Monday, January 31, 2011

Interview with Steve Cotter from IKFF

In our bid to provide our readers with the best quality information available, Sandbag Fitness are privileged to have interviewed Steve Cotter. Steve is renowned as a Strength and Conditioning and Martial Arts expert.


Here is the interview:


Hi Steve – thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for the Sandbag Fitness Blog. For those readers who don’t know much about you, can you give us a brief run down of your experience and current roles?

Thank you Matthew for inviting me to be interviewed.

I have been involved with martial arts and physical training since I was 12 years old, I am now 41 so for the majority of my life.

I was physical as a young kid and began my studies of traditional Chinese martial arts and qigong when I was 12. I became fully immersed in those trainings for many years and it is where I grew to appreciate hard work and physical development. My mind was always on how to become more skillful and more athletic, flexible and conditioned. Never into bodybuilding, just performance.

Martial arts was my first job, starting teaching at the age of 15 and full time by the time I was 19. In those years I was training and teaching at least 8-9 hours per day, 6 days a week. Also got into full contact fighting and fought competitively from the age of 22 to 26. During that time I won 2 USA National titles in the sport of Kuoshu, which is Lei Tai (platform fighting). The sport is also knows under such names as SanShou and Sanda, same sport, slightly different organizations.

So I trained really very hard and developed my physical and mental foundation in the martial arts.

From there I became interested in learning some of the science behind physical training and decided to major in Kinesiology. I graduated from San Diego State University with my B.S. degree in Kinesiology.

I from there moved into personal training as a profession and did that for about 4-5 years after graduating college in 2001. But I always looked for something more, I was not satisfied with an hourly job and continued to look for ways to improve my skill sets and education and training knowledge.

I learned about kettlebell training in 2002, which is shortly after Kettlebells had a presence in the US and Western World. I trained on my own with a few kettlebells and a basic DVD. Because of my extensive martial arts training and body awareness I was able to learn very quickly. Then I went to Pavel’s KB certification in 2003. At the time I considered it a very good course, because I didn’t know better, and when I went to that course I was able to excel and Pavel asked me to come back to the following course and assist in the instruction. I did so then got involved with Pavel’s organization as senior instructor for 3 years.

Finally I went to Russia with a group of American’s in late 2005 and that is when my eyes were opened as to what kettlebell training really could be. The level was well beyond anything I had seen or experienced before. So I was very curious how these Russian athletes could develop such amazing work capacity.

There was still nothing available to us in USA about the high level kettlebell athletes.

I had the chance to take a workshop with Valery Fedorenko and learned some more. Then Fedorenko started his KB course and I took a few of those with him and learned more still, once traveling to Greece to train with him and his coach. That training brought me to a point, but I felt my progress stalled, as I do not think one way fits everybody. I am appreciative of what I did learn from Fedorenko, but it was not a perfect fit for my needs and my body.

Since then I have had a chance to learn from other great Kettlebell coaches and learn even more about programming and periodisation and how to compliment kettlebell and KB sport conditioning with other complimentary tools. So the journey as a student continues.

You can tell by this brief overview that I am an eternal student, always interested in growing and learning more.

Professionally, I was not satisfied with what was going on with Pavel’s group, and although Fedorenko offered a much higher quality of Kettlebell technique, I was not satisfied with the structure of that either.

So starting in 2008, I started to offer my own Kettlebell instructional courses through the organization I founded and am the Director of, the IKFF , International Kettlebell & Fitness Federation.

We have several different levels of instruction and proficiency through the IKFF and the CKT programs, Certified Kettlebell Trainer, and since 2008 I and my team of trainer have run courses on 6 continents and over 30 countries.

IKFF blends the best qualities of my years of experience and excellent teachers I have learned from. Many Kettlebell athletes and trainers consider us the voice of reason, the balance between “hard-style” kettlebell training and “sport style” kettlebell training, as we blend qualities of each and we integrate the best information we can find, not only for kettlebells, but including mobility, flexibility, qigong (breathing training), meditation and general strength & conditioning training.

