Training week commencing 1/4
Not long to the holidays. Training taking on a new focus
Mon 1/4
Conv cond as w/up Push ups 23 Bridge 20 Leg raise 20 Squat 20
K/b tabata 15/15 Alt swing 8 reps each side 2min High pull. 7 2 min rest Cleans. 6 Clean & press 4 2min rest Snatch 6 Alt swing 6
Tues 2/4 1 hr Krav
Thursday 4/4 2hrs Krav
Sun 7/4 Kettlebell complex Swing Clean Snatch 20 seconds each so 2 mins work (1 min e/s) 3 min rest between each 4 sets Very intense.
Came across this fantastic blog post at Geoff Neuperts Blog at
Geoff is a member RKC Training staff, and his training philosophy makes a lot of sense to me,
7 Things I “Learned” On Vacation
by GEOFFN on January 18, 2011
1. Nature is a good relaxer.
Some people like the mountains. Some people like the beach. I fall into the second category. We went to the Turks & Caicos – a group of islands in the Caribbean for our last vacation without kids. I splurged and got the ocean view room. What a great decision!
It was so refreshing to sit on the balcony and watch the ocean. It was even better to sleep with the french doors open and have the waves put me to sleep. And even better was to just sit on my lounge chair soaking up the sun and reading a good book or two.
In today’s fast-paced modern society, I don’t know how many people spend time outside in Nature, but I’d be willing to bet we’d see a pretty good drop off in anxiety medications if people spent more time outside. There’s just something incredibly relaxing about being outside, at least for me anyway.
2. Slowing down is good.
I am a very Type A individual. I have a hard time slowing down. With the approaching birth of our son, I have made some major scheduling changes to allow me to batch all my work into parts of the day and to batch all my relaxing into parts of the day. It used to be that I’d literally work all the time – during the day, between clients, before and after dinner, just before lights out… Many times busy, but not so productive.
Vacation was yet again another reminder that taking time to slow down is good for the body and the mind. We both slept a lot this vacation – especially the first couple of days. Apparently, we needed the rest and the change from the daily “grind.”
3. Time is precious – use it wisely.
Time. I love it and hate it. I love it because of all the stuff I can do. I hate it because of all the stuff I fail to do. But when you really stop to think about it – you never get time back once it’s spent. It’s the only thing I know of that is “non-renewable.”
I was forced to look at how I spend my time and how I want to spend my time. I have to admit, as much as I love to train – it wasn’t a top priority on vacation. Sure, I went to the gym, but the work I did was minimal – just some maintenance stuff to counteract all the sitting around. (One thing I’ve learned over the years is my body won’t let me just sit around even on vacation – I have to do some exercise.)
But honestly, I wasn’t overly concerned with “missing my workout.” The older I get, the more I truly view workouts, or training, as a means to an end, not the end in and of itself. (More on that later…)
So the best use of my time on my vacation was spending time with my wife. Speaking of…
4. My wife is truly my best friend.
It’s amazing how you can go through your daily grind and say “I love you” and not that it becomes ritualistic, but that it almost becomes habit. The grind is just that for many of us – it wears us down if we let it. (I do my best not to…) And because of this, sometimes we just take for granted that our spouse will always be there. It’s not until something bad happens that your jolted awake to the possibility that she or he might not be there. (Yes, everything’s fine – no, nothing bad happened.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately as I’ve watched her belly grow.
In about 3 months or less, life will no longer be about us.
And that was the point of this vacation – the last true “us” time for probably 20+ years. It made me realize how long we’ve know each other, how long we’ve been together, and how well we know each other. And I’m incredibly thankful that God put the two of us together. I can’t imagine life without her and don’t want to.
Vacation just reinforced this. Sometimes it’s easy to take your spouse for granted.
5. Food is meant to be enjoyed (within reason).
Admittedly, this sounds strange coming from me. It would be fair to say that I am perceived as Draconian in my approach to food – “it’s only fuel and that’s all it needs to be.” But there is something intensely pleasurable about a really good meal.
