Kettlebells & Singlefins

It Should Be Easier…

I’ve been off of lifting for about a month. I really needed to give my joints a much needed break. Also, I’m rehabbing an injured shoulder as well. So all my GPP has been bodyweight, with surfing thrown in. Not to mention, I’ve been pretty lax on my diet and training since Jason Dolby’s 1-Hour Long Cycle Charity Event. A kind of Stage 5 blur if you will. Rather than go into detail about the different stages of periodzation (which I couldn’t do it justice), check my friend John Wild Buckley’s explanation. This is a great read: http://orangekettlebellclub.net/2011/03/21/stage-5/

Well, to throw me even more into the dark side of kettlebell lifting, I’ve signed up for the IKSFA Training Camp in May. This will be hosted and taught by Sergey Rudnev, Mikhail Marshak and Tom Corrigan. True masters. It will be an honor to be in the same friggin’ room with them, let alone being trained by them.

So this week started me back in training. I wanted get my chops back up so I wasn’t totally a fish out of water when I arrive in Seattle. Workouts included; 5 x 5’s, swings + cleans, static holds, etc. Geeezzz…I thought that was brutal but today totally sucked. I decided to do hill sprints for cardio. I think I’d rather chew glass than do that again.

After I was done, as I laid on a rock (about to barf) I kept thinking about what Nazo was saying after her brutal long cycle training,”It should be easier…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=482ckeb9n9k

Since my wind is nil, I guess I’ll be yaking up glass. layoff is officially over and Stage 1 has begun.

THE MASTERS (…and me) Sergey Rachinskiy and Sergey Rudnev

Jan 22

IKFF Competition at LEAF in Santa Monica

This was a great event hosted by Luke Sniewski and his crew at LEAF Lifestyle (http://www.leaflifestyle.com). When you have that many great lifters in one place, the energy level can’t help but being high. The event was organized very well and though it was a little smaller, it was very intimate and all the competitors brought their “A” games. The whole time you would hear lifters breaking P.R.’s and hitting CMS (Candidate for Master of Sport) rankings.

It was very cool seeing old friends, meeting new ones, getting covered in chalk (even though you weren’t competing) and generally geeking out about the kettle.

I always love when the OKC http://www.orangekettlebellclub.net comes to town. They’re like the Sex Pistols of the kettlebell community. If you didn’t know they were high level athletes you would swear they were a band! Jason Dolby, John Wild Buckley and Juliet Lederle are some of my favorite lifters and are SUPER COOL folks. They do so much to spread the word of the kettle. Goodwill ambassadors for sure. Seeing them competing up close was awesome. Although some of them were missing i.e. Nazo and Sarah Lightfoot, they made a great showing.

All in all, a bitchin’ time was had by everyone. I’m going to shut up now and go do some lifting!! Check out the pix.

Juliet Lederle: 1st Place & CMS Ranking

John Wild Buckley: Warm Up

Jason Dolby

Kyrsten Bean, Cara Bella & Juliet: OKC Girlz

Riittzz!!, Dolby & Me: Chu-Hi!!

Jan 20

Monkey Bar Gym

A few weeks back, my wife joined the Monkey Bar Gym in Moorpark, CA. The guys who run the MBG; Kevin, Justin and Dave, are super cool and great instructors. This is where I originally met Ken Blackburn and Tom Ritz of the IKFF about 2 years ago at a Kettlebell workshop they were putting on. This started my obsession with KB lifting and Girevoy Sport.

Although the workouts are intense, they make everyone feel comfortable no matter what their level is. Susan’s a newbie and was a little intimidated at first but they eased her in and now she’s really enjoying it and kicking ass. Come Monday she starts the MBG 60 Day Transformation Challenge. I’m really proud of her.

If you’re ever in Thousand Oaks or Moorpark and want a great workout, hit them up www.monkeybargymLA.com.

MONKEY BAR GYM THOUSAND OAKS GRAND OPENING

That’s Susan in the front with the groms

Jan 18

RADIO, RADIO

I’ve been going to gyms around my town for sometime now and these days I split my training between my home cave and a local fitness club. They’re nothing to write home about but at least they let me bring in my own bells. Though, one thing that always rings constant (besides the plethora of D.B.’s and overweight trainers, wait, that’s three) is the crappy music they play. It’s ALWAYS the same no matter where I go. I mean, I don’t expect them to play Slayer or Minor Threat, but anything else other than Fleetwood Mac (that was today), Jethro Tull (fucking HATE J.T.) or sped up 80’s Madonna with a techno beat behind it.

To alleviate this problem, my wife got me an ipod shuffle for Xmas. Keep in mind, I’m not new to the shuffle, for this being my 4th one. I go through them faster than I change my socks. This is better than using my phone, which can feel like a transistor radio when doing snatch sets. So with tunes all dialed in, I thought it would be cool to let you checkout what I’ve been listening to specifically in my workouts.

CARDIO DAY: 1/18/2012

INDIAN CLUBS/ MOBILTY

Clash-Straight To Hell
Pogues-Body of An American

HEAVY JUMP ROPE (1 round x 3 min.) REGULAR ROPE (4 rounds x 3 min. per)

Primal Scream - Rocks
Specials - Little Bitch
Specials - Concrete Jungle
Sugar - Good Idea
Hellacopters - Holiday Cramps
New Bomb Turks - Raw Law
Supersuckers - My Victim

HEAVY BAG WORK (3 rounds x 3 min. per) & SLED DRAGS

Beastie Boys- Pass the Mic
AC/DC - Shoot To Thrill
Supersuckers - Evil Powers of Rock n’ Roll
Adolescents - Creatures
Turbonegro - Don’t Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker
Bad Religion - Forbidden Beat
The Fluid - My Kind

There you have it. I’m going to make this a regular post. Songs always change, one minute it’s punk, then it’s show tunes, JK (not really). Check and see what gets you going. Let me know.

Jan 17