“Strength is the foundation for development of the rest of
physical qualities.”
-- Prof. Leonid Matveyev, as quoted in the RKC manual’s 24th edition
Ever since I was first introduced to kettlebells, Hardstyle
training, and Pavel’s works by my friend Drew back in April of 2008 (thanks
Drew!), I’ve been in love with self improvement.Self improvement is something I’ve always
toyed with in some capacity, but when it came to physical improvement, I was
always stuck no matter what I did, and if not right away, then definitely
within a few months.Every time I
achieve something new by using the simple, tried-and-true methods taught by the
RKC, I am pleased.And every time I help
one of my clients achieve something new, or hear about how happy they are about
how their body feels, looks, and performs, I am not only pleased, but blown
away.This stuff really works, and not
just for me, but for everyone.Becoming
an RKC was far and away one of the proudest and most monumental moments of my
life – the proof to myself that I can achieve anything if I work diligently
enough at it.Hell, my RKC certificate
is displayed in my room more prominently than even my bachelor’s degree!
I’m a YouTube addict and I love posting videos of my latest
PR or ramblings just as much as I love watching what others have achieved.Seeing what others can do always inspires me and gives me
something new to shoot for. The amazing feats done by the people in the RKC community constantly remind me that the only limits we have are the
ones we place on ourselves.So in honor
of the strong men and women of our community, I want to dedicate this blog to
all the crazy strong, tough comrades and comrade ladies that make our community great and help
improve the lives of others through strength – the ULTIMATE in physical self
improvement.Enjoy!
Chris Davis, B.S., RKC, CSCS holding a 24 kg kettlebell overhead while levering a 10 lb sledge hammer to his nose and back.
Melody Schoenfeld, RKC II deadlifting 2.35 times her body weight (!!!)
My very own coach, trainer, and friend Scott Stevens, RKC II, CK-FMS performs the Jon Engum's "Deep Six" with two 24 kg kettlebells
The inimitable Iron Tamer Dave Whitley, Master RKC doing what he does best: BAD ASSERY
Brett Jones, Master RKC is great at lifting things, tearing things, and (if you ever meet him) telling corny jokes.
Men: I DARE you to do a pullup with as much weight as Girya Girl and RKC II Adrienne Harvey can do!
I would be remiss if I didn't include this curly-haired goofball in here doing one-arm-one-leg pushups with his feet elevated.
Senior RKC Max Shank weighs 182 lbs. Each of these bells weighs 106 lbs. Be impressed.
I saw this with my own eyes. Tim Shuman, RKC II is not a man - he's a machine.
Tracy Reifkind is one of the most inspiring RKCs around. After decades of being overweight, she took charge of her life, learned the kettlebell swing, and lost over 100 lbs and has kept it off for over 5 years. She never ceases to amaze me.
Sprinter, Senior RKC, and BAMF Franz Snideman snatches the Bulldog (88 lb kettlebell) like it's nothing. He's not much bigger than me (I'm 5'8'' and 160-ish lbs), so this is especially amazing.
Valerie "Val Halla" Hedlund punches the Iron Maiden Challenge right in its face.
Soon-to-be Iron Maiden Neghar Fonooni does a Turkish Get Up so heavy it puts most men to shame.
The list of amazing people goes on and on. I know there are hundreds more videos out there of RKCs being epic and lifting like whoa, so if there's a video you want people to see, put it in the comment section! I'd love to see it.
“So easy even a caveman could do it”
-
Geico commercial
Let me set the scene for you.
Last Wednesday, my car wouldn’t start and I, being the least mechanically
inclined person in the Midwest, had no idea why. My dad and brother are car buffs and they
narrowed it down to what they thought was a security issue, so they had me “reboot”
the car’s computer through some long, drawn out rigamarole that isn’t even
worth describing here (mostly because it didn’t work). It was a forty minute process, most of it a
waiting game. To keep me busy, I brought
my RKC manual out to the car with me and read it in my down time. I had finished up Dan John’s 40 Day EasyStrength program (for those not in the know, it’s five big full-body exercises
done for typically no more than 10 reps per exercise per day, five days a week)
that Monday, and was ready to move onto something different before taking on
Easy Strength again. I had been doing
some deep thinking about what I learned and was actually dealing with some
disappointment about it – not due to a flaw in the program, but because I felt
I hadn’t come as far as I wanted. As I
sat there, my mind threaded back and forth between making a mental list of what
I had done wrong, and what I could do better next time.
And then, something happened.