As I age, I have been slowly changing my stance and exploring my views, beliefs, and perceptions about food, diets, and eating. For example, a couple of years ago, I departed from my 6 meal-a-day regimen and went on the Warrior Diet. That lasted 6 weeks before my body rebelled and I ended back up at a 5 meal-a-day plan.
Recently, I came off most protein powders and started eating 95% of my food as whole foods and dropped my meal schedule down to 4 meals per day as an experiment. (I hate that extra prep time…)
But, I LOVE a nicely prepared and tasty meal. What does that look like? On this vacation there was a lot of fish in various cream and butter sauces with mixed veggies and even some potatoes. And of course the obligatory glass of red wine with dinner (good for digestion and overall health you know…).
It was nice just to sit down and enjoy a meal together that someone else prepared. I’d like to do that way more often.
And now, with the boy on his way, I’m looking for ways to enjoy my favorite foods even more often than I have in the past – to go beyond the “tricks” that I’ve used with such success. (More on that later too…)
6. Reading fiction is good for the mind.
Up until a couple of years ago, all I read was non-fiction – anything I could get my hands on regarding strength and fat loss. All the time.
Then, my wife gently poking fun at me, suggested I read some fiction. “What a waste of time!” I thought. How wrong I was! I really enjoy reading fiction – especially military fiction like Tom Clancy. So I took The Cardinal and the Kremlin with me and finished that up on Day 2 I think.
There is something so relaxing about reading something that transports your mind to a far away place (and time). Tom Clancy may not be your cup of tea, but if you want a great night’s sleep, read some fiction before bed. You’re brain will shut down and you’ll sleep much better. I always do.
7. Simplifying life is one of the keys to happiness.
Accumulating stuff. It’s the American Way. Bigger. Better. More.
We stayed in a studio suite on our vacation. There was a small kitchen with a place to eat, a really nice bathroom, a balcony with a chaise lounge and a table and two chairs, a dresser, a closet, nightstands, a chair with an ottoman, and of course a big king sized bed.
Although it was probably 600 sq ft or so, we really didn’t NEED anything else. It was freeing in a way to “only” have that much space. And even after a week, I was perfectly fine with “only” that much.
It’s funny how the American way of life convinces us that the lie is true – the more the better.
I was thinking about it – at the end of the day do we really want more stuff? No! I think we all want more time to do the things we love. The less we have to tend to, the easier this is to do.
But we always tend to think that more is always better.
Take workouts for example.
Why spend an hour when 30 minutes will do? Why use 3 exercises when you really only need one? Is it because we have “freedom of choice?” or live in the “land of opportunity”? I don’t know.
I just know that moving toward the simpler sure felt more freeing – more liberating. And that’s a direction I want to move – more free with more time to do the things I want to do – enjoy my family more and my life more.
Had 2 e-mails today that although the main idea was to sell me something, really resonated with me. It may be because I’m getting close to my 50th birthday, but they gave me something to think about.
The first one is from AlwynCosgrove.com. :
Hey alan,
So here we are again…Today marks the 25% point of the year. Sorry – it’s not an April fools joke.
The entire first quarter of 2012 has already passed- we are now three months into 2012.
90 days are gone forever.
Are you on track with those New Years Resolutions? Are you on track with your goals?
If you wanted to lose 20lbs this year – are you down 5lbs already?
If your goal was to do 250 workouts – have you completed 62 ? {my sidenote- yes I’m pleased to say I have 
}
It’s amazing how time passes so quickly. If you need a “do-over” then I’m going to give you one.
You can REDO your New Years Resolutions right now and get started all over again.
That’s right – I’m letting you off the hook – but don’t waste a single second.
If your goal is fat loss – start today
If your goal is muscle building – start today
If your goal is (insert anything here) – start TODAY !
25% of this year is gone forever. Will you make changes TODAY or will another 25% pass, then another 25% — and before you know it — it’s 2013…..