So I keep very busy, as a teacher, a student and an athlete.




At Sandbag Fitness we believe in making health and fitness as accessible as possible. For us, this means trying to de-mystify the industry a little bit and give people straight forward advice that they can use. How would you describe your own coaching ethos?




I also believe in simplicity and finding common denominators among the various training protocols available.

More important than the tool or tools one choose to train with, is the underlying principles. What qualities are being worked and how does that method or tool enable the user to achieve his or her particular physical goals?

I pay close attention to quality of movement. It is not just what you choose to do, it is how you do it. There are qualities and principles of movement that are pretty universal, whether you are using a kettlebell, a barbell, a dumbbell, a sandbag, a Bulgarian bag, gymnastics, yoga, martial arts or just Bodyweight conditioning.

Some of the things I look for, irrespective of the tools are:

-Comprehensive—does it work the entire body or just one area of the body? Does it train just one quality, such as strength, or speed, or endurance, or does it train many qualities simultaneously. Can we simultaneously, within a program or method or protocol, train strength, endurance, power, speed, mobility, flexibility, balance and coordination. This is why I say I look for common denominators. How can we work as many useful physical qualities as possible, in the least amount of time, with minimal space and minimal equipment?

-Holistic—this means not only is the training comprehensive in working many areas and physical qualities, but does it also integrate the mental and emotional with the physical. I believe very strongly in comprehensive, holistic training and am not a fan of one-dimensional training goals.


You’re famous for your own levels of strength and athleticism. Can you tell us a little about your training regime?

It has changed over the years and it depends on my availability of time since I travel and teach so much and also what my goals are.

In this period, most of my own training revolves around the Kettlebell Sport lifts, which are Clean and Jerk with 2 kettlebells and 1 arm Snatch. I integrate these with some basic Barbell lifts, such as DL and Squat and some Bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups and dips, sometimes weighted and sometimes just bodyweight. I will also integrate some thick grip work with the pull-ups. I add in some Bulgarian Bag training a few times a week and also like to spend some time at the end of training with some deep stretching or yoga. Also will add in some running as well, usually on non-lifting days. In an ideal training day, I will also incorporate some qigong or meditation to help with relaxation, focus, circulation and aid recovery. 


And we find that fitness can be over-complicated sometimes – do you have any key exercises that you always default to?

Yes, can’t go wrong with full body complex movements, such as Squats (can be with KB, BB, BW only, 1 leg or 2), 1 arm Clean& Jerk, Snatch, Pull-ups. These type of simple movements deliver a lot of bang for the buck and have a history of delivering results. 


What does the future hold for you? And do you have any upcoming events that our readers may be interested in?

Well I continue to grow and do my best to be a great motivator and educator. Our IKFF programs are expanding a lot in 2011. We have also been receiving a lot of inquiries from gyms and trainers across the world who want to be IKFF Affliliates, so we will begin offering that option to certain gyms and trainers this year as well.

As far as events, we have courses all the time, either workshop or certification courses on Kettlebell training, Mobility and Bodyweight Conditioning. We offer these extensively throughout North America and Europe and also in Asia, Africa, South America and Australia (sorry Antarctica!). So best bet for those interested would be to email me to inquire about upcoming courses in their areas at:


stevecotter@ikff.net

and also check out our events page at:

http://www.ikff.net/events-calendar.html


We are constantly adding new events, so interested folks should check back regularly. They also can check out our Facebook pages:



IKFF

Steve Cotter/IKFF











Would you like to say anything else?

I love to teach and I am fortunate to be able to offer a positive influence to many who are looking to strengthen their minds and body in healthful ways. So please feel free to reach out and contact me if I can help you toward your goals. 


Many thanks for taking the time to speak to us at the Sandbag Fitness Blog and we hope you have a great year ahead.

