So as you might know from my last blog post I said I was donating kettlebell training sessions to a bridal show/autism benefit. Everything went well and I was actually surprised at how many people took an interest in what I had to offer. Especially surprising to me is when I told them that the kettlebell was my tool of choice that they knew what it was. Pointing at a printout of my instructors review page where a bride had said that I helped her lose 4 dress sizes (I guess that’s pretty good…I am clueless about women’s fashion) when she only needed to go down 3 got some of them to drop several tickets in the box (it was a tricky tray format). (Before I go on I just have to say that my fiance was home watching football while I was at the bridal show…how backwards is that?!?)
Now as the brides came around…some of them jumping at the chance to train with me for free and some of them sticking their tongue out at the thought of it I had a couple different thoughts coming through my head. It was a realization I guess I had in my head for awhile but never really paid much mind to it.
One bride and her maid of honor particularly caught my attention. The two of them already looked to be in great shape. Going down several dress sizes wasn’t really necessary. They ended up both putting multiple tickets in the box to increase their chances of winning. They did and I was very happy that they did because those are the kinds of people who are the most fun to work with. The other bride that won also looked to be in good shape and had also put several tickets in my box when she saw that I don’t suck at what I do.
Now the ones that walked right past…well I don’t really want to speak ill of anyone but they weren’t in the best of shape. I am not here to judge them it was merely an observation. You see to me I don’t think the photos, the flowers, the dress nor anything anyone spends a ton of money on for their special day is going to make a difference if they feel don’t feel beautiful. I believe it is important to be comfortable in your own skin. Maybe they are.
But why is it that the ones that are already in pretty decent shape are the ones that typically come to me? Well I have a hypothesis.
They are just like me.
They know that there is a better way of doing things and they are eager to know more. To them just like to myself good enough simply isn’t good enough. They are already in shape because they know it needs to be done. They take me on as a trainer to bring them to the next level. They are going to succeed because they already have a mindset for success. The others are content being just as they are…which is fine for them.
So the photographers can make them look good in the pictures. The make up artists and hair dressers can make you look great on that day on the outside. I can make them look and feel great both inside and outside and the keys to stay that way for life…if they are willing to put in the work. Power to the brides!
Now some facts about autism from the flyer they gave me.
Autism is a lifelong neurological disorder that impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others.
Thirteen years ago, 1 in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism; today, a shocking 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism.
Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disorder in the U.S.
1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum.
67 children are diagnosed per day.
A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes.
More children wil be diagnosed with autism this year than wih AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.
Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding fo many less prevalent childhood diseases.
There is no medical cure or detection for autism.
Well thats it for today. Eric Moss RKC over and out
So this weekend I am donating $500 worth of personal training sessions to an autism benefit/bridal expo. This event is happening on Sunday at the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph. Check out there site here. If you are a Bride who needs to get whipped into shape for your wedding kettlebell training is one of the most efficient ways of doing it. One bride I trained using kettlebells needed to lose 2 dress sizes and ended up losing 3 without even realizing it. One of the members of my kettlebell bootcamp lost a dress size in a month from only doing 3 sessions a week that last just a little over 20 minutes. Pretty good right?
Recently ACE validated what we had known for awhile in the RKC. Ballistic swings and snatches melt fat fast because of the high metabolic cost associated with those exercises. The theory is that the quickness of the movements and the fact that they are total body is what causes such fast fat loss. Burning 600 calories in a 20 minute session is not unheard of. At the same time it is elevating your metabolism post workout for about 38 hours. As long as your nutrition is on target you will lose fat…guaranteed.
Now as for kettlebells being against autism…well all the proceeds from that bridal expo is going to autism research. There are some pretty hefty prizes going around. My small donation of $500 worth of one on one sessions seems like pocket change compared to what the Meadow Wood Manor is offering….$10,000 off of a reception thrown there. That’s practically free…and its a nice place too.
Alright
One thing that struck me about Rain’s training for his starring role for the movie Ninja Assassin was it’s resemblance to the stars of the movie 300. 300 brought to me a different style of training which immediately struck a chord with me which led me to the kettlebell which led me to the RKC which the whole thing was life changing. Now even though I don’t claim to know the exact training routine that Rain went through nor will I claim to be his trainer I do know how you can get similar results using less equipment. I saw he did swings, snatches and turkish getups (though he did do them a bit sloppy…those are foundations of our system and I think it was a copy cat and not an RKC instructing him) Well I am an RKC and I implore you to please do these with proper form and I will show you how you can get the same or better results with less equipment. Ninja’s don’t train sloppy.
