And in my career as a fitness professional – mainly as a young, inexperienced trainer – I’ve probably been guilty of this myself. I guess being a little older and having more experience has served me well.

What I’m talking about can be found on many internet message boards and websites. They sport the names of past girlfriends, they incorporate exercises that have no progression, they have a cult-like following whose videos, sometimes, can be likened to the fitness equivalent of the movie Jack Ass.

What backwards phenomenon am I speaking of?

You’ve all heard it before. It’s called…

“The Workout of The Day”

Why do I hate the WOD?

Because it fails to take into account your goals.

Because it shows no respect to long term planning.

If you want to acheive a goal, you need a plan to get there. You need a strategy to acheive your goal and tools to use within that strategy.

You want fat loss? Here’s the plan…

Move better. Get stronger. Challenge your body. Eat a little less.

You want to gain muscle? Here’s the plan…

Move better. Get stronger. Challenge your body. Eat a little more.

Obviously I’m over-simplifying things, but the point is if your goal is fat loss, then you’re TRAINING for fat loss. If your goal is to get stronger, then you’re TRAINING for strength.

You’re not WORKING OUT.

What we do as Hardstyle RKC instructors is TRAIN and PRACTICE. We have intent and a plan.

TRAINING takes into account all the elements of fitness, health, lifestyle and nutrition necessary for someone to acehive their goals. There are logical progressions where you’re expected to go hard and really push yourself. But, there are times where you should taper back and allow your body to recover. It’s all part of the long-term plan.

Working out is random. It’s just something you do. A one-off type of event that one hopes will result in changes in their body…but they’re never sure.

If you want to know if your random workouts are working for you, track your progress over the next few weeks and see if your body changes.

If you’re not seeing much of a change, it’s time to abandon the randomness and start following a plan. It’s time to stop exercising until you feel like you’re going to throw up.

Why the rant today?  I’m not a negative person, so if I come off that way, please don’t mistake me for someone who is bitter.

Over the weekend, I was watching a video that was sent to me of a young man who was doing one of these WODs in preparation for a “competition”.  In this video this gentleman started by squat pressing a loaded bar about 25 times and then proceeded to do some type of body contorting, full body swing exercise that vaguely resembled a “kip-up” which is, in of itself, a bastardized form of a proper Pull-Up.  After his third round of this “superset”, the young man jumped up to grab the bar for his final round of pull-up-thingies, swung his legs and fell flat on his back grabbing his left shoulder (which he presumably severely injured at some point during his body contortion).

I’m guessing that he tore something – or many things for that matter.

Please stop working out and start TRAINING.

Here’s a PROVEN TRAINING PLAN if you want to lose fat…

=>The TT Kettlebell Revolution v2.0

Chris Lopez, RKC

For years experts have been saying that you should always be “adding weight to the bar”.

That you should always strive to put on a little bit more each and every time you lift so that you are constantly progressing.

But it you’re trying to press a kettlebell, going from a 32kg to a 36kg is a pretty big jump – about 9lbs. Nine pounds is not an incremental jump like what “they” say you should be increasing the weight by.

And a 9 pound increase in weight is a big jump for anybody.

I’m sure, though, that old-school lifters in the 1900s like Eugene Sandow or Sig Klein didn’t grab their magnetic 1.25lb “Plate Mate” and snap it on their kettlebell to get stronger.

“So, how are we supposed to get stronger using only kettlebells if the weight jumps 9lbs every time?”

The answer came to me in the middle of the night in a dream that I had when I was fighting a Shaolin Monk in a tree.

Just kidding, wrong dream.

The answer to this question actually came to me while I was lying down on the beach in Jamaica a couple of weeks ago while listening to an interview with Renegade Strength Coach, Jason Ferruggia. He said something to the effect of…

Renegade Strength Coach, Jason Ferruggia

“I’ve thrown out all my little weight plates in the gym now. 2.5, 5, 10lbs plates are all gone. Now we only have the standard 25, 35, & 45lb plates. This forces my clients and athletes to MASTER a weight before they make the next big jump. So in order for them to even try to squat 135lbs (2 x 45lb plates on a standard Olympic bar that weighs 45lbs as well), they have to make darn sure they can handle 115. They have to MASTER that weight which usually means that they can do 5 sets of 10 reps at that weight before they move on. Months earlier, they may have started at 5 sets of 2 reps at 115, but staying at that weight is the safest and most effective way to gain lost lasting muscle & strength. MASTERING the weight is key.”

