Optimal Life Fitness, for health, fitness and a new lifestyle outdoors.

Last Sunday the 26th July, Tommy and myself went down to the Woking Centre of Excellence's Weightlifting Competition to perform a couple of demonstrations with Kettlebells. I'd firstly like to thank Brian Hamil who is a BWLA representative and who runs the club, for the opportunity to promote Kettlebell Sport.

It's always great to see Olympic Weightlifting up close. The mechanics of Olympic Weightlifting and Kettlebell lifting are very similar despitie the energy systems being at opposite ends of the spectrum. The similarities are one reason why we put together our own Weightlifting for the Fitness Professional Course.

There were a lot of great lifts on the day. Mark Hill an EKI and Advanced EKI hit pb's with a Snatch of 83kg and a Clean and Jerk of 117kg- well done Mark!

Weightlifting and Kettlebell Lifting in the past were intertwined. Brian has shown me a BWLA handbook/ manual from 1937 which has Kettlebells on the cover. I am trying to develop relationships so that Kettlebell Sport can again be apart of the weightlifting community.

During our upcoming Kettlebell Sport Competitions we will be having Olympic Weightlifting demonstrations. A goal is to run competitions that showcase both Weightlifting and Kettlebell Sport. Watch this space for more information.

In the meantime, Keep Lifitng.

The advanced course has evolved into what can only be described as a 'fantastic days training'. The key focus on the advanced course is to teach trainers the art of kettlebell sport lifting. But on top of that we also look at how to make the body perform better and introduce some of the odd lifts. We used to think that this course was slightly easier than the first one. However, once again, we have been quickly reminded that it's not! The trainers that came on the course were pushed hard all day, performing timed sets, over and over again.
In this course we introduced the sport lifts and got the guys doing some long sets. I was very impressed with everyone's efforts to dig in and complete so many sets. I hate to think how much time they had under those bells across the day!
I had my own little challenge to attempt, which you may have heard about. Since getting a 48kg bell I've been attempting to hit 48 1 arm jerks, the most I've got to was 30 at Trojans lifting club. After having a bad 3 weeks of training I wasn't too confident about even getting near that. However with the help of a few onlookers (thanks guys) I ended up getting 33. I'm still aiming for 48, but it's going to take some more time.
One of the aims of the advanced course is to increase the popularity of kettlebell sport training. Although it was a hard day, I hope I managed to get a few of them up for competing and getting involved in the Trojans Lifting Club.
So what did the guys do on the course?

• Worked on the technique of moving the bell through the hands
• The rack position and overhead position
• 1 Arm Jerks, we did 3 timed sets
• 2 Arm Jerks, we did 2 timed sets
• 1 Arm Swings, we did a couple of timed sets
• Snatch, we did a couple of timed sets
• Gave the long cycle a go.
• Tried some of the odd lifts, 2 hands anyhow/bent press/bottoms up press etc.

Thanks to all the guys from coming to the coming to the course, it's always good to see EKI's again. Train hard and I hope to see you at the Trojans soon!!
For more info on what the Trojans is all about go to:
http://www.olfeducation.com/resource/25/

One of our EKI's Chris Rogers (CR) is doing really well at the moment in spite of the 'current economic crisis', recently I caught up with Chris to ask him about his business and how it is developing.

BJ: Hi Chris. Thanks for taking time out to answer a couple of questions and to tell people about your business.

CR: Not a problem BJ. Glad to have a chat.

BJ: Let's get straight to it- How long have you been in the fitness industry?

CR: I started working in the fitness industry back in 2002

BJ: What qualifications do you have?

CR: I have a BSc Science in Health, Exercise & Sport, N.A.S.M certified personal trainer, SMA level 4 Sports massage therapist, Muscle Activation Technique practitioner, N.A.S.M Pregnancy Specialist, Extreme Advanced Kettlebell Instructor and Optimal Life fitness Olympic lifting, Spin, Circuits and Aerobics!-

BJ: It's quite a list! What sports did/do you play?

