Kinetic Edge Video Tour | I'mmmm baaaaack!

I've been busy since returning from Africa. No excuses though for you my loyal readers (and now viewers). I am committed to stepping up my blog posts. You are going to be seeing A LOT from me starting right now. Less typing / more talking and doing. VIDEO BLOGGING is here! I just bought a "Flip Cam" and it is the EASIEST thing I've ever seen for getting video up on the internet in short order. Also my lovely wife Jordan (J-dawg for those in the know :) already used my new toy right out of the package here:



She will be adding some of her favorite recipes for quick, easy, healthy meals. She is a killer cook and even though she cooks healthy I still need to watch MY portion control.

So for the kids at home this is a Video that requires SOUND so if you are at work...you have been warned! Break the rules anyway, I am WAY more interesting than anything going on at work anyway ;)



P.S. I will be doing some vlogging (check out the cool word) on my Africa Trip as we get pictures back. They are coming soon!

NEW! Kinetic Edge Tees

Cast Iron Balls
100% Cotton Long Sleeve American Apparel T
*These will shrink slightly in the dryer
Sizes available = M, L, XL men's
$31 including S&H

Cast Iron Balls (front)


Cast Iron Balls (side)



Primal
55% Cotton/45% Polyester Long Sleeve American Apparel Baby Thermal T
*These will shrink slightly in the dryer
Sizes available = M, L, XL men's
$31 including S&H

Primal (front)


Primal (back)


These will be up on my website soon: www.kineticedgeperformance.com

Order NOW by emailing me at info@keperformance.com

Saturday Morning Epiphany

e·piph·a·ny /ɪˈpɪfəni/ (noun)
3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

What I am about to describe is common place to me and other trainers familiar with kettlebell training. It takes place in gyms, fitness centers, garages, basements, etc. almost on a daily basis now that kettlebells have began to invade the general population, although still most prevalent in 'underground-in-the-know' trainers and other folks.

Stay with me here as I paint the picture...

Today in my beginner kettlebell class, one of my new grasshoppers is a very successful executive. He runs 10ks and half-marathons on a regular basis. He does very little strength training. Now what makes this individual who we will call 'Bill' different from other people who walk in to my studio? Well, he's stopped in about 5 times 'checking things out' but never really understood the mystique behind kettlebells because he had never touched one or swung one ...until today.

Today was his 'epiphany' in many forms. Let me explain. You see our society has created a bunch of people who blindly follow whatever when it comes to fitness, exercise and dieting. The latest infomercials are full of gadgets, potions, and not so truthful statements surrounding WHAT IT REALLY TAKES to look great naked.

'Bill's' Epiphanies
#1 How difficult SIMPLE exercise can and should be in terms of form, proper technique, and conditioning when it is all put together

#2 Why all of my class members are walking around in circles when he has stopped by to watch all of those previous times...THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO RECEIVE OXYGEN INTO THEIR BODIES

#3 Distance running and machine weight training are for all intents and purposes 'pseudo-exercise' ...THEY ALLOW YOU TO FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY BECAUSE YOU ARE 'EXERCISING' BUT THEY DO VERY LITTLE FOR ACTUALLY CHANGING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION.

#4 The weights are in KILOS not pounds...this always serves up a nice slice of humble pie...I leverage the kilos to my favor. Women think they are only doing 8 lbs instead of 8 kilos and guys think they are wussies, what a great concept to put them in kilos.

#5 and the most important of all...
"I went through Mayo Clinics 'Executive training program battery of tests' and they told me I was in great shape."
In shape for what? Obviously not in shape for whatever is next! How PREPARED are you for anything? Are you 'in shape' to get through your day? Are you 'in shape' to have enough energy at the end of the day to play with your kids? Are you 'in shape' when an unwanted person comes through your front door and he doesn't realize who is going to get the raw end of that situation (which hopefully never happens)? Are you in shape for the 10k / 75 obstacle ...Volkslauf obstacle course in Bakersfield California on October 13 of this year which we are taking multiple teams to? You see 'in shape' is relative. There is ALWAYS another level.

