“It doesn’t matter how much work you can do – it matters how much work you can recover from.”
– Geoff Neupert

Read the above line again. Then again. Then ask yourself: Am I recovering properly after my training?

Or maybe even, Do I KNOW how to recover properly after my training?

Most of us aren’t recovering properly, and equally as many simply don’t know – beyond vague concepts – what they can do to improve their recovery after training. 

If you’re training for the sake of self improvement and not just mindless, self-induced entertainment (which is still better than nothing, so ain’t no judging here) this is something to consider, particularly given the fact that training itself is a quest for adaptation, and adaptation = overload + recovery. There is no equation without recovery, period. This is why a lot of people haven’t hit a PR since Tom Green was still a popular actor. And you wonder why you’re constantly frustrated in the gym.

So what are your options? According to Mark Reifkind, Master SFG and actual LEGIT know-it-all (unlike those fake ones you’ll find on Reddit and other online forums), there are two types of recovery that you can focus on: active and passive. Here are a few examples:

Active: Massage, foam rolling, light workouts, stretching, etc.

Passive: proper nutrition, naps (and I’ll add sleeping more and better in general), improving your blood flow, magnets, hot tubs, water therapy, ice therapy, mental training, etc.

Some of these will cost you money; most of them will not. Ergo, you have no excuse not to utilize at least a few of them. My personal favorites are ice-cold showers (though those are hard to come by in the Middle East. Wonder why) and OS resets, both of which have worked wonders at improving my recovery time. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t include taking my sleep quality seriously, which has worked wonders in terms of my recovery on a day-to-day basis.

If you like to train hard and train often, taking your recovery seriously is non-negotiable. It can be improved, fortified, and allow you to become a force to be reckoned with, or it can keep you down and out and feeling like you’re facing an unclimbable brick wall standing in the way of you and your goals. 

Implementation is simple. Odds are you’re already good with overload. Now just prioritize your recovery and you’ll be as good as gold and strong as an ox.

“Many of the old school strongmen used to claim that hand strength was the ‘last thing to go’, and I well believe it.”
–          Paul Wade, author of Convict Conditioning and Convict Conditioning 2

The secret to “Old Man Strength”

In my humble opinion, nothing in the world of strength training is as exciting or as misunderstood as grip strength.  Shake hands with any man or woman with a strong grip and regardless of any other first impressions, your level of respect for them goes up a notch or two.  Grip strength also seems to be the epicenter of the legendary phenomenon known as “Old Man Strength” – the ability of seemingly average dad/granddad to make your recent bench press PR seem like a joke after he single-handedly manhandles an awkward, greasy engine block out of his ’76 Ford F100 and easily carries it out to the driveway.  And let’s face it, you know you couldn’t hope to budge that thing if you had an engine hoist and all day to move it (well, I couldn’t, anyway).  Nothing shames me faster than having a weaker grip than a seemingly non-descript old dude nonchalantly greeting me and nearly crushing my hand like the hopes and dreams of an American Idol contestant.  I was recently reminded of this when an old man I’m acquainted with casually shook my hand and rocked my world: I realized I needed to take my grip training more seriously.  My grip felt like a 3rd grader’s hand in an industrial vice.

The great thing about grip training is that you can get a set of iron claws in a few short sessions a week and with next to no equipment.  In Paul Wade’s dynamite book Convict Conditioning2, he sets out a tried-and-true program for grip excellence (which I’ll lay out shortly, for those of you who don’t yet own it).  But first, a few reasons why you should train your grip:

1)      It’s one of the easiest things to improve, and in record time.  Unless you’re a very advanced grip athlete, you more than likely won’t ever need to train your grip more than twice, MAYBE three times a week, and you won’t likely have to spend more than 15 minutes at a time to do it.
2)      It’s one of the last things you lose (see quote from Paul Wade above) strength-wise.  In the aforementioned case of old man strength, you can be sure that the bone-crushing grip your grandpa has isn’t coming from the 16 oz Schlitz Can Bicep Curls he’s doing now that he’s retired – it’s left over from the hard work he did throughout his life.
3)      It can actually be an indicator of your health.  According to a 25-year study done for the JAMA (Journal of American Medicine), “Among healthy 45- to 68-year-old men, hand grip strength was highly predictive of functional limitations and disability 25 years later. Good muscle strength in midlife may protect people from old age disability by providing a greater safety margin above the threshold of disability.”  In less sciency talk, the stronger your grip, the less likely you are to suffer from disabilities later in life.
4)      It will make just about everything stronger.  During some downtime from pressing and pull up practice, I improved both and hit big PRs totally by accident simply by taking up grip strength practice.
​5)      It’s “functional fitness” at its most functional.  As grip master Adam Glass has stated “I can tell you one (sic) for certain – not a day has past (sic) in which I was not finding a use for a stronger grip. I have not had too many situations in life where a 500 lbs squat was the fix, or where a big bench would have helped. I find stronger fingers and thumb make life easier. From pickle jars to cleaning out garages, I am never sorry my hands are strong.” 

