Category Archives: Anti Aging

How He Controls Type 2 Diabetes…With Kettlebells Instead of Meds

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One of the perks of running antiagingkettlebell.com is meeting people who have come face to face with a challenge and have decided to overcome it.  As we all know, diabetes is a common challenge in our day and age.

 

So I was especially happy to hear from Steve, who not only reported that kettlebells and diet had helped him stay medication free after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, but also shared a few of the details of how he did it.  Steve was adament that he uses only Dragon Door kettlebells and Pavel’s resources.

 

See why Pavel designed the Dragon Door kettlebell the way he did here.

He also gave me permission to share it on antiagingkettlebell.com.

 

Thank you Steve!

 

Enter Steve:

 

I am a 54 year-old man who was very recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. For the last 10 years, I had always been “fairly” active, exercising with Kettlebells, practicing Martial Arts (Tai Chi, Bagua, Qigong), but have a sedentary and long-duration job (QA Analyst on a computer all day).

 

I was also approximately 20-30 lbs overweight, likely a result of my diabetes. Additionally, both my parents had developed diabetes late in life.

 

In October, 2011, my doctor made the diagnosis “official”, and wanted to put me on meds for diabetes and cholesterol control. My fasting glucose was 253, and my A1C was 10.2. (These numbers should be less than 100 and 7, respectively.) Up to that point, I only have taken vitamins and protein supplements, but no medication.

 

Being quite pill-averse, I told my wife that I will beat this diagnosis naturally, and was absolutely determined NOT to start on meds!

 

My plan, which I implemented immediately upon diagnosis, was to “up” my workout regimen significantly, meaning daily kettlebells, increased weight training, more martial arts practice, and adding 30-minute daily power walks, in addition to drastically cutting my carbohydrate intake.

 

Well, one month later, my doctor was totally amazed to see that I had brought my numbers into the “Normal” range (fasting glucose 89, A1C 6.5, and dropped 22 lbs)!

 

He pronounced me a “controlled diabetic”, and in fact said that I was his first (and only) patient to have controlled diabetes WITHOUT any meds!!

 

Needless to say, I am most pleased by this outcome. I thank in large part, kettlebells, for sustaining my success! I am a KB’er for Life!

My life has improved as well, since I am, ironically, more “fit” now, after the diagnosis, than I had been before! If I can achieve these results (I really have little willpower, but high motivation!), then anyone can!

 

Thank you for permitting me to share my story.
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If you have any questions for Steve, please post them in the comment section.

 

If you want to hear more success stories of drastic improvements in health and strength, click on the free report on the left and join our email list.

 

How to EASILY Do A Rock Bottom One Legged Squat, or “Pistol”

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By Sean Schniederjan RKC

I want to share with you a simple strategy for nailing a one legged squat, whether by you or one of your clients or students.

I first used Pavel’s Naked Warrior to do pistols.  Pavel breaks down the strength aspect, has a power breathing lesson worth its weight in gold, and shows some progressions.  Convict Conditioning gives you even more progressions for working up to the one legged squat.

They both work, but for me it wasn’t consistent until I learned to look at the pistol as not just a show of strength, but a show of mobility, caused by an improvement of flexibility.

Here I want to show you the equation for understanding how to master getting the mobility and strength to do an easy weighted or unweighted one legged squat.

Mobility (Flexibility) + Strength = Pistol

If you have this down, then pistols will no longer be a struggle or a mystery, they will be EASY.

This not only will get you pistoling, but Master RKC Andrea Du Cane teaches that these three elements, mobility, flexibility, and strength are the “Three Pillars” of the Ageless Body.

I see a lot of people who are halfway there, they can do pistols on some days, not on others.  They can do them, but they look kind of contorted.  The balance and mobility just isn’t there.  They bend forward too much or just fall over when they’re in the bottom position.

This will help deepen your understanding and give you the tools so that you can nail a pistol ANYTIME and ANYWHERE, be it in a workout or when you have to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night.

If you are going to do pistols, you need to OWN them.

Pistol Vs. Aging

For me, this picture sums up why you should learn the excellence in strength, mobility and balance of the one legged squat.  At almost 67 years young, Dr. John shows you why this moves makes you practically age proof.  Not many 20 year olds can do this.  I remember a Master Instructor saying he had to teach NFLers how to do it, because at first they couldn’t.

While Others Are Aging, Dr. John is Doing Pistols

So if you don’t know the inner working of the pistol, it will be very difficult, if not impossible.

So I’ll show you a few secrets I’ve discovered and learned from others that you can practice and over a few weeks to a month will have you pistoling.

Talk to your doc before undertaking any new exercise program.  Pistols are not for everyone.

Secret #1: Flexible Hamstrings

You have to have flexible hips to do a pistol.  How do you get flexible hips? Its easy:

Flexible Hamstrings + Flexible/Strong Hip Flexors = Flexible Hips

So what’s the best exercise from going from creaky stale hamstrings to long and strong?  IMO its the passive straight leg raise.  I won’t go into the subtleties here, but this pic shows what your core and resting leg have to do to get an effective stretch:

Core and opposite leg stay down

Its called the passive straight leg to distinguish it from the active straight leg raise (PSLR and ASLR).  In the former, someone or something raises the leg, the latter you raise the leg yourself without assistance.

I like to train alone so I just use a belt or a band to pull the leg back rather than having someone push.  If you have really poor flexibility in this area, this will hurt, a lot, when you start.  Pain is good, so just work through it and come out a stronger person.  When your stretching leg is about perpendicular to the ground without bowing other parts of your body (ie bringing up your opposite leg or core), you have good flexibility in that area for pistols.

PSLRs will drastically improve your hip mobility, which not only will help with pistols but also loading the hips for kettlebell ballistics moves like swings and snatches and cleans.

You can’t do a Hardstyle Swing (sign up for the free report on the top right.  It contains a lesson on the Hardstyle Swing from Master RKC Andrea Du Cane) unless you’ve worked through tight hamstrings.

Secret Number 2: Flexible and/or Strong Hip Flexors

We all know about how awesome the RKC hip flexor stretch is and how its the number one tool for back pain.  So you should being the “Ageless” Hip Flexor stretch by now.  Stretching your HFs make it easier to squat.  In fact, Andrea teaches to do this stretch before squatting in your workouts (especially if you sit a lot).

