Something is Happening at Revolution........

After 4.5 years at our current location we are moving Revolution Fitness to a new facility located in downtown La Jolla on Girard Avenue, one the nicest and busiest streets in all of La Jolla.
We are grateful that we had the experience of growing our business in our current location on La Jolla Blvd.
There will be more classes and some very new and exciting programs happening at Revolution!!
So stay tuned for more details about the new facility.

Improving your Pressing Strength



One of the true tests of full body strength and power is the ability to press a heavy weight overehead. If you have not completely experienced the benefits of kettlebell military pressing, perhaps now is the time to start performing this incredible exercise. For those of that have experience with the kettlebell military press we want to give you some extra tips that could increase your pressing strength.

One of the principles that I learned from my twin brother Keats Snideman and strenght Coach Charles Staley some years back is the concept of "same but different." Essentially what this means is that rather than totally abondon the movement you are trying to get stronger in, try performing the same movement but in a different way. For example, rather than doing the strict kettlebell military press you could try the following variations of presses:

1) KB Palm Press

2) Bottoms Up KB Press

3) Double KB Press (2 KB's in the same hand)

Why does the "same but different" principle work? It works because it forces you to recruit your muscles and body in a slightly different way. For example, the Palm press for many people improves the "groove" or pathway of the military press, enhancing the biomechanical efficiency of the press. The Bottoms up press in a similar way can also improve the groove of your pressing pattern as well as strengthen your wrist (which in most people is a huge weakness). The Double KB Press totally overloads your grip causing the central nervous system to over recruit practically every shoulder, arm, hand and finger muscles as well as a huge overload on your CORE.

The bottom line is that if you have stagnated in your pressing or are just bored with your pressing, try one or all of these movements for the next 6 to 8 weeks and watch your kettlebell military press sky rocket to a new level!

Let us know what you think about this post and the video!

If you would like to recieve our weekly blog videos, sign up for our free newsletter. Go to our home page and fill in your e-mail on the bottom left side.

Yoana TGU with 24kg

Okay...........I have a confession to make! I am so tired of hearing girls talk about their "FEAR" of getting bulked up by lifting weights. What a crock of sh*t. My lovely wife Yoana weights barely 110 pounds is not "big" or "bulky". Most women erroneously believe that weight training means huge muscle growth. Well, muscle growth is a great goal and one that I believe we should all do...but gaining muscle is just flat our difficult. Any muscle a women gains is for benefit and is not a "negative" at all.

In fact I would claim that most muscle gain on a woman would probably make them smaller, not bigger. Just look at Yoana. She is not big. If you were to take ruler measurements of her arms, hips, abdomen and thighs, they would probably be much smaller than the average woman. The bottom line is that gaining muscle will make you look harder, more dense and more athletic. Gaining muscle is very hard work and takes years of proper nutrition, recovery and intelligent training. The fear of getting huge is based on a myth and just isn't a reality for most women.

The goal of women should be similar to men..........get strong, stay strong, be strong.

Yoana is stronger than most average men. Give a 24kg kettlebell to most men and they will not stand up with it, and definitely not as gracefully as Yoana does.

Bottom line....lift weights......perform big movements like Turkish Get Ups, Presses, Pull ups, Deadlifts, Squats, Cleans, Swings and Snatches and watch your body get hard, ultra strong and watch your stamina / conditioning go through the roof!

Let us know what you think about this post and the video!

If you would like to recieve our weekly blog videos, sign up for our free newsletter. Go to our home page and fill in your e-mail on the bottom left side: http://www.revolutionlajolla.com/

Yoana's Power Workout

Of all the bio-motor abilities, POWER may be one of the most important. What exactly in power? Power is the ability to express the strength you have quickly and explosively. A Powerlifter who can deadlift 700 pounds is exactly more strong than he is powerful. Powerlifting should actually be called STRENGTH LIFTING because all that matters is that the weight eventually gets off the floor. There is no time limit in powerlifting. A heavy deadlift may take the athlete 15 seconds to get up. But if the deadlift is eventually finished than it is a valid and legal lift.

Olympic lifters are true power athletes, as are sprinters. Moving a weight off the floor as in the barbell clean and jerk requires tremendous strength and POWER. Watch an accomplished Olympic lifter and you will see that bar fly up very quickly. Or watch a 100 meter sprinter burst out of the starting blocks and you will see POWER.

Research has shown that elderly people don't fall because they lack cardiovascular endurance or balance, they fall and break their hips because they lack power. They lack the ability to recruit their muscles quickly and therefore their "breaking" mechanism turns on too late or even worse, doesn't turn on at all. That is when the broken hips and fractured pelvises eventually get the best of many elderly people.

If you are still alive, you need to work on POWER! Regardless of your age, power is a quality that will make you make faster, make your body more resilient and frankly will improve your quality of life!

Watch as Yoana takes you through a POWER workout based on speed and quickness!

Please let me know your thoughts about Power training and Yoana's workout!

INCREASE YOUR PULL UP STRENGTH

There are few exercises as effective as the pull up for upper body strength and power. This version that I'm going over in the video is called the tactical pull up, which is exemplified by a rigid, tight body and contracted mid section. Ideally the tactical pull up will have more narrow grip than I am showing in the video.

Please leave your comments on the video. I would love to hear what you all think about pull ups!!!