I meet a lot of people in my job, and get a lot of questions via email. I’ll talk to guys who track every single macronutrient that passes their lips, and have tried just about every program out there. When I ask them how things are going — they’ll tell me that it’s great, or that the program is working well.
However, very few people actually measure and take stock of their efforts. If you are following a plan to lose fat – are you actually losing fat? And I mean at a rate that is acceptable for your efforts? Or are you blindly following a plan that doesn’t work, and essentially ignoring that?
I know where my progress towards my goals stand because I measure it.
When I was in the hospital for a stem cell transplant – the medical team took measurements of temperature, blood pressure and blood samples every 4 hours.
When we implement a marketing campaign at the gym — we track the results. We know for example how many direct mail pieces we send out, the cost of each mailing, how many inquiries we get, how many appointments are made, and how many people join the gym as a result. We know exactly how effective the plan is, and whether the return we are seeing is worth the investment.
We can see that for $X invested, we receive a return of $Y.
We need to know where our membership stands – how many inquiries, how many new members, renewals etc and when our busiest times are – everything is measured and tracked so we can continue to grow and serve our members.
If you remember “SMART” goal setting — one of the keys is ‘M’ – Measurable. Measure your results.
As we enter the second quarter of 2012, it’s time to take stock of your efforts. Has your current return been worth the investment?
Again — 15% of this year is gone forever. Will you make changes TODAY or will another three months pass, then another six — and before you know it — it’s 2013…..
Don’t waste a single second. Start TODAY.
Where will you be at the 50% point – July 1st? That’s 12 weeks away. Will you be 12 weeks leaner – down 12, or even 16lbs of fat?
Will your business demonstrate 12 weeks further growth – will you be 12 weeks closer to your goals?
The time will pass anyway….
–
AC
Check out our online store at http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/store
AlwynCosgrove.com
24420 Walnut street
Newhall, CA
91321
US
Alwyn – the Scottish spelling of Alan apparently- always sends these out on a quarterly basis. They serve as a reminder that time does indeed fly, and to track & measure your progress on your goals.
The second is from another trainer Mike Whitfield :
Half a century is a long time, My good friend, the ‘pull up queen’ Shawna K,
(who whooped my butt in the pull up challenge) is ALMOST a half a century old.
She’s turning 49 today, April Fool’s Day. She doesn’t look like
someone who’s 49. I asked her for some words of wisdom
and she came up with 10 tips for you….
But before that, I wanted to mention that she’s got
a 24 hour sale going on her pull up Challenge Workout
program for today. If you want to improve the quality and
quantity of pull ups (and push ups), this program is a
no-brainer and she’s practically giving it away. (I think
she may be losing her marbles a little 
Grab it while you can
=> Torch Fat with Pullups and Pushups
Okay, onto the tips…you can bet I’ll be paying
attention because when I get to be 49, I wanna be
able to pound out 31 pull ups and 120 push ups
non-stop like she just did… (she smoked me in a
finisher we did a few months ago)
Here are Shawna’s 10 ‘must do’s’ that have helped her ‘grow up’:
1. Journal
I have journals from when I was 10 years old, chronicling silly
things like when I beat Michael H. in an arm wrestling match.
They are hilarious to me. I need to make a pact with someone to
burn them when I die (before they’re read and I roll over in my
grave).
The fact is, they’ve been invaluable in helping me figure ‘
me’ out. I need to write things down to clarify things in my head.
This works for me and I recommend it to everyone. It takes time to
develop this skill, so stick with it.
2. Be positive to a fault
Divorce or limit exposure to negativity. It’s a contagious cancer.
Surround yourself with positive people and bring value to them. It’s
clichéd, but seeing the cup half full is just an easier way to look
at life.
I haven’t always been positive; it’s taken a lot of work
and mental energy to choose to see the bright side of things. This
is a mental training exercise like squatting; with continued
practice it’s possible to get better at it.
3. Choose your hill to die on
Will an issue matter in one year, five years, ten years from now?
There are some things that really don’t matter all that much in the
scheme of things. I try not to lose too much sleep over them and I
try to focus my energy on the things that really matter.
