As usual gang we keep things intense and RAPID FIRE with our weekly workout.

As always we do these workouts day on – day off – day on – day off – day on – active rest – rest

Always remember keep things fast with as little rest as possible. We set things up using Power Sets each consisting of 2 exercises followed by 30 – 60 seconds rest in between each set. We refer to a complete round as completing all of the Power Sets. For example; this week’s workout consist of 5 – Power Sets making up 1 Round.

We will do 3 rounds mixing up the order of the sets in each round.

I get asked all of time why do I chose to mix the Power Sets up in round of the weekly Rapid Fire workout?

Well the reason is this. It keeps things crisp and fresh. I always hated doing for example 3 sets of bench press followed by 3 sets of shoulder press. It just gets boring. By doing it the Rapid Fire way we keep it fresh and throw in a little bit of muscle confusion.

Also remember that the order that you do the workout in on Day 1 of the week does not have to be the same order that you do Day 2 in. For example on Monday if you start with Round 1 then on Wednesday start with Round 2 or 3. This keeps the freshness, intensity and muscle confusion going.

Also if you need to rest a little more go ahead. Just don’t make it too long that you lose momentum and the intensity.

If you feel like you need more then rest even less in between sets or add an extra round.

Rapid Fire Workout:

No rest in between sets. 30 -60 rest between rounds.

1a: Pull up
1b: Jump Squat

2a: Push-Up
2b: DB Squat & Press

3a: DB Bent Rows
3b: Hip Bridges

4a: DB Shoulder Press
4b: Calf Raise

5a: Bicycle Kicks
5b: Plank

Round 1
1a: Pull up
1b: Jump Squat

2a: Push-Up
2b: DB Squat & Press

3a: DB Bent Rows
3b: Hip Bridges

4a: DB Shoulder Press
4b: Calf Raise

5a: Bicycle Kicks
5b: Plank

60 Seconds Rest

Round 2
1a: Bicycle Kicks
1b: Plank

2a: DB Shoulder Press
2b: Calf Raise

3a: DB Bent Rows
3b: Hip Bridges

4a: Push-Up
4b: DB Squat & Press

5a: Pull up
5b: Jump Squat

60 Seconds Rest

Round 3
1a: Calf Raise
1b: DB Shoulder Press

2a: DB Bent RowsPush-Up
2b: Hip Bridges

3a: Plank
3b: Bicycle Kicks

4a: Jump Squat
4b: Pull up

5a: Push-Up
5b: DB Squat & Press

Complete

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Here is  a great kettlebell article that appeared in The Daily Press

By Alison Johnson Special to the Daily PressDecember 5, 2009

Kettlebells are growing popular in fitness centers

Old-time Russian weights called kettlebells are landing in fitness centers and stores across the region.

At age 39, Jay Dowdy has run marathons and regularly lifts weights. But the Gloucester resident has never found a

better full-body workout than the one he discovered about three months ago: a combined cardiovascular and strength-training class powered by cast iron balls called kettlebells.

Swinging and hoisting the circular weights requires real core body strength and mental focus, Dowdy says. “It’s a lot of intensity in a short amount of time,” he says. “With regular weights, you’re targeting one or two muscle groups at a time and you sweat maybe a little. After a kettlebell class, you’re pretty much drenched and you’ve truly been using your entire body.”

Dowdy’s experience is why kettlebells — a type of weight developed centuries ago in Russia — are gaining popularity in fitness centers and stores across the United States. The class Dowdy takes at the Riverside Wellness & Fitness Center in Gloucester has built a devoted group of followers, as have programs at other local gyms and personal training businesses.

When used correctly, kettlebells are great for boosting calorie burn, strength, muscle tone, heart rate, energy, flexibility and endurance, trainers say.

“They force you to use many different types of muscles to keep them stable,” says Greg Tudor, a personal trainer and co-owner of Results Personal Training in Williamsburg, who uses kettlebells in one-on-one sessions. “They also can break the monotony of traditional workouts, which helps keep people interested and motivated.”

Kettlebells look like cannonballs with suitcase-like handles and can weigh anywhere between five and more than 100 pounds. In Russia, the weights have long been part of strength contests; many Olympic athletes and members of the military also have trained with them.

Locally, trainers say kettlebell programs draw out people of all ages, including men who haven’t frequented group exercise classes before. Sessions can include swings, lifts, squats, abdominal crunches and push-ups — moves that can target specific muscle groups or overall fitness.

“It’s a very powerful class,” says Valerie Morgan, group exercise coordinator and personal training coordinator at Riverside’s Gloucester fitness center. “There is a lot of technique involved. You have to be grounded and centered. There are certain movements where you just can’t take your eye off the bell. It’s not a time to let your mind wander.”

The techniques also take time to learn, and for safety reasons, fitness experts urge people to work only with certified instructors. Classes also have their own vocabulary; for example, “park it” means carefully put the kettlebell down (at an instructor’s command or whenever the weight feels out of control).

