Dave Randolph asked:


Kettlebell swings are one of the best exercises for firming your buttocks, hamstrings, quads, abs and pretty much everything else. The dynamic loading and unloading of the weight trains you to you your entire body to generate the force necessary to move the bell from between your legs to chest or shoulder height. Proper form is imperative to keep from hurting yourself.

These tips will help you maximize the fat burning potential of the kettlebell swing!



The hips go BACK not down! I can’t tell you how many people have come to me saying swings hurt their back. Inevitably the reason is they are squatting down instead of pushing the hips back.



Try this - Place your hands on your hips with the forefinger of each hand in the hip crease and use the hands to tilt the pelvis. Let the knees unlock, but don’t bend them, just unlock them.

Keep pushing the hips back. At the same time keep the chest lifted and shoulder blades pinched, chin up.

Pop the hips forward and straighten the knees. The hamstrings, glutes, quads and abs should all be tight at the moment of full expansion. The pelvis should be forward.

If you are doing swings with 1 kb (2 handed or 1 handed) the forearm(s) should be touching the inside of the upper thigh through the bottom portion of the movement. If the forearm(s) go between the knees you are squatting (or you have longer arms than me which is saying a lot)

If you are practicing with a more relaxed style you can let the arm relax a little and round a bit through the mid & upper back but the lower back stays flat!

Activate your lats to keep the shoulder down and packed

Shins stay vertical - Do not allow any movement below the knees. This results in scooping and is usually caused by shifting the weight from the mid foot/heel to the ball of the foot. You should be able to lift the toes off the floor at any time during a swing.

Going deeper into the backswing (back NOT down) will generate more power by loading the posterior chain more. You can’t go as deep/back with 2 handed swings.

Swing to shoulder height or forehead height, unless you are specifically working on high pull variations. The variation that I have seen some do, two handed swings overhead can be dangerous, you are better off snatching

At the top of the swing don’t arch the back to get it higher. You may lean back onto the heals to counter-balance the bell but the back remains flat.

Save your grip and hands. Do not squeeze the handle in a death grip. For all but the heaviest (for you) bell you should be able to hold the bell in the fingers by just keeping them curled and only tightening a little through the back swing. Holding the bell tight at the base of the top of the palm below the finger will lead to much pain and suffering from blisters and torn callouses.

Breathing should be natural. Don’t force it. Find a rhythm that works for you. Personally my breathing pattern changes depending on how much work I’ve already done. I tend to inhale on the downswing and exhale on the upswing when fresh, but when I get tired I do a double breath. Exhale on the backswing, quick inhale on the way up, exhale at the top, quick inhale on the way down. It takes a bit of experimentation, but that  really is your natural breathing pattern.



That’s it for now. I hope you find these pointers helpful in fine tuning your swing so you can get the most benefit from this tremendous exercise!



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PBS asked:

Join host Peter Coyote in “Brain Fitness 2: Sight & Sound,” the follow-up to “The Brain Fitness Program,” as he explores the brain’s ability to change and grow, even as we age, helping us maintain and improve our vision and hearing.

“Brain Fitness 2: Sight & Sound” is a special in-depth look at the advances in neuroplasticity and how it relates to healthy aging, with a particular focus on making the most of information filtered through our eyes and ears. Check your local listings to catch it, beginning in December 2008. Your brain will thank you. Help PBS continue to offer all Americans – from every walk of life – the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. To donate, please visit http://www.pbs.org/support

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andypetranek asked:

Muscle & Fitness - the CrossFit Filthy Fifty

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jazzy268 asked:


this cartoon was on a once in a while no one can remeber what the name of it was but everyone i talk to know it and they say it was on a nother cartoon show it didnt stand alone

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Richard Black asked:


For the individual looking to begin a weightlifting program, the most difficult obstacle to overcome is learning what approach to take - especially in terms of what exercises to use, how much weight to lift, and how often the weight should be lifted. Essentially, the obstacle represents the individual’s ability (or inability) to find or develop the right exercise routine to get him or her started on the path to better health and bigger muscles.

No need to fear though, because weightlifting programs for beginners are rather easy to find and develop. With a little research and a willingness to change, the right routine is not too far away.

Purpose

The first thing that an individual has to consider during the course of beginning a weightlifting routine is the purpose of the routine. For some individuals, the reason for starting a weightlifting program might be a desire to build muscle, while for another individual, the reason might center more on a desire to lose weight and get into better physical shape.

