I've just uploaded the dates of my kettlebell instructors certifications for the first half of 2009.
Dates and links to the certification info pack here
Kettlebell instructors certifications
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
New Kettlebell Site - Under Construction
Just a quick post to let everyone know that I've started work on a new website devoted entirely to kettlebell training.
The new website will be a complete resource with videos and articles on kettlebell training as well as interviews with trainers and info on courses, certifications and instructors all over the world!
As soon as the first set of pages are done i'll post a notice here and in the newsletter so that you can check it out.
For any kettlebell instructors out there who would like to contribute material to the new site please contact me at fitness@octogen.com.au
The new website will be a complete resource with videos and articles on kettlebell training as well as interviews with trainers and info on courses, certifications and instructors all over the world!
As soon as the first set of pages are done i'll post a notice here and in the newsletter so that you can check it out.
For any kettlebell instructors out there who would like to contribute material to the new site please contact me at fitness@octogen.com.au
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Training without Training
In strength training routines it's fairly common to do a program specifically tailored to improving one lift or one area of training. Often theses routines call for high intenstiy or a high volume of specific work on a certain area and often they are pretty effective at boosting personal bests.
The problem is that sometimes after you finish a high intensity deadlift routine or a high volume squat routine you enter a period where even looking at those exercises is enough to make you want ot leave the gym and because of that you may start to slide backwards!
One solution to this problem of temporary mental burnout is to avoid the exercise in question and focus on a variety of related exercises so that you can maintain your newfound strength or fitness gains but also maintain your enthusiasm for training.
As a quick example if you've just done a heavy deadlift routine and set a new personal best take 2- 4 weeks and focus on the following exercises
Partial deadlift pulls from above the knee
Power cleans or power snatches
Clean pulls with 50 - 70% of your best deadlift.
Good mornings
Kettlebell Swings
If you include a couple of those exercises in place of Deadlifts you may even find that you work on weak points in the deadlift and when you return to full deadlifts that your numbers jump up again!
Here is a short video from my training of some partial deadlifts.
Remember if you are interested in Olympic lifting or serious strength training, we are running a workshop on the 30th of November at Olympic park in Sydney!
The problem is that sometimes after you finish a high intensity deadlift routine or a high volume squat routine you enter a period where even looking at those exercises is enough to make you want ot leave the gym and because of that you may start to slide backwards!
One solution to this problem of temporary mental burnout is to avoid the exercise in question and focus on a variety of related exercises so that you can maintain your newfound strength or fitness gains but also maintain your enthusiasm for training.
As a quick example if you've just done a heavy deadlift routine and set a new personal best take 2- 4 weeks and focus on the following exercises
Partial deadlift pulls from above the knee
Power cleans or power snatches
Clean pulls with 50 - 70% of your best deadlift.
Good mornings
Kettlebell Swings
If you include a couple of those exercises in place of Deadlifts you may even find that you work on weak points in the deadlift and when you return to full deadlifts that your numbers jump up again!
Here is a short video from my training of some partial deadlifts.
Remember if you are interested in Olympic lifting or serious strength training, we are running a workshop on the 30th of November at Olympic park in Sydney!
Contact Magazine Part 4
Two more articles from the archives of Contact Magazine.
Article 5 - September 2006 - CrossFit
Article 6 - December 2006 - Summer Workouts
Article 5 - September 2006 - CrossFit
Article 6 - December 2006 - Summer Workouts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Kettlebell Heart Starters
I've got a confession to make. Despite being a fitness trainer I'm really not a morning person. I often find it hard to get going in the morning and generally before I can get anything productive done I need to get my blood flowing.
The problem I have had in the past is that I like to do my major workouts in the afternoon and doing a second 40-60 minute session in the morning is too time consuming.
Therefore recently I've been experimenting with some 5 minute mini workouts that I can do with little or no warm up and with just a couple of bits of equipment that I can keep in my living room. The aim here is a quick convenient workout to kick my body and brain into gear not to flog myself (that comes in the afternoon workouts)
One quick note - if you are going to do these workouts pick a kettlebell that is one size (4kg for women and 8kg for men) lighter than what you would use for a full workout. So if you regularly swing a 32kg drop back to a 24kg.
