Zen mind is.....

.....not zen mind. That is, if you are attached to zen mind, then you have a problem, and your way is very narrow. Throwing away zen mind is correct zen mind. Only keep the question, "What is the best way of helping other people?" - Seung Sahn

A primary aim of Zen.....

.....is the uncovering of what is known as inherent knowledge. It is said that the ignorant are obstructed by ignorance, while intellectuals are obstructed by intellectual knowledge. One way of getting past these obstacles and approaching inherent knowledge is to let go of whatever comes to mind. - Muso Kokushi

Do not.....

.....seek the truth. Only cease to cherish opinions. - Zen Saying

Calm in quietude.....

.....is not real calm. When you can be calm in the midst of activity, this is the true state of nature. Happiness in comfort is not real happiness. When you can be happy in the midst of hardship, then you see the true potential of the mind. - Huanchu Daoren

Refraining from all evil.....

.....not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation - this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it. - Dogen

Outside teaching.....

.....apart from tradition. Not founded on words & letters. Pointing directly to the human mind. Seeing into one's nature & attaining. BUDDHAHOOD. Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen. Whether talking or remaining silent, whether moving or standing quiet, the essence itself is ever at ease. - Daishi

Zen in its.....

.....essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. - D.T. Suzuki

Training Log begins soon!

So I will be starting my new training log here on my blog. Just basic run downs of my daily training evolutions for your entertainment enjoyment! Stay tuned.....

What Apologies?

I will never apologize for anything I say unless I am proven wrong without a shadow of a doubt! I believe in the things I say or write about, if you you take such a great offense to what I say then lets talk about it. I'm always open to discussing all things related to physical culture, I'm not trying to cause a controversy with anyone but if you take it that way then piss on you!

I love discussing all things physical culture and what pisses me off the most is that its very hard to find people who will discuss or have a conversation with you about things while having an open mind.

Instead what happens is people wont discuss it with you but they talk shit about you behind your back and never defend themselves openly! If you think I'm wrong, prove it and lets talk about it.....

Tournament Afterword.....

So all and all the tournament went great! We didnt have as many athletes as I was hoping for but it was probably for the best, we learned alot about what to do and not to do for our future decathlons.
Here are my thoughts for next time:
1 - Lighten up the weights for SOME of the events, the swing/farmers walk combo was abit heavy to expect high scores in the short time limit and quite a doozy on grip/forearm strength for the rest of the day.

2 - Not so many SNATCH events next time. 3 of 10 events with different loads & reps was alot on the palm skin, and for one competitor, it decided the outcome of the tournament. I think having one major snatch event would suffice in testing an athletes skill level.

3 - More lower body events. I dont think we tested leg strength/endurance enough, only one event had heavy full range squats. I understand that swings,snatches,deadlifts,getups & figure 8/uppercuts do place loads on the legs but nothing quite like full range squats or lunges!

4 - Have an earlier cutoff date for registration. One thing I never thought about until it was way too late was that I never put a deadline for signups. Having a deadline of 2-3 weeks prior to the actual event day would help with the schedule of events for the day and how the day will flow.Still allowing for possible "day-of" registration but making it unfavorable.

5 - Adding in some bodyweight only movements. Even though it is a "kettlebell" event, I think that bodyweight movements would help to level the playing fields abit for a wider range of athletes & ability levels. Pullups,bar/ring dips,HSPU's,box jumps,burpee's,pistols,pushups & even maybe some sprinting or hill runs just maybe in our events future!

6 - Having weight class's. I do believe bodyweight of an athlete can give one a HUGE advantage or disadvantage in competition, could you imagine Brock Lesnar fighting BJ Penn! I think for the next tournament we will have 2 weight class's; HEAVYWEIGHT(men 180+,women 150+) &
LIGHTWEIGHT (men 179-,women 149-) We will see how well this works or not and go from there for the future.

7 - Using TONAGE TOTAL for more of the events. Seeing as how our 90 SECOND MAX WEIGHT/REP SINGLE KB PRESS EVENT was the deciding factor for 1st & 2nd place, a difference of 980 pounds, I think we will use this unit of measure more. I've always been a greater fan of strongman competition than powerlifting or olympic weightlifting, seeing an athlete lift the heaviest weight they can and as many times as they can & maybe even for a time limit or best time is just impressive on any level.

