It's Just the Beginning. 10 x 10 the next series.

I have been overwhelmed with the response to my latest 10 x 10 workouts!  The amount of support and excitement I've received via emails, messages and comments privately and publicly has been such a nice surprise.  Really, I had no idea how the first video would be received because truly I was a little irritated when I shot it, and I had to run it by Mark first to ask if it was okay to post!

So here we are now.  Many people did indeed start up a program, by finding some relief in my message of consistency, not long workouts, high reps, and big numbers.  Some for the very first time, while others found motivation to start again. Consistency and inclusion is what I want to promote.  Anybody and everybody can start to change their condition of health, fitness, strength and shape of their body right now, and it doesn't take much, it just takes something!  I do have some long term 10 x 10 plans, but let's worry about now, not 6 months from now! 6 months will come, whether you do something or not, so please, join us in moving in the direction of improvement.

This next 10 x 10 and the 9 to follow will focus less on strict interval training, and more on the importance of successfully completing your sets and reps with crisp and concise movements.  I've got to get to work so I'll simply leave you with the next video to follow along to, where I explain a bit more about taking longer rest periods between sets.  There are a number of reasons why someone might need more rest, and reasons to purposely take more rest whether you think you "need" to or not.  This video demonstrates and takes you through your 10 sets of 10 with twice as much rest, working with 15 seconds of swings to 30 seconds of recovery.  For some even a longer recovery may be in order and I will be posting more about that to come.  If you are used to training with equal work to rest then use this interval ratio with a heavier bell OR concentrate specifically on making each and every swing rep perfectly powerful with a moderately heavy bell.  Gotta go.....I'm late for work!  Enjoy!




PS  I just wanted to explain my low energy at the start of this video....I had already done my own workout that consisted of a 10 x 10 w/36kg thinking I was going to post that video but I forgot to press the video start button.  I didn't plan on re-taping another 10 x 10 so I was beat, add in a freezing cold garage gym and jet lag.....but I did it! 

"Tracy Reifkind's 10 x 10 Project" with bonus workout

I started posting these 10 x 10 workouts kind of by accident.  For some crazy reason within a week's time I had received a couple of facebook messages and a couple of private emails from friends, of sorts, reaching out to me for help, support and/or inspiration to get started again after falling off the wagon of exercising regularly and eating sensibly.  I also had a rash of last minute cancellations from regular one on one clients and that pushed me over the top!  Anybody that has ever had a personal conversation with me knows, for a fact, how deeply I believe in what I do, and how deeply I believe that anybody can do the same.  Many times I think I believe in you more than you believe in yourself.  I write in The Swing that I will always be your biggest cheerleader, and that is and has been true.

But sometimes I get tired too.  I get tired of listening to the excuses, to the resistance, to the victimization, to the whining.  Who's cheering my training on?  Who's motivating me to get up in the morning, go outside to a cold, dark, frozen garage to workout?  Or to drive thru traffic for 30-45 minutes to teach a class, or a private session that no one might show up for?  Something I hear a lot from people is that they think I'm disciplined, that I'm self motivated, and yes, I might be some of the time, maybe even most of the time, but not all of the time.  It's those times that I have to dig a little deeper, sometimes I have to not "dig" at all, not "think" and just do.  I have to just do.  

So out of my frustration I video taped the very first, and at the time only one, simple 10 x 10 workout almost three weeks ago.  I had no idea that I would get this brainstorm to offer a free series of ten total, 10 x 10 workouts, every other day in hopes that one of those people that asked me for help and support would either find inspiration or simply do the workouts out of guilt!  I was asked for some of my time and in return I was simply asking for five minutes theirs (yours).  I have more to share with you about the beginning, the why's and how's, of my "10 x 10" Project but for now lets see how we do with these, shall we?

November 29th I posted the first 5 workouts, all in a row for you to find easily and follow along with  every other day (after posting them individually on facebook), in order, if you chose to, or to group together and follow along with all five of them consecutively for a really great workout in itself.  Maybe two, three four or five consecutive10 x 10's is a goal for you to set in a few weeks, or maybe a challenge for your next workout.  These 10 x 10's will always be here for you.  Here are the last five, starting with #6.  I had to post them a little out of the order I taped them because of my travel schedule and not knowing exactly where I might have the opportunity to video tape and/or have internet access to download them on Youtube.

The last one, the tenth, is a longer workout and if you watch it I describe the first part of the workout, which I did not video tape.  The 24kg 10 x 10 was at the end of the last workout I did in the last minutes the morning before I left on our trip to Israel, still in the clothes I slept in (yes, I did just admit I trained in my pajama sweats!).  By the time I finished packing I had only 1 hour to swing, shower and get dressed to leave.  I describe the entire workout, and at the bottom of this post I will give you the written version in case it's something you would like to do in it's entirety.

