A little experiment :)

I am all about trying new things. I passed RKC II a couple weeks back and now it's time to get back on the horse.

For the next month I will be training the Long Cycle Clean and Jerk ( LCCJ) progressions from Return of the Kettlebell. I am going to train 3 days a week. Each session will look the same with slightly added volume each session.

Day 1 7/21

Arms bars 3x3

LCCJ 3 ladders of 2, 4, 6

Time of workout 18:11

Today was slow on purpose, I wanted to nail the technique and not rush at all. Once I get back into a groove I will push it a bit.

I added a light jog as a flush after.


Stay tuned, after a month I will post before and after pics :)

Thoracic extension and the overhead position

Here is a video follow up to my T-spine mobility post. This is the order of the exercises on the video

Crocodile breath
- 2-5 minutes to reset breathing


Foam Roller- 15 -20 rolls in each position


- T- spine will elbows together
- Segmental extension over foam roller then onto tennis ball
- Pecs with shoulder corkscrew
- Lats with stretch added

Trigger points to hit with tennis ball- hit all the movements listed below


-traps
-1st rib
-teres major/minor
-rhomboids
-scapula border
-pecs

Movements to perform on each trigger point with tennis ball- do these until ROM improves. Hit both sides too !


- extension/flexion
- cross-body reach
- scapular presses...like wall slides
- D2 pattern ( this was not on the video, reach to opposite pocket with thumbs down, on the way back go overhead with thumbs up
- scapular retraction/protraction

Extension drills

-Extension on the pull-up bar, focus on spine moving into extension and not just squeezing the shoulder blades
-hanging drills in various positions on pull-up bar
-anterior/posterior glides...use fingers to guide the movement, don't move the fingers to the chest.
- PNF stretch on swiss ball- makes sure you breath properly on these and relax into the stretch. Make sure you focus on the spine moving and not just the shoulders.
- Jerk catch position on the pull-up bar- get into the catch position, push into the bar and push your head "through the window." Keep breathing properly as you open up.

Patterning drills

TGU
overhead walks
clean and jerk
overhead dowel press from different squat depths.
Overhead press

T spine mobility and the RKC core lifts...what does this mean?

So recently I have noticed that people throw around the phrase " T-spine mobility" alot. It's getting used almost as much as "functional" and "core"

At RKC II this weekend I noticed that several candidates knew that they needed better " T-spine mobility" but were doing the wrong drills to address specific needs in certain lifts.

Before I vomit on this thread, some general info should be addressed:

Improper breathing will lead to decreased thoracic mobility in general. Learn to breath diaphragmatically. i.e crocodile breath.

Soft tissue plays a large role is T-spine rotation. Working on trigger points and breathing combined will help tremendously.

Thoracic rotation
Normal rotation is roughly 30 to 35 degrees
The largest amount of rotation is in T6-T7 ( middle of chest area, this area tends to adjust easiest by a chiro )

Drills to perform to restore normal rotation

• Side lying rib pulls
• quadruped reach throughs
• bretzel 1 and 2
• many more but hit these 1st along with breath/soft tissue

 These are necessary for:

• TGU- mainly in the high bridge/ windshield wiper portion of the TGU
• windmill
• bent press.

Thoracic extension
20-30 degrees is normal
People with kyphosis will have a tough time achieving full extension. People with desk jobs may have a tougher time achieving full extension as well.

Drills to restore t-spine extension

• Extension drills with foam roller or done segmentally with tennis balls, etc
• prying extension drills with breath in the post position of the TGU ( naked )
• anterior/posterior glides
• several drills from return of the kettlebell
• There are many more but hit these to start

These are necessary for:

• Overhead press
• any of the overhead positions of the TGU
• clean and jerk
• push press
• viking push press

Now, I am not saying that bretzels won't help a clean and jerk or that extension drills done for the windmill are not beneficial. Often times, you need both and many times you need the right tool for the job.

An example is the windmill. Let's say you have full extension available in the T-spine but poor rotation. This means you cannot hinge and rotate properly, rotation may occur in the Lumbar spine and thats generally not good. This is a bad windmill.

Own both rotation and extension of the T-spine, you will lift more and be injured less. That's good right?

Thoughts?

This is dedication!

I just saw this on ESPN.

I sat on my couch with a lump in my throat.

This guy amazes me, plain and simple. This hits home for tons of reasons.


Heroes are people who step up to the plate and do whats right even is no one is watching.

The men and women of our US military all have stories like this. Thank you on this July 4th for serving  our country. You have stepped up to the plate so we don't have to. You are all heroes.


So if you read this, do me a favor:


Stop complaining about traffic, you are blessed to have a car.

Eat all of your food, some people have none.

