Trapped in a Cage

"Why do I self sabotage my own progress?"

Oh yeah... What a familiar feeling huh? If not for you, trust me, many around you know this phrase well. So well, that many of us say it to ourselves quite frequently. We are our own worst enemy, our own obstacle, our own anchor weighing ourselves down... And the crazy thing is, we know it. 

It's not easy to start anything new but imagine trying to escape a cage you are trapped in, prying at the bars, looking all over for a way out, but never knowing where or how to break free. 

To outsiders, who all have an answer and bountiful advice, they see a clear exit from your cage and wonder why you feel stuck. They holler, shout, and pull at you through the bars. 

"I know you're depressed, but you just need to fix your diet and exercise more." -Said no one who has ever handled depression head on.

The reason I love strength training so much, is because it has opened so many doors for me and taught me so much. You begin to see that your cage isn't really confining you anywhere. You notice the bars were wide enough apart to step through the whole time. Your cage becomes a safe home. One you know how to enter and exit. 

Strength did that for me. The discipline, the hard lessons, the teachers, mentors, and friends I have made. Strength changed my life because I found out that such a simple word means so much more. The way I treat others, my time, my family and loved ones, most of all it changed the way I treat myself. 

We are in this together but our story, our path, our journey is our own. So, to the outsiders, no advice is really needed, maybe a hand to hold or a hug on a hard day. I assure you, we are all trying our best. 

To the insiders... Take a breath. You will and can find a way out. You can find your strength that will get rid of the craziness that created your cage. The depth of your capacity to change this world, your life, and impact the masses is immeasurable. It's ok to struggle. It's ok to hurt. It's ok to never give up. Lean on the loved ones while you purge fear and hatred from your life. Always remember, we love you. 

Share your story and paint the world with kindness and compassion.

Here's to the power of strength,

Kris

Take the first step of being a part of our community by becoming a subscriber… SUBSCRIBE HERE, we would love to have you. 

4 Exercises for Strong, Lean, Summer Abs

Registration is now OPEN. Challenge begins MAY 1st, 2014!

Those of you who know me, know that I am in no way a part-time cosmetic trainer. We love to be strong because we know that strength is our foundation. Well, I am trying out a new program that is changing the paradigm a little bit. The month of May will kick off our 30-Day Challenge known as TheFORGE. The main objective: Destroy fat, build muscle, and nutritional guidance. We will shift from strength to more conditioning based drills, increasing metabolic exercises, and increasing energy expenditure. It is going to be hot, there pressure will be high, and TheFORGE will not be easy. It is four weeks, of five classes per week in a variety of areas including: Kettlebell, Sprints, Hardstyle Abs, Primal Move, Mobility and Flexibility. We are very excited to run this program and see the results, but it is not for the couch to 5k'r out there. This is for the serious, committed, hardworking person who is dedicated to put 110% effort for four weeks. I am not talking fitness level, I am talking commitment level.


It has already created some buzz in the community and exciting quite a few people. So I decided to write a little bit today about getting us something that we all desire: Enter 6 Minute Abs. Okay, I'm kidding. This is not a 6-minute program. What this is is a list of four very simple and effective movements you can perform before, after, or even layered during your workouts.

***DISCLAIMER*** YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THESE EXERCISES DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT GUARANTEE A SIX-PACK. YOU MUST WORK HARD, EAT RIGHT, AND BE CONSISTENT TO SEE THE CHANGES YOU WANT.

So if you are not a big sissy and think you can handle some self control, continue reading.

4 Exercises for Strong, Lean, Summer Abs

1. Kettlebell Halo (5 sets of 5 clockwise/5 counter-clockwise reps)

Grab a kettlebell and hold it upside down, aka bottoms up. From a standing position you will tuck your hips under, eliminating any forward hip tilt (anterior pelvic tilt). Pull your shoulders away from your ears and brace your abdominals. Be sure to breathe. For some reason when you teach someone something new, they forget to breathe. Slowly take the kettlebell over your shoulder, traveling around your head and over the other shoulder return it to its starting position in front of you. This will create a "halo" path around your body.

