My 15 Minutes of Fame...well, more like 15 seconds....

Here's the latest episode of Dragon Door TV, with none other than yours truly...ME!

I remember , quite clearly, the first day of my RKC in April 2006 during the introductions....

"Hi, my name is Tracy Reifkind, and I lost 120lbs using kettlebells!" Do you know what it's like looking out into a sea of hardcore athletes, trainers, and professionals that make their living in physically demanding jobs like the police force and military? Good for me I was married to, at the time, a well respected Senior, now Master Instructor! But back then I was one of, maybe, 5-8 women at that particular Cert, not to mention the only person to have been more than 100lbs + overweight at one time in their lives! I was the first person to make such an incredible claim at any RKC Certification!

Mixed emotions.....Yay for me! I lost over 120 lbs...."Good God, you mean she let herself get so fat!"

I've not only maintained this significant weightloss for almost 5 years now, but I'm more fit than most women my age, and half of my age...and I continue to train kettlebells hard, and teaching others to reap the benefits from my high volume methods....DVD available soon! I'm so proud to have this honor and public recognition.

As I get ready for my Level 2 RKC next week, and our trip next month to the largest International RKC ever, in Budapest Hungary, which I'll be assisting at....can you believe this "former fat girl" will be an assistant....actually helping other potential RKC's improve their kettlebell knowledge and skills (crazy huh?)....this comes at a great time in my Kettlebell career. More to come....much more!

Picture above is me at my first RKC snatching the 8kg! Funny huh?

16kg Snatch Ladder 10-1, 4 minutes 40 seconds

I've got about 8 days until I'm in St Paul for the Level 2 RKC where I'll be tested on some new skills of strength as well as all of the Level 1 skills including the 5 minute 16kg Snatch test. I could do this test anyday of the week, but this time I want to do it better!

Today was the last day I'm allowing myself to touch the 16kg snatch, so I had to kill it. I completed my 10-1 snatch ladder (110 snatches, 19 transfers), in 4 minutes 40 seconds...whew! I should be able to test next week at about 4 minutes....and that's all this old bird's got in her, lol!

After about 1 hr of group training at Girya, I headed over to Equinox to test this ladder first thing before the rest of the workout. We started after about a 10 minute warm up (longer than usual, as I was trying to find the right hand protection to keep my calluses from pinching). Here's the workout that completed my training this morning:


5 minute snatch holds w/12kg

7 sn R, 15 sec, hold overhead on the last sn rep for 15 sec, transfer
7 sn L, 15 sec, hold overhead on the last sn rep for 15 seconds, transfer back
repeat 5 x = 5 minutes

1 minute rest

3 minutes hold snatches w/12kg

1 sn R, hold overhead for 15 sec, 7 sn R, transfer
1 sn L, hold overhead for 15 sec, 7 sn L, transfer back
repeat 6 x = 3 minutes

1 minute rest

1 sw R, 1 sn R, 1 tr
1 sw L, 1 sn L, 1 tr
repeat for 1 minute and then add on a snatch / neg press

1 sw R, 1 sn R, 1 sn R, neg press to rack position, 1 tr
1 sw L, 1 sn L, 1 sn L, neg press to rack postion, 1 tr
repeat for 1 minute and then add on a clean

1 sw R, 1 sn R, 1 sn R, neg press to rack position, clean, 1 tr
1 sw L, 1 sn L, 1 sn L, neg press to rack postion, clean, 1 tr
repeat for 1 minute, rest for 1 minute

And then repeat the last combination set for 10 minutes straight, in two paces. The first minute is a slower pace, before speeding up for the second minute....keep changing the pace back and forth, 5 of each, to complete the 10 minutes.

That's it.

I wish I had video of these progressive combinations, because there is a reason for my madness.... the video would help demonstrate not only the combination, but the pacing also. I did these same combinations with my group class earlier in the morning because we learned (some re-learned) and practiced the clean. I'll write a blogpost soon about how I teach the clean "backwards", although Mark taught it to my group today....when you've got a Master Instructor in the house how could you not want to learn from the best!

