Kettlebells Are Great For Women Too!

Kettlebells are perfect for women also. The nice part about the RKC is that it is expected that you lift heavier weights, yes, even for women.

Rant Coming
If I hear one more woman complain that they "don't want to get too big" I am going to scream. That is the EXCEPTION and not the rule. I am sure it has happened to a couple people, but that is far from the norm. Don't let the fear of success stop you from even starting! If it does happen for some odd reason, it is quite easy to loose muscle.

Women are way more capable than most stupid magazines and bad infomercials give them credit for. Stop with the Kettlenetics, Kettleworx and all that other crap that tells you not to lift heavy (again, heavy is always relative to the individual). You MUST give your body a REASON to adapt.

Below is an inside look at the RKC. Watch closely for a cameo from Adam T Glass and a large spiky thing and local RKC Fawn Friday, Ellen Stein and others.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
If you are interested in Kettlebells and taking your performance to a new level, I will have a special announcement coming soon for you! Stay tuned.

RKC Certification St Paul MN: Completed!

Just a super quick note that I did my re-cert for the RKC and passed, so that was good.

I was there Thurs night until Sunday evening and it was a great experience to be able to assisst many new candidates become RKCs. It is a little hard to explain unless you have experienced it first hand, but I will do my best coming up very soon.

My hats off to everyone on Team DuCane and everyone else there this past weekend in sunny St. Paul Minnesota.

More soon!
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

PS
New site is still on track and about a week to go. I am working on a special report for all my newsletter insiders too.

Who Uses Kettlebells?

New video from Dragon Door on Kettlebell athletes.

I can say that all types of athletes can use them, just be sure to get some good instruction so that you are using them properly. Even endurance folks can use them to balance out there training and I just did a Z Health/Kettlebell session with a top RAAM cyclist the other night.

Be sure to keep about from that Kettleworx crap though!

Mike T Nelson Ramblings: Kettleworx As Seen on KARE 11 TV Can Kiss ...

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

RKC Certification St Paul MN

Here is a great video to give you an inside look at the RKC done in my back yard (ok, not literally but a few miles down the road).

I will be assisting at the RKC I in June, so please come up and say hi to me if you are going to be there. I also have a limited number of Z Health sessions available on Thurs, so email at me at michaelTnelson@yahoo.com Right now I think I only have 2 slots open---first come first serve.

Hope to see you all soon and enjoy the video
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Tips for KB Pressing Power: New Article at Dragon Door

Greetings everyone!

I apologize for the delays here as Jodie and I were at a marketing conference this past weekend in CT. It was crazy as we did not get much sleep, but learned a ton! We also got to meet TONS of great people and connect with old friends too. I hope to have an update soon, but our flight was delayed last night so I got a whole 5 hours of sleep and 6 the night before and 7 the night before---blah blah blah.

Changes Coming
Tons of changing coming as I am working on a new website, blog, and lots of really cool stuff--all to better serve you and keep providing killer information. Keep that dial (er, mouse?) here for all the latest and greatest.

Tips for KB Pressing Power

Just wanted to let everyone know I have a new article up at Dragon Door entitled "Tips for Kettlebell Pressing Power" so click on the link above to read it. Feel free to leave comments here and I will answer them as soon as I can.

Off to finish some last minute research for a nutrition teleseminar I am doing tonight.

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson

Amazing Ab Training and More Kettlebell Crap on the Biggest Loser

This cracks me up!



I can't believe I hung out with those yahoos all last Saturday---it was killer!

We had a great post TSC sessions and I learned tons! Videos coming soon in the next few weeks.

Check out Adam's message about the roundtable session that went down. Where were you?

Ever been hit so hard that all you see is White?

Adam stated ""How is it, that after doing a TSC and a 20 minute strongman demonstration, Turning my wrist in four directions allows me to slam a #3?" After all that work? Usually i am kind of tired...this is deep......"

More Kettlebells on TV: Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels Kettlebell Fiasco

Brad has a great video on his blog about this one

Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels Fails Miserably with Kettlebells


The bastardization of kettlebell training marches on! Ugh. I've blogged about this in the past

Kettleworx Crap and Performance Research for March: Fat Loss-Diet and Green Tea

Kettleworx As Seen on KARE 11 TV Can Kiss My....

I would agree whole heartedly with Brad. Kettlebells are great, but get some instruction! Get at least 1 session at min as it is better than none! I personally love the Dragon Door KBs (see the link on the upper right hand side to get your own). Yes, I do make a few clams from selling them, but they are the only ones I currently use and I love them. Once you have them, they will last a lifetime. Don't waste your money some PLASTIC KBs. Yikes. The weights that they start at are pathetic. You can do more than you think with correct instruction. You need to give your body a REASON to change and a 6 lb plastic KB will NOT get the job done.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

Kettlebell Snatch Test 4 Hour Work Week Style

Tim Ferris Does KBs!
As most of you know, I am a huge fan on the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. The ironic part is that I don't even count how many hours I work in a week, but currently it is WAY too many.

The end goal however is to do only the things I am absolutely passionate about and have someone else do the rest. To me, that is the point of the 4 Hour Work Week--what you do to make money does not HAVE to be the same thing you do with your life. If you can blend both of them together into a true passion-more power to you!