Here is a sort of preview you can view…just follow the principals and you’ll do fine.
This wasn’t a set workout but I saw it was popular so I wrote a set program.
This program is a 3 part program. Each phase has different instructions. The beginning phase is a general preparation and metabolic training phase. It is designed to burn off your fat (assuming your nutrition is good), provide you with a base level of strength and conditioning and prepare your shoulders for the coming presses. I based it off of the principals of Dave Whitley SrRKC’s furnace workout.
Phase 2 is based off of the simple movements of horizontal push, horizontal pull, vertical push, vertical pull (half snatches, and the eccentric portion of the press…really pull the f__k out of it on the way down) squats and all the movement patterns that the turkish getup does. It is also intended to prepare you for phase 3 which is the hardest phase.
Phase 3 is the hardest phase requiring the highest volume of work. We kick it up to 5 days a week with higher amounts of work per day and I introduce the use of a second kettlebell (which cranks up the difficulty). Notice that I vary the amount of rounds you do. This is to keep your body from getting bored with the exercise selections. If you are getting bored may I suggest taking a Zumba class?
If you don’t feel like a Ninja Assassin by the end of this program purchase heavier kettlebells and do it all over again. Sometimes it takes longer then 3 months to build a Ninja.
You know as much as I enjoy a one size fits all way of doing things I must admit not everything is appropriate for every person. The Russian Kettlebell is no different. Yes it is true the Russian Kettlebells can be used to accomplish just about any goal you can imagine but as many different goals as there are there are just as many different kinds of people, or at least different kinds of personalities in different types of people.
First let me just get this out in the open. There is nothing magical about a kettlebell. Its just a tool. A powertool in the hands of someone who doesn’t pay attention or doesn’t know what they are doing is bad news. In the hands of an experienced and qualified craftsmen its a much different story. A recent conversation I had with a kettlebell sceptic led me to realize once again how many people are still in the dark when it comes to the methods I use. His question was “How does using a kettlebell make the curl any more effective then using a dumbbell?” Well I could go into the offset center of mass making the top of the curl more difficult but the beauty of kettlebells and particularly the RKC system is that we enforce full body movements instead of bodyparts. When you do full body movements the muscles involved in those movements (which is what they are meant to do) will take care of themselves. Ever look at the biceps of a person in the middle of a heavy deadlift? They aren’t relaxed thats for sure. The kettlebell swing is the same way. A much simpler way of looking at training sessions is to categorize them as pushes and pulls. Full body pushes and pulls cover all the bases…and do it in a much shorter time frame. 20 minute sessions 3 times a week sound good to you? Many of my clients get better results training 1 hour a week then most people do in a gym training 5 hours a week.
So what kinds of things can you expect from kettlebell training with training full body movements as opposed to isolated muscles (isolation is a myth anyways). A more sculpted butt, thighs, hips, and abs with lower body fat. Increased energy levels. Leaner sexier abs. More definition of your shoulders and arms. Increased flexibility particularly in the shoulders and hips. Quick fat loss (This is due to the release of fat burning hormones and high calorie burning. Experience the high rep kettlebell swing and you will see why.) Improve balance and coordination from using your body as a single cohesive unit rather then a collection of body parts. Stronger core muscle to prevent back pain, we do everything from the ground up and swings, cleans and snatches in particular are great for strengthening the upper glute and lower back (a common cause of back pain). Stronger bones and connective tissues to prevent osteoporosis and injuries.
Reduced stress and blood pressure. Honestly this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now onto my original intent. Is it right for you? Well I don’t know who you are but hear me out. Women looking to drop a few pounds of body fat will find it extremely effective. One of my clients lost a dress size in less then a month (not bad considering she only trained an hour a week total). Martial artists will notice a bit more snap in their punches due to the ballistic strength in the hips from the kettlebell swing. Grapplers will notice a significant increase in power and a grip that won’t get tired. Police Officers will notice that they have the conditioning to chase down a suspect and the strength to hold them down. Men will notice a physique that is sinewy, ripped and powerful with muscle definition in all the right places. Ultimate fitness for regular people.
Now who isn’t it appropriate for? Lazy people. The ones who are content to come to the gym just to kill time. Any road will get you there if you don’t care where there is. People who are content with their fitness probably won’t want to get into this. If you just want to turn on your ipod and read a magazine while going on a treadmill or elliptical at a whopping 5 miles an hour Kettlebell training probably isn’t for you. If you don’t pay attention to what you are doing you should find something else. Kettlebell training requires you to pay attention both for safety and for results.
If you have any questions about Kettlebell Training don’t be afraid to ask me.