The point is that kettlebell training is all about PRACTICE and MASTERY – especially when it comes to strength.

The problem with lifters today – myself included – is that we’re impatient.

If it’s a 90-day challenge, we want to do it in 45.

If our buddy can press a 36kg kettlebell with ease, we want to be there NEXT WEEK even though the most we’ve ever pressed was a 24kg.

Applying patience to our training practice will ensure that we are getting lasting gains in our strength.

It’s all about MASTERING the weight and becoming an expert at the weight we’re at BEFORE we make the jump.

So if we can only press 24kg over our head right now, then let’s focus on making that 24kg seem as easy as possible before going to a 28kg or a 32kg.

So what’s a practical approach to getting stronger with kettlebells?

Let’s say that your goal by the end of the year is to press a 36kg kettlebell cleanly over your head without any assistance or momentum (so not a jerk or a push press, but a clean Standing Military Press). But the heaviest you’ve ever pressed was 24kg.

Well, I’d start with a 20kg and make sure that I could press it with ease for 5 x 5 (5 sets by 5 reps). By “ease”, I mean not fatigueing myself and not struggling through the last rep.

We are trying to perform multiple sub-maximal sets to allow our nervous system to adapt to the weight that we are lifting.

My program would look something like this…

Week 1 – 5 x 1 @ 20kg
Week 2 – 5 x 2 @ 20kg
Week 3 – 5 x 3 @ 20kg
Week 4 – 5 x 4 @ 20kg
Week 5 – 5 x 5 @ 20kg
Week 6 – Deload Week

After I’ve mastered the 20kg and know that it’s a weight that I can handle easily, then I’d start the above protocol again, but with a 24kg.

Patience, Grasshopper. PRACTICE, do not “workout”.

I know you’re spending 6 weeks only using ONE weight, but again, this is about making LASTING GAINS in strength. If that bores you, then maybe you turn on a re-run episode of Seinfeld to be entertained because this is training and it works.

And if we do the math correctly, you’d be pressing a 36kg kettlebell in about 30 weeks (which is less than a year).

Pavel calls this method “Greasing the Groove” or GTG. That is, performing your sets in the freshest state, while you have enough rest and if possible, doing it throughout the day and treating it like practice.

You’re not “working out” throughout the day, you’re practicing a skill.

This approach can be used with chin-ups – every time I walk past a chin-up bar, I’ll do a set of 8 chins with perfect form. I’m rested and I don’t have to do a 25-minute extended warm-up. Eight chin-ups is a number I know I can handle easily without getting tired.

You can use this approach with Pistols as well. Just find some kind of “trigger” and every time you see that “trigger” drop down and do a pistol – it’s kind of like a drinking game, but a lot healthier.

The bottom line is this…

STRENGTH is a skill and needs to be practiced.

You’ve got to MASTER a weight before you move on to something heavier.

PATIENCE is what will create lasting strength gains.

Chris Lopez, RKC

P.S. Master your gains in STRENGTH and LEANNESS with the TT Kettlebell Revolution…

=>Click HERE to Get It 

Blue Blood runs in the family

I’m writing this as I watch the Baltimore Ravens final drive to the end zone in the AFC conference championship game.

I’m also stuffing a delicious cocoa-almond biscotti in my mouth.

It’s football day and since we don’t have cable TV at home, we trekked out to the subburbs to take advantage of my mother-in-law’s hospitality (and her 52″ flatscreen TV) to watch the New-York-Football-Giants game.

This morning I partook in an intense kettlebell and bodyweight workout where I practiced some clean & presses, did a double KB circuit and then worked on some front levers to finish.

When I got home, the entire house was up and so we all had our hand in making a delicious breakfast of buttermilk pancakes (made from scratch with raw buttermilk), all-natural bacon and some fresh sliced mangoes and strawberries.

Sundays usually mean a lot of pancakes, some bacon, maybe a pizza for lunch and then finishing with some pasta and a ceasar salad…and a bunch of snacks in between.

When we cook, we always use natural ingredients and grass-fed meat and we always try to make/bake our snacks from scratch.

But pancakes are still pancakes, pizza is still pizza and potato chips are still potato chips.

They’re all calorically dense foods that – and I’m being real here – don’t have all that much nutritional value.

