The First NationalKettlebell Convention, Las Vegas, March 2005—a wild success

Dragon Door’s first-ever NationalKettlebell Convention featured a series ofsuperb workshops by Pavel and the entireDragon Door faculty of RKC SeniorInstructors. Further highlights were thepresentations by Dan John, Tim Larkin andCharles Staley. I heard several peoplecommenting in amazement at the valuethey were receiving in terms of advancedinstruction.

The various kettlebell contests were bothexciting and eye-opening, with many stellarperformers posting impressive numbers.The contest standout, for me personally,was seventeen-year old Samantha Young(featured on our front cover), a divingchampion who placed in the top three inalmost every event she entered. Samanthawas also the only person to successfullyperform a weighted pullup, in the women’sdivision.

On pages 24 & 25 you’ll find a greatphoto-spread of the kettlebell conventioncontest winners. Go to our website,dragondoor.com to see over 780photographs from the Convention and beon the lookout for the next issue of ourKettlebell News, with full coverage of theevent.

Hot news: Pavel has just released twoexcellent new DVDs of cutting-edgestretching techniques, Loaded Stretching(see Page 3) and Strength Stretching (see theback cover). You will not find theinformation on these DVDs anywhereelse—in both cases expect to makesignificant gains when you implement thesegreat new training secrets.

Speaking of Pavel’s stretching knowledge,he’s joining up with myself and Brazilian JiuJitsu World Champion Steve Maxwell forour new Unlock!™ The Course inEffortless and Unrestricted Movementworkshop in July (see Page 21). I guaranteeyou will be exposed to more instantly usefuland practical techniques in this workshopthan most people would get in a lifetime!

New articles in this issueOne of the toughest aspects of any

physical training is setting up a solidprogram with realizable goals. JoshHenkin, RKC does an excellent job in TheABCs of Reaching Your Fitness Goalsexplaining how to apply Awareness BasedConcept (ABC) training to your kettlebellpractice.

One of our most dynamic RKCs is SarahLurie, who founded and developed thealready highly successful Iron Core LaJolla. For the Iron Core success story seePages 26 and 27.

We’ve known for a long time thatkettlebells have a remarkable ability to stripaway unwanted bodyfat. One of the beststories I’ve ever heard you’ll find on Page28: How Betty Picked Up a Kettlebell—andLost 62 Pounds in 9 Months by SheilaCull. Now, that’s impressive!

And speaking of fat loss with kettlebells,I’ve found no better explanation of whykettlebell practice can burn so much fat, thanfound in Dragon Door author Dr. Al Sears’explanation of his PACE program: ShedMore Fat with Interval Exercise (Page 4).

Despite your heavy lifting schedule, areyou still not packing on the muscle andgaining the strength you’d expect? It’spossible you may be sabotaging your

strength success by ignoring the importanceof post-practice recovery meals. WarriorDiet author Ori Hofmekler addresses thisissue on Pages 22 and 23.

All the Best,

John Du CanePublisher

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Dragon Door Publications presents

Vitalics www.vitalics.comwww.dragondoor.com

Publisher & Editor-in-ChiefJohn Du Cane

EditorialTraining Editor

Pavel TsatsoulineEditorial Assistant

Dennis Armstrong

ContributorsOri Hofmekler, Al Sears, Sheila Cull, Josh Henkin, Sarah Lurie

Art Direction & DesignDerek Brigham

Internet ArchitectJames McConnell,webmaster@dragondoor.com

Dragon Door Corporate Customer Service

Dennis Armstrong, Tammy Drury, call 651-487-2180, support@dragondoor.com

Orders & Customer Service onOrders: call 1-800-899-5111

Dragon Door Publications corporate address:

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News From The PublisherApril 12, 2005 • St. Paul, MN

the heart’s peak ventilatory oxygen uptake (VO2) (meaning the heart’s exercisecapacity) was the most important criteria in predicting chronic heart failure. Exercisecapacity was more important than the duration of time exercised in extending life.

1

How to increase your heart’s exercise capacity… Simple: Challenge your capacity, a little bit at first, but as you become conditioned,

you can gradually increase the challenge. In other words, you need to performprogressive interval exercise, such as the PACE program. Long-duration walking orjogging does little to improve your cardiovascular health.

Build muscle mass with effective interval workouts… Your age doesn’t have to dictate your level of fitness or your muscle mass. Sure, if

you don’t challenge your muscles they will shrink. Without effective exercise, youlose about 3 pounds of muscle every decade after age 30, but you can maintain 100percent of your youthful muscle mass if you do the right exercises.

Why bother? Because healthy muscle is essential. Your muscle mass is intimatelyconnected to your metabolism in many ways:

• Muscle helps you fight fatigue, sexual dysfunction, chronic illness, sagging skin, and bone fractures.

