Todays food is designed to make you crave and eat more then ever before.

I’m not a doctor so don’t just run off and do what you read because it sounds like a good idea. This kind of reprogramming may not be for everyone but it definitely worked for me.

Call it what you like, weight loss diet, fat loss diet, metabolic optimisation diet, metabolic flexability, reporgramming your metabolism. You get the picture there are a lot of names for the same thing. My take on it is changing the way your body works in order to burn fat for fuel rather then depending on sugar for energy.

This subject is close to my heart because I know from first hand expereince it is the fastest moset effective way to lose weight/fat and keep it off.

The combination of sugar, salt, and fat is a receipe for disaster for your waste line and even if you don’t think you eat much sugar try a week where you eat only protein and then tell me what you feel like eating about halfway through day 2 and into day 3 and 4, man, I just wanted to sit down with a block of chocolate and a bag of sugary lollies, I have never wanted sugar that bad in my life.

The diet I did removed the vast majority of carbs and the vast majority of fat for a whole 2 weeks. The idea of this was to place the body in a state of ketosis the wikipedia explanation for this is better then what I can write so I won’t re-invent the wheel:

“If the diet is changed from a highly glycemic diet to a diet that does not provide sufficient carbohydrate to replenish glycogen stores, the body goes through a set of stages to enter ketosis. During the initial stages of this process, blood glucose levels are maintained through gluconeogenesis, and the adult brain does not burn ketones. However, the brain makes immediate use of ketones for lipid synthesis in the brain. After about 48 hours of this process, the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly use the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs, thus avoiding the depletion of the body’s protein store in the muscles”

I love eggs and I love salmon, I definitely like steak and chicken so really this wasn’t too hard for me. but I have to say I was ready to punch soomeone on day 4 and day 5 I was still very tired and cranky.

Here is a brief rundown on the diet plan and a list of some of the foode you can and can;t eat

Week 1 and 2:

• Train 6 days per week – interval and bodyweight training including kettlebells of course.
• protein and low/no fat dairy only
• minimum 2 litres of water per day and one glass before each meal
• 5 meals a day at regular intervals
• no alcohol
• no sugar
• no grains bread or pasta
• no fruit
• no vegatables

and definitely no cheat meals

Sounds pretty full on doesn’t it?

well it was but it worked.

I dropped 3 kg in the first 2 weeks. when I trained I could feel the energy drain out of me, as I said day 4 and 5 of week 1 were probably the hardest but I could see results and was assured the energy would come.

Weeks 3 and 4:

• Train 6 days per week – interval and bodyweight training . I did a group bootcamp class 3 times per week, kettlebells or stair sessions on the off days and pull-ups every night
• for 1 meal only every second day you can now throw in some vegies, tomato, spinach and mushrooms were my main additions
• apart from the above the diet remains the same as above
• 1 cheat meal allowed, eat one meal of whatever you want I smashed this meal, it was amazing, I have pasta with slow cooked cherry tomato, prosciutto basil and lemon juice then I had home-made apple crumble with ice cream for dessert, it was gold!

Weeks 5 and 6:

• You are well and truly into the diet now, you are used to the food, you have heaps of energy, you are sleeping well and looking forward to training. if you have made it this far the nay sayers and knockers are just jealous they didn’t start on the same day as you because they can see the results but know they are 5 weeks behind you and because they were too weak to start when you did you know they never will
• Again not a huge change but every second day you can add the short list of vegies to each meal, I really enjoyed these days!
• One more cheat meal
• still no alcohol at all
• make sure you are still drinking lots of water!

Weeks 7 and 8:

• You have almost made it to the end, you can now add 1 or 2 meals a week of pasta or bread as well as one all out cheat meal for the fortnight.
• It feels as though the fat loss is really kicking in here, you are fitter and stronger then you were before and you have energy to burn.
• If you used to drink you realise that you really don’t miss it and you actually would never need to drink again – that’s how I felt anyway.
• You are still training 6 days a week and loving it!
• you are still eating protein only every second day

The end.

