Sunday, December 16, 2012
al kavadlo: raising the bar on using the bar - dvd review
Follow @mcphoo
Tweet
Pull ups rock, right? They are a fundamental, do anywhere, super core, righteous bodyweight exercise. They are the foundation to so many other things of goodness, too, in self-strengthening skill work. Despite this, if you walk into any room (including a gym), the number of people who can do a full tactical pull up (palms facing away, neck to the bar, straight pull without momentum) will be, it seems, vanishingly small.
But don't worry: Al Kavadlo of We're Working Out Youtube fame is here to help, with a DELIGHTFUL DVD called Raising the Bar on pull ups and all moves (including levers and dips) related to pull ups - and bar work.
In fact, this video is so engaging you'll enjoy it if either (a) you already do pull ups - and are interested in getting into their variants like muscle ups or one arm chins (b) you have no intention of doing pull ups or (c) you know people who would like to do pull ups and haven't quite cracked it yet. Anyone you give this to will find something delightful in it.
And Yes i said "delightful"- a couple times. You may ask: can something mc just called "delightful" be taken seriously as a grrr me do pull ups grr type product. Well yes, indeed. And that's part of the delight. You can grr if you wish (Al's brother Danny who demos the movements, too, puts out some of that grr - just so you can do that vibe, too). Or, as Al makes clear from his own presentation, no grring required to be serious about our practice.
Personally, if someone's smiling while doing a one arm pull up, that's just gosh darn inviting, don't you think? Like, if a guy's all RRR and looking super intense doing a dip it's like "that's super hard ---- oooo - i dunno if i could do that." Whereas seeing Al, the vibe is totally "wow, that looks like fun. i'm gonna give that a go."
And towards that go getting, Al K. puts out a good series of progressions for each of the movements described and illustrated.
[Update: interview with AK about raising the bar now posted - Jan, 2013]
The DVD itself covers
These guys are both inked up pretty intensely - but they look very distinct even here. It's very interesting. The ink is also - i think - why when they do their work shirtless it doesn't feel like they're showing off - being buff studs. It feels like they have their ink on. Dunno - it just works.Very urban: the ere art fits in with the art/graffiti around them. Definitely city boys. This is real. I'll come back to that realness in a sec. In the meantime, a brief overview of the work through which the Kavadlo bros take us with the bar.
DIPS There's a nice logic to the chapters on the DVD too - after pull ups, we get Dips - a great triceps focused, full on body movement. If you think you know everything about dips - on parallel bars or rings, have you experienced the Korean Dip on a straight bar? The plyo dip? of course - there has to be a plyo dip. There's even psuedo cycling while dipping in case you don't think your core is getting enough attention.
HANGS: No Pull Ups Required Speaking of which - here's where all sorts of hanging leg variants come into play - including awesome progressions. The cool thing about these hanging variants is that we do not have to be pull up masters to do these: can we hang from the bar?
Balance the bod - HAND STANDS Here's one step off the bar to doing some inversion orientation. Why? doing pulls, gotta counterbalance with some pushes - ain't nothing like handstands for this. Now i like to work shoulder stand press ups every day, but i cannot get that balance thing yet so i imagine i shall back away from the press ups to balance and maybe hand walking - why? it looks COOL! - and see someone go from a frog stand to a hand stand (yes that's in here) - well that's on my "i couldn't do that" - but thanks to this DVD i'm thinking - well - i can practice that. Already one simple tip from Al in this section improved my frog stand times immediately - like wow.
LEVERS? well, you can do them on a bench or a bar - hence being on this DVD - they're bar movements. And personally? i've now hit the wall - from this point i'm watching for pleasure as opposed to practice - maybe next year at this time i'll be ready for this part of the DVD - and isnt' that cool? Like i said: lots of room to grow.
When i was but a grad student, twenty something, training with the x-country team, every once in awhile the guy who worked the desk at the uni gym - forty something very craigy and lean and fit - would come into the gym and pull a few one arms in his t-shirt and sweats. I can't think of one gal there who didn't swoon just a little bit. Somehow a 20 year old doing that just wouldn't have had the same effect - not that there was a 20 something in the gym who could do that. mm mm mm. You know the difference in the second real star wars where Luke goes after Darth Vadar and whips out his light saber and then Darth brings his out, slow and controlled? That sorta thing. Nothing says experience like a well executed, controlled, slow, strong one arm pull up. But i digress.
Presentation: Excellent
The filming, editing, presentation of this video is EXCELLENT - Kavadlo produced and edited the whole thing. The music, as with his We're Working Out vids is his own, too.
You know how most DVD's are filmed inside in a studio and they just have that kinda contrived vibe to them? Well, Raising the Bar is NOT a studio DVD. This whole thing takes place outside, in the real, mainly at Thomkin Square Park in NYC. It's a real space where Al actually works out and children play and sirens scream.
But also unlike a lot of single camera health DVD's that more or less set up in front of the athletes and that's it? One angle throughout - well, Al's thought about the shots for these moves. We see the move from the whole body; we get shots close up; we get shots from the top of the bar. And it's done so well, we don't notice the cuts to get the shots because they just feel logical in terms of conveying what we need to see to understand the movements.
Even the audio has been well-considered. Good audio on site describing the moves, and voice over the particulars of the movements for good attention to detail.
I mentioned the body art and how the guys fit in with the environment they use in the vid. Urban and real. This real-ness is another delightful and compelling part of the video - and another reason why i recommend it so highly - these guys walk the talk. They completely embody what they're talking about, they demo it, and you know from this presentation is not only part of what they do themselves, but what they have rather a lot of reps coaching others to do, too.
HIGH TRUST If you're interested in coaching fitness, this DVD is a masterclass in presentation. If you're into learning these moves, this is a presentation you can trust. Getting both of these attributes in one package? Goodness.
Aside 2: What's on the Feet?? yes that's Al Kavadlo movin' in some sweet Xero Shoes (review)
As said, there is nothing not to enjoy in this DVD. The case for its purchase, as i hope i've made above, is pretty clear whether we're interested in bodyweight practice ourselves, or helping folks casually or professionally, this presentation is a gift. As a class in how to make an instructional video - pretty nice work there too.
BUT wait, there's one more reason: Al Kavadlo has been giving it away on YouTube for years now. If you want to learn how to do anything bodyweight from a dragon flag to a Human Flag, he's there with his zippy happy We're Working Out videos. My sense is that buying Raising the Bar is a nice way to give back and to say "thank you" to Al for all those freebies. Not only does the purchase become a thank you, but we still get all this great content. A bargain, a value, a gift.
Summing up. I can't think of when i've been this impressed with a package - especially since really Al K. put the package together himself - this is his vision of what Raising the Bar should be. Plainly he's attracted a swell crew and willing publisher to support that vision. Again, the biggie for me is the realness of the presentation as well as the friendliness. We can smile and make progress; we can make amazing progress with our bodyweight alone; we do not need a gym. What the workouts together show is that we do need each other - or do well when we can help each other.
Nice nice material, nice presentation, nice story. Great model DVD. Enjoy - and if you really want a kick, put Raising the Bar in someone's stocking this holiday. And if you think it's too late to get the physical copy, order it and stick a pic of the cover into the stocking so they know it's coming.
In an upcoming episode of b2d, we'll have an interview with Al K about the making of Raising the Bar, and some of his fitness philosophy. Really cool, nice guy on top of the talent for training modelled here. In the meantime, while you wait for your DVD to arrive, check out Al's website. Interesting cool articles there too.
Best of the Season Getting To, On, Up and Raising the Bar.
Related Posts:
In fact, this video is so engaging you'll enjoy it if either (a) you already do pull ups - and are interested in getting into their variants like muscle ups or one arm chins (b) you have no intention of doing pull ups or (c) you know people who would like to do pull ups and haven't quite cracked it yet. Anyone you give this to will find something delightful in it.