So according to these guys at this link right here the top ten New Year’s resolution’s fitness and losing fat are the 2nd and 3rd most popular ones. Even though I would consider them one goal I don’t want you to call it a resolution.
Why?
Resolutions are those things you have all these great intentions to accomplish within the year and they also happen to be those things you break. Gyms know this phenomena and thus drop their prices as part of a New Year to a better you type of bull crap. They make a pretty hardy profit because they know you will sign up for the year and maybe last 2 weeks. Did you know that 75% of people who join a gym quit within the first 6 months? To put light on this Navy Seal’s BUDs lasts about 6 months and they have a 65% drop out rate. Probably half of those people walk in the door, sign the contracts and thats the last the gym ever sees of them. That is 100% pure profit for the gym since you have paid and aren’t taking advantage of the service…but I digress.
Don’t call the battle of the bulge and “I want to get in better shape” a resolution. Call it a mission because you have to be on a mission to succeed. You want to lose the gut? Don’t moderate…attack that thing like it has sworn to make you it’s bitch if you fail. As Coach Dan John (RKC) once said “Moderation is for sissies.” Get a plan…a good plan and stick to it. Also don’t use such an open ended goal…break it down into its parts. You need a measuring stick of progress so you can tell if you are progressing or not. I like the one arm overhead press. I set a personal record with it on the 3rd day of the year. I am progressing towards my goal. Want to increase your cardiovascular fitness? Measure your resting heart rate so you know where you stand in a couple months. Want to lose a gut…take a before picture and put social pressure on yourself…put it on the net like Arnel did. He left himself no room for failure…he didn’t moderate and he succeeded and thus built a huge following of people who are doing the same thing. I did the same thing. It helps justify bringing your own cooler of food to a party when you know a bunch of people are going to call you a failure if you don’t. Your friends will understand and quit harassing you…if they don’t…nut punch them…they’ll learn.
And I have said this a million and 3 times…go buy yourself a kettlebell. If you are new to this it is 16kgs for a beginner male and 8 kgs for a beginner female. Leave it in an area that isn’t tucked away…something you walk by all the time. Every time you see it there it will be…calling you a sissy if you don’t use it. Much different then the gym that slips your mind because its 4 miles away.
The New Year is upon you. Are you actually going to succeed at your goals or are you going to be like every other weak minded, embarassed to take of their shirt, wishing that they had visible abs person that continues blaming bad genetics when it really is all about the mindset. Don’t be like them. Be better. Become physically awesome.
Well for me 2009 was a big year. A lot of big things happened for me. It had its extreme highs and its lows. I am a little sketchy on the exact order of things but here is a short list.
Baby announcement. The first announcement we had that one of my cousins who I was very close to growing up and still am, announced that they were pregnant. This was huge news and one that changed all of our lives. We had suspected that she was pregnant (on Christmas she jetted to the bathroom like a bullet) but wouldn’t confirm it until the announcement was sent out via text message the second the ball dropped.
Engagement. My girl and I accompanied my cousin Jesse (who had the baby) and Arnel Ricafranca on a cruise that held seminars on how I can reach out to the world via the internet. My girl thought it was just a work vacation but I had secret plans otherwise. There we met up with Vince Delmonte whom I had met previously but hadn’t really hung out with and Mike Mahon (a strength and conditioning coach who has some evil stuff…including a jump program that has some scary results) whom we continue to be friends with till the present day. While on one of the beaches I asked my girl to go for a walk with me which her being her normal pain in the ass self said “no” until me being my normal pain in the ass self pestered her until she went. There I popped the question and said “By taking this ring you give me permission to annoy you for the rest of our lives.” haha sucker
RKC. In September of 08 a chance meeting with senior RKC Dave “The Irontamer” Whitley inspired me to go through the RKC certification course. It was something I don’t even know why it took me that meeting to get me to want to join up because I had been such a fan of the RKC system already. It just made sense for me to want to join up. In February 09 the training for it came to a peak and I was ready and became an RKC. Amidst the brutality of the course I made a couple new comrade friends. Steve McMinn RKC is someone I still keep in touch with today. I owe him a tribute…he already wrote one for me.
Baby C. Another one of my cousins had a baby in April of 09. Him and his wife are one of those couples that never seems to fight and really truly loves each other. Baby C. coming into the world is just one of those things that makes ya happy. Baby C. is going to be my ring bearer. He already looks like he is ready to walk.
Arnel Ricafranca got hitched. You probably already know who he is since he is somewhat famous online for all of his workout videos on youtube. It was him who taught me how to put mine up which is probably how you found me to begin with. Well him and his fiance got married. My fiance and I were groomsmen and bridesmaids in their wedding. We wish them a happily ever after.