8 - Having plenty of the required kettlebell weights. Seeing as how we didnt have any pre-registration I wasnt gonna go out and buy a bunch of kettlebells for the CHANCE of needing them. Along with a registration deadline, that will allow me to plan on having enough kettlebells to run mulitple athletes for one event. Even with the 3 athletes we had, we didnt have enough heavy kettlebells which slowed us down at one point quite abit.

9 - Different scoring for TABATA protocols. I loved the tabata event, we might even add 1 or 2 more for the next tournament, but with scoring the highest,lowest rep round all the athlete had to do was maintain for the time limit. I think next time we will do max reps for the tabata intervals and have some different time lengths & intervals. This will also change things abit & add huge degree's of difficulty to the whole event.

10 - Adding a more challenging respiratory cardio event. I think most of the events challenged athletes cardio level to some degree but no single event maxed out the respiratory cardio and I believe it to be a huge factor in ones overall fitness ability.

For now, those are the major changes to happen for next year. Speaking of next year we have already set the date for our next tournament: MARCH 27TH, 2011. We are gonna keep this event going on a 5 to 7 month rotation, I hate that some events like this,strongman or powerlfiting or crossfit competitions, are only once a year yet you can find some sort of short or long distance run every weekend through the year. This way everyone has plenty of time to rest & train between tournaments!

Until next March, SWING IT HARD & SNATCH IT FAST!

The Big Event is Upon Us!

Tomorrow is our Tournament of Champions Kettlebell Decathlon!

check it out here: http://nwkettlebell.weebly.com/tournament-of-champions.html

We will post the results ASAP after the tournament!!

Good luck everyone!!

RESULTS & PHOTO'S ARE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE ABOVE!

Thoughts on cardio/met-con training

I guess it really all comes down to what your goals are, as with everything in life!

Do you go out and jog/run for 30 minutes or more 5 days a week?
Do you jog/run different time or length intervals each week?
Are you a cyclist?
Do you perform sprint intervals or HIIT sessions?
Do you jump rope?
Do you walk/run stairs?
Do you hop one of the many cardio machines at the local globo gym for an hour at a snails pace?
Do you perform prowler/sled drags & pushes?
Do you use rower machines?

I think you get my point, now if you perform any one of these(or something I havent mentioned), why?

Are you an athlete preparing or maintaining for your sport?
Are you trying to lose weight or body fat?
Are you trying to improve your cardio respirtory health(dr's orders)?
Are you just doing what you have been lead to believe is what everyone should be doing?

In my time being a strength & conditioning coach I have only come across a few people who perform cardio for exactly the right reasons. The marathon runner training for mileage pace, the cyclist finding the groove, the competive bodybuilder losing bodyfat, the fighter building up endurance. With athletes though, the only thing you need to make sure of is that your sport specific endurance training, the football player should not be running 50 miles a week.

As for the rest of you, why are you doing the cardio training that you are? why do overweight new moms take 30 minute slow walks around the park to regain their youthful body? Why do older people wearing knee braces go on hour long runs at max effort? why does the younger generation insist that a slow, long walk on a treadmill while they text is true cardio? And when you ask anyone one of them why they are doing what they are doing its always the same, it's what I've always done or the magazines said this was best or my dr told me to exercise more!

I think there tends to be more myths around cardio training then any other aspect of fitness. For the most part, the general public is wrong with their cardio training for what their goals are. None of them take the time to learn what will actually help them reach their goals or what they really need to do is hard work(always the latter), for some reason most americans always take the easy route which actually leads them nowhere anyways!

My only response to all this is for everyone to actually do some research based on their goals. Just because one place tells you this is what works, doesnt mean it's gonna work for you!

Functional Training vs. Weight Training

Functional training originated as a form of injury rehabilitation with exercises that are relevant to the movements of everyday life. Many traditional workout programs limit performance in specific hobbies, sports or daily movements, but functional fitness develops basic motor patterns to work at a higher capacity. Each functional exercise uses complete muscle activation and a purposeful movement pattern which allows for maximum strength gains.

