Tracy Reifkind's Training Food and Thought

"Plus 50%" Swing/Snatch workout #2

2012-01-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

Here is the workout I did on Thursday morning. Using four of my progressive swing combinations and four progressive snatch combinations (six for the Inter/Adv. version), it is the best of both worlds!

I ran out of batteries in my flip during the second rotation, but I'm sure you'll get the idea after watching the first video. In rotations 3-6 I only lead you through the snatch portion, no point in watching me repeat the swings. Although I would be interested if anyone uses these videos as "work along" or just for demonstration purposes. I'd be happy to include the entire workout, as I am doing it anyway!

warm up
10 2 hd sw x 4 (15/15 = 2 min. 40 sw)

here's where the first video starts.....

rotation #1
10 2 hd sw
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 (all x 1 set = 2 min)
1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 6 x 1 set (30/30)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 140 sw, 30 snatches

rotation #2
10 2 hd sw
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 sw
1 sn, 1 tr x 8 x 1 set (30/30)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15) (this is where the batteries run out!)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 120 sw, 40 snatches

rotation #3
10 2 hd sw (I'm changing batteries during my rest periods, lol!)
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 sw
5/5 snatch x 1 set (30/30)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 90 sw 50 snatches

rotation #4
10 2 hd sw
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 sw
6/6 snatch x 1 set (30/30) (video starts here)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 90 sw, 60 snatches

28 min 480 swings, 180 snatches (660 reps total)

rotation #5 (bonus/adv.)
10 2 hd sw
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 sw
7/7 snatch x 1 set (30/30)(video starts here)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 90 sw, 70 snatches ( 35 min. 570 sw, 250 sn, 820 reps total)

rotation #6 (bonus/adv.)
10 2 hd sw
10 tr
1/2 sw ld
5/5 sw
8/8 snatches x 1 set (30/30)(video starts here)
" " + 10 2 hd (45/15)
" " + 10 tr
" " + 1/2 sw ld
" " + 5/5
7 min. 90 sw, 80 snatches (42 min. 660 sw, 330 sn, 990 reps total)

Zowie! I managed to get a meatloaf finished, 5 servings of chicken/turkey pate done, publish this workout, and now I'm off to yoga, lunch packed, extra coffee made....all before 6:30am! I may add more information to this workout post, but if you have any questions just comment and when I get back this afternoon I'll fill in any gaps.

Enjoy! (the weekend and the workout!)

Purple Sweet Potatoes, Too Philosophical?

2012-01-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

What's better than sweet potatoes? White Japanese sweet potatoes. What's better than white Japanese sweet potatoes? Purple Japanese sweet potatoes! What do you do when the season is over and you can't buy them anymore? Well...you drive all around town to every specialty market you can think of buying and hoarding as many as you can store in your fridge and pantry.......oh, is that just me?

I went through this with Delicata squash about 2 months ago....and let's see....corn and tomatoes in the summer....let's not forget the Xmas candy and fruitcake on sale..... The reoccurring theme is the feeling of missing out, the feeling of not getting enough, and the feeling of lack. Sometimes I feel this rush of urgency to stock up. But I'm getting better and better at recognizing when the habit of hoarding starts to erupt. And for me it's simply a habit I acted on much of my life to fill some sort of need. The "need" isn't what is wrong, how I act out, through habits and behaviors to try and have that need met is what I'm learning to change. Change in a way that gives me greater benefits.

Hoarding has gotten a lot of attention is the past couple of years because of TV shows exposing this disorder. It's can be a very serious situation and I'm not trying to make light of it by comparing it to overstocking my kitchen with sweet potatoes, but there can be a fine line between "stocking up" and "hoarding", when it compels a person to act in the same ways out of some kind of fear. Fear of not having enough is what compels me. My need was to feel secure.

We all have childhood, teenage, young adult, and even "old" adult, psychological "stuff" that leaves a deep enough impression on us that we develop habits in order to protect ourselves....habits that may no longer give us the relief we were looking for.....but I'm not going to get into all of that. What I do want to offer is that I know, for a fact, that the more aware I become of the habits and behaviors that lead me to act in certain ways, that are no longer healthy, the easier it is for me to change them. And I do, and I am, everyday.

I did not buy extra Delicata, I did not drive all over town for purple sweet potatoes....although I did buy 5 fruitcakes on sale....hey, I said I'm working on it! (you can freeze fruitcake!) Anyway....reminding myself I have enough, reminding myself that there is always more of anything I could want, and if not, something else will take it's place. There is no shortage of wants, there is no shortage at all....of anything, there's more than enough.

Some might say, "well that's nice for you, but I don't have near all the things I need, much less want". I'm not talking about "reality", I'm talking about how I feel. If I lie in meditation (or just sit still and quiet), and visualize having all the things I want, right in front of me and really feeling what that would be like, then there's nothing I can't have. It's the feeling that changes me, not the "having". How many times have you purchased something thinking it was going to make you feel a certain way, and then you felt the opposite, or at least not as good as you thought it would?

I can have a purple sweet potato any time I want it. All I have to do is close my eyes....but I've moved on....

This subject may, can, does, relate to overeating, at least it did for me, and I hope to write more about it.

Tracyrif"s "Plus 50%" Snatch Routine!

2012-01-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Here is my snatch version of "Plus 50%", another workout that I love, love, love!. There are a couple of ways I increase the workload by 50%. One is that when you get to the first 1 minute long set you only get a 30 sec rest, this equals a 2 to 1 work to rest ratio. The second is the last two sets increase the rep count by 50% (without a hand switch) into the rest period which equals a three to one work to rest ratio. Enjoy!

5 rest 5 (15/15 x 2)
5/5 (30/30)
10 rest 10 (30/30 x 2)
10/10 (1 min/30)
15/15 (45/15 x 2)
7.5 min, 90 snatches

6 rest 6 (1 min)
6/6 (1 min)
12 rest 12 (2 min)
12/12 no rest (1.5 min)
18/18 (2 min)
7.5 min, 108 snatches

7 rest 7 (1 min)
7/7 (1 min)
14 rest 14 (2 min)
14/14 no rest (1.5 min)
21/21 (2 min)
7.5 min, 126 snatches

8 rest 8 (1 min)
8/8 (1 min)
16 rest 16 (2 min)
16/16 no rest (1.5 min) (apparently in the video I forgot this set...too much talking! Don't skip it!)
24/24 (2 min)
7.5 min, 144 snatches

30 minutes, 468 snatches

There are a number of benefits of practicing snatch pacing. I've been incorporating pace work into my snatch workouts for as long as I can remember and it's provided many, many super challenging routines. But at the beginning of the day everybody has to start somewhere, and in my level 1 classes I rarely design workouts that use a pace faster than 6 reps per 15 sec. (that's 12 snatch reps per 30 sec interval), and super rare that I ask my students in those classes to snatch for 45 seconds without a hand switch.

Keep that in mind if you try this workout. If you've been training the snatch for 2 years or less, and especially if you haven't, or don't train it regularly (once or twice a week), then only practice 5 rep and 6 rep rotations. (and try the 4 rep version below) You may not even have the strength endurance to snatch for 45 seconds without a hand switch. Do not judge yourself! That's what these workouts are designed to do...progressively get you stronger!

Everybody wants to go fast, fast, fast! And that's probably because we are all speed demon cardio endurance junkies! At some point everybody needs to train strength endurance, and that's what those slower longer holds overhead do. As I mentioned in the last video, I used a heavier bell on Tuesday and my rotations were, 5's, 4's, 5's, and 6's. If you don't think slower reps and longer holds are challenging then you need a heavier bell!

Slow and/or heavy option

4 rest 4 (1 min)
4/4 (1 min)
8 rest 8 (2 min)
8/8 no rest (1.5 min)
12/12 (2 min)
7.5 min, 72 snatches

Are You Taking Your Training, Practice, or Workouts for Granted?

2012-01-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

Recently I had to face the fact that I've been taking my yoga practice for granted. For months now I've felt as if my practice has not been improving, totally taking responsibility for it, but not in the right way. I thought I was at a point when my training was hitting a natural plateau, and I could only expect minimal gains, and found it frustrating. I was miserable in my practice, so much so that I was starting to blame the practice itself (Bikrams) for my bad attitude....not for the stagnation of my practice, but because I wasn't having fun anymore. To me, fun means seeing and feeling improvement. Improvement can mean a lot of different things....it's about "the journey, not the destination" right? Because I had lost respect for my practice my attitude was getting really stinky....even more than usual (lol). Not nice! And realizing that it was me that stunk, not the practice, was a real eyeopener!

I thought I was treating my yoga practice as if it was important to me but I didn't realize how little, if any, effort I was putting into setting myself up for a good practice. I was on auto pilot, simply going through the motions because yoga "was on the schedule", hoping each practice would be a "good practice", but not giving any thought or anything extra, pretty much just "showing up". I was treating it more like "exercise". I was not taking into consideration what I was doing the day before a scheduled workout (practice) to help ensure I would be at my physical best for the next days practice. This includes what, and how much I eat the day before, and it includes enough rest and recovery. Not just packing my mat, water, change of clothes and lunch! Like anything you want to be successful at, planning and preparation are the actions that can set you up for better results. Planning and preparing to be my strongest, most ready, physical best, and to feel my best, is the best attitude adjustment of all!

Sometimes it seems easy to "be on our best behavior" when we have important dates coming up. When we know a meet or competition is approaching we are careful to plan and prepare to be our best on that day. When we have a performance or meeting we plan and prep to be our best that day. When we have an occasion, a party, a wedding, an event that we want to look and feel our best for we plan, we prepare. What's so hard about putting in a little effort everyday for the next? Isn't everyday important, and every practice/workout important? Are you just "showing up"?

This is what I've learned not just for improving my yoga practice, but for improving my life. One of Mark's phrases that truly sets the tone of our lives is "Training is the Source". Through my training I've learned about my life. When you take something, anything for granted you become a victim of the outcome. Your attitude may be the one thing making you miserable....think about it!

The Best Use of Your Time...."Eating In"

2012-01-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

On of the most common question I get asked is "Can I swing kettlebells everyday?" To which my answer is always...."If you could, I would! Why do you think I took up yoga?" So the answer is no. To which is always accompanied with the look of disappointment. (The quick answer is that you should not train any weight resistance exercises every day. Body weight exercises like yoga and walking (running) can be trained everyday)

But I never get asked the question, "Can I make my own meals everyday?"

I can get excited at the thought of pursuing many different physical sport/hobbies/practices. I love the idea of getting back into the Martial Arts, I love the idea of getting back into cycling, or even learning how to swim and train for a mini triathlon. I could get excited about training some of the power lifts, as well a signing up for beginning adult ballet lessons. It would be easy for me to try and do it all, the only thing stopping me is...well, there's two...the first is, I kind of like spending time with Mark in the evenings more, and the second is that I have other things that take priority, like preparing my meals for the day/week.

I have all mornings, from the time Mark leaves for work, until he gets home, to do anything and everything I want to. I train/teach and lead kettlebells for 2-3 hours 3 times a week, plus a few private lessons. I have a 5-6 day regular Bikram's practice a week. I walk 2-4 times a week either running errands around town on foot, or simply pounding pavement for 40-60 minutes. All of those things, with the exception of my kettlebell training take a back seat to my other number one hobby, and that's cooking. If I only had time for two things it would be those two, training kettlebells and cooking....in that order. These two things have made, and continue to make, the biggest differences in my physical body and my life overall....not ballet lessons! But why kettlebells before food/cooking, if food is indeed what made the biggest change in my body...the biggest body weight change.

Cooking and preparing food involves planning, shopping, prepping, actual cooking, clean up and that may include packing meals for another day. I consider cooking a hobby, and there's nothing I don't enjoy about it....not even dirty dishes!. Cooking is a hobby that satisfies all of my senses. Yes cooking is a science, but it's also an art....an art that feeds my body, and for me, my soul. I don't take it that seriously in the sense of perfection. It's just one more"practice", and if there are two things I love, it's practice and repetition! (routine, regularity).

For most people regular exercise is easy compared to making your own meals regularly...that's why they want to try and exercise off the extra weight. And swinging kettlebells especially is so much fun, (and why I hear the question) it would be awesome if we could just swing ourselves skinny! When most people find an exercise they like, or at least find tolerable, they want to commit to it everyday, but won't commit the time for making the changes in their daily diets.

I'm telling you now that there is no better use of your time, for long term permanent weightloss than spending it creating the food and eating habits of a healthier lifestyle, besides, you'll get faster at it, and it will take less and less time! You don't have to become a gourmet cook (unless you want to!) I would find it surprising, not impossible, but surprising, if a person that eats out, and/or purchases fast, ready made foods, more often than not, could maintain a significant weightloss for any extended period of time, much less permanently....but that's my opinion. Using your time to learn how to feed yourself is not something you try to avoid by choosing to overexercise instead, or doing exercises/workouts that produces little, if any, noticeable physical change.

I know how I feel after a good workout, and I know how I feel when I open my fridge and see the lunch I made for myself waiting for me! The feelings are the same. I feel accomplished. I feel empowered. I feel confident, in control and in charge! And I bring those feelings to everything else I do!

How do you spend your time? What are your priorities? How do they make you feel? Now, what's the next meal you are going to spend your time making?

PS But why kettlebells before food/cooking, if food is indeed what made the biggest change in my body...the biggest body weight change? Because I've practiced making my own foods so much that it takes practically no time at all, it's a no brainer. It's not hard, it's not bothersome, it's not boring...it's a joy. Believe me, I spend and take more time designing, creating, journaling and posting swing routines than I do on "recipes", and that's a joy too! Each one inspires the other. The better I feel about my health and body, with training the swing and eating good foods, the more I want to do those things....that's motivation! Lucky me!

Hope and Motivation, part 1

2012-01-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

When I started blogging back in 2006 after losing 120lbs I felt like I had never in my life felt before. What had happened, and what was happening was way bigger than a weightloss story. I couldn't really describe it because I've not known of anyone that had, or was having the same experience...so I just started writing. After being asked over and over again "How did you lose all that weight?" I was compelled to write about how, at the age of 41, I was feeling and looking better than I could ever imagine. With the foundation of the "former" Tracy I felt like a new improved version of myself. If I had to use one word, only one, to describe this new way of feeling it would be "confident". Feeling truly confident is the best feeling in the world, and covers many, many parts, if not all parts, of my life.

During those first years of blogging I dreamt about being the one that found the answers to the questions of motivation. How does one get it, how does one keep it, how does one share it? It is not the million dollar question...it's the million dollar answer! I wanted other people to experience what I had, and I felt the only way I could do that was to find the answers to what inspires motivation. But I could only share what it was, and is, that motivates me.

I've been asked many times what motivated me to lose the weight. The answer? Lots of things. The first motivation was the fear of dying. I mean really dying...dead! Another motivation was the weightloss contest (bet) I got involved with at work, a competition. Yet another was a personal challenge, the one I made to myself to not eat out at all, and make all of my own foods and meals.

I didn't die, I won the bet, and making my own meals is no longer a challenge but a gift I give myself and my family. How, after accomplishing those things would the motivation to keep going, keep improving, or at least keep changing in a positive way, continue? Training kettlebells.

This may sound hokey, it may even sound like I'm trying to sell something, but you can't buy what training kettlebells can give you. It's not the "kettlebell" alone that's magic, it's "training", and the two together has been an unbeatable match for me. Without one I would not have the other. There is nothing truer than the phrase that Mark came up with "The kettlebell won't swing itself"

Before I go on I'd like to share a blog post I wrote 5 years ago a couple of months after I started my original blog, here it is;

TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2007

Hope for the New Year

So much has happened to me in the last few weeks, in the last few days, I can only wonder what this next year holds for me.

Two years ago today I was happy. My life was good. Yes, I was fat, but I never defined myself by my weight. I always felt that I was smart, talented, and had a good life. I enjoyed eating alot of food and took responsibility for the results of that. In fact besides being phyisically uncomfortable at times I felt the biggest drawback of being so heavy was the judgement of other people about me because of my weight. I felt invisible. Not respected. And I did feel shame about my weight.

Being Mark Reifkind's wife, many times I wanted to hide. Married to a personal tainer and being so over weight I remember asking Mark when he would want to introduce me to a client or friend " Did you tell them I'm fat? You need to tell them I'm fat, because I don't want them to be surprised." I felt bad for him because I didn't want my weight to be a reflection of him. After all, should the worlds best personal trainer have such a fat wife?

I knew I had it in me to lose the weight and start exercising, I just didn't want to. Why? I don't even know the answer now. I think everyone knows how to lose weight. The question is why don't you want to? I, personally, don't think it matters why. You and I have the rest of our lives to try and figure that out, if we want to. It doesn't change the fact that 2+2=4. In otherwords, the fact is if you count your calories and start some sort of exercise, you will lose weight. You don't need me to tell you that.

What I want to offer is hope. Hope that you can recover from being overweight. Hope that you can recover from being out of shape. Hope that you can recover from being ashamed. Hope so that you can feel healthy, strong and proud. And that you can come through it looking and feeling better than you ever have before.

That's what kettlebell training has done for me. I tell everyone that my diet (food) changed the size of my body, but kettlebell training changed the composition of my body. And I wouldn't of believed it until I experienced it. Kettlebell training has given me hope. Hope that I can keep the weight off and feel and look great. Sometimes I think if I only would of known about KBs 10 years ago I might never have gained so much weight.

I hope that you find the motivation this year, if I can give you any I will. If you have already found your motivation, like me, I hope you keep it going strong.

You might have noticed that the title of this blog post, "Hope and Motivation" includes a "part 1", and that's because I have so much more to write. Explore what I think is the answer. The answer, my answer, is hope.

"Plus 50%"

2012-01-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

I swear I don't know where I come up with this stuff! Totally unplanned, as usual, 5:30am this morning I accidentally created a new, swing routine that's really fun and challenging for many levels, AND that can be completed in just about 30 minutes! Love when that happens! Practice this one, as written, because I'm sure there will be more variations of these combinations.

I encourage you to do this workout as written even if it seems like it has some long rest periods for those of you more experienced in training my routines. It may seem as if the first rotation is not as challenging as the second, but it is in a different way. Let me remind you that training is not always taking the shortest rest periods as humanly possible. Training is about progression and practicing your skill to improve power and strength....not to gut out a workout, or see how little rest you take and compare it to anyone else....if the rest periods are too long then the bell isn't heavy enough, OR you are not moving it with the power and acceleration intended for this type of high volume training.....Train Strong!

One more thing...this is a complete beginning level routine (600 swings/30 min), if you do not add in the 50% extra reps suggested, and complete all sets with equal work/rest ratios.

Tracyrif Swing routine "Plus 50%

First rotation

5 2 hd swing x 2 sets

10 tr x 2 sets (15/15, equal work to rest)
10 tr + 5 2 hd swings x 2 sets (15 reps)

1 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 2 sets (20 reps per) (30/30)
1 sw, 1 tr x 10 + 10 tr x 2 sets (30 reps)

3 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 2 sets (30 reps) (45/45)
3 sw, 1 tr x 10 + 10 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 2 sets (45 reps)

10/10 x 2 x 2 sets (40 reps) (1 min/1 min)
10/10 + 1 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 2 sets (60 reps total)

20.5 min., 510 swing reps

Alternate version for the last 4 sets
10/10 x 2 x 2 sets (1 min/1 min)
10/10 x 2 x 2 sets (1 min/30 sec)
19.5 min 470 swing reps

Second Rotation (video demo)

5 2 hd swing x 2 sets

10 tr x 1 set (15/15, equal work to rest)
10 tr + 5 2 hd swings x 1 set (15 reps)

1 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 1 set (20 reps) (30/30)
1 sw, 1 tr x 10 + 10 tr x 1 set (30 reps)

3 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 1 set (30 reps) (45/45)
3 sw, 1 tr x 10 + 10 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1 set (45 reps)

10/10 x 2 x 1 set (40 reps)(1 min/1 min)
10/10 + 1 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 1 set (60 reps total)

10.5 min 260 swing reps

Total workout 21 min., 770 swing reps

Alternate version for the last 2 sets
10/10 x 2 x 1 set (1 min/1 min)
10/10 x 2 x 1 set (1 min/30 sec)
10 min 240 swing reps
Total 29.5 minutes, 710 swing reps

What is Stopping you? "Eat In" part...?

2012-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

My opinions in these past blog posts about how strongly I feel the importance of eating foods and meals made at home to help one lose weight are in no way meant to come across as the only way. Eating in was important to me, and as it happened, I believe, I'm convinced, turned out to be one of the key changes I made to a lasting and, now I know, permanent, weightloss. If part of how you found yourself overweight is through eating out regularly then I simply ask you to take into consideration the benefits this kind of change could make in your life.

One might think that the only obvious benefit to making meals and foods from scratch, with "real" ingredients, is that you aren't consuming "fake" foods, preservatives you don't need, chemicals used to extend shelf life (not your life!), food coloring, etc. And yes, those certainly are some of the health benefits, and part of good health is being a "healthy body weight". Some other reasons are that when we "eat out", we tend to eat more because we are served bigger portions. Many times we wait too long to figure out what we are going to buy for lunch that we try and stave off hunger with sweets....and then we order too much food because we're "starved"! We eat foods we wouldn't normally eat just because it's offered...how many times have you ordered a dessert, even when you weren't hungry for it just because "oh, I love lemon meringue pie...look, it's on the menu! Or you are with a friend who isn't concerned about their own health encouraging you to order an appetizer or dessert, or at least share one, or two, with them.

Of course you can still find yourself overweight if the foods you are "eating in" are fast, convenient foods. You don't have to "go out" for a bag of cookies, a box of cereal, a loaf of french bread, cheese puffs or a quart of ice cream. Those things you can find in your own kitchen and pantry. A combination of the kinds of foods you are eating, and your eating habits determine what is making and/or keeping you fat, or fatter than you say you want to be.

Now we can pretty much agree that making your own meals from scratch at home has many positive benefits, and in the past few blog posts I've given you more reasons. I've given you some ideas of how and where to start based on my own experience as a non-cook for most of my adult life (my fat adult life), what's holding you back? Reason and knowledge have been addressed. What's stopping you from moving in this direction?

Time? Energy? Willingness/motivation? I will get to these next....maybe I'll write about the willingness and motivation first. At this point if you still are questioning whether or not it's worth the time and energy I'll assume you need a little more motivation than what I've provided so far......

Variety is Overrated! "Eating In" part 4

2012-01-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

Variety is overrated! Most peoples idea of variety is eating something "different" every meal. Real variety is making and eating the same basic recipes and then recycling them with slightly different ingredients. I think it's unfortunate this idea of having to cook a different meal for your family every night, never repeating one for fear someone will get bored.

There are only so many foods in the world. Seriously. There are unlimited amounts of ingredients, but when you put them all together in the traditional way of composing a meal, most of what we eat are basically the same things. The only reason food magazines and cooking shows promote recipe after recipe is so you buy the magazine or watch the show and buy the advertised products! Once you know how to cook an ear of corn, how many different recipes do you need for cooking corn on the cob? Well, here's 15+ (sorry, I realize it's not corn season but this is what came off the top of my head)

http://tipnut.com/corn-cob-recipes/

All of them sound yummy...bacon, mayonaise, jalapeno butter etc...but trust me, once you know how to cook an ear of corn, all of those recipe ideas will come naturally! Who knows who was the first person that made jalapeno butter, but I'm sure it's been around for a long ass time! If jalapeno is a flavor you like then at some point you would have "invented" jalapeno butter!

For instance....I love jalapenos, although I rarely buy canned pickled jalapeno peppers (even though I love them, see note*) I often use fresh jalapenos along with my onion and celery as a base for soups, stews and anything and everything else I can throw them into...like in a fresh salad! Canned jalapenos (or in a jar) are pickled with vinegar. The definition of "pickle" is something that has been preserved in vinegar or a brine (brine is usually salt....olives are brined). If you "marinate" a bunch of jalapeno peppers in vinegar, then the vinegar will taste like...? Yes, jalapeno vinegar! How could you use jalapeno vinegar? Well, let's see....in a salad dressing for sure. In tuna salad? Yep. So I started using the vinegar in canned jalapenos as an ingredient in itself to spice up dressing, dips and salads. Add it to mayonaise and you have jalapeno mayonaise to spread on a sandwich or a slice of meatloaf! Did I just invent jalapeno mayonaise? lol

In every culture, all over the world, there are only so many ways to cook and prepare foods (methods and techniques). The only things that change are the ingredients that reflect it's regional and cultural roots.

Why must we eat "Italian" one night, "Mexican" another, "Chinese" another?

If we eat a salad everyday but change the dressing...one day we add pickled jalapeno vinegar to the dressing, maybe some corn, some black beans and chicken..."Mexican". Another day we use red wine vinegar (or God forbid balsamic, lol), white beans, garbanzos, or pasta, basil and again...chicken. Another day we use Chinese cabbage, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, ginger, (sirachi sauce!) and again....chicken (lol, does anyone eat anything other than chicken....beside me of course!)...a salad is a salad, is a salad. But all of a sudden you can see the tremendous variety in a salad.

