An invitation to contribute

The Industrial Strength London blog features different athletes, performers and fighters, professionals and amateur, men and women, from any and every background who demonstrate they have industrial strength qualities.

Do you, or do you know someone who has industrial strength levels of athleticism, mental strength, toughness, determination?

We are looking out for sports reports, news reports, video, interviews, articles and first hand observations from around the world.

Keep checking back to see what we come up with, and make some suggestions of your own.

Showing posts with label kettlebells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kettlebells. Show all posts

Friday, 15 February 2008

The Best Kettlebell Exercise for Groundfighters - from Scott Sonnon

A nice variation on a Turkish Get up -



We will be trying these out for sure on March 9th at Industrial Strength - Londons only "not for profit" kettlebell, bodyweight, fitness and conditioning club. Learning effective training techniques and drills from one another.

Monday, 17 December 2007

Pick a card, any card!

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH – December 16th

Location: Balance (London Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic)

Thanks to all who came along and contributed to a satisfying morning session of training - a deck of cards bodyweight circuit and 30 minutes introducing kettlebell juggling to those that havent and trying a few new things for those that have juggled before.

There are many examples on the internet of workouts based around a deck of cards. You turn the top card and the card that shows tells you what exercise and how many reps you do.

Some people have actually made packs of cards with specific exercises and reps on them.

Yesterday we went a bit more freestyle and allowed a random bodyweight session to unfold. We took it in turns to turn the card and select the exercise based on the menu below.

Either way it was going to be challenging but the randomness and collective input made for a great session.

Here's how we put it together.....

Repetitions:

  • Joker = 50 reps any exercise
  • Aces = 20 reps
  • Picture cards (jack, queen, king) = 10 reps
  • Numbered cards = numbers on cards (!)

PICTURE CARDS = pick a total body drill, and decide whether reps are per side or total


  • Burpee (any variation)
  • Get up (any variation)
  • Bridges (gymnastic/ju jitsu)
  • Bear crawls (and variations)

RED = upper body


  • Hindu PUP
  • Handstand
  • Plyo PUP (including catch press from crouch)
  • Dips · Pull ups

BLACK = lower body


  • Squat
  • Step back stay low (jingos)
  • Jump squats
  • Drop squats
  • Lateral hop jumps
Apart from the jokers doing the session we had 3 jokers in the pack - the joker cards were used for 50 burpees, 50 brazilian ju jitsu style get ups, 50 situps (V- situps for the stupid ones).

It was a demanding session involving over 600 reps. If any of this doesnt make sense call or email me and i shall explain what we did in more detail.

We recovered a short while then went through some kettlebell juggling. Some good style was developed and some was already on show. This was particularly noticeable in the footwork which enabled us to avoid broken toes and ankles!

Then the usual suspects went for chicken.

Next session January 19th, 4-6pm

Sunday, 30 September 2007

Dates for upcoming Industrial Strength sessions

Take a look at the dates, put them in your diary. Hope you can make it. Locations to be confirmed nearer the time. Next session Saturday October 27th will definitely be at Balance Performance Physiotherapy, Clapham, SW4 6LE.

2007
Saturday October 27th 4-6pm
Sunday December 16th 9.30am-12 midday
2008
Saturday January 19th 4-6pm
Sunday March9th 9.30am-12 midday
Saturday April 12th 4-6pm
Sunday June 1st 9.30am-12 midday
Saturday July 5th 4-6pm
Sunday August 24th 9.30am-12 midday
Saturday September 27th 4-6pm
Sunday November 16th 9.30am-12 midday
Saturday December 20th 4-6pm CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Thursday, 20 September 2007

Rise of the kettlebell??

There is ongoing and gathering interest in Russian Kettlebells from the media and it has resulted in more than a few articles in local and national papers, men and women's lifestyle magazines and other glossy publications. You know something is serious when it gets into the guardian though!!!!!

You'd think this would be great and in one way it is, with more people knowing about kettlebells more people will train with them and reap the rewards.

