlifts - 225 x 5 x 4 sets (Base conditioning)

Sunday - my first basketball game in over 4 years. Tons of fun as I got to play with former Chicago Bull Steve Kerr. What a nice guy. I had to take off until last Wednesday in order to recover. WOW!

Wednesday-
Clean and Press Ladder w/ 28kg 1,2,3 x 4 sets

Thursday -
Weighted Pull ups w/ 28kg 3,3,3,3,3,3 = 18 reps

Today (Saturday August 23)
Sumo Deadlifts - 225 x 5 x 4 sets
Clean and Press Ladders w/ 28kg - 1,2,3 x 5 (NEW PR!!!!!!!!!)

1 Timothy 6:12-13
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Goals......which path shall I take?

After implementing in the CK-FMS info this week, three things are very clear to me:

1) I need to get much better at addressing asymmetries in my clients right from the start. This is something that I have not addressed enough.

2) As Gray Cook said, "Always be structured and focused on the front end." In other words, let the movement screen set the direction of the training program. Too often do I prescribe exercises to clients that I enjoy rather than giving them movements that address their weaknesses or asymmetries. Also, having everything organized (folders, forms, exercise homework print outs) just makes the process so much easier.

3) I have not earned the right to use heavy KB right now! Gulp! That one hurts! I am strong...although much of that strength was built on a dyfunctional body! Let's just say that the 16kg is plenty heavy right now.

My clients are loving the concept of the FMS and I have allready performed it on two clients. Many more to come this week and the weeks to come! I think they are also excited to see me so excited! Much more posts to come about the results!

TRAINING
Last week I focused on the following areas because I scored low on the:

* Active Straight Leg Raise
* Shoulder Mobility - (T-spine in rotation is really the problem)

My program now is mainly:
*1/2 TGU's with light weights - focusing on slowing down and perfecting the movement.
* Kneeling KB Military Presses - both in lunge and tall kneeling positions -very difficult for me
* Sumo Barbell Deadlifts - focusing on the grip strength, tricep and lat involvement - very good!
*Swings - The center of the RKC UNIVERSE - I have never really focused on swings for any length of time. Now is the time to put the swing into full force.
* Right Hamstring Stretching
*Left Psoas, Rectis Femoris, TFL, IT Band Stretching, mobility and soft tissue work
* T-spine Rotations from CK-FMS Manual
* Some Z-health Mobility work
* Daily Grip work (GTG) for my left hand with te Trainer Captrain of Crush Gripper

So far now this is my focus...to get my body working better and better. The grip work on my left side is really starting to make a difference in full body function. Brett and Gray talked about not having more than a 10% difference between left and right and I for sure have a huge difference. Exciting times for sure!

I promise to update this blog more often! I PROMISE!!!

CK- FMS.........WOW!

WOW!

That is what I have to say about the CK-FMS certification. My hats off to Gray Cook, Brett Jones and Dragon Door for putting on such a high quality certification. If you are an RKC, I highly recommend you take this cert. It beautifully ties together the hardstyle KB system with Gray Cook's Functional Movement Screen.

Seeing Pavel as a student also proved to me why he is such an incredible teacher and mentor, because he is a "student" first. RKC's have a great commander in chief in Pavel. We are lucky to be alive right now and reap the benefits of people like Pavel, Gray Cook and Brett Jones. Right now my head is spinning from the cert, but I am starting to piece everything together that I learned. Below are some of the primary principles (although not an exhaustive list by any means) of the CK-FMS system that stood out to me as being essential and significant.

1) The Functional Movement Screen is a system (not a program) that allows you to SCREEN clients for DURABILITY.

* Performance Vs. Durability = there is a difference. High performance does not always lead to durability.
* The Movement Screen is a DURABILITY DETECTOR

2) Advanced Pattern Detection = You must find the weak link in the chain.

3) Goldman Algorithm = Be consistent and methodical on the front end.
*Basically you have a movement standard and a baseline.
*You must have structure on the front end. This FMS is an algorithm that protects the therapist /trainer / coach against any biases and expertise. If you don't go through the screening you may miss the most important aspect that the clients needs to have addressed.