Here's one of my point. Make a damn salad everyday! Or some other meal you love, but you have to make it, you have to practice it, until it's yours. You will find the variety if you want it, or need it! Same with any other kind of meal. How do you think "wraps" started? "Wraps" are burritos that reflect regional flavors! Put all of the above salads in a tortilla and what do you have? A wrap! A recycled burrito!

So what's the point? The point is that you can trust yourself. You know what you like, and what you don't like. The basic skills of cooking are "the craft", and you must learn and practice in order to express your creativity, and then your imagination will come to the forefront. For instance, you cannot create a kettlebell swing routine if you don't know the skill of a proper swing. One you understand and have practiced the skill you can be free.

Variety is not freedom. The illusion of variety is a trap. Food is basic, so use basic recipes and basic techniques. All that "fancy, smancy" stuff can be fun, if that's what you are in to, but at the end of the day learning how to feed yourself and your family with uncomplicated and nutritious foods/meals is what health and happiness is all about.

(note* Take note that although pickled foods are usually very low in calories, they may have different effects on different people.....I never lose weight by eating pickled products...maybe because I overeat them thinking they are "low calorie". Find your own way.

I also want to thank my husband Mark for helping me "wrap up" my thoughts on this subject. It was Mark that helped me bring up my final points to end this blog post. Thanks Sweetie!)

Building the Foundation, "Eat In" part 3

2012-01-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Like I said...I could go on and on and on, so let me hit on another point before I do....

I think in this country, especially, everybody has forgotten how to eat. Let me rephrase that, everyone has forgotten what to eat! Food has been turned into a form of entertainment instead of 3 squares a day. Let's go back to those "3 squares". Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Back in "the day" dessert was not an every night occurrence, but reserved for special occasions, or maybe one night a week. Nowadays we expect dessert with every meal, every day, and in the case of breakfast it has become dessert, many times in the form of a mocha latte, and then add insult to injury by throwing down a muffin or scone on top of it! That's 21 desserts a week!

What a luxury to be able to walk into the kitchen, open the fridge, take out a soda...or walk into the kitchen, open the pantry, take out a bag of chips or cookies. What happened some black coffee, a couple of eggs (if you were lucky) or a bowl of hot steamin' oats for breakfast? What about lunch? Nothing wrong with a small sandwich, a pickle, an apple? And dinner? Well for the past 50 years it's been meat and potatoes....and a couple of leaves of iceberg lettuce with 1000 island dressing...but nobody's perfect!

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up my mother cooked an almost exact amount of food for the whole family, if someone was getting seconds it was dad! I can tell you right now how I became a chubby kid...it was by volunteering to help give out the lunches at school! All of the helpers (me) got to eat any leftover boxes! And once I was free to walk down to the corner "7-11" store on my own, well heck...do you remember getting a dime for every glass bottle you returned? And how much were candy bars back then? Yes, I think they were $.10! 6 bottles returned, six candy bars! Lucky me...or so I thought at the time. Is it this kind of freedom that has helped make us fat and spoiled? What would have happened to me if I made my lunch everyday, only one lunch, no other choice, and no "7-11" around the block to walk to.

Back to building the foundation of "eating in". What would you start with? What meal do you know how to prepare, and like, maybe even love, that would be the first one you make for yourself? What would happen if you prepared that meal every day, or every night? I would bet you would get really good at it...and really efficient and fast! I would even bet, closer to the end of the first week, you would naturally start to change it slightly....you would start to feel so comfortable that trading out ingredients wouldn't stress you out, in fact you would be creating your own recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand. That's how you learn. You learn by doing. Doing over, and over, and over again.

In my book, "The Swing" (available March 13th, Harper Collins, pre order you copy now. LOL! Sorry I had to say it!) I write about the importance of practice with the simple cutting of an onion everyday. Onions are practically the foundation of every savory recipe you come accross, and learning how to cut one properly and efficiently will help you develop the knife skills that are such an important part of meal preparation. http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/knifeskills/ss/onionchop.htm

Find or have one recipe you know, like the back of your hand, and do it to death until you "make it your own". That will be your foundation. Build it by adding one new recipe, method or technique at a time.

For instance "grilling" is a method of cooking. Grill a piece of meat, the same kind, a handful of times until you know how long it takes, and are confident it will come out right (or acceptable) almost every time. Then choose a different cut, or kind, of meat or seafood...or grill some veggies. Grilling is grilling, is grilling! It's a "fast" cooking method and requires "fast cooking" tender cuts of meat (or veggies the get tender quickly...like onions!, lol). Don't worry if you screw up, we all screw up! Grill yourself silly, and before you know it your friends will be asking you "grilling" questions!

Just some suggestions....that's how I got so good using my pressure cooker! I pressure cooked until I was silly!

more to come...

Establish a Practice, "Eat In", part 2

2012-01-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'll fix my last thought and then go on and on.....

"Eating in" is not a punishment, it's a gift. Your life is a gift from God, your health is a gift from yourself! There, that's better!

When I write about this subject it is relation to living permanently at a healthy bodyweight. Everybody has the freedom to decide to eat out, or rely on ready made foods all the time, whether it's just because they like to, and can afford to, or whether they don't know how to prepare and cook food them selves, don't like to, don't care to, think they're too busy, or admit they're too lazy...everybody lives their own lives by their own standards. But if you weigh more than you want to, and you don't want to spend the rest of your life that way, then something has got to give!

Let me also finish a couple of thoughts about ready made and purchased foods... There are a ton of really good options available, especially if you live in an area that has health conscious grocery stores, markets, and restaurants. It is completely possible to lose weight and never cook a damn thing. It's not the food itself that is making you, or keeping you fat, it's the kinds of foods, and how much you eat, especially high calorie foods. Markets like Whole Foods make their ready to eat meals with whole ingredients...much like a gourmet cook, real butter, real cream, real cheese, real chocolate, lots of olive oil...."artisan" breads, cookies, cakes and pastry are as high in calories as Hostess Twinkie's are, just with no fake fats or sugars....healthy? Slightly...maybe...depends on how much you eat! Fast food? Soda? Well, sorry, if you want to eat 1500 calories of that crap everyday to lose weight then knock yourself out.

I've lived both ways. For 41 years of my life my bodyweight went up, it went down, it went up, it went down, it went up, and up, and up.... Up to that point in my life no matter what I weighed there was one common thread...I didn't know how to feed myself by cooking and preparing my own meals. Sure as I mentioned, you can, like I did, go on a reduced calorie diet with purchased ready made foods, or you you can "snack" yourself skinny with rice cakes, cans of tuna, and some purchased carrot sticks...oh, and let's not forget the "Lean Cuisine's", but it will more than likely not get you the eating habits you need to establish a permanent change in your situation. Notice I say "more than likely not" because truthfully I think anything is possible, but why not have some good food while at the same time lose weight, take control, get healthier, live longer, be happier...oh and become a badass home cook!

I can promise you it is worlds apart. Let me again repeat an important point....if you are of a healthy weight and you don't want to change a thing then all of this is irrelevant. Healthy weight people have other things they worry about, eating out or eating in is not one of them. Healthy weight people naturally don't overeat, they may have a natural feeling for when to stop...I don't know...

January 5, 2005, I dived in head first completely immersing myself with no choice of eating out. BUT as much as it seems as if it all happened overnight it was years in the making.... Without planning or thinking about it, my interest in learning how to cook years earlier had become a practice, the practice of feeding myself and my family. Cooking and preparing food is about establishing a practice, and everybody can start somewhere. I believe everybody knows how to cook and/or prepare many good foods and/or meals without a recipe, and it's those foods and meals to which a beginner starts to build a the foundation of independence. Cooking without recipes but with methods and technique should be the focus. Like "strength is a skill" that can be learned through regular and consistent training (practice), so is cooking.

More to come.....gotta get up early, very early, to train. Oh, and the turkey came out fab...oh and the beef stew I made this morning...I can't wait to share that one with you...get your PC ready!

Save Your Life, Eat In

2012-01-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago, almost to the day, I stopped eating out completely. And considering that I ate 99% of my meals from fast food chains that is quite an incredible change....talk about cold turkey (funny I'm thawing out a turkey right now to roast later...lol). It did not seem like a hardship at all, more than likely because I was ready. I had spent the previous 8 or 9 years acting on my growing interest in learning how to cook. Funny enough though it was gourmet cooking that I found as the focus of my new hobby....using real butter, cream, the highest quality ingredients none of which would be considered "diet" foods! I had been living a double life so to speak. Eating quick, salty, fatty, carb filled, low, low quality foods daily, while honing my skills as a wanne be gourmet cook. Finally my desire to "wanne be" was so much greater than my fear to "not to be", as it also coincided with many health issues I was starting to experience, and it became obvious to me that this had to be part of the first step, a first huge step, as the key to losing weight and saving my life.

I know it's been trendy for at least a decade now to take an interest in food. The label "foodie" is one that many wear proudly, maybe even acting a bit snobby about it. Especially as the trend took a big turn towards health with the addition of labels like "organic" free range", "pature fed" etc. to describe foods and ingredients. And then we have vegetarianism and veganism gaining popularity, reaching an all time high, with no end in sight. But in my opinion if you don't make the priority of being intimately involved with the preparation of most of your own meals and foods then all of those labels are simply an act. They are not a part of you or who you are. In my opinion, being spoon fed by purchasing ready made foods is not the same as establishing the habits you need to feed yourself. Is it that hard to grill up your own pasture fed beef hamburger?

It's also amazing to me how many people snack instead of eat in order to maintain these "standards of snobbery". A handful of almonds? Sure I'm guilty of reaching for them when I can't quite get to a meal, but I don't make them my meal. A bagful of veggies chips? A high protein, low carb "bar" of some sort should never regularly replace a meal. A vegan donut is still a donut.

"Eating in" is not a punishment, it's a gift. Your life is a gift, your health is not!

I could go on and on about this subject...and I will, but right now I've got to get ready for an 8:00am yoga class....to be continued....

600...and 24 rep snatch workout. Good-ness! 2012 reps (give or take)

2011-12-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

You know it's a challenge to keep track of exact rep count when you lead others through their workouts in addition to your own training. I know for a fact I hit 2012 on the nose on Tuesday, and Thursday I went over because of taping a short video, but this morning I went way over...well not WAY over, just a few, or 500 hundred.... (I don't count any reps under a 12kg)

Started out my first class with 605 swings (12kg) and 200 snatches (12kg).

Here is the start of my 2nd (advanced) class. It's a snatch workout that consists of 2 minutes long sets of 48 reps with 1 minute rest. 13 sets total, 39 minutes. Videos show the first two sets and the last set to show the example.

24/24
23/1, 1/23
22/1, 2/22
21/3, 3/21
20/4, 4/20
19/5, 5/19
18/6, 6/18
17/7, /17
16/8, 8/16
15/9, 9/15
14/10. 10/14
13/11, 11/13
12/12. 12/12

Damn...I should have ended it with only 12/12! I thought this workout equaled 600 reps, but it appears as if I went over by 24 reps! Well, I can't be expected to keep track of every single damn rep! Anyway...

I was actually nervous about this workout and had Mark tape my hands before I left for class in anticipation of some rough work ahead....I've been transformed! OM freakin' G! Was it the taped hands? Or was this workout easy? My hands never posed a problem and it seemed as if I cruised through the whole 624 reps.

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!

We finished off the 2nd class with 2 sets of 200 swing reps (I posted the swing combo a couple of days ago). 824 snatches and 1005 swings down....183 reps to go....we finished them in the first 10 minutes of the 3rd class!

PS Blog post about how to tape your hands to come....seriously, I've seen the light!

"25" Advanced...formerly known as "Christmas Day" but why not "New Years Day" too?

2011-12-31T05:58:00.000-08:00

Here it is written out! When I get home from training this afternoon I will post video of each rotation so if you want to train along with me you can.

5x5 reps (1.25 min)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5x5 reps
1 sw 1 tr 10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5x5 reps
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5x5 reps
10/10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1

9 min., 200 swings

4x5 reps (1 min.)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1
4x5 reps
1 sw 1 tr 10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
4x5 reps
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
4x5 reps
10/10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1

8 min, 180 swings

3x5 reps (.75 min)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1
3x5 reps
1 sw 1 tr 10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
3x5 reps
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
3x5 reps
10/10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1

7 min., 160 swings

2x5 reps (.5)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1
2x5 reps
1 sw 1 tr 10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
2x5 reps
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
2x5 reps
10/10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1

6 min., 140 swings

5 reps (.25)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5 reps
1 sw 1 tr 10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5 reps
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1
5 reps
10/10 + 5 2 hd sw x 1

5 min., 120 swings

27 min., 800 swings (300 20kg, 500 14kg)

bonus

5 reps
25 2 hd sw

30 reps, 1.25 min additional

"Classic 100" Swing AND Snatch workout......my road to 2012!

2011-12-30T05:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my road to 2012 continued by starting out like this:

40, 30, 20, 10 16kg swings

3 snatch tests after 1 quick warm up so sw/sn/tr (6 sn)

100 snatch reps (5min/5min) (see video below)

300 snatches

sorry...I did not mean to post all three 5 minutes tests but I don't know how to delete the first two....watch them if you want to, but the last one, the hardest one is the most entertaining!

*******************************************

So you want to combine your swing workout with your snatch workout? Here it is! I did not list rest times, but all work/rest intervals are "equal". In the first rotation all swing sets are only 10 reps = 15 sec and all 5/5 snatch sets are 30 sec. In the second rotation I listed the work period, but not the rest period, that's up to you. Always start with equal work/rest unless you know you are capable of changing it.

"Classic 100" Swing and Snatch

10 2 hd sw x 4
10 tr x 4
5/5 x 4
5/5 sn x 4
10 min

10 2 hd sw x 3
10 tr x 3
5/5 x 3
5/5 sn x 3
7.5 min

10 2 hd sw x 2
10 tr x 2
5/5 x 2
5/5 sn x 2
5 min

10 2 hd sw x 1 (video demo)
10 tr x 1
5/5 x 1
5/5 sn x 1
2.5 min
25 min., 300 swings, 100 snatches

40 2 hd sw x 1 (all swing sets are 1 min work)
40 tr x 1
5/5 x 4 x 1
5/5 snatches x 4 (40 sn, 2 min work)
9 min
30 2 hd sw (all swing sets are 45 sec work)
30 tr
5/5 x 3 x 1
5/5 snatches x 3 (30 sn, 1.5 min work)
7 min
20 2 hd sw (all swing sets are 30 sec work)
20 tr
5/5 x 2 x 1
5/5 snatches x 2 (20 sn, 1 min/1 min rest)
5 min

10 2 hd sw x 1 (video demo)
10 tr x 1
5/5 x 1
5/5 sn x 1
2.5 min

23.5 min
300 swings
100 snatches

total workout 48.5 min
600 swings
200 snatches

I did this workout using the 16kg and ALL 2 hd swings, while my training partner did all swing combinations as written. I used the 12kg for all snatch sets

500 16kg swings done 10 2 hd at a time
40,30,20,10 = 100 16kg all 2 hd swing
5/5 snatches (100 12kg snatches done in this way)
40,30,20,10 (done 5/5, another 100 12kg snatches)

*************************************************************

so far total
700 16kg swings
306 16kg snatches
200 12kg snatches

video demo (30 sw, 10 sn)

Since I train by myself for half of my workout I decided to just go for some long ass sets! Here they are:

1 set of 100 snatch reps w/12kg
10/10 x 10 (I didn't time it but I think it took about 3.5 - 4 min)

3 sets of 200 swing reps (5 min work/2 min rest)

10 2 hd sw, 40 tr, 10 2 hd sw, 1 sw/1tr x 20 (40 reps), 10 2 hd sw, 5/5 x 4, 10 2 hd sw, 10/10 x 2 = 200

1 set of 100 reps (2.5 min work, done!)

5 2 hd sw, 20 tr, 5 2 hd sw, 1 sw/1tr x 10, 5 2 hd sw, 5/5 x 2, 5 2 hd sw, 10/10 = 100

Totals

700 16kg swings
306 16kg snatches
200 12kg snatches
110 12kg snatches (video demo put me over!)
730 12kg swings (video demo put me over!)

One more to go on Saturday...what a way to end such a fabulous year!

Hello

2011-12-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

Most of my posts lately have been about training. This is because every time I start to write something about weightloss, whether it's about food, eating or attitude I can't seem to articulate what it is I'm trying to say. I absolutely believe, and know, that my experiences and results can be duplicated in much the same way I myself succeeded in changing this part of my life, and in turn changing every part of my life. So, here are a few of my thoughts based on what works for me, and how I dieted for weightloss.

#1 Eat better, eat less, eat more nutritiously.

#2 "Feed yourself", by cooking and preparing your own foods. Foods you custom choose to match flavors and portions you need to feel happy and satisfied, but fit within what you know follows #1. "Feed yourself" is a phrase I use to describe growing up! Quit being a baby. It's you life, it's your body, feed it.

#3 Take responsibility for your current situation and then make the changes you know you need to make. All the "bad" or unfortunate things that has happened to you have also helped make you the awesome person you are today, so celebrate instead of blame. It's not your parents, your ex, your kids, your boss....you only hurt yourself by blaming others...at the end day whoever you've been blaming is busy living their life....live yours.

#4 Have an interest (maybe obsession) in becoming an expert on your own weightloss. Make it a game or an experiment of one. Use your "uncommon" common sense about what you already know about food and nutrition. Use what you know in your heart....you know that your are capable, you are smart, you are deserving and you are secretly a badass! (I know you are, but I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to)

#5 Dream. Dream big! Dreaming isn't the same thing as "wishing". When you dream, you see, you can visually see what you want, and then you start to feel it....so dream, see, feel. If you can lose 1 pound you can lose 10, 20, 100lbs. I don't care if you never in your life weighed your dream number. I don't think I ever weighed as little as I have, as an adult, for as long as I have these past 6 years, and I know no number is unattainable (I hope no one is silly enough to comment using examples of blatant anorexia)

#6 Who are you? Drop those old labels and belief's like, "I'm a binge eater", or "I have a problem with sugar" "fat", "carbs", "I have an weight issue, I always have", "I struggle with my weight". Don't own having a problem, issue or struggle. Personally you will never ever hear me say any of those things. I don't say them because I don't believe them. And if you ever say them in front of me I will quickly correct you! Remember, you're a badass and badasses don't have problems, issues or struggles!

#7 Know that you do not have to go the rest of your life without ever again eating an entire pizza! You may, or you may not. Remember that dieting is not a vacation from overeating, overeating is a vacation from dieting! Dieting through the week is like paying your bills on time and putting a little cash (calories) away in the the bank for that pizza on the weekend!

Bottom line....you can do it. If one person, any person, can do it, then it can be done. Hello, my name is Tracy Reifkind. I'm not the only one, but I'm one....

The First of Three 2012 rep workouts

2011-12-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

Whew! I just spent the last 30 minutes, or so, journaling today's training. I had planned on designing a 2012 rep workout for this weekend, but honestly it's about what I do already three days a week given that I teach and train with my class and sometimes my clients, so I thought I would make it "formal". Since my swing classes average 600-800 swings in 30 minutes (and I teach two on Tues/Thurs, three on Sat), 1400 swings was a done deal....all I had to add in was 612 snatches....that's how I arrived at that ratio (to be honest, 2012 swings would be easier!)

During this past month I decided that I would only pick up and train with the 14kg on Tuesdays. Nothing heavier, nothing lighter, so if I decide to swing doubles, it has to be two 14kg's.....stands to reason why I had to also snatch the 14kg today....darn!

I do have some grand plans for the rest of the week, but I tore my left palm open and it looks as if I'm just going to have to get in the habit of taping up. I will probably not have time to post any of these exact workouts...but not to worry! I've got the advanced version (800 swings) of Christmas Day "25" workout that I will post in the next couple of days. And the workouts I did today are really, really fun so you will eventually see them.

How bout you come up with a 2012 workout for me?

"25" Christmas weekend workout!

2011-12-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

Currently I'm trying to upload the accompanying video. I was hoping to post and entire 30 minute class, lead by me, but I decided to break it down into 2 parts. Two parts because you can chose to repeat the first part for a 600 swing rep workout, combine part 1 and part 2 for another workout, and finally, train Part 2 twice over for yet another workout!

Sick of "5 rep" work sets? Too bad! Because the really hard version is coming next week! What a way to ring in the New Year....with the most boring of boring, hardcore, do it or die workout! Anybody can do stuff they love, and/or are good at, but will you do the boring, hard, repetitive, long and heavy stuff?

These workouts are based on "25" swing reps. First, 5 reps x 5 sets = 25 reps total. Then there are 20 rep one hand swing combinations + 5 more 2 hd swings....the extra five reps takes you into your rest period, making this entire workout slightly more work than rest.

Tracyrif's "25" Christmas Day workout

1st half

5 x 5
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 3 sets

5 x 5
1 sw/1 tr x 10 (20 reps) + 5 2 hd sw x 3 sets

5 x 5
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 3 sets

12.75 minutes, 300 swings

Option #1, repeat this first half one more time, but you can chose a heavier bell for 5 x 5 work sets, total workout 600 swings, 25.5 min (30 sets of 5 reps total)

In the second half of this workout I stay with the 5 x 5 worksets, but ladder down the one hand swing sets. This means you will be swinging more 5 reps sets!

2nd half

5 x 5 (1.25 min)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 2 sets (2 min)

5 x 5
1 sw/1 tr x 10 (20 reps) + 5 2 hd sw x 2 sets

5 x 5
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 2 sets

9.75 225 swings

5 x 5 (1.25)
20 tr + 5 2 hd sw x 1 set (1.0)

5 x 5
1 sw/1 tr x 10 (20 reps) + 5 2 hd sw x 1 set

5 x 5
5/5 x 2 + 5 2 hd sw x 1 set

6.75 min 150 swings

16.5 minutes total 375 swings.

Option #2 Complete the 1st half one time, complete the second half one time. 29.25 minutes, 675 swings. (45 sets of 5 reps total)

Option #3 Double this second half of this workout for 750 swings, 33 minutes. (Use a heavier bell in the second half for the 5 x 5 work sets) (60 sets of 5 reps total)

Sick of "5 rep" work sets? Too bad! Because the really hard version is coming next week! What a way to ring in the New Year....with the most boring of boring, hardcore, do it or die workout! Anybody can do stuff they love, and/or are good at, but will you do the boring, hard, repetitive, long and heavy stuff?

Don't think I forgot about snatches! After I taped the first "25" swing workout (675 swings), I taped the second, advanced "25" workout (800 swings)...then it was time for "25" Snatches! So if you only want to snatch today, here it is:

"25" sets of 10 snatch reps, done "on the 30 seconds"

I started each set on the 30 second interval. I was snatching at a quick pace, but I wouldn't describe it as "Max" pace. It took me about 20 seconds to snatch 10 reps, leaving me with a 10 sec rest period. I alternated R and L every other set.

12.5 min, 250 snatches

Next came 10 sets of "25" reps!

I took a whole minute to complete my 25 snatch reps, resting an entire minute between sets. Originally my plan was to only rest 30 seconds (cutting the time by 2.5 minutes), but I had already done 1475 swings, 250 snatches...what was the hurry? Besides I had 4 other women training alongside me and I didn't feel the need to keep up such intensity!

20 min, 250 snatches.

Total Christmas Day "25"

1475 swings
500 snatches.

Tracyrif's new "5 rep" Swing routine! A Prelude to the Christmas Day Swing Workout

2011-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Today I'm presenting to you 2 video demonstrations. The first I explain why I'm really diggin' this new "5 rep" count addition to my swing training. It all started a couple of weeks ago when my Tuesday class was treated to a 100 continuous swing rep workout (6 sets of 100 one hand swings...blog post to come). The following week, not wanting to kill them again, at least not in the same way (lol), I designed a "50" rep set swing workout...you all got the results of that one. Next? Well, since I always design my workouts in a progressive way, or a "regressive" way, it stands to reason 25 reps would be in order.

What? 25 reps? But I only work in sets of 10's!

I loved that this challenge of designing a 25 rep out workout brought out my creative side and produced, yet another, seriously valid technique of training the swing....5 reps at a time!

The best way to time 5 reps is to start each work set "on the 15 sec" interval. Which means that you start each set of 5 reps every 15 seconds. (video demo) In this workout I want you to experience what it feels like to swing short work/rest sets compared to longer work/rest sets. In this first "5 rep" workout it is important that you stick to equal work/rest for the first rotation, even if you are capable of shorter rest periods....I'll give you options for those. Here's the workout;

10 sets of 5 reps 2 hd swings ("on the 15 sec x 10 = 2.5 min)
10 transfer swings (15/15)
10 "swing-transfers" (20 reps total), (30/30)
5/5 one hand swings x 4 = 40 reps (1 min/1 min)
6 minutes per rotation, 120 swings
repeat 4 times
24 min 480 swings

end the workout w/10 sets of 5 rep 2 hd swings ("on the 15 sec")
26.5 min, 530 swings

Intermediate and advanced level rest options;

2nd rotation, only 30 seconds after the lst minute long set before you start the next 10 sets of "5 reps"
3rd rotation, only 15 seconds rest between all sets (excluding the 5 reps sets, of course)
4th rotation....and here is where a second hand comes in handy....7.5 seconds between all sets....ALL sets!
end with 10 sets of "5 reps".