16kg Snatch Pacing

One of the things I love about coaching other people for RKC prep, is that I come up with some brilliant training advice! Here's one of the subjects I did NOT blog about that was bugging the crap out of me.....

It's no secret that I participated, instead of assisting, this past February, at the San Jose RKC to earn my Re-Certification, but what I wasn't ready to share was the fact that I barely passed my 16kg snatch test! Why not? Because I had conditioned myself to snatch for endurance.....10 reps per 30 seconds....this pace was my "auto-pilot" pace. So, in my last test minute I had exactly 1 minute to complete 20 more reps.....good God, are you kidding? I should have flown through this test in, at least 25% less time.

Once I realized that I had "paced" my snatches at a 10 rep per 30 sec pace for months, if not years of "high volume" training, then it became obvious to me that I needed to train the 16kg snatch at a faster pace, so it wasn't "automatically set" at my "endurance pace"

Speed and endurance are two separate things.....

I came up with this "Snatch Pacing Ladder" to knock me out of the routine I had set myself up for over the last couple of years....I had to snatch the 16kg faster, and get used to it!

Here's the first progression....1 minute work with a full minute rest....take the rest, you'll need it!

10/10, 1 min work/1 minute rest
11/11, 1 min work/ 1 minute rest
12/12, 1 min work/1 minute rest
13/13, 1 min work/1 minute rest
14/14, 1 min work/1 minute rest
15/15, 1 min work/1 minute rest

This is is the first uphill ladder....and it's hard! Don't worry, next week it'll change.....it'll be harder! But you can handle it...next? Only 30 seconds rest inbetween sets!

10/10, 1 min work/ 30 sec rest
11/11, 1 min work/ 30 sec rest
12/12, 1 min work/ 30 sec rest
13/13, 1 min work/30 sec rest
14/14, 1 min work/30 sec rest
15/15, 1 min work/30 sec rest

OK, now you get a break! The following week, or even two weeks later....let's mix it up a bit.....one slow, to warm up........one fast.....back it off a bit, speed it up again....back off a bit....speed it up again....etc...

10/10
15/15
11/11
14/14
12/12
13/13

Six sets.....mixed up, and staggered....but all done at a one minute of work / 1 minute of rest ratio.


Above is the video from this past Saturday's workout, done BEFORE I trained my Max Vo2 Based class at Girya. It demonstrates the last "Snatch Pacing Workout" posted. It's divided in two videos because it lasted for 12+ minutes, and I only have 10 minutes total on Youtube!

Let me know how it goes for you.

Happy Dance!

I have been training with Meg, regularly, for almost 1 1/2 years now, and in the mean time she has earned her HKC, and her RKC! (we were both at the Feb. San Jose RKC together). Meg has an extensive athletic background, that includes competitive swimming and running, for which I have the highest respect for. Its been a pleasure, and honor, to have such a dedicated client/training partner....although she would not describe herself as such. Instead she would explain her "obsession" to something silly like, stupidity......

One of Meg's "trademarks" is her "happy dance". The "happy dance" comes (exactly) halfway through a workout.....halfway through, Meg proudly announces that we've reached that mark, and does a little "jig"......at this point we only have to repeat what we've already done....easy, right?

The "happy dance" is now anticipated by all who participate in the workouts.....funny!

But, here's the point of this blogpost.....

Meg had decided at the beginning of the year to rise to the "50,000 rep Snatch Challenge" started a few years ago. I myself had started the challenge but have not had the discipline to keep track. But this blogpost is not about me, it's about Meg.....

Discipline is discipline.....the discipline to show up for the workouts, the discipline to do the "boring work", the discipline to keep track....whatever...it all deserves respect. Mark proved this recently by completing his own 50,000 rep snatch challenge just this last week.... One of my absolute favorite "Rif-isms"....

