“Learn how to separate the majors and the minors. A lot of people don’t do well simply because they major in minor things.”—Jim Rohn

I’m relatively sure that Mr. Rohn was not referring to exercise selection when he said this, but it nails one of the biggest issues in programming and exercise selection. We love to major in exercises that should be minors. Or, put another way, I think there is confusion between spices and the main dishes.

Spices add flavor and are the secret to great main dishes. However, outside of garlic (I mean, who hasn’t eaten an entire head of roasted garlic—or was that just me?), spices make horrible main dishes. If someone made you a nice loaf of nutmeg or a salad of basil, I think you would be wishing for a different main dish. But sprinkle a bit of nutmeg into a French toast mix or a bit of basil in a tomato sauce and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Exercise works the same way.

An Example of Spice: The Kettlebell Arm Bar

Sprinkling in a “spice” like a kettlebell arm bar can assist with taking your get-ups from ordinary to extraordinary.  That’s because the kettlebell arm bar can help to stabilize a shoulder lacking some motor control or it can mobilize a stiff shoulder so the overhead position can become more stable for one person and easier to access for another.

For the individual needing stability and motor control, they may only need to be in side-lying with the knee on the ground and a properly positioned shoulder (proprioceptive vertical) so the “stuff” responsible for a stable shoulder can learn to do its job (the details of which are beyond the scope of this article). This version or portion of the kettlebell arm bar should be held as long as there is safe progress in letting the shoulder/body learn but not so long that fatigue sets in.

For the individual needing mobilization, they may roll to the same position as the motor control version but then continue to attempt to turn the hips toward the ground (after straightening the leg down beside the other limb), and therefore perform a bit of a bottom up t-spine rotation (not a huge amount) and get a great effect on the anterior chain of the shoulder.

Key points:

1. The fist faces the direction you are turning.
2. You maintain a straight line from the fingertips of the bottom arm to the feet, and you don’t hyperextend the spine.
3. Proprioceptive vertical is maintained and the kettlebell is not allowed to pull the shoulder into an unsafe hyperextended position. (Don’t try for a stretch.)
4. The position is not held to fatigue and failure.

That is a lot of spice out of one drill!

Identify Your Main Dish

Within the SFG curriculum, we discuss keeping drills and skills in perspective. As discussed, a drill like an arm bar may address a motor control or mobility issue, but the skill we want to enhance is the military press or the get-up. Due to the benefit that comes from a drill like an arm bar, it can be easy to want to “make a main dish of it” or “major in it.” But drills as majors can overload the system, reduce the benefits, and take the emphasis off the real skill we want to enhance.

Look at your own programming (I can’t) and start to separate your exercise selection into drills and skills (or spices and main dishes, if you like). Are you pursuing the Simple & Sinister goal? Halos are a spice not a main dish. Goblet squats are a spice not a main dish. In S&S, the goals are the swing and the get-up, and these should be your “majors.” But deadlifts and halos might be the “minors” you use as drills to enhance the skills/majors/main dishes.

You Can’t Eat Spices for Dinner

Sometimes a minor begins as a major and then becomes a minor again. A student entering kettlebell training may “major” in the kettlebell deadlift for a time, but as their skill develops and the kettlebell swing can be taught, then the deadlift becomes a spice/minor to enhance the swing. And there is nothing wrong with that scenario.

But sometimes a minor becomes a major simply because we are better at the minor drill and still not comfortable with the major skill. For example, the bottom up kettlebell press is an excellent drill for finding an individual pressing groove and identifying strength differences between sides, but it is a spice for the main dish of the kettlebell military press. As a student is finding their groove with the bottom up kettlebell press, they may become enamored of it and begin to focus on it too much. This can lead to not transferring the drill to the goal skill and losing the lockout position (the bottom up kettlebell press lockout position is different from the military press lockout).

We do love to train our strengths, but it is the improvement of our weaknesses that can really drive us to our goals. So again, take a look at your training. Are you sprinkling on a spice or majoring in a minor? This revelation may just hold the key to achieving your goal.

The post Spices vs. Main Dishes: How to Program a Proper Training Menu appeared first on StrongFirst.

In the 1950s, medical research was primarily done on Caucasian males. It was thought it would be simpler to study only one group. But in reality, race, culture, and gender all play a role in how we respond to medications. The study of individual differences in medicine is a relatively recent development.

A special issue of the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics discussed “pharmacoethnicity,” which is how ethnicity affects how drugs are processed by the body. Even within ethnicities, people process drugs differently. For example, genetic allele necessary to process antidepressants was less prevalent in Ethiopian (9%), Tanzanian (17%), and Zimbabwean (34%) populations than other African populations.

Just as we might be nearing a future of personalized medicine, maybe we need to think of our training and diet in a more personalized manner, too. A personalized training plan would play up to our unique strengths and address our individual weaknesses.

The Average Is Not So Average

Throughout my education, I wondered about individual differences. I saw treatments work well for some individuals but not so well for others. I did a postdoctoral degree on the topic and worked to create specialized statistical tools to measure individual differences.

Below is a graph of an intervention study. In this figure, the red line represents the average. We can see that it goes up over time.

These results were published based on the assessment that it was a treatment that works (for the average person). But that red “average” line was actually calculated from many individual lines (in black). For some people, the treatment was a resounding success, indicated in the way their scores skyrocketed up. For others, the treatment had detrimental effects.

Imagine this treatment was instead a training program for elite athletes. Some people following this program would benefit greatly, most would benefit a bit, and some would get weaker from following this protocol. So how do you know if a program is for you?

Your Training Should Not Be the Same As An Elite Athlete’s

In working with CrossFit athletes, I have found many people wanting to emulate Rich Froning or Dmitry Klokov’s training. Both are known for high training volume with heavy weights. The problem is that most of us are not in the same place as Froning or Klokov. Their training background and years of experience prepared them for their current work.

We look up to elite athletes (Quadrant 4 athletes in Dan John’s and Pavel’s Easy Strength) and we may be drawn to emulate their training. But most elite athletes built a strong foundation of skills at younger ages. According to Tracking Football, 88.5% of the 2016 NFL draftees participated in a sport other than football during their high school career. Building a base of strength and conditioning allowed them to be successful in their specialization.

Given all that, to get to the level of Froning, Klokov, or an NFL draftee, you might be better off following one of their earlier training regimens as opposed to their current one. In short: unless you are already elite, don’t train like elites.

General Physical Preparedness Is Good Enough for Most

To determine the perfect individualized program for yourself, a great deal of work and experimentation needs to be done. With much less trouble, you can get close to the same benefits by following a program that works well for most people.

Simple & Sinister was written to assist most everyone in the general population. It blends strength, conditioning, and mobility work that will benefit everyone from Navy SEALs to older individuals. It is the program I would give to both my mom and someone training to prepare for the SFG Level I Certification.

Think S&S isn’t for you? Eric Frohardt, retired Navy SEAL and CEO of StrongFirst, chooses Simple & Sinister as his program to maintain strength and endurance throughout the year.

Become a Student of Strength

To individualize your strength and training program, you must first become a student of strength. As Pavel has said, to get good at programming, one must study programming. Just as a researcher does a literature review to find out what is already known, you must do the same in learning about strength, conditioning, and mobility programs.

Here are some great foundational articles to review:

Strength Programming

• The Origins of StrongFirst Programming: The Soviet System
• Patience of Strength
• Plan Strong for the Olympic Weightlifting Athlete

Endurance Programming

• Simple and Sinister with Heart Rate Monitoring
• StrongFirst Roadwork
• Simple and Sinister Progression

Mobility Training

• Miseducation of Stretching
• Revisiting Athletic Body in Balance
• A Long Way to Press
• A Speed Bump in the Get-Up
• Taking Charge of Your Back Pain

Be a Scientist of Strength

It is not enough to know about strength and conditioning, you must also act as a scientist and test everything. The Soviet scientists were known to be meticulous keepers of training logs and programs. They would pour over research logs to find what worked and what didn’t. To find the best individualized program, you must do the same.

Here are some tips to follow in your testing:

• Keep meticulous records. Record all possible outcomes, such as strength, perceived rate of exertion, diet, and mood. As a researcher, I don’t like subjective recording such as perceived rate of exertion. It is too difficult to compare across athletes. However, in your own record keeping, you will know what an easy lift feels like compared to a more difficult lift.
• Change only one variable at a time. When people attempt to make changes in their behaviors, they often make many changes simultaneously. But with simultaneous changes, we have no way of knowing which worked and which didn’t. The Whole 30 is unique in that it is a nutrition protocol that requires a strict diet for thirty days, followed by experimentation. The thirty days is to clean out the body from the previous effects of your diet. The experimentation phase then allows you to test to see how individual foods affect your body when they are reintroduced. This type of experimentation allows you to see what works one variable at a time.
• Stick to the program long enough. As a student of strength, you will be tempted to try on program after program. Each new program you learn about will seem to hold the “secrets” of strength for you. Be patient, finish your current program, and figure out what worked and what didn’t before you make changes.

Summary

As a researcher in individual differences, I suspect there is a perfect training program for you today and a different perfect training program for you next year. To find that perfect program, you have to be both a student and scientist of strength. You must put in a great deal of effort to learn and to test out programs.

But for most people, it would be best—and simpler—to follow a general physical preparedness program. Simple & Sinister is one of the best because we already know from the test of time that it works for the majority of people.

The post How to Unlock the Potential of Individual Differences appeared first on StrongFirst.

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind—adjust your sails.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

There are things in life we cannot change. Death, taxes, weather, or the way the wind is blowing. But there are things we can change. Our attitude (those of you with teenage children just laughed, I know), our furniture arrangement, our clothes—you get the idea. But as the Serenity Prayer reminds us, we need to know what we cannot change and what we can change, and not only know which is which, but accept those things we cannot.

The H. Jackson Brown, Jr. quotation above tells us that sometimes “adjusting your sails” is the key to handling things in life. This means adjusting ourselves to the challenge at hand. But while a shift in perception can be powerful, there are times when it isn’t the wind or our attitude that is getting in the way—sometimes we encounter a hard block. A hard block might be wanting to go to the beach, but you live nowhere near a lake or ocean. Or a hard block might be thought of as the classic “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”

We want to bring this perspective to your structure and exercise. One of the things we cannot change is our anatomical structure. Short of going back and picking different parents or drastic surgical procedures, our structure is our structure. And, wow, is there variation from one of us to the next!

Today, I want to focus on one particular area of our anatomical structure and the impact of variations. I am going to suggest a way to individualize foot position for symmetrical stance exercise (swings, squats, etc.) because sometimes we need to “adjust our sails.”

Why Not Adjusting Our Sails Can Mean Failure

Because we tend to follow rules or because our perception of what we “should” be doing is set in a particular direction, we can all end up trying to fit that square peg into a round hole. I know I did in the past. My hip structure has a high alpha angle (a measure of when the femoral head changes shape—anything over 49 degrees is considered clinically significant). This structural reality means I should adjust my sail—I mean, stance—to accommodate. (For more detail, read the article I wrote for Functional Movement Systems entitled Why Movement Screening and Exercise Play by Different Rules.)

The problem with not stopping to adjust our sails is that we can unknowingly be persisting in movements that may eventually cause us issues. With the hips in particular, two things can happen pretty easily when we fight our structure:

1. Damage to the hip. A 2004 study published in Clinical Orthopaedics & Related Research, demonstrated that 87% of hip labrum tears were associated with at least one structural anomaly and a 2008 study published in Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine found that up to 74% of people with a labrum tear did not display a clear mechanism of how their hip was hurt. But as I laid out in my FMS article and has been well reported in many studies, findings on imaging do not necessarily correlate with pain and injury. What imaging did for me was confirm my structure and allow me to adjust to it instead of fighting it.
2. When the hip stops the back starts. As Dr. Stu McGill has discussed, when your hip cannot go beyond a certain range due to a structural block, your body will likely make up the difference from another area—and the lower back is a frequent victim.

Given this information, what we want to do is optimize hip motion to enhance spine stability. Enter the Lock and Rock.

How to Do the Lock and Rock

1. Begin standing in a symmetrical stance with the feet about hip width apart and feet facing pretty straight ahead.
2. “Lock” the glutes in (squeeze the cheeks as hard as you can) and unweight the front of the foot (the “tock”) so your foot can spin/turn out on the heel.
3. It is critical here that you allow your feet to turn out as much as they want to. Being in socks on a hard wood floor or on a slide board with booties on are ways to make sure the feet turn out as they wish to.

Take a moment to go do this.

How far did your feet turn out? Ten degrees? Twenty degrees? Did they both turn out the same amount? If one foot turns out further, I recommend first trying to match your feet to the greater degree of out-turn. See if that works for you. You may wind up with slightly different foot positions in your left and right foot.

Once you determine this stance, try it in your kettlebell deadlift and see if you are able to achieve the kettlebell deadlift position more easily. Groove the new stance in the deadlift, and then try it in your swing and squat. Are you able to keep your spine in position better or get deeper? Take a video of yourself or have a training partner watch you so you can analyze your positions.

Adjusting the foot position so the hips “set the feet” allows you to have the best chance to optimize your hip motion. Being able to efficiently move from the hips should make it easier to hip hinge and squat with better spine position and strength/power. If you or a student struggle to find the bottom position of the deadlift or squat with a stable spine, try individualizing the foot position to see if it gets you out of trying to fit the square peg in the round hole.

Individualize Your Sails

I always used an out-turn in my stance and only ran into problems when I started going away from this natural out-turn and doing what I thought I “should” be doing according to some people’s version of the rules.

The reality of using the out-turn is the need to stretch the hip so we don’t get “stuck” in the out-turn (as much as our structure will allow us to stretch away from this). Therefore, kettlebell windmills and the 90/90 stretch from Simple & Sinister can be important tools. While we can’t change our structure we can “move with it” and try to achieve as much of a balanced ability to move by individualizing the foot position but also being mindful of “doing the opposite” to balance out the movements as much as possible. The idea of balancing out pressing work with rowing or pulling work is a good analogy here.

Give the Lock and Rock a try to see if individualizing your foot position to “fit” your hips assists you in better symmetrical stance exercise. As always, if using a new technique causes any issues at all you should stop and work with a healthcare practitioner (especially in the case of pain) to evaluate your hip(s).

References:
1. Groh MM, Herrera J. “A comprehensive review of hip labral tears.” Curr Rev Musculoskeletal Med. 2009; 2:105-117.
2. Wenger, D., Kendell, K., Miner, M., & Trousdale, R. “Acetabular Labral Tears Rarely Occur in the Absence of Bony Abnormalities.” Clinical Orthopaedics & Related Research. 2004; 426, 145-150.

The post Adjust Your Sails (and Your Stance) with the Lock and Rock appeared first on StrongFirst.

Classes can be a fantastic opportunity for professional coaches to help more “regular” people and earn more money in the most time-efficient way. Let’s be honest, we love what we do, but we still need to pay the rent!

Classes can be rewarding for all involved, especially when you run them in your own gym and with people who are invested in a plan to move well, get strong, and look awesome. But these tend to be people who are either selected by you, because you hunted them out, or who sought you out for the product or message you embody.

Many young trainers don’t have the benefit of such an advantageous set up. They may be working in a large chain gym and be expected to instruct eight class hours a week as a part of their job or they may have just started out at a studio and taken on freelance group classes to earn extra money. In both scenarios, they may not have the benefit of having any control over who shows up to their classes.

What these trainers need is a class template they can adjust the minute the last person comes through the door (or even mid-class). A template that works regardless of the experience and ability level of class attendees. A proven plan that allows them to stop worrying about “where the class is going next” and allows them to focus on coaching movement and strength. If a class template like that is what you’re after, then keep reading.