Have Fun, and I'll see you on Christmas Eve!

Cook and Do Food Prep When You Are Not Hungry!

2011-12-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I'm a big time "meal planner". I love to cook, and I love food prep, it's my form of meditation. But I can't meditate when I'm hungry!

In my last blog post I talk about eating when you are not hungry...mostly out of boredom as food has become a form of entertainment in this culture. Maybe I have deep overeating food "triggers", or habits that still present a bit of "charge" behind them. I only say that because I know there are plenty of people in this world that have no "charge", or "triggers" to eat more than they need to...I want to be one of those people! I know they exist! I live with one, and have a best friend that is one....

Anyway.... One of the ways I skip over walking into these "triggers" is to cook and do meal prep when I'm the least hungry. For me that works out to be first thing in the morning, usually right after I get up at 4:00am. My first obligation, when I'm not teaching, is at the earliest, 7:00am, and most times not until 8:00am, so I can get a ton done before I leave the house in the morning, making things perfect for when I get home around 12-1:00. Lunch is ready, dinner too! I also have the most amount of energy first thing in the morning....talk about multi tasking! I can have all three pressure cookers going at once!

The next best time for me to cook is after I eat! After lunch it's common for me to start dinner, at least the prep for it. But then dinner comes around and lots of times I'll find myself heating up something already made, skip cooking but organize prep ingredients for first thing the next morning.

That's what I did today. I had planned on roasting a chicken and making some liver pate this morning, but no time.... I knew I could do it when I got home, but I was hungry! I ate lunch and I knew if I roasted that chicken I'd end up eating half of it right out of the oven! Crispy chicken skin is hard, hard, hard to resist....but not at 6:00 in the morning!

It will be fine for the morning. In addition to roasting the chicken, making the pate I'll also throw some 6 grain rice in the PC to eat with my peanut butter and all will be well again.

Know what may trigger you and "don't go there"! Lots of times I say, "If you buy it you'll eat it!" I know that about myself! "Triggers" may just be old habits that still have some unconscious "charge" behind them. I'm not worried that I can't change, I know I can change because I want to, and I am changing, in fact I've already made so many positive permanent changes! Choosing how I want to live my life, and creating new habits is exciting!

In the mean time I'll cook and do my food prep when I'm not hungry, and I won't buy any foods I don't want to eat. That works for me, and that's fine.

PS If you do not make most of your meals I still believe it's best to plan and arrange to purchase your breakfast/lunch/dinner when you are not yet hungry. You order less, you buy less, and therefore you just might eat less!

The Truth About No TV

2011-12-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

OK, so when did I throw out the TV? Oh yes, it was right before I gained about 3-5lbs! Good Lord!

The truth is that I got rid of my TV because it was a big ole dust magnet! The shear size of the damn thing was starting to make me claustrophobic. I wanted to start seeing the walls of my home, the floor of my home, the tops of tables in my home. I did not get rid of the TV because I'm some kind "TV is bad" snob! I don't think there's anything wrong with TV and in fact I think it can add a lot of value to one's life....or not! I can't worry about anyone else's life, just my own.

Personally I admit I had a few trashy shows I "vegged" out in front of. But for the most part my DVR was full of cooking shows and competitions, style and fashion shows, antique and collectible shows (Mark used to call Antique Roadshow, "Antique Sleepshow"! Cause it put me right to sleep!) Since I wake up and start my day at 4:00am, after dinner and spending some time on the computer I would retire to the front of the TV around 7:00pm in hopes that it would lull me to sleep. Which it did....but sometimes I found myself fighting sleep in order to watch the end of a show!

Most of the time I found that I was watching shows of no value really....some of them are called "repeats"! And some nights feeling bored, and not tired, I would sneak off into the kitchen to find something to munch on. Sometimes I was truly hungry because I hadn't eaten enough earlier in the day, and sometimes I was just bored....speaking of being bored!

No TV, but plenty of wine, snacks, facebook and online shopping.....whoops! I still found myself eating out of boredom, only now its not in front of the TV. I know how much normal body weight fluctuates, and it has indeed increased. Once I became aware of it however I'm quick to now notice when I'm doing it. Eating when you are not hungry is the craziest thing and when you notice it it really doesn't even feel good! Funny thing about habits though....you can start new ones, bad or good, quickly! Hey...maybe I'll work on some good ones! Yep, I'm going to do it!

I did manage to get all of my Christmas shopping for Sophi done though....and only a few thing for myself....you know, I've got to get rid of something old first in order to buy something new! But I'm even tired and bored of shopping! Especially now that I'm clearing out and wanting to live minimally....how many pairs of boots does the average minimalist own? One, two? Darn!

Seriously though....in addition to all of these things I found myself going to bed at least 1/2 hour earlier than my regular 8:00pm bedtime and just lying still, meditating myself to sleep....it's been nice.

But I do miss TV sometimes.

20kg Roundabout part 3 (of 4)

2011-12-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

OK here it is....part 3! Anyone that trains along with me for even only a few workouts can usually start to see the patterns of progression I use. This workout is no different.

In part one I laddered up the 16kg Roundabouts to 3 swings and alternated them with 20kg rdbt.

In the second workout I laddered up the 16kg rdbt to 5 swings, alternated them with the 20kg and decreased the rest periods.

In this 3rd version I ladder up the 20kg rdbt swings to 3 reps! finally huh? I kept the 16kg at only a 1sw rdbt until midway. At that point I started with a 16kg 3 sw rdbt and laddered down, while going back to a 1 sw rdbt w/20kg.

Last week the 20kg felt light...not the case this week! Swinging the 20kg up to 1 1/2 minutes is challenging in itself but as usual it was my grip, and my hand strength on my left side that was most bothersome. (My left hand is pretty chewed up....)

In all three heavy Roundabout workouts I kept the rest period after the heaviest bell at 1 minute.

Guess where we are going next? The good news is you'll get a little time off as part 4 will come in just short of two weeks! Finishing this cycle up right at the first of the year.

20 kg Roundabout part 3

16kg 1 sw rdbt (1/30 sec)
20kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 1 sw rdbt (1/30)
20kg 2 sw rdbt (1.25/1)

16kg 1 sw rdbt (1/30)
20kg 3 sw rdbt (1.5/1)

16kg 3 sw rdbt (1.5/30)
20kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 2 sw rdbt (1.25/30)
20kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 1 sw rdbt (1/30)
20kg 1sw rdbt (1)

540 swings (21.5 min....really? that's it? seemed longer, lol!)
270 w/16kg
270 w/20kg

"One Bell" short version

2011-12-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

This was the workout I lead in the first 30 minutes of my 7:15am class. It totals 600 swings. I repeated a longer version in my 9:00 class that totaled 800 swings in about the same amount of time. I will post the longer version at the end of the week. Try this one out for size first...both of the are, as ususal, fun!

I designed this progressive Swing workout based on using only one kettlebell, so I'm naming it "One Bell". If you own more than one bell you should chose the one you can comfortably swing for 1 minute, or 40 reps, with an equal work to rest ratio. The rest periods will be decreasing during the workout, but in a slow progression.

The workout starts out with 4 sets of 10 two hand swings as a warm up. From that point on each rotation starts out with 4 sets of 10 rep swing combinations and ends with one set of a 40 rep swing combination. I explain the workout in the video posted while I demonstrate most of the first rotation (I spare you the boredom of watching me swing 40 reps of two hand swings!)

The last half of this workout is the most challenging, suggesting only 15 sec rest periods between 40 reps sets. I've included in parathesis another option for more rest if you need it. I've also calculated the total workout time for both options.

Have fun!

warm up

10 2 hd sw x 4 sets = 2 min (40 reps 15/15)

1st rotation (equal work/rest) video demo
10 tr x 4 sets (40 reps, 15/15)
40 2 hd sw x 1 ( 40 resp, 1 min/1 min)

2nd rotation

1/2 sw ladder x 4 sets (40 reps total, 15/15)
40 tr x 1 set (40 reps, 1 min/45 sec. Rest period is decreasing)

3rd rotation

5/5 1 hd sw x 4 sets (40 reps total, 15/15)
1/2 sw ladder x 4 x 1 set (40 reps, 1 min/30 sec)

4th rotation

10 one hd sw x 4 sets (2 sets R, 2 sets L, 40 reps total 15/15)
5/5 1 hd sw x 4 x 1 set (1 min/15 sec)

5th rotation

10 2 hd sw x 4 sets (40 reps total, 15/15)
10/10 x 2 x 1 set (40 reps 1 min/15 sec) (1 min rest beg level)

5/5 x 4 x 1 set (40 reps total, 1 min/15 sec) (1 min rest beg level)

1/2 sw ladder x 4 x 1 set (40 reps total 1 min/15 sec) (1 min rest beg level)

40 tr ( 1 min/15 sec) (1 min rest, beg level)

40 2 hd sw (1 min.)

600 swings 24.5 minutes (27.5 beginner level)

Here is the link that demonstrates and explains my "1/2 swing ladder"
http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/2011/09/tracys-newest-10-rep-swing-combination.html

Tuesday "50 rep" workout, Thursday repeat

2011-12-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

This morning I repeated Tuesday's workout (the same but different) because I liked it so much...I know you will too!

This workout is based on sets of 50 reps, using your heaviest bell for the first 10 reps and then switching to a lighter bell for the remaining 40 reps (1 min). Progressively working up to 50 reps, from 10, at an equal work to rest ratio.

The first set of 50 reps signifies the first work set that equal work/rest does not apply. At this point the work set takes a 1 minute 15 sec interval, while the rest period reduces to 45 seconds.

Repeat this 50 rep set 10 times for a total of 500 swing reps. The workout ends with an additional 10 sets of 10 reps (equal work/rest) for the last 100 reps with your heaviest bell (s)

On Tuesday my "heavy bell" was two 14kg's (double swings), and my light bell was the 14kg, which I swung using one hand swing combinations. This morning I chose one 24kg using 2 hand swings for the first ten reps and switching to the 14kg, also for 2 hand swings.

warm up (see video)

10 2 hd sw w/14kg x 4

10 2 hd sw w/24kg, 10 2 hd sw w/14kg x 1

10 2 hd sw w/24kg, 20 tr w/14kg x 1

10 2 hd sw w/24kg, 5/5 x 3 w/14kg x 1

130 swings

worksets (the first set in the video I demonstrated using 10/10 one hand swings as an option to all 2 hd swings)

10 2 hd sw w/24kg, 10/10 x 2 w/14kg x 1 (1.25 min/45 sec)

10 2 hd sw w/25kg, 40 2 hd sw x 9 (1.25 min/45 sec)

(total 10 sets of 50 any way you want to do the remaining 40 is up to you)

500 swings

10 x 10 reps w/24kg (see video)

100 swings

31.5 min. 730 swings

Dang! I miscalculated! I thought it total 700...now that I know it's 730....argh!

Snatches 7 sets of 50 = 350 snatches (2 minutes work/1 min rest)

Since I snatched the 14kg on Monday and Tuesday it was time to take a break, so I used the 12kg but I had to make it hard (for me). As I mention in the video the first set I did I switched at about 12-13 every 30 seconds taking up the entire 2 min....it wasn't "hard". So I decided the hardest option would be 25/25 (one hand switch) at a fast pace. I started each set every three minutes, so the sooner I finished the work the more rest I got!

Here's the video of my last set.

PS On Tuesday I only did 4 sets of 50 snatches w/14kg (the last set I actually snatches the whole 2 minutes and got 58 reps)

Before and After part 1

2011-12-13T18:54:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been busy cleaning out the garage gym.

First I made a clean sweep of my house. All garbage, and obvious Goodwill donate-ables were "kicked to the curb". Next I packed boxes household items I may not be quite ready to let go of. But before I could store those items I had to clean out my storage area behind our garage gym....which had turned into a storage area too!

My grown boys had kinda taken over the back storage (a low ceiling 6 ft x 20 ft area behind the gym) and I was forced to use the garage gym for the storage I needed (now of course I know I don't need the crap I've been storing!). So armed with garbage bags, I let my boys know that they needed to come and get anything they wanted....or it was going to the dump! Of course Mom (me) had to pack the trash and pay to have it hauled away, but away it went.

Wow! I opened up a huge storage area! One that I, in my dreams, would keep empty, but for now it was available for a real life game of "Tetris". In went the e

xtra household stuff, and for the very first time in a long time I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I had arranged to have the garage gym painted this past Saturday. I knew the date 3-4 weeks ahead of time...nothing like a deadline, huh? Practically everyday (after my nap!) I spent 1-2 hours before dinner out in the gym throwing things away, repacking, sweeping dust and cobwebs....it had to get done!

I wanted it be a surprise for Mark, so I didn't tell him what I was up to until a few days ahead of time. Day before.....moving things away from the walls, sweeping, dusting....

I am loving my new vision of minimalism! With "Stone's Gym" empty and clean I want to keep it that way! I hope to bring nothing into the gym that is not for the purpose of the gym! The space looks huge! So much good energy and good training is in store for us!

Of course it's not quite finished but here are a couple of photos. I do want to write more about "before and after photos" as they relate to our spaces, or bodies, our lives. It's an interesting subject...more to come...so much more!

Top photo is the new color scheme....I wanted to go with "Desert Storm" colors of sand and dark khaki brown. Those of you that have seen recent training video may recognize the old orange walls!

20kg Roundabout part 2

2011-12-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

My plan is to swing the 20kg for the next 2 weeks and then back off a bit before dropping the Roundabout and train straight one hand swings sets, 5 and 10 reps at a time. Ultimately my goal is to be able to snatch the 20kg and press it any day of the week. Currently I feel as if my grip is so over trained that it's not my strength that is the limiting factor, but my left hand grip. To prove how much I want to fix this I'm actually spending some time doing a little re-hab!

20kg & 16kg Roundabout part 2

The difference between today's workout and last Sat is that I start with 1 minute of 20kg Roundabouts and the rest period between the 20kg and the 16kg Roundabout sets was decreased to only 30 sec., instead of one minute. Also, the 16kg Roundabout Ladder continues to increase up to 7 one hand swings (2.5 minutes).

rdbt w/20kg (1.0/30)

rdbt w/16kg (1.0/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30)

2 sw rdbt, w/16kg (1.25/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30)

3 sw rdbt, w/16kg (1.5/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30)

4 sw rdbt, w/16kg (1.75/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30)

5 sw rdbt, w/16kg (2.0/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30)

6 sw rdbt, w/16kg (2.25/1.0)

rdbt, w/20kg (1.0/30) (I ran out of time so I had to end here....but it's not over for you!)

7 sw rdbt, w/16kg (2.5/1.0)

5 rdbt, w/20kg (1.0)

Total 31.25 min. 320 20kg sw, 490 16kg sw (810 swings total)

Awesome! Nor matter what bell size you use. Over 800 swings in just about 30 minutes is an incredible pace!

PS Today the 20kg felt much lighter than last week!

Clearing Space to be Reborn

2011-12-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

I am so backed up with workouts and video demos that I want to share but before I know it's time to train again.....and we're doing another workout, just a much fun as the last, and then we are on to yet another.... I still have "Sinister", "Fast Forward", and "The Wave" in the archives....oh and my extra special double "Kettlebell Split"...more Roundabouts....more crazy ass "one hand swing only" workouts....I try and journal all of my workouts so I can go back and be inspired to create new ones based on past routines, sometimes repeating a few of them rep for rep, but mostly once I step into the gym or into class the workout becomes new...either way it is reborn.

I've been steadily continuing to clean out my "stuff" and it's good to clear some space and feel some kind of order. After the initial clean sweep of my house I had to focus my attention on the garage. With the garage cleared of the crap and garbage it gives me room to store the things in my home I'm not quite ready to let go of permanently but want out of my living space....BUT, the garage is 90% done, and by the end of this weekend the garage gym "Stones Gym" will have a new coat of paint, the power rack back up and ready to become "pull-up" central! The garage Gym is going to be better than ever before and it will have it's own rebirth! (with a few video demos still to post you may not have seen the last of the orange walls though. lol)

Reborn....wow. My workouts, my gym, and now me....again! I'm so lucky. I went through such a huge life transformation and I'm on yet another one, just as exciting, but different because this time I see it coming, I feel it coming, in fact it's here, now. Even though I don't know quite where it will take me, everyday feels new. I'm not worried in the least. As I clear the space around me of how my life used to be, I make room for more of what my life is supposed to be.....and I'm in charge!

Vegetarian Chili....with smoked sausage!

2011-12-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I made chili. Beans haven't been at the top of my list of food choices, good as they are.... But I've had so much chicken stock from all of the roasting I've been doing (still more bones in the freezer) that some kind of hearty soup was in order. That, and the fact that I was without any kind of protein in the house except for 1 link of Andouille sausage in my freezer (yep, the Prime Rib is all gone!).

I often joke that I eat more vegetables than most vegetarians! But really, I admit that's because I eat more food than most vegetarians! I've posted many chili recipes in the past because, along with using a pressure cooker, making chili is practically a no brainer. You don't even need veggies...but that wouldn't be any fun, would it? The only difference between stew and chili is the chili spices. Everything else is the same. Onion, celery, carrot, chili spices (see note*), garlic, beans (any kind), and protein (again, any kind).

Chili is a meal that can be made in one pot that includes a ton of nutrition, can be made in advance (and gets better day by day), can be frozen if need be, takes little effort and little time, and is loved by everybody. Chili is also one of those meals that you can almost literally throw anything and everything into! (it's also low in fat if that's one of your concerns)

This morning my chili started with diced sausage, adding onion, celery, diced rainbow chard stems, carrot. Chili spices, chipolte chili, garlic. Pintos, black eyed peas, kidney and small red beans. I didn't add black beans because if you don't pre soak your black beans they can turn everything else in the pot black!

I did my veg prep last night (before I polished my nails!) and first thing this morning it took 15 minutes to start, and it cooking away right now at high pressure in the PC....smells great! I'll add the chard leaves to wilt in the hot chili and lunch (or dinner) is taken care of before 6:00am.

I think I need to visit my kids this weekend and show them how to make it!

* For chili spice ingredients http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-your-own-spice-blends.html

*For my very first chili recipe blogpost http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-going-to-be-chili-winter.html

You Are Valid

2011-12-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog post was a message for me.

On my way to yoga this morning I was thinking about some of the things I would change about myself if I could simply wave a magic wand. It wouldn't be any part of what I looked like, but how I act sometimes. Sometimes I act in a way, or say things to someone in hopes that they will "like" me better. How old am I? Digging a bit deeper (because I had the time) I realized how far back this feeling of wanting validation went....I didn't have to dig deep...or long!

Nearly everyone of us has some experience of feeling "unwanted". It could be from a parent, a teacher, a group of peers, the opposite sex? Heck, I've felt unwanted from salespeople who didn't think I had any money to spend! Feeling unwanted sucks! But really.....at the end of the day getting validation from a salesperson? Anyone that has ever "made" you feel unwanted is as unimportant as a salesperson as far as I'm concerned....it's their loss....or as it turns out it may be your loss!

If you feel as if you need validation you are telling yourself that you don't have it. You must first remind yourself! I AM VALID. I AM VALID. I AM VALID.....HEY, I AM VALID! You are valid simply because you are here! Now, do you care if anyone else feels the same? I don't!

This was my message to myself this morning...what a relief! Now I pass it on to you.

If I know any one thing about you, and I may just know one thing about you, it's that...abra ca dabra....You Are Valid!

Do you believe it yet? You should! Because YOU ARE VALID! We all are.

Saturdays Workout, More Roundabout Fun w/20kg

2011-12-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Personally I've been trying to incorporate more and more one hand swings into my workouts. I naturally gravitate towards the two hand swings because I love the shoulder pump I get when I train those! But I'm lacking in the asymmetrical strength the one hand swing builds, especially with the heavier weights.

In this workout you will be using two bells, one that you are fairly comfortable swinging for 1-2 minutes (40-80 reps) and one you find challenging, especially for one hand swings. I demonstrated Roundabout swing ladders in a post last week, and in this workout the swing ladders increase to 5, progressively working up to a 2 minute long work set.

Even though I can train this workout with shorter rest periods, the 1 min rest intervals are designed on purpose...you'll see why in the following two weeks....

First 5 sets done with the 16kg, all one minute rest periods.

1 sw rdbt (1 min/1 min)

2 sw rndbt (1.25/1)

3 sw rdbt (1.5/1)

4 sw rdbt (1.75/1)

5 sw rdbt (2/1)

300 sw 12.5 min

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 2 sw rdbt (1.25/1)

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 3 sw rdbt (1.5/1)

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 4 sw rdbt (1.75/1)

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1/1)

16kg 5 sw rdbt (2/1)

20 kg 1 sw rdbt (1 min.)

36 min total

240 20kg sw

600 16kg sw

(Maribel, this workout is one you can train on your own with the 12kg and the 16kg, or maybe even the 14 and 16kg! Guy...you should like this one! Especially if you throw the 24kg in the mix!)

HV One Hand swings and Snatch Holds..."Soup to Nuts"

2011-12-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start this blog post with the end of my workout! The first part is kind of boring....and I'll get to that..... First though I want to wrote about my "snatch hold/pacing" workout Mark named "Soup to Nuts"

I've done similar training like this set a few times before, as demonstrated in the video, snatch hold and pacing, switching hands every 30 seconds. But in my first set I did something I had never done before, I "snatched and held" for an entire minute before switching hands.....totally different! Instead of starting out with 12 sn R, 12 sn L in 1 minutes time I did 24 R, 24 L in two minutes time. I'm trying not to be confusing here....

I still paced myself per 30 seconds, but I did not switch hands. To me a second hand is crucial to pace work. As I watched the clock the first two minutes pace was 12 sn reps per 30 sec (24 reps R and L), the second two minutes was 11 reps per 30 sec (22 reps R and L), the third two minutes 10 reps per 30 sec (20 reps R and L), etc...all the way down to 1 sn rep per 30 sec (2 sn reps R, and L). It took 24 minutes without putting the bell down....it was good! One reason was I had no idea it was taking that long...24 minutes flew by. But I'm not saying the work was easy, it's just that the work required my concentration to keep track of the pacing in addition to the challenge of my strength and endurance (especially my left side).

In fact it was so good that I wanted to do a video demonstration in addition to writing about it. But to be honest the first set was just hard enough that I wasn't sure I could do a second, even half the time....but I decided to try! In this shorter set I take you through pacing and I also have plenty of time to talk alot! In fact I think it's worth watching in it's entirety, especially near the end as the snatches slow down and I can do more verbal coaching about the technique.

After showing Mark the video he named it "soup to nuts". This is what he said, "This workout combines everything, all of the variations of ballistic snatch or swing training. You've got high reps, you've got low reps. You've got fast reps, you've got slow reps. You've got static holds and dynamics, you've got high intensity and relatively low intensity. So it literally covers the whole spectrum of exercise dynamics in one set....it's got everything, soup to nuts!" (thank you sweetie!)

Snatch hold ladder

24/24, 22/22, 20/20, 18/18, 16/16, 14/14, 12/12, 10/10, 8/8, 6/6, 4/4, 2/2....1/1? = 24 min!

12/12, 11/11, 10/10, 9/9, 8/8, 7/7, 6/6, 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1 = 12 min. (video demo)

468 snatches

OK, so here's my boring high volume one hand swing workout....I used the 12kg for my warm up and then in my work sets I alternated the 12kg with the 14kg

Warm up

40 2 hd sw x 5, 200 sw (1 min/1 min x 5 = 10 min)

Work sets

10/10 x 20 (10 reps x 10 R, 10 reps x 10 L), 200 = 5 min/1 min rest

10/10 x 10 w/14kg (10 reps x 5 R, 10 reps x 5 L) 100 sw = 2.5 min/1 min rest

8/8 x 20, 160 sw = 4 min/1 min rest

8/8 x 10 w/14kg, 80 sw = 2 min/1 min rest

6/6 x 20, 120 sw = 3 min/1 min rest

6/6 x 10 w/14kg, 60 sw = 1.5 min/1 min rest

4/4 x 20, 80 sw = 2 min/1 min rest

4/4 x 10 w/14kg, 40 sw = 1 min/1 min rest

2/2 x 20, 40 sw = 1 min/3o sec

2/2 x 10 w/14kg, 20 sw = 30 sec/30 sec

2/2, 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10 swing ladder w/12kg 60 sw = 1.5 min/1 min rest

10/10, 8/8/, 6/6, 4/4, 2/2 swing ladder w/14kg 60 sw = 1.5 min/done. (video shows this set)

45.5 minutes

1220 swings (860 w/12kg, 360 14kg)

In total with my snatch workout I trained for about 1 hour 20 minutes.

The Obscenity of it All

2011-12-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

The other day one of my clients asked me how much weight I typically gain throughout the Holidays. I thought about it for a sec and realized that I usually lose weight during the Holiday season....I can't say for sure that it happens every year, but what I can say for sure is that I don't gain weight.

The first reason is that I enjoy my everyday foods/meals, and I wouldn't trade them for anything else. The second is that Mark and I

don't go to Holiday parties...heck, we're in bed, even on Saturday nights, by 8:00pm. And I'm lucky that I have boys....they could give a care about celebrations, and typically spend them with their "girls" and their families.

