Introducing two newDragon Door authors

love to share my enthusiasms for what Ihave personally discovered to be highlyeffective methods for enhancing health

and well-being. And I am always particularlyexcited when I feel that one of our publicationshas the potential to dramatically improve thehealth of a nation.

New Dragon Door author, Dr. SergeyDzugan’s book, The Migraine Cure is exactlythis kind of work…

Over 28 million Americans suffer from theexcruciating and very debilitating pain ofmigraines. And let’s face it… it doesn’t matterwhat they have turned to, be it traditionalWestern medicine or the host of “alternative”remedies, most of those 28 million continue tosuffer.

Well, according to Dr. Dzugan, if those 28million American migraine-sufferers wouldsimply follow his recommendations andprotocols, the vast majority of that 28 millionwould quickly be migraine-free.

So just for a minute, I wantyou to imagine… an Americathat is migraine-free. With TheMigraine Cure what currentlyseems like a pipedream canbecome a reality.

There has never been a migraine cure withthis bold a promise, to my knowledge. Becauseno one has ever before been able to truly backup that promise.

Do you suffer from migraines? Do you haveloved ones or friends whose lives are beingdamaged by migraines? Then I encourage youto jump on this new book. You have only yourpain to lose!

If you go to a kettlebell class in your localarea these days, you will find that despite itshardcore, macho reputation, over 70% of theparticipants are women.

Now Senior RKC Andrea Du Cane hasdeveloped the most comprehensive-ever DVDaimed at specifically helping women enjoy

optimal benefits from kettlebells in their ownhomes. Her Kettlebell Goddess Workout is amasterly effort with a highly interactive menusystem allowing you to choose or create a widevariety of personalized workouts to meet yourspecific needs.

Pavel’s new Enter the Kettlebell! book andDVD have been redefining kettlebell practicefor both the beginner and the most advancedgirevik. His Enter the Kettlebell! has receivedan avalanche of praise from reviewers on ourwebsite. To see a sample of these reviews seePage 9 of this issue.

One of the most amazing stories to come ourway for a long time is told by Mike Lucas,RKC, who has lost over 160 pounds thanks toa combination of diet, exercise and nowkettlebells. Mike literally reengineered his life—from being grotesquely obese with zero self-esteem at 344 pounds to achieving a fighting-fit180-pound, steely frame with a glowing self-confidence to match. See page 24—25 for thefull story.

Is there any sport that won’t be significantlyenhanced by a good, regular dose of kettlebelltraining? I seriously doubt it. And for surethere’s a lurking explosion waiting to happen inthe golf world, when golfers catch on to whatthe bells will do to ratchet up their game.

While we haven’t published it ourselves, Irecommend that all golfers wanting to improvetheir scores get hold of Terrence Thomas,RKC’s excellent new book HardStyle GolfConditioning.

RKC standout Anthony Diluglio hasproduced a second outstanding kettlebellworkout DVD, AOS Newport and hascontributed an article detailing one of hispatented high-energy workouts. If you lookingfor a hard-driving follow-along workout toreally bust your balls, then look no further…

Pavel’s Grease the Groove protocol hascontinued to astonish people with its plateau-breaking results. Sara Cheatham, RKCcontributes a very inspiring piece on Pages 38—39, and how she creatively aced her weightedpull up goals using Pavel’s method.

Another must-read is powerlifting champMichelle Kilikauskas, RKC’s great article onher and her husband’s success using thekettlebell for on-the-road fitness. Good stuff!(See pages 40—41).

Qigong’s ability to help folk recover from themost serious conditions, never ceases to impressme. Case in point, the also truly inspiring letterand story I got from Jeanne Wiestling on howqigong helped her recover from the effects of amassive stroke. (See page 54).

Enjoy!

All the Best,

John Du Cane

Publisher

Dragon Door Publications presents Vitalics www.dragondoor.com

Publisher & Editor-in-ChiefJohn Du Cane

EditorialTraining Editor

Pavel TsatsoulineEditorial Assistant

Dennis Armstrong

ContributorsAndrea Du Cane, Pavel, Dr. Kristann Heinz,Dr. Al Sears, Dr. Sergey Dzugan, ZhongxianWu, Terrence Tomas, Mike Lucas, Yoannaand Franz Snideman, Anthony Diluglio,Sara Cheatham, Michelle Kilikauskas.

Art Direction & DesignDerek Brighamwww.dbrigham.com

Internet ArchitectJames McConnell,webmaster@dragondoor.com

Dragon Door Corporate Customer Service

Dennis Armstrong, Tammy Drury, call 651-487-2180, support@dragondoor.com

Orders & Customer Service onOrders: call 1-800-899-5111

Dragon Door Publications corporate address:

Dragon Door Publications5 East County Rd B, #3Little Canada, MN 55117

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News From The Publisher

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oderate exercise can greatly benefit awoman experiencing a low-risk normal,healthy pregnancy. But some pregnanciesare special and it is recommended that all

women check with their doctor before starting orcontinuing an exercise program.

Exercise is not for all pregnant women and womenshould not participate in a prenatal fitness program if theyhave: pregnancy induced high blood pressure; a pre-existing medical condition such as heart disease or severebreathing disorder; persistent vaginal bleeding; adiagnosis of a weak cervix; a history of 2nd and 3rdtrimester miscarriages; preterm rupture of membranes ora preterm labor in the current or previous pregnancy; adifficult time gaining weight during pregnancy.

Pregnant women who have a low-risk healthypregnancy can begin or continue a moderate exerciseprogram if their doctor has approved such activity.

Do not start a kettlebell training program or any newvigorous exercise program when you discover you arepregnant. If you have been training with kettlebells for aleast a year, show the Kettlebell Goddess Workout DVD toyour obstetrician and together you can decide whatkettlebell exercises, if any, are safe for you during yourpregnancy.

Every pregnancy is unique and every womenexperiences pregnancy differently, therefore it is veryimportant to continue to check with your doctor aboutyour KB training to ensure safety throughout your wholepregnancy.

On her new DVD, Andrea Du Cane recommends that

kettlebell exercises starting in the first trimester should beperformed with a light kettlebell weighting no more than8kg, and exercises will need to be modified in form andweight as a normal pregnancy progresses. The modifiedexercises reflect normal physiologic changes that occurduring pregnancy. Again, these exercises must be reviewedwith your obstetrician to make sure your KB exerciseprogram is safe for you and your baby.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologyrecommends that most pregnant women participate in 30minutes or more of moderate exercise on most days, if notall days of the week. Examples of moderate exerciseinclude a brisk walk, gardening or dancing. A pregnantwoman should never exercise to the point of exhaustion.

In normal pregnancies, exercise can:

• Boost overall energy

• Contribute to a sense of well being

• Help regulate weight gain

• Help stabilize blood glucose levels, which can reducethe risk of developing gestational diabetes

• Prevent or relieve back aches and leg cramps

• Prevent or reduce the occurrence of constipation

• Improve sleep

• Get the body ready for childbirth and reduce recovery time

Kettlebell exercises are particularly beneficial forpregnant women because core muscle groups arestrengthened—which may help throughout the pregnancy,with childbirth and with post-partum recovery.

A pregnant women should stop exercising immediatelyand contact their health professional if she is experiencingany of the following: chest pain, difficulty breathing,dizziness, nausea, light-headedness, vaginal bleeding,persistent uterine contractions, pelvic pain, a sudden gushor persistent leak of fluid from the vaginal, suddenswelling in your ankles or hands, have difficulty walkingor experience muscle weakness.

Normal physiologic changes that occur duringpregnancy, will affect your workout and you may need tomodify your workout as your pregnancy progresses.

Your respiratory rate and heart beat will increase duringpregnancy to provide oxygen to your baby. This willreduce the amount of oxygen that you will have forexercise.

You will also expand your blood volume byapproximately 40% as another way to provide oxygen toyour baby. The increase in blood volume can cause somewomen to have anemia during pregnancy. This change

can cause you to feel lightheaded during exercise.

During your 2nd and 3rd trimester, it is recommendedby the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology,not to perform exercises which require you to lay on yourback. Laying down shifts the weight of your baby backonto a vein called the vena cava. When you lay down onyour back, you can compress the vein and decrease theamount of blood that is returning to the heart from thelower part of your body. Your heart rate will slow down.A slow heart rate can cause you to feel lightheaded anddizzy and interfere with normal blood flow to the uterus.

As your uterus and breasts grow, your physical shapewill change your center of gravity. This can place stress onyour back muscles and joints and can cause you to loseyour balance easily.

Pregnancy increases the level of a hormone calledRELAXIN in your pregnancy, which relaxes your jointsand ligaments to prepare you for childbirth. This hormonenot only affects the muscles in your pelvic region but alsoyour whole body. Therefore, it is easy to sprain and strainyour muscles and joints.

Your metabolism and caloric expenditure increasesbecause of your pregnancy and you will need to eat morecalories to meet your needs. If you exercise, that caloricrequirement will increase even more. You will also need toeat more calories to ensure adequate weight gain.

Your core body temperature increases during pregnancyand when you exercise you will generate heat. Excessiveand sustained body temperatures can be harmful to youand your baby, particularly during the first trimester.Exercise in light clothing where heat can escape easily. Donot exercise on hot days. Make sure to drink plenty offluids before, during and after exercise.

After labor, it is important that a woman spend sometime letting her body recover. It is always important thatshe check with her doctor before beginning any exerciseprogram. Some doctors may extend a recovery period upto six weeks particularly if a woman underwent a cesareansection. After a doctor has approved that a woman maystart exercising, she may find exercise helps her feel betteremotionally during the PP time and will help her regainher pre-pregnancy figure.

It is important to start exercising slowly. If you areeager to start kettlebell training, remember many of thepregnancy related changes in the body systems, like thecardiovascular system, will continue for 4-6 weeks aftergiving birth. You should start slowly and check with yourdoctor about which KB exercises are right for you.Weight-less workouts with a focus on core strengtheningdrills should be mastered before you begin any kettlebelltraining.

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BUT IS IT SAFE? The Critical Dos andDon’ts of Exercising with Kettlebells

During and After Pregnancy

This article is based on the talk by Dr. Heinz included in Andrea Du Cane’s new Kettlebell GoddessWorkout DVD.

Kristann Heinz, MedicalDoctor, ProfessionalMother and CertifiedKettlebell Instructor Setsthe Record Straight…

If you’re currently or recently pregnant DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUTPICKING UP A KETTLEBELL until you’ve read every word of this article!

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KETTLEBELL SWING MASTERYSTEP #1: THE BOX SQUAT

AN EXCERPT FROM ENTER THE KETTLEBELL! BY PAVEL

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natural athlete moves from his hips,never from his back or knees. Hips-first movement is safest for your back

and knees—and most powerful.

Stand up and place the edges of your hands intothe creases on top of your thighs. Press your handshard into your “hinges” and stick your butt outwhile keeping your weight on your heels. Same

thing on the way up: hips first. Drive withyour glutes and hamstrings, less with yourquads, and not at all with your back. You

should feel the muscles in your hinges, the hipflexors, tighten up as if you are doing sit-ups andyour hamstrings stretch.