• Muscles help increase your metabolic rate, which leaves you less susceptible to fat gain.

• Muscles provide energy by storing glycogen.• Conditioned muscles strengthen the immune system, decreasing

your risk of developing disease.• Muscles help maintain glucose balance.• Muscle allows you to perform the activities of daily living.

Loss of muscle is a major cause of nursing home institutionalization among elderly Americans.

Many people fail to appreciate the continuing need for muscle. If you believe thatonce you’ve reached your 60s, 70s or beyond muscle is no longer important, thinkagain! An ongoing study known as the Evergreen Project is studying the effects ofmuscle on the aging process. The study includes men and women between the agesof 65 and 94. The researchers have already found that those participants withgreater muscle mass have better mental function, fewer chronic illnesses, and livelonger.

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Create Your Special Exercise Plan… Despite the data, cardiologists rarely prescribe the right exercise to their patients.

Don’t assume that your doctor’s neglect minimizes the power of exercise totransform your heart. By the time you finish chapter 7 of The Doctor’s Heart Cure— Build a Strong Heart: Get More With Less, you’ll know how to put into practicean effective exercise plan to stave off or reverse heart disease. You will learn how to

work out effectively to build and maintain cardiovascularhealth. And, remember, you can get fit and stay fit inonly about 10 or 15 minutes a day.

1 Myers, J, et al. Clinical hemodynamic and cardiopulmonaryexercise test determinants of survival in patients referred forevaluation of heart failure. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1998;129:286-293.

2 Fozard J,. Epidemiologists try many ways to show thatphysical activity is good for seniors’ health and longevity. Reviewspecial issue of Journal of Aging and Physical Activity: TheEvergreen Project. Experimental Aging Research. 1999 Apr-Jun;25(2):175-182.

SHED MORE FAT WITH INTERVAL EXERCISE

Your body is always adapting to the demands put on it. When you burn fatduring long-duration exercise, you are telling your body to maintain fat stores sothat they will be available for the next exercise session. In essence, your bodyhoards your fat reserves to use as fuel for future workouts. Instead of decreasingfat, long-duration endurance exercise triggers your body to make more fatwhenever possible.

Endurance exercise actually encourages fatproduction…

When you begin working out, your body burns ATP, the highest energy fuel inthe body, but there is only enough ATP for one or two minutes of exercise. Next,your body switches to glycogen, a carbohydrate stored in muscle tissue. Yourglycogen stores will take you through about 15 minutes of exercise. After that,your body taps into its fat reserves for fuel.

This fat-burning strategy may at first sound like an ideal approach to exercise forweight loss, but it isn’t. Since your body does all it can to adapt to demands, itbuilds back your fat the next time you eat to prepare you for the next time youexercise for a long time. It also sacrifices other tissues, such as muscle, to preservefat whenever possible.

One of the primary reasons people choose the wrong form of exercise is that theypresume that their body changes during an exercise session. It never does. All theimportant changes begin after you stop working out. They are consequences ofyour body adapting to prepare for the next time you ask your body to perform thatsame activity.

During brief sessions of interval training, the bodyburns the energy stored in the muscle tissue, ratherthan energy stored in fat…

Over time, this teaches your body to store more energy in the muscles — not asfat — so that it will be available for quick bursts of energy. You also teach yourbody that storing energy as fat is inefficient because you never exercise longenough to use fat as your primary fuel source.

Other studies demonstrate the effectiveness of short, high-intensity intervalexercise at burning body fat. In one study, researchers at Laval University inQuebec compared long, moderate-intensity, aerobic exercise with high-intensityshort interval exercise. There were two study groups: a long-duration group thatcycled for 45 minutes without stopping, and a short-interval exercise group thatcycled in numerous short bouts (lasting from 15 to 90 seconds), with rests betweenintervals. The long-duration group burned twice as many calories as the intervalgroup, but the short-interval group lost more fat. In fact, for every calorie burned,the interval group lost nine times more fat.

Another benefit to the high-intensity interval approach is that it doesn’t take aslong. My PACE program takes less than 15 minutes a day.

To live longer, PACE yourself…Low-intensity exercise is also not the most effective way of living longer. A study

in May 2003 of almost 2,000 British men looked at the relationship between deathand low-level endurance. The researchers found this type of low-intensity exercisedid nothing to reduce the participants’ risk of premature death due to heartproblems.

In a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchersfollowed 644 patients with heart failure over a 10-year period. They found that

4

Al Sears, M.D.

By Al Sears, M.D.