Group Exercise Class = You Get What You Get

When I gave up my life as an engineer in search of the “big bucks” teaching fitness I started out teaching group kettlebell classes in various chain gyms around the city. This meant I had no control over who (or how many) walked through the door.

Sometimes I had two or three people, other times I had to deal with thirty-plus students and not enough kettlebells. Sometimes I had people who were clearly broken and wouldn’t admit it, and sometimes I had people who didn’t want to be coached. Even though I did not have full control over the class environment, I still had control over my integrity and my refusal to allow poor technique to be executed repeatedly in my presence. (I also refused to structure my class around entertaining people, as I’m not a day-care nurse and this isn’t a kindergarten.)

All this put together meant I needed to have class progressions that I could:

• Pull out of my hat at a moment’s notice
• Change on the fly if something wasn’t working
• Scale down for the unconditioned beginner
• Scale up for the experienced trainee

Plus, the classes needed to stick to my personal philosophy (move well, lift heavy, be awesome) and they had to be fun (if they don’t come back, you don’t get paid!).

Doing the Job You’re Paid For

When leading group classes for a gym, there has to be a degree of swallowing your pride. You are not there to provide a periodized program. You are not there to instill perfect form. You are there to provide thirty to sixty minutes of exercise.

What you can do is to subtly preach the word that “strength is a skill.” Given that, here are my two ironclad rules—the things that are non-negotiable:

1. Nobody does anything stupid or dangerous. I used to joke to my classes that we would continue to practice light kettlebell deadlifts as a group until everyone could do it to my satisfaction. The complication with this rule is that you cannot call people out to the front of a (chain gym) group exercise class and fix them, as this is a sure-fire way to get called into the manager’s office. You need to either address any specific issues anonymously to the whole group or surreptitiously coach the individual during a group drill/practice.
2. Nobody progresses beyond competence. In order to follow this rule, you need to be able to tell people to do the regressed variation or to use a lighter bell. People who do group exercise classes in chain gyms are not used to this. Novice and beginner coaches can sometimes be apprehensive about telling and end up asking. You need to be in control of your group—act like you own the place.

Men don’t tend to come to group classes as much as women, which leads to interesting scenarios when men do show up. When novice men come into a class, they tend to look at what the strongest women is using and try to go heavier. This is a mistake. Especially if the woman in question has been going to class three times a week for four years and can use the 16kg kettlebell for multiple rounds on the Deep Six (which I advise all group instructors to investigate for their intermediate and advanced groups).

The moral of the story is you must be prepared to stop people from doing something they don’t yet realize is foolish or dangerous. Teach people that progressions can be measured in four-kilo (and sometimes two-kilo) jumps. Class-goers need to be educated and encouraged to level up on exercises, otherwise they will always do what they’ve always done.

For a lot of people, group exercise class is less about fitness and more about socializing. We need to strike the balance between the need for social interaction and physical activity. This is where introducing some elements of friendly competition can be helpful in getting them to move up to that next-sized kettlebell.

This also means if you have mixed ability groups, the experienced people should be using heavier bells. If that’s not possible, then they should do a harder, more technical exercise. If the plan calls for swings, then the experienced trainees should do snatches or double-bell swings. Encourage these class members to set an example for newer students.

The Group Exercise Class Breakdown

The class needs to be broken into three or four parts, depending on who comes through your door:

1. Mobility warm-up and assessment
2. Teaching progression
3. Workout
4. Stretching

If you have a mostly novice group, the teaching progression section can actually become the workout.

Mobility and Assessment

You need a mobility warm-up that allows you to surreptitiously assess who you’ve got in front of you while also ticking all of the joint mobility boxes.  Fortunately, through the wider StrongFirst community we have many choices:

1. SFG Level I Mobility Complex (straight from the SFG Level I manual)
2. Flexible Steel Mobility Complex
3. GroundForce Method Exploration
4. ‘Naked’ Kalos Sthenos Turkish Get-up
5. Simple & Sinister Warm-up

The first two are the simplest to do and are the best to do with novice groups as they are “copy and do” and the movements are fairly simple (this does not mean easy). The GroundForce Method and Kalos Stenos Turkish Get-up are great for intermediate groups who have invested some time with you. They are more complicated and require some time to learn. They do, however, provide you more screening information than the first two options. The approach I take is to slowly insert elements of them into warm-ups and workouts over a long term and then one day bring it all together.

The Simple & Sinister warm-up is an evolution on the Pavel classic Program Minimum and represents the shortest possible warm up that ticks the boxes. It’s my go-to choice for thirty-minute long classes. It’s a simple and easy-to-follow, yet thorough warm-up.

Teaching Progressions

The aim of the teaching progression laid out below is to provide a further warm-up that teaches the technical elements needed for the swing, goblet squat, push-up and birddog/crawl, while also preparing for a workout containing those exercises. For novice/beginner groups, this segment can on its own be the workout.

1. Hinge drills into pop and chop (a.k.a. the Naked Swing)
2. Plank position (Yin style)
3. Deadlifts
4. Plank position (Yang/hard style)
5. Deadlifts (bring the plank to the deadlift)
6. Plank position (Yang)
7. Hike pass
8. Push-up position plank (Yang)
9. Deadstop swing
10. Negative hard style push-up (3-5 practices)
11. Swing practice (6-10 reps)
12. Negative hard style push-up or hard style push-up (find your 80%)
13. Swing practice (6-10 reps)
14. Rocking squat (checking for squat mobility)
15. Swing practice
16. Goblet squat practice (3 reps)
17. Swing practice
18. Goblet squat practice
19. Swing practice
20. Bird dog (left and right)
21. Swing practice
22. Crawling 1 (baby crawl or creeping)
23. Swing practice
24. Crawling 2 (find your 80%)
25. Swing practice

Encourage the students to never go beyond 70 to 80% of what they can do. Failure is not an option.

From here, you have enough to work with for an actual workout. Alternatively, with a very novice group we can stay in this skill practice format and skip the workout segment (below).

Workout 1: The Core 4

I call this one the Core 4. The question always arises as to whether I named this because the four exercises are great for strengthening the torso or whether the four exercises form a core foundation from which to build upon. The answer is “yes.”

The workout is a short circuit consisting of four exercises plus additional mobility drills to be performed as active recovery. The exercises are:

1. Two-handed swings x 10
2. Goblet squat x 3
3. Push-up variation x 3-5 reps
4. Crawl or bird dog variation
5. Mobility drill (or diaphragmatic breathing practice)

Repeat for 10 to 15 sets

For the push-ups, those three to five repetitions should represent around the student’s 60-70% repetition maximum in that variation. If a novice can do five proper push-ups, then that puts them at about three push-ups per round in the circuit. If we elevated their hands and this took them to eight push-ups, then in the circuit we’d have them do five.

Stay away from variations where your student’s repetition maximum is less than five, as the cumulative effect over the circuit will either mean they need to drop repetitions in subsequent rounds or sacrifice technique. There’s no problem with the first few rounds feeling easy.

This workout can be biased towards different goals depending on the group. It can even be used with mixed experience groups, with more experienced students using heavier loads, performing more repetitions, or performing more demanding drills.

It can be tailored using the following parameters:

• Skill: Moderate load/leverage, medium repetitions and many sets
• Strength: Heavy load/leverage, low repetitions and moderate sets
• Metabolic HIIT: Relatively light load/leverage, many repetitions and many sets

A higher skill version to be done in a mixed group:

1. One-handed swing, snatch, or double kettlebell swing/snatch (see below)
2. Single kettlebell racked squat or double kettlebell front squat
3. Push-up variation (this could be regressed versions of the one-armed or handstand)
4. Crawl (see below)
5. Mobility drill

Repeat for 8 to 12 sets

If using snatches in a group where there are students also using swings, use lower reps for the snatch or you’ll have dead time in your class where the swingers are waiting for the snatchers. 6 snatches per 10 swings is a good general rule for groups. Having the group wait in the rack position to squat to your command is a good way of keeping the class together.

If advanced students are doing regressions of the one-armed and handstand push-ups, I would have them do easy variations of the crawls so as to not overwork the shoulders and allow for some extra core rest.

The mobility drills I like to use are:

1. Rocking squat/frog
2. Birddog variations
3. Brettzels or arm sweeps
4. TGU armbar or bent armbar
5. Kettlebell pull overs
6. Naked Turkish get-up drills
7. Naked windmill

During the mobility drills, you can have an eye towards developing skills for more advanced exercises. The above list develops a lot of the skill and attributes for the get-up, bent press, and windmill.

Workout 2: Variations on a Theme

BYOB (Bring your own ‘Bell) Workout

1. Swing
2. Squat
3. Carry to next location

Repeat for 10 to 15 sets

Carries could include farmer’s carry (two kettlebells), suitcase (one kettlebell), racked (single or double), and overhead. Here the carries replace the push-ups and crawls, yet do a similar function in developing an alive core loading and strengthening of the shoulder complex, especially in the racked and waiter carries.

Example: Level 1

Example: Level 3

Example: Level 5

Workout 3: Circle Variations

Make a large circle of different weight kettlebells, everyone begins by performing the swings together for safety reasons, then follows the sequence:

1. Swings
2. Goblet squats
3. Push-up variation
4. Crawl to the center of the circle
5. Perform a mobility drill as a group
6. Walk back to the next kettlebell in the circle (move clockwise/to your left)

With the above examples to use as a temple, it is possible to create many different workouts using “only” swing variations, squats, push-ups, crawls, and mobility drills. You can even cycle through those three workouts every session for many weeks or months depending on the regularity of your class. You would be developing a solid base for all of your students to work from and these workouts will help you do that.

Group Exercise Over the Longer Term

Once around two-thirds of your class is technically competent, a class generally becomes easier to run, even if the other third is completely made up of novices and beginners. This happens in part due to not having to correct so many people, and also because if you surround people with competence, then beginners tend to live up to the example given by the majority. So a good coaching strategy would be to integrate beginners with experienced people—don’t let them hide at the back!

These workouts may look simple (they are) and easy (they aren’t). A lot of my more experienced students have grown to jokingly despise days where it is “mostly noobs,” as they know they will need to level up to the heavier kettlebells to let the newcomers use the lighter weights—and therefore the “simple” workouts become a real challenge.

Bonus Rule 1

The class isn’t about you and you’re not a cheerleader. You’re a coach. Once the group instruction is out of the way and people know what they’re doing, it’s time for you to walk the room, move around, and watch people from different angles.

I’m not saying never lead a workout from the front, but you don’t need to do that all the time. You are the leader—that sometimes means you need to lead from the front in a motivational style and sometimes it is good to give the students a show to drive up moral. But most of the time you can lead best by taking an overview and fixing technique problems as and when they arise.

Bonus Rule 2

Years of teaching complex Kali stick-fighting patterns has taught me the value of a mirrored wall. Turn your back on the class and have them follow you through the movement from behind, the mirror is for you to watch them, not for them to watch themselves. Complex asymmetrical movements (like the get-up, windmill, bent press, and some mobility drills) tend to be easier to follow if a student can copy you without have to think about left versus right translation.

So there you have some simple, easy-to-implement ideas for instructing in a less than controllable environment. Stick to your principles, don’t try to entertain the class with made-up exercises, and focus on the fundamentals.

Special thanks to Claire Booth, SFG II, SFL, SFB; Ben Bradbury, SFG, SFL; Paul Lynch, SFG, SFL; and David Szego, SFG, SFL, for their help in making this article possible.

The post Group Exercise Class: A Template for Successful Kettlebell Training appeared first on StrongFirst.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”—St. Francis of Assisi.

If somebody had told me that one day I would be able to comfortably swing the 48kg Beast for 100 reps of one-handed swings in five minutes at a bodyweight 68kg, I would have told him he was crazy. But lo and behold, I can do exactly this today, and I got here much faster than I expected—and without hurrying.

And that is not all. I pulled close to 2.5 times my bodyweight in the deadlift without having trained the deadlift, pressed half my bodyweight without pressing, hit a bent press personal record without bent pressing, owned a snatch test without snatching, and kept reasonable strength in many other exercises that I did not practice at all.

All I did was follow one simple program—a Simple & Sinister program.

This is my In-Between Simple & Sinister story, so please read on.

Why Did I Start Simple & Sinister?

A year ago, after I finished my barbell Power To The People! program, successfully fulfilling a goal of pulling 2.5-times bodyweight in deadlift, and after lots of traveling and teaching both at home and abroad, I decided to jump on Simple & Sinister (S&S). My original plan was to own the Simple goals, and then see what to do next. I thought of S&S as a kind of short-term transitional program.

Because I am basically never out of shape, to reach and “own” the Simple goals took me a relatively short time. After only a month and half, maybe two, I did the 100 one-arm swings in five minutes and five get-ups per arm in ten minutes with the 32kg kettlebell. Once I accomplished that, I  thought, “Well, why switch to something else? I enjoy the simplicity of the program and I feel great, so let’s continue.” So I set my sights on the Sinister goal of using the 48kg kettlebell—aka “The Beast.”

Six months after I started S&S, I did my first set of one-arm swings with the Beast and the first set of get-ups with 40kg. In April, I did all 100 swings with 48, and after a year of consistent practice I am very near to meeting the Sinister goal in get-ups as well.

Here are my thoughts, tips, and tricks from my training diary. You will learn some subtle, but very important details regarding the particular S&S drills. I will point out certain aspects of S&S program that are often overlooked, but which are key to your long-term improvement. And I will also share a few “WTH” moments regarding the transfer of swings and get-ups to other modalities and exercises.

S&S Warm-Up and Movement Prep

Pavel writes in S&S, “Keep your warm-ups short,” and has recommended on the forum that after few months you can skip halos and SFG hip bridges, but you should keep the prying goblet squats. Based on my experience, I am in total agreement with this.

When your shoulders are fine, your overhead position in the get-up perfect, you have woken up sleeping glutes, and you have a crisp swing lockout, you may skip the halo and StrongFirst hip bridge, and just do them when you feel like it (I still do them from time to time). Keep the prying goblet squat.

• Kettlebell Halo is a simple, but effective drill for loosening up the shoulders, but there is more. When I practice the halo, I also practice the correct lockout as well—straight knees, tight glutes, braced abs. Apart from loosening and strengthening the shoulders (this is a weighted mobility drill, after all) I think the halo also helps me keep my elbows healthy. When you start to do heavy swings and get-ups, you will need it.

• StrongFirst Hip Bridge wakes up the glutes and opens up tight hips. They are much needed after prolonged periods of sitting. If you have a desk job, don’t skip them. The hips play a crucial role not only in the swing, but also in the get-up. When my hips are tight, my get-ups don’t feel right, so before the get-ups I sometimes do few roll to elbow naked get-ups.

• Prying Goblet Squat is The Squat, period. Pavel said at our SFB Certification, “Not everybody needs to squat heavy, but everybody needs to squat. And the goblet squat is the squat for the people.” I treat S&S as my “SFG Big Three“— goblet squat, swing, and get-up—and never skip them in my practice. Also, make sure to read Jason Marshall’s 3 Squat Tips: Understanding Squat Cues.

Tips on the S&S Kettlebell Swing

Most people do the swing incorrectly because they think it is a two-count movement. This is how it’s usually demonstrated on YouTube University:

• 1 (down) = evading to soon, which leads to all kind of troubles like the weight pulling you forward, ending too low between the legs, etc.
• 2 (up) = lifting with the hands.

Wrong. Think of the swing as four-count movement. Let’s start from the top:

• 1 – Bell is falling, you wait in the plank.
• 2 – You evade and hinge when the arms touch the body and the bell almost hits you in the groin.
• 3 – You explosively reverse the movement and come back to plank.
• 4 – Bell flies forward.

