http://www.fullkontact.com/WordPress/
Friday, 20 April 2007
(Re)Learning to Relax by Steve Cotter
Sometimes there is no point in re-inventing the wheel - read Steve Cotters most recent blog - April 17, 2007 (Re)Learning to Relax . If you have only trained with kettlebells aggressively, sprinting with them, you will not have experienced their full potential. We need to have more than one gear - both physically and mentally. Take a read and let me know what you think......
http://www.fullkontact.com/WordPress/
http://www.fullkontact.com/WordPress/
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Monkey laterals, January 2007
James Bower shares some of his monkey moves with us at the last Industrial Strength London meeting in January, 2007.
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Steve Cotter kettlebell courses: March 2007
After 3 workshops organised by myself and Jason Dean, a days teaching for Bj Rule in London and another afternoon in Barcelona for Michael de Acevedo and Natalia Marquez, Steve Cotter has returned to San Diego. He managed to cram all of this into a 10 day trip; this guy has some serious energy!
It was an absolute pleasure to have him stay at our home for a few days and be on the road with him up to Sale and Harrogate. I got to know Steve a little better and he is a man of intelligence, passion for his family and the physical and martial arts as well as a great sense of humour.
The information and knowledge he passed onto the participants was first class. Many of us already had experience with kettlebells but as we anticipated Steve furthered our understanding by demonstrating, explaining and then letting us experience how small and subtle adjustments to our approach make significant differences to the feel and possibilities of our training. The changes were both physical, positional, postural, intellectual and psychological.
Steve focussed on the classical Russian kettlebell lifts of swing, clean, jerk and snatch; and this is where there was most to learn.
We started in London where we were lucky to have Simon Clohessy as an ally as he organised Cannons Health club in Fulham to be our host for two full days of lifting and learning.
We then moved on to Sale in Cheshire. Here Jason secured us a studio to use for a smaller workshop in Fitness First. Our accommodation was unconventional as was our evening entertainment but we had a fun time.
At Harrogate our venue was the National Centre for Combat Martial Arts, the space created by Stuart Agar, an incredibly generous and friendly man who invited Steve, Jason Dean and me into his family home and even prepared porridge for breakfast. It was at the NCCMA that we also got to try out some great bodyweight animal moves from Steve's arsenal. I have already got my eldest daughter Lucy onto the crocodile, frog and tiger!
At the end of it all we are much wiser for the experience and have had the opportunity to both draw together and widen the community of kettlebell lifters in the uk.
Much gratitude and thanks to Steve Cotter, Jason Dean, Simon Clohessy, Stuart Agar and everyone else who helped us out and attended one of the workshops.
kind regards,
Jonathan Lewis
www.fullkontact.com
www.better-body.co.uk
It was an absolute pleasure to have him stay at our home for a few days and be on the road with him up to Sale and Harrogate. I got to know Steve a little better and he is a man of intelligence, passion for his family and the physical and martial arts as well as a great sense of humour.
The information and knowledge he passed onto the participants was first class. Many of us already had experience with kettlebells but as we anticipated Steve furthered our understanding by demonstrating, explaining and then letting us experience how small and subtle adjustments to our approach make significant differences to the feel and possibilities of our training. The changes were both physical, positional, postural, intellectual and psychological.
Steve focussed on the classical Russian kettlebell lifts of swing, clean, jerk and snatch; and this is where there was most to learn.
We started in London where we were lucky to have Simon Clohessy as an ally as he organised Cannons Health club in Fulham to be our host for two full days of lifting and learning.
We then moved on to Sale in Cheshire. Here Jason secured us a studio to use for a smaller workshop in Fitness First. Our accommodation was unconventional as was our evening entertainment but we had a fun time.
At Harrogate our venue was the National Centre for Combat Martial Arts, the space created by Stuart Agar, an incredibly generous and friendly man who invited Steve, Jason Dean and me into his family home and even prepared porridge for breakfast. It was at the NCCMA that we also got to try out some great bodyweight animal moves from Steve's arsenal. I have already got my eldest daughter Lucy onto the crocodile, frog and tiger!
At the end of it all we are much wiser for the experience and have had the opportunity to both draw together and widen the community of kettlebell lifters in the uk.
Much gratitude and thanks to Steve Cotter, Jason Dean, Simon Clohessy, Stuart Agar and everyone else who helped us out and attended one of the workshops.
kind regards,
Jonathan Lewis
www.fullkontact.com
www.better-body.co.uk
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
