Keep Practicing

(Photo of Combat Center Band 2005: Courtesy of Kevin Follis) I am left front.

With the release of Mr. Gallagher's book, I predict a large number of people abandoning their basics and jumping on a bandwagon of barbell exercises specifically the DL, BP and SQ. I say this for two reasons. First, it is a very fascinating and motivating book. Second, it is a "shiny new thing" for some people to try. Why not? A different modiality isn't always a terrible thing.

Here is some advice:
Keep doing and practicing the basic exercises that keep you mobile, agile and flexible . Stuff like the kettlebell swing and turkish get up. Practice them often. Practice them until mastery. Practice them until you master teaching them. Then practice them some more with a different point of view. When you think you have them mastered, keep practicing, teaching and learning. Eventually you my achieve complete mastery of the movements.

Ponder this:
When you think you have something simple mastered and stop practicing it, you will quickly loose mastery. WITHOUT FAIL!

The musicians in the symphony orchestras ARE masters of their chosen instrument as most of them are progedies. With all their given talent, they still practiced all of the simple things millions of times for million of hours. Nearly all of them will say the following:

• If I don't practice one day, I will know.
• Two days, the person next to me will know.
• Three days, everyone will know.

I can tell you from experience that all of the above are true. When I was a working musician, I could not take even one day off the Horn.

Three time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond wrote something like this (this is not exact): If I take a day off the bike, it takes me 2 days to get it back. If I take two days in a row off, it takes me three days to get it back. If I take 3 days off, it takes weeks to return to form.

This comes from an elite athlete. There is truth to what he said.

During a long bike ride in the begining of June, I decided what type of training the second part of the calendar year would entail. The plan is to get strong before I start adding to my cycling base in the fall. So, the logical choice is to spend a few months practicing the deadlift, pull ups and the bench press. Not to mention maintaining some cycling fitness and kettlebell form. Thus the small break after RKCII.

Practice: (as you see, it is a PTTP set up)
RIFGA
Z10min
ride 20
DL 135: 5 set x 5 rep, 185: 5 set x 5 reps.
BP 135 5x5 - I'm taking this really easy!
PU BW 7x5
hanging leg raise 5x5

Z drills x 4

Rest and Z

Since I was "rained out" I finished my rest period with some more RIFGA and Z Drills. Things are coming along on both fronts. My flexibility is improving slowly and with consistent practice, I may even be able to walk properly.

"We were able to get both of his glutes to fire (via Z Health ankle work) and both hamstrings (ankle and elbow work) and I did some hands on work on a scar on his left ankle..." Mike T. Nelson

I've also been reading my RKC II instructor manual. There are some hidden training gems in the manual that didn't get covered at the cert and they aren't in any other book. In addition, I've been reading Marty Gallagher's book, "The Purposeful Primitive." Stay tuned for more information from both books and a review of Mr. Gallagher's book.

Speaking of Z Health, Mike Nelson put my testimonial on his blog. He also describes what we did...er what he did for me.

Z Health is amazing and so simple to do. It takes very little time out of the day. Maybe I should not tell anyone about it; I can have a competitive advantage. Actually I really want to have full mobility and I don't want to take any NSAIDs because I have pain due to immobility.

There is one caveat of Z Health and now that I think of it, everything else. In order for a system or a plan to work effectively, you have to do it consistently. Nothing works without consistent practice. The rewards are great for those that are consistent in practice.

July 4 & 5 Training Update

Quick note:

The smoke has been pretty thick so no bike for me. Perhaps I should check out a gas mask from the CIF, dawn - clear - ride! This would get me on the road. I do know from experience that running with the gas mask is NOT too comfortable. I don't think riding 2-3 hrs on a bicycle with it on would be too much fun. It is tempting though!


Both days -

assigned Z drills x 4
RIFGA
Z 10 min warm up

Z Session last week

Last Thursday shortly after I checked into the hotel in St Paul, I headed up to White Bear Lake to work with University of Minnesota PhD candidate, RKC and Z Health practictioner Mike Nelson on some Z Health. My goal was to ensure that I was doing the drills correctly.

We discussed my injury history (all of it) and Mike watched me walk back and forth across the room about a dozen times. This assessment told Mike several things that were confirmed with some other tests. I have several problems, some were simple others were unknown to me.

I had a hammie not firing, an ankle locked, an elbow with less than full ROM and I could go on. After a few drills, my ankle and hammie were unlocked. Just what I needed after spending the day on an airplane. As an added bonus, my back was pain free for the first time in a month.

This was all fixed with some ankle tilts, toe pulls, wrist rotations and elbow rotations. I will be doing prescribed movements several times per day for the next month or so. Then I will get assessed again.

If you haven't tried Z health you owe it to yourself to try.

Recovery D-3

I am calling this week the recovery week. Not that I'm tired or even sore. The fact is my hands are done and need the time off to heal. It goes back to the mantra take care of your hands! Keep the callous in check and there will be no worries. I attempted to do this and failed so went through 2 days of RKC II with torn callous and blisters. I must say, it makes lifting kettlebells and doing pull ups very difficult!


Z 10 min warm up
Ride 30 miles
Practice Z drills 4 times
RIFGA

It was nice to get back on the bike today. I'd only ridden a few times in the past few weeks. It was a great ride but tiring.

Train Your Weakness - Fix the basics

It is easy to say and harder to do. I often tell people to practice the stuff they suck at. It is also one important lesson from this past weekend. TRAIN YOUR WEAKNESS. The other lesson that was drilled was the basics.

It is difficult to improve and have balance in all areas if you only work on the things you are already good at. This goes for anything and it goes for everything. In music, it is essential to practice the most basic things attacks, long tones and scales. In kettlebell training, the basic thing is the swing. It is the basis for all other movements and techniques.

In the RKC II Instructor's Manual Mark Rifkind writes,

"Chek's progression of training went like this:
1. Mobility/flexibility
2. Stability
3. Strength
4. Endurance
5. Power.
Skipping any of these steps or being deficient in one and trying to jump ahead would result in problems or deficiencies eventually."

I am focusing on the first two in the coming weeks.
AM
Z 10 min warm up
other perscribed Z drills 3 times today.

PM
RIFGA
Foam Roller

RKC II

I completed the RKC II certification this weekend. It was a great time and I learned so much that my head is spinning. Not such a bad thing. I am sore phsically at all. My ability to recover keeps improving!

The course covered the basic level I skills including swings, clean, press, snatch, TGU and squat. We spend most of Friday reviewing these skills as some participants clearly did not spend any time honing these skills. It was disappointing.

Pavel taught in depth classes on the pull up, pistol, bent press and windmill. These skills are very challenging! In fact they are nearly impossible to do without basic strength and mobility in all joints.

Other classes were given in the FMS (functional movement screen), muscle length and tension, working with special popluations and of course Kenneth Jay's VO2 max protocol and boost program. Of course we went through first day of the protocol. TOO FUN.

You can read more about the cert from these blogs:
Kenneth Jay
Brett Jones
Rif

What's next for me? I am working on the plan for the 2nd half of the year.