This drill is great for a variety of reasons, most of them being very nerdy corrective exercise reasons. For you and your thinking, understand this takes a great amount of control to do correctly. These can be done from a standing or half kneeling position. If half kneeling just make sure your head, shoulders, hips, and bottom knee are in line to eliminate forward lean. Still tuck those hips, squeeze the butt, and brace your abs.

Check this video out for more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaobmOmQsnU

2. Hardstyle Plank (5 sets of 15-20 second high tension holds)

This is not your average plank. Though it may appear as so, it takes a lot more work than meets the eye. Assume your normal elbow plank position with your shoulders above your elbows and hands apart. From here bring your feet together, again tuck and eliminate any lower back swaying, aka forward hip tilt. Squeeze both fists and start to brace your abdominals. Don't forget to breathe. For the next 15-20 seconds you are going to make it feel as if you are trying to pull your elbows to your toes and your toes towards your elbows while squeezing your legs together and your fists. This will create a large amount of tension. Don't relax and let your back sway and don't allow your shoulders to drift over your hands. Stay in control, breathe and squeeze for 5 sets of 15-20 seconds.

Check this video out for more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TKktamzq4o

3. The "Dead Bug" Drill (5 sets of 5-10 on each side)

Not only is this great for your core and abdominals, it activates and refines your crucial cross pattern neurological pathways. This is a must do for everyone. Its difficulty lies within its simplicity. Start by laying down on your back. Take your arms and point them into the air, fingers to the ceiling. Bring your legs up pointing your toes to the ceiling as well. You want to start by lowering a single arm back towards the ground and lowering the opposite leg down towards the floor as well. Control this movement, lowering the opposite arm and leg as close to the ground as you can before returning to your starting position. After you return to your starting position, alternate to the other opposite arm and leg. You want to make sure there is no flexion in your lumbar spine and that lower back stays pressed flat to the ground.

4. Turkish Get-Ups (Layer 1 on each side throughout your workout)

A classic strength movement, and surely an amazing abdominal exercise. You can find fitness guru's all over the place slowly destroying themselves with improper turkish get-ups in which they are using a 20lb kettlebell. The point of the get-up is control, mobility, stability, breathing, and strength. Do not make this a metabolic drill, nor should you try to modify unless a qualified professional does so for you. This is an in depth movement but not impossible for you to learn. I don't care if you are 8 years old or 80 years old, this movement will help you perform, feel, and live a better life. It has so much carry over and if you do it right, with the right amount of weight, you will experience a lovely burn in the mid section.

Refer to this video for details on the form for the TGU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spqE97GXrA4

So, create an abdominal specific day or be smart and layer all these in everyday in all of your workouts. There is really no downside to focusing on the strength and stability of your abdominals and core. Try to have fun with these and remember nutrition is key.

Good luck, let me know how you do!

If you have questions or comments post, message, tweet, or poke: 

Facebook @MoultonKettlebell

Twitter @MoultonKB

IG @MoultonKettlebell

Check out our website www.MoultonKettlebell.com

Three Gimmicks to Avoid and Four Steps to Reaching Your Summer Body

More and more, we are seeing a constant flood of useless fitness tools flowing into stores. I walk through and find it amusing, often picking up a gimmicky item and fumble around with it. Can someone please tell me, why they think buying a thigh master will get them the results they need? Now don't get me wrong, Suzanne Somers is doing something to look youthful, but its not the thigh master she's promoting. Also, there are a lot of great tools out there, that are practical, effective, and logical. I'm not saying everything on the market is ridiculous, just the get fit quick, celebrity endorsed, change your life with 5 mins a day, crap that fills up late night television spots.