"If I cannot out lift you, then I will outlast you!" Touche'

Although Meg has not completed her 50,000 snatch reps, she has passed her halfway mark, in fact passing up my own recorded snatch reps for a current total of 26,918 snatch reps! Actual snatch reps and "snatch points" are two different things....Meg has 30,643 "snatch points".

HAPPY DANCE!

Congrats to Meg and all of her dedication, disciple and plain old hard work! I don't doubt that her taking on this challenge may respark interest for many others to be inspired.....it's almost re-inspired me....but how could I possibly beat her at this point? LOL

Do It Once, or Do It Twice! Swing and Snatch Ladder Workout

Tuesday I train with my class @ Girya from 6:00-7:00am, and then I dash off to Equinox for an Intermediate/Adv workout. I never really know what the hell I'm going to do until I start doing it! Usually my first class inspires a "theme", but today I decided to simply repeat, kind of, the first workout at the second.....here it is,

6-6:30am (this first 1/2 hour caters to the beginning students)

joint mobility w/Mark
short swing sets (15/15 work to rest warm up)
work into rest swings (you'll have to buy my DVD to know what I mean by this, lol)

6:30-7:00am....
Work Sets
Swing and Snatch Ladders w/12kg

The work sets were done "off of the clock". The only part "on the clock" were the rest periods. The Work Set Ladders were of undertermined time, but the rest periods were set at only 30 seconds. Starting point.....alternating 1 swing ladder with 1 snatch ladder, progressively working up the ladder from 1-5, to 1-10.

1st Swing Ladder

1 sw, 1 tr, 1 sw, 1 tr
2 sw, 1 tr, 2 sw, 1 tr
3 sw, 1 tr, 3 sw, 1 tr
4 sw, 1 tr, 4 sw, 1 tr
5 sw, 1 tr, 5 sw, 1 tr

Lucky me, this set is 40 reps....1 minute

1st Snatch Ladder

1 sn, 1 tr, 1 sn, 1 tr,
2 sn, 1 tr, 2 sn, 1 tr,
3 sn, 1 tr, 3 sn, 1 tr,
4 sn, 1 tr, 4 sn, 1 tr,
5 sn, 1 tr, 5 sn, 1 tr,

I didn't time this first snatch set, but snatches take longer than swings, so it had to take more than 1 minute.

Repeat each ladder adding one additional progressive rep per set. For instance, 2nd rotation,

2nd Swing Ladder

1 sw, 1 tr, 1 sw, 1 tr
2 sw, 1 tr, 2 sw, 1 tr
3 sw, 1 tr, 3 sw, 1 tr
4 sw, 1 tr, 4 sw, 1 tr
5 sw, 1 tr, 5 sw, 1 tr,
add
6 sw, 1 tr, 6 sw, 1 tr

2nd Snatch Ladder

1 sn, 1 tr, 1 sn, 1 tr,
2 sn, 1 tr, 2 sn, 1 tr,
3 sn, 1 tr, 3 sn, 1 tr,
4 sn, 1 tr, 4 sn, 1 tr,
5 sn, 1 tr, 5 sn, 1 tr,
add
6 sn, 1 tr, 6 sn 1 tr

Laddering up one rep at a time until reaching,

Swing Ladders

1 sw, 1 tr, 1 sw, 1 tr,
2 sw, 1 tr, 2 sw, 1 tr,
3 sw, 1 tr, 3 sw, 1 tr,
4 sw, 1 tr, 4 sw, 1 tr,
5 sw, 1 tr, 5 sw, 1 tr,
6 sw, 1 tr, 6 sw, 1 tr,
3rd set, add
7 sw, 1 tr, 7 sw, 1 tr,
4th set, add
8 sw, 1 tr, 8 sw 1 tr,
5th set, add
9 sw, 1 tr, 9 sw, 1 tr,
6th set, add
10 sw, 1 tr, 10 sw, 1 tr