When I cook, I keep Holiday dinner menus to the bare minimum of dishes...only the good stuff! Turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, gravy, yams, green beans, or Prime Rib, Yorkshire pudding, glazed carrots, green salad....that's it. If someone want to bring a pie and whip cream, fine....or dinner rolls? They can knock themselves out! Although I have to admit that my youngest son always looks forward to his Sparkling Apple Cider...but he usually buys it because I forget these days....he also hides it in the back of the refrigerator for some reason...like, who's going to drink it besides him? (throwback response from when his older brother lived at home, lol)

So it's not like I go "on a diet" during the Holidays, instead, maybe I rebel a bit.

When I think about all the decadence (food decadence), that is almost expected of us it seems obscene to me. I find a lot of food obscenity all throughout the year, but during the Holidays people seem to take free license in the name of "fun", "happy", "party", etc. It's also a become a tradition to expect to gain a few pounds and then make a New Year's Resolution to take it off. Like Halloween has become a free license to dress like hooker, Thanksgiving and Christmas is a free license to eat like a pig....

I'm no angel....I eat sweets on a regular basis, nothing is off limits because I find it easier and easier to eat high sugar foods in moderation. In fact, maybe because I allow myself to eat what ever I want, that the foods I want are the ones that help make me feel my best most of the time.

I'm not worried in the least this Holiday season (any more than any other time of the year, lol). Who's in charge of you anyway? There is so much goodness this time of year...real goodness! Winter squashes, seasonal apples, hearty greens....tamales, bread pudding and fudge! Have a bit of everything! But don't buy into the obscenity of it all. Don't be one of "the blind leading the stupid".... See this time of year for what it is. A time to appreciate family and friends, with good food and wine, but not at the expensive of the most precious things you own....your body and your mind.

You are so much better a plate of cookies or a pound of fudge....(I'm reminding myself, lol)

Picture above is a random online image....

Roundabout Swing Ladders and the 20 kg

2011-11-30T05:36:00.000-08:00

I haven't been training very many heavy one hand swings, not even with the 16kg! (compared to my two hand swing volume) I've got to focus more on even heavier one hand swings so I can eventually translate those heavier bells into my snatch and press training. Time for "Roundabouts"!

I designed a combination of swings I named the "Roundabout" and the intention of this swing combination was to help build my ability to swing a really heavy bell "one handed". I will include a link breaking down the Roundabout but here I write the breakdown of swings that make up one roundabout;

2 hd sw,

tr R

R one hd sw

tr 2 hd

2 hd sw,

tr L,

L one hd sw,

tr 2 hd

1 roundabout = 8 reps

5 roundabouts = 40 reps/1 min

In one minute you should be able to complete 5 roundabouts. In 5 roundabouts there are 10 one hand swing (5 R, 5 L), 10 2 hd swings and 20 transfers (1 hd sw to 2 hd sw, or 2 hd sw to 1 hd sw). Here is the link to my original blogpost describing, but unfortunately demonstrates a different version (Oct 7, 2008!).

http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/2008/10/tracy-rif-roundabout-its-origin-and.html

In this video I demonstrate the last set of my 2nd rotation and all three sets of my 3rd rotation. Each rotation I ladder up only the one hand swings with the lighter bells, but not with the 20kg.

1st rotation

12kg 5 rd ab (40 reps, 1 min/1 min)

16kg 5 rd ab (40 reps, 1 min. 1 min)

20kg 5 rd ab (40 reps, 1 min. 1 min)

2nd rotation

12 kg 5 rd ab w/2 sw (50 reps, 1.25 min/45)

16kg 5 rd ab w/2 sw (50 reps, 1.25 min/45)

20kg 5 rd ab (40 reps, 1 min/1 min)

3rd rotaion

12kg, 5 rd ab w/3 sw (60 reps, 1.5 min/1 min)

16kg rd ab w/2 sw (50 reps, 1.25 min/45)

20kg rd ab (40 reps, 1 min/ 1 min)

total time 18 min.

(repeat rotation #3 two more times for a 30 minute workout)

I only did three rotations because I had already done 490 20kg 2 hd swings and 305 12kg swings during the first half of my training. But I liked this workout enough to make it a main workout with my Saturday classes this weekend!

I teach the Roundabout in my "Programming the Kettlebell Swing" and I have also designed many variables to my Roundabout using ladders for the one hand swings, the two hand swings, and/or both. I've also designed workouts with"1/2 Roundabouts" I will post more variations, but I train all of them in my DVD "Roundabout 2.0" which I believe is available on Amazon.http://www.amazon.com/Roundabout-Reifkinds-Advanced-Kettlebell-workout/dp/B0054I4LRG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1322661703&sr=8-4

Maybe I'll post a workout using my "Snatch Roundabout" too!

Try, try, again....roasting veggies in turkey fat!

2011-11-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

I did not roast a whole turkey this Thanksgiving because I've been roasting whole chickens like crazy since I got back home from staying with Fawn! Since I've been roasting whole chickens, and the best parts are the wings, I went ahead and just roasted turkey wings! They're kinda big!

I roasted them on top of onion, celery and carrots (big dice) hoping the turkey fat would drip down onto them...and it did! Yum...

Since I roasted them slow, at a low temp the veggies were not done at the same time as the wings (roasting veggies usually takes high heat), so I removed the wings from the pan, added thinly sliced Delicata squash, tossed with turkey fat and continued to roast the veggies for about another 20 minutes at 375 degrees. OMG...seriously good stuff! Lucky me!

So good that I've been trying to recreate it since! Not with turkey wings, but with chicken....turkey fat, chicken fat, seems as if they should be similar? Really the biggest difference was that roasting the whole chicken rendered too much fat and soaked the veggies. Whereas the wings, even though I had 8 pieces (4 whole wings cut in half), seemed to provide just the right amount. Try, try again....I'll get it right!

Oh, and now Delicata squash (my fav) is no where to be found...argh! I find Delicata to be less starchy and I like the fact that you can leave some or all of the skin on....somehow it feels like I'm getting more nutrition (like an apple!) I still have a butternut, an acorn and, oh I forgot the name of that cute little orange pumpkin like squash...oh yes, Buttercup...that should be good!

My freezer is filling up with bones....soup time!

Beyond Max, 2:1

2011-11-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

Mark and I started training on Mondays instead of Tuesdays, which means it's an additional weekly workout for me. Usually I get two days of recovery from Sat-Tues, but now I only get one....the verdict is still out to whether or not this is a good thing. Anyway...

Typically we train Max which means I have quite a few options. I'm actually working up to training a cycle with the 14kg, but I don't feel ready yet. Using the 12kg for traditional 8/8 (15/15) is a workout for sure, but it doesn't really push me in anyway.....Beyond Max....

I'm only including a short video, as it's not really instructional. It simply shows how I combine pacing my intervals along with Mark so we both get the workouts we need. In this Beyond Max workout we did a total of 40 sets (15/15). I did the first ten set warming up with 7 reps each side. That left 30 sets. I didn't feel like going faster so I stayed with the 7 rep per 15 pace and instead of switching hands, or resting every other interval, I continued on with 7 more snatch reps on the same side, working two intervals and resting one. I repeated this ten times to total my 40 sets for the workout.

Beyond Max 2:1 (no hand switch)

7/7 x 10 sets

14/14 x 10 sets

280 snatch reps, 20 minutes

I may repeat a version of this workout on Saturday with either 8's (16/16), or maybe a 3:1 work/rest ratio with no hand switch. (21/21 or 24/24 per 45 sec work/15 sec rest)

Happy 24th Anniversary to the Strongest Man I Know

2011-11-28T05:44:00.000-08:00

Today Mark and I have been married 24 years. About 3 years ago I started sending Mark a daily morning "love note" (via email). Today my love note said, "....24 years is a beautiful start to forever". I will forever be his and he will forever be mine.

A Typical Saturday....Rep Count

2011-11-27T07:40:00.000-08:00

This morning I started to journal all three of the workouts I lead my Saturday classes through, and I thought it might be fun to add up all of the reps I did in the 2 hours and 45 minutes worth of training. Because I have a very deliberate way of designing workouts based on progressions, groups and patterns of rep counts and timed intervals, it's easy for me to remember and record exact routines. This including how long a set, rotation, or entire workout lasted, in addition to rep counts.

When I train I watch the second hand on a wall clock for pacing, and to time the length of a work/rest set (that's why you see me looking up all the time). I use a Gymboss to count the number of work/rest set intervals. Fun fact: When we taped "Mastering the Hardstyle Swing" I did not have a wall clock, or use a Gymboss....that's why the first workout goes past the 25-30 min time frame I originally designed!

Yesterday I actually had a lighter load, although I did have a private after my three classes, I did not have an additional "Learn to Swing" group (45 min). Knowing this in advance I decided to push the workouts a bit with a double swing routine using a method I created last year and I've done a few times before...it's hard! I did take video but it doesn't provide enough direction, so I'm going to tape and intro to the method and post it soon. I did the workout twice, the first time with Meg and two 12kg's, the second time around I used two 8kg's....it was the last 30 minutes of an already long morning (after snatch testing). Near the end of the first dbl workout the name of the routine became obvious to me.....I'm going to call it "Sour Puss"! Once you try it, you'll know why!

Here are my rep counts for all three classes:

280 swings w/12kg

120 snatches w/12kg

82 16kg snatches

85 14kg snatches

102 12kg snatches

280 double swings w/ two 12kg's

240 single swings w/12kg

420 swings w/12kg

260 snatches w/12kg

280 double swings w/two 8kg's

240 single swings w/8kg

Total

1740 swings

649 snatches

I don't usually add up a total rep count much less post my numbers. My training is not about how much I can do compared to anyone else, and neither should your training. I've been training high volume for years and I love it! Time flies by as I get into the rhythm and momentum of my workouts as my focus is not how much I can do, but to share my kind of fun with my students. Nothing makes me feel more capable to do anything than the strength and power I get from my training....it translates into so many other parts of my life....maybe every part of my life!

PS I publicly introduced my double kettlebell method in Seattle this past Jan....it'll be coming soon to everyone! Picture above is of my double swing "Sour Puss!" lol

Testing Day....again! 16kg, 14kg, 12kg snatches...3 minute sets

2011-11-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

What I love about my Saturday training is that, along with my training partner Meg, I get to do what ever I want to do without limits, and with little explanation! Meg has been my training partner for over 3 years and I'm lucky that she is familiar with how I program my workouts, therefore she just lets me tell her what to do!

Inspired by a facebook post by Joe Sarti, a couple of weeks ago, where he posted the results of a quick 3 minute 16kg snatch test (100 reps), I myself decided to join in on the fun....with the 12kg of course. To be honest I didn't think that 100 reps in 3 min w/16kg for a man of his strength was all that impressive.....I stand corrected! As I tested the 3 minutes, "all out", myself with the 12kg and experiencing for myself how fast that bell has to move....I was humbled! 100 snatch reps in 3 minutes is lightening fast! (as you will see in the last video)

Every 6-8 weeks, or so, I do the RKC snatch test, which is for me means using the 16kg. The requirements are 100 snatch reps in 5 minutes. I've been able to shave down the completion time to just about over 4 minutes time. I know a lot of women capable of much better, but this is not a competition with other women, this is about maintaining my own training strength and endurance as I approach my 50's.....

Today I started my own workout with three 3 minute snatch tests, "all out"...in other words "for reps". We used the 16kg for the first one, the 14kg for the second and the 12kg for the third. All sets had an equal amount of time to rest....3 minute rest period. In 15 minutes I completed 82/ 16kg snatches, 85 /14kg snatches and 102 /12kg snatches. Here are the videos of all three.

I did not find much difference between the 16kg and the 14kg....to be honest it was disappointing. But that being said, there seems to be, for me, a world of difference between the 12kg and 14kg, but not that much between the 14kg and the 16kg! In the first video with the 16kg I miscalculated my remaining time and by the time I got the the last 6 or 7 reps, having realized my mistake, I'm confident I could have paced another 2-3 reps total. As I switched to the 14kg, I have to admit, I was blown away at how NOT easier it was! My pace was barely faster....but the 12kg! Now you know how fast that bell has to move....without cutting the snatch short I don't see how you could do it much faster that maybe 105 reps in 3 minutes. If you can? Then post your video! (16kg for a male)

Enjoy the rest of your Holiday weekend....and don't buy too much. Be grateful for what we all have already! Life is great!

Thanksgiving Weekend Snatch Workout Beg/Intermed

2011-11-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Since Tuesday, and all through the weekend, I will be doing a variation of the workout I am posting today. This Snatch workout is what I would consider an "entry level" high volume snatch workout. How I define that is, it is designed for someone that has not trained a Max Vo2 cycle, or is not used to snatching for more than 1 minute, OR is not used to more than 100 snatch reps in a workout.

That being said, each rotation in this workout is equal to 80 reps and starts out with all "equal work to rest" ratio and increases, only slightly, in the last two rotations. If you are used to training high volume snatch workouts, or have trained Max Vo2 through at least one cycle, you can still make this challenging by using a heavier bell or decreasing the rest periods to 15 seconds, OR stringing together sets to make it more advanced. (which I will post next week)

The first rotation is 8 sets of 30 sec/30 sec (work to rest). It should take 8 minutes to complete. The video shows all work sets with all rest periods. If you find this rotation #1 to be challenging then repeat it, exactly, two more times, before moving to rotation #2 & #3 variations for your next workout. The first two rotations are designed in an "uphill" progression of difficulty.

Rotation #1 (video)

set #1 1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 6

set #2 1 sn, 1 tr x 8

set #3 5 R/5 L

set #4 10 R

set #5 10 L

set #6 6 R/6 L

set # 7 12 R

set #8 12 L

8 min 80 snatches

rotation #2

set #1 1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 6

set #2 1 sn, 1 tr x 8

set #3 5 R/5 L

set #4 & #5 10 R/10 L (1 min/30 sec)

set #6 6 R/6 L

set #7 & set #8 12 L/12R (1 min/30 sec)

7 min 80 snatches

This last rotation is a "downhill" progressive ladder.

rotation #3

set #8 12 R

set #7 12 L

set #6 6 R/6 L

set #5 & #4 10 R/10 L (1 min/30 sec)

set #3 5 R/5 L

set # 2 1 sn, 1 tr x 8

set #1 1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr, x 6

7.5 min 80 snatches

Total workout 22.5 min. 240 snatches.

To increase the workout time, and reps, repeat any of the three rotations and design your own workout! Each additional rotation will increase the workout by 7-8 minutes and add 80 more snatch reps!

I want to thank my training partners, Deepika and Bruce for showing up this Thanksgiving morning in my cold garage gym! We started out with a swing workout of 640 reps in 25 minutes and followed up with the rotations #1 and #3.

I finished my workout with 500 16kg swings in 25 min and some light dbl cl/pr and clubbells.

Cut the Fat, Live "Lean"

2011-11-21T17:43:00.001-08:00

Wow! When I made an innocent little post on facebook this morning I had no idea of the feedback, the great feedback, I would get! The post was a simple question of whether or not I should keep a mortar and pestle that I've owned for over 10 years but never used.

Of course I bought it with the intention of using it, but I've long gotten over having to toast and grind my own spices, or make my own "authentic" pesto or salsa, etc. I've opted for the convenience of the spice grinder or food processor....two pieces of equipment I use regularly....unlike the mortar and pestle. To my surprise the votes to keep it were so enthusiastic that it got me thinking....

Here I am wondering about this mortar and pestle that I've never used (so far) and it's taking up some small but valuable real estate in my mental space now that I'm starting to look at things, at owning too many things, in a different light. In the past month, or so, I've gone through every room and closet in my house for the first, the biggest, and in my opinion the easiest edit. Now for the small stuff.... It seems however the mortar and pestle will survive...this time.

This reminded me of how it's not the mortar and pestle that is creating the problem of too much stuff. I have many other things that add to the problem and to blame this one little item (s) as the culprit is like blaming too many carrot sticks for the reason you are overweight! If you look at how much extra food is making or keeping you overweight, then you have to look at all of it!

If you have that extra 5 lb (or less) it may be that daily pumpkin spice latte, or that bowl of cereal you eat late every night. But if you've got some weight to lose (30, 40, 50lbs +) then it's the pumpkin latte and walnut scone, it's the lg burrito or sandwich for lunch, it's the handfuls(s) of M & M's from a co workers desk, it's the late dinner of "drive through" and the ice cream in front of the TV. It's not the extra carrot sticks, or the white versus whole wheat bread or tortilla, the whole cream or half and half in your coffee, the low fat shredded cheddar versus the full fat cheddar on your burrito, the cob salad versus the Mediterranean salad, etc..

.. It's more than likely not that "one" thing. It's an accumulation of "things"...lots of things!

So, here I am and I'd like to decide which items to keep in my home that will help me create the kind of life that is filled with things that add value, or fill a need, whether that's a practical need or an emotional need....like things I feel are beautiful to look at, or things that bring happy memories. I want to cut the "fat" and live in a lean home and have a lean life. And to me the feeling of living lean provides me with space and choice to take off in so many different directions as I chose.

Imagine that same feeling with your body. A "lean" body. I'm not talking about being "skinny" or deprived. I'm talking about eating those foods that add value, fill a need AND make you happy. There are so many food choices and I trust that everybody can find foods and meals that are conducive to a "lean" lifestyle that fill these requirements. It's all that other "stuff"...that mindless, useless crap (food) that we collect (eat) that we don't need and half the time don't really want.

The mortar and pestle just may be my 2 pieces of caramel candy everyday that bring me some joy with my coffee, and I can rest assured that I can cut the fat of "give away samples" at Costco and Whole Foods. I can "cut" out the bagels a well intending coworker brought as well as the food my kids left on their plates that just seems too good to simply "throw away"!

Pick and chose. Not everything has to go. Keep the stuff (food) that aligns with the vision of your life, the vision of your body, the way you want your body to look and perform. If you are an all or nothing person then knock yourself out, but sometimes just making some "trade-offs" will give you the relief you need to help reinforce the lifestyle you truly want. Free, light, lean, healthy, fit, agile, ready for anything life throws your way. Don't weigh yourself down, and you can interpret that any way you want to.

picture above; I've decided that it is not my mortar and pestle holding me back from a clean, useful, organized kitchen. I am "trading" this crap I rummaged from a kitchen drawer and cabinet that somehow made the last "cut"...but not this one! A electric tea kettle that has seen better days....two of the four squeeze bottles I never use (Fawn uses hers all the time....that's why I'm keeping two...so "officially" professional, lol!), one of two candy thermometers (?) a couple of wine bottle openers (leaving two), and some knives that we've owned since we got married but never use (24 year anniversary in one more week! Yay!), and really....who uses corn cob forks "thingies" anymore?

Hungarian Hundred Snatch Workout

2011-11-21T05:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday I had to train on my own from 8:00-9:00 between my Intermed 7:15, and my Adv 9:00 classes. I had thought I would do a heavier snatch workout instead of a super fast and lighter "Beyond Max" routine that I would normally train.

I started out repeating the end of the previous classes workout. I teach my Int. class with a 12kg, a weight that is borderline too light for my own training, but since I have over three hours to teach on a typical Sat. the 12kg gets pretty challenging around 9:30am! (I never pick up a heavier bell after 10:00am) Anyway, I thought I should try the workout I give my students, using the 16kg, which is heavy for me, to get an idea of the workload I'm asking my less experienced students to follow.

I've posted these swing/snatch combinations many times before as the first three are standard warm up work sets. As we "train" the combinations the rest periods decrease and the work periods increase. But basic warm up is always 30/30 (work to rest)

1 swing, 1 snatch, 1 transfer x 6 (3 R, 3 L) 30/30 x 2

1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 12 (6 R, 6 L) 1 min/1 min x 1

1 snatch 1 transfer x 8 (4 R, 4 L) 30/30 x 2

1 sn, 1 tr x 16 (8 R, 8L) 1 min/1 min x 1

5 snatch R, 5 snatch L x 1, 30/30 x 2 (paced at a slower 5 snatch reps per 15 sec)

10 sn R, 10 sn L x 1 (1 min/1 min same slow pace)

5 sn R, 5 sn L x 2, 1 min/1 min

(this is where my workout to follow changes)

1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 12 + 1 sn, 1 tr x 16, 2 min/1 min

10 sn R, 10 sn L + 5 snatch R, 5 snatch L 2 min/1 min

10 sn R, 10 sn L + 5 snatch R, 5 snatch L + 1 sn, 1 tr x 16 + 1 sw, 1 sn, 1 tr x 12, 4 min.

So there is the complete workout I did in the last half of my 7:15am class (w/12kg), swings and snatches, I think it takes around 20 min.

In my own workout I repeated the first 10 min. with the 16kg and then went on to use my "Hungarian Hundred" snatch combinations to finish.

Hungarian Hundred

5/5 snatches x 2, 1 min/1 min (20 reps)

10/10 x 1, 1 min/1 min (20 reps)

1-5 sn ladder 1.5 min/1 min (30 reps) (video shows this set)

5-1 sn ld, 1.5 min/1 min (30 reps)

I repeated this 3 times. Each rotation of 4 work sets = 9 min, 100 snatch reps! This workout is also a exercise in pacing. If you watch the video I keep the same pace as the 5/5 and 10/10 rep sets. Easier to snatch slower with a heavy bell but if you use a lighter bell you have to be conscious of the slower pace.

In the past when using the 12kg for this "HH" snatch workout my rest periods are only 30 seconds long. With the 16kg I took a longer rest periods of 1 min. I wasn't trying to rush or snatch as many reps as possible. It's been a long time since I snatched the 16kg for an entire workout so I didn't want to push it.

The "Fun" factor

2011-11-18T18:10:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I wrote about passion. Having passion, bringing passion, doing things you are passionate about....but what about plain ole fun? Sometimes when we think about the things we feel passionately for we get so darn serious! I don't think passion is about being serious...seriously! (lol) I know I can get the two things mixed up sometimes.

You can have fun with things you feel passionate about and you can have a ton of fun regardless of any passion! Fun is the feeling of lightness! In a time when we are all so busy and stressed out, feeling as if we "have" to find our passion, our purpose, can get, well, tiring and stressful!

What if our only "purpose" was to have fun? I'm not implying that we quit our jobs to frolic in the sun. At a certain point, with no money, no food or a place to live, frolicking wouldn't be any kind of fun at all!

One of the reasons I love leading my KB Swing classes is because they are so darn fun! They are freakin fun as hell in my opinion! I'm never bored or disappointed with any of my kettlebell workouts, ever. But my yoga practice....good Lord. All of a sudden things get serious (argh!) Bikram's yoga is hard....there I said it..."hard". Even though I know better.....

I know better than to set myself up to make my training harder by simply thinking it's hard. Sure it can be challenging, but it can be awesomely rewarding too. Too often I put pressure on myself have a great practice. One where my balance and strength is prefect, my stamina is good, and I sweat enough. And if I screw up one or more of these things then it affects how I feel in a negative way. If I look at the challenge as fun maybe it will turn into one that's more rewarding!

My practice currently consists of three days of double, back to back, practices (sometimes I train on Sundays, that would be my 7th practice). That equals 3 hours of yoga, in one day, not including travel to and from and wait time in between classes. Three hours is more time than most people spend in an entire week exercising! I have "good" days but mostly lately I've been having "bad" days....what am I thinking?

I can tell you what I'm NOT thinking! I'm not thinking that life is supposed to be fun! Whoops...forgot that one....

So, this morning I admit I was having a hard time during my first class....and then it hit me! I forgot to have fun with it! Good-ness! Wow, once I remembered to lighten up Iwas actually looking forward to the second class. First thing I did was I stopped judging myself and my practice! My focus was to have fun with my practice and I stopped thinking about all the things I could be doing (instead of yoga), and I stopped making the lists in my head of what I needed to get done that day.

So what if I couldn't hold standing bow for one minute! So what if I fell out of head to knee posture on my left side....again (I didn't btw). So what, so what, so what. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that I was lucky enough to be able to spend my time in my body, in the heat, in my cute yoga clothes, with fresh water and a clean towel...how much fun is that?

What are some things you tend to look at in a negative way that if you applied the "fun" factor would change how you feel?

Speed Kills

2011-11-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed on a day that you are NOT in a hurry how many other people around you are in a hurry?

I try never to rush....after I leave my house and my car! What I mean by that is I'm always trying to get "one more thing done" before heading out the door...which makes me late most often...something that I've had insight about recently (and feel that I can now change). Then I get into my car...late, of course....and rush to where it is I need to be. But once I get where I'm going....

Once I get where I'm going I'm fine, in fact I'm more than fine. I regularly let other people in front of me at check stands. I regularly wait patiently to be waited on, and when a service person apologizes for making me wait I always reply, "no problem, I'm not in a hurry!" Really! I'm not in a hurry! Lucky me!

I don't have kids to chauffeur around to school, appointments or events. I don't have a job I need to make a living from so I have no boss. What reason could I ever have to rush? Rushing is stressful!