Thanks very much Matthew and I wish you all the best !!



To learn more, check out some of the great products at IKFF








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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Todays Workout

10 Chin Ups, 20 Sit Ups, 30 Sandbag Push Jerks, 40 Squats. 5 rounds.

Complete as quickly as possible.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Todays Workout - Sandbag Strength

With the heaviest sandbag you can handle:

5 Sandbag Power Cleans
5 Sandbag Push Press
5 Sandbag Back Squat

Rest for 2 minutes and repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Record your weight.

Train hard!


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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Todays Workout - '99'

In honour of our 99th blog post...

99 Sandbag Clean and Jerks, 99 Sandbag Back Squats, 99 Press Ups. Break up as needed.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Todays Workout - Sandbag Strength

Heavy Sandbag Push Jerk, Heavy Sandbag Back Squat, Chin Ups. Max repetitions on each exercise, rest for 2-4 minutes and repeat for 5 rounds.

Record your weight and score.

Train hard!


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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Todays Workout - Push, Squat, Pull

5 Heavy Sandbag Push Jerks, 10 Back Squats, 5 Chin Ups. 5 rounds.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Todays Workout - 60 Seconds

Sandbag Push Press, Sandbag High Pulls, Sandbag Back Squats, Sit Ups. Max repetitions in 60 seconds for each exercise with a running clock. Take 1 minute rest between rounds and repeat for 3 rounds total.

Record your score.

Train hard!


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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

It's Official San Antonio Hates Pedestrians

Today was such a busy day! Granted I didn't start class till 10:30 but for a night owl that's more like 8:30 ;). After my little 'cat nap' I had another lesson in blogging 101. I had to come up with a new blog and blog concept because the professor knows that I already write a blog. I ended up coming up with a blog title/concept that I really like - 'Nerd in the City.' Basically it'll be a play off of Sex and the City. Unfortunately I can't be quite as graphic as Carrie (even though I do know a few Samanthas that I could write some interesting things about...) but it should be a lot of fun to write! I don't plan on it taking time away from this blog because chello! this is definitely a priority. After I figure out the design and template I'll include a link.

By the time I got done with classes and work I decided to go on a run. Amber had already worked out by the time I was ready to go so I decided to brave the neighborhoods (or just hood) of San Antonio on my own. Since I didn't head out until 5:20ish I didn't want to get lost while the sun was going down. I set out with my phone and ipod determined to run the whole distance (instead of the 2min walk/4min run combo I've been doing recently). So it's going well I'm just cruising along and normally when I have to cross the street I just jwalk (sp?) when there aren't any cars but aparently at 5:30 everyone is driving, I know right?!? Who knew? So I ended up having to improvise and run till I found a stoplight and I got completely off track of what Amber and I normally do and ended up running a lot farther. This is a good thing but I was still very frustrated with the drivers of San Antonio for not allowing me to cross at any crosswalks without a stoplight?!? And yes, I did run the whole 40 min. and I felt like I was running a great pace. Normally when I run I have to listen to crazy club music to feel pumped up but I was actually able to zone out and just listen to country and folk music (folk fan here!). I eventually made it back to campus before the sun disappeared. It felt so great to just go out there and get all sweaty, I can't wait to go again tomorrow! I attempted some yoga when I got back but I really wasn't feeling it. After a quick shower I had to go straight to the sorority house to do some preliminary voting who we are going to give bids to, so it was quite a night!

I had a really delicious lunch before work - Greek pasta salad with grilled chicken. Normally I don't get chicken in my salads but I decided that in order to lose weight I should up my caloric intake. I generally eat somewhere around 700-900 calories a day just because I don't really make an effort to go get food when it's inconvenient. Today I made sure to add extra 'good' calories to the things I ate like the chicken in my pasta salad and I had a loaded smamich (a sandwich made with love) for dinner.


