ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 6

Saturday:

Heavy lift day today.

I got off to a slowish start this morning. I woke up on time I just procrastinated way too much catching up on emails and texts and started about an hour later than I normally do. Life happens.

I powered through the initial ladders with my 24kg and felt really good at the end, my form is solid, and my strength is increasing, although my right side is still stronger than my left side, so I think in the future I will add one extra ladder for the left to see if that helps it catch up any quicker.

I'm looking at buying two x 20kg and a 28kg next month and foregoing the Clubbell stuff for a couple more months as I really want to continue my investment with Kettlebell training. The clubbells aren't going anywhere so I'll give them a shot in a few more months. I'm really looking forward into getting into some doubles training since that's where a lot of people see dramatic mass gain.

Diet wise: I followed what I did yesterday - cut out all grains, but still had my milk. I do feel like I have more energy so I feel like I may be on to something here with this Paleo way of living. I imagine it could only get better once I cut out the milk. A viable option may be to make my own almond milk - I've seen it done pretty cheaply but haven't tried it myself yet. It's said you might need cheesecloth for the pulpe, but I'd think a sieve would work just fine. It also only keeps for 4 to 5 days, but depending on the quantity I could see it being gone less than that. Cost affordable? Hard to say compared to whats available in the grocery store. Link to directions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM5J1OQmKMA

I'll hopefully have my scale back this weekend so I can get an accurate reading of my weight. It's been about 6 to 7 weeks now since I've taken it so it will be interesting to see how much weight I have put on since I started ETK. I do monitor my body fat percentage on a regular basis and do 3 skin folds. It's fairly simple and is the most accurate way to get your BF %. You will need a couple formulas and bodyfat calipers to do this.

The formulas:

Three Skinfold Sites (Chest, Abdominal, and Thigh sites, SUM3 is the sum of these sites in mm)

Bone Density =	1.1093800 - (0.0008267 * SUM3) + (0.0000016 * SUM3²) - (0.0002574 * Age)
Body Fat Percentage =	[(4.95/Bone Density) - 4.5] 100

 

This is really a fool proof way to do this. If you google online you'll find pictures that show you exactly where to pinch. It may sound time consuming and tedious but this is something you can do in a few minutes and you'll know it's right.

I haven't studied all that much today but will be cross referencing some of the material in my other books today, just for some extra knowledge that I might otherwise be missing. 

Recruited my best friend to try and help me think of a business name - that's probably that hardest thing to do as you don't want to infringe on any copyright/trademarks and get slapped with a lawsuit, so it's a real tedious venture, but I need to get it settled soon so I can order some business cards and start getting my name out there.

Also, Strikeforce got purchased by Zuffa LLC (who own the UFC). Some are happy with it, I am not. It just takes away another place where fighters can go to earn a living, and I'm really concerned with the women's division since Dana White is all about the boys - yeah, he's a pig. All that's left now is Bellator, so we'll see how long that lasts.

Cheers fellas, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

 

ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 5

Friday:

I think before I get started here I'd like to ask that anyone who comes and reads this just bows there head in a minute of silence for the tragedy that happened in Japan today, for all the lost lives, and the people that are missing. It's a real mess over there right so lets hope it all works out for the best.

Today was a penciled in "rest day" but my Tacfit CMDO High Intensity training day fell on today - not a big deal, the show must go on! I woke up straight away and got it out of the way so I didn't give myself an excuse to procrastinate. I enjoy the workouts, and I enjoy the challenge of pushing myself hard on these days, so it's always something to look forward too. This was also the end of micro cycle 3, which means tomorrow it's a no intensity joint mobility day, which will be welcomed after my heavy kettlebell session.

I got a butt load of studying done today and am just wrapping up the metabolism unit - that was a long one. I also completed my first test and it came back at 88% - not great as I knew the answer to the one question I got wrong. I'll just have to review better next time. I'm also cross referencing the material in this book with my physiology of sport and exercise book which has an indepth chapter on metabolism as well, it's a lot more sciency but it has some great information.

Today, just as an experiment, I followed a paleo-type diet, it wasn't 100% dead on because the only dairy I consumed was my non fat skim milk. Aside from that I did not consume any grains or legumes what so ever, and I did notice that I didn't feel sluggish late-afternoon, I actually had more energy that sustained me till around 6pm when I had a quick nap (after being up for 12 hours) - so this was a promising little trial and I am going to follow a strict paleo diet for a month starting soon to see where that takes me.

I also found a really neat program called F.lux - basically it's better lighting for your computer based on the time of day. The concept behind it is truly brilliant, and while it might not be for everyone you should definitely check it out @ http://stereopsis.com/flux/

I'm off to watch Meet The Fockers now - definitely need a laugh after all that's gone on in the world today and will then hit the sack to rest up for tomorrow!

Have a good evening folks!

 

ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 4

Thursday:

Variety day it is!

Moderate intensity day for Tacfit CMDO, with my high intensity day tomorrow - coming to the end of micro cycle 3 and on to micro cycle 4 starting Saturday. I'm noticing more strength and endurance gains which is translating well over to my Kettlebell work. It's been about 13 days or so, so it does take some time to see some intial results - like anything else it just takes patience and hard work and if you put the time in things will happen.

I'm coming up to week 7 of Rite of Passage and realize there's not that much time left on this crazy journey, so it's time to start planning ahead for what will happen after. I like to dip my toes in to a lot of different training methods, so I'm considering either KB Spetsnaz or even KB Muscle, and then mixing in more Tacfit options after that. It's like being a kid in candy store wanting to try everything that's available.

To further flesh that idea out, sandbag training could be a real good idea to add as well, total cost working out to about 150$ to get an 80lb bag - that can go a long way and would open up the door to another new way to train. To be clear I'm not a big fan of gym workouts, it's often crowded, noisy, and there can be a wait for equipment, so this "boot camp" style of training suits me, and will suit my clients a lot better.

I did get back into the swing of things with the studying today and am working on finishing up the first unit (50 pages or so) so taking notes a long the way has definitely slowed me up, but I will taking my first quiz soon enough. It has been very interesting learning specifically how our metabolism works so far, especially the ATP/CP production and the role that has on our physiology.

Extreme Fitness gave me a call just to inquire about Personal Training for them, but it's not something I am going to pursue till I have the certifications required. I'd rather be fully prepared with the theory (I already have the practical) than try to tackle something half assed, which is a problem I think a lot of gyms have when hiring trainers, and does a lot more harm than good. It's a small sacrifice for gaining the proper knowledge.

I've just started reading about the paleo diet and it just jives with me, giving up grains is an easy thing for me, but I think giving up dairy would be very difficult as I love having non fat skim milk with my whey protein. I know there is an option to buy goats milk, but that runs about 10$ for 4L vs 5$ for 4L of skim. Doesn't sound like much but I go through 4L of milk a week just on my own. Anyone have any ideas how to get around on this or should I just suck it up and go for goats milk / organic, whole milk ?

Anyway that's all for tonight! Have a good one!

ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 3

Wednesday:

Started out snowing then turned into a torrential down pour of rain. Days like this get me feeling very lazy as more often than not I get stuck in the house.

It was my medium day for RoP and I've gotten more comfortable doing my ladders with 24kg. I'm able to do all 4 ladders with a max of 3 rungs, although I know that's going to start increasing within the next couple weeks, so we'll see how I'm able to cope when I'm at 5 ladders, with 5 rungs. 