And Yes i said "delightful"- a couple times. You may ask: can something mc just called "delightful" be taken seriously as a grrr me do pull ups grr type product. Well yes, indeed. And that's part of the delight. You can grr if you wish (Al's brother Danny who demos the movements, too, puts out some of that grr - just so you can do that vibe, too). Or, as Al makes clear from his own presentation, no grring required to be serious about our practice.
 |
| Smiling AND doing a one arm hanging V-sit? What's not to love? Feel inspired? |
And towards that go getting, Al K. puts out a good series of progressions for each of the movements described and illustrated.
[Update: interview with AK about raising the bar now posted - Jan, 2013]
The DVD itself covers
- Pull Ups - about a million varieties for all levels - from beginner to advanced like the archer pull up
- Dips - again, both progressions to get started with the move, and then to move on up
- Various intensifiers like hanging leg raises - again with progressions - L sits, V sits
- Hand stands - from wall assisted to free standing
- Muscle Ups and Levers
- One arms - of course - one arms.
- Practice - putting these movements together for developing strength and skill - Al and Dan
- Walk about - a great section of this vid is the proof that bar work is available in all sorts of places - and considering how constantly New York is under construction, the opportunities there to grab a scaffolding bar and pull up are celebrated.
Frame of Reference: DVD as Bar Progress Resource
There is a bloody lot of material on this DVD. It's over 50mins long, and feels very rich. An imagined use is as a reference for progressions. For example, someone working on getting a pull up may watch chapter one to get all the ideas about hand position and progressions, and then dig into a particular progression for awhile, knowing that once they get that step, the next one is there to study, such as simply playing with grip position - chin, pull and neutral variants.
If one's focus is hand stands or levers or muscle ups - just go to that chapter and run the well considered progressions.
Presentors: Al and Danny Kavadlo - Awesome combo
One of the many unique and compelling aspects of this DVD is that while written, produced and edited by Al Kavadlo, his trainer brother Danny joins him to show a slightly different body type approaching the same movements. And if you've followed any of Kavadlo's We're Working Out Vids, it's interesting to see Danny's New Look - a great complement to Al's.
 |
| The Brothers Kavadlo in Raising the Bar. |
So the video gives us two different bodies doing the moves individually, and then shows them carrying out the moves in sync. Now that's FUN!
 |
| Synchro Rollovers |
These guys are both inked up pretty intensely - but they look very distinct even here. It's very interesting. The ink is also - i think - why when they do their work shirtless it doesn't feel like they're showing off - being buff studs. It feels like they have their ink on. Dunno - it just works.Very urban: the ere art fits in with the art/graffiti around them. Definitely city boys. This is real. I'll come back to that realness in a sec. In the meantime, a brief overview of the work through which the Kavadlo bros take us with the bar.
HUGELY accessible and CHALLENGING across all levels.
It's no small thing to create a DVD that works for beginners to advanced and all the spaces in between. Al's achieved this though. There will be very few people in the population who can say to each move on this vid, ya i got that i own that, Next. And even those few souls will appreciate the presentation of the material. When they get folks coming to them to say "how do you DO that??" you can now say - you brave people - 'Well here, check out Kavadlo's Raising the Bar - i know i did!"
 |
| Duel Dipping |
HANGS: No Pull Ups Required Speaking of which - here's where all sorts of hanging leg variants come into play - including awesome progressions. The cool thing about these hanging variants is that we do not have to be pull up masters to do these: can we hang from the bar?
How to hang is covered in the video - and believe me there is technique here so as not to stress the shoulders. Hanging is kinda a misnomer i think - that sounds really slack - but a good hang sucks in the shoulders - the back is nice and active while the core is also working and then from that hand we get some leg work.
Aside, a wish: If i had my way - or enough money to have my way - i'd have pull up bars installed everywhere - starting with my campus - attached to buildings, and posts driven into the ground. Everywhere pull up bars. And the verticals can be used for human flags, and shinnying up and down.
ADVANCED From basic pull ups, we get (bien sur) advanced pull ups - all sorts of playing with hand/shoulder combinations - that not only are a whole new workout place with pull ups but explore new positions - slightly below the bar; above the bar - all over the bar. Sweet stuff.
MUSCLE UPS And yes for those at the ten bodyweight pull up place (i just hit that this fall - happy happy - let me say again, getting lean makes pull ups suddenly easier - go figure) - then there's a thumbs up to work the Muscle Up on a bar - or what looks really lovely - on parallel bars.
Then as with each chapter, we get some sequences on how to put these variants together into some nice working funky combos.
 |
| Wall-supported Hand Stands for Shoulder Strength: The push to the Pull up Pull |
But the biggie here? Kavadlo cares (i can see that as a t-shirt slogan). Really - we do pulls; we need pushes. So while not on the bar it supports the bar. In balance. Very nice, don't you think? Don't you want this video even more now because it's so thoughtful?
 |
| Bench Levers towards Bar levers - and still Smiling |
That said, Skin the Cat is in here - as a progression - and i've been doing that since i was a little kid so i guess i have a wee bite of this - towards a real back lever - so goodness - maybe not quite a year away...
FULL CIRCLE: ONE ARM PULL UPS: And then, way out there, the sinecure of bar movements, the sex on a plate, he's so fine movement of pull ups: the one arm.
When i was but a grad student, twenty something, training with the x-country team, every once in awhile the guy who worked the desk at the uni gym - forty something very craigy and lean and fit - would come into the gym and pull a few one arms in his t-shirt and sweats. I can't think of one gal there who didn't swoon just a little bit. Somehow a 20 year old doing that just wouldn't have had the same effect - not that there was a 20 something in the gym who could do that. mm mm mm. You know the difference in the second real star wars where Luke goes after Darth Vadar and whips out his light saber and then Darth brings his out, slow and controlled? That sorta thing. Nothing says experience like a well executed, controlled, slow, strong one arm pull up. But i digress.
The brothers Kavadlo present a set of progressions and variations for this movement too. For instance: can we hang from a bar, one armed - no shoulder stress? How get that full range of motion practice? They have solutions there too.
The filming, editing, presentation of this video is EXCELLENT - Kavadlo produced and edited the whole thing. The music, as with his We're Working Out vids is his own, too.
You know how most DVD's are filmed inside in a studio and they just have that kinda contrived vibe to them? Well, Raising the Bar is NOT a studio DVD. This whole thing takes place outside, in the real, mainly at Thomkin Square Park in NYC. It's a real space where Al actually works out and children play and sirens scream.
 |
| Nice use of camera angle to show position on pull up |
Even the audio has been well-considered. Good audio on site describing the moves, and voice over the particulars of the movements for good attention to detail.
I mentioned the body art and how the guys fit in with the environment they use in the vid. Urban and real. This real-ness is another delightful and compelling part of the video - and another reason why i recommend it so highly - these guys walk the talk. They completely embody what they're talking about, they demo it, and you know from this presentation is not only part of what they do themselves, but what they have rather a lot of reps coaching others to do, too.
HIGH TRUST If you're interested in coaching fitness, this DVD is a masterclass in presentation. If you're into learning these moves, this is a presentation you can trust. Getting both of these attributes in one package? Goodness.
Aside 2: What's on the Feet?? yes that's Al Kavadlo movin' in some sweet Xero Shoes (review)
Recommendation: Buy and Give Raising the Bar
buy it for about 16 different reasons - just buy it - for yourself and for someone you loveAs said, there is nothing not to enjoy in this DVD. The case for its purchase, as i hope i've made above, is pretty clear whether we're interested in bodyweight practice ourselves, or helping folks casually or professionally, this presentation is a gift. As a class in how to make an instructional video - pretty nice work there too.