Plus I never plan to retire anyway. Way too many things I want to get done first.

If you are looking for some free background, click on this link below from Zen Habits

Exclusive Interview: Leo Talks With Tim Ferriss of 4-Hour Workweek

The great part is that Tim lays it all out for you on how to reach your goal in an efficient manner.

For fitness, KBs (kettlebells) are a killer way to do the same--reach your goals in an efficient manner.

Enter the Kettlebell
Below is a video of Tim doing the RKC Snatch Test. You have 5 minutes and you can put the KB down and switch hands as many times as you like. The requirements are different, so for a full description, check out Taieki's blog post HERE.

For example, if you are a male, here are the requirements:

RKC Kettlebell Snatch Requirements Weight Class, kg/lbs.Snatches, total L+R
60 / 132 60
90 / 198 80
90+ / 198+ 100
Open Class 24kg Kettlebell

Masters (50 and Over 20kg Kettlebell)

In my case since I am over 198 lbs I would need 100 reps in 5 minutes. It is hard, but definitely achievable with some good instruction and effort. My PR (personal record) was last year's TSC at 120 reps with the 24kg KB.

Nice work Tim! Just a bit more hip drive towards the end around the 3:30 mark and he will be close to 100 reps.

If you are interested in it, you can sign up for the Tactical Strength Challenge by clicking HERE for more information.

The TSC consists of 3 events 1) a max RAW (no supportive gear) deadlift, 2) max pullups 3) KB snatch max reps in 5 minutes.

It is a brutal combination of max strength, relative strength and CRF (cardiorespiratory fitness).

Check out the report from last year. B-Rad has assured me that there are a few fun surprises at Kinetic Edge this year too.

Model Integrity and Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC)

I will be competing in the TSC this April 4, so come on out and enjoy the pain. I will also be assisting at the June RKC right here in Minnesota, so sign up and come say hi.

You can follow my training at the link below
http://miketnelsontraining.blogspot.com/


If you are interested in doing the RKC or competing in the TSC and need help with the preparation, drop me a line by clicking this link Email Me

If you are interesting in getting your own KBs, click HERE

Comments?

Performance Research for August: Central Fatigue and testimonial

Testimonial time again.

I got to meet Franklin in person at his first RKC and then again at the RKC-FMS. Franklin also follows the Precision Nutrition lifestyle where I volunteer as a Community Moderator
Be sure to check out Franklin's blog HERE It is always a treat for me to interact and learn with great people such as him. Not sure how much credit I can take since I didn't lift any darn weights for him. Excellent work Franklin!

Mike,

First of all I need to first thank you kind words concerning my TSC results and secondly even more important for all the Z-Health advice you gave me over the few months. Without it, I would not have been able to perform at the level I did or even perform at all! As for my DL result, the 300 was a goal I set five months ago when 225 was my 1RM. I came pretty close and learned so much about this humbling lift that I can't wait to get started training it again!

Franklin, RKC

August Performance Research Update: Central Fatigue

Recovery from Supraspinal Fatigue is Slowed in Old Adults after Fatiguing Maximal Isometric Contractions.


Hunter SK, Todd G, Butler JE, Gandevia SC, Taylor JL. Exercise Science Program, Department of Physical Therapy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

This study compared the contribution of supraspinal fatigue to muscle fatigue in old and young adults. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of motor cortex was used to assess voluntary activation during maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) of elbow flexor muscles in 17 young adults (25.5 +/- 3.6 yr; mean+/-SD) and 7 old adults (73.0 +/- 3.3 yr).

Subjects performed a fatigue task involving 6 sustained MVCs (22-s duration, separated by 10 s). Young adults exhibited greater reductions in maximal voluntary torque (67 +/- 15% of baseline) than the old (37 +/- 6%, P<0.001). p="0.02)." style="font-weight: bold;">

Conclusion: Recovery from the fatiguing exercise is impaired for old adults because of greater supraspinal fatigue than in the young.

My Notes: Some data here to show that as you age, your ability to recovery during training may become impaired. It should be emphasized that this was for max isometric contractions (holding a weight); so we are not sure if it would apply to a more standard contraction (where the weight moves).

Testimonial from Rick Olson, RKC

Rick stopped in at my place before the RKC here in Minnesota a few weeks ago for a Z Health session. He had the R Phase DVD and just had a few things to get checked. Rick passed the RKC snatch test with no problem and is now an RKC, while receiving some nice compliments from Pavel himself along the way. Excellent work Rick!!! See his testimonial below and be sure to check out his blog at www.Route66Kettlebell.com

Z Health Testimonial from a new RKC

Although I have been doing some z-health drills (R-phase, NWU 1) along with the DVDs with some success, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to visit with a Z-Health expert. Mike took the information from our discussion regarding the Initial Session Questionnaire and in short order (only 1 hour) identified the specific z drills to improve the function of both lats, both hamstrings, a glute and grip strength. An additional .5 hour ensured I performed the drills correctly; I felt the difference in the way I walked. Wow! I have no doubt my performance at the RKC weekend was greatly improved as the RKC system’s focus is on the very muscles that had issues. I continue to do the drills and continue to feel my body adjusting and firing better. Time well spent! Thanks Mike. – Rick O. RKC (www.Route66Kettlebell.com)

If you are going to be in town for the RKC in October and are interested in a Z Health session, drop me a line as I only have a limited number of spots.

