4 Stupid Fitness Things that Need To End

I have dream that the fitness world is under a revolution.   Time to stop living by all the rules of how to train based on their rules.

I WANNA LIVE IN A FEARLESS STATE
I WANNA LIVE WITHOUT THE HATE
I WANNA BE ABLE TO DECIDE MY FATE
I WANNA BREAK OUT OF THIS CAGE

LET’S TAKE IT BACK
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

–Welcome to the Future by Left Spine Down

4 Stupid Fitness Things that Need To End

1) Seeking More Sensation During Training.

Trying to actively feel everything is a recipe for chronic pain.  I stole this idea from Frankie.   You don’t need to actively seek it.  If you screw up bad enough for your body, pain WILL find you.  Trust me on this.  I’ve done the experiments in my own lab.  If you don’t trust me, let me know if you find it not to be true.  I suggest you not test this one out.

Think of pain as an indicator light and your last line of defense.  If I don’t put oil in my car ever, and my Ford pinto burns oil like at the rate of sweat running off a fat man chasing a runaway M&M, I wil have damage.

You don’t listen to pain in your body, you too will have some damage.

When the oil light comes on, I better stop the car before I destroy it (unless someone hits me from behind and I blow up anyway)

No, I am still not convinced your body will lie to you.  If you can’t trust your own body, you are going to trust your body to someone else who does not trust their body either to tell you what is going on?  I am all for guidance and seeking help, but their goal is to help you interpret what is going on based on your feedback.

Ford Pinto: Source

2) Don’t Learn a New Exercise Until You Can Do It Correctly

Oh boy, don’t start those dangerous deadlifts since you may just suck at them since you have never done them.
Newsflash, of course you are going to suck, you have never done them!  With the exception of a few crazy athletes, you will NOT be very good at them on the first rep.

“The first rep is the worst rep!” -Frankie Faires

Did anyone not learn to play golf because they were afraid they were going to suck at it?   Or did you want to learn to play golf, took lessons, stuck with it and became pretty good (or at least better).

The first time I learned to kiteboard, I got my a$$ handed to me over and over and over, even during a lesson!  My buddy Rob had bruised his ribs earlier in the week and had to keep chasing the kite down as I floored it right into the ground.  After about 20 minutes of this I hear “You suck!”   The truth was I did suck, but over time, I got better.  I also got a free trip across the soccer fiedl on my butt, complete with sexy grass stains as the kite powered up.

If you want to learn to kiteboard, take a lesson, but don’t NOT try it.

Did I never start because I was afraid I would suck?  Nope.

Why would you not learn to do an exercise for fear you wil suck?  Stupid idea that has got to go the way of the DooDoo bird.

DooDoo bird: Source

For the new readers, I am NOT saying load a bar up to 400 lbs and go ape $hit crazy with it and send your spine across my gym.   I hate to clean up that kind of mess.

Test it, maybe you only do rack pulls. Maybe you can’t deadlift the standard way so you use a trap bar or even sumo style.  Work around it, test it (ala Grip n Rip) and get better.

My buddy Brad Nelson has the perfect line with new clients

Brad to client “Are you a perfectionist”
Client   “Yes”
Brad “Then today is not your day”

Love it.
Start today!

3) Perfect Nutrition 100% of the Time

How demotivating is that.  Sorry, you suck and you will have to eat chicken and broccoli the rest of your life, so start looking forward to that and please pay me more money so I can tell you how wonderful it is too.

I will then spend more time to tell you that broccoli has over 300 different phytonutritents and is really not the vile weed you think it is

Broccoli-A Vile Weed or Nutrient Powerhouse? Source

That is BS on a stick and you know it.

The goal of a long term program should be to eat as many “bad foods” as you can get away with WHILE keeping your body composition and health goals.

This gives the client some friggin hope.  Yes, it is going to suck for awhile as your metabolism changes, but we are working towards you enjoying food long term and not making anything off limits forever.

If 4 brownies on a Saturday afternoon destroys you for the rest of the week, there are some issues to fix.

Caveat.  I am not saying that you should mainline high fructose corn syrup, eat boxes of Twinkies for lunch and order more large slurpees with no ice from the 7-11 across the street that you rode your scooter to.