BUT wait, there's one more reason: Al Kavadlo has been giving it away on YouTube for years now. If you want to learn how to do anything bodyweight from a dragon flag to a Human Flag, he's there with his zippy happy We're Working Out videos. My sense is that buying Raising the Bar is a nice way to give back and to say "thank you" to Al for all those freebies. Not only does the purchase become a thank you, but we still get all this great content. A bargain, a value, a gift.
 |
| the human flags in the real - no special equipment required |
Summing up. I can't think of when i've been this impressed with a package - especially since really Al K. put the package together himself - this is his vision of what Raising the Bar should be. Plainly he's attracted a swell crew and willing publisher to support that vision. Again, the biggie for me is the realness of the presentation as well as the friendliness. We can smile and make progress; we can make amazing progress with our bodyweight alone; we do not need a gym. What the workouts together show is that we do need each other - or do well when we can help each other.
Nice nice material, nice presentation, nice story. Great model DVD. Enjoy - and if you really want a kick, put Raising the Bar in someone's stocking this holiday. And if you think it's too late to get the physical copy, order it and stick a pic of the cover into the stocking so they know it's coming.
In an upcoming episode of b2d, we'll have an interview with Al K about the making of Raising the Bar, and some of his fitness philosophy. Really cool, nice guy on top of the talent for training modelled here. In the meantime, while you wait for your DVD to arrive, check out Al's website. Interesting cool articles there too.
Best of the Season Getting To, On, Up and Raising the Bar.
Related Posts:
- Interview with Kavadlo - about Methodology of We're Working Out Presentation
- The Magnificent Shoulder Part 1 - kinesiology
- The magnificent Shoulder Part 2 - more kinesiology
- Shoulder Pain - in the wrist?
- Shoulder work - in the liver?
- Coming back from Shoulder Injury - towards the iron maiden
- NOTE ON b2d affiliate links....
PDF
Friday, November 23, 2012
Death to Flip Flops - Steven Sashen's Passion at XeroShoes (b2d Interview Conclusion)
Follow @mcphoo
Tweet
The b2d first six weeks review is posted here. There's also the first part of an Interview with Steven about the modus operandi behind founding Invisible (now Xero) Shoes over here.
It's Thanksgiving in the US; Facebook is filled with reflections on folks giving thanks, and talking about various dinner options. A lot of thanks is around health. It seemed appropriate to come back to the final part of the interview with Steven more about the philosophy of barefooting, eating, health and well being around now.
That Steven's also hosting a Thanksgiving 20% off sale on XeroShoes till Dec 2 is no small thing either.
So without further ado, let's step into the messy irony of talking about "barefoot running" when very few of us are actually naked of foot
Steven Sashen Xero Shoes:
How do you feel about the term barefoot running, when really most of us are not running with bare feet?
Part of me finds this narrative really really hard to believe: one of the things that has become a truism with me when i talk with folks about taking off their shoes to explore grass and other surfaces running is that YA CAN'T HEEL STRIKE - or put it this way - you won't do it more than once or twice cuz it hurts: it's self correcting. apparently not??
one of the fun facts i like to share with folks:our feet have 24% of the joints in our body - the most of any part of our body (besides the head and the movement of those joints is debatable so leaving that aside)why have that many joints in the feet? each joint being surrounded by proprioceptively wired nerves is sending information about where we are in space and how fast those parts are moving. The brain is WIRED to get that information. The more of that picture it gets, the happier it is, the clearer it's sense of where we are is.
sorry for that digression.
nice observation.
[Update - two days ago 5C UK, hard rain - those sandals were great for keeping my feet - well not dry of course but not sopping wet with wet shoes and socks. got to work, sluiced off my feet, put on some sandals i have there, and away we went.]
Ok back to business and vision: what would you like to see happen with your business? what looks like success to you? (what's next for invisible shoes)
Congratulations.
and really, dude, over 50? would not have guessed. thank you for redescribing age perception, too.
Related Links
Tweet
Follow @begin2dig
Flip flops are great ideas but they suck - they cause all sorts of walking aberrations clawing toes to hang onto these things; not real fit, and we've all lost one making an attempt to run in them. And they make a funny sound in a quiet hallway. Nice to feel the air on toes; not nice to kill the foot in the pocess.
Huaraches, on the other hand, solve these problems. They are the next best thing to being barefoot, and in some respects, they may actually be better in terms of bringing awareness to one's step. The best sandals i've encountered for running, walking and generally banging about - from the warmth of a Seattle Summer to the rain of a UK fall - are Steven Sashen's Invisible and now Xero Shoes. And yes, even in the fall heading to winter, these are cool footwear.
Huaraches, on the other hand, solve these problems. They are the next best thing to being barefoot, and in some respects, they may actually be better in terms of bringing awareness to one's step. The best sandals i've encountered for running, walking and generally banging about - from the warmth of a Seattle Summer to the rain of a UK fall - are Steven Sashen's Invisible and now Xero Shoes. And yes, even in the fall heading to winter, these are cool footwear.
 |
| an example of a slip on tie style for a xeroshoe - 5kmile guarentee. |
It's Thanksgiving in the US; Facebook is filled with reflections on folks giving thanks, and talking about various dinner options. A lot of thanks is around health. It seemed appropriate to come back to the final part of the interview with Steven more about the philosophy of barefooting, eating, health and well being around now.
That Steven's also hosting a Thanksgiving 20% off sale on XeroShoes till Dec 2 is no small thing either.
So without further ado, let's step into the messy irony of talking about "barefoot running" when very few of us are actually naked of foot
Steven Sashen Xero Shoes:
Mission - death to Flip Flops
How do you feel about the term barefoot running, when really most of us are not running with bare feet? Check out our post "barefoot running isn't just running barefoot"All right, i've done that. And you're suggesting that you see folks run just as poorly in minimalist footware as you do in runners.
Part of me finds this narrative really really hard to believe: one of the things that has become a truism with me when i talk with folks about taking off their shoes to explore grass and other surfaces running is that YA CAN'T HEEL STRIKE - or put it this way - you won't do it more than once or twice cuz it hurts: it's self correcting. apparently not??
That said... It depends.Most people use the term as shorthand for "barefoot-style running" which is shorthand for "natural movement" which is shorthand for "don't overstride, mid- or forefoot strike, get your feet off the ground by lifting your knees rather than pushing with your feet, and HAVE FUN!"I'm okay with that usage.But I take issue with shoe companies that refer to their "barefoot" products that are still, well, just shoes.indeed
I don't care how flexible your outsole is (not as much as ours) if there's .5" of EVA foam under your foot, or if the shoe has a big arch built into it, or it's so narrow I can't get it on my foot, or it restricts my foot's movement.
 |
| example of an outline for a custom xeroshoe |
one of the fun facts i like to share with folks:our feet have 24% of the joints in our body - the most of any part of our body (besides the head and the movement of those joints is debatable so leaving that aside)why have that many joints in the feet? each joint being surrounded by proprioceptively wired nerves is sending information about where we are in space and how fast those parts are moving. The brain is WIRED to get that information. The more of that picture it gets, the happier it is, the clearer it's sense of where we are is.
AGREED... and if you don't give the brain that stimulation, it stops paying attention (the brain map for your feet de-differentiates).The analogy is with shoes on it's like being in a region with a weak cell signal - only a couple of cell towers to give a phone signal and the transmission can sound choppy and drop out and just be really hard to hear what exactly is being said - lots of effort goes into getting the info.
Great analogy.When there's loads of cell towers in an area, the signal is strong, the voice comes across loud and clear, we can relax and just focus on the conversation - less effort. Our feet are wired to give the brain a super duper incredible clear signal because i guess we evolved such that that much info was pretty important. Shoes kill our wiring.
sorry for that digression.
And the brain (your phone) needs to be turned on with the battery charged. If you don't use it, it drains and gets no signal.(it's a feedback loop).
Even the VFF has enough padding/stiffness in the sole that it dramatically reduces the amount of feedback you get (and need) from the ground.hmm. i've been pretty happy with the bikila's - but yes running actually barefoot does feel a lot different.
I've seen SO many people put on Bikilas and go out for an overstriding, heel-striking run.