Congrats to all the new RKC from September. Excellent work by all!

Pavel announced several RKC instructor promotions.

Coms. Shaun Cairns, Jon Engum, Brad Nelson, Doug Nepodal, and Will Williams are now Senior RKC instructors.

Coms. Cortez Hull, Dan John, Peter Lakatos, and Jeremy Layport are new RKC Team Leaders.

Congrats to all them also! Nice work!

Rock on

Protein Research and Old Friends in Town

Greetings! I trust your weekend was a great one! Mine was great!

Old Friends and New Friends
The RKC FMS (Functional Movement Screen) was here in town this past weekend, so I crashed the meet and greet and met up with some again the next night at Fawn Friday's place. It was awesome to see many that I have not seen in years (like Franz) and others that I only saw briefly last time! Jodie and I also went to dinner with MC from "Begin To Dig" blog and Precision Nutrition, so it was great to finally meet the real MC in person!

Overall it was great to see so many from "blogland"--Dr. Jim, Aaron and Fawn Friday, Maura "Super Grlllllllllll Powerlifters", Mr and Mrs Rif, Gabi, Franklin, Franz, Sean S, Shawn Friday, Super Dog Elsa, KB Katie, and a few others that I am sure I am forgetting here due to too much sun (so sorry) and others that I only met briefly there. Most of links on the right hand side here, so check out their blogs.

The thing I love about all the RKCs and old and new friends is that every one of them is super nice and very passionate about learning more; which is awesome! To all that were there, you owe me pictures! The picture on the right I stole off Tracy's blog.

PhD Writtens Update
Thanks to all for the warm wishes on my PhD writtens and I found out last week that I passed on 3 questions and have revisions on 1; so I can live with that! Now I need to crank out my revisions, get my study to IRB (the place that approves human studies) since I had some revisions gand get my preliminary orals completed around the first week of Sept; so blog updates may be more sparse than usual!

Good Times Up North
Jodie and I headed up to my parents cabin this past Sat and Sun and it was a beautiful weekend here in Minnesota. We got in some water skiing, which is always a blast! Jodie did great and was able to go on 1 ski for a period of time in addition to cutting back and forth across the wake for only her third time ever water skiing!

I had some good runs on my salmon ski (HO ASX Carbon--awesome ski) and almost got up starting out on one ski. I know what to do now and will get it next time for sure! Overall I felt great as my body was doing what I told it to do! Whooo ha--go Z Health and Kettlebells!
Here are a few pics (note to self, work on less chicken winging on right arm).

Brand New Study on Whey Protein and Insulin
There are many different types of protein on the market today, but pretty much everyone agrees that around your training time, having some type of whey protein is best. If you are not using anything around the time you train, you are really missing out (especially if you have not eaten withing the last 2 hours).

Personally, I would try not to use whey concentrate and go with an isolate and perhaps a hydrolyzed whey protein. For the vast majority, whey isolate will be just fine as it is rapidly absorbed and the taste is pretty good. Hydrolyzed whey is a protein that is "cut" into even smaller "pieces" so the theory is that it is even more rapidly absorbed and may provide a higher insulin spike (so the theory goes). Remember that insulin is a very anabolic (building up of things like proteins into new muscle tissue) hormone, so if you can increase it you can add muscle. Although too much insulin and you can add FAT--bad.

But does hydrolyzed (hydro) protein result in more insulin than another type of whey protein? Well, glad you asked as a brand new study (below) show that it does indeed!

Caution--just because a (singular) study shows that it does spike insulin more, this does not mean that you will automatically see greater gains in muscle/recovery, etc from its use as this was NOT measured in this study. If you buy pure hydrolyzed protein by itself, even with flavors and sweetners it has an EXTREMELY bitter taste, so that is another reason it is not my first recommendation for most athletes.

Human insulinotropic response to oral ingestion of native and hydrolysed whey protein.

: Amino Acids. 2008 Aug 5. [Epub ahead of print]

Power O, Hallihan A, Jakeman P.

Human Science Research Unit, Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, orla.power@ul.ie.

The insulinotropic response to the ingestion of whey protein and whey protein hydrolysate, independent of carbohydrate, is not known. This study examined the effect of protein hydrolysis on the insulinotropic response to the ingestion of whey protein.

Sixteen healthy males ingested a 500 mL solution containing either 45 g of whey protein (WPI) or whey protein hydrolysate (WPH). The estimated rate of gastric empting was not altered by hydrolysis of the protein [18 (3) vs. 23 (3) min, n = 16; P = 0.15]. Maximum plasma insulin concentration (C (max)) occurred later (40 vs. 60 min) and was 28% [234 (26) vs. 299 (31) mM, P = 0.018] greater following ingestion of the WPH compared to the WPI leading to a 43% increase [7.6 (0.9) vs. 10.8 (2.6) nM, P = 0.21] in the AUC of insulin for the WPH. Of the amino acids with known insulinotropic properties only Phe demonstrated a significantly greater maximal concentration [C (max); 65 (2) vs. 72 (3) muM, n = 16; P = 0.01] and increase (+22%) in AUC following ingestion of the WPH.