CR: I am a Black belt in Tae Kwon Do, dabble in mountain biking and muck around on a snowboard as often as I can

BJ: Blakc belt- nice! What jobs/roles have you had in the fitness industry?

CR: I started off teaching classes to earn some beer money through Uni. That progressed to a studio managers job when I finished and I then landed the Fitness Managers job.

About a year later I became a general manager for a well known health club chain which was enough to get me looking for a change!

I was lucky enough to become Campus manager at the Australian Institute of fitness in Spain (Now the European Institute of Fitness). Although the sun, sea and Sangria was great I was really missing training people and being in that environment, I knew being behind a desk just wasn't for me anymore.

That's when I booked on the Optimal life fitness Extreme Kettlebell Instructor course in December 2007, came back to the UK to start my career as a personal trainer.

BJ: Your business look quite impressive. Tell us about the Bath Kettlebell Bootcamps . How long have they been running, how many attend?

CR: Bath Kettlebell Bootcamps started January 2009, we currently train around 40 people a month spread over 2 bootcamps who's main goals are fat loss, strength & Fitness. We run 3 week and 4 week bootcamps that include 3-4 sessions per week, email/phone support, a nutrition plan and activity logs for them to complete outside of bootcamp sessions. They also get support through a bootcamp blog with posts about training and nutrition. We have had some amazing results, which has been great for referrals & repeat business, one bootcamp member lost 14lbs in 3 weeks, we recently had 3 weeks to get a girl to fit into her wedding dress...she dropped a whole dress size.

BJ: Why did you set these up?

CR: Obviously times are supposedly tough at the moment so I wanted to create a second source of income just in case personal training was gonna be limited. I also saw a gap in what we offer as trainers. There are allot of people who cannot afford personal training 3 x a week with a nutrition plan on top it all mounts up. We can offer this at a fraction of the cost in a group setting. This works out allot better value for the customer and in terms of my business, I work 5 hours a week teaching bootcamps, to earn the same from just personal training sessions I would have to do 16-18 hours a week of pt. The bootcamps have added 50% to my yearly revenue so far and I'm only working an extra 5 hours a week!

BJ: How have your clients enjoyed using Kettlebells?

CR: They have seriously loved them. They are such a versatile tool for a personal trainer, there’s no mucking around with them either, they get the job done. Allot of my female clients have actually bought your pink bells to train with at home.

BJ: What kind of results have your clients experienced using bells in your classes?

CR: It's massively varied. Fat loss is probably the overriding result but strength also, it;'s great to see how much they come on in just 4 weeks. One member lost 2 stone over 9 weeks doing 3 back to back bootcamps. One client recently summed it up by saying that 'Training without kettlebells is boring now, nothing comes close!'.

BJ: You’ve also been on our OWL course have you put any of this into use?

CR: That was a tough course but great in terms of what we learnt and take away exercises. I use OL a fair bit with my sports specific clients. What I thought was great about the course and has helped enormously with clients is the way you built up each lift with the build up exercises like the drop snatch. Really useful when your teaching a client.

BJ: What are your training/ life philosophies?

CR: I definitely like to think of our body’s as temples, exercise and good nutrition is so important to a happy, healthy life.

BJ: What are plans for the future?

CR: I am looking to set up multiple bootcamp sites in the next 12 months in and around Bristol & Bath with trainers working for me, the first one is scheduled to open in September. I am also currently building a private studio for my personal clients which should be ready in the next 6 months in time for January.

BJ: Where do you see the fitness industry in 5 years?

CR: I think group training & small group training will get bigger and bigger. Personal trainers will start to realise that it's not about how many sessions a week you do but how much you can earn an hour that really makes a difference. Not everyone can train the rich & famous and not everyone can afford pt. Group training gives you the potential to earn big time money per hour and reach a whole lot more people. Imagine earning the equivalent of 30 personal training hours a week in just 10 hours? Bath Kettlebell Bootcamps has allowed me to do this which has in turn allowed me to increase my personal training rates and be more picky with who I train.