Most of us on "this side" of the barefoot running movement will say "It's not about the footwear, it's about the form," but that's only partly true.
 |
| everyone can be their own cobbler with xeroshoes |
agreed. but unlike Mike Wilkinson whose series on Barefoot Running you commented on i believe - i haven't given over to all bare all the time. Perhaps i'm just a wus.
Barefoot is not the same as shod (even in our sandals). And having your feet touch the ground is a very different experience... and a valuable one.
There are no bonus points or gold stars for being barefoot all the time.
Further, I hate when people say "I got hurt barefoot running," and they've never actually been barefoot or, worse, they've only been in a pair of Nike Free.i hear ya.
And I really hate when doctors say "My patient got hurt barefoot running," and they never asked the patient "Were you actually bare footed?" and didn't check their form on video tape, and don't keep in mind that, 40 years ago they were saying "My patient got hurt in these new padded running shoes."I could go on... ;-)by all means, feel free: your experience with real folks is valuable here, so i'm happy to take in whatever ya got.
Oy, I would if I had the time. It's all (mostly) on the blog... and in the upcoming posts--Ok, well lets shift a little bit to what's on that site. you also tell folks how to make their own sandals - without purchasing from you. That's very cool. how did you decide to give this away?
It just seemed like the right thing to do.I made my first pair by scrounging for materials and it was a blast. I wanted to make that possible for others.Plus, I knew it would foster creativity. I like to say there's been more creativity applied to sandals in the last 2.5 years (since we started) than there has in the 19,998 years since this type of sandal was first invented.You have collected some impressive stats, Sandal Man.
I do what I can.is there a commonality among IS wearers?
Other than that they wear our shoes?yup - but that in itself is cool.
do you find that most folks are still buying for running, or is it becoming all the time everywhere?Less and less every day.The types of people who wear our shoes expands every day. At first it was almost all men. Now it's probably 55/45. More kids are wearing our shoes lately. More hikers, kayakers, walkers, and other non-runners are buying from us. More people who just like the look (and no nothing about performance or biomechanics) are buying from us.
More and more customers are not runners.(personally, i'm trying to figure out how i can wear these through the uk winter of rain - how many months in can i get...i really do want to get this tying thing sorted for that invisible feel, so that these *just work* for breaking into a run - which is most of my commute mechanism)
www.invisibleshoe.com/cold and www.invisibleshoe.com/snow
Cool acclimatisation work there...
[Update - two days ago 5C UK, hard rain - those sandals were great for keeping my feet - well not dry of course but not sopping wet with wet shoes and socks. got to work, sluiced off my feet, put on some sandals i have there, and away we went.]
Ok back to business and vision: what would you like to see happen with your business? what looks like success to you? (what's next for invisible shoes)
Oh, boy... I know that what will REALLY happen next is probably something I can't plan, so I don't actually know what's next.That said, things are expanding and growing FAST.it seems to have been fast pretty much from day one!
We're moving out of the house (which can't fit all the product and people) and into commercial space in 2 weeks (edit - this statement is from end of Aug. 2012; move is done).
 |
| he makes bows as well as shoes... |
Thanks.I guess it'll be a while until I get that nap I hoped for.Good for you taking that person away from unflexible flippy shoes
We just hired the founder of Avia Footwear (who, most recently was the senior designer/developer at Crocs )
He came willingly. ;-)
We have a few BIG accounts we're talking with (thanks to our success at the Outdoor Retail trade show.May i ask - what does that mean - folks who would like to see iShoes/Xero's in their stores? buy them for all their employees?
Can you say "Huarache Making Merit Badge"?Or LL Bean catalog?
So, what's next is expanding our product line, improving our current products, providing more educational material onlineThe friendliness of the material is awesome.YOu have great prsescence on the vids - professional while also being engaging.
Very kind of you to say.
Also will be doing more comedic stuff (like sh*t barefoot runners say / and sh*t runners say to barefoot runners ).that's very good. i particularly like "where do the orthotics go"
and really, dude, over 50? would not have guessed. thank you for redescribing age perception, too.
Thank my mother and her lineage. That's where I got it.And if you don't mind - another aside - what is your weekly TIME spent doing movement stuff - deliberate movement like running or biking or training of some kind - is running your main movement activity (sounds like you bike as well?).
I bike around town a lot... oh, and I have a treadmill desk. So I'm moving about 8-10 hours every day, minimum.and one more: how would you describe your approach to diet/food?
Curious, inquisitive, unwilling to believe in miracles (but wishing there were one), and, as always, looking for what's TRUE rather than what people THINK is true.For example, the paleo diet is a big deal now...
Well, I've never liked meat. EVER. (one paleo doc thinks I have a genetic disorder where I
don't taste umami well and, therefore, don't like meat). Plus, many paleo teachers and bloggers are still 20-50 pounds overweight!
As far as I can tell, what makes paleo work, for those that it works for, is that fat and protein are satiating for them, so they eat fewer calories without noticing (I have more research that proves that). But there are vegans who make the same claim.
The idea that one diet fits all makes no sense to ME in particular, because I'm a genetic freak (remember, fastest Jew in the world over 50). It seems reasonable that my dietary needs would be different from someone who doesn't have the same genetic makeup and can't sprint. That could be wrong, but it's reasonable.
It's not worth getting into the particulars of my diet... but let's just say that I'm happy and worried about the fact that our new office is less than 100 yard from www.dizzysdonuts.comCool - thank you - so Success for Invisible/Xero shoes is...
Success? Our goal is the eradication of the flip flop from the planet! ;-)Goodness - i admit i have reasons to think the flip flop is evil but what are yours? and i support your mission!
They don't fit, they use your feet all wrong, they fall apart (or are too expensive)... etc. In the meantime, I'm just focused on growing the brand, helping people discover the fun and benefits of getting out of their shoes, engaging with our customers, and having FUN doing it.Care to share a few of the things that equal "fun doing it" with captal FUN? that would be great to hear.
oh, making the comedic content, teaching, chatting with people online, going to events, having meals (did I mention there are gourmet doughnuts near our office? ;-) ) If, along the way, someone offered to write us a check with a lot of zeros at the end... I wouldn't complain.goodness, we must have a similar philosophy i wouldn't mind that either.
I'll see what I can do.Excellent! Thanks for the time about the business, you, and the where and how of where y'all are going.
And with that, Steven, shod in new green colored Xero's, went off to his donut, walking desk and replying to more customer queries.
Reminder of that Thanksgiving Day Sale...till Dec 2, 2012
Related Links
Sunday, October 28, 2012
You call that Failure? Lessons Learned in m.c.'s path to the Iron Maiden Attempt
Follow @mcphoo
Tweet
What can one say about "almost" making a goal? Is a miss as good as a mile? Or is success still simply in just "showing up" as dan john says, and valuing the PR?
Of course the line is easier to draw under a goal as something "complete" when the objective is achieved: the accolades that attend are lovely. But that may just be selling oneself and one's practice short. As i said during the olympics - so few athletes get prizes but what does it take just to be part of that field? What of that story?
Iron Maiden Quick review.
There are three lifts: the pistol (a single leg squat) with the 24kg kettlebell, a pull up with a 24 kg kb hung from the waist, and a single overhead press with a 24kg kb.
My concern about a month out was that i had to big a hurdle to make for one move - the press - to get to the challenge - that i'd really need another two months to be solid, just based on progress to that point. As the time approached it seemed close enough however to give it a go: who knows what adrenilin might do?
Down at the First Hurdle? Ironically, both my attempts on the pistol - my strong event - ha! were disqualified, so i couldn't officially test the remaining two. It seems i'd practiced an incorrect form. Great time to find out, eh?
For example: here is K.C. Reiter's successful pistol - please note bell position relative to hips on coming up and any movement with the arms.
Now here's mine. Please note the same details:
So you can see where a person may be a wee bit forgiven for being surprised.
