Can You Roll?

If you have spent anytime around kettlebells, you are probably some-what familiar with the Turkish Get-up. If you are a trainer who teaches kettlebells, you are also probably familar with the frustration (of both you and your client) that comes when a new client is trying to learn how to do a Turkish Get-up.

For some people, the Turkish Get-up comes naturally. For others, it can be an endless sorce of frustration. If you, or your client seem to have a hard time learning the Get-up, you might want to check and see if you, or they, can roll.

Can you perform Segmental Rolls - like the ones shown in Pressing Reset?

If you cannot roll, the Turkish Get-up could end up being your great white whale. You may never conquer it unless you own your rolling patterns.

After all, the Turkish Get-up is a roll. It is a roll under a load. If you don't own your rolling patterns and you try to roll under a load ( a kettlebell ) you may only cement your non-ability to roll. You may reinforce the pattern, or lack of rolling pattern, that you have. Adding load to a pattern helps make it stick. Good or bad.

So, if you, or a client you know, has trouble performing the Turkish Get-up, check to see if you, or they, can roll from all your limbs. Especially make sure you own your upper body rolls.

There are other reasons people have issues performing the Get-up. A quick fix could be just to explain that the Get-up IS a roll and NOT a sit-up. Sometimes that really helps, too.

If you don't do Get-ups, that is okay. You should still check to see whether or not you can roll. It is good for you! ;)

Have a great weekend.

Tim

WOW!

In an effort to give simple ideas on how to become bulletproof, I thought I'd give an easy, feel good, Workout Of the Week ( A.K.A. WOW ) for you to try. WOW? Yes, WOW. I know it is not too creative given the similarity with the now widely popular WOD, but let's face it - WOW sounds better than WOD. 


So, here we go. 


Warm-up: Press Reset

A1 - Kettlebell swings x 10
A2 - Rocking on your hands and knees x 5 - nice and slow
Repeat this sequence 10 times


If you do not know how to swing, perform LIGHT deadlifts x 10 instead. (just pick something up off the floor - don't even get our a barbell)
When deadlifting, remember to keep a big chest and a big butt. In other words, pretend you are trying to get a date! You can smile, it's okay.


B1 - Pushups x 10
B2 - Marching x 20 steps
Repeat this sequence 10 times


Cool down: Press Reset

Again, this is a simple beginner's feel-good routine that you can do to help you become a little more bulletproof. Feel free to try this twice a week. Enjoy!


Have a great week!


Tim

Movement is Good Medicine

You ever notice that there is a pill for every illness or inconvenience out there? Are you depressed? Take this pill. Are you fat? Take this pill. Are you fatigued all the time? Take this pill. Are you stressed? 


You get the point, right? There is literally a pill for everything under the sun. There are even pills for the pills you take. It is quite amazing. 


Guess what. We were not made to take pills. We don't have a viagra deficiency! We could solve and prevent most problems medical science knows about with simple movement. I believe we have so many health issues because we simple don't move. We don't play. We don't really do anything except lounge around and learn about all the pills we could take to solve our problems. 


Movement is the key to health. Movement is the elixir that is good for what ails you! Get up and move, man! Low testosterone? Exercise! Depression? Go walk OUTSIDE in the sun light! Arthritis? Move! Yes, movement is good for arthritis. You don't need joints that move if you don't intend to move your joints! Right?


Here is just a short list of things that movement can cure:


high blood pressure
heart disease 
depression
obesity - big butt-itis
diabetes
high cholesterol - if it is indeed a problem!
Alzheimer's - movement feeds and nourishes the brain
atrophy
flat feet
insert your favorite issue here....


We don't need pills. We need to move. We need to get up out of our chairs, go outside, and move. We need to play and explore our environment with our bodies, not our laptops. If you want a healthy, happy life, learn to move.


Take two walks today and call me in the morning!






Yesterday's training was fun. I carried rocks! I picked them up, walked around until I needed to drop them, rested and repeated for several times. 


Have a great week!


TA

Are you Hillfit?

If you've read this blog much, you know that I believe we should be physically resilient and capable enough to enjoy life and the activities we love to do. Otherwise, life is not so much life but merely existence. I recently read a great book that resonates with my ideas about fitness and life. It is called Hillfit, by Chris Highcock.


This is a GREAT resource for hiking, hill climbing, and backpacking. But, this book is also a great resource for living in general. Chris wonderfully explains the truth and simplicity of strength training and exercise. Exercise is a means to an end. It should help you do the things you want to do. It should enable your body to adapt and grow stronger so that you can engage in your chosen skill or activity. Exercise itself is not the point. Living and enjoying life are the point. 


Chris says that exercise should be simple, safe, and effective. Period. You don't need equipment or a health club. You don't need to do complicate routines, or perform endless numbers of sets 7 days a week. You simple use your body once  or twice a week and make yourself strong enough to enjoy the things you love to do (hiking for Chris).


Hillfit does a great job explaining the rationale, the science, and the why's of strength training.  The strength training program is based on the 5 basic human movements: the push, pull, squat, hinge, and gait. Again, something I totally resonate with. Hillfit offers a simplistic, minimalist approach to strength training that, if applied consistently, simply works. 


