"the canons don't thunder there's nothing to plunder..."

The Coach - Dan John - Lifiting and Throwing
"The body is one piece."

It amazes me that some exercise physiologists STILL are thinking inside the "can" (that's what I call the world of academia.) I recently had an argument with a young graduate of an ex phys school who still did not want to believe that an overhead squat, or a Olympic deadlift could help create greater gains in strength for cyclists. In his words, "I don't think that these lifts translate well to riding a bike."

Ok, why not? This is my question. If a cyclist has to have "core" strength from which to pedal, why not utilize a lift that not only works on the "core," but solid leg strength as well? One can do a sit up, a plank, a crunch, a twisty thingy with your legs in the air...but I say, how do THESE translate well to the bike?

So, where do you get the power from which to push, or pull? If the body is one piece, utilize it as such in your training, and there's nothing better than an O-lift or two to cement your "core" training.

I read an incredible analogy from Rannoch Donald that goes like this:
"the idea of firing a cannon from a canoe on water or from a solid base. In the canoe there is no foundation, no base. ...no power. With a firm foundation there is something to react against, to push from. It is basic mechanics."

Starting young!

Yep, move as nature intended. It's been a great experience watching my 8 month old son learn how to move. From crawling to clapping to pulling himself up, to eventually walking/running and of course, hiking into nature. We had fun on his first hike this past weekend.

If you want to teach kids to enjoy nature, and to be outside IN nature, start 'em young.

happy st patrick's day!!

As today is supposed to be a day for relaxing, and taking a break from the stress of life, here is an excerpt from lifepotlight.com. How does stress affect you? Well, YOU determine that.

The stress response—the body’s hormonal reaction to danger, uncertainty or change—evolved to help us survive, and if we learn how to keep it from overrunning our lives, it still can. In the short term, it can energize us, “revving up our systems to handle what we have to handle,” says Judith Orloff, a psychiatrist at UCLA. In the long term, stress can motivate us to do better at jobs we care about. A little of it can prepare us for a lot later on, making us more resilient.

Herein lies a problem. A lot of us tend to flip the stress-hormone switch to “on” and leave it there. At some point, the neurons get tired of being primed, and positive effects become negative ones. The result is the same decline in health that Selye’s rats suffered. Neurons shrivel and stop communicating with each other, and brain tissue shrinks in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which play roles in learning, memory and rational thought. “Acutely, stress helps us remember some things better,” says neuroendocrinologist Bruce McEwen of Rockefeller University. “Chronically, it makes us worse at remembering other things, and it impairs our mental flexibility.”

So there you have it, we thrive on short bits of stress. We work our best when under a little pressure. We are healthier when we stress our body into adapting and making it more resistant for the future. It’s our lack of control of the stress over ourselves (mostly mentally) that can cause the big danger in our lives. Times are tough, nothing is easy…but it shouldn’t have to be. Most of us are not going to move to a monastery on a mountain-top to meditate full time, so we better learn how to deal with what we have going on. You don’t have to run away from things, just learn how to handle and control it. Keep your head, realize you have full control to take action in life and then just take it one moment/action at a time. Learn to use the stressors to make you stronger, and you may just live longer because of it (while others who are not able to control them, take themselves into a negative downward spiral).

So,
go have a Guinness or two , and let today be the day that you find a way to handle your stress! One can't get rid of stress, but you can learn how to handle it BETTER!

This is my wife, overlooking the highest seaside cliffs in Europe, Slieve League, near Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland.

just show up...

"Try making a commitment to getting into the meditation posture at least once a day. You don't have to sit for any particular length of time, just get on the cushion. A lot of times, the hardest part is getting there. Once you're sitting down, you think, 'I might as well sit for a few minutes,' and more often than not, you're getting full sessions in." –Insight Meditation Society co-founder Joseph Goldstein

You could apply this to anything you know you should be doing but are struggling with...

"Try making a commitment to pick up your kettlebell at least once a day. You don't have to swing it for a particular length of time, just pick it up. Alot of times, the hardest part is getting there. Once you've picked it up, you might think, "I might as well swing for a few minutes" and more often than not, you're getting full sessions in" - Simple Strength

Back to basics once more. Turn up. That is all that is required. The rest takes care of itself.


This was a recent post from R. Donald. Seems that showing up is a key to lifelong fitness and health...imagine that. Another way to look at it is that when you don't feel like moving or exercising, do it anyway. Just go a little lighter than normal. The trick is, to keep your habit one must continue to DO the habit. You can live to fight another day, another day where intervals or metabolic conditioning is on the menu, or striving for a personal best time for a certain lift, or bike ride for distance, etc.

