This is how I explained last Saturday to my sister.
What I actually did on Saturday was go to a Return of the Kettlebell Seminar down in La Jolla, California which was put on by my friends Franz and Yoana Snideman of Revolution Fitness. The focus of the day was Double Kettlebell drills and Pavel instructed. I have been very fortunate in Southern California to be able to attend workshops in my own backyard that are taught by some of the best in the industry. So, on Saturday we learned Double Snatches, Double Presses, Double Cleans, Double Jerks- all of the things I'm afraid to try in my gym by myself. Of course, we got a lot of really good tips on corrective exercises and stretches to help our clients and ourselves into these incredibly difficult postures.
So, the seminars are always great, but another thing I love is networking and meeting new people who share the same passion. Michele runs a really successful boot camp called Kettlebell Kamp in Mission Valley. Petra is getting her Dragonfly Kettlebells business going in East San Diego County at here home as well as at the Marine Corps Base nearby. There were a couple of guys from the Equinox in Chicago who were trying to escape the cold and get some ideas for their club. Everyone was focused on personal gains as well as trying to bring back ideas for their victims. At the RKC we're all a big family, learning from eachother and sharing our experiences.
The highlight of my day was the group dinner at the Fleming's Steakhouse after the conference. I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with SrRKC Jon Engum from Minnesota, Dr. Mark Cheng from Los Angeles, AND Pavel! To be able to have an hour with ONE of these Kettlebell celebrities would have been enough to make me giddy, but all three was a total treat. We talked some shop, some wine, and lots of random stuff in between. Again, that's what I love about this community- everyone from Pavel and the Masters down to the greenest RKCs are friendly, down to earth, and always happy to share what they've learned along the way.
For those of you (including my sister) who do not understand the significance of eating dinner with Pavel, I will say that for a lowly RKC, it's like my sister sharing a table with Justin Timberlake, like Steff breaking bread with Neil Diamond, or like the data-entry clerk having a meeting with the CEO of his company. It was really freaking cool. =)
I picked up a lot of great ideas and a couple of sore muscles (abs- OUCH!)- can't wait for the next workshop!
To see pictures from the event, check out Yoana's blog.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Liam Waldron
Great little story:
My nephew Liam is 4-years-old and my brother was in Foot Locker one day buying shoes and the salesperson says to Liam, "Wow, you have some big muscles, do you work out?"
And Liam says, "Yeah, I just do push-ups and kettlebells."
Here's a picture:
My nephew Liam is 4-years-old and my brother was in Foot Locker one day buying shoes and the salesperson says to Liam, "Wow, you have some big muscles, do you work out?"
And Liam says, "Yeah, I just do push-ups and kettlebells."
Here's a picture:
Friday, December 25, 2009
Holiday Workout!
Ok, Kettlebellers. The Holiday Workout is ready. Please read carefully below.
A couple things to consider:
#1- As a reminder to everyone who plans on following along with the video, please be certain you are cleared by your physician to be working out. You should be healthy and have no physical limitations that prevent you from working out and increasing your heart rate. Valerie Waldron and Pacific Strength are not responsible for any injuries resulting from this workout.
#2- Use your best judgement. Use little or no weight if there is an exercise you are unfamiliar with. Rest more than the allotted time when you're tired. Don't do anything that hurts your joints. Remember Kettlebell Safety 101: It's Your Fault!
#3- Be sure to warmup before and cool down after.
#4- Please Please Please Play Music in the background! The video is silent with a couple of voice-overs. Please have music in the background- it'll make the workout much more fun.
#5- Now get to work and Enjoy the pain!
The link to the Holiday workout is now inactive. Hope you enjoyed it!
Have a very Safe and Happy Holiday!
Val
A couple things to consider:
#1- As a reminder to everyone who plans on following along with the video, please be certain you are cleared by your physician to be working out. You should be healthy and have no physical limitations that prevent you from working out and increasing your heart rate. Valerie Waldron and Pacific Strength are not responsible for any injuries resulting from this workout.
#2- Use your best judgement. Use little or no weight if there is an exercise you are unfamiliar with. Rest more than the allotted time when you're tired. Don't do anything that hurts your joints. Remember Kettlebell Safety 101: It's Your Fault!
#3- Be sure to warmup before and cool down after.
#4- Please Please Please Play Music in the background! The video is silent with a couple of voice-overs. Please have music in the background- it'll make the workout much more fun.
#5- Now get to work and Enjoy the pain!
The link to the Holiday workout is now inactive. Hope you enjoyed it!
