Saturday Max on Hold...

I decided it was time to break from Max Vo2 for a couple of weeks and spend some time practicing some of my methods for high volume snatch training for upcoming workshops and video....I've got some lucky training partners, huh?

The theme of my classes this morning was "100"....yep, another 100 rep snatch workout. I combined pacing with speed....here's what we did,

12kg

10/10, 1 min work, 30 sec rest (20 **paced snatches)

10/10 *speed snatches 40 sec. work, 1 min., 20 sec rest (20 speed snatches total)

10/10 x 2, 2 min work, 1 min. rest ( 40 paced snatches)

10/10 speed snatches 40 sec. work, 1 min., 20 sec rest (20 speed snatches, 40 total)

10/10 x 3, 3 min work, 1 min rest ( 60 paced snatches)

10/10 speed snatches 40 sec. work, 1 min., 20 sec rest (20 speed snatches, 60 total)

10/10 x 4, 4 min work, 1 min rest ( 80 paced snatches)

10/10 speed snatches 40 sec. work, 1 min., 20 sec rest (20 speed snatches, 80 total)

10/10 x 5, 5 min work, 1 min rest ( 100 paced snatches)

10/10 speed snatches 40 sec. work, 1 min., 20 sec rest (20 speed snatches, 100 total)

400 total snatches
29.5 minutes



10/10 speed snatches (2 min)
10/10 x 2 speed snatches (3 min)
10/10 x 3 speed snatches (4 min)
10/10 x 4 speed snatches (5 min)
10/10 x 5 speed snatches (6 min)video shows this last set of 100. I believe this took me about 2 1/2 minutes to complete with the 12kg

300 snatches
20 minutes

700 total snatches
50 minutes total time

And this was a low intensity workout compared to many of our past Saturday snatch workouts.

For instance I did 72 sets of Max on Thursday...576 14kg snatches in 36 minutes. Last Thursday I did 943 12kg snatches in apporx 50 minutes.....243 more that today in the same amount of time!

*speed snatches

Here's how I trained these sets....we snatched 10 reps, both left and right as fast as we could. I timed the work and rest for 2 minutes total. However long it took each person to complete the 20 snatch reps left them with the remainder of the two minutes for rest before the next set of paced snatch sets. For instance, it took me 40 seconds to complete my fast paced 20 snatch reps, I then had 1 min. 20 sec of the remaining 2 minutes to rest before the next set.

I timed the last rotation of speed santches in the same way, except for every additional 20 reps (10 L, 10 R) I added 1 full minute to complete.

**paced snatches

All paced snatches we timed at 10 snatch reps per 30 seconds....no faster, no slower. Therefore each 10/10 took 1 minute. Every additional 10/10 increased the time of the set by 1 minute. Example....100 snatch reps, done 10 L, 10 R, took 5 minutes to complete.

A New Year starts when you decide it starts....a "rags to riches" story...

This weekend I'm having a couple of rooms in my house painted....before cooking, painting ( and decorating) used to be my hobby. I used to paint every room in my house about once a year, and I've painted many of my friends rooms over the years. But those times are over and now I hire the paint jobs out....lucky me!

If you've ever painted any rooms in your house on your own, or hired someone to paint for you, the routine is the same....you have to move ev-ver-y-thing....EVERYTHING! All the pictures come down, all of the furniture is moved....what a perfect time to clean. Or should I say cleanse. wipe all of the dust away, mop or vaccum, edit the crap that piles up..... This time not only will I clean out these rooms, but I am committed to only put back the things I need, or the things I've collected that make me happy or that I love to look at. I'm going to keep my riches and get rid of my rags (trash).

Tuesday afternoon my yoga teacher, Elena, started out the practice by talking about the Fall season. She described Fall as the final season of the year, the last cycle. Time to clean up all that you harvested earlier in the year and plant for the upcoming Spring. The seeds you plant now will be what you harvest next year...but first you have to clean out and prepare the feilds. A time to start over....could we look at Fall as the start of a new year? Sounds good to me! From now on, Fall will be my New Year.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with a woman that grew up on a farm. She told me that when summer was over, all of the unharvested vegetables would rot in the fields, as it grew too fast to keep up with, and how nature runs riot and grows so much more that one family can eat, or give away. After hearing this story I, for the first time, didn't worry so much about "wasting" food, as nature wastes enough on it's own. Food is abundant....lucky us we live in a country where we can say that with confidence.

