Newsletter 23

Best Results in 10 Years!

I've been lifting weights for about 10 years, and I've been using kettlebells for about 3 years. I considered myself to be pretty knowledgeable in the ways of strength and conditioning, but I thought I'd try some professional advice.

I've been using Brian's services for about 4 months and here is an example of what he's done for me. I was in the gym on my back-off/rest week just trying to do 60% of my normal workout, and some friends of mine were jabbing at me a bit because I don't workout "normal" like them. They sort of challenged my man hood and so I took them up on a bench press test which is supposed to be the true measure of a man. Now I haven't done any bench press at all for about 5 months, or anything that I can imagine directly worked my chest, but I amazed even myself with the results. I put on a little weight to "warm up", added a little more, and kept going until I benched 285lbs with relative ease and I just quit there because I didn't really want to max and ruin my week off, or hurt myself. I didn't get it. I never lifted that much weight with such ease even when I was doing a lot, and I mean a lot, of bench press. The weight just seemed to fly up like someone else was helping me.

In the 10 years of lifting before I started working with Brian, I've never been able to improve my total body strength and conditioning so effectively in such little time. Thanks Brian.

Kevin Zybach - US Army, Forward Operating Base Sykes, Iraq

Top 1% of patients in the 50 year old bracket

Last month I had my checkup and the doc said at 57 years young I was in the top 1% of his patients in the 50 year old bracket. My left shoulder is just about 95% better thanks to your help with the joint mobility and other tips. I can finally press the 28kg for singles without any pain with my left arm, slow but sure.

By the way, keep up the great news letter, I look forward reading it every month. It always has some great tips.

Ralph

4. World's Leading Spine Biomechanist:
"McGill's Take on Kettlebells"

From the latest issue of "Power by Pavel" newsletter

McGill on Kettlebells

World's premier spine biomechanist Prof. Stuart McGill lists the following kettlebell benefits:

If you were wondering if kettlebells were safe for your back, look no further than a recommendation from Professor Stuart McGill, author of "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance" and "Low Back Disorders."

Learn more at http://www.backfitpro.com/

Sign up for Pavel Tsatsouline's "Power by Pavel" newsletter at http://www.dragondoor.com/

5. Training Tip: "EDT Applied to Snatches"

Charles Staley has a fantastic program called Escalating Density Training (EDT for short) that has helped many an athlete improve their strength and size. The program works by setting a pre-determined time limit, picking two antagonistic exercises at a set weight and performing as many repetitions as you can in the time period. The next time you train, you strive to improve your total reps in the same amount of time. That is called "density" - more work done in the same amount of time.

Well until recently, I didn't realize the relation between what I have been doing with my clients' swing and snatch training and EDT.

So, sit back and observe a truly easy, simple and uncomfortable method to improve your kettlebell swing or snatch numbers.

• First you need some kind of a timer that beeps in 1-minute intervals; personally I use a GymBoss. Worst case you can use a clock with a second hand, but you have to be careful to not cheat on time! A beep leaves no room for error.

• Next, set your goal to reach over the course of weeks to months. For instance, 100 snatches in 5 minutes with a 53 lb or 26 lb kettlebell.

• Set a conservative, kind of easy number to hit. So if you can snatch a 53 lb KB ten times with each arm as a maximum, I would pick sets of 5 each arm to start with.

• Grab your bell, set the timer to beep every minute and hit "Start."

• You will now do 5 reps with one arm, do a hand switch and 5 reps on the other arm.

• Rest until the timer beeps and then repeat, 5 reps left, 5 reps right.

• At the 5 minute "beep"... stop! You are done.

At 5+5 per minute you would have gotten 50 reps total. You should be breathing but not puking from this.

Your goal next session is to do 6+6 each minute on the minute. As I'm sure you can tell, the more reps you do, the less rest you will get before the next "beep." This is the density part of the training. Yes it will become harder so don't feel bad starting off kind of easy.

A typical session would look like this:

• Hit the start button and do 5 on the left hand and 5 on the right (10 total reps), set the bell down and rest until you hear the beep. Do 5+5 again, set the bell down and rest till you hear the beep. Now 10 more, rest, beep and 10 more. After 5 minutes you will have snatched 10 reps 5 times for 50 total reps.