The trouble is most of them miss by a large margin the whole point of using kettlebells, instead they get the pretty boy models to hold
kettlebells, instead of dumbbells or being sat on a machine, and continue to mimic bodybuilding. Snatch, clean and jerk are rarely mentioned, and the swing is de-emphasized. So whats the point? I was reminded by a client to remember that these publications are only interested in distracting the reader for 5 minutes with an article that differs only slightly from the one that occupied the same pages the previous month. I don't believe this is true of all of the journalists who have compiled these articles, I have managed to get my point across recently but it admittedly took a few back and forth emails to stop my words being incorrectly edited and pared down to nothing useful. I suppose if the reader is interested they will seek out a coach and get the right idea from a more reliable source than the journalist who misunderstood and misrepresented. Unfortunately it seems many coaches in the uk are not interested in continuing to develop and so have not managed to seek out the real benefits of kbs and so do not place the correct emphasis on the use of kettlebells.

The guardian article isn't too bad by the way, at least swing and snatch are used, and I know that Tommy Matthews and Bj Rule of One Personal Training are fully aware of the correct emphasis in kettlebell training.

Its a shame that many may come to the conclusion that kettlebells are just the latest craze rather than a far more effective way to train than badly done two dimensional training/bodybuilding. But they will come to that conclusion if they are sold the concept of kettlebells as fantastic and then just end up doing press, squat, row with them, something they were already doing unsuccessfully with dumbbells and barbells.

As for what kettlebells ARE for...their design is best suited for high rep swing, snatch, clean and jerk (either single/double, long cycle or just jerk). The abilities they develop where listed very nicely by
Eric Lifford on the American Kettlebell Club blog

"If you are looking for Strength-Endurance, GPP, Explosive Power, Ability to cope with stress…, Work Capacity, Grip, Coordination, Staying Power, Mental Toughness, Athleticism, Fat-Loss/Altered Body Composition, Stress Reduction, Focus, Patience, Health, Vitality, Determination, Flexibility, Joint/Tendon/Ligament/Muscle Prehab and more, I think Valery’s right when he says “Kettlebells, it’s enough”!"

The American Kettlebell Club blog and forum are well worth keeping abreast of, go to www.americankettlebellclub.com

Maybe I'm being unreasonable but if its your job to coach clients in the use of kettlebells then to me it seems logical that you research it fully and seek to improve and develop, likewise, as a journalist you should be representing the facts as they are presented to you and also doing some background research not just filling space around adverts.

Scott Sonnon being coached by Valery Federenko

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

Industrial Strength LondonSeptember 2nd 2007

Thanks to everyone who got themselves over to Wandsworth Common for what was a great practice session of movement, strength and conditioning. There were new faces and old, tired, haggard ones.

Cj Swaby led the warm up and joint mobility part of our session before we headed over to the monkey bars. Some were more monkey like than others but the point is we worked at our pulling and swinging abilities (if you know what I mean) both for strength and with power. Double and single arm jumps both to switch grips and swing to different bars. The greatest monkey of all was absent at this point but when James Bower managed to get his butt south of the Thames he made up for the late start.

We all contributed to perform animal moves up and down the grass. Bears, elephants, three legged dogs, komodo dragons, crabs and ducks (Phill Ireland’s ducks go slower than everyone elses but he claims they’re more hardcore – and he’s right) all made an appearance, though we all looked like donkeys!

James Bower took us to the other side of the common’s equipment area to share with us some jumping drills. We did repeated log and hurdle jumps with controlled (some) landing being demanded as well. This led nicely into some parkour derived balance work followed by some low level and introductory vaulting. Having spoken with Ez of www.urbanfreeflow.com I know that this is the only way to get into parkour (free running) i.e. slowly, learning the basics first before leaping off buildings.

We then settled down on the grass for 10s of push up variations, everyone doing there bit and putting forward a suggestion – from total body involved hindu push ups (of Kushti wrestling fame I think) to what felt like pure isolatory tricep destroying versions. Jen “new kid on the block” Swallow insisted we did far more reps than intended before we did a few sets of get up drills – BJJ getups from supine, slide get ups from prone, deck squats and burpees.

Before we got too focussed on our Sunday lunches I wanted to maintain momentum and set up a circuit to justify bringing out the kettlebells, sandbag and thick 20 metre tow rope, kindly donated by British Airways via Anjum.