Ham, pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, and lettuce (with a little mayo) and of course OJ! I also had some Ruffles that someone managed to disappear before I too the picture... wonder where they went?

All in all a good day. I managed to finish all my econ homework for tomorrow and now I just have a ton of philosophy reading to do before my three hour class sooo SparkNotes here I come!

I hope everyone had a great hump day :)

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Todays Workout - Sandbag Tabata

20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest repeated for 8 intervals. Sandbag Back Squats (leave sandbag on shoulders during rest interval), Sandbag Push Press, Sandbag Power Cleans, Sandbag Walking Lunges (Overhead).

Record your total score for each exercise.

Train hard!


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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thank you Texas...

FOR BEING SUNNY! The cold front finally waved goodbye and a beautiful day was ushered in. It felt so good to be able to walk outside in just jeans and a t-shirt. After my economics class I had to go to work and there was quite a surprise waiting for me - tons of filing. I just love to alphabetize papers so basically work was a blast. Just kidding! After work my friend Amber and I decided to go running since it was so nice. We ran for about 35 minutes and we went through the neighborhoods around our school. The nice thing about running near school is that you have the incentive of surrounding frat houses to make sure that you don't slack off, God forbid that the hottie that sits next to you in English sees you crawling past his lawn. It goes without saying that we didn't want to wimp out although with the cross country girls flying past us I'm sure that we looked super athletic...

I finally have my schedule figured out and books in! This semester I will be taking:

MWF TTR
10:30-11:20 Symbolic Logic 2:10 - 3:30 Intermediate Microeconomics
12:30 - 1:20 Essential Information Technology 4:30 - 7:45 Philosophy of Friendship
1:20 - 2:30 Early Modern Philosophy

This is pretty much opposite of last semester when I only had one class WF that didn't start till 1:30. Tuesday and Thursday are the longer days so I'm glad that I have fewer classes then and my three hour once-a-week class has been surprisingly interesting for the whole 3 hours. Symbolic logic is basically like learning a new language, it's for computer science majors and philosophy majors. So far it's constructing sentences out of shapes soooo yeah, it's weird. The EIT class is required to graduate and it is a computer class. You can generally test out of it but I missed the test date last year so now I'm trapped in the class with a bunch of freshmen and currently we are learning how to make a blog. On the bright side easy A, not on the bright side totally boring and a waste of time. Since I have an hour break between logic and EIT I decided to sneak up to the library for a quick cat nap but decided to make it blog sesh instead :)It's still really beautiful so I decided to hide in a little corner of the fourth floor of the library. since my blog the other day didn't have any pictures and this one doesn't either I thought I that would snap a pic of my view from up here (please ignore the terrible quality of my camera phone).


Have a great hump day!

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Balancing Act

I got a little treat in a mail the other day and it wasn't another magazine... Netflix sent my Shiva Rea Flow Yoga for Beginners DVD! I originally had just done bits and pieces of the workout that I could find either on demand or online. There are four flows on this DVD, foundation pose, Beginner's Backbend Flow, Relaxing Flexibility Flow, and Beginner's Standing Pose Flow. The DVD ends with the really relaxing shavasana.

I have yet to do the complete workout but I did the first three sequences all at once the other day, then this morning I just did the Beginner's Standing Pose Flow and shavasana. This flow is the longest and also the hardest in my opinion. Since I've been running consistently for the past week I thought that today could be a yoga day and I'll probably throw in a quick weight workout at the gym later.