Have a very Safe and Happy Holiday!
Val
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Morning, bloggers!
Workout video is coming! I'm having a little technical difficulty- youtube won't let me post something longer than 10 minutes so rather than cutting the video, I'm trying to post it on MobileMe with my Mac account. It's uploading now and will be up on the blog asap...
Enjoy the holiday =)
Workout video is coming! I'm having a little technical difficulty- youtube won't let me post something longer than 10 minutes so rather than cutting the video, I'm trying to post it on MobileMe with my Mac account. It's uploading now and will be up on the blog asap...
Enjoy the holiday =)
Monday, December 14, 2009
PLANK!
Check out this video about how to make your plank more efficient. You thought the plank was tough before, just wait until you try the RKC plank! Enjoy the pain!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Bummer!
So I start this gym. I start a blog. I put my goals in writing (something I haven't done since college). And guess what I do? I fall on my bum taking out the garbage.
Now let me paint a picture so you know that I'm not a total klutz...
It's 7am on a misty morning in beautiful San Clemente. We are "socked in" with a heavy marine layer covering all of downtown. I usually don't work out in the morning, but there were only 2 people at the 6am Beach Workout (maybe it was the fog?) and I decided to put my kettlebell where my mouth usually is- show my loyal Beach Workout goers that I can workout too!
We have a great workout. I'm energized. I have 2 hours before the next Beach Workout and I decide to do some cleaning around the house. First stop- GARBAGE! I hate taking out the trash, so I do that first. To save time, I take the trash in one hand and the recycling in the other. Outside I go, I get to the bottom step and I slip on the dewey steps and fall flat on my left butt cheek. I can't catch myself because my hands are full and all of my weight slams on the edge of the step. Recycling scatters everywhere. Glad I didn't hit my head, I take a couple deep breaths and slowly get up. I pick up all the trash, gingerly walk up the stairs to my apartment, grab an ice pack out of the freezer and lie down on it. I can barely move and I keep thinking, "How on earth am I going to teach my next class?".
Luckily, I had some of my seasoned veterans at the workout (thank you Steff and Cindy) who were able to do the demonstrations for me. I had my sister (shout-out, Crystal!) come to the evening workout where I knew there would be a bunch of Newbies. And for the next 3 weeks, I had to use my words a little more than usual rather than relying on demonstrations.
Lesson #1- Take your time
Lesson #2- Don't do too many things at once
Lesson #3- Be thankful for a healthy body that moves well
Lesson #4- Let your boyfriend take out the trash
How did I get back to working out? For an entire week, I did the RI treatment (RICE minus the CE)- Rest Ice and Ibuprofen. About a week after "the fall" I started doing really slow bodyweight exercises, keeping my stomach and back tight by "bracing"- about 20 minutes of squats, pushups, plank, lunges, band rows, superman. By week 3, I was able to add weight to those exercises. And by week 4, I was able to add lighter cleans, snatches, and all the other fun stuff. I'm finally back to semi-normal. I'm still icing and occasionally taking ibuprofen after workouts. I've started working on my goals again but they will have to be pushed back. I'll get back to you late February.
Be safe out there!
Now let me paint a picture so you know that I'm not a total klutz...
It's 7am on a misty morning in beautiful San Clemente. We are "socked in" with a heavy marine layer covering all of downtown. I usually don't work out in the morning, but there were only 2 people at the 6am Beach Workout (maybe it was the fog?) and I decided to put my kettlebell where my mouth usually is- show my loyal Beach Workout goers that I can workout too!
We have a great workout. I'm energized. I have 2 hours before the next Beach Workout and I decide to do some cleaning around the house. First stop- GARBAGE! I hate taking out the trash, so I do that first. To save time, I take the trash in one hand and the recycling in the other. Outside I go, I get to the bottom step and I slip on the dewey steps and fall flat on my left butt cheek. I can't catch myself because my hands are full and all of my weight slams on the edge of the step. Recycling scatters everywhere. Glad I didn't hit my head, I take a couple deep breaths and slowly get up. I pick up all the trash, gingerly walk up the stairs to my apartment, grab an ice pack out of the freezer and lie down on it. I can barely move and I keep thinking, "How on earth am I going to teach my next class?".
Luckily, I had some of my seasoned veterans at the workout (thank you Steff and Cindy) who were able to do the demonstrations for me. I had my sister (shout-out, Crystal!) come to the evening workout where I knew there would be a bunch of Newbies. And for the next 3 weeks, I had to use my words a little more than usual rather than relying on demonstrations.