So how can you simply, quickly, and inexpensively take your grip from sniveling wimp to tree-swinging chimp?  By hanging around and pushing yourself off the ground!

These are two of the most fundamental activities in human movement, and they’re basically connected to two movements you are most likely familiar with anyway: push ups and pull ups in the form of finger-tip push ups and bar/towel hangs.  Your ultimate goal is to build up to a one-arm towel hang and one-arm fingertip pushups. These two movements work the arm evenly, as your hands are meant to close AND open, so mastering these will set you up well for any grip feats you may want to shoot for in the future. 

Here’s the “jump right in” knowledge you need to start ASAP: Because your fingers are dainty and delicate, warm them up first by opening and closing your hand slowly to get the blood pumping.  Also, do your fingertip pushups before your hangs.  Even thought you may already be able to bang out a few fingertip pushups in full-pushup fashion, build up slowly as your digits will give you the finger if you do too much, too fast.  If you need a refresher, here are the ConvictConditioning pushup steps to work through.
1)      Wall fingertip pushups
2)      Incline fingertip pushups
3)      Kneeling fingertip pushups
4)      Half fingertip pushups
5)      Full fingertip pushups.

As for the bar hangs, start out hanging with your feet propped up, as if you were doing bodyweight rows, and progress to hanging from the bar (keep your shoulders tight in your sockets!) and with time, add a towel, subtract a hand, add two towels, and subtract a hand again.  One arm bar-hangs are fun, and they look like this:

Pro-tips: On the fingertip pushups:
·         Stick with “easy” versions of the fingertip pushups for a looooong time.  Why risk screwing your fingers up?  You use them for a lot of things, so be patient.
·         While you can keep going through the Convict Conditioning pushup series to creep up on increasingly difficult pushup variations, what I found worked well was this: after I could do full fingertip pushups for about 10 straight reps without getting too much of my fingers’ attention, I started over at step one – with one hand.  And, when I was feeling good, I would get down into the full pushup position, subtract and arm and support myself for a few seconds on those fingers.  Do this sparingly.  Again, if your fingers go on strike because you did too much too soon, I’ll point at you with my healthy fingers and laugh.

<em>Not quite.</em>

All sorts of yes.  Do your fingertip pushups on the pads of your fingers, rather than the “tips”

You will eventually be able to work up to this:

On bar hangs:
·         Keep your shoulders tight.
·         Stop before your grip wants to give up.
·         Listen to the wise words of Tom Foley.  He’s got a helluva grip, thanks in large part to this program.

Practice these two, MAYBE three days a week, and go from weak grip to “Holy $h!t!”  If you want any more information, feel free to check out more information on the book here.  It got me to one-arm fingertip pushups, so if you don’t think you’ll gain something from it, you can either already do those or you’re being a tightwad. 

That’s all I got for you this week!  Until next time, lift heavy, eat clean, and get a grip!

3 Lessons from Assisting at RKC Israel

“Well, congratulations, Aleks.  You passed.” 

My Team Leader, Cortez Hull, shook my hand from across the table where he and his assistants sat, almost an hour after the October 2010 RKC certification had ended and nearly all the participants (save for my team) were gone.  I’d been waiting with baited breath, hoping for good news to relieve me of the stress of the weekend and the second guessing of my performance during the cert (“why would it take this long to decide?!  I must’ve done something wrong!”).  In an instant, the weight of self-induced stress and worry dropped from my face and posture, and I stood prouder than ever: as an RKC.