In addition to stretching the HFs, you have to strengthen them to get deep down into a close stance squat or pistol, especially a bodyweight pistol.  Strong hip flexors enable you to actively pull yourself down into the squat.  Strong tibia muscles around the shin also contribute by flexing and supporting the ankle, which will be addressed below.

Here are a few ways to strengthen the hip flexors:

Inverted Squats

Being Upside Down is Fun, And Will Get You Pistoling Fast

A few quick points on inversion.  It is very uncomfortable at first because it is so unnatural.  But after a few sessions you get used to it.

In the picture above, note how there are two ropes hanging from each side of the man.  You really have to have something to grab onto on the side for assistance, both for security and also to use for the squatting itself.  Using some assistance for inverted squatting reduces the weight you’re pulling and is therefore is easier for beginners.  I use a TAPS unit that comes off the ground and so use the side bars to hold onto for security and assistance in squatting.  I wouldn’t recommend inversion without something to hold onto on the side.

There are several advantages to owning a pair of gravity boots and a pull up bar.  What I’ll focus on here is how they’ll help you do a pistol.  So find a way to safely get upside and pull yourself up like you are doing a squat.  Note the feeling in your hip flexor muscles. It feels really good.  You are overcoming almost half of your bodyweight on each leg to pull yourself up.  Strengthening your HFs in this way will make your squatting back on planet earth much easier, especially close stance squatting (squatting on two legs with your feet so close together they touch or come close to touching) that requires more hip and ankle mobility.

I couldn’t do a close stance squat at the first bodyweight workshop I produced with Pavel.  The next year we did them and I was getting compliments on my mobility.  The reason was I started doing inverted squats.

Secret Number 3: Ankle Mobility/Strength

Inverted squats will make your ankles more mobile.  How? Because when you are inverted, your whole bodyweight is supported by your feet.  And when you pull yourself up, the tibia muscles around the shin fire because it is an anterior strength exercise.  When your tibia muscles get stronger, it is easier to dorsiflex your ankles (the tibia are responsible for lifting the ankles up, or dorsiflexing them), a necessity for doing pistols where there is a bend not only at the hips and knees, but also the ankles. Note the ankle of Dr. John’s ankle in the picture of the pistol, above.

So doing inverted squats not only helps with hip mobility through strengthening the hip flexors, it also gives you strong, mobile ankles by strengthening the tibia.  And when your tibia is strong, you can have people kick you in the shins and the extra muscles will protect you.

If you don’t have gravity Boots and Don’t Feel Like Going Back to the 80s

There’s a partner drill that has a similar effect.  Its not as good, but it does work.  I couldn’t find a good pic, but imagine the person laying down’s knees are bent:

Bend the Knees and Have Someone Pull...See how your HFs feel

Another thing you can to stretch the hip flexors and strengthen the tibia for ankle mobility and strength is loop a kettlebell around your foot and pull it up. The downside is that it is unilateral, but it works.

Mobility for the Pistol

You don’t need to do a pistol to demonstrate you have the mobility needed to do a pistol.  Do something easier: the close stance squat. Once you can put both your feet together and go all the way down and come all the way up, then you have the mobility to do a pistol. Using these techniques to lengthen your hamstrings and strengthen your hip flexors and strengthening your tibia will get you to a close stance squat quickly.

The Other Thing: Strength

OK, so you have the mobility to descend into the bottom of a pistol.  But that won’t do much getting back up, because in order do pop “out of the hole” you need strong legs.

I like the idea of improving the conditions for developing the leg strength to do a pistol.  When you are learning to pistol, that bottom position is not comfortable.  So if you are trying to get strong in that position, you are worrying about keeping your balance and mobility on top of the strength work.  Its too much to juggle in your mind.  Turning to front squats removes the difficult mobility and balance conditions so that you can keep your focus on strengthening your legs.

If you can overcome the resistance of two heavy kettlebells pushing down on you, then you can overcome the resistance of your bodyweight using only one leg.

And what is the best exercise for strong legs?  I believe that would go to the kettlebell front squat.  In Return of the Kettlebell Pavel mentions that 1000 pound squatter Donnie Thompson uses two 88 pound bells for 3×8 and that is “all he needs.”  So that means if I can use two 70 pound kettlebells to do the same, then there’s nothing to worry about.  For you, it doesn’t have to be 70 pound bells, but it has to be heavy enough to be difficult and therefore to make you stronger.  Use bells you can double front squat between 5 and 10 times.

Master RKC Brett Jones doing a double KB Front Squat

If you don’t know how to front squat, visit an RKC or read Return of the Kettlebell.  There’s a chapter called “How to Squat Like a Pro in 29 Minutes or Less” that will do just that.

Programming All This

Dan John says “programming is reps.”  So do reps.  You can either do too few, too many, or the right amount.  So if you don’t do anything, you won’t get results.  If you kill yourself doing too much, then you won’t get results. So just do the right amount and don’t worry about the numbers so much. Enjoy the process of getting more flexible and stronger.

Try doing the stretches three or four times a week for about 5 minutes or so.  For the front squats, do a few days a week, a light day and a heavy day. Work up to 5×5 and then 5×10 on the heavy day.  If you can do 5×10 with two bells, you can move up to heavier bells.

1.)  If you found this helpful or if use this to do a pistol, please let me know by leaving a comment.

2.)  If you like anti aging kettlebell information, please click on the 15 page free report on the top right and join our community.

 

Ageless Body Book Review

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By Sean

The Ageless Body eBook

If you you want explanations and big pictures of Andrea guiding you through key joint mobility, muscle flexibity and bodyweight and kettlebell strength and conditioning moves and a full 6 week “ramp up” and full strength and conditioning program right now, then you will find this information helpful.

Andrea has been a Senior/Master level instructor in the RKC for almost 10 years.  She’s CK-FMS, Z-Health and Pilates certified. Few trainers posses such a vast “tool box” of exercises and practical teaching ability and range that Andrea has.

The Ageless Body is a set of how to material, equipped with giant pictures, on joint mobility, flexibility and strength and conditioning movements plus a charted section on programming that shows you how to plug them in to your day to day existence.

One of the little perks of producing the Ageless Body Workshop with Andrea was that I got a sneak peak of this book early this summer and have been using it frequently as a resource for this project and my own practice.

Two Parts to this Review

For this review, I want to share the chapter breakdown with some brief commentary to give you an overview of the contents, plus fill it in with a few stories from the Ageless Body Workshop.