Once you got the idea how to hinge at your hipsyou are ready for the box squat. The box squat isjust like sitting down on a chair or a curb.Powerlifters invented this drill to improve theirsquatting depth, flexibility, technique, and power. Itwill serve you well.

Now pick up a kettlebell and hold it in front ofyou by its horns. You need it for balance, at least inthe beginning. Stand a foot or so in front of asturdy bench or box facing away from it. Crease atyour hips and push your butt back.

Before you squat, pick a spot on the wall at youreye level. Fix your gaze at the spot for the durationof the set. Stretch your chin and your tailbone awayfrom each other, a great tip from weightliftingauthority Dan John.

Keep pushing your rear end back. Your kneeswill bend, but only as an afterthought. Hips first!

Don’t let your knees go forward. Ideally, yourshins should be close to vertical. If you do not feelyour hamstrings tighten up when you descend, youare squatting wrong. Imagine that you are wearingski boots and your ankles cannot bend. If you owna pair, why imagine? Wear them. You cannot helpbut learn to fold in your hip joints.

Never let your knees bow in. The knees shouldtrack the feet, and the feet should be pointingslightly outward.

The movement is similar to the face-the-wallsquat, except your butt is sticking out and yourbody is folded forward more.

Push the kettlebell forward to counterbalance,and keep sitting back.

Back, not down.

Keep sitting back until your backside softlytouches down on the box. You must not fall evenan inch! Control your descent all the way! You willfeel tightness on the top of your thighs and a stretchin your hamstrings if you do it right.

Time to get up.

Rock back. Instantly rock forward and stand upwhile observing the following rules:

First, do not cross your ankles or push your feetunderneath you. Plant your feet like you mean it,with your shins almost upright. Remember thatyou are stuck in cement up to your knees.

Second, fold over and reach forward. If youhave set your feet far enough forward as instructed,trying to stand up while remaining upright is anexercise in futility, a challenge to the fundamentallaws of physics.

The moment you feel that your weight hasloaded your feet, push your feet hard straight downinto the ground.

Tense your glutes—pinch a coin—and drive yourhips forward until you stand up. Lock out yourknees by pulling up your kneecaps. Lock out yourhips by cramping the glutes. Do not even thinkabout scooping forward! Your knees will slipforward only if you completely disregard theinstructions. Drop and give me 50! Then getsomeone to restrain your shins by hand.

If the technique instruction for the box squatseems exhaustive, please realize that attention todetails is what makes this, or any other effectiveprogram, work. Anything worth doing is worthdoing right. Besides, once you get the box squatdown pat, the swing, the exercise on which allkettlebell drills build on, will be a piece of cake tolearn and master.

Russian kettlebell power to you!

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Would You Like toFINALLY ANDFOREVEREliminate theCurse ofMigraines

from Your Life—And Do ItNaturally, With AbsolutelyNo Drugs?

Now, For the First Timein History, There IS AGenuine, Clinically-Proven, All-Natural,Drug-Free,

100% CUREfor Migraine—A CURE That IsPermanently EradicatingNot Just the SymptomsBUT THE CAUSES ofEven the Worst and MostStubborn Cases

By Sergey Dzugan, MD, PhD

can only imagine what it’s like to wake up each and everyday and not know whether I will welcome the sun in myface or need to hide in a darkened room; not know

whether I will relish the sound of children playing or need to seeka haven of silence; not know whether I will delight in sitting downto a fine meal with friends or need to sequester myself, nauseousand retching, away from those I love; not know whether I will beable to feel satisfaction after a day’s work or need to cut shortanother day at the office.

Never did I imagine I would find a cure for migraine, adebilitating disease which, according to the National HeadacheFoundation, affects approximately 28 million Americans.

But I did.

I didn’t set out to cure migraine. Like many groundbreakingmedical events, the discovery happened serendipitously. In fact, Iwasn’t even working with migraine patients or in neurology at thetime. Rather, before I came to the United States, I was Chief ofCardiovascular Surgery and the Senior Heart Surgeon at theDonetsk District Regional Hospital in the Ukraine. But it washere, while I was working with cancer patients at the NorthCentral Mississippi Regional Cancer Center with R. ArnoldSmith, MD, that something curious occurred…

When cancer patients were treated with immunorestoration—atreatment approach that includes the use of hormones to helpboost the immune system—patients who had once suffered withmigraines reported that suddenly they were migraine-free. (Wealso noticed that high cholesterol was resolved, but that’s anotherstory.)

Why were these patients suddenly free of migraine and its manyrelated symptoms, including fatigue, insomnia, depression, andconstipation? Could restoration of specific, foundationalhormones be the basis of a migraine cure?

I had to know. Suddenly, I had an “incurable desire” to take onone of the most crippling conditions people can experience.Although as physicians we have a wide array of treatment optionsat our disposal—from moderate and heavy-hitting prescriptionpain killers to broadly tested herbal remedies—few doctors havebeen able to successfully treat, much less eliminate this conditionfor their patients.

Until now, migraine has appeared to be impossible to cure. Butit’s not impossible any more.

Now There Is A Cure for Migraine

For the first time, there is a safe, proven cure for migraineheadache and its associated symptoms. I developed the treatmentprotocol out of a long-term clinical study in which all thepatients—100 percent—got complete relief from migraine painand related symptoms, including individuals who had difficult-to-treat migraine that had plagued them for more than thirty years.

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Continued on page 12

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It seemed too good to be true, and you know what they say about suchsituations. But this was not a one-time occurrence. Since that study, I haverepeatedly gotten the same results with hundreds of men, women, andadolescents in the United States and from around the world, whether theyhave been suffering with episodes of migraine pain for a few months or fordecades.

If they can find relief, you and your loved ones can find it as well. In mybook The Migraine Cure, I share with you some of their success stories andhow they achieved that success. More important, I explain how you canrealize that success as well.

Some of the patients have called my treatment program a miracle. It is nota miracle: I do not wave a magic wand and make your migraine disappear.The treatment program is, however, soundly based in science, it is amazing,and it is effective. It is also natural, readily available, noninvasive, and fine-tuned for each individual to fit his or her uniqueneeds.

Basically, I have developed a four-part program formigraine that is both simple and complex. I wantedit to be simple so people could understand it andfollow it easily at home. This information is far tooimportant to keep it out of the hands of everyonewho needs it. The program’s simplicity lies in the factthat the materials needed to achieve a cure arenatural and readily accessible—hormones that arebioidentical to the body and which are available bothover-the-counter and by prescription, as well asvarious nutrients or other natural supplements asneeded, without prescription.

You won’t need to worry about taking drugs thatwill cause side effects or seeking the services of specialpractitioners or therapists; there aren’t any medications in my program.

The program is also complex because each and every hormone, nutritionalsupplement, or other natural compound you may take as part of the planhas an intimate and critical relationship with all the others, and all thesubstances work together to achieve and maintain balance in what is calledthe sympathetic/ parasympathetic nervous systems.

While it isn’t necessary for you to have a thorough understanding of theequilibrium between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems in orderfor you to benefit from the program, I do explain how this fascinatingrelationship works, with the aid of illustrations, because I believe it willprovide you with a depth of appreciation not only of the migraine cure butof the intricate maneuverings required to achieve it.

A prominent professor has called my migraine treatment program “NobelPrize material.” Although it would be an honor to win such a prestigiousprize, the real reward for me is the invaluable results it is providing the men,women, and young people who once suffered with migraine and who noware pain-free. I wrote this book so I could offer you the possibility of a cure.

In The Migraine Cure, you will learn about how the program works, whyit works, and, most important, how you can take the steps necessary tomake it work for you—all without the use of expensive therapies ortraditional drugs and the side effects associated with them.

How You Can Take Advantage of the Migraine Cure

Prior to publication of this book, the way most people heard about theMigraine Cure was through the nonprofit organization with which I amassociated, Life Extension Foundation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. TheFoundation is, in a word, a resource, whose purpose is to provide the latestand relevant information on research from scientific and clinical studies toindividuals and their health-care practitioners.

As president of Life Extension Scientific Information Inc., I supervise a staffof knowledgeable advisors who assist individuals who contact theFoundation in search information and ways to help them improve theirhealth, extend human life, slow aging, prevent disease, and find the most

effective therapies and remedies for their needs.

No one on our staff forms a patient-physicianrelationship with any of the individuals who contact us,nor do they perform any type of physical examination,prescribe medications, or order tests or procedures.Once we provide people with information, they areencouraged to share it with their own health-carepractitioners and to continue to seek additionalinformation from the Foundation. We, in return, willcontinue to provide such assistance as long as peoplerequest it. If someone cannot find or does not have ahealth-care professional to consult, our advisors canprovide a list of practitioners whom he or she cancontact.

Among those who contact us are people withmigraine who have read about the migrainemanagement program in the articles I have written for

the magazine published by the Foundation, and who heard about it by wordof mouth. Good news, after all, does travel fast, and in this case it has circledthe globe. When people with migraine contact the Foundation, I and myadvisors explain how the Migraine Cure works, as I do in detail in my book.In fact, in the book you will meet many of the individuals who havebenefited from making that phone call. They learn that the migraineprogram is highly individualized and involves (1) undergoing a few bloodtests, and (2) taking various natural supplements on a daily basis. Both partsof the program are offered by Life Extension Foundation, but individualscan also choose to access and purchase them from other sources whilefollowing the program.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Most people who carefully follow therecommendations of the Migraine Cure are migraine-free in as little as oneweek. One patient recently revealed to me that after she had been on theprogram for only two days, she conducted her own little “test“ of theprogram: she ate something that had always triggered migraine in the past—a big dish of chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce. Her results?Surprise—no migraine!

Here’s wishing you many migraine-free years filled with all the goodnessand sweetness life has to offer.

Migraine Cure continued from page 10

re you one of those frustrated intobelieving that if you could just makeyourself exercise more, then you'd be able

to finally lose those love handles, eliminate thatspare tire, beat your morning arthritis andstiffness or finally get your energy back?

Before you force yourself into blindly doingmore, read the important lesson of Dr IrvingDardik. He was the first Chairman of the USOlympic Committee's Sports Medicine Council.Today I want to tell you about his Gold Medalwinning discovery. This technique can actuallyreverse chronic diseases as diverse as Parkinson's,diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis.

And, unlike the drudgery of the much toutedaerobic regimens, this is fun, your benefits will befast and it doesn't take more than just a fewminutes a day.

For Natural Activity, Practice Recovery The story begins with Dr. Dardik's friend JackKelly. Jack was the brother of actress Grace Kelly.He was also an Olympic oarsman and the currentpresident of the US Olympic Committee. Hewent out for his usual morning run and, shortlyafter, dropped dead of sudden heart failure.