I also did 200 swings in 7 minutes (I rolled a 7 for today), but decided to split it up 100 L / 100 R one handed swings, as that's not something I've practiced a lot of, and the 16kg was more than heavy enough for that rep count. Considering it was taking 12 minutes before to do 250 swings I'd say this is a definite sign of improvement. I did top out at 80% of my MHR as well, which is what the guideline said to do.

I did not get much studying done on the CFT today as I was studying a nutrition book instead - I find it's good to break up the monotony a bit and let the information sink in, and then go back to it, so I will hit it again tomorrow. And it's not a bad thing to be well versed in nutrition as far as this industry goes. If anyone is the curious the textbook is Understanding Nutrition, 11th Edition.

I might be coming into a little bit of money next month so I think I can finally score myself some clubbells, a couple more kettlebells, and maybe some gymnastic rings! The past 6 weeks have probably been the most rewarding in terms of fitness because I've broken out of my shell and am trying so many different things I would never have thought of before, and am in turn seeing the results that I wanted, and am training less.

I've got my Tacfit low intensity routine in about another 90 minutes to help me wind down for the night, and then tomorrow I ramp it up again with moderate intensity. Scott has said there is a new product getting ready for release, and it's the biggest class RMAX has ever released. Fingers crossed for Tacfit Firefighter!

Well that's all for today, have a good evening folks!

ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 2

Tuesday:

Late entry today and it may or may not end up like that from now - time will tell! I am re-directing all my energy to studying the certification materials and I will be going for my CPR/AED "C" soon as well, so I am getting busier. I am still committed to blogging each day on the journey till I hit 90 days and then we will go from there.

Today was a variety day, and I really did not want to do any AOS: Providence stuff - the book called for rounds 8-12 repeated twice and I watched it through and the moves really didn't jive with me. The last thing I want to do is flipping a kettlebell so it rotates and then have to catch it again. This may be okay for some people but it's not really what I'm into. 

So after asking around, my friend gave me a copy of Steve Maxwells 300 Kettlebell Challenge for something new to try. First, huge props to Steve who was 54 when he made that video and it was one of the hardest things I've done with a kettlebell. Basically you workout for about 26-32 minutes and the catch is that you cannot put the kettledown on the ground. There are rest positions if you get fatigued but you can't put it down. Now obviously if you're so tired that you can't hold you can put it down and pause the dvd, but it's a fun rule to follow and challenge yourself.

I had thought about incorporating some TRX but coming off the two days of Tacfit that were moderate/high intensity, I didn't want to overtrain muscles that were previously worked, specifically my chest, legs and hips, so this provided to be a fun, different variety day, and there were lots of new functional moves to try out. I'll definitely be purchasing a copy because Steve deserves the $ for creating such a cool routine.

I'm just starting my third micro cycle of Tacfit Commando now and am committed to finishing the 84 or so days of it before moving on to something else. The Tacfit fleet is so varied it's hard to decide where to go from here once I complete the Recruit. If I can't decide on anything I'll just move up to the next difficulty level which will give me another 84+ days of workout - so either way, real excited times ahead.

I've also been looking into getting some gym rings since they are very affordable and you can take them anywhere, but I honestly think the TRX pretty much mimics what you can do with them, although the rings may be a lot more sturdy - I'll be looking into what programs are associated with those as well as they build some real incredible, functional strength.

Just settling down to watch the biggest loser, and back at the books tomorrow, learning a lot already about how our metabolisms work. Real interesting stuff.

Have a good night all!

ETK Week 6 - ROP Day 1

Monday:

Today was tough for sure. My Tacfit High Intensity workout fell on the same day as my RoP Light Day so I ended up doubling up. Definitely not my favourite to do, but I still enjoyed it and it'll only happen once and a while, so no big deal.

I did Tacfit first since I knew that would tax me the most because you're going at your max effort for the entire workout. After that I took my Protein/Creatine mix, had some breakfast, waited about 90 minutes and then did my RoP Light Day with the 24KG. Light for me means 50-60% of my MHR so I could still use the heavier bell but go at a slower pace, so this worked out well - I know tonight will definitely be an early one.

One thing I can say for sure is that the tabata protocol + micro cycle schedule has me feeling more energized than I've ever felt doing a 7 day cycle before. That's not to say RoP is bad at all - it's a great strength and endurance builder and I think it could be adapted the same way.

I don't want to say definitively that the creatine has helped, but today with the amount of work I was doing was when I noticed a boost in strength and stamina. This could be purely psychological as I know what I'm putting into my body, but I can't say for sure yet.

My ISSA package just arrived today so I'm excited to get started on that. It's going to be a lot of reading but the way it's broken down is a lot more palatable than most college courses, so I should be able to retain this information a lot better. I did get a deal on it since they had a 100$ discount on the package, which I can use to put toward getting my CPR/AED certification as well. The next couple of months are going to be very busy.

The nice thing about the course is that it does include a lengthy book about Fiscal Fitness that will apply well to starting your own PT business after you finish the course. This is a huge bonus for me as I don't want to be one of those trainers who just stays at a club for his career - not theres anything wrong with that, it's just not for me and I have ambitions of running my own classes and programs independantly. Could I have gone for Can Fit Pro? Yeah, but for the same price I'm getting way more value and recognition from ISSA than I could get from CanFit. And the fact that they are owned by Good Life is a major turn off.

Quite a bit to say today, but I'm off to get crackin on this course now! Have a good one!

 

Mats that arrived today:

 

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 7

Sunday:

A little late with the post today - just decided to go with the flow this morning. It also does not help that we got hammered with more snow. I swear the groundhog was entirely wrong this year. The weather can't make up its mind, a lot of snow or a lot of rain, and we're supposed to get 35 mm of rain over 2 days this coming week. Groan.

Today was an off day from Kettlebells which I'm happy for because of my heavy day yesterday. Yes it did take a bite out of my ass. It's going to be real interesting using the 24kg and having an extra ladder to go through. Looking ahead I'm realizing it might be more prudent to get another 16kg bell for doubles to see how that goes. It's either that or jump right into double 20kg's after RoP. I have to see where I am physically, mentally, and most importantly, monetarily.

I would say that the joint mobility work yesterday evening definitely helped alleviate any potential soreness, so I would keep recommending everyone to keep up their practice with that. Whether it's through Yoga, Super Joints, Intu-Flow - get it done, it will just help you with your goals.

My Tacfit Moderate Intensity day fell on my rest day today and I'm totally okay with that. I did not over exert myself and pushed my max level of exertion to a 7 out of a possible 10, so enough to get my heart going, but not enough that I'm going to max out and leave myself laying there like a pile of goo. That's for tomorrow, which works out in a good since it's my light day for RoP.

I definitely feel like I have more energy combining the two, and I'm able to last longer into the night as far as staying awake is concerned. I'm getting a consistent 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep every night and I know I would not be sleeping that much if my body didn't need it. I'm thoroughly refreshed when I wake up and have the energy to do my workout right away. 

I do exercise in a fasted state. It's not about fat loss. I just feel that I have more energy waking up in a fasted state instead of eating breakfast, waiting, then exercising. I've never noticied it affect my performance and it's something I've been doing for a long time now. 

So week 6 is coming up and I am going to attempt the SSST next sunday to gauge my progress so I will definitely let you know how I did, how I felt, and what I can improve on. I'm definitely not expecting to hit 200 snatches but we'll see what happens!

Have a good Sunday!

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 6

Saturday:

I'm feeling jacked up!