Traditional weight training often only works one muscle at a time which is contradictory to the normal coordinated effort used to complete most activities. This type of training is more likely to lead to overuse injuries, muscular imbalances, and limit movement and strength gains.

Traditional Weight Training:
Focuses on one muscle at a time
Seated or supported position
Overuses forward/backward plane of motion
Slow movement speeds for machine reps
Not related to movements of everyday life
Results in tightening of muscles
Un-chanllenging postural situations
Range of motion restricted
Develop more bulging, bulky, swollen muscles
Can lead to muscular imbalances/overuse issues
Controlled and less effective movement pattern
Shortening of muscle tissue

Functional Training:
Use of many muscles simultaneously
Need to stabilize self
Uses all three planes of motion equally
Mirrors movement of every day life
Core muscles actively engaged
Allows for maximum strength capacity
Improves posture and body position
Complete activation of muscles
Longer more natural looking muscles
Helps prevent injuries
Purposeful movement pattern
Lengthening of muscle tissue

RUNNING TO LOSE WEIGHT? STOP IT STUPID!

It seems that I have the same conversation about ten times a month. A new runner says: “I decided to start running so that I could lose weight, but I haven’t lost any. Is that normal?”

Yes, in fact, it is quiet common for new runners not to lose weight when they start running. In fact, a lot of them gain weight. Here’s why.

A running program will provide a number of great benefits to you. It will increase your cardio-vascular efficiency, making your heart stronger and more efficient. It will also increase your basal metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories when you’re at rest. And running itself burns calories at a rate of about 115 calories per mile. But all of this together does not automatically lead to weight loss.

The reasons are three-fold:

First, your weight is directly related to your diet - The foods you consume will either be burned by your activities during your day or they will be stored as fat for you to use later. There is no other option for those calories - they have to go somewhere. Generally speaking, when people are over-weight they are eating too many calories, or more specifically, too many calories from food types that are not useful to them for the activities they pursue in their daily lives.

Running requires foods rich in complex carbohydrates. If these carbohydrates are available in the runner’s diet, they will be burned to as fuel. Runners don’t lose weight, because they are often eating too much fat and protein on top of the carbohydrates that they need for their running.

Second, new runners often have a greater appetite than before they started running- With the body burning more calories, it is normal to be more hungry and craving more food. The problem is that new runners may not have figured out which foods to increase in their diet and which to avoid. This often means they may just eat more of the foods that they don’t need, which works against their desire to see weight loss from their running.

I often hear runners say things like, “hey, the reason I run is so that I can eat whatever I want!” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Runners still need to eat sensibly to avoid gaining weight. They may be burning more calories, but they are not gaining a license to eat whatever they want.

Third, new runners often gain muscle when they begin their running program- Since muscle tissue weighs more than fat, some new runners may actually gain weight when they initially start a running program. But the flip-side of this is that as their bodies start to respond to the training, they often feel stronger and have more energy.

I’ve noticed with my female runners that they often put on new muscle in their legs, in particular their quads (the large muscle in the front of your legs). They often tell me that their jeans are snugger than they have been in the past — again, I think this is normally the result of larger muscles in their legs — and that their bathing suit bottoms don’t fit particularly well. (As you can imagine this doesn’t make me that popular around the start of Summer!)

Another thing that I’ve noticed is that as the distance of their weekend long runs increase, most runners will tend to lean out in their mid-sections. This is simply because of the greater number of calories that are being burned by these long runs. So when new marathon runners start hitting about 15 miles in their weekend runs, they start burning enough calories and even if they aren’t eating particularly well, things start to balance themselves out. Their stomachs start to get flatter and their pants fit more loosely around the waist.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon USA
Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

WHY TRAIN WITH KETTLEBELLS?

I want it all. I want to work on my strength, conditioning, appearance, and flexibility all at one time. Not to mention, I only want to workout for 20 minutes. The first thing you'd say to this person is that it sounds impossible. The first thing I'd say is welcome to the kettlebell!

Kettlebells provide such a great and effective workout. There are a few things you'll notice when you start swinging kettlebells, but one of the first and most important things is that it's not boring. I dare you to start doing swings, snatches, cleans, and windmills and feel like it's a waste of time!