A B C

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The ABCs of Reaching Your Fitness Goals

Since I see as many as twelve clients a day for coaching, I will have toimplement very strict habits. I will make sure to go to bed and wake upthe same time every day to keep on a solid routine. In addition, I willpreplan my week by cooking over the weekend so that I won’t missmeals during my busy days. Every day I will buy a gallon of bottledwater at the store right next to my gym. These are just a couple of theimportant items I place high on a list of must does. Since I am asking mybody to really focus I need to provide it with the best environment toimprove.

Rule #2: Training Must Match GoalsThis rule might seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many

people fall into this trap. Many times I am approached by people whosay they have one goal, but their training program does not reflect any oftheir priorities in achieving such a goal.

Using the basis of goal setting can often help prevent this dilemma.Several years ago I was attending a seminar by world-renowned strengthcoach Charles Staley and heard him promote the effectiveness of hissimple system known as S.M.A.R.T. This easy to remember acronymstands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Based.

S—Specific: your goals should be easy to define. If I said I want toimprove my kettlebell snatch, that is just plain too vague. However, ifI outlined that I want to perform thirty-seven snatches with a 24kgkettlebell, this gives me a more specific goal.

M—Measurable: how do you plan to measure your progress? Manytimes clients come to me and say, “I’d like to get in a better shape!”What does that mean? Well, first we make the goals more specific andthen we determine ways in which to measure them. For me I amgoing after a very specific type of strength-endurance, so my success issimply based on the number of snatches I perform. However, anathlete that wants to improve their power may want to use a verticaljump test, and a bodybuilder may test his bodyfat.

A—Achievable: Is performing thirty-seven snatches an achievable goalfor me? Since I have not tried such a test before I thought I better tryit out to see if it was. Well, my baseline numbers seemed good enough

When Pavel asked me to be an instructor at his RKC program Iwas definitely excited! Not only was this a great opportunity for me toshare ideas with others and to learn new ones, I also have a chance torenew my certification which has proved to be a valuable business andeducation tool. Then it dawned on me, the snatch test was something Ihadn’t taken in my original certification. This was something I betterresearch.

While searching online I had my mouth open when I saw my goalthirty-seven snatches each side! THIRTY-SEVEN?! I don’t do anythingthis many times! You see, I tend to enjoy training for maximal strengthand power type of goals. While I have dabbled in Weightlifting andStrongman training, the short burst type of activities seemed moreenjoyable than the pain such a performance would require.

I was sweating about this until I spoke with a good friend/colleague,Keats Snideman. He reminded me that I already knew the answer, as hesaid “it is as simple as ABC.” The acronym stands for the foundationfor all training, Awareness Based Concept training (ABC). No matterwhom you speak with, there always seems to be a common theme whenevaluating and planning for a goal. ABC allows a person to setthemselves up for great achievements because it looks at the fundamentalaspects of life that allow us to be successful.

Rule #1: HabitsAsk any excited person what they are willing to do to achieve their

goal and the common answer will be “anything!” Unfortunately this isoften not the case. Why? Well, as expert sports performance coach DanJohn would ask,

• Do you eat breakfast?• Do you floss?• How much water do you drink?

As basic as these ideas appear, how much success can be achieved ifthese aspects of your lifestyle are not addressed? Sure, I am pumped forthis new challenge, but what will it take for me on a daily basis to putmyself in the best position to achieve it?

By Josh Henkin, CSCS, RKC

where with the time frame available I couldachieve this goal. However, if the goal wasto squat 1,000 pounds I may have not beencapable of succeeding at such a pursuit.

R—Relevant: what does achieving this goalmean to you? This snatch test means that Ican keep a certification that has helped mybusiness and taught me a lot in regards tousing the most cutting-edge traininginformation. I hold both of these aspects inhigh regard so achieving them would bevery meaningful to me. There is also the factthat I would have succeeded in a goal that Iwould consider very challenging for myself.

T—Time Based: now that you have followed the other steps, it isimportant to set a deadline for yourself. This assigns accountability,but also places a sense of urgency on following what you havepredetermined as essentials in achieving a particular goal.

The deadline is obvious for me — June’s RKC. I will also set short-term deadlines to make sure that I am on track or make modificationsto the existing program.

Rule #3: Quantifying Quality TrainingAll training, whether the goal is body composition, maximal strength,

or athletic performance based needs to be quantified day to day. Sure,training journals keeping track of sets, reps, and weight have been aroundsince the idea of lifting rocks. However, over the years we have learned ofseveral markers that can give us a lot of feedback upon the state of ourtraining. These are invaluable measures to make sure training is on thepositive side of the cost to benefit ratio.

Waking Body Temperature and Heart Rate: Any significant deviationfrom normal may be the beginning of overtraining or possibly a signthat excessive stress is taking a lot of the body’s energy.

Mood Before Training: If training starts to be something I dread on aconsistent basis I may find myself changing an aspect of the program,or the whole thing together to keep my mind in the right place.