Let's take a look at some of the bazaar stuff people will pay money for before they just get up and do some sort of movement:

1. Oh... Body by Jake. Thanks Jake, but if I wanted a bloated, old body builders physique, I would have my grandpa train me... Oh wait, he cant stand up straight any more because of "wear and tear" thanks to those workouts. Just take a look at this thing...is it some sort of sex swing? What motion am I doing, how is it benefiting me? When am I ever using this movement in life? You sit in a chair and repeat a push pull motion with your arms. All while you watch TV. Sigh. (http://moultonkettlebell.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-question-that-i-had-made-me-think.html)

2. Here is a fine example of how unnecessary this equipment can be. "The Perfect Push Up!"...Uhhh what? Is this real life? I agree that there should be modifications made to accommodate those with poor form. But this tool, is doing nothing of the sort. If you want to get fit doing push ups, and using body weight exercises, then awesome! But educate yourself on how to properly perform the exercises before you go buying something that you think is making you look like the guy in the ad.

3. This one just ices the cake! This is newer to the market, and is just as mysterious as the rest. "THE RACK!" is designed to give you a full body workout, even if you are wearing camo cargo shorts! I want you to look at your grandmas walker that guy is holding, then look at him. Do you really think curling that light weight rack will get you to where he is? If you could ask this young man, how did you obtain such a level a fitness and physique? I would guarantee he would tell you, hard work, long hours, dedication, and air tight nutrition. Do you think his response would be, "All I did was 10 mins a day on this bad boy"...absolutely not.

If you are ready to change your life, your body, and keep those changes forever...then its time to commit to the lifestyle. Create your goals, begin motivating others, and understand that we don't live forever. So why shorten that time with bad habits that ultimately leave you in front of the mirror, holding your belly, feeling depressed. Let's work together to dedicate, push, drive, never give up, to reach what we want, then share that with the people we love and respect!

So here is your plan. Four steps, movements, and exercises that will get you the summer body (aka abs) that you want so bad:

1. Drop the donut and put your hands where I can see them. If you want see a serious change in your gut and butt, then ditch the sugar. Before we get into carbs vs fats, and when to eat. Before you hire a dietician to write you a meal plan that has high failure rate. Just try to ditch any processed or added sugar in your weekly foods. Nutrition is king, and as you've heard before, "Six Packs are made in the kitchen".

2. Swing like you mean it! Kettlebell swings are not only a strength developer, but they increase power and endurance. For men, swings with a 24kg bell will get the job done, and women a 16kg bell. If you are unsure how to properly swing a kettlebell refer to strongfirst.com/instructors to locate the closes SFG instructor. But be prepared... to have a whole new outlook on strength and conditioning. The 300 swing per day routine is easily available for you online. Or look up a program by Dan John (10,000 swing challenge)

3. Pretend you're being chased. Ok, seriously. Start adding in one sprint day each week. Find a hill to run, a local track, stadium stairs, any field, and start doing fast bursts of energy expenditure. We all want to lace up and start running 5k and further. But look at the body of a long distance runner and the body of a sprinter. Which would you rather have? Start off with 10 flat sprints with even work:rest ratio, then add in hills and adjust the work:rest ratio to keep your conditioning challenged. 

4. Make movement your foundation. Spend one day each week focuses largely on mobility and flexibility. It is so overlooked in our routines that we don't realize the impact it makes. Start spending one day per week really overcoming shoulder, hip, ankle mobility issues, and start to train better stabilization of the shoulders, hips, spinal, knees, ankles, arches... pretty much everywhere. Otherwise we are just slowly tying ourselves into a knot. Then you really will need grandma's walker!

If you have questions or comments post, message, tweet, or poke: 

Facebook @MoultonKettlebell

Twitter @MoultonKB

IG @MoultonKettlebell

Check out our website www.MoultonKettlebell.com

A Question That I Had Made Me Think

"What would happen if you unplugged your TV and never turned it back on?"

Here we are...in the year 2014. It's truly amazing the commotion health care has caused in our country and how up in arms people are. I suppose I can be open minded and attempt to see their side of things, but at the same time, they need to take a second, stand in the mirror, and see what has caused our country to reach the state of need it is in in terms of our health.