It's official I'm over the honeymoon phase of being back at school. The three day weekend was a godsend and it's finally over. On the upside I was able to have a lot of fun, work out consistently, and finish all of the homework that I have due today and tomorrow. Since the end of rush is approaching really fast we have a lot of little sorority things going on like rsvp, special showing, pref day, and eventually bid day. Our alumni are also having a couple of events so there's a cocktail party on Friday as well as a sorority retreat on Saturday. Thankfully the retreat isn't a sleepover so I won't have to spend and ridiculous amount of time away. I don't like having to have to go to so many different events, especially ones that are mandatory but hopefully I can stay on top of my homework and balance everything.
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Monday, January 17, 2011

Todays Workout - Death by Sandbag Clean and Press

With a moderately heavy sandbag (recommend 45kg for men, 20 kg for women), perform 1 clean and press/jerk in the first minute, 2 in the second minute etc. Keep going until you can no longer complete the target repetitions within any given minute. Power cleans are acceptable.

Record your score.

Train hard!


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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Todays Workout - MMA Fight Specific Circuit

10 Sandbag Floor Press, 1 Sandbag TGU, 10 Shoulder-to-Shoulder Sandbag Push Press, 10 Bear Hug Sandbag Squats. As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes, rest for 1 minute and repeat for 3 rounds total. Alternate shoulders for the TGU between each round.

Record your score for each round.

Train hard!



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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Todays Workout - Sandbag Thrusters and Skipping

50 Double Unders or 150 Skips, 20 Sandbag Thrusters. 5 rounds.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Todays Workout - Sandbag Strength

Max Heavy Sandbag Back Squats and Max Chin Ups. Repeat for 5 rounds, rest as needed between rounds.

Record weight and score.

Train hard!


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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Last Day of Freedom

It's amazing how unprepared I am for classes to start tomorrow! I don't have any of my books or school supplies but I figure that that's what the weekend is for :) I'm excited for the upcoming semester because all of the classes that I'm going to be taking are right up my ally (except for computer science).

Last night I went out with my girlfriends for some back to school fun. The party wasn't that great but there was lots of dancing so the night was not a waste! Last night my friend Amber and I decided that we were going to go running this morning and by morning I mean noonish. When she first called to wake me up I said that I had a momentarily lapse in judgement and told her that I didn't want to go but after I thought about it I decided that I had no good reason not to go! Our friend Catherine has mono right now so she can't do any strenuous work outs so we decided to run around the track so that she could walk and we wouldn't lose her in the neighborhoods around our campus. We alternated 2 minutes of walking and 4 minutes of running for half an hour. We ended up going about 3 miles which is pretty good in my book!

After our workout we went and grabbed some food. Since it was afternoon they only had heavy lunch/dinner food so I settled on some grapes and watermelon (which I scarfed down before I could snap a pic), a banana and Odwalla.

Now that I'm all showered and clean I'm going to enjoy some Sex and the City reruns and a quick nap before I need to organize my schedule for tomorrow and order some books for my classes.

I hope that ya'll are having a great Tuesday!
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Monday, January 10, 2011

Todays Workout

20 Squats, 20 Shoulder-to-Shoulder Sandbag Presses, 20 Sit Ups, 20 Sandbag Power Cleans. 4 rounds.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Flying

In her blog Rachel Wilkerson recently wrote a post about traveling from her home state of Michigan to her new home in Houston, Texas. Something she wrote in the post really resonated with me, that being that the trip wasn't so much traveling as it was time traveling. It is so true! When I'm in Washington all I can think is "who am I?!" I feel like such a kid again! I'm in such a strange state of limbo right now I don't really feel like an adult but at the same time I live very independently. Leaving home this time was a lot harder than it usually is; I'm not sure if it was the freshly fallen snow that finally decided to show up or the fact that last semester was really difficult but I've never come so close to crying while leaving. On another note I can't believe that it finally snowed! We had to leave extra early this morning for the drive to Seattle because of the ice It started completely dumping snow and I was so close to turning the car around so that I could play in the snow! Once we got to Seattle though there was no snow and it was just cloudy and grey so I felt better about my decision to leave. I took a picture of the sunless sky but then I realized (a little to late) that I had left the cord that connects my camera to my computer at home. I guess that I just enjoy getting mail :)

I ended up getting to the airport really early so I bought myself some breakfast.

