A Game Changer

There are only a couple of weeks before my book is released and I recently started some media coaching with a publicist at Harper One.  Fingers crossed that I'll get lots of interviews, including and especially on TV, and saying the right things in a short amount of time not only benefits me and the sales of my book, but to all RKC's in the business of teaching the kettlebell swing. Very exciting times ahead for all.

I remember last year when Tim Ferriss' 4 HB came out and how generous he has been with everybody who was part of the success of his book.  I hope I can do the same.  But at the end of the day I will still be doing what I always do, and that's to keep training, keep teaching and sharing what an amazing and transformative exercise the kettlebell swing has been in my life on more than a physical level.

One of the questions I was asked to think about in preparation was this one;

"Beyond losing weight and getting fit, how has your life changed since you first picked up a kettlebell?"

I didn't have to think about the answer to this for more that 1 second....losing weight and getting fit changes everything, even if nothing else were to have changed.

Sure, I am an RKC Instructor, teaching all kinds of people from ex Marines and competitive athletes, to skinny, fat, young and old, the kettlbell swing.  And of course the biggest change is that I am now a published author....yay, hooray, I, yes me, "Tracy Reifkind" is a published author with my name in print on the side of a freakin' book that will be for sale in actual books stores, with pictures of me, yes me, former 250lb+ chubby all my life, formerly obese, almost 50 year old, self, demonstrating and teaching an exercise!  Crazy, crazy, wonderfully crazy!  But back to regular life.....

If none of this other stuff happened I would still be a mother, wife, grandmother, maybe I'd still be a professional Manicurist, maybe I'd have gone to cooking school?  All of this "other" stuff, the real stuff my life is made of is completely changed by losing weight and getting fit.

A healthy, light, fit wife and mother is completely different from an unhealthy, heavy obese inactive wife and mother.  I cannot have changed such a huge part of my physical life without changing absolutely everything else in the process.  Being healthy light and fit is a game changer, the game changer, at least it was for me. Once you cross having to lose weight, getting healthy and "in shape" off the list nothing else seems hard.  Think about it...what would be next for you to do in life, but to enjoy every other thing that much more?

Better Than Nothing? Really?

Good-ness....

OK, so here's the deal...  I am so freakin' crazy happy that I can do an "exercise" like the swing, not only can I "do" it, but I can "train" it, and I can realize an athletic potential that few people my age ever think they are capable of acheiveing mush less excelling at. ...and I'm not even taking into consideration my history of obesity or practically a lifetime of inactivity.... I've said it before and I'll say it again....I've written about it before and I'll write about it again...the kettelbell swing, the kettlebell ballistics, are the great equalizer!


I'm not trying to be down on any other kind of training or exercise BUT working in a fitness studio (and I experienced this at Equinox) and seeing all the crazy ass stuff that other people do makes me so appreciate how I train.  For starters, when I describe it as "crazy" I mean #1 dangerous, and #2 not effective for any real life application, much less effective at making any kind of visible physical changes before one gets discouraged and stops, #3 does not produce any, or very little, measurable progress as far as learning a skill that involves strength.

Sure, I acknowledge and appreciate the effort of anybody that gets their butt to a gym, fitness studio, yoga class, or follows any kind of physical pursuit, hobby, or sport, no matter what their current condition is.  And for those people that invest in hiring a trainer to help them, I say "bravo".  But it's not all good.  Should anyone be satisfied with "well, it's better than nothing"?  Not if it's dangerous and I see that kind of stuff all the time.  From deconditioned, weak, overweight, or down right elderly people asked to do side steps and step ups, to passing out in a Bikrams yoga class in the 104 degree heat, are these things better than nothing?  And just because you may be young (er) and not overweight is a burpee the best exercise to help you get in shape?  Do you know what kind of strength is involved in performing a "correct" and safe burpee?

To quote a Master RKC that I happen to know....."There is no bad exercises, it's when exercise is are performed badly.  You should be qualified to perform an exercise because you've progressively worked toward the skill." 

Knowing what I know, having been where I've been, when I see the effort people are willing and committed to putting in, all I want is for them is to actually see, and feel a pay off....and I know that training the kettlebell swing will give them that.

OK, enough already.  We all find our own way.  I've found mine.  I can walk right by all the fancy smancy equipment, straight to the kettlebells.  All I need is in one cast iron weight with a handle.  I don't have to settle for anything that is "better than nothing".

"Classic 100" Swing Ladder Workout

Here is another version of one of my workouts I consider a "Classic 100".  A "classic one hundred" is a workout whose total rep count is divisible by 100 reps. You can do part of it, all of it, double it, etc..  A "classic 100" uses my swing progressions usually in sets of 10, 20, 30 and 40 rep sets.