I’ll never forget that day, that moment, that feeling.  The summation of 8 months of five-day-a-week training and two years of dreaming finally reached their peak.  I even remember the Facebook status I posted after the event finished: “’No fatigue is felt at the time of victory’” – Hal Elrod.  You may now call me Aleks Salkin, RKC.”  To this day I’m still more proud of my RKC than my B.A.  I know what it means to prepare, to pour your sweat and hard work – sometimes at odd hours of the day because you’re busy with school and work, and dammit, you can’t miss a training session – into preparing for this course.  And it’s not just a course, as any of my fellow RKC graduates know; it’s a life changer.

And for the first time ever, I was going to be on the opposite side of that course – as an assistant instructor to a new crop of instructors.  Hell yes.  And my assisting at this course was doubly important for me.  Not only was it my first time, but it was a very historical event: the first ever RKC course held in my beloved Israel.  Two firsts, one course.  Hell yes again.

Not surprisingly, in addition to assisting a lot and teaching a little bit (leading the candidates in joint mobility warm ups, stretching cool-downs, a Primal Move session on day 3, and administering the pullup test as well as a few lovingly bestowed kettlebell beat downs), I learned more than I thought I could in such a short amount of time, deepened knowledge I already had, and finally understood things I already “knew”.  Here’s  a short list of some of the major things I took with me from this historic event.

3. The interrelatedness of each of the RKC Big Six

A while back, I heard a story that Dan John told about what he loved about kettlebells as taught by Pavel (then the RKC, now StrongFirst). He said that when you stand back and look at all of the moves, you can see how interconnected they all were. A part of me understood this at the time, over a year ago when I first heard it, but I didn’t REALLY understand it until last weekend, when I saw Peter Lakatos demonstrate each and every move, from the hip hinge and the plank all the way to the snatch.

Dan John is right. It’s all interconnected, and each kettlebell exercise is a piece of one large puzzle – the principles of strength – and not just some exercise you can do because it’s kinda fun. There is a purpose and a goal. Learn them and master them and in turn, you will master as much strength as you care to.
Even though we usually think of “same but different” as variations on a single exercise, I now see how it applies to EVERY exercise we teach at the RKC.  Every single kettlebell exercise we teach is like a family, as Dan John succinctly put it.  They all look different when viewed separately, but once you see them all side by side, you see beyond that.  Just like looking at a family photo with all your extended family members, despite each person’s inherent differentness, you see the common thread that runs through them all; a genetic line that passes on specific traits to each and every person.  Strength is the genetic line running through and connecting every seemingly disparate kettlebell exercise.  Each one brings its own unique benefits to the student, but the goal of each remains the same – strength.  Pure strength.

2. “Miracles” happen at the RKC

I put “miracles” in quotes because it’s really just latent ability, though it looks miraculous to the observer (in this case me).  We’ve all seen it before, but being an assistant and observer at a workshop as important as an RKC cert takes it to a new high, because at the end of the workshop it’s not like people just say “Sweet, I learned some cool stuff that I can use/teach now.”  By the end, you are either entering a new stage in your professional life or you still have 90 more days before you can enter it.  The difference between those two things separates the RKC from other certs and workshops like wheat from chaff, and the ability to seemingly go out on a limb with new information or lofty challenges requires patience, trust, and true grit.   People really step up to the occasion, put their nagging fears and doubts behind them, take the new cues and tips they’ve learned and just say “*Deity of choice*, take the wheel!”  Among the epic awesomeness that I witnessed:
·         A 45 year-old lawyer who had never snatched anything heavier than 16 kgs managed to nail a whopping 75 reps with a 24kg in the snatch test.  A combination of improved technique from Peter Lakatos’s razor-sharp teaching combined with the encouragement of the community and camaraderie among the other candidates.  
       A 46 year-old hard man who had endured a serious accident that left him bed-ridden the year before came into the cert saying “you’re all going to see how weak I am.”  Yet by day two he hit a lifetime PR of a 40 kg overhead press.  
·         A young man with constant shoulder dislocation problems who had even undergone surgery (which didn’t completely fix his issue) not only learned how to keep his shoulders packed, but nailed 80 snatches in 5 minutes without a single shoulder issue

The list could continue, but suffice it to say while there were many other impressive transformations, these stuck out particularly from the crowd.  Those who came in skeptical about their own abilities during the weekend left with a feeling that they had much more control over their life and strength than they ever had before.  The coolest part about this for me was that I came in knowing I would witness “miracles” that would turn people into lifelong believers in Pavel’s teachings as it had to me. It was like knowing the end of a movie before seeing it; I knew what was going to happen, but I had to see it to appreciate it.