Body Inventory: Taking notice of how prior orthopedic issues arehandling the new stress is vital in avoiding injury and continuing on apositive path towards my goal.

RPE and RT: RPE is someone’s rate of perceived exertion. For myself,I can assign a number to how twenty snatches feel on a particular day.If my number for this volume of snatches increases constantly I mayfind myself on the verge of overtraining.

Rating technique is a concept that the late Dr.Mel Siff popularized. Simply it is using a smallscale to rate the quality of one’s technique duringa set. If the number is low then you may want toconsider dropping the weight, cutting down thevolume, or moving onto another aspect of thetraining program. If when I perform my snatchesthe technique feels awkward, anything but fluid,or compromised, I may have to makemodifications to the routine that day.

Rule #4: Address WeaknessesThis is an aspect of the system that could

easily be a whole article in itself. The key is to behonest with yourself and find the weak link inyour training. For my snatch goal I consider my

weakness strength-endurance specific to high repetition training. I oftenprefer training in small cluster sets with a short rest interval forconditioning. I can tell that I will have to replace such training withcarefully organized and planned high rep snatch workouts.

One of the most difficult things to do in training is to admit where youare not strong and then force yourself to perform in this weak link. Mostof us tend to prefer to stick with our strengths because we are good atthem. Prioritize your weakness and continue to work on your strengths aswell. Don’t completely forget what you are good at because incompetition you may have to fall back on your strengths.

ConclusionWe often get excited when we first think about achieving a high goal.

Unfortunately, many times these goals don’t go very far because peopletend to fail the awareness aspect of training. When we apply theprinciples of the ABC system we not only set ourselves up for success, butwe learn more about the goal itself. Strive, dream, and challenge yourself,but take advantage of the very effective and simple aspects of ideasoutlined in the ABC system

Josh Henkin is theowner/director of AdvancedAthletic Performance, LLC inPhoenix, Arizona. His companyis dedicated to helping peopleachieve the extraordinary. Youcan e-mail him ataaptraining@lycos.com or visitwww.aaptraining.net

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some of you may already know, “timing is everything”. The capacity of anymeal to promote growth, relates to the following formula:

Right nutrition at the right time equals maximum recuperation and musclegain. In other words: ‘it’s when you eat, that makes what you eat, matter”.

To fully take advantage of a recovery meal, one should first understandwhat muscle hypertrophy is.

How muscle hypertrophy actually works

Muscle Hypertrophy is a process whereby the muscle gets larger andstronger. This anabolic process is the result of increased protein synthesisand the incorporation of newly divided satellite cells (fibroblasts) into themuscle tissue.

This is how Muscle Hypertrophy occurs:

Resistance training stimulates anabolic hormone secretion, whileincreasing IGF1 (insulin like growth factor1) levels in the muscle tissues.IGF1 has the fastest and most profound immediate effect on musclegrowth. The post exercise increased IGF1 levels in the muscle tissuepromotes hypertrophy through increased protein synthesis and fusion ofsatellite cells into the muscle fibers.

As noted, resistance training increases levels of other growth promotingagents, including steroid hormones. Nevertheless, as anabolic as androgens(male steroid hormones) are, they generally have a delayed action thatclearly depends on variables such as the overall nutritional state andhormonal balance.

It then becomes evidently clear that the key influencers in immediatemuscle hypertrophy are resistance training and IGF1 levels.

How to increase post exercise IGF1 levels

Recent studies on rats in the department of Kinesiology, University of Texas,Austin, showed that administration of IGF1 together with resistance trainingincreased muscle mass by 30%. Researchers found that administering IGF1alone (no resistance training) decreased muscle catabolism during sedentarystates by about 50 %.

By Ori Hofmekler

Taking advantage of the post-exercise peakpotential to grow.

Recovery is a term that describes recuperation from a physical trauma,caused by disease, injury or exercise. During recovery, the body spends asubstantial amount of energy to clean inflammatory compounds, includingdead cells and toxins, while mobilizing nutrients for the build up of new cellsand tissues.

It has been established that your diet profoundly affects your recovery. Anydeficiency in essential nutrients such as amino acids, essential fatty acids,vitamins or minerals may delay recuperation, adversely affecting recovery.

Resistance training when done intensely is a form of physical trauma. Inorder to recover from the traumatic effect of exercise on muscle fibers, the bodyinduces anabolic stimulatory actions, which may or may not translate intomuscle hypertrophy (muscle gain).

Whether muscle mass gain actually occurs or not, clearly depends on thecompletion of the recovery process.

Taking advantage of the post-exercise peakpotential to grow.