If your body composition and metabolism is a wreck, you have some work to do, but the body is amazingly adaptable and a vast majority of the time we can alters its ability to convert food into fuel with few “ill consequences”  Hint, you NEED to exercise.  This BS that exercise does not help obesity has got to stop also.    Studies has shown that with exercise we can change your metabolic flexibity in a rather short period of time (1), even those who are diabetic or borderline diabetic.

4) Isolated Exericse Cues

Why would I cue your lat muscle during a pressing movement?  Last time I checked, the lat pulls the humerous (upper arm) DOWN, which is the opposite of my goal to press the darn heavy weight up!  How about I cue you based on the movement I want you to do? Hmm, I see an experiment here.

Latissimus Dorsi Muscle: Source

Why can we cue isolated movement, but argue that compound movements are better?

This makes no sense.  Some rip on bodybuilders for doing “isolation work” (can we really isolate anything in the body?) and say compound movements are best; but in the same breath state that you need to work more on your VMO in your quads to stabilze your knee.

Or as above, you need to contract and pull your lat down while pressing.

How can you cue an isolated movement when you just stated isolation was bad?

How about we give ONE cue (yes ONE cue) at a time (no vomitting cues on them) on what movement we want the athlete to accomplish first.  Let’s start there and see how that goes.  Give their own brain a chance to fix it.  Their own brain is darn smart at running their own body (it has lots of reps).

How would you know the lat was the problem or maybe it was the lower trap since I just read an article that said the lower traps are really lazy bastards and don’t like to work.  Or maybe it is rhomboids, etc etc.  Or maybe we need more YTWLs and more corrective work.

If you are teaching better gross (large scale) movement, let’s start there by cueing gross movement.  Only get finer when needed.

Comments
What do you think on these?  Have I lost it completely?  Let me know either way!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Refernces
1) Diabetes. 2010 Mar;59(3):572-9. Epub 2009 Dec 22.
Restoration of muscle mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility in type 2 diabetes by exercise training is paralleled by increased myocellular fat storage and improved insulin sensitivity.

Meex RC, Schrauwen-Hinderling VB, Moonen-Kornips E, Schaart G, Mensink M, Phielix E, van de Weijer T, Sels JP, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MK.

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial dysfunction and fat accumulation in skeletal muscle (increased intramyocellular lipid [IMCL]) have been linked to development of type 2 diabetes. We examined whether exercise training could restore mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Eighteen male type 2 diabetic and 20 healthy male control subjects of comparable body weight, BMI, age, and VO2max participated in a 12-week combined progressive training program (three times per week and 45 min per session). In vivo mitochondrial function (assessed via magnetic resonance spectroscopy), insulin sensitivity (clamp), metabolic flexibility (indirect calorimetry), and IMCL content (histochemically) were measured before and after training. RESULTS: Mitochondrial function was lower in type 2 diabetic compared with control subjects (P = 0.03), improved by training in control subjects (28% increase; P = 0.02), and
restored to control values in type 2 diabetic subjects (48% increase; P < 0.01). Insulin sensitivity tended to improve in control subjects (delta Rd 8% increase; P = 0.08) and improved significantly in type 2 diabetic subjects (delta Rd 63% increase; P < 0.01). Suppression of insulin-stimulated endogenous glucose production improved in both groups (-64%; P < 0.01 in control subjects and -52% in diabetic subjects; P < 0.01). After training, metabolic flexibility in type 2 diabetic subjects was restored (delta respiratory exchange ratio 63% increase; P = 0.01) but was unchanged in control subjects (delta respiratory exchange ratio 7% increase; P = 0.22). Starting with comparable pretraining IMCL levels, training tended to increase IMCL content in type 2 diabetic subjects (27% increase; P = 0.10), especially in type 2 muscle fibers. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise training restored in vivo mitochondrial function in type 2 diabetic subjects. Insulin-mediated glucose
disposal and metabolic flexibility improved in type 2 diabetic subjects in the face of near-significantly increased IMCL content. This indicates that increased capacity to store IMCL and restoration of improved mitochondrial function contribute to improved muscle insulin sensitivity.

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Grip n Rip Biofeedback Testing DVD is SOLD OUT!