1. It’s not about the bell

The first time I ever heard this, it was from Geoff Neupert, and it completely changed the way I looked at kettlebells.  The point of the RKC is not to use kettlebells “just because”; it serves a higher purpose: to improve your strength and movement for whatever you want through intelligent technique and programming.  To take his words one step beyond, “it’s not about the bell” means something more to me: Loyalty.  Honor.  Respect.  Let’s look at them all in reverse order.

Respect The caliber of people drawn to the RKC as Pavel’s system of strength training speaks for itself.  High level martial artists.  Physical therapists.  Athletes.  Strength coaches.  Special operators.  The RKC as a certification is more than just a kettlebell certification – it is a collection of some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.  The level of professionalism among those involved ranks as the highest I’ve seen anywhere, and though I don’t have the life experience and involvement in a variety of organizations as some of my older comrades, I can say this: before deciding to make strength training my career, I was slated for a career in academia.  There is no comparison between the professionalism and respect demanded by Pavel of his students and that demanded by people in academia.  None.  This demand draws some incredibly talented and impressive people to his system.  I’d like to take a second to personally thank just a few.
·         Shihan Ronen Katz.  Sixth degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate, an accomplished yoga teacher and practitioner, RKC, and life-long learner who hosted the event, worked tirelessly to promote it and make it a resounding success, and welcome me with open arms as an assistant and even allowed me to stay in his home with his family for the first few days upon my arrival in Israel.  I met him at Marketing Mastermind one year ago in November and struck up a friendship with him.  Anyone who knows me knows I’m chatty and can befriend just about anyone, but Ronen is different.  He is a friend, colleague, and comrade that I am honored and privileged to know.  He is soft-spoken, but when he talks, I listen.  He has wisdom beyond his years, and truly has loyalty, honor, and respect for that which makes a positive impact on others.  Of all the great things that I experienced and enjoyed during my eight-day stint in Israel, hearing Ronen say to me during our final address to the newly-minted RKCs “I would like to thank Aleks for coming here and assisting. I am really glad I met you” by far meant the most to me.  That alone stands head and shoulders above everything else from that week.  It was one of those things that made me want to cry with joy, but I figured if I did Pavel might get wind of it and sentence me to a 100 swing punishment, so I held back the tears.  Ronen, I look forward to working with you in the future in Israel to spread the word of strength, kettlebells, and of course, loyalty, honor, and respect.

Peter Lakatos.  Master instructor under Pavel, creator of the revolutionary Primal Move system, and all-around class act.  His skillful teaching polished and solidified things I already knew about Hardstyle as well as added greatly to it.  In addition, his insight into being successful in your passion was worth the money I paid on the trip and then some.  In a world where people are seeking good enough, Peter is always seeking better.  He is willing to pay any cost, do any research, and include anything that works and spread it to the people as a way of making a positive impact on the world.  When you think of the famous (and my favorite) phrase “Power to the people!”, know that Peter embodies this to a T.  He doesn’t hoard knowledge for himself: he actively spreads it to all.  He is truly making a great impact on the world through teaching Krav Maga, offering masterful instruction and insight in kettlebell instruction, and changing lives with Primal Move.  On top of all this, he is a gentleman and a humble teacher.  I’m honored to know him.  
Honor One of my favorite quotes ever is “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.” (Albert Einstein)  More than anything, Pavel’s insistence on his students being ladies and gentlemen rather than merely women and men has had the greatest impact on how I conduct myself.  Our interactions with other people – both those we work with and those who oppose us – says more about who we are as individuals and as a group than anything else.  I’ve looked far and wide and found no other strength/fitness professionals that are quite on the same level as Pavel and his team of leadership.  Being men and women not only of value, but of honor, really sets us all apart from the majority of our industry.