In the past week I've focused a little more attention on "living in the moment" and how even this applies to how fast I eat. I'm kind of a "speedy eater", I admit. Often I find myself eating another spoonful, forkful, of food before I'm done with the one already in my mouth. It's also rare that I sit at the table with the only intention of eating. I often eat in the kitchen, standing, or at my computer. Personally after reflecting on these eating habits these past two weeks I don't find anything wrong with the latter but I do find room for improvement on the former....eating quickly.

I eat quickly because I'm hungry! Or I think I'm hungry....but really....I have to ask myself, am I going to "pass out" from hunger? No, of course not. I think we are so used to eating on schedule or of being in a hurry that it can feel hard to slow things down. Part of this whole "minimalism" movement I'm going in the direction of is making me more aware of how I spend my time. All we have is time, right?

I've made a deal with myself. No matter what I'm eating, where I'm eating it, or how much I'm eating, I will make a more conscious effort to acknowledge and enjoy my foods. How nice is that?

Bring the Passion, live Passionately

2011-11-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

This morning I posted on facebook the question of what is it that you might do today that you feel passionate about. We all have things that we have strong positive feelings for and when we get a chance to spend time doing them, or talking about them, then it seems as if time disappears.....

Sure we all have our daily "to-do" lists (either in our minds, or actually on paper), and some of the things we "have" to do we look forward to doing because we enjoy them. Cooking and food prep is one of the things that I "have" to do, but I'm passionate about doing it. Training is also one of the things that I "have" to do, but again I feel fairly passionate about too. Today I got a chance to do both!

Since I've had this theme about "passion" in my head all morning, as I was returning from my yoga practice this afternoon, I realized that topping the list of what I'm passionate about is teaching. I never thought of myself as a teacher, but looking back over my life it's when I'm sharing my knowledge that I feel most alive and valuable. That's why I am also passionate about writing.....crazy, considering that I have a 10th grade education that I love to teach and write!

Passion: an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something.

It seems unlikely that any one of us can spend a whole day, much less every day, doing only things we are passionate about. But what if we bring the passion? Bring passion, or enthusiasm to everyday events. The simpliest of things like how we answer the question "How are you?" Do we really need to tell the truth if we are feeling crappy, or can we change the truth by choosing a more enthusiastic reply? "I'm doing well! How are you?"

You might be wondering what all this has to do with diet, weight loss, and kettlebell training but I believe the better, more positive, and more hopeful you feel, the more likely you are to want to do better for yourself, your life, and the ones you love around you. I believe it's all connected.

If you are finding it too hard to focus on diet or regular exercise then focus on one of the things you are passionate about. Visualize yourself doing whatever it is that "lights you fire". Now visualize yourself healthy, strong and fit doing that same thing that you feel passionate about. How does that feel different?

How would it feel to be healthy strong and fit while feeling passionate about something as simple as being a good mother, or grandmother. How about being healthy and fit and wanting, passionately to be a good husband and provide for your family. Anything.....a teacher, a cook, a writer, a trainer, an athlete, an artist, a boss, a hard worker....a school bus driver! Realizing your true potential to live your passion, or bring some passion, is so much easier when you feel strong and confident. Strength and confidence comes with health and fitness. If you don't believe me then try it!

I'm so lucky to have the choice of bringing passion to everything I do because I can cross health and fitness off of my "to do"list. I'm free. Being healthy and fit intensifies your ability to live your passion or intensifies living more passionately, it's a "win-win"!

The difference between "maintenance" and "permanent"

2011-11-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

Recently I've become less tolerant of this idea that I'm "maintaining" my weight loss. So much so that my blog description exchanges this idea of "maintenance" to one of "permanence". I will never be fat again. I will never be that unhealthy again. I will never be unfit again...I just will never be those things, ever again.....period. If that is not permanent then I don't know what is!

I am not the same person I once was. And let me point out something....there was nothing "wrong" with me before. I needed what I needed, when I needed it.....but now I need something else....I've moved on. Part of my evolution is deciding what it is that I need, and want now.

I'm so lucky. I'm so lucky because I know I'm lucky! Lucky is fun!

What I need and want now is "space". Space to expand my potential. My original blog had, I think, three title changes, the first I can't remember at this moment! The second was "Rediscovering Strength" and the 3rd, "Living My Physical Potential". It was the best I could come up with at each transition to describe what I was feeling at the time.

This blog has gone through it's own changes, the last just recently updated about 1-2 months ago, and who knows how many changes will take place in the future. The point is that things change whether you want them to or not. Life moves. You can chose to be a victim of what life deals out to you, or you can chose to be the dealer....

I'm in charge now! I'm in charge of not making excuses, and I'm in charge of only expecting the best of myself.....and it doesn't feel "hard". It feels exhilarating! As I clear the physical space around me I expand my physical possibilities, and this is how everything I do in my life relates to being my best.

Think of "thriving", instead of "surviving". We did not come here (in our physical bodies) to "survive". We came here to thrive. I'm not maintaining being my best, and I'm not surviving being my "worst". I am permanently hooked on being and feeling my best, and I know the difference! This doesn't mean that I never "react" to old habits, it just means that I recognize them for what they are.....old habits!

I am a different person than I was 10 years ago, and 10 years before that, and 10 years before that.... I am not "maintaining" the old me, I'm living the "new improved" me! Permanently!

Pictures above....could this be the same woman? Left side picture, Oct 2011 taken with my BFF Fawn Friday in St Paul MN. Right side picture, Easter 2004, over 250lbs, at a family reunion, Moorpark Ca.

Clutter Snob

2011-11-12T05:08:00.000-08:00

I joke a bit that I'm a "wanna be" snob! I joke because to me a "snob" is defined by someone with quite discerning taste, and I'd like to think I have discerning taste! But true snobs have discerning taste and judge others by their own standards. I first used this term when I was bordering on being a food snob, almost becoming consumed by "organic", "local", "seasonal", "grass fed", and exclusively homemade foods and meals. I've since lightened up enormously when I started to see how unattractive that "snob" quality was in others. Of course I still have certain beliefs about some of those things and I can become passionate about them when involved in conversation, but passionate is not the same as judging others for their food decisions. This blog post is about being another kind of snob. A "clutter snob" within your own home, within your own four walls.

As I read through a few books on living minimally the first step is getting rid of the things you own that you don't truly need. Deciding what it is that you truly need is also part of it....there's lots of parts. I feel that getting to the point of recognizing what you need may benefit by bringing out your "clutter snob".

I'm about halfway through my first round of throw aways and give aways, but now I have a slightly different view of things. Easily half of the stuff I was having a hard time letting go of all of a sudden just may not deserve a place in my home much less in my life. If it doesn't make me happy by being practical enough or beautiful enough to earn being part of my more valuable personal and private space then it has to go. It's my party and I'll invite who I want to come! The first step is guarding the door! I'm not letting anything in that I don't want in my home!

As I continue to edit, anything that wants to stay is going to have to have a good reason! I have quite discerning taste!

Brussels Sprouts.....three ways

2011-11-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Ever since I've been making my favorite shredded brussels sprouts salad with apple and maple lemon dressing, I've found a few different ways to use the parts I normally used to throw away. Normally I would wash my sprouts and pull off the loose leaves, and throw those out. Then after the dried I shredded them for my salad and was left with the "core"...a little tough even when shredded so I threw those out too!

One day as I was about to throw away the loose leaves I pulled off I realized that they were perfectly good, nothing was wrong with them, why was I throwing them out? Not only were they perfectly good but they were the greenest part of the sprouts! I ended up using them by making some basic chunky veg soup with Italian sausage in a big stock pot (yep, NO PC!) and about 5 minutes before it was done (it only takes 15-20 min.) I added the brussels leaves to cook for only a short time. I wanted them to stay bright green, not get mushy and grey! I love it! The Italian sausage (only 2 links) along with my own chicken stock was surprisingly rich and flavorful.

Italian Sausage soup with Brussels leaves

2 links pork Italian sausage (remove from casing)

1 lg onion lg dice

2-3 celery stalks, lg dice

1 carrot, med dice

1 small head of cabbage, cut into 1/2 in ribbons (core removed)

1 small bunch of thyme

6-8 cups chicken stock (this I made in the PC!)

loose leaves for washed brussels sprouts

Heat 1 tbl olive oil in the bottom of an 8 qt stock pot and brown Italian sausage breaking into small pieces. Add another 1 tbl olive oil and saute onion and celery for 5 minutes until translucent. Deglaze bottom of pot with about 1 c. chicken stock before pouring the entire amount....now add the rest! Add shredded cabbage and thyme bundle. Bring to a boil with the lid on. Once at a boil turn the heat down to low and only slightly cover. Simmer for 15 min until the veggies are soft (almost). Add the loose leaves from the brussls sprouts and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

At this time check to see if the leaves are tender (take a bite!). If they are then turn off the heat and remove the lid...you do not want them to heat up and cook anymore or you run the risk of them turning mushy and grey. If they are not tender yet then check them every couple of minutes....it shouldn't take long. Lift out the bundle of thyme and shake off the leaves....it's done!

The first time I served this to myself I added 3/4 cooked farro (I love, love, love farro!) If I were going to add beans to this soup I would have done it in the PC (white beans more than likely). Once the beans and veggies were done I would add the leaves to cook in the residual heat.

Now....the cores!

I knew Iwould have to be blasted in the PC! I decided to cook them along with my steel cut oats (in chicken stock) and eat them with feta cheese and black pepper. I posted the recipe for the oats, cheese and pepper a while ago and this time the only difference was that I added the brussels cores. I also used frozen stock! Another advantage of using a PC!

I freeze homemade stocks in increments of 1 c., 2 c., 4 c. containers. I didn't plan this ahead of time so I had to took a 1 c container of frozen chicken stock and added 1 more cup of water. I make my stock super rich to conserve freezer space and often have to dilute it with water.

Savory Steel Cut Oats with Brussels Sprouts, feta and black pepper

1/2 c steel cut oats

2 c. stock, water or combination of both

1 dz sm brussels sprouts (or just the cores)

1 oz feta cheese crumbled

a few fresh grinds of black pepper

Put 1/2 c. oats, 2 c liquid, 1/2 t. salt and brussels into PC. Lock lid and bring pressure to high (about 3-4 min). Turn heat to low while maintaining high pressure, and cook for 7 minutes. turn off heat and let pressure come down naturally (about 3-5 min). Stir in feta and top with a fine grind of black pepper.

So there you go....

Fresh crisp salad, flavorful and filling soup and a nifty way to use even the cores! talk about getting your money's worth!

Now....what to do with the tons of Fuyu persimmons? Today I julienned them with a Honeycrisp apple and squeezed lemon juice all over it. The plan was to make a salad of spinach, pumpkin seeds, persimmon and apple with a roasted pumpkin seed oil dressing (from Hungary)....but the fruits and lemon tasted so good on their own! The other idea was a mint and yogurt dressing....both would have the addition of some of my roasted chicken meat of course!

700 Swings in under 28 minutes, using TRif's "Progressive Rest Ladder"

2011-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Need a quick swing workout in under 30 minutes....I did! Here's a sample of what I did after my Swing class this morning, minus the warm-up (I used my class as a warm-up, lol). I used the 16kg, 14kg & 12kg.

warm up is always "equal work to rest"

10 2 hd sw (15/15)

20 tr (30/30)

30 2 hd sw (45/45)

10 R/10 L 1 hd sw x 2 (1.0/1.0)

100 swings 5 min.

each rotation = 200 swings, 6.5 min not including the rest period between rotations.

16kg, first rotation (video above, taped in Aug.)

40 2 hd sw 15 sec rest

40 2 hd sw, 30 sec rest

40 2 hd sw, 45 sec rest

40 2 hd sw, 1 min rest

40 2 hd sw

1 min rest.

14kg, 2nd rotation

40 tr, 15 sec rest

40 tr, 30 sec rest

40 tr, 45 sec rest

40 tr, 1 min rest

40 tr

1 min rest

12kg, 3rd rotation

10 R/10 L 1 hd sw x 2, 15 sec rest

10 R/10 L 1 hd swx 2 30 sec rest

10 R/10 L 1 hd sw x 2, 45 sec rest

10 R/10 L 1 hd sw x 2 1 min rest

10 R/10 L 1 hd swx 2

done! 700 swings, 27.5 min.

Since I did 25 minutes of Beyond Max yesterday (to be posted tomorrow) I did not need to snatch today...yay! So after my swing class I needed an extra 20-30 minutes of swings, and I don't mind doing the "boring' stuff" by myself. When I train by myself I don't have to explain anything, I just swing!

I decided to start out heavy, with the 16kg and work down. This way I got my heart rate up straight away, and then progressively let it come down as I ended my workout. This was because I had already swung for 40-50 minutes in class. If this were going to be my only swing workout I would do it in reverse! Working my way up from the 12kg to 14kg and then the 16kg....and then if I needed or wanted more I would repeat the first two rotations, laddering down again to make it a 900 swing, in a 42.5 minute workout! (If these instructions are not clear and you would like to try it then just ask and I'll post the exact workout).

Enjoy!

PS this video was posted in August after I came home from Hungary. It was the first time I had done this "progressive rest ladder". Now I use it quite often, sometimes changing the swing combinations as written here in this post. It's an easy way to knock out 200 swings per rotation!

Motivational Quotes...living by example.

2011-11-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

I've been noticing quite a few...hundred (lol...kidding).....motivational quotes posted on facebook everyday. One after another, and another, and another.... Am I not a nice person if I get irritated by motivational quotes? It's not that I'm irritated by the quote, but by the lack of follow through.... Here's what I mean.

When I read something that moves me, motivates me, or inspires me, it's because it usually relates to something I'm intimately going through. Or may not be anything serious, but it touches a nerve and reminds me of my own capabilities or power to create my own destiny. In other words most times I find motivational quotes as reminders not to play victim.

The reason why I find myself becoming irritated by the barrage of motivational quotes on facebook is that I want to know how the person posting that particular quote was affected by it themselves! How did that quote change their day? How did that quote change their mind? How could or did they apply that quote to their lives? Just one tiny example would make me a happy girl! If you care enough to share the quote, then can you care enough to share how or what it means to you?

Call me crazy but, if you follow through and share a bit of yourself, then instead of a bunch of "like" clicks you might actually get some kind of conversations going...isn't that part of what facebook is about?

I'm not trying to hate on anybody or anything, I recognize and appreciate the intent. So as not to single anyone out by picking any one quote from a facebook post I googled "motivational quotes" and the first thing I clicked on with was this quote by Marrianne Williamson....it's kind of long but I decided to go with it anyway because it's how I feel practically everyday, and she reminded me!

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were all meant to shine, as children do.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Since going through this crazy de-clutter I'm realizing that almost all of the habits I have that I want to change are "fear based". At face value "fear" is usually connected with the fear of "not". Not being good enough, or not having enough in some way. But Marianne reminds us that it's the fear of what we know to be inside of all us. In this culture, in these times, it's not "PC" to "toot our own horns" so to speak. But our own unique individual greatness does not take away from anyone else, instead it can motivate and inspire others to realize their individual greatness!

I've always known I was special from the time I was a little girl, and I believe that most people have had the same feeling, at least deep inside of their hearts. But my feelings of being special does not take away anyone else feeling special because I believe we are all special from the day we are born into these bodies (and way before!)

Deepak Chopra writes about all of us having one unique thing, one unique talent that is ours alone......something we do better than anyone else, and to embrace it, follow it, nurture it, celebrate it, grow it. What's inside of you? Let it shine, living by example is the most inspirational thing you can do....so give me a few examples!

A Shadow of Truth

2011-11-06T05:23:00.000-08:00

Mark described to me the other day a cartoon he saw on facebook. It was of a man and a woman standing in front of a mirror. The man was large and out of shape, the woman thin and well built, but the image they saw of themselves in the mirror was the exact opposite. The man saw himself as built and studly, the woman frumpy and fat. Typical?

This phenomenon can be described as "body dysmorphia" and I do think it's more common among women, and in my experience it's more common among thin women! (by thin I mean most women that do not appear, to the average person, as being overweight) Get a bunch of women together and they start to hack themselves apart playing the "one-upmanship" game.

"Oh I wish I could lose this 5 lbs!"

"5 pounds, heck I wish that's all I had to lose!"

"It's not the 5 lbs for me, I could live with the extra 5 lbs, it's this chunk of fat on the side of my thighs!"

"Where? I didn't see a chunk of fat, at least you don't have a muffin top"

"You know what I hate about my body? I hate my freckles."

"I wish I had freckles instead of big nose."

"You don't have a big nose, I have a big nose! I always wanted to have plastic surgery!"

"OMG, I'd love to have plastic surgery and get my fat just sucked out!"

"I can't even look at myself in the mirror anymore...."

Sound familiar? You may not have heard it among you and your friends, but maybe you hear it in your own head. I know I'm guilty of some of these feelings, or feelings like these. But I do not share them with anyone because I don't think there's any point to it. There's no point to it because there's no truth to it. When I look in the mirror and start to pick myself apart I always follow a negative thought with a positive thought...always! This is part of how I re train how I think, how I re train my negetive thoughts into positive thoughts.

In fact when I do find myself around woman that start those kind of conversations I'm quick to point out the positive and I never agree with anyone that starts speaking negatively about themselves. I may even use myself as an example of how I can change how I feel by, #1 indentifying that I've just made a negative statement, and #2 focusing on a positive aspect of that statement. Here's me talking to myself;

"I need to lose 5 lbs."

"Are you kidding? You look great!" OR

"look at the strong legs!" OR

"Look at all of your muscle, do you want to lose some of that? Nope!" OR

"5lbs isn't going go away this instant, so use this 5lbs to be stronger in you training, or in your practice. You've got it, now use it!" OR, again...

"Wow, you know you do look great!"

I'm not saying that I'm perfect, and sometimes I can't bear to go on about how I look, so I follow up a negative statement about my appearance with other things in my life that I'm grateful for that have nothing to do with how I look. For instance: (me talking to myself again)

"I need to lose 5 lbs!"

"Are you crazy? You're complaining about 5lbs when you have so much in your life to be grateful for?"

"Let's start with how lucky you are that you don't have to work for a living. You don't have to want for anything. You love your training and your practice...and you are good at both! You've come such a long way and it was so much fun looking back on it because you are a different person now, a person you really like! You've got great things happening in your life....you got a freakin' book that will be in Barnes and Noble for God's sake! 5lbs? really? 5lbs is nothing and besides you already know how to change that."

My focus is on finding relief. I sometimes refer to it as "pulling my head out of my backside"! The more I practice the faster I accomplish getting back to what I know is the truth inside of me, the truth inside of all of us. Some days it's easier and faster to make happen than other times, but you should always end with a positive thought.....always end with a positive thought.

The photo above was taken on a day that I was not feeling good about my body. Mark and I were training together at Girya and the mirrors were to the right side of me. That morining I couldn't seem to pull my head out of my backside fast enough so I turned my body to face the back wall. It was then I saw my shadow. The shadow of a strong and shapely woman snatching a kettlebell. Shapely in a way that looked pretty good to me! I started to really like my shadow! I could see the nice shape of my waist, my thick bicep muscles and my thick legs. My shadow rocked! My shadow was me, so what was the big fuss about?

And that's when I started to relax and feel better about myself. Some days if relief comes in the form of a shadow, recognize it and run with it! Get away from the mirror, get away from people that agree with negativity, and look for those better feeling thoughts. Let a shadow of truth lead you towards what you feel in your heart. You are OK, you are better than OK, in fact you rock!

What's the Rush?

2011-11-04T16:41:00.001-07:00

I have a tendency to want everything NOW! I think it's called instant gratification! When I wanted to lose weight I wanted it gone....fast! When I decided to get rid of all of my stuff I wanted it all gone yesterday. I was feeling suffocated and blocked from what I felt was another life waiting for me on the other side of all of my clutter. But I've come to realize that my "stuff" is not all bad, it's not bad at all, most of it is just irrelevant to another kind of life I'm ready to live.

Since going through a lot of my stuff, I'm finding some really cool stuff! At first my attitude was "so what, I don't care how cool it is, it's gotta go!" Now I can see that, sure, I have to get rid of a lot of stuff but I don't have to get rid of everything. It's the same thing with food, there's some really cool foods out there, but you don't have to get rid of everything! There's no rush to any kind of finish line but, for me, there had to be a rush to start! We all have to start somewhere. Starting is key, the key to consistency, and consistency is everything.

I dislike the description "journey" or "process", instead I prefer words, descriptions like "exploration", or maybe "creation", but journey is a term commonly used and understood, so I'll use it. I did not want to compare my journey towards minimalism to weightloss, and I'm not. My own experience is proof that one does NOT need to keep a minimalist home or lifestyle to be of healthy bodyweight. But I think at some point the natural progression to permanent weightloss is to start editing out the irrelevant food and eating habits that are keeping us from the life we want to live. Don't we all want a healthy and fit life with a body we treat with respect and love. There is no finish line when it comes to health, but an ongoing process that requires consistency.

Some people need a slow and steady start, while others, like me, need to hit the ground running.....it's up to the individual. But don't wait to start! Suit up and show up, the rest of your life is waiting.

Training Thought

2011-11-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

Two days ago my cable TV was disconnected, on purpose, and the TV is physically going to be gone from my home within days. I don't have anything against TV, I love TV, but it was time for me to focus inward a bit more and turning off the outside chatter of the TV seemed like the first place to start. I never watched TV in the mornings or during the daytime, I only watched it starting around 7:00pm and used it to, as I would call, "decompress" or "chill" from my day.

The first night I stayed up on my computer searching for more information on minimal living, finally deciding to go to bed at 8:00pm. Toss and turn, toss and turn, I was finding it difficult to quiet my mind and it took, what seemed like, over an hour to fall asleep. I wondered if the feeling was boredom and maybe I should get up and read some more or get back on the computer.

Last night, same time, 8:00pm bedtime. Knowing what happened the night before I wish I had a good reading lamp and book...that would put me to sleep straight away....but I didn't. And to add insult to injury, after having an absolutely fabuloso day, something irritating happened right before I went to bed and I couldn't stop replaying it in my head. As I replayed it other similar things started to creep back in, stuff that happened in the past was adding fuel to the fire....

As I wrote about in my last blog post, part of the meaning behind the title of my blog is "Training....thought". Being aware of old thought patterns and old thinking habits, usually negative or at the very least counterproductive, and creating new more positive thoughts that help you find relief and hope, to move you in the direction of improving your mood and therefore your outlook on your life, allowing you focus on all of the great possibilities and change that await you.

Instead of replaying the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" song I started thinking about all of the positive feelings I had during the day. My early morning kettlebell workout rocked! My yoga practice was "the bomb". Talked with my oldest son Rick about the new condo he's moving into with his family (they are taking the TV by the way!) I took a large box of stuff to charity. I had a super great second cup of coffee at Peet's. I picked up a great audio book that I hope will help me on my new venture into minimalism. I had a great fresh salad for lunch, and for dessert I ate some fudge! A relaxing nap in the afternoon and then good wine at dinner....I wrote a decent blog post....zzzzzzz......zzzzzzzz

So much nicer falling asleep with positive thoughts and appreciation of all of the good things in life....I may not need a book!

Photo above: According to Bikram, half tortoise pose is supposed give you the same feeling of 8 hours of sleep in 30 seconds....I won't get into what I think of that....remember, postive thoughts, positive thoughts....lucky me that I have a great yoga practice, time to practice everyday, great yoga studios to train at and dedicated teachers that show up and lead me through every practice....lucky me.

Rags A-plenty

2011-11-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

How many rags does one person need? By one person I mean one household because it's usually one main person that does the cleaning. As I clean out my closets and kitchen drawers I'm not surprised by the number of rags or empty bags I'm finding. I find it easier to turn something into a cleaning rag than to throw it out and I'm always thinking I will find another use for those empty bags I bring home from shopping trips.

Well, the answer to the question above is easy when you think about it. You can keep as many rags (and bags) as you have designated space for, and that should be about the size of a small drawer. So as I'm folding and putting my kitchen rags away, and the drawer starts to fill up, that answer is becoming more and more obvious. Heck, I can even imagine a day that I only fill half of my drawer with rags!

So this has me thinking about how some of us get in the habit of holding on to excess, and somehow we keep adding to it, "stuffing" it so to speak, like we stuff rags into a kitchen drawer, even when we start to run out of space. I know it could have something to do with feeling secure, but how are rags helping to make me feel more secure.....obviously it's not the rags but what the rags represent. The rags and all of the other stuff represents the fear of not having enough, not getting enough, or running out. It's all the same feeling, the felling, the fear of "lack".

For quite a while now I've been using my awareness of this feeling and fear of "lack" as it relates to my relationship with food. This feeling of lack is what has, in the past, compelled me to take "free food", or take more food than I needed, wanted or could use (eat). The feeling as if were going to be my last chance to get something before it would be gone forever! How many times do you find yourself taking extra food or servings at a work pot luck, party or buffet...and those "free samples"? Lots of times we eat stuff we don't want, or weren't even thinking about because we might not get the chance again, and God forbid it gets thrown away.

Reminding myself I can have whatever I want whenever I want it, when it comes to food is another way to retrain how I think....and it's working! So many times I walk away with no temptation, and even throwing away extra food has become liberating! The feeling of being in charge and having the power is fun! This is my mantra....."I have enough, I have more than enough, and there's enough for everybody....there's enough for everybody...."