Dr. Dardik knew that heart attacks often occurafter running or jogging - not during theworkout. He added that, “People have beenrunning for thousands of years, and they didn'tdie like that. It must be something in the waypeople run now that causes heart failure afterexertion.”

He also observed that long-distance runners wereprone to infections and chronic diseases,especially heart disease. He compared theirexercise practices to the habits of native peopleand animals.

He said that animals and natives in the wild runin short bursts. Then, they take time for recovery.And, they repeat this cycle of exertion andrecovery. He concluded that long-distancerunners die of heart attacks because they have nottrained their hearts to recover. This is the sameconclusion I reported in The Doctor's HeartCure.

Your Natural Heart WaveThese observations of cycles lead Dr. Dardik tohis fascinating concept of viewing heart exertionand recovery as a wave - the "Heart Wave."When you begin exercise, your heart rate beginsto climb. When you stop, it begins to come backdown. Think about that. If you plot thesechanging rates going up, then down, throughtime, it does indeed form a wave.

Inside that wave of exertion, you have smallerwaves from each heart beat - itself an alternatingwave of exertion (systole) and recovery (diastole).Dardik was the first to see these as “waves withinwaves”.

Generate Strong Heart Waves -and Reverse Disease So why should you care? If you mimic the naturalrhythms of your heart, and exercise in intervals ofexertion and recovery, you gradually increaseyour heart rate variability, or HRV. Simply stated,the greater your HRV, the better your overallhealth. The more limited your HRV, the greateryour risk of chronic disease.

In addition to increasing their heart ratevariability, non-athletic women in Dr Dardik'sstudy also gained:

• Greater Lung Volume• Lower Blood Pressure• Improved Immune Function• Lower Stress and Anxiety• Greater Sense of Energy and Well-being

All of these changes were in just 8 weeks. Toquote Dardik, “Cyclic exercise really worked inreversing disease.”

Your 10-Minute Plan forReconnecting to the Rhythms of Life Of course, if you have a heart problem youshould check with your personal physician beforedoing this or any other exercise. For this exercise,you can choose any activity that will provideexertion for your heart. A treadmill, ellipticalmachine, bicycle, jump rope, trampoline oralternating sprinting and walking will work well.

To maximize the amplitude of your heart wave,keep your exercise interval brief, 30 seconds isenough. Immediately upon finishing this briefsprint, put emphasis on your recovery. Instead ofmerely resting, participate in the process bycalming your mind and imagining your heart rateslowing down.

To help with this, focus on each exhalation. Asyou breathe out, use your imagination to bringyour heart rate down. In your mind's eye, seeyour heart relaxing - slowly and steadilyreturning to its resting rate. When your heart raterecovers, do another interval.

Here's a sample program you can do in about 10minutes.

Repeat this every couple of days but in the nextsession slightly increase the intensity. So if you'reon a stationary bike, for example, increase theresistance a little each day so it's gradually harderto pedal. Now you are incorporatingprogressivity, a principle that Dr. Dardikneglected.

Progressivity is the first principle of mytrademarked exercise program, ProgressivelyAccelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion (PACE).Any exercise you do will only continue to changeyour body through time if you incrementallyincrease something in the program.

By the time you've done this for 6 weeks youshould be giving the 20-second interval all you'vegot then quickly changing your focus torecovering as fast as you can. This will focus yourtraining on increasing your heart rate variabilitya most important cardiac capacity.

INT. Rest INT. Rest INT.30 sec 2 min 40 sec 2 min 40 sec

Rest INT. Rest INT. Rest2 min 30 sec 2 min 20 sec 2 min

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LEARN TO GENERATE BIGGER "HEART WAVES"AND BEAT DISEASES OF AGING

By Al Sears, M.D.

This article by Al Sears, MD is reprinted, withpermission, from a recent issue of his HealthConfidential E-Newsletter. To be sure toautomatically receive, for free, every issue ofDr. Sears’s highly informative e-newslettersvisit the www.dragondoor.com website andsubscribe to his newsletter.

Use Kettlebells to: • Accelerate your all-purpose strength—so

you can readily handle the toughest demands

• Hack away your fat—without the dishonor ofdieting and aerobics

• Boost your physical resilience—to repel thehardest hits

• Build your staying power—to endure andconquer, whatever the distance

• Create a potent mix of strength-with-flexibility—to always reach your target

• Forge a fighter’s physique—so form matchesfunction

• Be independent—world’s #1 portable gymmakes you as strong as you want to be,anywhere, anytime

Pavel’s Kettlebell FAQ

Kettlebells Fly Air Force One! “There’s a competitive reason behind theappearance of kettlebells at the back doors andtent flaps of military personnel. When Russianand US Special Forces started competing againsteach other after the Soviet Union broke up, theAmericans made a disturbing discovery. “We’dbe totally exhausted and the Russians wouldn’teven be catching their breath,” says… [a] SecretService agent… “It turned out they were allworking with kettlebells.”

Now, half the Secret Service is snatchingkettlebells and a set sometimes travels with thePresident’s detail on Air Force One.”—ChristianScience MonitorRU

SSIA

NK

ETTL

EBEL

LSRU

SSIA

NK

ETTL

EBEL

LS The World’s #1 HandheldGym For Extreme Fitness

What is a ‘kettlebell’?A ‘kettlebell’ or girya (Russ.) is a traditional Russian cast iron weight

that looks like a cannonball with a handle. The ultimate tool forextreme all-round fitness.

The kettlebell goes way back – it first appeared in a Russiandictionary in 1704 (Cherkikh, 1994). So popular were kettlebells inTsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter was referred to as agirevik, or ‘a kettlebell man’.

“Not a single sport develops our muscular strength and bodies as wellas kettlebell athletics,” reported Russian magazine Hercules in 1913.

“Kettlebells—Hot Weight of the Year”—Rolling Stone

Why train with kettlebells?Because they deliver extreme all-round fitness. And no single other

tool does it better. Here is a short list of hardware the Russian kettlebellreplaces: barbells, dumbbells, belts for weighted pullups and dips, thickbars, lever bars, medicine balls, grip devices, and cardio equipment.

Vinogradov & Lukyanov (1986) found a very high correlationbetween the results posted in a kettlebell lifting competition and a greatrange of dissimilar tests: strength, measured with the three powerliftsand grip strength; strength endurance, measured with pullups andparallel bar dips; general endurance, determined by a 1000 meter run;work capacity and balance, measured with special tests.

Voropayev (1983) tested two groups of subjects in pullups, a standingbroad jump, a 100m sprint, and a 1k run. He put the control group ona program that emphasized the above tests; the experimental grouplifted kettlebells. In spite of the lack of practice on the tested exercises,the kettlebell group scored better in every one of them! This is what wecall “the what the hell effect”.

Kettlebells melt fat without the dishonor of dieting or aerobics. If youare overweight, you will lean out. If you are skinny, you will get builtup. According to Voropayev (1997) who studied top Russian gireviks,21.2% increased their bodyweight since taking up kettlebelling and21.2% (the exact same percentage, not a typo), mostly heavyweights,decreased it. The Russian kettlebell is a powerful tool for fixing yourbody comp, whichever way it needs fixing.

Kettlebells forge doers’ physiques along the lines of antique statues:broad shoulders with just a hint of pecs, back muscles standing out inbold relief, wiry arms, rugged forearms, a cut-up midsection, and stronglegs without a hint of squatter’s chafing.

Liberating and aggressive as medieval swordplay, kettlebell trainingis highly addictive. What other piece of exercise equipment can boastthat its owners name it? Paint it? Get tattoos of it? Our Russiankettlebell is the Harley-Davidson of strength hardware.

“Kettlebells—A Workout with Balls”—Men’s Journal

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STEEL HANDLE & CORE/RUBBER CASING Price MAIN USA AK&HI CAN#P10D 4kg (approx. 9lb) —.25 poods $89.95 S/H $11.00 $49.00 $27.00#P10K 6kg (approx. 13lb) — .375 poods $97.95 S/H $14.00 $56.00 $32.00#P10E 8kg (approx. 18lb) — .50 poods $99.95 S/H $17.00 $65.00 $38.00

CLASSIC KETTLEBELLS (SOLID CAST IRON)#P10G 12kg (approx. 26lb) — .75 poods $82.95 S/H $21.00 $79.00 $47.00#P10A 16kg (approx. 35lb) — 1 pood $89.95 S/H $27.00 $94.00 $58.00#P10H 20kg (approx. 44lb) — 1.25 poods $99.95 S/H $32.00 $109.00 $70.00#P10B 24kg (approx. 53lb) — 1.5 poods $109.95 S/H $36.00 $125.00 $81.00#P10J 28kg (approx. 62lb) — 1.75 poods $129.95 S/H $38.00 $142.00 $90.00#P10C 32kg (approx. 70lb) — 2 poods $139.95 S/H $43.00 $158.00 $99.00#P10F 40kg (approx. 88lb) — 2.5 poods $179.95 S/H $57.00 $190.00 $124.00#P10L 48kg (approx. 106lb) — 3 poods $247.95 S/H $67.00 $223.00 $158.00

SAVE! ORDER A SET OF CLASSIC KETTLEBELLS & SAVE $17.00#SP10 Classic Set (one each of 16, 24 & 32kg) $322.85 S/H $106.00 $377.00 $238.00

ALASKA/HAWAII KETTLEBELL ORDERINGDragon Door now ships to all 50 states, including Alaska andHawaii, via UPS Ground.

CANADIAN KETTLEBELL ORDERINGDragon Door now accepts online, phone and mail orders forKettlebells to Canada, using UPS Standard service. UPS Standard toCanada service is guaranteed, fully tracked ground delivery, availableto every address in all of Canada’s ten provinces. Delivery time canvary between 3 to 10 days.

IMPORTANT — International shipping quotes & orders do not

include customs clearance, duties, taxes or other non-routinecustoms brokerage charges, which are the responsibility of thecustomer.

• KETTLEBELLS ARE SHIPPED VIA UPS GROUND SERVICE, UNLESSOTHERWISE REQUESTED.

• KETTLEBELLS RANGING IN SIZE FROM 4KG TO 24KG CAN BESHIPPED TO P.O. BOXES OR MILITARY ADDDRESSES VIA THEU.S. POSTAL SERVICE, BUT WE REQUIRE PHYSICALADDDRESSES FOR UPS DELIVERIES FOR THE 32KG AND 40KGKETTLEBELLS.

• NO RUSH ORDERS ON KETTLEBELLS!

CLASSIC STYLE

RUBBER CASED

Who trains with kettlebells?Hard comrades of all persuasions.Soviet weightlifting legends such as Vlasov, Zhabotinskiy, and Alexeyev

started their Olympic careers with old-fashioned kettlebells. Yuri Vlasov onceinterrupted an interview he was giving to a Western journalist and proceededto press a pair of kettlebells. “A wonderful exercise,” commented the worldchampion. “…It is hard to find an exercise better suited for developingstrength and flexibility simultaneously.”