Just show up.

Where do YOU want to live?

"In a pioneering study by Dr Gordon Orians, a zoologist at the University of Washington, the ‘ideal’ habitat of modern day humans was diagnosed. If given a free choice, people preferred to live in a home that was perched on top of a prominence, placed close to a lake, ocean, or other body of water, and surrounded by a parklike terrain. The trees they most want to see from their homes have spreading crowns, with numerous branches projecting from the trunk close to and horizontal with the ground, and furnished profusely with small or finely divided leaves. It so happens that this archetype fits a tropical savanna of the kind prevailing in Africa where humanity evolved for several millions of years. Primitive people living there are thought to have been most secure in open terrain, where the wide vista allowed them to search for food while watching for enemies.

Is this a coincidence, this similarity between the ancient home of human beings and their modern day preference? Animals of all kinds possess an inborn habitat selection on which their survival depends. It would seem strange if humans were an exception, or if humans brief existence in agricultural and urban surroundings had erased the propensity of our genes. Consider a New York multimillionaire who, provided by wealth with a free choice of habitation, selects a penthouse overlooking Central Park, in sight of the lake if possible, and rims the terrace with potted shrubs. Is the habitat we choose written in our genes?"

So, I ask you, where do you want to live? When finished answering that question, now ask yourself with this kind of DNA link to early man, do we still not believe that we are supposed to MOVE? Do we still not believe that we are becoming LAZIER each year? Do we still not believe that our DNA tells us that if we don't move that we will continue to become an unhealthy, faltering society?

I'll live here...

Interviewing Rannoch Donald

These are excerpts from an interview done with Rannoch Donald, a Scotsman who delves into the realms of mobility, kettlebells, getting older, and getting on with it!

The kettlebell world seems to have developed some differences that are almost “sectarian” in their intensity with each side presenting their approach as the “one true way”. You seem to have risen above this: you are one of the top rated RKCs but have also become certified by the IKFF in a slightly different style of kettlebell lifting. Why?
The schism that you talk about however is the domain of keyboard ninjas and Internet warriors. The forums are awash with people who's opinions are tougher than their training . This type of brinkmanship is endemic in the Martial arts, fuelled by people who spend too much time thinking rather than doing. The Kettlebell is a ball of iron with a handle on it! We aren't going to see any mind blowing innovations for that piece of equipment. So people argue about what you should do with it. You have to ask what is it about an individual's agenda that can only be promoted by criticizing others? "My Guru can beat up your Guru!" I don't think there are any credible coaches, teachers or trainers out there who resort to this. People can be drawn together through mutual respect or collective contempt. I'll roll with anyone who offers an empty hand, an open mind and a smile on their face.


I think there has been a lot of Internet “hype” about kettlebells over the last 10 years or so but the big benefit has been that this has refocused people on simple functional movements and intense routines. Do you think the “tool” – the lump of metal with a handle - can ever distract people from these essentials?
There is a huge amount of "smoke and mirrors" about training in general. The constant need to turn every aspect of activity into a science or a certification can suck the joy out of, what for most people should be, straight forward endeavour. The practice I promote is one of longevity, functionality and resilience. If your interest is always based on "more" then you will ultimately see diminishing returns. If your progress is based on "better" - improving movement, becoming resilient - then you have the prospect of a lifetime practice.


You ensure that mobility has a high profile in the conditioning classes that you teach. When did you start to realise the importance of joint mobility and how do you integrate it into your daily life and training?
At Kettlebells Scotland we call it Mandatory Mobility. It is non-negotiable. Every workshop begins with a mobility practice that anyone can do. Once I integrated mobility into my practice I noticed big changes in posture, movement, balance, speed, strength, outlook. The incredible pay off from mobility work should not be under played. Without mobility you become a slave to your body's compensations. Mobility is freedom of movement. I'd go as far as to say Mobility is freedom. We've somehow come to accept - in the West at least - that age means decrepitude. Without mobility there is no strength, no power, no health. You stop being the hunter and you become the prey.


This is Mt. Errigal, in Ireland, not far from where my in laws live. Once a year, my mum and da-in law, climb to the top of this mountain. My wife and I get a call from their mobile phone every time..."guess where we are?"

THIS is mobility as we age. (Not to mention that I can't even get a cell phone signal up in the Appalachains sometimes, and in the rural Northwestern coast of Ireland, they are calling from the top of a mount--go figure.)

Now, get on with it!!!