Heavy Metal Fridays: 1 Week-2 PRs+Motley Crue

Just so you know that I practice what I preach, in the last seven days, I burned two new kettlebell PRs. Last Friday I ripped 60 snatch reps with my 24kg in 3:48. Tonight on Friday one week later I completed 30 straight minutes of the VO2 Max Protocol using my 16kg and getting seven reps per set. For those of you that don't know what the VO2 Max Protocol is, it's ripping 7-9 snatch reps with one arm, putting it down, then switching arms to rip another 7-9 reps. Each interval is 15 seconds. You snatch 15, rest 15, snatch 15, rest 15, etc. It's one of my favorite KB routines. You can get a lot of volume while maintaining good form and crisp lockouts. So each snatch set I was getting 7 reps which means 14 total reps per minute. 14x30=420 reps. Big time volume but in quick sets of seven. To view my 24kg PR of 60 reps, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwvH6ejBWE Enjoy the Pain!

And to complete a total HEAVY METAL evening, I'm off to the Hollywood Palladium to see Motley Crue! I'm a rockin' mofo tonight Comrades! Keepin' it real with whole body strength and power! From a warm and windy SoCal tonight, Coach RJ

Yin, Yang, Hard, Soft...Balance

Saturday I threw 100 reps with my 24kg kettlebell plus some other stuff. A fairly ripped workout for being jet lagged. Enjoy the pain! Sunday I went hiking with the family in North Georgia to enjoy the beautiful fall colors on a perfect fall day. *Above photo is me on Appalachian Trail near Woody Gap. Fairly warm weather, open sunshine, virtually no wind, quite literally the perfect fall day for hiking with our five year old twins. After a peaceful hike for about 1.5 hours, we cruised down the road to Dahlonega which was the site of America's "first" gold rush. A cool little town with a nice restaurant there we frequent called Crimson Moon. Next door is an old fashioned ice cream parlor. We indulged there too! My wife Candas tried to fake me out saying she didn't want an ice cream cone...then being the Golden Retriever at heart that she is licked all the drips up for the kids! I'm not fooled! It's all good though. It's nice to relax, go easy, eat some ice cream, and rest after working so hard and so fast throughout the year. I've seen a lot of people in my business burnout lately. Too much of a good thing. I nearly killed myself last year too. I still like speed and intensity. I'm just realizing that if I rest I can go harder and faster with more quality when the time is right. So enjoy the pain Comrades! But also enjoy the ebb and flow of easy. Chillin' in the South this week, Coach RJ