Anyway....Fall, a time to clean what has overgrown our lives. Why is it that traditionally during the Fall we create more mess? Most of our biggest food Holidays start in the Fall. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Instead of getting ready now for the New Year, we pack more on top of the "old year", in the way of being busier than ever, eating more foods than we normally would, and buying more stuff that we don't need? Why do we have to wait until January 1st to start anew? If we start now, by the time Jan. 1st hits we'll be golden! Screw holiday obligations, what about the obligation to ourselves? Start a New Year now! Plant the seeds of lightness, strength and health now. Don't give yourself the excuse to do more damage in this Fall season, instead start your new year now.

This past year, especially, I've been giving away "stuff" like a madwoman. I own too much stuff, including food, and I used to like it....but I don't anymore. Owning too much stuff is paralyizing, not to mention it weighs too much. I've packed my car with at least 4 full loads that I took to the Goodwill. I did manage to have a garage sale right before summer that I made of ton of cash at....but I spent it on more stuff! I routinely edit and give away expensive designer clothes to my friends, giving some of my yoga teachers that I know can't afford much, Lululemon that I never wear. Too bad for my best friend Fawn that she's a size smaller than me....she already got all of the stuff I grew out of last year, lol!

So that brings me to my "rags to riches" story.....

I don't know about you, but when I decide to "be in for the day", in other words, my ass is not leaving the house anymore, I change into "kick back clothes". What are "kick back clothes"? Well, they are PJ bottoms, and the oldest t-shirt I can find...and of course it never "matches". It never fits quite right either because who cares? Are you kidding me? I have so many cute clothes, t-shirts, leggings, shorts, sweaters, hoodies....I can afford to wear my "riches" for rags!

My raggedy days are over. Life is too short to look ugly, or feel ugly! Even if no one is around to see you (tree in falling in the forest, lol). Mark, of course, could care less what I wear, but we all know how we feel when we feel we look cute, don't we? (I happen to be feeling really cute right now!)

Starting "New Years" are a luxury we can all afford by deciding to focus on our "riches". Husband, wife, children (grandchildren), a roof over our heads, one or two kettlebells, the knowledge of how to prepare our own foods. The time to workout, a daily walk, yoga, kettlebells. Clean bedsheets, our own washer and dryer, or a bunch of quarters for the laudrymat! Foodstamps, if we need them, and friends and family to turn to for support when we feel down. A full tank of gas, DVR, cell phones, laptops, a successful business, passion for what you do, health, strength, art, intensity.

Do not forget how rich we all are and how little we actually need. Dump the rags. Life is too short, and we are too cute, to wear rags....

Tempe AZ HKC

Mark and I just got home from paradise! What's paradise? Tempe, Arizona in late Oct....oh, about what? 84 degrees! Goodness....this afternoon we got off the plane, back home in California, at 1:00pm to a cold, chilly, pre rainstorm 66 degrees..... I really hope to see a Fall RKC sometime in the future in this great state, and convenient, if not destinational, location in the Southwest.



Keats and Tammy Snideman were gracious enough to host me and Mark in their beautiful as well as comfortable home, along with their two handsome, well behaved, energized young boys, Aiden and Soren. (Aiden future soccer and ping pong champion, and Soren, a incredibley intense and talented, not to mention dramatic, artistic genius) Keats Sneideman is Franz Snideman's twin brother and is the Kettlebell expert in Arizona. This is the 2nd HKC we've done at Keats' Reality Based Fitness Personal Training Studio, and although small, like the first, I hope it will help to establish Keats, and his business, as the "go to" place for Kettlebell Certifications as well as kettlebell instruction.