There are many great benefits I'll cover, but first is that kettlebells are great for burning the fat right off your body. Let's take a normal exercise you'd see in a gym, say the arm curl. During the exercise you work, without getting too technical, your biceps! Now, let's take the kettlebell swing. During the swing you work your hamstrings, your glutes, your your back, your shoulders, and your grip. Not to mention your heart and lungs work much harder to pump blood and oxygen into all of those muscles. Due to the extra work, your body burns far more calories than a traditional workout would.

Another great benefit is the strength you gain from kettlebells. Due to the unbalanced nature of the bell, you have to work even harder to keep it under control. This extra work leaves you, again burning more calories, but also develops all around, useful strength. Every time you win the battle of controlling the kettlebell means you are getting stronger and stronger.

Kettlebells keep the fire burning! After an intense kettlebell session you raise your EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) significantly. What this means is your body has to work hard to normalize itself from what you did during the workout such as clear all the lactic acid, refuel glycogen stores, etc. Again, your body works harder so you burn more calories in the long run!

All of these benefits have been about losing weight or gaining strength, but a major benefit is the endurance and conditioning you gain from kettlebells. Kettlebells have an amazing ability to build your stamina and work capacity. While you're body is receiving all the benefits of a strength-building workout, your heart and lungs are also getting a workout. This dual workout provides the body with aerobic and anaerobic training all in the same workout. There's that efficiency again.

If you wanted to do a traditional gym workout, how much equipment do you think you need? Do you have the space for that? A kettlebell, on the other hand, takes as much space a shoe box and to use it, all you need is enough room to swing your arms. Don't feel like working out inside? No problem! Take it to the beach, park or anywhere you want. That's freedom you can't buy. Unless, of course, you bought a kettlebell.

Kettlebells are a great tool that can be used as a stand-alone system or with many others. Of course, they are not the end-all solution, but whether your an athlete, a bodybuilder, an outdoors person, or just want to find another great way to get into incredible shape, kettlebells have a place in everyone's workout.

TOURNAMENT of CHAMPIONS KETTLEBELL DECATHLON 2010!

Date: Saturday, August 7, 2010
Time: 10:00am - ?
Location: CROSSFIT TACOMA
Street: 411 Fawcett Ave
City/Town: Tacoma, WA

24 HOUR TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION SPECIAL!
$35 - FOR ONE DAY ONLY FROM 12am TO 11:59pm AUGUST 1ST.

TO REGISTER: http://nwkettlebell.weebly.com/tournament-of-champions.html

NORTHWEST KETTLEBELL presents the 1st annual Washington State Tournament of Champions Kettlebell Decthalon.
A series of varying kettlebell
events testing a person's strength,
endurance, mental stability, will power & heart!
This is not a Girevoy Sport event, a competitor must be proficient in Hardstyle
Russian Kettlebell training and
adaptable to varying intensities!

I hope our competitors are ready!! All competitors must be registered & signed in no later then 9am on Saturday Aug. 7th, our judges meeting will begin promptly at 9am and all volunteers must be checked in no later then 9:45am. Competitors have until July 31st to register for only $45, competitors who register after July 31st will be $60. All profits will be donated to the WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT!!

This is a non-profit tournament, all proceeds will be donated to the WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT!

Registration Fees:
$45.00 per competitor - JULY 31ST, 2010 DEADLINE
$60.00 per competitor - AUGUST 7TH, 2010 DEADLINE

THE NINE of TEN EVENTS RELEASED -

EVENT #1:
12-MIN AMRAP
HEAVY SWINGS; ANY STYLE; 16 REPS;
MEN - 48KG, WOMEN - 32KG
2-KB FARMER’S WALK; 100 METERS;
MEN - 40KG, WOMEN - 24KG

EVENT #2:
4-MIN OVERHEAD PRESS
DOUBLE KB; ANY STYLE; MUST LOCKOUT;
MEN - 32KG, WOMEN - 20KG

EVENT #3:
90 SECOND MAX WEIGHT & REPS OVERHEAD PRESS
SINGLE KB; ANY STYLE; MUST LOCKOUT;
MEN - 32KG MINIMUM, WOMEN - 20KG MINIMUM