The fate of recovery lies in the beginning of the recuperation process, rightafter the workout. This post exercise period that lasts between 30 minutes andup to 4 hours is known as an open window of opportunity. That’s when thebody’s anabolic hormones reach peak levels, that’s when insulin reaches peaksensitivity, and that’s precisely when recovery meals should be ingested. As

RECOVERY MEALSTHE OFTEN NEGLECTED, MUCH MISUNDERSTOOD BUTESSENTIAL KEY TO MAXIMIZING YOUR MUSCLE GAINS

The importance of recovery meals is oftenoverlooked, or unfortunately misunderstood.Discover the principles and the science ofapplying proper recovery meals formaximizing muscle mass and strength gain.

PART ONE

effects of resistance training is to enhance the post-exercise anabolic actions of androgens and IGF1 andthereby promote muscle hypertrophy. (GH mostlypromotes fat burning. Its anabolic effect, thoughmild, is also indirectly through increasing levels ofIGF1).

As noted, there is a post resistance exercisewindow of opportunity upon which the body is in itsmost anabolic potential to grow. This window ofopportunity reaches a peak immediately afterexercise, and gradually declines within 3-4 hours.

In order to fully complete the picture, we still needto examine the actual role of insulin during thiswindow of opportunity.

Ori Hofmekler is the author of the books TheWarrior Diet and Maximum MuscleMinimum Fat, by Dragon Door Publications.For more information Ori Hofmekler’s WarriorDiet Certification and Controlled FatigueTraining Seminars, Ori can be reached atori@warriordiet.com, by phone at 1-866-WAR-DIET or on the Internet athttp://www.warriordiet.com.

For personal consultations with OriHofmekler, E-Mail Ori at: ori@warriordiet.comor call toll free at: 1-866-WARDIET (927-3438)

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The question remains — how can one naturallyincrease post exercise IGF1 levels? (Note thatintravenous injection of IGF1 could be lethal).

The answer to that is a bit tricky. IGF1 levelsincrease in muscle tissues during resistance exercisepartly by virtue of increased muscle cellularsynthesis of IGF1 and partly due to increased serumlevels of growth hormones (GH), which promotessynthesis of IGF1.

Recent studies at the University of Guelph,Ontario, Canada demonstrated that GH respondsto a high volume of intense resistance exercise,rather than to endurance. In other words, sprintintervals, or incorporation of many sets of low represistance exercise will promote GH more than lowintensity high rep sets or moderate aerobics.

One way to further increase GH levels is toexercise on empty, in particular with minimumcarbs ingested before exercise. Notice that insulinsuppresses GH secretion during the daily hours.

Now here is the trick, even though insulininitially suppresses GH secretion, it ironically playsa critical role in actually finalizing the actions ofboth GH and IGF1. Therefore, a post-exerciseinsulin spike is necessary for effectively inducing theactual actions of the already elevated GH and IGF1.in other words, post-exercise carb ingestion (with aninitial insulin spike) is necessary for effectivelypromoting IGF1 actions. Note that IGF1’srelationship with insulin is more than just synergy.(See sidebar)

IGF1 and insulin

IGF1 (insulin like growth factors) is almost atwin brother of insulin. Both are peptides withhighly structural homology and similar anabolicproperties. Both bind to tyrosine kinase receptors onthe cell membrane, and most important, theyprofoundly enhance each other’s actions. So close isthe similarity between insulin and IGF1, that bothgenerate their anabolic actions through the samegrowth signaling compound P13K(Phosphatidylinositol –3-kinase). IGF1, however,has a more profound anabolic effect, whereasinsulin is believed to facilitate mostly an anti-catabolic effect..

Insulin and muscle hypertrophy

Recent studies on the effect of 100g of carbingestion on muscle protein synthesis at theUniversity of Texas, Galveston, reveal that ingestion

of 100g of carbs post resistance exercise improvesmuscle net protein synthesis. However,researchers noted that the improvement was dueto insulin’s inhibiting effect on muscle proteinbreakdown. The researchers noted that post-exercise muscle protein synthesis is alsoprofoundly affected by post-exercise amino acidprotein ingestion. The researchers concluded thatwhile amino acids increase protein synthesis,carbs actually help inhibit muscle proteinbreakdown. Note that the anti-catabolic effect ofcarbs lasts for three hours after the initialingestion.

Before addressing the practical application ofall the above info, let’s examine the actual effect ofresistance training on anabolic steroid hormones(androgens) and whether it’s possible to takeadvantage of this effect.

Androgens and musclehypertrophy

Numerous studies have demonstrated thepositive effect of exercise on increasingtestosterone levels.

Recent studies at the College of kinesiology,University of Saskatchewan, Canada, showedthat only resistance training (not endurance)increases testosterone during exercise. However,after an initial post-exercise increase, there was asignificant, almost immediate decline in free andtotal testosterone during recovery from resistanceexercise.