I felt this surge of energy go
through my body – the only thing I can compare it to is the feeling you get
when you feel like you’re about to get into a knock-down, drag-out brawl (don’t
ask me how I know what this feels like).
Your whole body just syncs up and is ready to hulk out and/or lift something heavy. I knew something amazing was about to happen.
It was like this, only not as cute.
I ran down to my basement, took a 53 lb kettlebell and a 35 lb kettlebell
underneath my homemade gymnastic rings, slapped on a lifting belt and looped a
canvas strap between the two kettlebells’ handles.
Holy crap. I just did a pullup with an
extra 88 lbs – at 158 lbs of bodyweight!
Something I wasn’t confident I’d be able to do, as I didn’t feel like I
was using enough weight in my daily practice (only 25 lbs for 2x5). How wrong I was. I was so excited I dropped to the ground and
banged out two fast one-arm-one-leg pushups on each arm – prior to the 40 day
program, I could only do one on my right side, and only if it was a clear,
cloudless day and all the planets were aligned and Alpha Centauri was clearly
visible in the night sky. Oh, and there
couldn’t be any wind, either.
Push league.
Just
today, I did five full ROM dragon flags.
Before the 40 day program I couldn’t even do a single dragon flag
negative.
Capture the flag!
I have yet to test out my
pistol and rack carries (the two other things I worked on), but I have little
doubt that they’ll be PRs. On a whim, I
tested out my one-arm overhead press and I nailed my half-bodyweight press with
a 44 lb kettlebell and a 35 lb kettlebell stacked on top of each other. I haven’t overhead pressed in months and yet I
still hit a PR.
These results are not atypical, by
the way. Crazy things happen on the 40day Easy Strength program. Ask anyone who’s done
it. If you haven’t already, I’ll assume
you’d like to ask me, so let me lay out 31 big lessons on strength training for
life that I learned from this awesome program.
1)Be
consistent. This goes for both your training sessions and your technique. If you’re having a rough day, go
lighter! If you’re having a great day,
go a little heavier, but whatever you do, just get your work done, and
do it in a way that will allow you to do it again tomorrow.
2)Record
yourself. If you’re like me, you probably
like to train alone. It’s a good idea to
record yourself periodically so you can see the things you can’t feel. Hone in on things you can tweak and then
tweak them one at a time.
3)When
you feel good, go heavier. This is pretty self explanatory.
4)You’re
only as good as your last rep. This is a big one. Pavel and
Dan John point out in Easy Strength (both the book and the DVD seminar) that
the last rep in a set carries a lot of weight.
Your body will remember the last stimulus in a set of stimuli better
than anything. So if you struggle on the
rep five of your second set of five, you will teach your body to struggle,
rather than convince it that the movement is easy. Case in point: In my 88 lb pullup, I coasted
through everything but the last two inches – the EXACT same ROM I had trouble
with on my last rep of 2 x 5 with just 25 lbs.
Same goes for my one-arm-one-leg pushups. The moral: in your go-to rep scheme of 2x5,
go heavy enough to challenge yourself, but light enough so that you don’t
struggle on even the last rep. If I had
been better about this I guarantee you I would have pulled more than 88 lbs and
would have knocked out more pushups.
5)Go
lighter than you think you need to. I know I’ve already made
this point a few times, but it’s worth repeating. This
is like an organized version of greasing the groove.
6)Don’t
dilly dally. I would often take between 20-45 minutes to
do my sessions. That’s entirely too
much. 10-15 minutes is easily doable.
7)When
you feel bad, back off. I did tonic workouts a total of maybe three
times, and only once was after a heavy singles session. The others were because I didn’t sleep well
or long enough and just needed to get in and get out. The next day I came back and everything was
back to normal again. Backing off will
help you move forward, not throw a wrench into your progress. Don’t be stubborn.
8)Find
out your max in your chosen lifts beforehand. This is good for obvious reasons – to measure
the distance travelled to Point B, figure out where Point A is.
9)Be
creative.
I decided to do a few bodyweight exercises involving increasingly tough
leverage, so I had to “make up” a few progression steps on the Dragon Flags, as
I couldn’t even do one negative before starting the program. Same went for one-arm-one-leg pushups. I did them on an elevation and through time
dropped the elevation lower and lower.
For single-side rack carries, my kettlebells don’t go heavier than 70
lbs, so I just stacked kettlebells on top of each other when I felt like I
needed more weight.