Hug your husband, wife, kids or dear friends.

 Oh, and yes, this is a training blog...here you go.

Dig a big deeper, train a bit harder, stretch longer, drink more water, go to bed early. Eat your vegetables

Our new son!!!!

My wife and were blessed with a new baby boy on saturday night.

Connor James Perry
Born on June 4th at 11:11 pm
6lbs, 9 ounces.


Both mom and Connor are great!

He has a KB on order and already has his first pair of chuck taylors!!

Deadlifting 101

Most people are aware of the benefits of performing the deadlift. If you are not deadlifting then you should be in some way shape or form.

So what does a good deadlift look like? Search "deadlift" on youtube....once you sift through the 17,900 results, left me know if you still have any idea how to perform the lift correctly. My guess is that you might be a bit confused by all of the varied information out there.

Today I will cover 3 types of deadlifts. I'm not talking about sumo, traditional, reverse canadian, or the wicked haaad Boston deadlift. Instead I will talk about 3 different spine positions.

1. The Neutral Spine Deadlift

If I had it my way everyone would practice with this technique. If you cannot perform the deadlift this way, please see a good coach or PT so they can clear up any movement issues before you attempt the lift.

A side note:

Everyone's spine is different so it may look slightly different in the deadlift. I am not going to get into joint angles etc., but every athlete is unique and has his/her own body type. Athlete #1 could be 5' 2" / 200 lbs and have their neutral spine. Athlete #2 could be 6' 4"/ 165 lbs and have their neutral spine. These athletes will look very different and its up to the strength coach to decide whether or not they are in a safe position. IMHO, as long as their spine has normal curvature in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine they are headed in the right direction.

Snapshot of the deadlift with a neutral spine:

Key points to keep in mind when performing this deadlift:

• Presence of lordotic, thoracic and cervical curvatures
• Tight grip
• Posterior chain tight and hamstrings "loaded"
• Lats tight, connecting the arms to the body
• Core braced as if someone is going to punch you
• "Neutral spine" should be present at the lockout

2. The Neutral lumbar/Flexed Thoracic Deadlift

**NOTE: This technique should be utilized only under the guidance of a good coach or professional. This takes a high level of skill and is very demanding on the body.

As the name implies, the athlete pulls with a neutral lumbar spine and a flexed thoracic spine. This deadlift is seen more in powerlifting, strongman competitions, or when athletes are attempting a heavier pull.

At first glance, you may see spinal flexion and judge the technique as being unsafe. What you don't realize is that the lumbar spine is not in a compromised position and the t-spine is flexed. These athletes practice this way and it becomes a technique in itself.

For some, this allows greater leverage which results in a shorter distance the bar has to travel. It's all about poundage lifted in competition; the more you lift, the better you do and the higher you place.

Snapshot of the deadlift with a neutral lumbar/
flexed thoracic spine:

I don't practice this technique nor do I teach it. I am not saying that it's wrong, it's just different. I don't pull 600-800 lbs from the floor so I have no business telling powerlifters how they should lift.

I do, however, train tons of field and court athletes. These athletes strive to be powerful, strong, mobile, fast, agile and most importantly, healthy. I will not compromise my athletes safety just because they want to have a big deadlift. The first rule as a strength coach is "DO NO HARM."

And last but least....

3. The Flexion Deadlift

Lumbar flexion is what we're seeing here. This is not good. There is nothing smart about lifting this way.

If you do choose to lift this way, be prepared for a lower back injury. It may not happen right away, it may take months or years but sooner or later, it will happen and you will not be happy at all. You will most likely herniate a disc or two. Trust me, this sucks. I herniated 2 discs about 5 years ago and the injury still haunts me from time to time.

Snapshot of the deadlift with lumbar flexion:

Don't believe me?

Here is some research from Lower back disorders by Dr. Stuart McGill. If you haven't heard of him, he's a pretty big deal. He happens to know a thing or two about the spine.

The information below is taken from Dr. McGill's book Lower Back Disorders. Basically this is a chart showing how the muscles of the trunk fire in a flexed lumbar spine vs. a neutral spine. This is measured in newtons (a force measurement unit).

What does this information illustrate? In short, it says that the majority of the muscles in the trunk 'shut off' when pulling in lumbar flexion, while the ligaments take the majority of the load. I don't have the letters MD after my name, but I am pretty sure that this is not good. Any exercises that load the ligaments more than core musculature can't be good.

Still not convinced?? McGill also conducted a study measuring the shear load of the lumbar spine when pulling in lumbar flexion vs. a neutral lumbar spine.