Today is exactly what I needed from RoP to show me how tough it really can be. In the schedule today was meant to be a heavy day and I took that to heart finishing all 3 ladders with my 24kg. That's the kind of work that I like to put in. I'm not sure if I will carry this over to light and medium days as those days are pretty much self explanatory.

I bought some plain Creatine Monohydrate yesterday evening to add in to my supplement routine, just to see if anything has changed in the product since the last time I used it about 7 years ago. Odds are it has probably remained unchanged, but it will be an interesting experiement and I am only planning on using the amount that I got (2.5lbs) with 1 70cc scoop post workout. I just want to see how this will effect my RoP workouts, if at all. Normally there is a loading phase, but this is something I've never done before based on my own personal experience. I'd found the last time I used Creatine that I got the same results not loading that I would have gotten loading - so I will be following that same principle this time.

I haven't been able to weigh myself yet but I'm going to do as soon as I find a scale that is good enough. I know a 9$ scale will not give me the most accurate reading, so I'm looking into some glass digital scales but notice some are from weight watchers and some are 'biggest loser' branded. Is there any reputable brand out there that makes a half decent scale? I can tell I've really increased my mass from 5 weeks ago so am really interested to see how much lean mass I've put on since then. I know my bodyfat is at 9% now instead of where it was 5 weeks ago, when it was hovering between 7 to 8. I figure this is not that bad as I do see muscle gains.

I'll be starting my ISSA course on Monday - they say it generally takes about 12 weeks to finish if you put in at 15 hours of study per week. I'm aiming to do it in at least 6 or 7 weeks. I have really big plans, and this is going to put me on the right path. I'm looking forward to absorbing as much as I can from this course. Luckily I still have my textbooks from this past college year so I can reference my Exercise Physiology book, Anatomy book and my Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning Book along the way since they are all great references. I will say this about ISSA so far and that is the customer service has been excellent - they returned emails almost immediately and answered all the questions I had. As far as shipping to Canada it cost 40$ flat through Fed Ex and that takes care of all the customs stuff. It's fast too since I put the order in yesterday and it's already across the border about an hour away from where I live. I'd expect to have it tomorrow if Fed Ex does weekend delieveries, if not then Monday for sure. Fast!

Today is my Tacfit low intensity workout which basically consists of the full set of cool down moves - about 21 minutes in total. They are all focused on joint mobility so this is going to be a nice addition to what I just did with RoP today. This is my second micro cycle on the 4x7 schedule and it there has been some adjustment time when you are so used to making your plans around a 7 day schedule. I've found this to be a lot more efficient but of course it is too soon to say if there have been any gains or not. I think after a couple more micro cycles I'll be able to say for sure.

I'd be off to enjoy the day but we're in for a lot of rain, so get at it people and have a good one!

 

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 5

Friday:

Well I got over excited this morning about doing my heavy day with my 24kg and then went took at my worksheets and realized it isn't for tomorrow. Today is supposed to be a rest day so I will do precisely that as much as it will drive me bonkers. I wrapped up a 20 minute Yoga session just to stretch out, and I will be doing my No Intensity Tacfit workout sometime later today as I didn't feel like stacking it.

I did do Super Joints last night as it had been a little while since I'd done that. I initially started to ease off of it because it was making my hips feel a little tight, so I started to alternate doing it every couple of days, but this past week I had not done it once and got back to it last night. I'm inching closer and closer to being able to do horizontal splits so I can tell that all the flexibility training I am getting from Pavel and Scott are working, it just takes time.

I have been putting some thought into it and am going to try the SSST next week just to give myself a little benchmark of where my strength and conditioning is at. I figure giving it a shot every 4 weeks is a good way to put the numbers to the test and to really make a good judge of what your training is doing for you.

One big thing I have noticed is that my posture has improved dramatically over the past 5 weeks. I think for anyone who sits in front of computer (and that's a bulk of the population) starts to get a little chair shaped - shoulders pulling you forward instead of sitting back like how they normally should. I had never had any pain from this, but it is an unattractive look when your posture is off and for me it throws your centre off. I attribute the straightening out to the work with the kettlebells, the work I've done with the TRX and now the work I'm doing with Tacfit. There is still definite room to grow and by no means can you correct years of bad posture in a month, but you will notice changes if you give it a shot.

Pretty excited that I can finally order my ISSA package today and it's not something I regret at all. I think any of the available home study certs (ACSM, ACE) including ISSA are going to a huge step up on what Can Fit Pro offers you. Every person I have talked to about that particular cert has said it's nothing but a money grab and essentially you can go from uncertified to certified in 5 weeks - which explains why there is such a horrible quality of trainer in the clubs today. If you already have the practical knowledge then an in depth course on theory is going to make you that much better.

Looking forward to Feijao vs Hendo tomorrow on Showtime - Really warming up to Strikeforce and the fights they put on. I like their cards better overall compared to what the UFC puts on - just personal preference at this point and it's pretty awesome that they give women the opportunity to go in and showcase their skills too. Cris Cyborg might be headed to WWE too since she hasn't had a fight since last summer. Apparently no one wants to fight her, and if you've seen her who can blame them - she is a mutant and no man at 145lbs would even get in the cage with her.

Now off to enjoy the day - have a good one!

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 4

Thursday:

So instead of doing Relax into Stretch this morning as part of my variety day, I am going to make this a part of my evening routine today so I'm ready for my heavy kettlebell day tomorrow. This benefits me a lot more since if I do my Tacfit high intensity workout in the evening that will just keep me hopped up till I go to bed - so it's a bit backwards today.

Body is feeling very good today so I've made the decision to try and get through my ladders tomorrow with the 24kg to see how that works out - it's meant to be a heavy day so we will see how that goes! That way the ladders are broken up has me very confident that I'll be able to do it, just not easily.

I wrapped up my Tacfit Commando workout about 15 minutes ago and that's probably the one time that I remember that I actually felt nauseous from a workout - this was a high intensity day so it was balls to the wall max effort on everything. For anyone who is not aware Tacfit uses the Tabata protocol so you're doing 20 seconds of work with a 10 second rest, 8 sets per move, 6 moves. Once I hit the end of the Standard Pushups I was just smoked, but sucked it up and finished the rest of the workout strongly - I know I'll be feeling this tomorrow, so good thing it's a no intensity day as far as Tacfit goes.

I haven't used my TRX a whole lot lately as I haven't really found a way to work it in with RoP / Tacfit CMDO and the last thing I want to do is overtrain. There is Tacfit R.O.P.E , which I've tried and liked, but I think I'll have to do a cycle of Commando first and then go into R.O.P.E to make it doable. This really is a special time to be involved in the fitness industry as there is always something new to try.

Trying to find a school around here that teaches Krav Maga or Systema is difficult as most schools seem to be an hour or two away, and I by no means live in a small city. I guess there is just no demand for these specific arts compared to things like Muay Thai or BJJ, which is a shame. Staying optomisitc that I will find something though!

I should be sending off payment for my ISSA materials tomorrow so once I get that I'll do a little unboxing for anyone who wants to get into it but is curious about what the package includes.

Have a good one folks!

 

 

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 3

Wednesday:

Today was a medium intensity today but I'm finding the ladders to not be that challenging with the 16kg so I think starting friday I will start to use my 24kg and see what happens from there. I'm definitely to the point where I think I need to round out the kettlebells I've got and just go ahead and get the 20kg - it's definitely almost time to move up in size. I do realize that it could potentially get harder when the ladders and rungs increase as the weeks go on, but my strength is going to keep increasing as well, so the 20kg is looking like a better fit for me moving forward, depending how hard I find the 24.