Just a heads up that as of yesterday, the Grip n Rip DVDs featuring Adam T Glass and Brad Nelson discussing biofeedback testing for maximal gains are sold out.

Congrats to all that picked one up before they were gone.   You are going to love it and I want to hear from you!

All the bonuses were sent out, so if you picked up the DVD from this site and did not get your bonus as promised, please let me know and I will make sure you get it ASAP.

Thanks again for the amazing response as I totally appreciate it!

I don’t know if they will release another batch or not, but I know at the sales pages now there is a form for a waiting list and perhaps you will get lucky and pick up a stray copy.    No guarantee though.

Much more great info coming here soon!

rock on

Mike T Nelson

Biofeedback Training and Exercise Selection as featured in the Grip n Rip Biofeedback Testing DVDs

Strongman Don Athaldo 1936

I am stoked to say that the Grip n Rip DVDs are now LIVE!  Go to this link below and pick up your copy now.

Grip-Rip Biofeedback Testing DVDs

There are only 100 available copies, and there were only 77 left SOLD OUT now –when I got the last update at about 8pm last night.

HUGE Thanks!

First off, a HUGE thanks to all those that picked up their copy already!  I totally appreciate it and I will do everything I can to help you out.  The bonuses will be on their way to you today, so watch for it via your inbox (Aweber sign up form).   If you purchase today, I am working to get a nightly pull of all the info of the buyers and your bonuses will go out in 24-48 hours.   If you can’t wait, please email directly by clicking HERE with the subject “Grip n Rip DVD Bonus” and I will take care of you ASAP.

Crazy Claims

The program outline on the Grip n Rip DVDs will allow you to build more muscle, strength and drop fat faster than ever before.  Yeah, I know that like every friggin program claims that, but they are all based on a false premise.   Whooooo, I know those are fighting words in training circles, so hear me out.

A standard program claims that THEY know more about YOUR body than YOU do.   That my friend is complete BS!

There will never be a program that is better than the feedback YOUR body gives YOU!  You need to take this feedback and put it to use in a system that respects your body.

In the past, I have followed what the piece of paper said to do this exercise and that exercise and I did not listen to my body.  I farmed it out to an expert.  I came as close to destroying myself by my own free will as I want to get close to again.    I now deadlift 80 lbs more than what I did then with no pain.  In the past, bending over in the AM to just wash my face was a huge involved act since I could not bend my back without a ton of pain.  I spent well over an hour doing prehab, static stretching, poorly applied Z-Health, dynamic drills, foam roller work, and then slowly working up to my working weights.  I had to do all of it just to lift with minimal pain.  Now I rarely do more than 10-15 minutes if that of dynamic joint mobility work and off I go.

I don’t blame the expert, as I was still deciding if I was going to perform the exercises written down.  Nobody put a gun to my head and said “You MUST do this or else.”

I believed I was doing the correct thing, and now I see I was completely wrong.  If I only could rewind time and start anew!   Don’t do what I did.

Exercise Selection 101

I get these questions all the time (and for good reason)

• Are push ups good?
• Squats are bad, right?
• Squats are the best exercise ever, right?
• Everyone should do kettlebell snatches
• The Turkish Get Up will cure everything…..(oh, I mean the Get Up, don’t blame the Turks).

None of these exercises are bad, but they may not be right for YOUR body on THAT day.

The old Dan John quote is awesome.

Dan John in action (from davedraper.com)

Kid asked Dan John, are squats bad for your knees?

After watching the kid squat, Dan John says “The way YOU squat is bad for your knees”

Mike Robertson has this quote, which is great

“Remember, there are no bad exercises, only bad exercise performance! “ Source Old School Triceps

You need a way to determine the best exercise, set, reps, and rest period for YOU on THAT day.

There will never be a static program, no matter what guru wrote it, that will compete with a program that uses feedback from your body.

Old time, non-biofeedback based programs are dead.

If you work directly with a coach, the main job of the coach is to watch your performance and adjust the parameters (exercise, sets, reps) on the fly to get you the best training effect.

Simply walking through some pre-programmed recipe (er, training program) is not going to be ideal for YOUR body.