1 min sets (with a bit more here and there), continuous movement from station to station, performed twice for 12min total ‘ish.

Weight, workload and intensity left to the individual. If you loafed like me it was a piece of cake.

  1. Overhand tow in of partner - resisting as much as possible without halting movement.
  2. kettlebell throw from 1 hand swing
  3. kettlebell swing, jerk, clean and jerk, or snatch
  4. sandbag suitcase walk, farmers walk, shouldered sandbag carry, or carry with sandbag in zercher hold.
  5. wheel barrow
  6. burpees – Phill Ireland wouldnt have been happy unless he had extremely hard so did donkey burpees, Cj followed suit, Jen Swallow kept on eye on me - the man with the stop watch and waited for time to be called!

Cj has just got his website up and running so take a look – www.cjsfitness.co.uk

Apologies for there being no pics, I will become organised one of these days.

Tuesday, 15 May 2007

Intention & Emphasis

In the words of DMX "The games a lot bigger than you think you know and if you think you know then I don't think you know!"

Obviously I'm no philosopher. Which is why I have quoted a hardcore and old school rapper rather than an old scholar.

It seems like you know something quite well and then someone reminds you otherwise. I've never kidded myself or pretended that I was an expert teacher or practitioner of movement. Never the less movement is my profession and it is what I specialise in: I want to see my clients and myself develop strong, fast, powerful, subtle, controlled and agile movement abilities. So when you realise that your principles and intentions are sound but some of the emphasis you have placed on drills/moves you perform is a bit misdirected it is enlightening but also frustrating.

Two things have highlighted this recently.

1. Conversing, working with and learning from Steve Cotter.

Amongst other points I have had to take on board some subtle adjustments to the rack position, to the application of relaxed tension, energy management and to the mental approach and patience of high repetition ballistic exercises. These are drills that the kettlebell is uniquely suited to and are what makes the kettlebell the superior tool when it comes to developing work capacity and athletic power output.

These subtle things, as always, make significant differences not only to kettlebell lifting but to all athletic and sporting activities.

2. Two weeks ago I had to get treatment for a rib injury (received doing excessive reps without adequate control! - short term gratification got the better of long term progress). I asked Glenn Cumiskey, who works at Balance, to treat me. Glenn is an acupuncturist with traditional Chinese training, and a teacher of chi gung and Tai Chi.

After the needling I was introduced to a chi gung movement called "cloud hands". It emphasises strong but fluid connectivity from the ground through the hips, pelvis, trunk and into the upper limbs via the shoulder girdle. Being taught this in the way Glenn did showed me that whilst my intention is always to improve my ability to move with strong and fluid stability, the subtleties I was unaware of made what I was doing much less effective and would actually hold back my progress.

My intention was good, even the principles are the same but subtle differences in emphasis when executing a move make vast differences to the experience and the outcome.

For many the subtleties appear to be unimportant; progress is progress and to what degree do I really need to improve? For those who want more from life, from their sport, for safety in their occupation the subtleties are all important: small changes make significant differences.

Simply shifting, pushing, pulling, pressing, squatting weight, whether its heavy or light, will only get you so far down the road of athletic development and a plateau of non progression awaits!

On its own running, cycling, swimming 6 days a week, whatever pace you are achieving or distance you are covering, will not take you to your full potential.

You might achieve 15 stone of lean mass, be strong in the gym with barbell, dumbbell, kettlebells etc but this doesn't mean you are going to be able to match the physical abilities of another 15 stoner who understands movement and mechanics, energy management and efficiency, internal power.

It is this internal energy development that needs to be learnt and understood if we want to move toward our potential, whatever that may be relative to existing restrictions - like being old or injured, or both!

Ultimately the idea for any practitioner or professional is that intention becomes unnecessary. This is a vision that has been held by many, including samurai, for centuries. Simply spontaneous knowledge in every situation.