In conclusion, ingestion of whey protein is an effective insulin secretagogue. Hydrolysis of whey protein prior to ingestion augments the maximal insulin concentration by a mechanism that is unrelated to gastric emptying of the peptide solution.

Z Health in Minnesota for RKCs-Its Time and Testimonial

Greetings! I trust everyone had a great weekend. I went to the Saints game (semi pro) baseball game outside on a beautiful Friday night with friends and got to ride my new kiteboard on Saturday. I was not able to kite due to low winds, but did a short session of wake surfing behind the boat. Special thanks to Gary who made the board by hand and from scratch (it turned out beautiful) and Mike "SuperSize" for the pull behind the boat. Great times!!

The Physique Formula is Here
Jimmy Smith has finally released his new Physique Formula with some special bonuses for a limited time. Click HERE to check it out , or the picture on the uppder right of this blog. In the interest of dull disclosure I do make a few bucks off of each purchase (and the price to you the consumer is the same here or on Jimmy's site).

Z Health Time for RKCs coming to Minnesota!
The RKC FMS is coming up soon--Aug 8-10 here in Minnesota, so if anyone is interested in a custom Z Health session from yours truly while you are in town, drop me a line. I only have a few appointment slots at this time, so first come first serve. See this link for all the details. Either way, drop me a line if you are going to be here as it is great to meet people again and meet others for the first time live and in person!

Professional Testimonial
"Mike Nelson is an extremely knowledgeable Zhealth instructor. His dry sense of humor, ability to convey the material and his focus on good form makes it easy to achieve your goals."

Andrea DuCane
Master RKC
Z Health, Level 4 Instructor

Testimonial for Z Health and New Dragon Door Workshop: Z-Health

Today we have a testimonial from Dr. Jim Ryan and an announcement of a new Z Health workshop done with Dragon Door.

Z Health Testimonial
Mike Nelson really knows his stuff and he checked me for a visual override to my R-phase movements. He found a slight issue that showed a major improvement in my strength, stability and stamina! In my case, keeping my eyes (not my head) looking right improved my strength and stability dramatically.

After discovering the eyes right issue Mike evaluated the strength of a muscle (my Gluteus Medius - a critical pelvic stabilizer) via manual testing. He chose this muscle because they are a major player in normal walking, standing and because I mentioned that they tire out too easily while do my R-phase drills.

Checking their strength, the difference with eyes straight ahead vs. eyes right was night and day; straight ahead I could basically offer no resistance to Mike's pressure but with my eyes shifted to look Right I had to ask him, "Are you pressing as hard as before?" Of course he was, but it felt effortless to hold against his pressure.
--note from Mike, many times eye movements get "wired" to muscle function. In Jim's case, his glute was much stronger by ONLY moving his eyes to the right! Hard to believe I know.

Such a small, simple but obviously important change is part of what the Z-Health system teaches it's practitioners to look for when evaluating your movement, performance and pain related issues...Now my balance is even better, my lower back feels stronger and I don't get as easily fatigued in those muscles while doing the hip and ankle drills.

Thanks, Mike!
Dr. Jim Ryan, RKC

Be sure to check out his blog HERE and on the right side links under blogs. To get further info about Z Health for yourself, click HERE for all the details. If you are not in MN, click on the Z Health pic on the upper right to order the R Phase DVD and manual for yourself directly.

A new seminar!
How to take full control of your body, live a pain-free life and physically excel in all you do…

Z-Health

The Essential Secrets of
Elite Performance

With
Dr. Eric Cobb

Sponsored by Dragon Door Publications

Friday, October 31—Sunday, November 2, 2008
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dr. Eric Cobb's Z-Health system gains its surprising power and
effectiveness from one fundamental insight:

When it comes to our well-being and our physical performance,
the nervous system RULES!

However, this can be VERY BAD NEWS:

If the nervous system is left entirely to its own devices, it
can literally cripple you, even entirely destroy your ability to
function without great pain and debilitating disease.

Attempting to be your best friend and save you from perceived
threat, your nervous system can and OFTEN DOES turn into your
worst enemy, playing absolute havoc with your health and
happiness.

Most of us, unfortunately, have little clue and less training in
how to heed and effectively respond to the danger signals from
our own body, indicating that our own nervous system has got us
by the throat and is slowly throttling the life out of us.

Great athletes have their careers cut short. The average athlete
declines into sub-par mediocrity. The rest of us struggle
increasingly with performance-crimping pains and aches and
eventually become empty husks compared to our vibrant former
selves.

Many of us get trapped on an endless treadmill of expensive
massage, chiropractic, nouveau diets, gizmos and one "magical
promise" treatment after another, looking in vain for a fix to
our woes. Many of us even resort to pain-killing drugs and other
destructive medications. (Which at best just numb us toward an
even speedier decline…)

Sadly, most of us simply continue to deteriorate, in strength,
in flexibility, in performance, in our general health.

Through ignorance, we give away our power to the nervous system
and let it contribute to our quicker destruction…

But it absolutely DOESN'T have to be that way!

If we can understand—truly understand—how the nervous system
really operates we can form a WIN-WIN partnership with our
"ruler"—and radically shift the balance of power.