I recently went hiking up at Grandfather Mountain. It was a beautiful and exhilarating experience. I truly felt alive. I remember feeling connected to God and just being so thankful that I was physically able enough to have and enjoy such an experience. It was so wonderful. Chris lives this experience regularly. He knows the magic and beauty that explode when a man (or woman) explores and conquers nature. His passion for hiking and training are evident in this book. If you are looking for another book that highlights the importance of moving, having strength, and enjoying life, this will make a great addition to your library. 


For more information, check out www.Hillfit.com!


Have a great week!


Tim

A Powerful Testimonial

Becoming Bulletproof: An Uncommon Approach to Building a Resilient Body

Becoming Bulletproof is not just a book for trainers and fitness enthusiasts.  It is a must read for anyone involved with youth sports, parents, and physical education teachers. 

As a physical education teacher, parent, and coach I have seen the decline of the physical prowess of our youth.  Todays student athletes are so “chair ridden” and sedentary that they have lost the art of moving well.  They learn to compensate for their physical inabilities and increase their chance of injury, thus repeating this vicious cycle. 

 After reading Becoming Bulletproof, and sharing the concepts with my colleagues.  We have changed the way we look at our “warm ups” in class and how we assess the quality of movements we use in our lessons.  The students have actually improved their screenings and actually enjoy the challenges presented to them because it looks and feels like “PLAY”.   As a physical education faculty we couldn’t be more pleased with the progress that has been made in just a short time.

I am so convinced and believe in the theories in this book I use them myself along with my two young children.  I want my children to grow up with a “resilient” body capable of what they need and want to do.  Weather they become athletes is not the goal, my goal would be for them to be able to play and enjoy a healthy and physical life.  A goal I think every parent would want for their children.

In conclusion I want to thank Tim and Mike for writing this book.  Having attended several professional workshops, read numerous books, and watched many DVDs related to the concepts, this book wraps it all up neatly.  I highly recommend Becoming Bulletproof: An Uncommon Approach to Building a Resilient Body

 - Rick Vittum, coach, teacher, dad

Thank you Rick! What a great testimonial. I love where you said, "I want my children to grow up with a 'resilient' body capable of what they need and want to do." That is what I want, too, along with being able to keep up with them as they age! 

Great workout yesterday:

Spider-man crawled down a hill and then backwards spider-man crawled back up the hill x 20 times.

If you've never tried this, you should. I won't tell you why but you will instantly know why when you start moving up the hill backwards. In fact, try this and get back to me.

Then I carried a 90 pound sandbag for 5 minutes, rested and then repeated. 

Have a great Weekend!

Tim

Becoming Bulletproof is More Than Just an Idea

Becoming Bulletproof can be a game changer, a life changer. We were made to be resilient. We were made to be conquerors. That is the heart of the book, and it has a pulse.

Check out Dan John's Becoming Bulletproof story:


"One of the signs that "things had gone terribly, terribly wrong" for me was simply when I tried to do Tim's simple reset workouts. Now, this will sound odd as I recommend, without reservation or hesitation, Tim's work. My left hip had gotten to the point that the amount of degeneration (actually necrosis) in that hip that I couldn't do the "Cross Crawl" at any level. Literally, it stunned me into action and I decided, grudgingly, to go to a specialist. Within a week, I was under the gas mask and had IV lines in my wrist for a total hip replacement.

Now, what's the point? My "cure" for the surgery, the bulk of my rehab, has been taking Tim's solid advice: I starting "rocking" as soon as I could and attempted my first cross-crawl with enough tubes coming in and out of me to make walking impossible. For the record, I got close. Soon, cross-crawling and walking with my body tuned to cross-crawling became my rehab. Now, just a few months after surgery, I still marvel at the joy of movement and the simplicity of using Tim's simple movements to wake up my body.

I'm not a big fan of some of the junk we see today with training, but I find Tim's approach so refreshing: we are going to work with some basic patterns, a few pumping motions then express those movements "bigger and bigger." It's a simple approach and the rewards are amazing."
- Dan John

That is simply awesome! Dan, Thank you for sharing this story!

You are made to be resilient! You are made to be a life conqueror. What could you do, what could you overcome, if you pressed your reset button?



Tim

Happy New Year!

Are you ready for a new you? You can make all the changes you desire if you just stick to your guns. I just wrote a new book about this called Fitness Habits Made Easy: A Ridiculously Simple Approach to Building a Healthy Body. This is the perfect book for anyone who ever struggles to develop good fitness habits or routines. 

Also, If you are a personal trainer, this is a great resource! It may really help you with your clients. It has been a great help to me. I started out using my clients as guinea pigs for the content and it has now become a training staple for all my clients. Training with tangible results = happy clients!

Anyway, if you decide to check it out, I really hope you find it helpful and hopeful.

www.FitnessHabitsMadeEasy.com

Today's training:

Lateral Spider-man crawl with 40 pound x-vest x 10 minutes

Circle Crawl x 10 minutes

2" Velocity with Battling Ropes x 10 minutes! Whoooo! Smoker.

Have a great week and a great year!




Tim