The Rite of Passage to me means that you are challenged physically and mentally and I haven't felt that yet - in fact I felt more challenged during the one month conditioning stint in the work up to RoP. Again this is more or less due to me needing to use a heavier weight to challenge myself, but so far I'm not really happy with how easy this has been.

Once I wrap up RoP I am definitely leaning toward getting into some Clubbell training - there is a pretty nice following there as well and it's always good to pick up new tools that will help with your growth. Scott Sonnon has said you can approach it as a cycle, so do a cycle of RoP and then a cycle of Tacfit, and then go back to what you were doing prior to see if there were any gains. It's not a bad idea, but I think anyone would get bored doing just one type of exercise all the time, and I think that's why so many P90X people hit the wall.

Today is also Day 3 of Tacfit: Commando - which I have really enjoyed thus far. The way the whole program is laid out is really impressive in that you have those two days of joint mobility that really prepare for the moves you're actually going to do on your high intensity days. I've been doing these in the evening before I eat dinner and have liked doing it that way - i always feel so much better when I get my blood pumping and I honestly can't stand being sedentary. The way it's packaged also really wants to make you do it - yeah the whole "mission" thing is gimmicky, but so is the whole 'comrade' thing from Pavel's work - but it's fun and motivating.

Everything went well with my meeting and I will be starting my ISSA Certification probably within the next week or two, it will depend on when the materials get here. I had originally planned on doing the NASM/ACSM but this is just a good starting point to get my foot in the door - we all have to start somewhere and honestly I would rather have a solid theory background than doing some like Canfit which has been called a joke in the fitness industry - I do realize that if I want to work at a Good Life Fitness I would need to have it though (Good Life owns Canfit). I think more than anything I'd like to go after the NASM/ACSM from here as to me it's a more complete and respected certification - and I don't exactly plan to stay in Canada to train for the rest of my life.

That's really all I have today, but big things are happening that I'm very excited about! Stay fit, stay positive, and have a great day!

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 2

Tuesday:

Great start to the day so far!

I didn't sleep much last night - room mate doesn't know how to sleep and is always up to the wee hours of the morning talking to people via skype. Seriously obnoxious behaviour. There are other people on this planet, like yours truly, that happen to like to sleep at a normal time. I think I managed to doze off around 1245 and was up at 8 so not a total loss, but I'm definitely feeling it today being knocked out of my normal sleep pattern.

I did cave and got Art of Strength Providence to follow along with in the ETK Workbook - today was rounds 2-6 repeated twice. A lot of new moves except for the clean. Each move was 2 minutes in length, so it worked out to a 20 minute base workout, 25 minutes with warmup. This was my first time doing the wind mill and it was quite challenging, however to top it off, it was a windmill + overhead squat in on fluid move. Really interesting stuff and nice to be challenged like that. This was a variety so I had the option of doing this or something else and I just felt like doing more KB work.

It's really funny how you think you may be outgrowing a particular bell and then you introduce some moves that really challenge the heck out of you - a new lease on life for my 16kg. This is exactly what I was looking for when I hit Rite of Passage. Variety is the spice of life.

I did start Tacfit Commando day, basically it was a No Intensity day - this was comprised of about 20 minutes of joint mobility and stretches, all warm up moves, just to keep the body in prime condition and in good working order. Today will be a Low Intensity day and this will be comprised of all the cool down moves, so another 20 minutes there that I'll do later this afternoon after my meeting. Tomorrow will be the real challenge as that's a Moderate Intensity day and I will actually be performing the exercises with a warm up and cool down. Should be fun!

I did get around to trying the Janda Sit Up with the TRX and found it to be quite functional and targeted my core the way I thought it would. There was no emphasis on my hips at all so I was able to just concentrate on that area. This was especially pleasing because the Ab Pavelizer is grossly overpriced for what it is and this just adds another element to the TRX. It really boils down to how you use it to get the most out of it.

Hopefully I'm able to secure the funding I need to take my certification today so that will be a pretty big hurdle to jump through. I don't want to get into it to much, but it does feel that I am being pushed into doing something other than what I want to do just to get rid of my file. They (Employment Counselling Agency) may be over budget, but don't force people to do something that is just going to set them up for failure down the road anyway - it's always about the status quo it seems. Once I find out what's going on I'll share that with everyone else.

Have a good one folks!

ETK Week 5 - ROP Day 1

Monday:

You can definitely understand why you go through what you go through for the first month of prep before entering Rite of Passage - you need all the conditioning with the Kettlebell you can get before you move on to this. Like I've said before - it's a totally different beast than what you think it is.

The ladders were the easy part - I really only started to feel that by the third and final set, so I know my conditioning is in pretty good form judging by that. It is a light day though. After that was all said and done I had to roll my dice and landed with an 8 - I don't want to follow that aspect to the book because this is a bit more unpredictable and fun for me. The goal during this was to go at a moderate pace at about 60-65% of my MHR. I made it to the 6 minute mark and was just dog tired. I kept my heart at 65% of my MHR but I knew that I wouldn't be able to finish the last 2 rounds. I'm okay with this since it's the first time I've had to do that many snatches, 60 per side, 120 total. Well on my way though!

I've decided I'm going to run through Tacfit Commando side by side Rite of Passage. The 4x7 protocol is very interesting and is not something I've ever done before so I think it will compliment the work load that I'm getting with ROP. Scott Sonnon is a really interesting guy and you can tell by listening to him that he knows what he is talking about and is very passionate about it. This is the type of training that I could see not just benefitting first response people, but people who train for a martial art as well.

I'm looking in to taking a Russian Systema class and I think I've found one in my town - just working out the time and cost right now. It's really between this and a Krav Maga class. If anyone out there has taken these types of classes give me a shout, I'd really be interested to hear your feedback.

I'm still sticking with Super Joints / Relax Into Stretch and am reincoporating 25-40 minutes of Yoga at least once per week, preferably on the weekends. There is just a benefit that you get from Yoga that you can't get from other Joint Mobility work. It's not for everyone but it does certainly help.

I'm going to spend a little time reading 'The Nine Principles of Japans Greatest Swordman: Musashi Miyamoto' later this afternoon. It's from the Tacfit Warrior package and it's meant to be about facilitating growth and development in any aspect of your life. It's only 42 pages and has some exercises in it as well, so should be a pretty interesting read.

Have a good one!

ETK End of Week 4 - Day 7

Sunday:

So I officially made it to the end of month one - a real good primer that teaches you the essentials of what you'll need for the following 8 weeks. Great month, had a lot of fun, but now I'm really ready to get into the meat and potatoes of what Kettlebell training has to offer.

I'm still figuring out how I can integrate all these different components together without detracting from my Kettlebell training. There is such a smorgasboard of techniques out there and I am anxious to try as much as possible. Tacfit is seriously intriguing so I might run Tacfit Commando/R.O.P.E side by side with Rite of Passage. I know there are people who do 5-6 sessions of Tacfit programs a day and get great results without overtraining, so this is definitely something to think about further.

I'm looking at making a Cellmass clone from TrueProtein since the prices there are just too good to be true and you can actually control what you are putting in your supplement. Why Cellmass? Say what you want about BSN, but they do have some great supplements albeit all of them are overpriced. I don't want to risk over-supplementing so I'll stick with that and a good protein powder and I think that's all you really could want to be successful with your goals of gaining size and strength.