RIP Grandma. This actually happened the same weekend that Arnel got married. I was close with my grandmother and we would drive down to South NJ where they lived and Grandpa would take me on tractor rides and Grandma and I would feed the ducks and squirrels or go fishing in their pond. It was hard seeing her go through all the misery of being in a hospital and for someone being as smart as she was (she would actually finish those newspaper crosswords that are next to impossible) not be able to organize her thoughts. I know she found it extremely frustrating. Being with her in her final moments was hard but I think it made the mourning process easier.
This was just a short list. If I talked about everything this list would be like 10 pages long and I just don’t have the time for it today. Gotta get my drink on at some point
A couple friends got married (seems to be happening a lot). Babies were born. Got new family members. Met family members I had never seen. Hung out with strength legends. Met new people. Set personal records. Accomplished things, failed at others. All in all…not a bad year.
Eric Moss over and out
(whoops I just realized my girl Jenn just wrote a blog post about this year. Same basic stuff but you can read it in her own words –> Jenn’s journey)
Well for the most part the holiday’s are over. The one time of the year when everybody acts the way they should every other day of the year is coming to a close. Next week people will go back to the drudgery of work and the chaos that filled the stores will soon turn to the chaos that accompanies returns. For me I had a great holiday. Yeah it was sad that it was my first Christmas without my Grandmother but it was also my first Christmas with 3 new family members and it will have been my only Christmas while engaged (by this time next year my fiance and I will have gotten hitched…knock on wood). My fiance had given me a gift that I didn’t think would fit in the budget considering we are in the process of trying to close on a house. She seemed to be happy with the gifts I gave her saying “I spent too much.” even though I think she may have spent a bit more on me. My sister gave me a He Man action figure with a kettlebell in his hand (how slick is that :D)
And behind all this holiday cheer a plot loomed in the background that was way more terrible then anything the Grinch could have concocted. On Flight 253 a Nigerian man planned to commit suicide and take a plane full of holiday travelers down with him. Luckily he F’d up and got his ass burned and Christmas was saved (a holiday miracle) but the accompanying questions that always come up following something like this remained.
“How did this almost happen?”
“How could he have gotten on the plane?”
“What can be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening?”
“Are our safety precautions good enough?”
Well even though I wasn’t there I can tell you how it happened. Somebody didn’t have a good enough compliance to the rules that were set in place. In the holiday season…they let their guard down. Their faith in the goodwill towards man allowed for a hole for that bastard to get through. The fact of the matter is you could have a great system set in place that makes it next to impossible for terrorist scum to try and slay us “infidels” but as with anything it doesn’t work if you don’t do it.
And it works with anything…especially fitness and physical culture. I could put you on a great exercise program suited to your goals but if you don’t do it you won’t get the results you are after. If you are on a diet and you are eating pizza and drinking soda every 3rd day you aren’t really on a diet are you? If I am running a fitness class and you miss half of them don’t expect the same results as the person who is there 100% of the time and never comes up with excuses or slacks off when they think I am not looking (Mossman is always watching). We don’t need expensive machines to pick the bastards out of a line up. Bloodhound’s noses can do the trick but guess what?…the dogs won’t do anything if they aren’t there or they aren’t trained to do it. Your kettlebell won’t give you that magical “what the hell?” effect that so many users report if all it does is sit on the floor for you to stub your toe on.
note…I am not pointing fingers at the security or lack thereof…I am just asking everybody to stop playing dumb. You know what has to be done…do it.
Alright
I know we are just a couple days away from Christmas and I should be writing a bit of a more cheerful post but this one is born of annoyance. See as I sit here checking my email and drinking a nice big cup o coffee I turn on my tv just for a little bit of background noise and on comes the talk show “Tyra”.
I know its not the most masculine thing for me to be watching but they don’t exactly play cage fighting in the middle of the day whilst my clients are working but hey its just for background noise anyways.
Well today’s topic of choice was people who drop weight and it makes their life worse. Well two of the people there pissed me off…well 3 actually (if you have been reading my blog you might know I tend to get fired up pretty often…hence the tagline “fired up physical culture”) You see there were two sister’s or best friends I can’t remember which but what I remembered was that one of them had gone through a body transformation by guess what….diet and exercise. After a while she dropped a ton of fat (heh, diet and exercise actually works). Her sister or friend or whatever became upset and jealous and all those things that people do and thats what is fueling my anger for today. She was upset that while her sibling/friend was able to accomplish her goals she was jealous because she wasn’t able to. You might have noticed that some of us will climb up the mountain, some of us will talk about climbing the mountain, some of us will watch our friends climb the mountain and be proud of them for doing so and some will become bitter and spiteful when we watch people climb up many times accusing them of cheating (you ever see those dbags that accuse me of steroids?).
