I have been meaning to review Dan John's new book Never Let Go for a while.  I still intended to do so, right after I read it one more time.  Yeah, I liked it that much.  There is one particular chapter called "Distain Medium" which I found particularly thought provoking.  I couldn't help but noticing though that he uses the word "distain" which means to take the color away from something rather than disdain which means scorn.  I am pretty sure the latter form would be more appropriate.  Now I realize that on certain forums saying anything negative about Dan John is akin to serving pork chops at a Bar Mitsvah but RFP is run by iconoclasts.  In all seriousness, I though Dan's book was perhaps one of the best I have ever read on the subject of weight training.  There is so much useful information contained that you would be making a mistake not to buy this book.  Well there we go, I guess that is pretty much a review right there.   This book contains over 400 pages of material covering pretty much all aspects of the lifting game.  It is written from one Man's perspective after decades of strength training including highland games, olympic lifting, track and field, powerlifting.  You name it, its all in there, even kettlebells.  Dan has a ton of experience and he is also an intelligent, insightful, funny guy.  This makes for an enjoyable informative read.  In fact, I so much enjoyed reading this book I fear I may have missed some of the content, that is why I am going over it again.  I don't think any of you should go another day without knowing about Litinovs, slosh pipes (maybe some day I'll make one), and the Men's room epiphany chapter is one of the funniest things I have ever read.  This book belongs in every lifter's library.  I liked Pavel's Beyond Bodybuilding too.  This book is as least as good as far as content and it is a far more enjoyable read.  That may be the only problem with Never Let Go.  It flows so nicely that you might find yourself reading it again to extract more content.  Do yourself a favor and get it.

Ok here is my review of Steve Cotter's "Complete Guide to Kettlebell Lifting.  This is a combination Book/DVD package.  List price is $79.  I purchased it from Shihan.com for $59 plus shipping.  I guess they were running a special (turns out they still are as I write this, see link at the end of this entry).   

The Cotter vids can be stratified much like a game of pickup basketball.  Shirts and skins.  Skins are the one with a shirtless Steve on the package and the shirts are the other ones.  The skins are his first two videos and the one shown below. 


It may disappoint some of you to know that this video is a "shirt".  I am sure the next time I see Steve he will greet me with a roundhouse kick to the skull for pointing that out.  As long as the IKFF doesn't come out with a shirtless partner stretching video I think its all good.

So what do you get with this book.  Basically it is a full color book where Steve breaks down 191 different kettlebell exercises.  The pictures do most of the talking and there isn't a lot of text.  I was a little disappointed that there were no pictures to color in but that isn't even close to a deal breaker when it comes to this book.  Here is a photo of a page from the book.  I hope Steve doesn't mind but I feel it is illustrative of the type of instruction found inside. 


You can easily see how the technique is demonstrated.  Steve also takes the opportunity to offer performance tips where they are needed,  What he doesn't say here however is that if one testicle is pinched hard between the thumb and forefinger (hook grip)  it really allows the lifter to up the intensity to get those last few reps.

In all seriousness this book represents a useful tool.  I think its best place is actually in the gym .  This is not the kind of book you read cover to cover.  Instead it is a reference book to be used on the job.  Keep it in your gym bag.  A unique feature is the accompanying DVD.  This shows all the movements as they are performed.  There is no dialogue, just the exercises.  I really like this combination because you get to see the movement broken down in the book and also performed on the video.  The video menus are arranged in such a way that it is easy to quickly find what you are after without having to navigate through a bunch of stuff that you aren't interested in at the moment.  Some companies might sell the book and DVD separately.  I applaud Steve for taking the high road here.    The video quality is good as are the color photos in the book.  The chapters are logically organized as one would expect of any good reference source.

In my opinion this fits in well with the rest of Steve's products.  Although much of the material presented here is covered in his Encyclopedia Vol 1 and 2, this latest delivery is in a more quickly accessible form.  This is ideal for someone who is already familiar with the basics of kettlebell lifting.  I would recommend that a true beginner start with the Encyclopedia 1 DVD.  It gives a detailed explanation for all the lifts followed by multi-angle demonstration. 