Not quite, to maintain you do one protein only day per week, 2 days if you have a high fat high sugar diet.

I got used to no grains and no bread and I have taken on the Paleo diet since finishing. I have and a few glasses of wine and some dark chocolate in the evenings but I have truly changed my eating habits forever.

If the average male in the USA lives to 75.81 years then you are investing 0.02% of your life which is a drop in the ocean when you realise the benefits, I think it’s worth it even if you only feel good for a few months afterwards.

to go with the 7kg of fat lost I also increased my max pull-ups from 7 to 14 and took 3 minutes off my PB half marathon time 1:40.08 with no long runs at all. I was pretty happy with the outcome overall.

There is not much more I can say, watch the video and prepare to be impressed.

Dragon Door/RKC sponsors legendary MMA fighter, Fedor Emelianenko in upcoming battle against Dan Henderson, on Showtime

Dragon Door, the originator of the modern kettlebell movement and the world’s premier site for Kettlebells, strength conditioning and advanced fitness resources, is proud to announce its sponsorship of legendary fighter Fedor Emelianenko in his upcoming battle against Dan Henderson on July 30th at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL.

The fight will be broadcast at 10:00 EST on Showtime:
http://sports.sho.com/#/tvschedule

Shrouded in mystique in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, many aficionados have hailed Fedor as the greatest to ever do it, the Muhammad Ali of his sport. He remains one of the most fearsome and talented heavyweights in the world — and practically a national hero in Russia. The Fedor-Henderson fight is being heavily advertised and promoted in the homeland and some fans are calling it ‘Fedor’s Second Coming’.

Dragon Door launched its RKC kettlebell training system in 2001, sparking a worldwide revolution in effective strength and conditioning for elite athletes, martial artists, military and all those seeking a supreme level of functional fitness.

Dragon Door’s RKC programs offer a wealth of kettlebell information for generating superior strength and power — including books, seminars, training certification programs, equipment and DVDs. Many of the resources are considered modern classics, including Enter the Kettlebell: Strength Secret of the Soviet Supermen (http://www.dragondoor.com/b33/4b4c0b250331f written by former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor Pavel Tsatsouline.

American hardmen of all stripes were quick to recognize what their Russian counterparts had long known — nothing beats the kettlebell, when you’re looking for a single tool to dramatically impact your strength and conditioning.

“This is an ideal fit for our team,” writes John Du Cane, Founder and CEO of Dragon Door . “A great believer himself in kettlebells, Fedor embodies strength and power, and that’s what our company has been all about for the past 20 years — no gimmicks or fads, only hard work and training that builds resilience, strength and power.”

Look for Dragon Door’s RKC double-eagle logo displayed on Fedor’s shorts on fight night!

As originator with Pavel Tsatsouline of the modern kettlebell movement, Du Cane has spent decades building the world’s most informed and proficient community of kettlebell instructors, now in 43 countries and every U.S. state.

Dragon Door/RKC offers Certification Workshops around the globe — from Budapest to San Diego to Philadelphia, to Korea to Belfast — providing the highest quality kettlebell instructor program available. Pavel’s Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification Workshop gives professionals a crash course in Advanced Strength Skills, ignites new business opportunities, and propels attendees into the front ranks of physical excellence. An enthusiastic following of leading fitness and athletic authorities, trainers, doctors and therapists around the world have supported and attended their workshops since 2001.

Tonight we got straight into it.

• Joint mobility warm ups
• Light 2 handed swings x 10 followed by 1 x Turkish get-up per side about 3 times through

The workout was a ladder routine, I warmed up with a 20kg kettlebell and saw the board and opted for a 16kg kettlebell for the session. Andrew being the owner of Dragon Door Australia uses Dragon Door Kettlebells so worth giving them a plug.

From the start I wasn’t sure I would finish the session, as it turned out he didn’t expect anyone to, I did get close and felt pretty good for my first class held by a professional instructor.

