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STRONGFIRST SPEAKS | SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 |
| Unbreakable
Congratulations to Malou Fehlbaum, SFG on joining the exclusive “Sinister” ranks!
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| | After breaking more than half of the bones in her body, including her spine, in an accident and being told she would never walk again.
While fighting cancer.
Malou, StrongFirst salutes your unbreakable spirit!
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| | Another Reason to Boldly Add Weight in Kettlebell Simple & Sinister
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| People with a background in conventional strength training are always surprised at the weight progression tactic in Kettlebell Simple & Sinister. We stay with the same kettlebell for a long stretch, then replace it with a noticeably heavier one—typically, +4kg for ladies and +8kg for gents—one set at a time and stay at each step for weeks. This highly reliable progression tactic is called “step loading.”
Conventional wisdom has it that one should sneak up on the barbell or the kettlebell with tiny weight increments, hence the proliferation of microscopic “barbell plates” akin to earrings. The Soviets went in the opposite direction: boldly announce to the body that the change is here and it had better deal with it. Following an attention getting increase, the load was stabilized at the same level to let the organism adapt to it.
The following insights into the adaptive dynamics by Russian Olympic weightlifting expert Vladimir Mishoustin will help you get onboard.
There are two types of relationships between your organism and the training load: resistance and reactivity.
The first refers to the body’s ability to handle a given load. It is the same “resistance” you have heard about in a medical context: a germ’s resistance to an antibiotic or a human’s resistance to the germ. Specifically applied to a given training load—can you handle it without breaking? Another word used by Russian specialists is “stability”; envision being hard to knock down by a given workload.
The second, reactivity, refers to the potential of the given load to cause a desired adaptive reaction—to get stronger. Synonyms for reactivity are “sensitivity” and “responsiveness.”
The two characteristics ride a teeter-totter: when one goes up, the other comes down. When you introduce a greater training stimulus, your body is highly reactive or responsive to it. But it has a low resistance: you cannot add much more without overtraining or getting hurt. As you stay with the given load for some time, you are getting progressively more resistant and less reactive.
Hence Mishoustin’s observation on periodization: “Periodization of sport training manifests itself in a periodic restoration of the initial ratio of the system’s sensitivity and stability to the load on each successive, higher level…”
In contrast, the microplate sneaky approach cautiously keeps the teeter-totter level, never pushing it up or down.
Choose strongly.
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| | Kettlebell Simple & Sinister: Revised & Updated Edition (S&S 2.0)— your definitive guide to strength, conditioning, and resilience |
| | My son started when he was about fifteen. He didn't have enough control over his body to do a TGU with a little yellow five pounder. By the time he was 18, he could knock out “Simple,” including the goblet squats, in about 25 minutes without trying.
The interesting thing for his story is that I think he has the perfect S&S attitude:
* He is not the least bit interested in working out, so he just does what I tell him, thus sticking to the program.
* I know I can't push him too hard, or he'll quit, so he really owns where he is before we add anything.
* Within a workout, he doesn't like it, so he wants it over with. On the other hand, he doesn't want it to hurt, either, so he doesn't push too hard.
It has really worked for him!
A couple of examples of its benefits. We were doing some yard work which included filling garbage cans with weeds, rocks, etc. We were filling them and stacking them by the pickup truck to haul off. He started picking them up and setting them in the back of the truck, over the side. They probably weighted anywhere from 40-70 pounds, depending on the fill. I had him notice what he was doing and pointed out he could not have done it last year. He smiled and I asked, “Feels good to be strong, doesn't it?” “Yeah.”
On another fitness quality, he was invited to play in an ultimate frisbee league, lots of repeat sprints on a football field sort of game. When he got back, I asked him how his conditioning was. He said it was fine, no problems keeping up with the regular crowd.
S&S delivers, if you do it.
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| And the latest S&S review on Amazon:
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| | This program will teach you patience, as it will take nearly a year to move from training shakily with a 16kg bell to practicing solidly with a 32kg one, which is the program's first and main objective for men. Along this journey, your body will go through several transformations in terms of mobility, endurance, body composition and finally brute strength.
As an endurance benefit example, I started this program just after my 54th birthday with 20kg swings and 16kg getups. 6 months later, I was well into 32kg swings and 24kg getups when I chaperoned my son's cross-country team trip to ascend Mt. Bierstadt 14er in Colorado. With no prior dedicated preparation other than the continued practice of this program and easy daily walks with my younger girls, I was able to trek the 6.8 mile round-trip and its 2,000+ feet elevation gain while wearing a backpack. During my previous visits to similar 14,000 ft summits, I would get dizzy from simply getting out of the car and pacing around the trailhead parking lot.
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| | | | BACK TO SCHOOL OF STRENGTH SALE
through Labor Day Weekend |
| | | | | Never Quit by Sara Brownstein
“How did I conquer the odds of weight loss and maintain my weight loss of 135 pounds for over one year?... I don’t ever quit.”
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| | The kettlebell goblet squat is a fundamental skill that will benefit everyone—from 20-year-old Army Ranger Joe to Grandma Betty.
Lance Coffel, StrongFirst Certified Senior Instructor coaches “how to find your squat from the bottom up.”
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| Click on the image to view the video on Instagram.
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Speaks Steve Freides, StrongFirst Certified Senior Instructor and Director of Community engagement:
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| StrongFirst Forum thrives because its signal-to-noise ratio is very high at a time when the opposite is the norm. The sign on the front door states, “Ladies and Gentlemen Only” and you will not find any of the usual internet nonsense. While forum discussions feature contributions by our certified instructors, our leadership, and other experienced athletes and coaches, anyone may join. Questions from beginners are always treated with respect because we all started somewhere and we are all forever students of strength.
There is no charge—select a username and a password, confirm via email, and you will be a part of our “elite but not elitist” online community.
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