In this Issue:
• Introduction - The Integrative Approach to Building a Killer Physique And Becoming A Super Athlete
• Featured Functional Exercise: The Kettlebell Snatch and Double Snatch
• Yoga and Kettlebells by Abby Corriveau, RKC, RYT, CTMT
• Kettlebells for MMA and BJJ Fighters by Danny Clark, RKC II
• Designing Your Own Integrative Training Program
Introduction – The Integrative Approach To Building a Killer Physique And Becoming A Super Athlete
With so many gizmos out there it is near impossible to cut through the garbage and figure out what to do with your valuable training time. While there are many effective ways to train out there, nothing has supplied us and our students of all ages with dramatic results in terms of building a strong, flexible, and capable physique like training with kettlebells. Add in other solid disciplines like yoga and marital arts and you have a killer integrative training program that can be built specific to your personal goals.
As a stand-alone training style kettlebell exercises provide everything the average person needs to create an amazing body that is athletically capable without being plagued by injury. If you took the strength of barbell training, added in the explosive power of olympic lifting, threw in the benefits of hours of stretching, and took out all the risks associated with going too heavy and repetitively jarring your joints, you would start to scratch the surface of why kettlebells are such a powerful platform to build a body that is envied for its athletic prowess and incredible shape.
In short, kettlebell training (done properly, of course) is the most efficient way to meet the goals of anyone looking for a no-nonsense, highly effective method of achieving the goals they set, including fat burning and injury prevention. When all else fails and you are ready to get results a cut above the rest, its time to train for what we call “Balanced Power.” Be sure to check out our article on designing an integrative workout program to get yourself started.
Functional Exercise Feature: The Kettlebell Snatch and Double Snatch
The Basic Kettlebell Snatch:
The Kettlebell Snatch is arguably one of the most functional and complete exercises ever invented. Here are some of the main benefits of doing the basic kettlebell snatch:
- Stimulates both aerobic (cardio) and anaerobic (strength/muscular endurance) energy systems which means you burn fat, strengthen your heart, and get a total body workout…all with one movement.
- Improves hip and shoulder girdle integrity by simultaneously strengthening and improving flexibility.
- Drastically improves coordination, mind/body connection, timing, and real world power
- Very safe if executed properly
How to do it: Email me at danny@theintegrativeathlete.com for recommended sources or stay tuned for our future instructional video clips.
The Double Snatch (more advanced):
The Double Snatch is a very advanced kettlebell exercise and is not recommended until after 1-2 years experience with basic kettlebell snatches. Double kettlebell snatches are highly underrated as a supplementary athletic training tool. Proficiency with kettlebell snatches are a great compliment to barbell snatches which are commonly taught to college level athletes and a great substitute for athletes with impact related injuries. Just as dumbbell training is a great compliment to barbell training, kettlebell explosive lifts are a great compliment to olympic explosive lifts. More on this next time…
Yoga and Kettlebells
By Abby Corriveau, Co-Owner of The Integrative Athlete, RKC, RYT, Personal Trainer, and Thai Massage Therapist.
The intensity of kettlebells and steadiness found in yoga may seem like polar opposites but with the right combination they are a perfect pair. I am not talking about holding an iron bell over your head in Warrior 1 Pose. I am talking about a curriculum integrating the two disciplines to forge a strong, athletic, healthy and balanced body.
As a gym owner, registered yoga teacher (RYT), certified kettlebell instructor, (RKC, and RKC, HKC assistant), and experienced personal trainer I have spent the last 2 years exploring, in depth, the benefits of combining kettlebells and yoga into a training regime.
I work with a vast clientele ranging from triathletes, teenagers, super models, wrestlers and mma competitors; your everyday mom and dad to 80 year olds. No matter what their fitness or health goal, they all have improved their health and physical performance by doing both kettlebells and yoga. Many runners reported that by adding in kettlebell workouts 2-3 days per week their uphill leg power drastically improved and they began beating their PR’s! Incorporating protocols such as the VO2 Max improved their cardio as well.
How does it work? Well, you find a manageable schedule that is appropriate for your personal goals. For example, take an average female 35-40 years old who simply wants to feel better and maybe lose a few pounds. I would recommend 3 days per week of 45 minute kettlebell circuit style training (including warm-up and cool-down) and 2-3 yoga classes. She could either take a gentle yoga class like “Deep Stretch” for an hour after her kettlebell training or alternate days like M, W, F kettlebells and T, TH, 1 hour of a “flow” type yoga class like Ashtanga or Vinyasa Yoga.
Why does it work? I decided to run a survey to find out why our clientele did both. The average response said doing yoga after kettlebells helps enhance their well being. It helps them ground down and feel centered after training intensively. They said that they could focus more throughout the day and their stress levels decreased by nearly 100%! Some surveyors said that it does speed muscle recovery but the majority reason was simply because it betters their well-being and decreases stress levels throughout the day. Sounds nice right?
