The challenge of going "hard"

4/30/12

In fitness training people love going hard. This generally means doing a tough circuit that consists of moving kettlebells or barbells along with a smattering of body weight exercises, with minimal rest, of course. These types of workouts are challenging and fun and they get peoples' minds off their every day crap, which for most people is a major reason for their training: stress relief.

But truly going "all out" is a tough nut to crack. As humans, I believe no matter how hard we try to go, we instinctively retain some gas in the tank, so to speak. As a survival mechanism alone, holding on to some energy for fighting or fleeing is a good idea. For me, with 30 years of martial arts training (as in don't leave it all in there in case you need some more at some point...) this has been a particularly difficult endeavor. But over the past few weeks I've gotten a better handle on it through multiple 2000m row attempts to get under 7:00.

To put this in perspective, the world record for a 2000m on the Concept 2 indoor rower is 5:36.6 held by a very large man from New Zealand named Rob Waddell. That is the world record and if you've never rowed a 2k before, trust me that's REALLY fast. For most people who take their fitness seriously (like me), breaking the 7-minute barrier is a challenging landmark. During my training at Gym Jones I've done all kinds of lifts: Olympic, power and kettlebell. I've done all kinds of body weight exercises: box jumps, pull ups, push ups, ring push ups, burpee pull ups...you get the point. And we do a lot of time on the C2 rower and Air Dyne "bike."

A few months ago I was happy when I consistently broke the 7:30 barrier: 7:29, then 7:23, then 7:19. All within a few weeks of each other. Some of these successful attempts were in Salt Lake City at GJ HQ, others here in LA at my facility at Five Star Martial Arts. And then I was stuck. All future attempts were turning out to be futile at best and frustratingly depressing at worst. This was where my dear friend Robert MacDonald from Gym Jones chimed in with a foolproof plan to break the 7-minute barrier: row a 2k after every workout until sub-7 was achieved. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Obviously you've never rowed 2000m for time.

My first attempt brought me across the finish line at 7:15, Rob looked at my 500m split times and simply said maintain the initial strong pace through the third (and always most brutal) split. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the first 1000m of a 2000m row is very encouraging. You feel like you can keep this pace forever. And then it goes right down the crapper. My 500m split times were invariably 1:42, 1:44, 1:52, 1:46. The third split being my undoing every time. Rob saw these split times and suggested I just suck it up for the 3rd split and get it over with. So I gave it a shot. And I went from 7:15 to 7:11...and then 7:09...and then 7:05...and then 7:03.... To be perfectly honest, it wasn't until I got to 7:05 that I thought I could actually pull it off. When I got to 7:03 I knew I could do it. But wow, was it gonna hurt and take everything I had to do it. And I was right. On April 26, I did some heavy front squats (I always get better 2k times after heavy dead lifts or front squats) and finished the day with a 2k for time. My splits were 1:43.2, 1:44.1, 1:45.5, 1:45.1, with my final time 6:58. It was quite a morning.

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Rob explained it well. Had my fitness really improved that much over a few weeks time that I cut 21 seconds off my time? Nope. Not a chance. But I'd finally grasped the valuable skill of going for it and not worrying that I would have nothing left. And I did have nothing left. Luckily my friend Dane was at the school and I called out for him to help me walk around. He came into the room and found me crawling around on the floor babbling. He was kind enough to not tell too many people...

In short, for those of you interested in seeing what you can do in something, whether it's fitness, martial arts, business, life, whatever, don't be afraid to let it all go. Just go for it and you will find something inside you that you probably had no idea was there.

Now get on with it!

Feb 3, 2012

The last two months blasted by before I even knew they'd hit me. December is a great month of enjoying holidays, family and some down time. This year was no different. We headed to Vermont for a nice visit with my parents and enjoyed my mom's incredible cooking...in volume! Not a lot of snow this December in VT, in fact it was colder in NYC (where we were for New Year's) than it was in VT! New Year's in NYC was a lot of fun. I got to see some students who have moved out of LA and some other friends and relatives I'd not seen for a long time.

Then January was upon me and it was time to get back to work! 5 Star Martial Arts has been picking up a lot of steam over the month of January. We finally completed the remodel and had our official "Grand Re-Opening" on the 28th of Jan. It was a great time! Check out some pix on our Facebook page and please join it to keep updated on the new stuff!

It's been a long day, brightened by my friends and colleagues at 5 Star and another visit from my dear friend Mark Twight!

Back to it tomorrow!!

Nov 25, 2011

Hey all,

First off, my humblest apologies for going so long without a post. It has been an insanely busy time since my last entry. So let's catch up!

First off, Gym Jones - Advanced Program Design and Theory.