So if you have a mountain to climb, climb it. Forget those that might fault you for climbing simply because they can’t. You can’t carry their ass up and it’ll do nothing but slow you down. When you are at the top you will have a different view then they have because you will know what it’s like at the top. Some may stay at the bottom and be proud of you for climbing to the top where they couldn’t and guess what. Those are your TRUE friends. The ones that get jealous…dead weight…leave their ass’ behind.
Arnel Ricafranca you might know is one of my cousins. He is one of the best men in my upcoming wedding and I was a groomsmen in his. A couple years back he decided to go ahead and get absolutely ripped. When he finally put his after pictures up I saw them, was VERY impressed and congratulated him. I didn’t sulk in my misery and start accusing him of steroids or what not. Instead I decided I would join him at the top and I got ripped. Arnel climbed the mountain and showed everybody how they can climb it too. Many look to him for hope. Some got jealous. Don’t get jealous…get yer ass to the top like we did. You can check out the best of his workouts here
Oh and as for that show there was a lady there who wrote a book called under construction or something like that and was telling the pork chop that she was beautiful. No she isn’t. Jealousy reared up it’s ugly head and showed her true colors…and that I found disgusting.
alright upon rereading that last paragraph that might have come off a bit bad. Let me just reiterate that it wasn’t her physical appearance that I found disgusting…it was her bitterness and contempt for those who wish to better themselves.
So yeah it is December. The time of the year for Christmas cupcakes and dradle spinning and all around merriment in between the nastiness of holiday shoppers. Holiday parties come twice a week, 3 times on weekends and more likely then not you are going to meet someone new and do the universal greeting of shaking their hand.
I have probably got my facts mixed up on this because I can just about never cite the source but I heard somewhere that the handshake came about as a symbol of peace from back when we carried swords and used our right hand for dueling. The handshake became symbolic that we were not planning on stabbing the person who’s hand we were shaking. Left handed people were supposedly “traitorous” because they would be shaking your hand with their right and stabbing you with their left.
Isn’t history fun?
And this custom remains on through today. You meet someone. You shake their hand. There might be some mutation of it…the high five…the fist bump etc.
Now is there a “best” way to shake their hand? I have shaken hands with a lot of people from surgeons and concert pianists to top performing old time strongmen. The former was too soft and felt a lil creepy. Some of the strongest hands in the world held their strength back and shook it like a human being.
And every once in awhile you’ll get someone that is malicious when they shake your hand. Are they trying to compensate for something? I they trying to show how tough they are? If Dennis Rogers (world’s greatest strongman) doesn’t crush your hand why should anyone else?
Especially when introducing yourself to females. It should be common sense but common sense eludes the common man lately. It doesn’t impress them and they will tell their friends not to talk to you if you pull that sh!t.
Alright so last night I went to see the movie Ninja Assassin starring Rain. I have to say I really enjoyed it. The director gave the ninjas a kind of ghost like quality which I thought was pretty badass but that is besides the point since I’m not a movie critic. One of the things I noticed was how ripped Rain was for the role. There is footage of him training with kettlebells floating around youtube which I’ll post here.
The training he went through was rigorous and even though his form wasn’t great he still got great results. The exercises I remember seeing are snatches, turkish getups, swings, renegade rows, waiter walks up the stairs, farmer walks up the stairs etc. The way I would do it is first I would assign Dave Whitley’s Furnace Workout for the first month of training. That would prep you for the abuse to come and still give you practice in the getup and the swing and give you the metabolic benefits. Then I would assign something I like to call ascending complex ladders.
start with your weak hand
1 swing
1 clean
1 press
1 squat
repeat with other hand then switch back
2 swings
2 cleans
2 presses
2 squats
repeat with other hand then switch back
repeat that process until you don’t feel you can go farther, or until you reach 10 (and it’s ok to switch the positions of the presses and the squats)
Another day I would have you do the same kind of thing but with pushups and plank rows
1 pushup
1 plank row with your left hand
1 plank row with your right
2 pushups
2 plank rows with your left hand
2 plank rows with your right
etc.
use either swings, snatches, or double cleans (assuming you can do all of those properly) as a finisher.
You can also follow the guidelines I put in this video.
The guidelines in that video give you a basic idea of how to effectively put together your own effective circuits for strength, conditioning, body transformations. Also one thing I forgot to mention is to balance your pushes with your pulls.