Now - a lesson learned here may have been to go up to the judges prior to the actual event and to say - does this look right - in fact i did that with my dead hang position for the pull up because that was the only place i had a doubt about form! Never ever did i think my pistol was wrong.
Here are the rules that i had from the 2010 RKC manual (which is a fluke that i had as i certed before then and they ain't in my manual):
THere doesn't seem to be anything in this version of the rules about arm movement disqualifying an attempt or that the arms have to do anything - which is what i was called on as "doing a curl" with the bell. In the rules that i have, however, it seems that as long as the knee doesn't come up before the bell, you're good. I don't think i'm doing a "good morning" around a bell and then pulling up the bell?
So perhaps - again - the rules got changed between 2010 and today and i should have thought to ask dragon door months ago when i started prepping for a copy of the latest version just to make sure there were no changes. It's just not something i anticipated! If you're an RKC with a more recent version of the manual and can check for any other bits, please let me know if the rules have changed, and perhaps send me the changed bit...thank you. EDIT - have now seen this is the same wording in the 2011 RKC manual. Have just been told, however, that there is a change in the August 2012 manual that reads "The pelvis may not raise faster than the kettlebell." Hmm.
The best solution i suppose is just to be prettier so there's absolutely no ambiguity about form, eh, so that judgement doesn't have to enter into it. How long to get a 24 pistol, with the bell in the rack?
Take away: where and when possible - check with judges to ensure what you're doing is what they call right; get the version of the rules that will be used at the event well in advance.
Another irony? i was obsessive about getting the rules for recertification well in advance and making sure i had everything agreed on weigh ins and movements - but the challenge rules? Why did i miss that? JEEZE.
But at this point - you fail on one event, you're done! that's it for the rest of the event.
While the other competitors were recovering for their next lift, i did volunteer to try the press which has been my bete noir, and i did get it on the second attempt - but for my knees apparetly being "soft" - that means there was a bit of bend in them (i didn't feel it) so that the press becomes a mini push press. Oh dear.
But - what is being repeated here? How i tend to learn a new load. A first time load up when it's heavier than what i'm used to is usually with a wee push press - ever so slight - at first - and then gradually work out the knees. Apparently two reps (the first one being four days previous) with what i suspected was some knee (as i'd posted on FB) is not a sufficient number to work out the literal kinks.
As for the the pull up? I did a SINGLE attempt on that, too, and came within an inch of it. I'm not sure if asking to take the space to do a second attempt would have done it. At that point i own my heart was not as fired up as it might otherwise have been, so perhaps that factored into a less that glorious rep?
Out on my "strong" event before the game had really begun, and on the other moves, "nothing neither way" to quote Hamlet. Four months of near obsessive focus - wasted?
That's a toughie: did i get what i came for? No. Was i surprised by the result? Really, no. Do i feel like the desired result is beyond me? No.
People of course tend not to ask folks who don't win how they did what they did - since End Results count for a lot. But sometimes learning from gaps can help inform improvements for the next soul.
Humbly offered, therefore, a few Personal Reflections (a new definition of PR?) that may be useful to your strength practice planning .
Where I began with the lifts: from about July 1,
Leanness and Strength. Most of us have heard that it's hard to gain mass or get stronger while also getting leaner. In fact one of the suggestions i was given when trying to get the last 1.5kg on my press was "eat." But it seemed i kept getting stronger while getting leaner. Indeed, i have been doing the modified velocity diet (links below) since the start of august and peeled off ten pounds in 12 weeks, and am at about 13-14% bf if the harpendon caliper readings are correct. At no point did i lose strength while getting leaner. So it does seem to be quite possible - at least for me - to get a lot stronger while getting leaner. Which leads me to feel pretty deeply that strength is not always about more muscle fiber.
Motor Learning IS skills Learning; Strength is a Skill.
My sense from getting stronger despite getting leaner is that one might only worry about not being able to get stronger while getting leaner if one were a really advanced/experienced lifter. I would never claim to be any such thing. Hence, a lot of room to improve strength with technique, and with reps to coordinate the tissue already there. That i did get stronger suggests a heck of a lot of skills training aka motor learning during the hours i put into my practice for this. I do feel that both my body has been learning how to make connections within itself, and i have been learning to make skills connexions.
Practice (i.e. high volume days in particular) is Exploration - of Skills
I have been fortunate to have been able to engage with several great folks in the course of this process. I'll introduce them in a moment. One of the things they each have had in common is to say that Volume Rules for owning a lift.
We know as well that in learning a skill so that it is automatic we have to perform thousands of reps. Even in four months, i have only performed hundreds.
Within this volume there is not only motor learning - the body learning how to groove an action. There is also the opportunity for deliberate practice: to think about what is happening and having the opportunity to explore these movements and what lets one advance and what may hold one back.
Loads of examples of this - of just looking out a little further to find new connexions within a movement.
Time isn't After Us:
Another part of volume that i had not considered previously was time: allowing for longer workouts - to keep exploring a lift especially on a heavier day so there's time for recovery. That i found absolutley revelatory. A greater VOLUME of TIME for training - not just volume of reps. At least at my skill level.
Everyone needs a coach - the right coach at the right time.
That i got as far as i did, as safely as i did i attribute to having a great coach. I have been fortunate to have great support through this process as well as great ideas at key moments.
We explored what i was doing, where i was at, reviewed and tested options. Ken was never "this is the thing to do." We did not program this beyond we need to figure out the right combination of volume and load across these three lifts to make good and consistent progress. What worked we kept; what didn't we analysed and might discard or revise and retest. Collaborative exploration - where i also trust the expedition lead. Knowing that i could send off an email to reality check what i was doing, and have empathy and guidance has been huge.
I only wish we'd have had more live session times - and i'd encourage anyone training with a remote coach to do whatever it takes to make it possible to work live every other week or so if training for an event. That's just a general lesson. More opportunities for more tweaking - so as not to fall afoul of technicalities....just saying.
A few other folks kindly offered feedback when i had specific questions about approach, and their feedback made a huge and immediate difference.
Dan John - when i asked if i could do this challenge, he said "yes of course" at the right time.
Pavel Tsatsouline - kindly offered exceptional feedback and training suggestions for my weighted pull up that i put into immediate practice and that had immediate effect.
Kenneth Jay - Kenneth Jay and i had some wonderful conversations about the role of volume in strength training and applying it. I think jumping between planes - or perhaps airports - he offered some awesome advice for getting the last couple KG's on my press in a short period of time. Excellent ideas again that had immediate effect
Eric Cobb - likewise while on the run, took time to provide council on accelerating the press. Likewise applicable, useful and usable - and big differnce.
My goodness. These guys are good. And not only that, they're gracious. They are busy and expensive people and they made time to respond attentively, personally to what they saw when they quite easily and reasonably could have said nothing or that they were too busy or "gee i dunno."
TO have saturday workouts that used to take an hour suddenly take all morning. To change the dietary practices of the household. To find out that one really may well be obsessive compulsive in this regard - and how that must be to live with. To have the compass always pointing Due Practice.
All i can say is that it's a really good idea if ya think your plans MAY become disruptive to engage on these points in advance. Know what i'm saying? People first, as Suze Orman says.
Am i dissapointed with the end result? of course.
But as said, i'm not surprised - and in a way i think that in and of itself is a learning too - that even a month out i could tell where things would likely need more time - and if my shoulder had been ready i'd have started earlier to get that time - but there it is. And my family is likely delighted - given what eating (or more usually not eating) with me has been like over the past three months - that i didn't focus on this for longer.
So while i can't really bring myself to say (yet) that "it's all good" - it's not ALL good - i can say that more than 90% of it has been extraordinary, revelatory, and that's more than enough of an outcome to keep moving forward - and to know beyond a doubt that it seems, despite the seeming lateness of the hour, my path to better resilience, strength, self-understanding around strength practice, has just taken its first mature step.