Overall I feel that this represents an excellent addition to any kettlebell lifter's library.  The price seems quite fair especially when you consider how much material is provided.  If you want to get one, here is the best price I could find:  Here is the link.  They are still offering $20 off. 

Well not exactly.   I have been doing the same type of training for quite a while and it has been getting a bit stale.  Sometimes you need to spice it up a bit.  You know?  It is summer so outdoor training is in order so I am trying to do that whenever possible.  You may recall that I have been lamenting the fact that I can't get a sled.  I was hoping that maybe with Father's day around the corner the warden would relent.  Hasn't happened yet.  I don't think it will anytime soon.  I even mentioned the anti-mole effects that were pointed out to me by an astute reader of this blog.  Judging from the commentary in the video I am about to show, maybe it helped a little. I am very persistent so we'll see.   So for yesterday's training I did the next best thing.  These are kettlebell drags with a pair of (gasp!!) Dragon Door 24kg bells.  I did 2 up and backs followed immediately by front squats, followed immediately by rope climb chins.  I included footage of that too.  The rope climb chins may be a little dangerous so probably they would not fall under the umbrella of "rational fitness".  You can see I am taking my sweet time getting my hands on the rope.  I was smoked.  This was the last of the circuits and prior to that I went for my 24kg long cycle record. I was hoping for 100 and I got 98.  I think I did 95 a year ago.  3 reps in a year.  What progress!  Valery always said progress in long cycle is slow in coming.  I guess he was right. 

In other news I got some more cake.  My Dad told me the other day that he cut 10 more plates so I guess I can make a few more.  My Wife wants to kill him for that.  In light of all this I bought a new burner to speed up the bell-making process.   If you are serious about getting a heavy bell let me know.  I am making a few already for some readers.  I'll warn, you they aren't cheap.  But when you consider how expensive fitness equipment is anyway along with the rarity of these things it makes sense.  The heavy ones make a badass strongman tool, that is for sure.  I can do anything from 52-60kg.  I could go 64 if you wanted but it gets real expensive and its too darn heavy for most people anyway.  Alternatively attend my cert and learn how to do it yourself.  I'm joking about the cert.  Someone thought I was serious a while back.

Next post will be a review of Steve Cotter's new book and video.

I know I have some cool stuff to review here on the blog.  I'll get to it very soon.  In the meantime I keep finding new toys to play with.  These most recent ones, in sharp contrast to monster bells, cost me next to nothing.  Today I was telling my wife how badly I need a sled for dragging heavy stuff around the yard.  We have this conversation every few weeks.  She always says NFW.  Her reasoning is that it will tear up the yard.  It won't.  In fact it would help flatten the damage we get every year from wintering moles.  Anyone out there have a good way to get rid of moles?  If so please let me know. The real reason is that she feels it will bring shame on the family if I am seen dragging stuff around the yard like an idiot.  I am so misunderstood.   Bottom line:  a sled will cost a lot in terms of political capitol.  Not worth it.  So anyway, I say I want either a sled or some atlas stones (I wasn't serious about the stones).  Later we were on our evening family walk and my Wife said "hey what about that rock?"  Sure enough it was on an unowned lot covered by weeds.  I struggled to get it of the ground and finally deadlifted it.  It was still warm from the sun and hard to grip.  It felt real nice.  Ten minutes later I had retrieved a hand cart from my garage and dragged it home.  What do you think?  I know a real man would have carried it home but it was far too heavy and way too far.


Yesterday I made some homemade clubbells out of a pair of $3 Flintstone whiffleball bats.  I used sand and lead shot to get them up to 15lb each.  I figure they will be good for warmups and a change of pace.  If I really like them I will get some real ones.  I am pretty sure these won't last forever but they only took a few minutes to make.  I drilled a hole in the top with a 1" hole saw so they were easy to fill.  I plugged the holes with plastic bags packed tight and sealed the hole with quicksteel epoxy.  I love that stuff.  Check em' out.