Maybe its too late for me to achieve that, but its worth working towards.
Jonathan Lewis
Industrial Strength
mobile:+447960861267
tel:+442076272308

Monday, 12 February 2007

Sunday 21st January 2007

In Brief:
Joint Mobility

Pistols and variations
3-6 reps x 5-8 sets Kneeling Hamstring reverse curls 3-5 x 3 sets Jumps (depth/tuck/1 leg/2 leg/with rolls/precision for distance) 3 x 6 sets

Pull up and variations
4-6 reps x 5-8 sets Handstand holds (static and dynamic) and presses x 5 sets

Monkey lateral moves
x 10s x 3

Partner rope tow
15m x 3 in fast succession

Alternate dead clean and press (kb chosen based on ability to just complete time)
x 5 min continuous

There were 10 of us in attendance and we all....nearly all...managed to get there by 9.30....approximately. By midday we were done, and it was good..

The agenda for the day was strength training using bodyweight. Finishing off with some conditioning with a long rope and kettlebells.

Before that though as always we kicked off with a dynamic warm-up and joint mobility (essential for joint health and longevity, heightened body awarenes and improving movement quality)

Cj Swaby led the way with an upper body bias using some Qi Qong along the way and some "tea cups", Simon Clohessy was to follow but promptly delegated the rest to me! Cossack drills and variations for hip mobility and glute awakening, a few minutes of an overhead/yoga squat combo (à la Steve Maxwell) and few of the other usual suspects.

We then split into two groups and got on with it.

It was obvious that bodyweight strength training was going to involve pistols (single leg squat). We hit a variety of versions to suit everyones abilities and to kept reps in the 2-6 range.

Hamstrings were screaming with only a few sets of kneeling reverse hamstring curls. Adjusting the leverage took a bit of awareness to get the most out of this drill.

Hip snap was put into practice when to complement the strength work we got on with some jumps. Jumping with 1 and 2 legs over benches and steps in series working on effective landings and flow into the next jump and the odd roll.

We finished the leg part of our session with some precision jumps for distance from step to step under the guidance of James Bower who seemed to hang in the air in NBA style.

We traded insults with the other group whilst moving from studio to ground floor, they had started with an upper body dominance and we needed to cuckoo them away from the pull up bar.

Before he went on his way back up to the studio Michael Rook shared a version of the hindu push up with us that is inflicted upon him by his Silat instructor. It involved a praying mantis like rock onto the elbows whilst sweeping down then driving off them again into the cobra finishing position. This variation gives an extra bite into the triceps and trunk.

The upper body dominated part of our work was a combination of hand stand and pull up work.

Handstands
From walking into handstands to lateral movement in HS to handstand pressing.

Pull-ups
With pull ups the possibilities are endless to hit various parts more heavily than others. Pull up and travel along the bar, off set pulls using the Metolius Rock Rings/towel/rope, clap pull ups and pull ups from the carabina attachments. Using the carabinas forces control of the swing, the option to push the elbows wider as you pull and also gave us room to pull up then reach higher to climb up the straps. We also did some muscle ups and inverted pull ups.

Those who were still working on their pull up abilities did prolonged hangs with an emphasis on cycling the tension from grip to lats, to trunk, to glutes. They also did some inverted rows (reverse pushups) hanging from a racked Olympic bar.

Before we rejoined the other group James Bower (above with the banana) took us through some prone supported preparation work that he experienced at one of the urban freeflow get togethers( http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/ ). Spider crawls, monitor/lizard crawl (whatever name you use it is basically a creeping press up with a knee in) moving forward and back. Then some monkey laterals with legs lifted and reaching out to side. These drills were well put together and a structured combination of primate training/cossack work, bear crawling and break dancing.

A brief conditioning session followed the bodyweight work.

Hand over hand rope pull to tow a body along the runway of judo mats. Everyone got involved, some keener than others! Once towed in, the towee[!] jumped up and ran back to the start of the run way, lay down and got towed again. Its a great bit of kit. Many thanks to Anjum who recycled this from London Heathrow.

We have managed whole workouts with the rope with various pulls, drags, whipping and swinging actions. Thanks to Martin Snow of Trinity Boxing gym in New York for the whipping innovations he showed me. ( www.trinityboxing.com )

Final bit of work was a 5 minute continuous piece of kb Clean and press