Workouts
#1 - A quick Crossfit "Fran" Variation
Kettlebell snatch 10 reps each arms, 7 reps, 5 reps
Pullups - 20, 14, 10
#2 - 5 rounds of
10 Kettlebell swings
10 pushups
10 situps
#3 - 3 rounds
3-5 Turkish Get up each side
3-5 windmills each side
1 minute of round the body kettlebell passing and figure 8's between the legs
#4 - High Octane Cardio
5 rounds of
30 seconds of Kettlebell swings
30 seconds of skipping
Try some of these workouts when you need a break from office work or whenever you need a bit of a wake up!
The problem I have had in the past is that I like to do my major workouts in the afternoon and doing a second 40-60 minute session in the morning is too time consuming.
Therefore recently I've been experimenting with some 5 minute mini workouts that I can do with little or no warm up and with just a couple of bits of equipment that I can keep in my living room. The aim here is a quick convenient workout to kick my body and brain into gear not to flog myself (that comes in the afternoon workouts)
One quick note - if you are going to do these workouts pick a kettlebell that is one size (4kg for women and 8kg for men) lighter than what you would use for a full workout. So if you regularly swing a 32kg drop back to a 24kg.
Workouts
#1 - A quick Crossfit "Fran" Variation
Kettlebell snatch 10 reps each arms, 7 reps, 5 reps
Pullups - 20, 14, 10
#2 - 5 rounds of
10 Kettlebell swings
10 pushups
10 situps
#3 - 3 rounds
3-5 Turkish Get up each side
3-5 windmills each side
1 minute of round the body kettlebell passing and figure 8's between the legs
#4 - High Octane Cardio
5 rounds of
30 seconds of Kettlebell swings
30 seconds of skipping
Try some of these workouts when you need a break from office work or whenever you need a bit of a wake up!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Completely Random Workout
Over the past few years of training people with kettlebell and CrossFit methods I've noticed something.
Even though from session to session these workouts are highly varied and challenging, quite often when athletes are given a workout they'll mentally start to break it down and pace themsleves. Conserving energy in one area in anticipation of a harder exercise thats coming up. For example a good runner might ease off on the run because they know that a set of 30 burpees is up next.
The other day while training a group of three clients (all of them experienced in my regular training methods) I thought i'd try something slightly different.
After a warm up and a brief kettlebell strength workout I laid out their conditioning for the day.
1. Set out on a lap of the oval
2. As each individual arrives back at the start point they will be given a mini workout to complete before heading out again on the next lap
3. The mini workout will be different for each client, each lap.
Examples of the mini workouts that they ended up doing.
A. 20 burpees + 100 situps
B. 10 burpees + 10 double clean and jerk (kettlebells) x 3 rounds
C. Boxing for 4 minutes
D. 20 m sprints with a burpee at each end
E. 10 pushups + 10 alternating split jumps
F. 20 kettlebell snatches + 20 pushups x 3 rounds
This workout turned out to be one of the hardest both physically and mentally that the group have done. At the end all three of them looked like they were about to collapse!
So if you want to spice up your workouts and introduce an element of unpredicatability I suggest getting a friend (or enemy) to write out say 3 - 6 little mini workouts and stuff them in an envelope then head out to the park or gym and start pulling stuff out at random and hammer through them as fast as possible.
Even though from session to session these workouts are highly varied and challenging, quite often when athletes are given a workout they'll mentally start to break it down and pace themsleves. Conserving energy in one area in anticipation of a harder exercise thats coming up. For example a good runner might ease off on the run because they know that a set of 30 burpees is up next.
The other day while training a group of three clients (all of them experienced in my regular training methods) I thought i'd try something slightly different.
After a warm up and a brief kettlebell strength workout I laid out their conditioning for the day.
1. Set out on a lap of the oval
2. As each individual arrives back at the start point they will be given a mini workout to complete before heading out again on the next lap
3. The mini workout will be different for each client, each lap.
Examples of the mini workouts that they ended up doing.