Lastly I’ll mention who I think it is for and who it isn’t for.

Chapter Breakdown of the Book

Chapter 1: Intro/How to Use the Book

Chapter 2: Medical Disclaimer

Chapter 3: Kettlebell Safety

Chapter 4: Prep Drills

- How to get a nuetral pelvis and spine

- Proper hip hinge

- Hip hinge strategies for different levels

- Hip flexor stretch for different levels

- T-spine rotation for different levels.

Chapter 5: Warm Up (Complete Joint Mobility Program that mobilizes the major and minor joints of the body in one to several different ways, depending on the joint).

Chapter 6: Main Kettlebell Exercises

- Deadlift for different levels and varieties, single and two legged, with trouble shooting,

- Varieties of kettlebell carries

- Varying degrees of the plank

- Kettlebell Swing,

- 4 Variations on the Kettlebell press,

- Progressions for goblet squat

- Different level variations for the Russian twist for spinal rotation and abdominal strength.

Chapter 7: The Get Up – Pictures and descriptions and break down for each part of the movement.

Chapter 8: Balance Drills – We don’t want any falls.  These are the drills Andrea teaches to keep your sense of balance.

Chapter 9: Cool Down Stretches (Andrea is a flexibility expert.  These are her 7 fundamental “go to” stretches)

-Hip Flexor Stretch

-Half Pigeon (Figure 4), Variations

-Quad Stretches, Variations

-Hamstring Stretch, Variations

-Runner’s Stretch

-More T-Spine Rotation

-Down Dog

Chapter 10: Advanced Kettlebell Exercises

-Clean

-Double Swing

-Double Clean

-Double Press

-Front Squat

-Goblet Squat with Curl

-Goblet Squat with front raise

-Snatch

Chapter 11: Planning Your Workouts

Chapter 12: Six Week Ramp Up & Six Week Program

Chapter 13: Strength Workout (6 Rounds)

Chapter 14: Cardio Workout (6 Rounds)

You can see that this is a comprehensive product.

Overview

The first 10 chapters show you how to do the moves (light descriptions + pictures), and chapters 11-14 show you how to plug them into to a weekly routine.

Andrea teaches to do prep drills and joint mobility before even touching a kettlebell.  Pavel teaches the same in Enter the Kettlebell!  Nothing new, it is a more effective way of getting the most of out of your kettlebell practice. Ageless Body gives you a full joint mobility program with movements from Pavel’s Super Joints, CK-FMS and Z-Health and and tips for neutralizing pelvis and spine to give a foundation for safe lifting.

The breakdown of main kettlebell exercises vs. advanced is very important for learning kettlebells the right way.

If you own the main exercises, the more advanced ones will be a lot easier.  Respect the order and perfect the beginner moves.

Andrea discusses this in this podcast.

Andrea breaks down all the exercises, like she does in the Kettlebell Boomer DVD to fit the level of the raw beginner/de-conditioned (unloaded hip hinge – no kettlebell) to more advanced (double kettlebell deadlift) to use an example for Andrea’s deadlift progression.  So you are sure to find the appropriate level for your practice.

Who Is This For?

The Ageless Body is ideal for beginners. Dan John, Masters Weightlifting Champ, author of Easy Strength, and Senior RKC says that he uses this program, which throws a slight wrench to the theory that this is only for beginners.  Coach says “this program makes me do what I know I need.” That should give any seasoned kettlebell practitioner serious pause.

If you’ve been doing kettlebells (or any strength program) for a long time and don’t do much flexibility or mobility training and you are getting stiff and achy, this will help you.  If you are into sports and are developing dysfunctional joints, this information will help.

At the Ageless Body workshop, we had two martial artists who were interested in kettlebells, but had hip and shoulder dysfunctions, respectively, that prohibited them from taking their KB practice where they wanted. Using many of the tools featured in this book, Andrea helped these gentlemen regain function in their hips and shoulders which cleared the way for a more productive kettlebell practice.

At the same time, I saw Andrea use these tools to teach kettlebells effectively to older trainees.

How does the same material help both tough as nails martial artists and your grandmother?  Because it starts at the beginning and doesn’t leave anything out.

I think RKCs and HKCs will benefit from this book because it gives a template for bringing de-conditioned clients back to strength and conditioning while (likely) teaching some new or perhaps neglected tools along the way.  It never hurts to hear a reminder on what works.  There were two attendees at the workshop who signed up because they thought this information would help them intelligently train for taking the RKC.  RKCs showed up to learn the tools to bring kettlebells to Boomer aged clients.

Who is this book NOT for?  

More advanced athletes who have a handle on their aches and pains and people looking for a lot of analysis in the subjects covered.  This it not a theoretical book, at all.  It is a “do this” book. People who already know how to program kettlebell workouts, flexibility and joint mobility and have a sizable tool box of Andrea’s “Three Pillars” of Strength, Flexibility and Mobility won’t need it.

Get Your Ageless Body Hardcover Book HERE

Get Your Ageless Body E-Book HERE

Power Breathing and Seated Power Breathing – Too Many Benefits to Ignore

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I was thinking: the one thing Convict Conditioning is missing is Power Breathing.  Maybe I missed it (please let me know if I did).

If you’ve read Pavel’s book on Bodyweight Strength, The Naked Warrior, or Power to the People! or Bullet Proof Abs or have been around the RKC world for a while, then you know the importance of using your abdominals as a “strength amplifier.”

Best thing you can do for your abs and strength: Power Breathing

The secret is to know how to send pressure deep down into your dear abbies.  You do this by “power breathing.”

At the Ageless Body Workshop, Andrea taught a few variations of power breathing and when we met on Grand Avenue in St. Paul a few days ago she showed me another way to do it.  Have you ever done power breathing in the middle of a coffee shop?  You haven’t lived!

Anyway, there are a lot of different ways to do it.  Press your tongue behind your teeth and “hiss” and push the pressure down down down (it helps to put your hands together and push down, putting all the pressure in your mind and in reality down into a “ball” in your belly) and then a somewhat violent “cough” or “tsa!” to forcefully release all of the pressure in one burst.  It works better than coffee or an energy drink to wake you up. These are for short durations (like 5-10 seconds) and the pressure is very high.  These are done standing, hips extended.

These are great.  Doing them seated and with less intensity has benefits too.