I never tire of listening and watching Mark teach, and I always learn how to become a better teacher and Instructor by assisiting at these Certs. Lucky me. I also got a chance to take the HKC candidates through a workout that will be a part of an upcoming video, in addition to teaching the roundabout, followed by a mini roundabout ladder workout.

Next? Goodness, I'm so backed up on video request, new video projects, emails, blogposts....oh and I'm freakin' excited about a new style of yoga I started training 2 weeks ago...what? No over-training Bikrams anymore? Nope, no more Bikram Binges!

So much great stuff happening. Life is good.

Sophi's First Introduction to KB

I got the chance to teach Sophi's mom, Cristina, how to swing a kettlebell yesterday! Cristina did great, and I hope she liked it enough to give it a few workouts.....afterall it a great exercise and workout for a busy mom! It's a great exercise and workout for everyone, but when time is a consideration then you can't beat it.

I forgot a baby bell for Sophi to play with, but I did get her to touch the handle, and I tried to have her do an "empty handed" deadlift....I'm working on her! I think getting her to sqeeze her glutes is going to be tough though.

Check out Sophi's natural squat...oh what it must be like to be 1 year old!

I was just talking about veggies first....

I know I've already blogposted about meatballs, but ground meat is so underrated sometimes.....goodness, ground meat? Ground meat is kind of like the "broccoli" of meat! In other words when you can't think of anything else, you go for the ground meat. Personally when I ask for ground meat at the butchers counter I always think that the Meat Cutter must think I don't know how to cook! Sometimes we just don't have the energy to deal with a protein that takes time to cook and clean up. Mostly though, you get to the meat counter and lacking imagination is #1 problem, and you just want something fast.

But since I was just writing about veggies first, I thought I might post some pictures of tonights meatballs....they may not make it into some homemade tomato sauce, but who the hell cares.....I think I've already treated myself to 1/2 dozen!

I diced 1/2 onion, 5 green onions, 2 celery stalks, and one of the roasted jalapenos from last night. (I included some seeds to make it spicey hot!) Sautee in a bit of olive oil for 5-8 minutes, let cool and then add to

1 lb ground meat (I used pork)

1 egg

1 cup oatmeal (I ground this fine in my blender)

1/4 cup water (I think this is to expand the oatmeal...or breadcrumbs. Whichever you use)

1 tsp salt, ground pepper (I use kosher salt, so if you are using sea salt, or iodized salt you would use 1/2 this amount)

Using a 2 tbl scoop, I formed the mixture into a couple dozen meatballs. Does it matter if the meatballs are perfectly round? I don't think so! If these ever make it into some sauce it will be a miracle!

This is also the same way you make meatloaf, only you form it into a log, and cook it in a 375 degree oven. The time varies with how much meat you use....I always use 2 lbs of ground meats for my meatloaf, so it takes about 45 minutes....I do check with an insta-read thermometer occasionally. The problem with making a big meatloaf is that I will eat slice after slice after yummy slice, starting with the end pieces first! I admit I can be a bit greedy when it comes to the end pieces. When I make meatballs I eat less.

PS green onions are second only to radishes for the biggest deal in the produce section! Good Lord, what do they cost? 2, 3, 4 bunches for $1? My BFF Fawn makes a killer salad dressing from using just the green tops with oil, goat cheese, lemon and honey! In this recipe I was cleaning out my veg drawers and 4-5 green onion stalks lingered.....I once used sliced green onions in my Split Pea Soup when I discovered no other onion in my pantry....the result? MMM, mmm, good! Slice up those leftover green onions, green tops and all, into your sauteed veggies. You never know!

Start with Vegetables. Nutritional Status

I often claim to eat more vegetables than most vegetarians and to demonstrate this point, here's a picture of my stovetop tonight....tomato soup, Sloppy Joe sauce, and roasted peppers for the freezer (which will more than likely end up in homemade hummus).



I cooked down about 8lbs of tomatoes a couple of nights ago, without any other kind of veg, or seasonings. So, tonight I diced 3 jalapenos, 2 red bell, 2 carrots, 3 celery, and 1 large onion...do you know how much that measures? It measures at least 3-4 cups of veggies. That's in addition to 8lbs of tomatoes! After I sauteed the veggies I added in the homemade tomato sauce, about 1 c. chicken stock and cooked it at a med simmer for about 30 minutes. Tomorrow I will put it through the blender and freeze in 2 c. and 4 c. batches.



