Max performing Long Cycle with two Beasts.
In two weeks Max Shank and I will be shooting our upcoming DVD tentatively titled 'Max and Jordan's School of Strength'. I'll have more details coming soon, but suffice it to say you will not be disappointed.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Beast Pistol
An obsessive focus for the first month of 2010 has paid off, and I have hit a pistol on both legs with the 48 kg.
This is not as strict as I would like, but I hit below parallel so I'll take it. Now that I've overcome the mental hurdle and know what I need to work on I think I'll get a more strict version of this within the month. It wasn't really all that hard on my legs, more so on my ability to just hold on to the bell. I'm most impresses with my ability to keep my extended foot off the ground. All of my flexibility work is paying off.
This is not as strict as I would like, but I hit below parallel so I'll take it. Now that I've overcome the mental hurdle and know what I need to work on I think I'll get a more strict version of this within the month. It wasn't really all that hard on my legs, more so on my ability to just hold on to the bell. I'm most impresses with my ability to keep my extended foot off the ground. All of my flexibility work is paying off.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Getting deeper into Convict Conditioning
Now that it's had some time to percolate and folks have had a chance to, oh, I don't know... actually read the frigging book before passing judgment, Convict Conditioning is proving to be a runaway success. If you don't own this book you should.
My own strength practice has improved tremendously in 2010, and we're only a month in. I have been rock solid in my training and I am making leaps and bounds forward.
On my VWC days I have been doing my convict conditioning work. Hanging leg raises, pistols (obviously), one arm push ups, pull ups, bridges, headstands, handstands, all are showing marked progress.
People have given Paul Wade some guff because of his 'free weights are evil' attitude that is pervasive throughout the book. Well, in a lot of ways I can't really say I disagree with him all that much. Is it way easier to jack yourself up with external resistance that it is with your own body-weight? Yup. Do the bodyweight feats in CC require a solid degree of flexibility and stability that you can get away with not having when you use free weights? Yup.
A good trainer will insist you learn how to handle your own bodyweight before loading you with external resistance. It seems the myth of machines being 'safer' is finally starting to be dispelled (though not quick enough for my tastes) and so it would only seem logical that bodyweight exercises would become the foundational skill. However logic doesn't sell copies of Men's Fitness, so most likely we will see people hopping around on these.
Mastering even the basic skills in CC will give you a solid foundation to move into other things such as kettlebells. As you work through the progressions, take the time to ask yourself why a specific movement is so hard. I have people come to me to improve their pistols and the answer is always the same: "You have crappy flexibility." Likewise if you find the bridge to be insurmountable, you probably have some pretty good hip, t-spine, and shoulder tightness.
My own strength practice has improved tremendously in 2010, and we're only a month in. I have been rock solid in my training and I am making leaps and bounds forward.
On my VWC days I have been doing my convict conditioning work. Hanging leg raises, pistols (obviously), one arm push ups, pull ups, bridges, headstands, handstands, all are showing marked progress.
People have given Paul Wade some guff because of his 'free weights are evil' attitude that is pervasive throughout the book. Well, in a lot of ways I can't really say I disagree with him all that much. Is it way easier to jack yourself up with external resistance that it is with your own body-weight? Yup. Do the bodyweight feats in CC require a solid degree of flexibility and stability that you can get away with not having when you use free weights? Yup.
A good trainer will insist you learn how to handle your own bodyweight before loading you with external resistance. It seems the myth of machines being 'safer' is finally starting to be dispelled (though not quick enough for my tastes) and so it would only seem logical that bodyweight exercises would become the foundational skill. However logic doesn't sell copies of Men's Fitness, so most likely we will see people hopping around on these.
Mastering even the basic skills in CC will give you a solid foundation to move into other things such as kettlebells. As you work through the progressions, take the time to ask yourself why a specific movement is so hard. I have people come to me to improve their pistols and the answer is always the same: "You have crappy flexibility." Likewise if you find the bridge to be insurmountable, you probably have some pretty good hip, t-spine, and shoulder tightness.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Back on the VWC train...
After wrapping up my last six weeks on the Beast Tamer protocol I'm now launching into some Viking Warrior Conditioning work. I took the cmvo2 test to get my cadence right and hit 30 reps in the last minute on the 16 kg. I feel I could have gone faster, but I wanted a strict lockout each rep. None of this 'illegal snatches' BS. From there I opted for the 36/36 protocol at 18 reps and launched into it. I got through 20 sets today and will tack on another two each workout until I hit 35. This should serve me well right up to RKC II. I'm still going to snatch heavy once a week, but this is the meat of my training. I'll also be hitting a ladder program with the Beast Tamer lifts.
No one seems to like the 36/36. I've noticed virtually no one does it, everyone seems to stick with the 15/15. I'm looking into this further, but I think it's generally grip issues. Solution: Get a stronger grip.
No one seems to like the 36/36. I've noticed virtually no one does it, everyone seems to stick with the 15/15. I'm looking into this further, but I think it's generally grip issues. Solution: Get a stronger grip.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Why the Beast Challenge?
Swinging double 40 kg. bells.
I've been asked this more than a few times. What's the point of training for the Beast Challenge? Why bother with the TSC elite division snatch test? Why put myself through that? What does it really mean if I accomplish these things? I have opted to compete in two events put on by a fitness sub-culture that no one knows about, so it can't be glory.
In August of 2008 I was standing on the field at UCLA during my own RKC watching the Beast Challenge. Mike Davis and Max Shank were two of the candidates who stepped up to the plate. The two of them weren't really much bigger than me.
"I bet if I could do that I would be pretty strong." I thought to myself.
It's really that simple. It's not that I'm trying to live up to some perceived RKC hall of fame. I just figure if I can pistol, press, and pull up a 106 pound kettlebell, then I've built a pretty good base of strength. A foundation, if you will, to further build upon. You see... I want to do it with the 52 kg. as well. That's probably a fairly bold statement from someone who ain't even close to the 48 kg., but why not? You're in no danger from setting your goals too high, only too low.
Same thing with steel bending. When I saw Adam Glass bending nails, bolts, and horse shoes I thought the same thing. Turned out it was true. My steel bending efforts boosted everything else.
Being very strong is a pretty unique thing, but it only really lets you know how far you have to go. It's easy to feel like you can't go further and to make excuses when the passageway is triple locked in front of you, but when you get your foot in the door you see just how far you really have to go. I hear people make excuses and I know it's a reflection of our fast food 'Now' culture. You just thought it would happen too fast, it's not that you can't make it. This applies not just to training but to everything in life. I see people launch a business venture and then bail on it almost immediately because they wanted instant gratification.
I've been training for the Beast Challenge for 18 months now. I recognize that previously my problem was not having a narrow enough focus. I have fixed that now.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Progress this week: 100 pistols per leg and 32 kg. snatching
I had a pretty good week for PR's. I hit 100 pistols per leg with the 12 kg. in sixty minutes, and achieved 25 snatches on my right hand with the 32 kg. Left shoulder is still tweakey, so I opted not to test that side. I will hit 30/30 in the coming months with the 32 kg. and I will pistol the 48 kg. It's coming.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Killing the RKC Snatch Test
I had an RKC prep course this weekend at Girya. Below is footage of three female candidates taking the snatch test with the 16 kg. Alyssa Chang demolishes the snatch test in 3:35.
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