I'm not going to run out of kitchen rags, or food, and if I did what's the worst thing that could happen? I'll get more, there's plenty where that stuff comes from!

PS this is not a picture of my rags btw!

Beyond Max

2011-11-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

Mark and I were the first kettlebell athletes to train Max Vo2 regularly, test it, write about it, and that was way back in July 2007. I, of course, was simply riding coattails of my brilliant husband but the routine, the workout quickly became a favorite. Why? Because someone else was telling me what to do! Oh sure, I was interested in training my body's ability to maximize oxygen uptake, which is the definition of cardio vascular health and strength , at the same time as increasing muscular strength, but having 4-8 weeks of my training mapped out for me was a big relief!

OK, so you've completed 80 sets of 7 or 8 reps using the 15/15 sec protocol, where do you go after Max? Well, you start over, you do it again, maybe with a heavier bell, maybe with more reps....speaking of more reps.... Before I started playing around with taking "traditional Max" beyond 7 or 8 reps per 15 sec I repeated the training many times over in my classes, with my training partners, until it, and we, just became too efficient at it. After all Max Vo2 training is dependent on maintaining your target heartrate....oh and at some point the boredom factor, especially after 60 sets, is not a challenge but an annoyance. Hey, I can do the boring stuff no problem, but I have to be bored and challenged by the workload.

I started to add in some extra reps in a very progressive and deliberate way. I know to some people my training may look "willy nilly", but I always have a vision of where I'm going, creating new and farther destinations as I travel....it's about the journey and what you learn, feel and see along the way. Max Vo2 template is just the starting point to lots of fun and challenging workouts, now let's go "beyond Max"!

I will try and post a new routine based on the original every week. Here in my first progression I add an uphill and a downhill rep ladder. Those of you that do not own my DVD "Programming the Kettlebell Swing" may not be familiar with a method I use to train the swing with what I call "work into rest". "Work into rest" is when you lengthen your training time while reducing your rest simultaneously for only short periods. You do not increase the speed, you keep the same pace and simply keep training past the time of your work interval into your rest interval.

I also like to work in "even" blocks of sets, usually blocks of ten sets.....if you know anything about my training "10" is the magic number! Working in blocks of ten gives me something to focus on instead of the work being done or the time it takes. Ten sets of 15/15 equals 5 min. Start with 15-20 minutes (30-40 sets) and work up to 40 min. This could take 4-8 weeks depending on if you train it once or twice a week.

Here I'm posting video to demonstrate how it's done. I also talk about some other options if you need a slightly less intense progression.

Beyond Max #1

8 sn R, 15 sec rest

8 sn L, 15 sec rest

9 sn R, less than 15 sec rest

9 sn L, less than 15 sec rest

10 sn R, even less than 15 sec rest

10 sn L, even less than 15 sec rest

9 sn R, less than 15 sec rest

9 sn L, less than 15 sec rest

8 sn R, 15 sec rest

8 sn L, 15 sec rest

10 sets = 5 min

repeat.

The reason why I ladder up and then ladder down is, again, to progressively increase the intensity while still leaving room for future workouts...those are coming! Try this one out for a few workouts and let me know how it goes. Enjoy!

"Crazy is, as Crazy Does"

2011-11-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

What does this phrase mean?

The meaning is hard to explain, but it's basically asking the question, "what is crazy really?" Being crazy is relative. Pretty much, crazy is in the eye of the beholder. An action or thought is "crazy" based on the rationale behind it and the perception of it.

On my walk this morning I was thinking about my "movement towards minimalism". I'm visualizing how empty my house is going be as I mentally pack boxes of stuff to give away. I then thought about moving to a new high rise condo! These thoughts reminded me of my sister Christie. My sister has moved residences so many times I've lost count. She wasn't always this way, I mean she has lived in a few places for a good amount of time, so I'm not trying to make her sound crazy or anything.

At one time I had an address book and under her name were numerous phone numbers, one after the other crossed out as she changed living situations. But I didn't give it too much thought, we were young...young kids move around. She eventually settled down...a couple of times, but recently I heard from another sister that she is in yet another new place, and I remember thinking to myself that she must be a little crazy, she moved again? (in Chris's defense my mother told me her last roommate was really weird, and impossible to live with)

Moving is a pain in the ass....if you are like me! If you are like Christie then it's a piece of cake! Christie doesn't own a bunch of crap, in fact I'll bet she gets rid of stuff on a regular basis, or simply never collects it.

When we were growing up she was "the neat one", the organized one, or at least that's how I saw her. Her bed always made, her clothes neatly put away, her homework always done. But it's more than being just "neat". When Chris and I were teenagers our mother gave the both of us our own shopping money for back to school clothes, and it wasn't much...seriously I think back in those days it may have been $40 bucks, if even that. One year Chris spent, what I thought was a huge amount of her allowance on ONE blouse! One blouse! That one blouse costs the same as maybe three blouses or two pairs of pants....I thought that was just crazy! Chris wore the heck out of that blouse! She wore it every week, maybe twice a week, maybe everyday! She loved that blouse. At the time I couldn't understand how she could pick only one item to own over three....ahead of her time?

It never occured to me that my "crazy" sister isn't crazy at all, in fact now I'm jealous. Christie can pick up and move anytime she wants to, who's to say that's a bad thing! Or a crazy thing? I want to crazy like that, and I will. Maybe I should give her a call....at the very least to apologize for being "judgey" all these years....I have seen the light...the crazy light!

Disclaimer: I think the world of my sister Christie, and all of my sisters. I use the word "crazy" as a term of endearment....as I'm sure she does, when describing me! (love ya Chris!)

My Journey to Freedom...out with the old...and dusty!

2011-10-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how the next few months, weeks, even days, will play out but I'm in the midst of a crazy ass clean out, de clutter, purge, give-away and so many thoughts are running through my mind that I'm just going to have to post them as they come up....

The first thoughts are those of letting go. Like I said I can't go into all the details but "letting go" has so many meanings, too many, and I'm not into spending too much time psycho analyzing. I already know all of my life's bullshit that lead me to this place....sometimes it's a good thing for bullshit because the outcome is going to be grand! Just when I thought things couldn't get better!

The one subject I'm not going to compare this purge to is losing weight. I know the analogy of surrounding yourself with "stuff" is used to describe how we surround our bodies with fat, but I lost 120lbs while living with, and still collecting, tons more stuff than I currently own. To be perfectly honest I had the buying and collecting tendencies of hoarder, my living room once looking more like a storage shed than a home but that changed years ago.

Over the past 3 years I've emptied out a 16' x 10' storage space, donated 3 truck fulls of stuff to Goodwill, given boxes and boxes of clothing away, not to mention half of my kitchen tools and gadgets and now I'm in the home stretch....I can feel it, but more importantly I can see it!

As I enter this new and bright time in my life I started to search out blogs and articles about other people that had done what I want to do...get rid of stuff, but I din't find the results to be inspiring! That's when all of a sudden it hit me....I'm not interested in other people that focus on the "problem" by working on a solution, I'm interested in people that are living it. Like losing weight, de cluttering is something we all know how to do....throw the shit out! Get over it. Move on.

I then switched my attention to "minimalists'" People who are focused on the lifestyle of living minimally. I don't really care how they got there, just that they are there and what it's like! It's possible and I know it feels like freedom.

Until this new journey comes to a conclusion I hope to write about the experience, not as a way of giving advice or "tips" but to stay in touch with what's really becoming important to me in my life. I want so much to have my family grow around me, in an uncluttered and organized environment. I want to have friends over, (heck I want to have friends!) to share good food, wine and talk about life and training. I want to be able to travel teach and speak without wondering what kind of mess I'm coming home to. I can see it, I can feel it, it's happening right now.

PS I made an appointment on Friday to have my TV picked up by Salvation Army...who know what else I'll have them haul out of my life! I'm not planning on replacing it anytime soon...it's more of a dust magnet than anything else.

Brussels Sprouts Salad w/apple & Lemon Maple dressing

2011-10-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my favorite salad these days using raw, shredded brussels sprouts. Because of the time of year I chose to use maple syrup as the sweetener. You could also use cider vinegar instead of lemon, but I find the lemon to brighten up the maple flavor. If using honey as a sweetener then I would suggest using cider vinegar.

Brussels sprouts are a hearty vegetable, like cabbage, so if making and dressing this salad in advance it will still last for 2-3 days in the fridge. If you want to make it for the week then dress it with only lemon to keep the apple from turning and add mayo and maple the day you are going to eat it.

Use a mandoline, or food processor with fine shredding disk.

15, or so, large brussels sprouts, shredded

1 lg apple, julienned, or small dice (I used Honeycrisp)

Italian parsley

Dressing (two options)

lemon juice (I used 3 lemons, I'm guessing it was about 1/4 c. which equals 4 tbls)

4 tbl mayonaise (good quality, or if you are my friend Fawn, homemade!)

2 tbl maple syrup

4 tbl apple cider vinegar

4 tbl mayonaise

2 tbl honey or raw sugar

I do not make the dressing seperate, I simply squeeze the lemon over the veg and distribute first. Then I add the mayo and maple syrup. I mix that in next and let the salad kind of "marinate" in the fridge until I'm ready to eat it.

In both of these dressing options you could stretch and increase the amount by adding 2-4 tbl of plain yogurt. Try it without first, but if you find you like your salad "wetter" without too many more calories go ahead and try the plain yogurt addition.

Oh and always season with salt!

Add a protein of your choice, I used shredded roasted chicken (and some crumbled bacon is a bonus!). This salad was inspired from my visit with Fawn last week. Apples in the salad and mayo as the base of the dressing. Fawn seems to be into roasting and eating a lot of chicken so guess what I'm doing lately? Yep, I'm on my third chicken of the week!

"The Swing" Ta-Da! Surprise, Surprise!

2011-10-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

Well....it's official! Actually it's been official, but now it's really official! Here is the cover of my book, "The Swing" on Amazon. Available for pre-order and it looks as if a Kindle version will also be available (hopefully on audio too!) Release date of March 13, 2012....how exciting! The whole experience has shot me over the moon and it's barely getting starting (fingers crossed).

Originally the release was predicted for right after Christmas but that was changed a month or so ago. I prefer the later release because it gives me a little more time to get ready and I think the audience that will be looking for something new after the onslaught of New Year's diet and fitness books run their courses will be just as large. Barnes and Noble increased their original order so you'll be seeing my face when you walk into those bookstores! And speaking of my face...how thrilling is it to have my image, an such a powerful image of me swinging, on the front cover! It's very unusual for a first time author, non celebrity, to have their picture on the cover! Lucky me!

"The Swing" is more than a diet and fitness book, I hope. It's my own personal story of how it's never too late to transform your body, your mind, and your life as I did. The kettlebell swing was the exercise that helped transform my body in a way I never could imagine. And learning how to teach this amazing skill has transformed me into a different kind of person.

Many times I hear, read and see stories of people that have lost tremendous amounts of weight go on to become personal trainers. I don't consider myself a personal trainer I consider myself a kettlebell instructor and motivational speaker. I also often say "If there was something better (than the kettlebell swing), I'd be doing it!" And as I mentioned in my last post, being in shape, getting in shape safely, allows you to try other things, other sports, in addition to improving your quality of life. The kettlebell swing is the safest and fastest way for practically anyone, age, weight, or condition,to change their physical health, their bodies, level of cardio fitness and confidence. I know no other exercise that regularly turns people into feeling like a bad ass, me included. But the kettlebell won't swing itself! (Mark's phrase)

I hope more people than ever will pick up my book, pick up a kettlebell and start to live the rest of their lives stronger, body, mind and spirit, than they ever thought possible. To find the inner athlete, the inner bad ass, the person they always knew they were, the person they were born to be. It's never too late, YOU CAN DO IT!

If You Don't Plan to Succeed, You Plan to...well, Not Succeed!

2011-10-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons why I did not attend the RKC Bodyweight Cert this past weekend is because I did not train for it. I don't regularly train planks much less pushups, or train a handstand skill. Although I have recently learned how to do a headstand and find myself upside down at least once or twice a week. My point is no matter what kind of "shape" you are in, if you don't practice other skills then don't be surprised if you can't do them. One of the best parts about being in "some kind of shape" whatever that may be (if you train something on a regular basis), is that you can practice and learn new skills easier and faster. I always say that my kettlebell training sets me up to try and train most anything else....yes, even running....if I wanted to....but I don't.

I have not yet incorporated "formal" scheduled walks as part of my weekly training. I think walking is an important part of a kind of "everyday fitness" and believe it or not you can get out of shape to walk! If you don't walk on a regular basis, much less at all, then don't be surprised if you find yourself huffing and puffing a little picking up the pace to simply catch a green light crossing the street!

So I admit, I don't schedule regular walking which I define as 3-4 deliberate two-plus mile walks a week, and ideally one long 3-4 mile walk. Deliberate describes walking for the sake of exercise, not strolling....decent quick pace but not all out race walking. Tuesday is the only day that I have a deliberate 45 min walk between workouts while I'm waiting for Mark to finish up with a client. But I do plenty of walking besides when I get a chance at a solid 2 miles. no problem.

One of the ways I walk more is I plan my errands around our small downtown area "on foot". Girya is in downtown Palo Alto and there's not a day that goes by when I don't find myself needing to go to the bank, post office, market, for coffee, or....Lululemon! I map out a route in my head of the furthest possible ways to walk one or two miles and end hitting a couple of errands near the end. The market and a cup of coffee (my reward) are usually my last stops (no body likes to have to pee half way through a walk...argh!)

Another way I get more walking into my week is that I'll chose to walk to my neighborhood market when I have only a few things I need. Most times I don't need anything really, but I am more motivated when I feel like I have a job to get done and I can always think of one or two things we need. Just this past Monday I walked to the market with a rather large, or should I say heavy, list of groceries thinking, "ah, I can carry them"....two 6lb chickens, 5 lb onions, four 1lb containers of cottage cheese, 1 qt milk, a lg head of cauliflower and lots of other produce....it was so heavy that I had to weigh my two bags when I got home just out of curiosity...30lbs! Good thing I train kettlebells!

Another way I plan to walk is if I have any appointments that require "waiting". Yesterday I took my car to be serviced and was told it would be 1 1/2 hours! yikes...what to do? Walk of course. Oh sure I could have brought my computer, or used the courtesy computers at the service center, but instead I walked a giant loop stopping at a favorite nearby wine shop next to last ( whatcha think 4 bottles of wine weigh? I say about 12lbs!) right before picking up some bar-b-que ribs and brisket for Mark. When I got back I only had another 10 minutes before my car was ready.

So what's all this got to do with planning to succeed? On my afternoon walk in PA today I was thinking about how much I enjoyed being able to run errands on foot, how lucky am I? Yet so many, most I bet, never think to do the same. Most people, me included at one time, would always choose to drive, heck when we have to park too far away from the Mall we get upset! What is the excuse? I don't have time, probably #1 reason.

Not having time and not making time are two different things. No one has time if you wait until the last minute and it's common to put things we don't want to do off until the last minute. As if somehow that makes it a legitimate excuse. Everyday I start thinking in advance, how can I, or where can I walk today? I can always seem to carve out at the very least 20 minutes. Same with lots of other things that set me up for a successful healthy lifestyle.

You can't wait last minute and without a plan. Health and fitness doesn't just happen, you make it happen. One of the things I hear more often than not is "I'm so out of shape!" Geez, I wonder how that happened? No body is a victim of being "out of shape". All anyone has to do first is to start moving their body regularly....just move it!

If you or someone you know does no kind of exercise then beginning some is an absolute chore, a bore and downright painful sometimes. But what are the choices? Don't think that doing nothing is not a choice. Don't think that letting your body become weaker and less healthy everyday is not a choice, because it is. If you don't plan to succeed, you plan to fail.

Full

2011-10-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

Do you ever come back from a trip, or a visit with a friend or family member, full of inspiration and new ideas for change in your life? And then what happens.....? So much stuff this past weekend very well could inspire me to make some changes...but will I?

Let's start out with the reason Mark and I went to St Paul. The RKC Level 3 Bodyweight Cert taught by Pavel, Mark and Max Shank. Wowie zowie.....a serious success! This was a Cert I was never really interested in attending myself. I knew what was involved from talking with Mark as he was getting his material ready and organized over the past few months. Interesting stuff, but "stuff" I know I'm not good at, or that I was willing to train in order to be a good participant in time. I'd rather hang out with my best bud Fawn, and come and go as I pleased. And let's face it anytime I want to learn I live with the Master!

Sure handstand push ups, front levers, "L-sits" on rings, etc... are skills some may only dream of but bodyweight exercise is so much more dimensional than those advanced skills. Bodyweight exercises like push ups, pull ups, dips, headstand and handstand against a wall are surely attainable, at least to some degree for most people and if trained regularly what kind of physical changes would one see, and feel? I'm not talking about a gold medal performance but what about feeling more control and confidence with how you are able to move your body?

Speaking of handstands....Fawn took me to practice Iyengar yoga with her longtime teacher William. I had a great time and learned lots! William helped me get into my first two handstands (against the wall)...ironic that I was doing handstands as Mark was teaching them? Anyway....although I had been practicing Iyengar for a couple of months hoping to attend a class with Fawn during this months visit, and I was not having a good time of it. Now I see the practice in a different way and have pretty much decided to continue learning it.

Speaking of Fawn....where do I start? I should write a completely separate blogpost about Fawn! I did not have enough time with her, and it's my own fault. There was so much for me to do in such a short amount of time. I always come home with new recipe and food ideas and this trip was no exception. I'm actually glad it was Fall during this visit because the seasonal food options are less and visiting Fawn in the middle of an abundant Spring or Summer would have just left me even more overwhelmed! I did not get to hang out in the kitchen with her but one interesting salad she was making included lavender from her garden.....darn....where am I going to get some lavender? (I'm going to have to go out foraging in neighbors yards!)

I'm so full of thoughts it feels like so much to process. It's Monday morning and I'll be off to start my day, my week, a slightly different person than last week, even more appreciative and full of life's possibilities.

Fawn's Students Rock!

2011-10-23T05:43:00.001-07:00

I had a freakin' blast Saturday morning leading Fawn's students through one of my swing workouts, soon to be known as "The Wave" and a new current favorite "Sinister"....which became known as "Sinister in St. Paul"! Swinging with over 20 people in unison was cool stuff! Fawn has been working with them all in preparation of my visit and it was impressive. We ended up swinging 980 reps in less than 50 minutes!

Tons of fun!

Swing Workout "One Minute Sets", Beg / Inter / Adv

2011-10-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the workout I scaled for three of my Sat classes. I'm calling it "One Minute of Swings". Here I use five,, 40 rep swing combinations for 1 minute worksets.

In the first rotation the rest period starts out with the shortest interval, increasing by 15 seconds between each of the 5 one minute worksets, ending with only 15 sec before the 2nd rotation.

The 2nd rotation starts with the longest rest period, and decreases the rest intervals by 15 seconds between each of the 5 one minute worksets, again ending with a 1 minute rest before rotation #3.

The third rotation only give 15 sec, never longer, never shorter, between each of the 5 worksets, with a 1 minute rest before the next work set.

The forth and last rotation has NO rest between the five 40 rep sets, it's a continuous 200 rep swing set....OR as it turned out this past weekend a continuous 100 rep swing set. (I'll explain at the end)

Here's is my #1 "beginning level" warm up, shown in video, and another, #2 intermediate level warm up. Both of these "warm ups" are perfectly suitable as a workouts in themselves if you are not yet comfortable with swing sets up to 40 reps/one min long. Just repeat it 3 times for a total of 600 reps in about 30 minutes. These are all "equal work/rest" intervals (shown in parenthesis)

"One Minute Sets"

Warm up #1 (video demonstrates this Beginning level, working up to one last 1 min long set)

10 2 hd sw x 4 sets (15/15)

10 trans x 4 sets (15/15)

1 swing, 1 tr x 10 x 2 sets (20 rep sets 30/30)

5/5 x 2 x 2 sets (20 reps sets, 30/30)

10/10 x 2 x 1 set (40 reps, 1 min/1min) (repeat x 3 if this is your workout)

200 swings, 10 min

Warm up #2 (Intermediate/Adv level)

20 2 hd sw x 2 sets (30/30)

20 tr x 2 sets (30/30)

1 swing, 1 trans x 20 x 1 (40 reps, 1 min/30 sec rest)

5/5 x 4 x 1 (40 reps, 1 min work/30 sec rest)

10/10 x 2 x 1 set (40 reps, 1 min work/1 min rest) (repeat x 3 if this is your workout)

200 swings, 9 min

Rotation #1 (video, intermediate and advanced levels)

40 2 hd sw x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

40 tr x 1 (1 min work, 30 sec rest)

1 sw, 1 tr x 20 x 1 (1 min work, 45 sec rest)

5/5 x 4 x 1 (1 min work, 1 min rest)

10/10 x 2 x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest, start next rotation)

200 swings 7 min 45 sec.

Rotation #2 (Intermediate level)

40 2 hd sw x 1 (1 min work, 1 min rest)

40 tr x 1 (1 min work, 45 sec rest)

1 sw, 1 tr x 20 x 1 (1 min work, 30 sec rest)

5/5 x 4 x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

10/10 x 2 x 1 (1 min work, 1 min rest, start next rotation)

200 swings, 8.5 min

rotation #3 (Advanced level)

40 2 hd sw x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

40 tr x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

1 sw, 1 tr x 20 x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

5/5 x 4 x 1 (1 min work, 15 sec rest)

10/10 x 2 x 1 (1 min work, 1 min rest, start next rotation)

200 swings 7 min.

rotation #4 (Advanced level)

40 2 hd sw x 1

40 tr x 1

1 sw, 1 tr x 20 x 1

5/5 x 4 x 1

10/10 x 2 x 1

200 swings 5 min.

rotation #4, alternate (Intermediate and Advanced levels)

20 2 hd sw x 1

20 tr x 1

1 sw, 1 tr x 10 x 1

5/5 x 2 x 1

10/10 x 1 x 1

100 swings, 2.5 min

In my first class we did warm up #1, rotation #2 and #3, and alternate #4 for a total of 700 swings in just under 29 min.

In my own workout, after 200 16kg snatches and 226 12kg snatches, Meg and I did rotation #1, #2 and alternate #4 with the 16kg for a total of 500 swings in 18 minutes.

My 3rd and last Advanced class we did all of these rotations starting with warm up #2, rotation #1, #2, #3, alternate #4. A total of 900 swings in about 35 min.....and that was after 30 minutes of snatches!

I chose to do #4 alternate with Meg because that's all we had time for....and we ended up going 1 min over into the next classes time. I chose #4 alternate again for my last class because, well...you do the math! To be honest I didn't have a 200 continuous swing rep left in me at that point....although I'm completely confident my class could have done it...

I did however first do the same workout I did with Meg to end my own Thursday morning training two days earlier, except ending with the original 200 rep set, using the 16kg for a total of 600 swings, 20.5 min.

A Bore? A Drag?

2011-10-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

Kind of related and unrelated.... In my blogpost about Lyfe Kitchen I wrote about "healthy" eating out and Maribel brought up a good point. She commented about how since she eats healthy on her own when she does go out "health" is not the priority. I thought that was a good point. I mean, are we trying to stay healthy or "perfectly healthy". Unless you hold and live by extreme standards of "organic", 'local", "sustainable", etc, oh and let's add constantly counting calories, 100% of the time (and if that's the case you better grow most of your own foods and for sure cook and prepare them) then laboring over what to order when eating out, trying to make the perfect healthy choice is well, boring and a drag.

I've written my concerns about becoming a drag many times in past blogposts. The kind of "drag" that complains when eating out about calorie count, about unhealthy foods, about what other people are choosing at other tables, etc. Or maybe I'm the one to order customized food unsatisfied with the menu choices or maybe not trusting the kitchen/resturant with my health. I've also not wanted to become someone that pretends to have the highest of standards and then go on a 1/2 price fun sized Snicker's binge the day after Halloween!

I was reminded of what it sounds like to be with this kind of person/people this past Saturday.

Mark and I live 1 blk away from a Foster's Freeze and we've been known to take a walk down the street, every once in a while, late on a Saturday night, for a soft serve ice cream....or a cheeseburger. Well, this past weekend that's exactly what we did. There we sat on the tiny little stools in front of Foster's Freeze enjoying our first PBJ Twister....omg it was seriously yummy! Anyway, along came a group of about 5 or 6 friends, I'm guessing they were around my age, or slightly younger, 4 men and 2 women. As they stood in front of the menu board laboring over which meal to order or skip in favor of a Twister or Sundae, the women especially started talking about the calories in the food choices. They talked about how much fat was in this, how much sugar was in that, which bad choice was worse than the other! Are you kidding me? You are at Foster's Freeze! What do you expect?

To top it off, and I don't want to come across too snobby but, they were already overweight, some more than some others, and I'm pretty sure non of them exercised on a regular basis... As I sat there "sleaze-dropping" I couldn't help but roll my eyes and be bored by the whole thing...geez... But this reminded me of my own same boring behavior. I never want to be a bore or a drag. I've got to relax or don't eat out and freakin' complain about it for God's sake.