Here are the numbers:

• Flexed Lumbar Spine - 1900N of shear load
• Neutral Lumbar Spine - 200N of shear load

Regardless of whether this is measured in newtons, pounds or poods (inside kettlebell joke), the load on the lumbar spine is 9x greater when pulling in flexion!

Pulling in Flexion= herniated discs

Herniated disc= pain in the butt...no really, you can get referred pain in your butt.

Can you pull in flexion?
Yup.

Will you get hurt?
Eventually. It may be this week, next month or 10 years from now, but there is a really good chance you will get injured.

Summary
Deadlifts are great when done correctly. Take time to gain the mobility needed and develop the movement patterns to master the neutral spine deadlift. Don't rush - quality trumps quantity.

Always remember the golden rule of coaching...DO NO HARM!

"Easy Strength" 40 Day Program Review

I am finally done. I completed 40 consecutive training sessions and finished the "Easy Strength" program written by Pavel Tsatsouline and popularized by Dan John.

How it works

Pick 5 movements:

1. A large posterior chain movement - I chose the pistol to prep for RKC II
2. Upper body push - I chose the single-arm kettlebell press to prep for RKC II
3. Upper body pull - I chose pull-ups, again to prep for RKC II
4. A simple full-body explosive move - I did about 90% kettlebell snatches and 10% kettlebell swings
5. An "anterior chain" move (abdominal exercise) - I did mainly, ab-wheel roll outs, body-saws, and plank variations

Why I Did It

I am training for my RKC Level II which I’ll be attending in July. I had heard great things about the Easy Strength program and knew I needed to come up with a training program that would not only get me strong, but would also hold me accountable.

I chose these specific exercises for one main reason and one other (somewhat silly) reason.

First, I have to pass all of the strength tests at RKC II which include:

• 1/2 bodyweight single arm kettlebell press (for me 40k or 88lbs)
• Bodyweight or weighted pistol (whatever weight you choose)
  View my video about bodyweight pistols vs. weighted pistols.
• Tactical pull-up (a pull-up with a 24K kettlebell hanging from your foot (Note: You must pull to the throat and no thumbs allowed on the grip!)
• Retest the RKC snatch test (100 reps with the 24K kettlebell in under 5 minutes)

As you can see becoming an RKC II is not easy and there is some serious preparation involved.

The second reason I chose to complete this program is that I am a meathead. I will be attempting the beast tamer challenge which includes a pistol, press and pull-up with the Beast (48K or 106lbs kettlebell). It's no easy task but I figured I would set the bar high. If my goal was 2 cartwheels in a row I would be there already. :)

Simple, but not easy

This plan was simple, but not easy. Remember, simple and easy rarely fit together. It’s like lamb and tunafish (Big Daddy anyone?).

There were so many days where I wanted to hit some splits squats, dumbbell chest press, run some hill sprints or maybe just complete a chest and tri day (skooz me...I'm huge). But no, it was all press, pistol, pull-up, snatches and core all the time. I have to admit, it felt a lot like Groundhog Day but this program gets you pretty damn strong.

Sticking to the program

Sticking to it was the hardest part of this program. There were some days that I felt great and wanted to go heavy and other days I didn't want to train at all. The key was to be consistent and just do it (Nike paid me for this).

After the first week, I thought I was ready to press the 40K again...oh wait I really just wanted to try it because I am impatient. I was clearly not ready, but the 40K humbled me pretty quickly. I hated the fact that I had to wait until about 30 sessions in to start hitting my goals consistently.

Before the program I could press the 40K, but it was only on very good days (and possibly after consuming some pre-workout drinks). Now, I can even press the 40K on what I would consider a very bad day. On a good day I can press it for 4 reps on my left and right.

This is progress and here’s why: I can't rely on good days when it’s time to test at RKC II. If I have a bad day, I need to know that I will be ok and still hit my 40K press. This is like insurance to me.

The Lifts

Press

Pressing every session can get tedious whether it’s too much work, lack of sleep or just not knowing when to go heavy or when to back off. Trying to find a 2x5 rep scheme that I could do consistently was the toughest challenge for me.

I knew I needed to develop a baseline I could use as a guide for when to go heavy or when to back off. After about 2 weeks I realized that pressing the 32K for 2x5 with my left and right was a great indicator of how I felt that day, as well as a good indicator of how the previous few sessions went.

At the beginning of the journey I went too heavy too soon and found that I had a tough time recovering from previous workouts. As I started to find a happy medium I truly realized (as I have before) that less is more and strength is built with consistency, rather than intensity. I have a new found love for the Press and feel as if this program gave me the opportunity to improve my technique while making huge strength gains.

My advice on the press is to use more days as set up days and not maximal effort days. Most guys want to lift heavy all the time, but you’ll soon realize after starting this program that it is not the way to get to your goal or the proper way to build authentic strength.