Instead of being the unwitting victims of a despot run rampant,
we become the guiding pilots of a magnificently tuned and
calibrated system for supreme physical performance!

Enter Dr. Eric Cobb's Z-Health program—giving you everything you
need—not only to regain full control of your body—but also to
ramp up your physical performance to almost "superstar" levels.

Brilliant, immensely erudite, Dr. Cobb has explored every
imaginable avenue in his constant quest to push the human
performance envelope. From esoteric Russian health systems, to
Feldenkreis and somatics, to sports, to martial arts, to the
frontiers of Western neuroscience, Dr. Cobb has made it his
life-purpose to understand how we can live truly pain-free,
high-performance lives.

And be it the professional athlete or the formerly bed-ridden
housewife—the results have spoken for themselves. Time and time
again: careers resurrected or jump-started. Shattered lives
rebuilt. Hope rekindled. Vibrant life reclaimed.

Having watched an increasing number of our best RKCs go through
the Z-Health program and report amazing results… and having
myself attended the six-day Z-Health R-Phase certification, I
was confident enough in Z-Health to organize a 3-day
introduction to Dr. Cobb's system, for a larger audience.

Right now, Z-Health is the inner success secret for an elite
group of high performers and trainers—and a handful of lucky lay
folk.

But I think it's a crying shame that such a dramatically
powerful health and performance system continues to remain
almost "under wraps". The private reserve of a lucky few who are
in the know.

So, at my personal invitation, Dr. Cobb has agreed to share key
insights and drills from THREE levels of his Z-Health
certification program.

Until now, you would have had to invest many, many thousands of
dollars to access this information—over a very extended period
of time.

Now, finally you can access much of this amazing knowledge for a
fraction of that expense in both time and money!

So, as a fortunate participant, here's what you will walk way
with after attending Dr. Cobb's Z-Health: The Essential Secrets
of Elite Performance…

Become an equal partner with your nervous system when you
discover how to dramatically enhance your pain-free health and
performance ACROSS THE BOARD.

Discover how to take advantage of your natural inborn
reflexes—to make them HELP you, not hinder you. Hardly a soul on
the planet really understands how to do this. Now, YOU'LL know!

Get a "best of" approach to learning the practical application
of Z-Health principles, drills, and techniques utilized by elite
athletes around the world.

Be spoon-fed the essential theory behind the scientific
breakthroughs—Dr. Cobb is brilliant at turning the most
sophisticated "neurophysiology of performance" into a simple set
of easy-to-grasp and easy-to-apply formulas. He's done the heavy
lifting for you—now just gulp down and get going!

And speaking of spoon-fed, don't worry, there will be nothing on
the menu that resembles a "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an
enigma":

Your Z-Health course is going to be strictly a "meat and
potatoes" affair—filled with high-payoff drills, exercises and
concepts you can immediately apply to enhance your life, health
and performance.

This course is going to be ALL ABOUT PAYOFF in the field of
performance. We're talking a severe bang for your buck in the
world of real physical movement—whether it be gardening in your
back yard pain-free, or competing on the highest level as a
professional athlete.

To view complete information on our website click here now


Register on-line or call 1-800-899-5111

Z Health and Marathon Running

Another Z Health story!

I had the opportunity to work with an Olympic level marathon competitor who was having some left hip pain of about a 6/7 on a 1-10 scale and some pain in her right big toe that was preventing her from rolling up on to the ball of her foot (she could only get her heal about 1/2 to 1 inch off the ground before pain). The toe pain had been ongoing for over a year.

We did some simple range of motion and a gait analysis in addition to muscle tests for rectus femoris, psoas, glutes and hamstrings. Her left rectus femoris, psoas and glutes tested a bit weak and that was reflected in her gait (walking motion). We tried some Z Health drills on her left and right foot/ankle and were able to get her hip pain to less than a 1 and no "clicking" in the hip motion. Whooo ha.

Being able to roll threw your bit toe is important for running, so we went to the opposite joint of the right big toe which is the left thumb. Remember that your body is a big "X" in regards to force transfer via the back force transmission system.

When I step with my right foot, the force goes up my leg into my right glute/hip area and at my SI (middle of hips) crosses to the other side of my body and on up to my scapula where it begins to split into my LEFT hand and my LEFT jaw/side of my face. So if you have TMJ issues and the clinician is ONLY ever looking at your jaw, you may want to look elsewhere. Remember, the SITE of PAIN is RARELY EVER the SOURCE! It just means you have pain and something is not right. The pain can be very real of course and where you have pain can test very poor, but you many want to look at the entire body for the actual SOURCE.

So we went to her LEFT thumb to work on the RIGHT big toe and it turns out she had a very hard time moving the joint in the middle of the thumb at all! Hmmmmm. With some work over a few minutes she was able to move it on her own and the pain in her big toe went to less than a 1 and she was able to roll up much much further on her big toe for the first time in years. Whoo ha and behold the power of the nervous system!

So if you are interested in your own custom Z Health session, check out the information HERE and drop me a line to get on the schedule.

Any other comments on crazy mobility work?

NEW RKC!