Snatch Ladders

1 sn, 1 tr, 1 sn, 1 tr,
2 sn, 1 tr, 2 sn, 1 tr,
3 sn, 1 tr, 3 sn, 1 tr,
4 sn, 1 tr, 4 sn, 1 tr,
5 sn, 1 tr, 5 sn, 1 tr,
6 sn, 1 tr, 6 sn, 1 tr,
3rd set, add
7 sn, tr, 7 sn, 1 tr
4th set, add
8 sn, 1 tr, 8 sn, 1 tr
5th set, add
9 sn, 1 tr, 9 sn, 1 tr,
6th set, add
10 sn, 1 tr, 10 sn, 1 tr

Good Lord! I wasn't able to time this exactly, but it should take about 35-37 minutes total depending on how fast you snatch....yikes! In my first class I paced the snatches a bit slow, so I sped them up at the second class....much harder!

I started the first "trail run" of these progressive swing and snatch ladders at 6:30am, but I wasn't able to complete the last snatch ladder (1-10) with my Girya class. I left Meg to lead and finish with the other students the last snatch ladder, which she chose to "ladder down"....smart girl! (I'll explain in a moment) So instead of laddering up , one rep at a time, snatches from 1-10, they laddered down, starting at 10, ending with 1. If you don't think it makes a difference, then do it and let me know how it goes for you, lol!

So, here I am, 15 minutes later @ Equinox. I brought the 14kg with me for the swing ladder portion of the same workout, for the snatches I would use the 12kg. Somehow the 12kg suddenly felt much heavier than it did only 15 minutes earlier. I was determined to complete the swing ladder portion of this same workout , now with the 14kg......it was hard! But I knew there was no freakin' way I wasn't going to do it. The last 2 swing ladders (1-9, & 1-10) tested my will. Three things that made my second workout harder.....

#1 it was my second workout afterall!
#2 I used the 14kg for all swing ladders (the last ladder had a total of 130 reps. That's over 3 minutes of swinging)
#3 I picked up the pace of the snatch ladders. Boy, was I sorry near the end!

My second workout took a few minutes less than the first one because of reason #3. And that's exactly why I just couldn't "ladder up" for that last set! The last snatch ladder takes 4 1/2 - 5 minutes.....the longest, and hardest set is last! All 12 of these worksets start at around 1 - 1/1/2 minutes and end with 3-5 minutes sets, with only 30 seconds in between all 12.....

Totals within about 35 minutes (only 6 minutes of resting)

Swings 490
Snatches 430
Transfers 81 (inbetween snatches. count them as swings and the swing total increases to 571)

Do it once, or do it twice!

Bulky Muscles, The Myth and the Facts.....inspired by a request for a guest blogpost

I was asked to write a guest blogpost from Haley Estes, and more about her and her blog.....
http://westtexaskettlebells.blogspot.com/


Bulky Muscles. The myth and the facts.

Before I even get into this subject......are you serious? "Gee, I dont want to get big muscles....I'd rather stay the way I look right now than look too mus-cl-ey....yuck!"

Myth

Muscle is easy to "build".

Don't worry....it ain't easy to bulid muscle! It's hard to build alot of good quality, solid muscle. It takes intensity, loading, consistency (year after year), a high quality diet (yep, try that for any length of time!), and recovery, to actually build real muscle....sorry! Now you want some muscle don't you!

I think alot of women see pictures of women bodybuilders and think they look like men. Well, I think most would be surprised to see a "regular woman" stand next to one of these "huge" women bodybuilders....guess what? Competitive women bodybuilders weigh about 135-140lbs, with around 12% bodyfat....that's 123lbs of lean mass. They may look huge, but in reality they're tiny compared to an average American woman these days Competitive woman bodybuilders, and athletes, pack alot of muscle density into small package.