By the way, for those of you not familiar with the Mayo Clinic it is considered to be THE BEST collection of medical doctors IN THE WORLD and it's based in Rochester Minnesota. Now they have incredible doctors and I have seen some miraculous surgeries in various people that I personally know...however, my question to you is do you strive to be 'in shape' to pass some stupid test on a treadmill or are you working towards being 'in shape' because it is in every fiber of your being?

In the words of the Philadelphia Kettlebell Club:
"Don't rely on anything you can't carry, in case civilization is temporary."

'Bill' had an epiphany or two or five today.

How many people have you helped have an epiphany?

Union Football

un·ion /ˈyunyən/ (noun) 1. the act of uniting two or more things. 2. the state of being united. 3. something formed by uniting two or more things; combination. 4. a number of persons, states, etc., joined or associated together for some common purpose: Union Football. Iowa that is. Dysart Iowa population 1100. LaPorte City Iowa population 1500. Together they are the Union Knights and they have a new sheriff in town in the form of Head Football Coach Joe Hadachek. And up until yesterday, I don't think they had any clue what they are in for this season. Probably never heard of Union High School on a national level. Probably not even on a state level. You will in due time.

You know you are in small town Midwest when you show up 20 minutes prior to start time and there are already 5 parents standing there. By start time there are about 20 people with lawn chairs watching AND they stayed for the ENTIRE session. Are they here because they have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon in small town Iowa? Probably. Are they here because they have heard stories about Coach Hadachek and his 'different' philosophy and training methods? More likely.

You see Coach Hadachek was my strength and conditioning coach in college. He is the one responsible for my head swimming with ideas and constantly squeezing out any knowledge I can from the pages of discerning textbooks. Better yet, he taught me something right out of the gate about APPLICATION. Theory is theory, but do you know where the weight room is? That, my grasshoppers, is where 'it' gets done. There was something about that college weightroom: down in the basement of the fieldhouse, dark, dungy, so humid you could cut the thick air stench of bodies with a machete when you walked in. A smell and a feeling that I will never forget.

Joe is a mentor to me and is more like the big brother I never had. Yesterday was an opportunity to give back to him, his new team and the beginning of the foundation of the house that Haddy built. He won't take credit for it because it is all TEAM first. Me second.

Fresh meat. 55 of 'em. Sitting there soft and undisciplined. You know it's going to be a great afternoon when during the virgin set of swings a young man in the front row had his iPod plugs in. Coach Joe said "Are those headphones?" Kid "yes" Joe "Take them out before I rip them out!" "We will not tolerate that on this team." That commanded attention from 55 young men immediately! Brought a tear to my eye as those were the days...and I didn't even play football for him. We are talkin' Lombardi style "deep down every man worth his salt yearns for discipline." That's what all of these kids are ...unbridled fresh meat yearning for discipline; most of them have yet to discover that. These kids will come to know the depth of these 2 phrases in every sense of their existence: Personally Responsible. Individually Accountable.

We attacked them like a tiger attacking fresh kill...grab the jugular and hang on rippin' into 'em. 3 RKCs plus one that will be certified in 3 weeks. 92 degrees. 2 hours and change. 10 basic kettlebell drills. I will bet there was no other football team in the nation outside for 2 hours on this beautiful Sunday afternoon doing ANYTHING, let alone learning a new school of strength and conditioning unbeknownst to them their new weight training program starting today Monday 052107. We finished the day with a little injection of 'Nellie Love' ...relays of swings and farmers walks that turned into runs. Coach wanted to see who wants it since he has only known them for 3 weeks. We put that to the test. Seniors vs. Seniors, Juniors vs Juniors, and down the ranks. 10 swings then Farmers carry 2 bells about 40 yards then the next person goes. After 2 hours of sweat, moans and glimmer of fear in some eyes I heard a couple of Frosh say 'This is fun.' Fun. What a concept. You mean these kids have the ability to learn discipline and have fun at the same time? I say 'Welcome to the Beat Down.' Now that's what we are talking about. Instilling 'FUN' back into these kids. Then as my thoughts were going off into dreamland I was snapped to attention with 'Bring it in and take a knee.' Coach Joe said a few words and then passed it to me for some final thoughts. After a short 2 minute lecture on how Mountain Dew and Twinkies are not the best fuel for young football players dedicated to their craft we brought it home...there's something that warms my heart about 9 coaches and 55 athletes breaking a huddle on... "EASY doesn't pay!!"