This, obviously, was not taken by me but it does the job. I had a super yummy strawberry raspberry parfait. I could hit up Sbucks without getting a delicious beverage so I decided to celebrate coming back to Texas with a very sunny drink:
mmm... passion tea lemonade with Splenda! It was a great way to start by day. I'm going to go catch up on some blogs and enjoy watching all the depressed Saints fans wait for there flights.

Happy Sunday!

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Todays Workout

5 Chin Ups, 10 Sandbag Push Press, 15 Squats. 10 rounds.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Todays Workout

Heavy Sandbag Overheads - work your way up to the heaviest sandbag you can manage and perform a series of single lifts (anyhow) from ground to overhead.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Record your weight.

Train hard!


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Store Now Available

Sandbag Fitness now has its own Amazon Store! We'll be featuring everything you need to get started and there will be regular special offers. You'll also find some useful reading material to support the Sandbag Fitness workouts. If you have any questions regarding any of the products featured here, please get in touch.

We will soon be adding some exciting new products from our friends at Brute Force Sandbags - watch this space!

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Rain, rain go away

Today was officially the first day since I've been back that it has rained NON-stop all day; thankfully, today's reminder of average Washington weather will make my trip/transition back to Texas only that much easier. It's been so cold lately that I was really hoping that it would be snowing instead of raining this morning. Despite the fact that waking up to the sound of rain is not nearly as soothing as waking up to the peacefulness of freshly fallen snow, it does make you thankful that you don't have to be anywhere other than your bed! My brother, envious of my snoozing, likes to take it upon himself to to keep me from getting too comfortable... My brosef gets up at five every morning for a 2.5 hour swim practice workout then he comes home to take a nap after which he likes to come poke at the hibernating animal that's upstairs, namely me. There's nothing like getting woken up first by my brother looming over me, then by pulling my covers off me after which is followed by a 20 minute long smoothie making process accompanied by blender noises; needless to say he got a 'talking too' this morning by yours truly :) What can I say? I love the kid but he can be pain.

Thankfully he inspired me (to put it nicely) to get up and start my day which comprised of watching movies with my best friend and then a nice long workout. I decided to go to the gym tonight to watch the Lakers/Suns game on TV, might as well do something good while watching the boob tube. I did a hard 30 minutes on the stair climber followed by a hard 30 minutes on the treadmill. I alternated running and walking at an increased incline. After my sweat-sesh I did some weights than headed home. I went to the gym with both my parents tonight which isn't my usual routine. I don't like to workout with other people. When I'm at home I like to drive to the gym on my own time and stay for as long (or as short) as I want then leave as opposed to going with someone else where my choices are dictated by other people. When I'm at school I like to workout with my friend Catherine because she and I are pretty much on the same wavelength most of the time. Surprisingly, going to the gym with my parents today was not that bad.

After watching the Lakers beat the Suns I had a delicious post-workout smoothie:

  • Seven ice cubes
  • 1/4cup frozen mango (thawed)
  • 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (thawed)
  • 1/4 cup fat free milk
  • 3 Splenda packets
Mmm! So yummy! I decided to stop putting yogurt in my smoothies to (1) cut down on calories and (2) recently I've enjoyed the less-creamy consistency. Since my family didn't go grocery shopping until yesterday I've been living off of mainly smoothies for the last week but I never get sick of them (only of cleaning the blender afterwards...).

After some nosh I had to whip up some cupcakes for my brother's basketball banquet (the younger, younger one not the high schooler). I decided to make red velvet with vanilla frosting. While baking and icing these I was in the midst of watching my first ever biggest loser episode on Hulu.
I actually really like this show! I'm definitely going to continue watching it. It gets a little too cheesy and emotional at times but I totally understand what all the hype is about. I felt a little guilty slathering frosting onto cupcakes while watching blue and green teams weighing in at like 400lbs. but not so guilty that I couldn't finish the job without sneaking one of these bad boys...