That may look quite discouraging, however,before kissing Big T and Big muscles goodbye,here is the good news. Researchers found thatDHT (dehydrotestoterone) increases duringresistance exercise and remains elevated duringrecovery. Note that DHT is the most anabolicandrogen (testosterone derivative) with about tentimes more potency than testosterone.

Since (as noted) androgens have somewhatdelayed actions, its therefore imperative toincorporate meals that provide long term supportto the actions of these anabolic hormones. Whatkind of meals, that’s coming soon.

For simplicity’s sake, here is a brief sum-ming up:

Resistance training increases levels ofandrogens, GH and IGF1 during resistanceexercise. The key to maximizing the anabolic

The role of insulinIt has been established that post

exercise is characterized by improvedinsulin sensitivity. Many studiesshowed that both endurance andresistance training increase insulinsensitivity. Nonetheless, resistancetraining helps improve glucosetransport in skeletal muscles morethat endurance training.

Studies at East Carolina University,Greenville, and Duke Universitymedical Center, Durham, NC, revealthat vigorous intense activity, andresistance training improves insulinsensitivity more substantially thanmoderate activity. This is criticallyimportant in particular due to theprospect that taking advantage ofpost- exercise increased insulinsensitivity may be one of the keyelements in designing recovery mealsafter strenuous resistance training.

US Secret Service 10-minute 12kg Snatch Test Contest, Women

24

Contest Winners at the First EverNational Kettlebell Convention

US Secret Service 10-minute 24kg Snatch Test Contest

1st Place Eric Williams 202 reps (left)

2nd Place Nick Radonjic 180 reps (right)

3rd Place Craig Sjostrom 174 reps (center)

1st PlaceSamantha Young3 reps

1st Place Sarah Lurie 261 reps (left)

2nd Place Samantha Young 243 reps (right)

3rd Place Kirsten Cummings 217 reps (center)

12kgKettlebellTacticalPullupContest,Women

40kgKettlebellTacticalPullupContest

1st Place Chad Caden 3 reps

2nd Place Jeff Clancy 2 reps, on the right of 3rd PlaceMoses Dungca 1 rep, who iscongratulating Samantha Young

Painted Kettlebell Prizes

1st Prize Ron Morris,Barbed Wire Kettlebell

2nd Prize Samantha Young,“Baboo” Monkey Kettlebell

3rd Prize shared, SteveMcNamara, Blue BallsKettlebell set

and Jackie McNamara(aged five years old),Jackson Pollock Kettlebell(not shown)

24kgKettlebellDistanceThrowingContest

12kg KettlebellDistance ThrowingContest, Women

16kg HackSquat,Women’sContest

25

Las Vegas, March 2005

1st Place Daniel Mahon19ft 8.5 inches (left)

2nd Place Dan John18ft 1 inch (top right)

3rd Place Eric Williams16ft 11 inches (Eric inwhite tee, to the right ofDan Mahon)

1st Place Sara Cheatham 1 rep,

Steve Maxwell congratulatesSara Cheatham

40kg Hack Squat Contest

1st Place Eric Williams 8 reps(center)

2nd Place Jonathan Lewis (topleft) and Eric Williams (in hatbottom left) and Jonathan Lewis(black shirt bottom left) 6 reps

3rd Place Frankie Faires 1 repwith 32kg (bottom right)

1st Place Kirsten Cummings17ft 2 inches (top right)

2nd Place Samantha Young14ft 10 inches (left)

3rd Place Sara Cheatham12ft 9 inches (bottom right)

The Hottest Workout inSouthern California

We were all divided into teams and paired with a SeniorRKC and an assistant RKC instructor. I was teamed withSteve Cotter, RKC Sr. Throughout the three-day course, Irealized how valuable kettlebell training was and I wantedto get better and learn more. So, I asked Steve if he wouldtrain me when we got back to San Diego and he agreed.

Birth of an idea: Iron Core — the ultimate kettlebell program

The more time I spent training with Steve and learningfrom him, the more passionate I became about bringingkettlebell training to my community in La Jolla, California.Soon after, the idea for Iron Core was born. Iron Core, LaJolla's new workout facility, offers the ultimate fitnessprogram that gives our clients muscle conditioning,increased strength, a solid cardio workout and fat burningall at the same time! Using our revolutionary kettlebellfitness regime, our clients gain the strength, flexibility, andpower to shed those unwanted pounds quickly. As a result,they are all on the fast track to an incredible body.

Iron Core’s team includes Steve Cotter, RKC Sr., BrettJones, RKC, Sr., Kirsten Cummings, RKC and myself,Sarah Lurie, RKC. Iron Core has a variety of great clientsaged 25-75 who often comment about how kettlebelltraining is what they have always been looking for, howlean and toned their muscles have become, how muchmore flexible they are, and how good kettlebell trainingmakes them feel. Our clients that are recreational andprofessional athletes realize immediately the power,endurance and conditioning they are gaining for theirsport.