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10


I had only a very short time and I had no idea what I was going to do, so I started with 40, 12kg two hand swings, which I know takes one minute to complete.  I also know that the 12kg is more of a warm up weight for me and since I had very little time to work up to a "training" weight I needed to move on quickly.  I had to get to the 14kg next....this inspired a pattern. I could simply repeat the same set with all of the bells I had available to me, and in my gym that includes the incremental sizes, 14kg, 18kg, 22kg that are in between the standard weight increases of the 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, and 24kg.  Lucky me, huh?  But you can do this workout with one weight or any number of weights, and for that fact any number of sets.  The entire workout is simply sets of 40 reps, followed by 10 sets of 10 reps (or a few more!)

12kg 40 2 hd sw (1 min work/1 min rest)
14kg 40 2 hd sw
16kg 40 2 hd sw
18kg 40 2 hd sw
20kg 40 2 hd sw
22kg 40 2 hd sw
24kg 40 2 hd sw

24kg 10 x 10 2 hd sw (video starts here)
22kg 10 2 hd sw
20 kg 10 2 hd sw
18kg 10 2 hd sw
16kg 10 2 hd sw
14kg 10 2 hd sw
12kg 10 2 hd sw

Done!  22 minutes, 440 swings, AND the weights put away, now off to Israel I went!  Where will you be off to after your next workout?

Israel

It's Sunday morning here in Israel, and probably around 10:00pm, Sat. night, back in California.  Mark and I arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon, and time seems to be flying by much too quickly.  Our time here started with work obligations on Thursday so not much sight seeing, and sad to say that a mistake in our departing flight will not leave much time for sight seeing before we have to leave on Tuesday morning.

Long story short, before I go on, is that our departing flight leaves at 1:00am Tuesday, which looked on our itinerary to be "Tuesday night" at 1:00, BUT 1:00 is AM, not PM so we leave "Monday night", but actually Tuesday morning.  We tried to change it in order to stay at least one more night but taking all possibilities into consideration it was not going to work out both in flights, money and time away from work.  This means that we will only have Monday to travel to Jerusalem, leaving behind any other parts of this beautiful country.

I have very little pictures to share because most of our time has been spent indoors, and surprisingly apart, and when we are together Mark is busy teaching TH - Sunday (today).  Personally I have spent my time doing a little shopping, teaching swing programming, hanging out at the Cert, and oversleeping while my poor husband is working his butt off!  I was also able to go to a yoga class Friday morning and thought I might spend more time catching up on my business, my blog and facebook.  Where has the time gone?

The first morning I was here Mark had speaking engagement and I didn't have anything scheduled until 6:00 that evening (swing workshop).  That left me some time to do one of my favorite things, go to the local market!  I was on a mission for fresh spice blends and dried fruits, which I was made aware that are some of the special foods of this country.  With the help of my hostess, Liat, she knew exactly where to take me, Eden market.  

Eden market is like Whole Foods on steroids!  (probably not a good analogy)  Even in a country where the quality and freshness of foods is likely to be better than ours there is still consciousness about organic and unprocessed foods, and also like practically every other place on the face of the earth there are plenty of junky processed foods.  

As soon as you walk into Eden market it's overwhelming.  The bulk section is at the front of the store and includes spices, teas, dried fruits, beans, rices, grains and so much more.  Then comes the produce.  Not a huge selection like we are used to because most of it is local and seasonal.  A small lunch counter serving fresh soups, salads, kabob, hummus is in the center of the store.  Behind is the olive bar, cheese and meat counters, and of course, the bakery. The selection of breads is nothing short amazing.  



I want to write more, but other than the market, the Cert, a couple of swing workshops, a few fabulous dinners out there is not much more I have time to share right now.   I do want to add that it is an entirely different experience than our last trip to Italy and Croatia, and I hope to have time to elaborate, if not before I leave as soon as I get home.  I hope we can come back soon, it's been an amazing experience.

Photo top: bulk spices at Eden.  Middle photo: SFG female candidates, Maren Kravitz, Tzvia Ben-Shamon, and I.  Bottom photo: the best med "rare" burger I've ever had at Moses Burger in Tel Aviv (beef, lamb and veal).

It all started with 10 x 10. And I'm not kidding.