I was very proud to be associated with this group of young men. They have no idea what they are in for this season. 3 words come to mind: Leadership. Perennial Powerhouse. I'll give Coach Hadachek 2 years. No pressure on him. I just know his fiber. He will completely gut that program with a filet knife and stitch it back together with every ounce of his being. Is he back coaching because he misses it? Probably. Is he back coaching because he is going to impact young men for generations? Definitely.

Union Football. There is a wind in the air and it's only May. This is one team that I guarantee will outwork its opponents. 11 weeks til 2-a-days. What a great country we live in.

Z Discoveries Part 2...The S.A.I.D Principle

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

This one could get deep so hang on. I studied this in college for about 10 minutes. Z brought it back into focus for about 4 days which brings me to think about it daily now.

The body (the mind, insert anything here) will adapt to whatever it is exposed to over time.
Two words where left out of this acronym per Dr. Cobb...' ALWAYS and EXACTLY ' .

The body will ALWAYS specfically adapt to EXACTLY the imposed demand. What does this mean? Sitting at a desk all day with slumped shoulders and tight hip flexors will lead to slouched standing posture with potential of low back pain in a very short period of time. This is only one example. Another example would be performing a posturely correct push-up. Most of the time people cannot do one correct push-up without severe anterior neck carriage and thoracic/lumbar sagging. We are about to change that. We do what we practice. We are what we practice. What are you practicing for?...sustained health, big biceps for the girls, seeing how many 1/8 squats you can do with 500 lbs? What EXACTLY are you training for and WHY?

The SAID principle has stood the test of time, yet most of us including myself have gave any attention to it beyond our sophomore Exer. Phys. class.

Let's take this a step further. Motor Learning is also enhanced and/or hindered by Cognitive Learning. This means that if you are telling yourself you can't do a proper push-up, you're right...you can't. ONLY when you begin to tell yourself that you will do one is when your body will start to adapt in order to do one. This is called 'chunking' where motor and cognitive are linked together for every task that we do in life. Here are 2 examples outside the training world.

1) picture your favorite food right now. the taste. the smell. Did you relax? thought so.
2) now picture cleaning the house. dusting. vaccuming. mopping. Did you tense? I did because I detest cleaning the house and it is why I hire a housekeeper.

Now both of those cognitive thoughts immediately had an effect on the physiology of your body. They are 'chunked' together.

Through my Z practice, my posture has improved, my jaw is continuing to move back in alignment, my L shoulder pain is gone with much increased ROM, my hip flexors feel great, my R low back is pain free, my L ankle/foot is 'unlocked' and overall I have decreased the amount of tension throughout my body dramatically. This is through religious Z practice at least 4x/week.

The SAID Principle applied to your Z practice and then on into your weight training/sport activity/daily activity will change the way you look, the way you feel, and the way you do everything.

Think about it. Get to a Z trainer. If you've already been to one, get to that person again and make sure they understand what they are training you to do.

Z Health Discoveries Part 1 of ?

Let's talk about 'Z'. Many of you have heard of it. Few of you have experienced it. Some of you don't know what I'm talking about. Bear with me through the next few months as I wade through all of the information that has been presented to me as I attempt restructure my thoughts on paper so not only I can understand them but you can as well. This is more for me than for you, but hopefully you will benefit tremendously along the way. There is WAY more to Z than I will be able to translate to you via blog so keep that in mind as I plug along in explanations.

Here goes... with the disclaimer that this is from 'MY experience' not from someone kinda sorta telling me a few things...therefore you may experience different results.

I first attending Level I Z R-phase in April and July of 2006. I became very good very quickly at all of the drills that were presented to me at that time and I saw dramatic improvement in both my martial arts training as well as strength and conditioning levels.

2 weeks ago I attended Level II I-phase which was Level 1 times 20. The reason for this will be explained in numerous follow-up bloggings.