I never did get around to trying the 4 Hour Body Mass Gaining Diet. Honestly, I like to keep it simple. I know that if I eat a lot of healthy fats, complex carbs and lean proteins that I'm going to keep gaining weight and it will be lean muscle. Sure, gaining a fraction of 63lbs in 28 days would be nice, but I don't want to be walking around like some blowfish. I'm content with 10-15 more pounds of muscle and then entering a maintenance cycle. There comes a point when you sacrifice fluid mobility for size and that's not what I'm looking for.

This past weekend has been really re-energizing for my body. I had gone really hard this month in terms of work rate, doing 6-7 days a week, 4 with the kettlebell and 3 with the TRX - this left my body pretty tired by the end of a full month and really needed time for some recuperation. Some people like taking a week off, I'm fine with taking a weekend off. I did Yoga yesterday and some Joint Mobility work today. I've also slept a lot more this weekend (longer than my standard 8 hours a night) and I attribute that to my body taking the time to heal and prepare itself for what it knows is coming. I already feel refreshed, full of energy, and am ready to go!

It's also tax season so I think with my return I'll be getting myself another Kettlebell and one Clubbell to add to my collection so far. I've never been a fan of machines, I always trained myself with free weights because that's what worked for me, for my friends, and for anyone else that I trained. Yes program planning had something to do with it, as well as diet, but I believe the way you lift can produce dramatic results, good or bad. This older school way of training really takes me back and really makes the body and mind feel complete. 

See you guys tomorrow for Day 1, Rite of Passage.

ETK Week 4 - Day 6

Saturday:

I decided to take it a little easier today and just did 40 minutes of Ashtanga Yoga to get my energy and my body ready for Rite of Passage. I've been experimenting with some of the TacFit workouts this week so some days I have had doubles and right now I am just letting my body heal up. I may get back in it tomorrow, but I will see how my body feels - I may do the smart thing here and just let it rest for the weekend so I'm fresh for Monday.

I'm really enjoying the TacFit stuff I've got to try and am going to figure out a way I can incorporate doing the Commando Program with doing Rite of Passage without over training. To be fair, there are people who do a lot more so I think it's something that I can pull off. Tabata training is definitely intense but I can see how training in such a way would definitely benefit your fitness and overall health in every day life.

I know most of it is marketing but I do like the fact that Scott puts out little challenges now and again to get people interested - it's a way to push you to do the best you can. Case in point - The Israeli Special Forces Tacfit Challenge. Sounds daunting, and who knows if the Israeli Special Forces even train this way, but it's a great motivator and little things like this go a long way to helping people feel like they are accomplishing something great.

That's what I think Dragon Door and TacFit do right - they market their products in such a way that you get that fire in your belly of acheiving something great, not just another bootcamp for 90 days. Yeah it might be a gimmick, but if that's what gets people off the couch and inspired to get healthy, then I'm all for it.

I've been catching up on some of the Strikeforce fights I've missed from the past year. Admittedly I don't catch much of it because I mainly watch UFC, but they have some pretty great fights and I like Frank Shamrock on commentary - dude is a legend and I'd much rather listen to someone who has done something in MMA than Joe Rogan - sorry Joe. I was watching one of the shows from 2010 where Cris Cyborg, a mutant in the MMA Womens Division took on Jan Finney and I've never seen someone so aggressive. Cyborg made this fight look like a sparring session and just pick her apart over two rounds - it'll be hard to find someone out there who will want to fight Cyborg - fingers crossed for Gina Carano taking another shot at her though.

I would really be interested to hear what Dragon Door's take is on Yoga. I've never heard Pavel or even John Du Cane talk about it and I think his whole Qi Gong Recharge is a bit of a joke (most of the moves are from Super Joints). Yoga is a great functional exercise and it's not something you need to do every day - even once a week is enough to feel it's benefits. I had put it off for a couple weeks just to give myself a break but after doing it for 40 minutes today it really did wonders for my back which has felt a little tight lately. Definitely a worthwhile lifetime investment. There is a lot of different branches out there but try something that might interest you. I could not recommend Ashtanga or Bikram enough.

Well having got a late start today I'm off to get some breakfast now! Have a good weekend folks!

ETK Week 4 - Day 5

Friday:

A touch of sadness as this was the last TGU I'll have over the next 8 weeks. It's a bit puzzling why you only do it for a month and then stop outright for Rite of Passage as it offers solid shoulder stability work that can only help you and over a short period of time, and with low exertion. Alas I'll follow this by the books and stick to what the workbook and what ETK tells me - it's set out this particular way for a reason.

I love experimenting and that's something that anyone who has read this blog can attest too. From P90X to an all cardio program like Insanity, to Kettlebells, to Tacfit, Yoga, etc. There are no boundaries when it comes to personal fitness. Just because something may seem hokey or taboo doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. Take a guy like Tony Horton - The guy is an uncertified goofball, but he has some decent workouts - emphasis on workouts - I think the entirety of the P90X program is highly flawed, but a favourite workout of mine has been 'Upper Body Blaster' from the One on One series - it's just old school push and pull. I'm now on to experimenting with some of the different Tacfit programs. Why? Because they seem to offer function, intensity, and a low turn around time which is a lot like the kettlebell workouts. I don't have to spend an hour to get the desired result and it's something totally different. Change can only be GOOD for the body.

I'm still looking into getting some clubbells in the near future because the more that I watch Reifkind working them, the more that it impresses and the different way that it works your body. 15lbs seems to be the recommended weight for beginners - so that should give you some indication.

We're in the midst of another snow storm right now so it looks like I'm snowed in for today. Not sure when it's supposed to let up as the weather people didn't really tell us this was coming. I'm sure it should be all good tomorrow but we'll see what the aftermath is.

I'm very excited for Rite of Passage to start on Monday. This will be like climbing Everest for me as it's something totally new to me - so can't wait. I've decided I am going to forego any type of training on Sunday and am just going to let my body sit and rest all day as I have no idea how the first day will go in terms of taxing my body and how sore it may be the next day. Best to be fresh before embarking on something like this.

I'm definitely going to buy a 20kg KB by the end of march so I can progress up to that for C+P and Snatches. I know it'll be a while before I could snatch the 24kg so this will be a good way to bridge the gap and gradually increase my strength. Slow but steady!

That's all today folks, have a great day!

ETK Week 4 - Day 4

Thursday:

Finish line is in sight! 

I was feeling pretty sore today from the TacFit R.O.P.E program yesterday. That was the first time I`d ever done Tabata type training which would explain it. It`s not a bad pain it`s a good pain and I`m glad I actually feel a bit worked - lets me know that what I was doing was working. Scott has some really interesting programs out there and I`m definitely looking at integrating one in with ETK. I can still get my TRX work since R.O.P.E is pretty much TRX movements just with a rope from the hardware store. That`s not to knock it, it was very intense. It`s too bad more people aren`t open to different types of training. You have your Pro-Dragon Door people and your Pro-Tacfit people etcetera, when really there should be no blind loyalties as we try to take the best parts of each program.

I did 175 swings with Henry (24kg) before peetering out and finishing 75 more swings with my 16kg for a total of 250 again. The main thing here that changed from the last time was that my time decreased big time. I clocked in at just over 15 minutes on Monday to do 250 swings and today I clocked in at 12:43 so I managed to cut over 2 minutes off my total time, increasing my swing volume and speed. This is not something I was consciously trying to do, it just happened, and by the time I stopped my timer I had noticed I had finished faster than the previous time with the same amount of swings - so I believe that my strength and endurance is on spot for taking on the Rite of Passage.