Here is my next 10 x 10 workout (#6).  I took 5 minutes to video tape it this evening even though I'm not even close to being packed for our trip to Israel on Tuesday morning.  If I have 5 minutes to tape it then you should take 5 minutes to do it along with me!  I tell a little story during the rest periods in todays workout about what it was like for me to be 120lbs heavier and traveling by air.  It wasn't comfortable.  The stress of fitting into a tiny (to me) seat, the stress of hoping, fingers crossed I could get the seat belt around me and fastened.  The stress of touching strangers sitting next to me by spilling into the space of their seat and literally feelin as if I was having to suck my body in tightly just to save embarrassment.  



Anyway, that was then, this is now.  I'll never ever be that overweight again because I don't have to.  And for me it all started with 10 sets of 10.  And I'm not kidding!

Sunday morning interview....really?

omg.  I can't believe I scheduled this skype interview with our close friend "Ram", aka Rambo Doc SFG 1 last Sunday morning at 6:00am PST!  I really don't know how we pulled it off considering that Saturday evening is our "date night" and Sunday 7:00am is some serious garage morning training with my girls!  Here is most of the interview before I had to leave (and step out to the garage gym at 7:00am!). Mark went on with Rambo Doc for another hour or so.

In part three I don't say a single word BUT my brilliant husband offers up so much great information about kettlebell training and training in general.  Anybody who knows me knows I have said a million times over that I never, ever, tire of listening to Mark speak or teach.  In fact he shares his wisdom and experience with me every single day of my life.  AND I always say, the words that come out of my mouth most likely came out of his mouth first!  Enjoy!

A huge thank you to our dear friend Rambo Doc for requesting and editing/posting this interview.  You can find more information by liking "Soul of Strength" on FaceBook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soul-Of-Strength/176612565857599

Tracy Reifkind's First 10 x 10's, it's never too late to come to my party!

I always call my group training classes "my party" because I have so much fun it would be a shame to not invite anybody else to my workouts, and that's how I started teaching.  I like leading classes/groups because it feeds me energy.  In fact I often wonder if I was not responsible for showing up to teach would I have eventually let myself fall victim to skipped workouts, teetering on the edge of eventually not showing up myself and quitting?

Since January 2008 have never ever cancelled a scheduled class.  No holidays off if class fell on a training day, no sick days, no too hung over days (food or alcohol hangovers!).  No cancelled classes because I was just plain old depressed about something going on in my life.  In fact I barely have the phone numbers and email addresses of my regular students.  I couldn't cancel if I wanted to....but rarely do I ever want to.  I didn't say never, but every time I entertain the thought of canceling I know it's for my own good to follow through on my word to my students/clients and to myself.  Anyway, enough about me, this post is about you!



For reasons I have yet to get into, a couple of weeks ago I started posting simple, quick 5 minute swing workouts I've been calling my "10 x 10"'s  My first post on Face Book was November 21th.  I've been posting one every other day (the prescription for swing training), and the 4th was a modified, scaled version in case 10 reps every 30 seconds is something you, or someone you love, may still be working towards, and which anybody can repeat until their ability and confidence increases to my traditional 10 x 10. This blog post includes all five, the latest, #5 I'm posting for the first time today (technically tomorrow's workout)

I have so much more to write about these workouts, but for now I thought I should group the first 5 of them together, here on my blog, all in one place and easy to access.  If you follow along, and listen to "10 x 10 #1" it sets the tone for my motivation.  If you are not on Face Book and you have missed these, no worries.  If you have been on Face Book and you have been shy, unmotivated or just plain lazy please join in NOW!  I will be posting 10 x 10 workouts and "messages" until the end of the year, every other day.  I've figured out that my 10th 10 x 10 will post on December 10th, and I'll repeat the same 10 (or new ones) every other day until December 30! (don't worry, you get Xmas off!)  If you are late to my party it's OK!  Just show up.  Show up and maybe, just maybe, your body will follow.

If, I mean when, you complete all of these 10 x 10's you will have done 500 swing reps.  Not bad for less than one half hour of your life over the course of 10 days.  On December 10th you will complete 1000 swing reps if you have been following along.  If you decide to join me, join us (because you are not alone) at any time you still can complete 1000 swing reps, or more before the end of the year.  What could possibly be stopping you?

Enjoy. Enjoy the workouts, enjoy feeling good about yourself, enjoy moving in the direction of improving your strength and health, or helping someone you love do the same thing.  We are not alone.  We are powerful beings capable of changing our lives in the most positive of ways.  Change may start with the first swing, but if you, if we, do nothing to move towards health and vitality then we move away from it.  I'll do my 10 x 10 with or without you, it's my party but I would love it if you join me, please come (no rsvp required!).