Thank you again
Thank you to the kind folks who stood up during the Challenge and cheered - thank you to James Breese of Kettlebell fever for having a beautiful space for the event.
Thanks again to those Great Guys who offered such effective, generous council at key moments
Big hug to Ken Froese - Ken, thank you thank you thank you.
And to my family for so much support despite thinking me a bit crazy for putting so much into this odd moment.
Whither voyager?
Like how to stay this lean? What to do next? more pressing? something else? That's tomorrow. Today, it's the first whole food breakie i've had in four months, more tea with milk than i've had in ages and tonight it's Cockneys vs Zombies.
Hope in the interim these thoughts may help your practice, too.
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
What can one say about "almost" making a goal? Is a miss as good as a mile? Or is success still simply in just "showing up" as dan john says, and valuing the PR?
Of course the line is easier to draw under a goal as something "complete" when the objective is achieved: the accolades that attend are lovely. But that may just be selling oneself and one's practice short. As i said during the olympics - so few athletes get prizes but what does it take just to be part of that field? What of that story?
Stepping Up
This past weekend (saturday Oct 27, 2012 to be precise) i "showed up" for something called the Iron Maiden Challnege. This is part of the RKC kettlebell scene, and i've written about the challenge before, quite a bit in fact - i'll list a few articles at the end of this one for reference.Iron Maiden Quick review.
There are three lifts: the pistol (a single leg squat) with the 24kg kettlebell, a pull up with a 24 kg kb hung from the waist, and a single overhead press with a 24kg kb.
My concern about a month out was that i had to big a hurdle to make for one move - the press - to get to the challenge - that i'd really need another two months to be solid, just based on progress to that point. As the time approached it seemed close enough however to give it a go: who knows what adrenilin might do?
Down at the First Hurdle? Ironically, both my attempts on the pistol - my strong event - ha! were disqualified, so i couldn't officially test the remaining two. It seems i'd practiced an incorrect form. Great time to find out, eh?
For example: here is K.C. Reiter's successful pistol - please note bell position relative to hips on coming up and any movement with the arms.
Now here's mine. Please note the same details:
So you can see where a person may be a wee bit forgiven for being surprised.
Now - a lesson learned here may have been to go up to the judges prior to the actual event and to say - does this look right - in fact i did that with my dead hang position for the pull up because that was the only place i had a doubt about form! Never ever did i think my pistol was wrong.
Here are the rules that i had from the 2010 RKC manual (which is a fluke that i had as i certed before then and they ain't in my manual):
The competitor must perform one (1) rock bottom Pistol holding the 48kg
(106lbs.) kettlebell.
‐ The competitor can choose which leg to use for the attempt.
‐ The competitor is granted two (2) attempts and can rest for as long as
necessary between attempts.
‐ The referee must give a clear “Go” signal before any attempt can be made.
‐ Chalk is allowed.
‐ The non-working leg must be extended to the front of the body.
‐ The non-working leg must be kept off the ground during the entire
attempt.
‐ The knee of the non-working leg does NOT have to be straight.
‐ The hamstring and calf of the working leg must touch in the bottom
position of the pistol. (personally i was most happy at getting this hamstring/calf touch)
‐ The kettlebell may be held by its horns with two (2) hands in front of the
body or it may be cleaned and held in the racked position of either side of
the body.
‐ The foot of the working leg must NOT move during the attempt.
‐ The referee must approve the competitor’s attempt with a clear “Yes” or
“No” signal before the competitor may put the kettlebell down. If the
competitor fails to do this and does not wait for the signal the attempt will
be invalid.
‐ The competitor does NOT have to pause at the bottom of the pistol.
What disqualifies an attempt?‐ The competitor fails any of the above-mentioned standards.
‐ The competitor tries to stand up “around the kettlebell”. Notice the
subtlety of extending the working leg from the bottom position but
keeping the hip in a flexed position thus keeping the kettlebell in the
same vertical distance from the ground until the knee is extended and
then doing a “One-Legged Goodmorning” to stand erect. The increase in knee angle when standing up should correspond to a similar verticalelevation of the kettlebell.
So perhaps - again - the rules got changed between 2010 and today and i should have thought to ask dragon door months ago when i started prepping for a copy of the latest version just to make sure there were no changes. It's just not something i anticipated! If you're an RKC with a more recent version of the manual and can check for any other bits, please let me know if the rules have changed, and perhaps send me the changed bit...thank you. EDIT - have now seen this is the same wording in the 2011 RKC manual. Have just been told, however, that there is a change in the August 2012 manual that reads "The pelvis may not raise faster than the kettlebell." Hmm.
The best solution i suppose is just to be prettier so there's absolutely no ambiguity about form, eh, so that judgement doesn't have to enter into it. How long to get a 24 pistol, with the bell in the rack?
Take away: where and when possible - check with judges to ensure what you're doing is what they call right; get the version of the rules that will be used at the event well in advance.
Another irony? i was obsessive about getting the rules for recertification well in advance and making sure i had everything agreed on weigh ins and movements - but the challenge rules? Why did i miss that? JEEZE.
But at this point - you fail on one event, you're done! that's it for the rest of the event.
We Perform what we Repeat - who SAID that?
 |
| "What?" - m.c. learning her second pistol attempt was also a form dud. |
But - what is being repeated here? How i tend to learn a new load. A first time load up when it's heavier than what i'm used to is usually with a wee push press - ever so slight - at first - and then gradually work out the knees. Apparently two reps (the first one being four days previous) with what i suspected was some knee (as i'd posted on FB) is not a sufficient number to work out the literal kinks.
As for the the pull up? I did a SINGLE attempt on that, too, and came within an inch of it. I'm not sure if asking to take the space to do a second attempt would have done it. At that point i own my heart was not as fired up as it might otherwise have been, so perhaps that factored into a less that glorious rep?
A Few (More) Lessons Learned
Out on my "strong" event before the game had really begun, and on the other moves, "nothing neither way" to quote Hamlet. Four months of near obsessive focus - wasted?
That's a toughie: did i get what i came for? No. Was i surprised by the result? Really, no. Do i feel like the desired result is beyond me? No.
People of course tend not to ask folks who don't win how they did what they did - since End Results count for a lot. But sometimes learning from gaps can help inform improvements for the next soul.
Humbly offered, therefore, a few Personal Reflections (a new definition of PR?) that may be useful to your strength practice planning .
Where I began with the lifts: from about July 1,
- Pistols: i went from single body weight pistols to a pistol with a 24kg kb.
- Pull ups: i went from zero pull ups in March due to a rehabbing shoulder to getting back a single pull up in July to clearing the 24 off site, and coming within an inch on the day.
- Press: went from a few trepidatious 12kg presses in July due to shoulder rebuilding from rehab to pressing the 24 on the day - and that solid press, no knees, was the THIRD press of the day with the dam thing, off to the side.
- HLR i can do hanging leg raises, and have the negatives of the dragon flag. Not things i ever imagined doing, but boy what a good "hollow position."
- Lean. That i am as lean as i am right now is really cool for exploring bodyweight work - and it feels nice! i don't want to lose this, well, loss - but dam it it takes discipline to get here, never mind stay here. How's that gonna work? Leave that one for tomorrow...
- Workout Fuel Tuning Learned how to optimise pre and post and during (peri-workout) nutrition for practice.
- Relaxation as Astronaut Training. Learned how to relax before the event by practicing exactly what i do now before focuesed practice - and that i enjoy (that green tea ritual, ref below, works in many places - and that as a tip from Ken Froese)
 |
| on the day 24 press Paul Simister, photo. |
- at the event i got my first ever free standing - no wall in sight - head stands - right out there in the middle of the floor.
- i can consistently bottoms up press the 16 pretty easily now which last year at this time was unimaginable
- i have a handstand push up (against the wall) with head to the floor for reps
- i can press a 20 on my left for reps now
- i go the 24 on the day - if not quite at the right time.