Well.....that's all I was going to do, but as I wiped the counter down I thought.....why don't you dice up a couple more veggies and make some Sloppy Joe sauce? It has, basically, the same ingredients.... 1 more red bell, 1 green bell, 2 more jalapenos, 1 carrot, 2 celery, and 1/2 lg onion.....1 can of tomato sauce....Ok, I admit, I have a problem using homemade tomato sauce in Sloppy Joes....but that's only because so much other "crap" that goes into the sauce.



Sloppy Joe Sauce Recipe


onion,
carrot,
celery,
green bell,
red bell,
jalapeno,


all diced small, and sauteed for 5-8 minutes. Add


one 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 c. chicken stock (homemade in my case, to make up for the canned sauce, lol)
1/4 c. worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 red wine vinegar
good squeeze of 1 lemon
S & P


bring to a boil and simmer until thick, about 20-30 minutes. Double this and freeze half for another time.


Brown 1- 1 1/2 lb. ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, or a combination of), add to sauce and scoop over bread, or eat alone (that's what we do!).


The most important thing about cooking is that you taste your food as you go along! Sloppy Joe sauce has a sweet/sour (vinegar) flavor. Taste it! If it doesn't taste quite right, what is missing? More sugar? More vinegar? A bit more salt? Here are some other ingredients you may find in Sloppy Joes sauce,



Ketchup (sweet/tomato/vinegar)
tomato paste (to thicken)
mustard (savory)
hot sauce (tomatoey, vinegarey, kick!)
spices like cayenne, thyme, garlic salt (I chose to not put garlic in this batch...go figure!)
red pepper flakes


Make it your own! Look up some recipes online and find the common theme.... I use 3-4 times the fresh veg of any recipe I've ever come across, but that's how I cook everything! Veg first.


I base my meals in order of nutritional status. Vegetable, protein, fat (flavor and texture), sugar/fruit/carb. If you have to overeat, then overeat health. Start with vegetables.


Make no mistake however....I start my day with caffeine and fat! Coffee w/heavy cream!

Picture above shows in the top saute pan, veggies for the Sloppy Joe sauce before the tomato sauce mixture is added. To the right is my tomato soup, with the same veggies, as the SJ sauce. One leftover red bell and two jalapenos get roasted for another time.....

Blaming Food

food is not the problem.....trying to find a "food solution" when food is not the problem will not provide an answer.

the site is not the source....the site of the pain is not the source, never look at the site as the origination of the problem.

you cannot fill an emotional hole with a physical object.

This Feedback Deserves More Space!

Thanks to all that requested, watched, trained along with my video, and took their own time to provide comments and feedback. I thought I needed to turn this comment into a blogpost because this viewer brings up many of your common thoughts and I didn't want it to get lost in the "leave a comment" section.


George said...

Hi Tracy,
I watched the Flip video you made and as promised, here is my feedback.I watched the video with your comments in mind, i.e., you were looking for
“comments about things like, difficulty, and was the instruction easy to follow along with? I really want to expand sharing my KB Swing methods with motivated people for future projects, including classes, via DVD, and workshops in conjunction with HKC Certifications, Domestically and Internationally.”

My comments are from a 70-year old man who has been working with kettlebells for 2 years, but not in a class, although I did have a private session with an RKC to check my form and suggest new exercises. Here are my thoughts:

1. You give clear instruction to your class during the video. Your methodology, the “roundabout,” is complex which makes the instruction element even more important.

2. In order to help the instruction element, I think it might be helpful to have a flip chart or a white board to show the outline of the workout to the class. For those new in class, or those new to your methodology, it will give the class an overview of what to expect and how your roundabouts work. During the class, I think it's helpful to refer back to the visual to point out where you are in the program, what the class has accomplished, and what remains ahead of them.