I’m not going to battle for everything. Learning to let go of things
I can’t change or control has been a helpful anti-aging tool.
4. Have a generous nature
I don’t spend money that I don’t have, but I’m learning to enjoy my
money. Be generous with not only money, but also time and spirit.
Living with an attitude of scarcity is a lonely life.
5. Write it down, more journals
This time make it a training journal. I have loads of them that have
kept me accountable over the years. It’s cool to see how my training
has morphed and how I stack up to myself from 20 years ago.
6. Weigh yourself daily
This may sound like strange advice, but if you want to know your
body, pay attention to it. Learn how your body reacts to food,
hormones, stress, travel etc.
Your weight is a simple tool to help to that end. One reason why
I’ve never gained weight is because I
know my body. As long as getting on the scale isn’t a head game that
ruins your day, do it to help you stay on track.
7. Strut your stuff
I’m no fashionista, but I wear current fashions that make me look
and feel good. I’m sad for women that forever go strictly for
comfort over style. (Then again, I’d be the first to admit there’s
always a time and place for sweat pants and pigtails.)
8. Get a dog!
I’ve had dogs for over twenty years. Dogs teach so much about love
and loyalty. I try to emulate this, although I’ll never come close.
I love my dog and hope that someday I can love as unselfishly as
my dog loves me.
9. Have sex!
Okay, I know that’s a little weird to say on this kind of blog…but
the truth is, we’re sexual creatures and it’s important to find a
healthy way to express sexuality. That’s all I’ll say about that…;)
10. Dream big
Think about what you want out of life and then never give up on your
hopes and dreams. By thinking positively and surrounding yourself
with positive people, it creates opportunities.
Seriously, I re-invented myself in my forties. I went from a
conservative Catholic schoolteacher to a risk taking successful
business owner. I could never have done this if I listened to
negative talkers and if I put a lid on my dreams.
I’m going to celebrate the fact that I’m nearly a half a century
old. I’ll never lie about my age. Although I’d prefer my 20 year
old knees, I’d never trade in my 49 year old head and life
experiences.
Happy Birthday to me on April Fool’s Day
(yes, I’m a fool, but you probably already knew that…)
A couple of them I disagree with, weigh daily for example, and one I strongly agree with. I’ll let you decide which that is !!
Food for thought for today and beyond.
Guest blog from my instructor -Alan Dennis from AStar Krav Maga
At AStar Krav Maga, the aim is to make training as realistic as possible. It’s nice to have students grade, but we also want to teach you techniques that will work in a real life scenario. To that end we ran a bar fight workshop at the Full Moon pub in Newcastle – Under-Lyme on January the 28th.
Around 25 students attended. It was a freezing Saturday morning, but everyone soon warmed up once the workshop started.
We asked the students to wear the club T shirts, but jeans rather than tracksuit or jogging
bottoms. Even something as simple as this gives a different feel to things. Being in a bar rather than a nice clean training hall also brings it’s own problems.
The students partnered up and warmed up by running around the bar, avoiding all the natural obstacles – or furniture as most people call it! They then moved into training how to deal with the most common attacks in a bar- for example being grabbed from behind in a bear hug and slammed into a wall. A lot of students were surprised how simple it is to deal with attacks like this, as with all Krav Maga techniques, but because they were crowded in a small area it added a further complication to the situation. Deal with the problem, neutralise the attacker so he isn’t a threat anymore- then get away from the situation- the basic premise in Krav Maga
The Full Moon has a fenced outside smoking area, accessed by going down 2 flights of stairs- which were put into good use by making the students run up and down them a few times- another basic premise in Krav Maga is a technique has to work from a position of disadvantage or when you are tired. Outside in the smoking area was even more cramped, so the students were taught how to deal with rear, front and side chokes, not forgetting to scan for further trouble as “assholes rarely travel alone” to quote a wise man!