1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4…

Steve Freides, Senior SFG has commented:

“I describe this, your steps #2 and #3, as a quick turn-around. In order to affect a quick turn-around, you must wait as long as possible before moving your hips back and then, as quickly as you sent them back, you must bring them forward again. Except for the quick turn-around, the rest of the time is float.”

I take this coaching to heart and have been working on quickly reversing the bottom position of the swing. When I hit the right spot (not sooner and not later), I can produce much more force. Plyometrics without jumping, you say? Yes.

Additional swing tips:

• Make sure you sit deep in your hinge! The hinge is the foundation for kettlebell deadlift, which in turn is a foundation for a proper swing. Dr. Michael Hartle, Master SFG and SFL Chief Instructor, told me whenever he runs into problems with the swing or deadlift, he often prescribes the simple hip hinge pattern and the following homework: multiple sets of ten, throughout the day. It works like a magic. When you come back to the swing, you will see a huge improvement in the range of motion and quality of movement.
• When swinging a heavier bell, maintain the plank. Lean back at your ankles at the top of the swing, not at your back. It won’t be a vertical plank anymore, but it still needs to be the plank.

Special Notes on Rest Periods Between Sets

Many students, brainwashed by the do-or-die HIIT mentality, don’t read the S&S book properly, and try to hit the five-minute test limit every single session. This approach might work for a short time, but then the person will quickly hit the wall.

Al Ciampa wrote on the StrongFirst forum, “If you are constantly testing your abilities, you are no longer ‘training.'” Which means, you are no longer improving. The fact that the swings are in the beginning of the S&S training session should tell you what qualities to focus on: strength and power! Don’t worry, you will get the conditioning you are after.

During my regular S&S practice, I always give myself plenty of rest—more than I feel I need. I do Fast & Loose drills and breath recovery drills. I walk around and focus on the upcoming set. A relatively long rest period allows me to do an absolutely explosive set of ten hard style swings with a “one punch, one kill” mentality. I only time my rest periods during the test days, and I don’t “try” to hit the standard (100 hard style swings in 5 minutes). I am 100% sure I can do it, so I just do it.

The results of this strategy? In addition to the desired conditioning effect, I experience more strength and power, and less soreness. On my fortieth birthday, exactly one year after I started S&S, I did 40 consecutive one-arm swings with the Beast. The session looked like this: 20 with my left, switch, 20 with my right, set down, celebration dance.

S&S swing protocol is a foreshadowing of the exciting anti-glycolytic training Pavel is working on. Make sure to follow his advice to the letter:

“Most of your S&S sessions do not rush the clock and wait until you can pass the talk test before your next set. On the last session of each week push harder and occasionally all out and test yourself.”

After only few months into S&S, I put a note in my training diary:

“I am amazed by very fast improvement in swing—the weight is light; swings are crisp and explosive. One-hand swings with 48 seemed like some mythical feat (for light guy like me), now I am sure I can get there. Sooner or later, but yes… I am surprised how well it’s going. I guess that it is because you improve your swings by doing swings—daily. Not too many, or not enough, but ‘minimum effective dose.'”

You might progress faster or slower, but it doesn’t matter. As Brett Jones, SFG Chief Instructor says: keep swinging.

Tips on the S&S Kettlebell Get-Up

Old time strongman Sid Harmer wrote of the get-up in his Feats of Strength: “It is a feat which requires not only strength, but small amount of balance and pluck. I have found that it is a stunt of which most strong men are almost afraid.”

Not us in StrongFirst. We love get-ups. But there are some basics you will need to remember on your S&S journey:

• Grip: Experiment with the grip—deeper, less deep, wiggle your hand, grip. Trust me, there is a sweet spot for your hand and your kettlebell. If you find out in the roll to press phase that your grip feels weird, re-adjust or return the bell to the floor and start all over. Check out an excellent tip from Brett Jones, Chief SFG.
• Set-up: Packing the shoulder of the kettlebell hand after you grab the bell on the floor and during the roll before the floor press makes the floor press and the roll to elbow much more stable and easier. Try to pack your kettlebell hand shoulder to the opposite hip.
• Roll to Elbow: We all know we have to point the bent knee slightly in and drive hard through the heel of the bent leg. With a relatively heavy bell, I point the arm with the bell in the same direction—of course not too much, otherwise I could lose the bell—and voila, smooth transition without the common leg lift. Think of the center of gravity of a heavier bell. The heavier the bell is, the more you have to “wedge” under it, and the less perpendicular your arm will be. Another good way to learn the mechanics of this transition is to focus on the movement on the way down.
• Tall Sit: Focus on this position on the way down. Many students bend the elbow of the supporting hand on their way down.
• Low Sweep: Many students do a cross-over of low sweep, high bridge, and a squat, which results in awkward and jerky transition. Practice this phase a lot, without a bell. Divide the low sweep into two moves: first, tuck in the straight leg, and second, swing it back, brushing the floor with your shin. It is called a low sweep for a reason. Sweep the floor with your shin. Same on the way down—sweep your bent leg forward, touching the floor with your shin, and sit down as soon as possible. Only then extend the bent leg. Make sure the non-kettlebell hand stays locked to give you better support during the transition.
• Lunge to Standing: Before standing up from the lunge position, I adjust my front leg a little bit in. Standing up becomes much easier. On the way down, I adjust the front foot a little bit out before the (reverse) windshield wiper. It might not apply to everybody, but this adjustment suits my body type (i.e. the length of my lower limbs. Experiment, of course, without a bell.
• Get Down: Don’t hurry. You will unlock many of the transitions on the way down. Indeed, many of the old timers practiced the get-up as get-down/get-up. If you rush the get-ups, you can’t “steer” the weight. Take your time, do every single transition with patience, and stop at every stage.

The S&S Program and the Element of Practice

Two keywords for your practice are κάλλος (kállos, “beauty”) and σθένος (sthénos, “strength”). Perform your exercises like somebody is watching and giving you points, with absolute focus on perfect technique, like you are being judged at the SFG Certification by a Team Leader. The reward won’t be applause or a certificate, but better technique, skill, health, and strength. And that is what matters.

“Years ago, my friend Dr. Jim Wright said something that got burned into my brain: ‘Consistency and moderation over intensity.’ Not nearly as sexy as “Do or die!” or some other juvenile T-shirt slogan, but you could not think of a better set of directions for durable performance.”—Pavel and Dan John, Easy Strength

S&S is a form of constant practice, i.e. multiple sets with the same weight, or a kind of a step cycle. You spend some time with your current weights, and when you really own them, you add one set with a heavier weight. Pavel has noted on the forum:

“Remember that S&S is designed for you to do in a manner of ‘I can do it again tomorrow with the same level of energy and the day after tomorrow.'”

With that in mind, here are my thoughts on going heavier and going easier.

How to Incorporate a Heavier Kettlebell

With a light bell, you can swing incorrectly. With a heavier bell, you can’t as the bell will teach you. In the swing, a heavy bell will pull you forward, it will drop down rather than back, and it will not fly chest high if you are lazy with your hinge.

In a get-up, it’s a different story. The technique of a get-up with 24kg and 44kg is quite different, because the center of mass has shifted. Most people will encounter problems with the roll to elbow phase. With a heavier bell, try the following:

1. With a bell that is relatively heavy for your bodyweight, the arm with the bell will not be perpendicular to the floor. If you try to do so, you will either lose the bell or your straight leg will kick up when you roll. Shift the bell slightly to the direction where your free hand and extended leg is pointing.
2. Don’t do a sit-up (we all know this). Dig that heel hard into the floor, lift your glute first, point the bent knee slightly in, and roll. Make sure the foot of the bent leg stays flat on the floor.
3. Wedge underneath the bell when you finish the roll to elbow. The best way to find out how to do it is to the reverse the movement, and do it slowly.

Are you scared of a heavier bell? Try this. Just get familiar with it (“Hello, 48. I am Pavel!”), doesn’t matter how. Deadlift it, do a few partial get-ups with it (even just roll to press), grab it and carry it to the other side of the gym, or push press it and hold in a overhead position. Slowly get used to it, and you won’t be afraid of it when the time comes to do [fill in the blank] with the bell. When you mistakenly grab 36 instead of 32, it is a good sign. When you get stronger, big bells start to shrink.

When you train with a new, heavier kettlebell, it will feel challenging, but it shouldn’t feel very heavy. When the previously heavy weight starts to feel lighter, you are getting stronger. When the old weight feels relatively light, the new weight doesn’t feel heavy.

Easy Days Option

I enjoy working on my deload days with lighter weight, doing things like overspeed eccentric swings and static-dynamic get-ups. I feel these were a great help, and in my opinion, this is one of the secret ingredients of S&S—the ingredient many people miss.

Ten-second pauses in lighter get-ups will teach you something about alignment, it will help you to identify the left-right asymmetries, optimize the structure, improve smooth transition from perfect point A to perfect point B, and exercise your patience.

I usually do the two-hand overspeed eccentric swings when I feel tired. I did them with 24, but it started to feel really light, so I now usually do them with 32. Symmetrical movement, lighter, extra focus on explosiveness.

The common problem at the bottom of the two-hand swing is collapsing of the chest inward. When you focus on “opening” the chest (i.e. trying to do the opposite of what the bells wants to do), you will keep your shoulders in a better position, plus you will work some back muscles you didn’t even know you had. For some reason, they work my rhomboids very well.

I would like to emphasize again: the “light day” option in S&S is, in my opinion, one of the “secrets” of the program. Many practitioners tend to forget about this S&S option, but it is one of the keys to success, especially when you get to heavier weights. Do it. Pavel is right: ”Do not turn an off-day into a day off. Easy training is far better than no training.”

Solid: In-Between Simple & Sinister Transfer, or the WTH Effect

The most frequently asked question I received during my S&S training was, “So, you are only doing get-ups and swings. How about military press, deadlift, etc.?” People like to say that if you practice only such minimalistic programs, you must get significantly weaker in other lifts that you don’t practice at all, right? Maybe not.

Of course, as it has been said on many occasions, the SAID principle typically applies to our training. SAID stands for “specific adaptation to imposed demand.“ Said simply, you get better at what you practice. But we all know about kettlebells are famous for their WTH effect.

So, after about six months of S&S training, I decided to run a few tests on this phenomenon myself, and here are the results:

Kettlebell

• Half-bodyweight+ military press (one of the requirements for passing the SFG II), 36kg (my previous 1RM) – Easy.
• Bent press, 48kg – New PR! My previous 1RM was 40kg.
• Kettlebell snatch test, 100 reps in 5 minutes with 24kg – Check. No grip issues at all. I did: 20-20,15-15, 10-10, rest, 5-5, finish. I could definitely do 25-25, 30-30, or even more in the first set. It was not easy, but not hard. Heavy swings definitely help a lot. Of course, don’t forget SAID – if you are preparing for a snatch test, you have to snatch. Brett Jones’ snatch protocol from SFG Level I Prep Guide is the way to go.

Barbell

• Deadlift – 160 kg, which is 5kg below 2.5x bodyweight in deadlift and very close to my 1RM of 165kg.

Bodyweight

Karen Smith, Master SFG and SFB Chief Instructor, happened to be conducting special research for a new project, so I gave her test a shot. The task: 5×5 pistols and 5×5 one-arm push-ups (OAPU). These were performed to strict SFB standard and for time, measuring the work-to-rest ratio.

Result: 16 minutes 20 seconds, all sets completed, no failure. Pistols were quite easy, but push-ups were harder, especially the last sets. Note: In addition to my S&S training, I have been doing pistols and OAPU once a week for a few reps just to check my symmetry (or the lack of it), as recommended at the SFB Certification.

Apart from that I also tested the following:

• Strict handstand push-ups max — 14 HSPU. It should be noted that though I learned the technique of HSPUs, I have never practiced them.
• Strict tactical pull-ups — 16 reps. My all-time max is 24, but that was after a specialized pull-up program.

Bragging about the numbers isn’t the point, the numbers are not very impressive, but I kept quite a lot of my strength in the lifts I don’t practice at all, just by doing S&S, and approaching S&S as a skill (of strength) practice.

S&S FAQs

99% of the questions I get asked can be solved with a simple answer: “Read the book. Again.”

I will give you an answer for the other 1% of the questions:

Q: “Can I [change this, substitute that, modify that, or… ]?”

A: “Until you reach at least ‘Simple’ standards, no.”

Closing Remarks

Steve Freides, Senior SFG, wrote on StrongFirst forum:

“The brilliance of Pavel’s simple programs lies in their simplicity. It’s hard enough for a coach to design an effective program for a student—hard enough but within the abilities of a sizable group of people on our planet. But the ability to design a program that is also simple while still remaining effective, and on top of that, is also applicable to a very wide range—well, that is truly exceptional. Simplicity increases adherence and, in the end, yields more progress for more people.”

I could not have written it better.

The skills and values we learn in the gym have positive transfer to real life outside the gym. That is why it is called functional training. Doing the same exercises for an extended period of time might lead to boredom—or to technical proficiency, finesse, strength, and health. I chose the second option.

Everybody will progress at a different rate. Take your time, don’t rush, don’t compare yourself with others, patiently work on the skill of strength, and own at least the Simple goals, and you will be doing better then ever before.

I didn’t come this far to only come this far. The way to achieving Sinister is simple: repeat until strong!

Special thanks to my friend Aleks Salkin, SFG II, SFB for proofreading and editing.

The post Solid: In-Between Simple & Sinister appeared first on StrongFirst.

As students of strength, it’s safe to say we’re all chasing some performance-related goal. Whether that’s becoming a StrongFirst Certified Instructor, hitting your one-arm one-leg push-up, or pulling two or three times your bodyweight, having something to reach for is necessary for success and progress.

But what actions are you taking every day to get closer to achieving your goal? And have you examined why are you even striving for that goal in the first place?

Today I want to examine the goal-setting process and challenge you to compare performance-based goals and mastery-based goals. My hope is that once you’ve read this article, you’ll have another tool you can use to help you gain strength.

Are You Setting the Right Goal?

There are three different spectrums on which goals typically fall:

• Outcome vs. Behavior: An outcome goal focuses, unsurprisingly, on what the outcome will be. “I want to get stronger.” Whereas a behavior goal is something you will do, an action you will take, to get you closer to that goal. “I’m going to train every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

• Avoid vs. Approach: Avoid-type goals focus on “stopping” something, they push you away from something, as in, “I want to stop wasting so much time at the gym.” Avoid-type goals often have the downside of pushing you away from your goal. While approach-type goals pull you toward achieving your goal, i.e. “I am going to set a time limit on my training sessions to make sure I’m using that time as productively as possible.”

• Performance vs. Mastery: The difference between performance goals and mastery goals is the difference between the goal of wanting to “win” or “be the best” and the goal of learning the skills and strategies needed to succeed. The former is a performance goal, while the latter is about mastery.

So let’s go back to one of the questions I posed to you. With these three spectrums in mind—and with particular focus on the last category, as I believe that one to be most relevant to us strength professionals—why are you chasing the goal you’re currently chasing?

Are you looking to “win,” get recognition, or “be the best”? Or are you looking for growth, learning, and mastery? In our world, it’s easy to focus on performance aspect (sets, reps, loads, percentages, etc.) and forget about the process and what can be learned along the way.

I asked myself this same question with regards to an ongoing goal I have of achieving “Sinister” status. When I decided to chase “Sinister,” I had just finished my SFG Level I Cert. The program was demanding and required my undivided attention. The weekend of the Cert was memorable—one I’ll never forget. But with all achievements, it’s normal to feel a bit down after the big event. So I found myself questioning why I was choosing this particular new goal.