3. I was inexperienced with your “roundabouts” and so found the roundabout format confusing. I think in a class setting the complexity of the roundabout makes it distracting to the individual and so the class will work beyond the point they would ordinarily stop. That's good for a class, but I'm not sure I, or other individuals, would be able to follow it on video without some practice. For me it's simpiler to just count the number of swings in a 10 minute period or do alternating series of work and rest for a period of time. I'm curious...do you think it's a “guy” thing to want it simple and straight forward? Do the men and women in your class view the complexity of roundabouts differently?

4. I think you should also have a timeclock showing on the screen during your DVD class. A visual timeclock will keep the video watcher in synch with the work/rest ratio the class is following. Your verbal instructions about where the class is on the clock is not as good as actually seeing it. One picture is worth a thousand words.

5. In this particular video there were several side conversations that could be overheard on the video, some comments were even made when you were talking. It's distracting and needs to be avoided.

6. Since the roundabout is complex, can you group roundabouts into beginnning, intermeditate, and advanced? If so, three DVDs right there. Grouping might also allow quicker learning.

7. Can you add other “swing-like” exercises to your roundabout? For example, adding a high pull or perhaps walking as you swing? More content, variety, and interest for your DVDs.Thank you for the opportunity to watch your program.

George

October 16, 2010 6:14 AM


Tracy Reifkind said...
George, Zowie! I think you took more time to comment than I took swinging in the video...thanks back.

You bring up some important points so I'll address them in the order you made them, but first let me my first point....

1.This is how I get my students that are already familiar with my methods to do about 600 swings in 30 minutes of time, and although in this video I do progressively lead into the "roundabout", this was not an "Instructional" DVD, but simply a way for others to see the possibilities in this one kettlebell movement...THE most important KB movement as far as I'm concerned.OK....

2.I do have a white board in the studio with a basic plan, and combination swings progressions, as well as rep count for all to refer back to. I didn't have the luxury of a camera man, or crew to include all of that. In future projects I will more than likely provide a hardcopy (or pdf) of the routine for reference. I did include one to accompany my current DVD, and have heard back from a few sources that it was greatly appreciated and very helpful (so I agree!)

3.I have also experienced the differences between men and women to be the same as yours....men like "sets and reps", which is why my swing classes have 90% women. My philosophy about that however is...and then what?

Women get bored with sets and reps (me!), and that's how and why I developed my methods in the first place. I may do a "roundabout" workout in my class, maybe 1x a month, the other swing workouts don't have as many "transitions", and most beginning level classes have the same work/rest ratio.

4.I had some critique about my current DVD with the same suggestion about an on screen timer....I agree. I'll definitely look into that for future projects.

5.About the side conversations....this was not a DVD, it was simply done on a whim, and I made the decision that it still had enough value to share with others.

6.Adding in other movements are part of my intermemdiate and advanced classes, especially adding in more movements to an already complex one, like the roundabout. I don't teach new students anything but the swing for 4-8 weeks. At that point if they have established consistent workouts, and really good technique, I teach more skills in this order...snatch, neg press/press, clean, squat, get up....I have a method to my madness although this may not make sense to some. Once a student learns the snatch, for example, you better believe I have "Snatch Roundabout" combinations that are tons of fun!

I have my own strong opinions about why I focus so much on the swing, it reflects my own personal story. I train others the way I train myself (many PT's do, btw!)

I don't believe walking, or lateral swings are for beginners, and the high pull seems to be more of a "man's" preference (so are 1 hand swings, whereas women like 2 hand swings)...but as I mentioned, I do include many other kb movements into my other classes.

I hope I haven't come across as defensive, I don't mean to be, I want to only explain the choices I made, or didn't make (lol). I asked for feedback, and I got it...again thank you for your time...truly! You've helped me reply to many others with the same thoughts, and I will take all of these thing into consideration to produce the best of products in the future!

Tracy
October 16, 2010 12:58 PM





PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT





PREVIEW

Thank You All for your Requests.....and feedback!