I could go on all day on this topic, but this article specifically refers to one area of our personal lives that has seem to gotten out of control and has a huge impact. Known as the boob tube, or as I like to call it, the idiot box. This household item has skyrocketed from a "must have" item for every household, to a "must have" item for every room! The US ranks highest in the poll for the amount of time spent watching TV per week per person at 28 hours. (I have to imagine that number is lower than reality) You can do all the research you want about the poor health effects television has on our society. But honestly, isn't it easy to see? Kids are glued to the screens and adults can't seem to keep from watching a season of this show or that show. I claim to even fall victim.

The reason I wanted to write about this topic is because of this question that I thought of. The feeling I got, and the wonder of what other people felt when they thought about it intrigued me and sickened me at the same time. Think realistically to yourself when you consider the question. The question is this:

How much more time would I have, or how much stress would lower if I unplugged my TV, and never turned it back on? Does that give you any anxiety? Does it make you think about your TV habits?

You tell me. How many hours a week do you find yourself watching? What was the feeling that came over you when you considered the idea of turning off that idiot box and never turning it back on once and for all. Can you live another day without watching an overweight man over eat in an unfair match up in Man vs Food, or how would your kids ever survive without one more episode of Wiggles, Spongebob, or any other idiot cartoon out there? So don't find yourself becoming another one of those people who spend their lives "living" in front of the TV. Get outside, get moving, find something you love, more importantly don't let the "idiot box" control your life!

If you have questions or comments post, message, tweet, or poke: 

Facebook @MoultonKettlebell

Twitter @MoultonKB

IG @MoultonKettlebell

Check out our website www.MoultonKettlebell.com

4 Keys to Proper "Weight Loss"

It's that time of year. We are thinking about what we did over the holidays to ruin our lovely beach bodies. So we all lace up for runs, boil our broccoli and chicken, and restrict calories. All so we can look good in our bathing suits. First, I want everyone to know there are bigger, deeper issues at hand for your lack of self confidence. Someone who made you feel the way you do about being in a bathing suit and has told you that "Weight Loss" is the issue deserves to be punched in the throat. 

I digress... 

If we are going to focus on aesthetics and create a goal to look and feel a certain way, then we must all agree it has nothing to do with the scale. So, before I get rambling on about teaching you how to retrain your brain to understand inner beauty and strength not vanity and starvation (which will be covered in our upcoming REWIRED book!) here are some keys to looking and feeling better in your swimming suit: 

1. It all starts with Nutrition. So before you hire that trainer or buy a new pair of running shoes, start your food journal first. Start understanding your eating trends and swapping out bad for good. An example is swapping the morning breakfast burrito for a couple eggs, bacon, a wedge of avocado, and cup of black coffee. Running low on time, prepare ahead of time by hard boiling eggs and pre-cooking bacon. 

2. Cardio is not the immediate answer. Yes, conditioning is important but the steady state long boring drawn out 2-hour runs are not going to trim you down. Look at the body of a sprinter and the body of a marathon runner. I'll take the sprinters body any day! So try this: interval between high intensity low intensity on your choice of exercise. Sprints, rowing, or my favorite, Kettlebell swings. Set a time and do 30 seconds of swings with 30 seconds of rest for 10-20 rounds. 20 minutes later you are toast. No need to run for 2 hours. 

Bulletproof Conditioning
Men 24kg/ Women 16kg - 30s work:30s rest for 10-20 rounds

3. Strength is the engine. Do you want to really burn more calories or just be more efficient with your energy use? Our muscles and strength are our engine blocks. Our food, fat, etc is the fuel. The stronger the engine the more demand for fuel. Focus on strength but realize working on strength is not the same as bulk. Try this: 2x per week strength train and 2x per week condition (not cardio) 

4. Fat is your friend. It is more efficient and more usable by your body. If you want your body to burn fat it needs to recognize fat as a fuel source more often. Try some fasted workouts, meaning no meal before. Or make your plate look like this: 50% Vegetables, 40% Meat, 10% Fat + Big Glass of Water

Try these out, give yourself a couple weeks and adjust your program according to your body's response. We are not all the same and do not respond the same. Listen to your body and start to eat and train for your goals... No more dieting and exercising. 

If you have questions or comments post, message, tweet, or poke: 

Facebook @MoultonKettlebell

Twitter @MoultonKB

IG @MoultonKettlebell