Seated Power Breathing and the Hidden Benefits

Lately, I’ve been doing these while I drive, obviously sitting down.  It is a softer kind of power breathing because of the circumstances.  You can’t be 100% focused on the breathing because you will wreck your car.  So you tone it down but still put pressure into the abs.

But you can spend a good amount of time practicing sending pressure down where it makes you strong.  Less pressure for a longer duration.

You can work up to a 50 count or even a 100 count if you progress methodically.

Leg Raises: The Right (Easy) Way and the Wrong (Hard) Way

At the workshop, Andrea taught leg raises, then power breathing, and then had everyone go back to leg raises.  The consensus from the group: leg raises are much much easier after “pressurizing” your abs.  If you can’t contract your abs properly in leg raises then the pressure moves down from your abs (strong) to your hip flexors (weak).

Once you do this you aren’t strengthening your abdominals, the intention of the movement.  It can look like an authentic leg raise but in reality it isn’t, at least if it is proper form and strength your are after.  Your HFs act as your abs (and that takes your glutes out of the equation), not what they are supposed to do.  Abs and glutes should both be engaged in leg raises, not hip flexors.

You will be able to do A LOT more reps if you can keep the pressure down in your abs when you do leg raises.  ”Push your back hard against the floor.”

You can cheat by using your hip flexors as abs if you are doing leg raises on the floor and are somewhat capable, but when you graduate to hanging leg raises, you simply can’t do them if you are “ab ignorant.”  You can deadlift some weight with horrible form, but if you go heavy you need to be dialed in or it won’t budge.  So get it right at the beginning level and you will go further and safer in your strength practice.

“An error in the beginning is an error indeed.”  Power breathing is foundational to strength.

From practicing “soft” power breathing while driving (or any seated position), I added 20 reps to my leg raises.  The reason is that you get in the habit of retaining ab pressure over long periods of time, essential for higher rep seated leg raises.  If the pressure is in the abs, then form is good (strong) and you aren’t using your hip flexors to raise your legs.

Holding the pressure for a long period of time works by simply putting you in the habit of intra abdominal pressure, so much so that it is practically automatic when you go to do your bodyweight or kettlebell workouts.  Its getting difficult not to have pressure in my abs.  Oh, and don’t think this won’t shrink your waste line a bit if you need it.

Power Breathing and Pistols

The other benefit is with squatting and pistols, one legged squats.  One of the big secrets to pistols is keeping the pressure in your abs when you are in the bottom position and using it as a strength amplifier to propel yourself upward.  If you lose the ab strength, then there’s a disconnect with your middle and your legs.  Like we talked here, this is leakage instead of linkage (a brick compared to a string…the former transmits forces and the latter doesn’t).

Strength is linkage, making your entire body one functioning unit, all different parts united in one single goal, like a successful sports team or business.

The art of strength is obtaining the habit of firing all the muscles at once, without having to think about what you are doing, such as “oh yeah, I should be firing my glutes, I better do that.”

Problems with Pistols might be Problems with Power Breathing

If you drop down to do a pistol and you have to think “OK, now I need to put pressure in my abs,” then the battle is over.  If you are new to it, you will focus on firing the glute, then remember you have to do something with your abs and in switching the focus will lose the tension in the glutes.  After longer practice you fire abs and glutes simultaneously and automatically, without conscious effort.  This is an example of progressing in strength.

Besides the requisite flexibility and mobility needed for pistols, the most important thing is power breathing.  If you are a long way, then just take a seat and practice power breathing and work on your ab strength.

The practice of power breathing while sitting conditions you to keep abdominal pressure while your hips are flexed, a key skill because a strong pistol involves keeping the abs pressurized while the hip is flexed. You don’t want this to be a “new” sensation but one you are comfortable with.  Most people will get down into a pistol position and panic and lose the abdominal tension. Its understandable: that is no easy position to be in, especially if you are trying to remember things you have to do.  If you are used to power breathing with hips flexed, then it is going to be second nature.  If it isn’t, then keep practicing and it will.

At the workshop Andrea did a real power breathing session - professional instruction with all the subtleties.  You cannot generate that kind of power and focus while seated.  The force is so powerful that you have to be in an extended position.  So after her demo when I said I did that in the car, people said “how would you ever do that in a car?” They were right, you can’t do it like that sitting anywhere, let alone a moving vehicle.

So the driving version is softer, but still has its benefits in my experience. And please use common sense and remain focused on your driving.  In fact, maybe just do this sitting in a chair in your kitchen.

Try it out and let me know if helps you with leg raises, pull ups, or pistols.

Recently Pavel cited a sports scientist who said power breathing is the best pure bodyweight exercise you can do for your lower back (!).

But be careful with it.  If you aren’t experienced with power breathing, best to seek out an RKC or trusted source for proper instruction.  Messing with the pressure in your body can cause dizziness so if you have medical conditions talk to your doc first.

Some day I’ll share the new version that Andrea revealed at the coffee shop.  It is so effective for putting pressure into the abs that I thought they were going to explode.  I wasn’t ready for it and felt light headed.  It was intense.

Here are some resources from Pavel that break down Power Breathing further:

Bullet Proof Abs
Beyond Crunches, 2nd Edition

Beyond Crunches-DVD
Primevally powerful ab exercises—guaranteed to yield the fastest, most effective results known to man

The Naked Warrior

Power To The People
Like I said before, Andrea presentation on the different kinds of breathing was one of the highlights of the seminar for me.

An essential ingredient for the Ageless Body – Strength!

How to Balance Your Workout, Change a Bad Habit and Pavel’s Joint Mobility Routine

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By Sean Schniederjan RKC

Balance In Exercise

Master RKC Geoff Neupert penned a detailed post on training opposite movements.

The Full Article is Here

Geoff has been a strength athlete and coach for a long time and has written books on using kettlebells for losing fat and putting on muscle.

Here is Geoff’s breakdown of two opposed (in a lot of ways) movements:

KBs.                  v.                 Chins Ups
- palms pronated                - palms supinated
- feet loaded                        - feet unloaded
- spine loaded                     – spine unloaded
- posterior chain                  - anterior chain
emphasis                              emphasis
- extension dominant          - flexion dominant
- lower body intensive         – upper body intensive

After looking at this, imagine you only trained one and not the other. Take a look at your own training and see if your movements are neglecting something.