Beyond Strength (as one might say)
Beyond the particular personal records, there were related discoveries in getting to those places. Here's just a couple of finds that i would never ever have discovered without this attempt, and that are going to carry me forward in whatever i practice next.Leanness and Strength. Most of us have heard that it's hard to gain mass or get stronger while also getting leaner. In fact one of the suggestions i was given when trying to get the last 1.5kg on my press was "eat." But it seemed i kept getting stronger while getting leaner. Indeed, i have been doing the modified velocity diet (links below) since the start of august and peeled off ten pounds in 12 weeks, and am at about 13-14% bf if the harpendon caliper readings are correct. At no point did i lose strength while getting leaner. So it does seem to be quite possible - at least for me - to get a lot stronger while getting leaner. Which leads me to feel pretty deeply that strength is not always about more muscle fiber.
 |
| from first weekend in aug to third weekend in oct. 2012. Pressing, pistoling and pulling up the 24 sopping wet at 5'6" and 122lbs |
My sense from getting stronger despite getting leaner is that one might only worry about not being able to get stronger while getting leaner if one were a really advanced/experienced lifter. I would never claim to be any such thing. Hence, a lot of room to improve strength with technique, and with reps to coordinate the tissue already there. That i did get stronger suggests a heck of a lot of skills training aka motor learning during the hours i put into my practice for this. I do feel that both my body has been learning how to make connections within itself, and i have been learning to make skills connexions.
Practice (i.e. high volume days in particular) is Exploration - of Skills
I have been fortunate to have been able to engage with several great folks in the course of this process. I'll introduce them in a moment. One of the things they each have had in common is to say that Volume Rules for owning a lift.
We know as well that in learning a skill so that it is automatic we have to perform thousands of reps. Even in four months, i have only performed hundreds.
Within this volume there is not only motor learning - the body learning how to groove an action. There is also the opportunity for deliberate practice: to think about what is happening and having the opportunity to explore these movements and what lets one advance and what may hold one back.
A worked example: the pistol as skill At the end of a heavy day pistol practice - i decided to take some more time just to explore getting the 24 under control in the descent. All i wanted/expected was how to go down in control; not get back up. The first few times i came down under control but landed on my butt - and then i started to get the hang of how to stay balanced.
Common wisdom would suggest that at the end of a workout when now just doing skills practice it's not time to go for a pr. But each time i used my other foot to help me get back up, i noticed i was getting a little higher up without help. So, i kept exploring this up-ness part, too. What it felt like to shift position, what was happening in my leg. And then, there is was. The first what i called "ugly" pistol with the 24.
That success would not have happened without the willingness to explore one part of the movement - to play around - with intent - to discover how to do one part of the skill. It happened in that case that that particular practice lead to insight about another part of the practice.
Loads of examples of this - of just looking out a little further to find new connexions within a movement.
Time isn't After Us:
Another part of volume that i had not considered previously was time: allowing for longer workouts - to keep exploring a lift especially on a heavier day so there's time for recovery. That i found absolutley revelatory. A greater VOLUME of TIME for training - not just volume of reps. At least at my skill level.
Everyone needs a coach - the right coach at the right time.
That i got as far as i did, as safely as i did i attribute to having a great coach. I have been fortunate to have great support through this process as well as great ideas at key moments.
The Kindness of Experts
Ken Froese: For the past four months, via email, vids and the occaisional skype, Ken's been there to explore ideas to improve my practice sessions to tune them to move them along as best as possible towards the goal. It's been great to have another soul to say "what about this?" or "where next"?We explored what i was doing, where i was at, reviewed and tested options. Ken was never "this is the thing to do." We did not program this beyond we need to figure out the right combination of volume and load across these three lifts to make good and consistent progress. What worked we kept; what didn't we analysed and might discard or revise and retest. Collaborative exploration - where i also trust the expedition lead. Knowing that i could send off an email to reality check what i was doing, and have empathy and guidance has been huge.
I only wish we'd have had more live session times - and i'd encourage anyone training with a remote coach to do whatever it takes to make it possible to work live every other week or so if training for an event. That's just a general lesson. More opportunities for more tweaking - so as not to fall afoul of technicalities....just saying.
A few other folks kindly offered feedback when i had specific questions about approach, and their feedback made a huge and immediate difference.
Dan John - when i asked if i could do this challenge, he said "yes of course" at the right time.
Pavel Tsatsouline - kindly offered exceptional feedback and training suggestions for my weighted pull up that i put into immediate practice and that had immediate effect.
Kenneth Jay - Kenneth Jay and i had some wonderful conversations about the role of volume in strength training and applying it. I think jumping between planes - or perhaps airports - he offered some awesome advice for getting the last couple KG's on my press in a short period of time. Excellent ideas again that had immediate effect
Eric Cobb - likewise while on the run, took time to provide council on accelerating the press. Likewise applicable, useful and usable - and big differnce.
My goodness. These guys are good. And not only that, they're gracious. They are busy and expensive people and they made time to respond attentively, personally to what they saw when they quite easily and reasonably could have said nothing or that they were too busy or "gee i dunno."
Family Planning: the sine qua non
It is a pain in the ass for one's kin to go through this kind of training - especially when they don't know what they're about to go through cuz you haven't been through it before and you can't quite brace them for it - but now they're part of your "learning experieince" too.TO have saturday workouts that used to take an hour suddenly take all morning. To change the dietary practices of the household. To find out that one really may well be obsessive compulsive in this regard - and how that must be to live with. To have the compass always pointing Due Practice.
All i can say is that it's a really good idea if ya think your plans MAY become disruptive to engage on these points in advance. Know what i'm saying? People first, as Suze Orman says.
And So...Making Lemonade rather than Crushing Sour Grapes?
There's other stuff to be sure - this is a first wave unpacking of a rather intense four months of very single focus of what dan john calls "quadrant four" practice.Am i dissapointed with the end result? of course.
But as said, i'm not surprised - and in a way i think that in and of itself is a learning too - that even a month out i could tell where things would likely need more time - and if my shoulder had been ready i'd have started earlier to get that time - but there it is. And my family is likely delighted - given what eating (or more usually not eating) with me has been like over the past three months - that i didn't focus on this for longer.
So while i can't really bring myself to say (yet) that "it's all good" - it's not ALL good - i can say that more than 90% of it has been extraordinary, revelatory, and that's more than enough of an outcome to keep moving forward - and to know beyond a doubt that it seems, despite the seeming lateness of the hour, my path to better resilience, strength, self-understanding around strength practice, has just taken its first mature step.
Thank you again
Thank you to the kind folks who stood up during the Challenge and cheered - thank you to James Breese of Kettlebell fever for having a beautiful space for the event.
Thanks again to those Great Guys who offered such effective, generous council at key moments
Big hug to Ken Froese - Ken, thank you thank you thank you.
And to my family for so much support despite thinking me a bit crazy for putting so much into this odd moment.
Whither voyager?
Like how to stay this lean? What to do next? more pressing? something else? That's tomorrow. Today, it's the first whole food breakie i've had in four months, more tea with milk than i've had in ages and tonight it's Cockneys vs Zombies.
Hope in the interim these thoughts may help your practice, too.
Related Links
- YouTube Channel: m.c.'s iron maiden progress
- Interview with Ken Froese - triple double beast press guy
- interview with Kenneth Jay on VWC
- Asha Wagner on the Iron Maiden
- Val Hedlund on the Iron Maiden
- Dan John on the Iron Maiden
- the kenf/m.c. Modified Velocity Diet
- the New Tea Ritual: workouts begin in the kitchen
- getting rid of crap around goals
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Monday, October 15, 2012
Workouts Begin in the Kitchen: the Tea Ceremony
Follow @mcphoo
Tweet
Tweet
Follow @begin2dig
When does our training practice start each day? I workout in the mornings. I get up early just to get in my workout before work. Usually i've thought of that practice as starting when my physical practice starts: with the first rep of the first set.