Whatever the reason, it is important to develop an understanding of why a person is beginning to lift weights. Understanding the reasons for the new endeavor is extremely helpful in determining the exercises an individual should do, as well as the number of repetitions and the amount of weight that should be associated with an exercise routine.

Workout Schedule For Beginners

With a solid purpose in hand, a beginning weightlifter can then begin to determine how many days a week an exercise or weightlifting program should be followed. For a beginner, it is probably best to use a routine that involves lifting weights three times a day. Typically, a weightlifting routine for beginners should involve lifting weights every other day, usually on a Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The reason for allowing a day in between weightlifting workouts is to allow enough time for the individual’s muscles to rest, recover, and rebuild. Lifting weights everyday might seem like the proper approach for an individual beginning to lift weights for the first time, but the only thing that will lead to is burnout.

Finding The Right Weight

Choosing the proper weight to lift can be another difficult aspect of a beginning weightlifting program. Injuries occur when individuals lift weights that are too heavy, and zero progress occurs when individuals lift weights that are too light. The best way to determine the weight a person should begin lifting is to find the 15 rep max.

This so-called 15 rep max is exactly what the name implies, that is, the actual weight an individual can comfortably and properly lift 15 times, without sacrificing form. Starting with a light, manageable amount of weight (usually during a warm-up), complete 15 repetitions of an exercise.

Depending on the ease of difficulty of the 15 repetitions, an individual can then begin to adjust the weight until the proper starting weight is achieved. In most cases, it is best to start with lighter weights and move up to heavier ones, rather than the other way around.

Exercises For Beginners

Beginning weightlifters can take two approaches to lifting weights. For some, the use of weightlifting machines such as Smith machines may be a beneficial approach to promote proper form and proper safety. However, some individuals prefer the feeling of lifting free weights and for them, machines may not be a preferred option.

Regardless of the way the weight is lifted, the most common lifts or exercises used by beginners include bench press (including different angles or variations) to develop the chest and arms, biceps curls (using machines or free weights) to train the biceps, dips to help develop the shoulders, triceps, and back, as well as rowing exercises (to help develop the back muscles), and squats (to help develop the legs and lower body.

Essentially, there are dozens and dozens of exercises available to help a beginning weightlifter start a successful and effective program. By determine the purpose, schedule, routine, and type of lifts, a bigger, better body is never too difficult to attain.



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dlc8675 asked:


I saw a total body conditioning class at the Y tomorrow, I heard that it has to do with weights and stuff though, is it heavy weights or hardcore? also what is crossfit, I saw a class on it too?

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iamcool asked:


I have been weightlifting with alot of intensity for sometime. I was wondering if anyone knows what an average bench press or curling would be for my age. I am around 105lbs for curling and 185lbs for bench. I weigh 145 pounds.

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John Doerr asked:

By Mike Schultz and John Doerr

Swing the Hammer

Imagine the strongman game at the carnival. You lift the sledgehammer over your head and swing it down onto the platform. When it strikes the target, a metal cylinder rises up and up—20 feet up the pole until it rings the bell. On its way down the pole the cylinder passes the same words it passed on the way up: strongman, tough guy, athlete, junior, and weakling.

In a way, establishing a services brand follows a similar process. You swing the hammer (your marketing tactics, the marketing mix you employ, and the quality of your company’s services) and the strength of your efforts determine whether or not your brand moves up the pole and makes it to the top to ring the bell.

The question is, “What stages must your brand pass through in order to ring the bell?”

Ringing the Branding Bell

Strip away the apparent complexity around what building a service brand is all about and you find that the stages you have to reach with your own strongman efforts are quite straightforward:

Recognize: Your target clients must recognize you. Articulate: They need to be able to articulate what you do. Memorize: When they need your service, your company should be the first option they think of. Prefer: Your target clients should prefer to use your service versus all other options available to them.

While there are several interim stages in the services branding process through which you must travel, the desired end result—the golden goose of branding—is to establish preference for your brand over your competitors. (Can you hear the bell ringing?)

Let’s take a brief look at each stage of the Brand RAMPTM and see how it leads to establishing a powerful services brand.

Recognize

Question: What’s the purpose of this marketing campaign?

Answer: Well, we really need to get our name out there. You know, establish our identity.