On a whim, last Saturday, I taped my beginners KB swing class, and after reviewing the video, later that day, I thought the instruction was clear enough, and the routine easy enough, to share with all of those who might be interested in seeing, and participating in what I do almost every day of the week. I also thought it would be a good way to find out how I could share more, via train along DVD's, streaming webcast, workshops, etc, and make a bit of cashola to keep doing what I do....to train regularly, consistently, progressively and imaginatively. And in the process encourage, and inspire others to experience success the same way I have.

The common feedback was "Time flew by", "I felt like I was training along with you", "The roundabout allowed me to do so much more because I was distracted by the combination of swings and trying to get them right!" (which is part of the point, lol), "That was the hardest workout I've ever done, I can't imagine what your more advanced classes are like!", and the best ones of all, "Give me more!"

High volume Swings are not for everyone, the same way many physical activities are not for everyone, BUT, everyone can learn how to swing a kettlebell safely and effectively to build cardio endurance and fitness, increase muscletone, and burn as many calories as humanly possible with one exercise (fat loss people!).

I also found out something else important....who my audience is! It's regular people like me! Not those who think they are already super stud athletes....although this workout, and many of my other workouts would kick their butts big time! My style of training combines my own original methods to allow ordinary people to do extraordinary workloads! Turning us hard working and dedicated complusive exercisers into the super stud athletes of our dreams, lol! Do this workout at least 4-5 times and see if your work capacity doesn't improve in about 2 weeks time! Not to mention, you will probably be able to see the beginnings of physical changes you've worked so hard to create in the past with regular "aerobics" or circuit training....I hear it all the time! Hell, I experienced it myself!

The second picture, to the left, was taken at 142lbs, 11 months after I weighed 250lbs, and 7 months after I started training with kettlebells.....and I was pretty stinkin' proud of myself this day! (11/2005) The last picture, to the right, was taken 3 years later, at about 135lbs, with consistent kettlebell training (08/2009).....a bit more muscle I would say, not to mention leaner!

I want to get back to all of you that were so kind to take the time to comment via this blog, but as I mentioned....I had no intention of giving away a free workout, AND the time and work involved in doing that! If for some crazy reason you did not get your request filled, then please send me another email and I will get it to you the best I can (we did run into some organizational problems...yikes, we're not perfect....well, Mark and I are perfect for eachother, but that doesn't count, lol)

I can't wait to get back to more Thoughts, and Food! I've been cooking up some mean batches of chili, and my pressure cooker has been going crazy!

Free Class Video offer to EXPIRE SOON!!!

Here's a you tube video of me training the Roundabout two years ago. It's still relevant in my training. If you would like a free copy of my beginning class,featuring the Roundabout, email me at Tracyrif@yahoo.com.

I've had a lot of requests for free class video, but I need to limit the offer because of time constraints. I've decided to extend the offer for 3 more days( expires Thursday Oct 14, 2010.), especially for all of those coming from VFRF! I will send the videos in groups of two, AM and PM.....it's coming!

My motivation for sharing my methods, my classes, is to gauge interest in a variety of projects I'm interested in pursuing this next year. Instructional DVDs, streaming web cast classes, workshops and books that focus on high volume KB training as well as fat loss, weight loss and my own success at becoming the athlete of my dreams.

Try My Class for FREE!

Do you wish you could come to one of my KB Swing classes? Well, now you can! All you have to do is email me with your request, and I will send you a copy of my Beginners Swing Class I taught this morning! Let me give you a bit of detail....it's a "Roundabout" Swing workout that is approximately 30 minutes in duration. If you aren't familiar with my combination of swings I call the Roundabout, then you will learn them in this video.

It is mostly equal work to rest ratio, but it does go into a "more work than rest" ratio....you must be able to self scale the workload, especially if you are a Beginner. If you have already trained your conditioning past "equal work to rest" ratio, then chose a heavier bell...afterall I created the roundabout to condition myself into using a heavier bell.

You only have to email me, tracyrif@yahoo.com, with your request, and I will send you the Flip video to train along with! This is a Beginners "TracyStyle" workout..."beginner" refers to your High Volume conditioning....not your skill at the KB Swing! With your request you will be taking on the responsibility of scaling the workout appropriately based on your abilities! That means....listen to your body! Once you break form and technique, STOP! The number of swing reps is unimportant to the practice!