Grip n Rip shows you how to test your body EVERY time to break PRs EVERY time you set foot in the gym.

Results?

Here is one that I did Sunday night for my Easter workout.

I broke out the tire sled for its first run this past Sunday night.  I slapped on my Vibrams and out the door I went.

Tire sled pulls tested great, so I decided to do a routine I did last Fall.  I don’t take the tire sled out in the winter since the snow and ice add a whole new dimension to it that I am just not ready for yet.  Maybe I will get ambitious and put some screws in the bottom of Vibrams for next winter to get some killer traction.

I sprinted with the tire sled (using a rope to hold on to it for some grip fun) forward past 3 driveways and then pull it backwards to the start and rested until my range of motion returned, and then I was off again.  I started at 45 lbs, then 70, 90 and 115 lbs.

Last Fall my best time was 10 min 12 seconds.

Last night, on my first time out, I did it in 6 min and 17 seconds.

I even double checked the distances and weights to make sure I had not miscalculated.  Seems hard to believe, esp since I have not done a ton of direct “cardio” work in the Winter.

Summary

You need a program that uses your own feedback to make optimal progress.  The Grip n Rip DVDs show you exactly how to do that.

I have 3 bonuses also that will help you reach your goals even faster, so check them out below

Grip n Rip Biofeedback Testing DVD and 3 Special Bonuses

Keep in mind that as of last night, there were only 33 copies left.  If you go to the link and they are out I apologize.

The special bonus conference call with Adam and myself expires at NOON Central Time tomorrow (Wed April 7, 2010) –again, this only applies when you pick up a copy

Get the new Grip-Rip Biofeedback DVD from Adam Glass and Brad Nelson now.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
I want to hear what you think!  Drop me a comment below!

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The Movement Summit: A Brief Review

The A-Team

I got a call quite awhile back from buddy Frankie Faires who said he was putting together a group of really smart people to create further advancements in physique transformation, athletic performance and pain. He asked if I would join them for a “meeting of the minds” in Minnesota at a secret location. He wanted to present some new information he had been working on for years and get our feedback.

I have known Frankie for several years and I jumped at the chance to hang out with other really smart people and test things ourselves.

Think of this as sort of the A-Team of movement science. Perhaps you are too young to remember the A-Team, but as a kid I loved that show. Heck, to this day I still have the idea that if you had access to welder, you could make a pinto in one bad-ass piece of machinery in just an afternoon.

To quote my friend wikipedia

“Despite being thought of as mercenaries by the other characters in the show, the A-Team always acted on the side of good and helped the oppressed.”

The goal is to further your own movement, custom for you, by you.   More personal records for all.

Here is my review of this The Movement Summit and how it went down

The Movement Summit: A Review by Mike T Nelson

The brain trust of The Movement

In this photo: L to R: Adam T Glass, Marty Lotspeich, Mike T Nelson, David Dellanave,

Chuck Halbakken, Kurt Hartmann , Frankie Faires, Brad Nelson

I had the luxury of seeing the new material Frankie and the Movement were presenting early. I take great pride and feel a sense of due diligence to do my homework on everything that I may recommend in the future.

I came into the weekend thinking I would pick up a few things, but I had been talking to Frankie about most of it for almost 2 years and I had been testing my movements (biofeedback) for that length of time on myself and other athletes.

I had done multiple certifications through various organizations such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA, CSCS), Z-Health Performance Solutions (one of only a handful of Master Trainers), and completed the Russian Kettlebell Certification (RKC) in addition to 14 years of full time college (BA Natural Arts, MS in Mechanical Engineering and currently a PhD Candidate in Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology finishing my dissertation work)

I did my homework too, looking at how biofeedback and movement of all forms effect the body. Heck I even measured heart rate variability (HRV, a form of biofeedback) in the lab on myself and in a formal research study (working writing up the results for publication soon) as part of my PhD work. I figured I knew a bit about what was going on!

What I Learned

To say that I learned new things over the weekend was entirely true.

A huge key for me was how a simple (but not easy to do) change in your thinking will allow results much much faster.
We are rarely taught how we should learn and think. What is the most efficient way to do this?