Wanted to send a shout out to Brad Ellingson for passing the RKC test!! Brad also recently completed the Z Health R Phase certification in addition to the NSCA CSCS cert in the past. Brad contacted me to help him out on the RKC snatch test due to some past injuries. It took a few months, but he was diligent on doing all the work and was rewarded. Congrats to Brad!! Check him out at Top Notch Fitness if you are here in MN.

I'm Back and Z Health Testimonial

I'm Back!
I am back on the blog roll again here and thanks for the patience! I handed in my PhD written exams this past Thurs at 5pm--whoooo ha. I managed 2 hours of sleep that night and was working on them non stop for about the last 2 days before they were due. Good thing for due dates as I always feel like there is one more thing to add or one more reference etc. All told it added up to about 75 pages (excluding references, double spaced) and about 260 references cited. Now I just wait with my fingers crossed.

Weekend
I trust everyone had a good 4th of July weekend since most of use here in the USA were off on Friday. My girlfriend Jodie and I headed up to my parents cabin on Friday until Sunday AM. We got in some wakeboarding, slalmon water skiing and relaxation in general. I almost went out kiteboarding, but in the end decided not to since I have not kited on that lake before and no one around had launched a kite before. Next time hopefully.

We met up with the Fridays (Aaron and Fawn and their brother Shawn) who were just down the road actually and also Steve and his new wife, Rob, Maura and others came up there too. There are some rumored videos of Fawn and Maura doing a Hoola Hoop training session and Maura led us all through a push up session and then on to some random KB work. Good times!! Back to the grind now though!

Z Health Testimonial
Robert Orr stopped in to see me a few weeks ago right before the RKC II. If you are in the Virginia Beach area, but sure to check him out! We were able to get both of his glutes to fire (via Z Health ankle work) and both hamstrings (ankle and elbow work) and I did some hands on work on a scar on his left ankle. Overall he did awesome and rocked the RKC II the following days, so a big shout out to him and congrats!!

Here is the first email I got from him after the session

"It's crazy, I walked in with a tight hammie, ankle and back. During the weekend, I had none of those problems and still haven't. Other than a sore L ankle...just like you said I would.

I am excited about the direction this reprogramming is heading."

And here is a testimonial, verbatim in his words.

Mike,

Here you go. I hope this works for you. This stuff just seems too simple

I contacted Mike with a goal to ensure I have proper form on the R-Phase drills. Mike conducted an assessment of my injury history and movement patterns. Mike made short work of confirming several issues; some were simple others were unknown to me. The short list: a hammie that refused to fire, an ankle locked, an elbow with less than full ROM... The years of abuse on this frame have taken a toll.

After a few drills, my ankle and hammie were unlocked; exactly what needed after spending the day on an airplane. As an added bonus, my back was pain free for the first time in a month. I went through the RKC II weekend without feeling my body's ailments.

I definitely received more than I anticipated in my meeting with Mike. It doesn't matter if your goal is to set a PR in your event or just to play with your kids; pain free. You owe it to yourself to meet with Mike as soon as you can. Your quality of life is at stake.

Thanks again to Robert for stopping by. More good stuff to come soon and a cool story about a top level athlete and some much need thumb mobility. Yes the thumb!!

Where to Get Kettlebells and Instruction?

Greetings! Just a heads up that there may be a week pause in blogs as I am finishing up my PhD written exams in the new few days and then it is July 4 weekend, so I will be heading out to the lake for some water skiing and hopefully some kiteboarding as I haven't been out much at all this summer! I have tons of material "in the tank" but not sure if I will have time to get it out.

Big shout out to everyone that I met at Fawn Friday's place this past Friday (Friday at Fridays) as they were in town for RKC II--Rif and Tracy, Kettlebell Kate, Taikei, Dr. Jim, Elsa the wonder dog, Aaron and Fawn of course, and others (sorry I forgot your names-- my brain is fried). We ended up doing an impromptu Z Health session on Jim involving visual and vestibular testing, breath work and joint mobility work too at like midnight. Yes, very scary! But we got both of his glutes to work much much better by having him move his eyes to the right and hold them there (Z Health I Phase work). Freaky but it is based on neurology! See this link for more info

In the meantime here is a good question that I get a fair amount.

Question: Hey Mike, what weight KB do you recommend starting with for kettlebells and where can I get some? Dragondoor?

Also, are there any good beginner KB manuals/tapes/DVDs that you could recommend to get the correct movements down for a routine?

Answer: For kettlebells (KBs) , the best place is DragonDoor, bar none. There are a few others that are making some good ones now I hear, but I have not used them yet. Don't buy one from Target, Dicks, etc Joe Pavel (local RKC and Z Health R Phase) had a client that bought one and the handle broke off! Yikes! I started with some cheaper ones and I don't use them now other than for farmers walks. It is well worth the few extra clams to get nice ones as they last for a very long time.

KB Size?
For most men I would recommend a 16kg to start and women an 8 or 12kg. I know that seems light, but it is good to get the basics down and there will always be some exercises you can do later with it. A 24 kg would be the next one for guys and perhaps a 16kg for women as you get stronger. Always work on PERFECT form first and then add more weight later.