I'm guilty of the same behavior and I don't like it! We all eat out at different times for different reasons. Most people eat out because they don't cook or prepare foods themselves and it's the only option they give themselves. Me? I eat out when I have to, and on the rare occasion when I chose to. When I'm at a resturant I'm going to stop complaining, I'm going to stop over analyzing menus, and I'm going to stop talking about calories.....promise.

Pre Meditated Swing Routine

2011-10-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

For once I know, basically, what swing routine I'm using in my three Saturday classes this morning. It's based on my progressive rest ladder using 5 sets of 1 minute long, 40 rep swing combinations.

40 2 hd swings

40 transfers

1 swing/1 tr x 20 (40 reps)

5/5

10/10

In my first class I never start out with 40 rep sets so I'll break the warm up period into smaller swing rep sets but using these same combinations. Since it's an Intermediate level we will increase the difficulty, progressively, by decreasing the rest periods...no heavier bells.

My second class is my own advanced level workout. After we snatch (probably heavy today) we will do the same workout with a heavier bell (w/16kg) and short to NO rest periods!

My third class will start out with 40 rep swing sets. I'll return to my "swing weight bell", the 12kg but the routine will progress faster into short rest periods and end with one 200 rep swing set (no rest).

Before the weekend is over I'll post video and interval instruction for all three. I don't have a name for it yet but I'm thinking I'll call it "Progressive 40". I did the advanced version on my own Thursday morning and it was tough...not sure I could do it again with the 16kg...of course I can!

A Tough Crowd

2011-10-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

Mark and I went to eat at a new "fast food" restaurant that opened up right across the street from Girya in Palo Alto called "Lyfe" Here's what Lyfe Kitchen's facebook page says about their concept:

LYFE Kitchen is a transformational, socially-responsible “lyfestyle” brand whose acronym stands for for Love Your Food Everyday. Follow us at @LYFEKitchen!

There really is alot more information about how Lyfe started, but I'm not a reporter so I invite you to gather up more info by google-ing them if you are interested in more details. Basically I became interested because Chef Art Smith is one of the co-creators.

Being a "foodie" myself, I am familiar with who Art Smith is and what has happened to him in the past couple of years. First of all Art was Oprah Winfrey's Chef, enough said. But what's more amazing than working for Oprah, much more amazing, is that Art has lost over 100lbs himself!

I've seen Art on numerous Cooking Shows most recently on "Top Chef Masters" a couple of years ago before he lost weight. Last year he returned to the Top Chef show as a judge for one of the challenges, most notable half the size as the year before. Of course I knew how he did it....he started eating right! No mystery. Good God if a professional Chef can't figure out how to eat right then who can?

The big trend everybody is starting to focus on about good health and eating is a "plant based" diet. I figured this out years ago and 100% credit it with the success of my own weightloss and lifestyle change. I consider my own diet to be plant based, but that doesn't mean plants only! I've written for years how I compose a meal based on vegetable first, protein second, fat, and then carbs. Sure I eat meat, alot of meat but I also eat more veggies than most vegetarians. And not to say that I don't have a "carb" meal without any veg like oats, or yogurt, but that's only one meal out of four daily meals.

Back to Lyfe Kitchen.....

I stopped by Lyfe Kitchen earlier in the morning to pick up a menu so I could decide ahead of time knowing Mark and I would come back after our training that afternoon. As usual, nothing on the menu excited me or impressed me enough to ever think about changing it out for any of my own homemade meals or foods....I'm a tough crowd! There wasn't anything on the menu I couldn't make better, bigger, less calories, more nutritous and cheaper myself....but I'm lucky that way. If Lyfe's philosophy is to "Love Your Food Everyday", well I already do!

I ordered barramundi with edamame, mushrooms and spinach in some kind of broth. Basically fish soup....it was OK. (I should of ordered the fish tacos that Mark had) When I was leaving the restaurant one of the Servers asked me

about my experience. I hesitated, but prefaced my comments with the fact that I had high standards.

I'm not a fan of edamame, in fact I don't care for it at all. It's a "non" flavor, they're soybeans and I consider it a carb....there are many other carbs I would chose over edamame. But I always try and choose something I would never cook at home. I never cook fish, and I've explained why in many past blogposts, so that's what I based my decision on.

Here's what I shared with the Server.....

The fish was just OK, the broth was actually good but not enough of it...its just broth for God's sake give me a little more! I think there was a couple of leaves of spinach, a decent amount of mushrooms and way to much edamame, but still only about 1/3 c I would guess.....is still didn't eat it all. She told me I could ask for the adjustments next time and the kitchen would accommodate my requests. Normally I would "custom" order had known what to expect, but I won't be back again...no need.

What I didn't tell her was how I thought the restaurant was way overstaffed, but I do recognize it was opening day and they wanted to make sure the customers were taken care of...but "too many cooks in the kitchen" (no pun intended) made the service confusing. They had one counter for credit and debit card payment and one counter for cash...really? Did this make it faster? Not in my opinion.

And I didn't find it to be "fast food" at all. In fact the

only reason why I didn't order something else or have my food adjusted is because I didn't want to wait anymore, I was HUNGRY!

Although there is no need for me to ever go back I can see the value for other people not in my situation. I guess some of the foods are better choices, especially the vegetarian and vegan choices, but in my opinion you could walk two blocks to Whole Foods and get just as many choices, faster food and cheaper! Yep, Whole Foods would be less expensive!

Mark and I spent $28 bucks! $12 per main dish and $2 per drink (I had tea, Mark had a cooler), and we were still hungry when we left.... We both grabbed one of the cookies I keep in the fridge at Girya for the ride home!

On a positive note....I had tons of fun training clubbells alongside my favorite trainer and coach...my sweetie!

Go Where the Good Training Is

2011-10-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I make things way more complicated than they need be....

I have two main practices....kettlebells and Bikrams yoga....anything else is a bonus. Yes, I walk at least 30-45 min+ twice a week and I also have on my schedule an Iyengar yoga class twice a week, which is a new addition (Mon & Fri), but my main training is spent on the first two practices. In the three days of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I total at least 6 hours of kettlebell ballistics. Sun, Mon., Wed. Thurs. and Fri., I practice Bikrams yoga, sometimes double sessions (I only take Bikrams off Sat. and Tues).

Recently I've had a love/hate relationship with Bikrams yoga, but that's another story.... This story is about how I overcame a stupid obsession about saving a buck $.

I live close to at least 5-7 yoga studios that offer Bikrams yoga classes....high quality problem! Which studio should I have my practice at? One offers this, one offers that.....location, price, convenience, consistency, heat, etc.... How could I spend my money in the best way? How could I save the most amount of money? If I'm only thinking about money $ then I must be out of my mind.....

The average monthly UNLIMITED CLASS memberships are around $100 bucks a MONTH (give or take a few $$), and considering I charge $90 for 1 hour PT then what the hell could I complain about? Good God! Sure, I'm not getting one-on-one personal attention, but I am getting 90 minutes of someone else's time, someone else paying for heat and humidity, someone else paying for the water, soap and shampoo I use after class, and someone else paying somebody else to clean it all up! High quality problem! With great relief I decided to own as many unlimited memberships at as many studios that I wanted! Small price to pay for piece of mind.

so now I have a choice of 4 studios....owning some kind of membership to all....

Without a doubt one studio particularly has consistent teaching (leading), consistent heat (freakin' important), and convenient schedule.....but it's location is twice as far. Twice as far means 15 minutes further away and therefore further back home....again, am I crazy?

Many of my regular students drive 20+ minutes to get to Palo Alto where Girya is....do I appreciate it? You bet I do! Bottom line? Go where the good training is, because let me tell you, good training is few and far between! I appreciate the time and effort some of my regulars put into showing up every week, sometimes twice, three times a week to train with me...seriously guys THANK YOU! Once I realized that I could afford not trying to save a buck my life became that much easier. If you think about all the crap you spend....no waste money on...let's get real here.... I often compare it to a large pizza! $20+ bucks for one freakin' pizza that does you no good, but yet you never blink an eye at the cost. Within one months time how much $$ money do most people spend on convenient foods?

I decided my main Bikrams yoga membership will be at Bikram Yoga Mountain View. Newly opened by owner Cynthia Wehr. I chose this location and studio for my main practice even though its further away, 30 minutes total time there and back, because of the studios consistent teaching and consistent heated environment. The new showers, locker rooms, and Brita water filters are a bonus. I do own 3 additional supplemental Studio memberships but it's a small price to pay in reality to what I value most.

What do you value? What price would afford you piece of mind and consistent health?

picture above: Bikram's "floor bow" alongside Mountain View Bikram Yoga Studio owner Cynthia Wehr. I chose to ask Cynthia to demonstrate alongside of me for this pose because it was Cynthia's example of "floor bow" that I recognized what I was lacking.....

One day in class as I was kicking up in this pose I couldn't figure out why it seemed as if my feet were so far out of my vision. I could see in the mirror that I was kicking as high as some of the more advanced practitioners but I still couldn't see my toes. It was at this time in class, by chance, I looked over and and noticed Cynthia's floor bow.....her neck extention was so much greater than mine.....ah-ha! The neck extension! Not the leg extention! I started to focus more on stretching through my chest (ribcage) extending all the way to my neck (chin). Within a couple of months I saw my toes, and that was over one year ago...next? My entire two feet!

Learn from what the best do naturally! Oh, and go where the good training is...small price to pay.

Double Standard

2011-10-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

One of the most often things I hear from others that have lost weight is that friends and coworkers will say, "Don't lose too much weight now!". This drives me crazy. Whose business is it anyway except maybe those closest to us, like our family? And who decides what losing too much weight is? Making the comment like "You're getting too skinny!" is the same as "You're getting too fat!" Neither is nice. And I find it especially insulting coming from someone who's never been fat.

Of course no one wants anyone to go anorexic, but no one wants anyone to go "obese" either. What kind of person comments to someone else that they are getting fat...."Gee, you've gained some weight, don't gain too much now." In fact, rarely, if ever, does anyone comment about weight gain, but it's complimentary to notice weightloss. My favorite is "Wow, you've lost a ton of weight". Does anyone know what a backhanded compliment this is? Why can't we just say, "You look great!" Or, "What have you been doing, you look better than ever!"

Is it more rude to notice and comment on someones weight gain or is it more rude not to say something? Is there a nice way to show concern? I can't think of a comment that would come across as caring and not insulting or embarrassing. So many times when I notice someone significant weight gain I do feel as if I want to say something, but only to try and help....is it ever appropriate? Where's Dear Abbey when I need her?

Twelve Weeks that Changed My Entire Life

2011-10-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

I consider cooking one of my hobbies. I'm always interested in learning all I can about it, so I do it often and I do it alot! In fact I'd do it more if I could eat more! If I had the time, or if my life was different, I'd think about going to culinary school, not because I want a career in the food industry, in fact I never want to work in the food industry, but it's always been a dream of mine to immerse myself in that kind of learning situation as a way to hone my skills and improve at a greater pace. Going to culinary school in another country would be off the charts cool too!

I didn't always have an interest in cooking. I wanted to be a good cook but it never occured to me how one becomes a good cook. My mother didn't have a mother that cooked, and my grandmother's mother didn't teach her to cook, and so on and so on. Growing up my definition of a good cook was anyone that could cook a turkey! (I now know the proper term is "roast" a turkey) Thanksgiving and Xmas, which was the same menu, was the only time I was ever exposed to "real food".....looking back now what I defined as "real food", besides the turkey, was green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, a jello mold, and cranberry sauce from a can.....but I do have to give credit for the stuffing recipe and gravy that I still use every year....killer! (but I learned how to make it better!) Thanksgiving turkey dinner would be my motivation, my driving force to learn how to cook.

Nearing my 32nd birthday I had a client/friend that started working in a gourmet kitchen store called Home Chef and told me about the cooking classes they offered. One program of 12 lessons particularly interested me, it was called "The Essentials". "The Essentials" was a 12 class series, one 2 hour class a week that focuses on cooking methods, principles and techniques, not just recipes. Each week we learned and practiced a cooking method, were shown a few recipes that incorporated that method, went home and practiced it on our own for 1 week and then we moved on to another the following week. The "progression" went like this, and in this order.... (goodness...I just realized I learned how to cook using my favorite way of learning...progressions! No wonder I was so successful!)

Stocks and Broths

Sauces (white and brown)

Braising and Poaching (wet heat)

Main dish and Desert Pastries

Grilling and Broiling (direct heat)

Bread and Pizza

Roasting and Baking (dry heat)

Souffles

Soups

Quick and Easy Sauces (dressing, salsas etc.)

Sauteing and Frying

Cakes

Twelve weeks that changed my entire life.

For my birthday that year Mark bought me the series of classes for $330 which was a discount from the $389 if you agreed to assist. Assisting meant that you had to come 2 hours early and help the teacher prep for the recipes, serve the students samples, and then stay to clean up afterwards. Even with the discount $300 bucks was a ton of money at the time.

I had so many "firsts" during these classes, in fact practically everything was a "first"!. The first time I had ever touched a pork tenderloin, the first time I saw a raw shrimp (I thought shrimp was always pink!), the first time I saw parsley used for anything but garnish! I had no idea what "stock" was or what to do with it. And never in a million, gazillion years could I ever predict I would make and use my own stocks on a regular daily/weekly basis. (lucky me!)

Having an obsessive personality I applied for a part time job at the store just to be able to attend all of the cooking classes I could find time for, or make the spare time for. As an employee one of the perks was free classes and I took full advantage of it.

This went on for about 2 years until one evening while sitting in a class I realized my time would be better spent at home actually cooking instead of trying to learn more! I knew enough and it was time to apply it! I figured I had spent 10 hours a week working in the store, and at least 6 hours attending classes....16 hours I could spend cooking my own foods! This is also the same reason why I don't spend too much time watching cooking shows. The 30 minutes it takes to watch Rachel Ray I could be putting dinner on my own table! I've not attended another cooking class since.

Is there more to learn? Always. But the lessons learned by doing instead of watching can be of far greater value in my opinion. Finding time, or making time, to practice is the only way to get better.....no matter what interests you. Do I think I have a natural talent for cooking? Not really. Mark has a phrase, and it's one of my favorites, "What you lack in talent you can make up for in willpower and discipline." I had the will to become a good cook and the discipline to practice....that's all.

Eat Less, or Eat Better. Pick One or Both

2011-10-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

We all know how to lose weight......eat less. I know the "experts" say to eat less and exercise more, but I don't agree with the last part. Sure you have to exercise but you can't "out-snatch a doughnut", and you shouldn't "use" exercise to try to balance out those binges...but that's a different blogpost. The point of this blogpost is that your current bodyweight is supported by the amount of calories you eat. It's not a mystery. To lower the weight of your body you need to change the amount of calories you are eating. You need to eat less, but how about different? Can you eat more "better" foods and still lose weight?

Are the calories in a bowl of oatmeal better than the calories in a bagel? Are the calories in a bagel better than the calories in a cupcake? Nutritionally some foods are "better" than others, of course.

"Better" more nutritious foods are usually lower in calories so it stands to reason that you can, in fact, eat more of them.....But at the end of the day it's calories in, calories out. Pure science. You can still overeat "better" foods and not lose bodyweight.

You would think that I would be used to the amounts, and the kinds of foods that are so readily available, but everyday I'm amazed at the abundance. You can't drive 1 mile without passing a dozen markets, bakeries, fast food, ice cream/frozen yogurt places. You can't go into a market without being assaulted by shelves of candy or seasonal treats the moment you step in the door or stand next to the cashier. And to be honest, I'm tempted, practically everyday, to buy and eat things I would never normally even think about if they weren't everywhere, God forbid they go "on sale".

All I can say is that it's a good thing I always have "better" food at home, and 99% of the time it's ready for me to just come home and serve it up....coming home to get it is the key! If I'm going to be away from home for an extended period I pack some snacks with me, a piece of fruit, some nuts, lately a couple of slices of meatloaf, but sometimes I let myself be away from home longer than I planned thinking I can wait.....but when you get hungry......

It would be so easy to buy something. (I actually had to quit practicing at one particular yoga studio because it was next to a Subway and the smell of fresh bread at noontime was way too

distracting.) It's rare that I cave in, but I do find myself seriously debating it in my head. If I didn't have good food at home I'm not sure I could resist to be honest. That's why it doesn't surprise me that most people don't. Most people don't give themselves the option of better food.

Calories add up fast and if given the choice of 1/2 cup Hagen Daaz to 2 c yogurt with a tablespoon of brown sugar, I'd chose the yogurt. (Of course I could never eat only 1/2 ice cream...that's just impossible.....) Most often I choose more nutritious foods that are less calorie dense, but lately I haven't been motivated to eat less calories overall. So in the mean time I'll keep eating well and when I can eat less I will.

You can't fool yourself into thinking you can overeat just because a food or meal is "healthy". Take a salad for instance....rule of thumb.....measure out the salad dressing first (up to 200-250 cal), then the protein (3-4 oz = 150-200 cal) and add as many veggies as you can while keeping the flavor of the salad enjoyable. Once you start to add more dressing...well....you are overeating! But a larger salad is way "better" than a cheeseburger and fries (around 600 cal), especially if you don't make either of them yourself.

Eat less when you can, if you want to weigh less. Know the calorie content of the foods you eat to make educated decisions, whether you are eating a bowl of oats or a cupcake. Extra bodyweight doesn't "just happen".

Strength, Speed, Endurance

2011-10-05T04:41:00.000-07:00

Strength, speed, endurance....pick one! Sometimes you can pick a couple, or all three, but not every workout, nor do you need to.

Tuesday morning I lead an hour long class and I do make most of that hour challenging for myself. Personally I like to "warm up" so I usually swing light (light for me) for the first 10-15 minutes before I scale up and make the workload more appropriate. Normally after class I keep training for another 30 minutes but lately Mark and I have been training Max and yesterday he let me know that 60 sets were on the schedule this week.....hmmnn....that's 30 minutes of serious cardio endurance.

I've been going heavier in previous weeks using the 16kg for 5's and the 14g for 7's but I just wasn't feelin' the heavier bells yesterday. Straight up 15/15 Max w/12kg is not really a challenge so I thought about adding swings into the rest period (work into rest for those of you that know my method of training that), but to be honest I had done enough swings earlier (I can't believe I just said that, lol).

Traditional Max for me would be 8 reps per 15 sec, but I wasn't feelin' like going that fast....

How could I make 7's with the 12kg challenging? I know, do two 15 sec sets back to back (switching hands) and take only one 15 sec rest period. Perfect. The best part was that I didn't have to keep track set by set and the time flew by like crazy! Max can get plenty boring after 40 sets....

10 sets of 7 reps (5 R, 5 L) 15/15

32 sets of 7/7, 30/15

518 snatches, 29 min.

Mark snatches at an 8 rep pace although he was training 7 reps yesterday, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to keep up with him....I love being in sync when we train.

Tracyrif"s "3 x 3" Swing Workout

2011-10-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Here is, in it's entirety, my latest workout I've titled "3 x 3" Because every rotation includes 3 sets of 10 reps, and 3 sets of 40 reps. There are a total of 150 swing reps per rotation.

Depending on how much rest you take between sets and between rotations will determine the level of cardio endurance required. The first two rotations are what I would consider a Beginning level, the last two I would consider an Intermediate level. I posted the advanced a couple of days ago which I demonstrated the shortest rest periods (rotaion #4, all 15 sec) and with a heavier bell.

You could do all of this workout with two hand swings, but I don't consider a set of 40 2 hd swing reps a "beginning" level....40 continuous two hand swings is hard! Another way to change this workout for a beginner/inter is to do all 10 reps swing sets at the beginning of each rotation with 2 hds, heavier bell or not.

"3 x 3"

rotation #1

10 2 hd sw x 3 sets (15/15)

40 tr x 3 sets (1 min/1 min)

150 swings 7.5 min

rotation #2

10 tr x 3 sets (15/15) (or 10 2 hd sw)

1 / 2 swing ladder x 4 x 3 sets (1 min/45 sec)

150 swings 6 min. 45 sec.

rotation #3

1 /2 sw ld x 3 sets (15/15) (or 10 2 hd sw)

5/5 x 4 x 3 sets (1 min/30 sec)

150 swings 6 min.

rotation #4

5/5 x 3 sets (15/15 (or 10 2 hd sw)

40 2 hd sw x 3 sets (1 min/15 sec)

150 swings 5.25 min

Total

600 swings, 25.5 min

These 4 videos demonstrate the complet 25.5 minute workout, so essentially it's a free class! Enjoy!

You May, or You May Never Lose weight....

2011-10-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

.....but you do have to exercise. You have to get in the habit of moving your body in some way, shape or form. Let's forget body weight for a minute.....

#1 regular exercise makes you stronger for just about every part of your everyday life no matter what you weigh, how old you are, or how deconditioned you've let yourself get. I'm not talking about getting "weightlifting" strong, I'm talking about not getting winded by walking up a flight of stairs. Forget about running a marathon, how about getting up off of the floor?

#2 regular exercise may be what motivates you to start eating less, or eating better by reconnecting you with your body. It becomes more clear when you start to exercise that it doesn't feel nice when your body feels heavy, and it doesn't feel nice when your body feels weak....this is why we avoid exercise in the first place.

#3 regular exercise changes you physically. Even if you don't see it right away, you feel it. You will eventually see it, but not if you quit, and for sure if you never start. Moving our bodies makes our muscles work, which in turn activates our muscle giving our muscles shape. No muscle, no shape = blob. Big blob, or small blob, no one wants to be a blob.

During these last 3 years my bodyweight has fluctuated as much as 20 lbs. Twenty pounds, although ridiculously nothing compared to 120lbs, is quite a bit of weight. It's enough bodyweight to take you up a clothing size. No matter what you weigh, going up a size and not fitting into your clothes sucks. Regular exercise helps you to "live in your body", it can help to stop 20lbs from turning into so much more.

The hardest part of being heavier for me was my Bikram's yoga practice. It sucked having to squeeze into Lycra tights that had become too small, physically and mentally. Losing parts of my practice because my thighs had become too large to wrap around eachother or getting more winded from having to move more bodymass around in the extreme heat was a little depressing too. Even feeling as if everybody in class could see I had gained weight and was judging me. But I kept going, I never quit. I wanted to run away, I wanted to hide, but what would be my excuse? To be honest

I think I didn't quit because it had become so much a part of my life it was not a choice, it's what I did.

You have to schedule in some sort of exercise. I know it seems hard, we are all so busy, everyone of us. And maybe we all do it in our own time, and maybe we have to experience our bodies failing in some way....I did. So I'm not here judging. I should have done it myself a long time ago!

Don't wait for something to go wrong. Don't wait to lose weight. You can start moving your body now, just pick something, anything, and do it consistently until you start feeling better....you will start feeling better. Start to change your life right now, it's changing whether you want it to or not anyway. You can chose to get weaker, sicker and older.....or stronger, healthier and feel more alive and younger than ever before, even if you never weigh 125lbs!

Checking My Ego at the Door, and "Tracyrif's 3 x 3 Swing workout"

2011-10-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

I always expect that I will be able to do any of the crazy ass kettlebell workouts that I come up with for myself...doesn't the phrase go, "whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can acheive"...well whoever said that has never done one of my workouts, and today I had to check my ego at the door!

I started out the morning with 600 swings in 25 min with my Intermediate class (only one brave person this morning!), and a few swing/snatch combinations to finish out the first 45 minutes. Then it was time for my own personal workout....if you ever wnat to know what I do for my own personal workout then here it is......

Starting out with 12kg snatches while the hands are fresh.....

I paced this workout "per 15 second intervals" The goal of the warm up was to get to 1 minute snatch sets with no hand switch at a Max Vo2 pace! Starting with:

8/8 x 1 (8 reps R, 15 sec rest, 8 snatch L, 15 sec rest)

16/16 (16 reps R, 30/30 sec work/rest, 16 snatch L, 30/30 work/ rest)

24/24 (24 snatch R, 45/30 sec work/rest, 24 snatch L, 45/30 work/rest)

set #1, 32/32 (32 snatch R, 1 min/30 sec work/rest, 32 snatch L, 1 min/30 work rest)

The plan was to repeat this last set, which was 1 min long, six times on both right and left hands....that was the plan....this is what actually happened....

sets # 2, 31/31 (8/8/8/7, reps per 15 sec)

sets #3, 30/30 (8/8/7/7, reps er 15 sec)

sets #4, 29/29 (8/7/7/7, reps per 15 sec)

sets #5, 27/27 (7/7/7/6, reps per 15 sec)

sets # 6, 26/26 (7/7/6/6, reps per 15 sec)

Good God! the last 3 sets on my right hand side hit the floor straight down after the last snatch...grip was gone and I had to really dig deep....but I did it! So much for 6 sets of 32/32! I knew during the second 1 minute snatch sets that I would have to give in and check my ego at the door!

So this was the first 30 minutes of my own workout, on to the next 15 minutes. Meg and I trained "I go, you go" style w/two 12kg's

1-5 short cycle dbl press
5-1 long cyle dbl press

1-5 short cycle dbl push press
5-1 long cycle dbl pu press

1-5 short cycle dbl jerk
5-1 long cycle dbl jerk

much to my delight this took about 15 minutes as I knew how I wanted to finish the workout....the same way I started the morning only much, much harder!