When we are presented with new information, how do we look at it and incorporate it? Many don’t even try and just say that “they disagree” but if you do that with everything, are you really learning and changing for the better? I don’t think so! It is hard to unlearn things, but it is in the unlearning and relearning process that really allows us to change faster. Much faster. A few tips that I learned in this area will help me for the rest of my life.

So enough with the esoteric appearing whooo whooo stuff. The coolest thing to see was the lay out of the topics in a linear, easy to follow and apply approach.

Everything was really made as simple as possible and then paired with an action! That is what fitness professionals do all the time – take new ideas and put them into practice. Not everything works, but having a great framework to use and then test it will put you light years ahead of everyone.

Want to learn how to add muscle to athletes? Covered

Want to learn how to remove fat off them? Covered

Increase strength? yep

The methods are not the same that you see in most lame take home weekend certs and this will require you to take action. You will not be able to just sit and nod your head and collect your new cert.

Action Time

The weekend was great and exceeded my expectations. At times I really wish I had seen the material years ago before I spent 14 years in college working through 3 different degrees and completed multiple certifications. Not that the material I learned along that journey was bad or completely wrong (ok some of it was wrong), but it is not an efficient process at all.

In a few days you can be on the right track to being one of the best in world. Not only will you have a foundation to work from (that is way bigger than most), but the amount of time you will save is truly insane.

I am thankful for the path I have chosen as I was able to see the material, but if someone wants a massive head start they need to see it.

I would recommend the movement certification to only those that really want to be the best, are willing to take action, and are willing to keep their mind wide open.

To those select few, I say, welcome aboard and let’s enjoy the ride and elevate the entire industry one PR at a time.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS

What do you think of this?  Let me know in the comments below, but I may still be gone once this runs so comment approval and response will be slow.  I will answer all comments though as soon as I can!

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Nothing Is impossible

By the time you read this I will be in Mexico with my now wife Jodie! The wedding was awesome and both of us feel sooooo blessed to have so many special and wonderful people in our lives. It was a great time and I feel so honored. Thanks to everyone that sent us special wishes via blog comments and emails. We truly do appreciate it and wanted to say thanks again to everyone for all of their support.

Without your support I would not be able to do what I love for a living.  Few can say that they truly love what they do and I need to also thank my lovely wife Jodie for all of her endless support and encouragement.

While I am gone, I will have some posts already lined up (I can sleep more starting tomorrow).

Must Watch Video

I am going to kick it off with this AMAZING video that you must watch. It takes only a few minutes and I know you will enjoy it. To know that I had a small part in this success gives me goosebumps and totally makes my week.

This is why I do what I do! Helping people to break personal records is an awesome feeling. In no small way I am taking credit for this or anyone else’s success as THEY are the ones that did the testing. THEY put in the effort and did the work. THEY deserve the credit.

Take it away Josh…..

This was originally posted on Walk the Road Less Traveled recently, but I loved it so much I just had to repost it here for all of you.

EDITORS NOTE:  Josh has decided to pull the video down for now, and I will respect his decision.  I will leave this post up as a place holder for the great discussion below.  In the video, Josh discussed his recent success at combating Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) via biofeedback guided training.

I am the movement…… are you?

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

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Diary of a Mad Man

Greetings!  I have survived!   It has been an absolute crazy past couple of weeks here.

I had the title of “Diary of a Mad Man” pop into my head when I was writing this up, so I thought I would include a live version of this Ozzy classic for your listening pleasure.

I remember seeing Ozzy on his “No More Tours Tour” in like 8th grade. It was awesome other than the treble was so high I think I had hearing damage for years after that.    I’ve seen him many times since on Ozzfest also. So much for retirement!

As you know, I am getting married this coming Saturday (yes, like in a 2 days) and I am very excited.

PhD Update

I have also been working on my dissertation paper regarding HRV (heart rate variability -  a way to measure biofeedback) and I handed in the latest revision to my advisor at about 2:30am today.   I already have more work to do on it as I got the revisions back already, but getting closer to submitting if for peer review and publication.