Facts

Do you know that the average weight of an American woman age 20-74 years is 164lbs? 35% bodyfat at that weight is 57.4 lbs. That leaves only 107lbs of lean body mass....and guess what? It is my opinion that the average American woman is 40-50 % + (yep, 50% PLUS) bodyfat....don't believe me? Step on a bodyfat scale and be horrified....especially if you weigh more than the average 164lbs....expect to see 50% + bodyfat! No joke.

Wake up and smell the coffee!

So, let's just drop this fear of becoming too muscular....give the women bodybuilders and the competitive woman athletes the respect they deserve. Real muscle and fitness comes from hard, consistent, year after year, dedication to training and sport....period. A few bicep curls won't turn you into the Amazing Hulk.

Let's be honest. What do most people, not just woman, want from exercise these days? What are the improvements, or changes they want to see? And feel? Most people want, #1 to lose weight. #2 build muscle tone. #3 not get injured. Oh yes, and let's not forget they want it as fast as possible, LOL!

#1 Lose weight. Stop eating so much. Or, eat different foods. Or both. When people ask me how I lost over 100lbs my favorite answer is, "I stopped doing what was making me fat!". What was making me fat? Overeating. I knew what was making me fat, and it was OK, until it wasn't OK anymore, and then I changed it.

I stopped eating ready made and / or convenience foods, and instead prepared all, yep, all, of my own foods, and meals, not eating "out" for over 2 years. Even now I only eat out reluctantly...I hate eating out, even more, I hate paying for foods that are no where near the quality of the foods and meals I make at home for myself. Let me follow up this claim by letting you know that I consider cooking and food my #2 hobby (training is my #1), and love anything and everything that has to do with cooking and preparing my own homemade foods.

#2 Muscle tone. Definition, firmness, tension in the muscle that gives it shape by separating each muscle from the other, giving depth to the look of our muscles...."muscle tone". Muscle tone equals tension, equals strength. To increase any of one of these, increase the other. If you want better tone, you get stronger. If you want to get stronger, increase your tone, If you want to increase tone, increase the tension in your exercise. Increase tension, increase your tone. (...add weight)

Enter the Kettlebell.

#3 & #4 Safe and Quickly. There is, at no time, in a kettlebell swing or snatch that the muscles arent working, in one way or another. They're either producing, reducing, or reversing force. In every position of the KB swing and snatch all of the muscles in the body are working...which means, all of the muscles are creating tension. Tension equals tone. Because the KB uses excelleration and momentum, the forces on the muscles are much higher than any other exercise, especially for the average person. The average person using only a 16kg KB can create 10 times the load on their muscels during every rep....

Do the math. This result equals more work than the average person can do in any other way. Burn more calories, build more muscle (tone), burn more fat, and create more fuctional strength, than any other exercise done in the same amount of time...I think I'll go out and do a few swings.....and bulid the best cardio of my life.
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"The size of my body is determined by tht amount and quality of the foods I eat. The composition of my body, lean muscle mass to bodyfat, is determined by the my kettlebell training."

Posted here are two pictures of me taken about 3 years apart. The first picture taken, and featured in Dragon Doors Vitalics Magazine,http://giryastrength.com/pdf/Vitalics.pdf, was taken 11 months after I weighed in at 250lb +, and losing about 100lbs. I was extremely proud of my "muscletone" at the time, as I thought, at the age of 41, the days of wearing a tank top was over......and that was fine. The miracle? The kettlebell, and the method I developed to train high volume KB swings.....toned arms, not to mention, along with a quality diet, 17-19% BF.

3 years later.....I can't seem to get enough! I like being "beefy"! Clearly muscular, and, although not "skinny", more fit than most woman my age, in fact I'm more fit than most woman half of my age.... I can do anything, physically, that I put my mind to. "Bulky Muscles?" Bring them on! I currently weigh about 140lbs with 28% BF...would I like it to be lower? Yes, but I can't seem to sacrifice any part of my good life, eating, and drinking, all of the things I love most.