And so this is my practice every single Sunday during the winter (because after the Superbowl, there’s still NBA and college basketball) – eating whatever I want and still staying lean and most importantly, NOT FEELING GUILTY ABOUT IT.

I’m not telling you this to rub things in, nor am I trying to gloat about how genetically blessed I am to have a great metabolism.

Because I’m not.

In fact, I have horrible muscle building genetics and I’d say that over half of my extended family members are overweight (sorry if you’re in my extended family and you’re reading this, but it’s the truth).

But I’ve found a system that works for me.

It’s called Intermittent Fasting and I’ve been practicing it since 2007 when I first met my friend Brad Pilon, the man who introduced me to IF.

=>Brad Pilon’s Intermittent Fasting System, EatSTOPEat

Living the IF lifestyle allows me to eat whatever I want, whenever I want and like I said before I DON’T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.

That point (the one about not feeling guilty anymore about eating certain foods) is huge and in Brad’s book, EatSTOPEat, he shows you how to eat, how to build muscle and burn fat while eating whatever you want and why his system works for even the most undisciplined eater (like me).

Now I don’t advocate eating pizza, pancakes and potato chips everyday because that’s just silly. But I don’t believe in depriving yourself of foods that you want to eat on occasion, especially if you have kids like I do.

And so when somebody asks me, “What kind of diet should I be on when I train with kettlebells?”, I just point them in Brad’s direction and then get on with eating my cheesecake.

Wow, the Patriots just won on a shanked field goal by the Baltimore kicker. Great game, but poor guy.

Go Big Blue.

-Chris Lopez, RKC

P.S. Please stop feeling guilty about eating occasional foods like burgers & onion rings. Pick-up your copy of EatSTOPEat and learn how Brad’s System can work for you.

=>Click HERE to pick-up Brad Pilon’s EatSTOPEat

Micro waves, BPA plastic & egg whites...YUMMY!

About 13 years ago when I worked in a corporate fitness facility I used to wake up every morning at 5am, pour some egg whites (from a carton) into one of those plastic egg-cooker-thingies, microwave my egg whites and then put them in a pita with some tomatoes and wrap them up for breakfast.

I would leave the house, even on the coldest winter day, walk to the bus stop and get on the express bus that would take me to the subway station so that I could get to work for 6:00am before my first client so that I could get my cardio in.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I would hop on the treadmill and do interval training – 1 minute on at 12mph (the highest speed the treadmill would go) and 1 minute OFF walking.

Tuesday and Thursday I would “do” the elliptical machine for an hour.

Then, around mid-day, I would take a 2 hour break so that I could get my weight workout in. This was usually a bodypart split – chest and tricieps on Monday, legs on Tuesday, back & biceps on Wednesday, abs (and only abs) on Thursday and arms on Friday.

Then I would down a whey protein shake.

I would do this everyday for the good part of 2 years.

And when I look back at that program – the microwaved egg-whites, the getting up at 5am for cardio workouts, the “2-a-days” that I was pulling everyday for 2 years straight, the bodypart splits – I think to myself…

“Look at all that time that I wasted.”

The truth is, I didn’t know any better. I was 22 years old, fresh out of college, with a 1 year old at home with my soon-to-be wife (we didn’t get married until a year later), and bodybuilding style training was all I knew.

I read magazines like Muscle Media and figured that if I trained everyday, I could be in that magazine.

After 2 years, I was tired and burnt out. I thought I was creating great lifestyle habits by exercising hard twice per day and doing long bouts of cardio.

And now looking back, I had it all wrong.

Back then I wanted to be BIG and RIPPED and couldn’t figure out why I still weighed 150lbs.

Today, things are different.

I weigh 170lbs, I have a 30″ waist, I still wake up at 5am but instead I’m in front of a computer writing to you about my life experience and I eat whatever I want including THE WHOLE EGG (not just the whites anymore).

And the biggest change is that I only train hard 3 days per week for about 35-40 minutes per session.

=>Here’s a great 3-day-per week Kettlebell Fat Loss Program

Oh yeah, and I don’t do the bodypart split thing, I ONLY USE KETTLEBELLS.

So when I get asked the question, “HOW OFTEN SHOULD I TRAIN WITH KETTLEBELLS FOR WEIGHT LOSS?”, my answer is usually…

AS FEW TIMES AS YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH AND STILL LOOK GOOD.