The latest monster is completed and the paint is drying.  Went with the "yellow cake" theme.  You like?  This one was a big experiment.  I got it to 57kg which is in the ball park of where I figured it would end up.  However, I was hoping to get closer to 60kg.  I learned a few important lessons on this particular job.  As I suspected bell type/size and also the type of lead used makes a difference.  Every time I drill into these things I find something different.  It is always something strange.  Paint can also be problematic.  If I can make any recommendation it would be to use Rustoleum.  I find the professional grade stuff to be most durable.  I am starting to think Krylon is krap.  Flat paint is far less durable than glossy but I understand not everyone likes the glossy look or feel.  On a kettlebell, a matte finish seems more appropriate.  The only flat spray I have found to be decent is the Rustoleum professional.  Obviously you want to use this outdoors or in a well ventilated area.  The vapors aren't exactly good for you.  Also, the device my Dad came up with to anchor the bell whilst the plate is being welded, works like a charm.  It should be patented (if there were actually a market for this stuff).  Maybe it can be featured at the next melting cert.

In other news training is going ok.  i am in the midst of the Rostov program again.  If you aren't familiar with this check out my previous entry on this program.  Not at all fun but it is teaching me a lot more this time around.  I like some of the shorter intervals because it allows you to work a lot of volume and also it allows you to train right at the edge of exhaustion for a while.  This in turn allows you to figure out what is efficient and what isn't or what works and what doesn't. 

I have a bunch of stuff to review including Dan John's new book and also Steve Cotter's book/DVD.  I have been really busy.  Between work and teaching I am getting behind on stuff.  It's ok.  Idle hands do the devil's work as they say...

Don't be fooled by the title.  There is nothing all that crazy going on here.  However, based on some requests I put up another video where I explain the technique change I have implemented that has helped a bit with my lockouts.  A while back I was intentionally trying to get the bells close together at lockout and put the biceps close to the ear which is where super coach Cate Imes says they should be.  Of course she is right, but I was trying to put things in the proper place and struggling.  When I really figured out what people were trying to tell me, then things fell into place with no effort on my part.  Since I cannot possibly be the only thick-headed individual out there I figured I would share this and hopefully help others who struggle with this.  It is kind of like the magic triangle in golf.  They tell you it needs to be there but if you try to make it be there it won't consistently be there.  Conversely if you do everything right including  proper grip, weight shift and hip turn it will be there all by itself.  Hearing, seeing, and understanding are all different things.  I hope this video helps.

As per my blog entry the other day, I have been a slacker as far as achieving my training goals for this year.  Corrective action is ongoing.  You may recall that one of the goals was to close the Ironmind COC 2.5 gripper.  The fact that I still don't even own a 2.5 gives you some idea about how seriously I was taking this.  When it comes to actually training grip, well it never really happened.  I got way into the GS and everything else was put on the back burner.  Heck, as far as grip stuff went it wasn't even on the back burner.  It was still in the freezer.

Still I talked a good game so it is time to back it up.  Since I am putting it up on the blog, there is no way out.  It must be done.  I have a 1.5 and a 2.5 on order.  I already have a 1 and a 2.  I can only close the 2 on a very good day.  I also already have a nice modified olympic size dumbell with a 1.75 inch grip for some fat bar db curls.  I was also offered some helpful suggestions by Doug who reads this blog.  He suggested that I work with a fat grip vertical bar.  This gave me an idea.  When I get an idea it means at least one trip to Lowes.  I figured I would make a fat bar and a loading pin for vertical grip work.  I know what you are thinking, "they sell this stuff, why not just buy it".  My family has a rich tradition of on taking projects that other people (professionals) could do in way less time.  We do them ourselves investing far more time and effort and sometimes expense than we would have if we just paid someone to do it.  I had to respect tradition.

Here is what I picked up from Lowes:

 
After putting it all together (minus the loctite) here is what I ended up with.



The good part is this works great for static holds or hammer curls.  It is also good for crushing cats.  This cat deserves it because he jumped up on the table during dinner this evening and ran off with a piece of steak.  Before we could stop him he ate it.  This might still be a problem as it was part of a red curry dish.  I may have a mess on my hands by morning.  That is why they call them animals I suppose. 