Lesson #1- Take your time
Lesson #2- Don't do too many things at once
Lesson #3- Be thankful for a healthy body that moves well
Lesson #4- Let your boyfriend take out the trash
How did I get back to working out? For an entire week, I did the RI treatment (RICE minus the CE)- Rest Ice and Ibuprofen. About a week after "the fall" I started doing really slow bodyweight exercises, keeping my stomach and back tight by "bracing"- about 20 minutes of squats, pushups, plank, lunges, band rows, superman. By week 3, I was able to add weight to those exercises. And by week 4, I was able to add lighter cleans, snatches, and all the other fun stuff. I'm finally back to semi-normal. I'm still icing and occasionally taking ibuprofen after workouts. I've started working on my goals again but they will have to be pushed back. I'll get back to you late February.
Be safe out there!
Friday, October 30, 2009
My Workout
I'm not one for talking about my own workouts. Usually, I just try to wipe myself out with a combination of kettlebells, body weight exercises, and as little rest as possible. But, the trap I think we all fall into is doing the exercises we like. You probably think I'm nuts, but I LIKE squats, lunges, pushups, and pullups. My clients reading this are saying, "uh, yeah, we know that!".
So, to force myself to change things up, I've been going to the blog sites of some of my kettlebell buddies to check out what workouts they're doing. I'll take bits and pieces from their training and come up with my own form of torture.
Wednesday looked a little something like this:
5 minute jump-rope warmup
5 yoga up/down dogs
2 TGU each side w/12k (to remind my joints where they SHOULD be)
Squat Ladder 10,9,8,7,6 w/12k & 5,4,3,2,1 w/16k w/10 swings between each squat set (NO rest)
3 sets of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
3 pistols each leg w/12k
30 sec rest between sets
3 sets of:
1 double swing
1 double clean
1 double press
1 double squat
5 x thru with 12k
30 sec rest between sets
3 sets of:
5 double snatches w/12k
30 sec rest between sets
cooldown with 5 yoga up/down dogs, other stretching
Kind of random workout, but it felt good. Never tried double snatches- SUPER FUN! I know, I still did squats, pushups, and pullups, BUT I also did TGUs (turkish get-ups), and double kb exercises.
My goals:
Complete the Femme Fatale Challenge- press 24k, pullup w/24k, pistol w/24k
Work on the TGU every day! Do TGU with 24k on each side.
I'll check back in January and tell you how I'm progressing!
Happy Training!
So, to force myself to change things up, I've been going to the blog sites of some of my kettlebell buddies to check out what workouts they're doing. I'll take bits and pieces from their training and come up with my own form of torture.
Wednesday looked a little something like this:
5 minute jump-rope warmup
5 yoga up/down dogs
2 TGU each side w/12k (to remind my joints where they SHOULD be)
Squat Ladder 10,9,8,7,6 w/12k & 5,4,3,2,1 w/16k w/10 swings between each squat set (NO rest)
3 sets of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
3 pistols each leg w/12k
30 sec rest between sets
3 sets of:
1 double swing
1 double clean
1 double press
1 double squat
5 x thru with 12k
30 sec rest between sets
3 sets of:
5 double snatches w/12k
30 sec rest between sets
cooldown with 5 yoga up/down dogs, other stretching
Kind of random workout, but it felt good. Never tried double snatches- SUPER FUN! I know, I still did squats, pushups, and pullups, BUT I also did TGUs (turkish get-ups), and double kb exercises.
My goals:
Complete the Femme Fatale Challenge- press 24k, pullup w/24k, pistol w/24k
Work on the TGU every day! Do TGU with 24k on each side.
I'll check back in January and tell you how I'm progressing!
Happy Training!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Beach Workout
This morning, after the warmup, we started with swings and squats- the usual gear-up to the workout ahead- really stretch into the squats and focus on form with a lighter than usual kettlebell. We followed that with some one-arm swings and squats combined with pushups, and so on. The gang was dragging a little, so I tried to keep it simple. Focus on form and keep the heart-rates up without doing anything too technical. We finished with a great 10-minute cooldown and active stretch which I think everyone was thankful for. Great job this morning, my loyal kettlebellers!
So, I get back from the workout and am looking through pictures from when Evan (www.christmanphotography.net) came down to the beach workout a couple of weeks ago. I figured out how to post them (kind of a no-brainer, but remember: I'm new to blogging!). The one above is me torturing my victims and then next one is to show that we are still able to laugh- we have fun down there too!
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