To find the answer, I took a hard look at my identity and values, and I asked myself what I was seeking in chasing “Sinister.” Was I looking to “win” something, get recognition, or “be the best”? No, I was looking for a program to follow—something to give purpose to my training. Preparing for the SFG Level I had given me purpose, and I once again found myself seeking a higher-level reason to push myself in my training.

In thinking back, I realized I love the process more than the finish line itself. Though I was proud of my SFG Level I Certification, I missed the journey of getting there. This can explain why I like setting goals that take practice, persistence, and patience. In the process of achieving performance, you often become a master of practice.

The Path to Mastery

As with most things in the world of strength, the setup is just as, if not more important as the “lift” itself. In this case consider your “lift” to be your goal and your “setup” to be your goal-setting process.

Start by viewing your goal with a slightly different perspective. Do you want to deadlift 500 pounds? Why? Is it because you want to win your meet or because you enjoy the process?

Wanting to “win the meet” and training with that mindset throughout your program could lead you astray at times of adversity and during the inevitable setbacks. When times get tough, you want to have something to fall back on that guides you, rather than pushes you in an aimless direction.

You may have days where you don’t “perform” in a way that matches the target numbers you’ve laid out in your program. If all you have are those daily performances, this can be devastating to your motivation (and ego). But if you show up daily to master the movement, to master your practice, and to be a master of strength—then as long as you rise to the occasion, you have “won” the day.

If you are a student of a trainer, instead of setting a goal of “to win the meet,” what if your goal was shifted to something like, “Receive and write down one actionable piece of feedback from my instructor on each of my big three lifts after each training session.” If you are training alone, make sure you create a strategy to observe yourself and create that feedback for yourself.

These bits of feedback must be actionable—because a great goal demands action. Chances are high that if you give yourself feedback on your squat, deadlift, and bench press after every session, you’ll find yourself making small improvements, seeking advice from seasoned vets, and getting better in the process.

When I took on this mindset, my original goal of “achieve Sinister status” first shifted to “master the swing and the get-up.” But I realized that goal was vague, and therefore inherently hard to act on and measure against. To demand action from yourself, aim to make your goal as concrete as possible.

For me, that changed my daily goal to this:

“Write down one new thing I learned or observed about the swing or the get-up after every training session.”

Sounds much more actionable and attainable, right? It is important for your goal to be attainable. Do you confidently think you can perform your chosen action after every training session? If the answer is 110% “yes,” then fantastic—time to get to work. If you’re only 99% sure, then go back to the drawing board.

So what about the goal I chose—did I confidently think I could achieve making and recording these observations about my training? Absolutely! It was almost too easy, which is exactly what you want. You want each step of your journey to feel too easy. You want to guarantee success early and often to create momentum and propel you forward.

Note: This smallest level of your goal may change more often than your “big picture” goal. Notice I said it should be “almost” too easy. If your daily goal evolves into a regular habit, then you may need to create a new action for yourself. Reevaluate every couple weeks and see how the plan is working. Did you get closer to your goal? Has your current practice become a habit? If so, adjust, take a small step forward, and continue the process again.

How the Pursuit Leads to Performance

Master SFG Fabio Zonin posted an article about his experience preparing for a bodybuilding competition via “unconventional” methods. He didn’t do a single biceps curl or triceps push-down. He didn’t push to failure or chase the “burn” so often sought with other methods of training.

Instead he focused purely on the big movers and stuck to StrongFirst principles. This line in his article resonated with me:

“At StrongFirst, we see body composition and physical appearance as pleasant side effects of what we do, rather than the primary goal.”

I thought about how matter of fact that statement is and related it to the concept of performance versus mastery goals. Shifting my focus from “attaining Sinister status” to “mastering the swing and the getup” and then to “write down one new thing I learned or observed about the swing or the get-up after every training session” has naturally led to greater performance in my training sessions—almost as a pleasant side effect.

When you detach yourself from the result and devote yourself to the process, a lot of good things tend to happen. If you’re stressing over “winning a meet” or achieving a specific performance, your technique might suffer and your focus might cloud. If you ignore the end result and instead focus on mastering your practice (driving your feet through the floor, sniffing for air, enjoy the float, etc.), you’re likely to still arrive at your desired result—only even stronger and smarter.

I’m not saying you can’t strive to “win” ever again, but I am saying you stand a better chance at success if you focus on mastery rather than performance alone.

The post The Pursuit of Mastery: Setting the Right Goal Can Be the Key appeared first on StrongFirst.

Lately, I’m busy—but surprise, who isn’t. Who has too much time these days? Between work, other work, teaching, family, training, keeping up with social media, and staying up to speed with The Big Bang Theory, I find the time noose getting tighter and tighter each day.

An extra two minutes here and five minutes there, plus the stupid road construction that never ends, which turns my thirteen-minute commute to twenty every day (I know, still pretty lucky on that one). Something has to give each day, but what?

After some trial and error, I learned that work still requires forty-plus hours per week, forgetting the seven-year-old at school is not a good time-saving option, and at some point the DVR fills up.

So what gets cut? Sadly, more often than not, it’s training time.

Back in my young, single, very little responsibility days, training for two-plus hours a day was the norm (although how much was actual training versus people-watching, socializing, resting, etc. could be debated). Now, if I can get an hour at lunch to train, eat, shower, and run errands I am ecstatic. Like many Monday morning social media posts proclaim: Adulting is no fun many days.

Reality

After Pavel’s book Simple & Sinister came out, of course I had to give it a go. Reaching the Simple status was, well simple. Getting all the way to Sinister was, you guessed it, pretty sucky. But, after a few weeks, I made it and marked it off my training bucket list:

Now fast forward to 2017. At the facility I manage, we created a year-long challenge board to recognize those individuals we train whom we witness reaching what we call impressive goals. (Keep in mind, everyone we work with trains as a supplement to their sport. These are not purely strength athletes.) We decided that “Sinister” warranted a spot on our wall. Of course, I had to be the first to get my name on the board. I mean, I had already reached the goal, so why not?

But unbeknownst to me, the real world had chipped away at what I had accomplished two years earlier when I completed the Sinister requirements.

My first attempt was a Giant Fail.

The Protocol

Obviously, now I had a goal again, but there was a big thing in the way of this goal. Putting myself in a position to be uncomfortable while training to manage the suck of the Sinister protocol was not the problem. Finding time consistently to do this was.

I needed to be more efficient in the little training time I had. After some trial, error, and Sufferology 101: Time Under the Bell, I stumbled across something that significantly compressed the intensity and efficiency of training for Sinister.

Here is what I started with, and what we consider the “basic level” at our facility:

• 10 swings left; 1 snatch left (to get the bell overhead); 1 reverse get-up left (start from standing, descend to the floor, return to standing); reverse snatch the bell into a swing to switch hands
• 10 swings right; 1 snatch right; 1 reverse get-up right; reverse snatch the bell into a swing to switch hands
• Repeat for 5 total rounds

In a very short amount of time, you receive the benefits of 100 swings, 10 snatches, and 10 get-ups. (And if you’re wondering about the rest periods between rounds, don’t worry—we’ll get to that shortly.)

There are other variants to this “basic” program depending on your focus:

This workout also lends itself to adaptability:

• Want to kill it each round? Great jump up one or two kettlebell sizes, crush the round, and then rest as needed. To keep things on point, a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio or a 2:1 is sufficient. So, time the round and then rest as needed.
• Want to do the whole thing unbroken? Cool, drop a bell size.
• Want it to progressively get worse? Start lighter and end heavy.
• Want it to progressively get better? Start heavy and drop a bell size every round.

The ultimate goal is to do all five rounds without the bell leaving your hands with as heavy a bell as possible, and as quickly as possible. But, almost in the words of David Whitley, “I don’t care how many times you can do something crappy.” We expect technical proficiency with each repetition.

Don’t train until you get it right—train so you can never get it wrong.

In the world of sports and athletics, being able to pay attention to detail and be technically proficient is cake. Being technically proficient and paying attention to details when you are tanked is where the line of separation between average and impressive lies.

Conclusion

8 minutes. Using a bell that is two sizes heavier than your snatch-sized bell.

That’s how long you have to complete all five rounds and earn a spot for your name on our wall.

But don’t just stop two sizes above your bell size. Remember, the goal behind the creation of this program is to meet the Sinister requirements.

Once I was able to complete the basic level unbroken with the 40kg kettlebell (not in less than eight minute, though), meeting the Sinister criteria was as easy as it could be—but it still wasn’t fun.

First and last photos courtesy of Pamela Maliniak.

The post The Simply Sinister Training Plan appeared first on StrongFirst.

I haven’t taken a break from Simple & Sinister training for the last six weeks. Over the last few months, I transitioned from the 16kg to the 24kg kettlebell. Every day, my one-arm swings are more solid and my get-ups are steadier.

In case you’re not familiar with the challenge presented in Simple & Sinister:

While most strength programs prescribe regular rest days, S&S is unique in that it is designed to be both a training regimen and a daily recharge. The purpose, as stated by Pavel in the book itself, is “moderate daily training [that] will keep the muscles’ fuel tanks topped off, while making tissues resistant to microtrauma and almost soreness-proof. It is the ticket to being always ready.”

A year ago, I dabbled in S&S with less success. This time, I’m using three principles of nutrition that are enabling me to minimize my days off from training and therefore remain truer to the intention of the program. Timing of meals, eating a lot of fat, and using morning assessments are simple techniques that increase the number of days I can train consecutively.

My Goal and My Dilemma

My immediate training goal is to achieve the Simple standards with the 32kg kettlebell. The biggest problem in training for this goal is recovery.

“Prof. Arkady Vorobyev explains that incomplete restoration training stimulates the recovery ability; your body literally has to learn how to recoup faster… or else.”—Pavel Tsatsouline.

Simple & Sinister requires that training is maximal and that energy is high every day. But this seemed like a paradox. I stumbled through S&S before, with many off days. I was supposed to acclimate to the daily demands of the kettlebell, but instead I was getting more tired. Days off seemed like a backward step for me to take if I was supposed to be training daily.

Timing: Cycles, Science, and Fasted States

Then I came upon a book by Dan John, a former Olympic discus thrower and training coach who, like Pavel, takes a lifelong approach to training. A single idea of his stuck with me and changed the game. “Exercise, eat, eliminate,” he wrote in A Lifelong Approach to Fitness.

This order of metabolic operations is simple, but it goes a long way. Exercise on an empty stomach. Eat after exercise. “Eliminate,” or stool, before you exercise again. Repeat. In real-life terms, this is likely to look most like eliminate, exercise, eat. But the idea is to train and eat according to the body’s natural cycle of metabolism and energy.

I learned from years of sports and powerlifting that I could train harder after I emptied my bowels. But making it a rule, every time, cemented a biological rotation for my body. I found it easier to eliminate on schedule. I also watched as my recovery naturally became more consistent, regardless of how tired I was at night. By late morning, my usual training hour, I was ready.

This rotation seems to have stirred up a corresponding cycle of energy. And it certainly makes sense in terms of metabolism and hormones, which I’ve been researching over the last several years.

I’m going to get into a bit of the science for a moment. The basic metabolic hormones are cortisol and insulin. Cortisol is the morning “get up and go” hormone. It’s the trigger for fat burn when there’s low carbohydrate and protein levels in the blood. This is considered a fasting state. In this state, instead of glucose being the primary fuel source for your brain, your body relies on fatty acids and ketones. These fuels are more efficient than glucose and provide you with increased focus and sustained energy.

On the flip side, insulin is released after eating, when glucose and/or protein is elevated in the blood. Insulin tells your muscles to store glucose as future energy, and your fat cells to convert it to fat. The liver also does both of these things as a backup. This is no longer a fasting state. Now glucose and protein are being used for energy and fat storage, depending on your needs. Fatty acids and ketones become secondary fuels.

There is a marked difference in how these fasting and non-fasting states feel.

I find that eating protein and carbs, and thereby triggering an insulin response, makes me sluggish. Even if it’s minimal, after a small meal, this slump in energy costs me prime training time. Make it a bigger meal, like a weekend brunch, and I am down for the count. There’s no way I’m going to train for the next few hours.

To be as alert and strong as possible when training, I delay my first meal until later in the day. Dinner is usually big, and on some days it’s my only solid meal. I find this strategy works best not only for physical training, but for work and mental focus, as well.

Consider the words of General Stan McChrystal, former commander of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan, during an interview with Tim Ferriss:

“My personality was such that I’m not real good at eating three or four small disciplined meals, I’m better to defer gratification and then eat one meal.”

This timing, which some call intermittent fasting, works well for me. But there is a caveat to delayed eating. Do not take fasting to extremes. Kettlebell training is no small task, and requires a lot of energy. Eat when you are ready to eat.

Eat Fat First, Then Eat a Lot of It

There is a way to fast in the morning while also taking in energizing nutrition. Eating fat, unlike carbs and protein, will not end the fasting state. This is because fat does not turn on the insulin response. Remember that carbs and protein trigger insulin. Introducing good fats to your system encourages the body to continue to use fat as energy, and thus your training state is preserved.

Dave Asprey, creator of Bulletproof coffee, wrote in his book The Bulletproof Diet:

“We’re often told to avoid fat because it has more calories, but when we build a high-performance car to go faster, we design it to use high-octane fuel, which stores more energy per gallon than low-octane fuel. We measure the octane of food using calories, and when you teach your body to burn fat for energy it becomes a higher-performance machine, complete with a kind of energy that’s normally unavailable.”

After six months of experimentation, I found that eating more fat and avoiding wheat and sugar gave me greater mental focus, improved memory, and sustained energy without crashes. Over the last five years, eating lots of fat during work and travel has also helped me keep a six-pack and normal body weight. I also added 65lb to my squat at 168lb body weight over one year of eating between 8-12 tbsp of fat per day.

Butter coffee, inspired by Dave Asprey’s famous recipe, has been the most effective and enjoyable tool in my nutritional arsenal. It’s a blend of good butter from grass-fed cows, medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, and coffee. I add whatever flavors I like that don’t have sugar or other harmful stuff. Chocolate and vanilla are my go-to ingredients.

The butter provides healthy saturated fats for energy and building blocks for cells. The MCT oil is a blend of capric and caprylic fatty acids, which provide rapid brain fuel. Mixed in a blender, the drink becomes a great start to my days.

You don’t have to drink butter coffee to get the same effects. Other excellent sources of fat such as broths and egg yolks may be found through research and self-testing. You can find whichever fat source works best and tastes best to you. But Asprey described a good reason to eat more fats:

“Our cells, organs, and brains are all made of fat and need high-quality fat to function optimally. Fat is also the basis for the lining of your nerves, called myelin, which allows electricity to flow efficiently… When you eat enough of the right fats without excess carbs, your body learns to efficiently burn fat for fuel and to form healthy cell membranes.”

Whether or not you consume fat first thing in the morning, eating more of it from wholesome sources supports the gain and retention of strength and muscle.

Morning Assessment

Much of the controversy over the right proportion of carbs, protein, and fat in the diet is rooted in the “either/or” paradigm. But sometimes the answer is just, “Yes.”

I eat lots of fat. I also eat lots of carbs. I do not count calories or macros. I measure portions roughly by feel. I enjoy my food, and I eat as much as I need. It’s easy to tell when I’ve eaten enough fat. I simply can’t get myself to eat more. Carbs are a little trickier. This is where morning assessments help.