If only Jillian Michaels were here to make me push a pick-up up a hill to help me burn off this cupcake! All in all today was a successful day lots of nothing and a little something, I like that ratio!

Do any of you watch or have watched the biggest loser?


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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Todays Workout

10 Chin Ups, 20 Sit Ups, 30 Sandbag Push Jerks, 40 Squats. 5 rounds.

Complete as quickly as possible.

Record your time.

Train hard!


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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Sandbag Training for MMA

If you walk through the doors of any commercial gym in the country you’ll be met by row upon row of cardio equipment and resistance machinery. But, is this the best training environment for Mixed Martial Artists who want to build elite strength and conditioning?

The sandbag remains one of the greatest strength and conditioning tools for MMA athletes for one major reason – it closely resembles the demands of the sport.

Ultimate Functional Training

The term functional training has been bastardized heavily in health and fitness. If you ask most trainers and coaches about functional training they’ll have you balancing on a stability ball in no time at all. This always baffles me – if I don’t spend time balancing on a big ball during my daily life then how can training for it be functional? These coaches have typically neglected to examine the variables of function in relation to the individual. Functional training simply refers to matching, in some way, the training to the results required.

MMA athletes need strength, power, speed, agility and endurance. They work with awkward external loads (called opponents) so the training needs to replicate this.

Isn’t MMA the best way to train for MMA?

Strength and conditioning for MMA is designed to support skill development – greater physical development allows the athlete to train harder, manage injury and increase the quality of skill learning. Furthermore, when two opponents of fairly equal skill level are matched – the better conditioned athlete will usually come out on top.

Strength and conditioning is your way of attaining greater physical development in a controlled environment. You can work on specific movement patterns that would not be possible during the demands of high level competition.

Grip Training

Traditional weight training places demands on the grip that aren’t necessarily directly applicable to martial arts and MMA. Barbell and dumbbell lifting, for the most part, allow a ‘closed grip’ – one where you are able to completely close the hand around the bar. While this allows the athlete to lift more weight safely it is a luxury that MMA doesn’t typically provide. Apart from wrist control, this is not a common grip position in MMA.

Gripping something with an ‘open grip’ – where the hand is not able to fully close around the object, has a much greater application. The sandbag is perfect for this as it allows an athlete to grip in a variety of different ways, including gripping the canvas with an open grip. The benefits to competitors who fight with a Gi are also very clear.

The inclusion of handles on your sandbag, also allows the versatility to perform other highly valuable exercise like the Snatch.

The idea of an ‘open grip’ can be further developed. Zercher and Bear Hug grips add another degree of function to MMA strength and conditioning.

It is important to realise that ‘grip’ does not start and finish with the hand. Grip should be classed as the ability to hold onto an external load or to the ability to hold onto a fixed surface. The need to effectively match the demands of the sport with the strength and conditioning is paramount.

Practical Applications for MMA

Besides multi-planar compound movements there are plenty of specific drills for the MMA athlete. The following exercises will help to produce fight-specific strength and conditioning.

1. Bear Hug Load Carry

Holding the sandbag with a bear hug grip, carry it across a set distance. You can practice this with both light and heavy bags, and over short to long distances. Although, a bag the weight of your opponent carried between the cage/ring walls would be highly specific. You can also experiment with different grips on the bag (see picture)

2. Sandbag Hip Bridge
Lie on the mat with the sandbag across your hips. Then, in one powerful movement, drive the sandbag upwards by using a hip bridge. This exercise will help develop the power needed to escape from the bottom position. Experiment with different sandbag positions and escaping from under the bag in different ways.

3. Platform Load Shift

Using two platforms, stand in between them and move the sandbag through 180 degrees. Experiment with different height platforms to simulate a change in the centre of gravity of your opponent. This drill can effectively be used to encourage an escape from being pressed up against the fence and general opponent control in the clinch. Again you can experiment with different weights and grip positions.