This is not a professional production, it is simply "Gonzo" video! So you will have to excuse the quality of sound and the camera angle that may not be ideal! When I taped this I had no intention of sharing it publicly, but after reviewing it I thought it may be fun for others to take a peek into some of what I do. Enjoy!

Oh....and I expect some feedback! At the risk of asking for "a critique", I value your comments about things like, difficulty, and was the instruction easy to follow along with? I really want to expand sharing my KB Swing methods with motivated people for future projects, including classes, via DVD, and workshops in conjunction with HKC Certifications, Domestically and Internationally!

Free video offer expires Oct. 14, 2010

Me, Myself, and I

Since quitting Equinox I have Thursdays to train all by myself.... Well, last week was my scheduled doubles workout, but one problem....I had no double of any bell at home. Where were all the bells? At my yoga studio! I teach kettlebells inbetween my tri-weekly double Bikram practices on M, W, F. I've had a bit of interest from a couple of my students, once I suggested it, to train a double KB workout, so I've stocked some of my bells up over there....yikes....I guess I'll train at the BYC Studio....for now.

Silly me, I decided to take a Thursday 7:15am class, not on my regular schedule, but I was already there, so thought I'd train KB's after yoga.... Sure I was a bit tired, but being soaking wet was more irritating than anything else. There I was, me, myself and I......arghh!

Balance Yoga Center has 2 yoga rooms, and while another Bikram class was going on next door, there I was in the 2nd yoga room, soaking wet, no music, and my Gymboss' beep echoing so loud I thought for sure it could be heard throughout the entire place.....

If I'm teaching, I kind of go into "auto-pilot", using the different skill levels of my students to inspire particular combinations of swings, snatches, and anything else more advanced students have the ability to train. I know I can train alone, I did for years, and I'll still train by myself when no one shows up for a class. And it's not always fancy, shmancy combinations, often times I put some of my students through the "boring stuff" they would never, ever, do on their own...I like the boring stuff!

So yesterday was my second "yoga studio" workout...by myself. I knew I had bells there so I scheduled a KB lesson with a newbie at 7:30-8:00am, afterwards I stayed for my own workout....it was brutal (another blogpost for another time!) My garage gym is so much better! So that's where you'll find me, myself, and I, next Thursday! I'm coming home......

Thanks you to Michael Mayle HKC, owner of Balance Yoga Center in the Silver Creek area of San Jose, for letting me pratice my Bikram yoga, and teach Kettlebells at his beautiful new Studio. Am I lucky or what?

http://balanceyogacenteronline.com/

Too Much Fast Food

I've been eating way too much fast food lately. My kind of fast food is mostly snacky kinds of foods that simply require slicing, popping in my mouth, or scooping out of a container. Cheeses, nuts and dried fruits, cottage cheese, hummus, peanut butter, etc. And if you stretch the definition....fruits! Everything from grapes, watermelon (s), and the last of the seasons stone fruits, like nectarines. Even exotic fruits like jackfruit and mammey....but as summer ends, fall begins, and new fruits start to make their yearly apperance, like the Honeycrisp apples!



Here's an example of what I mean by fast foods......this is the lunch I packed for Mark, and myself, before we headed off to the SF HKC a couple of weekends ago. "Tracy's All Day Lunch", manchego, and string cheese, crackers, salami, eggs, hummus, Indidan lamb and lentil stew with greens, carrot & celery sticks, fuji apple, walnuts, prunes and my favorite candy these days....dried cherry tomatoes! I found these little nuggets of sweet tangy goodness at the Vietnemese Market.
Usually I would pack a salad, but no salad was prepped (can you believe it? yikes), and so all there was to pack that morning was snacky, snacky, snacky, snacks! Minus the lamb and lentil stew...that was the only thing that day that did not get eaten...no spoon. again, can you believe it? I never, whoops, I mean, rarely if ever, do not have a real spoon and fork with me at all times (I thoroughly dislike plastic...can't eat a salad with a plastic fork, yuck!) My point is that this is how I snack most days and this is why I've been too lazy to prep salads! It's too easy to just slice, pop, or scoop!