It has nothing to do with how often you train with kettlebells as it does with HOW you train with them.

I’ve experimented with training 4, 5 even 6 days per week with kettlebells, but the fact of the matter is that it isn’t healthy to do an intense training session everyday of the week. You’ll fry your neurological system, you’ll limit your immune system and if you couple that with the stresses of everyday life, you’ll end up sick and halting your progress anyway.

If you’re new to kettlebells, then it may serve you well to train hard 3 days per week and then PRACTICE some of the movements/exercises on your off days, but by no means does that mean pushing yourself to the limit everyday.

And if you’re looking to lose weight, I can guarantee that you’ll get excellent results by being meticulous with your diet EVERYDAY as opposed to training with KETTLEBELLS EVERYDAY.

So with that being said, I’ll give you 2 separate schedules for training below. The first one is the schedule that I am currently on…

Monday – OFF (meditation and maybe a set of chin-ups)
Tuesday – Double Kettlebell Session, full body, medium volume and chin-ups on rings & pistol practice
Wednesday – OFF (meditation for 30 minutes)
Thursday – Double Kettlebell Session, mainly upper body, light volume and pull-ups & pistol practice
Friday – OFF (meditation for 30 minutes)
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – Double Kettlebell Session, full body, heavy volume

If you absolutely must train everyday (for you keeners out there), then this would be what I suggest…

Monday – Medium intensity kettlebell training
Tuesday – Practice KB Clean & Press (low volume, 5 sets of 3 submaximal sets with 2-4 minutes rest between sets)
Wednesday – Low intensity kettlebell training
Thursday – Practice Get-Ups (low volume, 5 sets of 1 or 2 per side with 2-4 minutes rest between sets)
Friday – High Intensity kettlebell training
Saturday – Bodyweight training ONLY (chin-ups, dips, pistols, mobility work)
Sunday – COMPLETELY OFF

So there are 2 different outlooks on how to train when using kettlebells.

Because of my limited time these days – 2 businesses, 5 kids, personal training clients, coaching commitments, a wife that I’d like to talk to everyday, etc – I opted for the 3 days per week option where the intensity is high and I play with the volume.

=>Build Muscle & Burn Fat with this 3-day-per-week Kettlebell Program

But if you have the time and want to train everyday, then Option #2 is a vialble solution.

Just remember, if you’re trying to lose weight, THEN IT’S YOUR DIET THAT YOU MUST FOCUS ON EVERYDAY, not your training.

Chris Lopez, RKC
Author, The TT Kettlebell Revolution

Proper Swing Finish: relaxed shoulders, glutes squeezed, no backward lean, energy focused on horizon.

I recently came accross this study…

J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Dec 28.
MECHANICAL DEMANDS OF KETTLEBELL SWING EXERCISE.
Lake JP, Lauder MA.

Researchers compared the mechanical demands of the Kettlebell Swing with both the back squat and the jump squat. Subjects performed 2 sets of 10 swings with a 16, 24 & 32kg kettlbell, two reps of a squat with 20, 40, 60 & 80% of their 1RM (rep max), and 2 jump squats with 0 (bodyweight), 20, 40 & 60% of their 1RM.

They found that power generated by swinging a kettlebell was greater than that of the back squat and very comparable to that of a jump squat.

Therefore the Kettlebell Swing has a very large mechanical demand and is an effective exercise for coaches to use with their athletes if their goal is to be able to rapidly apply force.

So what does this mean for you and me?

Back squats, especially at high loads have a spinal compression factor.  As a trainer, I’ll never start my new, inexperienced clients with a loaded squat. I find that I have to spend at least 8 weeks with them cleaning up various movement patters by doing lots of stability and single leg exercises before I consider loading their spine and having them squat to a good depth.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t teach them HOW to squat – using the Face-the-Wall Squat and eventually progressing to a KB Goblet Squat. But to throw someone under the bar who isn’t ready for it is the wrong approach.

I will, however, teach them how to swing almost immediately (by starting them off with kb deadlifts from the floor and teaching them how to hip hinge properly). In fact, most of my clients will be swinging a 12 or 16kg kettlebll long before I ever get them under a loaded bar.

Jump squats cause impacts of 2-3 times your bodyweight on your joints – and that’s just doing them with only your bodyweight.

Athletes and advanced exercisers often perform loaded jump squats to improve their athletic power.