Why? Inertia is a powerful force in our bodies.  If you train a movement, our bodies will want to keep going in the direction of that movement.  If you train your shoulders to externally rotate, like flaring your arms out for pushups as most people do, that’s what they will tend towards.  So you need internal rotation to balance things out (and to learn how to activate your lats and be strong).  If your shoulders are lurched forward in flexion from sitting at a computer all day, then you need to train thoracic extension and loosen up the tight shoulder muscles to improve shoulder posture, health, and strength.  If you train these things, your posture will balance out and you will sit better.  Vigilance is key.

Training one kind of movement to the detriment of another is a recipe for weakness.  I trained ETK for a long time religiously.  But as Geoff points out above, there is not a strong anterior chain movement in ETK.  Sure, your abs will get stronger from swings and get ups, but only to a point.  I thought I was a hot shot with my press and snatch nos. but when I jumped up on a pull bar for the first time humility set in.  So after a long time of training planks and pushups (using strict form), the pullups got easier and now my strength has a wider base.  Training for a wide base means discovering your weaknesses and attacking them.  I hated pull ups initially because they were my weakness.  But now I love them and couldn’t imagine not hanging from a bar practically every day.

I was too gung-ho about swings and snatches and as a results I had a very tight back.  I wasn’t stretching or doing any movements that strengthened the anterior chain.

If you aren’t training specifically for a sport but enjoy training, then you are training for general physical preparedness (GPP).  This means achieving as wide a base as possible so that you can reasonably tackle most physical tasks that come your way

Habits Generally, How Strength is a Habit

In college I studied liberal arts, real geeky, overly analytic stuff.  I can actually analyze “being.”  I didn’t get much out of it practically, but there is one ethical lesson that Aristotle talks about in the Nichomachean Ethics that I think applies here and might help you if you have a habit you want to break.  The most popular quote from any book written by an ancient that I hear all the time, especially in business books, is about the importance of habits: you are what you repeatedly do.  Excellence is a habit – as opposed to singular acts.

Strength is a habit. My dad told me the story of an old farmer he knew. This man was known for being skinny and not very strong. One day his son got pinned down under some kind of trailer, that weighed well over 1000 pounds. The man lifted the trailer high enough off the ground using only one arm and pulled his son out. I never met the man, but if its true he wasn’t very strong then what he did was just a singular act of strength, mostly caused by the adrenaline rush.  A lifter who could manage reps with those kinds of weights on any given day has the habit of strength.

The latter is more properly called strong because he can “dial up” strength at nearly any time or place while the stars had to align for this farmer to be able to be strong.  The shock everyone had that he could do such a thing is a sign that he wasn’t really strong.

How to Change a Habit – Go to the Opposite Extreme

So Aristotle asks: how do you erase bad habits and move toward good habits?  Is it that even possible?  He says you can, if you know how to “bend the stick.”  This means that if you have a bad habit (by his definition a bad habit is “extreme” actions relative to who you are which I will explain), then you need to move toward the OPPOSITE extreme and that over time things will balance out.

So if you compulsively over eat then you don’t aim for eating the right amount, you intentionally under eat.  The practice of under eating will aid you in eventually achieving the habit of eating the right amount of food.  He says that “the right amount” will be different for each individual person and the example he gives is the famous wrestler Milo.  You might have heard about Milo.  He’s the guy who carried a full grown cow into a sporting event in Athens.  Milo was able to do this because he consistently practiced carrying the cow since it was a new born.  Strength is a habit (repeated action), not a singular action.  Aristotle says that the right amount of food for Milo to eat is different than what normal people, like you and me, should eat because Milo needs those extra calories (that is a joke.  Aristotle does not mention the word “calories”).  In our day we could use Michael Phelps or an offensive lineman to get this point across.

He’s talking about moral actions but I think this applies to physical action as well.  If you are in the habit of externally rotating your shoulders you need to practice a whole lot of internal rotation to balance it out.  If have no thoracic extension you practice it and your posture will improve and your shoulders will feel better.

The Habit of Movement – Joints, Muscles, Strength

Let’s apply this lesson of extremes to our movement.

In our muscles, the extreme that we want to avoid is overly tight muscles Stretching them goes to the opposite extreme.  The result is muscles of the right length and suppleness that is conducive to easy, fluid movement.

Same with joint mobility.  If your joints are immobile and creaky and achy, you want to bring them back to life by a fixed, constant joint mobility routine.  If you are constant in your practice (like practicing JM every day for 21 days), then your joints will be well oiled and in less pain.

Same with strength.  If you are getting weaker, then you need to practice strength: bodyweight, kettlebell, or whatever.

Mobility First, Then Loading:  It isn’t as Sexy, or IS IT?

And this is the order you have to do it.  If your joints are dysfunctional and your muscles are tight, is it a good idea to start a hard core lifting routine?  If your base is sand, is a good idea to build a house on it?

This is where people get into trouble.  They aren’t in the habit of stretching and JM but they are in the habit of intense physical excursion.  It could be lifting or any physical activity.  Where is the balance?  People want to lift heavy and do exotic kettlebell moves and pound their bodies in all kinds of ways because it’s sexy.  The big mansion of lifting a lot of weight or doing a lot of reps is sexy but giving yourself a base of flexibility and mobility to build that mansion is hidden under the ground.  Stretching and moving your joints around is less so.  But what is more sexy: getting older and talking about what you used to be able to do and being in more pain than you need to be or being old and stronger and feeling better than you were 10-20 years ago?

So here is what Andrea showed us at the workshop.  She showed us Pavel’s Russian secrets for Joint health.  She noted that Pavel recommends doing a rep for every year you have been alive.  Andrea thought that was excessive for most people.  I decided to try it out, one rep for every year.  If you are feeling achy, it certainly wouldn’t hurt you to work up to being able to do a rep for every year.  I decided to do this every day, (if I have time I do 1 rep per year if not I do less).  A few years ago Pavel talked about a ninety year old Russian who did the following program – 90 reps per movement.  This would be very hard for most people, including me.

But see what lifting is like after you’ve given yourself joints of steel doing this routine.

Pavel’s Joint Mobility Routine as Taught at the Ageless Body Workshop:

Here is the routine.  This is AWESOME:

1. Neck – side to side
2. Neck – up and down
3. Neck – tilting (bring your jaw toward the ceiling)
4. Wrist circles
5. Elbow Circles
6. Halos
7. The Egyptian (corkscrewing shoulders side to side)
8. Ankle Circles then Toe Wiggling
9.  Knee Circles
10. Prying up-dog (to open the hips)
11. Squats (with a partner or holding onto a wall – to flex the hips)
12. The Frog

The REAL Benefit of Joint Mobility Practice

Here’s something I noticed from this practice.  Yes, joint movement produces synovial fluid, which is what our joints need and it feels great, etc.