The Russian Special Forces personnel owe much of their wiry strength,explosive agility, and never-quitting stamina to kettlebells. Soldier, BeStrong!, the official Soviet armed forces strength training manual pronouncedkettlebell drills to be “one of the most effective means of strengthdevelopment” representing “a new era in the development of humanstrength-potential”.

The elite of the US military and law enforcement instantly recognized thepower of the Russian kettlebell, ruggedly simple and deadly effective as anAK-47. You can find Pavel’s certified RKC instructors among Force ReconMarines, Department of Energy nuclear security teams, the FBI’s HostageRescue Team, the Secret Service Counter Assault Team, etc.

Once the Russian kettlebell became a hit among those whose life dependson their strength and conditioning, it took off among hard people from allwalks of life: martial artists, athletes, regular hard comrades.

“I can’t think of a more practical way of special operationstraining… I was extremely skeptical about kettlebell training and

now wish that I had known about it fifteen years ago…”

—Name withheld, Special Agent, U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team

Am I kettlebell material?Kettlebell training is extreme but not elitist. At the 1995 Russian

Championship the youngest contestant was 16, the oldest 53! And we aretalking elite competition here; the range is even wider if you are training foryourself rather than for the gold. Dr. Krayevskiy, the father of the kettlebellsport, took up training at the age of forty-one and twenty years later he wassaid to look fresher and healthier than at forty.

Only 8.8% of top Russian gireviks, members of the Russian National Teamand regional teams, reported injuries in training or competition (Voropayev,1997). A remarkably low number, especially if you consider that these areelite athletes who push their bodies over the edge. Many hard men with highmileage have overcome debilitating injuries with kettlebell training (get yourdoctor’s approval). Acrobat Valentin Dikul fell and broke his back atseventeen. Today, in his mid-sixties, he juggles 180-pound balls and breakspowerlifting records!

“… kettlebells are a unique conditioning tool and a powerful one aswell that you should add to your arsenal of strength... my experience

with them has been part of what’s led me to a modification in mythoughts on strength and bodyweight exercises… I’m having a blast

training with them and I think you will as well.”

—Bud Jeffries, the author of How to Squat 900lbs. without Drugs,Powersuits, or Kneewraps

How do I learn to use the kettlebell? From Pavel’s books and videos: The Russian Kettlebell Challenge or From

Russia with Tough Love for comrades ladies. From an RKC certifiedinstructor; find one in your area on RussianKettlebell.com. Kettlebelltechnique can be learned in one or two sessions and you can start intensetraining during the second or even first week (Dvorkin, 2001).

“…I felt rejuvenated and ready to conquer the world. I was sold onthe kettlebells, as the exercises were fun and challenging, and

demanded coordination, explosion, balance, and power… I amnow on my way to being a better, fitter, and more explosive

grappler, and doing things I haven’t done in years!”

—Kid Peligro, Grappling magazine

What is the right kettlebell size for me? Kettlebells come in ‘poods'. A pood is an old Russian measure of weight,

which equals 16kg, or roughly 35 lbs. An average man should start with a 35-pounder. It does not sound like a lot but believe it; it feels a lot heavier thanit should! Most men will eventually progress to a 53-pounder, the standardissue size in the Russian military. Although available in most units, 70-pounders are used only by a few advanced guys and in elite competitions. 88-pounders are for mutants.

An average woman should start with an 18-pounder. A strong woman cango for a 26-pounder. Some women will advance to a 35-pounder. A few hardwomen will go beyond.

“Kettlebells are like weightlifting times ten.”

“Kettlebells are like weightlifting times ten. …If I could’ve met Pavelin the early ‘80s, I might’ve won two gold medals. I’m serious.”

—Dennis Koslowski, D.C., RKC,Olympic Silver Medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling

Announcing:

TWONEWSIZES!

Many of you have askedfor an intermediatekettlebell betweenthe 4kg and 8kg. Sohere it is… the 6kg(13lb), which like itssisters has a steelhandle and core withrubber casing. Greatfor weighted jointmobility drills!

And then, we’veuncaged “THE BEAST”, a monstrous 48kg(106lb) of solidiron, for the ultimatein hardcore training.Swing it, clean it, snatchit —and, if you dare, trypistols, pullups andpresses! Are you man (orwoman) enough to tameTHE BEAST — or will THEBEAST tame you?

23

“How I Lost 164Pounds ThroughDiet, DeterminationAnd A Healthy Dose of Kettlebells”

By Mike Lucas, RKC

“How I Lost 164Pounds ThroughDiet, DeterminationAnd A Healthy Dose of Kettlebells”

By Mike Lucas, RKC

Throughout my life, I was never reallygood at finishing what I started withanything that I set out to do. I wasn’t thefirst pick for teams as a kid when itcame to playing sports because I neverpracticed as much as I should have tomake the team. My book smarts wereaverage at best and I never really hadany outstanding accomplishments whenit came to education. I always hadgrandiose ideas when I started projectsor hobbies; I never had the drive tofinish anything once I started it. Inshort, I suffered from low self-esteemand a lack of confidence in myselfgrowing up. I lacked motivation,passion, and desire.

Unfortunately, this carried over intoadulthood and brought me to a verydark path in my life…

I became my own worstnightmare when I gainedover 150 pounds andbecame an obese adult.

I held low paying jobs thatoverworked me and often made me adisgruntled employee that blamed theworld for all of my problems. I wouldget depressed seeing my friends pass meby in the game of life as they began tosettle down and start families. I soonbecame the womanless fifth wheel atbirthday parties and weddings. Myemployment often suffered because oflaziness and lack of initiative to keep upwith my job requirements. It wasimpossible for me to finish what Istarted when it came to taking control ofanything my life. Diets would come andgo. Relationships would come and gotoo.

I never could cross the finish line…

Then I woke up and decided to changeall of that!

I decided that the only thing keepingme down was my own fear and lack ofconviction.

So what did I do? I became a Veganand started working out every single day(Sometimes twice a day) for a little overa year to take the weight off. I pushed

and challenged myself to the limit everysingle time I hit the gym. When I wastempted to quit, I just kept going. Whenmy knees were shot and my anklesbuckled I kept on running and lifting.

My resolve grew stronger as time wentby. This was one fight I was determinedto go the distance on and nothing wasgoing to stop me! When I started myweight loss journey, I weighed 344pounds.

With my newfoundcourage, determination,and faith, I lost 114pounds to reach the 230-pound mark!

I did so without any professionalassistance or training the old fashionedway with diet and exercise. It was agreat accomplishment!

There was still something missingthough. I learned about a local televisedBiggest Loser contest based on the hitreality TV show. I wanted desperately toreach my goal of 180 pounds so Idecided to write a heart felt letter to thestation in hopes of being a contestant.My letter was answered and I wascontacted by a nice woman named SarahLurie. It was explained to me that I wasgoing to train with Russian Kettlebells. Iwas quite excited about this, because Ihad recently read an article about themin a Muscle and Fitness before I startedthe contest.

The Kettlebell training I received was aprayer answered! I started my trainingat Iron Core Studio in La Jolla, CA. Insix weeks of training with Sarah Lurie,RKC and Brett Jones, Senior RKC, I lost50 pounds to meet my goal of 180!

Needles to say I won the contest! Iwon the war physically, but I was stillnot completely satisfied. That’s when Iwas approached by my trainers tobecome a Russian Kettlebell Certifiedinstructor.

This was an important moment in mylife for me. One day, Sarah Lurieapproached me and explained to mehow impressed she was with my strong

24

One Man’sWarAgainst TheObesityEpidemic

One Man’sWarAgainst TheObesityEpidemic

hen I first meet people they often ask me, “Mike, what does theRKC mean behind your name?” To some fitness trainers, it’s justanother certification for the resume. To me, it means much more. W

work ethic. She told me I would make a goodinstructor and encouraged me to “Think about it.”The idea of becoming an instructor was quiteappealing to me. It had all the ingredients of a greatprofession. It’s a job that has a lot of differentpositions within the position.

As an RKC you are a teacher, entertainer, motivator,diplomat, and service provider. You are alsoinstrumental in improving the quality of someone’s lifeto make them feel better. It’s quite satisfying to knowyou have the opportunity to help someone conquer anew milestone. I was thrilled to accept the challenge.

I trained very hard to meet the RKC requirements. Iendured ripped calluses on my hands, worked throughsore shoulders, and spent many hours in the trainingstudio preparing for the RKC Challenge. Brett Jonesput me through punishing drills to help me developquick gains in strength and endurance. I studied DVDsand Pavel’s articles to learn about form. I clung toevery single word about training that Brett and SarahLurie had to offer. I sat in on training sessionsconducted by Sarah to learn everything I could aboutgood instruction and class supervision.Correspondence with Mike Mahler was regular andinstrumental in a lot of my success as well. I put everywaking moment of my spare time into doingeverything I had to do to become and RKC.

When I finally completed the program and the epicSteve Maxwell Crucible Kettlebell drill, I felt like Ihad finally finished something that I set out to do. Ilost the weight that held me captive for so many years.I also lost the emotional weight of not being able tofinish what I started.

It was truly one of the best days in my life when Iearned that certificate with Pavel Tsatsouline’shallmark signature on the bottom of it. The certificateis not just a piece of paper to me at all. No sir! Thatcertification is a symbol of my hard work, motivation,and determination to finish strong in the end. It’s asymbol of me getting my life back and being a happyhuman being again.

I’m happy to say that I will never have to questionmyself or my abilities again in my life. The shacklesare gone and the sky is the limit! I am now a RussianKettlebell Certified Instructor for Iron Core and I amproud to wear that label as well!

I promised everyone I would wage war on theobesity epidemic. It’s the latest thing I’ve set out to do.This is another project I intend to start withoutquitting.

Do the letters RKC meansomething behind my name? You bet!

I went through the hardest year I’ve ever had in mylife and I’ve earned my right be called an RKC! I amproud to wear the title! I have the deepest respect forall of my comrades that share the title and those thatare willing to go for the title too! Be strong and neverbe afraid to find out what you’re made of!

25

Since making his goal weight,Mike Lucas has devoted his lifeto promoting weight lossadvocacy and physical fitness.

In addition to his education in fitness, Lucas plans to devote timeto motivational workshops and non-profit work for childhoodobesity awareness. A San Diego based trainer, Mike is availablefor personal training, motivational advice, and workshops.Contact Mike Lucas, RKC at 858-551-2673 ormike@ironcorelajolla.com. To learn more about Mike’s story visithttp://www.myspace.com/ kingofkool858 andwww.ironcorelajolla.com.

Mikeat 344

lbs. then,and

180 lbs. now! t

t

Are Golfer’s Athletes?In the September 04 issue of Golf

Digest, writer David Owen ranked golflow on the totem pole when it comes tophysical demand. But to answer thisquestion, we have to agree on what anathlete is. For our purposes, an athleteis one whose physical requirementsdemand a mastery of one or more of theseven primal movement patterns.Mastery can be defined as consistencyand accuracy of performance. PaulChek, author of the Golf BiomechanicsManual developed this system of primalpattern assessment. He coined thesemovements primal in that these specifictasks were required to survive during“primal” times. They can also beconsidered primal in that we use thesebasic movements in every life. The sevenprimal movements are the squat, lunge,bend, push, pull, twist, and gait. Gaithas three parts; walking, jogging andrunning.