10)DO
NOT MISS A REP FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER. For
the same reason that the last rep carries a lot of weight (see #4), failure holds
a lot more weight –namely in a place where you can’t move it because you
decided to suck. So don’t fail. Seriously, it will screw everything up. If you try to be a tough guy/girl and you go
for something that you can’t complete, it will come back to bite you more than
an overlooked technique tweak. Teach
your body to succeed with light weights, not to fail with heavier ones.
11)Be
patient. You may hit PRs pretty early on. I did.
Then you may not hit another one until the end of the program. It doesn’t mean it’s not going to
happen. See lesson #1 and stick to the
program.
12)When
the program is done, wait a few days to test your max. I tried to test my max on
one-arm-one-leg pushups on day 40 and sucked.
Let your body rest up and you’ll know when you should go for it. Again, be patient.
13)Don’t
be greedy. When you hit one PR, be happy with
it and don’t push your luck. See #10.
14)Warm
up as needed. Get-ups and
swings or goblet squats and some joint mobility exercises are a great warm-up
depending on what you’re working on.
Remember, it’s a warm-up, not a workout, so keep it simple.
15)Work
on improving one thing at a time. If
you have a few things you could fix up on your technique, just hammer the major
one first and work on the others later.
You’ve got 40 days, so don’t worry about overwhelming yourself.
16)Never
follow a heavy day with a heavier day. It
just won’t work in your favor. Take a
step back after you take a leap forward.
17)Choose
what you NEED to work on, not just what you WANT to work on. I love overhead presses,
but I’ve done so many of them over the years that I figured I needed to work on
a horizontal push instead. I made some
major progress and I’m glad I focused on that instead.
18)Bored?Suck it up. It’s not
supposed to be entertaining, it’s supposed to make you strong. There were a few days where I had to drag
myself outside to practice, but I stuck to it.
If you have exercise ADD, reign it in for 40 days and then go back to
jumping from program to program.
19)Don’t
overthink things. This goes
along with working on improving one thing at a time. Just go through the motions – the results will
follow.
20)QUALITY
of reps. This is self-explanatory.
21)Don’t
struggle on anything! See #4. If you aren’t 100% sure that you will hit it
if you attempt it, save it for another day when you will.
22)Strength
really is a skill. Treat it as such.
23)Don’t
worry about maintaining other qualities unrelated to your five exercises. Yeah, your conditioning
might suffer, but you’ll get it back much faster when you’re stronger
anyway. Science and experience has shown
that.
24)Stick
with 2x5 as your go-to rep scheme. It’s enough volume to “grease the groove” and it’s enough weight to
reinforce strength building while also being light enough not to burn you out.
25)Move
up your 2x5 weight once the weight starts flying. The
2x5 weight will increase during the 40 day program, so don’t just mindlessly
stick with the same weight. For example,
I started off doing pistols with 10 extra lbs and by the end of the program I
was doing them with 25 extra lbs.
26)Set
lofty but reasonable goals. It should be both scary and exciting. Also, keep in mind that if you can currently
only squeeze out 5 presses with a 24 kg kettlebell, you won’t end up pressing
the Beast in just 40 sessions, but you’ll definitely be shocked by how much
your press will go up.
27) Practice with the end in mind. And remember, you have to
train tomorrow too, so don’t beat yourself down – build yourself up.
28)If
you have to be creative with your progressions, do it intelligently. Do exercises that will lead
you toward your goals. If you want to work on one-arm pushups, don’t bother
with any two-handed variations.
29)Maintain
your mobility/flexibility. It won’t get in the way of your strength, so
don’t let it go to pot.
30)Get
soft tissue work as needed. You might need it. I did.
I took a whole week off to see a massage therapist and a chiropractor to
work on a big fat knot that took hold in my upper back, and my strength didn’t
go away at all. As a side note, taking a
week off might not be a bad idea if you feel like you need it. Your strength will still be there.
31)Make
a list of what you’ve learned. This is by far the most eye-opening program I’ve
ever done. I’ve learned more by doing
this than any other program I’ve ever done, so if you plan on lifting and
hitting PRs for years and decades, you might as well learn as much as you can
from it. But write it down so you can
articulate it all when you’re done and look back at it later. And of course, share with me what you’ve
learned so I can squeeze the most out of the program the next time I do this J
So there you have it. I learned a lot of other points that relate
to the main points that you’ve read here, but rather than sitting here and
convincing yourself of the potential benefits of this program, just get out
there and do it! *BONUS LESSON* Have
faith, be consistent, and watch as you become jaw-droppingly awesome. Most people sacrifice the awesomeness they’ll
become in the end of a program in favor of satiating their exercise ADD. These are the same people who haven’t PR’d in
years. No matter what program you do,
stick it out until the end. (Note: If you don't yet have the book, don't dilly-dally! It's been called one of the greatest books on strength and conditioning ever, and that's not hyperbole, either. Get the book HERE, and buy the DVD Seminar HERE )
While that jaw of yours is dropped, put some delicious food in it! Here is a recipe for those out there with a
late-night sweet tooth.