A. 20 burpees + 100 situps
B. 10 burpees + 10 double clean and jerk (kettlebells) x 3 rounds
C. Boxing for 4 minutes
D. 20 m sprints with a burpee at each end
E. 10 pushups + 10 alternating split jumps
F. 20 kettlebell snatches + 20 pushups x 3 rounds
This workout turned out to be one of the hardest both physically and mentally that the group have done. At the end all three of them looked like they were about to collapse!
So if you want to spice up your workouts and introduce an element of unpredicatability I suggest getting a friend (or enemy) to write out say 3 - 6 little mini workouts and stuff them in an envelope then head out to the park or gym and start pulling stuff out at random and hammer through them as fast as possible.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Junior Weightlifting Nationals
We're back!
Last friday the NSW Junior Weightlifting team flew to Melbourne to compete in the junior nationals.
For many of the guys it was their first major competition and I was pretty impressed by the way they handled the pressure and came out firing on the platform.
Other states had bigger teams but it seemed like a fair number of lifters on those teams had been rushed into the competition and to be honest some of the technique displayed was pretty bad and in some cases downright dangerous! I'm not blaming the athletes for that but questions should probably be asked of coaches who allow their lifters to pull maximal weights off the ground with badly rounded backs.
I've got more photos and some video to come but in the meantime I've attached a photo of the team. From the left. Back Row, Martin Harlowe (manager), Dr Robert Mitchell (head coach), Charlie Gray, "Big John" Carty, Ricky Gulyamov (1st place U20, 77kg), Patrick Chow(3rd place U18 62kg), Nathan Bannantyne, Emilo "Milo" McFarland (3rd place U18 77kg), Don Stevenson (coach). Front row, Damian Ussia(3rd place U18 105kg), Patrick Canavan (7th place overall U16 competition), Ryan Pasfield, Luke Lilli.
The barbell is loaded to 157kg, the heaviest lift of the competition!
CONTACT Magazine part 3
Here are the next two articles written for Contact magazine.
Article 3 March 2006 - Kettlebell Training Part 1
Article 4 June 2006 - Kettlebell Training Part 2
Article 3 March 2006 - Kettlebell Training Part 1
Article 4 June 2006 - Kettlebell Training Part 2
Monday, October 6, 2008
Kettlebell Instructors Courses
As regular readers of my newsletter will know I run Kettlebell Instructors Courses all around Australia. In 2008 I've been fortunate enough to travel to every capital city in Australia except Canberra (see you guys early 2009!) to run the courses.
A highlight of every course is the final few minutes when participants are put through a timed snatch test to demonstrate just how tough kettlebell training can be!
Here is a short video of the most recent instructors course in Sydney being put through their paces.
A highlight of every course is the final few minutes when participants are put through a timed snatch test to demonstrate just how tough kettlebell training can be!
Here is a short video of the most recent instructors course in Sydney being put through their paces.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Weightlifting - Junior Nationals
Just a quick post todaay before I fly out to Melbourne for the Junior weightlifting nationals.
I've been fortunate this year to be heavily involved in the recruitment and training of our state team and after a lot of hard work it's good to be taking such a large team (13 lifters and staff!) to the comp.
In case you need some motivation to train this weekend consider this.
After less than one year of training two of our juniors are snatching bodyweight.
One of our lifters, 14 yr old John Carty has lost 60kg (not a typo!) training with us this year.
I'm going to be pretty busy coaching and organising the team but I'll try to remember to take photos and post some when I get back on Monday.
I've been fortunate this year to be heavily involved in the recruitment and training of our state team and after a lot of hard work it's good to be taking such a large team (13 lifters and staff!) to the comp.
In case you need some motivation to train this weekend consider this.
After less than one year of training two of our juniors are snatching bodyweight.
One of our lifters, 14 yr old John Carty has lost 60kg (not a typo!) training with us this year.
I'm going to be pretty busy coaching and organising the team but I'll try to remember to take photos and post some when I get back on Monday.
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