Condition Kettlebell Gym

Last weekend at the RKC II, I was having a discussion with some of the other participants.  We noticed that a good many attendees were extremely tense throughout their entire body in their swings.  We also recognized how great we felt after Senior RKC Jeff O’Connor’s movement-based section that included a piece on “taking the brakes off” which we did while swinging.  So the question seemed to be “How ‘hard’ is Hardstyle” in relation to the kettlebell swing?

There were people with solid, tense arms, hands crushing the handle, scrunched up faces, and necks jutting out.  These RKC’s looked like they were in massive amounts of pain – and if they weren’t at the moment they would be later if they continued to swing that way.  Swinging “hardstyle” doesn’t mean tense up every muscle in your entire body as hard as you can.  There should be a balance of tension and relaxation.  If you find yourself swinging with every muscle in your arms, neck, shoulder, and face tightened, you may have an overactive startle reflex.  Do you find yourself making awful faces when drills get tough in your training?  Or outside of the iron game, do you get overly tense in your neck and shoulders when stuck in traffic or working on an important assignment for the day job?  If so, be conscious of that and purposefully relax bin your face, neck and shoulders.  Whether it’s sitting still on the highway or military pressing your 1 rep max, relax your face – I promise you’ll still get the weight up and you’ll feel better driving in your car.

Use the plank to swing analogy.  Get into a plank.  Your glutes are tight.  Your abs are tight.  You are flexing your quads and hamstrings.  But what about your face and neck?  Your face should be relaxed and your neck should be loose enough to be able to shake your head.  Apply that to your swing.  At the top of your swing you’re driving force into the ground with quads and hamstrings tight, glutes tight to lock your hips, abs tight to not leak power and to protect your back.  But then what?  Your shoulders are connected in the socket acting as a pivot point – connected but not squeezing so tight to be as tense as possible to the point of inhibiting the movement.  Your arms are like ropes and your hands like hooks – not crush gripping the handle.  Now check your neck and face.  Your spine should be neutral not allowing your neck to jut out like a chicken or pull back to give you a triple chin and your face should be relaxed, not squished up in what looks like agonizing pain.
Losing that balance of tension and relaxation is the first step on the pathway to inefficiency.  Once that balance is gone you’ll begin to lose your synchronized breathing, then your posture goes.  What are you left with then?  Really bad form.  And since you get good at what you practice doing you are getting good at doing really bad swings.
Catch the problem on the first step and correct it.  By being conscious of tensing when and where necessary and relaxing at the right place and time, your swings will be still tough and effective and you should feel “ready to battle a kingdom” (not ready to fall over dead) at the end of your training session.

Let me start by saying that this past weekend was one of the most fun and most challenging I can remember.  The RKC II was a weekend of learning from and connecting with others in the RKC community and was an absolute blast.  The instructors and team leaders delivered excellent information and helped us become better RKC’s.  It makes me look forward (even more than I already was) to this coming weekend with Kenneth Jay, David Whitley, and Sara Cheatham and to the Oklahoma workshop with Whitley and Jeff O’Connor this Fall.  I can’t wait to learn more from these amazing instructors.

 Hey guys!  Just wanted to write a post to say how excited I am that Dustin Rippetoe, RKC II has confirmed as an attendee for the Kenneth Jay/David Whitley workshop Fourth of July weekend at Condition and has also announced a workshop at his own place in Guthrie, OK (just north of Oklahoma City) October 17-18th with Senior RKC (and all-around good guys) David Whitley and Jeff O’Connor.  It will be celebrating the opening of his new Way of Strength facility so if at all possible, get out there.  That should be a great time for everyone.

As suggested by Kenneth, I waited 2-4 days (well, 4 to be exact) and did the following press workout.  I thought it was going to be harder than it turned out to be.

15 singles on each arm with an 8kg stacked on a 12kg (hand through both handles - not the bottoms up with a bell stacked on top. Ha.)

At first it seemed like it was going to be impossible, but I think the more I did it, the better I got at stacking the bells

So today I tried out the new RKC snatch requirements and disappointed myself.  For those females who weigh 123.5 and up, we have to now perform 100 snatches with a 16kg in 5 minutes.  I tested this for the first time tonight and only got 92

After speaking with Master RKC Kenneth Jay about the workshop here July 4th, I asked some press advice.  He kindly informed me I was on the completely wrong track with regard to training for pressing the 24kg.  He gave me a little advice which I started implemented into my training today.

Today’s training:

101 presses each side with the 16kg in an hour: 13 sets of 5 reps and  9 sets of 4 reps (not in that order, but mixed together.)

At first it seemed impossible but at the 51 rep mark seemed doable and by the end I was still surprising myself by being able to do some 5 rep sets after the 75 reps per side mark.

We shot 9 hours of ketttlebells for our DVD yesterday - mostly demonstrating common problems and “What not to do” so I am really sore. Today for a workout I am going to take a KB break and do an hour and a half dance class. We’ll let you know when the DVD is done!

Yesterday I did a mini VO2.  There really is no excuse…  25 minutes.  First 15 minutes 7 reps/set with a 12kg and last 10 6 reps/set with a 12kg…

This morning I took Stephen’s early class at Condition:

1TGU + overhead squat each side 20kg

1TGU each side 20kg

I moved between 16, 20, and 24’s except for the deadlifts where I used 40kg and 48kg’s

3 rounds 30 secs on, 30 secs off

Swings

Dragon Twist

Squat, Press R

Squat, Press L

Renegade Rows

Alternating Swings

Seesaw Press

Deadlifts (sumo)

This is going to sound really girly, but I got (a really bad) haircoloring today and was told that if I washed it before Sunday it might turn pink, so instead of the VO2Max training I had planned for tonight, I switched out for one of the PTTP - inspired RKC Prep trainings.

1 pistol R/1 pistol L (TRX assisted)

1 tactical pull-up

5 presses R/ 5 presses L (16kg)

1 pistol R/1 pistol L (TRX assisted)

1 tactical pull-up

5 presses R/ 5 presses L (two 8kg’s stacked)

1 pistol R/1 pistol L (TRX assisted)

5 sumo deadlifts (two 48kg’s)

1 tactical pull-up

1 pistol R/1 pistol L (TRX assisted)

1 tactical pull-up

5 sumo deadlifts (two 40kg’s)

1 pistol R/1 pistol L (TRX assisted)

1 tactical pull-up

Get-ups: 5 each side with a 16kg

Hey guys - if you want the link to the online workouts, it’s www.pacefit.wordpress.com.  They are all one bell workouts meant to be performed 3 times with rest in between exercises.  Ignore the word “kettleball” title, please