This workout uses my newest swing ladder progressions, so if you haven't practiced them it would be a good idea to do the workout I posted a couple of weeks ago.  I am posting each rotation for this workout in four videos so you can take the rest period you need between every rotation. (suggested rest periods are in parenthesis) This workout would also qualify for a "one bell" routine.


workout "classic 100"


10 tr (15/15)
20 tr (30/30)
30 tr (45/45)
40 tr (1 min/1 min)

1/2 sw ld
1-4 sw ld
1-5 sw ld
2-6 sw ld

5/5 x 1
10/10 x 1
5/5 + 10/10 x 1
10/10 x 2

10 2 hd sw
20 2 hd sw
30 2 hd sw
40 2 hd sw





400 swings, 20 min.
100 swings, 5 min per rotation done "equal work to rest"


I also taped a "power swing" workout with 3 variations and hope to post that by Monday.

First Things First

Is it Wednesday already?  The best things about Mondays and Wednesdays for me are that I get to cook and prepare food all morning.  I have the most energy and the least hunger first thing in the mornings so it's perfect for me to pre make meals for the following days. In fact it's unusual that I would even be on the computer right now before I get some foods started.

I learned a few new things from hangin' with my bud, Fawn, even though she probably doesn't know it!  She picks up a few things from being in the gym when I teach classes and I pick a few things being around her and the kitchen.  Fawn's salads are different from the ones I make.  My salads are cabbage based so I can make them ahead of time.  Fawn uses more delicate salad ingredients that are best prepped and put together as you are ready to eat them, baby greens, avocado, cucumber, etc.  as long as you have these ingredients it takes only a couple of minutes to put together a really fresh yummy salad....so I'll be trading in the cabbage (and Brussels) for a while...

But first things first.  Soup. I roasted a turkey the day before Fawn arrived, harvested the meat, some of it ended up in our salads, some in the freezer and on Monday I made some really rich turkey stock from the carcass that I'll use in some lentil soup this morning.  I can also PC some 6 grain rice for later toady and for the week, and organize what ingredients I have sitting in my fridge that need to be used, making a list of some others to fill in gaps (baby greens and kale I know I need).

So here I go....bye.  (go make your lunch!)

Sidetracked

OK, first thing this morning we checked in on the San Jose RKC, took a few pictures, and then headed up to San Francisco.  I decided we should hit the shopping real quick before the bridge....but we never made it to the GG...whoops...  It's fine because Fawn is here for 2 1/2 more days, we'll get around to it because I really want to walk across it, maybe Sunday.




I was a little stressed for time as I had the honor of leading a 10 minute "Sinister" swing workout with the RKC candidates scheduled for 3:00-ish and traffic was crazy.



After swinging the 25kg for 200 reps we made a beeline for the nearest market for dinner supplies and now? Well now we are waiting for Mark to come home and enjoy a bottle of and some dinner together.  Life is good, and spending some time with a best friend makes it that much better!



Whoops...one more really really cool freakin' thing.  Heard the UPS drive up...but I didn't order anything (I know, hard to believe), and low and behold?  I received 4 hard back copies of my book, sent to me by my editor!  Awesome!

Spending the day with Fawn

I'll come back with an actual picture of me and Fawn on the Golden Gate....that's where Fawn and I are headed after crashing the Cert real quick....




I've never walked across the Golden Gate as long as I've lived here....of course we have to stop at Lululemon in the City first....

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup!

I'm in the home stretch of trying to get my home ready for a house guest, and cleaning out the fridge is topping my list.  A few months ago I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and have been buying a small box of locally grown organic produce, more about that another time.  The point is that I've been getting produce I would not normally buy and I'm learning a big lesson about waste, again, more about that another time.






There's nothing a smoked piece of meat can't make taste delicious!  Along with my pressure cooker I cooked up a batch of smoked turkey, chicken and bean soup with everything else I had in my kitchen, but the kitchen sink!  See if you can identify all of the veggies, there are nine (well actually eight, but two different parts of the same veg).





I haven't pre soaked my beans in forever, basically since I did some pressure cooker recipes for Tim Ferriss, trying to get into his new book (4 Hour Chef), none of which made the cut, but I believe that's only because Tim didn't let me teach him! lol.  Anyway, all of the recipes I adapted for the smaller 4 qt PC, as time needed to be taken into consideration, and although I used my new 6qt this morning, I used two methods I learned from the prior experience, #1 I used dry, unsoaked beans, #2 I cut my smoked meat into thirds to cook faster.  The whole process took around 1/2 hour-45 minutes. I also cleaned out all the veg and chicken bone scraps in the freezer and used my 10qt to make them into stock. I've got another batch of soup to make (chicken lentil and mushroom) but I ran out of celery.



I skipped 6:00am yoga for a later class, still a ton of things to get done today....so glad I cleaned out and got rid of so much crap already!  It's 7:30am and I've got to leave in 1 hour....can I get the fridge done in 1 hour?  Yikes!

PS  You know a soup is good when you can eat it cold!  I think I ate near another whole bowl waiting for my dinner portion to heat up!  


Veggie list, from bottom to top.  Jalapeno, yellow onion, leeks, celery romanesco, Brussels, outer leaves and stems (the rest was used for salad), celery root (top left), carrot (top right).  I also used white beans and pintos, chicken thighs and 1 lg smoked turkey leg.