The issue with performing a jump squat isn’t so much in the jumping, IT’S IN THE LANDING.

Now I’m not going to tell you that you have to be able to squat TWICE your bodyweight before you can start performing any plyometric (jumping) exercise – imagine telling a 6 year old that she can’t jump around at recess because she can’t squat twice her bodyweight! But, if you’re over 18 years old and are going to be doing any type of loaded jump squat, then you better be able to land with proper mechanics – on your toes with your knees over your ankles and your butt back with a neutral spine.

Think about a 300lb lineman in football who wants to develop power but at the same time wants to prolong his pro career. Which exercise is not only more effective, but safer for his joints.

Now think about an obese, sedentary individual who desperately wants to get in shape and whose trainer has them start their workouts with plyometrics (you cringe now, but I saw this happen in the gym a few days ago and if you watch The Biggest Loser, then you’ve seen this done before).

Which exercise would be both more effective AND safer to develop power – a kettlebell swing or a (jump) squat?

Now, let me be clear about something…

Look at my face. See how much fun I have squatting!?!

BY NO MEANS AM I RENOUNCING BACK SQUATS OR JUMP SQUATS. Both are incredibly effective exercises that should be used by all populations.

What I am saying, though, is that as exercisers and especially as trainers like myself, our number one goal when we are designing our own programs or the programs of our clients is first and foremost TO NOT CAUSE HURT OR INJURY.

If you have never exercised before or if you know of glaring issues in the way you move, is throwing yourself under a loaded bar the best thing?

If you are overweight and your joints don’t feel “right”, is jumping and landing incorrectly the best thing for you to do?

The study mentioned above has shown that a basic kettlebell swing is just as effective for power & strength development as the 2 squatting exercises mentioned above – with ZERO spinal loading and ZERO impact.

Which exercise would you choose?

Chris Lopez, RKC
Author, The TT Kettlebell Revolution

P.S. Learn how to swing, get stronger and more powerful AND to lose bodyfat all at the same time with The TT Kettlebell Revolution.

=>Grab your copy of the TT Kettlebell Revolution HERE

I’m here in the lobby of my hotel in Montego Bay where my wife and I are attending the wedding of good friends of ours “sans enfants”!!!  (That’s French for “without kids”).

This is the first time in 10 years that we’ve been away without children for an extended period of time.

Needless to say, we’re quite relaxed right now.

Being away has allowed me enough time to catch up on work, get some rest, get some workouts in and start the New Year off right.

And so, while sipping a nicely brewed Jamaican Blue Mountain cup of coffee (I don’t drink alcohol), I’m writing this post and telling you what to expect in fitness for 2012.

So straight from my crystal ball, here are…

My 5 BOLD Predictions For 2012

1. Exercisers – especially those in aging populations – will begin to realize the value of being physically strong and will alter their workouts accordingly.

For years the aerobic “feel the burn” movement has infiltrated the fitness industry and gave those loyal exercisers what I like to call “a false sense of strength”. For a lot of of enthusiasts, strength was defined as your ability to withstand and endure long bouts of physical exersion. People likened strength to being “heart healthy”, like being able to run a marathon (which, if you’ve ever run a marathon before, is more about MENTAL strength than physical strength). That’s not strength, that’s endurance.

This quote sums things up nicely…

“Physical strength is the most important thing in life. This is true whether we want it to be or not. As humanity has developed throughout history, physical strength has become less critical to our daily existence, but no less important to our lives. Our strength, more than any other thing we possess, still determines the quality and the quantity of our time here in these bodies. Whereas previously our physical strength determined how much food we ate and how warm and dry we stayed, it now merely determines how well we function in these new surroundings we have crafted for ourselves as our culture has accumulated. But we are still animals – our physical existence is, in the final analysis, the only one that actually matters. A weak man is not as happy as that same man would be if he were strong. This reality is offensive to some people who would like the intellectual or spiritual to take precedence. It is instructive to see what happens to these very people as their squat strength goes up.”
-Mark Rippetoe, Author of Starting Strength 

Men and especially women will start to realize the value of being physically strong and will not shy away from heavy squats, deadlift and military presses.

2. Quality of movement will take programming priority and more exercisers will demand that they work with someone who can correct their functionality.

Working with kettlebells has taught me a lot about my body and the functionality of the bodies of my clients.