In the morning, I haven’t eaten or done anything yet, so if something is feeling off, I can usually pinpoint it to my food and portions from the day before. Here’s how it works:

1. The moment I wake, I check for clear-headedness. If I feel groggy, it’s usually because I had junk food, too much carbs or sugar, MSG, or another toxin.
2. I look for normal body composition, meaning no unreasonable pudginess or weight loss. If I have noticeable fat gain, I can usually trace it back to eating more carbs than usual. On the other hand, if I lose muscle or get skinnier, I may not have eaten enough starch.
3. I also gauge my energy. If I’m fatigued, anxious, or cranky, I know I didn’t eat enough carbs the day before. I want to feel calm, rested, and fresh.

These simple checks for mental state, body composition, and energy act as meters for nutrition of the previous day. I dial my food up if there are signs of deficiency and dial down if I’ve eaten too much.

Your goals will determine what you look for in the morning. Generally, favorable body composition, good mood, and sufficient energy are green lights for training. I don’t accept a sub-optimal condition as something that is out of my control. I use these principles of nutrition to make adjustments based on morning symptoms and to build the wellness I desire.

Simple Nutrition Principles

Simple nutrition principles like “exercise, eat, eliminate,” eating lots of healthy fats, and morning assessments have increased my capacity to train on S&S from day to day. The metabolic rotation optimizes my energy cycle. Good fats fuel my performance and supply building blocks. Morning assessments calibrate nutrition to changing demand.

My advice to you is to find the most effective foods and the most efficient meal schedule for your goals, lifestyle, and body. Food choices and portions are vague here because everyone is different. Morning assessments will help you grasp how much and what food benefits you the most. Build your foundation and you will make effortless adjustments as training and life bring the unexpected.

Simplicity minimizes confusion and indecision. The easier your eating is, the more likely you will stick to it in the long run. Adopt this simple and sinister nutrition approach that secures your ability to punch in yet another training session.

The post 3 Simple Nutrition Principles to Power Up Your Simple & Sinister Training appeared first on StrongFirst.

“I learned no detail was too small. It was all about the details.”—Brad Gray

As an Instructor, I walk the line between seeing all the details and knowing which details to draw attention to for my student. If we draw attention to every detail, then we can overwhelm the student and create “paralysis by analysis.” If details are ignored, then the student may not get the full benefit from the drill. So, we walk the line to provide just the right amount of information.

In this article, I will provide some details on how to grip the kettlebell for swings and how to execute the kettlebell halo that can make a difference in your results.

Details on Gripping the Kettlebell for Swings

“Grip it and rip it” might be a common saying for golf, deadlifts, and other activities, but in the kettlebell swing it can set you up for issues with calluses and blisters. With its thick handle and offset center of gravity, the kettlebell provides grip benefits not found in more traditional implements. This also means a bit of attention to detail is needed.

As you can see in the video, the proper grip for the kettlebell swing is not a full grip where the handle is in the palm of the hand. This may feel like a solid grip, but this placement will pinch the palm at the base of the fingers and result in calluses and blisters.

Instead, the front “face” of the handle (the part of the handle facing away from you) should be in the proximal phalanges of the fingers with the calluses not pinched by the handle. In doing so, your fingers will be able to wrap around the handle and a solid grip is achieved. Tilting the kettlebell toward you also makes this grip detail easier to implement. This small adjustment allows for a strong grip without the friction and rubbing of the full palm grip.

Also, keep in mind that a strong grip is not necessarily a “death grip.” Over-gripping the handle can be the cause of many issues especially when you progress to snatches, where the kettlebell has to be able to move in the hand.

Oh, and one more thing (I’m pretty sure that will be my epitaph):

You must stay in sync with the kettlebell. Remember you are swinging the kettlebell, not the other way around.

Guiding the arm back to the ribs with the lat(s) and hinging once you are reconnected will keep you in sync during the eccentric portion of the swing. Combine this with not cutting your backswing short and the force production out of the backswing will also stay in sync. Have the patience to stay in sync with the rhythmically repetitive nature of the swing.

Details for Executing the Kettlebell Halo

The kettlebell halo is used as part of the Simple & Sinister warm-up and is recommended as a shoulder opener, but there are some additional details that will help you in correctly applying this movement.

A deceptively simple drill of moving the kettlebell around the head, the halo has some key points to be aware of:

1. Don’t do it if it causes any pain or discomfort. Adjust the range and height of the kettlebell to stay within your movement ability.
2. Keep a neutral wrist (see video).
3. Move the kettlebell around your head, do not move the head to avoid the kettlebell.
4. The range of the halo can extend so the kettlebell drops behind the head and down the back to open the shoulders. But, again, do not go beyond your movement ability.
5. Tilt the kettlebell. Beginning from the bottom-up position at the start, the kettlebell will tilt and the bottom of the it should point where you are moving it (see video).
6. Go slowly.
7. Choose the right weight. This is a drill for a lighter load.
8. Perform 3-5 halos in each direction.

Remember the kettlebell halo is a drill not a skill. It is a good way to warm up or increase shoulder motion, but should not be performed for high reps or as a “main dish.”

Where Benefits Are Found

As with most of my articles, these details and tips resulted from working with my own students and from my own teaching at events.

Establishing the proper grip for swings can help prevent tears and developing callouses that are too thick—and this means more swings. Better swings can lead to more effective learning of the kettlebell snatch and so on. A well performed kettlebell halo can be great for the shoulders and getting ready for a practice session, but missing details like the neutral wrist and the “pointing” of the kettlebell in the direction can make the halo feel “off.”

The devil may be in the details, but the benefits are usually found there, as well. Enjoy the details and keep us posted on your progress on the forum.

The post Essential Details for Proper Swing Grip and the Kettlebell Halo appeared first on StrongFirst.

When I first started training Simple & Sinister in 2014, I never planned on reaching the Sinister goal. The thought of one-arm swings with the 32kg kettlebell was crazy to me.

I started kettlebell training to supplement my distance running, and I had no desire to be that strong. My plan was to reach Simple before I started training for the SFG Level I Certification. I accomplished the Simple standard, but throughout my Certification prep training, on busy days where I only had thirty minutes to train, I often returned to the Simple swing and get-up standards—100 one-arm swings in five minutes with the 24kg kettlebell followed by 10 get-ups with the 16kg kettlebell in ten minutes. This was a quick and simple way to practice technique and get in some conditioning.

Throughout this process, I realized I owned those swings with the 24kg. On any given day I could complete 100 one-arm swings with the 24kg in five minutes, and I started to think maybe the Sinister standard wasn’t so crazy after all.

I remembered an article and program that Pavel had written, From Simple to Sinister, and decided to follow this program in pursuit of the Sinister goal. My original idea was to follow Pavel’s program exactly. I did the best I could, but as I started training, I realized I had to make a few changes to make the program work for me.

Understanding the Variable of Volume

For the next eight weeks, I followed months one and two of Pavel’s program as closely as I could. In this phase of my training, the modifications I made were in volume only.

Pavel’s program is designed to wave the volume. The plan is to complete the same number of reps every month, but every week should be different. The plan is 2,000 reps per month. This averages 500 reps per week. If we wave the volume, some weeks will be less than 500 and others will be more. Pavel programmed weeks with 300, 400, 600, and 700 reps. The number of reps per day is waved from 60 to 200. The number of training sessions per week is also waved from three to five.

I had to adjust the volume to take care of my hands. The high volume with the heavier bell was hard on my hands, and I experienced more calluses and tears than normal. I was never able to complete a week with 700 swings. I attempted a couple times, but the most I was able to complete without tearing was 660 in one week. I scaled the volume back to 1,800 reps per month and three to four sessions per week, and I planned my weeks with 300, 400, 500, and 600 swings. I planned 60 to 200 reps per day.

As I progressed, I learned to take better care of my hands. I also modified the volume mid-week if necessary. For example, on Monday, if I felt a callus start to tear, I stopped for the day. If I was at 120 swings but had planned 160, I simply added the remaining 40 reps to a session later in the week. I also learned that after a day with 200 reps, I had to take a day off to let my hands recover.

After eight weeks, I was able to complete 100 one-arm swings in five minutes with the 28kg and 10 get-ups in ten minutes with the 20kg. It was time to move on to swings with the 32kg. This proved to be a bigger challenge and required a few more modifications to the program.

Progressing to the 32kg Kettlebell

My first attempt at swings with the 32kg did not go as planned. I started on my right (stronger) arm. On the seventh rep, the bell flew out of my hand. On my left side, I only made 5 reps before the bell flew. I should’ve been smarter and set the bell down sooner because I felt that my grip wasn’t strong enough a couple reps before I dropped the bell.

I rested for a few minutes trying to analyze what happened and what to do next. I came to the conclusion that my swing form must’ve been good. I had always been told that when swinging a bell that is a high percentage of your body weight, your body will lean back to offset the weight, and if you let go of the bell, you will fall backward. Well, I did almost fall over backward, so I decided it was my grip strength that needed work.

The rest of that day, I tried to figure out what to do. I went back to my Simple & Sinister book and read through the progressions and examples starting on page 81. This progression adds a heavier weight one set at a time. For example:

• I would do set 1 with 28kg, set 2 with 32kg, and sets 3-5 with 28kg.
• The next progression would be set 1 at 28kg, sets 2-3 at 32kg, and sets 4-5 at 28kg.
• This would progress until all sets were completed with the 32kg.

I thought about how I would do this since I wasn’t able to complete a solid set of ten with the 32kg. I felt comfortable with sets of three to five. I considered starting with: set 1, 10 swings at 28kg; set 2, 3 swings at 32kg; sets 3-5, 10 swings at 28kg. Where would I progress from here? Increase the reps in set 2 until I reached 10? Then would I do set 1, 10 swings at 28kg; set 2, 10 swings at 32kg; set 3, 3 swings at 32kg; sets 4-5, 10 swings at 28kg? Or would I progress to set 1, 10 swings at 28kg; sets 2-3, 3 swings at 32kg; sets 4-5, 10 swings at 28kg?

These options all seemed like there were too many variables and getting too complicated. This was supposed to be simple programming, so I came up with an option that worked for me. I was confident I could complete a few solid swings with the 32kg on each arm. So, I just had to do this in smaller steps. Rather than sets of 10 swings, I was going to start with sets of 3.

The next day, my training session consisted of one-arm swings with the 32kg. I completed 10 sets (five each side) of 3 swings. I could complete a set of 3 with solid technique and did not feel like I was going to drop the bell. I continued with sets of 3 for two weeks. After two weeks, I could complete sets of 5 with solid technique, so I bumped the reps up to 5. Two more weeks went by, and I bumped up to sets of 7. They felt strong, so I stayed with sets of 7 for two weeks.

After this, I finally decided to test a set of 10 swings. After six weeks of training sets of 3-7 swings, I was able to complete sets of 10 swings, on each arm, with the 32kg with confidence. This alone was a huge feeling of accomplishment. When I started with the 32kg, I was questioning if Sinister was possible for me. Now, I finally started to feel like this Sinister goal could happen.

Rest, Recovery, and Burnout

During my sessions, I followed the pattern of one set right, set the bell down and rest, one set left, set the bell down and rest. I also followed the wave the volume pattern in the program while doing sets of 3, 5, and 7. For example, the rep scheme on month 1 week 1 has 160 reps on Friday or 16 sets of 10 (8 sets each arm). I stuck to the same number of sets, but modified the number of reps, so I would complete 16 total sets of 3, 5, or 7.

One thing I did differently than the program was time my rest. The program says “there is no need to time rest periods, just rest long enough to maintain maximal power output.” I did set a timer for every session. I knew maintaining power output was important, and I also knew I needed to set a timer to keep myself on track. The timer also helped me mentally. I have a background in distance running. I’m used to slowly “chipping” away at the time. For me, this was a natural way to track my progress and keep myself on target.

I started with one-minute intervals for each set. I did this when I trained with sets of 3, 5, 7 and 10. One-minute intervals allowed me enough time to rest and maintain power output. Once I was completing sets of 10 comfortably in one-minute intervals, I gradually shortened the intervals to 45 seconds. I took my time getting down to 45-second intervals. I trained with the 32kg for sixteen weeks, and it wasn’t until the last four that I was able to train with 45-second intervals and maintain maximal power output.

When I was training with the 32kg kettlebell, I needed to pay even more attention to my hands. Just like with the 28kg, I had to cut the volume and frequency. I never trained S&S more than four days a week, and dropped down to three days in the last four weeks of my plan. Some days instead of one-arm swings, I did two-hand swings with the 32. I stuck to the same number of swings, but the two-hand swings were easier on my hands.

Toward the end, I started to get a little burned out. I thought about quitting and didn’t think I was ever going to make it. Now that I reflect on that, I think my body needed a little more rest. To give myself a break from swings, some days I went for a 4-5 mile run. I wouldn’t recommend this for everyone, but with my background in distance running, this worked for me. It was exactly what I needed physically and mentally. It gave my hands and body a break from the heavy swings. It was refreshing and a way for me to clear my mind and refocus on the final goal.

How I Trained the Get-up

My get-ups progressed quicker than the swings. When I started, I could comfortably complete get-ups with the 20kg. While training swings with the 28kg, I trained my get-ups with the 22kg. When I started training swings with the 32kg, I started training get-ups with the 24kg.

I followed the same wave-the-volume idea, but I never had a set plan of how many get-ups I was going to do in a training session. I would finish all my swings, and then, depending on how I felt, would determine the number of get-ups, if any. For example, on days that were only 60 swings, I did more get-ups, up to 10 per side. On a higher volume swing day, I only completed 2 or 3 reps of get-ups per side.

I also had some days where I completed only swings or only get-ups. On a day I did 200 swings with the 32kg, I usually didn’t do any get-ups. If I tore a callus or my hands needed a rest so they wouldn’t tear, I only did get-ups.

The Benefits of Achieving the Sinister Goal

I spent a total of 24 weeks progressing from Simple to Sinister. Eight weeks were spent working with the 28kg and sixteen weeks with the 32kg.

I also experienced a few unexpected results from this program:

• My deadlift personal record increased from 275 to 300lbs.
• My military press went from 20 to 24kg on both arms.
• My max bodyweight pull-ups went from 6 to 10.
• My weighted pull-up went from 8 to 14kg.

It’s been two years since I completed this goal. Since then, I’ve met several others in our StrongFirst community who are also working on reaching this milestone. It is one worthy of your time and efforts, but be prepared to be patient.

The post How I Trained for and Achieved My Sinister Goal appeared first on StrongFirst.

As 2017 moves rapidly into 2018, I want to update you on some changes and suggestions for the coming year.

If any of you have picked up the book Legacy, then you have had the chance to read one chapter in particular: Be a Good Ancestor. Be a Good Ancestor is all about a team or organization having a mindset of leaving a better “place” for those who follow. Meaning, my actions not only impact us in this moment, but they also have a lasting impact on our StrongFirst Team and Community.

There is an old Chinese proverb: “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

We at StrongFirst are planning for a lifetime—educating people that strength has a greater purpose.

Since you are likely looking ahead to 2018 and beginning to lay out your training year (seriously, you are—aren’t you?), I want to update you on some changes and/or clarifications to the Simple & Sinister standards and the Beast Tamer/Iron Maiden Challenge.

You know, just in case those may be in your 2018 training plan.

2018 StrongFirst Updates: Simple & Sinister

I will go ahead and put myself out there in announcing that achieving the Sinister standard is my goal for 2018. (No pressure.) In planning for this goal and reviewing Sinister submissions, it became apparent that a couple of areas needed some clarification and standardization.