1. 20 x 2 handed swings
2. 20 x 2 handed swings + 1 push-up
3. 20 x 2 handed swings + 2 push-ups
4. 20 x 2 handed swings + 3 push-ups
5. 20 x 2 handed swings + 4 push-ups
6. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups
7. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 1 x goblet squat
8. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 2 x goblet squat
9. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 3 x goblet squats
10. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 4 x goblet squats
11. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats
12. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 1 x clean and squat (per hand without putting the kettlebell down)
13. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 2 x clean and squat
14. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 3 x clean and squat
15. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 4 x clean and squat
16. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat
17. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 6 single handed swings
18. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 8 single handed swings
19. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 10 single handed swings
20. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 10 single handed swings + 12 mountain climbers (per leg)This is where the session ended, below is what was left to do
21. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 10 single handed swings + 14 mountain climbers
22. 20 x 2 handed swings + 5 push-ups + 5 x goblet squats + 5 x clean and squat + 10 single handed swings + 18 mountain climbers

So with a 16kg kettlebell I did:

• 400 x 2 handed swings = 6400kg moved
• 85 Push-ups
• 60 x goblet squats = 960kg moved
• 35 x clean and squats per hand = 1120kg moved
• 44 single handed swings per arm = 1408kg moved
• and last but not least 12 mountain climbers per leg.

Total moved 9888kg not including body weight exercises.

I have been doing my own thing with kettlebells for the past 12 months, I read Enter The Kettlebell (still a must read for anyone interested in kettlebells), I watched a lot of good and bad youtube videos but as I have said elsewhere on the site nothing really beats being critiqued by  a professional.

So today I bit the bullet and got some professional guidance.

Andrew Read from Dragon Door Australia is a true professional, his ability to articulate the way the human body is linked together and the importance of moving it in the right way in order to achieve the desired result was better than what I can try and recreate here so you will just have to bear with me and hopefully you get something out of it.

My key takeaways from tonight’s session were:

1. The swing is the base for everything
   A good swing with hip drive and full body torque makes everything else easier, the clean happens naturally (after a lot of practise) and the snatch becomes a hell of a lot easier. If you are anything like me then you have probably read all of this before but evidently I found it a lot harder to put into practise then I thought.
2. The Get-up or Turkish Get-up is your crystal ball to your weaknesses. If there is a particular stage in the get-up where you wobble or feel weak then it obviously needs work. This exercise works the entire body and really is an amazing insight into your strengths and weaknesses.
   You can break the get-up down into something like 22 parts Andrew was saying, we broke it down into 6 
   1. Kettlebell Floor to hand:
      This movement of rolling onto your side is actually a lot more important then I first thought, this is the first of a series of movements you need to learn in order to walk, run, hunt, gather, live (you get it I know) I have read a little bit about circular strength, Andrew didn’t talk about circular strength per say but look it up, it is interesting and makes a lot of sense.
      Another thing about this move, even lifing light weight like a 12kg or a 16kg Kettlebell you should treat it as if you are lifting the 32kg or the 48kg . If you wouldn’t use that technique with a heavy kettlebell don’t do it with a light one. Makes more sense face to face but again, I think you get it.
   2. Up to the Elbow
      Moving my arm further out from my side when laying down say to 45 degrees, just a slight change in technique made this movement a lot easier and a lot more solid. Also my hips and shoulder were independent of one another in the beginning, once I had them working as one it was a much stronger movement.
   3. Up to the hand
      Again, the whole body should be tight and this position should feel like a position of strength, you should not need to move your hand to get here.
   4. Hips up
      Your will understand when you get this right because each part of your body is in line with it’s opposite making a strong X sort of shape. I don’t think I explained that too well, I am going back for another session tomorrow night so I will try and figure out a better way to write that between now and then.
   5. knee to hand
      Bring your knee in line with your hand and your lower leg pointing in the same direction creating a line
   6. Stand up
      From the lunge push through with your back leg, don’t shuffle, this should be done in one movement.

I really did start to over think things whilst doing this session and made a lot of mistakes but there was so much more to think about then I originally realised so it was important to have the brain dump of knowledge and then write this post so I really remember what I need to work on.