Once that is taken care of, I will then work on finishing up my paper on the effects of Energy Drinks (Monster Energy Drink) regarding heart rate, HRV, exercise performance (like, do the darn things even work?) effects on fat burning (via RER- respiratory exchange ratio) among other things.   I collected the data last year and have it analyzed already, so hopefully I won’t need to get any more subjects.  All the studies were fasted, so nothing like getting up at 4:45am sometimes to be in the lab (or sleeping there overnight—shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone though).   I still carry a pillow in my car to catch a quick cat nap for a few minutes wherever I can.

Once that is completed, I have my third paper to work on regarding Metabolic Flexibility as I am looking at a potential new way to measure metabolic flexibility without sticking someone with needles.   I will combine those 3 studies plus a literature review and conclusion into my final dissertation.  Lots and lots more work to go, but progress one step at a time is good.

Ever Wonder What It Looks Like?

I shot this short video, just for you!

Top Secret Location

I have only seen Jodie about 2 times in the past week, but we will get to spend a whole week in Mexico (top secret location) after the wedding, so we are super excited about the honeymoon!  It will be sooooo nice to finally spend some time together and then I get to see her for the rest of my life every day—yeah!!

Jodie and I

Perhaps I will have an re-enactment of this photo from our La Ventana trip.
Viva La Mexico

And lots of this!
Although I do have a hard time sitting still for long.

A huge thanks to Jodie also for all the wedding planning and to our friend Dana and Nicole too for all their wedding planning help.  I had no idea that planning a wedding was so much work, but it will be great!   Neither one of us do much that is considered “normal” so we are even getting married in a cave!

Project 86

For those that missed the engagement story, see this link below.

Mike and Jodie Are Getting Married- Caught on Video

We got engaged at a Project 86 show in Arizona (huge thanks to the lead singer Andrew,the Rev, and the P86 Tour Manager).    My wonderful colleges at work (I still work part time at a medical device company as an engineer for over 10 years now), bought me a Project 86 cake and had a nice celebration, wonderful card and gits too!  Thanks everyone!!!

Myself, Jodie and Andrew from Project 86

The Project 86 cake

Lifting

Of course I am still lifting myself and it is going well, despite crazy levels of stress and enough caffeine at times to approach the LD 50 for small fury animals.   Last night I came within 1 lb of breaking my all time bench personal record (PR) and pulled 8 singles at or over 365 lbs on deadlifts the day before.   Yeah for biofeedback training.  Keep your eyes open for the Grip n Rip DVD soon and it shows you the break down on how to custom your training to you!

I gave 435 a run, but no dice.   I will get it though and will pull 450 lbs by the end of this year.   My buddy Maximillian Barry (Nu_Fit on twitter) and a few others have a deadlift race.

We will celebrate once we both pull 500 lbs, raw.

I will get this deadlift very soon!

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Plus, once my schedule frees up a bit post PhD later this year (fingers crossed) I plan to hang out and lift  more with those nuts Adam T Glass and Brad Nelson.   Doing the Tactical Strength Challenge Elite style 10 days after coming back from my honeymoon is going to be brutal though!  I will be traveling with trusty TRX suspension trainer though.  Maybe the professor will show up in a future video from Mexico, who knows!

The Blog Marches On!

I am hoping to crank out some updates for you tomorrow AM yet,   I will probably not have computer access in Mexico, so comment replies may be very slow.

Summary

That is the update on all the crazy updates from here.  What is new in your life?  Any good wedding stories that you wan to share? Post away in the comments

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

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Inside Look at Grip n Rip 2.0 from Swager Strength

If you missed Grip n Rip 2.0 this year, you missed out.   I unfortunately was noly able to stay there for about 3 hours in the AM and since Jodie and I were hopping on plane that early afternoon to Baja Mexico (more details on that soon too).

Great stuff and the guys from Swager Strength were there in full force too. I picked up one of their 2 inch solid axle thick bars. SWEET!

This is about twice the diameter of a normal bar and there is absolutely ZERO flex to it. I love it so far.

Check out the video below of Adam Glass, Brad Nelson, and the guys at Swager Strength for an inside look at Grip n Rip 2.0

Summary

Great stuff and I will hopefully make it to the next one for sure!

Be sure to check out the fine folks at Swager Strength for some amazing products that you will not find anywhere.

Tell them I sent ya. I get nothing to promote them. Not one cent, but they are stand up guys who make excellent products at very fair prices.