The physical requirements for golf,demand that the bend and twist patternsbe done with great accuracy and

consistency. However, golf is not limited to these two patterns. All of the primal patternsare required to function properly on the golf course. When judging the putting greens, aproper squat pattern is needed to stoop down. A functional gait pattern allows us to walkthe golf course. We use a pull pattern when raking out bunkers. So are golfers real athletes?YES they are and kettlebell training will help improve athleticism.

Sports conditioning (golf included) is built on a system of progressions. A sound programwill progress using a flexibility, balance, strength and power model. To maximize your golfgame, adequate Flexibility is necessary to complete all phases of the golf swing. Tomaintain the body’s center of gravity at the various swing positions, Balance must bemaintained. Consistent golf performance demands a solid foundation of strength.Strength will prepare your body to generate the force needed to sustain power. Power iswhat creates club head speed needed for long drives. Kettlebell training will kill 4 birdswith one stone as all of the above physical abilities can be developed with a single kettlebell.The following guidelines will help you progress through all phases of your golfconditioning program.

I. Flexibility The cyclical nature of the golf swing putsthe golfer in a position to develop a variety of muscleimbalances. Muscle imbalances are disruptions in thelength/tension relationships between tonic and phasicmuscles. Tonic muscles have a tendency to get shortand tight (hamstrings and neck musculature). Phasicmuscles will get long and weak (buttocks and lowerabdominals).

Muscles can be viewed like spokes on a bicyclewheel. If any of the spokes become too loose ortight, the entire frame comes out of alignment. This

analogy holds true for the human body when there are muscle imbalancespresent. The flexibility gained with kettlebell training is ideal for maintaining themuscle balance that is required for optimal golf performance. "Muscle Balance

and Flexibility as well as "Static and DynamicStability" control 80% of ball flight factors ."

II. Balance Balance and stability are essential for aconsistent golf game. They allow the body to stay incontrol during the golf swing and avoid commonfaults such as excessive hip sway and taking youreye off the ball. Adequate levels of core strength andconditioning are essential for optimal balance andstability.

“By Proxy” Abdominal TrainingPaul Chek in his 2001 article titled Back to theFuture of Abdominal Training summed it up bestwhen he said “The actions of the abdominal wallare quite complex indeed. It is common for us tothink of the abdominals as muscles whose primary

function is the aesthetics they provide in front of a mirror. This sort of thinking isanalogous to thinking that a car is a box on wheels, the sun is merely a lightsource for earth, or that having a headache is an indication of an Aspirindeficiency!” The abdominals play an important role in the health of the entirebody and as such, they respond best with functional exercises. For our purposesfunctional exercises are those that require that the abdominals be involved in themovement, therefore improving abdominal conditioning “by proxy”. Kettlebellsprovide real world conditioning for the abdominals that will carry over to the golfcourse and in everyday life. Your Hard Style Golf Conditioning program will helpyou create a “six pack that works”!

III. Strength A solid foundation ofstrength, it increases your workcapacity. In golf you must be capableof activating all of your musclessimultaneously and repeatedly. If youlack adequate strength, your ability todo this will diminish with every stroke.Kettlebells will develop your workcapacity and a high level of physicalresiliency like nothing else.

For any exercise to improve sportsconditioning it must have a practicalcarryover to the sports environment.This carryover is dependent on thefollowing criteria:

1. Comparable reflex profile.The exercise must stimulate thebody’s balance reflexes in a way thatis similar to golf.

CONTINUED PAGE 28

By Terrence Thomas, RKC

26

“Power Up Your Golf Game with Russian Kettlebells”

The following is an excerpt from the book Hard Style Golf Conditioning

HOW TO DEVELOP SUSTAINED STRENGTH

AND SPEED

—WITH CRIMINALLY

PUNISHING KETTLEBELL WORKOUTS

30

HOW TO DEVELOP SUSTAINED STRENGTH

AND SPEED

—WITH CRIMINALLY

PUNISHING KETTLEBELL WORKOUTS

By Anthony Diluglio, RKC“Sustained strength and speed.” That’s the short answer I

give people asking about the difference between my twokettlebell workout DVDs, The Art of Strength: Providence andAOS: Newport.

Most folks are ecstatic about the way Providence provides aturnkey structure for their kettlebell training. I programmedProvidence to instill the fundamentals of KB training in bothbeginners and experienced kettlebellers alike. I patterned a“kettlebell round” after the timed concept of a “round” inboxing. In most cases, I use time instead of repetition. I’vetested this approach with thousands of clients and have foundit to be the most productive approach. You can add this trainingphilosophy to your own home gym with a professional gymtimer of the kind you can find at everlastboxing.com.

I want my client to perform as much work as they can in agiven period of time. In the case of Providence, the rounds areeach 2 minutes. Consider the venerable “kettlebell swing”, forinstance. Most beginners can’t swing the appropriate size KBfor very long. For most, 30 seconds is a grueling lifetime. As acoach, it is easy to get that same client to swing a kettlebell foran extra 10 seconds and enable then to immediately seeprogress. The average person relates better to time than numberof repetitions.

The AOS coaching series allows everyone to easily track theirprogress by simply doing more work in that same round. Imaintain a fairly quick pace throughout, and it will take youawhile to match me rep for rep. This is not a workout you canoutgrow! Very few people are able to complete an AOS DVDon the 1st or even the 10th attempt… that is by design. As I’vesaid before, “nothing worth anything in life comes for free.” Ittakes hard, determined work. Once you do master AOS withyour smallest KB, switch to a different style of backgroundmusic, move up to the next size kettlebell, and feel the pain allover again!

No matter what fitness level you start at or what size kettlebellyou’ve achieved with AOS: Providence, you should be in theshape of your life after a consistent month or two of workouts.Your strength gains will be palpable and obvious. Time to giveNewport a go!

Now that you’ve created new strength with Providence, it’stime to put it to the test. Welcome to the SSS Newport—sustained strength and speed for all sports. Most who tryNewport for the first time can’t believe how difficult it is. Let’sface it. We would all like to have the strength of old timestrongman Eugene Sandow. How about the best of bothworlds? Sandow’s strength combined with Armstrong’sendurance!

When you train for sustained strength and speed, you can’tsimply go for a run or a bike ride. You need to hold your bodyunder tension for a significant period of time without failure.Sure, you will brush up against your maximums in Newport—but just in time for a strategically placed break or drill switch. Ihave taken athletes from mediocre to extraordinary in a veryshort time with this technique.

The punishing rounds in Newport will create a more difficultand challenging scenario than any period, quarter, or round in

your favorite sport… leaving you more time to focus on yourskill of the game rather than your endurance.

Newport is not about the manhandling “the beast” orprogressing to the next size kettlebell. It’s about survival. Justgetting through 1 round at a time until you have no choice butto tap out and try harder next time. For most, this will be your“ultimate fight.”

One of the fighters I train, John, came to me before a title fightand asked if I could get him in shape.

He was a bull and a good fighter, but he was a mess. Noconditioning at all. His body was soft and flabby. He wasrelying on his boxing skill to win the fight. That wasn’t goingto fly this time, and he knew it.

I had to create more difficult “rounds” than he wouldencounter in the ring and transform him in just 6 weeks. Thiswould also be his first 12 round fight. What if he had to go thedistance? I created brutal 4 and 5 minute rounds (as featuredin Newport) to push him harder than he had ever been pushed.The results were astonishing. He walked in that ring lookinglike a champ. His body was rock solid, lean, and fast. The fightwas stopped in the 10th round with John winning the title. Hisopponent asked what the hell John did to get in that kind ofshape. He told him he worked out with iron balls!

Don’t wait to purchase AOS: Newport to experience asustained strength and speed workout. The sample circuitbelow is pulled directly from 3 of the rounds in Newport. You’llneed a stop watch and your lightest kettlebell. Try to last thefull 4 minutes for each round. Take a 30 second rest betweeneach round.

5 min: squat kick + sots press + standing oblique crunch30 sec – kb racked on right, squat + kick on the left30 sec – sots press (right arm)30 sec – kb racked on left, squat + kick on the right30 sec – sots press (left arm)repeat the sequence above twice - then30 sec – standing oblique crunch (right)30 sec – standing oblique crunch (left)

4 min: 2 handed swing + hot potato30 sec – 2 handed swing30 sec – hot potatorepeat 4 times

3 min: punch matrix – plank30 sec - punch matrix30 sec - plankrepeat 3 times

Anthony DiLuglio, RKCOwner: Punch Kettlebell Gym & The Art of StrengthProvidence, RI USAwww.theartofstrength.netwww.punchgym.com

32

Former Canadian PoliceOfficer Tricia Dong, RKC Talks About Lighting UpVancouver… Kettlebell-Style

John Du Cane interviewed Tricia Dong at Pavel’s June 2006 Russian Kettlebell Certification Workshop

ricia Dong: My background is inpolicing. I spent four years as aPolice Officer at Vancouver BCPolice Department. It was a great

job, but it was very restrictive in where I could seemyself going for the rest of my life and career.

So, I quit about five years ago andI went back to school to pursue myfirst passion, which was journalism.I worked as a journalist for a coupleof different places, including ourNational Broadcaster CBC thenswitched sides to become a Com-munications Consultant.

Eventually, I started volunteeringas a running instructor at a localYWCA. It was the same programthat I had taken eight years prior toprepare me to get into the policedepartment. So, I jumped at thechance.

When the current instructorretired, I took over the program.The people that came for help inimproving their fitness levels for thepolice department really liked theway that I presented things. So, theywere asking me to do more outsideof that program.

So I went back to school againand got some more certifications

and started up my company, which isCode5Fitness. “Code 5” is actually police radiocode for airtime when you need priority becausethere is a possibly armed and dangerous suspect.It’s a very high volatile situation, hostage taking,and things like that. So it means, “Be ready.”

My clients needed to always be ready becausefitness isn’t something they need to train for topass the exam. They needed to be able to preparefor ANY encounter at ANY time for the rest oftheir career.

My tag line is, “Be fit forduty.” There’s a doublemeaning there.

My clients enjoyed the way that I was teachingbecause it was very much back to old school stuff,military tech calisthenics. I didn’t use any fancygadgets or machines. They really liked that,because I made it fun for them.

Then it just took off for the more general fitnesspopulation that wanted to have a morechallenging and real hard-core, hard-ass workout. They know that I push them quite hard, butwith what we call “tough love Code 5 style.”They know that I want them to succeed at theirgoals. If their goal is to become a police officer, Iam going to give them my undivided attention ingetting them there safely and uninjured, but Idon’t expect anything less than one hundredpercent of their effort.