• Your training log can be written as follows: "5-min Snatch w/ 53/ 10 per minute ------ total 50 --- medium/hard effort

• Now next session if you increase even by 1 repetition per minute you have gone to 55 reps in 5 minutes! You are on your way.

Tips:

• As it gets harder, try to do more reps on the first couple of minutes and stick with your old reps on the remaining minutes. So if you did 7+7 (14 reps) per minute for 5 minutes last time, try to do 8+8 (16 reps) for the first 2-3 minutes and then 7+7 for the remaining rounds. The next session do 8+8 per minute for all 5 minutes.

• You can do this with 2 handed swings, don't worry about a hand switch. Just count total reps.

• You can do this to any amount of time you wish. For instance, if you train for the US Secret Service Snatch Test, you can do this for 10 minutes. If you train for the Tactical Strength Challenge Snatch Test, do it for 5 minutes.

• Once you can do 5 minutes straight without stopping you are a monster and you have unstoppable cardio! You can now increase the minutes or increase the weight. If you increase the weight, drop back down to lower reps and work back up.

• If you get to the point where the difficulty is too much, drop down several reps per minute and work back up again. Each session should not make you want to puke!

Until next time, train like an athlete not a hamster!

PS. If you are watching late-night infomercials and are thinking of buying the "Ab Gizmo 3000" or "Dance Your Way to a Super Six-Pack" don't bother. Save yourself some hard earned doubloons and instead purchase my Personalized Program Design. I'll get you better results with your own body weight and you won't have to make installments on an expensive piece of crap that sits in the corner collecting dust for the next 10 years for crying out loud!

6. Nutrition Tip: "Brian's Refrigerator"

I hear people all of the time relate how they know that "their eating sucks."

They exercise and exercise but can't lose weight and get sick way too often.

People are either one of two things:
1. Unwilling to change their habits - God knows why, that is their business
2. They don't really know how to put nutrition advice together to work for them.

I don't promise to solve the issue here but I'll show you how I do it.

Oh boy, here we go. The moment of truth.

Brian's Freezer:

• A bag of frozen organic blueberries
• Another bag of organic raspberries
• And one with organic mangos
A great source of fiber, antioxidants and flavor. Add these to protein shakes (I won't say "or smoothies" because that sounds too fluffy for me...) or smoothies. Add them to oatmeal, cereal, drop a few in your green tea (yeah, no joke!). Feel free to try other berries but blueberries rock for nutrition!

• Frozen rinsed grapes in tupperware
I'm sure none of you have a sweet tooth like I do... But just in case, this quenches my urge for sweets. Plus now that summer is coming it helps me cool off after a hot day, which is one of the reasons I like ice cream. This helps curb the ice cream cravings! Grapes are ridiculously low in calories compared to ice cream, plus the fact that they are frozen means it takes you a little while to eat each grape.

Brian's Fridge:

• One carton of cage-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free eggs
• One carton of organic (all the same as above) DHA Omega 3 eggs
They cost just a little more than normal eggs and are so much better for you. Plus, if they are "cage-free hens" you can have peace of mind that the chickens aren't mistreated (I won't go into it, it is really bad). Avoiding meats and dairy that have antibiotics and growth hormones added is important when ever possible. Look, growth hormones are illegal for humans because it causes health issues... So why the hell do we put it in our livestock and then eat them? We are eating growth hormones that are contained in their meat! Ditto for the antibiotics which destroy your kidneys and other organs. Not to mention that all of the antibiotics you eat help bacteria in your body develop immunity so that if you are ever sick and need antibiotics, it will take more and a stronger dose.

• Small tupperware containers with
• Chopped jalapeños, chopped green onions, diced tomatoes,
sliced mushrooms
To put in the eggs, sheesh! Why didn't you think of that?

• Organic bananas
They keep longer in the fridge. The organic ones are 10 cents more expensive per pound so why buy non-organic? Seriously! Put 1/3 to 1/2 a banana in your protein shake. Just cut the banana in 1/2 while not yet peeled, then wrap some plastic wrap around the exposed area.