I was honored to be among the first to complete this course. It was the perfect culmination of all the previous courses put together: training, programming, nutrition, research, case studies, recovery, intensity...you name it. In a culture where mediocrity has become the standard, and being prepared for less secures greater chances of contentment this course kicked some serious @$$. As you know from all of my other posts about my experiences at GJ, these guys and gals pull no punches, supply high level instruction and demand performance from their attendees. It is sheer joy to be around them. One's game has no choice but to step up. I personally hit three PRs while there, including box jump height and row times. I definitely push myself in my gym here in LA (ask my students), but there is no substitute for talented colleagues suffering together to surpass previously held limits. My experiences at the Gym constantly impress on a multitude of levels. The physical is what people see, but as they say on day one at GJ, "The mind is primary." Chew on that for a bit, or better yet go to SLC and see what it's all about for yourself. I recommend you bring your A-game, or you shall suffer appropriately.

Second - Renovations at Five Star Martial Arts.
We have been knee deep in renovations at the school for about a month now and it's finally winding down. We've added a second training room so now we can greatly expand our schedule. We added showers to the changing rooms and my strength and conditioning room has doubled in size. I will upload some pix once all the finishing touches are done. Stay tuned!

Third - Hunting!
My brother and I went elk hunting in southern Colorado a couple weeks back. It was a blast! Hiking around at 8500' stalking elk is no joke from a physical standpoint. I was never more thankful for my Gym Jones training than when I was knee deep in snow on a steep incline trying to catch up with a very clever bull elk. Suffice it to say he was on his game enough to laugh at us from a distance the whole way. Great time, however, and the training came in very handy in the practical application!

That's it for now gang. I've gotta head down to the school a bit this holiday weekend to get it more cleaned up. Prep my strength/conditioning room for the arrival of a lot of equipment and get my butt back into training!

Until the next time, keep the bar high!
jvs

The PR Club

Those of you who train with me know the value with which I hold the knowledge I've gained at Gym Jones. My very willing Sunday group at Five Star Martial Arts has benefited greatly, although perhaps not with actual pleasure, from this knowledge. In addition to what I consider an impressively varied skill set in an assortment of martial arts (trapping, weaponry, striking, even some grappling) these guys have pushed their fitness past what many of them thought possible. I can safely call the Sunday group my "PR Club" (Personal Record, not Public Relations...) with no hesitation nor exaggeration.

Caleb Terray, a fellow RKC, sets new dead lift PRs practically weekly. He joined us a few months ago with extensive kettlebell experience but had never touched a bar before and now, at a mere 140# he's pulling 315. Kelvin Lee recently turned 50 and today did his first unassisted pistol (one-legged squat) on each leg. Not bad, old man! Peter Besson, everyone's favorite German, consistently lays it all out there. After his first beating on Triciclo del Diablo (Schwinn Air Dyne) he went out and BOUGHT ONE!

I'm very proud to have these guys come to me every week, especially when they know what's in store for them. It gives me hope that the Gym Jones work ethic and mentality will be welcome here in Los Angeles when the certification process is completed. It's very exciting to be surrounded by people willing to do the work!

Look for some pix in the coming weeks!

Good job gang!
jvs

Hey everyone,

Sorry this has taken so long to get up on the blog but please check out the Five Star Martial Arts promo video that was expertly shot and crafted by Five Star's own Josh Karchmer and his talented team from Level 4 TV!

ENJOY!



Until the next time, always be smarter than the kettlebell!
jvs

The Pentagon Channel, Pt. 2

Hey everyone,

Yesterday's shoot for the Pentagon Channel went great. I had a terrific group of people helping me keep my thoughts straight while we worked our way through a considerable amount of material. Each segment will be 2:00 or shorter and will air on the channel's "For the New Guy" show. Air dates yet to be determined.

I ran through a handful of body weight exercises, some kettlebell exercises and even touched on some self-defense situations. In true Five Star Martial Arts fashion the kettlebell exercises were described in high detail and included some standards that I run my clients in LA through regularly: the Two-Handed Swing, One-Legged Dead Lift and Military Press. (The last one had to be included, no? HAHA!)

Body weight choices were demanding from a conditioning aspect with the Split Squat (repeating lunges switching lead leg mid-air) and strength/flexibility standpoint with the Pistol (one-legged squat). I even added some variations for those deployed where access to optimal gear or room to train may be limited (as you will see in the clips...).

For self-defense we kept it very simple, which is always the best way to go. Just a few basic, common attacks with simple movement, gross-motor skill responses. My good friend Leonard Stevens was gracious enough to join me as the ill-intentioned attacker for the self defense segments.

Again it was a real honor for me to do something for the troops and I had a lot of fun too!

Until next time, always be smarter than the kettlebell!
jvs

The Pentagon Channel

Hey Gang,

Coming to you from Ft. Meade, MD this week. I was graciously invited by the Pentagon Channel to bring some kettlebell and body weight training to the "Fit to Fight" segments. It's an extreme honor for me to be able to give something back to the troops who serve us daily, though mostly from far off places we will never need to see ourselves. Their selflessness is awe inspiring to me and I am happy to bring them some high quality, challenging training in full force Five Star Martial Arts style!

We'll cover some KB basics a well as some body weight exercises for those who are stationed where training equipment is at a minimum. We'll also touch on some self-defense tactics that will be helpful to have in the arsenal should they be needed. In short we're gonna do a bit of everything!

Time for bed, I've got an early start tomorrow folks!

Until then, don't forget:
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun!

signing off,
jvs