4) Asymmetries are the #1 indicator that can predict a future injury. Bottom line: fix asymmetries that come up in the screening process.

5)Core Stability is foot position dependent. Train different stance,including kneeling position, lunge position, single leg stance, etc.

6) Most of the space in our brain regarding movement is dedicated to the hands and feet. Bottome line: get strong hands (grip) and you will have stronger shoulders and a stronger body. Wear good shoes (Pavel has been preaching this for years).

7) The body never thinks in terms of individual muscles. Think Movement Patterns. The nervous sytem works by MOVING the body as a whole. I think we all know this but it's nice to hear again from some of the most knowledgeable coaches out there.

and there is so much more to write....I think I will wait to post the rest when I am not so sleepy!

Thanks to Aaron and Fawn Friday for having a get together at their house. The Friday's are the nicest people you will ever meet. So gracious and just so down to earth. Good people!!!!! Tracy and Rif were there at the party.....and let me tell you, Tracy knows how to cook great tasting healthy food!

It was nice to finally meet some blog friends, Franklin (my roomate at the cert), Sean, Gabi, Kate and Maura. It was also cool to see Mike T. Nelson and his girlfriend Jodi. It's alway great to see old friends and RKC TL's, Seniors, and now Masters Instructors. RKC school of strength is the place to be!

UCLA RKC Recap

What a weekend!!!

The RKC never ceases to amaze me....the students....Pavel.....the instructors......and the energy. If you have never been to an RKC it's hard to express in words alone. RKC is a school of strength first, but for me and my family it is a way of life. The community that collectively makes up the RKC transcends anything I have ever experienced. Since my first certification in 2003, the RKC has transformed my life and my business. There is an energy that is absolutely electrifying once you catch hold of it. Perhaps it's because more than 100 people eager to learn and grow and improve are all simultaneously on the same QUEST. All who come to the RKC are humbled by their experience and that is a GOOD thing!

Anyone who comes with too big of an EGO, ready to conquer the the RKC community is quickly put in their place and that too is a good thing. You go in excited and willing to win, and you leave tired, exhuasted, yet totally VICTORIOUS! Becoming an RKC is tough........and it doesn't come easy. You must EARN it with sweat, bloody hands, and a warrior spirit!

Seeing Pavel teach is always a blessing to me as his communication skills and coaching always helps me in more ways than I know. Watching Dan John teach was also amazing. What a great addition to the RKC community. Brett Jones was focused as usual, and Andrea Ducane gave a great explanation on how to learn the Clean and how to teach new students kettlebell exercises.

Team Snideman

I had the absolute privilage to work with 10 amazing people: Ricky, Dominic, Mike, Megan, Celina, Hugo, Jacob, Kingston, Kenneth, and Barrett. Everyone gave it their all and left victorious in many ways. I am proud of all of you! Thank you for your effort and for your willingness to learn!!!!

NEW Master RKC's Rif and Kennth Jay

Yoana and I are so happy for these guys. Talk about two honorable men that walk with total integrity. I got to hand it to Pavel, he has really assembled a fine group of top instructors. These guys are the best out there, period!!!!!

RKC Assistants, Team Leaders, Friends

It is so awesome to be able to see old friends that Yoana and I have made during our years with the RKC, and it's always great to make new friends. Tracy and Rif are always fun to hang out with. In fact Tracy took Yoana shopping in Santa Monica and I nearly lost my fortune. Rumor has it that Tracy loves to shop. Luckily Yoana ended up buying nothing.....Rif cannot say the same about Tracy though :)

We also got to see our good friend Dr. Mark Cheng (phenomenal teacher)and his lovely wife Courtney and his beautiful boy!

I finally got to meet Will Williams.....gotta love that guy's passion and enthusiasm, great teacher. Doug Nepodal....what a cool guy! Zar Horton....he is the man!!!! Chris Holder......good friend...loyal friend.....he is awesome for the RKC! Trisha Dong, Missy Beaver, and my assistants Dave and Laura, they rock!

And it was really cool to finally meet Zachariah Salazar....this guy knows his stuff. He is a great teacher and just such an approachable and likable guy. Seeing Steve Belanger was awesome as was seeing and meeting all the new assistants that I had never met before!