• Ground (milled) Golden Flax Seeds
With 4 grams of fiber, 3 grams of insoluble fiber and 2400mg of omega 3 fatty acids you can't go wrong with these little buggers. Add a tablespoon to your protein shake, add to cereal, oatmeal, sprinkle on salad, soups, heck darn near anything. They have a slight nutty flavor and unlike flax seed oil, which tastes like crap, they taste good. Fiber and omega 3 fatty acids are important in losing body fat and increasing overall health in too many ways to write about here.

• Raw milk
Ewww, grosss!!! Yes yes, this comes out of the cow, gets strained and put in a bottle and right to my fridge. No pasteurization, no homogenization. Want to know the difference between your milk and mine? Yours is cooked, has a chemical (a freaking chemical!) added to make the milk fats disappear into the milk and contains enough antibiotics and growth hormones to make the DEA start taking interest in your fridge. Now does mine still sound gross? Seriously, I can't recommend drinking raw milk, it is illegal to "sell" in most states, long story, might be changing soon, until then find a local raw milk dairy farmer. However, some of the nutritional benefits can be gained by taking probiotics: you can get them at your local health store. If you are going to drink milk then make sure you drink organic, antibiotic and hormone-free. Please don't drink soy milk, there is enough estrogen boosting properties in soy milk to simulate taking 5 birth control pills, I'm not joking! If you don't like milk then don't worry, don't drink it.

• Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower
Chock-full of nutrition, fiber and anti-estrogens (yes ladies, good for you too), you can't go wrong with these little buggers. Plain veggies don't sit well with my taste buds so I like to squeeze lime juice over them or put hot sauce on them, yummy!

• Organic Turkey Breast
Where I live at least, turkey is much cheaper than beef, chicken and fish. It is good to vary your protein sources with various meats; beef, chicken, fish and turkey. If you live in the wild west like me you also have buffalo at your disposal. Ostrich tastes like lean beef and you can get it at Vitamin Cottage and similar organic groceries. We have a lot of Korean organic groceries out here in Aurora; they have some funky meat that I'm afraid to ask what it is. If you can't identify it, should you eat it? I leave that one in your hands.

• Hot Sauce
Hot sauce isn't healthy is it? What are the ingredients in regular Tabasco? Chili peppers, vinegar and salt. (a vegetable full of vitamins, healthy cleansing agent, sodium that your body needs)

• Pot full of my Chicken Veggie Soup (articles section)
Ready to eat, just heat up. This is what I call "no excuses" food. You can't say that you got too lazy to cook and there was nothing to eat.

Now, I did have to gulp down a 1/2 gallon of ice cream before I wrote this so I didn't have to list it as being in my freezer! See what I do for you people!? Just kidding by the way.

I hope this has given you some ideas, remember, most of us are on the "see-food" diet. So if it is in your house, you will probably eat it.

7. Denver Metro Area:
"Kettlebell Classes in Aurora"

Yep it's that time again. New Year's Resolution Time!

And what better way to kick off the new year right than with fun and butt kicking kettlebell classes taught by yours truly.

If you are new to kettlebells, I promise not to kill you... the first session ;-)

If you have been away for a while, time to come back and jump on the success train; have you seen the Hall of Achievements section?!

Classes are $19 per session for drop-in rates

Unlimited Month of Classes Discounts are available

Military, Police, EMT, Firefighter discount available (inquire please)

Classes are kept fairly small and have good fun people in them who all encourage each other to do their best!

You will get lots of personalized attention, improved kettlebell technique, general fitness and nutrition tips and the best body of your life!

What in the world are you waiting for?!