Tracyrif's 3 x 3 swing workout

I love my new workout! I call it "3 x 3". It consists of 3 sets of 10 reps and 3 sets of 40 reps, which equal 150 swing reps! Two rotations = 300 swing reps. You can scale it in three differnt ways. #1, rest periods, #2 bell weight, and #3 one hand or two had swings. I will post video of all levels, but here is the super advanced! All swings are 2 handed and with a heavier bell (Meg and I used the 16kg)

This workout is based on my "progressive rest period" workout I posted in August, after I came home from Hungary, in which the rest periods increase as the full rotation progresses. http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-rest-ladder-my-new-favorite.html

10 2 hd swings x 3 (15/15)
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 15 sec rest
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 30 sec rest
40 2 hd swings 1 min work, 45 sec rest

150 swings, 6 min.

repeat with

10 2 hd swings x 3 (15/15)
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 15 sec rest
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 30 sec rest
40 2 hd swings 1 min work, 45 sec rest

total 300 swings, 12 min.

Each rotation has 150 swings....I love this workout! I will post the Beginner and Intermediate version tomorrow. (video is coming...)

So, there you go! You want to know what my own personal workouts are like....there it is. A solid 60 minutes of snatches, cleans/presses and swings. Life is good!

Slow Carb Diet Friendly Meatloaf! Yes, it's true!

2011-09-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm not going to lie....I've been testing recipes trying to get into Tim Ferriss' next book, "The 4 Hour Chef"! Of course I'm taking into consideration the rules of the Slow Carb Diet and mostly I've been testing pressure cooker recipes. While testing a recipe for Lentils w/Mushrooms I dug deep into my pantry and pulled out a couple of packages of dried mushrooms I buy from the Asian markets. Dried mushrooms are really inexpensive in Asian markets but the variety is limited. I find Shitake the most common at the Korean and Japanese markets while Porcini seems to be predominant in the Vietnemese markets.

I use dried mushrooms mostly for beef and barley soup w/mushrooms or mushroom soup in the fall and winter months and usually I don't find myself using dried mushrooms in
the spring and summer. But since my focus has been on Slow Carb Diet friendly recipes in the PC, dried mushrooms are a perfect pantry item to use in the PC. They easily rehydrate while being cooked under pressure eliminating the "pre-soak" step while adding a ton of flavor.

So how did I go from lentils and mushrooms to meatloaf? Well, I remembered how I used to make fish crusted with mushrooms years ago and to do that you take dried mushrooms and crush them in a spice grinder (coffee grinder especially used for spices, NOT coffee!) until they resemble bread crumbs.....hmmnn....bread crumbs.....viola!

Slow Carb Diet Friendly Mushroom Meatloaf

1 lb ground meat (I used full fat ground beef)

1 onion diced

2 celery stalks diced

big handful of baby spinach

Cook onion and celery until translucent in 1 tbl olive oil, and then add spinach to wilt in residual heat. Cool and add to ground meat along with:

1 egg
1 oz dried mushrooms, crushed in spice grinder
1 t. kosher salt (if using iodized or sea salt use slightly less)

Mix all ingredients together and form into a loaf, cook at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a meat thermometer comes out 165 degrees.

I normally would make a meatloaf 1 1/2 - 2 lbs, but I only had one pound of ground beef. If using more ground meat add two eggs instead of one, and double the amount of dried mushrooms. You can use a mixture of ground meats, like pork and beef, turkey and pork, lamb and chicken, but DO

NOT use all lean meats or your meatloaf will be dry as a bone! Also I find that 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to every pound of meat has never failed me as far as the correct seasoning. Black pepper is up to you....I find black pepper pairs well with mushrooms. Sorry, no ketchup! But it's so delicious you won't miss it!

You can use this same mixture for meatballs, only use chopped spinach if adding greens, Of course the veg addition is always only optional, but not in my house! I add extra veggies to everything (even my smoothies!)

Lentil and Mushroom recipe coming soon.

Monday Morning

2011-09-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

The more time I spend around people that don't workout at all I start to vaguely remember what it was like to fill my day with all kinds of other things to do, and you know what? The list of other things you can do is endless. Sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time, too much of my life, focused on food and exercise. But I always come to the conculsion that if I wanted to do other things there are plenty of hours in the day, and it all comes down to prioritizing and organization. My priorities are not the problem but I do admit I lack organization. Some of the other things I think I'd like to do fall victim to "not enough time", but what I really mean is "I don't make enough time"! If you don't plan to succeed then you plan to fail.

It's easy to fill my day with the two things I love to do, food prep and training, but there are many other things I love to do and people I'd love to do them with, but not at the sacrifice of myself. I now know the difference of what it feels to be healthy, strong, and fit, and if I'm not healthy and feeling good about myself then all the other stuff is just "filler". I don't have to chose, I have enough time for it all. But not everyone feels like they do.

What are the things you do in your life, the things you fill your day with that are not supporting getting healthier? Your job takes too much time? Family obligations, or your kids and their activites take up too much time...I can understand....here's the thing.... If you surround yourself with others that don't prioritize health....let's not even include fitness, although they go together....then it's near impossible to make it a priority for yourself. I really do not understand how unsupportive most people are to good health. If you want to spend time with other people "unhealthy and unfit" rules.

There are only so many hours in the day and if you chose to spend some of those hours with other people then you are more than likely going to spend them eating junk and/or sitting around. Let's take the obvious like throwing a party or going to a party. Who says you have to serve junk foods, or enormous unlimited portions? It would be almost freaky for a host to say that there's only one serving per person! Usually everybody encourages of 2nd's, 3rd's and more! "Help yourself! Oh, and take some home too!"

If someone wants to spend time with me they will be going for a walk, get dragged out to the garage for a swing lesson, get a lesson in cooking and/or food prep, eating good foods, or invited to a yoga class!

Before you think that I'm uncaring and not understanding of what it's like for most people let me remind you that I used to be "most people". Just because I'm in the minority now doesn't mean that I forgot what it was like. What I'm starting to recognize is that "like attracts like". The more unhealthy people you hang around the more likely you are one of them. The more healthy people you hang around with the more likely you are, want to be healthier.

Mark told me the other day that the number of overweight people in the world out numbers straving people! There are more overweight people in this world than there are people starving....sorry, I had to repeat it.

Although I started this post yesterday morning, it's now Monday morning and I'll be off to yoga early. The weekend is past and the "slate" is clean....it's not too late to start over...even if you start tomorrow, on a Tuesday! If not now, when?

How to Progressively Scale My "100" Swing Workouts

2011-09-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some suggestions on how to scale the last "100" workout I posted a couple of days ago. I already worked out the timing, and made some adjustments to the end of the workout if you wanted to add more swings, or more training time.

1st rotation = 40 swings
15/15 x 4 = 2 min (all levels)

2nd rotation = 80 swings
30/30 x 4 = 4 min
(30/30 x 4 = 4 min, intermediate)
(30/15 x 4 = 3 min, advanced)

3rd rotation = 120 swings
45/45 x 4 = 6 min
(45/30 x 4 = 5 min, intermediate)
(45/15 x 4 = 4 min, advanced)

4th rotation = 160 swings
1.0/1.0 x 4 = 8 min.
(1.0/30 x 4 = 6 min, intermediate)
(1.0/15 x 4 = 5 min, advanced)

total workout up to this point
20 min = 400 swings
(17 min = 400 sw, intermediate)
(14 min = 400 sw, advanced)

video shows last 2 rotations

5th rotation
10 2 hd sw
20 tr
1/2 sw ld x 3 (30 reps)
5/5 x 4 (40 reps)
5 min = 100 sw
(4.25 = 100 sw, intermediate)
(3.5 = 100 sw, advanced)

6th rotation
5/5 x 1
1/2 sw ld x 2
30 tr
40 2 hd sw
5 min = 100 sw
(4.25 = 100 sw, intermediate)
(3.5 = 100 sw, advanced)

total workout
30 min = 600 swings
(25.5 min = 600 sw, intermediate)
(21 min = 600 sw, advanced)

If you are training at an intermediate level and you want to make this workout closer to 30 minutes then I suggest you push yourself slightly and repeat the last rotation at the advanced level intervals of only 15 sec.. This will add 100 more swings and another 3.5 minutes to your workout for a total of 29.0 minutes and 700 swings.

If you are training at an advanced level I challenge you to repeat the last two rotations without any rest between the four combinations, taking 1 minute rest between the two sets. That means you end the workout with two 100 rep sets, adding 6 minutes and 200 more swings for a total of 800 swings in 27 minutes.

NEW! The Latest Classic "100" Swing Workout for Beginners

2011-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

In my Tuesday morning class I usually lead everybody through 30-40 minutes of swings followed up with the last 10-15 minutes of snatches, or lately squats, but yesterday I surprised my class, and myself, by leading them through a workout of over 500 snatches (532 to be exact, not counting swings!). I still had to get my swings in though!

I took a short walk to think about how I was going to get them done. I needed to swing the 12kg for at least 20 minutes before my Max workout with Mark which I knew I would be swinging the 16kg for 10/10 x 50 instead of snatching....I've renamed tha workout to "Max swing O 2" lol. Anyway....I will post video this week about how to scale this routine for Intermediate and Advanced levels and talk about program design, but here is the Beginners version...enjoy!

NEW Classic "100"

I'll be repeating this one a few times as the week goes on. basically it's 4 sets of 10, 4 sets of 20, 4 sets of 30, 4 sets of 40 and then one set of 10,20,30,40 twice.

10 2 hd sw x 4 (15/15 x 4 = 2 min)

20 2 hd sw x 1
20 tr x 3 (30/30 x 4 = 4 min)

30 2 hd sw x 1
30 tr x 1
1/2 sw ld x 3 x 2 (45/45 x 4 = 6 min)

40 2 hd sw x 1
40 tr x 1
1/2 sw ld x 4 x 1 (40 reps)
5/5 x 4 x 1 (40 reps) (1.0/1.0 x 4 = 8 min.)

20 min = 400 swings

10 2 hd sw
20 tr
1/2 sw ld x 3 (30 reps)
5/5 x 4 (40 reps)
5 min = 100 sw

5/5 x 1 (10 reps)
1/2 sw ld x 2 (20 reps)
30 tr
40 2 hd sw
5 min = 100 sw

30 min = 600 swings

PS if you've forgotten what "1/2 sw ld" is then revisit this blogpost,

http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/2011/09/tracys-newest-10-rep-swing-combination.html

Weekend Corn-a-thon (the feelings and fear of not having enough)

2011-09-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

Whew! Last night as I finished my third 6qt batch of corn chowder. I was beat, my feet were tired from standing all day, my hands dry from doing dishes and I still have corn left to deal with. It's my own fault, and I'm not complaining it's just sometimes I wonder how I let the residual chilhood feelings of not having enough, or not getting enough creep into my adult life.

I bought a case of corn on Sat., that's 48 ears of corn. 48. It was the last week to buy the best local white corn at the Farmers' Market and then it would be gone forever (I'm being purposely dramatic). What will I do when I run out? So I bought a case planning on freezing a big stash of chowder, kernels and cobs for stock. Oh, and I bought a 20lb box of tomatoes too!

I know why I do this, it's not because I'm going to run out of food for goodness sake. I do this because I'm afraid that I will. Or, I'm afraid I'll run out of what I want. Or I'm afraid I'll need more and I won't have it. The core feeling is fear, and I don't like acting out of fear....but as I recognize how I let it happpen I do it less and less all the time, isn't that great? I think it is.

In fact it's this feeling of running out, not having, or getting enough food that I believe is what led me to establish the habit of overeating. I know it's the feeling that leads me to still overbuy food for sure (48 ears of corn for instance) Combine that with the fear of throwing food away "wasting it", and before you know it over buying and overeating become habits that grow bigger, stronger, and less conscious. I was not eating because I was hungry I was eating because I was afraid.

Here is something I repeat to myself if I find myself feeling anxious and fearful about this, "There's enough, there's enough, there's enough. Enough of what? Enough of everything." Not just food, but let's start there.

When I see candy or cookies on sale and I want to buy them all I remind myself that I don't need to because there's enough. There will always be more where that came from.

When I'm at a buffet and I start to load up my plate with stuff I know I can't eat, or go back for more after I'm already full, I remind myself that there's enough. As Mark always says "It's a meal, not a party!"

When Whole foods or Costco is giving aways free samples, I remind myself there's enough. I can afford to buy anything I want, and I certainly don't need to stuff free samples of foods in my mouth that I wouldn't buy anyway.

I'm not saying that I don't react to old feeling of lack, I've got over 12 qts of corn chowder that proves I do! But being able to have the awareness of why I make the choices I do is as important as the choices I make. At the end of the day everything I do is a choice, even the way I feel is a choice.

Everyday I feel more in control of the feelings I want to have. Feelings like trust and hope, excitement and luck. Feeling safe and taken care of, smart and competent.....and gratitude that I have an extra freezer at Girya!

Making Your Own Spice Blends

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you all buy your spices in bulk, but I find that you can save alot of money and if you put together your own spice blends you can save alot of time too!

As I wrote about in my last blog post I make a ton of chili. Mark likes it, Gabe likes it, it's fast, highly nutritious with the addition of a ton of veggies, and talk about versatile. Pick your beans (or no beans) pick your protein, beef, pork, chicken, turkey, sausage....the possibilities are endless. The great equalizer is chili spices. The only spice you really need is red chili powder.

My basic blend is always:

2 tbl red chili powder

2 tbl paprika

2 tbl oregano (ground or leaves)

2 tbl cumin

1 t. red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

I almost always have these spices in my pantry. If I'm missing one, it's not a big deal. The only other thing I add to my pot of chili is one or two canned chipotle peppers that I keep in the fridge.

Other additions can be your own personal taste.

sage

thyme

garlic powder

onion powder

cayenne

chipotle pepper powder

cinnamon

cocoa powder

corriander

etc.

Since I've been testing recipes I stocked up on my chili spices at the Mexican market. For $.99 a packet I usually refill my spice jars as I need them. It never occured to me to refill my spice jars with the blend already measured out until the other day! DUH! But then again I never make pot after pot of chili. Although it only takes minutes to measure out, most of the time is spent retrieving all of the spices from my cabinet, if you do it ahead of time it takes 1 second.

I was able to pre-fill about 10 spice jars. I'm so happy, and I'm ready for the next pot of chili. Now that I'm comfortable with using dried beans, my PC and I are only about 30 min away from the next batch!

Slow Carb Friendly, Vegetarian "Holy Trinity Chili w/ Red Beans"...oh and it's fat free too!

2011-09-16T05:07:00.001-07:00

I've been testing a lot of recipes lately in my pressure cooker (s), specifically in my 4 qt PC, mostly Slow Carb friendly, and mostly different kinds of beans. As much as I use my pressure cookers there is still much to learn about it, like cooking unsoaked beans....dry beans. And although beans are not my "slow carb" choice, instead I prefer lentils and split peas, I cook and prepare more than my share of beans because I eat soup, stews or chilis on a daily basis.

I'm not a vegetarian, not even close, but because my meals are vegetable dominant most everything I make could be vegetarian minus the meat! I set out to test a chili recipe that would be fast and easy for a someone without a lot of kitchen experience. I wanted to design a recipe that did not require good knife skills and that did not require too many extra steps. So for the first time ever I used my food processor to chop the vegetables.

I did this for two reasons. I wanted to use the vegetables to flavor the chili as well as to thicken it. Originally I did not want to use tomato or any kind of tomato sauce or paste....that's the part that didn't quite work out! But I discovered one thing that I hadn't counted on which was it ended up being fat free....not that I believe in fat free meals, but if you add meat that's where you get some fat, or if you keep it vegetarian, and by saving a few calories from fat, you could top it with cheese, or sour cream.

I've made chili a thousand times and probably never the same twice. Chili is a very forgiving "stew" because the amount of spices you use pretty much can cover up any kind of mistake you could possibly make! Chili is defined many ways. Some say no beans (which could never be vegetarian of course), some say no tomato (I happen to be in this camp), some say no ground meats, some say no veg other than onion, but what they all agree on is spice! Chili has to have chili spices, that's what makes if chili!

Back to my "Holy Trinity Chili". After writing my blog post about mirepoix I was thinking how green bell peppers get a bad rap alot ot times. Green bells technically are not ripe yet, when they ripen they turn red, so especially raw, green bells may not have alot of fans. Personally I find green bells to make a nice addition for many stews and chilis, so I decided to focus this recipe on the South's holy trinity instead of the french mirepoix....no carrot. And since I was using the South as my inspiration I also used red beans.

Holy Trinity Chili w/ Red Beans

chili spice mix

2 tbl chili powder

2 tbl smoked paprika

2 tbl dried oregano

2 tbl cumin (ground or flaked or combination of both)

1 t. red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

1-2 chipotle chilis (canned)

1 lg onion

3 celery stalks

1 lg green bell pepper

1-2 red bell peppers

1 14.5oz can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 garlic bulb (bottom 1/3 cut away)

1 1/2 c. red beans (dry and unsoaked)

4 c. water (or veg stock)

First thing is to assemble all of your ingredients as the recipe goes fast. Measure out dry chili spices, and have the chipolte (s) ready. Chop onion, celery, green bell and red bells into large chunks before putting them in the food processor. Process until small pieces, but don't pulverize them, do not turn them into paste! Open the can of tomatoes and measure out your beans. The garlic is a no brainer, just cut off the bottom third, the whole thing will go in the PC, no need to chop.

OK, heat your 4 qt PC. When the bottom of the pan is hot add your dry spices and toast for 1-2 min until fragrant...this happens fast! Add chipotle and toast with spices another minute, add chopped veggies. Mix spices and veggies, cook 3-5 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes with their juice, bulb of garlic, red beans and 4 c. water (or stock).

Lock the lid on PC, bring pressure to high. Lower heat to maintain high pressure and start timing 25 min. (dry beans take longer). Let the pressure come down naturally, about 5-10 min, open lid and test beans to make sure they are done. (I did this recipe twice and the first time they were not done at 20 minutes, so I added another 5 minutes).

Take out whole garlic bulb, bay leaf and chipotle chili (s). Mash with potato masher to thicken and season with salt and pepper.

NON VEGETARIAN Either brown some ground meat or sausage beforehand, (or a combination of both...I used chorizo), or in another skillet while chili is cooking and add to chili after it's done.

NON PC Basically the same recipe only with canned beans, drained and rinsed. After all ingredients are in the pot, bring to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer (slightly uncovered), cook for 15-20 minutes to blend all of the flavors and proceed with recipe.

Tracy's Newest 10 rep Swing Combination, one and one, two and two (1/1 + 2/2) Revised!

2011-09-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

(9/11) I finally came up with a official name this morning.....maybe it took writing it all down for the light bulb to go off. The new official name is "1, 2 swing ladder" it will be written in the future as "1/2 sw ld", one, two, swing ladder, one two swing ladder...that's it!

I've been using this new swing combination since last year thinking I would include it in some new material for a "Programming the Swing #2", but decided to share it now, publicly, because it's been such a great addition to my routines I didn't want to wait any longer.

This 10 rep swing combination fits inbetween "transfers" and "5/5", so the order is,

10 2 hd swings
10 transfers (H 2 H)
1/1, 2/2
5/5

One of the reasons why I haven't written about it is that I'm still trying to come up with a name for it besides "1/1, 2/2" (one and one, two and two)....it seems as if I could come up with something better and easier to describe it but I'm just lacking....so 1/1+ 2/2 it is!

Here's how it adds up to 10 reps:

1 swing R, 1 tr, 1 sw L, 1 tr, 2 sw R, 1 tr, 2 sw L, 1 tr. Ten reps total (see video)

All of my swing routines are based on 10 or 20 rep combinations, and previously the combination between one hand transfers and 5/5 one hand swings was "swing transfers". Swing transfers can only be used in 20 rep increments so as to evenly work both R and L. I needed something that could go into 10 reps evenly.....lucky me I swing a ton and came up with this 1 and 2 swing ladder. I love it when stuff works out!

As I mentioned I've been using it alot...alot, alot! It's just one more progressive variable to mix things up and make training fun! Here is a simple beginners workout using this combination, all work to rest ratios are equal. Whatever your skill or cardio endurance level choose the appropiate bell and it will be hard enough!

10 2 hd swing x 2 sets (15/15 x 2 = 1 min)
10 tr x 2 sets (15/15 x 2 = 1 min)
1/1 + 2/2 x 2 sets (15/15 x 2 = 1 min)
5/5 x 2 sets (15/15 x 2 = 1 min)

total 80 swings, 4 min.

20 2 hd sw x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)
20 tr x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)
1/1 + 2/2 x 2 (30/30 = 1 min)
5/5 x 2 (30/30 = 1 min)

total 80 swings, 4 min

10 2 hd sw, 10 tr x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)
10 tr, 1/1 + 2/2 x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)
1/1 + 2/2, 5/5 x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)
5/5, 10 2 hd sw x 1 (30/30 = 1 min)

total 80 swings, 4 min

10 2 hd sw, 10 tr, 1/2 sw ld, 5/5 x 4 sets (1 min. work, 1 min rest x 4 = 8 min.)

total 160 swings 8 min.

400 swings, 20 min.

Enjoy, there's more to come, much more!

Non ingredients, the one big ingredient, and Corn Chowder

2011-09-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I'll get to the farmers market in time to buy some corn before it sells out, if not I'll have to make an extra effort to get to a different market tomorrow morning. I have an alternate plan however....if Ican get a box or two of tomatoes then it'll be tomato soup as this weeks "stock up" cooking project.

I spent most every morning this week testing and writing recipes. It's actually been really fun and exciting and I wish I had a reason to do it more often, maybe I will in my future. Anyway, listing the ingredients for a recipe is easy compared to writing the instructions of what to do with them, in other words how to cook! If you are not an experienced cook looking over a list of ingredients can be overwhelming if there are more than just a few....how many is just a few? That's when it occured to me that if I could group ingredients together to make them one standard ingredient, and list them as such, a recipe wouldn't look or seem as complicated or time consuming.

Oil is usually the first ingredient in any cooking recipe. Does oil even need to be listed at all? It should be a non ingredient. At a certain point you should know that you've got to start with a little oil in your pan for a saute. What kind of oil is personal preference unless it drastically alters the taste of a recipe or the perfomance of the cooking (if you need an oil wi

th a high smoke point because of super hot and fast style of cooking would be an example) It should only be "not listed", in other words, if for some crazy reason you don't need it, then the recipe should say so!

Salt...and pepper. Really? Seasoning your food as you go along should be a given...it should be a habit. Food needs seasoning (salt). If you watch any cooking show you will see the Chefs seasoning at each step, after the addition of each ingredient. Especially at the very end, the last thing you do is.....taste, and adjust the seasoning. Salt and pepper? Non ingredients.

Garlic. You either like garlic or you don't....and who doesn't? I can see not liking raw garlic, or too much gar

lic but in savory dishes if you like it then use it. Garlic should be a non ingredient.

Red pepper flakes. If you like a little heat, like we do, then a pinch of red pepper flakes is conducive to all kinds of flavor profiles from Mexican to Asian, Italian and maybe even Hungarian!

Now for the one big ingredient....onion, celery, carrot. The French call it a mirepoix (meer-pwah). Most every savory dish starts with mirepoix, at least my recipes do! It's common in about every style of cooking in many countries. In creole cooking it's know as "Holy trinity", "refogado" in Portuguese cooking, "soffritto" in Italian, "sofrito" in Spanish and "suppengrun" in German.

This combination of vegetables are known as aromatics and if you don't think they make a difference try making a soup, stew, sauce or stock without them! Oh I'm sure that many types of regional cooking has their own non ingredients, what is an ingredient that you always use? An ingredient that is within arms reach of your stove?

Corn Chowder

oil
onion
celery
chard stems
yellow bell pepper
jalapeno (fresh)
carrot
yellow summer squash
corn
stock (or water)

Corn chowder is basically a vegetable stew whose main ingredient is corn. No other vegetable should overpower the corn flavor so I made my own corn stock to bump up the corn flavor even more since I use a ton of other ve

ggies.

All veggies are cut into a small dice, added to the pot in the order I listed, and seasoned with a pinch of salt before the next ingredient is added. First saute the onion, celery, chard stems (totally optional), and peppers for 5-8 minutes, add carrot, summer squash and corn. Barely cover with stock (or water).

If you are using garlic or red pepper flakes, or both they should be added after the first veg saute and before the last veg addition of carrot, squash and corn.

Although I used my pressuer cooker you can simply bring the chowder to boiling in a big soup pot (with the lid on), turn the heat down, slighty uncover and cook until all the veggies are soft.

When done cooking use and immersion blender to make the chowder smooth and creamy leaving it as "chunky" as you want to your own personal taste. Season with salt and pepper.

I could give you exact measurement of each veg, I could give you exact measurement of stock, I could give you exact cooking time, but it all of the comes with experience so try it on your own! You don't have to use chard stems, summer squash or peppers, the important veggies are the mirepoix and the corn. Let me know how it goes....or share one of your favorite veg chowder ideas...."ideas" not recipe!