Another benefit from joint mobility is the application of our consciousness to each joint and the payoff that has when we start our strength workouts. I think most of us (including myself) are just not very aware about our joints and our movement.  It is easy to be sloppy.

Setting some time aside to practice joint mobility forces you to think about each joint.  If our movement consciousness is “dull,” how are we going to put in good workouts and get strong without hurting ourselves? If we are going to do this we have to be able to put aside other things in life that can wear us down and have a great focus on what we are doing when we come to train. This was one of the things Andrea stressed at the workshop: we need to be aware of our joints in joint mobility, muscles in stretching, and both in our strength training.

This weekend I woke up, went through the above routine for all my years (it took a while), and then went out and did a kettlebell workout.  The kettlebell movements were balanced, a push and a pull for four sets: two handed swings x 20 and long cycle clean and jerk x10/R, 10L.  A long cycle is one clean for every jerk.

I have been traveling a lot lately, working too much, having family visit, house projects, etc. so I was floored how easy this felt (using a relatively heavy KB).  During the workout I noticed how I could feel every joint as I moved.  The swings were crisp because of the quality, deliberate hip movement.  The jerks felt well distributed from solid hip, shoulder, elbow and wrist alignment.  Movement felt more connected from deliberately mobilizing every single joint. I could have kept going but my grip got fried out of all things! There’s always something to work on.

The JM wakes your joints up and lifting gets dialed in.  You aren’t just heaving the weight up, you are attentive to what every joint needs to do to get the weight up as crisply as possible.  We are interested in quality reps not sludging through higher and higher quantities of reps.

This joint mobility stuff isn’t just for feeling less achy or doing a few ankle circles before a press (or even worse, doing circles before you pick up your newspaper…that is becoming more common!): it will make your movement stronger in general, especially for kettlebell and bodyweight workouts.

Do three things:

1.)  Get this book if you need help going through Pavel’s joint mobility routine with descriptions and pictures:

Super Joints
Russian Longevity Secrets for Pain-Free Movement, Maximum Mobility & Flexible Stength

2.) Make sure your exercise is balanced.  A push and a pull.  A posterior movement  (like swings or snatches) and an anterior movement like chin ups, pull ups, push  ups, plank.  If you can’t do planks or push ups do them on your knees but make sure you are activating your lats and dear abbies.  A kettlebell movement and a bodyweight movement. The posterior movements will give you a strong, toned butt.  Try this simple workout Andrea put us through if you haven’t:

5 Rounds:

30 second 2 handed swings
30 second plank

3.) Let us know by posting a comment how focused Joint Mobility practice has helped you in your strength pursuits.

“Comrades, let us not forget that strength is the “mother of all physical qualities” (Matveev).” -Pavel

Convict Conditioning 2 Review

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By Sean Schniederjan RKC

I want to make an odd recommendation.  Yesterday I bought the sequel to a book I own.  Just like the first one, I read it cover to cover in one sitting (they’re both around 300 pages).

If you look at only appearances, a book called “Convict Conditioning” would have little to do with “The Ageless Body.”

But if you look at content, there is a substantial amount of overlap.

The author is Paul Wade, a man who has spent a considerable amount of his younger years in various California prisons.  He is obsessed with physical excellence and used his time to pick up information on transforming physiques for “survival strength.”

Survival in prison is different from the outside world, but the overall intent is the same: we need above average strength in order to survive and to carry our bodies into our older years.

The sequel has more than one anecdote about people using Coach Wade’s methods to rehab serious injuries and he tells of some old time hard men who were extremely strong and impressive looking into their golden years.

This material is ordered to longevity.

Because of his experiences, Wade prefers bodyweight training to lifting, kettlebells included.  He makes a pretty strong case in both books.  I will never give up my kettlebells though, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t and won’t put into practice Wade’s methods.

Bodyweight training is entrenched into the RKC.  Strength is strength.  Understanding key bodyweight concepts translates to stronger kettlebelling.  Andrea taught this over the weekend and Pavel teaches it at every RKC.

The first Convict Conditioning book is about progressing into Wade’s “Big Six” bodyweight exercises: Squats, Pushups, Leg Raises, Bridging, Pull Ups, and Handstand Pushups.  These are big, compound movements that utilize our biggest muscles.  No matter what your level, there is something in there for you.  The progressions start off super easy, ie wall pushups and standing vertical pull ups.  Wade makes the argument that these easier moves, if performed with the right form, have a healing effect on our joints and bodies. He goes more into this theme in the sequel.

Convict Conditioning 2 delves into Wade’s theories on joint health and flexibility.  He goes into coach mode as he uses pictures of different types of muscle stretching, passive and active, to teach how and more importantly when to use each.  He is a proponent of active muscle stretching, or as he sometimes calls it tension-flexion or supple strength.

I agree with Dan John.  The reason to get this book is Coach’s “trifecta” for fixing banged up athletes.  He tells some great stories (in my opinion Wade is a good story teller) in that section and then goes on to explain and teach the three moves that in his opinion offer the biggest bang for your rehabilitative buck.  Just like his strength philosophy, the trifecta is broken into the three categories of movement: posterior chain, anterior chain, and lateral chain. After reading through his progressions for each and how he came up with them, I could not help thinking that this guy is a mad scientist. An original thinker.

If you are into mutant strength, there is something for you as there is in the first.  He’ll teach you how to progress into two types of bodyweight flags for insane lateral chain strength.  Just like Convict Conditioning 1, the progressions are logical and simple to follow. Even if you aren’t interested in doing flags (there’s a picture of what a flag is on the book cover at the bottom of this review), then the easier movements from the progressions are beneficial and accessible. Coach explains how the movements from the first Convict Conditioning will strengthen your lateral chain but how the flag progressions take it to another level.

Another progression series he gives is on the question of how to develop grip strength using your body weight. This chapter is gold, because he goes through I believe nine grip maneuvers and the pros and cons of each. At the end he gives you what he considers the best exercise for giving you mitts of steel without lifting external weights. If you are into grip training you will like this chapter.