I noticed that there are no dedicated days for Swings anymore as well - so I assume that with doing ladders so frequently that will continue to help my strength and endurance grow. The one thing I`m not super crazy about is that in the ETK Workbook they are openly promoting an Art of Strength DVD that is ``essential`` to your growth with a kettlebell. That`s not true at all and is incredibly misleading. You could follow ETK solely and I`m sure you would still get outstanding results without having to purchase something else that isn`t even affiliated with the program. I love the workbook as it`s really great for newbies to kettlebells, but don`t make it sound like you NEED something else to get the most out of the program.

Oil is up to 120$ a barrel. Gas is up to 123.0 cents per litre at most major gas stations across the city and is expected to continue rising. With everything that is happening in the middle east right now, it`s easy enough to say that within the next 8-12 months oil could easily break 150$ a barrel. This is a good time to invest in a bus pass as this is reminiscent of what happened last summer and the gas spike that happened then. It`s times like this that I`m really glad I live in a city that has such an abundant amount of public transit so it`s not even necessary to own a vehicle.

I haven`t gotten around to try in the TRX Janda sit-ups yet but I will definitely make that a priority over the next couple days so I can report back about that. I`ve just been preoccupied with a lot of other things but I promise I will get to that for those of you out there who have a TRX or are looking into getting one. I still would have to say it should be an essential tool in your home fitness gym.

Have my meeting this coming Tuesday so hopefully some good news will come out of that.

Have a good one folks!

ETK Week 4 - Day 3

Wednesday:

 

Started earlier than normal today. I've been sleeping a lot better than normal but still need a new bed - this mattress does wreak a special type of havoc with my back. I really don't like to rant but I thought I'd throw this in there; I also woke up to some drama as well - and I'll just say this - if you have people in your life that are causing stress that is reminiscent of high school, cut them loose. I put my foot down this morning and am better for it. Most of us are in our twenties and onward and it's time to start acting like it.

I got some really solid work with the TRX in for my session this morning and felt really worked out. It wasn't a specific program from the TRX people but a buddy of mine showed me Tacfit R.O.P.E (Rapid Onset Pull-Up Equipment) - basically it's a workout that you can do with a cheap rope from the hardware store and use like a TRX. I Did the Recruit Simulation - basically this is all tabata type style of training where you do 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, and repeat for 8 sets. There were only 6 or 7 moves, but for 8 sets you definitely feel blasted at the end. This was a really gratifying workout and nice to try something different.

I've got a lot more faith in the product that Scott offers now and am going to really look into the products he offers and see what else might be complimentary to what I'm doing and go from there. I normally would stay away from download only products but this was a really great change of pace.

I've slowly started to work a few yoga stretches in for the spine to my daily routine as I've noticed that with all the Kettlebell work and Joint Mobility that the spinal rotation was getting a little tighter - Sun Salutations/Down Dog/Up Dog have been great and have really opened me back up. Works great in conjunction with the stretches and joint mobility Pavel offers as well.

Tomorrow is my last 'swing' day of Week 4 and I'm looking forward to moving on and trying all the different things in Rite of Passage. These have been a very challenging 4 weeks and I feel like I'm tougher than I was when I started. I've said it before that it takes a special kind of perseverence and mental toughness to make it through this first month as it's very tough if you are not used to swinging weight around and using your entire body in one movement.

I'm also taking it easy on the split switches so I can give my hips a bit of a break in that regard - I feel they were being overstretched doing that part of Super Joints every day so I've gone and ahead opted to do it every other day. The actual joint mobility moves though I do on a daily basis to keep my joints lubricated.

Over the past week I've been tracking my sleep as well - there is a really neat app for Android called Sleep Bot. Basically before you go to bed, you 'punch in' and it starts to track how many hours you sleep, and over time, the more you track, it will let you know if you are in a sleep 'debt' or not - to make sure you are getting the optimal amount of rest. When you wake up you simply punch out and it tracks your sleep for the previous nights rest. All this is presented in a nice graph so you can see what your sleep patterns are like over time. If you have Android and you're interested > Click Here <

Other than there's not much else going on - I'm looking around for as much info as possible on mass gaining diets. I've read the section in 4 Hour Body but I want to be as well versed on the subject as possible and gaining 60+ lbs in a month is kind of unreal, even if it is documented in the book. Looking into the Warrior Diet and also The Primal Blueprint to see what can be done there. I've never been a calorie counter I've just been mindful of what I'm putting into my body, which is right now I'm on a very high protein diet. If anyone has any suggestions, give me a shout.

Have a good day folks!

 

 

 

ETK Week 4 - Day 2

Tuesday:

 

Great start to the day. 

It's really gratifying when you start to feel the weight get lighter as the days and weeks go on. I remember when I first did Halo's in the warmup back in Week 1 and I thought "holy shit, this sure doesn't feel like 16kg!" and it didn't, it felt twice as heavy - and this was at a point when I felt like I was physically strong. Fast forward 4 weeks later and the 16kg feels partciularly light in that warm up - not that I'll be upping the weight since it is just a warmup, but it was something little like that that really caught my attention.

I only have one more day of Swings and TGU this week and then I'm moving on to Rite of Passage. I am 100% ready for the changes that is going to bring mentally and physically since it is a whole different beast. Doing Snatches for 10 minutes is going to be very interesting after having done ladders.

Just for fun I tried to see if I could clean my 24kg and I could fairly easily - pressing it is another matter! Big change in strength there. I think the work that my forearms are getting doing this is definitely helping a lot.

I'm going to try some TRX Janda sit ups - Chris Frankel said it was possible to do these with the system without buying something like the Ab Pavelizer, so I'm going to give this a shot later tonight and I'll see about posting a video to see how it looks and feels.

In my searches last night I came across a product called Tacfit by Scott Sonnon - there are different variations of it (Spetsnaz Kettlebell, Commando, etc) that focus on different areas of fitness. I'm always curious about what fitness products are out there so it'd be nice to hear from anyone who has tried either and can comment on it. Any reviews I googled for seemed like they were all generic and from the same site - very hard to find anything legitimate which reminds me of Athlean X - a lot of 'placed' fake reviews. Stuff like this makes the product look really shady - not knocking it as I haven't tried it, just commenting on the marketing practice.

Hoping to get some Clubbell's in the next couple months. I've checked out Mark Reifkind's blog and he does a lot of Clubbell work that looks impressive. That dude is in pretty phenomenal shape and his work ethic over there has really inspired me.

Well I'm off to run some errands and get some resumes out ahead of my meeting next Tuesday. Have a good one folks!

ETK Week 4 - Day 1

Monday:

Well today is Family Day here across Ontario - basically it's a made up holiday the government came up with to give families more time together. Do they actually use it what it was intended for? Probably not. Anyway!

Week 4 started today and I felt ready for it! I feel like I'm mentally and physically on top of my game right now - I have a goal, I'm focused on it, and I'm getting there. 

I'm still suck on how Casey Viator gained 63lbs of mass in 28 days without the use of anabolics. In just 28 days his results were staggering, and he only worked out 3 times per week. Now if you're not using any supplements and just working out and eating 6-8 times per day, how is that possible? His results were as follows:

Increase in bodyweight: 45.28 lbs.
Loss of bodyfat: 17.93 lbs.
Muscular gain: 63.21 lbs.

Check out Tim Ferris' book in The Colorado Experiment section.