BJ: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

CR: Living in a hot country again! I want to be running a number of fitness themed companies, creating multiple revenue streams including a bootcamp holiday company. Multiple revenue streams are a sure fire way to recession proof a business, become wealthy and make life easier!

BJ: Thanks for your time Chris and bext of luck with finding some sun!!

Stiffness and tightness are hugely important to allow you to lift any big weight. By creating stiffness across the whole body we become like a brick wall, solid! Think of the body like a chain, when tension increases in the chain, if there are any week links in that chain it will break. The same can be said for the body, when we talk about the kinetic chain we are referring to the muscular, skeletal and neural system and if this chain functions well, we are more likely to perform well on any level. Being more specific to stiffness however we need to look at the body as a structure, a bit like scaffolding or a pylon. If we are strong across each joint within that structure we will create overall stiffness and thus overall optimal strength.

So how do we do this?
Every joint in the body is surrounded by supporting tissue and it's these tissues that we need to use to create strength in the joint. The tissues I’m referring to are the muscles, ligaments, tendons and soft tissue. By contracting all of our muscles around a joint we will create overall stiffness in that joint. If we contract all of the muscles around all of our joints we will create total body stiffness and thus a strong structure to lift with or press with.

Technique
If we're about to perform a military press we want to create stiffness in every joint below the Shoulder. It is a good idea to start from the bottom and work your way up, locking off each joint as we work our way up the chain. Are you starting to see how this is a bit like scaffolding?!
1. Try to grip the floor with your feet. Martial Artists call this 'routing' to the floor.
2. Lock your knees out and contract your quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. (basically all the leg muscles)
3. Perform an abdominal brace (see section on abdominal bracing in the Heavy Lifting with Kettlebells Manual)
4. Take a deep breath in to create intra-abdominal pressure and thoracic pressure. (see my section on intra abdominal pressure and thoracic pressure in the Heavy Lifting with Kettlebells Manual)
5. Raise your chest high as you create thoracic pressure to ensure your thoracic spine is extended and in a strong position
6. Now you're ready to lift!!
7. As you're pressing imagine you're trying to keep the head of your humerus locked into the shoulder joint (acetabulum)
8. As the kettlebell passes your head start to slowly release air, a bit like a piston or a pressure gauge. I like to do it under pierced breath, people end up looking at me funny but it works!
You've got to let the air out otherwise like a gas tank that doesn't have a pressure gauge on it, the tank will overfill and explode. Sounds a bit extreme but it's a similar principle with the body when we're lifting. If we hold our breath throughout, the pressure that builds up is often too much for us to handle. This is where you will start to feel head rushes from lack of blood to the brain and then possible fainting or burst blood vessels.
So best to breathe I think!

Stuart McGill talks of the phenomenon of 'super stiffness' being used by top athletes to create power, speed an ultimate performance. The same can be applied to lifting kettlebells and if we create super stiffness we will achieve great strength and power.

Tommy Matthews

Extract taken from the Manual for Heavy Lifting with Kettlebells.

See below for more information

There are 69 pages of tips, techniques, lifts, training programmes, theory and much more. It's the perfect training manual for anyone looking to start lifting heavy kettlebells.
Manual Facts:

• The Manual includes 38 Different Lifts with colour pictures and technique tips.
• 12 week strength program.
• 1 Super set training session.
• A 40 day lifting challenge session.
• Tips on Nutrition.
• Tips on programme design.
• Tips on recovery.
• My 40 Lifts for Lent Diary and Experiences.
• My top 5 favourite lifts.
• Key Techniques and Principles of Lifting.
• The Benefits of lifting heavy kettlebells.

The Manual is on sale now!
Just download it from the http://www.olfeducation.com/ or call us on 0207 731 3133
You get all of the above for just £14.99