Morgan, who introduced the Riverside program earlier this year, didn’t start teaching her one-hour classes until she had completed six months of training. She also requires class participants to go through a workshop on proper form and breathing before they join a regular class.

Karen Smith, owner of Kettlebell Elite in Virginia Beach and a personal trainer with special certification in kettlebells, also puts all first-timers in an introductory class. That way, she’s able to teach them the basics and tailor programs based on fitness levels.

“If one tries to learn kettlebells on their own or by someone who isn’t certified to teach kettlebells, they risk injury,” Smith says. “Many people — even many personal trainers — have the wrong impression of what you should be doing with a kettlebell and try to use them as you would a dumbbell. They are far from being a dumbbell.”

People who buy kettlebells from sporting goods stores, superstores or online — as a reference, Target’s recent online prices ranged from $19.99 to $109.99 — should at minimum buy an instructional DVD too, Tudor advises. “It’s a different way of doing things, and it’s not for everybody,” he says. “You can really wrench your back, elbows and wrists, for example, if you’re not comfortable with how to use them before starting a routine.”

Kettlebell devotees say they got hooked quickly. “Unlike when you’re lifting weights, you’re not using a muscle, you’re using your whole core,” says Trudy Terry, a 55-year-old Gloucester resident. “When you leave, you’re not saying, ‘OK, I worked my shoulders, back and legs today.’ You’ve worked everything. Everything hurts, but in a good way. It’s challenging and it’s fun.”

Stephanie Johnston of Gloucester, 44, credits kettlebell class with toning her muscles, building strength and dropping her body fat percentile. “It played a big role in transforming my body,” she says, covered in sweat after swinging 30-pound bells in a recent class. “I also like that you have to stay so focused.”

Trainers believe the programs will spread; Riverside’s Newport News fitness center, for one, hopes to add kettlebell classes soon. And Smith isn’t surprised her business is growing. “I am very passionate about showing everyone how great their workouts can be in a shorter amount of time,” she says. “I love helping people get their life back and have more time to do the things they love to do.”

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Article By Will Williams, Sr. RKC
www.rkc2005.blogspot.com

Team, you are lucky to be here. The pull up and I have been homies since 1997.

“How many can you do?” the USMC recruiter asked me.
“What’s a perfect score?” said a sloppy, uninitiated 18 year old variant of myself.

He then tells me that Marine Corps Physical Fitness standards require a minimum of 3, and that 20 is aces. Once you leave recruit training, however, most Marines can rip off a minimum set of 10.

“Well” I say, “here comes 20″. And out came 7. 7 pull ups. I wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth. And within 24 hours, my biceps and back muscles were so sore I contemplated calling in sick from my job as an appliance delivery boy. Soon I would be a man, but not before I learned to clear the bar, repeatedly, in my sleep.

The Presidential Fitness Exam, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Russian Kettlebell Challenge Level II Instructor Certification are some of the respected organizations that employ the pull up as a measuring stick. Not everyone who practices pull ups actually practices them, however. Many cats and kittens simply mount the bar and flex their joints. Some dig on pull ups for muscular development, adding degrees of sexiness to their frame by chiseling out back muscles. Some athletes use the pull up as a warm up, aerialists and gymnasts to name a few. Marines have to eat pull ups for morning chow and then chew on a 5KM run for lunch. In this space here, we speak only of one pull up, the Tactical Pull Up [TPU], as Russian Kettlebell Challenge Chief Instructor and flexibility guru Pavel Tsatsouline has dubbed it. Below are the factors which define a TPU. Before I list the standards, allow me to tell you that unless you are painfully short, or a 5th grader, no pull up unit sold on television to be mounted on your door, or in your door jamb, will suffice. You must begin from a dead-hang. ‘Nuff said.

* -The bar is of a height which allows the user to hang free of the ground, with arms and legs extended at the elbows and knees respectively.
* -The pull to ‘chinning’ is one controlled motion, with no jerking, kipping, or swinging.
* -The user’s neck touches the bar, satisfactory performance being accepted once the chin and jawbone are above and in front of the bar.

Performance of the pull up is clearly described here, yet cannot be taught online. You must operate with a bar, text nearby, and visual aid in the form of an excellent instructor who can demonstrate, communicate, and motivate. This token will cover how to improve the numbers of your perfect pull up, with simple programming following flawless execution of a pull up, meeting the markers listed above. If you have trouble performing a pull up correctly, seek out an RKC II or hop the train to 30Th Street Station in Philly and I’ll heal you.

Regardless of your one-set-max, if you can perform a minimum of three pull ups, you are able to train with me. Enjoy the simplicity of The Trinity, and email me when you hit 10 or more pull ups in one set. If you are under ownership of a sick strength-to-bodyweight-ratio, and you feel that you must add weight to your pull ups, so be it. Maintain the course I set for you, and hang a bell off each foot, tough guy.