They were also taught some weapon defences- using the training guns and knives- safety
in training as always. Usually the weapon was hidden by a selected student, then the fight
broke out. Once the weapon was produced everyone had to go and neutralise the threat,
shouting “GUN GUN GUN” or “KNIFE KNIFE KNIFE” accordingly. One or two passers-
by were-as you can imagine – startled by this, but as a bonus there were one or two enquiries about classes!!
Back in the bar it was time to deal with attacks with beer glasses, learn how to use common
objects, like chairs, to defend yourself and a little bit of third party protection so, if required, they would be able to help any of their mates if the situation arose. A Bar Fight workshopwould not be complete without learning how to deal with obnoxious drunks, with a special little trick used to simulate either being hit or being worse for drink, hint- it involves fighting while dizzy!
Three hours flew in the blink of an eye, and everyone posed onstage for a “Team ASKM Bar Fight Workshop” photo. The requests for “Bar Fight part 2” were overwhelming so a second workshop is planned for April. It looks like it will be popular.
Here’s a little taste of the workshop
I have downloaded Tracy Reifkinds new book The Swing!: Lose the Fat and Get Fit with This Revolutionary Kettlebell Program to my kindle. I’m already half way through it!! Some excellent ideas in there. Tracy lost over 120lbs in weight using the kettlebell swing as her main exercise. She trained twice a week for @ 30 minutes a time.
The workout I did yesterday was” on the minute” sets of 10 reps, 10 sets. It took 10 minutes, I felt fantastic after
. Basically you do 10 swings, then rest the remaining seconds till the minute is up. As I posted before, I was getting a bit jaded with the PHA style of Kettlebell training- so this made a nice change of pace. I look forward to increased aerobic capacity from following these so called ballistic exercise routines.
Feeling a bit jaded with my kettlebell training.The fact i have a grading in Krav Maga in 2 weeks means I don’t want to be too drastic. The mock grading went well, and I know now I can go the distance, so it’s just a matter of keeping ticking over.
With that in mind I decided on a snatch ladder workout today. something I’ve looked at but not really tried. i did a 1 arm snatch going up the ladder from 1 rep each side to 10 reps each side. I did the reps, but the K/bell down between “rungs” took a couple of deep breaths, then went again. To clarify – 1 snatch (right hand) 1 snatch (left hand) put bell down, couple of deep breaths, 2 snatches each side , bell down & so on. I set a time limit of 10 minutes, I managed to get to 10 snatches a side with around 15 seconds to spare. the idea being to go up the ladder to the top, in this case 10 reps, then come back down all the way to 1 rep.
The standard for the US Secret Service is 200 snatches in 10 minutes with a 24 KG Kettlebell. I have a way to go, but that excites me- I have a clear goal and a plan to get there. I feel fantastic after that breif but hard session, now I can concentrate on enjoying my weekend.
That means a little over 5% of the year has passed already.
So let’s do a quick “goal review” or a Resolution recall.
Are you 5% towards your goals?
If your goal was to lose 50lbs of fat – you should be down 2.5lbs right now if you’re on track.
If your goal was to increase your income by £10,000 this year – you should already have made an extra £500.
Now I know goals are not always achieved linearly – particularly not fat loss or financial goals — but you’ll hopefully see my point. Track everything.
An easy goal that I always set is just a specific number of workouts that you are going to do. Then you just mark them off. One goal for 2011 was to perform 200+ workouts. In 2012 I plan on doing the same.
The point is – you need to constantly assess where you are in relation to your desired outcomes.
Are you on track?
Are you headed in the right direction?
Have you even moved off the starting line?
Yes? Congratulations – 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for you.
No? Don’t worry – just step up your ACTION a little bit and catch up.
If your own goal is to get leaner – get on a fat loss program
If it’s to gain muscular size then get on a muscle gaining program.
Remember – even if you’re off course – you can still get there. A plane traveling cross country is off-course 80% of the time and still makes it to it’s destination because the pilot knows where the destination is, and makes constant corrections.
5% down – 95% to go. You’ve still got time to make some major changes in your life this year.
with thanks to AlwynCosgrove.com