Now for anyone who has gone through Enter the Kettlebell with the AOS Workbook knows that week 4 bumps you up to 50x swings, active rest, 50x swing etc. People will look at 50 and think "Pft? 50? I can do that handed while wiping my ass!" Wrong! I've made a concerted effort to use my 24kg more and more because how else am I going to progress if I keep myself in a 16kg cocoon? The work is paying off as I did 150 swings with the 24 before I felt kaput with it, and finished off the last 100 swings with my 16kg. So I'm definitely getting stronger as far as endurance and strength goes - and I am noticing it more now in my forearms as well - whereas last week I was tired at 120 with the 24, I managed 30 more - so a modest improvement. This explains why kettlebellers have such big powerful arms.

From what I've learned and experienced myself over these past 3 to 4 weeks, I've come to a personal conclusion that exercising with Kettlebells is really a fine way to find out what your weak areas are. You may think you're as solid as a rock but until you do 200 to 300 swings you really won't know anything about your body. Is it the be all end all? No. But it's an incredibly versatile tool that you can't afford to snuff.

When I was bodybuilding back in 2000-2002 my shoulders were my biggest problem area in terms of strength and stability - and stayed that way for many years. I had never had any formal diagnosis on what the problem was because I was never in pain, I would just experience some discomfort during exercises. This was really at the height of the internet so I had done a lot of reading at the time and just found simple rehabilitative ideas that inititally worked after a couple of months. Now after this whole episode happened I took some time off to let my body heal up - after which I started bodyweight training and really did not look back after that. Which brings me to current day - I had never picked up nor looked at a kettlebell till this year - and I am kicking myself in the butt for it now. My shoulders have never been stronger, sterngth/stability/mobility is all 100x better than when I had been bodybuilding and I'm not killing myself on a daily basis - simple movements are best.

So if it's something you're thinking about - research - find out the benefits it can have for you. If you're not content reading online find an HKC/RKC in your area and go have a chat with them (you can find this on the Dragon Door website). You really have nothing to lose except a little of your time.

Have a good one folks!

ETK – End of Week 3 – Day 7

Sunday:

Onward to Week 4!


My whole philosophy during this journey so far has been learn what you can, do what you can, and don’t be ashamed if you don’t feel ready. I’ve lived that every single one of these 21 days so far. I’ve educated myself daily on technique and nutrition to make myself the best that I can physically and mentally be – because you need it when you’re doing something like this.


I haven’t weighed myself yet – but I do see great body comp changes. Yes I am losing a bit of the definition I had in my abs – not a big deal – but I am seeing size everywhere else. My legs, glutes, shoulders, arms, back, neck and chest are all growing in size and the strength gains have been great. What’s so awesome about this, is that this only the Pre-RoP .. it will be really interesting to see what those 8 weeks do in terms of size and strength.


As far as I can tell, what I am doing in terms of diet is working. I’m eating at least 160-180g of protein per day at a bodyweight of around 160lbs. I space this over the course of 5 meals per day eaten every 2.5 to 3 hours. This keeps my metabolism going and keeps me energized throughout the day – it works for me although I’m always looking into trying new things.


I did my own little mix of TRX Force today – basically I shook up the rotation and added a few moves of my own to change it up. Suspended Pike Presses are definitely a bitch and my core was on fire after 2 sets of those.


The tightness I was feeling in my left hip is gone now. I took the time last night to do the full Relax into Stretch DVD + the first half of Super Joints and that really took the kinks out and got me back to normal. No progress on the splits yet – but Pavel said it takes at least 6 months to get there, so I’m in no hurry on that front.


I had been looking into the Ab Pavelizer to do Janda’s but the cost on that is pretty high for something so simple – so I looked into it and it turns out that I can do Janda’s with the TRX – this thing just keeps getting better and better. I’ll be trying this in the future for sure and letting you all know how it goes.


Overall very pleased with the direction this type of training is taking me – I feel stronger every day and look forward to what each day is going to bring. If you’re on the fence about trying it – give it a shot, you really have nothing to lose.


Have a great rest of the weekend!

ETK Week 3–Day 6

 

Saturday:

 

The more I work with the TRX the more I appreciate the little things that are in their workouts. You can pretty much customize what they are putting in front of you to your specific goals – which is why they include an “exercise library” with every dvd – basically a hard cover booklet of all the moves that are in the upcoming dvd.

 

This is important because obviously once you start collecting them you’ll have hundreds of moves at your disposal to concoct your own workout – on top of that the wealth of info already out there, especially on Youtube and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a lifetime worth of variety.

 

I’m still learning my craft so to speak with the TRX as there are so many moves to remember, so I did TRX Strength Essentials – 50 minutes with warmup. You get your upper body, lower body, and core that’s split up into about 4 moves per section and you’re doing 2 sets of 12-16.

 

I really appreciate the different type of hip work that is offered in this – different is always good in my book and my left hip has felt a little tight this past week. I don’t know if its from doing Super Joints every day or not (the first 15 minutes, not the entire dvd). It could be the split switches that are making me tight but I can’t really say. I have been pushing myself to really open my hips up more than I have in the past.

 

It’s also nice to hit the ‘glamour’ muscles; chest/arms. That’s been one of the things I’ve missed while doing TRX/Kettlebells, but this lets me get in a little bit of work in those areas without overdoing it – and it’s helped. I can say definitively that my pushups and pullups have gotten stronger while doing this specific way of training and I don’t feel over trained like I did before. Like they say; less is more.

 

I’m leaning towards trying Tim Ferris’ 34lbs of mass in 28 days experiment. It definitely worked for him, and without anabolic drugs, as he has before and after pictures in his book. He did however use a giant cocktail of supplements and that’s not really a route I’m ready to go. I have a solid whey protein loaded with BCAA’s so I’m just going to stick that and I’ll make a Cell Mass copy over at Trueprotein and have that shipped – cheaper than buying a name label for sure.

 

I have a goal of 15-20lbs of lean muscle mass in 1 year – this should easily be attainable with as much as I eat and the quality of the food, and the way I train. Once everything is place I’m going to give a shot and post any results I get on here. This will probably be after I finish Rite of Passage as I’ll probably do that over again to prepare myself for RotK.

 

Dig deep and do what you can this weekend! Have a good one folks!

 

ETK Week 3-Day 5

 

Friday:

 

It’s kind of sad that this whole process is going by so quickly. It’s hard to believe that I’m almost at the end of Week 3 already and Rite of Passage is around the corner. I’m excited for that, but time has gone by much to quickly for my liking!

 

TGU’s on the menu today, along with my C+P and Snatch pre-warmup – as soon as I come back from my haircut I’ll be getting that done – has me a little out of my normal schedule today but it happens. I’m going to do about 15-20 minutes of these as they honestly are one of my favourite movements that I’ve done in *any* type of workout. It’s moves like that that tell you your whole body is strong and not just one isolated area.

 

One of my goals, as far as flexibility goes, is to do the splits by the end of the 12 weeks. I have been using Relax Into Stretch every other day and Super Joints every day so I’m hoping I see some improved hip mobility. Why would a guy want to do the splits? Simply because society says I shouldn’t be able too.

 

I’ve been looking into Convict Conditioning and while it seems interesting, it does seem a little too basic for my liking. What I mean is, if I can already do most of the advanced moves in the book, how would it really benefit me? I’d really like to hear from anyone who went into it with a strong base and how it really helped them.

 

There’s also a lot of crap going around about the author, Paul Wade, and if he exists/doesn’t exist, and all sorts of moral complications surrounding the book being written by an ex-con. Well whether he is or isn’t doesn’t matter – put your prejudice aside and take what you can from the book – knowledge you didn’t have before is the greatest reward you can give yourself.