“Be formless, shapeless...like water”

One of the greatest advantages of the sandbag is its versatility. MMA competition is free flowing so why not match your training to this concept? Have fun and get used to swinging, throwing, pressing and pulling your sandbag in a variety of different ways for some great results.

This article was originally published for Brute Force Sandbags - check out their store here:


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Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Year!

~Happy 2011~

What better way to ring in the new year (3 days late...) than with a post! After many hours, trips to Woods coffee, and faces like these:

I finally figured out how to create and personalize my header, background, and navigation tabs. I know it doesn't look like much but for someone who can barely find the on button on my laptop I'm pretty proud. I hope that the changes are an improvement :)

Home again, home again jiggity jig... so far my 'vacation' has been filled with a lot of sleep, yummy food, and chilly weather. It's been so nice to be able to go downstairs and make myself something to eat instead of having to walk across campus for a barely edible pre-made meal. I've also really enjoyed being able to go workout at a really nice facility! Homestead Farm's is Lynden's version of a country club it might not be as nice as a Lifetime or Ballys but it's much nicer compared to Trinity's gym.

To avoid going back in time I decided to post a collage of pictures from Christmas :)

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This was by far the best Christmas I've ever had! My family had a wonderful Christmas dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole (yum!), and squash. After our fabulous dinner we opened presents then went to midnight mass. There's nothing like presents under the tree to make you feel like a little kid again; I have never received such wonderful gifts!


This Christmas was full of surprises! My mom totally surprised with my favorite perfume that I have wanted for so long, Ms. Dior Cherie. She also tracked down two of my favorite movies - Cactus Flower and Butterflies are Free, they are both Goldie Hawn movies from the 60s and are absolutely amazing! I received a beautiful watch and dress from my grandma as well as a gorgeous wallet from my mother. My mother did such a great job getting me the most thoughtful gifts, she even made me a scrapbook of my grade school years!

I also got two other really big, really great surprises this Christmas. For the first time ever my precious baby brother (the older, younger one) got me a wonderful gift - a beginner's yoga set!
It came with a yoga mat, a brick, a strap and a beginner video. He even got it in my favorite color! I don't really like the video but it's nice to use have the equipment to practice on when I download yoga podcasts. I was so shocked that he was actually listening to me when I was badgering him about Christmas presents but it was definitely a nice surprise. One of my really good friends also decided to surprise me... with a NOOK!
My really good friend Tyler is currently stationed in Iraq fighting the good fight and totally surprised me on Christmas day. I can't wait until he sees what I got him :) So I really never knew anything about the Nook or Kindle because I assumed that I would never have one, on the other hand now that I do have one I am in love with it. It's great because I can read magazines on it (feed my addiction hee hee), books, surf the web, listen to Pandora, and play games on it. I really en joy when I'm at the gym because it's so easy to use! Once I learn more about how it works I'll be able to use it more until then it's still a learning experience, but a great one!

It's been such a great break from school (despite the weather...) and although I can't wait to get back to my friends I am not looking forward to starting classes again. I hope that ya'll had a great break!


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Todays Workout

Box Jumps, Sandbag Power Cleans, Heavy Sandbag Front Squats, Sit Ups, Sandbag Push Jerks.

Perform each exercise for 1 minute, giving a total round of 5 minutes. Record the number of repetitions performed within each minute for each exercise. There is a 1 minute rest period between each set of 5 exercises but a running clock during each round. Repeat for 3 rounds in total.

Record your total repetitions for the whole sequence.

Train hard!


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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Todays Workout

Heavy Sandbag Complex: Power Clean, Push Jerk, Back Squat, Push Jerk and return to the ground and repeat.

Complete 5 repetitions of the sequence (5x4 movements) and repeat this for 5 sets. Rest as needed between sets and work your way up to the heaviest bag you can handle.

Record your weight.

Train hard!


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