If you went to Grip n Rip, drop me a comment on how it went and what you thought of the event.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

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Inside the RKC Certification

If you are interested in the RKC certification, here is a video of the recent one in San Diego CA.

Find out why over 100 people showed up for this certification to train with kettlebells! What are you missing out on?   Find out below.

If you think you want to sign up and have questions, drop me a line by going to the “about” tab above and sending me an email.

If you are already signed up and need some help with your kettlebell form (which I would HIGHLY recommend), drop me an email also.  First come, first serve.

Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) in Minnesota this Sat Oct 3

Who is going to be at the TSC this Sat at Kinetic Edge in Minnesota?   If you are already did the TSC, drop me a comment and let me know how it went!

Time to step up and compete!  I hope to see you this Sat.  I will be competing in the TSC Elite style, but I will have to buzz out very early since Jodie and I are off to a wedding up north of Duluth.  Nothing like a max deadlift, weighted pullups and 32 kg Snatches for 5 minutes all done with almost no rest! ha!  Such is life.

My training has been going well, but cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF aka “cardio”) has just not been responding as well as in the past.   A big reason is that I decided to put more emphasis on strength and put CRF on maintenance for a bit too long.  I was hoping to make up for lost ground over the past 10 days, but my body was just not having any part of it!  In the past I would have said “screw it” and tried to force too much bad quality work on it which is not good.   Keep in mind that everything has a cost and the cost of too many piss poor reps is bad movement and potentially injury.

Too much coffee and too little sleep is the big culprit as I’ve slept 10 hours last night and the night before. I feel almost human again now.

This Sat should be interesting and that is what makes the TSC such a great event to train for as you are training for

• Max strength (deadlift)
• Relative strength (strength to body weight ratio via the pull up)
• Strength endurance (KB Snatch for 5 min straight)

If your main goal is to look good naked, the TSC is a great event since training for strength is a signal for your body to not loose muscle and keep your metabolic rate up a bit higher.  Having less dead weight (read: fat) for the pull up is key and kettlebell snatches are an excellent way to burn a crap ton of calories in a very short period of time.

Drop me a comment if you did the TSC or you will be at the Minnesota one this Sat!

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

Happy July 4 to everyone in the USA.   To my foreign friends, it is just another day.  Either way, I trust you had a great weekend.

Jodie and I along with my parents and sister went to see the latest Cirque De Soleil Kooza on July 4 outside here in Minnesota.  WOW, is all I can say.  If you get the chance, you MUST see them-amazing performance and I will have more details soon.

Tactical Strength Challenge Fall 2009

Check those calendars and  the Tactical Strength Challenge is about only 8 weeks away!  Wow, time is flying by.

Are you ready?

Do you have a plan to be ready in 8 weeks?

Heck, are you even going to SHOW UP?

Your goals need deadlines and you need to be held accountable (that goes for me too).

Who is holding you accountable?

I will be there and I want to see all of you there too.

If you need a plan, drop me a line at michaelTnelson@yahoo.com and I will set you up.

Using some great techniques I picked up (thanks Frankie), I went from 39 reps with the 32 kg KB for the 5 min snatch test to only 4 weeks later cranking out 75 in 5 minutes.  I had managed to fall in a broomball game and bruise my sciatic nerve in mid January and was unable to do any snatches for about 6 weeks.

That is almost DOUBLE in 4 weeks and I can show YOU how to sky rocket your numbers too.  There is nothing special about me, just some well applied knowledge.

You would be shocked to learn that other than a few test days, my max number of snatches with the 32kg was about 8-10 reps at a time per hand.

Enter the Assisted Pullup

The common question is “What if I can’t do even one pull-up?”   No worries, as B-Rad, Adam T Glass, Mark Wilson, Myself and friends are here to the rescue with an exclusive video on some options for you.

Technique Note

Keep a nice tall/long spine and no crazy chicken maneuvers at the top just to get your darn chin to the bar.  Bring your body to the bar.  If you need another cue, think of bringing your elbows to your waist.   I would rather have athletes only go to the top of their head, eyes, nose and then chin rather than do some crazy-ass neck cranking at the top.

Find out what we really do with our free time…..

Rock on

Mike T Nelson