Now the bad part.  The top part of this apparatus looks like the tin man's johnson.  I know he didn't have one in the Wizard of Oz but if he did... I know this shouldn't be a big issue, for some reason it is.  I can't seriously train with something that looks like this.  I am going to make a couple changes.  First I will put the end cap on the bottom and weld an attachment for a carbiner.  That will do away with the t-connector.  Minus that it will no longer look phallic.  I am also going to get a bottom plate for the thinner pipe nipple so I can use wider olympic plates and not have to un-screw the bottom of the eye-bolt everytime I want to change weight.  This didn't take long to put together or figure out at all.  That said, I should have been able to see this problem before I put it all together.  The real beauty of this post is that it featured pussy, phallic objects, screwing, and nipples while remaining G rated.

D

We are now nearing the end of May which means the year is almost half over.   This is a good time to look back on the current years training and make adjustments while there is still time.  Above is my midterm grade which I have assigned to myself.  Diehard RFP fans (I'm joking) may remember my New Year's post where I outlined my goals for 2009.  In case you missed it here it is.  The major goals mentioned were 100 bodyweight pistols, 60 reps long cycle with 32kg, 100 reps long cycle with the 24s and 100reps in one arm LC with the 40kg bell.  Also I mentioned closing the COC 2.5 and pressing a 48kg bell.  So far the only one I hit was the pistol goal.  I have done pretty much no grip work and I have stuck with a mainly GS protocol the whole time instead of adding some strength days like I said I would. 

Well it is come to Jesus time and I need to back up what I said so here we go.  I look to achieve most, if not all of these goals by the end of the year like I said I would.  I am reminded of what a friend of mine in medical school once told me.  "The sooner I get behind, the longer I have to catch up".  I wonder what he is doing now?  Maybe practicing in Mexico.  This time I am behind and need to catch up.

If you have set goals use this as a time to reassess.  You still have another month before the actual midpoint of the year.  If you haven't set goals, do it now.  Let goals guide your training instead of aimlessly trying this and that for a few weeks  Instead of not sticking with anything long enough to get results, this way you will be focused and training with a purpose.  As always, train smart!

                   

I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday weekend.  I also hope that everyone remembers what this special holiday is about.  We pay respect to those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy.  May we never forget. 

I have had a lot of questions from readers about the technique change I made and I hope to put up some info on that soon.  Particularly I want to discuss a couple of things to think about to allow for a more solid and snappy lockout and some video of some drills.  I hope to get to that this week.  In other news the shirts are in and I have a few to send out so I'll be doing that after Tuesday.  They turned out great.  I am all for using local businesses but I am going to use this new company going forward because they do a great job.  The shirts are nice and they even have removable tags on them so you know they are brand new : ) 

I just finished making a few heavy bells.  I have been doing quite a few recently and I think I am done for a while.  Maybe forever.  It's a lot of work and I am getting tired of it.  I can't say yet how many or how heavy I made them.  Nonetheless, the last monster bell was for me.  As far as the ones I have made, this one isn't even in the top eight as far as heaviness goes.  I wanted one that I could work with but would still be a challenge.  I went with a patriotic theme with this one.  What do you think?

And so it goes.  In pursuit of ever better technique I have a couple of things to offer.  First I'd like to show you a couple videos of me doing long cycle.  The first is from two days ago.  It is the "before".  The second is from today.  It is the "after".  The issue I was trying to address was solidifying the lockout.  I noticed a big difference.  This correction came to me yesterday while I was thinking about something supertrainer Steven Khuong from the Ice Chamber told me while I was there. Here is a link to the Ice Chamber.  I was thinking about this at the same time I was remembering how Valery would gesture when he wanted me to improve my lockout.  When I did this I immediately saw how the emphasis was far less on my triceps.  They are still much involved but they would adapt and quickly relax it seems.  I'll let the videos do the explaining.  It is a drastic improvement but I still need to perfect it and let it settle in.  The after video was filmed after doing a lot of long cycle today so I was quite fatigued.  To me the lockouts felt better than the prior filmed set where I was fresh.  Not sure how I missed this for so long.  I am a slow learner I guess.