I'm not going to lie and tell anyone that I don't want to be skinny...but being skinny has it's price. Deprivation, struggle, and low self esteem. I will not settle for any of that. I am where I am, and it's OK. In fact it's more than OK, because I rock!

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About Haley Estes and her blog, in her own words.....

"I was introduced to kettlebells by my husband when we 1st met a few years ago. I worked out with them, but I really got serious about it in order to prepare for the HKC course last January. Since then I have lost about 25 lbs. and dropped my body fat percentage. However, my endurance has always been my weakest link in my training, and that's what got me interested in your blog and your workout style. I'm training for the RKC in October, and wanted to incorporate high volume training into my workout to prepare.
I asked you for a guest blog because I thought you would be a great example for women who think they can't lift weights without getting bulky. I hear friends and potential clients say "I don’t lift weights because I don't want to get big and bulky", but they don't understand how hard it is for women to build that kind of muscle. So instead, they spend hours on the treadmill, not getting the results they want. I hope that reading your story will serve as inspiration to them and maybe help clear up some of the misconceptions they have about weight training.

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The information in this post would never have been possible without the input, and expertise of Master Instructor, my husband, and love of my life, training partner, coach, and teacher, Mark Reifkind. Anything I know, I've learned from him, and the example he set for me to want to be all that I could be. Without his support and guidance I'm nothing....well, maybe not nothing, but I give credit where credit is due.....

Boring & Repetitive, that's the challenge and that's the fun....bring it!

Thursdays is usually my "doubles" workout.....doubles suck....in a good way! I hate doubles because it's hard and painful. The best way for me to get it done is to stick with a couple of combination sets and repeat them over and over, in order of course, until I just can't take it anymore....or until my next class is scheduled about an hour later.... I knew I would be training alone today, and that's fine with me because I can take the repetition and see it for what it is....boring, but hard as hell! But too bad for me, that's what separates me from many others....I don't expect to be entertained by the workout, just the results!

two 12kg's

5 dbl cl/press (strict presses) 30 sec work to rest x 10 sets = 10 minutes

ok the dirty work is done, on with the rest of the workout....

10 dbl swings, 15 sec work/rest
7 dbl sw/cl, 30 sec work/rest
5 dbl sw/cl/jerk, 30 sec work/rest.....(2 1/2 minutes)

so I start with dbl swings, add cleans, and then add jerks....

repeat

10 dbl swings, 15 sec work/rest
7 dbl sw/cl, 30 sec work/rest
5 dbl sw/cl/jerk, 30 sec work/rest.....add on just jerks (first clean is the only clean)
5 dbl jerk, 15 sec work/rest......(3 minutes)

repeat

10 dbl swings, 15 sec work/rest
7 dbl sw/cl, 30 sec work/rest
5 dbl sw/cl/jerk, 30 sec work/rest
5 dbl jerk, 15 sec work/rest.....add on just dbl cleans
7 dbl cl, 15 sec work/rest (3 1/2 minutes)

I did these 3 rotations at least 4 times. To be honest who's counting? When I looked at my Gymboss, 49 minutes had passed (including the 10 sets of dbl presses to start with)....that's what counts.

I started my warm-up swinging the 12kg for about 1/2 hour with my beginners class (not even equal work/rest). Next was a 10 minute warm-up and then the workout posted above. Next? Another beginners class, where I had a new student pick up the swing quickly, so we got more work done than expected....(he must of had a good teacher, lol).

I flew out of the Club to make a 9:30-11:00 Bikram class at a new Studio...well, new to me....and let me tell you, it was an ass kicker for sure! I don't know if it was the 2 hours of KB's previous, or the new environment that, seriously, humbled me.

Needless to say, by the time I made it to my last workout for the day back at Girya with Mark for Level 2 stuff, I could barely muster up the energy to train my pull-up.....

High quality problems!

I need to write a blogpost about my "strict" presses. For years and years I always trained the "pushpress", until I had to re-Cert this past February and I knew the strict press would be a big part of the weekend Certification. More about that to come.......