Instruction?
I know that sounds like just a plug for me, but I was in the exact same boat you were a few years ago and debated dropping $100 with a local RKC (Brad "No Relation" Nelson) and eventually did it and it was well worth it. You don't want to be training bad habits to start as they are much harder to untrain (too many bad reps). See the part above about PERFECT form. I have a wide variety of sizes here too at my place from 8 kg up to 40 kg, so you can try all of them ahead of time too and get the right one for you (if you are in the Minnesota area).

Here is a link to pick up KBs, DVDs and other products from Dragon Door. Pavel's "Enter the Kettlebell" is a great intro and there are some other great ones too, but I have not personally viewed them yet. Click HERE to pick up your KBs, DVD, etc

So time to get your KBs, pop off your shoes, do some Z Health for a warm up and start exercising. No better time than today!

Congrats new RKCs!

Just wanted to send out a congrats to the new RKCs! Awesome work to all and excellent job! My girlfriend Jodie and I stopped by on Sunday for the graduation work out. Ahhhhh, the memories and flash backs I had to my RKC weekend back in Oct.

Special congrats to Pat Collins--good to see you again, Katie B.--fellow Z Health Level 4 and works at Condition Inc in Atlanta, and Franklin--always great to meet people from blog-land in person!

Awesome to see Fawn and Aaron Friday, Joe Pavel and his buddy, all the RKC instructors--Geoff Neupert, Jeff O'Connor, Brett "Clean Shaven" Jones, Angela, Pavel, Andrea and everyone else that I missed.

Check out all of the pics courtesy of Dragon Door HERE

So if you have ever wanted to give the KB a shot, drop me a line! Watch out, as you may never go back to the hamster on a treadmill again! Plus it is great to take them to the park for a nice outside training session, excellent to drop body fat and increase your performance to boot.

Z-Health Question--R Phase and Beyond!

I got a cool email the other and just had to share it. Good question about I Phase too

Yesterday's deadlifts were a blast! Thanks for your advice. My forms was a heck a lot better, and my max effort attempt felt smooth!

Just wanted to ask, when would you suggest someone progress from R-phase to I-phase?

Answer
Once you can do ALL the drills on R Phase at the 4 different speeds (see the manual for details, but most people only work in one speed!) with extreme PRECISION, you can move on to I Phase. In most cases require at least a few sessions with a local Z trainer since it is very hard to grasp the amount of precision you need to do the drills from just a manual or DVD (they make great references and reminders though!)

Think of R Phase as the alphabet and if you are missing letters, trying to make words (I Phase) is going to be very hard and not productive either!

In my experience, even with good hands on coaching, most will work on R Phase alone for 6 months to 1-1.5 YEARS. Seems hard to believe I know and I thought that was insane when I started too. I still do R Phase drills and there are few I am still working to "master".

And yes, so far everyone I have seen needs to start at R Phase! Learn the basics first and then move on.

Hope that helps!

Note to upcoming RKC people

It is that time again when many will be coming to Minnesota for the RKC, which is awesome! I will try to order up some good weather for you! Just wanted to tell you that I have some time slots open for Z Health sessions if anyone is interested.

Drop me an email and we will set it up, first come first serve. For more info check out the link HERE.

Rock on!

Go with your gut and Oct RKC pics

Go with your gut
As you know from my last blog, I just got back from kiteboarding in S Padre Texas. For those of you who do not know what kiteboarding is, imagine attaching yourself via 100 foot long, razor sharp lines to a kite that can range from a small 8m (so about 24 feet across) up to 16M (about 50 feet across) or even larger. These are not your typical Charlie Brown kites and can create enough power to rip you across the water or up into the air. Amazingly, they have extremely fine control since the lines connect into a control bar that allows you to harness the power of the kite. The mainpower of the kite attaches into a harness at your hips to keep some stress off of your arms. All of this makes for a unique learning experience, but incredibly fun and extremely addictive too after just a few sessions.

The weather in S Padre TX is normally beautiful this time of year. Each Fall there is a big crew from Minnesota (and other locations) that heads down. This past Wed everyone was riding in sunny 87 F days with a nice 15-20+ mph wind. Perfect. The weather while I was there--not so perfect. Cold, overcast and rain as I arrived late Wed night.

The first day out I froze and I was the only nut out there kiteboarding at that time. The wind was super strong and it was a good session. I was frozen by the time I got out. Who would have ever thought that I needed a dry suit for S Padre!

The next day it was cold and raining again. Drat. We sat around and could not take it anymore and drove out to see if anyone was kiteboarding at the nearby beach. Honestly, the though of going back out was not sounding great to me since it was blowing at about 20-25 mph and the air temp alone was 47F. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. Pretty cold for a 3/2 light wetsuit that I just bought the day before. But we came to kiteboard, so back home to get our gear and we were back out there.

Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got. -Art Buchwald

I was having a hard time keeping my fingers working inflating a "new to me" kite, but finally got it up. I was nervous since this was the first time I have ever flown this kite or this design (Cabrinaha X bow 2006 12 M). I got a launch from my buddy and was promptly dragged down the beach before I could get control of it. Yikes! There was no one in the line of the kite, so I knew I could always pull the safety to kill the power in the kite with no problems or fear of hitting anyone. Now that I had control of the kite, I picked up my board and back out in the water I went. .....and it was freezing cold. That first drop in was very very cold as a wetsuit keep you warm by circulating a layer of warmer water next to your body. The thicker the wetsuit neoprene, the less exchange there is of this warm water layer next to your body with the colder outside water. The bugger is that during that first drop in, the water has not been warned by your body yet (hindsight would have told me to flood my westuit with warm water BEFORE going in, but I saved warm water for after I got out). So now I was really starting to think again that this was going to be a disaster, but figured I went through this much effort I might as well try to ride a bit.