Email me today for more info Contact Page

8. HardStyle Magazine:
"Download the Latest Issue for Free!"

What you’ll get in this issue:

#1 HardStyle goes Hollywood—-Enter the Dragon’s John Saxon at 71 years old presses the 70lb KB overhead! and finds a new vitality with Pavel’s Russian Kettlebell training
Interview with Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC Team Leader

#2 The Hungarian kettlebell revolution—-how a Krav-Maga instructor has inspired his fellow-countrymen to crush with kettlebells!
By Peter Lakatos, RKC

#3 Killer deadlift variations for foolproof strength gains—-an excerpt from Power to the People! Monthly
By Pavel

#4 How to Prepare for—-and PASS—-the RKC Instructor Certification Workshop
By Brett Jones, Master RKC Instructor

#5 Hurting?—-Find the REAL Problem Behind the Obvious Complaint
By Brett Jones, Master RKC Instructor and Gray Cook, PT, RKC

#6 “It’s not a matter of IF kettlebells will work for you; it’s a matter of HOW to work with them to fit your needs.”
By Andrea Du Cane, Master RKC Instructor

#7 Real World Power—-the Cardio Connection
By Kenneth Jay, MSc., Senior RKC

#8 How to assess and fix length tension relationships—-to eliminate pain, reduce the chance of injury and enhance your athletic performance
By Mark Reifkind, Senior RKC

#9 Superman—-the reinvention and rise of Mark Reifkind in the hardcore world of competitive weightlifting and strength training
Interview with Dr. Mark Cheng, RKC Team Leader

This is a great quarterly magazine that I read religiously, heck I've even appeared in it a few times.

Download it for free by clicking on the picture.

9. Hall of Achievements:

Our newest updates:..

Everett Harcourt - Bent an Iron Mind White Nail He has never done grip training of any sort other than KB work. He man-handled it!

Tanna Rae Manthe - Deadlift "The Beast" (a 106 lb kettlebell) rather easily too!

See all achievements on the "Achievements" link at the left navigation bar at the top of the page or click here

10. Personalized Program Design:
"Tired of Not Reaching Your Goals?"

One of my recent female clients went down 2 belt sizes in a month! She did it in just 15 minutes 3 - 5 nights per week and from the privacy of her own home using just her own bodyweight!

What are you waiting for?

Let's face it, we are our own worst trainers! We are great at telling other people what to do with their exercise programs but we can't seem to figure our's out to meet our goals.

Whether you are an athlete who needs to perform better at their sport, a guy or gal who wants to look better at the beach, maybe you just want a healthy heart and joints or you want a combination of all three; I can help you get there.

What is Personalized Program Design?

A custom "personalized" training program for created just for you. I take into consideration your goals, time, lifestyle, equipment you have access to, etc. You follow this on your own at home, the gym or where ever. Have kettlebells? Barbells? Dumbbells? Just your bodyweight? No problem!

Who needs Personalized Program Design?

New to Exercise:
- You know you want to get 'in-shape' but you have no idea of how to do it. Let me show you exactly what to do and how to progress.
Wants to Work Out at Home:
- Custom made training program based on your lifestyle, time, equipment or lack there of.
Hates Gyms:
- Join the club, or rather don't, I can't stand them either. Train at home with whatever equipment you have access to. You would be amazed what you can do with just your body weight if that's all you have.
Short on Time:
- You CAN exercise for 15-20 minutes per day 3-6 days per week easy! If not you are making excuses. I'll show you how, and yes this is effective. But don't kid yourself, you will be working your butt off!
Been Training for Years But Haven't Reached YOUR Goals:
- You need a fresh outside perspective on your training. You also need an experienced professional coach to show you the way. I am both of those. All you need to provide is the elbow grease and sweat!

Quit making excuses and treat yourself, you deserve it!

Learn more about my Personalized Program Design here

11. Charity in Focus:
"Precious Ones Outreach International"

My friend Janet "Ama" Annan has a special place in her heart for orphaned and abused children all over the world. She is the founder of Precious Ones of God Outreach International a non-profit organization that takes in orphaned and neglected children and gives them clothes, housing, food and schooling. I have volunteered my time and talents with this organization and can tell you that they are legitimate and make a real difference in the lives of hurting children. In fact, Janet and her husband both work full-time jobs just so they can provide more money to help the children. She can use all of the support she can get. No guilt trip but if you are moved in your heart then please visit her at her website here.

Until next time, train and eat like ATHLETES not hamsters and reap the rewards of a healthy, lean, sexy/studly body!

Brian Copeland, RKC

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Brian Copeland's Core Fitness Newsletter

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Core Fitness Newsletter