The one-arm swing goal of 100 reps in 5 minutes as written in S&S is 10 sets of 10 reps. And the protocol that is truest to the intent of the goal as written is 10 reps every 30 seconds x 10 sets, switching hands each set. This accomplishes the 100 reps in 5 minutes while maintaining a high-power output for the 10 reps along with a rest to minimize the acidosis and clearing of the metabolic waste products. This will be the standard for Sinister submissions moving forward.

As we have been reviewing submissions for the Sinister achievement, it has also become clear that filming angles need to be standardized. Some students are filming S&S attempts by placing the camera/phone on the floor and from that upward camera angle it is hard to validate the height of the swing and other standards. Swings are to be chest level, for example, and if we cannot properly observe the height, then we cannot approve the submission.

The camera should be placed at a 45-degree angle to the student and on a surface height that allows a more level view (waist height for example). A 45-degree angle to the body allows us to see that the back is neutral and that the other standards for the swing and get-up are being met. The video should still allow for a full view from the feet to the head.

A couple of tips and areas to watch for:

• Video yourself and make sure you can check off all the standards for the swing and get-up when you watch it back. Ideally, review the video with an SFG instructor.
• On the swing, be sure the working arm stays packed on the hike as well as the top of the swing.
• The handle of the kettlebell should pass above the knees on the backswing. We see submissions where the kettlebell drops too low.
• On the get-up, make sure you can confidently complete the repetitions. Own it; don’t just “do it.”

2018 StrongFirst Updates: Beast Tamer/Iron Maiden

To better standardize and judge BT/IM attempts, some improvements to the rules and standards have been made:

• Judges’ commands: A “press” command has been added to the military press and a “go” command has been added to the pull-up. The pistol remains as is.
• Pull-up: A change now allows touching the upper chest to the bar instead of throat only
• Approving attempts: Two judges will stand on the sides and one at the front (similar to powerlifting). All judges will confer to approve an attempt, and two out of three thumbs up are necessary to approve an attempt. In cases where there are not three clear thumbs up, the video will be reviewed to confirm the attempt.
• Video review: A video of all attempts will be made from a 45-degree angle from the front. The video will be used in the case of a judges’ review and in documenting successful attempts for use by StrongFirst. Videos will be filmed by an appointed individual for official use.

What follows are the complete rules with the new updates in red.

Beast Tamer/Iron Maiden 2018 Rules and Standards Update

There are three events: the military press, the tactical pull-up, and the pistol. The candidate may attempt them in any order and is allowed two attempts per lift. Two failed attempts in the same lift disqualify the candidate from continuing the challenge.

The press and the pistol are performed on the side of the candidate’s choice. Men lift a 48kg kettlebell; women a 24kg kettlebell. Chalk is allowed for all the events. Supportive gear of any sort (lifting belts, wrist wraps, knee wraps, etc.) is not.

The Press

• The candidate shall clean the kettlebell or place it in the rack in any manner.
• Once the kettlebell is in the rack, the knees must stay locked and the feet planted until the candidate has locked out the press.
• The fist of the hand holding the kettlebell must be below the chin level before the start of the press.
• There may be no downward movement of the kettlebell after the pause in the rack.
• Following the clean the candidate will await the command to press. The command will be given as soon as the girevik and the kettlebell are motionless.
• A minimal back bend is allowed but may not increase in the course of the press.
• A moderate side bend is allowed.
• The candidate may not roll the kettlebell onto the shoulder and press from there.
• The candidate shall press the kettlebell overhead until the elbow is locked and pause motionless until the head referee’s “Down!” command.
• The candidate may lower the kettlebell in any safe manner of his choice.

The Tactical Pull-Up

• The kettlebell will be placed on a waist belt. The candidate may receive assistance.
• The candidate will grip the bar with an overhand thumbless grip.]
• There is no restriction on the grip width.
• The candidate shall pause motionless in a dead hang, with the elbows locked, before the pull-up and await the Judges command to begin the attempt.
• The knees and hips may be flexed.
• The candidate shall pull up without kipping or swinging.
• The neck (not the underside of the chin) or upper chest must touch the bar on the top of the pull-up. The body should maintain a near vertical orientation.

The Pistol

• The candidate must be barefoot.
• The candidate may pick up the kettlebell in any manner and hold it in front with two hands by the horns or with one or two hands in the rack on either side.
• The candidate shall raise one leg in front of him. From that moment on, the foot of the working leg must stay planted.
• The airborne leg has to stay in front for the duration of the attempt. It does not have to be straight. It may not touch the ground or the working leg.
• The candidate shall pause motionless long enough to demonstrate balance, then lower himself at least to parallel: “the top surface of the leg at the hip joint lower than the top of the knee.”
• Neither the kettlebell nor the arms may touch the working leg at any time.
• A pause in the bottom position is not required. The candidate shall stand up until the knee of the working leg is locked and the hip is extended.
• The pelvis may not rise faster than the kettlebell.
• The candidate shall stand on one foot exhibiting control until the head referee’s “Down!” command.

Own It—Don’t Just “Do It”

The addition of the “press” and “go” commands will assist in making sure the press is strict and the pull-up begins from a dead-hang. This will mean that those training for the BT/IM will need to incorporate these commands into their training.

Whether a training partner calls out the commands or the individual gives themselves the commands, the student training for the BT/IM should own the lifts not just “complete” them. Use video in training to make sure your attempts will pass.

2018: What’s in Store for You?

“I am looking forward to getting to do things I have never done before.”—Tony Danza

My next article will lay out my 2018 training plan and give you some insight into programming for achieving the Sinister standard and more. What are you looking forward to doing that you have never done before?

Here’s to a Strong 2018 for us all.

The post 2018 StrongFirst Updates appeared first on StrongFirst.

The StrongFirst school of strength offers several programs to structure your training and develop your athletic qualities. Simple & Sinister, of course, our staple and the theme for multiple articles on this blog. But also, Rite of Passage, Total Tension Complex, and a number of more specialized programs authored by our instructors.

And let’s not forget numerous templates from Plan Strong and Strong Endurance. Tested on the battlefield, they all bring outstanding results.

All these programs have one point in common: each of them is focused on a limited number of exercises. That is necessary as we only have so much physical and mental energy. If we spread ourselves too thin, we would hardly be able to produce any noticeable result. And if we decided to push harder, we might end up with an injury or a systemic failure.

There are times, though, when “spreading ourselves thin”—within reason—might be a good idea, if not a necessity.

Programs and Practice

Maybe you’ve signed up for our upcoming, first-ever French edition of the SFG Level I Certification. You already have the necessary level of strength and stamina to pass the tests. You need to be sure, though, that your technique is up to par, so you need to practice the six SFG skills.

Or maybe, you’re already an SFG. You teach classes and workshops and assist at StrongFirst Kettlebell Courses and at SFG Certs. You want to not only be able to impeccably demonstrate any given technique of the curriculum, but also to show a certain level of strength. An SFG instructor should be an example, an inspiration for students. Thus, you need to practice the SFG skills.

Another possibility is that you’ve spent eight or twelve weeks on a Plan Strong or Strong Endurance program. Before undertaking another one, you might want to find your basic level of strength and skill in our fundamentals. Again, you need to practice the SFG skills.

All the above is the rationale for the following program. It is designed to let you practice the six fundamental exercises of the SFG Level I curriculum, while maintaining your strength in each of them. As a matter of fact, you should be able to increase your strength every week, by small increments. That is the concept of kaizen, small improvements compounding over time.

General Layout

I’ve called this program “Easy Reg Park.” As you can guess from the name, it’s based on Pavel’s Easy Strength and on Reg Park’s 5 x 5.

You will train six days a week. On days 1, 2, 4, and 5, you will work on your strength and skill in double cleans, double front squats, presses, and snatches. On days 3 and 6, you will do Simple & Sinister.

I surmise the latter does not need additional commentary. The only piece of advice worth giving here is: do not push too hard. Keep your S&S sessions anti-glycolytic and focus on skill, rather than on the timer.

Let’s talk about the other four days of the program. Every day, you will work the four skills mentioned above. Their order, volume, and load will differ, but each day will follow the same template:

• Exercise 1: heavy (about 80-90% 1RM)
• Exercise 2: light (about 60-70% 1RM)
• Exercise 3: light (about 60-70% 1RM)
• Exercise 4: medium (about 70-80% 1RM)

Easy Reg Park: Heavy Exercise

After the appropriate warm-up, you will do a total of 10 reps in no more than 6 sets. That means, if you’re starting with a new weight and are only able to do solid singles, do 6 sets of 1. The next week (there’s only one heavy session per week for each exercise), you might be able to do a couple of doubles (1-2-2-1-1-1) for a total of 8 reps. Later, you will progress to 5 sets of 2 for a total of 10 reps. At that point, keep the total of 10 and try to reduce the number of sets. Your end goal is 2 sets of 5 reps.

Do not feel obligated to follow any particular progression template. One week, you might be “almost there” at 5-3-2, and the next week you might “regress” to 1-3-4-2. As long as you uphold the technical standard, ebbs and flows won’t matter much.

Unless you keep regressing several weeks in a row. That might betray neural fatigue and means you’ve probably pushed too far, too quickly. In that case, be smart and manage appropriately by doing one or more of the following:

• Bump a size down on all days in that exercise
• Reduce volume
• Make all your days light for that exercise for a week or two (more on this below)

Easy Reg Park: Light Exercises

Here, you will only do 2 sets of 5 reps (for each exercise). But the technique must be stellar. Do not just bang out those reps. Take the opportunity to hone every single detail, starting with the set-up, feet position, and grip, and going all the way to the breathing, timing, and posture in the lockout. Actually, spend extra time in the lockout position to make sure everything is flawless.

Easy Reg Park: Medium Exercise

Here’s where Reg Park comes into play. For the last exercise of the day, you will do 5 sets. The first two sets should have 5 solid reps each (otherwise, the weight is probably too heavy for the medium day). In the three other sets, you will work up to 5 reps, too (over time), but you must follow the rule Pavel gives in his article on Reg Park’s template: do not attempt a rep unless you are 100% sure you will make it.

Exercise Distribution Over the Week

The four exercises are paired up as follows:

• Upper body (press and double clean)
• Lower body (snatch and double front squat)

Note: I consider the double clean to be a pull, which I pair here with a push (the press). As for the snatch, although it combines several patterns, I consider it primarily as an explosive hinge, which I pair with the double front squat.

“Pairing” means that when, on a particular day, one exercise of a pair is heavy or medium, the other will necessarily be light. On the next day, the two exercises of a pair switch places. They keep alternating in this fashion during the whole week.

Here’s the routine I’ve been following the past several months:

Day 1

• Double front squat (heavy)
• Snatch (light)
• Double clean (light)
• Press (medium)

Day 2

• Double clean (heavy)
• Press (light)
• Double front squat (light)
• Snatch (medium)

Day 3

• Simple & Sinister

Day 4

• Press (heavy)
• Double clean (light)
• Snatch (light)
• Double front squat (medium)

Day 5

• Snatch (heavy)
• Double front squat (light)
• Press (light)
• Double clean (medium)

Day 6

• Simple & Sinister

Day 7

• Rest

Easy Reg Park: Notes on Exercises

As you can see, this template also manages to alternate (intensity- and volume-wise) the one-arm overhead exercises (press, snatch), as well as the heavy loaded ones (double clean, double front squat). When one of those is heavy or medium, the other is always light (on the same day).

There’s a “hidden bonus,” though. On the heavy double front squat days, you’ll have to do heavy double cleans, too. But, as the volume is pretty low (remember, no more than 6 sets total), it should remain manageable.

Another note on the double clean: in order to maximize the power output and reduce the reliance on the stretch effect, I prefer doing them in “power” or “dead stop” fashion (parking the bells after each rep). You can also choose the dead stop variety for the snatch, for the exact same reason. Be aware, though, that with heavy bells your technique might slip over time toward a weightlifting one—less hinge, more leg drive.

Remember what you’re practicing here is the SFG skills. Do not modify technique to beat your personal record. This is why, for the snatch, I prefer to pause in the lockout. I start the rep by pulling the bell down and shoving it back into a deep hinge. Then, I explosively reverse the movement and shoot the bell back into the lockout as quickly as I can. If you’ve never done this and would like to try, keep in mind that your usual bell will feel much heavier than its nominal weight. So, start on a lighter side.

Easy Reg Park: Loads

To select your loads for Easy Reg Park program, we will follow the rule of the Soviet coaches Pavel mentions in his article. So, the general rule will be:

• For your medium days use your 7RM weight
• Use one bell-size up for your heavy days
• Use one bell-size down for your light days

Again, that is the general rule. Given that bells jump sizes by 4kg, you might not be able to exactly match your 7RM. In that case, go lighter. Remember, on your medium day, you need to be able to file at least the first two sets at 5 solid reps. You’ll be better off going lighter and do 5×5 on your first session, than going heavier and not being able to do 5 on those first two.

If your weights are on the heavier side of the spectrum (leaning toward the Beast), doing the two light days with one-size down bell(s) might be too much (in the context of this program). In that case, do at least one of your light days (typically, after your medium and before your heavy day) with the bells two sizes down from the medium.

For example, for your double front squat:

• Day 1 (heavy): 44kg
• Day 2 (light): 36kg
• Day 4 (medium): 40kg
• Day 5 (light): 32kg

Easy Reg Park: Progression

The rule of thumb for going heavier is:

• On your heavy day, you must be able to do two sets of 5 solid reps (in this case, “solid” means no excessive struggle on the last rep)
• On your medium day, you must be able to do five sets of 5 solid reps

It is likely you won’t achieve both at the same time. Please, do not compromise. Do not get ahead of yourself by increasing your weights too early.

If you first achieve two sets of 5 on your heavy day, keep doing them and work on your speed and control. If you first achieve five sets of 5 on your medium day, you may also try waving the volume. Instead of doing five straight sets of 5, do 5-6-5-4-5.

Easy Reg Park Program: The Press

“To press a lot, you need to press a lot.” We’ve all heard this statement, and we all know it’s true. So, if you’re feeling good, but your progress in the press is stalling, you might want to increase your pressing volume. Do this only on light days.

Start by adding sets of 5 on Day 5, before adding them on Day 2. As this is optional, you can actually vary the number of additional sets from week to week. Think about varying the rep volume per set: instead of doing 5-5-5-5, do 5-6-4-5, for example.

Also, instead of adding volume on Day 2, you may try some specialized variety:

• Press with a 5-second lockout (hold that plank!)
• Press from feet-together stance
• Press from feet-inline stance
• Kneeling press
• Half-kneeling press

And so on. Be smart and don’t struggle. If it feels too heavy for a light day, use a lighter kettlebell.

Easy Reg Park: Adaptations

Despite its relative simplicity, do not let the Easy Reg Park program fool you. It still represents a good amount of work that you’re adding to everything else you do in your day-to-day activities. Listen to your body and keep your training log up to date.

As I said earlier, you might notice you’re regressing on your heavy or medium days. Or maybe, you feel overall tired (bad mood, lack of concentration, and so on). The program might be the cause of it or not. Nevertheless, you must consider your daily activities on the whole, and it’s probably the program you will need to adjust in order to recover.

You have several options:

• Limit your heavy and/or medium sets to 2
• Bump down a kettlebell size on some or all of the exercises, on all the days
• Every session, replace the light exercises with 10 minutes of Fast & Loose, as well as mobility work
• Do all the exercises as light (two sets of 5 reps with the light weight) on every session, changing their order as indicated by the template
• Do only the two light exercises of the day

As you can see, the Easy Reg Park program allows for a good deal of adaptation. That is because its first goal is to structure your practice. You’re not under pressure to reach particular numbers at the end of a particular period of time.

