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!