 

I’m also reading Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Body. This really interests me not for the weight loss section, but the weight gain section. There are just some really neat ideas in here for putting on some lean muscle mass. The Las Vegas experiment kind of blew my mind. 60+ lbs in 28 days, no steroids or growth hormone, just simple compound movements and a lot of really good food. It’s something I may undertake but I definitely do not want to put on 60+ lbs! I’d be happy with just a fraction of that so we’ll see how it goes!

 

Well onward to week 4! That will truly be the test of all tests! Can’t wait!

 

Have a good one!

ETK Week 3–Day 4

 

Whew!

 

That was probably the most intense swing day of this whole pre-RoP that I’ve done thus far. I’ve been really working on incorporating the 24kg for two handed swings to help build up strength, and have been doing one handed swings, 20 per side, on my last set with my 16kg.

 

I’m feeling it!

 

I did 120 swings with the 24 KG and let me tell you, my forearms were feeling it by the end of those. I know it’s not grip because I do hold the bell in my fingers and really just attribute it to forearm weakness – but this will get better!

 

I know I’m getting stronger because after doing swings with the 24kg the 16kg just floated up like paper. I may look into getting a 20kg to bridge the gap to the 24kg – especially when it’s time to try a heavier weight for C+P and Snatches.

 

The practice with the C+P and Snatch has definitely paid off as I feel more ready than ever to challenge some ladders in RoP. Looking forward to a different challenge other than just swings. I’m still going to find time when I’m done these initial 4 weeks to get doing TGU’s as well as I can’t recall if there is a designated day for those in RoP.

 

Getting closer and closer to the day of “graduating” this first phase and it’s been a pretty incredible journey so far. I’ve read and learned so much not just from Pavel’s Books but from the good folks on the Dragon Door forum – everyone has been surprisingly accessible and more than willing to help which is rare to find in a community these days. Little things like that make you want to give that extra bit of effort.

 

A month ago there is no way I would have told you that I’d be swinging a 24kg ‘cannonball with a handle’ between my legs because it wasn’t simply something I was thinking about at that time – but now that I’m here I wouldn’t change it for the world – one of the better investments I’ve made in myself and something that I can carry with me for the rest of my life. It’s not a crash course boot camp like other programs out there, this is like learning a craft from scratch that will help you better yourself physically and mentally.

 

I’ve been very pleased with my results so far and looking forward to the rest of the journey and the challenges it brings along the way!

 

Have a good one folks – accomplish your goals for the day!

ETK Week 3 - Day 3

Wednesday:

I’m switching around my TRX workouts as much possible to keep my body challenged in its routines and to break up any monotony – that’s really one of the keys to muscle growth.

I did TRX Force Workout B today – basically an upper body blaster that’s 36 minutes long. This is the workout with that nasty Suspended Incline Press.

I really enjoyed this workout! No matter how many times I do it I just find something else that I like about it. Now I could do without Fraser Quelch as the trainer but he’s from the same town that I came from so I deal with it. It’s just so refreshing to do something so different – and is it a plus that it was designed by a former SEAL? Maybe. I mean it’s nice to see that someone who was in that kind of peak physical conditioning is struggling with a workout he created for the masses. Either way you won’t get anything like this anywhere else.

Big plus for me with these workouts is that most of them are fairly short and you feel worked out by the time you get to the end, but not over trained and in a flop sweat. This is important since according to the ETK Workbook Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday are supposed to be off days. It allows me to get some work in without going to failure and over taxing my body. Find a happy medium!


I think a big part where Art of Strength went wrong with this workbook for ETK is that it only caters to people who have no fitness base and really forget about the people who do. 4 day’s a week of exercise is fine for some people, but this is limited amounts of exercise and I think there could have been some things done differently to cater to people who have a better fitness base. Not to say I’m not happy doing Pre-ROP because I’ve learned and studied a lot about the forms, but there could have been extras for one or two of the rest days.

I am going to have to look into the Strength in Motion workbook to see what that’s all about – if it’s any double kettlebell work then I may hold off and just repeat Rite of Passage again after I complete it and at that point will probably just do RotK.

I’m really enjoying the C+P and Snatch – these are slowly becoming my favourite moves and it’s something I really look forward too in RoP. I have realized though that I really dislike my 16kg handle as it’s got a fairly slick finish which can make it hard to grip when your hands start to get sweaty. I may sand this down or I may order a new 16kg from the people that I ordered Henry from (24kg) and give my 16kg to a friend so she can start getting into some type of fitness.

I’m also going to start studying for the NASM, so very excited about that! Hopefully this will pave the way to me getting my HKC next year and my RKC beyond that. There is only one place offering Kettlebells here and that’s at a Crossfit facility so I think the market here is definitely ripe for it. Only time will tell!

Have a good one folks!

ETK–Week 3–Day 2

Tuesday:

I could not feel better!

The snow is melting, the birds are chirping, the sun is out! Spring is around the corner – and after 4 months of Winter I couldn’t be happier. Not seeing the sun for so long can get a person down!

I always look forward to the days that I get to practice TGU’s because like I had mentioned it in a previous post I liken it to Yoga – in that takes patience, holding a posture, breathing, and strength all in one sequence. For something that seemingly looks so simple, it gives you one of the greatest workouts.

As far as minutes suggested in the AOS ETK workbook goes I’ve kind of tossed that out of the window for Tuesday’s and Friday’s because I just don’t think 5 minutes is enough time to really practice these movements, allowing yourself time to critique any flaws, and then fixing them. I typically take 15-20 minutes for TGU’s after warm-up and I still do practice C+P and Snatches beforehand. So all together I’m getting about 30 minutes of work in and it helps!

A lot of the muscle increase I’m seeing is around my shoulders and back and triceps – I already had very big legs/posterior so no size there, but they have started to get harder and tighten up a bit, which is a plus. I’m going to keep going with the nutritional plan I’ve concocted for myself as it seems to be working. I checked my BF% and it’s still between 7 and 8% while my protein intake is around 170-200g per day so I’m gaining in all the right places and limiting gain of fat.

I’ve also noticed that my posture has improved dramatically as well. You don’t really realize when you’re doing it but my shoulders had been pulled forward a bit instead of sitting back in the socket. This is something I hadn’t noticed until I started doing the Super Joints and Relax into Stretch DVD’s which is helping me to correct this. It’s not an over night thing but I know it’s reversible.

For what it’s worth the combination of TRX and Kettle bells is working for me but I also realize that this is just a preliminary phase and the real work begins in Rite of Passage – this to me is just to build up my endurance with a kettle bell to get me to that point. Everything will change when RoP starts but I will still do my best to get some work with the TRX in as I know that is benefitting me greatly.

Also something that kind of irked me – I know a lot of people who are using P90X to get in shape. I’ve used it before as well but to a certain degree. What bothers me about these people is how brainwashed they are that P90X is the be all end all of workouts. They are unwilling to step outside their comfort zone to try new things.

I think these people start to get an unhealthy obsession with working out longer and harder for extended periods of time and then they start to over train and wonder why they can’t sleep or why their results are slow. I know one girl who does about 2 hours of high intensity training every day which just makes me shake my head as she’s just a regular jane who wants to tone up and lose weight.

But I digress – that’s one small problem and at least people out there are making a combined effort to get healthy and fit to live a better, longer life. That’s really all anyone can ask for in the world that we live in today – I just think we need to educate these people better so they don’t burn themselves out.

Food for thought!