But of late, i think my physical practice actually starts before i get to the mat: it starts with making tea.
Ritual One: Japanese Green Tea - Genmaicha.
 |
| gyroku genmaicha. yum. reusable. |
Among it's many benefits, green tea is a fat mobilizer. It is the darling of the fasted cardio crowd for this reason. It is also, intriguingly for something that includes caffeine, a soother. Personally, i dig the taste - i dig the taste of one version in particular: the builder's tea of japanese green teas, genmaicha aka "popcorn tea" - the green tea has bits of popped brown rice in it that gives the tea a nutty flavour. Many genmaichas also include some green matcha powder - whole tea leaves that have been crushed. This is the stuff used in tea ceremonies, and makes it clear that green tea is green. The good thing about good leaves: can get 5-6 uses from one infuser of leaves. That's good value.
Over the course of the morning drink prep, i will make 2-3 liters of the stuff. Here's why:
 |
| Traveling US matcha by DO; UK fave matcha, Teapigs |
the first litre is for me, right away. I make the tea in a 1L pyrex glass measuring jug with a milk frothing thermometer clipped inside. I'll pour in water off the boil, and let it sit till it hits 79 degrees (actually it's by Anchor - it's taller than the Pyrex and i like that [usa | uk]). Then in goes an infuser with the genmaicha (i like the Large Finum tea baskets [usa | uk]). I'll pour out a bit into another cup, add some teapigs (UK) or DO (US) organic matcha powder, froth up, and pour that back into the litre jug, whisk that , and then part goes into a mug for me right now, and the rest goes into a thermos.
I'll repeat this process of making the tea again, but this time after it's all made, and sometimes without adding the matcha, i'll ice this tea as it will be the base of my workout drink.
 |
| Morning Tea Kit: themos, tea, matcha, glass jug, thermometer, china tea cup and (not shown, durn) whisk |
And yup, the kettle is on for the third Litre of the morning. Why? as i'm prepping my workout drink in Ritual three, i'm also chugging back my green tea from the thermos. I actually have TWO drinks for my workout: a protein concoction, described below, and a thermos of green tea. It seems i've gotten into the habit of alternately sipping green tea and protein drink for the long workouts. For these single movement focused training sessions, that seems to be just fine. It reminds me perhaps to stay relaxed while focused between sets. It feels somehow a little decadent or luxurious as well.
Ken Froese, who's been coaching me, and has been doing a lot of systema training of late keeps telling me strength is easy; relaxation is hard. Going for the sip of tea reminds me that i'm relaxing and recovering in this moment as i plan for the next set. I have found that i have not hit fatigue yet as far as i know in the 3.5 months i've been working on this cycle. Maybe the sipping makes the sessions a bit longer - maybe it lets them be longer so i get more done without the fatigue. Anwyay, i enjoy it.
Ritual Two: Once the Kettle's On: Essential Amino Acids
Once the kettle is on, i'll grab a shaker cup and some EAA's, stir em up, and chug 'em back. Starting these (along with a greens sup) over a year ago now have had a profound and tested effect on my mood, sleep quality and body comp strategies. I take these on waking up because they are zero cal. and start to replenish the amino acid pool in my body before i start to hit it with a stick in my workout. Depending on how i feel about the coming workout, i may also take a caffeine pill right about now. I have been experimenting with these, and, when taken irregularly, i find they can make a difference to my morning heavy day performance.
Ritual Three: Prep of The Beverage (Protein, etc)
For the workouts themselves, i have 1L camelbak eddy bottle - i like this bottle as it, too, via the bite valve, inspires sipping rather than chugging.
With the iced tea, i'll add about a scoop of either rice protein or pepto pro as the foundation. Then it's creatine for all the goodness of creatine, beta alanine, citruline malate to help with my cell to cell communication - that nitric oxide performance can be readily tested so that with or without citruline malate can be checked. I get test kits from bioletics. It works for me. It's also possible to improve NO by upping beets and greens like spinach. That's also testable.
Additionally, i'll add about 15g of some kind of sugar/carb stuff. I like cytomax, but am also happy with the much cheaper TrueNutrition mix of malto/dextro with electrolytes and enzymes. I do this much carb-ing because there's enough research to suggest that carbs seem to help both protein and creatine uptake. Based on some work Mike T Nelson's been exploring i'm also going to up those carbs every week or so, just to see if i notice a difference in performance / recovery, keeping everything else constant.
I will also add some BCAA's to this mix which may well be gilding the lily as likely the pepto pro in particular gets to my body with the same speed as the bcaa's but i'm a belt and suspenders kinda person.
Filled to the brim of the bottle, i'll have an eigth about ten minutes before the workout starts, sip throughout, and then usually there's about a quarter to a third left that i polish off after the workout.
Finisher Semi-RItual: Post Workout
Possibly really gilding the lily, i'll have another scoop of EAA's, a vitamin C and some l-glutamine if i'm not going to be eating for awhile. e.g., it's 9AM and i don't want anything else till lunch time. Otherwise, of late, i'll have a breakfast shake - and that's described over here.
Tea Ceremony Coda: Why Bother?
For the most part, i workout in the morning, first thing.
There is something warmly satisfying about getting up to do a workout - to practice a skill - and yet, not jumping out of bed and racing racing racing to go do it. Not to rush. To get up early enough that i can set up the space for the training session of the day, and prep for it, staying relaxed but focused. Relaxed. But focused.
My own tea (plus additional beverage ) ceremony seems to help me manage that Relax but Focused space.
These wee pre-practice rituals are not things i developed deliberately to serve this relax/focus end; they've evolved over the past four months - rather quickly - but i've only lately started enjoying them more deliberately, if that's a way to frame it. Rather than being "i need time to make this drink for my workout" - or "i'm doing these EAA's now for prep for 20mins from now" - i'm starting to get that focusing on what i'm doing, enjoying that - has its own rewards, too.
 |
| breathing, thinking, doing, in the tea zone |
Ritual High? You know that runners talk about runners high. Usually it's associated with running for awhile and then getting an endorphin rush. My understanding from more recent work is that just formulating a happy thought before running brings on a high. I'm finding that delighting in this moment's pause before the Big Lift happens. i *really* *enjoy* my green tea - it happens to be *really* *nice* genmaicha (as with anything there are all kinds of qualities). I also *really* *like* putting together a drink combo that no company happens to produce, and working to get the supplement and flavour profiles a little better each day (yes, i think i said "flavour profiles" - too much "top chef"). It's joyful.
And besides the chemicals i ingest from the polyphenols of the green tea and the aminos and and and that being in a more joyful if not happy place before i start my workout, i'm in a better mental place to face a challenging 85-98% 1RM workout. A lot of this game is mental, isn't it? And well that sip sip of tea during the workout is a pretty good reminder of focus/relax.
My new plan? Rather than seeing it as a means to an end (the workout) get more into this ritual and see what happens to the workout ahead
Old Skool? I bet the Ritual is something that experienced lifters know all about, and again, i'm just late to the party. Better late than never. WHo knows - this Relax/focus Strength thing may just help me get the Press.
--------
Addendum: the b2d youtube progress channel
As part of keeping it real, i've started the b2d youtube channel. Dan John talks about success being wrought by Just Showing Up. Maybe these progress moments of the Keep Showing Up Practice may be useful fodder for others pursuing a strength goal. For example: this first ugly but real getting of at 24kg pistol:
Personally, some youtube records that have inspired me? There's a convict conditioning series that shows one person's progress from the start of practice to success with full range of motion. Wow.
And thank you to that person for that record.
----------
Related Links
- Green Tea: good for more than what ails ya
- Tea Infuser - letting it go...
- How to fight a Wretched Cold
- And Fat Tea
- an alternative to coffee: the untea with lemon, hot sauce and honey
- Towards the Perfect Rep
begin2dig related
YouTube Channel: where we mean "in progress" all the time
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
COACHING with dr. m.c. 