EVENT #4:
4-MIN GOBLET SQUAT
FULL RANGE SQUAT; MUST LOCKOUT;
MEN - 40KG, WOMEN - 24KG

EVENT #5:
4-MIN SNATCH;DOUBLE KB;MUST LOCKOUT;
MEN - 20KG, WOMEN - 12KG

EVENT #6:
90-SEC MAX WEIGHT/REPS SINGLE SNATCH
SINGLE KB; MUST LOCKOUT;
MEN - 32KG MINIMUM, WOMEN - 20KG MINIMUM

EVENT #7:
12-MIN TABATA of FIGURE 8 / UPPERCUT'S
40/20 TABATA, 12 ROUNDS TOTAL, SCORING LOWEST REP ROUND
MEN - 20KG, WOMEN - 12KG

EVENT #8:
4-MIN OVERHEAD SQUAT & DEADLIFT COMBO
1 KB LOCKED OUT OVERHEAD, 1 KB IN DEADLIFT POSITION
STAND UP AND LOWER BACK DOWN TO FLOOR
MEN - 24 & 48 KG; WOMEN - 16 & 32 KG

EVENT #9:
12-MIN AMRAP of RENEGADE ROWS & GET-UPS
MEN - 24KG & WOMEN - 16KG

EVENT #10:
ANNOUNCED AT THE TOURNAMENT!

VIP Training & Conditioning

So here's a list of protocols that I believe should be included in any persons strength & conditioning program no matter what your goals are!

1 - HEAVY TIRE FLIPPIN; brute strength lift, builds every muscle in your body aswell as great for conditioning

2 - HEAVY SLEDGE HAMMER ON TIRES; same as above, cant be beat!

3 - BARBELL SUMO DEADLIFTS; only one way, HEAVY AS SHIT! low reps,high sets,big weights to build gobs of size & strength

4 - ASS-2-GRASS GOBLET SQUATS FOR SPEED; high reps, low sets as fast as you can to build crazy explosive strength & endurance in the legs aswell as core strength

5 - DOUBLE KETTLEBELL OVERHEAD SQUATS; heavy, controllable weight building great core/stabilization strength

6 - WALKING LUNGES/PULLUPS/DIPS/PUSHUPS/HSPU; 5 basic bodyweight exercises practiced daily for great strength

7 - KETTLEBELL BENT & SIDE PRESS'; unbelievable overhead pressing strength

8 - KETTLEBELL RUSSIAN SWINGS; not much to say besides UNDENIABLE, UNCOMPARABLE & RELENTLESS!

9 - KETTLEBELL TURKISH GET-UPS; whether for warmups,cooldowns,movement screening or workouts this protocol will take you further in your strength training by showing your weakness'

10 - RUNNING STAIRS; the strength endurance in your legs and for an iron heart, running long sets of stairs will take you to new pain thresholds

There is of course countless protocols that do a number of the same things listed above, this is just a short list of what I consider to be 10 great protocols to help you build real world strength & conditioning that would build up any athlete(whatever the sport) or any regular gym rat!


Let me know in the comments section what 2 or 3 protocols that you would add to my list!!

And for my first real post:

A snippet from "World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:" on the Crossfit main site, by Greg Glassman....

"Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports."

1 - Regulary attending CROSSFIT is a routine

2 - Seeing as how very few people follow main site WOD's, check out Dutch Lowy's DVD on that subject, most crossfitters are following a class-style of CROSSFIT which means the workout's may be intense but far from short in duration except for the very seldom practiced benchmark workouts. Even still, some main site wod's are over 30 minutes in length.

3 - How many crossfitters actually partake in this one, because learning or playing new sports might actually mean not doing CROSSFIT for some time and according to most; that would be sinful! If I'm wrong, then how come there are no basketball games or judo tournaments held at the CROSSFIT GAMES. For someone to call themselves the fittest person on earth if they win the games, where was the new sports aspect of CROSSFIT implemented seeing as how the games are just glorified/intensified main site WOD's.


I'm begging those crossfitters out there in the world to explain this to me with good reasoning.

LOL, I love the internet!

My first blog.....

Hello internet! I'm excited to share my thoughts, ideas & practices I go through in my life with all of you. I hope you will find interest in my posting whether positive or negative, frankly I dont care if you like my stuff or not, but none the less this should be entertaining!!