Too many times I see trainers start off with their clients with some type of advanced fat loss programming when their client can’t even squat of lunge properly.

As a trainer, we get caught up too much in giving our clients what they expect or want instead of what they need. As a result, people get injured in a hurry and the trainer ends up looking like a dufus for hurting their clients.

Now – again, especially because of the aging population – trainers will pay more attention to proper movement before hammering the crap out of their clients.

3. Challenge Workouts will be the new hot workout phenomenon.

Much like how MRT workouts was the hot new workout phrase for most of 2011, challenge workouts will be THE hot trend for 2012.

Challenge Workouts – usually done with bodyweight strength exercises, but can easily done with any exercise – involve the strategic use of progressive overload to challenge your body to acheive more. You can do this within a set amount of time or you can challenge yourself by performing more reps than you did the previous workout.

For more information on cool Challenge Workouts, check out Shawna Kaminski’s Program HERE…

=>Challenge Workout Program

4. Trainers and rehab practitioners will see the value of the kettlebell for rehabilitation purposes.

After reading this study…

Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011 May;37(3):196-203.
Kettlebell training for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health: a randomized controlled trial.
Jay K et al.

…where exercisers suffering from various forms of neck/shoulder and back pain were put through a monitored regimen of mainly hip extension exercises using a kettlebell (deadlifts from the floor or 2-arm swings), both groups saw a significant reduction in pain and discomfort and an improvement in strength in the hip extensor muscles.

Kettlebell Swings offer exercisers the opportunity increase the flexibility and mobility in their hips, strengthen their trunk muscles (abs) and improve cardiovascular health just by performing one simple exercise.

With this in mind, I see more chiropractors and PTs seeking the expertise of RKCs to help them design the rehab programs for their clients.

=>Get one of the BEST RKC Certified Kettlebell Programs HERE

5. More professional strength coaches will be using kettlebells with their athletes.

The most fundamental power movement is an explosive hip extension. You extend your hips with force when you sprint, jump and throw and because of that, the pros will start to acknowledge the effectiveness of basic kettlebell drills when training their athletes.

This past summer when I was working with the Canadian National Beach Volleyball Team, I had my athletes swinging KBs prior to their training in hopes of allowing them to better utilize their glutes when they jump. (Because jumping out of the sand is a lot harder than jumping off a stable surface like a gym floor).

During our sessions, we tested their vertical jump prior to a swing session and we saw a marked improvement in jump height immediately after the finished swinging.

Why?

It could have been that they hip flexors “opened up” after swinging the bell so many times. It could have been the activiation of their glutes. Or we could have just gotten lucky.

Either way, I think the majority of strength coaches will now follow in the steps of guys like Dan John & Joe DeFranco and utilize kettlebells more in their programming.

***************

It’ll be interesting to see how correct I am on all of these.

Remember, if you’re reading this blog then you’re already ahead of what’s going on.  The predictions above, I believe, are predictions in trends that I see the GENERAL POPULATION following.

You and I are NOT general population.

Make 2012 your best year ever!

Chris Lopez, RKC

You read that right….we DROVE to Miami from Toronto.

It was an ambitious road trip and I initially thought we were crazy until I was driving down the I-95 through Daytona Beach and saw licence plates from Nova Scotia, Quebec and Maine. So I guess people are just as crazy as we are or it’s a common thing to escape the cold of the Northeast to the sunny beaches of Florida by gutting out a 24hr plus car ride.

We’ve luckily NOT had any sickness, BUT (and there always is a “but”), Q is sick with some respiratory infection and Mikey was sick with a fever last night and was going a little nutty (she wanted to sleep with her arms up in the air otherwise “they were gonna get her”).

So here’s a funny kettlebell story from our trip.

Prior to leaving Toronto, I knew that the chances of the ship’s fitness facility sporting a kettlebell was pretty slim. So I decided to pack my most versatile KB – my 16kg – in the bottom of my carry on.

We get to the cruise terminal and proceed through security and naturally, I get stopped and questioned about the “cannonball” that’s in my bag. I begin to explain what a kettlebell is and what you do with it, but the cruise security people are having none of it.

As I’m begging and pleading to allow me to take my kettlebell on board – for which their excuse is “it’s just too heavy” – a 400lb man barely squeezes through the metal detector and makes his way through security.