He also teaches progressions and theories for calf strength and how to balance out the opposing muscle, the tibia.  He gives the layout for how to use joint mobility and what works and doesn’t.

My favorite part of the book is the story of Wade’s devastating hip injury that he received in the 1982 San Quentin riot.  As you can imagine, the story itself is very intense.  It really drew me in.  He puts you in that prison yard on that day. Reading that section gave me goosebumps. He talks about the vulnerability he felt after the injury when hobbling on crutches past the prison gangs.

His obsession with knowledge of the body comes to light as he talks about how he poured over books from the prison library to learn how to heal what his doctor called a permanent hip injury.  He rightly felt he needed to heal himself – fast – to avoid getting labelled as weak or soft, which is obviously deadly when you are living in prison. He gives the methods he used to fully heal that same hip in six weeks, despite his doc’s warning that the effects would be permanent.  He says that since then he had no further issues with that hip and it is stronger than its ever been.  I don’t know how a book on training can get more intense, dramatic, and at the same time useful as this.

One more thing.  Paul Wade has a unique ability of explaining physiological and kinesiological concepts in very simple ways.  As an amateur, I really (really) appreciate that.

The only negative thought I had on my first reading was that the progressions are laid out in a less straight forward way.  The progressions are laid out at a kindergarten level in Convict Conditioning 1, and in Convict Conditioning 2 in a third grade level, so you have to think a little more.  I think the first book spoiled me little.  Wah!  I have to think a little and flip back a page or two.  As soon as I used that perspective it didn’t bother me as much.

The last part of the book deals with miscellaneous health topics such as drugs, alcohol (pruno anyone?), nutrition, dealing with injuries, to mind training.  The mind training comes from Wade’s unique perspective as someone who spent 20+ years behind bars and the “darkness” or isolation that comes with it.  Wade is from an older generation that had more common sense. Being behind bars for so long and removed from the outside world, seems to me, helped him preserve it. It serves him well in his writing and coaching.

As I read this and the first one, I wondered how this man went from being incarcerated and addicted to drugs to helping massive amounts of people get on the path to strength and health, and passionately so. There is a redemptive quality to this story that enhances all of the training information in its own inimitable way.

Paul Wade is a man obsessed with health, strength, and well being. He offers a perspective that few can. My real complaint is that we get this glimpse into what he has lived and his training methods, but we can’t train with him. How awesome would that be? For now we have his books and that ain’t bad.

If you are interested in well being: joint mobility, flexibility, and strength do not think twice about buying this book.  The information is so vast and at the same time dramatic and well told I felt like it worth far more than $39. As I read through it, gleaning something from every single paragraph I felt it would easily be worth 3 times what I invested and I know I’ll keep coming back to it for the rest of my life.

Get your digital copy of Convict Conditioning 2 Here:

Convict Conditioning 2 ebook

Convict Conditioning 2

If you haven’t picked up the first one, you should do that too (in regular or e-format):

Convict Conditioning 1

Andrea Du Cane Speaks! How Kettlebells Anti Age You…

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Host Bryan Malatesta, RKC asks Master RKC Andrea Du Cane about the new Ageless Body project and how it came about.

Andrea breaks down what you lose when you age and let your health go and how an all around kettlebell and mobility program fixes it.  She talks general principles and stories of people she has helped.

Tune in and enjoy!

“The power is within us and the kettlebell is the tool to do it.” – Andrea Du Cane

http://agelessbodyblog.com/podcasts/AgelessbodyBlogPodcast20110917.mp3

 

The Single Most Beneficial Tool for Lower Back Tightness and Pain – And How and When to Do It

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The Hip Flexor stretch is the single most beneficial tool for lower back tightness and pain and hip and groin pain.

What it does is stretch the illiopsas and hip flexor muscles. These muscles attach at the lower back and pelvis. So if they are tight they pull on the lower back and sacrum causing pain and more flexion, which then causes even more pain and problems.

So doing the Hip Flexor stretch at least once a day will alleviate much of the lower back pain people experience.

It is also very important to stretch out after exercise and you can also do the stretch before performing your front squats to “unlock” the hips to get down deeper.”

Senior RKC Mark Toomey also suggest adding a static hang from a pull up bar and rolling around on the floor with your hands over your head, which is also a fun thing to do anyway.

Here Andrea lays out the guidelines for executing a perfect RKC Hip Flexor Stretch.  The Hip Flexor Stretches you see some people do (say, if you do a google image search) and the RKC Hip Flexor stretch differ only in the subtleties.  On the outside, they look like the same move.

But knowing these subtleties will give you a more effective stretch.

Hip Flexor Stretch: WHEN to do it, HOW to do it.

Start by kneeling with one leg forward on a soft surface with your hips squared straight ahead and level.

Your legs should be hip distance apart and should both follow imaginary parallel lines.

Place your hands on your hips or the small of your back.  Squeeze your glutes and push forward with your pelvis; simultaneously reaching your head to the ceiling and LENGTHENING your spine.

Keep the posterior “tuck” of the pelvis as you move forward and only go as far as you can go without losing it.

Do not allow your forward knee to travel over your toes. Exhale as you go forward and inhale as you come back up, repeat a few times moving in and out of the stretch in a gentle rhythm.

Repeat on your other leg.

This stretch should be done after every workout, and if you are one of those extra tight through the hip you should do it before swings and squats.
If you are extremely tight, it should be done every day.
Andrea will be demonstrating the subtleties of this stretch along with her “big 5″ stretches for Ageless Body training March 3/4 at the Ageless Body Workshop in Minneapolis.  There are currently 3 spots left.

How to Program Mobility, Flexibility, and Kettlebell Strength and Cardio Work

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Andrea teaches that the three pillars of the Ageless Body are Mobility, Flexibility and Strength/Cardio.

The reason for this is pretty simple: we need to move well to lift well and not be in pain, we need muscle (because it deteriotes as we age), and we need a strong heart for obvious reasons.

Andrea’s system teaches correct mobility and flexibility to move well and eliminate or lessen back, shoulder, hip, and knee pain.  This gives the foundation for safe and effective kettlebell practice, which delivers strength and cardio depending on the application.

Some thoughts on the relation between mobility, flexibility and swinging a kettlebell are here

Andrea has a content rich DVD on all three of these things called the Kettlebell Boomer (soon to be retitled the Ageless Body).

The main reason we wanted to change the title is because what Andrea teaches to acheive an Ageless Body is universal, while ”Boomer” is not.  “Boomer” is restricted to one particular generation of people.