My
friend Chris is one strong MoFo. He’s too humble to brag about himself,
so since he’s not looking, I’ll do it for him. I first met him at the RKC
in Orlando in 2010 and could not believe what he could do. It was
ridiculous. Picture this: At 160 lbs he performed a fast,
easy-looking pullup with the Beast (a 106 lb kettlebell). He then
performed a pistol with the same weight! I’d say I was impressed, but
that’d be an understatement. Since then he has gone on to do an
assortment of ridiculous/extreme/epic things, including tearing phonebooks in
half, bending some thick nails duct taped together (which he graciously mailed
to me), achieved a BS in Sport and Exercise science, and even holds the coveted
CSCS certification. Most magnificently, he has packed literally dozens of
lbs onto his frame in record time, and in record fashion – namely, OLD
fashioned. Through an epic appetite and hard work, NOT by cowing out and
succumbing to the supplement and protein shake frenzy that has a firm squeeze
on the strength world’s steroid-shriveled nutsack.
I asked Chris to write this article because he’s every bit as strong as he looks
and then some. Since strength is what I love to write about (and what you
love to read about), when Chris talks, I listen. And you should,
too. His legs are stronger than yours. His back is stronger than
yours. His abs are stronger than yours. Hell, his coffee is
stronger than yours! Chris’s article is all about what has become the
dark side of strength training: mass building. Chris will boldly go where
many men have tried to go before, but have failed. If you’re tired
of falling short and are ready to slap some serious beef onto your frame,
look no further than his sagely advice. If it’s more than you can
handle, bookmark this page and come back next week when I’ll write about
puppies and kitties and rainbows to keep you safe from the hard truth
you’re about to read.
Enjoy.
* * *
An Honest Approach To Bulking
By Chris Davis, BS, RKC, CSCS
This is
not a healthy article. This is about how to put on size and strength legally
and frugally. This will appear to be very radical compared to what we always
hear in the health and fitness industry, but I’m a black sheep anyway. What I’m
going to suggest to you is not too far off from how the average American eats,
but if you want to carry around extra mass and be able to back up that mass I
suggest you listen.
Of Mice...
If you
listen to Atreyu’s song “Lip Gloss and Black”, there is an excellent lyric that
has stuck with me since I first heard it, “an emphasis on function, rather than
design”. Just think about that for a little bit. I don’t care what anything
looks like; I care about what it does. You will lose your precious 6 pack, but
gain much needed and wanted strength. I tend to look at people with low body
fat as falling short of their potential. “Mass moves mass.”Take a look at bodybuilders on stage; they
are at their weakest when they actually look their best. The adage is that “the
front side of your body is for show, and the back side is for go.” You’ll look
pleasing aesthetically, but aesthetics alone don’t guarantee performance.
...AND MEN!
To
build size and strength you need to up your sugar intake. Increasing your fat
intake alone will not simply do it. Yes, there are more than double the
calories in fat than in sugar, but remember that a calorie is not simply a
calorie. Fat is hormonally neutral, so you don’t get an insulin spike from
eating almonds. If you do, it isn’t as significant as sugar.Sugar releases insulin from the pancreas
which in turn opens up cells membranes for intra- and extracellular nutrients
to pass through the cell membrane. That’s a gross oversimplification of the
entire process, but that is beyond the scope of this article. The point being
that eating 9 k/Cal of fat per gram does not give you the same hormonal effect
as 4k/Cal per gram of sugar.
I
remember learning in high school that carbs (sugar) is energy, but if you eat
too much energy it will turn to fat. Not only that, but as strength athletes we
are working our Type II muscle fibers which rely predominately on glycosis
(sugar) for energy. With no sugar in your body how can it be expected to
function properly? Put gasoline in your diesel engine and see how far down the
road you get. A lot of these scientific terms such as ketosis, glycogen, anaerobic, and gluconeogenesis
aren’t just clever and meant to confuse, they each have a meaning and
understanding their meaning can make you a better athlete.