Conclusion

Beyond the six SFG skills, the Easy Reg Park program combines and alternates the four movement patterns (push, pull, hinge, and squat). Add to that a ballistic hinge (swing) and a loaded carry/ground work (get-up) on Days 3 and 6, and you have a pretty complete program. Which means, you should be able to replace the SFG skills with other exercises (as long as they’re fundamental) and still get that kaizen strengthening effect.

For instance, my intention is to try this program with:

• A barbell deadlift (hinge)
• A barbell back squat (squat)
• A barbell military press (push)
• A weighted pull-up (pull)
• A kettlebell snatch (ballistic)
• A waiter/rack/farmer walk (loaded carry)

Other combinations are possible. Whatever the case, before attempting such a program you need to learn the proper technique in each exercise. Therefore, please, find a StrongFirst instructor in your area for coaching and feedback.

The post Easy Reg Park: A New Program to Train Your Basic Six appeared first on StrongFirst.

Last year, I suggested this approach to planning out your training for the upcoming year. Now at the start of 2018, that idea along with a couple philosophies are guiding my own plan for the next 12 months.

“Occam’s Razor,” when boiled down to its simplest level, states: “All things being equal, the simplest explanation is the best one.” The base of Occam’s Razor is—or should be—a decision between two equal theories, and deciding that the simplest is the best (but not necessarily perfect) explanation. As Dr. Suess said: “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

Please keep in mind that there are “anti-razor” philosophies. Karl Menger (an anti-razor scientist) stated: “Entities must not be reduced to the point of inadequacy.” I think Karl would like specialized variety in programming.

Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century philosopher, stated: “If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several, for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments where one suffices.” Another nod to Occam’s Razor and recognizing carryover in training.

Putting this philosophical “stuff” into practice: that is the question or thought running through your head at the moment, yes? Let’s break it down by goals and timeframes.

My goals for the year

• Sinister
• SFL in May (see requirements here)
• GFM in May
• SFB in October
• Survive my traveling and teaching schedule, including teaching SFG Level II in February and SFG Level I in June.

So, what does that all mean? I need to work on my overall goal of Sinister while preparing to teach the Level II in February and implementing some barbell work to prep for SFL in May. GFM in May will not require any special preparation. SFB in October is far enough off to not influence my training until after the SFL, and working toward Sinister will keep me pretty dialed-in for teaching the Level I in June. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

How can I say that? Occam’s Razor, Anti-razor and St. Aquinas. Occam’s Razor can direct me to the simplest program design. Anti-razor can mix in the needed specialized variety, and St. Aquinas can remind me of carryover and not using two tools when one will do.

Programming for Simple (and Sinister)

Since Sinister is the overarching goal for the year, I will begin with programming to reach Simple. This will hinge around 3 main practice sessions:

Day One

• Prep: Foam roller and GFM
• 24kg Get-up+ x 1+1 (get-up+ includes an arm bar, bent arm bar and bridges at the elbow and hand on the way up)
• 24kg Half-Kneeling Windmill series x 1+1
• 32kg One-arm Swing x 5 reps every 30 seconds x 10 minutes (20 sets total)
• rest one minute
• 32kg Get-up x 1 EMOTM x 10 minutes
• Stretch
• Increasing a rep each set and decreasing sets to keep volume around 100 total reps. Rep increases will be done when the session can be “easily” completed. After Simple is achieved, I will begin again with the 36kg for both swings and get-ups. (Rinse and repeat—just like shampoo.)

Day Two

• Prep: Foam roller and GFM
• 24kg Get-up+ x 5+5
• 24kg Half-Kneeling Windmill series x 1+1
• Strength Aerobics {Clean + Press + Squat + Snatch} x double 24kg x 10 seconds “on” and 30 seconds rest x 15-20 sets
• Stretch
• Variations here can include Jerk or Push-press instead of the Press and Double 32kg KBs and the occasional single 36kg KB session.

Day Three

• Prep: Foam roller and GFM
• 24kg Get-up+ x 1+1
• 24kg Half-Kneeling Windmill series
• 32kg One-arm Swing x 10 EMOTM x 10 minutes
• Rest one minute
• 32kg Get-up x 1 EMOTM x 10 minutes
• Stretch

Once Simple is achieved, I will likely switch to 12 weeks of Strong Endurance plans with the 36kg.

Please note that I already incorporated what I need for preparing to teach the Level II SFG with the double kettlebell work and half-kneeling windmill series (which includes the half-kneeling bent press—if you don’t know what these are, see a Level II SFG Instructor).

Programming the barbell work for SFL

In January, I will run a bit of testing to see where I am in relation to the SFL standards, but from a programming standpoint, below is an outline of the barbell work.

If a standalone day, the prep work of foam roller, GFM and get-up+ will be performed along with “ramp up sets” for the lifts of the day. If combined with the S&S programming the barbell lifts will be performed after the prep work and will occur on Day One and Three.

For each lift, I will work at a given weight until 5 reps x 3 sets is complete then increase weight and drop reps back to 3. Goal is to hit the 5 reps x 3 sets with the testing weights for the technique standards and 3 reps x 3 sets on the strength standards. Leaving no doubt.

Starting weights will be light.

Day One: Squat and MP

• Squat x 3 reps x 3 sets
• MP x 3 reps x 3 sets
• Assistance work: One-arm row x 5+5 x 5 sets

Day Two: DL and Bench

• DL x 3 reps x 3 sets
• Bench x 3 reps x 3 sets
• Pull-ups x 5 x 5 sets (adding weight as needed)

Completing the Year

This takes me through May and the SFL. The simplest programming is the most direct toward the goal (Razor) which you can see in the Sinister programming. And includes the specialized variety needed for the different teaching requirements (Anti-razor). While using carryover instead of feeling the need to “train everything” (Aquinas). In fact, I may not train the DL every week since the swings provide significant carryover to my DL. Once the SFL is complete, I will drop the barbell work and simply incorporate some of the SFB exercises into the three main training days to shift focus toward October. Past October, the focus will be hitting Sinister.

Surviving imperfect circumstances

“Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.”
—Mike Tyson

Will this plan survive contact with the enemy?

What is the enemy you may ask? Life, travel and work are my enemies. There will be weeks heavy with travel that will mean missed sessions and less than perfect sleep and nutrition. There will be months of “perfect” action on the plan. I need to be open to both and adjust as needed. Push when working more or harder makes sense, and backing off and adding rest days when needed.

Hopefully you enjoyed this “peak behind the curtain” with my planning for 2018. If you are surprised it isn’t more complicated, then, I am happy to surprise you and introduce some philosophy into your programming thoughts.

Brett Jones

The post Sinister, Occam’s Razor, and 2018 appeared first on StrongFirst.

“Only by contending with challenges that seem to be beyond your strength to handle at the moment you can grow more surely toward the stars.” My challenge for myself was to complete Simple and Sinister with the 36kg.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this daunting challenge was my husband, Brian. He achieved Sinister when he completed the challenge with the 48kg. This is approximately 60% of his bodyweight. The 36kg is 60% of my bodyweight, and I had already completed S&S with the 32kg for both the swings and the get-ups. So, of course this would be the next progression. Get-ups are a big part of my training. For the last 6 years, every Monday I’ve done get-ups 1/1×5 and then some type of other get-up practice a second day later in the week. It’s not always heavy, and sometimes done with only a shoe. The get-up is all about the effort you put into it. It is a technical skill that takes consistent practice, and it will still present you with its own challenges. This dedication has created a strong wrist and forearm that can withstand the pressure of the bell.

Previous Experience with Simple and Sinister

Simple and Sinister (S&S) has definitely been one of my favorite plans. It is a stand-alone plan, working 3x per week. The original program from Pavel’s book Kettlebell Simple and Sinister consists of 100 swings in 5 min, then 10 get-ups in 10 minutes. Simple for women is using the 24kg for swings and 16kg for the get-ups. Sinister for women is 32kg for the swings, and the 24kg for the get-ups. Simple for men is 32kg for both the swings and the get-ups. Sinister for men is 48kg for both the swings and the get-ups. I have completed this program with the 16kg, 24kg, 28kg, and the 32kg. I used the same bell for the swings and the get-ups each time. Getting up to the 32kg took me 7 weeks to complete. 3 weeks to go from the 24kg to the 28kg, then another 3 weeks to get from the 28kg to the 32kg. It took two attempts before completion.

The Role of Strong Endurance™

The Training: Plan 260

After I attended the Strong Endurance™ workshop, I was eager to try a program out. My husband had used Plan 260 for his Sinister journey, so I followed suit. Programming the get-ups into the plan is another challenge. My husband Brian recommends that you should able to do 10 get-ups in less than 10 minutes with the bell you will be testing with before starting this plan. Waving the load of the get-up during the plan is necessary for success. For example: one week, work with the heavy bell on Friday and Monday. Another week, work with the heavy bell only on Friday. Be aware of how your body responds to the get-ups.

In my own experience, if you start to decline in your strength endurance during the get-up, take it back to one heavy day a week. On the rest of the days you can practice with a lighter bell doing singles or even multiple get-ups.

Plan 260 is 6 weeks long, or you can take it out 8 weeks by repeating weeks 1 and 2. In the Strong Endurance™ plan, there is a 10-15 minute rest break in between series—this time should be used for breath work and active recovery. Use this time wisely!

Set-Backs and Opportunity

When starting Plan 260, I planned to take my time and really own the 36kg on the swings and get-ups. After the first two weeks, I tested to see where I was at. I completed the swings, but could not stand up from half kneel on the first get-up because my legs where exhausted. This is when I began to question whether or not I was going to be able to complete the goal. The get-ups were going to be intense! This is when I decided to repeat weeks 1 and 2.

As week 4 of the plan rolled around, it was really starting to wear on me physically and mentally. Thoughts of quitting the program passed through my mind. To calm myself, I would visualize and meditate on what I wanted the end goal to be and my anxiety would subside. You need to be all-in to complete this task!

When test day arrived, I was a nervous wreck. I was nice and relaxed through the swings, but then I got anxious and rushed to get through the get-up portion. It was a true fight that day, and I finished 20 seconds after the timer went off. This attempt was incomplete. Brian suggested that I do the get-ups on the minute and enjoy the rest time on my next attempt. 3 days later, I attempted the test again. I felt stronger and more relaxed than the first time—I did the get-ups on the minute and finished with time to spare. I thought it was complete until I watched the video, but realized set 9 only had 9 swings. Frustrated (to put it lightly) yet determined, two days later I attempted a third time. With my designated counter (Brian), I felt more relaxed and more energized than the previous two attempts. This time it went off without a hitch. The third time was the charm. This program actually went out 9 weeks for me, from start to finish.

Don’t give up if you don’t complete it on your first attempt, or you will miss out on the opportunity to succeed in something that is hard to achieve.

Recommendations and Self-Care

When you get inspired to do this plan, whether it’s the original or from Strong Endurance™, make sure you are efficient with your get-ups. I feel like this is the hardest part.

The warm-up for S&S was goblet squats 3×5, and light get-ups with the 20kg. On heavy get-up day, you can do a heavy bottoms-up clean to determine how strong your grip is going to be for that day. Do a couple get-ups to half kneel with your working weight. On some days those heavy get-ups would intimidate me—this would help give me confidence to power through.

Active recovery on your days off are a must with this plan. Hiking, biking, or walking—anything except being sedentary; you will get tight. Indian clubs, halo, or arm bar will help you keep your thoracic spine mobile and flexible. Using a PVC pipe for shoulder dislocations, your shoulders and upper thoracic will need lots of attention. Be prepared to spend some time in Brettzel and frog, as these will help combat the body tightness you may encounter.

Massages helped immensely during this plan. Going every other week kept my neck and shoulders from getting tight. Give yourself a day of active recovery between a massage and your heavy working day. You will need to take some time to get your body tight and responding before doing heavy weight, with tension work. Examples are 20 sec hardstyle plank, 3 slow pull-ups, and 3 sit backs, for 3 rounds.

Visualization and meditation will help you get through when you feel like it is too much and are overwhelmed. Think about what you want the end to look like and feel like…and breathe. Simple and Sinister is about how efficient—yet powerful—you can be with your swings, and then how calm and focused you can keep your mind and body during the get-ups. When you do this plan, it is important to stay true to 10 swings every 30 seconds and do your get-ups on the minute. Appreciate the rest time and think only about the very next task: the next 10 swings or that next get-up.

If you feel the rest time is unnecessary, you will need to go up on your weight.

I love a challenge that makes me nervous and anxious. It makes you feel uncomfortable and you have to overcome thoughts of quitting something that is hard. This has definitely been that kind of a challenge for me.

Note from Chief SFG and StrongFirst DOE Brett Jones:

Going Beyond…

If there was a mountain higher than Everest I know people would seek to climb it. That is the nature of achievement and those that pursue the highest levels of accomplishment. When Pavel established the Sinister standard, it provided an “Everest” to climb. But unlike mountains people are able to create a goal beyond the standard.

Roxanne Myers did this by going beyond the Sinister standard performing 100 one-arm swings with the 36kg in 5 minutes and performing 10 get-ups in 10 minutes with the same kettlebell.

For perspective, the Sinister standard for women is those same “lifts” with a 32kg kettlebell for the one-arm swings and a 24kg kettlebell for the Get-ups. Going beyond Sinister indeed!

Roxanne’s one-arm swings were a bit below the Simple and Sinister chest height standard, but she is “beyond” the goal and in new territory. I encouraged Roxanne to write this article and share her experience in achieving this incredibly impressive goal. As I make my own way to achieving the Sinister standard for men it is made clear to me just how impressive Roxanne’s accomplishment is for anyone even if not to “chest height”!

You can see both Roxanne’s Sinister 32kg video and her Beyond Sinister (36kg) video, so you can see what these achievements look like and you can read below to get a window into how Roxanne went beyond the standard. Take notes!  —Brett

The post Beyond Sinister appeared first on StrongFirst.

“He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.”

—Victor Hugo

Or simply stated: “Plan your work and work your plan.”
(An oft-quoted saying which is difficult to attribute to one source—Google is your friend.)

In January I laid out my goals and plan for the year in this article, Sinister, Occam’s Razor, and 2018. Achieving the Sinister standard is the “overall” goal for the year and in the first quarter of the year two other goals have been achieved or are “in process”: 1) teaching the SFG Level II, and 2) SFL in May. Teaching the SFG Level II went very well and my inclusion of Level II skills into my movement prep and Strength Aerobics had me prepared for the weekend. SFL prep started in earnest after the Level II as planned (basically).

Spoiler alert: training observations at the end of the article.

So my initial plan looked like this, and some interesting training observations are below.

You can check out my training from Dec. 17, 2017 thru March 26, 2018 in the Training Logs on the StrongFirst Discussion Forum. In it you will see that the program up until the Level II SFG in February was pretty close to the Sinister plan above. Then training switched over to a barbell focus to prep for the SFL Certification but with kettlebell snatches for “conditioning” starting on March 6, 2018. But as you can see below the plan is different than what I had envisoned earlier in the year.

The barbell plan came together very simply, but different from the prospective plan above. I had my first couple of very light barbell sessions and counted the weeks back from the goal date of the SFL and then did the math of how much I needed to increase each week to hit the standards by that date. This allowed me to quickly and easily plan the weights for each session; with the exception of some jumps related to how I was (will be) feeling or progressing. For example, I was not going to be benching and squatting the same weight so some larger jumps were necessary for the squat.

Sets and reps for the lifts tested for a single rep (deadlift and bench) I am keeping to 3 sets of 3 reps and just working the increases in weight. For the lifts that are tested for 5 reps (squat, military press, and deadlift), I am increasing weight for the week hitting 3 sets of 3 reps on the first session and then 3 sets of 5 reps the second session of the week.