A few more takeaways:

• The swing is a ballistic movement, as opposed to something like the get-up which is a grinding or slow movement, it is not meant to be the same speed from start to finish, explode with the hips to generate the power and pull the kettlebell back down hard between the legs, this pulling force basically makes a light kettlebell heavy and using full power through the hips makes for a real workout not a social visit to the gym.
• The clean is just the swing with less arm movement, and the clean is actually a lot easier once I started to really explode through the hips and maintain full load on as many muscles in my body as I could. I found it hard to tense all muscles at once, when I got tired I would focus on my core and my glutes would turn off, then I would focus on my glutes and my lats would let my shoulders out again, I can see there are many hours of practise ahead but in saying that when you get it all right, an you definitely know when you do, it is amazing how much easier a press is or how much smoother your swing or clean can be.

I’ll add a video later to clear things up and so you can see each of the stages but it’s late and I’m off to bed.

As I wasn’t sure if  kettlebells were something I would be interested in for any length of time I settled with the book and susequently the DVD’s and then anything else I could get my hands on.

When I first started looking into kettlebell workouts it was clear that due to the very different technique and exercises I would require some professional guidance.

I am happy with books and DVD’s on the most part but in saying that there is nothing better than a professional watching your form and giving you guidance on technique.

Like most people in the western world Enter The Kettlebell by Pavel Tsatsouline was the very first book I ever read  regarding kettlebells

Put simply this book is an instruction manual on foundation kettlebell exercises.

The book is clear, easy to read, has great photos which are easy to undrestand and give even greater clarity to the instructions, the book coupled with the DVD is the perfect kettlebell stater package.

Chapter 1:

• Which lettlebells to start with
• The importance of posture
• Kettlebell safety

Chapter 2:

• Learn the basics of the kettlebelll swing and the turkish get-up

Chapter 3:

• More information on the benefits of the kettlebell
• Minimalist training
• The clean, press and snatch

Chapter 4:

• Ladders and progressive training (this is the good part and the most important part, without progression you remain on the hamspter wheel for life)
• Higher intensity intervals

Chapter 5:

• Why the kettlebell rules

Even if you have been using them for a while I highly recomment you get the book, it’s $20 at amazon or $34 from Dragon Door (works out better here if you are buying your kettlebells as well), you choose.

This is probably the most comprehnsive and certainly the most recent post I have read regarding the RKC snatch test.

If you are training for the RKC snatch test then you should definitely read this.

Even if you aren’t training for the RKC there is a wealth of information here and some great advice…

At the age of 35 Kettlebells were new to me and to be honest I didn’t really understand the full range of benefits.

If you are at all in doubt about what sort of intensity and what sort of results you can achineve from Kettlebell workouts then read this passage form the press release from the American Counsil on Exercise:

“Researchers credit the brisk calorie burning to the fact that the kettlebell snatch workout is a total-body movement performed in an interval-training fashion. Study participants were observed to achieve exercise heart rate that ranged from approximately 86 to 99 percent of maximum heart rate and 67 to 91 percent of maximum oxygen uptake, suggesting that the use of kettlebells provides a much higher-intensity workout than standard weightlifting.”

You can read the full article at www.acefitness.org or download it here

Dragon Door’s most popular Kettelbell the 16kg/35lb is on sale for $76.95 from the regular retail price of $96.75 a $20 savings. This deal will be good until Wednesday June 29th.
Your link to this weeks deal is: http://www.dragondoor.com/p10s/

If you have been looking into Kettlebells online for a while you will have heard of modern day strongman Logan Christopher.

There are heaps of youtube strength videos out there with Logan bending nails, bridging and doing a bunch of other very cool stuff.

I have been reading a bit about Kettlebell juggling but hadn’t looked too much into it when I found this video. When you watch how easy Logan makes it look if you’re anything like me you really want to give it a crack. I think I will start with the 16kg…

I found this video originally at www.adamtglass.com which is an awesome read with some very new and interesting theories and training philosophies

And you can see and read more of Logans stuff at http://www.legendarystrength.com/