Z's main principle is immediately impacting the central nervous system to see some type of immediate change in the body...could be either good or bad. Put it this way, it's like having a conversation with your body and your body is giving you the answer in a number of ways.

R-phase stands for: Rehabilition (of past injuries), Restoration (of nervous system functioning and sending proper signals, Re-education (of conscious control over all motor patterns). R-phase happens in a neutral stance so the body feels 'safe.'

I-phase stands for Integration. I-phase significantly creates infinite possibilities of motor patterns throughout the body, therefore dramatically increasing coordination, agility, control, strength...basically everything that has to do with movement.

I-phase allowed me to 'get it' when it came to R phase. This is the easiest way to explain it in a nutshell:

'Z' is the language of 'movement' (ANY and ALL movement)
R-phase provides the letters or 'alphabet' of drills inherent in movement skills (we are all born with these motor patterns 'hardwired') Now remember there are only 26 letters in the English language. I-phase provides the 'words' of movement. There are 100,000+ words in the English dictionary...more depending on which dictionary you are following. From those 100,00 words we have millions and millions of books that have been created from 100,000 words and ONLY 26 letters. Bottom-line is the COMBINATION that creates the matrix of the infinite.

Let's recap:

26 letters (Level I Z R-phase)
100,000 words (Level II I-phase)
Millions of books created from infinite combinations

So the question becomes how FLUENT are you in 'MOVEMENT LANGUAGE and VOCABULARY'? How good is your PRONUNCIATION?

Life and learning is all about repetition...we are creatures of habit. I will discuss this more in the next post regarding the SAID principle.

500-600 words = 'survival' vocabulary
10,000+ words = you are fluent in the language
That leaves 90,000 words UNEXPLORED.

let's translate this to learning a skill:
100-300 reps = to learn the concept
1000 reps = for the skill to become useful (to better understand the skill)
100,000-300,000 reps = mastery

Now some of you are saying..."100,000 REPS??? I don't have the time!" Let me share some ideas of things you do every day where this concept is hardwired into you:

1 walking (how many steps have you taken in your life?)
2 eating (are they good reps or bad reps...think about it.)
3 brushing your teeth
4 flossing
5 going to the bathroom (Ok, this one is for my humor and a great picture for you ;)
6 turning on a light switch (do you have to have your eyes open to do this?)
7 POSTURE (how is it sitting at your desk all day?)

Bottom line: you do what you practice. You ARE what you practice.

Z is a shortcut to doing all of those reps as long as your Z reps are done WELL. 1 bad rep takes about 3-5 good ones to undo the bad one. Notice I used the word 'shortcut' and not the words 'cure-all'. Very important because some trainers believe Z is a miracle pill. At times it is. At other times there are some layers to be peeled.

Z is on the cutting edge of the expanding the concept of interaction between brain/motor learning/cognitive learning components.

In summary:
R-phase Level I is a small TOOL BOX that you would buy at Home Depot. 75-80% of you and your clients will be 'fixed' by R-phase.

I-phase Level II is the 100 foot x 100 foot TOOL SHED that contains every conceivable tool you would ever want. 19-24% of you and your clients will need this Level II training to be 'fixed.'

The last 1% may need some other help in order to be 'fixed.'

This is only the beginning...

I'm back

After a 3 month blogging hiatus (ironic that I am writing this right after my last blog '3 levels of quitting') I am ready to coherently structure my thoughts on numerous topics taking place in the last 3 months.

For those of you that are following I have:
1 a major website overhaul at www.keperformance.com
2 a brand new personal training studio open in Woodbury MN
3 kettlebell classes already going on daily. Check my website for details.

The topics you can look forward to are:
1) Z Health ...just returned from Level II and registered for Level III in June (if you are remotely serious about your training and coaching email me at brad@keperformance.com to discuss this further)

2) motor learning (the way I wish I would have learned it in college)

3) anatomy (same as above)

4) the S.A.I.D principle revisited

5) motivation: self and helping others

6) yin/yang

7) amp your nervous system

8) Perfect Rep Principle

9) Efficiency

and of course numerous philosophies from the neurons in my never-ending sequence of thought possibilites.

Feel free to email me questions and or comments.