Loyalty Peter had the best, most succinct line of all to describe loyalty during the RKC.  While talking about why Pavel left and what StrongFirst was all about, he said something to the effect of “When you sit by a fire for warmth, you are in that spot because of the fire, nothing else.  If the fire moves to a different spot, do you stay with the ashes where it used to be?  No.  You follow the fire wherever it goes.”  Loyalty is another example of something simple, but not easy.  Life would have been much easier if the fire that attracted us all to that spot had stayed put.  However, the answer for me and most others is very simple: follow the flames.  Everyone at the RKC in Israel agreed.  As Kyokushin practitioners, they know a thing or two about the trifecta of integrity: loyalty, honor, and respect.
As for me, I’ll never forget my first experience with the kettlebell, my first time reading Enter The Kettlebell and The Naked Warrior, and slowly but surely walking closer and closer to the fire as the years went on.  Once there, I knew there was no place else I wanted to go.  I also knew that I had to make it my mission in life to attract other people to the fire that Pavel had created, and show them how awesome it would make every part of their life.  It was the best decision I ever made, and I will trek as far as I must to stay close to that flame that changed everything for me.  I would not be where I am, nor would I be the person that I am, without Pavel and his teachings and methods.

StrongFirst

The past year of my life has been a whirlwind of amazing improvements, leaps forward, and opportunities.  Nothing makes me prouder than fulfilling my longtime dream of being an assistant instructor at an RKC course, and more than that, doing so in my beloved Land of Israel.  I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. With all that said, it is time that I follow the flame and continue my path upward and onward.  I wish the best of luck to all those remaining with the RKC, and would like to give a special thanks to John Du Cane for all that he’s done for me and all of us.  We all owe him a lot, and he deserves our thanks.

I look forward to assisting at future courses in Israel not just as a visitor, but as a citizen, and helping spread the word of StrongFirst.   The world must know where to find its fire, and I will do all I can to help in leading the way. 

Strong First.  Strong Always.

הכוח לעם!

Every bit as true for your training as it is for your daily life.

If you don’t want…

* the hard work
* the difficulty
* the sacrifice
* the re-arranged priorities
* the focus
* the improved diet
* the regular, incremental increase in daily physical movement
* the patient dedication
* the consistent discipline
* the slow and steady march boldly forward

Then you don’t want…
* The results

It’s as simple as that.

No amount of hemming, hawing, or excuse-making will take the place of any of the above requirements to take you from where you are to where you want to be.

Physical transformation is not complicated. Move, and be consistent with it.

Got an hour per day? Great! Give it.

Only got half an hour? Give that.

10 minutes? Pour your heart into that 10 minutes, and then move 30 seconds here, 1 minute there throughout the day.

Grab some vegetables or nuts for a snack instead of a Snickers.

Drink water instead of yet another sugary crap-uccino.

Little things add up, but it’s up to you to snag them.

Give what you can and you will take what you’ve earned. Don’t mistake your inability to go 100 mph for an inability to go 50. And whatever you do, don’t mistake “I won’t” for “I can’t.”

It’s Monday. Go forth and punch the rest of the week in the face, as well as all ensuing weeks.
​
Remember, it’s up to you.

Keep it simple, stupid!

Remember that time when you…

* Ate healthy and simply – mostly plants and animals, with plenty of water, and kept the junk food to a minimum?
* Trained consistently at something you enjoyed and that challenged you but still allowed you to succeed and grow stronger and fitter through time?
* Slept 8 hours a night?
And remember how great you felt and looked and performed?

Now, remember all those times when you…

* Bought a late-night fitness product from a slick, well-marketed infomercial with the hopes that this would be your savior that would bring you all those coveted and otherwise simply-attainable gains, but much, much faster because of how “cutting edge” it was?
* Invested countless dollars/Euros/shekels on diet pills and supplements that you were convinced you NEEDED (even though you weren’t actually 100% sure what they were for)?
* Bought into a fad diet that celebrities and athletes (who looked incredible to begin with) suddenly endorsed very enthusiastically?
* When you bought that other “magic bullet” meant to make your life easier that (magically) only seemed to miss its mark?
And remember how frustrated you felt when, rather than getting to your goals faster as you were promised on the package, you got NOWHERE fast?

I’m not going to conclude this post by telling you what to think. But next time you decide to get in shape, let your intuition, experience, common sense, and bullsh*t detector be your guide rather than your desire for a re-invented wheel.
​
Pictured are calisthenics phenoms Al Kavadlo and Danny Kavadlo – two guys stronger than 99% of the people you will ever meet – who built their strength on consistent work, proper recovery, and almost no equipment. Be sure to follow them if you’re not already.