Here are some quick before and after numbers for the press. I’m pretty happy with the results.

Starting Numbers:

32K for 5 R/L (This felt very heavy)
36K for 2 R/L (Again, felt very heavy)
40K for 1R only

Ending Numbers:

32K for 15 R/13L (Both PR’s)

36K for 5 R/L

40K for 4R/3L

44K for 1R/1L

Pistol

This was the toughest exercise in the program for me. There is no such thing as an easy pistol. Even on my “light” days, it was a very high tension lift.

As you know if you’ve read my blog before, I previously herniated 2 discs (L4-L5, L5-S1) so I always brace super tight when I pistol. These don’t bother my back, but I am always very cautious when I perform them. At the beginning of the program I again went too heavy too early here and noticed a bit of achiness in my knees, which I have never experienced in my life. I backed off on the weight, foam rolled, and stretched a lot more and this went away pretty quickly.

It was tough to get motivated to pistol 4 days a week so there were a few weeks I only ended up working out 2 or 3 times. As a result, the program took a bit longer than I would have expected.

I finally found my pistol groove which allowed me to be much more consistent with my weight choices and the way my body felt overall. I made some pretty big gains in this lift, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t choose this lift again as part of a 40 day program.

Starting Numbers:

20K 5R/5L

24K 4R/4L
40K 1R only

Ending Numbers:
32K 5R/5L
44K 1R/1L

More on my thoughts about including the pistol as part of this program.

Pull ups

This was the easiest part of the program for me because I have always been good at pull ups. I hit a 52K pull up before this journey so it certainly wasn’t a weak point for me.

What I learned most with this exercise was when to back off and when to go heavy. I decided not to push the envelope on pull ups since I know I’ll be ready for this lift for my RKC II. I did, however, hit some PR’s on this program. They weren’t for a maximal one rep pull, but rather for rep ranges from 4-6.

Some PR’s hit on the program:
32K x5
28K x6
44K x1 (consistently nailed whenever I tried)

Snatches

As mentioned above, I mainly chose snatches to prepare for my training for RKC II. I didn’t have a problem passing the snatch test before (when I became an RKC), so passing is not a huge concern for me. My main goals with snatches during this program were to polish my technique and become as efficient as possible when I move the bell.

I chose to do swings instead of snatches on a few days where I was tired so that I could continue to reinforce a hip hinge without getting sloppy on my snatch form.

Side Note: I would highly recommend swinging and snatching 3-4 days a week if you are preparing for the RKC (or RKC II).

Since the goals for this exercise were more technique oriented, I wasn’t trying to set any type of PR. Conditioning isn’t an issue for me so I focused more on the strength portion of snatching.

Anterior Chain Exercise(s)

I chose the best “bang for your buck” exercises. Ab rollouts, body saws and hanging leg raises were the 3 big core exercises I used. I chose to alternate between these 3 rather than just choosing 1, simply to change it up a bit.

By the end of each session I was so tired that I didn’t want to spend a long duration of time on core work because I already worked my core with bracing techniques in the previous exercises.

Again, I wasn’t trying to set any records with these exercises, just wanted to keep my core strong and stable.

Pros and cons of this Program

Pros

• Held me accountable
• Helped me to truly understand each of these movements
• Helped me become a better teacher as I got to understand the movements better
• Developed a better ability to listen to my body
• Reinforced the need for foam rolling and addressing any asymmetries
• Didn’t have to think about what to do for a workout every day
• Included a nice mix of long and short workouts
• Easy to see progress week-to-week

Best Thing about the program: It worked. I got really damn strong (for me). I feel very comfortable going into RKC II.

Cons

• Doing the same lifts every training session felt tedious/boring on some days
• It can be easy to over train these movement patterns
• When I overdid it in other areas of my life (playing soccer, yard work, etc.) it drastically affected my workouts
• Missed other exercises and the freedom to create workouts on the fly
• Tough to find a training partner
• Pistols in every session seemed to be too much for my body

Summary

This program works. The results speak for themselves. I made a ton of progress on all of my lifts and I’m happy that I went through it.

This program is great for someone who truly wants to make strength gains in specific exercises/lifts. This program is great for someone who is thinking about training for a power lifting meet, an athlete who wants to work on their weak lifts or someone like me who is preparing for the RKC II.

This is not a program for someone who gets bored easily. This is not a program for someone who seeks general fitness and this is not a program for someone that quits easily. This is not a program for an athlete who is competing in their primary sport and wants to lift in-season.

If you want to get strong and you can stick to a plan, do this workout. Just remember, it’s simple, but it’s not easy.

I hope this review was helpful. If you have any questions, please ask.