If people aren’t physically able to reach a certainlevel yet, I’m fine with that as long as they give meall of their effort. Slackers and whiners…they falloff by the wayside. I don’t spend time with thosekinds of people.

So, I’ve kind of segmented myself in the market.My clients know that they get 100% of me if I get100% of them.

How kettlebells came in, I was interviewed in alocal paper about my company and how it wasassociated with a volunteer position that I do atOdd Squad Productions, which is another story.But lots of people were reading this article andthis one fellow called me up and said, “There’ssomething that I train with that I think youshould take a look at. It would probably be areally good fit.” His name was JeromeO’Charchin, who is an RKC living in Surrey. Hewas also a Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceOfficer.

So, I had him come and do a demonstration,sort of a workshop “Intro to Kettlebells” andwhat are kettlebells, because I hadn’t even heardof them.

He was showing all of these things and Ithought, “That’s pretty cool.” I didn’t have thetime or the effort to just get them all, because Ididn’t know anything about training with them.My clients really liked it. So, I thought, “Okay,well I better look more into this.”

In September, I attended a Ryan Lee Bootcampin Connecticut. An amazing experience! The besttrainers in the world were presenting. The mostmotivated trainers were attending. One of thepresenters I met there was Steve Cotter, yourSenior RKC and he became a mentor for me.

I saw that a lot of the trainers I met at Lee’sBootcamp were using kettlebells and I thought,“Wow! We’ve got to do more kettlebells inCanada…at least in Vancouver!” So, I talked toJerry. I said, “You’ve got to do something. I’mpsyched up! I’m like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’

Now that I’m here and I’ll come back with theRKC designation, I’ll be able to properly marketand get the word out there, do proper pressreleases and media kits and really promotekettlebells and the way of training with them.

In fact, you don’t have to sellkettlebells. They sellthemselves. As soon as youget someone to come to aclass, they are hooked. It’samazing. The results are quickand fast and devastating!

Oh, it’s great! One of my clients, he came intomy program a size 38 waist and he’s a 34 now.He’s gone from extra large clothing to like he’swearing small stuff now. He’s just so happy! He’sjust really happy.

T

33

Tricia Dong, RKC teaches kettlebells in Vancouver, BC Canada. Her email address is kettlebells@code5fitness.com. Her websiteis www.code5fitness.com.

Kettlebells are going to be a great tool for meto make a niche in the market and groundbreak/change the face of training in Vancouver.Now, I’ll start with my small little corner of theworld, but what I really want to do is to changethe way that people think about training inVancouver because we are very much a Yogatown. There’s nothing wrong with yoga, butit’s just fanatical and I think that kettlebellsoffer a good balance for that flexibility with thestrength portion and the power.

It’s more back to basics. That’s what I’mfinding my clients that are regular kettlebellusers like about it. It’s back to basics. It’s honestto goodness training. There are no tricks.There are no gimmicks and you see results.

In the real world, you are not going to chasea guy around a Smith machine or a treadmill.You need to get off the machines and get intofunctional fitness where you are standing andyou need to ground yourself and you need touse your core strength and stability. It’s NOTabout sitting in a machine and pressing as hardas you can, because that’s not going to doanything except if you are sitting down andpressing against somebody. That’s not real life.Real life is: you’ve got to chase somebody; yougot attacked; and you have to control them,arrest them, escort them and still have enoughenergy to write your report,” which can bevery time consuming.

Kettlebells teach you toreally internalize your powerand bring it out when youneed to.

Kettlebells give you that endurance. It givesyou the stamina. It gives you the strength andit gets you off that sort of complacency ofrelying on machines, relying on a certain “in-the-box” mentality of training.

I can’t tell you how much my friends love it.They’ve seen such a difference in their strength.

So, where I am hoping to go is to get peoplemore into kettlebells or even body strengthtraining…as opposed to using machines.

I’m a member of the Vancouver Judo Cluband all of the senior instructors just lovekettlebells. They think it’s so functional. Theyare creating their own drills that are Judospecific and I just thought, “Wow! This isgreat!”

That’s just a small little corner, so what Iwant to do is to get it out there to all theregistered personal trainers, fitness leaders,weight trainers, gyms, facilities, retail outlets:“kettlebells are here and you don’t know what

they are right now, but I am an RKC, and I willshow you!”

The RKC certification has exceeded myexpectations. Because I knew it was going to betough. I’ve done my research and I wouldexpect nothing less, because if it was any easierthen everybody would do it.

But it makes you mentally tough, too,because you put the pressure on yourself toperform well because you don’t care if I crapout. I’m here to learn, but I mean like, there’snothing in it for you if I just decide I just wantto be here for interest’s sake. But to be aninstructor, you have to maintain and show thatyou have that level of ability to instruct or toperform as well.

As I’m going through my snatch test, I thinkabout what I tell my clients. As I was practicingmy snatch test last week at the gym they are allwatching me, cheering me on and all they seeis a reflection that I say to them which is,“How bad do you want it?”

I’ll be yelling,“How bad doyou want it?”

They are all comingfrom desk jobs or nine-to-five jobs and it’s like,“You know? You cango back to that deskjob any time. Policingmay not be for you. It’sokay to quit now. It justdepends on how badyou want it, right?” So,they just sort of realize,“It’s not for me,” andwalk away or, “I’ll digin and just go a little bitharder.” So, that’s thephilosophy that I haveis the, “How bad do Iwant it?”

And me? I want it bad!

What I’ve learned a lot about the people thatare tops in the field is that they always love tolearn more.

I just take a look at these people here whoare the instructors and how awesome they arein sharing. I just want to be, “Okay, these areexcellent remarks. I’ll take that back with meand I’ll share it with my clients, because there’sjust no room in the world for an ungratefulattitude.”

It all started at the 2005Kettlebell Convention. I didn’tknow much about kettlebells atthe time, but my husband

persuaded me to go. There was a contest sign up table at the entrance of the venue. Withnothing to lose I signed up for everything, including the weighted pull-up contest.

I hadn’t done a pull-up in a while, none the less weighted. I was in for a rude awakening.They strapped the bell around my waist, I grabbed the bar, and then…nothing. Theweight and I were not budging. The weight was dropped to 12 kilos and I gave it anothergo. Still nothing.

Then Samantha Young stepped up to the bar. I had already seen her place second in thesnatch test with an impressive 243 and second in the throw with almost 15 feet. I wasnext to her in the snatch test and remember thinking, “This girl is a machine.” I knewshe was going to blow me out of the water with her pull-ups too. I think she amazed

everyone when she pumped out three virtually effortless weighted pull-ups. That was itfor me.

With Samantha as my inspiration, I started my pull-up program. I read an article byPavel entitled “Grease the Groove for Strength” (1999). I applied the “specificity +frequency = success” theory presented in the article to my new pull-up routine. I wasconvinced that “The synaptic facilitation approach [was] very powerful because it greasesthe specific groove of your pet lift.”

According to “Grease the Groove” (GTG), I had to teachmyself to do a perfect pull-up in order to yieldsignificant results…

Every day I hung from the bar with a tactical grip, pulled myself up as far as I could,gave myself a bump through the sticking point with my foot on a bench from underneath,and finished the pull with my neck touching the bar. I paused to focus on total bodytension at the top position before slowly lowering under control.

I did one semi pull-up at a time, at least five times a day every day. So my set/rep schemewas 1 semi-pull-upx5x5. In addition to my “pet lift,” I focused on slow and controlledmilitary pressing during my regular workouts. During my presses I paid particularattention to actively pulling the bell down from the overhead lockout position with mylats.

Within two weeks of starting GTG I realized I didn’t need a bump through my stickingpoint. After I was able to do an unassisted pull-up I happened to read an article in Vitalicsby Josh Henkin, CSCS, RKC. It was “The ABCs of Reaching Your Fitness Goals”(2005). In the article he addresses a system by Charles Staley known as S.M.A.R.T. “Thiseasy to remember acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, andTime Based” (Henkin, 2005). This is how I applied S.M.A.R.T to my pull-up goals:

• S-Specific: My specific goal was to increase my single pull-up to eight pull-ups.

• M-Measurable: Every week I tested myself to see how many pull-ups I could dowithout compromising my form.

• A-Achievable: An increase from one to eight pull-ups in three months was mygoal and seemed reasonable.

• R-Relevant: After I attended the Kettlebell Convention I was hooked and wantedto get my RKC. I wasn’t sure if I would have to do pull-ups for the RKC, but I knewI didn’t want to humiliate myself again either.

• T-Time Based: The next RKC was in June, three months out from the start of myprogram. That was my deadline.

I kept my S.M.A.R.T goals in mind when working on myGTG pull-up program.

With one quality rep under my belt, I started to GTG with one pull-up five timesa day, fives days a week. My set/rep scheme changed to 1x5x5. I paused and heldmy sticking point position on the lowering phase to better prepare my body foradditional reps down the road, or to grease the “synaptic pathways.” The stickingpoint for me was when my upper arm and lower arm were just over 90º, (orgreater than a 90º angle), and my body was further away from the bar. I couldreally feel my lats working when holding that sticking point position.

I tested myself at the end of the first week of my 1x5x5 pull-up program.After just one week of GTG with one rep five times daily, I was able toperform three pull-ups without compromising my form.

So I changed my set/rep scheme to two pull-ups five times a day, five daysa week (2x5x5). This method fell in line with the idea that “fragmentation

38

By Sarah Cheatham, RKC

HOW TO GREASE THE GROOVE, S.M.A.R.T-STYLE,AND ACE YOUR WEIGHTED PULL-UP GOALS

of training volume into smaller units is very effective for promoting strength adaptation, especially in thenervous system” (Pavel 1999). Furthermore, I practiced with sub-maximal pull-up numbers because as Pavelalso states in GTG, “Pushing to exhaustion will burn out your neuromuscular system and force you to cutback,” and “It is critical for the program's success that you avoid muscle failure.”

After one week of 2x5x5 I tested myself again. Amazingly, I wasable to pump out 5 quality pull-ups.

That was when my progress began to slow. I needed three more pull-ups to complete my goal. Reps onethrough five seemed to come relatively easy, but reps six through eight required more work and I began toget discouraged. I had hit a wall. So I re-evaluated my approach. I assumed the first five reps were dueto synaptic facilitation, my body knew how to do a pull-up. For the last three reps I needed to gain morestrength.

In order to gain strength, I incorporated heavier pressing into my regular lifting routine and consequentlystarted push pressing as well. My military pressing routine consisted of three sets of three reps twice aweek with a 16kg kettlebell (3x3x2). I also started push pressing the 20kg kettlebell twice a week withthe same rep scheme as my regular military pressing (3x3x2). I took long breaks in between push presssets, at least five minutes, sometimes longer.

I continued to GTG, but with four pull-ups three times a day four days a week (4x3x4). During myGTG sets, I concentrated on really squeezing the lat muscles as hard as I could on both the pull anddescent portions of the lift. I did this program of presses and pull-ups for a month before testing my pull-ups again.