After working as a personal trainer and fitness manager in the corporate setting of gyms, I saw so many people come in and spend hours training and socializing and rarely staying to stretch. Those very people always complained about sore muscles, stiffness, lower back pain, and not to mention unmanageable stress. I also saw a lot of poor posture and very little body awareness. When my fiancee and I opened our own functional fitness gym, The Integrative Athlete, we wanted to reverse this trend and bring awareness to the public about the importance of stretching and taking time for you after training. (And when I mean training I don’t mean walking on a treadmill for 2 hours and talking on your phone.) Highly respected Aggressive Strength founder Mike Mahler even recommends meditating and listening to soothing music or taking a quick nap after training to help recover. We created a program offering Kettlebell and Yoga classes for all levels and goals. We are also a mixed martial arts gym specializing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so we wanted to keep their training schedule and conditioning in mind. These guys need flexibility and durability as well as great conditioning and power. After two years our gym is still growing and goals are becoming a reality for a lot of our members.
Kettlebells and Yoga go hand in hand. Both systems are progressive and with dedication bodies are transformed. They both encourage connection to breath, body awareness, and focus. You even train without shoes with kettlebells! If you are not present swinging a bell or performing a TGU (Turkish-Get-Up) then you are doomed for injury. Kettlebells and Yoga promote full range of motion, healthy joints, and dense, lean muscle. Kettlebell training builds a solid powerhouse and Yoga supports it as its nurturing foundation. It’s the Yin and the Yang at its finest. The upper body strength you build doing kettlebells can certainly help inversion poses and open hips from yoga can certainly help in performing Front Squats. To read more about the physical similarities read my article, “The Synergistic Power Of Yoga and Kettlebells.”
Just like anything in life, balance is key. You do not want to be Gumby nor do you want to be a stick of beef jerky that snaps in half. You need flexibility and strength as well as cardio conditioning and healthy organs, especially if you are an athlete. Of course that balance is different for each individual and their goals or sport. Obviously if you are a professional football player then a lot of your time will be drilling and training on the football field. However supplementing your training with restorative yoga, breathing exercises and meditation will help you become a better athlete. Swinging a kettlebell will improve your power and performance. Finding qualified instructors and trainers can help you figure out how to balance the two. Check out www.dragondoor.comto find a qualified kettlebell instructor in your area and check out www.yogaalliance.com to find a qualified yoga instructor. Unfortunately finding a facility and a program like The Integrative Athlete is hard to come by so you may have to train at two separate locations if you want to integrate both.
Kettlebells for MMA and BJJ Fighters by Danny Clark, RKC II
Training for sport combat is something more familiar to me than almost anything else in my life. I started wrestling and learning judo at the age of 4. Shortly thereafter my dad had me squatting and pressing a broomstick. At the age of 7, I made my way into the romanticized gym dungeon, a playground of steel, iron, and rust. Since that moment, training to be a better athlete by cross-training has become a way of life…something I could never live without.
My methods have not been without an important evolution over time. I started, like most, with traditional bodybuilding type workouts in my youth. My strength and athletic performance soared when I switched over to more emphasis on compound grinding lifts such as squats and deadlifts. The introduction of explosive, power-oriented Olympic lifts in college just amplified my love for cross-training and seeing results on the mat.
After college, I made a natural transition from wrestling to BJJ and MMA. To my disappointment, I couldn’t use the physical assets and skills I had already honed over 18 years to my advantage against a skilled practitioner. I decided there wasn’t much satisfaction in pummeling white belts with my wrestling intensity and athletic prowess, while getting owned by a purple belt that resembled a spider monkey. Quite frankly, it was embarrassing.
As I started to understand BJJ, I began to re-think my cross-training methods. I realized I needed a method that maintained my strength and athleticism, but put more emphasis on mobility than traditional strength training. Also, if I am going to be able to fight without nagging injuries, I need to train without abusing my joints (a by-product of having to go too heavy with high impact exercises). Enter the Kettlebell.
Here is a short list of why combat athletes NEED to be training with kettlebells:
- Kettlebells develop strength and flexibility/mobility in equal proportions
- Kettlebells focus on full body movements, especially hip power (think punching/kicking/takedowns)
- Kettlebells stimulate the same energy systems used in competition (both aerobic and anaerobic)
- Kettlebell workouts are short and efficient which equals more time for your sport and less time feeling overtrained.
- Kettlebell training is low impact. Get the benefits of plyometrics and explosive strength without the wear on your joints.
- Kettlebells done properly = greater injury resistance. Nothing I have found helps you zero in on proper movement patterns while building strength through big ranges of motion.
- Effective martial arts movements stem from primitive movement patterns…so do kettlebell movements.
- Kettlebell workouts are fun, intense, and generally appeal well to combat athletes
- A Kettlebell is highly versatile and portable.
- Kettlebells can be used to focus on developing one asset, or multiple physical assets at a time (ex- strength, power, mobility, endurance, muscular fatigue resistance)
- Kettlebells are a great addition to your current workout routine if you have a program that is working for you.