So let me try to understand this logic…

A 400lb man who weighs more than twice the average male is fully capable of making his way on board without hesitatio, but a 170lb guy who wants to bring a 35lb weight on board so that he can stay in shape while on vacation is EXCEEDING HIS WEIGHT LIMIT!?!

Seriously?

Not in the mood for putting up a stink, I conceded, took the kettlebell out of my bag and walked back to the parking lot and put the KB in the trunk.

So “sans kettlebell” my wife and I went to the gym and still had a great workout. The ship was stacked with dumbbells that go up to 100lbs and so we did a quick workout while my father-in-law had breakfast with the kids.

Here’s how the workout went down…

1a) DB RDLs 3 x 10
1b) DB 1-Arm Military Press 3 x 6

2a) DB Goblet Reverse Lunges 3 x 10 per leg
2b) DB Row 3 x 15/side

…and then because I was on vacation, I did some arms.

Internet access is severely limited on this ship and is VERY expensive, so I’ll be checking in and out periodically but not as often as when I’m at home.

It’s funny though, I find that as I’m writing this, the words seem to flow so easily and my thoughts are really very clear. Could it be because I’m looking out at nothing but water and a blue horizon while sitting on a deck of a cruise ship feeling tropical air against my skin?

I doubt it.

I’ll be back on Thursday from Key West, Florida with another workout update.

Signing off from somewhere in the middle of the Carribean,

Chris Lopez, RKC

P.S. If I argued enough, I’m sure they would have let me bring my kettlebell on board. If that was the case then I’d be doing some of the advanced fat loss workouts from the TT Kettlebell Revolution.

You can check them out HERE =>The TT Kettlebell Revolution v2.0

For the past 2 months I’ve been really focusing on getting stronger, so I’ve been using Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1 Program and applying it to The Squat, Military Press and Deadlift.

You can pick that program up HERE => http://www.jimwendler.com/category/store/books/

No cardio, no conditioning, no “arms” (unless you count chin-ups) and no – dare I say it – KETTLEBELLS!

That’s right.  I really stripped my training down and focused only on the 3 lifts mentioned above. For my warm-up I’ll do lots of shoulder “pre-hab” (like band pulls, face pulls & dislocations), and I’ll do 3 or 4 sets of glute ham raises. After my workout I would do 40 chin-ups in as few sets as possible.

But other than that, I would just focus on those 3 foundational lifts. Each month that’s gone by my numbers have gone up.  And when it’s time to drop the hammer on the last set (you have to have the program to know what I mean), I’m breaking PR’s like it’s nobody’s business.

I feel healthy and strong, and I feel great. I feel so good, that now I’m ready to add some variety to the program.  So I will continue to work hard on the 3 barbell lifts, but now I’m ready to add in some double-KB training.

The reason for this is two-fold…

1. I’m getting bored.  As strong as I feel, I also feel like I need more.  I’m a kettlebell guy at heart, so it’s just logical for me to add some kettlebell assistance work in.

2. My wife and I booked a vacation.  For the first time in ELEVEN YEARS, my wife and I are going away – just the 2 of us – for an extended period of time (8 days).  We’ve got good friends that are getting married in Jamaica in early 2012, so it’s about time that I work to really get in shape for that.

The double-KB stuff is inspired by my buddy, Master RKC Geoff Neupert’s book Kettlebell Muscle.

In the past when I’ve done the KB Muscle program, I put on almost 10lbs of solid muscle. I was eating like a horse packing down EVERYTHING that I could get my big lips around. So this time, I’m going to try an experiment. I’m combining the 5-3-1 template and KB Muscle to see what kind of results I’ll get.

There are, obviously, a few very important factors that I must watch religiously:

• Frequency – With an intense training template like this, I am only going to train 3 days per week. I ride my bike for transportation everyday and I go for a 40 minute walk every morning.  I’m thinking that will suffice for my active recovery periods.
• Sleep – I need to recover in order for this program to work so making sure that I get at least 8 hours of sleep per night is imperative.
• Food – Because we’re going to Jamaica, I’d like to maintain my current bodyfat levels (which right now is around 8%).  So, I’ll be using a carb-cycling routine and fasting on my low-carb days. On the other days I will get the bulk of my calories from healthy fats, protein and fruits & veggies

That’s a picture of my buddy Craig Ballantyne (of Men’s Health fame), doing his version of the safety dance after going through a ridiculously effective Metabolic Fat Loss Finisher from the 24/7 Fat Loss Program.