After one month of hard pressing and pull-ups, I was in fact ableto complete the last three reps of my set goal of eight pull-ups..

Setting S.M.A.R.T goals provided an outline and clear-cut direction to go with my pull-up program.With two hard months of working on pull-ups, I was able to achieve my set goal of eight quality pull-ups.The next step was to add weight. At the RKC, a question was presented to Steve Maxwell, RKCregarding weighted pull-ups. He suggested adding small increments of weight at a time. I recall himsaying to start with canned food in your pockets and gradually increase the weight. By adding this minuteamount of weight over a long period of time your body is more able to adapt to it, than if you were totry to hang a 12 kilo. off of your foot from the start.

Instead of canned food I used a weight vest and incorporated weighted pull-ups into my jogs. I startedwith a two-and-a-half pound plate in the vest. I alternated running one quarter mile lap with one tacticalpull-up for five laps two times a week, (1x5x2). Every two weeks I would add another two-and-a-halfpound plate if I had been successful in the past week with the previous given weight. I worked up toten extra pounds in the vest with this program.

After I reached a ten pound weighted pull-up I started to burn out. I took two months off of weightedpull-ups and went back to GTG with five pull-ups, five times a day, three days a week (5x5x3).

Then I took two weeks off of pull-ups all together…

After two months off of weighted pull-ups and an additional two weeks off of body weight pull-ups, I started over where I left off, (5x5x3 body weight pull-ups). After two weeks of GTG with5x5x3, I gradually added weight again with my weighted pull-up and jogging program. Progresswas slow and steady, but after consistent practice I worked up to 15 pounds in my weight vest inbetween quarter mile laps.

After I was able to do a pull-up with 15 extra pounds, I started GTG again. I GTG with one15 pound pull-up three times a day, three days a week (1x3x3). Every two weeks I would addanother two-and-a-half pound plate if I had been successful in the past week with the previousgiven weight. I was able to work up to 20 pounds in the vest before I attended the Level IIRKC.

I had never successfully attempted a weighted pull-upwith the kettlebell until I attended the Level II RKC thisJune. Because of my dedication and consistent training Isuccessfully performed a 12kg weighted pull-up.

I continue to “Grease the Groove” with tactical pull-ups so the “synaptic pathways”don’t rust. Goal setting is still an important part of the equation. My next long termgoal is to complete the female Beast pull-up challenge, a 24kg weighted pull-up…starting with gradually increasing weight from 12kg.

Sara Cheatham M.S., RKC is aLevel II instructor and the only activecertified Kettlebell instructor on NellisAFB, in Las Vegas, NV. Sara is availablefor workshops, consultations, militaryPT, group sessions, and personaltraining. Contact her atsaracheatham@hotmail.com.

39

40

—A MINIMUM HASSLE, MAXIMUM PAYBACKPROGRAM FOR MAINTAINING MOBILE FITNESSLooking for a convenient way tomaintain your hard earned fitness whileyou're on vacation? Kettlebells may bejust the ticket.

For a number of years now, my husband Andy and Ihave been on parallel quests for a minimal-hassle way tomaintain our fitness during summer adventures. Aftera few false starts, we've found what works for us.Although we've applied these ideas to fitness on theroad, they can be adapted to help anyone maintainfitness during particularly crazy or hectic periods in lifewhen you need a bare bones routine.

Welcome to Camp Kettlebell My husband is a partner in a sunstone mine located in

the sagebrush plains of the high desert in easternOregon. It's located about two hours by dirt road fromanything resembling a town and a hard 13-hour drivefrom our home in Ridgecrest on the California highdesert. It's a small open pit mine, and he and hispartners maintain a "dry camp" on the site—

no power, no running water, no sewagesystem, and usually no wives or kids—what's not to like? It's the perfect guygetaway…

Work hard digging and screening during the day, thenplay cards, drink beer, and tell tall tales in the evenings.

Only one problem with this arrangement-—he's alsoa life long serious recreational bicyclist and he hated theinevitable drop in his level of cycling fitness that resultedfrom three weeks or more at the mine.

Over the last several years, he tried a number of thingsthat proved less than satisfactory. One year he took hisbike with his indoor training stand and set it up next tohis trailer, but the heat, wind, blowing sand andoccasional thunder storm didn't do either the bike or thestand any good. And it was a hassle to transport it upto the mine and back.

The next idea was to forget the stand and just take hismountain bike. Better, except that in the middle of theday when it's too hot to dig, it's pretty much too hot forriding, too. Riding in the early morning or evening was

much more enjoyable but conflicted with the best timeto dig, which was after all the point of going up there.And there's still the issue of getting the bike to the camp.

Enter kettlebells.We got interested in kettlebell training a few years ago

after seeing Pavel's original article in Milo thenfollowing his column in Muscle Media. Last year at thelast minute Andy decided to throw a kettlebell in theback of the car when he was packing for his annualpilgrimage to the mine and see how it went.

It was a roaring success.

Because kettlebell training is so efficient, he could getin a short but effective workout any time during the day,even after dark. The flexibility of kettlebells allowedhim to work upper or lower body, strength, cardio,whatever, all with one indestructible tool. He just tossedit under the trailer out of the way when he wasn't usingit and went on about his business. As an added bonus,he had the pleasure of providing entertainment for hispartners, whose attitudes changed from bemusement toadmiration once they picked up the bell themselves andgot a feel for the weight.

This year the kettlebell wasthe only option he evenconsidered.

He modified his training approach to follow a three-days-a-week, bare bones program: one 16 kg kettlebell,three exercises (the swing, the military press, thewindmill), and two concepts (repetition ladders andheavy/light/medium workouts). The actual workoutshe used are shown in the table.

And he made a commitment to do his kettlebell workin the morning when he was fresh and it was (relatively)cool. One lesson from the previous year—after a long,hot day of digging, getting the energy up for a kettlebellroutine was pretty tough. And the partners weren'tlaughing near as much this year.

A week after he got back from the mine he did acycling fitness test to check out the damage. He wasvery pleasantly surprised to see that he was able toproduce the same power and speed on the bike as hehad during the same test prior to leaving for the mine,

and he was 5 pounds lighter. His power to weight ratio, a keymeasure of cycling fitness, had increased so that he was in evenbetter shape for cycling after he came back from the mine.

Okay, Now It’s Hitting the Roadwith Kids and KettlebellsMy own dilemma is a little different…

Over the last few years our two kids and I have taken togoing on a road trip together in the summer while Andy is upat the mine. Since I travel quite a bit on business during therest of the year, our annual "Mommy and Me" trip gives ussome extended time to hangout together and share someadventures as well as solving the very practical problem ofwhat to do with the kids while Daddy is at the mine and thekids are out of school. (Andy is self-employed and works athome most of the year, so he really looks forward to havingsome time and space to himself at the mine).

My fitness interests are more in the areas of strength andjoint mobility. Starting in 2001 I had gradually shifted almostexclusively to kettlebell training after three years of competitivemaster's powerlifting.

Bare Bones Kettlebell Secrets forStrength and Health On the Road

By Michelle Kilikauskas, RKC

Michelle Kilikauskas, RKC is the1999 and 2000 APF US MastersPowerlifting National Champion and2000 WPC World MastersPowerlifting Champion. You cancontact Michelle and Andy atandyk@ridgenet.net.

“I got the itch tostart deadlifting

again when I heardabout the Power to

the People!deadlifting team

earlier this year, andI had just finished a

deadlift trainingcycle before thekids and I left for

our trip this year inmid July.”

41

I got the itch to start deadlifting again when Iheard about the Power to the People! deadliftingteam earlier this year, and I had just finished adeadlift training cycle before the kids and I left forour trip this year in mid July (a 3,000 mile, 14 daytrek from our home in the California high desertacross Nevada and Utah on Route 50, "theloneliest road in the US", around the Four Cornersarea exploring Anasazi ruins then back to theCalifornia desert via US 40).

Looking for gyms in tiny towns along the waywhere I would (maybe!) have the opportunity topay $15 a pop to get in a short deadlift workoutdidn't fit with my idea of a relaxing vacation, nevermind the issue of what to do with the kids.

My second consideration was that I had finallyfound some effective techniques at the KettlebellConvention in Las Vegas, the April RKC trainingcourse, and the Unlock! joint mobility workshop inJune that had resulted in major improvements inchronic shoulder and lower back issues resultingfrom a fall and a car accident, respectively. Bothproblem areas had plagued me for years and agewas not making them any better.

Driving for several hours most days and sleepingin many not-so-firm hotel beds were likely toaggravate both areas, so I was determined to keepup with the joint work. Some of the moves I coulddo anywhere without equipment, but I neededsome kind of weight for the arm bar and thewindmills. (Separately I've found both exerciseshelpful, but together they're a knockout. Add SteveMaxwell's joint mobility routine, and you're there.)

What to do? Taking a cue from myhusband's success the previous year,I threw the kids and a couple ofkettlebells in the back of the car andwe hit the road.

I took an 8kg and a 12kg, although I could havemade do with only the 12kg if car space or cargoweight had been a serious issue. I did my jointmobility exercises as well as RKC arm bars andwindmills almost everyday plus more aggressivekettlebell work (swings, snatches, presses, etc.) onthe days when I wanted to and it fit in with ourother plans. (I did miss one day with the arm barswhen we ended up in a little motel that otherwisemet my bare minimum needs for availability,relative cleanliness, and personal safety but whosecarpet I could not bring myself to lay down on.That's life on the road.)

Kettlebells require very little space and they arequiet, so I was able to work in a hotel room beforethe kids got up, after they were settled down atnight, or when they were otherwise occupied(thank you, SpongeBob Square Pants).

Because the kettlebells are so portable I also gotto enjoy outdoor workouts greeting the morningsun or enjoying the stars in the courtyard of alovely bed and breakfast on the edge of theCanyons of the Ancients outside Cortez, CO and inthe hotel parking lot in Ely, Nevada. How's thatfor flexibility?

I was pleasantly surprised at how good I feltdespite the different beds and the many hoursbehind the wheel, and I was ready to jump into anew deadlift cycle when we got home. Shortly afterI returned I made my monthly maintenance visit tomy chiropractor, and he commented on how easilymy chronic problems areas adjusted this time, evenafter a long trip. I know it's because of the jointmobility work along with the arm bars [see Pavel’sResilient DVD –Ed.] and windmills.

Next summer if you see a crazy (but fit!) ladydoing windmills in a park (or a parking lot)somewhere with a couple of kids in tow, wavebecause it's probably me.