I know we are all busy, like myself, and thank goodness for my pressure cooker, I always have big batches of soups, chilis, stew, beans, grains big slabs of proteins, like pork shoulder or whole chickens. But I admit to the letting the salads slide.....



Recently I've been reassessing my time, and my "time wasters"...that's the important bit, the time wasters! I have plenty of time, I just haven't been spending it on the important things. Why do I feel like I need to ruch off to a 5:30am yoga class, when I can go to a 7:15am yoga class ane get all of my food prep done before I even leave the house? Why do I feel as if I need to go shopping, for more stuff I don't need, when I can go home and heat up a nice bowl of stew, instead of grabbing an expresso, with whip cream, to stave off hunger until I get home....already starving and too hungry to wait 2 minutes for the microwave, so instead, I start, yep, slicing, popping and scooping! Fast food is a bitch!



I finished off my last package of dried cherry tomatoes.....and I ran out of peanut butter a couple of days ago....somehow I think I can survive without more fast food.



PS at the risk of sounding like a snob, I never eat bars of any sort. Energy bars, protein bars, granola bars, call them what you want to. I call them candy, and when I want candy, I'll eat candy.

Top Secret

OK, maybe I'm just being a bit dramatic about the "top secret" thing.... But here I am, a 47 year old woman, scaling a ladder up the side of a building to the rooftop....kettlebell in tow....is this a crazy life, or what? Over the past few weeks time I had my first DVD released, did a number of radio interviews and podcasts, and now a roof?

I got the chance to be part of something really special this morning, but it's a bit premature to talk about the details. What a blast though....and it's just the beginning.

Saturdays.....the hardest workouts of the week

Good-ness! Saturday is, by far, my hardest training day of the week. I start out with my 30 minute 7:30am beginning swing class that always delivers 500-650 swings. I recently decided to train this class with a 14kg, as a warm up for my next scheduled group training, a Max based workout.

A couple of weeks ago my Max based group started a new cycle of 15:15. A new cycle starts at 50 sets. We then went on to 56 sets, last week was 60 sets. Meg and I with the 14kg, Mina, and Sabina with the 12kg. 3 weeks ago we all tested a 10 minute snatch with these weights, and in another few weeks, after we fininsh our 80 sets, we will retest....what the heck, right? Today was 64 sets of 8.....

Inbetween my Saturday workouts I have quit training classes at Equinox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That means I'm on my own...literally. By myself, no "training partners", no one to "cheerlead" or cheerlead me, but me, myself and I. Honestly, without a crowd, or without peripheral onlookers, it becomes a true test. Do I still have what it takes to get it done, alone?

Hell yes!

Thursday Max based workout

dbl snatch w/10kg

2 hd sw w/24kg

7 rep dbl sn w/10kg x 10

10 2 hd sw w/24kg x 5

7 rep dbl sn w/10kg x 15
10 2 hd sw w/24kg x 5

7 rep dbl sn w/10kg x 20
10 2 hd sw w/24kg x 5

60 sets total = 30 minutes

I did a total of 35 sets of 7 double snatches w/10kg, and 15 sets of 10 2 hd swing w/24kg.....I can't believe I ever did 1000 2 hd swings w/24kg....twice! This was the main portion of my 1 hour 30 minute workout. The first was portion was a warm up, and the last portion was playing around with some swing combinations for my Saturday classes.

Saturday Max....w/14kg

64 sets of 8. Whew! This took us 32 minutes. We started with about a 10 minute warmup, and finished, after a 2 minute rest period, with doubles. Dbl swings, dbl cleans, dbl clean/press, etc....15 minutes.

Intermediate swing/snatch class 45 minutes

Beginning Swing class 30 minutes

Learn to swing class 30 minutes

Pedicure 11:30-12:30! Woo hoo!

Picture above is of me, my bossy self, having a heck of a good time leading my first Saturday class of the day.