=>kettlebellworkouts.com/247fatloss

In the background, you’ll see a very good-looking, shaved head individual laughing his butt off at Craig.

That’d be me, folks.

What you don’t know is that prior to that workout, Craig took me through a gruesome EM-ARR-TEE workout from the program that had my t-shirt literally drenched so much so that it almost disintegrated from all the salt from my sweat.  I threw that t-shirt in the garbage because it became useless – so CB, if you’re reading this, you owe me a grey t-shirt.

"The Talent"

The workout was tough, and after the workout, I devoured a steak sandwich, a bean salad, 2 apples and a bag of almonds.  AND I WAS STILL HUNGRY AFTERWARDS.

Throughout the months of September and early-October I would meet up with Craig and, along with our right-hand video man Dan, we would film the 24/7 Fat Loss workouts.

The very same workouts that you are seeing being promoted over the interwebz as I’m writing this.

Craig, fondly calls me “the talent” as he puts me through the workouts that he’s created in his lab.

(I haven’t been called “the talent” since my underwear modelling days).

WHAT? You were expecting a money shot on a Times Square Billboard?

I have kids, you know.

Anyway, I’m Embarrassed To Admit This…

I like to consider myself to be in pretty good shape.  I’m not King Leonidas (from the movie 300), but I’m not Homer Simpson either.

I have been put through almost EVERY workout in the 24/7 Fat Loss program and they are tough.

In fact, the bodyweight-only program is so tough that I literally FAILED at doing one of the advanced workouts.

The workout had me doing 1 and 1 half reps of Bulgarian Split squats and I couldn’t get through the first round.

It was embarrassing.

Thanks to the miracle of video editing, you’ll never get to see the epic failure, but if you watch closely enough, you’ll see yours truly struggling through the first set – and the rest of the workout for that matter – as I try to play tough, macho guy and muscle through it.

So if someone like me – who’s lean, “in-shape” and tough as nails (note the sarcasm) is having trouble with some of these workouts, what do you think these workouts can do for you?

To be honest and fair, you would NEVER start with the Advanced Workouts like I did.  And the initial stages of the program do a great job of progressing you towards that Advanced Level, so don’t be too intimidated.

But, if you like a challenge, and you like the idea that you only have to workout 3 days per week because you’ll be burning fat 24 hours per day, then these workouts are something that you should strongly consider.

Now, I’m not going to lie: I get a cut if you buy the program by clicking on this link – http://kettlebellworkouts.com/247fatloss – but those of you that read this blog know that I don’t just promote ANY program that comes along.

In fact, I get asked to promote stuff on a weekly basis.  A lot of the stuff is just pure crap. The stuff that I do like – the stuff I that I firmly believe in – you will see on this blog.

24/7 Fat Loss is one of those products.

It flat out works.

And it’s something that I STRONGLY believe in.

In fact anything that Craig writes is legit.  It’s not some “salesy-gimicky” crap that you’ll find on an infomercial at 3am.

So if you’re interested in challenging yourself and doing something different that actually works, get yourself a copy of 24/7 Fat Loss.

But if you’re going to get it, get it now because they’ve got a $30 discount AND a 4-Day Diet Bonus that is going away TONIGHT.

Get it HERE => http://kettlebellworkouts.com/247fatloss

-Chris Lopez, Underwear Model (I bet you thought I was kidding about that)

I’ve been spending a lot of time writing and edit a bunch of new programs that I’m working on to get ready for the new year.

I’m also getting the wheels going on a personal, online coaching program that will allow me to help people interested in losing fat and putting on some lean mass and having a bit more access to me.

Last week, I filmed a segment on kettlebell training for a very popular daytime talk show here in Toronto.

It was great because the kids got their pictures up on the big screen and I got to joke around with the host, Marilyn Denis, who is also very funny.

While on stage I felt relaxed and calm – really weird actually.  I wasn’t nervous at all.

You should definitely check out the segment.  You can watch it by clicking HERE…

A BIG thanks goes out to Michelle – an old high school friend – who helped me get on the show.  And to Sharon who took care of me while I was chilling out in the Green Room.

Hopefully I was funny & informative enough that they’ll ask me on again.

If you get a chance to watch the segment – Click HERE to watch it – I’d love to know your thoughts and comments.

Have an awesome weekend!

Chris