For decades a gallon of milk a
day (GOMAD) has been considered the best way to add muscle and strength. I
happen to agree and consider whole milk to be the “legal man’s steroids”. I
cannot afford a GOMAD so I stick with about a quart or a little more, especially
right after my squat sessions. Mammals drink milk when we are young so we can
grow and gain the strength to walk or hold our own heads up. Keep drinking it
after infancy and you will continue to grow too.In Paul Anderson’s autobiography he wrote
that he would drink GALLONS of milk each day. Yes, he was a big man, but he was
solid. This was also due to how we trained and I’ll talk about that later in
this article. I don’t think he could’ve squatted 1,202 pounds for a double raw
or set the world record in the back lift at 6,270 pounds without drinking his
milk and consuming massive amounts of calories.
A personal favorite of mine to
eat are Oreo’s, but in all honesty I’m on the “see-food” diet. A Triple Double
Oreo is 100 calories per cookie and most of that is sugar. It’s all about cheap
sources of calories. Anything with a lot of sugar in it will help you add size
and strength. Don’t forget that you get stronger when you rest, so doesn’t your
body need a source of energy to repair the micro trauma you inflicted on it
during your training session? You also need a store of energy roughly 8 hours
prior to your training session to get complete. This is why endurance athletes
carb load before an event. You can’t eat something and be ready to go
immediately.
Just eat what you see in front
of you: Sweet potatoes, pizza, milk, coffee, Monster’s, Snickers, et. al. Your goal here is to put on size
and strength. Just eat like the average American. Don’t forget you’re training
much harder than the coach potato is.
I know all the “Paleo Police”
out there right now are screaming “THAT’S NOT HOW THE CAVEMEN WOULD EAT!!” and
throwing out data like “We’re 99.99999999999999999% like the cavemen” and using
words like “gluten” and “insulin resistance”. Valid points, but I’m not living
in a cave, something will kill me one day, and if we’re so genetically similar
to cavemen might they eat a Twinkie if they saw it? You did once in your life.
If not I’ll eat it for them and you. More for me. I never said I don’t eat my
fruits and veggies, but measures need to be taken if you want to weigh more
than 200 pounds and throw some serious weight around.
If you’re going to increase your
daily caloric intake by at least 1,000 calories you will need to train like it.
My basic list of training looks like this: Squats, kettlebell snatches, loaded
carries, and sprints. Paul Anderson wrote (if I remember correctly) that he had
an 11 second 100m time and could jump onto a 36” table at will. He was 360
pounds! When I do my squats I go anywhere from 1 to 20 reps, with that being a
true 20 rep set. I very rarely pick up anything lighter that a 32 kilo bell to
snatch with. Any kind of loaded carry, be it a farmer’s walk all the way to a
yoke carry, will do. Your waist will increase, but this is a result of getting
stronger. Why are snow shoes so wide? So
they can distribute your bodyweight evenly across the snow. The same principle
applies with a wider waist line when you squat. You can’t drink a weight gainer
shake and spend your hour in the gym isolating your brachioradialis. You have
to train the way you eat. The day I am no longer able to train the way I do is
the day I stop eating the way I do. I want to be strong, I can’t get that way
eating 5 oz of chicken breast, 3 cups of broccoli, and almond slivers. Don’t
believe me, ask Hossein Rezazadeh, Andy Bolton, Donnie Thompson or Mariusz
Pudzianowski how they eat.
Andy Bolton pulling 1000 + lbs. He eats salad just in case his steak gets hungry.
One of my favorite and easiest
ways to take in extra calories is to fill a cup with Oreo’s to the brim. I
stuff as many in there as I can and then pour milk into the cup filling it to
the top as well and eating the Oreo’s out with a spoon then drinking the left
over milk.
Come for the goofy hair. Stay for the awesome recipe.
Yes, I have put on a lot of
weight, not all of it has been good, but I have also gotten a lot stronger as a
result of eating like this. I am also able to handle much more intense training
sessions . The veins in my 6 pack are long gone and if I can flex in just the
right way with the right kind of light I can kinda see the linea alba line in
my gut, but I’m more concerned with the bar getting heavier then my beach
muscles glistening in the sun. Some people are very strong with a very low
percentage of body weight, but they lie outside the bell curve and were born
with excellent genetics. If we all could’ve been born like that then we would
all go to the Olympics. If you’re just another face in the crowd like I am
you’ll need to eat dirty. And it tastes better too.
Chris Davis, BS, RKC, CSCS lives with his wife Judy and their adorable puppies in St. Cloud, FL. When not lifting heavy things, he doles out free training knowledge on his public Facebook page, the St. Cloud Institute for Human Performance. Like his page and you will become a better man (even if you're a lady): St. Cloud Institute for Human Performance