For me, one of the biggest selling points was efficiency. Whether you are a fighter or a fitness enthusiast looking for real world strength, a kettlebell workout has a lot to offer in a short amount of time per week. Who has the time and money for long workouts at an “all-show, no-go” corporate gym? Why not train at home, the office, or right next to the mats?
Getting started:
1) Find a qualified kettlebell trainer and attend a workshop or work privately with him/her. Make sure the trainer has a kettlebell specific certification through a nationally recognized organization. Kettlebells practiced improperly will inevitably injure you.
2) Practice the main exercises you learn without any variations. Don’t try and get fancy until you’ve earned your “black belt” in kettlebells. Just like learning anything else…
3) Train with purpose. After you feel confident with the exercises, start tailoring programs with the goals you have in mind. For example, don’t spend tons of time pressing heavy if you need to develop an aerobic base. Spend more time swinging and snatching. There are tons of great resources that cover kettlebell program design online. Of course, be sure to check the credentials of your sources.
4) Be objective in your analysis of whether your cross-training is translating to increased performance. If not, train more of your weaknesses vs. enhancing assets you already have. Don’t make the mistake of substituting cross-training for actually practicing your sport.
Get the ball rolling and keep me posted on your kettlebell training experiences.
Danny Clark, RKC II
danny@theintegrativeathlete.com
Designing Your Own Integrative Training Program
We follow this simple template for all of our workouts: Warm up, Power, Strength, Cardio/Muscular Endurance, Flexibility
1- Warm up your body without resistance (5 minutes): Start with dynamic joint mobility exercises such as rotations of the neck/spine and circles of the shoulders/wrists/knees/ankles. Move onto bodyweight compound movements with easy rep ranges such as 10 squats, 10 lunges/side, 10 pushups (kneeling or toes), 10 situps.
2- Power focus (10-20 min):
Rep Range: Low [1-20 for explosive (rapid movement) kettlebell exercises, 1-6 reps for advanced exercises (such as double kettlebell lifts or Olympic Lifts)], 1-7 sets.
Recovery Time: :30 to upwards of 2:00 depending on % of 1RM (1 rep max) used and goals
Exercises: Swings, Snatches, Jerks, Cleans. May be performed independently or in chains/complexes
Other Notes: Superset with other explosive movements such as plyos (jumps) if desired. See sample workout for examples.
3 - Strength (10-15 min):
rep range: moderate to low 1-8 reps, 1-5 sets
Recovery time: :30 – 1:30 depending on goals and % of 1RM used
Exercises: Squats, Lunges, Presses, Rows, Pullups, Pushups, and all variations.
Notes: May be supersetted or arranged in a circuit
4 – Cardio/Muscular Endurance (10-15 min):
Rep Range: high (8-30)
Recovery time: :10 – 1:00 desired work:rest ratio
Exercises: any, using little or no weight. May be performed in interval style protocol such as HIIT, Tabata, or KJs VO2 max
5 – Flexibility (10-60 min):
Rep Range: 30 seconds or 5 slow, full breaths per stretch (or “pose”)
Recovery time: none – creative yoga practitioners “flow” through stretches. Non yogis may simply switch stretches w/o rest
Exercises: Too many too list. Please reference “Sport Stretch” or a descriptive yoga book for a sequence best suited for your body. Stay tuned for our archive on our website.
Example Workout (aprox. 45 minutes):
Power:
Swings supersetted with Vertical Jumps, 3 sets of 20 swings then 6 Vertical Jumps
Snatch Ladder, 2 sets of up to 6 reps/side= 1 snatch per side, then 2 per side, up to 6 per side
Strength (upper body focus):
Double Military Press supersetted with Double Bent Over Rows, 3 sets of 6 reps of each exercise back to back
Pushups supersetted with Pullups, 3 sets of max reps of each (no failure)
Conditioning:
2 tabatas (2:1 work:rest ratio = 2 x 8 rounds of :20 max intensity at given exercise, then :10 rest) of Burpees
Flexibility (each 5 breaths):
Downward Dog, Standing Forward Fold, Wide Angle Forward Fold, Seated Twist, any Shoulder Stretch, Child’s pose
Putting it together:
Create 3-5 workouts per week using this template. 3 workouts per week would be for a person who also trains in an additional sport/martial art/training style. 5 workouts for week for a stand-alone training regime that will get you in awesome shape. This program template will force you to be creative and have the flexibility to mix up your workouts and tailor it to meet your individual goals. You may also split up your focus throughout the week or add more emphasis to one type of training…maybe more conditioning or strength training to best meet your goals.
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Personalized Online Program Design Service Information
Our Online Program Design and Consulting service is for driven individuals that are interested in getting the most out of their time and effort. Let experienced and highly trained professionals assist you in achieving your goals efficiently. Learn more by clicking here.
Thank you for joining us in our quest towards a life of strength, power, vitality, and balance.
Feedback is always encouraged: mail@theintegrativeathlete.com
Until Next Time,
Danny and Abby
Your feedback is always welcome.