By Sarah Lurie, RKC

“My hips were always so tight fromsquatting in the gym, but they soon

became loose and powerful from thefoundation kettlebell exercise, the swing.

My rear end was transformed too. Years of lunges, squats, and deadlifts

could not even come close to the resultsI got from a few weeks of training with kettlebells. “

I wasn’t always enamoredwith kettlebells. A life longtraditional weight trainer, Iwas hesitant when I picked upmy first kettlebell in thesummer of 2003. Thehesitation quickly changed toexcitement though as mybody experienced someamazing and quick

transformations. Not only did I become stronger, I lost 7%of body fat within 6 months of integrating kettlebelltraining into my routine.

Intrigued by a transformation which years of traditionalweight training never gave me, I started researching kettlebellsand came across Pavel Tsatsouline’s Russian KettlebellChallenge (RKC) certification program. In June 2004, oneweek before my wedding, I was off to Minnesota to becomean RKC. Of course my family and friends thought I wascrazy to leave town when I should be tending to last minutewedding details. But, within the first hour of the certificationprogram I knew I had made the right decision.

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Sarah Lurie, founder andPresident of Iron Core La Jolla.

The Hottest Workout in Southern CaliforniaThe Hottest Workout in Southern California

Contact Sarahat 858-551-2673 or

sarah@ironcorelajolla.com for more

information. Visit our website

www.ironcorelajolla.com

Program Design by KirstenCummings, RKC

6 min warm-up:• Catch a 4 kg medicine ball while standing

on a BOSU on two legs and then on one• Lunge twist with elbow touching the

ground. Walk 20 paces.• 20 two-handed swings with a 16 kg

kettlebell

Program:Repeat the circuit 3 times:

• 15 swings per arm with a 12kg kettlebell• 10 front squats with a 16 kg kettlebell• Overhead press walk with a 12kg

kettlebell, 20 paces each arm• Assisted pistols, 15 times each leg• Overhead press step-ups (a 20” step)

with an 8kg kettlebell, 6 times each side

Repeat the circuit 2 times:• Lateral hops 24 times• Skier squat position on a BOSU (flat side

up), hold 1 minute• 15 jumps on a BOSU (flat side up)

Stretch:∑ Stretch the quads, hamstrings, and hips

My Program as Designed bySteve Cotter, RKC Sr.

Currently I am competing in Girevoy Sport(GS), or kettlebell sport. I found this to be agreat way to achieve my fitness goals, becausethere is always a set date that I have to beconditioned for. Although I am a beginningGS competitor, Steve doesn’t design myprograms for GS exclusively. In his words, “Iam training you to be a better, more agile,

more powerful, more well-rounded athlete.Since there are so many things that can betrained, I use a cross-training approach so thatin any given training session when you aredoing Girevoy Sport specific training you arestrengthening or stretching the same musclegroups. Plus, in my particular approach, I thinkeveryone should understand how to be strong,especially women, so I use supplementarytraining that is Martial Arts based so that youdevelop the patterns for basic self-defenseskills.”

Warm up:• Focus mitt work: slips, high knees, straight

leg swings -for speed, force, and ROM• Stick/Shinai: hip ROM drills, agility

drills/reflex training• 1 or 2 hand swings 12kg x 20 reps, 16kg x

20 reps• Arm circles + work out any kinks (joint

ROM)

Program:• 1 arm Snatch: 12kg x 15/15x 1• Rest 1 min 16kg x 15/15• Rest 1 min 16kg x 25/25 x1• Rest 2 min 16kg x 40/40 x 1• Rest 3 min 20 kg x 5/5 x • Rest 1 min 24kg x 10/10 x 1• Rest 3 min• Glute/Ham raises on the floor —

bodyweight only x 10, 8• Trunk Hyperextension and Reverse

Hyperextension on a Swiss Ball or BOSU-15 reps each.

Stretch:Partner assisted, the emphasis on thehamstrings, quads, hip flexors, and shoulders.

This is one day. This might be done twice perweek with slight changes. The other two dayswill be varied.

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The Iron Core ladies are all smilesafter a tough workout.

Brett Jones, RKC, Sr., puts the IronCore ladies through a toughworkout.

The kettlebell clean-and-pressalternated with the plank.

Iron Core offers semi-private training (6 to 8 students) andpersonal instruction. Here are some typical routines ourRKCs take our clients through:

Ffor the last year Betty Ginden, a busyprofessional, a wife, and a mother of two youngchildren, trained with a Russian KettlebellChallenge certified instructor, Shawn Cull. Thekettlebell did not make Betty bigger and bulkier likeshe initially feared. Her body became ‘sound’.