(Note I am not doing that for the deadlift since 3×3 at 405 makes 315 x 5 a given.)

This is a bit different plan from the one I laid out and I may eventually have to split out some lifts on different days but for now it is working well.

Getting back to the barbell meant two things more than anything:

1. Controlling my ego
and
2. Allowing for tissue adaptation

Controlling the Ego

This was necessary because my best lifts were 10 years behind me and while I have lifted a barbell periodically I have not trained with the barbell since then.

For example:

March 31, 2008
ADAU Meet Report
ADAU Great Lakes PL meet
Squat: 475 was good with 2 whites and then I proceeded to miss my next two attempts at 520.
Bench: 295 opener—good, 310 second—good, pass on third.
DL: 545 opener—good and then proceeded to miss my next two attempts at 575.

And my best PL meet:

Oct. 12 or 13, 2007—AAU Nationals
Squat 518, Bench 286, DL 573 (@198)

Going into the gym and squatting, deadlifting, benching, etc. at very, very small percentages of my all-time bests was humbling but necessary for the second reason.

Tissue Adaptation

I like to joke that I am strong enough to hurt myself. As an example, I decided to get back into nail bending for a bit and quickly found myself back at the Grade 8 bolt but because I progressed too quickly and my tissues (ligaments and everything) was not conditioned to the efforts I sprained my left hand/wrist (which took a few months to fully heal).

Down to the level of the muscle fiber there are adaptations to loading that create the opportunity to “build the chassis” of the car so to speak. Meaning the structure can handle the loads because they have adapted to the stress. Due to my level of conditioning, power and strength in the ballistic or quick lifts (which oddly enough may not “build the chassis” well on their own), I can out-perform my structure. Not good, but by planning the work and working the plan my ego had to take a back seat and adaptation can occur.

Observations and Lessons from the First Quarter

Asymmetrical Load vs. Symmetrical Load

During the first three months I had a significantly greater amount of asymmetrical loading (one-arm swings and get-ups) vs. symmetrical loading (barbell work, two-arm swings, or double kettlebell work). I believe this lead to an irritation of a scar tissue situation in my lower back (L5/S1 laminectomy 2003). Nothing I needed treatment for but an awareness of something being “off” (scar tissue and nerves become very sensitive “barometers” for how you are moving and adapting). To be honest I have likely had this programming asymmetry for quite a few years. So, from a programming point of view, a certain percentage of work within a kettlebell program needs to be symmetrical loading. I don’t have the percentages worked out and it may only end up being that 1/8^thof the work needs to symmetrical, but some portion of your loading should be symmetrical.

Barbell work should take care of symmetrical loading if using a combined kettlebell and barbell program. And this was one of the things I felt immediately as I started the barbell work.

Two-Arm Swings

In the “no duh” category of observations is the impact of the two-arm swing. This symmetrical power work is something I have neglected but am now appreciating the impact of the two-arm swing. We usually progress very quickly past this exercise to get to one-arm swings and snatches. I know I have, and in hindsight it is a mistake. It is an oversight I am addressing: see my training from March 24. (see Training Log on the StrongFirst Discussion Forum)

Assistance Work

In my barbell routine I have added neutral grip pull-ups, triceps pushdowns, and leg press calf raises. Pull-ups started at sets of 5 prior to starting the first set of each different lift and I have added a rep a week. Since the lats are huge to…well, everything, it was important to get extra work in for the back. Triceps pushdowns are for two sets of 8-10 reps between sets of the leg press calf raise just to get some extra triceps work for the military press and bench. Leg press calf raise is done for 3 sets of 10 reps increasing 20 pounds a session.

And here is where it gets interesting…

I know it is popular to not work on calves, but as noted in this Bill Starr article it can be a difference-maker.

“Powerlifters usually avoid doing any specific calf exercises. As they don’t have to extend high on their toes for any of the three contested lifts, they conclude that there isn’t any reason to spend time working their calves directly.

What they fail to understand is that they need strong calves to establish a solid foundation for every exercise done while standing, including squats and deadlifts. I’ve convinced a number of powerlifters to add calf raises to their routines, and to their delight and surprise, they increased their deadlifts by as much as 20 pounds in a month.”

And for me, I have certainly known that my lower legs are a weak spot (if I wear shorts it looks like I am riding a chicken as Pavel would say), and that getting stronger in the lower legs will help—and it is already, I believe.

“Walking Around Strong”

Barbell work immediately provided something I have been missing. While I have had get-ups and Strength Aerobics sessions and some strength work in my program, I have not had barbell work and dedicated strength work in my program for quite a while. One of the issues is with training at home and training alone, to be honest. Also the idea of there being three branches of the StrongFirst School of Strength means balancing the programming to include all three within your/my programming. But what does “walking around strong” mean?

From my blog on Dec. 21, 2006:

“Walking around Strong…” This is a phrase we have used from time to time to describe how it feels to possess a confidence building level of strength. I was recently talking to a friend who has made some great progress over the last 6 months (more that in the previous years of training—thanks to KBs and PTP) and he was saying how much more confident he feels now that he is stronger. Cardio does not build this confidence—Strength builds this type of confidence.

This does not mean a cocky or flashy demeanor—This does not mean bragging or “using” your strength to intimidate—This should not have any negative meanings—although some will take it this way.

“Walking around strong” is an inner strength and confidence in your body and your self that allows you to be more relaxed and more confident. In our cores we know we want and need to be strong. It wasn’t that long ago that we truly needed, respected and worked for this type of strength—physical labor used to develop it, hunting and gathering used to develop it but now we are reduced to a level of ease (for some not all) that allows us to be weak.

And weakness breeds insecurity.

Dogs on leashes are a perfect example—once on a leash a dog will be aggressive and mean because it realizes that its ability to defend itself and its owner is limited by the restraint of the leash. Once off the leash the dog is relaxed and more likely to be friendly because it knows all its strength is available to it off the leash.

We are not so different. We realize that if we are weak we must put on a front of aggressiveness and hope that no one calls the bluff. This is not true strength—it is weakness in action.

Walking around strong is to walk around with a quiet confidence that allows you to help others. I have had the honor of meeting, training with and talking to some of the strongest people in the world and they are some of the nicest, calmest, and best people you would want to meet.

Unfortunately – there have been those that have been perceived as strong that have used their “strength” for “bad” reasons—intimidation, bullying, “power”, etc. and now strong can have a negative meaning for people. But true strength is a well of calm and an ability to conquer challenges—not with bragging but with quite purposefulness. And please realize that strength comes in many different forms and is built in many ways.

Plan the work and work the plan…but don’t be “confined” by it

The initial planning laid out in the January article morphed a bit but held true to the intent of the original plan. This is life and programming in action. Ben Franklin stated that “failing to plan is planning to fail.” In my opinion, plans are blueprints or ideas that are progressively adapted and improved as you move forward. Without the original plan you have nothing, no thread as Hugo put it, to guide your improvements and adaptations.

After the SFL I will move forward with more dedicated programming for the Sinister goal. And based on some early results with people (calling Jason Marshall) implementing the strategy laid out, I think progress will be good. And the increased strength and tissue adaptation from the barbell work will pay off as noted in my session on March 24 where the 44kg felt the best it has in quite a while.

How is your plan “in action”?

The post Quarterly Update: Back to the Barbell appeared first on StrongFirst.

I recently attended a conference and watched a presentation by a highly respected clinician and researcher who specializes in chiropractic and neuro physiology. He works very hard to show the link between movement of the joints and what happens at the brain level. His research dives deep into pain and inflammation, along with keeping joints healthy through sleep, diet, and movement. Something caught my attention when he was talking and I wrote the quote down on a small piece of paper:

“After reviewing all the available research, the way to keep the synovial joints [where two bones meet and there is a fluid filled capsule around them] healthy is to move them through a full range of motion, every day, with load.”

Stop and think about that for a second.

It is so simple that people will inevitably complicate it. They’ll come up with a thousand different exercises to try and accomplish a thousand different things. For the sake of complexity, they will claim that you have to do this if you want to get better at that; and you need to have these four corrective exercises so you can progress at this other one.

Yet many such plans become unnecessarily complicated. It takes a very experienced coach to know when certain additions are needed and when to just let things happen through simplicity. Don’t just stand there and point a finger at other people. We have all been there at some point in our careers. We were guilty of holding a person back because we felt things weren’t quite perfect, or that we needed to fix or add just one more thing.

Appreciating the Simple in Simple and Sinister

Yet sometimes the most basic plans are also the most effective. I have written about Simple and Sinister before. You can find that article here. I remember the first time I picked up a copy of Pavel’s book. I read through it, implemented none of it, put it down for a few months, and then read through it again. This is standard behavior for me with his work. I know there will be hidden things I don’t see during my initial read-through and I have to forget about it for a while and then come back later with a fresh perspective.

My first thought after finishing the book was, “It’s only about two exercises, that’s strange.” The next time I read Simple and Sinister was after the incident I referred to in the article above. At that moment with my compromised capacity, there were only a very small number of things I could do. With my choices limited by injury, I came to appreciate the idea of only focusing on a couple of movements, but honing in on them with such laser focus that it could cut a diamond.

Defining Elegant

I want to define the term “elegant” for you. The first definition comes from the worlds of art and fashion. It means something is pleasingly graceful and stylish in appearance. When solving a scientific or mathematical problem, elegant means finding a solution that’s pleasingly ingenious and simple. I am not sure if this is true, but I like to believe Pavel had both of these definitions in mind when he wrote Simple and Sinister. If this elegantly elemental program is being performed by someone who has been well coached and is moving with intention, the first definition will very much apply. As far as the actual program, the second definition is absolutely appropriate.

I have no idea if this was deliberate or not, but if you look at how I described the way to keep your joints healthy and thoroughly read Simple and Sinister, you will notice something striking. With just two exercises, you manage to almost put all your joints through all their ranges of motion, every day, under load. When you add in the recommended warmup, you fill in the squatting gap and the short lever positions of the shoulder. The only thing really missing is full extension of the shoulder, which can easily be added into your training with some weighted dips and maybe the “skin the cat” (I promise, no actual cats are hurt when performing this exercise.) You roll, rotate the spine, hinge on one hip, fully flex the knees, extend all the toes, flex, extend and rotate the hips, and lunge. You perform a horizontal press and manage a big load overhead through every plane. And that’s just the Turkish Get-up.

As for one-arm swings, you get powerful hinging, long lever internal and external shoulder rotation, and powerful anti-rotation of the spine. You also get a tremendous amount of trunk stability work with both single and double arm swings and learn to breathe efficiently and effectively while maintaining this stability. Thank you, hardstyle kettlebell swings.

Stripping Away the Unnecessary

People often look at something so elegant and almost immediately ask the question, “Well, how do I add this to my program?” I’m sure the StrongFirst forum is strewn with such inquiries. What people often fail to realize is that with the Simple and Sinister approach, everything unnecessary has been stripped away. Depending on your goals in life, there may not be a whole lot more you really need to add. This can be a big issue as a coach. People are not always interested in actual training anymore. Rather, they’re fixated on exercising, which is totally different. This leads many coaches and athletes to chase complexity they don’t truly need.

Are you planning on playing a contact sport? You’re probably going to have to add some things to increase mass and drive maximum strength and power. Are you participating in powerlifting, weightlifting, strongman, CrossFit, etc.? Then of course there are other skills you are going to need to acquire. Many of those training systems don’t put your joints through all their positions. Other plans are only heavy in just one plane of motion. What I will tell you is all of these endeavors will do nothing but improve in spades if you add even a condensed version of Simple and Sinister to your training schedule. Move each joint through a full range of motion every day under load. Those are words to live by. And if I may say so, elegant ones at that.

People are not always interested in actual training anymore. Rather, they’re fixated on exercising, which is totally different. - Travis Jewett
Click To Tweet

Resources Mentioned

Simple and Sinister – Book by Pavel Tsatsouline
The StrongFirst Forum – StrongFirst Community

The post Every Joint. Every Day. The Elegance of Simple and Sinister appeared first on StrongFirst.

Goals are some of the most powerful fuels for progress in life, business, and training. But recognizing when a temporary pull-back may improve longevity or deliver better long-term results while minimizing potential negative side-effects is a skill that comes through practice and experience. Being a student of strength is a long game. 

“Warts and All” —My 2018 in Review

When commissioning a painting, Oliver Cromwell told the artist (Sir Peter Lely) to paint him “warts and all,” instead of in the more flattering style common in that day. You could call what Lely was offering the original “photoshop.” In today’s social media driven world—rife with filters and photoshop, and the tendency toward putting on a “flattering” face to our lives—we rarely see “warts and all.”

What “warts,” you ask? I failed to achieve one of my 2018 goals.

I started the year by telling you what I was going to be training for and how I planned on accomplishing my four major goals:

1. Teaching at StrongFirst and FMS events,
2. Successful completion of the SFL,
3. Successful completion of the SFB, and
4. Sinister.

So how did it go? In my Quarterly Update article, I discussed my training leading into the SFL. But what happened since then? Out of the four goals, I succeeded at three of them. I was moving well and able to demonstrate and teach effectively. I achieved SFL and SFB. However, Sinister will not be happening this year.

Why not? I’ll let Kenny Rogers explain:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away
And knowin’ what to keep
‘Cause every hand’s a winner
And every hand’s a loser”

Lyrics from The Gambler

Kenny had some wise advice there.

Knowing When Not to Grind

Now I know that one of the popular messages in life, work, and training is to “grind.” Embrace the grind. With pictures of one person digging a tunnel and walking away one strike from hitting gold and another person continuing the dig although they are several strikes from gold. The message—do not quit.

But there is a difference between quitting and knowing when to fold’em. And this comes from experience.

This is not to give people a pass on quitting everything they start, or at the first sign of difficulty. Far from it since I embrace persistence as a key attribute to success in life. As I have been saying: if I had a superpower it would be stubbornness—and stubbornness in its most elevated form is persistence. As Calvin Coolidge noted: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” 

Knowing when to hold’em and when to fold’em is a skill earned and learned through the practice of persistence. The key is to fold’em before “driving off the cliff” into personal ruin (in financial cases) or injury (in the case of training).

And that is why I bumped my Sinister goal to 2019. I recognized the need to fold’em and adjust my training instead of “grinding.”

What did I recognize? My training was too heavy, too often and my body was not happy. I have accumulated some mileage on my 47 trips around the sun. Some of that mileage was earned by not stopping when I should have stopped. Other parts were simply by “life happening” rather than by choice. But in the end, this mileage and my ability to listen to it now is a powerful tool.

Also realize that personal goals, while very important, are not mandates writ in stone. I joke at workshops all the time that unless you are getting paid to hit that next rep or set, you can stop. Know when to fold’em.

So moving into 2019, I do so with more earned knowledge and the persistence to adjust my training and achieve Sinister. I hope that 2018 was successful for you and wish you every success in 2019.

Here’s to a Strong 2019.

Achieve Sinister

Brainy Quotes: Calvin Coolidge

The post Knowing When Not to Grind appeared first on StrongFirst.

Pavel's original Program Minimum used the bent press and the snatch. He reinvented the PM with two equally-effective drills: the swing and the get-up. What if we use all four?

The post Program Minimum [Squared] appeared first on StrongFirst.

In a great majority of athletic events and real-life tasks, a ramrod straight posture, or at least its approximation, greatly improves the efficiency. So get your carcass rebalanced.

The post Posture: An Easy Way to Up Your Performance appeared first on StrongFirst.

Let's examine science and history to best understand how a strategy of "anti-glycolytic" training can be applied to a Simple & Sinister progression plan.

The post Simple & Sinister Progression Tactic appeared first on StrongFirst.