We are about as impressed with this answer as we are with the sales person who has a meeting with a prospective client and says the purpose of the meeting “is a get-to-know-you meeting.” The purpose of a sales meeting is to find sales opportunities and to advance a sale. Getting to know the client is part of what is done in that process. It’s not a goal in-and-of itself.

In services branding, getting your name out there and establishing an identity is something that you do in the process of branding; it is not the goal. For most firms, focusing on stand-alone brand recognition leads to inefficient use of money, time, and effort in the marketing process. You work hard to get your name out there, but you do not generate actual business development activity.

On the other hand, companies without enough outbound activity leave their business fortunes to serendipity. Worse, they never know where the next lead will come from or how to plan for growth.

You need your prospective clients to recognize you. Without recognition you are at the whim of your referral base. As you start to proactively generate recognition, though, you need to do it in a way that serves other, higher return goals (namely the rest of the RAMP process).

Articulate

The core of brand messaging is getting your prospective clients to be able to state, in clear terms, what you do. This serves multiple ends:

By knowing what you do, they will know how, where, and when to apply your services. They may now be able to refer you to others who can use your services. They are able to explain your services internally so they can create a coalition (if it’s necessary) to purchase your services.

So important, yet so many services firms struggle with how to articulate what they do. Regardless of your situation, whether your firm is large or small, singularly focused or with a range of complex services, you need to get the message across.

The litmus test of whether it is getting across is asking a prospect, “Do you know what we do,” and hearing the answer you want. Let’s assume you make it past the Recognition phase of the Brand RAMP. At this point, you want to avoid the following:

Question from your Firm: So you’ve heard of us. Do you know what we do?

Answer from Prospect: Yes, I’ve heard of you. What you do…I’m not sure.

Memorize

At some point we’ve all had the following thought, “This is a sticky problem…Oh, I remember there’s a firm out there that focuses 100% on fixing this problem and I’ve heard they’re great…What was their name again…slipped my mind. Oh well. On to other things.”

How often and what type of brand messaging you employ will affect how well people remember you at the time of need. If they know who you are and they know what you do, but your marketing mix and communications plan drop the ball in terms of creating a lasting impression, your business development efforts will never perform to their fullest potential.

Prefer

Prospective clients Recognize you, can Articulate what you do, and reMember you at the time of need. Still, all of this is for naught if they do not have a compelling reason to want to work with you and your firm.

Brand preference is created in many ways through both marketing tactics and actual service experiences with your company. How to create preference is a subject for another article. For this article simply remember: engage branding and marketing activities with the idea of creating as much preference as you can for your services with your prospective and current clients.

Developing a brand identity without the RAMP methodology firmly embedded in the beginning of the process often leads to graphic design and marketing campaigns in a vacuum. Logos, websites, brochures, presentations, and marketing tactics are developed without the end goal in mind: creating a client’s preference for the brand.

At the Carnival

The carnival is your market.

The sledgehammer is your branding program.

The words on the pole are (from bottom to top):

Recognize Articulate Memorize Prefer

If you swing the hammer with the right force and hit the right spot, the prizes you win are more new clients and increased brand loyalty. And, unlike at the carnival, these prizes can be worth a great deal more than the cost of playing the game.

Mike Schultz is the Publisher of RainToday.com and an advisor to service businesses worldwide. He can be reached at mschultz@raintoday.com.

John Doerr is a Principal of the Wellesley Hills Group, a consulting and marketing services firm that helps service companies to grow. John can be reached at jdoerr@whillsgroup.com.

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sho34 asked:

Extreme training video with strongman legend Marius Pudzianowski.
www.IronMass.com

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Aaminah asked:


I am a regular mountain biker, but like to road-ride, too. However, my full-suspension is way too much drama for the pavement and even my hardtail is too heavy for efficient road travel. I want something lighter and better suited. The problem is, I am not super fond of the “feel” of road bikes. I saw that Trek (my fave) had “fitness” bikes and “urban” bikes and I am wondering if anyone can tell me what are the advantages/disadvantages to choosing a fitness or urban bike over a road bike?

THANKS! Just to add, a fitness bike is not a stationary bike. It is an actual style of bicycle like urban, road, mountain, triathalon, etc. I was just hoping that someone had some info on what might be better suited for me. Thanks to anyone who can help!

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