When you watch Betty doing the one-arm kettlebellswing it looks deceptively effortless. The kettlebellis centered on the grass in front of her; it’s a 26-pounder. Betty thrusts her hips backwards, likeshe’s sitting in a chair. Next, she picks up thekettlebell and forcefully throws it forward betweenher legs. The kettlebell hangs momentarily in theair in front of Betty’s chest and gets reclaimed by thegravity. Before the kettlebell hits the ground Bettypowers it up again.

Through kettlebell training Betty lost 62 pounds in9 months. Kettlebell training can burn the fat offwithout the bother of dieting and hours on thetreadmill. As long as you follow a reasonable diet,you’ll burn fat with the kettlebell alone, thanks tothe high metabolic cost of throwing around acannon ball size weight.

A Russian kettlebell resembles a bowling ball witha handle. Kettlebell drills are suitable for womenyoung and old. Kettlebells come in different sizes.The average woman typically begins training withan 18lb. kettlebell. The workouts are brief andprovide uncontestable, powerful results.

Thanks to the end of the Cold War, this exercise hasmade its way to North America. Pavel Tsatsoulineis the man responsible for bringing the kettlebell toNorth America. He’s also a big advocate ofkettlebell training for women. Pavel says, “I haveyet to meet a person who has lifted a Russiankettlebell and not come away convinced it’s theultimate in strength and conditioning.”

Betty experienced weight loss and became obsessedwith her ‘form’. Yes, strength is a factor, but all ofthe kettlebell movements require perfect technique.Betty says, “Another remarkable benefit is that forthe time I spend with the kettlebell I have to clearmy head of everything and only focus on mytraining. This gives my training period a meditativequality. “

“By listening to my body and focusing on goodtechnique rather than on the number of reps I’vedone I remain eager and have benefited great gainsin the long run. That’s why I’d tell anybody who’snew to the sport to only worry about the properform at first. The rest will come. And be sure totrain without distractions. Then as you continuetraining you achieve lower resting heart rate,incredible joint mobility and flexibility, overallelasticity and unparalleled mental concentration.”

Betty trained with Shawn for close to a year beforeshe entered Illinois state’s first Russian kettlebelllifting or girevoy sport competition. Once exclusiveto Russia and the former Soviet states, the kettlebellsport took off in the US in 2002. The first meettook place on Harvard’s campus. 22 men and 2women enrolled in the IL tournament.

The meet was held at a health club. Thirty people,friends and family, crowded together and lookeddown at the racquetball court where they hadplaced two regular dark blue exercise mats on thefloor, four feet apart with a kettlebell centered on

each one. The two women were the first on deck tocompete. To the side of the court there was a vat ofwhite powder and the women bent over to chalkup. They walked behind their designatedkettlebells, paused, and lifted their iron. And therewent Betty. Prior to the competition the mostsnatches she’d done were 12 with each arm. Thatday, with all eyes on her, she did 20 on each side!

With a loud thud, she released the kettlebell in theend of her attempt. Smiling, she walked awayfeeling proud of herself and empowered. NowBetty is training for her second competition.

Betty says, “Shawn told me that if I stuck with thisprogram, three times a week minimum, I’d get theresults I wanted, guaranteed. Now, of course, I’m abeliever. I’m also excited because with one piece ofequipment, I’ve found the perfect, easy to transportanywhere I go gym.”

Shawn Cull sums up, “It’s an intense activity and apragmatic way to achieve most fitness goals.

Author’s brotherpersonal trainer

Shawn Cull, RKC isbased in Illinois.

He can be reached atscull@harmony

hpi.com

28

How Betty Picked up a Russian Kettlebell — and Lost 62 Pounds in 9 Months

Betty Ginden, the champ.

Behold the power of the Russiankettlebell!

By Shelia Cull, RKC

The iron elite knows that ‘being tight’ is critical to making that big lift. At the same time youcan’t put up a big squat, bench press, or deadlift without having just the right amount offlexibility and only in the right places. A paradox.

Ignore stretching altogether — and lose power to the joints that ‘don’t bend easy’. Dostretches designed for fighters or other athletes — and toss away strength by the bucket…because you’ll lose your crucial ‘tightness’. Either way, a dead end.

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Skyrocket your strength now — and reduce the wear and tear on yourjoints — by mastering the secrets of Strength Stretching!

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• Master the Kettlebell Depth Squat —the Russian powerlifting secret for teachingperfect squat and pull form anddeveloping championship flexibility

• Discover how to release the hiddenbrakes that are silently sabotaging yourdeadlift

• How to relax your turtle traps — and up your dead

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StrengthStretchingFor a Bigger Squat, Bench & Deadliftwith Pavel #DV024 $39.95DVD Running time: 38 minutes

Are Rigid Muscles Robbing You of Your Strength?

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