The kite had tons of power and I got ripped off my board as I depowered the kite and it slammed into the water as I promptly supermanned through the air onto my stomach. Ouch. Crap. Tried again and this time I was up and riding. Wow, the wind was extremely strong and I had the kite on depower as much as I could. I dug my heals in on my board and off I shot upwind. Whoooooooooo ha. This was actually fun now and after a few rides I was really loving the kite and getting used to it. 2 hours passed by and even though I was cold I still did not want to come in. I was getting some very nice transitions and I was riding fully extending with my butt and shoulders only a few inches off the water. Whoooo ha!!! Even though it was super windy, the surrounding land masses block most of the waves, so the water is relatively flat.

I noticed all the cars parked on the beach had backed way up and I saw our rental car now parked way back on higher ground. My buddy was flagging me in, so I called it a day after riding for 2 hours and headed back in. As I undid my kite I was starting to get really cold. The water was now up to about 3 inches on the car and still rising and we were out of dry land. We made it out there via some mud bogging in a small Chevy 4 door compact car (if you are the rental car company reading this, the car is just fine and don't worry). Back at the condo I took the best hot "waterfall style" shower of my life.

Why you may care
So sometimes when you don't want to do something, you need to listen to your gut feeling. I knew in my gut that I wanted to go ride, even though I thought of every possible reason why I should not go. The conditions were safe, but far far from ideal. I trusted my gut and it turned into one of the best sessions I have ever head kiteboarding as everything felt just right.

The moral of this story is to trust your gut feelings and test it. If after a few rides I felt unsafe or it was not right, I could just bail and go back home with no regrets and the satisfaction that I tried. Sometimes it turns into much more.

Congrats in order
A huge congratulations to Brett Jones and Andrea DuCane on becoming Master Instructors and to Jeff O'Conner, Geoff Neupert and David Whitley on becoming Senior RKCs. Way to go everyone!

October RKC pictures
Better late than never!

2 "Jeffs" Brett Jones and Sandy

It's me

Brad "Top Notch" working hard

The cops were even on hand to make sure it did not get too unruly!

RKC Wrap Up

Update
I've been buried in analysis and proposal writing this past week, hence the delays. If all goes well I will be presenting an abstract at ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) this May; so keep those fingers crossed. If anyone else is going to be there (talk about planning ahead) please drop me a line and we can talk "shop".

I am off to Z Heath Level 4 in AZ this coming Wed for some more Z Kool Aid. Whooo ha! Can't wait. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there again and learning some great new information.

RKC Wrap Up
Overall, the RKC was awesome!

Honestly, I went into it knowing that I would learn a lot, but figure some of it may go against what I believed (it is good to challenge beliefs). The main reason I signed up was that ALL of the RKCs I have met were top notch and excellent people in all respects; so I knew it must be good! I also have been reading Pavel's work for a long time and I always learned something new from him every time.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I agreed with almost all of it, and the parts I am still trying to piece together in my mind I will be thinking, experimenting long and hard on for awhile.

From the outside, it would appear that Z Health and RKC are polar opposite, but I don't believe so and I found both of the systems discussing the same thing! Now, since I just did the RKC my experience with the RKC system is extremely limited at this point, but I found the similarities were

both talk about APPROPRIATE tension
relaxation when not lifting
breathing techniques (anatomical vs biomechanical match)
strength is a skill that must be practiced
long spine and proper alignment
the nervous system holds the keys to all of it!

I used to think that RKC was always about high tension and no relaxation, which is not true. Think of tension as a big dial. The closer you are to a 1 RM (rep max), the more tension you will need to lift the weight in a safe manner. Powerlifters are on this end of the spectrum, since the entire goal is to lift as much weight as possible within the confines of the rules. Now if you are doing an exercise with 50% of your max, you will need less tension. Yes, this is an over simplificiation. I think most people would be better off practicing BOTH ends of the spectrum and everything in between. If you lift in a commercial gym, you will know what I mean. Most there (none of the readers of this blog though of course) use too much tension with horrible alignment. Again, it is all about APPROPRIATE tension.

I want to give a shout out to the team leader of our group Brett Jones as he did an amazing job and it was great to be on his team. The assistants for our group Sandy and Brian were outstanding also. Everyone there was highly motivated from the team leaders and everyone participating. A special shout out to all team Jones members and each one of them gave it their all during the entire weekend. It was a grueling weekend with tons of work. I did more KB work in 3 days than I think I've done in the past month. The graduation training session was brutal, but it was nice to know it was the last one!

I highly recommend the RKC system to anyone that is interested.

Please post any comments below about Z and RKC as I think that would be an interesting discussion. I know Geoff Neupert had a few entries on his blog on this topic also. I believe both are talking about the same thing, but how they go about an end result is different.

Rock on
Mike N