Senior RKC and Fulbrite Scholar Dan John uses this program because he points out “it makes me do what I know I need to do.”

This isn’t rocket science.  It is knowing what to do and then doing it.

In the DVD, Andrea shows you exactly what to do for optimal mobility and flexibility.  She teaches how to do kettlebells safely and effectively and then leads you through several strength and cardio workouts.

Some of the kettlebell moves taught are the Deadlift, Hardstyle Swing and Turkish Get Up and Bodyweight essentials like the plank.

Andrea scales all the exercises to whatever your level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

All of this information clocks in at nearly 3 hours.  Get Your Copy of the DVD here:

Andrea’s DVD on Flexibility, Mobility and Kettlebells

How to Program Flexibility, Mobility, and Kettlebell Practice

OK, now here is a question from DVD user Catherine from Pennsylvania. Catherine, first of all I agree with Andrea, nice job grabbing the bull by the horns, getting the DVD and USING it!  We can all learn from your example.

Here Catherine asks a great question on programming.  Below, Andrea gives a sample program of how to put mobility, flexibility, strength, and cardio into your weekly practice.  Set aside some time for your self and do it!  And enjoy the body transformation!

Catherine: Hi Andrea, I now have you KB Boomer DVD and am working through it. I’m 51 and 50+ pounds overweight. The closest RKC-FMS is over an hour away, but I plan on seeing him (once) in a month or two. Meanwhile – after the first time I worked through all of the instruction on the DVD, my glutes and lower back hurt (in a good way) for 3 days! After 3 days rest, I did the cardio session for the first time and I’ve been feeling the same muscles for two days now. I didn’t get through the 3rd round of swings. (Too winded). I was using a 12 kg kettlebell.

I plan on doing the warmup every day, and want to do kb work 3 days a week. I want to be able to do lighter movements (walking, elliptical) on other days without wrecking the muscle recuperation. How should I use the DVD?

Andrea: First of all I’d like to congratulate you for jumping in with both feet! It is a brave thing you’ve done, starting an intense exercise program without expert coaching and guidance. My Boomer DVD is the best way to start, but it still is an intense workout.

You don’t mention your fitness level or athletic background, so I’ll assume you are new to kettlebells and have not been exercising regularly.

I mention in the introduction (and there is much more detail into “ramping up” and programming in my upcoming book “The Ageless Body”), that you should spend the first few days going over and practicing the Prep exercises and Warm Up. Then start with the Instructional section and the basic drills. Once you have progressed through all the exercises, spending a couple of days on each, you will be ready to complete a full workout.

Because you didn’t ramp up your skills, technique and muscles you were extra sore after the first workout.

I also mention in the dvd, ALWAYS work at your own pace. Slow down, stop the DVD, switch to the beginner level if you had been following the intermediate etc.  Those are all ways to make sure you are training at a safe and appropriate level.

Once you are feeling good about the workouts, your weekly workout schedule should look something like this:

Day 1  (Warm Up) STRENGTH (Flexibility)
Day 2  Prep drills (Corrective), Warm up (Mobility), Stretching (Flexibility)
Day 3 (Warm Up) CARDIO (Flexibility)
Day 4 (Warm Up) Get UP, STRENGTH (Flexibility)
Day 5 Prep drills, Warm up, Get UP
Day 6  (Warm Up) STRENGTH and/or CARDIO (Flexibility)
Day 7  Rest

This is just a sample of how you can mix it up, notice you are giving your body a chance to rest on the prep and warm up days.

Remember you should ALWAYS do the warm up and cool down stretching. On your rest days just skip the actual workout, but use the warmup (mobility) and prep (corrective) and stretches (flexibility) to give your body an active rest.

Good luck and enjoy!!

To learn the right flexibility, mobility, and kettlebell moves from the Master RKC, grab your copy of Andrea’s DVD here:

Andrea’s Kettlebell, Flexibility and Mobility Program

 

Ask Andrea! 2nd Degree Black Belt, Bone on Bone, Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Joint Disease & More

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Ask Andrea is a chance for our blog readers to ask Master RKC and health aficionado Andrea Du Cane questions about your health, exercise, and movement issues.  Andrea’s advice is not to be construed as medical advice.  You should always consult a trusted medical professional before taking on new exercise programs or modifying existing ones.  We assume no liability for your actions because of the general nature of Andrea’s advice.

This session of Ask Andrea features Andrea’s thoughts on bone on bone hip problems, an active 56 year old woman wanting to pursue a second degree black belt, and a 53 year old in very poor health:

I would be very interested in learning and perfecting your ankle, hip, shoulder and T-Spine mobility drills. At age 56 I am still active running, walking,TRX and just started the Kettlebell Goddess workouts. At my age or I guess any age cross training is key. I have a Black Belt in Mixed Martial Arts and gave this up due to pain associated with the training and decided not to persue a second degree. Can you get me back there? -Roxanne

Hi Roxanne, I can definitely get you back feeling good and fit and mobile. You are definitely on track with the idea of “cross-training”, but I’d rather call it a balance of 3 modalities: mobility, flexibility and strength. You need to be balanced in all three to really perform at your best.
As to getting a 2nd degree, that’s really up to you! Only you can know if  you have what it takes to put the time and energy into training. I get help get your body ready for the challenge, but you have to bring yourself there!

I have close to bone on bone in my right hip. What would be a good hip mobilization drill? Thanks -Russ

Russ, If you are truly bone on bone on your hips, you will need to be VERY careful before beginning any type of fitness program.
You first need to have it assessed by a professional, that may include x-rays or an MRI. They may even recommend surgery.
If not and it’s only minor, certain stretches and even some DL patterns and swings might be beneficial. However, I can’t really recommend anything without seeing and assessing you first.

Andrea,
I am 53 years old. 5’3? and 175 lbs. I am diagnosed with osteoarthiritis and degenerative joint disease. I need to lose weight and develop strength and balance. My legs are very weak. Please help. -Jackie

Hi Jackie,
All I have to say is kettlebell swings! It is the fastest way to lose body fat and gain strength.
You DO need to learn the proper technique and other drills to do it safely. Deadlift variations are also going to be good for you.
And basically any weight-bearing exercise. And lastly, watching your diet!

 

Do you have a question for Andrea?  Just post a comment on the blog and Andrea will get back to you soon!