I have calculated the time involved to perform each ascending set, or ‘ladder’ of 1-2-3 repetitions, heretofore known as ‘rungs’, and we are looking at about 3 minutes. I will not tell you why I selected this format, or how I know it works, but I will tell you that one the most cutting edge, knowledgeable, and ballsy trainers on this planet has accepted my request to help him write a book on the Pull Up. What I have learned about the pull up has come from my experience in the USMC, and in the RKC system. Listen to me, and every day is pay day. You will train to achieve a number of reps each session by performing multiple sets of low repetitions, opposed to a few maxed out sets that would leave you sore, and unschooled. Print this out when you are done, and head to the bar. Not the pub, the bar. Big difference.

Legend:

One ladder to 3 rungs is commonly known as 3 sets of 1, 2, 3 reps. You will complete this ladder of 3 rungs in 3 minutes, including your rest time of a full minute & thirty seconds, before repeating. In your rest time, perform shake out drills and vibrations that unravel your tissue, preventing residual tightness and reduced joint mobility. You may perform this initial workout as many times as you like before adding another ladder, but once you add another ladder, it may be wise to reduce other movements in your weight training arsenal. When you are ready to advance, check back to this group for further text tutelage, or email me. My online programming is only as good as your technique, be advised.

The Trinity:
1 pull up, rest :30
2 pull ups, rest :45
3 pull ups, rest 1:30

This is one LADDER of three RUNGS. Perform three ladders, and you have nailed 18 pull ups. If you had tried for 18 pull ups without getting off the bar, you may be in trouble. You may be humbled the way a fat, beer bellied Eric Williams Jr. was in ‘97 before he emerged from recruit training as his alter ego, Big Willy.

For the first 5 sessions, this is all you will do. On the sixth day, you will gain a ladder. The documented version of a 4 ladder, 3 rung session would look like this:

1 pull up, rest :30
2 pull ups, rest :45
3 pull ups, rest 1:30

1 pull up, rest :30
2 pull ups, rest :45
3 pull ups, rest 1:30

1 pull up, rest :30
2 pull ups, rest :45
3 pull ups, rest 1:30

1 pull up, rest :30
2 pull ups, rest :45
3 pull ups, done. 24 Pull ups total.

After 8 sessions of four ladders, you will test your one-set max. If it is ten reps or higher, add a fifth ladder and blast off. Stay tuned for more from this online user group created by Sandy Sommer RKC, and in due time you will know how to program yourself all the way to 20 reps.

Semper Fidelis,

Will Williams, Senior Instructor
Russian Kettlebell Challenge
www.rkc2005.blogspot.com

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You wouldn’t think your fitness would be contrary to your doctor’s interest, would you? Look my doctor is a nice enough fellow. And he does care about my health. There’s a good possibility you have a good doctor too.

The medical establishment, however, is in the business of being in business. Simple economics tells you that the more sick you are, the more money they make. At its best, the medical establishment aims toward wellness.

For your best health and happiness, there should be a higher aim. It looks like this:

Illness => Wellness => Fitness

When you’re talking about your health, Wellness is mediocrity. Fitness is optimum health.

The secrets of fat loss are hidden in the myths of wellness.

Myth #1: Maintaining a steady target heart rate is ideal for heart health.

Fat Loss Secret: Your heart is most healthy when it can operate efficiently, and quickly return to resting heart rate, at many different heart rates.

The best way to do cardio or aerobic activity is to vary the intensity. After a warm-up period, maintain high intensity for one minute. Then, dial down the intensity for 2 minutes. Then alternate for the duration of your cardio routine.

Myth #2: Maintaining a steady target heart rate is ideal for fat loss.

Fat Loss Secret: The fat loss benefits of aerobic or cardio activity only last as long as you are exercising. Once you stop cardio (30, 45, 60 minutes, whenever) your metabolism stops working to burn fat.

Building muscle is a far more efficient fat loss method. And you don’t have to gain bodybuilder-type mass to enjoy the benefits. Bodyweight exercise is an excellent way to build the kind of functional muscle strength that will raise your metabolism.

A rising metabolism burns fat long after you stop exercising. You can achieve the variable heart rate benefits by doing supersets or combo sets.

Myth #3: Lower your calories if you want to lose fat.

Fat Loss Secret: To lose weight, you just have to burn more calories than you take in. If you increase your activity level, you can eat more and still lose weight. If you want to lose fat; build muscle, increase your metabolic rate, and eat more of the right foods and less of the wrong ones.

Simply put, focusing on calories alone in not an efficient way to lose fat.

—–

Do you want to find a treasure trove of fat loss secrets? Do you want to gain strength while losing stubborn belly fat? Download a copy of Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training. Ballantyne has a time-efficient system for burning fat. He is a world renowned author and training expert. Download it now – Turbulence Training.

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WATER:
1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.
4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

COKE:
1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the “real thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China.
4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers, rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals, pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
6. To loosen a rusted bolt, apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
7. To remove grease from clothes, empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road gunk from your windshield.

MORE INFORMATION:
1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup, (the concentrate) commercial trucks must use Hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of delivery trucks for about 20 years!

Now the question is, would you like a glass of water or Coke?

Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

JP

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