Pumpkin Soup

Two weeks ago while staying in Big Sur with my friend, and BSKBG, Nadine, she made delicious pumpkin soup!  It was so delicious that I knew I was going to have to make some.  I make and eat more soup in a year than than most people (in the US!), I know how to make soup!  But I did ask Nadine how she made hers.  She told me it was pretty basic, pumpkin, lite coconut milk, etc...  Hmnn...lite coconut milk, huh.  And of course I knew she used a "real" pumpkin, I wouldn't expect anything else!

Previous few weeks I had been making my own Delicata squash soup, and a winter squash is a winter squash, is a winter squash!  The only thing that is different in handling any winter squash is the peel.  Pumpkins have a much thicker peel than Delicata, but the easy solution is to roast it in the oven cut in half, as you would a Butternut, or any other hard shelled winter squash....which was my plan until....

Enter the pressure cooker!  I've been steaming many things in my pressure cooker this year, including eggs!  The nice thing about steaming dense vegetables in a PC is that it takes only a few minutes of actual cooking time, and then once I turn off the heat I let the veggies sit inside, with the lid still locked in place, to completely soften for about another 10-15 minutes, or all day if I want to.

Pumpkin is not very tasty.  Yes, I bought the "sugar pie" pumpkin, but it must have been mislabeled because there was nothing sugary or even pumpkiny about its flavor.  I steamed the pumpkin in four or five wedges (although I could have steamed it whole I wanted to use my steamer basket), scooped the flesh out but never tasted it on it's own.

I went ahead and started a regular soup in my 6 qt PC.  Onion, celery, sauteed in some olive oil.  I added two carrots, some fresh ginger, the flesh of one small pumkin, turkey stock and oh yes...a can of lite coconut milk!  Since the pumpkin was already cooked it didn't need long, maybe 10 minutes at high pressure and then I turned it off and let the pressure come down naturally, about 10-15 min more.

I took my immersion blender to it (after I fished out the chunks of ginger), and a beautiful orange creamy soup appeared.  Now, the taste test!  Um...um....um.....is this what "real" pumpkin tastes like?  Um...not so nice.  It barely resembled any pumpkin flavor, what to do?  What can I add to make it taste like pumpkin?  It seemed sooooo far away from any pumpkin I've ever been used to tasting.  Salt?  Well, it did need a bit more salt, but that wasn't all.  Sugar?  Acid?  Fat?  The only thing that made sense was sugar. Even tomato soup sometimes needs sugar, so sugar it was, brown sugar.

I started out cautiously because I did not want pumpkin pie soup!  1 tbl, taste, another tbl, taste....almost...do I dare?  Okay one more.  Viola!  Yep, that was it.  3 tbl of brown sugar isn't all that bad! Especially because there's a ton of other really nutritious goodness.  I think I'll go ahead and make some more turkey stock from the last carcass but add some meat to the next batch!

Stolen from Nadine, Pumpkin Soup

one small pumpkin (3-4 lb)
olive oil
1 med onion, large dice
2 stalks celery, large dice
2 med carrots, large dice
2 c. stock
1 can lite coconut milk
salt to taste
sugar to taste
(ginger is optional)

You don't need a pressure cooker at all to make this soup.  You don't even need to pre roast or pre steam your pumpkin squash, but you will have to peel it, seed it and cut it into a large dice, which might be difficult to handle such a large and dense vegetable.  So, throwing it in the oven, cut in two, cut side down on a roasting pan for 30-45 min until soft enough to be pierced with a fork will do it.  Let cool enough to handle and scoop flesh out of the hard skin.  It should be about 4 c. of pumpkin.  (you can scoop the seeds out after it's roasted or steamed)

Heat olive oil in pot, add onion and celery.  Cook for 5-8 min until translucent.  Add carrots, pumpkin flesh, stock, coconut milk and about 2 tsp salt.  If pressure cooking, lock the lid in place, let pressure come to high and turn heat down to maintain pressure.  Cook for about 10 minutes, turn off burner, let the pressure come down naturally.

If cooking in a soup pot, follow all previous instructions except after the addition of the liquids simply bring all ingredients to a boil, turn heat down, cook slightly covered for probably 25-30 minutes until veggies are soft.

Mix with an immersion blender, OR wait until soup cools down enough to put in a tradition blender or food processor.  Blend or process until smooth.  Taste for seasoning....sugar and salt.  Maybe you'll get a better tasting pumpkin than I did!

I'll post a picture of the finished soup when I serve myself a beautiful dish of it and I can snap one to share!  In the mean time I only have photos of my steamed, pressure cooked pumpkin and what it looked like when I was scooping it out!

Have you ever made pumpkin soup, or a pumpkin pie from a "real" pumpkin?  How did it turn out?


(ps "BSKBG" stands for Big Sur KettleBell Gal!)