Andy's Bare Bones FieldRoutine (16 kg bell)

Monday (hard day)Military press: 5 ladders of 1/2/3 reps witheach armSwings: 5 ladders of 5/10/15 reps with eacharm

Wednesday (easy)Windmills: 5 singles with each armSwings: 5 sets of 5 reps with each arm

Friday (medium)Military Press: 5 ladders of 1/2 repsSwings: 5 ladders of 5/10 reps

Note: The emphasis in this routine is cardiotraining, so he took just enough rest betweensets or ladders to catch his breath.

n Russia and his native Ukraine Nikolay Amosov is a public figure with the stature ArnoldSchwarzenegger boasts in this country. You may be surprised to find out that the #1 Russian exerciseicon is not a three hundred pound weightlifter or wrestler, but an octogenarian surgeon with the wiryphysique of a Bruce Lee and the ascetic fat-free face of a Jacques Ives Cousteau.

You also developed quite a work ethic as well as willingness to do something wrong a thousand times beforeever doing it right once. Practices were 4-5 hours per day five days to six days per week and most of the timeyou were trying to learn a skill. Progressions hadn’t really been ironed out yet and most of what we did was:go for it.

Academician Amosov ran a schedule that would a kill a twenty-five year old yuppie, not to mention a horse.

In his late seventies and early eighties he performed two open heart surgeries a day, an average of elevenhours, wearing out two support crews a quarter to a half his age along the way. In his spare (?) time Amosovran the Kiev Cardiovascular Surgery Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, managed the famousBiocybernetics Department of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Cybernetics Institute and religiouslyfollowed his exercise regimen.

Academician Amosov had not always been a human dynamo. The fitness superstar started out as a retiredRed Army lieutenant colonel in his late fifties with the World War II behind him, a spare tire in the front, andan assortment of diseases. The turning point was the day when Amosov formulated and put to practice hisnow famous theory of limit loads. One of the corner stones of the theory is the belief that a human organismhas a great ability to regenerate itself.

Use—intense use! —is the key. The Academician differentiates three states of joint health:First is a 100% healthy joint, usually found in a young person: “…a person can lift his knees to his

stomach and touch his buttocks with his heels; he can flex his spine so his head ends up between his kneesand make a full circle with his arms.” Superb joint ROM is easily achieved at this stage, says Amosov.Twenty reps per joint will suffice for prevention until you are thirty or so according to the Academician. Ilike to simply match the reps with the trainee’s age.

The second stage usually hits by the time you are forty, give or take a few years. The joints already havesalt deposits and they speak up with aches and a limited ROM. Not all the time though. Sometimessymptoms disappear for years only to resurface again. When this happens, and even if it does not but youhit forty, the man says the numbers must be cranked up to 50-100 per joint. Especially for your spine.

The third stage is when the joint aches almost constantly and actively interferes with your work and life.X-rays show changes, most common being bone spurs growing between vertebrae. Bad posture, poor body

mechanics at work and in the gym, and lack of jointmovement are to blame. Surgeons who have to stand forhours over a table frequently suffer from bad backs,mentions Nikolay Amosov.

The only way to prevent age-related joint problems isthrough exercise, statesAcademician Amosov.

If you have already hit the third stage do 200-300 fullrange movements per damaged joints and 100 for the onesthat ‘are waiting for their turn’.

The Academician urges you to ease into joint mobilitytraining. Start with ten movements and add ten a week.An even more gradual schedule recommended by Amosov

is to add five a week for the first month and then start adding ten reps a week until the target number isreached.

Mobility drills are ideally performed every morning. You will not only do your joints a favor, but will getrid of stiffness as well. Relax into Stretch fans, do not expect that the ability to do a split will make youimmune to stiffness; you should watch me get off the plane! You get 'rusty' whenever your proprioceptors—the sensors that give your body information about its position in space, its speed of movement, etc.—do notget any new input for a while. When nothing happens, your nervous system is not sure what to expect fromthe environment and tightens up your muscles—just in case. That's why you feel like the Tin Man in themorning or after any long period of inactivity.

Movement wakes up your proprioceptors, the nervoussystem starts humming and you limber up.

Increased impulsation from the proprioceptors also ‘tunes up’ the nervous system processes for the wholeday. No wonder Amosov-style morning calisthenics are very popular in Russia and go by the name ofzaryadka or ‘a recharge’. Russian coffee, anyone?

Here is one of Amosov’s morning exercise complexes. It offers cardio benefits in addition to joint mobility.

Simple and to the point as you can see. “There is a million of exercise complexes out there,” musesAcademician Amosov. “Look up the literature on physical culture and you will find most complicatedroutines including 40-50 exercises. These for the first week, others for the second, etc. ad nauseam. Theyargue that every muscle needs its own movement. Let us not pick on them, an expert’s job is inventing andcomplicating… Non-athletes training for health do not need complicated routines. Why cram their brains?Let the person bend and squat…”

And if you do not mind flexing your brain a little I suggest that you design your own joint mobility andrecharge routine from the drills I have hand picked and laid out for you in Super Joints.

As a Russian poem goes, decades after the Great War long-dead Nazi snipers keep picking off our soldiers.Lt. Col. Nikolay Amosov, Soviet Army (Ret.) made it to 89 in a country where men, worn out by war, vodka,and Slavic fatalism rarely make it to 60. All the way until his death Amosov kept his flag up. “So, ladies andgentlemen of the jury, the experiment continues! We are pushing pessimism back. The limits for old men areabolished. Life is a pretty good thing after all.”

ACADEMICIANNIKOLAY AMOSOV

HOW TO LIVE TO BE 89 ANDHAVE PAIN-FREE JOINTS

“THE LIMITS FOR OLD MEN ARE ABOLISHED”—ACADEMICIAN AMOSOV

42

IBY PAVEL

ACADEMICIAN AMOSOV’S ‘1000 MOVES’MORNING ‘RECHARGE’ COMPLEX

1. Squat –100 repetitions2. Side bends –100 repetitions3. Pushups on the floor –50 repetitions4. Forward bends –100 repetitions5. Straight arm lateral raises overhead – 100 repetitions6. Torso turns –50 repetitions7. Roman chair situps –100 repetitions8. One legged jumps in place –100 repetitions per leg9. Bringing the elbows back –100 repetitions10. ‘The birch tree’ or Yoga shoulder stand–hold for the count of 10011. Leg and hip raises. Lie on your back and bring your feet behind

your head while keeping your legs reasonably straight. –100repetitions

12. Sucking in the stomach –50 repetitions

Do the 1000 movements—the eventual goal—at a rapid clip. Make sure topush yourself enough to sweat and breathe hard, although Amosov warnsnot to let your RPMs go above twice your resting heart rate. You shouldbe done in 25-40 minutes.

Dear John,

Last winter, after taking your 6

-week Qigong course Strength and

Flexibility, I returned to my Ph

ysical Therapy classes at Sr.

Kenney in Minneapolis after a mo

nth gap in appointments. I had

plateaued on all my goals and ha

d been unable to reach higher

levels of strength, balance, and

flexibility after months of dai

ly

practice with other methods.

After attending your class and s

witching my routine to Chunyi Li

n's

Sitting Meditation and your work

from class ONLY, I was able to

meet ALL of my therapy goals, an

d could do things even my therap

ist

could not easily accomplish. She

was amazed. I was in tears, and

had been going to therapy so lon

g, it didn't dawn on me until af

ter

our session that I was DONE. I h

ad to call and verify. I don't

think my therapist had ever seen

anyone improve so much, so fast

.

Around the time our qigong class

with you at KettlebellsUSA wrap

ped

up, I signed on to run in the Sa

n Diego Marathon in June of this

year through the American Stroke

Association. I completed my fir

st

(and likely only) 26.2 miles and

am the proud loser of two large

toenails. But hey, I did it!

Bethesda rehabilitation hospital

in St. Paul has made me their

"poster child" of sorts and has

run ads featuring my family's

picture and my story in regional

copies of Time, Newsweek, US Ne

ws,

and various health-related perio

dicals. This month, I'm speaking

to

a group of 40 rehab care provide

rs there and next month, I have

an

hour spot on the roster amongst

a bunch of Drs. and medical comp

any

CEOs at the regional Brain Injur

y conference, speaking to a grou

p

of about 400 health care provide

rs.

The focus of my hour-long talk n

ext month is "My Journey through

Stroke" where I will be outlinin

g the systems and motivations th

at

made my recovery so very much mo

re profound and effective. In it

, I

hope to mention your classes and

share the story of how doing thi

s

work was helpful to me.

Best Regards,

Jeanne Wiestling

54

“I teach Qigong for many, many reasons—but it is a story and letter like the one from Jeanne below thattruly inspires me to continue to share with others the wonderful, multi-dimensional benefits I have

experienced myself from Qigong over the last thirty years.”—John Du Cane

How Jeanne Wiestling Used Qigong to Recover froma Serious Stroke, Amaze Her Physical Therapist AndRun a 26.2-Mile Marathon... The Story of Jeanne’s Massive

Stroke and Her Path to RecoveryIn January of 2005, Jeanne Wiestling, a 38 year-old wife and mother

to two boys, 1 and 2 years old, began finding it difficult to open herkids' drinking cups and to write legibly. The tips of her fingers werestarting to grow numb.

After seeing her obstetric doctor for what she thought waspregnancy-related carpal tunnel syndrome, she went to a neurologistand had an MRI done. That scan showed a 13-inch worm-shaped holeor "syrinx" in Jeanne's spine. She soon found herself at aneurosurgeon's office, and though this doctor only ordered surgery for10% of the patients that came to him, Jeanne was told that mostpatients with that size of hole were falling down stairs and losingsensory function throughout their body.

There was no alternative therapy but a brain stem surgery, whichwas scheduled the following week. Jeanne's syrinx was growing due tothe inflow of cerebral spinal fluid at the brainstem, which needed to beclosed off with the intention that the syrinx would then collapse uponitself and be absorbed by her body, with no further damage and ahopeful return to normal function.

In May of 2005, the surgery took place in St. Paul, and thoughit went well, Jeanne suffered a massive stroke post-operatively that left her in a quadriplegic state for two weeks.

She then was transported to a rehabilitation hospital for anothermonth. There, she regained use of her limbs, learned to dress and feedherself, walk and do daily tasks. She was still unable to care for herchildren, though her husband and family would bring the boys byseveral times a week so they could get time together. Once dischargedfrom the hospital, Jeanne began walking a few miles per day inaddition to the therapy plans she was doing at the hospital 3 times aweek.

She relearned to drive and was tested through Courage Center toregain her license. But she began to plateau in her therapies at thehospital, unable to achieve the balance of strength and coordinationit took to accomplish many of her goals.

One important goal for her was to return to a career as amassage therapist she'd held for over a decade. Building thestrength, flexibility and endurance that job demanded was achallenge. The most important thing for Jeanne was to regain thephysical ability she needed as a mother in keeping up with her twoyoung boys. Plateauing was not an option. She began to look forother alternatives.

Jeanne remembered the previous qigong classes she had takenwith John Du Cane many years ago and how great they were forreinvigorating her body. Returning to the classes again was like atuning fork and the results were immediate….

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MICHELLE KILIKAUSKAS:Bare Bones Kettlebell Secrets Pages 40-41

PAVEL:How to Live to Be 89 and Have Pain-FreeJoints Page 42

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